#Oh dear my fixations are gonna be wild after this

[lemonic-whimssyy]

List of shows I need to watch but can't because my brain won't let me

Good Omens Our Flag Means Death What We Do In The Shadows Doctor Who Hannibal Supernatural Lucifer The Sandman I Am Not Okay With This

Anything to add?

[sugar-petals]

🌹 Sub!SuperM 18+ HC: Riding Their Faces

↳ NOTE. These guys... I swear. Bringing some heat to the dash right here. Enjoy the SuperMadness 👀

word count. 3.7k | bullet points | ot7

WARNINGS. ⚠️  all explicit, cum play, latex, hair & sweat kink, bondage, spit, brat taming, toys, breath play, ass fixation going strong, dominant reader, femdom, degradation, hardcore, veins kink, graphic language, strap-ons, crying kink, clothed sex, some crack

⌜ 💋  byun baekhyun ⌟

▸ strength: energy

not for the faint of heart. baekhyun thoroughly enjoys you giving it to him roughly; it’s the leader being led, how sexy is that

i spy with my femdom eye, baekhyun likes the bossy dommes who bring him to his knees — quite literally.

case in point: hates seeing you hold back. tells you to just bounce on him how you want it. no fumbling around, it’s gotta be hot and proper.

whatever you’re insecure about he hasn’t even noticed. the more confidently you’re taking your designated seat, the better. this shit’s gotta make him all loud and squeaky, baekhyun can’t get enough of your wild and demanding side. “don’t you dare move your hands!” — he’s already hooked.

yep, he’s part of the feral squad. and louder than the bass in jopping for that matter

small as hell face but the jaw is sharp, you can literally feel it, he fits between your legs so well

endless breath. put your pussy all over that nose, grind on it, cum all over him. society will thank you for suffocating a millionaire

like seriously the breath play is off the charts. if he’s into asphyxiation you’d not be surprised

meanwile baek’s naughty hips keep on bucking, like hello there, giving you a cheeky 69 invitation

such a cocky little shit, whiny byun all the way from those ruined orgasms he’ll be getting cuz you might just touch him with two fingers at best, you know how to keep him on his toes

swallows everything he’s like whatever, almost chokes because he’s so messy and greedy to taste you. damn baekhyun

does a “mmhhhnnn...!” sound all the time, this guy has pussy all over his face and is still more vocal than you no matter what you do

eats ass, all day if he can, knows the most shocking techniques, wants to get crushed by booty he’ll end up admitting it. no matter how big or small yours is. because remember, that face is small, everything is big to him

the type to cum on his stomach way before you do. groans a lot, then goes on even more intensely, how the hell did he just leak out five ounces of semen and still manage a whole tongue workout

slobbery and all over the place, those are tongue movements you can’t even think of in your wildest dreams

baekhyun is never content just making you cum once or just really lowkey, much less hearing you being silent. he’s a moodmaker, he naturally wants to hear you, and see you twitch like the world ends for goodness sake

brattiest tongue ever, always pulls out the taunting puppy licks, tries to grope you all the time, he’ll get a rough spanking later believe me

also gets his payback from you being crazy wet, as beautiful and cute his face might be it’s gonna end up damn ruined

not gonna lie his voice acrobatics will turn you into a waterfall that’s coming down on him

you can punish him for teasing by going raw with your hips, mochi is in wonderland, seeing stars. put his wrists in a spreader bar and go off is what i’m saying, YOLO

since baekhyun annoys the members by being so hyper in the evening, they appreciate you knocking him out for sleep. and indeed baekhyun dozes like a baby, probably using your ass as a pillow or something

you’ve drained the shit out of him and um watered the flower that is his face, so

another cupcake down, mission success, baekhyun certainly had his fill not to mention lucky you having to deal with his wildly talented mouth ahem, moral of the story annihilate him with your ass

⌜ 💋  lee taemin ⌟

▸ strength: steaminess

you will come (heh) to discover that none of his lyrics were a lie

yeah he’s busy hot boy shit for his gal

taemin has an all-soft and plush tongue that’s super pinkish. it literally feels so good, how to ever get enough of it holy shit

it also happens to be very long so buckle up, he wants to be deep inside of you, serve and please you

probably the most slow and agile movement in the group, tantalizing is the right word for sure

prefers kissing and sucking over just licking because he’s sappy, good on him and good on you those lips are heaven and need to be used by all means

once you go on the pill, taemin will eat his own creampies straight out of you, maybe even two at once, it’s taemin c’mon he’s above-average horny lord knows how much sperm he’s hoarding

loves drowning it seems

raunchy stuff aside, he always dresses up nicely or wears the fluffy sweaters you like the most on him. what an exclusive ride, the scent of the clothing turns you on even more he’s pulling all the registers taemin is so docile and giggly

most sensual style in the group, will edge and give you goosebumps first before the main course even remotely goes down, taemin thinks in several stages hot damn he calculated this 

his face heats up so much it’s crazy, then again kkoongie capitalizes on all the warmth from the radiator so you might as well be taemin’s personal heating alright. it’s fun seeing him sweat like mad, see his neck veins bulge... ugh 

is gonna be a provocateur and try to nibble on your folds, man he just wants to get slapped around you can see right through this brat’s rowdy plan

might even want his ass played with while you ride his face so prepare for some intense contortions, fingering, butt plugs, prostate massage, the whole array, gladly taemin is flexible

always pulls it off hands-free because he’s a pro and well yeah he’s always tied up how um totally surprising

and any challenge he will meet that i guarantee you

he has immediately apparent shinee concert stamina, longevity like his career, taemin can lend his face to your purposes for the whole night he doesn’t care if he needs to chuck it in the freezer afterwards

bonus: if taemin doesn’t at some point wear one of his glittery masks for sexy time, somebody is probably impersonating him and it’s not the real lee taemin i’m afraid

so many orgasms you’ll stop counting, one blends into the other, even if you’re not moving much, how does he do it

that being said gee can we just appreciate how beautiful his face is, everything about him, it’s gonna be so sexy and soft to kiss him to sleep oh my god

⌜ 💋  kim jongin ⌟

▸ strength: escalating

just how industrious is he? dammit kai is the rent due or something, this shit is not a comeback stage cool down

jongin is needy as fuck, he’s desperate to taste you especially in the morning when his lips are all plump

since then he’s skipped his skin care routine you do the bulk of the moisturizing you see

jokes aside get ready for whimpery kai thrusting his face right into you because he can, should you need something to hold onto, his thighs are literally right there

constant high-pitched moans, some during quick pauses, others stifled, kai are you okay he’s really going all out 

so thirsty

if you don’t put a harness on him for this you’re missing out, also you need something to hold this wild slutty motherfucker in place

rock-hard throughout, harder than a goddamn superm choreography

also: sturdy chin that can take a lot, it’s made to be sat on

does a lot of the work, very active, main dancer vibes you know, you can be lazy and just enjoy

most continuous style in the group, gradually getting more and more passionate and nervous — the second you thought it gets boring he goes off, have fun losing your mind and seeing him basically K.O. himself

if he wants to make you cum, rapid tongue jabs deep into your clit, and his hard breath against it, no fair play in here

absolutely has a thing for your shaking thighs, like what the hell he’s blowing a huge load the more you tremble, and he’s goddamn crying from pleasure every time woah

those big ole lips are an absolute treat, yeah i’ll say it again his face is meant for this

wants to be called all kinds of names wow jongin, it just spurs him more

kai. is. so. good. 

you can most definitely film your own POV cam, jongin can put on one hell of a show. just this time it’s not his eyes flirting with the camera, it’s his tongue getting a nice rough treatment oh yum

don’t get me wrong he can deliver a romantic version of this, but kai just likes you being tough on his face he can’t deny it

uses his hands so you can ride him even harder, all his teddy bears will be falling off the bed like dominoes

might one day ascend to heaven while giving head, wouldn’t regret it

can do it until complete exhaustion you guys just pass out

being such an oral workaholic do i sense a masochist streak in him there? 

fucking typical capricorn

⌜ 💋  wong yukhei ⌟

▸ strength: appetite

first off yukhei is hilarious

it’s called eating out and that’s exactly what he does duh, he’s not nicknamed foodcas for no reason — the restaurant is open my dear, and he just served himself five courses (you)

gets super sweaty, forehead and down the neck, a 6′0 glazed bun can you imagine

giggles a lot, makes the atmosphere relaxed, loves banter before and after, an allround sweet experience

though beware, this guy is hungry. most prone to open his mouth super wide he wants to eat all of you at once

don’t tell kun how nasty he is, much less leader baekhyun, promise me that

and especially nosy kai should not hear about what sexy shit yukhei is doing in his freetime unless you want to trigger a war 

that being said the wayv dorm is still the safest place to sit on his face, so. it’s a lawless land there, nobody gives a fuck anymore at this point. yangyang would not even blink if ten murdered someone in cold blood on the balcony, that’s how the atmosphere there can be best described

lucas being a far more harmless himbo still ironically fits into the environment being so sexually insatiable, just how often are you going to fuck? it’s only natural to lose the overview

he loudly pouts and complains when it ends, wants to go on and on, you need a lotta stamina to get with this guy this is not a warning it’s a fact — yukhei really wants to tire himself out and give everything

if you lower your thighs just a little you can feel his dangly earrings. kinda sexy but also a safety concern i know i know, he’s not gonna wear them next time 

noisy as heck, wants to do well, always goes the extra mile to be sure you are all happy and satisfied with today’s dining

his tongue is... big...

we’re not gonna talk about that giant bulge either, such a huge tent in those pants it’s a whole camping ground. anyway

what we’ll talk about. his super soft blonde hair, we’re talking salon quality soft, that’s amazing to feel against your legs, it’s great to pull as well, or to twirl really playfully

though there’s not much playful going down when the initial inhibition drops

he’s not made of glass you can really get those hips going

sliding down his nose when you’re all wet... damn good stuff.

lucas is the kinda guy that has you grunting and gritting he loves your reactions, and how aggressive you can get. usually he’s the reaction king but like this? he can get used to it.

totally into having that kinda frog perspective it’s a whole new thing, he’s such a giant now he’s below you, the sight is just superb to him

less likely to have toys involved, but rather a bunch of rope for his chest, his arms, his long ass legs. yukhei is a bondage insider tip y’all

stable as a block of metal. if you go a little too wild on baekhyun he’s probably gonna break his mochi neck but lucas is a different calibre, this mf is made of giant muscles galore, i can only say one thing: finish him

⌜ 💋  mark lee ⌟

▸ strength: speed

talks a lot, even occasionally curses — instantly apologizing, but you curse right back, so this becomes the cussing olympics at some point, taeyong would bury his face in the ground all his parenting efforts have gone to waste

mark basically chokes himself

he can’t control his spit by all means jesus... in his own words: must be the drip then

next to taemin and baekhyun here we have the third drowning victim, mark is in serious need of multiple tissues or towels afterwards but that’s exactly what he likes

mark’s slutty side is not to be underestimated i’m warning you

that’s a healthy young man right here

loves to do quickies to get you off during daytime, if you’re horny just tell him and he’ll find a quiet spot, might do it on his knees rather than you riding him sometimes for practical reasons 

all options open, mark is flexible af. if someone can promote with nct dream and superm at the same time that’s the result

so yeah you’ll experiment with positions and even outfits, what’s the most comfortable to wear? 

few people even remotely think about this. mark himself stays in his signature sweater but the glasses come off, you know very well he’s a nerd without them he has nothing to prove lmao!

the clothes will be cozy but don’t let that fool you yet alright

this guy has watched too much porn to just keep it light and cute

don’t get me wrong you can baby him ad nauseam for the more gentle femdom moods

but at the end of the day mark loves some intense shit, he likes feisty girls who aren’t coy and subby, the more perverted you are the better, in fact he enjoys being shocked with brazen attitude and getting orders on what to do.

loves it when you to take it all out on him, rough is good. mark lee’s face is the rodeo range of super m alright, just don’t break his glorious jaw or anything, he still needs it okay

but yeah mark’s face is tempting to ride hard not gonna lie

his tongue can go so fast it’s at the speed of sound, no, the speed of fucking light. mark goes crazy on your clit, wait a few seconds, boom five orgasms rain down on you. 

it’s like an anime swordsman just lifting the sword hilt, walking off calmly, and one minute later things are in shambles like how? mark’s sword tech is just epic like that

he’s a leo what did we expect, show-off

in the meantime, RIP to mark lee’s pants. they’ll be soaked with cum, gonna be a bitch to hide your clothes from taeyong who’s always eager to wash everything by himself

that aside, mark really enjoys the position, he doesn’t need much else to be honest, he goes “oh my god oh shit” enough for you to know

thank god he’s a rapper, otherwise his dang technique would be dangerous, he doesn’t breathe for half a minute or so

enjoys you really doing shallow thrusts, super fast and sloppy, loves how much you enjoy it

needless to say: breaks a guinness world record for most licks per second, it’s that mark lee flow

long story short his face is your favorite spot he can prepare for a daily session

all that practice on water melons paid off good job markly

⌜ 💋  ten lee ⌟

▸ strength: allround skill

you know a pro by how he’s offering you a tall glass of water beforehand

and by the way he’s chugging one himself

champion, a keeper

you’re guaranteed to love it, ten is amazing

takes his time, gets to know your every inch, figures out your soft spots in a matter of minutes to seconds

everything for his sexy mama, service sub right here

take him on a leash, grind on his lips, make him kiss your clit, he’ll respond by circling his tongue around obediently

chittaphon might be a little fidgety at the beginning, but the atmosphere is not as tense anymore after doing it two or three times. 

ten is actually quite good cracking lighthearted jokes and showing his more extroverted side, he always gets like that with a partner. 

you have an easy time with build-up conversations and communicating in general, same with aftercare pillow talk

that being said the degree of professionalism this guy is heading for needs a lot of talk in the first place. 

ten likes doing advanced things that aren’t just intuitively understood, you need to exchange yourself a lot

through trial and error you figure out how to incorporate sex toys into the little routine you have going on

the pleasure will be so intense you’ll never want anything else fuck

ten is also down for a lot of moving around, some athletic shit

you’ll go from bouncing on his dick to smothering his face back and forth pretty much, let’s see how fast you’re gonna bust a huge nut like that my bet is five minutes

those like “oh... ah—” moans are just angelic

since he focuses so much on your erogenous zones and always keeps his hands involved, ten is always guaranteed to have you breaking a major sweat

ten does not like to eat any fruits, they say. well that’s true, because he’s too busy eating you that is. boy can basically retire from citizenhood, he’s that busy between your legs. 

enough fruit juice for an entire week impending, don’t worry about his nutrients, this is also a form of diet.

uses his chin, his cheeks, the nose especially, the damn nose it’s perfectly shaped

wants you to really ride him hard, and fast, no holds barred at all, going so feral he’ll be squeezing his eyes shut

sometimes his hair gets in the way, it’s just so damn long. the result: hair ties for face-sitting, always on his wrist

among all members, buries his face the deepest, turns him on so much

always makes sure you’re both washed up, no impromptu sessions. ten is a hygiene priest and he’s right

the mattress is kinda bouncy and he always uses his favorite soft pillow under his head so you can definitely take mister ten lee to pound town like work your hips give it to him

in case he survives i send my congrats, you got yourself the right guy, terrific choice queen

⌜ 💋  lee taeyong ⌟

▸ strength: ideas

how much more religiously can he eat you out, he treats this like the best reward he can get

as you can probably tell by now, all the lee surname members are definitely a certain brand and clan of highly distinguished pussy eaters like, these guys are a fucking gang like... well taeyong is no different

reckless abandon oral, eats you like it’s the last day, even death fears lee taeyong when he’s in giving head mode

you might be showering together beforehand and be all shy and kissy like it’s puppy love. but that is all for naught when the tongue of god is unleashed and taeyong gets himself as messed up as he can

yeah i like the thought of god being incarnated as kinky taeyong begging to have his mouth spit and cummed in it just makes sense

very deep mumbles, very hard breathing, those veiny hands on your waist, he wants to make you feel good so bad, fuck he’s so sexy

intense facial expressions, need i say more

also um... he likes to be... threatened. he’s the student you’re the teacher, strict as hell surveying his every move, the more you yell at him the harder he gets, jesus christ he has a thing for you acting mad and shit

taeyong doesn’t even need you to pull off your underwear, he’s gone get through any type of fabric with that leaking mouth

let’s just say he likes to experiment with innovative techniques... anyway, taeyong is a nasty fucking freak, he’s a grade A hoe, you never know what to expect

one time he just licks like a shy doe, the next second slurping explosion 5000

imagine whipping his thighs with a riding crop while sitting right on that ultra gorgeous elven prince face like

taeyong is almost always getting super emotional. he sheds even more tears than kai, like at some point you’ll develop a crying kink because of him SOS

nervous as hell, shaky hands. that can easily be fixed sir let’s tie em up

has you moaning nonstop, he’s so engaged and so dead-on with his movements. don’t be surprised if this damned man has your eyes almost falling out

beware, this guy is into full-on sensual deprivation as well. blindfolds are only the start. 

you might end up with a whole lotta black latex involved, who knows, a whole gimp on him he’s down for that, he learned from ten what it is blame chittaphon’s vast kinky knowledge

even better: while you’re grinding on him, taeyong likes you pumping his cock with a fleshlight with zero mercy until he yelps in tiny oops

hell he might ask you to roughly fuck his face with a strap and then ride it, the mister likes double treats huh

then again: wants it to be degrading and dirty and intense on some days, and really wholesome and romantic on others

especially aftercare will be sweet and dulcet, you take care of him, pepper him with kisses for being such a dutiful boy.

looks pretty no matter what. maybe he’s born with it maybe it’s tyongbelline. yeah just how handsome is that face and hair like... t’yongreal paris in full splendor

long story short he’s an oral deity. i rest my case howdy and goodbye see you next time aye

superm masterlist

© submissive-bangtan 2017-2021. all rights reserved. do not repost or translate. all depictions fictional.

[thefanficmonster]

I may or may not have just sent the 3 word challenge in my real account instead of anon... I'm sorry. Please don't answer there. :)

When you post, post answering here please.

Again, much love,

📚🌻

Don't worry dear! Your identity shall remain a secret 🥰 Here's yet another fic with my Resident Evil OC: Gwen Winters (she’s an adult guys, don’t worry. However this is still an Older Man/Younger Woman relationship)

The words dear  📚🌻 Anon gave me in their previous ask were: Unruly, endurable and system. Please enjoy!

What happens in the gym....

Pairing: Chris Redfield x Female OC

Warnings: Swearing, Spoiler Free 😊

Genre: Angsty Romance

“Sure, throw me in the fire like you always do, Leon!“ Chris snaps, clenching his fists tightly as he glares at his best friend while the two stand in the dimly lit gym.

“Chris, you’re a BSAA captain, for the love of God! You should know better than to complain about something as little as this!“ Leon, while significantly calmer tone and demeanor-wise, is glaring daggers of his own.

“Why me, damn it?! And why her?!“ Chris is not done with his attempts to get out of the situation Leon’s trying to land him in and his partner’s honestly done with it.

“And why not?! You see the same potential I see, why would it be so hard to train her? She’s a quick learner, she’s disciplined when she wants to be and she’s already skilled to a certain degree. You’ve made soldiers out of total wimps before, why is she such a hassle to you?!“

“Because she’s disciplined when she wants to be and I guarantee she won’t want to when she’s around me. She’s unruly, selfish, arrogant and a Chris-phobe. I’m telling you, she hates me!“

It’s about time Leon’s had enough of this conversation. To be honest, he was done with it as soon as it started but he stayed, thinking he’d be able to change Chris’ mind but seeing as how this is a hopeless case, he’s just been wasting his time. “Does she? Or are you projecting your hate for her onto her?” Slinging his duffel bag containing his training gear over his shoulder, Leon finally makes that realization that these are ten minutes of his life he’ll never get back and storms out of the gym without another word.

Chris doesn’t attempt to stop him, in fact, he’s relieved he left. He sighs, silently hating himself for all the shit he said and how he meant none of it. It was all hard bullshit and he doesn’t know whether to be thankful or disappointed that Leon didn’t realize. Either way, he’s been cleared of possible suspicion, even if training the newest BSAA rookie still remains as his task.

Gwen Winters, she’s such a fucking handful. One cannot tell if it’s because she’s angry with the world, angry with herself or just straight up picked up on the habits of the family that took her in when she was rescued from Raccoon City where she was held as an experiment hamster. A chemistry project basically. Ethan and Mia were recovering from the events back in Louisiana at the time, still probably are, that is not some shit you get over, so they thought having another person in the house would help them. And help Gwen did. See, Gwen isn’t a handful with everyone. In fact, she’s a real sweetheart and Chris knows it too, despite his bogus claims. He knows she’s got a heart and soul of gold and is built with the will of a BSAA soldier already. All she needs is a bit better fighting skills and she’s good to go. 

He sees how she acts with everyone around him. She’s been quick to make friends with Jill and his sister Claire and she’s even got Leon’s liking and trust which is hella hard to get, especially after all the shit with Ada. She’s overall a super sweet and lovely girl, even with him from time to time. He’s seen her welcoming, friendly smiles whenever he stops by the Winters’ home. He’s heard her laugh at the jokes he rarely cracks.

Then why does she act like she hates him so often? And why does he claim he hates her?

Chris is snapped back to reality by the sound of rough impact. It’s a very distinct noise, one he places immediately: the sound of fists hitting a punching bag. It’s the middle of the night, almost midnight actually, and knowing how lazy the soldiers on his team are, he can only assume it’s either his sister or Jill, given that Leon just left. However, they’ve had people sneak in to train for free before, so it’d be for the best if he went to check who was releasing some pent up energy on the poor punching bag. Judging by the intensity of the punches being thrown, sounds like the person might be angry as well.

And they have every right to be. Because they are Gwen.

Chris’ face goes a bit red at the sight of the infuriated rookie giving the punching bag her all, punishing it the way she’d want to do to her superior she just heard call her all the names she hates being referred by.

“Winters I-“

“Unruly?“ Punch “Selfish?” Punch “Arrogant?” Punch

She stills herself, sighing and wiping the droplets of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, “You say all that and expect me not to be a Chris-phobe?” She lets out a bitter laugh, rolling her shoulders before continuing her wrath over the piece of equipment she’s threatening to destroy. She hasn’t spared him a single look yet, something he’s rather grateful for because the last thing he wants to see is whatever her gaze is hiding right now. “I’ll talk to Leon.” She says, her voice leveled and breathy, far from the pissed off tone she was just using. This calmness is a lot scarier though. “I’ll tell him I don’t want you to be my trainer. To be perfectly clear, I never wanted you to train me in the first place. I’m just not the type to complain, you know. I’m not picky. Beggers can’t be choosers. I take what I can get. And you were all I was offered, but...” she trails off, delivering a particularly hard punch, “It’s not gonna work. I may not be picky, but I know when to draw the line. I know when I deserve better.”

“Kid, you really have no idea what the case really is here.“ He attempts desperately, taunted by the thought of acting on his instincts and approaching her even if that means being the recipient of one of those hard punches.

“You know, I’m strong. I’m skilled. I can hold my own in a fight quite nicely. I’m endurable. I’m not afraid to work my ass off and sweat and pant like a dog after workouts. There’s not a line I wouldn’t cross, but you still choose to make me feel lesser than any soldier you’ve ever come across, that’s really lovely of you, Captain Redfield.“

“Winters, please...“

“It’s ok, I won’t tell Ethan and Mia. I’m sure they’ll send you to hell over it. I’m not petty like that.“

He’s had enough. He’s had enough of hearing that hurt tone in her voice. He’s done hearing these words she’s so certain are true but aren’t. He’s done lying to her and to himself. Before he can even think twice about it, he grabs her by the arms gently but firmly, turning her to face him despite her hostile attempts to free herself from his hold like a wild animal caught in a trap. He’s surprised when she relaxes, probably seeing that as a quicker way out of the situation rather than struggling though if she tried to free herself any longer he would’ve probably let her go.

“Fucking hell, Gwen, listen to me.“ He looks her dead in the eyes, catching onto the spark of shock created by his use of her first name. But he also sees something else, something that looks dangerously a lot like tears. He knows she won’t cry, especially not in front of him, but knowing that he’s the cause behind the welling of those crystal droplets in her always shiny, always smiling eyes breaks him. When she doesn’t look away nor protest, he continues, “I can’t be your captain. I can’t be your trainer. I can’t be any of that. I’m a strictly professional man, and it’d be highly unprofessional of me to take you in as my soldier.”

“But why?“ She’s fully aware she sounds like a whiny kid - exactly how she thinks he envisions her sometimes - but she couldn’t care less. She wants and needs answers. She knows she won’t be able to fall asleep or keep coming back to the training center if she doesn’t get them.

It’s blatantly clear this is far from easy for Chris. His first instinct is to look away, let go of her, run away like he always does - not that she’d let him do such a thing but still. He’s finds the words impossible to spit out yet he oh so desperately feels the need to get them out of his system. And so, he gathers all the strength within him and finally forces himself to say it.

“Because a captain isn’t supposed to look at a soldier the way I look at you.“

Sure, it sounds cryptic as heck but he has no doubt she’ll catch on. Gwen is a smart and sharp girl, among many other things. She confirms this when barely three seconds after he’s said it, he notices her eyes widening

“Sir, I-“

“Don’t.“ He says simply, a small, regretful smile playing across his lips as his hand slides down her arm to take hold of hers, “I just admitted my dirtiest secret to you and you are still gonna remind me how unprofessional I am by using my title, Kid?“

She purses her lips, the shock momentarily replaced by her signature mild glare, “Well, you just admitted your biggest secret to me and yet you still choose to call me ‘Kid’, huh?”

He chuckles, letting his other hand repeat the movements of the first, “Sorry, force of habit.” His thumbs brush against her knuckles briefly as his head falls, his gaze fixating on where their bodies are connected, “You know, I didn’t tell you this to get myself any pity or anything. I just wanted you to understand and....wanted to get it off my chest. Ethan will kill me if he finds out, won’t he?” He suddenly asks, regaining the courage to look up at her once again.

She giggles, “Who says he’s gonna find out?”

Chris bites the inside of his cheek, shaking his head, “You’re right, there’s nothing really to find out abo-”

Gwen has never been a chatter nor can she tolerate when people beat around the bush so she’s quick to cut them off sometimes, no matter how rude that may seem or sound. However, just to clarify, her chosen method of cutting a person off isn’t always kissing them. Just saying - this is a special situation requiring special methods.

Taken aback by the sudden feeling of her lips on his, Chris’ eyes close automatically but not even a second later he responds to the kiss properly: wrapping his arms around Gwen’s waist as her hands travel up to cup his face. The kiss is short - too short if either of them is to be asked - but it’s worth all the words they didn’t say despite wanting to.

When they pull away, Gwen gives him a mischievous smile, “Now he could find out about that and then shit would go south. That’d suck, wouldn’t it Chris?“

He’s only ever heard her say his name twice, once in passing conversation with Claire and once earlier when she paraphrased his term ‘Chris-phobe’, both time spoken with some dose of dislike he now realizes was a cover-up all along. Turns out the two are a lot more alike than they initially thought. Regardless, hearing her say his name with fondness instead of bitterness makes his heart flutter, his body yearn to have her closer, his lips wanting to be in contact with hers again. But he’s a patient and self-controlled man, he’s nothing if not willpower sculpted in a human body, so he keeps his distance, waiting for her to pick the moves, waiting for her to make the decisions just like she’s his captain.

“Big time.“ He manages to say, voice coarse all of a sudden, barely able to leave his throat. “So it stays here, right?”

She giggles again, bringing her lips within an inch or two away from his, taunting him, threatening to break his self-control, “What happens in the gym stays in the gym, Redfield.”

Golden rules of discretion, ones he mustn’t break ever. Especially not when his captain - Captain Gwen Winters - holds so much power over him.

[tedturneriscrazy]

Here's Eclipse Lake, an episode that has been highly anticipated! Will it top Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Hooty's Door?

I'll skip the pretense: No. It won't.

You'll see under the cut.

Hmm, that list of ingredients for the Grimwalker...I'll let other people theorize about this (like @sepublic ), but it sure looks like a thing

Guess the mysterious green goo won't cut it, huh?

Belos face reveal already?! Huh, didn't expect it so soon.

Oh, no, he's hot! (And I'm mad about it)

Still an ass, though

Now we know why Hunter was wearing a different outfit (because people fixated on that for some reason)

Amity with the clipboard gives me strong Dipper vibes

GHOST! My beloved!

I need a moment because CAT!

(Also, someone pointed out earlier that Ghost was based on Dana's cat, and that's super obvious in hindsight)

Raine?! Oh, wait, you mean rain. Sigh.

Eda gets training tips from DBZ confirmed

(Also Amity's face when reacting to Eda's explanation is priceless)

Oh God Eda's a weeb I need another moment

Damn, Amity just straight up calling Eda old

Oh, loopy Luz

(The abomination holding the tissue box is adorable for many reasons)

Yeah, don't want Luz to eat the McGuffin

I have several questions about those Tamagotchis that I'll refrain from listing here

Amity your Odalia is showing

Girlfriend counter: 1

(Yes I am introducing a counting gag, deal with it)

Was wondering if they were ever gonna reference the dissection incident. We've come a long way, baby!

Oh, so that's what everyone was looking at

Luz honey your enthusiasm is admirable but no

Luz burrito is quite cute, though

Girlfriend counter: 2

(Damn, still wild to think that that's the case)

Just occurred to me that "Boots" is probably shortened from "Bossyboots" from earlier

Guess the Luz hiss compilation needs to be updated again

Those tunnels ain't the only thing around here that's unstable, amirite?

Oops, guess Kiki was justified, after all

Maybe don't talk so loudly about your plans, dude

That is her son, get it right!

Serves you right for having that stupid strand of hair sticking out like that

Is this just the episode where everyone dunks on White Boy? Because I can totally get behind that.

Already mentioned this, but I am loving the parallels between Katara and Amity with that bottle of abomination goo. Insert obligatory "Two Nickels" meme here about Mae Whitman.

We really are just dunking on the white boy and I am living for it

Hooty had to get it from somewhere, I suppose

Nothing says mother-son bonding like shooting things at each other (see also: Separate Tides)

I'm sure the magic bouncing off the veins won't come into play later at all

Oh well, at least the echolocation looked cool

At this point Amity would kill Hunter for a Klondike bar

Wait why does Hooty need a chair

Willow with the galaxy brain ideas

"A bad but sad boy" Luz is a genius at succinctly summing people up

Kikimora continues to be unhinged. Ironically she's not wrong about Hunter.

Motherfucker stop acting like you know what that says

(Also, projecting much?)

Girlfriend counter: 3

Friendly reminder that Hunter is still an antagonist

Uh oh

UH OH

I know someone mentioned Willow having the brain cell, but honestly it seemed like Luz had it this whole time. And that's not good.

WHY IS FOOL'S BLOOD EVEN A THING

Aaaaand cue the getting screwed over

Further reminder that he's still an antagonist (Apparently there's a vocal segment who's Really Mad at him that seem to forget this fact)

You unhand Ghost right now!! And Amity too, I guess.

(I kid, she's literally my second favorite character)

For what she did to Raine it warms my heart to know Kiki has had zero peace of mind

Wait, the Abomatons are Transformers?! Okay, that's kind of awesome, actually. Alador might be a shit dad but he is a brilliant inventor.

Chucking kids off cliffs is a surpisingly common pastime in the Boiling Isles

Owlbert no!

Eda did spend literal decades fighting the Owl Beast within, so I guess she can't be blamed for not thinking to talk to it

Also hurry up guys I'm very concerned about Owlbert

Fuck yeah Harpy Milf!

Yay Ghost returns!

She's glad they're okay (I didn't need to take this, I just thought it was cute. Also this is surprisingly high quality considering I just took a photo of my TV screen)

Oh, so they do have video games in the Demon Realm. That or Luz introduced them.

Trailer shot!

Oh dear, we about to have a fight over the key

Wow, being so high ranking under Belos is really bad for mental health

Jesus Christ Belos what have you been putting in this poor kid's head?

Leave it to King to give radical recontextualizations

Amity, I'm glad you remembered/realized this about Luz, please don't let the sad white boy play you like that again

Also, I appreciate the gesture you're making, and it's a wonderful summary of your character development, but goddamnit he's gonna go for that key because he's STILL AN ANTAGONIST

"Being nice usually works for Luz!" A) Not always, and B) Amity I love you but Luz you are not. A valiant attempt nonetheless.

Ooh, cool fight scene!

Always lovely to see such superb animation

I was privately griping about not seeing Amity use magic for so long, and now I am fed

Don't think I didn't hear the glass breaking

Appreciate your ass from a hole in the ground, Golden Boy!

(jk I don't actually feel that strongly about him still. That kind of threat still isn't cool, though)

Oh so that's why it's the Common Mold!

It's kinda cute, actually. Or maybe it's just because it's Luz.

TIL Hooty is heat resistant

Apparently Owl Beast just wanted a snack

Girlfriend counter: 4

Also love how calling Amity her awesome girlfriend is literally the first thing Luz says to her upon returning.

Yesssss return the hug! You deserve it!

(I know there are higher quality versions of this screenshot, I just didn't feel like looking around)

King demands huggies, too! (And gets 'em)

Reminder that Amity is smart as hell. I knew that glass breaking indicated something!

So once again I've been had. I let the fandom trick me into thinking this episode would be way more intense. Guess that one screenshot was from the next episode.

Overall this was...fine. Some nice Lumity moments, Harpy Eda strutting her stuff, that gorgeously animated fight sequence; those were all lovely.

I do wish Willow and Gus had a bit more to do. And I'm still rather unenthusiastic about Hunter, to be honest. I've seen his type several times before, and the path they have for him is rather obvious. I may never share the fandom's love for him, and I guess I'll have to deal with that.

Anybody who says this was better than KKKOHD is a damn fool.

Mid season finale next week! I think Yesterday's Lie will finally bring the pain!

[giorno-plays-piano]

Come play with me

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, home invasion, allusion to stalking and non-con.

Words: 1987.

Summary: Having to deal with Bucky Barnes, a talented head engineer who you have to convince cooperating with your boss, you suddenly discover his psychopathic tendencies. Worse, he has taken an eerie interest in you.

_______________________

“Listen, dear, I know what he asks for seems like something very inappropriate, but, in fact, the guy just likes you and-”

“No, Mr. Simons, he doesn’t just like me.” You snapped, bringing the cellphone closer your face. “This madman asked me to be at his disposal any time he wants. Please, don’t try to convince me it’s okay because this is madness.”

“I know, I know, he sounds like a psycho, but he’s not. Mr. Barnes is just... difficult. He needs to work on his communicational skills, he admitted it himself during our meeting today.” Your boss - or rather your ex-boss - was almost pleading you to listen to him, but you had enough of this nonsense. Nothing could change your mind after yesterday’s humiliating encounter with James Buchanan Barnes, the head engineer of HYDRA Corp.

“Sir, I have already submitted the resignation form. I perfectly understand the position you are in, but I’m not going to become a toy of this psychopatic man-child.” You answered firmly, looking at your lovely blue clock on the wall and knowing it was too late for any work calls. “Goodbye, Mr. Simons. Have a nice evening.”

Before he tried saying anything else to make you change your decision, you had turned your phone off and put it on your desk, sighing. You could never imagined one day you would face a situation like that.

Yes, when your boss got a promotion, you were truly happy for him. It also meant that you, his secretary, would now get a different type of tasks since you worked more like his personal assistant rather than someone who simply answered the phone calls and built his schedule. A raise was also quite nice. What you didn’t expect was having issues with Bucky, the genius the whole corporation knew about. He was that very same man HYDRA owed its success to as his innovative approach made the company widely known in the whole world for its - his - active protection systems. Barnes was now working on the brand new weapon system control, but he had never submitted sufficient reports, and, apparently, the previous executive left exactly because of Bucky and his wild temperament.

Despite the fact that he was a legendary figure, you had never met him or dealt with him directly. And since now Barnes became your boss’ pain, he became yours, too.

First, it was impossible to set a meeting with him directly. Mr. Simons wanted to take care of this issue himself and emailed Bucky multiple times, but always got the same dry answer that Barnes is too busy. Of course, he never answered any calls - until it was you calling him. Oddly, he was eager to talk to you. It took you just two calls to organize an online meeting for your boss, and, finally, yesterday you got to see the mysterious genius with your own eyes.

He was nothing like you expected. He wasn’t some skinny geek wearing glasses on his long nose, but a beefy man, his shoulders twice wider than your boss’. Barnes had dirty disheveled hair and a three-days beard, but, aside from that, he looked more like a star athlete rather than a nerdy engineer. He dressed in a pretty weird fashion, wearing tight t-shirts, leather pants, chains and heavy studded boots, but criticizing his style wasn’t a part of your job. You needed the reports he refused to submit and get him to attend the meetings.

Of course, he blamed everything on too many bureaucratic procedures and lack of time for anything but his new project. Even while speaking to the two of you he was pacing back and force in his laboratory, fetching this and that, fiddling with something that looked like a futuristic gun from one of Scott Ridley’s movies, his table full of screws and nails, markers, dirty papers, and metal parts of something you couldn’t recognize. Now you could see the true technological genius everyone was talking about.

However, you weren’t satisfied with the lack of information he was willing to give about his project. Barnes had a ridiculous amount of privileges, able to order whatever supplies he needed without anyone’s approval and working in a total secrecy, but HYDRA’s board of directors was growing tired of his reticence and temper tantrums Barnes was throwing every time someone tried to uncover his secrets. The career of your boss was at stake, and you needed Bucky to cooperate. You doubted the company would be willing to get rid of its most valuable employee, but the board of directors could easily limit his access to many of his beloved projects and make his life much more difficult.

Discussing the endless possibilities of what could happen if Barnes still refused to cooperate, you realized he wasn’t worried even the slightest bit. But he agreed to submit the reports if 1) he would get the team of engineers he picked by himself to help him with his project, regardless of whether they are involved with other things 2) he would get you “at his disposal any time he wanted”. Of course, at first you thought it was some kind of weird joke. Who in a right state of mind would ask for anything like this? You tried to laugh it off along with your boss, who was as shocked as you.

Then you figured out Barnes was dead serious. He wanted you.

Of course, you weren’t having it. Maybe your boss career was at stake, but it was his business, not yours. If the only thing he could offer you was being Barnes’ toy for the sake of the corporation, you would prefer to leave your place and find a position somewhere else.

How could he even suggest submitting to that psycho? Who did he think you were? A doll? A disposable Barbie or something? Even thinking of that was making you furious.

Sighing, you dropped your phone on the table and went to the kitchen to have a glass of wine. Despite the fact that you had already submitted the resignation form, you still needed to keep working before Mr. Simons would find a new secretary. It meant you would hear him pleading you to stay every day, and it wasn’t going to be nice. This damn Barnes made your life insufferable with just a couple of sentences.

Of course, you weren’t going to keep calling Bucky or trying to talk to some sense into him. Fuck that. Barnes was totally mad, and you weren’t having more of his bullshit.

Suddenly, the lights went out, and you stilled, growing in frustration. What the hell? You had to carefully put an empty glass back on the counter and move to your room again to take the phone. Glancing out of the window, you saw that it was just your apartment while others had light in them. Oh, perfect.

“Why do I pay for all this new technology that never works?” You growled in frustration, rooting around to find your phone.

“That’s a good question. To be honest, I wouldn’t.”

You froze. Somebody was in your room. Turning around quickly, you had finally found your phone and touched the screen - the subtle blue glowing lit Barnes’ gloomy face, and for a few seconds he narrowed his eyes as your phone blinded him.

Fuck.

“What are you doing here?” You whispered in terror, stepping away from him and visibly shaking. God, how did he get through the security system? You had just installed a pretty expensive one, made by...

By HYDRA Corp.

“You see, your security system has so many drawbacks I hacked it even without a proper preparation. You have to consider switching to something more solid.” He said calmly as he made a step towards you. In the darkness of the room he looked even more intimidating with his long dark hair hanging on his eyes, his huge figure looming over you as you ended up being pressed to the wall. “You know, since you were so enthusiastic in the beginning, I expected you to act... more professional.”

You didn’t know what to say. You were trapped between the wall and Barnes’ body as you stared into his face, terrified to the core. What was he doing here? Did he break into your home just because you refused him? Was he damn insane?

Oh yes. Yes, Barnes was.

“You know, we can have so much fun together if you just leave your pathetic boss and come play with me.” He tilted his head to the side, letting his disheveled hair fall on his broad shoulder and taking away the phone from your hand. “You’re a smart girl, aren’t you? I know how much you’re doing while Simons pretends it’s all him. Aren’t you tired of it?”

Well, it was true. Your boss had finally offered you a promotion after you would take care of Barnes issue, so you didn’t complain, waiting for your chance. It was all over now.

“And what do you suggest?” You asked, knowing you needed to somehow get away from this psycho and run to the door.

“Take care of me instead of him.”

You clenched your teeth as Barnes got closer, almost touching the tip of your nose with his, his icy blue eyes fixated on you. You felt the strong smell of cigarettes coming from him and winced from this unwanted intimacy. Barnes was too close to let you get away.

“What do you mean? I don’t think you need a secretary.” You played innocent, not looking him into eyes and staring at something on your right. Now your eyes almost adjusted to the darkness surrounding you.

“I can get you a better position, baby. A project manager, huh? You will ensure me and my team do things right.” His hot breath was burning your skin as Bucky nuzzled against your cheek, making you squirm. “You’ll be the one overseeing the development of a new system, and I get to have you close all the time. Besides, your paycheck gonna be way bigger. Isn’t it nice?”

“I don’t think I have sufficient skills for this job.” You mumbled meekly, squeezing your eyes shut when he put his hand on your shoulder gently. “The Corporation won’t allow me to take this position.”

There was a smug grin on his face. “Oh dear, you’re perfect for the job, I know it. And don’t you worry about the Board of Directors, I can be quite... persuasive.” As he smiled at you, you were ready to cry in front of him, so frightened and almost hysterical.

“What do you want from me, Barnes?” You pleaded in distress, tired and scared of the game he was playing with you.

He took your arm in his and made you move to the bed, forcing you to sit down while he hovered over you, brushing his long hair out of his face and tucking one of his locks behind the ear. Then Barnes cupped your chin with his hand, making you look directly at him.

“Come play with me, baby.” He cooed gently at you, wiping away a tear running down your cheek. “I want you close. Come to me. Talk to me. Have fun with me. I’m not asking much, am I?”

“We’ve only met yesterday. Why-”

You heard him chuckling and got silent immediately. You didn’t like that creepy smile on his face. Why did he look like you were wrong? You knew for sure you didn’t meet him before - who could possibly forget someone like Bucky Barnes - but his smile was telling you that he knew you from somewhere before your yesterday’s encounter. Where else could he meet you? You had no idea.

“It’s alright, dear. You’ll have enough time to know me better.” Barnes whispered, rubbing your chin with his thumb and closing the distance between the two of you. “We’re gonna have lots of fun together.”

______________

Tags: @finleyjayne​ @alexakeyloveloki​   ​@helenaeisenhower​ @villanellevi​ @hurricanerin​ ​@void-hoechlin​ @abyssaint​ @heeeyitskay​ @chris-evans-indian-fanfic​ @navegandoaciegas​ @rosalynshields​ @brattycherubwrites​ @sllooney​ @angrythingstarlight​ @iheartsebastianstan​ @soleil-dor​ @iheartsebastianstan​

[osakaso5]

Minami Natsume Twelve Hits! Rabbit TV Part 1: Twelve Hits!

Part 2 | Part 3

Haruka Isumi: "RADIO STATION Twelve Hits"?

Torao Mido: Ah... Isn't that the radio show IDOLiSH7 was on last year?

Minami Natsume: TRIGGER and Re:vale also participated in it.

Toma Inumaru: That's right! And we're gonna be on Twelve Hits! this year!

Torao Mido: Hmm.

Toma Inumaru: Why dont you look more interested!?

Torao Mido: It's not like we haven't done a bunch of radio shows before, right? If anything, you're a little too excited.

Toma Inumaru: Hold on... This is Twelve Hits! we're talking about! The famous radio show practically everyone in Japan’s heard of!

Toma Inumaru: It's been on air ever since we were kids, so you've got to have listened to it at least once, right?

Haruka Isumi: Nope. I like RabbiTube better, anyway.

Torao Mido: Haha, you're such a modern kid. Not that I've listened to it, either.

Toma Inumaru: You've gotta be kidding me!

Minami Natsume: I've listened to it. It's a monthly broadcast that has a new host each time.

Minami Natsume: I even appeared in it once when I was still a child actor.

Toma Inumaru: Seriously, Mina..!? That's awesome..!

Toma Inumaru: I've sent a couple messages to it, but they never got read on air. ...So you've already been on it, huh..!

Minami Natsume: Oh dear. If you open your eyes so wide, they'll fall out.

Minami Natsume: Though I must say, I like being gazed at so intensely that it might result in your loss of sight.

Haruka Isumi: Eek... Don't say scary stuff like that..!

Torao Mido: I see. In other words, this radio show is amazing enough that some people would even sacrifice their precious eyes for it.

Toma Inumaru: ...Ahem. In any case, we've got a really cool job ahead of us!

Toma Inumaru: The shows from last year were a lot of fun, too!

Torao Mido: You listened to them?

Minami Natsume: So, you listened to them.

Haruka Isumi: You did?

Toma Inumaru: S-should I not have..? Why are you all looking at me like that!?

Torao Mido: No reason.

Haruka Isumi: No reason?

Minami Natsume: No reason in particular.

Toma Inumaru: You three always work together perfectly at times like these...

Minami Natsume: I was simply commending you for having a genuine interest in even the hosts   who weren't your friend, Nanase-san, without so much as gathering intel on them.

Torao Mido: Hmph. Nothing we could've done about that. Toma wants to be friends with those guys. Probably because he's not satisfied with us.

Haruka Isumi: Torao, stop sulking like a little kid. He's not gonna understand that you want him to pay more attention to you unless you tell him.

Torao Mido: I'm not sulking. I was just pointing out that he goes on and on about people other than us.

Toma Inumaru: ...I just thought it looked fun, the way they were giving each other requests for the show... I kinda wanted to try it, too...

Toma Inumaru: Listening to them made me think about how fun it'd be to do that with you guys!

Torao Mido: Oh..?

Haruka Isumi: Hmm..?

Minami Natsume: So, you want us to complete requests for you.

Toma Inumaru: That's right! Some of them could get pretty crazy and extreme, but it just seemed like something members of the same group do together!

Haruka Isumi: Yeah... I guess Tenn Kujo seemed pretty happy when he got a request from his little brother.

Toma Inumaru: Yep. So you did listen to it, after all!

Haruka Isumi: Huh? Ah..!

Haruka Isumi: N-no I didn't! I just happened to hear it from a car radio on my way somehwere.

Toma Inumaru: If you already know what the show's like, then that makes things easier! Apparently we'll also get requests from the listeners.

Toma Inumaru: Make sure to come up with good ones!

Minami Natsume: Very well. You'll answer anything, won't you?

Torao Mido: Feels nice to be on the asking end of a relationship for once.

Haruka Isumi: Let's rebel like we always do, even on radio! 

- - - -

Toma Inumaru: Is everybody here? Our next radio host's Mina. Let's get working on those requests!

Minami Natsume: Thank you. I'm hoping none of your requests will bore me to death.

Toma Inumaru: Hey, quit putting so much pressure on us.

Torao Mido: What, are you that insecure about your request, Toma?

Toma Inumaru: Nah, I just get nervous when Mina's expectations are high...

Haruka Isumi: You're so lame, Toma. Can I go first, then?

Torao Mido: Haha. Our youngest is taking the lead again. Sure, go ahead.

Haruka Isumi: Hmph. It's your fault for being slow.

Haruka Isumi: ...Minami, reply to my RabbitChat message immediately.

Minami, Toma, & Torao: Message..?

Minami Natsume: Er... You haven't sent me any new messages...

Haruka Isumi: I don't mean right now, I mean during the show! That's my request!

Minami Natsume: Why during the show?

Haruka Isumi: You're too slow to reply! And sometimes you straight up leave me on read.

Haruka Isumi: I figured you'd care more if I ordered you to reply on live radio!

Minami Natsume: Oh dear. You could've just asked, you know.

Torao Mido: Don't you wanna take this chance to ask for something more special?

Haruka Isumi: I-I'm fine with this! My turn's over!

Toma Inumaru: Huh, you guys must message a lot. What do you usually talk about?

Minami Natsume: We do. He tells me about fun things that happened to him at school.

Minami Natsume: The other day, he sent me pictures of an adorable snake plushie. Apparently he, Izumi-san, and Yotsuba-san had stopped by an arcade after school...

Toma Inumaru: Oh, so they were playing the claw games. That sounds fun, Haru..!

Torao Mido: Hey, Haruka. How come you didn't send me anything?

Toma Inumaru: Are you seriously gonna get hung up on that..?

Haruka Isumi: I just thought it looked kinda like Minami... That's it!

Minami Natsume: Hee hee, thank you. I'm glad you're having fun with your friends.

Haruka Isumi: T-they're not my friends!

Haruka Isumi: Anyway, you need to start messaging me more!

Minami Natsume: Oh my. I appreciate your passion.

Haruka Isumi: ...Hmph.

Toma Inumaru: Okay! I'm next!

Toma Inumaru: Can you binge a bunch of food?

Minami Natsume: ...Binge?

Toma Inumaru: You emptied all those   bowls when we had that shoot at the ramen  place, remember? I wanna know how much  food a skinny guy like you can eat!

Minami Natsume: I'll eat when I need to, but I'm not sure if  I want to test my limits...

Haruka Isumi: ...Would it even be any fun to listen to him eat?

Toma Inumaru: ...Ah.

Torao Mido: Haha, he's got a point. You need to remember that this project's audio only.

Toma Inumaru: Well... You could still do a food report! You can describe a food just fine, can't you?

Minami Natsume: Sigh... Not another food-related project.  

Toma Inumaru: Huh!?

Minami Natsume: You must be very fixated on food for some reason.

Toma Inumaru: N-no, I'm not! I just thought it might be nice..! And there's no guarantee that you'll end up with my request, anyway!

Minami Natsume: Hmm...

Toma Inumaru: D-don't gimme that look... H-hey, Tora!

Torao Mido: ...I'm not gonna help you out of this mess.

Haruka Isumi: Loser...

Minami Natsume: ...Hee hee. You're clearly plotting something. Now I'm curious to see what your request will be like.

Toma Inumaru: L-let's move on! Go ahead, Tora!

Torao Mido: Sure. I'll wrap this up nicely.

Torao Mido: As for my request... You're gonna have to wait until the broadcast to hear it.

Minami, Haruka, & Toma: ...What?

Haruka Isumi: What's that supposed to mean?

Torao Mido: It means my request will be a secret unless he ends up getting it.

Torao Mido: We don't have any reason to care about predetermined outcomes.

Torao Mido: What you get and how you respond is all up to you, Minami.

Minami Natsume: ...Haha. That's so typical of you... Or all of us, rather.

Torao Mido: Isn't it exciting?

Minami Natsume: Yes, very.

Toma Inumaru: I hadn't thought of that. Just remember that you gotta have a request ready by the broadcast, okay Tora?

Torao Mido: Yeah, I'm just getting started. 

Haruka Isumi: Getting started with what? Is it really that complicated?

Torao Mido: Wait and see.

Minami Natsume: Each of your requests were so unique that I doubt I'll have any leeway to be bored.

Toma Inumaru: Well, duh! This is our radio show.

Torao Mido: I hope we won't have to be bored listening to you, either.

Haruka Isumi: Go wild.

Minami Natsume: Just who do you think I am, exactly?

Minami Natsume: My performance will be top-notch, as always. 

End of Part 1.

[cezulian]

At that point with fandom and also ADHD where even though the series is dear to me I am so invested in like only a few aspects of Naruto (Kisame and Itachi’s relationship, the Akatsuki as a whole, Kirigakure as a whole) but invested so deeply that when I see a Naruto blog I’m briefly startled and want to get away from it bc being reminded that there is a whole other flood of in-depth discourse about the series that I don’t know as much about as other folks is overwhelming and terrifying in a weird way. Mostly I think bc I know that if I find out some shit I forgot about in the story was mega stupid I know I’m gonna go down the rabbit hole of reading shit until I have a firm opinion and also I’m gonna fixate on the logic/reasoning or lackthereof of the stupid shit so hard that I’m just gonna stay mad. I’m not saying those blogs can’t get into it if they want obviously, it is just literally like trying to avoid looking at the Sharingan even though like oh yeah of course I know what ppl say about the Sharingan its legendary its so wild but there’s so much I don’t know about the Sharingan if I could just take it without making eye contact I’ll oops oh no I’m in a genjutsu now and oh shit I’m out after so many days maybe months and I’m tired and in pain and what do you mean I was only in there for a few minutes I feel like I literally got hit by a train fuck I guess I will just go back to romanticizing my little stories and fun parts about the Sharingan and using that knowledge to pour into my BURDENSOME, ABSTRACT, IMPASSIONED AND OBSESSIVE study of the Byakugan and if I hear anybody say anything about the history of the Sharingan I will simply run away, covering my ears as much as possible, and I will nurture this avoidance of Sharingan information until it manifests itself as a fucking phobia, that’s what it feels like.

[belladonnaandulriched]

the dead of night | chapter one

I had no idea if I could stand up right, but then again I watched Frankie lift himself up on the ground as if he was doing his own push ups. He brushed himself off and turned to me with a hand extended out. I held onto his hand; he used his other hand to set onto my shoulder to help me up.

When he and I were face to face, he gazed on at me with a frightened look upon his face.

“What year do you think it is?” he asked me in a low voice; I glanced over at Hannah and Joey nearing us. I returned to him and shook my head.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked us.

“We were—looking—for something,” Frankie sputtered and I could

“We were looking for something, too,” Hannah replied as she put her arm around Joey's lower back: I spotted her hand on his hip. The solemn look on her face told it all. Francine had just gone missing.

“D'you guys call the police?” I asked Joey.

“Francine's parents did, but neither of us felt like it was going to help matters,” he confessed with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Yeah, especially since she went missing in Canada,” Hannah added, to which her face fell. I never realized how much she resembled to that of a doll with her full round face and milky skin and her deep dark eyes. Kristina had long blonde almost silvery white hair which reminded me of Hannah's near black locks, but if I recalled it well, Hannah was part Native American like Joey himself; except she was also part Scandinavian rather than half Italian like him.

All I knew from their story was that they met when they were kids and they separated some time in middle school, because she moved over to Rochester and he became Mr. Hockey Player. They found each other again when he entered the fold at Anthrax and we had put out Armed and Dangerous with him, and then I had no idea what happened after that. They separated again after Spreading the Disease and then we let Joey go before State of Euphoria, and there they were again. I had my hair back again, though.

“Yeah, Scott, I remember you sayin' we had to put production on hold just to find Francine,” Joey pointed out with a slight smirk on his face. Didn't really help matters, but I knew Frankie and I had to go along with it. But then again, Joey was still babyfaced like when he first joined, so all I could assume was we had gone back to just prior to our showing him the door.

“Uh, yeah,” was all I could say. He chuckled at me and all I could feel was my face growing warm.

“Yeah, I remember you actually calling up me and Joey and saying 'production is being put on hold because it's an emergency we're dealing with here',” Hannah recalled, complete with a telephone gesture up to her ear. So they were living together. “You don't remember doing that? You also told us to meet you here at this very corner.”

“Yeah, it was like just this morning,” Joey added.

“Of course I remember it!” I exclaimed. “It's just—I didn't think you guys'd get here as quickly as you did.”

“Hey, if it's Francine or my mom or anybody we care about, we're gonna get here stat, Scott,” Joey assured me.

“Stat Scott,” she echoed. “Gonna stat some Scott.”

“Bit of a tongue twister, too,” Frankie pointed out, which made the two of them laugh.

“Well, come along—I see Nancy and her new boy up ahead,” Hannah gestured up the block. Frankie shivered and followed her along; I ran my fingers through that stringy hair around the crown of my head and followed suit. Frankie and I emerged from the alleyway to the sidewalk and the street, where we were met with those tall buildings making up the skyline of New York City. I wondered who Nancy was as I stared up at the apartment buildings on the block. Something metallic drifted up above the rooftop of the building closest to us. I didn't what it was but something about it made me squirm in the soles of my shoes. I peered down to the street before us.

A pillar of smoke floated up from a manhole cover and vaporized into nothing. Next to the pillar was a small neon blue light on a post. Something moved in the light and the smoke.

A ghost. A faint ghost about the color of the blue neon emerged from the fog. Three more appeared from the vent on the storm drain before they vaporized into nothing.

Nightmares. Nightmares were all I could think about.

I could hear them talking to one another next to Frankie and me.

“It's okay—we're gonna find her,” I heard him whisper to her. I turned my head to find Hannah putting her arms around Joey's svelte waist, and his resting his hand on the back of her head. I wondered about the warmth between the two of them, and it made me miss Kristina even more.

I glanced up at ahead to another dark haired woman standing on the corner with—

“Is that Geddy Lee,” Frankie blurted out.

Joey and Hannah glanced over at us with beaming grins on their faces. I couldn't resist the grin on my face at the sight of that hooked nose and those feathery bangs over deep set eyes. He looked nothing like from this era, however: he had shed his long hair by this era, or so I thought. I wondered about him, especially when they entered our view and I noticed his skin was smooth, much like Joey's face.

“Hey, you two,” Joey squeaked out; his voice quivered and waved with excitement.

“There they are,” I heard Nancy say. She showed off a big red wine colored smile at us and gestured towards the four of us.

“Ah, the infamous New Yorkers,” Geddy's Canadian accent cut through me like a knife. I couldn't believe it when he neared us.

“Scott, Frank—this is my friend Nancy Kensington,” Hannah introduced us. “Art student from Seattle.”

“And I've met ya already,” Joey replied with a wink of his eye.

“I know you have,” Nancy taunted him with a grin on her face.

“By the way, what even happened with you and Chris?” Hannah asked her.

“We broke up—it went downhill pretty quickly, like... over the course of a few months. Dominique and Matt broke up, too.”

“Oh, damn,” Frankie remarked.

“Yeah,” Nancy raised her dark eyebrows in answer. “He and I broke up but I found him, though.” She glanced over to Geddy and those large specs over his narrow face, to which he nodded his head from side to side.

“That girl also disappeared in Toronto, too,” he pointed out. “We came together out of intensity.”

“Francine?” Frankie corrected him.

“That's right! She went missing in the dead of night in Toronto.”

“He's more of a cop than a cop,” Joey cracked, which brought a laugh out of all of us.

“Well, let's get out of the street, shall we?” Nancy suggested as she adjusted the shoulder strap of her bag. “You guys look cold and I feel like there's something watching us.” She peered up at the apartment buildings again, and I followed her gaze to the metallic object up above the rooftop.

“What even is that?” I asked her. “Do you know?”

“It's a drone,” said Hannah. “I'm glad it's way the hell up there, too. Joey said he feels weird when one comes closer to him.”

“Yeah, Lars and I were over in Boston a while back and we saw one of those,” Joey recalled.

“I've seen a few up in Canada, too,” Geddy added as he put his arm around Nancy's shoulder. “You get like this shaky, frightful feeling within you—like you're about to be attacked by something vicious.” He pointed across the street to a small bright lit cafe.

“Let's go there—looks warm and toasty in there.”

“We can have a cup of Joey and a glass of wine,” Hannah declared.

“Exactly!” he laughed. Joey and the girls stepped towards the curb, and Frankie stood next to Joey with his arms folded across his chest, even though he wore a light sweater. Geddy, meanwhile, turned to me. I could see those eyes of his digging deep within me behind the gradient shades. He gestured for me to come closer to him.

“What era are you from?” he asked me in a low enough voice for me to hear over the slight noise of the street.

“The pandemic era,” I said. “Frankie and me both—we came back to find Francine and for me to meet up with—someone dear to me.”

“A young lady?”

“Yeah. A girl I went to school with and—kinda had a thing with. It was totally a secret so no one from that era knows I'm here.”

“Well—Alex and I came back to redo things for Presto and Hold Your Fire, but apparently year numbers are things you can miss upon time travel, especially when you have a wild mind such as mine. We wanted to hit it through again, so we tried again.”

“And now—you're here.”

“We're here. Well, I am, anyways. Alex is back home with his girlfriend and his baby.”

I raised his eyebrows at him.

“And yes. Neil is with us, too.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but no sound came out. He gestured for me to come in closer to him. He peered over at Joey, Frankie, Hannah, and Nancy at the curb.

“I know how transient everything can be,” he whispered to me. “I know how things can end, and so quickly.”

Something caught my eye.

I recognized her long platinum blonde hair down to her waist. Like one of the ghosts roaming about the street, except her dress and her cloak whipped behind her in the winds rather than become part of the scenery. I knew that guitar case on her back anywhere. Geddy followed my gaze.

“Is that her?” I nodded my head.

“Kristina!” I exclaimed and my voice echoed over the pavement before us. She turned her head to show me her deep set dark eyes, a sharp contrast to that long blonde hair. Her eyes fixated onto me. I thought I would never see those eyes again following the release of Volume 8.

The corners of her mouth curled up into a warm Mona Lisa type smile.

“Kristina!” I repeated, to which she hurried towards me. She gripped onto the strap of her guitar case and hurried over to me: strands of her long blonde hair streamed behind her head. Her black lace skirt billowed behind her legs like a sail. A firm feeling emerged inside of my throat. Over twenty years without her, and yet it was about to hold off for the time being for me.

“Hey, Scott,” she greeted me in that kind voice once she came within earshot.

[tslasvegas]

Episode 4: “I'm sorry Daddy, I've been very naughty.” - Keegan

Dan and JAKE! A WORD IN MY OFFICE PLEASE! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS.

Wow! Today was A Day to say the least. I feel like boo boo the fool with how things went down today, but hopefully, I can recover from that now that there’s a new tribe. I’m excited to get to know new people, but sad to see my old alliances have to come to an end. I guess we’ll see what happens

Finally a swap and golly 5 OG Palazzo! I really hope this works in our favor. Kinda nervous for Joey and Stephanie tho because now they are in the minority of their tribe. I do hope they’ll find a way to survive till merge

LMFAO IM... watching the tribal council for the other tribe and I'm SORRY??? Who the fuck is Jake S he is the most condescending man I've ever seen in my entire life YIKES. Anyways this swap is nice.. I think I've got a good group, I really hope we win the next few immunities because I 1) really dont want to see Rachael on this tribe and 2) i want to try and rebuild my um. tattered relationships. I did the best I could in the challenge for tonight, I'll try to come back tomorrow a little more renewed cus I'm kinda wiped out from today's events. Now that my tribal council cherry has been popped for this Org its time to go crazy woop

So good not to check Luxor anymore! 

Well last tribal went fine, I got to see what was in the Prize Vault which is awesome; now I have a better idea of the twist. Big problem though- Our swap put me in the minority. I was running Luxor and had a core 4, now they have 5 OG Pink so they can pluck us off, one at a time. I went from drivers seat to getting driven over. We need to win the challenge, so I'm gonna go ham in winterbells and hope to pull it out.

We swapped! I think I made a confessional already, but honestly I don't remember. I gave Livingston some of my chips so he can go visit the vault after the immunity challenge. We'll see what is in there and for how much, and maybe snatch up some real nice items to help us out. I've also got Andrew on my side, which is great and he's apparently quite tight with Pat, which is fantastic. Mo is a pretty decent dude and I've been talking with Jake a lot today. Things are going alright. I just hope we can win this challenge. 

Phew, while the swap was not ideal. I was really liking my tribe, we were kind of quiet but individually everyone was great and we also kicked butt at challenges! Anyway, the swap with numbers wise not great, but I know Xavi from a previous game and we have a solid relationship, I hope he and John and Joey and myself can build a solid squad to make it to the merge. The challenge was rough tbh, I am not great at video games, but I think I did ok... Jaiden got like 20 trillion points on a game so really I have no idea how I did. Hoping for the best!

I am losing my mind in my personal life so I am sorry that I have been mia. I appreciate the patience from the hosts and my tribe. It makes me still want to play even though I've been kinda invisible. I'm aware of that. I'll fix it. I promise. Otherwise, its been pretty good as a tribe so far. Andrew, Pat, and NIk and i are all really close from other games, so we're good and Andrew and Pat and I are together, which is just really unfair if you ask me. I can't wait to start scheming!

Uhhhhhh.................................... anyways........ yall hear somethin? Oh I hear something. It's the sound of Joey literally blowing himself up to me hardcore!!!! The narcissism and arrogance really jumped out on this one. So Joey had the idea of calling tonight to go over some stuff and honestly out of the 2 hours we spent, I think about 45-60 mins of it was rather nice and I do feel that I enjoy his presence, but omg... his desire for control is so noticeable and its kinda gross. Joey and I debriefed on what went down on Bellagio and I totally understand why there was the difference in us discussing tribe dynamics - I had to give up all my info while he kinda kept things more reserved. I want to assume this is because of the fact that I went to tribal and he hasn't until now. I won't judge him for that. However, after this he's kinda like dictating the fact that an OG Bellagio needs to go home. Ben is the easier person to throw under the bus since he didn't even bother to do the challenge/let us know what's up. Not a big fan of that, but aight. Then Joey starts suggesting we vote out Kailyn...?? Uh... not on my watch. I have to make it up to Kailyn at least a little bit so even though she's probably got a loaded gun pointed at my head rn, I want to defuse the situation rather than start throwing her out there as a potential target. Even if it isn't coming from me, I'm not here for that. The information that Joey did give up to me relates to the chips in the game. I've never paid much attention to the chips, but I guess it takes 10 to get into the vault and Joey's got between 11 and 15 (he changed his answer on the subject SEVERAL times). He says there are three idols worth 40 chips each, then a super idol worth I think 50 or 60 (can't remember). On top of that, there are nullifiers, vote advantages, and a legacy advantage, too. He seems fixated on the legacy advantage and really wants the chips to get it. Like.. ok do you but we NEED the super idol?? Does he not realize that thing has more power than anything else in the vault combined..? ANYWAYS. What really started to turn me off about Joey is that there was this sudden expectation that I'd be giving him all of my chips thus far. I don't care about them to begin with but knowing what I know now, it doesn't make sense for me to give him my stash just to fuel his hunt for... a measly legacy advantage... I put myself in a compromising position. I told him that once a host gets back to me on my exact total, I'd be willing to trade him my chips for I guess an allyship going forward. I mean that. I want to work with Joey at least through this vote, but I can't guarantee that it'll go much further than that. He is a very risky person for my game right now because if he's coming off this strong to everybody, it's only going to hurt me by association to stick with him longer than a vote or two. However, I'm going to try and divert the attention and just be like, maybe we need to use my five as a bartering piece for new allies at this point. I want to try and build meaningful partnerships right now, especially since that was the only reason I wanted to make it to the merge.. Rebuilding is crucial as well. Kailyn and possibly Nik/Rachael are not going to be fond of me once we all have "the talk" about last tribal. I put myself in an even more compromising position with them, but I'll find my way out of that mess. I think........ As far as this tribe goes, I think between Joey's WILD imagination/constant over-analyzing and the lack of direction this tribe has taken so far.. I'm doing okay. Nobody is really standing out besides Joey and I guess myself in a way, so if I keep him around it MIGHT even shrink my own target little by little - unless people find out we're together then FUK. 

......five seconds later

In terms of my other relationships right now, I love John Coffey but this is old news, I've been in love with this man since like 2016 and it's fine - totally fine - just fangirling a bit rn since I get to spend more time with him!! woohoo. Xavier and Stephanie are straight up non-entities which makes me SO scared of them especially since Stephanie's won an ORG before... how can someone be so irrelevant yet still win something? Hmm... Makes me think that she's secretly a ninja, you never even see her around. Nik has grown more and more quiet as the days go along and I wonder what's goin' on with that. Maybe they've decided since Biden won the election that moving to New Zealand is a bad idea? Lmfao. I dunno. Nik stresses me the hell out because I have no idea what they're thinking at any point in time even in the off-chance that we are talking. I think I might just have a personality they don't mesh with because I noticed on call forever ago that none of my jokes were particularly landing but Nik had a lot to say and a LOT to joke about there... rip. If it's a personality conflict - go off, I guess. I'll try on a couple different hats w this person to try and see if I can get things to go better than they have been. Kailyn.. like I said before, pretty sure she's after me but I am really trying to sell it to her that I like her a lot, because I do. I literally compare her to my best friend irl because they have very similar attributes and I consider Kailyn kinda messy but fun and quirky like my BFF so I hope that Kailyn did truly appreciate me making that comparison. Ben's inability to do this challenge is going to be his undoing. I think the only acceptable move is to vote him off this time because I HAVE to prove to Kailyn that I can stay the course, and I also need to whittle down Bellagio numbers to prevent people from targeting us and having everything go to shit that way. Let Joey control this, please dear god. Don't let me get blood on my hands. Let Rachael integrate herself well on this tribe. Let someone else blow themselves up in the process. Just not me plz and thanks. There is no fear in my soul tonight. Joey might be a fucking crackhead but so am I. I'm breaking down walls that I didn't think existed but Joey basically told me tonight that he thought I was confrontational, rude, chaotic, and all these other things but was impressed at how calm, optimistic, and outgoing I was. Love to hear it. He might think he overestimated me but he was right about the initial impressions... too bad he won't be around long enough to see that side of me :~) 

FIRSTLY, DeNara was robbed. Okay so I already wrote this a while ago in my host chat about how the fact jake and dan are praying for my downfall because after the swap i am the only og bellagio on a tribe with 5 palazzo and 2 luxor. so after I slowly blinked at my screen for a bit I was like okay how do we survive this if I go to tribal. Because I’m under the impression tribes are gonna stick together especially going into merge but since Luxor is already down so many members it’s kinda Bellagio Vs. Palazzo. but then I was like okay wait I’m the only member of bellagio on this tribe after coming from a tribal so I’m the only one who can say what happened and I can create what narrative I want to help me get through the next couple rounds. Because if I was like oh blah blah I was in majority im so fucked then of course they’re gonna target me to get me out. But if I play the victim card and milk the fact that I voted in the minority acting like I hate my og tribe maybe they’ll think to use me as a pawn. To take down others moving forward. Listen if I have to be labeled a goat to move forward then BAA bitch.

.....five seconds later

Things are going good, because not only am no longer in danger this round but that means Rachael is going to the enemy tribe which if she came to our tribe that might’ve disrupted the narrative I had going of me being against og bellagio. Also DeNara should still be here, don’t think I didn’t clock the fact that Ben scored a 0. I also found out from Andrew that Rachael and Ben are apart of the same Tengaged group which explains why Rachael was so set on Ben staying but like, listen, if I end up in a game with someone I’m friends with, and they’re not active and helping the tribe. Good riddance.

What the. We lost yet again. I have lost everything since the start of the game. It's crazy. There are 4 from Bellagio, 2 Palazzo and 2 Luxor. 2+2 seems like an obvious plan, but it looks like it is falling apart already (read: Joey). Sucks to be across the world, so instead of scheming, I'll be sleeping.

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. is the same as I'm sorry Daddy, I've been very naughty. 

The swap did happen. Expected it. Glad we won this first challenge in this new tribe tho in worried for Stephanie and Joey

Vault Shenanigans - Holy shit I did not expect this to be as powerful as it is. I was preparing myself for some sort of payment based search system, but being able to straight up buy the items I want, but its also the same for other people. I had a misconception at how generous the wheel was so I'm probably behind some people with the amount of chips, but I could very well start scooping up some of the steal votes and just say "see ya" to the idols, although getting a super idol would be very wild, it still seems risky to hold out that long to get it, even though there's a great amount of power associated with it. The other issue with a super idol is that I think that its very likely that if I get into a position where I need to use it, that I lose a lot of respect with the jury if it does happen. The only benefit from actually having it would be that I no longer have to worry about someone else whipping it out, so it'd be less for me wanting it, but more for others not having it. As of now, I think my optimal play is to hold on to my chips until around ~40, and then buy both vote steals at once, OR go all out for the super if someone has already bought an idol by that point, because I would be operating under the assumption that the frontrunner is already out of the running. Tribe Swap Shenanigans - This is a hell of a tribe swap. 5-2-1 is always a great spot to be in, I am already good within the 5 that I have so I don't have to worry about anything there, it should be relatively smooth sailing as far as getting to the merge. Mo/Jake are alright so far, neither particularly speak too much. Kevin has not reached out at all, probably will try to talk to him tonight for general purposes, even if he seems like he'd be an easy one to get out first should we go to tribal the next time. But generally I really don't plan on losing so it's kind of a wash. I'll take the smooth sailing, easy path to merge. Premerge is never as relevant as merge is when it comes to FTC as long as you have something to show for yourself at the merge. I've got all game to make my presence known, and I plan on using the entirety of the game to do so.

I feel super anxious today because even though I had a great conversation and built a good connection to Joey, there hasn't been any talk about the vote quite yet. I mean obviously names have rolled out but nothing solid is out there still, I think I just need to let go of the urgency for a name to start being spread early on and just let things be. Stephanie and I have been chatting a bit here and there today so I feel more comfortable with her and hopefully she sees things from a similar perspective as everyone else - the Bellagio foursome needs to get broken up right now. As long as it's not my name of course!!!!! Plz vote Ben @everyone. Or Kailyn tbh save me a little bit of trouble now. Talking to Xavier is SO HARD LMAO. He doesn't immediately contribute information into a conversation and as bad as I wanna get rid of Ben, I almost..almost think going for Xavier is the smarter move, since Xavier doesn't seem too motivated to actually get to know ME and work with me. I'm selfish that way. Kailyn doesn't seem like she wants to do Ben which is a little frustrating but I totally get it, if Ben stays he's going to go after her hardcore but like she needs to actually pitch me an alternative lmfao. I don't wanna go bending over backwards just to appease her right now so if she doesn't gimme a name.. sorry sis but then I think it's gonna be Joey's call on this one :/

I am being very cautious now. The 4 of us (me, John, Joey and Steph) are going to vote together. Now Jaiden wants to vote Nik. And Kailyn wants to vote Ben. Why can't we just agree on one?! And it always has to go down to the wire. Stick together, people!

I think I am possibly leading the charge against Nik rn?? Joey told me he wanted Ben and then I told him I wanted Nik and now he wants Nik LOL take that Stephen 

Okay well I have no idea what's going to happen tonight, but I'm going into tribal not afraid of the vote I am probably going to have to make ... I think the best move is to just vote for Nik and be done with it, but it's going to cause a serious rift in a lot of my relationships if I do so. I've been super wishy-washy to a lot of people I think and right now it doesn't make sense to continuously do one thing when I mean another.. especially since there seems to be zero ground to move upon when it comes to getting the vote to turn from Nik to Ben. Nik doesn't even SEEM ACTIVE?? Why are we making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. Ben can't just walk around deciding what's going on and I think Kailyn would prefer to keep Nik around rather than Ben but it's like... so push for Ben to be the target hun! She's feeding into someone else's move no matter what she does, it's either Ben's agenda or John's agenda. Pick a side, but pick the side I'm on, too. Why don't we just vote for Kailyn tbh. lmao

[mistymark]

the one with the feelings [1] // m.k.l

mark lee x reader // 1.9k words // part 1/2 // masterlist

summary; in which mark and y/n have a lot of feelings but never at the same time apparently // the times we fought our feelings for each other and the one time we didn’t

warnings; drinking // light angst? // heartache

request; no I just saw this prompt and loved it

notes; why does this remind me of love, Rosie (I cried three times in that movie)

October 2012, age 13

The squeaky sounds of sneakers on the polished wooden floor and the bouncing of basketballs was all you could hear as you watched the other students run around, throwing and catching balls between them with grins on their faces. Spinning around, you searched for Mark, your best friend and latest crush - after having helped you clean your wound after you scraped your knee on the asphalt at school.

Nowhere to be found, you decided to duck under the back of the bleachers, your secret sanctuary when you didn’t want to partake in PE. Lifting the curtain to allow yourself entry, you saw Mark, grinning at a figure in the dark.

It took you a moment to notice their interlocking fingers, their touching shoulders, their legs brushing against each other’s as they squished together on the bench. Letting the curtain fall from your grasp, you hang your head and disappear into the bathrooms, unseen.

February 2014, age 14

You sat on the rickety chair in your ill-fitting school-dance outfit, watching the couples dance awkwardly on the dance floor. Spotting Mark across the dance floor, standing beside the drinks table as he waits for an opportunity to stop talking to one of your teachers, his hands casually resting in his suit pant pockets. The jacket hangs off his skinny frame a little too much, making him appear smaller than he actually was.

A few moments later, he was walking over to you, two cups of the terrible punch in his hands as he narrowly dodged the dancing people in his path. A grin found itself on your face as he sat beside you, passing you one of the cups.

You sat together for a while, talking mindlessly about the dance and school and whatever else came to mind that night. When there was a bout of silence, Mark placed his cup on the floor, wiping his slightly sweaty palms on his pants as he tried to muster up the courage to ask you to dance. His mouth suddenly went dry.

Within a second, a hand was being outstretched to you, the smiling face of one of the boys in your class looking down at you, asking you to dance. Having not yet been asked to dance, you eagerly grabbed his hand, letting him pull you out of your chair and onto the dance floor. 

Mark stayed sitting, waiting for you to come back. Waiting to ask you to dance.

August 2017, age 18

The flashing lights and loud bass was slowly starting to make you feel numb, but you watched with a grin on your face as Mark danced on his living room table, the small wooden piece of furniture barely supporting his weight as he moved. 

You had lost count of your alcohol intake, and Mark was clearly drunk, dancing haphazardly on top of the table. When the song ended, one of the boys nearby turned down the volume of the speakers, yelling, “Speech! Speech!”

Soon enough, everyone was chanting for Mark to deliver a speech, and he stood casually atop the table as he handed his beer to someone next to him. He addressed the crowd, “You’re all here! It’s my birthday, thank you.” His eyes found yours, “Oh, Y/n! Come here.” When you didn’t move, he waved you over again.

Eventually you stood below him, looking up at him in confusion, whisper shouting up at him, “What are you doing?” Your foggy brain struggled to focus on Mark as you watched him sway lightly on his feet.

He grinned at you and grabbed your arm, helping you up onto the table. When you were stood safely beside him, he wrapped his arm around your waist, “Everyone! Tonight would not have been made possible without Y/n,” he turned to look you in the eyes, his face serious, “my best friend.”

There was a beat before someone started cheering, and then the music was slowly being turned up as people turned to each other, happily chatting and resuming their dancing.

You stood still on the top of the coffee table with Mark, his arm still wrapped tightly around you, his eyes staring into yours. His gaze flickered to your lips, and he stared at them for a while, silently debating whether he should go for it.

And he did.

Suddenly his lips were on yours and your hands were cupping his face, his arm holding you against him as his other hand rested on the back of your neck.

With the cloudiness of your brain and the sensation of Mark kissing you, you found it difficult to focus on your surroundings, but the obvious squeak of the table was enough to pull you from the haze. With great difficulty, you pushed yourself away and stepped off the table, tugging Mark’s hand so he followed you.

Before Mark’s foot met the ground, the table was crumbling, snapping in half at the added weight and movement from your actions. He winced drunkenly at the table, then decided it was best to go find a sensible adult to deal with the problem, quickly making his way to the kitchen and abandoning you.

December 2017, age 18

You sat silently on the porch of your house, the porch swing creaking as you swung slowly, your gaze fixated on your feet. Christmas was always a busy time for your family, with all the parties and events your family hosted, but it seemed that no one had come looking for you yet, so you found yourself in the only quiet part of your house; the open porch.

There was a door slam on the street, and you looked up as Mark’s parents stepped out of their car, his mother carrying a large wrapped gift and his father a tray of dessert. Mark, dressed in a suit jacket and black jeans, stepped out of the car only to run back to grab something he’d left.

His parents continued up the drive to your house, greeting you with their warm smiles, “Hi, dear. How have your holidays been?”

You grinned back at them, noticing again how much of his parents you could see in Mark, “Brilliant, thank you.” You pointed your thumb in the direction of the front door. “Party’s inside.”

They nodded and smiled a little wider when they realised you weren’t coming inside with them, but you dismissed it as you continued lazily swinging on the porch swing.

A moment later, Mark was jogging up the drive, taking the stairs two steps at a time to reach you, puffing slightly, “Hey.”

You continued swinging, a smile on your face, “Hey.”

He stood up straighter, examining the outside of your house, “The place looks great. New door?”

“New door,” you nodded. 

“Looks good,” he stuffed his hands in his jean pockets, nodding to himself.

You raised an eyebrow, “I haven’t seen you in, like, a month and all you have to say is that my door looks good?”

“It’s not the only thing,” he smirked at you, pleased with himself before untucking his hands and making his way over to sit beside you. “I got you something.”

“You- what? No, Mark, you didn't have to! I didn’t get you anything,” you were suddenly ashamed of yourself; why hadn’t you gotten him a gift?

“Oh, come on, it’s not a big deal,” he shrugged, smiling and handing you a small box. “It’s nothing big, I promise.”

You stared at him for a moment before nodding, turning to look eagerly at the small box before you. Mark chuckled at your excitement. You opened the lid, “It’s - woah! It’s the friendship bracelet I made you ages ago!”

“When we were nine,” he corrected, beaming down at the tiny bracelet, glad that you’d remembered.

“Is this you returning my gift? You don’t want to be friends anymore?” 

“No! I thought - I thought you’d like it. I found it a few weeks ago-”

“I can’t believe you kept it.”

He shrugged, eyeing the bracelet and avoiding your face, “No big deal.”

You grinned, throwing your arms around him, “Thank you. I love it.”

You felt him hesitate for a moment before letting his arms wrap around you, holding you warmly in his embrace, the bracelet hanging off your fingers as you breathed in the scent of him, enjoying the moment.

January 2018, age 18

“1! Happy New Year!” The crowd cheered with excitement as the large ball on the television dropped, before images of people cheering, kissing and drinking populated the screen.

Your friend stood beside you, a glass raised to her lips, “You’re driving tonight, right?” You nodded, and she grinned, “Looks like I’m starting this year the same way I did last, drunk as fuck.” She toasted to you politely before proceeding to drain her glass, walking into the kitchen to find another.

There was a tap on your shoulder and you spun around, your eyes meeting Mark’s. The music started up again as the party continued, and dancing bodies swarmed onto the dance floor of the host’s living room, somebody harshly bumping into Mark, causing him to step forward, his chest merely inches from your own.

“Hey,” he breathed, his hands holding your waist from when he’d almost tripped. “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year,” you whispered back. You weren’t sure if he could hear you, but he seemed to understand. “Any kisses this year?”

His eyes found themselves on your lips again as he leant closer, “Only one.” His lips met yours softly, the loudness and wildness of the party juxtaposing the sweet, sober moment between you two.

You pulled back, “What was that for?”

He bit his lip in an attempt to hide his smile, “I had to know what it was like.”

“What what was like?”

“Kissing you.”

February 2018, age 18

[2:47pm] Mark: got any plans this afternoon?

[2:50pm] You: not really, just packing the last of my stuff

[2:50pm] Mark: wdym?

[2:50pm] You: for college dummy

[2:51pm] You: I leave in two weeks remember

[2:51pm] You: gotta be ready :))

[2:52pm] Mark: ofc I cant believe I forgot

[2:52pm] Mark: must be bc im gonna miss you ://

[2:52pm] You: oh shut up ur such a drama queen

[2:53pm] Mark: bc ur not dramatic enough!!

[2:53pm] Mark: im not gonna see you in forever

[2:53pm] You: I’m literally going to be at ur brothers engagement party what is wrong with you

[2:54pm] Mark: I hate talking to you im gonna go pack

[2:55pm] Mark: promise you’ll be there?

[2:57pm] You: of course

April 2018, age 18

You groaned and hit the horn again, the long highway before you backed up far into the distance. The grey sky contrasted against the severity of the red brake lights ahead of you, glowering angrily at you from where they stood, unmoving. Anxious, you fiddled with the blue material of your cocktail dress, the white envelope sitting on the seat beside you, the time and place of Mark’s brother’s engagement party printed neatly on the card inside; 6pm at the Grand Wyatt Hotel. You glanced wearily at the clock on your dash, the numbers steadily increasing until 6pm hit, and later passed.

[bellyjcksn]

event: dayton’s annual bbq location: parking lot, quentin’s tesla

[continued from the event chat]

quentin: Quentin had made his way back to the parking lot to put his guitar back into his car. His 2018 Tesla sp 85 was parked away from most of the other cars, in one of the darkest spots of the lot. He sat in the drivers seat with his door propped open, as he cut up a line on the back of one of his old cd cases. Hoping no one  who would see him and want to cause trouble.

belly: Belly was everywhere and nowhere all at once. Her shroom trip was at the tippy top, everything feeling long and tall and like time was stopping. Her hair was wild, up in a pony tail and her brother's old sweatshirt hung around her frame almost enough to hide that she was wearing shorts. She was int he parking lot somehow, Belly spotting a shiny cool looking car and - ooh, someone was cutting blow. Like a hawk with that shit, she was. "Yo cool guy!" the girl called, skipping over to the Tesla, "usually I don't approach strangers out of fear, it is 2019 right? But this looks iconic as hell. Mind I snap a pic before I start buggin' you for a bump?"

quentin: Hearing the girls voice as she approached his car, he looked up to see who it was. His eyes peering through his dark hair as it hung in his face. A small grin stretched across his lips at her comment and he shrugged slightly to the side. Normally he wouldn’t let anyone snap these type of photos of him, for fear of discrimination. He was the lead singer in a pretty well known band after all. “Sure, go for baby girl”’he responded. “Just don’t use it to black mail me and I’ll give you all the bumps you want.”

belly: "It's for my personal viewing pleasure, but if you're lucky I'll send it to you," Belly replied with a smirk, eyelashes batting. It felt like her steps backward took forever, the air thicker than it had been before the trip had wrapped it's arms around her. Bringing out her phone, she opened up the camera app and snapped a couple of pics, making sure to get the whole Tesla and the the boy in a candid position. All for the 'gram even on a shroomy trip. She'd look later to see if they were any good. "Real MVP for leaning into the bit. Most people tell me to fuck off," she told him moving back towards the car, eyeing the fine white powder and then over the lines of the car.

quentin: “Ah, I see. Fair enough” he chucked lightly. Unable to keep his mind from exploring a bit into his dirty thoughts. He watched her as she took a few steps back and leaned back into his seat. Continuing to focus on cutting up the powder as she snapped the photos of him. “Yeah, well, I’m not in the business of telling people to fuck off. Unless they did me dirty of course” he added. Smiling up at her as she reapproached him and eyed his car. “You wanna get in?” he asked. Reaching out to pop the locks to unlock the passenger door.

belly: "Do you really do that? Tell people to fuck off?" Belly asked, taking the liberty to lean onto the car, her back pressed against the curve of it's frame. The metal felt strange on the back of her thighs but the sweatshirt was covering her back and arms, keeping her from really being able to gauge the way the vehicle felt. She turned, stray curls falling into her eyes from her poorly secured pony tail of wild hair. Eyes twinkling, Bellamy wasn't thinking about stranger danger, just yes. He popped the door and Belly pushed off the car, but she didn't move around the Tesla, instead literally climbing over the boy's lap and through to the passenger side. After getting situated, she couldn't help but laugh, Belly feeling like it had been an army crawl through Alice's tumble to wonderland. "Ooh, this is comfy!"

quentin: “Nah, not really” he replied honestly with another soft chuckle. Truthfully, Quentin didn’t have a mean bone in his body. Although, he was a Scorpio after all, so his words could get sharp when they needed too. His eyes shifted between what he was doing and watching her as he spoke, and he was a bit taken by surprise as she decided to crawl over him. “Oh shit..” he gasped, his words laced with laughter as he held up the old cd case in his hands to keep the drugs safe. “Damn” he grinned over to her shaking his head. He could tell she was fucked up already. But he wasn’t really sure on what. “Yeah.. it is” he nodded. “It’s got some pretty tight features as well.” He added. He reached over to the touch screen and set it on a flickering fire place setting and smiled over to her.

belly: "Oh shit, ambiance," Belly practically sang, wiggling in the seat as her eyes fixated on the screen. She had been in one of these cars before but she was pretty out of it then, ubering home after a club experience. "I'm Belly, by the way. I can't seriously call you Tesla Boy in my head, imma need a name." Her head leaned back into the seat, letting herself relax as her head rolled so she could properly take his face in. Belly didn't let herself stare, the blow on the CD case in his hands looking shiny and crisp, too inviting for it's own good. "Dear god please tell me we're gonna rail this out of a Benjamin and not a Washington. We're in a Tesla for god sakes."

quentin: Quentin chuckled, amused by the girl and her reactions. “Belly? That’s an interesting name. I assume it’s short for something?” he asked. Sliding his hand into his back pocket beneath him to pull out his wallet. “I’m Quentin” he licked his lips as he opened his wallet, his eyes gazing over to her as she spoke her next comment. “But of course... I like to do things in style. Now you know” he teased. Pulling the Benjamin from his wallet and rolling it up with just one hand. “Would you like to do the honors?” he asked, holding the cd case out toward her and offering her the rolled up bill.

belly: Everyone always asked about her name. It was like a built in ice breaker at times and Bel didn't mind it. "Dad was hellbent on naming me after Bellamy the pirate. Belly just kinda stuck from day one," the girl explained, picking some lint off her sweatshirt. And then some of her hair and then a leaf. Where had that leaf come from? "Imma call you Q. Quentin's nice but it's so long. Belly and Q. Kinda like Bonnie and Clyde. Let's take this fucker out, make some mischief?" she teased, pushing off the seat again to sit up right. Belly couldn't help being drawn in, every movement of his slow and steady and seemingly deliberate. "Ooh party tricks! You're gonna have to teach me to one hand roll that perfectly, that was hot fire." Bellamy practically squealed in delight when Quentin offered the first line, her fingers delicately taking the hundred dollar bill from his hand. "Hold it for me? I don't trust myself and you look like you can keep steady?"

quentin: Quentin honestly had no clue who Bellamy the pirate was, but he was sure his older brother would. Considering he was the one obsessed with pirates. He figured he would just as him about it later. For now, he just smiled and nodded his head. Typical move for someone who had no clue. “Q works for me. My mom used to call me curly Q.” His eyes sort of drifted off as he recalled the memory of his birth mom. But, he quickly snapped back into the moment as Belly popped up and suggested making some mischief. “I think we can cause our own mischief right here” he grinned. Letting her take the bill from him as he held the cd case steady for her. “Oh, you have no idea how steady I can be” he teased. Watching her as he wetted  his lips with his tongue and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth.

belly: "Spicy," she responded, wiggling her eyebrows at him. Belly readjusted herself, folding her knees under her so that she could leverage herself when she leaned over. Silently she wished there had been music playing, old school R&B or something good to vibe to, but beggars couldn't be choosers. They were in a goddamn Tesla for crying out loud. Pushing all of that aside, Belly pressed a nostril closed and used the rolled bill to snort up the fat line Q had so generously provided her, making sure she got the little particles that had fallen out of the cylinder due to not sorting hard enough. Her sinuses stung heavy, nose sniffling and doing a quick dance to move around the blow. Bel was sure that the move helped get everything to her brain faster. "Hell ya, Q, this is good, good shit." Without asked, Belly swiped a little of the powder with her finger, swiping it lazily over her front gums and teeth. "Your turn!"

quentin: “Mhm” he hummed. His grin never fading as he kept his eyes on her. How lucky was he to have this beautiful creature approach him, and actually agree to get into his car to do blow with him? Once she had snorted the line he provided, he licked his lips again. Subconsciously feeling the high she had radiating off of her as she danced around in the seat. “It’s the best” he nodded. Knowing he had paid a pretty nice amount for the purest blow the guy had to offer. He took the bill from her as she frosted her teeth and he held it between his fingers. Pressing one nostril close with the same hand, he snorted two lines one right after the other. The burning sensation causing him to close his eyes and lean his head back against the seat. “Shit...” he almost moaned from the pleasurable feeling. Pinching his nostrils closed as he let the burn slide down the back of his throat. Finally reopening his eyes, he shifted them over to the girl beside him. Never picking up his head as he bit on his bottom lip. “You wanna make out?” he asked. Reaching out with his hand to turn up the volume in his car. Revealing the music that was spilling over his speakers in silence. 

belly: The way he cursed send shivers up her spine, baby hairs playing at her neck spiking. What a weird sensation. Reaching up, a finger twirled curly tendrils, a habit that she couldn't escape. Her body was surging with energy now, craving a couple more lines if he was willing to give it. Licking her lips, Belly leaned back into the seat again, watching him recover from the blow he had railed hard. She felt bad for his nose in a way. Strange, considering she should be feeling bad for her poor sinuses after the day she had. Quentin was attractive, she had to admit that, but anyone that could master two fattys like that was smokin' to Belly Jackson. The next two seconds had Belly laughing, really laughing but not in a mean way, just in an unexpected one. Her giggles were like bells in her ears, mixing with the melody that played through the stereo. But she shrugged then, reaching over for the CD case with the small bits of powder left over. Her eyes stayed on him, swiping another finger through the blow and taking a small bump. Not the most effective, but it worked. After when the thought processes connected and she had to blink a couple of times as the sting of the coke really pulsed through her, the girl nodded, placing the CD case on the dash. She was curious and he was attractive. "Hell ya," Belly responded with a nod, leaning up on her knees and moving closer to him. 

quentin: Quentin couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. The way she twirled her hair, and licked her lips. Maybe it was the coke now reeling through his body, but his heart began to race. Her giggles causing him to smile and chuckle a bit himself. He let her take the cd case from him, and he watched her intently. His lips parting as she snorted the last remaining particles left on the case. She was heavenly, and he was hooked. Prince’s greatest hits spilled over the speakers as the  beautiful girl inched closer to him, and he reached out to place his hand onto her side. Making a tight fist in her sweatshirt as he pulled her onto his lap and brushed his lips against hers.

belly: Raspberry Beret soothed her soul, her body moving along to the beat as she became putty. Her skin was set on fire and Belly wasn't sure if it was the fact that she was wearing a sweatshirt or if it had been the cocktail of drugs she was now on. When she had started munching on shrooms Belly was hoping that her night would become an adventure and sure enough, Q was helping her manifest this destiny. The car doors were open for any bystander to see, but this didn't stop her from letting Quentin pull her into his lap. Moving smoothly over to his side of the car, her long legs found a place on either side of him, her arms snaking around his neck and fingers playing with soft strands of hair as their lips made contact. Electric, buzzing energy surged through her, Belly parting her lips and letting their kiss deepen as the chemical goodness of the blow seeped between their mouths. She almost moaned at how good it was kissing him, less aware of her surrounding now and more focused on the warmth he radiated and the way his hand felt on her side.

quentin: As Belly’s body situated over his, he reached down and leaned the seat back just slightly. The weight of her against him causing him to feel as if he were sinking right through to the bottom of the car. He tried not to become too aroused too soon, but the way her lips burned against his as she deepened their kiss had him defeated. He let a soft hum escape him as he brought his free hand up to the back of her neck. Grabbing a handful of her hair that dangled there. His heart was beating even fast now, his adrenaline though the roof. The thought of being watched thrilling him to the core as he gripped onto her waist even tighter.

belly: The girl half squealed as the seat repositioned backwards, one hand pressing against the seat to keep herself steady. Eyes fluttering closed, Belly sank deeper into the kiss, lost somewhere between surging energy and a fuzzy reality. Normally she wouldn't be kissing a stranger, but it wasn't like it hadn't happened before. Everyone had to have their fun here and there. This guy though? His lips were intoxicating, as if Belly was drinking up  sweet lemon drop at the bar she frequented. The contact of his hand behind her neck had Belly sighing again, her tongue finally slipping from her mouth and caressing his bottom lip in hopes he'd let her have access to him. 

quentin: God, were her lips delicious. The heat radiating between them causing his breaths to fall heavy against her mouth as the taste of her lips saturated his. He lifted his head up slightly from the back of his seat, trying to get as close to her as possible. As if he couldn’t press their lips hard enough together to get the satisfaction he craved. Her lips had become his only supply  of oxygen at this point as he parted  his willingly to allowed her all the access she desired. He couldn’t keep himself from  growing hard beneath her, as their bodies rocked together to the sound of their saliva exchanging mouths.

belly: Belly didn't mind that the world could have been their spectator, lips moving time with each other as if they hadn't just met. She was flying so fucking high, her skin radiating with energy that she hadn't felt before in her nineteen years. Sure, there had been strangers before him, drugs before him, people that she liked to fuck before him. But this was somehow different and familiar all in the same breath if that was possible. His lips and tongue tasted like delicious chemicals, her own mouth numb from the coke but still able to taste him. Belly's hips moved against his lap involuntarily, not really knowing what she was doing in the moment but just going with it all. There wasn't a chance in hell she'd say no. He felt too good, his mouth tasted too good. His hands on her, his lips and tongue - god, she had to be dreaming. Belly almost groaned into him then, their mouths crushed together and working rhythmically to Prince. This had to be written in the universe somewhere, this didn't just happen by chance. And fuck, Belly thought, rotating her hips down into his lap. She could feel him beneath her through his pants and the thick denim of her shorts. Needing a little bit of oxygen, Belly pulled back, peppering cute but sensual kisses over his cheek and to his neck. Every part of his skin tasted good. "Fuck," Belly moaned into his skin, licking a spot on his neck before using her lips to suck a small spot under his ear.

quentin: It didn’t matter what she did at this point, he was hooked. Hook line and sinker, and he was the bait. He would have conformed to anything she wanted or needed of him, no questions asked. He was a pleaser after all, and a bit of a tease. But, the way she rolled her hips down onto his, she was the one in control here. Not that he wouldn’t try to fake it anyway. He wasn’t very open to being submissive with most people, but here he was. Putty in her arms. His head tilted back against his seat again as her soft kisses burned across his skin. His lips parting from how good her lips felt pressed against him, and he hummed softly. He moved his hands to the hem of her sweatshirt and he tugged on it suggestively. Wanting to remove it from her body, but only with her permission. 

belly: It was obvious with the way he pulled at the fabric of her oversized sweatshirt that he wanted it off, and Belly didn't question it. She leaned back for a second, looking at him underneath her with a suggestive smile as she pulled it off and tossed it to the passenger seat. With a cute grin, Belly revealed herself to him, the top half of herself only wearing a lacy black swimsuit top. That only lasted a couple seconds though, her fingers threading into his hair to tilt his head back against the seat, her lips barely brushing his to tease him. "You taste amazing," Belly cooed, closing her eyes and melting through his body again. Her lips finally pressed against his seductively, moving her hands to caress his jawline and neck as they kissed.

quentin: Quentin’s eyes scanned her body as she pulled off her sweatshirt. Her black Lacey swim top causing his lips to curl into a seductive grin, as his hands gravitated to her body. In a matter of seconds she was pulling his head back by his hair and he let out a breathy moan. Fuck, she knew exactly how to keep him wanting more, and she knew exactly what to say to keep him invested. “So do you, mon cherì.” His words flowed out in an almost whisper, with a low tone as his body trembled with desire. He wanted to be inside her, completely. Body and soul. Maybe this was the influence of the drugs he had mixed through out the day, but he didn’t care. He simply wanted her, and he kissed her as if she were all he needed to survive

belly: Belly half giggled into his mouth as she let her lips taste him, really memorizing how good they felt under her own. Quentin was his own drug entirely. Sure the coke helped, but he was warm and fuzzy. He was blurred edges. He was addicting properties and if anyone knew Bellamy Jackson, they knew that she was drawn to that more than a bee was to honey. Every move was magic, sparks that flew into her skin and brain and Belly never flinched from it, instead leaning in harder and hoping that she'd be burned. Was that french? Anyone else in this position would have most likely cared about who could see them, how exposed they were to the world, but not Belly, instead letting her fingers flutter over his shoulder and her hips rotate over his once more. Hearing a couple people walking in the parking lot cheer, she grinned into the kiss, breathless and wanting more. "Close the doors?" she suggested, never really leaving his lips to do so. Bellamy was hooked, the taste of him just as fuzzy as any line would be. "Now?"

quentin: Her giggle was intoxicating to him. He could listen to that sound all night and never tire of it. He was drawn to every little mysterious thing about her, and he was making it very evident. His body reacting to every little thing she did. He lifted his hips slightly to roll them into hers as one of his hands trailed across her body to her breast. His other hand grasping the side of her face as the sounds of cheering from outside faded into the background. He nodded his head eagerly to her suggestion to close the doors, but he moved not. The thought of breaking away from her for the action seemed impossible. As she spoke again, he fought against himself to sit up and pull the door closed. Pushing her back against the stirring wheel as his eyes buried into hers. They were parted and he wanted to take advantage of the space. Bringing his hands to his jeans to unbutton them and pull them open. His button up white tee was already mostly unbuttoned but he pulled against the remaining buttons until his shirt was completely revealing his bare chest beneath it . Licking his lips as he kept his eyes on her, he boldly voiced his desires. “I wanna fuck you. Right here, right now” he almost demanded. Moving his hands to the button on her shorts as he leaned forward to press his lips to her chest.

belly: She didn't stop him, letting Quentin push her against the wheel. Belly enjoyed it, really, the eye contact almost deeply intimate as he told her what he wanted. Every touch was fire against her skin, the look on his face evident that he was feeling just as drawn to her as she was to him. Bellamy didn't expect this. It had been all of fifteen minutes while the fire graphic cackled on the screen of the Tesla and Prince played through the speakers. She welcomed every movement, every touch. Her eyes were hooked on his movements, watching as he unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and followed his fingers as they undid his shorts. "Shit, okay," Belly moaned breathless, her head tipping back at the sheer thought of what he could do to her if he actually touched where she desired. Just his gaze alone had her trembling. Her hand pressed against the back of his head, guiding him against her chest. "You're so fuckin' hot, Q, wow."

quentin: This was the last thing he expected when the wild eyed beauty walked up to his car. Sure, she was sexy as hell, and the thought crossed his mind. But, never would he have thought she would actually be in to it, and damn, he was glad that she was. Her skin tasted like salty sweetness as his lips caressed across her chest and he trailed soft kisses up the side of her neck. Nibbling at the skin below her ear as his hands brushed gently up her sides. Stopping just beneath her breast and letting his fingers push up underneath the fabric of her Lacey top.  Revealing her naked breast as he pulled her body back against his. Their skin on skin contact causing him to lose even more space in his jeans. He wasted no time bringing one of his hands to unhook her top, his other hand navigating between them to push into her shorts between her legs.

belly: A sigh of pleasure pushed through Belly's lips as Quentin's made their way over her skin and up her neck. It was expert, the way they moved. Modest was something that she was not, so the fact that they were in view of others that peered through the windshield didn't necessarily bother her, in fact Belly welcomed his hands on her as he pulled her swimsuit top to reveal her chest to him. Being pressed against him with their skin melting into each other, the thrill, god it was all pulling her deeper and deeper under her high, Belly's arms open wide to greet the crash. Her own hands pressed patterns into any skin of Quentin's that she could reach, wanting to feel him and ground herself in his body. Top now discarded, her hips angled themselves so that he could undress her further, using her legs to sit up a little. She was already sopping. Wet from excitement and thrill and his touch and the anticipation of his next move. One of her hands moved over his lap, feeling his hardened length under his pants and with a smirk, her fingers buttoned them too.

quentin: Their bodies moved together like poetry. Hands and lips connecting to each other in any place they could as they worked on getting each other undressed. Luckily Quentin’s Tesla offered more space than a typical car, but he was sure they would both end up with bruises in the end. Her shorts were off, and her hands were on him again. Feeling him through the fabric of his jeans as she worked on getting his pants open. A small grin spread across his lips at her touch, Hoping she liked what she felt. He reconnected their lips as he sat up slightly in his seat and let his shirt drop off the back of his shoulders.

[alfredosauce50]

Who’s the bad guy? (1p + 2p America x reader) 8

Wordcount: 2,953 The reader is referred to as she/her

"We're gonna go crash Alfred's."

A mushy, cookie-dough-like substance began falling out of the blonde's mouth as it separated wide open to gawk at Allen. Falling onto the marbled counter like wet sand, you were also too shocked to even realize the mess he was making. Allen approached this situation so calmly that it was odd, but the pain that was bleeding out of his eyes was so clear. He never meant for this to happen, he would rather die than let this event take place on his timeline. Unfortunately for him, you would be in imminent danger if he wasn't around to protect you. A tense silence fell around you three after his bold statement, but it was Alfred's explosion of excitement that finally crushed the ice that had formed.

"We are?" He started with uncertainty. Azure eyes wide with disbelief, they melted into a luminous shine of joy when he watched his cousin nod slowly. "Holy shit, we are!" Alfred then exclaimed, spinning on his heel to spit the remainders of chewed up cookie-bit in the bin. Thrown into an overdrive of euphoria, he could feel his wounds pound to the rhythm of his speeding heart. 

Shrilling like a child, he hopped off the chair and started dancing all around you two, his contagious energy feeding off to you and spreading a beautiful smile on your face. Soon, the two of you were jumping on the spot and squealing like a bunch of children, much to Allen's displeasure.

Alfred couldn't even begin to start on the thoughts that were running through his head, picturing the millions of perfect dates he could take you out in the city. This was the perfect, golden shining opportunity to sweep you off your feet again with his riches, and to hopefully make up for the stolen kiss. As he was squeezing the life out of you to where you enthusiastically returned the favor, his thoughts then drifted off to the redhead staring at them with a tensed expression. He loved what was going down and had to thank Allen for this, but he had to ask, why? Allen suddenly sprung up with a drastic change of plans, to bring the party over to Alfred's place. Aligning perfectly with Alfred's wants and needs, it was the absolute opposite of what he'd want, but he still insisted.

Allen was brought up in the dirty slums of New York, the only luxury being to have you. If he moved to the towering skyscrapers where Alfred lived, even temporarily, Alfred would be granted a major advantage on his turf.

Those best friend privileges wouldn't even be up to par with half of what Alfred had to offer.

On the other hand, you were consumed entirely with excitement, the mere idea of visiting the lavish world you never thought you'd ever see making you shake with anticipation. You've never really left this small microcosm of a city let alone rise from the chains of poor financial standing, and now you were just slapped with the face with an opportunity too. Blessed with the best tour guide there was to offer, a door just opened up for you to infinite possibilities. Your head was even beginning to hurt with all the places you wanted to see.

You felt like you could do anything with Alfred.

After the ruckus simmered down, you insisted for him to visit the hospital. The effects of uplifting plans lingered its hands over the two of you, however, and he shot down that offer with an ear-to-ear grin. "Haha, fuck that. We have something to plan!" He sang.

You couldn't agree more. Nodding whimsically, you let out another contented sigh. "Yep! I can't wait to go to your place!"

Those were the words he needed to hear to confirm that he had in fact won- and that Allen had lost. As the two of you basked in high spirits in the living room, Allen's soul was sucked out of his body. He grit his teeth and left, storming to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him. It sent the whole house shaking in a rattling tremor, and the two of you could feel the strong vibration pound against your feet. Your heart sank and you flinched at the explosion of noise that just made your eardrums burst, jolting to the door with a weary expression. "Oh-" You uttered out, "That scared me..." You lingered your gaze over the door for a moment.

All the festive mood was gone in a bang, but Alfred thought otherwise. Turning you to face him, he shot you a bright smile with his hands rubbing soothing circles on your shoulder.  Even with his face bruised in blotches of black and blue, you could only see his dazzling, million dollar smile and shining cerulean eyes behind his glasses. "He can be loud sometimes, can't he?" He laughed, licking his lips. "He's really wild."

You managed a soft smile. "Yeah, that's what I love about him..."

You sighed almost dreamily. That was a heavy understatement; absolutely crazy for his unpredictable and fierce personality. Impulsive but wild at heart, you really couldn't tell at all what was going to be held in the future for you two. Yes, he was your best friend whom you loved dearly and his antics were to die for, but there were still such things like boundaries existing. Him lashing out on Alfred was way past the line.

"... But... What he did to you was way far out of line. I really think he would have killed you if I hadn't stopped him..." You whispered. "I just can't believe it."

Sniffing a little, you kept your head low.

"... Yeah... I can't believe him either." Alfred admitted. Was his jealousy that intense that it sparked such rage to consume him? "Maybe he just got really mad when I... You know..."

The both of you lit up in a glowing red blush like Christmas lights.

Coughing awkwardly, you glanced away from him. "Uh... Yeah... I don't know why he turned out to be that angry..."

Although you were oblivious, the blonde was aware of Allen's feelings for you.

"And I think he still is..." Alfred sighed. "He's probably breaking shit inside."

You frowned, facing the door that just radiated waves of dark energy.

"... Oh dear..." You swallowed thickly. "I think I might let him cool off for a bit. You wanna go watch something on Netflix?"

"Sure!"

Allen's P.O.V:

Reducing to tears faster than he ever could imagine, he ran over to his dresser with his hands ready to wreck havoc. He shot them out quickly with a flaming hot face trailing with tears, ready to push everything off onto the ground. Before he could even lay a finger on anything, he stopped himself abruptly. Allen almost forgot that you were still sharing the room with him; it flew right past his head after witnessing the horrors of you being happy with another man.

He resorted to strings among strings of curses, struggling to keep his voice down with the fury licking around inside him. Overwhelmed with grief, rage and stress, he fell on his bed hunched forward to let the fat balls of tears dot the carpet. His world had just crashed at his feet. He should've known to not speak of Alfred's name. Now you were all over him for the millions he could offer that Allen couldn't.

That night, he covered himself up in the sheets and turned off the lights early. You joined him a little later with a soft smile dazzling on your lips, but at the moment you stepped into the room it faded. Slipping into the bed, you slept on the other side with a considerable amount of space separating your two bodies. Still weary that Allen might be fuming, you kept your distance with him just in case he snapped again. As much as you wanted to tap him lightly on the shoulder to wake him up, you held back that urge and just waited.

A line of cold formed in between you two, no man's land, a place where neither of you dared to cross. The silence in the darkness was almost sinister, and as if to taunt him even more in the predicament he caught himself in he could hear the quiet's deafening shrills of laughter jeering at his misery.

Facing away from each other throughout the night, his body was aching to touch you. Your soothing, soft skin that he could embrace for hours on end and not let go.

Why were you just laying there, instead of sleeping inside his arms like you usually would? Unfortunately, the tense ambience was too hard for you to even try to get close.

How did it end up like this?

Forcing himself to fall asleep, he wasn't prepared to face the manifests of his inner consciousness. Blinking his eyes open that were coated with a layer of rust, the rumbling of motorcycles and distant shouting buzzed in his ears. The soft ring of the doorbell faded as the glass door closed, one of the regulars leaving with a satisfied expression with his usual bag of dog pellets. Standing in front of him was you, in the flesh with a comforting smile dancing on your lips.

"Allen, are you okay?"

Your sweet voice called his name so tenderly. Biting his lip, he rested his hands on his hips and scoffed. "Yeah, I'm great."

Narrowing your eyes with a skeptical glint, he watched you with awe as you walked up to him and patted his back. Peering up at him with a softened gaze, he melted into your warm eyes. "Come on Al, just tell me what's so spiteful about him. I'll help you out."

He flickered his eyes over to you and the intimidating glare engraved in his features faded. Fixated with your beautiful face, everything around him disappeared into a blur of color. "My cousin's getting the upper hand. I'm scared, (F/N)." Allen whispered with trembling lips. "He's going to steal you away. He's going to give you things that I can't give you."

You smiled at him sadly and took his hands, swaying him gently from side to side. "Oh, but Allen... You're my best friend. Nothing in the world can replace you."

Shaking his head furiously from side-to-side, he stared at you desperately with red irises glazed all over. "No, baby. Alfred can. You don't want me anymore." He murmured with shaky breaths. Allen couldn't even see you anymore, but the blurred blotches of color and an outline of your form. Swallowing thickly, he hung his head low. "... I'm only going to hurt you if I stay. I'm violent, I'm angry all the time, I'm a freak."

His heart sank when he felt your fingertips brush against his cheek.

"Because of the shit I do, you're gonna get hurt. I'm so sorry, baby." He continued airily, shaking his head. "Luciano's on the hunt for you because he knows that I love you."

You chuckled softly, wiping away the single tear that trickled down his face. "Then that's why I need you."

Allen couldn't control the endless stream of tears running down his face. "(F/N)..."

"Protect me."

Jolting awake with a gasp, his pupils dilated as he shot up from the bed. It took him a while to realize that it was nothing but a dream, hitting him with a sharp pang of disappointment. They say you would forget around ninety-percent of your dream, and he did. It drifted out of his mind as he slowly gained back his orientation, but that sensation of melancholy still remained to loom over him like a dark cloud. Rubbing his eyes roughly, he glanced over to his side to see your sleeping form and back rising and falling at a steady pace. The way how peace would settle on your features was angelic as you slept. Allen just couldn't pass up on the chance to give you a good morning kiss.

"Good morning, dollface..." He cooed softly, leaning in to press his mouth to your forehead with longing.

His lips that grazed so lightly over your skin caused your eyes to flutter open. You met with him smiling down at you, his strong and tanned arms decked with tattoos thick with muscles as they supported him on his side. Shifting on the bed to inch closer to him, you nuzzled into his chest and wrapped your arms around him much to his surprise.

"(F/N)?" He whispered huskily.

"Mhmm?" You hummed.

You continued to press your face into him, making his heart flutter at how adorable you were acting. "What are you doing?"

Rolling your eyes up to him, you smiled. "I'm hugging you, dummy."

Why?

"... But aren't you mad at me for what I did yesterday?" He asked.

You scoffed. "Of course I am, idiot. You nearly killed Alfred."

The redhead smirked and lowered his hands to your back, caressing it gently. "Aren't you glad that I didn't?" He spoke lowly. He was mentally slapping himself from keeping up his smug attitude instead of an apologetic one. Sweat consumed his forehead as he dreaded your response to his antics once again.

A sigh left your lips that were upturned in a smile. "Yeah, I am. I hate myself for not being mad at you."

Allen felt a rush of relief to come flowing in at your smile. "That’s because you love me too much to stay mad at me." He chuckled.

"... I guess that’s true." You murmured, much to his delight. You also wanted to add in how much you missed him, but you thought that he didn't deserve all of your forgiveness, not just yet at least.

You pulled away from his hold, turning your back on him to go over to your pile of bags sitting in the corner. He watched you from the bed, laying on his side with his muscles popping due to the lack of a shirt. As he admired you bent over to tend to the bags, he couldn’t help but lock his eyes on your behind. "Heh..." He breathed. "Whatcha look’n for in your bags?"

You zipped everything up and looked at him. "I’m not looking for anything. I’m just making sure that I have everything."

"For what?"

You rolled your eyes. "Alfred’s place? Did you already forget?"

He inhaled sharply with widened eyes. "Shit fuck- I totally forgot!" He hissed, throwing the blankets off of his legs to go charging at his dresser. You could only cackle at his forgetfulness, calmly tending to your belongings as he ripped open one compartment after the other, salvaging any clothes he came across. Chucking them into a large duffel bag, he finally finished when you popped out of the bathroom.

"You all set?" Allen asked, sitting on the bed like he had been waiting there forever.

Your lips stretched into a smile touched by excitement.

"Let’s hit the road."

***

Once you stepped into the polished Cadillac that was set alight under the hot orange sunrise, you knew you were be going in for an adventure for a lifetime. The scent of leather immediately overwhelmed your nose, the backdrop noise fading away into the faint beeping of the car. After buckling on your seat belt, you were absorbed with the wonders of the vehicle's inner works with fascination swirling in your eyes. You've never seen, let alone touched something so luxurious. You traced your fingertips along the window, completely captured by every little detail of everything, all the way down to the little sockets that were supposed to hold miscellaneous items.

The whole vehicle dipped to the side when your travel-buddy entered the car. Allen scooted next to you and clicked on his seat belt, leaning back to cross his arms with closed eyes. Even though all he saw was black, he could imagine the expression radiating off your face as vivid as a dream. "First time riding first class?" He chuckled.

You nodded with a wide smile. "Yes... This is amazing." You whispered, your attention snatched by something, or someone, who was worth millions more than the Cadillac itself. With some special cream and medical attention flown in from his private jet, everything successfully healed and the bruises faded away like magic overnight. Climbing into the driver's seat, he flicked on his black shades feeling his lips stretch into a wide smile. A classic American one. "Are we all ready to go?" He asked, fixing his rear-view mirror.

Poking your head out of the window for one last time, you met with the striking red irises of your blonde friend. You stuck your hand out and waved at him. "Bye Flavio! Thanks a lot for volunteering to keep my store open by the way!"

He shuddered and waved you off. "More like threatened." Darting his eyes over to the auburn-haired male sitting comfortably beside you, he clicked his tongue. "You're lucky I like animals..." He scoffed.

Allen coughed and rolled up the window. "Yeah, hit the gas."

Alfred hummed.

"Okey-dokey. Strap in and get comfortable, lady and gent, cuz' this is gonna be a long ride."

Allen guessed that he could put up with his cousin for a while... Only for you of course, because he knew that moving to his place for a while would provide you with some refuge from some lethal troublemakers in the dark. Leaving behind the ghetto Allen and you called home, the two of you were ready to forget the past and see the future - the towering skyscrapers and blinking lights in your wondrous irises.

[malecsecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @hourglassmermaid!

I'm so sorry this isn't as good as I wanted it to be!!! But I will try to write another ficlet for you before New Year hits! Merry Christmas and hope I don't disappoint too much > <

Read on AO3

*****

Magic finds its way

'Alexander, keep your eyes on me, okay? I'll call Catarina and get you fix up.' Tears swelled up in Magnus' eyes, as he held tight onto Alec's hand and grappled with his phone on the other.

'Of course. I'm not leaving you, Magnus.' As much as Alec's words aimed to comfort him, it was uttered in such soft voice that they both knew he was struggling.

'Cat, I lost my magic and I need your help right now' was all that Magnus had to say before a portal blinked open before them and the warlock walked out.

'What hap…' Perspective as Cat was, she immediately waved open a portal straight to Magnus' loft right as she took in the scene before her.

'Magnus, just hold onto him.' Her hands left the portal for a moment to cast a spell on Alec, so that she could stablise the wound and blood loss for the moment. An arrow right through, possibly his heart, is a grave wound but Alec was still breathing and lucid. She hoped against everything that she would not have to witness her dear friend lost his loved one right before him, not this day.

'Magnus, don't worry. I came back to you last time, we'll be fine and celebrate in no time.' Alec kept murmuring to Magnus, as the other seemd incapable to utter another word. Cat tried not to hear what the two were talking about, as they made sure Alec was safely through the portal and laid down on Magnus' bed.

'Magnus, hey you save me okay? Everytime. I love you so much. You save Jace for me. There's not enough things for me to do or say to let you know how much I love you.' Alec whispered, the pain somehow was not spreading but he had been fighting off unconsciosness every second. He knew, the wound was fatal, aimed to be so but he had to hope Catarina would save him because there was no way he was leaving Magnus behind like this. Just staring at a man who hadn't utter another word since Catarina arrived, he knew he must be so overwhelmed and scared. He knew Magnus gotta be out of his mind to have lost his magic and to see him injured right before him. Oh how he loved this man, doing everything for him without hesitation. Alec knew he could not leave him, not like this, it would break him down into pieces.

'Magnus, hold my hand. Alec, don't worry you are going to be fine, I promise.' Catarina finally spoke, voice steady and firm towards the two lovers. Magnus switched to stare wildly at her, while Alec finally let himself relax just a little.

'Hey listen to Catarina and give her your hand.' Alec gently pushed his hand, which was held tightly by Magnus, towards Catarina. Once their hands were connected, Magnus gasped out in surprise.

'But how…That couldn't be…' He seemed astonished to feel or see whatever Catarina was showing him.

'I don't know how you lost your magic but it seemed for all your interaction with Alec, your magic had recognised him as part of its owner and probably sipped into him through some energy exchange. Alec, the wound is only through your flesh but not any of your organs, since quite a bit of Magnus' magic resided in you and has absorbed the arrow and its damage. All I need to do is for Magnus to guide it to control the blood loss while I pull it out, then it's all flesh wound for another shadowhunter.' She smiled at them, while Magnus still looked disbelievingly at his heart.

'Come on Magnus, you have to help me guide your magic now. We don't have much time to lose.' Catarina nudged her friend forward.

'Magnus' He glanced at Alec one more time and readily closed his eyes and focused on what Cat was allowing him to see through Alec's body and pinpoint where the arrow was and thus the pressure required to minimise the blood loss.

'One. Two. Three.' Catarina's yellow mist pulled out the arrow, as Magnus made sure his own blue mist wrapped tightly around Alec's flesh and bones. Surely, no blood spilled out from the wound, nor was Alec feeling any extra pain.

Magnus was just about to ask what was next, when Catarina beat him to it.

'Alec, activate your healing rune.' Alec struggled a little to grab his stele from his back pocket but he did it. Magnus glanced at the glow of the rune and back at his lover, hands still focusing on the connection with his magic inside Alec.

After a few agonising seconds, Magnus could feel his own magic bouncing off Alec and warmth curled up from within him. Catarina uttered a spell, which Magus knew was one to make sure the patient heal and an extra protection on the newly healed area. Alec stared blinkedly at himself, as he slowly sat up from the bed. 'Alexander?'

'I am all healed up. I could feel it, good as new.' Alec grinned at his lover, who just crashed into him with a tight hug. He held back tight in kind, only now letting the fear and worry and just so much emotions swirling within him. He couldn't let himself imagine what would happen to Magnus if he didn't live. Out of everything, the fact that Magnus' magic would reside and protect him made Alec wonder how did he come to deserve the man before him. They had been torn apart so many times, escaped through hell again and again and come out still together.

'I love you, Magnus.' He whispered against his ear, when he finally felt tears rolling off his shoulder and Magnus' shuddering against him.

'Alexander…I…I couldn't lose you. Not like this, not after I gave up my magic to my father just to save you. I don't know what else to do. Without magic, I can't even protect or heal you ever again. I'm just so glad that somehow I could save you this time as well…Alexander…' Magnus' voice wrenched his heart, he had never seen him so scared and overwhelmed, like a kid who can't find his parents in the crowd.

'Magnus, this little portion of the magic now will stay with you. I promise we'd all help you to get your magic back from Asmodeus. It should be enough to help Alec, whenever it's needed.' Catarina squeezed on Magnus' shoulder.

'Cat, thank you for everything.' Magnus turned to face her, gratitude apparent in his voice, though still shaky.

'I will leave you two alone for now. Call me.' Catarina left them one last smile and portaled her way out.

'Come on, lie down with me. We'll deal with everything else later. Right now, you and I need some rest.' Alec prompted, hand gently swiping tears away from his cheek.

'Alexander…I love you, so so much.' He leaned forward and kissed him.

It felt different from all their other kisses, it was wild and desperate and hunger all at once. Alec let Magnus' hand peel off his shirt, shed off his pants and gears and returned the favour himself. It was the need to feel and touch every inch of each other's body, just to reassure their senses that they were both alright and alive and together.

Alec wrapped his hands around Magnus, letting his head rest on his chest, his eyes still fixated on him and hands roaming on his body.

'Let's sleep, shall we?' Alec asked.

'No, you sleep. I will stay awake.' Magnus replied.

'Why?'

'So that I can make sure you're here and alive. I don't want to risk closing my eyes and not waking up to you right here.'

'I promise, I will be breathing and alive when you wake up.'

'I know, but still I am not gonna fall asleep first.'

'Alright then. I love you.'

'I love you, too Alexander.'

With that, Alec closed his eyes, sensing the warmth from Magnus and let himself be lured into sleep, knowing for sure that he'd wake up to Magnus holding him tight.

[victorianoir]

The Detective and the Embezzler, Part 2

Here’s the second part to the chapter I put out last week, dear readers!! 

If you want to read part 1, or any other parts of The Detective and the Tech Guy, you can do so by hopping on over to the tumblr MASTER POST for the story. Or you can read it on the fanfiction.net site: HERE. 

Enjoy, my friends!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Ugh, this is bumming me out.”

“What?”

“This timeline I’m being given is so shitty. And I feel like I have a lot to do. And they’re actually doing a pretty good job keeping their affair quiet, in spite of how chatty they were with us at Sir Sensei’s the other day.”

“Well, they’re bound to slip up, right?”

“I don’t know. Penny sort of seems like the brains. She must be handling details. She’s the smart one in this whole situation.”

Penny Havert didn’t have much of a criminal record, Sarah’d discovered, which either meant this was her first offense, or she was good at not getting caught. Whether she actually cared for Pendleton or not, Sarah had no idea. Nor did she care. Penny was orchestrating most of this, but they were both going down. Hopefully. If she did her damn job.

“Sarah, what if—and hear me out—neither of them are the smart one in this whole situation?”

“Oh. Yeah. Good point.”

Her boyfriend chuckled as he lowered half of a four egg omelet onto her plate with a spatula, heading over to his own place at the coffee table and sliding the rest of the egg out of the pan onto his plate.

“I still think it’s rad how you figured out who his mistress is, you know,” he said, heading back towards the kitchen, putting the pan in the sink and grabbing the plate of bacon, before tugging his apron off and tossing it on the counter on his way back to the couch.

She smirked. “It’s scarily easy to get a hold of someone’s credit card if you hang around a restaurant. Wear a white button up, black slacks, and an apron, walk over and grab the check with their card, and bam.”

He shook his head as he plopped down next to her on the couch, setting the bacon down between their plates. “I bet it looked so cool and spy-ish, though.”

She snorted, shaking her head.

“So what d’ya got?” he asked. “You said you’re bummed out. Gimme the deets. Maybe I can help.”

Maybe a few years ago, she might’ve been miffed if one of the men she dated had plopped down wanting to “help” with a case—if she ever told them anything about her cases, which she never did. But Chuck had proven he wasn’t just a nerd who’d seen a lot of noir movies with detectives and hardboiled lawmen. He was actually incredibly good at thinking outside of the box, and she’d learned over the past few days especially that he could be a massive asset. Even if sometimes his ideas were absolutely wild and out of left field, it got her mind going.

“Right. So I’ve been tailing both of them for a few days now—I know how that sounds, like I’ve duplicated myself, but I just mean I followed him one day and her the next.”

“Hm? Oh. Sorry, I’m just a little fixated on the idea of there being two of you. Is it too stereotypical dude-ish of me to say that’s hot?”

“Yes.”

“Noted.”

“Back to my investigation,” she said pointedly, aware of the fact that she was doing a poor job of ignoring his flirtation. She took a large bite out of her breakfast, leaning forward to keep the long string of melted cheese from getting stuck on her chin. “She went to the bank that day, and she withdrew a lot. I don’t know how much, but it was enough that it took the teller a while. I’m sure it’s an account he’s been transferring money into for her, but I need to prove that somehow.”

Chuck huffed. “I’ll think on that.”

She clicked around on her laptop and turned it towards him on her lap. “In the meantime… So, look at this email Mestik sent me. He forwarded Pendleton’s travel itinerary for a business trip, like I asked him to. This says he’s going to Atlanta. As in Georgia. That’s not Miami. See? LAX to Atlanta with a layover in Chicago.”

“Why did they tell us Miami, then?”

“Maybe they’re just lying sacks of shit.” He chuckled at that. “She gave him an annoyed look about it. I dunno if you saw that. Maybe that’s where she wanted to go and instead she’s stuck going to Atlanta because of his work so she’s pissed.” She shrugged.

“Atlanta doesn’t sound so bad.”

“If she was looking forward to beach time, it’s probably not preferable.”

“Good point.”

Sarah nibbled on her lip, turning the laptop back to her. “I’m going to ask Mestik if Thomas has charged anything else as an expense yet. And I need to know if Penny is going to be on the flight with him, even if her portion isn’t being charged to Mestik Insurance. Nobody’s that stupid.” She huffed. “But I need to do it quick. I’ve only got a week and a half to solve the case.”

“What? Why only a week and a half?”

“Because if I don’t solve it by then, I’m going to have to go to Atlanta to tail these assholes, and I really don’t want to do that.”

“Why? Might be an interesting place to go.”

“Atlanta is fine, but that’s an expense I’d be charging to Mestik, add on top of that whatever expenses Thomas and Penny charge to the company while they’re on their romantic getaway. If I figure this all out before the trip, I save Mestik a lot of unnecessary expense, not to mention his niece’s husband doesn’t get to go off to some other city to knock knees with his mistress on his uncle-in-law’s dime. It’s the principle of the thing.”

She felt Chuck reach over to tenderly stroke his fingers over her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear and she smiled a little at him.

“For the record, I love that you’re a P.I. who’s on the up-and-up. Like, not a hardboiled P.I. who’s kind of in this murky grey area of morality, but a genuinely good detective trying to help her client.”

She gave him a look as she sipped her coffee. “What makes you think I’d ever be hardboiled? Seriously, baby, you watch way too many of those movies.”

“Maybe, but you love that I’m such a dweeb fanboy about your career choice. Don’t deny it.”

“Oh, I have no intention of denying it. You’re the cutest person on the planet when you geek out about the dumb letters on my office door. But still…I’m serious about this, Chuck. A week and a half. I need to do this right.”

He swiped a hand in front of his face, sobering up completely. “Yes. Absolutely. I’m with you.”

Sarah froze then, an idea hitting her.

“I just need to figure out where Penny is going. Duh. Wherever Penny goes, Thomas goes. As far as they know, nobody knows about Penny Havert and wherever she ends up, we’re going to find him there, too. But how do I know where she’s going?” She nibbled on her lip.

“Well, how do you even go about finding that out? Gonna steal her computer or something?”

She shook her head, and then a slow, mischievous smile stretched over her face. “No. But you’ve given me an idea…”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Chuck looked up from his desktop screen as his assistant poked his head in after a quick knock. “Yeah?”

“Sarah’s here.”

“Oh, good. Thanks. Send ‘er in.”

Sarah smiled at the bespectacled man as she swept past him with a thank you and some weird handshake they’d concocted over the last couple of months and stepped inside, not saying anything until the door was shut and they were alone. And then she pulled a smartphone he’d never seen before out of her pocket.

“What’s that?”

“Thomas Pendleton’s phone,” she said with a nonchalant shrug.

Chuck’s eyes practically bugged right out of their sockets as he sat up straighter and spun his chair towards her. “What? How’d you get his phone?”

“I stole it. The guy kept setting it down everywhere he went and looking away. It was so easy. I don’t even know if he even realizes now, an hour later, that it’s been stolen.”

She rolled her eyes, but he was still stuck on the fact that his girlfriend had just stolen someone’s phone.

“And now you’re bringing stolen property into my place of work. Wonderful, great, thank you so much.” He gave her a teasing grin as she scoffed, walking around his desk and plopping down on the edge of it. “So what’s on it?” he asked, reaching up to take the phone.

She held it away from him. “You aren’t officially my partner or even my assistant, and I’m not sure I should even be sharing this info with you, Chuck Bartowski, heir of Bartowski Electronics Corporation.” He liked how flirty she was being. In fact, he’d go so far as to say he loved it. But it made him wonder if doing things like this made her a little cocky…or, as Morgan would say, randy. He couldn’t blame her, exactly…

“You could always make me your partner.”

“No.”

“Assistant sounds good.”

“You’re my big-brained boyfriend and that’s it.” She cocked an eyebrow.

“You share info about your cases with all your boyfriends?”

“Mmm, no. Just you. You’re the smartest boyfriend I’ve got at the moment.”

“Out of how many?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“You bad girl,” he teased, biting his lip, narrowing his eyes, and grinning.

When she got a certain glint in her eye, he felt like his prior thought about her being cocky wasn’t all that much of a reach. “If you promise not to tell anyone, I’ll let you help me call the phone numbers on here.”

Chuck sat back, away from her, and glared. “Ohhhh okay I get it now. I thought you were being all sexy and flirtatious with me because—never mind what I thought,” he said quickly. “But you’re just trying to get me to help you call a bajillion phone numbers to find out who his contacts are.”

“No, most of his contacts in his phone have labels and names. But he’s made over fifty recent calls to numbers that aren’t labeled and I do need help with that.” She sighed and put Pendleton’s phone on his desk. “This sucks. Back when I was at Pinkerton, I’d send it into our analysts and they’d come back with a list within a day. Ugh, it was so easy. Now I have to go all old school and actually call the numbers.”

Chuck shook his head with an amused huff. And then he stopped, an idea coming to him. “What if you didn’t have to do that? Even though you aren’t with Pinkerton anymore?” She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

Chuck held up a finger and spun back to his computer, clicking around until he got onto the Google document where he kept a list of projects his employees were working on. He scrolled through as he felt Sarah sidle up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders, leaning over him and dropping her lips to the top of his head.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“A top secret list of all of B.E.C.’s current projects, or at least…potential projects.” He tilted his head back and raised his eyebrow up at her. “This is super secret stuff. Feel special, Sarah.”

She giggled. “Oh, trust me. Not a day goes by when I’m with you that I don’t feel special.”

A slow grin grew on his face as he looked up at her. “That was pretty damn sappy and I dug it.”

Sarah leaned down to kiss his lips with another soft giggle, and she stood up again, squeezing his shoulders. “I figured you might. But why is this list going to help me?”

“Oh. Right.” He sat up again and kept scrolling. “These are the things my employees are working on outside of the everyday tasks their job requires of them. Things they pitch to me and my team…Well, mostly my team. I have a lot of employees and I can’t be one on one with all of ‘em that often. I see the prototypes when they seem viable enough to maybe implement them under our brand. But I seem to rememberrrr…hmmmm…” He found it. “Ha!”

He spun to his phone and picked it up, paging his assistant.

“Yeah, Boss…”

“Would you please get, um…” He glanced at his screen. “Phoebe Butler on the phone for me? I have no idea if she even works in this building. Does she work in this building?”

“Uh…I’ll find out, Chuck.”

“You’re the best. Thanks.”

He hung up the phone and turned his chair to look up at Sarah. “While we wait, how are you planning on getting the phone back to Pendleton?”

Sarah shrugged. “I’m meeting Mestik for coffee tomorrow morning, hopefully with some more info than I had for him last night,” she huffed. “I’ll just give it to him and let him slip it back in the jerk’s desk or something.”

“Good pl—”

Bzzzzzz!!!

Chuck gasped theatrically for Sarah’s benefit, earning a chuckle, and he smacked the speaker button. “Did you find her?”

“Her desk is on the third floor of this building, and I’ve got her on the line right now. Um…she sounds…nervous. So maybe let her know she isn’t fired. Wait…she isn’t fired is she?” his assistant asked.

Chuck laughed. “She isn’t fired. But thanks for the head’s up. Transfer her over.”

“On it.”

He grabbed the phone receiver and held it to his ear.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

She heard Chuck come in the door, the rustle of whatever he was carrying, and then the slam of him kicking the door shut as she poured over the notes she’d taken from tailing Thomas Pendleton and Penny Havert for the last few days.

“Hey, how was the store?” she asked, looking up from where she was draped across his couch.

“Okay, I can’t do Trader Joe’s anymore. I just can’t. Or, like, maybe I can take a Lyft there next time? Because parking is like… And I’m not trying to go to Disneyland on a Saturday, here. I’m not trying to wait in line for five hours. I just want to get some groceries on a Saturday. They need to fix their shit.”

He dropped the reusable bags on the counter and huffed.

Sarah giggled to herself and sat up with a soft groan, putting her paperwork down and going around into his kitchen to help him unload the groceries. “My poor guy, braving the weekend health food crowd so that I can have delicious lamb ribs for dinner tonight.”

His arm wrapped around her from behind as she took a bag of lettuce out, and he kissed the side of her face with a “muah”, before shifting his lips to her neck. “I’m going to bake the hell out of those ribs and I’m going to enjoy them, too, damn it.”

She giggled again.

They unloaded the groceries in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Chuck looked up from where he was sticking a few things in the fridge. “Still trying to connect the dots on that case?” he asked.

“Mhm. Well, I mean…Phoebe’s number tracking program helped a lot. Now that I know Thomas has been in contact with both Penny and that travel agency, I at least have a bit of a lead.”

“Who uses a travel agency, though? I know I said this before,” he said, shutting the fridge, “but, like, really. A travel agency? You can easily do everything through your computer and talk to zero other humans. How is that not the best choice?”

Sarah laughed. “That’s just it. I thought the same thing, but I did a bunch of research today while you were out running errands. Guess who owns that travel agency…”

Chuck stopped halfway through folding the now empty bag and looked up at her. “Oh, do you mean the cleverly named travel agency, ‘Go There’? That one?” He made a pfft sound and shook his head.

She laughed again. “Yeah. That one.”

“Who owns it?”

“Brett Smith.”

Chuck made a face, then grabbed another bag to fold it up. “Am I supposed to know who this is?”

“No, I mostly just paused for dramatic effect.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Brett Smith attended Texas Tech the same four years that Thomas Pendleton was there. They were both business majors and they were both a part of the Sigma Delta Alpha Nu Epsilon whatever-the-fuck fraternity there. I don’t remember the name, but it’s the same one. And I found a picture of them on the alumni website at their ten year reunion that happened a few years ago.”

“Great work, gumshooooe,” Chuck drawled, pointing. “No, seriously. That’s legit. So his frat buddy owns ‘Go There’. God, it’s so bad.”

“It’s terrible,” she agreed.

“And, what, he probably thinks that’s a pretty safe way to go, right? When you’re booking a vacation with your mistress, go with your bro. Don’t tell my wife, right, brah? Bro Code.” Chuck grabbed her hand and did a lame excuse for a high five with her. “Dope.”

“Okay, you’re a doofus. But that aside, you’re right. Those are my exact thoughts. Uh…in not so many words,” she said, giving him an amused side-eye. “There’s no paper trail—well, the online version. The travel agency has the paperwork but he trusts his frat bro to keep all of that safe. My only problem now is how do I get in there to get the itinerary for Thomas and Penny’s real vacation?”

Chuck shrugged, leaning back against the counter and popping a grape into his mouth. “Easy. Wait for ‘Go There’,” he rolled his eyes, “to close for the night, break in through the air conditioning system, crawl through the ducts, lower yourself Mission:Impossible style into the room where they keep their records, and take pictures of it with your ballpoint pen that’s actually a camera. Boom. Done.”

Sarah just looked at him for a moment, almost impressed. “Wow. I was really expecting a legitimate idea that would actually be helpful…the whole body stance and your delivery was that good.”

He smiled around the grape and shrugged again. “You’re welcome.”

“Do you have anything else to add?”

“Um…I’ll think on it.”

She sniffed in amusement and wadded up a produce bag, throwing it at his face as he laughed and batted it away. She left the kitchen and walked back to the couch, plopping down. He sat beside her and swung his legs around to drape them over her lap, laying his head against the armrest. She began rubbing his leg muscles in that way he liked and he sighed, his eyelids fluttering.

She’d been to that same store on the weekend before and she knew he wasn’t just being melodramatic. It was a damn trial getting through there. But the food was amazing and so was the price.

“I mean, is there a way to get them to give you the itinerary? So you don’t have to break in and steal it?” he asked.

“There must be. I just haven’t thought of it yet—Wait.” He sat up quickly, staring at her and waiting patiently for her to continue as her mind went a mile a minute. “I might’ve just thought of it. I’d need a really good cover. And I’d have to sell it.”

“A cover? Like…incognito?” He gasped and it was so boyish and adorable. “Like a disguise?!”

“Maybe not that intense. But I am going to need to figure out how to forge an ID and business cards so that I have some way of proving who I am.”

He blinked. “Who are you?” He shook his head. “I mean, I know who you are. I just mean…who are you supposed to be?”

“Mr. Thomas Pendleton’s assistant, of course. Just need to make a few changes to the business trip itinerary for the boss man.” She smirked flirtatiously.

“Okay wait. Are you flirting with me, or are you going to try to seduce Brett Smith?”

She smacked his shoulder hard as he laughed. “I’m flirting with you, you ass!” She laughed with him and shook her head. “I just don’t know how I’m going to make business cards and forge an ID in such short notice. I could use my own ID, but it’s still a Chicago driver’s license and I’m not sure I want my real name anywhere near this.”

“Uh, yeah. I don’t really want the name Sarah Walker to be in their minds for when all of the shit hits the fan for their buddy Tommy,” he said, and he put his hand on her thigh and squeezed. She thought it was a bit of protectiveness, something she hadn’t necessarily seen from him before. And, to her surprise, she liked it.

“Know any forgers?”

“I might. And he has access to an ID card printer.”

Sarah gaped at him. “Wait, seriously? I was joking. You really do?”

He shrugged. “You want an ID and some business cards or no?”

A slow smile grew on her face and she had the urge to kiss him. Alas, it would take some acrobatics to do so and she didn’t have time to waste, so she just winked instead. “Take me to him.”

XOXOXOXOXOXO

“Don’t ever stop surprising me, Tech Guy.”

She heard the wonder in her own voice as she watched Chuck fiddle with the ID card software on the system. He was meticulously building a California driver’s license for her, even superimposing the shiny golden gate bridge decal into the background of the card. He had his own license propped on the keyboard so that he could copy it as best he could.

“I’ll do my best, Sarah Walker, P.I.,” he muttered distractedly.

“Seriously. When I asked if you know any forgers, I had no idea the forger you knew was…you. What, did you do this for a little side cash when you were in college?” She snorted, but then his hands stopped what they were doing and he snuck a look at her over his shoulder, his features pinched.

“What if I said yes?”

She stepped around his chair and looked down at him. “Did you really?”

“Listen, those Beverly Hills brats had a lot of money and they coughed up big bucks for fake IDs so they could buy brewskies for their dumb parties. My dad was struggling and it was a help.”

To say she was shocked was an understatement. “You forged IDs for kids to buy beer? Also, did you just say brewskies unironically?? That feels like the more important question. Strangely.”

Chuck laughed, but there was a thread of nervousness in it. “Oh, I said it with complete and utter irony, trust me. And um…to that first question…yes…I did.” He winced. “It was easy, fast cash. And erm…I don’t do it anymore. Except, well…right now. I’m doing it for you right now. In the belly of Bartowski Electronics Corporation on a Saturday afternoon when it’s completely abandoned. Because I am not stupid.”

Sarah gaped at him. “Oh my God.”

She read nervousness in his face then as he swallowed, and she quickly dove in to put her hands on his shoulders. “Wait, wait…What d’you think, I’m gonna turn you in to the LAPD or something?” She giggled as he gave her a bit of a dark look. “Chuck, come on. It’s not like you’re a serial killer. You maybe contributed to a few alcohol poisonings, but teenagers eventually find a way to get alcohol anyway, so whatever.”

Chuck grumbled and went back to work, the dark look fading a bit at least.

“This is actually kind of amazing, if you think about it,” she said, still completely gobsmacked to have learned this pretty important tidbit about the man she’d thought was such a saint before today—well, in all the ways it mattered, at least. She stepped back behind him and slid her arms around his neck, cuddling him and pressing her cheek against his. “I’m in a very serious romantic relationship with a criminal. Maybe I am a little bit of a hardboiled detective. And you, my good man…You’re my nerd-fatale.”

He burst into laughter and shook his head, shifting in the chair to face her a little better. “I’ll take it, and gladly, but I also promise that in spite of my…checkered past…” he said with a smolder, and she snorted, “I would never lead you down any dark paths, or use you for my selfish whims…”

She growled, sliding her fingers into his mess of curls and tightening her grip, tugging his head back teasingly and meeting his laughing brown eyes with her blue ones. “That’s what they all say…in the beginning…”

Their lips met then, and she tangled her fingers of one hand in his hair, sliding the other around his neck, deepening the kiss. When she felt him sweep his tongue against hers, she pulled back quickly, even going so far as to put a good two feet between them, leaving him sitting there with a put out look on his face.

“Wha—why?” he whined.

“We have work to do.”

“No. But—No, why?”

She giggled. “Listen, buster, I’d like nothing more than to utilize this strange little illegal forgery den as a setting for a seriously hot private eye and nerd-fatale encounter, but first I need that driver’s license and those business cards.”

Sarah couldn’t help but feel a little guilty as his shoulders slumped and he turned back to the computer. She leaned in and hugged him from the side, kissing his temple. “I mean…there’s always…after…”

Chuck’s head snapped up as he gave her a wide-eyed look. A crooked smile tilted his handsome mouth for just a split second, before he dove back into his work with a vengeance. “One driver’s license for Jennifer Burton, coming up.”

XOXOXOXOXO

Sarah heard the door to the outer office open, then the shuffling of feet, and finally… “Miss Walker?”

Letting herself half a moment to take a deep breath, Sarah stood from her desk upon which she’d set up all of her materials, and walked to stand in the doorway of her personal office. “Mr. Mestik, good afternoon.”

He clapped his hands together upon seeing her. “Afternoon, Miss Walker. My assistant said you needed to see me as soon as I was able to come.”

“Yes. Thank you for coming so soon, sir. Come into my office.”

“Yes, uh…Of course. Thank you.”

He followed her into her office and took a seat in the chair across from her, on the other side of her desk. “I gotta hand it to ya, Miss Walker, you’re always prompt. This looks like…well, it looks like evidence.”

“Yes, well…My time is valuable, and yours is even more valuable.”

He nodded.

“Can I get you some coffee or…?”

“I don’t drink the stuff,” he said, waving his hand. “Trudy has weaned me off of it with tea.” Greg Mestik smacked his lips with a disgusted face. “But it’s better for my heart. I guess. So they say.”

“Understood. Well, let’s get down to business, then, Mr. Mestik. There’s a lot.”

“By all means.” And then he paused, his dark brow turning down, a frown on his face. “Is it worse than the news you gave me the other night?”

She’d told him about Penny Havert the Mistress the other night, and he’d wanted to see the proof, so she’d been forced to give him the photographs she’d taken. His response was… Well, angry would’ve been an understatement.

“I’m not sure.”

He sighed. “Just give it to me straight. Am I being swindled?”

“In no uncertain terms, sir, yes. You are. Now, I couldn’t tell you that for sure before because I had to collect evidence sufficient enough for you to go to the authorities. I planned on making sure you got that before the business trip to Atlanta, because…Well, there is no business trip to Atlanta.” She grabbed the folder in the corner of her desk, then turned it towards him, putting it between them and pushing it closer to him.

“No business trip? There’s a conference on insurance and marketing there. He practically begged me to let him be the one I sent, said he needed to brush up on…What’s this?” Mestik asked as she flipped the folder open and showed him a travel itinerary that looked very different from the one he’d emailed her a few days earlier.

“Thomas Pendleton purchased two plane tickets to Miami through a travel agency.”

“Miami? What the shit? And he used a travel agency? What is this, nineteen-seventy-five?” He shook his head, then scratched the back of his neck. “I’m very confused. What is all of this?”

“I used a very precise, rather genius computer program that a, um, friend created to figure out whom all of the unlisted phone numbers in Thomas’ phone belong to.” She took the suspect’s phone out of her bag and slid it across to Mestik. “There’s that for you.” His eyes popped. She probably should’ve warned him that she’d stolen his niece’s husband’s phone, but oh well.

“It’s supposed to be used as sort of a telemarketer deterrent, but it gave me a list of individuals and businesses he’s called in the last few months. A month and a half ago, he contacted a travel agency called ‘Go There’—I know, it’s a really great name, right?” When Mestik didn’t respond, she cleared her throat and continued. “Anyway, he used this particular agency because an old frat buddy from college owns it. He thought it’d be a lot safer and leave less of a paper trail doing it through someone he trusted rather than online. That whole Bro Code thing, I’m assuming. But it’s really easy to get around the Bro Code, I’ve found. I just pretended I was Thomas’ assistant and I needed them to change part of the trip. I had them email the itinerary to an address I created for this purpose exactly, and then I called them back and had them change a small enough detail in the plans that neither Thomas nor Penny would notice. I have the flight information, the hotel information—a suite overlooking the Miami bay, cocktails on the terrace every afternoon at the same time…which is…strangely precise, but whatever…uh, the rental car information. There’s also a reservation for a boat tour of the Florida Keys. A reservation for two. The dates coincide with the exact dates of the seven day trip to Atlanta he told you he was going on.”

She sat back and took a deep breath, letting Mestik look through all of it himself. The frown on his face grew deeper and deeper as he flipped through all of it.

“Swimming with the dolphins, is he?” He chuckled mirthlessly and then sat back, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Well, you got evidence that he’s a lying cheating son of a bitch, but what about the money he’s stealing from me?”

She slid another file towards him. “Thomas Pendleton’s income doesn’t match the amount of money he’s been putting into three different banks systematically for a while. He then transfers the money into a fourth account, slowly but surely, and Penny withdraws. She’s the one whose name and money went towards air fare, the hotel suite, the reservations, the rental car, everything. Although it isn’t her money, it is your money, Mr. Mestik. Open that file. Inside is the concrete evidence they’ve been embezzling from Mestik Insurance. Redirecting client payments to their own pockets. Once you get the LAPD involved, they’ll have much more freedom as far as being able to go through private files to bring Mr. Pendleton down.

“Yes, of course you’re right.” He looked haunted.

“For what it’s worth, Mr. Mestik, I’m sorry. It’s hard enough to see actions like this from a valued employee, but I can’t imagine how much worse it is with family.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about him. I just didn’t want Irma hurt. This is awful.” He let out a long sigh and then shook his head. “You did exemplary work, Miss Walker. Thank you. I’m passing your name on to colleagues, you can be sure of that.”

“That’s kind of you, Mr. Mestik. Thank you.”

Sarah waited for almost a minute, as he sat there buried in his thoughts, looking very troubled. And then she quietly gathered the evidence into a neat stack, and eased them into a carrying case. Eventually, he lifted his gaze to hers and she continued. “Here’s all of the evidence I’ve found and notes I’ve taken. It should be more than enough to convince the LAPD to continue my investigation and make an arrest.”

“Thank you, Miss Walker.” He stood again. “Especially considering in just a few days, I would’ve been sending that little shit on an all-expense-paid getaway with someone who isn’t his wife.”

“I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen. I also, erm, didn’t want to have to go to Atlanta or Miami. That would’ve been expensive for you as well.”

“Yes. Thank you. I…hope I can also count on you…” He cleared his throat. “…keeping things under your hat about this. It is already going to be difficult enough for Irma without extra…attention.”

“I have a strict policy of complete secrecy. I used to work with Pinkerton, Mr. Mestik, and they taught me how best to stay out of the way of the press. I assure you, I won’t be talking to anyone.”

“Good.” He nodded. “Good good. Oh! Yes. Payment.” He went into his blazer jacket and pulled out a checkbook, leaning over on his desk and writing it out. “I take it the amount is still the same as the one you gave me before…?”

“I’m not charging you for any extra expenses. Same amount. Thank you, Sir.”

He looked pleasantly surprised and relieved as he looked up at her, and then he bent to his task again, finally tearing the check out of the book and handing it to her. “You do excellent work. And you’re kind. I’m grateful.”

“Thank you, Mr. Mestik. And I hope everything turns out okay.”

“Me, too.”

They shook hands again and the man smiled, picking up the carrying case with all of the evidence the LAPD might use to arrest his niece’s husband. He walked to the door and pushed it open, moving into the outer office. Sarah slid into the doorway and watched him as he opened her outer office door. His shoulders were slumped and he was moving so much slower.

And for the first time since she began this case, she was starting to come to terms with the emotional and mental toll her findings would have on an entire family. Her chest throbbed a bit as he shut the door behind him and she let out a long breath.

She lifted the check Mestik had written her and she eyed the zeros, letting herself have just a moment of celebration, before she composed herself again and grabbed her jacket and bag. She had work to do.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Chuck had just finished arranging the gardenias in the vase he’d purchased at a corner store when he heard the door to Sarah’s agency open. “Oooh! You’re back already!” He lunged for the doorway to her personal office. “I have a surprise for y—You’re not Sarah. Hi.” He cleared his throat and stood up straighter, running his hands down the front of his T-shirt.

He eyed the man standing at the entrance to Sarah’s private investigative agency. He was even taller than Chuck, which was…something. And he was built like a tank, his hair cut close to his head, his features twisted in what seemed like a permanent state of distrust or disgust…maybe both?

And then he went into his pocket, looking around the place and letting go of the door so that he could step inside. “No, I’m not Sarah. She ain’t here?”

“Uh, she ain’t—isn’t. Can…Can I help you?”

“You her assistant or secretary or somethin’?”

Chuck pulled his lips between his teeth and winced, then made a popping sound. “Um, no. No, no. I am her boyfriend. Heh. She just solved a case and I snuck in here to put flowers on her desk. Sort of a congra—”

“I don’t care. You know when she’s gonna be back?”

Chuck frowned a bit. “No. I mean…soon maybe?”

“Not a very good secretary, are ya? Hope she doesn’t pay you a lot.”

“She doesn’t pay me anything, because I’m not her secretary. I’m her boyfriend. Are you just not listening to me?”

“Guess not.” He finally pulled his hand out of the blue windbreaker he wore and Chuck was sure for a second that it would be a gun and he was about to be shot in his girlfriend’s P.I. agency. But instead it was a badge. And Chuck noticed there was a gun in a shoulder holster, before the man pulled his jacket over it with a grunt.

“Detective Casey, LAPD. I need to talk to your boss as soon as possible, kid.”

“She’s not my boss—You know what? Never mind. I give up.” He went to the nearby desk and grabbed a notepad and pen from the drawer. “You have a number where she can reach you, or—”

“Move.” He was easily shifted out of the way by one hand on his shoulder. The detective scrawled a number down on the notepad. “Have her call me there the moment she comes in. Tell her to ask for Detective John Casey. Got it? Can you handle that much?”

Chuck had to force himself to remember the man had a pair of handcuffs somewhere and a gun, and his bail could easily be what Sarah spent her Mestik case paycheck on instead of building up her business like she planned to. And instead of reacting, he just nodded, keeping his annoyance from his face. “Yep. Got it. Will do. Uh…Sir? Detective, ahem…Detective Sir.”

“Casey.”

“Yes. Sorry. Detective Casey. Is Sarah…Is she in trouble for something?”

The man let out an amused grunt and ran his eyes down his tall, lanky frame, very blatantly surveying him. “She ain’t in trouble. Just need some information about a case. Filling in some holes, that’s all. Why?” He grunted again, humor in his face. As much humor as the man was capable of, at least. “You got a crush on ‘er?”

Chuck narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “Mmmmm. Again, she’s my girlfriend.”

“Heh. Whatever you say, big-britches.”

Well, at least this time he acknowledged the words that had come out of Chuck’s mouth, even if he apparently didn’t believe them.

“Just make sure she calls. I don’t wanna hafta come back here.” The man flicked the pen in his hand at the desk, apparently not caring that it rolled right off the desk and onto the floor, and then he was gone, leaving the agency door slamming hard enough to rattle the frame.

“Okay bye,” Chuck said to no one in particular.

[heyymonkey2]

First Night Back in Fuuga Ch 41: Yearning for You

Ao3 Link to Chapter 41

Summary: Yona and Hak haven’t been intimate since their major disagreement and it’s driving them both crazy; Lili and Tae-Woo have begun their journey

“Shhh. She’s still asleep.”

“Says he who snored all night,” retorts Jae-Ha to Kija who's in bedding on the floor next to him.

BAM! A pillow hits Jae-Ha’s face.

“Yun, is that really your first inclination every morning?”

Yun sits up with groggy eyes and a scowl for Jae-Ha. “Only toward the person who wakes me up. It’s always you.” Yun sighs as he glances longingly at Zeno who's still blissfully asleep.

Yona's curled up in a ball on her bed, eyes still closed but with a little smile on her face. For the past few days, this has been her favorite sound in the world -- her Happy Hungry Bunch’s bantering in the morning.

Since the night Hak found out about Soo-Won being alive, he’s had them stationed in their room at night. Gods forbid it -- if there's a coordinated attack, they’ll have the best chance of protecting Yona if they’re all together.

Yona loves their lively company and has always hoped they’d get to do some “sleepovers” in her palace bedroom. But…

She stares at the empty indent in the sheets next to her. Hak. He’s been relentless working with the Sky Tribe warriors since that night. Up every morning before dawn. To bed long after everyone’s already been down for the night.

Yona splays her hand out over the space where he should be. The emptiness of the air is a cold shock to her heart. It really, really helps that he at least sleeps next to her each night. But she still misses him. Their privacy. His touch.

Their latest conversation about Soo-Won under the great oak didn’t exactly end on a romantic note. And after they sent Lili and Tae-Woo off with Shin-Ah as their guide, Yona’s fears only heightened about how tense and possibly upset with her Hak must be feeling.

She’s been too afraid to talk to him about it all. But until she does, she knows she won’t be able to calm down.

Yona hears the pillow fight escalating in the background. Thank goodness those guys are here.

Yona sits up and turns toward her company. “Good morning.”

The guys all stop mid-motion and beam up at her. Kija apologetic. Zeno with a wild smile. Yun exasperated. And Jae-Ha… with that sweet, supportive look he has when he can see right through her.

“How are you feeling, Dear?” Jae-Ha asks with sincere concern. “You know -- if… your pregnancy is making you uncomfortable, I’m happy to get you anything that could help.”

They both know what he’s really talking about. Who, rather. Yona also knows Hak is pissed at Jae-Ha at the moment, so she’s not about to go asking for any favors…

“I’m flattered you leave her in our care, but this is bordering on abandonment.”

Hak lowers the meat skewer Jae-ha brought to the training grounds, “Is this your idea of good breakfast conversation or did you seriously just bait me with food so you can sit there and pester me?”

Jae-Ha shrugs. “It worked, didn’t it?”

Hak sighs and bites off a chunk of meat. With the mouthful, “Don’t push it. My hand’s been slipping today.”

Totally unphased, “She’s started to show a little. Did you get to see?”

“I noticed. Not that it’s your business. I’m concerned how you saw, though.”

Jae-Ha rolls his eyes. Yona didn’t have to pull up her gown for him to see. He notices everything about her. And it’s driving him mad that Hak is being so cavalier about all of this.

Hak swallows and reaches for his cup, suppressing his true emotions at every turn. Jae-Ha has no idea what kind of turbulence he's feeling right now. How he hates that he couldn’t just support the princess. That he argued with her. Hurt her. Is afraid to touch her… because she hasn’t touched him. How he constantly wonders if they’re even OK.

Abandonment? She is the center of his every thought every second of every day. When he comes into their bed at night, it’s always when she’s already asleep because he’s afraid to appear before her when they’re awake. Like his very presence could upset her. But no matter how long a day has been, he has trouble falling asleep. He longs to touch her.

He stares at her. Cherishes every inch. Most of all, her rising chest and swelling belly. Her bump is only slight, but he’s noticed alright. Just last night he reached his hand out just an inch from it, dying to feel her warmth and fullness there. But he held himself back. Like he will continue to until he knows she wants him like that.

It’s been days since they’ve made love. They’ve gone this long before… but never with something this unresolved between them. His need for her has gotten so strong he’s become irrationally irritable on the training grounds and has been surprising himself with his bursts of anger. What a lover’s touch can do to calm a man’s body, his spirit, is incomparable...

“Your Highness.”

Both Hak and Jae-Ha look up at one of the palace servants who’s just arrived.

“I apologize for my interruption. I know you’re very busy training. However, a couple lords from the Water Tribe just arrived and brought a gift.”

Hak just stares at the young boy. He hates this stuff. And he’s so tense he doubts he can even try to be civil.

Always able to read a room, Jae-Ha goes in for the save, “Is this something I could handle in his stead? His Majesty,” a moniker which he can’t help but smile about as he rattles off, “is, as you said, quite busy.”

The servant boy blushes at this complication. “Um… well, you see, the gift may not be something he wishes to share.”

Hak accidentally snaps his wooden skewer in half. Jae-Ha notes that his friend is in a state that could use some relief. Maybe he needs a break after all...

The servant boy is shaking, but doesn’t give up. “Please come and see. The lords are certain His Majesty will be pleased.”

Lili rubs her eyes and yawns as she finally wakes up. Ugh, her body aches like hell. They rode and trained so long yesterday she thought she’d die.

She apprehensively opens her eyes to see -- Shin-Ah, quietly sitting there scratching Ao’s belly and staring at her. Lili is surprised to feel relief at this odd sight. What’s more awkward: waking up to Shin-Ah or Tae-Woo? Apparently, even the mask doesn’t put Shin-Ah over the edge on that one.

Lili heads out of the tent to find Tae-Woo so they can start their day. They’ve been traveling horseback on a road along the edge of a forest. She guesses he probably went into the woods to catch breakfast. She starts along a path that goes in between the trees.

Fuck, this hurts! Lili tries to get her mind off her body. She focuses on positive thoughts. Like that she’s pretty proud of herself for surviving this far. And she’s been getting along with Tae-Woo pretty well without feeling weird about it. Sure, as a precaution she’s been comfortable keeping their conversations sorta wooden and impersonal, but she’s thinking she can probably be real with him now and possibly even have an actual friendship.

Ever since she pieced together Tae-Woo is always with Han-Dae -- like, always -- and realized that maybe Tae-Woo’s fixation isn’t on a girl at all, she’s found some ease around him. Yes, there’s still this weird sadness that's lingered ever since she figured that out. Disappointment. But that's ridiculous. What is there to be disappointed about? Nothing ever happened. Nor was it gonna. It’s not like he ever made a move on her.

She’s just a girl at a marriable age -- confusing physical and emotional feelings are only natural.

Lili hears something in the distance. Must be him!

Tae-Woo bursts up through the surface of the cold water and flicks his hair back before swimming to a shallower area of the small lake.

Washing off feels great. He’d woken up extra early in the morning to do some hardcore training. That’s what Hak would’ve done. Being out on the road like this, you’ve got to be in shape for a threat at any time.

Later in the day he’ll continue some basic training with Lady Lili. She said that’s what Yona would’ve done -- kept training even on the journey. Not that they have much choice anyway. They only have until coronation to get this right.

At least they have horses and can take main roads most of the way. Yona and Hak definitely didn’t have that luxury.

Speaking of, Yona and Hak must’ve had to sleep in the same tent sometimes, too. Wonder how Hak did that… ‘cause when Lady Lili sleeps, sometimes she turns and is pressed right up against him and-

Tae-Woo cuts his train of thought off, as he often has done since starting training with Lady Lili. He’s afraid of where his thoughts might go if he doesn’t keep check on them. Any guy alone with a girl, having to touch each other everyday, sleep next to each other at night -- any guy could end up seriously confused in a situation like this. But he’s seen her with Jae-Ha enough times. He knows, with this girl, he’s not allowed to get confused.

“Tae-W-”

Tae-Woo flips around in the water to see Lili pop out of the trees onto the lake bank.

Why are her eyes so wide…?

OH! Tae-Woo looks down -- his torso is exposed all the way down to the top of his pelvic V. She can’t see that, but she can see a whole lot.

Lili simultaneously realizes she’s in no way averting her eyes, so she throws a hand up over her face.

Pound. Pound. Pound. Her heart has forgotten nothing.

Oh no… as feared, Tae-Woo’s similarities with Hak do not end at hair color and attitude.

Lili feels a tingling in her core inspired by the visual she can’t get out of her head. Those. Abs. Whether this guy is into guys or not, so much for her keeping her composure from here on out.

Tae-Woo quickly moves into deeper water while noting Lady Lili looks mortified with that hand over her face. Oh crap, she’s gonna tell Jae-Ha who’s gonna tell Hak who’s gonna… damn it, I've already accidentally crossed the line.

“He’s just been getting so much attention,” Yona confides.

Mundok smiles down at Yona as only someone recognizing a familiar phase in life can. They’re sitting together on Hak’s favorite bench. And Hak is the only topic that the princess has been interested in talking about today.

“That's true, I heard about the tournament they’d like him to fight in to get the citizens excited,” Mundok affirms.

“It’s not even just the big things like that for Kouka. You wouldn’t believe how many people have already asked to sit and break bread with him.”

“If they were smart, they’d all be asking for time with you.”

Yona glows at that suggestion from someone she respects so much, “Everyone is used to how things were before this, right? I think it’ll be some time before they fully embrace Hak and I’s unique arrangement here. In any event, I have my fair share of requests, too. I’m just… used to Hak being there with me.”

“I think he’d like to be.”

Yona looks up at the elder with hope, “Really?”

Mundok wants to laugh, but he keeps serious. He remembers being young and insecure. It’s no laughing matter when you’re living it.

“You know why your father loved Hak? Because he could trust him to be honest no matter what. The boy might even be incapable of lying. And he would never lie to you. I have a feeling you two would do well to have a nice long talk about all this.”

Yona nervously curls her fingers into the fabric of her gown, “I know.”

“I haven’t seen you head anywhere this fast in a week.”

Yona stops her rush toward the training grounds to see Jae-Ha up on the edge of a red roof.

“Oh, it’s good you’re here! If Hak saw me without a bodyguard I’d never hear the end of it.”

“My pleasure,” Jae-Ha deftly lands at her side and continues down the path, “though I do have a favor to ask."

“Sure,” Yona offers.

“Please don’t hate me.”

Yona stops and turns to look at him, “...you did something?”

Jae-Ha cringes a little bit, “It wasn’t premeditated at all. The situation… was not the best. I was making light of a bad, bad-”

“You can just tell me, Jae-Ha.”

With a deep breath, “Some Water Tribe nobles brought Hak a rather forward gift in the form of royal concubines.”

Yona lifts a hand to her mouth, her eyes nearly popping out of her head, as her body fills with fear and rage.

Jae-Ha quickly clarifies, “Don’t worry, Dear, you should have seen it. Hak would have nothing to do with them and -- well, as politely as he could, which was not very polite at all -- he rejected the ‘gift.’”

With her emotions on high from the pregnancy, Yona feels a thousand different things. She wants to cry. She wants to kill a couple Water Tribe nobles. She wants to vomit. She wants to stop hyperventilating.

“Breathe in, breathe out,” Jae-Ha encourages. “Nothing happened, other than the Water Tribe nobles were upset and I offered that perhaps the ladies could stay and maybe others at the palace could enjoy their company. I love spending time with beautiful women. ...and I may have joked that even Lili could enjoy it.”

Yona’s mouth drops. “So Hak asked what you meant.”

“He wouldn’t let it go,” Jae-Ha apologizes. “She’s off with Tae-Woo right now so he’s… sensitive on the topic.”

“And you told him what happened?” Yona closes her eyes in dread.

“In private, I explained where I’d gotten that idea… yes.”

“Is he mad?”

“At me? Absolutely. At you? Dear, he seems… very pent up right now. I know you two had a disagreement and are giving one another space, but I don’t think that’s working out so well. For either of you. Please go put him out of his misery.”

Yona looks at her green dragon with worry, “But I can’t bring Tae-Woo back. I can’t undo the misunderstanding with Lili. How?”

“Easy, Dear. Kiss him.”

SWOOSH! Hak swings his glaive at a Sky soldier, but his mind is off somewhere in a fog.

So something like that happened to the princess and she wasn’t comfortable telling him about it? What must she think of him?

And there’s no way he can let her find out about the “gift” today from someone else before he tells her. She’ll definitely worry, especially with how things have been lately. He cannot let her feel that. Not when she has absolutely nothing to ever worry about when it comes to that. And she never has.

Hak nearly hits the guy he’s fighting. He stops in his tracks.

Damn it. He’s gotta go get his head straight before someone gets hurt. This is it. He’s got to talk to her.

Hak is taking his gear off in the room where the Sky warriors change their clothes when he hears the door lock behind him.

He minds where his glaive is placed before turning to see-

“Princess.”

Yona stands before the doorway in a cloak, her face concerned but hopeful.

She doesn’t say a word as she strides over to him and he can’t help but start toward her.

She grabs his face and pulls his lips down to hers with a passion he returns in full.

All their worldly worries seem to evaporate in the moment.

Yona pulls away and takes a step back. Her fingers fly to the tie at the front of her cloak. It falls. She has nothing else on.

Hak feels himself hardening at the sight. His heart is pounding, his breathing intensifying.

Yona lowers her fingers to herself and then lifts them. They're glistening. She's so wet.

"Hak, I hope you don't mind. I really, really need you right now."

And even though there's so much he wants to say, Hak has always been best at expressing himself physically.

[thebrownkniz]

Mac Mifune

4:00 a.m.

“Mifune! Heya, Boss, wait up!”

“Kelex, you know I don’t like being followed.”

“Yeah-yeah Boss, I know. I’m ah- we’re just headin’ in the same direction, that’s all and I thought-”

“Kid, why do you even bother with that place?"

“I gotta make ah livin' too, Boss.”

“I am not your Boss, Kelex. Find a better day job.”

I noticed a break in the traffic and took the opportunity leaving Kelex sitting on the other side unable to cross with me. 

"Yeah okay, Boss! Se-see ya next week!”

 “Sure, Kid. Sure.”

It would be hard for me to explain without starting at the beginning and my walk home isn’t that long but all-in-all, this place has gone to hell and it’s only getting worst. 

Before I came to the Compound, well before the Compound was built rather; I was living in the Outpost. Before that, the Highlens. I even once stayed in a little tree house down at Coast’s Edge. When the Humans arrived there was nothing but forest between the Highlens and the Intell, but like I said, things sure have gone to hell.

Without any remorse for the grounds and it’s residents of the Outpost, it took only minutes to make the decision to clear it out. After finalizing their DNA analyzes, Kepler Enforcements felt it was best to screen beings whom wanted to travel to one of the other eight dimensions on Kepler. After the arrival of the Earthlings, they noticed that even after the first year, a decline is access. 

More and more port keys have been voided and we are now on Full Lock Down, but don't fear, Kepler Enforcements have you covered.     

“Re-ha-bil-i-tation, Mr. Mifune."  I could still picture her pale yellow, skin stretched across her face with a crooked, unnatural smile.

That’s what they actually call it, can you believe that? The Intell here have really gone mental. You can’t fix humanity. You can’t fix their gene pool, their attitudes, the hate, the selfishness. Destruction, “the violence!” None, of those things can be corrected, I sure the fuck couldn’t. Earth reminds me nothing but of lost. Look, just trust me when I say there’s a reason we were alone within the milky way. 

“We believe we can help you accept Positive Responses that will cancel any and all unnecessary infected ions in your double helix, Mr. Mifune.”

Look all I know about PRs is that they put you through a drug induced, repressions simulation and use DNA enhancing ions and REM sleep to make Humans and anyone in contact with Humans, compliant because they already know how damaging these beings really are and what they are truly capable of if they could travel to the other dimensions, learn that kind of technology, visit other worlds. After only two years here on Nine there is already zero plant and natural wild animal life within the Compound. None. 

I stopped a little down the way to light my gar from last night’s win, no shame in smoking to a rough night.

Look, I don’t hate you guys. My mother was full blooded and I have lived alongside Humans for eons. I knew some very endearing souls back on Earth, but you guys are just the reason I can’t leave this damn place, so my anger may be biased at the moment.

An electric pop echoed in the distance and the smell Nitrogen Fuel filled the air. I raked the gar into the street and headed home with haste. 

They sure do know how to catch some heat flying in the Compound like that. I’m sure my mousey, upstairs neighbor has already called them in, wonder what brings such a fancy, antique to a place like this. Better get cleaned up before the Rats arrive. Don’t wanna get caught up in that kind of heat.

I own the building at the furthest end of the Compound, but to keep it safe I stay  in the basement room of the building beside mine to not draw too much attention. Nothing special down there, a bed, small kitchen table. There’ s a small sink area for a kitchen but it’s just one room aside from the bathroom and even that is just a large room with a metal tub in the center.

I raced down the alleyway towards the front of the building. The scent from earlier was much stronger now. I squeezed through a small hole in the fencing. My front door had been left wide open. 

Who ever did this sure knows how to stink up ah place. It’s been happening more and more lately, the break ins. I want to be home just one time. Just one time, when they come lookin for trouble. I could tell they sure got out of here quickly so it might not have been them that trashed the place, too many contradicting smell to pin point any particular timeframe. A shower should help clear that up. 

The steam from the shower filled the room, reviling even older scents from days past.The moment I stepped into the shower and fully submerged myself into the water I could hear them, five N10s and comin’ in hot. 

“Knock. Knock. Knock.” 

Nothing. I tried again. 

“Knock, Knock, Knock.”

“I know you're home, c’mon.” 

I pressed my ear against the wooden door, I could hear her placing her hands against the opposite side of mine. 

“Hello?” 

I growled poping the door with the side of my fist then I heard the first click of the lock unhinging then disengaging. 

“Close your curtains. Here, help me close the curtains.”

“Mifune” That tender voice.

“What are you doing Mifune?” 

It still sounded as calm as it did the day she was taken from me. 

“Look at yourself, Mifune, just look at yourself.” 

The voice was now repeatedly, overlapping and echoing around the room in a smashed sound of crying and laughter. My blood felt like it was boiling inside my skull.  

“Hush!”

The room fell silent in an instant. 

“I didn’t- I haven’t said anything.” 

To my surprise, my neighbor, that I’ve only seen from the upstairs window, wasn’t mousey one bit but standing about four feet taller than me. How had I not noticed? She balled herself up at the end of the couch, eyes fixated on me. 

 “Are they, after you?” 

“Sh- Wait. What?” I moved towards her. 

“Hey, I know how this looks but this is my blood, you have nothing to worry about. I promise, I ju-”

You could hear their footsteps rushing to the top floor of the building. 

“You can come out now or we will enter the facility,” a man shouted from above us.

“Psst. Who lives in the attic?” 

 “I have lived here since I came here twelve years ago, no one lives up there.”

They rammed in the door, “Uh, clearly someone does.”  

You could hear them enter then leave the room shorty after. 

“Hey, what’s going on out here?”

“Sir, this is a personal matter and I will have to ask you to please go back into your living quarters.”

“Raiding our building at five in the morning and busting down a door to no one’s room is a personal matter?”

I looked across the room, at first I couldn’t make out what she was doing but then a crack of light flooded the corner of the room from front door.

“Hey, what the fuck are you do-” She rushed out before I could even finish my sentence. 

“Stupid girl.” 

I wouldn’t put my trust in that squid for any amount of money. I honestly don’t know why she insists on helping him pass his exams- sorry rehabilitations. Who even knows why he’s trying to go to other dimensions or why he needs to be rehabilitated in the first place. 

It is rather odd for them to just show up like this and for no actual reason, I mean it for sure wasn’t a call in. I peeked out the window. Maybe that pop set them off. Everything got quiet for a moment, then I heard the fleet of beings continue down the stairs and back to their cruisers. 

I sat in complete darkness aside from the beam of orange light from the still open door. With my eyes finally adjusting to the lighting, I took notice of my surroundings. I looked like a wee pup sitting near the extra large furniture that decorated the room. The room itself was much larger then its appearance from the outside with towering walls and high ceilings. There was so much I hadn’t noticed about my upstairs neighbor- come to think about it, I didn’t even know her name. Hearing the childing make there way up the stairs to investigate was my que.   

”Oh man, looks like I’m gonna make like a mutt and scat-”  

‘Throwing back the curtains and taking in the moments before sunrise, I noticed a small figure walking down from the CATS.  

“Oh ho, look who decided to show up.”

I took off running out the front door and down to the courtyard. You know it’s a good day when you get to scare the shit out of ah Rat Bastard.

“Miles, you rat son of a bitch!” I howled racing past him.

“Shit!” He shrilled like a small princess, almost falling backwards on his royal rump. 

“Gets him every time.”