#Ten minute fic cause I was bored at the gym | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

saturnzskyzz · 4 months

Note

can you maybe write something with Lee Taehyung and Ler Jin. (I really love your fics!)

Of course!!

A/N: I'm very sorry for how short this is, but don't worry! There will be a part two of this! :]] (if you want to be tagged Anon, just DM me! I'd be happy to tag you in part two!)

Curiosity killed the cat

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@soap143 @marblemoonstones @laughingcuties

summary:

Jin and Tae received a punishment for loosing in one of their bangtan episode's..unfortunantly, taehyung received two punishments.

Warning:

Tickling

Taehyung was.. How do I say this?.. Curious.. to say the least.

He's not the type to work out a whole lot, much so Seokjin as well, but ever since they both lost a bet from the others due to the genre of their bangtan episode, they were punished to do a workout confirmed by Namjoon. And although Taehyung should be bummed that he received the punishment with Seokjin, he was just.. Fickle about the situation.

He wondered how much he could bench press, or how many push-ups he could do along side his friend.

So he turned it into a challenge.

Ten minutes into the punishment, Taehyung took the lead into what they should work out on first. They went from push-ups; Seokjin ending up with 37, beating Taehyung by three push-ups more. Then they went on with bench press, which also resulted with Seokjin beating Tayehyung with a single press more than the younger. And now they're on to planks, suggested by Seokjin, who was feeling a bit bad that he was winning Taehyung's "challenge".

"I'm so going to beat you at planks!" Taehyung said with high hopes. He's already done so many planks as it is, so he was certain that he was going to beat Seokjin with these.

"You wanna bet?" Seokjin said, although he had planned beforehand to give up his win to his fellow member. He got in a resting position while he waited for Taehyung to be ready.

"Yes! I have my stop watch ready!" Taehyung held out the stopwatch, with his thumb resting on the button. When he saw Seokjin getting ready to plank, that's when he started the stop watch.

Now, Taehyung wanted to be nice to his hyung since this was a challenge to him, but he felt mischievous at that second, and decided to come up with a plan while Seokjin was still "standing."

He waited for a few seconds; checking the stop watch every now and then, looking at Seokjin with a smirk, to which Seokjin never noticed. After all, he was too focused on the ground below him to even fathom his surroundings, so when Taehyung felt that right now was a good time to start his plan, he went into action.

"Hey, hyung? did you know that Chris Martin was going to be here today?" Taehyung pulled on his best confused voice, while staring at a corner with the intentions that a coldplay member had joined the gym.

"Wait what?!" Seokjin glanced at Tae, who then whipped his head the other direction from where the younger was looking at with excitement, and confusion. When he saw no one, however, he suddenly felt ten fingers go for both of his sides, which caused him to panic, and put a knee down to then dart his hands at the offending fingers, easily pushing them away to stop its predicament on his sides.

"Yohou should have seen yohour face, hyung! Oho my goodness!" Taehyung chuckled out loud, with his hands still captured by the oldest.

"Why did you do that? I was in the middle of doing my plank!" Seokjin released one of tae's hands to lightly smack at his shoulder to emphasize his frustration.

"What? I was bored, and I'm wanting to beat you in something, so HA! I already stopped the timer. You got..." As Taehyung looked at the timer, Seokjin was also planning his revenge. He got up to hover over Taehyung while he grabbed at his wrists to keep him from possibly running.

"...H-Hyung, what are you doing?" Tae said, immediately neglecting the stop watch to look at his hyung, nervously.

The younger was easily brought to lay comfortably on his back while the older swiftly moved Tae's trapped hands above his head while moving to sit on the younger's hips so he had no where to go.

"Let's change up the exercise, yeah? This time, it's an endurance test." Seokjin said, scaringly calm.

"Wh-whahat kind of endurance test.. Hyung?" Teahyung said, hesitantly. He already thought of what this endurance test was going to be, enlightening the oldests sight with a red hue from the younger, surprisingly fast.

"Already nervous, huh? It's alright. I'm sure you'll do better than what I could have done seconds ago." Seokjin said, smiling sweetly at Taehyung before he shot his hands straight to Tae's sides, bringing out the youngers soft, honey sweet laughter.

"Ahahah, HYUhuUhng! Nohoho!" cried the youngest. He tried to get out of Seokjin's threshold, but it was to no avail, leaving him utterly trapped with no escape fairly quickly, no surprise to the oldest.

"Already giving up on escaping? That's fine. This is an endurance test afterall. You're not supposed to escape a test, V." Seokjin said calmly. He was quite formal with his words like he was empersonating a teacher.

"Whihihihihy?!" Taehyung dared to ask while in such a predicament.

"Behecause you did this to yourself, you goof!" seokjin said. He decided he wanted to test the waters, even knowing that this would bring back revenge from the younger, but he still begged the obvious question.

"Say, you wanna bet how long you can withhold me counting your ribs, Tae? You know.. Since you've already beaten me in doing a plank?" Seokjin said with a playful glint in his eyes while he looked at the vocalist.

"NOOHOohoho, hyuhuhung! Plehehease nahahat thahat!" upon hearing Taehyungs panicky giggles, he started the counting game with no remorse.

"First, I gotta find your first set of ribs to start off.." Seokjin said, purposely digging here and there to set off Taehyungs nerves before he found the top part of his ribs.

"NOHOHOHOHO! JIHIN PLEHEHEASE!" with kicking egs, he grabbed onto Seokjin's wrists to try and get them away from his ribs, but it was no use.

"1.."

"2.."

"3.. If you keep trying to push me away, I'll have to start over, you know?"

"4.."

Taehyung was at a loss for words.. Quite literally. The first five set of his top ribs were always the worst. Much so his bottom set as well, poor soul..

"STAHAH- JIHIJIN! NOHOHO MOHOHOR-ahahAHAHA!" He whipped his head back as he held onto Seokjin's wrists with no actual meaning to push them away, once again.

"Yehes more! You still have~ what?.. More than 10 more ribs to go?!" Jin laughed alongside his friend, who had a contagious laugh, engulfed by the oldest. Tae was known for having a contagious laugh when in a tickly predicament. All the members were fond of his sweet, honey-like laughter. It was understandable that the members would crave his sweet laugh-it brought joy to them.

But although Jin wanted to be evil, he decided to move his hands back to Tae's sides to savor the younger's breath.

"Jihihin! P-plehehease! MEHEercy!!" Taehyung kicked his legs weakly, closing his eyes shut to the sound of Seokjin's evil laugh breaking the quiet air.

"Mercy? Taehyung.. We've barely finished what you started!" Seokjin said, menacingly. He stared at Tae, knowing that his eyes we're shut, but knew that staring alone would have him sense the starving look in the oldests' eyes.

Without getting a peep other than giggles from the victim, Seokjin daringly lifted up Tae's shirt to reveal his stomach. Tae knew exactly what that meant.

"W-wahait! JIN! Nohoho! Dohohon't you dAHAre!" Taehyung pleaded. The obvious look on Jin's face made Tae nervous, and more giddy with what he's planning to do.

"Oho, I dare!" Jin said, before leaning his head down to blow big, long raspberries into the skin of Tae's bare stomach.

"HAHAHAHAHA! SEHEOKJIHIHIN! STAHAHAHA!" Tae pulled his head back once again to release big, boisterous laughter.

"Nhng-eheAHAHAHA! sst-STAHAHAP! PLEHEHAHAHA!" Tae couldn't speak coherently as Jin peckered quick, yet long raspberries from before. The sensation with each blow as Jin spreaded them all around: from the middle, right above his navel, to getting his sides right below his bottom set of ribs. He never miksed a spot to gift his Seokjin's special raspberries into the young man's skin.

About 10 to 15 raspberries in, However, Tae was starting to become tired from all the laughter, and Jin was starting to notice as well. He lent up from the younger, to just tweaking at his sides, once again, to just have him giggling.

"Have we grown tired of this Endearance test, Tae?" Jin said, looking at him with a smirk.

"Fuhuhu.. Fuhuhuck youohou!" Tae dared to say with glint in his eyes.

"Oho, you little! -"

As much for revenge, Tae has yet another tickly punishment that very evening..

Thank you for reading! :]]

If you'd like to be tagged in future posts like this, don't be afraid to let me know! :D

Take care!!

#𓆩anon𓆪 #bts fanfic #Bts tickle #lee taehyung #Ler seokjin #sfw tickle community #kpop #Kpop tickle #Bts #Fanfiction #writers on tumblr #saturn drabbles

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beels-burger-babe · 3 years

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Hi! I saw that requests are open, if it's not a problem could i request Satan reacting to MC coming to him with new books every time they hang out because they want him to read them out loud since they have a short attention span? Like, Satan would be reading said book while MC is drawing or doing something else.

I have adhd and reading books that are not digital is a nightmare for me, so him reading out loud would be pretty relaxing.

Btw it's up to you if you wanna do headcanons or a oneshot!

ABSOLUTELY!!! So this is actually my first request and I'm super excited because as someone who also has ADHD I can totally relate! I hope you like it!

Too Still, Too Quiet

GN!MC with ADHD Summary: Satan notices that MC seems to have a hard time hanging out with him; he's determined to get to the bottom of the issue and find a solution.

After living in the House of Lamentation for nearly a year, you've grown accustomed to the many quirks that came with living with the seven Lords of the Devildom. You had gotten close to the brothers, and as they picked up on your symptoms for your ADHD, they each found their own ways of being helpful. Lucifer had always known, as it was written on your file, and made a point of sending you subtle reminders throughout the day to keep you organized and on task. He brushed it off saying that it merely prevented him from having to go after you later on if you forgot or did something incorrectly. Mammon was no stranger to having a hard time prioritizing and staying focused and took pride in lending you some of the different tools he used to fidget with. After all, his human deserved the best, and you couldn’t get any better than using something that belonged to the great Mammon. Leviathan’s room provided a relaxing atmosphere with just enough stimulation to keep your brain satisfied enough to focus on your school work and tasks. The sounds of the aquarium provided a fantastic back ground noise, and Levi always took caution in wearing his headphones when he gamed if you were working in his room to not add to the distractions around you. Asmodeus had a good eye for when you were growing too frustrated by the regular chaos that tended to fill the House of Lamentation and would pull you aside to his room for some self-care to help calm you down. There was nothing like a head message and face mask from Asmo as he happily gossiped about the latest drama in The Fall to help ground you. Beelzebub, on the other hand, was great at noticing when you were starting to grow restless. In those moments, he’d not-so-subtly state that he was heading to the gym and it’d sure be nice if he had someone to join in before very obviously making eye contact with you. At first you had a hard time figuring out a good balance between a work out that satisfied Beel while also not killing you. But now the two of you easily worked with each other until you were both sweating, smiling, and happy. He also made sure to remind you to eat through out the day whenever you went to a round of hyper-fixation on something. Belphegore wasn’t particularly helpful when it came to your forgetful spells or disorganization as, being the Avatar of Sloth, he would normally encourage such behavior. Instead, he did what he did best, and helped put your wandering mind to ease whenever you were trying to sleep. The only person, and not for a lack of trying, that you just couldn’t seem to find a flow with was Satan.

He was too quiet and organized for you to be able to stand being around him for long periods of time. You had tried hanging out with him a couple of times, but after a few minutes of him silently reading or him explaining whichever text he was currently studying, you would grow restless and distracted. Which brought you to your current situation. Satan had invited you to come relax in his room with him, as the rest of his brothers were dealing with the aftermath of their most recent dilemma. It wasn’t so bad at first, some light conversation here, some banter there, but soon your mind started to wander off to the spines of the endless books around you as you pondered on what might be inside them. “MC?” Your attention snapped back onto Satan, who stood frowning at you. You blushed and scratched the back of your neck. “Oh, I’m sorry. I got a little distracted. What were you saying?” Satan sighed as his frown deepened. “I’ve noticed that tends to happen a lot with you. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!” He quickly amended raising his hands in defense. “But it seems particularly bad when you’re with me. You get quite jittery and I don’t think you’ve ever stayed in my room longer than ten minutes,” for a second his eyes almost looked sad as he looked over at you, “Is it something I’m doing? Do I make you uncomfortable?” “No! Satan, no, it’s not you I promise!” You quickly reassured moving closer to him. “It’s just well I have a hard time staying still and focusing on things and when it gets too quiet it bothers me because then my brain is like hyper fixating on the smallest noises in the room, even though I’m supposed to be focusing on what you’re saying or my work, and it’s like, is that a page a turning or a something scratching at the door and then I start wondering about what kind of things could be in here and-” “MC.” Satan cut off, though he didn’t seem annoyed. In fact, his eyes now gleamed with a sense of understanding. “Do you happen to have ADHD?” “Yeah, I thought you all knew? Lucifer told all of you when I arrived right? That’s why everyone is so-” you moved your hand in a vague gesture that even you weren’t entirely sure what it was meant to symbolize. Satan huffed and shook his head. “Lucifer did no such thing. I imagine he would’ve told us if it came to be a big enough problem. But you know him. He takes pride in being the only one to know certain things. “ You frowned and tilted your head in confusion. “But then what about the others? They’ve all been helping me out for months now.” Satan placed a hand under his chin in thought, “They most likely took note of individual symptoms and decided to help. Belphegore, and possibly even Leviathan and Asmodeus may have put two and two together, but the rest probably think you’re just forgetful or that you’re restless,” he smiled reassuringly at you, “but that’s besides the point. Now that I know, I can help make you feel more at ease when you’re with me. What’s the main issue that you-” “It’s too quiet!” You quickly cut off, causing Satan to raise an eyebrow. “When we’re in here relaxing and you’re just reading and I’m supposed to be reading too, it’s too quiet. I try to focus on the book, but my mind keeps jumping around to other things. And I want to read all those books you’ve recommended to me, I really do, but I start feeling bored after a little while and next thing I know I jumping sentences without noticing and then I’ve gone an entire chapter with no recollection of what I’ve just read because I wasn’t really paying attention to the words at all I was just flipping pages without realizing it, so I have to go back and re-read the whole thing all over again!” You throw your hands in the air in frustration. “Is exhausting and makes me feel dumb, so I get up and do something else instead.” Satan nodded, taking in every word carefully. “Well first of all,” you yelped as he flicked your forehead. “Ouch! What was that for?!” The demon smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. “For calling yourself dumb. Just because you have more difficulty with literature than others, does not mean you’re dumb. You simply require a different reading strategy than what most consider “usual”, and I believe I have a solution that would suit both of us,” you perked up at his words. “I recommended those books to you because I greatly enjoyed them myself. How about, when you’re here, you can choose a book you want to read, and I will read it out loud for you? That should help, yes?” A light airy warmth filled your chest at just how accommodating Satan was willing to be. “But what about the books that you were reading?” The demon shrugged, “I can always read them in my spare time.” He moved closer to take your hands into his, silently demanding your full attention. “I want to spend more time with you and get to know you better. I want you to be comfortable and be able to be yourself when you’re around me without feeling stressed. This is honestly the least I could do for you, MC.” Blushed rushed to your cheeks as you felt your heart flutter in your chest. You awkwardly cleared your throat and took your hands back, rubbing them on your legs as you noted how clammy they were. “I think I-I would like that a lot” The grin on Satan’s face widened as he took one of your hands and lead you deeper into the bookshelves of his room. “Splendid! Then why don’t we get try right away? Take you pick, MC, I will be your narrator for the evening and for as long as you wish.” ***** I hope this was something along the lines of what you were looking for! It is a little short, but I hope you like it. Thank you so much for the request, I loved it! Requests are OPEN and I would definitely love to complete some more if anyone has any ideas or prompts that they’d like me to complete. Just send in an ask and, if I feel comfortable with it, I’ll do my best to make a fic for it!

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swiingle · 3 years

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dang i think my ask didnt send, hello!! i've saw your tumblr account and i immediately loved it >:D oh and could i request a scary_day x reader? that'd be amazing! and could i be the ⚧️ anon? :D ty!!

Hi there, ⚧ Anon! Sorry about the wait, but I did receive your first request, but I had taken a short break from Tumblr!

I’m chipping away at these requests, I truly love you all sm,, but anyway to the fic!

(Something to note about [OPERATIVE]Scary here, is that I’m using the pre-June2019 version. So, he is in his clown mask and red suit!)

~***~

De-masked

Scary_Day x Reader (Request)

You had been hurriedly running to a small building, constantly checking your watch in dismay to observe how late you were.

Today marked the second week of your training to become [OPERATIVE]_______. As exciting as it was, it was definitely a monumental task. The training was going splendidly so far, as [OPERATIVE]Benevolent was a patient and fun operative to be around. The only times he would yell at you for was for nearly shooting yourself with your gun, which is reasonable.

You blush at the embarrassing thought, pushing the doors open to the gym-like building, yelling out: “Benevolent! I am here!”

But the only response forged was an echo, and you looked around cautiously. He was a very punctual man, and was always a few minutes earlier than you. You stood in the doorway a couple seconds more until you slowly crept into the building, unaware of this was some sort of test.

Once the door closed, a gruff voice cut through the silence of the gym; “Hey, sweetheart.”

Startled, you drew your gun in the blink of an eye, aiming it directly in the middle of Scary’s oversized clown mask, blood pumping through your veins at a rapid speed.

For a solid ten seconds, he only sat there with what you could only guess was a shit-eating grin. You lowered your gun. “[OPERATIVE]Scary, what are you doing here?”

He takes a step away from the wall he had been leaning against, beginning to make his way toward you. “Benevolent was called to the north gates of the city, and the supreme leader called me to take over his usual duties.” He explains while picking at his nails, which were dirtied with what one could only guess to be dried blood.

You shivered at his gruff voice, and the way he carried himself, discontented by the lack of Benevolent’s smooth tone and velvet-like personality. You huffed, and slid your gun into its holster.

“Well, I guess you’re training me today.” You said, unable to hide your disappointment.

The way his posture perked up and your defeat made you turn your head to the side. You just wished he could take the silly mask off. It was really unappealing to look at for more than a second.

“I was instructed to look over your training records, but…” his hand crept to his hip, barely being noticed by you, “…that would be just boring, right?”

You cocked your head to the side, opening your mouth to question him.

However, before you could speak his hand reached its destination, and his gun was pressed against your neck, holding you in place against one of the white cement walls of the gym.

You choked on your saliva which you coughed up once the impact came, and you quickly gripped the gun, attempting to pry it off your neck. But, you felt intimidated by the weird mask he bore. If you couldn’t be crept out more by the thing, seeing it just four inches away from your face made the whole ordeal worse.

Finally, you loosened your grip to allow more mobility to the rest of your body, and flung your leg up to his side, causing him to release the gun. The gun fell to the ground. With a swipe of your leg, you flung the gun to you hand, and stepped back, the barrel of the gun threatening Scary’s head.

You looked at him in smug victory, but your face fell when you realized he harbored no reaction whatsoever. Your grip on the gun faltered, as you felt demeaned by his flat reaction.

“How beginner,” He remarked, fixing his position, “I realized something about you.”

This time, you wouldn’t miss his attack. You gripped the gun tighter as you answered back to him, “And what would that be?”

He brought his hand up to his face, sticking a finger underneath the hem of the rubber clown mask. “You’re frightened by appearances.”

His hand slid the mask off, and you stood bewildered, as many people don’t ever account to seeing his face. As he has pulled it off, a full head of red hair spilled out, accompanied by a pair of dilated black eyes, not to mention the matching grin.

You felt the heat rise to your cheeks, and Scary definitely took the opportunity to lunch forward and topple you to the ground, but you were helpless underneath his grasp. Your heart was flipping.

“Oh god…” you said with a shaky breath.

His grin only got more smug, “Sweetheart, is your face red or is that just the reflection of my hair?”

~***~

There you have it! My grand return! <3

I also got very involved with this story, and I made a little drawing headcanon to go with it!

Here is… MegChan’s Scary_Day interpretation!

#daysunion #days union

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admiringlove · 4 years

Text

doubt

+pairing: tsukishima kei x reader

+synopsis: tsukki, the boy you’re desperately in love with. the boy who holds your hand softly as the two of you walk home together from school. the only question is, does the boy love you back just as much as you love him?

+genre: angst; fluff.

+word count: 1.6k

+warnings: none.

+author’s notes: this is an older fic, please note that my writing style has gotten better and i am producing newer fics that are better than this one. not that this fic is necessarily bad(it’s good i hope) but just my style has improved much more.

— request.

HIYA! I saw the request were open so I just wanted a full angsty Tsukki imagine. Do anything you want, I want that ANGST :DD

You and Tsukki had been dating for the past few months. Yamaguchi, being the neutral friend of the group, would always come to the rescue if the two of you had a fight or need help in talking to one another.

However, tonight was different. The dusk comes as a promise of starlight, of those eminent pearls of the twilight that sit as if cushioned upon pure black velvet. The heat of the day has ebbed to a soothing warmth. The sunshine has lost its luster, and the colors of the atmosphere are softened.

You, a teenager who had just gotten a 76-percent in Physics, was itching to find some comfort. You had pulled countless all-nighters for these exams. You had stayed up so many nights studying the reflecting rays and the incident rays and the formulas that you were just disappointed in yourself. You were in a bad mood already; expecting some calming words from Tadashi or Kei, you walk towards the volleyball gymnasium to find Tsukki, who looked so concentrated on the practice match being played.

The boys were practicing in so much perspiration and purpose, that you felt like simply watching them excel from afar. You sighed as Sugawara and Daichi greeted you before ending practice ten minutes earlier than usual, as everyone seemed drained. You waited patiently as the boys went to get changed, Hinata giving you a high-five and complimenting you before leaving.

"I'll walk you home after changing, will you wait for me?" Kei says as he picks up his bag and slings it over his shoulder. You nod, "Sure thing, Kei."

The blond walks over to the club room with everyone else, and you notice that Kei had left a shirt in the gym.

You headed to pick up Tsukishima's shirt that he had left behind. And as you headed up the stairs of the club room, you could overhear Tsukishima and Yamaguchi talking.

Talking about... you?

"Tsukki, shush. They're your [S/O]," Yamaguchi mumbles with paranoia evident in his tone. Tsukishima scoffs halfheartedly, looking away. He rolls his amber eyes in ignorance and continues, "They lied saying they studied for the Physics exam. Why would they want to lie about studying? It's them that got the lowest grade of the class, not me."

You hide next to the half-open door—heart breaking into pieces as you hear Tsukki say those words—and Yamaguchi gasps slightly when he sees you. You gesture him to keep quiet as you wanted to hear what Kei had to say about you. Truth is, you felt as if he was slowly falling out of love with you. He never gave you any song recommendations anymore, he never walked home with you, he never even bothered to talk to you, which was what pained you even more.

“Tsukishima, why would you say that about your own partner?” Suga asked to lighten the mood a little, but Tsukishima only replied, “I don’t like it when people lie to me.”

And then, the boy continued.

"It's annoying to even be with them, at this point. They're clingy, and—"

You clutch the shirt in your palm tightly, walking away. You didn't want to hear anymore. Rapidly blinking to stop the tears brimming at the corner of your eyes, you sped up your pace. Your shoulders dropped in resignation as you tightened your chapped lips in a straight line. You bit down on the inside of your cheek, as you grabbed your backpack and began the walk towards your home. What could you do, anyway? Beg him to stay with you a little longer? Obviously not, that would make you look desperate.

But what could you do, anyway? You didn't want to admit it, but you were desperate. You were desperately in love with the sarcastic remarks, the signature smirk, the teasing eyes, the nonchalant "good morning, [Y/N]-chan", the recommendations of songs that would blow your mind, the sweet midnight trips to your house just because he was bored, the small lingering kisses that would make you want more, and what else? There was so much about Tsukishima Kei that you were in love with. You couldn't put it into words even if you tried. You imagined a future with him even though the two of you were high-school freshmen.

You were alone, walking the empty streets as tears welled up from deep inside your heart and coursed down your cheeks. Like a warm waterfall in the middle of autumn. You were being killed by your own unruly thoughts that were getting the best of you. How was he going to break up with you? Was this it? Was he simply never going to talk to you again?

You finally got home, shrugging your mother off saying that you weren't in the mood for dinner as you wiped your tears and ran up the stairs.

You avoided Tsukishima for the whole week. After all, what good does a clingy [S/O] do other than annoying their partner?

"[Y/N]!" you hear Tadashi's voice echo through the corridor just as you're about to leave. You stayed behind for a couple of extra minutes because you liked the soothing silence your school provided. The bell ringing, the leaves of the trees rustling, the smell of books and chalk, the nostalgic feeling overwhelming you of memories buried deep.

The school was a safe place without anyone around.

"Ah, Tadashi!" you grinned, you grabbed your belongings and rushed over to the boy, greeting him once again. He rubs the back of his neck nervously as he asks, "You haven't talked to Tsukki all week, have you?"

"Oh, I haven't? I didn't notice," you chuckle nervously, obviously knowing that Yamaguchi was concerned about you since the day he had seen you overhear his conversation.

What you didn't know, was that Tsukishima was standing merely five feet away, hidden inside a classroom. He was quizzically standing there, not moving an inch so he could hear what you had to say. Did you want to break up with him? Was that why you hadn't initiated a single conversation with him? Was that why you would leave your home earlier than usual so you could walk without him? Was that why you wouldn't even bother to look at his message(even though he had only tried to contact you twice—one text, and one call)?

"[Y/N], I know you heard when Tsukki complained about your grade in the Physics exam," Tadashi grimaced, gritting his teeth as he tried to look away from you. You widened your eyes as you tried to find a suitable explanation that would fix the problem in front of you.

Tsukishima, on the other hand, was shocked. He didn’t know you were there that day. His hands were in his hair as he slowly sunk to his knees. His breathing becoming more rigid, more uneven as his mind went frantic. You had heard him call you clingy. You had heard him openly criticize you in front of the whole team. You had heard him say such mean things about you.

He couldn't fathom what you were feeling.

"It's not like I care about Physics anyway," you giggle, trying to lighten the mood, "Even if I got a low score, I still passed."

"Can you not joke around?" Yamaguchi asked in a deadpan tone that made you get goosebumps. You sighed, looking at him right in the eye, and claimed, "The other option is I cry and face my overwhelming sadness that my own boyfriend called me clingy and dumb even though I try so hard to be a person he deserves, so no."

To say that Tadashi was taken aback, was an understatement. You smiled as you let out a dry chuckle, and walked away.

That night, Tsukishima Kei was the one crying himself to sleep.

"Good morning, [Y/N]-chan," you heard an all-too-familiar voice behind you as you walked out to buy groceries. You stopped in your tracks, [E/C] eyes widening as you let out an unintentional hum.

"Can we talk?" he asked. You turned around hesitantly to see that his features no longer displayed the desultory expression he used to display. His forbearance was dying by the passing minute—he was worried as he stepped toward you, but stopped as he witnessed you take a step back.

His amber eyes searched for some comfort in yours, but he couldn't find himself to look at your face—as if your hurt expression would break him down even more. He never meant to hurt you with his snarky laid-back words. He didn't even mean most of them.

"I'm sorry if I have been a clingy or annoying [S/O], Tsukishima," you mumble, kicking a pebble lightly. It doesn't even pain you to say it anymore—your voice is calm and emollient as if you didn't mind saying these words. He grimaced at the fact that you didn’t call him “Kei” as his guilt uproared even more.

Your tone caused him to wince as he looked up at your face. There was no sign of apathy, like your tone. Instead, your eyes were shut tightly, as if you were trying to stop yourself from having a breakdown right there. He stepped closer to you, hoping that you wouldn't walk away this time, as he placed a palm on your head—gently fiddling with the strands of your [H/C] hair. His touch is like embrocation; the sudden relief of all pain cast inside has been let out along with a single tear taking its course on your cheek.

Your furtive façade breaking down slowly as he held you in his long, yet firm arms. You were like a gossamer—so delicate, that Kei was scared he'd break you.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things about you. I shouldn’t have ignored you," he mumbled into your hair as he embraced you tightly. You shook your head in disagreement as you muffled out a reply, "I was the one that didn't do well. It's my fault."

"You did your best," he mused. You hummed indulgently, as he held your hand in his, "I'm walking you to wherever you're headed."

"You don't even know where I'm going," you chuckled out, as the boy smiled down at you, "So? I meant it when I said I’d follow you anywhere when we began dating.”

#tsukishima kei #tsukki #haikyuu tsukishima #tsukishima x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyu #haikyuu #haikyū!!#haikyuu angst #haikyu x reader #tsukishima oneshot #tsukishima imagine #tsukki angst #tsukishima angst

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aizawa-needs-coffee · 3 years

Note

Hi!! Could I have a matchup please? I'm 18, pronouns she/her, I'm fine w any gender though I have a preference for males

If its of any relevance, physically I'm about 5'8 tall and on the chubby side, green eyes, brown hair (with blonde streaks) and I wear glasses

If you're into astrology/ mbti, I am a Sagittarius w both moon and rising in Cancer and I'm INFP

So I'm quite emotional lol. Usually very in touch with my emotions and quite perceptive of other's feelings as well. I have a huge saviours complex especially when it comes to feelings (i love helping others figure out their feelings, being a shoulder to cry on or even offering comforting hugs) but I try my best to keep it control cause I don't wanna be suffocating

On the outside I'd say I'm fairly organized, I keep my room clean and all of that, I'm a lil bit of a perfectionist but mentally I'm all over the place. I tend to get carried away by thoughts and emotions and end up procrastinating a lot; anxiety makes it all worse. In short, I suck at time management

To most people I may seem quiet and reserved but I actually really enjoy talking to people; I'm really insecure about not being funny or interesting enough tho. Around my friends I'm more relaxed but still have moments of self doubt

I can also be quite obsessive. If something really catches my interest I won't stop until I search all there is to know about it. For example I watched bnha, read the manga, the spin offs etc all in less than a month and now I'm indulging in fanart and fanfics because I need m o r e c o n t e n t hsbsb. I'm also that kind of person that listens to a new song they like on repeat until they hate it. Speaking of music, I can't say I have a taste lol. My fave genres are rock, pop and indie but I hear smth I like, I listen to it, whether its "high quality" music, basic or weird. Lately I've been listening to a lot of epicore which is literally the type of music thats used in fantasy and sci fi movies askfkdk

I like expressing myself through writing, singing and dancing but I really can't say I'm talented at either of those, it's all in good fun. I also enjoy reading (fiction, non-fic books bore me like hell; my fave genres are fantasy, sci fi and crime) but I haaate literature in school. I'm actually a bit of a math nerd and this year I'm starting uni, studying computer science!! Oh! I've also taken drama classes for 2 years (despite the fear I loved being on stage and plan on starting again once I'm done w the baccalaureate), I love playing D&D and while I woulnd't quite call myself a gamer, I love role playing video games. I'm also almost always down for any kind of multiplayer video games w friends although I have no experience

I'm not a sportive person, I go on walks or do a few exercises every now and then at home but I'm willing to try stuff out like a new sport or going to the gym w an s/o. I do plan on starting self defense classes soon and maybe taking up sword fighting (I love swords hehe)

Tbh I've never been in a relationship so I'm not really sure how I would act w an s/o, nor what I'm exactly looking for. I best express my affection through physical touch tho and that includes my friends so I'd like someone who isn't bothered or can get used to that (s/o would still receive the most hugs/ cuddles etc). I'm not that comfortable w the other love languages for friends and family, but I think I'd be a lot more eager to express my love through them for s/o. If I'm on the receiving end, my weakness is still physical touch :)) but I also need words of affirmation every now and then cause insecurities 🌠 and while I wouldn't ask for anything, especially objects, I am a hoarder and I'd keep any kind of gift like its a national treasure simply bc its from someone I love.

In addition, it doesn't really matter if s/o is more on the emotional or rational side a long as they dont invalidate my feelings; it angers me a lot and makes me feel even more insecure. I tend to isolate when I'm really really upset about something so I need a lil bit of pushing to talk abt it; I'm open to talk abt my feelings but I need the verbal confirmation that they care and wanna help, its not just cause they're being nice

Wow that is a lot of rambling jeez ajsjsjs sorry. Thank you so much if you've read throught that all and ty for the match up!!

Me and my wife literally having a ten minute debate on who we’d pair you with before I made my choice. Thanks for all the details and I hope you enjoy the match up!

I match you with Sero

I feel he’s outgoing and extroverted enough to help you with your anxiety and always reassure you that you are good at things and he does love you, he’s also so chill and laid back that even if you were clingy he’d not mind, he’d embrace it, his chill nature would help balance you. He would help you feel grounded and have a ‘you don’t have to do it all now’ attitude but would happily help you out. You need help going to the store? He remembers the list you wrote, having trouble fitting in lunch while you study? He’ll come to your door with pizza.

He’s determined and outgoing but isn’t aggressively positive and loud either which I think is why I picked him over Kirishima for you.

+++

“Hey babe, whatcha reading?” Sero asked sitting next to you on the sofa, he handed you a soda which you gratefully took, not looking up from your laptop screen.

As soon as he was sat down comfortably your hand grabbed his, clasping your fingers together as you managed to tear your gaze away from the Wikipedia page which was still open. You blinked up at him and shook your head.

“Oh just something I learned about today and wanted to do some.. extra reading” you explained.

He nodded his head and drank his soda watching as your face lit up as you started to ramble about the topic, he didn’t really know much about it but the way you told him about everything, the way you happily expressed your interest towards the topic made him happy. He gave you his big grin when you finished.

“Sorry, I rambled..” You felt bad, you always felt nervous when you info dumped on people.

“Nah, it’s cool, I didn’t mind at all” he brought your hand up to his face and gave it a kiss, your face flushed at the gentle gesture which caused Sero to laugh playfully.

“Well, if your sure… I just wanted something to take my mind off chores”.

“It’s the weekend, you don’t have to rush anyway.. and if you don’t feel better by tomorrow I can help, you can wash the dishes and I’ll dry?” he suggested still peppering kisses on the back of your hand before you set your laptop down and crawled closer to him.

You nodded softly, that sounded a lot more manageable, you felt your anxiety settle down from a raging nagging feeling to something easier to tolerate. He was such a good influence on you. Sero set down his drink and wrapped his arm around you, pulling you closer to his chest.

“The guys want to come over and say hi later, maybe get pizza… but I can tell them not tonight if you aren’t feeling it… maybe you can play that new game you got? I liked watching you play the other night” He suggested as he nuzzled your head, enjoying how your hair felt on his face.

“Maybe… can I give you an answer later?”

“Yeah, no rush babe”

You smiled softly feeling the lanky boy kiss the side of your head and listened as you carried on talking about the trivia of your current interest.

#match up monday #mha match up #bnha match up #bnha reader insert #mha reader insert #sero hanta x reader #sero x reader

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dorotheajanegilmore · 4 years

Text

Agent Z

A Bucky Barnes Fanfic

Just found this old fic in my drafts folder. Would you guys like a new Bucky Barnes fanfic?

“I shouldn’t be here.”

Bucky rolled his eyes at the girls nervous stature. “Would you relax. Unfold your arms you’re making it obvious.”

“There’s nobody here Buck.” She retorted and continued to rub her cold arms, now speckled with goosebumps as the cold New Jersey air blew over them.

“Alright then no need to worry. Just live a little would you, Porter?” Bucky sent her a wink and began to climb up the timber fencing.

It took Sam a lot of convincing before she finally agreed to go on this one mission. She was no Avenger, hell she had never even been to the gym. But Sam knew she had the skills. She had grown up hacking school computers and rewiring equipment. Now she helped the Avengers track bad guys behind the scenes and even invented a new security software that searches all of the internet to pull bits of coded information that helped them take out three hydra bases.

Zara Porter stood at the bottom of the fence, looking around anxiously, just waiting to get caught. She looked back up at Bucky to see him holding out a metal hand to her. She didn’t exactly trust the wooden fence and decided to take it. He pulled her up with such force that the sudden jolt of heavy weight caused Bucky to fall from the fence and pull Lorelai with him. He landed on the wet grass with a thud and she landing on top of him, her head hitting his chest.

“Sorry...” He groaned out. “Sometimes I underestimate how strong I am.”

She rolled her chin over the soft black hoodie he was wearing until she could see him. His blue eyes met her brown ones and he smirked at her, double shrugging his eyebrows suggestively at their position.

“Before you say anything else, Pervy, just remember who has the extraction location and code word from Sam. I will not hesitate to leave your ass here.”

Bucky nodded and she smiled. She gave him a small tap on the chest before placing her palms on the dewy grass to push herself up.

“Remind me why Sam asked you to come with me again?” Bucky Inquired as he brushed the various strands of grass from his elbows.

Zara sighed and folded her arms once again. “Because Wanda was busy probably.” She shrugged.

“Seriously? Can you just catch me up and give me a bit of info. No joking this time.” Bucky raised a brow at her, telling her that he genuinely wanted to know why she was involved.

“Because I was the one who hacked the security system here. When Sam and Steve were trying to find you, pre-airport bust up, they hired me to hack some files to find you. The other day when going through those files I found that there was still some sort of device here that was giving of signals. Sam wants us to check it out.”

Bucky nodded and muttered a quick thanks. He was more focused on scanning the location. The grass they had fallen on was part of a much bigger field surrounding the army base and a few smaller cabins.

They were caught of guard as the sound of creaking metal sounded throughout the field. Both of them shot to look in the direction of the sound and saw the main door to the army base opening as two soldiers stepped out.

Bucky grabbed Zara’s hand and took of running, pulling her with him for the second time today. He pulled her in front of him and hid her behind the first cabin. He stood just in front of her to peer around the wall.

She knew she need to keep quiet, but just as Bucky watched the men walk towards them a wasp flew onto Zara’s arm and she let out a squeal.

Bucky looked back at her to see her scrunching up her face, trying her absolute best not to scream out in pure fear. He furrowed his brows at her and whispered “Swat it away!”

“No! That’s disrespectful to Hope.” She whisper yelled back and he narrowed his eyes at her. He watched the guys pull out cigarettes and knew he had some time.

Bucky crouched down on the grass beside her leaning back against his knees. His metal finger came up and gently swiped the wasp from her bare arm. The wasp flew up into the air and disappeared into ten elements.

In a soft tone with a gentle smile Bucky asked “Now was that so hard?”

Zara shurgged and finally relaxed and leaned her cold back against the cabin wall. “I guess not.”

Bucky looked down at his hand to see the wasp had left a stinger. The bastard tried to sting me - he thought to himself. He sideeyed Zara And decided to keep that information to himself.

“Yeah were both safe thanks for asking.”

Sam shrugged and looked at Zara. “Girly you alright?”

“All good.” Zara replied monotone, bored from waiting around for so long.

“There we are then.” Sam shrugged. “What do you want Bucky? I’m getting ready for extraction.”

“We haven’t even gotten into the building yet. These two hydra ass’s have been standing here smoking carton after carton. Can you send redwing 112?”

“Sure thing.”

Three minutes later Sam’s favourite little weapon was flying in, bypassing all security cameras (which Zara had hacked and disarmed anyway) and hovering above the hydra operatives disguised as soldiers. Redwing shot out a sedative-filled darts at each soldier, piercing their necks and rendering them unconscious.

Bucky pressed his earpiece and asked Sam to have Redwing scan the building for heat signatures. Sam told him that the building was clear and they were safe to enter.

“Let’s go.” Bucky held out a hand for her and she took it. He pulled her to her feat and gave her a smile. “Try to enjoy this. This is a fun one.” He then took of running towards the base. Zara ran behind, silently cursing herself for getting involved.

The pair made it to the basement where Zara began to trace the signals with her phone. The red dot on the screen showed where the signal was coming from, which evidently was right where she was standing.

“Bucky...” She whispered, too scared move let alone talk loud. Bucky was rifling through boxes, unable to hear her. “Bucky.” She said louder.

“Little busy, Zar.” He shrugged her off. He emptied that box and turned around, seeing her frozen frame his eyes widened and panic surged through him. “What is it?”

She shook her head. “It’s under-“ Before she could finish her sentence the floor caved in and she fell through the ground.

“ZARA!” Bucky screeched. Without thinking he ran to hole in the ground and dived in head first. He was free faking for what felt like forever until he landed on his side on solid ground, covered in rubble.

He began ripping up piles of concrete and bricks surrounding him, yelling her name. “OH GOD. OH GOD OH GOD.” He hadn’t felt this kind of emotion in years. Sure, he worries about Steve and obviously he was concerned for Sam (even if he hid it well) and his other teammates but not enough to throw himself into the danger zone.

He had only known her for a short amount of time, less than a month, but he knew that Sam cared for her very much. She and Wanda are good friends and of course she had other friends and family that love and care about her. He couldn’t let them down, he couldn’t let her down. He didn’t want to admit it but, he also cared for her.

He cut his flesh hand pulling up boards and heavy blocks, he strained his back trying his best to lift a chunk of cement even Steve would’ve struggled with, he sweat through his clothes as adrenaline rushes through him 50x the normal person.

Just as the first tear left his eye, realisation hit him that he may have just lost a colleague to his own poor negligence. He should have responded. He should have kept better eye on her. What was he thinking bringing along a start up Agent. She was briefed on the safety protocols and evac situations but he didn’t think to cover falling through the floor!

“I’m ok...” Came a weak voice from behind him. Bucky span around and saw Zara’s brunette curls ruffled amongst some dry wall. Her torso was lodged under a filing cabinet while her legs covered in shattered cement and brick. Her chest and face was covered in hundreds and thousands of pieces of shards of glass, many of which piercing her skin.

He ran to her side and lifted the cabinet from her. She flinched but was then able to take a deep breath. She tried to pull herself up but had hurt her back from the fall.

Bucky’s heart aches as she let out a wicker of pain. “Shshsh it’s okay, I’ve got you babe.” His hands went to her sides as he lifted her, then finally he got a good grip on her back and hoisted her up.

Bucky held her in his arms as he looked around for an exit point. Seeing that they were helpless, he looked down at the pain filled look on the woman’s face. “This is probably the wrong time to say this but, could you tell me the extraction code word.”

“Wiener soldier.” She couldn’t help but crack a smile as she said it.

“Ha ha.” Bucky shook his head. “Now’s no time for jokes Doll. What’s the word Sam told you?”

“That was it Buck...” She paused, trying not to laugh as it hurt too much. “Wiener soldier is the code.”

“Fantastic.”

#buckybarnes #james buchanan barnes #james barnes #winter soldier #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x oc #bucky barnes imagine #imagine #marvel #fanfic #winter soldier x reader #winter soldier x ofc #ofc #winter soldier x you #x you #x reader #fanfiction #sebastian stan

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novaviis · 5 years

Note

I know it’s been forever since you wrote the sick!Dick fic but I just listened to Better Now by Oh Wonder and started thinking about it and I once again want to reiterate HOW DARE YOU

oh no…. it would be a shame if something were to… happen

sick!dick au, part who knows

It’s a month or soafter Dick is put on sick leave. They’re under no illusions anymore. Dick isgetting worse, and as scary as that is, they do honestly try not to let thatterrifying unknown hang over their heads. Dick and Wally have adopted a sort of“day by day” attitude. They just take things one step at a time, deal withproblems as they come up, try not to get caught in the overwhelming anxietythat comes with thinking about the future. They have today, and just for today,that’s enough.

And today, Dick isrestless.

He hasn’t exactly beenisolated in all of this, mind you. He doesn’t spend his days sitting on thesofa in their shitty little apartment, staring at the ceiling. Sick leavesucks, especially for a guy that’s so used to some sort of action every day,but he’s not locked up in an ivory tower. He goes out with Wally, visits hisfamily and friends in Gotham, takes walks to clear his head – but travellinganywhere alone is risky. Stubborn as he is, even he can recognize that. Hecan’t drive, so usually he either has to take a cab or ask someone to come pickhim up (which he fucking hates). He does a lot with Barbara, helping withsurveillance and manning the comms when the others are on patrol. Goes overcase files and helps pull loose ends together. Just enough to keep him fromgoing insane.

Wally, for his part,tries his best to hold off that stagnant depression. Better than anyone, heknows just how much it’s been affecting Dick to have to step away from the twomost important roles in his life. So, whenever Dick is feeling up to it, hetakes him out on dates, brings him to the gym so he can work off energy withsomeone watching, all that. Wally is just constantly on and he never complains once. Never really crosses his mind. Thisisn’t a burden, this is his best friend and the love of his life, it’s the mostnatural thing in the world to want to make him happy.

Still, inevitably itdoes get to Dick sometimes, and Wally can see that. Try as they might to keepthings normal, their lives just /aren’t/ normal anymore – not even their ownvigilante-superhero-normal. Things are different, and it sucks. Because travelis difficult and risky, they hadn’t really left Gotham much in months. As aresult, they hadn’t seen their friends in quite a while.

Dick suggests thatmorning that they have the Titans over, just to hang out and watch movies,maybe break out a few board games. A sort of normal they haven’t had in awhile. Wally agrees that it sounds like a great idea – on the premise that Dickis feeling well enough the night of, to which Dick rolls his eyes with an“okay, mom” and kisses the sideWally’s head as he takes his plate to the sink.

They pick a nightabout a week later and Donna, Roy, Garth come over for some good old fashionedTitans bonding time. They haven’t had a night like this in ages, all thingsconsidered. Dick’s feeling good, excited, spends the afternoon cleaning up andgetting snacks. By the time Wally gets home, everything’s pretty much done, andDick’s just waiting anxiously for their friends to arrive.

They do, gradually.Roy is the last one because his sitter was late to watch Lian. The rest of themstart throwing popcorn at him, not buying him blaming the babysitter for asecond.

It’s a good night.Honestly, it is, and over the course of it, Wally can’t help but feel a bitlike they’ve managed to capture a moment from a time past. It was with a bit ofan aching longing, a bittersweet knowledge that they could pretend everythingwas okay for a night, but they never knew what the future would hold. He almostfeels guilty for allowing the thought to settle.

Garth and Donna get intoa shouting match over The Hobbit. Dick only intervenes here and there with asmug grin, posing a new question just to watch them both get worked up again.It eventually leads them to stopping Jurassic World halfway through to put iton. Roy comments that if they’d going to start one Hobbit movie, they’re goingto have to watch them all, and there’s no way they can fit all that in onenight with it already getting late. Garth just shrugs, as he’s putting the DVDin, that they’ll just have to do this again soon. It almost breaks Wally’sheart to see just how quietly happy that makes Dick.

Keep in mind, ofcourse, that they’d been keeping things at a reasonable volume. They’d kept thebrightness of the TV to a decent level, and kept the lights off, and apart fromthe five of them just being rambunctious, fairly low key. Halfway into themovie, Dick leans against Wally’s shoulder on the couch. Okay, nothing oddabout that. But then he turns his face in against his neck. He groans andtenses, and Wally can see where this is going. He wraps his arm around Dick’sback, asking him in a low whisper if he thinks he’s about to have a fit. Aftera moment, Dick grunts out a no, claims that it’s just his head. Not a seizure,a migraine, but still nothing good.

At that point, theothers catch on, and Donna pauses the movie. She asks Dick if he’s not feelingwell, tells him they can go if needed – and, emphatically, Dick says no. He’sfine, just needs to take his migraine pills and he’ll be fine. Turn the movieback on.

Sure enough, Wally isalready on his feet getting Dick his meds, a glass of water, and a slice ofpizza because it’s not good to take on an empty stomach. Which, in hindsight,is a stupid instruction for a medication for migraines, when you feel secondsaway from vomiting. Dick’s a champ, manages a few bites before taking the pill,pretending his palm isn’t shaking as he pops it into his mouth. And, since noone’s moved for the remote, he turns the movie back on himself.

They only get anotherten minutes in before Wally suggests that he’s bored and they should break out a game instead – conveniently beforeone of the big action scenes, when even with the volume down, the chaotic soundand camera flashes can be a lot to handle. All too quickly, the others agree.Wally knows that Dick is pretending he doesn’t know exactly what they’re doingand complies. So, they move to the table, clear away some of the food, andbreak out a party game, one of those card games that you can describe as just like Cards Against Humanity, but y’know,totally its own thing except that it’s basically the same thing just withits own gimmick. It’s fun, nonetheless.

And, for a while, Dickseems to be okay. He’s a little quieter than before, but there’s still somecolour to his face, and he’s laughing and joking with everyone else. Wally, forthat short while, believes that they dodged a bullet. But as the game goes one,Dick’s head sinks into his hand, and eventually he has to put his cards down,bowing his head. Wally rubs his hand up and down Dick’s back, leans in,whispers that he should go lay down if he’s still feeling so bad, that it’s notworth causing him pain.

Dick is frustrated. Hejust wanted one night with hisfriends where he could escape this reality for a while. However reluctantlythough, he gives in. When the others claim that they can leave if needed again,Dick tells them they can stay and finish their game and movie, that he’s justgoing to lay down for a bit until it passes.

But it doesn’t. Notthat quickly, anyway. The migraine worsens, and worsens, until Dick is throwingup into the bin beside the bed, in total agony. He’s close to tears with it,breaking into a cold sweat and gritting his teeth so hard his veins pop. Halfdelerious. Wally spends the rest of the night going between taking care ofDick, trying to make him comfortable, doing anything he can to help, and checkingon their friends, who are all sitting awkwardly in the living room. The movieis playing again, but it’s muted. No one really had the heart to deny Dick whenhe asked them to stay. Eventually, though, Roy does have relieve his babysitter,and Garth follows after him, both leaving their well wishes with Wally to relayto Dick as they shuffle out the door.

Donna stays behind onthe pretense of helping to clean up. All the while, Wally is pulled between thecleanup and the bedroom to check on Dick. He spends a good twenty minutes inthere just trying to soothe him until he eventually falls asleep – or not somuch falls asleep as passes out. When he goes back out into the living room,the place is spotless. Before he can even thank Donna, she’s guiding him outonto the balcony. They leave the door open, still within earshot should Dickneed anything.

Out in the fresh air,Wally leans against the rail and tells Donna that Dick’s alright, that he’sfinally asleep but sometimes these migraines last for days, that he’ll have toget a refill on the pain meds soon, even as careful as they are with them, and Dick’snext appointment isn’t for another month, that he might take the day off work tomorrowif it’s really bad so he can stay with Dick. Donna leans against the rail nextto him and listens, and after a short silence, turns to Wally and asks if he’sokay.

And Wally doesn’treally hear it right at first. He starts to say that Dick will be fine now thathe’s asleep, but Donna cuts him off.

“Wally,” she says, “areyou okay?”

It honestly catcheshim off guard a bit. He just sort of stares back at Donna for a while beforestammering out that of course he’s okay, he’s not the one suffering here, andDonna shakes her head.

Just because Wally isn’tthe one who is ill doesn’t mean this hasn’t been hard on him. Not that it’s aburden or irritating to have to take care of Dick so often, absolutely not. ButWally has been taking on so muchlately, and the stress of watching Dick’s health deteriorate cannot be easy.This is scary. And while everyone’s been so focused on Dick, with good reason,Donna’s afraid that no one’s really though to check in on Wally.

And he just kind of…breaks down. He doesn’t really sob, doesn’t full on cry, but his composurecracks. Donna is there, holding him tight, letting him bury his face in hershoulder as he shudders and bites back stinging tears. Because he doesn’t allowhimself to be scared, and he is. He’sburning out between the constant worry and the stress and just trying to keepup with everything being thrown at them.

Just because Wallywould shoulder this all without hesitation, doesn’t mean it’s not hard, and Donna tells him as much.

She leaves that nightwith kiss on the cheek and a promise that he can talk to her whenever he’sfeeling overwhelmed. Wally shuts the door, turns off the TV, and heads into thebedroom. Dick is still asleep, thought restless. He’s nestled against Wally’spillow. Wally exhales as he closes the door behind him. When he slips into bed,careful not to disturb Dick’s already fitful sleep, Dick rolls over almostimmediately and shifts closer. Wally can feel it when he muscles relax just slightly.

#theo-ography #sick!dick au #birdflash #dickwally #that song though teddy FUCK #OUCHIE

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cami-chats · 5 years

Text

Not Rock ‘N Roll Good

A/N: A modern Sandor/Arya fic so I can dabble in their characterizations. I think it’s obvious but just in case: lots of language ahead!

Tags: AU- Modern Setting, Wrong Number, Getting Together, Time Skips, Blind Character, Blind Arya Stark, Identity Reveal, Minor Sexual Content

Sandor's phone chimed with a message, and he frowned. Anytime someone texted him, he was suspicious. He pulled it out and checked.

Unknown Number: Dude where the fuck are you?

Unknown Number: And you don't get to be mad at me for cursing at you because you're THIRTY MINUTES LATE

He didn't have plans with anyone, and certainly not with someone whose number wasn't in his phone, so he ignored it. It was a wrong number, they'd figure it out soon enough. Sandor turned back to the computer and looked over the schedule. Bronn was going on vacation-- or so he claimed, frankly Sandor thought he was a fucking liar-- and with Ygritte reducing her hours so she could make her internship, they were stretched thin.

Unknown Number: Are you going to show up?

Great, this person was being stood up, and Sandor was going to have to be the one to break the news.

Unknown Number: Ramsey?

He sighed, typing out a reply. To Unknown Number: Think the arse gave you the wrong number mate.

Unknown Number: Of fucking course he did

Unknown Number: What a gods cursed cunt

Unknown Number: I should have known better than to make a date with someone I met at a club

Unknown Number: Sorry dude but I'm pissed. I had to cancel with my study group for this dick

To Unknown Number: It's fine. Vent all you want maybe it'll distract me from this boring shit.

Unknown Number: WELL IN THAT CASE

Unknown Number: Jk

A little bubble showed up to signal they were typing again, and Sandor gave up pretending to look at the schedule. He already knew what was going to end up happening: he'd ask Gendry, Gendry would look at his schedule and have to say no, and Sandor would cover it himself.

Unknown Number: I know you don't know me, but it's not like I welcome random arse people to hit on me. He had to go out of his way and spend TIME convincing me to agree to this, and then he doesn't even show up.

Unknown Number: And I only agreed because it seemed like he'd hop into bed with me.

Unknown Number: I just wanted to get laid.

To Unknown Number: Have you tried sex toys? They're better than most people think.

Unknown Number: Oooo personal experience talking?

To Unknown Number: Yes. People are disappointing.

Unknown Number: Well, you're not wrong.

To Unknown Number: When was the last time you were actually satisfied with someone else in bed?

Unknown Number: Not sure it's EVER happened. Mostly I get pity fucks.

To Unknown Number: Sounds shitty. Sorry man.

Unknown Number: Woman actually. Not that I care, but I thought it was weird that you might think I'm a guy.

To Unknown Number: Well I'd offer to have sex with you but I'm busy

Unknown Number: Lol

Unknown Number: I'm willing to wait for you to be free ;)

To Unknown Number: Might be waiting a while.

Unknown Number: No offense, but does it look like I'm in a big hurry? I've got a shit ton of time to spend waiting.

Unknown Number: But I can't wait rn cause my hero in a car has come to pick me up. Talk to you later future-babe.

Sandor shook his head, mouth curving up into a smile as he set his phone to the side. Chances were that they wouldn't talk again, but it picked up his mood enough that when he got home, he made himself food instead of eating canned stew cold because he was too lazy to put it in a bowl and then the microwave.

Sandor carried his phone with him while he worked in case there was an emergency or someone needed to call in sick-- he really fucking hoped that no one did that today because it was busier than most Monday's. Everyone that wasn't an employee had notifications muted while he was working at the gym, so it wasn't until he was taking a lunch break that he saw the _ unread texts he'd accumulated since getting up this morning.

Unknown Number: I'm beginning to think that someone put a sign on my back that says 'please bug me straight boys'

Unknown Number: Seriously this is getting ridiculous ffs

Unknown Number: Aha! Mystery solved, my sister Sansa has been at work here. Well, her and her girlfriend Margaery.

Unknown Number: My name's Arya btw. It seemed weird that you knew my sister and her girlfriend's name but not mine.

Unknown Number: All these mediocre bastards are reminding me of our future plans together, and all I have to say is that I'm glad we have this (joking) agreement. Cause not once in our ten minutes of conversation did you objectify me. A high bar, I know.

Unknown Number: You should tell me your name when you see these so that when I ride my dildo tonight I can think of you ;)

Unknown Number: Gods I hope that wasn't inappropriate.

Unknown Number: Sorry if it was, I was just trying to make a joke.

Unknown Number: You know, the more I think about it, the more it seems to have been in poor taste.

Sandor added her as a contact under 'Arya, the horny one' so that he'd remember.

From Sandor: Name's Sandor. If you haven't changed your nightly plans, that is He paused, then added a winky face before he sent it, just to be sure she'd know he was joking.

From Arya, the horny one: Oh thank the gods. I have like two friends, I didn't want to lose you

From Sandor: Am I friend #2 or would I be added as #3?

From Arya, the horny one: Don't be so nosy.

From Arya, the horny one: I'm sure you'll figure it out someday.

Sandor snorted and put his phone back in his pocket.

Incoming Call From Arya. Sandor checked the screen, then frowned. They'd never called each other before, and it was late. What was she doing calling him at this hour? "What."

"Saaaaandor you answered! See Sansa I told you he would, suck my dick."

Inexplicably, he was amused. "Are you drunk?"

"Only a little. If I drink too much I can't walk straight and I bump into all kinds of shit. Nearly got ran over once."

"You did get run over!" a different woman's voice said, coming through the phone's speaker.

"You got run over?" Sandor asked, even more amused than before. Drunk people annoyed the hell out of him and he didn't have the patience for it, but right now was different. Maybe that was because he was finally hearing her voice, and while she was definitely a woman, it wasn't high-pitched enough that it felt like his ears were bleeding.

"It was a tap," she argued. "I didn't even need stitches. I've given myself worse trying to do fucking needlepoint."

"You do needlepoint?" He found that hard to believe.

"Fuck no, that's why I was able to convince my mother to let me stop. It wasn't worth the cost of bandaids."

"Sounds safe."

"You've got a sexy voice. Did I tell you that? I feel like I forgot to tell you that. I was busy proving a point to Sansa and got distracted."

Sandor snorted. "If you think my voice sounds sexy, you really do need to get laid."

"Is that an offer?"

"Fuck no. You could do better."

"Pretty sure we got talking because I haven't been able to do better. And what do you mean 'fuck no'? I'm a bloody catch, you twat!"

"How would I know? I haven't seen you."

"Well there's an easy solution to that. You free this Sunday? And I ask only to make sure you didn't make plans with your friends, I know you have the day off work."

"My friends are all working," he said drily. "I never have plans."

"Great, then you won't mind meeting up for coffee. Say, ten in the morning?"

"You want to meet me?"

"I don't know what- shut it Margaery I can walk and talk at the same time, bugger off. Pretty sure I've made it clear I want to fuck you, coffee is nothing."

"I ain't pretty, Arya. I don't know what kind of Prince Charming you've been imagining."

She snorted. "Yeah that's not gonna be a problem. I'm attracted to your voice and your personality, trust me, that'll be enough."

"I'm a miserable old shit." That much, he was sure of.

"All the more reason to get both of us laid. Happiness is one good round of sex away, do you really want to turn it down? Sunday, ten o'clock, the Godswood. I'll be the one with brown hair, a cane, and silly yellow sunglasses. If you're gonna be more than five minutes late, text me or I'm leaving. See you- seven hells Sansa! I was almost done mind your own fucking business. Bye Sandor see you then!" she called out hurriedly, like the phone was being taken from her.

"Er- bye." He hung up, then stared at his phone, bewildered. Guess he had a date. He didn't want to see what Arya's face would look like if her expression was just going to twist in disgust from his scar. He wasn't telling anyone about this. Bronn couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut, and Gendry would be all hopeful and give him that stupid puppy look and tell him that maybe he would fall in love and be happy. What a cunt.

He thought about dressing up.

He decided that was stupid.

He ended up in jeans and a worn, long sleeve shirt with his hair pulled back-- no point in trying to hide the burn scar. What was he doing? This was stupid. He wasn't so far removed from reality to believe that she'd run screaming, but it was going to change things. Arya didn't believe him when he said he was an ugly fucker, but now he was going to get to see her reaction up close and personal. Fuck everything. He still grabbed his keys and left the flat, heading towards the coffee shop she'd told him she would be at.

Fuck it all, he didn't even like coffee. Maybe they'd have something without that bitter shit in it.

Sandor grumbled to himself the entire trip there, but he showed up and that was rather telling. The shop wasn't packed, but it was comfortably full. They'd be able to have a conversation without the employees overhearing every word they said. It would also make it harder for him to find her, but what the hell. With a face like his, no one would be surprised that he was here for a blind date, and they sure as hell wouldn't be surprised if he got stood up. Not that he thought Arya would do that.

Brown hair, yellow sunglasses. She'd also mentioned a cane, but chances were he wouldn't be able to see it walking around like this. He passed three different hipster couples, and five single hipsters. Fucking hells he felt like he was going to lose his mind. Brown hair, yellow sunglasses. Brown hair, yellow- aha. Shit she hadn't been kidding when she described her sunglasses as 'silly'. They were large and garish and in the shape of stars. She had her dark hair pulled back in a half-bun, and the cane she mentioned was resting between herself and the wall. There was no drink in front of her, and her elbow was propped up on the table, resting her chin in her hand as she stared into space. She was pretty. Too damn pretty for the likes of him, but he couldn't turn around now.

"Arya?"

She turned her head. It didn't seem like she was looking at him, more like she was looking a foot from where his chest was. "Sandor?"

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah that's me."

"Great," she said, grinning. "Have you gotten a drink yet? I hope not, because I'm buying." She reached for the cane and stood, and that was around the time Sandor realized it was a familiar white style. She reached out her hand, and he moved automatically, standing next to her and guiding her hand to the crook of his elbow. They started to walk. "So, did you need a drink or are you just enjoying me hanging off your arm?"

"Both."

She snorted out a laugh.

"Few steps to the line," he warned as they slowed down.

"Know what you're getting?"

"No."

"You don't drink coffee, do you?"

"Not... usually," he hedged, and she laughed, but not cruelly-- which had been Berric's reaction when he learned that Sandor didn't drink coffee.

"Yeah most of it tastes like shit. I get the turtle macchiato because it's so sweet I can't taste anything else. Do you like sweet drinks?"

He made a face and said nothing. Then he remembered that she couldn't see him and said, "Not really." He liked sugary sweet, but dessert sweet tasted like liquid cavity and he hated it.

"And you don't like coffee." She hummed, thinking it over. "I think they have tea if you'd prefer that."

He grunted and scanned the menu. They had lemonade, he'd probably try that. The line moved forward, and he urged her to take a few steps, which she easily did.

"I'm not what you expected, am I?" she asked, a bitter note in her voice.

"No. You're a hell of a lot prettier."

She sighed. "You are sending mixed signals, Sandor."

"I am?" he repeated, confused. He'd thought it was pretty clear that he was happy to be here.

She gave a tense shrug. "You're not talking much."

"I'm talking more'n I usually do."

"If you don't want this to be a date, you can say so. We'll just be two friends meeting up, there's no harm in that."

"I don't talk much," he said. When that didn't comfort her, he added, "I wouldn't worry about it."

"If you say so," she said, which was noncommittal, but her mood picked up again.

A minute later, he told her, "It's our turn."

"Hey Arya," the man behind the register said.

"Hey Sam."

"Getting your usual?" Sam asked.

"I have a usual?"

"Large hot turtle macchiato, right?"

She groaned. "I've become predictable. This is like a nightmare."

"I wouldn't say totally predictable. Who's this with you, hm?" he asked, glancing at Sandor. His eyes darted to the scar, but he didn't look overly bothered by it. That was a nice change.

Arya snorted even as she leaned into Sandor's side. "Like you wouldn't tell Jon everything I say."

"I might not."

"Man," Sandor said, "I hardly know you and even I can tell that's a lie."

He gave a sheepish smile. "Well, he is my best friend. Anything for you today, Arya's mysterious friend?"

"Lemonade."

"What size?"

"Make it a large," Arya supplied so that he didn't have to worry about it.

Sam nodded, writing the order on a cup and setting it to the side. "Anything else?"

"Not for me." She angled her head towards Sandor. "Did you want a pastry or something."

"I'm good." Pause. "Thanks."

"Okay." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet. It was a simple billfold, and Sandor noticed there was braille on the front of the card. Then he averted his eyes because what the fuck was he doing looking at her bloody credit card? She handed it over, and Sam swiped it, delivering it back to her waiting hand. When the receipt printed, he pulled it off and threw it away like he'd done it a hundred times before.

"Alright, you know where the hand-off bar is, Edd'll be the one down there today."

"Thanks Sam."

A few people stared at the pair of them, but for the most part no one cared. Sandor had dealt with far worse, so he ignored them without a second thought. Arya had probably dealt with worse too, even if she couldn't see the people currently staring.

Somehow one date turned into two, turned into eight. Sandor actually left the gym for lunch now, meeting Arya at the nearby deli every few days so they could eat together. The joking about sleeping together seemed less like joking and more like a legitimate question when Arya said it now.

Sandor shrugged uncomfortably, and Arya could feel it because she was holding onto his arm at the moment as they walked down the street. "We haven't known each other long."

"Oh please," she said, and Sandor got the sense that she was rolling her eyes. It was hard to tell through the dark lens of her sunglasses, but her tone made it rather clear that that's what she was doing. "We've been texting for four months, and seeing each other in person for another month. I think that's plenty of time. You weren't half as shy over text."

"It wasn't a possibility back then," he grumbled, and Arya sighed.

"If you don't want to, we don't have to. If you don't find me physically attractive- well, first of all fuck you, but that's fine too. I don't mind waiting as long as I know that's what I'm doing. But if we're not fucking because you think I'm not interested or some shit, you need to let it go."

"Of bloody course I know you're interested. You've made it pretty damn clear."

"So what is it? Are you not interested?"

"Course I am."

"Then what's the hold up?"

Sandor grumbled an answer under his breath, knowing full well that she couldn't understand him.

"What?"

He sighed and said it again, clear enough for her to hear this time. "It's been a while."

"Aww are you nervous?" she cooed. When he didn't joke back, she dropped the teasing expression and tone. "Wait, seriously? Sandor, there's nothing to be nervous about. I have complete faith in your ability to fuck me blind." She paused. "Get it? Blind?"

Begrudgingly, Sandor found himself chuckling.

"Listen, I remember telling you that my sex life has been pretty lackluster. Even if it's not good, I've definitely had worse. And besides, those were one-off's. If the first time sucks, so what? The second time'll be better. All of this to say that I don't think you'll be bad, but whatever, I doubt you'd listen to me if that's all I said."

"Yeah."

They slowed down for a crosswalk, conversation pausing in the presence of other people that would clearly be able to hear them. The light changed, and they started across, waiting a little longer to continue the conversation so they could get some distance.

"How do we plan that? I work all the fucking time and you have a roommate."

"You say that like we don't have time, right now, on our way to your flat."

"Right now?"

"Why not?" she asked, having to step away for a moment to avoid a shop's sign.

"It's the middle of the day."

Arya snorted, retaking her place by his side. "And you care? If you think you're going to be shit and shoot off early, then there's no reason why we should carve out three hours of an evening to do it."

He glanced down at her and found himself wanting. That wasn't anything new. She was not only bloody attractive, but willing. "Fine."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

She grinned, holding herself just that much higher as they walked.

It took several more minutes before they reached Sandor's flat, and he cleared his throat before uncomfortably offering, "Did you want to come in?"

She squeezed his arm in comfort. "I'd fucking love to."

They walked to the staircase, and he gave it a look, counting the steps hurriedly. "Ten steps, then a landing a meter long, then seven steps."

"Thanks."

Normally Sandor took the steps two at a time, but with Arya on his arm he took them the usual one at a time, feeling like he was moving at a snail's pace. Soon enough though, they were at his doorstep and he was unlocking the door. Despite all his arguing and this being the first time Arya had been to his place, he'd cleaned it up a long time ago and kept it that way. He didn't leave shoes and random bits of rubbish out anymore, making sure they weren't in the way for her to trip over. "Entryway's a few feet wide. You can leave your shoes on the right."

Arya tentatively poked her cane in that direction, the tip of it going over his shoes then the empty space of floor. She kept her cane in place as she slipped her shoes off and nudged them into place, using her toes and cane to make sure they were out of the way. "Show me around." She kept the cane in her hand, Sandor on one side and her cane in the other to watch that side.

He walked the perimeter of the living room and kitchen, making sure to detour inside so she knew where the tables were.

"And your room?"

He cleared his throat and they started walking again, down the short hallway and into his bedroom. There was no art anywhere in his flat, and for once he didn't have to hear someone bitching about the blank walls. His blanket was a faded black, something random hookup's always gave him a disappointed look for. Fuck them, it was comfortable and in good condition; he wasn't going to replace it just because the colour was a little off. He walked her forward until the edge of the bed was touching their legs. "This is the bed."

She unlaced her hand from his arm and held it in front of her, slowly lowering it down until she made contact with the top of the bed. With the cane, she reached to her left until she found the edge of the bed, then went to the right until she found the other side. She started around one side, hand trailing over the duvet as she walked to the head of the bed.

"There's a nightstand a couple paces in front of you."

She slowed, edging forward until she could bump it with her knee. Arya took her cane off the bed and set it on the opposite side of the nightstand, then climbed onto the mattress. She laid down, wriggling to get comfy on the pillows.

Her legs were spread and Sandor had to swallow past his dry throat. She held out a hand, saying his name, and he went like there was a rope around his waist, pulling him forward automatically. He kissed her like it was all he wanted to do, and she wrapped her legs around him to keep him there.

"You're glowing," Gendry teased at work the next day.

"Fuck off," Sandor grumbled. There was no denying that he was in a good mood, but glowing? That was a load of tripe.

"So when do we get to meet her?"

"As soon as she wants to meet you." Sandor looked directly at him as he delivered the next statement. "Which is never going to happen."

"Aw come on, mate. Anyone that's willing to date you has a thick enough skin to meet your friends."

"We're not friends; you're my employee."

"We're the closest things to friends that you have. You're grumpy as all seven hells, and you spend all your time here, making sure everything's working smoothly. Where are you going to find quote unquote 'real friends'?"

"I managed to find a girlfriend."

"Yeah and I'm still not convinced that wasn't an accident. Who is this magical girlfriend of yours anyways?"

Sandor rolled his eyes. "She's not magical. Stop whinging and get back to work."

"Yeah, yeah. You'd think getting laid would make you nicer."

But of course Arya chose that afternoon to spontaneously visit him at work. Which is to say that she didn't text or call, but Sandor was walking from the class rooms towards the rock wall to make sure everything was running smoothly, and he heard her talking to Gendry.

"What are you doing here?" Gendry asked her. Sandor couldn't see them yet, but sound bounced easily through the tile floor and clean walls.

"Gendry? What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Uh, I work here, and I know you hate exercise."

"You work at a gym?" she repeated doubtfully. "You're a twig, not a body builder."

"I'm not as small as I was the last time you saw me."

"Mhm," she said, clearly not convinced.

"Come on Arya, that was back in high school! You've grown a lot since then too. And you still haven't told me what you're doing here. Not hoping to catch up with me, I take it?"

She snorted. "No, but maybe we should schedule that in some time. I'm here to see my boyfriend. Who's definitely not a twig."

Sandor finally rounded the corner and saw Arya and Gendry. Arya, looking the way she always did: stunning. And Gendry had his flirting face on which made Sandor want to pick him up by the scruff of his neck as if to say 'seriously?'. Gendry had people hitting on him every week, but he was going to pick an old high school friend out of everyone in the world. "Arya?"

She turned towards him with a smile. "Sandor!"

"Sandor?" Gendry repeated, looking between the two of them. It was clear when he got it, because he straightened and took a step back. "I can't believe you're his secret girlfriend."

"I'm not secret you prat," Arya said, "I'm just private." She shooed him with her hand, still angled in Sandor's direction. "Now go away."

Gendry rolled his eyes. "Yes milady."

"I may not be able to see but I can still kick your arse."

He beat a hasty exit.

"You and Gendry?" Sandor repeated, raising an eyebrow as he walked towards her.

"It was a long time ago."

"I can't believe he convinced you to date him."

"Eh," Arya said with a shrug. "We were best friends and I needed someone to bring to my mother's parties." She flashed him a smile, and he could tell that she was mostly joking. The message was clear though: she had cared for him, but it wasn't like that anymore and it wouldn't become that way again. He reached her side and tapped her free hand with his own in offering. She took it, sliding her fingers up his arm to curve around his elbow and not caring that he was damp with sweat. "Speaking of parties, my brother's birthday is coming up and every year my gift to him is a surprise. Showing up with a big, grizzly boyfriend is sure to surprise everyone."

"And they won't think I'm manipulating you or some shit?"

"I can be very persuasive."

"Really?"

"I can also be very accurate when hitting people with my staff," she said, which confirmed Sandor's suspicion that she had very little in the way of regular persuasion techniques. "A little reminder and they'll leave us alone. For a while, at least."

"Is your family always going to be so fucking nosy?" The thought was annoying, but his example of a family was a father that drank and gambled too much and a brother that abused him.

"Yeah probably. They just worry that I'm going to get hurt. Eventually, they'll figure out that you're the second best thing to happen to me and they'll chill out."

"Second best? What's the first?"

"Electric guitar. You're good Sandor, but you're no rock 'n roll."

#got #fanfic #sandor clegane #arya stark #my writing

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p1-fanfiction-blog · 7 years

Text

Invitation

Characters: AJ Styles x Kenny Omega

(Current day AJ and younger Kenny Omega)

Summary: A/U story where AJ is home for the holidays and is finally relaxing for once during his days off. Boredom sets in one night and he decides to browse around online for some “company”.

Warnings: Rough sex, daddy kink, choking, and probably some spelling mistakes. Of course this is a m/m pairing, so if this fic (or the pairing for that matter) is not your cup of tea please keep rude comments to yourself and don’t read. Otherwise, continue on!

Written for the lovely @we-work-hard! I do hope you enjoy 💕

<p>(Side note: Here’s some photos of AJ now and a young Kenny from 10 years ago)</p>

Christmas in Georgia. It was nothing special, really. It was like every other holiday celebrated in different parts of the world (minus the snow, of course), and to AJ it wasn’t something that was a huge deal to him unless his family was around. So for now, Christmas was just like any other day. And this was the year he didn’t have the kids so he had the house all to himself, so with two weeks off of work and no friends around things got boring rather quickly.

He watched about twenty movies that seemed interesting on Netflix, played in his arcade more than a few times, worked out in the gym, just anything he could really think of for the time being. And still, after doing all of this a bunch and the first week of his days off with one more to go, he needed to find some more forms of entertainment.

AJ walked down the stairs from his gaming room and lazily threw himself onto the couch. He tapped his fingers on the soft cushions before deciding to browse around on his phone. As his mind started to wonder he came to realize he hasn’t gotten laid in a while. A long, while, actually– so he looked through his contacts and pondered on who to call for some fun at this time of night.

He wondered if Sarah, this girl who lives only a couple of blocks away would be interested.. then decided against it as he remembered she had a boyfriend now. Another woman named Carrie popped up but again, out of the question as she was also gone for vacation. His smile quickly turned into a frown when he thought he could call up a good “friend” as it’s been a while, but then remembered again that he recently got married to a woman he was dating. Shit. He really didn’t know anybody else in his hometown. He groaned in frustration as he palmed his hardening dick through the front of his jeans. Another idea quickly came to mind though. He just needed to figure out a way to be more discreet about it.

•••

“Hey, Kenny.. Your hooker phone just went off!”

Kenny sighed and shook his head as he paused his game. He went into the kitchen where the extra phone was charging and gave his roommate a playful slap on the head. “For the hundredth time.. it’s not a ‘hooker’ phone, it’s my work phone. And at least I don’t give it up for free like your trashy ass,” he explained as a matter-of-factly. He typed in his password and read that he had an inquiring customer.

I’m interested in something for tonight only. If all goes well maybe I will re-hire a couple times more before I am back at work. Willing to host.

Alright, Kenny thought. It sounded like a good deal. He wouldn’t have to get in touch with the company to book a room for them. He had a few regular clients so it was nice to see that someone new was interested in him. He continued to chat with the new guy on what he’s into, address, location, payment.. all the basics. Once he asked for a photo of his customer is when things got a little iffy.

I can’t provide a photo at the moment as I’m not totally comfortable with that.

Fair enough. Usually Kenny would end the conversation there but the man was offering a good amount of money for only a couple of hours. It really would do him some more good if he can get this man to become a regular. He attempted to console him a little more.

I totally understand, man. But this is a discreet business, and I never expose my clients or share any sort of personal information. This is simply to ensure of my safety as well.

He waited and waited for another response. Kenny was ready to just leave it be until…

I’m sort of a public figure with what I do for a living. So something like this could hurt me if anyone was to find out. I also wouldn’t ruin myself by putting your life in any kind of danger for that matter. Tell you what, if we could meet without a photo I’ll throw an extra $300 on top of what I’m already paying for. Cash.

Now he was curious. Kenny thought about it for a good ten minutes before deciding on what to do. This guy certainly has money, and also judging by the address he lived in a decent neighbourhood too. A very nice place, in fact. He let his roommates know where he would be and that he’d carrying his personal phone in case he needed them.

Sounds like something I could work with. I’ll be there within an hour after I receive your payment. See you soon!

Sent. He saved his game, placed his phone back on the dresser and began to get ready. Tonight should be quite entertaining and he wanted to look his best.

•••

The doorbell rang and of course AJ knew who the special guest of the night was. He took a deep breath as he straightened his hair, pulled down his shirt, then slowly opened to door for his “visitor”. He invited Kenny in as he looked around outside to make sure there wasn’t any unwanted eyes lurking about. Then again he just needed to stop being so paranoid.

But as soon as Kenny was inside all his previous worries were out that door. He looked even better than the photos on his ad. His eyes were like a bright blueish green, he was a little shorter than him, and when he took off his sweater he could see more of the tanned muscle definition underneath his tight fitting t-shirt. Kenny was also taken back by how great his customer was looking. He didn’t look like the serial killer he was picturing in his head on the ride there. To him, AJ was pretty damn good looking for an older man. But as for the “public figure” bit, he didn’t recognize him at all. And he didn’t want to ask as it was none of his business.

“Hey there,” Kenny finally introduced himself, giving his client his signature half-smile, half-smirk as he held out to shake AJ’s hand. “The name is Kenny. It’s great to meet you.” He liked to keep it casual at first. Talking to his customers as they are normal people instead of being cheesy and telling them how horny he is, or asking how they’d like to fuck his nice, tight ass. Kenny liked to work his way around that particular predicament later on in the conversation.

“Name’s AJ,” he replied as he took Kenny’s hand, firmly and quietly. He looked him in the eyes and quickly looked away as Kenny smiled sweetly and threw his hoodie on a chair nearby. AJ cleared his throat and continued on. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“Oh, thank you.. but no,” Kenny politely declined. “I don’t drink.”

Judging by AJ’s body language he seemed a bit more relaxed with him being there so he decided to start flirting a bit as he moved more closer to AJ, eyeing him up and down as he playfully bit his bottom lip. “But I really wouldn’t mind having a taste of you right now.”

This caused AJ to laugh nervously and he swallowed hard. He didn’t know what the hell came over him. He’s usually not like this when it came to having sex. Maybe it was from the excitement of doing it anonymously with a stranger for the first time as his previous partners were always someone he’s at least known for a while. Kenny turned around to dim the living room lights as he took AJ’s hand and led him to one of the couches.

He allowed the other man to get himself comfortable as he slowly peeled off his shirt, giving him another one of his mischievous smiles as he got down on his knees in front of AJ. Kenny remembered the instructions he was given prior to arriving to his house. “However, you still haven’t given me the promised payment. You know.. to ‘ensure my safety’ or whatever.” What a little shit.

AJ scoffed and continued to go along with it as he too remembered what he stated. He reached into the right pocket of his jeans and flashed Kenny the thick wad of money for a few seconds before placing it back in. “You want it? Come get it.”

Kenny smiled as he began to pick himself up, but that came to a halt as AJ leaned forward and spoke in a stern tone. “Ah-ah! Nope! I want you to get back down on your knees, and crawl.” Kenny scoffed. Who does this guy think he is?

“Or I could just cancel on everything and you can go on home. Choice is yours,” AJ teased. He patted one of his knees as he gave Kenny another devious grin. “You really want it, don’t you? Show me. Now crawl.”

Now Kenny would be lying to himself if this whole ordeal didn’t turn him on as well. He was always used to being the one in control when it came to his clients, maybe a quick fuck at some motel or a blowjob in the vehicle while their wife and kids were fast asleep. Not to say he was miserable as he was always thankful for his loyal customers who paid him generously.. But this was definitely some exciting change for once and he really was all for it.

The closer Kenny crawled to him the more AJ’s cock stiffened up against the front of his tight fitted jeans. He looked like an absolute slut as he made contact with AJ when he was rested between his legs, making sure he swayed his hips as he did so. He gingerly unbuttoned AJ’s pants and was quite impressed with the man’s size, and his own dick twitched at the sight of pre-cum already oozing from the tip. It felt great to have someone touch AJ’s cock again as Kenny slowly began pumping his hand up and down for a few moments before making use of his mouth.

This is what AJ had been waiting for and he didn’t disappoint. Kenny started off with simple kitten licks underneath and all around his shaft. Teasing him as he made his way up to the tip of his cock, slowly dragging the flat of his tongue across the sensitive spot that caused AJ to shiver. He stopped and did the same thing, starting from the bottom of his cock again and ending at the very edge before finally wrapping his plump lips around and sucking all the way down.

“O-Oh, fuck,” AJ slipped out. The vibration from Kenny’s giggle felt so good he couldn’t help but buck his hips a little. There was a constant battle for AJ to close his eyes shut or continue to watch and enjoy what would happen next. He wished he hadn’t left his phone by the table, he would’ve loved to film this expert sucker as “use” for later.

He pushed that thought out of his mind as he grabbed Kenny by his blonde curls, forcing the rest of his length down and just holding his head there. AJ knew he’d be able to take it as he had already felt his cock hit the back of his throat. Kenny’s eyes widened in surprise but he didn’t protest. One second, two, three, four.. his arms stretched out and fingers gripped on AJ’s hips. Now counting to five, six, seven, and eight– Kenny’s gag reflex was felt by ten seconds and AJ released him as his cock slowly popped out of the younger man’s mouth.

“You fucking prick,” Kenny chuckled as he spat on AJ’s dick before taking it all back into his mouth. Again, he was being forced to deep throat and AJ couldn’t help but groan out loud and pull on his hair again. A few more repeats of this pattern and Kenny was now having his face full on fucked as he struggled to breathe through his nose. The pace quickened with each passing moment as he felt his gag reflex start to act up again. The sounds coming from Kenny’s throat were beautiful. The whole thing was such a turn on and AJ would’ve been happy to cum like that but he wasn’t done just yet. He abruptly stopped thrusting and took his cock out, enjoying the mess Kenny had made with his own saliva dripping down the front of his chest.

AJ couldn’t help but chuckle at the disappointed look on Kenny’s face. He may have been enjoying that a little too much as well after all. “We’re not done just yet. I want you to be a good boy and lay your back on the floor there,” he ordered. Kenny complied, and AJ nodded at his direction in approval. “You’re being so good for daddy, now,” he pulled his own shirt off over his head and threw it across the room, then unzipped the rest of his jeans as he stood up and let them fall down to the floor. “Take the rest of your clothing off. We got a long way to go.”

Daddy, huh? Kenny could roll with this.

Kenny now inwardly excited for what was to come, he did as he was told and blushed at the man in front of him. His body was perfect. And if he wasn’t completely hard before he definitely was now with the sight he witnessed before him. He tossed his back and groaned. He needed AJ inside of him now as it was his turn to settle himself in front Kenny. He shifted and positioned himself between Kenny’s legs, cupping his hands under his thighs to lift them. He gasped in surprise as AJ spit onto his entrance. He was getting right to the point and he loved that.

Suddenly, AJ was flashing the money in front of Kenny again. “This IS what you want isn’t it?” he teased. Kenny eagerly nodded, playing into the little game they continued with but at the same time he just wanted to get fucked already. He never wanted cock from a client so badly before.

“Then I’m gonna have to hear you say it. I want you to beg for daddy now, that you want this cock or you won’t be rewarded like I promised.”

Kenny sighed and pouted for a moment before finally removing his arms from the sides of his body. He reached down and hooked his hands behind his knees, pulling his legs back and wide– exposing his ass and showing AJ just how much he wanted it.

“Please, daddy, please.. I want..” Kenny blushed before he continued on, this making AJ smile as he was pleased with his little toy in front of him. “I want.. your cock so badly! I need you to fuck me. Now.” He loved how pathetic and needy Kenny was behaving.

“Good boy, that’s what I thought you wanted.”

AJ sat back up and firmly placed one of his hands on Kenny’s hip, using his saliva once more as lubricant. “You’re just aching to be filled, aren’t you?”

Kenny moaned and nodded again, his fingers were digging deep into the backs of his knees and he pulled them wider. He too was getting off on the show he was putting on for AJ. He absolutely loved it when his partners acted out the way he’d imagine and he also couldn’t help but smile at his eagerness. Gripping the base of his cock, AJ positioned it and pressed the head against his hole, causing Kenny to gasp and shift himself.

Kenny’s hips began to roll whore-ishly as AJ continued to tease his him. Stroking it back and forth which was also teasing himself something fierce as well. He groaned with him as he glanced down and noticed Kenny’s cock was looking painfully hard and leaking.

“Please, daddy.. Fuck me,” he whimpered. With such desire.. He didn’t need to say anymore.

After all of that how could AJ resist? He gripped the base of his cock again and pushed with some effort to spread the tight muscles out a little more to ease into it. He forgot how fucking good it felt to have his dick inside another man, and he wasn’t even all the way in yet.

Kenny cried out as the first barrier was broken, arching his back, again pulling the backs of his thighs as he almost had his knees up against his chest. His body twisted off more to the side, this allowing AJ more access to go even deeper.

“My god, you’re so tight,” AJ groaned. Kenny continued to moan and toss his head. “Are you sure you want daddy to keep going?”

Kenny can only nod so AJ continued to slowly thrust forward some more. The contractions of Kenny’s muscles deliciously milking him were also allowing him to slide in much easier and deeper. AJ groaned and buried himself in one final thrust, now balls deep against Kenny’s tight ass.

Even though Kenny has had sex with men many times like this before, he has never had a cock as big as AJ’s in a very long time. It almost felt like he was a virgin again. And it really didn’t help that it’s been a while since he got fucked because again, his regulars mostly preferred handjobs or head. AJ now pressed his hands to Kenny’s thighs again, feeling the thick muscles quiver beneath his palms. He paced his breathing as AJ began to slowly move until Kenny threw his head forward and moaned loudly, which really only meant one thing.

Ecstasy.

AJ found himself struggling to steady his breathing as well. He maintained his position, allowing Kenny again to adjust before slowly pulling back out. As he felt his ass being emptied, he began to buck his hips and whimper in protest.

“No! No..! Daddy please don’t stop!”

AJ grinned, the power rush starting to overwhelm him.

“Oh, I’m not stopping, little one. I’m just getting ready to fuck you until you can’t stand it anymore. You DO want that, don’t you?”

He continued to slowly pull out, finally stopping but only leaving the head of his cock inside. AJ didn’t move for several seconds, and in frustration at being nearly emptied, Kenny rolled his hips once again. He whimpered and cried out loudly, hoping that each time he thrust forward he would be impaled again.

With one swift motion, AJ drove his cock back deep down inside of him. Kenny yelled out with his arms flying forward and gripping AJ’s shoulders. And slowly AJ retreated again, only pulling out so much that the tip was still inside– His cock barely keeping Kenny open. And again he had the man pleading beneath him.

“Please! Please! Please!”

His writhing and moaning really had AJ going. And if he decided now to fuck him hard and fast he would have them both cumming within a few short thrusts. But he wanted to draw it out and enjoy the feast of his desires. Again, he instantly plowed back into him. Balls pressed against his ass. Kenny jerked hard and grunted, and over and over AJ continued to deep fuck him– slowly and agonizingly, hitting Kenny’s prostate each and every time. Beads of pre-cum were now leaking down onto Kenny’s chest and it was probably the hottest thing AJ has ever seen.

“How does it feel to be teased? It doesn’t very feel nice now that daddy is doing it, huh?” AJ panted. After torturing the poor boy he finally plowed his cock deep inside of his lover and just held it there. He released Kenny’s thighs and settled himself on top of him. Kenny was teetering on the edge as he was violently shaking and could feel his muscles clenching over and over.

“Tell me, Kenny. How does it feel?”

“It feels… Mmm, God!” He stuttered. He simply just couldn’t grasp the words he wanted to say. At this point it felt impossible for him.

He cried out as his hips began to rock again beneath AJ. He leaned forward hooked his arms under Kenny’s knees, pulling his legs up and over his shoulders. He began to pump in and out just as hard but not quite emptying out of Kenny to the same extent as before.

He was now moaning more and more. Pressing himself up against AJ’s body as much as he could with the position he had him in. “I- I wanna cum..” he begged.

“Not yet. Daddy wants to enjoy your sweet body just a little bit more.”

AJ was now fucking him more steadily but not as slowly as when he deep dicked him. He knew his cock was hitting Kenny’s prostate head on, and he was concentrating so hard to keep himself from cumming that he nearly couldn’t understand what Kenny was asking him to do.

“I can’t hold on much longer, daddy. I want you to fill me.. Please! Fill me up!”

This drove him over the edge. He didn’t care anymore.

AJ groaned as he placed a hand around Kenny’s throat, squeezing nice and tight but was also careful not to crush the airway. Kenny loved the euphoric feeling of it all. Being fucked with no remorse, used, spat on, choked– he fucking loved every minute of this and wasn’t ashamed to admit to it. It was his first experience like this with an older man and he never wanted it to end. He was screaming and begging and in the midst of it all he had no idea what was even coming out of his mouth anymore.

Kenny’s whole body was in another state of arousal and AJ could see his orgasm building up within him. He finally decided that he was ready too, so he released the grip from around his neck and allowed the younger man to breathe again. AJ was now pounding Kenny’s body hard onto his living room floor, and he was thankful that his house was more secluded as the neighbours would probably think some sort of crime was happening if any of them had heard what was going on.

“Fuuuuuuck!” Kenny screamed. AJ arched his back so he could fuck him deeper, his legs still draped over his shoulders as Kenny was clawing at anywhere on AJ that he could get his hands on. Contractions from his orgasm were now felt as his Kenny’s cock jerked. Long ropes of cum erupted from him, landing on his chest and even on his own face as he was grunting and crying out. His fingers were tangled in AJ’s hair and his legs wrapped around his waist. He made him cum completely hands free and Kenny couldn’t believe it.

With each spurt his ass clamped down even tighter than before, milking AJ effectively and he couldn’t hold himself together anymore. With one final thrust his own climax exploded forth, filling up Kenny deep inside as he possibly could and it felt amazing. AJ groaned out loud as Kenny thrust back out against him. They both wanted to ride out their orgasms as long as they could before it had to end.

Spent and overall exhausted, AJ pushed Kenny’s legs from his shoulders and fell over onto his chest, smearing his cum between them but neither really seemed cared about it. Kenny’s heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest against AJ’s as they were both slick with sweat and struggling to catch their breath. Neither of them said a word, and after a few minutes AJ slowly eased himself up and out of Kenny.

He quietly whimpered when he felt AJ’s member fall out of him. He pushed his legs back out again, exposing his well-fucked entrance once more and grinned as he saw the mess now leaking out. If he wasn’t so tired he would definitely love to pay for an overnight just to get a round two from the pure sight of that.

“You’re really quite proud of yourself, aren’t you?” Kenny groaned. AJ chuckled and reached over for the towels that he placed by the tv nearby. Yeah, of course he was prepared for this. He handed one over to Kenny first so he can get themselves cleaned up.

“Come on now, don’t ruin the moment for me,” he replied. Kenny laughed as handed the towel back to AJ.

“And also.. you broke character.“

Kenny inwardly rolled his eyes. He really had forgotten all about that. “Okay, okay.. I’ll let you have your moment. Daddy.”

“Much better,” He boasted. After a moment or so Kenny finally eased himself up and gathered enough energy to stand and dress himself again. His legs were pretty damn shaky. It really was too bad that AJ was now a paying customer. He would honestly love to do this again and get to know the man some more on a personal level but something along those lines were actually against the rules. If only he had met him on different circumstances. He had to confess, it was a really great time.

AJ just continued to lay there on the floor in his boxers for a few more moments before handing him the promised cash. Kenny gladly accepted the money as he placed a warm kiss on AJ’s lips, thanked him, then checked the time on his phone. His driver would be there any minute.

“Call me again, AJ. Anytime.”

p.s. If the format on this is messed up in some parts I do apologize. As some of you know I write my stories from my phone on the mobile app. But as always, thank you very much for taking the time to read if you’ve made it this far. Likes, comments, reblogs.. and especially constructive criticism is always welcomed! xx

#Kenny Omega #AJ Styles #kenny omega smut #kenny omega fanfiction #aj styles smut #aj styles fanfiction #slash fanfiction #wrestling fanfiction #kenny omega fanfic #aj styles fanfic

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petaldancing · 7 years

Text

fic: all we shouldn’t regret

fandom: pokemon characters: flannery/roxanne prompt: things you said after you kissed me notes: another prompt from twitter!

“You should really watch where you’re going,” was the first thing she ever said to Flannery. It hadn’t been a very good first impression. Flannery landed on the floor after their unfortunate collision along the hallway. Her hands ached from cushioning her fall, but she was otherwise fine. Unlike her, the brunette didn’t lose her footing, as if she held a firmness in every step she took. Instead of feeling embarrassed or upset, Flannery found herself staring up in slight awe at this young woman with a big red bow in her hair.

Despite her clipped remark, the woman bent over and helped Flannery to pick up the files that had tumbled out of her arms. She glanced at the label of one of the folders, and said, “I see you’re applying to become a gym leader as well.”

“Yeah, I am!” Flannery answered, a little too eagerly, and felt her ears grow hot. “I mean, I’ve wanted to every since I was a kid. But there’s a ton of paperwork to submit and I got kinda overwhelmed… I’m sorry!”

The woman managed to collect all the files into a neat stack in one arm. As she rose to her full height, she offered her empty hand to Flannery. Flannery took it and was hoisted up, surprised again by the woman’s strength in spite of her smallish frame.

“It’s alright. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said, passing the files back to Flannery. “I understand the nervous jitters about applying for the position, in any case. I’m Roxanne. I suppose we’ll be in the same course come spring.”

“Yes, we will! I’m Flannery!” she said, again too quickly, but Roxanne did not mind it. Instead, she nodded politely and carried on walking down the hallway.

Flannery resisted the urge to turn and stare. She could still hear the faint tap of Roxanne’s shoes against the tiled floor, growing softer. Stepping forward, she reminded herself why she was here in the first place. At least this trip to the Pokemon Association wasn’t as boring as she thought it was going to be.

“You should straighten your posture. Pokemon imitate their trainer. They’ll have a better fighting stance if you do, too.”

Flannery felt something crack in her lower back as she relaxed her shoulders and raised her head, feeling her back tighten. This was going to take some getting used to. She laughed as she said, “Thanks for taking time out to help me with training, Roxanne.”

“You’re welcome. This helps me apply my lessons from the Trainer's School, so it’s a win-win for both of us,” Roxanne spoke from the other side of the training arena. Nosepass was out of its pokeball, waiting for the match to start. Flannery knew that to become a gym leader, she needed to be good enough to test any challenger, including those who had pokemon with type advantages against hers. She’d beat Roxanne’s winning streak soon enough.

“Go, Numel!”

Her partner sprung into the fray in a brilliant flash of red, not even waiting for the signal that the battle had begun as he charged towards his opponent. Nosepass and Roxanne were ready for it. “Double Team!” she ordered, folding her arms in front of herself as Nosepass’ doubles made Numel’s eyes spin. “First, you reduce accuracy, which lowers the probability of a successful attack!” she explained. Flannery had heard this before—Roxanne had an awfully cute habit of showing off her knowledge of pokemon.

“Sunny Day!” Flanner jabbed her finger into the sky as Numel lifted his head, a plume of smoke trailing out from the hole on his hump. The sun’s rays intensified at Numel’s call, and Roxanne had to hold her arm over her eyes.

“You should know better by now. Fire-type attacks, even if multiplied by terrain effects, are still ineffective against my lovely rock hard pokemon!” Roxanne tutted. Still covering her eyes, she raised her other hand in a graceful arc, skirt bouncing with her movements. “Nosepass, use Rock Slide!”

The compass pokemon and its three mirror images leapt up and struck the ground simultaneously with their arms, causing it to crack and split. The resulting debris tumbled towards Numel, who had no opening to dodge the onslaught of rocks. Flannery winced as her pokemon took a hit to the body and skidded back to her side of the arena.

“Once more, Nosepass!”

“Numel, use Magnitude!” Flannery called out as Nosepass jumped into the air.

Numel growled and rammed its front feet into the earth, sending a shockwave through the earth in the same moment Nosepass made contact, catching it completely off guard. Flannery wobbled on her feet as the whole arena rumbled, smiling to herself as Nosepass’ doubles disappeared. When the dust cleared, it was only Numel and an unconscious Nosepass left in the middle of the worn down field.

“How is that possible! Your pokemon…”

“My pokemon can learn moves that aren’t fire-type,” Flannery finished the sentence for her. If Roxanne went by the book, Flannery was the complete opposite—she was driven only by her intuition, and the memory of her grandfather’s battles, how unpredictable and exhilarating they always were.

“It seems I still have much to learn myself,” Roxanne said, removing her hand from her face. “But don’t go lowering your guard, Flannery. I intend to think of a way to counter this.”

Underneath the glaring sunlight, if Flannery squinted her eyes, she could make out Roxanne’s smile, and the thought that she had coaxed it out made her heart flutter.

“You shouldn’t let these things get to you, Flannery. You’re a Gym Leader now.”

Flannery didn’t look up from her crumpled dress. She brought her knees closer to her chest, watching the material crease even more. Her feet were aching from walking around in her mother’s heels. The only reason she hadn’t kicked them off was because she knew she’d have to go back in eventually and pretend that she knew exactly what she was doing. “What does that even mean, Roxanne?”

“A Gym Leader’s duty is to test trainers, and to present them a Pokemon League badge if they prove themselves capable,” Roxanne said with with ease. It was one of the many bits of guidelines and fineprint she’d memorised from the handbook given to them at the start of the training course. Flannery hadn’t even read past the introduction.

“That’s what it means technically, but what does it mean to you?” Flannery asked, her cheeks flushing when she noticed that Roxanne was squatting next to her now. “What are you going to say when they force you go up and make that speech?” she continued, her voice softer this time.

Why did every gym leader have to go up and make an acceptance speech, anyway? Wasn’t proving that she was a good battler enough? She should have known that the Pokemon Association was going to test them sooner or later. She just hadn’t expected the test to be on the night of the appointment ceremony. They were going to see how the new leaders would carry themselves in front of the media, whether they were a good face for the League. No wonder grandfather never liked going for official Association meetings.

“That I graduated from the Pokemon Trainer’s School, that I will be Rustboro’s new gym leader, and that I intend to use my time as gym leader to better myself and to perfect the teachings of the school.”

“A model answer from a model student.” Flannery couldn’t help but say.

Instead of scolding her for taking that tone, Roxanne inched closer so that their arms were touching. Both of them were wearing sleeveless dresses, and the contact made Flannery both confused and comforted.

“What’s wrong, Flannery?”

“I just…” She bit her lip. “I just don’t know what kind of gym leader I should be. Should I pretend to be cool and composed so people take me seriously? Should I act friendly so that everyone’ll get along? Should I say that I’ll be a great gym leader, even though I know I’m not?”

Roxanne did not reply straightaway. Instead, she stood up and took a few steps forward, into the moonlight casting through the tall glass windows. Her skin glowed under the light as she closed her eyes tentatively. It became so quiet that they could hear the party and the chatter from down the hallway. It took a moment for Flannery to realise that her friend was giving her time to breathe and slow her thoughts.

"That's not like you at all." When Roxanne finally spoke, her words had a teasing lilt in them. "Weren't you the one who always bulldozed herself forward and never let anything stop her?"

"It was just that one time, Roxanne. And I was the one who fell down," Flannery said with a chuckle. Yes, she always did have a knack for getting herself into situations because of her one track mind.

“What I'm trying to say is that you’ll figure that out along the way, won’t you? You don’t need to decide what kind of gym leader you’ll become right now. I believe we all find ourselves during our tenure." Roxanne walked back, extending her hand out once again. “What I do know is that you’ll be a fantastic gym leader as long as you don’t get distracted, and you improve your posture.”

“Is it still that bad?” Flannery asked, her cheeks red now out of embarrassment. She didn't want to let go of Roxanne's hand just yet, but there was no reason left to hold it now that she was up on her feet.

"Of course it is. Here." Roxanne pressed her fingers into the small of her back, eyes widening as she realised that Flannery was wearing a backless dress. Her face immediately turned in a shade that was nearly identical to the fancy ribbons in her hair.

Flannery straightened her spine in the same moment her insides knotted up, and it wasn't an unpleasant thing. "I guess tonight wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," she hummed, and left it at that, because there was enough on both their minds already. Arm in arm, they returned to the ceremony with ten minutes to spare.

Panicked screams and frantic shouts for loved ones rang through the blazing heat in Lavaridge. She dashed around the streets, Numel by her side, searching for anyone who might need help. Then, Flannery saw her, rising above the people that were finding shelter from the intense heatwave, on the top of Nosepass.

"Roxanne?! What are you doing here? I said I'd be at the Pokemon League once I made sure everyone in Lavaridge was safe." Flannery had to raise her voice above the noise.

Roxanne dismounted gracefully, one hand on Nosepass as she surveyed the surroundings. The streets were busier than usual, with residents rushing to gather supplies and rations from the pokemart and the local provision stores. A lot of them were wearing hats and sunglasses in an attempt to shield themselves from Groudon's Drought.

"I thought you might need help," Roxanne replied, gathering and tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears. She was sweating, something she never allowed herself to do. How far had she and Nosepass travelled? Flannery felt her throat tighten with guilt. She grabbed Roxanne's hand and tugged her in the direction of the hot springs. "Let's get some water—for ourselves, and for anyone who we meet on the way there. Grandpa should've managed to collect some by now."

Flannery instructed whoever she bumped into to quickly go indoors and cool off. The Lavaridge Pokemon Center was now a first aid center for all those in the area who had heat stroke. She didn't want to have to send even more people there, including herself and Roxanne.

The chaos outside was a sharp contrast to the silence that greeted them in the house once Flannery closed the door behind her. Roxanne leaned against the kitchen counter and Flannery sat herself on the table opposite, trying to drink as much water as she could. Grandpa had gone off again, to help the other civilians, almost as if he'd never retired from being Gym Leader. Flannery trusted his pokemon to look after him, and it was only because of this that she allowed herself to focus her attention on Roxanne.

"You didn't need to come all the way out here!" Flannery snapped once she felt her body temperature lowering just a tad, a feat considering how the room was insufferably warm and stuffy. "What's gotten into you?" she asked, feeling like she'd switched places with the woman standing opposite her. The Roxanne she knew would have followed the rules set in place during a regional crisis: all active gym leaders were to assemble at the Pokemon League as soon as possible and be assigned duties to mitigate the crisis, whatever it was.

Roxanne, who'd finished off one bottle of water, took a second to catch her breath. "I couldn't go by myself, not without knowing you'd be there. It's crazy out there, Flannery. Everything's a mess now. There's nothing in the guidebook that can tell us what to do about this. I chose to follow my gut instead." The plastic squeaked in her grip as Roxanne looked at her with clear, uncompromising eyes. "It told me that I had to come to you first."

Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or the fact that the earth was burning, or that they were alone in her house—whatever it was, Flannery bridged the gap between them without pausing. She cupped Roxanne's cheeks between her hands, and when the brunette didn't pull away, leaned in to kiss Roxanne in one brave moment. Both their lips were dry and cracked, but that didn't stop Flannery from knowing instantly that this was the right thing to do.

Instead of saying anything remotely romantic, Roxanne broke the kiss to exclaim, gravely, “You shouldn't have done that!"

Flannery, still cradling Roxanne's face, puffed up her cheeks in response. “Why shouldn't I! I like you, Roxanne! And you like me too, don't you?"

"I..." Roxanne's mouth hung open, and her face grew redder.

Flannery felt strangely empowered, seeing Roxanne tongue-tied for once. "Why else would you be here, you dummy?" she laughed in spite of the situation, feeling the pent-up stress leave her body. "Sorry for getting side-tracked. Let's pack up and leave now. We can talk more after all this is over."

They tossed unopened water bottles into a bagpack and changed into fresh clothes as quickly as they could. Flannery knew that Roxanne would not accept loose jeans, and so she handed her a belt. "Do think think the world is going to end?" Roxanne asked as she wrangled her hair into a more efficient ponytail. Flannery knew that what she really meant to ask was, 'Why did you do that? Why at this very moment?'

"No. It won't." This was one of those times when the only way to get through was to believe in everyone's strength, and to charge forward without any doubts. If that was what she was good at, then she'd have to take the lead. "This just made me realise that I don't want any more regrets from now on," she said, adjusting the straps of her bag and taking Roxanne's hand as they prepared to leave the house. "And... it made me realise what kind of gym leader I want to be."

"What would that be?" Roxanne asked.

Flannery took a deep breath as she opened the front door. "The kind that doesn't run away, even when I'm scared."

She could see Roxanne crack a smile, even under the sun's blazing rays.

"That fits you perfectly."

---

end notes: this is one of those cases where i intended for it to be a 500 word fic and it exploded into a 2,500 word one and i got restless at the end! you can tell!

are roxanne and flannery the reason why numel knows magnitude and nosepass knows protect?? welp thats my headcanon now

lastly, if you want more flannery/roxanne content please check out my friend AQ's lovely fic over here!

#ok that's all the pkmn i have for now #up next will be bnha or hyouka stuff (hopefully)#the only reason i can write so much now is because it's the cny break~#flannery (pokemon)#roxanne (pokemon)#fandom: pokemon

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ellanainthetardis · 7 years

Note

Prompt: normally haymitch is the one getting teased by chaff and finnick so how about a fic where either chaff or finnick a woman problem and getting teases( and u can make up anything els )

Be warned that victorsprostitution is discussed in here =) [X]

Of Pools, Cheating And Experts

Haymitch’s eyes wandered around the big stone pillarsthat supported the high ceiling, not quite happy with all the areas left inshadows. The only source of light came from the pool itself and it made for aneerie atmosphere he wasn’t too fond of. It made him feel claustrophobic, evenwith the far wall being all glass and giving the vertiginous feeling that thepool was giving out on empty air.

He had hardly ever been there before. Maybeonce or twice after his victory, with another victor his age who had wanted toexplore every floor of the Games Compound… There was everything you needed inthe compound: a gym, a pool, a spa – or so he had been told, he was even lessfond of strangers touching him than he was of baldly lightened gigantic roomsin which anyone could hide and spy…

Eventually, once he was done with his visualinspection of the place and the smell of chlorine had started making his eyesitch, he buried his hands in his pockets and turned his attention to the poolwhere Finnick had been swimming back and forth for the last two minutes withouteven addressing his presence.

“You know I’ve got better things to do thanwatching you pretend to be a fish all night, yeah?” he called out, tired ofbeing ignored.

Finnick shot him a grin over his shoulder butdidn’t stop swimming. “Yes? What?”

“Question would be who actually.” he snorted.

When Finnick had called to ask him to join himat the pool, he and Effie had been in the middle of a very heated make-outsession that he was pretty sure would have ended up with them having their waywith each other right there on the couch. Clothes hadn’t flown yet but his handhad been far up under her dress and hers had been very busy opening the shirthe hadn’t even bothered to button all the way up again.

He knew how he looked: fingers had repeatedlyran in his hair, his shirt was halfway open, there was a suspicious red mark onhis neck and he had lost his jacket and his waistcoat somewhere. He trusted theboy could take a hint.

Finnick had said he needed to talk to him andthat it was important so he had come but he still hoped he could get back toEffie before she grew bored of waiting and went to bed. He was pretty surethere had been lacy lingerie under that horrible green dress.

“Who?” the boy teased.

Haymitch rolled his eyes. “I don’t kiss andtell.”

“Funny, that sounds like what Effie always says.”Finnick laughed, briefly ducking underwater to turn around as he reached thewindow.

Haymitch slowly walked closer to the baywindow, trying to find a spot that wouldn’t leave him with his back to a dooror an even bigger room. The window seemed like a safe enough place.

“I never listen to what she says. You shouldknow by now.” he deadpanned. “So… What’s the emergency?”

He glanced through the window. They were highbut not that high compared to thepenthouse. Outside, it was a typical Games night for the city. If he craned hisneck to the left, he could probably guess at the giant screen on the Squarethat was showing a live feed of the arena. He wondered where they were at now.Last time he had bothered to check, there had been three Careers left, the girlfrom Eight and a boy from Ten. The Seventy-Third Hunger Games were dragging onand he was pretty sure Crane would put an end to them soon one way or another.

“There aren’t any bugs here.” Finnick said,almost all the way across the huge pool already.

“Really?” he asked, eyebrows lifting up ininterest. He hadn’t known that but, then again, Finnick had made it hisspecialty to find out how many secrets as he could . “How come?”

“Something about reverberations and the water…”the boy dismissed. “There are some in the changing rooms but not in the poolroom itself. We can speak freely.”

“You’re scaring me.” Haymitch admitted with adeep sigh. He fished his flask from his back pocket and took a swing. “What didyou do?”

Because it came down to that, didn’t it?Finnick had been playing the game for long enough to know not to make mistakesbut if he had… Well… With Mags at home still recovering from a stroke she wouldprobably never totally get over and his fellow mentor too busy trying to snatchBrutus’ attention away from the man’s escort… He supposed he was the next bestthing when it came to playing mentor.

Finnick stopped swimming in the middle of thepool, his back to him, and then switched so he was floating on his back.Haymitch couldn’t shake the vision of a drown corpse out of his mind and tookanother swing of moonshine.

He would need to fill his flask soon. It wasalmost empty.

“It’s not like that.” the boy explainedeventually. “It doesn’t have to do with the Capitol.”

Everything had to do with the Capitol, healmost retorted but it seemed obvious the boy was upset already so…

“Okay.” he accepted and sat down, confident nowthat Peacekeepers wouldn’t burst in. “You know another good place without bugs?The roof.”

“There’s no pool on the roof.” Finnickcountered.

“There’s a garden.” he snorted, kicking off hisshoes and his socks because it looked like they would be there a while. Herolled up the legs of his pants to his knees and then let his feet dangle inthe water. It was warm, of course.

“You hate the garden.” the boy retorted,staring at the high ceiling.

The pool had an ancient Rome feel to it.Haymitch wondered if that was the aim.

“So you made me come down here so we can talkabout how I hate bright flowers?” he teased. He didn’t like the garden, true.It reminded him too much of his arena and he usually stuck to the unadornedpart of the roof where it was all grey cement. “Got to say… Might have gottenChaff involved. You know he’s got a green thumb.”

It was a well kept secret that Eleven’s victorenjoyed some gardening. Chaff had his own vegetable garden at home – half ofwhich he used to distil his own moonshine and it wasn’t that bad, less dry thanRipper’s and probably safer to drink too.

“I like the pool.” Finnick argued.

“You don’t say.” he mocked. “You like water?Never would have guessed.”

The boy tossed him a look that was a mix ofexasperation and amusement but his face soon turned serious and he went back tojust floating there.

“They made you do it too?” the boy asked.

Haymitch’s amusement died down quickly and hetook a hesitant sip of his flask. Eight years and it was the first time Finnickhad asked that question. He didn’t need him to clarify either. There was justthe right touch of righteous anger and helplessness in the victor’s voice thatthe tone was familiar.

“A few times.” he answered eventually.

He had been lucky. Given how popular andhandsome he had been in his youth, he had been very very lucky because when he had won the system hadn’t yet been whatit now was. The buying and selling had still been reserved to a selected fewwho usually had more important things to do than leer after victors. Now it wasa different story and Finnick had always been far too popular. None of thevictors who had come after him had been that popular and that included the Richtsonsiblings who had won two years in a row. Gloss and Cashmere were an item onthat market and it made Haymitch sick to the stomach every time he thoughtabout it. It was bad enough to be sold like a dog but to watch their sibling behumiliated like that…

All in all, compared to others, on that front,he considered himself lucky.

“Why?” Finnick insisted. “Your family…”

The stab of pain was immediate and heinstinctively kicked the water, making enough noise to cut the boy off. Four’svictor also stopped floating there to switch and start moving again. The boywas quick in the water, deadly.

“Why’s Jo still doing it?” he growled. “She’sgot no one left either, yeah?”

Johanna Mason had quickly become a thorn in theCapitol’s flank and he had warned her several times to cut it down. It hadstarted with Blight doing a poor job of preparing her for what the Capitolexpected of her and with her stabbing the very important, very influent man whohad rented her services for the night. In retaliation, her parents and herbrother had been caught in a deadly accident. It hadn’t done anything for hersnarky attitude, her resentment or her hatred for the Capitol.

“She’s got Blight and his family.” Finnickreplied defensively. “She’s got Syln and the other victors from Seven… They’vegot family too.”

And she was their responsibility so it fell onthem to make sure she played the game or to pay the price. Not a comfortableplace to be in, to be sure. Not that Jo would risk someone’s life like thatagain. At least, he didn’t think so.

“There you have it, then.” he said, waving hisflask to make his point. “There’s alwayssomething.”

“But you didn’t have a mentor and there are noother victors in Twelve.” the boy insisted.

“Yeah, well…” he shrugged. “After a few years Igrew tired of watching people starve ‘cause shipments were late or incomplete…Took me a while to catch up.”

He didn’t like thinking back to that part ofhis life. It had been a few years after he had won and he hadn’t grown used tobe lonely all year around yet. It was when he had started a slow but steadydescent into a bottle too. When Chaff had finally spelled out what he couldn’teven begin to imagine by himself, it had been the nail in the coffin of hissobriety.

Finnick seemed to accept that because hestopped swimming to start floating on his back again, arms spread wide at hisside. Haymitch stared at his own feet.

“Have you ever been with a man?” the boy asked.

“I don’t swing that way.” he answeredimmediately.

“Not what I asked.” Four’s victor pointed out.

“But that’s what you get.” he snarled,swallowing a long mouthful of moonshine. He blocked the memories that wanted torise up, focusing on what had happened the previous night instead. Effie bentover the dining table, her colorful skirt all over the mahogany, his handskneading her ass as he pounded into her warmth… He closed his eyes and focusedon that. The feel, the smell, the taste of her… “Look, boy, not that this walkdown memory lane isn’t just fun but…”

“It makes you crazy sometimes, right?” Finnickcut him off. “After an appointment with a client… It’s… It makes you crazy, right?”

Haymitch studied the eagle spread form of theboy as he floated around.

“Right.” he answered carefully. Thing was, asunbearable as Finnick’s position must have been, the kid couldn’t afford togive it up. Too many people depended on him. Too many lives. Mags’ first andforemost. Then, there was the girl from three years earlier. The tribute he hadgone and fell in love with despite everyone’s warnings… “How’s Annie?”

Because he had a feeling it was all coming downto that.

Maybe the boy had done something reckless likesay no to someone influent and maybe he was scared she would be punished forit.

Maybe…

“How long have you been with Effie?” Finnickcountered.

And Haymitch coughed so hard he almost chocked.“The fuck are you talking about?”

He couldn’t see the boy’s face properly but hewas certain Four’s victor rolled his eyes. “No bugs, Haymitch.”

There had been plenty of places without bugswhere people had teased him about his escort and it had never been enough forhim to forget basic caution.

“We’re not together.” he spat. “I’ve told you plenty of times before. We…”

“Okay.” Finnick cut him off harshly. “Fine. Lieto me.”

Haymitch glared at the kid who had no right tosound so offended by his denial. What a peacock.Arrogant and entitled and…

“We’re nottogether.” he repeated.

“Sure.” Four’s victor snorted. “Sorry Ibothered you. You can go now.”

Haymitch’s eyebrows shot up at the insultingdismissal. Who did the boy think he was treating him like an Avox? Maybe thekid spent too much time in the city and he had half a mind to tell him justthat but he caught the flash of pain of Finnick’s face and swallowed back hisannoyance.

“It’s not a thing.” he insisted quietly, hiseyes automatically roaming around to make certain nobody was hiding behind apillar. He trusted Finnick. Up to a point. He wasn’t sure he trusted even Chaff entirely. Blinded trust wasn’tclever in the city and it wasn’t clever between victors, best friends or not. TheGames were in the way, the Capitol was in the way, and ultimately everyone wasalways out for themselves. Lately, the only one he completely trusted was hisally and his ally was Effie because she was in his corner, always and withoutquestion. She had his back, he had hers and, for now, that was enough.

Terrifying, sure.

But enough.

“Okay.” Finnick sulked.

“Why the interest?” he insisted.

The boy shrugged and then pushed on his armsand legs to come closer to the window. “You ever cheated on her?”

“Hard to do since it’s not a thing.” he scowled, taking his feet out of the water. Histoes were wrinkled and he shifted to completely lean against the window. Hespread his legs in front of him to let them dry. “It’s not cheating, boy.” hesaid quietly after a few minutes. “Doubt your girl sees it like that.”

Finnick didn’t have a choice and Annie probablyknew that by now, assuming he had told her.

Effie went with sponsors from time to time. Hepretended he didn’t know, pretended he didn’t understand when she brought himback a sponsoring pledge that they would usually have no hope of securing. Heknew why she did it. She was desperate for a win, not just because of thepromoting bullshit she kept sproutingbut because watching their kids die was becoming too much. So she went andfound sponsors and he pretended he didn’t know how. He got angry about it, ofcourse, mainly because once you pushed that door, it was an open invitation todo it again. He also knew there were people she couldn’t say no to when theyexpressed an insistent interest, that it wouldn’t have been safe or clever.That made him angry too.

But neither of that was cheating.

And it wasn’t cheating either when a Gamemakermade it clear to him that he should entertaina wealthy lonely woman who used to have a crush on him twenty years earlierand fancied revisiting her youth.

Unfortunate was what it was.

Disgusting.

Unfair.

But cheating… The anger usually came out fromprotectiveness more than jealousy.

“I had a hard one the other day.” Finnickconfessed, so softly Haymitch could barely hear it over the lapping of thewater against the window with every of the boy’s movement.

“A man.” he deduced given the questions fromearlier.

It was almost a whole minute before Finnickconfirmed. “Yes.”

“He hurt you?” he growled.

Because it didn’t matter who the guy was,Haymitch would find him and wouldmake sure he knew better than hurting hiskid. That was only a fantasy, of course, he couldn’t do that without exposinghimself and the kid to more problems but… If it had been serious, they couldalert Crane. The Capitol frowned on their special clients damaging theirproperty.

They had had worse Head Gamemakers. Crane wasalmost decent compared to some.

“Not really.” Finnick sighed. “It’s just… Jowas in the same hotel. She had an appointment of her own so, after, I went to her room.”

He frowned. “And?”

“And it makes you crazy sometimes.” Four’s victor whispered. “Jo was furious. She’salways furious after that kind of things.”

“Relatable.” he snorted.

“We drank too much.” Finnick said. “We figuredsince the room was paid for, we could empty the mini-bar.”

And Haymitch winced, guessing where this wasgoing. “Booze and being upset usually don’t mix that well.”

The boy suddenly shifted, coming to a standingposition, facing the bay window. His feet must have touched the bottom becausethe water barely reached his shoulders. He placed both hands on the glass andrested his forehead on the cold panel. “I’m lying, we weren’t that drunk.”

“You slept together.” he sighed because he wastired of beating around the bush.

Finnick knocked his forehead against the windowtwice. “Three times.”

“In a single night?” Haymitch whistled. “Now,boy, you’re making me feel bad.”

Ah, being twenty again…

Two times in one night was a good run for himnowadays.

“Don’t mock, it’s not funny.” Finnick snapped.

He sighed again, took a sip of moonshine andthen handed out his flask, leaving his arm outstretched until Finnick caved andmoved to grab it. Four’s victor mirrored his position, resting his back againstthe window, a sulk on his face.

“She’s my best friend.” the boy lamented.

Haymitch wished he was more surprised but,truth be told, he had seen it coming. Hell, Chaffhad seen it coming. They had never discussed it but the acknowledgment hadalways been there in shared looks over the rims of their glasses, behind thekids’ back.

Nobody had believed in Johanna Mason during theSeventy-first Hunger Games. Nobody.And yet, on day three, Finnick had taken one look at the meek and terrifiedlooking little girl, had laughed and had claimed that she would be the victor.

And when it had turned out Johanna was neithermeek nor terrified, the boy had turned out to be right.

And the two of them had been thick as thievesever since.

They were young, attractive – and clearly attracted – and they were both goingthrough something terribly hard. It had been a matter of time.

“You love her?” Haymitch asked.

Finnick took a sip of moonshine, probablyfinishing what was left of it because he had to tip his head back all the way.“She’s my best friend.”

“Yeah.” He made a face. “You better made thatclear, then. And gently ‘cause thatgirl… She’s been looking at you with stars in her eyes from the start.”

“She knows about Annie.” Finnick argued. “It’snot… I love Annie. I love Jo too but…Annie…”

Annie was vulnerable and needed him to takecare of her and the boy probably needed the sense of purpose. Jo’svulnerability came in a different shape and she certainly didn’t need anyone totake care of her. Not that she would admit it to herself, at least.

“Boy.” he insisted. “Don’t play on both sides.They both deserve better than that.”

“No, of course not.” Finnick denied. “I’m not…I told Jo it was a mistake. She said she understood. She said we shouldn’t makea big deal out of it. That it was just sex.”

“Was it?” he challenged.

“It makes you crazy sometimes, Haymitch.” Four’s victor almost begged him tounderstand. “I didn’t plan it. It just…”

“No.” he scoffed. “That’s no excuse. It’s justlike the booze thing. You wanted to sleep with Jo so you slept with Jo.”

“It’s not that simple.” Finnick argued.

“Seems that simple to me.” he shrugged. “Youasked me here to tell you it was okay to cheat on your girl because you had hada bad night and one glass too many… Sorry but I wasn’t the right guy to call.Got many flaws but I don’t cheat.”

He had spent too many nights watching hismother wait for his father to get home, watching the disappointment on her facewhen she spotted the guilty glint in her husband’s eyes.

All in all, he figured he had only had twoimportant relationships in his life. His girlfriend who he had had honorableintentions for and who he had intended to eventually marry – and to never cheat on her because he wouldn’tbe that kind of bastard. And Effie, who was the only woman he had spent morethan two nights with in his life and to whom he had been clear with from thestart: whatever they had, it wasn’t exclusive, it wasn’t serious and it wasn’tgoing to be love.

The rules with Effie had been defined clearly. They were both free.

So, sure,in the last couple of years, the non-exclusive clause had become something of aproblem and they had shifted toward something more traditional. But it remainedunvoiced and unacknowledged and if either of them strayed…

Except he couldn’t see himself straying. He hadtried, at first, when he had realized just how long it had been since he hadbeen with another woman – since he had been forced to listen to her prattlingabout her latest boyfriend – it had scared him so badly to feel that way thathe had tried… But he hadn’t been able to go through with it. He didn’t want another woman. And it had felt too much like cheating…

He was many things but he wasn’t a cheater.

“We don’t sleep together… Annie and I.” Finnickconfessed. “Well, we sleep together but we don’t…”

“Yeah, got you.” he interrupted.

They didn’t have sex, was what he meant.

“She’s still recovering and… We said we wouldbe taking it slow.” the boy offered, clearing his throat.

It had been three years since Annie’s Games butfor some victors it was a longer road to semi-sanity than for others. Annie,from what he had heard, was pretty traumatized. Enough that she had remainedcatatonic for weeks and that the Gamemakers had been forced to keep her Tourshort and to the point. She had never come back to the Capitol after that. Itwas hard to hide that she had lost her mind, even from the audience.

“Still not an excuse.” Haymitch shrugged.

“I love her.” Finnick swore.

“Yeah? Which one?” he mocked.

Four’s victor rolled his eyes and tossed theflask back on Twelve’s victor’s legs. “Annie.”Haymitch toyed with it, waiting for the rest and, inevitably, it came. “ShouldI tell her or… Jo said we should do as if nothing happened and I think she’sright. It was a mistake.”

“That’s for youto answer, boy.” he sighed. “Just… Listen to me, don’t screw this up. Whateveryou choose to do… Make sure you don’t string the other along for nothing.”

He hauled himself up to his feet, pocketed hisflask and grabbed his shoes and socks before heading out of the pool onlypausing when he heard the sound of his name.

“Thank you.” Finnick said.

“Any time, boy.” he offered.

It was late enough that the only people he metalong the hallways were Peacekeepers who didn’t even blink at finding himwalking barefoot with his pants rolled up to his knees. They were too used tohis drunken stunts probably.

The elevator trip back to the penthouse feltendless but couldn’t have taken more than a few minutes. He spent the wholetime rubbing his face and wondering how and why he had found himself a mentorto victors who weren’t his own.

The penthouse was silent and dark, pretty muchuninviting, but he ignored the fleeting thought that he could slip back out toa bar or another. The living-room was empty and he didn’t bother turning on thelights, the colorful beams from the city nightlights spilling through the baywindows were enough for him to make his way to the liquor cart and fill hisflask with a very expensive whiskey. He downed a small glass while he was at itand then retreated toward the bedrooms where everything was equally silent anddark.

He paused in front of his escort’s room, hesitateda second and then pushed the door and strolled in like he owned the place. Hedropped on the foot of the bed, smirking when she sat up with a startled cryand awkwardly fumbled with the lamp on her bedside table. She didn’t seem toohappy to find him lying across her bed, missing shoes and socks, his pantsrolled up and his shirt still half open.

“Oh!You better not be drunk.” she huffed.

She was the only person he knew who could huffin a threatening fashion.

“Not drunk.” he promised, lifting both handsinnocently.

Her eyes narrowed as she studied him with raptattention. She must have been satisfied that he wasn’t lying because she huffedagain. “Did you have to wake me up?In case you are confused after twenty-three years of living here, your bedroomis across the hall.”

“But there are no gorgeous blonde in it.” hepointed out.

Her eyes narrowed even more but her lipstwitched. “Aren’t you being all charming… What do you want?” His smirk deepenedand he wriggled his eyebrows. She burst out laughing. “It is not happening tonight. You aroused meand abandoned me, forcing me to take matters into my own hands.”

“Sounds like I missed out on a good show.” hetaunted.

“You missed out on a great many things.” sheretorted. “I had slit panties on.”

“Kinky.” he commented, eyes sparkling inamusement.

“They were lace.” she scoffed.

“My favorite.” he remarked.

“Only because it is the only fabric you canrecognize and name.” she mocked, crossing her arms in front of her chest with adispleased pout. “Since going out with your friends was more important than mynew lingerie…”

“Finnick needed to talk.” he sighed, taking hiseyes off her to stare at the ceiling with a pout of his own. He liked Annie. He wasn’t sorry to know hewouldn’t have to see her face to face any time soon. He didn’t like lying likethat.

“Is something wrong?” she frowned, shifting soshe was kneeling next to him. “You look troubled.”

She placed a hand on the middle of his chest,the tip of her fingers was on his skin.

He debated about telling her or not. The boyhadn’t sworn him to secrecy but it was more or less implied that that sort ofconversations would remain between friends. Effie, he knew, could be trustedwith a secret.

But it wasn’t his to tell.

“I’m troubled ‘cause I missed out on the slitpanties.” he teased, reaching out to brush the side of her neck with his hand.

“Haymitch.” she said, seriously enough.

He shook his head and coiled his fingers aroundthe back of her nape.

“Nothing to worry about.” he promised. “Justgirl problems.”

“And he asked you for advices?” she scoffed, lifting both eyebrows. “He does know you are not an expert inrelationships, doesn’t he?”

“So funny, Princess…” he deadpanned, pullingher down for a kiss.

He would show her expert.

#hayffie #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #prompt #games time #angst #teapot #coconuts friends #payment in nature #finnick #jonnick

18 notes · View notes

louisfeatharry · 7 years

Note

Ok so right now im re-reading Have You Coming Back Again for like the billionth time bc i love it so much!!!! Do you know any other fics that are similar in the way of being in denial/oblivious to dating each other? Doesn't have to be Louis/Harry! You have the absolute best fic rec :)

so, when looking through my fic rec page for “denial” type fics, i may have gone a bit overboard, and some of these fics may not entirely fit into what you’re looking for - but for the most part, there is some aspect in these fics where one of the characters is oblivious or in denial to their feelings / being in a relationship with the other.

with that said, most of the fics are larry (since that’s what i p much read the most of) unless stated otherwise.

first off, here’s a link to the fic mentioned in your ask, anon, since some people might not know what fic you’re talking about! the rest of the fics are under the cut! :)

Have You Coming Back Again by whoknows (31k)

It’s five o’clock in the morning. Louis has a lecture at half eight. He could be using this time to study or to do his readings or to go to the gym, but - well. He doesn’t have any exams coming up, he’s not going to his seminar today anyway and he hates the gym.

Instead he’s using this time to fuck with Harry Styles’ poor little brain.

Louis jogs across the street and jabs the key into the car door. It opens easily, not that he was expecting anything else. He copied the key for a reason, after all.

He’s got Harry’s schedule memorized, more because the guy keeps following him around than anything, so he doesn’t bother looking around before climbing behind the wheel and setting his bag on the passenger seat. It’s a Monday, which means that Harry doesn’t even get out of bed before noon unless he’s planning on harassing Louis.

(your heartbeat) rang true inside my bones by flimsy (32k)

Harry goes as Louis’ date for a weekend wedding. He ends up taking the role a bit too seriously.

A Little Love (is better than none) by objectlesson (15k)

It’s supposed to be no strings attached sex, but Harry’s in love with beauty and tragedy and Louis Tomlinson so there might actually a few strings they’re not talking about.

Or, alternately, the four times they fuck and don’t kiss, and one time they fuck and do

Da Mi Basia Mille by StormDancer (zarry, 28k)

“An idea comes to Harry then, a brilliant, brilliant idea, the best idea he’s ever had, other than the time he thought he should grow his hair out. “New plan. I’m going to kiss you every day until you start thinking you should be kissed every day.”

Dreaming of You by Velvetoscar (68k)

The Begrudging Starbucks AU.

The world is winter and steamed milk and creamy espresso shots. The world is a never ending queue. The world is a Starbucks logo and a pink-cheeked smile from Niall and a bored scowl from Zayn and the world is Louis watching his best mate, Liam, fall in love with their newest customer, Harry. Who may or may not be in love with Louis. The world is cruel.

Gods & Monsters by Velvetoscar (201k)

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that’s exactly what he did.

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) by thedeathchamber (55k)

Harry thinks he has good reasons for avoiding relationships. Meeting Louis puts those reasons to the test.

I Had Rather Hear My Dog Bark At A Crow by sunsetmog (tomlinshaw, 122k)

The first time Louis Tomlinson kisses him, Nick is three sheets to the wind, wearing a pirate hat, and so fucking tired of Louis being a complete and utter knobhead that he’s spent the last ten minutes snapping at him.

The kiss takes him rather by surprise, all things considered.

Or: Nick and Louis don’t like each other, not even a little bit, not even at all.

Like Real People Do by moodlighting (58k)

AU. Harry is Louis’ soulmate but Louis isn’t Harry’s - it takes Harry a while to figure it all out.

Looking Through You by allwaswell16 (41k)

Just as Louis and Liam were starting out in the music industry, writing and producing for up and coming artists, a fateful meeting with new pop singer Harry Styles changes everything. Four years later, just as Harry is set to embark on his next world tour, a drunken confession causes a rift between once inseparable friends. As Harry tries to make sense of his feelings for Louis, he begins writing his next album to express them as it may be the only way to break through the walls that Louis has built between them.

May You Enjoy Your New Life by aimmyarrowshigh (264k)

It begins for them all at the bungalow –

‘Alright, time to lay out the cards. We’re in this together and hopefully, for the long haul, yeah? So I think – you know, we should just be honest. It’s deal-breakers time. That thing that like, if we’re gonna hate you or something, just tell us all now.’

When One Direction begins, Harry Styles is a sixteen-year-old boy foundering under the pressure of impending fatherhood. His ability to balance the sobering responsibility of caring for his tiny daughter, Millie, and the exhilaration of seeing his own dreams coming to fruition affects not only his future, but those of Liam, Zayn, Niall, and Louis, who never expected fealty to be the key to their success. But Liam is the first to show him how to grow up without growing old, and Zayn is the first to defend from the public what is private and precious. Louis – Louis is the first for a lot of things; for most of the moments of Millie’s life and for the moments of Harry’s that matter. And Niall is the first to toast when Millie is born: Go maire sibh bhur saol nua – 'may you enjoy your new life.’

Nameless Night by green_feelings (155k)

For their 18th birthday, every person receives a letter that reads a simple date. That is the date you’ll meet your soulmate.

Harry and Louis have different beliefs, live in different worlds and have different dreams, hopes and fears. Yet, they’re not so different from each other when it comes to love. When their paths cross, there is no doubt they belong together. Except for that one, essential difference: they didn’t receive the same date.

Or, a fic about differences that make no difference at all: Harry and Louis are soulmates. In every way possible. Featuring Niall as a role model, and Liam and Zayn as a different kind of role models.

Pinkies Never Lie by emma1234 (83k)

AU in which Louis hates his job and loves Harry, Harry just wants a distraction, everyone else wants them to get their shit together, and Louis learns the hard way that new beginnings are only possible when something ends.

Play the Odds by alivingfire (25k)

Harry and Louis are best friends since childhood who, after a night of drinking, find themselves locked in a bet: first one to kiss the other a thousand times wins. Wins what? They don’t know. Glory, Harry supposes. Bragging rights, though those don’t do much in this economy. All Harry knows is that this is one bet he can finally win. What he doesn’t expect, though, is what happens when he starts kissing his best friend on a daily basis.

Namely, he doesn’t expect falling head over heels in love with his best friend.

Now all he has to do is make sure the bet never ends, so he never has to stop kissing Louis.

say i hate you but i always stay by clicheanna (8k)

Or the one where Harry hates Louis, he’s almost sure Louis hates him, and they live together. Driving him to football practice everyday is not apart of Harry’s plans, but Louis is pretty adamant if it means annoying Harry.

Unbelievers by isthatyoularry (136k)

It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan.

Or: The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything.

You and The Moon and Neptune (Got it Right) by alienharry (34k)

Louis has always wanted to meet his soulmate; he’s built his life around the plan that one day his soulmate would come along, and they could begin their happily ever after.

Harry has always wanted to travel; he’s built his life around the idea that nothing is permanent, and seeing the world is his only objective - soulmates mean nothing to him after all.

You’re the Light by allwaswell16 (31k)

Before beginning a new graduate school in the fall, Louis Tomlinson decides to spend the summer working in Chicago as an editor’s assistant for the Chicago Tribune newspaper and staying with his old college roommate. What he finds on his first day of work is a tall, gorgeous editor named Harry who has the most beautiful green eyes he’s ever seen—and who also happens to be his new boss.

#fic rec list #i just recently read i carry your heart with me #and it was a v good fic #also read you're the light yesterday #alsoooooo a v good fic #i had rather is an entire series #but i just rec'd the first part since the second part isn't done yet #anyways enjoy anon #i'll prob reblog this in the morning since it's gonna get buried in harry and liam content #Anonymous #answered

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buckybarnesstar · 8 years

Text

I Would Never Hurt You

Note: I’m sorry I’m so behind on requests, guys! I’ve had the worst writers block :( thank you for this one, sweetie! I really hope you like it. the title sucks, but hopefully the fic doesn’t. ♥ .c

Request: Can i request a fic where Bucky and the reader don’t get along, and he keeps making snarky comments (ugly, fat, blah blah) and eventually the reader gets into a huge argument with him and everyone leaves the room, and then he raises his metal hand and the reader gets scared. then hes really upset that you thought he would hurt you and fluff fluff :D

You’re not even sure when it started; it being the constant bickering between you and Bucky. Maybe it was when he commented on how you needed to spend an extra ten minutes in the gym. Or the day he was alone with you and kept pestering you and trying to get you to do things for him while he lazily sat on the couch all day.

All you knew was that Bucky had no filter and didn’t care if he hurt your feelings or not. You didn’t give him a break either but only because he pushes your buttons far too often to deem it acceptable. You didn’t back down from a fight, nor an argument. Bucky knew that and he knew just what to say to get you riled up.

You were sitting in the kitchen, having just worked out. You needed a small snack to recover from your HIIT exercises. Clint and Sam were talking about the new episode of some show you had no clue about. You laughed at Sam’s face when Clint said some dude would come back and kick some other dudes ass.

You were sitting on the island, swinging your legs back and forth as you ate your smoothie bowl. Bucky soon walked in; the rest of the others joining. They had been training in the gym with you, and you had been pushing yourself more these days, especially since hearing how Bucky thinks of your body.

It didn’t sit well with you and you knew you shouldn’t let it get to you, but you couldn’t help it. Seeing how Nat and Wanda looked compared to you, you were determined to better yourself. But today, you knew you needed to take it easy and just do some hardcore exercises for a few minutes, instead of prolonged exercises for an hour and a half like you usually did.

Avoiding Bucky’s gaze, you hoped he wouldn’t say anything to you. But no matter how much you wished he’d leave you alone for just a few minutes, you knew he’d always run that mouth of his.

As if on cue, you heard him snort. “You know, no matter how many smoothie bowls you eat, it won’t help get rid of your fat, right?” Bucky asked, crossing his arms against his chest and he stared you down, a smug smirk plastered on his face.

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. “It’s healthy, dipshit.” You muttered, bringing the spoon to your mouth. You were losing your appetite the more his words circled throughout your brain.

Bucky cleared his throat with a chuckle. “Yeah, sure, whatever you say, chubs.” He quipped as the room slowly died down from it’s loud commotion. Your heart sank a tad and you set your bowl down.

Hopping off the kitchen island, you took your bowl and dumped the contents in the trash. Tossing the bowl in the sink, you walked back over to where you were, only standing.

“I suppose I should starve myself then? You know, since no matter how healthy I eat, or how much I exercise, you always have to point out how imperfect my body is.” You said with a firm voice, lifting an eyebrow.

Bucky looked you up and down, your body shifting under his harsh stare. “Hm. I mean, it takes away from your face. But neither pleases the eye.” Bucky said, running his hand through his hair.

You heard a few gasps come from the team, nobody was sure how to address what Bucky just said to you. Your eyes threatened to fill with tears but you held them back, not wanting to give Bucky the satisfaction of seeing you cry.

“What’s your deal?” You spat, shaking your head. “Is your brain really so fucked up from that machine, that you forgot how to be a decent person!?” You basically yelled out, your tone getting louder.

Bucky’s mouth fell open, completely shocked at what you just shouted at him. More gasps sounded through the room, but you ignored them. You knew you shouldn’t had brought that up, but he deserves to have a taste of his own medicine.

“Excuse me!?” Bucky yelled, his feet bringing him a bit closer to you. Your heart started racing in your chest and you inhaled deeply before losing every ounce of calm you had.

“You fucking heard me! You treat me like shit, Bucky!” You yelled back, a crack eliciting from your throat at the end.

Bucky scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Oh come on! They’re jokes! You’re such a weak person!” Bucky shouted at you, his eyes boring right into yours. He was fuming with anger, but so were you.

Suddenly, the sound of chairs squeaking against the floor brought you out of your death stare with Bucky.

You watched as Wanda left with Nat, their eyebrows raised and lips tucked into their teeth. “We’re, uh-gonna go.” Sam said before rushing Clint out of the room, his hands on Clint’s back, urging him forward.

“I’m not gonna get hit in the head with a spoon like last time. Go, go, go!” Tony rushed, pulling Bruce out of the kitchen. The others quickly followed behind, though Steve lingered before he decided to let you and Bucky get your anger out.

You bravely took a step forward, peering up at Bucky. “You’re a bully. You’ve been one to me ever since I got here basically! I only shoot back because I don’t let people walk all over me!” You shouted, watching Bucky’s eyebrows crease again as he growled. “If you weren’t such a bitch, maybe we could get along!” He yelled back, his fists clenching by his sides.

You stepped even closer, your chest nearly touching his torso. “I only act like a bitch because you don’t know when to stop being an asshole!” You yelled even louder, noticing Bucky’s breathing picking up.

His metal hand suddenly shot up to run through his hair, the move causing you to flinch. You held your arms over your face as one of your legs rose up to shield more of your body, a high-pitched squeal fell from your mouth. You stayed like that for a few seconds, not really sure what you were waiting for.

You had no idea why you thought he was going to hit you, but as your breath came out in huffs, and you heard Bucky’s calm, you slowly let your arms and leg down.

“Wh-what was that?” Bucky quietly asked, watching your body tremble in fear because of him. You swallowed thickly. “I thought-“ Bucky gasped. “You thought I was going to-Y/N, no. I wouldn’t-” Bucky breathed unevenly, his eyes falling to his hand.

Your eyes glanced back and forth between his hand and his face. “I know, I just…” You trailed off, watching Bucky’s face contort with an emotion you couldn’t place.

“Bucky, I know you wouldn’t do that.” You whispered, feeling your anger dwindle down to nothing. “Y/N, you flinched. M-more than that. You-you fucking…” Bucky rasped, his eyes not daring to look at your face.

Bucky’s heart sank in his chest as he inhaled, the images of you flinching and shielding yourself from him clouding his mind. “I-I need to go.” He muttered before walking away, his head hanging low. You wanted to stop him and tell him you were okay, but your voice didn’t work. Neither did your feet.

A few hours had passed and you felt guilty for everything. All of the arguing, shoving Bucky’s past in his face as a way to get an upper hand, reacting the way you did when he raised his hand. It hurt you to watch him walk away, and you wanted to go find him to apologize, but you weren’t sure if he’d listen to you.

You were sitting in your room, looking out of your window. The sun was setting and as you watched the city below, your heart became heavier. You’ve even shed a few tears. Not wanting to waste another moment, you moved away from your window and walked over to your door to go find Bucky.

As you slung your door open, you almost bumped into the man himself. “Bucky.” You breathed out. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot. “I needed to make sure you were alright.” Bucky whispered, his eyes still not looking up at you. “I was coming to make sure you were.” You admitted, stepping aside so he could step into your room.

His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his shoulders were slumped. You shut your door for more privacy and walked over to Bucky. Nervously biting your lip, you stood in front of him again. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry, Bucky.” You said softly, hoping he’d notice your attempt at burying the hatchet.

Bucky nodded and sniffled. “I’m-I’m sorry, I just-I thought about everything. The way I treated you, what I’d say to you, and when you reacted like that towards me earlier,” Bucky’s eyes met yours and you never felt so grateful to see them again, “I felt so horrible. Y/N, I would never hurt you.” Bucky said, shaking his head. The movement caused a strand of hair to frame his face.

It was your turn to sniffle now as your eyes burned with tears. “It didn’t have to be physical. Bucky, your words hurt me.” You said quietly as you moved to sit down on your bed. Bucky sat beside you, his hands now resting on his thighs. “I guess I was afraid.” Bucky shook his head, his voice shaking with emotions.

Your hand raised up to rest on his shoulder. “Bucky, I want to start over.” You said, watching his eyebrows crease together. “I’m a monster, you don’t want to do that.” Bucky scoffed, shaking his head. Your mouth fell open. “Bucky, no you’re not! I feel so bad for bringing that up earlier; I was just so angry.” You said, the guilt returning.

Bucky shook his head. “Y/N, I can’t get close to you. You’re totally opposite of everything I’ve ever said. When I first met you, you were so happy. I went through so much and I didn’t like how cheerful you were. I wanted to take it away from you. How is that not monstrous?” Bucky questioned, his head turning so he could look at you.

You sighed and shuffled closer to Bucky, taking his metal hand in yours. “We can start over. Please, Bucky?” You desperately asked, your lip trembling. Bucky’s eyes stared into yours for a few moments before he leaned in to hug you. You hesitated at first, but let your arms rest on his lower back.

Bucky let out sob and pulled you in closer, your body cradled into his chest as you sat in his lap. You’ve never seen Bucky like this, much less had any physical contact with him except for the occasional moments his nose would touch yours in a heated argument.

You moved your arms from under his to rest around his neck tightly. His breathing was ragged as his metal hand gripped the material of your shirt tightly. “I’m so sorry.” Bucky sobbed into your neck. You blinked away your tears. “Bucky, I’m sorry.” You whispered, resting your hand on the back of his head.

You two sat there for a while, holding each other, sitting in silence as you thought about how horrible you had been to each other. You decided to break the silence and begin your journey to becoming friends with Bucky.

Bucky whimpered as you pulled away from him and you had to admit, it was kind of cute. You stood in front of Bucky and extended your left hand towards him. “Hi, I’m Y/N.” You said with a small, albeit genuine smile. Bucky looked up at you and let a little chuckle out. He shook his head and grabbed your hand in both of his.

“It doesn’t have to be like that, Y/N. We can accept everything and move on.” Bucky said, his smile growing wider as he watched yours grow. “Well, I look forward to it, Bucky.” You said softly, truly hoping you could start over with Bucky. You still felt guilty, but maybe this was your second chance. You never wanted to see Bucky hurt again.

Bucky pulled you back onto his lap, holding you close again. You two stayed that way for hours, just enjoying the final moment of silence between you two.

Note: I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS! .c

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illbefinealonereads · 5 years

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Blog tour day! Allow me to tell you more about Husband Material by Emily Belden, as well as share an excerpt from the book.

Husband Material : A Novel Emily Belden On Sale Date: December 30, 2019 9781525805981, 1525805983 Trade Paperback $15.99 USD, $19.99 CAD Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy 304 pages

Told in Emily Belden's signature edgy voice, a novel about a young widow's discovery of her late husband's secret and her journey toward hope and second-chance love.

Twenty-nine-year-old Charlotte Rosen has a secret: she’s a widow. Ever since the fateful day that leveled her world, Charlotte has worked hard to move forward. Great job at a hot social media analytics company? Check. Roommate with no knowledge of her past? Check. Adorable dog? Check. All the while, she’s faithfully data-crunched her way through life, calculating the probability of risk—so she can avoid it.

Yet Charlotte’s algorithms could never have predicted that her late husband’s ashes would land squarely on her doorstep five years later. Stunned but determined, Charlotte sets out to find meaning in this sudden twist of fate, even if that includes facing her perfectly coiffed, and perfectly difficult, ex-mother-in-law—and her husband’s best friend, who seems to become a fixture at her side whether she likes it or not.

But soon a shocking secret surfaces, forcing Charlotte to answer questions she never knew to ask and to consider the possibility of forgiveness. And when a chance at new love arises, she’ll have to decide once and for all whether to follow the numbers or trust her heart.

Advance Praise for Husband Material

“Tackling thorny questions of widowhood and dating after trauma, Belden's second novel is witty, full of heart, and blindingly au courant. Packed with pop-culture references, it will appeal to fans of Sophie Kinsella, Rosie Walsh, and Plum Sykes. Belden writes twists and turns to keep readers hooked.” —Booklist

“Charming.” —Publishers Weekly

“Sensitive, thoughtful, and touching.” —Library Journal

“In this touching, witty, and timely book, Emily Belden deftly explores the complexities of human relationships in our increasingly tech-obsessed world. By turns heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny, Husband Material beautifully demonstrates that you can't reduce love to a bunch of 1s and 0s.”

—Kristin Rockaway, author of How To Hack a Heartbreak

Buy Links: Harlequin Amazon Barnes & Noble Indie Bound Kobo Google Books

Author Bio: EMILY BELDEN is a journalist, social media marketer, and storyteller. She is the author of the novel Hot Mess and Eightysixed: A Memoir about Unforgettable Men, Mistakes, and Meals. She lives in Chicago. Visit her website at www.emilybelden.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram, @emilybelden

Genre: Romance, Chick-Lit

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: This was a very fun read for me. Belden writes in a style that I really enjoy, it feels fresh and light. Though the book tackled some heavy subjects, none of it was felt in the writing. The plot was paced well, and the way it progressed felt natural. The idea behind the book was beautifully executed. The characters were well developed and set up in a way that kept the book dynamic and entertaining. Though the characters aren’t relatable, straying from most books in the romance genre, Husband Material didn’t need to rely on that to make the book as enjoyable as it was. All it needed was the wit that Belden incorporated in it, and that was enough for me.

Excerpt:

Well, that’s a first.

And I’m not talking about the fact that I brought a date to a wedding I’m pretty sure didn’t warrant me a plus-one. I’m talking about grabbing a wedding card that just so happened to say “Congrats, Mr. & Mr.” on my way to celebrate the nuptials of the most iconic heterosexual couple since George and Amal. This—and a king-sized KitKat bar from the checkout lane—is what I get for rushing through the greeting card aisle in Target while my Uber driver waited in the loading zone with his f lashers on.

It’s Monica and Danny’s big day. She’s my coworker, whose gorgeous face is constantly lining the glossy pages of Luxe LA magazine. Not only because she’s one of the leading ladies at Forbes’s new favorite company, The Influencer Firm, but because this socialite-turned-CEO is now married to Daniel Jones—head coach of the LA Galaxy, Los Angeles’s professional soccer team. If you’re thinking he must look like a derivative of an American David Beckham, you’re basicallythere. Let’s just hope their sense of humor is as good as their looks when they see the card I accidentally picked out.

Before I place it on the gift table, I stuff the envelope with a crisp hundred-dollar bill fresh from the ATM. Side note: I think wedding registries are bullshit. Everybody wants an ice cream maker until you have one and never use it, which is why I spring for cold, hard cash instead. I grab a black Sharpie marker from the guest book table, pop the cap off, and attempt to squeeze in a nondescript s after the second “Mr.,” hoping my makeshift, hand-drawn serif font letter doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. I blow on the fresh ink, then hold the pseudo Pinterest-fail an arm’s length away. That’ll do, I think to myself.

I lift a glass of red wine from a caterer’s tray as if we choreographed the move and check the time on my Apple Watch, which arguably isn’t the most fashionable accessory when dressing for a chic summer wedding. But aside from the fact that it doesn’t quite match my strapless pale yellow cocktail dress, it serves a much greater purpose for me. It keeps my data front and center, right where I want it, not on my phone buried somewhere deep in my purse. Bonus: the band, smack-dab on the middle of my wrist, also covers a tattoo I’ve been meaning to have lasered off.

Other than telling me the time, 7:30 p.m., it also serves up my most recent Tinder notifications. I’ve gotten four new matches since this morning, which isn’t bad for a) a Saturday, since most people do their Tindering while zoning out at work or bored in bed at night; and b) a pushing-thirty New York native whose most recent relationship was the love-hate one with a stubborn last ten pounds. That’s me, by the way. Charlotte Rosen.

Though present and accounted for now, the battle of Tide pen vs. toothpaste stain went on for longer than I intended back at my apartment, causing me to arrive about half an hour late to the cocktail hour. Which means I for sure missed Monica and Dan’s ceremony in its entirety. I, of all people, know that’srude. I’m someone who is hypersensitive to people’s arrival tendencies (well, to all measurable tendencies, to be honest; more on that later). But I’m sort of glad I missed the I Dos, as there is still something about witnessing the exchange of vows that makes me a little squeamish. I got married five years ago and, well, I’m not married anymore—let’s put it that way.

The good news is that with time, I can feel it’s definitely getting easier to come to things like this. To believe that the couple really will stay together through it all. To believe that there is such a thing as “the one”—even if it may actually be “the other” that I’m looking for this next go-round.

Late as I may be to the wedding party, there are some perks to my delayed arrival. Namely, the line at the bar has died down enough for me to trade up this mediocre red wine for a decent gin and tonic. Another perk? Several fresh platters of bacon-wrapped dates have just descended like UFOs onto the main floor of the venue, which happens to be a barn from the 1800s. Except this is Los Angeles, and there are no barns from the 1800s. So instead, every creaky floorboard, every corroded piece of siding, and every decrepit roof shingle has been sourced from deep in the countryside of southwest Iowa to create the sense that guests are surrounded by rolling fields, fragrant orchard blossoms, and fruiting trees. The reality being that just outside the wooden walls of the coveted, three-year-long-wait-list Oak Mill Barn stands honking, gridlocked traffic on the 405 and an accompanying smog alert.

As I continue to wait for my impromptu wedding date, Chad, to come back from the bathroom, I robotically swipe left on the first three guys who pop up on Bumble, another dating app I’m on, then finally decide to message a guy who looks like a bright-eyed Jason Bateman (you know, pre-Ozark) and is a stockbroker, according to his profile. We end up matching and he asks me for drinks. I vaguely accept. Welcome to dating in LA.

I’ve conducted some research that has shown that after the age of thirty, it becomes exponentially harder to find your future husband. What number constitutes exponentially? I’m not sure yet, but I’m working on narrowing in on that because generalities don’t really cut it for me. Thinking through things logically like this centers me, calms me, and resets me—no matter what life throws my way. All that’s to say, I’m officially in my last good year of dating (and my last year of not having to include a night serum in my skin care regimen), and I’m determined not to wind up with my dog, my roommate, and a few low-maintenance houseplants as my sole life partners.

“Sorry that took so long,” says Chad, returning from the men’s room twenty minutes after leaving. “Did you know the bathroom at this place is an actual outhouse? Thank god it was leg day at the gym—I had to squat over the pot. My quads are burning nice now.”

Confession. I didn’t just bring a date to the wedding, I brought a blind date.

No worries, though. Monica knows how serious I am about the path to Mr. Right and supports the fact that I go on my fair share of dates to get me there quicker. Plus, he isn’t a total stranger; she knows him—or, she met him, rather. He attended her work event last week at the LA County Museum of Art and is supposedly this cute, single real estate something or other. Of course he tried to hit on her and, unlike most beautiful people in Los Angeles, Monica actually copped to being in a committed relationship with Danny. (Who doesn’t like to brag they’re marrying Mr. Galaxy himself?) So she did the next best thing and gave him her single coworker’s Instagram handle and told him to slide into my DMs. It’s a bold move on her part, but I appreciate her quick thinking and commitment to my cause, Operation: Reclassify My Marital Status.

Since Chad first messaged me a week ago, I’ve done my homework on him. And I’m not talking about just your basic cyber stalking. I’m talking about procuring and sifting through real, bona fide data. It’s essentially a version of what I’m paid to do for a living—track down all the “influencers,” people with a lot of fans and followers on the internet, and match them to events we plan for our clients so they can post on social media and boost our clients’ profiles.

Some may think my side-project software, the one that computes how much of a match I am with someone, is a bit…much, but I don’t see it that way at all. I’m on the hunt for a man who is a true match for me—one who won’t just up and leave in the blink of an eye. I left things up to fate once and look how that turned out. I’ll be damned if I do it that way again.

While I studied up on Chad, I conducted a hefty “image search,” yielding about a hundred photos of him that have been uploaded across a variety of social platforms over the years. In real life, I’m pleased to say he checks out. Chad is over six feet tall, tanned, and toned, with coiffed Zac Efron hair that’s on the verge of being described as “a bit extra.” From the shoulders up, he’s an emoji. A walking, talking emoji. But as I step back and admire him in his expertly tailored suit, he looks like a contestant on The Bachelor. In retrospect, Chad is just the right amount of good-looking to complement my physical appearance, which can be described as a made-for-TV version of an otherwise good-looking actress.

“Something to drink, sir?” one of the caterers asks Chad.

“Yes. A spicy margarita. Unless… Wait. Do you make the margarita mix yourselves? Or is it, like, that sugary store-bought crap?”

Eek. I had forgotten my discovery that Chad is a bit of a…wellness guru. I guess so is everyone in LA, but I can’t help but be taken aback when I hear that there are people who actually care about the scientific makeup of margarita mix.

“Fuck it. Too many calories either way,” Chad announces before giving the waitress a chance to answer his question. “I’ll just take a whiskey.”

“Splash of Coke?”

“God, no. So many empty calories.”

With his drink order in, Chad rolls his neck around and pops bones I never knew existed. Then, one by one, the joints in his fingers. The sound makes me a bit queasy but I’m trying to focus on the positive, like his beautiful hazel eyes and the fact that cherry tomatoes and mini mozzarella balls with an injection of balsamic vinegar are the latest and greatest munchie to hit the floor.

Chad turns to me with a smile, his palm connecting with the small of my back. “Should we find our seats? What table are we at?”

Good question, I think to myself. I’m at table six. Chad is…on a fold-up chair we will have to ask a caterer to squeeze between me and Monica’s great-aunt Sally? I kind of forgot to mention to him that I didn’t really get an official okay to bring him tonight.

“Table six,” I say pleasantly with a smile.

“Six is my lucky number. Well, that, and nine, if you know what I mean,” Chad says with a wink accompanied by an actual thumbs-up.

The waitress comes back with his whiskey neat, and he proposes we clink our glasses in a toast to meeting up as we make our way to the table. Still not over the lingering effects of his immature, pervysixty-nine joke, I reluctantly concede to do the cheers with the perpetual high-schooler.

“So, what did you think of Monica’s event?” I say to break the ice as we take our seats at the luckily empty round table.

“Well, I don’t really know what she does for a living, but she is fine as hell. I mean, that’s why I hit on her last week atthe LACMA. Sure, I saw the ring on her finger, but couldn’t resist saying hi to a goddess like her. My god, that woman is something else.”

I nod in agreement. Partly because, yes, Monica Hoang needs her own beauty column in Marie Claire, stat. And partly because I’m too shocked by his crass demeanor to really do or say anything else. Did I say Chad reminded me of a contestant on The Bachelor? I think I meant he reminds me of a guy who gets sent home on night one of The Bachelor.

“She said you’re a real estate…attorney, was it?” I awkwardly segue. “What’s your favorite neighborhood in Los Angeles?”

It sounds like I’m interviewing him for a job, which in a way, I am. But had I known the conversation was going to be like forcefully wringing out a damp rag, just hoping to squeeze out something semidecent, I would have never invited him to join me at the wedding. In fact, I likely wouldn’t have gone through with a date, of any kind, at all. Conversation skills rank high on my list of preferred qualities in a mate. Looks like he’s the exception to the rule that attorneys are good linguists, because my app sure as shit didn’t predict this fail.

So how does my software work, then? Well, it’s all about compatibility. My algorithm is programmed to know what I like and what I’m looking for in the long term. So to see if a guy is a match, I comb through his online profiles, enter the facts I find out about him, and generate a report that indicates how likely he is to be my future husband or how likely we would be to get a divorce, for example. One of the most helpful stats is how likely we are to go on a second date. I’ve determined that anyone scoring above 70 percent means that chances are good we’d go out again. And, well, a second date is the first step to marriage. You get the point. Anyone below a 70, I ignore and move on. Chad pulled a 74, which is a solidC if you’re using a high school grading system. Not stellar, but certainly passable with room for improvement.

As it’s turning out, there’s a lot of room for improvement.

“Huh? I’m not in real estate,” he says with a confused look on his face.

“Oh, Monica said you were an attorney at Laird & Hutchinson?”

“Well, yes, that’s the name of our firm. The Laird side is real estate. But they acquired Hutchinson a couple years ago, and that’s the side of the practice I work on.”

“What kind of law is Hutchinson?”

“We’re the ‘Life’s too short, get a divorce!’ guys. You’ve probably seen a few of our company’s billboards.”

Chad slides his business card my way, and as soon as I see the logo, I picture those billboards slathered all over the bus stop benches down Laurel Canyon Drive and feel physically ill. Not only because he’s in the business of making divorce seem cheeky, but also because I’m wondering what other things I might have missed or gotten wrong about Chad.

“Wait. So have you ever been divorced?” The question pops off my tongue involuntarily. As soon as the words come out, I remember he reserves the right to ask me the same question in return and immediately regret posing it. I’m not ready to explain the demise of my first marriage.

“Me? Nah. Never married.”

Luckily, a server reappears to take our dinner order. But let it be known that if Chad had asked, I would have explained that I didn’t give up on my life partner because I was frustrated he failed to load a dishwasher in any sort of methodical way. I didn’t just get bored and say “screw it,” chalking the whole thing up as just a starter marriage (google it, this is a thing now). In fact, if anyone abruptly left anyone, he abandoned me out of nowhere.

“Would you like the chicken and veggies or the short rib and scalloped potatoes?” the caterer asks me.

“Short rib and potatoes,” I say, a game-time decision made entirely by my growling stomach.

At that, Chad looks at me like I rolled into the Vatican wearing a tube top. “You sure about that, Char? There are so many hidden carbs in potatoes,” he whispers with a hint of disgust.

First off, Char is reserved for people with a little more tenure in my life, thankyouverymuch. And secondly—

“Yes, I’m sure. An extra scoop of potatoes if possible,” I say, loud enough for our waitress, who jots down the special instruction.

“Chicken for me. Extra veggies,” my 74 percent match requests.

There it is. His wellness obsession flaring up again. I’m racking my brain for what to say next to a guy who screams “dead end” to me.

#blog tour #review #excerpt #read2019 #out2019 #emily belden #husband material #romall #rom4 #chickall #chick4

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