#and 5 minutes is plenty of time for these guys to pull the rug out from under us

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

It's incredibly funny to me that NPMD has multiple points where you could stop the play and it would leave off on a happy ending. If you stop it right before Max falls, you can pretend they have a party and he stops bullying them because he had a good time. Or, if you stop it the second Richie says he's happy to be alive, you just need to erase the first 3 minutes of the musical from your brain and boom, Richie has been accepted by his peers and he's loving life. Lastly, if you want to stop it at the end of Best of You, you have an upbeat ending worthy of a 2000s Disney Channel original movie.

[headheartbellarke]

DISTRACTED | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anon: “5 times reader (girlfriend) is almost distracted by a shirtless Charlie and one time she actually is.” PAIRING(s): Charlie Gillespie x fem!reader WORDS: 1.6k WARNING(s): some charlie thirst, what’s new ;) SUMMARY: 4 times Y/N is almost distracted by her shirtless boyfriend and 1 time she actually is.

0.

You pride yourself over the fact that you never get distracted, no matter what. But sometimes, just sometimes, you can’t help it.

Especially when your boyfriend looks like that.

1.

You sigh, running a hand through your hair. Your eyes feel as if they are burning, and the ever-persistent headache of yours seems to be particularly intense today.

Yet, pushing all that tiredness away, you keep typing, typing, typing. The deadline for your essay that carries twenty per cent of your grade of your final year of college is tomorrow, and you’ve still got three hundred words to write.

Three hundred words does not seem like a lot on any other day, but after three cups of coffee and seven hours of staring at your laptop screen, it feels like death. The fact that you seem to be in a rut right now doesn’t help, either.

You scrounge around your brain, trying to pull ideas from each fold, but it’s useless. Maybe it’s the exhaustion, or maybe it’s because of your boyfriend, Charlie, who has currently resorted to painting your toenails after not getting any sort of attention from you for the past few hours.

Ever since lockdown started, you and your boyfriend have been living together in your shared apartment in Toronto. You two have been planning to move in together for a while, but his work and your college always seemed to be obstacles. But this lockdown gave you both the perfect opportunity – plus, it was time, too. You two have been dating for more than four years – although, you’ve had a crush on him for as long as you can remember, but the intensity of it was realized only in the moment when he kissed you after an amazing prom together – you guys went together because you were best friends and loved being around each other more than anything. But the fact that there could be something more, something hidden in years of friendship seemed unlikely to the both of you before that day.

“Done.” He says, proudly. Your eyes leave your screen to look at the beautiful emerald colour on your toenails. You smile at him, and say, “That’s gorgeous, Char. Where’d you find it?”

He shrugs, a lopsided smile on his face. “It was in the bottom of your bag.”

You nod. “Right. I bought it the day before my last offline exam ended. I forgot.”

He smiles. “Now, will you pay me some attention?”

You purse your lips and pretend to be thinking. “Hmm… tempting, but no. I still have to get this done.”

He groans, dramatically. “You have been ignoring me for past hundred hours!”

You chuckle, ruffling his hair. “You’re so dramatic. It’s only been half a day. Now, go away. I need to finish this.”

He groans, again, and you wonder if he’s finally given up.

Instead, he rolls off the bed, and stands taller, leaning against the doorframe. “Y/N?”

You hum in question, as he makes a show out of taking off his T-shirt.

You bite your lip and remember how long it has been since you’ve run your hands on his chest. But you know that he’s doing this on purpose, to get a fraction of your attention. He knows and is proud of the fact that he has a hold over you, and the fact that even after four years, he still gives you butterflies over the slightest of smiles.

So, instead of giving in, you crawl under your covers with your laptop and decide to work there, as you suddenly gain inspiration, and thank yourself for not being distracted by your boyfriend’s absolutely beautiful body.

“Oh, come on!”

2.

The second time hit happens, it’s a Tuesday morning, and you’re giving an exam. Your laptop is in front of you, the face of your teacher and classmates filling your screen, as the sound of your pen scratching against your answer sheet fills the room.  

You bite the end of your pen, pondering over a question when you suddenly hear your boyfriend’s voice. You look up, and notice him, shirtless, and talking on the phone to someone.

“Yeah, I mean, we could do that…” He says, and your eyes trail across his back, as he stares out the window on the wall opposite to you.

“No, Mom, we’re not gonna drive to Canada. I’m not that crazy!” He exclaims, and you arch your neck to get a better view of him, and the sweatpants hanging low on his hips.

“Sure, I can ask Y/N…” He says, and you quickly avert your eyes back to your paper, just in time to hear your teacher call out your name.

“Y/N? What are you looking at?” She asks, and you adjust your headphones, clearing your throat.

“I thought someone was at the door. Sorry, Ms. Harrington.” You’re painfully aware of the warmth spreading through your cheeks, and as she nods, you start writing again.

You hear Charlie whisper a ‘sorry’, and you smile at him – he thinks that the reason your teacher just called you out is because he was going to ask you something.

You don’t correct him – his ego doesn’t need to know the fact that you were almost distracted.

3.

Just one more question, you think. One more question, and you’re done with this semester.

But your mind is wandering, and the fact that you still have thirty minutes left doesn’t help. When this exam started, you thought that you wouldn’t be able to finish it in time and wrote as fast as you could, but now there’s plenty of time and just one, tiny answer left.

You rest your elbows on your desk and check on your classmates. Everyone is frantically scribbling, and you smile evilly at the fact that you’re not one of them right now.

“Honey? You have a minute?”

You hear Charlie from behind you. You nod, and say, “I’m listening.” You don’t turn back, since you have to keep an eye on your teacher. (She is knitting right now, for some reason.)

“You wanna go somewhere for the holidays?” He says, his raspy morning voice causing goosebumps to appear on your skin.

“I’m not sure… I mean we just came back from Maui last month – do you think it’s wise to go somewhere again?”

“Well, we’ll maintain social distancing, and use masks.”

“I’m not sure…”

“Come on, it’s our fifth anniversary!”

You finally look at him, and your breath catches in your throat. He’s shirtless, as usual. You mentally curse him as you think that you need to add ‘no being shirtless for no reason’ to your household rules. (Currently, you have three: one, no disturbing the other while working; two, following the chore chart; three, no spilling coffee or red wine on the white living room rug.) (The last one has occurred more times than one might expect.)

You focus on keeping your eyes trained on his, but you still struggle to form words. “I – not a wise idea…”

He grins, understanding the situation, as you avert your eyes back to your paper.

“Please, baby?”

You know he’s pouting.

“Fine.” You say, just to get him off your back.

“You’re the best!” He presses a kiss to your cheek and is instantly gone. As your mind still tries to hold on to the frayed strings of the warmth and the smell of his presence, you pray that your classmates didn’t notice the interaction.

4.

You smile at Charlie’s mother, who is talking animatedly on your phone.

“Then, I told Meg to get some sugar, but she bought salt instead, and to top that, she dumped the entire bowl into my batter! Now, it tastes like absolute shit!” She glares at Megan, Charlie’s sister, who smiles sheepishly from behind her.

You laugh. “Like brother, like sister.”

“You know it.” She says, her French accent thick.

“So, I was thinking… Maybe, after the holidays, we could fly back to Dieppe? It’s not like we’re gonna go to college any time soon, so –”

“Yes, please! I miss you guys so much. You know, last night –”

She starts to say something else, but your boyfriend is doing push ups in front of you, and it’s really, really, really hard to focus, especially when his body is glistening under the afternoon sun.

He seems to feel your gaze, and sharply turns towards you, while you quickly look back to his mother.

“–but the point is, I miss you two.” She finishes, while Megan nods. “Me too, sis. It’s so boring here without you two.”

You smile and can feel warmth in your stomach. “Of course. I miss you guys, too. Charlie’s so boring.”

“Hey!”

+1.

You exhale and close the lid of your laptop. “I’m done!” You yell, and Charlie instantly appears at the door, and runs towards the bed you’re currently seated on, and jumps atop.

“Finally! I missed you!” He says, wrapping an arm around your torso, pulling you closer.

“I missed you too, baby. But now I’m done with all my assignments, so I’m all yours for the next two weeks!” You sit on his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck.

He grins, and your eyes avert to his chest, but this time, you let yourself be distracted, because after weeks of sleep deprivation and pure torture, you deserve this.

You smile, connecting your lips, and run your hands on his chest. He smiles against the kiss, and you whisper, “I love you so much.”

“And I love you so much.”

as always feedback and reblogs are highly appreciated!

[meltwonu]

| 🍒 CH-CH-CHERRY BOMB! 🍒 |     [CHAPTER 8]

pairing; dom!seungcheol x camgirl!reader

this chapter’s notes; camshow, sex toys, dom!seungcheol, blowjob, cumplay, overstimulation, minor degradation/dirty talk, big dick seungcheol is in the house ladies ‘n gents, what we’ve all been waiting for!!! 😩💕 this was actually meant to be a shorter chapter which I guess depending on how you look at 5k words I guess that can be seen as short!!, anyway thank you so much for your patience 🥺 I know a ton of you were waiting for this and it’s finally here!! hehe~ enjoy! have a great weekend!! 🍒 

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - ? 

“Well… It’s not much but welcome home for the next few days.”

Seungcheol helps you into his studio apartment; setting your things by the bed before turning to you.

“So, I take it the cat isn’t real then, huh?” You joke, plopping down onto the sofa. He shoots you a sheepish smile when he sits on the other end, cheeks blooming crimson.

“Uh… no, sorry... If there’s anything I lied about, it was definitely only the cat.”

The two of you share a laugh as you look around the apartment, noting the cookbooks on the kitchen countertop and the extensive PC setup on his desk. “Oh, I should show you around. I mean, it’s not much, but I figure I should let you know where everything is.”

You nod, getting up as Seungcheol starts showing you around the place. He shows you to the bathroom, lets you know where he keeps all of his snacks and even pauses to give you the wi-fi password. You follow him around the place, remarking that it seemed more homey and lived-in than your space did.

“I mean, it’s not much, but it’s comfy. I even tried to be a plant dad but I forgot to water them so that didn’t really work out.”

“Maybe just buy the fake ones for aesthetic purposes, y’know? Give it a greenhouse vibe.”

Seungcheol nods; chuckling as he brings you back to the living space. “Okay, I should go get the things from ‘Guk before it gets any later. And you have a show to do tomorrow too so we should definitely setup once I get back.” He makes sure he has all of his things, keys jingling in his hold as he makes his way to the door.

“Do you need anything else while I’m out? I’ll probably be about 45 minutes, give or take an hour if I catch traffic.”

You shake your head ‘no’ in response, walking up to him. “Just drive safe~” Waving, you wait until the door lock falls into place before you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

In truth, you’d never stopped thinking about the video you had uploaded hours earlier. It had lingered at the back of your head the entire day despite Seungcheol’s valiant efforts to keep your mind off of the entire thing. 

It was the first time you were alone all day and you were finally ready to face the repercussions of your actions, should they have gone sour.

Sitting on the sofa, you unlock your phone before hesitantly opening a web browser and typing in the URL for the camming website. Taking a deep breath, you login, already nervous when the browser lags due to the amount of notifications.

Your eyes quickly flit across the multitude of comments; cheeks hot as your fingers go numb.

“Oh my god…”

Seungcheol gets an earful once he gets the equipment from Jeongguk’s place; the younger male’s smug face ingrained in Seungcheol’s head even when he gets back to the apartment in record speed.

It takes him a bit of trapezing to get everything in one go, cables spilling out of the box that Jeongguk haphazardly put together, but Seungcheol manages to get the door open.

“Oh my god, ‘Cheol, there you are! Please hurry, come look at this!”

He quickly drags in the box, kicking the door shut before hurriedly jogging over to the sofa where you sat with your laptop. “I--I… I don’t know what to say, I’m just…” You quickly turn the screen to let him read the comments, a wide and giddy smile on your face.

‘Whoa… this is amazing…’

‘Wait who’s the guy???’

‘Please please more content like this’

‘Fuck you sound so good begging for daddy like this…’

‘In public? Such a naughty girl… but daddy will give it to you since you asked so nicely…’

‘Shit you really do look good getting fucked like this… better than your toys tbh’

“Whoa…” Seungcheol breathes out, scrolling through the rest as he sits next to you. “It seems like it did pretty damn well, huh?” You nod feverishly, leaning over him as you click on the video’s revenue page.

“‘Cheol look at this… The donations and revenue from this video alone... I--It’s… it’s more than I get in some of my live shows…” You trail off, wide eyes meeting Seungcheol’s equally shocked face.

The two of you sit in silence for a moment; various thoughts running through your head at the possibilities.

Seungcheol fares no different, already feeling the atmosphere change when you place the laptop on the coffee table.

“Seungcheol…” He can only chuckle in response, already knowing the next words that would spill from your lips.

“Let me take a wild guess… You want to film more like this?”

Nodding, you lean in close to him, wrapping your own arms around his as you rest your head on his shoulder. “I know we kinda… agreed to not get intimate so fast and--and I think we have a lot we need to talk about but ‘Cheol… I--I don’t want to beg but… Would you? Film some videos with me, I mean? They don’t have to be, like, both of us, they can just be from your POV and we don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with doing on camera!”

He bites the inside of his cheek as he stares off into the living room. “How about this… Let’s set up, since you have a show to do tomorrow. And then Tuesday morning before I head to work, we can talk about it. I’m not saying no, I’m just… there’s some ground rules I think we need to put down first. Hard limits, things we’re okay with filming… Y’know, just, what we’re comfortable with.”

“Okay, yeah! That makes total and complete sense~” You open your mouth to speak again, only a small squeak coming out instead. “Hmm? Something the matter?”

“Just… Thank you. For everything. I really didn’t expect this to do as well as it did and--and just, I guess I’m in shock?” You laugh, pulling away from Seungcheol as he stares down at you. “And to be honest… I mean, it’s not like we haven’t thought about each other, right?”

Seungcheol feels his body getting warmer by the passing second; gulping when he understands what you mean. “Y-yeah, it’s just.. Hah, I guess I thought I’d have more time to woo you over.”

Letting out an airy laugh, you stand from the sofa and make your way towards the momentarily forgotten box of equipment; dragging it towards the bed before you sit on the floor next to it. “You have plenty of time to do that~ And anyway, who says I’m not already woo’d over?” You place a ring light down by your side just as Seungcheol sits on the bed, watching as you go through the items.

“Wow, Jeongguk sure has a lot of really nice equipment in here! Are you sure it’s okay we borrowed it?”

“Yeah, he’s a bit of a nerd for video equipment and I’m pretty sure as long as we don’t break anything we’re good.”

It only takes about 35 minutes and Seungcheol stepping on an outlet plug to finish setting up all the lighting equipment and camera as you and Seungcheol finally plop down onto the bed.

“Jeez, I never realized how convoluted it was to set up a few ring lights and one camera. I don’t want to see another cable for at least 50 years.” Seungcheol jokes; wiping a bead of sweat that trickles down his temple. “Is this how it’s set up at your place?”

“Mmhmm~ All the time. It’s like I’m never really ‘offline’.”

He stands from the bed a second later, walking to the fridge to get some water for the two of you. “Really? You don’t ever put the equipment away?”

You sigh softly, flopping onto your back onto the cold sheets. “In a perfect world I would, but it gets really annoying to always take down and put everything back up so I usually kind of just leave them in their places. But it’s fine ‘cause it’s only me anyway and I’m lazy~”

Seungcheol laughs as he places a glass of water next to the bed. “I guess that’s fair. I’d probably do the same.” You get comfy on his bed; eyes already threatening to slide shut.

“We should probably get some sleep, huh? I have work in the morning…” He mumbles, watching as you already seem to drift off into sleep.

“Mmhmm~”

Seungcheol’s bed is comfy.

So comfy that you barely register him leaning down to let you know that he’d be leaving for work. And so comfy that you spend most of your day in it until he gets back.

“Honey, I’m home~” He singsongs; kicking his shoes off at the door before making his way into the kitchen. “I grabbed some takeout on the way back, hope you don’t mind. My cookbooks came in a while ago, but to be honest, I’ve barely even looked at ‘em, much less even opened them up.”

“I don’t mind~ And thank you!”

The two of you set up in the living space, placing the food on the coffee table and easing onto the rug. “So how was work, darling~?”

Seungcheol chokes on a bite of food in an instant, hand on his chest as he tries to swallow it down. “Urgh, f-fine!” He pauses as he clears his airway. “Jeongguk really won’t let me live it down but it’s okay. He asked what you saw in me and that killed my ego a bit.” He snorts.

“Pfft, there’s a lot to like about you! He just doesn’t see ‘that’ side of you, y’know?” Seungcheol blushes, clearing his throat before trying to change the subject. “How was your day? Hope it wasn’t too boring?”

“Mmm~ Not really... Your bed is really comfy though! I didn’t wanna leave it~ Oh! And I spent some time brainstorming some ideas ‘n stuff for tomorrow!”

“Yeah? Anything good?”

Your cheeks flush crimson; a shy smile on your lips. “Maybe~ But we’ll save it for our talk!!”

dom.cheol: aren’t you a pretty lil thing?

angelhan has donated $70

dom.cheol has donated $300

artist8hao: oh? A new location again? It looks nice

alphagyu97: are we all forgetting the most important thing??

alphagyu97: whos the dude???

universe_WZ: you sound pressed over there, u ok?

hoshi_tiger_xx: honestly idrc that video was HOT

“Oh my gosh~ You guys!!” Your eyes flit to the side where Seungcheol sits with his phone in hand; a sly smirk on his face when your eyes meet. “Actually, I didn’t know you’d all like it so much… I kinda just thought to do it on the fly and my---my friend, um, agreed to help me…” Mumbling, you shyly readjust on Seungcheol’s sheets.

gc__koo: a friend? interesting tell me more

sleepy_wonu: who tf

kitty_junjun: i see our babygirl is getting more regulars~ so popular~

You giggle cutely as you tuck a stray hair behind your ear. “Did my video do that well?” You already know the answer but you read off a few more responses, biting your lip when you glance Seungcheol’s way again.

“Actually… my friend is here with me. He’s making sure I behave~”

Seungcheol pauses, head tilted questioningly at you. He mouths a simple ‘what are you doing?’ to which you wink back, readjusting yourself against the headboard.

“He’s really shy though… So he won’t be on camera~ But… But thinking about his fingers so deep in me… Fuck I’m--I’m already…” You trail off; hand reaching for the small bullet vibrator next to you on the bed.

gc__koo: guess he really gave it to you good huh?

xcaliburDK: fuck we kno he did… god that was so hot

tangerine_kwan: ur cute lil pussy was so wet and tight around those fingers, fuck

chwenon has donated $45

chwenon: it was so diff from seeing your own fingers or toys but in a good way

You trail the small vibrator across your body; mewling when you press it against the growing wet patch on your panties. “S-so you guys wouldn’t mind seeing more?”

gentleman_josh95: fuck yea i wanna see more

therealchan99: yes god plz, wanna see that cute lil cunt stretching around a fat cock

Seungcheol blushes as he clenches his jaw, suddenly a little embarrassed.

“Yeah? Mmh, I--I want that too…” You whimper. Using your free hand, you hook your thumb into the waistband of your panties as you shimmy them down before you continue. “Do you think my friend would be so kind as to give it to me~?” You tease; spreading your legs wide in front of the camera.

dom.cheol: if you behave, maybe he will.

artist8hao: mmm he’s right, only good girls get their pussies filled with cock

“Heeeey, but I’m good, right?” You pout, brows furrowing cutely at the camera. “I’ve been so good lately… Think I deserve a reward~”

dom.cheol: do you though? Have you been good, baby?

therealchan99: uh oh trouble in paradise?

gc__koo: maybe hes jealous

Jealous!? Seungcheol exclaims in his head; reminding himself to keep quiet as he stares at you incredulously.

You can only laugh loudly in response, shaking your head as you bring the wet toy up to your lips. You lick the wetness off of the silicone, lips settling into a sly smirk when you set the vibrator to it’s strongest setting.

“Let me show you how good I can be.”

“So, restraints?”

“For me or for you?” You blink up at Seungcheol from a mouthful of cereal, hair messy as you lounge in one of his shirts you happened to find on the floor. “Uh, well, mostly for you. I’m--I’m not opposed to it but… Yeah.”

You get comfy in his makeshift sofa bed, giggling as he sits across from you. “I’m totally cool with it! Oh! Um… you… you’re clean, right? Before we continue.” He nods in response, clearing his throat. “Yeah, I got tested a few weeks ago… Just in case.”

“Okay cool, so… Hmm… ‘Cheol is there anything you don’t want to do?”

“I should be asking you that, baby. ‘Cause I’m okay with anything you want to do… I think.”

“Okay so no piss kinks and no weird diaper baby stuff then.”

Seungcheol snorts, running a hand through his hair. “Sounds good to me. Is there anything you’re… really opposed to? Like choking or spitplay or degradation... I mean, you talking about it on your camshows is different from us doing it in real life so I--I just want to make sure you’re really okay with it.” You nod slowly, taking in his words.

“Yeah… I mean, I wanna try it with you. I trust you.” Pausing, you bite your lip as you try to hide the giddy smile on your face to no avail. “If we’re being honest, the thought of you being rough with me and spitting in my mouth is kinda really hot.”

He grits his teeth, already feeling his cock throb when you say that. “Ooookay, baby, I gotta go to work after this so let’s… not go there right now, okay? I don’t need ‘Guk having any more ammo against me.”

“Sorry, ‘Cheol~ I’ll be good! And--oh, by the way… Um, what about your v-voice? What are we gonna do about that…”

Oh, right.

Seungcheol bites the inside of his cheek, contemplating. In truth, he’d been thinking about it since you asked him to help the first time and he knew eventually he’d have to revisit the topic. It seemed like a minuscule thing, but a part of him was a little worried that he’d be recognizable. “I--I’ll think about it. I’m more okay on the idea of it but I’ll let you know before we do anything.” Nodding, you get up from the sofa the same time Seungcheol does, walking with him towards the front door.

“Oh and one last thing, ‘Cheol!”

“Hmm?”

“Safe word?”

He takes a second to think, brows furrowing as he stares up at the ceiling.

“Cranberry.”

You raise a brow, blinking up at Seungcheol. “Really? Cranberry?”

“Yeah, why not, it’s easy to remember and it’s not Cherry but it’s kinda similar?”

“That’s fair, I guess.”

“Hey hyung, cool apartment! Didn’t think I’d see it like that, if you know what I mean.”

“Don’t you have popcorn to burn?”

Seungcheol sighs a breath of relief when he turns the lock to his apartment door; already excited to see you when he gets home from work.

“I’m back!” He yells, toeing his shoes off at the entrance as he sees you quietly shuffle to the entrance.

“I… I was bad today…”

Confusion crosses Seungcheol’s features as his eyes dance over your form still dressed in one of his t-shirts.

Oh.

Ohhhh. Okay.

“You were bad, huh? Wanna tell me what you did, baby?”

You nod in response, linking your hands with his as you guide him back towards the bed. You hand him your phone, already having it in video mode and recording by the time he adjusts it in his palm

“You don’t have to… say anything if you don’t want to.” Seungcheol nods.

Gulping, you peer up at him once you sit on the bed. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you after you left for work… I--I couldn’t stop touching myself thinking about you…” You rub your thighs together; already feeling the wetness pooling between them again.

“I made myself cum and I--I used your pillow to make myself cum and got them dirty… ‘m sorry…”

Seungcheol feels himself slip into character, bringing his free hand up to your hair before he slightly tugs on it.

“So your greedy ‘lil pussy couldn’t wait ‘til I got home from work? And you got my favorite pillows dirty? Naughty ‘lil thing. I can’t even leave you alone for a few hours, can I?”

You feel your body heat up incredibly fast, head tilted up towards the camera as he brings it in closer. You were fully expecting him to keep quiet, but you were incredibly elated to hear him interacting with you. “I k-know, I’m sorry! I couldn’t s-stop thinking about your cock…” He scoffs, grinning down at you when he sees the lust already pooling in your eyes.

“How are you going to make it up to me, baby?”

“Fuck, you’re so pretty choking on my cock.”

The tears blur your vision as you swallow around him; pussy throbbing around your fingers at the feeling of him already being too big for your mouth. His hand guides you down until your lips almost reach the base of his cock, a strained moan on his lips when you gag around him. “Ngh, god, your mouth is so fuckin’ small. Bet you can’t wait ‘til my cock is in that pussy of yours, huh?”

You moan around him in response; head getting fuzzy when the lightheadedness starts to bite. You continue to thrust your own fingers into your pussy, prepping yourself for Seungcheol as you scissor and curl the digits.

Seungcheol holds you onto his cock a second more before he tugs on your hair, pulling you off of his cock as you sputter and catch your breath. “You look good like this, baby.” He smirks, letting the camera catch your messy hair, teary eyes and swollen lips before he lets go of your hair.

“Now get on the bed. Legs spread for me.”

You nod; getting up from the floor on shaky legs as Seungcheol lets the camera follow.

You strip off all your clothes and get onto the bed before resting against the pillows and spreading your legs for Seungcheol to situate himself between them.

“You need to be punished for misbehaving, sweetheart. You know you’re not allowed to cum without my permission. And you got my sheets dirty.”

“I know…” You whimper, “I couldn’t help it…”

Scoffing, he rolls his eyes. “I know you can’t. All you ever think about is my cock inside that pussy of yours. What would you do without me, baby? Do you think anyone could satisfy you like I do?”

Seungcheol slots himself between your legs, making sure to keep most of himself out of frame. He wraps his free hand around his cock, running it up and down before bringing his cock to your wet folds. He runs the head through your folds, letting it tap against your clit as you jolt.  “Do you want me?” He whispers; his eyes meeting yours.

He knew this was the second everything would change for the two of you, and he wanted to make sure you truly wanted it before he took the leap.

“Yes, please… I want you so bad…” You whimper, legs wrapping around Seungcheol’s waist. He nods shakily, making sure your phone is angled down as he slowly sinks his cock into your pussy.

The two of you share a broken moan as Seungcheol’s grip on your phone tightens and your own hands find purchase in the pillow tucked underneath your head.

Seungcheol was big.

And the stretch had you whining; a small sting biting into you as he slowly eased his cock into you. “Relax for me, sweetheart. You’re already so fuckin’ tight around me. You need to relax a little more.”

You try your best to even your breathing as you also attempt to relax; pupils blown wide when you look straight into the camera. “G-god, you’re so b-big, oh, I--I’m--a-ah!” Tiny cries spill from your lips as you cum unexpectedly, nails digging into the pillow as your walls flutter around him.

“Hmm~ Only got half my cock into your tight pussy and you’re already cumming? So easy.” He laughs, letting you ride out your high as he waits.

Internally, Seungcheol was dying. There were so many things he wanted to say but couldn’t; knowing he, too, at this moment, was playing a character with you.

“Fuck, your pussy is so warm and wet and I’m not even all the way in yet. Think you can still take the rest of me, baby?”

“I, hah, y-yes, please! Wanna fuh--feel all of y-you…” Mumbling, you don’t even wait to come down from your high before you’re already wanting more; squirming underneath him.

“If you say so~”

Seungcheol inches in the rest of his cock, exhaling harshly when he bottoms out completely. “Holy fuck, you’re so goddamn tight!” His free hand grips your thigh, nails digging into the flesh as he gives you a second to adjust to his size. You can feel your entire body trembling, pussy clenching around him as the sting from the stretch starts to subside and bleed into unadulterated pleasure. “God, please--please m-move!”

He starts slow at first, only shallowly thrusting into you as the two of you get used to each other’s body. And despite your first time together being on camera, Seungcheol doesn’t seem to mind all too much, although he does remember to keep himself out as much as possible.

Your breathy moans and clipped breaths are music to his ears when he starts going a little faster; the sweat starting to trickle down his temple when he keeps at a moderate pace. “O-oh, fuck!” A string of incoherent curses follow as you wince when the head of Seungcheol’s cock taps your cervix.

“Oh, go----d, right there, please, it feels so g-good!”

“Right here? Does it feel good when you’re full of my cock?” Seungcheol clenches his jaw when you tighten around him, small curses falling from his own lips.

“Yes, yes, god, fuck… I--ngh!” Your eyes clamp shut as you fully get lost in pleasure; your head tossed back into the pillow when Seungcheol thrusts into you particularly hard.

You hear him laugh lightly, followed by a buzzing noise that has your eyes peeling open. “H-huh?”

Seungcheol smiles down at you, eyes filled with mischief when he plays with the settings on the vibrator in his hand.

“Well, you wanted to cum so bad that you did it without my permission, right? Since you wanna cum so bad, let’s see it, sweetheart.” He brings the toy to your clit; letting the vibrations throw your body into overdrive as your back arches off of the sheets.

“A-ah, Seu--Mmh! Fuck ‘m g-gonna cum a-again!” You cry, thighs quivering around his waist as he keeps the silicone toy pressed up against your swollen clit.

He doesn’t let up as he starts to thrust into you quicker, fucking you through your orgasm as he chases his. “God, your fuckin’ cunt was made for me. Bet you want me to cum inside too, huh? Fill you up nice and good until it’s spilling out of you?”

“Please, please, please!”

“You gotta cum for me one more time, baby. Get my cock wet.” You let out a choked cry, lashes wet with tears when he sets the toy to its strongest setting.

“Mmh, ‘m so s-sensitive… I--- I don’t know if--if I can, ah, cum a-again…” Seungcheol licks his lips watching your fucked out expression, cock throbbing between your walls. “I know you can, baby. I can feel you already getting tight around me again.”

And Seungcheol’s right; only a few more thrusts from him before you’re cumming one last time, heels digging into the small of his back as he finally shuts the toy off and grinds against you. And this time, your lips part in a silent scream, back arching off of the bed as your entire body goes rigid underneath him.

He makes sure to do a full sweep of your body through the camera in the midst of your high, halting his movements as he lets you ride it out before he continues.

“Oh my g-god, I--fu--fuck…”

Your body finally untenses after a few minutes; chest heaving in deep breaths as Seungcheol resumes his pace.

“Ready for me to cum inside that cute ‘lil cunt of yours?”

“Mmh, yes, give it to me~”

Seungcheol snickers, thrusting into you hard one last time before he pulls out completely. “That’s too bad~” He taunts, wrapping his free hand around the shaft of his cock. “Only good girls get creampies~” He lets out a cocky laugh, running his hand up and down his cock as he positions it over your abdomen.

You clench around emptiness, a weak moan floating through the air when Seungcheol finally cums, painting your chest in warm wet streaks of the salty substance. “Fuck, but you look so pretty covered in my cum too…” He grits out, cock throbbing in his palm as he works himself through his orgasm.

You watch him through foggy eyes; licking your chapped lips as you watch his brows furrow in concentration and his eyes slide shut as he, too, gets overwhelmed with bliss.

It takes a moment for him to catch his breath, palm sweaty around the phone as his thumb hovers over the ‘stop’ button. “W-wait…”

“Hmm? What’s wrong, baby?”

You run your fingers through the rivulets of cum coating your skin, gathering the viscous liquid on your fingertips before you bring them up to your mouth to lick them clean. “We can’t let it go to waste, can we?” Popping the digits into your mouth, you moan around your fingers as you clean Seungcheol’s cum off of them.

“You’re right, baby. We shouldn’t.”

You smile up at him, eyes dancing towards the camera for what feels like the first time in a long time before popping the digits out of your mouth.

Seungcheol’s eyes follow your movements, throat dry when you run your fingertips through the settling cum again. Except this time, you drag your fingers down until they’re teasing your clit, coating it in his cum. “Ngh, w-wanted you to cum inside but…”

His shaky eyes follow the way your fingers dip lower and lower until your cum coated fingers sink into your swollen pussy. He mentally screams, half tempted to shut off the camera.

“That’s right, baby. You want my cum so bad that you have to do it yourself, huh? Maybe next time you’ll remember to behave, won’t you?”

Nodding, you repeat the same steps a few more times; fingering Seungcheol’s cum into your pussy until most of it is cleaned off of your chest.

“I promise I won’t misbehave again~” You coo.

You wait a few seconds before you lean up, hand circling Seungcheol’s wrist as you bring the phone down and press the ‘stop’ button yourself.

“And scene!” You blurt out, laying back down in a tired mess as Seungcheol chuckles above you.

“Well, can’t say I expected that, if I’m being honest.” He moves back, eyes fixated on his cum that dries on your skin and the little bit that trickles from your pussy. “I’ve gotta ask, did you really… before I got home…”

“Honestly? Yeah… I mean the--the pillows were a lie ‘cause I didn’t wanna get them dirty but…” You chuckle tiredly, aiming to sit up which you find difficult to do. “Fuck, ‘Cheol, I think you broke me!” He pouts in response, leaning over you to make sure you were okay.

“Did I though? Be honest. ‘Cause I wasn’t expecting to go that hard on our first time together but it just---it--I--”

“Whoa, it’s okay! Seungcheol, relax. You didn’t hurt me… I r-really liked it actually… It felt--You felt really good. And I just wanted to, um, say sorry. I kinda sprung that on you out of nowhere too.”

“Honestly? I didn’t mind. I seemed to fall into character a lot easier than I expected which shocked me too.” 

The two of you fall into a comfortable yet shy silence; catching your breath.

Seungcheol makes the first move, sliding off of the bed as you fight off the sleep that threatens to take you. “Hey, we need to get you cleaned up and hydrated. I need to change the sheets too.”

“Mmm.. but ‘m tired, ‘Cheol…”

He smiles at your tired form, helping you into a sitting position before shuffling to the kitchen to get you a glass of water. “I know you’re tired. And you can go to sleep after we get you cleaned off, get the sheets changed and probably eat a little, okay?”

“Mmkay~ Oh, but the video…” He passes you the glass, making you finish it before you continue.

“What about the video?”

You wipe at your dry lips, handing the glass back to Seungcheol. “We… We should probably watch it back and edit it a bit to make sure everything’s okay, shouldn’t we? Just in case we, um, said something we shouldn’t have or something...”

A blush blooms on Seungcheol’s skin, suddenly shy at the idea that he’d have to not only listen to himself but also watch, at least, part of himself on camera. “R-right, which--which we can do tomorrow when I get back from work. If that’s okay with you?”

You nod up at him, a beaming smile on your face.

“It’s definitely okay with me~”

[yespolkadotkitty]

Turn the Page

A Librarian Pedro!AU.

Warnings: None. Well, inaccurate assumptions about fancy libraries, but otherwise this is pure fluff, for the very lovely @kindablackenedsuperhero 

Wordcount: 1200

The first time you see him, you're lost in the stacks. You catch a glimpse of his faded band t-shirt as he mutters to himself, organising books from a trolley. A pencil is clamped between his teeth and wire-framed glasses sit on his face of planes and angles. 

Facial scruff, patchy and a little greying in places - hello, silver fox - hugs his beautiful jawline.

His hair tufts up at the back, tousled in front, as if he's constantly been running his hands through it. You want to do the same. Eyes the colour of fine whiskey narrow in concentration as he slips a book into place, then makes a note in the little pad stuffed into his jeans pocket. 

He wears black Converse hi-tops that are very worn, well-loved, and you watch his hand move over the notepad page, unspeakably enchanted.

You must make some noise, a squeak of your shoe perhaps, because he looks up, that soulful brown gaze pinning you, And shoves the pencil behind his ear. "You okay there?"

You hesitate, because you weren't done drinking in his quiet, relaxed beauty. The softly rugged edges of him.

"I need a newspaper from the archive room."

"Oh, sure." He flips the notebook closed, sets it on the trolley. "Which section?"

"Literature, please."

You try, and fail, not to eye his backside in those jeans as he leads you to the counter where he fetches the key, and then you follow him down the stairs to the archive room. 

It's temperature controlled, so access is only granted with a staff member, and for maximum fifteen minutes.

He hums to himself as he inputs a code into the keypad.

"The Chain?"

He blinks, then grins at you, and the smile makes him so beautiful that you have to focus on his words when he next speaks.

"Another Fleetwood fan, huh."

"Hard not to be."

"Amen," he agrees in that husky-edged voice, laid back California with just a lick of Texas.

The door slides open and he turns his key for the inner metal panel. As it too, slides open, you follow him into the temperature-controlled room. The outer door, on a sensor, shuts behind you.

"Lit.. here we go." The librarian trails a finger along the guard markings. He has an interesting little tattoo on his left hand, a spiral in faded blue ink. "Which collection?"

"The Jane Austen letters."

He nods absently and digs in his pocket for cotton gloves, snaps them on, before handling the delicate folder. "You'll need to read them in the adjoining room; you have an hour."

"Thanks."

He holds the folder and turns to the door  but the loud blare of a fire alarm makes you both jolt.

"Damn thing's been going crazy all week." The librarian pulls a radio from his pocket, depresses the TALK button. 

You listen to him converse with his colleague. Yes, it's a false alarm. 

He goes to the outer door, inputs his code. But it shoots back what sounds like the growl of an insulted robot.

"Everything okay?" You ask, a little nervous now. And a little chilly.

"I'm sure it's fine."

He radios upstairs again.

And it turns out that the fire alarm has short-circuted the electrics down here. You'll have to bide your time until the tech arrives.

The librarian turns to you. "Shit, sorry. I mean - shit. Potty mouth. Hopefully the tech won't be long."

You shrug. There are worse people to be trapped with. And worse places. "No problem." You offer your name.

He nods. "I'm Pedro."

"Ever seen Fleetwood Mac live?"

That sexy grin again. He has one dimple; it's devastating. "Six times."

You tour the room, it's a small space, but packed with riches. "You ever just come down here, to explore?"

The corner of his mouth quirks up, a little. "We're not supposed to."

You glance at him. "That's not a no."

Pedro shrugs, but his lips twitch with a suppressed smile. "Can’t blame a guy. It's like our own secret museum."

His eyes are chocolate brown, the brown of your favourite gourmet coffee brand. And so warm and soulful. You could lose yourself in them. “Ever take a date here?”

He just lifts one finger to his lips and winks at you. But there’s something so sweet and wholesome about him; it’s impossible not to like him. “I plead the Fifth,” he murmurs. 

The temperature seems to drop a notch and you shiver.

Pedro sets down the folder - with great care, you notice, and you love that he handles the documents here with the reverence they have earned. “Cold?”

“A bit.”

He frowns in sympathy. “The temp’s set by the main system. I - c’mere.”

You crease your brows. “You wanna cuddle?”

Pedro shrugs helplessly. “If I had a jacket, I’d give it to you. Sadly this t-shirt won’t provide much heat, but you’re welcome to it.” He starts to lift the hem.

“No!” You’re gonna combust if he gets undressed and although that would be one way to solve the problem, you don’t want this lovely man getting fired for being found half-naked in the archive room. “No, I mean, thankyou… A hug would be fantastic.”

And he opens his arms like it’s the easiest thing, and you step into them, and he’s warm and solid, and his scent of cinnamon, thyme and bergamot wraps around you. And then you look up into his eyes, and he’s smiling slightly, and all of a sudden you think: there you are. I’ve been waiting for you.

In total you’re trapped in the archive room for an hour. You and Pedro discuss the Paris Review, how much you both love Yeats, his current read, a 700-page book about death (he chuckles when he describes it), yours (The Time Traveller’s Wife), and how much you’re going to kick his ass at Scrabble on your first date.

He tells you about his favourite document in this room (a first draft of Hound of the Baskervilles with pencil notes in the margins by Arthur Conan Doyle), and he shows you it with careful page-turns, murmuring a commentary to you in that deliciously husky voice.

And even though your second kiss is interrupted by the tech freeing you, the first one was perfect - his lips soft, his facial scruff tickling pleasantly -  so you don’t mind. There’ll be plenty of time for kissing when he gets off work at 5.

**** 

Unbeta’d.

Tagging the Pedro pals: @alwaysbethewest @alldatalost @songsformonkeys @alienprincesspoop @beccaplaying @agirllovespasta @knittingqueen13 @heatherbel @abuttoncalledsmalls @buckstaposition @phoenixhalliwell @jaime1110 @soldade @arch-venus25 @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @thegreenkid @chews-erotically​ @mrschiltoncat​ @mrsparknuts​ @synystersilenceinblacknwhite​ @cryptkeepersoul​ @lackofhonor​ @nelba @mourningbirds1​ @badassbaker​ @starlight-starwrites​ @winters-buck​ @keeper0fthestars​ @pedropascallion​ @dornish-queen​ @gamingaquarius​ and although you didn’t ask to be tagged, @ohpedromypedro​ I think you’d like this <3

[milstrim]

Comfort in My Shadow

Chapter 7: Perfect

By @iwritedumbshit for @iron-mum

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Ned Leeds, James “Rhodey” Rhodes

Summary: Soulmates are definite in the universe. Nobody knows exactly why they exist, or what dictates who is bonded to who, the only thing known is that they are never wrong. But Peter’s not so sure about that.

Living at the group home had taught Peter a lot about laying low and how to stay alive when nobody cares. But he’d always clung to the hope of the shadow at his feet reflecting his soulmate that had watched over him for years.

Typical that his soulmate is actually a superhero that Peter is convinced shouldn’t want anything to do with him. Maybe, just this once, the Universe was wrong.

But Tony Stark is desperate to prove that it is right.

Ch 1 // Ch 2 // Ch 3 // Ch 4 // Ch 5 // Ch 6 // Ch 8

---

Everything went black. Not because Tony had passed out, but because the world had been consumed by thick piles of dust and a dozen layers of crumpled concrete. A ringing silence pursued after the ceiling had collapsed, leaving him unable to hear anything but the aftereffects of the explosions that he'd attempted desperately to shield Peter from. Not that it had gone very well.

Tony tried to move, gritting his teeth at the pain in the lower half of his body, pinned against the floor by what was probably hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds of concrete and metal. He was unsuccessful in even moving an inch, reduced to only wiggling under the smothering weight. At least his head and upper body had managed to avoid being hit. But he didn't know the same for Peter.

"Kid?" he called, his voice raspy. He coughed a few times, sucking in gritty air and blinking rapidly, trying to find the teenager in the low light. "Peter? Where are you, bud?"

There was a grunt, and then the grating of concrete shifting. Tony turned his head in the direction of the noise, squinting. He swallowed down a gasp as he finally caught sight of the kid.

He was not too far from Tony, his entire body crushed between two slabs of rough concrete. Only his head and a shoulder poked out, the material crumbling as the boy shifted. The two were separated by a wall of rebars, snapped and sharpened from the collapse of the ceiling. Whatever Peter had done in the chaos as the roof had fallen, it had saved Tony from the worst of it and left the kid there instead.

"Peter?" he tried again.

There was a whined groan in response, followed by the rumbled grinding of concrete and the clatter of stone falling. It was hard to make out through the darkness, but the kid's head picked up at his call. He could barely distinguish his bloodied and dirtied face, only his swimming eyes broke out from the oppressive darkness.

"Mr...Mr. Stark?" Peter rasped, his voice croaky and strained. His eyes picked the mechanic out in the darkness, settling on him easily.

"Right here, kid," he responded. "Can you move?"

There was a scrabble and the sound of primitive rustling. Tony squinted harder, trying desperately to make out the kid. He could see the movement of limbs scraping against the floor and the flurried panic of a tired struggle. He expected it to die down after a few moments once the teenager realized he was trapped, but, if anything, the scraped movement only picked up in its furor.

And then there was the gasping of wheezed breaths.

"Kid, you gotta calm down." There was no response. "Peter--"

"Mr. Stark!! Please, please, please. I’m stuck, I’m stuck. I can’t move. I can’t..."

"I'm right here, kid. Right here," he tried to assure. "It's okay, kid. It's gonna be okay, you can relax."

Peter shook his head. "No. No, no, I should've--I've got these powers and I couldn't even...I can't even get us out... You were right about the suit, Mr. Stark."

Tony stared at the kid who was keeping his head down, shoulders slumped. He swallowed.

"Maybe I was." Peter flinched, head picking up to stare at him through the maze of rebars, eyes wet. "But you're more than a suit, Peter."

"No I'm not," Peter muttered. "I couldn't even take down the vulture guy with the suit, and I've been here for two days. I should've been able to escape."

"I was in Afghanistan for three months, in an admittedly pretty shitty situation, but with access to materials. Nobody would've expected you to get out from here, kid. I didn't." Peter glanced away from him. Tony dragged in a rugged breath, thinking back to everything horrible that Peter had told him before the ceiling had collapsed. "I said later, but now's as good a time as ever I guess. You're my soulmate. And I'm proud of that."

"But--"

"I don't want to hear any 'buts' on that. Not one. I have waited my entire life just to meet you, and I am not disappointed in the slightest. I never even thought of that as a possibility." A pause as he let that sink in. "You asked after the ferry why I cared. I think that's a ridiculous question, but I'll answer it now anyway: You're my soulmate. The little shadow I've been dreaming of meeting for fifteen years. And let me tell you, kid, dreams don't measure up to you.”

He could see glistening tears running down Peter's face, a confused expression scrunching up the boy's features. Piecing together a puzzle impossible to do alone.

"What's eating at you? Let me fix it." A moment of pure desperation. "Please."

There was a moment, a teary sniff, and then, "You said, "forever," and--I thought you didn't want to see me again."

Tony flinched, jostling the pain spiking his trapped legs. But whatever level the pain was, he deserved it for causing this good and kind kid. He forced out a harsh sigh.

"I...I didn't mean it. Not like that. Never like that, Peter. There is nothing you could've done that would have made me never want to see you again... What I said that day--I was scared. I was scared for all those people and I was scared for you." He took in a deep breath, unused to being this vulnerable. For just tearing down his walls like this. But Peter needed him. Peter needed Tony to be honest and open. "I was scared of losing you, and I freaked out and I didn't handle it great and...and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Peter."

"Not forever then?"

"No. Not forever." He tried for a smile. "I was going to call you tonight actually, to make sure we were still on for Friday. I didn't realize you'd put your phone in your mask. Or your other stuff. You're getting all of it back when we get out of here, by the way."

"How are we getting out of here?" Peter asked. "I can barely move."

Tony twisted as far as he could, squinting into the darkness. "We need some leverage. If I can get this off of me, I might be able to call for help. Oh, and stop Mr. Vulture from stealing my whole plane."

"What?"

"Later. Anything near you that could give us a good purchase on this shit?"

  ---

Peter searched around at Mr. Stark's request, looking desperately for something that might free the man. His lower half was trapped underneath a concrete slab, so he just needed something that could let him reach it. Maybe dislodge it a little so that they could hope his phone wasn't broken.

After a few seconds, Peter's eyes landed on the wall of broken rebars between him and Mr. Stark. There were a few long ones, easy enough for him to reach and long enough for Mr. Stark to use. He grunted, reaching out and gritting his teeth in pain as the concrete and metal clamped down around his ribs.

Mr. Stark turned to look at him from where he'd been searching in his area, eyes narrowing as he caught sight of Peter finally wrapping a hand around a rusted rebar. With a grunt, a snap, and a tear, the skewered metal was free, the end he was holding slowly being covered in blood from where it had cut at his hand. But it was free.

"Here," he said, pushing it through the wall of rebar. Mr. Stark grabbed it immediately, pulling it over to his side.

"Good work, kid," the man complimented. Peter watched with sharp eyes through the dark as he twisted, jabbing the metal underneath the slab and heaving. Pushing the rebar back and forth, the concrete began to shift, wiggling backwards. After a few minutes, Mr. Stark was, well, he was still trapped, but he was allowed much better movement now.

The man dug into his now free pockets, pulling out a phone, grimacing, and then grabbing another phone. Another grimace. "Phones don't work. All broken."

"Nothing else in your bag of tricks?" Peter asked. Mr. Stark shook his head.

"I've got plenty of trackers on me, but there's nothing to do until someone realizes we're missing."

That you're missing, not me, Peter thought, but he didn't voice aloud. Instead, he stared down at the ground, wheezing in rattled and wet breaths. Vulture guy was going after the plane, filled to the brim with Avengers stuff and Mr. Stark's inventions and all sorts of dangerous weapons. The guy had built a business on scraps, the thought of what he could do with all of that other stuff was terrifying. And he couldn't let it happen.

Peter grit his teeth, sucking in a deep breath as he braced his shoulders, tensing them up against the concrete. It began to shift above him, grating and scraping and tearing at his still ringing ears. He couldn't help the pained grunt, but it was working. There was enough free space that he could twist his arms, shifting the weight.

He was aware of Mr. Stark staring at him, but only dimly, as he raised onto his knees and then his feet, flinching at every piece of concrete that crashed down around him. He bit down on every scream that tried to tear its way through his throat, but he couldn't completely keep them in. Short outbursts of pain escaped, but then the weight and the pain was gone. There was a deafening crash as it tumbled behind him, stirring up a cloud of dust and dirt so thick he couldn't see a thing as he dropped onto his knees, coughing violently.

"Kid?" Mr. Stark called.

Peter wheezed in a shaky breath, forcing himself back to his feet. "Here! I'm okay, Mr. Stark."

There was a relieved sigh as Peter jumped shakily over the pile of rubble, gripping onto the top and then dropping onto the ground right next to where Mr. Stark was still trapped. The man stared up at him, a proud smile on his face.

"That was impressive, kid. You did good."

Peter grabbed the concrete slab, lifting it easily. His ears burned at the praise.

"Thanks." He held out a hand, which Mr. Stark accepted, pulling the man up. He stumbled for a moment, a hand resting on Peter's shoulder for support. The teenager thought back to the fingers that had curled into his skin and left dark bruises and darker nightmares. But this hand was soft, strong and everything Mr. Fowler wasn't. Peter was okay. "Okay, let's go find the vulture guy. He can't have gotten too--"

Peter was cut off as Mr. Stark wrapped him in a hug. The teenager stood stiffly, confused as gentle arms bundled around him and Mr. Stark's head pressed against his own. After a hesitant moment, he raised his own arms and, after not knowing how long it had been since he'd had a hug, his arms grasped around Mr. Stark. Tight and tired and desperate. He closed his eyes.

Safe.

With a pat on his back, Mr. Stark let go.

"C'mon, let's get moving. We've got a plane to catch."

Peter followed his soulmate quickly, stumbling after the man and out of the broken rubble, his legs more than a little sore. "How? Aren't your armors on the plane?"

"They are, but they'll be good for something else other than fighting tonight."

Peter blinked, more than a little confused, but he followed Mr. Stark out of the building nevertheless. There was a sleek car waiting, still rumbling with the keys in and the door flung wide open. Mr. Stark slipped into the driver's seat and, after a moment of hesitation, Peter got in the shotgun.

"Hello, sir, glad to see you're still alive," greeted a cool voice. Peter flinched in surprise.

"Yeah, yeah. Can it, Fri, I need the plane's location right now."

"It is currently twenty minutes out from the compound on its projected course."

A screen popped up in the car, showing the path of the plane. Both the man and the teenager's brows furrowed, glancing at each other. That wasn't right.

"Okay, I want you to keep an eye on it and see if anything's tampered with it," Mr. Stark started, grabbing a pair of glasses from the glovebox and slipping them on. "And track Mark Forty-Nine while you're at it. Let's see where these bastards really are." A second dot appeared on the screen, veering off from the projected course of the plane. "Gotcha."

"But how are we going to get there?" Peter asked. Mr. Stark thought for a moment.

"Rhodey's got the only other suit right now, but he's in DC. And Vision's in Europe for a little honeymoon or whatever, so that just leaves us."

"A man with a heart condition and a teenager."

"A teenager who just lifted several thousand pounds while trapped. And my heart's fine, thank you," Mr. Stark countered. Peter gave him a look but it fell as he took in the man's expression, clearly warring with himself. Fear and apprehension and scary determination. After a moment, Mr. Stark sighed, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a familiar red fabric. It was placed on the console in between them. "You're our best bet right now, kid. Lives are going to be lost if we don't get that stuff back before they can start selling it."

Peter grabbed the scarlet mask hesitantly, glancing between the narrowed eyes and Mr. Stark. There was a shake in his hand, accompanied by murky brown eyes and the stench of overpowering beer. Of a hand on his shoulder and the horrible inability to fight back. The teenager shook away the memories flooding him as subtly as he could. He voice shook as he said, "I don't think I'm ready."

Mr. Stark fixed him with a steady stare. These brown eyes weren't murky, they were bright and strong. He didn't smell of rank beer, instead roasted coffee and faint motor oil. The lines on his face weren't fixed in anger and worn away by the harm he'd caused, but rather a comforting mix of laugh lines and memories of regret.

As if against his will, Peter was instantly soothed, his racing heart calming and his nerves quieting. Mr. Stark's words only amplified the safety that had cocooned the teenager ever since gentle arms had wrapped around him.

"We never are, kid. But the world doesn't wait." Peter ducked his head, brow furrowing and mouth frowning. Confusion and fear and doubt all warring and showing clearly on his face. At his silence, Mr. Stark added, "You can do it, Peter, I know you can. You're going to be the best of all of us one day."

Peter's face burned. His heart swelled. His resolve hardened. With a sharp nod, Peter gathered up the suit and hopped into the back of the car. It began to speed off immediately, but Peter stuck himself to the car floor easily, beginning to pull on the suit.

"How are we going to catch up?" he asked. A horn blared and Peter looked back to see someone honking at them as they cut them off.

"If they stay on their course, they'll be going over Jersey in ten."

"We can't make it to Jersey in ten."

"How fast can you swing to Jersey?"

"From here? Not fast enough."

Mr. Stark thought for a moment, eyes focused on the road. "Friday, are the drones still ready to be deployed from the compound?"

"Yes, sir."

"Get one over here, and then attach it to the plane's coordinates."

"Done."

Peter leaned up front, his mask pulled up over his hair. Mr. Stark glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "What's the drone for?"

"Much faster than a car," he answered. "Get on the hood, it'll take you to the plane in time. I'll try to catch up and keep under you, but right now, it's up to you."

The window rolled down for him. Peter glanced between Mr. Stark and the opening. He gave the man a smile, pulling the mask down. "I won't disappoint you, Mr. Stark."

"You never could, Peter-butter."

Peter, already out the window, peaked his head back in. "I'll be back with an embarrassing nickname for you. Just you wait."

"I don't doubt it."

  ---

The drone arrived quickly. Peter's spider sense picked up on it quickly, barreling in from behind him. He narrowed his eyes at it, unfurling from his crouch on the car. With a perfectly timed leap, he jumped off of the car's hood, attaching himself to the drone and holding on as it climbed higher. He swallowed nervously. Heights were kind of his thing, but flying and swinging were very different.

"Incoming call from Tony Stark," Karen said in his ear.

"Connect him," Peter said, nervously readjusting his grip on the drone. A closer look revealed it was the same model as the one that had helped piece the ferry back together. It was pretty cool, actually, able to contort itself to be just a little bigger for Peter to hold onto.

"Hey, kiddo. How's it hanging?"

"Do not joke about this, Mr. Stark."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights."

"I swing, I don't fly, Mr. Stark."

"Same difference," Mr. Stark said. Peter grumbled, immediately planning a time to swing the man around. He'd get his revenge one day. "Okay, the cameras on the plane are playing on a loop, so I can't see what's going on over there. You're going to go in blind."

"Okay, okay. Plan. We need a plan. Right?"

"I've got one. I'm gonna stay on the phone with you. When you get in, I'll walk you through resetting the plane's route and activating the Iron Man armors. They'll take it from there."

"Okay, okay, okay. Solid--solid plan."

"Eyes on the prize, kid. ETA in five minutes."

Peter nodded.

Five minutes came and went too quickly and too slowly. Either way, the teenager wasn't quite prepared when he broke through the clouds, the screen in his mask picking the reflective plane out of the air. He squinted at the strange lump poking out of it, realizing after a moment that it was the vulture's wings.

"I see the plane, Mr. Stark," Peter reported as the drone flew him closer. Once he was underneath, he let go, sticking himself to the plane and attaching a securing web just in front of him. The drone flew off, but he could still hear it buzzing around. "I don't see anyone, but the guy's wings are here. I think it's covering his entrance."

"Do you think you can move it?"

Peter crawled over the metal, getting on the other side and securing himself once more. He gave it a heavy kick. It moved, but not much. "I think so, yeah."

"Okay, get to working on that."

Spider-Man kicked again, pushing with all of his available strength at the metal encasing in front of him. A jolt of pain shot up his leg with every movement, but he didn't stop. He kicked and kicked and kicked until--

It moved.

Alarms rang inside the plane, and Peter couldn't help the way he flinched.

"Okay, so uh, it moved, but not enough and I think he knows," Peter reported.

"Are you sure?"

The wings opened, revealing a flash of bright green eyes that he only saw for a second before they were lost in the clouds.

"Uh, yeah. Yep. Pretty sure, Mr. Stark. Pretty sure." Peter glanced up at where the wings had been, disappointed to see no opening for him. He began to climb up the side to where the door should be. "Uh, his opening is gone."

"Can you still get in?"

The wind swept Peter back when he reached for the door, making him grunt in pain as his bruised back was slapped against the metal. He opened his mouth to answer when his senses spiked. He whipped his head around, letting out a yell of surprise as wings broke through the clouds. He shot out two webs on instinct, hitting the metal wings that he barely had time to dodge before they slashed through the metal just inches above his head. The vulture continued flying, pulling him and his web along. He shot another one at the plane, suspending him in air.

"What the hell was that?" Mr. Stark. Peter grunted.

The web snapped.

Peter was trapped in air for a fleeting second before he was shot through the air, the plane still moving ever forward. The jet whirred, angry metal teeth whirring to swallow him. He let out a raspy yell, his throat scratchy. He shot out his arms and shot what looked like half of his web fluid. He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting pain. When there was nothing, he blinked his eyes open to see himself snugly caught in the stuffed propeller.

The propeller fell, and he barely managed to cling on. He reached out an arm, grabbing on and kicking the broken motor. It creaked out before falling through the clouds with a deafening whoosh. He slipped back into the circle where the motor had been.

"I can't believe that worked," he said with a relieved gasp. He began making his way onto the top of the plane so that he could try and reach the door again.

"What worked? What's happening?"

"I thought you had the Baby Monitor protocol," Peter snipped.

"You disabled it," Mr. Stark responded. "I put the suit in the box and didn't look at it. I'll fix it tomorrow."

"Great. Maybe change the name, though."

"No can do, Peter-butter."

Peter opened his mouth--to quip or groan he didn't really know--but any thought of snide remarks was washed away by the raising of his hairs and the pounding of his skull. The Vulture returned, shooting out of the clouds. Peter rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the sparked slashes left behind by the metal wings where he had been only a second before.

The wind swept him back as he struggled to get a grip, the whirring of another engine screaming danger behind him. He forced out his back leg and splayed out his hands, trying desperately to stick to the sparking plane. He looked underneath himself to glance at the jet, his head snapping back up at the scraping of metal as the Vulture returned once more.

A wing struck out, and, seeing no other escape, Peter let go. He managed to get a grip again by attaching a web, but the wing came for another slash, digging into the plane where he had been barely a moment before. It snapped the web, and the teenager was dragged back.

Peter flew up as the Vulture came for him once more, the wind carrying him. His senses spiked, but he managed to narrowly miss the jet, instead knocking against the side and flying back. He shot out another web, flailing out behind the dashing plane, the jet catching on fire and blowing a trail of harsh smoke into his face.

"Peter, you're dropping real fast. What's going on, bud?"

The teenager couldn't find it in himself to answer, his breath shot as the plane began to careen downwards. Peter pulled himself forward by his web, squinting his eyes and glaring over the rapidly disappearing clouds. A city was in view.

"Oh, my God."

Ignoring the Vulture digging into the plane and Mr. Stark's demanded question, Peter turned, shooting out a web and forcing himself to his feet. He pulled, letting out a harsh yell at the pulling on his arms, though it was washed out by the groaning of the wings as it turned.

"Please turn! Please turn!" he yelled.

The sparking plane began to tilt, carrying them over the city where it disappeared to be replaced by the twisting rides of Coney Island and the sand that stretched beside it.

The web snapped, whipping him into a tumble onto the plane's wing where he barely held on, curling himself into a tense ball on the flashing metal. There was no time for goodbyes or terrified thoughts or anything of regret. There was only approaching land and a tired fear in his choked throat.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Stark."

The plane crashed.

Sound left Peter. Reason and understanding left him too. All he was aware of was the pain as he was launched from the plane's snapped wing, rolling a million times over. The sand was hot against him, even through the suit, the high friction tearing and scratching at him through the suit. The heat tore at him, clawing at him worse than anything else.

Peter finally came to a rolled stop in the sand in the middle of dark plumes of smoke and the harsh brightness of red and orange flames. He was sure that the plane was sparking, the wind roaring, and the fire crackling, but there was nothing for him to hear except for the ringing. He was aware dully that Mr. Stark was speaking for him, but nothing made sense as he struggled for a coherent breath.

The teenager took in a gasping breath, forcing himself onto one of his elbows and tugging at his mask with shaky hands. He tore off the fabric covering his face, peeling it off of his sweat and and blood covered face, throwing it into the sand in pain. He stumbled back onto his elbows with the force of his rattling coughs. After a moment, he picked himself up by his arms and knees, finally forcing his stumbling and shaking feet into use, allowing him to stare around the turned up beach.

A tingle ran up his spine. He turned, squinting into the surrounding fire. Green eyes and sharp claws burst out of the sparks and plumes.

He gasped in rattled fear, the reality of the world returning in a loud rush of overwhelming sound and heat as the sharp metal claws clamped around him, pushing him back down into the sand. He let out an unwilling scream as the metal tips tore through his skin.

There was a whine and a whir as Peter was lifted into the air by his wounds. He struck out his hands, tugging at the metal claws until they let go. Peter dropped, grimacing as he turned in air to shoot a web, flinging himself back up and into the man's metal suit. The Vulture was forced to dip low as the teenager unbalanced him, but it left Peter unbalanced too.

The boy snapped against the loose sand, a pained mumble escaping his tired lips, blood tricking from them. The Vulture approached slowly, threateningly. A hooked feather extended, reaching forward and aiming towards his chest. Peter swallowed painfully, staring up at the man through the grit in his eyes and a fiery red lens, sure that this was it.

He could barely move, he could barely even talk. He wished he was at least wearing his mask, just so that he could say goodbye.

The feather jabbed forward. Peter flinched and closed his eyes.

There was a sharp, reverberating clang.

The pain never came.

  ---

Tony stood over Peter, a metal encased arm raised in front of him, a metal feather knocked against the Iron Man gauntlet reaching up to his elbow that he had barely managed to grab from the plane's rubble before rushing over. He glared at the Vulture hovering in front of him, the green eyes piercing. Behind him, he heard Peter mutter lowly, "Mr. Star'?"

"Mr. Stark," the Vulture echoed him mockingly, the metal feather still slashed against Tony's upheld arm. "I didn't know you care so much to put yourself in harm's way. Perhaps you're right. I don't know everything."

"No. You don't," Tony answered shortly, narrowing his eyes up at the man through his glasses. He glanced beyond the man at where boxes of his stuff sat idly in the fire, resisting the desperate urge to turn his head and look at the kid. "Now's your chance to run before anyone else shows up."

"How generous, Stark," the man said. "But I'm not leaving empty-handed."

"Then you're not leaving at all."

"Contrary to your usual position, I'm the one with the power now."

"Oh, yeah?" Tony challenged, taking a step forward. The man hovered back, just a little. But it was enough for Tony to confidently lie out of his ass. "Big talk for a man in a bird-suit. You think I didn't have a contingency for this? I have contingencies for my contingencies. A functional War Machine armor and a vibranium android are on their way right now. Three minutes. Your choice."

The feather withdrew from against his gauntlet, the Vulture hovering backwards. Tony held his bright green stare, a furious glare written harshly across all of his features. The man didn't turn away, instead glancing over Tony's head and raising his wings. He flew at Tony, forcing the mechanic to duck down to avoid the wings that sliced the air overhead.

He expected an attack, but nothing ever came. He turned to glare at the man, his eyes narrowing as he watched metal clamp down onto a leaking metal box, glowing arc reactors slipping out. He wanted to yell; to shout and run and defend the power sources only moments away from being stolen, but his shadow flashed underneath him, dragging the mechanic's eyes down to the kid trying to stumble back onto his knees, one arm clutched around his chest.

Tony let him go, dipping down low to kneel beside the kid. It was selfish, and he knew it. Those arc reactors could cause a lot of damage in the wrong hands, but Peter was infinitely more important to him.

Tony pat the kid's back even as he tried to stumble to his feet, murmuring reassuringly, "It's okay. Take a seat, kiddo, you did good."

Peter glanced at him from where he was staring at the Vulture, beginning to lift off into the air, flames trailing after him. There was a terrified stiffness to the kid. His voice was shaky as he said, "Mr. Stark--Mr. Stark, his wing suit. His wing suit's going to explode!"

Tony followed Peter's gaze to stare at the Vulture's wings. They were fizzing and sparking. His immediate thought was, good. He won't get away, but Peter was different. Peter was better. The kid flicked out a shaking hand, a white line streaking out from the metal on his wrist and attaching to the Vulture's suit.

Peter stood, Tony followed suit, unsure of what to do. He didn't have super strength, he couldn't exactly help, so he stood by the kid, a metal arm raised up in warning as the Vulture turned around, clearly confused by the resistance on his suit. Peter only pulled back tighter.

"Time to go home, Pete," the Vulture said.

"I’m trying to save you!" Peter yelled. Tony just glared, refusing to move a muscle as the Vulture raised a wing. He snapped through the web. Peter was flung backwards with the force, landing harshly in the sand. Tony startled, cursing and kneeling beside him as the kid tried desperately to shoot another web. He sent a terrified glance Tony's way as he realized that he was out of fluid.

Heads twisted to glance at the Vulture, the fizzing and sparking crescendoing. With a split second realization about what was going to happen, he forced Peter to the ground, guarding the kid from the heat that exploded behind them and grabbing his head protectively. Peter curled up underneath him, one hand clutching into his jacket desperately.

When the initial force was over, the two unfurled from one another, turning to stare at the crackling fire.

"No," Peter murmured. The teenager flinched and squirmed, rushing to his feet. Tony grabbed his arm.

"Kid," he breathed.

"Mr. Stark, I gotta--I gotta go get him."

"Peter--"

Their shadows stretched out from them, switched. A spindly thin teen reflecting a spindly thin teen and a ruffled and sharp man reflecting a ruffled and sharp man. The teenager tore his arm away, the shadows returned, and one terrified and regretful look was sent to Tony.

He ran.

"Peter!!" Tony yelled. The kid was already gone into the burning flames, and, without a moment of hesitation, Tony followed.

The fire scorched at him through his dark suit, licking and crackling at his skin. He hissed, forcing down pain and squinting through the smoke to make out Peter's red and blue suit. The kid was crouched down beside a heap of metal, a yell of pain escaping him as he touched it. Tony ran over, catching Peter by surprise as he turned up to look at him.

There was apprehension, and then there was understanding. A sliver of trust thrown his way.

Tony gave Peter a nod, digging his metal encased hand underneath the burning heap. Peter followed suit, forcing his own fingers underneath the sand. With equally heavy grunts, the metal lifted, revealing the soot covered body of the Vulture. No mask, no wings. Just a man.

Peter grabbed him, throwing the man over his shoulder fireman style. Together the two stumbled out of the fire. Peter dropped the coughing Vulture onto the sand, stepping a few feet forward before collapsing to the ground himself. Tony laid down beside the gasping kid, wheezing in rasped breaths himself.

Two heroes and a vulture, all collapsed on the sand, coughing smoke out of their lungs like lunatics. Tony didn't know whether to laugh or not. As if it would provide an answer, he turned to stare at the kid, catching Peter's eye, who turned to stare at him as well. Tony smiled. Peter followed suit tentatively, doe eyes swimming.

"I've got your nickname, Mr. Stark," Peter rasped. Tony huffed a laugh.

"Yeah? Lay it on me."

"MacaTony. Like--like macaroni?"

Tony laughed. Full on and hearty and completely disregarding the smoke choking his lungs. He didn't care as the coughs were mixed with his crazed giggles, resting his head back against the sand and staring up at the sky. After a moment, Peter's own laughs joined his, mixing with the crackles of pluming fire.

Their shadows stretched in the orange light, their own kind of happiness flickering in the dark silhouettes, like they knew that their souls had finally met. Finally understood.

Or maybe the goofy grin stretched across Tony's face was making him delirious with joy, but Peter's own bright and sooty grin was enough to make the world feel right even in the rubble of an invisible plane on a burning beach.

Ch 1 // Ch 2 // Ch 3 // Ch 4 // Ch 5 // Ch 6 // Ch 8

@annabanannabeth here ya go!

[crystalstar8]

Knights of the Night (ch 15)

Chapter 15

Ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5, ch 6, ch 7, ch 8, ch 9, ch 10, ch 11, ch 12, ch 13, ch 14, ch 15

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139240/chapters/71536491

pairing: Jungkook x oc

genre: vampire au, college au, twilight, romance

word count: 2,459

warnings: blood (obviously), kidnapping, child kidnapping, needles, France

notes: vampires, vampire au, college, college au, so many twilight references, blood, needles, kidnapping, children, homelessness, dance, ballet, flashbacks, romance, slow burn, probably no smut, idk yet tho, France, French things, attempted genocide, inaccurate French history, bisexual main character, @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @mozy-j  @daechwitad-2​ @zobadak​ @fallenstar-7​​​

summary: Catalina starts college in a small town all the way across the country. She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t exactly looking for friends. She just wants to focus on dance. But when she meets fellow dance major, Jimin, and adventurous, fellow freshman, Jungkook, Catalina ends up discovering a whole new side to the small college town; one that is dangerous but oh so enticing…

              Catalina was nervous. She had changed her outfit almost ten times and was already pulling a sweater out of her closet for an eleventh. She eyed her suitcase in the corner of her room. No, don’t open it, you’ll have to repack, she told herself. Her phone buzzed from her bed. It was a text from Jungkook.

JK: I’m on my way

              “Shit,” Catalina mumbled. She looked between the sweater in her hand and the one laying on the floor. The one in her hand was a bit nicer so she pulled that one on. She tucked it into her skirt, then slipped into her ankle boot heels. As she was checking her hair and makeup in the bathroom mirror for the last time, she heard her front door open. Rounding the corner, she saw Jungkook standing in the hallway, tapping the snow off his boots on the rug. Catalina grabbed her coat.

              “You look so cute!” he said as she came over for a hug.

              “I always look cute, what are you talking about?” she said. He grinned, his nose scrunching up and his eyes turning to crescents. He looked good too, in a turtleneck under his peacoat. It was amusing to her, knowing that he still had a few lingering marks on his neck. They had both dealt with enough teasing from their friends over the past few days, they definitely didn’t need Jungkook’s family on that train as well.

              “Ready to go?” he asked. Catalina nodded and followed him out the door, locking up behind her.

              The car ride was short, only a minute or two since they lived a block away from each other. There were two other cars in the driveway, which Jungkook parked behind. As they got out of the car, Jungkook said, “So, my brother is kind of annoying. Just warning you. He’s in law school and he’s a bit of an asshole about it.”

              “Be an asshole about your film major right back to him,” said Catalina, making him laugh.

              “Easy,” he said. “I’ll just start talking about my favorite directors and artsy films.”

              His house was warm and inviting, as it always was, but today, it was cleaner than Catalina’s seen it in a long time. Maybe ever. A small Christmas tree stood in the corner, decorated with mismatched bulbs and ornaments.

              Jungkook’s mom came out of the kitchen, pulling oven mitts off her hands. She saw Catalina and her eyes lit up.

              “Catalina! It’s so good to see you!” she said, pulling her into a hug. “I’m glad you could make it.”

              “Yeah, me too!” Catalina said. “I never get to see you guys, so I’m glad to be able to spend some time with you all.”

              “Of course, you’re always welcome,” she said. “My husband and I are always so busy with work, I feel bad. Anyway, come into the kitchen. The food’s almost ready. Jungkook, go help set the table.”

               Dinner was beautiful, and Catalina had fun listening to Jungkook’s family try to embarrass him by sharing childhood stories. He wasn’t embarrassed though, always laughing with the table and sharing his own details about the experiences. It sounded like the family hiked and camped a lot while the boys were growing up, so there were plenty of adventure stories to go along with that. Catalina asked about his parent’s jobs and they told her about what they do at the hospital during their overnight shifts. They were both nurses, but they also did volunteer work every chance they got. Jungkook’s brother was indeed a bit of an asshole about being a law student, but Jungkook cracked everyone up by talking about his favorite film, “Persepolis”, pronouncing it “Pear-say-po-li”.

               Catalina had a great time, but she didn’t stay too late since her and Jungkook had a flight to catch in the morning. Jungkook dropped her off at home that night, kissing her softly in the car before she got out.

               “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at six.”

               “I can’t wait,” she said, pecking his lips once more before getting out of the car. “I love you.”

               “I love you too,” he said.

               It feels so good to say that, Catalina thought as she took the stairs to her apartment.

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

               The airport was crowded with people rushing to travel for the holidays. Catalina was thrumming with excitement. She hadn’t seen her mom since before her first semester. She had never lived away from her home before, never away from her mom for so long. She couldn’t wait to see her, and to introduce Jungkook to her. They found their flight easily enough in the giant building, and soon enough, they were in the air, en route to Detroit.

               Catalina’s mom was waiting for them at the airport when they landed. As soon as Catalina exited the gates, she ran, giving her mom a long hug.

               “Oooh, dios mio, how I’ve missed you!” her mom said, holding her tight.

               “I missed you too, mom,” said Catalina. She pulled away and looked over at Jungkook. “Mom, this is my boyfriend, Jungkook.”

               “What a cutie you are!” her mother said as she gave Jungkook a hug as well. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

               “It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Diaz,” said Jungkook.

               “Ms. Diaz. Or you can just call me Lucía. Come, lets go home,” she said. “This place is too crowded.”

               Catalina sat in the passenger seat of her mom’s car on the way home. It wasn’t a long drive, their house was just outside of the city. During the drive, she wondered if she should reach out to her old friends. They had never once texted or checked up on her while she was away, so maybe it was best to leave them behind.

               The house looked exactly the same as when she last saw it and it gave her a sense of comfort to come back to the familiarity. After Catalina and Jungkook got settled into her old room, her mom called them downstairs to help bake cookies. While baking, Catalina and Jungkook told her all about their classes and professors. After the cookies came out, they had fun decorating them in weird and interesting ways. Jungkook decorated a gingerbread man with red eyes and fangs, which Catalina took a picture of to send to their friends.

               Later in the evening,  Lucía took them all out to dinner at a nice place in downtown Detroit. The restaurant was beautiful; bistro lights dripped from the ceiling, branching out from the twisting paper tree in the center of the dining room. Over dinner, Catalina told her mother about her friends in California, and about their trip to the lodge. Her and Jungkook left out the parts about their friends being vampires.

               “I want to know how the two of you got together,” said Lucía. “She didn’t date much in high school, so this is so exciting to me.”

               “I had a girlfriend in my senior year,” Catalina mumbled. Lucia waved a hand.

               “That doesn’t count,” she said. Catalina glanced at Jungkook, who was frowning after hearing this exchange. Catalina put a hand on his knee under the table and decided not to argue.

               “Well, we met in our French class,” Catalina started. “We became friends and we hung out a lot for the first few months of the semester. I mean, I never really knew I had a crush on him at first, I knew he was attractive, but I only saw him as a friend. Then one day, he kissed me, and we’ve been an item ever since.”

                Lucía had a hand over her heart as she listened.

               “That’s so sweet,” she said. “You two are a beautiful couple and I can see you’re so happy with each other. I’m just…so relieved that you found a nice boy and-“

               “Mom,” Catalina interrupted.

               “I just didn’t want you to fall back into those high school phases you were in,” she said. “I was so worried I would lose you to the wrong kind of people. There’s so many influences online these days and I just wanted you to be successful in life. That kind of lifestyle comes with drugs and-“

               “I’m gonna go to the restroom,” Jungkook said, standing up and giving her shoulder a squeeze.

               “Mom, stop it,” Catalina said. As soon as Jungkook was out of sight, she said, “My boyfriend is bisexual too. And so are some of my other friends at school. They’re all amazing people and I would do anything for them. I don’t like when you say things like this.”

               “Catalina, you know I love you no matter what,” her mother said. “I just want the best for you.”

               “It’s not something anyone can control,” Catalina said. “Whether I fall in love with a man or a woman, I’ve always hoped you could be happy for me no matter what.”

               “I am happy for you,”  Lucía said, reaching over to take Catalina’s hand. “You’re following your dream and you seem so happy with your life right now. I think I need to get used to the idea of my daughter being bisexual, there’s just so many bad connotations that come with that community. At least from when I was growing up.”

               “Things are different now,” Catalina said.

               “I know, I know,”  Lucía said. “I think I just need to get used to this. At the end of the day, I just want you to be safe and happy. I think a man would be able to provide for you better later in life.”

               “You of all people should know that’s not true,” Catalina said. “You raised me alone, and we were always pretty well off.”

                Lucía raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “You got me there.”

               Catalina giggled and squeezed her mom’s hand.

               “I love you, cariña,”  Lucía said. “Just remember that.”

               “I love you too, mom,” said Catalina.

               Jungkook came back and Catalina took his hand as soon as he sat down.

               “I’m sorry if what I said earlier was offensive,”  Lucía said to him.

               “It’s okay,” Jungkook said, flashing a smile.

               “I’m trying, it was just so different when I was young,” she said.

               “It’s really okay,” Jungkook said with a chuckle. “This sounds exactly like the conversation I had with my own mom when I was sixteen.”

                Lucía laughed and the conversation turned to the topic of Jungkook’s family. Dinner went on peacefully. Catalina was glad she got this conversation off her chest. She had been struggling with that topic ever since she came out in high school. It really sounded like her mother was trying to understand, and Catalina couldn’t be more grateful.

               The next day was Christmas Eve. Catalina and Jungkook took a day trip to Frankenmuth, which, as soon as they arrived, they realized was a bad idea. Frankenmuth was packed with people, but the pair still managed to have a good time. They ate dinner at the Bavarian Inn and took a carriage ride around the town. They walked the underground mall and the outdoor shops, but only bought gifts for Lucía, since everything was terribly overpriced. They didn’t even shop for each other, since they both confessed they had already bought each other Christmas gifts a long time ago. Snow covered the ground and everything was wrapped in Christmas lights in the little town. Just walking through the beautiful scenery hand in hand with Jungkook was wonderful. 

               They returned home late that evening, wrapping their gifts in Catalina’s room and going to bed afterwards.

               Christmas morning was pleasant;  Lucía cooked them a big breakfast, then they opened gifts in the living room. Catalina had two gifts from her mom. The first one was a Visa gift card and a heartfelt letter. The second gift was a quilt. Each patch depicted a different cat from t-shirts, towels and linens.

               “You’re grandmother started making this before she passed away,”  Lucía said. “You remember her nickname for you?”

               “Gatita,” Catalina said, tears prickling her eyes.

               “I found it just recently and I decided to finish it for you,”  Lucía said. “Just something to remember her by, something your children can use.”

               Catalina felt a tear run down her cheek. She wiped it away and got up to hug her mom.

               “This is wonderful,” said Catalina. “I love it so much.”

               “I’m glad you like it, cariña,” her mom said, hugging her back tight. “I know I don’t have a lot for you, like when you were a kid, but I didn’t want you to have to lug a bunch of stuff back to California with you.”

               “No mom, it’s perfect,” she said. “This is perfect.”

                Lucía then opened Catalina’s gift, which was a silver bracelet from Frankenmuth. Jungkook had gotten her a handmade scarf and hat set, and she had given him another Visa gift card.

               At some point during the day, Catalina made sure to find time for herself and Jungkook. Lucía went to pick up groceries in the afternoon, which was when Catalina took the opportunity to give Jungkook his gift.

               They were pressed together on the couch, both holding a little gift bag in their hands.

               “You first,” Jungkook said, handing her his bag. She took it and opened it, finding a little box in the bottom. Her heart beat fast as she opened it, revealing a ring with the moon in a glass bubble. She gasped and handed his gift over frantically.

               “Open this right now!” she said, pulling the ring out and putting on her middle finger. He did, his eyes getting wide as he opened the slightly bigger box.

               “No way,” he said, looking up at her.

               “How the hell did this happen?” Catalina asked, holding in giddy laughter. Jungkook pulled the necklace out of the box and put it on. The charm on the chain held the moon in a little glass bubble. The same moon as the one in her ring.

               “We bought each other the same thing,” he said, laughing.

               It was the waxing half-moon from the night they shared their first kiss in the vampire den.

               When Lucía came back home, they immediately showed her their unplanned gifts for each other. She laughed for about ten minutes. She then recruited them to help cook dinner, which was an exciting ordeal. Catalina was happy to learn how to cook all of her favorite dishes.

               The three of them ended up having a beautiful dinner together, bright with laughter and conversation.

               The next few days passed in a blur. They went out, cooked together, played games, and watched movies. Before they knew it, the week was over and it was time for Catalina and Jungkook to travel again for the next leg of their trip. Catalina was reluctant to leave her mom, but she was absolutely filled with anticipation for her stay in the cabin.

[artemis-verse]

friend

summary: “Seeing how completely different he is compared to when they grew up with each other then stumbling onto him now makes her realize that even after all these years—she still doesn’t know who Kuroo Tetsurou is.”

note: features time skip! kenma + kuroo and side characters that aren’t related to haikyuu. some scenes include flashbacks. all characters in the present timeline is 21+. fem! reader. she/her pronouns. symbol: ~ indicates flashbacks

song: friend by gracie abrams word count: 2,284 words warnings: mild swearing and alcohol use genre: angst arthie’s note: this is part 2 out of 5 from the minor series!! i’m sorry if it’s a bit late as i’m currently struggling with a bunch of things atm (╥_╥). i searched up gracie’s meaning for this song and it was rlly interesting however i added my own twist to it. oh! forgot to mention, there’s like a flashback scene when we get to see their relationship so i hope it doesn’t get confusing! as always, i hope all of you enjoy! be sure to listen to the song recommended to get into the mood ^^ ↳ main masterlist ↳ minor series masterlist »»————-　➴　————-«« Achoo!

The vacuum whirred against the rug, suctioning all of the dust that’s been piling up after years of neglect. She rubbed her nose, mentally slapping herself for not cleaning the house properly. It was finally a day off from work and in the words of her mother— “stop worrying all the time and clean your damn house! It’s covered in dust everywhere, you’re gonna get sick if you don’t clean it.” Obeying her mother’s nagging, she spent the whole day cleaning the house and throwing out items that weren’t a use to her anymore.

»»————-　➴　————-««

“Thank you for the food.” She says as she picked up the chopstick. Savouring the taste of her mother’s leftovers, she hummed happily whilst watching a movie on her phone. Gulping down the cold water, she glances at the room that’s been abandoned for quite some time. A mental note made up in her mind to go check out the room after eating. With an exasperated exhale, she grips the doorknob and turns it, opening the storage room.

Ah.. so many dust.. and so many things to unpack..

Groaning, she trudges inside and decided to start with the herd of dust, vacuum in hand.

20 minutes later, the room is now free of dust. She glared at the boxes, why do I have so many of these boxes?! I lived here for 3 years already, she cursed to herself.

Starting from the biggest box down to the smallest; she began to unpack and rummage inside.

On her 4th box, it was a shoe box. She shrugged before opening the lid and seeing the components.

Huh, what’s this? She picked up the note— goodluck on your chemistry test y/n-chan! i hope you do your best and if you don’t, i’m always up for another study date ~ jk jk... or am i? anyways i’ll treat you to ramen afterwards! meet me at the front gate - tetsurou <3

She swallowed the lump in her throat, gently placing the note down. When she examined the other items, she came across photographs of her and Kuroo.

In the first picture; they were only 15. Starting high school and eager to learn about the world. Both holding up peace signs and grinning happily in their uniforms.

It made her feel older, reminiscing the old times of when they were together. Pushing away the thoughts of him, she sets the box aside and wrote “DO NOT TOUCH” onto it.

With that, she resumed cleaning other parts of the room and left the box alone.

»»————-　➴　————-««

“Here’s to Nakano’s promotion!” Everyone clinked their glasses together, drinking the beer to celebrate their colleague.

“Oh! By the way, I invited my friend over. He’s coming in...” “Oya? Did you guys start without me?” Nakano grinned and looked up. “Now! Everybody, meet Kuroo Tetsurou!”

Ishida assured Kuroo to his seat, “Welcome Kuroo-san! Make yourself comfortable.”

He uttered a thank you and gaped at the food displayed on the table. “Are we having a feast or what?” 

Morita nodded, “Yup! Nakano-kun got promoted to be a manager and he’s treating all of us!”

Kuroo smirked at his friend, “Wow! You’re amazing, Nakano!” He pats his friend’s back, congratulating him.

Nakano gave a sheepish smile, “Yeah, yeah. Oh! Everyone, feel free to introduce yourself to Kuroo.”

Everyone introduced themselves to him and made small talks, often asking him questions about his job and personal life.

“I’m sorry I’m late!” She announced when she approached their table. Everyone stared at her, “Ah, it’s okay Y/n-kun! There’s plenty of food left for you!” Nakano reassured.

She smiled at him and her colleagues until her gaze landed on the man she least expected to see.

“T— Tetsurou?!” She stammered, shocked upon seeing him.

He beamed at her, “Y/n! You’re here!” He exclaimed as he engulfs her in a hug.

“Oh? Kuroo-san, you know Y/n-kun?” Morita asked, eyeing the two of them.

He nodded, slinging his arm around her shoulder. “Yeah! We’ve been friends for 7 years now.”

She refrains herself from blurting out a sarcastic remark since she’s in front of her colleagues but God, she’d wish for him to shut up.

“That’s great! Tell us more about it, Kuroo!” Nakano urged, pulling Kuroo off of her shoulder and listened attentively to what he says.

She sighed, sitting down on the empty seat and glance at anywhere but him.

The rest of the celebration goes on till midnight and Nakano decided to call it a night when one of them vomited in their food.

Grabbing the door handle, pushing it open however a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She glanced back, “Can I talk to you for a second? Please.” Kuroo begged.

Shoving her uneasiness away, she replies. “Okay.”

They walk in silence, not knowing how to start the conversation first and occasionally bumping into each other due to close proximity.

She hugs herself and stared at the ground, avoiding Kuroo’s sharp gaze.

“Are you cold?” He asked, sensing her discomfort due to the cold weather.

She shook her head, “No. I’m not.”

He smirked, “You’re such a bad liar, Y/n. Here.” He takes off his work coat and wrapped it around her, immediately warming her up.

“Thanks.” She muttered.

Before the silence could continue, he groaned. “Look, I didn’t offer you a proper explanation as to why I left and I...” He bit his lip, averting his gaze to the lamppost.

Huffing, “I never wanted closure anyways.” She admitted.

He frowns, “But still... I wanted to give you one.” Rolling her eyes, “I don’t want it.”

His head bowed down like a puppy getting upset for not getting a treat. They resumed walking in reticence.

Questions racing through each other’s head, craving for answers but they’re both too cowardly to say what’s on their mind.

The night grew into stillness— it’s unlike of Kuroo to ran out of things to say however that night, all of the words he had wanted to say died down his tongue, leaving him speechless.

»»————-　➴　————-««

A week passed by since their last encounter and Kuroo had somehow managed to get her number through Nakano, who without a doubt, gave it to him with no hesitation.

He was constantly texting her, wanting to reconcile their relationship.

The coat he gave her was still hanging in the closet. At the thought of that, she rolled her eyes and whipped out her phone.

Y/n: Tetsurou, are you free this Friday?

Not even 10 minutes had gone by and the answer came through like lightning.

Tetsurou: Yup, why?

It’s funny, she thinks, that he always tries and keep in touch with her despite knowing what he did before they separated their ways.

She sighed, it’s unbelievable that he doesn’t know what she’s feeling. After all of what happened; how could she ever move on?

»»————-　➴　————-««

At 4:00pm, she stood nearby the playground whereas kids giggled loudly and ran around with their friends.

The sun shining brightly, birds hovering above the ground, flapping their wings as they soar through the sky.

She observed the kids, a wave of nostalgia passes through like a snowstorm, igniting memories of her and Kuroo when they were children.

“Hey.” The man she anticipated arrived as she spun around and took in the sight before her.

“Hi.” She greeted back, clutching the plastic bag that contains Kuroo’s coat inside.

Inhaling, she spoke up. “Here. Your work coat.” She handed out, gesturing him to take it.

A smile creeped on his face as he grabs the bag, muttering a thanks under his breath.

Amber skies mixed with warm greens of spring, flowers blooming proudly despite the chilly breeze.

“So.. what have you been up to?” Does he think I’m here for small talks? She thought to herself bitterly. “Listen.” She said sternly, “I’m not here for small talks nor do I want you to keep texting me. So please, stop bothering me.” He nodded his head shamefully, “Okay.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared at the girl defending the little boy from bullies. “Since there’s nothing left for us to talk about or discuss, I will be leaving now.” As she walks away, a hand grasped on her arm. She turned around and saw Kuroo pleading, desperation evident in his eyes. “Please, just let me talk. I just wanna explain.” Her hands clenched, “I don’t want your explanation!” She snapped, looking at him with irritation as he gazed down bashfully. “Tetsurou... you’re 3 years late. You left me without looking back. You know what I was dealing with at that time and you still.. left me.” She muttered the last part, feeling the tears building up. Shaking her head, “I can never forgive you for what you did. Ever since you met me at Nakano’s celebration dinner, you’ve been constantly texting me as if we’re friends!” “But... we are still friends.. right?” He murmured, watching her closely. Her lips pressed into a thin line, “No. We are not friends. How could you think I’d be your friend after all that you’ve put me through?” He stared at the ground, guilt sprawled all across his face. “I’m sorry.” “I don’t need your apology. Just— don’t bother me anymore, please. I’ve had enough. Just leave me alone.” She yielded, tired of the burden that she’s been carrying. “Okay.” He said. “I won’t bother you anymore. I promise.” Relief seeped into her after hearing those words, definiteness embracing her. Without uttering a goodbye, she walked away from him, finally being able to breathe in the crisp air, all of the weight is no longer heavy on her. She can finally move on from those haunted memories of him. »»————-　➴　————-«« “Y/n! You’re gonna be late!” Kuroo yelled, hurrying her before they miss their bus. She sprints as fast as she can and interlock her fingers around him, stepping inside the vehicle. ~ “Y/n-chan! Are you gonna study that all day without eating?” He asked, concerned laced in his voice. She nods her head tiredly, forcing her eyes to stay awake. He sighed, grabbing her arm. “C’mon. Let’s go rest a bit and eat, okay? Afterwards, I’ll teach you that topic.” She hummed, letting herself be pulled up by him as he drags her to eat. After eating, she fell asleep on his shoulder due to staying up studying all night. He brushes her hair, staring at her fondly, admiration and infatuation glinted in his eyes. “Sleep well, Y/n-chan.” He kisses the top of her head, fluttering his eyes closed. ~ “Congrats on getting into your dream university, Y/n-chan.” Kuroo beamed at her, ruffling her hair. “Don’t you ever forget about me, okay?” ~ She blows her nose into the tissue, throwing it into the trash bin. “Ah... being ill is no fun.” She sniffed, watching the TV. Footsteps echoed on the other side of the room and she hid herself under the blanket, peeking at the mysterious intruder. “Y/n-chan, you should’ve told me if you were sick.” Kuroo eyed her, examining her frail figure. A sigh escaped his lips, “Well, Yaku brought some soup for you and I picked up the meds from the store earlier. Eat these up. Let me take care of you.” They spent the whole day, resting on the couch, watching soap opera whilst Kuroo occasionally helps her get snacks from the kitchen or the store.  ~ The tranquility comforts the both of them, arm to arm, avoiding each other’s gaze as butterflies swarm in their stomachs. She bit her lip, pondering about what’s on his mind when he suddenly spoke up. “We can’t be friends anymore... I will always see you as something else.” A startled gasp emitted from her as she gawked at him. “W— what?” Images of them furthering their friendship into something more pace in her head, leaving her eager and wanting to turn it into reality. He gathered every ounce of courage he had and held her gaze. “I’ve known you since... forever. I can’t imagine my life without you.” With shaky hands, she reached out to his touch, caressing his hand. “I feel the same way too.” Hopefulness surged up inside him, intertwining their fingers together. “I’m glad you do.” ~ Kenma recognized those expression of forlorn that etched on her face— eyes gleaming with dejectedness and tiredness. “What did Kuro do?” He blurted, sipping on the iced coffee. Watching intently, he noticed the way she slumped her shoulders and gaze ahead of her daydreams. “He left me.” Pinching the bridge of his nose, his other hand found its way to held her closely. “Well.. that sounds like something Kuro would do.” He rubbed her back, comforting her. “Why?” She asked meekly. Swallowing down the guilt, he explained. “Kuro.. he’s a complex person. Sometimes he does things without a solid reason. Maybe he left because he was getting too constrained in the relationship.” Upon hearing that, she broke down. Kenma hugged her, “It’s not your fault, I assure you. That’s just.. how he is, unfortunately.” »»————-　➴　————-«« Remembering Kenma’s words from the past; she felt as if she could finally let go of him. Seeing how completely different he is compared to when they grew up with each other then stumbling onto him now makes her realize that even after all these years— she still doesn’t know who Kuroo Tetsurou is. The anger dissipated into a limbo, just a mere reminder of what she used to feel when looking at him. Every traces of him melted away, the pain and dissatisfaction latched out of her and now all that’s left is the bitter memory of them together.

[dc41896]

Forbidden Words

Pairing: Chris EvansxBlack Reader

⚠️: Mild language, fluff💕

“Yange mommy!”

“You want more orange?! Keep going and that tiny belly of yours is gonna pop,” you smile tickling your daughter, Luna’s, sides and making her giggle. Peeling another Cutie, you hear the front door open followed by keys hitting the metal dish and Dodger’s nails tapping against the floor.

“Who is that?,” you excitedly gasp following your daughter’s bright eyes as her little legs kick from her booster seat.

“Daddy!!”

“Hi my la la lu!,” he smiles bending down to kiss the four year old’s slightly sticky cheeks. “How many of these have you eaten today huh?”

“She’s on her second, and final, one.” Turning towards you and sweetly kissing your lips, Luna slaps her palm on the table grabbing both of you guy’s attention while she lightly taps her cheek looking towards her father with a “muah!”

Chuckling, he returns back to the adorable little girl again kissing her cheek before blowing raspberries against her skin and making her wildly squeal.

“First you want all the oranges now you want all the kisses?”

“Aww tell mommy don’t be jealous. She gets plenty of kisses every night.”

“Chris!,” you laugh smacking his arm.

“What? She doesn’t know what I’m talking about. Look she’s forgotten about both of us and is back to her food.”

Dropping a slice on the ground in front of Dodger’s nose, she giggles watching him eat the piece of fruit seemingly in one bite. As she sticks out her hand, he excitedly sniffs expecting more food to fall from the sky only making her laugh more feeling his nose tickle her fingers.

“See? No harm done,” he winks walking in the kitchen preparing the kettle for his morning tea.

“Yea yea just don’t let it happen again Evans,” you reply laughing as he zips his lips before throwing away the key and saluting you. “Hey, can you watch her while I go shower and get dressed?”

“Of course go ahead.”

“Oh and no more oranges,” you playfully point at Luna as she points back trying to mimick your raised eyebrow but not quite getting there and cracking a toothy smile.

Swallowing her last slice, while you disappear upstairs, she reaches out towards her father clasping her hands open and closed. “Yange daddy!”

“Sorry love, mommy said no more.”

“Pwease?,” she asks looking up at him with sad brown eyes as he walks over to clean around her mouth and hands.

“Aw c’mon don’t give me the look lulu, you heard mommy.”

Although only being so young, she already knew how much of a softy her dad was. All she had to do was give him those soft, brown eyes, aka “the look,” and he was putty in her hands. Slightly hanging her head as he finished wiping the remaining juice from the corners of her mouth, he sighs picking up another Cutie and quickly peeling it before giving her a couple more slices.

“Alright Luna these are the very last slices okay? You can’t tell mommy I gave you more.” Nodding her head, she grabs the sweet fruit biting half of it with a smile while Chris shakes his head laughing at her reaction. Once finished, she happily holds her arms up ready to be released from her chair and able to roam around the living room. After cleaning her face a final time, he places her on the ground where she immediately runs to her toys with Dodger following close behind.

Hearing the kettle’s high pitched whistle, his attention diverts from Luna’s tea party with her dolls and bears and he moves towards the stove removing it and turning off the eye. Pouring the water in his black mug, a small amount misses it’s target landing on his thumb instead.

“Ow! Shit,” he whispers immediately shaking his hand while placing the kettle back on the stove.

“Shit!,” he hears making his head snap in Luna’s direction. Sitting on her Frozen pillow, she smiles up at Chris completely oblivious of what she just did.

“No no Luna don’t say that! That’s a bad word okay honey?”

“Okay.” Returning back to her tea party, Chris let’s out a breath of relief as he leans against the counter glad that you weren’t in the room to hear what happened.

“Hey everything good?,” you ask walking in the kitchen in your black sweats and NASA tee.

“Mhmm yea all good,” he nervously smiles handing you your own black mug with your favorite tea inside.

“You okay? You seem a little different from earlier?”

“Yea I’m totally fine. Nothing wrong at all,” he replies, mug covering his mouth as you stir honey into your drink confused on why he was acting weird.

Trying to push her toy stroller along the shaggy rug, the front wheel gets caught causing both her dolls to fall to the floor and her newly discovered word to return making Chris nearly choke trying to swallow his tea.

“Luna!,” you gasp setting your cup down. “Come here.” Slowly stepping up to you with her head hanging low, you pick her up tilting her chin so she could look at you.

“Don’t say that okay? That’s a very bad word kids shouldn’t say.”

“Sowry mommy, daddy.”

“It’s okay lulu, just forget about that word,” Chris smiles gently rubbing a thumb over her cheek as she softly giggles.

“Go back to your dolls, we’ll come play with you in a minute love.”

“Okay,” she smiles as you kiss her cheek and place her back on the ground watching her run to now play with Dodger.

“You knew about this didn’t you?”

“What? No I have no idea where she got that from.”

“Look me in the eyes and tell me that,” you smirk standing in front of him with arms crossed over your chest. Spreading his legs, he slightly squats to meet your eyes opening his mouth as if he was about to speak, but instead kissing all over your face making you laugh.

“Alright you got me, I’m sorry. I was pouring water in the mug and some got on my finger and it slipped out. I thought I was quiet though and she wasn’t listening.”

Sighing, you wrap your arms around his waist standing on the tip of your toes to kiss his neck before lying your head on his chest looking up at him. “It’s okay I know it was an accident, but you know what this means right?”

“I’m getting punished later..?,” he asks with a smirk making you lightly smack his chest as you both laugh.

“Technically yes, but not the fun way. We’re gonna have a swear jar.”

“Ugh, I feel like it’ll be easier to just give you all my money.”

“It won’t be that bad. It’ll only go in effect when Luna is awake and in the same room as us; then at the end of the month we’ll donate it in her name.”

“Okay sounds good. So what’s the prices?”

“Hmm....$5 for your basic curse words, $10 for variations like SOB, GD, stuff like that, and $15 for the b and f word. Deal?”

Reaching in his pocket, he pulls out his wallet removing a $5 bill and placing it on the table before leaning down to meet your soft lips with his.

“Deal.”

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[glenncoco4]

War Zone

A/N: Finally got around to this update. Chapter 3 coming at ya!

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

1 month later

Marty shuts the front door, and turns around only to be met with numerous boxes and is very excited wife as she comes up next to him, the smile that’s been on her face ever since early this morning, ever so present. Throwing his arm around her shoulders, he wraps her in a strong embrace, and places a kiss to the top of her head. “Home sweet home.”

Titling her head back, her chocolate orbs lock with those of ocean blue as they get lost in this monumental moment. “I can’t believe we just bought a house.”

“Mmmm. You know what we should do first?”

Without another word, she jumps up, wrapping her legs around his waist as he carries her up to their bedroom.

Once in the room Marty graciously throws his wife onto the bed, her jaw immediately dropping at his actions. A few seconds later she’s thriving in pain, cringing as she holds onto the arm that she landed on. “Ow, god.”

“Oh, shit, are you okay? Baby, I’m so sorry, I was just playing around.”

He’s just about to reach for her arm to check it out when she once again locks her thighs around his waist, pinning his arms to his sides. “I told you to never do that again.”

Now laying on top of her, locked in the death grip of her thighs, Marty can’t help but smile. His wife may look like the weaker of the two but she definitely takes him down more often than not. “But I love wrestling with you.”

“I’ll show you wrestling.” Using her weight to her advantage, Kensi flips them so that she’s now on top of him, still trapping him between her thighs.

“You know, maybe I should get you a cowboy hat seeing as though you like this position so much.”

She smirks, and scoots down his body, brining her heat right on top of his.

His eyes go wide as she grinds against the bulge that’s growing in his pants. “God, baby.” He’s just about to surrender when, she quickly jumps up, standing on the bed and looks down at him, grin on her face.

“Like I said, don’t mess with me.”

His head begins to bob up and down as she starts jumping on their new bed. Catching a glimpse of her smile, he’s reminded of how much joy she has. She’s seen so much in her life, yet is always able to find the happiness and love that life brings. He’s the only one that gets to see this side of her and that is one of best gifts he’s ever been given in life.

She begins laughing uncontrollably once her husband pops up and starts jumping with her. She feels like she’s floating, her life before Marty had been good, but with him is so much better. She’s able to relax and act like a dork with him. After a few minutes, they soon grow tired and fall onto the bed, panting, her head resting on his stomach as they stare at the ceiling.

Once they catch their breath, she turns to look at him and he’s already looking at her. His finger finding the strand of hair that’s fallen across her face, pushing it behind her ear, smiling. “I love you.”

XXXX

July 20, 2008

They’re making their way through the small Afghan village covered in dust, trying to get back to their camp when a resounding whistle that’s more like a catcall comes from behind.

“Hey, honey, I’ll be your prisoner of war!”

She snaps her head around, ready to give the guy a tongue lashing when she sees that shit eating grin that’s been plastered in her mind for many weeks now. “Well if it isn’t homeless Joe.”

“No, it’s me Marty.”

They share a smile as the distance between them lessens, both of them more excited than willing to admit being back in each other’s presence.

“I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“We just got here this morning.”

“How long?”

“Just for the night actually.”

His eyes light up at the thought of spending more time with this woman that’s been a frequent star of his thoughts and dreams.“Great, because I know just the place that makes the most delicious Aushak.”

“And?”

He nervously runs his fingers through his golden locks, a small hopeful smile playing at his lips. “And well, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to have dinner with me.”

The Petty Officer frowns which immediately makes his whole body deflate, when she knows she’s got him a toothy grin makes itself known on her face. “I guess I could move some things around.”

The photojournalist huffs a laugh, completely elated that she’s willing to give them a shot or at least go to dinner with him so they can get to know each other better.

A few hours later…

“This is so good.”

He’s mesmerized by how fast she’s scarfing down her food, not a care in the world and at the same time the most elegant beautiful creature he’s ever seen. “I know how to please my lady.”

“Your lady.” She quirks her brow, mouth still full of food.

He nods, assuring her that she heard right.“Yep!”

“So you think just because we’ve communicated almost everyday for two and a half months that makes me your lady?” Just saying it out loud makes her heart beat faster. This man that so unexpectedly walked into her life has affected her in a way that no man ever has before. Any time he’s free, she gets a phone call or a text and they’re in the middle of the desert in a war zone for crying out loud.

“Yeah, cause you know why?”

“Why?”

He pinches a piece of his dark blue dry fit, flashing her a smile.“You see this shirt. It’s made of boyfriend material.”

She snorts, unable to hold back her smile. “Has that ever worked?”

Marty’s brow pinches, nodding slowly. “Yeah, plenty-plenty of times.”

She rolls her eyes, obviously seeing right through his “macho” facade.

“Okay, no.”

“That’s what I thought.” Without thinking, she reaches over the table, taking some food off his plate as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

XXXX

Present 

He smiles fondly at the memory of their first date, so vividly playing out in his mind. “God, I was so nervous about asking you out that night. It’s all I had been thinking about for the last two months.”

“I have that effect on men.”

“Yeah. You do.”

“Hey.” She laughs, swatting playfully at his chest.

Marty leans up, resting on his elbows, his eyes locking with his love. “What, you can be intimidating sometimes.”

“But I guess you were immune?”

“You could say that. Or maybe you were caught off guard by my rugged handsomeness.”

“You wish.” As the words come out of her mouth, they both know it’s a lie.

That cocky grin spreads to his lips, the one that she hates to admit that she loves, because he’s right. He did catch her off guard. “Oh, no, baby. I know.”

XXXX

Midnight July 21, 2008

Dinner had been amazing to say the least, they laughed, told stories and in between those moments were pockets of silence as they enjoyed each other’s company. They made is back to camp just at about midnight. Even though he knew she could take care of herself, he thought it was only right to make sure she got back to her quarters safely. “Nice place.”

“Being in charge has its perks.” She sends him a pearly white smile.

“So when do get your next leave?”

“5 weeks from today.” Her face lights up at the realization. It’s been so long since she’s had some R&R, and she for one cannot wait. “What about you?”

He shrugs, giving the SEAL a barely there smile. “Not really sure yet. I’ve been working on this big story and I have a feeling that it’s gonna come to ahead within the next 6 weeks or so.”

Suddenly his change in demeanor makes sense, she knows of the stories that he reports on, and the effect this place can have on a person. She knows he can take care of himself, but it still worries her knowing that he’s basically out there all alone in these dangerous places.“You’ll be careful, right?”

He smiles, closing the distance between them, invading her personal space. His finger delicately traces the side of her face, moving the strand of hair behind her ear. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”

A blush rises to her cheeks, god she’s in the middle of a war and flirting with a man. “Not really, no.”

“You’re so beautiful, Kens.”

Her eyes dart from his to his lips and then back again. She slowly leans forward, her lips meeting his making explosions go off in her head. Falling in love in a war zone, yeah, that makes a whole lotta sense.

XXXX

Present

He continues to play with her hair, as they lay curled together in bed in their new house…that they just bought. “You know something.”

She smile and takes the notion to sit up, maneuvering so that she’s now laying practically on top of him, inches between their faces. “I know a lot of somethings.”

“I always felt secure knowing that the military was there if I ever needed them. But once I met you, even though we weren’t with each other half the time, I felt more safe than I ever did in my life knowing that you were out there watching my six.”

“Always.” Her nails lightly scratch his beard. “And I felt safe knowing that you were there, getting bad ass shots of me being an action star.”

He nods in agreement, thinking about all the times that they were in the field together, making the world better in their own right. No matter how much time they had together, he would always make it a point to get a shot of her. “I do have to admit that most of my shots of you have gotten me through some lonely nights.”

“Perv.”

His arms find their way around the small of her back and pull her even closer into his body. “Hey, you’re my wife. It’s like the law.”

“If you say so.”

“But now..” He closes the distance between them, pressing his lips to hers. “Now I have the real thing and it's SOOOO much better.”

She can’t help but sigh in contentment. Everything is changing and she for one is so much happier knowing that she’ll actually get to wake up and go to sleep in her husband’s arms every day. “Mmmm, you got that right.”

[popculturebuffet]

Donald Duck Birthday Special!: 12 Donald Shorts!

Happy Birthday to my faviorite duck! As you can probably guess from my previous Ducktales reviews Donald Duck is my faviorite of the classic disney gang. As an angry but well meaning, sometimes lazy sometimes hardoworing and always out of his depth guy really spoke to me for obvious reasons and my love of him made me check out life and times and well you know the rest.  But weirdly, until last month i’d hardly seen any of his theatrical shorts. I grew up as a “Tom and Jerry” and “Looney Tunes” kid, and with Disney never playing them on disney channel for whatever reason (even with the ones they really CAN’T play there’s dozens they sure as hell can), I just never had any real intrest. But then Louie’s Eleven happened , I was starved for Donsy content and thus rewatched Mr.Duck Steps out, and most of her filmography, skipping the ones where she’s the miserable wife from every sitcom... more on that later, and with one exception. So I wanted to review them.. but quickly reailzed that with 6 minutes for most shorts there’s not a ton to dig into, so I decided after finding out his birthday was next month to take a handful and pile them in here, review them and see what makes my boy so great, what dosen’t, and look at the good the bad and the holy shit did he just point a shot gun at that poor defensless animal of Donald Fauntleroy Duck. We get this party started under the cut. 

For funsies since, unlike most things I cover, every episode has a gif on here i’m going to use the gif keyboard to look up an image for the cartoon.. and if not well.. whatever’s there will have to do. 

1. The Wise Little Hen (1934) A charming little short that I rewatched today to get on the docket, and i’m glad I did. The plot is very simple: A Hen and her 8 chicks are planting, then harvesting corn. For each task they ask Peter Pig, Local dick and the Rusty Spokes of 1934, and Donald Duck, our boy looking very diffrent, for help. Peter just says who me then runs off while Donald fakes a bellyache. Both get their compuance when the Hen and her 8 chicks make a ton of goodies from the corn and decide to eat it all themselves, while donald and peter give themselves an ass kicking. 

I genuinely wish this is how life worked: Your bad, take advantage of people and your reward is not taking their beinfits and snickering but having to kick each other in the tuckuss on loop.. you know instead of the Peter Pigs of the world blaming people for getting maced in the face by stormtroopers. Sigh.  That aside it’s just a fun, charming short with great animation, and a great look for Donald. I do genuinely love his first look, even if it’d later be eased down to perfection. And there’s plenty of fun gags and great music. Overal a solid A short.  

2. Moving Day (1936) As you can see from the GIF this one isn’t strictly donald, we’re still one away from a starring role. After annoying the shit out of Mickey in the classic’s “The Orphans Benefit” and “The Band Concert” , Donald soon became his regular sidekick alongside Goofy. Both would quickly breakout and this short is apparent why as Mickey is a side character in his own labeled short.  The setup is somehow, after 84 years, STILL relevant to modern day. Basically Mickey and Donald are tennants who haven’t for whatever reason, paid their rent and are 6 months behind. And sure they could just be obnoxious squatters doing it onlyf or their art who shriek like banshees the moment their asked to actually pay rent, but thankfully this isn’t RENT, or else I would’ve jumped out of a window by now. No given this is the depression, their likely trying to hold onto their house and meager posessions for as long as they can while work is incredibly scarce... not like.. now.. ha .. ha. ha.... I may take the window up on it’s offer after all.  Anyways, our valiant heroes decide to try and cram everything they can into their friend Goofy’s milk truck while Pete’s busy putting up signs to advertise him trying to sell their shit to make up his back rent. WHich translates to a bit of mickey doing that and most of the short being spent with donald fighting a rug and Goofy being outsmarted by a piano. Both are utterly hilarious and prove why these two became far more popular, and overall the short’s a damn good timea nd our heroes win by still getting a pile of possesions out while their antics destroy the rest so pete gets nothing! Horay! They can sleep at goofy’s place! Now moving on from crushing reality, it’s animal cruelty! 

3. Don Donald (1937) I wasn’t kidding. Yeahhh this was donald’s first full, not attached to Pluto for some reason or an adorable chicken family or his mousy overlord short. Don Donald. Donald’s in mexico, for some reason and wooing a lady, in this case Daisy prototype, Donna Duck as seen in the header image. I like her, they have a diffrent dynamic, both being kind of tempramental and flirty instead of that being just ONE of donald and daisy’s dynamics. Others being muttually supportive and adorable (Ducktales and Quack Pack) or daisy being the wife from according to jim, or last man standing, or my wife and kids, or king of queens, or the george lopez show, or everybody loves raymond, or ... you know what i’m depressed enough from the last two shorts you get it. But you know without Donald being an obnoxious asshole who views every guy his daughter dates like a horny degernate who just wants to get in there and overreacts to everything involving them and makes me pray for death but death wont come.... I may not like classic daisy very much. Moving on.  That being said as you can tell from the donkey abuse donald.. ihs a fucking asshole in this one.. and not the loveable asshole he is in the band concert mind you I mean he’s less brent sienna and more tucker carleson. He laughs at his girlfriends misforutunes and hit shis burro and then tries to trade it in for a car.. which he does. He gets his commupance and all but yeah.. it’s deeply uncomfortable to watch him abuse this animal for half the runtime. Trading it in is one thing, but he’s still an utter dick to it.A short that COULD’VE been fun that instead is just uncomfortable, even given the time it takes place in. 

4. Donald’s Ostrich (1937) Donald works at a distant train station taking care of various cargo that comes in and ends up having to care for an adorable ostrich named hortense. Hyjinks, especially once she swallows Donald’s Radio, insue. This short.. is a MASSIVE step up from don donald. INstead of uncomfortable animal abuse donald just gets frustrated with an ostrich and battered round a bit, and tries to cure her hiccups. My faviorite bit is when hortense arrive, and stands up with a box on her,a nd donald goes under her gives a greatly delivered by Clarence Nash “what’s going on around here” before hortense sits on him. Really funny. And yes Hortsense is a regular ostrich. And yes that paradox has been around this long. But this one’s way funnier, way more charming and really damn adorable and dosen’t remind me of the crushing horrors of real life so yeah. A+. There’s only one short I like as much and it’s coming up. 

5. Modern Inventions (1937) Another one from his first year and another classic. Basically donald deals with various inventions in a “house of the future” type attractions, gets ruffled by them and the robot butler seen above steals his hat with a dry brtiish “your hat sir” while donald adorably pulls one out of thin air in increasingly creative ways. Again plotwise these shorts are simple but by now they figured out what made donald work: getting frustrated sure but with him being a relatable every man and sometimes trickster as seen here with the hats and him pulling that old coin on a string trick. 

He also dresses up like a baby at one point and i’ts weird but oddly funny... but yeah donald is in peak form here and this one is another clear A+, if for the running robot gag alone as donald keeps puttingon new hats and the robot has a truly spectacular design.

 6. Donald’s Better Self (1938)

Now for a weird one.. not the most surreal thing on our list, despite you know a devil version of donald popping out of his mailbox, but it’s damn close because you know, Donald as Satan popping out of his mailbox.  In short Donald is cast as a school aged child.... you know what’s coming. 

And you may say “Well jake they were just experimenting and his age was vauge at first” and to that I say, with no joke Huey Dewey and Louie debuted THIS SAME YEAR. Even given how adaptable older cartoon characters are, and they are it’s part of the charm, and tha’ts fine.. this is a bit over the line. Oh and it gets weirder as donald has the standard cartoon angel and devil arguging over his actions things.. only here the Angel and Devil are donald sized, and again fighting over the soul of a chid in the body of a 30 year old man, literally in some cases, ending with said devil encouraging donald to smoke before he and the angel get into a fistfight. While not an especially GOOD short, you have to admit.. it’s unique.. batshit but unique and worth at least one watch. 

7. Donald’s Penguin (1938)

The second in our trilogy within a series of “Donald gets a pet” shorts, this one start’s out fine, Donald gets an adorable penguin named Tootsie from “Colonel bird” and does cute things like immitate it’s walk or what not while Tootsie is a grumpus. Fun stuff. Then tootsie apparenlty eats Donald’s fish, and donald spanks the poor bird. Now this pissed off some people on Letterboxd but me, while it’s slightly distressing, it was 1938: while spanking was NEVER a great thing, it was acceptable back then and as far as Donald knew Toottsie knew not to eat the fish, Donald had told him no adorably, and did it anyway. So donald goes to get an apology trout, which he just.. has for some reason out of the ice box and uh.. things take a turn from “it was accpetable at the time” to “HOLY SHIT”...  Tootsie decides fuck it and eats the fish and uh... Donald.. how do I put this calmly.. ahemahem okay... DONALD GRABS A FUCKING SHOT GUN AND CHASES HIM AROUND, THEN ONLY BACKS OUT AT THE LAST SECOND, A SHORT FIRES, AND HE MOURNS WHAT HE THINKS IS HIS DEAD PENGUIN. We then get a cute shot at the end but holy shit.While Elmer fudd is one thing since he’s A) the bad guy and B) is indeed trying to kill a wild animal he has a lisence for instead of his fucking pet whose a protected species if those existed back then, this is just... like the donkey abuse, deeply uncomfortable. It’s one thing to spank a pet, even up to the 90′s that was acceptale and still is in some circles, but it’s another to try and murder it over a slight infraction. Just.. jesus christ. I want Tootsie back too, this was objectivley terrifying. Let’s move on. 

8. Mr Duck Steps Out (1940)

Ahhhh yes the short about dancing that brought me to the dance. This one is, without a shred of second guessing, which for my anxious self is a miracle, my faviorite both of this batch and in general.  The short is about Donald trying to go on a date with Daisy at her house, and his nephews inviting themselves along and trying to ruin there uncle’s every attempt at getting romantic with wacky hyjinks. That’s.. basically the plot.. as you can tell these things are very light on plot but here that’s all you need.  A few things to note. 1) The boys are VERY much in their early characterization, i.e., their all assholes instead of “All huey 2k17 but dialed down a notch” or “karmic tricksters working against their uncle’s ego”, though they’d ocassionally dip into this in the 80′s ducktales depending on the episode, especially if webby was around, and shove their face into it and inhale deeply like me with the hidden mountain of cocaine hidden under my basement.   The second is that Daisy has a duck voice, much like Donna did for this short and only this one. It’s not too distracting given she barely speaks, though she has more than enough body language to make up for it, it’s just.. odd.. especailly since it means Clarence Nash, donald’s voice actor, is voicing EVERYONE in the short and doing a terrific job of it.  Even weirder is Disney would later redub a shortned version for Disney Channel in the 2010′s that had their modern voice actors (Donald Aselmo, Tress Macneil and Russi Taylor, god rest her soul) re-dub it and it just feels all kinds of wrong despite the three being excellent va’s. I dunno the cleaner modern audio just feels wonky coming out of the old 40′s short.  But despite it’s oddities the short really has fun, from the iconic little dance donald does at the start...

Serioulsy I freaking love that dance and his outfit. To the little laughs donald gives when telling daisy “HA, I brought my nephews ha” like a 40′s tommy wiseau, to him roaring in a lion skin to the ending which is just pure adorable and nice because Donald actually GETS to win, especially because half of all donald shorts or comics where he’s sympathetic end up with Donald miserable and beaten up and me like this. 

Instead Daisy kisses him all over and over again, until the night goes dancing. 

Overal a fun, fast paced short about Donald trying to get laid and the gold standard of Donald Duck shorts. Two more things before I move on. This was co-written by disney comics legend Carl Barks, and it shows, and i’d be remiss if Id idn’t mention this bit of Daisy, after playfully shoving donald away when he coyly asks for a kiss, giving him a come hither signal with her butt.. which is somehow hot. Don’t ask me how.

And with that mental image we move on. What do we got next?

9. The Spirit of 43 (1943)

Ah yes propaganda! and the first one I couldn’t find a gif for. I watched this one because it’s another Barks one, he worked on several of these and was also the one who suggested not having HDL be assholes all the time as he felt, rightly, it’d get old after a while, and because it has protypes for scrooge and gladstone, and is thus one of the only shorts Scrooge is in and the only classic one... And like Donald’s Better Self it’s fucking weird. It’s all propganda no joke as ONCE AGAIN, yes AGAIN, two figures battle for Donald’s soul, this time a scottish man encouraging him to save and donate and a sleezy huckster encouraging him to spend for himself.. even though spending in bars and what not helps the economy and gives the bartender money to stay open during such trying times, but whatever. Also the huckster aka proto gladstone turns into hitler.. yes really.. and Donald then punches him through a swastika captain america style because donald duck is hardcore. Trust me this is somehow NOT a cocaine induced fever dream I had. Not a great one but like Donald’s Better Self worth at least one watch, in this case in additiont o the insantiy for the historical value of seeing two prototypes for Carl Barks most iconic characters. 

10. Sleepy Time Donald (1947)

As you can tell this one’s way more wholesome and way less of a drug trip. Donald goes sleepwalking and Daisy, realizing it, plays along so he dosen’t wake up and goes thorugh the motions of one of their dates. Very simple, ending with Donald thinking he’s the sleepwalker before she conks him out, and very adorable as while Donald isn’t concious, and has a boot on his head, we see what a standard date for them is like when Daisy is being written well as they strut around the park, he proposes, it’s all really damn cute and if you like these two together, you’ll really enjoy this one. Not much else to say other than it’s really precious and really funny and creative. Kinda hard to follow up Donald duck punching out hitler. 

11. Daddy Donald (1948)

Another quick one and the end of the “donald gets an animal” trilogy. First off, while I only got one gif from this short, I DID get this lovely image under “Daddy Donald” in Tumblr’s gif search thing

Awwwww. Anyways, Donald adopts a kangaroo like it was a baby, it’s kind of weird, not as weird as the above. He and Joey slowly bond, while he gets directions on what to do from the lady at the adoption place over the phone and hyjinks insue. Kind of cute but not quite reaching the heights of “Donald’s ostrich or the first hal fof “Donald’s Penguin” and not being quite as surreal as Double LIfe or Donald Punches Hitler.. which is what Spirit of 43 should’ve been named. I mean at least “De Fuherer’s Face” had a memorable name. But yeah not one of hte more notable ones and I mostly included it to round out the trilogy. Speaking of trilogy’s to close out this celebration of Donald, one of the last shorts and the last one featuring Daisy, and the inspriation fo rher Ducktales outfit. Donald’s Diary. 

12. Donald’s Diary (1954) Well.. this is basically one half of a good short ending in a lot of misogny. I could end it there but there is a lot to this short. It basically has donald, weridly in a clearly voiced narration talking about his courtship with Daisy as she first tries to get his attention and he’s oblivious.

Then she uses a rope trap and we get this iconic image which is concentrated awwwww. 

Then they date, Daisy’s implied to have dated a bunch of guys which was a bad thing in the 50′s but is perfectly resonable in 2020, and he meets her brothers, basically huey dewey and louie standins and her.. parents. Yes apparnetly donald’s parents have to be implicitly dead by present day, but Daisy’s can be alive. Weird ain’t it? It’s pretty adorable, has some great gags and we even get him proposing and them marrying!  And then the shoe drops.. yeah the rest of the short is how she expects him to GASP work all day , fair enough but then GASP do all the chores.. which is bad but the short implies it’s because he’s the man and she’s the woman and she should do housework. It’s actually bad because marriage is an equal partnership and while asking him to do a chore or too after working all day is fine just fine, asking him to do EVERYTHING while you do nothing is abusive and terrible and i’ve seen it actually happen in my friend’s previous marriage. So yeah this message can fuck off. And I knokw standards of the time, penguins having shotguns pointed at them etc but there’s not having aged well but being able to ignore it and there’s this.  And then she procedes to spousally abuse him and work him to the bone, and then he wakes up, and assuming ALL marraige sare like this dosen’t end up proposing leaving the poor girl wondering what the fuck she did to upset him. Real fucking cute guys. Seriously just.. part of the reason this part bothers me so much is MANY people think this is what marriage is like, like a fucking terrible sitcom. Life isn ot like home improvment or according to jim, or my wife and kids or king of queens or family guy, or you get my point again and yes I reused some their that bad.. even now we get stuff like man with a plan. It annoys me because 70+ years later and while it’s getting better this same lazy comedy still happens! and much like king of queens wasted the late great jerry stiller, this short wastes great animation and a great first half to tell a terrible story. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and is a bleh note to end on. Watch the first half because it’s adorable, end it at the wedding.  IN conclusion Donald’s shorts are a mixed bag but as you could tell some are truly spectacular and some are worth the spectacle and all have terrific animation and effort put in, evne when they didn’t deserve it and as such I couldn’t think of a better way to honor donald’s birthday than with these animators hard, well worth it efforts. Even when it wasn’t great, it was still somewhat fun. So happy birthday old friend and here’s to many more. Later Days.

[short-wooloo]

No, RWBY is not Game of Thrones now

I just...

I can’t even...

How do you...

What the fuck?

Hhhhhhhmmmmmmm...

Okay,

Now in response to Clover’s death, I’ve seen some people claiming that because of this RWBY is now or is becoming Game of Thrones.

What.

Why?  What is it that makes RWBY now GoT?  The fact that a character died because that’s one of the things people remember Game of Thrones for?  Hate to break it to ya, but this is not the first time a character has died, and for that matter RWBY still is restrained with character deaths, Clover being somewhere between the 10th-13th death of a named character,  and on top of that most of the confirmed deaths in RWBY have happened near the end of a Volume, as does Clover’s, and the deaths that don’t occur near the end are typically minor characters only introduced just recently (Forest, that Hunter RNJR met in the village in Vol 4), compared to GoT, where at its height (seasons 2-5) characters would die at any point in a season, RWBY saves its important deaths for the end,

Do people think that this is bad writing like the final seasons of GoT?  That Clover’s death was solely for shock value?  I fail to see how it is, when something is done for shock value it is typically out of nowhere or something the audience could not see coming, done only for the purpose of shocking the audience, and so I ask, is it really “shocking” that a character who is a 5th member of a team (in a show that emphasizes teams of 4), who has a good luck based superpower-which is some major red flags, especially when you consider that despite Qrow having a bad luck power it has not yet proven fatal to himself, was stabbed in the back by a deranged serial killer?

Speaking of Tyrian, I think part of what made the kill so “shocking” is that in spite of all the hyping up he’s gotten, this is the first time Tyrian has killed a relevant character, especially when you compare him to our other violent, maniac, psychopath, Adam, who has been shown making a few kills (mostly of no-name goons, but also Sienna) and has permanently maimed one of the main characters, that and I think that a lot of people did not take Tyrian as seriously compared to Adam, as I said, they’re both violent psychotic, maniacs, but they’re madness is displayed differently, Adam’s is show through unfocused impotent rage and tantrums, whereas Tyrian’s is decidedly “goofy” (the guy took a minute during his escape to put a hat on), it may not be the intention, but this behavior coupled with a lack of clear body count/permanent impact on the main characters, could have caused viewers to not take him as seriously as they should have, forgetting that he is a deranged, fanatical serial killer, and what else would he do in a fight where he had an opening for a fatal blow?

Now some people might see the “team-up” between Qrow and Tyrian as “bad writing” or being out of character, and I supposed it would be...  If it was a team-up

Other’s have pointed this out better than I will now, but Qrow hardly teams up with Tyrian, rather he keeps attacking him, but the issue is from Clover, who keeps going for Qrow instead of the on-the-loose serial killer, thus forcing Qrow not to fight with Tyrian, but to fight an enemy Tyrian is also fighting, and as can be seen in the fight, Tyrian is manipulating the fight by throwing/pushing Qrow into Clover

Speaking of, Clover acted completely in-character during all of this, nothing previously indicated that he would side against Ironwood, Clover has always followed his orders and never questioned them regardless of whether they’re right or how he may feel about them, that’s not what the ACE-OPs do, and he is the leader and best of them so why would he?  Why would Ironwood choose someone who questions/goes against orders as leader his elite team when Ironwood has shown that he values loyalty and obedience?  Clover arrested RWBYJNROQ for being hunters without licenses (even though the adult responsible for them did) when all they did was protect people from Grimm, and was completely silent and compliant with ideas such as arresting Robyn and declaring martial law, and in the case of fighting Qrow, he had orders to arrest him, Clover doesn’t question orders regardless of how he feels, and this was a new order compared to be ordered to apprehend Tyrian, who was already arrested when the fight began, and Tyrian had only really hurt Mantle, which Clover had been ordered to abandon so I doubt it really mattered to him whether Tyrian was caught compared to Qrow who could threaten Atlas (Ironwood), and as his Amity Arena card says his loyalty is to Atlas, and as is clear by Ironwood and his chosen elite Mantle ranges from an annoyance to not mattering to them

Lastly we have Queerbaiting and Bury Your Gays, and other’s explain it better and I’m tired so lets speedrun this:

Neither is the case

Y’all just convinced yourself that Clover was Gay and that Fairgame was the endgame

Queerbaiting is marketing/teasing LGBTQ+ content/characters then pulling the rug out and saying PSYCH!  Clover was not marketed as LGBTQ+, you headcanoned him as such

Bury Your Gays is reducing/removing gay characters from a narrative, Clover is not confirmed to be Gay, Bi, etc, (yes, yes, I know some animators showed support for Fairgame, but animator’s do not determine the story) he certainly has a connection with Qrow but its not clear if its a friendship or a romantic one, it certainly could have grown to be romantic if given more time, but we’ll never know, and even if he was gay this would not be BYG because there are still plenty of LGBTQ+ characters and growing in RWBY, being gay does not give you invincibility, having a character be immune from harm because they’re gay is just as bad as killing off characters because they’re gay

On that note I’ll say this, even if they were romantic, or built-up to be, Clover still dies, because he still prioritizes following orders and ignored the psychopath he should have been fighting, sorry if I’m speaking ill of the dead here, but most of Clover’s death was his own fault

Here’s a little something about build-up, just because you have it doesn’t mean there will be pay-off, fiction has taught us that all build-up needs to have payoff, but that’s not how thing are, not everything gets a conclusion, romantic build-up can be cut short, people can die or lose interest in one another, maybe build-up with one person is a part of them realizing they’re interest in someone else, building-up to that

[rossmccallsqueen]

Join Us? (Ben Hardy x Joe Mazzello x Reader smut)

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Joe Mazzello x Reader

Summary: You and Joe get a little excited before an award show, and ask Ben to join you after. 

Warnings: LOTS OF SMUT, threesome, dirty talk

Word count: 1.9K

A/N: This is based on the video joe posted of him and Ben, I just happened to get a little creative. Hope y’all enjoy! If you’d like to be added to my permanent tag list please send me an ask!

Another night, another red carpet. You had lost count of the amount of award shows the boys were going to for borhap, and honestly you’d stopped counting after the first few. But you loved seeing your boyfriend Joe in a suit, so you definitely weren’t going to object either. For the evening you had decided on a sparkly silver and blue floor length gown, which showed off your figure quite nicely. 

“Well suit Y/N! You look bloody amazing.” Ben said when he walked into the hotel room you were all sharing for the afternoon to get ready. 

“Excuse me Ben, that’s my girlfriend there.” Joe chimed in from the bathroom. You just rolled your eyes. For someone who looked like a cute teddy bear, Joe made sure everyone knew you were his. 

“Just appreciating her beauty Joseph, no law against that.” Ben winked at you. You winked back, and that’s when you got the idea. You just had to make sure Joe would be okay with it, but you had a feeling he would be. He already had a bromance with Ben anyway. 

“Joseph honey, can I come in there for a minute?” You asked, almost too innocently.

“Sure babe.” 

You walked up behind him and wrapped your arms around his waist. Slowly you led your hand down to the waistband of his pants, and rugged at the zipper.

“Y/N! We have to leave in like 10 minutes.”

“That’s plenty of time.” You said kissing different parts of his back.

“Not with you in that gorgeous dress it isn’t.” He brought your hand up from his crotch and kissed each one of your fingers one by one.

“Then can I make a suggestion?” The tone in your voice caused Joe to raise his eyebrows a little.

“Always.” 

“Why don’t we invite Ben to join us tonight? He just wants to appreciate my beauty after all...”

“You think he’d want to?!”

“Joe, have you met Ben?” You raised your eyebrows this time. Ben literally radiated sexual energy constantly, so of course he would be interested. It was an offer he wouldn’t be able to refuse.

“Good point. We should ask him then. How about on the red carpet? I’d love to get his reactions caught on camera.” And to think you thought you had a good idea, Joe was coming up with them too. 

“Love you babe.” You kissed his cheek before going to check yourself one more time in the full length mirror.

“Okay everyone let’s go!” You heard Gwil yell from the hallway. The award show was right next door, but you all had to take a limo anyway. Had to do the whole arrival bit and everything. Although in these heels, you didn’t exactly mind having to take the limo. 

When the 5 of you got out of the limo, there were already a billion cameras taking pictures of you. Of course you took all of your group shots together as you made your way down the carpet. The boys were presenting tonight, as well as being nominated for something for BoRhap. Eventually you separated for individual pictures, but you and Joe invited Ben to join you for a few. 

“Ben, Y/N and I have something to ask you.” Joe said while you looked at various cameras.

“What’s up mate?” Ben said, also not looking away from the cameras.

“Would you like to join Y/N and I after the show?” You looked over at Ben and could see his eyes opening wide.

“What?!?!”

“Would you like to join us tonight Benjamin?” You asked him, still smiling.

“Like... a threesome?” Ben asked. You and Joe both nodded. “Fuck yeah I do.” You knew he’d say yes. Now that you’d asked, it was the only thing you’d be able to think about. You had no idea how you’d get through the whole award show now. Not when you’d be sitting in between Ben and Joe the whole time. 

Once you got to your seats, it wasn’t too long before the show was starting. You would never get used to being around so many famous people. Lots of people were being honored tonight, so you had to try and get your plans for later that night out of your head.

Once the show started, someone was getting an award for you had no idea what, and your mind started to wander again. Joe’s fingers were playing with the sides of your dress, and when you looked down you noticed Ben’s fingers were too. Fuck these boys were going to kill you. 

“Would the two of you knock it off? We have like 2 hours left.” You slapped their hands away. 

“You’re the one who brought it up Y/N. It’s only right that we get to tease you.” Ben told you, and when you looked over at Joe for support he was nodding in agreement.

“Come on you guys...” You begged. But they didn’t let up. They would do subtle things, like play with your hair, and tug at your dress. So you got even, and decided to do the same thing to them. The boys had to get up to present their award, so you were left all by your lonesome. Your eyes focused on Joe and Ben the whole time, and you could tell that Joe was visibility uncomfortable. Was that fucker hard already? You thought. He definitely was. He put his hands in the same place the whole time. 

Once the boys were done they made their way back to you. 

“So when’s the one you’re nominated for up again?” You asked when Joe and Ben took their seats again.

“Shut up.” They both said at the same time, shooting you dagger eyes in the process. You were having fun now, and you wouldn’t let them ruin it. For the rest of the night, both of them tapped their fingers against your legs, rapidly you might add. It was like the second they accepted the award, the two of them got you out of there.

“Don’t you guys have to go make a thank you speech to the press?”

“Not today we don’t.” Joe told you. His hand was on the small of your back and Ben was pulling you harder than you thought he could. 

“Joe you got the key mate?” Joe tossed Ben the room key and unlocked it. Quickly you went inside and Ben made sure to get the deadbolt. You didn’t want anyone walking in on you. 

“Okay, so what are the rules? I’m a guest here.” Ben said, already undressing. Joe was unzipping your dress for you while he asked.

“Condoms, obviously. You each have to make me cum at least once. Absolutely nothing goes in my ass. Understood?” Both Joe and Ben nodded eagerly. Joe and Ben shared a look, as if they had an unsaid understanding. Ben knew he was a guest, and you were Joe’s.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” Ben asked one more time.

“YES. Now would one of you get inside me already?!” You almost yelled. Joe raised an eyebrow, and went to work with his tongue instead. His tongue went up and down your folds so fast your back arched off the bed, and your hands reached for something to grab for. 

Ben saw his chance, and immediately put his cock right next to you. You grabbed onto it and started pumping him. You played with his balls a little bit, and you heard him take in a sharp breath. When Joe knew you were distracted, he stuck a few of his fingers in your folds along with his tongue. The only noises you could hear was the wetness if your pussy with Joe’s fingers thrusting in and out.

Ben was breathing heavily, and leaned down to take one of your nipples into his mouth. He began leaving love bites wherever he could, and you were absolutely loving it.

“Hey wait for me!” Joe said, and brought his mouth up to where Ben was. The both of them were leaving marks all over you. Ben teased one nipple and Joe the other. 

“Kiss each other.” You ordered. You knew it would be hot. Ben and Joe looked at each other, nodding that it was okay for them to do so to each other. As you watched the new of them makeout, you could feel yourself getting even wetter.

“One of you needs to get inside me NOW.” You said, a power in your voice. 

“Yes ma’am!” Ben pulled away, and made his way to your downstairs. He waisted no time, put the condom on, and began pounding in and out of you. While Ben thrusted into you ruthlessly, Joe brought his hand to your clit and began rubbing as hard as he could.

“Fuck, fuck- BEN. FUCK. JOE, DO NOT STOP.” You screamed, grabbing onto Ben’s beautiful blonde hair.

“That’s it princess, show Ben how pretty you look when you cum. Go ahead baby.” Joe said gently, still going to work with his hand. 

“FASTER BEN. NOW.” You yelled, and Ben listened immediately. You didn’t know someone could move that fast, and before you knew it he was leaning over you ready to cum himself. Your walls clenched around him, and you came undone. Not long after did Ben do the same, kissing a trail along your neck. Before he pulled out, he gave both you and Joe a kiss as well.

“Damn Joe, she’s beautiful like that.” Ben said.

“Oh I know. Are you ready for me princess? Ben get up here and leave some more marks. We want to remember this.” Joe instructed.

“I’m always ready for you baby.” You responded, taking in another sharp breath when you saw Ben begin to play with your already sensitive nipple. Your pussy was still sensitive from Ben, but you didn’t care. Joe flipped you over onto all fours, so Ben was now laying under you, alternating between sucking on each breast.

Joe was too excited and began thrusting into you. After watching Ben do that to you, he knew he wasn’t going to last long. Joe was somehow pounding in harder than Ben had, making your pussy even more sensitive. Before long, you could feel that familiar pit in your stomach once again.

“RIGHT THERE JOE. RIGHT THERE. FASTER. FUCK FUCK. DO NOT STOP.” You yelled, which definitely encouraged him. Soon, you were coming so violently you were shaking. 

“I’m gonna cum babe! FUCK.” Joe yelled, and stilled inside of you. He left kisses up and down your back. He gave you a minute before he pulled out. You laid down at the top of the bed, with Joe and Ben on either side of you. Their legs were entangled with yours, and it was perfect.

“Hey buddy.” Ben said to Joe.

“Hey there.” Joe said with a small laugh.

“The two of you will be the death of me.” You said from the middle. You looked at Joe and gave him one more kiss, and the two of you shared a look. You would DEFINITELY be asking Ben to join you again soon. 

Taglist: @borhap-socials 

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Rocking the Boat 5

A/n: AU Story that doesn’t go by the show 

Link to Chapter 4

Words: 3,411

Pairings: Gabriel x Reader / Dean x Cas

______

You sat thinking about Jack, Dean, and Cas until the door opened and Gabriel walked in. One look at the archangel told you how annoyed he was. 

“Are you okay?”

You asked. Gabriel raised an eyebrow as he sat down beside you.

“I should be the one asking you if you are okay. You just kind of had a rug pulled out from underneath you out there.

You laughed bitterly. 

“You just found out that you have a nephew. That was kind of pulling the rug out from underneath you moment too.” 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t even want to think about that at the moment. That is a disaster waiting to happen. Doesn’t matter if the kid seems nice as can be. Lucifer is the kids father...that is like asking someone to shoot with you a gun and not bleeding.” 

You really hadn’t thought about the gravity of the situation. Now you felt a bit ignorant and selfish. You were beginning to fully grasp how huge this was! 

“This is really serious isn’t it, Gabe?”

Gabriel stood up and went to peak out the window. He frowned, slightly surprised that there wasn’t a bunch of angels trying to kick the door down. 

“Yeah, sugar. It really is. Moving away from that because that isn’t what I came here to talk about…”

“I’ll be fine. I was just....shocked.” 

Gabriel snorted. 

“Shocked? Really, princess? Shocked is all that you could come up with? Sweetheart, I saw the look of pain in your eyes! Dean’s lucky that I didn’t punch him in the face for making you have that look in your eyes!” 

This was typical Gabriel. He wasn’t about to let this go quietly. The Archangel had changed so much from the person that you fell in love with. He had grown so much. Sure, his tricks and games made you want to slug him at points but he was also the boyfriend that wouldn’t let anyone fuck with you! He didn’t care if it was your father, Cas, Sam. hell even Chuck himself would probably face hell from Gabriel if they messed with you.

“Isn’t me being upset over this being selfish?”

Gabriel shook his head. 

“Uh, no. You are Dean Winchester’s daughter! He and Cas...you know what...I am not repeating this because we both know how the past 6 months have been. Sure, I'm glad that they are helping Jack but they need to be worrying about their own kid too!” 

You shrugged.

“It is what it is, Gabriel. Let’s just...I would say be sociable but I don’t want to.”

Gabriel smirked. 

“You don’t have to be doing anything that you don’t want to. No one is going to make you. I’ll see to that.”

Both of you were quiet for a moment. Gabriel had walked back to the bed and sat down beside you.

“Gabriel, what if you and I had a kid one day and she wanted to go off with a human?”

Gabriel frowned. 

“First off, we aren’t having kids. Second off, if we did and said kid wanted to date a human....hope my father helps them. Look, sweetie, there is a time for humerus and there is a time for morbid. Let’s not go anymore morbid then we are already at.”

“I was just trying to play devil’s advocate for a moment.” 

Gabriel laughed bitterly.

“The last thing that we even need to think about is kids.” 

You rolled your eyes.

“I never said that I wanted them.” 

You said shortly. Gabriel sighed. 

“Let’s not get in a fight with each other. We need to be on the same front. Oh crap, I just got your point! I am no better than your Cas or your bulldog of a father!” 

You chuckled at the expression on Gabriel’s face. He looked totally stunned, 

“I am sinking to their level.” 

Gabriel continued to blink for a few moments before laughing. 

“Well that was a fun moment. We are definitely not having kids now! Y/n, you need to stop trying to look at everything from everyone else’s view. It's great that you do! It shows how wonderful you really are but, sweetheart, you have to think about yourself too. You are entitled to be upset over how all of this was handled. I actually expected better from Dean and especially from Cas.” 

You sighed. Boy Gabriel was stating the obvious there! You totally expected more from Dean and Cas! All of your life you had grown up with the family is everything mantra shoved down your throat! So much for that idea! 

“I don’t think that I feel like going back down there.” 

Gabriel nodded. 

“Totally understood. I am going to go down there and be an asshole for a while. Besides I need to talk to Sam about our next move.” 

You nodded and pulled back the sheets on the bed. A bit of alone time sounded like a good idea.

“Okay, don’t stay up too late.” 

Gabriel smiled and walked out the door. 

When he walked back into the dining room where Dean sat across from Bobby. Gabriel wasn’t sure what he missed but it looked like Bobby had just finished up a “come to Jesus moment” with Dean and Cas. Dean sat looking dead ahead. A scowl was plastered all over his face. 

Gabriel walked back into the living room and sat down. He picked up an abandoned newspaper. The less that he had to speak with his brother and the eldest Winchester at the moment...the better off Gabriel was. 

“Gabe?”

Well there goes that moment…Gabriel looked up to see Cas walk in with Dean behind him. 

“That’s my name.”

Gabriel stated, trying to focus on the fine print in front of his face. He didn’t need to lose his temper at the moment. If he got mad and hexed Dean, regardless of the situation, you would be mad at him. He narrowed his eyes on an article about a cat who burned down its owner's house after said owner fell asleep with a cigarette in her hand.

Cas meanwhile, looked to Dean and shrugged. Dean motioned to the archangel and lightly nudged Cas forward. Cas knew what Dean was thinking without even having to read his mind…

He’s your brother...have at him.

Cas cleared his throat. 

“Is Y/n okay?”

Gabriel looked up to the two stooges in front of him. It took all he had to not say something snarky. Gabriel turned to the next page of the newspaper. 

“At least she isn’t pissed at me. Good job by the way. You two have to be  the stupidest bunch of fuckers that I have ever seen in my life...and I have seen plenty.” 

Dean stepped forward.

“I don’t need your shit too, Gabriel. You've caused enough issues in my life. First, you think that it is amusing to kill me over and over. Now you put your angel paws all over my daughter!”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. 

“You actually brought this one on yourself, moron.” 

Cas put a hand up.

“Insulting each other isn’t going to solve anything. Us being mad at each other isn’t going to stop Michael from targeting us.” 

Dean rounded on his lover. 

Wait, a minute? Now you want to work with him? Last week you were all about how big of a bastard Gabriel was now you want to be pals?”

Gabriel gave Cas an innocent smile.

“Yeah, Cas lets talk about how big of a bastard I am? Don’t forget who I am.” 

Gabriel replied crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Why don’t the three of you just stop?”

Cas, Dean and Gabriel turned to Sam. The youngest Winchester finally had enough. 

“I have kept my mouth shut for a long time now. Dean, Cas...you both were way out of line leaving Y/n the way that you did. Gabriel stop looking for a reason to get in a fight. Y/n doesn’t need any of this hell...I don’t need any of it!” 

Dean rubbed a hand over his face. Sam was right there. You didn’t need all of this shit. Dean knew that he needed to get his act together before he lost you for good! 

“He's right. Gabriel if you don’t touch Y/n in front of me…”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. 

“I am not agreeing to not touch my girlfriend in front of you because you are on your daddy ego trip.” 

“Guys, you are doing it again.” 

Sam groaned. Gabriel and Dean exchanged matching glares before looking in opposite directions. Sam kept his attention focused on his brother. 

“We all know that Michael will target Y/n to get to us. Gabriel has probably kept him off of her trail for the time being. We all know that it won’t last too long. We needed to get Michael dealt with.”

“I’M TRYING SAM!”

Dean shouted. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“No, you are too busy trying to find ways to blow me up in your mind. Spoiler alert ...it ain’t happening, big boy!” 

Dean sat down across from Gabriel, scowling at him. 

“If I wanted you dead then you would be dead.” 

Gabriel scooted his chair back and motioned to his chest. 

“Bring it! I’m right here!”

Dean stood up to take Gabriel’s twisted invitation but stopped the moment that Cas yanked him back. 

“We just had this conversation. The two of you need to act like adults. We need to sit down and decide what we are going to do about Micheal.” 

The next morning you woke up to an empty bed. You frowned wondering if Gabriel even came to bed at all last night. Sitting up with wide eyes, you instantly worried if Gabriel and Dean had finally succeeded in killing each other? 

You jumped out of bed and yanked on a pair of abandoned jeans before peeling out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Gabriel sat at the table with one leg in the opposite chair. He looked up when you walked in the room.

“Hey sugar.” 

He said with a smile as you crawled on his lap. You wrapped your arms around his neck and snuggled your face against his. 

“I was afraid that you might have killed my father.” 

Gabriel smirked. 

“No, he’s alive and well. Probably picking on some defenseless angel more commonly known as Cas.” 

You rolled your eyes. 

“You didn’t come to bed.” 

Gabriel’s smile instantly vanished. He slowly stood up and sat you on the table. 

  “Sweetheart, I need to talk to you about something.” 

Dean walked in before Gabriel could speak. He immediately rolled his eyes upon seeing Gabriel standing between your legs.

“Oh yuck. Can you two like not do this in the house?”

“Oh I’m sorry, dad,. Would you prefer if I take him outside in the yard to make out?” 

Dean faked a gag. 

“What I wouldn’t give for the days of you being five years old and painting on the walls again. Did you talk to her, Gabriel?” 

Gabriel looked down. This was the last conversation that he wanted to have at the moment. He knew that you were about to be madder than hell at him and he wanted to avoid it as long as possible! Gabriel internally thanked good ole daddy Dean for ruining things as usual!

“I was just about to.”

Your attention went back to Gabriel. At the moment, you were expecting the conversation of your relationship with Gabriel coming right back into the picture. Maybe Dean finally got his head out of his ass and realized that you were happy? Maybe he finally came to a realization that Gabriel was protecting you better than he could ever realize? 

Gabriel’s grim expression, however, quickly wiped that thought from your memory. His golden eyes had lowered to your lap. Your heart rate began to rise. 

“What is it?”

Gabriel’s eye finally rolled back up to yours. 

“Dean and I were talking last night about what we are going to do about Michael. Dean, Cas, and I are going to go out and look for him. Cas thinks that he has an idea where Michael will be.” 

 You slid off of the table not bothering to notice the expression that Gabriel and Dean were sharing.

“Let’s get going then. Sitting around here isn’t getting him dealt with.”

Dean stepped forward. 

“Y/n, Gabriel and I think that it is best that you sit this one out. We want you to stay here with Sam and Bobby.” 

“Excuse me?”

You instantly snapped before turning to Gabriel. The archangel was looking innocently at you. 

“Dean is right. You don’t need to be running around out there anyway. You are safer here.” 

Your mouth had to have dropped to the floor. This was the last thing that you had expected! Gabriel was typically on your side and this time, however, was a different story.

“Again, excuse me?! Are you trying to say that I am not capable of this kind of job?”

Dean shook his head as Gabriel spoke. 

“No, we just like you living.” 

Dean put a hand over his face. 

“Good one, Gabriel. Y/n, we decided that you need to ride this one out and that is what you are gonna do. We don’t know how long we will be gone and..”

“Dean, hush!”

Gabriel snapped. You looked between the two before turning to Sam.

“When did they become best friends? Furthermore, I am an adult and a totally capable hunter!” 

Gabriel sighed. 

“We aren’t best friends! It isn’t that you aren’t capable, Y/n. We would both feel a lot better if you stayed home. I can’t keep an eye on you and be able to fight Michael at the same time. If something happened to you, honey…”

You glared at Gabriel.

“Nothing is going to happen to me because I know how to handle myself!” 

“Yeah, you know how to handle yourself because you are staying here.” 

Dean chimed in. Now it was Dean’s turn to face your wrath. 

“Wait a good goddamn minute! Dad, I love you but you haven’t been in my life in the past 6 months...I don’t think that you have any say right now.” 

Dean looked like you had force-fed him a plateful of kale then kicked him in the balls. 

“Forget the fact that I was the one that raised you until Mr. Flexible showed up! Gabriel wasn’t here to teach you how to read or fire a gun. That was all me! You need to get rid of this little attitude that you have developed! I don’t want you with him because he is dangerous. For fuck's sake, I am about to go try to kill his dickhead brother!” 

Gabriel raised a hand. 

“I can hear this.” 

Dean frowned. 

“Good!” 

You wedged yourself between Gabriel and Dean. 

“There is no way in hell that I am going to let you three just disappear for months at a time…”

Gabriel put a hand on your face.

“You are staying! I want you to stay here and be safe. You can be mad at me all you want. I don’t care.”

Gabriel turned his attention to Dean. The eldest Winchester looked like he had developed a molecule of respect for Gabriel when he told you “no.” Gabriel, meanwhile, was disliking the negative thoughts that were coming from your mind. 

Here I am getting treated like a child again! Everyone gets to decide how my life will be without letting me have any say so. Gabriel, I know that you are reading my mind. Just a heads up. I have two fathers. I don’t need a third one! Stick to your role of being my boyfriend...that’s what you are good at! Go play archangel. When you get done and are traumatized because you didn’t listen to me...just come back and I’ll fix you again.” 

Gabriel raised an eyebrow before turning and walking to the door. He knew that he would regret leaving without saying “I love you” but at the moment he wanted to get out of the house. 

“Come on, we’re burning daylight.”

Gabriel called out his shoulder. He walked out without another word. Dean meanwhile, focused his attention back on you. 

“I know that you are mad, Y/n. You’ll understand when you have kids one  day.” 

You snorted. 

“Are you really suggesting that you want me to have a baby with Gabriel?” 

Dean faked a gag.

“You can have a baby with literally anyone else but him.” 

Dean was relieved when you smiled. He reached out and pulled you into his arms. You wanted to still be mad at him but something was stopping you from being able to do so. You wrapped your arms around your father and held him tightly. 

“Dad, don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

Dean gave you an expression of mock surprise. 

“Me, doing something stupid? Never! It will be fine Y/n. I’ll check in every couple of days. When Gabriel gets his ass off his shoulder, he’ll talk to you too.” 

You looked down at your feet.

“Don’t let him do anything stupid either.” 

Dean opened the door. 

“I’ll bring back the archangel back in the same PTSD riddled state that we refound him in.” 

“Thanks dad.” 

(2 weeks later) 

You sat at the table looking at the laptop in front of you. Over the past few weeks, you tried to keep yourself busy. If you sat idle too long you were worrying about Gabriel. In all of the time that he had been gone, he hadn’t called you once. Dean had called several times to see if everything was okay but no Gabriel. 

“Y/n, wanna go out for breakfast?” 

You looked up as Sam walked in buttoning up his shirt. 

“Sure, it beats sitting here waiting for a phone call that will never come.” 

Sam frowned. 

“Gabriel still hasn’t called, huh?”

You shook your head and leaned back in the chair.

“Nope, I tried to call him and pray to him but got nothing but radio silence. I think I really pissed him off.” 

Sam sat down in front of you. 

“Y/n, I have known Gabriel for a long time. He is just being childish. He is just worried about your safety.” 

“Sam, we are always treated like children.” 

Sam couldn’t argue there. The two of you were always thrown at the bottom of the totem pole. It didn’t matter how many times that the two of you had proven yourselves against whatever the monster of the week was ...you were always irresponsible children that needed to be corralled and monitored. 

“I guess it is just what we have to get used to.” 

You shook your head. 

“I’m not. Sam, I am perfectly capable hunter. Just because I am Gabriel’s soulmate doesn’t mean that I am going to start being some 1950’s housewife that screams over a spider.” 

Sam smiled. 

“You’ve grown up, Y/n. Dean doesn’t say it much but you really are a lot like your mother.” 

You smiled. 

“I always get told that I am dad...if dad turned into a woman.” 

Sam had to agree with that one. You were so much like Dean at points that it was crazy. He could, however, also see the mother that you never got to meet mixed in with Cas too. 

“Yeah, sorry about that. Look, Gabriel will come around. How about we go on a small hunt instead of sitting around here?” 

Your head popped up. 

“They said to stay here and keep an eye on things.” 

Sam chuckled. 

“It isn’t like we are going to go hunt archangels or anything, There is a small town about 50 miles from here that has a slight ghost problem.” 

You looked thoughtful. 

“Slight ghost problem. We can have that taken care of quickly.” 

Sam gave you a thumbs up before motioning to the door. 

“Let’s get going!” 

___________

@supernaturalways

@emiwrites3reads

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@marichromatic

@hankypranky

@wontlookaway

@untoldshortsofthefandoms

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  @killtherandomness

@shaylybaby2032

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@tas898

[alitheamateur]

The Grind-Chapter 28

The eve of fight night fell, and Colton was exhibiting extremely peculiar behavior. Not a bad type of peculiar necessarily, but the man just wasn’t his usual self. When I woke up to head for a swim at Temple, the bed was empty on his side and he hadn’t left a note, or word with my parents as to where he disappeared off to. In fact, according to mom, he must’ve left the house before 6 a.m. when she and dad left for their walk. It was a routine they had with the dog back home, and they had been continuing the morning exercise while on their visit to the city.

When I got to my locker at the gym, there was a single Peony taped to the handle, and a square yellow note tied to it’s stem. The easily identified chicken scratch belonged to the missing man in question, so I tore it open jaggedly to gather some answers.

   Livvy,

Enjoy your swim, & don’t you dare think of doing anything in the weight room. I told Cal to watch you. You have a noon appointment with that girl who does your hair, & a 10 a.m. massage too. I have some stuff to take care of today but be at home and dressed by 6 tonight. Wear that white dress I like.  The one from that party at the Pilot a couple months ago. And don’t eat. I’ll check in later. I LOVE YOU

C

Colton had been a lot of things the last year, but romantic was a new side. He rendered me speechless from heartbreak, pleasure, and laughter on a fair amount of occasions, but this was unfamiliar lands.  Never did I believe such a cynical, wild, tormented soul like his could conjure up the cleverness or the desire to throw together whatever plan he had in the works. But I’d obey the orders, and call mom to steam the crisp white, ankle-length, summer gown he referred to from the office gala event he suffered through as my plus-one, and it’s also the first instance he suckered me into bathroom sex in the family stall. The thin, flesh-hugging stretch of the drapery curved into me, and the low-cut of the back allowed him a subtle peep-show during the owners speech, which had him nearly feverish for a taste of me before the main course was served. I was chatting with Ryan who was seated at our dinner table, when Colton told me I looked a bit peaked and needed a few minutes of good ol’ fresh air. Thoroughly confused, I followed his lead as he took my hand guiding me through the bar area into the public pavilion of the venue. The details are a bit foggy, but I can’t forget the memory of his thirsty tongue licking a bead of summertime sweat from the valley between my breasts.

I concluded on returning to my natural blonde look at the salon, and sang the praises of the on-staff masseuse at SJS Salon on my way out the door. The unwind of my slow laps in the therapy pool, and the exceptional massage had me exuding peaceful relaxation. After the continual sessions’ day & night at the gym, in the cage, in the weight room, at the Pilot, some self-love and spa time was the perfect prescription for a Zen Liv. And I wanted all my tensions free and clear before I met up with Colton for this mysterious evening ahead, so I could fully enjoy the company of my perfectly imperfect companion. Wherever the pathway of our evening led, I knew I’d retire home once it was said and done feeling cherished, and probably horny.

I was puckering to smooth out a plentiful layer of rose-shaded smudge proof lipstick at my lighted vanity when I saw my mother peep around the unlatched door. I looked away from my own reflection to see hers smiling back at me from over my shoulder, as she brushed my hair back curious to discover my earring choice. This overly-feminine, lady-like and sophisticated side of her only child was a glimpse of the daughter she wanted 10 years ago when I was wearing sweats to school every day, and only wore heels for prom or homecoming dances. Mom stayed dressed to the nines every day of the week whether it be a run to the post-office or even a check of the mailbox, so seeing the vision of herself even more so in me now with sleek hair, and a posh taste in stilettos was probably the proudest she had been in a decade.

“Honey, you look excellent! Your little nose healed up just perfectly too, I see.”

Of course, mother. That’s what most important, ay’?

“Yep. It feels fine now. Thanks, mom.” I pursed my mouth, tucking both lips in a stark line and misted a lavish amount of Colton’s favorite perfume onto the exposure of my neck.

“Do you have any ideas what Colton has planned for you? You’re dressed awfully formal.” My mother asked turning her head to survey the final touches of accessory to my ensemble.

“He told me what to wear, and when to be ready to go, so that’s about the most I’m aware of. He’s been pretty shady today. And we both know he’s developed a keen talent for lying lately, seeing as how he managed to get you and daddy here.”

The last text I received from him at 2 o’clock that afternoon was a strange selfie of he and Andrew at the forefront of an impressive Styrofoam cup pyramid they’d apparently built on the display counter at The Grind. Those two had become quite the odd pairing lately, but I was happy Colton jived so well with at least one of my friends. I assumed he just went by the shop for his usual black coffee to-go, and Drew simply asked his assistance on a new merchandise display, which turned into the two of them goofing.

Mom checked her waterproof, step counting watch for the time as she followed be into the bedroom I shared with Colton. “It’s 5 minutes to 6 right now, Livvy. Have you talked to him?”

My heels clacked when transitioning from the carpet, to the tile down the hall. I clicked the unlock button of my cell to place a call to the very man sitting on an arm of the couch in an open stance, with those hefty forearms pushing in his knees. He stood upon hearing the soft tick of my heels step over the rug under the coffee table, and I was able to get a much desired, exploratory look at the very, very surprising dapper two-piece suit he sported. It was an oxford blue, atop a slightly wrinkled button-down shirt that he left casually, and very appealingly gaping open just enough to taunt me with his pecks. He was explicitly, lethal and delicious in the foreign dress of any sort of formal attire. Maybe more so even than those perfectly snug gray sweats I pulled off him on many an ‘afternoon delight’ occasion. That is, assuming I have to have him clothed at all.  

“Well hello there, Mr. Ritter. Someone is looking exceptionally handsome tonight, I see. I must say you wear this look well, babe.” I admired, pulling on the lapels of his jacket to situate the wrinkle of his shirt. I tenderly grazed a manicured nail over the freshly shaved goosebumps of his neck, and smiled romantically looking up to him under extended lashes.

“You two enjoy yourselves! Tony and I are going to grab some dinner, and we’ll lock up when we get back. I’m sure it’ll be a late night for you guys,” mom spoke up, still standing behind me undetected. Colton tilted around me to smile appreciatively at her before she turned in pursuit of the spare room where dad was napping.

“Will you ever walk into a room ‘n not instantly have me wantin’ to rip off whatever you wearin’, baby? You look…you look fuckin’ perfect, Liv. I mean that.” He fiddled with the every-day, dainty, gold letter pendant I wore as he spoke, then touched his pointer finger to the heart-shaped opening at the center of my satiny lips.

I wondered reasonably if we’d ever even make it passed the 4 walls of our bedroom seeing the adamant, alluding examinations we were trading in the silence of our family room.

“As long as you promise to replace whatever it is you just have to rip off, then be my guest by all means.” I popped one shoe-covered foot into the air, and boosted up on the other desperate to touch myself to his mouth.

“Get. The hell. Out. That. Door. Now. With ya’ teasin’ little ass.” Colton palmed the front of my dress to clutch over the warmness of my womanly center.

We altered his plan a bit, and decided my car would be the most practical option for transportation considering the height of my designer heels. Once we exited the driveway, I couldn’t help but blast him with pestering questions, and chatting.

“Just sit tight, ‘ight. We ain’t far. You can hold out a few minutes, Livvy. A surprise here ‘n there ain’t gonna kill ya’.”

I unhappily sat tight as advised and waited a drawn out 10-minute car ride that steered us to a parking meter on the street near The Grinds’ entrance on the sidewalk. The white light of the ‘open’ sign that would’ve typically been plugged in the window was powered off, along with the appearance of any other lights, or evidence of business behind the door.

“Colt? What are w-“

“No more questions, okay? Hold on.”

I watched him shove my keys from the ignition inside the pocket lining of his coat, to jog around and assist me from the passenger seat onto the concrete walkway.  I smelled something fishy, but I couldn’t place a sure finger on it just yet. With one arm clinging around my average size waist and the other holding my hand, we waited for the street sign to change then scurried along the crosswalk. Colton confirmed the time on his watch just as he gestured me to enter the strange darkness of the generally busy coffee shop.  

I couldn’t move much passed the entry mat laying in front of the doorway due to the pitch darkness of the room, so I waited intriguingly for my next instructions. Colton moved in behind me and stepped straight for the location of the light switch he was apparently familiar with. Rather than the hardwired overhead lights of the café igniting with the flipping on of electricity, twinkling, warm garden decorations on green strands taking their place. The dusky glow hanging over our heads bared a table for two waiting empty in the middle of the open floor, and some sort of urbane, bubbly beverage sweating inside a tin bucket of ice. Calm, lazy melodious music struck up, and I finally escaped my confusion to scan for Colton.

“These a’ for you, baby. The best, for the best.”

He offered me a familiar a pink, fluffy bouquet which had become his apparent staple over the last year, and I could smell the odorous fog from gift laying in my arms. Taking a closer look over his face, I noticed he’d groomed up exceptionally precise, and his beard had been combed and trimmed. Colton Ritter may have even been wearing hair product, Ladies and Gentlemen. His matured facial lines, and the barely detectable softening sag around his eyes added a story-telling detail to his aging mug, but I admired every frown line, and ghosting scar.

I rested my arms over his shoulders, dangling the hefty bouquet in my hand behind his back to settle in for a lengthy embrace when a begging, muffled reverberation of hunger grumbled from my empty stomach.

“Well, you did tell me not to eat, silly!” I patted over my angry insides to stifle its interruption.

“I got just the thing to fix ya’ right up. Here. Let’s get you in a seat and I’ll be back.” He took my hand, and I took the seat he offered up, placing the flowers in a waiting vase at the center of his table spread.

Colton lit four small tea-light candles with a zippo frim his pants pocket, and kissed the crown of my freshly washed hair.

“I like the blonde, by the way,” he winked dragging his feet backwards to disappear into the back kitchen.

A few clanging plates and some ruffling feet could be heard as I sat legs crossed, and chin rested on my elbows. Mother Liz always cut my arms with a slap when I would prop my elbows up onto the tables, chastising my etiquette or lack thereof. I repeatedly listed off a careful list of the ‘important dates’ to mark the many milestones of our relationship to assure I hadn’t forgotten some crucial event on this day. There had to be some reason Colton had gone to such odd, starry-eyed measures, and my nosey, sharp-witted journalistic side was beating me to death to get to the real story hidden under wraps.

STOP IT! Let the man have this. Don’t ruin it because you’re a meddlesome pest who can’t just enjoy a surprise.

Just then, a smell so aromatic and reeking of garlic wafted like a puffy cloud of deliciousness into my nose. I inhaled deeply through my nostrils to trace the yummy culprit, and found the man exiting a revolving door that hid the kitchen. He had two enormous, blotchy, grease-stained pizza boxes marked from my very favorite deep-dish joint stacked in one arm, and a covered Dutch oven dish cradled in the left arm. Colt’s tongue peeped like the head of a snake from the corner of his mouth, walking strategically careful so not to drop the hot contents of his clutches.

“So, since you trained so hard, and it nearly killed ya’ cuttin’ out all those carbs, I figured you’d maybe want some’n downright filthy ‘n covered in cheese to hit the spot. Drew tried to tell me I should get some fancy takeout from that place you two are always goin’ to, but I knew this would suit ya’.”

He opened one of the boxes to reveal a cheese deep-dish smothered in sliced, tender black olives.

“You want me to eat the whole thing?” I chuckled with a large goading laugh, and quarter-sized eyes.

“One fa’ you,” he answered sitting himself to open the other cardboard box in his place setting. “’and one fa’ me.” Colton rubbed his hands together anxiously, like a giddy boy about to dive into an ankle-deep mud puddle.

“But you may wanna save a lil’ room for this too, baby.”

I watched as he pulled the sturdy lid from top the black dish, and fluffy, warm steam rolled from the inside. Peeping over the edge in anticipation, I discovered a dark chocolate, gooey treat, topped with whole praline pecans and stringy caramel drizzles.

“Colt, you made that? All by yourself?!” I smiled adoringly when the look of utter pride beamed from his coy face.

It was a turtle dessert my mom taught me to make, and my absolute favorite. Colton had stayed been at my old apartment one night, back before the fight, and said he needed a ‘sugar fix’. The city was covered in powdery snow and muck, with temperatures reaching their lowest degree all winter. Neither of us could stand the thought of leaving the warm solace of my couch, so I whipped up that same dessert for him. We demolished the entire contents straight from the dish, sharing a spoon for vanilla bean ice cream on the side.

“Liz wrote the ingredients down for me, but I remembered pretty well how you made it that night. Don’t be gettin’ all wound up before ya’ even taste it now,” he tittered taking his first bite of pizza.

 We ate majority of each cheesy pie, (him asking for a slice of mine) then hysterically cackled for a good half hour after he sampled (and gagged on) a swig of my favorite merlot from a local winery. When our favorite Bob Dylan tune struck up on his iPod, I asked him to dance, and he obliged hugging me tightly with one arm, and gnawing on the last piece of pizza he clutched to in the other. The raw, real-life imperfections of the moment that would’ve had most females curling a lip in disgust, and trouncing far, far away from a man with such qualities as Colton Ritter, only had me needing his presence in my life more so.  

“How’d you pull this off Ritter? I must say, I didn’t know you had it in ya’, babe.” I muffled with a full mouth of his well-made chocolate cake as I dabbed the corners of my mouth.

“Just called in a favor to my pal Andrew, no biggie. The bastard only made me pay him 200 bucks to make up for his ‘lost profit.’” Colton used his most sardonic air quotes to underline Andrew’s no doubt tantrum for his role.

“You been workin’ so damn hard, Livvy. And I just wanted to do somethin’ to make you feel special. Help ya’ relax and take the edge off of a lil’ about tomorrow night. ‘N judging by those sexy, heavy little wine eyes you been givin’ me, I’d say I did a fine job.”

The excellence of the entire evening, hand-in-hand with now a present buzz of red wine after so many months, made the air around me feel as if it touched my skin like expensive cashmere. My insides felt as if they were humming with muggy decadence, and no unkind thought weighed on my mind.

“Oh God, stop it!” I covered my face, ashamed of his insinuating light-weight insult.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, Liv. I ain’t just sayin’ shit right now. I mean that. You’re perfect now, jus’ like this. And ya’ perfect on the couch with your face painted in one of those goopy masks you put on before you check your work email at night.” He leaned over the round table, mazing through the empty boxes, and melting candle wax staining the tablecloth to encase my fingers. Any fool could see there was nothing but earnest passion in his eyes, and a blatantly truthful, sureness in his voice.

“I love you. And don’t sell yourself so short! You are the perfect one. Even with all those demons, and whatever else is hiding in that head of yours.” I wanted to caress and pet his always warm cheek, but the distance between us caused me to settle for a tight squeeze of his hand, and a kiss to his scarred fingers.

“A perfect man wouldn’ta let somebody like you get away, baby.”

“Stop with that! We’re here now. Together. And we’re happy. Plus, there are more important things going on right now we should be worryin’ about.”

I knew I could back out of my fight right now, even the night before, and Colton would support my decision without hesitation, and anyone else who didn’t, would suffer at the hand of his consequence. The reality of what I knew I’d be doing only a few short hours from now, was a frightening one. But, one that I had agreed to for myself at the hands of no ones’ force. I wanted to make Colton proud of me for something more than just having my nose shoved in front of a computer screen 10+ hours a day. I had to prove to him, the world, my parents, and mainly myself that I was capable of greatness. That I had the potential to step out in faith, and achieve something like this with some courage like the old Liv.

“We’ve done everything in the gym we possibly coulda, baby. You’ve done everything. You need t’ believe in yourself like you were always tellin’ me. I’ll be there standin’ in that corner for you, I promise. And if ever you wanna cut it, just say the world ‘n we’ll walk outta there first round. You can do this, 2-1. Clear eyes, remember?”

“Thank you, Colton. For being the man that you are, and sticking with me through this even though we both know you hated the idea. And for all this God, it’s incredible, really. I’ve desperately needed some alone time with my guy.” I scooted to the front ledge of my chair, resting on the table to wink suggestively at the tantalizing specimen opposite my gazes.

“Calm ya’self, you dirty girl. I know wha’s goin’ on up in the head o’ yours. I got one more place I need to take you. Then, I can assure you…. I can really fuckin’ assure you, that I’m gonna get real good and close to every piece of your creamy skin under that dress.”

tags: @torialeysha @eap1935 @littleluna98 @mollybegger-blog

[awesome-mandyandtoby]

On the road again...

The year is 2019 and the month is November, and our intrepid explorers Mandy and Toby have said farewell to their jobs, to their families and to the civilised world, all in the name of adventure. The following three months will see the pair travel to the ends of the earth as they visit Thailand, Philippines, Bali, Australia, Fiji and New Zealand.

Let the journey begin...

Thailand

First stop, the islands of Thai, and after a relatively hate-free flight, with a nice pit stop in the jungles of Hong Kong, we eventually arrived in Thailand exhausted after next to no sleep and made the voyage onwards to pastures new.

With a quick refresh, we headed for dinner on Koh San Road - no wild antics here, although we did see the fabled scorpion snack on a stick, an entire crocodile bbq’d on the sidewalk, and plenty of ol’ tat! After a few more over-friendly encounters with the locals, it was getting tense, so we got outta there...and went to bed, dreaming of Koh Samui and beaches blue.

Koh Samui

On arrival to Koh Samui, which has a beautiful airport by the way, we located our surroundings, a beachside beauty of a hut, we basked in the glorious AC temperatures and Toby rediscovered the sensational ‘minao soda’ or lime soda to the everyday man - damned delicious.

After applying copious amounts of bug spray (which would become a tri-daily routine) we did what we do best and went exploring, discovering a delightful beach out front and a perfect little beach bar where we enjoyed some fine beverages and each other’s company. Perfection!

Now...as Pineapple Express beautifully put it, “I thought hurricane season was over” and although monsoon season wasn’t supposed to start for another month - we got a good dose of rain and thunder in those first few days - shocking and startling thunder and lightning - t’was a sight to behold...from the safety of our new abode.

One adventure saw us stroll to fisherman’s village (a 45 min walk in the burning hot sun) against Mandy’s better nature - a theme that would reoccur throughout our trip - Brusey the navigator - Mandy not so keen.

We swam in the sea, we walked some more and we dined like kings, enjoying a delightful Tillapia fish which was beautiful...and cheap! We rested, we bathed, and we savoured the last days of our short Samui soirée.

Koh Pha-ngan

Soon enough the time was nigh to sail on to Koh Pha-ngan. A fine voyage with nought but sun and calm seas. Upon arrival in KP, some wind up taxi merchants tried to pull a fast one on ol’ Bruse and ramp the taxi price up after already agreeing a price - but this boy knows the game - no rugs pulled over this guys eyes! I successfully bartered back to the original price. You’re only as good as your last barter!

Anyhoo, we were dropped in the middle of what can only be described as a barren land, which quickly turned into a phenomenal beach/poolside resort named Saranna bungalows - BEAutiful!

The following three days consisted of banana bread for breakfast - banana would be our staple for the next month in Asia - followed by a swim in the pool, occasionally an ill advised game of volleyball with some other tourists, where Bruce and Mandy are the only ones trying, gorgeous sunsets, twilight swings on the beach, a delicious roadside Thai delicacy for dinner and off to bed. Heavenly!

There was one extra curricular activity of note, that involved mopeds. Now, we all remember the infamous moped crash of 2015...so the question was, would Bruse vanquish demons past...course he bloody did, rode round all day like a boss, chauffeuring Mandy to beaches and waterfalls and back in time for a sunset dip and dinner. No crashes here thank you. Just a pro rider of mopeds! Even rode through another rain storm!

One thing of note before our departure, we left on a Saturday, on the Monday it was the famed full moon party - which was of no interest to us - bunch of yuppy youths getting hammered and desecrating a beautiful beach, I don’t think so! Anyhoo, on our last day a hoard of young English and Irish tourists rocked up to our resort in preparation for the party, suffice to say, the calm, peaceful paradise that Mandy and I had enjoyed over the past 2 days, disappeared! It was all selfies, drinking and tomfoolery - awful!

Koh Tao

Bruse heading home to Koh Tao, oh the memories. The boat ride over - fast ferry - was horrific! Both in the throws of sickness, but just about survived without depositing any fluids! On arrival we were greeted with another glorious downpour stranding us by the side of the road for some time! Side note: Bullfrogs are REALLY loud after a storm, sitting in the drains sending out horrific mating calls.

Our hostel was located after a sodden traipse - where we went no AC for money reasons. The next morning we quickly rectified this horror show, it was unbearably warm - always get AC!

After various other walking mishaps from Bruse, we ventured onto the road to paradise, a glorious walk along the waters edge and up cliffs to one of Bruse’s favourite old haunts, the Banana Cafe to experience some sensational sunsets! Now here comes the inevitable downfall of this walking escapade. On completion of the sunset, we tried to walk up hill to a taxi...only to discover all the taxis had buggered off and we ended up walking for about an hour up the steepest hill in the history of hills, sweating our cajones off and Mandy nearly dying up the hill - the only saving grace - a cracking sunset!

As ever in Thailand, Bananas were the sumptuous course of breakfast and lunch. Smoothies, cakes and a glorious banana split were a saving grace for these western warriors!

One other exciting adventure we took part in was the Oxygen snorkelling tour, 5 snorkel spots, 1 hunt for turtles! Our first foray into the water ended up with us stranded from the boat which was miles away - so oblivious to our surroundings we’d just been too engrossed with the fish underwater. A reimagining of that Open Water film where the divers get stranded from their boat and then are slowly eaten by sharks flashed in our minds, but thankfully one of the crew swam out and dragged our weary bodies in on a noodle. Hooray! We saw lots of awesome fish and had a tasty lunch...but no turtle, the hunt continues - oh and Bruse managed to miss seeing about 5 swordfish that Mandy saw! How?!

As our time in Thailand drew to a close, there was just time for a quick stop in the strange little city of Chumphon - which we probably could have done without to be fair! Not much of note here, except for a few curious discoveries.

1. Thai people enjoy exercise on a grand scale - filling parks as they walk, run or generally move their bodies (the UK could take note).

2. If you’re going to travel to an Asian Mall, make sure there are at least a few other tourists in there with you. We stumbled upon a local mall and headed for KFC, only to discover we were the only white, foreign travelers in there, much to the amusement of the locals. The next 30 minutes consisted of small Thai children pointing and laughing at us and shaming us out the building. Delightful!

3. Bruse made one of THE purchases of the century - disposable pants and emergency toilet! Hey, you never know when you might need them!

And that was Thailand, completed it mate! Time to get the hell outta there! Philippines calling...

[emotionalgirl101]

Question | Chapter 4

Words: 2,709

Genre: college au, angst, fluff

Pairing: SKZ x reader

Summary: Your best friend, Minho, had been refusing to introduce you to his other group of best friends for months now, with no explanation as to why. One night after getting drunk after work together, he gave in to your pleas. Oops.

Warning: Contains mature content (such as coarse language, violent themes, etc).

A/N: Wrote this surprisingly quickly! I hope my fellow MyDay’s enjoy this chapter, too! Already started chapter 5!~ I’m thinking of adding text message chapters in here as well. What do you think?

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

You weren’t really hung over. You were just drowsy. You felt a headache developing, but there was no throbbing pain. You knew if you had pain killers in the next few minutes, you’d get the better of it.

You woke up in Minho’s red jumper-like shirt. He often wore it over his white hoodie, but seemed to have decided to sacrifice it for your sake. It came down to the middle of your thigh. Modest enough. Although, the neckline exposed your collar bones. Neither really weighed on your mind. You were still rugged up in Minho’s bed, admiring your newly adorned sweater paws. It was your favourite thing about wearing his clothes. Something that had happened on occasion.

You weren’t surprised to find Minho’s side of the bed cold, as you saw lat his alarm clock read 11:36am. Thank god you had done all your shifts for the week. You could enjoy the fact you got to sleep in. You noticed Minho had put the covers on his side back in place, tucking them in at your side. You appreciated those little things he did for you. He knew you did. It went without saying,

You were reminded of why you’d woken up when you heard raised voices through the wall. Your now sober mind able to distinguish the voices of those speaking. A skill you were grateful that your drinking self had acquired over time.

“YOU’RE the one who’s going to wake her up! I didn’t make a noise! YOU were the one that was loud when you dragged me away!” The voice was Jisung’s. You recognised the annoyed tone after the playful banter from the night before. There was a quick reply, your brain not even having to register Minho’s voice. Recognising its various tones was practically a reflex now. “Why were you even going in there in the first place? Huh?” You could just visualise his arms crossed over his chest. An action that usually accompanied his turn voice.

“I need to grab my charger which you. stole.” Jisung emphasised the last two words. “Once I realised she was still asleep, I stopped moving. She’s cute when she sleeps…” You could tell the last part wasn’t meant to be a vocalised thought by the way his soft voice faded out. You slightly blushed at the compliment. It wasn’t everyday you heard yourself spoken of like this. You didn’t read too much into it, preferring to follow the conversation.

“You could’ve just asked. me.” Minho matched, “Let her sleep. She had a long shift last night.” You heard footsteps move away from the other side of the wall. A second set followed not long after. You decided to stay in Minho’s room a little longer, partially to spare Jisung any more flack from your best friend. For the most part, Minho’s sheets were just too damn comfy.

Wen you finally emerged, about twenty minutes after the small-scale altercation that took place outside your door, your eyes lit up at the aroma wafting in the air of the kitchen. “PANCAKES!” You squealed, rushing to hug your personal chef, Minho from behind. In the short amount of time you had known each other, this boy knew you like the back of his hand. All your quirks and what makes you tick. Even your favourite hangover cure; buttermilk pancakes.

“My hero.” You inaudibly mumbled into his back. He chuckled, probably guessing what you had said. “Morning, little one.” He teased, giving you a side-on hug so he could make sure he didn’t burn your precious pancakes. Woojin looked over from the other side of him, leaning over his chopping board and innocently waving at you, not realising he still had his knife in hand. “Morning, Y/n. How did you sleep?” He asked, returning to the task at hand.

“Well, thank you.” You beamed, not minding in the slightest that he didn’t look up to see. You whipped around to see Seungmin pouring over a book, concentration unwavering. That was until he felt your eyes on him. “Noona!” He grinned, sitting up to focus on you. “How’s the hangover.” You smiled at the sweet boy, despite full knowing he was teasing you. “Non-existent, thank you.” You winked. He nodded, mildly impressed. “Can’t say the same for some of the others” he chuckled, returning back to his pages.

Seungmin had reminded you to ask Minho for pain killers. You tugged on the boy’s shirt sleeve. He reached into his left pocket with his spare hand, pulling out a sheet of the drugs. He had anticipated your every move. Man, this boy was good. “This is why I love you.” You hummed nonchalantly. You turned on your heel, heading back to your sleeping quarters from the previous night. You decided to finished the water that was on your bedside table to wash the pills down. You grabbed your phone, unplugging it from Minho’s spare- well, actually, probably Jisung’s, charger. No notable notifications. You left the room, charger in hand.

You went straight to where you remembered the living room to be. You passed through the kitchen without a word, straight to the couches, occupied by the other six boys.

Jeongin was on the floor, leaning on the coffee table, and eyes glued to the tv. He was gaming on his console. You recognised the game as Fortnite, rolling your eyes by instinct. Chan was sitting on the couch on the right-hand side. He was reading the newspaper, a fact that surprised you to say the least. Further along, the end closest to you, was Felix. His arm was draped over his face, covering his eyes from the incoming sun. He occasionally moved it to check Jeongin’s stats, then returned to his previous state.

On the middle couch, the one that faced the tv directly and the one you were standing behind, laid Hyunjin. He was groaning ever so often, drinking water, then letting his gaze wander to Jeongin and his game, or covering them with his hand. He and Felix were obviously the ones Seungmin was referring to.

Changbin was on the couch on the left, that mirrored the couch Chan and Felix were on. He had his headphones in, eyes closed, basking in the sunlight from the window his couch was up against.

You were about to leave to search for the owner of the charger, before you realised he was there all along. His cap, with hoops on the left side of its peak, had successfully hid him from your initial survey of the room. His light hair came out from underneath in soft peaks. He was on his phone, sitting on the floor and leaning his back on Hyunjin’s couch.

You moved swiftly between Changbin and Hyunjin’s couches, taking a seat beside Jisung. He looked up, breaking into a smile from his blank expression. “Good morning, Noona.” He smiled, looking into both of your eyes without blinking. You smiled softly, partially forgetting why you’d sat there in the first place. Not for long, though.

You outstretched your hand to the boy, his charger sitting securely in your palm. “I think this belongs to you.” You watched him take it from your hand, puzzled, as the other members groaned ‘hello’s to acknowledge your presence. Chan smiled at you from over his paper, and Jeongin waved at you with the back of his hand, not having time to turn around. When you looked back at the boy before you, you saw realisation wash over him.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up. Please don’t tel-” Your voice cut him off, “I won’t tell Minho, don’t worry. I didn’t come out straight away, purposely to save you from his wrath.” You both chuckled. The moment was cut short.

“Pancakes!” Minho announced, a tea towel taking place over his forearm. He was acting as your personal waiter. You giggled at his antics, more so when he swatted away Jisung’s hand from the plate. “They’re Y/n’s.” He stated, matter-of-factly. Jisung pouted. “Hyung~”.

-

You had left the apartment at about 2pm. Minho dropped you home, staying at yours until he had to head to his shift at the bar. You had offered to wash his jumper, saying you’d give it back the next time you saw each other. Knowing you two, that could be as soon as tomorrow.

Too lazy to cook, you made instant ramen, a meal with minimal effort required. All you had to do was fill the water to the right height and time the cooking process. Soggy noodles would ruin it.

As you waited for the kettle to boil, you leant on the counter opposite, an angle at which you could glance at the calendar displayed on the back of your of your pantry door. You had completely forgotten your plans to meet up with Jae tomorrow. You had also met him through uni. He worked there for a brief time in your first year. You easily became friends, bonding over your mutual love of music. A thing many had in common at your age.

You finished dinner, which left you feeling fatigued. You weren’t usually one to have an early night, whether it was planned or not. You put on Netflix in the background, hoping the voices would provide the white noise you needed to fall asleep. You found yourself reminiscing on the night before. The thought of the boys laughter ringing in your ears before your eyes slipped shut.

-

You had woken up on Monday and gotten dressed, prepared to be on time to your catch up with Jae. Despite having plenty of time when the day started, it seemed to slip away from you. You were ten minutes late to the café, but Jae couldn’t have cared less.

His glasses were perched on his nose, his blonde strands kissing the top of the frames. You smiled at you. “Look who it is.” He smirked playfully, and wrapped you in a one-armed hug. An affectionate act you had grown accustom to when spending time with the older guy.

You only just noticed the tray of coffee cups in his other hand. You pointed at it, drawing his eyes to follow what yours were trained on. “I ordered. You change your order a lot-“ you cut in mid-explanation to correct him. “Or, you never can remember my order.” He nodded, with a small smile on his face. “Yeah, that. Jae needs help.” You couldn’t contain your laugh, and neither could Jae. He moved on after referring to himself in the third person, “ANYWAY, I grabbed you a hot chocolate, just to be safe.” You smiled, removing the cup from his grasp with a smile painted on your face. “Perfect~” you hummed.

“So,” you continued, sipping away at your hot chocolate. You were still leaning on the outer wall of the cafe. “What did you want to do today?” You could see he felt guilty about what he was about to ask of you. You were more curious than concerned. Jae could be bad, but he was never THAT bad. “I wanted to know if you’d mind running some errands with me? I have to go on campus and drop off some sample files to a friend.” You were blunt in response. “Seriously? That’s all? Why did you look so guilty? Of course I don’t mind running errands with you!” The sheepish look tainted with fear quickly dissipated from Jae’s face. You has scared him for a second there.

Jae was a post-grad at the Music Academy, not too far from the campus of your own university. It was only logical for him to go there, as he wanted to stay close with his family. He knew he’d probably need to move overseas at some point, so every precious moment with them was one he had to make count.

You arrived on the campus, talking about mundane things like work and life updates of mutual friends, following Jae subconsciously. You didn’t even realise you’d wandered into a music store. Record lined every inch of the store. They seemed to have gotten popular, again. They say trends repeat themselves. It made sense. The was a centre piece filled with CDs of old classics from around the world. Your fingers traced over the likes of Nirvana, Biggie, Crowded House. It was all music you grew up listening to. You had your mum to thanks for that.

Jae strayed from your side, presumably to go seek out his friend. You had explored almost every inch of the store, before deciding to go see what Jae was up to. He was at the counter, talking to the guy on shift. He was hidden behind Jae’s big head. You chuckled to yourself, then approached.

You didn’t look at Jae’s counterpart, mainly because he had his back to you by the time you’d approached the two guys. You felt a sense of familiarity, but chalked it up to Jae’s laughter that filled the space. The aforementioned boy turned to acknowledge your presents. “Done snooping?” He teased. “Shut up.” You mumbled, gently waking him. You looked at your phone, just because it was something to do. Jae’s voices brought your attention back to reality. “Y/n, this is-“ You were starting to lift your head when you heard the familiar voice of someone else. “Y/n.”

Your eyes locked with the tall brunette with soft hair, “Chan?” You couldn’t hid your smile at the surprise, and neither could he. Jae was confused. “You guys know each other?” His wrist flicked his finger from you to Chan, to you, to Chan. “Yeah. He’s friends with Minho.” You kept smiling at the boy behind the counter, proceeding to ask him probably the dumbest question you could have right then. “What are you doing here?”

Jae and Chan both laughed, then you realised how obvious the answer was. Working. I work here, remember?” He teased you. The facts just clicked in your mind. Chan said he studies at the Music Academy, working at the on-campus music store. Jae also dragged you to the same campus, which he also attends. He had taken you to said music store.

“Wow, I’m slow today.” You were saying it as more of a fact than a joke, but smiled at the reactions the other two had.

You didn’t stay long, give Chan a quick wave goodbye and a ‘see you soon’ over your shoulder. You left the store, and spent the rest of the day with Jae. The coincidence of seeing Chan only adding to the pleasantry.

The second one was also, in a way, your own doing. You went the campus library to try and sell off some of your old textbooks from the previous year. The money could always come in handy.

You stood at the main desk near the entrance, with no blue-shirt stuff member in sight. You scrolled through your phone, absentmindedly. A call came from behind you, circling around to your left, and then behind the counter. “Sorry to keep you waiting.Give me one second.” The staff member that had appeared before you had eyes down, finishing off something before tending to you. You smirked at Woojin, as he hadn’t really realised just who he was talking to.

“So formal. I could get used to this, Woojinnie~” You sung, purposely informal. He snapped his head up, and his face lit up at the sight of you. “Y/n! I forgot you went here.” He smiled, not afraid to admit his lapse in memory. This encouraged the same honestly from you. “I forgot you worked here.” His eyes creased, warmth and friendly radiating from him. He was a sweetheart. “What can I help you with then?”

Woojin wasn’t kidding when he said to go to him if you needed help. He knew pretty much everything, solving a number of problems you would’ve had if you hadn’t spoken to him sooner. Anything he didn’t know, he still fixed, having someone he knew able to solve the issue for him. The boy made your Tuesday a lot more bearable than you had expected.

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