#and i need all three sections i'm sorry i do i just. it's gonna take a lil while and that's what makes me sad | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thursdaygxrls · 10 months

Text

thin ice — one

part one | part two | part three

summary — she didn’t handle the sports section of the campus newspaper, but apparently, she did this week. interviewing hockey players was easy, though—unless one of those players happened to be peter parker.

pairing — uni hockey player!peter parker x fem!journalist!reader

disclaimers — i don’t own peter parker. and pls don't come for me with the accuracy of this situation i'm begging

warnings — reader is referred to as ‘kitty’ (there’s a reason, i promise), slight one sided enemies to lovers, sewer slide jokes (very briefly), possible maybe slightly ooc, and very unedited

“You’re joking. You’re pulling the biggest prank I’ve ever seen, you are the impractical joker,” she huffs out, her eyes wide as furiously clicks her mouse, “I’m gonna die. I’m writing the note tonight—farewell, my lovely!”

“Woah, okay,” MJ, her roommate, had only just entered the room when she was bombarded with a sudden rant. She didn’t even have time to take down her ponytail of thin, red braids before her eardrums were assaulted.

“I mean it.” Spinning her chair, she meets MJ’s eyes.

“I literally just got here,” MJ plops down on the bed in front of the desk, “Care to tell me why you’re writing that note?”

“I’m a dumb, dumb girl, that’s why,” she groans in response.

“We already knew that.” MJ’s words only cause the girl in front of her to shoot daggers with her gaze; “Sorry, sorry. Why are you a dumb, dumb girl?”

“God, okay, so,” she lets out a loud sigh, “Eli is gonna be gone for the rest of the month—Europe or something, good for him. Anyways, they needed someone to cover his assignments for him until he gets back, and I volunteered, but, like, only to be nice, y’know? I did it as an obligation. But…”

“But?” MJ pressed.

“I just got an email, and it’s me,” she grumbled, “They’re putting me on Eli’s assignments.”

“Hm, I see,” MJ’s lips curl into a frown as she gently rubs the girl’s arm, “Too much work?”

“Oh, no, my stuff’s easy,” she waved her off, “Just reading the poetry submissions. I mean, it can be exhausting, but it’s not too bad.”

“Then what is it?” MJ cocks her head.

“Eli…Eli does sports,” she shuddered. MJ couldn’t contain the loud laugh that slipped out, clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle it.

“You’re worried about sports?” She giggles, her eyes twinkling.

“It’s not funny!” She smacks MJ lightly, “Sports aren’t unbearable or anything, but, like, why me? I don’t know enough! I’ll screw it up, I’ll lose my spot, they’ll stick me back in—”

“Relax,” MJ grabs her shoulders, bringing her closer, “First off, no, you won’t lose your spot, we both know they’d be losing their minds without you. Second, they wouldn’t just throw it on you if they thought you’d give them bad work, right?” She eyes MJ almost suspiciously. There’s a momentary stare-down before she relents.

“I hate that you’re right,” she sighs, spinning her chair around. MJ stops the spin by putting her hands down on the arms of the chair.

“Thought you’d be used to it by now,” she giggles, “So, what do you have to do?”

“I don’t know.” Is the mumbled reply.

“You didn’t even look?” MJ laughs again, “You were losing your mind, and you didn’t even know what you’re doing?”

“I’m sorry that I’m sensitive,” she huffs. Her gaze moves back to the laptop before her. The email is open on the screen, so she begins scrolling through it, MJ reading the words over her shoulder. Her eyes nearly bulge out of her head when she gets to the end.

“Fuck this,” she almost slams her laptop shut, but is stopped short by MJ.

“Slow down!” The redhead slaps her hand out of the way to read the rest of the email.

The ESU hockey team had made it to the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey tournament for the first time in six years—and they were doing damn good. Eli had been tasked with interviewing the team captain as well as a few other star players, but, of course, it was no longer Eli's job.

"Oh, come on,” MJ rolled her eyes, “They gave you a Google Doc with questions, all you have to do is ask them and write down their response."

“That's the problem, I have to ask,” she shivered.

"You've done interviews before!" MJ was ready to smack her.

"With professors! And cool artsy people! Not hockey guys," she cringed, “I bet half of them are in a frat. They're probably gonna be assholes and tell me I have cooties."

“Are you twelve?” MJ groaned, “You sort of lucked out with this—half the work is already done for you! You don’t need to write up any questions!” A sigh left her lips as she took on a more comforting tone: “If it makes you feel any better, Harry is on the team.”

Ah, Harry. MJ had been seeing him for a little over a month by now. He wasn’t a bad guy at all. A little full of himself, but nice enough to talk to. Her eyes roved over the list of players she was set to interview. Sure enough, Harry Osborn was there. So was Miles Morales, who was described as an extremely promising freshman. Zack Coleson, who had the highest number of goals for the season. Last on the list was the team captain: Peter Parker.

“I can talk to Harry,” MJ offered, “I can let him know that it’s you doing the interviews. I’ll make sure he tells them to go easy on you—”

“No, no,” she shook her head, “That might make it worse. And they already know that it’s not Eli coming. Or they should, at least”

“You sure?” MJ quirked a brow, her features crinkling in a way that was only intelligible as concern.

“They��ll be walking on eggshells around me if they know I’m chickenshit, I won’t get a good interview,” she sighed. Even if the interview wasn’t what she wanted to do, she was going to have to. And she would do a good job—a great job.

“You got this, Kitty,” MJ squeezed her shoulders. The nickname pulled a smile from her, and she gave into MJ’s touch.

“We’ll see about that,” she relented. Her eyes traveled back to the computer screen. The interviews were scheduled two days from now at the Stark Memorial Rink.

“Hey, MJ,” she hummed, “Could you grab me my noose?”

The rink was colder than she expected. The empty stands provided no body heat, not to mention there was a literal sheet of ice on the floor. Tugging at the strap of her messenger bag, she took slow, careful steps to the plexiglass.

Clink.

Her eyes widened. There were around ten to fifteen guys in full gear out on the ice, and another ten to fifteen more on a bench near the glass or flitting around the edge of the rink. She was nervous, so she got there early. Now, she was stuck watching them practice.

Leaving was so tempting. She could go back to her dorm, or better yet, leave college entirely. She could just give up and fall off the grid, cut her credit cards, throw her phone in the ocean, sail off to Greece—

“Hello?”

She cursed the muffled voice that pulled her back into reality. Blinking, she found that standing before her was one of the very hockey players she’d seen skating on the rink before her. He was tall, and gear under his black and purple jersey made him appear far more bulkier than she theorized he was. He slipped his helmet off to reveal brown, curly hair that was drenched in sweat.

“Hi,” she replied, trying not to sound as nervous as he would. He cocked his head at her as he popped out his mouth guard.

“This is a closed practice,” he said, though, he didn’t sound all too upset that she was here.

“Oh, yeah, I know,” she nodded quickly, her fingers toying with the strap of her bag again, “I’m a bit early, I’m supposed to be interviewing some people on the team. I’m—”

“Kitty?” She was interrupted by the sound of a voice as well as skates scraping across the ice. Glancing past the guy in front of her, she saw Harry slide off the ice and clomp to benches where they currently were.

“Hey, Harry.” Her lips were screwed up in a tight grin. He’d heard MJ call her Kitty once, and now it was the only thing he’d refer to her as.

“Kitty?” Mystery guy repeated the name with a hint of intrigue.

“It’s not my real name, my friends just call me that,” she shook her head.

“What’re you doing here?” Harry asked, swinging an arm around the shoulder of the guy in front of her.

“I’m Eli’s replacement,” she explained, trying to plaster a friendly smile to her lips, “I’m doing the interviews.”

“Aw, shit, why didn’t MJ tell me we got the cool Kitty-cat on the case?” Harry grinned.

“Could you try to never say those words again? Really hated it, thanks,” her nose crinkled.

“You got it.” He tried to point finger guns at her, but with the thick gloves on, it just looked like he was pointing his whole hand.

“Hey,” he started up again, “You’re a little early, so practice isn’t over yet, but we’re almost done. It’s just the four of us, right?”

“Right,” she nodded in response. It was a relief that they’d been briefed on the situation.

“Alright, well, I’m Harry, obviously, Miles and Zack are on the ice somewhere, and this right here—” Harry jostled the shoulders of the Mystery guy, “—is Peter. Oh captain, my captain!”

Peter chuckled as Harry clapped him on the back. The noise that emanated from the friendly hit was harsh, but Peter didn’t move a muscle.

“Right,” she nodded, “So, I figured we could do them individually? There’s some sort of specific questions for each of you.”

“Sounds good, Kitty,” Harry replied. She’d smack him if he said that name again.

“Sit tight for a bit,” Peter spoke up. Even with the stubble on his chin, his smile gave him a boyish appearance. He looked her up and down quickly, “We can try to wrap up practice early.”

'A bit' ended up feeling like forever. At first, she tried to distract herself with her phone, but it didn't work: she would open apps, scroll through them, then close them just to reopen them over and over again. So she organized her bag, which took about five minutes. Time seemed to tic by in a tauntingly slow manner. It was only when she saw a few of the players emerge from the locker room did she let out a breath of relief. She immediately sucked that breath back when she realized that she would actually have to talk to some of them.

Harry went first. It was easy enough to go through the questions with him. It was like talking to an over-eager relative at a family reunion, one who was just dying to talk about all the new things they're doing. Miles wasn't all that bad to interview, either. He was a lot more nervous than she was. His awkward pauses and constant strings of 'um' and 'uh' was almost comforting. Then came Peter.

"Kitty," he grinned as soon as he saw her seated on the bench next to the rink. He no longer wore his gear—just a hoodie and a pair of gray sweats. His hair, however, was still wet and tousled. She gave him a tight lipped smile in return.

"That's not my name," she replied. Before she had time to properly introduce herself, his raspy chuckle was already echoing through the open arena.

"You said that's what your friends call you, right?" He cocked his head as he sat down on the other edge of the bench.

"You're not—” If she could just make it through the interview without fuss, she'd be one person away from being free, "—right. That's what my friends call me."

"I'm going to be recording this, just so I can reference it later," she explained almost monotonously.

"This isn't my first time," he responded with another light laugh. She had to physically bite her tongue to fight off any comments. A soft click sounded from her phone as she started a new voice memo. Her eyes scanned the list of questions on the page before her. Some she'd already asked to Harry and Miles: How does it feel to make the tournament? What is the atmosphere of the team right now? She chose a fresh question to start with.

"What's it like to be the captain of this team? Are you proud? Overwhelmed?" She asked, her voice taking on a new tone closer to a news anchor than a regular person. Peter's lips curled up at the change.

"I'm proud, yeah," he nodded, his voice smooth, "This is a great group. But we all work our asses off, so I'm not surprised by how far we've come. Being their captain is really something."

"And—"

"Do you normally do sports? For the paper, I mean." Before she could even get her next sentence out, he interrupted her. Her grip on the papers in her hand tightened.

"No, not normally," she grit out, "And going along with your thoughts on being captain, what about making it to the tournament this year?"

"It's the best feeling in the world. It's something I've been chasing after for years now, finally getting to it is just...sort of indescribable." Even when his tone is nothing but sincere, he can't wipe the cocky grin from his lips.

"I can imagine," she smiled tautly in reply, "What was it like working your way up to captain? Was it a personal journey, or did you get support from the team?"

"I'd say it was an even mix of both," he hummed, "Do you like hockey?"

"What?" She furrowed her brows.

"Are you a hockey fan?" He reiterated, "Because our next game is home, and it's sort of packed, but I could get you some tickets assuming you don't have some already—"

"No—Peter," she let out a frustrated huff, tapping on her phone to momentarily pause the recording, "This is an interview, not social hour."

"Aren't interviews inherently social?" His smirk was infuriating.

"I mean that I ask the questions, you answer them," she grumbled, "Do you act like this with Eli? Are you not taking me serious because I'm a woman?"

"What?" His smirk fell immediately, "What? No—no. I'm taking you seriously, I take women very seriously. I'm all for women. They're great."

"Then can we just do this interview and get it over with?" She sighed, her finger hovering over the unpause button. He nodded, but before she could resume the interview, he quickly added: "But do you want tickets?"

Ignoring the question, she carried on. Peter seemed to mellow out after a while and didn't interrupt again. It was almost surprising how well he'd listened: he was giving her real, insightful answers to her questions without a hint of flirtation. The final interview with Zack flowed easily, and she fled Stark Memorial Rink as quick as she could.

Transcribing the interviews was the easiest part. Days later, she would be hunched over her computer in the darkness of her shared dorm, playing and replaying the recordings and typing out the words onto the screen. Her concentration was briefly interrupted, though, when the door opened and a stream of light threaded its way through the room and onto the back of her head.

"Light bad!" She slapped her hands over her eyes, "Light very bad!"

"You're gonna go blind if you keep staring at your computer in the dark," MJ spoke in a warning tone, but ultimately closed the door.

"Then blind I must go," she sighed, swiveling on her chair to look at her roommate, "How was class?"

"Normal," MJ shrugged, sliding her bag off her shoulders, "But I have a little something for you."

"Something for little ol' me?" She gasped in dramatized delight.

"Yes," MJ grinned widely as her hand reached for the zipper of her bag, "Close your eyes."

She obliged immediately, her nose scrunched in anticipation, "I hope it's a million dollars. Is it a million dollars? Am I close?"

"Almost," MJ giggled. After a moment of anticipation, MJ gently grabbed her hands and place something into them. It was thin and papery and rectangular. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see a white envelope with 'Kitty' written out on the front. Her brows furrowed at the unfamiliar handwriting.

"Is there a check for a million dollars inside?" She asked as she cocked her head.

"No clue, it's not from me," MJ shrugged.

"Then who's it from?" Her fingers slid under the lip of the envelope.

"Harry gave it to me to give to you," MJ grinned, "He said it's from Peter."

She should've sailed to Greece when she had the chance. Inside the envelope were two tickets—Empire State University versus Pennbrook University this Saturday at seven. A long groan left her lips before she finally met MJ's eyes.

"You never got me that noose I asked for."

a/n — not sure how i’m feeling abt this one guys. hockey peter has been causing me brain rot tho so i couldn’t help myself.

657 notes · View notes

lvis44 · 1 year

Text

Sweet Escape Pt. 6 // LH 44

Lewis Hamilton x Y/N

Warnings: Swearing, 18+ (mentions of sexual activities), Anxiety, Jealousy, Angst, Mentions of Alcohol, Regret, Emotional Turmoil, Not Edited

Word Count: 4.3k

Summary: Paradise is supposed to be fun and relaxing... a Sweet Escape, but when unspoken feelings and jealousy rise to the surface, everything can be turned upside down in the blink of an eye.

Note: I felt bad leaving you all in pain, not that this will be much better but hey, we're getting there! This part is a tad shorter but I felt that this whole thing should be stand alone. The next part will be the final part of the story, but don't worry there will be an epilogue. I'm glad you have all been enjoying so far and I greatly appreciate everyone's support!

I am not a professional writer and all of this is a work of fiction and is strictly for fun. Enjoy! xxx

Previous Sections: Prologue - Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five

It was nearing three in the morning when you heard your door open. The second you had arrived home you had grabbed your stuff out of Charlotte's room and moved back into your old one. You weren’t particularly in the mood to face anyone. You had spent the last few hours quietly sobbing into your knees, balled up on the bed like a child. You had seemingly run out of tears but the sorrow didn’t change. You hadn’t even heard everyone come home, somehow beating them even on foot, you assumed it was because they had to go find everyone else.

“What?” You snapped at whomever had entered your room, not even looking toward the door.

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” You heard Miles’ voice from the doorway, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Do I seem fucking okay?” You snapped again, your filter long gone.

He let out a sigh, closing the door behind him softly as he dared to make his way over to your bed, sitting down beside you gently.

“I’m sorry Y/N, it wasn’t fair to you to cause a scene like that.” He says softly, glancing over at you to see you staring into space, your attention fixated on the blank wall to the side of the room.

You scoff, not trying to be rude but unable to control anything that comes out of you, “Well at least one of you knows how to fucking apologize. I’m still mad at you though.”

You hear him sigh again, moving closer to you so he can place a hand on your back, rubbing softly. You don’t even have the energy to flinch away from him, just letting him rest his hand there and enjoying the slightest bit of comfort.

“I know you’re pissed at Lewis, you have every right to be. Don’t kill her but Charlotte kind of filled me in when we got home. He massively fucked up.” His hand continues it’s light circling pattern, “And truth be told so did I. I don’t know why but I constantly feel like I need to protect you and hearing that asshole call you anything other than perfect made me want to kill him, he’s honestly lucky Lewis had half a brain to pull me away from him. I know you can take care of yourself but I’m always gonna look out for you, no matter what. Hence the reason I tried to deck my best friend earlier tonight.”

“I’m sorry, you what?” You whip your head towards him, that last bit of information really catching your interest.

“Yeah, when Charlotte filled me in I was still livid with the whole situation from the bar and finding out what sparked it really pissed me off. It only felt right he get at least a swift kick to the groin. Not to disappoint you but Char stopped me. I’m shocked you didn’t hear us.” He almost sounds like he wants to laugh as he tells you, like he can’t believe the whole situation himself.

“He needs a kick to the groin, taking that thing out of commission for a little while might do everyone some good.” You joke dryly, making Miles laugh next to you.

“If you need me to do it, I’m more than willing.” He offers, only kind of a joke, you feel like if you genuinely asked him to do it, he would, given the circumstances.

“I hate that I can hate him and love him all at the same time. I don’t want to lose him, but this can’t carry on this way.” You confess to Miles.

“I know Charlotte already said this to the both of you, but you guys really need to fucking talk.” He tells you seriously, before adding, “And sober.”

“I know, I know.” You groan, “I’m sorry we’ve managed to fuck up so much of vacation.”

“It’s been much more him than you sweetheart, he brought every ounce of drama himself. I could tell something was up with you over the last few days but I couldn’t really figure out what. I’m sorry it’s him.” Miles brings you in for a side hug, his arm wrapping protectively around you.

“I’m just so fucking sick of it all. I’m so tired.” You tell him, leaning against his shoulder.

“I know, understandably so.” Miles lets out a sigh, holding you in silence for a few moments. “You get some sleep and I’ll check on you in the morning, okay?” He says as he presses a kiss to your temple.

All you do is nod, knowing he’s right.

“I know you’re not all good or anything, but I’m glad you're still here. I was worried you were gonna be at the airport by the time we got home, we freaked for a second when we saw your stuff wasn’t in Charlottes anymore.” He tells you quietly, still not having let you go.

“I just didn’t want to have to face anyone, figured moving back to my old room would be the easiest way.” You just about whisper, feeling your exhaustion catch up to you.

“Well, I’m sorry to have intruded, but I needed to check on you,” Miles says, kissing your forehead one more time before easing you back toward your pillows, “get some sleep hun.”

. . .

You had no idea what time it was when you finally woke up and you have no idea how long you’ve been laying in your bed staring at the ceiling. It has to have been a good hour at this point. You can hear people moving around somewhere in the house, the last thing you want to do is go and interact. You were embarrassed, angry, hurt, and so much more you couldn’t even wrap your head around. You’ve had enough. As you’ve been laying there, more than once you’ve contemplated if you could manage to pack your stuff and sneak out of the house, fly back home without another word. You knew you couldn't and more than likely someone would come track you down the second they knew you were gone, well normally they would. You don’t know what your friends know of the situation. How much did everyone else see, how much had they been told? You knew you should get up and eat something but you had no appetite, anxiety and dread having taken over your body. You lay there going through your thoughts for more than an hour. You want to sit down and talk with Lewis, you need to, but the anxiety of the possible outcome is paralyzing you. What if he confirms your fears, admits that all he’s ever been trying to do is get it your pants? What if now that you’ve shut him down he doesn’t see a reason to keep you around anymore? The rational part of your brain knows that you're overthinking, that your friendship with Lewis still stands on semi solid ground. Maybe there will be some change to how he is around you or how often he’s with you but at the base of it all your still close friends. Lewis knows things about you that your own family doesn’t, he’s been able to read you better than you can read yourself on more than a few occasions, all of that can’t go up in smoke this quickly. Can it?

There’s a soft knock on your door, making you groan. You don’t respond hoping they’ll go away. They don’t, only knocking again and gently pushing the door open. You roll your head to the side, seeing Miles peeking his head into your room, a comforting smile on his face. True to his word, here he was to check on you.

“Good morning,” He says softly, making his way into your room once he sees you’re awake, “I brought you something to eat, you need to get something in you.”

You give him a small smile as he places a tray of fruit and a large glass of ice water on the table next to your bed.

“Thanks.” You croak out, your voice hoarse from crying all night.

“Everybodies in their rooms for the most part if you need to venture out of hiding at any point.” He tells you, knowing you’ve been avoiding everyone, but one person in particular.

You just nod, taking a small sip of the cold water. It feels amazing on your burning throat, as if it’s your first drink of water after a month in the desert.

“What time is it?” You ask, trying to get some bearing on where you are in your life, even if it's just the time of day.

He glances down at the watch on his wrist, “Just before noon.”

It’s still earlier than you thought it was at this point and it fills you with a small sense of dread, there’s so much more of the day to go about trying to avoid everyone.

“You know no ones mad at you, right?” Miles makes sure you know that there’s no hostility facing you in the house.

You just shrug, unsure of how true that actually is and also not quite wanting to admit that it’s more so that you’re embarrassed to even see your friends. There’s another soft knock on the door and you're praying it’s Charlotte, the only other person you could bare being around right now. Much to your dismay, a very tired looking Lewis pokes his head around the door that Miles had left ajar. Your breath hitches, anxiety filling your body.

“Oh, shit, sorry, I’ll um-” Lewis stutters, not wanting to interrupt your chat with Miles.

“All good man, I was just gonna head out anyway.” Miles says, standing from where he had sat on your bed.

You know Miles can sense your anxiety but he gives you a look that says “just get it over with” and heads towards the door. Before he exits he turns back toward you and says “Holler for me if you need anything, alright?”

He whispers something to Lewis as he walks out and you can see a pained expression on Lewis’ face at whatever he said. Once he’s gone, Lewis stands awkwardly in the doorway, not quite being able to look at you as he plays with his hands down in front of him.

“You can come in.” You squeak, not actually fully wanting to say it but knowing it needs to be done.

He finally looks at you, putting his hand on the door as if to close it but you can see the question in his eyes. You nod, not wanting your whole conversation to be heard by everyone in the house. He very gently pushes the door closed, making his way further into your room. He looks around, evidently unsure of what to do with himself. He opts for perching on the edge of your dresser just across from where you sit on the bed, you’re facing each other and you can feel your stomach filling with butterflies, but not the good kind you usually get when you’re around him.

“I owe you an apology, well, multiple apologies.” He finally says, looking down at the ground, ashamed. His voice is hoarse as if he’s just woken up.

You don’t say anything, unsure of what you would even say.

“I’m sorry for the way that I’ve treated you. I’m sorry for not talking to you sooner. I’m sorry that my company embarrassed you in front of everyone. I’m sorry for my behavior last night, all of it. I’ve treated you in a way that if anyone else did the same to you, I would hate them.” He finally apologizes for the last few days, finally looking at you as he does so.

He looks exhausted, much older than usual with bags under his eyes and more scruff than you're used to him allowing.

“Thank you,” you whisper, “and I’m sorry I avoided talking to you too.”

He shakes his head, “It shouldn’t have been on you to fix, I’m the one that fucked up.”

You offer a small smile in his direction. All is not immediately forgiven and this conversation needs to continue, but hearing him acknowledge the reasons he needed to apologize in the first place does your heart some good at the very least.

“Why did you do it?” You ask quietly, your voice timid, not sure you truly want the answer.

He looks surprised by the question, also not quite sure how to respond. He lets out a sigh as he collects his thoughts.

“I know it doesn’t make it right,” He starts, pausing for a moment to make sure his words come across as clearly as possible, “but, it’s been on my mind for a long time. I’m well aware that I went about it all wrong, especially last night, I was incredibly out of line last night, but I’ve thought about it alot.” He cringes at his admission.

You furrow your brow, worried this is going exactly the direction you feared, hoping he will continue.

“I don’t mean for that to sound creepy, but I’ve been really attracted to you for quite a while. I should have made that clear in a much different way. I never want you to feel like I’m trying to take advantage of you in any way, it makes me sick to think that I have ever made you feel like that.” He says, a look of regret on his tired face.

“What I said last night was harsh, my drunk brain just felt like it was the best way to get my point across.” You admit to him.

“But it wasn’t really that harsh, despite it not being intentional, it’s kind of true. What I said on the other hand, that was harsh, I never should have called you a tease or said you indulged in it, it wasn’t fair.” His words are firm, for the first time he’s holding steady eye contact with you, demanding your attention so you feel the remorse in his words.

“I need to be honest, it really hurts that you’re able to treat me like all the other girls you fuck around with, I thought I was more important to you than them.” You quietly admit to him.

“Fuck, you are. So much more important to me.” He says, finally moving from where he’s been leaning on your dresser and cautiously making his way toward where you sit on your bed. He carefully sits next to you, leaving a good distance but making sure he’s near you.

“Then how can you be so okay with chatting up the bar tender, grinding on some random woman, and then still come over and try to fuck me, yet again. All because your ego couldn’t handle me dancing with someone else, when you were doing exactly the same.” You push, needing him to truly understand just how shitty his actions made you feel.

“You’re right, I was jealous. In my ideal world you would have been dancing with me all night, but I knew you wouldn’t have allowed that where we were in our relationship. And then you found that prick and the way you were with him, it just set something off in me. I wasn’t thinking. I know that sounds like a horrible excuse but there was part of me that was hoping I could make you just as jealous as I was, not that you would be when you’ve made it clear you’re not interested, and I should have respected that. Between the alcohol and my ego, I let myself treat you like shit and there’s no excuse for that, I would take it back in a heartbeat if I could.” His face is sincere, you can tell just how much he regrets last night but it doesn’t automatically let him off the hook. He continues “And as for the bartender, I wasn’t chatting her up, she’s an old friend. I’ve never slept with her and never will, she’s like family. I got distracted talking with her and by the time I found you again you had that Jason dude on your hip.”

You want to laugh, not only at him forgetting Jadens name, but also at him saying you’re not interested. He has every right to assume you’re not, you’ve done nothing but turn him down. You almost want to tell him just how wrong he is, how the only reason you said no is because you don’t want to lose him, but right now is not the time for that, you don’t want to open any windows and derail the conversation that so far is going shockingly well, even if it hurts.

“Is she the woman you went to after your fight with Talia?” You push him slightly, hoping to get more out of him while he’s being so honest with you.

His face screws up for a second, confused how you would know that. You see the questioning look on his face and rush to clarify, to confess.

“I know you lied to me that night, or at least I kind of hope you did. I overheard you and Charlotte talking the next morning, something about a woman named Marina.” You explain.

He lets out a deep sigh, “Yeah, I’m sorry I lied to you. I wasn’t particularly in the mood to explain the whole situation. But to answer your question, yes, that is the woman that I went and saw.” He doesn’t offer any further explanation, you want to push him but you allow him to leave it at that, at least for now.

You both sit in silence for a moment, trying to figure out where to go from here.

“Lewis,” You say quietly, getting his attention, “I don’t want to lose you.”

His face morphs into absolute sorrow and pain, for a moment you worry that he’s mourning your friendship, not knowing how to break the news to you.

“Y/N, you’ll never lose me. I would go crazy without you.” His voice is soft but sincere as he carefully scoots closer to you on the bed, testing the waters slightly. You let him get close enough that your knees are touching, his hand coming to rest over yours, squeezing tightly.

“How do you think I could ever let you go?” He asks with a deep frown.

“Because you seemed to be okay with ruining our friendship just to get me in your bed.” You accuse him, your voice wavering.

“Sweetheart, I was never trying to ruin our friendship, I-” He takes a long pause, gathering himself with a deep breath, “I don’t know how to explain it exactly, but truth be told, me trying to get you into bed was never just me trying to sleep with you. It’s been a long time since I felt for someone how I feel for you and I’m not good at making that clear. I don’t even truly understand everything that I feel for you but, I know it’s a whole lot more and a whole lot different than how I feel about all of my other friends. I guess somewhere in my head I felt like I could get that across physically, that maybe it would make everything make sense once I had you. I know it sounds ridiculous but I don’t know how to do this.”

His confession both shocks and confuses you, your mind flitting back to the night he disappeared after his fight with Talia. That night he had told you that he had feelings for her, now he was trying to convince you of his feelings for you.

“What about Talia?” You ask, voice still unsure.

“What about Talia?” He throws back at you, confused as to why she matters right now.

“The night that we talked, after your fight, you told me you were worried that you had messed everything up with someone that you cared about or liked a lot, I don’t remember exactly what you said but…” You trail off, a slow moment of realization coming over you.

He chuckles softly, shaking his head as he looks down at the ground before returning his eyes to yours, “Y/N, I was talking about you. In no universe was I ever even considering Talia.” His words confirm what you’ve just realized and you want to slap yourself, you feel like an idiot.

“I- oh my god.” You breathe out, shutting your eyes. His eye contact suddenly feeling like too much.

You stand from the bed, disconnecting your hand from his. He stays seated, looking up at you as you begin to pace, letting you process what he’s said.

“How long?” You ask suddenly, stopping and looking at him.

“In all honesty, I don’t really know. I only really realized it sometime last year. I was thinking it would go away, that it was just some silly crush, but it just kept getting worse.” He explains, shrugging his shoulders as if it’s totally normal.

“So all the time that you were sleeping with all these other women and still flirting with me was, what?” You feel yourself getting agitated, not quite sure how to feel about his actions.

“I kind of figured that if I kept sleeping around that I would be satisfied and I wouldn’t feel the same way, but I couldn't help but keep flirting with you, it’s just naturally how I am with you, it feels right.” Once again he shrugs as if it’s no big deal.

“Do you not want to feel this way about me?” You ask quietly, a slight sting of rejection settling over you.

“No, no, that’s not it at all.” He rushes out, standing to approach you, carefully he puts his hands on your arms, making you look at him, “It’s not at all that I don’t want to feel this way about you, I’m glad I do to be completely honest. It’s just that I’ve been single for a very long time and I truly do not want to fuck this up, I’m scared that I’m going to and I’m going to lose you. It felt like everything would be so much easier if I could just keep being your friend and keep you in my life. But that didn’t happen, I still managed to fuck it up.”

You can feel tears forming in your eyes, he notices them too, a look of regret on his face.

“So what do you want?” You ask him, needing more clarity.

“All in all, I want you, I want to do this with you and god I want to not fuck it up. I want you to be mine, all mine, all in.” He says confidently, much more sure of himself than you feel.

You stare at him as the tears start to roll down your cheeks, your emotions are at an all time high. Part of you is filled with pure ecstasy, the man that you have crushed on for years is standing here in front of you confessing his feelings, asking you to be his. The other part of you is filled with absolute fear, the thought of trying and failing with him, losing one of the most amazing men you have ever met, your best friend. You know that a life with Lewis could either end in the most beautiful love you have ever experienced or the worst, most gut wrenching heartache known to man.

“Can I hug you? You look like you could use it.” His voice is soft, his heart aching as he watches you cry.

All you can do is nod as you let yourself fall into his hard chest. He holds you against him tightly, rubbing soft circles on your back as he once again lets you cry into his chest. You’ve done this too many times in the last twenty four hours. He stays silent, just letting you work through your emotions. When you finally calm down you pull your head from his chest but he keeps you tight against him, one of his hands coming up to wipe some remaining tears from your cheek. You revel in the feeling of his touch, how comforting a simple action can be. As you stare into his eyes you can see how much emotion and affection is hidden behind them. A soft, sad smile across his lips.

“What’s going through that beautiful mind?” He asks, his voice just above a whisper.

“I don’t know.” You tell him honestly.

He just nods, understanding how overwhelmed you must be.

“I need time, I need to think.” You say, averting your eyes from his, knowing you’ll say yes if you look into them for a moment too long.

“Take all the time you need, I’ll always be right here if you decide you’ll have me.” He says softly, pressing a kiss to the top of your head as he gives you another proper hug.

He finally steps away from you, leaving you feeling displaced in your own room, before he turns to leave he grabs your hand, squeezing it tightly, “And Y/N, no matter what you decide, you will never lose me. I will always be right here.” With that he leaves the room, leaving you behind with a whirlwind of thoughts.

As much as every part of you wants to believe him in saying he’ll never leave you, you can’t help but wonder if it’s fully true. If you try this and all of it comes crashing down, you can’t imagine being able to be around him.

Is the possibility of loving and being loved by the most incredible human being worth the possibility of losing him entirely?

426 notes · View notes

z0mbiefrank · 1 year

Text

Transcript for Marina Toybina on the Designing Hollywood podcast

I've seen a couple people searching for a transcript of her discussing Gerard Way's stage costumes, so I have made one! Feel free to share/link as a resource. Popular quotes are bolded.

Link to source video. MCR's section starts around 22 minutes in.

The transcript is beneath the cut.

Interviewer: Well now you’ve just finished working with My Chemical Romance, which is a band that I dig. Gerard Way is also a comic book writer and artist, created the Umbrella Academy. So, first of all, how did you get that job? Because there’s a design, I mean the look of that band and what they like to do, what they’re influenced by, they’re not just your typical rock band. So what was it like? How did you get that job? You designed the whole tour right?

Marina: I Collaborated with the lead singer, yes, with Gerard. Uhm, okay everything kinda has it’s place in time. About 15 years ago, 15 to 20 years ago, I was a huge fan. I’m a rock girl at heart, and back then a lot of their music was like music to my soul. It got me through some of the harder times. A lot of my friends were musicians. I never saw them live, never could afford to get to their shows, but knew one day in my heart there probably will be an opportunity, they were in like my top 5 favorite bands. He was an artist I’ve always wanted to work with. This past summer, while I was designing So You Think You Can Dance, I just happened to turn on their music - nope- let me rewind I'm so sorry. So a year ago I was reading a release that they're coming back together on tour and they're playing LA on my birthday. I looked at my team and I was like "I'm gonna be at that show. We're gonna go to the show, we're all gonna go together." And I just jokingly said “I'll probably dress them!” A lot of things in my career have happened to manifestation, I'm a huge believer in that. I think my intentions were so clear into the universe. I believed in it so much. That happened a year ago. Then this past summer, I was driving to work, I was listening to their music and I just happened to text my agent. I'm like “You know I really want to get back into music. It's what I used to do. I used to do a lot of live performances. I used to do a lot of music videos. I need to feel that again, even though I'm surrounded with music all the time and I'm doing all these shows. But there was a disconnect in my career, to where it's like I love live entertainment.” And she’s like “Who do you want? Like are we going after pop stars?” And I'm like “No I've done all that. I want to go back to my roots. I want like Incubus or My Chemical Romance or Red Hot Chili Peppers. Get me back to rock and roll.” And she was like “Well, you know, they're touring, but it's probably… I don’t know, let's put it out there.” Then within two weeks I get an email from her like “Hey their managers want to meet with you, he wants to meet with you.” One of the biggest things about their aesthetic is one of my probably top three costume designers, Colleen Atwood, did their black parade album and it was so incredible. Back then, I was always a step behind. It's like they did The Black Parade and then I met the photographer later. Then I worked on a project with him. So it was always like some better-late-than-never I guess. And I'm like “I'm gonna work with her someday, I love her work. I've been told by many people we're a lot alike.” You know? And I'm like “Why not?” And so we get this email “He would like to take a meeting, see what we can do.” I never expected to do a tour, I just wanted to open this door of opportunity, to just collaborate, maybe do one thing together. And he just showed up in my studio and it was just an amazing artistic energy.

Interviewer: Were you starstruck?

Marina: I was trying to hold it together. I mean before they came in, I can't tell you how much I paced. Usually, there's like 15 - 20 people at my studio. This was the time and day that I was alone. I didn't know what to do. Of course, my expectations were just to present myself and see if I would be a good asset to them because I love their music and I love what he's about. Also, it’s not just the frontman for me, I think he's a brilliant artist. So there's a lot of things. I just wanted our worlds to merge somehow. Within the first five minutes of our conversation, I'm like “Oh I get his brain.” I told them my story. I told him that this is like 20 years in the making. You know, I probably sound like a crazy-fan costume designer. But we share ideas, he walked me through the concepts of things he wants to do on this particular tour and they haven't started doing the US leg of the tour. I didn't know if they had a designer. Then he did mention Colleen was doing something for him and I was like “Okay, how - can this be a triangle? You know? Can I come in in the picture?” It was just a beautiful collaboration. It was a genuine artist to artist conversation. Like “Let's do something interesting.” He walked me through his concepts, his ideas and I'm like “Alright well, let me come up with some creatives, see if we're on the same page.” Again, as much as I wanted to be like “Hey we're doing this tomorrow!” I also felt like it's important now in my career and possibly in his, to make sure the relationship is good, that this is the right artistic match to one another and… it worked! From there it was just amazing fittings, amazing collaboration and some iconic things that went viral!

Interviewer: I love hearing this from you because this is like the joyous experience of 'oh my god I dreamt of working with somebody and you finally get to do it'. But I want to take you back to that because I'm curious. How would that process even begin? You're working with somebody that you already know their music, you already know his vibe. And Colleen Atwood, who I've interviewed by the way, on the show, she's incredible. Our interview had to - she was in the middle of a work day, so it was only it was a short interview. But how does a collaboration like that work with somebody like Gerard Way? How do you guys start working together? How is that process?

Marina: For us, it was just like an initial conversation. I introduced myself, my work. They already did some background checking up to see where I stand, what my aesthetic was like. And I felt I was in a place in my life, in my career, where I was able to bring something new. That's where my confidence I think came from. At the same time I didn't want to change the artist that's in front of me. I think that's always so important for me when working with music. You're dealing with a fan base, and a reputation, an aesthetic approach that's far beyond any artistic reach of anybody new coming in. So for me it was having a conversation, understanding what characters he wanted to bring forward. This was a very playful tour. This wasn't about dressing up the whole band. This was about him being in this world of iconic characters. And how can we bring this to life? What can we do that's still very recognizable to his fans but at the same time a little bit of a shock value? But at the same time, I wanted him to be him, you know? He was in this beautiful place in his life and career where he felt great and felt confident and I just wanted to uplift that. We did our creative decks, went through the conversations of which characters we wanted to go with, these are the shows that he had. I knew which city, we kind of wanted to play off where was the right time. Halloween was right around the corner, what do we do? So it was like very strategic conversations but at the same time so much room to play and be creative. So I just gathered the top 10 characters that we had discussed and kind of started doing my own thing, and keeping him and the music in mind. Had an amazing fitting. I've never worked with an artist that's so clear. It was not just directional and very precise and very distinct on his own style, but it was clear for me when we were doing fittings, this is somebody that knows his body. This is somebody who knows his aesthetic on stage. This is somebody that knows how they're going to perform. So it just made it so much easier for me to be able to fall into his world and do the fittings like “Is this going to come off? Is this piece staying on? Are we going to do options? Is the character going to evolve on stage? Is the character going to come down on stage?” So all those conversations happen in our fittings and then I just packed it all up, with distinct notes, send them off, and then kept checking in, making sure everything was okay.

Interviewer: So when you had a direction for the characters, were you doing sketches first?

Marina: No, not at all. This was something that I felt like needed to have the research. It wasn't just about designing something on paper. When he mentioned to me “I wanted to be a vintage cheerleader” I'm like “Okay, what era are we in? 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 40’s?” and then he was like “Find me something that's within possibly this color scheme.” The image that went viral when he did wear the cheer uniform, it was probably like 10 different vintage stores that we went to. And I'm like “Okay everything's size zero.” or like “What am I gonna do? This stuff doesn't exist anymore. If I get it from Etsy it's not going to come in time.” There's like so much and it happened to be as we were leaving one of the stores I looked on a sale rack and I saw this damaged, weird, vintage cheer dress that had no zipper, that had no hem. And I was like “I love this! I love this because I can reconstruct it. I can go and get the fabrics that we need to still keep it original and authentic. And that's how we start working. I build out a mannequin his size at my studio, put it on, we reshaped it, took the whole thing apart, reconstructed it to be his measurements, and still kept it authentic. After he wore it, the pattern for the actual thing was sold out. Fans loved it so much that we were getting notifications that people actually found the original pattern of this 1940s uniform and were buying it out.

Interviewer: That's crazy, okay!

Marina: Oh it's amazing! I think, to me, that's when things are just meant to be. When not only did my work translate into something beautiful on stage, but then he becomes this incredible persona on stage that then delivers the character and plays it off. We did that throughout every single look. Every single look when it became a fan favorite or craze.

Interviewer: In terms of time, what was the process when you first got the gig and then to the first show that was performing using your work? What was the time frame?

Marina: I think I had about a month to get it all together.

Interviewer: Wow! That’s not much!

Marina: Yeh and at the same time, I had another huge project in the works so it was going back and forth. But I could not tell you, I've had difficult projects in the past, I've had difficult times with artists, or finding our own language, or how to execute some things. This was so easy that time didn't matter to me. It was such a great collaboration, it flowed, like Bruce Lee would say, like water. It just made sense and no matter how difficult my other project was or what was going on at the same time, it was like oh this is the universe showing me this is how it's supposed to be. This is what's inspiring me. And at the end of the day, the one thing I told Gerard was “You made me fall in love with music again. You came into my life as an artist that I've admired and wanted to work with for almost 20 years. There was a big part of my beginning that made me look back at this now and be like “Oh that's what. That was that feeling that I had when I was 16 or 20.”

#my chemical romance #gerard way #marina toybina #mcr #my chem #designing hollywood podcast #let me know if i should change anything #ive never done a transcript before but i hope it helps!!#resource #transcript #op #interviews #costume design #cheerleader

666 notes · View notes

hwaslayer · 9 months

Text

project: make you love me (jyh) | three.

♣︎ spotify playlist | series masterlist

—summary: yunho can’t stand how you’re so wrapped up in the notorious campus fuckboy, park seonghwa. he would gladly love you the way you deserve, despite being shy, awkward and the complete opposite of seonghwa. thus, when he finds himself spending more time with you over literature reviews and random study sessions, he decides to take on the challenge to win you over.

—pairing: jeong yunho x f. reader x park seonghwa

—genre: (18+ - minors dni) strangers/friends to lovers, college au | fluff, angst, (eventual) smut

—word count: 4.8k

—chapter content/warnings: cussing/mature language, we all know seonghwa is a dick but he pulls something that makes him even more of a dick (if that's even possible?), yunho 🥺, we finally say hello to yeosang!!

"Thank god lab was cancelled today. Can finally eat a meal in peace." Soobin sighs. "Here." He shoves his fries over to Chaery. "Too full now."

"Yay!" She claps as she takes the plate and begins to chow down on the rest of Soobin's curly fries. "They're so good. I can't believe they're already out of this when the cafeteria barely opened 30 mins ago."

"There's visitors on campus getting lunch so—" Seungmin shrugs. "Visitors getting free food and leaching off of us poor college students."

"At least the frozen yogurt machine is working!" Chaery adds.

"For now. They'll probably eat that shit up and end up breaking the machine, too. You know, visitors doing what visitors do best."

"Stop. Be nice." You scold him. "They're literally just high school seniors."

"Yeah.. so, visitors?" Seungmin furrows his brows. "I said what I said." You snort just as you finish up your frozen yogurt cup and place it down onto your tray.

"I heard that new mochi donut place opened in downtown." Soobin nonchalantly adds as he scrolls through his phone. "We should go before practice."

"We should." Chaery squeals. "I wholeheartedly agree with you for once!" Soobin furrows his brows at her before [playfully] threatening to take back his fries.

"Are you driving? I'm kinda low on gas." Seungmin asks.

"Yeah, why not?" Soobin shrugs, being the first to stand and drop off his tray. "Meet us at the library after class, Chaery?" The rest of your group follows and agrees in unison.

"Mm, sure. Guess I'll just wait around there, then. I do need to get some homework done so I can study all night." Chaery adds before looking at you. "Hey, you're seeing Yunho in class today right?"

"Sure am."

"Gonna sit next to him?" You chuckle.

"Chaery, sorry to break it to you, but that one time was a coincidence. He just didn't have anywhere else to sit."

"Whatever you say. I'm sure you'll find him in the same seat today."

"What are you, cupid?"

"Whatever you want me to be. As long as I can get you the fuck away from Park Seonghwa." She pretends to gag, making you laugh.

"You're too much."

"Call it what you want, I just care about you." She swings her arm around you as your group walks over to the library. It's quite busy at this time— lots of foot traffic, with people in and out of classes or hanging out. You, Soobin and Seungmin bid farewell to Chaery as she heads into the quiet section of the library to get work done, while the three of you head upstairs to your classrooms. There's still about 5 minutes to spare, more than enough time for you to head to your seat and settle in before class. So, you do just that— head to your seat and settle in.

Except to your surprise, Jeong Yunho is sitting in that same seat next to you.

You pause in your steps for a second before continuing to walk over, observing as he types away at his laptop. You're sure he can feel you coming, but he doesn't do much to acknowledge you until you take a seat. He glances over at you with a small smile, muttering a soft:

"Hi."

"Hey Yunho."

"How was the rest of your walk?"

"My walk?" You raise a brow before it clicks in your head. "Oh, right! With Chaery. Yeah, it was good. How was yours?" You chuckle as you take out your notebook. "Were you able to get some sleep that night?" You remembered. Such a minor detail for Yunho, but you remembered.

"Uh, yeah. Enough to suffice."

"Good." You chuckle. "By the way, thanks again for sending me that stuff. It's super helpful."

"Glad it is." Your eyes glance up to Dr. Nelson walking in and setting his things down on the front desk. Your smile fades when Dr. Nelson begins class and starts talking all this nonsense about a major paper assignment.

"Might have to bother you again for more help with this later." Yunho chuckles a bit and shakes his head.

"You're not a bother. I don't mind." He says close to a whisper. You give him one last smile before diverting your attention back to Dr. Nelson, jotting down some notes about his topic of the day.

Class goes by as it typically does, with you being able to work with Yunho on another in-class assignment. He asks about the rest of your afternoon, and you tell him about your plans with friends, dance practice and your evening class. He simply nods before explaining that he'll be working on some other projects for the remainder of the day. It falls silent a majority of the time you're working with him, however you don't mind keeping up the conversation. He's easy to talk to, and quite frankly, you don't find Yunho the least bit intimidating or awkward.

At least, you couldn't pick up on it during your interactions with him.

You're just hoping he's fond of your company, too. Hopefully, you don't annoy him— especially when you ask for help.

"Don't work too hard, okay?" You say as you pack up your things and start to head out of the classroom. Yunho follows shortly after, slinging his backpack strap over his shoulder.

"Mm, I'll try. I do have lots of things to cross off, though."

"Would you like me to get you a mochi donut to give you some energy?" He laughs.

"That's very nice of you, but no thanks. I'll be good."

"Okay. Suit yourself." You tease before waving at him one last time. "See ya around?"

"Yeah." Is all he responds with. He watches as you meet your friends and head downstairs, with Chaery waiting for your group at the bottom of the steps. He smiles a bit when he sees you hug her like you haven't seen her in years, becoming fond of how good you look being happy.

You should be happy.

He doesn't know much about you yet, but he does appreciate your energy and how kind you are around him.

Meanwhile, you're enjoying the walk down to the lot with your friends. You're happy to be reunited with your bestfriends, class wasn't too bad for the first time in ages and you're off to get some good mochi donuts. But of course, you've come to learn that these things don't last, and they don't last for one reason only—

"Hey." Seonghwa says, catching you as he walks out of the gym. "Can I talk to you for a second?" You sigh as you slow your pace, letting your friends walk ahead.

"Seonghwa, I don't have time. We're literally about to leave."

"Just 2 minutes." Your friends look back at you, Chaery making it very obvious of her distaste for him. He doesn't care much though, because what Seonghwa wants is what he gets. He won't stop until he gets it. "Please, 2 minutes."

"Fine." You cross your arms. "What?"

"You're still upset?"

"Why wouldn't I be, Hwa? Tell me one good reason."

"I said I was sorry. We were just talking. I didn't know I couldn't talk to my classmates."

"Right. Just talking even with your other classmate who stepped out of your car that morning, too?"

"Baby." He groans a bit. "She just needed a ride. Why do I have to explain all of this to you? You know I wouldn't do that."

"Unfortunately, no. I don't know. I don't know what you're up to when we aren't together."

"And I'm telling you now. Stop listening to other people and assuming. Just talk to me and ask me." He says. "I hate when we're like this. I don't want you mad, and I just wanna move past this." He actually sounds a bit worried, but you know better than to just let your guard down right away because he has hurt you before. He has done things 'behind your back.' He has made it very clear what you were to him. "Besides, it's not just me. That whole thing with Yunho—"

"No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to drag him into this." You shake your head. "This is such a waste of time, and we're just going in circles. I need to go." You turn but he gently grabs you by the wrist to stop you.

"Okay, okay. Baby. I'll stop. I'm sorry." There he goes again. At this point, all you can do is stare at him. You have nothing else to say, and you're not sure what else to do. Seonghwa is going in circles and you know it's because he's sorry that he got caught;

Not because he is truly and genuinely sorry about being a dick and treating you this way.

"Y/N, let's go. We don't have much time before practice." Soobin calls out, his eyes glued on Seonghwa.

"I really need to go."

"I'll come pick you up tonight then, okay? After practice." You don't say anything— don't do anything really— besides give Seonghwa one last look before turning on your heel to head back to your friends. "I'll be there." He says as you continue walking, letting out a deep sigh.

"Sorry." You climb in next to Chaery in the backseat and buckle in, with Soobin driving out of the lot.

"It's cool. We should just go so we can get back in time. Hyunjin will never let it go if we show up late." Seungmin says.

"We'll just shove a mochi donut in his face, he'll be okay." Chaery responds, texting away before turning her attention towards you. "Babe, what was that about?"

"He was just trying to apologize for how it's been."

"How.. what's been? He's always been this way so what's the difference?"

"I don't know."

"Are you seeing him later?"

"I guess."

"He better make that the best damn apology anyone has ever seen."

"Let's hope so." You give her a pursed smile and shrug.

Soobin takes the quick drive into downtown, pulling up to a parking spot just around the corner from the new mochi donut shop. There's a few people waiting in line outside, but it moves quick. The four of you fall in line, each chiming in about how the day went and anything new that's happened. Soobin starts to discuss plans for Christmas break that'll soon peak around the corner— explaining how he plans to go home and spend time with his baby cousins who will be in town. You find out Seungmin and Chaery also plan to go home every now and then. For you, you're not really sure what your plans are. Perhaps you'll fall in the middle since you do love seeing your mom and older sister, however the space and freedom is always nice.

The line continues to move bit by bit until your group is finally at the front. Seungmin orders two boxes to bring to the studio, while the rest of your group orders individual donuts to try out. Before eating your donut, you snap a picture and immediately think about Yunho. You second-guess texting the photo to him, but you do it anyways— hoping it will give him some kind of boost of energy for his evening.

Which, is fair. Because Yunho is in the library already struggling to get through some of this project.

you: here's your donut! i'll eat it on your behalf.

Yunho chuckles a bit to himself before responding.

yunho: thanks. 😊 really appreciate the support.

you: hopefully you can feel the boost of energy from here!

yunho: already do!

You giggle and set your phone into your pocket before continuing on with your friends, mentally preparing for your own evening of practice and class.

Yunho makes his trek to the back parking lot like he usually does at this time, not expecting many people to be around. It's exceptionally chilly tonight that he sucks in a sharp breath to prevent his teeth from chattering too much. He does a little shimmy too, hoping it'll shake the feeling off from his bones until he gets to his car.

God, this walk couldn't be any longer.

As he finally arrives to the back lot, he catches you sitting at the same bench that he saw you sitting at last time. He lets out a breath and shakes his head, slowly walking to his car to give Seonghwa some time to make it to you before he climbs in.

Too bad that doesn't fucking happen.

He tried, he really tried to walk as slow as he could in this cold weather, but he couldn't prolong it any further. He pops his trunk and tosses his bag in, contemplating what his next move is when he sees you wiping away at your face. You're crying, and sitting in the cold— it's a damn shame he can't molly-whop Seonghwa's ass into the next lifetime right at this very moment.

"Fucking dick." He mutters to himself when he climbs into his car and drives over to the entrance, quickly hopping out to jog over to you with his extra jacket in hand. You don't really notice him though [and he doesn't wanna scare the hell out of you], so he stops at a certain distance before clearing his throat. You turn to him with watery eyes, but you manage to put on a tiny smile for him anyway. Probably to try and hide the fact that you're crying over Park Seonghwa, but it's too late.

He knows.

"Yunho, hi." You wipe at your face once more. "What're you doing here?"

"I was just about to leave, but I saw you sitting here."

"Oh, no. Don't worry about me. My ride is.. coming." You pause a bit in between words.

"You sure?" Yunho cocks a brow up and you nod. No.

"Yes." You lie anyway. Truth be told, you know Seonghwa isn't coming at this point but you still hold onto hope. It's been close to a fucking hour and you ridiculously hold onto hope. You glance at Yunho but his facial expression shows that he doesn't believe you one bit.

He knows, he knows.

So, he gestures towards his car and purses his lips together.

"It's freezing. If you really wanna wait for him, you can wait in my car until he gets closer." Is all he says. Wow, he really knows. "I just can't let you wait here any longer by yourself." You look at him and immediately know through his look alone that he's not gonna let this one go. You simply give him a curt nod before standing. He extends his arms out when you get a little closer, draping his jacket over your shoulders. It's a thick zip-up, and Yunho's scent lingers on the fabric. He smells good, you think— hints of an earthy, woody cologne he uses, mixed with laundry detergent. "You can wear my jacket for now to warm up."

"Yunho, you really don't have to."

"I do." He says in a gentle tone. He swings his passenger door open, allowing you to settle in before hopping in the driver's seat. He instantly turns up the heat before sitting back and scrolling through his phone, picking a song on his playlist to play softly in the background.

"He's not coming." You say close to a whisper as you fiddle with your fingers on your lap, Yunho cocking his head to the side to look at you.

"I'll take you home then."

"No, it's alright. I can call my roommates—"

"We live in the same community, it's not a problem Y/N." He chuckles.

"Right. Thank you." You look up at him and he gives you a toothless smile before driving off. It's a little awkward, embarrassing even, that you were caught crying over somebody who didn't deserve the tears. Somebody who stood you up and left you in the cold, somebody who didn't even care to text or call. Somebody who is probably getting busy as we speak—

Yeah, definitely undeserving.

You almost wanna cry again as you look out the window, feeling so incredibly small and stupid for this shit. But, it's like Yunho knows what's going on in your head, what you're feeling like. He doesn't have to ask, and quite frankly, he's pretty pissed himself that Seonghwa could just continuously leave you out in the cold like that. Who the fuck does that?

"You deserve better." Yunho says, running his finger across his bottom lip as he continues to keep his eyes on the road.

"I know."

"I don't know the whole story, and I can't say I understand, but you can't keep hoping Seonghwa will change for you. He's an absolute dick."

"Yeah, he is." You admit it with a whisper. Yunho won't say anything more though, he didn't necessarily pick you up to lecture you.

"Is there anything you need before going home?" You shake your head.

"No, just wanna get home and get comfy."

"Okay."

"I definitely need to get you lunch now." He chuckles and shakes his head.

"You don't owe me anything."

"So, you don't wanna have lunch with me tomorrow?" You look at him all doe-eyed and he can't help but smile bigger. You're cute.

"Never said that. I just don't want you to repay me for anything."

"Just this once?" You pout a bit. You're so cute. "We can go to that new brunch place in town."

"If you wanted to hang out, you could've just asked." He smirks and you let out a small snort.

"Funny." You turn to him. "Seriously. If you're free, let me buy you lunch. At least something to say thank you for keeping me warm and out of the cold." He nods.

"Sure. I have a good break in between classes tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll just text you when I get out of my class then." You lean your head back against the headrest and stare out the window, exhaustion slowly starting to hit you. "By the way, that literature review you helped me with? I got an A on it."

"Sweet. Nice to know I can be of help." You chuckle.

"You're a lot of help." Yunho smiles to himself as he continues to drive, a comfortable silence falling in the car for the rest of the way.

When he pulls into the lot, he snags a parking spot near his building just because he knows he'll walk you over to yours. It's a small, tightknit community, and the walk to your building is merely across the parking lot, but it's his priority to make sure you get home safely. He does a slight jog to open your door before popping the trunk to grab your things, handing you your bag with a soft smile on his face.

He's cute.

"Well, I'm there, so.." You point towards your building. "See you tomorrow?" He shakes his head.

"Come on, I'll walk you."

"Yunho—"

"It's a quick walk."

"You do too much for me." He looks at the ground and lazily kicks at the fallen leaves.

"I don't think so. This is the bare minimum, and it's quite obvious someone hasn't been putting in the effort." He sucks on his bottom lip while looking at you.

"You can say that."

"I don't mean to say this in an attacking manner or anything."

"No I know, Yunho. I know you wouldn't do that."

"Good." He stops in front of the stairs that'll lead you up to your unit.

"Thanks for everything tonight."

"Anytime."

"Goodnight Yunho, walk safely." He lets out a small laugh.

"Goodnight Y/N." He watches as you slowly walk up the steps, only turning when he feels satisfied enough to leave you.

"Oh, Yunho!" You call for him around the corner of the steps and poke your head out. "Your jacket?"

"You can just give it to me tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight!"

"Night." He chuckles, digging his hands into his pockets as he walks off to his apartment.

Per usual, he steps in and hears his roommate yelling at his computer screen while locked away in his room. His roommate is cool and all, but they talk here and there; not too often. Yeosang is usually minding his own business with his own group of friends, in and out of the apartment with the occasional guest over. Other times, he's locked in his room while playing games. He cooks ramen a lot, and he typically asks Yunho if he wants some— which is nice of him, and he's grateful. Yunho is okay with being in his own company for the most part. As a matter of fact, it's less of a headache that way since he doesn't have to worry much about others around him. He's always been quiet and more reserved, moreso just for the sake of his own peace. He doesn't go out of his way for people, so he finds himself chuckling at the fact that he pulled all that shit for you. Not saying you weren't worth the trouble, but it felt so out of character that he wasn't sure what he was trying to do here. Though, he can say he does find comfort in your company and he can't say that for a lot of people. It's easy for him to feel relaxed around you even though he hasn't spent a lot of time with you outside of the classroom. It's just who you are and how you carry yourself. Your aura, your personality.

It's nice, refreshing really. You don't have to try to be these things, it comes naturally.

Suddenly, Yeosang's door swings open and he's walking out in a baggy black tee and sweats. Yunho decides he'll cook up some spam.

"What's up, dude." Yeosang grabs a water bottle from the fridge.

"I'm about to cook some spam, do you want some?" Yeosang shakes his head.

"I'm good, thanks. Had dinner earlier." Yeosang looks at him with a brow cocked up. "Surprised you didn't grab anything on your way home?"

"Was gonna but got caught up with something as I was about to leave."

"Something or someone?"

"Someone." Yunho shrugs.

"Are you seeing someone?"

"What, no?! I just ran into Y/N and she was having a rough night."

"Y/N? The junior messing with Park Seonghwa?" Yeosang says and Yunho rolls his eyes. Unbelievable. You can't even spell your name without Seonghwa nowadays.

"Uh, yeah her."

"Surprised that's still a thing." Yeosang does a slight head tilt. "He must have some feelings, right? I've never seen him hold onto someone for so long the way he does with Y/N." Yunho shrugs. He doesn't really wanna talk about this right now, let alone think about you and Seonghwa. Because what does Yeosang even mean? Feelings?

The truth is that Seonghwa is a dumbass and that's that.

He doesn't do feelings.

"He left her out in the cold for close to an hour, so. Highly doubt it's that." Yunho says with a subtle hint of venom in his words. Yeosang catches on though, even when Yunho tries to avoid eye contact and continues to quietly cook away at his spam.

"Poor girl. She really deserves better." Yunho finally looks at him for a brief moment, but gives him a quick nod before returning his attention to the pan.

"Sure you don't want any?"

"Positive. Thanks." Yunho shrugs just as Yeosang begins to head back to his room. "Alright, calling it a night." Yunho nods in acknowledgement before Yeosang can shut his door. Once he's finished cooking, he shuts off the heat, cleans a bit and takes his bowl into his room.

The only lights bouncing off of the walls are from his computer screens. There's something soothing about sitting in a dimly lit room at this time of night, especially when Yunho finds his mind wandering. He's eating and catching up on his show, but he's not really catching onto anything that's happening or what's being said. Before he can even think about what he's trying to do, he picks up his phone and pulls up your message thread. He chuckles to himself a bit re-reading the message you sent him with a picture of your mochi donut.

Cute.

He doesn't really think much about other people, but he's wondering if you're okay. He still can't believe Seonghwa left you out in the cold, and he knows you have been crying.

No, he needs to give you space. You give him some attention and now he's acting up.

No, Yunho.

Chill the fuck out.

He sighs to himself and shoves his phone to the side, erasing every possible text he could draft in his head because he won't send you a text. He'll let you be. He'll give you your space, let you be in your own peace.

Besides, you might prefer to recover alone. Recharge alone. Be alone.

He hopes you are okay.

He hopes you are warm and comfortable, and that you aren't crying over Park Seonghwa's dumbass.

Hopefully, sleep finds you.

But tonight, he doesn't think sleep will find him.

"Hey." You shuttle into the apartment and toss your things aside. "Chaery and Soobin aren't home yet?"

"Hey, no. They have some studying to get done and wanted to do it at the library." Seungmin's eyes glaze over you. "I thought you were gonna be with Seonghwa?" He asks as he cooks himself a cheese quesadilla.

"Well, he never picked me up."

"What?" Seungmin furrows his brows as he angrily shuts off the burner and turns to you. "I swear I'll fight him. It's freezing outside. Doesn't he know that?"

"I know, Seungmin. Please don't tell Soobin or Chaery, I don't wanna hear it right now." He sighs heavily and shakes his head as if to dismiss his thoughts.

"Fine, whatever. I just hope this finally gives you enough of a reason to stop messing with him." You look down, feeling like a child being scolded by their parent. "So how did you get home? Whose jacket are you wearing?" He comes closer to inspect you.

"It's.. Yunho's."

"Yunho? How did you get Yunho's jacket?"

"He saw me waiting out in the cold and gave me his jacket."

"He took you home?" You nod.

"Yeah, when I told him Seonghwa wasn't gonna come."

"I'm really glad he was there."

"I am too. He even walked me to the steps before leaving."

"God, Y/N. You've gotten so used to the way Seonghwa treats you, and to be honest, I hate it. He's a piece of shit. Just date Yunho." You sigh.

"Not you, too."

"I mean, I'm partially joking, but Yunho has already done more for you in these past days than Seonghwa has the past months. You're my bestfriend, and you know I love you. You're way too good for him."

"Yunho and I are just friends, classmates even. We don't really talk like that."

"Still, he manages to help you when you need it the most without asking for anything in return. Says a lot about his character."

"I'm just gonna go shower." Seungmin sighs when he sees you hauling your things into your room. "I still have some homework to get done."

"Do you want me to make you some food?"

"Sure, whatever you whip up, I'll eat." You give him a small, but somewhat defeated, smile. "Thank you."

"Of course." And with that, you head in for a long, hot shower, unsure of how to feel tonight. You knew you needed to stop messing with Seonghwa, but you weren't sure why it was hard for you to cut him off. Maybe it was the attention you received behind doors, Seonghwa being a different Seonghwa that showered you in love, care— even though you knew he didn't entirely mean it. That he didn't genuinely care or feel for you, that he can't commit to you and only you.

He likes the idea of you the most, not you.

But Seonghwa wasn't the only thing occupying your thoughts, it was definitely Yunho, too. You couldn't help but wonder where all of that came from when you didn't know much about him and he didn't know much about you.

Maybe you were used to the way that Seonghwa treated you. It's not that Yunho was doing too much, it was the fact that you already expected less.

You were used to less.

Not even the bare minimum.

Hopping out of the shower, Seungmin has a hot bowl of rice with a sausage and egg omelett sitting on your desk along with a piping hot cup of green tea [drenched in honey, just the way you like it]. You smile and dig in, scrolling through your phone to see a notification from Seonghwa—

seonghwa: fuck baby, i'm sorry. something came up

seonghwa: where are you?

seonghwa: i'm so sorry about everything, i know we've been fighting lately and i haven't been my best towards you. i'll make it up to you, i promise

seonghwa: baby please, talk to me. can i come get you now?

You roll your eyes and toss your phone aside, pulling out your laptop so you can finish up your homework. You don't feel like responding to Seonghwa, and you don't feel like thinking about him any longer.

He's already taken up too much of your time and effort.

You slip on your headphones and power through the rest of the assignments you had left. It wasn't much, and it doesn't take long, so you begin to draft out bits and pieces to your literature paper.

Suddenly, you think of Yunho again.

A small smile is etched across your face when you remember his company tonight. You really are truly grateful he stepped in and brought you home.

Maybe he's on his walk, you're not sure. But, you don't want to be a bother.

You just hope he's okay and that he's taking care of himself after tonight.

He deserves it.

♣︎ taglist: @s-nsanshine @soupbinlily @tyongff-ff @jiminiscricket @g1g1l @staytinyinmybpack @woomyteez @gfksz @bitchwhytho @savluvsmingi @thisisntmyrightera @hyukssunflower @miriamxsworld @tmtxtf @kuromibabe04 @lmnhead @carrietwrites @tournesol155 @persphonesorchid @txt-yaomi @marsattacks @mxnsxngie @h-nji [bold = can’t tag 🥺]

#yunho fanfic #yunho series #jeong yunho series #jeong yunho fanfic #ateez series #ateez fanfic #ateez #yunho #yunho x reader #jeong yunho x reader #ateez x reader #ateez imagines #yunho smut #yunho angst #yunho fluff #jeong yunho smut #jeong yunho angst #jeong yunho fluff #hwaslayer: project make you love me

282 notes · View notes

lumosinlove · 9 months

Text

Vaincre

May part five

cw: mentions of injury & recovery (nothing graphic)

Thanks for waiting y'all! It means so much that you stick with me. I'm gonna do smaller sections so I can post more frequently. Expect the next part up in a couple of days. All the love!! <3

The hospital lights were bright.

Alex didn’t like to remember that about them, but he looked down at his own pale thighs in his shorts and watched how the lights traced out every single blue vein. It made him feel more vulnerable than he cared for at that moment. He didn’t want to think about Finn laid out under a machine, waiting to hear how long it might take him to heal. That was the thing with heads. Bones had an end date: Six weeks, maybe four. Heads, however, came with mights. Might be a few months. Might be more.

Their dad was trying to get their mom to sit down, to rest. She looked just as pale in this awful light. Tear tracks on her cheeks, hand on her chest as if she could press her heart into calmness. They all—all three of them, Finn, Alex, their dad—had always hated it when she cried.

Kasey, asleep beside him in the chair now, had handed him this cup of coffee at some point. His was holding himself stiffly in sleep. Alex could tell he was in some sort of pain. Maybe from the game.

Alex wasn’t sure how long he had been holding the coffee, only that his fingers were numb from leeching the burning heat out of the flimsy cardboard. He reached out and settled careful fingers over Kasey’s old injury, wishing he could leech the pain away, too. Natalie was on the phone down the hall—maybe with Celeste Dumais. Or Lily Potter.

Logan and Leo. He didn’t see them in the waiting room.

Alex set the coffee down beneath his chair and turned to stroke a hand through Kasey’s hair. Brown eyes opened to him, tired but trying not to be.

“Did I fall asleep?” Kasey asked.

“Just for a minute.” Alex pressed a kiss to his temple. “Be right back.”

“Want me to come?” Kasey cleared his throat. He made the chair looks so small, and Alex caught the twinge of pain in his face when he moved his legs.

“No, I’m just—no, it’s okay.” He looked back towards Natalie. “You two should get home. I hope I won’t be too much longer.”

“Alex.” Kasey rubbed at his eyes then sat forward. “If you think we’re going anywhere right now, you’re an absolute insane person.”

“Seconded.”

They both looked up at Natalie, walking towards them and sliding her phone into her back pocket.

“Celeste?” Kasey asked.

“It was Sirius actually,” Natalie said. “Checking in. This is not the time, nor the place, but that man sounds extremely sexy on the phone.”

Alex cracked the barest of a smile. He stood, suddenly feeling like it would burn him through and through if he stayed still for one more second. “Does he now?”

Natalie just kissed his cheek. “Not nearly as good as you. Only, I prefer hearing your voice face to face.”

“IRL?” Alex asked. He pushed his hands in his pockets and tried to figure out how to stop his throat from closing up when he caught another glimpse of his mom’s face.

“No one says IRL,” Natalie said softly, but her eyes were flicking all over his face. “Alex—”

“I’m gonna go check on him,” Alex said, and turned away fast before she could see anything else he didn’t want her to.

The hospital lights remained just as bright down the hallway and—oh. There they were. Leo was sitting on a chair outside of Finn’s room. Logan was leaning against the opposite wall, glaring at the shut door like he could open it with his gaze alone.

“Hey,” Leo stood when he caught sight of him. He looked tired, shoulders slumped down. “Sorry, we just…” Leo sent a glance at Logan, who hadn’t moved. Hadn’t so much as blinked. “We’re feeling like the waiting room’s a little too far away right now, so…”

“Isn’t that cute,” Alex said and that got him a darting glare from Logan. Alex smiled tightly at Leo, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You guys okay? Need anything?”

“To get inside,” Logan grumbled pointedly, just as the door opened and the doctor slipped through. Logan stood straight, every muscle in him straining forward as the doctor shut the door again. She turned and her eyes hesitated on Alex.

“You’re twins?” she asked.

“Brothers,” Alex said faintly.

“Ah. Well, you can go in and see him now.” She smiled sympathetically and began walking down the hallway towards the waiting room. “He’s a talker, that one, isn’t he?”

Alex felt something that he thought was relief flood through him. He heard Leo let out a breath.

“Yeah,” Leo said. “Yeah, he is.”

Logan pushed off of the wall, and Alex barely got a hand on his chest to stop him before his hand was on the doorknob.

“Alex,” Logan said, hovering between demanding and questioning.

“Listen,” Alex said. “I know you…I know it’s…” Alex shut his eyes. They were so dry from the air that it hurt. “Can I just have a second with him? Please.”

Logan looked like he was going to protest. The look in his eyes was almost anger, or maybe frustration, but Leo stepped forward.

“Of course,” he said, and took Logan’s hand, pulling him a step back. “Of course you can. We’ll wait.”

Alex looked at him. Blue eyes. Leo hadn’t been there for so much of it, of Finn’s hurt and Logan’s ache, but he seemed to understand somehow. Alex felt a sort of kinship to him in that way. Somehow, despite the odds, both of them had become the missing halves to, not one, but two people who had already made a whole.

“Thank you,” Alex said softly, then looked at Logan. “Tremz, thanks. Really.”

Logan still didn’t look happy about it, but he nodded. He covered Leo’s hand entirely with both of his own.

No more bright lights. Not in this room. There was a soft, unobtrusive light for the doctors to see by, but that was all.

“Doesn’t it remind you of the kind that line the aisles on airplanes?” Finn’s voice said from the bed. “You know? The emergency ones.”

Alex nodded. “Mhm.”

“It’s you, Al, right?”

“Mhm,” Alex said.

“Hm,” Finn said. “Quite the game, Hazard.”

“Hazard,” Jack began to say in the locker room. He looked wrecked after the game.

Alex shook his head. “Don’t talk to me.”

Jack walked forward, at least he tried to. Will stopped him with a hand on his chest. It wasn’t aggressive. That wasn’t Will’s way. Will gave a small shake of his head, but Jack kept talking.

“It was an accident. I—okay, but I didn’t mean to hit him that hard. I thought he’d brace himself, he saw me coming—”

“I said don’t talk to me.” Alex said, then he shouldered past Logan and stepped up until all that separated him and Jack was Will’s palm. “For as long as you’re here, and I don’t think that will be for much longer, don’t talk to me.”

Jack’s eyes were wide, and for all his skill, he looked about twelve years old in that moment. With the sneer that crossed his face, a short disbelieving smile.

“We…” Jack shook his head. “But we won the game.”

It took everything in Alex to not hurt him, and most of Logan’s strength, too, when he got his arms around Alex’s, pinning them down before he could raise his fist any higher. Jack still flinched. At least Jack still flinched.

“We shouldn’t,” Logan breathed shakily, mouth close to Alex’s ear. “Alex. Alex, we shouldn’t.”

Alex cursed and shook Logan and Will off.

“We won the game,” Alex parroted under his breath, and then slammed a hand against his stall. “Get the fuck out of my sight, Archer.”

Finn didn’t look horrible, which was good. He looked more relaxed than Alex had anticipated. Aside from the sling, he would have looked almost normal. He had one knee bent, foot planted on the hospital bed. He had the hood of his sweatshirt up—Rangers blue—and after a moment of thinking of Logan, Alex realized it was his own.

Finn caught him looking and plucked at it with his good hand. “Think it’s bad luck? Mom brought it to me.”

Alex, just looked at him. It was the hood up maybe, mussing his hair. Or the socked feet. Or the tiredness all over his face. Something was making Finn look younger than he really was, something was making Alex feel like he was looking at his kid brother again, leaving Finn at home for the NHL. Getting this call.

Finn’s mouth pulled to the side and he smoothed the logo. “I don’t think it is. I like it.”

Those short sentences he’d been saying since he was eight. So sure of himself. The pizza on Prince street is better. That girl smiled at me. She likes me. So damn sure of everything. Logan had been the first to shake him out of the habit. Maybe Alex was a little angry with him about that, or at least he had been at one time.

Alex nodded. He walked forward to stand at the edge of Finn’s bed. There was a chair there but he didn’t sit. He reached out and tugged the hood more firmly over Finn’s hair, making him laugh.

“I’m good, Al,” Finn said. “Really.”

Alex didn’t reply. He just sat on the edge of the bed and waited half a second for Finn to get the message before laying down. He hugging his little brother as hard as he dared. He felt Finn push into his hold, the same way he had at five when having a nightmare, at fourteen when Alex was leaving, at nineteen when everything seemed wrong, and everything seemed right, but Alex just couldn’t figure out what.

“Al,” Finn said. It was an awkward position, but he managed to get his good arm around Alex’s back. “Al, I’m fine, I promise. Even the doctor said—”

“Just let me,” Alex whispered hoarsely. “Just be quiet and let me fucking worry about you.”

Finn melted a little more against him. “Okay. All right.”

Alex couldn’t help the hitching sob that he let out against Finn’s shoulder, and he felt Finn’s fingers curl in his hair.

“It’s okay,” Finn whispered. “It’s okay…”

“You can’t do that to me,” Alex managed, fisting the sweatshirt against Finn’s back. “You can’t do that to me, you can’t…”

“I know, I know,” Finn said softly. “Al, I’m sorry. I love you, I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize.” Alex sniffed and pressed a hard kiss to Finn’s temple. “You’re just like—you just didn’t move. And you’re my…”

“Al…” Finn turned on his a little more onto his good side so that his hand beneath Alex could pat at his back. Alex was probably crushing it but he didn’t care just then. “You’re gonna make me cry.”

“You’re my baby brother and I love you so much,” Alex said. “And I can’t protect you from anything.”

And maybe that was it. Harvard, Logan, hockey. If only they had talked about it.

“Stop,” Finn said when Alex turned his face into his sweatshirt. “Stop, yes you can. You always do.”

Alex made a sound that made them both laugh wetly.

“Were there words in there?” Finn asked.

“Not really.” The door opened, a quiet snick of a sound, and Alex whispered to Finn, “Thought Tremz was gonna kill me for keeping him—”

“Oh, my boys,” their mother’s voice said softly. Not Logan and Leo then. “Rams, honey, shut out that hallway light.”

The door closed again and Alex looked up in time to see his mom stroke a hand down Finn’s cheek.

“How are you, baby?”

Finn, his good hand trapped under Alex, just leaned into her palm. “I’m okay, mom. I promise.”

Haley just narrowed her eyes skeptically. “You’d say you were okay if there was an astroid hurdling towards you.” She turned to Alex, petting a hand through his hair. “Are you okay? My slightly older baby.”

Alex just kept his face half-hidden in Finn’s sweatshirt, glad for the dim light.

“We’ll be okay soon,” Finn said for him. “How’s that?”

“I guess good enough,” Ramsey said, and walked forward and put a hand on Finn’s knee. “Your boys are outside. Logan looks like he’s about to turn into the Hulk.”

“Aw shucks,” Finn smiled.

“Probably because he knows I’m in his spot,” Alex managed, and his mother gave him a knowing look at the sound of recently shed tears in his voice. Alex pushed himself up and looked down at Finn.

“My hand's asleep from your big butt,” Finn said.

Alex rolled his eyes, wiped at his cheeks, and stood.

“The doc just doesn’t want too many people in here,” Haley said. “We promised we’d take turns. Now, I’m gonna get you some water—or maybe something to eat?” She looked at Alex. “Honey, Nat and Kasey are in the waiting room, they said—”

“I… What? I told them they could go home,” Alex said.

Finn snorted, then groaned a little, closing his eyes. “As if they’d go anywhere without you.”

“Especially tonight,” Haley said, petting a hand through Finn’s hair again. “You’re burning up, baby.”

Alex looked towards the door, frowning. “Still. I said it was all right.”

“It’s always like this,” Finn said to his mom, then opened his eyes and looked at Alex. “Maybe they could see that it wasn’t all right.”

“It is,” Alex said. “They’re probably tired.”

“They know you need them right now.”

Haley looked between them for a moment. Alex met her eyes. He watched them drop to his chest and looked down to see that he was fiddling with Kasey’s diamond.

“You’re okay,” Alex said. He wiped at his face. “We’re fine. I’m fine.”

“Leo sees right through me all the time,” Finn said. “Think of it like that.”

“Well.” Haley sighed. “Why don’t I send him right in here, then,” She rose from the bed and put her arms around Alex. “So he can see through your okays just like you’re seeing through your brother’s.”

Logan was in the past, Leo could see it all over his face. There was no part of him actually in the hallway right then. He was back in the limbo that he and Finn went to sometimes. The spaces in between the hurt and the healing. The memories and the moments. All Leo could do was lean against the wall next to him and watch his face as they both listened to the faint murmurs of the O’Hara’s voices.

“He’s doing fine, sweetheart,” Leo said. “He’s just got his family in there, that’s all.”

“We’re his family.”

“Lo.”

“I know. Sorry.” Logan turned, pushing off the wall. He settled his hands under Leo’s sweatshirt on his hips. He tilted his head up to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw. “I’m just…”

Leo took Logan’s face in his hands, admiring the way his cheeks filled his palms. “Me too.”

“I’m glad we can be like this,” Logan whispered. “Here. Now. Under these stupid bright lights.”

Leo pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Yeah. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t hold you like this right now.” He looked over Logan’s head at the closed door. “I want to hold him right now.”

Logan closed his eyes and Leo couldn’t help but kiss his forehead again. His eyelids, then his nose. He pictured an eighteen year old Logan in a hospital like this one, waiting in the hallway. You’re his teammate? Family only for now, honey.

“Lo?”

Logan looked up at him.

“What was it like? The first time.”

Logan sighed and Leo moved his palms down to settle around his waist. “It’s…”

Logan blinked, and Leo watched him go to the past again. Far away. He tensed in his hold. Leo hated it, he hated everything about that look on Logan’s face, but he wanted to know. He needed to know. It had been so long since he felt behind the two of them. A strange feeling, left behind in the present while they went back to the past.

“Lo,” Leo whispered. “Please. I need to know—”

The door clicked open and Haley appeared first, turned back towards the bed and blowing a kiss with her hand. “We’ll see you tomorrow, baby, okay? Please rest.”

Leo had thought Finn would be asleep. Or groggy. Too exhausted to speak in something above a whisper. The sheer weight of worry on his back broke when he heard Finn’s laugh from inside the room. He felt Logan sway against him.

“Okay, Mom,” Finn’s voice came. “I love you guys.”

Haley turned and, even though she looked like she had been crying, she took in Leo and Logan, wrapped up together, and smiled. “He’s dying to see you two.”

“Usually its you who finds me down here.”

Remus stopped hard on his skates near the center of the synthetic ice, sweat shining in the dim basement lights. Sirius had thought he was coming to bed. He had sat upstairs until he realized that there were no more sounds coming from the kitchen. Regulus was in his room. All that was left was the rink downstairs.

Sirius looked down, letting Remus take his time. Remus’ phone was on the edge of the boards. There was a video lighting up the screen. A press conference. Jack Archer. Sirius didn’t need to hit play. He’d seen it, but he hadn’t even needed to do that. They’d all heard him begging Leo in the hallway. It was an accident. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I thought he’d brace himself. It’s hockey—

“Whatever it was,” Remus said. “There was purpose behind it. That’s what I think.”

Sirius looked up. Remus had silently made his way over. He was wearing one of Sirius’ sweatshirts, thumb poking through a hole in one of the sleeves. He spun his stick before letting it drop to the ground with a clatter.

“Sounds like Leo does, too,” Remus said. “At least there are no secrets that need keeping this time. Not like it was with…”

Fenrir.

“Re,” Sirius said softly.

“It’s not about me,” Remus said. He pushed himself over the boards, one leg, then the other, but before he could touch the ground Sirius stepped between his dangling skates. He settled his hands on Remus’ hips to keep him in place.

Remus had his eyes on Sirius’ sweatshirt. It was from their Cup day. Rainbow taped sticks crossed over the Cup’s silhouette. “We should go to bed, we have a flight tomorrow. We have a game.”

“Not until you look at me,” Sirius said.

Remus widened his eyes, honey-colored in this light, and looked right at Sirius. “I am looking at you.”

“Re,” Sirius said.

Slowly, Remus’ face relaxed and he let his forehead drop forward onto Sirius’ shoulder.

“We lost.”

“We’re tied.” Sirius kissed Remus’ neck, then knelt in front of him. He set one skate on his thigh and began to undo the laces. “And you need to rest. We need you out there.”

Remus watched his hands work. He got through one skate and pulled it off gently, taking a moment to rub the arch of Remus’ foot, to dig his thumb around his ankle bones.

“Remember you doing this with my injury,” Sirius said. He drew off the tight compression sock and rubbed over the red lines it left behind in Remus’ skin. “I used to dream about it. About your hands.”

Remus’ smile was small. “Used to?”

Sirius reached forward and took one of Remus’ palms to kiss. “Don’t have to dream about it anymore, do I?”

He took to the other skate. Loosening the laces, easing it off.

“Did you hear anything more with Finn?” Remus asked. “Or Leo?”

“He’s doing okay, I talked to Natalie,” Sirius said. “And Leo…” I didn’t expect you to be happy. Sirius had only known one true love in his life, but he knew a troubled love when he saw one, easily. Jack was that. He and James had shared a look in the locker room. Should I go say we can hear them? Sirius had silently asked. James had shaken his head, meaning, I think that might make it worse.

“Sometimes, I wish it was just about the game,” Remus said softly when he was barefoot. “But it feels like so much more than that.”

Sirius rose and let Remus wrap his arms around his neck so he could ease him down from the boards. Remus locked their fingers together as they walked up the stairs.

“Would the game be the game if there wasn’t more to it than a ball and a stick?” Sirius shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“I’ve been thinking about Kasey,” Remus said.

Sirius nodded. “Keep wondering when he’s going to tell the team.”

“Do you think about it?” Remus asked hesitantly. “What you would do…after?”

Sirius had never liked that word. After. He used to question its existence. His father had not settled into a good after. Retirement was never a word he used. There was always work to be done, always someone else who had wronged him, always another step to take.

Then again, his father had never gotten exactly what he wanted. Not in his career. Maybe in his wife, but Sirius would never know for sure. Not in his sons. Not in his legacy.

“I used to not be able to think about it,” Sirius said. They entered the kitchen and he went to the refrigerator to fill up a cup of water from the filter. “I thought my life would end.”

He slid the glass over to Remus and leaned against the counter beside him.

“Watching Finn go down, I thought about it,” Sirius said. “I mean, everyone thinks about it. It can be over in a second. All of it.” Sirius rubbed a thumb over Remus’ cheek. “I know I don’t have to tell you that.”

“It’s okay,” Remus said. He took a greedy drink, then smiled a little sheepishly, like he hadn’t realized how hard he had been skating.

“It used to terrify me.” Sirius smiled a little. “I wanted to play hockey forever, which I can’t do. I liked boys, who I couldn’t have. James was always going to have a family, and I would never be entirely a part of it. And James sometimes felt like the only thing I had, in the beginning days. Re, he and Lils…they took me on so many dates.”

Remus laughed and wrapped his arms around Sirius’ neck. “I remember. We could have been friends earlier, you know. If someone had been a little more…”

Sirius smiled into his kiss. “I was such an ass to you in the beginning.”

“Oh, I remember that, too.” Remus put on what, according to Thomas, was a perfect imitation of his frown, and gave a slightly French lilt to his words. “Oh, you’re an intern? Well, I’ll go to Moody then, but thanks.”

Sirius groaned and dropped his head to Remus’ shoulder. “Don’t remind me.”

Remus just laughed again and pressed a quick burst of kisses to his cheek. He shuffled closer until his bare feet were on top of Sirius’ socked ones. “It’s okay. You’ve done a pretty good job making up for it.”

Sirius rubbed a hand up and down his back slowly and felt Remus settle more against him. They were both tired, eyes closing, swaying in the kitchen.

“Don’t worry about Jack. Don’t watch that interview anymore, mon loup,” Sirius whispered. “Finn’s going to be okay.”

“Hm,” Remus said, then stepped back and took Sirius’ hands, pulling him towards the stairs. “Well. We’ll just have to kick their asses tomorrow night. Game five, baby. We’re two-two.”

Sirius let Remus lead him up to bed. He let Remus sink into his side as they brushed their teeth, and then spoon up against his back once they were under the covers. If this was what after looked like, part of him couldn’t wait.

Finn was sitting up. He pushed the hood of his sweatshirt back when he saw them and smiled. His red hair was soft and falling over his forehead, still sweaty from the game. Leo wanted to cry.

“Boys,” Finn sighed and patted the small space beside him on the bed with his good arm. “Don’t look at me like that. Come here.”

Logan all but collapsed at Finn’s side and Finn’s arm wound around him. Logan took Finn’s chin gently between his thumb and forefinger to steady his face. It looked like he was soaking in as much of that sweet brown color as he could. He was looking for the hurt.

“Don’t lie to me,” Logan whispered as Leo shut the door.

Finn stuck his tongue out until the tip of it touched Logan’s nose, then smiled. Logan didn’t pull away, didn’t even flinch and Finn did it again. Finn looked up at Leo, who was still standing by the door. “Le.”

Leo worried the inside of his lip. “I’ll hurt your shoulder on that side.”

Finn tapped his foot on the end of the bed, then spread his knees. It was a tight fit, but Leo managed to fold himself at the end of the bed. He took Finn’s legs and draped them around his hips, rubbing his thighs.

“Very sexy for a hospital,” Finn said. “Sexy thigh rubbing."

“How are you feeling?” Leo asked. Logan pushed his face into Finn’s neck and Leo and Finn smiled at each other. Finn closed his eyes at the feeling of Logan against him. “You’re guard dog missed you.”

“Don’t lie,” Logan mumbled.

Finn drummed his fingers over Logan’s spine. “Has a single lie come out of my mouth, baby?”

“No,” Leo said. “But we know you. The doctor said you were pretty…”

Finn raised an eyebrow. “She said I was pretty? Damn, she was pretty, too.”

Leo rolled his eyes, but secretly his chest was squeezing with relief. He hadn’t expected this Finn. Joking. He didn’t know if it was normal or because he was putting all of himself into masking the pain he was in.

“Pretty okay,” Leo pinched at his knee. “Is what I was going to say.”

“I am,” Finn said. “I mean, I know I’m on pain killers right now.”

“Yeah, you just licked Logan.”

Finn smiled and looked down until Logan peered out for a kiss. “He likes it. Don’t you, Lolo?”

Logan touched Finn’s fingers where they were poking out of his sling. “Does it hurt though?”

Finn sighed. “Yeah, of course it does. But it will be worse later so I’m hoping to enjoy right now when I don’t feel like my skull is going to fall apart.”

“Don’t say that.” Logan put his fingers to Finn’s lips.

Finn just kissed them. “Haven’t been in a bed this small in a while, hm, Lo?”

Logan’s brow creased. “Non…”

Leo watched them kiss, and he could see it. Harvard. Middle of the night. A terrified Logan, trying not to touch Finn and wanting nothing more than to help him. Leo thought he knew about Harvard, but sometimes when he saw them like this, he wasn’t sure he’d ever know anything at all.

“What about my sunshine?” Finn’s voice drew him out of his mind. Brown eyes, dim light. “Did he miss me?”

Leo swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, he—” His voice broke and he rolled his eyes at himself when he felt a surprising tear escape.

“Aw, Le…” Finn’s brows knit together.

“Sorry, I’m just worried about you.”

Finn’s eyes were sympathetic, and he kept looking at him even as he kissed Logan’s forehead. “Shift change, Lo.”

Logan looked, Leo had to admit, a little reluctant, but he pushed himself up and leaned down for one more kiss.

“It’s okay, Lo, you can stay,” Leo said shakily.

“Non,” Logan said, and before Leo could move he pressed his hand to Leo’s thigh and kissed his cheek. “Just warming it up for you.”

It was warm. Finn tucked Leo right up against his chest. He smelled a little bit like the hospital, but if Leo pressed hard enough (and he did) there was Finn there, too. Logan took Leo’s place, settling on his stomach between Finn’s legs with his arms folded across Finn’s hips.

“Don’t cry, baby,” Finn whispered against Leo’s mouth. “Please don’t cry.”

“I love you,” Leo said thickly. “I’m sorry, I should be comforting you.”

“Shh,” Finn kissed him again, peppering them softly over his cheek. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

“I’m gonna kill Jack,” Logan said.

“He didn’t do this to me, Lo,” Finn said softly. “It was a hit.”

“We don’t know that,” Logan said, chin against Finn’s chest. In any other situation, he would have looked adorable, feet half off the bed like that. But his green eyes were dark.

“Did you confront him?” Finn asked, eyes on Logan.

Logan rolled his eyes.

“Tremz,” Finn said warningly. “You could get in serious trouble—”

“I broke my helmet,” Logan said. “I didn’t break him.”

Leo felt Finn’s hand tighten around his shoulders. “Logan.”

Leo pressed harder against Finn, watching them.

“I’m right,” Logan pushed himself up, hands on Finn’s hips. Any other time, he would have raised his voice, but he kept it soft in the dark room. Leo still thought he felt Finn wince. “He did this. Finn, he did this to you—”

“I did this,” Leo whispered.

It felt like even the machines beeping around them paused. Leo couldn’t see Finn’s face well, but Logan’s eyes snapped right to his. Leo just turned his face into Finn’s chest and let himself break.

Leo cursed the position of goalie, for once in his life, as he fumbled through the endless straps and buckles of his cumbersome equipment. It didn’t help that his fingers were shaking. Alex, holding Finn’s head on the ice. I’m fine. I’m fine, Le. Deadening silence and collective gasps. Logan, skating hard to catch up and—

Jack. Jack, Jack, Jack—

Leo’s jersey got caught on part of his padding, and it was as good as someone trying to hold him back. Irrational, pure rage fired through his chest and he yanked the fabric hard over his head, ripped at the the velcro of his chest pad. Some part of his mind registered how quiet the Lions locker room was around him. Some part of his mind knew how hard he was breathing, that the motion of tearing off his jersey had slammed his knuckles into his stall on accident. A bruise, probably, would form. But he couldn’t feel anything. He pulled at the laces of his skates, watching his hands shake.

“Leo…”

Kasey’s voice. Leo could hardly hear that, either.

Finn on the ice. So still. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four, five—

His pads were splayed out in front of him, around him on the ground. Finn’s stall was empty, and beside it Leo looked for green eyes and Logan and found Kota instead, quiet, not sure what to do. A new shot of anger. Logan, traded. Who would ever do that? Logan had won them a Cup, he was theirs, he was a Lion, Logan was his, he should be here.

“Le, it’s gonna be okay,” Kasey said softly, helping Leo ease the rest of his equipment off with expert, steady hands. “Let me help, okay?”

Jack. Jack. Hey, Le, look, good for you that you never had to feel scared—

Finally, it was all off of him. He didn’t feel any lighter. He locked eyes with Kasey for a long moment. Kasey, against his words, looked as scared as Leo felt. Leo yanked on a pair of sweatpants, didn’t bother to change out of his sweat-soaked shirt, and ran.

He made it five paces before meeting Jack.

Wide-eyes. Sweaty hair, still half in his gear. Even with his skates on, Leo was taller. Leo looked for bruises, blood, something to show him that Logan had gotten to him first. Nothing.

“Leo,�� Jack said.

That look on his face. Leo was back in eleventh grade and he’d said something wrong, he’d said something when they were somewhere too bright, too crowded, Leo, what the fuck, what are you doing—

Jack put his hands up. Surrender. As if he even had that right. “Leo.”

Leo hadn’t realized that he had frozen to the spot. Not until Jack started walking forward. Not until he said his name again. Leo, stop it. God, it can’t always be like that. Okay? Shaking his hands off. Stop.

“Leo—”

“No,” Leo said. “No.”

Jack blinked once, again, swallowed hard. “Le…”

“Get out of my way.”

“No—”

“Get out of my way.” He shoved Jack in the chest hard, and when it didn’t feel like enough to watch him stumble backwards, he did it again. Jack just stared at him, bracing himself against the wall. Leo snapped all over again. If those first words had hurt his throat, his next ones tore at him. They were laced with the throb of tears, unshed. He shoved Jack hard a third time and watched the way he winced. “What is—What the hell is wrong with you?”

“No, no,” Jack whispered. “Please, you don’t understand—”

Leo didn’t recognized the sound of pure frustration he made. He wanted to bring something down, Jack, the wall, this entire building.

“What is wrong with you?” he shouted again.

“It was an accident,” Jack said. “He had—” Jack closed his eyes. “I wasn’t—He just folded, he fucking folded, how was I supposed to know? This is hockey.”

“That wasn’t hockey. Finn has a concussion.” Leo wasn’t sure how he knew, but he knew. “This is his third. Did you know that? Did you stop to think about that?”

Jack put a hand over his eyes. “No. No, I—”

“Do you know what three concussions can do to a person? Did you think about that before you fucking snapped and shoved his head into the boards?”

“C’mon, I…” Jack sounded close to tears, too. “C’mon, Le, that’s not what happened, please—”

“If you’re angry at me,” Leo shouted, “takeit out on me.”

“I’m not angry at you,” Jack roared back.

Leo curled his hands into fists. “You think I don’t know that? I didn’t do anything.”

Jack didn’t react like Leo thought he would. Leo waited for him to explode back at him again. He almost wanted it. He wanted to get this over with. Finn needed him. He needed Finn. He needed Logan’s hand on his back, Finn letting them take him home. He needed to see Finn safe and okay and not still and pale out on the ice.

Instead, Jack sagged in front of him in the hallway. He looked up at Leo, cheeks and neck red. “Le.”

“Don’t waste my fucking time,” Leo said. “I’m done. I’m so fucking done with you.”

“I,” Jack began. “I didn’t mean to.”

“What did you mean?” Leo said. “For once in your life, why don’t you tell me what you actually meant. Because, honest to God, I don’t think I’ve ever known. Because I’m not here to clean up your messes anymore. I’m not here to make you feel better about yourself, or to tell you its okay. I broke that habit a long time ago.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Jack said again.

“What did you mean?”

“I don’t know. I…It’s hockey, you just snap sometimes, it’s adrenaline, it’s—it’s the game. I went too far, I know that, but he’s…he’s…”

“He’s what?” Leo shouted. “What, what, what, speak or get out of my way.”

“He’s happy.”

Leo pressed his hand over his eyes. “God, I’m going to kill you. I’m going to fucking kill you, I don’t even know—how to respond to that. Get out of my way.”

Leo pushed through him, but Jack grabbed his hand.

“I didn’t expect you to be happy,” he said, and Leo froze all over again.

He tried, for a moment, to remember if he’d been happy when Jack was in his life. Or, if he’d only thought he was. His childhood bedroom, dark, Jack flinching at every sound from the larger house. Jack’s skin touching his, and Leo thinking that he would do anything, panicking over how much he could do to keep them this way for as long as possible. To make Jack give him a smile when it was all over.

Finn, hurting now but always soft and grinning on the pillows. C’mere. Come here, baby. Logan, leaning over him, thumb against his lip. Let’s stay up all night. Leo, smiling, why? Logan, leaning down for a kiss. I wanna keep looking at you.

“But you are,” Jack whispered. “You’rehappy, and it…Fuck. It falls off of you three like…like something you can see.”

Slowly, Leo turned. He pulled his hand out of Jack’s and close to his chest, cradling it like it was broken.

“So you hit him?” Leo asked, voice breaking.

“I got…it all got tangled. Logan hates me. Finn hates me. Alex, Percy, Will, even Luke…”

“You hardly even know them.”

“You hate me.”

“I don’t.”

Jack took a long time before shaking his head. “You do.”

“Jack. I hate what you did to me I hate how you treated me.” Leo took a breath. “I don’t think about you enough to hate you.”

Leo turned and gave himself the pleasure-pain of being the one to walk away first.

“Le,” Finn whispered. Leo could tell he was looking at Logan, probably wide-eyed, but he didn’t dare move from his place hiding against Finn. He heard him mouth softly to Logan, Happy? What the fuck?

“Leo,” Finn said again. “Leo.”

Logan was scrambling up from his place in a moment. He squeezed himself to sit on the very edge of the bed against Leo’s back. Leo felt him lean over him and pull at his sweatshirt.

“Leo,” Logan whispered. “Non. Non, non…”

Leo let out an ugly sound and clutched Finn closer.

“Baby,” Finn said. “Look at me.” He went to reach with his bad arm and hissed in pain. “Look at me. This isn’t your fault. Oh my God, Le, this isn’t your fault, baby.”

He felt Logan curl his body over his, felt his nose press against his jaw. He pulled until Leo sat up, but when he tried to wrap him in his arms, Leo stood.

“It’s true,” Leo said. “Hockey does tangle with everything else.” He stood, looking at them sitting side by side on the bed. “And I know that because Logan wants to kill Jack for what he did, and so do I. Think of—Fenrir and Remus.” Remus’ career almost ended, just for a number on a ranking board. “Or Regulus and Sirius.” Feuding over family nonsense. Jack. Jack, Jack. “Things…unravel. And they come out on the ice.”

“That doesn’t make you responsible,” Finn said. He had a bright flush to his cheeks. He was leaning back into his pillows more.

“Jack came for you because of me,” Leo said.

“Leo,” Finn said softly. He lay back on the bed, hand to his forehead. He closed his eyes. “No, baby, you…” He trailed off.

“Finn?” Logan whispered. His attention was pulled away from Leo and he leaned over Finn. He put a hand to his cheek. “Oh.” He reached for the cup at Finn’s bedside and, instead of holding it to Finn’s mouth like Leo had expected it to, he dipped his fingers into the cool water before running them through Finn’s hair. Finn let out a relieved sound. “Just rest, Rouge. Let’s get you home.”

Leo held his breath. He felt stupid. So stupid, standing there. Talking about himself. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and watched Logan press feather-light kisses to Finn’s face.

“Mon rouge, just sleep. We’ll check out and we’ll go home. We’ll go home.”

“Leo,” Finn mumbled, eyes closed.

“No,” Leo heard himself say. “No, never mind.” He moved towards the door and felt Logan’s eyes follow him.

“Soleil,” Logan began to say.

“I’ll take care of the paperwork,” Leo said, and pushed out the door.

#vaincre lumosinlove #sweater weather lumosinlove #wolfstar #coops #sirius black #remus lupin #o'knutzy #finnlo #sunfish #lelo #logan tremblay #finn o'hara #Leo knut #James potter #wolfstar au #sports au #hockey au

176 notes · View notes

ryo-apologist · 2 months

Text

Shiggy's Slutty Lil' Waist

Shigaraki Tomura x Reader

CW: Smut, Minors DNI, I will block your ass, talk about crop tops on men and gray sweatpants. Don't like? Bully me it'll be foreplay <3 /j

AN: I saw a picture of Johnny Depp in a crop top. We all know the one. And yk what? Shiggy has the same slutty lil waist. And so far all three of my posts have been about Shiggy. Will that change? Idk ask me next week. It's my comfort character and I can seek toxic comfort WHEN I WANT-

~Darling XOXO

☾ Shigaraki Tomura has the sluttiest fucking waist.

☾ That's it. That's the post.

☾ No, I'm kidding. I'll elaborate for thirsty whores like me. And Barbie. Shout out to them.

☾ Shigaraki obviously has the fits going for him. Name one outfit he wore that didn't slap. Exactly. You can't. So contrary to what people think, I think Shigaraki takes a bit (Not a lot, do not get me wrong) of care in how he looks. He has an image to maintain after all. How can he be expected to be the big, bad leader of the LOV if he doesn't look like it.

☾ That being said, I think at some point it just comes naturally to him to dress in ways that suit his body.

☾ And we all know he has the body to do so. After he left that big ol' test tube? Did y'all SEE his arch? Fuck man I couldn't arch better if I TRIED. Like,-

☾ Okay before this post turns into a tiktok comment section on the thirstiest of Gojo Edits, let me continue.

☾ My point here, is he probably doesn't dress like we see in the anime all the time. That would get tiring. Drain his mana level if you would. And he needs time to recharge.

☾ So, In this essay post, I'm here to argue that Shigaraki Tomura wears crop tops that barely brush past his nipples to show off his slutty little waist.

☾ You know, the shirts that had a hole in the front? Instead of sewing them like a reasonable man, he rips them from that hole all the way around. Which means his crop tops vary in length. Every single one of them.

☾ And that leaves perfect access for you to wrap your hands around his waist and just hold him like that. He hates it. No, he doesn't.

☾ In all truth, Shigaraki loves the feelings of your hands on his midsection because it's such an intimate place to him. He loves feeling you touch him with no fear, even though he knows the second he's done with you, he's taking those hands and dusting you.

☾ Y'all didn't think I was about to turn my greatest number one villain into a *gasp* nice person, did you? /lh

☾ Sorry, not here. Shigaraki does not do love. Only with me, dw guys I'll treat him right :). He's a man with needs that get in the way of his bigger plans. Sorry, not sorry.

☾ Anyway, trail your hands up his ribs and play with his nipples. Pinch them and roll them between your thumb and forefinger. It buys you another day. Additionally, you get to play with his fat tits.

☾ He has one shirt that he outgrew after his transformation that absolutely hugs his double dee, mommy milking, calcium cannon, honga-bazongas, dippin dots, whatyoudoingouthere withallthattiddies, boinga boinga, bouncing bangers.

☾ This one magically turned into a crop top. It was crazy. Shoutout to whoever put it in the wash to shrink it. They a real one.

☾ It was me.

☾ And it's like that one meme of the guy looking at something with his pecs right there and the lady is just O-O at them. Which...Yeah me too.

☾ Anyway, he wears it all the time because he's convinced it still fits.

☾ Play with his...pecs... through the shirt. He has the most sensitive nipples and it just brushes against them just right and...He likes it is all I'm gonna say.

☾ Now, I know what we're all thinking, 'Darling, what about the pants?' And Darling's got you, baby cakes.

☾ I only tease in the bedroom :)

☾ Grey sweatpants season is EVERY season for this man. He's got like three pairs he cycles through. Kurogiri HATES them. He tries to throw them out and replace them with sensible jeans or slacks.

☾ Never works. He's like a raccoon with stocks of them EVERYWHERE.

☾ Anyway, so he's got his gray sweats and his slutty little crop tops. Let me paint this picture for Y'all.

☾ Shigaraki Tomura wearing a tight white t-shirt that's shrunk into a crop top, clinging to his chest as he stretches his arms above his head, biceps straining against the fabric. His toned abdomen is constricting with his every breath of his, on full display along with the angles of his slutty lil' waist. Your eyes follow down to his belly button and following the trail of white hairs that lead to his v-line, the waistband of his pants just barely clinging to his hips but hugging the delicious outline of his cock, which, while even flaccid, is enough to make anyone drool.

☾ Y'all seeing the vision now? Because I do.

☾ I'm seeing the vision. I'm salivating over the vision. I'm ready to turn into a Gojo fan girl at this point. Like I'm drooling. No lube. No protection. No-

☾ And if you start playing with his tits like this? In this outfit?

☾ He's trying to swat you away, you're getting in the way of his game, but your hands are feeling too good. He's only half paying attention to the pixels anyway, but it's about the principle of letting you get your way.

☾ But you can see you're winning with the way his cock twitches in his pants, throbbing in plain sight.

☾ Your lips trace along his neck and suddenly the pause screen pops up. There's a dark patch already soaking through his pants and they're lose enough your fingers can dip right past the band and trace along his shaft.

☾ He's already groaning, debating if this is worth his time. Worth the distraction.

☾ When your pretty little fingers wrap around his cock and give it a firm tug, he decides it is.

☾ Do not think he rolls over and let's you do as you please however.

☾ No, no, no. He's pulling you over the couch and pinning you as he gets rid of the bigger distractions stopping from doing exactly what he wants.

☾ If he leaves you a dripping, drooling mess on the couch, that's your own fault really.

☾ But who really cares at that point, because in the end, you won anyway <3

☾ But FUCK does Shiggy have a slutty lil' waist.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #boku no hero acedamia #boku no hero academia x reader #darling writes #mha #mha x reader #my hero academia x reader #tomura shigaraki x reader smut #tomura x reader smut #tomura x reader #tomura shigaraki x reader #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki x reader #shigaraki x reader smut

117 notes · View notes

allisonlol · 2 years

Note

nsfw hcs for dark era dazai vs. current dazai?? 🤭🤭

a/n: oh man, coming back from my hiatus with this banger?! love this req sm...dazai's character development but only in the sexual aspect?? yessir. this ended up so long tho

warnings: nsfw (duh), pretty explicit descriptions of sex, some dubcon, second section is def more soft than the first, dazai being dazai (his name is the only warning y'all need tbh).

Comparing Dark Era Dazai vs. Current Dazai: NSFW HC's

Dark Era

where do i even start with this one lol

probably not as active as most ppl think he would've been at that time

in favor of hookups rather than looking for a committed relationship

^you gonna look me in the eyes and say dazai had plans for ANY kind of relationship back when he was in the mafia?? yea didn't think so

(not that current dazai really has that capacity either but...i'll get to that in time)

anyway, as i was saying: dark era dazai probably had like two or three hookups a month max?? just didn't have the time for much more than that tbh

compensates for this by being freaky asf tho

you name it, he's probably into it. knife, blood, gun play...

^nothing gets him going quite like holding a loaded gun to your head while railing ur shit

and he's just that level of psychopathic where you honestly can't fully trust him to not pull the trigger

enjoys this theme in reverse too; where you hold the gun to his head instead

^makes you keep your finger on the trigger, enjoying watching you struggle to not accidentally press down on it during your climax (if anything, he probably encourages you to)

big fan of tying you up or restraining you in some way: ropes, handcuffs, etc

having you at his mercy is a MUST. sorry but you won't catch him subbing anytime soon 🤷🏻‍♀️

looks for excuses to punish you. oh, you arrived two minutes later than the time he told you to meet him at? yea, you're getting spanked until you cry for that 👋🏻💥

the concept of a safe word doesn't really appeal to him at this time so, good luck with that (don't hate on me for this one y'all, the guy is a mafia executive)

^i feel like i have to elaborate on this so: dude’s not a total menace, if you were repeatedly & genuinely asking him to stop he would

faux sympathy king. looks down at you with fake concern as you sob

"oh, i'm sorry...does that hurt??" he's not sorry

not very vocal besides when he's degrading you

prefers to take you from behind so he can avoid your gaze (no emotional attachment at all here)

only likes eye contact when you're giving him head. the way your eyes tear up as he pushes your head down on his length does something to him

Current

can i just say that this post is turning out a lot longer than i had planned...this is months' worth of thoughts that have been floating around in my mind

anyway

ADA dazai is a near 180 from mafia dazai

while he definitely still has issues when it comes to emotional attachment, i can see him being much more open to having a relationship (if you disagree, just humor me for the sake of this post)

contrary to popular opinion, i think dazai wouldn't participate in hookups that much (at least not as often as he used to)

^only frequently sexually active after obtaining you as his s/o tbh

still as talented in the bedroom as he used to be, tho 💫💫

much more tame with the kinks, doesn't see the appeal of gun/knife play anymore

primarily because he wouldn't want to hurt you in any way, so the thought of holding a weapon to you is in no way pleasurable

a lot softer and emotionally in tune with you in general

favors positions like missionary & mating press; he HAS to see your face

very touchy as well. always running his hands up your sides, cradling your face, holding your hands etc...

also big on eye contact now!!

still has a thing for seeing you cry, but only from pleasure, not pain

^either overstims or edges the fuck out of you to achieve this

prefers to give rather than receive. has spent (literal) hours with his head between ur legs

fav spot to kiss you is ur thighs and neck btw 💳💥💳💥💥💳💥

doesn't care about dynamics as much. fine with subbing or domming (has a tendency to dom tho; likes the control it gives him)

still likes to restrain you, but only with his strength rather than things like ropes

^detecting a size kink with the way he loves to pin you down..? 🤨🔎

very vocal. has the prettiest moans too?? a mixture of low groans that build into whiny, uneven breaths when he's close

taglist: @deadmitochondria @miycutie @chuuyasboots @shy-socially-awkward-intovert @beandaifuku @sonder-paradise @irethepotato @serenareiss

#bsd x reader #bsd x y/n #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungou stray dogs #bsd x you #dazai x reader #dazai x you #dazai fluff #dazai x y/n #dazai hcs #dazai smut #bsd scenarios #bsd smut #dazai imagines #dazai headcanons #chuuya hcs #chuuya x reader #dark era dazai #bsd imagines

2K notes · View notes

runningfrom2am · 10 months

Text

this is why we can’t have nice things - (r.c)

summary: You have no intentions of telling Rafe that he got you pregnant, but someone else tells him for you.

This can be read as a stand-alone but it's technically a part three to getaway car and big reputation

pairing: rafe x reader

wc: 2.6k

tags/warnings: mean!kook!reader, bullying i guess?, highschool!au, swearing, teen pregnancy (STAY SAFE Y'ALL), fighting, implied sexual content (but definitely nothing explicit)

requests

nav/masterlists

You shuffle quickly down the empty hallway, clutching your bag to your chest out of anxiety. This isn't a feeling you're overly familiar with. You look back over your shoulder and you quickly make your way towards Bella's classroom, remembering she has math this period. It's just after lunch, and you couldn't make it in the morning, you just weren't feeling very well. Something felt off. That's when it hit you.

You knock on the open door frame, scanning the room for your best friend when your eyes land on Rafe. Fuck, you forgot he was in this class. He gives you a smug smile and a wink, making you cringe inwardly at the situation as the teacher acknowledges you. "Miss Y/L/N. Something I can do for you?"

"Sorry to interrupt, I need to borrow Bella." You say, glancing over at her. She can sense that something is off, and she's already grabbing her stuff and standing up.

"Woah, did I say you could go?" He says to her and she freezes.

"It's really important." You cut in before Bella has to. "It's, uh, girl stuff. I just need to grab something from her locker." You lie, avoiding eye contact in attempt to feign embarrassment.

The teacher sighs, nodding at Bella who resumes packing up her stuff. "Don't be long." He says, and you avoid Rafe's eyes on you as Bella makes her way up to the door, quickly following you away.

"What's wrong?" Bella whispers as you quickly walk down the hallway, heading towards the girls locker rooms. No one uses those during class time, so you like to have meetings there when you have something urgent to discuss. Something like this.

"Shh, wait." You whisper back, walking down the stairs into a smaller section of hallway and into the locker room, closing the door and locking it behind you.

"Please, Y/N/N. You're scaring me a little." Bella asks again and you throw your bag down.

"I'm pregnant." You say, locking eyes with her as her jaw drops.

"Wait, I- you're sure? Because we've both had scares before-" Bella tries to rationalize it and you shake your head, reaching into your bag and pulling out the ziplock with the three positive tests you took this morning, practically shoving it into her hands. You can't even look.

"Shit..." Bella mumbles, looking all of them over carefully. "..Rafe?"

You swallow thickly and nod, chewing on your nails. "Yeah, yeah it has to be." You confirm, continuously nodding to yourself.

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"No! No- definitely not." You are quick to shoot that down. "I mean, do I have to?"

"I don't think so." Bella agrees, putting the small plastic bag down on the bench next to her. "Not unless you plan to keep it."

"Oh, god no!" You scoff, pacing back and forth now.

"I didn't think so, no..." Bella nods a little, thinking it over herself. "This weekend we'll get you to a clinic. Is that soon enough? When did you sleep with him last? We just need to do a bit of math."

"Like, a month ago? We only like, actually did it once. After that party. So... yeah, three and a half weeks, ish." You tell her.

"Okay, that's plenty of time. You're fine. I'll take you to the mainland this weekend, it'll be like a little girlies trip! We'll go to that cute coffee place, maybe Target, make an adventure out of it, yeah?" Bella suggests, smiling as she tries to make you feel better.

"Yeah! Yeah. We'll do that. I'll sleep at yours?" You say, smiling at her knowingly.

"And I'll sleep at yours." She nods, reaching out and you do your handshake, one you made up a few years ago.

You pull her into a hug, and she rubs your back gently. "You'll be okay. I won't tell a soul." She assures you, knowing you well enough to see how scary this is for you even if you have a solid plan on how to handle it.

"Thanks, Bells." You sigh, pulling away and quickly fixing your hair in the mirror, grabbing your backpack and following her out.

"We'll get coffee after school, right?" You say, dropping Bella at her math class.

"Yeah! Can't wait." She smiles. "Should we invite Rafe?" She whispers, nudging you gently.

"No thanks." You giggle, waving as she walks into the room. This time you're definitely avoiding looking at Rafe, especially now that someone else knows. You can feel his eyes on you as you stand briefly in the doorway, giving Bella a quick wave and nodding a thank you to their math teacher before walking away. You know Bella will be able to play it cool, even around Rafe. She'll take all your secrets to the grave.

You straighten your uniform as you walk and quickly make your way to your class, anxiously waiting on the weekend to come.

The next morning, everything seems to be going well. You slept well knowing you and Bella had a plan, and honestly you did look forward to the weekend and getting to have a "girlies weekend", as Bella put it.

You get to school just on time, rolling up your skirt and fumbling to pull up your socks as you approach the doors with your bag over your shoulder and a coffee in your free hand.

"Hey! Hey, hey, Y/N! Wait!" You hear someone calling out to you, looking around and cursing internally when you realize it's Rafe, running towards you across the parking lot.

"Hey, Rafe." You call back, giving him a quick wave and trying to continue on your way.

"Hey, uh, can we talk, real quick?" He asks as he makes it up next to you, gently grabbing your arm to stop you.

"Uh, yeah, course..." You agree, eyeing him suspiciously. There's no way he knows, right?

Rafe nods a little, looking around before pulling you away from the door and just behind the building. "I, uh- shit. Uhm... So..." He stammers and you roll your eyes.

"Well, this has been riveting. Always a pleasure, Rafe Cameron!" You grin, turning on your heel to walk away. You don't need to be late to class again.

"You're pregnant?" He gets out just as you get to the corner of the building, and it came out weaker, more concerned than he intended to sound. He had this plan to try and be cool about it, not take it that serious, but he honestly was a little hurt that you didn't reach out to him. You freeze, sighing and groaning as you turn back to face him.

"Maybe." You answer, avoiding eye contact with him. "Well, yeah. Uh, I am." You mumble, realizing you at least owe him honesty.

"Right..." Rafe nods, tilting his head at you. "And you think it's mine?"

"Oh, god-" You laugh, shaking your head and making a disgusted face. "Don't say it like that, it's not- it's not like, alive. But do I think you're responsible? Yeah. Definitely."

"Are you sure?" Rafe asks, raising an eyebrow at you and you gasp dramatically, covering your mouth with one hand.

"Wow, Rafe, are you 'slut-shaming' me?" You ask, hardly able to stifle a laugh.

"I don't know what a pretty girl like you gets up to in her free time! I was just wondering!" Rafe says with a smirk, raising his hands defensively. You're honestly glad you can playfully bicker through this rather than it being any kind of serious.

"Well, thank you for thinking I'm pretty, but unfortunately you are the only boy I've slept with in the last three months so yeah, I'm pretty sure." You reply, taking a sip of your coffee. "How did you find out? I had no intention of telling you."

"Ouch." Rafe chuckles, clutching a hand over his heart. "Well, I'm glad you're sure because at three am I got a ransom demand for your right to privacy about it and I paid someone a grand to not tell anyone."

Your jaw drops at this, and you almost drop your coffee. "I'm sorry- what?"

"Listen if it was you, you can just ask me for money if you need it I'm more than happy to help-"

"Of course it wasn't me! God, no, I'd never-" You quickly defend, absolutely in shock at the situation. "I'd never do that to you. I'll pay you back, it was never meant to be your problem, like I said I wasn't even going to tell you-"

"Hey, no, it's okay. It's okay." Rafe assures you, stepping closer now and resting a hand on your shoulder in an attempt to calm you down. "I'm not mad. I don't give a fuck about the money, I want to help." He insists, nodding at you slowly.

"Sorry, sorry this is embarrassing.." You laugh slightly as you realize you're starting to hyperventilate. You were cool about this whole situation up until now, but suddenly you're overwhelmingly terrified, especially since someone knows. "My parents can’t find out- they'll kill me, they'll kill you! God, I just-"

"No, you're fine. We'll figure this out." Rafe says, gently rubbing your shoulder and taking your coffee from you before gently placing it on the ground. You just nod a little bit, closing your eyes and desperately trying to regulate your breathing. "We just.. we need to figure out who it was, yeah?"

You nod frantically, taking slow breaths and trying not to panic. "Did you tell anyone?" He asks.

"Only Bella," You say, nodding a little bit. "And Bella didn't tell anyone, obviously."

"Obviously.” He agrees. “So, how could someone else find out?"

Then it dawns on you as your stomach drops. "Oh, shit... The tests- we left them in the locker room yesterday." You say, shaking your head and laughing a little at your own stupidity.

"Yeah, yeah they sent me a picture of them. But they could be anyone's, come on, in this school that means nothing." Rafe chuckles, trying to cheer you up. "They must have heard you."

He's right, someone must have been in there. They should have cleared the room before she spoke, but you were panicking, at the time it didn't even cross your mind to check all the shower stalls that sat vacant at the back of the room, rarely ever used. "Yeah.. they must have. I've got an idea, though."

By third period, it's time to put your plan into action. Rafe agreed to meet you outside the girls locker room exactly thirty-five minutes into class, both of you coming up with a good excuse to leave.

You walk up to where Rafe is leaning against the wall next to the door in the secluded hallway, gesturing for him to follow you as you open the door, letting him in and quickly locking it behind you.

"Woah, I've never been in here before." Rafe chuckles, looking around.

"We're not here for fun." You say back quickly, starting to shuffle through the bags of all the same girls who would have been in gym yesterday, looking for the tests. Rafe just stands there staring at you. "Are you gonna help? There's like forty bags and we only have a few minutes."

"Oh, right-" He nods, looking around before deciding to start on the opposite side of the room. "I don't feel right going through girls bags." He laughs a little, already onto the second one.

"It's fine, we're only looking for one thing." You reply, tossing another bag to the side. No luck so far. About ten minutes and thirty bags later, you're starting to stress that you won't find it, that they weren't dumb enough to bring them back to school, when Rafe laughs.

"Hey! Here!" He says, and just as you turn his tossing the ziplock bag at you and you fumble to catch it.

"Which bag was it?" You ask, rushing over as he hands it to you and you start to basically tear it apart to find some kind of identification for who owns it. You find a wallet and smile, quickly opening it and checking the ID.

"Ally." You scoff, dropping her bag on the ground.

"What a cunt." Rafe mutters, kicking it to the side. You quickly shove the tests into your bag at your side and take a few bills out of her wallet, handing half to Rafe and pocketing the rest before zipping it shut and throwing it on top of her bag.

"We're stealing now?" He smirks, putting the money in his wallet anyways.

"What? No, that's your money. She's just paying you back, like, partially." You shrug, smiling back up at him. "And for me it's damages."

"Right, fair enough." He chuckles, looking down at his watch. "We've got twenty minutes left before class ends, want to..?"

"No! I'm not fucking you in the girl's locker room." You shove him back playfully. "Also that was a one-time thing."

"Whatever you say, Y/N/N." Rafe chuckles. "Just thought I'd offer."

"You lost that privilege when you got me pregnant." You giggle, crossing your arms as you stare at him.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" He defends. "Won't happen again. I swear."

“Yeah, it won’t.” You roll your eyes and head for the door, stopping abruptly as Rafe reaches in front of you and grabs the handle first. You turn your head to look up at him and you don't get the chance to before his lips are pressed against yours, his free hand landing on your hip and holding you against the cold, blue-painted metal of the door.

Despite your protests earlier, you don't hesitate to kiss him back. You're quick to bring your hands up to his cheeks, pulling him closer for a moment before moving your head back and gently pushing him away. "One-time thing, huh?" He chuckles and you nod, biting your lip.

"Yep, not happening again." You confirm, turning and unlocking the door before pushing it open and walking off down the hall.

"Wait, what are we gonna do about Ally?" He says as you walk away and you turn, pacing backward to look at him when you respond.

"I've got it from here. Thanks, Cameron."

When Rafe walks out of the building later that afternoon, he stares in confusion at the small crowd that's formed just on the other side of the fence marking the edge of school property. "Rafe! Rafe, help!" He hears Bella before he sees her, pushing her way through the crowd and frantically waving for him to come over.

He picks up his pace as he jogs over, dropping his bag and pushing his way through again after her. He's met with you straddling Ally's back as she screams and cries, you holding her face down into the dirt by her hair. "Say you're sorry! Say it!" You scream in her ear, absolutely irate at this point as everyone watches in horror. Rafe is quick on his feet to wrap his arms around you and lift you off of her, grabbing your hand and tearing her hair out of your grasp. He’s holding you back as you continue to yell over her sobs, and you struggle to get back to her shaking body on the ground.

"Hey, hey! She's had enough, Y/N/N." Rafe chuckles, holding tightly to your waist.

You push your hair out of your face, both of you watching as some of Ally's minions are quick to try and help her up. Her nose is bloody, makeup and uniform absolutely ruined. You smile as you look at her state. "Not gonna tell anyone now, right?" You ask her bitterly, Rafe finally letting you go.

"God, you are crazy! You'll be hearing from my lawyer, you psycho!" She cries out, wiping her face.

You lunge at her again and she's lucky that Rafe noticed this the second before you moved, grabbing you again and pulling you into his chest. "Hey, woah, don't bother." He says to you.

"Yeah, muzzle your fucking dog." Ally mutters, brushing off her clothes.

"Says you, you actually look like one so watch your mouth.” He scoffs at her, spitting at her feet. “Extortion is a crime too, by the way." He adds cooly, raising an eyebrow. "So I think we can keep legal out of this, don't you?"

Ally huffs and quickly walks away, pushing her way past everyone gathered there to grab her bag which you had thrown into the street during the confrontation. Bella quickly runs up to you, grabbing your face to look you over the second Rafe lets you go. "Are you okay? God- that was scary!" She exclaims, satisfied though that you only have minor scratches and bruises.

"I'm fine." You smile at her, shaking your head a little. "Sorry, I just kind of blacked out for a minute." You joke, gently hugging her.

"Yeah, it was hot." Rafe adds, arms crossed as he stands behind you. You roll your eyes at him, hiding your blush in Bella's shirt.

taglist: @bookishbabyyy@madelynie, @mutual-mendes, @slut4drudy, @winterrrnight, @totalswag, @sadfury @fullfledgedemo @rafemotherfuckingcameron, @urfaveluvr, @chenslucy, @hxnnah-397, @s-we-e-t-t-ea

fill out my form here if you want to be added!

#obx fanfic #rafe cameron #rafe obx #rafe fic #rafe fanfiction #obx #outer banks #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron fluff #rafe x y/n #rafe x you #rafe angst #rafe x reader #rafe outer banks #rafe imagine

344 notes · View notes

thevestigeofvanillaan · 1 year

Text

billy hargrove x pregnant/mom!reader.

content: mentions of smut, alcohol use, the kid isn't billy's genetically, friends to lovers, swearing, mention of smoking.

i'm probably gonna make several different versions of this where it's different situations but idk yet. oh and i changed red text (in the content section that refers to words or things that may be triggering for some readers) to green because i didn't like how the green and red looked together. oh and sorry if i don't post so much, it's honestly because of school and mid terms and like i kinda wanna do good on that lmao so that's what i'm focusing on rn. it's likely that the next few posts will be drafts.

Billy fucking Hargrove being the first one to find out about your pregnancy had to have been the stupidest but best decision in your life.

You'd gotten pregnant by someone, whom you hadn't known because who's to shame you for being an adult with sexual needs?

Letting Billy know you had something important to tell him and for him to head over to your apartment, he got there in his breaking record of three minutes. Barging in through your door, no warning whatsoever still wearing his work uniform.

"You can't just walk into my house like that." You scold, though all you're doing is sitting on your couch reading a magazine.

"Your door is open.." He'd say in that sarcastically rude tone he'd always use as he takes his spot beside you on the couch. "So what's up?".

Sighing and standing up, walking over to the tv table rested across the room to pick up a test and a picture. Handing the two items to your friend who looks at them in confusion. "What?"

"Are you fucking stupid?" You'd dramatically point at the place on the test where it says "pregnancy test" in bold lettering.

"Did someone come by and drop that off to you? Tell you to show me?" He'd say with a concerned expression and you'd sarcastically laugh at how stupid he is.

"No you idiot. Wait– did you? Nevermind, no. It's mine." You shake your head and sit beside him as he examines the picture of your uterus.

He sits for a moment before opening his mouth, his back falling back expressing that he understands as he lets out a big "Ohhh."

"Yeah, ohhh." You repeat in a soft whisper and he looks into your eyes.

"Who's the dad?" Is his first question. Which you'd expected him to ask. Often times the two of you would talk about your sex life to one another as you'd been close friends and to put it bluntly both of you were whores and had all the gossip of how such and such is in bed. Common to find yourselves on the couch taking shots talking shit about certain people's way of going at it and falling asleep in eachothers arms.

You don't say anything, a small smile starting to form on your face and he immediately understands, the two of you giggle together.

"Seriously though, I need help. What do I do?" You ask, shoving his shoulder slightly as he places the test and picture on the glass table that rests affront the two of you.

"What do you want to do?" He asked, referring to if you want to keep it or not. You had to think long and hard about your decision.

If we're being honest, all you could think about was who you were going to have sex with when your tummy starts showing. Which is ridiculous, but it felt important. And you're sure to voice that to Billy.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" He laughs and you giggle back. You were like two bestfriends talking about their crushes at a sleepover.. except, this was way more serious than that.

——Start - 2 months——

And thats how it began. Billy took care of you, bringing you home food after work and talking to you until you would fall asleep. He brought you pain meds and heating pads when you were complaining. He really was your bestfriend. And you knew he would act like this.

What you weren't expecting was his reaction to your hormones. You thought maybe he'd just leave you alone when you were horny to masturbate, but no. Because when you complained about being horny mid regular conversation on the phone he'd tell you "Be there in like.. 5." before hanging up.

You were confused but like he said he would be there, he just walked into your door with some bag in his hand while you were curled up on your couch reading your magazine wearing just panties and one of Billy's shirts that'd been at your house.

"I told you, you can't just walk into my house, Billy." You smile when he throws you an annoyed expression.

"Not my fault little miss 'nobody wants to fuck a pregnant woman' complains about being horny all the time." He wasn't wrong, you complained about it a lot and almost every time he'd tell you to get with someone and you'd argue the same thing every time.

"Well what are you gonna do about it mr 'I can just walk into your house because of something you said over the phone'?" You laugh and stand up on wobbly feet.

He walks over to you and rubs his hand over your small but obvious little bump, his other hand going to push a strand of hair behind your ear. "Let me take care of you mama." He'd smirk down at you when your breath hitches at his request.

"Pretty sure you saying 'mama' just made me cum so I think I'm good actually." You giggle and bring your forearms to rest on his shoulders and tangle your hands in his curly blonde locks.

Pulling his head down so you could feel his hot breath colliding with your own, looking into his eyes and grabbing a better grip on his hair before he leans down into your lips.

At first it's a simple kiss, lasts a few seconds then you release. But your lips chase eachothers and find them creating contact again. His cold hands rubbing under your shirt causing goosebumps to form on your skin and you moan into the kiss, giving him time to slip his tongue into your mouth.

Your knees hit the back of the couch and you sit down, laying back and he hovers over you.

That night he gave you the best god damn sex you've had in all the 23 years of life you've lived on this planet. You knew he would be good, but that good? Could just be the hormones but wow.

——6 months——

"You suck." You'd say, chest falling up and down as Billy falls naked be your side on your bed, throwing a heavy arm to rest just above your now big belly. A low vibrating chuckle leaves his lips. "At this point you're the one who has me knocked up by how many times you've came inside me.. kids gonna come out looking just like you." You joked.

"You're already pregnant why would I pull out?" He smirks and pecks your lips softly.

——8 months——

You'd been about 8 and a half months pregnant when you starting going to the community pool that Billy worked at during summers. It became his side summer job since highschool, you used to go with him all the time and talk to him while he's working so he's not so bored.

Laying on one of the chairs that rests in the sun, reading your magazine like always with a lollipop in your mouth. You resorted to lollipops rather than cigarettes while pregnant, and so did Billy.

Before his shift started he'd make sure to come out and sit on the end of the chair with your feet in his lap, rubbing them softly as you complain about how expensive the shitty hair sprays were in the magazines.

"Can you put sunscreen on me?" You ask, handing him the bottle of lotion with a knowing smile and he'd take it from you with a dramatic groan. But he knew damn well he enjoyed doing it for you. All the moms reactions when he'd rub your big belly and massage your back, sneakily rubbing hands between your thighs just to "make sure they won't get burnt" admiring the hickies he'd left the night prior.

And the new lifeguard girl that begun working there since Heather stopped would head off her chair, walking past the two of you saying "Your shift, dad." throwing you a wink.

He'd laugh and loudly whisper to you "Call me daddy." and get up, not before pecking your lips softly. Heading over his chair where he's meant to be watching the kids but he can't keep his eyes off you.

——Delivery——

Billy's in the room when you deliver. All the kids such as Max, El, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Mike sat in the waiting room until they got the okay to head in. Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and Robin where there too as they were pretty good friends of you and Billy.

The younger kids came in first as a big group and you were convinced that wasn't allowed but didn't care when you saw the smiles on their faces as they came and stood beside your bed where you were holding your daughter. The only one who didn't stand by your bed was Max, who was sitting in a chair patiently next to Billy, making conversation.

They'd cascade you with questions that you didn't answer. Things like did it hurt, who's the dad was a big one, and are you okay was the one you answered.

"I'm fine guys, really. Just can't go up stairs for a while." You smile softly. It was a c-section, rather than vaginal. Again, something you decided on because of sex.. Not completely though, knowing that you didn't want vaginal birth anyway.

"So.. who's the dad?" El would ask, just curious unlike others who may have just wanted to hear the gossip.

You eye Billy and smile, "He is." you nod your head in reference to him and they all gasp in shock except El and Max.

"Are you guys slow or something? Why do you think he was in the room this whole time?" Max would roll her eyes and stand up, pushing them out of the way to see her niece that she waited patiently enough to see.

Her features soften and she sighs before asking "Can I hold her?".

You smile softly and make space for her to sit down on your hospital bed before handing her your daughter. She handled her with so much love and care, and you've honestly never been happier.

——Following Week——

Billy ended up moving into your apartment, he was there almost all the time anyway. Besides, decidedly he was the father to your baby. And he was a damn good one.

——2 months——

You hear the cries of your daughter at a little past midnight. Sitting up and wiping your eyes to go get her, your boyfriend sits up quicker than you can take the blankets off.

"Hey, go back to sleep baby. I got her." He'd get up and walk his half naked self to your daughter's room. Not long after you hear the door open and sit up again, you couldn't find yourself falling back asleep.

"Is she okay?" You ask with a small voice and Billy chuckles, standing by the bed.

"She's fine, baby. Thought you were gonna go back to bed." He says as you crawl over to him, sitting yourself on your knees and you take his hand. You nod your head no and he asks why.

"Not tired no more." You shoot him a pretty smile and you stay on your knees, just lifting your body up to where you're eye level with Billy. You kiss him softly. "Can we take shots?" You ask with a smirk on your features.

He nods his head as he chuckles, placing his hands on your waist before kissing you again. "Just one though." He says inbetween kisses and you smile into the last one.

You make your way off the bed and follow him in a little jog to the kitchen. You felt like a teenager all over again, taking shots with Billy and giggling together about whatever was going on in your lives. You missed that, more than anything while pregnant. And you were scared. Scared that if after he had sex with you it would be awkward. But no, it changed your life for the better. And you couldn't wish to be with anyone else.

#vanillaan #stranger things #billy hargrove #stranger things smut #billy hargrove smut #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove imagine

356 notes · View notes

eclecticqueennerd · 10 months

Text

Confessions

Part 7

*angst, language, violence, dug use, hospital stay*

Part 7

From silence to soft beepings, you slowly begin to open your eyes. You take in your surroundings and see that you’re in a hospital bed, covered with thin blue blanket, wires protruding from the hospital gown and hooked up to cardiac monitors. Your arm felt itchy and when you went to scratch, you saw an IV line connected. In the corner of the sectioned-off room sleeping in a chair was Butcher. He looks like he was ridden hard and put away wet, his furrowed brow and scowl appeared to be a permanent look on his face. You went to sit yourself up, and a dull pain throbbed in your abdomen. Just before you peel back the blankets to inspect your belly, the curtains are gently peeled back.

“Oh my god!” The nurse exclaims. Butcher wakes up and nearly leaps out of the chair, eyes wildly scanning the room. His eyes land on you, and you see the tension released from his features. “I’ll fetch the doctor.” The nurse rushes away. Butcher slowly approaches you and pulls the chair up to the side of the bed.

“Hey.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

“Just pieces. I remember there as a blast and a sharp pain. I helped MM, he was unconscious and woke up, then I blacked out.”

“Holy shit.” The two of you turn your attention to the doctor that just walked into the room. “Pardon me. Do you have any idea how lucky you are Mrs. Butcher?” Your eyes go wide with the name. You look at Butcher and his eyes are cast down towards the floor. You look back at the doctor,

“No, please explain.”

“You suffered a penetrating wound to your abdomen from some wooden debris. At some point, your husband tells us that the object was knocked further into the soft tissue. When you were brought here, we attempted to stabilize you but, in the end, we had to rush you to surgery. The object narrowly missed your major blood vessels but perforated your large intestine and we had to resect the damaged tissue. With the intestinal perforation we expected peritonitis to occur, which it did. We placed you on IV fluids and antibiotics to help destroy the infection and to prevent dehydration. Due to your body’s reaction to shock and the damage from the debris, we estimated your prognosis to be grim, but here you are, a miracle of God.”

“If that cunt existed and did his job, she wouldn’t be hurt in the first place.” The doctor looked at Butcher, flabbergasted.

“I’m sorry, what I meant was it's almost like… never mind. I'm glad you're doing well. I’d like to run some additional tests just to make sure the infection is gone and your heart is okay. We’ll be back in a moment.” The doctor and nurse step out of the room. You twist your hands in your lap.

“Mrs. Butcher huh?” Butcher chuckles.

“They needed a last name.”

“So, you gave them yours?”

“Hmph.” Silence fell between the two of you.

“How long have I been here?” Butcher stressfully rubs his beard.

“Butcher, how long have I been in the hospital?”

“… Three days.”

“Three days! There’s no way I can heal from a trauma like that in three days!”

“What about your powers? Don’t you have accelerated healing and all that?”

“Don’t you remember what happened to Kimiko after she jumped in front of Ben, I mean, Soldier Boy? She was hospitalized and she lost her powers. There’s no way that I still have my powers after a blast like that.”

“She also stepped right in front of him where you were in the other room.” Butcher got up and slid his chair back into the corner. He threw his trench coat on and avoided eye contact.

“There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“I told you everythin’.”

“No, you’re hiding something. What is it?” Butchers face twists in affliction. He mumbles something.

“What?”

“I said, I gave you Temp-V.”

“You… why?” Butcher sighs and sits down on the chair again, head in his palms he laments,

“When those cunts said that you were gonna die and to prepare myself, I couldn’t let it happen. I snuck in here after hours and filled your IV bag with a vial of Temp-V.”

“Why would you do that? I thought you hated supes.”

“ The boys love you too much, it would destroy 'em. We couldn't lose you again, I couldn’t lose you again.” Butcher's voice cracked and his hard exterior softened, he started shuffling his feet on the floor. He had a look on his face that he wanted to tell you something.

“Billy…” Then *ping* his phone went off.

“Okay Mrs. Butcher I’m just going to grab some blood samples and run an EKG, when those results are back and if everything looks good, you can go home to rest.” Butcher clicked off his phone and approached the side of your hospital bed.

“I gotta go. Grace will come pick you up and she’ll take you back to hers. I’ll come to check on ya after I'm done.”

“Wait, where are you going?”

“I gotta work love.” Butcher leans down and gives you a peck on the forehead. The butterflies in your stomach started fluttering. “I’ll see ya later. Oh, by the way, you’ll want this for later. When the medicine wears off.” Butcher slides a small baggie under the blanket giving you a knowing look.

“From my experience, it’s worse than any hangover.” He calls out as he leaves the room. The nurse turns to you and smiles.

“Men am I right? Always so dramatic about everything. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine getting of the IV meds. Worst case, you develop a little diarrhea.” If only she knew…

Staying at Graces house was incredibly relaxing. Staying out in the middle of nowhere, away from all the hustle and bustle listening to the sounds of the birds and the rustling of the trees. You set your bags in your designated room and made your way to the kitchen and sat at the counter. Grace enters the room,

“Sorry, I don’t have dinner made. Butcher sprang this on me.”

“Oh no it’s fine. Thank you for letting me crash here. I hope I’m not imposing.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re the only one out of those guys I can tolerate. Just promise me you won’t bring any bullshit to my house.”

“Oh, I promise.”

“Okay well, I’m going to bed. Help yourself to anything you find.”

“Good night, Grace. Oh! Maybe tomorrow we can go bird watching. I hear the wood thrush are around this time of year.”

“I’d like that.”

You ran to the bathroom, flipped the lid up on the toilet and vomited a bright neon green substance. You felt a searing migraine through your head suddenly and it hurt to keep your eyes open. Sweat was forming on your brow and chills bolted through your body. Your hands began to shake. You vomited again in the toilet. Grace came into the bathroom and attempted to get you up off the floor next to the toilet.

“I told Butcher not to do it, the jackass.”

“If it weren’t for him, I’d be dead.” Grace gently placed you on the soft mattress. She left the room to only come back with a glass of water, a puke bowl and the plastic baggie Butcher gave you earlier.

“Here, drink this.” You sipped on the cool water. Grace took one joint out of the baggie and lit it. “Smoke this, it will help.” You took a drag and held it in your lungs for a moment, then exhaled. A few more drags and the nausea subsided. You drank the rest of the glass of water and laid down in bed; sleep found you shortly after.

Sitting in the rocking chair on the back porch, looking out towards the wilderness, emerald trees as far as the eye can see. The withdrawal of the Temp-V from the night before has gone away with multiple glasses of water, Tylenol, and pot. Grace went to the store to grab more groceries, so it was completely quiet, besides the birds singing their hearts out. You begin to doze off, missing the crunching of gravel of an approaching car. A car door slammed, and heavy footsteps approached the wooden deck. You become alert and jump up from your spot on the rocking chair. You see Butcher approaching,

“Is everything o-” Butcher leans down and gently locks his lips with yours. You froze. You were not expecting this, but you kissed him back with as much gentleness. The two of you separate from the kiss, heavily panting.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

“Where’s Grace?”

“She’s out running errands.” Butcher leans down and scoops you into his arms and carries you to your bedroom bridal style.

@deans-spinster-witch@butchers-girl@syrma-sensei@xmariakx

#billy butcher #billy butcher x reader #frenchie #karl urban #mothers milk #the boys #the boys amazon #kimiko the boys #soldier boy #soldier boy x reader #jensen ackles #angst #the boys series #the boys season 3 #the boys tv #homelander #reader insert #female reader #Spotify

63 notes · View notes

astonmartinii · 10 months

Text

worlds biggest fan part two | max verstappen social media au

pairing: max verstappen x reader

y/n is the president of the official max verstappen fan club, but nothing can come of that, right?

part one

masterlist

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, martingarrix and 6,708 others

yourusername: not much going on right now

view all comments

user28: and now we're quoting taylor swift huh?

yourbff1: you're fake as fuck for posting this after not replying to me for two days

yourusername: what if i told you my phone died?

yourbff2: i would fight u

yourusername: i'm outside pull up

user29: the way they're still bickering as if y/n isn't well known now

yourbff1: she'll never dodge these hands

maxverstappen1: 🧡

user30: you ever gonna progress past an orange heart WHERE'S THE FLIRTING?

yourusername: blushing

user30: there's something suspicious amuck here

user31: ur right

maxverstappen1

liked by yourusername, danielricciardo and 1,309,561 others

tagged: yourusername

maxverstappen1: i'm her biggest fan

view all comments

user36: i am going feral i need to be put down

danielricciardo: who is this man and what did you do with max verstappen?

maxverstappen1: i'm not allowed to appreciate my girl? danielricciardo: my bad, y/n is a very beautiful girl you're very lucky maxverstappen1: I AM AWARE

user37: yall i think max is losing his mind

yourusername: wow who is this girl who definietly should be in a lecture and not monaco

maxverstappen1: but i'm more fun than your professor yourusername: better take that maxy he's a big fan of yours maxverstappen1: okay he's a cool guy but i'm cooler yourusername: i'm not going to debate that

user38: so like did he fly her out for the dinner or did they go to dinner and then get on so well they went back to max's in monaco? i like desperately need to know

yourbff1: so this is where you've been @yourusername

yourusername: sorry not sorry yourbff2: we've been collecting notes and work for you and this is how we're thanked maxverstappen1: name a race and i'll get you there yourbff1: i take it back you can fuck off to monaco whenever you want yourusername: you change your tune fast

maxverstappenarchive

liked by maxverstappen1, yourusername and 39,671 others

maxverstappenarchive: max enjoying his summer break

view all comments

user39: i know y/n is loving reporting on herself on this account

yourusername: maybe am i, maybe i'm not

yourbff1: she definitely is

user40: not to sound cheesy but i've never seen max this happy victoriaverstappen: neither maxverstappen1: i'd rather wait this long for a love like this, than have something less than what i feel right now yourusername: awwwwwwww i love you too maxy user41: i'm sorry ? LOVE ? user42: i feel like this is way too fast maxverstappen1: i'm an f1 driver all i know is fast charles_leclerc: good lord that is cheesy mate user43: @charles_leclerc what are you doing in the comment section of a max fan account charles_leclerc: being nosey and gathering data for the group chat user43: what group chat? charles_leclerc: the one where we make fun of max for being a softy

f1wagsandtea

liked by user44, user45 and 2,198 others

tagged: yourusername, yourbff1, yourbff2, yourbff3

f1wagsandtea: y/n y/ln, the girlfriend of max verstappen, will make her debut this weekend at silverstone and has brought along three of her closest friends and housemates.

view all comments

user46: omg y/n is finally going to a race

user47: i want her to go to zandvoort at some point i know the girlies there would treat her well

yourbff1: we're famous now oh wow

yourbff2: i mean it's just a wag account bro don't we hate these?

f1wagsandtea: catching strays on my own post

yourbbf3: deserved xoxo

user48: i am so excited for y/n omg this has all happened so fast

redbullracing

liked by maxverstappen1, yourusername and 569,341 others

tagged: yourusername, maxverstappenarchive

redbullracing: a famous face in the orange army was with us in the garage this weekend. y/n has been a long-time fan of her boyfriend max and finally got to attend her first race here in silverstone

view all comments

user49: this shit is straight out of a damn fanfiction

yourusername: thank you so so much for having me, truly an insane experience i am so grateful

redbullracing: there's still race day to go

yourusername: don't remind me i'm so nervous

maxverstappen1: i thought i saw an angel in the garage after fp1, turns out i wasn't hallucinating

yourusername: you're too sweet

user43: @charles_leclerc i got one for you

charles_leclerc: thank you for your service

maxverstappen1: how many of you are in this group chat

charles_leclerc: none of your business

user50: god when will it happen to me

liked by lewishamilton, lancestroll and 881,208 others

f1: RED FLAG. the marshals have thrown the red flag after a collision between max verstappen and lewis hamilton. the impact was 51g and verstappen has been escorted via helicopter to the local hospital but is awake and talking. we will resume within the hour.

comments are restricted on this post

maxverstappenarchive

liked by maxverstappen1, victoriaverstappen and 67,033 others

maxverstappenarchive: i cannot express my disappointment enough in the way the situation was handled this afternoon. it is to my understanding that the fia have considered this to be a racing incident, though i do not agree, that is the ruling so i nothing i can say will change that. HOWEVER, i am deeply disappointed in the manner in which lewis decided to celebrate despite the severity of the crash to max. i am lucky enough to be with max now, he is okay and his scans indicate that there is no internal damage, but i do believe there should be some introspection to how we celebrate while being unaware of the wellbeing of the other party. you can call me bias, but max will come back stronger and this will only motivate him more for the title fight. game on.

view all comments

user51: holy moly she did not come to play

user52: i don't even know how to feel about this whole thing

user53: i was there and oh my god it was so intense

user54: i'm just glad both parties are okay

user55: this title fight is so intense oh god

user56: i have a feeling this is not over

maxverstappen1 added to their story

[caption: thank you for being there for me, we'll come back stronger]

note: HOLY MOLY this felt like it took so long to write lol. i've been at work every day and finally sorted my living situ out (i.e. i'm gonna move into the dodgy house and just wait to be evicted lol). i like writing cause it's such a distraction from my current shit show life lol - i may make a part three of this if y'all want idk i love the drama of it all xxx

#f1 #f1 x you #f1 instagram au #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen instagram au #max verstappen #max verstappen x you

2K notes · View notes

awkwardtickleetoo · 11 months

Text

Lee!George Week Day 6 - Intense Tickles

well. this has taken way too long

I'm sorry it took like 8 years to get this out, but I'm hoping that it being literally 12k words will maybe make up for it a little??? thanks everyone for being patient, I hope you guys still like this <3 and day 7 will be out shortly!! for real this time lmao

this is still part of the lee!george week event that mush put together!! you can find the prompts here, and if you want to participate make sure to use the tag "mushie's lee!george week" when you post <3

WARNINGS: feet nibbles!! I can't sugar coat it, dream fully nibbles on george's feet/toes!! there's nothing weird or nsfw about it, but I know a lot of people really do not like that kind of stuff, so this is your warning, if you don't like mouth tickles and/or feet tickles, they are both featured in this PRETTY heavily, so either skip this one or proceed with caution <3

this entire fic is pretty nibble-centric, so if mouth tickles are where your issue lies, I'd say skip this one, BUT if it's just the feet tickles/feet nibbles that bother you, I'm gonna highlight the last word before it and the first word after it in green so you can skip just that section if needed!!

thank you guys for being understanding <3

lee!george, ler!dream, ~12k words

enjoy!

Dream, Sapnap, and George had arrived back home in Orlando the previous day from their two and a half week long trip, which was split between North Carolina for George and Sapnap and then Los Angeles for all three of them. The plane landed on smooth pavement at 6pm on Monday evening, and the three went out to dinner and then headed home to finally get some well deserved rest and relaxation. They had all piled into the reclining chairs in the movie room, sharing the biggest blanket they owned in the house and watching a few hours worth of movies and TV shows, before finally heading up to their own respective rooms for the night. They planned to take the next day or two as well to get back on their Orlando schedule, since they wouldn't be traveling again for a while.

Fortunately for Dream, and unfortunately for George, this meant there was plenty of time for Dream to enact a very evil plan that he had been forming in his mind since he dropped the other two off at the airport to head to Karl's house. And Dream was not going to wait any longer to do so.

He'd prepared everything he needed to complete this task the night before, not wanting to waste any time or risk any complications the next day when he put it into action, so everything was completely ready to go when he left his room and left the door barely cracked behind him. He padded his socked feet across the floor with a subtle pep in his step, trying to stay as calm and collected as possible so he wouldn't risk revealing his plans too early. He planned to go up the stairs and head to George's room, hoping to find him there and make sure he wasn't still asleep, but he was redirected when he heard noise in the kitchen, switching to follow the sound instead to see who it was.

To his luck, it was George, nearly finished blending a smoothie at the counter with his back facing Dream. This, Dream decided, was the absolute perfect time to get moving.

"George?" He called softly as the whirring of the blender slowed to a stop, tapping his knuckle against the wall three times to alert George of his presence. The elder startled a little, whipping his head over to look at Dream, before a wide smile spread across his face. Dream couldn't help but smile as well. "Hey!"

"Hi," George responded, turning his attention back to the blender as he took it off the stand and began pouring it into a glass. Dream slowly walked over to him, gently bumping George's hip with his when he made it there and making them both giggle. George did it back, and they both giggled harder, and George shook his head fondly at the actions.

"Whatcha makin'?" Dream asked, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Smoothie. It's got, uh…" George paused, picking up the bag of frozen fruit and reading the list on the front. "Strawberries, pineapple, mango, and peaches in it. I usually make it with bananas but we don't have any so I used these instead… you wanna try?"

"Sure!" Dream agreed, nodding happily. To George's credit, his smoothies were always fantastic, perfectly blended and perfectly balanced in flavor. George took out another glass and poured Dream some of the smoothie mix, about halfway full just in case he didn't want to finish it, and he then grabbed a cup with a straw and lid that he'd set to the side and poured the remaining amount into it before putting it into the fridge. He stepped back over to where he was standing next to Dream, pressing into Dream's side as he picked up his phone, and Dream looked over George's shoulder as he sipped the smoothie to see him texting Sapnap that 'hey idiot there's extra smoothie in a cup in the fridge for you if you want it' before placing his phone back down on the counter, leaving it open on the text.

"So?" George asked as he went to take a sip of his own smoothie, looking up at Dream and waiting for a response.

"It's really good! I like that you can taste the mango in it."

"Me too. I'm shocked I even got to use it, since all you ever do is eat the mango out of every package we buy."

"Ha, ha. Very funny. That's why we buy extra mango, you little idiot." Both boys smiled as they bickered, the jabs clearly playful, and Dream glanced over at the dirty blender before pointing at it. "Want me to wash that for you?"

"Uh– yeah, sure, thanks," George nodded a bit as he spoke, smiling up at Dream in appreciation. Dream grabbed the blender, catching a glimpse of George's phone again and seeing that Sapnap had replied with two messages, saying 'no ew fuck you' and then 'thanks kitten <3' immediately after. He watched George type out 'i hate you' and then 'ur welcome stupid' and then turn off his phone and slip it back in his pocket, and he finally went to rinse out the blender. Dream finished washing it, rinsing the soap out and placing it upside down on the drain board to dry, just in time to turn around and see George about halfway finished with his drink. Dream grabbed his own empty glass, washing that out as well, just in time to reach out his hand and offer to take George's now empty glass too. George smiled at him again, letting out a small giggle this time at the way he was completely correctly predicted, and Dream finally finished the dishes and dried his hands.

It was now or never, he supposed.

"Hey, George?" He started off, leaning back against the counter the same way George was and placing his hand on top of it, behind George's back. His thumb was within reach of the back of George's t-shirt, so he slid it forward, curling his pointer finger around the edge of the counter and trailing the tip of his thumb against George's spine.

"Hey, Dream?" George mimicked Dream's tone, turning his head to look up at him.

"Do you remember what I told you right before you and Sapnap left?" George furrowed his eyebrows in thought, pressing his lips into a line and tilting his head to the side. "Like, right as I dropped you guys off at the airport, when I called you back to the car?"

"Um…" George said, before his eyes widened and he looked at Dream in shock. "Oh…"

Bingo.

"Aw, good! You do remember," Dream said with a smile, significantly more sinister than the fond one he'd been sporting the whole time. He slid his hand forward on the counter when he noticed George take a step back, leaning down to be closer to George's face and lowering his voice. "I think it's time I show you what I have in mind, don't you agree?"

"Drehe– Dreheheam I– I don't think that's nehecessary–" George stuttered, already letting out nervous giggles. He felt the heat rise to his face, positive that Dream could see the pink tint rising with it, but he still attempted to keep his cool. He stepped back again, then once more, then tried to take a third, but he was stopped by Dream's hand on his waist, pulling him close and tight into his chest. He gasped at the pull and leaned backwards, placing one hand against Dream's stomach to keep their distance and flicking his head down for a second to look at the grip Dream had on him before looking back up at him with wide eyes. "Dream, c'mohon. Don't."

"I want to, though, is the crazy thing," Dream said, squinting his eyes in a way that was just so Dream that it made George's heart flutter and made his giggles lighten up a bit more.

"Dream, no, we can't, I can't, I'm–" George tried to bargain, pushing Dream away and moving to take another step back.

Suddenly, Dream took his hand off George's waist and crouched slightly, wrapping his arms around George's thighs and lifting him off the ground, throwing him halfway over his shoulder and walking towards his own bedroom before George got the chance to even process what had happened.

"DREAM!" George yelled, entirely caught off guard, squirming and kicking in Dream's arms and pushing at his shoulder to try to get away. "LET GO, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! PUT ME DOWN!"

"No can do, Georgie," Dream said, adjusting his grip and hoisting George up further when he began sliding down, making George squeak and grip onto Dream's shoulder harder. He went still for a second, regaining his balance so he could be sure he wouldn't fall and hurt himself if Dream did suddenly let go or drop him, before placing his free hand on the back of Dream's head for stability and moving the one that one on his shoulder up to cover his mouth. "My mind's been made up for two weeks. You can't stop me."

"Dreheheam, this– oh my gohohod–" George still let out his nervous giggles, butterflies erupting in his tummy as he thought more and more about what Dream might have planned for him. He dropped his hand from over his mouth to squeeze Dream's shoulder again, as they rounded a corner that made him sway a little too far to the side for his comfort.

They finally made it to Dream's room, and George expected to be taken over to Dream's bed, but instead Dream walked past the bedroom door and into his office next to his bedroom instead. George laughed nervously as he was brought into the room, twisting and turning in Dream's arms to check his surroundings for anything suspicious.

"Whyhyhy– why in here? Why– why nohot one of, like… our nor– normal beheheds?" George asked, obviously confused on top of his fluttery nervousness. Dream slid him down in his arms, barely a foot just to get closer to his face, making George squeak and grab onto both Dream's shoulders for stability as he slid. He was still unable to touch the ground, even when he looked down and stretched his foot as far as it would go, and the material of his t-shirt had caught between them, making George even more nervous as the bare skin on the now exposed strip of his stomach pressed against Dream's shirt as well. George couldn't stop giggling, the butterflies in his tummy threatening to explode out any minute, but he still looked at Dream and caught his eye when he noticed him staring at him.

"Why in here?" Dream repeated, earning a confused nod from George. Dream pushed the office door closed with his foot, smirking menacingly at George as he reached over to the knob, and George breathed anxiously at the sound of the lock clicking. "Because it's soundproof."

"Wh– DREAM?!" George yelped out in shock when Dream suddenly lunged forward and threw him onto the small bed against the wall of his office. He bounced on the soft mattress when he landed, taking barely a second to comprehend what had happened before he was trying to sit up and crawl off the bed, but Dream was even faster than him, jumping on the bed at the same time and immediately straddling George's thighs. "NO, NO! GET AWAY, GET OFF!" George shouted, sitting up and pushing at Dream's knees to try to get him away, then at his chest and shoulders, then against the mattress to try and push himself off as well, before Dream stopped him.

"Nope," He said simply, pressing one palm flat to George's chest and pushing him down against the bed. George fought him the whole way down, pushing against him and squirming and screaming and protesting, but it was no use.

"DREAM, JUST– STOP!" George attempted one final time, as his elbows finally gave out and he was forced the rest of the way down, laying flat against the narrow bed, barely 30 seconds after he had been haphazardly tossed on top of it like an extra throw blanket. He breathed heavily, nerves bubbling up in his stomach, the rapid rise and fall of his chest barely even affecting Dreams's hand. "Dream. This is stupid."

"Relax. You're being a baby."

"I'M– WHAT?!" George exclaimed, in complete disbelief at the accusation. He knew Dream had only said it to get a rise out of him, and embarrassingly, it worked like a charm. "DO YOU NOT HEAR YOURSELF?!"

"Oh c'mon, George, all I'm gonna do is tickle you until you cry, it's not that crazy," Dream explained casually, barely giving George time to react when he suddenly grabbed his wrists. George gasped and flinched away, pulling his arms away and holding them to his chest.

"WH– THAT– WHAT? YOU'RE– ARE YOU INSANE?" George sputtered, unable to form a proper sentence at first as the weight of Dream's words flooded over his body.

"Yes. Now give me your wrists," Dream said simply, holding out his hands and making subtle grabby hands at George's arms. When George didn't hand them over, he reached out and grabbed his wrists again, smiling menacingly as George struggled to pull them away again.

"NO?! Fuck off, Dream, no, Dream, NO!" George squealed, sliding his arms out of Dream's grip again. Dream simply grabbed him once again, holding tighter, until he decided to play into the fight and let George slip away so he could just grab him more. They continued their game of cat and mouse for quite a bit longer, with Dream laughing and giggling happily and George screaming and fighting for his life the whole time. "I'M NOT– STOP! LET GO, STOP IT!"

"Shhhh, relax, Georgie. Just relax." Dream soothed, finally deciding to put a stop to George's fighting and firmly grip his wrists, holding them up in the air above his face so he could see that Dream was serious this time. George gasped, letting out a small sound from the back of his throat when he tried to pull again and was truly unsuccessful. "Relax. Okay? You know I won't actually do anything bad, you're gonna be fine."

"Dre‐Dreheam– dohon't…" The smaller boy whimpered, shaking his head. Dream just giggled again, pulling his wrists upwards and placing a small kiss on each of them to comfort him. "Oh, Dreheheheam…" George whined bashfully, closing his eyes and turning his head to rest his cheek on the soft pillow behind his head.

"It's okay, sweet boy," Dream spoke quietly, dropping George's right wrist and tugging his left up to the corner of the bed. George's breath caught in his throat the second he felt his wrist being pressed flat against the top of the mattress, and he whipped his head around to stare wide-eyed at what Dream was doing. His squirming and pulling started up again the second he saw Dream pulling the cuff up from behind the bed and wrapping it around his wrist.

"NO– oh my god, Dream, don't, do NOT, don't do it, please, NO, DREAM–" George turned his body to the side, using his free hand to push as hard as he could at Dream's hands, trying desperately to get him away from his wrist. He heard the first clasp of the cuffs clink, followed by the second, and then Dream leaned back and left his wrist alone. He tried to pull on it, reaching up with his other hand to try to undo it himself, whining and whimpering when nothing worked. He yanked his arm as much as he could manage, biting back more nervous laughter when Dream then took hold of his other wrist, repeating his earlier actions and pulling it up to the opposite corner. "Dream, STOP!"

"Stop whining," Dream reprimanded, pulling up the second cuff and tightening it around George's wrist. He secured both clasps, twisting the material so it didn't irritate George at all, and then he backed off for a few seconds to give George some space. The elder, against Dream's words, kept whining, tugging at his wrists and letting his head fall back and his eyes squeeze shut when he realized he couldn't escape. Dream let him calm himself down for a few moments, before gently brushing his fingers through George's hair and resting the other hand on his hip, palm first so he knew the touch wasn't cruel just yet. "Hey, baby. Can you look at me for a second? Just a second. Then you can hide all you want." George whined, squeezing his eyes tighter before blinking them open and looking nervously up at Dream. As soon as their eyes met, George's shoulders relaxed, he stopped pulling at his arms, and he let out a soft breath. "There's my kitten, hi angel. You doing okay?"

"Mhm, yeah," George responded, voice soft and slightly shaky already from all the yelling and heavy breathing he'd been doing that tired him out. Dream smiled down at him.

"Good." Dream reached his fingers up to mess with the cuffs, slipping his pointer finger into the tops of both of them as he continued. "These feel okay too? Not too tight, not too loose? They're alright when you pull on them?"

"Yeah, they're– they're good. They're okay." George pulled lightly on them a couple times for demonstration, nodding. Dream's smile widened, showing his canines and scrunching up the corners of his eyes.

"Perfect. If at any point you need to stop, like completely, a hard stop, you yell red, okay? Does that work for you?"

"Mhm, red. That's perfect," George said with a nod.

"And if I wanna check in and everything is okay to keep going. you say green?"

"Green. Got it."

"And if you need a pause, just to catch your breath for a minute or two but not a completely hard stop, yell pause. I know we usually use yellow, because the light system makes the most sense, but I wanna give you all one syllable words in case it's difficult to get out. Does that sound good? Red, pause, and green?"

"Red, pause, and green. That's perfect, Dream." They both smiled, letting out soft giggles as Dream nodded this time.

"Okay, great! Good… Really good," Dream mused, mostly to himself, patting George's side and then resting his palms flat on George's tummy. He tapped his fingers against George's tummy, through the material of his t-shirt, giggling as George sucked in his tummy and whined nervously, letting out a barely audible 'oh god' as he did so. "You ready, Georgie?"

"I dohon't– I don't really have much of a choice."

"Oh… yeah, I guess not, huh?" Dream said with a small chuckle, making George shake his head fondly.

"You're such an idiot, Dream."

"I know," Dream agreed, and then suddenly dug his fingers into George's upper ribs, where they started just below his underarms. George bursted into loud laughter, caught off guard by the quick movement, and he tensed his entire body at the feeling.

"FUCK– DREHEHEHEAM!" George squealed between his cackling laughter, throwing his head back against the pillow and squeezing his eyes shut. He shook his head, yanking at his arms to no avail. Dream pulled his fingers back slightly, this time rubbing slow circles into his ribs and the space in between. "Oh my GOHOHOHOD, Dreheheheam!"

"What's wrong, Georgie?" Dream asked smugly, tilting his head to the side in fake confusion.

"Ihihihit– it tihi– aha!"

"What was that? Sorry, you kinda cut yourself off a little, it what?"

"Ihihit tihihihi– nahaha–!"

"Oh, it tickles? Well yeah, baby boy, I would sure hope so!" Dream continued to pretend to be concerned, and he reached behind him to grab one of George's ankles, slipping his right leg out from underneath him and holding his foot up in the air.

"Fuhuhuck yohohou!" George said, and then gasped and yanked at his bound arms as he realized what Dream was doing. "NO! No, no, nonono, don't, whatever you're gonna do don't do it, NO– NOHO, DREHEHEAM!" He was lost to hysterical laughter almost instantly, as soon as Dream began scratching over the sole of his socked foot with two fingers. He twisted and turned and pulled at his leg as much as he could manage, shaking his head wildly before letting it fall against the pillow underneath him. "Dreheheheam, plehehehease!"

"Oh, c'mon, Georgie. This is nothing, you've handled way worse than this," Dream encouraged in his own backwards way. "You will handle way worse than this."

"Dohon't sahahay thahahat, oh my gohohohod–" George complained. Dream didn't respond, instead sliding his thumb into the top of George's sock and pulling it down his ankle, slipping it over his heel, still swiping his fingers up and down his sole in between movements. George gasped and pulled at his foot again, twisting and yanking a lot more frantically now, knowing exactly what was coming next. "NOHOHO, Dreheam, don't, dohohon't, don't you DAHAHAHARE– LET GOHOHO–"

"Jesus Christ, George, just– oh my god, stop KICKING– oh, you're being– you're so ridiculous, just–! STOP!" Dream fought with George's kicking leg the entire time, trying to find a way to keep him still enough to properly tickle him without risking a kick to the face. He pushed himself forward on George's other leg, wrapping his leg around the thigh that was held up in front of him to keep his leg in place at the top first, earning a squeal from the elder once he realized it was actually working. Then, he grabbed the toe of George's sock and slid it the rest of the way off, dropping it on the floor next to the bed before harshly grabbing George's big toe and holding him in place with one hand there and one hand cupped over his heel.

"Oh shit, oh gohod, Dreheheam–" George tried to plead, heart racing in his chest once he realized he was really, fully stuck in that position. Dream's hold was working, and they both knew that.

"God damn, now I can't even, like… how am I supposed to tickle you if it takes cuffs and every fucking limb just to keep you in place, like, do I just have to…" Dream mused, mostly to himself, but smiling at the whimper it got from George as an idea popped into his head.

He tilted his head to the side and smiled wider, looking up at George and baring his canine teeth as he did so.

Then, he leaned in, and experimentally nibbled the side of George's incredibly sensitive foot.

George reacted immediately, squealing and trying desperately to pull his foot away, his entire leg flinching in Dream's hold. He scrunched up his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, pulling at his arms again.

Dream repeated the action, going further and leaving a few nibbles this time, and George bursted out laughing as soon as he did so.

"DREHEHEAM, WHAHAHA– whahahat the FUHUHUCK, DREHEAM!" George protested, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion at how the fuck Dream had an idea like this. "Wh–whahaha– WHY?! S-STOHOP IHIHIT! Whahahat the FUCK?!"

"Listen, okay!" Dream began defensively. "I couldn't tickle you with both hands occupied holding one of your stupid little squirmy feet in place, okay? So I had to think quickly, and this seemed like the best solution, so… deal with it," Dream finished, and immediately dove back in to deliver more devious nibbles. George flinched and squealed again, squirming the rest of his body as much as he could manage to get his energy out.

"Thihihis ihis fuhucking weheheheird, Dream, stohop!"

"You keep saying stop but you're not seriously telling me to stop. You know exactly what you have to say to let me know you need to stop."

"This is STUHUHUPID, Dreheham, gehet OFF MEHEHEHE!"

"Georgie, what's your color?" Dream asked, rubbing his thumb gently over where it was gripping the side of his heel. George went quiet for a second, whimpering and sighing in defeat before mumbling something incoherent. "What, George?"

"I sahaid greheen, idiot."

"Good boy. That's what I thought." Dream immediately resumed his nibbles, this time moving them up and down the inside of George's foot from the ball to right above his heel.

"Oh, FUHUHUCK– Jesus CHRIHIHIST, DREHEAM–" George screamed out through his laughter, trying desperately to get Dream away from his foot, but nothing was working. "Yohohou are soho WEHEIRD!"

"Oh, am I?" Dream asked between nibbles, moving to the other side of the same foot, the outside this time, to see if it would get him any different reactions

"FUCK– YEHEHES! Yohohou're a fuhuckihing WEHEIRDO– GEHET YOUR STUHUHUPID MOHOUTH AWAY FROM MEHEHE, yohohou FREHEAK"

"Wow, weirdo and freak, huh? You really think that little of me, sweetheart?" Dream asked, exaggerating his sad facial expression when he caught George's eye. George immediately dropped his head back down to avoid looking at him for too long, knowing it would only make him giggle more, and groaned in frustration. He pulled at his arms again, yanking on them so hard Dream thought he might hurt himself, before trying the same with his legs with the same amount of success. He groaned again, falling off into a whine as the knowledge of how trapped he was kept circling around his head.

"Yehehes!"

"Yes?"

"Mhm."

"You really wanna stick with calling me a freak?" Dream smiled when he didn't get an immediate answer, having to bite his lip to stop himself from giggling at George's hesitation.

"…Mhm."

"Hmm… okay then! If I'm a freak, I might as well embrace it just to make you miserable for a while," Dream said, smile still evident in his voice, as he moved his hand to hold around the middle of George's foot, nibbling suddenly on his toes. George absolutely screeched, before falling into helpless, squeaky laughter, shaking his head and pulling his leg as much as he possibly could.

"NAHAHAHA, DREHEHEAM!" George yelled, arching his back and crashing back down, squirming wildly against the blankets below him, desperate for some kind of help. "STOHOP, PLEHEHE–AH! PLEHEHEASE!" George squealed when Dream caught his third toe with his canine tooth, curling his toes to try and get away from the sensation. In retaliation, Dream forced his fingers underneath George's scrunched toes and scratched at the skin there– knowing that was one of George's most sensitive spots in that area, if not the most sensitive– and moved his other hand down to the back of his ankle so he could nibble at his heel as well. George squeaked, quite adorably, before bursting into broken laughter again, gasping for air whenever he could, and trying to kick his leg again. He had gotten so used to being held in place and having his kicks be pointless that he didn't expect much of it, and he was incredibly shocked when his foot actually moved forward this time.

Dream did not appreciate the movement like he did.

"Did you just kick me?" Dream asked in disbelief, and George was already shaking his head before he even finished.

"NO! No, nononono, I didn't, I promise I didn't, I didn't mean to, I-I didn't– I didn't think– you were holding and I thought– I thought it wouldn't–"

"You kicked me!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Dream, I'm really sorry, please, please don't do anything, please–"

"Y'know… I think your other foot could use some attention too, don't you?" Dream said as he pulled George's other leg out from underneath him. George protested instantly, but Dream just continued pulling it out, propping it up, and began tugging off his sock. He moved slightly, pulling his other leg back from where it was still wrapped around George's thigh to mirror the position with his new target.

"NO, DON'T– Dream, don't, Dream, please, you can't do this, I can't take it, please," George pleaded, tugging at his arms and staring up at them helplessly when he barely moved the cuffs an inch.

"You know what to say if you can't take it, baby boy," Dream responded casually, tossing George's sock onto the floor to join the other. He wrapped one hand around George's ankle and the other around the top of his foot, leaning in and nibbling the inside of it just the same as he had done to the other one.

George was lost in hysterical laughter immediately.

"NOHOHO, Dreheheam, plehehehease!" He begged, twisting his foot however he could, using his now free leg to kick at Dream's thighs and stomach and arms to try to get him away. "STOHOHOP, DREHEAM, DOHOHON'T!"

"Kick me one more time and I'll tie your ankles and toes together and stay here the whole time. And I won't stop until you safeword," Dream threatened sternly, but his tone stayed casual, and George squeaked and immediately pulled his leg back, gently resting his foot on Dream's knee instead. "That got through to you?"

"Mhm," George whimpered, biting his lip and nodding.

"Good." Dream smiled, giggling to himself at George's tense body language. "Aww, sweet angel, I wouldn't be so cruel to you if you didn't deserve it. Take a breath, okay? You're alright," He soothed gently, patting George's foot and placing a soft kiss to his ankle. George nodded, and he did take a much needed breath, whining at the gentleness of the kiss compared to how fucking evil Dream was being to him. His reprieve was cut short, however, when Dream nibbled on his ankle lightly, making him squeal and let out a few tiny giggles again. Dream nibbled up his leg more, up the side of his calf, letting out little growls as he did so and giggling himself as George let out more confused protests at his actions.

"Whahaha–!" George giggled out, nose scrunched again and head thrown back. "Yohohou're soho WEHEIRD, oh my gohohod…" George complained, seemingly bashful, face burning bright red as he squirmed his hips slightly, sliding his heel against the bed and twisting his leg in Dream's hold.

"You're the one letting me tickle the life out of you though, aren't you?" Dream replied smugly, chuckling as George whined openly and squeezed his eyes shut. "Yeah, exactly. So you let me worry about how weird I am, okay, sweetheart?" Dream concluded, sliding his hands up George's leg. He wrapped one arm around his calf to keep it in place, letting the other hand come up to scratch behind his knee and returning to his nibbling, now hitting his inner thigh right above his knee. George gasped and squealed, whimpering as he tried desperately to hold in his laughter, his leg shaking in Dream's hold and his thigh tensing every time Dream's teeth grazed his skin. "Oh, c'mon, George, you can't hold back on me now."

"Sh-shut uhuhup–"

"Come on, you know you wanna laugh," Dream teased, blowing a tiny raspberry right on the inner thigh spot he'd been nibbling and cheering when it caused George to flinch and burst into laughter. "Yes! There we go, that wasn't so hard, was it, my kitten?"

"Whaha– yohohou nehever sahay kitten?!" George asked, in genuine confusion at where the sudden use of that name came from.

"I feel like it's appropriate for today. I'm taking it from Karl and Sapnap," Dream explained, before getting an evil idea, saying it before he could stop himself. He continued scratching behind George's knee the whole time, keeping him giggling, but not too much that he couldn't respond. "You're my kitten today."

"Oh gohohod– juhuhust… shuhut uhup!"

"Shut up? Okay! I'll just go back to nibbling!" Dream said, leaning back in and nibbling on George's inner thigh again before he could protest. George flinched and squealed, yanking his leg away, and Dream just grabbed both his thighs right above his knees and squeezed rapidly. George yelped again, pulling his legs in as much as he could, but Dream just followed him as he curled up anyway. He tried to kick his legs out, but it proved to go even worse when that only made it significantly easier for Dream to push his knees down against the bed, continuing to grab and squeeze at his thighs.

"NO– FUCK! LEHET GOHOHOHO! PLEHEHEASE– FUHUHUCK OFF!" George screamed, drumming his knees against the bed as well as he could when he was still held down, twisting and turning his arms, shoulders, and hips in an attempt to get away.

"God, Georgie, I love hearing you scream," Dream commented, making George shake his head and clamp his mouth shut so Dream didn't get the satisfaction of hearing him. "Come on, baby. Don't hold out on me. You know I'll just make it worse," He said, and George whimpered, but shook his head even more. He kicked his legs again, and he was able to knock one of Dream's hands off, but Dream just let go of his other leg and used both hands to grab the kicking one instead.

This time, however, he let George's leg drop down on the bed, pushing his knee down so his leg was slightly turned, and then pushed his shorts up a bit and leaned all the way down to nibble his inner thigh that way, keeping George's leg almost entirely immobilized against the bed.

Apparently, this was the worst thing that he ever could've done, because George was immediately begging, thrashing, screaming in laughter, doing anything and everything he could think of to get him to stop. Dream had no intention of doing so.

"NOHOHOHO, OH MY GOHOHOHOD– FUHUCK, PLEHEHEHEASE–" George screamed, turning to the side as much as he could and attempting to pin his legs together, but all he did was and up with his other thigh resting against Dream's head and keeping him in place between his legs. He kicked out instinctively, unable to do much else other than kick his leg uselessly against the bed and pull at his arms desperately. "DREHEHEAM, I CAHAHA– I CAN'T, I CAHAHAN'T! PLEHEHEASE!"

"This always has been one of your worst spots, Georgie, I'm kinda shocked I haven't lost a tooth yet," Dream said, unsure if George could even hear him over his booming laughter.

"DREHE– PAHAUSE! PAUSE, PLEHEHEASE!" George shouted, and Dream pulled back immediately, pressing his palm to George's thigh and rubbing away the leftover tingles for him. "Hohoholy fucking shihit…"

"You okay? I didn't go too overboard, did I?"

"Noho, I'm fihine, I just… cahan't fucking breheathe…" George said, chest rising and falling rapidly as he gulped down some desperately needed oxygen.

"Yeah… sorry, baby…" Dream mumbled shyly, adjusting their positions to be slightly more comfortable for when they continued. He moved to sit criss-cross between George's legs, grabbing his legs and gently laying them on top of his own thighs, so George's legs were almost wrapped around his waist.

"It's okay. Thank– thank you for, uh, pausing when I asked, though. I thought I was gonna die," George said with a small laugh, turning his head to the side as his face turned even more red as the fluttering position he was now put into.

"Of course, angel, I would never, ever wanna make you uncomfortable. You can pause as many times as you want, okay? And we'll stop whenever you want too," Dream reiterated, and George nodded. Dream let his hands rest on George's thighs, tugging the legs of his shorts down where they'd ridden up before gently rubbing his thumbs over his skin. Seconds later, George whimpered and gave a light tug to his arms, squeezing his hands into fists and biting his lip. Then, he shifted his legs, curling them around Dream's waist and squeezing him, pulling him in closer. Dream chuckled, letting him squirm for a few more seconds, before finally putting him out of his misery. "You want me to keep going?" He asked, and George nodded frantically. "I need a verbal answer, please, my baby kitten," He requested, knowing it would hit the nail perfectly on the head. George whimpered, tilting his head back, before nodding again.

"Yes, please," He mumbled along with his nod, just loud enough that he knew Dream would hear. Dream cooed, sliding his hands up George's thighs and resting them gently on his sides.

"Oh my god, you're so cute I could cry," Dream fawned, leaning over slightly to watch George's blushing face as he reacted to the compliment. He shook his head, squirming against Dream's hands on his sides, arching into the touch to try to get him to just shut up and get on with it, then whining when it got him nowhere.

"Shut uppppp, you're such an idiot," George complained, giggling when Dream delivered one tiny squeeze to his sides, already on edge of his next movement. He tensed his legs again, squeezing his knees tighter around Dream's waist, squirming as much as he could in his incredibly immobilizing position.

"I can't! You're just– you're so cute, like, just squirming around like a little worm and letting me completely destroy you and not even asking me to stop until you absolutely need me to, like– you're just like– you're adorable!" Dream finished off, bouncing George on the bed once just to test the waters, smiling as he broke into bright, giddy giggles, butterflies no doubt fluttering all around his tummy. "You're just so precious, Georgie, oh my god, you're literally like a little kitten, I just wanna–" He shook him again, repeatedly this time, holding his sides firmly and bouncing them both up and down against the mattress. George's giggles never stopped, and Dream giggled along with him, the silly, playful nature of the situation getting to both of them.

"Dreheheam!" George squeaked out, laughter becoming more high pitched the longer the bouncing went on, and when Dream finally stopped and let him rest flat again he was already out of breath and limp once again from laughing. "Yohou're so duhumb!"

"You're the one who's giggling like a little baby at it! Maybe you're dumb, then!"

"Shut uhup! Just go alreadyhy!" George complained, and Dream could tell he was actually getting antsy, especially with the way his legs curled around Dream's waist and his knees struggled not to curl up.

"Okay, okay, fine. Party pooper." Dream moved his hands back down to George's hips, his thumbs resting right on the spot between the tops of his thighs and the jutting bones of his hips. He pressed in softly, and the second George felt the pressure on that spot he was already squirming and yelling.

"No! Nononono, not there, not there, that is off limits, no!" George protested, yanking on his arms. Dream giggled, gasping as George pulled hard enough to actually slide himself up on the bed a few inches, squirming the whole way up. Dream grabbed his squirmy hips, pulling him even further down than he was before, and George screamed out as he realized he was even more screwed. Now, his arms were pulled taut, completely straight above his head and out towards the corners of the bed, and he couldn't bend his arms more than a few centimeters no matter how hard he tried to pull. His hips were tilted upwards now, his lower back resting against Dream's crossed ankles and his butt on his calves, and this time his thighs were in line with Dream's waist instead of his knees wrapping around them. "NO! NO, DREAM, DON'T, LET GO, LET ME GO, YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" He complained, trying to squirm away again, but he found himself pinned even worse than he already was. His entire torso was as stretched out as it could be, and he noticed the bottom of his t-shirt had ridden up as well. When Dream placed his hands back on his hips, he felt the tip of Dream's middle and ring fingers resting on his bare skin, and it took everything in him not to whine about it. He knew if he did, it would only make Dream torture him more. "Dream, please, please, this is evil, you can't do this, you know you can't!"

"Hmm… I think I can do whatever I want," Dream teased, and immediately dug his thumbs into the spot between George's thigh and hip that he'd teased already.

George yelled, pulling uselessly at his arms, breaking into chest-aching laughter as he tried his hardest to wiggle his hips away from the tickles. He arched his back, dropping down only seconds later as his body seemed to give in on itself for a moment, before.his squirming and shaking started up again at full force.

"Jesus Christ, Georgie, this is a good spot, huh?" He asked, tugging down the waistband of George's shorts and boxers just a tiny bit to be able to slide his thumbs underneath and dig into the same spot, right into George's skin this time. George nearly hit the ceiling with how hard he jumped and arched his back, his laughter raising in volume and desperation as he shook his head wildly.

"SHUHU– SHUHUT THE FUHUHUCK UHUHUP!" George yelled, blinking his eyes open before immediately squeezing them shut again. Dream could barely see the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes, and he heard how hard he had to gasp to be able to keep any air in his lungs, and he sensed that if he kept up with this technique and spot any longer that George might call his safeword much, much earlier than either of them would've liked for him to. He stopped what he was doing, wrapping his hands around George's hips and rubbing over the bone with his thumbs, letting George take in a few breaths before continuing.

"I'm gonna dedicate an entire day to that spot. Just so you know."

"I will… I will actually kill you," George responded between breaths, letting his tense body relax at the soothing touch.

"Meh… it'll be worth it," Dream said, and then he suddenly shifted himself and leaned down, nibbling right at George's protruding hip bones. George whined the second he touched down, squirming side to side and trying to slide his hips out of Dream's grip. "Oh, nibbles work well here, don't they?" Dream said, pressing his lips right against George's skin as he spoke, making him squirm even more.

"Sh-shuhut uhup!" George said for the millionth time, his tummy tensing and twitching with his laughter. His giggles were turning hicuppy, and he was not at all helped when Dream let the nail of his pointer finger scratch ever so gently over the line of skin between his hip bones. "Dreheheheheam!"

"George!" Dream responded, mimicking George's tone, pressing a group of tiny raspberries in a circle around George's hip and then jumping back into nibbling the bone. George squealed at the raspberries, arching his back again, his squeaky, hicuppy giggles making Dream want to continue forever.

"Dreheheam, plehehehease, sohomewhere ehehehelse!" George pleaded, whining again as Dream placed another raspberry down, on the inner side of his hip, and then followed it up with a soft kiss.

"Okay, but you're not gonna like it," Dream said as he slid his hands up George's sides, letting the hem of his shirt catch on his fingers and pushing it up to the middle of his ribcage. He kept his head against George's skin, resting his chin just underneath his bellybutton as he did so. George instinctively sucked in his tummy, pushing his chest up and curling as far away from Dream as he could, letting out a small noise of protest from the back of his throat.

"Oh god, why nohot…" George whined nervously.

"You know why, pretty boy." Without any hesitation, Dream leaned down and connected his teeth with the edges of George's belly button. The elder absolutely screeched, dissolving into flustered, breathy giggles, as he continued to try to curl away and suck in his stomach to get away.

"Oh nohoho! Nonono, Dreheheheam, plehehease, not thahaht!" George begged, kicking his legs out behind Dream, his tummy fluttering under the nibbles.

"Not that? Okay, let's try this then," Dream mumbled against George's tummy, not pulling away to speak this time, and making George flinch even more.

"No, no, NO– NOHOHO– Dreheheam!" George protested, as Dream slid his hands back down to George's sides and gently scratched at the backs of them, on either side of his spine. He arched his back instinctively, as far as he could, but he then had the horrifying realization that it only pushed his tummy further into Dream's mouth. And if he dropped down, he would land in Dream's hands. He was entirely stuck in place, giggling his head off, arching and curling up between evil fingers and even more evil nibbles, and he had no idea how he would handle the situation. "Fuhuck, oh god, Dreheheheam, plehehease, this is awfuhuhul."

"I know, baby," Dream mumbled, blowing another small raspberry right underneath his belly button just to see him flinch in both directions and let out another squeal. "Too bad I don't care."

"DREHEAM?!" George shouted in response, offended by the notion that Dream didn't even care that he was torturing him. Dream simply giggled, scratching even more unbearably light at his back and going back to nibbling the area all around his belly button.

George could feel every breath he took, expanding his chest and sitting between his ribs, and he could hear his laughter getting more squeaky and broken. He wasn't sure why, and he wasn't sure how, but it seemed like the more Dream stayed in those specific spots, completely unmoving and unwavering, the tickling only became more maddening. He was laughing harder now, way too hard for the soft techniques that were being used, and he realized he was becoming more frantic as time went on. Squirming more, gasping more, begging more, and once again, George was convinced he might die if he didn't get a break right that second.

"PAUSE, WAHAHAHAHAIT– WAHAIT, wahahait, wait, wait wait wait, wahait…" George babbled, catching his breath once again as Dream paused his tickling. Dream took both hands away from George's back, gently guiding his hips back down so his back was flat and his hips were against Dream's legs like before, helping his body relax. Dream rested one hand on his tummy, covering almost the entire surface of it and making George whimper through his breathing at the thought, holding his hip with the other one to comfort him.

"You okay? That one was more frantic."

"Yeah, yes, I'm good, I just– that, like, both at once, just… I couldn't do both at once."

"Too much?" Dream asked, slightly nervous at George's explanation.

"No! No, not at all, it just… it really, really t-ti…"

"Really, really tickled?"

"Shut up," George answered the second Dream spoke, making the younger bark out a laugh of his own, rubbing his palm over George's tummy to help calm him.

"You're cute," He stated, no question about it, making George scoff. "And pretty," He continued in the same tone, making George whine a bit at the compliment. They stayed silent for about 30 more seconds, before George spoke again.

"You– you can keep going now. Just don't do, like, back and front at once, okay? Two spots is fine, but that– that was a lot… and it hurt my back." George giggled at the end, shifting slightly in anticipation.

"Of course, sweet boy. As long as you're comfortable," Dream agreed, patting George's tummy before sliding his hands around his sides again, holding him gently. "You are comfortable, right?"

"Yeah, I am. Somehow," George said, smiling kindly up at Dream. Dream smiled back down at him the same way.

"Good. That's good, because I'm gonna switch it up a little bit," Dream explained, rubbing his thumbs up and down George's sides as he spoke. George furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"You're gonna switch it up?"

"Yeah. I think I've been too nice to you," Dream said nonchalantly, and George's eyes almost shot out of his head with how wide they got.

"WH– you think you've been TOO NICE?!"

"Yeah."

"Dream, I-I've had to take two breaks so far!"

"Eh, could've been more. I haven't broken you yet." Dream smirked, and immediately dug his thumbs into the area right above George's hips so he wouldn't have time to protest. He screamed out, falling into loud laughter and bucking his hips uselessly to try and get him away. "I'm gonna keep going until you use your safeword. Use it whenever you feel you need to, okay, baby?"

Miraculously, George still managed to nod in understanding through his shrieks and squeals, and Dream decided he would get the show on the road. He leaned down again, blowing a line of huge raspberries up and down George's left side, pressing far into his skin and gripping his other side so he couldn't pull away. He gasped for air between every raspberry, never getting more than a few seconds of rest while Dream took in enough air to deliver another one. Dream finished with his left side after going from the bottom of his ribcage, down to his hip, then back again, and repeating that process without stopping probably four or five times– George lost count after the second– and then he switched to his right side, doing the exact same thing. Bottom of his ribs, down to his hip, then up again, repeated five times (George was more confident in the guess this time).

"DREHEHE– DREHEAM, PLEHEHEHEASE!" He begged, voice broken and raspy, clearly nearing the end of its ropes and threatening to break and go silent very, very soon.

George's chest was already burning from his laughter, his throat dry and his stomach aching, and he had barely enough time to suck in two huge breaths and swallow his own saliva before Dream was already moving on. His next target was his tummy again, only slightly less cruel by avoiding his belly button. He nibbled up and down the sides of his tummy, as well as over his lower tummy, sprinkling in sporadic raspberries there as well. His laughter became less worryingly frantic with this technique, and he was able to calm down his shrill laughter enough to be bearable, even if it was still unbelievably hard for him to breathe.

"Dreheheheam, fuhuhuck! Oh gohohohohod, oh god, plehehehease stohohop!"

"No can do, Georgie!" Dream mumbled right into George's tummy, making him squeak even louder before falling into even more giggles. He nuzzled right into the side of his belly, smiling and giggling into his skin as he felt it flutter beneath him, clearly still tickled by his growing stubble and the rumbling of his words.

"Stahahaha–"

"Is this a good spot, sweetheart?" Dream asked, dragging his syllables out as much as he could on the last few words. "Do you like it here? It sounds like you like it here."

"Nohohoho!" George immediately protested, shaking his head wildly.

"Hmm… I think you like it there."

"Shuhuhut UHUP!" He could barely breathe to respond, gasping when he finished, shocked that any coherent words made it out at all. Suddenly there were hands on his ribs, and thumbs pressing into the middle of his ribcage on both sides– right between along the 5th rib from the bottom, where Dream knew was his favorite spot. "FUHUHUCK–!" He yelled, arching his back and trying desperately to dislodge Dream's hands. Nothing worked, and Dream's fingers stayed exactly where they were, massaging incessantly into his ribs, only moving every so often to switch to a different rib to keep George on edge. He continued placing tiny raspberries and nibbles all along the sides of George's belly, giggling into his skin every so often when he felt George have a particularly strong reaction.

"How are you doing up there, kitten?" Dream asked, smiling at the way George stuttered through wild laughter as he tried and failed to answer. "It's okay, I know the answer is 'I'm doing great, Dream, thanks for asking, this is everything I want and more', right?"

"OH MY GOHOHOHOD, I CAHAHAN'T, DREHEHEAM, I CAHANT BREHEATHE!" George finally managed to get out, taking a huge gasp for air after he finished speaking before it was too late to try.

"Oh no! So sorry about that!" Dream said, cruely insincere, and George whimpered and cut his laughter off to swallow before exploding into another wave. "I'll get right on that for you."

"FUHUHUCK YOHOU!" George screamed, feeling the tears that had been forming start to finally slip out of his eyes when he squeezed them shut so hard he began to see spots.

He felt his chest aching again, and he couldn't stop thinking about how desperate, how helpless, how utterly trapped he felt. His arms were useless, his legs were wrapped around Dream so he could barely even kick, and Dream was boxing him in pretty much completely– sitting between his legs, his hips on Dream's lap, hands holding his ribs, Dream's body essentially bent in half with his face pressed into his tummy– and he no longer had the strength to get away even if he'd been completely free. Those thoughts, combined with Dream's promise of 'I'm gonna keep going until you use your safeword' and his observation of 'I haven't broken you yet', circled rapidly around his brain, and only in that moment did he realize that Dream was actually going to break him. He whimpered, took in another sharp breath and swallowed, feeling breathless for a new reason, feeling his face flush even more and feeling the heat radiating off it when he turned his head to look up at his left wrist. He pulled at the cuffs a few times, less desperate and more observational, before whining again through his laughter.

"WAHAHAIT, WAHAIT, SLOHOW DOHOHOWN–" He pleaded, not needing another break but needing the absolutely maddening sensation on his ribs to relax slightly. Dream pulled his head up, moving his massaging fingers down to George's bottom ribs and drilling in circles, just to keep him laughing wildly and to make him arch his back with a choked noise.

He hadn't called for a stop or pause, so Dream wouldn't give him one.

"What's wrong, my kitten? Does it tickle?" Dream asked, faking his sincerity, which was almost more infuriating than him being obviously insincere. George groaned, squirming as much as he could through the discomfort of arching his back.

"Yehehehes!"

"Aw, right here?" Dream said, shifting up to his middle ribs again and making him drop back down with a squeal and more boisterous cackling.

"AHAHA– YEHEHEHEAH!"

"Really bad?"

"YEHEHEHES, YES, REHEALLY BAHAHAHAD!" George agreed with a frantic nod, hoping it would get him somewhere, yanking at his arms instinctively.

"Aww, baby," Dream said with a pout, shifting up to the top of his ribcage, barely below his underarms, and George squirmed nervously and tried to pull his arms down again at the proximity to such a deeply flustering spot for him. "I'm sure it does, angel. You poor thing. Poor baby kitten."

"Yohohou're so MEHEHEHEAN!" George whined, shifting his legs and kicking out as much as he could with Dream's body in the way. Dream laughed out loud at that, nodding his head.

"Thank you, I try," He responded, and then suddenly tugged the sleeves of George's t-shirt down to expose more skin and switched between fluttering his fingers and scratching his nails under George's arms. George's laughter switched almost instantly, beautifully, music to Dream's ears. His loud, painful, broken screams and cackles switched to incredibly shy, fluttery laughs and giggles, high pitched and continuous. His eyes relaxed slightly, staying squeezed shut, but not as painfully tight. His nose scrunched up too, and his head tilted back before falling to the side as he attempted to bury it in his arm. "Aw, baby, this spot is so embarrassing for you, isn't it?"

"Shuhuhuhut–" George cut himself off when his voice cracked, clearly hoarse and rough from everything he'd already been through. He clamped his mouth shut, trying to stay silent, but he burst back into bright and raspy giggles after only a few seconds. "Dreheheheam!"

"Yeah, sweet boy?" Dream asked softly, and George was too exhausted to care if that was real or fake sincerity. The name still made him whimper, hiding further in his arm. "Aw, c'mon, don't hide on me. Let me see your pretty face."

"Mm-mm, nohope," George protested, gasping and pulling on his arms when Dream scratched a little too close to the top of his underarm near his tricep.

"C'mooooon, please?" Dream pushed, reaching up with one hand to poke at George's cheek. George giggled and flinched away from the poke, squeaking when the hand went back down to his armpit, saying no again. "Okay, suit yourself," Dream conceded, and George peeked one eye out just in time to see Dream leaning down towards him, squeaking when he felt Dream press his lips right to the exposed side of his neck.

"NO, Dreheheam, doh–ON'T!" George squealed as Dream blew a raspberry against his skin, right in the middle of his neck, Dream's cheek pressed against his arm where it was still bound above him. He tried to scrunch his shoulder up without moving his face out of hiding, but it wasn't possible in his current position. "Dreheheheam, stohop, dohohon't do ihit aga–AHAIN!" He let out another yelp when the action was repeated, this time right behind his ear. He couldn't keep himself hidden through that, whipping his head back to face straight forward as he scrunched his neck up to get Dream away.. Dream did pull away, giggling at George's reaction.

"There's my pretty baby!" Dream exclaimed dramatically, making George groan, as he moved his hands up to hold both sides of George's face. "I missed you! Don't leave me again, stay like this." They both giggled at Dream's words, and George rolled his eyes and tilted his head back, letting his eyes shut again. "Okay, back to business!"

"Oh, fuhuck– FUCK!" George yelled out when Dream suddenly jumped his hands back down to his ribs, digging his thumbs into the same middle ribs and rubbing in quick, tiny circles. "GOHOHOD, NOHOHOHO!"

"Yes, Georgie, yes!" Dream teased back, continuing his thumb movements while he leaned down and blew a few more raspberries in a line on the side of George's tummy, nibbling in between them.

The switch from gentle yet insanely flustering tickling to the most brutal tickling George thought he ever felt was a lot, and it was way too much for his body to handle, sending a surge of energy that felt almost like an electric shock up to his brain the second it started. As soon as Dream caught the spot above his hipbone between his teeth again, George knew he had to call it quits, not convinced his body and mind could take much more torture without completely caving in on him.

"OKAHAHAY, OKAY, REHEHED, DREHEHEAM, PLEHEHEHEASE STOHOHOP!" George begged, yelling out his safeword in the middle of his sentence before collapsing into hysterical laughter, not even attempting to speak anymore. He trusted Dream to stop, and he did so the second he heard the word come out of George's mouth.

He rested his palms on George's ribs, pressing in with just enough pressure that George knew he wouldn't tickle anymore, but it would still push out the ghost tickles. Dream rubbed over his ribs for a while, letting him calm himself down and catch his breath, before glancing down at his still jumpy tummy and pressing one hand over it as well, repeating the soothing process. When he was done rubbing the residual tickles away, he placed his hands on George's thighs, rubbing his palms up and down the sides of them, until George finally seemed to fully calm down, at least enough to speak.

"How are we doing, angel?" Dream asked softly, watching George as he wracked his brain for a response.

"Mm… good…" He mumbled, his voice still shaky and hoarse. He swallowed, taking in another deep breath.

"Do you feel okay? Nothing hurts? Nothing feels bad?" Dream asked again, tapping his fingers against George's thighs gently. George shook his head.

"Mm-mm, everything's good. I feel good," He started, coughing a few times before continuing. "I mean… my throat is dry and my chest feels like it's on fire and I can feel your fingertips inside my ribcage, but yeah, I feel really good." They both laughed at that, and Dream nodded, reaching up and rubbing his thumb over George's ribs.

"Yeah, I… I may have gotten a little carried away. But you loved it, to be clear."

"Maybe I did."

"I mean, look at you. Like, actually, look," Dream said, and George lifted his head up as much as he could manage to look down at his torso.

There were red marks all over his tummy and sides from Dream's teeth and stubble scraping and rubbing ruthlessly against his skin. There were a few marks by his hips, slightly more faded than the rest, from the nibbles and digging fingers. And there were finger-shaped, bright red spots all over his ribcage from how harshly Dream had dug in. The sight made George's jaw drop, letting his head fall back against the pillows.

"Holy shit, Dream, did you turn into a monster or something? It looks like you tried to maul me," George said in disbelief, making them both giggle.

"I became a tickle monster, Georgie, what can I say," Dream replied, making them both fall into laughter again.

Dream was seconds away from standing up and starting his plan of taking care of George, when suddenly he realized there was one tiny detail that had slipped both their minds.

While Dream's office was soundproofed, it didn't drown out every single sound. It was nearly impossible to, some small sounds would always travel out through cracks in the door if they were loud enough, and while they wouldn't be too audible, they could definitely be heard if someone was close enough to the door of the room.

And they had a third person in the house. A third person who had open access to the kitchen… that Dream's door happened to be in the direct path of.

Sapnap made it downstairs just about 30 seconds before George needed to scream his safeword, intending to go grab the smoothie the aforementioned man had told him was left in the fridge if he wanted it. On his way down, he heard a sudden scream coming from Dream's bedroom area that was directly next to the stairs he had just walked down, extremely muffled but still audible enough for him to be concerned. He turned to his left and walked barely three steps to Dream's cracked open door, pushing it open and stepping inside.

"Dream?" He said quietly, glancing around and seeing the room was empty. He heard another scream, and he was able to place it as George's this time, and he assumed it was coming from Dream's office instead. He walked over to that door, putting his ear up to it and hearing that he was indeed right– there was definitely screaming, and it was definitely George– before he gently turned the handle, slowly so as to not alert either of the other boys.

To his dismay (or relief, he wasn't sure yet), it was locked.

So, he pulled out his phone and pulled up Dream's contact, messaging him 'wtf are you doing lol' and then a second message that said 'are u killing him in there??'. He placed his phone back in his pocket, scurrying off to the kitchen to grab the smoothie he was originally going to get, before going back and standing outside the door, now curious about the answer.

That was the moment Dream had his realization, and he picked up his phone to see the text from their youngest housemate. Dream smiled, almost evil, before gently grabbing George's legs and placing them on the bed next to him so he could stand up.

He stretched his legs as he stood, standing up on his toes and then dropping down, before stretching his arms over his head and arching his back, then relaxing that position as well.

"Hold on," He whispered, patting George's hip, before going over to the door and unlocking it. He opened the door slowly, cracking it open just enough to stick his head out and look at Sapnap. "Hey!"

"Hi! Um, are you guys okay? I thought I heard screaming and I just wanted to check in," Sapnap asked, fussing with the straw in his drink nervously, spinning it in circles.

"See for yourself." Dream smiled at him, opening the door further and pressing his back to it, giving him space to walk in. Sapnap stepped past him, his eyes immediately focused on the bed, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

George was laying there, wrists cuffed above his head, breathing heavily, and looking completely disheveled. His hair was a mess, his shirt was still pushed up and his shorts were still tugged slightly down, his socks were still on the floor, and his entire body was flushed red and sweaty. Ordinarily, Sapnap would make a joke about the two doing something inappropriate in there, but Sapnap knew exactly what had gone on without even having to ask any questions.

He felt the heat rising to his chest, his jaw dropping open and his eyebrows raised, feeling bashful himself just looking at the state George was in and thinking about how Dream managed to do that. He glanced up at Dream, giggling nervously, tapping the toe of his socked foot against the carpet.

"Oh…" He mumbled, flicking his eyes between the other two. "Oh, God, uh… wow."

"Did this help you get the idea?" Dream asked quietly, gently placing his hand on Sapnap's upper back and rubbing up and down.

"Ye– yeah it did, uh…" He stuttered, letting out a shaky breath. "Well, um, you guys have fun, I'm gonna go back upstairs now," He said, smiling up at Dream before walking out of the room, sipping his smoothie as he left. Dream couldn't help but burst out laughing as soon as Sapnap left, closing the door behind him and bracing himself on the doorknob. He recovered quickly, letting out a few leftover giggles as he walked back to George.

"That was so mean," George said with a smile, rolling his eyes and shaking his head fondly.

"Aw, come on, it was adorable!" Dream defended as he reached up to remove the cuff on George's left arm.

"You know how flustered he gets by this kinda stuff!" George sympathized, watching Dream as he worked. Dream finished removing the left cuff, gently taking George's wrist and placing a soft kiss to the red marks on it before guiding it down to him again. He started removing the right side as he spoke again.

"I do, but did you see his face! He got so shy so fast, it was so precious," Dream explained, pouting slightly at the cuteness. "I mean, it's not like he doesn't like it, he just gets embarrassed! It wasn't, like, making him actually uncomfortable. Just antsy." Dream placed another kiss on George's right wrist before letting go of his arms entirely, letting him have them back.

"That's true." George rubbed his wrists to get rid of the restricted feeling. He paused, smirking evilly up at Dream. "We should do this to him one day."

"I was already planning it the second I unlocked the door," Dream agreed, matching George's smile. He reached forward to adjust George's waistband, fixing it for him, before tugging his t-shirt down and patting his tummy gently, making George giggle and curl up. Dream turned around and reached into the mini-fridge next to his desk, pulling out a water bottle and handing it to George. "Sit up and drink this, please?"

"Mhm," George hummed, pushing himself up into a sitting position, his legs hanging off the side of the unnecessary high bed, kicking aimlessly as he thankfully accepted the water. While he drank, Dream kneeled down in front of him, grabbing one of his socks and bunching it up.

"One." He gently grabbed George's swinging leg and slid the sock on his foot, pulling it up over his ankle and adjusting the top, before letting that leg go and repeating the process with the other sock. "Two. Perfect." George smiled down at him, silently thanking him for the gesture, before taking another sip of water and capping the bottle again. Dream stood up, running his hand through George's hair to fix how messy and disheveled it was, before jumping back on the bed and laying down behind George. Then, he wrapped his arms around George's waist and yanked him down to lay with him, making him squeal and giggle all over again, squirming around until he was comfortable. Eventually he turned over in Dream's arms, facing him this time, and settled down in that position. "Is this okay?"

"Mhm, of course," He agreed, nuzzling into Dream more. They ended up with Dream on his back, his arm underneath George's head and curled around his shoulders, with George's legs curled and one arm between his knees. His other hand played with Dream's fingers on his free hand, and he nestled his head under Dream's chin on his chest. "My tummy still hurts from laughing so much."

"Aww, baby," Dream cooed, pressing his palm to George's tummy. George giggled, nervous at the touch, holding Dream's wrist to make sure he didn't do anything. "Poor little tummy."

"Shut uhup, Dream!"

"I can't! I just can't help it when you're so cute!"

"Okahay, okay, shut up. No more teasing," George said, pulling Dream's hand back and cupping it in his.

"Ugh, fine. I'll be nice now."

"Thank you." George relaxed against him again, staying quiet for a second before saying something else. "You know I'm definitely gonna get you back, right?" He asked, and Dream hummed out a sigh.

"Yeah. I do."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I kind of expected you'd want to."

"Good. Not now, though."

"No, not now. Now is cuddle time. I'll be nervous about payback starting tomorrow."

"Good. You should be."

"…You're gonna be ruthless, aren't you?"

"Ohhhh yeah. More ruthless than you could've even threatened to be to me."

"Oh god… should I be scared?"

"Very. I'm already planning it as we speak," George said with a chuckle, nuzzling more into Dream's chest and squeezing his hand. "Now shut up. Nap time."

And that is how Dream was left, wondering what George could possibly be planning, wondering when it would come. He knew by the next morning he would be scared out of his mind (he was never good with anticipation), and he would probably end up begging George to 'please just get it over with' in just a few days' time because he couldn't take the waiting.

But, for now, all he had to worry about was making sure George was comforted, safe, and held for as long as he wanted. So that's what he did, curling onto his side and wrapping his other arm around George's side just to pull him closer. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head, hearing George chuckle softly, before they both drifted off into their well deserved nap for the foreseeable future.

#i am. a little bit in love with this one #a lot in love #fav #lee!george #ler!dream #mushies lee!george week #cals writing

72 notes · View notes

thegeminisage · 7 months

Text

star trek: the motion picture rewrite

star trek the motion picture was bad so i'm fixing it. here's how

problem #1: everybody got interesting setups and nobody got any payoffs.

problem #2: ilia and decker were just not that interesting (sorry ilia and decker) and they either needed to be more interesting or have less screen time or both.

problem #3: it took more than half the film for the enterprise to even leave earth. this seems like poor pacing, which the overall film also suffers from.

problem #4: those damn 20-minute cgi scenery sequences. enough is enough.

sorry in advance but this post won't make much sense if you haven't seen the first star trek movie, "star trek: the motion picture." i don't have the time or patience to re-explain the entire plot! the novelization also ties into this but i do explain some of that.

MAIN PLOT

it wasn't a GREAT plot but i'm keeping it mostly the same, except a few changes:

the enterprise leaves much earlier in the film. all the interpersonal drama can happen ON THE WAY to v'ger and it would make very little difference to the main script and series of events, but the reminds that they're only x hours away from interception would help keep things tense and moving along. also, it would get spock in here earlier. we went a LONG time without seeing him.

the engines can still fail at the outset and get fixed by spock, but it's kind of weird that he shows up out of nowhere. i would change this to kirk leaving him messages - and spock finally answering at the exact right moment (more on this in spock's section)

less of those long cgi sequences, obviously. the enterprise deserves all the fanfare in the world but we do have other stuff to do. maybe we can learn a little about v'ger through the ilia-probe in bits and pieces before we get there rather than learning all at once at the end - the book sort of did that and it was better. but i think we just need to cut them to allow time for a LITTLE more interpersonal drama - the balance of interpersonal stuff to plot stuff was WAY off, even after you consider how the tos episodes are somtimes

i don't think decker should fuck the probe.

the book and movie seem to disagree on whether the ilia-probe really "is" ilia or a very convincing copy. i think we would do better to leave it open, as scifi so often is, because both answers feel slightly wrong to me

kirk just taking the ship at the end and going "ok thattaway" was heartwarming but lacks any semblance of logic. rather than beaming down to debrief, though - in case they don't let him go back up - i'd like to see him doing a power move where the required personnel for his debrief come to HIM. and THEN when the dust clears he can go "thattaway"

CHARACTER ARC: KIRK

there's a lot more on this in the book than the movie, but kirk begins this story three years post his five year journey. in the movie he's framed as "washed up" but the book sometimes implies he's "damaged." starfleet offered him the promotion to admiral to keep him out of space because his was the first ship to come back relatively intact after a five-year and they're using him as a poster boy for their pro-space propaganda. (kirk wholly disagrees with "intact"; he lost a total of 94 crew members over those five years and objects strongly to his new legendary fame.) it's worth noting that bones begged him NOT to take the promotion and he and some other officers actually RESIGNED over it.

also, for the first year back on earth, starfleet totally just SENT HIM A WOMAN? to like keep him distracted and "happy." he got honeypotted into not going back out into space. how many planets have tried to trap people by making them happy? how many times has kirk refused to stay in such a place because it leaves him nothing to strive for? and then, irony of horrific ironies, he was trapped on earth. he doesn't realize this woman was basically sent to pacify him until the very beginning of the film/book. anyway, this woman's name is lori, she's gonna matter just a little bit later. after she left, kirk got pushed into a desk job he was utterly fucking miserable in. he notes that it was the only time he ever ignored bones's advice and he suffered greatly for it.

when the "intruder" (v'ger, obvs) is revealed to be approaching earth (via brain implants? stupid, let's just switch to everyone seeing it on TV), kirk, for totally normal reasons, jumps at the chance to take the enterprise away from decker ostensibly because he's got more experience but also because (the book gets into this) he feels like he's been jerked around on a string for the last three years by the admirals (specifically he names nogura to give us a face but they were all in on it) and also that he's totally dead inside. he has to guilt trip bordering on BLACKMAIL nogura into letting him back aboard (ie bringing up the fact that he placated kirk with a woman and sweet promises instead of like...actually caring about his PTSD). we're keeping that part because it's sexy and fun.

the question the movie seems to be asking is, "is jim kirk too old and feeble to captain the enterprise again?" i would like to posit instead we go with "is jim kirk too DAMAGED to captain the enterprise again?" they really put him through the wringer in season 3 in particular and that total nervous breakdown from the romulan espionage episode was supposed to have been REAL before they changed it, so i'm sticking it in that three year timeskip instead. in the book, jim fucks up several times - can't figure out his seatbelt, gets lost, and notably fails to be able to save his former honeypot lori and his new vulcan first officer (off-brand spock) during a transport malfunction - they get rearranged horrifically and then die right in front of him. rather than frame this as jim being old and out of practice i'd like to frame it around the totally untreated PTSD of space and his five-year finally catching up to him.

the book ALSO gets into how jim feels more at home in space, how being away from it gives him physical symptoms almost like withdrawal, and how he felt he has been brought back from the dead and out of a miserable, meaningless life when stepping aboard for the first time. IMPORTANT FOR LATER.

at the same time though i think we might greatly benefit from mixed feelings - perhaps JIM HIMSELF has wondered if he was too damaged to get back out there - if, after everything, part of him wasn't a little hesitant to go back out into the unknown and risk putting himself through the kind of hell he got put through in some of those later tos episodes. maybe he wanted the captaincy to prove it to himself, yes, but also it was something he was determined to do (even though part of him was a little worried about doing it) because he thought he was the only one that COULD. there's a hidden element in this film of facing one's fears to benefit emotionally, so it would be important to squeeze something like this in, even if it's only in hints or light implications.

the ultimate answer to jim's question of course is that he ISN'T too damaged to be back out in space, especially not if spock and bones and the others are out there with him. but to get into that we have to move to...

CHARACTER ARC: DECKER AND ILIA

i'm putting these 2 together because (sorry) i don't care very much. side characters in trek are always supposed to just highlight the main characters anyway, right? again, i'm so sorry. anyway so. in the movie and especially the book, ilia is pretty constantly sexualized - deltan females and their pheromones or whatever - and she has very little personality. decker is mostly just mad (justifiably) that kirk stole his job after 18 months of prep and sad that ilia got zapped, but we feel neither of these things very strongly. the movie doesn't even MENTION decker's father killing himself in space* which is a huge waste of potential when you consider the name of the game re: kirk's arc, at least in the book, is PTSD.

*matt decker, will decker's father, is the captain from doomsday machine (consider this a spoiler warning): when a giant machine showed up and engaged in battle with his ship, the constellation, he evacuated his crew to a nearby planet and stayed behind, planning to go down with the ship. unfortunately the machine was a planet-eater, and ate the planet his crew was on, so his crew all died while he listened to them beg him for help, and he later tried to suicide bomb the machine with the enterprise and then later one of its shuttles, which tragically ended in his mostly-pointless death. kirk did at least use the idea to suicide bomb the machine with the damaged constellation and have himself beamed out just in time though, and he had the record made that matt decker died in the line of duty, omitting some of his shadier actions so as not to stain his memory or whatever.

ANYWAY, i think the only way to make decker and ilia interesting is to foil them with kirk and spock. decker is who kirk was before his five-year: smart, capable, ready to take on anything and chomping at the bit to get out there and bite off as much as he can chew and then some. also, he's emotionally distant from women because of his status as captain/his need to not be tied down so he can explore space.

ILIA on the other hand is more like spock - she has limited telepathic abilities, she is othered and sometimes sexualized by the people around her because of her VULCAN BIOLOGY sorry because of her race, and she has a passion for learning and pursuits of intellect. and also a semi-formal telepathic link with decker - they had met before, and were preparing to bond (the way a vulcan might), and then decker more or less got cold feet and left her at the altar because his own passion for being in space left him unable to commit. but she WENT AFTER HIM (important for later) and wound up as the enterprise navigator.

for decker, instead of showing kirk up once near the beginning, apologizing, and gradually learning to get along with him, i think i'd like him to be showing kirk up a lot - being subtly snide when kirk can't work his seatbelt, for example. this film has no real antagonist aside from an incomprehensible alien entity, but we could bring a little humanity to it by having decker justifiably resent not only being confronted with ilia again but also having his captaincy snatched away from him after EIGHTEEN. MONTHS. of prep. that's some serious bullshit.

but, while decker IS younger and more familiar with the enterprise's redesign, while he's had more recent space hours and suffers from none of kirk's PTSD, what he lacks is experience - this was the whole basis of kirk taking the fucking ship to begin with, and the movie as it is kind of totally invalidates that plot point. to that end, near the end of the film when they're in v'ger, i would make a bigger deal out of kirk knowing better than to perform the scan - because that's what got the klingons killed (when v'ger interpreted their scan as hostile). decker, shaken, realizes his own hasty decision would have resulted in all of them dying horrifically, and rather than kirk grudgingly respecting decker first, we get it the other way around - decker grudgingly respecting kirk, and kirk returning that respect after decker stops being an asshole. this does the job of helping the AUDIENCE respect kirk after spending so much time wondering if he was indeed too washed up and damaged to do the job, and it helps to begin to warm us up to decker too.

also, it would be fun to have decker overhear bones arguing with kirk or spock or even talking to chapel or something, to know that kirk was thought too washed up EVEN BY THE ADMIRALS (who decker does respect bc he doesn't know better yet), and then for decker to realize later kirk got jerked around - and maybe realize, once he begins to see kirk as a person instead of an obstacle, that something like that might be in his own future even if he succeeds in almost every possible way, as kirk had. we might even use this to get into decker's dad basically killing himself after losing his crew - it can go other ways than right for captains. it can also go so, so, so wrong. (this would require some exposition, though, since we can't expect everyone to have both seen the episode and remember the details.)

another moment that wasn't used to its full potential is when decker basically has to honeypot the ilia probe - this is extremely difficult on him emotionally, and kirk knows all about the perils of emotionally difficult honeypot missions (sorry that i'm linking to this twice). i think decker realizing kirk has done this same kind of thing like a zillion times and that's part of what led to his breakdown gives him respect not just for KIRK but for the position of captain itself - he would have no choice but to do this to protect 500 lives, if it were him. you don't get to tap out when you're captain. and this is good for kirk too, because in sympathizing with decker (and the horrific situation of having to honeypot the image of his dead lover) he can learn to sympathize with himself, and forgive himself for being at less than his best during his own worst moments - some of them during the five-year, some of them after, when he felt weak and without purpose. it also gives him the job of connecting the audience to decker - through him, through thinking of decker as a younger version of him, we can forgive decker for being an asshole earlier and sympathize with his pain. and he becomes someone we root for.

as for ilia - i think she should have gotten to yell at decker rather than passively act like he wasn't even there and hide her pain. her pain at being left behind and betrayed and having to find her own way could mirror spock's (more on this in a sec) but it could also mirror v'ger and its abandonment issues, even though she was abandoned by a boyfriend and not god. there's only so much you can do with truly misogynistic writing but she could've been likable!! her sitch and spock's are the same and she gets to complain while he refuses! even one iota of a personality would have helped so much.

ALSO, on that point, at least one conversation between her and spock would have done a lot to make her more interesting too, because then she would be adjacent to him. spock, too, left his home planet to chase after a space captain he was in um a relationship with, and that bit of kinship ("your answers are not here") could lead to a bonding moment - i think spock would respect what she's doing and that would lend her a lot of credit in the eyes of the audience. much like v'ger, much like spock, ilia has left her home to find out who she is, and part of that answer lies within emotion, within the people she loves: in this case, decker. i would also, if we HAVE to fridge her (DO WE?? more on this in the ending section), choose to have her take a blow meant for decker - her last act being one of love, because the film IS ultimately about love's importance, even in spite of all the pain it also causes (see: decker in his grief).

which leads us to...

CHARACTER ARC: BONES

we have to have a brief interlude here for bones. unfortunately, bones in this movie is little more than an extremely loveable afterthought. while fixing his ENTIRE deal is out of the scope of this tumblr post, what i WOULD do is give him more screentime by having both his AND spock's lives upended by the same event: kirk, the Main Character(tm), choosing to take the admiral stripes and "abandon" them.

i think theres enough evidence in tos to argue the case that bones places a lot of importance on jim and spock's lives - he claims to hate space, but he never resigns, and he finds meaning in taking care of them, even if (to my own interpretation), he can sometimes feel like a third wheel to their legendary "friendship" (so legendary that it's historically important both in-universe and in real life). when kirk agrees to "retire" and let starfleet make him their poster boy because he has PTSD and burnout, bones CANONICALLY objects to what starfleet is trying to do to him so strongly that he literally resigns. again, kirk notes in the book that "retiring" is the only time he ever ignored bones's advice and he came regret it deeply. so kirk needs bones back - in the book, he says outright he needs bones back because he, gaslit, cannot trust himself to be making solid calls emotionally, and he wants bones to call him out if he steps out of line.

for fun, i think bones should be a little more pissed about being "drafted" and like genuinely grumpy rather than fond and gruff - at least, until kirk apologizes. he tells bones all about being yanked around by the admirals and being honeypotted and how much he regretted not listening to his advice...and the gaslighting, not bones's medical expertise, is why kirk feels he needs bones now - why all of earth needs him, because this is a mission to save the entire planet. i think bones LOVES to be needed and especially by jim and/or spock, and he of course has a natural desire to caretake, so after the apology he could soften up to "gruff." he found meaning in what he was doing on earth, but he finds meaning in this too, and kirk telling him that of COURSE he can leave if he wants solidifies his decision to stay, even at the end of the film when the immediate threat has passed. put simply: he loves kirk and spock, and, like them, he wants the three of them to stay together, even though they previously broke his heart.

i think also that once spock comes aboard this gives bones a second job, which is to poke holes in spock's outward unemotional demeanor, which he genuinely is doing from a place of love (since it was bones who said the release of emotions is healthy). instead of standing around and being a lovable and nostalgic set piece, this would give him an actual purpose and an arc, even if his arc (healing spock via negging, healing jim via not gaslighting people) is holding up the other characters.

and speaking of spock...

CHARACTER ARC: SPOCK

post five-year, spock goes back to vulcan to undergo the kolinahr, a ritual meant to purge all remaining emotion from vulcans. he does this because he detests his human half and the many weaknesses and challenges it brings him etc etc but i also would like it if he does this because kirk retires - he has no logical, ready-made excuse to be around kirk and bones anymore, and just like kirk, he truly felt at home on the enterprise, where people valued him for his skill and what he could do rather than what he was (or wasn't). (this sentiment from spock is semi-canonical - it's in william shatner's tarsus iv novel, collision course.) kirk and bones are both an important part of his support system and it is crumbling without any way to save it - of COURSE he chooses not to feel emotion rather than face that pain. every human being ever has wished at some point or another they could numb themselves rather than hurt, and spock is half human, too. (that said, i would also not complain if kohlinahr was spock's way to escape the trauma of what the five-year did to HIM, making him feel emotions differently than what he believed was acceptable, changing him fundamentally as a person, and kirk only agreed to resign because space wasn't worth it without spock aka because he got dumped, but this is a minor detail.)

while on vulcan, kirk, equally adrift, sends him messages (this does admittedly make more sense if kirk only resigned because spock did) - but spock is potentially kind of mad at him (if kirk resigned first) and also trying not to feel anything, so he ignores those and goes out into the desert to get rid of all his gross icky feelings. when the masters read his mind and see that jim accidentally contacted him telepathically (which...girl WHAT was that all about did they bond fr during amok time) and that "his answer is not here," he reads or listens to all the messages at once (maybe including the deleted one spock prime had from aos...ouch), gets emotional (or resists, but it's a near thing), and realizes that if he can't purge kirk from his mind he has to at least find out why. the last message can be about the intruder (v'ger) and their fucked up engines, spock can feel reluctant concern and race to the rescue.

spock is initially very very cold to his old shipmates because he is trying to hold onto his logic and not allow the emotion back in his mind, but absolutely nobody is having this. like in the movie, kirk and bones drag him away to the lounge to interrogate him (he should admit to feeling kirk telepathically here just as he did in the book - i don't know that i'd go into the whole bond business in this movie because that's just writing fanfiction and is also a lot of exposition but i would never deny fanfic writers their fodder).

later, after talking with ilia, who did a brave thing (in spock's eyes, anyway, because he is terrified of what HE'S doing) by chasing down her man to give him an earful, spock is troubled, which prompts bones to start going IS THAT AN EMOTION I SEE MR SPOCK? (and make him more troubled). i think spock grieves ilia's death in his own way because of how much like him she is, or was. all of this culminates in his choice to attempt to mind-meld with v'ger, in the end - if he isn't a human and isn't a vulcan, WHAT is he? if he can't live with the emotion and he can't purge it, what is he supposed to do? if he dies in the mindmeld so be it, but at least he will have been useful - iirc, i think it was roddenberry or leonard nimoy who said that was always a primary motivation of his.

of course, AFTER the mindmeld, he does indeed realize that logic is pointless without emotion, and that he's been adrift not BECAUSE of his emotions but because of his refusal to deal with them and his refusal to feel. so spock, too, will decide to stay at the end of the film.

side bar on the scene where spock cries for v'ger: it's kind of dumb because v'ger is so unknowable. i think spock crying could be a bigger deal - maybe with happiness, as he holds jim's hand, or maybe when he thinks they're all gonna die (kirk says when he sees spock crying "it's not for us" but like what if it was though). i'd prefer him to cry after he finishes laughing post mindmeld of course but either instance could work.

and finally...

THE ENDING

i don't mind the ending in its plot - that v'ger really was just looking for its creator, as a child looks for its parent - but i really want the question of whether or not the probe IS ILIA to remain open. if you make an exact copy of a person that truly believes it is the original, is it? if it's indistinguishable from who ilia used to be even to itself, is it ilia? i like leaving this open because i DON'T like fridging her, but i also think it stretches believability to have this machine magically extract a consciousness and put it in a robot when we had a whole episode of s1 revolve around this exact same plot twist (is chapel's now-android fiance really still her fiance just because he thinks he is?)

it should be spock's idea to have a human join with v'ger - it was the joining with humans that ultimately led to HIS feeling emotions he was unable to ignore, which ultimately led to his understanding and acceptance of emotion and its value in general. spock would see the ilia probe as still being ilia, but in distress, as he was when he came aboard the enterprise, as v'ger is now. and he knows what fixed him (holding jim's hand lol sorry i mean accepting his emotions) and what would fix her.

and then of course decker does join with her - volunteers, insists even. i think he takes the chance on optimism and hope - something kirk lost along the way due to various traumas - but also because this film is about the importance of love, and he can't bear to live without his, even in facsimile. it's partially a sacrifice too though - decker's life and body as he knows it in exchange for the earth's safety - because that's what kirk would have done, what he HAS done. he did learn from kirk after all.

and kirk learns from him too - decker, who by now will know about the awful years the brass put kirk through prior to the start of the film, would tell kirk to give 'em hell, like it's something that can actually be done, because at his heart he's an optimist, and that's something kirk sorely needs emotionally at this low point in his life. a very gen-z-saving0the-millennials moment. (apologies to both gen z and millennials.)

so after the dust has settled, kirk, who has just saved earth, can basically ask for anything he wants, and what he wants is not to get sent out to pasture again. so that leads into him refusing to leave the ship and letting the admirals and everyone else who wants to debrief him come to HIM instead of him going down - he finally has back what he needed, which was simply control and agency over his own life, and his loved ones - since spock and bones decided to stay aboard. i would have liked some challenging action moment prior to the ending with the ilia-probe and decker included, a moment to highlight that kirk has still got it (kind of like his badass moment in the deadly years where he saves the ship in .2 seconds once they cure his dementia). but insisting that they see v'ger directly and not deal with its probe is okay too.

FINALLY, after we've established that kirk is In Control again and not just like, stealing a starship, we can do his scene where he begins a new five-year mission, and when directing sulu, says, "out there - thattaway."

THEMES

HOPEFULLY this ties together the various themes and foils in everybody's arc - the main ones being the importance of dealing with emotions, even painful ones, the importance of love, and the question "who am i?" - the theme of seeking answers

kirk wants to know who he is - is he still a starship captain who braved the unknown and returned alive? he tried to numb himself (or rather starfleet tried to numb him) after his five-year mission with a woman and a desk job and it didn't help - he had to risk getting back out there to do himself any good at all.

spock asks if he is a vulcan or a human, and seeks to answer the question by purging emotion, but must answer it by accepting the emotion instead - and he learns this from v'ger, who is asking the same question and cannot answer it without emotion anymore than spock could. spock is and always will be both vulcan AND human and no amount of resistance on his part can change that.

bones feels adrift without loved ones to take care of - who is HE if kirk won't even listen to his advice not to "retire" - and of course he is someone who takes care of others. which is a little sad because it's not a deeper arc, but it sort of rhymes with his whole deal in tos and there ARE five other movies. there's also a little bit in there about being willing to try again after your heart's been broken, which is also something kirk and spock are struggling with, to have the trio's arc rhyming with each other.

decker asking who he is - is he a real captain or a psycho case like his dad and kirk, is he someone who could have been ilia's husband - and ilia wondering if she is someone who could have been his wife, and later the PROBE wondering if it's truly ilia or not. MORE questions that have to be answered by overcoming fear of emotional pain - decker takes the chance and joins with her to answer both his own question, and the probe's - and, of course, v'ger's.

THIS CONCLUDES. my movie rewrite. i am so glad to have gotten it off my chest, which is the main reason i wrote it, but i don't think it's terribly popular...so if you actually read this whole thing you're a rock star. okay BYE!!!

#liz makes stuff #liz's star trek stuff #liz's meta #star trek #star trek the motion picture #star trek: the motion picture #star trek tmp #personal #star trek blogging #WHEW. that too so long. barely finished in time. wrath of khan SOON!!!#tmp lb #tmp #st ep edits

33 notes · View notes