#and possibly max if i can figure out an idea of just what this show is going for

[dragonsdendoodles]

I need y’all to know I am going to be insufferable about this book when it comes out

[f1goat]

roommates ; lando norris + part ten

In which you have to live with your brothers best friend who you really don't like, Lando Norris, and his many 'girlfriends' for a while, but there's always a thin line between love and hate.

masterlist - playlist

lando norris x fem!verstappen reader tw: smut & not proofread

Breakfast was nice, but now you’re stressing. Since you have finished the breakfast, you have been waiting for Lando to drop your feared question. You know that he’s thinking about it, you can see it on his face, but the question doesn’t seem to come yet. Should you start about it? You continue to doubt about starting the conversation yourself. It would be nice to have this conversation, so you don’t have to think about it anymore - but on the other hand, you have no idea how to start it or what to say. You feel Lando his eyes on you. It’s pretty clear that he’s staring at you. It makes you even more nervous. 

What if you’re honest with Lando? You could tell him about your still growing feelings for him and that you want to date him officially. There’s only one, tiny problem. You have no idea about Lando his feelings for you. There still is a possibility of you making a fool out of yourself when confessing those things. For all you know, it could also be just a sex thing for him. You literally have no clue about how Lando feels. 

“Ready?” Lando asks you eventually. 

You show him a confused look. Is he asking you if you’re ready for this conversation? 

“Do you feel ready for this conversation?” Lando asks you a bit more clear now. 

“I don’t know,” you confess. 

Lando lets out a soft sigh. He knows that this can’t go on like this for any longer. There’s like a million questions inside of his head which repeat themselves during the whole day. He wants to know what you’re feeling, what you’re thinking about all of this and is he has a chance - even a small one, to finally call you his girl. 

“I don’t want to push you into a conversation you don’t feel ready for,” Lando comforts you. He lays his hand onto your knee. Slowly he draws figures onto your skin. “But,” he continues to speak, “I do need some clearance soon. I can’t go on like this for too long.”

“Of course Lan,” you quickly tell him. 

With those words the conversation seems finished for now. Lando is already changing the subject and talking about going out for dinner tonight. He offers to invite Max and Kelly as well, something you gladly accept. Lando is quick to text your brother and invite them for tonight. 

Lando: dinner tonight with y/n & Kelly?

Max: Sounds good!

Max: can you tell y/n that the apartment is almost ready?

Lando lets out a soft sigh while reading Max his latest text message. He knew this day would come, but he didn’t expected it already. The apartment is almost ready, fuck. What is this going to mean for everything that’s going on between you and himself?

Lando: yeah

Max: its probably ready tomorrow, so if she wants she can move back tomorrow evening

Lando doesn’t reply at first. There’s only one word on repeat in his mind right now. Fuck. Eventually he types back a message for Max.

Lando: fuck my life

You notice the shift in Lando his behavior. He does however tell you that Max and Kelly will be there for dinner. So you wonder what caused his change in demeanor. Before you can question Lando, he’s already muttering something about going to game for a bit. 

He knows that this isn’t the way to handle a problem, but Lando really needs to think for a bit before telling you about Max his text. He doesn’t want to hear you talk about moving out yet. Lando is pretty sure that when he tells you, you’ll start packing in no time. He does however realize that if he won’t tell you himself, Max is going to ask about it tonight during dinner. Fuck. Luck really isn’t on his side today. 

You decide to let Lando be for a bit. You have no idea about what’s going on in his head right now. He seemed okay before he texted Max, but after that things changed. You wonder if Max said something, but you can’t imagine that. Maybe it’s because of the earlier conversation you had with him? Lando seems to want a clear answer about everything that’s going on between you two and you couldn’t supply him with that answer. Maybe you should figure out something to say about it before dinner tonight? 

There isn’t any other subject that you’ve spent this much time thinking about then the situation between Lando and you. You try to figure out what to tell Lando without embarrassing yourself, something that almost seems impossible when you want to tell him about your feelings. 

+++

“Fuck,” Lando mutters softly when he walks into your room. He should have knocked before walking in like this. He tries to look away - even tries to focus on the decor changes you did in your own room, but his eyes keep wandering back to you. Not that strange when you’re standing naked in front of your closet. He guesses that you’re picking out something to wear. 

When you turn around and notice Lando, you don’t know how to act. You feel his eyes glued on your body. It feels weird to have him in your own room. That’s probably because you’re naked right now. Before Lando wandered in, you were trying to figure out what to wear for dinner. You feel vulnerable with Lando checking you out like this. It not that you mind it this much, but it would be good if Lando said anything else. You still have no idea what he’s doing in your room right now.

“Lan?” You ask a bit confused. Lando has been absolutely silent since the soft ‘fuck’ left his mouth. You continue to wonder what he’s doing here.

Lando keeps his silence. He does however walk closer towards you. His silence causes you to shiver a bit. Lando tries to remember why he came in here, but his focus has shifted onto your body. He knows that he’s here to tell you about the renovations from Max his apartment being ready tomorrow, but now he can only focus on your nudeness. He takes you into his arms. You let him do so. Of course you let him do so, it’s not like you can say no to Lando. You feel how he grabs your ass, softly kneading it with his hands. It doesn’t take long before you let out a soft moan. 

Without saying anything else, Lando is quick to have you laying onto your bed. Your legs are already spread for him. He’s hovering above you on the bed. His necklace dangles in your face. You softly grab it, using it to pull Lando his face closer towards yours. Lando lets out a soft chuckle when you do so. You pay no attention on it, you just want to kiss Lando. So that’s what you do. 

While kissing him, you let your hands wander around. Eventually you reach his belt. Slowly you unclasp them and remove them from Lando his jeans. You pull those down as well. You see the outline of his already hard boner through his underwear. 

“Babygirl,” Lando groans when you trace the outline of his cock. 

You let out a soft chuckle and pull Lando his underwear down as well. His boner springs free against his stomach. Lando presses his lips against your neck, softly sucking on a bit of your skin. When you take his dick in your hands, you feel a moan from Lando vibrating against your skin. You try to guide Lando his boner towards your own cunt, wanting nothing more then to feel him inside of you. Lando knows what you want and he’s more then ready to give you exactly what you want. He pushes his boner inside of your cunt and starts to fuck you with a fast pace. 

In no time you’re a moaning mess underneath Lando. He isn’t any better himself. Lando is letting out hard moans as well. When he goes faster, he’s rewarded with another sweet moan from you. It makes him think about what will happen when you move back to your brother. What if that would also be the end of this? What if this is the last time he feels you around his dick like this? 

You feel yourself getting closer to your release. Lando sounds like he’s also getting pretty close. When he increases his pace again, you’re ready to let yourself go. 

“Please don’t move back in with your brother,” Lando suddenly says. 

You try to focus on what he just said. When you look him in the eyes, it almost seems like he doesn’t even realize that he said those words as well. You really try to focus on his words, but with the pace he’s still fucking you with, it’s impossible. You’re quick to lose your focus again. 

When you feel your orgasm crashing over you, you let out a last soft moan. Lando is quick to follow you into his own orgasm. With a couple moans he let himself come undone as well. 

While laying on the bed with Lando, you’re wondering about his earlier words. Why did he mention something about moving back to your brother? You know that you should just ask him, but you’re afraid that it will cause another difficult conversation. Carefully you look at Lando, he’s looking at you as well. He plays with your hair. 

“Max texted me,” Lando eventually just confesses, “You can move back into his apartment tomorrow evening.” 

You feel your world crashing down. Since Lando and you have been closer, you haven’t thought about moving back with Max. You weren’t even under the impression that this much time has already flew by. It makes you nervous. What do you need to say now? Do you even want to move back? 

“Tomorrow?” You ask. You need to be sure about it. 

Lando nods. It makes you sigh softly. Then you remember his words again. Didn’t he just ask you to stay here? You can only hope that Lando will ask you again. You’d rather stay here. 

“If you want you can stay as long as you need,” Lando offers, “I mean uh, so you don’t have to hurry with packing.”

As happy as you were with the first sentence, as sad as you are with his last. This means he does want you gone, right? You softly thank Lando, but you know your words aren’t sincere. What a mess. There’s only one way to make this even messier, you still have to confess about your feelings. 

What a fucking mess.

+++

Things have been awkward since you send Lando out of your room so you could get ready for dinner. Even now, while sitting next to him in the restaurant - it doesn’t feel the same. You feel rejected even if you didn’t confess anything yet. Maybe you should tell Lando that you don’t want to move back with your brother, that you rather stay with him. But, what would he say about that? This is making it even harder to let alone think about telling him about your feelings. You softly sigh. 

Max and Lando are talking about the upcoming race. You notice the lack of interest that Lando is carrying during the conversation. It doesn’t seem intentional, it just seems like he isn’t focused. Maybe he’s somewhere else with his head. You can understand it, you’re the exact same tonight. Eventually you start a casual conversation with Kelly about her latest modeling jobs. You try to focus on what Kelly is telling you, but your mind keeps floating away - thinking about the situation with Lando. 

When Kelly falls silent, it’s Max who continues to speak with you. “Excited to move back?” He asks you.

Lando can’t help himself, he’s quick to stare at you while awaiting your answer. He wants to hear that you’re not excited, but he doesn’t believe that you’ll say that. In the mean time you’re thinking about what to answer, but you have no clue. No you’re not excited to move back. You want to stay with Lando, but it seems weird to answer that. 

“Uh yeah,” you eventually mutter without sounding even a bit excited about it. “I just don’t know if I’ll manage to get everything together for tomorrow,” you continue, “so I might stay at Lando’s tomorrow and come back home later.”

Max chuckles. Lando doesn’t even look at you. He seems disappointed with your answer. You wonder if it’s because of you staying an extra day. He did offer it himself, so you don’t know why it should be a problem now. Or did you understand him wrong?

“If that’s okay with you Lan,” you quickly add. In your hurries you forget that it’s weird to call him Lan in front of your brother and Kelly. Lando however seems to give you a small smile after hearing the nickname. Before he can say anything to you, your brother has taken the word again. 

“As if he would say no to that,” Max laughs, “He begged me to make sure that you’d live with him during our renovations. If it weren’t for Lando, I’d have rented a bigger apartment for those weeks.”

What? 

What did your brother just say?

Lando spits out his drink when he hears the words Max just said to you. Fuck, why did Max tell you that? Max also seems to realize his mistake. His eyes widen with shock when he sees the way Lando and you react to his words. 

“Fuck, sorry Lando,” Max is quick to apologize, “I thought she knew.”

“No,” Lando sighs, “Of course not.”

You can’t stop yourself from questioning them. You need to make sure that you’ve heard your brother right. What if this is all a mishearing from your side? “It’s true?” You nervously ask Lando, “You wanted me to stay with you?” 

“Maybe it’s better to have this conversation at home,” Lando desperately answers, “I don’t want you to get mad at me in public.”

Getting mad? You have no idea why you should get mad. As far as you know, it finally seems like Lando really likes you. Liked you even before living together. But still, you show him a small nod and stand up from the table. 

“I’m not mad,” you tell Lando when he nervously grabs your hand and takes it into his own. 

Lando doesn’t reply. Both of you say bye to Max and Kelly before walking back towards the car. Your head is filling up with all sorts of questions. Did Lando really begged Max to make sure that you’d stay at his place? Why would he do that? Why would he want to live together with you? You always thought Lando didn’t like you at that moment. 

When you’re back home, Lando doesn’t know where to start. You want to question everything that’s coming up in you, but you don’t know where to start as well. Eventually you start with the question he didn’t answer yet.

“Is it true?” You ask Lando carefully. 

Lando softly sighs while he nods at your question. “Yes,” he mutters defeated.

“You begged Max to let me stay here during the renovations?” You continue to ask.

Lando keeps nodding. He doesn’t dare to look at you. 

“Why?” You ask him surprised. When Lando doesn’t answer fast enough, you continue to talk. “I always thought you didn’t like me, so I don’t get this.”

“Didn’t like you?” Lando almost laughs out loud while asking you. You show him a confused nod. “Oh for fucks sake,” Lando sighs, “I wish I didn’t like you.” He really can’t deal with this right now. The vagueness from the last days is making him slowly lose his mind. He thought that it was clear to you what he wanted - you, but apparently you don’t even realize it. 

“Babygirl, I already liked you before we even met,” Lando confesses. He can’t hold back his words anymore. All of them need to get out. He needs to make sure that you’ll see how much he likes you. “Max introduced me to you, but I knew perfectly well who you were since I was stalking your Instagram every day. That’s how desperate I was,” Lando continues. 

You don’t know what’s going on. Lando is confessing one thing after another. It almost seems like he needs to get everything out. His confessions are making you feel all kind of things.

“When I met you and heard about that boyfriend, I was disappointed, so I decided to take a bit of distance,” Lando goes on, “And then when you broke off with him, I couldn’t help myself to be happy. I tried to figure you out, finding a way to flirt with you but half of the time I was too nervous and acted weird I guess…” 

You wait for Lando to continue to explain. Somethings start to make sense. Earlier you never knew why Lando acted so weird around you before. Sometimes he was so shy he barely said anything, other times he joked with you or teased you. You never knew what you were up for. 

“I don’t know what I was hoping for, but everything felt pretty shattered when you left in a tight nude dress to go on a date with some other guy,” Lando speaks further, “I know I should have kept my silence, but I was so confused. I didn’t try much with you back then because I thought you needed time, but then I heard you about a new date and I could only think about being too late.” 

It amazes you that Lando remembers everything so well. He even still knows which dress you wore for that date. 

“And that’s when the worst part came,” Lando sighs. You notice the shift in his look. He almost looks ashamed. You wonder if he’s going to tell you about the girls now, you guess that they are the next fase. “I searched distraction,” he confesses, “I got drunk multiple nights in a week, only to find a girl who could distract me from my thoughts about you. I fell in some sort of pattern. Always fucking random girls but thinking about you.”

“That wasn’t an one time thing?” You ask confused. Lando sends you a confused look as well. “When you moaned my name,” you explain, “I thought that was a one time thing, but you’re saying that you thought about me every time?” 

“It wasn’t even the only time I moaned out your name,” Lando confesses. It causes a small smile to form on your face. Is it weird that you like to hear that? “Did you like that babygirl?” Lando asks you, he seems to have noticed your smile as well. You show him a small nod. Lando softly shakes his head, “Brat,” he mutters lovingly. 

“But, why did you want me to live here?” You ask Lando. 

Lando knows there’s no way back anymore. He has already said so much, would it really matter to confess even more? After letting out a soft sigh, he continues to talk and explain. 

“Babygirl, I uh just wanted another chance,” he confesses, “You were single, I didn’t hear anything about you going out on dates for a bit.. So when Max told me about the renovations, I asked him to help me out with a plan. Maybe I pushed him into it, you can’t be mad at your brother.” 

“Another chance at what?” You ask him. 

“I wanted to show you that I could be uh,” Lando falls silent for a bit. He thinks about which word to use. Eventually he decided to stop caring about the consequences from his words. He already said so much, he can better stay honest and tell you the whole truth. “I wanted to show you that I could be a good guy,” he sighs, “good enough to maybe have a chance with you. The idea was that if you lived here, you’d get to know me on another level and maybe fell for me too.”

“Too?”

“Babygirl, you’re asking questions as if you still don’t get it,” Lando accuses you with a kind smile.  “Do I need to spell it out for you? I like you, probably love you even though it’s kinda early to say something like that. I really like you, as in I want you to be my girlfriend and to be by my side for everything.”

“Fuck Lan,” you whisper. 

“I know, it’s pathetic,” Lando sighs, “Please don’t feel like you have to like me back, I should have confessed way earlier instead of doing all of this. I get it if it was just sex for you.” After saying those words he’s ready to walk away. He takes a small step away from you. “I uh, I need a bit of time for myself.”

“Lan wait,” you quickly stammer, “Let me reply first.”

Lando stops and turns himself back to you. Nervously he watches you, waiting for you to say something about everything he just said. You try to gather your thoughts, but when you see the nervous look on his face you just tell him everything that’s coming up in you. 

“I love you too,” is the first thing that you tell him. Lando his expressions are quick to change. Surprised but really happy he looks at you. He already wants to take you into his arms and kiss you, but you continue talking. “And I stalked your Instagram a bit as well before we met,” you continue, “That’s probably why my ex thought we we’re together. I don’t know what went wrong, but I’m glad you made up this weird plan and got me to life here. Last weeks I’ve fallen for you and to be honest, I don’t even want to move back to Max.” 

“Stay,” Lando quickly says, “You can live here with me.”

You smile. “That sounds amazing,” you confess.

“And please be my girlfriend from now on,” Lando continues.

“Of course,” you answer. 

“Finally,” Lando sighs relieved. This time he does take you into his arms. It feels like home. He realizes that it isn’t his apartment that’s his home. It only felt like home since you lived here with him. It’s you who’s his home. And for now it seems like he has gotten his forever home.

“I love you,” you softly murmur before pressing a small kiss against Lando his cheek. 

“I love you babygirl,” Lando replies, “and now I really need to call your brother and thank him a couple times for spilling my secret.”

You chuckle. This is a life you can get used to. 

a/n ; that was it everyone <3 i decided to end it like this, since the inspiration was missing quite a bit. i hope to write something new, but i have no ideas yet :) my requests are open (but i don't write everything that's coming in!). thanks for all the support!!!!

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[s-awturn]

Pilots and their love languages || F1 Grid

cw: superficiality, slightly suggestive, PDA and non-PDA and I don't know what else to say, so blah blah blah

starring: LH44, CS55, CL16, LN4, OP81, MV1

a/n: I'm testing something new, so please bear with me 😩 for now it will be just these pilots because they are my favorites here, as I get used to this format, I can include more pilots. Anyway, enjoy!

LEWIS HAMILTON - Acts of service

Lewis knows that you are inattentive and forget to eat, sometimes you fall asleep in the office while you are working, you forget your things when you are in a hurry, And luckily for you, your fiancé is always attentive to these details. So he always checks his things, whether he has his keys, whether he has had his coffee properly or whether he is about to finish his work at the office. No matter how much you tell him that he doesn't need to worry, Lewis loves taking care of you and making sure your needs are met, even the most basic ones.

"Sorry for giving you so much trouble, you must be tired from training"

"Nah, I'm fine and taking care of you is no work at all, it's a pleasure for me"

CARLOS SAINZ - Gifts

Carlos loves to give gifts and his generosity knows no bounds, especially for you, he loves to present you with whatever he thinks you like. Did you like that book? It's yours. Did you show interest in a bracelet? It'll be on your wrist before you know it. You've lost count of how many times you've talked to him about it, your closet couldn't fit anything else! But how could you deny it? Whenever your boyfriend arrived with that lost puppy dog look, you knew what was coming, Carlos knew you couldn't resist that look.

"You can't blame me for wanting to see my girl happy"

"You make me happy and as much as I love your gifts, I don't need them, I already have you"

CHARLES LECLERC - Physical touch

No matter where, no matter who is watching, Charles will always have his hands on you. Whether it's holding your hand, wrapping his arms around your waist or kissing you. PDA is not a problem for him, the Monegasque loves to show how much he loves you, he is completely ok with the idea of kissing you in the street, of fixing your hair when necessary or keep his hand on your thigh while chatting with friends in a cafe. As long as he touches you, the world could end.

"Charl, there are reporters here, they're going to make a huge deal out of this..."

"They can say whatever they want, I won't keep my hands off you, chérie. "

LANDO NORRIS - Words of affirmation

When you first met Lando, you could have sworn he was the gift or physical touch guy, so it was a big surprise to find out he was the words of affirmation guy. You'd often find notes around the apartment, or receive sweet messages at random times of the day, and Lando was the best at captioning his Instagram photos; He wants you to have no doubts about his feelings, so any chance he gets to tell you how he feels about you, he will.

"Are you paraphrasing Edward Cullen's wedding vows?"

"It was either Twilight or Romeo and Juliet... I chose the one where the characters stay alive... Figuratively speaking"

OSCAR PIASTRI - Quality time

Oscar is aware that he doesn't have much free time between races, so there aren't many good breaks he can enjoy with you. Knowing this, Oscar doesn't mind spending as much time with you as possible; It doesn't matter what you do, you can read, watch a series, having a skin care session, talk or just be silent, he just needs some time with you. It could be an hour or five minutes, as long as he's with you, it's fine.

"Are you sure I'm not bothering you here?"

"Baby, you never get in my way, I just need a few minutes with you before the race, alright?"

MAX VERSTAPPEN - Quality time

Just like Oscar, Max likes to spend as much time with you as he can, and that time is usually spent doing activities that focus on the two of you. Max will trade any party, any event for an afternoon at home watching his favorite movies or sitting by the window of your apartment, talking while it rains. Max really appreciates these moments because he knows they don't happen often, they both have very demanding jobs and he values every minute he has with you.

"Choose any movie you want, I'll watch whatever it is, as long as it's with you"

"And you still say you're not romantic"

Gif credits: rb19, callumilott, quadrantslandonorris, walkingonanunknownpath, artemispt and yungbludz

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO S-AWTURN™ 🪐. I do not allow copying or republication. Any unauthorized publication will be reported.

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[bluecollarmcandtf]

Am I Acting Weird?

Walking home, I just can't shake the feeling that something is off, but I can't figure out what! I asked Coach about it before leaving practice, but he just laughed. He said I was weird not to appreciate the effort I've put into football lately.

He's right. I've been busting my ass, but that's exactly what I'm talking about!

I've never given a damn about improving my rank or even showing up to conditioning! I just wanted to hang out with my buds and mess around with the cheerleaders.

But now, it's like none of that matters! I've skipped the last three parties to bulk up at the gym! I haven't been able to drink anything other than protein shakes, and my meals are always loaded with meat. It's like I can't control myself anymore! Why can't I just take a night off and drink beers with the rest of the boys?

I let out a long groan of frustration and trudge upstairs. My younger sibling Max laying on the couch while the TV blares his favorite show.

Max is the weird one! He's like 18, and all he does is play videogames and sit around all day.

I quickly strip off my sweaty football uniform and toss it into the corner of my bedroom. My muscles are already tired and aching from yesterday's practice, so I can't imagine how sore I'll be feeling when I wake up for tomorrow's early morning workout; something I only recently started doing everyday.

Like every other night, I pull my usual at-home clothes on; a stiff white shirt, black apron, and bowtie. This outfit might seem weird, but it feels nice, especially when I tie everything up extra tight. Max showed me how. Sure, it's not comfortable at all, and I look like a waiter more than anything, but that doesn't bother me.

My little brother is annoying as hell, but he's usually right. Me and dad used to tease him all the time, but we've come around since then.

Now that I'm finally at home and suited up, I can feel my shoulders relax. Whatever was bothering me before can wait. I pull some shiny black shoes on, slip a pair of white gloves over my hands, and carefully step back downstairs. It's important that I make as little noise as possible when I'm home. I wouldn't want to disturb anybody.

"Hey, big bro," Max calls from the couch, "Your home."

"Yes, Max," I answer, taking my usual position next to the couch.

This is where I stand when I'm in the living room anymore. It's just where I feel most comfortable, and it's right next to a little cart of useful supplies. I grab a towel and sling it over my shoulder. It's always a good idea to have one on me when I'm at home. Never know when I'm going to need it.

"My shoes could use a polish while we chat," Max adds, flipping through the channels.

"You got it, Max."

See, the towel does come in handy. I quickly fetch a container of shoe polish on my little cart and kneel by his feet. I've been polishing Max's shoes for a few weeks now, so I've gotten pretty good at it. He doesn't really appreciate the art of it, but I guess it's just something that I'm into.

"How's football? You the best player yet?" Max asks nonchalantly from above.

"No, Max. I've gotten a lot bigger lately, but the quarterback is still a lot more muscular and skilled."

He rolls his eyes and adds, "Give it time I guess. You're going to keep at it until your a professional player like the ones on TV."

I stop buffing his sneaker for a second and glance up at him. His attention is now completely fixated on an NFL videogame.

"Max, that's just it," I admit, "Lately I've been working out and bulking up like I'm some pro-athlete, but I'm not. I don't think I even want to be! That life just seems so grueling."

Max pauses his game and looks down at me solemnly.

I avert my gaze and add, "It's just weird that lately I've put so much work into something I don't want."

"You think that's weird?" he dryly raises an eyebrow.

I just shake my head and turn my attention back to my brother's sneaker. It's going to need a lot more polish before it shines.

The door opens and our father arrives home.

"Hey, boy," he dismissively calls when he sees me on the floor. Then he notices my brother lounging on the couch.

"Max," he says with a bit more emphasis, dipping his head a little.

"Dad, I'm really hungry right now, so could you get a move on with dinner?" Max answers.

"Of course, Max."

Our father immediately drops his keys and briefcase and shuffles into the kitchen. I've always admired him. He played football in college too, so we've always bonded over sports.

But lately, he only seems interested in his work. I rarely see him because he always stays late and picks up night shifts at the office. It's done wonders for his career, so I guess that's good. He's been given a few raises recently for all the extra effort he's put in, but I can tell it's taking a bit of a toll on the guy.

"Big bro, just look at Dad," Max explains to me, "He doesn't complain about anything being weird, does he? He just keeps his mouth shut and goes to work. Be more like him."

I don't speak as I switch to shining his other sneaker. Max is probably right. If Dad can power through long hours in the office to bring home a decent salary, then I can surely shut up and dedicate myself to a career in football.

It doesn't take long for our father to return to the living room.

"The food is almost ready, but here are some drinks while you wait, Max," he says.

Our dad seems minorly annoyed by the starched clothing he has on, but that suit is his typical home outfit. It looks even more stiff and uncomfortable than my get up, but I guess he's willing to put up with it.

Max stands before I can finish at his feet and grabs a glass from our father.

"Whoops, here you can finish them," he says after a swig of wine, kicking the shoes off in my direction, "And then take care of the laundry in my room."

"Sure thing, Max," I answer, but he's already turned his attention to dad.

"Is your wallet in your briefcase?" he asks, "I'm taking a few friends out tonight."

"It is, Max, and the car keys are next to it. The car is low on gas. Should I take it to a station before you go out?"

"Yeah," Max adds between sips, "Take care of that while I eat."

"Of course, Max."

"Oh, and Dad."

"Yes, Max?"

"Start making double portions for big bro's meals. He needs to bulk up faster if he's going to usurp the current quarterback."

I pretend not to hear, and finish up my work with Max's shoes. Maybe my new focus on football hasn't been that strange after all. It's not really the life I thought I'd be pursuing, but it's kind of nice being bigger and more athletic than I used to be. It's not really weird if I think about it. Maybe I can even get a few more reps in after I finish Max's laundry.

I hope he has a good time out with his friends tonight. It's weird, but I don't really know what else I'd spend my time doing.

[adventuringblind]

Mr. Blue Sky

Charles Leclerc x Reader x Max Verstappen

Genre: Fluff

Request: Yes, I loved every second of this. Y'all are welcome to send me your own ideas :)

Summary: After Max gets cheated on, he can't stand being in the house where it happened. Reader and Charles take him in and show him he's still loved.

Warnings: cheating

Notes: No hate to Kelly. I just needed this as a plot point.

Fun fact: my mom calls Valentine’s Day ‘legislative love day’ and will only do any remotely related activities on the 15th because she has a point to prove.

Masterlist

The sound of Charles' phone buzzing at an ungodly hour is what you woke up to. The room is still pitch black, and you can hardly make out Charles in the bed.

He rolls over and pucks up the phone. "It's Max." He states. Voice filled with the sleep from which he was dragged.

He answers the phone, and you curl up into him, hoping to listen in. "Max? Are you-"

You can hear faint mumbling and the occasional choked sob on the other end of the line. "Breathe, Max. I'm going to come get you. Can you stay on the phone with me?" Charles is throwing off the covers and looking for his car keys.

You look at Charles for some sort of answer. To which Charles pulls the phone away from his ear and kisses your head. "Kelly cheated. I'm going to go get him."

You nod your head in understanding. You clamber out of bed and see Charles off to the door.

Your grateful that Monte Carlo is a small city and that it doesn’t take long for him to come back. His body shouldering a drunk Max through the door.

Max is no coherent and reeks of alcohol. His eyes are puffy and his cheeks tear stained. His lips tremble as them mutter words neither of you can understand.

Your heart hearts for him. You and Charles had made an effort to be around the Dutch. You both actively became friends with him and found yourselves in each others company often.

And did you both end up falling for the same pair of blue eyes? Yes.

It was actually Charles who brought it up first. You’d never considered the idea of being with more then one person. Then you got to know Max and you found yourself considering more often then you’d admit.

Neither of you knew if Max would ever be into that and neither of you wanted to ask. The possibility of ruining what is currently a good friendship was not on the to-do list. Plus, he had Kelly and P.

You shake of your thoughts and help Charles get Max into the guest bed. You and him do your best at cleaning him up and making him comfortable despite the fact he is less then cooperative.

When you two are finally back in your own bed, Charles sighs in pained defeat. “She cheated on him while he was out with P.”

You cringe in disgust. “Has it been going on long?”

“Apparently so. About four months.” Charles climbs further into the blankets and pulls you into his chest. “He gave her the apartment. He was out late because he didn’t know where to go.”

“We could offer him a place here for the time being.” You suggest. The slightest hint of a smirk playing on your lips.

“Pretty sure you are just wanting to see more of him.” He chuckles. “But yes, I think it’s a good offer until he figures things out.”

“Don’t lie, you stare at him all the time! You’re going to be the one who outs us.”

“Shush amour. I’m exhausted and I know you are also. Now sleep.”

~

The week brings interesting events. Max does take the offer to move in, though he’s been quiet and reserved since he started staying with you. Max, Charles, and Lando went back to, now Kelly’s apartment, to get his stuff.

He comes back into the house crying. His heart shattered and the apartment a mere reminder of the events that occurred.

Your grateful it’s the off season and Max will hopefully have some time to process before the start of the new season. You and Charles don’t push him and give him space when he needs. Though you also invade when you can see he’s spiraling. Desperate attempts at not letting him go into those dark places are often just you being in the same room as him.

~

By the time Christmas rolls around, he’s doing the slightest bit better. He’s been out of the room more and you haven’t had to force him to eat. He decorates the apartment with you and Charles.

It’s disastrous.

The three of you can’t stop laughing at the mess you’ve made of the decor.

The three of you spend Christmas Eve with Charles’ family. Max hadn’t wanted to go home to his less then festive father and Victoria was away with her in-laws.

You obviously weren’t going to leave him alone and Pascale had been thrilled when he said he’d come to dinner.

You could tell he felt awkward and out of place at first, but everyone did their best to make him feel welcome. Soon he was relaxing, sipping on his drink and engaging in conversation.

~

Christmas and new years had gone by to fast. January had now descended and the cold weather had yet to completely let up.

Originally you thought Max would be out by now. That he’d want his own space as soon as possible. It’s not like he couldn’t afford it. Yet he stayed and you and Charles welcomed him in.

Max was seemed like he was healing. His eyes had regained their light. The one they lost those first days of December. He definitely hadn’t moved one though. You and Charles could still hear the soft sniffles from his room at night.

He may be smiling, but he’s still broken hearted.

The most interesting new additions are the cats. The felines that are Max’s children. He would probably murder for his cats and become the next John Wick. There is something wholesome and sweet about his interactions with his pets.

Charles on the other hand has a bad relationship with animals in general. Small felines included. He like them, they just don’t like him back yet. Max has been letting him feed them until they realize he is nice.

You also have learned that you can share meal prep with Max. You’d banned Charles from it after he tried once and failed miserably. Max isn’t the best in the kitchen, but he helps out and cooks some nights.

~

February. The month of love.

Everything around reminds Max of what happened. How he will not be doing anything special for the holiday. He doesn’t even want to go out of the apartment and you and Charles have to drag him to go get fresh air.

The fateful day comes around and you and Charles have agreed to keep it small.

Corny, sweet, and romantic is Charles definition of a good day and treats you accordingly.

You try to get Max to come eat something but end up just leaving it at the door.

Despite what people may think, Max is romantic at heart. Charles learned this last year when the Monegasque asked him if he was doing anything with Kelly for the holiday.

You and Charles are lounging on the sofa with a movie playing in the background. His arm draped around you and mouth pressing silly kisses along your jaw.

“I can feel your worry radiating from here.” Charles stops his kisses and you roll your eyes at him in response.

“He’s not eaten all day and I’ve heard him crying. Just wish I could help is all.”

Charles hums in your ear. “We could see if he wants a distraction.” He punctuates his sentence with a cheeky smile.

“Charles Perceval Leclerc! You can not seriously be suggesting what I think you are.” You playfully bat his arm. “I highly doubt he would neither want that or like that.”

“How about we ask and then go from there.”

“I think you just want him to fuck you.” This time it’s your turn to give a cheeky smile.

~

This is definitely not how you envisioned asking Max about this would go. His teary eyes haven’t looked away from Charles since the pretty male started talking.

This left you in an odd place of trying to read his reactions and getting absolutely nothing.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to or if you’re not into it. We would completely understand.” Charles laughs but you can tell he’s nervous. His body language betrays him.

Max looks between the two of you like he’s considering something. “You’re telling me you’ve both been crushing on me since last year? And I didn’t notice?”

“You’re very oblivious at times.” You shrug.

“That’s fair but also not the point.” Max stands up out of the bed and starts pacing. “I just don’t understand why me. You two are amazing people and you’re so great together.”

“Y/N has a numbered list of reasons in her phone that we’ve created in case this ever happened.” Charles looks at you expectantly but Your already pulling up the list.

“-please don’t read it I’m already blushing and that will make it worse. Maybe one day but not now.”

All of you freeze at the fact he insinuated a future.

“Does this mean you like us back?” Charles almost purrs. He’s so flirty now but if this goes farther then just a confession tonight he’ll be stuttering and weak in the knees. You know from experience.

Max is the stuttering mess right now however. He’s lost all of his words and is simply gesturing with his hands.

“Breathe Maxy, take your time.” He manages a few and usable to get a grip on his thoughts.

“I’ve to confess something first.” You both look at him expectedly but don’t push him. “The reason Kelly cheated on me is because she’d found a journal of mine. It was a thing my therapist told me to do and so I did. When you two started coming around more, I fell hard. For both of you. I wrote about to hopefully understand myself better and get the thoughts out of my head but they stayed and I hated myself for it. She read it and thought I cheated first so she just did it back.”

He’s in the verge of tears again but you and Charles can only stare I’d utter disbelief. Apparently, both of you are also oblivious.

“Please say something.”

“I think it must be fate.” Again that smirk is tugging at Charles lips.

The air in the room is replaced by a new tension. The kind Charles was originally insinuating before you three started talking.

“So about that proposal then…”

Valentine’s Day definitely couldn’t have ended any better.

[whatudowhennooneseesyou]

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

You all have cast your votes and I have received multiple requests for this analysis so come get your present…the wait is finally over!!!

Disclaimer: This analysis is for delusional purposes only. Think about it. Write about it. Have hard thoughts, don’t take it too seriously. 18+

I am using traditional astrology and I am interpreting Lee Know’s house placements as if he is a Gemini Rising, it’s unconfirmed if that is his Rising Sign but it most likely is. 

Word Count: 930

I'm in love with you and all these little things...

Lee Know as a boyfriend is the type who’s heart burns brightly but his love shines quietly and his patient and ‘slow-burn’ approach to love is what makes him a beautiful partner for someone who is a late bloomer. 

There wouldn’t be a lavish outburst of love and affection but instead he loves with his presence, that’s the beautiful part about having a Scorpio Venus is when they love you, you can feel that enduring love and presence by simply having him next to you. 

When you’re sitting next to him on the couch…you’ll feel his love…when you’re in public and he lightly touches your wrist…you’ll feel his love…when he’s spooning you in the early hours of the morning…you’re going to feel his love. 

And when I say Lee Know has a ‘slow-burn’ approach to love…I mean it’s a SLOW-BURN approach and he’d be the type to yearn for you for months before even offering a hint of affection because his Scorpio Mercury makes him prone to over-thinking and over-analysing all your interactions with him. 

He’s the type to ask you out by stating along the lines of…’I have liked you for a long time now and I’ve been trying to show you but you haven’t figured it out and so now I need to tell you’...to which you’d probably say ‘You like me? I thought you were just being friendly’ to which he’d probably say…’I have been trying to flirt with you for the past year now’. 

Lee Know masks very well so he’ll probably come off as cool and collected when deep down, he’s all jittery and nervous with excitement because he has thought of every possible outcome of how this situation could end. 

(I’m playing Spotify and Little Things by One Direction just started playing and it’s perfect because it’s so Lee Know coded- it really is the little things with him). 

When you tell him you don’t have much experience or have never been in a relationship, he won’t be discouraged but instead will cherish the connection more because his Sagittarius Moon means he values honesty and transparency.

You have felt that he is important and caring enough to reveal this information too so therefore he'll do his best to keep reassuring you that yes, he is the right person and you made the right decision by allowing him to be your first.

The relationship would start off with timid acts of reassurance like sending you messages asking if you've eaten dinner or sending you pics of the meal he's made.

And then...maybe a month later he'll invite you to stay over in his apartment and you'll take the bed while he sleeps on the couch because Lee Know understands you have to learn to trust him, you have to learn to get used to his presence.

Lee Know's control issues indicate he doesn't like being startled so physical affection will be on his terms, he'll want to initiate the first kiss or the first make-out session because his Virgo Mars means EVERYTHING has to be perfect for the moment.

A service dom (he's a switch technically but heavy dominant preference) to the MAX!!! and a lover of body worship...

He might not be the type to gush and fawn but he'll make sure the bedroom is littered with your favourite candle that you absent-mindedly mentioned to him a few months prior that he remembered.

The corruption kink would then slowly creep it's way into Lee Know's affections for you because he can't help but get off on the idea that it's HIS hands, HIS mouth and HIS words that are marking your soul and that even if the relationship doesn't last...there's a piece of your soul that belongs to HIM, an experience you can't share with anyone else.

'Aww kitten, you're so sensitive...no one has touched you this way before? Then let's keep this all for me then'.

And once you're physically intimate with each other, then that's when Lee Know's obsessive, possessive and jealous traits might pop out because in his mind, he taught you the ways of pleasure...so why would you share that with someone else?

He moulded you for him.

'Oh kitten, you want to go out and find someone else? Then you'll have to learn all over again and you've only just started'.

Lee Know is just as passionate a lover as Bang Chan but it's more expressed through actions which is why sex is an important love language for him as well.

With his Moon in the 7th House, it would be one of the few times where he could drop the mask and just reveal all his pent-up feelings towards you.

It's why I don't view Lee Know as hard dom/sadist material at all because sex would be a way of exploring feelings that he simply just can't verbalise on a regular basis.

When he's inside of you, when he feels the heat of you on his skin and he can see the trust in your glazed eyes and see your skin shivering from his touch...he would just be filled with overwhelming gratitude that it's HIM and only HIM to see you in such a vulnerable state.

And he'd wrap his arms around you, kiss your forehead and gaze lovingly into your eyes as he shows you the REAL Lee Know.

'My sweet kitten, you're the only one for me...I'm the first so I have to be the last...I have too...because there's no else for me but you, there will never be anyone else but you'.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has supported me and I have gratitude and care for all my moots and followers! Thank you for your motivation and your support, I am proud of you all and I hope you have a safe and amazing New Year!!!

Taglist: @creativechaoticloner @hipster-shiz @scuzmunkie @cherry-0420 @stardragongalaxy @berryberrytan @lyramundana @craxy-person @krishastumblernow @mykryptonitelight @ddeonghwassimp @starsareseen @lino-jagiyaa @mischiefsmind @whatsk-poppinhomies @junieshohoho @partywithgyu @hologramhoneymoon @gyuhanniescarat @staytinyinmybpack @necessiteez @wooyoungmybelovedhusband @bangchanbabygirlx @i-love-ateez @anyamaris @hexheathen @northerngalxy @ja3hwa @michel-angelhoe @youre-alittle-taste-of-hell

[byler-alarmist]

Disclaimer: I am not anti-Vickie by any means. I think Vickie seems very sweet (although there may be something going on with her we don't know) and I will fully support her and Robin if the Duffers can prove to me in S5 why they work together.

That said, I am going to examine the one, glaring issue I have with Rovickie. If you're not put off by that, read on!

So, most of the criticism leveled against Vickie is that we don't know anything about her. That's true; we don't.

However, my main criticism is:

Does Robin know anything about her??

All we hear from Robin in S4 is that Vickie is the girl of her dreams, but we never hear why. In all her gushing/agonizing to Steve, Robin never tells us what about Vickie makes her so special.

Is she smart? Funny? Ambitious? Kind? Is she a pro at playing poker?

Even Tammy Thompson, whose role in S3 was purely offscreen, got a shout out of traits that Robin valued ("she has dreams!").

We can't say the same for Vickie. All we know is:

-she laughed at one of Robin's (Steve's) jokes

-she likes Fast Times

-she talks a lot when nervous

-she possibly likes boobies

And those last two were only figured out by Robin in the final episode of S4.

If Robin's feelings for Vickie are more than mere infatuation based on looks, wouldn't Robin have told us more than the most surface-level things about her?

And if your immediate response to this "well, she just hasn't spent enough one-on-one time with her to know!" .......that's exactly my point.

The writers have shown time and time again that the shallow relationships where tbe couple got into it without really talking or getting to know each other do not last .

I'm reminded of Lucas telling Mike "you're just blind because a girl isn't grossed out by you." 👀

All this in the same season where Robin is spending one-on-one time with Nancy, getting to know her and respect the things that make her "her". Rather than just looks, Robin gets to see Nancy's drive, intellect, leadership and bravery.

She calls her a "genius", says she is "full of surprises", and learns even more about her when Nancy opens up about her relationship inecurities. Robin sees her complexity.

I don't know about you, but to me, this is the core of why Rovickie is not as compelling as a ship. If they are meant to be endgame, why was Robin paired with Nancy all season?

Surely there could've been some plot device to bring Vickie into the fold, just like Max was brought into the Party back in S2.

Vickie could've been trapped with Robin and the older teens after some supernatural things happened at rhe pep rally or other school function and they got separated from the rest, or she could've been related to the Creels and the gang needed to ask her for help. It's a TV show; they can do whatever they want.

Either way, they decided not to involve her in the main plot of the show at all, preventing both Robin and the viewers from getting to know her fully. I believe this was intentional and will have consequences for their relationship in S5.

One final thought- in early S4, Robin tells Steve that she has found the girl of her dreams but can't get the courage to ask her out, whereas Steve goes on a ton of dates but has no idea what he wants.

I think it would be VERY interesting if their roles were actually swapped, i.e. by the end of S4, Robin is the one who doesn't really know what she wants, and Steve is the one who realizes he has found the (person) of his dreams.

[alwaysonf1]

lewis is doing what?

Pairing: Charles LeClerc x Hamilton!OC

Genre: Slice of Life; Fluff

Word Count: 3k

Warning: Changes in the timeline for the sake of the story.

Rating: PG-13

Author's Note: This is my first F1 fic, which makes me nervous so why not start with a series.

Many Drive to Survive haters like to pretend everything that comes from the show and what it’s about are beneath them. That they couldn’t possibly care, and that the only important thing is the race on Sunday. And yet the day after the latest season drops you can find them amongst the chaos trying to figure out what the hell were all those hints about a new form of content that F1 plans to release. 

Interwoven with the usual storylines and mild dramatics there was a lot of talk about how drivers show their families the support they’re given. How they show up for them in their careers and bits of their lives. It was weird at first, but then it sent off alarm bells when an almost fourth wall breaking moment happened where the Netflix team was blatantly dismissed. 

“I think we have this one Netflix, but thanks for the help.” Those were the exact words spoken by the head of marketing as she closed the door to a room where you get a glimpse of team paraphernalia but see no faces. 

Every social platform that you can find an F1 fan on has it trending and the conversations (and screams into the void) are fast paced. But Twitter is where the real unhinged and brain cell losing behavior is happening. 

And the most accurate guessing.

Almost everyone within the community is discussing what that snippet could mean. Is it the end of DTS as they know it? The end of it completely? Are F1 and Netflix severing ties? Will F1 be taking over? Is this some little game they're playing with their viewers to keep them tuned in? Is it something completely different? What the actual fuck is going on?

In the middle of those questions are those who think themselves a genius or are delusional enough that they can’t help but form some wild ideas of what’s to come.

Someone must be retiring. Multiple people are retiring. There’s going to be a reality show ala Keeping Up with the Verstappens, where everyone learns that Max’s little trauma dumpy memories with Jos are just the surface level of how insane that man is. Someone is getting married. Someone is getting married to another driver. A nepo baby is going to become the “voice of the fandom” and host a show about the drivers during race weekends and it’s going to be all the wrong things. A dating show for all the singles. A behind the scenes at the lives of drivers and their families, but like Family Feud. And the penultimate dude bro dream of them getting to spend the season hanging out with drivers and get confirmation that their toxic thoughts that alienate most of the fan base is true.

After about twenty-four hours it all dies down. Everyone is still wondering, but they don’t feel like they’re losing their minds while they try to be the one who can say they were right when they news drops.

As if timed, the second that F1 drops in trends the F1 admin drops a graphic with the faces of six people who are clearly positioned like the thinking face emoji on every platform that they use. In the captions it says: Week in the Life - Sibling Edition.

If Twitter was home to the first wave of screaming, it belongs to Tumblr the second go round. Everyone is so excited for the content that someone must have thrown up from how aggressively happy they feel. Everyone is talking about who they want it to be and what content they’d love to see from which sibling. Those who make gifs are especially excited to get everything they can, though they won’t be outdone by those whose brains and fingers will be entities on their own once they get hold of a singular moment that will inspire the fic of everyone’s dreams.

Those who always have something negative to say are there as usual, but they aren’t as loud or upset as they often are. Being nosy doesn’t stop just because you want to pretend that you only care about the race, as if someone doesn’t have a file of screenshots from all the times, they’ve attacked the character of a driver for something not race related at all.

The reaction to this is the kind that instills faith in what is being done. The kind of thing that tells all the upper management who didn’t like it that it was a good idea, but also puts a certain bit of weight on the content team. They need this to deliver. Need to keep the hype, especially since the first episode doesn’t drop until the start of December and they’ve already recorded half the series so a failure could stop the rest.

So once the Singapore GP ends, Daniel Ricciardo’s face is no longer gray. You get to see that goofy smile and wink. You’d think they told everyone he was getting a permanent seat with a three year contract with the reception to it.

It’s Charles Leclerc for Japan. 

Lance Stroll for Qatar.

Carlos Sainz for COTA.

Alex Albon for Mexico.

And coming off his first P1 of the season, Lewis Hamilton for Brazil.

For the next week or so if a tweet isn’t about excitement, disdain, or shock in regard to this new F1 exclusive content, it has a certain main character at its center.

[lavendermunson]

ribbon - steve harrington

day 4 of leia's christmas tree farm

cw max has a tiny accident. er/hospital setting. one use of y/n. grey!reader (she is mer’s sister, it can be half sister too). steve calls max his sister. they all moved to seattle for some reason

a/n i had a very different idea for this but it didn’t work out, i hope you like this i came up with at the very last minute

“What do we have here?” Doctor Torres approaches Max, she whines as the pain in her arm only gets worse. “A broken wrist, how did this happen?”

“An accident on the sleigh ride,” Steve says, “Although I’m sure she was just being rebellious”

“I told you I had to beat Mike” Max groans, feeling the doctor’s hands on her as a resident comes back with an X-ray sheet. 

The resident is all glammed up. Red lips, red shoes. The lab coat covered her black dress and most of her figure. She looks absolutely beautiful and Steve can feel himself drooling over her. 

The thing that makes his knees buckle, is the big red ribbon on her head.

“Looks half fine, just broken. I’ll get someone to put a cast on you and you are free to go” She smiles at Max, who is only focused on her pain going away soon or she’ll start complaining again.

“I can do it!” you say, your sweet voice piercing Steve’s ears. 

“But we have to go to our party!” 

“I’ll tell Mer to take me, she’s still in surgery,” you say, approaching the patient’s chart to check some things before calling an intern to help. “I will do this quickly, Max. Don’t worry”

As you leave to get all prepared, one of your interns comes to Max’s room. Waiting for you to help the little girl as soon as possible. 

“Hey,” Steve calls the intern. “What’s the pretty doctor’s name? The one with the red ribbon?” 

“Can you not? I'm working!” he says, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, Steve. Keep it in your pants" Max says, making fun of Steve's flushed face.

You come back to the room, while a nurse helps you with everything you need to get Max a cast. 

“Are you close relatives with the patient?” you ask Steve, looking at him. His eyes get lost in yours, on how they shine under these big and creepy hospital lights. 

“Yeah, I’m her brother” 

“Alright, then you can stay and fill this form for me please” Steve takes the chart out of your hands and you help Max to sit down. You start teaching your intern and guiding him through the process. 

Steve can only get lost on you. The way every one of your words comes out so soft as your cherry-colored lips move. He glanced at your chest, his cheeks go red when his eyes make contact with your cleavage. He looks away, this is not the place for that, he says to himself. 

The blue disposable gloves cover your manicured hands but he sees your gold, delicate bracelet fall from your wrist. He makes a mental note not to mention it until you’re done, Max comes first rather than some casual flirt. 

“We are done! How are you feeling?”

“I feel better, thank you,” Max says, a smile finally showing on her face. You mirror her excitement and relief, with a big smile on your face too. 

And Steve, he wants to fall on his knees and ask you to marry him right now. He notices how you talk to your intern, to the nurses, and to other people walking by. Your bubbly personality has him captive, he just stares and stares until you are gone.

As the intern takes the chart from Steve's hands and disappears he gets lost in his thoughts.

“Steve! Look, her bracelet” Max screams, calling for the older boy as she gets up. And finds your gold bracelet on the floor “Go get her, something good has to come out of this” she encourages him. Steve runs away from the ER as fast as he can. Looking for the big red ribbon on your head.

“Hey, you okay? Do you need something?” A doctor, much taller and older than him stops him on his way. 

“I’m okay i just-“ he tries to ease his breath “Do you know the doctor with the red ribbon? I think she is a resident here”

“Oh, little Grey?” The man makes fun of him, looking how desperate he looks. Steve only wants to know your name, maybe get introduced to you, damn. Why is this so difficult? 

“Grey! Yeah, I think” he murmurs, looking around for you. “So you know her”

“I do, I'm pretty close with her sister. Do you need anything from her?“ He looks at Steve and laughs again. He doesn’t look worried or sick, he looks like he just got up on a cloud.

“I just want to get her this” he holds the piece of gold in his hand “It fell when she was taking care of my sister”

“Oh! The ladies are in a rush today, they have Christmas ladies’ night” Steve’s face is pale, from being in love to running for the pretty girl in a space of minutes. He was having a normal day and then all turned upside down “But I'm sure you can catch them in the parking lot, I don't know. I hope you do”

He nods, getting ready to run again. “Thank you…”

“Derek, Derek Shepherd”

“I’m Steve Harrington. I owe you one!” his voice echoes in the empty hallway, He runs towards the stairs because the elevator would take so much time.

You got this, all those years of basketball should work now. But they don’t, Steve is slightly older and slower. As much as he hates to admit. But he makes his way to the parking lot, searching for your ribbon again, and when he finds it, he finds you. His heart skips a beat. 

“Hey! You were with my sister earlier I just wanted to give you this” Steve says as you turn to face him, blushing as your eyes meet his.

“Oh! you are so kind, thank you so much” You smile. “My sister gave it to me, if I were to lose it I swear she’d kill me!”

“Looks like I saved your life today, you were so kind to Max- my sister. I’m the one who should thank you” he glances at your hand while carefully holding your bracelet between his fingers, a dash of anticipation in his eyes. 

“Don’t thank me. It’s part of my job and I love to help” 

"Can I?"

"Please"

You get closer to him, and he can feel his hands shake. Your scent invades his nose, soft remnants of your vanilla perfume and a dash of your lavender body wash. He clasps the bracelet around your wrist, the touch of his fingers against your skin is velvety. He pauses for a moment, savoring the quick seconds close to you.

“And what you just did was so kind, i hope this pays up” You leave a peck on his cheek, it’s soft just like he imagined. But it only makes him yearn for more.

“I’m Steve, by the way,” he says, offering you a hand for you to shake it. 

“I’m y/n, nice to meet you”

“Can I, uhm. Can I see you again? Some time?” he looks at the way your cheeks are also flushed, just like his. “If you want, of course” 

“Yes. Yes, I would like that” 

“Tomorrow around eight sounds good?” he asks, smiling proudly as his charm seems to work.

“I actually can’t, I have surgery at six and I'm not sure if I’ll make it”

“I can just come by at eight and wait for you, I can get you every oversized candy bar you want from the vending machine” 

You giggle, covering your face with your hand and trying to hide your rosy cheek. Everything you do is so adorable. 

“Sure, only if you let me get you a coffee after” 

He nods, looking at you. He can’t keep his eyes away from you. “I’m new in the city so I’ll accept the coffee and maybe a tour?”

“A night tour, of course!” 

Lucky, lucky Steve. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, and you look pretty by the way”

“Thank you, I’ll see you tomorrow Steve”

You leave another peck on his cheek, this time the opposite one. He waves his hand as you meet your friends to leave for dinner.

When Steve gets to his apartment with Max by his side, he forgets everyone was waiting for him. But he returns home proud, looking like a winner while everyone asks and comments about the lipstick stains on his cheeks.  He looks at himself in the mirror, the way the tint of your red lipstick left a mark on either side of his face. He smiles, knowing that he can get them off and tomorrow he will get home with new ones. He is sure of it.

reblog to support your creators! comments are appreciated !! ♡ thank you for following my christmas event, remember you can still request a gift!

[ellewritesandrants]

I don’t know why but the idea of a soulmate AU between Billy, Steve and Eddie captivates me, especially with the idea that Billy unknowingly gets Steve and Eddie to find out that they’re soulmates. Either in a modern AU where Billy’s a big fan of Corroded Coffin and Steve just managed to get a free ticket or something or in a canon AU where Billy and Steve are friends who want to smoke a little something so they buy from Eddie or Steve picks up the kids from Hellfire and one of them notices the marks match, I don’t really care how but I just want to explore the hurt and comfort of that.

Can you imagine Billy pining away, forever in love with the idea of his soulmate being the one who’ll save him from his situation given that’s what happened to his mom and he finds out that his crush is his soulmate but doesn’t want to tell him yet until he’s made something out of himself, until he’s deserving of love and all of a sudden, he finds out that his soulmate found his soulmate and it wasn’t Billy?

Imagine Steve happily dragging Eddie with him who already looks besotted with Steve and they show Billy the mark that he’s memorized from seeing it in the mirror thousands of times and as soon as he sees the smiles on their faces and the look of wonder in their eyes, he knows for a fact he can’t ruin their happiness. He isn’t selfish enough to do it even others would say he was and all he could do was pretend to be happy and smile at the happy couple.

Imagine Billy pulling away, either out of fear he’d inadvertently ruin their relationship or because he couldn’t stand being surrounded by what he couldn’t have and the kids weirdly enough noticing and trying to figure out what’s wrong. It doesn’t help that Neil’s always been bitter about soulmates and he loved rubbing it in Billy’s face how worthless everything regarding soulmates and soulmarks was. Billy used to be able to ignore it in the hopes of finding his soulmate but now, he knew the truth.

The kids come to a different conclusion, not realizing it was something regarding soulmates but instead, about Neil’s treatment of Billy. If canon, it would be El spying on Billy and seeing him being beaten into a pulp by his dad but in a modern AU, it would the aftermath wherein Max would ask Steve to come visit Billy and he drags Eddie along with him.

Either way, Steve and Eddie find out about the abuse that Billy’s been suffering through and the guilt that Steve felt was immeasurable for not seeing what his best friend was going through, too busy with being in love with his soulmate. With Hopper’s help, they get Neil behind bars but Billy’s a wreck and he needs people to take care of him.

Steve refused to leave Billy alone in the trailer while Max went to school and Susan went to work so he offered to have Billy move in with him and Eddie so they could take care of him. Since Steve only worked part-time and Eddie was in the same year as Billy and could drive them to and from school, it made a lot more sense than leaving him to his own devices.

Billy thinks he’s in a new level of hell as time goes by because getting to know Eddie and seeing everything he can’t have was absolutely painful and heartbreaking on another level. Being surrounded by their care and affection when he’s barely known it his entire life hurts on another level he can’t exactly describe but it’s a pain that hurts so good that he can’t exactly say no to it. His only saving grace is that his mark was casted over due to Neil’s last temper tantrum and there was no way that the boys would get to see it.

Months pass of Billy falling more and more in love with his soulmates who are already in love with each other and it hurts so good. Steve and Eddie never make him feel like an outsider the entire time he’s there but sometimes, his touch starvation reminds him of just how much he’d love to be squeezed in between them in any way possible.

Graduation comes and goes and Billy refused to let his father take his achievements away so he graduated valedictorian, dragging Eddie kicking and screaming past the finish line to graduate. Billy gets to make his speech, loudly supported by everyone and he makes sure to thank his newfound family for all of the support they’ve given him.

Of course, graduation wouldn’t be complete without a graduation party so they all get drunk and party in Steve’s house to celebrate six graduations especially Billy and Nancy who graduated valedictorian and salutatorian respectively. Both Jonathan and Nancy planned to go to the same college in Chicago while Robin and her girlfriend, Heather were heading to California soon. Billy had also gotten into the same college but he wasn’t sure about going because he’d be leaving so much behind, including his soulmates.

By now, Billy was in love with both of his soulmates and unbeknownst to him, they were both plently enamored with him and they’d been trying to build up the courage to ask him out. The party had been slightly delayed because Billy was getting his casts off about a week after graduation and they wanted to do shots, something that really wasn’t advisable with a cast.

Billy had planned to initially conceal his mark using makeup but a large part of him knew that it didn’t matter since Steve and Eddie were happy anyway so he didn’t bother. After all, both Steve and Eddie loved to show off their marks at every opportunity and no one gave a shit about Billy. Somehow, Billy had managed to keep his mark a secret from everyone but he knew Heather had some suspicions.

After some time, the drinking games start and somehow, Billy’s mark is revealed either in a dared striptease or by accident during a dare and it quickly sobers him up. He doesn’t notice at first but then Robin drunkenly pointed out that they had matching marks and the sober gaze of Eddie was too sharp for Billy to meet, instead choosing to run away, stumble to his car and hit the gas to the quarry.

It’s only there that he allows himself to breakdown and to mourn the end of what was a good friendship he had going on with his soulmates because he was sure they would want nothing to do with him now. He’s only just begun to run out of tears when he hears the telltale sound of Eddie’s van, meant to drive Nancy, Jonathan, Heather and Robin home later but was most likely currenly holding the last people Billy wanted to see.

For a moment, he considers running again but his Mama didn’t raise no coward, so he wipes his tears and stands his ground. Steve was a lot drunker than Billy was when Billy had left but it seemed he’d sobered up during the ride because he was clear-eyed when he was grabbing Billy and making sure that the blond wouldn’t run away.

Steve and Eddie trapped Billy in between them, in what seemed like a mockery of his fantasies only to have them play out right in front of him. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that his soulmates would tell him that they wanted him, that they loved him and wanted to take care of him and love him. Sure, it was after an argument about why Billy felt the need to hide but he had expected rejection or at the very least a mutual ignorance of his mark. He’d never considered it a possibility but the two were convinced to try and convince him to give them a chance.

After more than a few tears and attempts to get them to realize they were better off without Billy and his baggage, Steve and Eddie stubbornly managed to convince Billy to try with them. A few kisses convinced Billy to leave his car behind so that they could get it in the morning but for now, Steve and Eddie wanted him in Eddie’s van so they were sure he wouldn’t run.

The entire ride, Billy’s mind was trying to convince him that Steve and Eddie were better off without him, that he didn’t deserve this and that he was a fraud ruining a perfectly happy couple but Steve instinctively knew something was up and he’d had Billy laid across his lap with his hair being stroked to keep the bad thoughts away while Steve affirmed Billy of all of their feelings towards him.

Halfway through the ride home, Billy was asleep and Steve had no problem carrying the younger boy into their bed so that they could finally hold him the way they wanted to. Billy had long since told them of how lonely he felt in his room but as much as they had wanted to invite Billy to literally sleep with them, they hadn’t wanted to cross any boundaries.

Tonight though, all Steve and Eddie wanted to do was to fall asleep holding their newly found soulmate. Billy awoke to Steve’s warmth cocooning him and Eddie coming in to wake him with breakfast in bed. After a hearty meal, Steve and Eddie asked if they could court Billy to show him how serious they were about their feelings for him and Billy found that much like before, he couldn’t say no to his soulmates.

Months passed with Steve and Eddie constantly trying to prove their love of Billy who eventually concedes and moves in with them in the master bedroom. It isn’t long until having Billy in between Steve and Eddie is a norm and no longer a fantasy for Billy and he realizes just how much he didn’t let himself have when he hated himself. With Steve and Eddie’s love, they helped Billy realize he was always worthy of love, care and devotion and that they were ready to spend the rest of their lives together reminding him of that fact.

[tomorrowxtogether]

HUENINGKAI: “It’s thanks to the other members that I’m becoming more driven myself”

TOMORROW X TOGETHER The Name Chapter: FREEFALL comeback interview

2023.10.24

Perseverance. Persistence. Like we always have, like it’s always been. The words that make up TOMORROW X TOGETHER member HUENINGKAI have come together to usher in a wave of change. A profound and resounding wave crafted by a boy that once simply aspired to be a rock.

​When you were all done with the promotional activities of the last album, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION, you went on Weverse Live and said, “I think we can release this promotion as a movie.” 

HUENINGKAI: I actually wasn’t feeling entirely sure about that last album when we were making our comeback. But now it’s like, Oh, it really turned out well. (laughs) Looking back now, it’s like that lack of confidence made me even more desperate. It really made me feel like, I have to make this work, no matter what! Once I could actually feel the huge amount of buzz around our comeback, I felt more assured and it helped me to work at it harder. MOA and the general public helped me to find that confidence, in that sense. Not that I go out much (laughs) but now there’s a lot more people who recognize me. A friend of mine said they liked “Sugar Rush Ride” and a lot of people liked “Farewell, Neverland,” surprisingly. I feel like I progressively got into the flow of things just from being up on stage and naturally learning from that.

Are there certain things you have to be on stage for to get into the flow properly?

HUENINGKAI: When we’re on a music show, we do the performance there and then review it. That helps me to figure out how it should be done to  some degree. I guess I’m good at that now. I honestly didn’t really get a proper feel for “Sugar Rush Ride” until we started performing it on TV, but I could feel myself getting better the more we went around performing. When I check the first take, I see the parts I need to fix and where I should change my facial expressions. The second take is always better. It’s kind of cringey to see photos of myself and my facial expressions. (laughs) So I don’t look myself up that much, but I need to review when we’re promoting so I can improve.

Your performances of “Invitation” at Weverse Con Festival and “TEMPTED + The Devil I Know” for MIX & MAX were impressive.

HUENINGKAI: Continuing on the theme of the previous album, we worked with songs that fit in with the theme of temptation. Everything about “Invitation” was new for me, including voguing, but we all have long, slender arms, so the dance looked pretty nice. I thought MOA would really love it. “Invitation” also inspired us to vogue in the choreography for our latest single. MIX & MAX portrayed an innocent boy giving into temptation and turning to the dark side. It was key to give the impression of the boy being manipulated to match up with the sounds of a marionette at the beginning, so the acting and gestures were important for that part. The idea was to have the hand painted black represent the devil and then it devours us.

 

​Then there’s plenty of parts in the choreography for the single “Chasing That Feeling” where you convey the meaning of the lyrics more literally, like by making a fist or running. 

HUENINGKAI: Right. Choreography like that’s a lot more challenging. It’s way easier doing a song like “Good Boy Gone Bad” with a concrete theme in place, or “Back for More (TXT ver.)” where we just have to look cool. We’re very aware now what kind of facial expressions will make us look as cool as possible. I had to keep asking about the new single “Chasing That Feeling”: Is this the feeling we’re going for? Is it similar to the BTS song “RUN”? It was a continuous discussion. In the end, I figured out it’s similar to “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) feat. Seori” but with a little more yearning. I have to show that yearning in the verse but then express agony in the chorus to line up with the idea of determination and pursuing my desires. And I’m still trying to find the sweet spot for conveying that. A frown gives away too much, so I have to do it subtly while still holding back a bit and not showing it completely, sort of. I might be aware of the nuances, but it’s hard to express it in such a way that people watching will feel that. I’m still working on getting the hang of it. (laughs)

I can really see that you’ve given so much thought into it. (laughs)

HUENINGKAI: TOMORROW X TOGETHER, the band that tries something new every time! (laughs) It’s hard—our group’s always working to defy conventional frames and try out different genres. But every song off the new album is in a different genre, so it’s fun to listen to as a whole. I like every single song, but “Skipping Stones” is my favorite. I think this is really the first time that I’ve loved every track off an album. To be perfectly honest, I never guessed we’d be doing a hard rock song (laughs) but I love how the first track’s metal fit perfectly with the title The Name Chapter: FREEFALL.

It’s crucial that you fully understand and engross yourself in the message of the music when you’re gearing up for a comeback, isn’t it?

HUENINGKAI: Yes. Somebody help me. Please. (laughs) It’s always a tough process, but I get to understand it bit by bit as we go along—getting to know the emotions while singing, then again while dancing. I’m able to perform live once the singing and the dancing are perfect—the facial expressions, too—and at that point, I can finally grasp everything entirely.

This album seems to be an important turning point as far as the storyline goes in the sense that the boys have finally come face to face with reality.

HUENINGKAI: That’s something new in itself, actually—the fact that TOMORROW X TOGETHER has entered the real world. We started out with horns on our heads (laughs) and had a lot of comebacks with various fantasy elements in them, but this time it’s all about the boys coming square up against reality. That’s why the title of the single is so straightforward: “Chasing That Feeling”! (laughs) I have no choice but to keep learning since the concepts change every time.

As you say, you have to keep learning. I can tell that you’ve become an even better dancer lately just by looking at the “Back for More” challenge you did with the dance crew JAM REPUBLIC or when you did the challenge for “Smoke” (prod. Dynamicduo, Padi). 

HUENINGKAI: I guess I was trying to focus more on dancing this year. I think MIX & MAX was sort of the start of that. I danced with YEONJUN but he’s so good that I felt a bit of pressure about it. I talked to the instructor and took some private lessons and sort of tried to be able to dance as well as YEONJUN does. From that point on, the instructors even paid me compliments like, “You’re really getting a lot better.” And then I also had the opportunity to dance solo at our recent concerts. JAM REPUBLIC are … I mean, wow. They’re unbelievable. They really know exactly how to put their bodies to use. Now I know why people say they’re world class! (laughs) It was such an honor. I was eager to show off more of my dance ability and that’s why I said I wanted to do the “Smoke” challenge. I was actually a bit worried because of how challenging that choreography is, so I put in quite a lot of practice. I felt sorry for the performance directing team because I kept saying, “No, again, again, again, again.” We shot it 20, 25 times, but when I got back home and watched the video, I still wasn’t satisfied with it. So I said to them, “I’m really sorry, but can we shoot it tomorrow one more time?” I did it again and again the next day and we finally ended up with a good take that we could upload.

That makes me think of when you said on Weverse Live, “I always realize it whenever I practice dancing, but dance practices never betray me.”

HUENINGKAI: I think, more than anything else, the more I work at my dancing, the better it gets. I’d have to say dance is the easiest thing to get into, in a way. I think anyone can be good at dancing if they just have perseverance. Dancing isn’t just about the dancing itself—I feel like your own personal aura and your facial expressions are really important, too. Even the five members of our group all have their own unique vibe, and we’re all good at doing different facial expressions. When you dance, it’s important to understand what the music’s all about and to be able to take what you’re capable of up a notch and express yourself that way.

So what’s your personal aura like? (laugh)

HUENINGKAI: Mine? Haha—yeah, what kind of vibe do I give off? I’m not too sure myself. (laughs) Whether the single we’re doing is cheerful, or cute, or sexy, I always seem to come across as not bad … or that’s what people tell me, at least. (laughs)

​Mastering the group performances, and the four years you’ve spent together, must have been a continuous process of learning what makes each of you different. 

HUENINGKAI: Ah, the five of us are completely different in every way. (laughs) We’re so different that, when we were trainees, we used to be coached into doing team-building exercises. But we’re completely used to each other now. Time’s the important thing. We naturally got to know each other after living together for so long, and now we’re just like family. I think the quality of our teamwork really shows during concerts. If one of us has to sit out because they’re not feeling well, for example, the rest of us are able to fill in for them. It’s weird, but suddenly we become really good at communicating in situations like that. Things just happen instantly when emergencies come up. (laughs)

In the TOMORROW X TOGETHER: OUR LOST SUMMER documentary, while most of you said that your concert at Lollapalooza in Chicago was the happiest moment for you since your debut, SOOBIN opened up about how he finds it difficult to enjoy himself fully when he needs to be spontaneous. What do you do to help out when every one of the members is dealing with their own challenges?

HUENINGKAI: I sort of get that. The two of us have similar personalities, so I know how he feels. There’s times when I find performing hard too, and at times big crowds can make me scared. My MBTI tests show I’m a complete “I,” and I like being at home. SOOBIN always says he’s sorry because he worries he’s not enjoying himself properly. So nowadays, when we’re on stage, we just … we put our arms around each other’s shoulders and just jump around and have fun. I actually think that happened a number of times during our most recent concerts. When it’s soundcheck time or we want to get people hyped, we’re often glued together, putting our arms around each other and we boost each other up to pump up our energy. I’m actually not very good at empathizing or talking with people. Whenever I’m talking with someone, my first thoughts are about the best way to go about doing things and how to solve things. (laughs) I think it’s best that I quietly help them out by looking out for them and thinking about how I can be doing whatever I can for them.

​TAEHYUN and YEONJUN were on SUCHWITA, and they talked about how you all found some middle ground between your ideas so the group and its members can achieve their unified goal. 

HUENINGKAI: That was a year ago, but I can still recall how I said, “If the four of you want to make it to the top, I’ll be there with you to the very end,” and, “I’ll always be there by your side.”

Do you consider yourself to be a goal-oriented person?

HUENINGKAI: I’m actually not much of a go-getter. I’m more about wanting things to go smoothly. I don’t like to overthink things. But it’s extremely important in this field to be really ambitious. You have to be driven if you’re going to make it to the top. I think it’s thanks to the determination of the other members that I’m progressively becoming more driven myself. I actually have clearer goals now than I did a year ago.

Do you think you’ll ever all be satisfied with the way things turn out?

HUENINGKAI: Umm … It’s possible that might never happen, of course. But I think it’s only right that we keep trying our best. I’ve changed a lot during this whole time. I guess what influenced me a lot was that I want to challenge the kind of image that boy groups have. Some people say boy groups aren’t popular with the wider public, but I wanted to let the world know who we are and prove ourselves. These days, no matter what happens, we’re grown enough to realize that it could always be worse, and we cheer each other on so we can keep working hard. Looking back now, I can see we’ve always worked hard to go further and beyond—like making a new album better than the last, then the next one even better, and on and on. That’s what TOMORROW X TOGETHER is all about, you know? We have to keep on keeping on. “Like we always have, like it’s always been.” (laughs)

The lyrics to “Skipping Stones” seem to sort of reflect the attitude you have as a member of the group.

HUENINGKAI: That’s why I could fully understand the emotions behind the song as soon as I first sang it. (laughs) I feel like you’re guaranteed to be at least a little happy if you just have persistence and persevere. You can get close to accomplishing some of your goals, even if you can’t do them all. If I just work hard, I’ll end up naturally contributing to the group. I should do as much as I can and show the world everything I’ve got. What I mean is, I’m going to go the distance, even if it breaks me.

​Do you feel a sense of reward when you’re on stage? You said at your concert in Seoul that you felt like your whole life had been leading up to that moment. 

HUENINGKAI: That was the best way I could think to express myself at the time. I wanted to convey that feeling any way I could. I said things I wouldn’t normally say because I got all emotional. (laughs) Those three years working myself to the bone as a trainee and since we debuted were all leading up to that moment. (laughs) The tour kicked off in the summer, so we ended up making “Our Summer” the last song, and everyone singing along made me really emotional—because we’re all enjoying our summer now. Here’s what I want to tell MOA: This is our youth. Thank you for spending this time with us. Let’s stay together, forever and ever. I can’t just remove myself from the emotions I feel when I’m up on stage in front of a big, roaring crowd like that. It’s fine when I’m still up there, but once I get back and I’m alone in bed, I feel sort of empty. But then I go to sleep and get back up and I’m okay again, so I just want to keep performing on that stage.

It sounds like that’s what drives you to reach for the top.

HUENINGKAI: I feel like I can keep going for a long time thanks to being with the other members. And I feel really, really proud to be a member of TOMORROW X TOGETHER. I don’t think I could’ve done it if I weren’t a part of this group. I absolutely love our songs and our dances. I’m happy to be a part of the group. I want to be with them. Because I love the five of us.

[pizzadramon]

Definitely True Razor Rex Theory

Decided I should post my theory somewhere less ephemeral than reddit and also maybe add some new info. Mostly doing this now for bragging rights in the unlikely event that this is all true lmao. copy/pasting most of this from the existing post bc who has time to write things twice:

There's been lots of theories about who or what the leader of the Death Cult is, so figured I'd throw my tinfoil hat in the ring.

I think that Razor Rex is Penny, but she doesn’t know it. Bear with me while I attempt to back up this ridiculous claim lol.

In Chapter 8 we’ve been introduced to the idea of mimics and seen several of them at work. Crucially, none of their powers seem to work exactly the same way.

Phantomime can copy other powers based on the strength of the user's trust in Phantomime or her host. Presumably, a strong bond of friendship or love would result in an exact copy of the power, whereas Penny “cheats” by stitching together bargain bin versions based on incidental relationships (i.e. Contract Claw).

Cherub (as The Angel) can borrow and share powers based on the original user’s faith in her. This version of mimicry requires the original user to actually give up a fraction of their power, which is fitting as a show of faith.

The Witch can use the power of anyone that fears her, and can seemingly make the power permanent by consuming the user.

Razor Rex also seems to be able to freely share her borrowed powers with her followers like Cherub, though the mechanism for the borrowing and sharing hasn’t come up yet.

On its own, all this information probably points to Razor Rex secretly being Cherub, right? Both are borrowing and handing out powers to followers. But there’s two problems with that theory:

Cherub is stuck inside a bell in Ángel’s posession, and if she was sneaking off with another spectral to hold cult meetings he’d probably have noticed.

Razor Rex has white energy, which means a spectral with white energy would need to be channeling Cherub for their power to work. If Ángel was using cherub this way, they’d both know it (and a lot of other stuff that Ángel clearly doesn’t) so that’s out. Penny would need to know about Cherub in the first place, and also see point 1. It's possible that there’s another as-yet unseen white spectral out there who knows about Cherub and can reliably sneak in and out of the antique shop to borrow her for cult meetings, but that strains believability imo.

The other clue is the double-tailed speech bubble. We’ve seen several spirit fusions now, and neither Rick nor Ángel have had the double-tailed bubble in fused form. The only other times we’ve seen it was when Max was being puppeteered by the Black Sphinx, and when Spender was being puppeteered by Lucifer. So I think we can safely conclude that Razor Rex is the result of a spirit that’s possessing a white spectral, not a fusion. The most important thing here is this: both previous times we’ve seen this kind of overshadowing of the host, the host doesn’t know what they’ve been doing.

Based on all this information, my theory is this:

Phantomime is taking control of Penny's body without her knowledge, and using her power to stitch together a version of Cherub’s powers, borrowing and lending the abilities of the cult’s followers based on their faith in Razor Rex.

As I see it, there are currently three holes in this theory.

If they’re the same, why does Razor Rex act so differently from Phantomime?

How does Phantomime know Cherub well enough to copy their power?

Why not just have Cherub overshadow Ángel and skip the middleman?

Point 1 is easy enough to explain: Phanto’s passion is acting, so it would make sense that she’d be good enough to adopt a different persona. Just act like a weird goblin about death and Xbox and you’re good to go.

Point 2 could be explained by any number of things, but we won’t know until we get more backstory for Cherub and/or Phantomime. My DOUBLE UNHINGED TINFOIL THEORY is that Phantomime is secretly working for Cherub. Cherub clearly knows things that Ángel does not, and this could easily be explained by her having a minion on the outside—one that she trusts completely. If she fully trusts Phantomime to carry out their evil plains, then Phanto can copy Cherub’s full abilities of copying and sharing powers.

This would also explain why the PTA is always one step ahead of The Angel—if Phanto can use Penny to commune with Cherub on the downlow they could share info. All Phantomime has to do is overtake Penny for a minute while Ángel isn’t looking, wander into the backroom and touch the bell. The two spirits could have a full conversation in spirit trance in a matter of seconds and neither Penny nor Ángel would suspect a thing. If Ángel ever did notice, Phantomime could just give control back to Penny, letting her think that she wandered into the back trying to steal stuff without even being aware of it, which is perfectly in character for her.

Point 3 is probably the biggest hole in the theory, but I have some circumstantial evidence. In the previous times that the spectral was puppeteered without knowing, the spirit was either inside the spectral (Max) or in constant contact with them (Spender), giving them the opportunity to overtake them at any time. We don't know how often Ángel carries Cherub's bell around, but I doubt he has it on him when he goes to sleep, which would be necessary for Cherub to sneak around in his body at night. This is admittedly weak reasoning, but I think Phanto working for Cherub is more interesting than the simple explanation lol. ALSO: For Ángel to commune with Cherub, he first needs to use Polaris to change his energy from black to white, which means that Cherub cannot initiate contact on her own.

It's almost definitely true that Cherub has something to do with Razor Rex, in any case. Besides the same faith-based mimic powers, both have dog theming and the ability to dispel the doubts of others.

...Then again, we may have just gotten info that throws off this entire theory. The most recent page has more evidence that Polaris is somehow either being channeled directly or copied by Rex. Not only is the fake key somehow changed into a real key, she straight up says that she's able to "...MAKE IMPOSSIBLE THINGS POSSIBLE..." which uh. Well if you know another spirit besides Polaris that could do that, please let me know lol.

But confirming Polaris is involved in Rex's antics doesn't necessarily rule out Phantomime having a role, either! Phanto could have just had Penny sneak the staff out for this one meeting. Besides, how could a sleeping spirit trust Phantomime or have faith in Cherub? Still a lot of questions to answer. So until we get solid evidence one way or the other, this is where I'm planting my flag.

[renegade-diamonds]

The idea of Alpha!Nancy slowly becoming physically affectionate in public with Omega!Robin once they start dating/courting is rotting in my brain right now.

I have a AU in my head where arranged marriages are considered the norm in ABO culture, but it's encouraged for alpha and beta youth to explore themselves after presenting in order to gain some real-life experience.

Omegas, however, tend to be treated different depending on the religious views of their families and culture.

Robin comes from a poor family in Hawkins, although their family history goes far back to the town's founding. Her parents have the wonderful idea of arranging a betrothal for her during her Sophomore year, and Robin's scared as hell about what that means. She tries to run away several times, only to return later because she has no way of driving or supporting herself at this point.

Her friends don't see the big deal; it's normal for betrothals to be formed in order to foster community relations, and because parents are typically viewed as 'knowing what's best' for their offspring. She barely gets along with her group anymore, and her parents don't actually seem to see her when it comes to what she wants.

Eventually she gets the nerve to tell her parents that, at the very least, she cannot be paired with a male. They seem to get it, although that severely limits her options. There aren't many female alphas around her age group, and those that are there tend to migrate towards male omegas in order to keep up the "Adam and Eve" religious theme that dominates Christian culture.

Everything happens the same in the show, and following the Battle of Starcourt, after she has her first heat (besides her presentation), her parents inform Robin that they've found her a match that should please her. It's customary for the courting alpha to first make their intentions known by offering a gift picked out by the omega's parents before the omega is told of their identity, and Robin is left with little information on which family her parents organized her betrothal with.

To make matters worse, the whole Upside-Down group is currently being rocked by the Byers (and El) moving away, Jonathan and Nancy's unexpected break up, Max's slow distancing of herself, and Robin's new spot in the group.

By the time the Summer is over, Robin's ready to get back into the swing of school. She doesn't think of her loaming betrothal, or her mysterious future-mate. Robin figures she'll probably run away before things get serious anyway- Operation Croissant is still a possibility after all.

Steve is a good friend and listens to her worries, but he's got a weird gleam in his eye- like there's something he knows but can't say. He's shifty when confronted, and Robin eventually just excuses his behavior as him being distract or busy with his complicated love-life (she's so envious of the freedom his parents give him to date who he wants, even if it's only because they never have time for this son anymore).

The remaining kids seem oddly interested in her life as well. Mike's constantly asking her questions, wanting advice, trying to learn everything he can about her. Robin's not too weirded out by it, she knows he's probably trying to make up for El and Will's absence. Dustin and Lucas are a bit more reserved, but no less friendly, while Max unofficially adopts her as a big sister in a surprising turn of events.

She never sees Nancy, although she hears through the grapevine that the girl's been fighting with her parents lately- something that's gotten worse ever since the alpha's breakup with Jonathan. Robin doesn't push it there, since Nancy hasn't really given her any real reason to consider themselves' friends.

Her parents stay up late the night before the first day of Senior Year. She hears them on the phone, softly talking with someone else about whether or not their daughter has the 'gift' ready, and if everything was still good to go. She knows right away that they're talking about the betrothal gift, and Robin's terrified to realize that the courtship process was going to start soon.

She's completely unprepared to be greeted first thing in the morning by a frowning Nancy Wheeler, who arrives at her house instead of Steve to take her to school. Her parents are giddy the whole time, and Robin has a gnawing feeling in her gut that won't go away. Nancy drives in silence, hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. She's obviously upset, but at least had the consideration to wear scent suppressers so it didn't overwhelm the omega. Robin barely reacts when they pull into the parking lot, find a spot, and sit in the car blankly for a few minutes- watching the other students go by.

Nancy finally asks her if she knows what's going on, and Robin swallows uneasily but replies that she has a pretty good idea. Nancy sighs in response and pulls out a small bracelet box- a rather expensive one too. She gently opens it to show the omega the beautiful piece of jewelry within, and Robin feels her heart shudder in her chest. It's a silver piece, with dark gems cut into leaf-life shapes decorating it. It's not something she'd usually wear, but it goes well with her colors and style. Robin hates how much she actually likes it. Nancy reaches over and fastens the bracelet around her wrist, something tight and unhappy in her expression.

Robin realizes with a sinking heart that this must be what caused her breakup with Jonathan. Nancy looks at her so intently- there's anger, but it's not directed at her. Still, she understands the hesitation in the alpha's gaze. Despite the craziness of the last summer, they barely know each other, and Nancy's just lost the person who many thought was her soulmate.

Robin knows without thinking that she can't possibly compete with that.

Still, Nancy is oddly pensive. More students start to arrive, and Robin knows they're going to get a lot of rumors flying around now that this seems to be official. She doesn't know how she's going to handle it- she doesn't know how she's going to handle Nancy. This whole situation is properly fucked.

Finally, the alpha talks and Robin tries to listen without letting her own nerves show. She knows what's expected of her now, she doesn't want to give Nancy any more reason to hate this. Not when they're still not exactly sure what this is. (beyond the whole betrothal aspect of their, still very new, relationship).

However, she doesn't expect Nancy to tell her to get out of the car, because they're going to be late. She doesn't expect to be so hurt by the way Nancy disappears into the crowds as soon as she's able to. She doesn't expect the ache in her chest to form so easily, but Robin knows it was going to show up sooner or later either way.

[mswyrr]

i've mentioned the thematic and character arc reasons why lucy and max approached each other with a kind of youthful innocence and why they haven't had sex in prior meta. but i wanted to point out the importance of lucy offering a relationship by inviting max to come live with her family in Vault 33 -- it accomplishes a couple things as a doomed invitation

1-it shows us how much lucy is still caught up in the brainwashing and needs to go on a journey to figure out who she is and what she wants before she can make a sincere offer coming from a place of knowing herself and what she wants vs. knowing what she's been told her whole life she should be and do.

2-it would be a false escape for max - running from the brotherhood into another cult. trying to fit a new mold of what people want instead of figure out what he wants. he needs to address the temptations and pain of what the brotherhood means to him so that he can figure out who he truly is and what he truly wants in life

3-as we see with the tragic romance between barb and cooper--a tragic romance in the past which is imo meant to contrast to the hopeful potential of max/lucy romance in the present and future--people can love each other but also come apart because they have conflicting ideas of how to express that love and what path they're going to walk together - lucy and max are separating to do that work of self-understanding so when they come together it's on a solid, shared foundation

4-it emphasizes that there are currently no great options for most people - and there *should* be. better than a choice of gross cults formed around the ambitions of the people who broke the world. there was - the NCR wasn't perfect, but it was full of possibility and it did actually achieve a lot. it's still around, but shattered. Vault 4 is a positive vision, but it's a small community with limits. these examples prove that better is possible, but more needs to be done to expand that if it's going to be a real option for people.

there might be another doomed offer--they might, in fact, come into conflict as part of their journey to actively choosing each other in truth rather than while mired in illusion/brainwashing--and they might end up salvaging more than one expects from the Brotherhood and Vault 33. and what they come up with will have its flaws, like the NCR did. but it will be theirs and available for other people. like Fallout 4, i think the goal of this is ultimately about rebuilding and expanding community, a hopeful vision. they both have the hearts for that kind of work -- currently their heads are misled by bs they need to work through though. it just will take a lot of work to get there.

[sheeperzzz]

I just realized I posted this on the clock app but not here- oops. Anyway, Ben 10 AU time!!

CW: Loud noises, blood, slight flash/glitch

Some info below 👇

The Alternative Universe name is Vilgax's Children, also known as the VC Universe. The jist of it is that Vilgax is Ben and Gwen's father. I could go deeper into their story, but I'll save that for another day :)

There's one arc in the story where the Incursions kidnap Ben and Gwen and hold them for ransom. They send the twins to Earth when their threats don't work. Vilgax already had plans to invade, but when he heard that his children were missing from the Incursion ship, he immediately assumed the worst and raided the Incursion Mothership himself. He killed and injured many Incursion workers, and he permanently impaired Milleois. He left Attea with a scar to remember.

Vilgax would learn, after digging through Incursean files for an hour or so, that Milleois sent his children to Earth. Vilgax's heart dropped. Neither of his children, to his knowledge anyway, knew anything about Earth and their culture. Ben blatantly refused to learn, and Gwen was never interested. They were lambs being sent to the slaughter. He knew Ben and Gwen could take care of themselves. It wasn't the people he was worried about. It was the Plumbers. He knew that if the Plumbers caught wind of his kids and that he was related to them, that they would do something to his kids. He did not know what, but he knew they would do something.

At this point in the story, Vilgax is faintly aware of Max but doesn't exactly know him. Vilgax just knows he was the man who left him literally broken and shredded when Ben and Gwen were ten. He knows that Max is dangerous, from his perspective at least, and he needs to get Ben and Gwen away from Earth as soon as possible.

As for the kids; when Ben and Gwen first land on Earth, they're dazed and confused. They just came hurtling into the atmosphere of an unknown planet with uncertain chances of survival. Ben goes to build or find a shelter, whichever comes first, and Gwen goes to figure out what the planet is. When she finds out they're on Earth, she excitedly jabbers to her brother about Earth and human culture and how they're so complex yet simple and blah blah blah Ben isn't listening. He never wanted to visit Earth. It only served to remind him that he wasn't even half of what his Father was. He still looked and acted primarily human. He was no true Vilgaxian.

Eventually, the twins would find/make shelter for themselves. They would try to blend into the human culture around Bellwood, Illinois. Ben would just barely fit in while Gwen acted as if she had lived there her whole life. Ben felt even more out of place. They'd run into Max on multiple occasions. Ben would be extremely skeptical of him and his friendliness, and Gwen, while also skeptical, would feel drawn to him and faintly recognize him.

Now from there, I have a good idea of what would happen. Either Max takes them in so he can make sure they're okay (and who he thinks they are), or Vilgax shows up to take his children back while Max is there. I'll figure it out eventually :P

[adventuringblind]

AUS24 (3k words)

Oscar Piastri x Liam Lawson x Reader x Logan Sargeant

Genre: Angst, fluff, spice, A/B/O AU

Summary: James Vowels takes things a step further when covering his ass in the media. Logan and his mate pay the price but Oscar and Liam are there to help.

Warnings: A/B/O dynamics, heat/rut cycles, James Vowels is the bad guy in this one, Alex being a king, Thigh riding, other alluded to sexual things but not specific so IDK what else to put

Notes: This one was a lot and I hope I filled the request okay! I struggled... Therefore y'all should feed my praise kink in order to motivate me. Jk...... unless?

Side Note: My ABO dynamics and how I write it is different so be forewarned ig. Also, NSFW under the cut. MINORS AVERT YOUR EYES!

Masterlist // Request Form // My Website // buy me a Ko-Fi

Oscar didn’t think much of it when he jumped out of the car and didn't see Logan. He figured he’d rushed off to make sure Alex was okay after that nasty crash and see if the team was going to be able to fix the beta’s car. 

Practice had gone pretty decent. He should probably meet up with Lando to talk about how he’d felt in the car. All things considered, he’s mildly optimistic. 

The itch in his neck leaves him wondering which of his three mates could possibly be annoyed. Oscar usually assumes Liam, given the nature of the omega. Oscar had to learn to pick his battles early on. He understands that in entirely alpha or omega families, dynamics have to be flexible. Liam is more alpha coded then he is omega. Unfortunately for the mess of things that is the paddock, people give him shit for it and Oscar has had to haul the kiwi away before he killed somebody. 

Oscar, because he’d prefer not to spend his home race weekend bailing Liam out of jail, speeds off towards the RB garage. He doesn’t have to go far since Liam is also sprinting in his direction. “Oscar! Are you alright? I thought maybe something happened when you got out of the car since I feel all prickly.” The blonde smells both annoyed and concerned. 

Oscar shakes his head. “I thought you might be trying to take the head off Helmut again…” He shakes his head and continues his walk down to the Williams garage with Liam on his heels. “Have you seen the other two at all?” 

“Her and Logan walked down to the William's garage together. That was about twenty minutes ago.” 

On their trek to the end of the paddock, They end up running into George. The second British Omega on the grid. He’s pacing outside of the garage and Oscar has to bite back a gag at how distressed he smells. “George?”

“Oscar! They won’t let me in.” He’s raking fingers through his and getting increasingly more distressed the longer they are stuck outside. “He sent me a text saying something happened, but didn’t elaborate. I can feel his anger.” 

Oscar, because he has no idea what to do in this scenario, sends Liam with George to find Lewis, or Carlos, or Max, or Lando, or anyone else who might know what to do right now because he has no idea. He just needs to see the other half of his mates or he’s going to lose it. 

He tries to flag down anyone in the vicinity, only to be ignored. He’s about ready to come unhinged until he gets the attention of James. The alpha team principal keeps his distance - the invisible boundary line the only thing keeping Oscar from shaking the information out of him. Only, James doesn’t just smell like James. No - he smells like Oscar’s other two omegas. Both of which must be in heat. 

He tries to breathe; reign himself in so he doesn’t lose it and end his entire career (though he will if it comes down to it). “Where are they?” If there is a growl laced within the question, he can’t be bothered to care.”

James looks like he might jump into an explanation of some kind, but gets foiled by Alex. The beta looks pissed. The kind of anger that shows in every movement. 

“JAMES!” While Oscar flinches at the olders tone, James remains calm. It's aggravating in a way. “Tell Oscar what you did or I will.”

James sighs and motions for the Australian to follow him. Alex can't growl, but the way he's seething tells Oscar that he would if he could. It's ironic to think that between the three of them, Alex is the most angry compared to the two alphas trudging through the garage.  

James gestures for him to go inside. The scent leaking through the cracks in the door is terribly seductive and Oscar has to dig his nails into the palm of his hands to ground himself. “Neither of them were supposed to be in heat this early. All four of us are synced and just went through this a month ago.” he stares down the older alpha for an explanation. 

He takes an inventory of his own body. His own reaction to his mates in heat is more… intense. Like he can't keep himself off them. Currently he feels more protective than anything. 

“since James won't tell you, I will-”

“It's team business!” 

“Not when the safety of others is concerned!” 

James makes a lunge for Logan but Oscar matches his speed and steps in front of him. He wants to retch at how awful James smells at the moment. 

Four pairs of footsteps from the direction they had come from. Liam and George have managed to find them and dragged Carlos and Lando as well. It's terribly comforting to have more people around. 

“what's going on?” Lando whines at the door the closer he gets. “Is Logan in heat? But didn't he just have one?” 

Alex is much taller than Oscar, but the beta appreciates the gesture given the nature of how betas usually are towards anyone else. “Oscar, why don't you, me, George and James speak about this in his office. Carlos can come too, if you'd like.” 

“yeah - yeah okay. I need to know what happened.” He looks around for Liam and pulls him away from James. “Sorry - I don't know what's happening. I didn't mean too-” 

Liam attaches himself to the alpha and noses at his neck. “I'll take care of them while you're gone. Lando is going to stay also.” 

Oscar nods, kisses his head, and drags himself away. He doesn't want to go anywhere but inside that room. Be it biology or his own mind, clearly something is wrong and he would desperately like to be there for the people he loves. Still, Liam is here and that makes things better. They aren't alone. 

They settle into chairs in James’ office. Carlos opts to stay by the door watching everything going on outside. “Why are they taking apart Logan's car?” 

Oscar blinks at him. They're what?” 

“I crashed the car and broke the chassis. James decided to punish Logan for it. But that's not even the worst part!” Alex looks expectantly to his team principal. A silent urge for him to tell his own story. He gestures for Alex to come continue on and the beta rolls his eyes. “Logan and y/n walked here together. James summoned them into the office together. He told Logan he was going to give me his car. Obviously, I said no and…” 

George shuffles his way over to Alex. The physical contact between the two seems to lessen Alex's rising emotions. “It was probably my fault, since I kept saying no.” Alex throws a packet of heat inducers on the table. “I was restrained. James didn't show he had a whole package - just dissolved way over the recommended amount into a cup and commanded Logan to drink it. She got to it first so he didn't have to drink it, and downed the entire thing in seconds.” 

“That doesn't explain Logan’s-”

“He had more and just repeated it. Then he used that fucking voice to get them to not tell anybody and lock themselves away.” Alex looks like he's on the brink of tears. “I'm sorry, Oscar.” 

Oh - the rage that's building beneath his skin. He moves to throw himself at James, but is foiled by Carlos. “You can't help from jail.” 

Which, the Spaniard isn't wrong, so Oscar goes limp in his hold. He takes a few ragged breaths to force himself to calm down. “It's not your fault Alex, at all. Sounds to me like it's a move to cover his own ass.” 

“Alex is out best chance-” 

“Bullshit! I just murdered my car!” 

The door to the office is thrown open and Oscar has no time to react to the fact Max and Daniel, his pack alpha and omega - respectively, got word of this. 

“Did we need to alert the entire grid, Alex?” 

Max openly, and without hesitation, growls at the team principal in question. Daniel hits him upside the head to get him to stop. “Where’s Logan at?”

“My driver doesn’t need anymore assistance, Daniel-” 

All of them (aside from Alex) Descend into a fit of threatening noises. “Really? Because heat inducers can fuck up anyone’s body on a normal dose. Trust me James, I’ve been in this scenario with my own team.”

Briefly, Oscar recalls Lando talking about McLaren trying to induce Daniel’s heat without his knowledge. Andrea is a much better team principal and He can vividly recall Lando near sobbing when they were assured that would never happen. 

“In Logan’s room.” 

“Great! Here’s what we’re going to do then.” 

George has to drag Alex away from the Office and back up to his room. The British Omega throws a middle finger at James before he’s out of sight completely. Max is staying with James until things get sorted out. Which - unfortunately since the laws are so unfair - will mean James gets away scot free. Daniel says he’s going to be subjected to a lecture first. The rest of them head back to Logan’s room with the intent on getting out of the building. 

“Should I call Andrea and Zak?” Oscar looks desperately at Daniel for instructions. He’s never had to leave so suddenly and has no clue if there is a protocol for these things or not. 

“No worries, I took care of it. We just need to get them out of the paddock.” the older Aussie pats his shoulder reassuringly. “I’m assuming the four of you aren’t prepared at all?” 

Oscar shakes his head. “We all synched just last month.” 

“Anything you need then? I can send George and Alex on errands. Actually, I’m hoping for that seeing as Alex is desperate to help.” 

“I hope he sees that this isn’t his fault.”

“He’ll come around, I hope you know it’s not your fault either.” 

And here Oscar thought he was hiding it so well. He tries to shake it off, play his own insecurities down. “I’m-”

“Relax mate, Max felt guilty for weeks.”

“But it’s my job to protect them-” The voice crack was unnecessary and completely screwed him over in terms of hiding whatever feeling he had buried.

Daniel turns to face him right outside the door. “You can’t change the past, Oscar. You were never going to be able to stop this from happening. What you can do is help them now because they need you.” 

Oscar nods with newfound determination, and opens the door.

She certainly wouldn’t say it was her greatest decision, definitely one of the easier ones in the moment. She’d downed the drink without a hesitation. 

They’d attempted a nest. Tried to make the room comfortable. The amount of drugs in their systems was not making it easy. Instead opting to throw everything on the floor and try to sleep before they can’t. 

They’d stripped down to undergarments within the last few minutes. The heat steadily building and becoming too much. Still, she lays plastered against Logans body; his scent intoxicating. 

“You didn’t have to do that for me.” He noses at her neck, teeth nipping at the three scars lining her collar bone. 

“Wanted to help, Lo.” She feels like crying. The odd lack of connection bombarded her after James used his stupid voice. “Wanted you to race.” 

The door squeaks open sometime later. After a nap and the first round of what will probably be many. She peaks her head out from around Logan who’s gone defensive from the new intrusion. Only - Liam peaks his head inside and Lando follows before shutting the door again. She whimpers and tries to claw her way to Liam, but is pushed back gently by Lando. 

“He’s grabbing a few things.” She can see him trying to smile gently at her. 

Liam ends up between them, his own shirt off and one of Oscar’s sweatshirts in hand. She makes herself as small as possible to curl up into his side. “Do you two need anything specific right now.” 

“Where’s Osc?” Logan beats her to the question. 

“Talking with James, I believe.” 

The whines are involuntary. That part of her brain still fighting for its life wants to know why he’s not here right now. The overthinking side is claiming it’s because she’s undesirable now. “Does he still want us?” 

Liam coos at her, as does Logan and Lando. “You'll never not be undesirable.” 

“But what about James?”

“What do you mean?” She can feel Liams muscles tense underneath her. She shrinks in an attempt to hide from the new angry scent permeating the room. 

Thankfully, Logan takes over for her. “He used his voice on us. He wanted to give me inducers…” 

She, despite the struggle, rolls herself over Liam and into Logan's lap. “Not your fault.”

“I know-” his desperate whine nearly kills her. And Liam - by the looks of it. He's restraining himself if the way his jaw is tensing is any indicator. 

“Lando, would you mind possibly grabbing mine and Oscar's stuff so we don't have to leave here again if possible?” It's not fair really, that Liam can be bossy and she finds it attractive.  Oscar is also bossy, but he’s the gentle bossy and Logan isn’t bossy at all. Wow - her stupid hormones have her drooling over this and she doesn’t even know what this is. 

Liam makes up a list for Lando and the Brit runs off to collect the items. She wonders how long Oscar is going to be and if the ache in between her legs will let up until they can leave. 

It’s the only thing on her mind. It’s also now all over her thighs. An unfortunate circumstance where there are no towels on the ground. At this rate she might die if she can’t do something about these feelings and the longer she waits the more desperate she becomes. 

“Do you need something, darling?” Her hazy mind decides that now is a great time to register that she’s grinding into Liam's leg. She doesn’t stop though. If anything - she can’t, because he has a hand on her hip urging her to continue. “Only one of me at the moment, is this okay for now?” She makes a weak sound and makes a mess of herself and Liam’s poor thigh. Not like Logan is doing any better. They both smell good like this. 

She has no idea how much time passes, the endless amount of work she’s having to do finally wears her out enough to relax for the time being. 

“I guess I should’ve stripped all the way, huh?” She’s too tired to be embarrassed about Liam’s teasing comments. She barely even notices Liam attempting to clean her up. Her mind is too far gone. Enough that her and Logan are both ready to go again after a few measly minutes.

They don't get very far, instead scrambling under whatever is available as the door swings open. Liam is hissing at the intruder, only to see Oscar and Lando poke their heads inside. 

“Hey Daniel, I think maybe we’ll stay here for the time being and then when the traffic of the paddock dies down we can try and leave.” 

Daniel also slips into their space. She makes a lunge for either of the two Australians. Oscar is quick to react to her movements and get her to stay put underneath the little amount of covering she has. 

Lando drops the bags of stuff he was holding and tries to smile at them before he leaves. Unfortunately, his sad scent gives away his true feelings. She wonders if he knows the full story now since Oscar definitely does. 

It’s just her, her mates, and Daniel now. The pack Omega is hovering by the door and is clearly ready to leave them to their own devices. “Keep in mind that reactions to heat inducers are unpredictable but fast. You’ll only be in “heat” for about a day. Then you’ll just be sick, but we’ll take it as it comes.” 

Daniel reminds Oscar to text him if they need anything and then leaves them alone. Which - she likes Daniel, but being able to jump the bones of her mates sounds all too appealing. 

“James?” Logan looks pleadingly at Oscars for some kind of reassurance. 

“Is going to get an earful from Max and Daniel. Aside from that, he will probably get a slap on the wrist. Alex is ready to kill him though, if that’s what you wanted.”

The three of them find humor despite the nature of the situation. It’s why she loves them so much. The way she can feel safe and taken care of, but still be herself and laugh and give into her own desires. 

Oscar loses his own clothes. The fireproofs he was wearing around his waist come off in record time. 

“You're still going to race, right Osc?”

“We’ll see-” Oscar nearly jumps when the three of them whine and pout in unison. “I take it that you want me to race?” 

“We’ll make do without you.” 

“Hey!-”

“Liam is good for something after all!” Logan wheezes in laughter. Only for Liam to grumble and decide enough is enough. He takes Logan by the hips and slams right into him. 

She looks between the two of them and Oscar. She leans up to his ear, fully intent on whispering to him but gets a little distracted by his scent while shifting around.

“Need something?” 

Finally, she surrenders herself to the haze knowing she has all her mates with her. “Just you three.”