#but right as i was going to call the cops i realized all the stores the cards were used were literally within a 10 minute walk of our date

[cinematicnomad]

so my wallet was stolen. either last night (the last time i remember seeing my wallet) or this afternoon (when i was out and about), but i suspect it was stolen while on my date!! bc all the fraudulent charges (over $8k worth!! on my personal cards AND my work card) were made like 15 min away from where we were. and my true crime paranoia brain wonders if he had anything to do with it bc he ended the date v suddenly literally right about when i now know was the first fraudulent charge and made no mention of meeting up again. which at the time i chalked up to it just being an average date but now i wonder if its bc he helped fucking rob me. which i have no proof of but. what the fuck.

which as i was typing this, one of the banks called me back to tell me some other places the thief’s tried to use my card and told me that they’re usually v fast so it would be surprising if it was stolen last night and when i told him my theory he was like “i would trust your gut on this” and said that in cases like this, usually the victim is targeted and that's what he assumes happened here.

anyway! fuck my life!!

[bruisedboys]

Eddie loves his shy girl so much, he’ll always call her “my girl” or “the wife” “the mrs” around others just to watch how red she gets 🥹🥹 but soon he finds that calling her the wife feels natural and right, he realizes she’s the only girl he ever wants

he totally does omg. bro def calls you his wife with absolutely no shame. thank u for the ask angel!!

summary: eddie calls shy!you a lot of names. all of them make you flustered beyond belief

shy!fem!reader 1k words

Steve’s invited you all to drinks to celebrate him and Robin finally copping a job that isn’t slinging ice cream or sitting behind a video store counter all day. Eddie’s helping you pick out an outfit. It’s taking longer than you’d expected. Something about posing for Eddie makes you so nervous you can barely walk.

“Are you done yet?” Eddie’s voice on the other side of the door is far from impatient, even though it should be by now.

You grumble something incoherent instead of answering. Eddie heard you and laughs.

“Y/N,” he says seriously. The effect is ruined because you can hear his smile in the way he says your name. “We’re gonna be late, baby. Come out and show me the dress. I bet this is the one.”

You stare at yourself in the mirror for a few seconds. It is a nice dress. It’s a good length and makes your chest look nice, the colour looks pretty on your skin. Still, you’re embarrassed. You don’t like dressing up. It feels attention-seeking.

You scrub your face with both hands and take a big breath. “Alright, fine.”

You turn away from the mirror before you can stop yourself and yank the bathroom door open. Eddie’s waiting for you on your bed, sitting pretty, if a little slouched. He has bad posture. But his back goes rigid when he sees you — he sits up straight and lets his jaw drop.

“Babe,” he half-whispers, totally in awe, his eyes blown wide. He’s definitely laying it on thick but you can sense the genuineness underneath it all. His eyes traverse a path down your body and back up again, leaving your skin burning. And he hasn’t even touched you yet. “Baby. Honey. Darling. You look amazing.”

You flush all over despite yourself. “Eddie,” you say, chiding.

Eddie pretends to look offended. “What?” He leaps off the bed and gets one hand around your waist, the fabric of your dress shushing under his touch. “I’m serious, Y/N. You’re a real stunner, you know that?”

His other hand finds your elbow and pushes all the way up to your bicep, his fingers pressing into your skin. You burn like a furnace where he touches you. You knew this part was coming.

“Thank you, Eddie,” you say, genuine underneath all the shyness.

Eddie looks like he’s about to say something more but you’re saved from his doting by the phone next to your bed ringing loudly. You make to get it but Eddie beats you to it.

“Hello?” He says into the phone, sounding half-annoyed. “Oh. Hi, Steve. Yeah, no, we’re coming. The Mrs is just getting ready.” A pause in which Eddie meets your eye and winks. You flush even worse than you already were. Eddie goes back to talking to Steve. “Uh-huh. Yeah, we’ll be there in ten. Bye, Harrington.”

Eddie puts the phone back and you try to compose yourself. The Mrs, he’d called you. You feel like you could die.

Meanwhile Eddie’s grabbing his jacket from the bedpost and shrugging it on. “He’s badgering us about being late,” he says, pushing his arms through the sleeves. “We better get going, dove.” He looks up at you, half in his jacket. “Do you need me to carry anything for you?”

My heart? You think. Then maybe your chest wouldn’t hurt so much. You shake your head.

“No, um. That’s okay.” You push your hair behind your ears and try not to show how much he’s undone you with his antics. “I’ll just grab my purse.”

Eddie smiles at you. “Okay. I’ll meet you in the car?”

You nod. “Yeah.”

Ten minutes later you’ve arrived at the bar and Eddie’s leading you inside with a hand at the small of your back. He smells good, like the cologne you’d bought him forever ago that he wears basically every day.

You step inside the semi-crowded bar and Eddie spots your friend group before you do.

“They’re over there, by the window,” he says, pointing. “C’mon.”

He takes your hand and pulls you in the direction of your friends. You let him guide you and he pleases, his hand a warm weight in yours. You stare at the back of his head until you arrive at the table. Steve, Robin, Nancy and Jonathan are all here.

“Munson!” Robin cheers. Your eyes zero in on the drink in her hand and you think she’s maybe already a bit tipsy. Then she spots you and beams. “Y/N!”

You smile back. “Hi, Robs. Hi, everyone, sorry we’re late.” You give a sheepish laugh and glance at Eddie. “My fault.”

“It was worth it though, right?” Eddie says enthusiastically, to the group at whole. He throws an arm around your shoulder and jostles you gently. “Doesn’t my girl look great?”

My girl. Your face burns. There’s a chorus of agreement from around the table — it makes you feel better but not better enough that you’re not still flushing furiously.

“Eddie,” you mumble, avoiding everyone’s eyes and staring at the tabletop instead. You elbow him in the side, too gentle for what you feel he deserves.

Eddie laughs loudly. “What?” He asks, even though he knows exactly what.

You huff and wish the floor would swallow you up. When it doesn’t, you let Eddie pull you into the booth next to Robin. It’s a tight squeeze and Eddie’s thigh presses into yours, his jeans warm and rough on your skin where your dress rides up your thighs.

You think Eddie notices this too because he lets his hand fall to your lap instead of his own, spreading his hand over your thigh, his fingers grazing your bare skin. He squeezes you and you try not to show how much he affects you.

“Drinks?” He asks you, like everything is completely normal and you’re not a nervous, flustered wreck right now.

“Okay,” you say, unable to get more than one word out.

Eddie grins wolfishly. You think he’s probably planning on being like this all night. You don’t mind as much as you should.

-

“Okay,” you say, unable to get more than one word out.

Eddie grins wolfishly. You think he’s probably planning on being like this all night. You don’t mind as much as you should.

-

[neochan]

SERIES MASTERLIST LINK | remember this is just a mere side story / prologue of sorts <3

PAIRING. jaemin x reader

SYNOPSIS. the first time you meet na jaemin, he steals your favorite midnight snack and follows you home...well, not exactly.

WC. 1k

A.N. let's give some background to how mc and jaemin met for the first time

The boy with the pink hair was kind of an asshole.

“I found them first!” he whines, clutching the last bag of your favorite chips against his chest. His eyes were the size of saucers, mask hanging haphazardly off of one ear. His hair, a bright shade of bubblegum pink, curled underneath his earlobes.

He was a bit taller than you, but if you time it right, you could (in theory) snatch the chips out of his hands, throw your money on the counter and run out of the store.

“Don’t even think about.” He deadpans.

You knew the convenience store housed some weird people at this hour, but you didn’t realize they could read minds, “I’m not thinking anything.”

He nods his head, “Good. Then if you’ll excuse me…” he tries to slide past you, but you grab onto his hoodie.

“Please! I need those chips. They’re my favorite, and my roommate ate all my other ones.”

It wasn’t fair. All you wanted was a midnight snack, but of course your roommate, Jennie, had to eat all of your chips and then leave the empty bag in the cupboard waiting for your discovery.

With your hand fisting his hoodie, he stumbles back, “Look lady, that’s not my issue. Just go to another store.”

Exasperated, you throw your hands up into the air, “The only other one open this late is a mile away!”

“Then get a taxi!” His nose scrunched up when he spoke. It was honestly kind of cute.

You smile sweetly, “How about you get a taxi, and give those chips to this poor damsel in distressed.”

“Damsel? You about nearly ripped my hoodie when you grabbed onto it!?” he was obviously joking, his eyes crinkling at the corners when he smiled.

“Please!” the last thing you wanted to be doing at one in the morning was begging a stranger for chips, yet here you were.

He holds the bag behind his back, “I’m not giving them to you.”

The lady behind the counter looks up in your direction, but quickly buries her nose back into her book in an uninterested manner.

“I’ll give you ten bucks.” You reach into your pocket and pull out a wad of cash.

“Okay first of all, it isn’t safe running around with that cash on your person.” He remarks, “And second, I found them first,” he throws a hand out in your direction, “Now move so I can check out and enjoy them.”

You put your hands on your hips and spread your legs so that you were blocking the aisles exit, “No.”

“I don’t even know you man, just move!” Maybe if he gently pushed you out of the way? No, that wouldn’t work. You were causing a scene as is. That would just make it worse.

“I’ll – I’ll call the cops!” you blurt out.

He stares at you for a minute and then erupts into a belly laugh, doubling over and crushing the chip bag in the process. You nearly screech when you hear the crunch of the chips being broken into bits.

“Call the cops? For entering a store and buying a bag of chips?” tears were forming in his eyes and he couldn’t catch his breath.

“Well… no. not exactly” you grumble.

You fold your arms against your chest in defeat, “I hope you know you’re ruining my life right now.”

He reaches out and pats your shoulder condescendingly, “I’m sure you’ll get over it.”

You watch him walk past you, and sigh. There go your precious chips. The last bag in the store. The last bag probably ever. Your mood turns sour as you head to the next aisle over, hoping to find an alternative.

“I’ll be damned.” you gasp.

Sitting on the shelf in plain sight, right next to the snickers bars is the bright yellow bag that contains what your were just fighting over. Your cheeks heat up in embarrassment. You really made a fool of yourself over a bag of chips in front of some random cute boy, and there were some the next aisle over!

What even is my life, you think.

When you walk up to the checkout, you realize the pink haired boy had left.

“Find everything okay?” the clerk asks, ringing up your snack.

“Yeah.” She had heard the whole argument, so why was she even asking?

She hands you your change and the receipt, “Here, this is from the guy you were talking with.” She presses a torn edge of notebook paper into your hand.

“Oh, uhm, thanks.” Heat creeps up your spine.

“Yeah, no problem, have a good night.” She waves when you walk out of the door and onto the empty street.

The walk home was silent. No one was out this late since it was a school and work night. You reach your dorm building and begin climbing the stairs.

You unfold the piece of paper and scribbled in messy ink, it says, ‘Sorry I took your chips :/ I promise to enjoy them. Here’s my number if you want to have another midnight argument. 555 – 555 – 5555’.

You’re smiling like an idiot, not paying attention when you walk directly into someone, slamming against their chest and dropping your chips on the ground.

“Shit, sorry!” Looking up, you see the familiar pink hair of the convenience store guy, “Ah come on! No way!”

“Okay, you ran into me!” he says, bending down to retrieve your snack, “looks like you found another bag of chips though.”

You huff in embarrassment, “So what. Why are you standing outside of my dorm room?”

“Your dorm?” He looks to where you’re staring, “ No fucking way.” A shit eating grin plasters itself on his lips.

He points to the door across from yours, “I live there.”

“This would only happen to me, I swear.” You rub your tired eyes with one hand.

“I wasn’t stalking you; I promise. My roommates locked me out.” Annoyance flashes behind his eyes, “they won’t be back for a few more hours and I don’t have a spare key, so I was going to sit outside.”

You can’t believe the words that rolled off of your tongue so easily, but by time they were out, you couldn't take them back, “Come on, you can stay with me until they get back. My roommates not home.”

Maybe you’d get used to the boy with pink hair.

A.N. the timeline for this fic is set during the end of freshman year!

[cakerybakery]

If you’re still accepting adamsapple writing suggestions: Adam is pregnant with Lucifer’s baby, and his father-of-humanity paternal instincts are telling him to build a stash of food and skins before the child arrives.

I am! Hope this works for you

Lucifer searched high and low for his work gloves. He didn’t need them, really. It wasn’t like his tools could do any real harm if his hand slipped. It just hurt and he would bleed, and then he had to clean that up. The leather gloves were useful.

After half an hour, he gave up. Lucifer went back to his workshop and went to grab his work apron.

It was gone.

It had just been here.

He sighed and sat down. He would just get shavings on his clothing and be careful while he painted. Lucifer told himself it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like he couldn’t snap his fingers and fix his clothing. Lucifer set to work.

A few days later he searched the whole kitchen for the peanut butter. They just bought some! Lucifer remembered it distinctly. Adam insisted on buying a couple of the large jars. Honey too.

Actually Adam had insisted they needed to stock up a lot of shelf stable foods.

Never in his existence had Lucifer purchased canned fruit and fruit cups. But Adam had been so certain he needed it that Lucifer stopped arguing. He helped Adam fill up two carts of things like granola bars, different nut butters, crackers, preserved fruit and pickled items. The idea of eating a pickled egg turned Lucifer’s stomach but Adam said he wanted to eat them all, right there in the store.

He waited until the car.

But now the cupboard looked bare of anything they bought. There should be a hundred jars of pickled carrots, asparagus, beets, tiny ass onions, and eggs. Where are all the cans of tuna? The canned chicken and ham? They had bought out the beef jerky, but it was gone.

Lucifer grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl. At least they still had that. Maybe Adam put the food in the cellar? He’d have to remember to ask later.

Adam was constantly rearranging things lately. Perhaps he moved them.

He tossed the banana skin and headed to the den to watch some tv. Lucifer rarely watched TV anymore.

For a few years after Lilith left he became one with his couch. When he finally pried himself up one day, Charlie had moved out. Who knows for how long. He avoided it these days, too many bad associations of that dark time.

But there were special occasions where he watched TV. Like when Charlie’s new ad was going to air.

He crossed the den to turn on the tv, his boots clacking on the hardwood floor, when he paused. He stepped again.

Clack.

Again.

Clack.

That wasn’t right.

Lucifer looked down and did a little turn in disbelief. Where the fuck was that bear skin rug? Adam had gifted it to him.

He had killed the bear himself and gifted the hide to Lucifer. It still took Lucifer a month to realize the mountain of bear meat Adam had gifting to Charlie and him was how Adam flirted.

Adam was proving he could care for Lucifer and Charlie. It was funny, no matter how advanced the world gets, Adam still held onto so many of his instincts.

Lucifer thought about calling the cops. But who would break into the king of hell’s home and steal his bear skin rug?

It was far more logical that Adam moved it. Lucifer didn’t know why. But Adam had rearranged their bedroom the week before, claiming it just needed to be changed.

Adam vacuumed and scrubbed the floors and walls of their bedroom and ensuite bathroom. The drapes had been taken down and had the dust beaten out of them. All the linens were washed. All the towels. Every nook and cranny cleaned.

Lucifer had been set to work and using magic only upset Adam, because, “that’s not clean! It needs to smell clean!”

So he did his assigned tasks by hand.

Lately, there was only one place to find Adam. He hardly left their room it seemed like. Now that it was clean and arranged how he liked. It worries Lucifer but the guy seemed content and Lucifer didn’t want to upset him by suggesting something was wrong.

He opened the door and poked his head in. Lucifer was about to ask about the rug but it was lying on the bed.

A frustrated Adam was pacing the floor and clicking furiously on his phone.

As Lucifer went in he noticed that there were now drawers under the bed. He gave that an eyebrow raise. When had that happened?

“Adam? You okay?”

“No! The cowhide I wanted is on back order! It won’t be here for another month! I don’t have a month!”

“I see you moved the rug.” Lucifer closed the door behind him and nodded at the rug on their bed.

Adam just hummed and continued to pace. A hand slipped down and rested on his belly.

Lucifer had noticed that as well. The past several months Adam touched his stomach more. Lucifer had tried to be reassuring. He liked the weight gain. Adam was looking hotter.

Adam took the compliments but still hid in loose clothing. Still put a hand to his belly like he was thinking about the weight gain. Staring off into the distance. Sometimes not allowing Lucifer to touch him.

At least he always look happy. But he was going to the doctor’s a lot. Adam refused to let him come. Got jittery about it.

Jealousy had flared up in Lucifer months ago. He’d followed Adam sure, just positive, that Adam was cheating. But he went to a doctor’s office like he said he was going to do.

Lucifer looked up the doctor. Doctor Jillian Hutters OB/GYN. He felt an immense sense of relief when he looked her up. Adam wouldn’t cheat on him with some sinner woman.

Sinners were all his descendants. Adam didn’t fuck descendants. It was nice that he was visiting his many times great grandchildren. Lucifer never questioned Adam again. Every bit of curiosity at Adam behaviour Lucifer squished down and told himself he was probably just getting jealous again over nothing and to let it go.

Lucifer followed as Adam paced nervously across the bedroom.

Suddenly Adam paused and tensed. He let out a muffled scream and panted once it was done.

“Adam? Are you okay?” Lucifer reached up to touch him when Adam whipped around.

“Get out!” Lucifer was shoved out of the room and it was slammed shut and locked behind him.

He pounded on the door for several minutes. Lucifer could teleport or open a portal or simply blow the door off its hinges but when he hard Adam cry out again doctor Hutters jumped to the front of his mind.

Pacing he called the office. If Lucifer was a less prideful man he might have been ashamed of his behaviour on the phone. Instead he welded his power as king like his dick and commanded the sinner to come to the palace.

When she arrived half an hour later she shoved her coat into Lucifer’s hands and followed the sound of Adam screaming.

By the time Lucifer got up to the bedroom the door was slammed shut in his face again.

It was only a couple minutes but he was sent for clean linens. The doctor opened the door just long enough to take them from Lucifer. Then he was sent for ice chips. He created those with a snap.

Outside the door he paced for hours as Adam’s screaming grew more intense and closer together. He wished now the walls were thinner so he could hear what the doctor was saying.

Suddenly it stopped and Lucifer was about to tear the door down to find out why it had suddenly gone silent when the door opened.

“Congratulations, dad. It’s a boy.” She stood aside and allowed the confused king to come inside.

The afternoon light filtered through the windows and on the bed Adam rested against the headboard, holding a small bundle of blankets.

Lucifer’s arms shook as he climbed onto the bed and crawled across the mattress to Adam.

He gave Lucifer a tired smile, and turned the bundle toward Lucifer. A little sleepy face peaked out. It yawned and blinked up at him.

Adam handed the boy over and Lucifer loved him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucifer asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

“I was afraid of getting your hopes up and losing him. What it would do to you. I hoped. If he didn’t make it, then at least you wouldn’t have time to love him before he was buried. Like the others.”

The graveyard of Charlie’s siblings. A place just out of sight, but never far out of mind. The ones that never made it. So many were just headstones to remember that for a bit, they had hoped that this time, this time it would work.

“He’s healthy.” The doctor interrupted their dark thoughts. “I’ll alert the home care team to come and do the follow ups. I’ve written down his birth information on this card.” She handed over a blue card containing his weight and height and time of birth. “Congratulations again, your highnesses.”

She left them and saw herself out.

“You still should have told me.” Lucifer didn’t want to make Adam feel bad, he just wasn’t as fragile as Adam seemed to think. “Next time, tell me, okay?”

Adam agreed. “I’m starving. You want a snack?” He winced as he leaned over the bed, opened a drawer, and pulled out peanut butter and crackers.

“I was looking for that! Is there where the food ended up?”

“I needed it close by. For after the baby was born. So we wouldn’t have to leave the room.” Adam flushed as he settled back against the headboard to eat his food.

Lucifer scooted back with him and took a couple crackers. He hadn’t noticed in all the worrying but he was hungry. That banana didn’t last long.

They polished off the sleeve and Adam was looking ready to sleep when the doorbell rang.

Passing over the baby for Adam to cuddle, Lucifer went to the front door.

His cellphone buzzed on the floor. Lucifer figured he must have dropped it when the doctor came in and not noticed.

He picked it up and saw the numerous missed calls and texts from Charlie.

Lucifer didn’t need to hear or read the messages to guess that Charlie was probably freaked out by the lack of response. He opened the door to a few people that doctor Hutter sent, gave them directs up to the bedroom, and called Charlie.

It barely rang when Charlie picked up. “Dad! Are you okay? What happened? Why haven’t you been answering my calls?”

“Everything is fine. But you should come visit tomorrow. There’s someone I want you to meet.” Lucifer explained what happened and apologized for missing her commercial.

Charlie didn’t care. She was too excited about the baby and promised to come over tomorrow afternoon and let them rest.

Lucifer passed the nurses on the stairs and they congratulated him once more. He crawled into the bed with Adam and the baby. Both were asleep.

Pulling the blanket up and over them, Lucifer stuck a hand under his pillow to settle in for a nap as well.

He grasped something under the pillow and pulled it out.

His work gloves!

[random-imagines-blog]

Imagine Arthur Curry inadvertently hurting your feelings.

Earlier that week, he was at it again. Arthur, with his constant talk about how Atlantis is so full of adventure and excitement, when he’s not sitting on the throne anyway, so many different stories about a whole separate life that he lived down there. “You don’t get it - they almost started taking me too seriously down there!” Which sounded like the truth, because the council was always pulling him away from his fun and games - but most importantly, you. So it hurt when he would stay down there for longer than he needed, just to ride Storm around and try to race other creatures.

Yes, Arthur was the King of Atlantis, but as a human woman, you would never get to be the Queen, therefore half of his life was separated from you. He didn’t have to keep reminding you of it though - the empty bed in the morning, the dishes left in the sink, the stories he’d tell while drinking beer after beer on your couch - they did that for him.

Arthur, though he hadn’t meant to, hurt you whenever he forced you to remember that you weren’t ever going to be a part of every facet of his life, like you had invited him to be in yours.

The final blow was when he had come in three hours late for your anniversary dinner, and seemed like he had entirely forgotten about it. You had already eaten the nice dinner that you had made, changed out of the dress that you bought for this occasion into your pajamas, and were laying out by the television, watching Legally Blonde and totally agreeing with the scene where she throws the chocolates at her own television, claiming men are liars. In came Arthur, proving that point.

If the neighbors didn’t call the cops, you would be lucky at that point, because you sat up with tear tracks running down your face, and you let him have it. “Arthur, I get it, okay, you’re the King and you have all of these responsibilities and I’m so proud of you, really, I am. Your accomplishments are great, but - do you know how much it just hurts me, exhausts me, to know that … that you don’t belong with me up here, that you’ll probably fall in love with someone down there who can experience all of those things that you love and .. one day you’ll just leave me here, all alone?”

From the look on his face, he really hadn’t known a thing about how you were feeling.

“And another thing! Arthur, you missed our anniversary, to do .. what? You better have a good reason for it, for not even trying to call me because … because it broke my heart tonight,” You said, letting out a deep breath that it felt like you had been holding onto for ages. He looked surprised, and then he looked guilty and ashamed of himself, which - as bad as it sounded, made you feel validated.

“I’m sorry. Your night was wasted and - I’m really sorry for that.” Arthur hung his head down, his bushy brown hair creating a curtain around his head. Then he knelt down in front of the couch, taking both of your hands in his, stroking the back of them. When he finally looked at you, there was only apologies and love in there, and it made your heart beat faster, the sensation of what his presence had always done to you taking over again.

Arthur’s eyes were so light right then, like the ocean on a sunny day. “If there’s anything that I can do to make it up to you…”

Secretly, you had a whole list of things in your head that he could do. Arthur could get on his knees and beg your forgiveness, or he could make you dinner instead of you doing it for him, or he could bring you to the old dance-hall and give you a twirl on the dance floor like he had on one of your dates, but at the same time, you wanted him to come to these realizations on his own.

He looked so earnestly at you. He looked so ready to do anything that you would ask of him, even if it was something silly like do the chicken dance or run to the only open store on the other side of town and get your favorite snacks. For you, anything.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” You sighed, bringing his hand up to your cheek and nuzzling it softly - almost using him as a tissue to get rid of the last of your tears. He didn’t seem to mind this either, his thumb grazing under your eye to catch the smudged mascara. “Some of me wants to know what you were doing out so late, should I even ask?”

“Shit, I was being an idiot,” He admitted, looking away bashfully. “You said you might have had to work today so I spent most of the night preparing for us to celebrate tomorrow…”

Your eyes went wide as you remembered that you had told him that. That you hadn’t told him you took the night off, because you were hoping that this was going to be a surprise. He continued on. “I don’t know much beyond burgers and beers but I was at that new place downtown, the fancy one - I had to go there and talk them into giving me a reservation for tomorrow night - apparently they were booked up but for me, they’ll put in an extra table.”

Oh, you felt the love then, how could you not? You let go of his hands and flung your arms around him, holding him tight after cursing him all evening, mentally chiding yourself for doubting this amazing man for even a moment.

Requested by: Anonymous

[mandy-asimp]

the two year teacher

pairing: Melissa Schemmenti x black!fem!reader

warnings: language, smut, mentions of bullying, smut mommy kink, rough ish, cunnlings, fingering, love confession

summary: y/n is a very big CEO of her own company. and when her daughter comes home talking about her teacher she’s had for the second year in a row, y/n just goes with it. but when she meets a red head at the grocery store, she never would've put her as a teacher. then when y/n's daughter gets into a mishap, a lot happens

a/n: she has me kicking my feet and twirling my hair. im so deadass fr.

“Mommy! You’ll never believe it!” Your eight year old came running into your home office. You prepared for her to jump into your lap, so you opened up for her to not get hurt. “My teacher from last year is my teacher this year again!”

“Really?” You took all your attention onto her. “So you’ll know how to behave right? Be on your best behavior for her?”

You daughter nodded before running off again. “Hey Nance?” You called for your neighbor who was over for a drink. Smiling kindly as she appeared. “I’m gonna run out to go grab stuff to make dinner, can you watch Mimi?”

“Of course, I’ll have her play in the living room.” She softly nodded and walked away.

You saved your file and got ready to head out. And it was all fine and dandy, till you were at the store. You had planned to make your daughter’s favorite pasta, seeing as she was starting school tomorrow.

Just as you reached for the perfect tomato, your hand bumped into someone else’s. You looked up to meet the nicest green eyes, yet they held fire and furry.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Please,” you offered for her to go first. Watching as the fire and furry disappeared. She could only stare at you.

“Do I know you? You look incredibly familiar,” her voice. God you could’ve melted. The rasp, the accent, the volume. You could tell she saw the spark of curiosity run over your eyes.

You gave a small shrug, "Maybe I just one of those faces. Are you making Panzanella?"

Her curiosity for you sparked now. How could you look at her cart and just know? "Italian?" She softly whispered.

You caught it just barely, but didn't acknowledge it at all. Instead you grabbed a few more tomatoes and went on with a smile.

She swore she seen that smile before. She's positive you were meant to be more in her life. But once she came back to her senses, you were long gone. The tomatoes were also in her cart. How were you so quick?

Eventually, you were ready to check out, having everything you needed for the dinner. That's when you saw the red head again. She was standing there staring you down. Like she was waiting for you to finish to ask you something.

You were good at reading people…sometimes. And right now, you couldn't read her fully, but you could sense the confidence and burning question she has for you.

It had you thinking what the question could be for you. After all, she thinks you're Italian. Once you finished and got close to her, she just stared at you.

You held out your hand, "Y/n." You introduced.

"Melissa," she took your hand. Put in awe at how soft your hand was. "You Italian or working with the cops?"

"My mom was, she taught me everything there is too cooking. You must be a Schemmenti." You tilted your head.

She eyed you with caution. "You must be working with the cops."

You quickly dismissed the idea. "I've met enough Schemmenti's to know one when I see one."

Suddenly it seemed you had more control than anyone in the world in this conversation. "I don't think it's fair that you know more about me than I do you."

"Oh angel, I never play it fair. It's how you retaliate." You got closer to her, enough where there was still a distance.

Just as she realized the distance, you were gone. You had this woman absolutely smitten with you and she still couldn’t place that face. And that was the last time either of you saw one another.

Until deep into the school year. Your daughter had came home with a letter for you specifically. "Mimi? What's this?" Through the entire car ride she was quiet. Quieter than usual. You didn't get the whole spew that lasted the entire ride of her day.

She didn't answer at all, instead she put her bag down and started on her homework. Waiting patiently for you to open the letter.

As your eyes scanned over it, you could feel her about to start crying. "Honey, why didn't you say something?" The letter had been from her teacher. "Mimi, look at me baby." Her teary eyes met yours. She knew you were mad, but that look absolutely destroyed you. "I'm not mad at you. Come here, follow me."

You lead her into the bathroom. Sitting her on the sink and facing the mirror. "Do you see that little girl right there? That is my strong, amazing, smart daughter. I'm not mad at you at all. You were so brave. So incredibly brave. And to be honest my love, I've done the same thing as you." Her face lit up at that.

"You beat someone up too?" She flashed that toothy smile. Her head whipping around at you when you nodded. "How?"

You turned her around to face you. "Well, when I was just a little bit older than you, this kid, her name was Ellie. She wouldn't leave me alone ever. And I'm talking everyday she came to bug me. Your grandma had told me to just ignore her. But one day she caught me on the worst day I've ever lived."

"What day was that?" She interrupted, a confused look dawning on her.

"It was the day I told your asshole father I was pregnant with my absolute bundle of joy. And he had yelled at me in front of the entire hall and left me. So Ellie had found me during the day, and she had to say something. I was so angry at what she was saying, the names she was calling me, and what she was saying about you before I even met you. I had enough of her, and I walked away untouched. But you should've seen her. She had to move schools because everyone was making fun of her for getting her shit rocked by a pregnant woman."

"So you're not mad at me?" Mimi stared at you in awe. Her look of absolutely smitten by her mother.

You shook your head, "Of course not honey. You defended yourself and I know you're in trouble with school, but look at me. I had to talk her parents down for pressing charges and had to keep myself together while also moving schools. Don't ever let someone try and tell you what you are and aren't. Cause you'll always know who you are and who you want to be. So, when we go to meet with your teacher in a little bit, you'll tell her everything and defend your name ok?"

"Ok mommy! Can I go play for a little bit?" She beamed. You helped her down with a nod, letting her run off. Glancing at yourself in the mirror, you were in pajamas still.

So you took a few minutes to put on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. A baseball cap sealing down the fly aways. You quickly put yourself together and then worked on getting your daughter ready. Helping her from the school uniform into something similar to what you were wearing.

Together you went into that school knowing what was about to go down. It was only a little bit after the school day actually ended. The door was closed, so carefully you knocked.

The door flying open, "Janine I don't want to come with you I promise!" The voice came before the face. But once the eyes finally met yours, they went wide. "I...What are you doing here?" She fumbled out the question.

Without any words you held up the letter and looked to Mimi. "I believe you were the one who requested me." Meeting her green eyes once more, you flashed that smile.

That's where she's seen it. "Your Mimi's mom? But you're so young?!" You gave a nod, glancing into the classroom at the other mom. Melissa was just staring at you, but she finally snapped back at Barbra coming pass.

"Y/n?" The older teacher lit up at the sight of you. "Oh it is you! Look how you've grown!" Her eyes fell to the kid holding your hand. "Mimi! Baby girl you have grown!"

"Hi Mrs. Howard," you softly gazed. Engulfing the woman.

Melissa was even more shocked. You knew Barbra, and yet the woman has never once mentioned you to her.

"We should catch up soon, a girls day! Say Friday night?" Barbra was quick to plan, knowing you'd make time for her any day.

With a bob of the head, "Of course, you still have my number right? We can plan it further once I'm done with this meeting."

You two had finished the conversation quickly with hugs and bye's. Following the red head into the classroom. You and Mimi sat next to the other mom and her child.

"Right, so I figured you both know why I asked you here. Mimi started a fight with Amber. Now, from what I gathered, it was out of no where?" Her eyes mainly were on the kids. Mostly cause she couldn't bring herself to look you in the eyes. "I'll let Amber go first."

And so the little girl told her story, it was poorly put together for a lie. Even for a child trying not to get in trouble. Her mother smiling like she had won best parent of the year for this. Then it was Mimi's turn, and her story was very well put together. Wiping that smug smile off the mom's face.

After an hour of going back and forth trying to figure it out, it became clear. Amber had been picking on Mimi since last year and today she had said some meaner things. Amber had apologized and everyone was on their way.

The mom and Amber didn't stay long to even look at you, but Mimi was back to rambling about her day to you while you put on her coat.

"And then my day lead to be here again! With my two favorite people!" She glowed, watching as you zipped up her coat.

You puffed, then looked up to Melissa who was hovering over you, "I didn't know I had competition to be the favorite." You joked with a hint of seriousness. "Hey honey, why don't you go see if Mrs. Howard is still here? I'll be right behind you."

She didn't waste a second before running off. Leaving you two alone. You stood back to your full height. "So you're the famous teacher I hear so much about?"

"Huh?" She spat, back in that daze she had at the store. Your light laugh didn't help pull her from the state. "Oh! Like from Mimi! Um, she's a wonderful kid, I mean she probably has amazing parents at home."

"Just me and her in that apartment." You shrugged. Watching the flash of something go through those green eyes. There was a silence now. One eating you alive. "Ok! I'm not gonna try and like take all your time, but I am just going to jump to the point now. I find you very attractive, would you like to go on a date?" You spat out before you could double think it.

Not only did you have to hide how shocked you were, but so did Melissa. You were so forward. Her eyes were wide, "Wait...what?"

"Me and you, alone, Saturday night?" You smiled. Before she answered, you were at her desk writing your number on a sticky note. "Maybe then I'll tell you how I know you're a Schemmenti." You winked. "Goodnight, Melissa."

To say that date was the first of many. You two had done a lot together now. You went with her to a friends wedding. She then came and made dinner with you and Mimi, that was the day you had told her. You both had gone home separately for the holidays though. Both agreeing it was still very early on to meet family.

But now it was summer, more specifically the fourth of July. Your family never truly celebrated it like an all American family, no you celebrated with style. It was the most serious taken holiday. The whole family was going to be there. You had yet to ask her about coming with though.

You had yet to even say the big L word. Yet, you had already talked to Mimi about keeping Melissa around and possibly her becoming her step-mom. She was thrilled to finally hear you say that.

Tonight was your six month anniversary. Almost a whole year spent together. You had invited Mel over for dinner while you sent Mimi to a friend's for the night before the trip to your cousin's. Everything was set in stone for the night.

You finished just as the door opened. "In the kitchen, baby." You called carefully. Trying to calm your nerves of what the night was. Greeting her with kisses all over her face, she knew instantly something was up.

Only cause you did the same thing when you broke her lasagna bowl that she had from her childhood. She ignored you for what was the longest week of your life.

"What?" She frowned. You stayed silent and dragged her to the chair. Straddling and kissing slowly all over her face and neck. Hands carefully trailing her body. but it was stopped the moment her hands pushed yours away. "What's wrong?"

Suddenly your eyes were being threatened by tears. You moved quickly and went to grab her a glass of wine. Handing her hers while you downed yours. Needing the liquid courage more than you anticipated.

You were physically shaking and you knew it as you held the glass with both hands. "Hon, seriously, talk to me?" Her voice even wavered. Her thoughts running with this is where it all ends. The silence killing her as she was positive that was what was happening. "Is this...are you?"

Your eyes widened, "No! No! Um, you've been so incredibly patient with me, and I...I'm ready."

"Are you sure, I'll wait for you forever." She stood up. Coming closer with each and every step. You gave a firm nod, eyes sparkling with want. "Words, baby. I need you to use them."

"I want you." You almost whimpered. Practically throwing yourself into kissing her.

It was heated, but it was so passionate. Every ounce of emotion was thrown into it. You were so lost you didn't notice the thigh press in between yours. Nor the hands that pulled your hips to grind against it. With the sigh you let out, Mel took the chance to slip her tongue in.

Pulling back slightly to stare at your dazed headspace. "Are you alright pretty girl?" She purred.

"Yes, god yes!" You moved your hips on your own, letting a moan free as the thigh flexed.

Melissa smirked, "Such a good girl for me. Why don't we head for the bed huh?"

You frantically nodded and dragged her with you. Desperate to have her on you again. Moving to push her onto the bed while you were on top. Kissing at her in a frantic manner.

"Easy girl, I want you to savor this. Let me do all the work, you relax." She flipped you two. Now she was nestled between your legs. Taking in the sight of you in the short short dress you had on. "Was this all for me tonight?"

You were in such a fuzzy state. Her words, her touches, her kisses, and most of all, the hungry look in her eyes. You were a goner all because of Melissa Schemmenti.

"You look so pretty for me baby girl. That fuzzy look in your eyes. Can I take of this dress?" She fiddled with the hem of your dress, fingers grazing over your hips and near your inner thigh.

"Yes, please..." There was a hesitation in your voice. Melissa with drew her hands.

"Y/n if you're not ready, we can stop." She instantly snapped out of the feeling. She took in how you looked ready to cry. "Hey, hey. None of that, ok? It's ok, we don't have to. I know this is a big step."

A single tear escaped, but the smile on your face said many other things. "I...I love you." You whispered. "Please, Mel. I need you."

Her smile couldn't be hidden. She kissed you hard. Hard and with all the love in the world. "I love you too baby. I love you so so incredibly much."

You felt confidence hearing the words back. And suddenly your hesitation from earlier left. You pulled the back of her neck so you were next to her ear. "Please, mommy. I need you." You licked her shell of her ear. Causing her to shiver greatly.

She had that look again, she was about to take you entirely and you wouldn't know. She was going to make you feel like never before.

"Mommy's gonna take good care of you, I promise angel." Her hands ran under your dress and pulled at your panties, pulling them down and off your thighs. "Whenever you want to stop, just say anything."

"Ok, but please, no more foreplay." Your hips bucked again.

"A needy little thing you are. Did you think of this moment all day? Or did you start thinking about it the day we met?" She spurred you on, her hands pushing your thighs apart. "How good I could make you feel?"

You whined, trying to search for her hand. "Please mommy!"

How could she deny that pretty face? Her hand finally met you where you needed. Making you gasp as she drew tight circles before dipping down toy our entrance and back up. Teasing you till tears.

"You're so sensitive, I've barely fucked you and you already are in tears. You truly must've needed this." She kept talking, but wasn't giving you anything, or so you thought. She slammed two fingers into you, making you cry loudly. She could feel your walls fluttering around her. "Shh, you're ok baby, mommy's right here. You're ok. Just let me know when you're ready." She kissed your forehead. Waiting for your signal.

With a soft head nod, she didn't waste a second. You had figured she start of soft, but you were wrong. Melissa Schemmenti liked it rough. You gave her a power she never knew she wanted the first moment you said mommy.

She brought you over the edge at least three times, you were in no state to remember. With her kisses to your face and the withdrawing of her hand you thought you were done. Until she pulled you down to the edge of the bed.

There she devoured you in ways you never knew existed. And each new way brought you over until you were so overstimulated you had to physically crawl away from her. But you loved every single second.

You came back to her crawling into bed with you. She had changed you from that dress straight into one of her hoodies. "I wasn't too much was I?"

You shook your head, barely able to stay awake. You glanced up to her, "Do you want to come meet my family tomorrow? We're having a big party for the weekend. I want you to meet them all." You got out before falling asleep on her.

"I would love nothing more angel." She kissed your head, falling asleep right after you.

[prismuffin]

I just watched MI:V and I was searching for Ethan son reader fics and yours was the only one 🥺 I'm really grateful for that one though, it was perfect, wonderfully written. I guess my ask is similar and of course you can completely choose to ignore this too. But, yeah, Ethan comes home to get to know that his son is practically off the rails, has fallen into bad company which has given some bad habits too like maybe Ethan catches him smoking or something. Ethan then realises that he has to fix this and be home more often or it can even be that Solomon Lane captures the son to get Ethan to agree to him, anything works. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

A/n: I'm gonna try and filter out some of the asks in my inbox today!! A M:I ask to start off my day- I wrote way more than I planned to with this ask so I just made it a mini fic LMFAO

"You're My Son."

Dad!Ethan Hunt x Son!Reader

( summary: Ethan often worries what affect his absence is having on you and when he takes a break to head home he finds out )

warning?: mentions of smoking and drinking, readers depicted to be a teen of sorts but age is still fluid, semi-angsty? gets kinda sad

!-!more under the cut!-!

Ethan often wonders how his absence affects you, especially during such crucial years of you life and your development. He wishes he was the perfect father, maybe even just a good one but he knows that's easier said than done. On one hand he feels like the world needs him, and on the other, he knows that you do too. The guilt of leaving you to your own devices was catching up to him. No amount of daily calls to home could quell this concerned feeling within him so for the first time in who knows how long he took some time off. It was only two weeks, he just wanted enough time to let you know that he still cares, that he's still there for you, and then he'd go back to work feeling much better knowing that you don't feel like he's forgotten you.

After getting home he was a bit shocked to find you not there but didn't think anything of it, you're young and probably have friends you're hanging out with right now. But after a while it started to get late and dark and you weren't answering your phone so he decided to go out looking for you. He drove around his town searching for you, luckily his job made him very perceptive as it didn't take him long to find you. You stood outside a corner store surrounded by men that were obviously older than you, he watched in shock as you smoked with them, taking a swig of god knows what from a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag. He was furious but that anger quickly turned into something else as he realized his fears were coming true. How could he blame you for something like this when he is obviously the responsible one. He should've been here more.

Flashing his headlights, your group stopped throwing rocks at signs in confusion, and you cursed under your breath as you prayed it wasn't the cops. Who stepped out the car was much worse though in your opinion.

Your father.

He stood by the side of his car with his hands in his leather jacket, staring directly at you with a face that told you, you were in for it. Clicking your tongue, you couldn't help but roll your eyes at him before dropping your cigarette and putting it out with your boot before saying bye to your group as you reluctantly walked up to the car. "Get in, y/n." was all your dad said when you got close enough.

The drive home was silent for only a minute before he spoke up. "Smoking y/n? Really?" You just stayed silent, continuing to look out the window, staring up at the moon. "And don't think I didn't see you drinking either, with older guys? Y/n, that's dangerous-" "They look out for me" You cut him off, daring to look at him. He opened his mouth before closing it with a sigh, not taking his eyes off the road. He thought for a moment, letting go the slight anger he felt at the situation, his eyebrows furrowing in concern as he spoke again. "I know I'm not always around and I'm sorry." His tone was sincere and you looked away from him, maybe it was because what he said made you angry, angry at the fact that it meant nothing. He was sorry? Does that even matter, the damage is already done. "But hanging out with men like them can get you in a lot of trouble." He stopped the car and it was only then that you'd noticed you'd made it back home but neither of you moved, he just simply turned to you with a worried expression. "Trouble I don't want to see you in. And look, I know I haven't been the best dad in the world, I know I'm never around but I still care about you. I think about you all day, everyday, whether I'm on a mission or not I wonder how you're doing without me and my worst fear was that my absence was making you bitter or sad and to see that I was right it's…" He trails off and you glanced at him, seeing the tears that had welled up in his eyes, your own looking quite similar as he placed his hand on your shoulder. "I'm gonna start being here for you okay? Not just with daily phone calls, I mean here." Though the angle was a little awkward with you both being in a car, he hugged you- and no matter how much you wanted to tell him to go fuck himself you couldn't, because you realized you missed him just as much as he missed you. You thought about him all day, everyday, whether you were busy or not. Wondering if he was alright or alive, knowing he risks his life everyday to save thousands if not millions of people.

So you hugged him back and let the tears flow, your grip on him tightening as you heard his next words. "You're my son, and I'm gonna take care of you again."

Ethan called IMF Headquarters that night, requesting much more than two weeks off.

----!----

( This was gonna be an ask but it turned out so long I just kinda made it a mini-fic )

Thanks for reading! Have a great day/night!!

Check my page for my Request Taking Status !!

See my DIRECTORY for upcoming fics!

Masterlist

[hiem3]

smooth operator

18+

warning~ alc0h0l, bar, 3ating out, d0m seokmin, use the word baby, darling, and honey.

summary~ you’re the owner of a bar in the 20’s and it’s illegal to sell/drink alcohol. as an owner you have priorities until, a man comes in with a devilish smile and your whole mindset changes.

author side note: oml i had so much fun writing this! i literally had this plot in mind when i was listening to smooth operator and i was listening to light a flame as well lol~ i hope you guys like this story as much as you liked ceo jeonghan! more stories to come!

It was late at night and you were opening your secret bar. It was the 20’s and booze was illegal so you had to hide your bar from the outside world. only the elites are allowed inside your bar; business men, ceos, wallstreet guys,

and everyone else expect cops. if cops came in you would be gone, your whole business would be over. your bar was hiding underneath a book store named semicolon however your bar was named light a flame after your favorite song.

your bar was boomin and business was going good. however tonight’s business is going especially well “free shots for eveyone!” said a business man “my business is good and so are these drinks woo!” he abruptly sits back down into his seat. you smile and giggle of course because it’s a good atmosphere people are laughing and having fun. you pour the shots and hand it to everyone. everyone says 1..2..3 go! and they all take the shot together expect you of course. Jazz was blaring loud and suddenly you smell smoke. “hey you! can’t you see the no smoke sign?” you point at the sign.

the man was devilishly handsome, tall nose, nice smile, broad shoulder, and whew that build. you get kind of embarrassed once you realize all of this, he puts his lighter and cigarette box away “i’m sorry mrs. 1st time” he said smiling. you blush a little bit and cough “well i guess that’ll be fine but don’t you do that again mr.” “it’s mr. lee but just call me seokmin” he said with a small smile “right..i don’t want no cops showing up here askin why is there smoke coming out of a library shop”. “no no i understand mrs?” he asked his eyes were begging with an answer “mrs. y/l, but you can call me y/n”. “y/n tell me why a book store?” he asked sipping his whiskey “actually this was my father book store but i renovated it to be a bar” you say proudly as you’re cleaning glasses. “you know..alcohol is illegal right?” he says as he’s sipping whiskey. you froze is he a cop? a spy? fbi? he chuckles and you stop being tense. you chuckle as well “my, well then have me arrested” seokmin voice lowers “you know your laugh is cute”. your ears blush “why thank you”

a man drunkly calls for your name “y/-n g..et ov..er he-re!” you smile at seokmin “duty calls” for the rest of the night you attended to everyone and haven’t spoken to seokmin even though he’s been staring at you the entire time. by the night ends there was only him at the bar “it’s 1:00 am in the morning, shouldn’t you be heading home?” you say cleaning up the bar. “yes well, i wanted to have you all to myself before i leave” he responded grabbing your broom away and placing his hand on your waist. you blush, flustered by the way he’s staring into your eyes. “i’ve been observing you seeing how you run this place, it made me curious about you, what more secrets are you hiding?” he says leaning over you “my well.. you know you’re quite forward” you chuckle nervously. he smiles back “i’m only like that when i want something..and you know…i always get. what i want.” it’s as if he’s telling you to fuck him in your bar but you stop yourself and create distance. “well seokmin you’ll have to wait for it” you say dusting yourself and fixing your hair nervously “did i also mention i am also quite patient” he says smiling “well i bid you a good night my darling”. seokmin exists your door and leaves for the night. for the rest of that week you continue thinking about him, wondering when is he going to come back? is what he says true?

every since you met seokmin you’re always looking at the customer who enters the door hoping it was him then on Friday you hear a similar voice. oh that might be him you thought to yourself and it was, however he brought his friends. a man with blonde hair asks for 2 bourbon and 1 scotch. you look over at the table where seokmin was sitting and asked “is it for them?” you point. “ah yes you see my friend over there he was saying how this bar was amazing and the owner hospitality was like no other” he responded “ah thank you, could i ask what your name is? i like to remember my customers” you say smiling. “you can call me seungkwan”. you guys shake hands and you hand him his 2 bourbons and 1 scotch.

as the night goes on, it got chaotic to the point where you didn’t even check on seokmin because you were too busy with customers.

again, when you closed seokmin was the only one left. “don’t you have somewhere to be?” you laugh “actually yes. here with you” he responded smiling as he sips his scotch. “what happened to your other friends?” you ask “they got too drunk and had to leave, they wanted me to come with them but..i wanted to stay here” he says, you notice there was a little bit of blush on your ears which made you blush a little bit. “oh well that’s too bad” you say “you know..you might make me jealous by asking about them” he says wrapping his arms around your waist, hugging you from the back.

“seokmin..i don’t do that one night stand type of stuff” you say“me too..what made you think that i did?” he asks having a concern look on his face. “well i- you know what i’m sorry i shouldn’t have assumed” he turns you around to face him “you should know that i don’t intend to do this with just anyone..” your head starts spinning, your mind is telling you know but your body is telling you go. you hop on him, his arms around your legs to hold you up “is this a yes my love?” he says, you nod. he smiles and says “i’m gonna need you to tell me with your words” you sigh and whisper into his ear “please..fuck me”.

he throws you over his shoulder and puts you down on the bar counter “that’s all i needed, wasn’t that not so hard?” he grins. he starts kissing you, to your neck, chest, thighs, and reaches to your cunt. he spreads your thighs apart and looks up. “i want you to remember every. single. thing. i’m gonna do to you. i want to engrave it into your mind”. he starts licking your clit, twirling around while grabbing your tits. you never felt this way before and you’ve never been fucked inside your own bar. “m-mm seokmin!” you yell “honey, you’re gonna have to lower down your voice, you don’t want the cops to hear you” he smiles. fuck that cocky little devil. he continues eating you out, putting his fingers in and focusing on your clit. it wasn’t enough, you needed bigger. the way he’s eating you and the view you were at, his little cute mole and his nose. you grab his hair and start riding on his nose “mm-m seokmin! i’m close!” you groan. you ride out your orgasm and you cum all over his face, white paint is all over his face. “oh wow..you’re so fucking hot” he licks his fingers and leans over you “put your ass up darling”.

you go down from the bar counter and lean your body on top of the counter. the cool surface on the table feels nice on your tits. “fuck, i can’t hold it in longer..” he puts the tip in and you can already tell it’s big. you’ve had sex with other guys before but you never had this big. he puts it all in and groans “uh-h so warm..” you moan “hm ple-ase move..” something in him lights up. you can tell he got even harder when you said that, he starts grabbing your ass and hitting you deep. your whole core is shaking it feels too good to be true. “you like that huh? you like it when i fuck you like this? hm?” he says grabbing you face and leaning over your body fucking you. “hm-m ye-s” you mumbled. “sorry you’re gonna have to say that louder darling, or is my cock that good that you can’t say anything?” he says grinning. you start uncontrollably moving on his cock. “f-uck!” you moan. “i’m close darling” he says. he starts circling your clit and pumping you even harder, hitting your stomach. “i’m cu-mmingg!” you yell gripping on the edge of the counter, rolling your eyes back and tears dripping down your face. “me too” he says. he grabs your face and you guys start kissing passionately. you came and so did he, “fuck baby that was so good”. your legs gives out “oh shi-“ he quickly grabs you and puts you on top of the counter. you can’t even move your legs “fuck my back is so sore” you hiss and hit him “don’t be fucking me from the behind again!” he giggles and says “i don’t know you seem to like it, but hey if you say so” putting his hands up as if he’s guilty.

you guys both laugh and it’s already 2:00 am, “oh no i gotta head back to work, my break is over..” seokmin says “right now? really? wait- what do you even do?”. he puts on his pants, his jacket, and grabs something from his left pocket as he’s making his way through the door “i’m a cop” he says grinning showing you his badge “bye honey~ see you next time” he says. your jaw dropped opened. you can’t believe you had sex and with a cop!?

[novaksupremacy]

The Veiled Law of Affection-Chapter 7

hey my lovelies, sorry this has taken me so long! I proofread but my brain is also mush post Calculus final. Chapter takes place surrounding the events of S6E1 "Birthright" It's probably also my longest chapter to date 😅😅 angst, cute fluff, svu case talk, and of course your precious smut 😜I promise your next fix (and some one shot Calex stuff) won't take as long.❤️

Pairing: Casey Novak x Olivia Benson

Word Count: 8955

by PKJ @novaksupremacy

Read Part 6    

     “Patricia Branson, 6 years old, guy tried kidnapping her in a park full of people.” The uniform on scene told Liv and Elliot as they followed him to the victim and her father.

            “Anybody see anything? Stabler asked.

            “Only description we got was a white guy in a baseball cap, bystander chased him, but he got away.” The Uni continued.

            Liv scribbled notes down furiously as they walked.

            Elliot pulled the dad off to the side so that Liv could talk to Patty. She sat down in the ambulance using a soft voice to question the little girl. She quickly realized this was not the first time the child had encountered her would-be abductor. The little girl had originally seen who Liv had deduced to be a young adult/ older teenager for the first time outside the grocery store when he offered to let her play with his puppy.

******

            Fin and Munch stood outside the sliding glass doors next to the electronic kiddie ride Patty had described and showed her picture to the grocery store manager.

            “Anybody every use that thing?” Finn asked.

            “Sure,” the manager said with a thick NY accent, “kids ride that thing all the time. You’ll have to ask my employees if they’ve seen the girl though.”

            “What about anyone strange hanging around?” Finn continued to question.

            The manager crinkled his mustache, “Does that include two guys in a blue van?”

            John shot a glance at his partner then back at the manager, “What’d they look like?”

            “Both white, middle aged guy and some teenager with a mutt in his lap. Last week, right by the front door, blocking all my deliveries. Called the cops, Arizona plates and the number. Nobody showed up.”

            “We’ve got a pair of pedophiles,” Finn lamented as they left the grocery store and crossed the street.

            “With their very own perv mobile.” Munch added as they opened the doors to the sedan.

            “SVU Portable I have your plate.” Dispatch said over the radio and proceeded to give information about a complaint made outside Patty Branson’s school.

            “Alright we’re on it,” Detective Tutuola radioed back and hopped into the car.

            As they drove to their next destination John turned to Finn, “Hey you think Liv and Casey joined one of those women’s safety boxing classes or something.”

            Finn contorted his face, “Man where do you come up with this stuff. What makes you think that?”

            Munch shrugged, “I don’t know they’re just always showing up at work with bruises lately. I thought maybe they took up boxing or something. Or maybe they’re going to the bar after work and not inviting us, hanging out with their secret boyfriends while we hang behind and do all the paperwork.”

            Fin did his best to stifle his laughter, “Look man, I will tell you both Benson AND Novak are both seeing someone. But unless they come in with a black eye one day, I’ll let you do your own detective work on the rest of it.”

******

            “Why Patty?” Elliot asked when they realized their mystery men have Patty’s routine down. The park she visits, her school, when she’ll be alone.

            “They’re obsessed.” Liv offered.

            Elliot looked up to see the van parked not far from them, “They’re here. Circle around and call for backup.”

            Fin and Munch pulled up alongside Benson and Stabler’s sedan and rolled down their window to get the briefing.

            “Watch the back of that van,” John said as one of the suspects jumped out, “The big boy, complete with red baseball cap.”

            Cragen and Fin approached the van and banged on the window.

            “It’s an IAB caper Captain” the suspect said to Cragen flashing his shield.

            “What’s todays color then,” Fin questioned.

            “Purple.”

            Fin cocked his gun aiming it at the suspect, “Wrong. Take the keys out the ignition and step out of the vehicle.”

            The man behind the wheel hit the gas rather than comply. Fin and Cragen turned their attention to the second suspect in the ball cap, while Liv and Elliot took off after the van. After a brief chase Elliot managed to overtake the van by rear ending it, they drew down as the driver stepped out and then apprehended him. Munch managed to cut off the second suspect in the other squad car just in time for Cragen and Fin to apprehend him as well.

******

            “Three THOUSAND dollars’ worth of damage to the car?” Cragen exclaimed.

            “What can I say boss, I zigged when I should’ve zagged.” Elliot shrugged.

            “Let’s find a way to send these guys the bill, I already don’t like them. They made me run.” Cragen threw the invoice on his desk. “What do we know about them so far.”

            “PI ticket pretty well known for reuniting kidnapped kids with their parents. The kids ticket is legit too.” Liv rattled off from her notes.

            “So, someone hired them to snatch Patty.” The captain queried.

            “Seems that way Cap. No one’s talking.”

            “Let’s find out who and why.”

******

            “Can my Mommy come in too?” Patty had tears coming down her face.

            “No honey it’s very important that you do this by yourself so we can get the bad guy.” Liv said sweetly to the little girl.

            Elliot bent down next to her, “Hey Patty is it okay if I pick you up.” She sniffled and nodded. Elliot scooped her up. “I want to show you something special. See this glass?” He walked around to the other side. “No one on this side can see you, its magic, protects you from the bad guys and then we can take care of the rest.”

            The perps made their way into the lineup room.

            “I’m scared of the boy with the four. He pulled my hair at the park.”

******

            After a positive ID on the younger perp and a few hours of grilling them, the older PI told them that Patty’s biological mother hired them to find her daughter. The detectives took a ride to the address that the suspects gave up and went to investigate. Michelle Osborn answered the door and weaved them a tale about how her daughter had been abducted from a car accident that caused the death of her husband. She showed them a facial aging print out that showed what her daughter might look like now, remarkably similar to Patty, along with the addition of the diabetes diagnoses. She also led them into her daughters room which she had updated to welcome home a now 6 year old little girl.

            Elliot placed cuffs on her as Liv spoke. “Michelle Osborne you’re under arrest for conspiracy to commit kidnapping.”

            On the way out of arraignment Casey ran to catch up with Liv, “Hey they said you were in a car accident. Why didn’t you call me? Are you okay?” the redhead said frantically scanning her girlfriend for any sign of bodily injury.

            “Baby I’m fine. I promise. It was barely a fender bender. We hit the back of the van chasing the PI’s. If anything, I’ll be a little sore tomorrow.”

            “Well, you’re definitely in for a massage later, but are you sure you’re alright?” There they were: the puppy dog eyes that melted any worry Liv ever had.

            “I promise, I gotta catch up with Huang, but hey.” She grabbed Casey’s hand. “Case, if something did happen, I have I card in my wallet saying you’re my emergency contact, and have you saved in my phone that way too.” She tugged on her girlfriends arm a bit before walking away. “I’ll see you later okay?” Casey watched until Liv disappeared into the crowd after catching up with Huang and getting on the elevator.

******

            It didn’t take Michelle Osborne more than a few hours to violate her order of protection.

            “You’re making a mistake!” Michelle shouted at Liv.

            “No Michelle, you are. I read the police report, you’re daughter died in that accident with your husband and now you’ve violated the order of protection and I have to take you to jail, and the judge is going to revoke your bond.”

            “She’s my daughter!”

            “We know everything Michelle, we saw the police report,” Liv shouted as she put the cuffs on, “We know Anna Osborn died with your husband in that accident.”

            “Hey look who I found,” the brunette heard her partner yell out from behind her, she turned to see Elliot standing next to a squad car with their new favorite PI in the backseat.

            “You guys just can’t take a hint,” Liv scoffed walking up to the window.

            “There’s a piece of paper in my breast pocket. Read and weep.” The perp retorted.

            Elliot reached in through the window and removed the piece of paper. “It’s a lab order with the DNA sample from Patty’s hair that they snatched at the park. Patty Branson is Michelle Osborne’s biological daughter.”

            The brunette looked at Elliot in shock, not sure that she heard him correctly.

            “Patty and Anna are not the same child,” Melinda explained to the detectives when they got back to the precinct, “I ran another test, and they are definitely siblings but not identical. I saw that Anna was conceived through in vitro. The only way this incident could’ve happened is if both women underwent in vitro with the same doctor at the same time and I’m gonna need that doctors name.”

******

            Casey walked into the stationhouse with two large cups of coffee. She placed one down on the desk next to Elliot, “Hey, where’s our girl.”

            “Thanks Novak,” he mock-groaned in appreciation and took a sip. “I don’t care what Liv says, you’re alright.” He smirked. “She’s in the crib.”

            The redhead walked in quietly, she saw Liv’s eyes closed but knew by her breathing she wasn’t asleep.

            “Casey when I open my eyes you better either be naked or have a very large cup of coffee.”

            Casey laughed, “How did you know it was me? And how did you know I was alone?”

            The brunette smiled, her eyes still closed. “I can smell your perfume, and because I’m a cop.”

            The ADA walked over and sat on the edge of the cot. “Did you get any sleep baby?” She kissed her head and brushed her hair away from her face.

            “No,” Liv pried her eyes open. “I’m too wound up.” She sat up on the edge of the bed next to her girlfriend and leaned her head on her shoulder as Casey handed her the cup of coffee. “You’re the best.”

            “Oh yeah? That’s not what Stabler said you’ve been saying.” The redhead giggled.

            “Stabler’s a gossip queen.”

            Munch walked passed the doorway and stopped, “You two tired from all those late nights of bar hopping with your secret boyfriends?”

            Liv picked her head up, “Our what?”

            “Have you been talking to Elliot,” Casey asked him. Liv turned her head towards her girlfriend in confusion, who shook her head. “I’ll explain later.” she sighed.

            “No, Fin said both of you were dating someone and I just wanted to say that I’m a little hurt that I’ve never been asked to hang out with the cool kids. I did used to own a bar in Baltimore. I’m a pretty fun guy.”

            Casey tilted her head as Liv buried her face in the redhead’s shoulder to stifle her laughter, “You’re right John, next time we go out with our secret boyfriends we’ll make sure to invite you.”

            “Thank you, that’s all I ask.” Munch said in complete sincerity. “All the involved parties are here by the way. Time to get to it.”

******

Casey and Liv walked into the conference room where they sat Michelle and the Branson’s on opposite ends of the table. Liv sat down between them in an attempt to mediate with them.

“It’s come to our attention,” the detective spoke softly “that both of you conceived by way of invitro fertilization. We’re going to need you to tell us the names of the doctors you used.”

“Dr. Stanley Norton.” Mrs. Branson sniffled, choking back a small sob.

“He was my doctor too.” Michelle admitted and hung her head.

Michelle’s lawyer, Counselor Emmett, added, “Both girls born at the same hospital, within weeks of each other”

Casey paced across the room “Somehow, Sarah got Michelle’s embryos.”

“How could this happen” Mr. Branson asked, the look on his face showing he still felt like all of this was surreal.

“Dr. Warner said it could be as simple as a mislabeled petri dish.” Liv offered.

Both mothers exchanged heartbreaking looks as Michelle began to break down in tears. “I’m so sorry for what I did. I’m so sorry.”

Sarah Branson turned to Casey “is it possible to have the order of protection removed?”

Casey shrugged, “You can petition the judge if that’s what you want.” It was clear in her expression she didn’t agree but she wasn’t allowed to just blurt that out.

Michelle’s lawyer spoke up, “I’d like you to reconsider the attempted kidnapping charge.”

“Your client was ordered to stay away from Patty Branson, and she ignored that order. She broke the law. I have to take her to trial.” The redhead stated flatly. Liv jerked her head and looked at her in shock as if she couldn’t believe what she had just said.

Casey heard her girlfriend call to her as she left the conference room. “Casey, you gotta plead her out.” Liv emoted as she closed the conference room door behind her.

The ADA furrowed her brow, “Why would I do that?” She turned and gave the detective time to catch up.

“Because what happened was a mistake,” Liv argued.

“Michelle was uncontrollably driven to kidnap someone else’s little girl.” She continued walking down the hall, the detective walking along side.

“Her little girl biologically.” Liv’s tone escalated as she stopped at the corner of the hallway.

Casey turned on her heel, “but not legally,” she spoke lower trying to stay calm and show Liv she cared. “I can’t let Michelle off the hook just because you feel guilty you didn’t believe her.” She turned back and continued to walk.

The detective’s face dropped as she wasn’t used to going toe to toe with Casey over a case since that first day. She took a breath and then followed behind, “well then give her a break cause she’s also a victim.” Casey stopped at her door and turned to face Liv while leaning against it. Liv crossed her arms and continued, “What that fertility doctor did to those two women is genetic rape.” Casey cast her eyes to the side afraid she’d cry if she continued to confront her girlfriend. “And don’t tell me that that doesn’t bother you on some level.”

The redhead turned her head and stared into Liv’s eyes, her own starting to water. She wanted to clap back at the cheap shot, but she was already lost in her girlfriend’s charm. Her face softened.

“Talk to the doctor,” she looked down at Liv’s lips longing to kiss her, “confirm what Michelle and the Branson’s say, and I’ll consider a deal.” She stared at the brunette for a minute.

The Detective looked back at Casey’s lips just as hungrily and then nodded.

The redheaded started to head into her office but looked back as Liv was walking away. “Hey.”

The brunette spun around, “Hey.”

“I’ll see you for dinner later, okay?” She gave Liv the puppy dog eyes.

“You got it.” The detective smiled softly and then turned the corner.

******

Shortly after a visit to the good doctor’s office, the detectives were in Casey’s office giving her the run down. Michelle had insisted she never signed the form consenting to egg donation. The doctor was insisting she did and probably just didn’t remember because seven years ago is a long time to remember such a minute detail. Liv could feel it in her bones that the evidence was pointing towards fraud on the doctor’s part. She just needed some help from the DA’s office to prove it.

Both X’s look the same to me.” Casey examined the photocopied paper her girlfriend handed her.

The brunette looked at her determined, “It’s a legal document, forgery is a crime.”

            “You don’t know that doctor forged anything.” The redhead sat, leaning back in her chair. Her face contorted in contest.

Elliot chimed in to play devil’s advocate, “Look, maybe its buyer’s remorse. Michelle did consent to donate her embryos, and now she’s sorry she did?” He turned his eyes towards Liv.

“That doctor pulled that story out of his ass!” She came around him to stand between him and Casey, “Come on Elliot!” she scolded, “He was making it up as he was telling it to us!” She shook her head in disgust.

“So, you think he’s lying. Michelle Osborne hired private detectives to kidnap a child. Why do you believe her?” The ADA squinted, tilting her head.

“Because Michelle Osborn has never lied to us about anything. Patty is her biological daughter.” The volume of Liv’s voice started to escalate as she spoke passionately.

            Casey crinkled her nose G-d damn she’s so sexy when she gets herself all worked up. Pull it together Novak, cold thoughts, you still have a job to do.

Elliot piped up interrupting Casey’s mental undressing of Liv, “So let Michelle and the Branson’s sue Norton for malpractice,” he suggested bluntly.

Liv sighed, getting exhausted of trying to explain her point, “But if he intentionally put one woman’s eggs into another without consent, we can’t just let him get away with it.”

“There’s no law against that in New York State,” Casey tried to iterate that despite what they were all feeling for both defendants and victims, she still had to prosecute by the letter of the law. “And we can’t charge him with larceny because stolen property has to have value, and body parts don’t.” she said pointedly.

            The brunette argued back as the redhead let out an exasperated sigh knowing her girlfriend wasn’t going to let this go. “In vitro costs tens of thousands of dollars a pop. If Norton misrepresented what he did and put that X on this form, then we have him on fraud and forgery. If he did it once before, you can bet that he’s done the same thing to other women.” Her jaw was starting to get tight.

            Casey looked up at her girlfriend, she knew when Olivia had a gut feeling like this, she was usually on to something, and she definitely wasn’t letting it go. She pulled Liv down onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Okay,” she kissed her shoulder. She had no qualms about Elliot being in the room, she knew he was a safe person for them. “Now all we have to do is prove it.” 

            “Right,” Liv turned her head, to look at Casey, her body still facing Elliot. Casey’s touch brought her back down to a calmer state. “This consent form is a copy; you get us a warrant for the real one and we will.”

            The ADA smirked, “You know you’re very sexy when you have your investigation pants on.” She leaned her forehead against the brunette’s, rubbing her nose against her girlfriend’s.

            “Oh yeah, that working for you?” She nuzzled back.

            “Mhmm,” Casey blushed and bit her lip.

            Elliot cleared his throat loudly, “Still here ladies.”

            The two moved their faces away from each other and turned back towards him, “Ahem, sorry.” Casey nodded trying to put her serious voice on.

******

Norton scoffed as he sat in interrogation “I did nothing wrong.”

Kessler waved his hand towards his client “Say nothing else Stanley. My client made an error in judgement.”

“That’s an understatement,” Casey’s voice was dripping with sarcasm as Liv paced behind her.

“Michelle Osborne gave my client verbal permission to donate her embryos seven years ago. Dr Norton wrote the “X” on the form because he thought it would help her remember.” The litigator retorted, an ever-present smug tone in his voice.

The brunette detective was getting worked up “Oh she remembers alright; she remembers that she never consented.” She barked.

Kessler laughed incredulously, “And you believe her, after she tried to have a little girl kidnapped?”

Casey looked at him with a know-it-all grin, “Because of what Dr. Norton did to her, so we’re dropping those charges.” 

“Still her word against my client’s”

“And his employees.” The redhead countered, “We have signed, sworn statements that you routinely implant one woman’s genetic material into another.”

Doctor Norton looked Casey square in the eye and straightened his cufflinks. “All I’ve ever done is help infertile couples have children.”

Olivia curled her lip, glaring with abhorrence at the doctor. “All you’ve ever done is pad your bank account” she leaned over the table towards him.

Casey looked directly at the Doctors attorney, “You can be sure we’ll find out how many other women he’s victimized.”

Kessler scoffed, closing his briefcase. “How? You can’t subpoena privileged patient records.”

The ADA grinned, “Unless,” she placed the pads of her fingers down on the desk pointedly, “there’s evidence of an ongoing criminal conspiracy. That forged “x” on the consent form is all the ammunition I need to go before a judge.”

******

Casey was beaming, “We scored a clean sweep.” She said proudly walking into the squad room. Her eyes locked on Liv.

            “Oh yeah what’d we get?” The brunette joked as she fixed her coffee.

“Warrants and subpoenas for all of Dr. Norton’s in vitro patients, plus all surgical and cryopreservation logs.” The redhead smiled, dropping some files on the desk, and facing Liv and Elliott.

“Cryo what?” Stabler asked as if Casey was speaking a foreign language.

Casey chuckled, “Where egg, sperm, and embryos are frozen and stored,” she schooled him.

“Any of this make an impression on Dr Norton?” He grabbed one of the files Casey dropped off and thumbed through it.

“Nope guy still thinks he did a favor for the Branson’s.” The counselor sat down on the edge of Liv’s desk placing her hands on her knee, “Anyway, Sarah’s medical records have a notation that none of her eggs fertilized.” She discretely caressed her girlfriend's knee with her thumb. The brunette felt it between her legs.

“So, Norton just slipped her one of Michelle’s.” Elliot shrugged.

Casey nodded, mindless tracing little circles on Liv’s knee, just brushing against the start of her thigh.

Liv popped up off the desk as the redhead’s followed her, “Okay so we get him on a couple of counts of fraud, he loses his license and does some time.” It was taking all of her willpower not so slam herself up against Casey right there in the squad room. The way the ADA’s eyes glistened as she smoothly negotiated subpoenas and plea deals just did something for Liv that she never expected.

“Yeah, and all thanks to the persistence of a beautiful brunette detective from the one six.” Casey bit her lip, subtly linking the tips of her fingers with Liv’s. “Damn I need to get you home.”

Liv blushed; desire written all over her face.

Cragen walked up next to them with a distraught look on his face, “Two-two just called. They’re mobilized.”

“For What?” the brunette looked at him confused.

The captain put his hands in his pockets, “Patty.”

******

            Thankfully with the quick work of the SVU detectives they were able to find Patty pretty quickly with a sweep of Michelle Osborn’s house for some semblance of clues. The time and place on the back of a family photo indicated a beach house that Michelle owned. The detectives swiftly mobilized there to find Michelle and Patty. Liv was heartbroken when she learned that Michelle misled Patty by saying her parents didn’t want her. 

*****

“You have to do something, babe.” Olivia took a sip of her wine leaning over the island at Casey’s.

            The redhead scoffed, “I thought you wanted me to plead her out? I can’t keep changing course based on your emotions.” She stared at Liv in disbelief.

            The brunette sighed and placed her glass down, “I know what I said earlier but Michelle is terrorizing this little girl. Patty Branson is a distraught six-year-old who doesn’t understand why this woman is trying to rip her away from her family and I feel for Michelle but she’s making it so much worse.”

            The ADA took her hand across the counter and ran the pad of her thumb across it, “You know that your huge heart is one of the things I find most attractive about you, right? I just have to make sure I don’t get my ass chewed out by Branch for letting that beautiful heart cloud my judgement.” She brought her girlfriends hand up to her lips and kissed across the detective’s knuckles. She glanced up at Liv, cocking her eyebrow, “is this helping make up for the fact that we argued earlier?”

            “Casey,” Olivia sighed.

            The redhead frowned, “Hey I’m sorry, I was just trying to do my job.”

            Olivia smiled and held Casey’s hand between her own, “No that’s not what I was getting at.” she chuckled. “What I was going to say,” she rubbed her girlfriend's hand soothingly, “is we’re not always going to agree on work. We may even shout out each other from time to time, but I promise never to go to bed angry at you as long as you’ll have me.”

She stood up and leaned in to delicately kiss the ADA, “and I promise to always have dinner waiting for you, even if its leftovers in the microwave.”

The redhead giggled into the kiss and draped her arms around Liv’s neck. “And I will always be grateful for that, Detective.” Liv stood up straight pulling Casey out of her chair and grabbing her legs, wrapping them around her waist, and placing her on the counter. The brunette started nibbling and kissing down her lover's jaw and then her neck. “Mmm,” the redhead sighed, “you are so wonderful.” She ran her hands through Liv’s hair.

The detective chuckled, “Mmm, I’ll remember that next time we fight.” Casey laughed and pressed her palm against the brunette’s cheek, nipping at her lower lip and then kissing her. Liv raised her eyebrow and flashed a grin, “thanks for making this easy for me.” She ran her fingers up Casey’s bare thighs and up under the skirt she was wearing. She pushed it up and pulled the redhead to the edge of the counter, sliding her hand up the attorney’s inner thigh. She gasped as she made her way to Casey’s center, she leaned in to kiss her neck. “Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak, have you not been wearing any underwear all day?” 

The redhead smiled deviously, her hand on the back of Liv’s head holding her to her neck, “Mmmm, well, Detective, if we hadn’t argued, I had planned on pulling you into the bathroom of the courthouse, or my office, or the backseat of a taxi.” She giggled.

“Babe!” Liv looked at the younger woman in shock. “Getting adventurous?”

“Mmm maybe a little bit. It’s hard to control myself around you. Do you know how many times when you’re getting heated about a case, I just want to bend you over your own desk?”

The brunette pulled back and looked Casey in the eyes, her own glossed over, pupils dilated. “I really do that much to you?”

The redhead bit her lip and then nodded. “You, Olivia Benson, make me crazy.”

Liv took this opportunity to slide her middle finger into Casey’s heat causing her breath to hitch.

“Fuck.” The ADA exhaled. She spread her legs slightly allowing her girlfriend more access, who then slipped another finger in. Casey gasped again, “Liv.”

The detective toyed with her lover, slowly playing with her arousal, watching Casey whimper with each movement. “Feels good, Daddy?”

Casey let out a moan, “Ohhhh, feels really good baby.”

Liv pushed the redhead’s skirt up further and laid her back across the counter. She brought her mouth down to Casey’s heat, lapping up everything she’d already spilled from her lover, and then brought her tongue up to her clit. When she did this, Casey’s head shot up as heavy sighs fell from her lips. The ADA tangling her fingers in Liv’s hair pulling her tighter to her body. “Hey baby I need you to do me a favor,” the brunette whispered, “can you spell my name for me?” She kissed down on her clit, a few quick swipes of the tongue.

Casey was panting hard, but what Liv asked of her caught her off guard. “What?”

Liv kissed her clit again and continued to do so between each word. “Spell. My. Name. Please. Humor me Casey.”

The redhead quirked her brow, still confused about why they were having a strange conversation right this minute. She decided to oblige. “O—”

As she did Liv pressed down on her girlfriend's clit, tracing the letter “O” across it with the tip of her tongue.

“Mmmm,” Casey inhaled sharply as she caught on. “L—” she whispered. “I—” she was whimpering and panting softly trying hard to concentrate “V—.” “I—oh god baby I, I’m gonna.” Her breathing was getting shallow, “A—” she could barely keep still, she was almost there, she tangled her fingers tighter in her lover's hair pulling her closer as she started over. “O—” that was all it took, “Oh, Oh, Ohhhh!” Casey let go, an orgasm surging through her body, coming hard as Liv lapped it up, humming and moaning with delight.

“Mmm, Casey do you know how fucking good you taste?” The brunette wiped the corners of her mouth and licked her fingers.

Casey sat up trying to catch her breath. “Detective if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying keep me around for a while,” she chuckled.

“Mmm maybe just for a little while,” Liv grinned as she kissed the redhead sultrily.

“That’s it, you’re in for it. Bedroom, now.” She hopped down off the counter and took the brunette by the hand leading her to the bed, pushing her back onto the mattress. Casey was in nothing but her bra before Liv could blink. She straddled the brunette and unbuckled Liv’s belt. “Wanna see a new trick I learned?” She bit her lip, smiling mischievously.

Liv looked at her lover surprised, “You have tricks I don’t know yet Counselor?”

The redhead giggled, “I got bored in my office the other day.” She pulled Liv’s belt off her pants and began to loop it around itself a few times and then held out a hand reaching for Liv’s. Liv furrowed her brow but cautiously gave the ADA her hands. Casey slipped the belt over the detective's hands and then pulled the end of the strap tight with her teeth.

“Is, is that okay?” Casey asked to check in, making sure Liv was good with what she was doing since it was new for them.

“Oh, that was,” Liv gasped with surprise, “impressive.” If she wasn’t soaked in arousal before she was now.

“You like that?” Casey asked with her eyebrow raised and her troublemaker grin. She brought Liv’s arms over her head and hooked the belt to the headboard. “Don’t move,” she scolded and brought her mouth down to her girlfriend's ear. “Be a good girl for Daddy.” She whispered and bit down into the side of the brunette’s neck.

“Oh, Casey,” Liv mewled, “Oh, baby mmm” She wanted to feel Casey’s skin, dig her nails into her back. Each struggle against her restraints made her throb, the leather rubbing against her wrists driving her wild.

The ADA was taking her time, sucking deep bruises into her lover’s neck. “Keep still baby,” she cooed, “I’m just getting started.” After she finished marking up Liv’s neck, she turned her attention downward. She unbuttoned Liv’s shirt one button at a time and threw it open, bringing her mouth down to tease the brunette’s nipples. She pulled each one into her mouth, wrapping her tongue around it and grazing it softly with her teeth, letting them go with a pop. She continued to roll and pinch them between her fingers as she kissed down the detective’s stomach.

“Fuck Casey,” Liv’s soft pants made the redhead simper. She tried to wriggle against the restraints again causing her to moan loudly. “Don’t tease.”

“Detective, you better stop resisting.” Casey joked as she shimmied her girlfriend’s pants down and then tossed them to the floor and then settled between her legs. “Mmm, baby you are so fucking wet. It might take me hours to clean all this up.” She taunted as she ran her tongue through the brunette’s folds. “Olivia,” the ADA whimpered, “G-d you taste so amazing.” She plunged her tongue into Liv’s core, gently fucking her, moaning as Liv’s nectars dripped down her chin.

“Oh Fuck!” the brunette cried out, pulling against her cuffs, her hips bucking towards the redhead's face.

Casey pulled her tighter, the tip of her tongue brushing against Liv’s g-spot driving her wild. She moaned against the brunette’s center, sending vibrations up her body.

“Mmmm Casey,” Liv whined, “Mmm Daddy, don’t stop.” her breath ragged. “Oh G-d, Oh G-d.” Her eyes rolled back as she pulled against the restraints, her body tightened as her walls contracted and she came on Casey’s tongue.

The ADA moaned loudly into Liv as she felt her let go, her mouth filling with her girlfriend's sweet juices. She pumped her tongue slowly as the brunette came down and then licked her clean. She ran her tongue across her lips as she looked up at her girlfriend smiling, kissing her thighs, and resting her head against one for a moment. The redhead brought herself back up and kissed Liv, sliding her tongue into her mouth, savoring the moment, and holding her thumb and fingers to the brunette's chin.

“You are such a good, good girl.” Casey kissed her again lightly and nibbled down her neck as she undid the restraints. She kissed Liv’s wrists and then laid against her as Liv wrapped her arms around the attorney.

“God, you are so fucking sexy.” Liv kissed Casey on her temple and then traced soft circles across her smooth skin.

******

Casey headed down to the jail to confront Michelle Osborne about her most recent kidnapping attempt.

“You can’t kidnap your own daughter.” Hissed as she was led towards the interrogation cell by one of the Riker’s guards. Struggling to turn her head to look Casey in the eyes.

 “The law says she isn’t yours.” The redhead argued, her patience with Michelle had long run out.

“Well, the law is wrong.” Michelle sat down on the bench in the cell, as everyone filed in and followed suit.

Emmett tossed her briefcase on to the table, “We should just forget about the law and focus on what’s right.”

Casey couldn’t help but laugh, “What’s right is for your client to accept that she has no claim to patty. You’re a victim Michelle we can take that into consideration.”

“How much consideration?” her lawyer queried.

“We’re still willing to make an offer, Michelle will have to serve three to five and get counseling.” The redhead stated, staring blankly waiting for a response.

“No thank you.” Michelle shook her head in protest.

“If you go to trial and get convicted. You’re looking at fifteen years in prison.” Casey was in disbelief.

“I’ll be acquitted, then I’ll sue for custody.” Michelle stated haughtily.

“Are you kidding me?” the ADA turned to the counselor, “This isn’t your idea, is it? It’ll never work.”

“I have to try.” The defendant whispered with determination.

“You can’t!” Michelle turned to see this exclaim come from Sarah Branson who was standing a few feet away from the cell with Olivia in tow.

Casey stood up in shock and looked towards Sarah Branson who had just walked in, and then to Olivia who had clearly brought her. “Why did you bring her here?”

Liv looked at Casey reassuringly, “Because she wanted to come.”

Sarah Branson was sobbing “I know you lost your daughter, but can’t you see what you’re doing to Patty? Please, a mother wouldn’t do this to any child.” She pleaded with tears in her eyes.

******

“Look I’m not mad babe, I’m just saying a little heads up with you were bringing her to the jail would’ve been nice.” Casey said as the two women stepped on the train. They both reached for the center pole, opting to stand. Liv wrapped her arm around the redhead’s waist holding her tight to her as the train started.

“You’re right Case, I’m sorry.” Liv frowned, “I promise to work on communicating.”

“Just pretend we’re in bed, you communicate great there.” Casey teased, smirking, eyeing her girlfriend up and down until she realized an old man glaring at her from one of the nearby seats. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat.

The brunette giggled. “I’ll take that into consideration.”

The got off at their stop and walked down off the platform, “Coffee?” Liv grabbed the ADAs hand and laced their fingers together. The redhead blushed a little, the feeling that Liv wasn’t afraid to be seen with her filling her with butterflies.

“Maybe on the way back?” Casey mused, “I just want to be able to think straight again.” She shook her head realizing her phrasing, “I mean, I need to concentrate.”

Liv reached around the redhead to ring the doorbell of the Stabler house. The door opened and the two women were greeted by a very confused Kathy Stabler.

“Liv! Hi. and—” she scrunched up her face trying to figure out who Casey was and what she and Oliva were doing there. She looked familiar but they had never been properly introduced.

“Oh, hey Kathy, it’s nice to meet you, I’m the SVU ADA Casey Novak.” She let go of Liv’s hand to extend it to the blonde in the doorway.

Kathy’s eyes followed her hand and shook it, still looking puzzled until she glanced at Liv and then back at Casey and it clicked. “Oh, OH right hi! Genuinely nice to meet you! You need to talk to Elliot? He’s at the park with the twins. It’s three blocks that way and two blocks right.” she pointed down the street.

“Not me, just Casey here.” The brunette stated and placed her hand on the small of her girlfriend’s back.

“Ah well in that case, Liv why don’t you come in for a cup of coffee.” Kathy motioned towards herself. “Seems like we have some catching up to do.”

The detective glanced at her lover, “You gonna be okay on your own?”

“Yeah babe, stay, have coffee. I think we all know I can handle Elliot.” She chuckled nervously. She gave Liv a quick kiss and headed off down the block.

Liv and Kathy moved to the kitchen as Elliot’s wife poured them both a cup of coffee. “So,” Kathy looked at Liv, “I’m guessing that’s my husband’s new softball friend and the reason you’re wearing a turtleneck?”

The brunette snorted into her coffee and her face went flush. “Yeah, that’s Casey. She’s the best thing that could’ve happened to me.”

“I’ve gotta say I’ve never seen you so— open, with anyone before. It’s refreshing. Do you love her?” the blonde asked sitting down at the table.

Liv followed suit and took a sip of her coffee, “I want to. I just don’t know if I’m ready to say it yet.”

“Boy, you and Elliot really are two sides of the same coin,” Kathy laughed, “took him forever to say it, even though now he’ll admit he always knew. You know, I used to worry about you two. He’d confide in my why I didn’t need to and how he was the only one who knew about it so of course I just thought it was an excuse” she rambled as she took another sip, “but,” she paused. “I’ve never seen you look at my husband the way you looked at her on my porch.”

*****

“Hey Dad, who’s that lady staring at us?” Lizzie asked as Elliot picked up the basketball, trying to explain to Dickie why hogging the ball would end up hurting his game eventually.

Casey was leaned up against the chain link fence at the park entrance. Her thumbs hooked through the belt loops on her jeans.

“Afternoon” Elliot smiled, confused.

“Yeah, your wife said I could find you here.” The redhead smiled.

“Dickie, Elizabeth, this is Ms. Novak. We work together.” He tussled his children’s hair and introduced them to his friend.

“You guys look like a couple of pros out there,” she approached the detective and the twins on the blacktop.

“Yeah, so go practice, and no hogging the ball.” He tossed them the ball as he and Casey stepped off to the side, “Let me guess, you just happened to find yourself on the ass end of Queens?”

“Michelle Osborne trial prep. I need a reality check.” She nodded, looking for some time of reassurance.

“Okay for what? Wait, Kathy told you I was here? You got Kathy to tell you a female she’s never met, my location?”

She shot him a look of c’mon Elliot, I radiate non-threatening LGBT energy.

A light bulb went off in his head, “You brought Liv, didn’t you? And she’s uhm.” He motioned his finger up and down his neck.

“See I knew you’d get there.” She crinkled her nose teasingly.

“Okay so about what?” Elliot asked jumping back to the original topic.

“There’s no way to win it.” The redhead stated, hoping Elliot would either bluntly tell her she was right or help her find a work around.

“You got her cold on the evidence.” Stabler shrugged as he headed towards the fence.

Casey shook her head, “Defense has already won the jury. Once they hear about what happened to Michelle, no one’s gonna care about evidence.”

“Are you worried about losing this case?” Elliot bent down by the fence to pick up his towel. “Or are you having second thoughts.”

The ADA stopped, turning to face him. “I don’t think the law can do anyone justice in this case.”

Elliot mopped his brow, “Are you just figuring that out now?” He sat down with his back against the fence.

“Michelle gets convicted; she goes to prison.” She tried to work out the conundrum out loud, “If Michelle gets acquitted, she’ll never let go of Patty and there will be no end to this.” Her voice got somber, “Either way, somebody loses.”

“Right.” Elliot looked up at her, his voice softer than usual, “What’s the question?”

Casey thought hard, finding it hard to articulate what she was thinking. She chewed on her lip, sighed, and sat down on the ground next to him. “If you found out you had another kid out there, would you want it?” She asked Elliot with genuine curiosity.

“Damn right I would.” The detective nodded.

“So, you know why she’s obsessed.”

“It’s not an obsession,” he shook his head, “it’s a love. It’s a connection that transcends everything and anything.”

Casey studied his face, now she realized how he could be so gruff but also so good with children. He was a good father, a good man. She smiled, thankful for his friendship as she continued to listen.

“I would die for my children and nothin’ in this world that would ever change that. Ever.” Elliot beamed with pride as he spoke.

The young ADA furrowed her brow in concern, “So Michelle and Sarah will never stop fighting over Patty.” She smiled but it was a sullen smile, full of sadness.

Elliot looked down thoughtfully, took a breath and began to recite from the bible, “And King Solomon said, “Bring me a sword. Divide the living child in two. Give half to one and half to the other.”

“Except I can’t split the baby.” The redhead said, her voice low, melancholy.

Stabler grinned, imparting a small modicum of wisdom on his friend, “Solomon didn’t have to.”

Casey looked at him puzzled and then it clicked, she grinned. “Thanks Elliot, I’m gonna go get Liv and make sure she hasn’t told your wife anything embarrassing about me yet.” She blushed and headed back down the street. Elliot took a sip of water and waved her off and then headed back to the twins.

*****

The redhead stood in front of her dresser, taking her watch off and placing it in her jewelry box, “I don’t think I can do this.” She sighed.

Liv could hear the stress in her voice, “What do you mean, honey? I thought you and Elliot came up with a plan. He had “sage advice” you said, which I gotta say I wouldn’t expect someone to say about Elliot as much as I love him.”

Casey gave her a look, “Normally I would agree with you but in this case he was right. However, that also means I essentially have to bully a child on the witness stand. Sure, it’s for the greater good, but hasn’t she been through enough? I mean people already think I’m a bitch, I’m going to look exceptionally cruel tomorrow.”

“Hey,” Liv ran her hands down her girlfriend's arms and took her by the hands. “you’re doing what’s best for that little girl. She’ll understand one day and anyone worth their smarts will see what you’re doing. You’re going to be brilliant; you always are.” She tugged Casey closer and kissed her, “Come to bed baby, you need to rest.”

The redhead threw on one of Liv’s old PD shirts and some sleep shorts. “I hate this,” she mumbled as she turned down her side of the bed. “I feel sick.” She rubbed the moisturizer on the nightstand onto her hands and neck before climbing into bed.

Liv held out her arm for Casey to cuddle up against her, who happily snuggled in, “What if I wanted to hold you tonight?” she joked.

“Tough, come here.” The brunette kissed her girlfriends head and held her close. She ran her fingertips slowly up and down Casey’s arm and closed her eyes.

Casey couldn’t sleep. She stared at the ceiling fan for hours, her only comfort was the sound of Liv’s heartbeat and the rise and fall of her chest as she slept peacefully. She had no idea how she was going to make it through tomorrow. Before she knew it there was daylight peeking through the window.

*******

Casey looked down at the little girl in the witness box, “Patty do you see the person who took you from the museum?

“Yes” the small child pointed to Michelle, “she’s over there.”

The ADA turned to the court stenographer, “Let the record show that she’s indicated defendant Michelle Osborne.” She turned back towards Patty, “So why did you go with her, Patty?”

“She said she had to take me to my mommy.” The child fidgeted with her hands.

“Where did she take you?” The redhead asked flatly trying to keep her tone easy for Patty to understand.

 “To her house. Mommy wasn’t there.” Patty said sadly.

Casey turned back towards Michelle, “Did you ask her where Mommy was?”

“Yes Michelle said she’s my real mommy. My egg mommy.” The little girl was physically upset.

“Did she tell you what that means?” The ADA continued her questioning even though she could feel the knot building in her stomach.

 “She said I came out of mommy’s tummy but the egg that I came from came from her tummy.” Even though Patty was distraught it was still clear she was extremely intelligent for a six-year-old.

Casey stammered silently for a moment trying to prepare herself for what she needed to do. Her insides were twisted, she wished she had a moment to glance at Liv. She knew if she could just see her, she’d feel better and know she was doing the right thing. “What did you do while at Michelles house, Patty?

Patty shrugged, “Watched TV, played with toys.”

“Do you think Michelle is nice?” The counselor inquired.

Patty shrugged again, “She’s okay.”

The redhead leaned down to get eye level, “You know what Michelle said about being your egg mommy is true right?” Casey took a deep breath, “Your Honor?”

Judge Bradley looked at the small child sympathetically, “Please answer the question, Patty.”

“No! It’s not true.” The little girl began to sob.

“Yes, it is Patty.” Casey’s voice had now become stern, confrontational. Come on Novak, don’t lose it, DO NOT throw up.

“Michelle’s not my mommy!” Patty sobbed, sweet innocent tears, breaking Casey’s heart.

 “You came from her egg, that is true.” The ADA corrected, almost fussing.

Michelle looked towards Sarah Branson, tears welling in her eyes.

“I want to go now.” Patty cried, big tears rolling down her face.

 “No, you can’t until we’re finished!” Casey scolded. She needed this to be over before she tossed her cookies. Sarah Branson began weeping from the gallery.

“I don’t want to go with Michelle.” The little girl continued to sob.

Emmet slammed her hand on the defense table. “Your honor she’s just a little girl!”

“Is this line of questioning really necessary?” Judge Bradley empathized.

“Patty, do you understand?” Casey pushed, she hated herself for this.

Patty was in hysterics at this point, “I don’t want to go with Michelle!”

“You don’t have to Patty—Not yet.” The redhead’s volume was elevated, her voice echoing throughout the courtroom.

“I want my mommy and daddy!” Patty shouted.

“No, you have to stay here!” The ADA remained stern.

Patty turned towards Michelle, “Please! Don’t take me away, please!”

Michelle stood up and shouted, “Stop! Just stop it.”

“Sit down!” The judge ordered Michelle.

“Patty I’m sorry,” Michelle wept, struggling to get words out, “I won’t ever bother you again.”

Patty ran to her parents, Casey stayed facing the witness stand breathing a silent sigh of relief that her and Elliot’s plan worked.

Michelle pleaded with the judge, “Ill please guilty if that’s what it takes. Just leave Patty alone.”

Casey closed her eyes, trying not to let the emotion leak out of her face till she got out of the courtroom. As soon as everyone one was adjourned the ADA made a dash for the bathroom. The room was spinning but she tried to splash some water on her face and take some deep breaths. She heard the door creak open, but she couldn’t even look up from the sink to see it was Liv. The brunette rushed and grabbed her from the side, she turned into her.

“Hey, hey baby I got you. It’s okay, you did great. Patty gets to go home with her parents. You did it babe. Shhh, shhh” Liv cooed softly trying to calm Casey down who was actively hyperventilating. “Hey Case, Case listen, match my breathing. Deep breaths.”

The redhead did her best to time her breathing to match Olivia’s until she was calm again. She squeezed herself tight against Liv. “Thank you for being here.”

“I’ll be here for you whenever you need me.” The detective held Casey’s head tight against her chest.

“Well then you’ll just have to always be here.” The ADA chuckled.

They walked to the squad room, Casey putting her briefcase down and handing a file to Elliot. “Michelle plead out to custodial interference. Her sentence was set aside, and she said she was going to move out of state because it was too hard to be around Patty.”

Elliot gave Casey a half smile and a knowing nod, “She did the right thing, loving her enough to let her go. I knew you’d figure it out.”

            Casey nudged Elliot.

            Cragen shook his head, “The damage is already done. That little girl's relationship with her parents will never be the same now that everyone knows the truth.”

            Casey sighed in agreement, “Law has to catch up with technology. When Patty’s 18 she has the right to make her own choice on whether or not she wants to contact Michelle, like in an open adoption.”

            Liv came around to meet everyone, “I finished the audit on Dr Norton’s clinic, turns out Michelle had sixteen embryos, ten of which were implanted in other women.”

            “How many live births?” Elliot asked quietly.

            “Besides Patty, Michelle has two daughters and a son out there.”

            Casey hung her head, they may have put a band aid over this, but it was far from solved. She stretched her neck to the side, Liv was quiet.

            Casey walked up and leaned against her side, looping her arm through her girlfriends, while the squad knew they still had to be careful about holding hands at the precinct. “Hey, what do you say we get a big bottle of wine and go back to my place. It’s been a day.”

Liv looked up “That sounds perfect.”

They started for the exit, “I still owe you that massage.” Casey smirked.

“You can give it to me while your body’s wrapped around me in that big bathtub you’re always bragging about.” Liv lightly hip checked her girlfriend.

Cragen looked at Elliot, “Do…do they think we can’t hear them?” he raised his brows.

“Captain, I think,” he paused, “when those two look at each other, they forget we exist.” Stabler folded his arms as he and Cragen watched them walk out the door.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Bob (M 30s),an acquaintance for a few years. Met him at his work a store where he’d come up & chat with us (spouse & I 50s). Had some interests in common so we invited him to game nights, never came. Bob would contact us online occasionally or at his work. Usually he needed help with something like his computer. Sometimes we gave him, old bits of hardware that were gathering dust as upgrades. Bob brought us beer like twice to thank us.

After we helped Bob would disappear for months at a time. Wouldn’t hear from him at all unless we happened to run into him at work or he needed something. The occasional ‘hey how are you’ online, we would talk to him maybe 2-3 times a year at most. Never accepted invitations to come over so we stopped asking. So, we never hung out with this guy socially at all.

Recently he just shows up at our house around midnight & leaves a note saying he can’t contact us online but he needs our help. I left a note saying if he can’t contact us online not sure how we are going to talk but he can leave a note if he wants. We are not fans of people just dropping by. The next night he leaves a note saying his car isn’t running right & can he borrow one of ours for a few hours, (we have 2 but only 1 works). He said ‘he just wants to get out of here’. hours/out of here seems contradictory. The next note asks which car he can borrow.

I leave a note that no, we can not help him only 1 works & we don’t know him well enough to lend him a car even if they both did. He was freaking my spouse out so I told him not to come back. He read the note & said ‘OK’ which we heard on the sec camera.

Next day he parks on the access road in the park that is behind our house & is just separated by a thin treeline. He walks around our backyard, talking to himself, goes into our garage & spends a while poking around then leaves after more wandering around our yard. At this point we realized he has been parking back behind our house all week. We checked the footage, yes he was. He knew to come leave a note because he was watching when we had lights on. Spouse freaked & called the cops. I might not have but they were called. Cops talked to Bob not sure what else.

Next day he comes back. He says on camera ‘he won’t take a car now without permission because the cops scared him’.

Um.

He also leaves another note asking about the nonworking car, if we could give him the pink slip when he takes it. That he is broke & hungry.

He says ‘twice he was told to contact us to help him’.

By whom?

Spouse calls the cops who get to our place long after Bob left. We explain everything, show them the notes & the cop says he’s getting a warrant for stalking. A few days later Bob is arrested, court date set which he doesn’t show up to. No idea where he is now.

I feel like I ATAH because the cops got called on an obviously mentally ill person who was just asking for help, but we live in a rural area and there are no mental health resources to call. So… AITAH here?

What are these acronyms?

[bonerot19]

I write things on ao3 - find me here

my Jason Todd-centric series called something in the static

part one: seventeen going under 13/13 (finished)

AU where Jason is seventeen, his parents are alive, he works nights at a convenience store, and everything is about to go to shit.

part two: sigh no more 12/12 (finished)

Jason has been taken in by Bruce Wayne, some things go right, some things go very, very, wrong

part three: summer 6/6 (finished)

the summer after sigh no more: Steph and Jason graduate high school, Dick and Jason go camping, the bats grapple with Jason's indifference about his birthday, and more

part four: someday 9/18 (on a mini hiatus)

Someday you'll wake up and realize that you have what you wanted, that it's real, Bruce had said. Someday, you'll wake up and you'll realize that everything is okay.  Jason had made it to someday. He had what he wanted. It was real. He no longer dreamt of it all falling away, of losing it all. Everything was okay. It was just that he thought someday would be easier. -- someone gets shot. someone we hate shows up. someone we love shows up. there are several panic attacks and a lot of hugs. Stephanie has a secret. Bruce is freaking out. Jason punches a cop and makes a pb&j for a traumatized child. not in that order.

[klaus-littlestwolf]

The Art Nerd-Modern!HS Klaus M. Pt 2

Masterlist

Warning:Smut Ahead-Daddy Kink, Loss of Virginity

She trashed the bloody paper towels and he quickly grabbed his bag from his locker before leading her out to the parking lot where his car was. His mother had gotten it for him for his 16th birthday as she had for all of his siblings and while it wasn't much it got him out of the house. 'What time will your parents kick me out?' He considered that, never having needed to know before but Elijah and Finn had plenty of girls stay over.

'They shouldn't. Elijah and Finn have had girls stay over tons of times,mom doesn't really care as long as we...never mind.' His face caught fire once again and she just grinned at him.

'As long as her sons use protection?' He nodded, pulling out of the school parking lot. 'No need to worry about that, I'm on the pill.' Klaus instantly tried to think of anything he possibly could to stop his cock which was instantly hardening. 'You know I'm teasing you, right?'

'Yep-Yes-Yeah...what do you want to eat?' His voice cracked as he asked her this and she smiled.

'Well, how about I stay the night? It's Friday, we can grab some snacks and soda, and have a movie night. It's been a while since I have been able to just hang out with someone without the pressure of James. Feel free to say 'no' of course, I don't just want to invite myself and-'

'No!' She looked startled by this and he instantly realized his mistake. 'I mean 'Yes'! Yes I would love for you to stay...it honestly sounds like fun.' They stopped at a grocery store and grabbed soda and a ton of snacks before going back to Klaus', deciding to just order some dinner.

'Wow. This place is really cool.' Y/n commented as she got inside and he immediately ushered her down the stairs to avoid his family. 'Woah!' She instantly began looking at all of the canvases and framed sketches that were hung everywhere. 'Klaus! You're even better than I thought, holy shit!' She was looking at a painting of the pond they have out back, he had done it while the flowers on the lily pads were blooming and it looked perfect. He wanted her to keep looking and complimenting his work but she was getting dangerously close to one he definitely didn't want her to see.

'Thank you, let's pick some movies to watch, hmm? We can decide what we want for dinner.' He was ushering her to the other side of the room where the couch was but she just smiled, continuing to look, seeing a canvas on the easel and moving around it to look. 'No! Please don't-'

'Woah.' He sighed, sitting on his bed and knowing his chance to even be her friend was over, she was going to find him painting her to be so creepy she would probably call the cops.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-'

'Is this how you see me?' He was immediately confused. 'You make me look so beautiful.' She was shocked and he couldn't figure out why.

'You are beautiful...how else would I paint you?' Her cheeks were red as she walked back over to him, kissing his cheek before continuing over to the couch.

'How about some burgers? Cheese burgers sound great!' He grinned, practically vibrating with joy as he jumped up and moved to sit beside her on the couch, turning on the TV. Her lips were so soft, he could only imagine what they feel like wrapped around his-NO! Stop! If he didn't stop his thoughts he would end up jerking off in the bathroom all night.

'Burgers sound good to me. Movies?' They both spent a little while getting a good selection, deciding each other needs to watch certain movies they've neglected, Y/n forcing Klaus to watch The Breakfast Club and Klaus deciding Y/n needed to watch Sleepy Hollow. They watched hers first and when they got to Klaus' pick she ordered dinner, Klaus running up to get the door and paying for dinner, which he insisted he would pay for completely despite her arguing, only to run into Rebekah.

'You didn't offer to get me anything? Jerk! Why do you have so much food?' She wondered and he rolled his eyes.

'Y/n is here, we're gonna watch movies and hang out for the night. I'll get you something next time, I promise.' With that he shut the door behind him and walked back down the stairs, grabbing 2 sodas that he had put into his mini fridge before she started the movie.

Klaus found that he genuinely enjoyed her company and even if he never had a shot with her, he wanted to continue to be her friend and he thought she felt the same. That may be ruined however, if his mother coming down the steps has anything to say about it.

'Niklaus. Why did Rebekah have to tell me you had a girl over?' He went wide eyed and so did Y/n's.

'I'm sorry, I didn't even think to tell you...mom, this is Y/n. We were going to have a movie night.' He begged with his eyes as much as he could for her to leave and not embarrass him but the Gods were not on his side.

'Hello Mrs. Mikaelson, I'm Y/n. I'm sorry, I thought you knew I was here. It's a pleasure to meet you.' She jumped up and shook his mothers hand politely and he knew his mother loved her instantly, both Elijah's girlfriend Katherine and Finn's girlfriend Sage having absolutely no manners.

'Hello dear. It's nice to meet you too, Niklaus doesn't have friends over so he's never had to ask. I'll let it slide this once. Of course you're welcome here though. If you need anything you just let me know. Niklaus?' She gestured him over and stood at the bottom of the stairs. 'You'll tell me from now on-'

'I promise, just please go? She's just a friend mom, I swear.' She didn't look like she believed him. 'She's so far out of my league it's not funny.'

'But you like her?'

'I-mom, please just go?' She nodded, handing him something quickly.

'Just in case. You two have fun now, it was lovely to meet you Y/n!'

'It was a pleasure to meet you too, ma'am.' As his mother left he looked down and saw she had handed him a box of condoms and he jumped to hide them in his dresser. 'I like your mom. It's nice that she's aware and accepting enough to give you a box of condoms.' Klaus slammed the drawer shut, looking at her quickly. 'That's what it was, right?' She was looking at him expectantly and he didn't want to lie about it.

'Yes, she raised Elijah and Finn, and she's currently raising Kol, it's necessary unfortunately.' She just nodded as if she completely understood and he was grateful as he sat back down, getting under the blanket that was covering them.

'Do you really think I'm that special?' She asked suddenly and he didn't know how to respond. 'I mean, to tell your mother you think you're out of my league sounds insane to me. You're like, the smartest guy I've ever met, and you're incredibly talented on top of that! What league do you think you're out of because compared to you, I'm very boring.'

'You're kidding.' She shook her head. 'You're gorgeous!' She shrugged at that.

'At best I'm an 8, though I believe I'm average.'

'You're kind to everyone around you no matter who it is-'

'That's basic human decency and I'm sorry you haven't been shown it before.' He didn't like that she was talking down all her good qualities.

'You smell like what I think heaven must smell like-'

'I'll tell you the soap I use along with my perfume.'

'Would you stop that?! You-you make my heart stop every single time you look at me Y/n, I-'

'Nik. That's a very serious medical condition, I'm going to need you to see a cardiologist as soon as possible.' She was pissing him off and she knew it and before he knew it he was grabbing her and pulling her close, pressing his lips to hers hard. Her lips were just as soft as he imagined they would be as he molded his lips to hers, holding her face in his hands before he realized what he was doing, pulling back quickly.

'Oh god! I'm sorry! Y/n, I'm so-' he was cut off by her moving to kiss him again and he just relaxed into it now until she pushed forward and climbed into his lap, now straddling him and allowing him to feel the heat of her crotch right against his cock. 'Y/n! Stop!' She pulled away, shocked that he had yelled at her. 'You're upset about James, I'm sorry but I don't want to hurt you by-'

'James is infuriating! He's stupid and boorish and a bully! I was going to dump him next month after Valentine's Day...say what you want, a girl doesn't want to be alone for that but screw him!' He was confused and not quite sure what to do.

'You said you wanted to stay over because it would be nice to not have you be expected to do anything-'

'You expect nothing. You're so sweet Nik, I love that about you...I'm actually attracted to smart guys but most smart guys don't want dumb girls so I settled for James. It was nice for a while I guess but I'm relieved it's over...look, if you don't want this we can just watch movies, we don't have to-' he pulled her back to him and kissed her again, groaning into her mouth as she ground down against his crotch. His hands were on her hips which he was squeezing tightly, his thumbs teasing her skin just under her shirt but never pushing farther, not until she grabbed his hands and placed them on her chest, moaning as he squeezed his hands as he's dreamt of 500 times by now. At that moment she pulled back, lifting her shirt over her head and allowing Klaus to see her red bra hiding her breasts from him and he wanted to rip it off desperately. 'Go ahead.'

His head snapped up and he saw her smiling at him, his cock was throbbing at this point and he was desperate to cum but he pushed the feeling away as hard as he could, reaching up and finding the latch on the bra, fumbling for just a moment before pulling it down her arms and revealing her chest to him. 'Holy shit!' She pulled him back in to kiss her again and he rolled her nipples between his fingers, though she seemed to have other plans. She pulled back from the kiss and guided his head down towards her chest where he happily accepted her nipple into his mouth, hand caressing the other one as he sucked on her tit roughly, eventually switching and loving her little moans. She squealed as he pulled at the bud between his teeth gently, all the while she was pulling at his hair. As she pulled particularly hard his hips flew up, thrusting against her and he gasped, arm wrapping around her waist tightly and holding her to him as he did it again.

'Fuck! God Nik!' She reached out, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it aside, his chest now pressing to her breasts as she connected their lips again, his hips grinding against hers.

'Is that good for you, love?' He asked, ensuring he wasn't just doing something that wasn't bringing her any sort of pleasure. He may not be an expert at this but he did want to make her feel good enough that she would want to do it again. As soon as he had said it she moaned like a whore, and since he hadn't just thrust against her he assumed it was the nickname she had said she loves. 'You liked that? What is it that gets you off, hmm? Angel? Princess? Babygirl?' Her fingers tightening in his hair as she choked on a groan. 'There we are. Are you Daddy's little Babygirl?'

'Yes! Yes Daddy!' His cock twitched in his pants and he was half convinced for a moment that he had cum all over himself. She was now grinding down onto him and the heat of her pussy even through all of their clothes, was driving him crazy.

'Such a good girl!' Y/n moaned, head falling into his neck and biting onto his shoulder as she continued grinding on him. 'Can Daddy take these off? Is that okay.' She nodded, whining as he flipped them over so she was laying out on the couch, unbuttoning her jeans and pulling them down her legs, followed by his own. Klaus lifted her legs and spread them enough that he could get between them, pulling the blanket up over them so that she wouldn't feel cold. 'So sweet, making those sounds for me, aren't you? Daddy's sweet little Princess.'

'You feel so good Daddy! Please?'

'Please what Babygirl?' She whimpered, lifting her hips to grind against his but he pulled back, denying her any friction as the sounds he was causing her to make gave him a level of confidence he had never experienced. 'Tell me what you want pretty girl.'

'Daddy! Fuck me Daddy! Please?!' Nik growled, pulling her panties down her legs and throwing them god knows where, before yanking off his own boxer briefs. 'Holy fuck!' He froze, not knowing what he had done wrong but when he looked to her face he just saw her staring down at his cock.

'What? What's wrong?' He asked, instantly insecure but she just stared. 'Y/n!'

'I've never actually seen a cock as thick as yours! Fuck! I am definitely sucking your cock later.' He thought he could cum untouched if she kept talking. The idea that he was in any way better than the guy that had abused him for years, as well as that you wanted more than just this one time fuck could've made him howl with joy but he held it in, instead lining himself up with your entrance and feeling your wet pussy pressed against his cock for the first time, making his eyes roll back as he tried as hard as he could not to cum. Klaus pushed his way into you, seeing discomfort on your face and stopping.

'Are you alright gorgeous, I can-'

'Don't you dare stop!' His eyes widened but he did as she said, continuing to push forward until he was completely filling her where he froze. 'It's okay...move-'

'Give me a second, I...I've never done this, it's-' his face was red as possible in his embarrassment but she took his cheeks in her hands and forced him to look up.

'It's okay Nik, that's all you had to say. Take your time, we'll go slow.' He groaned just as she moved her hand and fixed his glasses that were askew on his face at this point. Something about her doing that turned him on even more, just being accepted by her in every way and not even caring that he had no experience at all.

'God, you're fucking perfect.' He breathed, pulling his hips back before pushing back into her body, his cock feeling like it was in the most delicious vice grip that's ever existed.

'I'm not-' he cut her off, hand around her throat and gently applying pressure.

'Don't. I say you're perfect Babygirl, so you're perfect...got it?' She nodded quickly, whining as he thrust up into her hard this time.

'Yes Daddy.'

'Oh Fuck!' He thrust up again now holding onto your thighs that wrapped around his waist, continuing to do that and not really going fast, just creating a good rhythm that didn't make him want to cum embarrassingly fast. 'So tight, such a good girl squeezing Daddy so good, you know that? My good girl.'

She whimpered. Whimpered for him. 'Stretch me out so good Daddy! Your cock feels so good! Fuck!'

'Yeah? You like Daddy's cock stretching this cute little pussy? So god damn soft and sweet for me...'

'Yes Daddy! You feel perfect! My Daddy loves knowing his cock is the best I've had, don't you?' His hands grip on your thighs tightened and you could feel the bruises forming as he lifted you up and sat back on his knees, supporting both your weight on him now as he thrust up into you. 'Holy Shit! My Daddy's strong too! Fuck! Gonna cum Daddy! Gonna cum!'

'Cum all over my cock, Babygirl. Let Daddy feel you squeezing me so tight.' He continued his pace until he felt her squeeze down hard on his cock the same time her grip got infinitely tighter. 'Oh shit! Oh shit, fuck!' She was squeezing him like a pulse, over and over again, tight but gentle and soft and perfect. It was unlike anything he could have imagined no matter how many times he jerked off, he couldn't have stopped himself if he tried. Thrusting as deeply into her as he could he filled her up as much as possible, holding her body to him so tightly and refusing to let her go, eventually collapsing with her on his chest and pulling the blanket up over the both of them. Once he had finally calmed down enough he felt her nuzzling into his neck and kissing him there.

'You have a cute little freckle here.' He could hear how sleepy she was and he pet her hair, allowing her to begin to drift off before suddenly remembering something important, turning his head to look at the dresser. 'I'm on the pill, remember? It's okay.' He relaxed as she told him that, holding her to him and lifting her against him making her groan.

'Calm down Princess, bed time.' He pulled out of her and laid her body down in his bed, cleaning her off quickly and tracing his fingers over the bruises on her thighs.

'Feels nice Daddy.'

'Good, I'm glad...Daddy always wants you covered in my marks.' He teased, cleaning himself off and sliding a pair of boxers onto them both before crawling into the bed, not passing up the chance to be able to feel her breasts pressed against his skin all night. 'Sleep Y/n, my precious girl. Daddy's here.' He wrapped them up tightly and drifted off with his dream girl exactly where he always wanted her.

[givehimthemedicine]

🧇 Eggos as a symbol of M*leven: an analysis

El Loves Eggos is a running thing throughout the show and I want to look at where that actually came from.

does she, Michael?

because here's what it looks like when El tastes an Eggo for the first time. here's the moment of origin!!! drumroll!!!:

😐

Eggos are first established as a Mike thing. he's absolutely wolfing them down at the breakfast table, to the point where Nancy and Karen are both giving him weird looks. they don't know he's doing that because he's eager to go check on the feral child camping in his basement, and might both just mistake this as a sudden unexplained enthusiasm for Eggos.

I really wanted to see whether the whole family was eating Eggos or just Mike, but the scene is shot so that you can't see what's on Ted's or Karen's plates. Nancy might also have an Eggo, which she's eating with a fork and knife to let us know she's repressed and also in a doomed relationship.

then Mike hurries downstairs to give one to El and we get this non-reaction that launched a thousand toaster levers.

what part of this reaction should warrant Eggos becoming her whole thing? because if she didn't "!!!!" over her first one, why would she with subsequent ones offscreen?

Mike has no inkling at this point that she likes Eggos, because.. she doesn't. At least she's given no indication that she does.

I don't know if El has ever especially liked the taste of Eggos. I think what she likes about them is Mike. also as far as she knows, they're are a major pillar of a regular people diet. to her, they're a connection to Mike and by extension to the normalcy, safety, and love that she craves.

Next, El shoplifts the Eggos. out of a whole store of options. doesn't that prove she thinks they're delicious? not necessarily. I think it's just because she latched onto the only familiar thing she saw.

she clearly didn't come in here looking for them specifically, she's just hungry and she can tell this building is where food comes from, but she gets in there and is a bit lost because none of this stuff is recognizable as food to her. between Mike and Benny and the lab, she's probably never seen prepackaged foods and doesn't know what to pick, not to mention she literally doesn't have any preferences anyway. she's wandering rather aimlessly until she sees the picture of Eggos by chance and thinks "hey!! those are the yellow circles I ate before!"

side note: notice just to the left of the Eggos she takes, is an alternate blueberry flavor. El has no reason to choose the default yellow out of familiarity because she's never seen what package they come in at all. she didn't even know they were called Eggos, or that they are a frozen product, she just spotted a picture that looked familiar. the actual Eggos pictured on the boxes don't even really look different. did she just choose the kind with the word "home" on the box? :(

she eats her stolen Eggos in the woods, probably not understanding why they're not very good, because she doesn't know they need to be toasted. she's not having a good time. these are the first Eggos she's acquired on her own without Mike providing them, but as she sits there eating them, and missing Mike and all that he represents, she hears him calling her in the distance, reinforcing the Mike-Eggo link.

also wait, I see 4 boxes open, at 8 apiece, is this at a minimum her TWENTY FIFTH dry frozen Eggo she's eating right now?? my poor baby's gonna have tummy trouble in the upside down

remember right before this, Mike and Dustin saw the grocery store with the shattered door and the cops out front and realized it must be El's work? most likely after Mike got El home, he would have asked her what had happened there, and maybe she could have been in a rare mood to actually answer a direct question. Mike, not knowing her real reasons, could only have been like "whoa, you must really love Eggos!" and El, not yet knowing how to evaluate her own likes and dislikes, might have thought, "huh, yeah, I must."

that's what must have happened because the next thing on the Eggo timeline is Mike telling Nancy that El REALLY likes them, despite El never having given any other indication. nobody's even mentioned Eggos for a few episodes as far as I can remember.

Then, when she asks for them, thinking she loves them now, he calls them "not real food". hmm

this is the first (only?) time El mentions Eggos by name. Mike never told her what they were called - she found out for herself at the grocery store. interestingly, much of this scene is of Mike struggling to put a name on romantic attraction or even distinguish it from platonic or familial relationships.

you know how he just gave her the Eggo without explaining what it was or asking if she wanted it first, and without any frame of reference she kinda just assumed she liked it?

I don't see any reason why El would already know what a kiss is or what it means. she lacks the life experience to process whether she's really into this or just thinks she is because... well, Mike seems into it, and he's easily the least abusive interpersonal relationship she's had so far, and he represents normalcy and safety and home, and she's always wanted to be loved and this feels like something to do with that, so... smile??

now believing her to be the world's biggest fan, Mike comforts a distressed El with visions of a future with unlimited Eggos. we know Mike likes feeling needed, in fact he equates it with love itself, so I can see him absolutely eating up the idea of being El's Eggo-provider.

in the same sentence, he re-offers the Snow Ball thing he was talking about earlier when he kissed her. this links Eggos with M*leven, and the idea of him loving her.

then she takes out the demogorgon and disappears to the upside down.

Hopper, too, must discover her apparent love of Eggos when he responds to the shoplift call and the store manager tells him that's all the bald kid stole. so that's what he leaves for her in the woods.

but to El, Eggos are a Mike thing. she doesn't know anyone else knows that she likes them. so she finds this mysterious box with Eggos in the woods - the woods, where Mike found her originally. the woods, where she sat eating Eggos and heard Mike calling to her, and practically the last thing he ever did was promise her Eggos... what can she think but that Mike left them? that after all this time out here cold and scared and alone, that Mike is still looking for her? that there's still hope for her to have a home and be loved?

she stakes out the box and discovers the Eggo-provider to be Hopper, not Mike. that's disappointing, but she reveals herself anyway because she's been Bear Gryllsing out here for I think at least a few weeks in that Nancy dress and she's pretty over it.

Hopper buys her Eggos as a regular treat when they live in the cabin, not knowing she likes them mainly because they're a reminder of the proto-relationship she's desperate to get back to.

they're Hopper's go-to bribe when she isn't speaking to him. it's a strong motivator because she's been stuck in this cabin for like a year dying a slow death of isolation and FOMO. even if she's mad at the new provider, she can't bear to miss out on the Eggos because of what they represent.

it's also what Hopper takes away as punishment, along with the TV, for her sneaking out. these are both indirect ways of taking away Mike (she uses the TV for static to go see him in the void) who she's already upset about having missed out on, because she saw him with Max and thinks she's taken him away, too.

also Hopper's being a dick and threatening to send her back to the lab and stuff, so thinking she has no one left in the world who loves her, she runs away to find her mom and start the life that should've been hers in the first place.

Hopper checks in eventually to apologize and remind her that Eggos aren't real food. she isn't home to hear it.

here she is stealing something to eat from the convenience store with Kali's gang. she takes an apple but then spots the Eggos and decides she'd rather have that than fruit, so again, she was not seeking them out. she would've made a beeline for the freezer section if she was.

this time, she gets sidetracked and doesn't actually leave the store with them. they don't seem quite as important as before.

El spends most of season 2 forcibly and unhappily separated from Mike, which yields probably the Eggo-heaviest season as she clings to them as a connection to their relationship.

she then spends most of 3 separated from Mike as well, except this time by her own choice, happily, and wouldn't you know it, the season is a pretty dry spell for Eggo references. she's having the time of her life hanging out with Max and learning about herself, and doesn't miss the relationship.

she uses this freezer's hum to go void-watching, and oh, what's this? a row of Aunt Jemima brand frozen waffles encroaching on the Eggo display? she's branching out. there's more to life than stupid Eggos.

the party uses and eats and loots anything they wanted from this store, and this is her best ever opportunity to steal some sweet sweet yellow circles. in fact, she's sitting in front of the exact freezer where she grabbed all her little arms could carry in season 1. the coast is totally clear, and there are even more in stock now.

she doesn't even touch one box.

season 4 starts off with this Mike toaster shot paralleling the one in season 1 for what other reason than to Eggo-bait us?

Mike's outwardly eager to get on with his spring break trip and go see El, but the fact we're prominently shown him toasting two pop tarts instead of Eggos hints at a different goal he may or may not be aware of. I don't mean this to be a byler post, but I know that's what yall are going to say and it could sure work for that, but at a minimum it hints that Mike's true priorities are drifting from his relationship with El. Mike is also allowed to realize there's more to life than stupid Eggos.

oo look who's learning about other breakfast foods on her own and isn't so concerned with Mike's approval

after the rink-o-mania incident, things are weird between El and Mike and he makes her Eggos as a peace offering. it should be a cute sentimental gesture but also kinda feels a little damning that El Likes Eggos is still basically the only thing he knows about her after how long they've known each other.

the presence of Eggos in the house means that Joyce is keeping them in stock for El, who's been back on her bullshit since ten seconds before she left Hawkins. although to what degree I don't know, it depends how aware she is that she's lying to herself. either she's going through 2 packs a day keeping this relationship alive with lies and desperation, or there's been one box in the freezer awhile growing ice crystals. not sure.

either way, right now she's pissed off and doesn't want them. she never really liked Eggos, but now she's gone too long without getting what they represented, and doesn't even want that anymore.

also what kind of sociopath pours syrup on someone else's Eggos an undetermined amount of time in advance and lets it get all soggy. you gotta do that yourself so it's fresh and you control your own destiny/syrup distribution. are they sitting in a giant puddle of syrup?? boy, how do you mess up EGGOS. this on its own is a dumpable offense.

Mike's idea of El is still "haha Eggo go in, superhero come out" and he looks at them like he just doesn't understand why it's not working. so he tries again like smoothing out a wrinkly dollar bill and trying it in the vending machine again. he brings her the soggy symbolic Eggos she already didn't want when they were fresh.

she doesn't look at them. it's over.

I really believe their relationship doesn't survive this scene.

if this scene went on longer it would've been Mike picking up an Eggo and gently smushing it against her mouth with concern while she stares at him like

also notice Mike isn't having Eggos for breakfast. he and Will are having eggs and toast (real food). he only made Eggos (not real food) for her. he's trying to give El something he doesn't really even want himself.

also what do you wanna bet Will got that syrup out for himself and Mike to put on their eggs and then Mike didn't take any and put it on El's Eggos instead.

Anyway, post fight-or-possible-breakup, El ends up at this diner with Owens. she has to have discovered a second kind of food that she likes by this point in her life, but she peers at a menu on the wall for a moment and recognizes something familiar, a lot like at the grocery store, and orders "waffles, please." she is, after all, in a pretty scary situation here - arrested, dragged off in handcuffs, federally kidnapped in the middle of the desert, and put sorta back in custody of her lifelong abusers. she kinda broke up with Mike, but it's still her habit to look for the comfort of familiarity.

on the surface it's worth a chuckle because El Loves Eggos and waffles are the closest thing to Eggos you can order at a restaurant. but also it's the first time she's ever gone off-brand, isn't it?

waffles are the real food that Eggos are a junk imitation of. she wants real love, and symbolically, this is her letting go of her notion of Mike being her only option for that.

five seconds later she chooses to immediately embark on her self-discovery journey which she's been clearly warned may result in her never seeing her friends again.

she doesn't stay for the waffles at all. showing that not only has she left Mike behind, but romance, period, is not her priority at this time.

later at Surfer Boy we see what it looks like, by the way, when El really does like the taste of something. here's the !!! reaction I've been attributing to Eggos that never actually happened.

Mike is there to scowl and insist that pineapple on pizza is both insane and blasphemous. El knows how to like what she likes now, and she (on a good-natured level of course) couldn't give less of a shit whether he approves. in fact she tries to force feed it to him. the growth.

ps, she was about to codify their breakup before they got pizzablocked.

Mike then lies and says he loves her at emotional gunpoint, killing Max and causing the apocalypse and stuff so the vibes get weird again.

El doesn't talk to him at all after that. and Mike makes no effort to stay near her on the approach to Hopper's cabin, which he should realize is an emotional moment for her.

our final Eggo reference is this old box in the destroyed cabin, looking like a relic of the past. Nancy finds some cleaning supplies and everybody starts sweeping and picking up trash.

i'm livid that it happens just out of frame but we end the season on El STUFFING THE EGGO BOX IN HER TRASH BAG oHOHOHO CHEF KISS

~ Fin ~ 🧇🦴

[agoodfictitle-shadowban]

From Vormir, With Love - Part 2

Tags: strangers to lovers, love in space angst on earth, slavery mention, alien abduction, post Endgame, will add as we go on

Summary: As you're being chased you crash on Vormir. So far, so bad. But things take a turn when you come face to face with a marooned Black Widow.

[Part 1] [here] [Part 3]

Word count: 3.1k

A/n: after some nice vacations I'm back! Thanks for all your support, and I hope you'll like this chapter!

Taglist: tbd

You were right, June didn't like you bringing one more person along. An Avenger on top of it. Still, she simply gave one look to the newcomer, groaned, and went back to her repairs. You could work with that.

Now, you're hanging in the cockpit of your ship, looking at the star chart. In the five years you spent drifting into space, you never managed to find Earth again. Most Aliens don't care for humans, and don't know where they're from. As for star charts, they cost an arm and a half, so you have to work with the one you have - one which of course doesn't give the common names of planets in human language and no translator has cracked it.

"What are you doing?" The voice comes from behind you, covering the snores of the rest of the crew in the background. Sleep doesn't come as easy to you, even if you have the privilege to have your own bed. For tonight, you decided to give it up to Tim. He looked miserable after the fight with Natasha.

"Looking up at the stars," you answer simply, eyes still on the chart.

"What are you doing in space?" She asks after a moment of silence.

"What are you?" You retort, not even contemplating answering her question, and finally looking up at her. Now that you know who she is, bitterness is starting to build inside you, for her and all the so-called Mightiest Heroes of Earth. You take a deep breath, you don't want to lose focus. "I know for a fact Avengers don't travel that far out without a reason, and clearly something happened." You point at the Aliens who came back from the blip. "Cause those guys appeared out of nowhere three days ago. So, what's up with that?"

"So it worked…" she whispers at first, in a sort of wonder, and you understand she had something to do with all that. She looks at you, searches your face, and for a bit you think she won't answer you. And then she smirks. That surprises you. "You're a smart one, aren't you?" She puts her feet on the board and you glare at them as she keeps talking. "I was here to save everyone from the snap. It's good to see we succeeded." She seems genuinely happy about it, but also troubled.

You hum, and you wonder if that's truly for the best. Memories from the day of the Snap flood back to you.

-

You had never been that scared in your life before. You had no idea where you were, if you were even still on Earth - you guessed that you weren't, because those… people were clearly non-humans. You remembered going to the convenience store down your street, after a long shift at work. The night had already set for a few hours at the time, and as you were about to pay for your ramen pack and soda, those things came out of nowhere. You tried to hide, to fight, but it was no use. You remember thinking that maybe, just maybe, someone would come and help you. The cops, the military, anyone. Maybe SHIELD or the Avengers had detected that strange activity, somehow, and they were on their way. But no one came.

The aliens took all of you, all the ones that were in the store, and the next time you opened your eyes, you were in what looked like a ship.

You were kept in a cell with the clerk from the store - June, you learned, an engineering student who was working two jobs to pay for college - and food was coming from the ceiling in bags. You quickly realized it was sedated, and stopped eating until your stomach begged for something, anything. Some of the aliens were walking around, probably to keep an eye on the prisoners, and you quickly noticed that the only ones armed were those who had six eyes and a weird stone in the middle of their forehead. There were others, they looked like they were only doing maintenance or cleaning. They had a collar around their neck. This lasted maybe a week, and you kept praying that anytime, at any moment now, someone would come to save you. But once again, no one came.

And then one day… no one came again. No guards. The prison doors opened for apparently no reason, and you took a step outside. Was it a trap? Your naked feet walked alongside other prisoners. Besides June, you couldn't understand any of them - they were all aliens speaking different languages, and the other three humans were nowhere to be seen. You found weapons, and fought some of the aliens. You managed to outnumber most of them with the other prisoners. Soon enough, you were aboard a ship and on your way elsewhere. You remember looking at the star chart with so much hope. Home. It was right there.

-

Home is nowhere to be seen.

"I wish you could be as optimistic as you." You shake your head.

Now, those Aliens have more manpower than ever, and will certainly come after you again. You will need to lay low for some time before you can keep going on your quest for Earth.

"You're not happy," Natasha simply states. It feels like you're raining on her parade, so you decide to reassure her in order to keep the peace. There is also this weird feeling in your chest that makes you like her smirk, and the stupid spark in her eyes, so you might as well try to keep it there even just for some personal gratification.

"No, it's probably good. Means more people to help us get back to Earth. Which, you wouldn't happen to have a star chart on you?"

"No. But I might know someone who does." Here is the smirk again, thinning her full lips that you could kiss right now if she is telling the truth. You lunge towards her and put your hands on her upper arms, one on each side, squeezing her. She looks surprised, eyes wide, almost ready to fight but she keeps it in her.

"Wait? Are you for real?! This would be fantastic!"

"Why don't we calm down first, hm?"

You want to throw a party and dance of joy. "Calm down? It's been more than five years!" You whisper yell to not wake up your guests. "I can finally go home!"

She decides you're a lost cause when she sees you walk towards June's quarters and almost fall from dancing happily between the bodies sleeping on the ground. Somehow, seeing this after the past few days makes her smirk slightly, her heart lighter. You disappear around a corner just as the memory hits.

-

When she opened her eyes, it was to a dark sky and crimson surroundings. Her clothes were damp from the small pools of water under her. Not far was the sharp cliff she jumped from. She remembered the last thing she saw. Clint. She sat up. He was nowhere to be seen, and she wondered if her sacrifice didn't work, because right now, she was very much alive. No. She should still be dead. She should still be… free. She swallowed. She never wanted to die. But. But… she stood up, as tired as ever, and checked her equipment. Her Widow's bites were fried, as were her comms, but she still had her sidearm. Now, she had to find Clint.

He was nowhere to be seen, she realized once she came back up the cliff. No one was here anymore, not even Red Skull, she was all alone. Alone. She was used to it, it was fine.

She checked her comms again. Still nothing, not even statics.

She sat down on the same rocks as earlier. Was it earlier? She searched around her pockets, and found her phone. She was barely able to make it work, but soon enough she realized what her problem was. She was back to today's time, after she left for the past. Clint wasn't here, not because he abandoned her, because the last time he was had been years ago. It suddenly made sense. What didn't was why she was here. But for now, she had a much more pressing question: how was she going to go back to Earth?

Luckily, fate gave her a quick answer.

In the horizon, light caught her eye. Someone was crashing here, and she would only hope to get to you before you left again. With no time to lose, she started her walk.

-

"Are you sure she isn't brain dead? 'Cause she ain't answering." June's voice brings Natasha back to the present. She arches an eyebrow and tilts her head the slightest in her direction.

"See, not dead," you say in triomph.

"Why don't you stop talking about me like I'm not here." Her tone is harsh, and it shuts up both of you. You rub the back of your neck and look away, ashamed, while June just crosses her arms almost in defiance. It's still enough to get back to the main subject.

"Whatever," June starts, "do you really know people who could help us?"

The irreverence aside, there is some fear in her voice, and it quickly clicks in Natasha's head: she's scared to get her hopes up. It's a fear she understood all too well; hope is always the first step towards disappointment. Hope is dangerous. But sometimes it's all you have, and she isn't about to disappoint those lost women.

"Yes, we just need to find them."

"And who are they exactly?" asks a very guarded June. You elbow her, and she simply send you a glare, ignoring your suddenly very shiny personality. You'd never been one to be pessimistic, despite everything that happened, you just knew how to hide it, but right now you were almost beaming with joy.

"Carol Danvers, ideally, then Peter Quill, or Thor, one of the two if we don't have a choice." She shrugs like this will be easy. To be fair, they are very well known individuals. June looks at you to see if you know who she's talking about, since you're well informed usually. You are always the one going outside the ship to find the missions. It takes you a second to know exactly who she's talking about, and you nod.

"Carol is our best bet, anyone with authority has a way to contact her. We can just go to the federation probably, but the Nova Corps could be closer. I think they have an outpost a few jumps away…" You're already thinking, looking back at your star chart to find the closest place where you can contact Marvel, or whoever the other two were - well, Thor you know, but the name of Peter Quill sounds made up, even if it titillates your brain. "I'll check the radio as soon as we leave Vormir's atmosphere. Something is blocking the communications."

June nods, then looks at Natasha with distrustful eyes. "You better be telling the truth or you'll pray you did."

Somehow, the threat works on you too and you move on your seat in discomfort. June always was the more serious of the two of you, and held an even bigger grudge against the Avengers than you did. It reminds you that maybe you should distrust a spy a little bit more, as you eye the ship's console. Natasha is less impressed, but still takes things seriously.

"I am," she simply reaffirms in all seriousness. You observe her, and she seems genuine to you. It looks like it's enough for June too, because she simply goes back to her bed.

"Sorry for June," you say when she's out of earshot. "She's… we both went through a lot. Makes things hard." Hard to trust, hard to forgive. You're happy that she could help, but you also know tomorrow the bitterness will still be there. Of course, Natasha knows too well what you mean, the vulnerability that comes with the short explanation, and she offers a simple nod in understanding, her eyes expressing all of her empathy.

You're thankful for it.

A small silence establishes itself, during which you look each other in the eyes. It's easy to fall in hers, the infinite pool of water so inviting, so full of hurt to learn and comfort to find. You could read a full life, and something more, a spark no one else had. It lasts a few seconds, before you get back to the star chart, and she stands up to go get some water. When she comes back, she brings some to you, and you thank her in a whisper. She starts to clean her weapons and tinkers with her widow bites to try and repair them. While she does that, she notices you talking to yourself when you plan your next course and smiles slightly while looking down. Her lips crack from three days spent in what was virtually a desert.

Somehow, it makes her think of home.

-

Everything is ready for take off, and as your hand hovers over the handle ,you send a look to June. She gives you a thumbs up, but you know she isn't as sure as she looks, you know she probably thinks there is a small uncertain chance you will crash again and not survive this time. But with the help of Natasha - turns out she's a good mechanic at least - and some of the maintenance crew, you managed to repair the ship earlier than June told you the first time.

"Okay, up and away we go," you whisper to yourself as you push the thrusters. "Let's hope."

The ship shakes under the building pressure, but it holds. You push them some more as you gain elevation, the ground further and further away, and before you know it, you manage to leave Vormir's atmosphere.

You let out a breath of relief.

The ship stabilizes under you, and you send a thumbs up to June this time. As you go back to the console, your gaze crosses with Natasha's, and you exchange a small smile. You only had brief talks since she joined you, but she always was nice to everyone, if a bit short with Tim. The giant humanoid feline was still suspicious of her, the same way he was suspicious of almost everyone. You mainly tried to ignore the small brewing conflict, but it was getting harder. For now, you were simply happy to be back in space and not in pieces.

"We're green across the board," you announced, and everyone let the reassurance lift the weight off their shoulders. You then focus back on the ship. You still had to have the autopilot calibrated to the nearest jump point that would allow you to access the Nova Corps, then, if you were lucky, Earth.

It takes you little time to get the autopilot calibrated, and once you do you notice Natasha is still watching you, where the others simply went back to their activities. She's leaning against the hull, her arms crossed, a spark of curiosity in her eyes.

"How did you learn to pilot?"

"Observation. When we… commandeered this ship–"

"You stole it?" She raises an eyebrow.

"They were bad people." She nods, and you continue. "We had aliens with us. I just watched them pilot and learned via observation."

"Not everyone could have done that. What did you do back on Earth?" Her interest starts to make you the slightest uncomfortable, but you simply answer with a shrug.

"I worked some job that barely matters anymore."

"Never had a flying lesson?"

You shake your head no, and you notice admiration in her traits. It seems like you impressed her.

"I'm impressed," she confirms. "It takes some exceptional skills to pick up something like that."

Somehow, it makes you blush slightly and your chest rises with pride. You look away to hide it as you feel conflicted, and decide it's probably because the only other person you spent time with the past few years has been June, and she's not one to show admiration for others. Definitely nothing to do with Natasha herself being incredibly competent, and pretty. Very pretty.

Your eyes can't help but wander back to her when you notice the way the dim lights from the ship are highlighting her sharp jaw and her cheekbones, her long lashes projecting their shadows on her delicate skin. You realize you're staring, and that she's actually staring back. It makes you slightly uncomfortable, as you feel that after five years, there isn't much to look at, so you decide to break the brief silence.

"It's not… maybe a bit but– you know, you look tired. Maybe you should rest or something?" You fumble to change the subject. She has the audacity to smirk, and you want to cross your arms like a petulant child who's been caught in the cookie jar. But she's nice, and simply agrees.

"I should. You should too, commander." There is some teasing behind her voice, and you sputter a bit. She doesn't wait for an answer before she ducks back to the other side of the ship.

You stay there for a minute, trying to process the whole conversation. Was she…? Was that flirting? No. No way. You frown, trying to understand what just happened.

"Nope, no way. She's right I'm just tired," you finally settle on. You stand up and go back to the living side of the ship, asking Tim to keep an eye on the trajectory before you join your bunk. It was more a hole in the wall with a mattress stuck in it than anything else, but it was yours. There was another bunk on top of yours, where you kept some of your stuff before the arrival of everyone, but it had been cleared to give space to them. On the other side of the room, there is the same configuration, and on the top bunk you can make the silhouette of the spy. 

It's the last thing you see before you fall asleep, and you wonder how long the newfound safety you felt is going to last.

[theboywithburninghands]

Morning guys, or afternoon/evening depending on where you are. So, I know I said the @rottentricks story was only gonna be three chapters, but chapter two has gotten so big I wouldn’t feel right slapping a giant wall of text onto your timeline. So, it’s being split into two parts. Here you are, hope you like it!

T/W: Blood, discussions of suicide/murder, fantasy racism

Animals Ch. 2: Sheep, Part 1

What do you get for pretending the danger’s not real?

—

Pomni fell out of bed with a jolt at the sound of her telephone ringing. She hurriedly detangled her quilt from around her foot as the phone rang again, followed by the caller ID loudly and robotically blurting out:

“CALL FROM- PRIVATE CALLER.”

“Gee, thanks…” Pomni mumbled. She had no idea why her parents got her a phone with caller ID. It almost never worked unless the person had a private cell, and the only people she knew who could afford one of those were her parents… Hm, she might have just answered her own question.

She grabbed the phone off the charging dock and hit talk before it could ring again.

“Hello…?” she said sleepily.

“Hey Pomni, it’s Ragatha! Did I wake you up?”

Pomni cleared her throat. She checked her watch. 12:47 PM… sweet Jesus. How embarrassing.

“Uh- n-no, you didn’t… what’s up? You okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine, hun, but have you seen what’s going on downtown?” Ragatha asked, her tone hushed. A faint susurrus could be heard in the background of the phone call.

“Uh… no. I’ve been at my apartment since I got steak from Kingston’s Charcuterie yesterday morning… Working on stuff for school, you know? What’s happening?”

“You were at Kingston’s yesterday…? You know Jax then?” Ragatha’s tone turned much more serious.

“Uh, yeah..?”

“Honey, he was arrested.”

Pomni covered up the mouthpiece of the phone and loudly swore. She uncovered it and kept talking.

“Are you serious..? Why?” she asked. Her concern was quite genuine, but her surprise was not. She knew why.

“They’re saying that it looks like someone killed Kaufmo with a knife and hung him up a tree to make it look like a suicide… oh god, it’s horrible. But they found a knife from Jax’s store in the woods nearby, and they said that was good enough evidence to arrest him. They took him in last night around 6 PM…”

Pomni sighed. She knew it would happen… Those stupid cops already had him pegged for the murderer. There was some evidence sure, but-

Well… maybe she was wrong. Maybe they did find some evidence incriminating him that came up, fingerprints (like she demanded they look for), a piece of purple fur or something… Maybe she really was just letting her biases get in the way.

“…all over Main Street. …Pomni, baby, you there?”

Pomni blinked back into her apartment, and realized that Ragatha had been talking the entire time she’d been arguing with herself.

“Uh- s-sorry you broke up for a minute, what did you say?”

“I said that someone must have said something, because there’s a huge protest going on outside the station, saying it was an unfair arrest! There’s out-of-towners, some locals, they’re all over Main Street! I think I see a news van out there..! You can probably hear ‘em right now!”

“Oh god, is that what that background noise is? Holy shit. Are… you okay, Ragatha?” Pomni asked.

“Me? I’m a little shaken up. Jax has been providing supplies for the café for years! He gives us our steak, our burgers, our bacon, our sausages… and he’s my friend. He can be a bit rude and he’s scary looking, but… I don’t think he’s capable of…killing people.” Ragatha whispered the last two words.

“I don’t think he is either,” Pomni said. “And-And I only met him for a few minutes yesterday. Sure, it’s suspicious about the knife, but he sells knives! Someone could have used one they already bought or stole one. And-And I was there when those cops showed up, and I saw how they acted! They looked ready to shoot him and one of them said something really nasty…”

Ragatha sighed. “You wanna know the sad part, honey? That doesn’t surprise me even a little. Autumnvale is a nice place, but some people around here like things in their place, and if you fall outta that place… It can be hard for you. But I hope you don’t think our whole town is like that.”

“Oh- No- No, not at all! I love the friends I’ve made here. You’ve been amazing…” Pomni said. She meant it. Ragatha had basically taken on the role of her big sister here.

“Aww… That’s so sweet of you, Pomni. You’ve got enough to eat, right? I’m sorry I closed the café yesterday…”

“No, Ragatha, don’t worry. I was fine, and you needed the day off. But I can come see you now if you want? I haven’t had breakfast yet and I ate my whole steak yesterday…”

She could practically feel Ragatha’s luminous smile through the phone. “Well sure, hun, come and visit! I’ll make you something special. Just be careful, okay? These protesters are making me nervous…”

“I will. See you in a bit, okay?” Pomni said with a smile.

“Bye.~” Ragatha said, and there was a click at the other end.

Pomni hopped off her bed and got herself dressed. Fresh underwear, then shirt, then pants, then fleece, then puffer, then purse. She looked out her window, saw it was snowing, and added a pair of black gloves and a white scarf, topped with her gray university beanie. It didn’t match her outfit, but maybe with this on, the protestors wouldn’t yell at her. She was on their side, after all, she thought something was fishy about the whole thing too…

She stepped outside, looking around at the falling snow. Big, fat flakes that looked like wisps of cotton. She held out a black-gloved hand and caught one. The flake remained on her palm for a moment before the heat from her hand caused the fluff to recede into water on her glove. She smiled.

She put her glove back on the strap of her purse, then turned to look at the stairs. They were dusted with snow, and no doubt slippery.

She huffed and gripped the railing tight. One step at a time, never let go. Repeat for all thirteen steps.

An excruciating minute later and she was at the bottom, panting and sending up plumes of steam. She appreciated being on the second floor to avoid the rats and bugs, but having to climb up and especially down these icy stairs was brutal… One of these days she was going to slip and fall and it was gonna suck.

“You okay, Miss?”

Pomni looked up at the unfamiliar voice. An abstract person sat atop a horse. They had a triangular head, bright pink, with no visible mouth and a shiny metal hook for a left hand. They wore a heavy poncho, colored dark green with yellow diamonds, and a brown cowboy hat. They sat atop a horse with an unusual coat, a nearly perfect split between black and white stripes and plain white fur.

“Um… hi. Yeah, I’m fine, just… uh… stairs.” Pomni pointed to the offending structure, still out of breath.

“Mmm. You headed into town?” the person on the horse asked.

“Yeah. You heading there too? Have you heard about the protests..?” Pomni asked.

“Yeah. I’m close friends with the guy that got arrested. I’m gonna see if I can post his bail.” they said.

Pomni perked up a bit. “Oh, great! Uh, I’m a friend of his as well! I saw the way the cops treated him…”

“Really? Tell me about it, I’ll give you a lift into town.”

The person on the horse turned their mount around the opposite direction, offering their non-hook hand. Pomni took it, carefully sliding her feet into the stirrups and climbing up onto the horse, sitting herself a bit clumsily behind the rider. The horse shook their head and snorted in annoyance.

“I’m Zooble. This is ZigZag.”

Zooble patted the side of their horse, gently tugging on their reins so they turned back towards town, then flicked the reins with a soft “giddyup.” ZigZag chuffed and trotted forward, leaving horseshoe prints in the new fallen snow.

“Hi, I’m Pomni. I’m here on an art scholarship.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot Mayor Mason started doing that. You’re here a full year, then?” Zooble asked without turning around.

“Yeah. Until I get my Master’s in May… I really love it here though… Well I love most of here. Winter has been pretty rough.” Pomni admitted.

Zooble chuckled. “Yeah, we have harsh winters. Our nights are especially bad. You’ve been staying inside after dark, right?”

“Mhm, always. If I die, my parents will have wasted money. Worse still, the college will have to liquidate my loans.” Pomni replied, putting her gloves to her cheeks in mock horror.

Zooble chuckled once again. “I’m not surprised you fit in here, you came pre-fit with small-town snark.”

“Thanks. Oh, so, yeah, I saw Jax yesterday. The cops were already gung-ho about arresting him… You’re his friend, right? You don't think he would do something like that, right…?”

Zooble was silent for a moment. “To someone like Kaufmo? No.”

“Wait- what do you mean?” Pomni asked, leaning a ways off of ZigZag to get a better look at the rider’s face.

“What I mean is that… He would never hurt anyone that didn’t really have it coming. I don’t know if you know, but the other kids made his life hell growing up. They called him a freak and said his parents abandoned him ‘cause he was so ugly and a half-breed. But… he fought back one day. It was bad. And ever since then, he hasn’t taken shit from anybody. I bet the only reason he even went with the cops is because if he put out one of their eyes or snapped one of their arms, he’d get his brains blown out or thrown away to rot. He’s got a temper, and he’s capable of a lot when you push the right buttons… but no. He wouldn’t hurt Kaufmo. Or me, or Gangle, or Rags.”

“…Or me?” Pomni asked.

“…I dunno. Are you a good person?” Zooble retorted.

“I’d like to think so…” Pomni replied meekly. “He seems to like me okay. He let me have a steak yesterday.”

“Really? He almost never gives anyone free food. He mumbles and grumbles about just giving me enough beef chuck to make stew.”

“Is that right..?” Pomni felt her face warm up again.

As they approached the town, they faintly heard the chanting of a good-sized crowd.

“AUTUMNVALE ISN’T FAIR! RACIST PEOPLE EVERYWHERE! AUTUMNVALE ISN’T FAIR! RACIST PEOPLE EVERYWHERE!”

Zooble tugged gently on ZigZag’s reins, slowing her to a stop. ZigZag nickered uneasily at the commotion up ahead, Zooble putting a hand out to pet her neck.

“Yeah, I know it’s loud, princess. Don’t worry, we’ll tie you off right here, okay?” they soothed.

Zooble then hopped down off the horse, landing firmly on both feet. They looked up at Pomni.

“Need help, city girl?”

Pomni bristled a tiny bit at that comment. Sure, it wasn’t a lie or anything, but it always made her feel… inexperienced. Sheltered.

“I got it,” Pomni replied. She looked down at the snowy ground. It was a drop for sure, especially for someone her size. Well, what did she have to lose other than the use of her ankles?

She slid off the horse, hitting the snow with both feet a bit too hard and fast, buckling and being forced to catch herself with her hands. She stood up immediately and dusted the snow off her gloves.

“You go on ahead. I gotta tie her off and put on her blanket.” Zooble said.

“Okay, thanks for the ride… Do you really think you can cover Jax’s bail?” Pomni asked, looking down at the snow.

Zooble sighed. Their breath steamed.

“Hope so. I’m just one person, and the bail for suspicion of murder is gonna be a small fortune. But I got a lot in savings. You didn’t hear it from me though.”

“I… don’t have much money, but I can try and help.” Pomni said. She desperately needed that money for groceries and art supplies, truth be told… She wasn’t sure why she even offered.

“Nah. Thanks, but nah.” Zooble said, tying ZigZag’s halter to a wooden perimeter fence nearby. “Do have a quick question, though.”

“Yeah?”

Zooble opened one of the saddle bags and looked at Pomni. Even though they had no visible mouth, looking at their eyes made it clear that they were smiling.

“You said you only met Jax yesterday, and you’re dead-set on helping him out. Why’s that?” Zooble asked, removing a green and yellow horse blanket.

“Because…” Pomni swallowed and felt her already rosy cheeks darken. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Yup, that is true…” Zooble replied expectantly, shaking out the blanket.

“Y-Yeah. I’m… I’ll see you up ahead. Thanks again.”

“Be seeing you.” Zooble said, a laugh on the edge of their voice.

Pomni put her hands in her jacket pockets and crunched her way towards town. The roar of emotions in her belly distracted her long enough for her to reach the hubbub on Main Street.

A crowd of around four dozen people had gathered outside the Autumnvale police station, some familiar faces from around town, some people Pomni didn’t recognize that must have come from neighboring towns, maybe even her city. A few people held signs written on bright yellow or green poster paper, a few having opted for foam boards instead. They read things such as:

“DIFFERENT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE”

“YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN BLACK AND BLUE”

“AUTUMN-FAIL”

“WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?”

“JUSTICE FOR JAX!”

An older chickadee birdman in an orangish-brown leather jacket and black toque stood at the head of the crowd. Pomni recognized him as the town doctor. She’d seen him a few times. He seemed to be the leader of the group, but that could be because he was the only one that had a bullhorn. He turned it on and spoke into it.

“We aren’t going to lay down and let the police continue to treat crossbreeds like second-class citizens! Not here, not in any other city!”

He then led the crowd in another chant of “AUTUMNVALE ISN’T FAIR, RACIST PEOPLE EVERYWHERE!”

Nearby, a news anchor and her cameraman interviewed a chess piece shaped fellow in a red flannel jacket and a fishing hat, who wrung his hands nervously.

“And you raised him, Mr. Kingston?” the anchor asked into her mic before offering it to the man.

“Y-Yes my wife and I raised Jax, the mayor found him abandoned in a cabin in the woods and brought him to us when he was just bite-sized.”

Pomni tried to walk a little closer inconspicuously.

“And you believe he’s innocent?” The anchor asked.

“Of course. Jax is a good boy. People around town have treated him so rotten.” Mr. Kingston said adamantly.

“You think that there’s bias in the arrest?” The reporter asked.

“Definitely, definitely. Some people around here still call him a cannibal, can you believe that? Just because he’s part wolf and needs meat in his diet, they call him a cannibal.” Mr. Kingston said, wounded.

“And what do you have to say about the knife that was found near the crime scene, Mr. Kingston?” The anchor asked.

“I say ‘malarkey.’ Jax sells those knives in his shop, anyone could have taken one and put it there. They probably picked him on purpose!”

Pomni listened a while longer before looking out amongst the crowd again. A few of the same cops from the crime scene the previous day stood in front of the station behind sawhorses, along with some new ones. Autumnvale must have brought in other precincts to keep the situation under control. One particular officer, a human with a gold badge and in a wide brimmed white cowboy hat and aviator shades, stood along with them, hands on his hips. Probably the sheriff.

The protest leader spoke into his bullhorn again.

“The detectives who made the arrest are nowhere to be seen! Isn’t that intriguing, everyone?”

The crowd booed.

“It seems that they feel perfectly comfortable bullying a man when they outnumber him, but once we show up, they go missing! Isn’t that intriguing?!”

Another round of booing and hissing from the crowd, one person shouting “Fuckin’ cowards!”

“Yes, these enforcers of justice seem to only bother enforcing said justice if it’s against people they don’t like!”

He continued on as Pomni slipped behind the crowd. The café was located just beyond the protest. No doubt, they were all going to head there after the demonstrations finished. Although from the amount of fervor in the crowd, it didn’t seem to be losing momentum anytime soon.

As she crossed to the other side of the road to the café, she spotted Trevor leaning against the post office next door. He locked eyes with her, a cigarette smoldering in his teeth, and grinned spitefully. Pomni hurried into the café.

“Hey! Good afternoon hun!” Ragatha waved. Pomni couldn’t help but smile and wave back. That sunny smile could cure sickness if someone could figure out how to bottle it.

“Good afternoon to you, miss.” another voice chimed in. A woman composed of a white mask and red ribbons sat at the counter, a black beret on her head and a cup of coffee in her hands. Er… ribbons.

“Come and sit, Pomni! You’ve met Gangle, right?” Ragatha poured another cup of coffee for the art student.

She stomped the snow off of her boots before going to sit at the counter, taking off her puffer jacket and hanging it over the back of her usual chair before climbing up into it.

“Um, I don’t think in person, but I saw your production of A Streetcar Named Desire. You were an amazing Stella!” Pomni said.

Gangle gave a worried smile. “Oh no, you weren’t there the night I forgot my lines, were you?”

“I don’t think so, I don’t remember any mistakes. Um, the guy who played Stanley was amazing too, so intense… Thank you.” Pomni accepted her mug from Ragatha.

“Ahh, yeah, Gummigoo. You know he’s actually a complete sweetheart in real life? We had to practice the scene where his character hits mine over and over with the stunt coordinator since he didn’t even want to pretend to hit me.”

Pomni added sugar and cream to her coffee, two blue packets and one little plastic cup, and stirred it.

“So how are you holding up this morning, baby? You said you saw those detectives get onto Jax, right?” Ragatha asked, leaning both her hands on the counter.

“Oh. Yeah, I did. I hid for a bit because I didn’t want to get in trouble just for being there… but then one of them said something really horrible and I yelled at them.” Pomni sipped her coffee. Bitter stuff, but it had a pleasant chocolatey taste on the edge of the flavor.

“What did they say? They didn’t call him a… you know…” Gangle whispered.

“No. They weren’t that blatant, but one guy, I think his name was Wexley, basically said Jax lived by himself ‘cause he’s a crossbreed. Said it was ‘understandable.’”

Ragatha made a disgusted noise as she went over to the griddle, pouring batter onto it. “I don’t understand how people that pea-brained are allowed to carry badges. Well it’s no wonder they’re not showing their faces right now. Probably got sent back to the big city with their tails between their legs. Buncha bullies…”

“Yeah… I’ve been meaning to ask, how did they find out so quickly..? The-The demonstrators, I mean. I thought Jax only got arrested last night…” Pomni inquired.

“It was probably Dr. Wren that found out,” Gangle replied, pointing out the window. Her ribbon pointed towards the older bird fellow with the megaphone. “Our town doctor. He’s always been about issues like this. You know, institutional racism and stuff? My guess is he jumped at the chance to get a crowd together. And look at the turnout!”

Pomni hummed. “Well, I’m glad he did.”

“Hm, I dunno,” Ragatha replied from over at the griddle. “Personally, I wish he’d have just waited a day or two so we could at least lay Kaufmo to rest. So many people here in town are still processing the fact that he might have been murdered, and he’s out there hollering his lungs out, disturbing everyone’s grieving.”

“B-But what about Jax? Doesn’t he deserve justice?” Pomni replied.

“Well of course he does, baby, but if he’s really done nothing wrong, he’ll be out of the jailhouse in 72 hours..” Ragatha flipped a pancake.

“He’ll- huh?” Pomni tilted her head.

“She’s right, I almost forgot…” Gangle chimed in. “This town has a Speedy Trial law. Since we’re such a small community, there’s not many trials. So there’s a 72-hour limit in place for someone being held in custody without substantial evidence… If Jax really didn’t do anything, and I don’t think he did, they’ll have to let him go in a couple days.

“And I’ll betcha the only people that are itching to find evidence on him are those detectives, and who knows where they went? With that protest out there, all our cops are busy keeping that under control. No time to be sniffing around for clues.” Ragatha added, testing the firmness of her pancakes with her spatula.

Pomni felt herself relax. That was… good news.. There was a pretty decent chance that they’d let Jax go tonight. Maybe she’d wait for him if the crowd had died down by then…

“W-Wait, so that means that the knife..?”

“Unless it had his DNA or prints on it, it’s not good enough. It’s like people have been saying, anyone could have bought it and hid it out there.” Gangle explained.

Ragatha gave a surprised smile over her shoulder at Gangle as she stacked the pancakes on a plate. “Well, look at you, Nancy Drew! Who taught you all this detective stuff?”

Gangle gained red blush marks under her eyes and looked down at the counter. “Oh, you know… I do a lot of research for my roles. We did an Agatha Christie play once…”

Ragatha brought over a short stack of pancakes, dusted with powdered sugar and topped with whipped cream and some fresh strawberry slices. She set the plate down in front of Pomni, along with a boat of maple syrup.

“Eat it while it’s warm, honey.” Ragatha cooed, pecking the art student on the cheek.

“Thank you Ragatha…” Pomni sighed. How this absolute peach of a woman remained single was a mystery to her. Wasn’t any of her business, anyway. She dug into the food. It was delicious, fluffy and moist cake mixed in with rich, hand churned cream and the bright flavor of strawberry. She could eat this every day for the rest of her life and never get tired of it.

The door to the café swung open, and a person in a yellow and green poncho stepped inside, stomping off their boots chasing snowflakes from their hat.

“Zooble! I was wondering when you’d show up! You want the regular… Zooble?”

Ragatha’s sunny voice darkened with worry as she saw a stain of red on their hand, which they were currently wiping off on their poncho.

“Zooble, are you bleeding?!” Pomni cried out.

“No, it’s not my blood. I punched Trevor in the nose. Might’ve busted it.” Zooble’s voice sounded hollow and distant. Their hand reasonably clean, they sank down into a chair by the window, resting their arms on top of the table.

“Trevor? The wolf?” Pomni asked. No, Trevor the marmoset, stupid.

“Yeah. He laughed at me when the sheriff turned me away. ‘Tough luck, pizza-head.’ I heard a crunch.” Zooble looked at their hand and clenched it a few times. “Anyway. Couldn’t post his bail. The Sheriff told me it was 500 thousand. ‘Possible homicide.’ I don’t even have half of that.”

“Oh, Zooble…” Ragatha opened the counter hatch and went around to see them. “Honey, I’m so sorry… But, we were just talking about the speedy trial law. If all they have is a knife that came from his store-”

“Horseshit…” Zooble mumbled.

“If there’s no DNA on the knife, then-”

“HORSESHIT!” Zooble bellowed, banging on the table with their fist. The sound rattled the glass salt and pepper shakers. Everyone jumped.

“Zooble, I’m sorry-” Ragatha began, but Zooble cut her off.

“You know how the system is! It doesn’t matter how many angry people wave signs around out there, or if the doctor gives some nice speeches on a megaphone! Jax is a crossbreed, and they’re gonna find some ‘new evidence’ or dig up some old law that makes it so he gets put away for good! Don’t you get it?! Those sheep big city detectives they hired took one look at Jax and saw he was a freak, so he must’ve done it! And our redneck-ass, no-brain FUCK of a sheriff agrees with them! They’ve been waiting to do this- they…”

Tears beaded in Zooble’s eyes, and they collapsed into their chair, shoulders shaking.

“They’ve been waiting…” they moaned.

For a while, there were no sounds other than the faint din outside and Zooble’s soft sobbing. Pomni couldn’t blame them… if her best friend was being put away on flimsy evidence based on prejudice alone, she’d have cried like a baby. Hell, she felt a little bit like crying now…

She pushed her half-eaten plate of food away and shyly walked over to Zooble. The cowboy looked at her through red, puffy eyes.

“What?” they spat.

“…I… I want to help.” Pomni said.

“I just told you there’s nothing we can do, kid… unless your mommy and daddy have $500,000 sitting around the house, this is the end of the line…” Zooble wiped their eyes on the non-bloodied parts of their poncho.

“Don’t say that. We can look for more evidence.”

“How? They’ve got the crime scene cordoned off… we’ll get in huge trouble if we go there…” Gangle said.

“What about Jax’s sales log? That’s like a list of suspects!” Pomni proposed.

“Cops already took it. I saw ‘em carrying it out of the shop when they hauled him away in cuffs…”

“Dammit…” Pomni chewed on her thumbnail. “Okay. Okay, what about this? Does anyone know where Kaufmo lived?”

“He lived not far from here,” Ragatha said. “His house was over near Gangle’s theater.”

“Do you think we could get a look inside it?”

“What? Pomni, what for?” Gangle asked.

“I dunno… anything! Clues about who might have it out for him!”

“Look, city girl. I appreciate your enthusiasm… I do. But the cops-” Zooble began.

“Are all busy, dealing with that.” Pomni pointed out the window at the crowd. “All we have to do is see if those three asshole detectives aren’t sniffing around the place, and we can look inside, right?”

“Pomni…”

“Look, Zooble’s right. Unless a miracle happens, the system is gonna do what it can to get Jax put behind bars for good. We need to at least try. Right?”

“I… But… Pomni, what about you? Aren’t you worried about losing your scholarship?” Gangle asked.

“Yeah. But… I think I… I want to make a difference in this town more than I want to just use it to further myself. You guys… this place has done so much for me, and I… I want to give something back.”

Zooble used a napkin to wipe their eyes. “It helps she also has a crush on Jax.”

Pomni turned bright red. “Hey! That’s not-”

“Aw, Pomni… that’s so romantic. A lover, wrongly imprisoned... It’s like a Carolinian play!” Gangle said, looping her ribbons together as though she was clasping her hands.

“Wh- He’s not my lover! We only met for like five minutes!” Pomni grabbed her beanie and tugged it down over her face.

“And yet you’re willing to risk your higher education to save him. Yup, you’ve totally got it bad, honey.” Ragatha added, crossing her arms and smiling.

“Sh-Shut uuuuuuuup!” Pomni whined.

“Well… I wouldn’t be much of a best friend if I didn’t do something incredibly stupid for him. Alright, let’s go, kid.” Zooble got to their feet, drying their eyes one more time.

“I’m twenty-fiiiiiiive!”

“You’re twenty-five? Jeez, you coulda fooled me. What are you, four foot two?”

“Four foot NINE!” Pomni snapped, shuffling out the door as Zooble held it open for her. Zooble said their goodbyes to Ragatha and Gangle before following after Pomni.

“Do you think they’ll find anything?” Gangle asked.

“Honey, I hope so. I… doubt it. But I hope so.” Ragatha replied.

[pfffsfic]

Post-Fall Falls False Starts- Chapter 9: Double-O-Vision

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"So, you said it's a small town, right?"

Rob stared up at the clouds from his vantage point on the ground. Last night, he had woken up screaming after several consecutive night terrors. Sarah was enthusiastic about the chance that he was being haunted after she was awoken by the first scream, but the second and third were more frustrating to her than anything. Eventually, Rob had managed to lift his pillow-shaped rock and had taken it to the small waterfall not too far from camp so that he wouldn't be able to accidentally wake her up anymore. Sarah didn't have the heart to tell him that he was so loud he had done so a few more times anyways.

The repeated bouts of laying awake in the darkness had given both of them plenty of time to come up with their own game plans for the day.

"Right," replied Sarah, nodding.

"But you said there's a shopping mall here."

"To be fair, it's not a super huge one."

"Who builds a shopping mall in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere?"

"Look, the show didn't get into the history of local real estate development, okay?"

He let out a sigh and rolled over onto his side. Despite the sunlight, sleep seemed ready to claim him at any moment, but every time his eyelid started to fall, an image from one of the nightmares popped into his head, and suddenly he was wide awake and energetic again.

"I guess we'll have the rest of our lives to figure it out," he said.

"The rest of our lives? What's that supposed to mean?"

Rob's mind was racing, and not just because of the sleep deprivation. Did she not realize that-

"We're not going back to Elmore," he said.

She sat up and turned to him- he wasn't looking, but he could tell by the sound effects and ominous music cue. She laughed nervously.

"Sure we are!"

"Oh yeah? Well, tell me how you plan to get us back, then." He crossed his arms and curled his knees up to his chest.

"Via the Awesome Store."

"What, do you have his number?"

"No, but if he comes back-"

"If he comes back, there's no way he's gonna stumble on us by chance! Besides, why on earth would he even look for us?"

"I think there's at least one reason," Sarah said, and then promptly changed the subject. "Anyways, you have an electronics store to rob, Rob! Have you ever robbed anyone before? 'Cause, you know, your name, and all?"

"Rob's a common name."

"I know! But if this is your first time robbing someone-"

"It's not."

"Oh. All the better! As I was saying, you have an electronics store to- ahem- steal from. Thankfully, there's a whole TV display in the front window, so it shouldn't be an issue. No need to even go inside! Just, wham!" she mimed smashing a plane of glass with a crowbar- "Break in, get it, get out."

"You said I also need a generator. And something to put the DVD into."

"Oh yeah. Well, hopefully once you break in everybody inside will either run screaming or pass out and then you don't have to worry about dealing with them."

"What if they call the cops?"

"They probably won't because you're so freaky-looking, and if they do, you could take those guys with one hand behind your back. As long as you're immune to getting tased."

"...I'm not!"

"No?"

"What gave you the idea I was?"

"Hmm. That's a good question, actually. I guess I just figured you were some sort of cyborg."

"A cyborg? I don't even look anything like a-" he groaned- "Never mind. So you're saying the cops will tase me? Why can't you come help me do this? You're sort of throwing me to the wolves here!"

"They're not wolves, they're people. We're literally in the middle of the forest right now. I bet there are wolves everywhere! One could be behind you and you wouldn't even know it! Maybe even mutant wolves, or wolves that have their heads on backwards and speak in code, or- you get the idea. Any one of those could be behind you."

Rob scoffed dismissively but rolled onto his back nonetheless.

"If you get arrested," Sarah continued, "you can just dig your way out with a spoon."

"Where am I getting a spoon from?"

"Good point."

After a long and awkward stretch of silence, Rob said 'welp', slapped his knee, flinched at the pain, mentally beat himself up for flinching at his own slap, flinched at the pain from mentally beating himself up, and stormed out of the forest in a huff when he realized he had to take action to avoid an infinite loop. Sarah followed him to the edge of the trees to hand him his crowbar like a concerned mother whose son forgot his lunch box on the first day of school. He didn't thank her. Five minutes into town, he realized he never got an answer to the question of why Sarah was making him do this alone, but it was too late to go back. Not really- he had all day- but it was the principle of the thing. Had he dwelled on that thought for longer, maybe he would have realized it didn't make any sense, but he was too occupied with finding the shopping mall to do that. It couldn't be too hard; after all, this was a small town!

-

Sarah read through the back cover of her DVD yet again. It was significantly less fun than rewatching the show.

Just a few minutes south of Rob's campsite was another clearing where the mud was soft and a big stick was propped against a rock; Sarah had made this place her canvas. The apocalypse had allowed her to tap into her destructive instincts, which she had discovered were almost as potent as her creative ones and just as enjoyable to use, but that didn't mean she could go a day without at least doodling something or having an elaborate daydream. The thing about drawing in the dirt with a stick was that the final product never quite looked good enough.

She drew a little heart on the ground with her finger and put an S in it, for Sarah. Just as she was about to complete it with two more initials, she glanced over at the dozen or so other identical hearts she had drawn recently, and wondered for a moment if she was perhaps getting in a rut. What if the van never returned and she was stuck here and she never got to see their faces ever again and she forgot what they looked like? On one hand, that could totally be a setup for, like, a heartbreaking reunion plot. On the other, it could be the end, assuming this was a tragedy. Was it even possible to forget them? She remembered every detail... right now. But brains were fallible. Would love protect her, or would it be a moral about how love never truly protects anyone from the inevitable marching forth of time? She sighed. Sarah was used to sighing for theatrical purposes, but now there was nobody to fool except herself. 'I am just that committed', she thought, and that cheered her up a bit- so much so that she never even considered that the negative emotions behind the sigh could have been real.

Part of her felt guilty for wasting time. She hadn't come here for the trees and occasional monsters, she had come here for the people, and also demons. Mostly demons- actually, mostly demon, singular. But that didn't mean the idea of interacting with some of the others didn't excite her. She couldn't just barge into their lives, though! She wasn't human! That had never ever mattered before.

'At least it won't matter once I'm back in Elmore', she thought.

'We're not going back to Elmore', said Rob in her head.

"Oh, Rob," she said, rolling her eyes, smiling half-heartedly, and speaking out loud to someone who wasn't there. Nobody answered. There weren't even any monsters listening in? C'mon.

Sarah leaned back, closed her eyes, and counted sheep versions of her friends and classmates until the world fell away and she began to dream.

-

By what was either a normal consequence of life in a small town or some arcane miracle, Rob had arrived in front of the television display without seeing hide or hair of a single local human. That said, he had been looking down at his feet for most of the walk there, so maybe there had been some around.

Standing in front of the display case with the TVs made everything feel so real. Rob knew that it wasn't, of course, and yet some days that seemed like a distant, irrelevant fact. This was one of those days. He knew that bashing the glass in was his purpose at the moment, and yet it was so peaceful that doing so seemed a shame, even though reality was nothing more than a simulacrum created for the amusement of a media-hungry modern audience and none of it really mattered anyway because the heat death of the universe would someday render fiction entirely irrelevant. When that day came, would he die, or would he not even know that it happened? Sheesh...

He blinked and found that his head had slumped forward against the glass in the time that it took for him to think all of that. Boy, was he tired. He could lay down right here and- no!

He gave the glass a hard whack with the crowbar before he had the mental presence to stop himself. It bounced off with a clang that rang out like a tuning fork. Oh no- he'd need to do it again? He did it again, weaker this time, and the glass still didn't break. This was more difficult than anticipated. If someone saw this, they would laugh at him... no, wait, they'd probably call the cops. And then he'd get tased-

With a frustrated grunt, he swung harder and the glass splintered.

All it took was a light additional tap for the fruits of his mission to be fully exposed, and then he reached through the hole in the glass to grab one and three facts immediately set in, stymieing the evil, triumphant laugh in his throat before it could come out of his mouth:

1. The TVs were heavy,

2. He still needed to fetch a DVD player, a remote, and a generator,

3. There were people in the store-

4. And those people were looking at him!

As he took one frozen step back, he met the left eye of the silent, awed clerk behind the counter and thought, 'they're more scared of me than I am of them'. He had to believe that for this to work. He had to. With all the confidence he could muster, he shoved his anxiety deep down inside, stepped through the broken glass, maneuvered around the stack of TVs, left the display case, and put up finger guns at the clerk as if he was robbing a bank.

"This is a hold-up," he said, and it sounded cooler in his head. The clerk's hands went up. "Everybody on the floor!"

The two other customers in the store cowered behind a rack of phone chargers, one of them slumping down. The clerk promptly passed out. Either way, everybody was on the floor. Then, to Rob's horror, one of the customers- the one who hadn't slumped over- produced a cell phone from his pocket. Rob stepped towards him and aimed his 'guns' in the terrified man's face. The phone came on, and...

"Oh no, my battery's dead!" said the man as a red 'charge' symbol appeared on the screen.

Rob sighed in relief- and then both he and the man noticed the rack of phone chargers. Rob stepped forward, prepared to take the phone and crush it if need be, when the man's face fell once again.

"Wait, looks like they don't have anything that fits my old model."

Rob shook his head, feeling less like an intimidating bank robber and more like the world's luckiest petty thief.

"Uh, I suggest you pass out, man," Rob said, rubbing his own arm.

The guy obliged. Well, he tried to look like he was passed out, at least, but that was good enough.

It only took a few minutes to get a TV, an emergency generator (from the back), and a DVD player, load them onto a wheeled storage cart, and get out of Dodge with time to spare before the two genuinely-unconscious people woke up. That had been surprisingly easy! An unsettling feeling that he was being watched crept over him as he made his away from the electronics store, but it dissipated after just a few minutes of walking. Surely just another effect of the sleep deprivation. How many effects did sleep deprivation have, anyway?

-

Sarah took a sip of her milkshake. It didn't taste like anything, but that was fine since this was a dream. It was a dream, right? Okay, yeah, there was some sort of sky whale floating nearby and she was sitting on a giant toadstool in the middle of the mall. It was definitely a dream. But not a nightmare- not the sort of dream that would be thrust upon you as a punishment by a malevolent entity with an ulterior motive. This was the sort of dream she had most nights.

"He's not here," she mused, looking up into the eyes of her date, who looked at different moments like different boys she knew, most often two of them in particular.

"But I'm here, sweetie," he said, and tried to lean in for a kiss, but he turned to soapy water and spilled all over the floor before he could make contact with her. That was slightly weird, but not 'wake up screaming' weird. She got up and wandered through the dreamscape, feeling like a paper doll in a pool full of molasses as her legs refused to move any faster than slow motion.

"Hello?" she called. "You there? You know who you are."

No response. Sarah balled up her fists, puffed out her cheeks, and pinched herself hard on the arm, waking up in her art clearing with a disappointed sigh. It was then that she heard the sound of footsteps and the squeaking of wheels and decided that either this was Rob or some kind of half-wagon half-humanoid monster. Either way, she had to see for herself!

-

When the generator was running and the TV on, Sarah moved a rock in front of the eye of providence she had carved into the tree trunk. Rob found that strange. Whatever this DVD was, Sarah didn't want Bill to see it, which seemed rather counter-intuitive considering her entire goal here.

The two of them had dug a little ditch to sit in for ease of viewing. Sarah reached for the DVD enthusiastically, but her smile dropped off her face when she saw Rob, asleep, sprawled over in the ditch. She reached for his shoulder. He screamed so loud that she fell backwards.

"Another nightmare?" she asked.

"Yeah. This one had lots of stabbing." He let out a noise that sounded somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "Thanks for w-w-waking me up! I think I would have s-shh-screamed in my sleep and kept on going if you hadn't."

His voice had a new wavering quality to it, not quite a stutter but something close.

"Okay, you don't seem ready for a 17-hour binge session..."

He suddenly seemed awake. "17 hours? What the heck is on this DVD of yours?"

Sarah held up the box. Her usual cheery demeanor had mostly faded. Rob read aloud.

"Gravity Falls, the complete series," he said, and then did a double-take. "Gravity Falls the complete series? You have this? Where'd you get it?"

"The Awesome Store."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," said Rob, recalling the VHS tape he had once purchased from the forsaken red van. "But why didn't you tell me? Why would you want to keep this information to yourself? That's-! that's-!"

"Calm down! It's because- ergh. This is gonna sound super skeevy, but it's because I know that after you see what's on there, you're gonna say something like-"

-

"You're telling me you want to mess with that guy? On purpose? That you think of this as some g-game?"

Rob's blood boiled. He wiped his eye, which was wet, probably from the 17 hours of television (interspersed with the occasional bad dream). It didn't help that he had gotten emotional once or twice.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Before Sarah could respond, he had stumbled backwards and fallen unconscious once again.