#first pickup of 2024

[blackbackedjackal]

So I was out getting groceries...

[thedarthray]

Hot Wheels - Pickups by Darth Ray Via Flickr: Hot Wheels - Pickups (Early May 2024) * Brick Rides - Blue Custom Small Block * HW Ride-Ons - Orange & Gray Grass Chomper * HW Ride-Ons - Orange Petal Driver * HW First Response - Rapid Pulse (Reminded me of the Matchbox - Superfast Stretcha Fetcha, 1972) * HW Metro - Heavy Hitcher (Reminded me of the Matchbox - Superfast Toe Joe, 1972)

[bmwbestusa]

2024 Ford Bronco Redesign, Specs, Price

2024 Ford Bronco Redesign, Specs, Price

2024 Ford Bronco Redesign, Specs, Price – The four-wheel-drive Ford Bronco is the most exciting off-road vehicle since the Jeep Wrangler, and it can do anything from pound through muddy trails in the woods to quietly pull up to Wendy’s drive-thru window. With its two- and four-door configurations, the Bronco was made to perform all the tasks of the Wrangler and more. The Bronco and the Wrangler…

[kentophilia]

𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟗𝐚𝐦

contains: lovey loserboy gojo, sickly sweet fluff <3

wc: 479 words

minors, ageless and empty blogs will be blocked immediately!!

thinking about the first date with satoru gojo, who's all smiles and blushes, a bouquet of flowers behind his back as he waits for you to arrive.

you're early, he's even earlier, not able to contain his giddiness. he gives you a big hug upon your arrival and you can feel his heart ready to burst out of his chest. he shyly takes your hand into his (embarrassingly) damp one to lead you through the park to where he had set up his picnic for you.

right underneath the blossoming cherry trees, the scent filling your nose delightfully. he helps you sit on the soft blanket, fitting in your favorite color. he seems flustered, constantly stuttering and stumbling over his words. he's trying to woo you with bad pickup lines ('did it hurt when you fell from the sky?' and the like) but little does he know that there's no need for him to be doing all of that. the second you saw him, turning every direction to look for you, you fell and you fell hard.

"satoru," his first name still feeling a little foreign on your tongue, "i went on this date because i like you, the pickup lines are not necessary. i'm already wooed."

his ears go pink when he hears you giggle and he fiddles with his fingers, trying to pick up a piece of fruit to feed you. his hands are shaky, you notice, there is a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. is it the humidity or because he's actually nervous to be around you?

why would The Strongest be so flustered around you?

"sorry, you just make me really nervous." he speaks very quietly, almost uncharacteristically for him. "i didn't think you'd actually agree to this date, so i hope you like it."

"like it? satoru, i love it! this is all so beautiful, you didn't have to go all out like this but i'm not complaining at all. i'm very happy you brought me here," you retort, taking his hands into yours. they barely fit, fingers sticking out everywhere.

he watches as you look at him with adoration and he can't help the stupid comment that leaves his lips. "not as beautiful as you, though."

you laugh heartily, jokingly slapping his arm. "stop it!"

he continues watching you as a gust of wind comes by, making the petals dance around you. he can feel his pupils changing their shape into little hearts and he knows right then and there, while you're watching nature do its waltz around you – he has to make you his.

he knows he's a little over the top, maybe even annoying, a little obnoxious and quite loud. but he also knows that he would let the world burn if it meant seeing you this happy.

and if you'd let him, he would do his damn best.

@lxnarphase @staryukis @teddybeartoji @satorena @ramonathinks @satoruwiki @neptuneblue @strawberrystepmom @gojoest @ohimsummer and all the other gojo babes i am kissing you, i hope i did your blue eyed king some justice <3

© kentophilia 2024 — all rights reserved. please do not plagiarize, translate or steal any of my works.

[joeys-babe]

Joey B Blurbs: Dinosaur

————————————————————————-

Summary: You make the mistake of helping Joe make a TikTok account.

Warnings: None, pure silliness

Pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

Imagine Universe: Into The Mystic

————————————————————————-

February 15, 2024

Out of nowhere, Joe plopped down next to me on the couch and put his phone on my lap.

“Can I help you?” - you

“Yes, actually!” - Joe pointed to his phone

I looked down at his phone to see that it was the TikTok log-in or sign-up page that pops up when you first download the app.

“What?” - you

“Can you help me make an account? My dinosaur ass can't figure it out, but I wanna follow you and see the videos you post. Ja’Marr was talking about the videos you posted of me and you for Valentine’s yesterday, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I wanna be able to see your posts.” - Joe

“Why? So you can approve of them?” - you

“No, nothing like that! I like watching the videos you make of us, and I think they're cute. Plus, I rarely ever get to see the finished prank videos. Please help me?” - Joe

I thought his reasoning was adorable, so I happily helped him.

“Do you want it to be an official account or incognito?” - you

“Incognito.” - Joe

Nodding, I handed him his phone so he could type a username in.

I was absentmindedly staring off when I heard Joe giggle.

“What?” - you smiled

He handed me his phone, and I playfully rolled my eyes at the username he typed out.

Simp4Y/N_B

“You're a dork.” - you laughed

“I mean, I am making the account to watch your videos, so it's kinda fitting.” - Joe grinned

After getting the rest of the account setup process completed, Joe made me type my username in the search so he could follow me.

“Wanna follow anyone else? The team you play for, maybe?” - you

“Nope. This is all I wanted.” - Joe

——

You had no idea what a mistake that would be, and you were dealing with the consequences.

It wasn't even the next day yet, and Joe had blown your phone up, mass-liking every video you've ever posted.

Then he found the AI Spongebob singing videos…

“Joseph Lee, send me one more TikTok, and I'm going to block you.” - you

“Watch the last one I sent!” - Joe

“No!” - you

“It's Patrick singing Billie Jean!” - Joe

We were lying in bed, or at least I was, but my phone continuously vibrated on the nightstand, and Joe laughing kept me from sleeping.

“Go to sleep.” - you

Joe rolled over and laid his head on my shoulder, his hand propping up his phone on my chest to show me the video.

Like he hadn't already watched it ten times, Joe couldn't stop laughing.

“I'm gonna shove you off of this bed.” - you

——

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, they did. They damn did.

Joe found Jett and Campbell. (IYKYK)

Now he randomly calls me Pookie as a joke, but with way too serious of an expression for my liking.

He'd gone to pick up my online pickup order from the store for me, and when Joe called me to tell me he had received my order, he greeted me in a way that made me want to hang up.

“Hey, baby.” - you

“Hey, Pookie. I got your order and am almost home.” - Joe

A few seconds of silence went by till I spoke up.

“Call me that again and I'll file for divorce.” - you

“You wouldn't do that, you love me too much... right?” - Joe

“I would never even think of it. I was just kidding, Joey.” - you

“Good because I can't live without you.” - Joe

“Can't live without you either… I love you more than anything.” - you

A few seconds of silence went by before Joe spoke up.

“Love you too… Pookie.” - Joe

“Bye.” - you hung up

——

After threatening divorce, Joe toned it down with the “Pookie” shit, but then he found trends that guys were doing on their girls.

We were in bed one night, cuddling and watching a movie, when out of nowhere, I heard an unmistakable edit audio playing. I looked over at Joe’s phone only to see my face and an annoyed expression on Joe’s.

Joe put his phone down on his chest and scooted away from me.

“Joe…” - you

“Nope, it's okay. Comforting knowing that my wife can recognize songs that are in the background of videos of other men.” - Joe

“You're being silly. I'm huge right now because I'm pregnant with your kid.” - you

“You're not huge… but that still doesn't make up for the fact that you knew that sound.” - Joe

I rolled over onto my side and curled up against Joe. He begrudgingly reached out and ran his fingertips over my bump that was pressing against his side.

“You're crazy if you think I don't have an edit of you saved with the same song in the background.” - you grinned

Joe looked away, suddenly feeling bashful as his cheeks flushed pink, and I lightly scratched his bare arm with my nails.

“You're playin’.” - Joe

“No, I'm not!” - you

I grabbed my phone out and pulled TikTok up, immediately finding my collection titled “Hubby ❤️🤭”, and scrolled till I found the video I wanted.

“Woah, you weren’t joking.” - Joe

“Don't you look hot as fuck?” - you

“I'm just drinking water on the sidelines…” - Joe

“Exactly!” - you

————————————————————————-

Authors note: idk what to say 💀

Request in this fic;

Hope you enjoyed! 💕

[julsvu]

what does love feel like?

tags. multiple characters, implied relationship, fluff, kind of messy tbh, i do NOT know how to tag properly 😭🙏

marrying your best friend. sneaking out and into each other's windows. playful arm wrestling. affectionate glares. dating the human embodiment of a golden retriever. yapper x yapper. sunshine x sunshine protector. a slow burn best friends to lovers. kisses on the cheek before one leaves. small pecks on the lips for "goodluck". hand-holding everywhere and everytime. not the first love, but the greatest.

— DENKI KAMINARI, mina ashido, SATORU GOJO, EJIRO KIRISHIMA, leo valdez, PERCY JACKSON, meguru bachira, yuji itadori

being or were highschool sweethearts. first love. awkward hand-holding. dates on a ferris wheel. kissing under the stars. teaching each other, despite their focus immediately getting interrupted when they look at you. making playlists together. getting shipped by friends. passing notes secretly. late-night calls and messages. knowing every detail of the coffee you love, making it for you every morning in which you have a busy day ahead of you.

— shoto todoroki, annabeth chase, SHOKO IEIRI, megumi fushiguro, MOMO YAOYOROZU, RIN ITOSHI, kenyu yukimiya, yo hiori, hyōma chigiri

teenage dirtbags. sneaking out of each other's houses at ungodly hours. messy kisses. play-fighting. teasing nicknames. secret handshakes. making own codes or signs for every little thing. skating together. cheesy n corny pickup lines. calling in the middle of the night just to say 'hi' or annoy the other. spamming your phone. last minute dates and hangouts.

— hanta sero, KATSUKI BAKUGOU, shidou ryusei, nobara kugisaki, YOICHI ISAGI, maki zenin

© 2024 JULSVU. all rights reserved. please don't plagiarize, translate, put in other websites or copy my work without permission. ty!

reqs are open, btw :p (PLEASE SEND IN REQUESTS RAHHH)

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - We Are Surprised

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

May 2024 Wk 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Godday (Sat YT) ep 2 of 12 - Oh it’s fucking great. It could all go horribly south, of course. But it’s awesome at the moment. Messy gay and one of them is already pining? Got to love it. Including the negotiation.

I’d love a good sex negotiation, it’s almost as good as linguistic negotiation. This show makes me happy. All that said, it’s moving awfully quickly for a 12 episode run. Not sure what’s gonna happen on the backend. 

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 3 of 12 eps - I’m still enjoying it but I’m ready for him to die again now. 

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 5-6 of 16 - Toey is going after the Namgoong Award for Best Wingman this year, I see. And in exchange, literally all the rest of the friends are going to be his wingmen. It’s adorable. I also like that Phuwin got to be the aggressor for the first kiss. I like that this is mostly just boys flirting, and not really any prescribed seme/uke stuff. In general, I think these last two episodes I improved the show in my regard a lot. But then middles are always GMMTV's strong point, it’s whether they can stick the landing that’s an issue.

Two Worlds (Thurs iQIYI) ep 9 of 10 - Apparently we have the Frodo walking into Mordor episode. Also the sides were cute. In Thailand (like Taiwan) all gangsters are gay, apparently. 

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 5 of 12 - It’s cute but very cringe and dorky. Silly singing. Terrible pickup lines. Still, that was a ridiculously charming confession.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues YouTube & Viki) ep 12fin - Oh so good. Very few shows that feature one-sided long-term pining of this kind can resolve the unevenness of that power dynamic into a more stable and equal footing with such class. We really got to see the object of the desire turn completely around and become equally besotted. An age gap, stepbrothers trope like this one is hard enough but at this length? Very well acted boys! Unknown managed to show the older brother softening in a believable way that’s pretty unusual in narratives of this type.

All in all?

Unknown is a wonderful BL with a pitch perfect portrayal of long term pining, age gap, and the stepbrothers trope. The acting and chemistry are ON POINT (especially from the leads) which made the resulting characters very believable. When it dwells in intimate family drama, it's stunning. It's slightly less successful when it leaves the home and goes gritty. It's few flaws are the result of curtailed length. It could have used more breathing room to deal with side plots, characters, and companion character development. The editing was occasionally choppy and packed with flashbacks that broke the emotional tension. Still, those are mere quibbles. This is an excellent show that I know I'm going to be recommending a lot. 9/10

Finally Taiwan hits another one out of the park.

About.

Damn.

Time.

Blue Boys (Korea Sat YouTube) 4 of ? - Oh it’s so good, and they are so tortured and it’s just charming and I can’t EVEN. I just love it. I love that Korea is giving us this right now. You’re an idiot if you’re not watching this show, it’s truly spectacular.

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 4 of 10 - Well well well Japan. I see how you kneed. I enjoyed this episode better than the first two, and I am way into our Bad Boy second lead. I can already feel myself succumbing  to the syndrome. Next week = the obligatory onsen ep! 

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - Omg most adorbs failed linguistic negotiation. 

Boys Be Brave AKA Roommates (Korea Thurs Viki) ep 5-6 of 8 - I love the side couple. It’s a shame we’re finally getting some truly great class conflict and it’s relegated to crumbs.

Love is like a Cat (Korea Mon Viki) eps 11-12fin - Well that was a waste of time. There was no connection (of any kind) between the leads. The language thing was hella weird and likely added to that. The past history of the Korean character was necessary to know from the start, its lack throughout, meant there was no depth to his character. They tried to tackle all the interesting stuff in the final 2 eps. AND they even killed the dog. I never thought I'd type this sentance, but Peach of Time is better.

I don’t know. 5/10 I guess

All in all:

A disappointing lackluster and barely cohesive BL about a jerk Thai actor (speaking Thai) who has to work for a Korean animal rescue cafe as a publicity stunt. It's difficult to believe the leads like each other, let alone fall in love. The acting is stiff, the characters lack motivation and cohesion, and there's not much to recommend this show beyond some pretty visuals. Also, they kill the dog. All in all, a disappointing and unsuccessful joint venture that mostly highlighted that between Thailand and Korea the style of BL, narrative approach, language cadence, and acting techniques all clash.

It's airing but...

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

You Made My Day (Thai YT) ep 1 of 5 - mini series staring the I Will Knock You couple Tar & Bom, started but I couldn't find it. I also didn't try very hard.

A Balloon's Landing (Taiwan movie) trailer - A frustrated Hong Kong writer, Tian Yu, meets a Taipei street gangster, Xiang (Fandy Fan from HIStory2: Crossing the Line), and the two of them embark on a journey to find the Bay of Vanishing Whales. Along the way, they discover unexpected twists and turns and close bonds, which brings out the message that "there is always someone like you in this world who is waiting for you. This released to cinemas in Taiwan, no word on international release.

Memory in the Letter (Thai WeTV) - it's done, tell me if I should bother?

Fan's Only Corner

Someone asked in a comment (which tumblr promptly ate) about group sleepovers in BLs. It's happened a few times but the only one I can recall being noted and particularly lovely (and VERY college) was in Nitiman. There's also one in Lovesick.

Next Week Looks Like This:

5/16 Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 1 of 6 - Strongberry doing classic uni BL! Weeee!

5/19 OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ????) ep 1 of 10 - LeeFrank are back - not unlike the undead (as it were). But how do we feel about it? Unsure given their track record.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

May Releases

VBL (Taiwan) is releasing 4 'Special Episode' epilogues to their 4 2023 shows every Friday this month on Gagaoolala, Viki & Viu. Not sure on search terms or how to find these. (Or, frankly, if we need them.)

5/10 – You Are Mine

5/17 – VIP Only

5/24 – Stay By My Side

5/31 – Anti Reset

5/25 The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer - HoTae & DongHee are back but unfortunately not in a cinema near me. Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names. I love them. I NEED TO SEE THIS.

5/28 My Biker 2 (Thai movie YT?) - trailer

5/31 The Time of Huannan (Taiwan movie) - May not be BL

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

LOVE a smile kiss. Love it. Two killer kisses from PondPhuwin. Elegantly done, boys. Thank you very much.

I love them a lot all of a sudden. (All We Are)

It's hard to give MaxTul a run on their crown as best bodies in BL, but boy these two are giving it their, erm, best. (Wandee Goodday)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[moonchild9350]

Sweet Treat

Summary: You find yourself reminiscing on the day you met your boyfriend.

Pairing: Hyunjin x fem. reader

Word Count: 1479

Warnings: kissing if that needs a warning ha, straight up fluff

Note: This is my first fic! Thought of this while listening to Hoodie Season (one of my fav Stray Kids songs) and Hyunjin in a hoodie is well yk. I hope you like it and I'd love your feedback :)

Please do not translate, modify, use, or repost this work elsewhere without my permission. ©moonchild9350 2024

You were digging around in your closet, trying to find something to wear tonight for your date to celebrate your one-year anniversary with your boyfriend.  You wanted to wear something cozy.  Summer was slowly coming to an end, fall right around the corner, and with that, the nights were cooler.  The outfit you were looking for was a pretty, beige sweater dress that you loved to wear during this time of year.  The oversized dress was your favorite; it was not too tight but also not too loose.  You knew your boyfriend Hyunjin would like it too.  

As you continued to look through your shared closet, you came across your boyfriend’s black hoodie.  Stopping your search for your dress, you picked up Hyujin’s hoodie and briefly snuggled your face into it.  Looking at the hoodie, you put it on, inhaling the scent of Hyunjin.  While snuggling the hoodie, you couldn’t help but think about how you met Hyunjin a little over a year ago, your first date, and how you ultimately ended up together.  

*********************************************************************

It was a typical day for you; you had just gotten off work after a hectic day and decided to get a sweet treat.  It was a hot day, as it was the middle of summer, and so you decided to stop at the local ice cream shop on your way home to get your favorite ice cream, caramel toffee nut in a waffle cone; the thought of spoiling your dinner be damned.  Upon entering the shop, there weren’t many people given the time of day.  After you placed your order, you went to the pickup counter to wait for your ice cream.  You were looking through your phone when suddenly you noticed a beautiful man who looked like an angel walking through the door.  He was tall, with long, shoulder-length black hair.  Trying not to stare at the newcomer, you peeked a glance every now and then as he placed his order.  Soon, he walked over to where you were standing.  You looked up and met his eyes. You noticed they were a beautiful chocolate brown.  He had a cute little mole under his left eye.  He then gave you a dazzling smile.  

‘He looks like an angel,’ you thought. 

You smiled back at him.  The worker then brought your ice cream to the counter.  You thanked them, then turned to the stranger, smiled at him again, and left the shop. 

‘Surely I won’t be forgetting his face anytime soon,’ you thought to yourself.  

A couple of weeks later, you found yourself back at the same ice cream shop after work.  You wondered if you would see the beautiful man with black hair again.  As you were waiting for your ice cream, the door opened, and the same man you saw weeks ago walked in.  You thought it was your lucky day.  

This time, after ordering, he walked over to you and said, “Hi, what’s your name?”  

You were so busy looking at his beautiful smile and face that you missed his question.  

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” you responded.  

Laughing, he said, “I said hello and what is your name.”  

“Oh, uh…hi, my name is y/n.” 

“Y/n, such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl,” He responded.  

You blushed at this and were speechless for a moment.  “Thank you,” you shyly replied.  “What’s your name?” you asked the man. 

 “My name is Hyunjin,” he replied. 

 You blushed while saying, “Hyunjin? I like that name.” 

Hyunjin smiled at you and noticed your order on the pickup counter.  “Is that one yours?”

 “Oh, yes, it is!” you replied.  You picked up your ice cream and made to leave, but Hyunjin lightly grabbed your arm and said, “Wait! I would love to take you out…if you’ll let me.”  

“Like a date?” you asked. 

 “Sure, we can call it that,” Hyunjin said. 

 You barely gave it thought and said, “Okay, sure, I’d love that!” 

“Great!” Hyunjin said, “What’s your number?” You gave him your number, grabbed your ice cream, and said goodbye.

A few days later, you were getting ready for your first date with Hyunjin.  You were nervous about the date since you had not gone on a date with anyone in a while.  Hyunjin wanted to take you to a coffee shop for your date, so you dressed in a pair of jeans and a crop top.  You did your hair and makeup and then left for your date.  Hyunjin was already at the coffee shop when you arrived.  He wore a black hoodie and jeans since it was a casual date.  You noticed he looked even more beautiful than you remembered, if that was even possible.  You and Hyunjin ordered your drinks and a couple of pastries and then sat down.  You talked about anything and everything, such as his job, where you learned he was an artist and currently painting for a local gallery.  You also learned that he loved dogs and dancing.  

‘It’s really easy to talk with him,’ you noted to yourself.  You had not felt this comfortable with a person in a while.   

Before you knew it, a few hours had passed.  You both did not want the date to end, but the coffee shop was getting ready to close.  Hyunjin then asked if you wanted to take a walk around town.  You agreed, and both of you left the coffee shop.  

Walking around town with Hyunjin as the city slowed down was heaven.  You really did enjoy his company.  Little did you know he was enjoying your company, too.  As the night went on, you started to shiver slightly, not dressed for the occasion, as you did not anticipate walking around the city at night.  

Hyunjin noticed and asked, “Would you like to wear my hoodie?  I noticed you were shivering and it is a little chilly tonight.”   

Such a gentleman.  “Sure, I would like that,” you answered.  

He then took off his hoodie.  As he passed the hoodie over his head, his shirt rose briefly, and you noticed he was toned.  You blushed and quickly looked away, hoping Hyunjin didn’t see you staring.  He handed you his hoodie, and you put it on.  You noticed it smelled slightly woodsy, mixed with a cinnamon scent.  You tried your best not to inhale his scent more deeply.  

Soon, it was time to head back, as you both had work tomorrow.  Hyunjin walked you back to your apartment, and when you got to your building, you began to take off his hoodie and give it back to him.  

He stopped you with a gentle touch to your arm.   “Keep it please.  That way I know I’ll get to see you again.”  

You felt your face heat up at his statement. “Oh, um, okay, if you’re sure,” you said. Then it’s a date…again,” and you nervously laughed.  

Hyunjin laughed, too.  He then tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear that had gotten loose because of the wind.  He bid you goodnight and watched you enter your building and enter the elevator.  He had a great time and secretly thought you were the one.

Weeks passed, and on a cool, early fall day, you and Hyunjin made it official as a couple.  You were wearing his hoodie on the day he asked you to be his girlfriend.  You were surrounded by the woodsy and cinnamon smell of his hoodie as you answered, “Of course, I’ll be your girlfriend.”  He pulled the hoodie's hood over your hair and kissed you soft and sweet.  

**********************************************************************

“Angel? Are you ready?” 

You were brought out of your thoughts by the voice of the love of your life.  

“Not quite, I’m done with my hair and makeup, just trying to find the sweater dress I was going to wear tonight.”  

Hyunjin hummed, walked up to you, and wrapped his arms around you.  “Is that my hoodie?” he asked. 

 “Yep, I was just remembering how we met and how I was wearing this hoodie the day you asked me to be your girlfriend.  It’s really been a whole year huh love?” 

Hyunjin pulled you tighter, gave you a gentle kiss, and stated, “It has.  And I couldn’t imagine anyone else I’d rather be with.  You're the love of my life, and I want to grow old with you.  I hope you know that.”  

You felt tears pricking your eyes.  You hugged his hoodie tighter to your chest, the woodsy and cinnamon scent of Hyunjin all around you, your comfort.  

“You're mine too.  I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else.”  

You then dropped the hoodie, placed your hands on either side of Hyunjin’s cheeks, and pulled him in for a kiss.  

‘Yes,’ you thought,  ‘this is the love of your life.’  You were so glad you decided to stop for that sweet treat that day.

[icypopz]

with an expressionless + calm s/o  ♡

↬ from anon ; if it's okay, could i request marius and vyn with a female reader who is mostly expressionless and calm and very hard to impress or fluster?

↬ notes ; marius von hagen (lu jinghe), vyn richter (mo yi) x gn!reader

↬ from ice ; hihi first post of 2024 !!! also i switched it to gn!reader, i hope that's okay :> marius is so silly ueueue,,, also i'm not sure if i interpreted the prompt correctly i hope u like it ! T_T

↬ warning(s) ; none

please reblog ! it helps a lot :)

[ marius von hagen / lu jinghe ! ]

marius and you make quite a pair. while he's rambunctious and whiny, often acting like an overgrown child around you, you're his polar opposite - calm and quiet, watching his tantrums with only the barest hint of a smile. people tend to wonder how you put up with him, but the truth is that the two of you balance each other out and bring out the best in one another; you're the ying to his yang.

whenever he's upset about something like the old men in the pax board of directors nagging him, marius will always come rushing to complain to you. he adores how you offer him a listening ear and a third-party opinion, and your tranquility always helps chase away his irritation. he always says you're like the sun pushing away the storm clouds of his anger. as the heir of pax, he's grown up around people always attempting to gain his favour, so marius really appreciates your ability to judge any situation objectively, even those involving him. it's a breath of fresh air to actually get scolded by you whenever he does something nonsensical instead of always being praised no matter what he does.

as for you not getting flustered easily, rest assured that marius will still try his absolute hardest to do so. when his usual trademark playful smirks and winks don't seem to work, he has to up his game, switching to super lame pickup lines which succeed only at making you laugh instead of flustering you (he still counts that as a win). however, he loves seeing even the smallest changes in your expression, such as you being unable to meet his eyes after he peppers kisses all over your face, or you burying your face in his shoulder after his hands travel under your shirt... even if you aren't as audacious with your expressions as he is, marius loves you wholeheartedly for who you are.

more content utc !

[ vyn richter / mo yi ! ]

vyn is actually quite similar to you, he's not the type to have wild expressions or wear his heart on his sleeve, so the two of you get along really well. he needs to be calm in his field of work in order to get people to open up to him, and you're just naturally a very serene person. even vyn feels at peace when he's around you, as being around you is a welcome break from his hectic life running the giannovyn mental health research center.

as a psychologist, vyn is well-versed in analysing body language or facial expressions to determine what someone is thinking. however, since you aren't a very expressive person, vyn becomes more attuned to your needs by communicating verbally with you instead of just assuming based on your body language. you both rarely argue as the two of you prefer to discuss your disagreements in a calm manner instead of getting too heated and saying things you don't mean. vyn also does his best to always ask you for your opinion on everything, from dates to presents, and in this way he manages to keep you as the world's happiest romantic partner.

you not getting flustered easily isn't something that bothers vyn, because he himself isn't someone who actively teases you that much. however, he adores seeing even the slightest changes in your expression when he does something for you, like when your nose scrunches up because you're trying not to cry happy tears, or your wide eyes when he surprises you with another grand gesture - it all feels like those are special sides of you only he gets to see. and that is exactly why vyn always goes over-the-top in extravagant preparations for you, whether it's growing your favourite flowers in his garden or baking you the perfect pastries - he loves you so much that he does everything he can to see your happy smile.

✧ thank you for reading ! if you have a request, feel free to send it in 🌠

© icypopz 2024. do not repost or modify in any way.

[wheelsnipecelebrini]

Generally speaking, I’m fascinated by how narratives around athletes are built. Some of the basic models are: Well He Loved It So Much So We Never Pushed Him He Is Just Like This vs. We Built This Phenom From The Ground Up With Our Genius Guidance.

Connor Bedard pretty firmly falls in the former camp (take a shot every time his parents are quoted saying their son is effectively a Terminator with hockey-playing software installed). Macklin Celebrini is definitely more in the “I, his father, handcrafted him into a more bespoke sports robot”; there’s been a lot of attention on his dad’s career as VP of player health and conditioning in the NBA’s Golden State Warriors org being a cornerstone of Macklin’s development.

I also generally have interest in the mechanics and minutiae of injuries and rehab. Anyone who’s rehabbed a serious injury can probably relate. Anyway, all this media is catnip to me, so, here, have a Rick Celebrini media roundup, focused on the last few years as draft buzz around Macklin increased.

ESPN | What makes Macklin Celebrini the next big thing in hockey

Rick helped Macklin and his siblings -- brothers Aiden, 19; RJ, 12; and sister, Charlie, 15 -- along each of their athletic journeys, where he balanced the line between trainer and dad.

"When they're working out, I tell them there has to be a professionalism to your approach and what you do. And that's when I'm not Dad," Rick said. "But in their times when they're vulnerable, then I become Dad, and I'll always be Dad."

…

"When Rick first got [to Golden State] his kids would be running up and down the court playing pickup 3-on-3, with the whole family, Robyn too," [Golden State Warriors head coach] Kerr said. "It's so funny seeing them as kids and then all of a sudden, you find out the two older boys are big-time hockey players.

"And then I started to really ask Rick more about his kids and what they were doing. Then there's little Charlie, the tennis player. And then I realized, Rick's cooking something up in his house. ... He's just churning out athletes over there."

…

There's a reason the Warriors wanted to support Rick. He's been crucial to their culture and success.

"He's one of the best human beings I know, and that's straight from the heart," [Golden State Warriors head coach] Kerr said. "He's got this great combination of emotional intelligence and technical knowledge of his field and humor and authority. The players see him every day, and so for us it means so much that he's one of the first people they see and feel, and he just sets an incredible tone."

[Golden State Warriors player Draymond] Green called Rick "a giver."

"He gives his time, he gives his energy, he gives his effort," Green said. "He's a magician when it comes to the body. He's a magician when it comes to the mind. He is our secret weapon and he's an incredible father. He's an incredible man."

━━━━━

Sharks on NBCS | 08 May 2024

Rick Celebrini: I’ve said this a number of times, you know, he was born to be a hockey player, as much as I tried to convince him into other sports or other activities, he always gravitated to being a hockey player.

━━━━━

The Athletic: Inside what may be Macklin Celebrini’s final days of BU hockey: Shoe Check, heartbreak, and a big decision

Plenty of college coaches reached out to Macklin. Pereira was the first to call Rick, who was in the 2022 NBA Finals with the Warriors against the Boston Celtics at the time. Pereira left a voicemail:

“Rick, this is Joe Pereira from Boston University. Before I go any further, I want to let you know I’m not a Celtics fan. I know you’re flying into town. I want to talk to you about your boys.”

Rick soon replied via text: “LOL. I’ll give you a call later.”

The next day, Rick met with Pandolfo and his staff. When the Warriors traveled to Boston for Game 6, the Celebrini boys came along.

…

Rick believes his son can see the bigger picture with this future-changing decision. He has been open to insight from his support system, including family, advisers with CAA (like Pat Brisson and Matt Williams) and coaches.

“Me and (Warriors coach) Steve Kerr talk about this all the time,” Rick said. “There’s a value to being patient and developing at a level that’s more conducive to development. The NHL is not a developmental league. The NBA is not a developmental league. You’re either ready or you’re not. But college hockey is more conducive to that with the schedule, the work in the weight room and practice schedule.”

…

“An Arizona scout called me and goes, ‘For what you do for a living, where would you say he is on his developmental curve?’” Rick recalled. “Honestly, he’s a puppy. He shaves once every couple weeks. He’s not even through puberty. He really is a kid, kid. He’s got a little bit of maturing and growing to do, just getting that thickness of a man’s body.”

━━━━━

The Mercury News | How Warriors trainer’s son became NHL’s top draft prospect — and possibly Sharks’ future star

“I think it’s been massive for me,” Celebrini told this news organization. “Everything from injury prevention to different things to work on and understanding how an athlete works, the tolerance of an athlete — all that knowledge kind of displayed onto us, it all helped massively in our development.”

Rick isn’t a mad scientist. He never forced any of his children to play sports.

But here they are, elite athletes anyway: Macklin soon the top pick, Aiden already drafted by the Canucks, Charlize, 15, one of the top Canadian players her age, and RJ, the youngest with perhaps the most potential in the rink.

“It’s been around them their whole lives,” Rick said, “so I think they’ve just naturally gravitated to (sports).”

…

Much else was taught, though, by one of North America’s brightest sports medicine minds, including cross-sport exposure.

“I feel like soccer helped me in so many ways, even ways I didn’t really think about,” Macklin told this news organization. “Vision or spacing, just problem-solving. There’s so many benefits to playing different sports.”

After getting his PhD in physical therapy at the University of British Columbia and playing pro soccer, Rick worked three Winter Olympics — first as a physiotherapist for Canada’s Alpine Ski Team and then as the 2010 games’ chief therapist and medical manager. He became the Vancouver Whitecaps’ team physiotherapist and co-founded the Fortius Institute, where he worked with close friend Steve Nash. In 2018, he joined the Warriors and soon became one of the most respected members of the organization.

Rick brought his work home with him, too. When his kids were little, he’d create obstacle courses for them on playgrounds, “gamifying” physical activity. During a flight delay at the Orlando airport after a trip to Disney World, he set up a sprinting circuit for the kids in the terminal.

“You’re really trying to tease out multi-directional movement and cutting, change of direction, ducking under things and jumping over things,” Rick said.

Part of Rick’s PhD research was in motor skill acquisition. In layman’s terms: how to optimize movement. In Rick’s terms: building a young athlete’s “physical literacy.”

On beach vacations in Maui, Rick would lead his kids through sprints and hops in the sand. In another game, Rick would kick a soccer ball and have Macklin and Aiden race to retrieve it, critiquing their strides.

The Celebrini family’s unofficial motto is “What did you do today to get better?”

━━━━━

The Warriors’ whisperer: If Golden State is to repeat, he’ll have a hand in it

“He just guided me through tough days,” [Golden State Warriors player Klay] Thompson said. “So many calf raises. So many days on the shuttle board. Then the HydroWorx? Pssh. If it wasn’t for Rick Celebrini, I wouldn’t be where I am today. That’s a fact.”

Celebrini doesn’t score points. He doesn’t make roster decisions. He doesn’t sign checks. Yet, owner Joe Lacob empowers him. President of basketball operations Bob Myers believes in him. Kerr listens to him. The team’s stars swear by him.

Celebrini might be the most powerful figure in the organization you don’t know. In many ways, the NBA’s most valuable franchise, while loaded with legendary figures and dynamic personalities, shifts on the acumen and decisions of this 55-year-old former soccer player from Canada.

“Coach is 1A,” Stephen Curry said, followed by a chuckle. “(Celebrini) might be 1B.”

…

“I think that position is one of the three or four most important in the whole basketball operations department — especially considering that the players are the most important people,” Myers said of Celebrini’s role. “We have $360 million invested in our players and their health. So finding someone to navigate that, you can’t overstate that level of importance.”

The Warriors are certain they’ve found the right person in Celebrini. At 6-foot-1, he still has the shoulders of a center-back and the jawline of a hockey goon. But his ready smile and friendly disposition give an unassuming vibe. His allegiance to the background, his preference for existing beneath the championship fray, throws people off the scent. Inside the franchise, though, Celebrini is a pivotal figure.

…

On the same night that Thompson returned from his 941-day absence — a milestone for Celebrini’s rehab process — Green felt tightness in his left calf in pregame warmups. He stopped his routine short, went into Celebrini’s office and gave him a heads up.

“All right, we’re going to get an MRI on your back,” Celebrini said.

‘No, but Rick, my calf is tight,” Green insisted.

“Yeah,” Celebrini said. “Let’s just MRI your back.”

Celebrini was right. The MRI revealed a disc injury in Green’s lower back. A nerve problem was causing weakness in his left calf.

“He knew right away,” Green said. “He’s blown my mind.”

Several athletes who have dealt with Celebrini say his ability to figure out the source of a persistent problem is key to his treatment process. He’s like Dr. House for athletes.

…

Curry immediately noticed Celebrini’s attention to detail and the creativity of his approach. Nine days later, the Warriors were in Dallas. Celebrini and Carl Bergstrom — then the Warriors’ director of performance — put Curry through a pregame workout he describes as one of the hardest he’s ever done. It involved a wall, a BOSU ball and 100 single-leg squats.

In between the 10 sets of 10 squats, Curry and Celebrini essentially … slow-danced?

“Basically, it’s like a ballet dance,” Curry said, “where you simulate real-life game movements, but you do it at such a slow, methodical speed. So it’s training your neurological system to be like, ‘I remember the pattern of these moves,’ even though you’re not going full speed. It was so methodical, but he was locked into every single set. And that’s when I knew, like, I was getting stronger in the process of healing and I was gonna come back ready to go.

…

Celebrini became interested in sports medicine as a teenager, after he fractured his ankle playing soccer. He did his rehab with Alex McKechnie, who was also treating professional athletes, and Celebrini was intrigued.

He played college soccer at Capilano University for his first two years. He transferred to the University of British Columbia in 1987, playing five seasons at the school and winning four consecutive Canadian soccer championships. He also played for Canada’s under-20 national team in the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship and eventually defended for the Vancouver 86ers of the American Professional Soccer League.

After graduating, Celebrini began pursuing his career in sports medicine while playing professionally. His career on the pitch was constantly hampered by injuries, including multiple ACL tears. But his career in sports medicine was ascending. In 2010, Celebrini served as the manager of medical services and chief therapist for the entire Winter Olympics. In 2011, he was hired as the team’s physiotherapist by his former professional club, which became the Vancouver Whitecaps.

In 2013, Celebrini was a co-founder of the MultiSport Centre of Excellence in his hometown of Burnaby, British Columbia. The $54 million facility became an epicenter of elite sports medicine. It is from this post that Celebrini consulted and worked with athletes in the NBA and NHL.

…

[W]hen Green was recovering from a back injury that knocked him out of action for more than two months. Green said his rehab required relearning how to walk and run. Celebrini promised Green he would get him healthy as long as he committed to the process. Green did and Celebrini was by his side the entire way. He made the hour-plus drive from home to Chase Center to work with Green and often spent at least three hours per session in the weight room with him.

It was a brutal process, as mentally grueling as it was physically. Green remembers how Celebrini did every step of the work himself instead of delegating some of the work to his staff. Even during the 2022 All-Star break, when Green went to Cabo San Lucas, Celebrini went with him.

“I remember one day he needed to go see his son,” Green said. “He was in tears that he had to leave. We were in L.A. He was like, ‘I’m gonna go see Mack.’ He was in tears. He went for a day, came back and locked back in with me the next day. That might be the only day in the whole time that I did not see him.”

━━━━━

The Athletic | How NBA superstars showed the NHL’s next top prospect the way

The next day, Macklin underwent an MRI that revealed a significant injury, a partial posterior labrum tear. An orthopedic surgeon recommended immediate surgery.

“I’m thinking it’s my second game of the year and my season is pretty much done,” [Macklin] says. “I’m facing a six-month recovery and my year is over. All of this work for two games, and now I have to rehab my whole shoulder.”

That’s when Dad entered the picture. “He called me in tears,” Rick says. “I consulted with a couple of colleagues and people I knew.” Their consensus: Skip the surgery for now. Opt for rehab.

“So I was out for two weeks, rehabbed it, got it strong enough and stable enough to play,” Macklin says.

…

A subsequent MRI revealed that the once partial posterior labrum tear was now complete. The injury was now classified as severe and surgery was unavoidable.

Macklin’s surgery was conducted in Vail, Colo., by Dr. Peter Millett, a shoulder specialist who has operated on several NHL-level players, including Montreal Canadiens defender Arber Xhekaj last summer.

The surgery went well, but as Rick and Macklin settled in for a lengthy summer of rehab, doubts emerged.

Rick would say later it was the “most pressure I’ve ever felt working through an injury with a player.”

Helping top athletes recover and rehabilitate from injury is his profession, honed over years with teams in Vancouver and from 2018 with the Golden State Warriors of the NBA. But with his own son, he wondered: “Should I get someone else to do this with Macklin?”

“When it’s your son, with the emotional piece, and going into his big draft year, there was an element of stress and anxiety,” he says. “Once the dust settles and you focus on the task at hand, that’s when each day has its objectives, and you just execute on them.”

…

Rick and Macklin spent a large part of the summer of 2023 together.

On the Celebrini family ranch in Northern California, where they moved after Rick joined the Warriors, Macklin worked diligently to rehab his shoulder under his father’s watchful eyes.

Rick, the team’s director of sports medicine and performance, has been a leader in his field for years. He worked with the Canadian men’s Alpine ski team at the 1994 and 2002 Winter Olympics, served as medical manager and chief therapist during the 2010 Winter Olympics and was the director of rehabilitation for the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL (from 2014-18) and the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS (from 2011-18).

…

[Macklin] said his dad helped him anticipate and endure the hard days. “He was clear to me, ‘This is a challenge you’ve never faced before, and it’s going to be difficult,’” Macklin says. “And … he kept telling me, ‘It’s going to heal.’ That was something I had in the back of my mind the whole time, like, ‘Yeah it’s sore, but it’s going to get better. Eventually it’ll be back to full strength and back to normal.'”

Rick spoke from experience. He had worked with Kevin Durant while he recovered from his torn Achilles tendon injury. He had helped Klay Thompson return from his torn ACL. He was able to tap into those experiences, helping his son trust that those difficult days would pass.

“Early on when the objective was to reassure him, you draw on those anecdotes,” Rick says. “With the surgeon and the injury that he had, there was never a doubt that if he was comprehensive and worked at all elements of the rehab of his shoulder and the rest of his body … that he would come back stronger.

“I was able to give him real life examples and that helps when it isn’t just encouraging words from his dad.”

San Jose Hockey Now | Rick Celebrini Pulling for Sharks to Draft Macklin Celebrini

Sheng Peng: Rick, you’re a soccer guy…even represented Team Canada in your youth…and your wife, Robyn, also a college soccer player. Yet all three of your sons are hockey players and your daughter is a tennis player.”

Rick: Yeah, we failed miserably. [laughs] I thought we had a chance of at least one of them becoming a soccer player.

TSN | Macklin Celebrini shares a special connection to Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors

Draymond Green: He is someone that is invaluable to us. He keeps guys on the floor, and when guys aren’t on the floor, he puts plans together to make sure guys are firing on all cylinders. A guy you can go talk to and confide in, that’s who Rick is to this team.

Rick Celebrini: I truly feel a commitment to the players, to look after them as athletes but [also] as human beings, and I don’t say that lightly. It really drives not only what I do, but how I do it, these days.

…

Rick Celebrini: I have, at different times, challenged them: if you really love this, if you have a passion for it, let me help you get to the pinnacle of that sport.

Aiden Celebrini: He was our dad, but he was also our director of player health and performance. “What’s your plan today? What are you doing to get better today?” That was his philosophy with us growing up.

…

Steve Kerr: We joke a bit with Rick. Do the kids really need to hear that every single moment? Can you just watch a movie one night? There’s no doubt, he treats his kids just like he treats his players.

Robyn Celebrini: What Rick would tell [Macklin] is: this is what it takes. You can’t do what everyone else is doing and expect to achieve greatness. Most people just see the glory, but a lot of people forget about all the hard work that goes into those moments.

Macklin Celebrini: He’s serious. When it’s time to work, it’s time to work. I like that, I respond to it.

Rick Celebrini: I mean, it’s a tough life. I think he understands it’s necessary for him to achieve his defined goals.

[bmwbestusa]

2024 Ford Bronco Release Date, Specs, Redesign

2024 Ford Bronco Release Date, Specs, Redesign

2024 Ford Bronco Release Date, Specs, Redesign – The 2024 Ford Bronco’s design evokes fond memories of the original model. It also boasts modern refinements that make it a pleasure to drive on the road while retaining its legendary off-road prowess. Ford’s off-road vehicle is so popular because of the breadth of its features. The Jeep Wrangler has long been the go-to SUV for those searching for…

[zelinktines24]

Masterlist 2024

Hey everyone! We had so many entries this year, wow! Here's the master list which wouldn't exist without @deiliamedlini having painstakingly put it together! Thank you again, Deilia! 🫶

I got feedback that more of you want to do a multi-chapter fic next year, so l'm going to try to release the prompts a bit earlier.

Chaptered Fics covering all prompts:

Third Time's A Charm -@mistresslrigtar

Cozy Cozy: A Zelinktines Story- @eugenerapunzel A Warm Embrace- @cjracingpnf First Snow- @writingnocturne Cherished- @sparklyhyperbole Cozy-@gathoscorner

Glow Glow: A Zelinktines Story- eugenerapunzel Flickers- @taapje Past Love- writingnocturne

Reunion Reunion- @floraunderground Reunion- @pitchblackespresso Reunion: A Zelinktine's Story- eugenerapunzel A Century to Fall In Love- @zelzenik To have a choice- @zeldaelmo

Blush A Warm Embrace- cjracingpnf Blush- @louwhose Spring- @wildpeanut Birthday Seal-ebrations- sparklyhyperbole

Sun: To the Moon and Back: From the Sun- @aurathian From the Sky- writingnocturne

Moon From the Sky- writingnocturne Zelink: The Full Moon Fever- @legofanguy To The Moon and Back: To the Moon- aurathian

Stars From the Sky- writingnocturne Stars- @unicorn30067a To The Moon and Back- And even the stars- aurathian Stars- @legofanguy1999 Star- sparklyhyperbole

Bonding Cooking Lessons- pitchblackespresso Bonding with the Princess: A Zelinktines Story- eugenerapunzel Sparring- wildpeanut Bonding- @gathoscorner To have a family- dubiiousfood

A Watery Smile A Watery Smile- louwhose Nightmares- wildpeanut A Watery Smile: A Zelinktines Story- eugenerapunzel A Watery Smile- @floraunderground

Melody An Encounter in Kokiri Forest- louwhose Moving On: ALttP; Zelinktines Melody- @daemosdaen Zelink: Our Song- legofanguy1999

Heartbeat Heartbeat- unicorn30067a Zelink: By a Heartbeat- legofanguy1999 Heartbeat- @kokiriforestspirit

Dusk Dusk to Dawn: Dusk- aurathian

Dawn Dawn to Dusk: Dawn- aurathian Famous Prophets (Stars)- @korokposting

Rumors Rumors- aurathian Rumors- legofanguy1999

That's My Shirt That's My Tunic: A Zelinktines Story- eugenerapunzel Zelinktines: That is my Shirt- legofanguy Of Breakfast and Buttons- @railtracer30

Dare Zelink: A Challenge to Kiss the Captain- legofanguy The Dubious Delite- railtracer30 The Flowers Rage- @dubiiousfood

Fire Soup, Sandwiches, and Burnt Ends- railtracer30 Zelink: By the Housefire- legofanguy Permafrost: Bolero of Fire- aurathian

Ice Bumping the Shoulder- railtracer30 Ice- @unicorn30067a Zelink: Lesson in Ice Skating- legofanguy Permafrost: Serenade of Water- aurathian Ice Skating- dubiiousfood Icebreakers- @ladyhoneydee

Secret Resignation- railtracer30 The Fixed Eye- @bahbahhh A Secret of the Hero of Twilight and His Queen- legofanguy Enough- wildpeanut

Diary Diary- legofanguy1999 Excerpts from the Personal Diary of One Zelda Artemis Hyrule, Mj- railtracer30 Dear Diary- cjracingpnf

Breathless Zelink: Lost Breathing Without You- legofanguy Stabilizing Agent- railttracer30 Oh, You Fill My Lungs With Sweetness- @crazybananacakes

The Worst Pickup Line Last Sheikah Standing- railtracer30 A Broken Knife a Day Doesn't Keep the Blacksmith Away- louwhose

Sentimental Memento Mama- railtracer30 Zelink: The Hero of Time Return- legofanguy Sentimental- legofanguy1999

Candles Dining in the Dark- railtracer30

Just a Kiss Just a Kiss- legofanguy1999 Just a Kiss: A Zelinktines Story- eugenerapunzel Kiss Me, Stupid- railtracer30 Just a Kiss- @jullbnt

Dancing? Here? The Fixed Eye (part 2)- bahbahhh The Barefoot Waltz- railtracer30 The New School Teacher- louwhose

Veil Zelink: Wedding Veil- legofanguy Cherished- sparklyhyperbole

Make a Wish The Care of the Goddess- railtracer30 Of Trust and Trickery- sparklyhyperbole What Did You Wish For?- cjracingpnf Promise- writingnocturne

Here's the link to the Ao3 collection! Some fics that aren't on Tumblr in there, so make sure to check it out!

If we overlooked an entry, please let us know and we'll fix it!

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

04/05/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Vico Ortiz; Damien Gerard; Nat Faxon; Leslie Jones; Watch Parties; vote for glaad; Fan Spotlight.

= David Jenkins =

Chaos Dad gave us a lovely shout out this morning <3

= Rhys Darby =

Rhys being his goofy ass self, talking about Basingstoke Comic Con on May 12th, and 11th.

== Nat Faxon ==

Hey! Nat Faxon's new episodes of LOOT are out! Check them out on AppleTV

Src: Nat's Twitter

== Leslie Jones ==

Leslie's going to be hosting The Drop In at the Hollywood Palladium May 4! If you're in LA check her out!

https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/outside-joke Src: Leslie's Twitter

== Vico Ortiz ==

Just some Vico being Hot AF.

New episode of Date My Abuelita, First! is out!

== Damien Gerard ==

Just Damien being the best cat dad, excuse me while I go weep at how cute this is.

SRC: Damien's Twitter

== Active Watch Parties ==

Taskmaster NZ Series 1 Watch Party with @saveofmdcrewmates! When: April 3-12 (W,F, Su -2 eps each) Time: 11 am PT/ 2pm ET/ 7pm BST Where to watch: YouTube, TVNZ, Channel 4

Twitter Hashtags:

#Quartermaster

#OurFlagMeansDeath

#Taskmaster

== Vote for OFMD on GLADD! ==

Hey crew! GLAAD is opening up Fan Favorites for their May 11th ceremony! Let's see if we can't get OFMD one of those awards! Requires an email, and it's not in the inital dropdown, you'll need to add Other.

Please Vote!

== Save OFMD Crew ==

Tag @saveofmdcrewmates on your favorite social media platform and tell them your favorite OFMD related pickup lines!

== Fan Spotlight ==

Today's Cast Card is the Priest that didn't quite make it, Daniel Fernandez! Thank you @melvisik!

== Love Notes ==

Sorry lovelies, I wrote a whole thing... and then my browser crashed and apparently tumblr didn't save it :(. So I'm gonna use some other folks words today and try to re-write it tomorrow <3

Img Src: @ bethevans IG

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Feeling lazy and just wanting to see these two together since it's been a while.

Gif Courtesy of @neverswungonswingingstars

[derangedanomaly]

OVER-COPY 2

[UNDERTALE AU MASTERLIST]

-An AU in which Nightmare has a clone. A clone that impersonates him and overall ruins his reputation on purpose... A silly joke, or something much more serious?-

First masterlist

Started: 5/3/2024

Updated: 5/11/2024

CHAOS REFERENCE SHEET

CHAPTER 2:

Nighttime talk under the shiny stars

The first step

Abandonment

FUN ASKS:

Hugs?

Fistbumb with Ace

Blade in danger lmao

Dust being able to talk about his hyperfixations

Tucking them in?

Giving Ace a compliment

Hearing about Passive

Silly doodles of Ace

Change with names

Chaos' bodyshape

Ace's favorite "The last of us" character

Ace' fav scene

Father Chaos lmao

Blade and cartoons

SQUISHED

Nightmares reaction to Chaos' different look

Chaos' identity

CRAZIEST QUESTION EVER

Starin'

Complimenting Chaos

NAHH

Cuddling Chaos

Proud Chaos

Happy Chaos

Clothes

MARRIAGE?!

Cheesy pickup line

Cute Chaos

Clueless Chaos

Is Chaos ok?

Chaos fangs

Chaos hobbies

Squeezing Chaos

Flowercrowns

Pony plushies

Biting?? 🤨

Biting 2

Oh 💀

Fluffy

Deal pt4

Deal pt5

Deal pt6

Going out with Nightmare??

Hugs and kisses for Chaos again

Brother figure

Brother figure 2

Father Chaos and Nightmare?

BITING YET AGAIN?!

Supporting Chaos (+height comparison)

L is for looooser

Does Chaos like kisses?

Rating Chaos

Father figure for you lmao

Flustered Chaos

Silly lil doodle

Chaos finding you hurt

Cat language

What

Nightmare duck

MARRYING A DUCK?!

Kissing Ace, Chaos and Nightmare

Giving Chaos little kitten

ART:

Chaos in the sweater

Ace's game-time

Cuddly Chaos

Smooches for Chaos and Nightmare

Chaos in lolita dress

Chaos picking you up

Chaos and lifting

Picking you up

Cuddling with Chaos

Excuse me? 🤨

Another outfits

ROLLING DOWN THE STREETS

Stupid lil animation

FACTS (Talk):

Chaos' evolution

Chaos' innocence

ABOUT CHAOS

IMPORTANT:

Does everyone have copies?

Chaos' creation

Getting inspired?

Chaos changes

The others

FANART:

Chaos receiving hugs!!

Chaos brain rot lmao

Fist-bumbing Nightmare

[burntheedges-updates]

over again, chapter 4: first date

Joel Miller x f!reader summary: you fell in love with Joel Miller in Austin, Texas, in 2001, but you thought you lost him and your whole family in 2003 when the world turned upside down. now it's 2024, and you find the surprise of your life waiting for you in Jackson, Wyoming. or, five times you and Joel fell deeper in love, on both sides of the apocalypse (and one time you did something about it) 18+ minors DNI

chapter tags/warnings: fluff, flirting, banter, angst, panic attack, dancing, pining, kissing, the smut has arrived, pet names (darlin’, baby, honey, pretty girl), Joel calls reader a good girl, neck grabbing (no breath play), light manhandling, grinding, spit kink, oral (f receiving), fingering (f receiving), p in v sex (w/ condom), mention of breasts/nipples, praise kink, if I missed anything please let me know! If you'd like to skip the smut, check on ao3 - I've got notes there about what to skip a/n: Welcome to chapter 4! A day early!! It’s time for these two to go on a first date… and another first date, 20 years before. And oh yeah, the smut is here. The country night club in this chapter is based on one I frequented in the south in the early 2000s (lol). music note: More songs are mentioned in this chapter! All songs mentioned in this fic are on the playlist, which is linked below. word count: 13.3k

series main post | series playlist | ao3 | ch 3 || ch 5

This is my updates-only blog! Follow me at @burntheedges

Chapter 4: First Date

Jackson, Spring 2024

You have dinner with Joel and Ellie a few more times over the next few weeks. Sometimes just the three of you, and sometimes with Tommy and Maria as well. 

(Maria has warmed up a bit to Joel, following his return with Ellie in tow. She’s blunt and opens up more easily to people that have the Joel stamp of approval, which is just Tommy, sort of Maria, and you – all of the adults in her would-be family that don’t know how to talk to each other quite yet.)

Joel manages to join you for lunch a few times as well, and he listens to your tales of the gardens and the stables with the same slightly incredulous air that Tommy still does – you, an indoor girl, enjoying working outdoors. Anyone who knew you Before would never believe it, but no one here except the Miller brothers knows enough about you to find it at all odd. He laughs almost as loud at your story about getting stuck in the manure as Tommy did witnessing it. Right in the middle of the dining hall.

You and Joel also spend a couple of afternoons listening to the songs on the CD with Ellie and telling her a bit about each one. She likes the faster songs, like “Arrasando” and “Fruta Fresca”, and the ones that make her laugh, like “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” and “Pickup Man.”

(You tell her the story of how a woman hit on Joel in the grocery store parking lot, leaning suggestively on his pickup truck, and how she quoted the song (you know, there’s something women like about a pickup man), and how you and Sarah never let him live it down, singing the song to him every chance you got, playing up different parts (I never knew you were a pickup man!). You even got him to sing along eventually. She laughs so hard at your reenactment of it all that she falls off the couch. She and Sarah would have gotten along like a house on fire, you think.)

She scoffs a little at the romantic songs like the teenager she is. 

Listening to the songs is hard, and you notice that Joel skips a couple of them (you don’t blame him, and both of you avoid the other’s eyes when he does). But Ellie brings a brightness to every room she’s in. Even as she’s cursing up a storm about missing her favorite food in the dining hall one night because of family dinner - right up until Tommy walks in the door with a plate, just for her. You can feel something in yourself start to bloom again as you tell stories about Sarah and Joel from Before to this child who asks questions about unexpected things, like strobe lights in clubs and menus at fancy restaurants and piñatas at family parties. It lets you take a step back and try to see it all through her eyes, unfamiliar and new. It’s refreshing even when it hurts. 

You think it’s having the same effect on Joel, but you haven’t talked about it. You can only see what he’s showing on his face and you think it mirrors what’s on yours. You haven’t talked more about your 20 years apart, other than some small details here and there. Ellie hasn’t asked again. You see him looking at you sometimes like he wants to ask, wants to reach out, but he always hesitates. Slow. 

After a few weeks (almost a month since they’ve been back in Jackson) of getting more comfortable around each other, Tommy ramps up his campaign to get the two of you to join him at the bar one night. You’ve been there with Tommy a few times, of course, but you haven’t been one for lingering there since you’ve been in Jackson. You were on your own for so long that at first it was odd to be around so many people. You know Joel has been with Tommy a few times, but he didn’t stay long, either. Always wanting to be home for Ellie. 

Eventually Tommy pesters you into agreeing by getting Maria to hang with Ellie for the night – as much as they haven’t quite bonded yet, Ellie is still curious and a bit excited at the prospect of a baby, and the plan is for her to help decorate the nursery. You saw the look on her face when Joel referred to the baby as her cousin, and you think Ellie herself can’t look straight on at the emotion that came over her in that moment. She’s still getting used to the whole family thing. You and Joel are too, but you’re easing back into something you had once and lost, which is different than discovering something you’ve never had at all. 

The night of your outing you don’t let yourself dither by your closet. You allow yourself two options and once you decide you head downstairs to meet Joel and Tommy by the road. For a moment you marvel, again, at the novelty of doing something that used to be mundane – choosing your outfit for a night out. 

Tommy looks like he used to at Christmas, so excited to drag you both out of the house. Joel looks just as handsome as always — shoulders broad in his flannel shirt — but he’s also side-eyeing his brother like he might want to put him in a headlock if he doesn’t stop spilling good cheer everywhere. 

“Alright, Millers, let’s get this show on the road.” You tuck an arm through both of theirs, one on each side like you used to do when you went out dancing. For a moment the once-familiar feeling of being surrounded by your family like this takes your breath away. But the three of you easily fall into step as you head towards the only bar in town. 

“You should bring your CD out sometime, get everyone to dance.” Tommy looks hopeful as he makes his request, glancing between you and Joel as you walk. 

“Maybe. I don’t want to lose it, or break it.”

“I know, sunshine – we can be careful.”

You shrug, and ask what kind of music is going on tonight. Sometimes there’s live music, a few people in town who can play various instruments, but often it’s this old-as-dirt jukebox that sometimes needs coaxing to play more than a few chosen songs without going rogue and disregarding whatever you picked next. Sounds like tonight is a jukebox night. 

The three of you arrive at the bar, and as Tommy moves to enter ahead of you, Joel lets his hand slide down to twine his fingers through yours. He squeezes your hand as the two of you step inside, reminding you of all the times he did that to reassure you Before, when you were still learning how to dance. It makes you smile. 

Tommy waves you over to a table in the corner and heads to the bar to get drinks. You slide in beside Joel, feeling a bit awkward as you turn to him while you wait for Tommy to come back. “He’s just as smug as he was that first time you and I went line dancing with him.”

Joel huffs a laugh, looking uncomfortable in public in a way you’d never seen him Before. He keeps checking on the people in the bar, eyes never staying in one spot for long as he sweeps them over the room. As he turns back to you, he replies, “Tommy loves to make me uncomfortable.”

You tilt your head at him, considering. “I get now, I’m not totally comfortable here either, but then? You always seemed so confident when we went out dancing. Helped me shake off my nerves.”

“That was because of you, darlin’.” He leans closer. “It was impossible for me to feel uncomfortable with you on my arm. All I could see was you, anyway.” You duck your head a little to hide your reaction from the room, and he gives you that half smile that raises goosebumps down your arms, like it always did. “Before I met you he used to drag me out and I probably stuck out like a sore thumb, anxious and frowning in a corner by the bar.”

You laugh at the image, just as Tommy returns with your drinks. “What are you two laughing about over here, hmm?”

Your eyes meet Joel’s again, and he’s giving you a warning glance against Tommy’s teasing. “We’re just reminiscing about going out dancing.”

Tommy grins widely. “I’m telling you, we can have a dance night here. Just need the right music for it. The jukebox does alright, though there’s a lot of slower songs. It doesn't have the widest selection.”

“Neither do I, with just the one CD.” 

Tommy shakes his head at your response. “Ah, but what a CD it is! I remember that mix. Sarah always had a way with a playlist.” You notice Joel shifting his weight at the mention of Sarah, but you decide not to draw attention to it.

“You just want me to embarrass myself with how little I remember.”

“Nope, not going to fall for a tall tale like that, sunshine. I heard from Ellie that you two still got it.” Tommy winks at you. You forgot what having a brother was like, with all the teasing, and you can’t help the swell of emotion in you as Tommy grins at you. You take a sip of your drink to cover it, and cough. 

“What the hell is this?”

“What, you don’t like it? It’s the strongest thing we got.”

“Did someone make this in their bathtub? I thought we had whiskey in this town.” You hold up your glass to the light, eyeing the light brown liquid distrustfully.

Tommy smirks at you. “Sure we do, sunshine, but tonight’s for having fun.” You roll your eyes at him. Joel is hiding his face in his hand, but you know he’s just trying to hide how much he’s laughing at your back and forth.

“You, Tommy Miller, are trouble. Just as much now as you ever were then.” You point at him and go for a stern expression, but you miss by a mile when you start to laugh. He laughs, too, and Joel just shakes his head at the both of you.

“Aw come on, I’m an upstanding member of the community these days, you know? No one’s dragged me out of the drunk tank in Jackson.”

“Jackson doesn’t have a drunk tank, Tommy.”

“Semantics, sunshine.”

You and Tommy keep the show going through your first drink with only a little bit of input from Joel, but you can see him smiling and starting to enjoy himself. With the second drink comes the return of Tommy’s campaign for dancing.

“Look, I’ll go pick out a song from the jukebox, and I swear it’ll be a good one. See, there’s already a few people dancing.”

You look over, and sure enough, there are a few pairs sort of swaying in place by the jukebox. You turn back to Tommy with an unimpressed look on your face, but he grins unrepentantly. “You’ll just have to show them how it’s done, won’t you?”

He heads over to the jukebox anyway, so you turn to Joel. “What do you think? You up for it?” He looks around the room before his eyes return to yours.

“I’ve never turned down a chance to dance with you, darlin’, and I’m not about to start, even here.”

His words send heat rushing towards your face and you bite your lip to hide your reaction. He sees it anyway. “Smooth moves, Miller, as always.”

He shrugs. “With you, it’s always just been a matter of letting myself say what I want to say or what I’m feeling and somehow it works. I was never this smooth before you, so you should blame yourself, you know, you bring it out in me.” You shove his shoulder, laughing a little. “Or maybe it’s only meant to work on you.” He smiles a little when you roll your eyes, trying to hide the effect his words have on you. You wonder if the drink has opened him up a bit tonight, after your weeks of progress so slow you’ve almost been standing still. The thought makes you hesitate. 

“Really, though, this is ok?”

He regards you for a moment, and his expression turns intent. He leans in to whisper in your ear, “it’s more than ok, darlin’. Let me show you.” You shiver all the way down your spine. You nod.

Tommy returns triumphant from the jukebox – he’s set the next two songs, but then can’t make any promises about what comes after. The first is playing now, a slow song that won’t really do, but it’s already almost over. Joel stands and extends his hand to you to guide you out of the booth and towards the small dance floor on the other side of the room near the jukebox.

Right as you get there the track changes, and you hear the familiar opening notes of “The Fireman.” You have to give it to Tommy – this is a good choice. Good for dancing, but not one that either you or Joel associate too many memories with. You take Joel’s right hand with your left as he places his left on your back. 

“You ready?”

“Get on with it, cowboy.” 

He smirks, and does just that. He doesn’t hesitate, just starts two-stepping across the small dance floor. It becomes clear pretty quickly that not only do the two of you remember the steps, you’re almost, if not just as good together now as you were then. He starts to get a little fancy with it and throws in some spins that lead you from one end of the dance floor to the other, followed by a pretzel. You find yourself laughing, exhilarated, and you see a similar expression on Joel’s face. He looks lighter, his shoulders a little taller. He brings you back to face him, doing some simple steps for a moment, and then gets a glint in his eye that you remember well. 

“Joel–” is all you manage before he spins you out, pulls you back in, and you fall into his arms as he dips you, tipping you over his knee and off your feet, just for a moment. It’s not the fanciest move you’ve ever done with him, but it leaves you breathless, faces close together as he holds you there for a moment, smirking. 

He sets you back upright, and slows it down a bit. You can’t drag your eyes away from his but neither of you say anything. It feels like you’ve created a bubble where it’s still 2002, and you and Joel are tearing across the dance floor in one of the clubs in Austin, like no time has passed. You even heard Tommy whistle over the music when Joel spun you off your feet. Just like old times.

As you let your body take over, you start to feel a tingling sensation that travels from the base of your spine all the way to the top of your head. You’re getting overwhelmed, and your body knows what to do, but your mind is checking out. It’s like you're experiencing two things at once – your memories, and what’s happening now. You realize that you and Joel are still moving, but both of your expressions have gone still and unreadable. When the music stops, so do you, and for a moment, neither of you move from your embrace. 

Suddenly you notice that your heart is racing. You’re sweating and you’re out of breath. When did that happen? Joel’s chest is heaving, too. Distantly you remember Tommy saying he had no idea what song would come next and you wonder if you should move aside.

Before you can move even a finger, you hear the jukebox switching tracks, and you see the next song slam into Joel like a freight train. The first notes are barely over and he’s already pulled away from you, turning sharply and heading for the door so fast you realize your hands are still hanging in the air where he left them as the door to the bar closes behind him. You let them drop and start to move, you’re not sure where to, when you feel Tommy come up next to you. 

“Hey, sunshine, you alright?” HIs hand comes up to support your elbow as he moves in front of you and blocks the room’s view. You want to respond, but all you can hear is Lonestar singing about being in love, and all you can see is the Millers’ backyard in 2002. You feel the ghost of Joel’s hands on you and you swear you can hear him singing “Amazed” to you as you sway in place. You remember choosing this song for your first dance at your wedding. You blink your eyes, dazed.

You fist your hand in Tommy’s shirt, shaking him a little. “I need… outside. I need to go outside. Tommy, take me outside.” He’s already leading you to the door before you finish speaking.

Outside, you turn sharply to the right, planning to prop yourself up against the outside wall of the bar and remember how to breathe, but you find that apparently Joel had the same thought. He’s got one hand on his chest and the other in a death grip on the frame of one of the windows. He’s gasping for breath. You and Tommy call out at the same time, but you don’t think he hears you. 

Tommy starts to move towards him, but you elbow him away and slide between Joel and the wall, putting your right hand to his chest and moving his right hand from his chest to yours. “Joel, look at me.” He sucks in a breath and does, clutching at your shirt where you put his hand. “Breathe with me, ok, baby?” He doesn’t respond, but the two of you lock eyes and you start to breathe together. You can see Tommy out of the corner of your eye – he’s turned his back to the two of you, ushering people on as they pass by. 

You breathe together for a little while and eventually, Joel’s breaths come more easily, as do yours. You feel his hand relax and yours does the same where you’re clutching his right arm, holding him in place. Both of you are shaking. He tries to speak, clears his throat, and tries again.

“I can’t…” You shake your head sharply, afraid to let him finish that sentence. He moves his hand from the window frame to your cheek in response and smooths his thumb across your cheekbone. It settles you.

“Let me try that again. I’m sorry, darlin’, I don’t know if I can be that man anymore.” 

You’re confused. “Joel, what man?”

“I’m not…” he takes a deep breath. “I’m a mess. I know I said slow, and we are moving slow, but I can’t see my way to our destination. I’m not the man I was Before and I don’t know if I can be him again.” He looks at you, eyes wide and afraid, and suddenly you’re angry. The words that have been caught in your throat for a month finally spill out.

“Joel, I’m not who I was Before, either. We’ve talked about it a little, but there’s a lot you don’t know about me yet. Who I became and what I did. You don’t have a monopoly on the pain of the last 20 years, alright?” He opens his mouth, but you shake your head and tighten your grip on his right arm. “No. We need to talk, and we need to learn about each other. But the truth of you is still there.” You flatten your hand over his heart. “I can see you in there, Joel Miller. I can see you in how you parent Ellie and how you talk to Tommy and how you look at me. I can see the way you take care of us and the way you’ve started to step up to help the people here.” You grip his shirt and shake him a little, doing everything you can to keep eye contact. “It’s scary, sure, I’m terrified. But I’m not giving this up before it even starts because it’s hard, or because sometimes the memories will overwhelm us. I already lived 20 hard years without you and I’m not doing it again. Not when that’s not what either of us really want.”

Joel looks like you cracked open his chest, actually gripping his heart in your hand instead of his flannel shirt, his expression wild. 

“All I’m asking, baby, is that you try. I can do one step forward, two steps back. As long as we keep going forward, it doesn’t matter how much we backtrack on our way.” He doesn’t respond right away – he looks over your face, and down to his hand on your chest and back up to meet your eyes. You can see tears glistening on his eyelashes.

“Alright, darlin’. You don’t have to convince me to go after what I want. I’ve just been afraid to let myself have it. I don’t… I don’t want you to discover I’ve become someone you can’t abide.”

You bring both hands up to cup his face. “Joel, I’m afraid of the same thing. But I want to figure it out together, not apart.” He nods, and turns his face into your right hand, taking a deep breath. You feel him kiss your palm, lightly, and you shiver. “We can still take the long way. I just want you to walk it with me.”

You feel the adrenalin of the last fifteen minutes start to leave you and suddenly you’re a bit unsteady on your feet. He holds you up, moving his hands to your waist. 

“Are you alright, darlin’? Let’s sit down.” You shake your head.

“I think I’d like to head home.”

“Let me take you home, then.”

You both turn to find Tommy has moved a bit further away, but he’s still guarding you both from the foot traffic at the door. He looks over when you look at him, and smiles a little ruefully. “I’m sorry about that, y’all.”

“Nothing to apologize for, Tommy.”

“I can get that song off the jukebox–” 

Joel interrupts him, firmly. “No, leave it. I might…” he sighs. “We might want to hear it. Later.” You smile at him a little as he tucks your right arm through his left.

You say goodnight to Tommy and start to head home. The streets of Jackson are dark and quiet. You’re both quiet, too, letting the intense moment you just had settle as you lean on each other for support. Soon enough your houses come into view, and Joel walks all the way to your front door before he stops and turns to you and says your name softly.

“I have to thank you. You always know what to say to get me out of my head.”

“You always did the same thing for me, you know? We were good together for a reason.”

He smiles, and nods. “I know it.”

You reach out to pull him in for a hug, and you both squeeze a bit tighter than you have so far, since your reunion. You feel his left hand cup the back of your neck as the right slides down your back and pulls you closer. You’ve been through an emotional wringer in the last half hour, but you still feel your body start to respond to this man. Like it always has. 

You turn your head so you can speak quietly into his left ear. “I enjoyed our dance, you know? Before all that.” His hand takes a firm grip on the back of your neck and you shiver. 

“Oh, I know you did. I could tell.” 

You laugh, and smack him lightly on the shoulder. “Oh yeah? Well you were enjoying it too, I could see it.”

“Never said I wasn’t. Never could take my eyes off you on the dance floor.” He pulls back a bit, and you meet his eyes. Gone, for the moment, is the worry from before – what you see in his gaze makes your breath catch in your throat. He smirks at you and runs his thumb up the side of your neck. 

“Can I kiss you goodnight, pretty girl?” As he says it he tilts your head up towards his. Joel has always called you darlin’, from the very first time you met, and you love it. But there were some pet names he only used at certain times and, well. Pretty girl has the same effect on you now as it did then. Between that and his hand on your neck you swear your feet float off the ground.

You’re breathless, but you manage an actual response. “I thought you’d never ask, cowboy.” He huffs a laugh at that, and then pulls you in close.

You’ve kissed Joel Miller countless times. He kissed you for the first time in his backyard in Austin in 2001 and after that you can’t even recall every time or place you kissed this man, there were so many. You wouldn’t say you got used to it, but you did come to expect it – Joel Miller, available and ready to be kissed by you, whenever you’d like. You knew him inside and out and you’d kissed him everywhere and every way you could imagine, back then.

But everything about this kiss is new. 

Joel softly presses his lips to yours, tilting your head with his grip on your neck, strong and confident. You circle your arms around his waist, moving even closer as you press into the kiss. He moves with you, pulling back a little, but returning almost immediately and kissing you a little deeper, a little firmer. You part your lips and you feel him inhale sharply before he slides his hand down from your waist to brazenly grab your ass, deepening the kiss just a bit, running his tongue along your bottom lip and groaning slightly as you bite softly as his lip in response. 

You’ve touched him where you’re touching him before and he’s touched you like this. But it doesn’t feel the same. It feels new, and heady. It feels like a first kiss and a millionth kiss all at once. He’s kissing you like he knows you, and he clearly remembers what you like, but it’s also like kissing a stranger. One who’s picked up new moves that just echo the ones you remember from Before. One whose body is familiar but also different, changed and aged in ways you haven’t had a chance to explore just yet.  

Joel shifts his weight in a way that turns you slightly, allowing him to slide his hand down further and grip the back of your thigh before pressing you against your own front door. He uses his grip to pull your leg up, stepping closer and pinning you in place with his hips. 

He tilts your chin up again with the hand on your neck and uses his thumb to open your mouth wide. You’re pressed tight between him and the door, sinking into your growing arousal, sinking into him. He looks down at you, mouth held open and waiting for him. You feel hot and dazed, watching as he runs his tongue across his own bottom lip slowly. He meets your eyes, gaze heavy, before lowering his head and devouring your mouth. You sneak your hands inside his shirt to run your nails up his back as your tongues tangle. Joel moans, so quietly you almost don’t hear it, and thrusts his hips into yours. Your breath catches as you feel his arousal meet your own. You feel desire pooling in your lower abdomen and your legs start to shake.

You might have gone on like that all night – you might have let him fuck you against the door, unashamed, outside where anyone can see you – but a door a few houses down suddenly slams shut, startling you both. 

Joel almost jumps away from you at the sudden interruption. Not far, he’s still got his hands on your hip and your neck. Your hands rest on his belt. He’s breathing hard and you suddenly realize you are, too. You shake your head, blinking, and start to claw your way back to awareness – your connection was so familiar, so easy, so much like Before. You’d sunk into those depths like slipping into a dream.

You blink at each other before you both let go at the same moment, standing up straight and stepping away. He lets his eyes dance over you, taking in your mussed clothes and swollen lips, before closing his own and pressing his palms to his eyes. He takes a deep breath. You can see the familiar outline of his cock in his jeans, and you force yourself to look away.

“I need to… I’m sorry, darlin’, but we shouldn’t. Not yet.” You nod. You try to convince yourself it’s the smart thing to do, even as you feel the pull of him like a magnet. Even if all you want in this moment is to pull him inside and make him finish what he started, just on the inside of the door this time. For some privacy.

“We still need to talk,” you manage. Your voice sounds unfamiliar to your own ears, but Joel nods in response. “But we agreed, right? This, us, together – that’s the destination. Even if we take it slow.”

“Slow,” he repeats, eyes lingering on your lips. He blinks, and meets your eyes. “Slow, yes.”

“We should walk away before we jump each other where the whole town can see.” You smile as you say it. It doesn’t sit right on your face. You take a deep breath and move to open your door without taking your eyes off Joel.

He smiles back, and nods. His attempt looks just as uncomfortable as yours. “Alright, darlin’, I’ll see you tomorrow? Or soon?” 

“Of course. Tomorrow.” Your feet feel rooted in place until he finally manages a step off of your porch. Your face feels like a mask as you try to present something pleasant, agreeable, fine with watching your heart walk away from you. The connection you just reawakened pulls taut between you and tugs at something deep in your chest. You keep your eyes on each other, and once he reaches his own porch you finally open your door. You take one last look, chest tight, before entering your houses at the same time. 

Inside, you close your door and immediately slide down against it to sit on the floor, head in your hands.

...

Austin, Spring 2001

You and Joel talked a few times between Sunday and Friday – standing in your front yard, once, and over the phone twice, finalizing your plans and flirting so much you found yourself not paying attention and getting wound up in the cord of the old phone that came with the house. He told you not to waste your limited texts on him, the dinosaur, but you texted him a couple of times anyway. Sarah must have taught him a few things because he actually sent you a winky face back once. It made you laugh and clutch your phone to your chest like some kind of swooning maiden. You told Emily, your friend at work, and she laughed at you so hard she snorted soda up her nose at lunch. Served her right. 

Friday arrived just in time to save you from working yourself up too much into a state of anticipation and nerves. You made yourself stick with the outfit you had picked out on Wednesday night when you talked to Joel on the phone and tried to figure out what was appropriate to wear dancing. He told you you’d be beautiful no matter what, but you wanted to look good on his arm for your first – and long awaited – date. You ran the outfit by Emily, too, and she gave it her official born-and-bred-in-Texas stamp of approval. (She also told you it was a good idea to wear jeans, because everyone else would likely do the same.) It wasn’t going to get much better than that.

Joel was going to pick you up at 7:30 after he dropped Sarah off for her sleepover. At 7:15 you were standing in your entryway with nothing left to do, feeling a little foolish. You looked around for something to occupy you and had just decided you’d put some dishes in the dishwasher, maybe, when there was a knock at the door. You glanced at the clock –7:17 – and raised one eyebrow while opening the door to find Joel on the other side. He was wearing cowboy boots, black jeans that were so tight in the hips it should have been illegal, and a button up green shirt that made your mouth water at how it showed off every line of his torso.

“A bit early, aren’t we?” you teased, leaning your shoulder against your door frame and crossing your arms.

“Well hello there, beautiful. I couldn’t wait any longer to see you. And you answered that door pretty quick, you know, to be teasing me like that. Were you waiting for me?” He grinned at you and winked. What a flirt.

“Maybe I was. You’re looking pretty sharp yourself, cowboy.” 

Joel offered his hand to you and you took it, stepping outside to join him before locking your front door. “Ready to go?”

“Lead the way.”

He handed you into his truck and set off for the taco place he’d been on you to try for months. 

(He’d learned earlier in the week while you were talking in your front yard that you still hadn’t gone, and the incredulous way he said your name had made you laugh.

“How? Darlin’, we told you about it months ago!”

“I’m busy, ok! And maybe I was waiting for an invitation.” You smiled and raised one eyebrow at him. 

He grinned, but shook his head. 

“Well, this can’t stand, darlin’. Seems like I’ll just have to take over from here, hmm? Make sure my girl is getting the best Austin has to offer.” He definitely caught your reaction to my girl, stepping closer and cupping your face with his right hand. You smiled at him, a little dazzled. 

“Pretty sure of yourself, huh, cowboy?” You smoothed your hands around his waist and linked your fingers at the small of his back. 

“Nah. Pretty damn sure of how much you deserve to be taken care of, more like.” You felt like you were going to swoon again, and really, twice in one week? This man.)

So you headed towards the taco place in the truck. Joel asked you about your week at work, how your students were doing, and he smiled a little when you told him that Emily approved your outfit for a night of dancing. 

“You tell her thank you from me, darlin’, I sure do approve, too.” He reached over and set his right hand on your thigh, squeezing gently. You laughed and rolled your eyes a little, moving to hold his hand.

The taco place turned out to be pretty crowded, but there were plenty of tables outside and soon you were settled with tacos and drinks. Your table was cozy, a two-person set-up right towards the end of their outdoor deck, which was strung with fairy lights. 

“Well? What do you think?”

“It’s lovely, Joel.” You felt his boot slide forward and settle against your foot. You smiled at him, resting your chin in your hand. “I’m glad you asked me out.”

Joel reached over and ran his thumb across your bottom lip, fingers cupping your jaw. “You got no idea how glad I am that you said yes, darlin’.” You opened your mouth to respond, but he left his thumb there, right in the middle of your bottom lip. He pressed down gently and you couldn’t help but dart your tongue forward to meet it. You watched as he inhaled sharply, staring at your mouth. You opened a little wider.

Joel shook himself and cleared his throat, pulling his hand away. “We should eat, baby. We got some dancing to do later.” He picks up a taco.

You smiled, enjoying the effect you clearly had on him, as strong as the effect he had on you. “Right. Dancing.” He shot you a look, picking up what you were implying.

“Eat your tacos, troublemaker.”

“Yes sir!” He coughed at your response, and you laughed, finally relenting. You picked up your own taco and took a bite.

You moaned.

“Joel! This is amazing!” You looked up from your food to find him watching you, dark eyes intent. “What?”

He just grinned, slow and smooth. “Nothing, darlin’.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, but didn’t press.

Over dinner you talked more about your week, about the family party the Millers had coming up, about your worries for your students as you hit the midpoint in the semester. Joel asked you about your coworkers and some of your students by name, and your heart warmed just knowing he remembered them from the stories you’d told him. That he listened and cared.

He told you about the projects he and Tommy were working on now, and some of his frustrations with his crew and the clients. You realized, as you listened, that Joel had never really held back from sharing himself like this, not with you. You knew all of his crew by name and reputation, at this point. You could ask after their partners and you knew their roles on the team. He’d been opening himself up to you the whole time, just like you had with him. You’d barely noticed at first because you hadn’t had anything to compare it to, no idea he could be so careful and distant with people he didn’t know. Knowing him the way you did now, well. You smiled, still listening.

The fairy lights were setting everything off in a warm glow, but you felt like that glow was inside of you, too. Like the connection between the two of you was lighting you up from the inside. Your fingertips were tingling.

You wrapped your ankles around one of his under the table and squeezed. He winked at you in response. 

Around 9 you got back in Joel’s truck to head to the club he and Tommy had told you about. Apparently they sometimes played Latin music, but tonight was going to be all country, which meant two-stepping and line dancing. You felt your nerves, which had faded during dinner, start to return.

“Joel, you sure I know enough to go dancing? We barely got started last week.”

He reached over and set his right hand on your thigh again. “You’re ready, darlin’. Just follow my lead – I won’t throw anything too fancy at you.” 

You sent him a look. “Something tells me I shouldn’t believe you.”

He grinned, tapping his fingers against your thigh, sending tingles down your spine. “I did say nothing too fancy.” 

You soon arrived and Joel opened the car door for you in front of a large wooden building with neon figures in cowboy hats dancing across the facade. He took your hand again, lacing your fingers together, and started walking towards the entrance where there was a small line. It moved quickly and way too soon you were moving inside. Joel squeezed your hand as you entered the club.

The first thing that hit you was the sound – “Ain't Goin' Down ('til the Sun Comes Up)” was blasting through the dark space. You looked around, noticing the tiered side areas with tables and couches surrounding a huge dance floor sunk into the middle of the club. It was absolutely teeming with people line dancing on one side and two-stepping on the other. You looked at Joel and grinned. “Where to first, cowboy?” He smiled back and tugged you towards the dance floor. As you approached you noticed the bar nearby on the first level.

He leaned close so you could hear him, his lips brushing your ear. “Let’s get a drink and then we can watch for a minute, let you get comfortable.” You nodded, smiling at how well he anticipated what would put you at ease.

He got you drinks and somehow snagged a high bar table close to the dance floor. You stepped up to it and he stepped up close to you, to your side and behind you, curving his left arm around your waist. He put his mouth next to your ear again. “What do you think, darlin’?”

You leaned back a little, letting your back touch his chest as you turned towards him to reply. “They’re dancing pretty fast out there, Joel. I don’t think I can keep up.” He raised his right hand to touch your chin lightly, turning your head to the left a bit.

“Look over there, do you see the split?” As soon as he pointed it out you saw it. Yes, there were some dancers going so fast it made your head spin, but there was an area off to the left where pairs were dancing slower, and some looked like they were still learning, like you. “Everyone here is real polite, real aware of each other. No one’ll make you go fast before you’re ready.”

It reassured you, and you leaned back a little more into his chest. He tightened his arm around your waist. “Thanks, cowboy. That does make me feel better.” He grinned at you and winked again.

As you finished your drinks he pointed out people doing the steps he’d taught you, showing you the different ways they could fit together with other things you hadn’t learned yet. You realized the song was changing, and “My Maria” started up. It was a bit slower than the songs had been so far, which seemed like a sign.

You turned to look at Joel. “Should we give it a go?”

He looked surprised, and then pleased that you suggested it. “Let’s get out there, darlin’.” Before he moved away he leaned in for a quick kiss, stealing your breath and then grabbing your hand to lead you to the dance floor. As you reached it, he turned backwards, leading you with both hands into an open spot. He moved you into the stance he’d taught you on Sunday.

“Just follow me, baby. I’ll guide you right.” You nodded and took a deep breath, and then he started moving.

It amazed you how quick you shook off your nerves in Joel’s arms. He was right, you did have a good handle on the basic steps, and he smoothly led you around your little area of the dance floor, deftly steering you around other dancers. He even threw in a spin that left you a little dizzy. “Joel!” 

“Sorry, darlin’.” He grinned, not looking sorry at all. “Just wanted to give it a try.”

You smiled back, charmed by his easy confidence on the dance floor. “Just warn me next time.”

A couple songs on the slower side followed “My Maria.” After three, you felt like you were letting the dance happen more naturally instead of staring at your own feet so much. Joel was smiling at you softly, and soon he sent you into another spin and caught you close. You stumbled a little and smiled at him. You realized neither of you were moving. You’d frozen in the middle of the dance floor, when his gaze darted down to your lips. 

You'd moved a little closer, breathless, when the crowd suddenly cheered, startling you into stepping back and looking around. You looked at Joel, who was grinning. 

“What’s going on?” you asked, but then you heard it. Most of the men were leaving the dance floor – the women in the room took over as “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” started up. You laughed, but then stopped when you realized Joel was moving away, too.

“Wait, I don’t know what to do!” You were about to get corralled into one of the lines of dancers that was forming around you.

“Just follow along!” he called, grinning. You looked around and saw a woman you didn’t know beckon you closer.

“I’ll show you! Come on!” She broke it down for you slowly, and soon you were moving with the rest of the crowd. It wasn’t that difficult, you realized, just showy. You noticed some were throwing in spins and kicks, but you focused on the basic steps. Once you had a handle on it you looked up, looking for Joel.

When you found him, you almost froze in place. He was looking right at you, and by the look on his face, you knew he hadn’t looked away from you once. He was watching you with dark eyes, intent. It sent a shiver down your spine and you wanted to run to him, or for him to come back and dance with you again. He had a hand on his chin and he slowly rubbed his thumb along his lower lip as you met his eyes. You stumbled a little over the next step and he smirked, not meanly, more knowingly. You smiled back.

For the rest of the song you felt his eyes on you, and you felt like you were dancing only for him. It made you a little bolder – you swayed your hips more and looked at him out of the corner of your eye. His gaze was angled low. It spurred you on.

By the end of the song you were breathless, and you’d worked yourself up so much you needed a break before you hauled off and dragged him into the bathroom. When you met his eye you knew he was feeling the same way.

The crowd surged a bit as you approached, and you tipped forward into his arms at the edge of the dance floor. “How did I do?” you asked, grinning. He studied you, looking slowly down your body and back up. Your face heated in response.

He leaned forward, arms around your waist, lips brushing your ear again, and said, lowly, “I couldn’t keep my eyes off you. You tore up that dance floor, baby. Let me take you for another spin.” You closed your eyes and leaned your head against his, overwhelmed.

“Be My Baby Tonight” was playing then, and it was fast and a little intimidating. You turned your head towards him. “Get me a water, first, and then you can spin me all around the dance floor, cowboy.”

He ducked his head into your neck, leaving a kiss behind your ear, and then nodded. He turned and headed straight to the bar as you leaned against the high table next to you for support. You steadied yourself, taking several deep breaths. Dancing now. More of… that later. The thought made you chuckle, but you closed your eyes briefly against the heady anticipation it sparked in you at the same time. 

Joel reappeared back in front of you quickly, drinking his own water and watching you intently as you finished yours. “Daddy’s Money” faded into “Shut Up and Kiss Me” as he grabbed your hand to lead you back onto the dance floor without saying a word. Your heart was racing as you followed, eyes locked on his.

The practice and the line dancing had flipped a switch in you, and you found yourself adding little things that made the dance your own. Swinging your hips a bit slower, throwing in an extra twist, spinning faster. Joel met you step for step and encouraged you with every addition. The rest of the club fell away as the two of you moved in sync. You barely noticed when he threw in a new move – a backwards spin of some kind. He smoothly guided you in and out of it, grinning smugly when it worked. 

You danced straight through two more songs (“Fast as You” and “God Blessed Texas”, which the crowd loved). When “What About Now” started you found yourselves pressed even closer together, after the crowd that had formed for “God Blessed Texas”. You kept moving, but Joel caught your eyes right as the chorus started and your breath caught. He pulled you close and, to your surprise, sang softly into your ear, “How ‘bout tonight? Baby for once let’s don’t think twice.” You knew he could play guitar, and he’d mentioned before that he’d wanted to be a singer when he was a kid, but he’d never sung for you. You felt his voice, soft like velvet, sink deep into you and you squeezed your thighs together.

You pulled away and caught his eye, coming to a stop on the dance floor. He looked uncertain for a moment before he saw the look on your face. 

“Let’s get out of here, cowboy.”

He smiled wide and immediately turned and led you through the crowd towards the door. It took longer than you wanted but eventually you emerged into the cool night air outside of the club.

At his truck he stopped and slipped his arm around your waist. He whispered in your ear, “where to, baby?”

“Take me home, Joel.”

“Just home?”

You smirked at him. “Why don’t you get me there and find out?” 

He laughed, opening the door for you and jogging around to throw himself into the driver seat. As soon as he had the truck in drive his right hand was back on your thigh. Higher this time, and with his thumb rubbing a small circle into the outside while his fingers gripped the inside firmly. You sighed and sank a little lower in your seat. He glanced at you, and stood a little harder on the gas pedal.

Joel must have set a record between the club and your house, but soon enough you were pulling up in the driveway and he was opening the car door for you once again. You walked to your front door with him hovering right behind you, hands lightly brushing over your hips as he moved in step with you. 

You unlocked the door, but before you could open it he grabbed your hips and spun you around. You found yourself sandwiched between him and the door, left hand firm on your hip, right hand against the door to the side of your head. The echo of your dance positions made your heart race. 

He leaned in close, brushing his lips across your cheek before murmuring in your ear, “you got plans tonight, pretty girl?” You heard yourself gasp, lightly, and reached out to loop your fingers through his belt buckles. 

“Met some cowboy at the club. He followed me home, trying to get in my pants.”

Joel laughed, and moved a little closer. His left hand moved from your hip to your neck, thumb in front along your collarbone. “Well, are you going to let him?”

You hummed and pretended to think about it. “I dunno. You think he’s any good?”

Joel met your eyes, sliding his left hand to the back of your neck and squeezing. You inhaled sharply and you knew he could see the effect he had, written all over your face. He leaned in and his lips brushed against yours as he replied, “well, baby, you can be the judge of that, alright? After I make you come on my hand,” he kissed you, “and my mouth,” he kissed you again, “and my cock,” he kissed you one last time. 

Your head was spinning at his words and you could feel your arousal pooling in your underwear. You thrust your hips against his right thigh, firm between your legs. He squeezed his hand around the back of your neck again and you gasped as he moved back a little. 

“Well then, cowboy. Take me to bed.”

He reached behind you and opened the door, pulling you in by the waist as he deftly maneuvered you around it and into your dark hallway. He pulled the door closed and locked it with one hand behind him, never even moving away from you, before backing you into the wall to your living room.

“I’ll take you to bed, pretty girl, but I think I’ll take you right here first.”

Your back hit the wall but he didn’t stop, moving forward until his front pressed all along yours. He caught your lips with his, moving his hand back to its new spot around the back of your neck in a strong grip. With his other hand he undid your jeans, then used both hands to start to pull them down. You reached down to help, but stopped when you realized Joel’s eyes had caught on your underwear. Particularly the lace.

“This for me, darlin’?” As he asked he slipped his fingers into the slide of your underwear before moving his hands around to the back and reaching inside to grab your ass cheeks, one in each hand. You thrust your hips towards his, brushing lightly against his jeans.

“You see any other cowboys here?” 

He grinned. “I think I like the idea of you picking these out, thinking about what I might like.”

“Wait until you see what else I’ve got up there.” 

“Oh, I plan to.” He stepped back in to press you against the wall, moving his left hand back to your neck and his right hand around to the front to slip inside your underwear. “Mouth or fingers first, baby? What do you think?” 

You let your head fall back and rest against the wall, breathless at his question.

“Come on, baby. Good girls ask for what they want.” As soon as the words left his mouth you whined, surprising yourself, a tiny noise in the back of your throat, barely there at all. But he heard it. “Oh, do you want to be my good girl?” The effect his words had on you was obvious – chest heaving, eyes closed, heat rushing to your face. “That’s good, baby, that’s real good. Now tell me what you want.”

You took a few deep breaths, trying to focus as his fingers moved lower in your underwear. “Your mouth.” You opened your eyes to see him grinning at you, eyes dark. 

“That’s my good girl.” He leaned forward, voice low in your ear. “Now, let me hear you moan for me like you did back in the restaurant, got it? I want to hear it, baby. Don’t hold back.” And without another word, he sank to his knees in front of you. You steadied yourself on the wall behind you, unable to tear your eyes away from him as he pulled off your shoes, and then your jeans, and then your underwear. You stepped out of them as he ran his hands back up your legs to your hips. He placed a light kiss on each of your hips, sending sparks straight to your pussy. Your legs started to shake. His right hand moved back down to reach behind your thigh and he lifted it over his shoulder. Any self consciousness you might have felt at opening yourself to him like that was immediately quashed by the hungry look on his face.

“Oh, pretty girl. I can’t believe I waited this long to get a look at this pretty pussy.” He leaned forward and placed a kiss just above your clit. You took a breath that sounded like a sob. “I’m going to treat you right.” He was looking straight at your pussy as he said it.

He leaned in and started with a slow lick, from your hole all the way up to your clit. You felt it like a tremor that ran from your toes to the base of your spine, almost taking you out at the knees. 

“Fuck.” Your hands flew to his head, tangling in his hair, but not pushing. He glanced up to meet your eyes before doing it again, this time maintaining eye contact. You felt like you were about to hyperventilate.

“Breathe, baby. Let me make you feel good.”

You whined again, softly, and he grinned. As he moved back to press his lips lightly to your clit, he brought up his right hand to tease his fingers at your entrance. He pressed his tongue down on your clit slowly, softly, before tracing the tip of it towards your hole. He pressed there, hinting at pushing his tongue past your entrance. You tightened your hands in his hair and he smiled, kissing you, right there, and then slowly pushed his tongue inside while his fingers moved up to brush against your clit. 

You felt like you were floating, like last week when you danced, and again tonight when you were so in sync on the dance floor. It was like he could read you and knew what you wanted before you knew you wanted it. He thrust his tongue inside, curling it a way that made you gasp, pushing your hips towards his face involuntarily. You moaned, low. He caught you with his left hand on your hip and pushed you back into the wall. 

“Good girl. Let me hear it.” He teased you again with the tip of his tongue. "You taste so good, baby. I could stay right here for hours.” You shuddered and he moved his fingers down to circle your entrance again. He pushed one slowly inside you. At the same time, he placed an open mouth kiss directly on your clit, lightly tonguing it as he found the spot inside of you that made you shiver. 

He kept it up as you moaned again, mercilessly thrusting his finger inside while lavishing your clit with attention from his lips and tongue. 

You felt your orgasm start to build slowly, from the base of your spine. It radiated up your back and tingled over your scalp, overwhelming you entirely as you pushed down with your hands in his hair and thrust into his mouth. His hand and shoulder held you up as your knees shook. “Joel, I–”

“I know, baby. I can feel you squeezing my finger. That’s it, pretty girl, let me see you come.” The wash of fire over you made you arch your back, and you called out his name as it took you. He worked you through it until you gently pushed his mouth away. 

You heaved a breath and looked down at him, finding him just as wrecked as you, his entire face wet from being buried in your pussy. You watched as he used your hip to pull himself up, standing over you as he pulled his middle finger from inside you and slipped it into his mouth. His eyes slipped shut and he made a noise like he couldn’t get enough. Your mouth went dry. 

Joel opened his eyes and reached for you, pulling you into his chest. “That’s one, baby. Ready for two?” You shuddered but fell forward, into his arms. 

“I think I need to lie down first.” 

He grinned, and wrapped his arm around your waist, drawing you close to lean on him and walking backwards while holding you up. “Let me take care of that for you.” 

“Joel, I can walk!” You laughed as you said it. 

“Nonsense, darlin’. Happy to have you in my arms, now that it’s my job to make your legs shake.” He winked at you and tightened his hold around your waist, drawing you into a kiss at the bottom of the stairs. You couldn’t help but notice how good his arms looked, supporting you like that. You tucked your head into one side of his neck and kissed lightly behind his ear and along his hairline. He tilted his head to give you better access, humming. Then he lightly swatted your ass cheek.

“Let’s get upstairs, pretty girl.” He encouraged you to go up in front of him, and you grinned over your shoulder at him, knowing exactly why. He stared directly at your naked ass, unrepentant. 

Once you reached your bedroom you started to pull your shirt off, but he suddenly grabbed you by the hips and turned you towards him. He reached around behind you to grab your ass in both hands, pulling you into a searing kiss. Before you knew it he was walking you towards the bed, letting you fall onto it backwards. You bounced slightly and your legs splayed open as he stripped off his shirt, grinning at the sight of you. 

“Look at you, pretty girl. Why don’t you take off that top for me.” You did, and watched him remove his boots and jeans, too. 

Soon he was crawling on the bed, leaning over you on his left elbow while he slid his right hand up your leg, over your torso and finally to your cheek, where he pressed gently to turn you towards him and into a kiss. 

“I dreamed about you like this, you know. For a while now.” As he said it he moved his hand back down, teasing your nipple lightly. “You, spread out on a bed, just for me.” 

You kissed his cheek as he turned to look down your body, which squirmed a little under his gaze. “I did too, Joel.”

“What did you dream about, baby?”

You bit your lip to hide a smile. “Everything.”

He hummed, and moved his lips to your ear. He murmured your name. “I thought you wanted to be a good girl for me, hmm? Now, what did you dream about?” As he said it he tweaked your nipple slightly, making you gasp. 

“Your mouth,” you breathed it so quietly he nudged you with his nose to spur you on. You cleared your throat. “Your mouth, and your fingers. Can’t keep my eyes off your shoulders, never could, even that first day. Couldn’t stop imagining them moving over me as you fucked me.” Your voice was steady, but Joel took the opportunity to drop kisses down your neck, moving towards your chest. You started talking faster. “Your arms, holding me up as you fucked me against a wall. Your lips… everywhere. Your thick fingers, sneaking inside my underwear. Being full of you. Being good for you. Using my mouth on you, sucking you off. Riding you in the backyard. Sneaking into the bathroom together on a night out. Sneaking over in the middle of the night to wake you up by sucking your cock. Waking up to your mouth…” You sucked in a breath as he lightly took your left nipple between his teeth. Your mind blanked. You couldn’t remember anything more. “Everything, baby.”

He twisted his tongue around your nipple before sucking a kiss into the side of your breast. You sank your fingers into his hair as you arched towards him. 

“That’s my good girl, yeah? Where should we start?”

“What?”

He looked up at you. “Pick one, baby. Let’s cross something off your list.”

You smiled at him, a little shy. “What about your list?”

“Well, we have plenty of time. And don’t you worry about that.” He crawled over you, legs on either side of your hips, bulge obvious in his underwear. “You’re my list, baby. Everything you said, and everything else we can do, anywhere we can do it.”

You thought about calling him on the lack of specifics, like he did to you, but you knew you’d rather let him follow through on that promise.

“I want your fingers, Joel. Mouth, fingers, then cock, right?” You looked him straight in the eye as you said it. “How many do you think I can take?” He blinked, and then grinned wickedly.

“A good girl like you? I think you’ll take as many as I want to give you, don’t you?” Before you could respond, he leaned down and captured your mouth with his. This time he skipped past any build up and tangled your tongues together as he pressed down on top of you. Your legs were still trapped between his as he ground his cock, still hidden inside his briefs, against your hip. You ran your nails up his back and into his hair.

He shifted his weight to the side, freeing your left leg, which he grabbed at your thigh to push it to the side, opening your pussy to him again. He traced his fingers lightly from your knee to your hip, still kissing you deeply. Once he reached your pussy he traced through the remnants of your first orgasm.

He pulled back slightly, still close enough that his lips touched yours. “Is this pretty pussy always this wet?” You moaned as he slid one finger between your folds, teasing at your entrance. 

“It is for you.”

“Even when you touch yourself, thinking about me?” Your face heated a little, and you turned your head. “Don’t be shy, pretty girl. Nothing gets me going faster than thinking about you – how you look when you’re concentrating, when you’re dancing in your kitchen, when you’re relaxing on the couch in those little shorts you wear around the house.” As he spoke he kissed along your jaw and pressed gently with his finger at your entrance. Almost inside. “I think about your hair on my pillow, your thighs around my head, your mouth on my cock, your pussy on my face, your legs around my waist in my shower, and I can barely keep myself from coming in my pants like a teenager.” He slid his finger inside you, and you moaned again, clutching at his shoulders. “That’s it, baby. Now tell me. Do you get this wet when you touch yourself and think of me?” His voice was stern and his finger curled inside you, making you push your hips towards his hand. 

“Yes,” you breathed, turning your lips to his. “I’m always wet for you, Joel.” He took your mouth again, thrusting his tongue as he thrust his finger inside you. 

“Good girl.” His voice rumbled, low, deeper than you’d ever heard it. He slipped another finger inside you. “That’s two fingers, baby.” He thrust his fingers in and out of you as he devoured your mouth. He slid his left forearm along the bed until his hand was behind your head and he gripped the back of your neck again. “Let’s try a third, hmm?”

You curved your hips into his hand as he added a third finger, stretching you wide and filling you up. You could feel a buzzing in your ears and a tingle at the back of your neck where he held you in his strong grip. 

“That’s so good, baby. Taking my fingers so well. How does it feel?” He squeezed the back of your neck with his left hand as he curled his fingers upwards inside of you. You heard yourself whine before you realized you were doing it.

“Tell me, pretty girl. How does it feel?”

You sucked in a breath, and replied, “it’s so good, Joel.” You clenched around his fingers. “I – I need–”

He sucked a kiss into your neck, and then under your ear. “Tell me.”

“My clit—” you trailed off again as he moved his thumb right where you wanted it. You closed your eyes. He started drawing circles with his thumb as he thrust his fingers into you. You clenched your fists in his hair and in the sheets. You could feel it coming.

“Joel, I’m close,” you arched your back into him as he held your neck down in his hand. 

“I can see that, baby. Don’t you want to be good for me? Let go, and let me see you come. I want to see it up close this time, see your pretty face.”

As soon as he told you to, you did. Blood rushed in your ears as you arched your chest off the bed, thrusting your hips toward his hand. The orgasm took you hard – you saw stars, felt it radiating out from your core to the tips of your fingers and toes. You might have called his name, but you couldn’t be sure. When you came down you heard yourself breathing hard and realized Joel was murmuring your name in your ear. “That was beautiful, darlin’, I’ve never seen anything so pretty. I knew you’d come so nice, you had to, so fucking gorgeous. Prettiest fucking pussy I’ve ever seen, and all for me. You were such a good girl for me, honey.”

You caught your breath, and then caught his face between your hands, pulling him into a searing kiss. He smiled at you after. You slid your right hand down, trailing over his chest and into his underwear. You gripped his cock in your hand. “I believe you promised another on this cock, cowboy.” It was his turn to moan and thrust his hips forward as you ran your thumb across the tip.

“You know I’m good for it.” You helped when he reached to push his underwear down, then kicked it somewhere on the floor. You took his cock in your hand again, marveling a little at the girth. 

“I knew you were big, Joel, but damn.” He straightened his shoulders a little, looking smug. He caught your eye and winked. 

“You knew it, huh?”

“You weren’t the only one looking, baby. I’ve seen you in your swim trunks. And that day your pants slipped down a little, on the ladder? Well, you should have worn a belt, is all I’m saying.” He laughed.

He raised his right hand to trail his fingertips down your face and neck, and traced the shape of your right breast lightly. “Maybe I wanted you to look.” You tightened your grip on his cock and he pinched your nipple in response before moving his hand lower and cupping your pussy. 

He pressed his forehead to yours. “Are you ready for me, pretty girl?” he shifted his hand to your thigh, pushing slowly to make you bend your knee up to your chest. You nodded. “Hmm, I want to hear you say it.”

“Fuck me, Joel. I’m not waiting any longer.” He lifted his head and grinned at you. You grinned back. He reached over and grabbed a condom from your nightstand and made quick work of opening it and slipping it on. 

“Well I know better than to keep a pretty girl like you waiting.” He shifted his weight, hovering over you. You moved your hands to his hips, but he picked up your right hand with his left and laced his fingers through yours before pinning your hand to the bed above your head. You shifted into it, loving the feeling of being held in place. You traced his shoulders with your eyes, watching as his muscles moved to hold you there. He tucked your left leg around his waist, your right rising immediately to meet it. 

Then he reached down to take his cock in hand and tease along your pussy from your clit down to your hole. 

“You’re so wet, baby. Ready for me, hmm?”

You curved your hips towards him, catching the tip of his cock between your folds. “Always, Joel.”

He thrust his hips forward in response, notching the tip right at your entrance. “Christ, darlin’, this is already so fucking good.” He was watching, looking at his cock just kissing your pussy. You felt heat rushing through you, watching him look.

“Now, cowboy. Give it to me.” He met your eyes again and did exactly as you said, pushing inside, studying your face. Your mouth fell open as you felt first the head and then the rest, stretching you wider than his fingers. You watched him lick across his bottom lip as he filled you up. He was staring at your open mouth. You were panting, tongue lax, surrendering to the stretch. You watched as he let spit gather on his tongue and then slip out, falling directly from the tip of his tongue into your open mouth. You caught it on your tongue and held it there. Your eyes snapped back to meet each other’s gaze as you moaned, loud. He thrust his hips forward, filling you the rest of the way in one swift motion.

He leaned down and licked inside your mouth, running his tongue along yours as he pulled back and slammed into you again, pushing you up the bed. For a moment you were both in a frenzy, your hips crashing together as you opened your mouths wide, tongues tangling, breaths coming hot and fast.

You twisted your hips, squeezing your legs around him, and he pulled his mouth away from yours. “You are so fucking hot, you know that? I ain’t never seen anything like you, never felt anything like this.” He was breathing heavily as he sped up his thrusts, reaching around your left hip and squeezing your ass cheek in his right hand. Pulling your pussy closer with his grip. “You’re taking me so well, such a fucking good girl for me.” You gasped, tossing your head back. “Feels like this pussy was fucking made for me. Christ.”

You could barely breathe, but you managed, “It was, Joel. All yours. No– nobody else.”

“Fucking right, all mine.” He pulled almost all the way out before slamming his cock back in. He tilted his head down and nipped at your neck where it met your shoulder. “All for me.”

“Yes, baby. Give it to me.”

He growled, speeding up his thrusts. He slipped his right hand from your ass back around your hip, sliding his fingers down to your pussy again. He tapped your clit once, sharply, and you let out a sound you’d never heard yourself make before. It sent a piercing arousal through you that made you tighten your legs around his waist. He grinned, and did it again, before starting to work at your clit in time with the strokes of his hips. 

He licked from your collarbone to your ear, whispering, “You ready to give me that third one, baby? I want you to come on my cock.” You whimpered and nodded. “Let me have it then.” He was filling you so perfectly, you could feel your orgasm building again. “Let me see it again. Prettiest sight I’ve ever seen. Show it to me, baby. Please.” He bit down on the hinge of your jaw and you felt it hit you again. You squeezed his cock, tight, clenching your pussy as you came. This time it didn’t stop, the movement of his hips and fingers just kept it going, longer than you’d ever felt before. You fell into it. “Good girl,” he grunted as you felt his hips speed up, losing his steady pace. You felt like your orgasm shifted into a new gear as you clutched at his hair and cried out. He thrust hard into you one last time and your eyes flew open, yanking his face from your neck to watch his face as he came. 

You locked eyes as you both tumbled over and came down the other side of the most intense orgasm you’d ever had in your life. You were breathing hard, breath mixing together as you stared at each other. 

“Fuck,” you whispered, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a ghost of your favorite half smile. “Holy shit, Joel.”

He brushed his nose slowly along yours and moved his hips forward one more time. You gasped. “I knew it’d be this good,” he murmured. “Had to be. Fucking made for me, I knew it.” You smiled softly and pressed your lips to his cheek and the corner of his mouth. He caught your lips in a gentle kiss. “Such a good girl, all for me.” Despite how you’d spent the last hour with this man, you felt your face heat a little. He kissed your cheek. 

You both took a deep breath and he pulled out slowly, catching the condom with his right hand. He moved away to dispose of it and you stretched languidly, twisting your hips. You’d never felt so content, so satisfied. 

He came back quickly, cloth in hand to clean you both up before slipping under the covers with you. He pulled you close, tucking your head onto his chest and gripping your waist firmly with his arm down your back. With the other hand he traced designs on the arm you had flung across his chest.

“I’m mighty glad I asked you out tonight, darlin’.”

You smiled into his chest. “I’m mighty glad I said yes, cowboy.” He laughed at your imitation of his accent.

“I don’t sound like that.”

“You sure do.” He reached down and tapped your ass lightly in retaliation. 

“Don’t you want to be nice to me, after I was so nice to you?” 

You lifted your head to look at him, and he was grinning. You shifted your weight so your left hip rested on top of his, bringing your left hand to support your chin on his chest as you looked at him. “You and I both know you like it when I tease you.” He shook his head, but couldn’t hide his smile. 

“Well, you got me. But it just means you fit right in.” You were a little dazzled at the idea of fitting in so well with his family – you knew he meant Sarah and Tommy.

For a moment you just looked at each other. His eyes swept over you, catching on where his now soft cock rested against your hip. You felt your heartbeat begin to slow and enjoyed the feeling of Joel pressed against you everywhere. You let your eyes start to fall shut. He reached over and tapped your chin lightly. 

“I know it’s early, darlin’, but I can’t help but imagine sharing a bed with you like this all the time.” He met your eyes, a little hesitant, as he said it. 

You tilted your head into his hand and twisted your knee between his, trying to sooth him by getting closer. “It might be early in terms of how long we’ve been doing this, Joel, but we’ve been heading this way for a long time. Since we met.”

He nodded. “I know it. But I still don’t want to rush it – I want to savor every moment that gets us there.” You smiled at the acknowledgement that you were both in this with the same goal, same dream. “And it’s not just about this, you know, even though you blew my fucking mind tonight. I love watching you get to know Sarah too, and seeing how we fit together. Everywhere.”

“Me too, Joel. She’s important to me, and I want this to last.” You looked at him for a moment, and then smirked. “We can take the long way, get lost in it a little bit. Do some exploring.”

He eyed you, and you could see that he was trying not to smile. “Exploring, huh?” He moved his right hand to your lower back and pushed down firmly, moving your hips to meet his as he thrust upwards. You felt his cock stir against your hip. “Well, you just let me know what you have in mind. I’ll be ready.”

...

a/n: chapter 5 coming Sunday, 8/27 :)

a/n: ch 5 now posted!

Tag list: @morgaussy  @jay-zzle @bluetattoos @dins-riduur-anthe

Club playlist (all songs are on the series playlist) Ain't Goin' Down ('til the Sun Comes Up) John Deere Green My Maria I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why) (This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing Man! I Feel Like a Woman! Be My Baby Tonight Daddy’s Money Shut Up and Kiss Me Fast as You God Blessed Texas What About Now Boot Scootin’ Boogie

[karagna]

CAFKL 2024 CATALOG!!!

Reblogs appreciated <3

I'll be boothing at CAFKL8 from June 8th-9th at Fahrenheit88 at K52!! Please take a look and maybe grab something if you like what you see! Debuting a set of original prints and stickers too hehe, it'll be the first con I've ever done locally as well!! [LOCALS ONLY] Preorders are open as well until 7th June! Only pickup during the convention for now, I'm too busy to do postage/online orders till its over sorry. Google preorder form can be found below!! GOOGLE PREORDER FORM