#god there are probably errors in this i'll find in like three hours and be horrified about

[vivanightcity]

Little bits and shits about Brooms nomad clan.

(Preemptively saying: these are THEIR beliefs. They are meant to have been a group that set out with good intentions but went along the anprim to ecofacism pipeline with culty overtones where they turned their concept of nature into a god in all but name.)

They're old. Like. Arguably one of the older clans. Of course, they weren't so much a nomad clan before larger scale collapse started happening... they were fugitives. Moving around to avoid detection by corps mad their shit got sabotaged.

Cause that's what their origin is. A group of industrial saboteurs against the rapid and horrific destruction of the environment by corporations. Different cells of the same group eventually banding together to become the Tellus clan. Because of this, their founding numbers are an odd mix from a variety of backgrounds, spurred to action by what they were seeing. Absolutely labelled eco terrorists by most.

Their basic core tenant, that simply derived from a distrust of corporate control and overreach in cyberware but snowballed, is: 'No permanent modifications, unless medically necessary'.

(post got long af so it's going under a cut)

The line of medical necessity is an ongoing debate, and the spirit of that belief is often argued. With many seeing things like hairy dye and body paints as being completely fine, whilst others saying they're also against the intent, just because they aren't permanent doesn't mean they aren't also frivolous displays of vanity.

They're actually, largely, real ass chill with queerness, social transition doesn't rely on hrt because medications are hard to come by, but surgical changes are absolutely allowed. Also more likely to see visible disability among their numbers, too, because of the lack of cyberware intervention. Permanent modification to remove, fix, graft, whatever? Fine. Adding cyberware after? No. So wheelchairs, glasses, old school prostheses, lifelong pain relief and management - usually addictive as fuck - because no, fuck you, you can't get augmented joints or bones, live in pain.

Cyberware isn't trusted because it's corporate originating, corporate controlled. There's no guarantee, no real oversight - as far as they're concerned - on what corporations can do with it. Make things obsolete, charge you software fees, claim you don't own parts of your physical body but are simply renting them, take control of the parts of you that you signed away without warning. All on top of being - as they see it - a completely unnecessary pollutant, indicative of the overconsumption and mass manufacturing.

Corps destroyed the world, and they're destroying humanity. They see cyberpsychosis as natures line in the sand. A sign of things to come, that the world is tired of humans destroying everything and corrupting a natural order, it is going to fight back, and it'll start by wiping out all those who gave into chrome consumerism.

Exclusively use jerryrigged solar panels and turbines. If they're ever in a place they don't work, or there's a breakage or failing, the clan will simply do without. Broom spent a fair chunk of his life without routine electrical access. The hum of it in NC drives him nuts.

It's only because of how long they've been around that many even consider them nomads. Although they'd definitely argue against claims they aren't. But, far from moving constantly in temporary camps as they look for work, they move between set semi-permanent seasonal camps where they sit static for up to half a year. So far removed from anyone and everything and their locations are a violently protected secret. Usually they only send a small group ahead a month or so in advance to get things ready, cleaned up, and make sure its safe. If they have any idea it wont be safe to leave it unguarded, they'll leave people behind year round.

No synth food unless it's a literal emergency, like starvation level. A benefit of having the seasonal camps vs being on the road. Allows farming to a better extent, and without having to move heavy set ups or equipment between seasonal camps. Seasonal, faster growing, subsistence farming for veggies. Big on things like potatoes and beans, not so much on grains like wheat or rice. Corn is about as close as they get.

Not trusting any animal they could klep to not be fucked up corpo genetic mess, they've been maintaining numbers of originally wild caught animals like caribou, rabbits and turkeys. Apparently their early numbers tried to keep bison, too, but they were too big to survive the dwindling wild resources at the time, and are likely one of the many species that went extinct - or they exist only in gene banks, zoos and private collections. Im a horse boy at heart so part of me loves the idea that they have some, especially since they could've taken survivors out of the wild, but I also think they're too big and too resource intensive so I dunno.

Hunting is also decently routine. However, they're very careful about when and where they do so, animal numbers only beginning to recover in some places, and still functionally wiped out in others. And enough of their early members were environmental scientists, ecologists, park rangers even, (all of which had seen their work, their industries, decimated in their lifetimes and were pushing back against it) that they had that good knowledge base to begin with. Also foraging. Broom can id you shrooms for fun, food, or a quick death.

Rarely engage with other nomad clans, only going to gatherings when they need to get information, or help, with something they can't do themselves. Quicker to trust other nomads than anyone else, but still not quick. They'd also always help a fellow nomad, and do actively share what they know and have learnt. That help just comes with a big side of proselytizing and guilt trips about chrome, and can easily turn violent if the other party aren't 'good sports' about the zealotry disguised as a nice conversation.

Actually pretty good at that bit when talking to people who haven't been warned not to listen to them (Most nomads born and raised within packs know to stay away). They know how to get their foot in the door. Well. Some do. Some are Garry the Prophet levels of easy to avoid. But those that have that savy, can find an in.

You can't just leave. Any sort of leaving, even if it's to join another clan, or start your own family, is considered becoming raffen. Someone who leaves is raffen. People are kicked out for a variety of reasons, and that excommunication makes them raffen. Regardless of how stupid that might seem to other nomads, where the definition is more one of violence, a lack of code, general untrustworthy-ness even to fellow nomads. It's why Broom considers himself raffen, even if he really isn't.

[misc-obeyme]

HI HELLO I'M BACK AGAIN. I've been so full of energy the past two days because it's been weirdly slow at work (Calm before the storm ig, grand opening celebration this weekend 😭). Like I spent an hour each on t shirts and yarn on Tuesday, and today I meticulously (?) recovered craft paint, ribbon, and consolidated two displays?? Plus I made a new end cap display?? I WAS BORED OUT OF MY MIND FINDING THINGS TO DO

anyway I'm here to talk about silly things, today being the dinner rotation at the HoL. The retreat in season 1 feels like the first time MC cooks for them?? But seven days in a week, do you think MC took over Belphie's day? I'm assuming Lucifer did at first, or it was used as a punishment to have extra dinner duty.

I feel like Beel and Belphie always cooked together on their days. Like they have their twin telepathy, they're probably passing things back and forth in the kitchen and able to keep each other on task pretty well. Belphie holds his hand out and Beel wordlessly hands him the salt. Belphie knows when to give Beel samples, while also making sure Beel doesn't eat everything. Beel will keep Belphie engaged and on task so that dinner doesn't get burnt. They've got their routine DOWN.

It makes me wonder how MC learned to cook Devildom dishes. Were they shadowing the brothers? Was Lucifer teaching them simple dishes? Were they given a cookbook? (Imagine Satan annotating it with substitutions if an ingredient wasn't human safe.) A list of ingredients that were human safe and told 'good luck'?

Imagine Beel comes into the kitchen on Belphie's days, even after the exchange program starts and MC has taken over. If MC was given a list of ingredients, Beel could probably think of a number of dishes and guide them. And MC would probably be letting Beel sample a ton to make sure they're doing it right.

Maybe this turns into Beel and MC cooking dinner together on their days! MC who wants to learn more dishes, and Beel who wants company. God he's such a sweetheart, I love him so much 😭 Brothers Under A Pact group will always have a special place in my heart.

I've had this idea planned for like three asks ago, but then I had other things I was dying to ramble about. I am currently fighting the parasites (have you heard that audio on tiktok?) to ramble about my mammon x solomon x mc crack ship. and also just in general about mammon (i feel you on the writing essays about your faves) !! i was daydreaming scenarios for both of these things, the second one involving my mc singing along to music AAAA

okay okay I'm done, BYEEE, I hope you have/had a good day!!!

- ✨ anon

Welcome back, ✨ anon! It sounds like work is going well, I hope things go well for the grand opening too!

Oh I'm loving this idea about the cooking rotation... I agree that it seems likely that Beel and Belphie would cook together on their days. And then Beel just shows up when MC takes over because he's so used to it. And then later, when Belphie is there, too, they both spend their time with MC in the kitchen...

I've thought a lot about how MC learns to cook in the Devildom. Because I'm not a terrible cook, but I tend to go with my gut on most things. Like I'll buy a bunch of random ingredients because they sound good. Then I'll follow my heart and make whatever I want.

But I feel like I wouldn't be able to do that if I don't know what the ingredients taste like or how they cook? And like... I've made food for multiple people before, but I've been cooking for one for years, so I think it'd be hard for me to make sure I have enough for seven to eight people!

If they have some ingredients that are basically the same, I could probably get by. But I think I'd have a stretch of time where I would struggle. I'd be like, listen if you guys want edible food, I'm gonna need lessons or a cookbook because otherwise you're getting trial and error until I figure this stuff out.

I really love the idea of Lucifer teaching MC how to cook simple Devildom dishes. That's such a Mom thing for him to do and I think it'd be really cute. I also love the idea of a cookbook annotated by Satan. Like I'm just seeing him scribbling out some ingredient like DO NOT USE THIS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, MC followed by a list of human safe substitutes lol.

After that, it's all Beel telling MC about dishes he likes and sampling what MC makes as they go. I love that, it's so sweet. And it probably helps him when he's missing Belphie during season one. Aww and then when they're all together, it's just bonding time~

The other brothers probably show up from time to time for MC's cooking shift just to add their own ideas and instructions.

They sometimes get together so they can deliberately obtain human world ingredients to bring MC for their cooking day. Like maybe every time Beel is there (which is all the time lol), he asks MC about their favorite human world dishes. And MC just tells him all about the food they used to make at home. Beel won't forget what MC talks about, so he can tell the others. I'm sure Barbatos has a human world food supplier he uses or something.

Then they leave all the human world ingredients in the kitchen for MC to find 'cause they want to try something that MC would've made in the human world.

Feel free to ramble all you like, you don't have to hold back any parasites! (I had not heard this audio, as I'm not on TikTok a ton, but I went to find it and was entertained lol.) I'm definitely not one to judge about long rambles, that's like every post I create.

[ginnyweasleywannabe]

Blackinnon Fest 2022

Can also be found on AO3 @inthemiddle2

1. Idiots to Lovers

He was taking a moment to just look at her. Today had been crazy, he felt like they had barely had any time together. Today was supposed to be for them but they both knew it was more for Mia… and Lily. He couldn’t believe they had made it here. Well sort of, he knew she was the person he would marry after she dropped him off on his doorstep the night they first met. He thought back to that night.

Marlene and Lily had been sharing a townhouse on the east side for about 3 months now. It wasn’t in the best area so they were getting a steal on the rent. Marlene's older brother Michael had gotten married this past weekend so she hadn’t been back to the house for about a week. Lily figured if Marlene wasn’t going to be home she would take the week to go visit her parents. So no-one had been home for the past week and admittedly Marlene was a little spooked coming back to an empty house late at night. She had a load of things to bring in so she supposed going in through the basement garage around the back of the house would be best to make multiple trips.

Marlene had hyped herself up on the drive back.

What was scary about three stories and plenty of rooms for murders to hide in?? She entered into the pitch black basement, why didn't this room have any window?

Marlene made her way up the stairs to turn off the alarm system. She typed in the code but the system displayed an error code. Error code? What does that mean? Has the alarm not been working for the past week? She was beginning to work herself into a state.

Okay her friend Mary lived like 10 minutes away, she would just call her and Mary would come over and they could search the house and it would be fine.

The phone was ringing. Marlene was standing by the door in case she needed to make a run for it. She could feel her lip starting to bleed from the tugging with the teeth.

“Hi! You’ve reached Mary! Sorry I can’t answer but I’ll get back to you when I feel like it!”

Marlene released a growl “Dammit Mary!!”

Okay now who could I call…

Marlene dialed her brother Mark's number. He had left to come back to the city a little after her but maybe he would be back by now.

“Hey Mars Bars! Whats up?”

“MARK!” She released a breath, thank god “Are you back yet?”

“No, hit bad traffic on the one. There was a bad wreck. Felt like I was sitting there for hours. Worst part was I really need the lo-”

“Mark!”

“Geez, what?”

Marlene just made whining sound

“Spit it out Mars”

“I think someone is in my house” She said it in a rushed whisper

“What”

He really didn’t sound concerned for her safety!

“I said I think there's someone in my house…”

Marlene was scared of the dark until she was 16 so he probably assumed she was being dramatic….and maybe she was

“Marlene, you’re probably fine. I’m sure you’ve just freaked yourself out. Where is Lily?”

“She won’t be home until tomorrow!!”

“Okay why don’t you call M-”

“I already called Mary! She didn’t answer! And the longer I stay here, the more time the murder is plotting how to kill me!!”

“Okay, calm down, you nutter.” She could practically hear his eyes roll “Where are you right now?”

“By the front door but I came in from the annoyingly creepy basement and the alarm system said there was an error!! An error Mark!!”

“Okay fine, why don’t you search the house with me on the phone with you? You just have the two bedroom upstairs left”

“Oh yes, because when I get attacked, you’ll be so much help!”

“Well-”

“No, you’re right. I can do this. I am an independent woman. I’ll just get a knife and then search the house, it’ll be empty and I'll be fine!”

Marlene went into the kitchen, she pulled open the drawer. There wasn't a knife. She shuffled the contents and they didn’t even own a stake knife. Curse Lily for convincing her to go vegetarian for the new year.

She pulled open the next drawer hoping to find some kind of weapon. Marlene grabbed the ice cream scoop. It had a metal head and was the closest thing she had to a mallet.

“Okay Mark, I’m gonna go up.”

Just gonna go up, turn on all the lights and it won’t be scary

Marlene looked up the narrow staircase. It was pitch black. Marlene flicked the stair light. It didn’t turn on. It. didn’t. turn. on.

Marlene released another whine

“Marlene? What's wrong?” She appreciated that he at least sounded slightly concerned

“The light won’t turn on!!” She was flipping the switch frantically now but no change.

Marlene steeled herself. She could still do this.

“Okay, I’m just going to sprint up and turn on the hall light and it will be fine.”

“It will be because you’re being over dramatic” Marlene was going to kill him the next time she saw him. If she made it through the night that is.

Marlene took the stairs two at a time. She reached the landing and went to switch but she stopped. She could see a light coming from the crack in her door. Her T.V. in her room was on? Why was her t.v. on? She had left early in the morning last week. It wouldn’t have been on ever in the morning.

“Fuck” She whispered and was running down the stairs

“Marlene?” She didn’t stop, she was getting to her car and getting out of this house. “Marlene!”

“SHH!!” She knew it was ridiculous to tell him to be quite but the murder couldn’t know she knew he was in the house.

Marlene made it safely to the car and pulled out of the garage.

“My TV was on!! I know I turned it off before I left! Murder! Mark! Oh shit! I forgot to reset the alarm! Now if they run out we’ll never know!”

Marlene drove her car around to the front of the house. She parked a little down the street, for her impromptu stake-out.

“Okay kid, now what are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know!!” Marlene hated how whiny her voice sounded. Objectively she knew she was probably being over cautious but that didn’t stop her body from shaking.

“Why don’t you drive to Mum and Da’s?”

The thought had certainly crossed her mind. Her parents only lived 50 minutes away. It was a do-able drive. But the thing was she had only been living on her own for the past few months, and her parents constantly treated her like she was a child. They also constantly nagged her about the safety of her neighborhood. Marlene couldn’t go running home now after giving them dozens of speeches about how she could handle herself.

She had to find another way out of this mess. One she probably created in her own head.

Okay Marlene, think. Who do you know that lives nearby??

There was only one person who came to mind. James.

Lily had met James on a dating app. They had only been on 5 dates over the past couple months. Things were still very new and casual. But as it turned out, James lived two streets over from them. You could walk, you know on a nice daylight hour, not when its pitch black and you’re a girl, and you’re pretty sure theres a murder hiding in your house. Marlene had only met James twice in passing but he seemed nice enough. And he had told Lily he wanted to score some roommate points with Marlene so he was her best option.

“I figured it out, got to go Mark!”

“Wait! Marlene call me when you’re saf-”

Marlene had already hung up the phone. She had a plan and she could finally catch up on her much missed sleep from this past week.

Marlene drove over to James house. Although when she got there she realized there was one issue. James lived in a duplex, meaning it was two houses connected on one side. Marlene was unsure of which side James lived on.

Marlene made her way onto the porch. She decided she would take her best guess. Marlene gave a slight knock on one door. She could see the feet of two people but they didn’t answer.

She had felt more confident about the other door anyway. Marlene walked to the next door. She knocked much harder this time. There was barking from behind the door.

The door swung open.

Well that was not James.

No standing on the other side of the door was a very handsome man. A very shirtless handsome man. He had long black hair, a very well toned body and was wearing nothing but sweatpants.

“Hello?”

Oh. How long had she been staring….

“Hi!” Oh Merlin, was that as loud to him as it sounded to her. “Is James home?”

“Um no.. I think he’s out playing ball.”

Marlene out a defeated “Oh.” Well now what?

The man behind the door was still staring at her. Particularly the ice cream scoop she had in her hand.

Oh what if he thought she was Lily? Oh god what if he thought she was another random girl?

“I’m Marlene! Lily’s roommate!”

Handsome rugged boy just quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Lily? She’s been on a few dates with James…”

Now he seemed to have a spark of recognition

“...Oh yeah, James had mentioned he had been seeing someone.”

“Right. Well that's Lily! My roommate!” Marlene could feel the manic smile on her face.

James had mentioned he had a roommate, said he was a nice guy. And there was still a chance there was a murder in her house.

“Sooo anway… We live a couple streets over! And I think there's someone in my house.” Why was she using her hands so much… “So I came over hoping to find James to see if he would come over and search the house with me!” He was still just staring. “So..would you mind doing it?”

He stayed quiet for a minute.

“What's with the ice cream scoop?”

“Oh.” Marlene looked down at the scoop in her hand. “It's the only weapon I could find. I thought maybe I could bludgeon someone with it” and then she proceeded to show the motion. God why wasn’t he wearing a shirt. Marlene could see the corners of his quirk up. He was holding in a laugh.

Marlene found herself holding in a laugh, she looked to the sky biting her lip, “Look are you going to come over and search my house for a murderer or not.”

The boy smiled, it was sly and cocky, and she noted he had stubble sprinkling his face.

“Sure, why don’t you come in while I grab a shirt.” he exited to the room around the hall.

Marlene stepped inside. She looked around the room and she spotted a big fluffy black dog sitting at the base of the stairs. She knelt down to pet the dog. James had mentioned his roommate had a dog.

“I’m Sirius by the way!”

Marlene jumped.

“And that's snuffles”

Now it was Marlene’s turn to hold in a laugh, “Snuffles?”

“I adopted him with the name.”

“Ah, gotcha..” She was still trying not to giggle, “I’m Marlene.”

“Well Marlene should we go catch a murder?”

Marlene gave Snuffles one last pet and headed out to the car.

The pair climbed into her car.

“So what made you think there was someone in the house?”

“Okay well no one‘s been home for a week so it’s been empty which means anybody could’ve come in but then I decided to enter from the basement downstairs, which is pitch black and so spooky! But I did it anyway because you know I’m an independent woman so I ran upstairs to turn off the alarm so I turned off the alarm but then it said that there was an error and I was like yeah that’s a little weird but not a big deal right? I called a friend but they didn’t answer so I called my brother but he’s out of town but he says he’ll stay on the phone with me while I go and look and of course the only weapon I have in my freaking house is an ice cream scoop! Anyway, then I go upstairs and the light won’t turn on! The light! so now I’m looking up at a pitch black hallway. But I steel myself because I’m brave so I run up the stairs and I get up to the landing and I can see that my TV is on and I know I turned off my TV because I left really early in the morning! So my TV would’ve never been on in the first place so after that point I’m like fuck I’m out of here so run down the stairs and then I have to run back through the basement to get my car and I have no one who lives around here so then I was like who lives nearby and then I thought about James so I figured sure I’ve only met him twice but hey he’s the next best thing and he seem nice enough and I figured he would get a laugh out of it so I go over to your house– which I accidentally went to your neighbors house so that was a little odd and then I came to you and here you are so now here we are!”

Marlene barely took two breaths giving him the details of her night so far. At this point she couldn’t tell if she was shaking from the potential murder or the fact that she was making a fool of herself in front of a ridiculously hot guy

Marlene parked the car in front of her house and turned to look at Sirius. He was just looking at her.

“So you asked his roommate, who you’ve never met, a stranger- to come into your house alone with you?”

“I figured better a random man from outside then finding a room to man inside” and if you’re physique says anything about you, I know you can handle a murderer

“Um, thanks?”

Oh god.. Did she just say that out loud??

Marlene was quick to unbuckle and hop out of the car “well we have a murderer to catch!”

Sirius hopped out behind her; he was chuckling at her embarrassment. He followed her up the porch, “Well ready to catch a murder?”

Marlene took a deep breath and unlocked the door and then proceeded to go in holding the ice cream scoop like a gun.

Sirius just shook his head and stepped in following her. He knew he would follow her for the rest of his life.

Now here he was watching her on their wedding day. They did search the whole house and nobody turned out to be there. She did seem to just work herself into a state. Marlene woke up the next morning with the text from an unknown number it read:

“Hope you don’t mind. I asked James to get your number from Lilly for me. I just wanted to make sure you made it through the night.” The rest was history.

[doubleshotofsomething]

To Hell & Back

Part Two: “Lucky for me, your kind of heaven’s been to hell & back”

Summary: You still hate Bucky. But you need him to keep you from going to jail... So, what’s the harm in inviting him over to dinner?

Prompt: “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.”

Warnings: Angst?? (i think). Probably typos( which will be fixed). Implied violence. 

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader

--

Part one [In case you missed it]

----

It's Saturday.

Your day off. Well, what used to be your day off until it was turned into a family therapy session.

Well... Not an actual therapy session. It is literally just dinner with your family, including your sister's husband - a man you refuse to identify as your brother in law for reasons that will end in you being called the j-word. The husband, because he's the only son-in-law your parents have, has been dubbed the "referee" of the Saturday Sessions.

Each session, since you've been discharged, has made committing murder seem more and more appealing.

So appealing, that you're standing in front of your neighbour's door with a basket of muffins and a please-keep-me-from-committing-felonies smile.

Bucky, because he just spent the afternoon searching for a new bar, is standing on the other side of the door. Both confused and frightened to see you at his door voluntarily.

"Is there a bomb in that basket?" He asks, eyes roaming over you suspiciously. "Believe me, it's not gonna work."

You blink at him, then at the basket. Then back at him. "Why would I put a bomb in a muffin basket and then hold it?"

He raises a sceptical eyebrow at you.

You huff. "Fine, they're poisoned. I accidentally added laxatives while making them-"

"Accidentally?"

"Yes, accidentally-" you glare at him. "-they're not for you. They're from us."

He blinks at you, confused. You haven't spoken to him, actually spoken to him, for a few months. You avoid him like he has a disease and when your paths do cross, you just glare at him like he threw your cat into on coming traffic.

It's been a few days since the coffee machine incident. He has a brand new one - better than the last one - sitting on his kitchen counter, waiting for him to develop the courage to give it to you. It should be easy. He has mastered the art of making amends.

But... He can't, for some reason, bring it to you.

"Wait-" he frowns, your words finally registering in his head, "-did you just say from us?"

You set the basket down. "So, remember when you broke my one shot at happiness?"

"Oh god." He forgot how dramatic you are, as well.

"Yeah, you can fix that little error by being a doll and-" you pause, then frown, struggling to find the right words.

"Muffin poisoned your tongue?"

"I'm trying to ask you to be my plus one for tonight's dinner-" you grit your teeth, your blood beginning to boil. "-at my parents house."

You didn't look him in the eye when you said that. And by the sounds of it, he doubts this is something he should be going to. Or something you should be going to. Not if it brings out this side of you.

"Who are the muffins for?"

They were for your sister. You broke her nose last week, which was never your intention, and the guilt has been eating you up alive since. The punch was meant for her asshole husband.

"You coming or not?"

"Let me grab a wine and the keys."

"We have muffins. No need to waste your good wine on mediocre tastes."

"I'm bringing the wine."

"If you make us stop to pick out flowers, I will watch porn with the volume on full blast every night for a week."

"Why are you always so violent?"

--

"So, how bad is it?" Bucky asks.

You've been in the car for a half an hour, because you chose the busiest route and the most congested during rush hour, and that's the first thing either of you have uttered since you politely dragged him out of his apartment.

You shrug. "Three roads lead to this one, so we'll be here another half hour."

"I mean the situation-" he drums his fingers against the wheel. "-you literally chose to be in a car with me, for the longest time possible. Either you want to get there late or you don't want to get there at all."

"Maybe I just like spending time with you."

Bucky scoffs, but doesn't question you further.

The car is silent, aside from the traffic outside, and you could almost relax. For just a moment, you could close your eyes and imagine you're somewhere else.

But you can't. Because you're not. You're on your way to a dinner that shouldn't be happening and is only happening because you're part of your neighbour's redemption list.

Because he just had to have a conscious.

"I punched my sister last week," you mumble.

Bucky wants to laugh. He wants to laugh so badly. He has met your sister, a handful of times - at the hospital, outside your room and outside your apartment door.

Every time she'd come over, she would knock hard enough to make him think she's part of SWAT team. And each time, he would could hear you scramble to switch off all devices that could alert her of your presence inside.

One time, you'd both arrived a few minutes after each other. His door was closer and already open, so you shoved your grocery in his hand and dived into his apartment to hide from your sister. He had to pretend he hasn't seen you since you left for work , and that the packet of sanitary pads that fell out were for his girlfriend.

He didn't have one.

He wants to laugh, because he doesn't like her at all. But he doesn't, because she's your sister. "What did she do?"

"She married an asshole-" you scoff. "-and decided to get in the way and I tried to punch said asshole."

At this, he grins. "And you need me there because?"

"I need you to keep me from trying to kill him," you begrudgingly admit. "I'm too high maintenance for prison."

"How bad is this guy that you need me to help you not kill him?"

"Bad enough that I'm gonna need you to park a few blocks away from the house," you turn to look at him, his confused eyes meeting yours for a quick second. "I told them we're taking the bus."

"Wow."

"Which means we only get to spend less than two hours there, if you drive a little slow-" you pause when he drives passed a McDonald's. "-hey, can we stop and get milkshake?"

He deadpans. "We have dinner plans with your parents."

"I get that you and them might have gotten along since you decided to be a hero," you glare at him. "But they're not as cool as the hospital visits made them seem."

Your parents have invited him over to dinner a handful of times, and each time he had to decline. You and him weren't on the best of terms, and he didn't want to make things worse by showing up for dinner without your knowledge.

He knows, first hand, that a few interactions aren't enough to give the full depth of a person. But he saw how devastated they were, how heartbroken they were, at the sight of tubes and needles sticking out of you.

He doesn't believe, he can't believe, for a second that they're as bad as you say they are.

But he won't argue with you. Not about this. "We'll get milkshake after."

"Hey, remember that coffee machine you br-"

"Oh, fuck you!"

***

You're not a fan of wine. At least, not the wine Bucky brought to the dinner.

An hour into the dinner and you've already had enough glasses to have Bucky worried. The wine is halfway to empty by the time dessert rolls in, and when your sister's husband clears his throat, you abandon the glass and drink straight from the bottle.

The second hour into the dinner is where things got interested. Interesting enough for Bucky to take the bottle from you before you could throw it at someone's head. Mainly because he wanted to throw it at someone's head. Your sister's husband's head to be specific.

Just as your mother gets up to start making tea for the muffins you brought, Bucky is the first on his feet and the first to use the 'we have to get going before we miss the bus' excuse.

You grin at him, vision slightly hazy from the wine you drank on an empty stomach.

"Mhmm," you hum as you cling into him to get to your feet, "the bus. We gotta- the bus. Bah-yeee."

"I'll make sure she gets home safe," he promises to your parents and they believe him.

Hell, you believe him. If there's one thing you can trust your neighbour to do, it's to save your life. But not your coffee machine.

He guides back to the car, which is parked exactly where you told him to, and he's never been happier to have listened to you. You sing all the way back, some ridiculous song about when you're fat and old, and you're the most content he's ever seen you.

Drunk off wine, eyes glassy and smile wide, as you try to mimic his steps. You sigh when you get into your seat, even though you fight him on opening your own door, and fumble lazily with your seat belt until he helps you clip it in.

Your struggle to find a comfortable position, but forget all about that when he parks the car outside your favourite coffee shop. You're out before he can even unclip his seatbelt and you're inside before he makes it to the door.

"Hi," you whisper-yell as you lean against the counter. "Pssst. Hi. Hello."

The barista blinks at you. Bucky cuts in before he can get a word out. "We'll take coffee. Filter. And anything that's bread-"

"-don't listen to him, he breaks hearts for a living. Sometimes he rips them out." I jab your pointer finger against the countertop. "I will take the strongest coffee you've got. I'm in the mood for bad decisions and-"

"We'll be at the booth, in the back." Bucky gently pries you from the counter. "One coffee and two bottles of water-"

You try to smack his hands away. "Why must you be so- Barnes, I swear to god, I will take your parking space."

He shoves you into the booth, then takes a seat opposite you. You attempt to make a break for the counter, but the glare he fixes you with is enough to keep you in your place.

It should scare you. The look he gives you. You know what he is capable of, without mad scientists to control him, you know the damage he's done. It takes a special kind of strength to face people like the flag smashers, and a special kind of crazy to go after them.

Bucky is both. And yet, his glare doesn't scare you. So much so, that you return it.

"I hate your brother-in-law-"

"Sister's husband," you cut in to correct him. "I refuse to recognise him as my anything."

He nods. "Right. So, let me get this straight-"

Bucky pauses as the barista sets down the coffee, the water, two croissants, some breadsticks and a garlic roll. When he's satisfied that there's nothing else, he leaves you alone with Bucky and the breads.

"You got work tomorrow-" he puts sugar into your coffee and stirs, before handing it to you. "-so you're gonna need to eat as much, so that it absorbs all that wine."

You glare at him but still do as he says. He's right and you'd rather sulk than admit it.

"So," he clears his throat to get your attention. "Your sister is an asshole, that married an asshole. And your parents are enablers of all that bullshit?"

You nod, practically shoving the garlic bread into your mouth. You didn't touch the food your mother cooked and, other than that milkshake Bucky bought you, you haven't had anything to eat all day.

"Instead of just sending you to therapy-" he scrunches his face in disgust at the thought. "-I can't fucking believe I'm advocating for that, but instead of paying for therapy. They do that? Host a dinner, sit a circle and kumbaya the problems away?"

Taking a sip from your coffee, you continue to nod. "Is it helping?"

He frowns, meeting your eyes. "What?"

"The mandated sessions-"you swallow. "-I heard you and Wings talking about it."

Thin walls. Shared balconies. Despite not being in each other's life, both of you know more than enough because of your apartments.

Your balcony and his are separated by a small barrier, but you can still hear his conversations - and visa versa- if you leave your glass door open enough when he's out there.

The wall that separates your apartment is thin enough for him to pick up on your habits. You don't think you're a creature of habit, but he would disagree.

He can tell, just from your foot steps, what you're going to watch or do in the living room. From the little sounds you make, he can tell which series you're binge watching for the umpteenth time and which one is on just for background noise.

If you weren't a creature of habit, he wouldn't have found you in time. You wouldn't be sitting in front of him, asking about his wellbeing, instead of dealing with yours.

"Wings is Captain now," he corrects, and you accept the deflection.

You would never overstep, or push. Not with him. Never with him.

"If Captain, why Wings?"

Narrowing his eyes, he pushes the bread sticks closer to you. "Fine, Captain Wings."

Again, you obey the silent instruction.

"Where were we-"

"We were plotting an asshole's abduction," you tell him, "and then dropping him off at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. If that's not available, then maybe near Dyer Island."

He raises an eyebrow at you. “Why would we drop your sister’s husband on an Island?”

"It's a place, with a shitload of great white sharks."

"And you know this because?"

"I like to always be prepared."

"For what?" His brows furrow. "Do you just know random places to dump people that–"

You cut in. "–will lead to an inevitable death by natural causes? Yes."

He stares at you. Actually stares. Openly, at you. He can't remember the last time he did that, looked at you, for no other reason than to just look.

You didn't always hate him. When he first moved into your apartment building, and the landlord introduced you too, you were indifferent. He didn't think you knew who he was, most people don't at first glance, so he was relieved. Indifference was definitely better than everything else.

That was until you walked passed him and Sam in the lobby of the building, a week after he moved in.

"Sarge–" you nodded at him, as you checked your mail. Then nodded at Sam as you made your way out of the building. "–Wings."

You knew, you always knew who he was, and just didn't care. That was refreshing, to say the least.

The hate only came that night, or the following morning, he wasn't sure. All Bucky knows is, he meddled, and now you hate him for it. For saving you.

He's tried to talk to you about it. Countless of times, he's tried, and each time you hate him a little bit more. Or so it seems.

He wants to talk about it now. It's obvious in the way he's looking at you, like he can't believe you're here, in front of him. You can't either, but you won't ever admit that to him.

Hell would sooner freeze over before you actually admitted that maybe, just maybe, he should have meddled sooner.

You won't. So, instead, you put down the bread stick and sit back. "I know a really cool coffee place... If you still need a new place to hang."

It's an olive branch. You don't ever say what you really mean, he knows that, and he smiles at that little fact. That he knows that, he knows you.

"Is the barista as dramatic as I hear?"

"Only to strangers that break down her doors," you shrug. "Oh, and guys who break her coffee machine–"

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

You grin. Because you're just as petty as he is.

---

Tags: @sunflowerxbarnes , @ginger-swag-rapunzel​ , @arctic-duchess​

[xuxishortcake]

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : you are an undercover agent, still fairly new at the job & on the search for two notorious con men, who might be part of a gang in the mafia. it's your job to figure out what's going on but oh my, are they more dashing than expected.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 : switch!reader sub!jungkook dom!taehyung smut , cursing, forced into s*x , cream pie , fingering , blowjob , double penetration

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 3k

hello everyone! this officialy my second fanfic I've written, so pardon if there are any mistakes, grammar errors, etc. feedback is appreciated greatly! hope u love the fic!! ^_^

✧༺🍷༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

you wore a black suit that was nicely tailored to your body. you were driving around in San Francisco because you were assigned to work there for the day. all you knew so far was that you were after two con men who might've been involved in serious Mafia activity. you kept your ears on alert, waiting for more information from your agency. finally, you got an incoming call on your watch.

"hello?"

"hey y/n, it's seulgi. so I've found the house you need to go into, it's in the Presidio Hights neighborhood. I'll send you the full address. " *ding* came in the address & seulgi continued on. "the two men are Korean with the names Jeon Jeongguk & Kim Taeyhung. remember, be careful, we have no idea what these two are capable of, there's evidence pointing to them being in the Seo-bang Faction group."

"don't worry," your replied. " I might be one of the newer agents, but I've been taught well. "

"ok. we're counting on you. we have backup, but it'll take about 10minutes to get to the mansion since we don't want them to discover us. "

"gotcha. I'll call once I'm done." & you hung up the phone.

you pulled out the message with the address, put on your navigation system & started driving towards your destination.

thirty minutes later, you arrived & parked nearby the grand mansion you were to go inside of. you scouted far away with a special type of glasses to find an entry way. there was easy to open windows on the second story & you made your way to the mansion. going through the window, you stepped onto the plush, maroon colored carpet. finally inside, you walked as quietly as you could, your shoes were designed anyways to be as quiet as possible but it was better to be safe than sorry. it was surprisingly quite minimalistic with decor, the decor itself though being very ornate. you looked down the interior balcony. a grand set of marble stairs led up to the second floor & third floor. you started walking up to the third floor, there were some pretty expensive looking paintings leading up. finally reaching to the top, you walked down the long corridor. checking in each room if there were any signs of life. no luck. where in the hell were they? could it have been possible they knew somehow someone was coming & left? the final room you were about to check was the biggest, the master bedroom. the first thing you took notice of was the huge espresso colored canopy bed with a velvety crimson bed spread. there were also a few shelves with gold items & books on them. you looked through them all, to see if there was anything hidden but there was nothing. you checked in the huge bathroom, nothing. just a beautiful & large bathtub & joint sink. puzzled, you sat on top of the bed. you hadn't a clue what to do next. there weren't any new messages from the agency, so the two must've been in the house somewhere. you started to feel a sudden wave of drowsiness wash over you. was it because of the jet lag? no, this isn't normal. it was probably sleeping gas. you were now barely able to keep your eyes open & saw two figures walk into the room. {shit.} you thought, & blacked out.

what seemed to be hours later, you slowly started to regain consciousness. you were calling out to your watch to call your agency & nothing happened. you now realized you were tied to a chair & stripped of gadgets, weaponry & even your own clothes. you started to turn your chair around the room to find if there was anyone around. in came from the corridor & into the bedroom the two men you were supposed to find. they both were nicely tailored, as to be expected but the thing that had caught you off guard was their visuals. the two seemed to be in their twenties & were very, very good looking. they sat down onto a sofa that was across from you, both staring intently into your eyes.

"well," said the one with particularly long eyelashes "are you going to start talking or no? "

"yeah, we're not waiting all day for an answer. " vocalized the other, looking you up & down.

you felt absolutely mortified. not only were these men goddamn gorgeous, but you were only in the pair of black lace underwear that was concealed underneath your suit, which was now in a bundle in the corner of the room.

"I was sent here to investigate the two of you."

"by whomst?" asked the one with the long eyelashes.

you stayed silent. if these men were really part of the Seo-bang Faction group you could never let them know where you worked at, for your whole agency could be in grave danger.

"still not trying to talk hm? bring out the gun, jeongguk."

your eyes widened, trying to maintain a calm face. jeongguk went out of the bedroom. a few seconds later, he came back in with an old fashioned looking pistol, handing it over to taehyung. taehyung cocked the gun.

"now tell me, with WHOM are you working for? " he spoke watching intently.

"I'm not going to tell unless you tell me about yourself first." you retaliated.

"oh well, suit yourself." he pointed the gun & pulled the trigger.

your eyes we're closed shut & you were sweating bullets until you realized that you were still alive.

taehyung was chuckling. "oh my, you should've seen your face then, it was priceless i tell you, priceless."

"are you going to kill me?" you asked, clearly shaken.

"oh trust me, he could have" jeongguk interjected "we already knew someone was coming here, we just wanted to have some fun. there are no bullets in that so there wasn't any way to kill you with it. "

"aren't you concerned I'm trying to report about you two? your members of that gang no? "

"haha, no. I can assure you we are just simple, cunning assholes, who like to do frauds, maybe a few scams here & there, but we're not involved in some huge Mafia group."

"do you expect me to believe you?"

"yes, I guess. after all, what else can you do now that you're stuck here?"

"so...what do you want from me then?" you asked.

"like I told you, fun."

"what do you mean exactly? "

"to put it simple, a real fun, hot fuck. we haven't had one of those in a while. sure, you can get a prostitute & we have no problems getting any person that we want, but this, this is much more interesting. " jeongguk said smirking, crossing his arms.

"if you do it, we'll let you go. "taehyung added, fidgeting with the rings on his fingers.

what the hell were you supposed to do in a situation like this? sure, you had been in difficult situations before, but not like this. this....what were you supposed to tell your agency? you were forced into sleeping with two men who were possibly in the mafia? there had to be another way out of it...

"listen, unless you have super powers & can magically weasel yourself out of very tight rope, there's no other way for you to get out of this. " taehyung said almost as if he could read your mind. "so is it a yes?"

you gave a slow nod.

"hmmm, ok great. well, not that you had much of a choice anyway but I promise you won't regret it. " taehyung stated confidently. "jeongguk, untie her."

& he untied you. rubbing your sore wrists, you looked up at the man who untied you. god, he really was good looking.

"so, what now?" you asked slowly standing up.

"we need to know three things." said jeongguk. "one, are you dominant or a sub, or both? two, what is your safe word? I know technically what we are doing isn't legal, but it's no fun if you're uncomfortable and lastly, three. can you take two cocks at once? "

"I'm a switch, & hell, I bet I could take two. for a safe word...." you looked around "gold."

"ok cool, let's get started then." jeongguk said while pushing you onto the bed.

taehyung stood up from the couch & walked over. the two now standing over your smaller frame, like two foxes staring at their prey hungrily.

"you suck on him." said taehyung pointing at jeongguk. "I'll take care of you."

jeongguk started to unfasten his belt & you, still on the bed turned so you were horizontal,in a dog position. only pants down, you palmed him through his boxers. you finally pulled them down & revealed his half hard on. he was in your hand & you gave a few quick strokes & took him in vigorously. he let out a low groan, you could feel him already growing in your mouth & started to move while you were sucking. he put his hand on your head, keeping you at a steady pace. meanwhile, taehyung was behind you, on the other side of the bed, palming your ass. the feeling of the cold rings on his fingers squeezing your flesh made you gasp. he traced his fingers over to your underwear & pulled them to the side. he ghosted over your slit, collecting some of your wetness onto his fingers. gently, he prodded a finger up your pussy. slowly moving it, in & out & added another one. you moaned, vibrating against jeongguk's cock.

"oh shit, do that again." he said head thrown back a bit, holding onto your head tighter.

taehyung inserted another finger; now three fingers were knuckle deep into you. you could hear how wet you were by the way your pussy was squelching. you had muffled moans for jeongguk kept your mouth full. you had difficulty not crumbling under taehyungs touch, his hands working like magic. he pulled out of you & you whined, desperately clenching around nothing.

"pull out." taehyung said to jungkook while licking off his fingers. jungkook nodded. "y/n was it? go put that brat in his place & do not let him touch you. "

taehyung walked over to a piece of furniture, rummaged around a drawer & came back with a blindfold & handcuffs.

"put these on him." taehyung said as he handed you them.

"aw shit really?? why can't I see?" jeongguk whined, giving a little pout & took off his top.

"because you were having a little too much fun over there. plus, you like being a sub anyways."

jeongguk & you went towards the headboard. you snapped on the handcuffs & tied the blind fold on jeongguk "don't worry," you whispered to him, starting to pull off your panties & bra. "I'll take care of you real good." & it sent shivers down his spine.

you positioned him to your entrance & sank down on him. you both moaned in unison , the stretch feeling incredible. his hips had already starting to move; you bounced up & down on him, hips sometimes twirling. you gave attention to his neck & started to lick & give damp kisses.

taehyung felt his hard on press tightly against his pants & started to undress. he went back to the same drawer from before & he brought out a bottle of lube & got onto the bed. he poured a considerable amount of lube onto his fingers & sat behind you. he took to your neck & started leaving kisses & bites on it, causing you to softly moan.

"do you need to be warmed up? or do you think you can handle me now?" he asked against you, stroking his cock in anticipation.

"I mmm think I can take you." you said, moving yourself a little so you were in an angle that he could get inside of you.

"can I have the blindfold off please? I really want to see this." jeongguk said, hips grinding up into yours.

"ok, take it off of him y /n." & you went & did as he said.

taehyung didn't waste any time, he moved his cock over your unoccupied hole,teasing you for a bit, & finally slid in. you moaned out loud, tears starting to form in your eyes. taehyung felt girthier whereas jeongguk was longer, you felt so full & it was wonderful.

"fuck." taehyung groaned against your ear "you're so damn tight." & started to thrust.

you & jeongguk didn't move as much anymore because you both could feel him thrusting into you. taehyung thought he'd take it up a notch & slapped your ass. you moaned out, surprised & had tightened around jeongguk.

"oh my god, I'm gonna cum." he cried out, thighs starting to shake a little.

"I only want you to come when she does. " taehyung said as he thrusted deeper & deeper into you, slapping your ass harder, winning another lovely moan out from you.

taehyung bent over you now & cupped one hand around your tit & the other snaked down to your clit. between the deep penetration in your pussy, the thrusting in your ass, one of taes hands playing with your nipple & the other rubbing circles on your clit, you felt your climax approaching you.

"oh fuck- I'm about to cum." you moaned out, barely able to stay in position, feeling as if you were about to break.

"go then. you can go now too jeongguk." taehyung said, his own thrusts starting to get sloppier.

you clenched around the both of them, moaning out. jeongguk moaned out right after you, finally releasing, shaking beneath you. which triggered a somewhat chain reaction & made taehyung release right after, filling you up to the brim with cum. the three of you rode it all out together. cum was dripping out your pussy & ass, glistening on both of their cocks. you all were panting on top of each other, taehyung pulled out & went to grab some tissues in the drawer of a night stand. you pulled yourself off of jungkook & unchained his hands from the bed. you flopped in the middle of the bed, chest heaving with probably the most fucked out looking face ever. taehyung cleaned the two of you off & then himself, then slid right next to you, eyes starting to close. 

you had no idea how long you slept for, but you could see that it was still light out. then you remembered you were supposed to let seulgi know if the two were suspicious. "shit!" you exclaimed & hurried out of the bed. you picked up your watch from the corner of the room & frantically searched her number to call her. she picked up.

"hello? y/n are you ok?" seulgi asked with concern. "you were off the radar for hours, we were about to send some people over because we weren't get any responses from you."

"oh, no no I'm fine! I think maybe I went offline since I didn't see any incoming messages until now. " you said as you tried to make up something.

"hmmm, that's odd. did you find out anything? "

"sadly no, there's no evidence of their involvement it seems like."

"well then, I'd suggest you leave. we have another place for you to check out. tell me once you're on the road."

"ok." you replied. "I'll talk to you later on." & you hung up.

you went back to the bed & realized taehyung was gone & jeongguk was awake. "you're leaving already?" he asked, with a tinge of disappointment in his voice. he then reached his into the drawer of the nightstand & pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"yeah. I need to continue working or they'll think something is suspicious. " you said sliding into your pants.

"awe, that sucks. do you want one by the way?" he asked, lighting a cigarette.

"no thanks, I don't really smoke." you said, collecting all your stuff & putting it onto the bed.

"well, do you want some red wine maybe?"

you paused. "sure." & sat down next to him, taking the glass of wine he had on top of the nightstand.

"by the way, you were amazing. I don't think I've had that much fun in a good while. " he looked at you with his pretty round eyes, releasing a bit of smoke out of his mouth.

"thank you. I don't think I've ever had that much fun before, ever." you replied taking a sip of the wine. "especially with someone rumored to be in the mafia."

"yeah, pretty crazy isn't it? I don't think you expected any of this at all." he smiled. "we need to do this again, if you're up to it."

"I think I would be." giving him a little smirk. "it's not everyday you find two incredibly hot guys willing to be fuck buddies. I might have to fly back to San Francisco just to fuck. "

you heard footsteps approaching the room & finally saw taehyung, standing in the door way in a cream colored robe with a glass of red wine in his hand.

"so, you're finally awake." he said coming into the room. "how was it?"

"I liked it very much. I just told jeongguk I'll fly back to San Francisco just to fuck you guys." you giggled.

taehyung laughed, getting into the bed with you two. " I hope that is true because I'd love to do this again sometime. " wrapping an arm around you.

"definitely. I have to go now though." you said disappointedly. "I'm expected to continue working."

"hmmm, that's a shame." taehyung said sipping his wine. " I need to give you me & jeongguk's number."

"sure." you two exchanged numbers. "well, I've got to go sadly; wish I could stay longer. today was very enjoyable." you said, buttoning up your blazer.

before you walked out, jeongguk called to you "I hope you can come back! " he said, him & taehyung smirking. you smirked back, waved at them & left.

[topsytervy]

Book Lovers ~ Pope Heyward

Blurb: You have a crush on Pope and Pope has a crush on you. Your love for books brings you together.

Word Count: 3,376

Warnings: swearing, poorly written towards the end cause I'm bad at ending writings, probably spelling/grammar errors, I think thats it.

I started writing this as a whole bond over books thing and then it kind of got away from that a bit but not really I don't think.

Also, the way i was going back and forth between writing this and something Calum Hood related cause its his birthday and I love him was insane.

~~~~~~

You sat on the beach on a towel, a book in hand as the sounds of screams and waves filled the air.

Not too far away sat Pope, staring at you as JJ, John B and Kie surfed. He watched as you brushed some hair behind your ear before turning the page, completely engrossed by whatever it was you were reading. 

"Are you serious?" Pope jumped as his head swiveled to look at the voice that spoke.

Kie stood there, surfboard under her arm with an eyebrow raised, the two other boys behind her.

"What?" Pope shrugged, acting as casual as he could.

"Really? Playing dumb Pope? Thats JJ's job." She answered, setting down her board and sitting next to him.

"I take some offense to that, Kie." JJ told her which only caused the curly-haired girl to roll her eyes.

"Just go talk to her, Pope."

Pope widened his eyes. "Are you crazy, Kie?"

"If talking to someone you like is crazy then have me committed but last time I checked it was normal." 

"What would I even talk to her about?" 

"Oh, I don't know. She's only reading a book. Gosh if only you read." Kie told him, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Pope sighed before getting up. 

"Go get 'em, tiger." John B grinned as him and JJ took a seat next to Kie, watching as Pope made his way over.

He was about halfway to you before he turned around and walked back, shaking his head. "I can't do it. It's rude to interrupt someone's reading ya know. That and Toppers walking towards her." 

JJ scoffed. "Really, man. Toppers got nothing on you. Besides, I'm pretty sure they're just friends."

"Oh quite the opposite, JJ. He's got money and a way nicer boat." 

John B shot Pope a look. "How dare you insult the HMS Pogue like that."

"You know what I mean. He can buy her literally anything she asks for." 

"Okay. So he's got money and a nice boat. That means he's trying to compensate for something. Any guesses as to what that is?" Kie stared at Pope.

JJ grinned, deciding to answer for his best friend. "His di-"

"Personality, JJ" Kie cut off the blonde. "What he lacks in personality, he makes up for with money. Topper is boring as hell. He doesn't know the meaning of excitement and adventure. You do. I'm sure you have way more in common with her than Topper does." 

Pope took one last look at you, book open but ignored as Topper chatted with you. You just smiled and nodded before standing up and gathering your things, waving a small goodbye to Topper as you did. 

You glanced over and saw the Pogues watching you so you brought up your hand and sent them a small wave, blushing when Pope smiled and waved back at you.

The next time Pope saw you was at the library. He was getting a couple of books for a paper he had to write and you were there, scanning the shelves, trying to figure out what book you wanted to read next.

Pope had looked over and froze when he saw you just a few feet away from him, fingers ghosting over the spines of books as you read the titles. 

You had agreed to ride with Kelce to the library considering he needed a specific book to read and you needed a new book to read. You chewed on your lip, focusing on each one before pulling one out that caught your eye, reading the blurb before ultimately deciding that you didn’t want to read that one now. 

Pope took a deep breath before scanning the titles himself, attempting to find one that he had already read that he thought you would enjoy. He finally found one and grabbed it, walking over to you.

"Having troubles?" He asked.

You jumped slightly before looking at him. "Little bit. It's hard to find which one to read next, ya know."

Pope nodded before handing you the book. "You might like this one. I read it and could hardly put it down. It's definitely on my list of books to own." 

You took it with a smile. "Thanks."

 "It's no biggie." Pope shrugged. 

You smiled again before walking backwards towards the checkout counter. "I'll see you around, Pope." 

Pope grinned at the fact that you knew his name. "I hope so, Y/N."

You blushed slightly before turning around, meeting up with Kelce who immediately noticed your reddened cheeks.

"What's going on over here, Y/N/N?" He asked, pointing to his own cheeks.

"Nothing." You mumbled, placing your book and library card on the counter. 

Kelce looked around, trying to spot who was making his best friend blush before shrugging.

Later that night, you and Kelce were sitting on his living room floor with Rafe and Topper, a board game set out in front of the boys as you read your book and listened to their conversation. 

"Topper, St.Louis is not the capital of Illinois." Rafe said for what felt like the hundredth time. 

"What are you talking about? Yes it is!" 

Kelce took a deep breath before looking at Topper. "Top, sweetie, if you think St.Louis is the capital of Illinois, then what's the capital of Missouri?"

"Boise?"

You peered over your book with a blank look on your face, Kelce and Rafe having the same look on theirs.

"Come on guys, you know I'm bad at geography." Topper whined.

"I think," Rafe started, looking at Kelce, "We need to bust out that Sequence state capital game from second grade."

"I think I lost a brain cell during this conversation," Kelce rubbed his temples.

"Good thing you're not playing fucking jeopardy or you'd really be screwed, Top." You said.

Topper turned his attention to you. "Not all of us are book smart, Y/L/N." Topper leaned over to look at the page before squinting. "Whatcha reading that's better than playing a game with us, anyway?" 

You held up the book enough so they could read the title and Rafe raised an eyebrow. "Where'd ya find that one?"

"Someone recommended it to me." You blushed a little at the interaction with Pope earlier that day.

"Oh ho ho. That is the same blush you had at the library. You like this person." Kelce pointed.

"Shut up, Kelc."

"Wait. She was blushing? Oh snap."

"Spill the name, Y/N."

You rolled your eyes at your friends before replying. "I don't have to tell you three anything."

"Come on. If you're not gonna tell us then how will we tease you?" Rafe whined.

"That's exactly why I'm not gonna tell you. You'll just tease me and then whenever he's around, you'll act all juvenile."

Topper looked at the two boys before turning towards you. "If we promise that we will keep the teasing to a minimum when he's not around and that we act mature about this, will you tell us?"

You bit your lip before hesitantly nodding. Rafe, Topper and Kelce's eyes widened, eager to hear the name about to come out of your mouth.

You sighed, bookmarking your page. "His name is Marcel. He wears glasses and wears a sweater vest. A bit on the awkward side but very sweet."

Kelce and Topper shot each other confused glances, never having heard that name before. Rafe, on the other hand, cocked his head to the side with an unamused look and a 'really'.

"You know this Marcel, Cameron?" Topper asked.

"Yeah. If you watch the Best Song Ever music video, you'll meet him. I do have two sisters, remember." He answered.

You shrugged. "Worth a shot."

"Come on, Y/L/N. Just give us the name." 

You held up your hands in surrender. "Okay, okay." Your three friends leaned forward, staying quiet with raised eyebrows. "Pope Heyward." 

"Oh my God," Topper breathed.

"Can we not do the usual 'traitor' bullshit please? I feel like my mom is already going to have a fit."

"What makes you think we'd do that?" 

You shot each of them a look before standing up. "I gotta get going. You guys have fun and Topper," you looked at the blonde, "learn your damn capitals."

And then you were out the door.

****

Pope walked into The Wreck a few days later and spotted you in the corner, book in hand while you ate your food. Pope was so focused on you that he didn't even notice Kie appear next to him with a water pitcher in her hand.

"You gonna stand there all day or you gonna sit down with her and start up a conversation."

Pope whipped his head to look at his friend before shrugging. "I guess I could but sh-"

"She's reading and its rude to interrupt someone whos reading. I know." Kie rolled her eyes before walking over to your table.

He saw you smile at Kie and greet her before nodding. You looked past Kie and saw Pope. You grinned and waved him over which Pope happily did, taking a seat across from you.

"Want anything Pope?" Kie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just get me the usual." 

Kie smiled before walking away towards the back.

"I finished that book you recommended to me last night and I was speechless. The ending was...wow." You leaned back in your chair, taking a drink of water. 

"I know right. That book made me want to read all his other works and they're all just so amazing." Pope grinned.

"His writing is so poetic that I was surprised I wasn't reading an actual poem."

"Exactly. He's such a good writer."

You two talked for hours about different authors and books you guys liked, eventually both of you started writing down names of books and authors for the other to check out.

"How long have they been like that?" John B asked, JJ sitting beside him along with the kook boys who joined them unexpectedly with no hassle whatsoever. 

"Lets see. You five have been here for 45 minutes to an hour, Pope showed up a couple of hours before you. So...almost four." Kie smiled before scurrying off to wait on another table.

"Four what? Hours?" JJ asked. 

"Yes, dumbass." Rafe rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to the table where you sat with Pope.

"They both look so happy." Topper commented.

"Because they are. They're in love." Kelce sighed with a dopey smile on his face, resting his head against his hand.

"Aren't they a little young for love?" John B raised an eyebrow.

Kelce shot him a look which caused John B to raise his hand in surrender. 

"What do you think they're talking about?"

"They're both nerds. Take a guess."

JJ opened his mouth to object, offended on behalf of his best friend but John B stopped him. "No, no. He has a point."

You glanced at your watch before standing up, saying something to Pope who nodded, handing each other your phones. 

JJ smirked. "My boy is getting some." Rafe, Kelce, and Topper all turned to look at JJ, unamused with his words. "Or not."

*****

Pope shook his head. "No way. That is one of the dumbest and most cliche tropes ever." 

It was a week later and you and Pope sat at The Wreck again, having a conversation about whatever you recently read and now, apparently, your favorite and least favorite tropes.

"I have to disagree. Enemies to lovers has my heart." You responded, taking a bite out of your burger after you spoke.

"One bed and they have to share reigns supreme." Pope popped a fry into his mouth like that was the end of discussion. 

You held up your finger as you finished chewing before swallowing. "You have to have some love for the enemies to lovers trope then because a lot of enemies to lovers involve sharing a bed." You pointed out.

"What about friends to lovers? Hmm? Hmmm? That right there is practically gold and bed sharing comes into play." 

You rolled your eyes. "At some point, a friend likes another. I can tell you in confidence that I had a crush on Topper, Kelce, and Rafe at some point in our friendship. It was bound to happen because we hang out so much. Enemies to lovers though? Who willingly hangs out with their enemy? No one." 

Pope laughed. "Alright. Sure. Whatever." 

"Don't whatever me Pope. I'm right and you know I am." You laughed. 

Pope held his hands up in surrender.  "Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Kiara walked over to your table and you smiled. "Lets ask Kie."

"Ask me what?" Her eyes darted between you and Pope.

Pope turned to Kie. "I want you to be honest with me, Kie. Which trope is better? Best friends to lovers or enemies to lovers."

Kie blinked slowly as she spoke. "I was just coming here to ask if you need refills or anything else."

"This is more important. Best friends to lovers or enemies to lovers?" 

You both looked at the girl expectedly and she shrugged. "I'm more of a fake dating girl myself so neither."

"Or both." You raised your eyebrows.

"True. Enemies could fake date or friends could. Sounds like a both thing for me."

Kie just turned and walked away, shaking her head with a small smile. 

Your phone dinged and you looked down, seeing a text from your mom. "Thats my mother paging me." You sighed as you stood up. "This has been a fun date, Pope." 

"Date?" 

You felt your face heat up from embarrassment."Oh, was this...not- I shouldn't have assumed. I'm sorry."  

"No, it was. I just didn't think you'd think of it as one." Pope quickly said.

You smiled before kissing his cheek. "I'll talk to you later then.'

Pope blushed as he watched you walk away, paying for your half of the meal before exiting the building.

****

It's been a month since you and Pope became official. A lot of your dates were either study dates, beach dates, or dates that consisted of you two eating at The Wreck while discussing anything under the sun.

Pope was kind of scared when you asked him what he wanted to do for a living, considering everyone else thought it was weird but you were supportive.

"That's cool." 

Popes eyes widened in shock at your words. "Really? No 'why would you choose a coroner' or 'why the hell would you wanna work with dead bodies'?"

You shrugged as you stole one of the fries from his plate. "I think it's cool. It's a job not many people want but it's an important one." 

That was probably when Pope knew that he was in deep with you. The fact that you didn't judge the things he was passionate about and what he wanted to do. That just made him fall for you more and let him know that you were the perfect girl for him.

Now here you were, spending the weekend together in the best way.

You sat in Pope's living room, okay laid in Pope's living room, watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Pope had the house all to himself for the weekend and invited you over for a Harry Potter movie marathon since you two just finished rereading the entire series. 

So here you were, curled into your boyfriend's side with his arm draped over your shoulders, holding you closer if that was even possible. 

You sighed as Alan Rickman appeared on the screen. "I miss him."

Pope kissed the top of your head as he rubbed your arm. "I know, sweetheart. You say that everytime he pops up on screen."

"I can't help it. He was just such a good soul." 

Pope smiled, twirling some of your hair around his finger. He loved listening to you talk about things and people you were passionate about. The smile on your face whenever someone, usually him, brought up one of those topics was worth it and he could listen to your voice for hours on end, which usually happened when a topic of interest was brought up. 

"Are you even listening to me?" You'd ask, tapping his wrist.

"Every word."

You'd lean back and cross your arms, a smirk on your face as you raised one of your eyebrows. "Oh really?"

He'd nod before speaking. "You were saying how you think iced coffee is better than regular hot coffee."

You'd make an impressed face. "Are you going to say anything at any point in this conversation."

He'd pretend to think about it before shaking his head. "I'm good." 

You'd roll your eyes before purposely bringing up a topic that would cause him to talk some because just like him, you were obsessed with seeing his smile when he was interested in a topic and hearing his voice.

"Pope, did you hear me?" 

Pope blinked before shaking his head. "No. Sorry. I was spacing this time."

"I asked if you wanted to make stir fry tonight?" You laughed lightly at the space cadet you called a boyfriend.

Pope smiled and nodded. "Sounds great. I'll ask dad if we can raid the store for whatever we don't have." 

You both pulled out your phones, you to get the recipe and Pope to ask his dad if it was okay to take whatever was needed for dinner. 

You walked into the kitchen and started pulling out whatever you could find that was needed for the stir fry before writing down on a notepad what was left.

"We got the go ahead." Pope told you and you held up the notepad.

"Then let's go on an adventure." 

You two paused the movie and made your way down the street towards Heywards hand in hand.

"Have you ever seen the Percy Jackson movies?" You asked, genuinely curious if Pope had or not. Pope shook his head and you let out a laugh. "Oh boy. We might have to take a break from good ol' HP so you can watch them." 

"Why?" Pope swung your arms as looked at you.

"You might find them...interesting. That's all." You shrugged.

"Are they good?" 

You smiled up at him as you leaned your head on his arm. "You'll have to see."

Normally, you wouldn't recommend watching the movies to anyone but when it came to Pope, you wanted him to see it. You wanted to see him rant about all the differences and how bad this adaptation was. You wanted to see him get all flustered at the smallest details that the movies got wrong and complain about how this doesn't do the books any justice. 

"Are you setting me up?" A small smile sat on Pope's lips.

You placed a hand to your heart.  "Ouch Pope. That stings."

He just laughed before kissing your temple as you approached Heywards. Pope unlocked the door and you followed him inside, picking up the rest of your ingredients before walking over to the counter and pulling a 20 out of your pocket, sliding it under one of the boxes for Mr.Heyward to find.

"Really? You know my dad loves you right? Like you don't have to pay him for this stuff. He gave us the okay." Pope said.

You shrugged. "It's fine and it's only right. I mean, I'm taking things from his store. The least I can do is pay him." You turned to the security camera and waved before pointing to the box the cash was under and doing the hand signal for money.

"You do know he cant check the system from his phone right?" 

"Yeah but if he plays it back, he'll know and no one else will see the footage." You smiled before turning back to your boyfriend. "Ready?" You asked as you placed your things in a bag. 

Pope grabbed your hand and the bag as he nodded. "Lets get cooking." 

You laughed as you followed him back outside, waiting for him to lock the door before beginning the short journey back to his, the pair of you thinking about how lucky you were to have someone like the other.

~~~~~~