#he was a bright light talking to me thru the clouds

[pinkmoondoll9shihtzu]

erm

[kindahoping4forever]

...Ready For It? // Ashton Irwin

Thank you to everyone who said they wanted to read this story, whether it was in the poll I posted 12 hours ago or when I first posted In My Dreams... You Should See The Things We Do back in June (!) - I actually started working on this not that long after I posted and while the skeleton concept stayed the same, everything else was kind of fluid until last month when I finally felt satisfied with it. As always, thank you to @cal-puddies​ for listening to me whine and obsess over every detail and for (virtually) slapping me upside the head every time I said I was going to just scrap it (and there were many times, trust.)

Note this is a sequel but I think there’s enough context within this piece that you’d be able to enjoy as a standalone if you haven’t read or forgot what happened during In My Dreams...

Warnings: Sexual tension, frustration and resolution. I couldn’t figure out how to do specific warnings without also spoiling the narrative (yes, really) so this is kind of a blanket fluffy smut warning. The sex is explicit in detail but not extreme in nature. ‘Tis a soft, dirty story you’re about to read. Also yes, Ash wears the mountain pants again and no, I will not apologize. 

Word Count: 10,555

Masterlist // Ko-Fi and New 2021 Taglist linked above

Let  me  know  what  you  think!

“I can’t say this is how I imagined getting you out of your clothes for the first time but after months of isolation, I’ll take what I can get,” you quip.

Ashton giggles as he peels off his button down shirt, leaving him in a classic white tank. “I can’t say anything about tonight has gone the way I imagined it would,” he confesses. “I’m sorry things have been kind of a bust.”

You try not to blatantly ogle his muscular build as you playfully jab, “You mean, you didn’t spend all that time longing for us to spend hours waiting outside a restaurant for a socially distant table only to be turned away because now it’s closing time and ending up having to eat drive thru burgers in the backseat of your car?”

“With ketchup dripping all over one of my best shirts? And you saving the day with a suspiciously convenient stain remover pen?” He riffs, passing his top to you.

“Exactly how I pictured it,” you shrug, dabbing at his shirt with the aforementioned magic pen.  “Shame, our fantasies tend to match up a lot better than this.”

You’d never thought much of long distance relationships and you especially never thought you’d find yourself in one with only a few miles separating you but 2020 had been full of surprises; getting to know Ash had turned out to be the silver lining in an otherwise terrible year. 

You’ve each reflected on it plenty and agreed it seems as if your connection was destined to see you both through this strange period. You met at the last party you were invited to before quarantine started, you ran into each other again at the last concert either of you got to attend. Your first date was also your final restaurant meal, the last time you went to a movie was with a group of mutual friends and you sat next to him, giggling like a teenager, intentionally brushing his fingers in the popcorn tub.

When the stay at home order was issued, it didn’t take long for you to check in with each other and while it wasn’t an easy time, you were grateful to build a bond with literally no outside influence. And now after countless texted inside jokes, heart to heart phone calls (and more than a few naughty ones), restrictions had been relaxed and you were finally able to reunite. Only the real world is proving to be a bit more complicated than either of you remember.

“You know, I’m not usually a ‘hop in the backseat on a first date’ kind of gal, but this is pretty fun,” you joke.

Ashton grins. “If it makes you feel any better, I think technically this is maybe our third or fourth date?”

“Anything pre-quarantine doesn’t count,” you shake your head insistently. “That was a lifetime ago, another world. I cook now, I go for walks, I do crosswords now. Whoever you went out with in The Before Times - I don’t know her.”

His loud laugh fills the car and the warmth of it overwhelms you; after months of hearing it through a speaker, you can’t believe you’re finally getting to witness it in person. 

"So if we’re starting over at square one, then what’s the explanation for that kiss you laid on me when I picked you up?” He teases.

“I’m a complex woman, I feel like you should know that by now,” you reply with a coy shrug, handing him his now stain free shirt.

The two of you finish your meals, chatting happily and making non-stop jokes about what a fail your date was. You’re relieved at how natural things are flowing; you knew there was undeniable chemistry but part of you was still nervous about getting used to being around each other - another person, even - again. But beyond the standard date jitters, things were comfortable and familiar.

Your anxiety briefly returns as he pulls the car into your driveway. Of course you want to invite him in, you’ve been waiting so long to invite him in but things just feel… off. You turn, ready to offer an apologetic goodnight but before you get a chance, he’s turning to look at you sheepishly.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but would you mind if we maybe called it a night?” He rushes out, nervously running a hand through his hair. You watch him, fascinated. You’re still not used to how long his hair got in quarantine and you’re definitely not used to seeing him bashful. “I know we joked about it and I appreciate you being cool about everything but I really did want to give you the night out you deserve… and that just didn’t happen. I’d like to try again.”

Your heart swells at his sincerity; he’d always been so genuine and open over the phone, but it’s almost overwhelming experiencing it while he’s looking into your eyes. “Have I never told you that ketchup stains are one of my biggest turn ons?” You tease, hoping to ease some of his obvious embarrassment. “Hey, we’ve waited this long, what’s a little bit longer?”

A little bit longer ends up being the following weekend. It turns out, coming up with romantic and yet responsibly distanced date ideas is harder than either of you thought. With you both having the luxury of working from home and generally not having to venture out unless absolutely necessary, you both decide you’re most comfortable with eliminating the public out of the equation as much as you can.

You settle on a short hike followed by a picnic and when you open your front door you realize just how unprepared you are for the concept of Morning Ash. You smile to yourself as you realize that he must have overslept as his face is still adorably puffy from sleeping, hair still wet from the shower. Yesterday’s five o’clock shadow is still present - he must have been running so late he had to forego his morning shave. The thought of waking up next to him looking like this pops into your mind, that soon you could be the reason he’s running late in the morning and your stomach actually drops.

You push your thoughts aside as you move to greet him with a hug; his cologne is prominent and obviously freshly sprayed and you think to yourself that you're excited to smell like him for the rest of the day.

“Got a surprise for you in the car,” he murmurs.

You’re in the middle of wondering how he makes even a simple white t-shirt look devastating when he opens the passenger door for you. Before you even climb in, you’re instantly greeted by the smell of fresh coffee and breakfast burritos and he chuckles at the way your face lights up. 

“Flowers seemed too formal for a morning date, I figured caffeine and grease was just as nice.” 

“I’ve never felt more seen by a partner,” you smile, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him in for a sweet, slow kiss. 

You start to pull away to get in the car but Ashton snakes his arms around you and draws you back in for a few more smooches. “Figure we should get as many of these in as we can now, those burritos are no joke,” he laughs.

It’s a bit of a drive to get to a hiking trail that seemed unlikely to be crowded but you don’t mind. After months of waiting to be in this man’s presence, the more time you can spend with him the better. The trip passes quickly, with the two of you basking in each other’s company, play-arguing over playlists and agreeing that “when this is all over” you should plan a road trip together.

“Looks like we’ve got the place to ourselves,” he observes, pulling the car into the empty lot. He’s first out of the car and you hear a distinct “UGH” from him as soon as he steps out. He sees your puzzled look through the windshield as he walks around to your side to open your door. “I didn’t expect it to be so fuckin’ hot,” he explains.

You get out and instantly scrunch up your face as a gust of hot wind breezes over you. “Well, we did travel more inland, I guess it makes sense it’d be a little warmer,” you reason. 

You commiserate about the weather and then Ash starts gathering your things from the trunk of the car, taking non-essentials out of your backpacks since the heat is going to make your hike a lot less leisurely than planned. 

Despite the weather, the first portion of your hike is nice: you stroll and talk, enjoying the scenery and your time together. Ashton brought his camera with him and you catch him sneaking a few photos of you along the trail so you teasingly start snapping an excessive amount of pics of him using your phone.

As you get closer to the area you planned on stopping at for lunch, the heat starts getting more and more intense. The morning clouds have now dissipated and the sun is bright and unrelenting, causing the conversation to drag as you both start breathing a little more labored, focusing on getting to your stopping point as quickly as possible. It takes a lot longer than expected and by the time you reach your picnic spot, you’re both exhausted and covered in sweat.

You spread a blanket on the ground and immediately throw yourself on it, grateful for a chance to rest. You look up and see Ash peeling off his t-shirt and draping it over a rock in hopes it will dry before you have to head back.

Normally you’d be silently reprimanding yourself for staring at his bare flesh on display but truthfully all you’re thinking about is how much skin he’s exposing to the sun. “Think we left the sunscreen in the car,” you declare, sitting up to dig through your stuff. “As much as I’m enjoying the show, you’re gonna get fried if you don’t throw that back on.”

He sprawls out on the blanket next to you. “We’re shaded, it’ll be fine,” he insists, pulling his sweat-soaked hair back with a rubber band from his wrist.

The picnic is pleasant but far from the romantic adventure you’d envisioned. You’d hoped the two of you would be laughing under a tree, eating a delicious meal as an equally delicious breeze grazes your skin. The reality is the two of you sitting in silence because you’re so uncomfortable under the unforgiving sunshine, eating food that you would’ve preserved better had you known about the weather, as a hot wind scorches your skin. The part of you that had fantasized about sneaking in a heated makeout can’t get enough of the irony that this date is definitely heated, just not in the way it should’ve been.

With the peak temperature of the day still to come, you agree to call it and head for the car already; Ash puts his shirt back on and you notice him wincing as he moves his obviously sunburned skin, but you choose to say nothing.

The trek back is quiet, both of you physically drained and a bit mentally defeated at yet another date gone awry. At one point, you stop in a shaded area to catch your breath and you give him a quick kiss. “Had fun,” you say quietly. He offers you a soft smile in return.

The drive home is equally lowkey, the discontent and exhaustion of the day filling where there should be sexual tension. He knows the mood has deflated considerably so he doesn’t even ask you to come back to his, he just drives you home. 

The car pulls into your driveway and you turn to him. “Think we’re cursed or something?” Your voice is joking but he can detect the undertone of worry.

Ash gives you a bright smile that’s instantly a comfort. “Nah… maybe cursed with too much ambition and insufficient planning skills but I have no doubt this is exactly where I’m meant to be.” He reaches for your hand, interlacing your fingers and kissing your knuckles.

He walks you to your door and gives you a long kiss that almost has you reconsidering inviting him in. “We got this,” he whispers. 

You ruffle his hair. “I’ve also got aloe you can borrow for these sunburns, how are you even able to move?” You laugh, unlocking your door.

A few days pass before either of you broach the subject of another date; you’re finally the one to bring it up and you both agree on a simple dinner at home for the next night.

“Third time’s a charm, right?” You joke as he opens the door.

He draws you in for a slow kiss as you step inside. You murmur when you feel his facial hair brush against you; his beard is fuller than when you last saw him and you suspect he may have quit shaving simply based on the reaction you’d had to the look on your date. “Well, we’re already off to a good start, I’d say,” he comments against your lips.

You’ve only ever seen Ashton’s house in the background of your video chats and when he notices you looking around with fascination, he excitedly offers to give you a tour. You swear you can actually hear your heart going pitter patter as he proudly escorts you around, sharing funny memories about his friends involving each room or telling elaborate stories about different trinkets he owns. You can tell he’s missed entertaining people in his home and you’re so happy that you’re able to fill that void for him tonight.

You follow him to the kitchen. “Smells amazing, must be quite the dish,” you tease, knowing full well you sent him the “secret” recipe for your grandma’s spaghetti sauce the night before. He pokes at you and you giggle, “Anything I can do to help?”

“The groceries should be delivered any minute,” he answers, checking his phone. “There’s gloves and sanitizer wipes under the sink if you don’t mind taking care of that when it arrives.”

A few minutes later, you peck his cheek as you pass by to go outside and tend to your assignment. Ash nearly spirals when it’s discovered that the shopper made some substitutions without asking but you reassure him that dinner’s not ruined even if the sauce uses regular sugar instead of brown and will be poured over fettuccine noodles instead of spaghetti. 

“Not to jinx anything but I think this is our best first date yet,” you joke after dinner, getting out two coffee mugs from the cabinet he’d directed you to.

“All we had to do was eliminate the variables: other people, the weather, the outside world in general,” he ticks off the list on his fingers with a smile.

You hit the brew button on the coffeemaker and slide closer to where he stands loading the dishwasher. “Well. Just proves that all we really need is each other,” you muse, with a sweet smile. He grins at you, drying his hands so that he can cradle your face and kiss you. His hands are soft from the soap he just used and you sigh approvingly into his mouth as his thumb draws circles on your cheek.

That flirty but sweet tone continues as you move to the living room; you sit on the couch, drinking your coffee, chatting comfortably. You both keep finding reasons to scoot closer together, a thick layer of tension between you. You’d each talked a big game when sharing fantasies about what your first time might be like but now that it might be here, you’re surprised by the hazy combination of excitement and nerves you feel.

It’s hard to say who makes the first move: there’s a lull in the conversation and then suddenly, a kiss. Ashton’s hands quickly make their way into your hair and before long, things get heated and you find yourself climbing into his lap to straddle him. This was about as far as things had gotten between you pre-quarantine and it’s as glorious as you remember.

You roll your hips above him and he groans into the mark he was leaving on your neck; your shirt rides up with your movements and his fingers softly dance over the exposed skin. As you nibble along his jaw, his hands find their way up the back of your shirt and you shiver at his warmth. You put your hands on his wrists, guiding them up, letting him know it’s OK to take your shirt off; he does and you silently thank your past self for wearing one of your pretty bras tonight. 

“So beautiful, baby,” he breathes and then his mouth is back on yours, hands busy exploring the new skin on display for him. You shift your hips again and this time find yourself the one to groan, feeling him hard beneath you for the first time; you’ve spent a lot of time wondering what this would feel like and it’s more intoxicating than you ever could’ve imagined.

Ash lifts you off his lap and lays you back on the couch, peeling his own shirt off before moving to be on top of you. He kisses you hungrily and then makes his way down your body, the scratch of his beard deliciously teasing you, lips pecking over every inch of your neck before they attach to the tops of your breasts.

You pull him back up to your mouth and slide your hands down to unbuckle his belt. You brush over his length through his jeans and nearly gasp at the contact; you know he’s not even fully hard and he feels huge. This revelation has you getting impatient and you attempt to push his pants down. "Jesus dude, are these painted on or what?" You joke, struggling.

 "Hey, I could ask you the same thing," he retorts, running his hands along your ass to prove his point. With a goofy smile, he asks, "Should we pause and de-pants ourselves?" 

You laugh as you untangle yourself from his body and pull your pants off while he does the same. He eyes your matching lace lingerie and teases, "That’s some mighty fancy underwear you've got on there, Miss ‘Let’s Take The Pressure Off And Not Expect Anything To Happen Tomorrow Night’.”

You feel your cheeks warming at both his gawking attention and his implication you were hoping things would end up this way. You playfully fire back, "Maybe I dress like this all the time, you don't know me… or maybe I wanted to feel sexy for myself tonight." You try to pull him into a kiss but he pulls back, looking at you with a raised eyebrow. "Or maybe I'm really behind on laundry and I only have the nice stuff left," you say with a sheepish giggle. 

“That I believe,” he laughs delightedly. "Whatever the reason, you look fucking incredible.”

You intend to murmur a thanks but the way his kisses are currently being  peppered in between your breasts causes it to come out as a moan instead. His fingers toy with the closure of your bra and he looks at you to softly ask, “May I?”

You nod enthusiastically and close your eyes as his mouth acquaints itself with your bare breasts, your hands tangling in his hair. Your mouths find each other again, tongues familiarizing themselves with every detail of each other. You reach between your bodies and grip the tent in his underwear; you trace the shape of him through the material and he breaks your kiss to let out a strained moan. “God, I can’t wait to make you cum,” you murmur, a bit surprised by your own boldness.

You feel Ash breathe deeply, affected by your words. “Well, I’m afraid I have a strict ‘ladies first’ policy in this house, so I clearly need to get started,” he jokes, attempting to steady himself. “Bedroom?”

He helps you off the couch and you start to reach for your discarded clothes but he pulls you along, shaking his head. “You won’t be needing those for a while,” he grins.

You follow him to his room, impressing yourself with how steady on your feet you are, how calm you feel; your heart is racing but it’s from anticipation instead of uncertainty, which is unusual for you when you’re about to sleep with someone new. You tend to make these decisions impulsively, with a bit of a “fuck now, ask questions later” attitude. The fact that you’ve waited for this long to be with him and that you feel totally at ease, wandering through his upstairs hallway in just your panties, is the latest in a series of signs telling you that your feelings for Ashton are different.

You settle on the bed while he pauses in the doorway, fiddling with the dimmer on the light switch, determined to get it just right. He finally comes over and you don’t waste any time, climbing over to the edge of the bed to pull off his boxers. His cock springs free and you bite your lip, hoping you’re not actually drooling like you fear you might be.

“You good?” He goads you with a smug smile. During a couple of your video romps, you’d gotten yourself off with toys and he teased you about your selections, calling you a size queen. As you find yourself fascinated surveying the notable length and girth in front of you, you have to admit, he’s not wrong.

You silence his remarks by leaning forward and tentatively licking his tip, closing your eyes in satisfaction when you taste a drop of precum. You roll your tongue around the head, tracing every curve and ridge with your tongue. When you get comfortable enough to wrap your lips around him and slowly start taking him into your mouth, he quietly breathes your name, brushing your hair out of your face, and you feel like you could cum right then and there.

He senses your eagerness and lets you work for a bit longer before he gently pulls you off with a heavy sigh. "Ladies first, remember?" He rasps, flashing you a dazzling smile that would've made you weak even if he wasn't naked in front of you.

He gestures for you to lay back as he kneels at the edge of the bed, dragging his beard across your thighs before hooking his thumbs in your panties to slowly pull them off. You close your eyes, a blissful, close-mouthed smile decorating your face. Ash groans, gazing up at you. “Do you have any idea how many times I laid in this bed picturing what it’d be like to have you here like this?” He asks, raising himself up to kiss you passionately. “Better than I ever could’ve imagined.” 

His lips travel back down your body and you’re so caught up in how dreamy it is to finally feel him like this, you don’t notice he’s already made it back down your body and you cry out when his tongue licks a bold stripe up your center. You’re almost certain you feel him smile against you, proud of the reaction he’s achieved. 

You run your hands through his long hair, trying your best not to tug at it too much, although you suspect he might enjoy that. He alternates between soft, fluttering licks at you and long, intentional strokes, using every centimeter of his wide tongue. It’s overwhelming but you breathe deeply, trying to maintain control; it’s when he wraps his lips around your clit and starts sucking that you start writhing, your legs involuntarily closing in around his head and you tap at him to get his attention.

He immediately pulls back. “Too much?” He reassuringly squeezes your ankle, looking at you encouragingly. “Tell me what you need, sweetheart, wanna do what I can to make you feel good.”

You sit up on your arms, lightheaded from both pleasure and his care. “Ash, oh my god, it feels amazing,” you insist, reaching out to brush his hair out of his eyes. “I just… I really wanna cum with you in me... and I can’t always go for two… and it was feeling so good right now…”

Ashton leans up, pausing your nervous rambling with a sweet kiss. “Hey, it’s all good, I’m glad you told me,” he soothes. “Do you want to go ahead or do you need more time? We can do something else to get you ready. Your call.” 

You grin and guide his hand to run along your wet folds. “I think this qualifies as ready, don’t you?” 

“Alright, cheeky girl,” he teases, casually lifting his fingers from your wetness to his mouth, tasting you on them. “Still, there’s lube in the left nightstand if you want to get it out just in case.”

“Gentlemanly offer and a brag at the same time, I’m into it,” you laugh.

He giggles loudly, moving off the bed. “Gotta grab the condoms,” he explains, leaving the room.

You retrieve the bottle of lube like he suggested and tidy the bed up a little bit, adjusting the pillows to make yourself comfortable. He’s gone for what feels like a long time but you chalk it up to your excitement for what’s about to happen. You sit back, surveying the room, making mental notes about different things you want to ask him about later. Finally, you hear him call your name from down the hall and you curiously holler back at him.

He pops his head in the room, looking mildly panicked. “Please tell me you saw a box of condoms in the groceries you put away,” he inquires breathlessly.

Your heart sinks. “Um… no? I didn’t,” you take a steadying breath, bracing yourself for what seems like very bad news. “It was mostly food. And the napkins we used. Toothpaste I put in the bathroom. No condoms.”

Ash inhales sharply, nodding rapidly, which unsettles you; he comes to sit on the edge of the bed and drags his hands over his face and through his hair. “Well. This is just never gonna fucking happen, I guess,” he declares dramatically. You feel weirdly exposed now that the mood has shifted and you reach for a blanket to cover yourself with before you crawl over to him.

You rest your head on his shoulder, letting him know you’re there. He smiles sadly and strokes over your hair. “I’m so sorry, baby. I hadn’t dated in a while and then with lockdown… I didn’t know until yesterday what I had was expired so I tossed them and ordered some today… and they’re just… not here,” he says regretfully.

You chew your lip, evaluating how you should respond; you’re disappointed, obviously - very disappointed - but Ashton is clearly upset with himself and you don’t want to make him feel any worse. “I suppose it’d be irresponsible of me to suggest we ignore this road block by employing the old ‘spray and pray’ method?” You joke… at least you think you’re joking.

He snorts, turning to look at you with a smile on his face, which makes you feel better about things. “I’m sure you’re not serious but no, after all this time, after we finally had the perfect date, no, I’m not going to pull out and ‘spray and pray,’ he chuckles.

You smile back at him. “Well,” you start flirtatiously, “I meant it when I said I couldn’t wait to make you cum.” Your fingers dance along his bare thigh, travelling close to his softened cock. “We can still fool around, if you want.”

He looks at you fondly, squeezing your hand on his leg. “I really don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“Ash, as sweet as you are, this is an entirely selfish act on my part, I really just want you to moan for me,” you smirk, moving to sit back against the pillows. “Plus this is possibly the most turned on I’ve ever been and if I don’t get off soon, I might actually die.”

Grinning, he crawls up the bed and settles in next to you. “Well. Can’t have that, now can we?” He teases in a low voice, kissing you with an intoxicating restraint. “Got anything particular in mind?” He feels you sigh against him as he gets his mouth on your neck and his hand on your breast.

It takes you a second to find your voice again, still getting used to the novelty of being able to feel his touch. “To be honest, I wouldn’t mind getting my mouth back on you,” you confess with heavy breath. “Or we could just, you know, play with each other.” You slide your hand down to find his cock, lightly rubbing your fingertips up and down his shaft, feeling it start to rise for you again.

Ash groans and throws his arm around your shoulders, turning so that you’re cradled into his side. Your hand lazily drags over his length while he holds you, kissing you with a renewed intensity. The arm around you softly massages your shoulder while his free arm is exploring your body: palming your breasts, twirling your nipples, fingers caressing the rise and fall of your tummy. 

He breaks the kiss as his hand makes its way between your legs, tentatively brushing along your inner thigh, watching you closely as his fingers move to trace your lips and then your folds. He swirls through your wetness and then gently starts rubbing your clit; your hand instantly stills on him and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. 

“This feel alright?” He asks, studying your face. 

You take your free hand and place it on his, encouraging him to apply more pressure. “So good, Ash,” you murmur, raising your mouth to his again, eager to have his affection completely enveloping you.

You resume your motion on his cock, stroking him firmly, listening for the hitches in his breath or gentle grunts to tell you that your instincts of how to please him are correct. You try to recall what you can from the months you spent watching him touch himself online; you vividly remember him twisting over the tip while he used his other hand to cradle his balls. You give it a try and he lets out a loud moan, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

The two of you familiarize yourselves with each other’s bodies, savoring the noises you’re pulling from each other because although it’s not the first time you’ve ever heard them, it’s the first time they’re being caused by you. 

Ashton’s fingers tease along your entrance and you can’t breathe out a “Please” fast enough; he slides two fingers inside and starts thrusting. He starts with a moderate pace but you’re so worked up, you’re bucking against his hand almost immediately, overwhelmed at the thought of some part of him finally inside you.

You try your best to keep jerking him off but it’d be an understatement to say you’ve become distracted as his fingers move in you; you whisper an apology as you let go of him, starting to lose control, digging your nails into his bicep, whining at how you can feel it flex from the way he’s working your body. 

Ash can’t get enough of how receptive you are to him so when you mutter out another “Sorry” upon realizing how red the skin around his snake tattoo is from you holding on to him, he squeezes your shoulder in reassurance. “Listen, you can scratch that thing clean off if it means I’m making you feel that good,” he teases, nipping at your neck. “Are you as close as it sounds like you are?”

You’re sure your cheeks must already be flushed but you still feel them warm up at the implication that he recognizes your noises from quarantine. You nod, chest heaving, trying to catch your breath.

"Do you need something different to help you finish or keep this up?" He asks, understanding in his eyes.

You groan and jump as his fingers hit your spot again. "Um, actually I think I’d like if you went back to just my clit."

He nods, following your instructions. He rubs careful circles, checking your face to see if he’s getting the pressure right. You start to tuck your face into Ashton’s chest to minimize your reactions but he tenderly pulls you back to lay with him, stroking his hand through your hair to soothe you as he feels you start to shake in his arms. “God, you’re so fuckin’ beautiful like this,” he praises, sucking below your ear. “Let me hear you, baby, you always sound so good when you cum for me.”

His raspy affirmations work in perfect tandem with the vigorous movement of his fingers and you begin to unravel. You breathily cry out his name as your back rises off the bed and your hands fly out on either side of you, one gripping the sheets, the other grabbing for his arm again.

Your hips buck, riding the waves of pleasure surging through your body. Ash watches you carefully, continuing to work you until he detects a slight wince of overstimulation and he removes his hand, deciding to kiss you through the rest of your orgasm. 

Your body finally relaxes and while you’re definitely exhausted, you’re also eager to satisfy him in return. While he presses kisses over your face, whispering quiet praises as you settle, your hands move to explore his body again, one caressing at his chest and abs, the other taking hold of his cock, making good use of the precum he released while playing with you, starting to build momentum again.

He groans, closing his eyes, losing himself in your touch. You can't resist shifting slightly to travel down his body, pecking your way down his stomach, nibbling at his hips before moving your lips back to his cock. You suckle at the head and the throaty "Baby" you receive in return is already worth your trouble.

Ashton traces designs on your back while you suck him off; he constantly murmurs encouragement, which you appreciate because your heart is racing, this is the first time tonight you've felt truly nervous. You've always enjoyed giving head but you've fantasized about blowing Ash for so long you were slightly afraid it might not live up to expectations - for the both of you, since you'd shared many fantasies with him.

You try to pace yourself, not wanting to get greedy and take too much at once, using your hand to make up for what your mouth can't handle yet; every time you pull off to catch your breath and check in with him, he sweetly wipes at your mouth with his thumb and it's much cuter than it should be, considering the situation.

You bob along his shaft a few more times, fluttering your tongue along the underside, finding a particular vein you remember him paying special attention to. Your memory serves you correct and he emits a surprised whimper. He squeezes your shoulder a few times and you pull off curiously.

"Want your mouth on mine when I cum," he rasps.

You quickly reclaim your place laying in his arms, kissing him as requested. It’s just a few tugs until his breathing starts to stutter against your lips. "Fuck, yes, cum for me, Ash," you murmur, letting out a little moan yourself when you feel his cock throb in your hold.

Ash huffs out short belabored breaths as he moves his hand down to join yours, showing you how to work through his orgasm, adjusting slightly so that his cum shoots on to his own stomach instead of yours.

You lightly kiss him through it until he pulls your hand off of him, lacing his fingers in yours, squeezing briefly. You lay back in his arms, basking in the intimacy of the moment.

He pecks your forehead before he regrettably pulls away from you to gesture towards the tissue box on the bedside table. “Would you mind?”

You start to reach for it and then pause, deciding you’re comfortable enough to make a request. “Actually… could I…?” You trail off, raising your eyebrows as you steal a glance at his torso.  

Ashton chuckles out a surprised “OK” and then you’re quickly shuffling down his body to get your mouth on his cum covered skin. He breathes in sharply when he feels your warm breath on him and his stomach flutters under your tongue as you clean him up, blissfully humming as you discover his taste.

Your hair falls in your face and he brushes it out of the way, not wanting to miss a second of what you’re doing. When you’re finished, you sit up and daintily wipe your mouth with your fingertips. You catch a glimpse of Ash looking downright dazed, chest still heaving from his orgasm, eyes glazed over from watching you eagerly volunteer to lick up his release.

With the heat of the moment having passed, you start feeling slightly self-conscious about your boldness. “Was that over the top? I feel like that was too much for a first time, oh my god,” you laugh, hands covering your face nervously. “I just… on our calls, every time I would watch you cum, I would just… think about it…” You shake your head, surprised at your own behavior.

He laughs and reaches for you, kissing the top of your head as you lay against him. "Just the right amount of 'too much', trust me." His voice gets deeper as he leans in to whisper, “I’d thought about it too, for the record. As fuckin’ hot as I’d thought it’d be.”

You lay quietly wrapped up in him for a bit longer and when you move to get out of bed, he grabs your hand, squeezing it gently. “D’ya wanna stay tonight?” He asks, hazel eyes swimming with sweetness and sincerity. “I didn’t want to jinx it and get stuff for breakfast but I was thinking we could order in.”

You smile brightly, leaning in to peck his lips. “You can finally make me your famous coffee you’re always bragging about,” you tease.

“It’s disgusting, you’ll love it,” he grins, playfully pinching your ass as you get out of bed.

The next morning you wake up to the feeling of Ash climbing back into bed beside you. You open one eye and look him up and down suspiciously. “Where have you been?” You murmur.

He settles on his side, pulling you closer to him so your faces are inches from each other, at the edge of your respective pillows. “Ordered breakfast already, had to go unlock the front gate,” he explains, voice still thick with sleep. He strokes your hair and smiles at how you close your eyes, melting into his touch. “Sleep OK, baby?”

You feel your lips curl into a dreamy smile; you already knew you loved hearing him call you that but hearing it in his deep morning voice is fucking transcendent. “To be honest, it’s been so long since I slept next to someone, I wasn’t sure how it was gonna go at first,” you laugh, scooting closer. “You’re warm, though, which was nice.” 

“Well at least I have that going for me,” he jokes with a mock pout, which you promptly move in to kiss right off his face. You enjoy a sleepy, slow makeout for a few minutes and then he pulls away. 

He takes a deep breath before quietly saying, “Hey… I wanted to apologize for how I acted last night with the whole condom thing. I just got so frustrated because it seemed like we’d finally gotten it right… but that kind of negativity has no place in our relationship. Especially in a situation like that where you were feeling disappointed and vulnerable as well. So I’m sorry.”

“Ash,” you whisper softly. You take in the sight of him: long, dark curls darting out every which way from sleeping, scruffy beard you’re still certain he grew just for you, lips swollen from your kisses. His eyes are gorgeous as always but you can see the concern and remorse behind them and you feel like you can’t put him at ease soon enough. “You don’t have to apologize, it was disappointing and you don’t have to be Mr. Positivity 24/7 if you don’t feel like it. Not for me. I’d rather know how you’re really feeling.” 

“I guess I thought this would be easier. We’ve had so long to think about being together and to plan for it and it’s just been a constant let down,” he admits.

You chew your lip. “Well, listen. Last night still worked out? We still got to be intimate, I still got to experience waking up next to you. Sort of,” you tease. He cracks a smile and you couldn’t be more thankful. “But what you just said, maybe that’s part of the problem. Maybe because we had so much time to think about this, maybe we’ve built it up too much in our minds and we’re just setting ourselves up to be disappointed.”

He nods, mulling over your words. “Like the fantasy was important during lockdown but now it’s tripping us up. If we were in more normal circumstances, we would’ve just slept together without much thought.”

“You really think your game’s that good?” You joke and he pinches you in response. “You’re right, though, I haven’t thought this much about a first time since I was a virgin.”

“So we need to find a middle ground between this idealization we’ve invented and doing it just to get it over with,” he suggests.

“Exactly,” you peck his lips in encouragement. “At the end of the day, it’s just sex. I’ve been looking forward to being with you, not to some super romantic, candlelit lovemaking experience at the end of a dream date.” “Whenever it happens, it’ll be perfect because we’re perfect,” he smiles.

The two of you carry that mentality with you throughout the next couple weeks. You hang out, go on a couple dates and even end up having a spontaneous video sex session like old times. You still burn with desire nearly every time he’s near you but removing that looming pressure to set the mood really does help put you at ease with each other. You feel more connected than ever, like you’re able to focus on him now instead of the experience.

“The drive-ins are opened back up now,” Ashton mentions during your afternoon call. “Think you might wanna catch a movie tonight?”

“God, remember movies? That could be fun,” you agree.

“A buddy of mine went last weekend, opened up the hatchback, put a bunch of pillows down, made it nice and cozy. Thought I might ask if I could borrow his car… we could have a little picnic back there before the movie,” he proposes.

You smile to yourself, loving how excited he gets planning dates. “Better bring your comfiest hoodie for me to steal, we’re gonna get fuckin’ snuggly.”

Ash loves a good reveal so when he picks you up, he’s sure to walk you around the front of the car so you don’t peek in the back of the mini SUV. You have fun teasing him on the way there, adjusting the mirrors, exaggeratedly acting like you’re glancing over your shoulder; watching his eyes go wide and hearing his stern “Hey!” simply never gets old. 

Amused as he is by your game, Ashton knows how to tease you right back and when you arrive at the drive-in, before he gets out of the car to finish setting up, he offers you a kiss and a quiet warning of “Be good” that basically guarantees you’ll stay in your seat until he says otherwise.

After a few minutes, he finally calls you back there and you’re blown away at the elaborate transformation. He pops the hatchback up to reveal the back rows of seats have all been laid flat and a thin layer of memory foam lays across them, covered by piles and piles of blankets. Pillows of every shape and size adorn the setup, along with a small cooler and a tote of movie snacks. In the center of the makeshift bed is the pizza you picked up for dinner and two champagne flutes filled with your favorite soda.

“Ash,” you coo as you climb into the back of the car. “This is so fucking cute? You said your friend put some pillows down, not made an entire love nest back here.”

“Well, I may have embellished a little,” he chuckles modestly, following you inside. “One of our first hang outs was at a movie, so I thought our grand return should be special.” 

You grin as you serve pizza onto each of your plates. “That feels like that was a thousand years ago but I still remember the chill that ran down my spine every time you leaned over the armrest to whisper some comment about the movie.”

“Yeah? I remember being nervous because I couldn’t tell if you were aroused or annoyed, to be honest,” he laughs. 

“Oh it was definitely both at first. You talked a lot and I didn’t pay LA ticket prices to hear your commentary track,” you giggle, playfully shoving his shoulder as his jaw drops. “But then I decided I really liked how it felt to have you pay attention to me.”

“And of course what I was saying was clever and enlightening and added to your cinematic experience,” he adds on with a smirk.

You give him a tight-lipped smile, raising your eyebrows in exaggeratedly mocking agreement. He flicks your leg in response and you yelp, unable to keep from smiling at him. The two of you continue reminiscing and making easy conversation while you devour your pizza dinner. By the time you’re done, the sun is setting.

You lay back on the pillows you’ve propped up and watch intently as Ash gets rid of the pizza box at a nearby trash can. You’d both agreed that the dress code for tonight was ‘comfort’ and he went with a black t-shirt and an endearingly bizarre pair of lounge pants that feature a mountain landscape illustrated across the legs. Unsurprisingly, the t-shirt hugs his chest and biceps, drawing attention to the tattoos up and down his arms that you haven’t been able to keep your hands off of. What is surprising is how the loose pants still cling to his body in all the right ways - pulling across his thick thighs and ass, making you wonder if he’s keeping things in his pockets or if the bulging in front you’re seeing is all him. You squeeze your legs together, pleased that he’s almost back at the car, eager to feel him, even if it’s just for a snugged up movie date.

He flashes you a dazzling smile as he walks up to the car. “What’s got you all dreamy-eyed?” He teases, settling in next to you. You feel your breath hitch as he comfortably rests his hand on your bare thigh, toying with the hem of your lounge shorts, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

“Just happy to be here,” you shrug, leaning over to peck his bearded cheek.

He hums at your affection, leaning his head on your shoulder as he fiddles with his phone, pulling up a radio app so he can tune to the station that will be broadcasting the audio for your screen. “It’s kind of a deadzone out there, there’s only maybe 5 other cars,” he reports, reaching behind you to make sure the bluetooth speaker he’s connected to is on. “Even with all the distancing, we probably didn’t need to park all the way back here.”

“I like it… Gives the illusion you rented out the place just for me, makes me feel special,” you joke. He giggles and kisses your shoulder.

The first movie of your double feature starts a few minutes later and you couldn’t possibly enjoy it more. The two of you trade jokes and snacks; it’s all just so comfortable and lovely, unfiltered and natural.

During the intermission, you decide to get out and stretch a bit before the second film starts. You notice that when you feel Ashton’s eyes poring over you as you bend and twist, you only feel pride and desire, none of the nervousness or timidity you’d felt a few weeks ago.

Once the movie starts, you sit and try to patiently wait and see if he’s going to make a move but by the time the opening credits are over, you can’t help but advance things yourself. You scoot closer but his eyes remain trained on the screen; you decide to more explicitly ask for his attention by nuzzling your face into his neck, pressing a few light kisses behind his ear, scratching his beard with your nails. “I’m having a good time,” you whisper, feeling him grin under your touch. “This was such a great idea, I’m happy you suggested it.”

He slinks his arm around your waist, pulling you closer. “I’m so glad you like it,” he beams at you. “It’s fun to be out in the world again but also still pretty much alone.”

“Alone enough to do this,” you lilt, leaning in to plant your lips on his. Your kiss is gentle but urgent and he reciprocates your energy, cupping your face with one hand and using the other to press you against him, murmuring when you slide your tongue into his mouth. Just when things start to get heated, one of you pulls back and warmly smiles at the other, as if you’re both excited for more but still wanting to appreciate what’s happening in this moment.

You don’t want to disrupt the makeout but you can’t fight the craving you have to feel more of him; you’re finally able to pull yourself away and you lay down on the bed, patting the spot next to you in what you hope is an alluring manner.

He moves closer and you close your eyes, ready to feel his touch. You’re startled to instead hear a grunt of frustration and the shifting of a leather seat. Your eyes snap open and you see him straining to reach into the front seat, trying to reach the keys in the ignition. You’re half a second away from asking what the hell he’s doing when you hear a distant beep and the hatchback slowly begins to close at the end of the cabin. 

He plops himself on the pillow next to you. “Thought we could use a little more privacy,” he explains, grabbing a handful of your ass and using it to pull you closer. “Just in case someone else out there thinks the movie is as boring as we did.”

You start to giggle at his remark but your laughter is interrupted by his lips returning to yours. You both let your mouths and hands do as they please, exploring and enjoying without hesitation and without expectation. You’ve just peeled off his shirt and are sucking a mark at his collarbone when you feel his hand slip up your shirt to palm your breast. You give a light bite to his skin as his fingers pull at your nipple; he groans as you breathily tell him, “You can do it harder.”

A few dozen kisses later, his hand is sliding down your stomach and past the waistband of your shorts. You pull out of his kiss to whine quietly as his long fingers brush through your wetness, only touching your clit incidentally before adding light pressure. 

“Good?” Ashton checks with a smile as your head lulls back and you grab onto him.

“Oh, you know… ‘s alright I guess,” you joke, your attempt at being casual undermined by the way you’re basically grinding into his hand. You let out a long moan and he quickly brings his mouth back down to yours in an attempt to silence it.

As his fingers and lips drive you wild, you find your own hands reaching for his pants and you sigh into his mouth when you feel his cock hard and ready for you. You run your fingers across the straining fabric, teasing him with one hand while the other works to loosen the drawstring. 

You dip your hand inside and grip his cock, choking back a moan when you feel how much he’s already leaked for you. The slickness helps you easily begin stroking him and you shift so you can study his face, wanting to see evidence of the pleasure you’re giving him. As your thumb swipes over his tip and your fingers firmly squeeze his length, Ash’s eyes flutter shut and he bites his lip, quietly muttering your name under his breath.

His fingers slip inside you and you gasp as pumps them in and out, dragging them against your walls, teasing your spot. It’s an intense moment when your eyes lock as his fingers work inside of you while yours glide up and down his cock, the two of you breathing heavy as you basically fuck each other without fucking.

“Ash…” You start, voice wavering.

“Yeah,” he answers in strained agreement. “Do you want --”

“Yes, yes I do. I brought --”

“So did I.”

You break apart from each other and reach for your belongings, chuckling as he pulls a handful of condoms from his backpack and tosses them onto the bed at the same time you pull some from your purse and add them to the pile.

“Well it’s good to know we’re both the kind of people who can learn from their mistakes,” he laughs, pulling you into a delighted kiss. 

An exciting energy fills the car as you both shift around, getting yourselves situated. Ashton pulls back a layer of blankets from the seats in case you want to cover up and bursts out laughing when he turns around to see you’ve already stripped off your shorts and panties and are sitting there pantsless and unbothered.

“We’re parked in the back, there’s barely anyone here and the windows are fogged up,” you shrug, grinning.

You find yourself captivated as you watch him kick his pants off and get up on his knees, wrapping a hand around his cock, pumping it a few times before rolling a condom on. This is really happening. Finally, really happening.

“C’mere,” he breathes, reaching for you. You crawl to him and he cradles your face, kissing you softly. You nibble at his lip as you pull away and the two of you can’t stop smiling.

You climb into his lap, sitting on his legs, staring into his eyes. “Ready?” He asks you, sweetly rubbing your thighs. 

You nod eagerly and lift yourself up to hover over his cock. He slicks the tip through your folds, stopping to tease over your clit a few times and then he’s watching your face as he presses against your entrance. 

Your mouth drops open as you start to take him. He's so thick the stretch is instant, breathtaking and everything you've been dreaming of. His fingers gingerly brush over your hip, encouraging you as you ease him further inside you, rocking up and down until you're impossibly full.

Ash wraps his arms around you, kissing you deeply, hands in your hair then running down your back, then squeezing your ass. You feel completely surrounded by him and it’s overwhelming in the best way. You break the kiss to quickly peel your t-shirt off and then you’re reattaching your lips to his, pressing your chest against his, needing to feel as much of his skin on yours as you possibly can.

“Yes, baby, fuck” he murmurs as you slowly begin to move on his cock. “Feel so fuckin’ perfect… better than I’ve been imagining.”

You respond with a series of whimpers, so caught up in the feeling of finally having him in you. You move cautiously, almost torturously slow until you adjust to his size and then you pick up the pace, his hands firmly gripping your ass, helping you along.

You don’t even have the end goal of an orgasm in mind, you just can’t get enough of the new sensations his cock is making you feel. You shift from rocking to bouncing on him, moaning loudly each time his length hits a new place inside you.

“Ash… your cock feels so fucking good,” you pant, riding him with increasing speed, losing yourself in it. “Can’t believe you’re finally filling me up, baby… fuck.”

Your movements are bordering on frantic when you feel Ashton lightly squeeze your hips, attempting to still them, gently breathing your name. You slow down and look at him inquisitively. The mixture of amusement, desire and warmth painting his face is enough to make your pounding heart skip a beat.

“Can I?” He softly asks. You nod and he carefully pulls out of you and lays you back against the pillows before settling over you. He pecks over your neck and face as he guides himself back inside you. “Think we owe it to ourselves to slow down and live in this for a while.”

He starts to push up so he can get to work but you stop him, tucking his long hair behind his ear, stroking your hand over his beard. “You’re right, just feels so good,” you grin. “Hard not to get carried away.”

Ashton kisses over your palm and begins leisurely moving his hips. He keeps a moderate pace, steady enough that you’re feeling consistent pleasure, feeling something building in your core, but not so hurried that you’re aching to reach the finish line. You hook your leg around his hip and when he pushes it slightly back towards you, he slides in deeper and his groan blends with yours to form possibly the most gorgeous sound you’ve ever heard.

“Jesus, baby… pussy’s takin’ me so well,” he praises, voice sounding more wrecked than you expected. “Such a pretty, giving pussy, baby… what a good girl.”

You shiver at his words, your hands running up and down his back, feeling his muscles flex as he moves above you; you slide your hands down to grab his ass, pulling him closer, willing him even deeper. Ash reaches between your bodies to find your clit, teasing it with just the right amount of pressure to make you moan. The snap of his hips has become slightly quicker and you can tell by his breathing that he’s getting close.

“Ash… so good, yes,” you mumble, reaching down to direct his hand in the pattern you need. He mimics your movements expertly and you start rocking your hips along with him, feeling the stirrings of your climax. “Fuck, like that… god, please.”

“Yeah?” He pants, watching your body start to tense. He takes his free hand and reaches for yours, lacing your fingers, squeezing encouragingly. “Been waiting so long to feel you cum around my cock… come on, baby, cum.”

The first pulse of your orgasm hits you so forcefully you’re shocked he doesn’t react to how hard you squeeze his hand. By the time the next one hits, you’re crying out in senseless mutters from how heavenly this moment feels, how his thick cock couldn’t fit more perfectly inside you as you tighten around it. The sensations feel like they might echo forever as you start to come back down, Ash continuing to move gently in you, reassuring you in a soft voice about how incredible you feel around him.

You pull him down to kiss him breathlessly, satisfied from your orgasm but still hungry for his affection, still needing him on you. “Want you to cum for me, babe,” you whisper. “Let me know how much you love being buried in this pussy.”

Your words drive Ashton’s thrusts to become frenzied as he growls your name, followed by a raspy string of curses. He lets out a deep groan as he fills the condom, rocking into you deep and slow as he works through his climax. His head drops to burrow into your neck and you shiver at how his beard prickles your overstimulated skin. You stroke through his curls, lightly damp with sweat, and whisper in his ear, “So good, Ash… so fuckin’ good.”

He plants an exhausted but sweet kiss on you, only breaking it for you both to whine as he pulls out of you; he carefully ties off the condom while you reach for some of the leftover napkins from dinner to clean yourself up. You sort through each other’s clothes, the two of you grinning like fools the entire time you’re getting dressed.

Ash leans back against the pillows and sighs loudly, gesturing for you to come lay with him. You crawl toward him, making a small detour over the front seat to press the release on the hatchback again. You settle against him as the door opens, the cool night air filling the car again, the long forgotten movie still being projected in the distance.

“Worth the wait?” You tease, giving him a toothy smile.

He holds you tight to his chest. “Fuckin’ hell, baby… as much as we built it up, think we still might’ve undersold it. Like. Goddamn.”

You hum in agreement, closing your eyes, enjoying the afterglow. “I’m glad we just kind of let it happen. That’s probably the best first time I’ve ever had. Definitely the most comfortable.”

“Same. Easy but still just… perfect,” he says dreamily.

You play with his fingers, chuckling, “I was so comfortable I almost asked you to cum on me until I remembered we were fucking in your friend’s car.”

“I mean, it was already questionable for us to have gotten fully naked in his car, we might as well have gone all out,” Ashton laughs loudly, squeezing your hand. “I think Cal had a suspicion this might happen, he left breath mints, condoms and Clorox wipes in the glove compartment.” 

You cackle. “No blacklight, though?”

He pinches your leg and leans in to drown your laughter with a kiss. You gaze at him for a beat, marvelling at how normal everything feels for once. You notice he’s looking at you with a familiar fire in his eyes and you swear even though you were naked with him just a few minutes ago, you actually feel butterflies in your stomach.

You raise your eyebrows at him expectantly and Ash smirks. “Was just thinkin’ it’s for the best anyways. The first time I cover you in cum I don’t want it to be in a dark backseat, I want to be able to see it.”

You quietly groan, a naughty glint in your eye to match his. You sit up and plant a heated kiss on him, pulling away to murmur, “Well. It’s still early… my place or yours?”

————-

Thank you to everyone who signed up for my new taglist, both for the support and the lovely (occasionally hilarious) feedback! If you haven’t signed up yet, the form is linked above! (If your name is crossed out, please check your blog settings, I was unable to tag you)

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[iovchlde]

Would I be able to request a date with Zhongli where he and the reader (she/her?) walk through Guyun and end up star gazing. He calls the reader my beloved and goes on talking about the stars and how much he loves the reader (maybe the reader fiddles with his hair, clothes, etc) and perhaps the reader eventually falls asleep on his shoulder.

lay your head on my shoulder.

in which zhongli tells you a story about the skies, but you find it hard to stay awake— his voice is a lullaby.

request a date; 300-400 follower event!

pairing.

zhongli x reader

genre.

fluff

author’s note.

the way i ended up getting distracted halfways thru writing this and started reading about stars and myths behind them— it was really fascinating actually :D

anyways, i hope this was to your liking!

the walk along the shallow beaches of guyun had become a normal trip for the two of you. on sundays, where businesses were slow and your mind was at rest, you two would frequent the secluded place. it was a special getaway for the two of you; a place far away and contrasting to the fast-paced life of liyue harbor, a place where you could just rest. it was always moments like these that you enjoyed the most.

you can’t help but stare at your intertwined hands— ungloved, and you can feel the steady pulse of his heartbeat, slow and faint, with an odd sense of tranquility washing over you at the feel. a small wind billows past the two of you, brushing against your skin, serving as a relaxing chill to the warmth that emanates from the man. it was moments like these that made life feel perfect.

zhongli eyes you from his peripheral, curious as to why you’d been silent for some time, his eyes following your line of sight. a smile makes its way to his lips, fondness glazing his features— it brings him joy to see you in such peace. he gives your hand a gentle squeeze, enough to break you out of your small stupor, and you cast your gaze to him. “care to share what’s on your mind, my beloved?” zhongli hums.

“it’s nothing,” you say gently, shaking your head at him, and squeezing his hand back. “i just really like holding your hand. it’s relaxing.” zhongli’s heart stutters, and a faint pink dusts your cheeks at the admission. this doesn’t go unnoticed by the man, though, he’s sure his face is pink too.

he chuckles softly at your shyness, pulling your body closer to his, with your shoulders now brushing lightly against one another as you stroll. the walk itself is a little wobbly— the uneven terrain of the sand makes it hard to walk in perfect sync, but you make it work, and zhongli’s grasp on you makes it hard to stray away. “no need to feel embarrassed,” zhongli assures you, his voice low and slow as he speaks, with no rush behind them. “i enjoy holding your hand too, in case you wanted to know too.”

you hum at this, laying your head on his shoulder. “yeah?”

“yeah,” zhongli mirrors, and you both smile.

you’re starting the trek upwards to one of the peaks of guyun, a place zhongli would lead you to once in a while, when the sky was clear of clouds. it was a place that felt close to the moon, to the stars, and one that had you believing that if you reached far enough, one would fall into the palm of your hands. in simpler words, it was breathtaking.

from the way your head laid against him, it was easy to see the stars that glimmered across the night sky, some sparkling more than others. without the bright lights that shrouded liyue harbor, it was much easier to see the beauty of it all from here, it was much easier to see just how pretty the night sky truly was. “tell me something about the stars,” you ask him out of the blue, and zhongli raises a brow at you.

“well,” he pauses. “what do you want to hear about, my beloved?”

“anything is fine,” you tell him, knowing fully well that you’d enjoy anything he told you. there was a certain way he carried himself as he spoke— it was composed, elegant, and most importantly, soothing. “i like listening to you when you tell stories.” you whisper against him, but he hears it loud and clear.

“hm, let me think for a moment.” zhongli’s gaze follows yours as he stares upwards, and you take this time to steal a quick glance. his eyes focused as he looks up at the vast sea of stars, but his features remain calm and serene. “let’s take a seat over there, and then look up at the sky,” he instructs you, and you do.

he guides you to a cozy formation of rocks, a perfect crook for sitting at, leaning your backs against it. you stay planted near him, his hand that was once intertwined with yours now separated, as he slings a lazy arm over your shoulder.

“the constellations that we see now,” he motions to the vague clusters clear to you, the ones visible at that point in the year. it was the mark of the end of a new moon, the sky perfect for constellation gazing, the moon now in a crescent shape. “most of them rise from the east, and set in the west, much like how the sun does. they revolve around a heavenly axis— a pole star, placed so far up north— that gives it that illusion. but, if a constellation is close enough to the heavenly axis, it would have opposing effects. both ursa minor and major, and draco, dance along an eternal circle on the pole.”

“a constellation first appears at the western horizon, or its heliacal rising, in terms of astrology. as the year progresses, it dances upwards onto the sky, until it reaches the peak. it’s best to go stargazing before, during, or after a new moon. during these times, it’s easiest to spot out the clusters of constellations from the rest of the stars randomly patterned.” you hum at his words, an indication that you were listening.

as much as you loved listening to zhongli, it was hard to stay awake— it was late out, and his voice as he spoke felt like they were lulling you to sleep. your eyelids were starting to feel heavy, and your breath evened out, as you slipped into rest.

it doesn’t take long for zhongli to notice; your breathing and lack of response as a clear indicator.

zhongli’s voice trails off, watching as your body slumps against his and lays still. he doesn’t do much to fight the faint chuckle that eases past his lips, and he reaches up to thread his fingers through your hair. you’re pretty, he thinks, breathtaking. he keeps them there, before he brings you closer to him, to place a tender kiss on your forehead. “sleep well, my beloved.”

[elliethesuperfruitlover]

Can you do the umbrella academy Klaus x fem reader one shot? Where reader had a bad day, and Klaus is being the good, kind boyfriend he is.

Rough Winters

A/N: This is a request based prompt, a Klaus x reader. I don’t write a lot for Klaus which is odd, since I love him a lot, but I have been focusing on Luba and Leon a fuck ton. I hope you enjoy this one nonny!!

Warnings: sadness, crying knowing me, panic attack, small cut

Cheeky Tag List: @misskittysmagicportal, @the-freckled-luba @badsext @joz-stankovich @iamsexytrash @super-unpredictable98

  If someone would’ve said that you’d had a bad day, they’d be correct, but once more, with severe SADNESS. You woke up just fine, right next to Klaus, so that was fine. He was of course, wrapped around you, so you were happy, but going to be late. As one who works in this capitalist economy, you had to make a sacrifice, and Klaus’ long arms would have to be the ones. You stripped yourself from him, and  got out of bed, the sun beating on your skin. You even made a proper nutritional breakfast, opposed to Eggos and Sunny D orange juice (which is sweet as shit, kids, don’t do it). At that moment, just when you started digging in, you glanced at the clock, and you were 5 minutes late, ALREADY. No biggie, you’d just run, oop- the sun decided to dip and the rain came out to play. You packed the rest of your breakfast, then angrily snatched the umbrella from its stand, running out of the door. 

“Honey, HONEY, YOUR PHO- too late.” Klaus yelled through the door, but you’d already taken off, quick, fast, and in a hurry.

Upon arrival at your workplace, i realized that your phone was gone, but no worries, you’d use the work pho-. Oh, the lines are down, and have been down for a couple weeks now. You sighed, but sat down in your chair anyway, and waited for customers to float in. It was a particularly busy day, and you had to make arrangement after arrangement, daisies and roses, baby breaths mixed with lilacs. Your workshifts were a blur of colors and scents, and you were exhausted, breathing a sigh of relief when the last customer received their bouquet, and when you could wipe the beads of sweat from your forehead. Your breakfast from earlier was left open, sadly, and the flys got to it.

“Oh no, come on, SHIT.” you said, throwing the entire container in the garbage, deciding that you were going to drop by a random Mcdonalds for dinner. Upon looking in your bag for your wallet in the car, you realized you had also left that home, and you swore once more under your breath, cancelling your order, and pulling out of the drive-thru.

  In the time span of about 4 minutes, the dreary drizzle that was that day turned into a flurry of snow, and your eyes opened in wonder, before realizing that the snow was in fact coming down very fast, and was bound to get you stuck. You seemed to catch almost every red light the route home gave you, and your eyes began to droop even more as you pulled into your driveway, head on the steering wheel. You felt tears coming on, but they stayed at bay, and you slowly walked out of the car, locked the door, and headed inside, throwing your keys in the bowl. A loud sigh, on the edge of a voice break, came from your chest, as you took your shoes off, and shed your purse.

“Hi baby, how was your….day?” Klaus asked, his gaze saddening upon looking at your appearance. When you saw his hands reaching for yours, it was like something broke, and you began sobbing, tumbling to the floor. It felt like you couldn’t breathe, and like every breath was simply for naught. Everything seemed to float away from you, except for the large dark cloud over your head, and you felt your heartbeat way too fast than it should.

  He rushed over to you, and caught you before your head hit the floor. Your fists curled into the fabric of his shirt, he held you as you broke in front of him. You cried for the snow, for your customers, your phone, and it all seemed like too much. You wanted to scream, but nothing but sobs came out, and you shook in Klaus’ arms, and he held you. His arms stayed wrapped right around you, and his legs stretched to accommodate your form, keeping you close. Small words of kindness went into your ears, but you couldn’t register them. You couldn’t register anything. The lights in the house got too bright, and the snow pelting the windows was bashing into your head. You rocked back and forth in place, and he still held you through it. His lips pressed against your cheek, and that contact kept you grounded to what was reality. The more you felt, the more you were. He continued to breathe against you, and it coaxed your lungs to follow his lead.

“That’s it honey. Slow breaths. Take it slow. I’m here for you.” he whispered, hands slowly rubbing down your arms. That also helped, and he reached down to stroke your knuckles, tenderly rubbing against them. You eventually calmed down, and the sobs turned into sniffles.

  Klaus slowly sat you up, and brought you a glass of water, which you took with a nod of appreciation. You slowly sipped it, and Klaus clattered around the house, and at some point you heard the tap turn on. The glass almost dropped to the floor, but you caught yourself, and began to nod off, exhausted from the day. You didn’t know how long you were sleeping, but Klaus was gently waking you up, his eyes full of tenderness.

“Come on honey. We got to get you cleaned up and warm. Then I’ll fix you something. Maybe we could watch a movie. Cuddle.” he said, stroking our cheek. You smiled, and he kissed your cheek once more, helping you up from your spot of despair on the floor. When you got to the bathroom, a gentle scent of vanilla and lavender hit your nose, calming you. Klaus gently stripped you, and guided you to the bath.

  You sank into the water, and soaked for several minutes, letting it relax your muscles. You began washing the day’s stress off of you, and Klaus turned to face you, taking in your appearance. You gave him another gentle smile, and continued getting yourself clean, stretching up to reach certain places.

“Need any other help?” he asked, reaching up to stroke your shoulder. You shook your head, mumbling a “no thank you”, and he slipped from the bathroom, and you heard pots clattering around. You dried off, and let the water out, grabbing the shirt and undies Klaus left for you on the bathroom counter.

  Once he heard your steps, Klaus took you in, and hugged you, and you glanced over at what he was cooking up. Apparently, it was gourmet tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. You snuggled into his back as he cooked, and when he was done, you detached, curling into the couch. The two of you ate in almost quiet silence, gentle music playing from the record machine. He was getting better at cooking, and you smiled at the heat produced from the food items. When you finished, Klaus got your plate and bowl, and set them in the sink, as they could be washed later. He led you back upstairs to bed, and he cuddled you, stroking your back.

“If you don’t want to talk about today, that’s completely fine. However, I want you to know that I’m here to listen.” he replied, letting his words sink in. You did explain what happened, and almost teared up again, but Klaus tucked you into his chest, and let you cry. You eventually fell asleep, at peace from what he decided to do. You felt truly loved.

Masterlist

[eerythingisshaka]

The Coffee Prince Pt. XV

[T’Challa x Reader]

Word Count: 4.2k

*Part 1* *Part 2* *Part 3*  *Part 4* *Part 5*  *Part 6* *Part 7* *Part 8* *Part 9*  *Part 10* *Part 11* *Part 12* *Part 13* *Part 14*

Your vision is blurry and your surroundings sound like you are underwater.  A brightness keeps your attention steady but your mind is clear of any coherent thought.  The nothingness should be peaceful, but your heart beats sluggishly, heavy with each thunk in your chest and you feel yourself get nauseous.  Then a nagging tone reverberates in your head over and over until you’re forced out of the vacuum in your mind.

“(Y/N)?”  you hear.  The haze in your eyes clears to reveal the coffeeshop and eventually the individual sitting in front of you.

“Are you ok?  You are just staring.”  T’Challa says.  He takes your hand in his and uses his napkin to dry your coffee dampened hand.

You snatch your hand back quickly, knocking into your cup as it tips in your direction.  T’Challa snatches it back as quickly as he can but it doesn’t take much for a hot liquid to make its presence known.   The splash hits your white sweater dress, heat hits your stomach as the coffee soaks thru and ruins the fabric.

“Oh!  Fuck!”  you yell out, pulling the offending area away from your skin and getting up to leave.

T’Challa follows you out, apologizing.  “I am so sorry!  I didn’t mean to startle you.”

You burst outside, trotting to create some distance.  You have to go home at this point.  There is no way you can work with this mess on you.

Your wrist is grabbed as you are pulled around by T’Challa, but you whip your hand back.

“What the hell was that back there?”  you ask.

T’Challa looks at you in confusion.  “I was trying to help-”

“Yeah no, I know what you were doing, but why?  What are you here for?”

T’Challa keeps a cool head, maintaining his signature royal calm.  “I decided it would be nice to talk to you, since I saw you there.”

“You decided?”  You cackle into the air, white puffs from the cool weather give you a poetic feature of your anger.  “So you were just waiting for the right moment to come up to me?  Because why?  You were scared?  You were busy?”

T’Challa looks less sure of himself as he responds.  “No, not at all.  But I thought we agreed on space.”

“How long do you take space from someone?  Five, six months from a person you claimed to love?  I-”  you take a minute to gather yourself.  “I am going to clean this shit off of me.  You go and do whatever the fuck you were planning to do after your 5 minute check in.  Thanks Doc.”

You make your way as fast as you can to your car to get back home.  Feeling your anger fester inside is exhilarating as you speed down the street.  You stop at a red light and hype yourself up turning up the radio to some Flo Milli shit, ready to catch a body.

A horn honks behind you beginning you back to your original task of driving.  Assuming you missed the light change you look to still find it red.  As you check your rearview, you recognize the driver, T’Challa, urging you to pull over with some finger pointing.  

You can’t believe he is even following you.  This is the worst time to talk out of all the months you waited for him.  He will have to follow your lead.

Soon as the green light comes up, you put the pedal to the floor.  Zooming down the road, you try your best to whip around corners and maneuver around cars to shake T’Challa off your path.  Checking your mirror again once you were less than 5 minutes from your place, you can’t see him.  You sigh with relief, honking your horn once happily that you prevailed.  

“Take that!  Thinking you can just slide back like nothing happened, bitch please!”  you felt your boss energy hit a high as you turned onto your neighborhood. 

Once you’re parked, you head up the stairs to your floor, keys jingling as you search for your door key.

“I am glad you made it.”

At the top of your steps, T’Challa is waiting at the door, hands folded in front of him, in his black heavy trench coat.  You wouldn’t have guessed he followed you home at all, since he looked like you kept him waiting.

“T’Challa!  I seriously didn’t ask you to come here!”

“You shouldn’t have to,” he says.

You sigh, stepping to the door and pushing him aside.  “I am on the clock still, I just don’t have the time to even get into it with you.”

Stepping inside your apartment, you look around at the mess you have been too out of it to clean.  You turn to the door to close it behind you, but T’Challa holds the door open.

“Are you just going to follow me around the whole damn day?”  you exclaim.

“We have had enough space.  I can talk while you change.”

“I won’t be listening,”  you say, stepping away and heading for your bedroom.  You dig around your closet for something to replace your outfit feeling yourself get more upset with each flick of a hanger.

T’Challa closes the door behind him, picking up trash and wine bottles.  “I was hoping I would find you well.”

“I’m in a rush!” you shout from your room.

“When we left each other, it took everything for me to not come to you and check on you everyday.  I wanted to respect your wishes so I kept myself busy and distracted my thoughts.”

You pick out a brown sweater with navy blue stripes and some black slacks.  Not nearly as cute as the white sweater dress but you had little time left.

T’Challa continues, “And what helped me is that I knew you were happy and safe.  I did not have to worry about someone trying to take you from me, as long as I stayed back.  But I  didn’t like the man I became when you were out of my life and it became harder to not at least check on you, so I did frequent the shop more in order to catch a glimpse of you and when I had, I felt the wave of disappointment.”

You step out into the doorway of your bedroom.  “Why?  Because I looked like I hadn’t slept soundly for weeks?  Like I had a cloud of anxiety over my head, wondering when you might pop up?”

“Why would you be anxious to see me?”  T’Challa asks.  “I feel nothing but calm when I am around you.”

You laugh.  “I can’t believe that.  It’s awkward running into an ex in any situation so that alone makes it stressful.”

He nods, looking slightly relieved.  “As long as there are not other reasons, I am glad.”

“So why say you were disappointed to see me?  Your plan of liberating me didn’t work and you felt bad for me?”

T’Challa shakes his head.  “I was disappointed because my selfish nature became apparent.  You look well, and I didn’t notice any of the conditions you are saying.  It was like the day we first met, when you came to me and I was glad.  I wanted to come to you in the same nature and see you smile back, but I knew I couldn’t achieve that same effect.”

“So why come up to me today?  If you already knew I wouldn’t be happy to see you, why do all this?”

You see his eyes fall.  Similar to the way he looked when you left him in Wakanda, T’Challa looks hurt by your words.

“I was hoping I was wrong,”  T’Challa says quietly.  

You can’t think of words to say next, although that is only a half truth.  Your mind filled with words to say but your jaw locked itself tightly.  

“All I’ve done is ask you to leave me be.  You say I am fine, and I agree.  It’s been great not having you around.”  You felt a sting in your mouth saying that.  Why were you lying?

You walk across to your front door to open it, but he lays his hand on the door.

“You didn’t deserve to go through that alone,”  he says.

“I feel like we agreed on that already.”

“I mean after.  The break was a mistake.”

“No, it’s what I wanted and you’re ruining it.”

“Umhle…”

“No!”  you push him in his chest, making him step back.  “Don’t call me that!”

“Listen,” he says.

You push him again, hoping he feels the weight on his heart that you have had to go through for months.

“I won’t!  You have nothing left to say that I wanna hear.  You talk so damn much!”

Your hands fly up to knock his chest again, but he catches them by the wrist, pushing them above your head and back against the front door.

He looks at you fiercely but not with anger.  He looks like he is on the brink of crying as he pins you there, protecting himself from your mania.

You lay your head back, closing your eyes.  “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Then stop.”

“I know, I know.”  

He let’s your arms go, and you feel your heartbeat in your ears.  Seeing him there in front of you felt like a dream but nt like the ones you’ve been having.  You put a hand up to his cheek just to ensure that he is real.  He leans his head into your hand gently, allowing your touch and breaking his steadfast stoicism.

What you don’t see coming is your lips finding his.  It’s a small peck, but a crack in the cold war between you two.  T’Challa looks at you in doe eyed observance, but doesn’t step away.  

“Are you ok?” he asks quietly.

You kissed him hard, ripping at his coat to get to his solid body underneath.  Your blood pumped with adrenaline as you pushed him toward your couch, pulling up at his shirt.

T’Challa holds your forearms tightly, holding your progress back.  “What are you doing?”

“It’s not obvious?”  You free your hands to grab the hem of your dress, pulling it over your head, standing before him in nothing but your undergarments and knee high boots.  

T’Challa loses this battle, bringing his hands perpendicular to the width of your hips.  You wrap your arms around his neck as his lips meet his shoulder, planting delicate kisses that make your insides curl up.

You don’t want this right now, you wanted to get down to business.  You take his shirt off swiftly.

“Fall back,”  you tell him, shoving him to the couch before jumping onto his lap.  Your hands travel his body, retracing those familiar hills and valleys that make up his muscular form.   You feel his heart race as your hands lay under his jaw, tickling your palm.  You go to unfasten his pants when he stops you again.  

“Wait,” he whispers.  

“What?  You have a condom don’t you?  The right kind?”

T’Challa nods wordlessy.  But he takes your hand, reaching it toward his forehead to run your finger along his widows peak.

You feel the softness of his curls through each pass along his hairline.  T’Challa keeps a steady gaze on you, taking your hand to his lips to kiss your fingertips.

“I always liked it when you did that.  How something so small about myself could make you so content,”  T’Challa says.  

You sit there feeling a wave of guilt wash over you.  You didn’t feel that at this moment, you just wanted to feel something other than your sadness, your loneliness, your stress.  

“And you haven’t called me by your special name for me yet.  Can you remind me?”  T’Challa says with a wide grin.  

You ignore his growing happiness, thinking things are back to normal or even on the road to being.  You get up from his lap, picking up your dress.  

“You can leave now,” you say solemnly.

T’Challa stands up, “Something is wrong, I knew.  Umhle, we can talk-”

“Please, if you respect anything that I ask you for, when I say leave just leave!”  you shout.  You run to your bedroom, shutting the door behind you.  Putting on your replacement outfit, you hear T’Challa shutting the apartment door.  

You weren’t ready for those sweet moments with T’Challa, calling him ChaCha and admiring his features lovingly.  It is still tough to believe that he is even with you.  Was he being truthful with his words?  Had the separation been hard on him as much as it had been for her?  No, it could never be.  He has family and a country that loves him, what did you have?  And to think he would even have a chance at your body again further shows his delusions of grandeur, you thought.

--

A couple weeks later, you are packing your desk up as your last day at work has finally come upon you.  This job was one of your first ones you got with benefits as an adult and you were so proud to have accomplished earning that income.  But it was a stale position with no means of working up so you knew at some point you would have to cut loose for something better.  You get a few polite goodbye messages from coworkers on your way out.  It’s more than you expected, because your social meter was forever low there.  

As the spirit of unemployment takes you to the elevator, your phone beeps with a message from an unknown number.  

Hey!  Would you like to hang out today?  This is Shuri!

You feel a smile come on your face as your favorite little Wakandan texts you, though you do wonder how she acquired your phone number.  You instantly agree and set up a time and place right as the elevator doors open.  As you ride down, you begin to question why T’Challa couldn’t be more like Shuri?  She is so open and fun and light, while he is so serious and guarded.  When he looks at you, it’s like he is reading your every expression and trying to read your mind.  You know he will not miss a single twitch of your lip, so you have to be as cool with him as you possibly can or he will ask what’s wrong and be concerned.  Like the last time you were together, you just wanted him to take you but then he had to get all sentimental and killed it.  Why did he have to do that when that’s obviously not what you were asking for? Then the embarrassment fills you; why did you have to jump on him like some thirsty bird?  One minute alone and you couldn’t just talk?

As you drive off from your workplace for the last time, you pass the coffee shop once again, feeling more sad than you have all day.  Would you have any reason to come by there anymore now that you don’t work down the street from it?  Is he going to be there any time now?  You assume there’s no chance of that as you turn down the road to head home, mind wandering hopelessly on the chance meetings you both had there, up until your last time seeing each other on your couch.  

A few days later, you and Shuri are sitting in a warm bistro in a nice part of town where they serve drinks in mason jars and greet you with the fact that all their furniture is repurposed wood.

“I’m glad you could come here,”  Shuri says between bites of bread nestled on top of her tomato bisque soup.  She looks amazing in a sheer jumpsuit with red and cream colored ruffles, with a nude colored bralette and matching biker shorts underneath with a heather grey wool coat to cover the ensemble/  

“Thanks for inviting me!  And happy birthday girl, you’re growing up before my eyes!”

Shuri rolls her eyes.  “Aye, stop.  I’ve been carrying a country on my back ever since I became a teenager.  Nothing has changed since I am now an adult.”

You poke your lip out at her.  “Just look at her.  Thinking she’s grown already.”

Shuri chuckles, tossing one of her stray braids back behind her shoulder.  “Anyway!  I just wanted to come see you because you are amazing and I should see amazing people in my life more often.”

You place a hand to your chest.  “You really are too generous with your words, Shuri.  I should thank you, no matter what I owe you so much.  And you didn’t have to make a special meeting with us at all, I know you want to be with family and all.”

Shuri nods.  “Of course, I have a flight later to spend the evening at home with Mama and T’Challa and the country is throwing a party in my honor which is going to be so tiring!  I tell you I would rather be here in a quiet space wearing comfortable clothes.”

“It does suck to have a whole country praise you for existing,”  you say in a bored tone, faking death with your eyes crossed and your tongue hanging half out of your mouth.

“Ok, ok, I get it.  Royal child problems.  But it’s still not my style.  A birthday always turns into an event for others other than yourself.  If I did what I wanted, they would think I was kidnapped for ransom, but I am just home doing video games.”

“OH I love playing video games!”  

Shuri shakes her head.  “No, like making them.  I work with developers at Nintendo, XBOX, Sony, and even some mobile games to help them tweak their software.  Pokemon has been trying to get my attention for a while.”

You sit there in amazement.  “Oh....and that’s all for fun?”

Shuri laughs.  “Of course!  I thought you said you like video games!”

You laugh with her unsure why her evidence of her intelligence still amazes you so but you can’t help it.  This young girl is a literal genius and the world barely knows of her, richer than any white man that flexes their wealth and yet she is here at a bistro on a block she could buy tomorrow if she wanted.

“So have you still decided on moving out of your place?”  Shuri asks, sipping her tea.

“I have, yeah.  It’s just the right thing to do since I can’t afford to be there anymore.”

“Because you didn’t want it being paid for anymore,”  Shuri says matter-of-factly.

“Right.  I couldn’t keep accepting that kind of help from you all-”

Shuri raises her hands.  “That was all T’Challa.”

“...and that makes it even worse.  We weren’t together anymore so why should he pay for me to live.  It didn’t sit right with me.  And then Tavia not being there makes it sad and lonely and then I am angry and moody, so the apartment is cursed as far as I am concerned!”

“Sure, that’s fair.  Well when it is time to start packing and moving things, you know who to call,”  Shuri offers.

“Thanks, I probably will have to cash that in.  And how is Tavia by the way?  Is she settled somewhere or back in Wakanda?”

“She is in the States, yes.  We relocated her, she is getting basic needs met by us until she finds a job and is able to sustain herself.”

“She has family in Kentucky, is she there with them?”

Shuri nods.  “If you tell anyone I told you…”

“I won’t!  That was supposed to be secret?”

“Some worried, if you knew, you might try to find her or consider moving there,”  Shuri fidgets with the silver rings on her fingers as she says this.

“I know,”  you say.  T’Challa probably thinks you will pull something like you did in Wakanda when you snuck to see Erik and Tavia.  “I wouldn’t do that.”

“I’m sure, especially after the last meeting you all had.  I knew an amicable departure was low probability but I hoped.”

“If she had any humility, I would’ve grown to trust her.  But she is more angry with T’Challa than Erik.  Even more angry at me for some reason!  I won’t get into that though, she is who she is and I will keep my distance.”

“Perfect.  To  distance!”  Shuri picks up her ceramic cup and clinks it with yours.  “So I take it you haven’t seen T’Challa still, right?”

You choke on your drink when she asks this.  “I mean, what chance do I have?  I completely cut him from my life.” “Of course, right.”

You think in silence a moment.  “So he hasn’t brought me up has he?”

She shakes her head, “No, not in ages.”

You feel a piece of your heart break off.  How long is ‘ages’?  Not since Wakanda or…

“Huh,”  you say.  

“Yes, he has been very busy, but that reminds me.  I have a business proposition for you.”

“Go on…”  you drag out cautiously.

“If you are looking for either a quick side gig of supplemental income or a full time career change, why not consider being at the center with me!”   We have an opening and although the talent manager is a bit tough, she is sure to enjoy interviewing someone like you.”  Shuri winks at this, while you know full and well that she is the hiring manager.

You bite your lip thinking hard about this.  “I mean...what would I do there?”

Shuri sits back and thinks.  “Well, you could supervise the games we host at the center, basketball mostly right now.  You could help serve lunches, we would just need to get you a food handlers card.  There’s tutoring positions if you have strength in certain subjects.  We also have a dance group that practices, the coach would like an assistant.  And then we have a nursery area as well.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of spots to choose from!’

“You don’t have to make a decision today.  Take some time to think about it and what position would serve you best.”

You nod, looking off into your cloud of thought.  “You know what, fuck it.  I think I wanna help with the dance group.”

“Really?  Have you danced before?”

“I used to be in a dance group in high school and like halfway through college.  I had to stop because of expenses and I had no time to study anymore so I had to stop.  But I can still get down and I feel more comfortable being an assistant, you know.  Routine is set, just help through the steps and stretching and stuff.   All good.”

Shuri claps her hands together once.  “I am so pleased.  It really is my birthday now!  I’ll have you fill out an application just on an obligatory basis and then I’ll let you know when you start.  Can’t wait to see you girl!”

At the end of the meal you hug Shuri and part ways, wishing her a happy birthday once again.  Your body feels lighter than air as you think about the new adventure ahead.  You also remind yourself to look clear some space in the living room and get a music video playlist going so that you don’t look foolish in front of these young girls.  People don’t do the dougie like they used to.

--

Pulling up to the community center parking lot for your first day, you do a mental checklist to make sure you have all that you need.  Water bottle, towel, gym bag with spare outfit, and you’re dressed for movement in your black and pink leggings, oversized tshirt and lightweight tennis shoes.  You fluff your puff ball  of hair on top of your head and go inside the building.  

You hear a cacophony of voices that echo in the hallway as you walk toward a staircase.  Bottom floor housed the basketball courts and swimming pool.  The first and second has classrooms, daycare and the administrative offices.

As you get off on the first floor, the cutesy decor let you know this is the daycare area.  Rainbows and cartoonish animal pictures and alphabet letters pepper the walls as you walk by.  Past a door there is a long window that allows you to look inside and see an army of children playing in a toy filled wonderland.  A fake fairytale woodsy vibe seems to be a theme with 5 -6 children sitting under a faux tree that is masterfully crafted in one corner of the room.  Your standard rubber puzzle piece flooring is jumped on by 2 year old polka dot socked feet.  A whole restaurant is set up in the middle that would probably pass health code standards as some girls pretend to serve each other dinner.  A fence separates another side of the room that has the little newborn babies, barely doing much else than opening their eyes and going to sleep.  A caretaker holds a cute chunky chocolate drop of a baby in her arms, couldn’t have been more than 2 months old.  

“Poor mama.  Probably has to go back to work and leave her precious child here by themself.” you mutter, knees softening as you fawn over the baby.  You feel a tear creep up and spill from your eye but you wipe it quickly, catching your gym bag strap as you collect yourself.  

“God, stop crying over babies already,”  you scold yourself.

“You should’ve seen her mother the first day she brought her,”  T’Challa says behind you.  “It was like we were kidnapping her, it was heartbreaking.”

“Dammit,” you curse under your breath.  He keeps time better than a watch.

Masterlist

RagTag

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[moskaisley]

flight of the navigator

rating: g

word count: ~600

summary:

Din Djarin has a dream about flying, nebulas that look like eagles, and warmth he rarely gets to feel.

ao3 link

-

I had a dream.

I had a dream we were flying over all of us.

It started with a beach. It took him a second to register, but the rhythmic crash of waves rolling and crawling onto shore were unmistakable. Din was uncovered, clad in only a thin woven shirt and shorts. No helmet. No armor. Just him.  And with every relentless turn of the water, he relishes in the feeling of the sea spraying onto his skin, and focuses on the way it dries up in the face of the sun.

It was so warm. Warm, warm, warm. It’s everywhere, seeping down into his bones smooth like honey. All the way down to the balls of his feet, where he scrunches his toes and nearly bursts with excitement at the smoothness of hot white sand. He stretches out his arms, as if somehow he could take in more of the sun’s light by reaching for its place in the sky, much like a child would when they wanted to be picked up.

When he closes his eyes, he begins to float. Fly. 

There were so many pretty people.

So many pretty faces.

Voices. He could hear voices; so many of them that they melted into each other and became nothing but background noise. When Din opens his eyes again, he’s in a bustling market and panic immediately strikes him, and his hands fly to his face in a half-decent attempt to fall back into obscurity. Into the safety of his own anonymity, where no one can see his big brown eyes–wide and blurry because sometimes he’s just so damn scared. But then he realizes he’s moving, feet striding on their own through droves and droves of people. Faces fly by, falling and fading away as he moves faster. So fast he can’t even feel the ground anymore and suddenly he’s airborne. 

I talked to some birds

I fell in love again

He’s high above the market now; high enough to be amongst the clouds dusted in pinks and oranges in the light of the fading sun. Ships pass him by, and he watches them go higher and higher into the atmosphere before disappearing into stardust. He reaches to them too, begging, take me with you. 

Everything just kept going, and going and going

Time and space are shifting, and what he thought was sunrise is now sunset, and the sky is turning and the sun is setting to reveal the glittering vastness of the galaxy.

And I got to meet every star, every planet

Everything that made me

Din sits, weightless and suspended over all the nameless faces, and he watches the universe collapse and be reborn again. Meteors and asteroids hurtling through the inky dark matter that makes up the space between planets and moons. Nebulas form and bloom from stardust, taking the shape of just about anything he could ever think of; to him, they looked like eagles, spreading their wings and traversing parsecs over millions upon millions of cycles. And then, Din could feel the boom and roar of a supernova in his chest, erupting in space above and hurling glittering fragments into every corner of the expanding universe. Comets fly above him, streaking across the aftermath of the exploding star and splitting at their perigee. They fall, ripping through the stratosphere and whizzing by his floating form as they crash down to the earth. Din feels it all against his golden skin again.

He didn’t realize that colors could be so bright, or the universe so warm. Warm, warm, warm.

And we all kissed

And became the same

We became the same

-

a/n:

*alexa play flight of the navigator by childish gambino*

i think din is just a lonely man floating thru the gffa who wants to feel the sun on his face n i think he deserves it. not rly edited or anything i just rly wanted to write and publish something bc i have so many wips. i miss writing and i miss putting stuff up and im trying to get back into it kdsafjal idk what it is y’all but like fic is just getting 10x harder and i feel bad for being so slow but i dont? like?? forcing it out?? ANYWAY

ty for listening to me attempting to wax poetic and finish something in a reasonable time <3

[waitingforminjae]

Thoughts on Idea:

[under the cut bc it got long 😔]

the gambling on the table

the styling of the people in the gambling room? SICK

the shot of his lips thru the telephone is So Good

wait actually there's gambling, chess, weighing with scales...

OH THAT FUCHSIA SUIT JACKET OR WHATEVER.......GODDDDDD

Literally the way everyone in the white room is styled with white with bold/bright accent colors and eccentric high fashion make up but Taemin is plain with "natural" make up

AGAIN W THE BACKUP DANCERS OUTFITSSSSSS

"You're my messiah, You're my (killing me)" GODDDDDD OH MY GODDDDDD

THE POWER THAT HAS THE IMPLICATIONS THAT HAS

He Crouch

GOD THAT BEAT DROP I LOVE IT SO MUCH

HITS LIKE A DEFIBRILLATOR TO THE CHEST EVERY TIME

The person being made in front of him........is it himself or the woman 🧐 or both 😳

DOES THE FUCHSIA JACKET HAVE A HOLE IN THE BACK

COME ON FASHION KINGGGGGG

GOD THIS CHOREO FUCKING SLAPSSSSS

Him mouthing the "Killing me softly" lands so well I love it

Also Taemin privilege is getting BoA to do one line of ur song as the killing part that's more part of the production than it is a feature

The crazy zoomed in camera work is also really good and disorienting (as intended)

COME THRUUUUUUU DARK TAEMIN

Also these lyrics I know I'm not talking abt them but I am Looking

okay contrast and posing 😳😳😳

also. FACIALS.

YOU ARE MY I D E A (YOU ARE)

IS HE TALKING ABT HIMSELF AND HIS PERSONA

IS HE HIS OWN MESSIAH AND HIS OWN IDEA AND HE'S KILLING HIMSELF

IS BOA THE "SELF" THAT HE'S KILLING

IS HE KILLING HIS "MESSIAH" BC HE DOESN'T NEED HIM ANYMORE BC HE NO LONGER NEEDS TO BE RESCUED

And he's in the white with the fog and glowing effect

Also him in the prison visitation room or whatever behind the glass 👀

u go Taemin u fight that fog that serves as an allegory for confused innocence or whatever!!!!!

HELLFIRE TAEMINNNNNNN LET'S GO SATANIC CULT LEADER LEE TAEMIN

WAIT FUCK THIS IS HIS MAKESHIFT PRIEST OUTFIT WITH THE CROSSES LET'S GO BLASPHEMYYYYYYYYY

"You're my messiah (Killing me softly)" GODDDDDD

also the way he pronounces messiah to rhyme w idea is probably just an accent/cognate thing but it's so beautiful

okay stariway to heaven i see u

ALSO THIS OUTFIT IS SO *CHEF'S KISS*

LEE TAEMIN'S STYLISTS I'M LOVE U

The effect where they double and triple Taemin and put them over each other and all that is ICONICCCCCC

YES KING SMACK US OVER THE HEAD W THAT SYMBOLISM

when he draws his hand across his neck as BoA says "killing me"? KILLING PART

AGAIN THIS FUCKING BEAT DROP I'M KDJAHSJADKSKGLHLKL

AND AGAIN W THE DANCERS OUTFITS WITH THE FEATHERS GOD

the lightning in the dark sky.......storm clouds gathering.........okay power taem

ALSO LITERALLY THE FUCKING LIGHTING IN THIS IS SO GOOD OH MY GOD

The move where he rolls his hips and then his upper body follows........whew

Also again his use of his dancers like going in.......oh fuck what is that called......but when they go in waves, like group one goes on One, and the next on Two, and so on. One of my fav dance things ever. Same with one side doing smth first and then the other following.

CHEF'S. KISS.

His dancers holding on to him like they did in Criminal but instead of going forward when they let go he goes back and rolls up..........GOD

"On the night I cut you out from my heart, (killing me softly, killing me softly), finally I open the eyes."

YES KING

his hand and face raised up to the sky okay christian legend I SEE YOU

in conclusion: BANGER

*nct voice* As expected, Lee Taemin!!!!!!!!

[rainbowsandcoconut]

Just Saw you like getting questions, so here goes. A followup on the travel favorites. You mentioned it was difficult to narrow down. Would a top ten be easier? I always look for new inspiration LOTR being your first fandom but have you ever been into something no one else understood? 😊

HIIII! 💕 This totally made my night. I am honestly so surprised anyone would care enough to send me an ask, this is so sweet 🥰 Anyone wanting to talk or ask anything should absolutely feel free, I’d love it!

I’m gonna start with the last question since the travel one will definitely be longer 😊

I’ve been into a lot of things no one in real life understood haha. Like Supernatural back during seasons 1-3 ish when I was obsessed and my friends would get tired of me talking about it all the time (thank god for LiveJournal), or cycling (road and track) that I got super into watching one summer and ended up going all over the country to see races and do some photography for, for a few years.

Now traveling. Oh man, you’re really making me miss the days where travel was allowed and where I could afford it lol. Thanks for this question though, it’s really put me in a good mood to remember some of my trips, I hope these don’t disappoint. In case anyone hasn’t seen 3 of my fave travel memories, they’re over here. And now I’m going to spam you all with 10 more of my fave memories from trips. I had to try to go with ones I could find my pics from and I mostly managed, apart from Norway, so here we go:

1. Flying an airplane in Wanaka, New Zealand 🛩 

I got to actually fly a plane! It only fit 2 people (and a cat) and I feel like I was allowed to do waaay too much, likely because it was my instructor’s first time taking someone inexperienced up so he let me do most of take off and also fly most of the trip, and then he even offered to talk me through landing it but I’m not insane so he ended up doing that part on his own. It was super freaking cool, and the view was absolutely breathtaking.

2. Seeing the Northern Lights, Tromsø, Norway

My best friend did her master’s in Tromsø so I went to visit her for a week in November 2018. I was a bit worried it was too early in the season to see the Northern Lights but one night the whole sky was full of dancing green light! We went up the top of a mountain and stayed there until we couldn’t stand the cold any longer, and it was just an incredible night. I didn’t manage to get any good photos with my phone so I just stole this off Google but it’s pretty accurate

3. Meeting Rachel Bloom in NYC last year

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is one of my favourite shows, and it’s really meant a lot to me. Yes, it’s a comedy with musical numbers but it also portrays struggles with mental health more realistically than any other show I’ve seen and that’s something I’ve really both needed and appreciated. Rachel is a comedic genius, and her show has helped me through a few tough times, so being able to not only see CXG live at Radio City Music Hall but also get to talk to Rachel after the show made it an incredible night.

4. Watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The history of the Angkor temples is so fascinating, and I managed to get myself up early enough to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat several times. For anyone who may want to go, my advice would be to not elbow your way to the front of the lake, but stand a bit further back while the majority of the tourists scramble to get a good spot. About 90% of them will disappear into the temple once the sun has offically risen and it’s gotten light out, but you want to stay by the lake. The sun takes longer than you think to actually rise above the temple, and by the time it gets there, most people will have left and the area will be much quieter and more peaceful and will give you a chance to really take in the sunrise. Each time I kept thinking maybe the sun wasn’t super bright or the clouds would cover it some because it seemingly took so long, but staying is absolutely worth it.

5. Early morning Alms Giving in Luang Prabang, Laos

This almost felt like a moment I wasn’t supposed to see but the owner of the guest house I was staying at assured me I was fine to watch. I wasn’t staying in the center of the city, and I was the only tourist out to watch the long procession in this neighbourhood which made the experience feel extra special and authentic as opposed to how crowded I’ve heard it can sometimes be in the city center.

6. Going to Lawrence, Kansas in 2009

Seeing as I mentioned being very into SPN above, I’ll include my trip to Lawrence, Kansas on this list. I went solely because my friend and I thought it’d be funny to do so because of its connection to Supernatural. We got invited to lunch by the owner of a souvenir shop who was delighted to hear I was from Denmark because her husband had a friend whose dad had once been. We stayed in Kansas City, and I got lost on my way back from the post office one day. An older lady in a car stopped by the streetlight I was at and offered me a ride back to my hotel which I gratefully accepted, only I started to rethink that decision once I realized that the footwell of her car was so full of bibles, I had to step on them, and the passenger door could not be opened from the inside. Obviously I realized this after I was in the car but while I was somewhat freaked out, I still agreed with her that us going past the McDonalds Drive Thru before my hotel was a good idea so her and I could get to know each other a bit... I was way too trusting back then but hey, I didn’t die so yay?

7. Driving a moped for the first time on Phu Quoc, Vietnam

I don’t have a license for any kind of vehicle and I have never driven any either (apart from a car twice on completely deserted, straight roads) but the owners of the hostel I was staying at insisted it was the best way to get around the island. Once of them tried to show me how it worked on her own moped, then let me try for a couple of minutes and then declared that she’d rent me one for the next day even though she was too afraid to sit on the back while I was practising because my accelerating and breaking were super abrupt. So the next day off I went. I drove into a tree and a sign in the street, got a lot of concerned looks, and I probably broke any and all traffic laws but I had such a fun time and I got to see some incredibly beautiful beaches that I don’t know how I could’ve gotten to without the moped. Important note for anyone doing this: remember sun cream! I sadly don’t have any photos of the moped, but I did take this photo of one of the beaches I visited:

8. Going to Obama’s first inauguration in January 2009 in Washington DC

I’ve always been into American politics and that interest peaked around 2008, so just in time to watch Obama get elected, and I knew I had to try to go to DC when I started planning my first ever US trip for 2009. I didn’t manage to get onto The Mall as I only made my way downtown around 6 am but I got a spot on Pennsylvania Avenue for the parade. I have never been so cold in my entire life but I’ve also never experienced the kind of euphoria and excitement from a crowd that I did that day. There truly was a feeling of hope for a real change, and I talked to the absolutely friendliest, kindest people while we waited. Plus I got to see Barack and Michelle Obama wave at me (in my direction anyway) as they were walking down Penn Ave which I’ll forever remember.

9. Going to Kangaroo Island, Australia

I love kangaroos. So much. I will never get over how cool they are. And I got to bottle feed joeys (baby kangaroos) on this island, as well as pet a bunch of tame adult ones, and see sooo many wild ones. Plus I got to see lots of koalas and other wildlife, as well as the beauty of the island. My friend did technically hit a kangaroo (or wallaby) when we were driving after dark but she’s Australian and didn’t take it quite as hard as I did.

10. Seeing the Colosseum in Rome, Italy

I’ve just always loved this building. And seeing it in real life did not disappoint.

[ksj-com]

Request #3

Missed Calls

- Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

- Genre: Long Distance!AU, fluff, light angst

- Warnings/Tags: anxious reader, kissing, cuddling, bad cook Yoongi, cuteness overload, pure fluff

- Word Count: 3,391

- Summary: You and Yoongi have been long distance dating for about a year now ever since you moved. You had to admit that it took some getting used to. But something is off today when he isn’t answering your texts or calls all day.

     Your eyes peel open, the sunlight burning into your retinas. Placing your hand over your eyes to shield the sad truth that it’s time to get up. The phone sitting next to you was off, meaning the FaceTime with you and Yoongi must’ve ended during the night. He probably just ended it this morning when he woke up, you thought to yourself.

     Almost every night you and Yoongi called to fill in on each others’ days and just talk about random things. After all, it was the closest thing you two had to spending time with each other now.

     It has been almost a year since you guys have been apart from each other. Before, you both were together for a couple years throughout high school. You both have been through thick and thin together, but it was definitely the hardest obstacle when reality and the real world hit you both— growing up and living past high school. Everyone going their separate ways, people spreading their wings to colleges that are in places they’ve never been. It was just how it went for everyone— including you and Yoongi. Yoongi decided it was best for him to stay in Illinois for college, meanwhile you wanted to venture out to Minnesota. Not too far, but far enough for space from your family and your original home.

     Even though there was distance between you and Yoongi, the relationship you had still remained. It’s definitely something you both had to get used to, but it works nonetheless. Calls every night and sweet texts throughout the day is what kept you both connected. You were grateful to not live on campus with a roommate because you’re sure they would’ve wanted to rip your hair out by now. All the long nights you two had talking to each other would drive anyone crazy. Working your ass off and saving money for your own little condo really pays off. 

     After rubbing the sleep off your eyes, you rolled over to your phone once again. Sliding your fingers across your screen you send a text to Yoongi:

Good morning babe ☼

     And with that, one last stretch finally brought you to your feet. It was Saturday morning and you thought about the lack of things you had planned unlike other people. Having nothing to do made you even happier than going to parties, so your empty schedule didn’t really bother you. Other than a few groceries you needed to get, you looked forward to sitting in front of your TV and doing nothing.

     To wake yourself up, you freshened up yourself with a quick shower. The warm water hitting your face made you want to crawl back in your bed and sleep the rest of the day away. Not having the motivation to put together an outfit, you slip on your comfy clothes. Your comfy clothes consisted of a slightly purplish grey cropped fuzzy sweater that slid past your shoulders and white sweatpants. The waistband of the sweatpants was folded down once, making you stomach visible. You pulled a thick pink cloth headband over your head to cover your forehead which looked a little big when your overgrown bleach blonde hair was placed into a ponytail. To finish your lazy look, you slipped on a pair of white canvas tennis shoes. 

     It was 10am when you glanced at your phone, wondering if Yoongi ever texted back. The screen showed an empty screen, but you shrugged it off— it was only an hour. Maybe he’s busy today. 

     Just as you were about to leave, you pour some food in a dog bowl and give your dog a praise before stepping out the door. Keys spun around your finger as you waited for the condo’s elevator to take you to the ground floor. Your phone addiction took control again causing you to check your phone again— still nothing.

     As soon as you made it to your car, you blared some tunes. ‘Stuck With Me’ by The Neighborhood played as you backed out of your parking space and ventured out into the street. You tapped and sang along while driving until Starbucks caught your eye.

     Thoughts of a Frappuccino and a cake pop made your stomach grumble from the lack of breakfast you had this morning. Starbucks’ drive thru was always slow, causing you to flip through a couple of your socials on your phone. Seeing that Yoongi still hasn’t even read your message, you decide to text him again:

Have anything planned for today?

Who knows? Maybe he simply missed the first text notification and he’ll see the second one. You sigh and toss your phone on the passenger seat.

     The cash register takes your card and hands you your strawberry cake pop and caramel mocha Frappuccino. Devouring the cake pop in one bite, you were left sipping your drink on your way to the grocery store. 

     You shoved your hands in your pockets when you scanned the aisles of goods. Already having your necessities in your shopping cart, you found yourself in the snack aisle. Pulling out some popcorn and sweet Hostess boxes, you were satisfied with your cart.

     Once you were back home, you were placing eggs in your fridge when you felt a buzz in your pocket. Hoping it was from Yoongi, you pulled out your phone— a stupid Twitter notification.

     Noon. You sat in front of your TV with a grilled cheese in your hand. Clouds covered the sky in a dark grey blanket, and it wasn’t long before it started to storm outside. The perfect atmosphere to watch scary movies. You randomly picked out The Meg to watch seeing how it was one of the only scary movies on Netflix you haven’t seen yet. Blankets wrapped around you as you munch on food while your dog, Ollie, sat beside you.

     “You’re just so cute,” you coo as you throw him a piece of bread crust. Since you lived alone, you needed the company of something. That’s when you decided to get Ollie. He was still a puppy, but he was growing into his full size. He was a Samoyed, meaning he had long fluffy white fur and a black button nose. He was your own big teddy bear when you missed cuddles from Yoongi.

     You hugged a pillow to your chest and laid down next to Ollie, trying to push your worries away. After a couple minutes, you drifted off to sleep. 

     The brightness of the sun shining through the overcast weather woke up you up with a overdramatic stretch. During your nap, you headband flew off and your phone screen reflection showed that your face now had indentations where the pillow creased against your face. Clicking on your phone to illuminate the screen revealed that it was now 3pm and there was still no text back from Yoongi. Annoyance started to trickle within yourself. 

     He never did this. Whenever he was busy, he would let you know beforehand so you wouldn’t worry. Maybe he was hurt? You decided to try to call him. Your foot tapped the floor as you heard the rings turn into a voicemail.

     “If it’s important enough, just leave a message and I’ll get back to you,” Yoongi’s voice said on the automated message. You roll your eyes and hang up the call before it went to voicemail. Stop overthinking this. 

     Scrolling through social media, you notice that he hasn’t been active since yesterday. He hasn’t picked up his phone at all today? 

     To get your mind off things, you pull out Ollie’s leash. He immediately gets the hint that you’re taking him for a walk as his tail whips back and forth. It wasn’t raining anymore and you had nothing else to do.

     He pulls you out your door all the way outside where the chilly air hits your face. You walk past one of the older ladies in your building whose grown to be a best friend and mother figure to you while living here.

     “Hello (Y/N)! How are you doing today, love?” she smiles warmly. 

     You slow Ollie down and pull him to sit at your sit while you talk. “Well...not so good. Yoongi hasn’t been answering my texts or calls all day and I’m kinda worried. I don’t know if I’m being too clingy or not.” 

     “I mean, you guys live states away. It’s natural for you to feel worry. What exactly are you worrying over?” she asks.

     “A lot of things. I trust him but that thought in the back of my head still lingers that he might be doing something he shouldn’t. He could be hurt or in trouble. Maybe I’m just overthinking and he’s busy,” you hug your arms to your chest. It’s chillier than you thought it would be.

     “Don’t assume, dear. It makes the waiting and worrying intensify. You’ll just have to wait and see. Best of luck to you!” she nods. You knew she was right, but it wasn’t easy. 

     “Thank you. I’ll see you later,” you wave goodbye. You let Ollie tug his own path until you couldn’t handle the cold anymore.

      When you got back home, you plopped back onto the couch. Staring at the conversation between you and Yoongi, you couldn’t help but feel irritated. The first text you sent him was at 9am and it was now 4pm. Being so accustomed to texting him all day to make up for the fact you both couldn’t see each other, made the lack of texting bothersome and worrying. Just when you were thinking the worst, your phone dings.

Yoongi: Hey sorry. I was busy today. I made it up to you and delivered you something. Should be there any minute 😘

     You were in the middle of typing a thousand questions, but the doorbell buzzed before you could click send. You opened the door expecting a box sitting at your door, but instead, it was Yoongi with a smile planted on his face. He held a bouquet of pastel pink and white roses in his hand. Before you could thank him and grab the flowers, you jumped into his arms. It’s been months since the last time you both saw each other due to work schedules and linking times.

     You kiss him passionately as he twirls you around while you’re hugged into his chest. His lips press softly against yours as he holds you tightly to his chest. The moment you both let go, you were smiling ear to ear. He gestures the flowers for you to take.

     “Found these on the way and they reminded me of you. Sorry about not texting. I was driving all day and I wanted it to be a surprise,” he smiles.

     You brush it off, not wanting to bring up the fuss you would’ve made if he never ended up surprising you like this. As you placed your new flowers in a vase, he slid off his jacket. Thankfully, you weren’t the only one wearing your comfy clothes today. He wore a baggy white shirt with black sweatpants along with black slides and a pair of white headphones draped along his neck.

     Once you set your flowers on your dining table, you go over to hug Yoongi again. This time he was able to hug you back completely, swaying back and fourth. You breath in his fresh cologne smell, the smell that he always wore.

     “I’ve missed you so much,” you say into his chest.

    “I’ve missed you too, baby.” He presses his lips against your forehead. “What do you say about us spending the rest of tonight binging netflix and eating snacks and tomorrow I take you somewhere special?” he says, cocking his head down to look at you. 

     “Ooo somewhere special? Like what?” you question.

     “I did my research on this area and let’s say it’s another surprise” he kisses your nose.

    You both end up ordering pizza, tossing Ollie a few pieces of crust when finishing a slice. American Horror Story played on the TV. It was getting close to Halloween, so it was time to binge watch scary movies all night. Once the pizza was devoured, you both laid down together. He laid behind you on the couch, arms wrapped around your waist as you faced the TV. His grasp pulled you in close enough that both of your bodies were pressed up against one another.

     “It’s the little things like this that I miss the most,” he kisses your temple. His words made you melt into him— you felt the same way. You turn around to face him and cup your hands around his face. Brushing your thumbs across his cheeks, his eyes lit up as he looked at you. He looked so god damn adorable that you couldn’t help but kiss him.

     “Eventually, when we’re both done with school, distance won’t be a problem anymore. That’s all I have to keep telling myself. I love you so much and I can’t wait for the future with you by my side,” you gush.

     He takes one of your hands to interlace his fingers within. “How’d I get so lucky?” He could tell you were growing tired by the way your eyes drooped every now and again, so he shut off the TV to scoop you up in his arms. He lays you down on the bed where you pull the covers over yourself, him joining soon after. 

     Cuddling up to his chest, you feel him sigh contently before closing his eyes. “Goodnight (Y/N)...I love you.”

     “Goodnight babe. PS this is way better than a FaceTime call,” you cause him to chuckle. His fingers traced lines up and down your arm before you both fall asleep. 

     Yoongi woke up before you, like usual. Tucking your hair behind your ear before waking you up. “Good morning sunshine. Let’s get ready for the day I have planned.”

     You groan as you roll out of bed to get ready while Yoongi brings his suitcase of clothes up from his car. You wanted to actually try with your appearance today unlike yesterday. Pulling on a white knit sweater with the middle tucked into semi high waisted jeans with a hole slit on each knee. Pairing that with brown ankle boots and the same colored brimmed hat on top of your loosely curled hair.

     “Ready,” you step out to see Yoongi wearing a grey sweatshirt, green jacket, and ripped jeans. His eyes crinkle together as he smiled brightly.

     “You look perfect,” he takes your hand in his while you both walk down to his car to his first destination: a coffee shop.

     “I thought it would be good to start off our day with some breakfast and I know how much you like your coffee,” he parks his car and you both walk in. The smell of coffee beans and sweets fill the room. He orders a breakfast wrap for himself while you order yourself a hot coffee and a cheese danish.

     While you sipped your coffee and looked out the window, you heard Yoongi take a picture. Your eyes snap back to meet his and you tilt your head questioning him.

     “I needed a new screensaver and you looked so picture perfect just now. I couldn’t resist,” he shrugs.

     You couldn’t help but smile. He knew what his sweet words did to you every time he said them, yet he could never grow old of your gorgeous smile.

     Thankfully, Yoongi advised you take your hot coffee to go because the next activity he had in store was apple picking. He always thought the idea of ‘perfect fall dates’ were cheesy, but he knew how much of a sucker you were for them. 

     You occasionally sipped your coffee to heat your body up on the chilly day, but once you were finished, Yoongi ran through the tree aisles with you on his back. You wrapped your arms around his neck while bouncing all over his back as he sprinted as fast as he could, drawing laughs out of both of you. When he finally let you down, you managed to find a few good looking apples to place into your basket. Of course, you both had to point out the rotten stepped on apples and say ‘that’s you.’

     “Come here,” Yoongi whispered as he stood behind a tree. You followed him, not sure if he was going to point out another apple or something else.

     He takes off your hat before connecting his lips with yours as he held the hat up to cover your faces from the cool wind. In that moment, everything felt in place for you two. Being together and so happy to be able to physically touch one another again made you both so grateful for this moment.

     After picking out a few more apples, you both decided it was time to go back home and warm back up by cooking some apple pie. On the way back home you both jammed out to your favorite songs as his hand rested firmly on your thigh—something little that you’ve adored for the longest time.

•••

     “It says to mix all the dry ingredients in the bowl,” Yoongi reads off of a cookbook ‘Baking for Dummies.’ Flour was already powdered on both of your clothes and the counters. It was safe to say that you both were terrible cooks and bakers.

     Yoongi grabs the bowl and mixed everything with his hands since you couldn’t find a whisk for the life of you. You couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of him trying so hard, yet looking so clueless. 

     “What are you laughing at, huh?” he smacks your ass, leaving a flour hand print on your jeans. You laugh, dipping your hands in the dry mixture and leaving hand prints on his sweatshirt. The kitchen was a mess, but it was a job for later.

     Yoongi dipped his hands in again and grabbed your cheeks, pulling you into a kiss. You wrapped your hands around his wrists as your lips tangled together. The string of kisses stop from Yoongi’s laughs.

     “This apple pie thing kind of failed,” he taps a circle of flour on the tip of your nose.

     “I would have to agree with that,” you say as you look around to the powder mess scattered across the kitchen.

     “I’ll make it up to you. Let’s change into some clean clothes and I’ll take you out to dinner and desert for tonight,” he smacks your other cheek to leave one last handprint. 

     After debating on where to go, you both decided that it would be a nice treat to go to The Cheesecake Factory. The chicken samosas you ordered were delicious, and just enough to still have room for desert. You and Yoongi decided to share a pineapple upside-down cheesecake.

     “Thank you so much for today and coming to visit, Yoongs. You’re the best seriously,” you shove a spoonful of cake in your mouth.

     “It’s not over yet. I have one last thing for you,” he pulls out a little box and flips the top open to see a skinny golden band with little diamonds in it. “Don’t worry, it’s a promise ring.”

     You felt tears build up in your eyes as he slid the ring on your finger. He kissed your hand before you placed your hand out to admire the sparkle emitting from the ring.

     “I figured that it was long overdue that I promise myself to you. I love you so much (Y/N) and I want you to know that, even if I may suck at answering your texts throughout the day, I still think about you every second. Now, when you miss me, you’ll have a piece of me with you at all times,” he holds both of your hands in his.

     “I love you so much,” you reach over and lock lips over the table. A tear of joy falls from your cheek. The love you had for each other will always keep you together, no matter the distance between.

Requested by: I lost the usernames from the rest of my requests, so I’m sorry :(

[ununniliad]

WikiLull EXHALE: “After the After”

November 15th, 2016. The lawn outside LNHQ, which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.

There was a great battle here.

...well, since this is the headquarters of the LNH, there have been many great battles here, and many more yet to come. But today feels like the day after a great, terrible battle, tho in fact it's been a week; coming down from the edge is like that, sometimes. And in a way it's been much longer, almost four years; recovering from trauma is like that, sometimes.

Nevertheless, the battle is over. There's a wind through the trees, blowing off the brightly-colored leaves; the world is stepping back, sitting down, and letting out its breath.

A single oak leaf, red and mottled with brown spots, tumbles down through the air, whirling in the cool autumn breeze. It flips, floats down... and disappears into a bubble of swirling darkness, inky colors shimmering and shifting like an oil slick on its surface. The bubble grows to the side of a person, then pops - and Cheesecake-Eater Lad and Token Girl tumble to the ground. A moment later, a tall, muscular blond woman with red eyes and subtle Star Trek-ian ridges on her face lands solidly on her feet - Captain LNH.

Token Girl coughs, pushing herself up, hands on her knees. "Whew. Felt like I was gonna turn inside-out."

Captain LNH chuckles, helping her to her feet. "That's what it's like, traveling from Looniverse-Astaroth, gateway to the Deep Omnilooniverse."

"Yeah, I think I liked it better back when we called it alt.comics.lnh." Token Girl stretches her arms, hands palm-out in front of her, and lets out a tension-releasing yawn. "How're you doing, Cheesy?"

Cheesecake-Eater Lad pounds himself on the chest and coughs. "Good thing I have such a strong stomach, that's all I'm saying." He shakes his head and turns to Captain LNH. "And you really want to... I mean, of course it's your decision."

Captain LNH nods firmly. "It is, and I do. I'm not..." She looks up at the LNHQ. "Not ready to come back."

"I get it... I think." Cheesecake-Eater Lad puts on a brave smile, but its edges start drooping. "I'm just... you spent so long in your own head. Uh, you didn't have a body at the time, but you know what I mean."

"Right, yeah. But not..." Captain LNH grabs her own shoulder, squeezes it. "Not all of us heal by talking about it. At least not right away."

oh god please let me step away from this awkward conversation, thinks Token Girl.

"Right. Well." Cheesecake-Eater Lad takes Captain LNH's hand, puts his over it. "I support you. And the Deep Omnilooniverse couldn't have a better defender."

Captain LNH smiles, a soft wave of starlight rolling thru her hair. "And the regular Looniverse couldn't have a better Anchor of Indulgence."

Cheesecake-Eater Lad chuckles. "Yeah, uh, you'll have to ask Unixepoch what that actually means, the next time you talk to him." He let go of her hands, and she took a step back.

"Will do. See you later, Tara!" Captain LNH begins to float up in the air, cosmic energy coalescing around her body.

Token Girl lets out a breath. "Right. Looking forward to it! Bring me some of the anime merch Looniverse-Murmur has, it looked amazing!"

Captain LNH laughs. "Gotcha. Oh, and keep an eye on the Loonited States for me. That new president..." She shakes her head, smiling. The energies swirl around her body, forming into a swirling bubble of bright colors, shafts of light shining out from the globular mass. It shimmers bright - then seems to zoom away, from every angle, until it is out of sight.

Cheesecake-Eater Lad takes off his toque, runs his hands thru his hair. "Whew." He turns to Token Girl. "We should probably--"

WHUMPF! He's lifted off his feet and up into the arms of a tall, pudgy, freckled woman who showers his face with kisses. "Oh my goodness dear I missed you!"

He squirms in her arms and laughs, wriggling out and onto the ground. "Jeez, hon." His cheeks are a-blush, and Token Girl smirks. "It was only a couple hours."

"Yes, and a couple decades before that, so forgive me my clinginess." She pulls him in close and presses him to her side.

He wiggles pleasantly, and a lithe, athletic woman in an abbreviated ninja outfit walks around his other side. She leans in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Hearty Homecoming, Husband! Our Wonderful Wife Was Worried, but your Safety Surely Seemed Secure, by Superhuman Skill and Cosmic Competence!" She slides in, snuggling both of them and smiling at Token Girl.

Cheesecake-Eater Lad blushes. "Ah, I believe you know my wives, aLLiterative Lass and Petunia Boonspackle."

Token Girl nods! "Right. aLLi's a co-worker, of course, and I met Petunia back during the whole Neme.sys thing."

"Ah yes, Tara the Multinaut!" Petunia releases Cheesecake-Eater Lad in order to clasp Token Girl's hand in both of her large, warm hands. "Thank you so much, for helping weave our timelines together."

"Aw, don't worry about it," says Token Girl, blushing herself. Gosh, this lady's presence feels comforting, like a crackling fireplace. "I've always been a shipper, anyway. And if the history where Cheesy's alive can coexist with the one where he's dead, it's a minor problem to make the one where he's married to Petunia coexist with the one where he's married to aLLi."

"'Specially Since Sapphic Sisters Surely Sign-off," says aLLiterative Lass. "Truly, Triads Treat Tenderly. Will you Witness our Wonderful Wedding?"

"Er..." Token Girl's eyes swivel back and forth. "Aren't you already...?"

"Separately," notes Petunia, "but since polygamous marriage is legal in this timeline [The Liminals #1 - Footnote Flower Girl], we wanted to let everybody know that this isn't two marriages, or even three, it's one big one." She puts her arm around aLLi, who rests her head on the taller woman.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," smiles Token Girl. "...unless I have to save the world that day, of course."

"Then that can be your present," says Petunia, smiling wide and giving Token Girl a thumbs-up.

"Precipitant Perfidy is a Powerful Possibility with that Present President," says aLLi, rolling her eyes.

"Now, now, let's save the politics for later. For now, we must be off~" Petunia hefts a squeaking Cheesecake-Eater Lad up under one arm, and aLLi under the other. "Picking up the daughters~"

"Right! See you later!" Token Girl chuckles under her breath as she watches them head off. Maybe this is what being the Looniversal Anchor of Indulgence means - making the people around you happy by making yourself happy. Well, good - they all deserve to be happy for a very long time.

She looks up at the clear blue sky, streaked with whispery clouds, and feels herself inch back from that sense of panic and emergency. There will be more emergencies, more world-shaking battles; but for now, she strolls casually back into LNHQ, looking for cheesecake.

The usual crowd is milling about in the lobby, chatting, getting the mail, rushing out to desperately stop a net.villain, learning the true meaning of Armistice Day, and so on. Subtle breezes flow thru the room, the tarp over the partially-destroyed wall flapping in the wind.

Token Girl makes her way thru the crowd with practiced skill, heading towards the hallway door until she spies a cluster of people and people-like entities that she can't let herself miss.

Escape Lass hefts a bowl of apples under her arm. "...can't sustain over-the-air signals, they just bleed out between the dimensional apertures, so we'll have to lay cable the whole way."

"Which is a problem," speaks the bowl of apples, in fact the MicroMAC Quadcore, "since it is an indeterminate distance which, likely, shall change in indeterminable ways over time."

"Right," says Escape Lass, voice filling with problem-solving enthusiasm, "which-- oh, Tara!" She bounces in her blue short-sleeve straitjacket towards Token Girl, wrapping her free arm around her and squeezing her tight to her side.

Token Girl squirms in surprise, but laughs. "Hey, Evie. Y'all about to head out?"

"I think we are," says Escape Lass, letting go of Token Girl and putting Quadcore in her arms. Token Girl blinks at the robot in disguise, who doesn't blink back, as his form currently lacks eyes. "Foreshadowing Lad, how's it looking?"

"Hmmmm..." Foreshadowing Lad stretches out an arm clad in green spandex, and smiles up at Escape Lass. "Feels like we're almost at a happy ending."

Escape Lass grins, takes Foreshadowing Lad's hand, spins him around, dips him back and kisses him, then lets him go~ The young man stumbles back into the arms of his other partner, Non-Judgmental Agnostic, who squeezes him in a tight hug.

"Man, everybody's in a triad nowadays," says Token Girl, chuckling and handing Quadcore back.

"We'd invite you in and make it a quad," says Non-Judgmental Agnostic in her soft, tinkling, quasi-divine voice, "but I'm afraid it would turn into a Great LNH Polycule and swallow Net.ropolis."

Token Girl flushes. "Uh, so uh, y'all are going to make your way back to your world, Escape Lass?"

Escape Lass nods firmly. "Right. We're going to head down into the depths of the LNHQ, down to the point where the LNHQs of different universes start mingling to save on storage space, and find our way home to the Legacy of Newfangled Hierophants."

"Newly designated Looniverse-Bael," speaks Quadcore.

"That's right, in the Deep Omnilooniverse... ah, dammit." Token Girl tsks at herself. "We could've had Captain LNH take you back."

Escape Lass shakes her head! "No, don't forget, we have to leave a trail of breadcrumbs back."

"Preferably in the form of interuniversal messaging system," speaks Quadcore. "If we can overcome these significant technical issues."

"That's right," nods Token Girl, dislodging some of the details she learned during that whole confusing shebang. "You got a lot of people who'd like to emigrate."

"Right, tho your Looniverse isn't our main destination." Escape Lass smiles down at Quadcore. "Somebody made us a better offer."

"Ohhhh..." Token Girl looks between the lady and the robot and it clicks. "Ohhhhh-- with *them*!"

Escape Girl laughs, fingers half-covering her mouth as her eyes sparkle, and nods. "Right."

"That's-- wow," says Token Girl, processing the idea. "A world with tiny robots and giant humans feels very Deep Omnilooniverse, but it's not what I would have expected them to--"

"Cower, fools!" A figure leaps into their midst, with the swish of a cape! He rolls back his head and opens his mouth to let out a megalomaniacal cackle!

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Mueh-heh-heh-heh! ...how was that?"

"... it sounds like you're making progress!" says Non-Judgmental Agnostic supportively!

The figure smiles in delight. He looks like a very normal person, with hair a few tones darker than his skin and eyes that are a color. The only odd things about him are the crimson circuitry running down from his eyes, over his chin and down his neck, and the symbol on his forehead - a stylized sword tucked into a breast pocket, with fancy monogrammed initials on it - PE, for the Pocket Empire!

"...cool, hi," says Token Girl, eyeing the man. She'll have to catch up with WikiBoy on all his weird clones later, but for now, she's pretty sure this is... "wIkimus Maximus, right?"

"Correct!" says wIkimus proudly, idly battling his cape out of the way.

"Or should we call you..." Escape Lass tosses Quadcore to wIkimus and points a dramatic finger. "Our most thrilling enemy!"

wIkimus juggles Quadcore for a moment before getting his arms solidly under the bowl, then looks back at Escape Lass. "Mwa-ha-heh-heh-ho! That's right! Now that I have deposed the foolish Antiochus XXVIII, I am the one true leader of the Pocket Empire!"

"God, and thank you for doing that," says Escape Lass, shaking her head. "Um, and argh you fiend and such."

Token Girl has her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. "That's a heck of a thing."

"It probably seems strange," says Non-Judgmental Agnostic, smiling. "But on many worlds, the rivalry of support is one of the strongest social bonds there is."

Token Girl nods, and leans away from the dramatically-proclaiming nerds so that her worlds can go straight to the ears of Non-Judgmental Agnostic and Foreshadowing Lad. "So... what happened to CassAIndra?"

Foreshadowing Lad sighs, a heavy weight on his brow. "Multi-Tasking Man thinks he can fix her."

"He'd be the one if anyone was," murmurs Non-Judgmental Agnostic. "They know each other from the inside out, now."

"Fair. I just wanted to thank her... well, hopefully I'll get the chance." Token Girl shakes her head. "And WikiMan?"

"His WikiPowers are lost," says Foreshadowing Lad, "and I don't see a future where he gets them back. He's now a fixed narrative being, based on his last edit."

"I don't think he minds much, tho," says Non-Judgmental Agnostic. "He gets to experience the childhood he never did the first time, with the MicroMACs as his friends."

Token Girl nods thoughtfully, eyes on Escape Lass and wIkimus. "And... mmm." She shakes her head. "I don't know. It feels strange that all the different factions, the Pocket Empire and the Guardiettes and the AniMACs and the MicroMicroMACs and everybody else, are still going to keep fighting each other, even tho..." Her forehead wrinkles, and she looks up at Non-Judgmental Agnostic. "Like, do they really have a reason?"

Non-Judgmental Agnostic turns her eyes up to the skylight over the foyer, watching the clouds swoosh by. She takes a deep breath, and in an 'I am reciting this from memory' voice, says, "Ever since the Trademarkers used their Alterscope to spy on the RoboMAC worlds, the MicroMACs have been fighting battles for the entertainment of others." She smiles at Token Girl. "They can be more than that, now. They already are. But doing huge, dramatic, splashy stuff for an audience - that's part of them."

"Like it's part of the LNH," says Foreshadowing Lad, nodding.

"Heh. I guess so..." Token Girl turns to Escape Lass and wIkimus Maximus and snaps her fingers, giving them the fingerguns. "Okay, I'm gonna head off. Catch you all on the flipside."

"Oh, before you go!" Escape Lass bounds forward and catches her in a hug. Token Girl squirms in obvious embarassment and quiet delight, and hugs her back.

After she's let go, Token Girl waves and heads out of the foyer and down the winding corridors of LNHQ, towards the cafeteria. As she turns a corner, a figure staring off into space collides with her, both of them falling on their butts.

"--oh, sorry!" The other one scrambles to his feet, and Token Girl can see that it's Can-Handle-Any-Type-of-Change-Except-For-the-Ultimate-Ninja-Wearing-a-Cape Lad, three-time winner of the Longest Name in the Legion contest.

"That's okay," she says, helping him up. "But are you all right? You seem, uh, distracted."

He shakes his head, blushing just a bit. "It's just..." He looks over his shoulder, then leans in to murmur. "I'm afraid my powers are malfunctioning."

"Ohhhh?" Token Girl felt a slight tinge of worry. CHAToCEFtUNWaCLad was a relatively new Legionnaire, but had already become one of their dependable stalwarts.

He nods firmly. "I saw Ultimate Ninja walk by the cape closet, and..." He breathes just a bit deeper. "I didn't feel anything."

"...ah." Token Girl's worry becomes a different kind of... melancholy, really. She had been right there when it happened, but...

"Me too!" Puts-Paperclips-on-The-Ultimate-Ninja's-Desk Lad, three-time loser of the Least Useful Power in the Legion contest, popped into the conversation out of nowhere. "I just got a new jar of clips and they've just been sitting in a drawer all week!"

"Oh, man!" says Can-Handle-Any-Type-of-Change-Except-For-the-Ultimate-Ninja-Wearing-a-Cape Lad. "It's weird, isn't it?"

"It's super weird!"

"Mmmm..." Token Girl draws in a breath. "Well, maybe you should go to Doctor Stomper and have him check up on your powers."

"Ooh, yeah, good idea. Thanks, TG!" The two of them head off in the general direction of sickbay, chattering about the weirdness of the day.

Token Girl rubs her upper arm, getting some of that stiff tension out. She was there when it happened, but... she's not supposed to say anything. She's still not really sure that was the right choice, but it's...

Well, it's what Ultimate Ninja wanted, so.

She makes it down to the cafeteria, grabs a slice of one of Betamax's weird culinary experiments (in this case, pizza with black bean sauce and cotija cheese), reflills her canteen from the water filter, and takes ten to relax, sip, eat and process.

Just about ten minutes later: "Hey, mind if I sit here?"

Token Girl is tired enough that her first impulse is to pull out one of her trademark snappy comebacks so she doesn't have to People any more. But she recognizes the voice, and its owner doesn't count as a People, he counts as a Friend; so she looks up and gives a tired but sincere smile. "Yeah, sure!"

And Wikiboy sits down, putting his Szechuan tacos and soda on the table and smiling back, with just a touch of hard-earned confidence. "How've you been?"

"I've been..." Token Girl rolls her mind over a chaotic landscape of emotion... "I've been a lot. How about you?"

"Uh... also a lot, I think." Wikiboy adjusts his hair and straightens up. "Adjusting to how my powers work now, and the new... part of me, I guess you'd call it."

Token Girl nods, the questions that have been on her mind for a while rolling to the front. "Yeah, uh, did you absorb, like... the whole Apathy Beast, or...?"

"It felt like it at the time, but now it just feels like..." WikiBoy puts his hand over his chest, and takes a deep breath, stilling. "...like an extra bit of... weight? Calmness? Metaphysical machinery?" He shrugs! "Something like."

"Right. But you can still be edited?"

"Yeah, that still works about the same way. It's just that I can ignore edits if I really want to." He looks out the window. "It's kind of... the power to Not Care."

A little wave of regret sloshes on the shores of Token Girl's brain. "Gotcha. ..can you edit yourself?"

WikiBoy stares out the window, quiet for a long while. "...I don't know. When... when we were all together, all in one body, I could, but... I haven't tried since." He takes another deep breath, straightens up, and turns to her with a smile. "Someday, I guess. But right now, it feels like..." His smile droops just a bit at the edges. "WiKaine messed himself up real bad by editing out everything he couldn't stand."

Token Girl summons up her ultra-secret net.ahuman power, Being Distractingly Light and Humorous. "You mean Axen Kiwi, the No One of WikiBoy, right?"

WikiBoy blinks, then laughs. "Oh, god, yeah. I forgot about all the convoluted video game nonsense for a bit."

She grins. "Kingdom Hearts references are the natural destination of ridiculously convoluted crossover plotting."

"They really are." He shakes himself and runs his hands thru his hair, blushing a bit as he realizes how vulnerable he'd been. "I think he ran off into the Deep Omnilooniverse in the end. I hope he finds something to..."

"...put in that literal heart-shaped hole in his chest?" Seeeecret power!

"Oh, god, that's right. WikiBoy laughs. "Jeez our lives are hilarious sometimes." He shakes his head ruefully. "I didn't really get that, when I was the butt of all the jokes."

Oh no, the secret power backfired and now a huge wave of guilt is swamping Token Girl's brain! "I'm--" She stumbles. "I'm sorry if I ever--"

WikiBoy holds up a hand and looks her in the eyes. "Don't worry about it, please."

"...you sure?"

He picks up his taco and gives a big, performative bite, chewing and swallowing. "I was--" Slurp crunch smack. "I was created to be the butt of all the jokes, the one who just takes abuse because it's not as funny if I get revenge. That's who my Writer needed me to be... a harmless fantasy, something you write to find the happy buttons in the folds of your own brain and push them, and maybe find other people with the same buttons that'll enjoy it. That's who I was, then, and... I'm kinda proud of it?" He takes another bite, and licks his fingers. "Yeah, definitely this weird existential pride."

"I don't really get it," says Token Girl, "buuuuut that's good?"

WikiBoy giggles and lets out a little snort. "Yeah, it is. But then other writers got ahold of me, ones with different buttons, and they decided to take the elements of the fantasy and use them for a different kind of story. Like Jay Edidin embracing Chris Claremont's version of Lee and Kirby's Cyclops - finding the part that appeals to you. That's what collaborative fiction universes are about. And now I'm who I am right now." He pulls out a wet-wipe and cleans off his fingers. "There's plenty of room in there for different interpretations, too. I still get into wacky unfortunate comedic peril." He tosses the wipe on his tray and leans back in his chair. "I dunno. It's weird to think about who I used to be, but... yeah, I'm not sorry I was him."

Token Girl looks at WikiBoy, relaxing, thoughtful, and warmth swells in her chest. "I'm proud of you, man."

"Awh. Well." WikiBoy blushes, straightens up, and grabs the rest of his taco, shoving it in his mouth and mumbling "Thanks." around the food.

Token Girl chuckles. "So, uh... what haven't we... oh, yeah, WikiCide. He decided to become your evil opposite, huh?"

"Yeah~" WikiBoy swallows. "I'm proud of him, too. He's had a longer path than I have, even, but I think he's gonna do a great job."

"Four outta five ain't bad, I think," says Token Girl.

WikiBoy nods, and streeeetches and yaaaaaaaawns. "Mmmmm... I think I'm gonna go take a post-lunch nap."

"Hey, nap buddies~" Token Girl holds up her fist, and WikiBoy bumps it. She stands up and stretches. "See ya when I see ya."

"See ya too, assuming I have eyes at that point." WikiBoy stands up and picks up his tray.

Token Girl turns to go... ponders for a moment. "Hey, WikiBoy?" She snaps her fingers. "You're an SD Deathscythe."

"...yeah, sure~" WikiBoy poofs into an adorably chibi battle robot holding a glowing laser scythe, and toddles off on his chunky robotic feet.

Token Girl makes her way out of the cafeteria and down to her room without any more run-ins. She shuts the door and leans back on it, closing her eyes. Jeez, what a day. And it isn't over yet, but she can kick off her big stompy boots, hang up her button-covered denim jacket, flop into bed, cuddle a body pillow with a badass anime girl on it, and take a nap.

...she dreams of patterns in the sky, lines that aren't lines and gods that are great rotating symbols, and she watches the lines separate until the symbol is gone, and she watches Discord wave as she passes...

Token Girl wakes up 23 minutes after her alarm was supposed to go off. Oh, crap, she's supposed to get the Metatronium Sifter back in-- oh crap oh crap oh crap!!

She pushes her feet into her boots and wiggles her heels into place, grabs her jacket, and charges down the hallway to the transporter room. Parking Karma Kid is there, sitting behind the console and watching a compliation of ridiculous Grand Theft Auto vehicle tricks on his phone.

"Pete!" Token Girl says, leaping onto a transporter.thingy pad.thingee. "Gotta be at a place right exactly now! Address!" She throws a paper airplane at him.

Parking Karma Kid catches it out of the air and unfolds it. "So you're asking me to drop you off, not in some open space at sea level, but inside a mid-city building on the fifth floor?"

Token Girl nods desperately!!

Parking Karma Kid cracks his knuckles. "Thanks! But next time, give me a hard one!" His fingers dance over the console and she's gone~

Token Girl materializes in the hallway outside apartment 507-- whew, only a minute and a half late. She knocks on the door, and a kinda butch lady with short curly hair and devastating cheekbones opens it - "Terrible" Maddie Turnip. Token Girl holds out her hand, Maddie grabs it with a little grin, and they go up, down, left, right, wiggle your pinkies - the old Radikool Kidz Klub secret handshake. Then Maddie pulls her forward unexpectedly into a brief but strong hug that makes Token Girl gasp - not unpleasantly - as the air is squeezed out of her.

Behind Maddie, on the couch, are two people. One is a tall, dark-haired woman with a sort of 40's pinup girl look and an infectuous smile - Forgotten Gal. The other is a scrawny young man of Polish descent, with long blue hair and wearing a lemon-yellow T-shirt and blue jeans - Skrajny the Multinaut.

"C'mon, c'mon, I got a cherry crumble in the oven." Maddie leads Token Girl in and sits her down in a big plush recliner, a plate of dessert pressed into her hands.

"Okay, okay," laughs Token Girl. "But just one slice for me, please, I've got a dinner date." She takes the proffered fork and nibbles - delicious. "Lessee, uh..." She reaches into her satchel and pulls out a weird, septagonal device. "Here ya go, Skrajny."

"Please, call me Kacper." He says 'Casper' but Token Girl's gone thru enough baby naming sites to know how it's spelled. Kacper takes the Metatronium Sifter. "Tho I don't know what I'm gonna do with it."

"We'll figure it out," says Forgotten Gal, squeezing Skrajny's hand and giving him a reassuring smile. Token Girl notices that she's still wearing the Nostalgic Brace she'd gotten... somewhere along the line, Token Girl wasn't really sure. But it counterbalanced her forgettability, for people who had an emotional investment in her - which everyone in the room definitely did.

Token Girl decides to jump directly to the elephant in the room. "You're definitely not going home, then?"

Kacper sucks in a breath, lets it blow out loose lips. "...I want to go back. I want to help my people, the ones who are still trapped in that messed-up imperialist view of the multiverse." He puts his hands out in front of him and shakes his head. "But the Ordered Realities bureaucracy would hunt me down as a deserter even if I wasn't keeping the Idoloid technology. It's much safer, for now, for me to stay in an unregistered world where their influence is strictly indirect."

Maddie nods. "'Sides, this way, we can keep each other safe."

"Hell yeah!" Forgotten Girl pumps her fist. "Heroes together!"

"Woo!" says Kacper, giving a thumbs-up.

Token Girl grins and finishes off her bit of cherry crumble. "I'm glad to have someone like you on the force, Maddie."

"Heh, well." Maddie puts down her beer and gives Token Girl a tired but sincere smile. "Thanks, but I ain't on the force anymore."

"...oh. Uh." Social snafu? Had something happened?? "Sorry???"

"Nah, it's okay." Maddie sits back, arms crossed. "You're right, I was a good cop. But I was mostly good at not being like a cop's supposed to be. And after we found out..." She shakes her head. "Some of Shadez Radikal's people were... acquaintances, maybe even kind of friends. People I thought I could count on - people who'd given me orders. And I thought about those orders..." She shrugs. "I'm done with necessary evils. Or as done as you can be, in this world."

Token Girl let out a breath. "Yeah, that's fair. And like, who even knows what the laws are gonna be like with that new President."

"Oh lord, that guy," says Maddie, shaking her head and tilting her beer back, pouring the rest of it down her throat, then letting out a satisfying belch.

"Coulda been worse, tho," says Forgotten Gal, punching Maddie lightly in the shoulder.

"Yeah," says Token Girl, shaking her head too. "Anyway, what are you gonna do now?"

"You wanna take this one?" Maddie says to Forgotten Gal, who smiles and leans forward.

"We're gonna try and make something new. A place for Weird People."

"While everything was going down, we ended up getting to know some of your Shadow People," says Kacper.

"And we had ideas, and they had ideas..." says Maggie. "And a lotta those ideas were compatible."

"It's gonna be a place where weirdos like us can just, like, live, and support each other," says Forgotten Gal, eyes sparkling with possibility. "Without having to worry about cops, or CEOs, or weird people in frog masks, or any of that."

"Sounds great," says Token Girl. "But..." She rubs her chin thoughtfully. "Isn't that basically the LNH?"

Maggie lets out a little bark of a laugh. "Kid, you got a flippin' ninja death machine for a leader. It ain't an egalitarian society yet, that's for sure."

"...yeah, you know, fair, reasonable."

"Besides," interjects Forgotten Gal enthusiastically, "we can have more than one!"

"We gotta have more than one," says Maddie. "As many as we can get, I think."

Token Girl mmmmmms. "Good point..."

"It's like the Powernauts taught me," says Kacper. "You gotta spread the power around."

Token Girl giggles. "Right, and--" She's interrupted by her phone, which belts out a rousing chorus of 'Yappapa'. "Aw shoot!" She bounces to her feet! "Gotta get going to dinner!"

"Hugs first!" Forgotten Gal leaps up and hugs her, and Token Girl puts up only minimal protest. Maggie pushes herself to her feet and wraps her arms around the both of them with even less protest, and after a hesitant moment, Kacper joins in. Token Girl feels embarassingly warm and snuggly and appreciated, and only lets it go on for so long before she squirms out and away.

"See ya!" Everybody waves as she heads out the door.

This time, she walks to her destination; it's only a few blocks down the street, and exercise is always a useful prelude to the kind of food you get at the Pizza Pit.

At the door, she checks her phone; 7:57 PM. Awesome, just a couple minutes early. She slides inside and finds a place to lean up against the wall, looking up at the stage. She wouldn't want to miss this - the very last performance of the Cool Name Band.

Merissa is absolutely shredding on the bass, and Kid Occultism Kid is leading on guitar. Keeping up the beat is, of course, Deathspork: The Terminator on drums, with accompaniment by Amnesiac Brad Pitt on saxophone. And belting out the vocals at the top of her lungs is the one and only top of the pops, Rock'n'Roll Lass!

The crowd looks up from their pizzas, at the stage usually reserved for animatronic animals and karaoke performances of Baby Shark, enraptured by the sudden sense of something special happening; a magical alchemy that will disappear after tonight, and somehow, that feels okay; somehow, that feels right.

Token Girl leans back and lets the sound wash over her; the secret chord that pleased Discord. She hadn't been able to appreciate it properly before, either during the Secret War of the Bands or during the moment they had played to the universe itself. Now... her eyes lid, and her breath slows, and something opens up in her chest, and she lets it flow thru her...

When the music ends, she opens her eyes, stands up, and streeeetches. It feels like she's taken another nap, but she's absolutely brimming with energy...

"Thank you, Net.ropolis!" shouts Rock'n'Roll Lass. "Never forget where the rock came from! Good night!" The curtains swish closed, and Token Girl slips around the side and heads backstage.

The five of them are in the dressing room, taking off their stage makeup and chatting, letting themselves wind down too. Token Girl knock-knocked and leaned in. "Hey! Got a minute for your biggest fan?"

All five look up and all five smile, tho Deathspork's expression is annoyed at his own happiness. Rock'n'Roll Lass crosses the room, grabs Token Girl's hand, and pulls her up close in a sororal fist-clasp. "Glad you could make it, babe."

Token Girl feels that warmth rise to her cheeks again. "Wouldn't miss seeing y'all off!"

"Indeed, you are just in time!" Deathspork rises, having strapped his drums to a wheely cart, and gestures grandly. "For our alliance has been fruitful-- but now it must end! You have earned my respect, but the next time we meet, it will be-- as enemies!!"

Merissa rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. "Dude. PLEASE get over yourself and you might stop sucking."

"Verily," speaks Kid Occultism Kid, "you have far greater potential than you allow yourself to know. Especially on the drums."

"Bah!" Deathspork opens the stage door and sweeps dramatically out of the Pizza Pit. Tries to sweep dramatically out of the Pizza Pit. Trips on the steps and falls out of the Pizza Pit.

Screaming.

"...right," says Token Girl. "How about you, babe?"

Rock'n'Roll Lass laughs. "Yeah, I'm headed off too. Got to get back to the '60s and make sure all the 'classic rock' isn't being produced by white boys." She shakes her head. "'Classic'. Man, what a trip."

"Hang it loose!" says Amnesiac Brad Pitt, throwing up the horns.

Rock'n'Roll Lass raises her eyebrows and chuckles. "Yeah, you do you! G'night, folks!" She steps carefully over Deathspork, and disappears into the night.

"I have taken the liberty of ordering our repast for the evening!" Kid Occultism Kid thrusts out a hand, and the wood warps within the dressing room wall, turning into a mystic swirly portal! "Shall we?"

Merissa rolls her eyes. "You really didn't need to be that extra." She walks up to the door... and blasts it into tiny pieces with her Ultra-Mega-BIGGUN! "Not when you could be that extra!" >:D

"oh my god you nerds." Token Girl stepped thru the pieces of broken door, pulling Amnesiac Brad Pitt along with her. Kid Occultism Kid waves their hands, and a giant arrow appears, guiding them to their table. A waitress drops off their pizza and gets Merissa's signature, and they dive in.

"So," says Token Girl, dipping one of their gloriously greasy breadsticks into marinara, "how are you holding up, Brad?"

"Ah..." Amnesiac Brad Pitt shakes his head. "I don't think I'm going to call myself that anymore." He gets up and stands behind his chair, putting one hand on the faded First Trenchcoat draped over it. "After the other Brad Pitts formed the Idolon of Millions and sacrificed themselves, the idea of holding up that name, that legacy... that's not what I am."

Kid Occultism Kid swallows and says, "And what, then, would you be?"

"I'm just a memory of what came before." The former Amnesiac Brad Pitt puts on the First Trenchcoat and turns towards the door, but stops for a moment, looks back. "I'm just... a Memento."

"...uh," says Merissa, "you weren't in that movie."

He freezes. "Wait, really?"

"Are you thinking of Guy Pearce, maybe?" says Kid Occultism Kid.

"Well shit." The still-nameless Idolon turns around and sit back down at the table. "So... how about that election?"

The tension breaks and the table turns into a caophony of nods, sighs, mumbles and eyerolls.

"Like jeez that new President," says Merissa, shaking her head. "I mean, I was too busy to run, but..."

"Yeah," says Token Girl, "but... it could definitely have been worse."

Merissa pauses, remembering, and nods firmly. "Yeah, it really could..."

"And for now," says Kid Occultism Kid, "we shall look forward, to the future. To what we can do to keep this from happening again - to make things truly better."

"Hear, hear," says Mr. What's-His-Name.

Between them, the foursome quickly finish off the pizza, the breadsticks, and the side order of wings. Token Girl lets out a satisfied belch, and Merissa gives her a high-five. "Okay," she says, "I'm gonna head back to LNHQ, how 'bout y'all?"

"I'll totes come with," says Merissa, picking up her bass.

"I shall stay here and help our friend consult on a new moniker," says Kid Occultism Kid.

"yeah thanks," says you-know-who.

The two of them head out the door, into the cool autumn night, gibbous moon waning overhead. As they walk, Token Girl feels Merissa's demeanor change, from the chill relaxed lady she likes to project to the insecure teenager-esque being she actually is (in Token Girl's estimation). Something wants to come out, but it can't be forced, so she waits...

They're almost there when Merissa turns to her and bursts out with a "So hey..."

"Yeah?" says Token Girl, like she hadn't been waiting.

"It's just..." Merissa fidgets, and her face wrinkles up in the frustration of being kuudere, trying to hold back her feelings to maintain her persona of Cool. Thankfully, she isn't very good at it, and the words come spilling out. "Do you really think we can make stuff better? Like, the world almost went totally to shit! It's fucked up in so many different ways! I don't think..." Her voice softens, and she turns her gaze away. "I don't think anybody, no matter how cool and powerful they are, can deal with it by themselves."

Shit. Token Girl does not consider herself anything like 'good at this stuff'. Fearless Leader or Catalyst Lass would be much better at the encouraging speeches, and Special Bonding Boy or Fairy Princess Lad would be much much better at the talking about feelings. But, well, she was there and now she's here, so she takes a deep breath and...

"...yeah, I think you're right. Like... during all the shit that happened, all of the crazy and cosmic and depressing and amazing stuff-- I couldn't have done any of it by myself. Which..." Okay, here goes. "Which is why we all had to do that together. So many of us had to take it on from so many different angles, your band, the Powernauts, Captain LNH and Cheesecake-Eater Lad, the MicroMACs, Maddie and Forgotten Gal, Escape Lass and WikiMan, all the WikiBoys, all of us... We had to come from different places, different backgrounds, different powersets and different stations in life, because we were all needed, we all helped in different ways."

Merissa's eyes are wide and-- oh, dear, yes, they're sparkling. Well, at least it's working - better wrap up while she's ahead.

"So like... yeah, I do think we can stuff better, but only if we keep doing that. If we all value each other's efforts, and don't stop supporting each other - the front line fighters, the healers and comforters, the big public speakers, the logistics nerds, the hyperspecialists..." Token Girl chuckles. "And the token weirdos like me, who just happened to be in the right time and place to kinda, give a little push in a helpful direction."

"...hey!" says Merissa, snorting. "Don't be so down on yourself, grandma. You did a lot of the work too." She shrugs~ "Not as much as me, of course~"

Token Girl laughs. Oh thank fuck it worked. "Grandma, eh? Well, sonny, er, little lady... no, that sounds dumb, I don't know how grandmas talk."

Merissa lets out a gigglesnort. "Okay, okay, so stop talking. See you in the morning, I'm gonna do something cooler than hanging out with you~" She runs down the sidewalk to the back door of the LNHQ, swings it open, and yells, "Also you're rad and thanks!" before disappearing.

Token Girl chuckles, running her hands thru her hair as she saunters thru the back door. Whew. It's been a day of far too many emotions... time to vegetate.

She finds her way to the TV room, the hallways gently guiding her as always. Forsaken Lass and Net.Access are on one of the overstuffed couches, making out and oblivious to the world around them, so she flops down on the other one, next to Fuzzy. "What's on the boob tube?"

"Well, I don't watch the news a lot," says Fuzzy, flipping from channel to channel like it's 1992 or something. "But I figured this was important." She stops on an image of a podium with American flags around it. Vaguely stirring, vaguely patriotic music was playing.

"...welp," says Token Girl, running her hands thru her hair. "Let's do this."

The vague music quiets, and a warm and enthusiastic announcer comes on, completely unfazed by what he's about to say. "Ladies and gentlemen, in his first address to the nation, please welcome the new President-Elect of the Loonited Sates of Ame.rec.a..."

A person walks up to the podium. A person both of them recognize. A person both of them have fought with. And before last week, the last person either of them would have expected to see up there...

"...Bad Judgment Boy!"

The Icon of Ill-Considered Ideas strolls saucily up to the podium. He's wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Che Guevara on it and tight shorts that say "JUICY" on the bottom. He grabs the microphone (causing a screech of feedback) and addresses the nation.

"Hey guys! Wait, there's a teleprompter. My... fellow... Africans..."

An aide runs up to Bad Judgment Boy and whispers urgently in his ear, but he waves them off.

"Look, look, I know you wanted me to talk about the economy or whatever, but let's focus on what's really important: Me! See, I'll be great for the Ame.rec.an people. Most politicians are big in debt to shady figures in industry. But all the shady figures *I*'m in debt to disappeared last week, so it's fine!"

Token Girl watches, open-mouthed, for as long as she can stand. Then she grabs the remote, clicks off the TV, and falls back on the couch. She looks up at Fuzzy. "...well, it coulda been worse, right?"

Fuzzy chuckles. "It really could have. But..." She scratches her head. "I still don't understand how the heck he won!"

Token Girl sits up and shakes her head. "I should head to bed." She stands up, streeeetching out. "But I'll tell you what I can tomorrow." She walks to the door, but turns when she gets there. "And we can start at the end." She gives Fuzzy a wink, then ambles away.

Fuzzy shakes her head. "Good night." She turns to the camera. "And sleep well, when you do."

----

Author's Notes: So, the thing is...

I had SO MANY PLANS for WikiLull. And they grew, and they grew, and they just kept growing. And I realized - what I really wanted WikiLull to be was a catharsis to all the pain and awfulness of the 2016 election, all of its causes and all of its effects. And that's just too big for one story to be.

So instead, I decided to tie off the loose ends, and take a lot of the places Jeanne and I had wanted characters to go and just move them there, and leave the Looniverse with a good status quo. And get it done before the 2020 election, eheheh... just under the wire.

The Deep Omnilooniverse is, of course, a parody of DC's Dark Multiverse. Jeanne and I were originally going to call it the "Dark Omnilooniverse", but using "dark" like that is overdone and carries Weird Racial Overtones, and the play on the idea of the "deep web" was really compelling. All of the Deep Omnilooniverse worlds mentioned in this issue are named after demons from the Ars Goetia, because we're fancy like that. It's not very well-defined here, so feel free to go wild!

[vandergeld]

                  hey  everyone welcome BACK to my blog  ,  hi  , how  are  ya ?   i’m   RUZZY   (  or  ru  ,  rudy  idk  if thats too  much  lmAO  )  &  i  have  not  been  apart  of  a  group  in  84  years ............  that  graphic  is  so  extra  but  i  was  bored  &  first  impressions  are  everything  ,  ANYWHO  this  is  my  mans WARNER  played  by  my  mans  GRAYSON DOLAN  ,  who  lacks  f’n  resources  so  i  gotta  work  some  magic  w/  all  these  gifs  on  tumblr  lmao  so  any  gif  icons  are  noT  mine  for  the  most  part  they’ll  be  taken  from  gifs  alr  created  (  s/o  2  the  fly  hunnies  that  made  ‘em  )  anyway  ya’ll  don’t  really  care  abt  me  lmao  soooooo here’s warner ! PLS  feel  free  to  hmu ANYTIME  for  the  plots  &  things  of  that  nature  u  could  lit  never  bother  me  idc ,  my  discord  is  𝐫𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐲𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐳𝐢#1643 if  u  everrr need  to  get  ahold  of  me  when  im  not  on  tumblr  !

         𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐍, cismale, he/his. → look out, there’s 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐃. you know, the 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘  year old 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 of 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐀 𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐃𝐀 𝐌𝐔. you know, i overheard someone say that they were 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄, 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 , 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆  and 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐃. but that’s just rumours. fresh new pairs of air jordan 1's, the roar of a crowd in a stadium, and lost weekends come to mind when i think of them. what about you? [ ruzzy, he/him, 18, est ]

TW : CANCER MENTION  ,  SMOKING  MENTION  .

//   »    GENERAL      :

FULL NAME   :   warner     evangelino   alexander       vandergeld       (   inspired by the antagonists of white chicks lmaooo   )     .

HOMETOWN  : new  york  city  ,  new york  .

NICKNAMES   :   dumbass   .

AGE   :   twenty  .

BIRTHDAY   :   october twenty-first   .

ZODIAC   :   libra   .

GENDER   :   male   .

PRONOUNS   :   he      &      him   .

NATIONALITY   :   american   .

ETHNICITY   :   german  ,   italian  ,  irish   .

LABEL(S)   :   the   golden boy   ,   the   lothario   ,   the   jock   .

TROPE(S)  :  chick magnet  ,  hormone-addled teenager  ,  unwitting pawn  , upper class twit  ,

OCCUPATION   :  college student  &  collegiate football player  & full time frat bro  .

FRAT : beta lambada mu  .

MAJOR   :   environmental science  .

POS  : charming  ,  charismatic  ,  brave  ,  athetic ,  dedicated  ,   eco-friendly  ,  high-moral compass  ,  book smart  ,  kind  ,  energetic  ,  optimistic  , loyal (  most of the time  ) ,  respectful  ,   well-rounded  ,  level-headed  , ambitious  ,  debonair  ,  life of the paty  .

NEG   :  compulsive  ,  easily-influenced  ,  dimwitted  , hypersexualized  ,  problematic  ,  addictive  , rebellious  ,  bemused  ,  defensive  ,  clingy  ,  hopeless-romatic  ,  overly-competitive  ,  envious .

INSP  : nate archibald  (  gossip girl  )  

//   »    PAST      :

          warner   was  born  &  raised  in  the  city  that  never sleeps  and    is  the  product  of  evangeline   moretti-vandergeld  , an   intelligent   american-italian  socialite  turned   environmental   politician  ,   and  captain  william   vandergeld  ,  a  former   navy   captain  ,   and  now   a   shareholder   in   some   boring   fortune   500   company   that   allowed   his   wife   and   son   to   live   an   affluent  ,   and   privileged   life  . his   mother  however  ,   was   the   real deal  ,   often   using   their   sum   of   wealth   to   donate   to   multiple   charities  ,  organizations  , etc, she was  dedicated  to  keeping  new  york  city  (  and  all  who  lived there  )  clean  and  safe   , and  she instilled  those  same  values  onto  her  son.

          some people are born lucky  ,  and others  ,  lucky  to  be  born  .   warner  was  the  first  option  .  his childhood  was  nothing  short  of  happiness  ,  and  happiest  days  were  with  his  mother  ,  for  as  long  as he  could  remember  ,  any happy  moment  in  his childhood  was  faded  right  into  her.

          things  took  a  drastic  change  his freshman  year  of  (  private  obvy lmao  )  high-school   .   warner’s  mother  was  diagnosed  with  breast  cancer  ,  and  little  to  his  knowledge  ,  it wasn’t  looking  pretty  from  the  start  .  she was  frequently  in  and  out  of the hospital  for  a  few  months  at  a  time  and  it  was  not  looking  good  on  any  fronts  .  one  day  when  she  went  to  the  hospital  it seemed  like  she  never  left  ,  maybe  she  didn’t  ,  those  days  were  a blur  for  warner  to  be  honest  .  watching  his  mother  lose  life  , every  single  day  was  not  a task  he  was  up  for  .

          by  then  it  was  just  warner  and  his  father  ,  they  were  all  they  had  in  the big  city  . (  when  he  wasn’t  always  away  on business  )  warner  grew  up  in   that  big  luxy  town  house  all  by  himself  ,  with  the  company  of  loyal  maids  ,  chefs  ,   and  nannies  of course  .  but  in  high  school  , the  more  he  really submerged  himself  into  it  ,  it  was  a  crazy  world  &  he  loved  it  .  whilst  getting  demands  from  his  father  in  tokyo  to  attend  those  boring  sailing  classes  ,  warner  instead  headed  out  to  their  beach  house  in  the  hamptons  for  an  early  20  rager  .

       warner  undoubtedly knew  the  power  he  possessed  ,   big  man  on  campus  type  &  it felt  good  , until  about towards  the  end  of his  junior  year  he  was  honestly  all   partied   out  ,  but  of  course reputation  is   everything  ,  in  order  to  keep  up  thats  when  he  picked  up  the   real  ugly  habits  ,  that  were  of  course  fun  .  smoking  numerous  amounts  of  marijuana  ,  various  girls  in  -  and  -  out  every other  day  was  a  feeling  like  no  other  ,   he  knew  it  was  wrong  ,  he  knew  his  mom  would  be  ashamed  ,  him  doing  all these  things  and  not carrying  on  her  legacy  in  some  way .  but  he  couldn’t  help  himself  in a  all  honesty   ,   and   no  doubt  some  of  that  transitioned  over  in  college .

//   »    AES   :

          lost weekends partying  ,  chicken  wings  &  french  fries  ,  air  jordan  1′s  ,  gucci  guilty  cologne  ,  friday  night  lights  ,  clouds  of  smoke  &  red  eyes  ,  diamond  encrusted  jewelry  glistening  under  bright  lights  in  a  dark  room  ,  nike  sweatsuits  ,  game  winning  moves  ,  new  york  city  at  night  ,  hamptons  in  the  summer  ,  spring  break  in  miami  ,  impulsive decisions  .

//   »    TL;DR   :

(  and  some  stuff  i  probably  missed  oops  )  warner  is  a  conflicted  mama’s   boy  who  knows  half  the  shit  he does  is  wrong  but  can’t  stop  .  after  his  mothers passing  he had  an absent father  who seemed  to  always  be  away  on  business  ,  only  in  town  for  a  month  or  two  ,  missing  his sons’ multiple  feats   to  keep  himself  distracted  from  the  fact  that  his  wife  was  no  longer  with  them. created  immense daddy  issues  for  warner  ,  especially  since  he  was  a  standout  football  star  &  2x   stage  champ in  high  school  ,  and is  currently  playing  collegiality  for  the  irish ,  with  dreams  of  making  it  in  the  nfl  cause  screw  his  dad  he  don’t  wanna  go   2  the  navy   ,   or  work  for  dat  company # not  gonna  happen .  warner  took  great  advantage  of  wealth  &  his  fathers  absence  ,  but  he’s  lowkey  partied  out  in  college  ,  or  so  he likes  to  say  but  he fakes  it ‘till  he  makes  it bc  he  doesn’t  his  brothers  to think  he’s  lame . HE’S  LIVING  FOR  EVERYBODY  BUT  HIM  BASICALLY .

//   »    HEADCANONS    :

warner  is  on  a  football  scholarship  majoring  in  environmental  science  bc  although  he  most  likely  won’t  do  shit  w/  da  degree its  for  mommy  .

he can EASILY  be  manipulated  or  taken  advantage  of  ,  he’s  book  smart  but lowkey  dumber  than  a  fucking  box  of  rocks 

immastonerbyyoungthug.mp3  .  occasionally ,  but  ,  more  so  than  that  ?  he  always  manages  to  flush  out  his  system  in  time  if  needed  be  ,  but  he  loves  2  roll  up  #  stress relief 

a  BEAST  on  that  field  (  student  athlete  meme  here  )

has  all  the  canon  gray  tattoos  bc  fuck  what  dad  thinks  .  he  wears  a solid  16 inch gold  chain  ,  and  another  of  the same  length with  his  moms’  name  on  it  , never  fucking  takes  it  off  ,  showers  with  it  cause  he  can  .

ok  ........  he  rich  ,  but  like  not  i  can  do  whatever  i  want  rich  ???  he  may  not  ever  have  to  work  a  day  in  his   life  ,  but  he  don’t  got  the pull  u  think  he  does  w/  his  dumb  ass  u  probably  couldn’t  even  tell  he’s  got  money  with  his  minimalist  fashion  sense  .

he  has  a  higher  moral  compass  than  most  of  his  frat  bros  ,  but  the  stupid  shit  he does  ,  u most  likely  won’t  even  be  able  to tell  ,  he’s  definitely  a  serial  romeo  and  a  heartbreaker  ,  one  compliment  ?  he’s  ready  to  drop  his  pants  &  fall  in  love  w/   u  .

HE DUMB  ,  but  like  he  can  talk  his  way  into  &  out  of  anything  ,  most  of  the  time  ,  batting  those  big  brown  eyes  &  a  million  dollar  smile  has  saved  his  ass  on  multiple  occasions  .

//   »    WANTED CONNECTIONS   :

EX-GIRLFRIEND :  i’m  thinking  his  first  &  only  “  serious  “  relationship  while  in  college  .  were  going  pretty  steady  until  he  cheated  on  her  (  hmm wc  on  who  he  cheated  on  her w/ ??  ) ,  she  never  found  out  but  that  guilt  ate warner TF UP  so  he  cut  things  off  with  her  via  text  message  and blocked  her  number  ,  ignores  her  any  chance  he  gets  ‘till  this  day  ,  cause  he  doesn’t  have  any  balls  and  cannot  face  his  fears  .

FRAT BROS  : lowkey  what  i’m  MOST  excited  for  asdfgh  like  whoever  is  in  beta  lambada mu  hit  me  the  fuck UP so  we  can  discuss  dynamics  ,  roomates  ,  allat  .

FOOTBALL TEAM  : same  for  above  ,  he’s  lowkey  cocky  &  got  sly  comments  when  he’s  on  the  field  ,  he constantly  humbles  himself  but  can’t  helps  it  ,  he is  hot  shit  and  he  knows  it  , how does  his  team  feel  ab  that  ??  w/  his  defensive  ass  !

GOOD-LUCK CHARM  :  prolly  a  girl  (  bonus  points  if  a  cheerleader  ???  im  not  picky  tho  i promise  if  ur  muse  don’t  shake  poms  idc  )  it  happened  out  the  blue  ,  they  screamed  his  name  while  the  team  was  walking  out  for  a  game  ,  and  she  called  that  he’d  get  3  td’s  and  thats  exactly  what  he  did  now  they  joke  ab  it  and  shit  (  maybe  a  goodluck  kiss b4  games  bc  its  warner lolol  ) idk  i  came  up  wit  it  on the  spot but  i love  it.

//   »    MISC   :

i’m a dumbass  &  this  got  way  longer  than  i  expected  but  if  u  made  it   all  the  way  thru  ily . 

[erik-carierre]

Halloween story from last year.

Christine visited her aunt’s house every year.

She was a frail, elderly woman, and when Christine drove up every summer to chat and housekeep and bake, she felt needed and loved and depended upon, largely for the first time since her father’s passing. The trip was long and lonesome along the hot interstate, and though the radio kept her company and it was safe to frequently check the map, her car had survived through two annual drives and would clearly not survive a third.

Smoke began to billow out from under the hood, and she was forced to pull over in the dead heat, completely screwed. She’d been ignoring that ‘check engine’ light for a while now, hoping things would clear themselves up. She had been slow to adjust to adult responsibilities.

A lifeline appeared far down the road, tires stirring up a cloud of dust that followed the black Pontiac Firebird. The car slowed down in front of her, passenger window rolling down. It was cool inside, and his radio was playing some lulling crooner’s song about rain.

Erik was kind. He helped her load up her belongings into his backseat and would give her a lift as he was heading her way. The old station wagon of hers had to be left to rust on the side of the road, but she’d gotten it cheap in her senior year and she had little sentimental attachment to it. She was able to rest on the cool black seat, chatting with Erik and intermittently resting her eyes. She felt safe. He was charming and easygoing.

It was getting dark and they hadn’t had anything to eat. He pulled over to a motel and diner, letting her grab a bite while he paid for the rooms. They met in the lobby, he gave her her key, and then it was goodnight.

She couldn’t sleep. The mattress wasn’t the best she’d slept on, and more than once it seemed like something was moving underneath it. The tv gave a low, staticky hum even when turned off. With nothing better to do, she chose to go for a walk.

The motel was a long circuit, starting at the lobby and looping back around past all the rooms. Few doors had light underneath, and she found she didn’t know which one was Erik’s. In the lobby there was the big glass doors, the worn reddish carpet, the front desk, and the Coca-Cola vending machine. There were fluorescent lights that did their job poorly, and a radio on the empty counter playing some other song- Stuck on You, she identified after a few moments, staring out at the big fluorescent sign reading NO VACANCY.

Another loop around and the song was still playing. She could remember the words this time, humming along as she pressed her forehead against the cool glass and looked down the road for oncoming motorists.

“You can shake an apple off an apple tree

Shake-a, shake- sugar

But you'll never shake me

Uh-uh-uh

No-sir-ee, uh, uh

I'm going to stick like glue

Stick because I'm

Stuck on you.”

She could hear the song as she wandered now, mouthing the lyrics. A couple rooms had their TVs on; she could see flickering under the doors. People were moving around upstairs, but the steps were outside, and she didn’t feel like going there.

“Going to run my fingers thru your long black hair

Squeeze you tighter than a grizzly bear

Uh-uh-uh

Yes-sir-ee, uh, uh”

The neon sign outside was turned off now. The vending machine clicked and buzzed here and there, like an ice maker. Elvis was still crooning, and she started to sing softly as she made another trip around.

“Hide in the kitchen, hide in the hall

Ain't going to do you no good at all.”

The volumes on the TVs were turned up now. There must be a party or something going on upstairs; she could hear tapping and dancing and running. Down the hall a ways behind her, something fell over in the maintenance closet, enough to make her turn around.

The lobby radio was louder too. The fluorescent lights flickered off as she entered, the pale glow of the vending machine offering a last bit of light behind the plastic cover. The cursive letters seemed just as bright and distant as the stars outside. There was a loud clunk and a single can fell from the dispenser, rolling out across the worm carpet floor and into the shadowed hallway.

“Because once I ḉḀṮḉḧ you and the ḲḭṠsing starṮṠ,”

Even the exit signs were flickering and dying. Yet the TVs were loud and going strong, hundreds of voices pouring out and lights flashing under every door. Then the banging started. First on the ceiling, right over her head, and then starting up around the corner behind the doors, catching up to her. She started running.

“A team of wḭḶḊ hṏṙṠes couḶḊṆ’Ṯ ṮḕḀṙ ṳṠ ḀṖḀṙṮ!”

The maintenance closet made the whole building shake, the door flying open as the banging grew louder and louder. She caught a glimpse of something tall and thin and frightening, like a void with glowing eyes, and somehow she could sense the sharp teeth below them. She screamed and sprinted to her room, the banging on both sides and above and below as she darted inside and slammed the door shut, crying and hysterical.

“Christine? Christine, are you alright? What’s the matter?”

She came to realize there was no pulsing, eardrum-shattering ruckus going on around her. It was just her own uneven gasps, the electric hum of the tv, and Erik’s concerned, tentative voice. She threw the door open and sobbed into his chest, and he held her against his t-shirt, promising they’d leave that night if she wanted to.

She awoke in Erik’s passenger seat as he pulled into the parking lot of a diner, informing her that her destination was close and he was going to fill up the car across the street while she had breakfast. There was little opportunity to talk about the events of last night, and on the drive up to the old house he asked her questions about her aunt and childhood, trying to cheer her up. At last she could see that beautiful white farmhouse, could smell the cinnamon sugar donuts and hear the vinyl records and feel her aunt’s withered hand in hers.

He was gone when Christine shut the backseat door, belongings in her arms. His door was wide open, and she heard nothing from him. But glancing over to the house, he must’ve gone in. There was nowhere else for him to have disappeared to as fast.

“Auntie Val? Hello? Erik?” Christine stepped inside, frowning. The doors were wide open and everything seemed dusty and faded. She dumped her stuff on the floral patterned loveseat, a sick dread filling her stomach. “Aunt Val? Are you hurt? Hello–“

A record in the other room started playing, grainy and crackling but loud enough to spill into the main area of the house.

“...hide in the kitchen, hide in the hall

Ain’t gonna do you no good at all”

She began to panic as she heard a voice call her from upstairs. Soft and feminine and welcoming and not her aunt’s. “Christine? I’m upstairs, dear. Come this way. I’m just upstairs. Come up.”

Anxiously she climbed the steps, wincing as she saw the clearly abandoned top floor of the house. This was not her aunt’s house. It looked identical from the outside, but now she wasn’t sure. Reality was playing tricks on her. The attic door was just ahead, already open. The stairs clicked as they slid down.

“Because once I caṮḉḧ ẏṏṳ ḀṆḊ Ṯḧḕ ḲḭṠṠḭṆḠ ṠṮḀṙṮṠ Ḁ ṮḕḀṁ ṏḟ ẇḭḶḊ ḧṏṙṠḕṠ ḉṏṳḶḊṆ’Ṯ ṮḕḀṘ ṳṠ ḀṖḀṙṮ”

The wooden stairs creaked as she set her foot on the first step, and she managed to make it to the third. Christine stared into the void above, frozen in fear as two bright eyes slowly came into view. Long, clawed appendages gripped her arms, digging into her clothes and skin and wrenching her up screaming, long sharp teeth tearing into her jugular and holding the meal down as it struggled frantically until the top half was detached from the bottom half.

Few motorists drove along this dusty stretch of road now. She was the first he’d seen in five years. Past the abandoned motel and diners and the dead gas station. He lingered in that old house, and waited.

[mythologymonsterlover]

Male! Porcelain Doll Lover (pt.1)

This is about a single mom in the 1980s looking to find work. Due to an unfortunate situation, she comes across a man who claims to be made out of Porcelain?! what will she and her son do in this small town with a man like this..

warning: some swearing

female reader X Male monster

It was never easy for Jason and me. We had to survive on the food banks because I was not working. My bank got robbed last fall, and they took everything I had left. The children agency been telling me to give Jason to them since, obviously, I can’t even take care of myself right now. However, I managed to find a job suitable enough for me to work at and give me enough time to take care of my son.  It’s located in Kansas in the far East and the owner had hired me as a cook who can work though 8AM to 5PM, every Monday through Friday. Really, it a blessing that we only live in Garden city. The rent there is a high so I need to find other ways of making money while working as a cook.  We need money badly and I don’t want my kid not wanting to go to school anymore. I can’t get him new clothing and the kids there started to make fun of him for it, to the point where Jason would start begging me not to take him to school. It makes me feel disappointed in myself. So right now, am going to give him and me a good job that gives me a good check.

We left our home on a Sunday morning so we could go job searching. I took a shower at the house and I put on one of my old dresses that was clean enough to put on. Its light blue and original but has this beauty to it that people usually say they love. I also put on some black shoes that were a little worn out, but still look good. I feel bad for how Jason shoes where dirtier than mine though. Just looking at them makes me feel guilty for not being able to provide for my son. He look like he comes from a poor household with nothing in it, but the things he does have are his books and his toy.

When we are ready to leave, he runs out of the door with one of his books and sits in the back. I smile wryly at him and start the car up and headed onto the  road.  

After 20 minutes on the road Jason turns to me and asks “Mom can we get McDonald please? I’m hungry.” 

He looks at me with those eyes of his, I sigh. “Hey, how about we just wait a little bit longer until we eat okay, like an hour or so?”

 I am also a bit hungry, but we just need to drive for another hour to get to the main road.  I look at him and his giving me one of his pouts faces but it disappears.

“Okay, fine.” He turns his attention back to his book and starts quietly reading.  “Thank you.” I said in a soft voice and bring my attention back onto the road. 

After an hour of driving to get to the main road, I see a McDonald’s and pull into the drive thru. I look at the cars’ clock and it says 11:40, we just missed breakfasts.

 “Hi, what can I get for you today?” a man voice says through the little box, and Jason and I order a double cheeseburger and a Dr. pepper.

 I pay for the food and pulled over so we could eat, but suddenly I see the car’s gauges lights come on. “Dammit, why now?” I said in a low irritated voice.

 I look on my phone and try to find the closest mechanic and how cheap they are, but the connection around here is bad. 

As I keep scowling at my phone Jason looks up at me with a concerned look, “Mama what’s wrong, is everything okay?”  I sigh, “yes, everything fine but  I’ll need to run into the restraint and ask one of the employees if they have a number I can call. Wait here for just a minute, alright?” 

He looks at me a bit puzzled but nods, “Okay.” 

As I exit out of the car I look at the McDonald and notice how odd it looks in this environment that we are in. It’s the only restraint in this whole valley and there is nothing else around it except the road. I don’t put too much thought into it since right now I need to figure out where the town is located. I go up to open the front doors of the restraint, but there locked shut. Then I notice words in big capital letters in front of the window that says, CLOSE. I find this extremely odd since ten minutes ago we ordered food,  but I look around to see if there are any cars that might belong to one of the workers. Sadly,I don’t see any. I then started to get irritated, but I take some deep breaths to prevent myself from panicking, I try thinking what I can do. 

“God, this is almost about to turn into a comedy about a sad middle age mom and her kid asking for a strange man to pick them up off the side of the road.”  Saying that I decided that won’t be the case, since Jason and I will just have to walk to the next town. 

I spotted a sign saying if we keep going straight, we would enter a small town. looking at the sky, I see it still light out and can make out a building. I sigh once again and close my eyes, I hope there is someone in those buildings that can help us, and I hope Jason and I don’t have to deal with any weirdos.

 I head straight to the car to tell Jason what we are going to do. Jason frowns, “Mama you said that everything was okay, what’s wrong with the car?”  I look at him a bit guilty, “Nothing really, I just think we need to walk to the next town and ask them if there is anything wrong with the car, that’s all.”

 I say in a persuading voice, but to be honest I don’t know if i believe myself.  All I can do is say it not a big deal and hope it’s not. 

He looks at me suspiciously and gets out of the car, “Are you telling me the truth?” I crouch down to his level. “Yes, everything is fine Jason. We just need to walk a little bit farther to the next town, alright?” I stand up and grab his hand. He looks at me one more time, than he nods and squeezed my hand. “Okay mama.” he says in a sweet voice. As we start walking I look one more time at that McDonald, thinking how its  a weird place to put it.

As we kept walking for about 30 to 50 minutes we make it to the little town. It was very quiet but I saw a car parked in front of one of a building.

 I smiled a little, “Oh thank god, it would have been terrible if no one was here.” I said to Jason and he nods. As I read the sign on the top of the building it said “The Museum of History.” Huh, I also notice it feels out of place too. 

“Mama, this place is kind of creepy.” Jason says has he squeezes my hand harder, I nod. “Yeah, It's alright, this museum does look really old but we will be okay.” I do wonder however if we could go somewhere else, but, as i’m in deep thoughts I hear Jason say something.

 “Mom, the door.” I look up and see that the door is open a little. “Huh? Hello?” I say loud enough to be heard, but hear nothing in return. As I loosen my grip around Jason’s hand, he suddenly runs inside the museum. 

“Jason, what are you doing!?” I run after him, but I paused at the front door. It has very dim lighting coming from the windows, so it was hard to see, but I could make stairs going up. As I start to walk in slowly I make out a wooden front desk, but no one’s there. Then I see some old looking red furniture in the corner of the room, and in the center there's an old statue of a man with a sword in his left hand who looks strong. I look around a little more and I call for Jason.

 “Jason, come here please!” I keep calling until I hear feet running upstairs.  “Jason…?” I say in a low tone. The atmosphere suddenly becomes very cold. I than worry even more for Jason’s safety in this creepy place, and i’m scared shitless. Yet, I don’t let my fear eat at me and reluctantly go up the stairs. 

Each step I take makes a creaking noise, like the wooden boards will break any minute. I make it to the top though, and see a light at the end of a hallway. It engulfs the end of the corridor very brightly, and very faintly I can hear murmuring between two people. One sound like a man’s voice and the other a kid’s voice. “Jason?” I whisper. 

I walk down the hallway to were the murmuring is coming from. When I come closer to the noise I see a wooden door that has a very bright light coming from underneath the crack, and for a strange reason the door looks very familiar to me, but I don’t know why.

 “Mommy?” I hear a voice say. I notice it Jason’s voice and I could hear the door knob beginning to wiggle, and a moment later Jason comes out and gives me a big hug. “Jeez Jason, why did you run off like that? You made me worried.” 

He looks up at me momentarily, “Sorry mommy..” I inhale a big breath and sigh; I don’t know why Jason would just run away, even when he said that this place freaks him out too. Am about to open my mouth again, but he cut me off before I can say anything.

 “-Oh mommy, this man wants to talk to about the car. I told him that we were tired from walking to this place.” he says this and I pull away and feel I chill go down my spine. 

“Jason, what man were you talking to?” Jason points his finger inside the room. Sure enough, I can make out a man’s figure seating in a chair.

 I take a sharp breath when the figure turns around and looks at me, he looks very much like a… porcelain doll. He has a nice figure and a very clean face, but his eyes were dead like fish.

 “Ah…” the strange looking man says suddenly that breaks the silence between us. He gets up out of the chair and walks toward Jason and me. As the man get closer, I grab Jason’s’ hand and bring him closer to my side. 

The man notices my reaction and stops about three steps away from us. He looks me straight in the eyes, and I can see him more closely to where I notice his strange white hair as well, which are the color of clouds. 

“u-mm…” I say very awkwardly as he stares at me. He smiles a little, “Hello, my name is Simon, and am the owner of this museum. Your son was talking about you looking for someone to fix your car, correct?” 

he says in a deep but gentle voice. I open my mouth hesitantly, “Yes, um, we were just looking for a phone.. that we could use?” Simon glass face shapes a smile and his glass eyes beam. “I see.” He lifts one of his sleeve up and look at his a watch and frowns a bit, but then he put his sleeve down and looks up again. 

“It getting quite late, it probably would be best if you stayed here for tonight, the towing company is closed during these hours anyhow and you both look exhausted.” He walks past us and out into the hallway, “Please, have a seat and I will get you both some food and drinks if you like.” I see that there are two other chairs beside his, but I look down at Jason and try and figure out how to escape this situation. 

I clear my throat I say with a smile, “No, I think we are alright, but thanks anyhow.” I try to walk out of the room with Jason, however the man stares at us more worriedly. “ I understand that you would probably feel a bit uncomfortable about staying here, but I promise you it’s more dangers to go outside right now.” He then comes up to me and places his hand carefully on my arm. Even his hand looks like glass.

 “Please, I have a room upstairs that you and your son can stay in; if you like I can show you it right now.” Simon walks past us and goes up the hallway to were another set of staircases is. I look at him questionably, “Why… do you want us to stay?” he flickers his eyes to Jason and then looks at me with emotionless eyes and sighs, “I would like to tell you but I rather we did it in privet, you know, not in front of your boy.” I raise an eyebrow and let go of Jason hand, he gives me a worried expression. 

“Mommy?” His startled eyes look at me, but I pat his head with a smile.

 “It okay baby, this will only take a minute.” He looks at me with uncertainty but speaks up to him. “U-Um sir, where should I sit at while you and mommy talk?” he says this very shyly. Simon eyes simmer and he forms the softest smile I ever seen. “Jason, if you could please sit in that room, that would be great.” Jason nods and heads off.

 I look at Simon and he walks to the edge of the stairs and sits down. “Please sit.” I come to where he points at slowly, being very cautious. As I sit next to him, the air becomes cold again and sends a cold sweat down my spine. To say he didn’t give me the creeps would be an understatement. 

He began to speak gently. “To tell you why you shouldn’t leave, I need your full attention.” I nod, and he lets out a sigh and starts talking. “You see, this town has a lot of death in it…Its seems that people who come to live here die in many ways, however, no one knows why so many people die here.”

 I look at him very surprised. Did he just say people die here for some strange reasons? He notices my expression and begins to keep speaking. “I know this may sound strange and frightening... But am not kidding. A lot of people have died here and it usually happened during the night.” 

He was looking at me sadly now, and I didn't know how to react. “What do you mean by people die here? Are you saying there is a killer on the loose?” he looks at me very worriedly and begins to speak again in a slower tone. 

“I…I am not sure why a lot of people are dying here, I don’t remember...” He says this with a very forlorn look on his face. “To be honest, I don’t even know what day it is…” I’m confused by his words and frown a bit. “What do you mean you don't know what day it is?”

 Simon gives me another emotionless face. “I been here a long time, I barely know what it's like to see another person.”  I feel almost saddened by his words but also worried.  He gives me a calm look. “I’ve been here for about eighty-nine years...” He says casually. I’m taken aback by his words, since he not only looks to be in his late thirty to early forties, but because his seems so serious about it. “ what are you trying to say?” I prompt him, but he suddenly moves his hand to touch mine. “Do you not remember me?” I am startled by his touch, but do recall of a man in my head, a man who looked just like Simon. 

However, instead of telling he did look familiar, I pulled my hand away. “I’m sorry, but I think I should grab my son now.” He doesn’t say anything for a moment, but then shrugs. “Alright, that’s fine.” He looks at me very sadly, and before I can stop myself I speak out some words unexpectedly. “Listen, since it does look really dark now, I think I will take you up on that offer. Jason and I will probably stay the night.” As I sit their questioning why I said that, his eyes light up and his up on his feet in no time. “ That very good news to hear, let me show you two to the room.” 

well, I think to myself, too late to speak up now.

 As me and Jason stay the night, we are greeted with breakfast in the morning and all of us sit at the table. Simon makes us food a couple of more times throughout the day, and his cooking is amazing. Yet, I have this undying question to ask him why he looks so much like a porcelain doll. He doesn't look bad at all, to be honest, he looks stunning, But from what he said last night about being eighty nine years old leaves me baffled. I take him to the side of the kitchen and speak to him privately. “ Simon, you said you are eighty nine years old...and you asked me if I know you? why?” He almost looks relieved when I asked him, and turn his head toward me. 

“You see, I'm not human, I’m a porcelain doll... Also, you look like my former wife.” I look at him like he just slap me in the face. 

“Your joking right? Sure you look different, but you just had plastic surgery right?” he shakes his head back and forth. 

“No, I was cursed when I was thirty nine, and I now live in this shallow shell of a body darling.”

 I step back from him, thinking he must be on drug or something. Okay, maybe this was a bad idea to stay here with this guy. He frowns softly and steps closer to me. “You don't believe me, do you?” 

he grabs my hand and places it to his face, and I could feel it. The glassy touch of his skin, and I become frozen with fear. “I’m sorry, I know this is hard to understand, but i'm being honest.” He slowly and delicately moves some hair behind my ear. he leans forward  a little more until our faces are just inches apart, and I can hear my heart hammering in my rib cage. 

“You look so much like my wife, before the years took her away from me...In fact, I dare say you must me her.”

 I suddenly feel light headed and before i can say anything, everything turns black.

 I wake up in a bed not mine and see Simon next to me worriedly, as well as Jason. 

I react fast, grabbing Jason by his arm and bring him close to me. “mommy?” he says surprisingly. “What the hell are you Simon? huh!?” 

I look at him with daggers in my eyes and he calmly sit at the end of the bed. “I’m a cursed soul inside of a glass shell, my lady.”

 He then gets up and walks to the door. “We can talk more once you feel comfortable enough, until then, relax.”

[honey-bri-books]

Proverbs 17:3 -Team Castiel

Meanwhile Castiel...around the time when Dean and Sam are arriving home. Castiel and a small team of angels gather in a graveyard, after failing to rescue a group of teens, during a werewolf attack. 

SPN Fluff. Warnings: Cas and Cass used in this fic. No major spoilers. Refers to Sam’s texts.  **I know that there is some discussion and theory about the cellphone with the texts to Cas actually belonging to Dean. In this fic, they are assumed to be from Sam)*** Warning: Typos, grammatical errors. Inconsistencies.

Castiel, Sam and Dean characters created by Eric Kripke 

The Angels:

LAILAH – Night, Conception

AGLIBOL– The Moon

JOPHIEL – Wisdom, judgment

CASTIEL – Thursday

**

The jeep is parked at a camping sight, near Two Harbors. Jophiel and Lailah lie on the hood, looking up at the sky. Castiel and Aglibol inspect a mini golf course, closer to the main road. The four angels are waiting for the next thunderstorm to hit, hoping to squeeze in a lightning charge before heading further north. 

Recent attacks have been mostly werewolf related. It was as if multiple packs had all formed just within the span of a day or two. The remaining angels who were earth-bound had done all they could, but despite their efforts combined with the work of various hunters, there had been just as many fatalities as there had been rescues. Feeling defeated and depressed, Lailah had suggested stopping by the Black Bear Casino, in Carlton. Afterwards, the team had no real direction from Naomi or any urgent leads from local news. So, they decided to continue North and keep their eyes peeled. Though really, everyone was hoping to lay low and stay off the radar, for a bit.

Lailah sighs and rolls into Jophiel, who turns towards him and flings an arm around him. While neither are cold, they both cling to each other as if for warmth. 

LAILAH: I'm tired.

JOPHIEL: You're not tired.

LAILAH: I mean I'm not feeling well. It's getting darker and I can't even feel the night coming on. It's like....it's as if I'm broken, Joph. He blinks back tears...All of those people...

JOPHIEL: You didn't do anything wrong. You tried your best, Babe. Jophiel kisses Lailah’s forehead. We were all powered down, when things went south. There were too many beasts back there, there was no way we were going to save them all. Don't think about it. Please.

Earlier, Lailah had finally made it to a group of teens hiding out in a classroom, during a werewolf attack at a high school. Most of the werewolves had fled or had been killed. Lailah had planned on escorting the students to a safe location when he noticed...the way they were cowering. There was blood splattered all over the floor, and the cluster of students were hovering over what looked like the body of a teacher from the school. When Lailah gasped, the students-turned-werewolves noticed the angel, glaring at him, fangs dripping with entrails from the now dead high school teacher. Lailah had been too late. He froze, not hearing Castiel come from just behind him. Cas put a hand on Lailah's shoulder. 

CASTIEL: Lailah, you have to..

LAILAH: They're...they're so young...

CASTIEL: I'll take the blame for this, for slowing you down. I'll help you finish...The pack sprang at Castiel and Lailah, when Jophiel and Aglibol arrived on the scene. After a brief struggle, all four angels killed the pack, together. The room couldn't get any redder, any bloodier. They all left with heavy hearts. When Lailah was finally able to find his voice again, he directed Aglibol towards the Black Bear Casino, where he managed to get himself drunk in record time.

Thunder can now be heard in the distance. While Jophiel comforted Lailah, Aglibol watched Castiel, carefully. 

AGLIBOL: You've been quiet. 

CASTIEL: Yes..I have. Castiel speaks as if hypnotized, his behavior zombie-like. He leans down to inspect the green of the mini golf course, running his hands over it. The few cars that are out that night all pull into the drive thru of a MacDonalds, nearby. Their headlights reflect off of Castiel’s face. He doesn’t blink. Aglibol sees that Castiel is lost in himself, again. He backs away slightly and turns to face the other direction. 

AGLIBOL: I'm going to check on the others. Lighting should strike within the hour, so be alert. Castiel doesn't even hear him. He just crouches low, and sadly looks at the hole in the ground. Just a small patch of black, but enough to lock his focus in. Castiel looks as if he’s about to fade away. Aglibol sighs and then heads over towards the jeep.

When Aglibol gets there, he glances at Jophiel and Lailah. Lailah is crying into Jophiel's neck. Jophiel tries his best to shush him, stroking his cheek. Aglibol takes a quick glance back to Castiel and then heads further away from the Mini Golf Course and into the small patch of woods behind the MacDonald's. He pulls out Castiel's cell phone and reads the messages, again.

From Sam Winchester: 

Hey Cass, checking in.

How are you doing? Everything okay?

Cass call me we need to talk.

Didn't realize you were taking off.

Service sucks in the bunker. Want to make sure you're getting these?

Call me when you can.

Want to make sure you're okay?

Aglibol frowns down at Sam’s texts. He feels guilty for taking Castiel’s phone like this, but seeing Castiel go back and forth with whether or not to call the Winchesters or to send them a text, constantly going to his phone, to let them know that he’s safe (all things considered) has been excruciating. The look on Castiel’s face, the way his shoulder’s drooped, his eyes...to see the hope in Castiel’s tears...Aglibol had the last straw when Castiel let his guard down during a werewolf attack, to check his messages. Aglibol threatened to maim Sam and Dean himself, if Castiel didn’t hand over his phone. 

But re-reading these texts, for the hundredth time...now Aglibol didn’t know what to do. Was Sam in trouble, or Dean? There were no details given, so maybe it could be assumed that they simply wanted to know if Castiel was alright. He’d considered texting Sam back, as Castiel, but didn’t want to open up that can of worms. 

Just when Aglibol was considering letting Castiel know about Sam’s attempts to get in touch with him...or Dean’s (He would have to delete those in either case. There was no way in Hell he would let Castiel ever read them), he instead turns off the phone and puts it in pocket. Aglibol heads back towards the jeep.

The thunder is louder, now. He turns back to see the others moving into the graveyard off of the mini golf course. How appropriate, he thinks to himself. I should just dig my own grave now and get it over with. He sees Jophiel waving him over. Aglibol goes over to join them, and notices Castiel; the way he moves, the lines on his face, the blue in his eyes, the pout in his lips...No, don’t look at him like that..

All angels look up to the sky, expectantly. Their bodies would just turn into a blur of white-bluish light. No doubt the patrons of MacDonald’s had more important things to worry about, like getting home with their meals before their fries got cold. Plus the mini golf course helped to block them from view of humans in the drive thru lane. All angels had taken a harsh beating back at the high school and needed badly to be re-charged. They prayed for lightning to strike down, and soon. Finally, rain starts to fall from the clouds. Aglibol closes his eyes..

He wasn’t ready to let go of Castiel. Not yet. Unless Sam sent a more urgent message.....a specific call to Castiel…. there was no reason to raise alarm from all of Sam’s messages. And especially not to Dean’s (Hell! Who does he think he is!? The nerve of him to claim that Castiel is his......). Aglibol would protect Castiel, at all costs. He would keep him safe. From the Winchesters. And from himself.

Lightning strikes down, catching Castiel first. Castiel just stands and takes the charge. The others wait for their turn, but the next bolt, again, chooses Castiel for its mark. Castiel’s eyes are closed, his head tilted back, almost submissively. As if he’s coming to understand, his life isn’t his to end. That this is what the Shadow had intended for him all along. I want you to suffer. Castiel lets out a small cry. 

Aglibol, Lailah, and Jophiel move towards Castiel whose vessel burns bright. There is too much light, too much heart, and a soul that shouldn’t be there..They all place a hand on Castiel, absorbing some of the charge. Taking away as much of the burden of the storm off of Castiel’s shoulders, as the only way they know how to. Castiel’s tears mix with the rain pouring down his face, and onto the other angels in the graveyard.

[cursedwolf2-blog]

The confession

It was late at night and twilight was taking a stroll through the park

Twilight: the park is more beautiful than the last time I was here, the full moon makes the park enchanting

Twilight sat down on a park bench thinking about her best friend spike, spike was on his way home from the store

Spike: what should I cook tonight or should I just warm up a cup of noodles 

Twilight saw spike walking into the park, his mind was somewhere else, so twilight thought about surprising him

Twilight: (sneaks up on spike) hey spike what you thinking about 

Spike: (startled) Twilight where did you come from 

Twilight: I was sitting on the park bench admiring the moon, then I saw you walking by

Spike couldn't help but blush, he secretly like twilight

Twilight: spike are you okay your face is turning red do you have a fever

Twilight placed her forehead on spike's forehead which made spike turn even redder, spike back away from Twilight 

Spike: I'm fine twilight and I should really be getting home 

Twilight: I'll walk with you I was going go home anyway

Both spike and twilight walk together home, clouds started forming covering the moon and it started pouring down raining, twilight grab spike hand and ran towards her house since she lived the closest

Inside Twilight House 

Twilight: are you okay spike I grab your hand without thinking I'm sorry 

Spike: thanks for getting us out rain 

Spike looked towards twilight's and noticed that the rain wet her shirt and he could see her purple bra

Spike: (turns quickly) I'm sorry 

Twilight: (looks at her shirt) huh 

Twilight covers her chest and slaps spike so hard he got knocked unconscious, twilight realised What happened 

Twilight: spike are you okay I'm so sorry

Spike was out cold on the floor, twilight thought she saw his soul try to leave his body a couple of times 

Twilight: I should probably move spike, but how, oh I know I'll just use my magic 

Twilight grabbed her book of magic spell and flipped through it

Twilight: (flips thru the book) let's see a move spell, no that's transformation, no that's gender change spell, might use on spike later

Twilight keeps looking for moving spell,

10 minutes later 

Twilight: I finally found it

Twilight started chanting and a bright light  formed around spike and he started glowing with a purple aura and started to lift from floor

Twilight: it worked,I didn't think it would work, I should apologize when spike wakes

Twilight carried spike to her room and laid spike on the bed 

Spike regained conscious but stayed sleeps, twilight was relieved 

Spike: (sleep talking) I do like twilight, more than a friend

Twilight was a little embarrassed but truth is she liked spike to, spike's face started turning red, and his member started bulging in his pants, twilight knew what spike was dreaming about 

Twilight: (takes off clothes) you're a naughty boy spike

Twilight got on top of spike with her panties facing spikes face, twilight started unzipping his pant and released his member

Twilight: I'll satisfy you spikey dear

Twilight takes her bra off and throw it in the floor, twilight was in full lust mode, she sandwich spikes member between her boobs, and received a soft moan from spike, spike started to wake 

Spike: twilight what are doing (let's out a moan)

Twilight waved her panties in spike's face urging him to play with her pussy, spike played with twilight clit and licked her pussy, twilight came spraying all over spike's face

Spike: you came a lot twilight 

Twilight: (arouse) yeah, ready for round 2

Spike: wait what

Twilight was about to use her magic to bind spike,  a green light lit the room and twilight was tied to the headboard 

Twilight: huh what happened, how am I tied up

Twilight looks at spike and notice his eyes were bright green for a few second then returned to normal 

Spike:  (let's out a sigh) that was a close one 

Twilight: how did you bind me

Spike: I can use magic as well, it was supposed to be surprise

Twilight was in awe at how a amazing spike was, spike's eyes glowed bright green for few seconds and returned to normal, twilight body started getting hot and a wave of lust kicked 

Twilight: (aroused) you used the “want it need it” spell didn't you (let's out soft moan as spike touches her nipples)

Spike: yep now you're extra sensitive (explores her body)

Twilight: (soft moans) you naughty boy, I still love you anyway 

Loud moans filled the room as spike continued to explore twilight body, after 10 minutes of exploring, spike move down to get most sensitive spot on twilight 

Spike: let's see what in between your beautiful legs 

Twilight spread her legs to show her wet pussy, spike clap his together 

Spike: thank you for meal ( licks twilight pussy)

Twilight: (moans) don't stop, this is heaven

Spike kept going for a little while, spike stopped to see if licking her Loosen her pussy a bit and it 

Spike: ( takes off pants) you ready twilight

Twilight gave a nod and spike slowly enter her, since twilight was extra sensitive she waved of pleasure as spike put his member all the way in, spike started moving in and out slowly few second then sped, twilight couldn't contain all of her moans, loud moans fill the rooms, 15 minutes later, spike could fill himself about to cum, he goes even faster, with one thrust into twilight pussy he shot loads of cum in twilight

Spike: (lays next to twilight) you okay twilight

Spike notice twilight passed out and was cuddling with him

Spike: I love you twilight  (falls asleep)

The End

[snowthunder]

Salty Kisses - A Klance Beach AU - CHAPTER 6 SNIPPET

Hello hello dearest readers! Liv (@thetolkiengeek) and I are alive, and we come bearing gifts! So here, take a 3.5k sneak-peak of Chapter 6 since it will be a little longer until the entire chapter is ready u_u

Enjoy and hopefully we’ll have the rest of the chapter to you soon!

~~~~~~

Lance was pacing.

He traced zig-zag patterns across his room, feet shuffling across carpet and hardwood as he bounced from his bed to his dresser to his turtle poster from Mote and back to the bed to start the pattern over again. At some point, fatigue began to settle into his shoulders, dragging them forward and curved, but the restless motion of his feet continued. And if only he could sleep then maybe he would feel better. Maybe his own words would stop playing on repeat in his head, clanging against his skull like the drip-drip-drip of a broken faucet.

But instead, he paced, tracing well-worn paths into his carpet.

Because I think I could fall in love with you.

Lance stopped mid-step and flopped backwards onto his bed with a groan, hands covering his face.

“Shit,” he mumbled into his palms for probably the hundredth time that night. Morning? Lance wasn’t sure. Some indeterminate time between when he had come home from the garage and when the birds would begin their morning choruses.

What he did know was that he couldn’t sleep, his throat was dry, and thoughts of a surly photographer with a smoking hot motorcycle wouldn’t leave him in peace.

Something about Keith had set the urge to move deeply within Lance, made him restless and unsatisfied in a way he hadn’t realized he was before. The desire for something more burned hot and bright in his chest, burned like fire in his veins, burned at his lips where he could still feel the softness of Keith’s cheek, the barest hint of his gentle, pouting mouth.

And so Lance found himself pacing once more.

At some point, in a distant part of his mind, Lance could discern that things were changing outside his window. Black became grey and the heavy silence of the night broke into something stirringly pre-dawn. It was not long after this that Lance’s door flew open, catching him halfway between his bed and his bookshelf.

Veronica stood in the doorframe, her figure backlit ominously by the hallway nightlight. One look at her face after she flicked on the light, however, and Lance’s younger sibling instincts kicked into overdrive, feeding his fight or flight with an influx of adrenaline.

“Vero?”

“My car. Twenty minutes.”

Lance was taken aback by the short, clipped order, surprised it hadn’t been the tongue lashing that he was half expecting.

“Twenty minutes? Wait...what time is it anyways?"

Veronica stared him dead in the eyes. “Five. Thirty.”

“No…” Lance lunged across the room for his phone, tapping the lock screen awake. “Shit. When did that happen?”

“Some time between three when you woke me up with your forlorn stomping and now.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Car. Twenty minutes.”

To say that Lance was more than a little concerned was a gross understatement. Veronica’s was a silent but vicious kind of anger, slow to build but deadly to those caught on the wrong end of it. He hardly ever saw her with such a thunderous look on her face. Being woken up by Lance’s pacing couldn’t be the only source of her ire. Clearly he was in deep shit, but for what he couldn’t say.

Twenty minutes later, Lance was in the driveway standing beside Vero’s dark green Ford Focus, a soft pair of joggers on and sneakers tied tight. You know, just in case.

He had skipped his usual skincare routine in the interest of time (and his life), and he could already feel the brutal humidity attacking his pores.

Veronica stepped out of the house, keys jingling in her hand as she pressed the unlock button.

“You know,” Lance said, “if you’re gonna kill me you should at least let Mamá know. She’d probably like the heads up.”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna kill you. Gentle maiming though, that’s not off the table.”

Lance popped open the passenger door and slid into the seat. “Well, that’s comforting.”

Veronica backed out of the driveway and headed into town, turning the radio halfway up to play quietly in the background. Lance was content to sit in silence and watch the morning grow outside the car windows. He wasn’t quite ready to approach whatever catastrophe he had apparently caused to work his eldest sister up this much, and if she wasn’t bringing it up then neither was he.

They cruised around Arus, the sky slowly transforming from grey to pink to blue. The roads were relatively empty, typical of an early Sunday morning, yet the drive-thru at Starbucks somehow still managed to boast a healthy line.

Once they made it to the window, Veronica handed Lance an overly tall, clear plastic cup, a spiral of whipped cream sticking out of the top.

Lance raised an eyebrow as she pulled out of the parking lot. “A venti, huh? I thought you were mad at me.”

“It’s a venti kind of conversation.”

Lance frowned at his drink. “I’m not sure I want this now.”

“Oh no,” Veronica said, speeding down the empty street. “You’re not getting out of this. You woke me up, you can pay the consequences. This is happening.”

Lance groaned and threw his head back against the seat.

Veronica flicked him in the knee. “Oh relax, it’s not all bad. Besides,” her voice grew softer as they drove off the mainland, the water glistening a bright jewel green beneath the bridge, “I have something I want to tell you, too.”

“And it required a kidnapping?”

“Well, clearly you also have something on your mind. I just thought you’d want to talk about it.”

“Me? Nope. Nothing to say here. All hunky dory peachy keen.”

“Fine, I’ll go first,” Veronica said. “I have a girlfriend.”

“What?!”

Veronica pulled into an empty gravel lot and cut the engine. “Come on,” she sighed, opening the door. “Walk with me a little.”

Lance scrambled out of the car after her, barely remembering to grab his sweating plastic cup. “Woah woah woah, wait a second! You can’t just drop something like that and walk away!”

“Then catch up!”

Lance ran after his sister, following her down a sun-bleached sidewalk towards where it led to a boardwalk entrance. He ducked underneath the overhanging mangrove branches, his drink feeling colder in his hand beneath the shade. Veronica led them through a winding path, until they reached a dead-end where a strip of sun-bleached, salt-encrusted walkway stuck out into the water.

Veronica leaned her arms across the railing, swirling the remnants of the frozen drink with her straw. Lance mirrored her stance, but regarded her cautiously out of the corner of his eye. Despite her casual tone, Lance could sense an underlying nervousness, some kind of tension she was keeping close to her chest.

Lance looked out around them, taking in the still water barely lapping at the boardwalk’s piers, the boat-free bay stretching before them, the tangle of mangroves spread out behind them. It wasn’t exactly the kind of place he would have expected his sister to bring him.

“So, why here?”

Veronica shrugged. “I found this spot a while back--when everything between mamá and Dad was going down--and I’ve just kept coming back.” She smiled. “It actually reminds me of you a bit.”

“Oh? Because I’m so calm and beautiful?”

“Mmmmm no, more because you’re a gnarled tangle of tree roots and brackish water.”

“You’re brackish water,” Lance muttered, pouting into the distance.

Veronica snickered and Lance couldn’t help but smile a little. He had never been the type of person to pick a favorite sibling, but neither could he deny that he and Veronica had always had a special relationship. Out of his four brothers and sisters, Veronica had always been the one who understood Lance best, and vice versa. Maybe, Lance mused, that was more true than he had previously thought.

“So…” Lance said, tapping at the cheap plastic in his hands. “A girlfriend, huh?”

Veronica nodded, catching Lance’s eyes, and he recognized a familiar sparkle, that trademark Sanchez grin.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “We met at a talk series for women in STEM early last semester, and we got to talking, and I asked her out. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew it was serious, but…”

“But it’s serious now?”

“Like, tell Dad serious,” she said.

Lance fell silent, listening to the gentle lapping of waves against the boardwalk.

“You wanna tell Dad?” Lance asked quietly.

“I need him to know,” Veronica said. “I don’t want to hide this part of my life. I...I’m in love with her.”

For a moment, Lance could only stare at his sister, completely and utterly floored by the unwavering determination he saw shining in her eyes. Though they were the most similar out of all their siblings, there was a steely core to Veronica that Lance had always envied. She knew what she wanted and how to get it--and apparently that applied to people too.

He only wished he had that kind of conviction.

“I’m happy for you, Vero,” Lance said finally.

“I’m sensing a ‘but’?”

Lance set his drink aside, folding his fingers together. “No, no 'but', I really am happy for you. I just--” Lance took a breath. “I know you and Dad have always been close. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to you.”

“That’s exactly why I want to tell him.”

Lance’s head snapped up to his sister's, but she was looking out towards the bay, cloud of chin-length hair framing her face like a curtain.

“Lance...what Dad did to you...it was wrong.” Veronica looked down at her hands, fiddling with a plain silver band that rested on her index finger. “I remember the whole thing, you know. I remember watching your hands shake when you told him, the look on your face. You looked so scared, but...I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as brave as you were at that moment. I may not have said it at the time, but I was--I am really proud of you.”

Lance blinked hard against the swell of emotion coursing through him, but even so he could still feel as a single tear escaped, tracing a burning track down his cheek.

“It wasn’t until I found myself suddenly in your shoes that I realized just how brave it was,” Veronica continued. “Because, honestly, I am terrified of telling him.”

Lance cleared his throat against the lump he could feel forming in it. “So, why are you?”

“Truthfully?” Veronica said, gently bumping his shoulder. “I’m doing it for you. And me, of course, but I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he realizes how badly he’s fucked up.”

Lance’s eyes slid over to see his sister giving him a wry smile. Despite that, a familiar sense of guilt welled up in him, and he reached out and placed a hand on Veronica’s shoulder. “Vero, you don’t have to do this.”

Her grin widened, but somehow it became something softer, gentler. “But I want to. I think you’ve suffered alone in this long enough. Don’t you?”

Lance could feel his sister searching for something in his eyes, but he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted her to find it. “It’s been okay,” he said, dropping his hand and shifting his gaze. “I’m mostly over it by now. I mean, it has been six years.”

“No offense, but I call bullshit. I know Dad’s been calling. Mamá told me.”

“Mierda.”

For a moment, Lance thought that Veronica was going to dig deeper, but the smirk she gave him instead sent his stomach swooping. “She also told me about some hot piece of action that came in on a Ducati?”

Heat flooded his cheeks, and Lance prayed that he didn’t look as red as he felt. “Ducati hottie? Can’t say that I remember.”

“Oh, so you’re telling me that there isn’t some dark-haired, goth-lite beauty named Keith that you severely undercharged specialized parts for?”

“No?”

“And also kissed goodnight?”

“Oh my god, it was just on the cheek, that doesn’t even cou--shit.”

Veronica’s grin was practically predatory.

“I knew she was spying,” Lance muttered. He shook his head as he turned back out towards the bay. “It’s...not that big of a deal.”

Veronica ducked into his line of sight, raising an eyebrow. “But do you like him?”

“I--”

“And no nonsense, Lance,” Veronica raised an imperious finger. “I was honest with you, so you can be honest with me. Do you like this guy?”

“I knew I shouldn’t have taken your evil venti bribe,” Lance pouted. But she had a point--he couldn’t break the sibling code like that.

Lance drew in a breath of the salt-tinged air, letting it out in one long sigh. “Yeah,” he said finally, voice barely more than a whisper. “I like him.”

Veronica nudged his shoulder. “So then what’s the problem? Does he not like you back? Do I need to kick his ass?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “No, Ronnie, you do not have to kick his ass.”

“Damn,” Veronica said. “My girlfriend’s been teaching me Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and I wanted to try it out.”

“Of course you do. But the answer’s still no. I don’t think liking me back is the problem.”

“Oh?”

“I mean, judging by the fact that I told him I wanted to kiss him and he didn’t immediately throw sand in my face…”

“Sand? Last I checked, Mamá’s garage isn’t on the beach.”

“Well,” Lance said, scratching the back of his neck. “I might’ve said it twice? On two separate occasions?”

Veronica dropped her head into her hands. “Oh, hell, you’re even more of a mess than I thought.” She turned to lean against the railing, gesturing for Lance to do the same. “We’re gonna be here for a while, so spill.”

Lance sighed but followed suit, settling in against the weather-worn wood next to his sister before he started speaking. He told her about Keith arriving, their first few days of tense interacting and, before he knew it, the entirety of the last three weeks just flew out of him, a torrent of words he didn’t even know he had. He talked about Keith and Shiro’s visit to Mote, Keith hanging out with him at the daycare, the bonfire, the calls from their dad, even the bags he had seen strapped to the back of Keith’s motorcycle. He didn’t leave a single detail out--not Keith’s photography, not the four shots of tequila, not even those damn piercings that glinted so nicely in the sun everytime Keith put his hair up.

By the time Lance had finished, he and Veronica had given up on standing entirely, opting instead to simply sit on the boardwalk, backs to the railing, legs sprawled out before them. Veronica had one knee propped up, an elbow resting atop it as she drummed her fingers against her cheek.

“So, what I’m hearing is, this boy is head over heels for you and decided to stay?”

“What? No no no,” Lance said. “Weren’t you listening? Even Shiro says he doesn’t stay in one place for long, and he had his bags packed.” Lance frowned, tracing a knot in the wood beneath his fingers. “If anything, this is already borrowed time.”

Veronica threw her head back against the railing. “Leandro Riel Sanchez, so help me, I am going to throw you off this pier.”

“What?! What for?”

“Because, dummy,” she pivoted her head, pinning him down with a stare, “you finally find someone you seem to like--and I mean really like, not just like in passing because it’s what you think everyone expects of you--and you’re running away.”

Lance drew his knees up to his chest. “I’m not running away. If anything, Keith’s the one running.”

“You sure about that?”

Lance tucked his chin into his arms, grumbling unintelligibly. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

Veronica sighed. “I know you said you’re pretty much over the Dad thing, but did you ever stop to really think about it? To understand how it might still be affecting you?”

“I thought you were getting a degree in software engineering, not psychology.”

“I don’t have to be a psychologist to see that you’re still torn up about this. When’s the last time you went out with a boy? Hell, when’s the last time you went out with someone who wasn’t some ditzy resort gringa?”

Lance opened his mouth, but Veronica held up a hand.

“And I don’t mean random party hookups. When’s the last time that you let yourself know someone? Like really know them?”

Lance’s jaw clicked shut, and he dropped his gaze.

“I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I swear. I’m just trying to understand.”

“I guess…” Lance paused, took a deep breath before trying again. “I guess since before the fight with Dad--with James.”

Veronica’s voice was gentle when she asked, “And why do you think that is?”

“I--I don’t know. Lots of reasons? I just...Look, I know what you’re trying to do but Keith’s leaving at some point, and I’m probably going to stay here, like always, and--and I can’t stop thinking about what happens when he gets bored of me, or when he leaves, or--” Lance took a shaky breath. “I’m so scared of knowing him, because that means...that means he knows me, and I don’t want to be found wanting. Not again.”

Tears were falling in earnest now, and he pressed his hands to his eyes, trying to stem the tide.

“Lance,” Veronica said, grabbing his wrists and pulling on them gently. “Lance, look at me.”

Lance gazed up at his sister, the details of her face clouded by the tears still spilling over.

“This isn’t like with Dad,” she said fiercely. “You can’t live your whole life expecting everything and everyone to leave. And most of all, you’re not lacking in anything, do you hear me? You can have these things, Lance. You could have him. You just have to let yourself.”

Veronica released one of his wrists to wipe at his cheek. “Dad doesn’t own you. In fact, he doesn’t even deserve you. You are so much more than whatever that cabrón thinks of you. You deserve to be happy.”

Lance shook his head and pulled away.

“Fine,” Veronica said, her voice hardening. “Don’t believe me? Let me put it another way. Just because you don’t let yourself love anyone doesn’t mean Dad’s suddenly going to be back in your life.”

Lance felt like she just stuck a red-hot poker through his ribs, but Veronica kept going.

“You’ve got so much heart, Lance, so much to give. Why are you trying to hide the best part of yourself?” Veronica sighed, pulling her glasses off of her nose, wiping at the glass with the corner of her shirt. “Look, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, or even to start something with this Keith guy--not unless you really want to. But you can’t keep tiptoeing around this town for the rest of your life. When are you finally going to let yourself go after what you want?”

Lance let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding in, body shaking with the sudden release of tension. He let his head loll back against the wooden rail behind him, eyes cast upwards to expansive blue sky.

“I guess--I guess I don’t know what I want.”

Veronica huffed out a laugh. “Judging by the look on your face earlier, I find that hard to believe.”  

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, please. You looked like you were about to melt the entire time you were talking about the guy. It was disgusting. It’s the same look you get when you talk about that weird turtle of yours.”

Lance shot his sister an unimpressed look. “First of all, Edgar is a delight and you know it. Second of all, are you trying to comfort me or insult me?”

“Both, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

Veronica pushed off from the now warm boardwalk and brushed off her hands. “I’m serious, though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you talk about a person that way.”

She offered her hand to Lance, who took it, pulling himself up.

“Is that a good thing?” Lance asked.

“I think it could be. You deserve something real, Lance.”

Lance sighed and picked up his long empty cup. “So what do you think I should do?”

“I don’t know, I’m not you. But I think doing whatever makes you happy is a good start.”

Lance gave Veronica a small smile. “Thanks, Vero.”

“I’d say anytime, but honestly? That was exhausting. Don’t make me do that again for like...three years. At least.”

Lance’s smile grew. “You got it, ‘manita. Now, can we go home? I really need a nap. And maybe some aloe, because someone dragged me out of the house before I could put on sunscreen.”

Veronica flicked him in the forehead before heading back down the walkway and towards the parking lot. “May I remind you? Five. Fucking. Thirty.”

“That’s not even that bad,” Lance grumbled, rubbing at his skin.

“No, you’re right. Three would’ve been much worse. Oh wait!”

Lance rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face felt more effortless this time. “Here, we go…”