#i actually went outside and saw some nature yesterday

[aweina]

OHSHIT FORGOT THE GRASS 🌲🌱🍃🥦☘️🍏🎄🥗🥬🌾🌽🌵🌿

HAVE SOME FLOWERS FOR GOOD MEASURE ❇️🌷🌸🌹🌺🌻🌼🎍🏵️💐💮🥀

anon i’ll need a whole national park to recover from the parasocial relationship i developed with the hobart brown and the concerning headcanons i make of him

[hedgehog-moss]

Pampe escaped her pasture in 2 unprecedented ways this month, and I know she would want me to let everyone know.

First of all I saw her trotting towards the drinking trough the other day and something about her determined ears and the malevolent glint in her eyes didn’t match her wholesome destination, so I stood there watching warily, and—she jumped. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it, the trough is like 1.80m long and full of water and it’s sandwiched between a tree and the fence. It forms a natural moat-like barrier, or so I thought. She just jumped the whole length of it. It’s a long jump!! I heard a splash when her back hoof landed in the water, which would have cost her a few points in a llama show jumping event, but still it was impressive, she just did this:

Fortunately, on the other side of the trough is my neighbour’s pasture and I know he doesn’t mind if my llama occasionally squats it in the winter. Still, I make a big show of being displeased when I find Pampe there by herself, so she continues thinking she’s trespassing. I let her graze for a while then I pretend I’m only just noticing her and I'm like gasp, hands-on-hips “PAMPÉRIGOUSTE!! You know you’re not allowed in here!” and she trots back to her own pasture like hehehe and this way I make sure she doesn’t try another, actually-forbidden pasture farther away.

And secondly—I’d already noticed last month that she had discovered how to use her long neck to go over the gate and fiddle with the latch. You’d think the latch would be safe since it’s outside, but no. She hasn’t figured out how to open it yet, but she knows it holds the secret to freedom. And yesterday I forgot to close the latch and she immediately noticed, because apparently she checks several times a day. I looked out the window and saw her like this:

I figured she’d stay near the house and eat some brambles, I didn’t have time to deal with her right now so I leant out the window and shouted COME BACK then considered I had done my best and went back to what I was doing. But then I went outside half an hour later and Pampe was nowhere to be seen—and there was a big plume of smoke on the horizon. Rationally it could only be a distant neighbour burning green waste, but my first thought was “... what has she done now.” I was fully ready to accept that my problem llama was also an arsonist, and pictured myself haltering her and leading her to someone’s door to make her apologise for setting their barn on fire. 

I guess I wouldn’t put it past you to see some crossbars and fence-fixing tools stored in a barn and assume you’re looking at a fence factory, and bomb it.

I know.

[ghostdrool1]

I love my bf 💗

(Slight suggestive warning but sfw)

Mentions: Stomach noises, burping, biting.

I have to rant about the interaction I had with my bf today, I was getting so flustered I just froze upp. He knows very well what makes me red in the face and he's just now been really messing with me using that to his advantage because he's figured out how to force his stomach to make noise on purpose!!

Just yesterday, I was playing some game's laying on his abdomen because he's soo soft and I enjoy hearing the random little rumbles it makes as I relax on him. After a minute I realized the rumbles and gurgles where getting louder and closer together, but not by that much, making me assume he's probably getting a bit hungry cause dude has a fast metabolism. Now I was enjoying myself and he knew that, I'm sure, because he started getting cocky.

This man swallows the smallest bit of air right before he felt his stomach was about to rumble, causing this loud vibrating groan to erupt from his belly straight into my ear, AND pressed my head against his abdomen a little harder with his hand while it happened! May I add he's never done ANYTHING like this before😭 So I was not ready for that and I forgot how to play my game for a second. But he didn't stop there, mf kept doing that exact trick every few seconds for like 45 minutes and I was loosing it. He was so good at it too, he knew exactly when it was going to growl and knew how to enhance it, like wtf??

But that was all yesterday, today really got me red in the cheeks. Today we where at his place and we where watching Saw, in the same position from the day before, as it's a good movie position; it's cozy, and I like the ambience of his gut while watching a scary movie. Best thing ever actually. So I'm laying there and we had just eaten some lunch so naturally he was a little gurgly, and I was enjoying the gentle gurgles till I hear him swallow air again from behind me before his stomach let's out this deeeeep gurgle from the air and his digestion which I made me absolutely shut down and tense up. It was so loud I couldn't hear the movie for a solid second or two. And it just gets better from there. He picks up a soda opened a little bit ago, and starts DOWNING it. Before I knew it, the soft gurgles and bubbles turned into loud as fuck churning and burbling to where I could lift my head off his belly, and still hear the loud ass gurgling in his gut. And let me tell you, how I LOVE outside noises over up close ones where you have to put your ear up to it to hear it. It just makes me blush so much harder when I can hear someone's stomach without having to be right up to it. So this next part had me SWOONING.

He's extremely gurgly for a while. Air, a soda and a half along with his lunch all churning and gurgling within him so loudly, I'm just latched onto him in literal heaven as I lay on him, but what really got me is when I sat up, he did too, and all the air from the soda and him swallowing it audibly comes up with gravity as his stomach grunts loudly before he belched. (Just about died right there😩💓) I was sitting maybe a foot away from him as that happened. I just covered my face from how flushed I got from it as I felt myself heating up lmfao. He asks if I was alright before HE DID IT AGAIN. His belly emits another short loud groan before he would belch, making me explode on the inside.

After that I went back to laying on him, still listening to the loud gurgling which I later found out he had drank too much soda, as he expressed that to me by whining about it which was adorable.

(Slightly suggestive warning ⤵️ - Aggressive biting)

After laying on him for a bit I was still so incredibly flustered over this whole thing and how loud his stomach had been, and how he was not only controlling it but enhancing the sounds just to mess with me. I wasn't used to all of it because we've only recently dipped our toes into doing stuff slightly related to my likings with bellies, and he's never done something this hardcore with me before and I wasn't sure how to handle it, I'm not good with handling strong emotions like that in general and I end up biting to show affection, even with any given positive emotion toward my partner I usually result in biting to show love back. He knows that, and I don't do it hard usually, but after yesterday and today, I've bitten his belly rather... Hard. Not enough to draw blood obviously but hard enough to leave slight marks over his stomach. Now he loves it, don't get me wrong, and he knows why I've been biting so hard when I'm usually way softer. Not to mention how I enjoy *gently* sinking my teeth into a soft doughy belly😩

I LOVE what he's been doing out of nowhere, and come to find out, he later told me he's been practicing just for me! 😭💞

I truly love that man and I know I'm lucky to have one who will make me blush like that, I'm excited to see what we'll do in the future <3

[middlingmay]

May I request HUG from the tackle prompts, for Clegan? 🥰

[ HUG ]: sender tackles the receiver to the ground in their enthusiasm to give them a hug.

Hello! Took me a wee while to get to this one, sorry, but it was a great chance to dive back into my Footballer!John AU.

Taken from this prompt list.

Hope you like it!

EGAN TACKLES LATEST CHALLENGE

Newly-minted Arsenal midfielder John “Bucky” Egan showed off his tackling skills at Heathrow Airport yesterday. His promotion to the Champions League came with high emotions as he was reunited with his reporter boyfriend Gale Cleven, who covered Spain’s recent win in the Women’s World Cup. The couple were seen canoodling outside a trendy bar in Sydney in the early weeks of the tournament, before Egan returned the UK to embark on his new training regime. A tried and tested asset in the defensive midfield, Arsenal manger Mikel Arteta is rumoured to consider a move to a forward position…

John chuckles as he folds the paper and tosses it beside him on the couch. He knew they’d cause a stir with his display yesterday, but he hadn't cared then and he doesn't care now.

Over a month without Gale had been awful.

The nature of both their jobs demand time apart, a few days here, a week there. No biggie. And when Gale had told him his news outlet wanted him to cover the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, John had foolishly thought this would be no different.

He’d been thrilled for Gale. John knew he wanted out of sports journalism, and was starting to dip his toe into STEM reportage and was impressing all the right people, but the World Cup was a huge privilege, a huge responsibility, a huge pay cheque, and a great opportunity to travel somewhere Gale might not have went otherwise.

Or John.

Timing’s wise, it wasn’t great. Summer fixtures were in full swing, but he’d managed to bag two full days in Sydney with Gale. They’d been a glorious sun-bleached daydream of exploring the city, enjoying some good football, and taking advantage of every opportunity he had to put hands all over his boyfriend.

Gale hadn't been able to see him to the airport because he had to be at the Allianz Stadium early. But when he saw him off at the door of his hotel, his eyes had gone uncharacteristically bright and John’s heart broke a little to realise that Gale was trying not to cry.

“Hey,” John dropped his duffle bag and swept Gale into his arms; their fifth hug in the last ten minutes. “What’s all that for?”

Gale had burrowed his head into the curve between John’s neck and his shoulders. Those long, strong fingers of his grasped at his shoulder blades tight and bunched up John’s jacket.

“M’sorry,” he mumbled, shaking his head. “Stupid.”

John had pushed him back, cupped Gale’s face under his jaw and made him look at him. “Nothing about you is stupid. I’m gonna miss you, too.”

John had kissed him then, and didn’t stop until his phone buzzed angrily, his ride to the airport beckoning.

Gale had laughed at himself and gently pushed John away. “Go on, get. Some of us have actual work to do.”

John hadn’t got why Gale had been so upset then, but he does now. Waiting a whole month to see Gale, touch Gale, smell Gale was torture. The only thing that had gotten him through it, asides from their texting and phone calls and video calls, was throwing himself head first into practice. He was the first in and last out, every day. He worked his body so hard, he just had enough energy to eat and talk to Gale before he fell into bed to rinse and repeat.

So, when the World Cup was over and Gale was coming home, John had insisted on picking him up at the airport.

*

John can see over the top of everyone perfectly fine, thanks to the long legs and tall frame he inherited from his dad. But that doesn’t stop him from straining to stand on the tip top of his toes every few seconds.

He looks every which way at the gate, tries to see through the stupid narrow windows on the doors to get his first glimpse of Gale in the flesh. But he stays stubbornly absent.

John’s dimly aware of the looks and murmuring around him. But every time he starts to tun in a pay some attention, he thinks he sees something move where Gale’s plan is due to disembark and he’s back on his toes, craning his neck. He’s one single minute away from jumping in the air like a five-year-old to try and see even further, he swears to God.

Then, finally, the doors swing open and a flood of people swarm through. There are families lugging tired kids; there are sunburnt, hungover teenagers and twenty-something-year-olds; there are leather-skinned retirees, crisply-outfitted business folks. And then, finally through the throng, John spots him.

He’s always thought Gale was the most beautiful person on the plant. He thinks he’s beautiful in his suits he wears for work. He thinks he’s beautiful in the sweats and t-shirts he wears at home. He thinks he’s beautiful in those stupid slipper socks he wears because his feet get cold at night.

But right now, he’s never looked better. He’s exhausted, John can tell; he hasn’t slept on the plane. The shadows under his eyes are purplish. His skin is pale, his hair is unbrushed. His clothes are wrinkled. But he walks tall, looking over the crowd and scanning, scanning, until—

His whole face, whole body, slumps with relief when he spots John.

And that’s just too much for John to take.

Legs strong and conditioned for exactly this task, John pelts forward, weaving through holiday-makers, dodging wheely-cases, not breaking stride for a second. They all pass him by in a multicolour blur as he runs for Gale. Gale only has time to drop his bag before John lands. Between his momentum and Gale's tiredness, they’re careening down to the floor, John’s hand protecting Gale’s head as the rest of him lays sprawled over his boyfriend.

They hear tittering and clicking but John cannot care less. He beams at Gale, thrilled just to drink in the sight of him, and he gets his favourite Gale smile: eyes looking up through his lashes, cheeks high, like he’s trying not to smile but just can’t help himself around John.

John rubs their noses together. “Hi.”

And to John’s surprise, Gale kisses him; a brush of his lips that John follows and presses into, just enough to feel the fullness of those lips he’d dreamt about, before letting Gale retreat.

“Hi. Now let me up.”

John bounds up, and plucks Gale up off the floor easy with two hands. He takes his bag too and all but drags him out of the airport to the car waiting outside. They have to get home. Like, yesterday.

*

A cup of coffee appears over John’s shoulder.

“You’re up.” He takes the cup from Gale with a kiss to his jaw.

“Mm. Didn’t have anyone to stay in bed for.” Gale joins John on the sofa, his back against the arm and his legs thrown over John’s. “Saw something interesting on my phone though.”

He fishes his barely-used personal phone from his pocket (John’s surprised he actually knows where it is, today. He doesn’t normally), presses a few buttons and passes it to John.

On the small rectangular screen is the site for a gossip rag. On it’s sports section, it leads with the headline: See what Bucky did to his boyfriend in PUBLIC!

“Oh, come on,” John scoffs, nearly sloshing coffee over the lip and onto the sofa. “That makes it sounds like I was…pushing you around or something.”

“You literally pushed me over.” John poked him. “There’s more. The Daily Mail, always a classic.”

‘Tackled’ Pink: Egan humiliates boy toy.

John groans in second-hand embarrassment. “Their puns are getting worse. That barely makes sense. And I’m sorry—boy toy?”

“Excuse you: humiliated boy toy, I think you’ll find.”

John makes to hand the phone back but Gale just nods at it. “Look who wrote it.”

A quick scan of the article reveals the name. “Ulrich Haussmann?! That prick who got drunk at your last mixer and asked to be our third?”

Gale snickers into his own cup of coffee and cocks his head, his blue eyes alight with mirth as he gazes at John. “He only asked that because I was there. He was lookin’ at you all night. Swear his eyes never went north of the equator.”

John gags at Gale’s teasing. “Rather grate off my own dick, no thank you.”

Gale puts down his coffee. “Now why did you have to say a thing like that?” He slips from the sofa to kneel on the floor between John’s legs. Drawing his nose up the inseam of John’s thighs (he's borderline obsessed with them and John can't get enough of it), Gale places a clothed kiss over the crotch of John’s pyjama shorts and gives him a brief nuzzle. “Don’t worry baby,” he says to John’s groin. “I won’t let him hurt you.”

It is so utterly ridiculous, the goofy, silly side of Gale he doesn't let anyone else see but John, that John has them toppling over again, landing on the cushioned rug of their living room instead of the hard screed of the airport.

Nose to nose, John grins and says, “You happier to see me or him, here?”

Gale shimmies his shoulders and screws up his face that way that wrinkles his nose. “Fifty-fifty.”

“I’ll take it.”

[therand0mwriter]

Bare Your Soul

Alastor Hartfelt x Female!Reader

Chapter 2 - Pentious and Vox

[Unedited]

*Time Skip, Next Day* *(Y/N)'s POV*

'What time is it?' You woke up and groggily thought. You look over to your bedside table and saw the clock read 7 AM. 'That's not as early as usual. Maybe having that busy day yesterday helped.' You thought, referring to how you usually wake up naturally between 4 and 5 AM.

You stood up and out of your bed, heading to your bathroom to get ready for the day. Once done, you went down to the main area to see if anyone was awake yet. Not seeing anybody, you started to make your way back up the stairs.

'Clink, shuffle'

You halted in your steps when you heard noise coming from the kitchen. You took slow, cautious steps towards the kitchen door. When you stood in front of it, you heard faint static and instantly knew who was in the kitchen.

You pushed the door open fully and stepped in, seeing the one and only Radio Demon. "Ah! Good morning, dear (Y/N)!" Alastor greeted at the sight of you. "Good morning, Alastor." You smiled back to him, nodding your head in a greeting. "I must say," Alastor started, pouring boiling water into his mug. "I am surprised to see you awake. Everyone doesn't usually wake until 9. Sometimes even later!" He ended with a laugh. He then gestured to his mug, "Would you like some tea, darling?"

You nodded your head, "Yes, please. If you don't mind." Alastor waved you off, getting a mug ready for you, "Nonsense!" You sat down at the table as you waited for the male, responding to his earlier comment. "I actually slept in today. I normally wake up earlier, but I guess yesterday took it out of me." You chuckled. Alastor hummed, "Really? How interesting. Well, I am always late to bed and early to rise if you ever want someone to keep you company."

You smiled at his words, "I might just take you up on that offer." Alastor chuckled, handing you your tea, "Please do. Now, would you do me the honor of joining me up on the balcony?" He leaned down, offering me his arm like he did last night. You smiled once more, standing and linking your arm with his, your mug in your left hand. "Sounds lovely."

*3rd POV*

Ever since Vox found out that Alastor was back in town, he couldn't stop checking his cameras that displayed the outside of the Hazbin Hotel. But when Vox checked his cameras this time, he spit out his coffee at what he saw.

There was the Radio Demon he hated with a burning passion... along with a girl... linked in arm and arm. "What the hell?!" Vox shouted, going face to face with the monitor. Valentino heard the TV's shout of distress, "What's the matter?" Vox moved out of the way so the moth Demon could see the screen, "Look at this! Can you believe this?!"

Valentino leaned forward and squinted at the blurry screen. Once he was able to see what Vox was so upset about, he straightened his back and smirked, "Oh, wooow. Looks like Alastor got himself a little girlfriend. And a pretty cute one at that." Vox stared at the screen until there was a brief moment where the image of the girl was clear, and sure enough, Val was right. She was pretty cute.

"What is someone like her doing there with him? And where is that snake guy?!" Vox angrily shouted, his voice switching tones as he threw his hands up in the air. "Relax," Valentino started, taking a puff from his cigarette. "The snake man is on his way, and when he's at the hotel, he'll find out more about your new little crush."

Vox buzzed in annoyance, "I don't have a crush on her! I'm just confused as to why someone as nice looking as her is hanging out with that prick!" Val smirked, "Sound like to me you're jealous." Vox glitched and turned to Valentino, yelling, "Get out!" The moth demon chuckled on amusement before leaving his TV friend.

Vox looked back to the monitor, watching the two deer demons talk. When the she-demon smiled and giggled at something Alastor had said, Vox growled and his brows furrowed. He was so angry, it felt like his entire body was on fire. He dug his claws into his desk, leaving marks. 'Alastor shouldn't have anything like her...'

*Time Skip* *At The Hotel*

"Okay!" Charlie clapped her hands together. "Today's goal is to focus on (Y/N) and to figure out what she needs to do to make herself a better person!" (Y/N) winced with a smile at Charlie's words as Angel chuckled, "Ouch." Charlie's eyes went wide with worry, "Oh, I didn't mean it like that! I don't think you're a bad person-" (Y/N) cut Charlie off before she could start to ramble, "It's okay, Charlie. I know what you mean."

Charlie sent the doe demon a grateful smile, "Great! Now! Um... you're polite, so we don't need to work on that. Hm... you apologize when it calls for it. Uh, you don't make inappropriate jokes. In the day I've known you, you've never cursed..." The blonde started to pace back and forth, hand on her chin as she started to mumble to herself. Vaggie sent her girlfriend a worried look, "Uh, Charlie? You okay?"

The princess then slammed her fist into her open palm, "I got it!" She shouted, turning to the doe demon. "(Y/N), what did you do in your human life that got you into Hell? We'll work on fixing that!"

Up from the second floor, Alastor eavesdropped from the shadows. "Oh... um..." (Y/N) hesitated, thinking of how to respond. Then, a knock came from the front door. Vaggie stood from her seat and went to open the door. On the other side was Sir Pentious, who had his hat in his hands with a sheepish smile, "Why, hello, my dear-" He cut himself off with a yelp as Vaggie punched him without hesitation.

Vaggie took out her spear and pointed it at Pentious, the snake demon falling to the ground. "Wait, wait, wait! I come in peace." Pentious said, a panicked look on his face as he held up peace signs with his hands. Vaggie narrowed her eye at him, "What are you doing here?"

Charlie peeked her head around the door, "Vaggie, what's the problem?" Then the blonde gasped at who she saw, "Oh! Hello again." Pentious sat up from the ground, "I didn't come looking for a fight. I Uh, I heard that you're helping people! People who want to be... better?" He ended with an unsure smile.

Charlie gasped and ran towards the snake demon, clasping his hands with hers. "You heard right! Welcome to our home of healing, our resort of restoration, our-" Charlie was cut off by Angel when she started to pull Pentious into the hotel. "Are you fucking nuts? This chump was trying ta kill us like, literally 12 hours ago. And now ya wanna bring him in here to live with us?" Angel asked incredulously.

Charlie stepped in front of Pentious, spreading her arms wide, "Absolutely! This place is about second chances, and who deserves one more than this slithery... slippery..." Charlie started to hesitate when referring to Pentious. "Special little man!" She ended, elbowing the snake demon.

Angel then turned to Vaggie, "Aren't ya supposed to protect this place?" Vaggie looked to her girlfriend, who then promptly gave her large, red puppy dog eyes. Vaggie sighed in defeat, "I guess... he's not much of a threat without the war machine." At her words, Pentious grew a large smile. "Or even with the war machine." Vaggie added, making Pentious droop in sadness.

Charlie ran up to her girlfriend and hugged her, spinning her around, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She put Vaggie down and ran back to the snake demon, "Sir Pentious, welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!" Everyone started to make their way back inside as Pentious spoke, "Oh no, darling. Thank you! You won't regret this." Angel spoke up, following behind Pentious, "Meh, I give ya a week, tops."

"So," Charlie started, "This is the bar and the bartender! This is the curtain, and this is the new wall, after you broke the last one." She chuckled nervously. "And, oh! This, this is-" Charlie paused when Vaggie took ahold of her hand, pulling her back. "Babe, you don't have to show him every detail."

"I'm sorry, I'm just so excited to have our second real guest!" Charlie jumped up and down, grinning largely. "Uh, what the hell am I then? (Y/N)'s suppose ta be the second guest." Angel asked, lifting one set of his arms expectantly. "Well, you're an important part of our family here, Angel. But, you, um, uh..." Charlie started. But when she couldn't find the words she wanted, Vaggie added in, "You constantly make us look bad, sexually harass the staff, and have literally never once tried to improve."

Charlie looked from Vaggie back to Angel, "What she means is, it's just nice to have someone interested, for once." When Charlie walked past Angel to Pentious, she missed the sad look Angel had on his face.

Charlie gestured to Niffty who was currently playing with KeeKee, "Over here we have our maid, Niffty." At hearing her name, Niffty stopped playing with the cat and made her way to Pentious, "The bad boy is back!" She jumped onto Pentious, holding him by his collar, "Never leave me again." She said darkly, making Pentious sweat nervously. "We're about 80% sure she's harmless." Charlie chuckled nervously.

When Alastor noticed the two were about to go up the stairs, he went into his shadow and reappeared at the staircases bottom. "And over here we have-" Charlie cut herself off with a gasp when she almost bumped into Alastor. "Oh! Uh, Alastor! Our gracious facility manager! You've met our newest guest, Sir Pentious." Charlie stepped to the side so the two males could meet again, a nervous look on her face.

"Ah, yes. You're the one who ruined my coat." Alastor's voice went an octave lower, fuzzy static omitting from him and his red eyes growing brighter, "I definitely remember you now." Pentious gulped in fright and Charlie's eyes went wide. But, the blonde ran with the opportunity that just presented itself. "Well, I guess this is a great time for your first lesson," Charlie said to Pentious, clearing her throat. "'How to apologize.' The first step to becoming a better person is to admit when you are in the wrong." She then went behind the snake demon, giving him a gentle push towards the Radio Demon. "Why don't you give it a try?"

"Yes," Pentious starts, giving Charlie an unsure look. "Um," He turned back to Alastor. "Mister, um... Radio Demon, sir, please forgive me for attacking you and ruining your very lovely coat... um, here..." Pentious reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of red fabric that he had tore off of Alastor's coat.

The Radio Demon took the fabric from Pentious, bringing it up to his eyes to inspect it, "Oh-ho! Not this many people have been able to take even this much off me." Alastor stated, sounding slightly impressed. "It must have meant quite a lot to you." Immediately after, he set the fabric aflame with a green fire, wearing a smug smile as he reveled in the snake demon's horrified look.

(Y/N) abruptly let out a laugh at the scene, but quickly covered it with a cough. The three turn their attention to the doe demon, Alastor tilting his head, a little please that she also found the situation entertaining. Charlie smiled, ignoring the girls strange sounding cough, "Oh! And this is another one of our residents, (Y/N)! She joined yesterday." The two demons made their way over to said girl, while Alastor went into his shadow and reappeared next to (Y/N) on her spot on the couch.

The snake demon sent a flourishing bow to the doe demon, "It is a pleasure to meet you, miss (Y/N)! I am Sir Pentious!" The girl bowed her head in greeting, "It is nice to meet you, I hope we can be friends." Pentious was taken aback at how nice this demoness was, he didn't really know how to act, "Oh, um, yes, I do too." (Y/N) sent him a small smile in response. "Sir Pentious, let me finish giving you the tour and show you to your room." Charlie said after introductions were over, guiding the snake demon to the stairs, Vaggie joining them.

After the three left, it was just Alastor and (Y/N) in the main area as Angel and Husk went off to their rooms and Niffty was who-knows-where. Alastor turned his head to face (Y/N), (Y/N) following suit when she noticed his movement. "I take it you have a dark sense of humor, my dear?" Alastor questioned, amusement in his tone. (Y/N) let out a weak chuckle, "Unfortunately. It's one of the qualities that got me into Hell."

"'Unfortunately'? My dear, you should be proud of who you are." Alastor said. (Y/N) broke eye contact with him, looking down at her hands, playing with her fingers, "I'm not... there's a reason why I'm here." Alastor hummed, intrigued, "And what is that reason?" (Y/N) didn't say anything, having an internal struggle on whether or not she should say something. "I'm... not ready to talk about it." She eventually got out. Alastor was disappointed at how hard it was to get information out of the doe demon, but he didn't let his frustration show. 'I have time to get the information out of her. Meanwhile, I'll just have one of my little demons spy on her.'

Alastor stood and took a few steps toward the girl, standing in front of her, "Very well, if you're ever ready to bare your soul, I'll be here waiting for you. Oh, and (Y/N), dear?" Alastor placed his free hand under said girls chin, lifting her head up to make eye contact with him. "Smile, it looks good on you." Alastor said, his grin growing a litter bigger. (Y/N)'s (e/c) eyes went wide and stayed that way when Alastor took his hand from out under her chin and 'booped' her nose with his index finger, disappearing into his shadow with a laugh. 'What just happened?' She thought, a tiny grin growing on her lips at how ridiculously funny she found the situation.

*Meanwhile*

Pentious was in his room, finally alone. He quickly looked around to double check no on was near. He lifted up his sleeve to the VoxTech watch he was wearing. Pentious tapped on the screen and it lit up, showing Vox. "Well, what have you found out so far?" Vox questioned, already impatient. "U-Um, well, they are letting me stay here and gave me a room." Pentious stuttered. Vox rolled his eyes, irritated, "I don't care about that! Did you get any useful information?"

Pentious cleared his throat, "T-The only new information I've gathered so far is about the girl." At this, Vox leaned forward, his interest piqued. The snake demon continued, "Her name is (Y/N), and she is a resident here." Vox leaned back, his eyes going soft, "'(Y/N)'." He repeated her name, finding it fitted her perfectly. "Um, sir?" Pentious called out, raising his brow at the TV demons actions. Vox shook his screen-like head, becoming serious again, "Keep up the work, find out as much as you can about (Y/N) and make sure a deal isn't struck between Charlie and Alastor." Before Pentious could respond, the screen went black, signaling the end of the call.

*Time Skip*

Charlie had called Pentious, (Y/N) and Angel down to the main area, Vaggie already there. "Okay everyone, get comfortable!" The four sat in a circle while Charlie stood. "Now! With new residents, I think it's important we all get to know each other, so we are going to play a little game. Everyone, follow me." The princess instructed. "My name is Charlie," She sang clapping her hands twice. "I like to sing," She clapped twice again. "And when we get to know each other it's the greatest thing!" Charlie ended with two claps, gesturing to Pentious for his turn.

"My names Sir Pentious," The snake demon started unsurely, clapping twice. "I like to build," He clapped again. "And despite my stupid Egg Boi's, I think I'm very skilled." He ended confidently with two claps. Him and Charlie then gestured to Angel, who looked up from his phone to say: "This is stupid."

Charlie's eyebrows furrowed, but her smiled remained. "This is not stupid! It's just the game, Sir Pentious did it well so now please try to do the same!" The blonde sang, dancing over to Angel while clapping on beat. "I am too sober for this." Angel said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Well get used to it and learn how to play, this is gonna be your whole day!" Vaggie added in a singing tone and clapping, smiling sarcastically at the spider demon.

"(Y/N), do you want to give it a try?" Charlie asked, sending a hopeful smile to the doe demon. "Oh! Um..." She brought her hand up to her face in a thinking manner. "My name is (Y/N)," She said with a nervous tone, clapping twice. "I like sweets," The doe demon clapped twice again, still sounding unsure. "And if you're nice to me, I'll make you delicious treats?" She ended with a weak chuckle, clapping twice.

Both Pentious and Alastor's little demon, who was hiding in a shadow on the ceiling, took note of (Y/N)'s rhyme, reporting it back to their masters. Charlie cheered, jumping up and down, "That was so good you guys! I'm proud of you!" She said, mostly to Pentious and (Y/N), making Angel look back to his phone in anger.

*Time Skip*

Charlie had made Angel put on a bloody trench coat and a fedora while making Pentious put on a sailor like shirt and hat. Charlie handed Angel a script and Pentious a large pink lollipop. When (Y/N) came back from the bathroom, she saw all the seats were taken. She went to go stand next to Niffty, but before she could even pass the couch, Alastor stood and gestured to his spot, "Take my seat, dear." (Y/N) raised her eyebrow in question, "Are you sure? I don't mind standing."

Alastor chuckled, "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't offer up my seat to a lady? I insist!" The doe demon sent him a grateful smile, "Well, thank you, Alastor. I really appreciate it." The Radio Demon felt a tick in his mind. 'There it is again.' He thought, simultaneously confused and irritated. He brushed it off for the time being, nonchalantly dropping a small red pouch in (Y/N)'s lap.

(Y/N) looked from the rose patterned pouch up to Alastor, confusion written on her face. Alastor, on the other hand, continued looking forward at Angel and Pentious, as they started to do their skit. The doe demon looked back down to her lap. She pulled the black ribbon and the pouch opened up, revealing 3 pink macarons with a red raspberry filling. Her eyes sparkled at the treats, looking back up at Alastor, who was still watching Angel and Pentious. She sent a smile his way before turning her attention back to the pouch, tying it back up and placing it in her secret pocket. From the other side of the couch, Vaggie watched the two with a narrowed eye. 'What the hell is going on between those two?'

*Time Skip*

Dinner had just ended and everyone was on their way to their rooms, ready to wind down for the night and go to bed. Except for Angel, after the play he and Pentious did, Angel disappeared to his room. (Y/N) dished up a small portion of dinner onto a plate, about to leave the kitchen. "(Y/N), darling," Alastor started, appearing next to the girl. "What are you doing?" The doe demon looked down to the plate before looking back up to the Radio Demon, "Angel didn't eat, I figured I would bring him some food."

Charlie overheard the two and went up to him, "(Y/N), you're bringing Angel dinner? That's so nice of you! I'm sure we'll be able to get you into Heaven in no time!" (Y/N) gave a strained smile at the compliment, "Ah, thank you. I'm hoping my efforts pay off." While Charlie reassured (Y/N), they continued to walk up the stairs, leaving Vaggie and Alastor behind.

Alastor planned on following, but he halted in his steps when Vaggie called out to him. He raised his eyebrow at her in question. "What is going on between you and (Y/N)?" Vaggie asked, crossing her arms as her brows furrowed. Without hesitating, Alastor responded, "I don't know what you mean." Vaggie scoffed, "Bullshit. Why are you being so friendly with her?"

"Why are you avoiding her?" Alastor shot back, tilting his head. Vaggie paused, hesitating. Eventually, she responded, "I don't... I don't trust her." Alastor's grin grew a little larger, "Exactly." He turned back to the stairs, "Now, as the kids say, you do you and I'll do me." He disappeared into his shadow, leaving Vaggie by herself. 'He's scared of her too? Why?' Vaggie confusedly thought, even more wary of (Y/N).

*Meanwhile*

'Knock, knock, knock.'

"Who is it?" Angel called out from his bed, not bothering to get up. "It's (Y/N). I brought you food since you didn't come down for dinner." She spoke softly yet loud enough to be heard through the door. Angel sighed, not having the energy to yell at her. Plus, he was pretty hungry. "Come in." He said, sitting up in his bed. (Y/N) slowly opened the door, peeking her head in. She then fully entered, making her way to Angel.

(Y/N) sat on the edge of Angel's bed, handing him the plate. The spider demon took it with a thanks and started eating. The doe demon watched him for a moment. She then turned her attention to her hands in her lap, sighing, "Angel... I'm sorry if I am a... disturbance to your life here." Angel was taken aback. He didn't think anyone noticed his behavior today. Even if someone did, he didn't think they would come and apologize to him.

"I, uh," Angel stammered, unsure of how to respond. "If you want, I can leave the hotel. I don't want to put you through any more uncomfortable situations. I know we haven't interacted much, but from what I've seen, I thought we would have made good friends." (Y/N) said, a sad but comforting smile on her face. "W-What?! No!" Angel shouted, surprised that the demoness sitting in front of him was so willing to leave because he was jealous of the attention she and Pentious were getting.

"D-Don't leave," Angel started again, setting his plate aside and moving to sit next to the doe demon. "Listen, I... I'm not upset at ya and I don't think you're a disturbance. It-It's just," He let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't have to worry about what he would say next though, because the woman next to him said exactly what he was thinking. "You started to over think about all of your flaws and insecurities and how there's a possibility that you won't ever change no matter how hard you try?" Angel looked to (Y/N) to already see her looking at him with a weak, but understanding smile. He returned the same smile, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

Angel stood, nodding his head towards the door, "C'mon, let's go get a drink. It's about time you and I get to know each other properly." (Y/N) gave him a genuine smile and stood, "Sounds wonderful." The two made their way down to the bar, chatting along the way. Well, it was mostly Angel talking and (Y/N) commenting here and there. But either way, both of them were smiling.

They arrived at the bar and Angel started rummaging through the alcohol. "Ugh, where's the good stuff?" The spider demon grumbled. At Angel's difficulty to find what he was looking for, (Y/N) decided to help search through the bottles. She happened upon a bottle of raspberry liqueur and got an idea. "Hey, Angel," (Y/N) called out to said male, gaining his attention. "Have you ever had a French martini?"

Angel raised his brow in question, "No, what is it?" (Y/N) opened her mouth to respond but stopped when Angel held up one of his hands, "Ya know what? I don't care as long as it feels like someone is tongue fucking me in my mouth." (Y/N) couldn't help but to giggle at his dirty joke, "Then can you do me a favor and go get me the raspberries from the fridge please? I saw some in there earlier." Angel nodded, heading off to the kitchen while (Y/N) got the other ingredients she needed for the martini.

Angel returned, placing the small container of raspberries on the counter then taking a seat on the other side of the bar. Angel watched with a smile as (Y/N) took a shaker with ice, poured in pineapple juice, raspberry liqueur, and vodka. She placed the lid on the shaker and paused, looking at Angel through the corner of her eye. Before he could ask the doe demon what was wrong, she smirked.

She shook the shaker a few times before throwing it up in the air and catching it behind her back. With quick movements, she shook, twirled, and threw the metal bottle around with a professional flair, getting 'ooo's' and 'ahh's' from the spider demon. When she was done, (Y/N) took the lid off of the shaker, straining the dark pink liquid into two martini glasses. To finish, she garnished the drinks with cocktail picks that held three raspberries.

(Y/N) placed the drink in front of Angel with a 'Ta-Da', receiving an applause from the spider demon. "Bravo! Bravo! I didn't know you were one for showing off." Angel smirked at (Y/N), who came around the bar with her drink to sit next to him. She chuckled, "Well, I only do that for special occasions." (Y/N) said with a warm smile, referring to her and Angel's get-together. The male was touched at her kind words and sent a warm smile back.

"So, tell me," Angel started, taking his drink in hand. "How did someone like you, someone who is super fucking nice for no apparent reason, end up here in Hell?" (Y/N) sighed, looking down to her glass and moving her finger along the rim, "That's the big question, huh?" Angel saw the discomfort on her face and placed one of his hands on her shoulder, "Hey, ya don't have to tell me if you don't want to." The doe demon placed her hand over his, sending Angel a grateful smile, "Thank you, I appreciate that. But, it's going to have to come out eventually." She sighed.

Alastor's spy sensed something big was about to be revealed, so it alerted it's boss. The Radio Demon arrived at the top of the stairs, hiding in the shadows and eavesdropping. "When... I was alive-" (Y/N) started, but was cut off by Angel. "What the?" The doe demon noticed the spider demon was looking behind her. She swiveled in her chair towards that direction, "What's the matter?" She asked, not seeing anything. Angel stood from his seat, leaving his drink at the bar. "C'mon, I saw something." Alastor buzzed in annoyance.

(Y/N) copied Angel, following his lead up the stairs. The two passed Alastor, who was still hidden in the shadows, without knowing. At least, that's how it seemed to the Radio Demon until (Y/N) stopped in her tracks, looking behind her with a raised eyebrow. 'Can she see me?' Alastor thought, starting to worry. But when her (e/c) eyes passed over his figure, not stopping, he let go of his breath that he didn't know he was holding. "(Y/N)!" Angel whisper shouted, gesturing the girl over. "Coming!" The doe demon whispered back, running to the spider demons side.

The two stood in front of the study's door, peeking in through the crack to see Pentious, hiding a camera in-between a few books. At seeing this, Angel pushed the doors open, "You slippery little shit!" Pentious spun around and shouted in fright at the two demons before him. "You're working for the Vee's? I fucking knew there as something shitty about you." Angel said with anger as he approached Pentious, jabbing the snake demon in the chest.

Pentious brushed off Angels hand, starting to slither away, "I don't know what you're talking about," He then turned back to face Angel with a taunting grin, "Whorebug!" (Y/N)'s eyebrows furrowed and she let out a displeased, "Hey!" Angel, on the other hand, growled and pushed Pentious to the floor, punching the snake demon. (Y/N) gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. She promptly rushed out of the room, leaving the two to continue to fight.

The doe demon ran to Charlie and Vaggie's, pounding on the door, "Charlie! Vaggie! You have to come to the study quickly! It's an emergency!" (Y/N) didn't wait for a response as she ran back to the study. But she was relieved when she heard the couples door open.

(Y/N) arrived to the study first to see Angel cornering Pentious. Shortly after, Charlie and Vaggie arrived, both in their pajamas. Charlie had bed head while Vaggie had her spear in her hand, instantly grabbing it when she heard the word: 'emergency'. "What's going on?" Charlie yawned.

Angel took Pentious by his arm, "This little bitch is a traitor!" Pentious yanked his arm out from Angel's grip, "Preposterous, I would never betray you. You... are my best friends!" The snake demon said with a smile, slithering over to give Vaggie and Charlie a big hug. "Uh-hu," Angel started, disbelief in his tone. "Then explain this." He moved the books aside to reveal a camera.

Pentious grew a panicked look, looking behind him to see similar expressions on Charlie and Vaggie's faces. The snake demon started to shout, scrambling to the window, "Ah! Ah! Abort! Abort! S.O.S.! Agent Pentious is in need of immediate evacuation!" He simultaneously pulled on the windows handle and activated the call button on his watch.

A voice buzzed in, "Pentious? Wait... you were caught?!" The voice sounded amused and started to laugh, "It hasn't even been a day!" (Y/N) recognized the voice. 'Is that Vox? The one Alastor was fighting with yesterday?' She thought, already disliking the man she had never met. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Pentious started to speak, "Please, you've got to get me out of here!"

Vox continued to laugh, "I can't believe we thought you could handle even something this simple. Do us a favor, if they don't kill you," His voice went deeper and got more static-y. "Go ahead and do it yourself, you miserable failure!" The call cut off and Pentious grew tears in his eyes, "I... I..."

The teary eyed snake demon turned back around to the other four demons in the room, throwing off his watch and curling up on the floor, "Just make it quick, I guess. Not that I deserve it." Without hesitation, Vaggie responded, brandishing her spear, "Gladly." Charlie pushed Vaggie's spear away, "Wait... Pentious?" The blonde leaned down and held out her hand.

The snake demon looked up with blurry eyes as Charlie began to sing, "It starts with sorry." Pentious took ahold of Charlie's hands as she brought him up to stand at his full height. "That's your foot in the door, one simple sorry." The blonde continued to sing, placing a comforting hand on Pentious chest. He looked at Charlie with disbelief as she sang and danced, "Spoken straight from your core. The path to forgiveness is a twisting trail of hearts. But sorry is where it starts."

"Who could forgive a dirtbag like me? I don't deserve your amnesty." Pentious started to sing also, falling to the ground in a dramatic manner. Angel and Vaggie joined in on the singing, Vaggie still holding her spear and Angel pulling out two large guns, "Can't we just kill him? Shoot him and spill his blood."

(Y/N), who was leaning against the doorframe while watching the musical number, heard a faint buzzing noise behind her. She looked out into the dark hallway and saw nothing... but she definitely felt someone watching her. She looked back to the four singing demons before fully entering the hallway.

(Y/N) looked up and down the dark hallway, still not seeing anyone but still hearing the hum of static. "Hello? Is someone there?" Instantly, the static stopped. The silence became eerie and uncomfortable. The doe demon couldn't tear her eyes away from the pitch black of the hallway as she felt as if someone was leering towards her with malice. Instinctively, the ears on the top of her head flattened and she took a step backwards, yelping in fear when her back hit a surface. She spun around to see Alastor.

"Oh my gosh! Alastor! You scared me!" (Y/N) slightly shouted, placing her hand over her chest to try and calm her heartbeat. "I apologize, my dear. I didn't mean to startle you that much." Alastor said, amusement in his voice. (Y/N) shook her head at the Radio Demon's antics, but she couldn't help the small smile that grew on her (plump/thin) lips. "I'm going to ignore the fact that you tried to purposely scare me and thank you."

Alastor tilted his head, confused, "Thank me for what?" The doe demon pulled out a little red pouch from her hidden pocket. "For this. No one has ever given me a gift just because before. It was nice. Thank you, Alastor." (Y/N) sent him a sweet smile. Alastor felt a tick in his mind once more. 'What the hell is that?' He thought, irritated. Ignoring it once again, he responded, "You're welcome, darling. Though, I must admit, it is hard to believe that no one has ever given you a gift before."

(Y/N) weakly chuckled, "Unfortunately for me, it's true. But, thanks to you, I can now say I have been gifted something for no reason. It makes me happy." Her (e/c) eyes crinkled at the corners because of her smile, and Alastor felt the tick in his mind get louder. 'That is starting to get insufferable.' Alastor thought, aggravated. While lost in his thoughts, Alastor started to emit a buzzing noise, catching (Y/N)'s attention.

The doe demon gave the Radio Demon a concerned stare, "Alastor?" Said male shook his head, his attention back on the girl. "Are you okay?" (Y/N) asked. "Yes, darling. Sorry to space out like that." Alastor said. Just then, the two heard Pentious shout in pain. They look to the study doors to see an angry Niffty walking away, being followed by the rest of the demons.

Angel looked over and saw the two deer-like demons. "(Y/N)," He called out, waving said girl over. "We gonna finish our drinks or what?" (Y/N) nodded, "I'll meet you down there." Angel shrugged in response, heading back to the bar. "I guess they must have decided to let Pentious stay." The doe demon said, turning back to the Radio Demon.

Alastor responded while offering his arm to (Y/N), "Hm, yes, it seems so." Wordlessly, (Y/N) linked her arm with Alastor's, and the two started walking to the study. They entered the room and unlinked their arms, Alastor heading to the watch while (Y/N) went for the camera. Alastor flicked the watch on, an angry Vox appearing, "What?!" But once seeing who was on the other side of the call, the TV demon retracted. "You'll have to try harder than that next time, old pal." Alastor taunted, crushing and dropping the watch. The last thing any one heard before the watch shut off for good, was Vox's infuriated screams.

(Y/N) looked from Alastor back to the camera, "Why does Vox want to watch us?" Alastor appeared behind the girl, placing both of his hands on her shoulders. "He's threatened by me." His reply may have sounded simple, but hidden in his tone was pure cynical joy. (Y/N) hummed in response, then crushed the camera with her bare hands, her palms and fingers turning into a darker shade of (s/c) and her nails growing into claws. Her hands were only like that for a literal second before they reverted, but in that second, Alastor felt power emit from her. The power he felt didn't make him worry, but it made him think that having this doe on his side would help him in reaching his goal. 

"How fascinating!" Alastor spoke, his features going darker and his grin becoming sinister. When (Y/N) turned to face the Radio demon again, his facial features went back to how they normally are. (Y/N) raised her eyebrow at Alastor, about to ask him about his earlier comment. Before she could, though, Alastor offered his arm to her, "Shall we get going? Angel Dust is waiting for you." The doe demons (e/c) eyes went wide at remembering her new friend. She dropped the camera and hooked her arm with Alastor's, "We shall."

Alastor walked (Y/N) down to the bar, bidding her and Angel a goodnight before leaving the two. Angel and (Y/N) continued their chat session from earlier, (Y/N) having two more drinks after her first one and Angel having five more after his first. The doe demon made sure the tipsy spider demon made it to his bed fine before leaving for her own, finally ending the night.

*Meanwhile*

 In his 'throne room' of TV's, Vox watched one specific video on loop.

"Why does Vox want to watch us?"

"He's threatened by me."

"Hm."

The video cut out. Then it started playing again. Each time he watched it, he became more and more irritated. To help himself calm down, he decided to cut out the part that irritated him. The part that was full of static, the part where his most hated enemy taunted him, the part where that old-timey asshole had his hands on the woman Vox was forming a crush on. Vox tapped on a few buttons, editing the video. Then, he hit play.

"Why does Vox want to watch us?"

To him, (Y/N) was what he thought angels should look and sound like. She was his little piece of Heaven. And he wanted her. The TV demon pressed a button. "Vox." (Y/N) voice came through the speakers. He pressed the button again. "Vox." He loved hearing his name come from her voice. Click, "Vox." Click, "Vox." Click. "Vox."

"Wow, you must be down bad." 

The TV demon shouted in surprise, turning to see Valentino and Velvette chuckling. Vox started to glitch, infuriated, "GET OUT!"

*Time Skip, Next Day*

"Uh, (Y/N)? Something was delivered for you." Charlie called out to the doe demon. (Y/N) approached the blonde and saw she was holding a white box that was wrapped in a dark blue ribbon. "Does it say who it's from?" She asked, searching the box for a return address. Charlie shook her head, equally confused.

(Y/N) placed the box on the table as everyone gathered, curious as to what the doe demon received. She undid the ribbon and opened the box, revealing a dozen cupcakes that were decorated with dark blue and gray frosting. Everyone let out sounds of astonishment, except for Alastor, at the cupcakes beautifully done aesthetic.

[A/N: Something like these. Image does not belong to me.]

(Y/N) noticed an envelope fall from the boxes lid and picked it up, seeing it addressed to her. She carefully opened it and pulled out a letter. "Well, what does it say?" Angel asked as he saw the doe demon open the envelope. Everyone's attention was back on her, waiting for her to read the letter. And she did just that.

"'To the beautiful (Y/N). I hope these cupcakes find you well. I heard from a little snake that anything sweet is your favorite. It saddens me that we haven't formally met and I wish to change that. I would love it if you were to meet me tonight at the restaurant Sinful Delight at 6:00 PM. I hope to see you there, gorgeous. Love, Vox."

...

"What?!"

Tag list:

@gh0stedddd @raeinn @vixie--21 @mistresslemonsuger @lilmou5ie

[b3llawr1tes]

THE HEIGHT OF SUMMER matt sturniolo.

disclaimer : no nsfw content, just some fluff, swearing, everyone is over 18 ! angelina's character is you, i hate the y/n thing. imagine you're her !

— PART TWO

but i guess i failed because i woke up in a room i didn’t even recognize. at all.

i heard birds chirping outside, and felt the warmness of the room on my soft skin, people very quietly talking outside, i suppose, in the living room. i opened my eyes, and to my biggest surprise, i wasn't in my room.

i quickly sat up on the bed i was in, looking around. in front of me there was a desk with a full pc set up, with headphones and a very comfortable-looking chair. next to the bed were two nightstands, a dresser, and two bookshelves on the sides of the room with clutter on them. behind the bed was a window too.

it was quite a nice room, but i couldn’t really think about that because i didn’t know whose it was. i took a few deep breaths, trying to calm my brain down. it’s okay, you probably would’ve been dead by now if anyone wanted to kill you. i thought. then before i could do anything, i saw the bedroom’s white door open.

and there he was. matt.

“good morning. how’d you sleep?” he asked with a smile, sitting down at the end of the bed.

“good. thanks. is this your room?” i asked back, now calm. i was relieved that i saw non other than him in front of my eyes and not some random old dude.

“yeah. it’s quite simple, but i love it.”

“i like it too. how am i here? also why am i here?”

he chuckled.

“you fell asleep in the car and we didn’t know where you lived, so we figured we’d bring you here, so you could sleep. i brought you some painkillers. there’s water.” he said, pointing at his nightstand while handing me two white pills.

“thank you. i appreciate the help. but i could’ve slept on the couch.” i said, taking the pill and swallowing it with water.

“nah, don’t even bother. your comfort was my first priority.” he said.

okay that was actually one of the nicest things ever said to me. matt went over to the window and opened the blinds, revealing the big glass with a pretty nice view. there were trees around, and you could barely see the street from here.

"look, there are the raccoons i always love observing." he said, leaning closer to me a little bit to look outside. he had a very fine foresty-nature scent, i don't know if it was his cologne or just the shower gel he used before that. but it was really refreshing especially in the craziest heatwaves this year.

"you smell amazing matt." i said, looking up at him with a smile. i swear to god i could see him blush a little, then he turned around and walked towards the door, but looked back.

"what's your name?" he asked. i just realized he didn't even know that very important piece of information about me.

"angelina." i said.

"well thank you angelina." he said, nodding his head as he walked out.

i quickly yelled after him.

"and the raccoons are so cute!" i laughed lightly at the thought of this little moment we shared.

i thought he was gone, he returned with clothes in his hand.

“thanks. also, your clothes were all puke-y and like… i don’t want you to wear the same clothes as yesterday. here. pants, a shirt, socks and that’s about it. but here are your clothes too.” he said, a little flustered, i could see it on his face.

both piles of clothes were neatly folded, placed on top of each other. this boy is so so sweet. i’ll thank him later. with a hug? is a hug too much? no, why would it be? no, it definitely would be, i don’t really know anything about him.

matt's pov

i walked out of my room into the living room where nick and chris was talking about something and sat down on the couch. nick immediately turned his head to me and spoke up.

"how is she? or should i ask who is she?" he said with visible annoyance in his voice.

"why are you so mean about this?" i asked.

"i'm not mean there's just a stranger in our house, even better, in your bed right now. that doesn't concern you one bit?" he said.

"her name is-" i began, but i got interrupted.

"great you know her name, anything else?"

"we just helped someone out. she seemed really tired and even a little bit off. we couldn't just leave her." i stated.

"why? she's no one." nick said even louder than before.

i was so mad. i didn't know what nick's problem was. i can understand him to a certain level. she is a stranger, but she looked desperate. and i talked to her before, she wasn't anyone dangerous. hey, she must be even scared, she came home with three strangers. men, for that matter. also she was beautiful. but that's for another discussion. i wanted to tell nick, but chris spoke up.

"hey you guys. why don't we all just calm down? let's just think this through. matt please ask her details and things to make sure we're all okay with her being here. in the meantime why don't you get her a soda nick? say hi. wait let me come too." he said, then stood up after sliding his phone inside his pocket.

none of us moved.

"come on!" he exclaimed, nick and me both standing up. the oldest went to the fridge to grab a coke and a pepsi just in case, while me and chris went to my room. the white door was closed as i left it, in case angelina wanted to change. so i knocked.

“come in!” she said. i opened the door and walked inside sitting down on my bed. chris sat down on my chair in front of my desk and turned it around.

“so…” he began. “how old are you? where do you live? what-“

“chris! this isn’t an interrogation. we’re just talking.” i said.

nick walked into the room and went up to angelina with both cans of soda in his hand.

“which one do you like better?” he asked.

“umm pepsi’s fine, thank you.” said the girl.

i looked at chris who was smiling at that, but then we moved on. nick opened the can of coke, as there was nothing else left in the fridge. we had to restock today. so when nick sat down next to me on the bed as well, i looked up at the brown haired girl.

“so. we just want to make sure you’re not someone crazy or dangerous, that’s why we need a few infos about you. nothing scary.” i said.

“yeah that’s fine. i’m 20 soon, in like a month. and i actually just realized as i looked out the window that i literally live like three houses down this street. so that’s pretty funny huh.” she explained, ending it with a light laugh.

i smiled at her.

“really? do you live alone?” nick asked, looking honestly curious.

“well, on and off. i have a best friend who sometimes stays with me, but i mostly live alone, yeah.”

“yeah i couldn’t imagine my life living alone.” chris added.

“it’s not that bad to be honest, but i guess it’s really different if you’re a triplet.” she said fiddling with her hair, not looking at any of us.

i think she was a little nervous, but obviously, she was surrounded by three boys, asking her questions. but she eased up pretty quickly.

“yeah exactly.” i said.

then we talked. we got to the point where she started asking questions about us which we gladly answered. so here’s what i gathered. she lives alone, has a brother and a sister, very good relationship with parents — which is very important — hardworking, ambitious. she seems like the kindest human being i’ve ever met, funny. very funny! i like that.

she’s also beautiful to me, i almost couldn’t take my eyes off her beautiful brown hair, her eyes which lit up the whole room with all the excitement for her different hobbies, great music taste. he complimented mine. so that felt good i guess?

but i don’t know, maybe i’m never gonna see her again, it was just that party yesterday. so i tried to forget about all this. she was a very good talker, and before i even realized we were going totally off-topic, debating something, all four of us were really invested in it. i had a great time.

“okay, this is very fun guys, but i probably should head home soon. my friend is actually at my place right now, and we’re going to dinner later. thanks for the clothes matt, i’ll give them back to you.” she said, putting all her belongings into her purse.

“oh no, it’s okay you can keep them.” i said. both nick and chris quickly looked back at me as they were leaving the room.

“what? that’s your favorite shirt.” nick said.

“whaaat? that’s not even true. get out of my room.” i said, shutting the door behind them. i hope i wasn’t visibly flustered.

i heard angelina laugh behind me, and then i did too.

“sorry about that.”

“you gave me your favorite shirt?” she asked with a half smile.

“well.. yeah? i wanted you to be comfortable you know, and that’s… that was the most comf-“ i began rambling but then she placed her hand on my shoulder, now standing up.

i would be lying if i said the touch did not last longer as it should’ve but i didn’t care. at all somehow. she didn’t feel like a stranger, she felt like i’ve known her for years. and that’s the first time this ever happened to me.

“thank you. you’re very sweet. i don’t even know how i deserve all this help.” she said.

“i like to be kind.”

“and i very much respect you for that. also, you can call me lina. all my friends call me lina.”

“oh and we’re friends now?” i asked, raising my eyebrows, smiling.

“not yet actually. you have to earn that.” she said laughing. “and i just like lina better.”

a few minutes later

lina said her goodbyes to both of my brothers and was now leaving the house. she turned around one last time and looked at me deep in my eyes.

“thank you again. i guess i’ll see you some other time?” she asked.

honestly, the way i wanted to answer was like YES, YES PLEASE. but obviously that would be too much.

“yeah, we’ll talk.” i said with a shrug.

she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from her bag and wrote something down on it. she folded it and handed it to me.

“call me when you want.” and that was the last thing she said that day.

angelina’s pov

i was walking back to my house, it was a 10 minute walk as i lived really close to these boys i just met. they all were so fun, i really appreciated the conversation, it was really interesting and fun how they all were so different, even tho they looked very much alike. the same, even.

i was glad i got to know them, and about matt… marry me right now.

but no. i think i want to spend more time with him, maybe he’ll ask me out sometime. i’ll wait, he has my number. to be honest, i wasn’t ever this bold, i would never give my number like that to anyone but i felt like matt was an only exception. i just couldn’t leave without knowing he could talk to me anytime. and that… says something about him.

i got to the house, unlocked the door and went inside. the weather was so much better inside, this heat is unbearable. i looked at myself in the full-length mirror which was placed next to the shoerack as soon you step inside. i was wearing matt’s black sweatpants and his favorite shirt.

i looked so good in his clothes, i was so happy he said i could have them.

then my friend texted me.

lisa

hey ange, coming to your house in 5, you want something from the store?

i texted back.

me

yeah, can u grab a few snacks? whatever you like, oh and a dr pepper please?

lisa

yeah sure thing, see ya

angelina liked a message

for the rest of the day i didn’t do much, just laying in my bed eating snacks, watching cheesy romcoms. one of my favorite hobbies. when i got bored i went over to lisa’s room, which was a guest room, but she was staying there anytime she was here. we talked about how she was feeling, what she did today, etc. then i told her the whole story of yesterday.

“do you have a pic of him?” she asked.

“not really. i’ll ask for his insta maybe later. or you could even meet him sometime. but not very soon. i still have to hang out with him.”

“so you want to.”

“well yeah. i would actually love to. i think we would be great company for each other and i think we both would relate to the same things. he’s so sweet.” i said with a light chuckle.

“well i’m glad you met someone. update me everytime something happens pleaseee.” lisa said, basically begging me. it was so funny.

“yeah, definitely.” i said, laughing again.

10:46 pm

i took an everything shower, i was feeling great. and i couldn’t stop thinking about matt. i wish i could’ve. i was listening to 2000’s music, as i often tend to. then i was ready for bed and for getting my beauty sleep. i needed it. so many things happened yesterday and today as well. i had to sleep. i needed to.

i put my phone on my charger and turned around. as i closed my eyes, i suddenly heard my phone chime. i thought it was natalie, so i wanted to ignore it, but i guess i kind of wished for a message from matt so i grabbed my phone.

and it was him.

matthew sturniolo

hey, matt here. you wanna hang out with us tomorrow? we could go out to eat or something.

i read the message and my face lit up. i was excited to meet him again. i’m also crazy i’m pretty sure. i immediately texted back.

me

yeah sure! thanks! talk to you tomorrow

good night :)

matthew sturniolo

good night lina.

angelina changed the name to ‘matt :)’

[fallingblueroses]

The bedroom was dark, but Geoff didn't need light as he lay on his side and watched his wife and son sleep. Kathy had an arm wrapped around William and was holding him close. The house was silent except for the hum of the air conditioner and the occassional car passing outside. They had decided to keep William home from school the next day and turned off their alarms for the morning. He doubted anyone expected them to be at PattyCake.

Kathy had calmed down immensely after she had her baby in her arms, and seeing Kathy calm had gone a long way toward calming Geoff's nerves. William had taken things far better than they'd expected. He'd stared at them for several seconds as he processed things, then he'd climbed into Geoff's lap and asked "So you can fly now?"

He'd had to laugh. "I don't know. I haven't tried." When he thought about it, it would be a shame to have wings like this and then they not work.

He and Kathy had both worked on reverting to their human form. For some reason it seemed to be easier for her even though, like Geoff, she couldn't hold it for long. William had simply watched in fascination before asking if he'd grow wings too. And again, all Geoff could say was that he didn't know.

He listened to his family breathing and nagging worries began to eat at him. What if the changes weren't done? What would happen to William if they became full dragons or demons or whatever? And even if they didn't, how would they explain this to their relatives? What about their work? And what if...what if they were taken away by some government agents or scientists for "study"? Geoff shuddered as he imagined himself and Kathy chained up in cells, being stuck with needles and having bits of tissue cut from them.

Stop. You'll drive yourself crazy. He took a deep breath and slowly released it before moving closer to his wife and son. He put an arm around them, then carefully brought one wing up to cover and protect his family and tucked his head in close to Kathy's.

He kept listening to them breathe as he fell asleep.

***

Geoff's body felt far calmer when he woke up the next morning. He drew his wing back and got out of bed, careful not to wake his family. Yesterday his wings had felt like sandbags hanging from his back, but as he stood up they felt lighter, more natural. He barely noticed the extra weight as he walked to the bathroom.

The horns weren't as frightening as they had been when he looked in the mirror. His eyes had gone from hazel to tawny, and his hair was fuller and longer, hanging past his shoulders. He studied his reflection for a long time, then looked down at his hands with their claws. Yesterday he'd been ready to cut the tips of his fingers off to get rid of the claws, but today...I guess I'm getting used to things...Wonder if I'll be able to play the piano with these...

His wings wouldn't quite fit in the shower comfortably, but he was able to hold his human form long enough to clean up. Once he was dressed he went to the kitchen to cook breakfast. He was absolutely ravenous, and he had to assume Kathy would be as well. They had plenty of food on hand for now, but... How am I supposed to get groceries like this? Maybe I can ask one of the guys to go shopping for me...

A few minutes later his phone beeped twice with notifications, and when Geoff checked his phone he saw the texts were from Layne. Hey Geoff. Look at this. There was a video attatched, titled "'Dragon Syndrome' Reported In 13 States".

He blinked as he played the video. The reporter was shown for a few seconds, then a map of the United States was displayed with various states marked in red. "Thirteen states have reported what is for now being called 'Dragon Syndrome', with people actually growing dragon-like wings, horns, and claws. There is very little information about this, but the Center for Disease Control is asking that anyone experiencing this go to the nearest emergency room for testing..."

Geoff growled to himself. Yeah, right. Not happening. If the government wants us they can come and get us. He wasn't sure if this made things better or worse. He couldn't help but think of how things had spiraled into insanity when the COVID pandemic had hit.

Another thought came to him. If it was some kind of virus...He texted Layne back. You're not growing wings, are you?

Nope. I'm fine.

Good. Hopefully the others were as well. Geoff put the phone away and kept making breakfast as his mind went over this new development.

***

After breakfast Geoff showed Kathy Layne's text, and Kathy looked up more articles as William helped Geoff clean the kitchen. "This one says it's in nineteen states now," she said from her seat at the kitchen table.

Geoff sighed as he rinsed a plate and handed it to William to put in the dishwasher. "Great. It's spreading."

Kathy frowned. "But if it's a disease of some kind, then a cure can be found."

"Yeah, but that could take years. I keep thinking about everything that could happen. People might panic, Kath. And if they do things are going to go to hell pretty quick."

"This isn't the Dark Ages, Geoff. People do crazy stuff to their bodies all the time. What we have is nothing compared to some of the pictures I've seen."

He pointedly flexed his wings. "Seen anyone walking around with wings lately? It just takes a few lunatics to get the pitchforks and torches going." A strong need to protect his wife and son rose in his chest. "And there are people who would stir up that kind of trouble just to watch stuff burn."

Kathy studied his face, then came up to him. "I know. But there's so many other things to think about. Why don't we worry about that when it starts to happen." She hugged him and rested her head on his chest.

Geoff sighed. "Right." He put his arm around her. A glance to the side showed William staring at them and he beckoned for him. William came up and hugged them both, and Geoff brought his wings up and around to cover them again. He wondered how that gesture had come so naturally to him, but decided not to think too hard about it. At least not right now.

[stevethehairington]

so, i saw the tweet below (obviously creds to @/kvrtzwcrld, your brain is huge for this!!) yesterday night

and i have not stopped thinking about it since, so, naturally, i took to the keyboard about it:

at first, the letters come from steve — as in, it is steve that is the one who hands them over to max. it’s summer, so there’s no school, and max is still in physical therapy. some of her sessions (most of them, really) conflict with her mom’s work schedule, susan having to leave for her shifts at just about the same time max has to leave for her appointments. naturally, steve offers to help out by giving max a ride to her sessions when susan can’t.

max knows that sometimes, steve will chat with her mom if susan has a few minutes to spare before she has to run and max is taking a little bit longer than usual to finish getting ready and come out.

so when max slides into the passenger seat and steve holds out a card for her to take, telling her “oh, by the way, your mom wanted me to give this to you. she had to leave before you came out so she couldn’t give it to you herself.” she probably does think it’s genuinely from her mom at first.

only, then she opens it and that is not her mother’s handwriting. she’s kind of disappointed by that, just a little, and she probably wouldn’t admit that, but she’s also used to it, so the sting doesn’t last for very long. not to mention, her curiosity to see what it actually says is too great.

she reads through the letter, and almost immediately she thinks that it’s steve who wrote it for her.

she doesn’t say anything to him about it at first. just holds onto the letter, tells him “oh, that was nice of my mom”, and lets him think that he got away with it.

and after that, it keeps happening. the letters keep coming. every time she gets into the car with steve, he has a new one to give her. max never actually sees her mom hand off any of these letters to steve, either, so she’s fully convinced it’s him. not to mention, all of the “you’re going to have a great day”s and the “you can do it”s and the other, various, generally peppy remarks just totally scream steve.

she wants to know for sure though. so she comes up with a plan.

one day she gets ready for her session super early, like at least half an hour before steve’s set to show up. she hides out in her room, so her mom doesn’t know, and she waits there until she hears steve’s car roll up. her mom calls her name and tells her steve is here. max calls back that she’s almost ready, she’ll be out in a minute. she listens for her mom after that, and when she doesn’t hear her, max thinks she went outside to talk to steve.

max sneaks out of her bedroom as quietly as possible and tiptoes over to the window. she crouches down low and peeks out from behind the corner of the curtain. and there steve’s beemer sits, in the patch of dirt they jokingly call their “driveway”, but it isn’t max’s mother who is leaning up against his car.

it’s eddie munson.

(eddie munson, who max never really gave a second thought before spring of ’86. eddie munson who was just “that munson boy, always up to no good”.

until he wasn’t.

until suddenly they’re on the same team. until they’re working together to save each other’s lives. until they end up three hospital rooms down from each other, broken, bruised, busted, bitten.

but on the mend. recovering.

and then it’s neither one of them being able to sleep, too afraid of the nightmares that plague their minds, the horrors that are burned into the backs of their eyelids, there every time they close their eyes. they find solace in each other, sitting together at the rickety old picnic table between their trailers. talking about skateboarding and dnd. about heavy metal and kate bush. about anything that isn’t gates and monsters and hiveminds and hellscapes.

(but they do talk about that, too, sometimes. when some nights are bad and some nights are worse and the only way to make it better is to face it head on. but they help each other feel safe. they help each other feel understood.)

they chase each other’s ghosts away. they remind each other that they are not alone.

it’s an unlikely friendship, not something max ever could have seen coming. but eddie is good. eddie is great. he doesn’t treat her like a kid, doesn’t handle her with care, like she’s something fragile and delicate that could break from one strong gust of wind. he’s one of the only ones who looks at her and just sees max.

he does take care of her, but she takes care of him too. it’s — he’s family. the brother she never had. the brother she always wanted.)

eddie’s got one arm resting against the window of steve’s car where it’s rolled down, and he and steve are talking. laughing. smiling together. steve says something then, and eddie straightens up and fishes for something in his jacket pocket.

and then, right there in plain sight, max watches eddie pull out a small little envelope and hand it over to steve. he says something to steve and points at the envelope in his hand, expression firm. then he spares a quick look towards max’s trailer, and max ducks down quick so she isn’t caught out.

after a second, two, three, she chances a glance out the window again. she watches as eddie taps his palm against the frame of steve’s window, letting it linger for a moment before he lifts his hand up and off and into a wave instead. then he turns on his heel and heads back to his trailer. he looks back twice.

max waits a minute, so it isn’t obvious that she was waiting by the door, then she grabs her bag and heads outside. when she slides into the passenger seat, steve holds out a card — the very same one she just saw eddie give him.

when max opens it, it’s exactly what she expected — the same handwriting, the same spiffy, upbeat encouragements, the same lopsided little smiley face at the top.

it’s signed love you, mom xx at the bottom, just the way it always is.

but max knows now.

when fall rolls around and school starts back up, eddie takes over steve’s job as max’s chauffeur. he and max are going to the same place, after all.

(eddie had been disappointed when they hadn’t simply waved away the last of those finals he missed and granted him his diploma anyways. they’d been strict about the rules. no exceptions. they did, however, offer him an alternative arrangement. rather than redoing his entire senior year again, they came up with an arrangement in which he only had to cover the content from the last few weeks he’d missed and sit for the final exams, and then, assuming things went well, he’d be walking out of hawkins high with his diploma firmly in hand. they even told him he’d be able to walk with the graduating class of ’87 if he wanted.)

now that it’s eddie carting her around, max fully expects the cards to stop. there’s no steve for eddie to hide behind anymore, and max thinks that even though he’s under the impression that she’s none the wiser, he might feel too exposed nonetheless.

but they don’t stop.

every morning, like clockwork, max hops into the front seat of eddie’s van, and eddie hands her a card, tells her, “from your mom.” (he even tries to tug on the end of one of her braids once after he hands it over, and max, who’d had a very bad night and is feeling far too sentimental over a god damn card, lets him.)

it comes to a head, as most things do, in the wheeler basement.

despite max’s steadfast refusal to join in on their silly little game, she still tags along to the party’s hellfire meetings. she likes hanging out in the basement with el, and with robin and nancy and steve if they’re there too. she’d never ever tell them, but she also likes hanging out with the boys too. likes watching them get so into their game that they almost knock over their goofy chalices of mountain dew. likes listening to them all shout over one another when they’re trying to make a decision on what their party’s next move should be. they’re her friends. her people. and, call her a softie, but she just likes being around them. all of them.

it's the end of their latest session, and eddie’s just finished cleaning up — gathering up all his little figurines, carefully stowing away all of his campaign notes, helping steve pile up the empty cans of dew and grease stained pizza plates for the garbage.

“hey, red,” eddie calls, catching max’s attention. he pulls the trash bag from steve’s hands, ignoring his protests, and hoists it up, giving it a shake. the crushed cans clink together inside. “be a doll and take this out, will ya?”

steve tries to take it back from eddie, to tell him he can do it himself, it’s fine, max doesn’t need to help. but max likes helping. she likes doing dumb, annoying, mundane things like taking out the trash. she appreciates steve’s concern, knows he means well, that he’s just trying to make it easy for her since she’s still recovering (even half a year later), but she can do it. she wants to do it.

so she clambers to her feet and crosses the room to take the trash bag from eddie.

“sure thing, mom,” she says, looking right at eddie, and it sort of just slips out. the nickname. mom. she’s never called him that before. no one has.

eddie’s eyebrows fly up.

the rest of the party erupts into confusion because why are you calling eddie mom? that’s steve’s nickname, remember?

and, well, maybe that’s true. but steve’s not the one pretending to write max letters from her mom. steve’s not the one scribbling down the words of encouragement that max never knew she needed to hear so badly. steve’s not the one signing the cards love you, mom xx.

eddie is.

max meets eddie’s eyes, turns her look pointed.

she can see the second it clicks in eddie’s brain. she knows. his easy, relaxed stature tenses. his eyes swim with worry — like he’s nervous, unsure. like he doesn’t know how max is going to react to this. like he thinks maybe she’ll be pissed at him.

but she’s not. she’s not at all. those letters — they mean more to max than she could ever express.

max can’t put it into words — wouldn’t want to in front of all of these people, anyways — so she just lets her mouth curve up. gives him one of her rare smiles.

she watches the tension drain from his shoulders, watches as his own lips twitch up, a slow blossom into something sunny and warm. something just for her. he gives her a nod. then says, “thanks, kid.”

max nods back.

and that’s that.

even though the kids keep calling steve mom, from that moment on, max saves that one for eddie.

it never does get explained to the rest of the party, but that’s okay. they laugh about it in their letters.

because, oh yeah, those still keep coming.

and max sends her own back, too.

love you, mom xx

love you, max xx

[couldawouldashoulda50]

The Rabbit versus Kevin Fiala

Part 4 - The Kopitar's Party

"Electric sparks; that first touch of lips ignites something deep within the soul."

A/N - I suppose it was inevitable that things would become a little hotter and heavier for these two. I will admit, Kevin's been delicious to think about in many, many ways. Thank you for the interactions so far with this little fic idea for @ladylooch and the journey so far. ◈Intro/Part One here ◈Part Two here ◈Part Three here Warnings/Notes - profanity, this one's a little more "caliente" so anyone under 18, be mindful of your thresholds for fic content. Word Count 6.2k

Mariana awoke at 5:30am, as was part of her daily routine for a number of years.  She slid out of bed and sleepily padded towards her ensuite bathroom to splash some water on her face and brush her teeth. It wasn't long before the fluttery feeling in her stomach was back in full force with the anticipation of seeing Kevin again and being introduced to the rest of his team later that day.  

Prior to yesterday, Mariana couldn't have cared less about the Kings (or maybe just enough to scoff at their chrome helmets if she happened come across them on the sports network) .  Now, here she was glancing through the Kings’ roster just to get her head wrapped around who was who.  She started with the Captain, Anže Kopitar, and went down the list from there.

After doing her roster homework and indulging in more of Kevin with the many clips and reels online, she went about her typical morning ritual.  Mariana slid into her one piece bathing suit, grabbed a towel and headed towards her backyard to her lap pool.  With the wear and tear that her body experienced with years of working in the trades, swimming was the exercise she craved; it helped to clear her mind from the outside noise, and kept her body fit and strong.

She also did her best thinking while she swam laps.

Two things she knew about the day is that she was looking forward to seeing Kevin interact with his teammates. He seemed so friendly, fun, kind and sweet and she wanted to see him with those he spent the most time with; she didn't want to necessarily search for red flags, but if they appeared today, she'll at least have more information to make any decisions going forward.

The other thing she knew was that she wanted to make a good impression on their hosts and the rest of their team, and well, Kevin for that matter. Mariana felt a little uncertain about what to expect and how she would handle herself when she’s out of her element; she barely knew Kevin and it had been a long period of time since she had actually socialised with anyone on a personal level outside of her work.

Signalling the break of day,  the glow from the sun’s bright rays began to peek above the hills to the east.  

Much like a runner’s high, Mariana felt she had broken through a barrier giving her boundless energy with every stroke of her front crawl.  She began to feel renewed with the prospects of a brand new chapter of her life starting that day, and the metaphorical first page was blank and pristine white.  

Once back indoors, and despite it being excessively early, she began to ready herself for her afternoon with Kevin.  

While pulling some clothing options from her closet, Mariana began to reflect on her ex-partner.  He always maintained she should dress sexier, put more make-up on, add more blonde to her hair.  At the beginning of their relationship, she tried it all to please him, and she was every man’s dream; a woman whose body had curves, who knew her way around a circular saw and a hammer, and who was such an exquisite natural beauty that men and women alike would stare when she entered a room. As it went, yes, she seemed to be every man’s dream, except for her partner’s.  

She decided in that moment, for this new chapter of her life, that if she was happy with how she looked and felt, that’s all that mattered.  With the thoughts of meeting the wives and girlfriends of professional athletes, she might as well put that thinking into practice immediately.

Mariana selected a modest white strapless bathing suit to wear under a simple black sundress.  She wore a tasteful layered silver necklace which contrasted beautifully with her dark golden complexion.  The colours she selected matched the King’s team colours; it was Mariana’s tiny way of showing Kevin that she was excited for the opportunity to spend time with him and his hockey team.

Mariana was ready hours before she had to leave to pick up Kevin, so she ventured out of the house early to pick up some additional items enroute to thank the Kopitars for their hospitality.  

Kevin, on the other hand, had slept through his alarm and woke up suddenly, feeling startled and confused.  His first thought once his brain engaged was to check his phone for messages.  He hoped there would be no cancellation text from Mariana, and when he saw there was zero activity on that front, he inhaled deeply and slowly released his breath to calm the jolt his body felt moments ago.  

He still had time before Mariana would arrive, so Kevin quickly got up and dressed and hurried out the door for a morning run before the mercury rose to an unmerciful temperature.  

As he ran through the side streets towards the waterfront, he thought about the conversations he had with Mariana the day before and wondered if chemistry they shared would continue on into today.  He also wondered if he jumped the gun with inviting her; meeting a large group of professional athletes was hard enough, but add in their significant others who are already a tight knit group, it can be difficult for some to manoeuvre.  This was the case with Kristen, who initially was successful in charming the other WAGs, until her true colours began to show.   It was all a surface act with Kristen, and both Kevin and the WAGs eventually discovered that in order to keep the peace, they individually had to learn to tolerate her unflattering behaviour.  

Kevin was definitely a victim of the once bitten, twice shy metaphor and it started to weigh on his mind as he ran along the boardwalk.  By the time he arrived back home, regret had settled into his gut and he thought for a moment about texting Mariana and cancelling.  

Instead, and with some trepidation, he called Mariana in the hopes that simply hearing her voice would help ease his worries about the upcoming afternoon.

When she answered, he heard the whirring background noise of vehicles moving quickly in transit.

He could hear the smile in her voice.  “Morning, Rico.”

That ridiculous crush feeling immediately returned inside Kevin’s stomach as a wide smile stretched across his face.  “Good morning, how are you?  How did you sleep?”

“I’m really excited about today.  Had an amazing sleep last night, too.  I hope you had a good rest.”  

The worries he had earlier about Mariana began to lift as Kevin ran his hand through his hair.  “Shit - are you on your way already?  I still haven’t showered or anything like that.”

Mariana chuckled.  “Awh, there’s no stress Rico; I’m just running some errands before I get there.  I wanted to make sure I had something to bring for the party.”  Mariana hesitated before asking “Is noon still ok to come by?”

Whatever concerns Kevin had during his run had been replaced with eagerness to see Mariana again.

“Noon’s great.  Earlier if you want; it won’t take me long to get ready.”

“You sure?  I figured that lip sweater of yours would take hours to coif.” 

“Fuck me,” Kevin muttered with a smile, as he heard Mariana snicker.  

“Well, alright then Suavé - I’ll just be about 15 minutes early then, if that’s ok. Oh - and bring a hat; I’ve got a convertible so you’re gonna need protection.” 

“Sounds good - see you soon.” Relief washed over Kevin as he stroked his moustache, chuckling to himself as he walked towards his bedroom.

As time ticked away, Kevin realised just how nervous he was when he changed his polo shirt for the fifth time, opting for a shade of simple black as the safe go-to.  He grabbed the hat he bought with Mariana yesterday and walked out to wait for her on the plain white stucco balcony.

Not wanting anyone to feel blind-sided, he decided to text Anže, giving a heads-up to his Captain that he would be bringing a new friend.  

While he continued to distract himself with his phone, Kevin heard the purr of a throaty muffler approach his driveway.  His draw dropped when he realised it was Mariana pulling up in one of the most gorgeous vehicles he could ever dream of.     

She had not seen Kevin peering over the edge of the balcony as she pulled up.  She quickly glanced at her reflection in the rear-view mirror and applied more lip protection before getting out to greet Kevin.

She had barely closed the car door before she spotted Kevin standing in his doorway, looking handsome as ever, as he stared in bewildering awe of Mariana and her car.

“You all ready?” she called over to Kevin as he slowly approached the car, pressing his palms against his forehead.

She rounded the trunk and Kevin stepped towards her for an embrace.  She looked at his astonished expression and giggled. “I take it that you like my car?”

“Fuck…yes - I don’t know what it is but it’s fucking gorgeous…,” Kevin gleamed.  

“Alright, well - hop in…I’ll tell you all about it on the way.”

Mariana laughed as Kevin gingerly opened the passenger side door and slid onto the white leather bucket seat.  He looked around the vehicle as he pulled on his seatbelt and seemed completely speechless.

As she pulled away and started down the street, she explained the fire engine red 1969 Pontiac GTO was formerly her father’s.  From the time she could walk, Mariana was in the garage with her Dad helping as he worked on restoring the classic car.  It became a Sunday tradition for the family to take the car out on the freeway to really let her roar before heading to dinner and an ice cream cone afterward.  

On the way to the get together, there were comfortable lulls in the conversation as Kevin rested his arm on the back of Mariana’s seat as they drove along Highway 1.  Kevin was completely in his element as he revelled in the view, admiring the Pacific coast on one side, and the rolling hills off in the distance.  

Had they not had plans that afternoon, Mariana and Kevin both seemed perfectly content to keep driving south with no specific destination in mind; it was already that perfect of a day.  

While Mariana listened to the GPS relay the directions once they exited the off-ramp, she tried to calm the nerves that had begun to settle in her stomach.  She inhaled deeply as she pulled into the Kopitar’s driveway and found a spot to park.  Turning off the ignition and exhaling just as deeply, Mariana could see Kevin looking at her out of the corner of her eye.  She pretended to not notice him smiling at her as she looked into the rearview mirror, but Mariana’s pursed lips gave way to a bashful smile and she nudged him playfully as he leaned closer towards her.   

Mariana turned to face Kevin; she felt her pulse beating rapidly in her neck as he brought his lips to hers.  It was a slow, sweet kiss that ignited all of her senses, but when he lightly grazed her tongue with his, she felt like her entire body had been catapulted up into the stratosphere.  

Kevin’s mind was already going wild with wanting to skip the party and head anywhere where he and Mariana could be alone.  Instead, he gently broke the kiss and signed heavily, leaning his forehead lightly against hers.  “I wish I had the nerve to do that back in my driveway; we could’ve called and cancelled,” he said.

“As tempting as that sounds Rico, I’ve got some stuff in the trunk that I have for your hosts…so, we still needed to show up.  If you had done that back at your place, you would have been in absolute blue-ball hell for the entire ride.”  She gently kissed his lips again and lightly stroked his cheek as he winced at the thought of his nuts aching for the entire drive.  

“And just so you’re aware, had you noticed that I was wearing your team colours, I might have grabbed your ass, just as an extra bonus aside from the kiss.  You missed out,” Mariana added as she stepped out from the car.  

Kevin laughed as he opened the passenger door.  He looked at Mariana again with a puzzled expression.  “Where’s the white? I only see black and silver.”

Mariana looked down at her outfit.  “Oh, right…yeah, I forgot you hadn’t seen this part.”  She looked around to make sure they were alone and lowered the elasticized top of her sundress just enough to give Kevin a peek of the white of her bathing suit.  

Kevin bit his lip and groaned as he zeroed in on the round outlines of her breasts.  “Yeah - okay, thanks…why don’t you just show me everything you got and I’ll just walk into my Captain’s house with a massive erection.”

Mariana raised her eyebrows and looked at the crotch of Kevin’s shorts.  “Massive? Really…”

Kevin pulled off the cockiest grin he could, as he grabbed Mariana’s hand.  “Let’s just say it’s a tool I think you can handle.”

Mariana’s mouth fell open and then formed a smile.  “Fuck it, let’s just go…let’s get out of here…you’re killing me, Rico,” she chuckled.  

The two flirted and joked as Mariana opened the trunk and pulled out a basket in a clear bag tied with a large black, silver and white bow, a large platter full of rolled pastries and a pink cake box.  

Kevin’s eyes grew wide as Mariana pulled the basket out and teasingly asked if he could handle it.  “Holy shit…what all is this?” Kevin asked.  

“You’ll see.  I just didn’t want to come empty handed, so I picked up a few things.”

Kevin craned his neck to look at the pastries.  “I’m glad I came with you…you’re making me look pretty good.”

Kevin led the way to the front door; he fidgeted nervously with his free hand as he rang the doorbell.

A ruggedly handsome man opened the door and enthusiastically greeted Kevin, welcoming him back from the offseason.  Anže looked at Mariana and first offered to take the platter and the box from her.  He set them down on a side table and he embraced Mariana warmly and invited them to come in.  

Anže called for his wife, Ines, to come meet the new arrivals.  Anze and Kevin quickly fell into making easy small talk as Mariana smiled and looked attentive, even though she had no idea who or what the men were talking about.

Ines came gliding around the corner and her eyes lit up when she saw Kevin and Mariana.  She gave an gracious and warm welcome to the pair, asking how the drive was and how long it took to get there from Kevin’s house.  

Kevin gently laid his hand on Mariana’s lower back and handed her the basket to give to Ines. 

“Oh, we brought some things for you; I read you’re both from Slovenia, so I picked up some schnapps, juniper brandy and some red wine…I’m just not sure of which region it comes from.”

Mariana motioned to the box and the platter. “I’m not sure if these are 100% Slovenian, but there is a Potico cake and some other finger foods that we brought as well.”

Kevin put up his hands and motioned to Mariana, “This was all her; I had nothing to do with any of it,” he chuckled.  

Ines and Anže were visibly touched and equally impressed with Mariana, as was Kevin.  His hand remained on the small of Mariana’s back until Ines invited Mariana to meet some of the other ladies that were already enjoying some beverages poolside.

Turning to Kevin, Mariana’s hand lightly stroked Kevin’s forearm saying she would see him later, and she walked alongside Ines, leaning over to greet Kopitar’s family dog on the way outside.  

Anze watched Kevin's eyes linger on Mariana as she disappeared into the backyard.  

He put his arm around Kevin’s shoulder and the two went off to put Mariana’s offerings on the buffet table.  Referencing the bottle of wine, Anže wiggled his eyebrows at Kevin and said “This will just be for Ines and I later when the kids are in bed….or the brandy, if I’m lucky”, he added with a laugh.  “Your girlfriend has amazing taste.”

Kevin paused before he told Anže that she wasn’t exactly his girlfriend, and that he and Mariana just met the day prior.  

Anže smirked at Kevin, “You could have fooled me.  Hopefully you’ll be smart enough to make and keep her happy; I can already tell, she’s one of the really good ones.”

The two men ventured off through the large opening to the backyard, and headed over to the wet bar where kegs of beer rested on beautifully crafted stands.  Anže handed Kevin a beer and toasted to a healthy and successful upcoming season.

The September afternoon sun blazed in the sky as the guests intermingled with one another easily and amicably.  After some time, a rousing game of beach-ball volleyball in the pool drew the majority of spectators in.   Loud whoops and hollers were made for every point lost or gained.  Kevin was on the team that continued to advance and wipe the floor clean with their opponents.  

Every so often, he would glance over at Mariana as she was stretched out on a lounge chair by the pool’s edge, alongside a small group of WAGs that had already adopted her.  Kevin would get her attention and mouth “you ok?” with a corresponding hand gesture, and Mariana would always smile and give him a thumbs up in return.  

Midway through the last game that would give Kevin’s team “the title”, simply known as bragging rights, Mariana rose from her lounge chair and walked toward the large pool house to use the facilities.  

Kevin's eyes locked on her toned physique as she seemingly floated with the way she walked.  The white strapless one-piece against her brazilian-esque skin tone made Kevin curl his toes with arousal in the pool.  He recounted their kiss in her car upon their arrival at the party, and suddenly Kevin could not give two fucks about the bragging rights of a volleyball game.  

Kevin hollered over to Adrian Kempe, and speaking in Swedish, he asked Adrian to sub for him in this last game, as Kevin hoisted himself up over the side and exited the pool.   

He turned the corner of the pool house just as Mariana was rounding the same corner, scaring the soul out of her body.

“Jesus fucking hell - Rico!  Fuck me - you scared the shit outta me, and I’m in a white bathing suit for Chrissakes,” she laughed while gasping and clutching her stomach.   

“Fuck - I’m so sorry…and yeah, ewh, gross,” he teased as his hands found their way onto her hips, pulling her close against him.  “I just wanted to make sure you’re doing ok?  Anything you need at all?”

Mariana’s eyes softened as she scanned his face.  Her gaze held Kevin’s attention before her eyes left his and followed the path down past his gorgeous nose and settled on his mouth.  

With her hands gliding up Kevin’s muscular flank and circling around his neck, Mariana softly purred “Mmmhmm - I do need something,” and she closed her mouth over his. Kevin smiled into the kiss as he walked her backwards to a spot behind the trunk of a tall palm tree, which provided some additional privacy.

Mariana’s hands roamed every contour of his upper body; she was sure she had never touched such a magnificent and muscular frame before, and she had no intention of squandering her opportunity now.  

Kevin’s hands had remained firmly planted on her hips as he pressed his hardness against the sheath of her bathing suit.  He groaned knowing there was no opportunity to relieve his burgeoning erection, and there in his mind, he accepted his fate that blue-ball hell was certainly in his future.  

Kevin brought his hands up to Mariana’s face, cradling her jawline in his palms, stroking the corner of her mouth with his thumb.  He continued to kiss her mouth tenderly.  “I don’t think I have told you yet of how unbelievably beautiful you are.”

Mariana’s hands lightly clasped around Kevin’s wrists as he continued to cup her face.  With her eyes closed, she let Kevin’s words wash all over her as her fingertips trailed down his forearms.  Her hands continued to move downward as Kevin slid his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in for such a deep kiss, she thought her body might collapse from the bliss of it all.  

Mariana’s hands travelled along Kevin’s waistline around to the back of his shorts as her fingers dipped just under his waistband, pulling him and his erection right up against her centre.  

Mariana whispered into Kevin’s neck, “Fuck me if I don’t wanna just rip these off and…..”   

“Don’t say it - I just - I cannot handle hearing you say anything like that right now…” Kevin affectionately warned Mariana.  “Nor do I want to be banished from Anže’s house for lewd behaviour…..no matter how fucking amazing it would feel.”  

Mariana quietly moaned in Kevin’s ear, “It’s your fault - you could have kissed me in your driveway and then we actually could have cancelled…I would have had my way with you five times already.” She continued to kiss under his jawline, down his neck to his Adam's apple.

“Now you’re being cruel,” Kevin said as his words were muffled against the skin of her neck.  He lowered his arms and wrapped them snugly around Mariana’s body as he lifted her slightly off the ground in a strong, warm embrace.  Kevin then added “Plus - I’m just so happy you’re here with me today.  I know we just met, and I might be crazy for saying it out loud, but God, I think you’re amazing.”

Mariana leaned back just enough to look at Kevin while she ran her fingers through his hair.  She gently bit her lower lip just before rising up on her toes to savour his mouth once more.  

She slowly pulled back again.  “You’re pretty fantastic too, Rico…and, fuck…my thighs have been clenching all afternoon looking at you,” she playfully scoffed.  “I mean, honestly - Adonis himself wept with envy when you took your shirt off.  You with your baggy shirts and shorts - you’re gonna kill a girl without giving her fair warning of what’s really under there…” she smirked as Kevin laughed.  

“And - and….what the fuck is it with all of your asses?” Mariana teased, just above a whisper. “I didn’t think I cared about a guy’s butt…ever…and now, I wanna see you all lined up, bums out, on a billboard in downtown LA.” 

The two remained behind the tree until Kevin’s arousal had dissipated, and before long, they rejoined the party hand in hand.  

After Kevin was stolen by Adrian, Mariana resumed her conversation with Ines and some of the other wives.  She was pleasantly surprised by how quickly she felt at ease with the ladies present; up until that point, Mariana had spent her days working, mostly with men who used the most colourful and obscene language in every conversation.  She had concerns about whether she would forget who she was talking to and inadvertently say something wildly inappropriate to the other guests.  

Feeling a special connection with Trevor Moore’s wife, Monique, Mariana had sheepishly confided her concern to her.  When Monique discovered what line of work Mariana had been in, the news spread quickly and it seemed suddenly a line formed with the WAGs to ask Mariana questions about remodelling and renovations, colourful language be damned.

Soon it was dusk, and the temperature was still a balmy 80 degrees.  Mariana, with her stomach full from indulging a little too much with the smorgasbord of food laid out, sat on the edge of the large rectangular pool, dangling her legs in the water.  Spotting her, Monique came to join her, bringing Mariana a bottle of water since she knew she was driving.

The two ladies chatted while making designs on the surface of the water with their toes.  The backyard looked so enchanting with strings of tiny white led lights decorating every bush and tree, and tiki torches and long citronella candles burned around the perimeter of the pool.

Monique took a sip of her martini and turned to Mariana, with a slight grin.  “You and Kevin looked so sweet at dinner.  He looks so happy…and I just love that for him.  He’s a really, really great person.”

Mariana smiled as her pulse quickened with the thought of Kevin and her at dinner.  He had pulled her onto his lap midway through his pasta salad and didn’t let go until his dessert was finished.  The way she just fit perfectly in his arms, with his one hand resting on her hip, made her want to curl up in his chest and just breathe him in for the rest of the night.  

“He does seem pretty wonderful.  It’s just hard to believe I haven’t known him longer…that part seems a little surreal,” Mariana confessed. 

Monique chuckled, “That’s the thing with chance meetings.  It can be lovely and amazing like this one or turn into an ugly dumpster fire like his last one.”

Mariana was leery yesterday about asking Kevin about what led to his “new beginning” but through various conversations (aka a bit of gossip), today she had pieced together that his ex-girlfriend appreciated a certain level of social status and apparently did not treat Kevin well at all.  Mariana dismissed wanting to know more; she felt Kevin would eventually get around to telling her if and when he was comfortable to do so.

After Mariana’s stomach calmed down and shrank back to more of its normal shape, she decided to hop in the water for one more swim.  Monique had left to use the facilities so Mariana was on her own.  

She discarded her sundress on a lounge chair behind her and slipped in by the edge where she had been sitting.  

Alone in the pool, with the majority of guests now inside or having another helping of food on the terrace, Mariana glided towards the deep end, keeping her head above the surface of the water.  A lone figure stood at the steps of the pool watching her swim and he descended the steps into the pool without making a sound.  He stood watching her from the shallow end and he finally spoke.

“Permission to come and join you down there?  I didn’t want to scare the shit out of you again.” Kevin chuckled.

Mariana turned her head and smiled back at Kevin, “Are you going to behave and keep your hands to yourself?”

As Kevin submerged his body and began to swim towards Mariana, he said, “I can’t guarantee that, Miss Ortega.”

Mariana gracefully treaded water with her back against the pool wall in the deep and watched Kevin approach her.  “Permission granted, Mr. Fiala.”

Kevin dove under the surface and in one, long stroke underwater, he popped up in front of Mariana, swiping the water from his face.  

He came towards her and boxed her in with his muscular arms as he gripped the concrete edge of the pool with his hands.  Using her weightlessness and the force of Kevin’s body pressing against her, Mariana wrapped her arms and legs around him.  

Mariana’s mouth met Kevin’s; at first, it was soft and slow. But the taste of his mouth; the feeling of his body firm against hers, soon had Mariana aching and desperate and it showed in the depths of her kiss.  The only thing on her mind now is that she needed to be alone with him and soon.

Kevin was not faring much better than Mariana.  Kevin was caught between wanting to get Mariana home right away or giving into the immediate urge to fuck Mariana against the wall in the Kopitar’s pool.   

Mariana leaned her head back on the edge of the pool while her legs remained wrapped around his torso.  Kevin’s moustache tickled her neck as he left a trail of open mouthed kisses all the way down to the swells of her breasts that were pushed up by the top of her bathing suit.  

Mariana watched Kevin as freed one hand from the edge of the pool to pull the top of her bathing suit down and free her breasts.  Despite the throbbing sensation in her core, her logical side prevailed and she affectionately whispered that they should probably stop and take this home, preferably to his place which was much closer.

Kevin nodded his head in surrender, and kissed her longingly.  He broke away from her lips, paused, and then said “Fourth time.”

Mariana's smile grew as she searched his eyes, waiting for him to clarify.  

Kevin’s accent seemed heavier when he uttered “Blue balls.  Fourth time today, maybe even more.”

Mariana ran her hands through his chest hair and with as much sympathy and sensuality as she could muster, she leaned in and spoke against his cheek “I'm going to try and make it up to you later.”

Kevin shook his head trying to get his mind focused on getting out of the pool instead of imagining Mariana following through on her words.  “Fuck….yeah - let's get outta here.  Quick.” He bit his bottom lip as he tapped her ass and Mariana unlinked her legs from around Kevin’s torso.  

They started to swim next to each other but Mariana suddenly dove underwater, disappearing from sight.  She propelled herself for an impressive distance before reappearing on the stairs, looking almost like a mermaid pulling herself onto a rock by the sea.  

She sat on a pool step waiting for Kevin as he began to walk through the shallow end towards her. 

Mariana's eyes trailed down to his ballooning shorts from the air trapped inside.  

Mariana nodded towards his cock, “Either that's a bubble in your pants or I'm not gonna be able to walk straight for a month.”  She giggled and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.  She couldn't believe she even said that to him.

Before she could react, Kevin grabbed her and hoisted her over his shoulder, while she laughed and shrieked to put her down.   

He tapped her ass cheek repeatedly and then gently helped her slide down from his shoulder.  Kevin couldn't contain the elation he felt from being with Mariana and having such an incredible day.  WIth Mariana clearly feeling the same, Kevin felt better than he had in a very long time . 

They grabbed their bags with their change of clothes and walked towards the house, looking thicker than thieves as they whispered flirtations back and forth.  Trying to avoid any further temptation, the two went into separate rooms to change.  

Mariana emerged in a pair of jeans rolled at the cuff, a tank top with a black oversized sweater.  She was glad she thought to pack a sweater; even with the exceedingly hot temperatures during the day, driving in a convertible at night with the top down can be downright chilly.

Ines and a few other WAGs congregated at the front entrance with the door wide open.  Boisterous laughs erupted from the group of ladies as they continuously looked out to the driveway, shaking their heads and snickering.  

Sian Nickson, Adrian Kempe’s girlfriend, turned as Mariana walked up to the group to see what was happening.    

Sian enthusiastically motioned for Mariana to stand next to her.  “Oh my gosh, Mariana - this is priceless…have a look.  That’s your car, right?”

Mariana nodded that indeed, that was her car, and she peered out the front door to see what they were laughing at.

Ines approached Mariana and gently draped her arm around Mariana’s shoulder.  Based on the snifter Ines was holding, the Captain’s wife had chosen Mariana’s gift of brandy over the gift of wine.  

The ladies were laughing at their men, standing around the red GTO, mocking some of the players pretending they had a clue what they were talking about when it came to engines, transmissions, rims or exhaust pipes.  

Ines, who was buzzed but still completely coherent, leaned over to Mariana and said “See how Anže keeps walking around kicking the tires?  He’s only doing that because he thinks that’s what every man does when they look at cars.  All he knows are tires are made from rubber, but he’s making it look like he knows what makes them turn,” she said, rolling her eyes.  

Mariana couldn’t help but burst out laughing.  She put her hand over her mouth to stifle herself, but watching these women, ever so subtly, bring their hockey player men down a notch or two, was pretty entertaining.

Kevin stood with the group of players who were discussing classic muscle cars, but he was more interested in watching Mariana exchange numbers with a few of the ladies, followed by words of thanks, hugs and friendly waves goodbye.  

Mariana approached Kevin and she touched his arm as a gesture of appreciation for his patience while she said goodbye to the ladies.  Their need for each other had naturally intensified since their near-slip in the pool and now they were finally on the way to spending some time alone.

Mariana turned toward Kevin as they packed up the trunk.  “Are you sure you don’t mind me coming back to your place?  Because if you would rather we wait, I completely understand.”

Kevin was puzzled by her question; he paused to try and get his words just right before he responded.  He pulled her into his chest as he spoke into the soft waves of her hair.

“There’s nothing that I want more than to have you come home with me.  Did…has something happened in the last few minutes to make you feel that I didn't?”

Kevin felt Mariana grip his sweater slightly as he held her. “I think maybe I was just second guessing whether I’m imagining this amazing thing that I feel with you - or it might just be the exhaustion from the whirlwind of my former world ending.  I’m just feeling a little wiped out I think,” she confessed.

Mariana had such a beautiful and radiant presence, and she carried herself so gracefully,  that Kevin had all but forgotten how recently her life had been blown to smithereens.  

Mariana’s words were muffled as she spoke into Kevin’s sweater.  “Do you think you could drive?  Maybe I could just close my eyes on the way back.”

“I’m trying hard not to get over-excited but I was kind of hoping you’d let me drive you car at some point, so I haven’t had a drink since this afternoon.” Kevin smiled as Mariana looked up at him, kissing him softly on his cheek.

As the last of the goodbye’s were heard from the Kopitar’s driveway, Kevin carefully pulled out onto the street, heading north to take him and Mariana home.  

Within a few minutes, Mariana reclined the bucket seat, and with the seatbelt still on, shifted herself to lay down on her side facing Kevin, using her bag as a pillow.  She was fast asleep seconds later.  

Kevin would glance at Mariana every so often as he drove, moving his hand from the steering wheel and rested it on her hip.  Much like he did the night before, he drove in silence as he tried to make sense of how he could feel so strongly about a woman he literally just met the day before.  He searched his memory throughout their time at the party.  He thought of how much he adored being near her, and how she reciprocated every touch, every smile, and every kiss he gave her.  When he spoke - she listened so intently, making him feel as though he was the only person that existed.  

But on the flipside of all the wonderment he felt towards Mariana, Kevin also thought of all the cliche warnings that he had heard (and believed) throughout his life.  The one warning stuck in his head at that moment was “If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.”

Was Mariana that?  Was she too good to actually be real?  Had he not felt the same about Kristen when he first met her?

Stopped at a traffic light, Kevin watched Mariana sleep.  She had not moved an inch for the entire drive.  He looked around at the beautiful interior of the car; every inch of chrome was polished, the leather pristinely cared for, and the gauges all in perfect working order.  Mariana and her father built and maintained this car together, and she kept it that way after he passed.  Kevin thought about when Mariana had talked about restoring something as opposed to tearing it down.  He remembered pieces of their conversation with how Mariana sacrificed a piece of the company she built, for someone she thought was worth it and in the end betrayed her.  

Kevin had an epiphany that Mariana was the type of person who valued people and things, much in the way that he did.  Any risk of spending more time with this woman would be far outweighed by the reward, if his assumptions were correct.  

And with that thought, Kevin decided he would allow himself to enjoy getting to know Mariana, if she indeed felt the same about him.

[redsasexualdisaster]

more kittycrons [part 2 😳]

the meowning after

it was not the chill of the morning breeze that woke nemesor zanrdekh today, but the feeling of movement. the soft breathing motions of his beloved vargard. the somali cat burried his pink nose into the warm pelt, and sneezed. he blinked awake and saw long grey fur. obyron was brown furred and muscular. oh. now in his wiser years, zandrekh did not keep a habit of waking up next to strangers and he began to worry how he could possibly have awoken next to his phaeron.

obyron was a heavy sleeper by nature and before he and zandrekh had entered a relationship he would not have startled awake from certain sounds. like his nemesors noises of fear. his head was up in seconds and he let out a worried meow. the nemesor's ears were flattened and he dove under obyron's back leg, afraid and trembling. it took some time and calming purrs for him remind his nemesor where they were, and that he was safe as they went over the previous nights events. 'i am here, dear nemesor. the sky is light and we,' he gestured to a sleeping imotekh, then to the somali with his snout, 'are all safe.'

he could feel zandrekh purring softly in attempt to destress. the rumbling of obyron's voice was soothing and he was well practiced in grounding his partner when reality could become frightening. it was slowly coming back… the phaeron's conversation about an uprising of flayed ones… the abrupt appearance of obyron and the damned winter cold that froze his joints. they had warmed him together that night. it was romantic…

as a phaeron imotekh has never allowed himself to indulge in unnecessary things outside the battlefield. and on the battlefield, where a sharp mind was needed and reflexes were what kept him alive. breathing and moving and eating when strength was low, and sleeping only when he knew he was safe - those were neccessary. but when he woke well rested and calm enough to have no need to think upon the problems of yesterday, he realised that he may have actually been relaxed. and comfortable in the company of others. he was not used to this. seeing zandrekh and his… obyron, he remembered now. they were grooming each other and chirping happily. he wasn't jealous…

he let out a yawn, tasting the air. 'later than i imagined…' he mused, made to roll onto his back and stretch his legs when he felt a soft prodding at his side.

'good meowning, my lord. may i be so bold as to ask if i can assist with your pelt?' zandrekh asked, looking much more alert then the night before. was the nemesor always so small? was imotekh's own pelt so unclean and scruffy as to bother such a tiny overlord?? standing up now, the difference in their view was more apparent. he remembered previously when the nemesor had tried to help groom him, and was unable to stop a trill of laughter coming out.

'ah. by yourself i do not recommend trying.' he almost felt bad for discouraging zandrekh's eagerness. but then he saw the handsome shape of obyron approach his partner.

'i can assist my nemesor if you are in need, my phaeron,' the jaguarundi being so close reminded him of obyrons strong paws squishing his back leg as he drooled in his sleep. cute…

now what was he to do with such helpful subjects… in a bold move, imotekh sat up straight and puffed out his chest putting his famous fur on display. zandrekh let out an appreciative noise.

'morning has yet to pass. service me it it pleases you, both.'

the three of them did a better job than when the phaeron had tended to himself, or when he and orikan used to outside of their plotting. since the cryptek sphynx had no fur he was quite terrible with the task.

if imotekh had never fought to the rank of phaeron, he supposed he would've done this with ordinary soldiers he might've called comrades. being a dynast meant comforts like trust or friendship were given up so it was almost pleasant to be cared for, not feared.

after cleaning and stretching and picking some large prey for them to share, the stormlord was stuck, well fed and relaxed against the cave wall, soft belly exposed as zandrekh rubbed against him with delight, and obyron was carefully licking away the blood from his face. they took note of each others facial scars. he gave the vargard a nudge with his nose. 'your back right leg. how bad is it?'

obyron was taken aback, he didn't expect anyone to take notice of yesterdays injury. was his phaeron testing him? the vargard gave his back legs a stretch hoping he didn't wince. the cold was a hinderance when it came to healing. the stormlord looked displeased.

'a minor concern, my lord. it won't affect my efforts, i assure you.' obyron was squashed by zandrekh then, the nemesor standing between the two.

'obyron, why didn't you say so? when was the last time a cryptek gave you a look over?' the vargard went on to explain how he'd been working harder than usual and had little time to look over cuts and scrapes, and even less time to see his overlord.

'these two were so open about their concerns and affections,' imotekh thought, definately not longing for when he had last felt like that.

'the cold brings out insurgents who ignore obvious risks, hoping for easy victories,' the forest cat confirmed. 'but nothing my soldiers can't handle.' he noticed zandrekh perk up at that. the little somali circled obyron, his tail tracing the larger cat as he walked. 'naturally, i will be leading with you in the charge. why, i'd depart for the hills right now if-' he stopped and remembered his frail body. 'well... after some rest i'm sure i'll be as spry as ever.'

the nemesor agreed to spend the nights with imotekh, obyron accompanying him thoughout the day. when the sky was dark and and cold mists were blowing, obyron flanked his partner towards the small cave again. he sat one rock step above while zandrekh took time to climb upwards. he refused all help offered by obyron so the jaguarundi could only offer encouraging chirps and a warm side to lean against. zandrekh saw the imposing figure of imotekh, pacing while his feathery tail swayed slowly, when they arrived. he must have been deep in thought till the somali announced their presence.

'ah, lord imotekh..' the cold night air made his voice tremble a tad. the comforting pressure of obyron next to him helped as they were guided towards his nest, which zandrekh noted now had extra fur and things for comfort.

'nemesor,' imotekh curled around his small body in welcome. 'vargard obyron. i trust that you are well?' he brushed his tail along obyron's side as they settled into a comfortable pile. zandrekh easily relaxed himself as the warmth of two very handsome cats eased his aches. it was near amusing seeing his love and his lord trying to adjust to the same situation all over again, while he was no stranger to a tryst or two in his youth...

'my lord,' obyron started, only after a soft nudge from zandrekh. he was apprehensive but still receptive to being held or… petted? he dipped his head down to avoid his phaeron's weighty gaze, rumbling quietly. zandrekh's purring kept him grounded.

'that we are,' the smaller nemesor stopped to yawn and turned towards obyron's round face, 'forgive me, my friend, but the journey here has tired me out.' he could hardly keep his eyes from closing, the feeling of safety and being lightly squished by his two protectors was heavenly for his frail body.

despite knowing his nemesor was leaving him to the mercy of the stormlord, obyron curled tighter around his small orange body wrapping his tail around too. they always fit together so well. 'rest well, zandrekh,' he murmured his lords name so only the tiniest of pointed ears could hear.

'night, my loves,' zandrekh mumbled, imotekh burrying his nose into the scruff of his neck. the forest cat was content listening to his nemesor's snores and stroking his vargard with his tail. until he realised that obyron was looking at him, warm brown eyes conflicted. that would not do.

'speak your mind, vargard.'

obyron dared not look directly at the stormlord, letting out a nervous warble. it had taken near a year to become accustomed to zandrekh's affections and sincerity. and now his phaeron was charming him - had already enamoured his lord zandrekh - and it was working?! he was so flustered.

'this soldier begs your forgiveness. i… am unaccustomed to such…' he was about to bow his head in shame before being interrupted.

'offering myself to your nemesor is my decision, you should be well aware that under my watch you need only concern yourself with his wellbeing,' his voice was low and he let out an appreciative purr. 'though i would indulge you just as much if desired.'

then obyron did lower his head to his paws. they chirped and trilled back and forth while obyron gathered his thoughts. he rested his head beside zandrekh's and against the stormlord's front, his chest fur hypnotically soft.

'for as long as my lord needs, i will be by your side, my nemesor,' he hoped this would suffice, and was answered with a soft head brushing against his as they curled closer together and drifted off to sleep.

obyron was dreaming. he was curled up and surrounded by warmth. he saw two bright eyes looking up at him, recognising the delicate features of his lord zandrekh. he smiled before he was gently headbutted as the somali tucked his head below obyron's and purr-growled in content. had his lord always been so large though? then a slight feeling of movement prodded against his stomach and he knew exactly what that meant.

'lord zandrekh, you are expecting kits..!' the jaguarundi was elated and fully of the belief they were his. he could feel gentle vibrations as the somali replied into his fur.

'any day now, my love. i know you'll make wonderful fathers..' this made obyron stop and think. and he felt another weight on his back, familliar and extra fluffy. their phaeron, obyron knew. imotekh rumbled with pride, and the feeling was mutual.

'while they will be possible successors of mine, they will always be our progyny first,' the forest cat nuzzled obyrons back, 'and if i could, i'd will it so you could continue my legacy too.' the jaguarundi purred with delight, leaning back to reciprocate his affections. he had to be dreaming knowing there was no way he could be so seduced by his lord without danger, and that his heart belonged only to zandrekh .

maybe in another life it could be so.

-----

i have too much free time to recover from things so its time for more ooc catcron fics. somehow i keep making multiships but its more fun. maybe someday i can move on to writing necrontyr or people ? §(*￣▽￣*)§

[thefrogdalorian]

Dincember Day 24: Ice

Word Count: 2006 Rating: General Summary: The unseasonably weather on Nevarro causes a pond to freeze and thanks to a stroke of good luck, a passing vendor is able to offer the opportunity to skate on it. You expect that Din will be a natural, but things do not go entirely to plan. Content Warnings: None! Author's Note: This one followed on closely from yesterday's entry! Just one more left now, I can't believe it! Hope you enjoyed it. Ice skating is scary.

Link to read on AO3 | My Dincember Masterlist

It seemed as though the entire population of Nevarro had had the same idea as you and Din. That was, to go for a walk along the planet’s gleaming, frozen surface and marvel at the unseasonable weather that had covered the entire planet in a deep frost. You nodded politely at the townsfolk you passed, Din was turning more than a few heads – as he always did when leaving the house in his beskar'gam. But rather than shyness, you felt incredibly proud that Din was on your arm, wearing a red scarf that matched yours and Grogu’s coats. The way the three of you matched and walked in step with each other showed any admiring onlookers that the shiny Mandalorian already had a family of his own.

That didn’t stop the admiring, awestruck looks though. Especially the numerous wonderstruck looks Din was getting from the children. You smiled at them, enjoying the way they gazed at Din as though he was the most incredible thing in the entire galaxy. To you, of course, he was. You felt so thrilled to know that he was yours.

You were just approaching the crest of a hill, about to head over it and check whether the small lake had frozen over - like your pond outside the cabin - when a familiar voice stopped you and Din in your tracks.

“Mando!” High Magistrate Greef Karga called, bounding towards you with a smile on his face. “It seems like our unseasonable weather might actually have something to do with you!”

“Really?” Din said, dropping your hand as he went to clasp Greef’s arm and shake it in traditional Mandalorian greeting.

“All that hell you raised back with the pirates, we think perhaps it altered the orbit of the planet slightly, pushed us into a path that made this deep frost possible,” Greef explained. “I don’t know whether to thank you or kill you, given the crops that have been destroyed. But oh the townsfolk are so happy! You really must see this.”

Greef gestured for the three of you to follow him and you made it over the top of the crest of the hill. The sight before you was incredible. Down below there were tens of Nevarrians, skating across the frozen surface. Families and adults alike, some gliding across the ice effortlessly and other, more clumsy skaters who were unsteady on their feet were taking more than a few tumbles. Your eyes lit up at the sight, you had not been skating for so many years but it looked like so much fun.

“Will you join us for some skating?” Greef asked as the three of you made it towards the bottom of the hill.

“Well… it’s been a while…” Din said hesitantly.

“Oh, come on Mando!” Greef exclaimed. “It’s almost Life Day!”

Din sighed, the sound magnified by his vocoder. He looked around at you, clearly hoping that you would put an end to this awful idea. But of course, you were just as enthusiastic as Greef.

“We’d love to! I’m surprised you had skates here, considering how unseasonable this weather is,” You remarked, raising your eyebrows as Greef pointed you in the direction of the makeshift booth that had been set up, where the skates could be hired from.

“Well, it’s actually a stroke of luck,” Greef explained. “One of the vendors from the market that visits weekly manufactures and sells skates. Of course, she didn’t have them out for sale here, but once the frost set in, she knew a good business opportunity when she saw one.”

“Wow, that really is remarkable,” You nodded, before adding to Din, once Greef was out of earshot: “Guess it really is a Life Day miracle.”

Din shook his head and huffed at you and you smiled, delighting in the way you could make him cringe from your cheesiness. Your favourite Mandalorian was not a party pooper by any means, you knew that deep down, Din was incredibly excited for Life Day. But there was a limit to his festive cheer, and you loved pushing him to it. 

“Let me watch this little one for you,” Greef said, holding his arms out to take Grogu who chirped happily at the older man.

“Probably for the best,” You nodded as Din handed him over. “He already had an incident on the ice of the frozen pond outside our house today.”

Greef took Grogu and the two of them made their way over to greet a few of the townsfolk who were standing by the ice and watching the skaters. You suspected that Greef was going to use Grogu’s cuteness to glean some good will from his people. You smiled as you watched them, before heading to the booth to rent skates for you and Din.

After lacing your skates up on a bench next to the makeshift booth that rented out the skates, it was time to take your first tentative steps towards the ice. You could tell how nervous Din was, despite the fact he was doing his best not to show it. You were not an expert skater yourself by any means, having a few experiences here and there. But it had been many years ago and you were not sure how well you remembered how to skate. Din on the other hand, you had expected would be a natural, with his agility and fighting abilities, surely he would be able to handle a little bit of ice skating.

You had expected that you would be clinging onto Din’s arm for support, but as it transpired it was the other way around. You were a far more confident skater than Din, who clung to your arm with both hands so tightly that you feared he might leave bruises. His visor was pointed firmly towards the ice too, there was no way he could see what he was doing.

“Din, you need to look up,” You said gently to him, encouraging him to take in his surroundings.

“Can’t. Feel like I’m going to fall,” Din squeaked in response.

“You won’t fall, I’ve got you. But you need to look up to see where you’re going, I can’t be the eyes for both of us. We’ll knock someone over!” You encouraged him.

“Fine,” Din huffed and straightened his body up so his helmet could see.

“See, it’s not so bad, is it?” You said reassuringly. 

“It is!” Din exclaimed. “Now I can see exactly how far I have to fall! Plus, how do we know we won’t go through?”

“They must have drilled it to check,” You said, trying to suppress your laughter at how terrified your big, tough-looking Mandalorian looked. “You won’t fall, see, just move your feet like this,” You said as you demonstrated the correct motion, “And you should get the hang of it.”

Din didn’t seem convinced, but after a few more strokes of his skates, he seemed to be getting the hang of things. Slowly, his vice-like grip on your arm loosened and after a few more moments, he let go of your arm completely. 

“That’s it!” You exclaimed proudly as Din made his way around the ice on shaky legs, with his arms circling around to maintain his balance. It was not quite the graceful gliding of some skaters on the ice, but he was doing much better than you had expected, given his shaky start.

Things were going so well, Din had stopped moving his arms around and wobbling unsteadily on his feet. He was really beginning to get the hang of it, you watch him proudly in disbelief that he had gotten so used to skating in such a short time. Din was beginning to glide around like a natural. Things were going so well. Too well.

It did not take long for the progress Din had made to come to a grinding halt. Literally. You watched as everything seemed to slow down, a man who was clearly out of control went hurtling towards Din. At the last second, he attempted to swerve, and it seemed as though a catastrophic collision had been averted. But alas, it was too little, too late. Din was sent hurtling to the ground with a sickening crash, the Beskar of his armour giving a sickening clang as he hit the ice.

“Din!” You shouted, skating furiously to the scene of the collision, where Din was lying sprawled out on the icy surface. “Din are you alright?” You said concernedly, as you knelt over him, reaching down to Din’s side so you could take his hand in yours. You squeezed it tightly.

“I’m… fine,” Din grunted, his voice straining.

“I’m so sorry,” The man who had skated into Din offered his apologies as he righted himself and skated over to check on the person he had collided with. Surprisingly, considering both the speed at which he had collided with Din and the fact that he was wearing such solid armour, the man seemed relatively unscathed. It was another Life Day miracle.

“It’s okay, accidents happen,” You smiled sympathetically. 

“Thank you, have a good Life Day,” The man offered, and then he was gone, skating off back to the booths. You watched him skate away and he seemed remarkably coordinated, which made it all the more surprising that he had collided with Din. 

“Ready to sit up?” You asked Din, who nodded weakly. You held your hand out to him and pulled him up. 

“I can’t skate any more,” Din groaned as he made his way to his feet, placing his arm around your neck.

“Alright, get behind me and hold on,” You said, Din took your advice and wrapped his arms around your waist. You set off, skating at such a slow speed due to Din’s weight being attached to you and also out of respect for how shaken up Din must be feeling.

Finally, the two of you made it to the edge of the ice. You sat Din down on the bench and then unlaced his boots for him. You went to return them and when you came back, Grogu and Greef had made their way over to the Mandalorian who had taken such a tumble. 

“Mando! That was quite a fall. Are you alright?” Greef Karga said, concernedly. 

“Hatu!” Grogu added as he Force-leapt out of Din’s arms and onto his lap.

“I’m fine, buddy,” Din said to reassure his son, his deep voice gruff from the exertion of his skating experience.

“Thank you for inviting us to skate, High Magistrate,” You said to Greef Karga, appreciatively. “I think some of us enjoyed it more than others,” You paused and nodded to Din. “Have a great Life Day.”

“You’re welcome, I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Greef replied. “I hope Mando isn’t hurt too badly and the two of you have a wonderful time tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Greef,” Din nodded as he stood to his feet on shaky legs and shook hands with the High Magistrate once again.

Then, it was time for the two of you to gingerly climb the frost-covered hill and make your way back to the cabin so that Din could spend a relaxing evening recovering from his tumble ahead of the big day tomorrow. Din wrapped his arm around your shoulders and the two of you shuffled slowly up the hill. You smirked and shook your head. 

Din had been so excited by the frost but it seemed that both he and his son had come off worse for wear after their escapades on the ice. The weather that had been such a remarkable sight, that you had joked had been a miracle, had been nothing of the sort for Din and Grogu. You sighed and held Din’s hand, that was hanging limply just by your shoulder, as the two of you made it back to your cabin.

You couldn’t wait to get home and get warm and comfortable, so your favourite Mandalorians could recover from their less-than pleasant experiences on the ice.

[preciadosbass]

3/8/24

woke up at 10 to my dad shaking me, he seemed in so much more of a better mood than the past few days, which is good. i told him about the frank, mikey and gerard sightings [even though i’d already told him about gerards] and we joked for a bit. i don’t really remember what about but it made me feel good. i had my breakfast while showing him a few tiktok’s related to bands i like and stuff. not to mention i obviously cuddled boris the second i saw him. also, saw the RAY TORO PHOTO AAA HES ALIVE

after fussing boris some more i went back to sleep at 11:50 because i felt like my eyes were forcefully being pryed open.. took a while to actually get to sleep because of how hot it is. i eventually did and woke up 2ish. my mum and sister had already left to go out as my sister found out one of her online friends she games with lives close to us. i watched my dad play roblox again and he kept on blaming me whenever he died in natural disasters lmaoo — he played two more games before we went out for a walk to pick blackberries at around 4.

most of the ones i picked i didn’t end up keeping because i’m very particular and i cant eat them if they’re the slightest bit squishy/if the separate berry things that make them up are too big. its really weird. anyway, we’re both terrible at making conversation so we just tended to point out things around us, if that makes sense. like, ‘those ones don’t look ripe’. we were out for 30/40 minutes and when i got back home i cuddled boris. he seems off today, like the weather isn’t too bad and he hasn’t gone out from my knowledge, and he doesn’t seem content when i stroke him. i’m worried about him.

i continued watching a gerard video id started watching yesterday and went out to see boris. my parents were in the kitchen at the same time and i mentioned him seeming off but they said he went outside when i had my nap so that’s reassuring. i didn’t stay out there for long because he wanted to come back in. when i did come in i watched my dad play natural disaster again and had something to eat because just moving my head was making my vision cut out. afterwards i checked on boris and scrolled on mcrblr.

i did ask my mum if we could go on a walk but she said no so i’m still really anxious as i won’t be able to burn off what i’ve eaten. exercising at home just dosent cut it for me. i always get caught and become unmotivated so fast. it’s understandable that she did refuse though, she barely ever does, and she’s been up someone else house all day feeling awkward. i also asked quite late considering how fast it gets dark.

i carried on doing my own thing [looking at various band related posts] up until about 9, nearly ten, when i went upstairs to talk to my dad while waiting for my sister to get to sleep so i could ask the questions about boris. my mum said yesterday that maybe i should include my sister in my routine and ask her a couple questions, so after dad watched me play natural disaster for a while as we waited, i went into her room as i knew she was still awake and did exactly that. she’s almost always really understanding about the whole compulsion thing, although i knows she dosent actually get it because i dont myself, and it’s my issue.

i eventually asked my parents the questions which took longer than i’d anticipated because of how different i think boris has been acting today. cutting the questions down and making them easier to go through makes my compulsions so much worse and sends me into utter panic but i tried my best not to drag it on, although i did. i just love boris so much. after that i went downstairs, had some icy water, brushed my teeth and said goodnight to boris. i brought his food to him so i could make sure he’s eaten and told him in advance about me being out practically the whole day tomorrow.

i hate being away from him, it makes me feel so guilty. plus, being with him just makes me feel so comforted, and hopefully it does the same for him too. i think it might do because for example, our dog is very noisy and he [boris] seems to be calmer when the dog barks if someone’s stroking him. which is another reason why i don’t like being away, i don’t like him being scared, or for him to be feeling anything bad in general. he knows he’s the boss of the dog though, which is good because of their size difference. i went to sleep early at 1:36 because i have to wake up somewhat early in the morning. i feel bad about barely doing anything at all today, but at least ill be productive tomorrow.

have a good day/night -_<

[rhysiana]

Fics I Didn't Write: Nieyao MMA AU

When I was looking through my document of beginnings that didn't turn into anything long enough for their own separate document yesterday, I also found this one!

Basic premise:

Meng Yao as a medical massage therapist (his mother had worked in a much different part of the massage industry, but he's damned if he's going to let everything she taught him go to waste)

Nie Mingjue as an MMA fighter who is probably about to retire (which is fine because their financial situation is much more stable now than it was when he started and he can fall back on running the family martial arts studio the way he wanted to from the beginning)

This fic 100% started because I wanted an excuse for NMJ to go on a rant about how incredibly stupid it is that the MMA world so fetishizes (Brazilian) jiu jitsu "lineage" and how it's increasingly a lie to even call it mixed martial arts anymore, because if you come from a background outside the approximately four styles a white American man has ever heard of, interviewers act like you are extremely exotic and also probably unqualified. I didn't get to that part, but I have played it out a few times in my mind. It's very satisfying. Both Meng Yao and I found it very attractive.

Opening scene:

Meng Yao set his salad out on the small table in the break room and pulled up the file for his next patient on his tablet. The Chinese name was promising, but then he scrolled down and saw “MMA fighter” listed under profession and sighed internally. Meng Yao was good at his job and he knew it, but he also knew what he looked like, and it always made him seethe when some of their more… stereotypically masculine sports medicine referrals asked for a different therapist before he even got started. Well, at least this Nie Mingjue was a referral from Wen Qing. He’d hope for the best.

~*~*~

Sure enough, as soon as Meng Yao introduced himself, he caught the guy’s skeptical once-over. He served up his most polite customer service smile and gestured him into the treatment room, privately vowing to wreck him one muscle group at a time in the most professional and therapeutic way possible.

Resolutely, he turned his attention to patient evaluation. Recovering from ligament repair surgery on his left shoulder, the file said, and he could see it in the way Nie Mingjue still held that arm too still, like he’d gotten used to it being in a brace. The shoulder rode a bit higher on that side as well. His mind started building his treatment plan before Nie Mingjue even turned around to face him again, hovering uncertainly next to the table.

“Should I…” he started, gesturing vaguely at his clothes.

Meng Yao allowed himself a very small smile and shook his head. “I’d like to evaluate you moving naturally for the moment, and for you to tell me your goals for treatment.” He ruthlessly quashed his desire to laugh as the enormous man who could clearly break him like a twig visibly relaxed. “Walk to that wall for me and then back.”

“Oh, sure.”

Meng Yao watched his back as he walked, the movements of the muscles under his shirt powerful but uneven, very much those of a person used to moving confidently and coming up against an unexpected obstacle again and again. Meng Yao thought he must actually be rather elegant when he was well, albeit in a rather large way, and felt unexpected sympathy. He certainly knew the frustration of a lingering injury in a body that had previously been trained into painstaking obedience.

“How did it happen?” he asked as Nie Mingjue reached the far wall and turned back.

“Dislocation during an arm bar.”

Meng Yao frowned, eyes trained on Nie Mingjue’s shoulders.

“It’s a move where—”

“I know what an arm bar is, thank you,” Meng Yao said, more tartly than he intended. Perhaps he should have had more caffeine with his lunch. When he glanced up, though, Nie Mingjue was looking at him with a pleased sort of surprise. He mentally shook himself and went on briskly, “I’m just not used to seeing this injury in someone with so much muscle mass in their shoulders.”

“Oh.” Nie Mingjue shrugged, still mostly with just his right side. “The orthopedist said it’s because I’m too tall. If your limbs are long, there’s too much room for torque. Leverage, you know.”

Meng Yao nodded. “I see. May I touch you?”

Nie Mingjue offered a wry smile. “Not much point in being here if you don’t, is there?”

Meng Yao later, looking up the fight where the dislocation happened for entirely professional reasons and then ending up in a YT spiral: "I refuse to let this awaken anything in me." (Liar)

Said video spiral is also when he finds videos of NHS doing fan forms, because I wasn't going to let that opportunity pass, I assure you.

[the-banana-0verlord]

Midnight teatime

@xen-blank inspired me so i wrote this ehehe

It was a starfull and slumberless night. Lilian, the Ramshackle prefect, had not been able to go back to sleep after recieving an ominous vision. The visions were a norm; Lilian was used to them. The insomnia, on the other hand, was not. She was always so exhausted from the previous day that even though the thoughts were racing through her head, she would fall back into dreamland.

But not tonight. No, tonight she was wide awake. Seeing there was nothing to be done about it, Lilian decided to at least do something to occupy herself. If sleep doesn't come, she'll make sure boredom won't come either.

She shivered as her bare feet touched the cold wood floor. The heating system must've broken again. Lilian cringed as she strolled over to where her slippers were, and carefuly put them on. She also covered herself and her yellow-striped pyjamas(who were, might I add, way too big for her) with her school uniform jacket to keep herself warm. She would've rather have a coat, but she didn't have the money to buy one at the moment, even if it was way past january already.

Lilian slowly made her way across the corridors of the Ramshackle, careful not to make any sound that could maker her wake her little furry friend Grim up. The dorm was old, very old, so it was prone to squeaking.

She came across the kitchen, and began making herself some tea. Just yesterday, Ruggie had shown her the best wild plants to make a drink with. She often did such activities with her beastman friend, since they shared the fact that they were poor.

Once the tea done, she settled on the lounge couch. Lilian also covered herself with a nearby blanket to add a layer of warmth. She stayed like this a few minutes, occasionally looking at the stars.

The fifth time she turned her head to look at the sparkling white dots, she saw a burst of green fireflies come from just down the street. After her months at the dorm, she had came to learn that the fireflies announced the arrival of her dear friend. Without even bothering to change into her boots, Lilian rushed outside.

"Hornton!" She cried out gleefully at the horned silhouette not too far.

"Greetings, Child of a man, the horned man said. What brings you here so late? I wouldn't want you loosing sleep"

Hornton, or should I say Malleus, looked with concerned at her eyebags, then at her shivering form. She had gone out in such a hurry she had lost her jacket.

"And with such clothing. Do you not feel the cold?

-O-oh, it's alright, I dont mind, Lilian answered, trying to stop her teeth from hitting each other.

-Nonsense."

With a movement of the hand, Malleus conjured a yellow coat and white boots on the small girl, who immediately felt warmer.

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that.

-Well, I couldn't let a friend freeze to death, could I? Humans are such fragile creaturers."

Lilian chuckled at the last comment. She had grown used to her friend's peculiar sayings.

"Do you want to come in? She offered. I made some tea for myself, but I can also prepare some for you too.

- I wouldn't deny such a heartfelt offer. Do lead the way."

In a natural way, Lilian grabbed Malleus's hand, oblivious to the effect the gesture had on the dragon fae. His heart was beating in his chest at the beat of the steps taken.

Inside the Ramshackle, he watched Lilian running around to prepare the drink. He had wanted to help her, but she insisted that he was her guest and that he should relax. So, he sat on the couch and waited.

Few minutes later, Lilian went to sit beside him, warm tea in hand. They took sips in silence. Compared to other silences Lilian and Malleus were confronted, it was a comfortable one. It always felt good when they hanged out.

At times like this, Malleus felt guilty he was lying about his identity to her. To her, he was just Hornton, her dear friend that sometimes went to see her at night, when he was actually Malleus Draconia, prince of Briar Valley. He didn't want to ruin that, but he hated lying, though it was technically just hiding things(which was not any better).

"Child of a man, I.." He began, turning to face the girl, only to see her with closed eyes. During the silence, she had fallen alseep. Malleus sighed, before slightly smiling and removing her cup from her hands to keep it from spilling. He got up, wary not to wake her, and layed her down on the couch. Carefully, he pressed his lips on her forehead, as if he was scared to break her.

"Good night, Child of a man, and sweet dreams."

At that, he left the Ramshackle in a cloud of green fireflies.

[angelhummel]

okay so in honor of pride month, i have something i wanna get off my chest for real. sorry if this is super long

I have a tendency to go outside of tumblr spaces when looking at glee content — something i frequently regret. but in my time in those spaces, i often the most delusional take ever. it is basically, “kurt was always kinda pushy towards finn. so did he actually DESERVE to be called a slur??? 🤔🤔🤔 let’s discuss.” this shit boils my blood to no end and while it’s obvious why, i feel the incessant need to defend my boy kurt at all costs.

for one, he wasn’t any more pushy than any other character in the show. i mean for god’s sake, rachel quite literally THREW herself at finn as early as the first episode and i guess that’s fine??? what kurt did was virtually no different bc all the characters do weird, out of pocket shit throughout the show. it really only bothered finn bc kurt is a boy and finn is OVERLY bothered by the prospect of a boy having a crush on him. (more specifically that its kurt — he just simply dislikes kurt being attracted potentially straight guys. thats why he took so much issue to kurt singing with sam. it’s always been about his personal issues with kurt)

moving on to the actual scene in question, so much of what flop accused kurt of was grossly unfair to him. like he says something along the lines of “im scared to even take a shower when youre around,” implying that kurt is some ‘predatory gay’. which is ironic, bc we learn from kurt himself that he never showered after gym JUST to avoid be labelled as something like that. at no point did kurt’s advances move towards remotely ANYTHING sexual in nature, finn just instead assumed that of him

finally, i do believe that flop WANTED to call kurt a slur. he knew that kurt wouldnt call him out for it and you can tell from his tone that that had been building up inside of him for awhile. he wanted something that would push kurt away/scare him. he just went for the cruelest method possible in the moment.

so all this was to basically say that flop hudson sucks and that kurt did not deserve any of the shit that he endured. he was pretty much taught by his peers that it is inappropriate and unacceptable for him to have the same wants and desires that literally any teenager would have simply bc he was gay.

thank you for tuning into my rant. this has been stewing for awhile lmao

lmao yesterday i saw a gifset where cory as finn was doing some good fun acting and i stared at him for like a minute going "if i focus on the cory of it all, can i trick myself into liking finn even a little bit?"

the answer was already no, but if it hadn't been, this ask wouldve set me straight. thank you <3

i've definitely talked about that before tho bc omg. finn has the nerve to call anyone else pushy. i know its not like it'd happened in the show already but. this is the boy setting up a whole kissing booth to manipulate quinn into kissing him aksljfsdlk. or the way he got drunk at the wedding reception in s4 and was hounding rachel. that literally gives me the heebie jeebies lmao sorry to be dramatic about it but i hate it

and god yeah it just breaks my heart bc we know that kurt is always walking on eggshells around these people anyway. and literally 2x04 has become one of my least favorite episodes bc of how hard it is to watch as a kurt stan lmao. sorry it has like two iconic songs but finchel are so fucking manipulative and awful and i've had several rants about this episode before aljsfdlks but basically boils down to them literally making kurt feel like he's committing a crime by asking sam to sing a duet with him and isolating him to an unhealthy degree

and then wanna act all :O four eps later when kurt is like "im getting tf out of here to go to school with people who are nice to me" aslkfdslfjsd

anyway literally just search "2x04 anti finn" on my blog and you will find more posts than you would ever care to read lmao

[donnerpartyofone]

Yesterday morning I woke up early to go to the Corpus Christi event in the park where several local parishes were converging for an outdoor mass. The point of the celebration was to affirm the literality of transubstantiation, since communion has started slipping into the realm of symbolism in a lot of people's minds and the Vatican doesn't like that. I really enjoy the pageantry of Catholicism and I will do anything for a look at the monstrance, the extremely fascinating luxury container for the holy wafer. It looks like something out of DAGON and in fact I wouldn't be surprised if that story were meant to refer to Catholicism in some way, I'm sure Lovecraft hated Catholics as much as he hated everybody else.

At one point the homilist addressed the accusation that eucharistic adoration is a form of idolatry, an impression he corrected by reminding everyone that the eucharist is not a fetish object but the literal body of Christ: "We don't worship a piece of bread!" (congregation laughs appreciatively) But I thought, why not? Even though I'm an outsider who can't take communion, I find it easy to think about its meaning in a general way; like if you believe that there is some sort of generative superlayer to reality, which I'm learning that I kind of do, and if you think everything natural manifests from that, then it's not so hard to think that food is divine. And I mean food is divine, it's what perpetuates life. We SHOULD be treating food with reverence and respect, whether you believe in a spiritual lifeforce or only a chemical one. I'm often surprised that Christians are not hardcore ecologists by nature, if you believe that everything comes from God for humanity to steward, you should have a powerful feeling for your environment--but for whatever reason this is not a standard part of the package. After the park part we processed down the street, which had been closed off for the occasion, to St. Mary Star of the Sea (even more Dagonesque!), and this part was totally amazing. The church was packed to the gills with people from all different parishes and the organist was playing some absolutely demonic music that I had never heard the likes of. When the people sang, the whole place vibrated powerfully, and in a moment of silence an old italian lady started praying at the top of her lungs, startling everyone. It was an exciting thing to get caught up in.

After that my husband and I went to a bar around the corner to stalk the building owner, who is renting a couple of apartments on the upper floors. Unfortunately he wasn't around but we got sucked into a conversation with a local who didn't look like he would want anything to do with the likes of us, a gruff older Brooklynite who engaged us about our weird shared neighborhood for much longer than I meant to stay. I tried to take it as a good sign, like maybe we could put our "vibes" on the place by integrating with the regulars, at the same time that our associates have been recommending us to the owner as good future tenants. It would be amazing if we got in there, we could move almost our whole apartment by hand.

Then it was time to go to the film festival. The screenings I saw the day before were in a theater that is hip but not particularly luxe, which made me feel pretty relaxed about what I was going to have to do--but these screenings were in a VERY nice theater, the lines were huge and everyone was dressed to the nines, and I started to freak out a little bit. The staff rushed me through my instructions with such intensity, I was just praying I actually understood it all. One of the actors on my panel is this cult film goddess who is a terrific person in addition to being shockingly beautiful, and she showed up in this like fairy tale dress that accentuated her otherworldliness to absolutely ridiculous heights. She introduced herself to me and I just started blathering; I'm not attracted to women but she's so beautiful it's insane, it almost qualifies as a deformity. Looking into her face is just confusing. Many other people there were startlingly beautiful. The director of the movie I was there for is someone I had seen on screen many times, and I always perceived him to be kind of an ordinary nerd, but in person he was enormously charismatic and sharply dressed and groomed and he had fully transformed into fucking George Clooney or something, I almost wasn't sure I had the right guy.

I also saw two other actresses-of-a-certain-age who looked so much better standing in front of me than they did in the movies I'd just seen them in, I honestly felt like I was tripping on acid. One of them was Alicia Silverstone, who sat in front of me at a different screening; she wore a highly reflective plastic tube dress and stiletto heels that were almost entirely transparent, and she had to be helped around by her entourage. The aforementioned actress I would be interviewing was also having a lot of trouble locomoting in her amazing Glenda the Good Witch getup, she too needed to be attended by aides. It occurred to me that maybe when your career is (in part) being extremely glamorous, you have to do these things that cripple you, you have to be strapped into these hobbling appliances and carried around to formal appearances. There is something fascinatingly morbid about this.

My panel was really great. I knew I was killing it. All my jokes landed with the audience and I got the film cast and crew in a really good place right away. It was late on the Sunday, the last screening of the festival, and everyone on and off the stage was exhausted until I wound them all up, which I consider a significant personal achievement. Everyone thanked me in this moving way and some stranger on the street told me I did a good job. I was aware that this was my introduction to quite a number of people, including several recognizably established folks who have certainly been vaguely aware of who I am and what I do, but now they've all seen me at full power and I could tell they'll remember it.

When photos of the event started turning up, that was NOT so thrilling. I was a complete mess and I didn't even know it until it was too late. It's probably GOOD that I didn't realize it earlier, when I couldn't have done anything about it. I found myself looking in the mirror at home, where things seem not so bad somehow, and trying to match what I saw there to the person that everyone's camera saw. It was pretty shocking, but I have to say that it wasn't a complete downer. I had the feeling that I can see what I need to do, and that is positive in and of itself. I might not have even realized the degree to which I need to take better care of myself if this hadn't happened, at least not for a while. Right now everything needs to change. My house needs to change, my state of employment needs to change, my body needs to change. If I can treat these things like hobbies, like projects I am authoring, rather than like obligations or fuckups I need to fix, then my chances of success are strong.