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alltheirdamn · 1 month

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Killing Me Softly | (Joel Miller x teacher!f!reader)

Chap. 1 : Your Name

Series Summary: You've nursed a broken heart for two years. ‘Love’ felt like a foreign term, but maybe it wasn’t so far out of reach. Chap. 1 Summary: When you catch the eye of your students' dad at a school dance, he starts showing up everywhere. Rating: 18+ MDNI (for the future smut) Word Count: 6.8k Warnings: pre-outbreak AU, age gap (joel is 36 reader is 27), no smut (yet), sexual tension, flirting, pining, mentions of alcohol, language, angst, reader's last name is 'Smith' for no other purpose than the fact she is a teacher A/N: This will definitely be a slow-burn fic, so please hang tight!! Tropes include: second chance at love, strangers to lovers, secret relationship, etc. I'm actually so excited about this one, so I hope you guys stick around to see where it goes :')

Masterlist

PROLOGUE

You never thought you’d be the girl sitting at the steps of an abandoned altar with your wedding dress covered in mud from the rain.

Just minutes before you were supposed to take your first steps down the aisle, your fiancé fled. You watched the blur of his suit in the distance as he ran through the rain and left your family and friends in shock. Motionless at the back of the rows of chairs, you dropped your bouquet and stood in heartbreaking silence as the cords of the violins faded into the air. Your parents and siblings swarmed around you, trying to break the paralysis that kept your eyes locked on the vacant spot under the archway and steps of what would have been the place you said your vows. You still had them in your hand; the words scribbled neatly on a folded paper torn from your journal. You’d never get the chance to say those words aloud; he never would have deserved them, anyway.

The ring sat heavily on your finger now as you watched it glisten under the pelting rain. Your dress clung to your body in layers of silk and lace, a taunting reminder of who you had become for a man unworthy of your love and devotion.

Five years together, all stripped away in a matter of minutes.

You’d never love again.

“Everyone’s gotta do it,” Maria sighed as she stood at the student drop-off with you.

By ‘it,’ she meant chaperoning the father-daughter dance later in the week, which you seriously wanted no part of. You had been through enough school dances in your three years working at the middle school, and you were tired of watching pre-teens grinding on each other to god-awful music. You had better things to do with your Friday nights, like sitting on the couch with a pint of ice cream and a horror movie playing in the background—you’d sworn off rom-coms long ago.

“Yeah, I know,” you grumbled, waving another line of kids across the road.

You watched as they trudged across the crosswalk with their backpacks slung over their shoulders, eyes bright and broad at the realization school was over for the day. If only they were that chipper in class, maybe you’d have an easier time teaching them how to write three-point essays.

Maria chirped goodbye to each one as they passed, her cheeks pinched with a fake smile only you could recognize. You knew she loved the kids but loved the final school bell even more. You, on the other hand, hated it. The end of school was just another reminder that you’d go back to an empty home and an empty life.

Two years had passed since Bennett ran from your wedding ceremony—two years without closure or an answer. By the time you had pieced yourself together and returned home from the would-have-been ceremony, his things were gone, and the house filled with the ghost of his presence. Your in-laws went radio silent, avoiding all calls and emails from you until they eventually moved out of state and changed numbers. The hours leading up to the ceremony would forever be a mystery as to why he left, and you would spend the rest of your life fighting for an answer as to why you weren’t good enough to love.

Dragging you from your thoughts, Maria bumped you with her hip, giving you a concerned look. You shook away the memories and returned her stare with a fake smile you had mastered over the last two years. You couldn’t even remember the last time you had genuinely smiled or laughed without feeling the force of a facade washing over you. Concealing the pain of it all made it easier; maybe if you believed you were okay, you’d start feeling okay. But you never did. Not even the countless hours of therapy had helped reconcile the person you once were. Bennett had left and taken every vulnerable part of you with him, leaving nothing but a raw and broken shell in his wake.

“You’re doing it again,” Maria scolded.

“Doing what?” You asked, already aware of the answer.

“Wallowing. You really should get back out there again.”

You focused on the next grouping of kids setting out to cross the street, your hand instinctively coming up to hold the passing cars at a standstill. You plastered on a fake smile as they waved goodbye to you, and you glanced back at Maria once they finally stepped foot on the next sidewalk.

“I’m not interested,” you stated. “I’m fine on my own.”

Her eyebrow lifted as if challenging your blasé response. Your answer always remained the same, yet Maria relentlessly attempted to change your mind.

“You’ve got to at least try. What if there’s already someone out there just waiting for you?”

“Maria, I promise no one is waiting for me.”

“I wish you’d just give it a shot. You deserve to be happy.”

You had heard that phrase often over the last couple of years; a pitying tone always accompanied the words. People loved to soothe you with words that held no weight or purpose. You learned to nod along to their sympathies and turn a deaf ear to their suggestions of what you deserved.

The final round of kids made their way toward the line of parents waiting in their cars, and you followed Maria back to your classrooms to clean up before leaving for the day. Her words stuck with you on the quiet drive home; the radio wasn’t enough to drown out that taunting voice in your head reminding you that you’d never be enough.

Your single-story house was nestled into an older neighborhood of Austin, only a handful of miles from the middle school. You’d argue that the house was the best thing to come out of the failed engagement; its personality stood firm against the other houses with a vibrant shade of blue painted over its wooden panels and wrap-around porch. You spent the last few months sprucing up the front yard, planting rose bushes and trees to liven up the house. It hadn’t fixed all your problems but pacified them temporarily as you dirtied your hands in the soil.

It became second nature to shut your garage immediately after putting your car in park. You didn’t want the typical neighborly interactions or shallow conversations. You were content with living between closed doors and drawn curtains. The less of an interaction with the world, the better.

Dropping your purse and work bag on the kitchen counter, you sunk onto a barstool, staring blankly at the fridge and knowing all too well there was hardly anything inside it. You’d settle for another frozen meal and glass of wine, a typical meal these days to satisfy a hunger you no longer had. Despite the colorful kitchen cabinets, the mustard yellow couch in the living room, and the obscure wallpaper…your life was dull. How could one person suck out all the energy from another human being? How could pain last this long?

You stabbed a fork into the TV dinner meal before you and wondered if you’d ever feel happy again.

You managed to survive another week of teaching, only to now be standing in the shadows of the school gymnasium, nursing an overly sweet fruit punch. The PTA had done a decent job of turning the space into a somewhat realistic dance floor: string lights hung corner to corner of the ceiling, a DJ booth in the center of the basketball court, and colorful balloons circled the air. You spotted a few of your students dancing with their fathers, their eyes squeezed shut from their too-wide smiles and bubbling laughter. A foreign ache in your chest reminded you how you would have had a father-daughter dance at your wedding. Your father even took it upon himself to brush up on dance lessons to sway you across the floor to some overly emotional song. As corny as it was, you had been looking forward to that moment throughout your engagement.

“Look who got all dolled up!” Maria hollered as she strolled over, fruit punch in hand.

“I would hardly call this dolled up,” you said, tugging at the hem of your dress.

You only had a handful of dresses in your closet, this particular one being a flowy black cocktail dress with a halter top and ruffled skirt. It was barely passing the school dress code, so you decided to pair it with a low kitten heel to try and deter the admin’s scrutiny. You did, however, spend a little more time than usual on your makeup and hair, hoping if you looked pretty, then maybe you’d feel it, too.

“You’re too hard on yourself,” Maria sighed.

“You look great,” you said, sidestepping her lecture.

Maria had chosen a plum floor-length maxi dress decorated with embroidered blue flowers. Her curly hair was pinned in a bun, and several sparkly barrettes were clipped to the side. Her makeup was no different from usual: a rosy red lip and simple mascara with a hint of blush on her cheeks.

“Really, Maria. You do.”

“Well, thank you,” she blushed, looking back toward the room full of bodies dancing.

Your eyes followed hers, settling on the duos as they swayed to a slow song. Every father was dressed up in some sort of button-up or the occasional suit except for one—the same one who happened to be twirling around your student, Sarah Miller. You nudged Maria, pointing secretly at them with a questioning glance.

“Is that her dad?” You asked.

He wore a basic cotton T-shirt, jeans, and dirty work boots. There was barely any thought behind his appearance as if he had rolled up to the school right after a long shift at work, forgoing any effort or care. Some part of you hated him for it. The least he could do was get dressed up for a silly school dance, especially when Sarah wore a lavender tulle dress that complimented her olive skin tone.

“Yup,” Maria elongated the word. “That’s Joel Miller.”

“Sure looks like he doesn’t care to be here,” you grumbled.

Maria barked a laugh, looking at you through narrowed eyes.

“As opposed to you?” She questioned. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t you bitching about this dance all week long?”

“Well, at least I put some effort into my looks tonight,” you defended.

You glanced back at Sarah, seeing her father twirl her one last time. You caught a glimpse of his face for the first time in the flow of his movements. Messy dark curls framed his head, curling in every which way as if he’d run his hand through them a million times. Even from a distance, you could see the patchy beard and short mustache covering the lower half of his face, alongside the several creases around his eyes as he smiled. And his eyes… They looked like big brown saucers under the lights, reflecting a genuine softness as he watched his daughter dance.

And then they snapped up to meet your gaze through the crowd as if you had silently called out to him. Everything slowed around you for a moment as he studied you from afar, his eyes drifting down your body and back up with a hint of a smile teasing his lips. A rush of heat crawled up your neck, and you broke the eye contact between you. Maria cleared her throat beside you, tearing you away from the man holding your sincere interest.

“What was that?” Maria chirped.

You shook your head, glancing between her curious face and the dancefloor. Joel had since moved on, steering Sarah toward the refreshment table. He never once looked back at you, which left you unexplainably disappointed. For a moment in time, someone looked at you and saw you.

“I–I don’t know,” you stuttered. “Probably nothing.”

“It looked like something.”

You turned to face Maria, a scowl twisting up your lips entirely. You were tired of her pushing nonexistent things on you, and that’s what this was— nonexistent. Whatever moment between you and Joel had gone as quickly as it came. You were done with the night and standing among so many cheerful people. You couldn’t stand it any longer.

“I think I’m going to take off,” you announced, placing your half-drunk fruit punch on the table behind you.

Maria was defeated, knowing you'd still leave no matter what she said. Stalking out of the gymnasium, you grabbed your purse from the teacher's booth and booked it to your car with your heels in your hands. You carefully walked along the sidewalk toward your car, catching a conversation drifting through the wind between the other vehicles.

“...Dad, you promised we’d watch movies tomorrow!”

“I know, sweetheart, but Uncle Tommy needs help on the job sight.”

You hid between two cars, listening to their voices bounce back and forth. It wasn’t until you peeked out to see the two figures that you realized it was Sarah and her father, Joel. For fucks sake. You tiptoed around the car's bumper beside you, attempting to make a getaway before either of them saw you. You must have done a terrible job because Sarah called your name as you edged closer to your car.

“Miss Smith!”

“Shit,” you muttered to yourself.

With your purse in one hand and heels in the other, you turned toward them with your rehearsed fake smile. Sarah was standing beside her dad—Joel—a small smile shining up at you. You knew her usual upbeat personality in class, always laughing and joking with other kids. She was an A+ student, too, and her work showcased her smartness. But in her father's shadow, a distinct sadness clouded her eyes.

“Hello, Sarah! How did you like the dance?” You asked.

“It was really fun,” she grinned, forcing her smile wider. You saw through it.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Joel cleared his throat, extending a large hand toward you. You blinked at his open palm, afraid of making that same startling eye contact as you had in the gymnasium. Shuffling your purse into your other hand, you took his into yours, focusing on the warmth of his grip crawling up your skin. His fingers dwarfed your own, tightening around your hand until you were forced to look up finally.

“S’nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Smith,” he said, his thick Southern accent shining through.

“Miss Smith,” you corrected. It was hard to hide the bitterness in the statement.

“Miss Smith,” he echoed. “I’m Joel, Sarah’s dad.”

His eyes still hadn’t left yours, their piercing stare making you shiver despite the September humidity. You pulled your hand away, overly aware of how his fingers lingered a moment too long. Shifting your weight from one leg to another, you were starting to feel the asphalt dig into the soles of your feet.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Miller,” you replied.

“Joel,” he insisted.

You nodded politely, giving him another faltering smile. Hauling your purse over your shoulder, you said a soft goodbye to them and bolted to your car. In the confines of the driver's seat, you rested your head against the wheel, inhaling deeply as you steadied the nerves inside your body. Why did such a simple interaction light up your body with emotions you had spent so long suppressing? And why did Joel’s smile haunt you even when your eyes were shut?

Forcing your keys into the ignition, you tore out of the school parking lot and back to the confines of your tiny blue home.

The weekends were usually filled with nothing more than grading papers and lesson planning. The coffee beside you on the kitchen counter had gone cold hours ago as the morning sunlight faded into the afternoon. Through tired eyes, you glanced up at the oven clock: 2 pm. You needed a break from reading through piles of essays, and your fridge desperately required replenishing. Grabbing your keys off the counter, you forfeited any plans of changing out of your sweat set and headed to the supermarket.

The packed parking lot and crowded store were daunting reminders of why you typically decided to leave your fridge vacant. But as you pushed your shopping cart down each aisle, you had no choice but to comply with your basic human needs and stock up on miscellaneous food you would want throughout the week. Rounding down the next aisle, your eyes caught on a tall figure standing in front of the bakery section, his face scrutinizing every cake in the display case. Shit.

You tried—and failed—to maneuver your way into the next aisle, somehow crashing into an older woman’s cart, forcing her carton of eggs to fall and smash onto the linoleum floor.

“Dammit,” you hissed, crouching down to try and help them clean up the shattered eggshells.

“S’alright, sweetheart,” she assured. “I’ll just holler for a worker to come clean it up.”

“No, I—I can help,” you stammered, fingers still running over the broken yolks spreading across the floor.

“Miss Smith?” You heard a deep voice above you.

Your head snapped up to see Joel standing above you; his forehead creased with concern. The woman you had crashed into was already down the next aisle looking for a store employee, leaving you alone with a mess you had caused. Joel crouched beside you, his hands folding over yours to slow your frantic cleaning.

“It’s alright, I got it!” You snapped, pulling your hands back.

“Just tryna’ help,” he said. “That’s all.”

“It’s my fault. I can fix it.”

You had said those words to yourself many times before, and never once did they prove true.

“Someone will come and clean this up; you ain’t gotta do all that,” Joel said softly. “C’mon.”

He offered a hand, which you took reluctantly, leaving you both standing awkwardly in front of the mess. You shifted your gaze downward, too afraid to meet those deep brown eyes that had plagued you the night before.

“Hey,” Joel said in a soft tone. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” you mumbled.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

You huffed a sigh, gripping the handles of your cart to start moving. Today was going downhill rapidly, and you only wanted to go home and hole yourself away…like you always did.

“I, uh, was tryna’ pick out a birthday cake,” he rambled. “S’my birthday tomorrow, and Sarah wants to make sure I have a cake, ya’know? Any ideas on what she might like? I’m not sure if y’all ever have parties at school with sweets and all that.”

Your eyes snapped to his, a scowl forming on your face. Sarah’s dad was asking you what she liked? He was proving to be worse and worse by the second. But you were her teacher and needed to hold your tongue.

“I’m sure she’ll enjoy anything,” you said, a tight smile forming. “Happy birthday, Mr. Miller.”

His eyebrows furrowed together, clearly seeing through the mask you put on. It was infuriating how easily he had wove his way through your bloodstream, even in just twenty-four hours.

“Joel,” he insisted. “You don’t need to do all that formal stuff.”

“I kind of do,” you laughed. “You’re my students’ father; that’s how I’m supposed to address you.”

“S’all I’m sayin’ is that you’re free to call me Joel. No harm in it.”

There was a lot of harm in it.

You didn’t know what else to say, so you dipped your head to say goodbye and pushed your cart past him. You weren’t being the kindest nor the most respectful person, but your anger was at a low simmer. Any longer around him, and you might explode. You weren’t used to someone getting under your skin like he was. And the worst part was that he wasn’t even trying. You couldn’t understand why you reacted so strongly.

“Miss Smith!” Joel called, catching up as you moved down the next aisle.

You inhaled and stopped walking, mustering another fake smile to appease him. He gripped the side of your cart with a large hand, a simple gesture to keep you firmly in place. Clearly, he decided when the conversation was over.

“Yes, Mr. Miller?”

“Did I do somethin’ to upset you? ‘Cause I swear, I didn’t mean anything inappropriate by what I said back there.

“No, no, you’re fine,” you lied. “Just having a bad day, that's all.” That wasn’t a lie.

Joel ran a hand over his neck, studying you quietly for a moment. Something about the atmosphere around him was intoxicating and so fucking dangerous.

“Well, I’m sorry ‘bout that. Guess I was just tryna’ make small talk, and clearly, I ain’t doin’ a good job.”

“It’s fine—no need for apologies. I hope the cake and birthday celebration go well. I’m sure Sarah will tell me all about it on Monday.”

His eyes shifted over you again, lingering on your lips, set in a firm smile. You tried your best to hide the shiver that ran up your back as he drank you in.

“Y’probably think I’m a terrible dad, huh?” He sighed.

“What?” You blinked away the thoughts swarming your head.

“I mean, I know you probably heard us arguin’ last night, and I’m out here asking her teacher what her favorite kind of cake is. You ain’t gotta be polite about it. I know I’m not doin’ the best job,” he confessed.

“Mr. Miller, I don’t think that at all. I just think maybe asking your wife would be more helpful than asking me.”

That garnered a laugh from him, a genuine and sincere laugh.

“Never had a wife to begin with. Sarah’s mom left us when she was only a year old,” he explained. “Been doin’ it all on my own.”

“Oh.” Dammit, you really were a bitch.

“Trust me, I get it. I could do a better job, bein’ a dad and all that. I’m tryin’.”

“I think you’re doing just fine,” you said. “I’m sorry I didn’t know.”

He brushed it off, replacing the sad look cresting his eyes with a lopsided grin. You wanted to hate it, but your body reacted traitorously. You felt the softness in his gaze crawl over you, slowly replacing the anger coursing through your veins with something else…something you hadn’t felt in a long time. No one had looked at you that way since—well, since Bennett. Even if Joel was only being friendly, you were drawn to the charm he exuded. Dangerous, you reminded yourself.

“Anyway,” he continued. “I won’t hold ya’ up any longer. I hope your day gets better, Miss Smith.”

“Thank you,” you replied. “And Happy birthday, again.”

Joel’s eyes settled on your lips again as you talked, and you felt your cheeks warm under his gaze. His eyes flicked back up to yours, a flash of something behind them, and you were ready to bolt. He muttered a thank you and left you standing in a vacant aisle, your hands still covered in egg yolks and your mind reeling.

It was hard to maintain your good mood once Monday rolled around. Seeing Sarah sitting in class was an unwelcome reminder of your interaction with Joel on Saturday, and you had to refrain from overstepping boundaries and asking about his birthday. She didn’t need to know you cared, even though you struggled not to care. You wondered what kind of cake he decided on, how old he turned if he blushed when she sang Happy Birthday. Every thought burned a hole in your head that you tried to patch up and forget.

The final bell rang for the day, and the kids began to pack up in a rush. You straightened out the papers lining your desk, avoiding eye contact with Sarah as she slung her backpack over her shoulders and lined up to leave. Grabbing your whistle and bottle of water, you followed them toward the front gates, taking your usual place alongside Maria—who was overly chipper for a Monday.

“Soooo,” she prodded. “How was your weekend?”

“Uneventful,” you lied, walking with her to the crosswalk.

“You really need to go out and have fun! You’re young, and you need to enjoy your 20s!” She exasperated.

“Maria, I’m 27,” you groaned. “My 20s are practically over.”

She folded her arms over her chest, leveling you with a heavy glare. Maria was in her late 40’s and clearly exuded a motherly-type attitude. You shifted your focus to the kids crossing the road, watching as they reunited with their parents.

“We go out on Wednesdays for Happy Hour! Join us this week,” she suggested.

“I don’t know,” you sighed.

“Come on!” Maria pressed. “If you hate it, I’ll never ask you to go out with us again.”

There was no point in arguing with her, so you relented and agreed to one night out. A few drinks and hours of mindless conversation could be good for you. It would be better than sitting in front of the TV with a bland meal and another glass of wine.

You managed to evade all thoughts of Joel somehow the next two days, putting all your time and energy into prepping your students for their first test of the year. Lesson planning and preparation took up your free period and late evenings, leaving you little room to think about those brown eyes and disarming smile. It was Wednesday evening, and you were knee-deep in your closet, trying to find an outfit for Happy Hour. You had changed at least five times, discarding every top and skirt onto your bedroom floor. Eventually, you gave up, settling on tight jeans, a flowy red blouse, and black flats. You left your hair in wavy curls over your shoulders and simple makeup to balance everything out.

The group took their Happy Hour rituals to a local dive bar on the outskirts of town, a row of motorcycles and trucks lining the entrance. You felt a bit out of place walking into a smoke-hazed bar, with the patron's wandering eyes crawling over you, but you quickly picked out the huddle of teachers in the corner laughing over a round of beers. They welcomed you with bright smiles and hellos, offering to buy your first drink. After about an hour and a few drinks, you felt warm and far more relaxed. Conversations about quarterly goals and admin meetings flowed over the table, each teacher complaining about something. You chimed in when necessary, keeping quiet when you had nothing to contribute. You were on your fourth beer when the girls around you started whispering low about a group of men entering the bar. You stole a peek over your shoulder, eyes settling on the last person you wanted to see.

Joel Miller.

He had on his usual simple work attire, the fabric of his cotton shirt stretched out over his broad chest. His neck was tanned, most likely from working outdoors, and his hair was just as unruly as you remembered. The man beside him, shorter but with similar features, clapped Joel on the back and steered him towards the bar. You lowered your head, taking a longer gulp of your drink to try and steady your nerves. Of all fucking places, he had to be here.

“He’s just so handsome, isn’t he?” Maria nudged you, tossing back a look towards Joel.

You shrugged, feigning disinterest. Joel was handsome, but no one needed to know how you felt. Because what you felt was very, very confusing.

“He’s my students’ father, Maria.”

She rolled her eyes, swirling the contents of her drinks before taking a sip.

“Okay, and? There’s nothing inappropriate about dating a student’s parent.”

“Yes, there is,” you snapped. “And I’m not even considering dating him.”

“But you think he’s attractive,” she stated.

You didn’t want to respond to that, knowing the warmth in your cheeks was already enough of a giveaway. If you shrunk far enough into yourself, you might go unrecognized the rest of the night.

Maria thankfully dropped the subject, returning to the conversation around the table. After another hour, the ladies started to trickle out of the bar and home for the night. You, on the other hand, still had to wait a bit longer until the alcohol phased out of your body. Which meant you were sitting alone in the same space as Joel. You could feel his eyes on your back the longer you sat there, and to your detriment, decided to steal a glance over your shoulder. Joel’s eyes raked over your body, returning your stare with a soft, welcoming smile. Shit.

You watched as he slipped off the barstool, waltzing towards you with a beer clasped in his large hand. You tried so hard not to notice his thick fingers wrapped around the bottle, and you most definitely tried not to think of what his fingers would feel like inside—

“Miss Smith,” he greeted, silencing your awful thoughts.

“Mr. Miller,” you said.

“Are all these formalities necessary in a bar?” he teased.

“A couple of drinks won’t change my mind.”

Joel slid into the seat beside you without an invitation, his arm brushing against yours as he settled into the stool. It was instinct to flinch away, afraid of the reaction his touch would cause to your body.

“What will change your mind?” he pressed, keeping a steady gaze on you.

“Nothing,” you shrugged, deciding to change the subject. “How was your birthday?”

Joel ran a hand through his hair, that stupid lopsided grin forming on his lips.

“Can’t say I love gettin’ old, but celebratin’ was sure nice.”

“And how old are you, Mr. Miller?”

“Ripe age of thirty-six, Miss Smith,” he grinned.

“What cake did you choose?” you asked, watching him take a long sip of his beer.

“Vanilla. Everyone’s gotta love vanilla, right?”

Was he… flirting with you?

You’d blame your following response on the beers coursing through your bloodstream, but truthfully, you just wanted to play along, even only for a moment.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I don’t always love vanilla, Mr. Miller.”

Joel’s eyes darkened, falling to your lips as you took another drink. It was bold and stupid of you to say that, but at this point, you didn’t care.

“What other flavors do you like?”

He leaned forward in his chair, his thigh pressing against yours. The heat of his body and the smell of smoke on his clothes was a dangerous combination for your self-restraint.

“I have a few guilty pleasure flavors,” you smirked.

Joel’s hand damn near crushed the bottle when you said those words, his entire body tensing beside you. You couldn’t care at that moment about how you spoke; the drinks started speaking for themselves. You hadn’t dared to flirt with a man since Bennett left, too afraid of what falling in love again might do to you. But, for some reason, flirting with Joel felt so simple. He was older than you, and maybe that piqued your interest, knowing he was far more mature than anyone else you had considered.

“Indulge me, Miss Smith,” he whispered.

“I think I’ll leave it a mystery,” you whispered in return. “I’ve already said too much as it is.”

“I reckon you ain’t said enough,” he countered.

Heat flared through your neck and face as he leaned in closer, his face only inches from yours. This had gone too far. You had broken any rules you had previously set in place, and now you were dancing on a fragile line between professionalism and indecency.

Glancing at the clock above the bar, you watched as the hands ticked closer to midnight. Just like in the fairytales, your time was up. Back to reality.

“It’s getting late,” you started. “I should get home.”

Joel’s demeanor shifted, and his grin faltered as he watched you rise from the barstool. He brushed his hand over your arm, barring you from walking away.

“Not real sure if you should be drivin’ home yet, Miss Smith. Y’had a few drinks tonight,” Joel protested.

“How do you know? Were you watching me?”

“Gotta make sure my daughter's teacher is safe. Who else’s gonna make sure she gets straight A’s?”

He was trying to make light of the situation, but you knew better. You knew he had been watching you since he had arrived; his attention had never been on his group of friends.

“I assure you, I’m fine,” you argued. “You go enjoy your night with your friends, Mr. Miller.”

Joel’s brows furrowed as he considered you. His hand still lingered on your arm, thick fingers flexing against your skin. You glanced between his hand and his eyes, trying to make sense of his intentions. This was far past a coincidental run-in; this was a strange desire out of reach.

“Can I drive you home at least?” He asked.

“I’m okay. Thank you, though.”

“Can I at least drive behind you to make sure you make it alright?” He offered.

You looked back toward the bar, seeing the man he walked in with staring at you with an apparent scowl.

“I don’t think that’s fair to your friend,” you said.

Joel peered around you and huffed loudly.

“That’s my brother, Tommy. S’all good, he’s probably ready to hit the road, too.”

“He doesn’t look too happy.”

“He’s fine,” Joel grumbled.

Tommy noticed you both staring at him and decided to join the mix. He walked up with a grin despite the scowl he had just worn and extended his hand to you.

“I’m Tommy. Joel’s brother.”

“Hi, I’m Sarah’s teacher.” You gave him a quick shake and tried to sidestep to leave.

“Wait!” Joel called out.

“I’m okay, Mr. Miller,” you tossed over your shoulder. “Be safe tonight.”

You made a beeline for the door, hoping to escape him before he reeled you back in. You let yourself float in his atmosphere for too long, testing the waters you knew were off-limits. There was still an alcohol-induced haze lingering in your head, but the sooner you could leave, the better. Tomorrow would come with a headache and a post-drunken clarity to put you back on the right track. You needed to steer clear of Joel before you slipped up and allowed another man inside the walls you built.

You attempted to retrieve your keys from your purse, only to fumble them out of your hands and onto the dirt ground of the parking lot.

“Fuck,” you groaned.

As you bent to pick them up, footsteps crunching on the ground grew closer. You already knew who it was.

“Miss Smith,” Joel’s voice sounded pained.

“I’m fine!” you shouted, whipping your head around to find him nearly toe-to-toe with you.

The moonlight above you illuminated his brown eyes, which darkened the longer he looked down at you. You shrunk away, letting your body hit the driver's side of your door while Joel stepped closer.

“Please. You shouldn’t be drivin’ right now. Lettin’ you leave like this wouldn’t be right of me.”

Your only focus was on his lips as he talked. The plushness of his lips enticed you, leaving you imagining how soft they’d feel pressed against yours. Your control was slipping, and the alcohol was pulsing faster in your veins.

“You’re not going to give up, are you?” You wondered aloud.

Joel looked at you like he knew the layers of the question. He knew what battle you were fighting inside and saw the fear plastered on your face.

“No,” he whispered softly.

Your eyes bounced between his eyes and his lips, trying to grasp the moment's weight. You needed to be firm and say no; your future self would thank you for it. Gripping your keys, you exhaled and turned towards your car door.

“Have a good night, Mr. Miller,” you tossed over your shoulder.

The warmth of his body pressed against your back, the smell of smoke and liquor wrapping around you and enveloping you in a cocoon of temptation. Joel’s hands reached around to grab your keys from your shaking hand, dangling them between you and the car.

“M’taking you home, Miss Smith. Ain’t gonna argue anymore,” he said as his mouth fell to the shell of your ear.

“I’m—.”

“Don’t,” he interjected. “Go to my truck.”

He had the exact tone you did when you reprimanded your students, but the deep rasp of his accent made it all the more inviting. You didn’t want to listen to his demands, but you were getting nowhere successfully. Joel sidestepped to free you of the cage he had you in, watching you intently as you sulked to his truck. It wasn’t hard to know which one it was; only a few cars were left, and the truck exuded the same masculinity as the owner.

“What about my car?” You protested, folding your arms across your body as you leaned against the truck.

“I’ll give Tommy the keys,” he said. “He’ll drive it behind us.”

You were about to ramble another slew of protests when Joel yanked the passenger side door open and tilted his head toward the interior.

“Get in.”

His tone left little room for arguing, so you did as he said without another word. Despite the anger radiating off his body, Joel shut the door softly before heading back into the bar.

You fidgeted with the seatbelt, the press of it against your chest not strong enough to stabilize the rhythm of your heartbeat. You were in his truck, meaning you’d be alone with him for the next several minutes. It was enough to force a roll of nausea through your stomach. Leaning your head against the window, you watched him reemerge from the bar with Tommy in tow. There was a clear expression of annoyance etched on Tommy’s face, all at the cost of your own stubbornness.

Joel tossed him the keys to your car before rounding the truck's hood and climbing into the driver’s seat. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, so you kept your eyes on the road as it blurred past with each passing mile.

“Where do you live?” he asked, passing through another vacant green light.

You rambled off your address, still keeping your gaze steady on the streetlights as they passed by your window. He didn’t attempt to make small talk after that, and the silence settled onto you like a heavy blanket. Your control of consciousness was slipping the longer you sat beside him, but you willed yourself awake. The streets started to become familiar, and you shifted in your seat. Taking a risk, you looked at Joel, finding him white-knuckling the wheel with his jaw clenched.

“I’m sorry,” you muttered. “I—I don’t go out and drink normally. I should have just stayed home tonight.”

“S’okay,” he said, glancing at you. “Just don’t get why you’re so stubborn about askin’ for help. First at the supermarket and now at the bar. I don’t get it.”

A rush of tears stung your eyes, and you quickly looked away, trying to blink them back before he noticed. Joel’s hand fell onto your thigh, sending a jolt of shock through your body. You wanted to shy away from it, but there was no use in fighting at this point; you were already failing miserably.

“Hey,” he prodded. “Shit, I’m sorry. Don’t cry, alright?”

You swiped away the tears running from your eyes, schooling your emotions back into a state of numbness. Your little blue house came into view, and you pointed a tired finger toward it to guide him in the right direction.

“This is me,” you sniffled.

“Big ol’ house, Miss Smith. Y’live here alone?”

“Yeah,” you exhaled. “Thanks for the ride, Mr. Miller.”

“I really wish you’d stop callin’ me that,” he sighed, parking his car at your home's fence.

“It’s all formalities.”

“Yeah, I know. I just think after tonight, we’re far past all them formalities and shit.”

Your hand lingered on the door handle as you took one last look at him. Joel’s eyes looked over you with a softness you didn’t deserve. You deserve to be happy. Maria’s words rang out in your head the longer you stared at him. ‘Happy’ was a foreign word to you now, out of reach and out of your control.

“Can I just know one thing?” He asked.

You nodded, your fingers wrapped around the door handle.

“What’s your name?”

Blame the alcohol…blame your vulnerability…but you told him.

#joel miller x reader #joel x female reader #joel x f!reader #joel miller x teacher!f!reader #joel miller fanfic #joel tlou #tlou #tlou fanfiction #joel miller #pre outbreak!joel

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cowboyhorsegirl · 2 years

Text

Stand By Me

fill for @stevetonygames bingo square "Coming Out" for Team Marry (read on ao3)

It took one week for the news to travel back to Howard. Steve had honestly been impressed, even in a mansion as big as theirs and with schedules as disjointed and busy as they were, he truly was not expecting Maria to hold out as long as she had. Wasn’t entirely sure why either, it’s not like she could have attended anyway.

None of that had deterred Tony from hand-delivering an invitation to her himself, fiance in tow.

Steve had watched as Tony hesitated right before ringing the doorbell and wound their fingers together to squeeze his hand.

“You don’t have to do this, you know? You don’t owe them—either of them—anything you don’t want to give.” Steve smiled reassuringly, trying to conceal the apprehension rising within him as he saw Tony battling the tell-tale signs of panic right there on his parents’ doorstep. He knew how important it was to him to be able to share this occasion, in whatever small way possible, with his mother, but he was also all-too-aware how the past three attempts at acknowledging his sexuality with his family had turned out. Steve would never understand the bond Tony insisted on maintaining with Maria, but he forgave her her shortcomings only because Tony loved her so, treasuring their relationship however inadequate it seemed to Steve.

Regardless of how much Tony adored his mother, the fact of the matter remained that Maria had very… traditional views on how a married woman should conduct herself within the home, and the result was that everything and anything that was shared with her was eventually and without fail relayed back to Howard. Steve had no qualms about the depth of his hatred for Howard, and he had absolutely no plans on forgiving that son of a bitch anytime soon.

He still winced whenever he remembered how shattered, how betrayed Tony had felt after he came out to her years ago, enjoying only a few precious hours of tenuous acceptance until Howard came home from work and the other shoe had dropped. It sure as hell hadn’t been Maria wiping the blood from Tony’s face and rocking him to sleep that night as he lay, shaking.

“I know,” Tony breathed out, more so to himself than to Steve but nonetheless drawing Steve back from his thoughts. Then, a little louder, “I know. Just… will you stand by me? Stay close, when we get in there?”

Steve tugged gently on their bound hands to pull Tony in near and brush a kiss against his forehead. “Of course, love. Always.” One last kiss at the corner of Tony’s mouth and a deep breath later and they were ringing the doorbell together, announcing their upcoming wedding to a delighted Maria. When she dragged them both in for a surprisingly bone-crushing hug, Steve was relieved to feel the tension melting from Tony’s body as he hugged her back with one arm.

The other, of course, never once leaving Steve’s embrace.

—

So a week passed by in pure pre-marital bliss. Tony beamed happiness, smiling wide and often and stealing Steve’s breath away with each one. He thought sometimes he could hardly contain the love he felt for Tony within him, the magnitude of his affections so great that he couldn’t possibly fit it all inside his body: surely it must be radiating out from him at all times, love leaving an impression in every footprint and echoing through in every conversation, love left in his wake like a breadcrumb trail of all the places and people Steve visited throughout the day.

Nowhere in the city was the love more intensely felt than when he was by Tony’s side. Mornings waking up wrapped in his arms couldn't have been more blissful if he was opening his eyes to heaven. Spontaneous lunch dates and movie nights and evenings spent in companionable silence as they passed the time separately while pressed up against each other on the couch seemed all the more momentous now, now that every day with Tony was one of forever. Even the mundane aspects of their life, all the dirty dishes and laundry piles and grocery shopping were signs of a home they shared, domestic bliss that left them buzzing with anticipation for the day they could do all of these simple things as a married couple, a family, one unit.

Together.

It was a quiet afternoon at home when the phone rang, the happy couple having just attended their final suit fittings and at Steve’s insistence, they were now celebrating by finishing up leftover wedding cake samples. A small smear of cream cheese icing from Tony’s slice of red velvet cracked on his cheek as his smile dropped almost immediately upon answering the call. Steve sat up at attention as the color drained from Tony’s face, instinctually reaching out for his hand when he noticed the slight tremble in his fingers as he pressed the speaker button.

“-at the hell is this I’m hearing about a WEDDING, Anthony do you even realize how embarrassing this is going to be for you? For us, for your goddamn family? Honestly, this… this phase has been going on far too long, your mother and I have let you have your fun, but it’s past time that you start taking your future seriously-”

Tony sat stock still, holding his breath and screwing his eyes shut, his hand unmoving where Steve was gripping it and rubbing a thumb back and forth across his knuckles. “Just hang up, hang up on him, Tony,” Steve whispered urgently, unable to keep the frantic edge out of his voice, the need to protect Tony from the shock and the stress and the pain of Howard’s ongoing verbal assault rising up quick and intense. Steve waited only a second longer before reaching out to end the call himself, until-

“NO.”

Steve almost dropped Tony’s hand in surprise at the vitriol dripping from that single word, only distantly registering that Howard seemed to have been stunned into silence too. For a brief moment, he couldn’t tell who Tony had been addressing, and he worried that he had overstepped somehow, before Tony set his jaw and continued:

“I am taking my future seriously, Dad. Steve is my future. And you’re right, this has gone on long enough. If you wanna write me out of the will, or… or disown me or whatever. Whatever! Anything you decide to do, it doesn’t matter. None of that matters to me, you don’t have any power over me anymore.” Tony turned from where he had been burning a hole into his cellphone to meet Steve’s gaze. “Steve’s been more of a family to me than you ever, ever have been, and I love him. I love him and I’m gonna marry him. I am, and there’s nothing, not a single thing you can do to stop me. Bye Dad.”

Somewhere towards the end, Howard had tried to resume speaking over his son, but by then it was a doomed effort. Tony hung up before he could get another word in edgewise, drawing in one last shaky breath before the last of his resolve crumbled and a sob broke free. Steve pulled him into his lap to hold him through the cries that wracked his body, resting his chin on Tony’s head and rubbing his back in long, smooth strokes until he calmed down.

“I’m so proud, so proud of you sweetheart. You were so brave Tony.”

“I just wish he could love me without needing to fix me.”

Steve closed his eyes against the hot press of tears at the back of his eyes, unsure of what he should say, what Tony needed to hear. And then he realized, thinking back on Tony’s words earlier, that he didn’t need the perfect reassurance and he didn’t need Steve mouthing off about his father. He just needed to hear that Steve wasn’t going anywhere, that he would stand by his side no matter what.

“I know, love. It’s gonna be okay, I promise we’ll be okay. I’m here and I’m with you. Always.”

—

In the end, Maria never did attend their wedding. Exactly two weeks beforehand, she called Tony to rescind her RSVP, citing some impromptu company-wide function Howard had decided to throw to celebrate Stark Industries surpassing their quarterly projections. She sounded genuinely apologetic over the phone. Steve was sure she thought she was being sincere.

It was during that same call that Tony ultimately told her that they wouldn’t be able to see each other, to speak with each other anymore.

“I’m sorry mom, but I can’t risk letting Howard anywhere near my family anymore. It’s not safe, and it’s not fair to me. I’m sorry. I love you.”

Maria was silent on the other end of the line, long enough for Tony to check that the call hadn’t dropped, before she offered a quiet “Okay darling. I love you too.”

And even though the day Steve finally, finally got to marry the love of his life was undoubtedly the happiest of his life, it didn’t escape his notice how Tony would glance back towards the one empty chair at the table reserved near the front of the venue with a somber slant to his mouth. Steve would cup Tony’s cheek with one hand until his gaze broke from that unfortunate reminder of his mother’s failure, and they would share a small smile before being swept up again in the intoxicating jubilation of their wedding day.

Steve would recognize those same sorrowful looks on his husband’s face throughout the long, lovely years of their marriage. On anniversaries and birthdays, on the day they finalized the adoption of their first child. The time between them would get longer and longer, and each one was a little more resigned than the last, but they never faded completely.

In the end, all Steve could do for him was all Tony had ever asked.

He stood by him, keeping his love at his side. Always.

#i think it's extremely yas and slay of me to fill a bingo square my team has already filled fjksldfjkljfks #but i saw that coming out square and i was hooked!!#scribbles #stevetony #evwrites

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august-anon · 2 years

Text

Fresh and New

Here is your ancient backlog fic! I don’t even remember writing this one lol, but before i just did the barest edit of it, the last time I had touched it had been August 18, 2021. I need to stop stuffing these fics in the backlog for so long sdkjfhdsf

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Fandom: It (movies)

Ship(s): Reddie (pre-relationship)

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Eddie/Ler!Richie

Word Count: 1327 words

Summary: Eddie's cast is finally off. Richie is delighted to learn that the newly revealed skin is horribly ticklish.

[ao3 link]

----------------------

Richie’s bike was in the bushes when they got back from the hospital. It wasn’t hidden for shit, but thankfully, his mom somehow missed it while ushering Eddie inside.

It took forever for him to escape her and head upstairs, her overbearing worries at all time high with the cast freshly off his arm. She was convinced he would break it again, that it wasn’t fully healed, that he was in pain. She shoved prescriptions in his direction, bottle after bottle, and he was shocked she didn’t insist on watching him take them. Instead, he gathered the medications up in his arms and raced up the stairs.

The moment he was inside, he dumped the bottles in the trashcan right inside his door. Then he whipped around and pushed the door shut, locking it with the multiple locks Mike, Ben, and Richie had come over to help him install a few weeks ago (well, Mike and Ben had helped, Richie stood around making jokes and “supervising,” whatever the hell that meant) when his mom was actually out of the house for once.

Then he turned around and scowled at Richie, who was sprawled across Eddie’s bed reading a comic, his shoes still on. Eddie kicked his own shoes off as he marched toward the bed, chopping with his hand as he whisper-shouted.

“What the fuck are you doing here? My mom could’ve seen, you dick! And get your fucking shoes off the bed, do you know how many germs are on them?! You’re getting those germs all over where I sleep!”

Richie grinned at him, carelessly tossing the comic onto the bedside table. He spread his arms, sprawling even further across the bed.

“Eds, come on! I had to make sure they didn’t have to chop your arm off!”

Eddie scowled at him, holding up his completely intact, finally uncasted arm. It had an odd-looking tan line, having been hidden from the sun the last half of the summer, but other than that it was nearly back to normal.

“My arm’s fine, fucknut,” Eddie said, making sure to keep his voice low so that his mom wouldn’t hear. “The doctor said it would take a little while to build my strength back up, but it’s fine.”

Richie opened his mouth and spewed some other stupid joke that Eddie didn’t wind up catching, but his eyes were filled with relief. He couldn’t hide that, not from Eddie, and something relaxed in him when he realized that Richie had actually been worried, despite all his obnoxious teasing. When his mom worried, it was suffocating and sickening, it made him want to run away and never see her again, never let her touch him again. But when Richie and the other Losers worried, Eddie felt nothing but warmth, even if tried to bury it down and pretend to be annoyed.

So, instead of rising to the bait of Richie’s teasing, Eddie climbed onto the bed with him. Richie kicked his shoes off and curled up facing Eddie, staring at his arm.

“Does it hurt?” He asked quietly.

Eddie shook his head. “No. Feels kinda weird, though, since it’s been covered for so long.”

Richie reached out for Eddie’s arm and Eddie let him, relaxing back into the pillows and headboard as Richie took his arm to examine it for himself. He dragged two gentle fingers down the underside of Eddie’s forearm, and Eddie couldn’t help squirming as goosebumps spread across his arms and legs.

“Careful,” he mumbled. “Tickles.”

Richie grinned. “Oh it does, does it?”

Eddie realized his mistake all too late, his eyes widening. He half-heartedly tugged at his arm, but Richie could probably tell he didn’t mean it. He always could, somehow, only tickling Eddie when his fighting back was clearly just for show.

His fingers skittered gently up and down the sensitive skin on the underside of Eddie’s forearm, being mindful of Eddie’s mom without even having to be asked. It kept Eddie in fits of giggles, but nothing loud enough for his mom to be able to hear from down the stairs, especially if she had the TV on. Eddie squirmed and bit his lip and buried his face in Richie’s shoulder, but he never told Richie to stop. If he was being honest, it felt kind of nice. And it helped remind him that he was okay.

“Aw, Spagheds!” Richie cooed quietly into his ear. “If this isn’t the most precious thing I’ve ever fucking seen. Still cute, cute cute as ever!”

Eddie muffled a squeal into Richie’s hideous shirt when Richie focused his fingernails on the thin skin of Eddie’s wrist.

“Shut the fuck up, dickwad!” He hissed through his giggling. “Don’t fucking call me that!”

Richie hummed. “Which one? Spagheds? Or cute?”

Eddie tugged on his arm, but Richie didn’t let it go. If anything, his skittering fingers just got more ticklish. Eddie could feel his face going red, both from Richie’s teasing and from his own laughter, and he was glad Richie wouldn’t be able to see it, with his face buried in Richie’s shoulder and neck.

“Both, you asshole!”

Richie let out a hum. “Hey, maybe don’t call the guy tickling you silly names.”

Eddie barely had time to gasp before one of Richie’s hands was tickling gently at his waist, the other still spidering away at the tingling skin of his uncasted arm. Much to his own disgust, he had to shove some of Richie’s shirt into his mouth and bite down to keep his laughter muffled enough that it wouldn’t carry down the stairs. He squirmed against Richie’s grip, finally pulling his arm away and trying to roll out of range of Richie’s touch.

Unfortunately, Richie’s arms were freakishly long, and Eddie started to slide off the bed before he even got close to escaping Richie’s torment. They were probably getting a bit too big to be tussling in a twin bed (well, Richie was. Eddie was still desperately awaiting his own growth spurt. He would be taller than Richie someday, he knew it, he had to be).

Before he could fully fall over the side of the bed, Richie’s arms wrapped around his waist and tugged him back up, protecting them both from the thump it would’ve caused to alert Eddie’s mom. Richie pulled Eddie across the rest of the bed so they were curled up together like they did in the hammock sometimes when no one else was in the clubhouse, pressed together instead of sitting at opposite ends.

“Wanna read my comic with me?” Richie asked quietly. “It's new, just got it.”

Eddie twisted around in Richie’s hold as Richie reached over to grab the comic, not waiting for an answer. He didn’t need to, though, he knew Eddie well enough that the answer would be yes.

“Only if you don’t do the Voices so loud that my mom hears, again,” Eddie said.

Richie chuckled under his breath. This seemed to be the only time Richie was able to keep quiet. The rest of the time he was brash and unhinged and as loud as he could possibly be, but when it was just the two of them, curled together in hiding from Sonia Kaspbrack’s wrath, Richie quieted, became softer, less jagged around the edges. It felt nice, that Eddie was the only one to see this.

“No promises,” Richie replied. Despite that, as they read and Richie assigned Voices to each character, his volume stayed respectfully quiet.

Eddie relaxed into Richie’s hold, reading along with him and turning the page when Richie reached the end of it. Richie’s free hand, the one that should have been turning the pages, was busy tracing nonsense shapes into Eddie’s newly freed, wildly sensitive forearm, leaving Eddie giggling quietly into Richie’s shoulder every few moments when it tickled just a little too much. Not that Eddie was complaining.

It was the safest he’d ever felt after a hospital visit.

#tickle fic #My writing #it tickling #lee!eddie #ler!richie #ticklish!eddie #it movies #eddie kaspbrack #richie tozier #reddie

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nyxerebus · 3 years

Text

Unlikely Companions (Daryl Dixon x Female reader/ PLATONIC! Carl x Reader)

Summary: Carl was running for his life, being chased by walkers after he went on his own looking for Sophia. When he is corned by the walker a stranger woman saves him. She is looking for her Fiancee for the old world, but offers her help returning him to the farm. They bond over the days in the woods and she learns she might have another reason to find the farm.

Words: 3.1 k

“Carl?” Lori shouted across the farm. She hadn’t seen the boy all day and was starting to get nervous. “Have you seen Carl?” Maggie shook her head. “Not since breakfast” She answered in her southern accent. “Maybe he is with Rick? Or Shane?” Lori just nodded, but didn’t feel any safer. Where was her son?

Carl was running for his life. The two walkers were closing inn. He knew better than to shout and call for help, knowing it would probably attract even more walkers, but right now he didn’t care. “MOM!” He quickened his pace. “DAD!” Two walkers turned into four as two more appeared at his side. Tears was now streaming down his face as he was sure he was going to die here. He looked back again, ready to face death. But the walkers didn’t close inn on him. Instead arrow after arrow filled the air and all the walkers dropped. When Carl turned back around, fully expecting to see Daryl standing there, was surprised to see a stranger. “Are you okay?” The stranger asked him. Carl looked up at the woman. He was inn shock and didn’t know what to say. “You got a group? A family” She continued to ask him. When she tried to approach him, he backed up. “Hey, you don’t need to worry, I won’t do you any harm. Look” She dropped her cross bow and unleased her knife from her holster. When both fell to the ground, she could see him relaxing more. “Can I ask your name?”

“Carl, Carl Grimes”

“Well, Carl Grimes. I’m (Y/N) (L/N). I’m looking for my fiancée. But I can help you return back to you family. Someone as young as you shouldn’t be out here alone”.

Carl was still unsure about her. Remembering her mother’s speech about stranger danger. But those were the rules of the old world. Here in the new world they should accept help form anyone who invites it, right? After thinking it through, he nodded. “Okay, okay. This is a good start. How far away is your camp?” Carl looked down, a bit embarrassed. “I don’t know”

“Do you know the directions?” He shook his head. “Well shit, looks like were in quiet a pickle huh?” She smiled at him, trying to ease him. “I don’t know this area, never been here before. So, I say we head in one direction and hope for the best. What do you think?” He nodded. “Great! Lets go then!”

And so they started to wander. (Y/N) in front, with Carl a meter behind. “Sooo, do you have a favourite movie or something?” He just stared at her. “What! Come on, were going to be stuck with each other for a while, might as well get to know each other”. After a minute of silence, he spoke. “Iron Man”

“That’s a good movie! Mine is probably that or Pride and Prejudice”. Carl scrunched up his nose almost in disgust. “But that’s so girly! All they do is talk about their feelings and kiss!” She looked back at him, offended by his remarks. “And!? It’s a great love story that is still relevant to this day” She played up her offence more hoping it would make him laugh. It did. “Its still so girly” He said between giggles. “Never mind, were is the nearest walker. I’m feeding you to it” (Y/N)’s giggling was now a full on laughter. “Nooo!” Carl was laughing too. (Y/N) was relieved he was laughing, afraid the incident had traumatized him badly.

Back at the farm, panic was settling inn as no one knew were Carl was. “Who was the last to see him?” Rick asked the group. “I saw him after breakfast” Andrea spoke up, she and Carol was comforting Lori, who was having a full blown break down. “He probably went out looking for Sophia alone” All looked to Shane. “I’m mean why else would he suddenly leave”.

“I think your right, but he is still healing from the gun wound, he wouldn’t get far. And if a walker got him, he wouldn’t have much fight in him”.

“My baby!” Lori cried out in agony. “We need to send out search groups, he couldn’t have gone far”. Everyone agreed with Rick. “And with some luck we might find Sophia as well” Daryl nodded at Carol. She smiled back.

The sun had set and the night was creeping closer. (Y/N) had set up an alert system around the small camp they built for the night. Barb wire around them with empty cans tied up. They would rattle if a walker came close and waking them up. It was how (Y/N) had been sleeping every night.

“Go to sleep, I’ll look out for walkers” (Y/N) said leaned back against a tree. She had laid down her sleeping bag that he could use. “I wont fall asleep” Carl complained. “Try”.

“Can you tell me a story” She looked at him weird. “Aren’t you a bit old for fairy tales?”

“Not fairy tales, stories about your life, from before this?” She still looked at him weirdly. “My mom used to tell me stories from her collage days so I could fall asleep when I was younger. Can you please?” When he looked at her with those poppy eyes, (even though it was hard to see with only their small campfire as a light source), who could say no?

“Okay kid, one story than you go to sleep. Deal?” He nodded “What do you want to know?”

“You are engaged right, how was the proposal?” She giggled at the memory but started to tell about the best day of her life:

“Daryl! What are we doing here?” She was a bit frustrated as the redneck pulled her along the streets. It was midday and pretty damn hot. She pulled down her dress skirt as the wind picked up. “Have some patience’ damn woman” She giggled at his bruteness. One of the things she loved about the man, one of many. When they stopped in front of a new bookshop, he could see the hearts in her eyes. “I dint know they opened a new bookshop here!” She exclaimed. “Saw it last night and thought you might like it” Lies. He had known they were opening here for the past month, doing everything in his power to make sure you dint know. They actually had opening night a week ago.

Now it was her turn to drag him along. It surprised her to see the shop empty, seeing as the streets were pretty full. But she didn’t think much of it. Running between shelves after shelves, the one book in hand turning into two, than four and now finally six books. But when she turned around, all the books fell too the floor. Because there before her was her lovely boyfriend, down on one knee with a ring between his fingers. “Oh my god” She whispered into the silent shop. As if on cue, the speakers played her favourite song.

“(Y/N) (L/N), you are the love of my life. And I just want to be your man’ for the rest of your life. And, shit you know I aint’ good with my emotions, but when I’m with ya’ it seems so easy. Shit, I’m messing it all up” He was stumbling over his own words, clearly forgetting a pre-rehearsed speech. “no, please continue” tears were forming in her eyes. “I love ya’ (Y/N), my Sunshine. You book crazy mad woman. I love everything about ya’. So, will ya’ marry me?” He was ready for a rejection, ready to see her walk out of his life forever. But she didn’t.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, a million times yes” Tears were streaming down her face. He stood up and kissed her. His arm wrapping around her waist, bending her down a bit so he could kiss her more passionately. Like in the movies. They only broke off so he could slip the ring on her finger, it fit her perfectly.

“Did he rent out the bookshop?” Carl asked, clearly very invested. “Yeah, cost him way too much, but he didn’t care. That idiot was never good with money” She giggled at the memories. “What about after, what did you guys do?”

“Nah nah nah, the deal was one story than you go to sleep. I can tell you more tomorrow”. Carl huffed in annoyance but turned around in the sleeping bag. “Good night”

“Good night Carl”.

“Rick, it’s been a whole night! Where is he?” Lori was completely lost; she hadn’t slept all night. To worried about where her son was. “What if his trapped, oh god! What if those walkers got him?”

“We can’t think like that! He is fine. He has to be” Rick did everything he could to try and look confident and comfort his wife, but the worry was eating him up as well. The same thoughts were running through his head as well. Those terrible images of his baby boy being ripped apart by the walkers.

“Okay, open your mouth” Carl did as instruct and tried to catch the berry she threw into his mouth. She missed, but only with an inch! “You suck!” Carl teased her. “Hey! I’m not the one with a tiny mouth!” She teased back. “Alright, lets start walking big man”. He nodded and helped her clean up the camp. “Can I ask a question?” The boy asked as they continued to walk. “Sure”

“What happened between you and your fiancée? Why aren’t you together now?”

She took a deep breath. “When the outbreak happened, we weren’t together. He was off god know where with his brother, probably bailing him out or something-” Carl looked at her questioning, “That’s another story. But yeah, we weren’t together. I was at campus and that turned into a mess, I lots a lot of friends there. Mass panic and everybody evacuated. I and a couple of other students bunkered up a dorm room. Living of the instant noodles and beer we found. That lasted maybe 4 days. So, we left and split off, I wanted to go into the woods, where he would be and the rest wanted to go to back to Atlanta. And since than I have been looking for him. Living in the woods like a mad man.” Tears started to form in her eyes when she relived the horrible times at the campus.

“Sorry I asked”. He looked down. “Its alright” She smiled at him. “What were you studying?”

“Heh, literature. Not much help in the apocalypse, I guess”.

“Than how did you learn to use the bow and hunt?”

“He taught me” She smiled at the memory, and thanked him desperately for teaching her:

“Why do I need to learn this? I live in the city, I will never hunt or live in the woods!” Daryl just scuffed at her and placed the bow he bought in her hands. He had brought her out to the woods after her classes to teach her hunting. “ya’ need to be able to fend for yourself and feed yourself” She just looked him with a raise brow, but eventually gave in. “Fine, fine. Teach me”. A smirk played out on his face, happy with his little victory. Truth be told, he needed to know that you could fend for yourself and be independent, in and out of the city. It eased him at night, in a weird way. “Why cant I learn the crossbow like you?”

“First bow, than crossbow. Alright Sunshine’”

Shoooo! The arrow flew through the air and hit the squirl in the head. “Score!” (Y/N) exclaimed. She fastened the squirrel two her belt, joining the five others she had shot. “We eating good tonight!” Carl looked at the squirrels with a lot of scepticisms. “What? Don’t tell me you’re a picky eater”

“No, it just looks so weird like that” They bickered back and front while they walked in the direction, they thought the farm was inn. They had changed their direction a couple of times, hoping to get closer and see sign of life.

They had spent the entire day walking, and as the night came closer they found a spot to camp up. Carl set up the wires while (Y/N) started a fire to cook the squirrels. While they ate, Carl told her about his family and the people they were in the camp with. “What the hell! You got shot?!”

“Yeah!” Carl had a proud grin on his face, finally having something that made him look cool. “Shit, man your tougher than me if you can bounce back like that”. He laughed and continued to brag about the experience. It was a nice conversation. He talked a bunch about his family, mostly about his dad. Clearly his hero. But than he mentioned a familiar name.

“Wait! Daryl? Daryl with a crossbow?” Carl just nodded. “Does he have a west with angel wings? Brother named Merle?” When Carl nodded again. Tears started to from in her eyes. She was going to be reunited with Daryl, her Daryl. He was alive. That night when Carl finally fell asleep, her mind wandered to all the amazing memories with the man.

It was cold in the room. The window was wide open and letting the moonshine lighting up the small bedroom. (Y/N) and Daryl was huddled together for warmth on the bed. It had been an long night. From a failed date after the place Daryl wanted to take her to was closed, she got catcalled which ended up with her having to drag Daryl of the stranger. And when they got home, he showed her his scars. She was the first romantic partner he had ever shown. The night ended with their naked, sweaty bodies pressed together, while both worked to please the other. It was their first night together, her first night with anyone. When they lied down together basking in the aftermath of their climax, it was one of the happiest times in her life. He wrapped his arms around her and puller her on top of him. Her head resting on his chest, with his arms wrapped around her, caressing her back with one hand, the other squeezing her thigh. “I love ya Sunshine”.

“(Y/N)!”

“(Y/N)! Wake up!” Carl shook her awake. “What’s happening” She immediately reached for her bow and charged it ahead of her, ready to attack any enemy that threatened them. “I can see the farm!” The night had made it harder to see a head of them, but now that the sun was lighting up the world, they could see the farm a head of them. (Y/N) realised her bow and the breath she was holding. They packed up the camp at record time, both wanting to reach the farm as quickly as possible. The walk over to the farm was quiet. When they reached the outcast of the woods, a voice stopped them from going any further.

“Well, well, well, look at that. Do you guys see this fine piece of ass” A man walked out from behind a tree with a gun raised at them both. Three other guys came out, all with their weapons raised. “Sure do boss. Haven’t seen a woman this fine in what feels like ages. I’m just aching to be inside of her”.

(Y/N) placed herself protectively in front of Carl. “What do you guys want? Our food, weapons? You can have that, just leave us alone” Her voice trembled a little afraid of what they will do to them. “Oh, we don’t need your left overs or those teeth pickers you call knifes, no baby. We want something different” He grabbed his crotch when he said the last part. “Carl, run”.

“What? I cant leave-” “Carl! Run!” One of the guys tackled her down. Holding her down on the ground. “Get the kid” The boss said to the guy closest to Carl. “RUN!” She shouted before her mouth was covered. Carl finally ran away, when the guy ordered to catch him started to run after him.

When he made it out of the forest and ran across the fields to the farm, he started to shout out for help. “MOM! DAD!”.

“Do you guys hear that?” Glenn asked the group as they sat around planning the move for the day. “That’s Carl” Lori ran towards the field and saw her son running across it being chased by a stranger.

“Carl!” All the guys saw it too and started to run to Carl. The guy chasing him, saw the men running towards him and turned around to warn the others. “Carl!” Rick finally got to hug his son after being missing for 3 days. But the hug was cut short when Carl pushed free. “We need to head back, (Y/N), the girl that helped me is back there and the guys are attacking her!” He pulled his fathers hand and started to move back to the woods, but Daryl stopped him.

“(Y/N), as in (Y/N) (L/N)?” When Carl nodded Daryl took off and ran towards the forest. The others followed, but this time Carl was pushed back behind them. When they got closer they could hear her voice yelling for them to get off. They reached the area Daryl did not hesitate to shoot the guys around her, holding her down while the main guy was cutting up her clothes. When she got her hands free, she leaped on the last guy and grabbed her knife they had forgotten to remove from her belt. When he was pushed to the ground she didn’t hesitate to stab him in the chest. She didn’t stop after one, two three or four. Blood splashed on her face and torned shirt. Her hands were covered in blood.

Rick took a step forward, but stepped on a twig that snaped in two. She leaped up and raised the knife up, ready to protect herself against another attacker. But when she saw Daryl standing there, she dropped the knife. Sobs wracked through her body and she took a stumbling step forward. Daryl closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her waist. He didn’t care that she was covered in blood, just happy that she was safe. She was alive.

Her knees buckled and she fell down, taking him with her. They were both on their knees holding each other and crying into each other’s necks. Right now, nobody else mattered. Not Rick, Glenn or Shane who was staring at the scene in front of them. Not the bodies of her attackers lying around them. No one. Only them as they held each other for the first time. It seemed as Carl had led her back to her family just as much as she had helped him back to his.

A/N: Part 2 is out! You can read it here : Part 2

Please ignore any spelling mistakes as English is not my first language :)

#the walking dead daryl #daryl x y/n #daryl x you #daryl fanfiction #daryl dixon #daryl x reader #the walking dead #twd #carl grimes

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an-obsessed-writer · 3 years

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Mind Over Matter

Summary: Everyone knew the Baron Helmut Zemo, you’d have to be living under a rock to not recognize the name of the ridiculously wealthy royal attending your university. He was the school’s top bachelor, a sophisticated and confident man who obviously was wealthy. That was enough to make any woman at the university swoon, but he was always known to never keep a girl for long. What happens when (Y/N) finds herself meeting him at one of his parties?

(A/N): i think i’ll turn this into a series, but not sure yet! im a whore for zemo rn as everyone is, let me know if you’re interested in reading more <3

Word Count: 2.2k

“(Y/N)!” Wanda plops onto your bed after she runs into the dorm, and smiles sweetly up at you. “Wanna go to a party tonight? Word has it that Zemo is throwing a major bash for the new school year.”

Everyone knew the Baron Helmut Zemo, you’d have to be living under a rock to not recognize the name of the ridiculously wealthy royal attending your university. He was the school’s top bachelor, a sophisticated and confident man who obviously was wealthy. That was enough to make any woman at the university swoon, but he was always known to never keep a girl for long. Fortunately, you didn’t live under a rock, just too immersed in your studies to care much about him. You’ve seen him walking on campus before, with his fur coat and maroon mock turtleneck, and you could see why he was such a popular man. It’s known that Europeans always have the best sense of style.

“I’ve already got a major essay to finish for my philosophy class next week, maybe next time?” You frown at your roommate, feigning sadness that you wouldn’t be able to make it, but by the look of her face, she wasn’t going to let you get out of this one.

“You promised you’d attend a party this year! We’re juniors and you’ve been to only a handful. Besides, his parties are super classy, everyone gets all dressed up. It’ll be fun, I swear.” Wanda looks up at you with pleading eyes, and you couldn’t help but think about the opportunity presented.

It was true, you hadn’t been to many parties since college started. Your grades were stellar, your reputation even more so. Studying as a pre-med was no joke, resulting in your non-existent social life, but you honestly didn’t mind it much. You kept your head down because college was expensive enough as it is, you couldn’t afford to get distracted. Closing the laptop on your lap, a sigh escapes your mouth, and Wanda took it as a silent submission for what she had planned.

“Perfect! It’s tonight at his mansion. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to get him wrapped around your finger by the end of the night,” she winked and immediately began rummaging through her closet for the perfect outfit. “I heard the theme was the 20’s, I’ve always loved the flapper girl outfits.” A laugh escaped from Wanda’s lips, and a mischievous smile was displayed on her face.

If there was anyone you trusted at this place, it’d be Wanda Maximoff. Her brother Pietro came as a close second, but she’d been your rock throughout your educational journey. Everyone loved her, everyone wanted her at their parties, but she chose to stay in with you to watch movies and talk about guys on more than one occasion. Coming from Sokovia, Wanda and Zemo talked often because of their love for the Sokovian language, but nothing romantic ever stemmed from their interactions with each other.

Truth be told, you were a pretty girl. This never went unnoticed by the guys around you, leading to a few regretful hookups. Your confidence oozed from your cheeky smile and subtly flirtatious comments when appropriate, but you were adamant on not entering a relationship until school was over. However, you were the realist out of this duo, and you knew for a fact you’d never be able to pull a guy like Helmut Zemo. With his looks and amount of money, he could get the most sought after movie star (which everyone was fairly sure he hooked up with Megan Fox at one point, but that was just a rumor).

“Do you still have your flapper girl costume from Halloween a while ago? I’ve got mine, and I don’t think we have enough time to shop before the party,” Wanda inquired.

“Of course I do, it’s my go to Halloween costume now if I ever go out again.” You smiled, reminiscing over the memories from last Halloween, and stumbled off your bed to find the outfit.

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The music was blasting, and you couldn’t help but look in awe of your surroundings. A double curved staircase with red carpeting was in front of you and Wanda, with grand railings connected to the marble floor below. The home was obnoxiously large, you could talk and an echo would rumble through the room.

Wanda gives you an encouraging look, and grabs your hand to lead you towards the party room upstairs. The silver tassels from your mini dress rubbed against your dress with every step you took, and you knew there was no turning back now. Besides, there was no way you could leave this beautiful home anytime soon, you simply wanted to drink in it’s beauty forever.

Once upstairs, a man in a suit smiled at the two of you, and asked for your invitations, which Wanda gladly handed over. With a nod, he opened the doors that were taller than any of you, and the sight immediately took your breath away.

White, translucent balloons hung from the ceiling. Art deco inspired tables with feathers and gold tassels lining over them containing copious amounts of alcohol were in the middle of the room. Intricate white and golden wallpaper covered the walls, which helped bring everything together, but the flashing disco lights allowed a modern feel to this 1920’s inspired party.

Not too long after entering the room, Vision strutted over to the two of you after catching sight of his girlfriend. “Hello (Y/N),” he flashed a quick smile to you and placed a kiss on Wanda’s cheek, “Care if I steal my girlfriend away for a dance?”

“No problem at all,” you waved your hand to dismiss the two of them, and Wanda went off to the dance floor with her love.

This was normal, Wanda would be whisked away by Vision, and you typically found a guy to bring you attention for the night, but something felt different. Right now, all you wanted was a drink, and you found yourself making a beeline towards the tables full of alcohol.

The bartender was dressed in one of the finest suits, and you couldn’t help but wonder “If his employees are dressed like this, what was the Baron wearing?”

“What would you like?” Your mind blanked trying to think of alcohol that you liked, it’s been too long.

“Surprise me, it’s been a while.” You smiled sheepishly, but your attention was caught by the feeling of another person behind you.

“That won’t do, you look like you need something strong.” A thick, European accent filled your ears, and you couldn’t help the way that your body tensed up. With a turn of your head, your eyesight took hold of the one and only, Helmut Zemo.

He looked even more delicious standing so close to you. As expected, Zemo didn’t mess around with his looks. A burgundy, pinstripe suit hugged his figure, and you couldn’t help but take note of the way his arms looked under the tight sleeves.

“Something strong would be nice,” you say holding your chin up, not wanting to embarrass yourself in front of the most well known man in the school. With a wave of his finger and a command in a language you didn’t know, two shots of clear liquid were slammed on the table, and Zemo picked one up with a cheeky smile.

You narrowed your eyes at him and nervously picked up the shot glass with shaky hands. Lifting it up to your nose, your face contorted into an expression of disgust at the smell of acetone. “What is this?”

With a rumbling chuckle from Zemo, your cheeks blushed slightly, silently scolding yourself for losing your composure. He raised his glass and with a tilt of his head, he responded “Rakija, essentially European moonshine. I’ll take a shot with you, it can be too strong for some Americans.”

Silently, you nodded and raised the shot glass, mimicking his actions. Once he swiftly threw back the liquid into his mouth, you followed, and immediately wanted to gag. It burned as it went down your throat, the taste of pure chemicals became overwhelming, and you managed to keep a straight face through it all. Zemo slammed his glass back onto the table and took a step towards you in order to be able to communicate over the loud music.

“I apologize for being such a rude host, but I don’t recognize you.” The smell of rich cologne flooded your nostrils, and you could’ve melted right there. His eyes peered down onto you, being that you were significantly shorter than the man towering over your body, and you licked your lips.

“I usually stay in my dorm, I’m pre-med.” You held your hand out politely, “(Y/N).”

Zemo’s rough hands took hold of your own, lowering his head to leave a kiss on the indents of your knuckles. Without standing up straight, he raises his eyes to look at you through his eyebrows, “It’s a pleasure to meet you (Y/N), I hope you’re enjoying the party.”

His voice was like smooth caramel and melted chocolate, just the right mix of salty and sweet. His thick accent burned into your head with the way he said your name, and your hand was tingling from where his lips met your knuckles. After hearing the stories of his charming ways, you wanted to call bullshit, but experiencing this first hand was completely different. There was some truth to the rumors of the mysterious Baron, and you couldn’t help but feel drawn to find out more. The man simply oozed sex appeal.

“I actually just got here with Wanda. She’s off somewhere with Vision.” You were proud of how you managed to keep your voice at a steady level, knowing that your mind was going crazy with how close the two of you were.

Zemo’s eyebrow perked up at the mention of Wanda’s name and held out his hand with the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly, “Any friend of Wanda’s is a friend of mine, care to dance (Y/N)?”

Every fiber of your being wanted you to run, knowing that if you went to dance with him, there was no turning back. Still, you couldn’t stop your hand from being placed into his, and he swiftly pulled you along towards the dance floor.

Sweaty bodies surrounded the two of you, but you could only focus on his eyes engulfing the way the dress hugged your body in all the right spots. He placed his hand on the small of your back where the dress was open, the touch sending shivers down your spine. The Baron’s hands were warm, completely contrasting the iciness of your skin.

With another hand on your waist and a smirk, he began moving his hips, which you soon followed. As the song went on, the distance between you got smaller and smaller, until your chest was practically smushed against his. You lifted your left hand to run through his chestnut brown hair, and it was as soft as you expected it to be.

“Of course it is,” you thought to yourself. “A Baron deserves only the most expensive products.”

“You’d think I would know everyone on campus, but your beauty caught me by surprise.” His breath felt hot against your ear, and you swallowed thickly.

“Not many people know me,” you countered.

“What a shame, isn’t it darling?” The use of pet names was enough to make your knees buckle, especially when paired with the Sokovian drawl, but you shook your head in defiance.

“He probably says that to all the girls.” Even so, you wished your mind would be quiet so you could appreciate this moment for what it is. The chance to dance with the bachelor everyone was pining for, but he was only paying attention to you.

You didn’t respond, only picking up the pace of your swaying hips, grinding against his thigh. Zemo exhaled a quick breath, and wasted no time to smash his lips onto yours. This action sent electricity through your body, the taste of the alcohol on his breath only made him more alluring, and your mouth copied his movements. Teeth clacked against one another, but neither of you cared. The only thing you could think about was the feeling of his fingers trailing down your back, and the way you fit with him like a lost puzzle piece.

Zemo grabbed at the nape of your neck, signaling to deepen the kiss with a tightening grip and a nip at your bottom lip, but you pulled away before you did something you regret.

With a confused look, Zemo licked his lips. “Care to go upstairs to my room?”

“Actually,” you say breathlessly, “I think it’s better if I head out.” Regretfully, you untangle your bodies and take a step back from the powerful man standing in front of you.

Without taking a second to think about what you’ve just done, you turn and make your way to the exit, but not without glancing at the Baron one last time.

His eyes never left you, and he stood still as you walked through the doors.

#zemo #baron helmut zemo #zemo x reader #marvel #wanda maximoff #vision #zemo imagine #zemo fanfic #the falcon and the winter soldier #the avengers #college!au #college!zemo #bucky barnes #pietro maximoff

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coffeebuddha · 4 years

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so what’s the scoop on red shoes? I vaguely remember seeing a scathing post months ago before it came out calling it fatphobic, and I haven’t seen anything since until recently

okay, so as someone who avoided this movie like the plague based on the pre-release marketing until someone i trust spammed my dash with it, i understand if people are confused by my sudden praise and obsession, so i’m going to do my best to explain why i love it so much

the tl;dr version

the marketing campaign was REALLY gross and fatphobic and i have no idea how or why it was approved, because that is the exact opposite of the movie

long, spoiler filled version

these are two quick grabs i made from googling for the marketing for this movie:

that first image? that is BAD and it should never have been approved for obvious reasons, but also because it does a really bad job of portraying what the movie is actually about, which leads me to the second image, which is slightly better, but feels like the blurb for an entirely different movie

it makes it hard not to want to be like the others...she learns not only to accept herself, but to celebrate who she is

what? that’s not the movie i watched at all and i’ll explain why in a moment

first i want to touch on the seven dwarfs and the evil queen

the seven dwarfs are actually seven handsome princes who were placed under a curse at the very beginning of the movie by the fairy princess, who they attacked after mistaking her for a witch. their excuse for this was that ‘she didn’t look like a princess, she looked like a witch, and everyone knows that a princess should look like a princess!’ yeah, that held about as much water with her as it does with me and she cursed them to turn into short, green dwarfs whenever anyone is looking at them--they go back to normal when they aren’t observed--until they get a kiss from ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’

regina, snow white’s evil stepmother, is an aging witch whose desperation for youth and beauty have her obsessively trying to grow a pair of magic shoes from an enchanted tree that will grant her both forever. snow stumbles across the tree growing the shoes when she is searching for clues to find her missing father, the king, and for some reason puts them on. the shoes transform her into the form she eventually names ‘red shoes’, which is a thin, tall, ‘beautiful’ version of herself

now let’s go back to my comment that i felt like the marketing team watched another movie and get something settled: snow white is fat. and she is fine with that. the movie is not about her wanting to be like anyone else or having to learn to accept herself. from her very first moment on screen, she’s already there. snow is genuine and kind and determined and loyal and both emotionally/mentally and physically strong; she laments a couple of times that she dislikes that she’s physically weaker in her red shoes form and at one point comments that without the shoes she’s ‘able to bench 250’ *swoon*

she’s also smart. smart enough to catch on really quickly that the primary reason the dwarfs are falling all over themselves wanting to help her is because they think she’s ‘beautiful’, and at the end of the day the thing snow wants more than anything is to find her missing father, so she uses it. she doesn’t show any extra skin or act ‘sexy’ or behave any differently than she otherwise would, she simply exists as red shoes, because she recognizes that it gives her an advantage that she currently needs. she wants to be back in her original form--in fact, the first time she’s alone after initially putting them on, she takes them off and expresses relief. the movie and snow both make it clear that she’s not comfortable as red shoes and that she wants to be snow white. but she wants to get her father back more

which leads us back to the dwarfs. they see red shoes and her ‘beauty’ and their immediate thought is of how they can use it to their own advantage; ie their entire reason for helping her in the beginning is to convince her to kiss them so that they can break their curse. merlin, who is snow’s love interest, starts the movie as a shallow, book cover judging asshole, who clearly equates someone’s looks with their worth (he...gets better. this sounds like i don’t like him and i do, he’s a dumb, charming goofball and i love him, but let’s call an asshole an asshole and for a good chunk of the movie he is an asshole)

snow doesn’t care that merlin is a short, green dwarf--she flat out says toward the beginning of the movie that the handsome, human versions of the princes aren’t really her type and multiple times tells him she thinks he’s cute as a dwarf--but until about 3/4 of the way through the movie merlin definitely cares that red shoes looks like red shoes

because here’s the thing: merlin and red shoes kiss about halfway through the movie, and do you know what happens to merlin? absolutely nothing. the curse remains. because the princess who cursed him was a fairy princess, and fairies never address things completely straight on. it’s not until after merlin sees her as snow, realizes that there’s no question that she’d choose the fun, goofy dwarf over the vain, shallow man, and starts to look past red shoe’s ‘beauty’ to snow white’s goodness that things start to really, truly change with him

near the very end of the movie, merlin tells snow, who’s in her true form, “you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, whether my eyes are open or closed,” which is a callback to earlier in the movie when snow tells a dwarf!merlin, “eyes open or closed, to me you’re still merlin”

and honestly, i feel like those two lines sum up the entirety of the movie. by the end of the movie, merlin can see her with his eyes closed: he sees who she is, not just what she looks like, and when they kiss again after that is when his curse is finally broken. that’s what the fairy princess was trying to teach him all along

that bodies, regardless of what they look like, are ultimately secondary to who we are. the parts of us that really, truly make us aren’t visible on the surface, and the inability to look deeper is a curse that keeps all of us trapped in a small, ugly life

#i have so much to do #so i refuse to proofread this #it is basically just a stream of consciousness gushing about this movie #sorry not sorry #red shoes and the seven dwarfs #IN THIS ESSAY I WILL #Anonymous

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andreafmn · 3 years

Text

Running In Circles - Chapter 3

Word Count: 1,854

Characters: Female Reader Rossi Character, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Jennifer “JJ”Jareau, Emily Prentiss, Penelope Garcia

Story Description: (Y/N) Rossi is following in her father’s footsteps by joining the BAU team as a profiler. The girl genius knew almost everything but she could have never predicted falling for Aaron Hotchner, her boss and her father’s friend. in their world mutual feelings are not enough to push them together. Will all the adversities and obstacles they face pull them together or push them apart forever?

*DISCLAIMER* I do not own in any way Criminal Minds, all credits of the pre-established characters, script, and storyline belong to Jeff Davis and CBS Network. The only thing I own is Arden Rossi, any upcoming characters, and her storyline, as well as her effects in the others’ story line.

Chapter: 3/?

A/N: This is a short one. Just fully domestic fluff and it makes me very happy, but letting ya’ll know this happiness will be kinda short lived. If you enjoy my writing I’ll also be posting them in AO3 and Wattpad along with other stories (I also hope to start taking requests if ya’ll want) Hope you enjoy and all constructive criticism is encouraged.

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Chapter 3

“Okay, buddy, let’s see.” I looked at the instructions in my hands from the fort kit I had purchased. It seemed simple enough and something Jack would enjoy inmmensly. “Let’s do this.”

“Yeah!” Jack exclaimed. Hotch laughed from the kitchen, insisting he had to at least cook some dinner. In the oven were the batch of brownies I had put in 10 minutes ago. It took about 30 minutes to finish the fort and the look on Jack’s face was priceless. Then he spent 10 minutes perusing my movie collection until he finally landed on Toy Story, once again.

“Well, dinner’s ready,” Hotch announced, bringing a tray with three plates of spaghetti to the fort.

“Daddy, daddy! Look at the fort!” Jack jumped up and down. It was a simple square base, big enough for three people and a triangle top. We covered it with thin sheets and hung wire twinkle lights on the top. Jack had run to my linen closet and gotten a thick comforter to lay on the floor, as well as most of the pillow that laid on my couch. He also arranged a couple of his plush toys in there to keep us company, as he put it.

“I see it, buddy. It looks great!” Hotch smiled brightly. “Now, what do we say?”

“Thank you, (Y/N)!”

“No problem, little man,” I smiled. “How about you invite your dad inside so we can eat some spaghetti?”

“Yes! Come on, dad!”

Hotch sat down next to me and passed a plate to Jack and me, putting a napkin on his son’s collar. The small kid smiled at his dad and dug into his plate without another thought, the sound of the movie filling in the background.

“You know,” I mused. “It was pretty bold of you to cook spaghetti for an Italian.”

“Right,” he chuckled. “Well, I hope it’s good.”

I smiled and took a bite of the noodles. Hotch stared expectantly to see if he passed the Italian test. I chewed slowly, dragging the process along, until finally giving him a thumbs up. Hotch sighed and smiled before digging into his own plate.

After finishing the pasta, I took the three plates to the kitchen and served three plates of brownie with ice cream for me and the Hotchner duo. When those plates were empty, Jack laid his head on my lap and his feet on his dad’s and watched the movie. An hour and a half later, the blonde boy was softly snoring and peacefully sleeping.

“Looks like the little man ran out of juice,” I said as I ran my hand through his soft hair. “I think we should take him up to the guest room.”

Hotch softly placed his hand under Jack’s arms and carried him up the stairs to the first door on the right, careful not to wake the tired child. I pulled the sheets away and Hotch laid the kid on the bed. I left the room to let Hotch change Jack into his pajamas and went downstairs to clean up and pack away the fort for Jack to take home.

“Thank you, (Y/N),” I jumped at the sound of Hotch’s voice and he laughed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay, and don’t mention it.” I sat down next to him on the island. “Whatever you need, seriously, I’m here.”

He smiled and engulfed me in a hug; time slowed down. For a moment, just for a moment, it was only us. There was no hurting, no unspoken emotions, nothing. I breathed in his scent and took in the warmth coming from the closeness of his body to mine. He relaxed into me and let himself be human for a change.

All good things come to an end.

“Well, it’s getting late,” I said breaking the hug and clearing my throat. “Um, there’s towels in the guest bedroom closet and extra blankets just in case it gets too cold during the night.”

“Great, I’ll see you in the morning, then. Good night, (y/n).”

“Good night, Hotch.” I smiled and waited for his figure to disappear in the stairs before opening the doors leading to my backyard. I breathed in deeply and tried to easy my heartbeat.

“What are you doing, (Y/N)?” I whispered to myself.

I spent the night tossing and turning, trying my best to not think that the man I liked was sleeping just a hallway away. Before I knew it, the sun was peeking in through my bedroom window, announcing that I had wasted a whole night of sleep inside my head.

So, I got up and went downstairs to work on breakfast. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, the works. I put a pot of coffee to brew and took out some toppings for the pancakes. As I was finishing with the bacon, I heard tiny feet running down the staircase.

“Morning, (Y/N)!” Jack exclaimed, hugging my waist since it was as high as he could reach.

“Hey, little man,” I said ruffling his hair. “Wanna help me set the table?”

He nodded and grabbed the forks I was holding, placing them rapidly next to the three plates that were already on the round table.

“Jack, where’s dad?” I questioned.

“He’s still sleeping.” He shrugged.

“I have an idea, little man. How about we wake him up with some silly string?”

“What’s silly string?” My mouth dropped. I headed to the hallway closet and took out two cans of silly string.

“This, buddy, is silly string,” I presented the can. “You press the button here down and string comes out.”

“Like this?” Jack asked as a string of green plastic was expelled from the can. He shrieked gleefully and his excitement grew as he saw the grin on my face.

“Just like that, bud. Let’s go wake up dad.”

He nodded excitedly and we walked up the stairs quietly. Once we reached the door, I turned the doorknob slowly and instructed Jack to go jump on the bed to surprise his dad. He smiled at me and when the door was completely open, he ran up to the bed and jumped.

When Hotch’s eyes shot open, Jack and I pressed the cans and shot silly string all over Hotch.

“Good morning, daddy!” Jack screamed as he flung the can around. Definitely a mess I’d have to clean later but very worth it at the moment.

“Morning, Jack!” The older man said as he brought his kid down tickling him slightly. “Is it safe to assume this was your idea, (Y/N)?”

“Yes, sir. It is,” I responded between laughs. “We have a very strict protocol in this household when it comes to wake up calls.”

“That’s a very effective wake up call.” Hotch smiled.

“Well, now that we’re all up, we can eat some breakfast,” I said. “There’s some chocolate chip pancakes for you, little man.”

“Yes!” He excitedly left the room and ran downstairs.

“And there’s coffee, too.” I smiled and Hotch got up to join us downstairs.

“(Y/N), thank you.” Hotch said as he stood on the doorstep ready to go home. “This is exactly what Jack and I needed, and I have no idea how I’ll ever be able to make it up to you.”

“Hotch, there’s absolutely no need.” I laid a hand on his arm, giving it a squeeze for reassurance. “I meant it when I said I’d always be here for you both. Whatever it is you need.”

Hotch smiled and left with an ‘I’ll see you at work’, and a Jack frantically waving from the backseat.

And that’s how our sleepovers started. Most of the times we had days off Hotch would come over and we’d build a fort with Jack and watch movies or played games. On hot days, we’d play around in the pool. Sometimes with the squad, but more often than not, just the three of us. If ever he needed it, I would take care of Jack so he could have a day to himself. These nights were happening so often, I transformed one of the guest rooms into a room for Jack. Hotch started leaving some of Jack’s clothes and toys. My house started becoming a second home for the Hotchner boys.

Slowly we grew closer and closer as friends, even if I wanted more. His friendship was too important for me to lose what we already had.

Back at work, it was business as usual. The team was none the wiser, but they could see that our relationship had gotten closer. JJ would always give me a smirk when she saw us hugging in his office, Derek would wiggle his eyebrows at me, and Penelope would silently squeal and flail her arms whenever she saw us in proximity.

Today was no different. Reid, Emily, Derek, and I were in the briefing room each stirring their wanted sugars and creams into the coffees I had brought in the morning. Reid quickly examining the box of donuts I had also brought along to pick the best one.

“Come on, baby girl,” Derek chuckled. “What’s going on between you and the boss man?”

“Well, Derek, if you must know,” I played along. The trio closed in as I pretended to look around for any eavesdropping ears. “Absolutely nothing. We’re just friends.”

“Come on, (Y/N),” Emily responded annoyed. “There has to be something. Friends don’t look at each other the way you both do.”

“My dearest Emily, I’m serious. I’ve just tried to be there for him in these very difficult times.” I sipped my coffee. “And I very much enjoy Jack’s company.”

“You know,” Spencer chimed in. “Oxytocin and dopamine, which are often referred to as the love hormones, affect pupil size. The brain gets a surge of these chemicals when you’re sexually or romantically attracted to someone. This boost of hormones causes pupils to dilate. So, really, if we wanted to know if something was happening all we have to do is pay attention to their eyes.”

“Thank you, Spence.” I laughed. “Now I’m gonna have to use sunglasses everywhere.”

“So that means there is something to look out for!” Emily chirped.

“No,” I cleared my throat. “It means that I don’t want to be stared at all the time by profilers, thank you very much.”

“Whatever you say, (Y/N), whatever you say.” Emily laughed.

After that, playful side eyes and nudges were implemented to our daily routine. They’d smirk whenever Hotch praised me and stared whenever he was even remotely close to me. At first it was funny, but it made me extremely nervous to think that Hotch could catch on. Although, it had been a couple of months with this behavior and thankfully, the unit chief had yet to figure it out, as oblivious to our teammates’ behavior as he was to my feelings for him.

Our friendship continued to flourish and strengthen as I pushed my feelings down in an effort to forget about them. It did not do me any good but, if this was the only way to keep him close, I would endure it.

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Tag: @ssamorganhotchner

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keyboardink · 3 years

Text

“meet me at the witching hour”

Sarah and Hannah reunite in the forest to make love under the full moon.

pairing: sarah fier x hannah miller / media: fear street trilogy

genre: smut / word count: 1k / rating: mature / warnings: mild sexual content, religious tones

a/n: this isn’t really pre/post-canon, so just think of this as a deleted scene i suppose. this contains mild sexual content (not as explicit as my other works) -- i wanted to mimic the feeling of their sex scene in the movie, so it's a bit more about the atmosphere of it all than anything else. if you like this, please lmk or check out my other fear street works! i hope you enjoy :)

[link to my ao3 account]

Their meeting place was the stone, five feet tall with a divot on its backside, just deep enough to be a seat.

It was fifty-eight paces south of the blackberry bush, and west of the firepit where they would dance. They could hear the chatter of their friends in the distance, oblivious to their presence. Sarah said that Henry had grown suspicious of her sneaking out -- which wasn't untrue -- and that she wanted him to stay uninvolved, a good and clean brother who didn't dabble in the fruitful evenings -- which was still a truth. Her lie bent when she told him she would be attending the firelit dance anyway, despite informing Lizzie, Isaac, and the other knowing villagers that she would pass. Hannah's untruth stemmed from her father, some fable about memorizing scriptures in preparation for the upcoming holiday.

Sarah stood in the moonlight, eyes upwards as though speaking to the stars. A glow illuminated her, making the warmth of her skin appear cool, almost icy. Her curls looked a frostbitten blue. She turned her head towards her at the slightest sound, panic swimming in her eyes, until the realization processed in her mind. Her shoulders relaxed, eyes softened, lips stretched into a smile.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show," she said, drinking in the lovely Hannah Miller as she walked into the spotlight amidst the night, pale moonlight pouring over her fair skin.

"I would hope you know me better than that." Her smile was simply beautiful, there was no other way to word it. She stepped forward and took Sarah's hand, gently holding it in her own.

"It seems a flower has taken a liking to our meetings." Sarah pointed their joined hands in the direction of a red blossom, blooming at the foot of the rock. It seemed neon in the light, almost supernatural.

"What did I tell you last? If this were wrong, we would feel it, or the earth around us would decay, aye?"

"This appears to be the opposite," Sarah muttered, remembering her hesitation during the last time, mere weeks ago. This doesn't feel wrong. Do you feel it's wrong? Hannah had asked her then, and she had replied with a shake of her head.

"Precisely." Hannah cupped Sarah's face, softly tilting her chin up, asking for her attention. She pressed her lips to her forehead, a gesture to reassure that nothing had changed since their last reunion, that her heart was still beating for her. The kiss was worth a thousand words.

Hannah curved around Sarah's body, twirling them to sit on the stone. Sarah landed in her lap, sitting on one of her legs, as their lips met. The first kiss always felt earth-shattering, fire running deep within their bones from the lust and love that had gathered inside themselves during their time apart. It was as though their bodies realigned with the Earth and sky, fitting into the place where everything was supposed to be.

Hannah untied the twine of Sarah's shirt collar, letting the beige linen fall open. The valley between her breasts was revealed, the bruises from their last meeting completely faded, her skin clear. She kissed down the crevice, indulgent in the taste of her skin. Amber and pine filled her mouth. She tugged the cloth to one side and trailed her tongue over her breasts. Sarah's panting was lost in the breeze, rustling the leaves around them.

She felt Hannah's thigh beneath her, and recalled when she had woken up one morning with the blanket bunched between her legs, how she had accidentally discovered a sin. She pressed down, rocking against her leg, almost hissing at the electric sensation. Goosebumps rose over her skin, hardening the features under Hannah's tongue. Her body shivered, cold in the nighttime air with the exception of her chest, at the mercy of her mouth.

Sarah's hand slipped downwards, knowing it would be no use to pull up the hem of her skirt when she was sitting on it, but instead pressed between Hannah's legs through the fabric. She whimpered, her voice reverberating through her breast, sending shockwaves down her spine.

Hannah pulled away and motioned for Sarah to sit in her place. She knelt between her legs and tugged up the fabric, her skirt folding around her hips. Hannah kissed at the soft skin of her thighs, her tongue sliding into place at the center, knowing exactly how she liked to be touched. Her hands wrapped around her legs, fingers gripping at the muscle to keep her in place as the forest filled with her moans, branches creaking in time with them. Hannah savored her, as if attempting to make up for lost time, as if she was holding the Earth in her hands, trying to water it and make it bloom. She got lost in it, relished in it, for nothing else in the world felt more right.

As Hannah's tongue danced over her, her hips bucked and quaked, her feet pressed against the ground as her hands found stability in her hair. Fingers weaved through blonde strands and tugged, causing whimpers that pushed her over the edge, her body trembling as bliss pooled in the cool moonlight. Sarah felt it then, too, what Hannah meant by feeling like it was destined to happen. Nothing had given her as much comfort as when she was with her.

Hannah stood up as Sarah caught her breath. Their smiles were dazed, as if breaking out of a trance, bewitched in the act of it all. They switched places, desire flickering behind both pairs of eyes, silently agreeing to continue for more. Sarah was on her knees before Hannah, slowly dragging the skirt up her thighs, seeing the pool that had formed between pale legs and feeling her own deepen beneath herself.

She smiled against Hannah as her tongue twirled over her, the woods once again windswept with whimpers. Hands in hair, hips tense, eyes closed, lips parted as tension built like a flint-lit fire, the flames spreading over the sticks until they burned everything in its wake, delight taking hold of her body. She rocked against her mouth until the sensation subsided. Warm affection bubbled in their chests. Sarah wanted to freeze that moment forever -- how could something so heavenly ever be wrong?

They shared a same smile, sated and thick with elation. She pulled her in for a wet kiss, their lips drowning with love, tasting like the only sin she would never repent.

#inkwrites #honestly my FS stuff isn't getting any traction here so i might stop posting them on tumblr #fear street #fear street 1666 #fear street fic #fear street smut #sarah fier x hannah miller #hannah miller x sarah fier #sarah fier fic #hannah miller fic #sarah fier smut #hannah miller smut

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mykingdomforasong · 3 years

Note

For the fan fiction trope mash up: skysolo and fake dating + sleep intimacy? 💕

A little while ago I wrote this ficlet about Han going to Luke's home for Christmas as his fake boyfriend. And I really liked it, so I'm going to continue it here. Although, you don't have to read that other one first to understand this one. I don't know what I'm doing writing a holiday fic in September when I don't even like Christmas, but here we are.

~*~*~

"We're going to the ten p.m Midnight Mass," Aunt Beru reminded them as Uncle Owen mixed four White Russians.

"What?" Han asked. It was the first he was hearing about Christmas Mass at all, and the phrase "ten p.m midnight" had left him even more confused.

Luke passed him his drink. "We go to church on Christmas Eve, but as the average age of the congregation starts to rise --"

"Watch it, Luke," Owen warmed him, a smile hidden behind the rim of his glass.

"-- they keep moving 'Midnight Mass' earlier." Han checked the time on his phone. It was only six. Plenty of time for the Lars family to work up a good pre-Mass buzz by his counting.

"Do I have to go?" Han asked.

"No," Luke said, "but if you don't go, you don't get presents." Luke's smirk was enough to convince Han that was a rule he'd just made up, until Beru said:

"Oh, Han doesn't have to follow that rule."

"Do I?" Luke asked hopefully.

"Of course you do," his aunt said. Han laughed at Luke, completely unsympathetic to his situation.

Two drinks later, Han was laying in Luke's childhood bed, watching him put on a button-up shirt and a red sweater. Luke's room was covered in old trophies and embarrassing photos of him from middle school that Han had already had his fill of making fun of.

Now, he was entertained enough by how proper Luke looked all dressed for church. Han tried to remember that he was the same messy gay who'd thrown up gin and tonics and glitter on the sidewalk during the last Pride parade, not the Sunday School teacher he was posing as.

"You look like you're trying to pray the gay away," Han said, watching Luke loop his belt around his hips.

Luke laughed. "Shut up," he said. "You should come with us."

Han laughed right back, and spent the next ten minutes insisting that he wasn't going while he, for the first time in his life, put on his Sunday's best.

"Look, I didn't want to say anything in front of your aunt and uncle," Han said when the door to Luke's room closed behind them, "but your god tastes terrible."

They shed their clothes quickly and climbed into bed. It was snug for the two of them. Han had been offered an air mattress or the couch if the bed was too small, but Han said they'd try it for at least a night. This was night two. The night before, they'd found that the bed was cozy. Small, but cozy. He didn't get to snuggle with people that often. And Luke was a very snuggly bed partner.

Before they'd headed upstairs, Aunt Beru had handed them both a box. "Christmas pajamas," she explained to Han. Luke didn't need an explanation, though, and was already tearing through the red and green paper.

They reveled matching sets of red and green flannel pajamas that Han was sure would get way too hot over night.

But as they cuddled closer together, resting Luke's laptop between them to end the night with a viewing of Elf, Han found himself aware that he wasn't too hot. He was just comfortable. Overwhelmingly comfortable for the second person in a bed made for one, on a mattress almost as old as Luke himself.

Han put an arm around Luke, letting him lean in closer to him. He thought they might fall asleep right away, but instead they stayed up through the whole thing, quoting parts at each other, or remembering past holidays.

"It's nice to have you here," Luke said towards the end of the movie.

"I'm happy to be here. You didn't tell me I'd be getting free pajamas and crackers out of the deal."

"The Lars family comes with its perks," Luke said.

"I might just have to join it," Han said.

Luke didn't take him seriously. "Oh yeah, how do you think you'll make that happen?" Luke said.

"Your uncle isn't going to live forever," Han said.

Luke didn't respond right away. Han worried for a second before Luke started to talk again.

"Han, I need to tell you something," he said, an uncomfortably serious tone to his voice.

"Yeah?"

Luke turned to face him. "You are, under no circumstances, allowed to have sex with my aunt."

Han laughed, and then Luke did too as Han promised.

They closed the laptop, switched off the light, and got under the covers. No matter how they laid, their bodies would touch, there just wasn't enough room for it to be any other way. So Han decided to do what he'd done the night before, and pull Luke in as his little spoon.

"You can be little spoon if you want," Luke offered.

Han liked the sound of that, letting Luke hold him through the night. But he suddenly felt too lazy to even roll himself over. "Maybe tomorrow," he said.

Maybe it should have felt weird, Han thought, for this to feel so natural. Maybe they were just perfect friends. Maybe it was weird, and Han just couldn't tell. But nothing about it felt wrong. He could feel Luke's heart beating under his hand, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of a single thing he'd change. Even the small size of the bed was a comfort. He'd wake up in the morning touching Luke somewhere, in pajamas his aunt bought him, and spend Christmas with his family. No, he thought, there wasn't a single thing he'd change.

#skysolo #hanluke #luke skywalker #han solo #my writing

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iluvyou-xoxo · 3 years

Text

high

suna x reader

wc: 2.2k

you were completely in over your head. sure, you had the occasional blunt at a high school party or kickback, but never have you been to something like this.

your senior project about the film industry was just proven wrong as the girls next to you snorted a line off the kitchen countertop. in your suburban neighborhood, the parties portrayed in television or cinema were only that: something that directors and script writers created as they continued to fetishize the high school experience. your paper talked about how odd it was that films focused on the loss of innocence during those four years of hell and how extremely inaccurate the portrayal was.

but here you stand at your first college party since attending university for only about a month now. it was exactly as pictured in every movie that you once would have called “stupid as fuck", and now you wish you had paid more attention.

everyone seemed to of had experience in these types of gatherings while you stood next to the sink with a red solo cup filled with only water. your roommate had dragged you to this frat house because she had to meet with her dealer and would much rather do it in a public setting. her smart decision was only your downfall as she had begged you to come too, yet ditched you fifteen minutes ago to go find him even though she said she'd be back in five.

a tall lean figure walked past you but it wasn't his perfect physique that got your attention, it was the strong scent of weed that clung to the cotton of his hoodie. once you looked up to see the ethereal face of rintarō suna, you immediately recognized him as your roommates plug and decided to ask him if he has seen your roommate that seemed to have gone m.i.a. while looking for the person only a foot away from you.

“excuse me,” you called out much louder than how you would usually speak, but the base of the speakers drowned out your voice. although suna had heard you, he didn't look around just in case you were trying to capture someone else's attention. when you timidly tapped the back of his arm with your index finger it was unmistakable you weren’t asking for anyone else.

he slowly turned around and looked down at you with a bored expression and a red flask in his left hand, “yeah?”

“i'm y/n, and I was wondering if you have seen himari; she's my roommate,” you quickly asked as you removed your hand from his soft hoodie that hid the hard muscle underneath.

“oh uh yeah...” suna said, unsure of what else to say.

“well, she said that she was supposed to meet with you quickly but it's been over fifteen minutes now and she hasn't responded to my texts.”

quickly he understood what you were asking, “we met up like ten minutes ago but right now I think she's hooking up with my friend aran.”

instead of responding, you looked down and a small frown pulled the edge of your lips in realization that the person that asked you to come for protection had left you even though she knew this was your college first party— hell, your first real party.

before you had the chance to decide on either waiting for himari to finish or to take your chances walking alone to your dorm room, suna lightly grabbed your hand and pulled you out of the kitchen. the two of you weaved through the bustling function until you reached the front yard that was littered with cups and bottles.

“aran said that he'd meet up with me as soon as they're done so we can just chill in my car ‘til then,” suna said slightly ahead of you with your hand still placed lightly in his as the two of you continued walking.

you were completely sober, yet his skin touching yours had your head spinning and all the danger signs that would have flashed in your head seemed of cut off when you were with him. although this was the first time you've ever conversed with suna, you had a slight crush on the middle blocker that you had seen in school games a few times.

the both of you approached a black car that flashed twice indicating that suna had opened the doors. to your dismay, he let go of your hand and walked to the driver's side as you made your way to the passengers. once inside he pulled out his phone to play some rap song that you had never heard of before and pulled up the middle console to reveal a mason jar with four pre-rolled blunts inside.

“you wanna smoke, doll?” the mysterious man asked.

“i don't have any money on me,” you responded quietly, shifting your gaze to the window next to you. a muffled chuckle interrupted your mile-a-minute thoughts and turned you to see suna show more expression than you had ever seen him hold before.

“baby, you don't need to pay if i offer it to you,” he explained with a light laugh at the end of his sentence. wow, his laugh is beautiful.

“oh, well okay then,” you reply timidly as you watch him take off the lid and reach over to pull a lighter out of the glove compartment.

he takes the first few hits, quickly putting your mind at ease in case it was laced or something, and then brings the joint to you. next, you take two pulls and pass it back, the cycle continuing until the car is filled with smoke and the blunt is near its end.

the silence between you two is comforting as there was no need for awkward conversation. it was just two people in a cloudy car, vibing to one of the many chill playlists that suna had. the weed had hit you full force and you suddenly started to chuckle while thinking about how happy you were that your annoying roommate ditched you, even though in any other circumstance you would be livid.

suna was just appreciating the calm that marijuana gave him until your laughter filled the car. his eyes that naturally hung low seemed to have deepened as he slowly looked over to you and poked your cheek with his pointer finger. “watcha’ laughin’ about?”

your smile didn't leave your face as you looked over to the most beautiful person you have ever laid your eyes upon. “oh nothing,” you said slyly as your smile seemed to only intensify.

“oh really?” he asked while slowly shifting towards you

“yep, really,” you said, but this time closed your eyes with a big smile still plastered to your face.

rather than saying anything else, suna only chuckled and placed a hand on your thigh while shifting in his seat so his head leaned back on the headrest. the small action made you're heart leap and eyes open again and you found suna with a calm look on his face with his eyes closed and head tilted slightly back.

his peaceful face made you realize that he has probably taken many people to his car for a smoke and called them endearing nicknames. rather than feeling dread, something you were sure to have experienced if you were sober, you came to terms that this would be your only chance to be close like this with him again. before you could even think twice about it, you reached over the middle console to grab his cheek and quickly brought his lips to yours.

either he had experienced this situation many times before or he had expected it, because he immediately kissed you back and not a single muscle tensed at the sudden move on your part. his lips slowly moved with yours and met your tongue with his own.

soon you got frustrated because even though you were making out he wasn't doing much else. you thought that by now he would understand that you wanted him to take you on the backseat, but he kept the pace slow and his hands stayed in safe places, one holding your mid-thigh and the other on the side of your neck.

you broke your lips from his and even though that pace had been slow, he somehow still managed to take your breath away. “suna, do you not want to touch me?” you asked with insecurity leaking into your tone unknowingly.

“baby, i don't fuck people unless they’re sober,” he said with a slight smile as he looked at you. although you completely understood where this was coming from, you couldn't help the frustrated whine that left your lips.

“then why did you offer to smoke if you knew we wouldn't do it afterward?” you looked down to his lap to he was definitely hard, but his face didn't give anything away.

“well i wasn't really looking to get in your pants just yet, but no need to worry babe, we can always pick up where we leave off,” next suna placed his hand on your cheek and began softly rubbing it.

three hard knocks on the driver's side window grabbed both of your attention. there stood a tall man with beautiful deep skin and you instantly recognized him as aran from the volleyball team.

suna rolled down the window and although most of the smoke had dissipated throughout your make-out session, the final bit remaining went out and drifted into the midnight sky.

“suna please tell me you're ready to go now. i can't keep stalling her forever,” aran said as he let out an exasperated sigh.

“where is she now?” suna asked with slight frustration.

“well, she was dancing with a few of her other friends so i decided to run out and see how you're doing out here. do you need more time?”

normally you would mind your business but now you seemed to let the thoughts you hold fall from your lips. “what are you guys talking about?”

“nothing baby, don't worry about it,” suna brushed you off quickly.

“c’mon suna, i can tell that this is going well since you’ve been in here for almost half an hour,” aran pressed. “i'm pretty sure you're going to have to tell her eventually anyway.”

“okay now i’m really confused” you replied.

suna stayed silent while glaring and aran, but aran only smiled at you while slightly shaking his head. “this boy has had me distracting your roommate while he tried to sneak in some alone time with you.”

the idea of suna, the most handsome boy in all of japan, creating a plan just to talk to you made you almost want to laugh at how farfetched it was. but shortly after glancing at suna to find him holding a slight blush on his cheeks and shooting his friend a glare, you understand that this was actually the truth.

there's an awkward silence between the three of you and aran was the first to break it. “well i'm gonna dip real quick, but i’m only stalling her for five more minutes so you better wrap this up.”

he quickly turns away and walks back into the party as suna rolls the window up again refusing to make eye contact with you.

“do you like me?” you cut quickly to the chase as your excitement can barely be contained.

suna has yet to meet your eyes but when he nods his head indicating yes you smile brightly at him and quickly place your hand upon his thigh to grab his attention. “you know, you should have just said ‘hi’ to me around campus or something; i like you too.”

when he looks up he holds a sheepish smile and is still dusted pink from embarrassment. “oh shut up and hand me your phone, we don't have much time and i need your number.”

wordlessly you hand your phone over once it's unlocked and on to your contact app.

“well your friend is waiting for you, aran should have already called an uber for you guys”

“well are you going to tell me how you knew id be coming tonight for this elaborate plan to seduce me?” you asked flirtatiously and in a teasing manner.

quickly, suna cupped your jaw and squeezed your cheeks together forming an adorable pout on your face, slowly making ‘tsk’ noises while swaying your head left to right.

“it's time for you to go now, sweetheart. i’m gonna text you later so we can plan a date and maybe ill let you know then.”

your eyes quickly light up at the word ‘date’ and you lightly nod with a smile forming on your face. as soon as he lets you go you lean forward to place a final kiss upon his lips and walk out of the car.

once you finally find himari, you get her into the awaiting uber, wave goodbye to aran, and tell the driver your address. the smile you hold doesn't seem to let up for the rest of the night and once you're tucked in bed at around three in the morning your smile only intensifies at the glow of your phone that holds two new text messages.

maybe: suna- hey, this is suna

maybe: suna- i have a game tomorrow and was wondering if you'd come..?

—————

date: march 18th, 2021

#haikyuu #haikyu x reader #suna rinatro #suna x y/n #suna imagines #suna x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu x you #hq #hq x reader

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aphroditestummyrolls · 3 years

Note

Nicky (from the old guard) for the Send Me a Character thing 💕

Hello!

My Nicolò 🌸✨ my sweet Angel

First impression: The second the door to that hotel room opened, and that slow smile spread over Luca Marinelli’s beautiful face, i was a goner. He was so immediately steady— he was the perfect person to have center of the shot there, it told you all you needed to know about Nicky. He’s foundational, he’s warm, he’s quiet but not shy. As soon as i saw him, i knew he was deep. It wasn’t until he said “we can do some good”, though, that I was like OH. Oh, okay. His quiet compassion was the first thing I really noticed.

And I fell in love instantly.

Impression now: he’s my favorite. Like, it’s a close run thing between him and Joe, but Nicolo di Genova is my favorite member of the guard, and my favorite character in the movie. He conveys so much with so little, he’s so powerful.

Favorite moment: ALL OF THEM 😩 Guh, if I have to choose, it’s a tie like Joe’s haha the first one is the scene in the hotel that I was just describing— the scene in the hotel is probably my favorite in the movie, period, but I digress— the thing I like most about that scene, though, is the HUG. when he hugged Andy?? And I was 6 months into quarantine and 5 months out of a manipulative relationship, and I saw THAT hug???? I teared up. I had never wanted a hug so badly.

The second one is at the lab— when he threatens Merrick. O_O “as is yours” okay, baby, go off. Like, Joe fills any room, but Nicky operates best in the negative space. He’s cryptic and subdued, but he’s not subtle. There is no doubt or hesitation— it’s similar to how he talked to Kozak earlier (speaking of favorite scenes). He’s certain of the world in a way that really shows his age, and I think it’s fascinating and strong, and really sexy, honestly.

Idea for a story: I have a story from a million years ago about Nicky getting separated from the group while on a mission (pre or post Nile, but definitely with Booker) and it’s continually floated that Nicky might be for-real dead. Joe is inconsolable, and the team has to help him keep it together. Nicky, though, is doing his damn best to find them, all by his lonesome. He has a lot of flashbacks to his life before death, and what it means to be alone. Of course, they’re reunited at the end— not separated for too long, because I’m not that mean— but it’s a heavy, angsty story.

Unpopular opinion: ummm. I dunno. In a similar vein to Joe, just let him BE. My favorite thing about Nicky is his profound depth, let him contain his multitudes! There’s so much more to the both of them than just their fanon dichotomies. That being said, popular canon takes— like Nicky having had a hard life prior to death, being the most frequent cook, or most experienced medic— aren’t necessarily bad takes. Just because he’s the cook (for example) doesn’t mean he doesn’t do other things. Let him be complicated! He’s literally a millennia old! Let the man cook if he likes to fucking cook!

Favorite relationship: Yusuf ❤️ but, like with Joe, that’s too easy! The relationship that’s been on my mind lately is his friendship with Andy. There’s a scene in Sono Qui where he’s bandaging Andy’s wound from Booker, and they have this tender moment just between the two of them that is so special to me. They have a real kinship.

Favorite headcanon: this is less of a headcanon and more of a character study haha but I’ve been thinking about dichotomies and symbolism in Joe and Nicky a lot lately— particularly the sun/moon idea. Which is just my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!

Nicky IS the moon. Mysterious, and constant even when we can’t see it. He’s been there since long before you were born, and he will continue to be there long after you die. He watches humanity, and he knows every cycle in the historical runaround (“a fine justification— I have heard it so many times before.”). The moon perpetuates cycles that can give or take life— tides/currents— as much as the sun does, and they work together in seamless partnership to make the world work. Like, we talk all about Joe and his sun symbolism all the time, but Nicky is often relegated to the moon being the reflection of the sun’s light, and that’s usually where the conversation ends, but that’s not enough for me. The moon isn’t just the reflection of the sun, it’s the memory of it. It’s the reminder that nothing that’s gone is gone forever, and another day will come tomorrow. The moon knows what’s behind us and what’s coming, even when all we see in the night is darkness. It operates in a cycle itself, in endless renewal. It’s a warning of the past behind us, shining in all the millennia of meteor scars on its face, and a hopeful affirmation that a new day is coming. A literal light in the night. Some of the oldest calendars in the world track the lunar cycles! The moon is time, and so is Nicky.

Sorry. I’m super into the moon.

Thanks for playing! I hope that made sense haha

#ask game #the old guard #nicolo di genova #joe x nicky #yusuf al kaysani

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leejihoonownsmyheart · 4 years

Text

Moving On

Part five of the New Year, New Me Series

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Summary:

After your fight with Joshua, he’s about all you can think about. So to distract from your worries, Jeonghan resolves it’s about time he took you on a date.

Warnings: name-calling, no protection, lots of public play, blowjobs, choking

Your fingers drummed mindlessly against Jeonghan’s dining table as sounds of him moving around in his bedroom filled your ears.

You were supposed to hang out with Joshua today- after all it was the release of a movie that you two had been dying to see and had been talking about for months. You both had pre-purchased your tickets online and your phone had reminded you not long ago that in an hour you were supposed to be at the theater.

Normally you and Joshua probably would have spent the whole day together. Mina would have jested that you two were much too close as you binge-watched all your favorite movies together and you both would throw popcorn at her telling her she just didn’t get it.

As always that would make Mina mad at Joshua for a whole hour and you would laugh when he came back- slightly sulky- drape your legs across Joshua’s and tell him about how good the single life felt from an outsider’s perspective.

You and Joshua had always done everything together for as long as you could remember you two were as close as close could be. He had supported you when you needed supported and you had done the same to him when need be.

But it had been a few days since Joshua had texted you. He hadn’t reached out to you since he caught you and Jeonghan...

You missed him. You couldn’t believe that you had to miss him, but you did, and you missed him so much it hurt.

You let your head fall to the table and let out a loud groan- a noise that made Jeonghan poke his head into the room.

“Still moping?”

You grunted at the question, which was all the answer that Jeonghan needed from you apparently. He walked over, his fingers tangled in your hair gently and he leaned down, kissing you on the top of your nose.

“Come on, you’re going to have to get over it at some point,” Jeonghan murmured. “Just stewing in the little disagreement-”

“It’s not a little disagreement,” you protested. “Joshua and I have never fought like this before.”

Your eyes flickered to Jeonghan’s and you pouted. It made him smile at you and he knelt before you, his hands coming your face.

“Never huh?” He asked you airily. You knew that he just found your pout to be amusing, but you still played right into his hands.

“Joshua and I may fight, but we always make up in a day, or two days, but he’s never just flat out ignored me like this,” you replied. “And... He would never say something so mean to me and then kick me out without another word.”

Jeonghan leaned forward at that, and pressed a small kiss to your lips.

“He’ll get over himself,” Jeonghan assured you. His fingers slipped down your body, and he began to try to push your jacket off of you, your back pressing against the back of the table.

“He called me a whore to Mingyu. Mingyu told me,” you mumbled back in response.

“He’s just mad, people say things they don’t mean when they are mad,” Jeonghan replied. He placed a kiss to your collarbone and then added: “Besides you are a whore.”

You smacked him and he let out a soft: “Ouch.” Pausing his advances on you. You leaned forward again and shrugged your jacket back on your shoulders.

“Jeonghan, I’m worried Joshua is never going to talk to me again. What if I made the biggest mistake of my life and lost my best friend?”

Jeonghan sighed and reached forward, again, but his hands went to cup your cheeks once again.

“I’m serious- Things are going to be okay,” Jeonghan insisted. “You just have to give Joshua some time to digest everything. You know Mina is on your side and she’ll talk some sense into him.”

You lowered your eyes from Jeonghan’s so he continued.

“Besides it’s you we are talking about. Joshua is crazy about your two’s friendship. He would never risk losing you forever. He’ll realize he misses you soon and then he’ll come running.”

You knew that Jeonghan was right. Joshua just needed some time to digest everything, but you still couldn’t help but worry.

Jeonghan seemed to sense this and sighed. He stood back up to his full height and patted your head.

“Alright, that’s it. You need to go home, shower and get dressed. We’re going out.”

Your eyebrows rose in surprise at the suggestion.

“What?” You asked him softly. He raised an eyebrow at you and placed a hand on his hip.

“I’m not going to let you mope around all day about Joshua,” Jeonghan mumbled. “Especially if I can’t seem to even distract you with sex. So, let’s go out on a date.”

Those were six words you never thought that you would ever hear leave Jeonghan’s lips for you to hear. You pulled your legs up in the chair that you were sitting in and gave him a bewildered look- one at which he just rolled his eyes to.

“Seriously. I’ll get us a table somewhere fancy, where you spend like double digits on small portions or whatever.”

You were still suspicious by the suggestion and opened your mouth just to tell him so, but it only made him roll his eyes and rush over to you, gently pulling you to your feet.

“It’s because I like you idiot. Now go put something nice on before I change my mind.”

You laughed and stumbled a little bit as you were nudged towards the door by Jeonghan. You caught your balance and looked back over your shoulder at Jeonghan.

“Thank you,” you murmured softly. He rolled his eyes.

“Just hurry up before I change my mind and fuck you right here instead.”

The idea of going on a fancy date with Jeonghan sounded like a lot of fun and honestly it distracted you a lot more from the whole Joshua situation then you had initially thought that it would. You did your make up for the first time in a really long time, picked out a fancy dress that you left hanging in the back of the closet and picked out a clutch that your family had given you a while back that you hadn’t ever really thought you would use.

You looked at yourself in the mirror and the reality of the situation hit you like a rock.

Were you really excited to go on a date with Yoon Jeonghan? Honestly distracted by getting yourself dress up for a man who was used to seeing you naked?

Your thoughts were interrupted by a knock at your door and you distractedly called over your shoulder: “Coming!”

You looked at yourself once more in the mirror.

Yeah, you supposed you were.

You ran over to the door the best you could in your heels and pulled the front door open without really looking at who was there. Instead you focused on your shoes which you were momentarily worried that you had scuffed somewhere.

As you brushed your hair out of your face you heard someone suck in a sharp breath. You looked up, and saw that Jeonghan was giving you a bit of a dumb look.

He was dressed in a nice button up with a suit jacket over top and a tie. Just the sight of him made you swallow hard and force a smile on your lips.

“What?” You asked him. He shook his head and swallowed so hard that you could actually see his adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.

“It’s nothing,” he murmured. “You just... You look so beautiful.”

You scoffed at Jeonghan, but he didn’t mind that at all. He instead reached forward and gently wrapped his fingers around your wrist, pulling you up against him with a small smile.

“You have to stop assuming everything I say is bullshit,” he said with a laugh. “You are literally so beautiful. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before.”

Your cheeks burned red as he spoke and you groaned, burying your face in his chest.

“Jeonghan shut your dumb mouth,” you murmured back. He laughed again and his fingers brushed under your chin, making you look up at him. He kissed you softly.

“Why don’t you shut it for me?”

You pressed your hands against his chest and pressed him back. He stumbled away from you, a large smile spread over his cheeks as he did so, and he brushed himself off cheekily.

“Okay. Come on, let’s get to the restaurant.”

The first thing you noticed when you got to the restaurant was that the waitress had a clear crush on Jeonghan. The moment that you two walked into the room you happened to see her eyes fall on Jeonghan. You saw the way that her eyes widened, and she grabbed her nearest coworker. She said a few words, brushed her long dark hair back behind her ear and pulled the waist of her skirt up.

You weren’t surprised when the girl wandered over to your table and gave Jeonghan (that’s right Jeonghan- she didn’t even give you a glance) a large sweet smile. She set a menu down in front of Jeonghan and clasped her hands behind her back so that she could push her breasts forward.

“My name is Wendy,” she said sweetly. “Do you want to know the specials?”

Jeonghan wasn’t looking at her. Instead his eyes were on the menus on the table.

“No, I think that’s okay,” he replied softly. “We probably just need a second to look at the menu. What do you think?”

“Yeah, babe.”

The waitress, Wendy, looked over at you, a glare flickering over her face as she stared at you. Her eyes flickered up and down your body, and then she gave you sweet smile.

“Don’t forget to save room for dessert,” Wendy said, her voice sickly. “There isn’t really anything sweet at this table.”

Her fingers reached forward, and brushed the corner of your table, so close to Jeonghan’s hands that it made your fingers clench into small fists. Then she wandered away.

You glared after her as she walked away, and only when she had disappeared entirely from your sight did you look back at Jeonghan who seemed to be clueless to the whole thing.

He was staring down at the menu she had given you, his eyes scanning it meticulously.

“So, what are you in the mood for?” He asked you softly. “I’m thinking maybe we start off with the Lemony Mushroom Crostini with Shallot.”

You stared blankly at him, unable to comprehend both what he had said, and the fact that he hadn’t noticed what was going on just a moment before at all. He took note of your silence and turned towards you, eyebrows raising.

“What?” He asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” you waved off. “I guess the... Whatever you just said sounds good.”

Jeonghan hummed and started to talk about the other things on the menu, not seeming to notice your odd behavior. It annoyed you to a certain extent, after all you two were on a date. He should be paying complete attention to you, and you shouldn’t be competing for his attention with the waitress.

You leaned back in your chair as he spoke, trying to figure out why you were so annoyed in the first place, until finally the waitress returning to the table with two cups of water broke you out of your thoughts.

“Alright what can I get you two to drink?”

Once again, her eyes were completely on Jeonghan. You were pretty sure that while she was gone, she had unbuttoned a few of the buttons on her shirt, because the cleavage on her was unbelievable. You rolled your eyes away from her as she spoke.

Jeonghan was listening intently to her, his eyes still on the menu. You decided to speak up at that, interrupting the waitress as she spoke.

“I don’t think we need suggestions on what to eat or drink. We can figure it out on our own,” you snapped. This made Jeonghan glance up from the menu. He gave you an uncertain look and you shrugged innocently and clenched your fingers into fists in your lap. “What? We can.”

He seemed to note that for some reason you were annoyed, and this time he did turn over his attention to the waitress. His eyes didn’t even look at any part of you other than her eyes. He gave her a small smile.

“She’s right.” He continued to speak but watching him talk to the woman made your heart thud in your chest. You reached forward, your fingers brushing against his knees under the table. The waitress didn’t notice and Jeonghan didn’t react to the touch, something that just encouraged you to continue what you were doing. You let your fingers slide up his thigh, glad that the table was so small, and that there was actually a table cloth. Your fingers brushed up against Jeonghan’s crotch and a smile crossed your face when you found that he was rock hard.

You were completely zoned out to what was happening now, instead you were focused on pulling his cock out of his pants. But the minute that you had it out, you felt his foot kick you. You jumped, attracting the waitress's attention, so you smiled sweetly at her. Her eyebrows furrowed in suspicion at your facial expression, but you didn’t let anything too suspicious flicker over your face.

“Alright,” she mumbled. “I’ll be right back with the drinks.”

You once again watched her until she was out of sight, and then you turned to look at the occupants of the tables around you. You didn’t think anyone was looking your way, and since the tablecloth reached so far to the ground here...

You didn’t give yourself time to think over your decision sensibly. You heard Jeonghan start to speak: “Hey what’s going on with-”

And then before he could finish you were dropping to your knees and sliding between his legs under the table. You felt his whole-body tense at the action, but he didn’t really make a move to prevent you from what you knew he knew you were about to do.

So, you simply reached into his pants, pulled out his cock, and slipped the tip of it into your mouth.

“What are you doing?” Jeonghan hissed, his voice coming out deeper than you think he meant it to. Suddenly you understood why he teased you so much in public. Having him so desperate under your grasp but unable to do much about it at the risk of being caught doing something inappropriate was making you so turned on you could hardly stand it.

“Got hungry,” you murmured back. “And I’m too impatient to wait.”

You slipped his cock into your mouth and without any warning at all began to suck it. You weren’t trying to be careful about it. You didn’t mind that being sloppy could ruin your lipstick or could be too loud. Instead you just worked him in and out of your mouth, letting your spit get all over it, dripping down your chin. Your fingers squeezed at the base of his cock, and you watched in amusement as his fingers balled up at his sides.

“The waitress is coming back,” he warned, but you didn’t stop what you were doing. You just continued to suck his cock like you had been. You heard the clack of her heels as she approached the table, stopping right before Jeonghan’s chair. You weren’t sure why you weren’t nervous at all, but you didn’t mind that she was standing right there. You just kept going about your blow job as if you were safe in your own apartment.

“What happened to your girlfriend?” The waitress asked softly. You felt Jeonghan go to respond and just as words began to leave his mouth you sucked his cock all the way into your mouth. Jeonghan skipped over his words, and you heard him choke back a moan as his fingers flew to your hair, holding you still on his cock.

“Ran back to the car to grab something,” he murmured back, his breathing coming in heavier than it was before. You wanted to smile, but with Jeonghan’s cock deep in your throat it wasn’t entirely possible, so you just settled for really enjoying the position that you were in.

“Oh, well then I’ll just ask you for the order. After all you seem like quite the capable man.”

Jeonghan’s fingers didn’t relax in your hair throughout the entire time he ordered. In fact, he didn’t release you until you heard the signature clanking of her shoes as she made her way away from the table, and just when you couldn’t hear her anymore, Jeonghan pulled you up his cock, back down on it, and began to cum deep into your throat.

You moaned enthusiastically around him as his cum spurted down your throat, and it made him loosen his grip on you. You pushed back a bit so that it wasn’t all going down your throat but kept the tip in your mouth until his cock was down spasming in your hand. You grinned and swallowed the cum that was in your mouth, licking long strips up and down his cock to clean it off.

Then, after taking your time cleaning him, you tucked his cock back into his pants and climbed back out from under the table. You smiled at him innocently, ignoring the slightly annoyed post orgasmic expression on his face.

“Is my makeup okay?” You asked him teasingly.

Jeonghan’s facial expression never changed, but as the appetizer’s got set on the table a chill went down your spine. You watched as he looked up at the waitress.

“Thank you,” he said softy. “My girlfriend isn’t feeling very well.”

You looked at Jeonghan with a slightly surprised look, but he completely ignored that action. Instead he gave the waitress a sweet smile, folding his hands on his lap and leaning forward.

“Can you point her to the restroom?” He asked softly. The waitress’s cheeks turned red an action you thought was pretty brazen when she knew that you were on a date with Jeonghan, but you didn’t mention that. Instead you forced a smile on your face and turned your attention to the waitress. She didn’t even look at you and instead just pointed across the restaurant.

“It’s right over there.”

Jeonghan slowly parted his lips, his tongue darting out from his mouth to slowly run along the bottom of his lip. You could feel a tang of jealousy run through your body and you clamped your owns hands together.

“Thank you darling. You mind making sure no one uses the bathroom while I escort her to it? I don’t want her to be alone while she isn’t feeling well,” Jeonghan said softly. The waitress clutched her clipboard to her chest and smiled largely.

“That’s so sweet. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

Jeonghan hummed and stood up, sending a wink at the woman.

“Thank you, angel.”

He took you by the wrist and gently read you to wear you had initially been directed. As he did you grumbled and gently elbowed him in the side.

“You better have a damn good explanation for-”

Before you could finish speaking Jeonghan had pushed you into the bathroom. You yelped a little and stumbled as he walked through the clean marble bathroom, checking each style. Just as you were about to ask him what he was doing he turned back to you, his fingers grasping at his tie’s knot.

“Knees.”

Your eyebrows shot up in the air almost comedically, as heat pooled in your core at his words.

“Sorry?”

“Get to your damn knees you slut,” he repeated roughly. Jeonghan’s words made you drop down to your knees, an eager an expression spreading over your face. Jeonghan rolled his eyes at that and he unzipped his pants, coming up to you with his tie in one hand.

You opened your mouth to ask him why he was acting like this suddenly when he wrapped his silk tie around your neck, pulling it taughtly .

“You really thought you could just tease me like this and get away with it?” Jeonghan asked you. He pulled his cock out of his pants and smacked it lightly against your cheek.

“You were being such a dirty, dirty little-” He interrupted himself when you looked up at him, and practically choked on his own arousal at the look in his eyes. “Fuck do you even know what you do to me?”

You shook your head innocently and so Jeonghan tugged you again by the tie he had secured around your neck. You gasped at the feeling of the silk fabric sliding against your skin and let out a small whimper.

“J-Jeonghan-”

“I try to take you somewhere nice.”

Jeonghan used his freehand to guide his cock over your lips, spreading precum over them. Your tongue darted out of your mouth to taste the saltiness.

“And what do you do? You give me a blowjob under the table.” He mumbled indignantly. You scoffed.

“You were flirting with that waitress.”

Jeonghan stopped what he was doing to give you an incredulous look, which made you realize how dumb you sounded saying that. He hadn’t flirted with the waitress once all night except to get you guys into the bathroom. Other than that, he had been practically ignoring her- all of his attention had been on you all evening.

“Okay, I was jealous for no reason,” you relinquished. Jeonghan seemed to find that satisfying and he pulled you up by the makeshift leash.

“I hate to ruin this sexy outfit,” he murmured. He pushed you over the counter of the bathroom and a gasp escaped your body. You reached forward to steady yourself against the mirror as Jeonghan drew up your skirt. “But I think someone needs to be reminded of who I like to fuck the most.”

Jeonghan lined his cock up with your now dripping wet pussy, and his tip teased at your folds. As he did so he tugged the tie tighter around your neck, making you choke a little bit.

“Now scream for me.”

Jeonghan shoved his cock deep into your pussy and you let out a loud moan as he buried himself deep inside of you. He held for a moment, keeping himself balls deep buried inside of you, waiting for you to adjust against his length. He didn’t move or say a word- Just waited until you hit the counter twice and pressed back against.

“J-Jeonghan,” you whimpered. He began to tug on the tie to bring you back against his cock, meeting each pull with a hard thrust of his own. From this angle his cock was able to push impossibly deep into your body, and it felt like it was filling you impossibly full. You could barely contain the hics of moans at every thrust.

Your eyes rolled back as you tried to keep yourself steady on the marble counter, but it was nearly impossible with how hard Jeonghan was pushing into you. You couldn’t help but lose yourself in the action, and as he fucked you his fingers curved around your body, dipping into your dress.

He pinched your tits, making you let out a broken gasp, your head falling forward against the glass. This only encouraged Jeonghan.

“You’re sensitive today,” he mumbled. He tightened his grip around your tit and pulled it out from over your dress, and then he did the same with the other one. He pulled tightly on the tie, pulling you up against his chest and wrapped his arm around your throat so that he could stare at you in the mirror. He grinned.

“Look at that, can you see me fucking you?”

Your eyes lowered down to your pussy, and you about came on the spot when you saw how it was spread out over his cock. Jeonghan kept his grip tight on you, and his other hand lowered to your clit as he fucked you.

“Is this what you were hoping for when you got under the table? Wanted me to get so fucking turned on I couldn’t do anything but fuck you?” Jeonghan asked. You didn’t bother formulating an answer. You knew that wasn’t really want he wanted. You instead turned your head, your lips pressing against the side of his face sloppily. He grunted.

“Yeah, this is exactly what you wanted me to do. So, you better watch as I pump cum down your tight little pussy,” he grumbled. You felt your own orgasm coming and you tightened your walls around him, blindly squeezing your fingers into fists as your side.

“Y-Yes. Pl-Pl-”

Jeonghan pushed his cock deeper and harder into you, pushing you over the edge before you could really say anything. You cried out against his mouth as you came harder on his cock. You expected him to cum at the same time as you did, but instead he just fucked you even harder, his fingers playing with your clit faster as he fucked you.

Your pussy burned at his touch, but the anticipation of him feeling you with his cum, and just... Using you to do that was so appealing to you that you couldn’t bear to tell him to stop. Instead you just brokenly murmured his name in his ear, unable to help wrapping your hand around his wrist as he played with your clit.

“I’m s-so sensitive.”

As soon as the words left your mouth you felt Jeonghan’s cock explode inside of you, pumps and pumps of cum leaving it and making your pussy feel even more full then it had before. You must have gotten too loud for Jeonghan at this point because he covered your lips with his own, moaning as he did so.

When you finally stopped making noise around him, he pulled his fingers from your clit and pushed you back down over the counter. He pressed his hand on your back and fucked into you again, pushing his cum deeper and deeper into you. You thought that he was done fucking you, and honestly you hadn’t imagined that you had anything left in you.

But then Jeonghan leaned forward and murmured.

“Cum again.”

And you were suddenly doing just as he had asked. As he fucked you through that orgasm you felt tears prick at the corners of your eyes, but it was only a few, and it was in complete and utter pleasure at being fucked in such a way.

Finally, your thighs stopped shaking and Jeonghan’s cock slipped from your body. Your body heaved against the countertop, and your eyes fluttered shut. You sort of just wanted to fall asleep right there, and let Jeonghan worry about the rest of the evening but after hearing Jeonghan fumble with his pants and run the water, a cold paper towel was pressed to your sensitive pussy.

“Stop,” you whined but Jeonghan ignored you as he cleaned you off. His touch was gentle, and his fingers almost made you feel better as they resecured you in your dress. Finally, he lifted you up and sat you down on the counter so that he could take a different paper towel to your face. As he cleaned your makeup up, he didn’t look you directly in the eyes, so you watched him in silence instead.

It only took him about a minute before finally his eyes met yours and he gave you a small smile.

“There we go. Almost can’t tell that I just fucked you.”

You hummed.

“Shame. Kinda wanted that waitress to know.”

Jeonghan snickered and untied his tie from around your neck. As his fingers brushed gently over your skin, you smiled.

“Jeonghan. I love you.”

His eyes darted up to yours in complete surprise at the words. You watched as his adam’s apple bobbed nervously in his throat and his fingers hesitated to touch you again. You felt your own breathing stop as you waited for what he would do next.

Maybe leave you in the bathroom at the sudden confession? Never speak to you again?

“Are you serious?” His words broke through your thoughts like cinder blocks. You nodded and swallowed hard.

“Deadly.”

A tentative smile crossed his lips at that, and you watched as his body physically relaxed.

“I love you too.”

Your heart pounded.

“Now let’s get you out of here.”

Your fingers wrapped around Jeonghan’s as you two made your way into the theatre. You were really excited that you were finally going to see that movie you were supposed to be seeing with Joshua ages ago (even if it sort of felt wrong to watch it without Joshua).

Jeonghan gestured towards the snack bar.

“Hey, do you want any-”

But what Jeonghan said after that you didn’t hear a word of. Your eyes instead caught sight of Joshua, standing in the middle of the theatre not far from you. Mina was somewhere behind him, looking at her phone completely clueless to the fact that you two were looking at one another.

You swallowed hard.

He looked just the same as you remembered him, except that he had dyed his hair at some point blonde. You rolled your eyes. He had been wanting to do so for ages, but you had insisted he shouldn’t because it would make him stand out too much in a crowd.

He must’ve done it just to spite you after the argument.

“Yeah, can you grab us some popcorn? I think I’m going to find a restroom,” you said distractedly to Jeonghan. He hadn’t noticed Joshua yet- you figured that was a good thing and your fingers slipped from his.

When you turned back around Joshua was standing in front of you, a hand on the back of his neck.

“Let me guess-”

“John Wick: Chapter Three,” you both spoke in unison. You laughed and pushed your hands into your back pockets, a smile crossing your lips at being with your friend again. Even if-

“Look, I don’t hate you.”

You felt your heart skip a beat at the words.

“You... Don’t?” You asked softly.

“No,” Joshua said with a sigh. “I mean I really wanted to, and you and Jeonghan’s relationship in the bedroom is-” He coughed. “Intense. But you were right. It wasn’t really any of my business what you two were doing.”

“I still should have told you,” you insisted. “I mean come on, you’re my best friend. I should’ve known that I could rely on you.”

Joshua waved it off.

“I’ve been with Mina so long I probably would have reacted just as badly. I don’t understand casual relationships. It wasn’t a good situation for you. I understand, and... I’m sorry for saying what I said.”

“It’s okay,” you replied back, but before you could say more Joshua was speaking again.

“It’s not. You shouldn’t feel too ashamed to tell me about your relationships. I’m not your dad. I won’t ever react like that again- I promise.”

Joshua reached forward, his fingers brushing against yours. You smiled and didn’t hesitate to intertangle your fingers with his, pulling him into a hug.

“Joshua- I missed you so much,” you murmured softly as you buried your face in his chest. At first Joshua seemed shocked by the touch, but after only moments his hands tightened their grip on you.

“I missed you too,” he whispered.

You two were only hugging there for only a moment when you heard someone clear their throat beside you two. You didn’t break the hug assuming that the person wasn’t referring to you guys which only made them sigh.

“Should I be jealous?” “If you’re jealous, I should be jealous as well,” Mina’s voice added. You heard a laugh erupt from Joshua’s chest and you both peeled away from one another. You were going to rest your head on Joshua’s shoulder, but you saw the look in Jeonghan’s eyes and thought better of it.

Despite the fact that you knew that he wouldn’t say anything and also knew that you weren’t interested in Joshua at all, you saw a spark of annoyance in his eyes. You rolled your own and peeled away from Joshua. You held your hand out to Jeonghan, waiting for him to take it and pull you close. He took the bait and looked at Joshua.

“So, does this mean...?”

“They’ve made up,” Mina replied softly, wrapping her arms around you. “And we’re all here to see the same movie, so we’re going to sit together.”

Joshua chuckled at the assumption.

“You really think that-”

Mina interrupted Joshua by setting a small kiss to his lips. Which he smiled at.

“You know what’s good about Jeonghan dating you?”

Joshua’s eyes flickered over to you, and your cheeks turned red slightly.

“What?” You asked him softly. He chuckled.

“Double dates!” Joshua and Mina high-fived and it made your heart swell a bit in excitement. When you had gotten up this morning- honestly thoughts of having Joshua by your side again were zero to none. But here he was standing right in front of you acting like nothing had ever happened.

Jeonghan squeezed your hand.

“I don’t have to actually go on any double dates, do I?”

You rolled your eyes.

“We’re dating now,” you replied. “Of course, you do.”

Mina and Joshua laughed at that, and Jeonghan smiled at the action.

“Well, we still have to get our snacks for the movie. Will you guys meet us in there?”

Mina and Joshua both shrugged Joshua’s fingers dropping to grasp at Mina’s hand.

“Yeah that sounds like a good idea. See you in a few.”

Jeonghan waved Mina and Joshua off, but you had different thoughts. You started to pull after them, hoping that you could get Jeonghan to get the snacks while you went and caught up with your friends, but he tugged you back in an instant.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked you. You were about to tell him, when you looked up at him and stopped in your tracks.

Jeonghan was looking at you, eyes lidded, his fingers tightening around you. You scoffed at the sight.

“Jeonghan, are you...” You trailed off. “Turned on?”

He snickered.

“Oh baby, I’m always turned on,” he murmured back. He started to pull you towards the restrooms, and you sucked in a breath, trying to sound indignant.

“Really Jeonghan? The movie theatre bathrooms again?” You asked him. He glanced both ways before dragging you inside. He didn’t ask you any questions as he popped you right onto the counter. “Same spot as last time. You’re so sentimental.”

“I’m hoping to create a tradition with my gorgeous, very fuckable significant other.”

You let a small huff escape your lips.

“It is not sexy to fuck in a movie theatre bathroom,” you protested. Jeonghan rose an eyebrow towards you and lifted the hem of your dress. He glanced beneath it and smiled widely.

“And yet... Someone is missing underwear.”

You felt a dark blush rushing up your neck, and without even being asked you spread your legs for Jeonghan. You let your eyes dropped to the counter and you nervously reached your hand under your skirt, your fingertips dipping between your wet folds.

“And I’m a little wet too,” you whispered softly. Jeonghan let out a choked moan and his fingers wrapped around your thighs tightly.

“Maybe you should show me,” he murmured, his voice deep. You swallowed hard, trying to hide your embarrassment as you slowly began to ease a single finger into your pussy. You gasped as you pushed the digit into your body, and the action made Jeonghan’s lips curled up into a smile.

“Oh, I want to be inside of that pussy so badly baby,” he murmured softly. “You look so tight... Like you really, really want me inside of you. Do you want me inside of you?”

You bit back a whine and instead nodded your head slowly. You continued to ease the finger in and out of your body, your thighs shaking as you did so.

“I do,” you whispered shakily. He hummed and his lips brushed against your thigh.

“Do you really?” He asked you, clearly not believing you in the least. You tried to squirm beneath Jeonghan but his grip on your thighs was tight. So tight that you could feel bruises forming beneath his fingers.

“Please, Jeonghan, I need you so badly,” you whispered, your breath beginning to come out in soft pants. You pushed a second finger into your pussy and spread them out so that Jeonghan could see you better. Jeonghan seemed amused by such a desperate action and his teeth nipped at your thigh. It sent another wave of arousal through you and you began to fuck yourself on your two fingers. You kept your actions slow, only holding back because you knew that when Jeonghan did fuck you it would be nice and hard.

“Hmm.”

Jeonghan’s fingers left your thigh and he reached forward. He stilled your hand with his hand and pulled it out of you. He pulled your hand close to his face, and he slowly wrapped his lips around your wet digits. You whined and basically felt your walls clenching in anticipation of what he would do next.

Jeonghan finished sucking your liquids off of his fingers and then he slowly rose back up to his full height. Your eyes flicked back to him and you opened your mouth to speak but before you could Jeonghan grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you over to one of the stall’s in the very back of the restroom. He locked it behind you two, and then unzipped his pants, pulling his cock out of it.

He hiked you up, pressing your back against the stall wall.

“Guess what time it is?” He murmured.

And just at that, the door opened, and you could hear people flooding into the restroom. You looked at Jeonghan with wide eyes when you realized that a movie must’ve just gotten out and that Jeonghan had timed this occasion to the tee.

Before you could say a word, he began to slide his cock into you, and you felt your mind go blank with pleasure. You gripped at Jeonghan’s shirt desperately, burying your face into his neck so that you weren’t loud.

Once Jeonghan was buried all the way inside of you he raised his head to brush his lips against your ear.

“This okay?” He whispered. You nodded, but still Jeonghan didn’t move. You rolled your eyes.

“Just fucking fuck, me already Jeonghan,” you whispered as quietly as you could.

At that Jeonghan’s fingers tightened on your hips and he began to slide you up and down on his cock. You could hear the people outside, going in and out of stalls, washing their hands at the sink, chatting with one another about who was the most attractive male lead in the movie.

Knowing that you were letting Jeonghan fuck you in a bathroom stall with people all around you should have made you feel absolutely disgusted. You knew that most people would’ve like behind fucked like this, and yet, you couldn’t help it.

You clenched your thighs around Jeonghan’s waist, letting muffled whimpers leave you as he fucked you. You couldn’t help it. You loved being fucked like this. The thrill of getting caught only made you wetter and wetter and more desperate to cum- the fact that the only think that kept people from knowing what you two were doing was the fact that you were muffling yourself was even hotter, and the thought that if someone got close enough to your stall and really listened they would know exactly what you two were doing made you completely desperate.

“Please Jeonghan,” you hissed into his body, tightening your walls around him as he bounced you hard on his cock. “Please, please please. I want to cum.”

“You want to cum?” Jeonghan responded back, his voice so soft it sent shivers through your body. “What a dirty little slut you are? What if someone hears? Are you really turned on by this?”

You whined into Jeonghan’s body, lifting your head up as he hit a spot deep inside of your body. Your hand flew over your mouth and you bit down on the back of your hand.

“Oh, you are turned on by this,” he teased. His voice was even but his thrusts were becoming more and more erratic. You began to roll your hips, helping to drag him closer to an orgasm as you did so.

“Please,” you whispered softly. “Cum. ‘Want your cum.”

Jeonghan pulled back his head and smashed his lips over yours. As he began to slam his hips into you, he reached down, his fingers clumsily rubbing at your clit. The muffled noises of you both cumming felt like they echoed throught the bathroom, but you didn’t really care as you came down from the feeling.

Your chest heaved and you pressed your sweaty forehead to Jeonghan’s. You felt your body shake under his grasp, but he didn’t let you go, and instead he turned you both so that he could lean his back against the stall door in support. You let out a shaky breath at the action and began to play with the strands of his hair on the back of his head.

“You’ve got to stop fucking me in bathrooms,” you said, a breathy laugh on your lips as you spoke. Jeonghan’s own lips formed a sloppy smile.

“And why would I do that when you like it so much?”

You couldn’t help but think that was pretty flawless logic.

“Hey,” you greeted as you slid into the seat next to Joshua. He smiled in greeting at you and then turned his attention to Jeonghan, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“Hey,” he replied. “What happened to getting snacks?”

Your mouth dropped open and you tried to come up with some sort of believable excuse for why you two had come back after such a long period of time without snacks, but before you could Jeonghan let out a snort.

“Don’t worry. I had a little snack before we came.”

Joshua’s eyes widened in realization at what you two had been doing and his face contorted into disgust, his mouth falling open.

“At the movie theatre?” He hissed suddenly. Jeonghan laughed.

“Oh, trust me it isn’t the first time.”

You buried your face into your hands and tried not to scream in embarrassment.

Final Part

#nynm series #Jeonghan Smut #Seventeen Jeonghan #Seventeen Smut #Svt Smut #Jeonghan #Yoon Jeonghan #Kpop Smut #New Year New Me series

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taiblogcomics · 3 years

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I Can’t Pet Force You To Read This One, But...

Hey there, high school crushes. Well, it's finally here. Can you believe it? Yes, counting from the original Xanga site (which, yes, still counts. It's like our own Golden Age publication or apocryphia), this is our 10th anniversary of reviewing comics. That's fantastic. I'm excited, can't you tell? I can tell, since I'm writing this preamble a good two months before the actual anniverary~

So, last year we reviewed the absolute pile of dreck that is Heroes in Crisis. And while that was worth ripping into, I'd rather not spend the 10th anniversary hating on something. I'd like to do something actually meaningful to me. I've teased about this one for many years, probably for as long as I've been doing this blog, and I think it's time we stopped pussyfooting around and reviewed some Garfield. But not just any Garfield. It's finally time, my friends. This... is Garfield's Pet Force.

I dunno how many people will remember this one. Maybe you recall the direct-to-DVD movie adaptation from 2009, or at least advertising for it. I never saw it, but apparently it differs a bit. They also appeared a few times in those Garfield comics from back in the day. We even reviewed a couple (some were on the Xanga blog). But what we're looking at here are the original novellas published between 1997 and 1999. So yeah, these really are from my childhood. And since I've long espoused that Garfield was always funnier 20 years ago, this must be actual premium Garfield content, yeah? By golly, I hope so, because we got five whole books here today. So we should probably get into them~

Book 1: The Outrageous Origin

This is a classic sort of superhero cover. Standard team shot of poses, and that's fine for a first volume. In fact, that's great. Later editions of this would replace the lightning-filled gradient background with a pure white one, but I have this original version. We'll get to specifics about these characters in the meat of the story, but let's talk about the costumes for a bit. Very classic early-'90s sort of look, before the Dark Age kicked in. Reminds me a lot of Jim Lee's X-Men designs, actually. Making all your characters visually distinct is important in a team book. The heavy lean into secondary colours is unusual for heroic characters, but not unwelcome.

So we actually start with a cold open in the superhero universe. This is pretty much to introduce us to the characters as soon as possible, and thus I'll do the same for you here.

*Garzooka, team leader, super strong, has a razor-sharp claw, and can shoot radioactive hairballs from his mouth. That's... at least a unique power, I don't think anyone on the Justice League can do that~ *Odious, the dumb muscle with the accent on the "dumb". Possibly even stronger than Garzooka, and possessing a "super-stretchy stun tongue", an elastic tongue that can scramble the minds of whoever it adheres to. *Starlena, the team girl. She can fly, and she has a siren song that can put those who hear it into a hypnotic trance. Garzooka is the only one immune to its effects, for reasons that are never explained. *Abnermal, the kid-appeal character. He has ice powers, forcefields, and an ill-defined "pester power" that means he can annoy people on a greater scale than normal folks. It's pretty much only used for comic relief, but that could be a brilliant power in the right hands. *Compooky, the brains of the operation. Other than flight, his powers are limited to super intelligence, which means he's usually the exposition guy. There's probably a reason they left him out of the movie adaptation~

You got all that? Don't worry, we'll introduce you again later in the book. What actually happens in the intro chapter isn't really important, it's just setting up the universe. In fact, it's all taking place within Pet Force #99, a comic just enjoyed by Nermal. Yes, we quickly cut over to the main Garfield universe ("our universe", the narrator calls it), where Pet Force is just a comic book. The Garfield gang is all outside, enjoying a cookout prepared by Jon Arbuckle. Nermal is extremely enthused by his comic book, and brags about how he has all 98 previous issues sealed and polybagged, and this one will soon join them. Sorry, Nermal, this came out in 1997, the speculator boom already went bust~

Garfield dismisses comic books as stupid because you can't eat them or use them as a blanket, and declares that none of the stuff that happens in the comic could possibly happen in real life. Uh oh, irony! Because these things can happen, and do! It's a parallel universe, baby! This might be one of my earliest introductions to a "parallel worlds" concept. Much like Earths 1 and 2 in pre-Crisis DC, the events of the comic are essentially the real life adventures of their super-powered counterparts in another dimension. Most of the action in these stories will take place there~

So here's the setup: Vetvix (the parallel equivalent to Liz the veternarian) is an evil sorceress and scientist, who essentially wants to experiment on animals in peace, and possibly subjugate the universe while she's at it. You could argue that Liz is an odd choice for villain, since our universe's Liz isn't particularly evil. But then, our universe's Garfield isn't particularly heroic either. She operates out of a deadly space station called the Orbiting Clinic of Chaos, and at present she's waiting for the arrival of her henchman, Space Pie-Rat, who is a six-foot-tall anthropomorphic rat dressed in stereotypical pirate getup. Vetvix has just finished inventing a levitation ray, and she'd like Pie-Rat to go out and use it to steal all the food in the universe. Vetvix doesn't think small, is what I'm saying.

The counter to Vetvix is Emperor Jon, ruler of the planet Polyester. He's kind and benevolent, even if he's a little dippy and his fashion sense atrocious. Having gotten wind of Vetvix's latest plan, he contacts Pet Force in their ship, the Lightspeed Lasagna. Upon learning the problem, Pet Force gives chase to Pie-Rat. They eventually corner him on some desolate planet, landing and entering an abandoned factory. Unfortunately, they're not safe amongst the dangerous machinery, because this turns out to be a trap. Vetvix has been busy as hell, because she's also invented a metal that's impervious to their powers. And that's not all, because she's also basically invented the Phantom Zone, where she traps Pet Force forever. It specifically mentions it doesn’t kill them, because it wouldn't be kosher to murder the heroes in a Garfield book~

The Lightspeed Lasagna has both onboard cameras connected to the heroes' belts as well as automatic return protocols, so within two days, Emperor Jon knows exactly what's happened to Pet Force. He needs help, so he calls upon his most trusted and powerful advisor: Binky the Sorceror. Binky's just as loud and obnoxious as in the main universe, but he's also a powerful magician. He conjures up a spell for Emperor Jon that lets him pierce the veil between universes. It's basically Equestria Girls rules: parallel universes have similar characters between them. So to replace Pet Force, they need the nearest genetic equivalents from another universe. And that's the versions of Garfield, Odie, Arlene, Nermal, and Pooky that we know and love~

Back in the main universe, it's another day entirely. Another cookout is taking place, and Nermal has received his special anniversary issue of Pet Force #100. The cover's really special, dripping with '90s cover gimmicks like glow-in-the-dark and embossing. A rarely used one, though, was "portal to another universe". That was pretty expensive to print, so you won't find many comics like Nermal's. Maybe he had something there with the collecting after all. The cover glows, and while Jon is distracted by the grill, Garfield and Friends disappear~

They reappear in Emperor Jon's wood-paneled throne room, now transformed into Pet Force. Emperor Jon and Sorceror Binky try to explain the situation, but Garfield--now Garzooka--is disbelieving of the whole thing. In fact, even the idea that Jon can now hear him talk absolutely floors him. Since he's about to deliver the exposition for everyone, can we talk about Compooky for a minute? This spell has just granted sapience to Garfield's teddy bear. I don't expect deep philosophy from a children's novella, but the ramifications of this are really under-explored. Like, never mind the whole idea of a teddy bear having the same genetic makeup as an alternate universe equivalent. He goes from inanimate object to fully conscious being, and he just rolls with it.

Anyways, once everybody gets caught up on what's going on and accepts the new reality, a training montage ensues so the group can all learn to use their powers without killing each other. Once at least reasonably trained, the reborn Pet Force is sent out to stop Pie-Rat. He's gotten sloppy in the times with Pet Force dead, so they track him down easily. After a brief scuffle where Garzooka takes his eyepatch, Pie-Rat flees in his ship. They follow Pie-Rat back to the Orbital Clinic of Chaos, but they can't go in the front. That led the original Pet Force into a trap. Finding an unguarded maintenance hatch--standard on any big space station--they enter Vetvix's lair for a final confrontation!

After dealing with the Waiting Room of Doom, which slowly fills with outdated magazines, they enter Vetvix's inner sanctum. Frustrated with Pie-Rat's failure, she uses her magic to turn him into an ordinary mouse. Vetvix then attempts to use her same weapon on this new Pet Force, but thanks to story contrivance, it only works on beings born in this universe. As other dimensional visitors already, they can't be banished to another dimension. She then pulls a Dr. Claw and runs off cursing Pet Force's name while her base self-destructs. Vetvix is a very "discard and draw" sort of villain, it seems. Pet Force, of course, makes a harrowing escape just in the nick of time.

Returning to Emperor Jon, they vow to be ready to return whenever they're called on, since evil never stays dormant for long. Odious even gifts Emperor Jon with the mouse-ified Pie-Rat as proof of their victory. Well, I'm glad they remember that, so they didn't accidentally murder a major villain in their first superhero outing. They're returned to their own universe, and the time differential between them places them back with Jon having not had time to even look up from the grill. Garfield begins to doubt the adventure even happened--until that night, when he finds Pie-Rat's eyepatch still on his person. Ah, definitive proof of... eyepatches, I guess~

Book 2: Pie-Rat's Revenge!

You have to wonder where, in a space-faring superhero setting, Pie-Rat got the inspiration for his classic pirate motif. It's a little incongruous is all I'm saying. And hey, remember when I said earlier that Garzooka's purple-and-green colour scheme was odd for a hero? Well, here he is as a villain! That'll catch your eye. This would be a terrific comic cover, which is what you want in a series like this.

The book opens with a brief recap of the previous story's events, then moves into the new plot. See, Emperor Jon has opted to keep the polymorphed Pie-Rat as his pet. How very Ron Weasley of him. That's pretty apt, actually, because similarly Pie-Rat has maintained his intelligence in his new mousey form. Pie-Rat gets sick of being Emperor Jon's pet and plans a daring escape, exploiting the emperor's dimwitted and loving personality against him. Pie-Rat jams the lock with a food pellet and makes his escape that night.

Once free from his cage, he encounters Binky's cauldron, still left in the throne room from when the sorceror summoned Pet Force from Garfield's universe. Figuring he has nothing to lose, Pie-Rat jumps in the leftover brew. Suddenly he finds himself growing. He returns to his original anthropomorphic state--but with a twist. He's now twice his original height, a staggering twelve feet tall. He scoops up the rest of the remaining potion for later, and sneaks out of the palace as best as a 12-foot rat can sneak. Desiring revenge on both his former employer and his longtime foes, he steals Pet Force's ship and makes his escape from the planet, headed for Vetvix's newest base.

After his guards help Emperor Jon put the pieces of the problem together, they decide they must once again call upon the powers of Pet Force to recover their missing vehicle and stop the newly embiggened Pie-Rat. Fortunately, Garfield and friends have been watching movies all weekend, so Jon doesn't notice when his pets disappear from the living room in a bright flash. Of course, once returned to the alternate universe and the situation explained, they still have a problem: how do they give chase to Pie-Rat when he's got their ship?

And speaking of Pie-Rat in their ship, he's followed the trail of a mysterious energy output, and it's led him right to Vetvix's new base, the Menacing Moon of Mayhem. See, this is why you don't blow up your base: the backup base is never as good. if it was, it wouldn't be the backup. Given that it's such a shoddy base, Pie-Rat is easily able to get inside and get close to Vetvix. She's expecting a technological attack, so she's unprepared when he pulls out that vial of magic potion and sprinkles her with it. And naturally, the potion that made him grow 12 feet tall makes Vetvix shrink to 5 inches. It's magic, we don't have to explain it!

Pie-Rat takes the magic crystal that Vetvix uses to fuel her powers, which of course didn't shrink because magic is just bullshit. See previous paragraph's last sentence. And while Pie-Rat takes over the base and begins plotting a further revenge against Pet Force, we cut over to them. They're at Sorceror Binky's own castle, and it's clear he's a bit of a hoarder. This is to their advantage, though, as they eventually piece together a working spaceship out of old car parts and other things, all patched together between Compooky's know-how and Binky's magic. This seems like the sort of book where I could use that "it's magic" quote every other paragraph. But craft a new--if small--ship they do, and speed off in the newly christened Planetary Pizza.

The rickety little ship does eventually find its way to Pie-Rat's base, saving him the trouble of being proactive as a villain. The magic thing keeps happening, and Pie-Rat basically becomes Discord for a bit while he fights them, doing things like turning Starlena's siren song into actual living music notes. One by one, the members of Pet Force are taken out, with only Garzooka is left. He and Pie-Rat struggle, while Pie-Rat tries to aim the magic crystal at Garzooka. Garzooka uses his claw to rip the crystal from Pie-Rat and defeat him.

Unfortunately, here's where the cover comes in. It seems the moments Pie-Rat was focusing the crystal during the struggle affected Garzooka's mind. He puts the crystal around his own neck. which turns him evil. He helps Pie-Rat to his feet, and the pair escape in the Lightspeed Lasagna. While Pet Force pursues them in their ramshackle ship, the new criminal duo strikes the storage planet of Deli to steal their food. Pet Force manages to catch up as the villains celebrate their spoils, and use a magic blast from the systems Binky installed to short out the Lightspeed Lasagna. This enables them to dock with the ship and climb aboard for a contfrontation.

The group fights, and once again the bearer of a bullshit magic crystal subdues the heroes easily. Annoyed now, Garzooka takes hold of Starlena and prepares to kill her or something. She taps into the one thing she has left: she's not fighting just Garzooka, but Garfield in his body. She drops some heavy put-downs, which resonate with Garfield, and he hesitates long enough for her to cut the crystal off him. The crystal hits the floor and shatters, undoing its evil magics on Garzooka's mind as well as on all his teammates. With Pet Force reunited, Pie-Rat is easily subdued and locked up.

The group waits for the ship to power back up, then speed off to apologise to the planet Deli. Following that, they head back towards Vetvix's moonbase. That night, though, the magic that was making Pie-Rat 12 feet tall wears off, and he escapes from his cell. He steals the remaining shards of the crystal, climbs into the Planetary Pizza, and makes a getaway. As a bonus, he also repeats the power-down spell against the bigger ship, giving him ample time to escape. And he's not the only one. Over on the Menacing Moon of Mayhem, Vetvix also returns to her proper size, and abandons this base as well. And when Pet Force fails to find her, they simply return to their own universe, ready to be called on once again in the future~

Book 3: K-Niner: Dog of Doom!

Another very basic comic book-style cover. K-Niner is a much more typical villain in style. This one's actually a wrap-around, and features the rest of Pet Force reacting to K-Niner on the back cover. Which is good because, other than the first cover, the covers all have a heavy Garzooka focus. Which makes sense for a book series, I suppose, you wanna assure the kiddos that Garfield's gonna be in the book. But as a comic book series, this would be a bad look for a team book~

So after our standard introduction and recap, we start off with Vetvix in yet another new base, the Floating Fortress of Fear. I'm sure it's very intimidating, if she can keep hold of it for more than a single book. She's picking up from the epilogue and putting the last touches on K-Niner, mostly enhancing his intelligence. Now, you look at the cover and tell me what kind of voice you'd expect. Some sort of German or Austrian accent, like the doberman on Road Rovers? Does anyone remember Road Rovers~? Anyways, but no: he speaks with a posh British accent. You know, the "I say, good chaps, looks like we're in a bit of a sticky wicket, eh wot?" type. Trust me, you can tell. But just because he sounds refined doesn't mean he's not evil.

I also love that after the initial "trapped them in the Phantom Zone" bit, the villains just go whole ham. K-Niner here demonstrates that he is indeed evil by threatening to rip out Vetvix's throat. Let your villains be villainous is all I'm saying. She's pleased he's so vicious, but feels he needs to learn his place as well. She force-chokes him until he complies. She then gives him his assignment: she thinks dogs should be liberated. The Boy Mayor of Second Life would approve, and so does K-Niner. Turning pets on their masters is just his style.

K-Niner takes a portable evolution gun, and immediately sets off. He begins on the planet Kennel. Isn't it neat how every planet is named after an English word that describes its function? K-Niner quickly takes over the dog population and turns them against their masters, because boosting their intelligence also makes them evil, of course. They use enslavement collars on their former owners, and within a few days, the dogs now run the planet. We cut over to Emperor Jon on Polyester, where a man has crash-landed a ship. He's an escapee from Kennel, and he's here to report the events so we can get the plot moving and once more summon Pet Force!

And summoned once more they are, Garfield and Friends once more conveniently disappearing in a split second while Jon's back is turned (this time they're outside playing volleyball). And once back in the parallel universe, Emperor Jon fills them all in on K-Niner's dastardly doings. Garzooka, naturally, takes great offense to dogs being in charge, and takes his duties as a hero completely seriously for once. Pet Force takes off for a confrontation with K-Niner in the Lightspeed Lasagna. And speaking of Pet Force's ships...

The Planetary Pizza, piloted by Pie-Rat, plants its pads down on polar planet Glacia. Pie-Rat is here seeking a way to restore his magic crystal and regain his mighty magic powers. He's sought out the home of a legendary evil wizard, who's known by the name of... Barfo. I see why Barfo keeps his location a secret. But anyway, Barfo is the one who made the crystal, so naturally Pie-Rat reasons he can restore it as well. Suprisingly once on Glacia, Barfo's evil lair is pretty easy to find. His manservant, Hobart the Gnome, brings Pie-Rat before the wizard, and within moments the crystal is restored! Pie-Rat turns to thank Hobart, but Hobart suddenly turns into Vetvix!

Yes, Vetvix knew all along that Pie-Rat's quest would lead him here. And as she was once Barfo's student in the ways of evil magic, she knew she could get the old coot to go along with her plan. Barfo returns the crystal to Vetvix, restoring her powers. And so Pie-Rat, a recurring villain in three whole books, is unceremoniously done away with, as Vetvix teleports him inside an asteroid, trapping him in solid rock. Even if the asteroid were hollow or he displaced the interior when he teleported in, no doubt he'll suffocate within moments. That's pretty harsh.

With that over, we rejoin Pet Force as they approach Kennel. K-Niner's battle cruiser spots them incoming, and shoots the ship down, even in spite of Abnermal's forcefields. Pet Force bail out of the ship, and Abnermal uses his powers to make snow to cushion their fall. Upon landing, a contingent of mutant animals attack. The mooks aren't much, but K-Niner himself puts up an impressive fight. However, one of the mooks pulls a gun and points it at Compooky. This is why Compooky usually stays aboard the ship, but that wasn't an option. Rather than let their friend get hurt, Pet Force surrenders.

Pet Force is held prisoner separately from Compooky, with both the cell's technology making it freeze-proof and threats of "don't break out, or we'll shoot your compatriot". Their imprisonment is not long, though, as suddenly the power goes out. Pet Force takes advantage of the situation and make their escape, quickly running into Compooky. K-Niner didn't think the hyper-intelligent teddy bear needed a high security cell, and just locked him in the basement. It was easy for him to then break out and shut down the local power grid. This also has the side effect of turning off the control collars the humans were wearing. How convenient!

With control of the planet now tilted in their favour, Pet Force now has time to both fix their ship and reverse the polarity of the brain-boosting weapons, turning the dog population of Kennel back to their normal selves. Though the experience did change the pet owners of Kennel. Having experienced life in their pets' shoes (so to speak) for a bit, they've resolved to treat their canine companions a bit more equally. More being allowed on the furniture, less stupid tricks for treats. Still, Pet Force can't stay long, and they head off in pursuit of K-Niner's battle cruiser. This is why most superheroes don't have spaceships (Jedis don't count): if your enemy also has one, they can flee way more easily than on foot.

Not willing to let another place go to the dogs, as it were, Pet Force catches up with K-Niner. With his previous success, Vetvix has stepped up the timetable and sent him after Polyester right away. Emperor Jon is in danger! They enter the planet's atmosphere, and are attacked by fighter craft. They fend them off, but their weapons system is damaged in the fight, so they can't simply use the reverse brain-rays and solve it quickly. The team splits up instead: Garzooka and Abnermal will go after K-Niner, while the other three will find the planet's power source and knock out the collars, since that worked so well the last time.

The two heroes quickly make short work of K-Niner's guards, and then turn the battle to deal with the Dog of Doom himself. While the struggle goes on, the rest of Pet Force reach the planet's power grid. Using a clever tactic, Compooky overloads the power and causes and electrical storm that simultaneously undoes the brain-boosting effect and shorts out the enslavement collars. There's only a few pages left, after all, and we have to wrap this up. K-Niner is reverted back into an ordinary dog, and the emperor is reverted to an ordinary non-enslaved person. The day is saved!

And now once again, Pet Force prepares to return to their own universe. However... when the spell clears, the five heroes are still standing there. Something is blocking the passage between dimensions, and Pet Force is trapped. And while Pet Force's adventures have taken place between mere moments in their own universe, they have always returned quickly enough that Jon didn't notice a thing. But this time, as Jon retrieves the volleyball and turns around to his pets, he's surprised to find they've all vanished into thin air...

Book 4: Menace of the Mutanator

This one's very striking because of its more painted look compared to the heavy black outlines the rest of the covers have. Does this one count as having the whole team on the cover? Because, spoilers, that's what the Mutanator is: the rest of Pet Force mashed up into a villain. Again, though, that's definitely a striking image that'd draw in readers to a comic cover. In fact, while Garzooka may be over-used as a cover focus, several of these also show him imperiled in some way, and that's nice for character stuff. That helps balace it a bit~

I wanna say, before we start, that I'm impressed by the continuity for the series as a whole. They could've just written each story as a standalone, but for a series of 100-page children's novellas starring Garfield characters as superheroes, things happen in these books. Like, maybe not sweeping status quo changes, but events affect the plot of each next book down the line. And that's where we pick up! Right where the last book left off, with Pet Force now stuck in the alternate universe, unable to return home to Jon. But if they can't go home to Jon, well, maybe then events will conspire to bring Jon to them~

Yep, because Jon happens to wander into the room where they keep the copy of Pet Force #100 that acts as a portal to their universe, he gets transported into the Pet Force universe. And since Emperor Jon is still an extant entity, there's just two Jons now. Jon, of course, is a bit freaked out, and it takes several pages to explain the whole deal to him, and also have a showcase of all their powers to pad out the book some more. Eventually, they decide to call in Sorceror Binky to examine the problem. When he has a go of it, a sudden tornado emerges from the cauldron and whisks away Pet Force--save for Garzooka, whose prodigious strength keeps him anchored.

Garzooka heads out in the Lightspeed Lasagna to track Pet Force's signature, glad to get away from a double trouble Jon. And while he's searching, the scene cuts to Vetvix's Floating Fortress of Fear. Hey, one of her bases actually lasted more than one book! This is where Pet Force has been transported to, once more in a power-proof cell. Vetvix monologues to the heroes, as she is wont to do, explaining that she's the one who cast the spell to keep them from returning home. And further, she's brought them here to mutate them into her servants.

While Emperor Jon exposits about his backstory (turns out he is not of royal blood, and has about as much legitimate claim to the throne as you or I do), the search continues. Sorceror Binky detects Pet Force, giving them all a view of what happens next. The trapped members of Pet Force are literally broken apart and reassembled: Odious' body, Compooky's brain inserted into the chest, Abnermal's hands, and Starlena's head. She christens this beast "Mutanator", and it is soullessly obedient. I also wanna say, Mutanator's kind of a non-binary icon, aren't they? (The comic uses "it", but it was 1998 and alternative pronouns weren't really a thing yet.) Muscular, masculine body, but confident enough to still wear lipstick. It's a look, is all I'm saying~

Mutanator continues to possess the combined powers of Pet Force as well. Vetvix sends them to attack the planet Armory to gear up before attempting to conquer Polyester. And meanwhile, thanks to the convenience of being able to scan all of Compooky's memories now that his brain is part of Mutanator, Vetvix has the perfect trap to spring on Garzooka--or should she say Garfield. Yes, she really knows the whole origin for Pet Force now, and now she knows all Garfield's weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and probably blood type and other dating profile stats~

Thus, when Garzooka receives the coordinates from Emperor Jon and arrives at the Floating Fortress, he finds himself menaced by giant spiders. Vetvix couldn't think of a way to get Mondays to attack him, so the Giant Spider Invasion will do. Spiders are apparently very formiddable foes, Garzooka's personal fears aside. They can swat gamma hairballs out of the air, they can construct webs as quickly as certain Marvel heroes, and their hairy exoskeletons are resistant to both claw and strength. But despite his fear and Abnermal's running commentary, Garzooka manages to trounce the spiders with a carefully applied flame--taking Vetvix's blueprints with them.

Garzooka heads out once again to track down the Mutanator, leaving his less-than-all-together friends in the safety of their forcefield prison. While he's off, we return to the perspective of his target. Using their combined powers, the Mutanator swiftly conquers the planet Armory and sets their sights on Polyester next. It's not a bad plan, honestly. With the stockpile from Armory, not only will the Mutanator be more powerful, Polyester won't be able to use the planet for backup. Fortunately for the two Jons, though, Garzooka intercepts the Mutanator before they can leave Armory.

The fight's actually pretty good. Very back and forth. But even despite Garzooka's great strength, the Mutanator wins in the end. Thankfully, Vetvix puts her conquest of Polyester on hold to take the time to retrieve Garzooka and add his power to the Mutanator. This, of course will be her undoing--in a completely ridiculous way, of course. For back in the palace, our universe's Jon is watching Pet Force's struggles with the scrying cauldron. And he leans in a bit too close. Sowhile Vetvix is prepping the machine to divide Garzooka's body like she did the rest of Pet Force, Jon suddenly tumbles through the dimensional warp caused by the cauldron and lands on Vetvix, which causes her to put the machine in reverse. A real Jonnus ex cauldrona there, eh?

The Mutanator disappears, their existance as a unique being wiped out as their pieces return to their proper Pet Force owners. With Pet Force reassembled, Garzooka takes out Vetvix with one of his gamma-radiated hairballs while she's distracted by Jon. Pet Force decides that the vile veternarian should have a taste of her own medicine, and stick her in the body-splicing machine with some of her guards. This divides them all up and mixes them into bizarre combinations. It also has the side effect of disabling Vetvix's magic, so they can return to their own universe now.

The book wraps up here. Pet Force first returns to Armory to both return the stolen weapons and also make repairs on the buildings that were damaged in Garzooka's fight with the Mutanator. That's the sort of thing I'd like to see in more superhero stories in general. The two Jons part ways, with the Emperor believing the other Jon's heroism to have been deliberate. And thus are Garfield and friends returned home. And just like the end of their first adventure, where Garfield couldn't be sure if it really happened, so too is Jon's memory fading. Had he really witnessed all that? Only his pets know for sure--and in this universe, they can't talk~

Book 5: Attack of the Lethal Lizards

This one's another wrap-around, showing the rest of Pet Force engaging the remaining Lethal Lizards on the back cover. This is one advantage books have over comics: a front and back cover you can use for your story-telling. The Lizard designs are pretty good for a villain group too. Like Pet Force, they don't adhere to a particular theme, but they do look good individually. Garzooka roasting a hot dog on a stick might be a bit too comedic for a superhero story, though. It sets the tone wrong. How "lethal" can they possibly be if Garzooka is out here roasting hot dogs in the middle of battle?

So here we go, last book. After the usual recap, we open with Jon explaining to Garfield and friends his latest plans: they're going to WackyWorld, a theme park dedicated to Jon's favourite cartoon, The Wackies. Both Garfield and Nermal think the show is lame, and if those two agree on something, you know it must be so. In less lame universes, however, trouble is once more a-brewing. So it turns out Vetvix's Floating Fortress of Fear has been orbiting the swamp planet Reptilius this whole time. And her various experiments in the last two books have been radiating the planet in magical energy...

From that magical power, three reptiles find themselves uplifted in intelligence and granted fantastic powers. Please say hello to our three main villains for this book: Snake, an enormous snake (the only one without an anthro design) with stretching powers; Chameleon, who can shapeshift; and Dragon, a komodo dragon with fire breath and the bad attitude to match. While Snake and Chameleon figure out their powers, Dragon declares himself the leader as he's clearly the smartest, strongest, and most powerful. They name themselves the Lethal Lizards and start plotting how to rule the planet.

After that exciting intro, though, the book kind of slows down. First we get a whole chapter of Emperor Jon also deciding to go on vacation, to planet Funlandia. With Vetvix out of commission for a while, there's no better time. In short, he's out of the castle and Sorceror Binky is in charge. This is followed by a chapter of Jon and his pets at WackyWorld. It's certainly an accommodating amusement park to allow pets on its grounds. Garfield at least gets along with the food, but if you know anything about amusement park food prices, the amount Garfield eats will make your wallet weep. Jon takes his mind off it by dragging the pets along to a ride. Surely they have to be under the height restriction~

Fortunately, we get back to the actual stars of this book, and we see a bit more of their dynamic. Snake is the sort who sucks up to whoever's calling themselves "Boss" at the moment. Dragon is power-hungry, and it's clear he'll sell out his allies at the drop of a hat. Chameleon is Starscream. Anyway, they trek through the jungles of Reptilius until they find a downed spaceship. Reviewing the logs reveals it was a scout ship from Vetvix, and they also learn of Vetvix and her mission. However, they don't know where Emperor Jon lives, so they crowd into the the newly christened Rapacious Reptile and set course for the stars.

The first planet they come across is a world called Klod. Quickly the Lethal Lizards beat up the populace and find the local government. Chameleon shapeshifts into a dignitary, pretending to be an advance entourage for Emperor Jon, schmoozing with the governor until he learns both what Jon looks like and the name of his planet. With this information secure, Chameleon nips out suddenly, and the trio sets forth towards Polyester. Governer Klutz calls up the palace as soon as the reptiles depart, and reports the incident to Sorceror Binky.

Binky wastes no time, and he dials up Pet Force. Since all five are in one place, he's able to pull them through even without them being near the gateway through issue #100's cover. Convenient! Pet Force, however, does waste time, as a lengthy comedy scene eats up several pages before we just get on with it. Eventually, the situation is conveyed, and they figure it's safer to keep Emperor Jon on Funlandia for the time being. Compooky stays behind to help plan some strategies, while the rest of Pet Force boards the Lightspeed Lasagna to intercept the Lethal Lizards before they even arrive.

Pet Force spends the next few minutes both scanning for incoming ships and bickering with each other, so I'm very glad when the Rapacious Reptile appears on their detectors before too long. Dragon threatens the ship, telling them to move or he'll knock them aside. It's a spaceship, dude, you can move in three dimensions. The ships trade shots, and while Chameleon's piloting is actually pretty good due to his independently-rotating eyeballs, eventually both ships crash land on whatever planet is nearby.

Both ships crash right next to each other, which is improbable but less ridiculous than some of the contrivances in these books, so I'm okay with it. Now you'd think what with the enemies being reptiles and Abnermal having freezing powers that this battle would be over really easily, but no. In fact, Garzooka and Dragon are pretty evenly matched. Snake turns out to be immune to Starlena's siren song because snakes don't have external ears. See, now there's a contrivance I find a bit weird. Snake swallows Abnermal whole, and Chameleon and Odious get literally tongue-tied. The Lethal Lizards actually live up to their name pretty well.

As the fight continues, half of both sides are laid out when Compooky comes rushing up, saying he has an urgent message from the emperor. And that's when he sucker-punches the team. It was actually Chameleon in disguise, having gotten knocked away when he and Odious separated. So yeah, round one goes to the Lizards, and they make their escape first. Pet Force regroups, and they give chase. The Lizards have enough head start to really lay siege to Polyester before Pet Force arrives, though. They even get access to the palace using Chameleon's shapeshifting, leading to Sorceror Binky letting slip the real location of the emperor just as Pet Force arrives.

Another fight ensues--see, now it's really a superhero story--and the Lizards leave again 2 and 0. This time Snake uses his venomous fangs to attack Starlena. This leads to the weirdest contrivance yet. Maybe not the worst, but definitely the weirdest. They have only minutes to save Starlena. So how do they do it? Well, they notice that Odious drools quite a lot. It's very "fluid output". So they have Binky magically reverse Odious' drooling, so that he has "fluid input" on his tongue instead. It becomes a big suction sponge and sucks the poison out of Starlena. They then restore the drooling, and he just harmlessly drools out the poison. What.

With their teammate saved, Pet Force pursues the Lethal Lizards to Funlandia. They get there just in time to rescue Emperor Jon from their clutches, with Garzooka and Odious combining their strength to literally rip a kiddie ride out of the ground. Starlena corners Chameleon in a hall of mirrors, turning his own trick against him. Snake is undone by Odious' strength. And Garzooka fights Dragon to a standstill, finally trapping all three on a roller coaster still operating. When the ride comes to an end, Abnermal freezes them all until the authorities can retrieve them.

Naturally, Emperor Jon thinks it's all part of the show (because Jon is dimwitted in any universe). The Lizards are sent to a lizard-proof prison (seriously, it specifies this), and Pet Force returns to their own universe. As usual, Jon didn't notice his pets go missing during the dark amusement park ride. The book concludes on an ominous note, however, as the ship carrying the Lethal Lizards makes its jump to lightspeed just as it passes the Floating Fortress of Fear. The shockwave knocks over some debris that reactivates the combining machine, restoring Vetvix to her full evil might once more!

The end!

No, really. Those five books are all there was. I hear it may have continued into the comics, but I don’t know how accurate that is. I didn’t really look into it.

But boy, what a ride, huh? Let’s dissect the books one at a time, since it only seems fair to take them as individual stories.

The Outrageous Origin: It’s a fairly basic origin story, I’d say. It kind of has to be. I guess my main gripe is that, like Rita Repulsa’s entire run on Power Rangers, the heroes never fight the main villain directly. In fact, there’s barely even an evil plot in this one. You have henchmen and some traps, and that’s about it for the menace.

Pie-Rat’s Revenge: A cautionary tale about why you treat your minions with respect. This one’s pretty good, but the events depicted on the cover make up such a small part of the book. Wouldn’t it have been more fun if Garzooka was turned at the beginning of the story? Book 4 would at least do the reverse of that, so it’s not a major complaint~

K-Niner, Dog of Doom: I think this one’s about as middle of the road as you can get. What a coincidence that it’s also the middle of the series! Like I said in the recap portion, it’s a shame that Pie-Rat’s story ended here. This one definitely feels more “villain of the week” than most.

Menace of the Mutanator: This one might be the best book in the series. Garzooka, alone, battling against the best parts of his team? That’s gripping stuff. I guess the main problem is that the Mutanator isn’t really a character in and of themselves. Like, K-Niner, he may have been a generic rent-a-villain type, but he had a personality. Mutanator is little more than an extention of Vetvix’s will.

Attack of the Lethal Lizards: I’m a bit split on this one. The bits with the titular Lizards are great. They steal the show! But the parts where it focuses on either Jon kind of drag, and Pet Force is a bit too jokey here. Like, I get the point is that they’ve relaxed into their roles now, and there’s not much point of doing it as a Garfield story if they don’t actually use the character personalities, but... I dunno. It’s good, but it could have been better~

And that’s it! Like, I dunno how to wrap this up. Pet Force was neither my first exposure to superheroes nor my first introduction to the Garfield brand (you can thank Saturday morning cartoons for both of those). But for some reason, maybe just the absurdly goofy premise, it always kinda stuck with me. And I think that’s a good enough reason to make it my 10th anniversary review, don’t you~?

#books #reviews #Garfield #Pet Force #Garfield's Pet Force #Taiblog

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hogarthwrites · 3 years

Text

if you want it you got it forever

pairing: samuel drake/reader (m/f)

genre: smut

warnings: graphic sex

words: 1,604

summary:

You and Sam have a nice Valentine's evening together.

note:

Hello! Back with some smut. It's a day late but I hope you all enjoy it! Happy Valentine's Day!!

Sam said no one's ever given him flowers, and you made it your mission to remedy that for Valentines. Despite the cold weather, you were able to find a nice bouquet of roses that you held onto as you made your way to Sam’s apartment.

He had invited you over, and even though Samuel Drake could be a romantic, he rarely ever went all out. So you were quite surprised as you walked into his apartment and it was dimly lit and petals littered the floor.

“Sam?” You called out and he peeped out of the kitchen.

“Shit, you're already here?” He went back to the kitchen and you followed him in to see him staring at a pan.

“I'm gonna give up on this,” he pouted. “Chloe’s curry recipe just isn’t working for me.”

You looked at the burnt food, and kissed him on the cheek. This made him feel a little better, but he felt bad he couldn’t even go through with making you the romantic dinner he had planned in his head.

“Why don’t we order some pad thai again?” You suggested. “I’m sure you have wine somewhere and we can watch those DVD’s we haven’t gotten through.”

“That could work,” Sam nodded.

“Oh these are for you,” you held up the bouquet.

“What?” He gave you a lopsided smile. “For me?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “Happy Valentine’s day, Sam.”

His hand was on your waist as he pulled you in for a kiss.

You ended up watching 50 First Dates after an intense debate between Wedding Crashers and The 40 Year Old Virgin . You leaned into Sam as he had an arm around your shoulders. The flowers you gave him were placed in his watering can, with Sam promising to buy a vase for it in the morning.

“That was... cute,” you looked up at him when the movie ended.

“I mean, if you’re okay with traumatizing your spouse every morning with a tape telling them they have memory loss and they’re married to some guy they don’t know,” he shrugged.

“God, Sam,” you laughed. “Okay, you have a point.”

“Of course I do,” he looked smug.

You moved up to kiss him, softly at first, but as the kiss deepened, he pulled you into his lap. He moaned softly as you started grinding against him, feeling as he started getting hard under you. Your lips moved down to his neck, following the tattooed birds, down to the base of his neck.

“Alexa, play Cruisin’ by Smokey Robinson,” he said out loud, much to your surprise.

The song started playing and you couldn’t help but laugh into Sam’s neck. “Seriously?”

“Come on, I’m just setting the mood, baby,” he kissed you again. This time his hands slid under your shirt, cupping your breasts. “Is it working?”

“You think?” You continued to grind against him, sighing as his lips met your neck.

You slid your hand under his shirt as well, feeling the hair on his chest. His hips bucked in anticipation when you pulled his shirt off.

“Excited?” You slid your hands up and down his thighs.

“You think?” He chuckled, biting his lip as you undid his jeans and pulled them down.

You slid your hand up and down his cock, watching every reaction he made. His hair tangled in your hair as you took the tip of his cock in your mouth, enjoying his taste.

“That’s right, baby,” he sighed. “You look so good.”

Encouraged, you bobbed your head up and down his length faster and Sam gently pulled on your hair. You pulled away, looking up at him and kissing the tip of his cock, pre-cum smearing your lips.

“Do you like it when I do this?” You swirled your tongue around and ran your thumb over it.

“Hmm,” Sam threw his head back in pleasure.

You took his cock in your mouth again, grabbing onto his thighs as he started thrusting up into your mouth. He pulled you back up on his lap and kissed you hard.

“More,” you groaned as you began grinding against his crotch. “Give me more, Sam.”

“How do you want it, baby?” Sam nibbled on your earlobe.

“However you want me.”

He pulled your shirt off and you slipped out of your jeans. Sam took his time exploring your body, kissing every inch of your skin. His brown eyes met yours as he kissed your navel and gave you a smug grin. It was an all too familiar look he’d give you before eating you out for hours on end.

Sam licked your clit once, making you shiver at the cool that followed the wetness, turning you on even more. His tongue explored your pussy, sliding it in before drawing circles on your clit again. He loved the feeling of you planted against his face, holding your legs open for him.

His stubble was wet from your juices, but he didn’t stop until you were writhing and moaning under him. The sounds from your lips riled him on even more as he lapped up your cunt, his nose swiping up your slit to your clit.

“Oh, god, Sam, I’m gonna cum!” You pulled at his hair. Your orgasm was so close and you lifted your hips up to grind against his face, your moans filling the room, drowning out the song that was playing.

Sam kissed you as you came down from your high, tasting yourself on his lips and his tongue.

“You alright?” He whispered, caressing your hair softly.

“Yeah,” you nodded. “More, Sam.”

“Of course. I’m not done with you yet,” he purred.

You squealed as he pulled you up and kissed you again. His hands moved from your waist to your ass, which he squeezed before giving it a little slap.

You pushed him down on the sofa, running your fingers down his chest, admiring his body under you. You lifted your hips and guided his cock to your entrance, humming in delight as you lowered your hips and his thick cock filled you up.

Sam’s lower lip is pinned between his teeth as he watched you bounce up and down. You loved it when he watched you fuck him, as you took the reigns and set your own pace, his sultry eyes focused on only you.

“Fuck,” he smiled up at you. “Keep going, baby.”

You pushed down on his muscular shoulders and fucked him harder, making him groan loudly. You didn’t understand how you were always so wet around him. With past lovers, you never lasted as long as you would with Sam, and you definitely never came with as much frequency and intensity as you did with him.

He pulled you in for a kiss before wrapping his arms around you. You squealed as he slammed his hips up against yours and set a quick pace.

You bit down on his collar and your toes curled, feeling your orgasm come closer with every thrust Sam made.

“Sam,” you garbled. “I’m gonna cum.”

Sam paused and flipped you around on the bed, so he was on top. He grabbed your hips and continued to drill into you with such intensity you were at a loss for words. His eyes were wild with lust as he watched you writhe under him, moaning his name to encourage him more, desperate for both of your releases.

“I’m so close!” You grabbed at the cushions under you.

“Cum for me, baby,” Sam panted. His fingers sunk into your hips so hard that he left bruises.

Your toes curled and your back arched as you came around his prick, causing him to slow his movements as your pussy spasmed. As soon as he regained his senses, he slammed into you hard. Pleasure filled your senses, and you happily lay there, taking in every thrust.

“Oh, you feel so damn good,” he lay on top of you, giving you passionate open mouthed kisses.

Sam couldn’t think of anything other than to fill you with his seed, the thought egging him on more. As he neared his orgasm, his movements became more erratic and with one loud groan, he pushed deep as he could inside you and coated your insides with his sperm. He collapsed on top of you, softly kissing your cheek.

He didn’t pull out until he was able to catch his breath again and he took you in his arms. He continued kissing your neck and your shoulder, muttering sweet nothings in between.

You’re beautiful.

I can’t get enough of you.

Can’t believe how lucky I am .

You wrapped your arms around him, cradling him to your chest. Sam’s playlist had stopped playing long ago, so you could focus on listening to him breathe.

“Anyone ever told you you’re a great lay?” You ran your fingers through his hair.

“You tell me every time we have sex so I almost believe it,” he grinned.

“You should.”

“You spoil me.”

Sam was quiet for a while before he looked up at you.

“Thanks for spending Valentine’s with me,” he whispered. “I’ve never done this with anyone else before.”

“Really? Not even with past ex-lovers?"

“Not like this,” he intertwined his fingers with yours and kissed your fingers. "This feels different."

“We could do this every year,” you quietly said. “If you want to, that is.”

“I’d love that.”

You were overcome with fatigue as Sam kissed you softly. He pulled the fleece blanket over both of you as you fell asleep and he stroked your hair back from your face.

“I think I’m in love with you,” he whispered. “Happy Valentine’s, sweetheart.”

#sam drake x reader #sam drake #samuel drake #uncharted fanfiction

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