#i had no idea bikes were so goddamn expensive?

[dihalect]

↖️ bicycle owner

[mugglepawter]

I ALMOST DO.

Modern!Aegon Targaryen × Reader.

Summary: hockey and figure skating, hockey player and figure skater. Their world were always meant to be collided.

Warnings: fluff.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language so bear with me. Un-edited.

PART TWO.

She half opened her eyes as she grabbed her phone, turning off the alarm that had woken her up.

Her shift at her workplace on Sunday is between eight am and one pm and after her work, she'll practice her skating and work, then, go home and rest.

She showered and then, got ready and headed for her work using her bike. Typical college girl.

"Hi," Baela greeted from the counter, wearing a soft smile on her face. She waved at Baela and smiled before walking towards the back room to place her things and put on an apron.

"Terrible morning?" Baela asked, "Yeah." She chuckled, feeling sleepy though she already drunk two cups of coffee on her way to her work.

Even though this has been her daily routine for years, she doesn't seem to get a hang of it. She'll be honest, she's jealous of those kids who didn't have to work to live and were prioritized by her parents and mostly, don't have to worry about their future cause it's already handed to them.

She wished she had that life instead of being a working student who can't take a day off cause if she did, she might starve to death and wouldn't be able to pay her bills.

When the clock strikes one p.m., it's time for her to go and practice. She walked on her way to campus, leaving her bike at the cafe because it wasn't that far from it. She thought about getting a dorm here but it's too expensive for her to afford and she barely afford the apartment she has right now.

It has one tiny bedroom and bathroom and all of the area in her apartment is small yet it's still better living with her goddamn parents.

There are not many students here on campus, most of them are rich kids who go to the mall to shop and as always she pities herself cause she can't do any of those things.

"You're here, again." She said, dropping her bag off her shoulder to the ground as she stared blankly at the Targaryen boy who was playing alone in the ice rink.

"You don't own the ice rink," Aegon answered to her. It made her wonder what is Aegon doing in here alone because she knows hockey is pointless without any of your team, or maybe, that's what she thought.

She went into the ice rink, completely avoiding Aegon so no argument would brew between them again. Helaena wasn't here to look out for her older brother.

Aegon took off his helmet and shook his head, his hair damp with sweat as he grinned at her "Nice seeing you." Aegon smiled, showing his perfectly aligned white teeth which made her roll her eyes.

"That's your side and this is my side so don't cross it." She demanded before doing her warm-up and routine but was distracted the whole time cause Aegon kept talking and when she had enough, she approached him.

"Aegon, please, shut up." She snapped at him, stopping at the center of the rink.

"Okay, little miss feisty." Aegon chuckled, annoying the shit out of her.

"You know I actually thought you would be a Targaryen," Aegon said out of nowhere.

"Considering you dated my brother but I was not shocked when I found out you broke up."

"I mean, you don't look so in love with him."

Cause that's because she liked the idea of him.

Don't get her wrong, Aemond is a nice guy for her but he lacks something in her eyes. Yes, she agreed to go out with him but that's because she liked the idea of going out with him but not because of him. So, she decided to end it all and besides, she's not into younger guys.

She likes the older ones better.

She brushed him off and continued to practice while he continued to annoy her "Are you free tonight?" Aegon suddenly asked. She came to a stop, her eyebrows furrowed together, curious why he would ask her that "No." She answered arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Why?"

"I have a job." She told him, quite unsure why she was even talking to him. They talk to each other sometimes but they rarely have long conversations like this cause she normally doesn't want to deal with Aegon's crap.

"Can't you like ditch it?" He asked, "No, 'cause if I did, I'll starve and I'll die and that's on you." She pointed at him which made him chuckle.

He turned his back at her, picking his punk on the ground "Where are you going?" She found herself curious about why he was getting out of the rink "Why? Want to shower with me?" Aegon has that cocky smirk plastered across his face again "You wished." She rolled her eyes and turned her back on him.

For a moment, she wondered why Aegon seemed a bit different today, he seemed quite nice especially to her when he never does that. Well, he was never that cruel to her but he wasn't that nice either to the point he would ask her if she was free.

She had a night shift at the bar near here as a waitress so she called it an afternoon and headed towards the girl's locker left her things there and came back for it tomorrow.

The seven realm bar is full of college students who wanted to get wasted and forget about their fucked up life at least just for one night. If people asked her, she would absolutely love to join them.

People at the bar can be pretty mean and an asshole probably because of the alcohol in their system but some of them are a fucking asshole even being sober.

Her night shift ended without someone ruining it and hitting on her, She served drinks and she got paid.

"Where the hell is my bike?" She asked as she looked around. Her bike is no longer in its chain and nowhere to be found. She had left it here more than a thousand times yet it was never stolen, until now.

She groaned to herself, completely frustrated. It's decided, she's the unluckiest person on earth.

She waited in front of the bar for any taxi to pass by but nothing happened until an orange car stopped beside her as she impatiently tapped her foot against the floor and waited for a taxi to pass by.

The window rolled down, revealing a Targaryen inside. She curses herself for not recognizing Aegon's orange audi q2, his baby Sunfire "I thought you weren't free tonight?" Aegon asked.

"I worked here." She pointed at the name of the bar "And I couldn't go home cause my bike got stolen." She's waiting for him to laugh at her and call her stupid names but instead, he sighs and nods his head before opening the door from inside his car.

"Hop in, I'll drive you to your place." Aegon decided.

"How do I know I could trust you?" She asked with doubt "I might be an arsehole but I loved Helaena and I wouldn't let her friend get in trouble."

"Okay." With a nod, she entered his car, put the seat belt on and he drove off. As he drove the car, they talked and talked about the most random thing as they both found it quite awkward that they were talking to each other without throwing any insults.

"Why don't you live nearer the campus?" Aegon broke the silence and she was tense at his question cause nobody had asked her this, especially since they knew how she was struggling financially. Her best friends tried to help her but she couldn't simply accept it.

"Too expensive." She answered, shrugging

"I'm sorry." She was surprised by his sudden word cause Aegon had never been nice to her, not this way and the Aegon she knows does not say sorry.

"Why?" She asked, "For bringing it up, I sense now that you don't want to talk about it." Now, he is kind of making her uncomfortable but not because of weird things but because he is being totally nice.

"It's alright, everyone makes mistakes." She said, tapping his shoulder. She's starting to get a hang of them like this even though it's just started.

When they arrived, she wondered how he knew where she lived when he's never been here before, unless he asked Helaena. She opened the door and got out, waiting for Aegon to drive off but he didn't.

"Won't you invite me in?" Aegon asked cheekily "Don't you have an apartment yourself?" She roasted. She doesn't usually invite people into her house but, maybe she can make an exception just for tonight.

"But—"

"My apartment is small but be my guess and do come in." She invited as she smiled. It's always once in a blue moon she had a guess other than Aly and Helaena or Baela.

Even though she is grateful to the company of Aegon, it's still Aegon.

She climbed the stairs, Her apartment was on the third floor but she had gotten used to it, having to live in the apartment for years. She took out her keys and unlocked the door, Aegon closely following behind her.

She didn't know where he had parked his car but she hoped it wouldn't be damaged by the people around here.

She pushed open the door, going in first as she took off her shoes. Aegon walked past her, his eyes wandering around "Didn't know you liked this kind of stuff." Aegon said, looking around the living room and seeing a bunch of canvas hanging on the wall "I do like painting." She told him, pouring herself with a glass of water.

"Do you want anything?" She asked, being hostile to her guest. Aegon shook his head and sat on the two-person sofa in the middle of the living room "Suit yourself." She mumbled.

She sat beside him, thinking to herself what's the point of him being here if they won't do anything?

"Tell me what you are really here for, Aegon." She doesn't know what his intentions are so it's a bit hard for her to understand why Aegon is in her apartment, sitting on her sofa "I wanted to rest for a bit, driving is exhaustion too, you know." Aegon looked at her, "Sure." She nodded her head, not knowing what to do.

Aegon sat there, feeling exhausted for today. He doesn't mind staying here Besides, who will look for him? He lives alone in a big apartment and honestly, he gets really bored sometimes for someone who has a lot of money.

"I don't know why you're here." She muttered yet Aegon heard her "Because I wanted to make your life hell." Aegon responded, tapping her on the back as he chuckled in satisfaction when he saw her starting to get annoyed.

Now, she cannot wait to kick him out. Aegon stands up from the couch, fixing his shirt as he says something to her. He's going home.

She nodded before pushing herself up from the couch and following him outside her apartment. She escorted him outside to make sure he'd get to his car in one piece and since he's a new face around here, people might rob him.

"Fuck, my sunfyre!" Aegon exclaimed horror covering his face. His hands were both on the side of his eyes he looked like he was about to cry. His car is still okay but it lacks its four wheels.

She can't help but laugh and shake her head. She expected this to happen but it still made her giggle and almost roll in laughter

"This is not funny!" Aegon frowned at her,

"How will I get home?" He said helplessly, making her enjoy his suffering more "You can rest here, then, call a tow tomorrow." She offered.

As much as she likes to see him suffer, she can't leave him out here. She'll let him sleep on her couch, just for tonight and then, they can go back to the ways before. Could they?

————

Taglist:

@targaryenmoony @diiickbrainn @heavenly1927

[eternalstrigoii]

Fifteen for Fifteen Meme Tagged by @raointean

1. Are you named after anyone?

I don’t think so? I think my mom just liked my name....which is funny because I don’t go by it anymore.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Haven’t the slightest, tbh. Wanted to cry, today. Actually cried? Not entirely sure. It might’ve been the day I found out my neighbor passed only a week after being diagnosed with metastatic cancer.

3. Do you have kids?

I have pets and that’s slightly less expensive but more rewarding. Fight me on it.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not as much as I used to. I’m more of a deadpan snarker like a proper Addams.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

>shrugs< I’m more of a once-over type. Your vibes do the distinguishing.

6. What's your eye color?

Hazel

7. Scary movies or happy ending?

A well-written movie has both.

8. Any special talents?

I am a goddamned freak of nature. Animals love me, plants thrive for me, and most things I can pick up on relatively quickly and with photographic memory-like accuracy. Until it comes to sports and/or math.

9. Where were you born?

In a building.

10. What are your hobbies?

I haven’t had proper hobbies in a hot minute. I’m going to get more serious about gardening (again) this year, and I don’t count care tasks as a hobby. I’ve gotten fond of interior decorating, the more macabre the better (fuck you, white people who can only design in farmhouse-minimalist-modernism with emphasis on pale neutrals). I sew, but that’s more of a practical skill than a hobby, though I’d like to take up cross-stitch and crochet. Maybe knitting. (You know, more practical skills.) That’s the same way I feel about cooking even though I do enjoy it. I’m learning how to roller skate instead of just roller blade. Learning how to take apart my bike and put it back together so I can do my own repairs (but I don’t know if I can count that as a hobby vs a practical skill, either.) I read. I have a formal degree in writing, though I’m SUPPOSED to do it for pleasure, too. I enjoy the outdoors and am (forcing) myself to spend more time birdwatching this year. ....I have a duolingo. (I think I might actually have hobbies even if I have to force myself to engage with them sometimes)

11. Have you any pets?

That implies they aren’t my kids. I have kitties, pups, fish, and -- soon! -- a tarantula. I had a tarantula. He passed about a year ago. I want another, I just had to work up to emotionally being ready again. My love for lil creatures is limitless. People, not so much.

12. What sports do you play/have you played?

This is gonna be the most “yeah, you’re Goth For A Reason” answer you’re ever gonna hear, but: I was a child ballerina. I did cheer. I also did tap. I also did martial arts for several years. Horseback riding. Now I’m into roller skating and cycling, though the latter is more of a transit + aesthetic thing than competitive. I do also enjoy swimming, hiking, climbing, and being able to out-lift most guys. I also would’ve done kickboxing but the panini hit, and I wanted to attend the Sword Gym in the city, but Expensive.

13. How tall are you

5′6′’. It works out now that I’m built like a werewolf.

14. Favorite subject in school?

English/”Language Arts” for early schooling and Horror Writing in college....for obvious reasons ;)

15. Dream job?

I want to hit the NYT bestseller list so I can make everyone subject to my bullshit on a regular basis. Succeed at everything and retain a captive audience afterward? 20/10, seems like a great idea. (It would be nice to Day Job back with animals, but only part time, and at a living wage.)

Tagging: tbd lemme see which of my mutuals I haven’t targeted lately >)

[brandyllyn]

Voluntary Acts

Part 1

Obispo “Bishop” Losa x f!reader [no use of y/n]

Summary: "Thanks for the ride, don’t know what I would have done without your help." Words: 2.3k

Series Masterlist My Masterlist

Rating: Explicit Warnings: Language. Fingering. PiV.

"Son of a bitch," you cursed, huffing out a breath and letting the hood of the rental car drop back into place. You stood with your hands on your hips a moment, staring blankly at the car as you thought about your options. An hour and a half outside of San Diego, you were at least fifty miles past the last town - easily another twenty to Santo Padre. And no goddamn cell service since you’d turned off the highway. Hours of walking on the side of the highway in 110° heat.

What other option did you have? You’d picked this road specifically because no one would be on it. So that you could open up the Mustang you’d rented and blow through a hundred miles or so with no one on your tail. Leave it to fucking Hertz to rent you a car with a fucking coolant leak.

Pulling your bag out of the car you slung it over your shoulder, feeling the sun beat down on your bare legs and shoulders. Cutoff shorts and a tank top had seemed like a good idea for the flight down, but with miles of walking ahead of you you worried about water loss. At least you had a good pair of boots, lace up combat boots that had seen their fair share of hikes.

Grabbing your water bottle you set off towards Santo Padre. Thankfully the sun was at your back and you’d put on sunscreen before you’d left. But within twenty minutes you had sweated through your shirt and were starting to seriously rethink leaving the safety and shade of the car.

The rumble of motorcycles behind you caught your ears and you turned quickly, holding a thumb out and sending up a silent prayer that your day wasn’t about to get worse. Even money this was some college kids out on their crotch rockets, taking a break from UCSD. But as the hazy silhouettes began to sharpen you could make out the distinct form of the ape hanger handlebars. Not kids then, but also… that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. As the small group slowed to a stop beside you you took in the matching leathers, the expensively maintained bikes, and the various tattoos.

A gang then. Great.

"Need some help sweetheart?"

You gave the man who spoke your widest smile, shrugging and pushing your sunglasses up onto your head. "Had some engine trouble about a mile back, got no signal out here. Any chance one of you could give me a ride into town?"

"I’ll give you a ride," the largest of them called out but you ignored him, eyes zeroing in on the man in front, with the handlebar mustache. Of the three, he seemed to be the one in charge, letting the other two chatter while he sized you up. You met his gaze with a steady one of your own, taking a moment to appreciate how he filled out his jeans before arching an eyebrow at him.

"Go on ahead," he said after a minute, gesturing to the others. "Get Chuckie out here for a tow before some idiota steals the lady’s ride."

The two men cut off their bantering, exchanging a look and then toeing their bikes into gear. You didn’t move when they left, didn’t take your eyes off the man in front of you. With a nod towards his vest you asked, "Presidente?"

He smiled, jutting his chin at you and ignoring the question. "You want a ride to town or you wanna wait with the car?"

There was no hesitation as you stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder and swinging your leg over the bike. "Town." He reached back as soon as you slid on, pulling your thigh up to press to his and guiding your feet to the fold down pegs. The leather of his gloves was warm, slightly scratchy against your bare skin and you hitched yourself up even higher to avoid the heat from the engine.

"You ever ridden before?"

"A few times."

He turned the engine and the bike roared to life. "Keep close to me, follow my lead."

With a smile you wrapped your arms around his waist, pressing your chest to his back. "Just like dancing."

With a soft pat to your hands he toed the bike into gear, "Something like that."

Bishop took the remaining miles to Santo Padre at a steady pace, slowing for the curves and feeling your arms wrap tighter around his middle as you leaned with him. You did it naturally, chin resting on his shoulder and lips almost brushing his ear when you pointed out the turn for your hotel.

When he’d first seen you, walking on the shoulder of the highway, he’d thought for a second his eyes were playing tricks. How many times did you find a gorgeous woman with legs for days and tits pushed up to her chin looking to hitchhike? Outside of porn and when he was jacking off that kind of shit just didn’t happen. He’d clocked your assessing gaze, the way your eyes lingered on his thighs. If you’d walked straight out of his fantasies - he had a feeling he might have ridden into one of yours.

"Thanks for the ride," you said as you swung your leg over the back of his bike.

"No problem, anything for a beautiful woman."

You smiled and bit your lip, glancing at the hotel for a second and then back to him. "Place has a bar, can I buy you a drink for your troubles?"

Bishop tried to hide the twitch of his lips as he dismounted, not bothering with locking it up. He knew this hotel, this side of town. No one would touch his shit.

The bar was practically empty, one guy sitting on a stool nursing a beer who didn’t even look up when they entered. You gestured him to a booth and he slid into the u-shaped bench with a soft sigh, leaning back and propping one arm along the back. He noted that you slid into that same side when you returned with two beers, knee brushing his under the table.

For real, had he fallen into a Penthouse column?

His conviction that this was all some sort of fevered sex dream only grew when you turned your body towards his, placing a hand on his leg and lightly running your fingers on his inner thigh. "Thanks for the ride, don’t know what I would have done without your help."

He let his hand fall to your bare shoulder, stroking the soft skin. "Someone would have come along to help you, I’m sure."

"Mmm," you hummed tilting your head in an obvious invitation which he took, scratching against your neck. "But they would have expected something in return."

"Who says I don’t?"

You flashed him a wide smile and he grinned back, cupping his hand behind your neck and pulling you towards him. You didn’t play coy, didn’t act like this wasn’t something you wanted - instead you were the first to slip your tongue out and lick along his lips. Tangle your fingers into the buttons of his shirt and keep him pulled towards you.

"You wanna go back to my room?"

"I’d fuck you on this table if you let me," he murmured into your ear, nipping at the flesh. You giggled and he smiled, following you when you slunk out of the booth, watching your ass sway in front of him as you took his hand and led him out of the bar and into the hotel lobby. Your room was on the first floor, and the handle was no sooner beeping unlocked than he was pressing you inside, kicking the door shut and framing your face in his hands.

How the fuck did you taste like candy?

He bent his knees, hooking a hand and lifting your thigh, resting your ankle on the small of his back. You were kissing him like your life depended on it, letting out needy little whimpers and moans that shot straight to his cock. With a sharp slap he palmed at your ass where it hung out of the bottom of those entirely too short shorts.

"No."

Bishop paused, pulling back to look you in the eye. "No?"

Reaching down, you took his hand in yours, smoothing it along where he had hit and tucking his fingers under the hem of your cutoffs.

"You have to earn the right to get rough with me."

He grinned, backing you into the room. "You think that’s rough sweetheart? I could show you things-"

In a flash he was on his back on the bed and you were straddling him; hand cupped around his throat, the other palming his cock through his jeans. "As I said, you earn the right to do those things. Show me you know what you’re doing and maybe we can take the training wheels off."

Bishop growled and flipped you over, kicking your legs apart and sinking into the grip you had on his throat. "Earn it, eh?" He tickled his fingers upwards, slipping between your thighs and lightly rubbing at your panties. "How do I do that?"

You didn’t answer, just spread your legs wider and let him settle the heavy weight of his cock against you. The hand on his throat tucked behind his head and you pulled him down into a wet kiss, tongues tangling and a rough groan floating from your lips directly into his mouth.

"Take these off," he tugged at your shorts.

You lifted your hips and he unbuttoned them, pushing them and your underwear down to your knees and then shifting so you could kick them off. Sitting back on his knees he pressed your legs open and looked down at your pussy. His lips curled when he saw the little cap of hair and he threaded his fingers through it.

"Been a while since I seen a bush."

"I’m not twelve," you replied, pulling at your shirt until you were splayed out naked under him.

"No, you are not," he agreed with a soft hum, pressing his thumb to your clit again. He liked how soft you got, the way your lips parted and your eyes half-closed while you watched him play with you. "So what’s it take?"

"Hmm?"

Bishop grinned and thrust two fingers up inside of you, smirking as your back arched off the bed. "To get rough."

"Show me you know what you’re doing," your fingers danced up his thighs, pulling at his belt. "Make me come."

"Is that all?" He spread his legs wider and fixed his eyes on your pussy. "Thought you were going to make me do something hard."

"Well I’d hope-" you gasped when he twisted inside of you, "that you were hard."

He chuckled and watched you squirm. All of that soft skin and sexy curves spread out on the bed in front of him - and he was still dressed. Hell, he was probably leaving dirt on the bed from his boots. Not that you seemed to care. And he had to admit he kind of liked it, liked seeing you strung out beneath him. The soft skin of your thighs against the rough denim of his jeans.

Make you come? He could do that.

You made him do it twice before he was allowed to take his jeans off, toeing his boots to the floor and shoving the denim down his hips. He heard the heavy thud of his kutte, could feel your nails raking against him as you almost ripped his shirt over his head.

"Hope you have a condom because if not you’re getting a hand job."

Bishop grinned and held the foil packet up between two fingers. "I’m a gentleman baby."

"You don’t have to be."

Bishop raised an eyebrow as he rolled the condom on, giving himself a couple of strokes. "Have to be?"

"Gentle," you said, hooking your heels around his waist, "I think you earned it."

Ah fuck… Bishop bit his lip, tasting blood as he flipped you onto your knees. One hand kneaded the skin of your hip while he lined himself up, sinking inside you in one slow, easy motion. You were ready - more than ready - and he admired the arch of your back as you took him to the hilt.

"Maybe I don’t wanna," he murmured, gripping the base of your neck as he started to slowly rock inside you. "Maybe I like this gentle shit."

"Anything you want - fuck yes just like that."

He smiled, shifting his thighs to press your knees wider. "Anything?" he purred the word, stroking a thumb along your puckered asshole. "Well I have some ideas…"

Shit, your laughter made your walls ripple around him, stroking his dick and making him see stars. You shot him a coy glance over your shoulder, "You got lube with you too?"

"If I did?"

"Well then we could talk."

Oh he liked you. He slapped a hand against your ass and rocked into you harder, closing his eyes and tilting his head back while he enjoyed himself for a minute. But he wanted more - more of you, more of your body, your pleasure. He used both hands to haul you up into his arms, closing his fingers over your breast and dropping the other hand between your thighs.

"Think you can come for me again?" His tongue snaked out against your ear and he grinned when you arched into his embrace.

"Yeah. I think fuck yeah I can."

"Good, give me another."

He nibbled at your neck, circling your clit and pinching your nipple - touching you in every way he knew how. Hard and fast, light and slow. Circles and flicks and soft strums. You were a live wire in his arms, squirming and moving to the point he had to band an arm across your chest to hold you still.

"Come for me bonita, let me feel it."

Everyone at the fucking Marriott learned his name that night.

Possession - Coming... sometime

Note: The update schedule for this will be erratic at best.

Taglist Link

[qwanjiro]

Honestly though, the Body Swap AU has so much potential, like

- Both Taka and Mondo are not used to their new height. It means that Taka accidentally bumped his head at the slightly-low-object at LEAST 5 times, or Mondo who deliberately curse at his own bike for being so goddamn tall and big, and he may or may not almost got into a crash cause his booted-feetsies can’t even touch the frickin ground.

- I’d like to imagine Mondo’s easy to get flustered in Taka’s body. While Taka just... no shame.

- One day Taka casually commented that Mondo’s “well-endowed” and that he’s a “healthy male”. Mondo craves death.

- Taka and Mondo teaches each other how to be one another. How to act, how to talk, how to walk, etc. and surprise, surprise, it’s way harder than it looks.

- What would happened if Takaaki or Daiya suddenly came to visit and they has not yet perform a rehearsal??? Hilarious, I tell you.

- Every morning Mondo goes into Taka’s room (or the other way around). Because,

- Mondo has zero knowledge on boot laces, so Taka would kneel down and tie it for him.

- Taka has no idea about hair pomps and make ups, so Mondo carefully style his hair and gently put the eyeliner on him.

- The fluff meter’s way up beyond space.

- Also Mondo brought his trusty eyeliner with him everywhere cause Taka still cry like a tortured sea lion.

- “STOP CRYING GOD DAMN IT MY EYELINER’S TOO EXPENSIVE FOR THIS BULL”

- And before you know it, Mondo find himself comforting Taka and make him feel better so he doesn’t cry anymore and say some positive shit and hug and accidentally sleep-cuddling together and when they woke up they finally come back to their own body and flustered on how close they were and generally being soft aaaahHh what an AU.

- There’s a lot more, like how Mondo would man the hallways, how Taka deal with the CD’s, the neglected bike, etc.

Please someone make this into a fic. I probably can, but I don’t think I had enough time and determination for it ‘3’

[ackermansupremacy]

MORE marley kids headcanons because i miss them

Goddamn Ophi how much u finna write about them 💀

They are so chaotic my God

Falco is the “parent” of the group

Whenever someone (Gabi) does something stupid and ends up getting hurt he acts like it a catastrophic event

She’ll get a paper cut and hes like “OH MY GOD GABI HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?”

Gabi Zofia and Falco once tried to convince Udo to say one swear word

They tried to pay him 50$ to say damn and he WOULDN’T

Until one day his favorite minecraft world got deleted and he just yelled “M O T H E E R F U C K E R”

Only Falco was there and NO ONE believed it happened

Zofia is the strongest out of all of them

So one time the four of them were all able to balance on a bike and zofia was able to pull it no prob

Udo just LOOKS like he has chronic stomach pain

Gabi is lactose intolerant but she will eat an entire pint of ice cream, three boxes of mac and cheese and wash it down with some milk

With NO regrets

Their not allowed to hang out at Zofia’s house anymore

Because one of them Gabi broke a really expensive vase kiss kiss fall in love

Falco is under no circumstances allowed to pair his phone to Gabi’s bluetooth speaker because of his wildly unpredictable music taste

The LAST thing Gabi wants is for him to start blasting Freak by Doja Cat on full volume within earshot of her mom

Because he has no idea what those types of songs even mean hes just sitting there listening like 😀 while everyone is scrambling to turn it off

Zofia is a really devoted dancer so she travels a lot for dance competitions

So she leaves her beloved betta fish in Udo’s hands everytime she leaves because he ACTUALLY knows how to take care of it

Zofia doesn’t let ANYONE go through her sketchbook

So one time when she was at a dance competiton Gabi stole it and looked through it

It was full of charcoal sketches of fairies that she was too embarrassed to show anyone

Halloween is their TIME

They stock up on snacks, go trick or treating and have a big slumber party!

Which always involves them watching a scary movie and having to turn it off when they get too scared LOL

THEY TP REINER’S HOUSE

EVERY YEAR WITHOUT FAIL AND HE KNOWS ITS THEM

Sleepovers are a common thing between them

Theyre always at Udo’s house cuz he has “the cool mom”

But that comes with its own stress...

*CRASH* “Sorry Mom, Falco fell out the window” “HUH?” “Hes okay though! I think!”

There went the beautiful hydrangeas you spent so long planting

They will be up intil 4 am making tik toks

Like ive mentioned before, Udo is like the clingiest kid ever

So a few times a week he’ll come into your room at some ungodly hour of the night like

“Mom I had a bad dream can i sleep in here?”

If you tell him no he will either sleep on the floor or just come back later and not ask💀

So you just wake up with a child in your bed and it scares the shit out of u every time

You would think that when his friends spent the night this would stop that from happening but NOPE

He would go into your room under the guise of saying goodnight then have the audacity to fall asleep until you wake him up and send him back out w his friends 💀

Falco is the ultimate drama king

He def follows Colt around when he gets bored

“Falco can you leave me alone for five minutes?” “OH JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE 18 NOW MEANS YOU’RE TOO COOL TO HANG OUT WITH ME?”

Harassing Reiner is their favorite thing to do in their spare time

They’re still kids so its just absolute headassery

They still ding dong ditch his ass 💀

BUT HE HAS A RING DOORBELL SO HE CAN SEE THAT ITS THEM

He thinks its wildly irritating but also thinks its funny because it reminds him of his childhood

But you get a lot of calls from him like “YO COME GET YO DAMN KIDS”

So you have to shoot them a text like “Gabi please stop harassing your uncle”

He doesn’t understand why hes the butt of the jokes, he never gives the reaction they want

Zofia is a secret anime fan

When shes asked about it shes like “yeah i watch it occassionally” but has a Killua shrine in her closet 💀

She also has a secret instagram with like 20k followers that she posts aesthetic pics on

*****

S-Should i post more about these beans

[felix21im]

"Ice Cold", a Leon Kennedy x reader fanfiction

As an Art and Design student all you want to do is just knuckle down and finish that one goddamn piece you've been working on for months. Too bad your time is constantly stolen by your Waiter job with minimal pay, but hey, at least the tips are good if you unbutton your shirt that one more time.

Masterlist

Chapter 5: Robbed

It had been a little while since your birthday and that special evening with Leon, he had to go back to work and you had to go back to college. While he was away you tried your best to focus on your college work, with your big final project coming up you needed to get your head in the game. Besides that you also had your private driving lessons, stressing you out even more.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” You cursed at yourself as you looked down at your test results.

“What’s the matter, Buttercup?” Leon was listening to you on the other end of the phone. He was away on some work trip so you both tried your best to stay in contact through calling. “Didn’t get the results you wanted?”

“Of course not!” You scoffed as you looked down at the paper and you scrunched it into a paper ball. You threw it across the room, letting out another grunt.

“Don´t worry about it too much. It's just one test, I'm sure the next one will be better.” You knew that Leon tried his best to motivate you but you weren't really in the mood for that now. “Ugh, no Leon, it's not just another test. Every grade matters now. If I fuck this up I can forget getting that internship or a job I like! It's not like you could understand that, Mr. Richboy with that mysterious job you got...” You didn't want to snap at him like that, but the past weeks left you with not nearly enough sleep so you were at the edge all your time anyway. Thankfully, Leon understood you and didn't take it personally.

“I think you need a break from all of this for a day. It won't get better if you don't take care of yourself.” Leon said. You shook your head, knowing he wouldn't see that.

“I can’t, Leon. I still got so much work to do and-” Leon interrupted you.

“That wasn't a suggestion, Buttercup. As soon as I’m back, you’re gonna take a break. I will make sure you will have a few nice days off. With me, of course. After that I'm sure you can work with full potential again.” It was hard to decline his offer, especially because you knew he was right. You let out a sigh in defeat, agreeing to his idea. The two of you then proceeded to talk some more, before Leon had to hang up again. After you said goodbye you turned back to your small desk to prepare for college.

A few days passed since talking to Leon and he just sent you a message, telling you he would be back that evening. You were excited to see him again and also were looking forward to what he planned for you two. Since he didn't tell you what he wanted to do you just went with a comfortable outfit. Some black jeans, your favorite shirt, sneakers and a jacket. The whole day you were just waiting for him to text you again and tell you where to meet. That message never came, but at some point Leon just texted you from your front door asking you to come outside to him. You left Jordan a note telling them that you were going to be away for the night and that they unfortunately had to eat alone. After that you grabbed your house keys and phone and went outside.

Leon was already waiting for you, standing next to an old fashioned motorcycle. He held up a helmet and you practically ran towards him, happy to see him after your time of separation. You couldn't stop yourself from giving him a hug, hoping you could stay like this forever. After a while however you both let go of each other and Leon handed you the helmet he held. He then sat down asking you to do the same. "Where are we going?" You asked him while taking a seat behind him. He didn't look at you when answering, starting the vehicle.

"We'll see. The most important thing is that you can get your head free from college and we can spend time together, right?" You nodded, smiling under your helmet. As the motorcycle started to roar you put your hands around Leon, leaning your head against his back. Soon you found the two of you driving through the streets. You felt the cold air on your body but you were so close to Leon that it didn't bother you.

As the sun began setting Leon drove up a street, stopping on a mountain with a wonderful view over the city. The motorcycle stopped and Leon got up from it. He then helped you get off it as well, reaching a hand out to you. You thanked him, placed the helmet on the bike seat and walked towards the edge of this mountain viewing deck. You were astonished by the view that was offered to you here. Never before have you left the city and gone to this place, no bus was driving here and it’s not like you had the time for it anyway, walking would take hours. You sat down on the old wooden bench that was placed near the cliff, looking over to the sun and enjoying the last few beams that shone on your face. You closed your eyes and smiled into the sky. It has been way too long since you were outside and just enjoying nature without being stressed from college or work. A deep breath escaped your lips and let out a content smile. Soon you felt another body next to you and you felt Leon looking at you from the side. Slowly, you opened your eyes again and looked at him happily.

"Angel made us some food before I went to pick you up. I hope you like it." He put a small box between the two of you and opened it. In it was an exotic fruit salad with one fork for each of you.

"Whoa.. it looks so good, she shouldn't have to do that!" You said to him. After saying that you accepted the fork from him and took a small bite of the salad. You let out a satisfied “Yum!” before Leon also took a taste of it, happy about you liking it. You both enjoyed the tasty fruit salad without exchanging any words. After you were done eating, Leon put the box back into the hidden compartment of his motorcycle before sitting down next to you again. He was happy about seeing you so relaxed after getting to know your stressed side. Soon the sky was a mix of red and blue, the sun almost completely being hidden beyond the city and soon the horizon. The first few stars appeared in the sky soon after the sun had gone back to hiding, leaving you in the cold. Leon noticed you trying to stay warm and even though you already put on your jacket, you were still kinda freezing. He lay an arm around your shoulders and pulled you close to him. His body heat warming you up. You enjoyed his company, putting an arm around his body as well trying to get as close as possible to him.

After a while you broke the silence, not bearing the cold air any longer.

“How about..” He turned his head to face you as he wanted to listen to you talk, he wanted to give you his full attention. “We get going and grab some pyjamas for the both of us and we stay the night in a hotel?”

He nodded at the suggestion. “Considering we’re on the expensive side of town I imagine you want me to pay?” He raised his eyebrows as he smirked.

“Nope!” You cockily smiled at him. “While you’ve been gone I have been absolutely busting my ass at work!” You pulled your credit card out of your backpocket. “So that means that I’m going to be treating you to something for once.”

He plucked the card out of your hand and looked at it, turning it to see the front. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a credit card that’s not black.”

It took you a second to realise what he meant and you just scoffed at him as you snatched it back. “Not all of us are ring leaders of the criminal underworld y’know.” You rolled your eyes and placed it back into your pocket.

“Is that what you think I do for a living?” He chuckled as he tightened his grip on your shoulder.

"Well, I don't know. You're never telling me anything about what you do. You're just gone at some point and then return without letting anyone know where you were. So thinking of you as a Mafia boss would make sense." You also let out a small chuckle but it wasn't really honest. You were wondering for months now what he was doing and why he never talked about it.

“It’s not like that, Buttercup.” He sighed.

"Well, then tell me what it is like. Leon, I.. Don't you trust me?" You looked at him with big eyes, worried your relationship wasn't as deep as you hoped. You never had these kinds of conversations. Thinking about it now, you barely even knew anything about Leon and also the other way around.

"No, listen to me. If I could, I would tell you anything you wanted to know. But I'm.. I literally am not allowed to talk about it now. Please understand that, I know that you can do that for me." Reluctantly you nodded, still unhappy about his mysterious answers. But you wouldn't stop trying to find out what he did, you were just too curious. "Let's stop talking about work now, this isn't what I wanted this meeting to be about. Let's go find a nice place to stay now." He stood up, lifting you up with him. You then went over to his motorcycle and prepared for the drive.

The sounds of the engine roared through the busy streets as the two of you scouted for a place to park.

On your right you spotted a row of motorcycles and you informed Leon. “Look, on our right.” You tapped his shoulder and looked to the right at the empty spot, resulting in him slowing the bike down. He slowly drove the bike into the spot and he turned off the engine. Leon got off of the bike first and he took your helmet off of you. You smiled at him with messy hair as he held out his hand to help you off the bike.

“So where do we start, Buttercup?” He asked as he placed his keys into his front pocket. Together the two of you strolled through the streets looking for a place to stay. After a while of walking around you finally found a hotel that still was open for check-ins. “Pyjamas another day then?”

“It’s-” You checked your phone and looked at the time. “-already eleven at night. No stores are open anymore.” You admitted as you both went up the marble steps to the hotel lobby.

“How about a shopping day tomorrow then?” Leon asked you.

“As long as I’m back at home by two.” You both walked up to the front desk. “I have work tomorrow.” Leon simply nodded at you. “Hiya.” You said to the woman working the desk. “Do you still have any rooms available?”

She clicked her mouse a few times and eventually opened her mouth. “We have a few.” She flipped over her computer monitor and showed the two of you pictures of rooms available. “We have our standard suite, VIP suite and finally the President Suite.” She guided you through the rooms, explaining the differences between them. You listened to the woman, worrying about the cost of all this.

"Uhm.. so how much would one of the basic rooms cost for one night? For us two?" She checked her notes and then told you the prices, making you feel sick. You did say to Leon you would pay because you really did work hard the few weeks, but apparently that wasn't even close enough to what this woman wanted from you. You thanked her for telling you the prices and then looked at Leon. "Leon, I.. I don't think I can pay this. I mean, I saved some money since I wanted our first day together to be special but.. I can't afford this! This is way too much than I imagined it to be, even the cheapest of the rooms is still too expensive! I'm so sorry, I guess we should just drive back home and spend the night there." You whispered to him and hoped the woman wouldn't see you panic like this. Leon looked at you sympathetic, understanding your wish to have a perfect reunion. He put a hand on your shoulder and gave you a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it, Buttercup. I can pay for this. There will be many more chances for you to invite me to something, alright? Everything will be fine, you hear me?" You simply nodded, fearing Leon would think of you as someone who was just after his money.

Before he went to talk to the woman again you grabbed his hand. "I can give the money back to you after some time! I don't want you to always give your money away for me. I don't want you to think that's all I care about." You admitted and looked him in the face.

He pulled you closer to him and patted you on the head. "I would never think like this about you, Buttercup. I know you're trying your best and I appreciate that. You really don't need to pay me back, alright? All that matters to me is that we spend time together." You now returned the smile. He passed the receptionist his black credit card and she seemed unphased by it, she must see these all of the time. She kept his card and gave him two golden plastic cards in return, the keys to the room.

Leon went through the door first and instantly went into the bathroom, checking behind the door and once he came out he instantly opened the closet door. “Paranoid?” You asked him as you sat on the end of the bed, looking at him run around the room.

“You can never be too sure.” He raised his eyebrows as he went to sit down next to you. “Are you not tired?” He looked at your face. Over the time the two of you have spent together he began to learn your sleep schedule, you go to sleep at around half ten to eleven and you wake up at around eight. “It’s wayyyyy past your bedtime, Buttercup.”

You looked at the clock that was beside the bed. Just past midnight. “I’m not really tired, I guess running around looking for a hotel gave me a burst of energy.”

Leon hummed to himself for a moment and looked at the gramophone that sat on the opposite side of the room. “I think I have an idea to make you feel sleepy.” He smiled as he got up from the bed and ran to the bathroom, after a few moments he came back out and shut the door behind him. Next he began to dig through the cupboard underneath the gramophone and he selected a record. After adjusting it on the stage soft, classical music began to play. “Would you like to join me?” He held out his hand for you and you happily accepted it. You placed your arms around his neck and the two of you slowly swayed to the music. The sound quality wasn't the best but what can you expect from a piece of hardware from the early 1900s. You ignored the slight static and rested your head on Leon’s shoulder, moving your hands down to his chest. “Getting tired already?” He chuckled, causing his chest to slightly move up and down.

“A little…” You admitted. Your eyes were getting harder and harder to keep open. Leon held you tight and hummed along to the music as he caressed your back. You both danced together for what felt like ten seconds when in reality was around five minutes.

Leon slowly pulled you away from him. “Come with me.” He held your hand as he guided you to the bathroom and the white lights almost blinded you, almost instantly after Leon turned off most of the lights, leaving only the mirror to illuminate the room.

“Is this your plan to get me to fall asleep?” You asked as you looked at the filled bathtub, Leon had put some simple bath soaps in there to make the water look bubbly and smell divine.

He nodded as he took off his shirt. “My plan is to get both of us to fall asleep.” You couldn’t help but stare as you watched him take off his shirt. “This isn’t a show, Buttercup. You’re joining me.” You raised your eyebrows at his cockyness and you undid the belt on your jeans, tossing it onto the tiled floor with a loud thud. Once you looked back at Leon he was just wearing his underwear and looking at himself in the mirror, brushing his hair back with his hand. You smiled at him as you pulled off your jeans, leaving them in the pile of clothes by the wall. Leon appeared in front of you and helped you take off your shirt, slowly lifting it over your head and being careful to not get it caught on your nose. “Still looking as sexy as always.” He smirked at you once you were both down to your underwear.

“Right back at you, Mr. Kennedy.” You winked as you began to take off your underwear, sliding it off of your body. Leon did the same, throwing his onto the floor with the rest of the clothes. He held out his hand for you to take and you happily did so. You both stepped into the hot water and Leon sat down first, slowly to make sure that the water wouldn’t spill over the sides. You followed him and sat between his legs, your back facing him. He lightly splashed some soapy water on your back and he ran his hands across your skin to clean you. The feel of his hands massaging your back was enough to knock you out on the spot and he could tell. He grabbed your shoulders and slowly tilted you back, allowing for you to lean on his chest. You closed your eyes as Leon held onto you, the smell of the soap and Leon’s cologne wafting through your nose put you into a trance.

The both of you stayed in the bathtub for around twenty minutes and by then you had already passed out. Leon carefully climbed out and emptied out the water. He used a small towel to dry you off and finally he then carried you to bed, tucking you under the covers to keep you warm. Lastly Leon climbed in beside you, caressing you once again and falling asleep behind you.

The next day arrived and you and Leon checked out of the fancy hotel. The both of you agreed to go into the city before you had to go home again and go back to your daily life filled with stress. “I can’t even remember the last time I slept so well.” You stretched your arms as you left through the hotel doors saying goodbye to that comfortable bed you spent the night in.

“Neither do I.” Leon answered you, and he really meant it. Whenever the two of you shared a bed and were physically close to each other he was actually able to sleep through the nights without any nightmares. He never told you about them as he didn't want to make you worry about him but he knew that at some point you would eventually catch on. Honestly, Leon was just glad to find some rest when you were near to him.

The weather that day was quite warm, the sun already shining high in the sky. “We should definitely get you some sunglasses, Buttercup.” Leon said as he just put on a pair for himself. You shook your head, laughing at him.

“Always prepared, huh, Mr. Kennedy?” You said jokingly. Leon also let out a small laugh, leading you to his parked motorcycle. You put on the helmet again and sat down in the back of it. Leon then took the seat before you, starting the machine. Once again you put your arms around him to make sure you didn't fall during the ride. Soon Leon drove away from the parking lot and on the busy street.

Just a few minutes later he stopped again to park his bike. You both got off it and went to the main part of the city by foot. You soon understood what Leon meant the day before by “expensive part of town”. All the stores you went by were expensive clothing stores or restaurants. You didn't even dare to go into one, fearing the prices for just simple white shirts. So you were happy just looking through the windows and talking to Leon.

At one point you passed this small ice cream shop and considering you had been walking for around an hour you wanted to get something to eat and drink. “I'm gonna pay for this one!” You said to Leon, not even asking at this point. As you went to look for a place to sit at the ice cream shop you saw a sign saying “CASH ONLY, CASH NOT ACCEPTED”. You pointed your finger at it. “You go look for a place for us to sit, I think I saw a cash machine around. I’ll be back in a second.” You waved Leon away and went to search for the machine you saw earlier. Turning around a few corners you finally found it. It stood quite remote from the main part of the city, sending a shiver through your body in this creepy and shadowy street. You quickly went over to it, putting your credit card into the machine. You stood for a second to wait for the prompt to enter your pin code and once it appeared you followed all of the instructions, soon pulling out fifty dollars. “That’s far more than enough but it’ll be fine.” You thought to yourself. You placed the money into your jacket pocket and walked away from the machine. As you turned the corner to the ice cream shop you accidentally bumped into someone, causing you to stumble a little. “Oh, sorry about that! I didn't see you...” You started apologizing but something about this person threw you off. They didn't say anything and just walked away. “Weird..” You continued your way and placed your hands into your pockets, only to notice that they were now empty. “My money!” You exclaimed, looking around for the thief. You could see them, already quite a difference was between you two. You began running after them, also running past the ice cream shop where Leon was waiting. He saw you following that other person and after not showing a reaction to him calling your name, he knew something was wrong. He jumped up from his seat now also running after you and the thief. He quickly caught up with you, asking what happened while you two were still running. Out of breath you told him that you were robbed and who you were running after. Leon scanned his surroundings and then sped up leaving you behind him. You slowed down, trusting Leon would get your money back even without your help.

You soon found him and the robber in an alley, but you weren't expecting to find either of them like that: Leon was completely out of breath as he was kneeling on the robber, his hair standing in all directions but that was nothing compared to the man literally lying before him. His head was covered in blood and he was covering his belly, letting out grunts of pain as Leon still continued to punch him. He said something to the man, but you couldn't make out what it was. Everything seemed to happen at once and you felt sick. You wanted to tell Leon to stop but were unable to form any words, just watching in shock. You never saw Leon like this and it scared you, scarred you. You felt your legs shake and you tumbled towards a wall, trying your best to keep your balance. You thought you were gonna pass out, unable to breathe correctly anymore. You felt tears streaming down your face, you didn't even realize that you started crying. You stood there trembling, trying to catch your breath. Finally, it seemed like forever, Leon noticed you. He looked at you shocked and worried and ran over to you, leaving the poor man alone. He kneeled down beside you, asking if you were alright but it fell to deaf ears. You still felt like you were gonna pass out after what you just saw. As Leon tried to help you off the wall you flinched at his touch, almost immediately turning away from him. Leon’s heart shattered as he saw you like this knowing he was the reason for it. He looked back to the man who by now was limping his way past you. Leon shot him one last angry look before fully concentrating on your well-being. He tried to comfort you but it seemed that whenever he tried to touch you, you flinched. So he decided to just lean beside you, hoping you would calm down. Eventually, you did. It took a long time, but Leon never left you alone. You could breathe normally again but your body was still trembling and your eyes wide open. You also finally could hear something again that wasn't your own fast heartbeat. Leon seemed to notice your change, slowly turning to you in hopes you wouldn't be scared. He thought about taking your hand, but decided against it.

“Should I go get you some water or something? Maybe you will feel better when you drink something.” He asked and you could hear in his tone that he was deeply worried and sorry. You nodded simply, unsure if he even noticed it. He got up from the place beside you and went to get something to drink. Shortly after he came back with a bottle of water. He opened it for you and then handed it to you. You took some small sips and felt your head clear up again.

“W-What.. Why did you..” You whispered, your voice still shaking and unable to bring out whole sentences. “You nearly.. killed that man..” Leon shook his head.

“I.. I don't know what happened there, Buttercup. Something just took over me, I’m sorry you had to witness that. I can't ever make up for that.” Leon looked away from you, unsure of how to handle the situation. “I messaged Angel. She will come here and pick us up, I guess that's the best for us now. Can you walk?” He held out a hand, still covered in some of that man's blood. You didn't accept his help, you began using the wall behind you to help get you up. Your legs were still too shaky for you to stand alone. Thankfully, Leon noticed this before you fell down to the ground again. He carefully wrapped an arm around you, lifting you from the ground and carrying you bridal-style. You just let it happen, no more energy left in your body to fight it anymore.

You must have blacked out because when you opened your eyes again you found yourself in Leon’s home. You were lying on his fancy sofa in the living room and could hear someone talking outside of the room. Well, you heard Angel clearly screaming at Leon. You didn't pay too much attention to it and sat up.

As you stared at the ceiling you heard the door open and Angel speak to you. “We got told what happened…” You looked towards Angel and saw her standing with Daisy. Daisy was holding an old shoe box.

“I guess old habits die hard, huh?” Daisy sat down at the end of the couch by your feet, playfully punching your leg. “Being protective is one of Leon’s many habits, trust me, I would know.” She chuckled as Angel gave her a concerning look.

“Leon never told you what he did for a living did he?” Angel asked you, to which you replied by shaking your head. “Maybe you should ask him again, it would explain why he did what he did…” Angel had never spoken to you like this before, it was as if she wasn’t a vampire after all. “He wants to talk to you. Should we send him in?” You took a deep breath and nodded at Angel.

Both her and Daisy stood up, Daisy leaving the shoe box on the coffee table. “Get him to explain the box to you.” She said before giving a small wave and closed the door behind the two of them, leaving you alone in the room.

You reached for the glass of water placed on the table in front of you and took a big sip. As you put it down again you saw the living room door open and Leon walking inside, still a worried look resting on his face. “How are you feeling, Buttercup? You were out for three hours after I got Angel to pick us up.”

“I guess I’m alright, at least a little better, I think.” Leon slowly came closer to you, making sure not to scare you or anything.

“May I?” He pointed to the free space next to you on the sofa. You simply nodded and pulled your legs close to your chest, resting your head on them. “I'm really sorry for what happened earlier. I wish I could go back and change what I did. I shouldn't have reacted like that. Especially not when you were close.” You simply nodded, not knowing what to say to him. Your eyes were fixated on the box Daisy left on the table for you. Leon followed your gaze and took a deep breath. He reached out to it and placed it on his lap.

“I can't change what happened there, but the least I can do now is be honest to you.” He lifted the box up, revealing some old fabric. It seemed it was covering something and you watched Leon take it out. He undid the piece of cloth, revealing a blood covered police badge. He tried cleaning it up a bit before handing it over to you. You took it in your hands, unsure of what it meant. You tried reading what was written on it, but the blood made that impossible.

“Racoon City Police Department” He told you, the name sending a shiver down your spine. “I was there, my first day as a police officer. The day of the virus outbreak.” He continued, clearly having flashbacks of that day.

“Leon, I-..” He shook his head, continuing to talk.

“There was so much going on that day. I was happy to meet Claire, Chris’s younger sister, there. Without her.. Without Ada, maybe I wouldn't have survived.” You were too young when that accident occurred, unable to understand the panic people felt those days but even though you were too young back then, you still had to live with the outcome.

“My parents.. They were there. They were there when the outbreak happened, they barely made it out alive. After that.. They weren't the same anymore. They completely turned their backs on the world now, I don't even know how they are doing. I didn't know that you were there, too. I’m so sorry, Leon.” You took another look at the badge and then at Leon.

“After I got out of there alive, I had no choice to ever live a normal life again. I still have to fight these.. Things. The same goes for Chris, Angel and Daisy. Everyone of us is locked into this circle of forever fighting these neverending viruses. Angel and Daisy were only kids when it happened. Kids.” Leon’s hand formed a fist and you looked at him worried. You put your hand over his, showing him that you were still there for him. “All these people I’ve lost.. I didn't want that to happen to you. I don't want to think about you being in danger. I couldn't have told you before. I hope you understand me, Buttercup.”

You simply nodded, overwhelmed with the situation. You leaned closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Leon. Thank you for telling me this. I promise, you won't lose me, ever. Whatever will happen, I’ll stay by your side.”

----

Taglist: @trinswhimsys @dixanadu

[dayas]

1,3,20 and 25 for the writing ask, I wanna know it all!

First off, I wanna say thank you for giving me this ask because now I have something to think about instead of just being in a sad cloud ❤️ it’s nice to have a little break 💞

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it.

Not to expose myself but I have like 5 WIPS 😂

War Of Hearts (jiara reincarnation au), a not so secret combination Dimya fic (flower shop + mob au), an angsty gotham/the batman (fc wise djdjsjsn) BatCat one shot (selina meeting bruce after he left in a slightly unexpected way), and I’m trying to draft/spin ideas for a POTC Klonnie au (calypso and davy jones’ story). With WOH, I’m filling in the second chapter which is taking FOREVER (sorry y’all), but I’m actually super excited for it to drop! With the work entirely, I definitely love all the little hints and breadcrumbs. It’s gonna start coming together more in the second chapter and I’m super pumped to see what y’all think! I’m on Chapter 1 of the Dimya Fic and searching for my inspiration but I know how it’s gonna go and that makes me happy. I love the combo aspect of the fic and how it’s a mashup, plus there’s some not so subtle underlying themes that I think are cool to explore! With BatCat, I wrote some yesterday! It’s a songfic and I love that about it, but also just the angst and flashbacks included, I think it’ll be really cool! And for the Klonnie fic, I haven’t even started 😭 Someone was basically like ‘write this!’ so I was like ‘okay!’ but I don’t know them that well yet writing wise so I need to explore 😂 tbh it’s just a concept that I really, really love and I have some ideas for the melody that goes along with it. Unsure if it’ll be a multi chap or a realllyyy long one shot once it drops but I’m thrilled either way! The technical “fifth” wip is for everybody who asked me when Kie would find out JJ is Sarah’s bf’s friend so watch out for that 👀 y’all ask, I answer 😂

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

GOD! THIS! Okay okay okay I’ve ALWAYS wanted to write a Jiara break up scene but there’s SO MUCH WORK THAT GOES INTO THAT LIKE THE SET UP AND THEN BUILDING INTO AN EXPLOSION SO here’s a no context, cliche, dramatic af breakup scene for jiara thank you for giving me the freedom to write this 😂

“We need to talk.”

That alone stops what she’s doing. JJ and Kiara don’t usually ‘talk’. They can have serious conversations, but they tend to reserve getting deep for when they’re either really really high, or the issue around them has to be resolved. They’re not in high school anymore, but old habits die hard. Still, she shakes off the pause, drying another dish as she says,

“About?”

“... stuff.”

“Stuff. Real eloquent there, JJ.”

His eyes are practically heating the soapy water up themselves. The kitchen at the Chateau isn’t exactly prime real estate as far as cleanliness goes, but since they’re around here more often than not, Kie decided to make an effort to spruce it up a little bit and dragged JJ into it.

Something’s wrong. He’s fiddling with his rings underneath the water at a faster pace than normal, leaning heavily against the lip of the sink.

“Dude, are you okay?”

Her voice is soft as she dries her hands off, coming up to him and slipping her arms around his chest, cheek pressed into his back. He tenses underneath her, shrugging her off and backing away.

“JJ,” Kiara’s voice is concerned now, “What’s going on?”

“Weneedtobreakup.”

His sentence is a blur that knocks into her, rattling around her brain as it spins like a top. As all tops do, the spinning eventually stops, leaving her with the capacity to space out the miniature word flood that left his mouth a few seconds ago.

We need to break up.

“What?” Kie says, panic creeping into her system, “Why?” She begins to think of what could have gone wrong, what could have prompted this.

“It’s not you, it’s — ”

“If you try to feed me one of your bullshit lines that worked on the ghosts of hookups past, don’t.”

He has the decency to shut up then and there, turning instead to lean back against the cabinets, hands gripping the edge of another counter.

“Is this about what my cousin said?”

A few weeks ago, they’d been invited to a formal family gathering on her mother’s side. Some crazy expensive week in Hawaii. Well, Kiara had been invited, and she brought JJ for two reasons. One, he’s her best friend which legally obligated him to help her out in a spot. Two, they were getting pretty serious (or so she thought), and she couldn’t hide in the OBX forever, so why not kill two birds with one stone? At an extremely over the top event, one of Kie’s drunk cousins approached JJ and started spewing some nonsense. Kiara intervened, of course, but later, she remembers, another one approached. Completely sober. She hadn’t been paying attention to that conversation, occasionally glancing over to make sure JJ wasn’t floundering. He’d been restless the entire night and a few days afterwards. But when they’d come back home, all was well. Or, again, so she’d thought.

She should’ve just chucked the damn stone at herself.

He grimaces, and it’s to her horror that she realizes it’s true.

“What the fuck did she say?”

Her voice is low and dangerous, a tiny sliver of a hint as to what’s hiding behind her eyes.

“Doesn’t matter,” JJ shrugs, eyes everywhere but her.

“Of course it fucking matters, JJ! What did she say?”

“Nothing!”

“That’s a lie.”

“I already told you it doesn’t matter.”

“If it doesn’t matter then just tell me!”

“Fine!”

They are two powder kegs on the verge of an explosion. Kiara lit the spark, jumping the gun to shouting. He followed, and and now they’re at a precipice.

“You really wanna know what she said? Fine. She said that I’ll never be good enough for you, and you know what? She’s right.”

They tilt on the edge, still caught in the middle, unsure of where to fall.

“No. She’s not.” How can he even say that, let alone believe it? Kie isn’t always a fan of the cheesy, but it’s a cold hard fact that the man standing before her is one of the best things in her life.

“She is, Kie. You know she is. You’re not a Kook, but your family... they can give you so much more than I can. Opportunities and shit, the chance to get out of here. What do I have going for me?”

“Everything! You know I don’t want any of that bullshit or the baggage that comes with it — I want you.”

“I’m not gonna be enough. One day you’re gonna look up and realize that you want out of this place. Or I’m gonna look up and realize I turned into my dad.”

A bitter laugh leaves him, slicing them both to ribbons in the process.

“You’re not him, J. You’re not your dad and you never will be your dad.”

“You don’t know that! I don’t know that!”

They step closer at the same time, spark relit on the fuse to destroy them.

“JJ — ”

“No, Kiara. We can’t keep doing this. I’m stuck, and I’m not dragging you down with me.”

“You’re not dragging me down if I want to be here!”

Four more feet and they are two steps away from each other. They’re both tired, oh so tired, yet neither one is willing to give up the fight for their cause. The frustration builds, coiling tightly around them as JJ steps forward and shouts,

“I’m gonna ruin your life!”

“Then ruin it!”

Kie’s scream is passionate, every emotion inside of her escaping in those three words as she steps up to meet him.

“Ruin my life, JJ Maybank. Because I’d rather be in ashes with you than anywhere with anyone else.”

He takes one look at her and the pause between them could stop a train. Then, his head ducks down and his lips crash against hers. She reciprocates, sinking both hands into his hair. He picks her up and she wraps her arms around his waist as he sets her against the counter. Dishes crash onto the floor but neither of them are even remotely half assed to care. His lips attach to her neck and she exhales sharply.

“Stay,” Kiara whispers. And she wishes he did. If she would have been controlling their story, they would have taken this to Big John’s room and the breakup talks would cease. But she put everything in his hands, as he’s making the decision here. So when she tells him to ruin her life, she watches him grapple with himself. For a second, she sees his head tilt ever so slightly forward. He reels himself back in a second later, and the fire in his eyes burns out.

“I’m sorry,” JJ whispers, shaking his head and backing away from her.

“JJ,” Kiara calls after him, “JJ!” She’s immobilized, feet stuck to the floor.

This isn’t happening. This is not happening.

Something inside her breaks and she runs, tearing through the house. He’s already on his bike as she gets to the front porch, and curse him, he looks back. He puts the helmet in his hands on (she bought him that for his birthday — “You’re not getting fucked up on my watch. Put the damn helmet on.”) and drives away.

Kiara doesn’t know what happens next. When her faculties return her knees are scraped up, blood trickling down. She’s still on the porch and her face is wet, cheeks marred by liquid pooling in her eyes. Someone is crying, loudly, like their heart was ripped from their chest. No, she thinks, like someone else’s heart was ripped from their chest, someone the person crying loved. Because if her own heart was ripped out, she would not be able to feel. What Kiara wouldn’t give to not feel a goddamn thing right now.

She calls Sarah. Her friend comes and picks her up, and they go to her place. Kie can’t bear to be in the Chateau or her own room. Sarah’s is devoid of memories, for the most part. She explains what happened through her tears as her friend holds her, gently carding her fingers through her hair comfortingly. They light up, and then get a little tipsy and Kiara doesn’t know if it’s better or for worse. But it’s something. She’s reminded of after the Phantom went down, that night on the beach when she discovered the freedom to be. In this moment, Kiara’s free to be something. Anything. Whatever she wants. But the one thing she wants removed himself from her life, so she settles for being a mess instead. Sarah settles in with her when they’re all worn out, falling asleep quickly. Kiara’s vaguely aware that the person next to her is not who she wants it to be, that this is wrong in the sense that someone else should be here. She’s too cold, unraveled.

“Stay,” she whispers, but this time to herself. If she can stay for tonight, she can stay for tomorrow, and the day after that until she eventually finds her way back to who she is without him in her life. She’s not the same Kiara as she was this morning. She’ll be a different Kiara when she wakes up tomorrow. The Kiara she is wraps her arms around herself to keep whatever’s left from pouring out. She will do what he refused to. When the morning comes, she will face the world. While the moon is out, she is free to dream.

She dreams one last dream of him.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Okay LOOK 😂 there’s so much I wanna say on this but it would be so spoiler-y BUT for War Of Hearts, do some scanning! There’s a lot to unpack there, some obvious, some not! It becomes more evident in the chapters to come. I wish I could say more and I totally would if all of it was published 😭😭😭 OOO but I do enjoy referencing my works in other works (literally did that in the mini scene above lmao) so there’s a good chance that I riff off of previous concepts or something else across the stories/one shots that I write! There’s so many references I throw in too. For example, the ‘I hope you care to be recalled to life’ part in It Wasn’t Special Til I Met you is from A Tale Of Two Cities. I definitely love exploring concepts in my work, which I guess is why it kind of reads as flowery when I dig into it 😂

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

To me, I really love when I’m able to come up with good dialogue or a good scene and I’m like ‘OOO YES THIS IS IT!” It’s super fun to explore the underlying themes and symbolism in pieces; I totally love and live for weaving stuff together like Blues Clues 😂 I also adore dropping references to various works or songs because people will catch them and be like ‘wait is that xyz?’ and I’m like ‘yeah! yes it is! you get it!’ And that’s just a wonderful feeling 😊🥰

That’s all for me! Thanks for asking!

[arcanalogue]

The Tower + The Force of Impact

This week is a sort of special anniversary for me. Exactly five years ago, I fell through the fire escape outside a friend’s apartment and broke three ribs. It was a serious injury, the bones were “grossly displaced” (I was morbidly delighted to learn this term), and the healing was very slow. And friends, as some of you may remember, the timing absolutely could not have been worse. 

You see, just a month beforehand I’d moved out of the apartment I’d shared with my partner of over a decade. Not sure of my next steps, I packed everything into a storage unit, like so:

The unit was located in this fascinating old historical building, an old glue factory which had been converted into public storage. I’d ridden my bike past it so many times, I took a perverse pleasure in finally having an excuse to go inside, rent a tiny piece of it:

From there I embarked on a month of traveling across the country, mainly to get a leg up financially by not having to pay rent. It didn’t work! And when I returned to the city, I kept everything in storage while I took shelter in a temporary room I could scarcely afford. I decided to keep it monastically empty, like so:

Not even a bed to sleep in, because beds are FURNITURE, and furniture is not only EXPENSIVE, but signifies a symbolic COMMITMENT to the way things are going to be for a while. 

I was determined to avoid defining my new reality that haphazardly, This, I imagined, was my one big chance to find the path forward, into THE FUTURE.  I wanted to remain staggeringly open-minded, which would require the utmost clarity and simplicity. Starting anew with only the basics, I would hone my sensitivities and let them guide me to what was truly important. 

And thus, the only piece of luggage I brought to the temporary room was the suitcase containing all of my ritual equipment, like so:

But then, within a week of setting up in the new space, came the fall. And with the injury came the kind of pain and fear that you simply can’t retreat from. I couldn’t rest, couldn’t think. I could barely commute to my storage space, let alone haul anything back from it. I didn’t have any goddamned money. Overnight, that spartan living space appeared quite different to me: it was devoid of comfort, and of possibilities. I was just a person with nothing, trapped in the borderlands, and my surroundings reflected that. 

You almost had to laugh. Except I couldn’t, it hurt my bones.

I’ll spare you the gory details, but that winter ended up drop-kicking me into the deepest depression since my early twenties. There’s a special component of failure that age imparts to illness: fifteen years of growth, of important milestones and observations, but suddenly none of that is useful, or even accessible. Poof, gone.

And that carefully-packed suitcase full of ceremonial tchotchkes? It might as well have been filled with sand.  

I made a lot of terrible decisions that winter, but can’t bring myself to regret them. I also made a lot of okay-ish decisions, and even some pretty good ones, all considered. A drowning person will grab onto anything that floats. At one point I spent about $200 of the money I didn’t have on new clothes: red socks, red pants, red sweaters, red everything. My gothic black-and-gray wardrobe suddenly felt like it was killing me, pulling me down. I needed to draw power from an external source, and color seemed to help.

That was the winter I began using the Salvador Dali tarot deck – I’d actually purchased it just hours before falling from that fire escape. 

One of the few joys during those long months was discovering that these cards finally made sense to me, seemed to come alive in my hands. When I’d first explored them fifteen years earlier, Dali’s abstract impressions of the arcana had been too advanced for me; now the deck had practical use.   

The colors in these cards inspired me to start painting again, and when I couldn’t think of anything to practice on, I’d just copy illustrations from the deck. It didn’t feel like I was making art, just crudely using water to push the paint around, constraining my focus to subjects that brought the kind of comfort and illumination that expired opioids barely scratched at. 

The winter passed, and then the spring, and I managed to pull it all together just in time to lose it again, in the fall. Another heartbreak, concurrent with another physical injury, and many of the same conditions: another temporary room with no bed, my best things in storage, nothing in particular on the horizon suggesting that significant change was possible. Again. Again.

One of the ugliest parts of all this was knowing how much worse it could get, how many people have it much harder every single day. Some end up living their entire lives that way. Having risen out of such conditions earlier in life, I’d always been sympathetic to those who were still trapped; now, even sliding backward into hell, it felt uncharitable to complain too noisily.

However... and this is a pretty big however... I hate the idea of failure so passionately. It’s offensive to me on a profound level. Having climbed out of the depths of complete isolation and a shitty, abusive childhood, having catapulted myself across the country and gradually proved (to me, if no one else) how frightfully attainable so many dreams can be... 

All that effort, and for what? To just implode and lay there dying in a nest of red socks? 

From the first day I put my things in storage inside the historic Miller building, I wanted to climb it. Not the outside, silly. I wanted to find out how high one could actually ascend into that great big noggin perched on top. Considering how much of NYC building stewardship seems to resolve around making things LESS INTERESTING, I assumed it would be completely inaccessible.

I was wrong, friends. There was a staircase in the middle of the building that went up, up, all the way up! Due to a fair amount of recent construction on that wide plane of roof halfway up, they hadn’t bothered to block anything off. And from that midpoint, the stairs just kept going up. How far?

Finding out would be tricky, because I couldn’t afford to get caught and risk having my rental agreement canceled. And then once I broke my ribs, urban exploration was off the agenda for quite some time. 

But at some point in 2015, I actually went back and climbed it several times, went all the way up. 

On the plus side, there seemed to be no security cameras in the stairwell... but also, above the roof level there was no electricity, and the wooden stairs from that point upward hadn’t been inspected in... gosh, maybe fifty years?

Don’t worry, I was as “careful” as one could possibly be, even if there seemed to be nothing left to lose.

In that middle section of the building, three stories worth of crumbling wooden staircases climbed in total darkness brought one to the final threshold: a ladder leading to that uppermost chamber, the steps thin enough to bounce slightly underfoot.

It seems ungrateful to describe what I found up there “anticlimactic.” What did I expect, skulls hanging by the eye-sockets from chains? It was simply musty and derelict and mostly undisturbed. A bit of light came in from cracks between the boards, reminding me that I was at least a hundred feet above street level.

I had wanted to find some kind of ultimate truth up there in the darkness, even if it scared me all the way to death. So, the excitement of setting foot in a space that had remained unoccupied for so many years seemed like a mere consolation prize. I’d been bracing myself to be shattered, torn all the way apart. 

Why was it almost a disappointment to survive, to ease myself back down the rickety ladder, descend those crumbling staircases through the guts of the Miller building, and scamper out onto the sidewalk no worse for wear, no one the wiser, completely unwarned and unscathed? To face the daylight again, no end to this journey in sight?

That’s how I feel sometimes about all the wonders that have come into my life since then, five years onward. The residual gloom isn’t dark enough to be horrifying, and the illumination is never quite bright enough to dispel the shadows. 

I prayed to find this kind of equilibrium, and worked my way toward it so painstakingly; it’s such tedious work, if only because the extremes can be so attractive. The motion of flying back and forth between them is so exhilarating, the impact of a high-speed collision so marvelously unambiguous.

But if it’s truth you seek, the tedious work is literally all there is. Here’s a quote cadged from the last chapter of that book I’ve been studying again lately, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism:

“He who aspires to authentic spiritual experiences never confounds the intensity of the experience undergone with the truth that is revealed — or is not revealed — through it, i.e. does not regard the force of impact of an inner experience as a criterion of its authenticity and truth. For an illusion stemming from the sphere of mirages can bowl you over, whilst a true revelation from above can take place in the guise of a scarcely perceptible inner whispering.”

Ah, but some of us have to learn everything the hard way. 

Five years onward, I’m still the same person, would probably make all these decisions the same way. The only difference is that I can finally hear the whispering, a steady stream of it, and doubt I’ll ever again confuse the intensity of an experience with its “authenticity,” whatever that is. And the more urgently I’m tempted to do so, the more I have to question what it is I really hope to find out there, in the vastness of the future.

There’s a notorious phenomenon described as “failing up,” wherein some people manage to succeed in spite of their obvious shortcomings, spared certain consequences due to certain privileges such as wealth, gender, racial identity, etc.

But I want you to know, friends, that despite certain inescapable factors, there’s hope for any of us. Down can become up quite suddenly, and up can let you down. You can get flattened by a feather, or trip over a shoelace and end up on the roof.

You just have to stay alive long enough to see what happens next. And then for five minutes after that. 

And then, gradually, five minutes at a time, this becomes five years. That’s about all I can really say about it from experience.

Wait, that’s not true: thank you, all of you, for helping me span those years and find my footing up and down the ladder. 

Here’s hoping that we’re still brushing past each other in the dark in another five years, on our way to... somewhere, anywhere, but slowly, and according to scarcely perceptible whispers. 

[itsmarianstories]

They call me kitty🐾

[Jikook Social Media Au]

Part 12: I’ll show you »» Part 13: Numbers

Jungkook is a bratty college student, who stumbles through life, trying to find his way. He is attractive and he knows it, so he is used to getting whoever he wants. Until a certain cute boy walks into his life with swaying hips and fluttering lashes, who seems completely unimpressed by Jungkook. However, being the stubborn boy that he is Jungkook refuses to give up just yet, not knowing that with that he has already become a figure in Jimins game of life.

Word count: 1.854

Jungkook had his hands tucked in between his legs and rubbed them with his thighs anxiously. He really wasn’t sure what came over him the last few days. At first he had thought kitty would be a cute, soft boy who he can tease a bit maybe and take out on domestic dates. Instead the boy turned out to be anything but soft, now Jungkook was the one getting teased and he wasn’t so sure anymore if it was such a good idea to keep in contact with the smaller. Something about him made things twist uncomfortably in his stomach, he was definitely bad news. Sometimes when he stared into kitty’s eyes it made him feel like he was the smaller man’s prey, which should probably scare him. The thing is weirdly it didn’t, it excited him and made hims addicted. Jungkook wanted more, he was hooked on the challenge. He wanted to crack kitty and get close to him, break his walls and earn his trust. Finally getting his name goddamn it. 

He was ripped out of his train of thoughts as the loud, rattling sound of a nearing engine could be heard. Jungkook stood up from the railing he was leaning on, his eyes widening as he took in the completely new sight of the pink haired boy. Gone were the soft sweaters and leggings, instead he wore leather pants and jacket combined with a white Gucci crop top and a diamond choker. He looked utterly sinful, sitting on his motorcycle, back arched a bit making that perfect round ass stand out even more. The boy turned off the engine, kicked down the side stand and took off his helmet, shaking out his hair before finally turning to look at Jungkook with a grin. 

“Well well hello!” He said, a sparkle in his eyes and Jungkook took a shuddering breath before jogging over to kitty. His eyes wandering not only over the boy but also what he is sitting on because damn.

“Wow,” Jungkook said, observing the white motorcycle tuned with pink and blue neon lights. “So I guess your business is going pretty well.” Kitty giggled at that and ran his tiny hand through his hair. 

“I guess you could say that.”

“Then what kind of business is it? Maybe I should reconsider my studies.” Jimin stared at him for a while as if he would consider whether to tell him or not. In the end he shrugged a bit.

“I own a few clubs.” Jungkooks eyes lit up at that. 

“Ohh that’s cool! Maybe I’ve been to one of yours before!” Kitty chuckled a bit and shook his head.

“I kinda doubt that.”

“Why?”

“Well you are gay, aren’t you?” Jungkook frowned confused.

“I mean yes….but why? Why does that matter?” Kitty threw a helmet into Jungkooks direction, the younger catching it a bit startled. 

“Because there is not much of interest for you then. Hop on, I’ll show you.” The pink haired said before putting on his helmet and patting the space on the seat behind himself, inviting Jungkook to take place. The younger gulped, put on the helmet -which had cat ears by the way? Lol okay- and swung his leg over the machine, settling in behind the younger. 

The engine roared up with a loud purr and kitty reached behind himself, wrapping Jungkooks arm around his waist.

“Hold tight!” He yelled over the sounds of the bike before lifting his feet and returning back onto the street. Kitty skilfully moved them through the labyrinth of streets, alleys and traffic. The wind ripping on his body and making him shiver but it wasn’t really cold because kitty was radiating off so much heat. Jungkook unconsciously scooped a bit closer, his chest pressed against the olders back and arms wrapped tightly around the slim waist. He was an uncomfortable lot aware about the fact that if he moves his hand just a little bit up, he’d be able to feel the older’s soft skin, where his stomach is exposed due to the crop top. It took him a lot of self control to not brush his fingers over it. 

Before he had even realized it they already slowed down again and kitty stopped the engine in front of a big building. The word “Desiré” in big violet glowing letters decorating the front. It looked expensive, high class with big security guys blocking the doors. Kitty parked his bike and took off his helmet before hopping off the seat. Jungkook did the same, eyes still taking in his surroundings. The whole area looked high-class. Clean streets, only a few people roaming through the street, expensive restaurants and boutiques, big office buildings. Jungkook now understood why Jin would make a deal with kitty. 

The older waved his hand at him to follow as he approached the club. Contrary to what Jungkook is used to, there were no drunk students lining up in front of the doors. No drunk people vomiting on the sidewalk, no couples making out in a side alley. Everything screamed professionalism and secrecy. 

The two security men stepped aside for them and opened the doors with a respectful nod and Jungkook suddenly felt very out of place.

“Are you sure I can go in there?” He asked nervously, since Jin never allowed him to step foot into his Restaurant. Kitty chuckled as they entered. Jungkook was immediately hit with a very sweet, flowery scent. Dim violet lights coming from big chandeliers, the whole interior design kept in elegant violet and silver.

“As long as you stay with me you won’t have a problem. Don’t worry, I’m established enough. My clients won’t hop off just because of one emo boy.” He assured.

And then they came into the main room and suddenly Jungkook understood why Kitty said it’s not of interest for him. The room was not filled with flashing neon lights, deafening loud music and grinding bodies, but with cozy seating areas and armchairs all of which are directed to the various small stages where beautiful, half naked women were dancing on shining poles. The music was loud enough to be comfortably heard but not too loud to hinder conversation. Man and woman dressed in suits were serving drinks to the customers and Jungkook realized how packed it was. Mostly middle-aged men but the club was definitely running good. 

Jungkook never stepped foot into a strip club before but he obviously knew what it was. He always imagined some crusty, dark rooms with nasty old horny men and poor women. This was everything but what he imagined. 

Kitty lead him through the various tables over to the bar where a tall, neatly styled man was preparing drinks. They sat down on the barstools and the bartender immediately slid over a drink to the older. 

“Thanks honey, bring one more for my guest, okay?” The man nodded and a few moments later a drink was placed in front of him. 

“You shouldn’t drink when you still have to drive.” Jungkook scolded and sniffed the drink. Kitty chuckled and took a big gulp, then he leaned over and exhaled into Jungkooks face. The younger blinked a bit taken aback. 

“Do you smell any alcohol?” He asked and Jungkook needed a moment to snap and realize what those words meant. He shook his head and Kitty smiled, taking another sip of his drink. 

“So a strip club?” Jungkook said raising a brow. He was curious. What brought the older to that.

“Yeah, it’s good business.” 

“Okay but… why? How?” Jungkook stammered a bit helplessly. He wasn’t sure if he was crossing a line and all kitty did was raise a brow at him.

“Like… did you finish college and were like ‘hey mom, I’m gonna open a strip club’.” As soon as he finished his sentence and kittys face hardened he knew he overstepped. The older straightened his back, one leg swung over the other.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you. Look, honeybun, you are cute and all, but know your place.” Kitty said, staring deeply into Jungkook eyes. Fuck why was that filling him with excitement? Jungkook should be embarrassed, ashamed, maybe even angry or something. Anything really, anything but turned on. All he could do was gulp and nod. 

A few seconds later Kittys attention moved from him over to something behind him. Or rather someone, as Jungkook realized once a tall, skinny woman approached them. She wrapped an arm around the older, pulling him in and pressing a peck on his lips. Jungkooks eyes widened in shock. He remembered seeing her on stage just a few moment earlier and she still barely wore anything. Only a pair of heals, lace panties and a transparent babydoll. Her whole body was glittering and her hair long, brown locks. She was beautiful, especially when she smiled brightly.

“Kitty, I didn’t know you’d come today!” She exclaimed happily. 

“Of course, I have to make sure my baby kittens are safe and sound after all.” He said, beaming back at the woman. 

“Aish, you are such a sap!” She laughed and slapped his shoulder lightly, before turning to Jungkook. 

“Hmm and who is this cutie over here?” She then asked, coming to his side and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Jungkook froze. He has never seen a naked woman in real life before and he could clearly see her nipples if he wanted to. Which he didn’t, he strictly avoided looking at her, knowing his ears are already red enough as it is. He was never good with women.

“Do you wanna have a bit of fun tonight?” She whispered in his ear and Jungkook stiffened even more. 

“Leave him be, Lilly. He’s not a customer.” Kitty chuckled and the woman finally let go of him. 

“What a pity, he’d be a nice change.” Lilly joked, then she went over to Kitty again and whispered something in his ear before going somewhere else. 

“D-Did she… I mean is she… you know?” Jungkook whispered.

“A prostitute? Yes, why?” Jungkook nibbled on his lip anxiously. This was all so foreign to him.

“She didn’t look… like it…” 

“Why? Because she didn’t look poor? Because she didn’t look like a broken junkie? Because there are no black bruises on her skin?” Kitty rolled his eyes at him. 

“Every woman that works here does that on her own accord. I pay good, they can all confirm that, they have contracts, they get protection and can quit whenever they want. Contrary to what society makes you believe, some people actually enjoy the work.” Jungkook pouted and looked down at his hands.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“

“I know, it’s not your fault. You couldn’t know.” Kitty interrupted him. He then reached out for his drink and downed it in one go. “Come on, let’s go eat.” He said and stood up.

Moments later they left the club again and Kitty drove them to some random diner. They ate and talked about everything for what felt like hours, before the older drove him back home.

[bluedraggy]

Beatrice Santello - Consequence

She turned around, opening her fists to reveal his meth and paraphernalia.

Casey’s face sank.

“Oh shit.”

She started off low, controlled. But the air in the room became charged with an electrical force, and Casey knew it was just a matter of time before the lightning hit.

“Casey, do you know what the police do when they find drugs inside a business?”

Casey also knew he had to take it. He nodded.

“They shut the business down, Casey. They seize it as evidence. But there’s worse. Word gets out. Eventually the business might reopen, but by then its reputation is ruined. They whisper about the ‘drug’ business in the back. It’s doomed, Casey. You can’t recover from that.”

Casey opened his mouth, but Bea shook her head.

“Casey, my mom died over a year ago. My dad is okay at home, but when he comes into this shop, he goes mental. I took over this place because I had to. And I screwed stuff up a lot before I learned how to run a business. But I had to. And the medical bills. Casey, have you ever seen a bill that’s nearly 7 digits long? We had to sell the house. We had to move into that crappy apartment. But even with all that, the Ol’ Pickaxe is all that’s keeping us alive.”

Bea stepped out from behind the counter, walking up to where Casey stood. The look on his face almost broke through Bea’s anger. Almost. She knew she must look awful, but he had done this to her. He should see his handiwork close-up.

“Casey, you know what’s coming. But before I say the words… was it real? Did you love me?”

Casey’s eyes were glassy and his voice broke.

“I did, Bea. I really did. Still do.”

“Kiss me once more then, Casey. Before the storm has to come. I loved you too. I swear I did.”

She felt his shaking arms enfold her and he kissed her fiercely. Momentarily she broke and accepted his kiss and returned it sincerely. All too soon it was over, but for a brief moment, she was broken.

But then the walls came up again and she turned stiff. Casey released her, crying now without sound.

“I knew I would fuck it up.”

“Casey, not here. I could have forgiven a lot. I knew who I was dealing with. But not here. This is my life Casey! Do you understand? Not here.”

“I had to put it som…”

“You didn’t think, Casey. You didn’t think about me. You could have ruined my life and my father’s life. No. There is no excuse possible. Casey, I loved you. You are worthy of love. You are not a bad guy. But this…”

She brought up the evidence and slowly crushed it before his eyes. The glass broke and bit into her fist, but she didn’t stop. Her anger was focused now on the goddamned drug. It hurt, but she kept squeezing because it didn’t hurt nearly as much as her heart hurt.

“Bea! Your hand!!!” Casey cried.

“Fuck my hand Casey. Fuck this goddamn drug. I’ll heal. You won’t. Now get the hell out, Casey Hartley. Get out of my life and never come back. I never want to see you again. Do you understand? NEVER!”

Casey hesitated.

Bea held threw the bloodied crap to the floor and stomped on it. SHe thrust her bleeding hand out and pointed to the door.

“GET THE HELL OUT OF MY STORE!”

That got him moving. He took one look back, but she hadn’t moved.

“FUCK YOU CASEY HARTLEY! GET OUT!”

He left her life, closing the door gently behind him.

Bea balled up her bleeding fist and dripped all the way to the bathroom where she rinsed her hand, not feeling the pain. She plucked shards of glass from her fist while barely able to see through her blurry eyes. Then she wrapped her hand up with paper towels.

“BEA?” called the voice of Germ. “Bea! Where are you?!”

“I’m in here Germ. I cut myself.”

Germ came into the bathroom, a panicked look on his face.

“Bea. You’ve got to get someone to look at that. You’re bleeding a lot! It’s all over the floor.”

“Can’t afford it,” Bea said weakly, then sat on the toilet, her hand still in the sink.

“Come on. One of my aunts is a nurse. She can fix you up.”

“Thanks Germ,” Bea said, feeling weak and spent. She looked at the trail of blood she’d left. There was quite a bit.

Germ grabbed a stack of brown paper towels and ushered Bea out the back.

“Lock the door,” Bea reminded him, and he left her to lock the front door of the Ol’ Pickaxe before helping her out the back way.

He got her into the passenger seat of her car and sat in the driver’s seat.

“You ever driven before, Germ?” she asked. The towels in her fist were red and she was starting to feel faint.

“Sure. In my driver’s ed class. I’ll manage Bea.”

And he did manage. It wasn’t pretty, but he got her to his house. Bea was barely conscious by then. She vaguely saw a bunch of birds clucking over her and something was pecking at her hand. Pecking HARD. But she had no strength to complain.

She woke up only an hour later, apparently in somebody’s bed. Germ was beside her.

“Oh hell Germ. Was it that bad? I fucking passed out?”

“Yeah. Sorry, but your car’s a mess.”

Bea looked at her hand. It was wrapped in gauze. A woman came in. Big woman.

“Hi Bea. I’m Margie. Looks like you cut yourself pretty bad. What happened?”

“Ah. Just stupid. I broke some glass in my fist.”

“Well, you should be alright. Pretty clean cut, but it’s going to hurt like hell. You got insurance? You should go to a doctor.”

Bea shook her head. Insurance was one of the first luxury items to go when the bills started to come in. Fat lot of good it had done for them.

“Thought so. Nobody around here has insurance. I’ve left some pain pills, an antibiotic treatment and replacement bandages in your bag. Leave the bandage in place till tomorrow, and keep it dry. Tomorrow change the bandage but continue to keep it out of water. By the third day, it should be healed enough to clean gently. Take the antibiotics once a day for 10 days. The pain pills, just take them as you need them.”

“Thanks Margie. But I need to get back.”

“You’re in no shape to drive, girl. Germ? You want to drive her back in town?”

“Sure! Gotta get my bike anyway.”

“Be careful today too, Bea. You’ve lost quite a bit of blood. You’re going to feel weak. Just sit or lie down as much as you can.”

“I will. Thanks Doc.”

“Pffft. I’m no doctor. RN. And that schooling was expensive enough!”

“You know how to fix things. You’re a doctor,” Bea smiled as she got up. “Come on, Germ. Let’s get back to the shop.

Her hand started throbbing on the way back, but she didn’t care. She didn’t even complain about Germ’s less-than-professional driving skills. She looked out the window as the rain began to fall. She thought about Casey. She worried about him, but she knew she shouldn’t. What was done had to be done. But people their age… they get bad ideas when things go wrong. Hopefully he wouldn’t be one of those, but you never could tell for sure. She didn’t want him dead. Just out of her life.

They spent a few minutes in the Pickaxe cleaning up the mess and throwing out Casey’s paraphernalia. Bea put the meth bag into the toilet. Then she sat and let nature take its course. She had to admit to a twinge of perverse justice as she flushed it all down. It had shit on both her and Casey’s lives. It was only fair.

“Okay Germ. That’ll do. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said when she emerged.

“You don’t want to take a day off or something?”

“Can’t. The paint is being delivered tomorrow.” “You okay?”

“Okay enough, Germ. With your help.”

She let him out the front door, then locked it behind her and started the long walk back home. It wasn’t normally long, but the rain was starting to freeze on the car windows parked along Main Street, and it was getting slippery out - but she made it home alright.

She told her dad about the cut and Germ’s aunt. She didn’t mention Casey. FInally after dinner she retired to her room. She turned on the laptop, but found she didn’t want to talk to anyone, and shut it back off again.

Then she started to cry again. As usual. As typical. The only difference was what she was crying about this time. It never failed. The inertia always brought her back to this.

But then she reconsidered and the tears stopped. It actually had been worth it, she decided. She really knew what love was now. She knew how deep it went. Even if she’d only felt it for a few days, she understood now what she could never have understood before. Like Germ, she could have sympathized, but she could never really have known it before.

She thought about that guy from Math Camp. It wasn’t his fault. She wasn’t in love. How could it have been good? She’d dodged a bullet with Casey. It would have been good. She knew it would have. Could lightning strike her a second time? Would she ever feel that way again?

“Nobody knows,” she thought, “but only the dead feel no pain.”

She still felt the loss as keenly as that moment she’d looked at Casey’s heartbroken face. But already she was looking beyond Casey. Not for another love, but just looking forward to life. You never knew what the next day would bring. Boring sameness usually. But not always. Sometimes it brought something new. There would be something new for her. Maybe not tomorrow, but eventually.

She went to sleep on her wet pillow, hand throbbing and worried about Casey. But she went to sleep.

[thehelleniclunarwitch]

Little Jones 14

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Reader

Fandom: Riverdale

Warnings: Language, Mention of Attempted Rape

Tagged: @natalieroseg  @southsidemistress  @aristocracy-y  @outerxorbit  @ego-allie-bap  @amikml  @sgarrett49  @deanilostmyshoe  @laralarryv  @mrs-sarcasmm @savannah-m-99  @fangirlbitch02  @sleepylunarwolf  @sithskywalkers  @aframeofbones

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Y/n sat wrapped in a blanket huddled in the corner with Betty. Jug, Sweet, and FP stood on the other side of the room with the Serpents going over how they can finally bring down Penny. Y/n lay her head on Betty’s shoulder and her eyes began to flutter closed.

“I’ve had enough of this. My kids will no longer pay for Penny’s anger,” FP snarled.

Viper nodded. “So then what do we do?”

“We have to get the word out on the street how serious we are about taking out Penny and Malachai,” Jughead spoke up.

“Then how do we do that?” Fangs asked.

Sweet Pea looked over at FP. “We have to make it known that they are wanted. Dead or Alive and give out a reward for whoever can capture them,”

FP nodded in agreement.

“Get the word out. Let everyone know that we want those two brought in preferably alive, but there will be a reward either way,” Jughead said.

“Start at the deep south and then make your way north,” FP added.

The gang broke apart. The four of them walked over to where Betty and Y/n were both nodding off.

“Let’s get you home,” FP said as he knelt down in front of his daughter.

Y/n shook her head.

“Sweetheart,” FP began.

“I don’t feel safe there,” Y/n said.

“You can come to my place,” Sweet Pea suggested.

Y/n shook her head.

“Penny knows. She knows where you and Fangs live. Hell, she knows where Betty lives,” Y/n said.

“Then we’ll take you to a hotel,” FP said.

“We can’t keep her protected there that’s too open,” Sweet Pea interjected.

Betty piped up. “I know where I can take her,”

All eyes fell on the blond Cooper girl.

“Betty,” Jughead said.

“Do you guys trust me?” Betty asked.

All four men nodded.

“Then let me do this for her, for you guys,” Betty said.

“Go. Just call us if you need anything,” FP said.

Betty nodded. Betty moved so Sweet Pea could take a seat next to his girlfriend. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. He leaned in close so only she could hear what he was saying.

“You have no idea how fucking sorry I am,” Sweet Pea began.

Y/n closed her eyes to keep herself from crying. This wasn’t his fault. None of this was his fault and she hated that he felt this way.

“It’s not your fault,” Y/n whispered.

“I shouldn’t have left you,” Sweet Pea added.

Y/n shook her head fiercely.

“If you were there he would have hurt you Sweet or worse,” Y/n said back.

Sweet Pea pressed a kiss to her temple.

“I hope you know that I’m not going to let anything happen to you ever again. I am personally going to bring Malachai’s head to you on a silver platter,” Sweet Pea promised.

Slowly Y/n nodded.

“Go with Betty and just know that I’m a call away, okay?” Sweet Pea said.

Y/n tilted her head up so she could kiss him softly. FP hugged Betty to thank her for stepping up. Jughead kissed her and asked her if there was anything they needed before they left.

“No, we’ll be okay. But we should get going,” Betty said.

Sweet Pea helped unwrap Y/n from her blanket. The group of men escorted their girls out of the Whyte Wyrm. The girls got into Betty’s car and watched as they disappeared into the night.

“What’s now?” Fangs asked.

“Now we hunt,” FP said.

Sweet Pea looked over at Jug. Jughead knew that Sweet Pea was hurting. That he was fucking angry. He felt it too and he knew that to keep his sister safe to keep Betty and anyone else that he loved safe he was going to have to go full dark. Jughead was really going to have to fill his sons as the Prince of the Serpents.

“Sweets, Fangs, you’re with me,” Jughead said.

“Keep a constant communication,” FP told his son.

“We will,” Jughead replied as the three snakes headed towards their bikes.

“Any word about either of them I want to know,” Sweet Pea said as he pulled on his helmet.

“We’ll get them, boys,” FP said.

“We know,” Jughead said before the three of them pulled away.

Y/n sat forward as Betty pulled up in front a huge iron gate. She looked over at Betty with a curious look.

“She’s family,” Betty said as the iron gate fluttered open.

Betty drove down the drive and pulled up in front of the huge house. Y/n bit her lip nervously as Betty parked. Just as the girls were climbing out of the car the huge oak front door opened revealing two familiar faces.

“Bettykins, Y/n, why such a late visit?” Cheryl asked.

Toni hopped down the stairs but stopped when she saw the look on Y/n’s face.

“What happened?” Toni asked.

“Let’s take this inside,” Cheryl suggested when she could see the exhaustion on her cousins face.

The four girls said nothing as they entered the huge house. Cheryl lead the girls into the kitchen. She put on a pot of coffee.

“Y/n, what happened?” Toni asked as she noticed the fresh bruises and scrapes.

“Malachai attacked her,” Betty said calmly, she knew if she started to get worked up that Toni would go on the defense.

“What?” Toni shrieked before pulling Y/n in for a hug.

Cheryl came to stand next to Betty.

“It was bad if we hadn’t shown up when we did,” Betty trailed off.

Cheryl’s heart broke.

“And what are your criminal boyfriends going to do?” Cheryl asked.

“Take care of it,” Y/n’s voice was hoarse.

“Cheryl,” Betty interjected before Y/n could have a breakdown that she was definitely in need of. “Can we stay here for a few days?”

Cheryl pursed her lips. “Mi casa es su casa,”

Y/n let out a sigh of relief.

“Mommy and evil Uncle Claudius have been banned to one of the barns for now. So Nana Rose, Toni, and I would love to have some guests,” Cheryl said.

“Thank you, Cheryl,” Y/n said.

“Of course, now let’s get you two upstairs. You both are in need of a hot shower and some fresh clothes,” Cheryl replied.

The four girls headed upstairs. Betty insisted on Y/n taking a shower first. Toni helped her friend get undressed and into the hot water. When Y/n insisted on being alone, Toni kept the bathroom door cracked before going back into Cheryl’s room.

Cheryl was sitting next to Betty on the bed. The blonde wiped away a few tears as Cheryl brushed some of her hair out of her face.

“How did this happen?” Toni asked gently

“We were all at Pops, but Juggie and I had plans with Kevin. So we left Y/n and Sweet Pea. Fangs called Sweet Pea with an issue, so Sweet Pea left Y/n at Pops and she called us for a ride,” Betty began.

Toni clenched her fists in anger. Cheryl instinctively placed her hand on top of Toni’s.

“Sweet Pea called Jughead and told him that we needed to get to Y/n. It was a trap for Sweet Pea and Fangs as in there was no problem wherever the two of them ended up. We knew instantly that it was a trap for Y/n,” Betty added.

Toni gently pulled her hand from Cheryl’s as she began to pace back and forth.

“By the time we got there, Malachai was trying to,” Betty trailed off.

“Please tell me that piece of shit is dead?” Toni snarled.

Betty shook her head.

“We had him, but he outsmarted us. He took down Sweet Pea and Fangs. Shoved Jughead into me and Y/n and got away,” Betty answered.

“Shit,” Toni cursed.

“Relax,” Cheryl whispered to her.

“So what’s going on? What is FP up to?” Toni asked.

“They’re on the hunt for Penny and Malachai. They are putting out the word that the Serpents want them, dead or alive,” Betty explained.

“Toni, why don’t you call one of your Serpent friends and see if they need you to do anything,” Cheryl suggested.

Toni nodded, snapped up her phone from the dresser and then disappeared from the bedroom. Cheryl returned her attention back to her cousin.

“How are you doing?” Cheryl asked.

Betty turned her big blue eyes up to her friend.

“I’m scared out of my mind, Cheryl. I know I signed up for stuff like this when I agreed to be with Jughead, but this is hitting too close to home. Y/n is my friend. I care about her and to see her,” Betty stopped talking to keep herself from crying.

Cheryl placed a gentle arm around her cousin.

“We’ll deal with this,” Cheryl started. “You two are more than welcome to stay here as long as it takes to capture those two monsters,”

Betty nodded.

“Y/n hasn’t said much, I’m worried about her,” Betty said.

“I’m sure she’s in shock. She and I might not see eye to eye on a few things, but her and I used to be close when we were younger. She’ll come around, I know her,” Cheryl reassured her cousin.

Betty nodded.

Both girls looked up when the bathroom door opened up. Y/n stood there in a towel. Soaking wet, dripping water on Cheryl’s carpet. Cheryl didn’t light into her about dripping water all over her expensive floor. Instead, Cheryl stood, walked over to her dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas.

“Here, change into these,” Cheryl said.

“Thanks,” Y/n said taking the pajamas and then disappeared into the bathroom once again.

“When she comes out go take a shower and relax. Let Toni and I take care of Y/n while you unwind,” Cheryl ordered.

After Toni came back to join them, Cheryl and Toni got Y/n out of the bathroom and Betty in. Y/n didn’t say a word or put up a fight when Cheryl forced her down on the bed and began drying her hair. Toni slipped downstairs to put together a tray of snack for the girls.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Cheryl asked when they were alone.

Silence filled the room for several long minutes.

“I’m mad,” Y/n finally broke the silence.

“You have every right to be,” Cheryl replied.

“I’m mad at myself,” Y/n finished.

Cheryl dropped the wet towel on the floor.

“Now why are you mad at yourself?” Cheryl asked.

“Because I wasn’t strong enough to fight him off,” Y/n said.

Cheryl picked up the brush.

“Sometimes, no matter how strong we are it isn’t enough, but that’s not our fault,” Cheryl told her.

“I’m FP Jones’ daughter. I’m the Princess, the goddamn heir to the Serpents, and I couldn’t even protect myself from an enemy,” Y/n snarled.

Cheryl grabbed Y/n by her shoulders and turned her so she was staring at Cheryl. Cheryl narrowed her blue eyes at her.

“You can’t always be the strongest one. You can’t always have a game plan ready to take down any kind of enemy you or your family may have. And yes, you are your father’s princess and the heir to this infamous gang, but Y/n, that doesn’t mean you can’t be weak,”

“A piece of shit human being decided that his wants and needs were more important than your safety and your mental health. You cannot blame yourself for this. That rat decided to prey upon you, but that was his mistake wasn’t it? I can see your hands Y/n, you fought back. You weren’t just rolling over. You fought back, sure he was probably stronger than you, but you weren’t giving up and not letting him win,” Cheryl said.

The tears began to roll down Y/n’s cheeks. Cheryl gracefully wiped her face clean for her. Betty came out of the bathroom dressed in the pajamas that Cheryl had given her. She had heard most of what Cheryl had said. Walking over she joined the girls on the bed. She lay her head on Y/n/s back and Y/n began to sob.

Toni came back into the bedroom, she placed the tray of snacks on the dresser and then dropped down on the floor in front of her. She took Y/n’s hands in hers and gently rubbed the back of them with her thumb. The three girls let Y/n cry everything out.

When her tears finally dried up, Toni handed her a kleenex.

“Thank you,” Y/n said.

Cheryl gave her a soft smile. “That’s what friends are for,”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Betty asked.

“No, I don’t want to think about it anymore,” Y/n said.

“Then you won’t we can distract you,” Toni said with a smile.

“Cheryl can finish your hair, Toni and I can finish getting the snack around and pick some movies,” Betty suggested.

Y/n nodded. Cheryl helped turn her back around as Toni and Betty went off in a search for some movies. Cheryl brushed out your hair and then braided it down your back. Toni and Betty returned a few minutes later with a stack of movies in hand. The four girls climbed into Cheryl’s giant bed just as the first movie began to play.

As the night went on, the girls dropped off one by one. Y/n was the first one to fall asleep with her head in Betty’s lap and her legs dangling off the side of the bed. Betty dropped off next, her phone still in hand with an unsent good night text to Jug, Toni was laid curled up next to Cheryl. Her head resting on her chest and Cheryl played with her hair.

When her girlfriend and friends were fast asleep, Cheryl turned the tv off and curled into her girlfriend. With a small smile on her lips and one last look at the girls in her bed, Cheryl fell into a peaceful sleep.

Across town, Jughead, Sweet Pea, and Fangs pulled off into Pops. They parked their bikes and headed in just as the rain began. Pops was already gone for the night and the diner was empty.

“We close in an hour,” Rafe said from the kitchen.

“We’ll be out by then,” Fangs said as the three filled up a booth.

“Do you guys want anything?” Sally asked.

“Our usual milkshakes and a couple baskets of fries,” Jughead said.

“Sure thing,” Sally said before leaving the trio.

Sweet Pea slammed his fist on the table.

“This isn’t going to cut it for me, Jug,” Sweet Pea said.

Jughead leaned forward towards him.

“Alright, Pea, then what do you want to do?” Jughead asked.

“I want to wrap my hands around that little worm’s neck,” Sweet Pea hissed.

“Why don’t we make that happen?” Fangs suggested.

Sweet Pea and Jughead looked over at him.

“All we have to do is be the first one to find Malachai,” Fangs said.

Sweet Pea looked over at Jughead.

“Can we make that possible?” Sweet Pea asked.

“I don’t see why not, it’s going to affect school and our personal lives,” Jughead said.

“It will upset Betty and Y/n,” Fangs added.

“But if we’re doing it for their safety. He went after Y/n, but once they figure out we are after them they could go after Betty,” Sweet Pea exclaimed.

Sweet Pea and Fangs looked to Jughead.

“Are you sure you two are up to that?” Jughead asked.

“We don’t really have another choice, Jug,” Fangs said.

“Fine, but let’s go back and rest up. We’ll need to start fresh tomorrow,” Jughead said.

The boys nodded. They finished up their milkshakes and ate all of the fries. They decided to meet back at the Jones’. The trio flew through the streets towards the trailer park. As they slowed and neared Jones’ trailer they saw an unfamiliar truck parked there. The three of them hurried inside to check on FP.

They stormed through the door. Jughead froze causing Fangs and Sweet Pea to crash into his back.

“The fuck dude?” Sweet Pea snarled.

Fangs slapped Sweet Pea to quiet him. The boys looked to see what Jughead was staring at. FP stood in the corner with his arms crossed and a dark look on his face. A lady stood in the middle of the room. Slowly she turned around.

“Hey Juggie,” She greeted.

“Mom?” Jughead whispered.

[professor-riddikulus]

Craigslist - Ch 2

Summary: James and Sirius are looking for a roommate for their Los Angeles house - Remus has just moved from Dublin needs a place to rent while he goes to graduate school. One Craigslist ad later, the three of them find themselves living together and shit is bound to get complicated. Featuring trans Remus and the wonder of Wolfstar.

Author’s Note: I know it has been a long time friends, but I’m back! Hooray summer! I hope to be updating this more regularly now that all those pesky seminar papers are completed. I am sorry for what I assume is going to be the ridiculousness of this chapter. As you probably know, Sirius cannot be contained. Anyway, enjoy! 

You can also read this story on FF.net or Ao3 if your heart desires

It took an hour for Sirius to take a shower and get ready, during which time Padfoot and I watched several episodes of some cracked-out show called The Amazing World of Gumball and I did the cereal dishes that Sirius had left behind. He came jauntily down the stairs, hair tied back and still damp, a loose black muscle tank on that showed too much of his strong tattooed arms, too much of his lean muscled torso. I tried not to stare. I probably failed miserably because he looked pleased with himself.

“I assume,” he said flipping his keys from one hand to another, “that we're not taking the bike?”

“Your motorbike? Nah I don't particularly feel like dying this afternoon.”

He made a noise somewhere between a snicker and an indignant huff.

“Fine the car then. But I warn you, it's a few years old.”

I, of course, assumed that he meant a few years old like Lily meant a few years old when she talked about her 10 year old crappy Prius. What he actually meant was a black Mercedes S-Class that probably cost more than four years of my graduate stipend and that was exactly 3 years old. It was so beautiful that I was actually nervous to sit in the seat. Opulence in most forms makes me uncomfortable -- my parents always made a tidy living but I was always the kid putting away coins for a rainy day. The responsible one. Some people are built to be pampered, can adjust to being treated like kings, to throwing caution to the wind. I never felt comfortable indulging -- instead I was the kid who didn’t want anyone to look at him when they sang a the happy birthday song. It isn’t shyness not really, it’s well, wanting to fly under the radar I suppose. Showing off what you have draws attention.

I just looked at Sirius and I knew this wasn’t him. He stood taller than me but his posture was proud. He wasn’t afraid to take up space, wasn’t afraid to be noticed. He had no idea that taking up that space, taking up oxygen, meant taking it from someone else. I was stiff and trying not to move my dirty shoes too much on the carpet, Sirius on the other hand was completely at ease, his ripped skinny jeans clashing with the dark brown leather of the seats. He was leaned back, reclined like his body itself was used to luxury. Watching him driving the 5 with his sunglasses on, singing along to some mindless pop tune, I had the distinct feeling that Los Angeles was not going to be anything like I expected. Sure they said it was a town for movie stars, but it’s difficult to understand how value works here. Some people have so much they don’t even notice how much they have. Sirius certainly didn’t. This guy, this house, it wasn't like being in another country. I have been to France once, and nobody there even spoke the language that I spoke, yet I still felt like less of an alien. How rich was this guy?

I looked down at my Target t-shirt, one that Lily and I had picked out only a few days before. It was my favorite, but next to the glamour of the car, the palm trees, and the guy sitting next to me I felt distinctly shabby. It wasn’t like I was usually fashion-forward. I do my best to stay at least a bit put together but I’m not a trend-setter. I’m sure his pants cost the same as my whole outfit. Probably more, actually. I tried to shake myself, there was no reason to be ashamed, and in any case he was the one being stupid by buying such an expensive car. I sighed, if I had that kind of money, even a quarter of that kind of money, there are so many other things I’d be doing with it. I’d be giving back to the community, I’d be working for a nonprofit, I’d be paying off my student loans. I’d be doing something, anything, other than buying a car that might be the price of a house anywhere else. The very thought of it made my nerves feel frayed. I was going to be living around this kind of wealth, benefitting from it even.

I looked over at Sirius, whose grin slipped a bit at what must have been a concerned or frustrated look on my face but which he quickly replaced the grin. Perhaps he didn’t want me to see his concern?

“You don’t like Drake? We can change the radio to something else?”

“Don’t worry mate, I’m good. Your car is really something.”

“Yeah it’s pretty okay. I bought it as a graduation present to myself.”

“Oh? Where did you do your undergraduate degree?”

“James and I went to USC together, that’s where you’re going, right?”

“Yeah,” I grinned to myself, I hadn’t even considered that Sirius had gone to college at all somehow, but if he did, USC didn’t surprise me. Lily told me that it had a bit of a reputation for being a school for rich American kids, especially west coast kids -- those Orange County, Beverly Hills, Malibu, rich kids -- someone like Sirius I guess, “I guess you’ll have to show me around at some point.”

“You’ll figure it out quick, s’not a big campus.”

I paused, weighing my options a bit. I chewed the inside of my lip. You’re being a coward Remus Lupin. He’s not going to think anything. “So,” I let the word hang in the air a bit, “do they have, erm, a big queer community there? Like among the undergraduates at least?”

Sirius smirked at me, “Are we gonna have that talk?”

I panicked, “What? What talk?!”

“I mean the, ‘oh-here’s-how-I-came-out’ talk. The ‘I’m-gay-you’re-gay’ talk. The ‘do-you-have-a-boyfriend’ talk.”

“I see no reason why we have to. All that is pretty obvious isn’t it?” I picked at the stray thread sticking out from the knee of my jeans but I could feel him looking back and forth from the road to me, trying to catch my eyes. I was embarrassed for a reason I couldn’t quite explain, sweating a bit, and not because of the heat. He looked at me like he was trying to read me, like he was regarding a particularly interesting painting and he wanted to examine the individual brush strokes. I felt on display under such scrutiny, exposed even, but I forced my eyes back up to his. He wasn’t going to see me squirm. I wasn’t going to let him affect me. He was just some spoiled kid from southern California. I was going to hold my own.

Sirius smiled, “Maybe not that last one. You haven’t picked up some all-American boy, swooned by the lilting accent of Mother Ireland?”

“Excuse me?” I laughed so hard at this abrupt shift that I needed a minute to compose myself, “What even are you?”

“I told you, wolfboy, I’m a star.”

“You’re something, that’s for sure.”

“Something amazing. It’s okay, I understand, words fail you.”

I shook my head at this, how I was supposed to continue the conversation after that, I had no idea. I had the distinct feeling that what was happening was something of a face off. He was taking the measure of me, wanted to see if I was going to keep up with him. It was the same feeling that I had when he fired his ‘interview’ questions at me. It was like dealing with a toddler that wanted to see how far he could push the rules. Luckily, I’m stubborn, and I’ve always loved a challenge. When I didn’t say anything, Sirius didn’t seem to have a hard time filling the void. He probably would have talked to the empty seat if I hadn’t been there.

“Yeah, it’s badass that you’re a big queer though. I was getting annoyed being the only rainbow unicorn in the house. Now we finally outnumber James and his dirty fucking heterosexuality.”

I laughed a little, “Yeah. In case he tries to convert us, strength in numbers and all that.”

“Oh don’t worry, he’s way beyond that. Literally all our friends are queer, he always complains there’s never anyone for him to date because all our female friends are lezzies. Dude that reminds me, we should definitely have a pool party to welcome you to the family.”

Literally anything but a pool party. Pool parties meant swimming which meant swimwear and I didn’t think we were going to be at that point for quite a while, if at all, really.

“I dunno, maybe in a little bit when I get settled and get the furniture built and everything.”

Sirius shrugged and ran a hand along the top of his head, pushing back the strands of dark hair that had fallen around his face, I think it was the first time that I hadn’t seen him smiling and I wondered if I had wounded him, “Yeah, ‘course. Whatever you want.”

We pulled up to the Ikea in Burbank and parked, and Sirius looked at me, wide-eyed and stunned. “Don’t fuck with me Remus, this…” he gestured to the giant blue and yellow building in front of us that was the biggest one I’d ever seen, “this is a fucking furniture store?! It looks like several goddamn airplane hangers put together.”

“Just you wait,” I told him unbuckling my seatbelt, “I have a feeling you’re going to lose it.”

I was not wrong.

“This is fucking NUTS!” Sirius leaned dangerously far over the escalator as we took it up to the second floor to start making our way through the maze of mock rooms that made up the Ikea showroom. I pulled on the back of his shirt, trying not to be distracted by the amount of tan skin this action revealed.

“You’re going to kill yourself. God Sirius don’t lean that far over.”

“Okay Dad sorry.” Sirius snickered but he stopped leaning over the escalator.

When we got to the top Sirius’ eyes lit up as he surveyed the floor full of mock-rooms and tiny apartments. “YOU COULD LIVE HERE!” He nearly ran to the first room, threw himself on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. I rolled my eyes and picked up a pencil and pad to record the numbers of the furniture. When I walked over to Sirius he was wiggling his feet and looking incredibly pleased.

“It’s like a goddamn Swedish Disneyland dude.”

I laughed, “And like Disneyland, we’ve got a long way to go, you can’t spend ten minutes sitting on every couch along the way.”

“This one is comfy though, you should get it.”

I turned over the ticket and laughed, “No way, it’s almost two thousand dollars.”

Sirius’ eyes got, if possible, even wider, “That’s it?! Dude that’s hella cheap.”

“Not at Ikea Sirius, you’ve got a lot to learn.”

“It gets cheaper?”

“Jesus you’re spoiled aren’t you?”

“Yeah well, I’m amazing so…”

“You’ve got to be kidding with me.”

Sirius looked me dead in the eyes from his slouched perch on the couch, “Absolutely not, I’m completely Sirius.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” I said exasperatedly, throwing up my hands a bit dramatically and trying to hide a smile, “I’m leaving your punny ass here.” I didn’t want to laugh but something about his mix of monetary ignorance and over-the-top childish antics meant that I couldn’t help it. You are not supposed to find him funny. He is a complete wank. He wants you to laugh, wants the attention. Don’t you fall for it. I wasn’t going to be just another sad sack who gave Sirius Black attention, even if I wanted to be. I started walking away towards the next room, which had a smaller sofa with shelves built into the side and back that was a bit more my style.

Sirius jogged to catch up with me and threw an arm around my shoulders, he was a few inches taller than me with a much longer torso and so his arm fit comfortably there. He smelled good, like rain and wood and cigarette smoke. “No one ever leaves my ass Lupin.”

“This is going to be a long day if you don’t focus and help me pick out furniture.”

“Okay,” he said with mock composure, “I promise to be on my best behavior.”

His best behavior it turned out, involved pretending that each room was part of his house, picking up everything that wasn’t tied down, arguing with me about the color of the upholstery, trying to wear curtains like a toga, spinning around on the desk chairs, forcing me to lay next to him on every mattress, climbing through (and getting stuck in) the children's tunnel, and generally making a fool of himself. I tried to contain the damage, shooting apologizing looks at passerby and generally steering him away from irate employees but it was difficult to try to pretend to be stern with him when I was snorting with laughter. When I pointed out that people were staring, he just responded shrugging and laughing “of course they’re staring, we’re gorgeous”. He was an idiot for sure, but you had to admire him for his general lack of fucks.   

“I can’t afford that one, Black!” Sirius was sitting on the edge of one of the nicer beds in the showroom. This one was a mid tone warm wood with a dark blue upholstered headboard that looked like a lovely place to lean back on while reading a book. I really did like it, and so arguing with Sirius about why I wasn’t going to buy it was proving to be difficult.

“Remus it is only $499. And it’s the bed! It is the literal centerpiece of your life, sleeping, watching TV, fuck--”

“OKAY OKAY shut up oh my god those people are giving us the boss eyes.” I cut him off as a posh looking couple with a little girl hastily pulled her away from the madman and his terrible language, “Look Sirius I have to buy a whole bedroom and living room/office I can’t get the exact one I want of everything.”

“I’m just saying that other bed you wrote down looks like it would break if you were using it properly.” He had a point here, but the metal one was $350 less and that was a large amount of money for some fake wood.

I laughed and felt my cheeks getting hot, “I don’t think we have to worry about me using it for anything other than sleeping.”

“Please. You’re going to get so much fucking play in Los Angeles dude. You’re fucking cute.”

“Okay but we were talking about the bed.”

“Ahhhh,” Sirius looked satisfied with himself, one hand on his hip, “You can’t take a compliment can you?”

I was absolutely bright red at this point. I felt like his eyes were appraising me. I knew that look, I’d seen it before. “Sirius focus, the bed.”

“Well I still say you gotta splurge on the bed,” he said and he started cracking up, “Oh my GOD that sounded SO WRONG!” Then he laugh-snorted so loudly that across the aisle a woman started giggling. I laughed so hard I was crying and had to sit down next to him on the bed. It was several minutes before the two of us even calmed down enough to speak to one another and I was wiping the tears from my eyes with the back of my arm.

“Okay Lupin, I’m buying the bed.”

“What? You are not.”

“We’re roomies now right? Family. And I fuckin’ like you.”

“I mean I like you too so far--”

“So far? Fuck the hell off.” He looked actually offended so I tried once again to redirect his attention to the task at hand.

“I just mean it’s $500 Sirius. I can’t accept that, we barely know each other.”

“Just let me buy you a house warming gift. Stop making such a big fucking deal over it. It’s just money.”

“I can’t Sirius. It’s just too much money.”

“Okay well I’m buying this bed because the headboard is dope and I know you like it a ton more than the other one, AND because I’ve jumped on it and know it’s sturdy enough,” And the cheeky bastard winked at me again, “So if you buy that other shitty $150 one you’ll have two beds and I know that back house is spacious but I don’t think two queen beds would fit in it.”

What was I going to say? I could already tell by the way that he drew himself up when he said it, the way his tone shifted to all-business, (and I turned out to be right) that Sirius wasn’t the kind of person who takes no for an answer. He gave orders like someone that was used to having those orders obeyed. Someone who had heard ‘yes’ a few too many times. When he gets his mind stuck on something there’s no moving him. So I sighed and smiled at him.

“Okay. Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

He stood, took the pencil from my hand and wrote down the number of the new bed on the pad that already had a long list of the other furniture I was buying. “Thank you will do, Lupin. Now let’s go get the last few things, you told me there’s ice cream at the end of this and I am all about that.”

He complained all the way through picking out rugs and curtains and throw pillows (I really like throw pillows okay?) but when we got to actually picking up all the boxes from the warehouse the biggest problem I had was trying not to just stand there and watch him load cart after cart with heavy boxes. Give me a break, yeah? He was showing a lot of skin and I’m on a lot of testosterone. Together we wheeled the loaded carts to the delivery counter (and went back for two more). A little more than $3,500 later, I had a bed, couch, bedside table, desk, two chairs, two rugs, coffee table, lights, shelves, TV stand, dresser, sheets and towels, comforter, curtains, throw pillows, a large cactus Sirius was calling “the scary phallus”, and even a warm blanket that reminded me of one of my favorite old jumpers. I had only spend so much money at once one other time in my life, when I bought a shitty old car my first year of uni from a kid that I had a crush on at the time. The car worked out, the crush...not so much.

I treated Sirius to an ice cream, which I figured was less than he deserved after spending five hours with me in Ikea and buying me a bed. But it was the most that he’d accept. I didn’t know what else to do. But he seemed happy enough, he did flush a bit red when I wouldn’t stop thanking him, so I guess he appreciated it even if he told me to “shut the actual fuck up”. Somehow he was still full of energy even after lifting hundreds of pounds of furniture and walking all over the certifiably biggest Ikea in the country. If I had been worried about how nice his car was on the way there, I worried less on the way back, leaning back into the incredibly soft seats and putting my head back felt like a reward after carting box after box to the delivery desk.

Sirius looked over and grinned, “Big day huh?”

I nodded, “I’m glad I only have one day until the mattress shows up, today has been a lot. The moving and the shopping and your bolloxology.”

“Um excuse me?” He laughed, “What the actual fuck did you just call me?”

“Bolloxology, you know, messing about. Your BS.”

“Holy fuck that is a ridiculous word.”

“You’re a ridiculous word.”

“Oh fantastic comeback, real smart. I can see why they let you into a PhD program.”

“You are such a muppet, and yes before you ask it means you’re an idiot.”

Sirius grinned, I had the distinct impression that he took most insults as if they were compliments -- a trait which made him infinitely charming, and infinitely frustrating at the same time. He turned up the radio and some alternative rock band was playing. As we sat quietly in traffic on the 5, the sun started to set, and it glinted deep red off the building windows, bathing the car in a warm light. It felt like we were glowing, the windows rolled down, the air just a touch stagnant between the hot cars. I felt a pang of homesickness. It was so different from the cloudy, misty-cool nights of Dublin, the old stone streets, the bustle of Grafton, the smell of the grass and trees in the park across from my favorite pub. I missed my warm jumpers with the permanent smell of tea clinging to them, the cigarette smoke hanging lazily in the air around the corner shop, proper chocolate. I missed stumbling out of The George at 3am scuttered as fuck all with my mates Sean and Frankie after a drag show and a heavy drinking session.  

As excited as I was about the new furniture, the new graduate program, the new friends and colleagues, the new roommates even, there was something sad about the perfect California horizon reflecting the last glimpses of the day. Something huge and daunting about the hot city that made me feel a bit lost, as if between the picture perfect landscape and the rubbish in the gutter there was a facade that frightened and excited me in equal measure. It was all just so big. And I was holding on to a runaway train -- Los Angeles felt like a million miles away from home. This was what it felt like, I thought a bit ruefully, to be homesick. This was also what it felt like to make something of yourself.

We arrived back at the house when it was dark, after stopping to pick up food for a whiny James who was bored without Sirius around to annoy him. When we pulled up to the house I smiled, I still could not believe that somehow I’d gotten a spot in this mansion. I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for them to find out who I was -- emphasis on the was -- but maybe they were the good sort. Maybe…

Sirius opened the door, I didn’t have a key to the front house yet, and Padfoot came bounding out. James, hair wild, glasses halfway down his nose, was sitting on the couch in front of Comedy Central working on his laptop. He lit up when he saw Sirius which I thought was sweet until--

“FOOD!” He exclaimed gleefully. “Fucking finally! Oh god is that Golden Hen?! Yesssss.”

Sirius and I passed him several containers of Chinese food and he ate faster than I thought was humanly possible. How he could eat the amount meant for a medium sized family and be as thin as he was I have no idea. I've since learned that James is a human garbage can and his jittery, always-in-motion body consumes calories at an unbelievable rate. Some guys get all the luck.

“How did it go at Ikea?” He asked through a mouth of vegetable fried rice.

“I think it was quite an education for Sirius.”

“Did you know they have ICE CREAM there dude?! It's amazing it's huge and they have all these tiny apartments in it and they sell like pots and pans for like five dollars!”

“Yeah,” James replied nonchalantly, digging through a new container of food, “I went with the Dork when she and Marlene got their new place.”

“I saw their couch!”

“Sorry, who?” I looked confusedly from one loudly chewing roommate to the other.

“Oh!” Sirius dropped the spring roll he was holding. “James we should have them over tomorrow when Wolfram here has all his furniture delivered.” The conversation was getting further and further from something that I could track, it was like they were speaking their own language.

“Sorry,” I said, wincing at the apology, “but who are we talking about, and erm...did you just call me Wolfram?”

Sirius shrugged but there was a slyness to his eyes. “Marls and the Dork--”

But James cut in, “Marlene and Dorcas are our lesbian friends. Marlene went to high school with Sirius and I, and she picked up a girlfriend up in Berkeley. Marlene and Sirius used to date before they both caught the gay so they’re still weirdly in love with one another.”

Sirius shrugged again, “She’s a fucking bombshell, who wouldn’t be fond of her?”

“I certainly am, too bad she’s given up guys.”

I laughed at James, “Not for her, statistically women who have sex with women have way more orgasms.”

James looked affronted, “Okay, listen to PhD over here. But I’ll have you know, I’m a giver.”

“Where you stick your dick is neither here nor there --” Sirius started, but I cut him off.

“Yeah, apparently it’s nowhere at all.”

James threw a fortune cookie at me but I dodged left quickly enough that it merely hit the couch behind me. Sirius laughed so hard that he almost spilt his beer, “Well he’s got you figured out hasn’t he?”

James looked at him through narrowed eyes but said nothing so Sirius eventually lapsed into a teary-eyed silence. “Okay okay, but for real Marlene and Dorcas should come over tomorrow cause we can all build Remus’ furniture together. We were going to plan a party to welcome Remus to the family but maybe just do this on the DL. Don’t want to scare him too much.”

“You really don’t have to do that.” The last thing I needed was to be the center of attention. I wasn’t even adjusted to the two guys I had moved in with. Now I had to worry about impressing their friends? And I hadn’t had a moment to myself. I really thought I’d be building by myself, maybe some Netflix on my computer. But what was I supposed to say? They wanted to be nice. They wanted to make an effort. Come on Remus. You can’t move all the way to America and then not make a fucking effort to be social.

“I mean we don’t have to do anything dude. We’re doing this because you seem cool and we like to have a good time.” James grinned and ran a hand through his hair which left a piece of rice along his temple. I decided not to point this out but instead grinned right back at him. I caught Sirius’ eye who smiled conspiratorially at me, he’d clearly seen James make a mess of himself too. I knew immediately that he was also planning to let James sit there like a tool rather than say anything.

“So Marlene and Dorcas won’t mind helping? It is a lot of work.”

“Nah,” Sirius couldn’t tear his eyes away from the rice in James’ hair, he was not exactly the best at keeping a straight face but perhaps Sirius staring weirdly at him was routine because James seemed not to notice, “They’re lesbians they’re good at building stuff you know.”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m going to text Lily too?”

James lit up like a fucking ray of sunshine. I almost instantly regretted suggesting it. Things always get complicated when your mates want to bone one another, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to be totally outnumbered with people that I didn’t know and since I’d moved to Los Angeles, Lily was the only person I’d met from abroad. Sure she was from England, but you have to take what you can get when no one in America can make a decent cup of tea.

Sirius nodded, “I mean the more hands the easier it’ll be right? We can do beer and pizza and maybe even swim a bit.”

“I’m already texting the girls.” James was tapping madly at his phone.

That night, after stuffing my face with Chinese food with James and Sirius, I padded upstairs to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms after James absolutely refused to let me spend the night on the sofa. Despite myself I think I was already starting to like the two idiots. It was weird, I’d never had cis guy mates in Ireland that would stick around for very long. Something about my having a vagina. Sure there were lads that would return my texts periodically, or that were good for a pint or two. I don’t know what made them scare so easily -- I was still the same guy. I’d been lucky, I’d been able to pass as a (perhaps effeminate) guy for awhile even before I started testosterone. But it was always the same once they found out -- the queers, the ones that had wanted to fuck me, or to keep me around to see if they wanted to fuck me, when they found out that I lacked something they liked, that was enough reason to abandon ship. The straights, the ones that were good for a night out on the piss or that didn’t mind me when I was a winner for their team in football, they disappeared entirely. I was no longer one of the gang. Didn’t matter that the dosage I was on meant I had more testo in my system than some of them. I liked them, yeah, but I also didn’t want to get attached. Being attached, hoping for something more than a casual friendship with cis guys was like -- it was asking for heartbreak.

I waited until I heard the two of them head to bed before I stripped down to my boxer briefs. I lifted my arms and pulled my binder off slowly, peeling it away from my ribs and wincing. Too many hours in it today meant that I was probably going to feel it tomorrow. Even with the new ones I’d ordered there was always that inability to take a deep breath, the pull on the ribs that made you sore and sweaty after a long day in the thing. It was one thing in Dublin where it never got too hot, but here, where it seemingly never dipped under 70, adding an extra layer was tough. I touched my chest a bit and it was tender but I didn't think I'd have bruises. I thought about how James and Sirius had invited their friends over tomorrow and sighed. I probably wouldn't have much chance to go without the damn thing tomorrow either. Swimming? It was out of the question -- I was going to have to find a reason to pass.

I could have just told them when I came in for the interview. Lily never asked me why I didn’t even though she knew, for which I was grateful. I had been open with the department at USC, had even mentioned it in my entrance essay. I was working on trans and queer literature and film it wasn’t the most difficult puzzle to piece together. Somehow though, I just hadn’t been able to do it. I didn’t want to lose the chance at the room, and sure, I guess I liked them. Now it was as if I were keeping it from them. Every day that passed meant that I was going to get more attached to my new mansion, my new mates. It would be better to get it all out in the open now and find out if they were going to be phobic.

But now I’d ordered the furniture. It was coming tomorrow, and leaving was going to be a bit harder when I had a small apartment’s worth of furniture to move along with the boxes that were currently in the pool house. I ran my hands through my hair, trying not to let the fear that shot through me overwhelm me. Sirius was queer, he specifically asked for a queer roommate. It wasn’t going to matter. And anyway, there was no reason why they should find out.

[archivesdiveronarpg]

Congratulations, ERICA! You’ve been accepted for the role of NICK BOTTOM. Admin Bree: We had two fantastic applications for our Nikolai, but Erica, it was your interview and small details that ultimately tipped the scales. You captured his personality beautifully in his dialogue, as well as his little nuances such as his fidgeting, his complaint about his ass hurting, and his red car and motorcycle. I especially loved, “Cars screeched to a halt to admire his work. People screamed in awe at how fabulous the craftsmanship was. And best of all, he wasn’t dead” - you presented his eccentricity perfectly in three succinct lines. Congrats Erica - we can’t wait to have Nikolai on our dash! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

                                                                             WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Erica

Age | 24

Preferred Pronouns | she/her

Activity Level | You guys pretty much know my activity. I work Monday-Friday and have weekends off, and my goal is normally to get at least one reply out through the week, even if I can’t always do that, then try to play catch up on the weekend.

Timezone | EST

Permission | Yup!

In Character

Character | NICK BOTTOM, Nikolai Borisov

What drew you to this character? | Beyond Sebastian Stan, the whole arsonist career was a big reason. It’s so different from what anyone else does, and I would be delighted to have the chance to be as creative with it as I’m sure Nikolai is. Another thing is he seems like he’d be so much fun to play, and I absolutely need someone like that to mess around with, to bring something upbeat to the table rather than someone so serious. He seems like quite an explosion on our saddened Verona and I’d love to strike the match.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? | One of the great things that I feel like I got from his bio is that he doesn’t seem to have a master plan he’s trying to achieve, beyond setting the city aflame, basically, and perfecting his craft as best he can. He isn’t trying to take over an empire, nor is he trying to save one, so I feel like a lot of his development, good or bad, will be strictly to mess with him specifically. Some ideas that aren’t set in stone at the moment are:

LOONEY TUNES | You will never be able to convince me that Pavel isn’t the roadrunner to Nikolai’s coyote, meep meeping his ass into the sunset while Nikolai gets burned with his Acme products. I just want to see how his relationship with Pavel progresses, or anyone else who has the rare opportunity to get on his bad side (seeing as I don’t think he really has one normally.) It definitely sounds like it could be a good time and I insist there be lots of these two in particular, but just lots of shenanigans in general, to be honest.

YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN A WARZONE, RIGHT? | As was demonstrated by the colosseum upset, all three sides could have a use for Nik’s particular talents, even though he doesn’t really have much interest in any of them. But with his streak of falling in with the wrong crowd, it’s hard to tell which way he might be pulled toward, who might sway him or appreciate his work the most. I’d like to see how he fares in this feud that just keeps getting bigger.

DUDE, WHERE DID YOU EVEN COME FROM? | I don’t think Nikolai thinks about his past much, and I don’t think he’d know how to answer anyone if they asked about it. How did he get this way? Was he born from hellfire, spreading across the world like a plague/cure, depending on whom you asked? I want to dive deeper into this son of a blacksmith and lady of the night, and how that affects who he is now.

In Depth

The following THREE questions must be answered in-character, and in para form (quotations, actions written out if applicable, etc). There is no minimum or maximum limit for your response - simply answer as you would were you playing the character.

What is your favorite place in Verona?

Nik’s leg bounced up and down with a jittery energy as he thought. “The streets,” he said, nodding as he considered it more. “Yeah, definitely the streets. Where you feel like you can go anywhere you want? Go as far as you want for as long as you want? You’ve got the wind against your helmet as your motorcycle flies past the people stuck at home. Yeah…good times.” He slapped out a beat on his thighs that was surprisingly not a mess, despite the quickness of his hands and the distant look on his face. It was hard to tell if he was even paying attention anymore until he spoke again. “Is that the only question?”

What does your typical day look like?

Nikolai smiled, his fingers flicking a lighter on and off. The flame was dangerously close to his jacket, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I don’t know. It always changes.” He probably went through three different sitting positions before he answered again, his lighter gone and back in his pocket. It was hard to tell where it went with the way his hands moved everywhere at once. “I get up, I go out…I stay out.” Nikolai opened his mouth, closed it with a thoughtful expression. Then a light bulb seemed to go off and it was open again, words spilling out in a rush. “You know what I like to do? I like to drive. Have you seen my car over there?” he asked, pointing to a bright red sports car. “That thing flies. I go between it and the bike, drive them around and see what there is to get into.” He rubbed the back of his neck, tapping out another beat, this time with his heel. “Now we’ve gotta be done with questions, right?” His brows furrowed at the accusation of being in a hurry to get somewhere. “No, my ass just hurts from sitting so long. Doesn’t yours?”

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

It was the first time Nikolai laughed during the interview, and hopefully it was the last. The startling sound came from nowhere, and died just as abruptly, leaving a smile behind as he shook his head. “It’s fucking entertaining is what it is. I mean, you’re telling me these guys are still uptight over something that happened eons ago?” He paused, seemed to think it over. He frowned. “I guess I can see why they’d hold a grudge. Sometimes someone just gets under your skin and…” he stopped, squeezed his hand into a fist like the annoyance was there to feel his grip. Eventually he released his hold on the phantom and waved his hand as if to say never mind. “But that’s besides the point. The point is: I don’t really give a shit.” Nikolai shrugged. “We all know—“ He stopped, laughed that unsettling laugh like he had a secret no one else could know. “We all know they’re gonna turn the city to shit, but it’ll rise. Like a phoenix from the ashes, it’ll rise, and goddamn, it’ll be beautiful.”

In-Character Para Sample:

It’s a bit chilly out. Why don’t we heat things up?

No, no, scratch that.

Wait until his chestnuts roast on an open fire.

What the shit, it’s not even fucking Christmas.

Nikolai groaned, connecting the last wire so that his detonator would actually fucking work this time (last time’s attempt resulted in him almost getting a new haircut.) The faint sound of Buster Poindexter’s Hot, Hot, Hot played through his earbuds, his iPod snug in his pant’s pocket while he meticulously worked on his latest creation. If all went as planned – and it damn well better – the rigging would set the whole ten story building crackling in under a minute.

How, you might ask, Nik thought as he gathered his materials and made sure not to leave any evidence behind. Why, that’s simple. Because I’m a fucking genius, that’s how.

Sucking down his third juice box, he strolled through the building’s basement like it was just another day. Well, mostly, it was just another day. This was his fourth outing in St. Petersburg this month, and a lot more fun than the first three that consisted of burning an empty grocery store, making sure some poor sucker couldn’t drive anywhere, and lighting up a church full of poorly dressed sinners. But this time…he thought he might’ve outdone himself. A ten-story building that belonged to some curmudgeon he could’ve cared less about? It was the perfect testing ground for such experiments, for such masterpieces.

He only went as far as he had to, the bare minimum to keep from getting blasted (the explosion should mostly be internal, if he didn’t account for shattered glass, and go up, not outward, which would hopefully allow for him to be closer.) That was the plan, of course, but this shit always had a way of backfiring.

Ha.

Nik pushed the sunglasses down from the top of his head so that everything was covered in a partial darkness. Just a couple more minutes, and he’d be able to smell the smoke, feel the wave of heat that came barreling toward him. It was quiet except for the sound of cars honking and driving down the street. The flap of birds’ wings as they flew away, sensed a storm coming. The slurp of Nik’s juice box as he sucked up the last of his drink.

5…4…3…2…

1.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Like a down-on-their-luck musician, it started from the bottom and rose to the top, glass glittering down like rain as the explosives went off, one after the other. Cars screeched to a halt to admire his work. People screamed in awe at how fabulous the craftsmanship was. And best of all, he wasn’t dead.

Taking a deep breath, and one last moment to appreciate his latest success, he nodded and turned to leave.

Nik made his way through hidden alleyways and abandoned streets to get back to his car, parked far from the crime scene after his last close call with the police. It was tough to drive fancy cars and be a fireman. It made it all too easy to find him sometimes.

A fact he remembered quickly when he saw someone standing by his car.

But they weren’t dressed in the normal uniform he was expecting to run from. No, she was dressed in expensive furs to keep the chill away, hair done up all fancy like she was going to a ball. She stood at attention as Nik walked to his car, a bag full of questionable items in his hand. She hardly paid attention, bright green eyes glued to him, nervous as she tugged her coat tighter.

“Borisov?”

“Maybe,” he said, eyeing her since he had the cover of sunglasses to cover his scrutiny. “Who wants to know?”

Who wanted to know? Well, in that moment, with that very transaction, Nikolai Borisov’s first paying client exploded onto the scene.

And that’s how you do that.

Extras: I have a mock blog for him at totallynotajackass, where I’ve put some graphics and reblogged some things. As for further headcanons:

Cars/Motorcycle – I definitely see him with a motorcycle that he likes to drive everywhere, and I absolutely see him as someone who enjoys the thrill of street racing. Nice cars that go really, really fast? That have engines where it sounds like they roar to life and screech against the street? Nikolai is definitely into death defying stunts, and what better way to get his heart pumping than speeding down Verona’s streets at night against some of the fastest drivers out there?

Drums – probably not a surprise, but he was never taught to play anything like the piano, and he sure as hell never bothered learning. But the drums gave him an outlet for his constantly moving hands and feet. Turned out he wasn’t horrible at keeping a rhythm either.

Burns/Scars – also not a surprise but I see him with burns everywhere. A lot on his back where he’s tried to get away from ones that went astray and didn’t get to walk away like a cool action movie star. Who needs tattoos when your body is littered with striking remembrances of your creations?

[bananashemmo]

When We Collide (Part 6)

Pairing: Assistant!Y/N/CEO!Luke

Rating: NC-17

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Summary: He is the definition of high class smart ass, swimming in Dom Pierre Pérignon champagne and has never seen the shadow of poverty. She is underprivileged, lives in a messy dorm room on sale and struggles working as an assistant after being thrown out of college. But how will they collide when Luke makes Y/N pregnant after a drunkenly one night stand?

Twenty-something tequila shots, four different kinds of drinks and a bottle of champagne later you would have believed you weren’t able to feel anything. The banging sensation behind you was loud as Luke had smacked your back against the door but you barely felt a single feeling.

His finger was almost furiously tapping against the ring bell to his front door, desperately waiting for Patrick to open up because he hadn’t had time to inform about your arrivals, his lips nippling onto your bruises ones.

Safe to say, Luke was right about his sayings when he said that first kiss wouldn’t be the last of tonight.

The rest of the night had been a complete blur to be exact. You remembered the first tequila shot that had been served by the bartender at Carl’s but from that and to the next twenty ones you started losing track of counting.

You had never expected to be this drunk but never had you had such a fun night either. You neither had expected that Luke would fit in in a crowd of your friends, sitting a bit misplaced in the middle of the boot like the others but they seemed to love him, mainly because he was the one constantly ordering the drinks.

The glares from Nicole had been obvious you were surprised Luke hadn’t commented about it. The way she had looked over at you with confused eyes and mouthing a few words you weren’t able to understand with so many other things going on around you told that she wanted to express something.

It was only for a short second you understood what was going on when she dragged you out to the bathroom to have a cigarette and a short pee. She wasn’t mad but you could tell that she was suspicious about the way Luke was acting around you and let alone the fact that he had showed up.

“I just think he needs the proudness of actually hanging around with me without getting scolded at or rolled with the eyes.” You had slurred against the doorframe while watching her, almost wanting to loudly grimace when you saw your drunken reflection.

“He always wants this confirm from me and I don’t understand why.”

Nicole looked at you with wide eyes while hovering over the sink just to get a bit of water from all the drinks that had been served, she was still curious but she wasn’t wearing the same expression as before.

“He constantly touches your thigh and you don’t say a thing about it?”

“He does?” You looked over your shoulder to look back at the booths where they were sitting, getting eye contact with Luke for a short moment and watched him blink with his right eye in reaction.

“I almost feel like I can’t feel a thing.”

“How do you get home?” She ran a hand through her hair because of the sweat she had created from the crowded room, at first nobody had been there but it seemed as if everyone wanted to show up after midnight.

“Come on Nicole don’t be like a mom I live right across from the street. If you’d like you can hold my hand and follow me over the street.” You commented and felt a hand ghost right above your bum making you stand up straight from almost hovering over the doorframe, eyes wide when you noticed it was Luke walking past you.

“No it’s okay I just wanted to make sure. Joey was supposed to be our ride home back to college but I’m not sure if he’s even able to ride his bike.” She explained but before she could say more Luke chirped in into the conversation.

“I gave him a check to pay a taxi for you.”

“Actually, that’s okay.” Nicole replied a bit confused, you couldn’t tell whether it was because she was surprised that he had done it out of nowhere or the fact that her boss was suddenly nice.

“No he took the money already so expect a cab to pick you up soon because he seems like someone ready to fall asleep over the table.” He pointed towards where you had been sitting, Joey hovering over the table with a lukewarm beer and eyelids heavy.

“Well thank you very much then.” Nicole mumbled, deep down inside happy that she wasn’t supposed to drive two on a bike with Joey.

“You’re very welcome Penelope.” Luke responded and adjusted the tie around his neck before walking out towards the back exit to get outside, you didn’t know for what but you shrugged it off and tried not to laugh by Nicole’s reaction.

“Will he ever fucking know?” She rolled her eyes and looked back to the mirror to put her hair into a pony tail not wanting to deal with the hotness and sweat in her neck anymore by her long beautiful dark hair.

“Maybe you should just write it in your forehead.” You commented with a small giggle, knowing that it would only piss her off even more.

“Maybe you should just make him learn that my name is not Penelope. I mean he even hired me before you and he still can’t remember my goddamn name!”

“I will try on Monday, okay?” You smiled softly and felt how the world was spinning to the point of if you let go of the doorframe you would fall to the ground.

It wasn’t the first time you had been like this but it had definitely been a while. Being out of college meant that you weren’t that much invited to parties and such things down by the parks, you really wanted to tag along but you felt a bit misplaced when it came to that.

But it was nice to actually feel free for once and when all the others had to study for Monday’s classes with a thick hungover you could just hover over your old bed with a cup of coffee and watch Cartoons in the screen. You didn’t have to worry about anything else than meeting up at Monday morning with a donut from the Danish pastry down by the street right across from Luke’s building.

“So I just called my chauffeur he will pick us up in less than five minutes.” He showed up from the back entrance with cold wind added along and you looked up at him confusedly.

“Us?” You quivered an eyebrow confused but you still had a faint smile on your face.

“Get your coat.” He replied and didn’t want to say anything before he left to get his blazer.

You stood for a few seconds trying to register what was happening, looking over at Nicole who raised her hands in the air.

“I’m not gonna comment on that.” She mumbled and walked past you knowing that now she definitely didn’t have to share the responsibility of your drunken ass, hurrying out of the bathroom to head back to Joey but not before looking over her shoulder with a very teasing smile.

“Welcome home, Mr. Hemmings. May I grab your-, Oh.” Patrick was quick to stop in mid-sentence, his eyes a bit wide once he had finally opened the door for you and Luke.

“Thank you very much Patrick. Do something decent and go read a book or something. I won’t need your assistance tonight.” Luke ripped off his blazer and grabbed your coat to almost force it into Patrick’s embrace.

“Will do sir. Goodnight.” Patrick mumbled in the same enthusiastic voice, watching as Luke literally threw you over his shoulder and headed towards the stairs that lead to his bedroom.

In fact he didn’t let go of you until you were right in front of the large white door, his hands pinning yours to above your head once you were finally down on your feet again.

“You have no idea for how long I’ve been waiting for this.” He drunkenly slurred, his thumb caressing over your chin and leaned in for a kiss.

“I think I do.” You mumbled back before he connected your lips, deciding to open the door as well and almost made you fall down to the floor if it hadn’t for been the nice grip he had around your waist.

His bedroom was nearly as you had imagined. The large windows that were tall like the ceiling, the large king sized bed with a million pillows on it, it had all the features Luke showed in his attitude. He had a long grey fireplace with a large TV screen above it, a few pictures here and there but you didn’t get the chance to give it a small look.

His lips were nearly everywhere possible on your skin, going from your lips to your cheek, nose forehead and neck. There was lust clear by every kiss and you almost couldn’t tell whether it was because of him or the alcohol that your legs had turned into jelly.

“Oh my god.” You gasped once he connected you against the white large dresser against the window, it was so harshly that you managed to knock down a white and blue vase that instantly crashed once connecting with the shiny marble floor.

“I sincerely hope that wasn’t expensive.”

“An Imperial - around $22.6 million from Hong Kong but who counts.” He replied casually as if it was nothing and by that it was as if you had turned sober for a second and looked up at him with wide eyes.

“$22.6 million? For a freaking vase? Are you insane?”

“What?” He questioned as if you were being ridiculous, his breathing uneven from the intense makeout session.

“You think I would have bought a lazy one from IKEA?”

“I can’t even afford a vase from IKEA!” You almost wanted to argue and took yourself to your head. You could already feel the hangover ready to pound and even if your head wasn’t clear you could suddenly feel a gutted feeling creep up on your spine.

“Luke this is wrong.”

“What? How can it be wrong buying a fucking vase?” He questioned unaware and took a step back away from you, biting down on his lip and trying to focus on what you were trying to say. He was, after all, to the point of being completely hammered you had never seen him like this.

“We are fucking wrong you ass!” You yelled and tried not to step onto the broken pieces of the vase, jumping over not so elegantly to stand by his bed, “You taking me home all the time, your weird flirting at work and all of the sudden us making out! It’s all just wrong!”

“Does this feel wrong to you?” He questioned and motioned between the two of you, your mouth opening but no words seemed to come out by his question.

You had no idea how you were feeling. Everything just seemed like one big giant bomb of something that couldn’t turn out to be something great yet you were still there. You had showed up, you hadn’t been the one to deny or reject him this time, there was something different going on.

“Okay I’m sorry I just imagined that we would be in some sort of cheesy movie where we pretend that we’re soulmates.” He suddenly laughed and took you aback completely, “I just wanted to pretend to be a movie star just for a short moment.”

Your mind scanned the many horrible names you could possibly call him by his sudden outburst, not sure whether or not you wanted to knock something into his face by the annoying smirk coming back to his features.

Even in his drunken state Luke was still his annoying persona if not worse.

“Come on don’t be mad.” He gently laughed and grabbed your hand, “I mean even though we don’t fit with each other doesn’t mean I don’t fancy you. If it hasn’t come to your attention for a while I’ve tried for nothing more than your attention since I hired you.”

You watched him as he intertwined your fingers just to pull you closer, the smell on his alcohol clear once your lips were close to each other again. You didn’t know what was best, smack him or kiss him.

“I’m not mad.” You stated, taking a step back but still had your hand in his, “I just don’t want to be like the others.”

“The others?” Luke quivered an eyebrow confused and his lips tightened, “What do you mean by others?”

“Your other previous assistants.” You commented like it was obvious and widened your eyes, “Don’t you do this with all your assistants? Try on them, want to sleep with them and afterwards you just fire them because you got what you wanted?”

“You really think I’m like that?” He questioned and for one second you actually felt like you had thought wrong about the whole situation, “Because it has been like that but not anymore. You’ve been one hell of a chase Y/N I must admit.”

“I fucking knew it.” You mumbled below your breath and wanted to turn around but he still had your hand in his making sure that you didn’t leave.

“No Y/N you can’t just leave okay? I might be an ass and I’m aware of that but please don’t leave because I know you can’t walk home on your own right now.”

“But I don’t want to stay here.” You argued.

“Why not?”

“Because if I do, I know we’ll end up having sex!”

There it was, the truth. Your clit had been pulsing since the first time he had touched your thigh this evening and your makeout session hadn’t made it any better. You hadn’t had sex in a while and the way Luke was making you feel was out of the ordinary.

If he could just for the love of god shut up for one second you could actually clear your mind.

“Fine, Luke. One night, we never speak to each other again about this and you fucking promise that one, you won’t ever talk to a woman like you’ve done before and two, you make sure that I won’t get fired after this.”

“So what you’re saying is you’re sleeping with me for the money?” He smirked while loosening the black tie around his neck.

“No I’m saying that I’m sleeping with you because I want you to shut your fucking mouth.”

“And how would you be able to do that-,”

Before he could suppress any other word from his mouth you forcefully pressed him against the marble pillar and your lips finding his. He wasn’t even surprised by your action, his fingers finding your hips and digging into the skin harshly.

“Well choice.” His smiled into the kiss and deepened it, slipping his tongue in between your lips and dominated instantly.

You couldn’t tell why you were doing this but enough was enough. A single thought of how horrible you would feel after this both regarding awkwardness and your hungover was quickly brushed off when Luke took off your shirt, letting it fall to the ground and buttoned down his dress shirt.

You had seen him nude before but you could still feel yourself losing your breath once he loosened the belt around his pants but teasingly waited until you were completely nude until he finally settled on stripping down completely himself.

He went down on his knees to slip down your pants, the position reversed and your bare shoulder pressed against the cold marble pillar. Once you had gotten rid of your pants and socks he couldn’t avoid the small chuckle.

“I see you’re wearing the lingerie I gave you.” He teasingly commented and his thumb gazed over the fabric right where your clit was hiding, biting down on his lip when he looked up at you.

“Just shut up and kiss me.” You moaned and pressed yourself further against the pillar, closing your eyes and felt how your nipples were clear visible through the bra fabric by how hardened they had become.

“Gladly.” He leaned up to unclasp your bra behind your back easily as if he had done nothing else in his life but that, the fabric falling to the ground by the help of you and discarded the expensive clothing to the ground.

He slowly gazed the skin around your panties, making sure to tickle right by the inner part of your thighs knowing that it would have deep affection, his lips finding your hip and teasingly sucking.

He didn’t stop but waited until you were becoming impatient, your breathing becoming slower but also deeper, stomach rising and falling by every second that passed by without any further progress.

It felt as if it had been forever when he finally decided to hook his rough fingers around the hem of your panties, falling down to the ground in the same pace as before and revealing yourself to him completely.

You were ready to say something again but before you got the chance he attached his lips to what he could, hand holding onto your bum to make sure you wouldn’t be wiggling or moving around to his disadvantage.

“Fuck.” You moaned almost in a small whisper when his tongue started to lick over your clit repeatedly, feeling how it started to pulse and send bliss through your whole body. It was that pit in your stomach that made all the bad thoughts vanish, erased and completely gone from your mind.

His hair was tickling against your stomach and with his hand still holding onto your bum firmly and sometimes giving it a small slap you were sure you could come undone within seconds. You didn’t want to admit but he was doing amazingly work down there you had barely predicted it.

He had the attitude but you had never realized that it wasn’t just a stupid façade he was keeping to try act like someone he wasn’t.

“Come here.” You said lowly once you felt your knees trembling, sincerely not hoping that he would continue because this wasn’t the way you wanted to come.

“I need all of you.”

He stood up from his knees with glistering lips and hair completely messed from your tucking, his thumb coming up to remove some of the juices and placed it into his mouth.

“Salty like you.” He just had to say it and at any other moment you would have scolded at him but your thoughts were too blurred to let you say anything. You needed him, you didn’t care what it took because with how his tongue had worked you almost couldn’t imagine what he was hiding behind his tight pants.

Still making sure to keep the eye contact with you he loosened the belt from his pants completely and let it fall to the ground, leaning down to discard the rest of his clothes and show how his tip was to the point of leaking with precum down his red shaft.

In one swift movement he leaned down to grab your thighs and lift you up, barely having the time to wrap your legs around his waist before he had you on top of his bed, pillows almost making you invisible in the large pile but it was definitely more comfortable than you had felt for a while.

There was something about his lips that made you feel in such bless you weren’t sure if it was because of the alcohol. He had nice lips there was no doubt, you even felt the small hole from what you assumed was a lip ring was charming.

It added a bit of definition to his otherwise always fancy attitude and you could just imagine how it must have felt to kiss with one. He had the thing with both being very gentle but also lustful and rough when kissing you and pressing you further against the pillow crowded bed.

“You know you just have to tell me if anything hurts but by how wet you are I assume it’s gonna be alright.” He said something for the first time in a while after yet another intense makeout session, his arms resting on either side of your head.

“I’m not the only one being ‘wet’.” You commented and leaned down to grab his shaft, running your hand over it a few times and watching as his eyes closed in pure bless.

It was amusing to see how much power you suddenly had over him. That was definitely the first time since your first meeting, the way he was slowly rocking back and forth to the pace of your hand making him harder and harder to the point of being close to orgasm.

When it was enough he leaned down to grab your hand and moved his member down to your entrance, just like he had predicted your folds were almost drowned with juices from when he had been licking you before and with a gentle push he was already half inside of you.

“I think it’s safe to say we both fucking are.” He commented and started to rock back and forth, wanting to find the right pace where it would be pleasurable for the both of you but also making sure that it wouldn’t be too hard for him.

With every thrust he gave you, you sunk further down onto the mattress. There wasn’t any doubt that he had been waiting for this as well, most probably not been with someone for a while because you hadn’t seen him invite anyone into his office other than you.

“Y/N I’m just gonna say this,” He breathed out, sweat forming on his forehead to the point of the sheets not even being cold anymore from being untouched.

“I’m drunk as hell and it won’t be long before I cum.”

“That’s okay. I think I’m too drunk to even get a release.” You held onto his hair again and swung your legs around his waist just to get that feeling of him hitting right in the spot, your legs trembling but you knew that would only be it.

Being so drunk only left you too unfocused to even see the final of a release and just the act itself was good enough for you. It was fine that he didn’t last for long because if you thought about it he could just pay back another time.

But would there be another time? You didn’t really understand what was going on but you couldn’t give it a second thought because Luke suddenly groaned loudly, his body completely still and holding onto you for dear life.

It was warm and fuzzy against your legs and thighs feeling how his member was pulsing with a drunken intense orgasm that left him completely breathless, almost to the point of falling on top of you.

“Oh my god.” He commented and fell onto the sheets next to you, his heart beating so loudly he was sure you were able to hear it too.

“High five for drunk sex.” He raised his hand in the air once he had folded the sheets over your sweaty nude bodies, the both of you looking up at the ceiling where small mirrors were reflecting you.

“High five.” You mumbled breathlessly and smacked your hand against his, feeling your eyelids grow heavy in tiredness but also a suspicious feeling creep up your spine by tonight’s events.

Part 7

[streetlites]

She wore a white dress the first time I met her.

I remember thinking that she was absolutely beautiful – that Luke’s office was too filthy a place for her to be in, that it’d stain her. “Aren’t you going to frisk me?”, she asked and my stupid mouth ran off, I think I said something along the lines of, I could If you want me to. I didn’t know who she’d become to me, that I’d end up caring that much for her. If I had, I don’t think I would have wasted so much of my time trying to run her off from what I saw as death spiral, a moth about to be consumed by flame.

I’m waiting outside of her parent’s house for her, ignoring the strange looks I’m getting from her older siblings who probably don’t know we’re not together anymore. Roman stops to talk to me for a minute, but only to ask me to leave – I won’t, not until I see she’s okay. Celia called me the other night, she’d lost her at the bar and she was worried that she was coming to see me, she begged me not to take her in if she came. I waited all night.

A blue car I don’t recognize pulls up and out she steps, her eyes locking on to mine. They trail down to the dog tags I’m wearing and sweep back up and, for a moment, she looks just as miserable as I am. They’re a slight manipulation on my part; she had teased me that they were corny when I had her name engraved on them – I want her to see that I’m still hers if she’ll have me.

Her expression hardens when she focuses on the SUV I’m driving and I feel like kicking myself, I should have brought my bike. “Nice dad wagon,” her tone is icy. “What are you doing here?”

“Celia called me last night and said that you went missing, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She laughed mirthlessly in response. “Here I am, in one piece. You can go now.”

“Where were you?”

“I really don’t see how that’s any of your business,” she says, but there’s amusement behind her eyes – something cruel. And then I see the mark on her neck barely hidden by the black lace choker she’s wearing. I feel like there’s a weight on my chest, we haven’t been together in almost three weeks. She’s been with someone else.

Under the weight, something vile is rising – I’m jealous and I think I know exactly who left the mark on her. The only person stupid enough to make that move. “You and Yulian fucking already?”

“Surprisingly enough, no.” Then she smiles and adds, “Yet. Would that bother you, Gene?”

“Of course it fucking would!” I explode. “For all I know, you two were probably fucking while we were together anyway. He was spending an awful lot of time at your apartment.” I know it’s not fair of me to say, I even know that they weren’t, but I hate the idea of that guy’s hands on her, of her being with him instead of with me.

Emilia’s face grows dark, “No, you don’t get to do that,” she says, shoving a finger in my face. “I wasn’t the one who cheated, that was you. I’m not going to let you sit here and absolve yourself of guilt at my expense. You know goddamn well I was faithful to you!” I put my hand on her hips and try to pull her in but she resists, “Fuck off, Gene, let me go!”

She manages to turn herself around and I finally pull her in against me, “I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to fight,” I say quietly and she relaxes a little. We’ve been in this position before, it usually ends with kisses until we’re breathless. I miss it, I want her back so badly – I don’t care who she’s been with as long as she comes back to me. I breathe in her perfume, nuzzling against her neck and she stiffens and pulls away. I’m not dissuaded, I grab her hands and she balls them into fists and I kiss them, “I found out about the time off you got us,” she won’t meet my eyes. “I could take you out to Willow Creek, we could eat at that restaurant on top of The Grey Lady, stay at a nice hotel downtown for the week…”

“You don’t have that kind of money,” she retorts.

“I do now.” I really do – I’ve taken up hit contracts for Luke. The first one was a local politician the LA-13 wanted gone, it paid 50K. I was warned that the majority of jobs I would receive wouldn’t be as high paying if I only worked in this area and Luke would get a cut if he had to vet people for me. Her gaze is questioning and I give her a small smile, “No talking business in public, remember?”

She shakes her head and lowers her hands, “No, Gene.”

“Give me a chance, I can fix this.”

“You really shouldn’t have tried to hide it from me,” she starts. “You can’t fix that you’re going to have a kid and you can’t fix that any time you leave; I’ll just assume you’re with June. Go home.” I watched as she walked up the stairs to her parent’s house, not once bothering to look behind her. 

She wore a white dress trimmed with black. I wondered if I was the one who stained her.