#i'm sure i'm interesting enough for everyone to love hearing about my morning

[spockandawe]

Double edit: actually, that's enough of that.

Edit: I was expecting maybe thirty notes tops. This is a surprise, and one that doesn't delight me. If I hear about any harassment stemming from this post, I'll be more pissed at the harasser than the person this is about.

God. Dammit.

I hate this, let's just out that out there! I'm unhappy that I'm talking about any of this, I'm unhappy there's an issue that's come up at the intersection of media preservation, respecting authors, and one of my favorite book series. And I'm unhappy that I've censored the names in the screenshots I'm about ti post! I'm not happy that I'm helping to slide consequences away from someone who thought this was an acceptable thing to do to a modern working author. But I'm even less happy this is something that happened in the first place, and I'm VERY unhappy the original post has been deleted without a whisper of accountability or apology.

And here's a partial screenshot of the IA page, which has since been removed. I get the excitement to share something you love with a new audience. This isn't the right way to go about it.

First, if Martha Wells' patreon is still in place, I encourage everyone in the strongest possible terms to go sign up for it. It'll charge you one dollar. I've been a member since probably 2018, and I mistakenly believed it was locked to new members (it's labeled 'Currently Closed To New Patrons') until I had reason to look it up last night, when I tripped across this reddit post from earlier this year.

Now. I was looking it up because of this sudden patreon message:

Even if the patreon goes away, I still recommend that people sign up. Explore the stories! They're very fun! Even though the patreon has been dormant for years, I've loved having that repository in place.

In fact, in the interest of full disclosure, what kept me from immediately reblogging last night is that I've felt the same archival urges! I bound a hard copy of these stories earlier this year, and let me quote my own words from that post:

I live in a state of perpetual low key stress over the impermanence of digital media and that goes extra for sites that aren’t designed to work well as archives. I hope, desperately, that someday Martha Wells publishes more raksura, maybe even including these stories! I will buy it immediately. No thoughts, wallet empty. I own all her other raksura books in literally three formats, fingers crossed that by printing this, I can actualize a formal official printing of these stories by the author 😂

So. Archiving, yes. But especially with a living, working author, I would never DREAM of posting a public free-for-all with IA and mediafire links. My most charitable interpretation is that OP thought it was fine since the stories were "free," even though the writeups acknowledge that access costs a dollar. Ao3 is also free. Reposting someone else's fic is still understood to be a dick move.

Last night i was left kind of stunned, and I was hoping to see some kind of response from op this morning taking responsibility, and was... disappointed to see that the post was just deleted. The IA listing was deleted too, and I hadn't actually looked up the mediafire post yet but I'm guessing it's also been nuked. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if there was anything more in the comments, so I found a surviving reblog. And there was!

So I'm writing this post because I'm... frustrated. Taking down the files is a good step. Posting them publicly was a worse step, but hey. I still more than understand if Martha Wells still deletes her patreon. I don't understand what sending her files of her own stories is meant to accomplish, but whatever. Ascribing a profit-driven motive is driving me up a wall, though. She's financially stable. I read her email, and what i see is frustration that even though it only cost a dollar to access 62k of her work through her own chosen location, control of her writing is being forcibly removed from her. I'm sure that seeing copies sold by third parties wouldn't help, but I don't think that's the root issue.

This is a fandom-heavy website, I'm sure most of us have seen posts about not reposting art when you can share directly from the artist's blog. I've seen posts about stop copying your ao3 faves over to wattpad just because you like reading there better. At a fundamental level, I read the message from Martha Wells as a deep frustration at having no way to share her creative work without someone removing control of it from her hands. And I don't know if there's any way to really take back that damage.

[serena-babes]

So i have this idea about the knights of hell. There can’t be a king and princess without some royal protection. So how do you think the others will react to a Hell Knight Reader? Like reader is like a commander of a group of elite knights. And they came to check up on Charlie and Lucifer! To see if the king and princess are okay after the attack on the hotel.

Brownie points if reader doesn’t smile and are serious all the time! Reader is very dangerous they can and will kill to protect their king and future queen! No romance of course, just platonic relationships. Like Charlie can see reader as an older sibling.

Royal Knight Reader x Lucifer Morningstar + Charlie Morningstar

platonic!˙ᵕ˙✰

Gender neutral!

1.5k

omg! this is too cute! i really love the whole knight idea! ⋆｡°✩ i did some research on the whole knight system and its SUPER interesting!

might make another one shot of a knight reader with my own little twist･°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°.

✧₊⁺⋆.˚꩜⊹ ࣪ ˖˚☽˚.⋆✧₊⁺⋆.˚꩜⊹ ࣪ ˖˚☽˚.⋆✧₊⁺⋆.˚꩜⊹ ࣪ ˖˚☽˚.⋆✧₊⁺⋆.˚꩜⊹ ࣪ ˖˚☽˚.⋆✧₊⁺✧₊⁺

Ever Since Lucifer and Lilith's fall from grace, protection has always been a necessary resource. Y/ns has been there since the beginning pledging allegiance to both the king, queen, and the then young princess serving them for centuries. Y/n and the rest of the knightage fought to make sure to keep hell orderly, or as orderly as hell can get. 

Y/n was much more serious compared to their fellow knights being a Grand Cross comes with its different sets of responsibilities that in their mind “allow for no error.” due to their seemingly frigid exterior outsiders would think Y/n was only following the chivalry code nothing more. But, on the contrary, Y/n did truly care for Morningstars.

This is why Y/n's heart dropped hearing about the extermination coming earlier than expected, it was always busier during this time of year. The number of casualties just from the royal guard was always a hard gap to fill after the massacre was over. But at least, the Morning Stars were spared. This time, however? Y/n wasn't sure everyone was going to come back alive, a direct attack from heaven? Some of their most skilled knights have fallen to the hands of exorcists. How in hell would Charlie ever come out alive? 

But, Y/n takes orders, and Lucifer stops her from interfering. 

“I don't understand why you won't let me do this,” Y/n exclaimed curtly, brows pulled tightly together. The confusion was evident in their tone, their body rigid like a sword. A still silence blankets the room after no response. Y/n, Moving forward through Lucifer's study smoothly dodging various piles of ducks. Continued.

“I am loyal to this family, eternally. And the one chance I am needed…you, tell me to stay?.. Why? She is your daughter. Do you want her blood to spill across the pavement? Because that is what will happen if you let this continue.” Anger started to bubble to the surface as they pointed an accusatory finger at Lucifer.

The silenced followed them 

“You must let me go I have-” Y/n pleading began

“Stop, I order you to stop,” Lucifer said weakly, looking away unsure. It was obvious he was going through his own anxiety and turmoil due to the extermination and the safety of his daughter.

“She has to do this, you.” he looked to Y/n glassy-eyed

“Cannot face heaven” he continued “I don't think anyone here really can… Charlie can hold her own. I mean if anything this could I don't know, um.. steer her away from heaven!” he said, his charismatic exterior seemingly returning to his body.

“Yes…but what do we do if she cannot handle it.” y/n said quietly, mouth pulled into a deep frown.

“Well, who better than me? King of hell! Eh! Eh!” lucifer exclaimed loudly elbowing y/n's rib cage

“This is not a time for humor,” she responded coldly. Lucifer rolled his eyes playfully.

“ Y/n I'm worried about her too, but this is something she needs to do. If I need to I will step in. You have enough to worry about with everybody else looking to you for guidance, have faith in her. So! I order you to stay here!…. Please.” Lucifer exclaimed albeit a little awkwardly since he was not used to giving many orders directly to Y/n's face

Y/n Sighed bending down to kneel “As you wish my king.” 

“Okay okay, you don't have to do all of that! I mean, come on! You're practically family.” Lucifer exclaimed in surprise. 

And so, Y/n trusting Lucifer they went back to their duties. Making preparations for extermination day preoccupied their mind most days. but silently anxiety seeped in. Truthfully, Y/n is terrified of losing Charlie and Lucifer they're the only family they've ever had. Even in life, Y/n wasn't close to anyone as much as they were with the MorningStars, which is why relief flooded Y/n's whole body hearing that both Charlie and Lucifer were safe in the end. After the hotel was rebuilt, they planned a visit to double-check. 

It was your average day at the hotel, Husk was busy cleaning the bar counter with a tattered rag as Angel Dust as well as Vaggie lounged on the couch. Angel, scrolled mindlessly through their phone while Vaggie worked on sharpening her spear. Charlie, of course, was planning new lesson plans with her father. Everything was calm. That was until three loud pounding knocks rumbled through the room.

Vaggie immediately jumped up in defense while everyone slowly turned towards the door, a menacing shadow shown through the glass. The only person who seemed excited was Charlie.

“Wait! Wait! This could be a new guest!” Charlie said excitedly jumping at the opportunity to greet the mysterious person at the door

“Okay everyone, let's remember to smile and introduce ourselves!” she smiled to everyone in the lobby, Alastor now entering the picture to observe.

Charlie swung the door wide open “Welcome to the hazbin hotel!- Y/n!!” 

Charlie embraced Y/n in a bone-crushing hug squealing and spinning both her and the reader around “I'm so excited to see you! It's been so long! Oh! Come and meet everyone!”

But just as Charlie was leading you over to the rest you spot a certain um. Eccentric! red demon

“Oh! What in the unholy hell is that..” y/n exclaimed obviously unsettled by the red demon 

Grimacing at the sight and leaning down Charlie 

“Charlie, I trust your judgment but what… what the HELL is that.” but just as y/n leaned up there he was.

“Alastor, Pleasure to be meeting you dear. Quite a pleasure indeed!” Alastor said enthusiastically jostling you around like a rag doll with his over-excited handshake.

“And who are you? The servant to the morning stars him?” he continued. Lucifer and y/n both make eye contact across the room silently agreeing about their mutual opinion of this “Radio Demon” as he likes to be called.

“More like, protector. What are you hm? The janitor? With that tattered suit, one might think you would be a stray animal who wandered in.” Y/n shot back with a frown and an unimpressed brow

“Alright! y/n! Let um let's meet everybody else! please..” Charlie said steering you away from Alastor you both looked as if you were about to be at each other throats if she didn't intervene 

“Everyone! This is y/n! They are a part of the…” she whispered over to Y/n “Is it the knightage..?”

“Yes, it's the knightage you're right.” y/n had responded quietly they were used to Charlie's struggle with certain words many nights they had to help Charlie with their spelling when she was younger.

“The Knightage! They work for me and Dad.” Everyone had gone silent at this news no one ever thought that they would be meeting the top of the food chain. Royal knights have been seen around hell usually around the time of the extermination, and almost everybody knew not to mess with them. Especially Y/n, just looking at them everyone would think they could snap someone in half without a second thought. Almost everybody there straightened their posture as Y/N's cold gaze flicked over everybody even Alastor tensed up slightly. 

“It's nice to meet everybody, Charlie is very enthusiastic about this hotel of hers, I'm glad it's made its reach to people,” Y/n responded professionally, Charlie looked over the cast of people in the room noting the uncomfortableness of everybody, She knew y/n was…Cold-looking, but she's never seen anyone react to just their presence in such a way. 

The silence lasted for what seemed like an eternity no one daring to speak up 

“So, are both your swords accurate about hitting certain deep spots, or just the one?” Angel spoke up flirtatiously everyone's heads snapping in the direction of the outburst

“What?! Just asking, geese.” replied angel

“My sword is made of iron it's manufactured to hit “deep spots” A knight does not possess two iron swords that would be .. redundant,” Y/n said calmly. Angel had side-eyed Husk when this was said triggering Husk to roll his eyes to mimic annoyance. 

“Speaking of weapons, Vaggie your spear needs to be sharpened. I suggest you sharpen it daily it'll really glide through people like butter if you do.” Y/n continued, they had met Vaggie prior to the hotel but only briefly as Charlie didn't come to the castle much anymore after Lilith left. 

“Oh! Um, thanks!” Vaggie replayed hurriedly intimidated by the tall stance Y/n possessed the heavy armor from neck to toe didn't help them look less menacing either

“By the way, thank you for protecting Charlie and everyone at the hotel.” y/n said slowly moving down to kneel “ I wasn't there myself due to my orders but I am glad to know Charlie is in good hands it brings peace of mind.” Y/n continues now fully kneeling 

Vaggie visibly flustered responded quickly “Oh! It was oh it was nothing really.” 

“Y/n?” Charlie interjected 

Y/n slowly rising to their feet, “Yes, Charlie?”

“How about you stay for dinner really.. Catch up!” Charlie said excitedly. Y/n glanced over to Lucifer who had two thumbs up. 

“Ah hell, why not.”

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

01/26/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Renew As A Crew/Hoist The Ads; Cast & Crew Sightings; Queerties; Twitter Watch parties; Articles; Reasons to keep fighting; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonights Taika;

== Renew As A Crew / Hoist The Ads ==

Tumblr Post / Twitter Post /Instagram Post

Link to vote

==Cast & Crew Sightings==

While the sighting hasn't occurred yet... looks like Vico Ortiz, Nathan Foad, and Con O'Neill will all be attending Galaxy Con in San Jose on August 16-18, 2024 at the San Jose Mcenery Convention Center. Tickets available now. Src: _irene_adler on IG

One thing to note.. Chaos dad has been pretty consistent about reaching out every 3 days-ish lately.. I'm interested to see if tomorrow he shows up again. Just a theory.

== Queerties ==

If you're down, please vote for the Queerties each day! If you want to just vote for OFMD categories, feel free to visit: TV Comedy Best TV Performance Wanna help another Taika/Rhys verse Queertie? Vote for Kaimana for Best Film Performance in Next Goal Wins!

==Twitter Watch Parties==

Sadly, today #PirateOmens came to an end, but our friend @dandeebakes is already fast at work getting other cool Watch parties together! Please send them some love!

=HuntForThePirateHome=

HuntForThePirateHome Watch Party Starts Sunday Jan 28 at 3 PM EST, 12 PT, 8 PM GMT. Hashtags for that event are:

#HuntForThePirateHome

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

Thank you to @blueberreads for catching these trends on twitter during the Pirate Omens watch, definitely kept engagement up.

==LubeAsACrew==

#LubeAsACrew is back on 1/31/24 at 4PM PT, 1PM ET. Next up are S1 Episodes 5, 6, 7.

== How To Help ==

How To Help Save OFMD Task List - US How to Help Save OFMD Task List - Outside US

==Articles==

15 Things We’ll Miss About ‘Our Flag Means Death’

2024’s Canceled Shows, for Your Final Consideration

Relisting The Guardian's article from yesterday because they've opened comments, and it can help with engagement so feel free to comment on it now!

Also, @itsmfgames Has been kind enough to be keeping up a running list of Articles about the campaigns -- so if you have the time and want to go catch up on some articles, please checkout the guide below and visit this google doc for the list! It's been added to the Daily Renewal List for both US and Outside-US, so feel free to check it out there as needed.

== Reasons to Keep Fighting ==

Throwing in some great points from our tumblr folks regarding the cancellation that really helped me feel pumped today.

@celluloidbroomcloset's Our Flag Means Death was cancelled because it’s gay.

@queerly-autistic's break down on why Not All Fan Campaigns Are The Same.

@saltpepperbeard's reasoning for Clinging Onto Hope

@tulipseason's lovely reasons The Show Is Irreplaceable

== Love Notes ==

Alright lovelies. I have so many words to say about how great you all are, how much I love you (and I'm sure you're tired of hearing them), but I went back to work today after 7 days of being sick and now my brain is mush. So instead I'm going to put the text of one of my son's books in here because I think every one of us should feel loved like we were when we were 5.

On The Night You Were Born - By Nancy Tillman On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered, “Life will never be the same.” Because there had never been anyone like you… ever in the world. So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain, that they whispered the sound of your wonderful name. It sailed through the farmland High on the breeze… Over the ocean… And through the trees… Until everyone heard it and everyone knew of the one and only ever you. Not once had there been such eyes, such a nose, such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes. When the polar bears heard, they danced until dawn. From faraway places, the geese flew home. The moon stayed up until morning next day. And none of the ladybugs flew away. So whenever you doubt just how special you are and you wonder who loves you, how much and how far,  Listen for geese honking high in the sky. (They’re singing a song to remember you by.) Or notice the bears asleep at the zoo. (It’s because they’ve been dancing all night for you!) Or drift off to sleep to the sound of the wind. (Listen closely… it’s whispering your name again!) If the moon stays up until morning one day, or a ladybug lands and decides to stay, or a little bird sits at your window awhile, it’s because they’re all hoping to see you smile… For never before in story or rhyme (not even once upon a time) has the world ever known a you, my friend, and it never will, not ever again… Heaven blew every trumpet And played every horn On the wonderful, marvelous Night you were born

== Daily Darby / Tonights Taika ==

The gifs today are courtesy of our lovely @ofmd-ann who blesses us every day with gifs that make me swoon. Darby / Taika

Warning to all you gif makers, I'm gonna be bugging the crap out of you soon for permission to share on these recaps :P -- feel free to say no!

[tipsyleaf]

https://www.tumblr.com/tipsyleaf/747506335018549248/ok-so-hear-me-out-a-relationship-with-leon-and?source=share

love, reading this gave me butterflies 😭😭 ur way of writing is simply amazing! also, imagine that this new girl treats reader badly and Leon defends her (us)...?

xx🪞

Tysm!!!! You have no idea what it means to me when people enjoy what I write!

(I had so much fun writing this, thank you for the ask!!)

You end up kissing linoleum in the break room and there's agents surrounding you in seconds. A few even trying to get to stir. Leon's knelt next to you on the floor, making sure you didn't it your head and keeping it elevated. But eventually they get the agency nurse there to get you to infirmary.

This new girl is watching in shock, mildly irritated by being interrupted but everyone seems to be frazzled so maybe something might actually be wrong with you. So she just goes along with everyone else as the nurse shows up with a wheelchair.

Eventually you come to on the examination table. The nurse explains what happened and she starts asking you questions. After a few questions she asks how stressed you are.

You work as an USSTRACOM agent, when aren't you stressed?

So you give an honest answer and she continues asking. You tell her about being upset before passing out and she takes a breath in, telling you it's probably blood pressure issues. Go see a doctor. So, you take the Tylenol she offers and leave to get back to office work.

The next few weeks are different. Leon starts lingering around your block every time he goes to anywhere that isn't his desk.

Bathroom break? How are you feeling?

Coffee from the break room? You see that doctor yet?

Paperwork for Hunnigan? Hey, we should really go get lunch together again today. It's been a while!

It's nice how much he cares, it makes your heart swell and chest fill with that bubbly sensation. It's almost there's this thick dreamy fog every time he's around. It's suffocating but you honestly can't get enough. You crave it that whenever he's not talking to you or looking your way it's like you're gonna die.

Eventually the new girl, who just so happen to get one of the empty cubicles in your row, starts getting more and more pissed over time. She sees how you look at Leon. Like he's an oasis in the desert and you're a quenched traveler crawling for the last scrap of hope you have. Thirsty, so thirsty...

It's sickening.

She ends up starting to be passive aggressive. Asking everyone in your row out for drinks but you.

Sorry, I just heard you weren't a big drinker. Didn't think you'd be interested.

Sounds reasonable.

Goes out of her way to order everyone lunch while you're out of the office on a case for the day.

I was planning on waiting for you to get back but I mixed up the order date, sorry!

Everyone... Makes mistakes?

She gets a special coffee order and you're finally included! On her way over she drops yours on the office carpet. Hitting your new shoes you just got a compliment on earlier that morning. You look at her and her shocked face... Fake shock, you know a liar when you see one.

Oh my God! I'm so-

It's fine.

You turn back to your work and hear her snicker. She thinks she's sneaky, but she's really not.

One day you're in the break room, grabbing some water from the cooler when she walks in, starting to make small talk. Being fake friendly, typical. You turn to walk out with your water when you here her gasp and a shatter. Water hitting from your feet to your waistline. Freezing you turn back seeing the water cooler toppled over and shattered on the floor...

I'm so sorry, I bumped into it!

It's a glass water cooler... It's SUPPOSE to be heavy. There's no way she just bumped into it and it fell...

The break room door flies open, it's Leon.

The hell is going on in here?

He sees the mess, eyes going wide as he realizes you're soaked from the waist down. The girl immediately tries explaining herself and how she "bumped" into the cooler. Thankfully he's on the same train of thought as you.

There's no fucking way...

Leon, it's fine. It's just water.

Really it was an accident!

Accident my ass! And no it's not fine. It's water and glass. This dumbass could have hurt you.

Dumbass? You've never heard him snap at anyone in the office before. You look back at her, real shock finally dawning her face. It almost makes you grin. She starts to stutter, trying to say anything at all.

Whatever you have to say, save it. And I don't know what petty childish reason you have for doing something this stupid but knock it off. She doesn't need the stress of dealing with you too.

That grin finally graces your lips as her disappointment rears it's head. But quickly you let it drop. Leon ushering you to the locker room to change out of your wet pants. That hazy feeling coming back slowly as he watches over you.

Thank you for sticking up for me. I appreciate it.

What're friends for?

You mess with the handle after trying the combination, jammed... Of course. Leon steps over. Shooing you out of the way and bangs his fist over the latch. Backing off he gestures for a second try. You raise a brow, skeptical over it but your wet ass begs to just try again. So you do, the door opening without fail.

Wow, a true master with his hands.

What can I say? I just have that special touch.

You giggle at his comment, pulling out your uniform pants from your locker. You move to start changing when you glance at Leon, he hasn't even tried budging.

Could you maybe... Turn around?

I've seen you on the brink of death, more than once. And you're scared for me to see you without your pants on?

You've bought me lunch countless times but that feels more like a dinner thing, y'know?

Leon grins, crossing his arms over his chest. His expression change is almost... Flirtatious?

Damn, if I knew it were that easy I would have asked sooner.

Definitely flirtatious.

Leon...

His brows raise as you start undoing the button on your pants. He's... Clearly interested.

I'm wet...

He bites his bottom lip, fingers tensing into his forearms as he squeezes his eyes shut.

Don't... Don't say it.

I'm sorry! You just make it too easy sometimes!

He moves his arms, taking in a breath as he covers his eyes and he turns away.

I'll be good. Just for you.

[multific]

Call You Amor

K'uk'ulkan x Reader

Summary: Patience is something we all have to learn, even Gods. Even Gods who just confessed their love.

K'uk'ulkan was a patient man. Having lived as long as he have, he learned the importance of timing and patience.

He was patiently waiting for you as well.

Despite being a 'surface dweller' he quickly fell in love with you.

He was a patient man.

But he also found himself walking along the banks of your home town, hoping and begging for his God so he could see you.

He went, day after day.

He felt stupid now, stupid for telling you to take your time, stupid for saying he can wait even years for an answer.

He wanted to make you feel comfortable and now he was regretting it.

This anxiety was eating him alive.

It distracted him from his duties as the leader of Talokan.

But he wanted you, he needed you. And he needed an answer to his confession.

As it soon got dark, K'uk'ulkan headed back to his home. He didn't sleep but he did manage to rest a little.

The next morning, he did what he had been doing for the past three days.

He dealt with his duties and soon after swam to the beach. He walked out of the water and to his surprise, there you stood.

He noticed the shell he gave you to call him in your hands, your shaking hands.

"I thought I had to place it in the water to call you." you said as you walked over.

"Could you please just... tell me your decision, I beg of you to put me out of my misery."

You smiled a little, he was a man after all, no matter how much he tried to assure you that he could be patient.

"We are very different. You live in the ocean, lead your people, hide from my people. At first, I thought it would be impossible. How could you ever like me to begin with, especially with your hatred towards my people. You said I can decide whether I should call you Namor like your enemies." you watched as his hand moved into a fist, he looked away from you. "And I so decided to call you a different name, neither K'uk'ulkan nor Namor. I wish to call you Amor." his eyes snapped back up at you. He muttered something in his mother tongue, something you couldn't quite understand.

"I thought you were rejecting me."

"I thought about it. Because of our differences. I fear your people will hate me for I am only a surface dweller. I am no Queen as you claimed I could be." he walked over to you as you finally dropped the shell from your hand, his moved to your waist and pulled you in.

"Say it to me, please."

"I wish for you to court me. I wish to be yours. For now, it will be enough."

"And in the future?"

"I could be delusional. I have wishful thinking, but I can see myself by your side, forever. As a partner, a wife, a Queen. As long as you will have me." he let out a shaky breath. One he didn't even know he was holding.

"I came here, day after day in the hopes of seeing you. For you to accept my confession... I'm overjoyed." he smiled.

What a gorgeous smile he had.

"My Handsome King, I truly don't see how you can find me, out of everyone so interesting."

"You are a rare beauty. You are smart and gentle. Kind yet fierce. I need that in my life."

"So, I remind you of your mother."

"Pardon?"

You laughed at his expression.

"Nothing nothing." you laughed a little as his grip on your tightened.

"Is that some joke between... women?"

"You could say that, yes. A joke. Can I ask my King, to take me on a date?"

"What's a date?" you nearly fell over laughing. He loved to hear your laugh.

"I will dress up nicely and we can meet and talk."

"What's wrong with what you are wearing now? It looks nice enough for me."

"Okay, would you like to go somewhere then?"

"I can't really leave the water."

Problem number 1.

You assumed there will be more along the way, but you were sure you can also deal with them and find solutions.

"Then let's stay here? In case you need to leave, you could go back."

"I will give you this." he reached into the water and you noticed something shimmering in there. He pulled out a necklace made of pearls. "I have been making this since I saw you." he then held the medal in the middle of the pears in his palm. "You just have to whisper to this, and I will come to you, wherever you are." he then placed it around your neck. You touched the delicate jade medal and smiled at him.

"Thank you. I wish I could give you something special as well."

"A kiss would be special enough." he smirked as you smiled.

"Very well." you moved your hand to the back of his neck as he let you pull him in, and you placed a kiss on his lips.

"I will come see you again tomorrow, My Love." he said as he finally let go of you, slowly walking into the sea.

"I hate seeing you leave, but I love watching you go." you said which confused him as he turned to give you a look. "I mean you have a nice... backside."

"So do you." he said and you knew he didn't understand your reference but it was okay.

You will teach him many more things about yourself as you will learn more about him.

You never expected to end up with him, but you were not complaining.

If anything, you were looking forward to tomorrow and the days after.

Namor Taglist: @lunamoonbby

Taglist: @fleursirvart @greenarrowhead @thisismysecrethappyplace @sincerelyfan @theoneanna @aestheticsandmarvel @rororo06 @castellandiangelo @destynelseclipsa @spilledinkindumpster @capsiclesdoll @puknow @alwayshave-faith @alex12948 @lxdyred  @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @anonymoussherlockandmarvelgeek @praline357 @trshngyn @avengers-r-us @violet-19999 @top1bbgloak   @manduse   @jacalineiscomingforyou  @mandoloriancookie @noname2246

~Masterlist~

ˇAO3ˇ

DO NOT STEAL, REPOST OR TRANSLATE ANY OF MY WORKS 

[canirove]

In The Name of Love | Chapter 28

Author’s note: Before you read this chapter, you need a bit of context, because most of you probably aren't from Spain 😅 On this chapter Pedri goes to a Spanish talk show called "La Resistencia", and it is like the most unserious talk show ever. Keep that in mind all the time. There is a main host (Broncano), and then two other who just add random comments from time to time. At the end of the interviews they always ask their guests two questions: how much money do they have on their bank account, and how often have they had sex during the last month, and that's what happens here 😁

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

🚨 Please read the author's note before reading this chapter or you may not understand what is going on 😅

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

Just finished my interview in La resistencia

How did it go?

It was fun 

But I'm sorry

🤨 Sorry about what? 

You know about the questions, right?

Yes…

I'm not allowed to say anything about the money, but the other one…

NO What the fuck did you say?

Well…

PEDRO, WHAT DID YOU SAY

Maybe that I'm not single. Among other things 🙈

Other things? What things?

You have to watch it

I'm fucking murdering you That's what I'm doing 

You won't, you love me 🤍

Yeah 🙄

🥰🥰

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Ok, now you know what I have to ask you."

"The questions…" Pedri says.

"The questions. So, let's start with the easy one. How much money do you have on your bank account?" Broncano asks him.

"That's the easy one?" Pedri chuckles.

"C'mon, don't try to distract me. How much?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you, I'm sorry."

"Bullshit."

"I can't" Pedri insists. "The club has a new clause that doesn't allow us to tell you how much money we earn. It's called the Broncano clause."

"Sure" he snorts.

"I'm not joking."

"He is not joking. Look at how serious he looks" one of the other hosts says.

"Ok, ok. No money talk. But now you have to give me a good answer."

"I'll try" Pedri laughs.

"How many times have you had sex in the past month?"

"I can't give you an exact number."

"C'mon, Pedri" Broncano says. "You have to give me something."

"Is quite often a valid answer?"

"I need you to be more specific. Like, have you had sex today?"

"This morning before coming to Madrid" Pedri says.

"That is specific" one of the other hosts laughs.

"And yesterday?" Broncano asks.

"Yesterday too."

"And the day before?"

"Every day this week. Happy now?" Pedri chuckles.

"Oh, that's… Quite often, yes. Do you have a partner?"

"I have a girlfriend, yes."

"The gasp! Did you hear the gasp from the crowd?" the other host laughs again.

"Wait, people didn't know?" Broncano asks.

"You just got the exclusive" Pedri says.

"Oh God. We've got an exclusive! Can we get one of those exclusive things on the screen? I think we need it. Pedri has a girlfriend! Can I ask you questions about her?"

"You can, but I may not answer them" he laughs.

"Ok, that's fair. But can we get anything else? Is it recent?"

"We've been together for like 3 years and I'm the happiest I've ever been."

"Aww, cute" the other host says. 

"Is she here?" Broncano asks.

"She's in Barcelona, probably planning how to murder me for saying all this" Pedri laughs. "I'm sure my brother has already texted her about it."

"Is your brother here?"

"Yeah, there in the crowd."

"Where is Pedri's brother? Someone give him a microphone! Oh, there he is. Hello."

"Hi" Fer says.

"Have you texted Pedri's girlfriend and told her about this?"

"I'm not brave enough" he laughs. 

"Does she have a character?"

"You have no idea" Pedri says. "But she actually is a softie."

"I think you are not fucking when you go back home" Broncano says, making everyone laugh. 

"Not the first time that happens, tho" Fer smirks.

"Oh, oh, oh. That sounds interesting. Tell us more" one of the other hosts says.

"She supports Real Madrid, so you can imagine."

"Wait, what? A Barça star is dating a Real Madrid supporter?" Broncano says, his eyes wide.

"Love works in mysterious ways" Pedri shrugs.

"Has she made you sleep on the sofa when you've won against them?"

"We don't live together yet, we haven't had to go through that."

"But she hasn't invited you to her place after the game, has she?"

"She hasn't, no" Pedri laughs.

"Has she ever angry fucked you after a defeat?" one of the other hosts asks him.

"If I answer that you won't be seeing me again."

"That's a yes. See you at your funeral, Pedri" Broncano says, making everyone laugh. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Oh my God, Val. He's broken the internet!"

"Hello to you too, Marina. Please come in."

"Sorry" she says. "But Val, this is huge!"

"Yeah, I guess" I say, closing my apartment's door and sitting down on the sofa.

"Are you still mad at him?"

"Slightly pissed."

"Is he grounded with no sex this weekend?"

"Marina!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she laughs. "But it's funny that you do that to him."

"I don't ground him, he isn't a child."

"That's not what you used to say…" she smirks.

"Whatever. Tell me what is going on online."

"Oh, yes! Pedri basically broke the fandom and people are going nuts and full on FBI."

"And that isn't good."

"It isn't, no."

"Have they found anything?" I ask.

"No, nothing. But do you remember when I told you that some fans believed his goal celebration was for a girl?"

"I do, yes."

"Well, they've put two and two together and realized that the dates match, so now they know the celebration is for you."

"Oh, that's ok. I don't mind."

"Yeah… but there is more."

"More?" I say.

"They also know that your name starts with a V, so they are going crazy checking all the people he follows on Instagram looking for girls whose names start with a V."

"But they won't find me there, he doesn't follow me with his official account."

"Exactly. So now they are looking for people who follow his private account, asking them to check."

"What? That is crazy!"

"Yeah…" 

"Marina, what is it? What has happened?"

"Well…" she says, playing with her phone.

"Marina, tell me. You are making me nervous."

"There is a girl on Tiktok who says she had something with him and that they follow each other on his private account. She says she knows who you are and is teasing people about it."

"What?" I say, getting up from the sofa. "That is so fucked up!"

"She said she will be posting a video with proofs."

"Proofs? Proofs of what?"

"I don't know" Marina shrugs. "But Val, does Pedri follow you with that account?"

"He… fuck" I say, sitting down again. "He stopped using it after we met and created a new one, but he started following me with that one."

"So she could have found you…"

"She could have… Oh my God, Marina. What are we going to do?"

"Call him? Ask him to unfollow you or delete that account so she can't lurk anymore?"

"But he is in training."

"And her next video is going up in… 20 minutes" Marina says, checking her phone.

"Oh… my God. This can't be happening!" I say, covering my face with my hands.

"Fer!"

"What?"

"Fer!" she repeats. "He used to deny rumours about Pedri's relationships in the past, so he may know about this girl, if what she says is true or not!"

"That's… ok. But what if it is true? He doesn't have Pedri's instagram password to delete the account."

"But maybe he can reach the girl and threaten her with suing her if she says something?"

"Is that possible?"

"I don't know" Marina shrugs. "But he could try. Call him, we need his help."

"Ok" I sigh. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

I'm so sorry, Val 🥺🥺🥺

It's ok

No, it isn't

We almost got exposed and it's all my fault

You didn't know you had slept with a crazy girl

We never went that far

Then now we know why she was so bitter 😂

Aren't you mad?

I mean… the fact that now the whole world knows that I exist, and also some intimate details about our relationship, isn't ideal  But I'm not mad, no.  At least not anymore  Though what that girl did scared the hell out of me, Pedri

I know, and I'm sorry 🥺

I shouldn't have said anything on tv, but I got so excited… 

I just wanted to share with the world how happy I am with you 😔

Awww, Pepi 🥺

I love you, Val 🤍

And I love you too 🤍

Does this mean that I'm not sex grounded anymore? 😇

Not you too with that 🙄

What? 🤨

Nothing, forget about it But I'm not changing my mind about it. You'll have to wait until next week and only if you win against Atleti

We will, I promise 😊

You better 

Everything good, then?

Everything good.  But delete that damn Instagram account before another crazy ex tries to do something 

Yes, ma'am 🫡 

Good That's my boy 😊🤍

Your favourite one just like you are my favourite girl 🤍

Cheesy

But the truth 😊

[subparcarrion]

CW//TW: kinda vent, discussion of tics and tic attacks (and some of the aftermath for me), discussion of high stress and anxiety situations, cussing/cursing, discussion of physical pain, discussion of pills.

(ACTUAL POST UNDER CUT.)

So... yeah,,,

Tic attacks, gonna have to go with ☆☆☆☆☆/★★★★★ (0/5). Especially at close to four in the morning at a sleepover.

Not really sure why I'm deciding to put it out on the internet, but I guess I wanna talk about it or smth. And with March break and my crippling social anxiety the closest I've come to talking about it irl is a quick "that was kinda traumatic ngl" to a close friend over text.

In retrospect it makes sense, it's the most stressed I've been in a while now paired with a lot of just having to be constantly "on" and feeling scared to say no.

For context I did a pseudo babysitting job for a family friend from around mid afternoon to nearly midnight. I then decided to go a sleepover with my friends late since they had been kind enough to move the date so I could attend. (Probably not the best idea for the future who has a bad anxiety disorder and probably a lot of other stuff, but when have I ever said no.)

The job itself was pretty stressful but the kid and her mom's are super nice and did their best to accommodate me, so that was really nice. (They also paid me really well when I would have honestly done if for free so I'm not gonna complain. Anything bad was kinda just unavoidable considering it was me who was doing the job.)

Im also not really gonna bitch about the sleepover too much, my friends are lovely, the timing just made things rough.

Since I was arriving so late we hung out for like an hour and then went to bed (at least tried to go to bed), a lot of tha time was just kinda spent getting ready for bed though. There's nothing wrong with that, I just ended up feeling a little like I had missed out on the best part of stuff. (Again, no one else's fault.)

Everyone else fell asleep pretty quick, however I was not tired at all. It wasn't unexpected though, going from one high stress situation to another doesn't really let you let your guard down. Let alone feel properly sleepy.

So I just kinda did some stuff on my phone for thirty minutes to see if I would get tired and then decided to finally turn in for the night still very much all to aware of everything.

At this point it's probably important to mention that everyone in my froend group has at least a passing interest in a game called "The Stanley Parable". And if you didn't know you can go into an elevator in that game, and it kinda just plays this goofy elevator music in loup until you leave.

It is thus tradition in my friend group to play the elevator music while we fall asleep at any and all sleepovers where it is possible and everyone is chill with it.

The elevator is kinda some basic lyricless pop-ish kinda techno song where you can occasionally, if you listen closely enough hear the narrator hum along with the tune. The song itself is a certified banger, but I was stressed as fuck and hyperaware of everything. It was safe to say it was driving me crazy, especially the humming part.

I didn't really have any means to turn it off though and I would feel bad doing it. After all, I had agreed to it any it would be distruptful to try since it was super late and the room was pretty packed. To move around too much would probably wake someone up. (Wow, foreshadowing or smth.)

I never really got to sleep and it was around late three in the morning, nearly four when shit really started to hit the fan.

(Another bout of context before I continue: so I've had what I'm just calling tics at this point for about a year now, maybe a bit longer. At least that's when they started getting really noticeable and causing real problems for me. Personally for me it's mostly motor ticks that get much worse in stressful situations. Stressful situations being an iffy description that could cover pretty much anything on acount of the anxiety disorder. Albeit over time it has developed into mostly motor ticks with occasional verbal ones.

I can have periods where they are happening very few times a day and then ones where they are happening several times a minute, either way they never really go away. I had been doing pretty good tick wise before this whole ordeal, now it's definitely leaning towards the worse, more disruptive and painful side.)

It started off with a ciuple of my usual motor tics, getting more and more aggressive very quickly. For the most part these would consist of things like my shoulders jumping up and hitting the vase of my head and neck or my hands doing weird shit.

By the time the verbal tics started the motor tics were so aggressive and frequent they were getting pretty painful. This would be the same time I would start making small squeaks as a verbal tick.

It became pretty clear after that this wasn't stopping any time soon so I sat up and used my pillow to cover my mouth in hopes to muffle the noise so I wouldn't wake anyone.

This was the point where something changed and my tics got the worst they'd ever been. It went from squeaks to small screams and loud grunts. And I was just sitting there in pain scared out of my mind for nearly and hour before the noise finally woke up my friends. Cuz despite all my effort a pillow can't hide constant screaming for very long.

When my friends woke up they were reasonably concerned, they knew I had tics that could occasionally get kinda bad but this was the worst it had been, and I could barely explain through the ticks that it had been going on for about an hour. There was definitely no way I was calming them down, and in all fairness I was freaking out too and they handled the whole shitshow remarkably well.

They probably spent twenty minutes or more trying to calm me down or help, but nothing was working, in fact it might have been getting worse. One of my friends also tried Google-ing it, but Google pretty much said drug him or ignore them were feasible options for yours truly, the little bitch boy.

My friend eventually got their mom and I regained enough control to pack my shit and got driven home. I downed as much sleeping and pain meds as I was allowed to take and continued ticking until I passed out.

Idk,,, not a particularly entertaining story, ig I just wanted to get it out somewhere.

As for me right now, it's been two days and I can't go five minutes without some sort of tic at most.

However, I'm feeling somewhat better, even if my neck hurts like shit.

I suppose that's all, thanks for listening to me bitch and moan tumblr. <33 /p

-carrion_

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

[fridamoss]

Is This Love (That I'm Feeling?) Bob Floyd X Loot (PART 6)

Summary: Bob & Loot get it on.

Warnings: Smut, curses 18+ only.

Word count: 4,658

Archive of Our Own // Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

You pulled up outside the Hard Deck in an Uber. Bob said he would meet you at the front door and sure enough, you could see him standing there alone, shifting on his feet looking anxious. He was fixing his hair into place when he saw you walking toward him. His jaw almost hit the ground, you were wearing the slinkiest, shortest dress with heels and he since he knew exactly what you were wearing underneath, he couldn’t help his mind going to the first filthy thought that popped up.

‘Hey Robbie,’ you cooed, heels clicking as you took the last few steps to where he was standing stock-still.

‘Hey,’ he began before you cut him off with a kiss. Your lipstick had smudged on to his mouth and you wiped it off with your thumb. 

It took a moment for him to come back down to earth. ‘You look real nice,’ Bob swallowed, ‘you look beautiful,’ he finished, clearing his throat.

Giving him a once over, you noticed his boots had been shined recently, his turn up jeans paired with a tucked in shirt just gave him the sweetest 50’s boyfriend vibes.

‘Damn, you look good, can we just take it back to mine already?’ Your hands roamed his chest, you didn’t even notice you were biting your lip until you caught Bob staring at your mouth. 

‘Kidding, I really want that drink.’

‘Did you wanna eat?’ Bob pointed toward a burger van parked on the lot next to the bar. 

‘New rule, Robbie, never assume I don’t wanna eat.’ 

You ate slow, savouring every bite of this burger van meal that Bob had insisted on buying for you. He’d even specified no onions for his order, so he wouldn’t gross you out later, even though he loved all the additions to his burger.

Bob sat facing you, straddling the picnic bench as you ate, pushing your hair behind your ear each time it escaped in the warm breeze. He smiled while you talked to him, you had a wealth of knowledge for someone who was only out in the world for a decade, he thought. 

There wouldn’t be a time when he didn’t want to listen to you, he’d be a good partner, he’d care for you, enjoy your company and the best thing was you were way more outgoing than him, so he could sit back and let you do the talking. He’d like that. So he leaned in and kissed you while you were talking about redecorating your little apartment. ‘I wanna help,’ he said, making your heart flutter in your chest. 

The music wasn’t too loud in the Hard Deck, but it was a little abrasive compared with the sound of the ocean Bob was enjoying just moments ago. 

You’d been waving and hollering over at people you recognised; which was everyone, Bob noted. He managed to get Penny’s attention and ordered two beers before sidling up to you and putting a hand on your waist. You were chatting to someone, looking only mildly interested in the conversation, Bob thought he knew their face but wouldn’t be able to tell you their name. 

You turned, taking the beer from his hand, giving him a soft smile and a look that said ‘give me just a minute and I’ll be all yours.’ 

Bob stood, not awkwardly, but happily by your side, with his thumb rubbing along your silky dress, feeling the lacy band of your pretty panties.

‘It’s you guys!’ A drunken Fanboy made his way through the crowd, elbowing people to get up close, beer in hand. He leaned against Bob, ‘Oh man, I’m so happy you’re together. HERE together,’ his eyes were wild in his head, he’d had way too much to drink.

Bob hoped he wouldn’t hear his room mate puking tomorrow morning, he gave his friend a tight lipped smile.

‘I saw you got the condoms from my dresser!’ Fanboy thought he was whispering. ‘It’s cool, man.’ Garcia clapped a hand on Bob’s back, leaning in to his ear. ‘I hope you have a nice time.’

Bob could see you eyeing Fanboy, feeling terribly sympathetic to what you knew was an embarrassing moment for Bob.

When Fanboy had hugged you both and moved off in the direction of the pool table, you turned to Bob. ‘You ok? You’re quiet.’

Luckily, the embarrassment had faded a little by the time you’d finished your conversation with your acquaintance. 

‘I’m good, I’m happy.’ 

‘You’re too sweet, that guy is way enthusiastic, I can never get rid of him. Next time, be a bit obnoxious and he’ll fuck right off.’ 

Bob laughed, your eyes narrowing, hoping you’d get a reaction from him.

‘Gotta let him know you’re my girl, huh?’ Leaning in to give you a kiss, you were interrupted by Phoenix. 

‘You’re here!’ Her face nearly split in half when she smiled. 

‘Are you all really drunk or somethin’? Bob muttered, shrugging his jacket off and laying it across his forearm. He made a mental note to offer it to you when you left later tonight.

‘I’m just happy you guys are kinda making it official. Bob has been agonising over every text he was sending to you,’ Phoenix rolled her eyes, she loved Bob, he was the most chill guy to be around but it had been painful for her to see how excited and apprehensive her friend had been.

You and Bob looked at each other, seeing the small smile rising on his face, you figured you’d answer for both of you, ‘yeah, it is official. Can’t let this one get away.’ You laughed with Phoenix, she told you a story about how Bob had helped an old lady with her groceries while he kept his hand on you, stepping in closer when someone passed him. 

Everyone managed to come by and say hello, like it was your party and everyone was doing their duty in thanking you for inviting them. Eventually, Bob whispered ‘let’s get out of here,’ brushing his lips against your earlobe. You shivered, turning your head a little toward him, ‘kiss my neck.’ You had no idea why you said it, right here, in front of all of these people you knew from work but you didn’t regret it when you felt Bob lean in and kiss your neck softly, he had been running his fingers along your spine for the last few minutes. The sensation had you closing your eyes, hoping you wouldn’t lose it completely. His nose grazed the back of your neck as he kept kissing, small pecks turning to longer sucking kisses. 

Anything on the back of your neck drove you wild, nothing would get you wet faster. The idea of Bob finding out these little kinks of yours made you giggle. He lifted his head to look at you on hearing the sound. 

Biting his lip, he grabbed your hand and pulled you away from the crowd. 

‘You don’t wanna say goodbye?’ Knowing he didn’t, but you asked anyway. 

Bob walked backwards, pulling you with him, positively eye fucking you. 

The quicker you got back to a bedroom the better, yours or his, you didn’t care. 

The fresh air hit you, setting your skin off with goosebumps. Bob draped his jacket across your shoulders before tapping his phone open to order an Uber home, ‘your place?’ he asked, there was no way in hell he wanted Fanboy to ruin his night when he barged into their apartment, the way he always did after a night out and a belly full of alcohol. Making all of the noise and mess as a herd of cattle.

The journey took only a few minutes, but Bob had sat so close to you in the back of the car that you were sure the driver sped up just to get you both out as quickly as possible. You were grossing people out with your PDA already. Bob’s nose was behind your ear, whispering sweet things that sounded so incredibly dirty while his fingers move up your thigh, your legs parting just an inch for him. 

Bob helped you step out of the car, holding your hand until you reached your door. While you fumbled in your bag for your key you noticed the door was already unlocked, you distinctly remember locking it before you left.

‘Robbie,’ the panic in your voice stopped him from hooking his finger under the strap of your dress. His eyes following to where your hand was shakily pushing the door open. 

The light in the living room was on. Bob instinctively stepped over the threshold before you, putting a hand back against you protectively.

Both of you tip toeing, eyes darting into corners. Someone had broken into your apartment. The realisation hit you just before the panic on seeing movement from down the short hallway, a figure appeared at your bedroom door.

You felt Bob stiffen and stand up to his full height before you grabbed his arm, holding him back.

‘David!’ Fucking relief. ‘What the fuck?’ 

Bob furrowed his brow. Why the hell was Loot’s husband here? 

‘You don’t answer your phone now?’ David stomped towards you, his shirt open almost to his navel, tanned skin on show. 

You made an ‘oh’ sound and pulled your phone from your bag, realising you hadn’t checked it for hours. There were several missed calls and texts from David.

‘I was worried about you. You hung up on me saying he was at your door,’ David nodded toward Bob, who was standing with his arm still shielding you.

‘I’m David by the way,’ your husband held out his hand for Bob. 

‘Bob,’ was all he could say, shaking the hand that was offered. 

‘You’re way cuter than she described,’ David stated, mater of fact. ‘Jealous,’ he look at you pointedly.

‘Well, since you’re fine I’m leaving. Goodnight.’ And just like that, your friend was gone, closing the door behind him.

‘Uhm…’ Bob’s face displayed all of the emotions running through his head.

‘Sorry,’ you whispered, locking the door. 

‘At least he cares,’ Bob shoved his hands into his pockets, wondering what he could say.

‘He’ll call me tomorrow to talk about how hot you are, I just know it.’ 

Bob looked you for a beat before kissing you hungrily, surprising even himself.

He’d met your husband and felt no jealousy. All the feelings he’d had about how an unusual situation this was disappeared as he breathed softly against your mouth. 

‘You’re still cool to stay?’ 

You reached for his hands, placing them on your hips. He nodded while dipping down for another kiss. 

‘He didn’t beat the shit out of me so I suppose he’s allowing me to fuck his wife.’

‘Robert Floyd!’ 

Both of you giggled, hands beginning to grab at each other. 

‘If I don’t get you into my bedroom this second, I think I’ll lose my mind.’ Bob had his hands on your back, pulled impossibly close to him. 

‘Agreed,’ without much effort, he dropped his hands to your thighs and hoisted you onto his hips and carried you towards your bedroom, dropping you unceremoniously onto the bed. You bounced, giggling, watching him toe off his boots. ‘I’ll be right back.’ 

Grumbling, you grabbed out for him, almost catching hold of his shirt.

He giggled down at you, ‘I just gotta go to the bathroom real quick.’

Two minutes without him was too much. As soon as he closed the door behind him, you sat up onto your knees and pulled him towards you. He leaned down and dissolved into your kisses. 

‘I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since the first week of January,’ he admitted, eyes closed.

‘That was the week I transferred,’ you ran a finger across his lips, a slight patch of stubble on his chin rubbing along your palm.

Nodding, he allowed his hands to roam across your shoulders and down your arms. ‘I saw you on the tarmac, my first flight after I got back from my folks place back home. My head got so messed up, I forgot what I was doing, Nat yelled at me,’ he remembered, smiling. 

‘Do you think you’ll remember what you’re doing if I take this off?’ Sitting back on your haunches, you slipped the straps of your dress off your shoulders, squeezing your tits together to give him a full view of your cleavage. 

‘Yes ma’am,’ he hummed, planting his face between your tits and groaning. 

His voice was muffled while he buried himself further, making you giggle. Your hands were stroking the back of his neck, gripping his wide shoulders when you felt his teeth scrape against the soft flesh of your breast, his nose was nudging at your bra, pushing it aside. Immediately his lips found your nipple and pressed a delicate kiss there, waiting for your reaction. 

Whimpering as he teased until your bud hardened. ‘Fuck, keep doing that.’ You purred.

‘What about the other one?’ Bob’s hands were running up your sides to squeeze at your breasts, both of you moaned in unison, his lips kissed over the fabric of your dress, searching for the peak of your other nipple, you could feel him smile when he found it, suddenly pulling the material down to expose you to him. Helping him get full access, you shimmied the straps all the way down your arms and leaned back, allowing him to push your tits together and place feverish kisses across your hot skin. 

‘Jesus, Robbie, you’ll make me cum.’ The admission made him start, that’d be a first. He looked up at you, his glasses askew.

‘Can I take these off?’ Gently lifting the glasses free, you found his clear, pretty eyes looking at you, pupils blown wide with lust, a soft grin on his lips. He was already drunk on you and he’d only had a mouthful of your tits. He couldn’t wait to get his mouth on the rest of you.

Images flashed in his mind of the last few evenings in the shower, jerking himself off at the thoughts of sucking love bites into your flesh all the way from your chest to your hips, along your ribs. Bob’s grunt was feral, making you bite your lip, a flood of arousal hitting you.

‘Robbie, baby.’ Was all you could say, Bob pulled you close to him and devoured your mouth in a heated kiss, his tongue was on yours as his knees hit the bed, gently pushing you on to your back. Reaching behind, you unclasped your bra and threw it across the room. His eyes lit up as he watched you wriggle, leaning one knee onto the mattress, he climbed slowly toward you, leaning down to kiss a trail from your breastbone to your neck, finding the faded love bite he’d given you in the supply closet. He let his fingertip brush across it briefly before taking a handful of your breast, again leaning toward it to suck the nipple into his mouth. 

Your back arched off the bed, for a few moments Bob got lost in you. ‘You smell so good,’ he whispered, hips beginning to grind against the bed. 

‘May I?’ Warm hands moved up your thighs to hook into the waistband of your pretty panties.

‘I love these, by the way,’ Bob hummed in appreciation as you lifted your butt off the bed to let him roll the green silk off of your legs, joining the discarded bra.

Bob pushed your dress up to your waist, bunching the fabric in his hands. 

‘You’re pretty everywhere,’ he mused, eyes now fixed on your wet pussy. Your moan was a siren’s call for him, he moved in closer, pressing kisses across your thighs, letting his lips rest against your folds for just a second before moving off again.

You squirmed in anticipation.

‘Oh, you liked that?’ 

‘Bob I never thought you were a tease!’ Your chest was heaving with want. ‘Please, please, please get your mouth on me.’ 

A rush of blood to his cock made him rut into the mattress involuntarily. 

‘Yes ma’am,’ he grinned, kissing you right where you needed it. His tongue flicking out at your clit, rubbing his face gently up and down your slit, noticing how sweet you tasted to him. 

‘I knew you’d taste good,’ he whined, grinding himself against the mattress. 

Your fingers found their way into his hair, the strands coming loose while you began moving your hips to meet his face. 

He was sucking at your clit softly, moving his face from side to side when he heard you gasp, moving faster as your groans got louder. 

Bob ran his hand along your stomach, up towards your mouth, pressing two fingers onto your tongue, silently asking you to suck on them. 

Once they were as wet as he wanted, he placed one at your entrance, peeking at you to make sure you were comfortable, pushing in gently, warming you up the way he knew he should. 

A broken cry of his name disappeared into the air, you were grabbing your nipples between your fingers while Bob kissed and licked and sucked at your delicate parts. 

He started making that ‘mmm’ sound that drove you wild.

‘Bob get up here!’ Finding your voice, not wanting him to stop but you needed more than just his fingers. 

When he pulled free, you felt your arousal leak out of you. Bob breathed in your scent and looked up at you, almost as if he had forgotten you were there.

God, this man got titty drunk and pussy drunk, he liked being down there, you realised. 

There was no warning before you starting pulling at his shirt, sliding it up over his arms. Bob hopped off of the bed and began unbuckling his belt, his hands shaking a little. 

There was a tattoo on his chest, just a small thing you could see in the lamplight, right under his collarbone. This was the first time you’d seen Bob without a shirt and boy he looked good.

‘How did you hide this for so long?’ It wasn’t really a question he needed to answer, Bob wasn’t a show off. You knew he’d be well put together. He was muscular but not overly so, just in perfect proportion. He had those beautiful muscles that shaped themselves into a ‘v’ across his hips, leading down to the waistband of his boxers, which you unceremoniously pulled down as soon as he undid the button on his jeans.

For the second time that day, you licked your lips when you saw him spring free. His erection hitting his stomach and settling into your palm as you reached out for him. 

With one lick you tasted everything that was him, your mouth opened and took him in, he jerked a little at the sensation. wrapping his fingers around your hair and pulled a little, eliciting a moan from you.

‘You like hair pulling?’

‘Mmhmm’ was all you could say, your mouth was stuffed full of him. Peeking up at the man standing over you, running his fingers through your hair, he had a look in his eye like he was about to eat you alive. 

‘Ok, stop,’ he stuttered, moving his hips back. ‘I’ll cum,’ he admitted, seeing your questioning look.

‘I like it too much and you’re really good with your mouth.’ Bob took your chin between his thumb and index finger and kissed you hard. 

Tongues met with increasing need. 

‘Bob get the condom.’ You panted. He nodded, sitting onto the bed and pulling his legs free of his jeans. 

He rooted around in his wallet before pulling out a string of condoms that had been stuffed in there hastily earlier that evening.

‘How many did you bring?’ 

Bob’s ears flushed pink as he scrambled to rip one free. ‘I just…I took whatever I could.’

‘Poor Fanboy’s not getting any tonight,’ you laughed, kissing his cheek moving over to straddle his lap. You squeezed your knees against his hips and ran your tongue along the shell of his ear. A soft groan escaped from his lips, lips that were wandering across your neck.

You took his hand and brought the condom packet to your mouth. He watched you with half lidded eyes as you tore the pack open with your teeth.

Not safe, but pretty fuckin hot. 

Bob ran his hands along your thighs, stopping to squeeze your ass while you gently took his cock in your hands and ran the condom along his length. 

Just as he had done that afternoon, he put his hand under your chin and asked you to spit.

Bob let it drip onto the head of his cock and wipe it down to the base. 

‘I don’t think I need any lube,’ you hitched your dress up to your waist and lined yourself up to take him.

Nodding in agreement, he kissed you tenderly, feeling the head of his cock notch at the warm entrance of your cunt. Breathing out when he felt you sink down just a little. Moving your hips in a small circle, you eased onto him, letting yourself adjust to his size. 

He was definitely the biggest you’d had. ‘That…feels…amazing,’ you let your head fall back, Bob took advantage of the skin in front of him and started kissing and suckling at your neck, your shoulders, anywhere he could put his mouth. 

He grunted as you sank all the way down onto him, your breath hitched at the feeling, you were so full of him. 

Bob whispered your name, pressing his forehead to yours, guiding you up and gently back down. ‘I’ve been dreaming about riding you like this, Robbie.’ 

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak, lest he begin talking nonsense. He wanted in that moment to say he was falling in love with you. But he knew the rule, never tell a woman you love her while you’re fucking her. 

Instead, he pulled your body closer to his. You loved the feel of his chest hairs tickling your breasts, your nipples rubbing against him in the most delicious way.

Every part of his skin felt as if it were on fire, he felt alive, wanted, loved in that moment.

Your hands pulled at his hair, nails scratching along his back, kisses exchanged and tongues meeting in desperate need for each other. 

You thought Bob was beautiful in the soft lamplight of your bedroom, sitting on the edge of your bed as you made love to him. Kissing his brow and holding his face in your hands. 

His hand rested on yours, pressing your palm to his cheek muttering how much he loved being with you. 

Another hand rested your hip, keeping your dress out of the way so he could glance down and watch himself disappear inside of you. Little gasps of pleasure had him responding with thrusts of his own. ‘Oh Robbie, I’m gonna cum.’

Bob took your hand from his face and pressed your fingers onto your clit. ‘Show me how you do it,’ it was a demand that had no bite to it, he yearned to see you fall apart on him. 

Pinching at your clit you started grinding against him without lifting yourself off his cock, he moaned at the change, grabbing your ass harder and pushing you against him, matching your thrusts. 

Your head fell back as your climax peaked, Bob sealed his mouth around your nipple and sucked hard, your legs squeezed at his hips, grinding faster now that he was panting, he was close too, crying out and burying his face in your neck. Hot breath fanning across your chest as both of you came down. Holding him close, you stroked his hair and he responded with much the same, stroking your back with his large, warm hands, feeling as if he were the safest right here with you. Neither of you moved for a few minutes. Moving would have made the act final. Done. It was over. 

Both of you knowing it wouldn’t be the last time, just the first of many. 

‘Ok my legs are starting to cramp.’ Lips on his forehead, his brow and finally his mouth. His softening cock slipped out of you, slapping against his leg with the weight of his spend. Your arousal dripping out of your pussy onto his thigh.

‘Sorry, Robbie.’

‘Don’t be.’ He sighed, the look he gave you would have made you melt into a puddle, but while he held you tight, you just answered in a mewling sound, unwilling to let go of him.

‘We didn’t even get to take off your dress.’ 

Bob stood, holding you against him as he walked toward your bathroom, only stopping to set you on your feet, on the bath mat, rather than the cold tile. And you loved him for that. 

Bob was a considerate man and now you found he was a considerate lover. 

He waited his turn to clean up, deciding to forego any clothing and walk around your apartment naked. 

There were several seconds of you checking out his ass before he turned at the kitchen sink and caught you. 

‘Where is shy Bob gone?’ You turned your head to the side questioningly as he gently moved your hair across your shoulder so he could plant a kiss on your neck.

‘I think you fucked him out of me,’ was his response. You scoffed. Bob liked it when he could feel your tits jiggle against him. He noted that he needed to make you laugh more often.

‘Get into my bed, before I turn you out of my home for being crude,’ it was an empty threat and he knew it. 

You loved these little moments of Bob that no one else got to see. He had filled up two glasses of water and followed you back into your bedroom, setting a glass on your bedside locker before climbing in next to you, pulling you down onto his chest. 

You ran your fingers along his tattoo and looked up at him, your chin resting against his pec. ‘What’s this?’

Bob had his eyes closed, a happy grin on his face. ‘My one and only tattoo.’

‘I’ve never seen one before.’ 

‘You haven’t?’ Bob queried, a tone of surprise.

‘Well not in the flesh. People in the navy generally keep them covered up.’

Bob was curious, had you only slept with people from the navy? He bit his tongue, though he wanted to know all about you, it really wasn’t any of his business who you had in your bed before him.

‘It’s the plane I first learned to fly in.’ His voice was husky with exhaustion.

‘Do you wanna sleep, or talk?’ 

Bob wrapped his arms around you, breathing in the scent of your shampoo., nestling his nose in your hair.

‘It’s been a long day, but I’d like to listen to you. Tell me about what you wanna do the next time I see you.’

You were tracing circles around his tattoo, excitement bubbling inside you. ‘Well, the next time I see you will be tomorrow morning, when I wake up and you’ll be next to me.’

Bob squeezed you and did that sweet ‘mmm’ sound again.

‘Sounds perfect.’

‘You are perfect.’ You whispered, waiting for him to scoff. Instead he took a deep breath and said ‘no, you are.’

‘My perfect girlfriend. With her pretty hair and her pretty eyes and great ass.’ 

Both of you giggled as you pinched his side. 

‘Go asleep then and I’ll see you first thing in the morning,’ he mumbled into your ear as you turned around to turn off the light.

His breathing soft and slow as he drifted off to sleep holding you against him.

[songsformonkeys]

Saying I love you with a letter (Ezra x reader)

Month: May

Word count: ~900

Warnings: ANGST, mcd

Notes: You receive a letter from Ezra.

I don't know exactly what happened here. I was in the grumpiest of moods and needed to write something before the end of June. And I did...technically. Oh well... everyone needs something to be the laziest and worst thing they've written. This is probably mine.

The rest of the Year of Creation stories

@yearofcreation2023

~~~~~~

My dearest,

It's been a month since we parted ways. And I ache with every inch and second of that distance, lover.

I dreamt of you last night and I woke up this morning to the phantom sensation of your arm around my waist. I reached for your hand but ended up grasping at nothing but air. I begged for sleep to take me right back to dreamland, but she is a cruel bed companion, I'm afraid, and once I found myself awake, it was impossible to go back.

I'd like to think it was the real you. In the dream, I mean. That you dreamt of me too last night and that somehow that was enough for us to find each other. Is that foolish of me? Distance makes the heart grow fond, and drives the brain a little crazy, I think.

The moon we're at is beautiful like you wouldn't believe, sweetheart. They call her The Green Moon. A very apt name. She looked like an emerald in the void when our ship approached. She's hiding the largest treasure of Aurelac in the system, and guarding it with a deadly fierceness.

There's this... dust of sorts, some kind of spores, I believe. It's everywhere. Captain showed us pictures on the way over of different gruesome ways it can mess up the human body. I'll spare you the details. But don't you worry, lover, I'm careful, and this trusty suit ain't giving up on me anytime soon.

There are ten of us here, practically living in each other's pockets. And let me tell you that after a long day of harvesting, I'd just about be willing to trade one of my limbs for a reprieve from the unpleasantly potent smell of myself and my crewmates.

The crew is about as interesting as a crew of money-hungry desperate bastards can get. Not sure I trust any of them further than I can throw them. Except for maybe the one that doesn't speak. I dropped my rationed bits bar on the floor the other day, and couldn't eat it out of fear of dust contamination. Now, I was prepared to accept my fate and I even laughed along with the others at my misfortune. This guy, however, he doesn't laugh – not sure he even can – just breaks his own bar in two and hands me half. Says a lot about a man's character, that. Still don't know his name.

The work itself is not so bad. By no means the hardest I've labored. Harvesting Aurelac requires more finesse than brute force, which is a nice change of pace.

Some of the others are unhappy with the cut we're getting of the profits. Mostly the new recruits. I think the pay is decent enough, compared to what gigs such as these usually pay. Or perhaps me and the others who've been around know there's little to gain from complaining. Voice your displeasure enough and you'll soon find yourself overlooked when the next job rolls around. No one claims it's fair but them's the rules, and no one's ever heard of anybody getting rich off of prospecting.

How are things back home? I'm itching to hear some gossip about the new neighbors. Did you end up taking them up on their offer to help with the roof? I do feel bad for leaving you to deal with it all on your own. But you know I couldn't turn this job down. Not with all things considered.

I promise I'll make it up to you a thousand times over as soon as I am back! Not too long now, and I'm counting down the days.

I love you, sweetheart. More than words could possibly convey. Can't wait to be back in your arms again.

Yours forever,

Ezra

~~~~~~

You smooth your fingers lovingly over the familiar handwriting and only just resist the urge to bring the letter up to your face. It wouldn't smell like him anyway. Written a month after he left. Exactly one month after he left. You knew because you too had been counting the days, starting from the morning when he hugged and kissed you goodbye at the hangar.

You smooth your fingers over the paper. It's worn like it's been folded and unfolded countless times along the same creases.

One month after he left.

Three weeks before he was supposed to come back.

Your hands begin to tremble.

The young girl across from you at the table speaks up, voice a bit guarded like she's expecting you to lash out at her. Like perhaps that had been the default reaction of someone before you.

”I found this among his stuff... after...” she tells you. ”He never got a chance to send it, but I found it and I thought you deserved to have it.”

And with that, the last glimmer of hope flickers and dies in your heart, replaced in an instant by the cold hard truth.

Ezra isn't coming home.

[purple-ant]

"Jaster is offended by how everyone is trying to save his life" Oh, please tell me about it. That sounds fun (and like a headache for Jaster)

Oh this is one of my angry fics

Let's be honest, this fandom has a whole trope "save one Mandalorian to save the galaxy" fics. And I love these stories! I'm actively reading them and looking forward to their continuation!

But also, uh, this plot was just irritating to me back in the day, so Jaster now has to deal with calls from the Jedi Temple, an even more protective and murderous son, a bunch of time-travelling new Mandalorian teenagers, and an attractive Minashee stranger (not necessarily in that order), each of whom considers it their duty to save him! Jaster would like to remind everyone that he is a grown man who can take care of himself!

At this stage I have sketches of various scenes, here is one of them:

Okay, maybe Jaster needed a little break. A couple of days of rest, devoid of meetings, new deals, and their implementation. He feels soft, rested, and his eyes don't hurt after hours of staring at holomaps.

He stretches in a warm bed and feels a hot, long body next to him.

Oh, and no morning person kids barging into his cabin.

Jaster rolls over and wraps his arms around his lover's slim waist, nudging his nose into his shoulder. If Sy is against such closeness, then he should tell Jaster this directly, otherwise the Mandalorian will not get rid of him. Sy doesn't seem to mind. Slender fingers bury in Jaster's short hair, gently massaging his head.

“Morning,” Sy says, with an even more pronounced Minashee accent. “Are you thinking about getting up?”

“Are you in a hurry to go somewhere?” Jaster is interested. Sy has proven to be a good partner, and the Mandalorian wants their parting to be a positive one for both of them, given that they will likely never meet again.

“No. Besides, I promised you breakfast.”

They lie there a little longer, full of sleepy warmth, before the commlink rings, a standard melody recognizable in all corners of the Galaxy. Sy rises first, throwing Jaster onto the pillow, and reaches across him, the ends of his long black hair tickling his cheek, bringing an elusive pine scent

“It’s yours,” Sy says after a few seconds of rummaging through things. Jaster groans.

“Who?” if it is one of his people, then his short vacation is officially over. This is either a new attack or a reward high enough to disturb him.

“Unknown number.”

“Hang up,” Jaster says wearily. He's willing to bet it's those 'ade again, and how do they find his contact number every time?

“Tired of scammers?” Sy asks knowingly, gently rubbing Jaster's face. If the Minashee kept this up and made a good breakfast, Jaster would be tempted to do something stupid, like write down his number to make sure he doesn't miss the call.

“Yeah, and these “scammers” are jetii’ade,” Jaster snorts, but instead of an incredulous look, he gets a little chuckle from Sy, as if he hears every day about little sorcerers annoying adult Mandalorians with calls.

*

Much later, after a good breakfast and a surprisingly uneventful goodbye, Jaster discovers a dropped call from Montross.

[peachyloveswriting]

could i request a stan marsh x reader who is always hyper, i have adhd so i’d love to see the dynamic

FORGOT YOUR MEDS? --- Stan Marsh

SUMMARY: Spending the weekend with Stan, your medication was accidentally left at home leaving you to bounce all over the place and Stan to deal with it.

NOTES: I, myself, have ADHD. I take medication for it and I have for my whole life so without it I can be rather crazy. I know that not everyone is the same however this will be written based on my experience.

⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝

A fan blows cool air onto my back and the white noise fills the room. I hadn't noticed the noise before having just finished chasing the butt end of a dream. I could still see it in my head, the realization of being awake is dreadful. So much so, that I'm having a hard time getting myself back into the dream. Disappointed, I turn onto my back and stretch an arm out over the edge of the bed with a groan. Letting my arm fall limp over the edge I release a breath and open my eyes.

The smallest amount of light peeks through the top of the curtains and it's blue. I know it's probably sometime in the late AM. With my highschool schedule and everything going on my body has set a routine clock internally. If it's not my alarm at five AM, it's walking up naturally at Eight.

In the corner of my eye is Stan. He lays beside me, black hair messy on top of his head. His lips are squished together by his cheeks pressed against the pillow and there's a small gap between them. Soft snores fall from him, urging me to fully turn towards him. Unannounced, I showed up on Stan's doorstep last night. I had already packed my bag for the weekend and walked all the way over here. I wasn't about to get denied. Thankfully, his parents like me. Randy's always telling me how good I am for him, I can see what he means. Stan's alcoholism has gotten so much better since I came into the picture. I'm glad he at least cut back for me.

Underneath my head comes a buzz, I had placed my phone underneath the pillow while we watched TikTok on his phone last night. Regretfully the buzz annoys me, sliding my hand under the pillow I tug the phone out to check the time. I was right, it's eight. I have a few missed calls and texts from someone, I'm not sure who. Unlocking it, I check it to see a missed call from Kyle. I'm not surprised, he's always calling me when Stan doesn't pick up the phone. The others are from my mom, I don't really feel like answering her right now. Ignoring the various texts, I move on to watching TikTok on my own phone. I'm not sure how long I watched them for but soon enough Stan's hands slid around me and pulled me closer.

"Morning." Cracking a smile I turn the phone off and toss it to the other side of the bed behind Stan. He grumbles at me and opens an eye. He doesn't say anything before he closes his eyes again and hides away in my chest. I smile down at him. Laying the way I am is almost unbearable with the way my legs keep having this inherent need to move. I struggle to keep still, needing a good stretch again. And for whatever reason I can't stop yawning.

"I want to go back to sleep." Stan finally says.

"Mood." Is all I can manage to say. Suddenly an unspecific spot on the bed is more interesting than looking at him. I can't take my eyes off of it even if I want my head to move. I can hear Stan talking to me but the words are washing right over me. Then suddenly there's clarity in his speech.

"You're zoned out aren't you?" He deadpans.

"Sorry." I look back at him. "Yeah."

He chuckles at me and sits up, running his hand through his hair. "It's fine."

I sit up beside him and slide a leg over the side of the bed. It bounces where it rests on the floor. "Did I wake you up?" I know I tend to listen to videos rather loudly but I can't help it. For some reason my volume is really quiet at times. He shakes his head and looks back at me.

"No."

We make eye contact and suddenly I can't help but look everywhere but him. My leg can't stop bouncing and this unstoppable urge to peel the skin off my lips with my teeth is insatiable. This wide, painful, face-spliting grin tugs at the corners of my lips. It hurts to smile for so long - and for why, I don't know - Almost like it's not me. But as fast as the moment came it passes. Stan's hand rests on my thigh and gives it a light squeeze.

I look up at him finally, feeling like my eyes are open the widest they've ever been. No matter how hard I try to make them feel normal it won't settle.

"Have you had your meds yet?" He asks. I scrunch up my face. "Why does that matter? I'm not any different."

Oh, so it's one of those days. The ones where not a single thought crosses my mind and the most pure unbiased thoughts spill from my lips. It's a shame, really. Knowing that Stan's going to have to put up with my bullshit today makes guilt fill my heart. I hate when he sees me like this. Though, no matter how harsh I treat him that soft look never fades. I still don't understand how he doesn't hate me yet for how rude and brash I can get.

"I know how you are, just go take them." He lifts his hand and places it on my back to urge me to take it. A devilish grin splits my face again. "And if I don't want to?" I query.

Stan let's out a sigh. "Then you're not going to like yourself later." His eyes are pleading me to just go on and do it but in the back of my mind, I know I might have screwed up. I should have checked the texts from my mom sooner, I left my medicine at home. At the realization my wild grin fades and instead one of extraordinary focus takes its place. Brows furrowed I reach over Stan and grasp my phone.

"I forgot them."

Stan frowns. "I'm sorry, maybe I have something that can take its place." His dad wouldn't have anything laying around the house like that so I shook my head.

"Just call Kenny. I'll pay him back Monday or something. Just get me a Xanax."

Stan just stares at me when I look at the message my mom had sent me. It really had been about my medicine. He shakes his head. "There's no point, you'll be crosseyed as a mother fucker you take one of those." He points out.

A short hysterical giggle leaves my lips. "It's fine, it's the same as Adderall right? I can handle it. I mean I take clean meth for crying out loud."

He sighs again. "Okay, I think we're gonna need that Xanax. Nothing against you, but I'm not adept enough to handle you in this state unlike your parents."

I knew he wouldn't be able to, nobody is. It doesn't seem to matter what I do but no one likes me when I'm like this. "Not surprised. You'll live."

⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝

"Yeah, we'll head over now." There's a pause. My knee is bouncing fervently and I pick at my fingers. "Okay, see you soon. Bye." Stan takes the phone away from his ear to end the call. With a sigh he slips the phone into his pocket and looks up at me. "C'mon, let's go." He moved over to the dresser where his keys lay.

I bounced up out of my seat, my hands swinging wildly at my sides. I'm half heatedly looking for my shoes though I can't seem to spot them nearby. "Stan. Where the fuck are my shoes?" I yell agitatedly.

He tosses them in front of me. Dumbfounded I stare at them with a slight laugh and collapse onto my ass. He stares at me in disbelief while I put them on. I'm doing it so lazily, my arms not even wanting to pick themselves up to move. I keep stopping, my hands refusing to help me. Stan keeps calling out to make me do it but I can't stop laughing. Moving to the floor in front of me, he reaches out to try and put the shoes on for me but I shove him away. A huf escapes his lips and I laugh harder. He's reaching back out to help me again but I swat his hands away.

"Will you just stop." He hisses at me. I fall into my back still laughing hysterically for no apparent reason. I'm trying to speak but my laughter silences me. My actions don't stop there though.

In the car, I'm watching the scenery pass me by while we ride. It's quiet, save for the music on the radio. I haven't said a single word since we left the house and the guilt is so much heavier now. I look over at Stan, his nonchalant face makes my stomach grow uneasy. I must have annoyed him back at the house.

"Sorry for what I did back at the house." I sound like a mouse. Small and insignificant. He glances at me for a moment.

"You can't help it." He simply mutters.

"But I can." I shoot back. "I can help it I just choose not to."

He shakes his head and clicks his tongue at me. "That's just what everyone else tells you."

If there's anything more true in the world it's what he said. Everyone tells me that it's my choice to act like this, I believe that to be true. Even more true than what Stan says.

"Yeah but I'm just a dick like this." I hope he doesn't have an actual reason to shoot back at me. It seems I swallow my pride though.

"You haven't been a dick to me." He takes a hand off the steering wheel to rest his elbow on the center console. "We're going to get you something to take for this anyway. Don't fret."

I lift a finger to my lips and softly bite the skin around the nail before pulling it away again. "I haven't been a dick to you yet. Just wait until it happens soon enough."

"Look, I understand that you dislike yourself in this state and all but you need to stop being so doubtful and negative." He casts a glance in the rearview. "I can't say much for myself but I can understand where you're coming from. Just try not to think about it too much. This really doesn't bother me."

"Really? How?" I ponder aloud. "I never shut up, I'm rambunctious, annoying-"

"Truth be told I see you like this often." Stan suddenly admits. I'm almost shocked by what he said. Since when has he ever seen me like this before?

"Your medication wears off late at night, more often than not you're with me. So I see you like this all the time. It's normal." He brushes it off like it's nothing, just showing that I truly don't bother him like I think I do.

"Oh." Is all I can manage. A moment of silence beats by before he rests his hand on mine.

"Don't worry. You're not a bother. I quite like seeing you smiling and laughing all the time even when it's borderline mania. How could I not love all of you." He smiles even though it's not directly at me. "In order for this relationship to flourish I have to love you equally and that's even without your medication. I still love you all the same."

His words bring a small smile to my face. The bouncing energy has left me for the moment, I can keep my eyes on his for more than just a brief second. This relief floods my chest and a weight feels lifted from my shoulders. I can relax like this knowing that he's okay with it.

"There you go." He urges. "You can relax now."

[carefulfears]

can you pleeeease please pls pls talk about piper maru/apocrypha theeee apex of the early myth arc obviously i just rewatched it and also you rewatched it a few months ago but i rly would like to hear you get super into it. talk about watever you please but i wld love 2 hear stuff about specific scenes/line or plot implications or performances or technical stuff you liked or what have you. i love you xoxo mikey

okay coming back to this because we just watched these together lol but the thing about piper maru/apocrypha is that like...they speak so much for themselves. and they have a lot to say, about the core themes of the series. it's not just the apex of the myth-arc, it's a subtle love letter of everything that the show believes in.

firstly, i've said this before, but that opening sequence of first scully and skinner, then scully and mulder, is so much of what it all boils down to. and, almost in contrast to the rest of the arc, it's relatively loving and hopeful. just not in the sense that everyone wants things to be.

the government is not going to pursue melissa's murder investigation. the FBI does not care. those in power do not care. they have the tools and technology to piece together any crime, but, as scully says:

"in a case of a woman, my sister, who was gunned down in cold blood in a well-lit apartment building by a shooter who left the weapon at the crime scene, we can't even put together enough to keep anybody interested."

scully is always bubbling with this benevolent indignant rage, just under the surface, and it's so moving when it breaks. it's her sister. and no one is even interested.

it matters that skinner tells her that he's fighting it, he's going to appeal. he's going to go over all of the evidence personally, make sure nothing was overlooked. i love the way he tells her that he got the memo last night and debated calling her at home, you can tell that he's been sitting with it all night.

when she goes downstairs, and mulder is buzzing about some ship wreckage that he's already researched coordinates and weather and radiation spots before anyone else got there that morning, the way she smiles is the end of any confusion as to why she stays. it's been 23 years since the last time anyone cared about his dead sister, and he's down there digging. ("i'm just...constantly amazed by you.")

it's nice that someone stays interested. it's nice to spend your life with someone who cares, when no one else does.

later, in san francisco, i always cry when scully drives onto the military base where she grew up, and sees the kids playing. and it flashes to the kids as her and melissa. once again, this episode is a love letter to everything this show believes.

and when she speaks to her old neighbor, it's spelled out in my favorite quote of the franchise: "we bury our dead alive, don't we?"

i always think of @scullysflannel's post on this thematic arc:

But then I also think about “we bury our dead alive” and “nothing disappears without a trace” and how The X-Files is always in conversation with its ghosts...It matters that the show is saying both everything ends and nothing’s ever really over. You can’t stop moving forward, but there’s also a duty to remember, both out of love (“I want to remember how it was”) and to prevent the same things from happening to anyone else. The future won’t be any better unless people honor the ones who came before. Progress on The X-Files is this constant push and pull between hope and tragedy; you can’t have one without the other.

the x-files is always in conversation with its ghosts, and everything buried still speaks.

when the first installment of this two-parter ends, skinner is shot for his unwillingness to abandon melissa's case. and krycek's soul is overridden with visible darkness, before mulder's eyes.

(i also want to talk about krycek lying, in the airport, and telling mulder that he didn't kill his father. but i think that may be a larger post on krycek/mulder and trust.)

(it literally can't be stressed enough that krycek briefly becomes an alien in this episode and mulder doesn't notice. mikey like that one time you were like "if i were possessed by a demon and a guy who i know personally sat next to me on a twenty hour flight and didn't notice at all i would be so mad")

moving on to apocrypha...well...the x-files is about love, you guys. i love scully running into the hospital and holding skinner's hand. most of this episode is a whirlwind of allies, of understandings. and a testament to how much it matters, to have allies. to have someone you can call. to have three friends who will pull off an elaborate ice-rink locker heist. to have someone who will come hold your hand, chase down an ambulance to watch over you.

back at the FBI, pendrell breaks down the data they've collected on skinner's shooter. partial prints and saliva and secretors and hemofactors and chromosome-stains and hair fibers. i love the run-down that they give, it really drives home the point that scully was making in the beginning. they have all of this equipment and all of these resources and all of this science. but what does it matter when no one cares enough to follow through?

ultimately, it's scully that pieces together the evidence, and realizes that the man who shot skinner is the same man who killed melissa. (at the same time, the syndicate is starting to grow impatient with CSM, as the man suspected in the shooting is: "one of yours, isn't he?")

but in the end, there's nothing. they're pulled out of the silos without finding any evidence. they lose krycek, after learning of his involvement. the man who killed melissa is dead in his cell. "nothing vanishes without a trace," but everything can be controlled.

when mulder goes to melissa's grave to tell scully that cardinale is dead, it's one of my favorite details of the series that he's holding flowers. it just makes me tear up that he stopped to bring missy flowers. even though he was just going by to tell scully news. (it was only a year ago that it was missy sitting having coffee with him, or banging on his apartment door. that it was missy who didn't give up on him, when scully was gone. these sisters linger. there's a kind of reverent respect.)

"You know I thought... when we found him, this man that killed Melissa, that...that when we brought him to justice, I would feel some kind of closure. But the truth is no court...no punishment is ever enough."

four years before the show concludes "there is no closure," scully quietly betrays, there is no closure. nothing would ever be enough. her sister is gone. there are no answers, there is no justice, that would make it better. (and what a statement to make)

and the episode ends on scully repeating back: "maybe we bury the dead alive."

as we cut to krycek, locked in the missile silo, banging on the door, crying, screaming for help.

it is on this note that the x-files leaves its most thematically relevant arc. there is no closure. we bury our dead alive. and no one is ever coming to save you.

[hyunsuks-beanie]

Matters of the Heart

Pairing: Best friend! Yeonjun x gn. reader

Genre: Fluff; Angst; Maybe eventual smut (I'm not sure about this, but if my bestie wants it, I might add I lmao)

Content Warnings: University au!; mutual pining; our main leads being stupid; I haven't planned smut for this one, but it might well turn suggestive

Word Count: 1.96k words 

Mellow speaks: The first part is here!!! I honestly can't believe I came up with this idea in a dream lol. I'm enjoying writing it, so I hope you guys look forward to more parts!! 

Tagging: @sweethyuka @yedamology @enhacolor @axartia @hyunsuksmygod @yogurteume @duolingofanaccount @zurimochi @yogurteume @blahbluhblahbluh @yeonyeonyeonjun @yjs6x @silent--cry (this one's for you my love)

(Taglist is open!! Send in an ask/dm to be added, or simply comment under this post!)

Next》

You're back at last, and despite having had been away for months on end, it seems that the campus you had come to adore over your years as a student hasn't changed one bit during your absence. No, it's still the same, buzzing with people both known and new, some roaming across the gravel and others seated at the benches. The fro-yo shop at the left-hand corner catering to a whole line of of expectant customers, and the sound of Kai's voice, slightly off-note on purpose to "attract listeners" (his own words, not Taehyun's) filtering through the speakers and telling you it's time for the radio's afternoon show. Yeah, everything's the same, and boy are you glad to be back.

Don't get this twisted though. You were more than grateful for the opportunity of going to Australia for the exchange programme, and you're even more grateful as you think back to all the interesting stuff you learned and all the sweet memories you made during your stay. But that doesn't mean you didn't miss being back home in Seoul, didn't miss your weekly trips to the fro-yo counter just to get a student discount. Didn't miss seeing Beomgyu being weird in class, or didn't miss sipping on your latte with Taehyun while judging Soobin as he tried to ask his crush out (something he finally did manage to do while you were away, much to your dismay). 

And most of all, it definitely doesn't mean you didn't miss a certain someone, because you did. You did miss him, much more than you'd care to admit. The late-night and early morning video calls weren't nearly enough to fill the void that having to navigate your days without him had left inside your heart, and it's no lie that right now, you're counting down the minutes till you can meet him again. That's the thought you have in mind when Kai's voice breaks you out of it, a giggle to be heard from the tiny intercoms spread throughout the balconies and roofs of the buildings.

"You're favorite boy Kai is back!," his high-pitched tone carrying through the air as a groan from Taehyun follows soon after, their wordless banter making you let out a chuckle. "Some things never change," you mutter to yourself, tuning in to the news segment just so you know all the juice before stepping back into college life. But what you hear instead is nothing short of a scream of excitement, a gasp slipping past your lips at the suddenness. 

"Now as you all know, our lovely Y/N, the heart of our campus, has come back from her trip to Australia. And as her best friend, I think it's my duty to-," Kai says all to happily, only to be cut off by Taehyun's panicked voice as he says something that makes you raise your eyebrows in surprise. "I'm sorry for that Yeonjun. Everyone knows Y/N's your best friend, Kai was just being stupid. Ignore him,"his words bleed through, the mention of a particular name making your ears perk up. 

Yeonjun. Choi Yeonjun, the clueless campus heartthrob and your best friend since first year of college. Despite being a year elder to you, his annoyingly adorable ways did help him wiggle into your life, and eventually, your heart. You hadn't planned for it to happen, but how could you not melt when he was always popping up by your side at random times, just to "steal you away" and take you to his spot, the small room on the rooftop which he claimed to have discovered. How could you not melt when he was always there to stop people from waking you up when you fell asleep in the library, threatening to blast them off to space if they ruined your nap.

Yet, all you had thought of it was a simple crush, confident that it would go away when you left for your programme. But as your eyes scan the grounds and halls for any signs of his mop of hair (which you know from all the selfies is blue now), you're not so sure anymore. Because how can you be when the past few months, the only thing that's been keeping the homesickness at bay has been his constant words of encouragement, his efforts to sneak in a "Good morning" and "Good night" every day without fail, despite it not being an obligation. 

Yeonjun has been nothing but supportive of your effort to broaden your horizons, and he's been telling you the same thing over every text message and through every video call, day in and day out. He didn't need to put it into words, it was plenty evident from the way he told you he said "I miss you" but never lingered on that thought too long, afraid of making you change your mind. And if you had expected the softness in your heart to go away as the skyline of South Korea had receded into the distance, his actions and gentle sure did prove you wrong. 

That's why, here you are now, letting your feet carry you through the corridors of the university, your eyes peeking into every nook and cranny in the hopes of discovering the person you're searching for. Your best friend, after all, is the person you want to meet first  "He was supposed to meet me near the archway," you mutter to yourself, shaking your head a little as you continue down the halls, turning up no luck in the cafeteria or even the dance room, the two places you know he loves the most. Except......

"Of course!," are your words at the very next moment, your hand flying to your forehead as you think of the one place he can be. Before you know it, you're jogging, your feet slapping against the hard ground as you make your way towards the gymnasium hall. Why, you ask? Because in case you've forgotten, that's the building whose top floor happens to be the home to the radio room, the place where you had, quite literally, run into a wall during your freshman year, on your way for an interview.  

The wall in question, rather obviously, was the toned chest of none other than Yeonjun, the hottie who was notorious for being absolutely in the dark about how he made head turns and hearts ache with a simple smile of his. That was your first meeting with him, but by no means did it become your last, the stars aligning in a way to orchestrate meeting after meeting. Soon enough, he was your co-host on the morning show, the sleepy expression on his face as he walked into the station with a boba in hand making your cheeks flush every morning. 

To put it short, it was bit too adorable for you to handle. His hair a little messy from the shower, and his cheeks still puffed-up from the late-night snacking, something he had told you quite early on was his favorite pastime. And that wasn't all he had told you either, his witty oneliners and quirky, completely random thoughts always managing to catch you off-guard as you got ready for another "Wakey wakey" over your mic. But your chemistry with him was undeniable, the Y/NJun duo quickly becoming a fan-favorite. And with that, blossomed the beginning of a beautiful friendship with the man you had affectionately come to call "Jjun." 

The rest, as they say, is history, your mind swimming with memories that threaten to make you smile and weep at the same time. "He must be in there," you think to yourself, turning the last corner between you and the gymnasium. But the very next moment, you're suddenly stopping, skidding your feet against the gravel as you let out a gasp. It takes you a minute to process the sight in front of you, your eyes scanning over the giant blue and pink banner that welcomes you back. 

That's not all that's waiting for you though, because right under the banner, stands a whole group of people, the figures of most of them rather easily discernable as they face away from you. That is, until one of them, one with a fading blue haircolor, starts to turn around, the smile that you've missed so much finally greeting you in the face. And then, you're running again, actually dashing this time, your form throwing itself at Yeonjun as your arms get wrapped around his shoulders, his own snaking around your waist. 

Next thing you know, he's lifting you up, laughs to be heard from everywhere around you as he spins you, his own laughter rumbling through his chest. It's in that moment that you notice the tears that are now streaming down your cheeks, the months of being away from him hitting you like a truck. Everything fades away into the wind, only Yeonjun and you being left behind, at least in your mind's eye. It's just the two of you, perfect like always, not needing anyone else.

When he puts you down, it's like you can't being yourself to tear your gaze away from his eyes, his head bent slightly as he looks down at you with the softest expression on his face. "Hi," is all you can say, finding yourself at a loss for words the longer you stare at him. It's hard to fathom that he's finally there, finally in front of you, and not just waving at you through a screen. This moment is perfect, and you don't want it to break. Ever. 

Except it does, a giant Soobin lurching in to steal you away, hugging you super tight and crying about how he missed you. It's not like you can bring yourself to be mad at him though, because you did miss him too. After that, it's an slew of hugs and kisses and shouts of "Welcome back." The kisses, of course, are from Beomgyu, your eyes voluntarily flicking over to the eldest among you to gauge his reaction. 

But he's not there, making your scrunch your brows in confusion for just a second until Taehyun pulls you to the side, complaining about everyone, especially Kai. And all you can do is laugh at that, your heart warming at getting back all the things you missed so dearly. It's mid-laughter that you hear Yeonjun's voice cut through the air, your head turning towards the sound as yet another gasp slips past your lips. A huge cake, bearing your face, is what greets you, a grinning Yeonjun looking at you expectantly. 

"Surprise," he whispers, smile widening as your eyes move from the cake to him and back. After what feels like an eternity, you finally manage to squeak out a "I- Jjun-," only to be cut off by a feminine voice. "It's so nice to meet you at last, Y/N," a girl comes into view, his voice warm and his smile friendly. But she's someone you don't recognize, aside from the fact that she seems a couple years younger. "I've heard so much about you from everyone, especially Yeonjun," she quips, sticking a hand out for you to shake.

But you only look at her in confusion, your face morphing into one of perplexity when she links her arm with Yeonjun. "Your Yeonjun," your mind says, though he's not really yours to keep. Not yet, anyway. Seeing you zoning out, your best friend is quick to spill out an introduction. "Y/N, meet Sara, a freshman and my-," he begins, but it's the girl next to him who completes the sentence, saying something that you're not sure you hear correctly.

"His girlfriend." 

Girlfriend. Yeonjun has a girlfriend. That's when it all comes crashing down. 

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Ikemen Prince (JP)

You know what happens when you mess with my stuff, right? (Gilbert von Obsidian) Part 2

I won't translate Gilbert's sweet end since someone is already translating it.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Premium End | Epilogue

With a smile playing on his lips, Gilbert put his hand on my shoulder, and all I could do was smile faintly.

(But, yeah, I'd rather be a friend than a lover.)

Louise: "If he's your friend, you should treat him well."

(Um?)

Ripples ran through her tea as Louise's fingers, holding the teacup, trembled slightly.

Her voice was also less domineering than usual.

(I'm used to him, but others are not.)

He may look like a friendly young man, but he's an overrun beast who has trampled and ruled over many nations.

Perhaps she has a strong impression that even the slightest rudeness is unforgivable.

Emma: "Prince Gilbert might look scary, but he's not one to bite everyone."

Emma: "He's not as scary as he thinks he is. At least, not in private."

Gilbert: "Fufu, I'm only nice to my little rabbit."

(I'm pretty much aware of it, but it's still kinda mean.)

Emma: "Oh, by the way, I read that book you mentioned earlier!"

I changed the subject, realizing that sugarcoating words were not enough to wipe away Louise's trembling.

Louise: "How did you like it? I fell in love with the dashing knight in the middle of the story."

Emma: "I know! I didn't expect that knight to appear. I was surprised."

Emma: "But when I read it again, it was properly foreshadowed."

Louise: "That's right! I had goosebumps when I noticed it."

Louise: "I have the rest of the book in my library. Um, if you're still interested in it?"

Emma: "Really? I'd love to!"

(Good thing I'm curious about it.)

Emma: "But Prince Gilbert..."

Gilbert: "I'll stay here. You girls have your girl talk."

(This is surprising, I thought he'd follow me.)

Louise: "Shall we go then?"

Louise stood up from her seat, and I followed her.

Meanwhile, I didn't notice the meaningful smile on Gilbert's face as he sipped from his teacup with a nonchalant expression on his face.

Louise: "This is the room. My father gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago as my private library."

Emma: "Wow, it's beautiful!"

(I love it!)

(That being said, I feel like she still looks pale. Is it just my imagination?)

This was probably because of Gilbert. But Louise was so pale that she looked as if she would collapse at any moment.

(I'm sure she'll be fine after some time.)

She unlocked the door and invited me inside.

As soon as I stepped inside, a sweet aroma hit my nose.

(What's that smell? It doesn't smell like books.)

(I think...)

Louise: "...rry…"

Louise: "So…r…ry…"

Gilbert: "Good morning, miss bunny."

(Huh?)

(What's going on?)

The place was dimly lit, and dust danced and sparkled in the candlelight.

As my eyes adjusted, the view became more vivid, and I saw Gilbert standing from a short distance, smiling as usual.

I strained my eyes to look around and noticed several shadows in the room.

I couldn't see the color of the wet cobblestone floor, but I knew that smell.

Emma: "Oh..."

(Blood.)

The more I understood the situation, the more I felt the blood rush to my eyes.

As my body shook unsteadily, the thing around my neck clamped down hard on me.

???: "Don't move!"

Emma: ".............."

(My arm... someone is restraining me.)

(And my hands and feet feel like they're bound with something.)

I fearfully looked down and saw a blade pressed against my throat.

Louise: "Father!"

Count: "You shut your mouth!"

Emma: "Lady...Louise...?"

I couldn't move my eyes much, but I could hear Louise's voice from a distance behind me.

(I went into her library and can't remember a thing from there.)

(But this situation is like a hostage situation.)

Gilbert: "Well, I think I've got the situation pretty much figured out."

Gilbert: "Do you need my help?"

(Really? Him?)

The man restraining me is shaking slightly.

I don't even know which one is the perpetrator and which one is the victim.

Emma: "What is happening?"

Gilbert: "Beats me. I was enjoying a cup of tea when that lady called me over."

Gilbert: "I went along with her, then the Count and the mercenaries gave me an enthusiastic welcome."

(I mean, it doesn't sound like he set this up.)

Gilbert: "I spoke to them for a little while before you woke up."

Gilbert: "They want to start doing business with Obsidian. They’re sort of like anti-monarchy extremists."

(Louise's father is anti-monarchy?)

Gilbert: "I guess they've been cautious, seeing as how the overprotective me didn't stop interacting with you."

Gilbert: "But to settle a deal with me, they approached you, whom they had heard rumors about, to take as a hostage."

Gilbert: "It was just a coincidence that I came to the mansion, but for them, it only moved their plans forward."

Gilbert: "They also said if I don't agree, they're going to rip your throat out, miss bunny."

Gilbert: "You're so pitiful, even I feel sorry for you. Ahahaha!"

Emma: "..............."

(I was so excited to have a new friend, but...)

(I see.)

(So that was all it was.)

Louise, standing nearby and saying nothing was more painful and agonizing than the knife pressed into my neck.

Gilbert: "I told you. Your definition of a friend is not the same as hers."

Gilbert: "I'm the only friend you have."

His sweet and gentle voice enveloped my fragile heart.

(He's the only one I have?)

(Really?)

Gilbert: "If you start distrusting people, I'll make sure to take good care of you."

As he took one step closer to me, the sound of his cane shook the dimness, and the strength of the arm around my neck tightened.

Count: "Don't come any closer!"

(Ouch!)

Slowly, my throat tightened, and the weight of the air suddenly increased rapidly, bringing tears to my eyes.

Gilbert: "Yeah, come to think of it, you guys don't know, but I've told miss bunny many times that I hate someone harming my prey more than anything."

Emma: ".............."

Gilbert: "If you thought you could negotiate something like this, you're a fool."

My whole body almost got crushed by the murderous feeling I had felt so many times before.

Gilbert just softened his eyes, but the scent of blood seemed to become more intense.

(Since this happens to me, the Count, and Louise一)

Louise started sobbing while the Count's trembling, coming through his body, had grown too loud to hide.

(I see. He was not talking to me when he asked about the help earlier.)

(He was talking to Louise and the Count.)

Gilbert: "You think I can't kill you because we're in Rhodolite?"

Gilbert: "Ahahaha! You're so naive. I'm good at hiding evidence, you know?"

(He's serious.)

(If this keeps up, he really一)

Gilbert: "Well, which one of you should I kill first?"

❣ Premium End

[starseneyes]

Chenford REWIND - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 4 Eps 10 & 11

Howdy! I had a request for 11, but since I've already done 9 (and didn't want 10 hanging out by its lonesome), I thought I'd pair them together.

SPOILER ALERT: If you're new here, please know that spoilers are part of the gig. Yes, it's an unpaid, voluntary, unsanctioned gig... but I take it seriously (well, seriously enough). So, there'll be spoilers of these episodes and all the episodes before. But I try to keep my foreknowledge out of these.

If you're ready (and I know I'm ready), it's time to dive in!

"Heart Beat" AKA Kojo Sniffs a Bitch

Peroxide Princess at Tim's

I can't tell you how hard I rolled my eyes when I saw her in his house in the first place. Like, okay, I get that they're adults, yada, yada... but the immature teenager in me wanted to throw bleach at the screen to try to sterilize Tim's house remotely of her gritty, sandy presence.

Like, I need to find a can of some cleaner that'll erase her... like a "Bitch BeGone" in a spray bottle.

Tim's making breakfast, and she feels like she has to remind him she doesn't like it. But, Tim's pretty good at taking note of those details. And it's not for you, Beach Bitch. It's for Kojo! The bestest puppers in the world.

And Kojo. doesn't. like. Bitch Barbie. at. all.

Good instincts, Kojo! Good boy!

"How long have you had him?" "Uh, a year. He was Lucy's but she couldn't keep him."

Because Daddy and Mommy have to deal with joint custody for a while. You, Side Piece, can see yourself out the door any time. All you'll ever be is a footnote at the bottom of one page of the book of Chenford's love.

Yes, I'm in a salty mood. But at least my ire's directed at a fictional character, right?

"So, how's it going with Ashley?" "Good. Although there was some weirdness this morning."

You mean the fact that you're dating her instead of Lucy? Yeah, we spotted that weirdness, too.

But aside from that, I want to mention the awesomeness that is Season 4 Tim talking "personal life" with Lucy in the Shop without hesitation. He's so comfortable with her, now, that this particular rule no longer exists.

Plus, if he's talking to Lucy about his placeholder girlfriend, he can further distance himself from any feelings for Lucy.

"I don't think she likes Kojo." "So you broke up with her? That's, that's too bad."

Boom!! Lucy knows how it should be. Now, all you've gotta do it dismiss Not-Lucy and get on the right track, Tim. Kojo's trying to guide you to the right path. Listen to the pup!

"I liked her." "Since when? Last time we talked about her you gave me grief because she's a lifeguard."

This from "He's a fireman" Tim Bradford!? REALLY!? And suddenly getting "rigorous training" at the Fire Academy is good enough for you? Wow, you really like to make excuses for this girl to justify why you're dating *checks notes* a lifeguard.

Also, not used to Lucy giving Tim grief. Like, I thought that was an interesting line the first time I heard it, because Lucy's usually a very open person. Unless there's some sub-conscious jealousy afoot. Hmmm.

"But you know what, it is a moot point because she does not like Kojo. First of his name. King of canines. Destroyer of chew toys. So, clearly, Ashley has got to go."

Lucy "the right one" Chen, everyone! Speaking for every member of the Chenford fandom in that moment.

The Temporary Inconvenience Calls the Wife for Help

Lucy's surprise at hearing Ashley's voice is evident, and I'd be wondering what hoops she went through to get that number, m'self. Sure, you can meet at a party anytime, but folks don't just give out phone numbers willy nilly. So, who gave it to her?

And I'm going to skip most of this conversation because we all know Plot Device isn't gonna last.

"Kojo is just like... well, I mean, he's kind of just like Tim."

I'm sorry. I have to pause and get into the psychology of this a little. Because Lucy. Picked. A. Dog. Like. Tim.

Like, she picked out someone she wanted to live with her, to be a part of her daily life, to possibly cuddle in bed with her... who reminds her of Tim.

Lucy, you're a psych major. You can figure this out!

"He's big, gruff, a whole lot of bark, but you know, underneath all of it, he's a, he's a sweetheart."

Lucy is allowing herself to think about Tim in all his facets, and as she does, she can't help but fall into the best parts of him. And as soon as she utters that last line, her brow furrows and she physically turns away from him.

Why? Perhaps because thinking of his softer side felt safe. But as soon as her mind started moving, it went places she (and he) avoid in Season 4.

One. Damn. Spark. in episode 1 and the two of them are running scared.

"You know, you should tell Tim how you feel."

So should you, Lucy Chen.

Lucy Meets Chris the CrabApple

Moment one and I want to put a hot stake through his heart and call it a night.

Like, we can stake him, right? That's okay because it's fictional and he technically won't feel it?

I mean, I've heard there were people who didn't absolutely hate Chris at the first moment. Like, I never hated Rachel. I liked her. I just didn't want her for Tim forever. He needed that transitional girl.

But Ashley and Chris just get under my skin in the worst way.

Some people might argue that Lucy and Tim "started at odds", but that was different. Tim was Lucy's training officer and took a hard-nosed approach. Chris is just an asshole.

James and Wesley Go Out

Look, I know this is a Chenford Meta, but I have to call it out because I love it. I love watching these characters slowly become a family.

"Why is my girlfriend calling you?"

"Because I'm dating her to get away from you. She's not supposed to close the loop!"

Like, seriously, the boy is delusional right now.

"And you're so concerned about my love life because..." "Because I don't wanna drive around on patrol with you while you are moping about screwing this up."

Lucy is being a good friend. She thinks that Tim isn't interested in her (because, obviously he wouldn't be dating someone else if he was, right? Oy, these two are idiots).

"Look, if you like this girl, you should listen to her."

But if he really liked this girl, it wouldn't take Lucy stepping in to help.

Think about it—she helped Tim with Rachel with the birthday present. She's helping Tim with Ashley with Kojo. Tim so would be dumped lickity split without Lucy's help.

Take the hint, Timmy.

"When have I ever moped? I don't even know how." "Mmhmm."

Why do we spell "moped" and "moped" the same way? Like, "he moped while riding his moped" is a real sentence. English is a dumb language.

Also, fans of 5x10 (and many other episodes) note that Tim does this eyeroll quite a bit and usually in relation to Lucy... good or bad.

"End Game" AKA A Safe Home

"... the clown from the DA's office..."

Yes, Tamara. Yes. Speak truth, little sister. That clown doesn't need to be anywhere near our girl Lucy.

"Tyler's lucky he has you looking out for him. I knew I was."

That's what Lucy does. That's who Lucy is. For all the times her family didn't look out for her, she's going to look out for others times a million.

"Everything okay?"

I love how he looks from Lucy to Chris, like, "Do you need me?" And when she shows she's fine, he hangs back and lets her do her thing. He knows Lucy can defend herself. But he's not going far in case she needs to tap him in.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy, calling me dramatic?"

Tim tries to look like he has no idea what she's talking about... but c'mon. He knows his girl. And she does have a flare for the dramatic... especially when she's been up all night and is dosing caffeine like a drug.

"Um, do not start."

Married. They talk to each other like they're a couple all the time in Season 4, and they don't even realize it. They've spent so much time filing away that moment between them in his house that they've convinced themselves they're immune to it... the pull that's drawing them nearer one another.

"Exactly how many cups of coffee did you have this morning?" "I'm just going to apologize to you right now." *Tim eyeroll* "Um, it's gonna be a really long day for you, and, and I'm sorry."

Hey! The eye roll of "I don't know how to mope" is back already! But, seriously, Tim, when y'all eventually get your act together, you might want to invest in decaf.

"Alright, how do you want to handle this?"

He's letting her take the lead, and I love that. Tim knows how to do this, of course, but he understands the bond between Lucy and Tamara is strong.

It'd be easy for Tim to give instructions, even though he's no longer her TO. He doesn't even giver her an anecdote or experience—because he trusts Lucy.

"I know what to do as a cop, and I know how to do it as a roommate, but, you know, those are different approaches." "Just be a friend. And if you need a cop, tag me in." "Thank you."

I love her little head tilt to him. There's something so comfortable about it, so relaxed, so lived-in. It's so far beyond Sergeant/Officer relationships.

And, even in a moment of kindness, Tim's brain slips into a sports reference. I know I keep saying it, but someday you'll come to appreciate those, Lucy.

Plus, in a shallow moment, can I appreciate Tim being in her apartment, again? It's truly the little things.

"And if you were desperate enough, there was always Swiping."

The silent communication on this is beautiful. Tim furrows his brow and cocks his head. Lucy looks back to Tim, and he barely had to shake her head before they both know... they don't know.

And watch Tim in the background as he processes what it is. I've said it before, but Eric Winter is Tim Bradford when the camera is rolling, even when he's out of focus.

"You okay?"

He's getting so good at reading her. I mean, he clocked this one in seconds. And we all know how important it is for him to know that she's okay.

There was a time he'd bark at her to try to get her to focus up, but we’re so far past that.

"As close as we are, there's a lot she won't talk about." "Look, don't' take it personally. She might just have a hard time opening up to you."

Like her future adoptive dad, right Tim? Seriously, I have always seen a lot in common between the two, even though they are completely unique individuals.

But, I do think Tim's life experiences will help him be a better Dad to Tamara someday... if Chenford get their act together, of course.

"But I'm sure Tamara will share when she's ready to."

Ah, Tim Bradford, how I love you finishing sentences with prepositions. And I don't mean this in jest! It was drilled into my head in grade school to remove that happenstance from my work, right?

But if you're writing scripts... people don't speak in perfect English all the time unless that's the world you've created. If you're aiming to tell a story in our world with characters that ring true, their dialogue can't be perfect or it starts to come off as unbelievable.

Yes, I know there are writers like Sorkin and others who have their own dialogue style entirely, but I would argue that's creating a world separate from ours where everyone speaks in a certain manner.

So, I get a special warm-and-fuzzy feeling with the dialogue, especially Tim's, sometimes. He's so bloody real.

"Hey. How are you holding up?" "It's just a lot. Being back here."

Lucy knows psychology, but she also knows trauma, and poor Tamara had a lot. Yes, they are roommates, but they are so much more than that.

Lucy is the first adult Tamara trusted. The first one to really fulfill their promises. The first to give her a truly safe space.

We know Lucy had this place before Jackson moved in, so she could make the rent on her own. Taking on a roommate was more for Jackson than it was for her.

So, after his death, she likely took it all back on herself and didn't charge Tamara a thing to live there. Lucy really has taken on a motherly role with Tamara—giving her space to grow and heal.

And, oh, who knows more about that than Lucy Chen? With Tamara, Lucy has created an environment she wishes she'd had growing up—one filled with love and acceptance.

But that doesn't mean she won't check in. Good moms do, right?

"Are you okay here?" "Yeah. Yeah. I'm good." "Okay. Alright."

Melissa O'Neil nails the "mom tone" of not-quite-believing-you-but-letting-you-go-because-she-doesn't-have-enough-info-to-hold-you-back

"Hey. Are you okay?" "No."

Tamara hugs her mom—melting into her because it's too fucking much. And Lucy Chen is there to hold her adoptive daughter, to give her the support she needs, to never crowd, but always make herself available.

Whenever she gives Tamara a sibling, that's gonna be the cutest family ever, right!?

Chris is Full Squick

I've heard there were people who really liked him for her at some point. And more power to them. But, for me, he reminds me of some of my mom's exes and it's not a good comparison.

Like, there were guys who'd buddy up to us because they wanted to sleep with my Mom. That's what this whole scenario feels like, because I didn't see any real change indicated in Chris that makes this choice make sense.

It feels like Tim's helping this kid hoping to win favor with Lucy in a manipulative manner. And I could be reading way too much into it. But this scene made me mad uncomfortable the first time I watched it.

"Thank you." "For?" "Everything. For all your help. For this bed. For getting justice for Becca." "You did that." "And thanks for helping me leave it all behind. Because if it weren't for you, I probably would have ended up like Becca eventually."

"There but for the grace of God go I." I've thought this so often in my life—that if not for the kindness of others, we would have lost everything.

My husband was laid off the same day I had the preparatory internal ultrasound for our fourth IUI. We've been trying to get pregnant for several years with no success, but the doctors were optimistic.

We literally had 12 hours to decide if we were going through with the insemination, because I had to give myself an ovidrel shot that night. We talked about it, prayed on it, and went for it.

Twins. Twin baby boys who were the greatest gifts after years of heartache. But how could we provide for them on my income alone?

We worked through it during my maternity leave. Matthew's parents had sponsored him to return to school to get his teaching license. He was a few months away from graduation, and I was prepped to go back to work. We had a plan.

Until I almost died when the twins were 9 weeks old. A life-saving surgery and weeks of recovery later, we had twins on specialized formula we couldn't afford because I could no longer breastfeed.

My father took us in. I paid mortgage on an empty house for 10 months while we turned off the utilities so we could afford the boys' formula. So many people stepped in to help us, to give to get preemie clothes for the boys, to help with the medical bills.

The NICU completely forgave the $45,000 facility bill, leaving us only with the $77,000 doctors' bill, which was mostly covered by insurance. It took us 2 years to pay off our portion on monthly plans for my sweet Middle's 12-day stay.

But... imagine all that without my father, without our friends, without the doctor who saved my life, without the local twin organization that donated formula and toys to the kids, without the pediatricians' office that donated formula to us, without the stranger who saw us walking and handed me $50 when I couldn't afford groceries...

I've seen the other side. I've heard stories of people who tragically lacked the support we had. There but for the grace of God go I.

Tamara's situation is completely different, of course... except that someone who owed her nothing came alongside her to give the support only she could give.

Lucy saw a "girl in trouble" and became her lifeline. She became her family. She became her home.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. You're safe."

"Safe". Lucy and Tamara's whole relationship began because Tamara stole Lucy's safe place—her car. But as soon as Lucy saw someone needed "safe" more, she parted with her safe space.

Now, "safe" is a warm bed and a door that locks, and someone who cares about her. That's what Lucy wanted for Tamara from the very beginning, right?

She wanted this girl who had struggled not because of her own actions, but because of her parents' choices... to be safe.

"But at some point, you might wanna talk to someone before it sneaks up on you."

Lucy knows a lot about trauma, and Tamara knows it. I think that's part of what makes Lucy's statement here so powerful. It's not hollow, filled with the thoughts of someone who thinks they know better. Lucy is the voice of experience, here.

And she's trying to pass the wisdom down to her daughter without Tamara having to go through the pain Lucy did to learn it. Isn't that what we all try to do as parents?

We try to guide our kids to not make our same mistakes, but also give them the knowledge and wisdom we gained when we did.

Feeling a little sentimental on this one. Those of you who've been around know that while I thought Chenford was "cute" at first glance, I wasn't really hooked from moment one. But I was hooked on Tamara and Lucy's relationship.

I was so badly bullied in school. So lonely. So once I was a Senior, I found Sophomores to adopt. They were my girls, and nobody better mess with them, because I was a Senior, and I finally had some power. I was determined to use it for good.

I've stayed in touch with all three. One's married with three beautiful boys. One is married with two sweet, super smart kids. And the other is engaged to the love of her life, and gearing up to be a kickass stepmom. They've gone completely different directions in their careers and lives, and I'm so damn proud. They've all made their way.

Some of the greatest things we can give others are our time and attention—our compassion and empathy.

Watching Lucy give this girl the home she wishes she'd had, the security and safety to knows Tamara lacked, and the Found Family that often sticks closer than blood... it struck a nerve. A good one.

Thank you so much for reading this little Meta, and to the folks who requested 4x11. Can't wait to see you on the next!

[giggly-squiggily]

Weakness Located (Piofiore: Faded Memoires)

New fandom lets go WHOOP WHOOP!

Heyo everyone! One of my smaller goals of 2024 is to clear out my visual novel stash, and now I'm finally playing Piofiore! Dante is the love of my life so naturally I had to start with him! Thank you for indulging me this week and I hope you enjoy!

Summary: As Liliana adjusts to her new life with the Falzone family, she uncovers a rather interesting fact about her beloved.

“What do you think about Dante?”

The question wasn’t new. Liliana could recall many months ago when the man beside her asked that. At the time, she had only known the Falzone family for a few short weeks, and gave her honest assessment.

"He’s kind.” She spoke softly, a soft blush spreading across her cheeks as she thought of the blue eyed mafia leader. It was such an odd thing to associate with someone like that, but when she thought of Dante, she saw a man with the sweetest of smiles and a shyness she knew she’d be the rare few to see.

“Hm.” Nicola hummed, seeming to agree. They were strolling along the courtyard this morning; Liliana wanted to stretch her legs and Nicola just happened to be there. Arm in arm, they walked tracks into the beautiful greenery around them, chatting about this and that as they went. “What else?”

The question caught her off guard, but just barely. She paused, picturing Dante in her mind as she looked for the words. “He’s genuine, if not a tad harsh at times. I feel safe with him; like I know no matter what happens he’ll protect me.”

Not to mention he was rather beautiful, but she decided to keep that detail to herself.

“That sounds like our Dante. Hard to believe he wasn’t always like that.” Nicola winked, smiling up at some chirping birds as Liliana stared back at him.

“How do you mean?” She asked when he gave no more.

“Dante? Oh, he was always kind. And shy- really shy.” Nicola laughed as they came to a stop by some benches, taking a seat. “When we were kids, he’d hide behind me or in his books. He could barely meet anyone’s eyes, and he was so quiet!”

That was definitely new. Liliana leaned in intrigued, picturing a small Dante tucked behind an equally small Nicola. The image made her smile. “Was he now?”

“Oh yes! But don’t let that fool you- when he wanted to be, he could be quite pouty!” Nicola chuckled, nostalgic. If Dante were here, Liliana could picture the hot blush spreading on his cheeks, blue eyes averted as he hid, grumbling something about not bringing up such things. “Whenever he got that way, I’d always…”

Nicola suddenly trailed off, as if debating on whether he should say what was on his mind. The anticipation was killing Liliana! “Well, go on then!” She knew it was rude to pry, especially with the mafia, but they’ve gotten close over time. She’d grown comfortable with Nicola enough to throw etiquette aside once and awhile.

“You didn’t hear this from me…” Nicola turned to her conspiratorially, eyes twinkling. “But Dante’s very, and I mean very ticklish.”

Liliana blinked, letting the information digest. Dante…ticklish? The thought hadn’t crossed her mind before. “He is?”

“Yes! Now, in all fairness, I haven’t tickled him since we were kids, but I’m pretty sure he still is to some degree.” Nicola nodded as if agreeing with himself. “Back then, he was ticklish all over, but I think his worst spots held up over time.”

Liliana hummed, sitting back some as she folded her hands. Dante, being ticklish! What a funny thought that was. The idea of seeing such a cold, serious capo laughing over a few skillful fingers was near impossible to believe! She’d never have the opportunity to try it herself.

And yet…it wasn’t that impossible. These past few months invited a new level of closeness to their relationship. He’d shown a softer side of him to her, meeting her eyes with bouts of warmth and taking her hand whenever he could. She’s been in his arms on multiple occasions- some out of necessity and others just because.

Would it be that hard to reach out and prod him a little, just to see what happened? Did she have the resolve to commit?

Dante’s small smiles were treasures, and the gentle chuckles she earned at times was even more invaluable. But to hear him really laugh…

“Nicola…if I may,” She turned to her friend, watching his eyes glitter with amusement. “What were those spots you mentioned exactly?”

~~~

She didn’t do it immediately. It would give away who told her. Instead, she waited.

She waited as days passed, dissipating the potential for suspicion as she devised her plan of attack. She waited until Dante’s brow was no longer furrowed with stress and those small smiles she loved so much started appearing like normal again. She waited until she knew he was free, bringing a slice of his favorite dessert to him with a smile.

“You are an angel.” He sighed upon seeing her, gently taking her chin before kissing her slowly. His lips tasted like strawberries and white wine. Liliana almost forgot what her plan was as she let his lips devour hers.

“Come with me.” She spoke when they pulled away, her hand finding his and leaving all this behind. It didn’t feel right doing it here; this was mafia boss Dante. What she wanted was her Dante.

Closing the door behind him, she took a seat on the sofa of her room, patting the spot beside her invitingly. The bed would have led them down a different path. When he was beside her once more, she leaned in, pressing the gentlest of kisses into his mouth.

“You’re feeling affectionate tonight.” He spoke between pecks, voice hushed as he kissed her back, hands coming up to run through her hair. “Did Carlos influence you?” Carlos was their cat; one of the many gifts Dante first gave her when she came here.

“Hm.” She hummed in his mouth, her hands coming to his waist as she leaned in more. She was basically on top of him at this point, a curtain of blonde hair falling around them as they melded together.

“His ribs were terrible when we were kids. You could just poke them and he’d be a giggly mess for hours!”

She felt a bit bad, having such an ulterior motive.  She likely would lose kissing privileges after this.

“Oh, and he snorts when he laughs!”

…Worth it.

“Mm..Lili-hhm!” Dante all but flinched when her hands grasped his sides, fingers poised along his ribs. “Lili, what are you-mmmph!” He flinched again when she pressed in, curling her fingers slowly against the fabric of his vest. “W-Wait, Lili-”

“Oh?” She tilted her head, playing innocent as her fingers paused, fighting down a smile at his reaction. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

She knew he wasn’t. She also knew he wouldn’t lie and say he was. Dante reached out, gently cupping her wrists, pausing her movements with a slight glare.

“I’m not…but I’d prefer if you didn’t touch there.”

“Why not?”

His cheeks dusted pink. Liliana waited.

“I…might be a touch..erm,” His blush deepened, and he looked away, struggling to find the words. Liliana couldn't stop the smile forming now.

“Dante..are you ticklish?” The word made him stiffen, his ears as red as his cheeks now. It was adorable- the way he visibly struggled to answer her. She could see the war going on in his head; be honest and admit it or lie and risk getting caught doing so? He must have realized he was stuck no matter how he answered; his eyes lingered to her positioning, her body hovering over his and her fingers inches from his ribs. He closed his eyes with a small sigh.

“You’re going to do it regardless of what I say, aren’t you?” He asked. Liliana shrugged, not quite answering.

“Fine. I am.” He grunted, ears bright red as he fought to hold her gaze. “But just so you know, if you tell anyone about this, it won’t end well for you.”

“Why would I tell anyone?” She asked, earning a raised brow. “I want your laugh all to myself.”

His wide eyed surprise and blush were lost almost instantly when she attacked, pressing all ten fingers into his ribs at once. Dante let out a wheeze as he fell back, soft giggles bubbling up his throat as he weakly pushed at her hands.

“Ehe! Li-Lihihiihili, plehahahase!” He choked out, a reluctant smile pulling at his lips as he sank further back into the couch. “Wahahhait, wahhahahahit! Hohoohold ohoohohon!”

Liliana giggled, delighted. How long had it been since she had a proper tickle fight with someone? Well- a one sided one anyway. Back at the church, she would tickle the children all the time, their squeals of delight never failed to make her heart swell.

While it wasn’t the exact same, seeing Dante like this brought that same feeling in her chest.

“Lihiihiih-ehehehehehehehahahaha!” Running her fingers up and down his sides uncovered a number of things. For one, she found his lowest set of ribs were particularly sensitive to pinches. His waist wasn’t nearly as ticklish, but she found the sides of his stomach to be a good giggle spot. When her fingers brushed along the outskirts of his armpits he nearly crushed her fingers when his arms slammed down, earning a giggly apology. “Pleahhahahhase, thihihiihis is embahahahhaahharahahahhasing!”

“How do you mean? I think it’s rather sweet.” She smiled, drinking in his expression. His cheeks were rosey, low toned laughter rolling out his smiling mouth. His nose crinkled when he laughed, a detail she loved so much she almost leaned down to kiss it.

The best part? He wasn’t fighting back. Perhaps he didn’t want to hurt her, or he was merely being a gentleman, or maybe- just maybe, he was enjoying this as much as she was. She couldn’t imagine he’d have many opportunities to laugh like this.

She was about to give his armpits another poke just to hear him snort when he suddenly had her hands, pulling them up and out of the way. Something shifted, and Liliana soon found herself face first into his chest, hands clasped within his own.

“Thehehere…ehehe..nohohohw weheheh’re okay..” He groaned, breathless. Liliana could feel his heartbeat racing a mile a minute, the sound strangely soothing despite it’s speed. “Whahat was that for?”

“I wanted to hear you laugh.” She snuggled into him, her cheeks pinkening as she realized just how silly this whole thing was. “I like it, the sound I mean. It’s nice.”

He didn’t have anything to say to that. Slowly, as if not trusting she wouldn’t tickle him again, he released her hands, letting them fall back into a natural place. “You’re bold, Lili. Very bold.” Despite his words, she could feel his hand combing through her hair, melting her at the touch. “There’s other ways to make me laugh than tickling.”

“Maybe. I just found this easier.” He chuckled, and she could feel him shaking his head above her, picturing the sweet smile he wore whenever she said something that surprised him.

“Very well..just, try not to do that often. If the familia- if they found out I had such a…weakness.” He winced, making her giggle. “It’d be the end of me.”

Liliana nodded, understanding in her expression. Then she blinked, looking up at him.

“Often? Does that mean I can tickle you again?”

Dante flushed a pretty pink, melting Lilianna’s heart. “I suppose…h-hey!” He caught her hands when they reached for his ribs, making her laugh. “Not now. You’ve had your fun. And now…I get to have mine.”

“What? O-Oh!” Liliana yelped when she was pulled into him, their positions flipping so she was below him. “D-Dante, what are you-eheheheheheheheheheheh!”

“Oh, so you’re ticklish aswell?” He smiled a cheeky little grin when she squealed, his fingers pressing gently into her sides. “Good.”

Thanks for reading!