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#it was one of those little niggles of like
not-poignant · 1 year
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Do you have any stardew mods that you absolute *must* have (for any reason) or any QoL mods you'd like to recommend?
Hi anon!
I'm not really going to do a 'must have' mod list because you don't need any mods to play Stardew Valley at all, and actually many of my farms I never played with any mods at all. So instead I'm just going to list the mods I enjoy using the most, that make my time more enjoyable within the game.
They're not must haves, and I don't actually think just about anyone should use mods before they've played the vanilla farm/style of the game a few times (because that's also the best way to see if you'll need mods in the first place. I don't need them. I just enjoy them). The one exception is people who can't handle the fishing mini game. But I find that dead easy (except the octopus, fuck the octopus), so... I don't need mods for that anyway x.x
My main mods are the following that I use pretty much in every game no matter what (for these to work you will need another mod called SMAPI, and sometimes a mod called Content Patcher, each mod will tell you what it needs to run in the Requirements section):
Cosmetic:
Mini Obelisks - The standard obelisks look cool but are just too damned tall. This changes the size lol.
Hudson Valley Buildings - Look, there are a ton of reskins for the buildings in the game, I just like these ones.
Vanilla Tweaks - A texture pack that re-skins pretty much all of the objects in the game (fish / vegetables / fruit / nodes / minerals etc.), it's pretty!
Simple Foliage - One of the nicest tree/bush reskins, it's just pretty.
Quality of Life:
UI Info Suite - is one of my favourite QoL mods, because it just comes with so many different things that are so useful, and my favourite are that you can access the calendar and fetch quests from your standard menu, as well as the little pop ups under the day/time which tell you if the Travelling Cart is there, who's birthday it is, if it will storm the next day, and whether or not there's a new recipe. It also tells you which of your pets need petting etc. It pretty much made my Better Ranching QoL mod redundant lol.
Gift Taste Helper - Despite having like 1800 hours in this game, I never remember loved gifts, and in the heart menu, this allows you to hover over a username and see someone's most loved gifts automatically. So useful. Saves me visiting the Wiki 400 times in a playthrough.
NPC Map Locations - Tired of looking at the Wiki for their schedules? Just use this and you'll see all the people / where they are on the map. Great for gift-giving.
No Kids Ever - Your mileage may vary on this one but I don't want children in SDV ever with any of my spouses and I don't even want to be asked. This eliminates all questions around parenthood and means you can also turn the nursery into whatever kind of room you want. You'll never have to worry about kids. This is definitely a must have for me ;)
Ship Anything - It pisses me off that I can only sell weapons etc. through Marlon's because they open from 4pm and it's just inconvenient. Ship Anything allows you to ship swords etc. from your shipping bin, and also use your recycling bin. SO useful. Can also use it for furniture / wallpaper etc.
Other:
DeepWoods - One of my favourite 'end game' places and so enjoyable (and a good source of wood and hardwood), this is very much like the Skull Caverns, but instead it's the Deep Woods and 'what if there were levels of the Secret Woods and they were easy-to-really-fucking-hard.' The levels change, there's all these cool little secrets, but a warning, some of the monsters can oneshot you even if you're late game (have all the stardrops / Galaxy Sword in the Forge etc.). There are monsters here that are absolutely way more dangerous than *anything* you will ever find in the Skull Caverns.
This is kind of a cheat because wood and hardwood become so important in the mid to late game, so ymmv on how comfortable you are with something like that. But I love the DeepWoods. Just a warning, take a warp, because once you're past level 1, you'll need to warp home.
-
I've also started playing Stardew Valley Expanded but that's like 10-11 mods in total and tbh anon I only recommend going down that rabbit hole once you've played the vanilla farm a few times.
These days I will also occasionally play with CJB Cheats, just because I've played like 15+ farms now the 'hard way' and sometimes I want life to be a little easier, lmao.
If I needed to go without all these mods tomorrow, I could and I'd still enjoy the game, so none of them are 'musts.'
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nighttimescribbles · 2 years
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tonight's guilty pleasure is a B-class pseudo-historical disney-fied movie with slightly baffling dialogue and semi-cringey writing that has nevertheless managed to worm its way into my head where it is now living rent-free. it does not help *at all* that the leading man is styled to be in possession of an unusual face and i do so love unusual faces 😩
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weird-and-unwell · 8 months
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“Autism isn’t a disability”, “it’s just a difference”.
I am of lower support needs. I hold down a (part time) job. I have travelled around my home country. I live alone.
At work they complain about my speech. I’m too quiet, they say, “barely audible” is the words used at my autism assessment. My voice is all monotone, and it needs to be more expressive. I get this complaint every week for a year straight, until my manager gives up. I don’t attend trainings because I forget and find it overwhelming anyways. My coworkers form friendships, and I watch them talk, wondering how they make it look so easy. I get a new manager, I tell her I find the work socials too overwhelming to attend. She tells me I can just say I don’t want to come. I don’t know how to tell her that I desperately want to, to be like the rest of my coworkers, instead of constantly being the one sat on the sidelines.
I come home, and I can hear my neighbours again. The niggling background noise messes with my head, and I meltdown; I throw myself on the floor, I hit my head on the ground repeatedly as I scream and cry, tear out my hair and scratch my arms and face. When I complain, people tell me that I just have to accept that neighbours make noise, that I should just ignore it, or block it out. I am the problem, the one overreacting. I put in earplugs and it hurts and I'm crying again. I wear headphones but I can't handle the noise for that long.
I have reminders set for everything. Every chore, no matter how big or small. My phone beeps at me, reminding me that I need to wash the dishes. If I don't go now, then tick the little box on my phone to say I did it, it won't get done. My home is almost always a mess despite this. It's not just chores either. I won't think to wash, dress myself, brush my teeth or hair, without those reminders. And unless someone actively prompts me to do so, I will do those tasks "wrong". I haven't changed my underwear in a month, and I'm currently aware that's a problem, but within the hour I'm going to forget all over again until I'm next prompted.
I can't sleep without medication - it's not unusual for autistic people to have messed up circadian rhythms. Without my medication it's hard to even tell when I'm awake and when I'm asleep. When I was younger and at school I slept through so many lessons, and when I have my mandatory breaks from my sleep meds I sleep through every alarm I set. I want to work full time some day, and I'm terrified of what my sleep issue will mean for me then.
I don't travel independently. I don't travel anywhere alone, always with someone or to someone. If to someone, I have assistance the whole way. I find it embarrassing sometimes. Yes, I have a job that requires a certain level of intelligence. No, I cannot get on a train by myself. If I am not shown To The Train, To My Seat, I will be unable to travel.
Last time I travelled, I was left alone at the station for ten minutes. I stayed rigid and sobbed the whole time. I was overwhelmed. It was too loud, I didn't know where I was or where I was meant to be going, and until the assistance person came back I couldn't do anything because for some reason I cannot understand it.
I spend a lot of time trying to explain to people that despite my relative competence, I am unable to do many things. Why can I understand high level maths but not how to get on a damn train? No fucking idea.
"Autism isn't a disability" most severely affects those with higher support needs, and this is absolutely not to take away from them. But for fucks sake, autism is disabling.
Maybe you personally are extremely lucky and just find you're a little "socially awkward", or just find some textures painful or nauseating. Maybe you would be fine with just a couple of adjustments.
But for a lot of us, even lower support needs autistics, it doesn't work like that. I will never sleep properly without medication. I still have the self-harming type of meltdowns as an adult, over things that are deemed as being "just part of life". I live alone but have daily visits from family - if I'm left fully alone I forget all the little daily things one is "meant" to do. I had speech therapy as a child to get me to the "barely audible" "mostly correct" speech. I don't mask, I'm not really sure how I would to begin with.
I'm not unhappy with being autistic. It's just who I am. Life would be easier if I were neurotypical, but I also wouldn't be me. I just wish those luckier than me could...stop saying it's all chill and not at all a disability.
Because yes, socially, I am "awkward". I obviously don't make eye contact - I stare down and to the side of whoever I speak to. People think it's weird or creepy or a sign of disinterest. My autism assessor wrote down about how I often use words and phrases that don't make sense to others, even though they make perfect sense to me. In my daily life this means I'm frequently misunderstood, and have to try explain what I mean, when what I mean is exactly what I said, and the true issue is that what I mean just doesn't make sense to others. I gesture, at times, but again, my gestures apparently don't make sense in relation to what I'm saying. I take things literally, I have almost no filter, and I can't explain how I go from topic to topic.
And yes, I do have sensory problems. Sometimes people, including others with sensory problems, tell me that "sometimes sensory issues have to be tolerated", and I wonder what they think of as being sensory issues. I'm sure they do struggle, but if I say I can't handle a touch, I mean you will need to forcefully hold it against me for me to touch it more than a second and it will make me meltdown. If I say "I can't eat that", I mean that I am unable to swallow it, that I will gag and choke and inevitably spit it back out, as much as I try. If I say I can't handle a noise, I mean I'm so close to a meltdown and my meltdowns are a problem for everyone around me.
But yes. Autism. Not a disability. Just a fun quirky difference.
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stevebabey · 1 year
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Steve hates to ask this of Eddie.
Really, it’s a last resort sort of thing. Robin’s gone for the week, some trip upstate with her family. And it’s fine, they’re close but Steve’s a big boy. He can handle a week without his best friend.
But, well, it’s just unfortunate for it to creep up on Steve when Robin’s gone. It being… shit, how did Robin explain it? She was so much better at keeping track of all those things than he was, all the terms filed away nicely in her head to be recalled as needed. Steve’s much messier— in his head, in his life.
Touch aversion, that’s what she called it. A by-product of the severe lack of touch in his childhood she had said; not enough hugs, hand holding, the works and now Steve’s grown to find it too strange. Something prickles under his skin, pulls in his gut all the wrong way, when someone’s too touchy-feely with him. Robin’s said it’s normal, and he believes her.
It just makes it harder when this comes by. That completely strange backward want that carves into his chest, creating a chasm that just aches. Suddenly, Steve wants to be touched, needs to be touched — like something behind his ribs is just begging for comfort in the form of touch, any way he can have it. Like some young part of him can still remember the hunger he had for it and it comes back in full force, a tender wound between his lungs.
It doesn’t happen that often — though, it’s more frequent than ever recently — but usually, Robin’s here. She can almost always tell before Steve works up the courage to ask. Twitchy fingers give him away. He hovers closer than normal, shoulders brushing more often.
She always gives him a smile, softer than her usual snark and says, “C’mere, dingus.” and stands on her tip-toes to envelope him in a hug. Steve can’t help but sink into it, gripping her close around the waist for as long as he needs until the hole in his chest feels a step closer to patching up.
Robin also tells him he can have as many hugs as he’d like but Steve is firm with himself; he only needs one, then he’ll be back to fine.
It what’s he needs now. One really fucking good hug. Still, he hates to ask, least of all from Eddie, because, well— okay, Steve has no reason to assume Eddie wouldn’t give him a hug.
He’s seen Eddie’s hugs before. Like everything he does, Eddie puts his everything into it- he hugs Robin til she wheezes, loves to lift Nancy off the ground, and the hug he gives Dustin is sweetest of all, a hand on the back of the littler’s head while he does some strange little sway. Dustin always laughs, playfully shoving him away by the end but Steve knows he loves them, that it helps in more than one way.
Steve is glad that Dustin has someone, besides his Mom of course, who can hug him, because Steve can’t give that to him. Maybe one day, but for now, hugs from Steve are a rarity — few and far in between. Maybe, he thinks, he doesn’t want to ask Eddie specifically because of that niggling feeling that comes up around Eddie, all gooey and soft. A feeling the swings too close to a crush that Steve has no fucking clue what to do about.
So, he hates to ask. Really. On the drive over to Eddie’s, a hangout organised before Steve started to feel the lack of touch creep in, he runs through any other options. Wait til Robin gets back? Steve’s not sure he’ll make it another 4 days. When left alone, it seems to consume him and make everything harder, everything heavier to deal with.
He’s still tossing it when he climbs the steps to Eddie’s trailer. Steve decides that he’ll see how it goes, see if there’s an opening to ask…semi-naturally or something. He’s not gonna spring it on the guy.
Eddie is wonderful company as always, devilish grins and god-awful comments about the film he picked. Steve feeds off it, drinking in the infectious energy. He tries to let it be enough; their shoulders pressed together, Eddie’s knee knocking his when he laughs, the way Eddie leans into his space to whisper even though it’s just them here tonight. Steve wants it to be enough. But even then, he can see the way his hands twitch in his lap, desperate for more.
Steve closes his eyes. Curls his hands up so tightly his nails bite into the skin. He tries to use it to wane off the feeling, the ache that sings out for Eddie beside him and it nearly works. Until—
“Steve? Y’okay?” Eddie’s voice pipes up, making Steve open his eyes in an instant.
“Hm?” Steve hums, hoping that his casualness will be enough for Eddie to skip over his peculiar behaviour. He blinks, tilting his head just a bit to show he was confused why Eddie was asking.
Eddie chuckles lightly, gesturing towards Steve’s lap, where his hands sit still clenched, white knuckled with his self-restraint. “You seem a bit stiff, that’s all.” Eddie rechecks. “You good?”
Steve opens his mouth and then closes it, forcing his hands to unclench in his lap. “I-“ he begins, then stops, unsure of what he was going to say. He did say he would look for an opening tonight. The way Eddie’s regarding him, open faced with his concern, is as good as he might get.
“This might sound a bit weird,” Steve starts, defensiveness already tingeing the words, his shoulders curling in just a bit. Eddie could say no. He’s allowed to say no. Steve really doesn’t want him to. “Like, if you think it’s weird, that’s totally fine and we can just, like, forget I said anything and—”
“Steve.” Eddie cuts him off, a linger of an amused smile on his lips. “I don’t think I’m going to find anything you say weird, sweetheart. Shoot. What’s on your mind? What troubles the great mind of Steve Harrington?”
God, it’s like a whole bunch of words designed to set Steve’s head spinning. ‘The great mind of Steve Harrington’ makes him want to scoff. ‘Sweetheart’ makes him want to swoon. He can’t decide which one he wants to do more.
“Can I-” Steve stammers, the words halting automatically. It’s too much of a habit to swallow them down. Coercing them out takes more work. He stares up at the ceiling as he grits his teeth, releases a harsh sigh, pulling himself together. “Can I… have a hug?”
There a moment of silence and Steve holds his breath.
“Oh,” Eddie breathes, and Steve takes his eyes off the ceiling to see just what that Oh means. Eddie’s smiling, a soft one gracing his pretty mouth, and Steve thinks, maybe, one day he’ll have the courage to ask for a kiss as well. Relief moves sluggishly through his veins— Eddie’s smiling, this is good.
“Well, of course,” Eddie grins widely and opens his arms, inviting Steve in. Steve hesitates for only a moment before he leans in gratefully, his arms tucking around Eddie’s midriff tightly. Eddie’s arms curl around Steve’s neck, pulling him in close. It’s the easiest thing in the world, sinking into it, so much that Steve tries his best not to immediately slump against Eddie. It feels a bit too pathetic, so Steve reels himself in. He can’t make his arms relax, trying too hard to take only what he needs and not a moment more.
“C’mon, Stevie.” Eddie’s voice teases beside his ear, his breath warm. “You call that a hug?”
He squeezes Steve a little tighter, pulling him even closer and Steve can’t help the way he melts into it— he slumps, leaning against Eddie properly and burying his quiet whine of relief into the juncture between Eddie's neck and shoulder.
“There we go,” Eddie murmurs comfortingly.
Eddie takes him wholly, gives a damn good Munson hug, all warmth and comfort. He smells like, well, Eddie — a lingering scent of weed, something musky, something Eddie. His arms around Steve’s neck shuffle and Steve worries he’s trying to pull away so soon, only for one of his hands to tangle in the hair at the nape of Steve’s neck. He combs through, light fingernails scratching at Steve’s scalp and shit, Steve really can’t control the noise of contentment that slips out his throat.
“Can’t believe you got so worked up just to ask for a hug,” Eddie tsks, tone coloured in disbelief. Steve makes a noise of protest, trying for a moment to wind it all back in but, like Eddie can sense it, he’s squeezing him tighter again. He begins to rock them, a soft sway side to side that lets Steve lean on him even more. He hums a tune Steve doesn’t know, low and soft.
“M’sorry,” Steve mumbles in reply, though he’s not entirely sure what he’s apologising for. For having to ask, for taking so much, for enjoying Eddie’s arms around him just a little too much.
“What the fuck for?” Eddie laughs lightly, one of his hands beginning to drum against the divots of Steve’s spin. It feels like he’s tapping pure delirium with each fingertip, shivers that make Steve’s chest glow terribly warm. It feels good, so good to be held and honestly, Steve could stay here all night if Eddie let him. Knowing Eddie, he would, because he’s that fucking nice.
That knowledge alone forces Steve to sit himself up, extracting him limbs even though so much of him mourns the warmth, the touch, that goes with it. He wants the touch but he’s had enough. Some scorned part of him burns bitterly to think Eddie would give him more just to be nice. Steve doesn’t want that— Steve wants Eddie to touch him because he wants to.
“Sorry, man, I just, uh, get like that sometimes.” Steve feels the need to explain, bringing a hand up to rub at one of his eyes. He does it half so can hide his embarrassed expression from Eddie— who’s looking at him so gently and still so so close.
“Just, aha—“ Christ, it wasn’t this awkward telling Robin. Steve’s hand moves to rub the back of his neck. “Sometimes I realise it’s been awhile since,” He gnaws on his bottom lip, something alike to humiliation curling in his gut. “Since I’ve had some touch. Usually, Robin’s around but y’know.”
He waves a hand, huffing another awkward laugh. Eddie hasn’t moved much, just listening intently, his brows ever so slightly inching closer together. He looks outright concerned at Steve’s next words.
“It’s okay, I’ve— I’ll be good now.” Steve nods along, like the motion will help him convince himself as well as Eddie. He’ll be okay now. Usually, one hug is all it takes. He ignores the surging tidal-wave want that is still going, still aching to be held by Eddie again. It would be selfish to ask for more. Eddie didn’t invite him around to hug— it’s weird, and Steve shouldn’t- can’t ask for more.
“Sooooo,” Eddie draws out the word, an impish smile beginning to play at the corners of his lips. He opens his arms wide again. “You don’t want another hug?”
In his lap, Steve’s fingers twitch. Eddie’s eyes dart to them for a second, before fixing back on Steve. He does, he really fucking does want another hug. He can’t. He’s had enough, really, it would greedy to have more.
Steve shakes his head, forces himself to huff another laugh that accidentally comes out as a strained sigh. He smiles weakly, “No, no, I’m good, dude. It’s… I’m okay, swear.”
For a moment, Steve thinks he’s convinced him. Eddie studies his face, his mischief slipping away as he deliberates Steve’s words. His eyes narrow, arms dropping just an inch before he smiles brightly and says, “Okay, can I have a hug then?”
Which, okay, right, Steve didn’t think of that. People don’t ask him for hugs. He blinks, a bit dumbly. Eddie is waiting, face eager and for a second there’s an expression of almost smugness on his face — like he’s about to get exactly what he wants. Because he knows Steve would never be rude and say no.
“I mean,” Steve breathes, voice a bit tighter than he’s expecting. He clears his throat. “Yeah, yeah, you can have a hug.”
“Great!” Eddie replies and he wastes no time. He’s all up in Steve’s space, arms around Steve’s waist this time. The motion takes Steve by surprise, enough that because he’s not expecting it Eddie’s weight pushes him back so he’s lying on the couch.
If Eddie cares, he pays no mind, his head curling up into the crook of Steve’s neck as he hugs him closer. His hair gets in Steve’s mouth, making him splutter for a second, but Eddie just grins, wriggling closer until they’re pressed firmly against each other. Steve would go as far as to say this is closer to cuddling than a hug, with Eddie squishing him from above, his arms around Steve’s middle.
“Just so you know,” Eddie’s voice rumbles from where their chests are touching, his breath sweeping across Steve’s neck. Steve shivers without meaning to, feels Eddie’s responding grin even as he continues. “All hugs requested by me are automatically 10 minutes long. Hope you’re okay with that, sweetheart.”
Steve isn’t stupid — he knows Eddie is doing it for him, doing it because he could see right through Steve’s stupid facade, had peered his yawning hunger for touch right in the face and hadn’t blanched. Instead of feeling tricked or fooled, Steve just feels…warm. Comfortable. He works his arms around Eddie’s neck til their more comfortable and find the courage in him scrape his fingers through Eddie’s hair— like he had done to Steve. Eddie’s sighs sweetly and Steve thinks he could listen to that noise forever.
“I’m… I’m okay with that.” Steve murmurs lowly, yet he knows Eddie can hear him. Eddie noses closer, a borderline nuzzle against his neck, and further down, one his hands starts to stroke softly up and down Steve’s ribs.
Steve can’t help the way it makes him freeze, the breath in his lungs holding tight as he tries to relax, tries to ignore the prickly feeling under his skin. It’s a lot. A lot of touch that Steve just isn’t used to just yet, even if he desperately craves it.
“Relax,” Eddie whispers into his skin, a soft instruction paired with the motion, one soothing stroke up and down his ribs. Steve pushes the breath in his lungs out, forces the tension out of his body, trusts that Eddie wouldn’t be offering— wouldn’t tell him to relax if he wasn’t allowed to.
“That’s it.” Eddie praises, feeling the body beneath him settle and sink a little lower into the couch. “Now, watch the movie.” Eddie instructs, jutting at the still playing screen with his chin. Steve laughs a bit, but obeys, turning his head to see what part they’d gotten up to. They’d missed a big chunk in their hug. Steve nearly apologises for it, the words on the tip of his tongue, before he decides Eddie might smack him for it.
So, he doesn’t. He watches the film, let’s the gentle touch of Eddie on his skin relax him til sleepiness starts to fill each of his limbs, heavy like lead. Eddie’s hand stops moving eventually, when his breath gets heavier, lulled by Steve’s scratch in his hair. A snore starts up, loud and quite frankly, annoying, and yet, Steve finds that with Eddie’s arms around him, he has no trouble finding sleep.
It’s the first time in years Steve’s fallen asleep in someone else’s arms. And even if he doesn't know it yet, it’s certainly not the last.
now with a part two!
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poppy-metal · 1 month
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thinking of art donaldson who has the most obvious crush on you but you're oblivious so you don't think about it when you tell him you can't go to the movies with him because you have a date that day. you think arts text back is a bit strange. the - Oh. Have fun :) seeming passive aggressive as hell but what reason would he have to feel that way? you think you're probably reading into it too much and decide to lighten the mood by texting him back-
now you don't have to worry about me scaring off potential love interests!!
he leaves you on read for the first time ever since knowing him. a pinch of worry niggles at you. you don't like the idea of upsetting him. did he think you were being a bad friend? flakey? you decide to send him another message -
you know asking a girl to see a scary movie with you can be kinda romantic. you should definitely ask someone to go with in my place <3 that way she can cling to you!
he does text back then.
Right. I'll keep that in mind.
are you mad at me?
dots appear. they dance on your screen. dissappear. reappear again.
Who's the guy?
you bite your lip. he dodged the question, which meant he probably was mad.
just some guy from one of my lectures! his name is craig!
Are you going to fuck him?
you stare at your phone screen. arts cursed in front of you before, but for a guy his age - the amount is minimal - even rarer over text. it sends a bolt of heat through you unexpectedly, a tingle you feel from your head to your toes. you hesitate on what to say - but you're comfortable with art, you're not in the business of lying to him, even if this isn't something you've talked with him about before.
honestly? probably. I don't see him as boyfriend material or anything, but he looks like fun!
you wonder if this is why art is mad. remembering he told you he grew up religious - maybe he still held some of those beliefs and was upset you were ditching him to have unwed sex or whatever.
the dots dance on your screen again for a time. your knee bounces as you wait for his reply, strangely anticipating it.
You're not looking for a boyfriend?
you think about that.
not at the moment!
his reply is quick then.
What are you looking for then?
you think about that too. your cheeks burn a little more - shifting in your seat. your friendship with art is newish - and while you're comfortable with him, there's still parts of yourself he doesn't know about you. like the part where you're kinda a sex fiend - though you wouldn't know it based on how you portray yourself. girlish and bubbly. you weren't ashamed of what you liked - and yet you paused before typing, fear of his judgement making you consider downplaying the truth.
but honesty was the best policy, and you stood by that embarrassment aside.
just sex, for now. I like having it. like, probably more than the normal amount....
art took so long to reply you physically had to stand up and pace around your room, 7 full laps before you came back down to check your texts.
So it's just scratching and itch, then. It could be anyone?
well.... obviously not just anyone. I do have standards!
They should be higher than that douchbag. and then, right under that. Fuck. I don't mean that in a slut shaming way. I just mean.
The dots again. You hold your breath.
I just mean you should only be allowing someone who kisses the fucking ground you walk on to give you what you need. You deserve more than some quickie on a shitty dormbed. You deserve to be worshipped from head to toe. Every inch of you.
you don't know how to reply to that, so you don't.
it's the first night you touch yourself to the thought of your new friend, though.
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lcriedlastnight · 2 months
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Hi,
Ok so this is inspired by all the drama and gossip I’ve seen on Instagram recently.
Can you write something with Lando and Y/N where Lando has made it clear from the very start that he likes Y/N and wants to date her? Y/N likes him back but is hesitant to start a relationship because of his many female friends, the fact that he and his family still follow his ex-girlfriend on social media, and because he still wears the bracelet his ex-girlfriend gave him. And y/n isn’t comfortable nor is she the type of person who would date guys with so many girls around him. She doesn’t want to explicitly tell Lando her reasons (because she doesn’t want to tell him what to do and not to do) so she always gives subtle hints when he asks why she doesn’t want to date him. Lando never picks up on these hints until someone close to him points it out, and he finally realizes what Y/N has been trying to tell him. And from here you can continue however you want
anon the way this is sooo real. also the drama? idc about it but i absolutely love drama in any way so!
tw: fem!reader, swears, idk lmk if you want me to add anything.
w/c: 1.9k
ever since you had first met lando he had made it very clear that he wanted a relationship with you and that he really did like you. the boy was all over you. he was constantly offering you take you out on dates when he was in the same place as you. he always wanted to be around you, giving you a call to come over and sit in his flat with him while he deep cleaned his kitchen. lando even told all of his friends about how much he liked you. oscar was sick fed up of hearing how pretty he thought your eyes were and max had told him that if he did not shut up about how infectious your laugh was he was going to leave him to sort out the details for the quadrant video for himself.
so it was safe to say that you had no reason to doubt that lando like you. you liked him too. you did not show it in the same ways as him though, you just being a tad more on the shyer side. your mind should have been convinced that lando only had eyes for you but it felt like you were adding two and two together to get five. his actions just did not make sense to your insecure mind.
the first 'red flag' you had stumbled across- well you did not even stumble across it. your friend did. and had told you it was one hundred percent a red flag and how were you to know any different? you were not experienced in this kind of thing, due to your shyness.
you had both been out for lunch and some shopping when you had just been chatting about lando and how things were going. she had asked why you guys had not done much more than two or three basic dates and you had responded that you were a little nervous to progress with him. she had questioned this and at that point you were not totally sure why you were feeling like that which had made you feel more guilty at the time. you had told her about one little thing that was niggling at the back of your brain since you had discovered it. all of lando's loved ones still followed his ex girlfriend on basically all socials and even liked her pictures regularly, this included lando. although lando had not liked a picture since they had been dating he still followed her.
"you are having a laugh?" she gasped at your words. the way she seemed shocked had made you a little nervous. were you wrong to be worried about it? were you not worried enough about it? it was moments like these that you thought you were not cut out for romantic relationships, it was much too hard these days. you wished for simpler times when if you liked someone you just told them and then you were dating.
"is that bad?" you had asked her, worriedly.
"i mean, it's kinda a red flag. why would he want to follow her? unless he was still close with her. he must be if his family still follow her. she must've been one of those girlfriends that the whole family falls in love with too." your friend explains as thoughts. you had thought that her explanation would have made you feel better but just like that you felt your mind shift into almost sure to doubt.
you knew your friend kind of had a point with what she had said but the rational part of you, deep deep down, was telling you that all of this was just causing unnecessary doubt to grow in your mind. it reminded of you of how lando acts towards you and it settled your mind for a minute or so before you fell down the hole again. you had always believed actions spoke louder than words but what actions spoke louder in this case?
from then you had fallen down a horrible spiral of pulling apart almost everything lando did. your mind always going back to that conversation in a cafe and reminding you of what your friend told you.
lando had invited you out as he had missed you a lot and of course you had said yes because as much as you were stressing yourself out about all of this, you did like him. you were just wary, that was all. it was not your scene at all, this house party. you did not know anyone there except lando and max. max was there alone as his girlfriend was not able to make it. you three sat with each other all night and max had gotten a front row seat into seeing exactly how lando was acting around you and vice versa.
all throughout the night, girls that lando was apparently 'friends' with had come up to him and blatantly flirted with him, right in front of your face, everyone here knew that he had brought you here with him as his date. so it confused you to no end how lando just sat back and let these girls flirt with him. it was literally textbook, basic flirting. finger twirling a piece of hair around as she giggled at something he said. even though it was not really that funny. and you just had to sit back and watch because what else were you supposed to do? you did not want to tell him how to live his life. if he wanted to be 'friends' with these girls then who were you to tell him he could not be? you guys were not even dating, for gods sake! even if you were you were definitely not one of those girls who told their boyfriends that they cannot even talk to another girl, never mind be friends with one.
once the fourth girl of the hour had left you all alone lando turns to you again.
"you're a wanted man tonight." you tell him, your voice tight as you tried not to be jealous. you felt stupid being jealous, was there anything to even be jealous over? lando laughs at your words and does not seem to notice your tone or even the expression clear as day on your face. you were too busy talking to lando to notice that max had notice everything you had tried to hide.
"guess i am." is all he says. it stuns you that that was all he said to you but you do not cause any drama about it. well you do not mean to. it just comes out, really. you just have to hope that he does not take it to heart.
"it's a lot of girls." it comes out like a half laugh half scoff. max thinks lando is incredibly dumb for not even noticing the reassurance you were clearly seeking right now. he set himself a metal note to slap him on the back of the head once they were alone.
lando barely even registers the words you say as he changes the subject and that is it forgotten about. you know it was not on purpose. he did not mean to just change the subject there and then when you had brought that up but it kind of did make sense and in your mind it went down as another red flag. it sat right next to the one your friend had pointed out a few weeks earlier.
you had left a little earlier than you had originally intended and as you were waving goodbye to both boys from inside the taxi, lando had ever so kindly booked and payed for you, you see max's hand come to slap the back of his friend's head. it made you laugh but you did not think too much about it. neither did lando apparently as he just hits max back ten times harder as he heads back inside.
the third and final 'red flag' came from when you were stalking instagram. you knew yourself you should not have been scrolling through the f1 gossip pages but you got curious about that curly-haired boy that took up your mind constantly. you do not have to scroll very far to get to something that upsets you. a picture of lando with a fan and a second one zoomed in on his arm, showcasing a lovely bracelet that you had seen lando wear many times. the caption? 'lando is still wearing the bracelet his ex got him!'.
you felt dumb again. you did not have to ask anyone if that was a 'red flag', you already knew. the next time you met up with lando after you had seen the instagram post you immediately noticed the piece of jewellery and it was so fucking hard to take your eyes off of it from then. somehow max had ended up on this outing too and just like always, he noticed your eyes glued to his arm. it did not take him long to put the pieces together. he knew there and then that he had to sit down and have a chat with him. as soon as he possibly could.
max had left to pop into a different shop as you and lando had waited outside together.
"so, can i ask why exactly you don't wanna date me?" lando asks bluntly, like he had been sitting on the question for a while.
you flush. "we've been on dates." you tell him, like he was not there and did not already know that.
"i know. but i get the feeling you don't wanna go further with me. it's alright if you don't but i'd like to know why?" lando asks, you can see the traces of hurt in his eyes as the mere thought of you not wanting him the same way he wanted you.
"no, i do. well i don't but i do. i like you, really like you. but i'm scared to go further with you."
lando looks at you confused, as if it was baffling to him to be scared to jump head first into something, especially when he keeps making you doubt if you were seriously even an option in his mind sometimes.
"why are you scared?" lando presses further but before you can respond max comes out with a bag in hand and asks if you can all stop for some food. the moment is gone and you are not too sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
after the outing was finished and max and lando were hanging out at lando's max finally decides to have the conversation with his friend. hoping that he will knock some sense into his seemingly senseless mate. lando beats him to it though.
"today while we were out, i asked her why she doesn't why doesn't wanna be with me and she said she was scared? she didn't get to tell me why." lando admits, his worry evident to his friend. max huffs at his friends obliviousness.
"she's scared because you're going around wearing shit your ex got you! doesn't help that your surrounded by girls flirting with you and you don't even shoot them down. and not getting any hints she drops? dude you're more stupid than i thought."
lando's brows rise as he lets max's words set in. he is completely shocked. he had not thought about any of this or about how it would effect you. he suddenly felt a rush of guilt wash through him. he needed to see you right now.
lando basically runs to you, leaves max at his flat and rushes over to yours. he needs to apologise as soon as he can. he needed you to know that you seriously are the one he wants the most.
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clockworkcheetah · 2 years
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guess i got another podcast petpeeve (or ive bitched about it before idk) but continous coughing/sighing/huffing ect when a characters injured but its done excessively
like the voice actor makes it go on wayyyy too long
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inuyashaluver · 4 months
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hi angel!! was wondering if you could do a grace clinton x reader fic where they’re doing media together and everyone is speculating that they have something going on bc of their chemistry?? thank youuu i love your fics!
chemistry - grace clinton
grace clinton x reader
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description: in which you and your best friend are always caught up in dating rumours
warnings: really not any?
a/n: kicking off pride month with gracie girl!!! hello, lovely!! love love love this request, too cute 🥺🥺 thank you so much for the love ❤️❤️❤️ enjoy! happy pride month to all of you!!
⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆
if there was something to know about you and your best friend, grace, the two of you were two peas in a pod. the two of you were quite literally attached at the hip, and you have been ever since you were 15.
and if you were to tell those cheeky 15 year olds that you were now dating, they would’ve said you were crazy.
you and grace were slight opposites and that’s what made the two of you so balanced out. the two of you were extremely cheeky and always getting caught into mischief.
yet, you could be reserved at times, needing a little extra time to open up to people, but grace always made it easier.
grace helped you out of your shell from a young age, and a lot of your teammates found that you calmed grace down a lot when she got over excited.
your relationship was pure, it just worked, it was fun and exciting yet heartfelt and genuine.
you both played together for england and followed grace around to different clubs. it was rare to see the two of you apart.
back in 2022, the two of you moved in together as you both played for manchester united, and during this time, you by very high demand made a tiktok account to document your daily life.
they were regular videos, some silly ones, serious ones, you didn’t think much of it until they blew up because of yours and grace’s videos.
videos of the two of you giggling on the couch playing with filters, or going to training together. people couldn’t deny the chemistry between the two of you.
you tried to act like the shipping comments didn’t affect you but they did. you harboured a crush on grace but pushed it aside knowing that the comments made her uncomfortable, as she would never look you in the eye when you would bring them up.
but what you didn’t know was that the comments overwhelmed grace because she thought she was being too obvious.
if people on the internet were catching on to her massive crush, she would surely be caught out by you. but of course, the two of you were clueless.
in 2023, you and grace both got loaned to tottenham and that’s when things really kicked off.
“hey, everyone! today i’m doing a get ready with me for game day” you smile at your phone propped up on the mirror of your bathroom.
you were chatting mindlessly, explaining who the match was against, how you were feeling, what was going to happen in the process.
these were your most popular videos, and you loved to make them to communicate with the fans.
“i’m feeling good today, hopefully i get to start, i had a niggle in my hip that was bothering me for the last two weeks and haven’t been able to play” you pout slightly at the camera, fixing up your hair the way you liked it for the game.
suddenly, grace comes in the room, sending the camera a cheeky grin as her arms wrapped around your middle, chin resting on your shoulder.
“gracie girl is here” you chuckle, growing louder when grace playfully pinches your waist with a quick kiss to your cheek.
she stares at you affectionately through the mirror, ready for the game and clearly waiting for you. she fixes a stray hair away from your forehead with her arms still wrapped around you tightly.
“why don’t you tell everyone why you have a niggle in your hip?” she laughs, you glare at her through the mirror, your hard gaze meeting with her amused one.
“no” you grit, trying to take grace’s arms off you but she was stronger, “yes” she quips, a shit eating grin evident on her face.
“grace, no, stop it” you warn, grace shakes her head, really wanting you to say the real reason you’ve been out for two weeks.
“fine, i’ll say it” she grins, your eyes widen, you turn in her arms, your hand clasping over her mouth as you glare at her, letting out a squeal when grace licks the palm of your hand. you could be a germaphobe at times.
“fuck, clinton, that’s gross!” you grimace, washing your hands immediately, clearly a bad idea because grace grabs your phone and makes a run for it.
you let out a heavy sigh, fighting a smile at the corner of your lips hearing grace’s little excited giggles.
“(y/n/n) hurt her hip because i stole her water bottle and she chased me in the rain and fell right on the pitch” she laughs, hearing you groaning from the bathroom.
“but don’t worry guys, i carried her everywhere and kissed her better” she says cheekily.
you laugh as grace comes back to you, pressing her cheek to yours as she held the phone close to your faces, both of you making silly faces.
you cut the video and get dressed into your kit, making grace film your finished look which really caught the attention of the fans.
“okay guys, final outfit, literally the spurs kit” you do a little spin and grace lets out a whistle, “so beautiful” she says adoringly, your cheeks slowly turning pink before you scrambled to get the phone off grace.
13,456 comments
gracex(y/n)fann: we love silly girlfriends
↳ (y/n)lover13: girlfriends? i thought they were best friends?
↳ ilovewoso: they are best friends
↳ wosofan99: they’re definitely dating, the way grace looks at her 😩
gracesfangirl: anyone else think they’re flirting orrr?
↳ (y/n)ismywife: they’re flirting so hard i feel so lonely
↳ graciestar: you and me both😞
you and grace continued to make videos and the popularity grew more and more on your account.
so much so, later on when you and grace made the senior lioness team, they always paired you up for media days.
“hello, i’m (y/n) (y/l/n)” grace says cheekily, you hold back a laugh, “and i’m grace clinton” you say back matching her energy. grace glances at you quickly with a smile before turning back to the camera.
“today, we are doing a food challenge, which will be interesting because gracie is a picky eater” you chuckle, receiving immediate protests from grace,
“nah, you’re picky too!” she accuses, pointing her finger at you sternly before gently booping the tip of your nose.
you scrunch your nose up slightly at the action, grace can’t help but blush a little at your soft gaze, quickly snapping out of it knowing you were on camera.
“okay, i’m a little picky but grace is a lot more picky than me” you shrug, looking down at the covered plate in front of the two of you.
“okay, whatever” grace scoffs teasingly, bumping your hip with hers. “so, we will be doing rock, paper scissors and one of us will be blindfolded, and then we guess the food” grace explains.
your eyes were trained on her the entire time she spoke, and when she turned to see you already looking at her, her heart sped up faster than her playing a full 90 minutes.
“let’s go!” you smile, turning to grace to start rock, paper, scissors. and of course, grace won.
she snickered as she gestured you to spin around, gently tying the blindfold over your eyes and spinning you around by your shoulders after she was done.
“is it too tight?” she asks with a hint of worry, you mindlessly wave out your hands, feeling for grace’s face, both of you giggling when you cupped her cheeks.
“nah, i’m good, hurry up!” you pinch her cheek, making her roll her eyes and face the camera.
“so impatient” she mouths, smiling before taking your hands off her face, squeezing them quickly before taking the closh off the plate.
and when it was opened, there were two little bowls, one with ice cream and one with hot sauce. clearly, the media team wanted you both to be evil, but grace couldn’t do that to you.
she spoons the ice cream into your mouth and you smile, “too easy, ice cream” you giggle, grace wiping off the remainder on the corner on your mouth, licking off the excess.
“well done” she praises, squeezing your bicep gently before moving to take off your blindfold after the media team presented a new plate.
the next time, you won and grace had a go at being blindfolded, and you felt a little cheeky with the options. one being wasabi and the other being peanut butter.
you scooped up the teenist amount of wasabi and instantly felt bad as it made way to her mouth. she immediately grimaced and coughed, you handed her water immediately and giggled when grace assured she was okay.
“that was disgusting” she coughs as you take the blindfold off, you wrap your arms around her neck and pull her down into a tight hug, uttering apologies as you kissed her cheek repeatedly.
grace flushed completely, her hand pressed firmly into the small of your back.
“i can’t believe i did that” you say against her cheek, holding her close with an apologetic smile, grace chuckles as she held you, pulling away slightly to press her own kiss against your cheek that had you flushed as well.
both of you pulled away with a clear of your throats, continuing the video with shy glances at each other. and like clockwork, the video. blew. up.
40,232 comments
graceswife: okay there is no way these two aren’t married with three children
↳ (y/n)swife: they have grandkids too, there’s no way they’re friends
ilovewoso: …i’m questioning everything i know
↳ (y/n)lover13: …so am i
graceand(y/n): i don’t know if i want to be (y/n) or grace
wosofan: grace, can you fight?
you both didn’t expect the amount of attention you were getting. gaining more and more followers, as well as an increasing amount of dm’s and comments questioning your’s and grace’s relationship.
on a free saturday, you were sitting on the couch in your shared flat, scrolling through endless comments about you and grace. you were up earlier than her, as grace liked to sleep in.
you looked worried as you scrolled, breathing a little heavily with a pit in your stomach growing. maybe you were coming on too strong? grace was probably so uncomfortable, you should have known better.
you couldn’t help the tears pricking in your eyes, it was overwhelming. you loved grace, you really did, and you felt occasionally that she might feel the same but the uncertainty grew larger through the years.
you heard the door of grace’s room open and you hurriedly wiped your tears, grace heard the sniffles and rushed over to where you were, worry flooding over her features.
“love?” grace says cautiously, heart breaking as you turned to her with a tearful smile, “morning” you choke out, grace moves around the couch to sit next to you, her hand grabbing yours and interlocking them.
“love, what’s wrong?” grace asks softly, her free hand wiping a stray tear escaping your eye. you take a deep, shaky breath, subconsciously moving closer to the girl you loved so much.
“the comments on the video we made is just a lot to handle” you breathe out, fighting back the tears seeing grace’s concerned face.
“the ones about us?” grace clarifies, you nod, your hand squeezing hers a little tighter. “you don’t like them?” grace asks cautiously.
“i just think i’d like for them to be true” you say after a moment of silence, bracing for the impact of rejection from your best friend.
“we can make them true” grace says without hesitation, her demeanour changing completely knowing you felt the same.
to say you froze was an understatement, your eyes meeting with grace made your body feel like it was on fire.
“i’ve always wanted that, babe” grace says earnestly, smiling brightly at your look of relief. “i have too” you say shyly, hearing grace tutt next to you.
“and you didn’t say anything? tsk” she mocks, her face stoic for a split second before you both broke out in a fit of giggles.
“you didn’t say anything either” you roll your eyes teasingly, “i didn’t say it verbally, no, physically, yes” she says charmingly, moving forward to place a kiss on your cheek.
she smiled feeling it grow warm under her lips, pulling away with a satisfied smirk. but what she didn’t expect was you leaning in for a kiss on her cheek, grace moving her head so your lips met with hers gently.
you pulled away slight with a surprised expression but leaned forward again until your lips just ghosted over hers, teasing her with a smile.
“so annoying” she joked, her hand making its way to your cheek and pulling you in for a kiss.
you giggle against her lips and she bites your bottom one warningly, both of you heavy breathing as grace lowered your back to meet with the couch, both of you kissing breathlessly in a languid, yet loving kiss.
when grace pulled away, she took in your appearance, kiss swollen lips with enlarged pupils, admiring how beautiful you looked, knowing you were doing the same with her.
both of your eyes twinkled. you both knew the wait was worth it to get to this moment.
“hey guys, today we are doing a get ready with me for camp for the lionesses” you smile at the camera, hearing a snicker coming from beside you.
“i have a very special guest for this one” you say cheekily, glancing over at grace with a knowing smile, holding out your hand for her.
she took it instantly, letting you drag her into the frame, grace with a bright smile that made your heart feel warm.
“my special guest is my girlfriend” you grin up at her, letting grace peck your lips quickly knowing it would go crazy on the internet.
“before we start, baby, i want to answer a question i saw in your comments” grace says pleadingly.
you giggle and nod, your girlfriend squeezes your hips gratefully as she kissed your cheek.
“to answer your questions, yes i can fight, and i will” she says with a hint of anger in her words, wrapping you up in a tight hug from behind as she kissed your cheek repeatedly, deja vu from the first video that gained a lot of attention.
your hands rest on grace’s with a loving smile before you helped each other get ready, answering some questions as you go along for fun.
when the video got posted, everyone flooded the video with messages of support, feeling the pure love emanating from the both of you.
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you know the drill - imagine it’s you! ily tooneyyy
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liked by alessia and 44,232 others
graceclinton_x: willing to fight anyone who tries to steal this one away from me
view all comments
yourname: me too! me too!
↳ graceclinton_x: get ready with us to fight other suitors
lionesses: we knew it 💅
↳ yourname: oh?
↳ graceclinton_x: oh?
↳ lionesses: long time coming, you two are so obvious
↳ spurswomen: painfully
↳ manutdwomen: painfully
↳ yourname: okay, no need for this.
638 notes · View notes
loaksky · 1 year
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— 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 | 𝒂. 𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏
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emt!abby x clumsy fem!reader, fluff / angst / smut (mdni!), wc: 8.8k (abby makes me ill).
synopsis: abby’s recuperating from a rocky relationship. tending to you more than once has gotta be fate.
content warnings: language, 18+ content (MDNI!): fingering (abby & reader receiving), oral (abby receiving), standard emotional constipation, non-graphic depictions of injuries / blood. let me know if i miss anything! not proofread well!
tagging those who interacted with my interest post! @eden-nox , @feeeeebbb , @thecowardwrites , @dawn-bunni , @dykefromstatefarm , @kingofcrabs17 , @deadliebalboa , @caitlinisfruity , @matchabxba , @abbysidechick
main masterlist | tlou masterlist
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THE FIRST TIME ABBY TENDS TO YOU is an embarrassing circumstance all its own. And not necessarily because you’d hurt yourself, but because of one meddling little sibling in particular.
It’s nearly 2am in the morning, a little brisk outside of the apartment complex, and Abby’s trailing behind her rotation partners up three rickety flights of stairs.
“Seattle EMS!”
The door’s flying open and a frantic girl no older than fifteen is ushering the trio in the apartment.
“It’s my sister,” she says quickly. “She cut her hand with a knife. Won’t stop bleeding.”
Abby’s observing her surroundings, eyes flitting around the space as they file quickly down the hallway, walls neatly littered with polaroids, picture frames, and various other decorations and knickknacks.
As they spill into the living room, Abby’s eyes settle on you, sitting on the coffee table in nothing but an oversized tee and some boyshorts.
There are tiny smears of red across your thighs, right hand applying pressure to your left palm with a wad of paper towels. One look at your face shows draining color and Abby’s setting the duffel on the floor.
“Need her rate and blood pressure,” one of her partners says. “Anderson, can you assess the damage?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Abby says, kneeling in front of you.
She swears she feels a jolt of electricity pass through her nitrile gloves when her fingertips brush your skin. You’re shaky, eyes droopy because you’ve never been great with blood.
“I’m gonna take a look,” Abby says softly, coaxing the paper towels away from you. “That okay?”
You nod, hair falling into your face as she turns your palm over to analyze the wound.
“Sheesh,” she whispers. “What’d you do?”
When you’re silent for a moment, warmth momentarily returning to your cheeks as embarrassment floods your system, Abby’s eyes swing to your younger sister who’s seemingly clocked the considerable tension between you and the hot EMT.
“We were making brownies,” she fills in helpfully. “Big sis was chopping up the nuts.”
One of Abby’s partners chuckles, the one filling out the paperwork, and Abby glances at you again, something niggling in the pit of her stomach when she sees the flustered way you bite your lip.
“Personally not a fan of nuts in my brownies, but that’s a hill I’ll die on.”
Abby’s trying to distract you, take your mind away from a the gnarly gash cut deep in your palm line. It works, she thinks, when you crack a small smile.
“Me neither,” you agree, and it’s the first words you say all night.
Your voice has a sweet rasp, one that makes Abby’s gut twist.
“Guess this means nuts really are a no go,” you say, hissing momentarily when Abby makes start with cleaning your wound.
For a moment she forgets you’re talking about brownies and your little sister’s searing gaze should be confirmation enough, but after gathering all of your important information and spending the next forty-five minutes cleaning you up, Abby’s being stopped in her tracks as they file out of the cramped living room.
Your little sister catches her as the two other techs swing into the third floor hallway.
“My big sis is gay, FYI,” she giggles mischievously. “Like real gay.”
You call her name, absolutely horrified.
Abby can’t help the smile that splits her face.
“Mmm, good to know.”
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You’d barely recovered from that moment, still reeling nearly a week later after your failed sleepover party with your little sister that ended in the hottest tech seeing you in the worst condition possible.
And while you thank every force above that Abby hadn’t seemed too perturbed by your sibling’s antics, it’s still something that makes you rub the heel of your palms into your eyes and kick your feet in annoyance before bed.
But just when you think you’re finally getting over it, you cross paths again.
Fate has a cruel way of flexing its humor because you’re turning an especially crowded corner in the freezer section of Whole Foods when your toe catches the corner display.
“Shit!” you hiss, basket clattering to the floor.
Your jar of extra garlic-y marinara is rolling away and a few of your lemons are scattering between avoidant feet.
“Hey, you alright?”
And you’ve heard that voice before, familiar hum haunting your dreams for the past week and a half.
You look up just as the body associated with the voice crouches in front of you, pasta sauce in one hand and trio of lemons in the other.
Of course it’s Abby in all of her glory. Her hair is loosened from her braid, falling over her broad shoulders as she searches your face. She’s in her work polo, few buttons undone and belt somewhat loosened.
Something akin to recognition flashes over her features as she takes you in.
“Thanks,” you whisper when she rights your basket and carefully sets the runaway items inside.
“You’re always hurting yourself,” she teases, standing to her full height before offering her hand out to you.
For a moment you were caught up, so engrossed in seeing Abby again like a direct manifestation of your very fears (and a wet dream or two), that you hadn’t noticed that people were staring.
Your face is hot as your fingers brush her palm and she’s hoisting you up like you weigh nothing. When you shift your weight to the foot you’d tripped on, your face screws up in discomfort.
Abby’s scarily perceptive, equal parts because it comes with the job even when she’s off duty, and also because it’s you. She doesn’t know what’s so different about you, especially because she hasn’t bat an eye at another girl in the past seven months since her previous break-up, but she can’t take her eyes off of you. She’s certain her pupils are blown wide by now.
“Does it hurt?” she asks, steadying you with warm hands.
Abby has to force herself to glance up at you when she happens to notice the way your chest hitches, pendant on the dainty chain that rests between the divot of your collarbones glinting under the fluorescents.
“A little,” you admit.
Abby doesn’t hesitate to take your basket alongside hers and offers you a perfectly sculpted arm.
God you could actually combust, not only because you’re beyond embarrassed but because Abby’s too fucking hot for her own good.
“Easy,” she tells you as you move through the aisles slowly.
She’s guiding you to a quiet corner in the foodcourt, setting you gently against the bench before plopping down next to you.
Your lips part to thank her, tell her that you’ll just rest here for a moment before going about your day, but she’s lifting your leg into her lap and undoing the strap of your sandal wordlessly.
“Oh—”
Her gaze swings to yours.
“Gotta get a better look,” she tells you with an easy smile, fingers gentle around your ankle.
She starts rolling, testing your range of motion. When your expression pinches, she’s rummaging through her basket, only to produce a frozen bag of peas a few moments later.
“Doesn’t look like any bruising is forming and you’ve got your full range of motion,” she observes. “Just a rolled ankle. Nothing some ice won’t fix.”
You stare at her unblinking, nodding stupidly as she applies a slight amount of pressure with the frozen vegetables.
“I, ah—” you let out a low hiss and Abby shouldn’t lick her lips, but her mouth’s dry and the skin of your legs are like butter. “I think I’ll be okay.”
The concern that shades Abby’s features makes you squirm on the bench, ankle still propped in her lap.
“Did you drive?” Abby presses, and she knows that this is a bad idea.
The two of you could be on your way, paths officially untangling, but something inside of her is compelled, tugged hard at the sight of you.
“No…” you trail off sheepishly. “I walked.”
Abby’s lips part, words escaping her before she can stop and think twice.
“I’ll walk you home,” she offers.
“Oh, Abby, you don’t have to do that,” you say gently.
It’s like someone squeezes the air from her lungs at the sound of her name leaving your lips in a rasped hum, makes her wet her lips again because her mouth’s gone dry.
“You’re probably really busy, I don’t want to be a bother,” you add with a soft smile.
“You wouldn’t be,” she assures you. “Just wanna make sure you make it home safe.”
And it’s such a sweet sentiment, one that makes warmth bloom in your chest and your tummy. But there’s a dull ache, a squeeze that makes your thighs involuntarily press together. It’s barely perceptible and you hope to whatever’s in the universe that Abby’s not keen when it comes to body language.
The planes of her face are serious, bump on the bridge of her nose pronounced as you watch the set of her jaw. Fuck, did you want her bad, feel embarrassment creeping because if anyone nearby could intercept your brain, they’d find a slew of less than appropriate thoughts accompanying the more tame.
Without another word, Abby’s hooking your sandal back on, patting your shin gently before setting you right and gathering the combination of your groceries and hers.
You make a move to follow her, but she levels you with a warning glare.
“Stay put,” she urges. “I’ll take care of it.”
“But, Abby—” you splutter.
Your name is stern on her lips and another dull ache ebbs as she stands over you in her uniform, muscles stretching the fabric taut.
She’s off a moment later and after what seems like an eternity waiting almost helplessly, Abby returns with a few paper bags. She’s stuffing the receipt in her pocket and your expression shifts, lips pursing.
“How much do I owe you?” you ask as soon as she offers her elbow to you.
“Don’t worry about it,” she quips, body tensing in the slightest as she acclimates all over again to the feeling of you clinging to her. “Now let’s get you home.”
“Abby!” you whine, drawing her name out petulantly.
It’s so domestic, all of it. Carrying your groceries with your arms looped through hers and the two of you strolling down the sidewalk to accommodate your hurt foot.
“What?” she mocks, and you can’t help but smile.
“You’ll be late for work,” you say softly, unable to stop the passing observation of how sturdy she feels against you.
“I’m off.”
And something like relief, excitement, jolts at the thought. Makes you hush the rest of the way to your apartment building like the courage is still brewing.
The middle-aged woman that sits at her desk in the lobby and plays Candy Crush half of shift pauses to spare the two of you a passing glance as you walk in, eyebrows raising and lips twitching.
“Afternoon, Marianne,” you greet sheepishly.
“Good afternoon,” she parrots, rolling her lips to hide the amused grin threatening to spread.
Abby is none-the-wiser as her eyes flit around the lobby in search for the elevators.
The ride up ends up being shrouded in total silence save for the whirring of the lift’s gears and your shallow breaths. For a moment, Abby wonders if she’s overstepped. If she’s made you uncomfortable and read all the signs wrong.
As the two of you approach your door, the very one her and her coworkers had banged on a little over a week ago, she’s trying to come up with the words to apologize, tell you that she really just wanted to make sure you were okay.
(Even though she’ll only ever admit to herself that perhaps part of it was self-indulgent and the softness of your skin was like a high).
But you’re beating her to it, untangling to shift your weight to your uninjured foot and turning to face her.
“Do you…” You swallow and blink once, then twice, gathering the rest of your courage. “Do you wanna come in?”
Oh— Abby hadn’t been expecting that. She’d been expecting you to fumble with your groceries and close the door in her face for good. But now you’re looking up at her through thick lashes and a shy grin and all she can think to herself in this moment is that she’s a goner.
“I’m making dinner,” you add. “If you’d like to stay.”
Another slice of domesticity that has Abby’s wires crossing.
“Sure,” she agrees easily, and it takes everything inside of her not to teem with too much excitement when you turn to slot your key into the lock and the door springs open.
Your apartment is just how she remembers it from the little details she’d picked up the last time she was here. That same scent of lemons and what she thinks could be incense. Though it’d felt a little out of line, unprofessional to be too engrossed in her surroundings the first time, especially when her eyes caught a particularly suggestive photo among the wall hosting polaroids.
You’re with a group of girl friends, bent over in a too short skirt so that the swell of your ass is pressed to the girl in the center’s front. The shot gives a perfect eyeful of your cleavage in a tiny little triangle bikini top and the cherry on top is the pair of red cat-eye glasses sliding down the bridge of your nose as you wink at whoever is behind the camera.
You pause at the end of the hallway when you notice Abby’s no longer close behind.
“Looks like somebody knows how to have a good time,” she observes jokingly, but her cheeks are so incredibly warm because christ you’re beautiful.
You’re sheepish.
“Definitely retired from that life,” you tell her, and she notes that the neat sharpie dates back nearly six summers ago. “Now I like to bake with my little sister and injure myself.”
Abby can’t help the smile when you start gazing at all the other polaroids tacked into a heart formation on the crisp white walls.
“You seem like the life of the party,” Abby says, eyes lingering on another polaroid of you in what seems to be a dorm room with a joint pinched between your fingers, sporting a feather boa, a paper crown that says ‘birthday girl’ and those same red sunglasses.
You huff out a laugh.
“I wouldn’t say that...”
She wonders if she’ll see that side of you. So far you seem so quiet, reserved. It makes her want to peel away the layers and learn you.
The thought makes her blink hard.
“Kitchen’s this way,” you say after a few moments pass, turning on your heel to pad down the hall and swing left.
Light pours from where you flip the switch to the kitchen’s fluorescents.
Abby finds that the living room and kitchen is far tidier than the last time she’d been here, obviously cleaned after the entire baking debacle with your little sister.
My big sis is gay, like real gay. The words were like a subtle push. One that made Abby weigh the potential.
She’s setting the paper bags on the counter, making a move to go through the bags to help you put the groceries away, but your hands close over hers, slightly smaller and warm as you halt her movements.
“You’ve done enough for me,” you say, smile crooked. “Make yourself at home.”
And the household phrase is so cliche, but makes a split second reel of what making herself fully at home entails. She’d never admit it out loud, but part of it is bending you over the kitchen island.
She swallows the lump in her throat as you limp around the kitchen.
“You should rest your foot,” she says.
Your smile widens.
“I’m okay,” you assure her.
She leans against the counter, watching as you file everything in its rightful place. The muscles in her face involuntarily twitch when you stand up on your tip toes to throw a box of cereal on top of the fridge.
Your ass looks absolutely edible in your jeans and the low cut of your top shows the way your shoulder blades contract.
Definitely doesn’t help her blooming kitchen fantasies.
“You want something to drink?” you offer.
“Just water, please,” Abby clears her throat, gaze snapping up to meet the gaze you throw over your shoulder.
And she has to use the cute little glass you give her as a lifeline, nearly crushing the frosted green glass to bits multiple times over the course of you prepping dinner and the actual thing.
Because not only are you wickedly witty in a way that’s easily overlooked, but you’re phenomenal in the kitchen. Nearly drools watching you cut through your produce while chattering happily about growing up on the west coast and your college years.
You work through the building heat to set a painted ceramic dish piled high with pasta that Abby absolutely devours with nearly as much fervor as she likes to think she would you.
“Good?” you ask hopefully, leaning forward on your elbows.
“Better than good,” Abby says eagerly. “Great, fantastic.”
“Yay,” you cheer pure-heartedly and she could melt. Especially when she polishes off the plate and you sit up straight. “More?”
She easily agrees just for the sake of watching you.
“You should, uh—” You scratch the back of your neck nervously as she continues eating. “You should stop by again. If you, y’know, wanna…I cook a lot and there’s usually a lot left over.”
Abby could scream in excitement. She’s one intrusive thought away from reaching over the island to squish your cheeks and tell you that there’s literally nothing else in the world she’d wanna do than to see you again. Instead she forces her composure with an easy smile.
“I’d really like that.”
And the way she sits back in her seat, legs obviously spreading under the surface to stretch has you wiggling uncomfortably. The last few buttons of her polo have come undone, exposing a freckled expanse of skin that you’d love to sink your teeth into, and somehow, sometime while your back had been turned, she’d opted for undoing the rest of her loosening braid to throw it into a topknot.
The tension is palpable, thick enough to choke, and at times, as the two of you chat over the kitchen island, it has you stumbling over your words.
Even more so when you walk her to the door at half past ten. She’s leaning against the doorframe like she doesn’t want to leave, and truthfully, you don’t want her to. Want to spend as much time as you can caught up.
“I’ll call you?” you bite the bullet despite the tremor in your fingertips.
Abby nods, arm banded around her paper bag of groceries, a tupperware of leftovers nestled on the top.
“Yeah, please,” she hums.
And there’s one final moment of tension that clings between the two of you as she kicks off the doorframe and you close the door, back pressed against the wood.
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After that night, the lines you dance blur impossibly. Always a will she, won’t she that seems to equally frustrate the two of you for vastly different reasons unbeknownst to the other.
You because you can’t get a read on Abby, always teetering over a steep edge trying to get her to bite your advances. But you know, know that there’s something there. Abby because she’s given more and more reason to fall into you with every passing moment, but can’t seem to take the plunge, entirely too freshly single to think about another commitment that could fail and leave her already mending heart beyond repair.
And she knows it isn’t fair, especially when the tension both romantic and sexual is absolutely brimming. You’re nothing like the partners she’s been with before, especially not her last girlfriend who was practically your polar opposite. You were gentle, sweet, funny. Good at practically anything you could get your hands on.
But something stalls her, keeps her from diving headfirst despite late nights laying on your living room floor talking about things both minute and infinite, cooking with you in the snugness of your tiny kitchen, even inviting you to outings with friends and vice versa.
So you take the plunge instead, one Saturday evening weeks after your first meeting, after spending long swathes of time tangled in each other’s presence.
You’re at a bar with her and her friends, slight buzz giving you the smallest nudge of confidence to cling to her arm. And god does Abby look good tonight, especially so, in a dark button up and fitted pants. She’s got her hair down, tickles your cheek when you nuzzle against her shoulder.
Her friends’ eyes are inquisitive, curious because touches between the two of you rarely linger for longer than a few moments, but you’ve been glued to her side all night. She doesn’t say anything though, doesn’t shrug you off, even wraps an arm around your shoulder when you return from the restroom.
So with a few more drinks and a little more liquid courage, you’re toeing a little over the line. You’ve pushed her hair over her shoulders, pressing your lips experimentally to the skin behind her ear. It’s a sensation that has her freezing up almost imperceptibly, but you can tell with the way her muscles grow taut under your fingers.
“What’re you doing, angel?” Abby asks quietly, span of her large palm gripping your thigh.
“Nothin’,” you hum, nose bumping her ear.
She breathes out a hollow laugh, tries to turn her attention to her friends who are obviously trying to ignore your displays of affection. But then your lips are brushing with more force against her collar and she’s sliding out of the stuffy booth to get some air.
Her resolve is obviously crumbling, even more so when she stands at the bar waiting for the next round of drinks and your arm bands around her waist, the other flattening below her belly button. When your pinkie slides beneath her belt buckle, she’s pushing off the counter.
And for a moment you think you’ve upset her when she gathers all the stout glasses and winds through the crowd to return to the booth you’d previously occupied.
You barely make it to the back of the bar when she’s emerging from the bodies and grabbing you roughly by the bicep.
“Abby—”
Her lips are slotting yours before you can apologize, and she tastes like cherries and liquor. Her arms wind around your waist, one hand on the small of your back, the other grabbing a handful of your ass.
“Abs,” you whisper breathlessly, unable to feel any embarrassment for taking up a high traffic aisle as she bites your bottom lip.
“Your place or mine?” she asks, voice gravelly. “Because you started something that I’m gonna need you to finish, princess.”
And your knees are jelly the entire trek to your apartment, insides liquid and tummy fluttering because a warmth has begun to pool in your panties. The way Abby can’t keep her hands off you through the elevator ride up makes it all the worse.
“You’re such a fuckin’ tease, y’know that?” she hisses in your ear as you miss the keyhole a few times. “For the last six weeks all you’ve done is toy with me and—”
Her breath hitches when she presses her front to your back and slides her hand up the skirt of your backless sundress to feel the stickiness forming between the plush of your thighs.
When you finally force the door open, Abby’s kicking off her shoes and her fingers are making work of her top buttons. You’re quick to swivel on your heel, shoving her roughly against the front door to push up on your tiptoes and pepper kisses over the curve of her jaw.
“Me?” you huff petulantly, an uncharacteristic gleam in your eye as your fingers are deft on her belt buckle. You unbutton her dress pants. “You waltz in here all the time looking so…so…fuckable.”
Abby nearly chokes on her breath.
“And you try to play coy, but I see right through you, Abby,” you say in such a gooey tone. She throws her head back and moans. “I see the way you look at me. The little things you do. You’re not subtle Anderson.”
And that’s new. Calling her by her last name.
Your hand’s down the front of her pants, under her boxers and you feel it. How wet she is. Feel the slick between her folds as you circle her clit.
“Oh, fuck,” she breathes, lips parted as she takes the sight of you in.
“Wanna make you feel good,” you sigh, biting your bottom lip as you stare up at her.
She nods eagerly.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” you hum.
Her hands come up to cup your cheeks, leaning down to steal a few kisses before her hand’s wrapping around your wrist and pulling you from her heat.
“Open,” she barks, guiding your fingers to your lips.
You do so without argument, the taste of Abby making your eyes hood.
You make a noise in the back of your throat, and Abby’s walking you back towards your bedroom.
“You wanna make me feel good?” she asks, back of her knees hitting the edge of your mattress. She’s got you situated between her legs, shucking off her top and shimmying her trousers and boxers off in one go. “Then get to work.”
She’s spreading her legs, gaze locked as you lower until you’re eye level with her cunt. The pale moonlight that filters the window making it absolutely glisten.
You’re kissing the skin of her inner thighs, hands on her knees as you glance up at her, only find her with her bottom lip tucked harshly between pearly teeth.
“Want you bad,” you admit breathily, biting the taut skin before laving at it with the flat of your tongue.
All you receive is a shaky breath, seemingly knocking the words straight from her lips.
“Nothing?” you taunt, biting the other side.
Abby’s opening her mouth to say something snarky, but your lips are on her clit and your middle finger’s sliding in with ease.
“Jesus, fuck,” she whispers breathlessly.
And you’re smug as you eat her out, vibration of your moans rumbling through her core when she threads her fingers through your hair and tugs ‘til the tension in your scalp stings deliciously.
“Shitshitshit,” she chokes when you add another finger.
Under normal circumstances, she’d be embarrassed when her body locks up and her legs shake after what seems like only mere moments, but after she comes down and the fog clears, she’s wiping that smirk off your pretty face.
The sight is one to see, Abby leaned against your headboard with your back plastered to her front. The skirt of your dress is scrunched around your waist, flimsy straps knocked from your shoulders.
She’s merciless, thick fingers plugging you full.
“Ah, Abby,” you hiss, hand wrapping around her wrist.
“Can’t get over how tight you are.” She bites your earlobe. “You can barely take two.”
As testament, she stuffs you deeper. The squelch is downright filthy, your arousal pooling down your slit and onto the sheets. For a moment Abby’s pulling her digits from your heat, spreading her fingers in front of your face to show you the stringy strands of clear that web her knuckles.
“See that, princess? See how wet you are?” she teases, other hand taking a palmful of your tits while her mouth maps each blemish and mark with kisses across your shoulders and neck.
“So fuckin’ pretty like this,” she husks. “Wish you could see how pretty you look.”
You throw your head back, chest heaving as her fingers curl inside the spongy walls of your cunt and applies such a toe-curling pressure against the spot that has you seeing stars. It makes your back arch, knees twitching against the legs that Abby uses to keep your thighs spread.
“You gonna cum, pretty girl?” she whispers, blowing air against the shell of your ear as her ministrations grow sloppy.
You nod quickly, body tensing.
“M’gonna fuckin’ cum,” you whimper, “Please, Abs, don’t stop. I’m—”
Abby could cum all over again when your chest pushes forward into her hold, head lolling back against her shoulder as you let out a pitched whine that sounds a lot like her name.
“Fuck!” you swallow, falling slack against her sticky skin as you gush.
Her other hand drops to your clit, lazy circles making your pussy clench around the fingers still stuffed inside.
“That’s right, princess,” she huffs. “Cream all over my fingers.”
Your breaths stutter, pussy clenching as you let out a needy little moan.
“So good,” she praises. “Such a good girl.”
And you’re absolutely boneless, head knocking gently against hers as you push further into her chest. You feel her weight shift as she reaches, then the gentle feeling of her cleaning you up despite sleepy overstimulated protests.
It’s warm in your room as Abby slinks down the pillows and pulls the covers up. Her chin rests on top of your head as you cozy up to her, mumbling about how much you like her and how you’ve waited for such a moment.
You don’t remember the last thing you say before you doze off.
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Abby does, though.
It keeps her up the entire night. Has her eyes blown wide as she stares up at the ceiling and the weight of the evening dawns on her.
Always wanna be with you. You’re my person.
And she doesn’t know how it’d gotten to this point. How did she let herself get so entangled with you? She’d always been aware that there’d been something there, that she was crushing and was almost a hundred percent sure you reciprocated, but this was far more than she’d anticipated.
It’s a step away from the ‘l’ word, and she’s not so sure it’s something she’s willing to fall into.
So Abby does what she does when she’s scared and she’s running. She’s replacing herself with your pillow as the sun comes up, heart squeezing when your cheek nuzzles against the fabric and your lips part to blow a breath.
She’s dressing as she makes her way to the front door, takes a final look at the polaroid wall that stares back at her as she tugs her shoes on, and slips out of the apartment building into the chilly Seattle air.
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You’d been prepared for a lot of things growing up and into yourself. Had learned to swallow the bitter side of sweet, but nothing could have prepared you for the splintering feeling of Abby’s absence.
You wake up a few hours after she leaves, naked and hugging one of your pillows. The apartment is eerily silent as you wait in stillness for any signs that she’s just an early riser.
There’s no shower running, no clattering in the kitchen, no shuffling in the hall. And when you survey your surroundings, comforter wrapped around your shoulders, you suck in a deep breath.
Maybe she has work.
It’s a futile attempt to rationalize the situation, but you know Abby. Know that she’d leave a note, maybe a text, or—
You scramble for your phone, but deflate when you find a notification to water your virtual plant. For good measure, you open her text thread, but all that stares back at you is the confirmation that she was picking you up the night prior.
“Oh, Abby,” you whisper to yourself, something like sickness making your stomach twist.
The cursor blinks, keyboard clicking as you type and retype anything that’ll confirm that maybe you’re just being paranoid, reading into things too much.
So you settle on good morning 💘.
It’s almost instantaneous.
Read at 7:47am.
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It takes a little under two weeks for Abby to surface again. Not without ample prodding. You’re a communicator, she realizes, as she sits outside of Jo’s Coffee and stares down at the string of texts from you over the past week and a half.
pretty girl: good morning 💘
pretty girl: have a good day at work
pretty girl: i made dinner if you wanna stop by
pretty girl: can i swing by the station with lunch?
pretty girl: just want you to know that i’m thinking of you
pretty girl: meet for coffee? wanna see you.
pretty girl: text me whenever you’re comfortable, i’ll leave you alone til you’re ready 💗
That final text is what makes her crack. Makes the guilt eat away at her. So she messages you when her shift is over.
me: jo’s at 4
pretty girl liked ‘jo’s at 4’
She looks up when the chair across from her scrapes against the concrete. You drop into the seat, fresh-faced and obviously newly showered. But she can see it in your eyes, the bags that puff like you’ve been crying.
And you have, even if you won’t admit it, because Abby’s the closest thing you’ve felt to what love could be like and these past two weeks have been agonizing as you try to pick apart every single facet of your situationship with her.
“How are you?” you ask, giving her a weak smile over the table.
“Good,” Abby lies, but you don’t see through her poker face and it stings, thinking that she’d been so unaffected by all of this.
You nod, fiddling with the fake leaves of the center piece.
“I missed you,” you admit shakily.
And fuck, did Abby miss you too, but she can’t find it in herself to face her fears head on. So she just nods, biting the inside of her lip.
“Didn’t miss me?” you tease, trying to make light of the situation.
“I don’t think we should see each other anymore,” Abby cuts to the chase, words leaving her lips like a shot that echos in the night.
It makes your ears ring, your brows furrowing as your lips twitch into a frown. Abby braces herself, knows what a brewing argument feels like. It’s sick to say that it’s familiarity, that sharp words and hoarse voices are a norm.
But you just shrink in your seat.
“Why?” you whisper.
Abby sucks in a deep breath.
“You don’t remember what you told me?” she asks like an accusation.
You blink.
“You told me that you wanted to be with me. That I’m your person,” she says.
And you wonder what’s so wrong with that. Especially when you’ve spent two months glued, when you were so sure it was mutual.
“I do,” you affirm softly. “You are.”
Abby squeezes her eyes shut, shakes her head.
“I’m not—” She clears her throat. “I don’t want a girlfriend. I don’t need the distraction. Especially not now with work and my personal life.”
Ouch. That had hurt, Abby calling her time with you and any subsequent moments nothing more a distraction.
“Oh.”
She doesn’t know why your response frustrates her, makes annoyance pinch the back of her brain as she takes you in, but it does. Full force.
“We’re better off as friends,” Abby says. “It’s easier, it’s—”
“Friends don’t fuck each other, Abby,” you say simply, and the calmness in your tone makes her upset.
She’s used to the shouting, to the arguing and being at each other’s throats in conversations like these. But you never fail to amaze her as you keep your composure.
“I have no intention of sleeping with you again,” she says stonily. “That night was mistake. I hadn’t been with someone in months and you were giving me attention and—”
In her frustration with the entire conversation, she hadn’t realized that tears were pooling in your eyes. That you were trying not to cry.
Her face softens when she notices.
“I’m sorry, I just—”
“You what?” you murmur. “What were these past three months, Abby?”
“I dunno,” Abby sighs in annoyance. “Two people enjoying each other’s company? We were drunk and—"
You simply nod, knuckling away the brimming tears before shrugging your bag over your shoulder.
“Where are you going?” Abby sighs when you stand.
“Home,” you answer quietly. “Whatever. Let’s just forget any of this ever happened.”
She grabs your arm over the table, opening her mouth to apologize again, but you’re shaking her off.
“Take care of yourself,” you tell her.
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The days blur like the edges of a muddy watercolor.
You start to think that things could look up, that maybe Abby was put in your life for some reason you’ll uncover in the future. But the universe can be so cruel sometimes, knows exactly what to do to shatter the broken pieces you’d tried so hard to glue together.
It comes in the form of a night out nearly a month after you’d last seen Abby. She made no additional efforts, just left you wondering if you’d imagined it all, and your friends are especially tired of your moping.
It’s a surprise!
And you’re not really one for surprises. Especially not now, but they’re dragging you out, carting you across town. Your stomach sinks to your ass when you see the familiar neon lights. Feel your chest tighten on the trek up the stairs to the same bar that preluded your spiral.
You could throw up when you’re situated in a booth with your friends and you glance at the bar by chance.
Abby’s leaned against the counter top, looking as good as ever, but she’s not alone. There’s a girl that hangs off her shoulder, skin umber and eyes warm. She makes no moves to distance herself and you don’t know why you feel the anger begin to sizzle. Abby hadn’t been yours in the first place.
“What do you wanna drink?” one of your friends asks.
“Nothing,” you answer stiffly.
She follows your gaze to the countertop, sees the way your eyes burn.
You’d kept your situation with Abby private, didn’t want to jeopardize such a potentially good thing with your well-meaning meddling friends at such a fresh stage. But now that it’s soured, you stare openly.
“That’s her, isn’t it?” she asks, and your avoidance is answer enough. “C’mon, let’s show her what she missed out on.”
As it turns out, it doesn’t seem like much. Because she doesn’t even blink when you sidle up to the counter with your friend, three patrons between the two of you.
You’d always thought the two if you had a sixth sense for the other, but Abby’s oblivious to her surroundings, too engrossed in her drink and the pretty brunette hanging off her shoulder.
One of the bartenders goes up, asks what he can get for the two beautiful ladies, and your ears perk when her voice sounds. Nearly throw up the empty contents of your stomach all over the bar top when you see the way she slings her arm over the girl’s shoulders.
“Another vodka soda for my girl.”
She’s buzzed, you can hear it, but it’s the most sound declaration you’ve heard from her in the time you’ve known her.
You break away from the bar, and you run.
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Abby feels like a shell of herself.
She’d gone out over the weekend, celebrating a visit from a close friend from the east coast. And it’d done a good job of numbing the pain for a little while, of taking her mind off of you.
But it’s Tuesday, the first day of her rotation this week and she hates that this feels worse than her previous break-up despite the unlabeled status of your relationship. You hadn’t even put up a fight, just took her rejection in stride.
It makes her feel infinitely worse, knowing you didn’t have it in you.
She doesn’t even realize she’s spaced out in front of the drink coolers of the convenience store after her shift when a voice snaps her out of it.
“S’cuse me.”
And she knows that voice. It’d been her greenlight all those nights ago.
Your little sister is brushing past her, going straight for the Body Armors and Gatorade. She must feel the way Abby stares because she’s side-eyeing the older girl from her post.
“Oh, it’s you,” she says, turning her nose up in the air.
Abby swallows.
“Hey to you too,” she says hesitantly.
Your little sister humphs, snatching the golden berry flavor and a yellow Gatorade. Abby takes a moment to glance at her basket, sees fever medicine and Tylenol among other things like instant ramen and Vitamin C gummies.
“Are you sick?” she asks.
Your little sister’s face screws up in annoyance.
“No, but my big sis is,” she says matter-of-factly.
That information makes Abby’s heart sink.
“She alright?” she asks carefully.
“She’s seen better days no thanks to you.”
And on a normal day, Abby would laugh because your little sister is witty, just like you. Can see where she gets it from. But right now, all she can imagine is you bed ridden and coughing up a lung.
“I can take a look at her,” Abby offers suddenly. “I—”
“Yeah fucking right,” your sibling scoffs.
Her language stuns Abby and this time she really can’t help but chuckle.
“You think this is funny?” she gripes. “You broke my sister’s heart. She’s been so fuckin’ sad because of you and you’re laughing.”
Abby sobers up quick, shakes her head.
“No, no, that’s not—,” she splitters urgently. “I– I’m laughing ‘cuz you’re just like her.”
Your little sister doesn’t look convinced, uses the back of her hand to wipe her nose as she levels Abby with an unrelenting stare.
“You suck, y’know that?”
“Yeah,” Abby sighs, hands flailing in defeat. “Trust me, I know.”
“And you’re a pussy,” your little sister adds childishly. “I know you really like my sister.”
Abby doesn’t even bother denying it, just stands there with a prepackaged sandwich that pales in comparison to your cooking and a diet soda.
“I do,” she affirms quietly.
“Then do something about it,” she says surprisingly. “My sister’s a catch, the coolest person I know. You’d be the biggest fucking dumbass if you don’t lock her down.”
And her candidness makes Abby crack a smile.
They stand there for a few moments in silence before your little sister is shoving the basket in Abby’s arms and prancing down the aisle.
As soon as Abby’s paid, black plastic bag in her grasp, she finds that your little sister has lingered outside of the convenience store.
She’s shoving a key in her hands.
“She’s too tired to open the door,” she says. “She likes extra lime in her ramen and runny eggs. Also hates swallowing pills so you’ll probably have to crush it up and put it in her water or something.”
“Who’s the EMT here?” Abby grumbles.
Your little sister pins her with a narrowed look.
“Don’t fuck this up Anderson,” she warns. “If Big Sis asks, I took a train to the mall to meet up with my friends.”
And just like that, she flounces away.
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You’re asleep when she sneaks into your apartment.
She kicks her shoes off, sets the bag of convenience store goods on the kitchen island before padding through the living room to peek into your room.
Buried under a mound of blankets, just your eyebrows and forehead peek from the top as you snore softly. When she peels the covers away, she not only finds that you’re sweaty and your cheeks are flushed, but you’re wearing her favorite hoodie.
She hadn’t realized she left it here, but seeing you in it has her sinking to her knees by your bedside, chin resting on her bent arm.
“Hi, angel,” she whispers quietly, pushing the sweaty strands of hair from your face. “Missed you.”
You don’t budge, cheek smushed in your pillow as you snooze peacefully. And maybe she shouldn’t have come here, because all it’ll take is you asking her to stay.
She tucks the blanket to your chin, leans forward to press a kiss against your temple.
In the kitchen, she’s only reminded of how much she misses you. Misses this. She’d spent nearly everyday here during your time together. Brushed shoulders with you while you guys cooked together, leaned against the counter while you took extra care plating her food despite her protests of ‘we’re gonna eat it anyways’. You guys frequently laid out on the living room floor, snacking while watching movies, flipping through coffee table books or getting existential.
She’d made so many memories here, made a home out of you.
The thought stirs something emotional inside of her, makes tears prick the corner of her eyes as she rips open the packet of ramen and digs the seasoning sachet out.
Frustration wells as she goes through the motions in your kitchen by herself. Wonders why you had to go and be so fucking wonderful and make her fall for you.
She’s halfway through and angrily brushing her tears away when she hears your door creak open and your voice croak your little sister’s name in question.
When you stand in the doorway of the kitchen, her name is falling from your lips.
“Abby?”
You rub your eyes momentarily and Abby feels like the biggest piece of shit on the planet as you stand there with the hood of her pullover on, Christmas pajama pants and some crew socks.
“Hi,” she breathes.
“What are you doing here?” you ask, bewildered eyes bouncing around the kitchen as you take in your surroundings. The bags under your eyes are swollen, your lips chapped as you fidget in the archway.
“I ran into your sister at the convenience store,” she admits. “She said you were sick.”
“And?” It’s like you can’t fathom the fact that Abby would have any concern for you. Something like anger bubbles at the idea.
“What do you mean and?” Abby asks, eyebrows furrowing. “You’re sick and I… I care about you.”
There’s that normalcy again, that familiar feeling of emotions beginning to reach its boiling point. But she’s not angry at you. Could never be when all you’ve been is perfect to her. And perhaps in the back of her mind that plays the tiniest role, because you’re everything she could ever want, need, but she steady fucks it up every go around.
“Do you?” you whisper.
You look small, defeated, unable to meet her eyes.
“Of course I do, what are—”
“You really hurt me, you know that?” Your breath hitches. “You came into my life like fate, over and over again. Still do apparently. And you— You made me like you more than I’ve ever liked someone in my life. You let me see you, let me fuck you, let me… let me…”
It’s your first real display of heightened emotion. You don’t bother trying to hide your tears, or hide the way Abby’s built you up and ruined you these past four months.
“And then you just left.”
The lump in her throat nearly chokes her breathless.
“I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, y’know?” you continue and Abby’s hands tremble. “That maybe you really just needed the time for yourself, but then I saw you, and—”
“Saw me what?” Abby interjects. “Where?”
“At the bar,” you squeak. “She’s really fucking pretty, and I hope she makes you—”
“What are you talking about?” Abby grills, taking a step towards you.
“If you didn’t want to be with me, if you didn’t feel the way I felt about you, you could have just said that,” you whimper, dashing the tears away in embarrassment. “You didn’t have to make an excuse about not wanting a distraction.”
“I’m so lost right now,” Abby says. “I—”
“I saw you at the bar this weekend,” you tell her straight. “You were with a girl, called her yours.”
And that floors her. She’s almost a hundred percent certain she would’ve felt your presence a mile away, But as you reveal that you’d only been meters away from her, the closest you’ve gotten in weeks, it makes her gut pinch.
She wracks her brain, tries to recall that weekend, tries to think of any woman who’d give you the idea that she’d choose anyone but you.
She draws a blank at first, but then she remembers the bartender’s passing comment.
You and the birthday girl are too sweet.
Abby had fake retched and Nora’d drawn out an exaggerated ewwww as the bartender set the vodka soda before them.
She’d been far too engrossed to realize that you’d been in the vicinity. But she’s not so sure she would’ve done much to take advantage of your presence if she had.
This is her first act of courage in months and she’s falling head first as she crosses the berth between the two of you.
When she stands a few inches away, you look up at her, thick lashes wet and nose snotty. You look like a mess, but Abby’s always thought you were beautiful.
“Nora’s not my girlfriend,” is the first thing she says.
You think you should feel relief, some semblance of hope flickering, but this feels a lot like uncertainty and you hate the limbo.
You don’t say anything, just wipe your nose on the back of your hand.
“I’m sorry,” Abby whispers, hands coming up to grasp your shoulders.
You make a noise in the back of your throat, corners of your mouth turning down in that telltale sign that you’re not done crying yet.
“C’mon, angel, stop crying,” Abby says weakly and the nickname makes your stupid heart flutter.
Her thumbs are brushing underneath your eyes, over the puff of your eyebags before she’s crushing you to her chest, one hand cradling the back of your head, the other winding around your shoulders to keep you anchored.
Your arms wrap around her waist, taking in the scent of her pine body wash and the softness of her detergent.
“I hate you,” comes your muffled hiccup.
Abby only hugs you harder.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid.”
And perhaps she deserves that, but you’re pushing your face further into her chest and she barely hears you.
“I missed you,” you admit a second later, back of her work shirt fisted between nimble fingers.
A shuddering breath leaves her at the admission, makes her body relax as the two of you stand at the edge of your kitchen.
“Missed you,” she murmurs, savoring the way your body feels melding against hers for the first time in weeks. “Fuck, I missed you so much.”
“You’ll stay?” you whisper.
“Yeah, yeah,” she assures you. “I gotta go home and get some stuff, but of course I’ll stay.”
Your hold tightens and your head shakes.
“I mean stay, Abby,” you clarify. “With me. Don’t…don’t run away anymore.”
Her breath catches in her throat, a new onslaught of tears choking her as she nods fervently.
“Yeah,” she croaks, kissing the top of your head. “M’not going anywhere.”
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BONUS
You don’t know where the time goes. It all seems to blur together in the moments you spend with Abby, and before you can wrap your mind around the fact, a full year has passed the two of you by.
“You look so pretty,” Abby comments, sitting on the edge of your bed with her legs spread.
She’s watching you through the mirror, blue eyes piercing and unblinking.
You don’t think you’ll ever get used to the way she always seems to make you warm.
“Thanks,” you mumble, unable to hide the smile that twitches while you screw the cap back onto your lipgloss to take one final look at yourself.
“Not gonna say it back?” Abby feigns annoyance, pushing up from her seat to wrap around you, one hand bracing against the dresser as her chin drops to your neck.
“Then it’d be insincere,” you deadpan, head tilting to rest against hers.
She humphs under her breath, shamelessly sliding a hand up your dress.
You stop her fingers in their tracks, pushing off from the drawers to create space between the two of you and alleviate the warmth beginning to bloom behind your navel.
“We’re gonna be late for Nora’s birthday,” you quip, fingertips barely brushing the doorknob before Abby’s hands are gripping your waist.
She’s hoisting you to throw you against the mattress playfully.
“She’ll survive if we’re ten minutes late,” Abby assures you wolfishly, climbing over you to cage your body between her thick thighs.
“You’re gonna mess up my hair,” you whine, pushing at her shoulder.
Abby captures your wrists in one hand, other tilting your chin up to slot her lips between yours. The taste of the fresh coat of lipgloss you’d just applied makes her smile against your mouth.
She relaxes a fraction when you reciprocate, tongue languid. A noise of approval rumbles from her chest when you nudge her onto her back and bite down on her bottom lip. With a wicked glint in her eyes, she’s pulling away, hands resting against the curve of your ass.
Now you’re straddling her, manicured hands mapping from her waist to her shoulders to feel the ripple of taut muscles underneath. She’s tense, obviously waiting for your next move with bated breath and kiss bitten lips.
But then you shift teasingly over her zipper.
“Let’s go,” you hum, pressing a final kiss to her jaw before climbing off of her anticipating figure. “No dessert before dinner.”
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agoodroughandtumble · 8 months
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I Could Stay Like This Forever - Zoro x F!Reader Oneshot
Status: Complete
Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x F!Reader
Summary: Zoro overhears you and Nami talking about him
Warning(s): 18+ Language, implied smut
“Mm, I could stay like this forever,” you say with a sigh, stretching out on the sun lounger. It was a rare afternoon of calm for you and the rest of the Straw Hats, and so you and Nami had taken the opportunity to relax and enjoy the warm weather on deck – and maybe catch a tan at the same time.
Nami snorted, “No you couldn’t. You’ll be bored in five minutes. Ten tops.”
Normally she would be right. Whenever you tried to just do nothing there was the inevitable fidgeting, the niggling feeling that you should be doing something, anything productive. This time however, you were more than content to lay back and enjoy the view. And it just so happened that view involved an unnecessarily shirtless swordsman doing press-ups. You hadn’t intended to stare – you were quite content just enjoying some free time with Nami but when Zoro had walked out onto the deck, half undressed and started working out only five or so feet in front of you … well, you were only human.
You bit your lip involuntarily when you heard him grunt. Fuck, he was hot. You’d always thought so, always been unable to look at him without feeling a flush in your cheeks and, well, other things. This was only exacerbated by the beads of sweat sparkling against his tanned skin, the way his muscles moved and proudly exhibited his strength and control. This man was going to be your undoing.
Lost in your, somewhat salacious, thoughts you were completely unaware Nami was trying to get your attention until she jabbed your arm. “Ow! What?”
She rolled her eyes and leant back into her lounger. “Y/N, stop being a perv and just fuck him already.”
Heat rushed to your cheeks, “Nami!”
“Oh, like he’s listening.” Flashing you a mischievous grin she raised one hand at started waving it in Zoro’s direction. “Hey Zoro!” He didn’t look up, seemingly too absorbed in his work out. “See,” Nami turned back to you with a look of satisfaction. “So, what position are you thinking first?”
With a curse and groan you buried your face in your hands, praying that Zoro really was completely oblivious.
*
Zoro would be lying if he said the sight of you on a sun lounger, in a bikini of all things wasn’t at least a little distracting. When he’d walked into the deck for his work out his heart nearly dropped to his stomach at the sight. Sure, he’d seen you in states of undress before but usually when you were injured, which wasn’t exactly an aphrodisiac. Or the time when you’d had too much to drink so he’d had to help you to your cabin whilst you wrestled with your clothes because you were “too hot” – which, yes, obviously Zoro also agreed that you were too hot but at the time he’d been more concerned with you not throwing up and suffocating in your sleep. He could deal with those occasions. He’d had a specific task at hand – your safety. But this time was different. You were perfectly safe, sober, and God help him, sprawling.
Swallowing hard and trying to think of absolutely anything other than the curves of your hips and how soft and supple your thighs looked, he’d started his press ups. Hopefully he could focus on that, and only that, although at this point if he stared at the wood below him any harder he was sure to burn a hole through it.
“Just fuck him already.”
He tensed, fingertips pressing so harshly against the deck his skin was starting to turn white. Fuck who? Who was Nami telling you to fuck? Wait. Breathe. He exhaled slowly, deliberately and tried to continue unfazed despite the slight shaking of his arms, telling himself this was a private conversation and he shouldn’t be listening.
“Hey Zoro!”
Oh fuck.
He almost buckled and would have collapsed face first onto the deck if his instincts hadn’t kicked in. Did you and Nami know he was listening? He thought, he was sure, he’d managed not to react to anything he’d heard but perhaps he wasn’t as subtle as he liked to think. His cheeks were growing hotter by the second and it was taking every last inch of his willpower to carry on, feigning ignorance. It was, however, growing increasingly difficult as the conversation continued.
“I’m not fucking Zoro, Nami. Obviously I would but… I don’t know. I don’t think he sees me like that.”
He could feel his heartbeat growing faster, and was certain his cheeks were now an obnoxious shade of red – although whether that was due to his ego at the thought of you wanting to fuck him, or confusion and embarrassment of the fact that you could possibly think he was anything other than insanely attracted to you was unclear. Either way, he had to stop his work out.
Zoro stood up, making sure to keep his back to you and Nami. He tried to focus on stretching his arms but all of his senses were on high alert. Of course he saw you like that. Who wouldn’t? Fuck, he’d got a semi just by seeing you on the sun lounger.
“Right.” He could hear the sarcasm in Nami’s voice which automatically annoyed him. “Listen, you two need to stop eye-fucking each other and actually fuck-fuck each other. And then tell me all the det-ow!”
An amused smile formed on his lips – clearly he wasn’t the only one getting hot and bothered by Nami’s comments. Although as much as he hated to admit it, she was right, and he did so desperately want to fuck you. Only problem was he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of thinking it was her idea. Still, he did have to give her credit for the groundwork, and now that he had calmed down (and there was no mistaking that the feeling was, somewhat incredibly, mutual) he was more than happy to work with his new advantage.
Part of him wanted to just turn around and tell you to meet him in the crow’s nest – to just do everything he’d ever fantasised about and more, to mark you undeniably as his own and keep you his forever. But the other half, the sadistic half, wanted to see how long it would take for you to admit what you had just said to him. He wanted you begging at his feet and desperate for even the slightest touch or the promise of validation. This was going to be fun.
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Tim Drake: Ugly Duckling (dp x dc)
So this is the last day of pride month, and so also the last day of me trying to write as many LGBTQ+ canon dc characters. It’s been fun (and I got to read a whole bunch of comics which was actually much more fun than the first time I’d tried to read those!!)
Now even though this is the end of June, feel free to send an ask if you want me to write a blurb with any character. I make no promises, but I will very much try! (It might take a while especially if I’m in a Tumblr hibernation phase.)
Anyways, for the last day of pride month I wanted to do Tim Drake coz he’s dc’s main “it” gay girl. I’ve been working on this Dead Tired fic for ages, based on the post about Tim getting turned into a swan and meeting Danny, who as a prince has to give him a kiss to change him back (I can’t find the prompt but it was hilarious so this was my take on it).
Here’s the beginning of the fic:
Red Robin was on patrol duty, while Batman and Robin were following a lead on possible joker safehouses. All in all, It was a pretty quiet night with only two muggings, both low-energy as both perpetrator ran away as soon as a bat-shaped shadow moved. 
So Red Robin had spent most of the night chatting with Babs. He was grappling around town, as they started on the new date app they’d both found out Jason was using.
“I told him he can’t put only photos of his motorcycle but- wait I’m getting a call,” Oracle interrupted herself. Tim waited before the earpiece came to life again.
“Sorry to cut this short Red Robin, got a full-attention request from Canary. If you need anything, beep me, and Keep your coms open.”
“Bye, Oracle,” he said, and like that, Red Robin was alone once again.
 He stopped on Grand Avenue Station and just let himself take in Gotham. The city was beautiful at night, and Tim was itching for a camera. He seen hundreds of pictures of the city’s skyline but they always managed to be unique. The night sky may always be covered by dark clouds above, but Gotham had its own stars in the lights shinning on top of the skyscrapers. So lost in his thoughts, Tim was, he almost missed the soft noise that sounded behind him. The voice that sounded behind him was harder to miss.
“Wither away so late, Little Red Bird?”
Red Robin turned to see a tall woman standing half in the shadows
“Sorry, can I help you?” Answered the vigilante despite the bad feeling creeping up to him.
“I’d like to know where I can find your guardian,” the woman said, still in the shadows.
“You mean Batman?” He chanced.
The woman nodded and Tim resisted the urge to sigh.If this was another one of Bruce’s ill-advised fling, Tim was going to hack every electronic device the man had to play sex-eds on loops for at least a week.
“He’s busy at the moment.” Then feeling like he shouldn’t assume what the woman wanted Bruce for, he continued. “But if you need any help, I’ll do my best.”
The woman stepped forward, and Tim could see her better. Her face was bare, but her distinctive outfit seemed to indicate she was some kind of vigilante-slash-criminal. The outfit did, in fact, ring a bell in the back of his mind, but it was dim. Tim didn’t tense up, but he did angle his body in a way to accommodate for a better escape through grappling. She continued walking until she was within arm’s reach of Tim, towering over him. She extended a hand to lightly caress his cheek, and Tim went still at the touch.
“Such a kind Little Bird you are,” she said gently. “You know, you remind me of my daughter.” She sighed. “Oh, what pretty children you both are.”
“Thank you,” said Tim as he sidestepped out of the way. “I’m sure she’s a lovely person.”
“Oh she was,” the woman said and through his growing wariness, Tim spared a thought for the girl. “She had dark hair and the fairest skin, just like you. The most beautiful girl in the land some would even say.”
That niggling feeling came back as a feeling of familiarity poked at him once again. “You must’ve been very proud.”
The woman let out an airy laugh before saying playfully/contemplating. “mustn’t I?”
A shiver ran down his back. Alright, there was something wrong with this woman, and Tim wasn’t waiting around to find out what. Not without any information or backup.
“Well, if there’s nothing I can do for you, I really have to get going,” Tim said as he took out his grapple gun. In a second, the gun was ripped from his hand , and he was slammed to the side of the staircase leading up to the roof. He let out a gasp at the impact and his features tensed in pain. The woman hadn’t even touched him.
“Not so fast, Little Bird. We don’t want you going back to the Batman just yet.  I’m not ready to make him my Knight yet.”
“Your knight?” Tim managed to get out. He tried to move his arms, but some unseen force was pinning him in place. Shit, that meant he couldn’t reach the comm to send out a distress signal. Hopefully Babs would check in soon.
The woman smiled as she approached him once again. “What better for a Queen, than a Dark Knight?”
And just like that it clicked. “You’re the Queen of Fables.” 
“Well look at this, you’ve got the brains and the beauty,” she teased, her voice as smooth as honey.
“What do you want with Batman?” Tim asked though he could guess from previous encounters she had had with the Justice League that the villainess wanted to turn Bruce into a fairytale character of some sort. She’d done the trick on Clark, and twice on Diana, so it was probably Batman’s turn now. So, yes, Tim could guess, But the longer he kept her talking the more time he had to figure out a way out of this.
“I told you, he’ll be a Knight of the Queen,” She extended a hand and tilted Tim’s face up. “Do you know what that would make you Little Bird?” 
Most villains assumed the batclan worked like a crime family. So the family of a knight? “Nobility,” Tim guessed, unsure where this was going.
“Exactly.” She smiled, and then she moved. Tim braced for the hit.
Instead of a punch though, he only felt a tingling sensation. Cautiously, he opened his eyes, only for them to grow bigger as he took in his uniform. Or the lack thereof.
He was in something-century clothing, in some sort of frilly shirt and pants, all in white. This was worse than a punch. Then, as the thought hit him, Tim’s hands flew to his face only to come in contact with the silky fabric of a masquerade mask. He sighed in relief, and as he calmed down, he realized he was now free of the force pinning him down.
“The color is for my daughter,” the Queen said. Then, she let her head fall to the side before tracing a line across his forehead and Tim could feel something like a circlet setting down on it. “There you go. Now, it’s perfect. You could practically be siblings.” 
“No thanks.,” Tim answered.
The Queen tsked him. “That’s no way to behave Little Bird, has nobody taught you to say thank you when you receive a gift.”
“I don’t want anything from you,” Tim disagreed mildly as he took stock of his weapons. Everything was gone, including the earpiece, which meant Babs had to have been alerted and someone was en route.
The Queen frowned. “I was going to be merciful, for you guardian’s sake, but I no longer feel generous.” She raised her hand and Tim tried to roll away, but the magic beam swerved and hit him in a blinding flash of light.
When he managed to open his eyes once again, the world seemed quite a bit bigger than it had been moments before. 
“What did you do to me?” He said. Or tried to say.
Instead a strange squawk echoed and Tim took a step back in surprise. However, he lost his balance and started to fall and as he tried to catch himself with his hand, two large white wings unfolded. He dropped down, which wasn’t as far as he would’ve estimated and laid stiff. He moved his left arm, and a white wing followed suit. 
Oh, no. Oh no no no.
A grating laugh interrupted his freak out. “There you are my pretty Little Bird, all better. White really is your colour, don’t you th-“
With a loud hiss, Tim propelled himself towards the woman. Making use of his newfound beak, he pecked and bit everything he could, as he flapped his wings.
“Blasted creature- Get off! Stop it, you despicable, puny-“ 
Finally she managed to grab Tim and throw him away from her. He landed with a squawk, but managed to get himself back to his feet quickly. “You little/awful brat,” she snarled. “You’ll pay for this!”
But as the Queen threw out her hand, something rippled in the air between them and the magic beam seem to explode midway into a green vortex. Tim’s clumsy attempt at waddling away had him head straight towards it, and it was in vain that he tried to redirect the course. She and Tim made eye contact as the swan-boy tipped right into the swirling green vortex, both of their eyes wide-open in surprise.
Danny was exhausted. He was currently on week one of the full month of Royal Duties he’d promised Clockwork. Being Prince of the Infinite Realm was not all that it was cracked up to be, and that was saying a lot since he had already been expecting it to be awful. 
When Clockwork had made the request, Danny had proceeded to freak out about his new status, and then tried to abdicate. It was only the master of time reminding him of all the terrible possible candidate for the throne per rites of combat (such as Vlad) that stopped him from washing his hands of this mess. And now Danny was forced to spend one whole month of his summer vacation in the Ghost Zone to fulfill his duty as a Prince. 
He thought it would be some paperwork, maybe a battle or two, nothing too bad, but nooo. Because, of course nothing was easy, Danny had to show up at Events, and be Diplomatic. It was meeting, after meeting, after weird parties that were a mix between Medieval Banquets and Debutante balls. 
And worse of all were the marriage proposals. Danny could sorta understand, marrying into royalty was a definite plus for a lot of more powerful ghosts but when they called him a half-breed behind his back, only to smile in his face with a marriage contract in one hand and flowers in the other, that was where he drew the line. 
Plus there was also the fact that he was, like sixteen.
Suffice to say, Danny was exhausted and hiding out in Pariah Dark’s old castle as a last resort. It wasn’t his favorite place all in all, but the gardens were absolutely beautiful, which was where he was walking. He was currently headed to the hedge maze, since it was the best way to get rid of any tails he may or may not have. 
The maze was nasty if it didn’t like you, and it didn’t like anybody but Danny, and even then, it still tried to take a bite every once in a while. Despite the snaking vines and roots trying to capture anything that moved, the flowers that wailed softly when disturbed or the sharp thorns of the hedge plants themselves, it was still a beautiful place. Uniquely, the closer you got to the centre, the more colorful (and dangerous) everything got, which was why he liked it best. 
He reached the centre much quicker than the first time he tried, thanks to the maze actually helping him, and something pale caught his eye right in the middle of the open area, right next to the bench Danny loved to use. As he got closer, he realized it was a swan laying on the floor, seemingly unconscious.
“Oh no,” Danny said as he approached. “What happened to you?”
As if awakened by the sound of his voice, the swan started to shift, its wings twitching and it rose its head groggily. As soon as it clocked in Danny, it let out a surprised squawk, followed by a long hiss as it struggled to move away.
“Hey, hey, none of that, Duckie, you’re ok.” Danny raised his hands placatingly. “I don’t want to harm you, ok? I just want to make sure you’re ok.”
The hiss subsided by a bit, but that may have only be due to the swan managing to get further away.
“Sh, sh, it’s ok,” Danny repeated as he slowly inched forward. The swan stopped hissing but still observed him warily. “I don’t want to hurt you Duckie, but I do think we’d better get you out of this maze.”
Danny took another step, and this time the swan stayed still. “How about bringing you back to my rooms just for now.” The swan hissed louder at the statement. “Don’t worry Duckie, I’m not keeping you prisoner it’s just this maze has been known to eat people. And you’re too pretty to be eaten,” Danny flashed a smile at the swan which had it stare back with a gaze saying really?
“So what do you say, wanna crash at my place?” Danny asked. The swan didn’t move forward but he didn’t move away either.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t trust a guy who talks to birds either,” Danny allowed. “And the place where I’m staying is a little gloomy, so I don’t blame you, but I can’t leave you here. The maze is honestly really dangerous, especially for a nice bird is like you. “
The swan seemed to hesitate before it hesitantly made its way to Danny. Ghost animals were usually smart but the swan seemed to understand English, which made communicating that much easier. Danny smiled and opened his arms. “I can carry you.” The swan just looked at him, with what Danny would’ve thought was a deadpan stare. “It would go much faster.”
If the swan was human it probably would’ve sighed, but instead, its wings just fell a little before it waddled towards Danny and looked up as if to say ‘get on with it’.
Danny smiled and gathered the animal in his arms. “Buckle up,” he said before flying off towards the maze exit, which was accompanied by a low hiss. Making sure there was nobody there to ambush him, Danny made it back to the castle in record time.
“Here we are Duckie.” Danny set the swan back down and it plopped down on the ground and just steadied themselves for a while.
Tim was a swan. He had wings and no fingers, and his feet were webbed.
He was handling it though. By which Tim meant he was shelving the impending panic attack for later when he wasn’t stuck in a swan body. 
Ok, so he’d been turned by the Queen of Fables, so there had to be an answer in a fairytale,a way to make him normal again. He knew the ugly duckling story. That had a swan in it, right? He didnt know any other swan stories, except maybe as a dish during the wedding banquet of whichever princess. He vaguely remembered a Barbie movie that had passed on the TV when he was younger but the only thing that came to mind were a scary-looking Troll thing, and ballet.  So with lack of better alternatives he was going to go with the ugly duckling. The ugly duckling’s happy ending was reuniting with family, so maybe all he needed was to make his way back to Gotham.
“Are you ok?” 
And that was another thing. The guy. The one Tim had at first wanted to get away from. He seemed nice and all, but he also had neon green eyes, and fangs. Unfortunately, while they suited the boy very well, they also marked him as an unknown. 
On the other hand, if the glowing portal wasn’t enough of an indication, the green tinge of everything around was clear indicator that Tim wasn’t in Kansas anymore. The guy seemed to want to help him, and having an ally wherever he was could only help.
Tim nodded as best as he could with his long weird neck, and he had to take a few steps to regain balance.
“That’s good,” the boy smiled with his white pointy canine. “How did you end up in the middle of that maze?”
Tim just looks back tiredly. He didn’t know how to even try and explain when he couldn’t say a word and had no opposable thumbs.
“Yeah, sorry.” The boy winced. “Maybe stick to yes or no questions.”
There was a sharp knock at the door that had the boy turning away.
“Prince Phantom!” A voice rung through the door.
Prince? 
The newly-dubbed Prince Phantom got up to open the door, “yes, what can I do for you?”
“Your meeting with Queen Dora is approaching. Do you still prefer to forgo an escort guards?” a purple lady was saying.
“I’ll be fine without, Maj but thank you very much,” Phantom answered with a polite smile.
“I’ll pass it along, my Prince.” She bowed and closed the doors behind her.
Phantom walked back to lay on the bed with a sigh. “I really hate that they call me that.” He turned towards Tim to continue. “I bet swans don’t have royalty. You guys had the right idea.”
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zeestarfishalien · 10 months
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Unwanted Farewells
[Day 5 DPxDC Week: Jason Todd // Soulmate AU // Funeral Rites ]
• Anger Management ship (Jasmine Fenton x Jason Todd) No relevant warnings beyond the usual DP stuff
Jazz has always had it the worst. Danny might have been the one to die but Jazz is the one who lost not only her soulmate, but her little brother too. It doesn’t matter that he’s still around, he knows the grief weighs on her sometimes. She overcompensates by being a massive mother hen and general pain in the neck but he tries not to get too upset with her about it.
With Dani with an “i” fresh out of high school and Jazz’s birthday coming up soon, he wants to do something special. He spends a lot of time bribing Ghost Writer in order to research his idea out.
It’s probably the most time and effort he’s put into a project that wasn’t about space.
Proposing the idea to her is the one big thing this all hinges on. He’s not 100% sure she’ll be on board with this but he’d like to try.
And trying is what kicks off the first part of his plan. It’s a little awkward to bring up the fact that he doesn’t have a grave and would like one. It’s almost physically painful to see the grief it brings to Jazz’s eyes. She tries to hide it but Danny has always been able to read her better than he lets on. It’s part of the process though. He needs her to see how this goes and feels. How it’s a celebration of life and honoring those who have passed and not just a somber reminder to the living of what they’ve lost. He needs her to see what it means to him. And what it would mean to her soulmate.
He makes the grave marker of course. They’re not about to buy one when he has the strength and abilities to carve it out himself. He makes sure that it’s vague unless you know him. No names, no identifying markers like age or dates. It’s simple and meaningful for him.
{May he rest here between walks among the stars, our friend and brother beloved}
From there it’s pretty much all fun and games. Literally.
Same brings the games while she has Tucker pack out the food. It’s a combination of some of Grandma Ida’s homemade desserts and various junk foods. Even Tucker brings some cookies his mom helped him figure out how to make.
Jazz is in charge of the drinks while Danny and Dani handled all the decorating. It’s a combination of solidified ectoplasm, his ice, and various flowers they’ve gathered and strung together in a flower chain.
It’s a smashing success and he sees something in Jazz release. Some niggling worry or grief she carried that is no longer there.
Now, he decides, it’s time for part two.
What throws part two for a loop is when Dani with an “i” brings up that she’d like a grave and proper funeral rites as well.
It’s not a setback. Definitely not when he sees how much more relaxed and content Jazz is at Dani with an i’s wake.
It’s only a couple days from her birthday when he brings it up. The funeral practices for soulmates are as varied as they are sacred. He proposes her options via a PowerPoint he put far too many hours into.
By the time he finishes rambling, she’s got this sort of startled look on her face.
He twists his shirt in his hands as he stands awaiting her judgement. The longer she’s silent, the more convinced Danny is that she’ll reject the whole thing and not talk to him for a month.
Okay, maybe a week but still a week is a long time.
Suddenly Jazz is crying and oh ancients he’s really messed up this time. She’s not even mad just straight up upset by his offer.
But then she’s hugging him, telling him she loves him, and thanking him.
It’s not as hard as Danny feared to actually track down the location of a Jason Todd who died before Jazz reached 16 (she never wanted to look him up before, didn’t want to know what she was missing) and the day before her 25th birthday Danny, Dani, and Jazz all pile into her little car to make the drive to Gotham, homemade foods in tow.
Danny and Dani made sure to swipe one of Vlad’s special rich dude credit cards to fund their trip and the stop at multiple flower shops to get enough flowers to make flower chains and crowns for all of them.
It’s closing in on evening, the day of Jazz’s birthday when they finally roll up and upload everything. They didn’t bring any lights, but none of them really need much light to see for eating food and drinking sodas. Jazz brought some jasmine tea and an extra cup to place on Jason’s grave. They make a funky, dark evening of it, but finally Jazz grows more somber and keeps taking long looks at the gravestone so Danny and Dani decide to make themselves scarce.
They’re about halfway across the cemetery when out of the shadows steps the looming menace of Red Hood.
“The fuck are you doing at that grave?”
It’s not his voice or his tone, but the sub vocal ghost speak that makes Danny and Dani freeze up ramrod straight.
That’s a revenant and they’re trespassing on his resting place without permission.
So of course like any sane person, Danny says something stupid. But he just can’t believe out of all the ridiculous coincidences to exist in the world, that Jazz’s soulmate is undead like him seems just too far to believe.
“Jason?”
Almost late despite having the day off work bc I had to go shopping and bc of where I live, shopping is essentially a full day affair. This is shorter than I’d like it but I also kinda enjoy where it ends XD imagine their next moments however you please or feel free to add onto this.
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wosoxwriterrr · 5 months
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Stina Blackstenius x Swedish Arsenal reader
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request- could u do smth with stina blackstenius where reader is very flirty with stina, making flirty comments and being touchy with her but stina is absolutely clueless and doesnt catch on at all. then reader has enough and just kisses stina ☺️
a/n- i’m aware my fics are pretty short atm but bare with me :) requests are open!!
518 words ———
You always found a way to be close to Stina, you really liked her so you wanted to be around her. You always laughed at her jokes a bit too loud making those around you give you some glares but you didn’t care.
Walking into colney you spot Stina getting out of her car, you run over to her turining into a koala as you wrap your limbs around her. “Hej på dig med y/n” (Hello to you too) She giggles at your current position. “Jag saknade dig” (I missed you) you whispered into her ear, still clinging to her.
Before training, laura caught you making heart eyes at Stina and came over to talk to you. “what’s going on between you two?” she said quietly so no one else could hear. “i wish i knew Laura, i’ve tried so many times to tell her without actually telling her but she’s just so oblivious” Laura places a comforting hand on your back “maybe just use your words” she gets no response, just a knowing sigh.
During training, you being a defender and Stina being a striker, both of you were working together on some drills. As you start defending the ball away from her, Stina accidentally clips your heal sending you straight to the grass holding your ankle. “OMG y/n I am so sorry” she says as she rushes to your side. “Stina It’s okay don’t worry about it, I am fine kärlek” (love). You get back on your feet and walk back into the building with the medics.
Sitting in your cubby with ice on your ankle, the team start to filter in. Stina makes a beeline to you. “How’s the ankle?” said with a sympathetic tone. “Just a little niggle, nothing big luckily” said with a sheepish smile. “I was so scared, wouldn’t want to hurt my best friend” the minute the words ‘best friend’ came out of her mouth, your heart sunk. “Are you okay y/n” Stina asks with concern. You stay quiet for a moment. “Ka jag kyssa dig?” (Can I kiss you?) Stina looks at you for a moment then lightly nods her head. Soon your lips were connecting with Stina’s and your heart felt like it was about to explode. You had waited for this moment for years! You pull away “Förlåt att jag inte borde ha gjort att du inte ens gillar mig” (Sorry I shouldn’t have done that you don’t even like me) “I never said I didn’t like you y/n, I just didn’t know you liked me” as she looks at the wall behind you. “I thought I was making it really obvious, I think you’re just oblivious Stina” you say with a little chuckle. “Y/n is right, you’re oblivious” Frida chimes in after over hearing the conversation.
Everyone starts to leave the changing room, leaving you and Stina. “Well em I will call you later maybe only if you want” you say kind of nervously. “Jag skulle älska det” (I would love that) as she quickly pulls you in for a quick peck leaving you both blushing messes.
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Text
CT:OS Update 7—PUBLIC RELEASE
The public release of Update 7, pt. 1 is out!!
Wordcount: roughly +50k words, 13k words in a single playthrough)
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Can't wait for you guys to read it, and as always, looking forward to your messages <3 I'd like to give a shout-out to all my ko-fi supporters and beta-testers too, as well as everyone who's sent me some cute / hilarious message—y'all are so dope.
P.S. I am so sorry to those of you who were avidly refreshing, I know I'm a little late, but my excuse is I went to my girlfriend's art show opening today! :) Twas hella cool, but yeah, do accept my apologies!
(And yes, there are three possible kisses this chapter. The only person you can't make out with is Sam, but I promise that'll happen in Pt. 2).
Features
Have dinner with Tobin at their house, though you might have a… tough conversation after [things might get saucy!] (achievement up for grabs)
Bump into Rayyan in the tennis courts at night, vent some frustrations, and potentially resolve some… issues! [locker room pt. 2, rebranded slightly] (achievement up for grabs)
Convince the coaches to let you swap doubles partners (or stick with your original one)—find out if Tobin or Rayyan will be your partner for the season!
Study sesh with G at the Haynes student lounge before the match on Friday, voice some of your niggling worries [or… redefine the meaning of… ‘studying’] (achievement up for grabs)
Bonus Rayyan, Sam, and Tobin POV scenes
Ko-fi tip jar
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i-heart-slashers · 6 months
Note
hi!! can i please request yandere! steve harrington with prompts "my perfect little doll is what you are.”
+ "you look so pretty tied up like this"? thank you so much! your writing is exquisite 💋
Hi! Thank you for reading and requesting. Sorry it took so long but I hope you like it!
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"my perfect little doll is what you are.” + "you look so pretty tied up like this"
Pairings: Yandere!Steve Harrington x GN!Reader
Warning(s): yandere, stalker, violence, death, obsession, blood mentioned, abduction.
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He'd seen you. He'd fallen for you, and now he wanted you.
You think to yourself that you should have seen this coming, but honestly, there were no signs that Steve Harrington, or King Steve, as you remember him before his downfall, was anything other than a good guy.
He waved to you in the halls and helped you if you were doing something outside of school. Once, he even helped your mom into the house with groceries.
Maybe that's how he got a key to the house.
All those times that he'd randomly popped up out of nowhere didn't seem so innocent now. The amount of times you'd go home to find him helping out one of your parents with some chore they just happened to need help with.
Groceries, lawn mowing, cleaning the pool out… He was always there and somehow always knew that they needed a helping hand.
It was that first moment of his helpfulness that your parents were taken by his charm and nudged you with a wink as they nodded in his direction, clearly thinking about some kind of relationship setup.
You, however, didn't reciprocate the same admiration for Steve. His fall from King was swift and brutal, but you still remember how he had been—a jerk and a cruel one.
Nevertheless, you gave him the benefit of the doubt, knowing people could change. Steve had changed; he took in the younger kids and made a best friend in Robin. They were a group of social outcasts compared to the one pristine pedestal Steve had been used to.
Maybe it was the polite smiles you had given him or the way you allowed him to linger after he had struck up a conversation. You had a feeling Steve had gotten the wrong idea.
Waving it off in lieu of hanging out with your friends, you could help but notice something niggled at you whenever you caught him glancing in your direction.
You should have listened to your gut instinct.
"my perfect little doll is what you are," Steve whispers in your ear as he adjusts the clothing that he had forced you to change into in front of him shortly after entering your home.
All you could do was sob behind the tape over your mouth, knowing that just a floor under your bedroom, your parents were taking their last breaths from the brutal onslaught Steve had inflicted on them.
His good neighborly act ensured they never saw it coming; he even whistled as he attacked them. Seeing him walk back into your room with a calm smile while covered in blood was something you never thought you would witness.
"you look so pretty tied up like this," He whispered, kissing your cheek as he tugged on the rope that bound your arms and legs before he picked you up and forced you out of your home.
He'd stalked you. He loves you, and now… he has you.
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covetyou · 1 month
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any other week
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ao3 ⋆ main masterlist ⋆ series masterlist
pairing: Dieter Bravo & gn!reader rating: Teen (18+ only blog!) warnings: sickfic. no smut or nudity (shocking, I know). sickness (no vomitting) and associated gross feelings and metaphors. fluff. word count: 2.3k summary: You're sick. That much is obvious. Even if the fact is you can't be sick. Not now. Not this week. Not when the only one around to look after you is the very person who pays you to look after him - Mr. Dieter Bravo.
A/N: if you hadn't heard, I have (had? I still feel shit but I'm technically negative and going to see Taylor Swift tomorrow, wish me luck lol) covid, and it's kicked my ass, so I wrote the least appropriate man in the universe looking after someone. enjoy 💛
follow @covetedfics and turn notifications on for updates on future fics
"D-!"
You barely get out the first syllable of his name before you're hacking a cough, pressing your palms to your knees as you splutter, bent over in a silent prayer to whatever virus has your esophagus in a chokehold, willing it to please let go.
It's feeling benevolent today, you think, when the clenching grip around your throat gives way a moment later, letting you take in a few blissfully sharp, painful gasps of air again.
Not that the cough has really stopped. That's been a niggling tickle for days now, growing and growing into something bigger as your body has gradually lost the fight with whatever asshole thing has set up shop inside your sinuses. Still, it's eased off enough now for you to raise yourself on wobbly legs, chest heaving and your head too fuzzy to really take in the foyer of Dieter's home, or the man himself as he tentatively creeps down the stairs.
It was going to be a bitch of a week. The last week before Dieter head's off to shoot always was. Full of last minute meetings and prep, and Dieter being all too much of an asshole for you to want to deal with, and you being entirely too much of a cunt to him in return. The last thing you needed was to be sick.
Whatever plague had befallen you didn't seem to give a shit you were assistant to the Dieter Bravo, or that sorry, we're busy this week, can I pencil you in for September? You'd just have to deal, and suck it up, and hope to the end of the earth that you could stay far enough away from Dieter than you didn't get him sick too.
"You look like shit."
You almost jump out of your skin, a muffled voice echoing down at you from the top of the stairs as your eyes strain to focus and find the source of the voice. It sure sounds like Dieter, but you can't tell if it's the cotton wool stuffed inside your own head, or some weird voice he's putting on in preparation for his next role that's making him sound entirely off.
He's there, you're sure of it, your heart pounding in your chest as you wheeze and stare up at a Dieter shaped blur you're certain is wearing a balklava.
You cough again before you speak, your voice a weak rasp of what it usually is, razor blades slicing up your throat as you force the words out.
"Dee? I've got your mail, and those clothes from the designer, and -"
He's coming closer, taking the steps slowly, coming in to focus then wobbling back out of it as you blink rapidly at him and heave in another pained breath.
"You're sick."
Usually you'd argue with him. You take just about any opportunity to talk back to him, just like he does with you. It's how you work so well together. Even now, your head is indignantly saying no. You are not sick. You are perfectly fine and if he could just get off your ass, that'd be wonderful.
But, you are sick. That much is obvious. Even if the fact was, you couldn't be sick. Not now. Not this week.
"- your laundry -"
"You're sick."
Any argument is lost in your throat as another cough drags itself out of you, kicking and screaming, forcing you to hinge over again just to stop the force of it all from knocking you flat on your ass. Dieter is retreating up the stairs a little as you watch stars dance across your eyes with each forceful hack of air from your lungs, and even through the pain and lack of oxygen you can sense he feels uneasy about this, about you, and for the first time you think you may have made a mistake.
You shouldn't have come here.
You should have called, or sent a text, and worked from home where you could stay in bed, keeping your germs to yourself and away from him.
When your cough finally eases off again, your head pounding now and your throat burning more than it has in days, you lift yourself up, and admit defeat.
"Okay," you wheeze. "I'll go. I'm - fuck, sorry - I'll call you later. Let me know if you need anything."
Your head spins as you turn, and Dieter thunders down a few more steps before abruptly stopping as you hobble back to the door.
"No!" he shouts down the stairs the moment your hand touches the handle.
You look back at him confused, as he stands there, still keeping his distance, but reaching for you as if force of will alone could stop you in your tracks. And, in a way, it does. You turn to him, propping yourself up on the door, watching him as he tries not to recoil from you, especially now that he can see you up close.
You'd been pallid when you left the house. Now, you felt positively gray. Though you felt cold to the touch, your insides felt like you were roasting alive. No doubt, a few steps closer as he is, he can see the sweat beading on your forehead simply from the effort of keeping yourself standing there and not sliding down the door into a heap on the floor.
"You can't fuckin' drive in this state," he says, flapping his hands at you as his mind kicks into overdrive. "You're sick. You'll crash your fuckin' car. You need rest, and soup, and drugs - the good kind - and a doctor, I should call a doctor, you need to get better, you can't be sick, I can't - because I nee - lo- no!- care - " he stops himself, his mouth flapping as he stares and gesticulates in your general direction before letting his arms flop at his sides.
"I am not getting a new assistant," he settles with, hugging his arms tight around his body.
Before you can tell him he's stuck with you as his assistant whether he likes you or not, another cough beats its way out of your chest, and you slump against the door. Dieter is on you in a second, his balaklava'd face coming into view as he holds you gently by the shoulders as you splutter.
"You - you gotta get in bed. Now."
He's panicking, you know that much. He's never so much as seen you with a hangover, let alone seen you sick. So, you let him guide you upstairs, watching you with wild eyes through the balaklava as you wheeze at the stop of the staircase.
You let him pull you down the hallway, and push you into a spare room. You barely register his hands helping you peel away sweaty layer after sweaty layer of clothing until you're being guided into a soft bed, the sheets being pulled gently over you until you sink into the plush pillows and fall alseep before he's even left the room.
⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
When you wake, some minutes or some hours later, you're not sure, it's to shuffling in the corner of the room. The handle of the door clicks before it slowly swings inward - that horror movie creak only playing in your head though fitting perfectly with the scene you're watching in front of you. When the door is half open, a shaggy head pokes around the frame, before shuffling in on croc covered feet, cardigan wrapped tightly around itself and mask replacing the balaklava he'd so hastily thrown on earlier.
"Dee?" you croak from the bed, failing to sit up as the weight of the blankets holds you down.
"Stay back," comes his muffled voice from beneath the mask as he shuffles in further. He walks to a dresser kept by the wall. There's nothing in it. There's nothing in this entire room except for empty furniture and blank walls. The only time it sees any action is after some of Dieter's more frivoulous parties, when one too many people can't make it home and need a place to crash. In essence, it's the spare room to the spare rooms spare room - not the guest room, or his room, or the room he'd designated as yours some years ago, that's down the hall next to his own, but the last of three rooms that sit empty nearly year round.
Dieter tugs on the dresser, his crocs gripping to the floor as he yanks it away from the wall and pushes it with a squeak all the way across the floor toward the side of the bed you're trapped in.
"Stay there," is all he says before he leaves you again, the giant piece of furniture slotted right up against the bedside. You couldn't move even if you wanted to, and now he's all but blocked in your easiest way of escape. You weren't going anywhere.
A moment later he's shuffling back in, a tray in his hands and what you think is an umbrella under his arm. He's staring carefully down at the tray - balance and dexterity having never been his strong suit - before placing it gently onto the dresser.
"Tea," he grunts, pointing to the tray, "that lemon ginger shit. Some other stuff too."
It's at the end of the dresser, beyond your feet, and not really of any use to you right now, but the sentiment is nice, especially coming from Dieter.
"Thanks, Dee."
He grunts again, shrugging his cardigan covered shoulders before taking the umbrella from under his arm and gently pushing the tray along the top of the dresser until it's within arms reach of you. When he's done, he nods to himself before backing out of the room, and closing the door. You hear the faint sounds of jesus fucking christ being muttered from the other side of the door as he walks away, no doubt to have a shower and rid himself of as many of your germs as he can before he goes about practicing lines and keeping himself busy.
That lemon ginger shit is smelling divine as you lay there, slowly peeling your arms out from the sweaty confines of the sheets. The soothing heat of it is just what you need - if you hadn't forced the stuff on him so many times in the past, you'd be stunned that he even thought of it himself.
Sitting up, an ache in your hips like no other, you groan and reach for the tea, taking a small burning mouthful, and swallowing it down with a gasp before taking another, then another, then another. The burn soothes the raw feeling in your throat, and when you can finally swallow a little more freely, if only for a second, you take a chance to look at the tray Dieter left with you.
Some other stuff, is an understatement.
There's bottled water, snacks undoubtedly taken directly from the stash you keep in his kitchen, plus a few of his own that he knows you steal when he's not looking. Then, there's what can only be described as a miniature pharmacy. Tissues, nasal sprays, throat lozenges, tylenol, cough syrup, and little packets of Liquid IV lined up on the tray for you to take your pick of.
It's exactly the kind of thing you've done for him countless times before when he's been holed up in bed, too sick or too hungover to deal with the world. Now, here he was doing it for you just as dutifuly as you ever had for him. He'd even gone as far to get dressed and leave the house, driving to a pharmacy just for you. You knew for a fact he didn't keep half of this stuff in the house, and neither did you.
Before you know it, your throat is constricting and your lip is wobbling, but another burst of pain rips its way through your chest as you cough again, and again, and again. Your eyes water, the tears forgotten, until the cough subsides. You'll cry later, when your throat hurts a little less and you have the energy. For now, you throw back some tylenol, finish your tea, and flop back down into the sheets, ready for sleep to take you once more.
Over the course of a few days, though you barely see his face again, you know he's been in to check on you by what he's left for you on the tray. A hot bowl of soup and soft bread. More tea. A bowl of yogurt and fruit when sunlight creeps through the cracks in the blinds. A stack of books. His iPad, loaded up with movies and TV shows that you're not sure were always on here, or if he downloaded them just for you. Fresh towels so you can take the most exhausting shower of your life, only to come back out to find underwear and one of Dieter's old worn movie tees waiting for you. Then there's more tea. More food.
He cares for you from a distance, day in day out, until your cough turns to a splutter, and you can breath a little deeper. And so can he.
Around the third day, when you're no longer coughing and feeling far more like yourself, but still too exhausted to do much of anything, you finally see Dieter's face again. He silently herds you into the room he calls yours, shuttering the windows as you crawl under the sheets, and curls into bed behind you.
"You smell different when you're sick," he mumbles into your neck. "Fuckin' hate it."
"Sorry," you whisper back to him in the dark. "I showered, but I -"
"No. You smell different. Sick different. Not gross different. Didn't smell like you."
Smiling into the dark, you let him snuggle into you as you drift off into the most restful sleep either of you have had in days.
tagging my Dieter beloveds: @schnarfer @missredherring @whatsnewalycat @sp00kymulderr @ozarkthedog
@ghotifishreads @rebel-held @amanitacowboy @readingiskeepingmegoing
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