#like some office jobs are real jobs but mine confuses me

[eccentricwritingbaby]

fake or real? 

charles leclerc x sainz!reader

summary - y/n sainz had just broken up with her boyfriend of four years. with the tension of both ferrari drivers at each other's throats, their pr team believes it a good idea to have y/n and charles date. y/n can look like she’s moving on from her boyfriend and save her company, charles can look like he likes his teammate, ferrari can avoid any future pr disaster. everyone wins! right?

masterlist 

-

you woke up from your slumber with a pounding headache and pounding on your bedroom door. 

“Y/N! abre la puerta, es carlos,” open the door, it’s carlos

you groaned a bit and shuffled out of bed, still dressed in the clothes and heels you wore to the club last night, too drunk and tired to worry about removing it all. 

“que?” what? you squeak out, throwing your heels to a corner of your room as you open the door to face your older brother, “this better be an emergency, that’s the only reason i gave you a key to my place, pendejo,“ asshole 

“aye aye, no need for the harsh names, hermanita,” little sister you huffed and went towards your ensuite bathroom in order to clean up a little bit more as carlos continued, “i got a call today from my press officer, ferrari pr wants to speak with you, so you’re coming back with me to italy,” 

you shot him a confused and unimpressed look as your toothbrush hung from your mouth. it was like he could read your thoughts exactly with his response, “i don’t know what they want to speak to you about, just think of this as an all expense paid trip in my favor, porfa,” please

you rolled your eyes and shut the door to change clothes as your brother continued his pestering, “y/n it’s probably nothing serious, just something about you coming to more races for a family thing or something,” he shouted through the closed door. 

you opened it in a huff, all changed into some more comfortable clothes, “carlos they are your pr team, not mine. if i don’t want to pick up and go then i’m not going to. i have a job and a life here, i can’t just excuse that for your team or your boss,” 

“i know that, y/n, and i would usually support that but…” carlos shifted uncomfortably across from you and began to stare at his shoes - an obvious trait there was something hidden he needed to let go of. that he was lying. 

“but what, carlos?” your voice was sharp and direct, scaring your older brother just a bit to meet your eye and finish. 

“your company’s pr team also recommended it, it was a joint decision for this meeting. they think ever since marco-”

“do not say his name,” you spit out at carlos. he shakes his head with a deep breath in as an apology and continues on. 

“okay, lo siento,” i’m sorry carlos takes a deep breath again, “ever since a couple months ago, you’re losing the buyer’s trust since you haven’t been around. you are your brand, y/n. and you haven’t been on brand in months. you’ve just been clubbing every single night and sleeping throughout the day. your brand is about strength, and right now…” he wears off, not daring to look you in the eye in order to see your pain with his final words, “your company thinks you look, well, weak,” 

carlos looks up to meet your eyes, glossed over and a bit red at his confession. your lip shakes, leading you to bite down on it in order to gain control, “when do we leave?” is all that slips out of your mouth.

you knew the breakup had been hard on you and you weren’t exactly ‘healing’ from it correctly. you knew you had missed board meetings and pr opportunities because you felt so sick. all you kept replaying in your head was finding your boyfriend - marco - in bed with his coworker on your anniversary. it was a rough one. you had been together for what would have been four years. and now - about a month and a half later - you’re facing the consequences. you knew you couldn’t scrape by like this forever and your board members would have you in check. therefore the confession carlos made didn’t hurt as much - it was a necessary reality check for you.

-

“hi everybody, i’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here today,” the ferrari pr officer speaks into the conference room filled with you, your brother, some of your press team and charles. 

charles? you look at your brother with your eyebrows knitted and he returns the look right back, not understanding what your eyes are asking which was - what the hell is charles leclerc doing here? rolling your eyes and a light huff being released from your mouth you shake your head in the direction of charles, widening your eyes in order to get your question across. however, it falls on an idiotic brain because carlos just shrugs his shoulders and looks towards the direction of the speaker yet again. 

“there has been some obvious tension between the teammates, carlos and charles, and the fans and media are now picking up on it. we thought it would be a good idea to squash that as well as assist y/n with reintroducing her public image if charles and y/n began a relationship,” she finishes with a happy smile as if she just cured cancer while you and charles could only gape at her audacity. 

“excuse me, could i say something?” you speak up, pushing your chair out from behind you as you stand. 

you could hear a distant monegasque accent whispering a ‘please’, giving you more of a confident push with his support, “if my brand is all about strength as you said,” you gesture towards your team, “then how would me falling right into the arms of another man represent that? is female strength really about a man making me fall and another man picking me up? wouldn’t that be what makes me weak?” 

your pr officer - amanda- goes to speak up but you cut her off quickly to continue, “i don’t mean to sound bitter or arrogant but i just don’t believe that this will do what you believe it to. carlos has one year left on this team, there is no reason to keep up happy smiles with them, and as for me, i will be fine after i meet with the board in a week,” you take your seat and eye charles. he gives a light smile and a thumbs up, earning a wink from you back to him. 

amanda now stands and looks directly at you, “y/n, i don’t want to be blunt but at this point it is what you need. sponsors do not want teammates who hate each other. sponsors are dropping your brother and charles. and as for your ‘board meeting’ - they are discussing finding a new ceo if you do not clean up your act and get it together. and marco has been out and about with his new girl as you have been sloppy at clubs and pubs. so this is actually a last ditch effort. do it, or lose it all,” 

with yours and charles’ confidence now shook, he speaks up slowly and quietly, “what will we have to do?”

“y/n attends races on your arm, at least every other week. a public outing once or twice a week,” amanda keeps talking about the details, but you simply drown it out. you knew you needed a reality check but this? this was the rug being pulled out from under you. they wouldn’t take the company you built from you. and you won’t let your brother drown either. 

-

the next day, you are officially official with your ‘boyfriend’ charles leclerc. walking hand in hand through italy and getting gelato together. what a cliche, is all you can think right now, but the thumb rubbing over the back of your hand brings you out of your pessimism for a brief moment. 

“are you alright with this?” charles asks you as you continue your walk to the shop. it wasn’t a paparazzi walk, only a slight soft launch to get people to start talking. 

“i think i have to be,” you chuckle out. he laughs with you and nods his head. 

“yeah, your amanda was kind of harsh about this,”

“she usually is, that’s why i hired her, i enjoy the brutally honest,” you look up and meet his soft eyes, your stomach doing a flip you haven’t felt in years. 

“it seemed like she didn’t want to be like that with you, though,” he gently pushes you, ever so kindly to keep going, something you pick up on and yet still go along with.

“everyone’s been like that since the breakup,” you shrug off as you both walk into the gelato shop, “carlos, my parents, my friends, amanda, even the board of directors at my company. but that’s what i hate,” charles raises his eyebrows, inviting you to keep going.

“the sugar coating, being nice and talking around the problem - i’ve never liked that,” 

charles lets go of your hand quickly to order and pay as you find a table, and as he slides into the chair across from you, his hand appears in yours almost as quickly as it left. 

“i understand that, i hate it too,” he continues on from your conversation, “whenever i have a bad race, my engineers will try to justify it or make me feel better when i just need the criticism. it’s the only way i’ll get better,”

you nod along as you eat, chiming in again, “exactly, even though it hurt to hear when amanda said that to me, i wish she had told me earlier so that this wouldn’t be a last ditch effort. but no, everyone had to tiptoe around the broken-hearted girl when really i just needed a swift kick in the ass,” you laugh off and charles joins your giggles. 

“this isn’t so bad for a last ditch effort though,” he adds in.

“eh, it’s growing on me,” you both laugh again into your gelato, ignoring the phones filming you both and the whispers growing around you. 

-

it had been four months of public outings, race weekends, calculated instagram posts, and ‘dating’ charles leclerc. you two had always been friendly, but due to the time together, you’ve grown to enjoy him more than you thought you would. you’ve grown to enjoy this more than you thought you would. your fake relationship felt more real than your real one ever had. and it scared the shit out of you. 

“y/n? are you ready?” charles calls from outside the bathroom door, tapping his ring clad hand against it a few times. since people talk, amanda had suggested you share a hotel room during race weekends to not raise suspicion. since you both were adults, you slept in the same bed just fine, yet the tension was able to be cut with a knife. both you and charles could feel it, you were just waiting for the other to make the first move. tonight after media day at silverstone, charles was taking you to a nice dinner for your average fake-dating date. you wore a little black dress as charles sported a white button up and dress pants. ‘an attractive match’ as the media tended to call you both, and you didn’t complain. 

“i’m coming, char. just need a little help with my zipper,” you grunt out back to him, still attempting to zip it up on your own.

“let me in, i’ll do it for you,”

“it’s open,”

as charles opens the door, his mouth drops open for a second before he closes it, not letting you catch his eyes draping over your body in admiration. his hands ghost over your shoulders before they land on the zipper, synching you up into your attire. you spin around to face him, eyes darting between his own then down to his lips, your breath intertwining with his. 

“we’re gonna be late,” you whisper out, patting his shoulder as you squeeze around him and out of the bathroom to slip into your shoes. 

charles - still stunned by your brief moment in the bathroom - comes out of his fog with a cough to clear the air along with his throat, “you’re right, we should get going,” and with that you both head out of the room and out of the hotel. 

-

walking out of the restaurant, hand in hand, both you and charles felt so good it was decided you’d walk back to the hotel. it was only a few blocks and the cool breeze with the lack of rain was something you needed to take advantage of when in england. 

“i had a nice time with you tonight, y/n,” charles sighs, swinging your hand a bit in his. 

“i did too, char. we always have a good time,” you reply with a light laugh, continuing to swing your intertwined hands. 

“i mean it, though, like, on a different level,” he slowed down his pace in order to really speak to you, to get through to you. your eyes darted around, catching a few phones beginning to surround you. 

“kiss me,” you whisper out. charles’ eyes widen in surprise as he hadn’t noticed why you told him, taking it instead as a sign that you understood what he was trying to express to you, that he loved you. 

“are you sure, y/n? because i know it’ll get complicated and-”

“no, charles, there are people looking, just kiss me so this seems real,” you hiss towards him, beginning to pull on his shirt. charles leans in for the kiss, pushing his hurt from your words to the back of his mind in order to simply soak in any chance he can get to kiss you. 

once pulled apart, you both stay close to each other, having both felt the love that radiated through the kiss. one of you - charles - was giddy and giggle while the other - you - were scared shitless. you couldn’t fall in love again. your position at your company was just saved, your brothers sponsors back on his side, and even worse you couldn’t let yourself get hurt and fall into a hole again. you wouldn’t be that version of yourself again. 

pulling away quicker from charles, you kept your hands linked as you kept walking back towards the hotel, but he could feel your grip loosen and your feelings begin to grow cold again. 

once in the hotel room, you headed straight for the bathroom to change and get ready for bed, yet as you were closing the door - a hand came up to stop it from closing. swiftly turning around, you bumped into the chest of charles. 

“what the hell?” you ask more to yourself than to him.

“what was that tonight?”

“what do you mean?”

“the kiss, we both felt it - i know you felt it, y/n,”

“felt what, charles?”

“SOMETHING! ANYTHING!” he shouted in exasperation, making you jump from the surprise in his lifted tone. 

“i don’t know what you mean,” you grumble out, turning back to the mirror and starting to take off your jewelry. 

“y/n,” charles sighed, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose while his eyes screwed shut, “this between us is real, it’s not fake anymore i don’t know if it ever has been,”

“we just get along, charles, we’re friends,” 

“then explain the kiss,” he pushes, hands now coming to rest on his hips, challenging you to finally admit the feelings he knows you have for him. 

“we’re both good kissers, so it felt good,” you shrug off. 

“y/n, please, you know this is real just say it,” a few beats go by after charles’ ply as you stare at each other through the mirror. you’ve halted your movements, blood rushing everywhere in your body except your brain. 

“i- i can’t charles,” you finally stutter out, his stare only intensifying. 

“why,” he pushes, “if you can’t tell me that you love me and this is real then i need to know why,”

you spin around quickly, courage taking over as you take the two steps in order to stand in front of him, “because i will not allow myself to be a mess again all due to a man,” you respond sharply. even though your tone was even, you could feel your eyes beginning to well up as you continue, “i almost lost the business i built from the ground up because some man ruined me, no one will get that power again, i won’t allow it,” you take a shaky inhale as charles’ eyes soften at your confession. 

“but, if there’s no risk, there’s no reward, y/n,” he speaks softly to you, as if an octave higher would shatter you to pieces, “and you deserve a reward,” you could feel him slowly wearing you down, his scent filling your nose and his crystal eyes taking over your vision, “let me be your reward, y/n,” 

“kiss me,” you breathe out, fading into your happiness as his lips take no time to land on yours. the sparks were flying, a magnetic pull bringing your lips together again and again. he was taking away your pain, as he’d been doing for months, and rebuilding a heart he never broke. and a heart he had vowed to never break. 

-

a/n - if you want a part two with reactions and them just being happy together and stuff let me know send in requests! i feel like i could do more with this story so just lmk how you feel <3

[randomshyperson]

Mess is Mine - Milf!Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Summary: Being divorced from Wanda Maximoff implies never getting over her.

Warnings: (+18), language, brief smut, divorced ladies who are very still much in love with each other, unspecified age gap, marriage going wrong, hopeful ending, mild angst, fluff.| Words: 3.949k.

A/N-> There's this divorced couple in a Brazilian soap opera with so much chemistry in their scenes together because of the intimacy gained during marriage (even though that didn't work out) and they won't leave my tik tok ; at some point, my brain thought about this fic. I would love to write more of this trope in the future.

General Masterlist | AO3 | Wattpad

--//--

Wanda had a persistent migraine, and the pile of work in front of her was not helping.

Still, all her stubborn brain could focus on instead of her real job was the stupid headline of the gossip magazine on her desk.

A cheap and badly angled photo of her ex-wife with colorful captions that read 'The newest business killer couple?" and dozens more insinuations about a secret high-society romance made her stomach churn.

Wanda tried not to be affected by the gossip, but you looked so happy in the photo that she couldn't help it.

The sudden opening of her door made Wanda jump in her seat, in one quick pull close the magazine and sigh with relief when she saw it was only Natasha.

"Why are you here?" Her long-time friend and co-worker asked. Wanda frowned in confusion.

"It's still my company..."

Nat rolled her eyes, walking into the office and taking long strides to her desk. "I meant in here, smarty-pants. The event is starting in an hour, the staff wanted some words of encouragement or something."

Wanda sighed wearily, massaging her forehead with one hand. "Can't you do that for me, Nat? I gotta make some calls."

Nat hummed in agreement, but her gaze caught the closed magazine on the table and she raised a brow at her friend. "One of those calls includes your ex-wife, I suppose."

Wanda chuckled dryly, taking the magazine out to one of the drawers and adjusting herself to reach the desk phone. "There's nothing else for me to say to her."

Her friend hid a smile that said that she didn't believe this one bit. "Okay, whatever you say. See you later, boss."

Wanda waved goodbye, with the phone to her ear. Her immediate instinct was to dial known numbers but she shook her head to push that ridiculous idea away and went back to work.

Several hours after the peak of the event when the company was filled with guests, from potential clients to journalists looking for any news like vultures at the carrion, Wanda was at her second glass of champagne, trying to keep the rest of her patience intact after having answered so many questions for gossip magazines regarding the headline from earlier in the day.

She absolutely did not want to discuss a possible romance between her ex-wife and the heiress of Bishop Industries. 

Years before, any of them would have been afraid to question her about something so ridiculous, but that was before you came along. And melted your way into the Business Ice Queen, the untouchable Wanda Maximoff, or whatever insensitive nickname they invented about her back then. Before breaking down all of Wanda's walls, making her a better person, and of course, before you left her.

It was definitely the alcohol's fault that she was thinking about this, and with these stupid tears welling up in her eyes. Wanda swallowed all the emotion, burying it deep and making sure that no one had noticed her broken expression. With an excuse to a group of investors who were boring her into a corner, she retreated to an area far away from the company's outdoor gardens, taking a deep breath to calm herself. The beautiful view of the state lake was most welcome.

So of course the reason for her almost minor breakdown had to show up wearing her favorite suit.

"Are you running away from your guests, Maximoff?" Your tone was casual, the smile provocative. She snorted to herself, crossing her arms and keeping her eyes on the lake. You didn't mind, walking over to her at a slow pace until you were beside her on the edge. 

"I just needed some air." She merely replies. With one hand in your pockets, you adjust your own hair, and Wanda hates that she can smell the shampoo, her body betraying her and shuddering as if your scent were addictive. 

"You're avoiding me today." You comment lightheartedly, studying her face. "I arrived an hour ago and it took me almost all this time to find you."

Wanda forced a smile, finally facing you back, but her angry look made you hesitate. "I thought your chaperone was keeping you busy."

You glanced back at the party, stealing a quick check on Kate at the food stand, chatting with a blonde girl, before turning your attention back to Wanda.

"I forgot how hot you get when you're jealous."

Wanda huffs away, her cheeks burning which she tries to hide by staring at the lake. "Don't even start." She warns between teeth. 

You chuckle, rolling your eyes, but don't insist. You turn your attention to the lake as well. "I wanted to let you know that the boys have already arrived in King Cross. I spoke to them and Charles on the phone."

"I know, Pietro texted me." She retorts more harshly than she meant to and bites the inside of her cheek as she sees you lower your head in upset. With a sigh, she mumbles, "I meant, thanks for letting me know."

You smile, nodding before turning your gaze back to the party. "What do you think of Miss Bishop?" 

Wanda locks her jaw; How dare you honestly. A list of curses lays ready on the tip of her tongue, but she remembers where you two are, and takes a deep breath. You were clearly trying for some kind of reaction from her, and she's not going to let you have this victory today.

"She's beautiful." Wanda replies. "As young as you were when I met you."

You chuckle shortly, raising an eyebrow at her. "What are you implying, Maximoff?"

Wanda shrugs her shoulders softly, turning to leave. "You're quite clever, Y/N, I'm sure you follow." She hits back, but you step forward into her path. You are suddenly too close, and Wanda finds herself holding her breath. She needs to take a step back to avoid stopping breathing for good.

Your eyes stare into theirs. "Not that this is any of your business, darling, but my relationship with Kate is strictly professional."

You assure her in a low tone, and Wanda swallows hard as your gaze moves down to her lips for a long moment before focusing on her eyes again. A smile forms on your mouth next. "Besides this, I've always had a thing for older women."

Wanda sighs heavily, using all her mental control to pull away at once. "Go pay attention to your chaperone, Y/N. Especially if she's a potential client."

You roll your eyes at the business tip; you already know them by heart, the vast majority learned from Wanda. And your ex-wife makes mention of leaving, so you slide your hand down her forearm gently, taking some amusement in seeing the way she shivers.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, Wanda." You let her know, with a serious tone but a tender look. The redhead swallows dryly at the closeness of your faces now that you're standing side by side, your hands connected. "Later, after the party, okay?"

"I-I..."

"It's important." You assure her, knowing her hesitation is so as not to break your agreement about relapses. With a gentle expression, you insist, "Please, it won't take more than five minutes."

She licks her lips, and you almost kiss her. Lucky for her she agrees and walks away because God knows you would have done it, right there in that garden for all the New York reporters to have a week's news about.

Without Wanda's perfume around you, you take a deep breath and try to clear your mind, having to wait a few more minutes in the garden for your heart to stop beating so fast.

As the event nears its end and Wanda needs to give a closing speech, you say goodbye to Kate before the parking area. You ignore all the journalists who try to insinuate something about you having taken the girl to the car and exchange a glance with Wanda in the small crowd before moving toward the elevator.

Wanda has always known you so well, and with a nod, she knows exactly where she has to go.

Her work floor is completely deserted as she makes her way to her own office. But she still closes the door as she enters, letting out a tired laugh at your figure sitting on her armchair.

Her smile fades when she sees what you are reading.

"Headlines nowadays are getting creative..." You wryly chuckle, laughing at your ex-wife's caught expression. "It says here that I might have an eye to the Bishop's fortune. How silly, you gave me almost half of yours in the divorce, why would I need more money?"

"Very funny." Wanda dryly retorts, reaching up to snatch the magazine from your hands with a tug, and raking the item into the trash afterward. She crosses her arms as she looks at you. "What did you want to tell me?"

You flashed a small, sideways smile. "You used to be more polite when you wanted to sleep with me. At least offer me a drink."

Wanda chuckled dryly, rolling her eyes and begrudgingly moving to the personal bar in the corner of the room. If she leaned over more than necessary to grab one of the whiskey bottles, aware that the position in the chair gave you a full view of her ass, neither of you said anything about it. She hid her satisfied smile as she heard your breath hitch at the image, and you hid your own reaction as you cleared your throat and looked away.

Shortly thereafter, two shots of whiskey were served on the glass table in front of you. But before the toast, you declared:

"I'm leaving."

Wanda frowned, and when you made mention of taking the glass, she placed her hand on your forearm. "Speak."

You chuckled, staring her in the eyes. "I closed a contract with the Ten Rings folks. They want me in Korea for the next four months."

Wanda lets go of your arm as if she had been burned and steps away from the table with an indecipherable, but very disturbed expression.

"B-but the boys.." She tries to formulate, but you rise from the armchair with a sigh.

"They'll be at school." You retort, even though firm, your gaze is almost pleading. For what, Wanda doesn't have the heart to wonder. "It's not as if they stay with us all the time, Wands. The boarding school takes up this time quite well. It will only be four months, and they've already invented the telephone and internet, you know?" You try to joke, but Wanda hugs her own body and faces you.

"Why are you here, then? You've traveled before."

"Not for that long." You say, taking steps toward her, and mentally thanking heavens that she doesn't pull away. "And not... not since we made the divorce official."

"Y/N..."

"I know, I know." You murmur with a sad smile, raising your hands to her arms uncovered by her dress. "Maybe it's stupid, but I wanted to make sure we're okay. That it won't be something...I don't know, that hurts us."

"More than a divorce? I find that difficult." She replies with restrained emotion in her husky voice. You sigh.

"Wanda..."

"No, you're right. It was stupid." She cuts off, pulling away so you don't see the tears welling up in her eyes. "Of course it's okay. But I appreciate that you respect the concept of shared custody. I imagine the kids already know?"

"Yes, I told them before I took them to the airport." You mutter upset, watching Wanda walk away to the window. "But Wands, I wanted to tell you in person..."

"And why is that, huh?" she retorts with an impatience that makes you flinch. And for this, Wanda loses it for good. "You know, I don't understand you! You left me! You filed for divorce, you wanted to break us up. But you keep showing up here, and at home, and everywhere, and now you want to come here and say you care-"

"I care, Wa-"

"Then why did you leave me?" she shouts back, almost regretting it when she sees the tears in your eyes. You laugh tearfully, shaking your head.

"We've had this conversation dozens of times, Wan." You say, much calmer than she is. "But you just can't accept that you're wrong, can you?"

"Right, I forgot that I'm the villain in your story." She sneers, wiping her face with the back of her hand. You give another sad laugh.

"I wish it were that simple, darling." You tell her, taking slow steps toward her. "If you were just the villain, the bad wife, the evil boss, everything would be easier. I could hate you, curse your names to all my friends, and spend all the divorce money on expensive, empty things out there, but it's not like that. You forget the part that I love you and tried to fight for us until the last second."

Wanda sobs quietly, looking down at the floor, "Don't do that, Y/N."

"But it's true, baby, you know. I'm not the one who broke any promises, Wands. I just got tired of begging for crumbs of attention from the person who swore to spend the rest of her days with me."

Wanda lifts her chin, and the determination in her gaze doesn't do justice to the tears. "You knew how much my career meant when you said yes."

You smile sadly, taking one last step to get close enough to hold her face. Wanda shudders as you wipe away her tears, as you have done so many times before, as if no time has passed and everything was fine.

"I am so proud of you, Wands, for all you have accomplished with your work. I only wish I had been as important as this building." 

You place a long kiss on her forehead, pulling away afterward. You offer her one last sad smile before closing the door on your way out. Wanda starts to cry as soon as you have done so, even though she tries very hard to keep her tears away.

–//–

You burned a pancake to answer the door, but all the irritation over the ruined dish vanished when you saw Wanda standing in front of you.

It had only been a few days since you had last seen her, and now all the furniture in your apartment was already packed away and covered with rags, prepared for the time you would be away. Wanda's party dress gave way to a casual suit that made you swallow dryly and become self-conscious of the sweatpants and sports top you were wearing. Wanda wouldn't have picked anything better.

"Are you going to let me in, detka?" Wanda asked with some teasing for your moment of shock. You immediately recovered, making room for her to enter and closing the door once she was in the hall. "Sorry for disturbing your breakfast. I wanted to see you before your flight."

"Oh, don't worry about it. And I'm not going until the afternoon." You clarified somewhat clumsily by her presence, one hand still holding a spatula and the other adjusting your hair. "I made pancakes if you'd like..."

"I would love it." Wanda assured with a smile that made your stomach twist. It wasn't fair that your ex-wife got more beautiful every time you looked at her, honestly.

Wanda followed you back into the kitchen, and to both your surprise, you fell into a light conversation about work and the boys while preparing and serving food, completely different from the tone of the conversation the last time you had seen each other. 

But it was a time bomb, of course, so you weren't surprised when Wanda suddenly bit her lip, assuming a more tense posture. 

Finishing chewing your pancakes, you asked:

"Why are you here, sweetheart?" 

Wanda raised her eyes to you, and you stared back at her, patiently for her to clarify. 

"I wanted to say goodbye to you properly." She said, spinning her own stool around first before tipping her hands around yours to spin you toward her. You raise a brow in curiosity, but the question of what she was doing dies in your throat as she leans in and brings your lips together. 

It has been exactly three months, eighteen days, and sixteen hours since you last kissed Wanda, and you only realize how much you missed the feeling when she does it again. It's as intoxicating as it is overwhelming, and you gasp into her lips, breaking the kiss at once as you stand up, taking good steps away from the countertop.

"Wanda, we talked about this." You remind her in a husky voice, pressing a hand over your face. It's ridiculous how much your skin is burning and your heart is racing for something that lasted less than three seconds. "No relapses. You promised-"

"It's not a relapse." She assured, reaching up and grabbing your hands to place them around her waist. You grunted at the sensation, closing your eyes as Wanda slipped hers over your shoulders, too close for you to think about anything other than her. "It's a parting gift. So you'll have a reason to come back."

"W-what...?"

Wanda presses closer and brings her mouth to your ear. "Just stop overthinking it and accept the gift, detka."

With encouragement, she bites the lobe of your ear, and you give up resisting.

With a tug on her waist, you bring your mouths together in a kiss much hungrier and more passionate than the first, which elicits loud, almost primal moans of need from both of you. Wanda pushes and pulls, and by the time you stumble to the back of the living room couch, your pants are already open and there's nothing covering your torso; much like the woman in front of you, who as soon as she throws you sitting up against the cushions, your breathing out of rhythm and your lips swollen from kissing hard, makes a show of removing the rest of her clothes.

She has time to smile mischievously at your look of pure adoration at her completely naked body in front of you before you pull her onto your lap by her thighs. Wanda climbs on you with a needy grunt, burning from the inside out in anticipation for you to touch her again.

Your touches are almost desperate, your kisses mark her skin. It is your gift, but you also seem determined to make sure that Wanda has the memory of this morning for quite some time. 

When your mouth closes around her nipples, she whimpers to the ceiling, arching her back and steadying her hands in your hair, a soft plea that you not stop.

"Yes, baby, just like that." She encourages over the stimulation on her nipples, breaking into an excited whimper when you simply use your free hand to masturbate her. At any other time, you would have taken your time to work her up until she was begging for your touch, but now, in the urgency you two were sharing, it wasn't necessary. She was ready for you. 

Your fingers penetrate her without delay, and Wanda digs her nails into your shoulder, breaking into a breathless moan. You give one last hickey on her hardened nipple before you move your face back up to hers, kissing her with intensity as your fingers dance inside her walls with the mastery of one who has done this a dozen times, one who knows her like the palm of the hand she so deliberately grinds against in the intention of relieving herself.

"G-god, detka! Right here!" She breaks the kiss into an affected moan, practically meowing as you repeatedly hit that sensitive spot inside her. The wetness grows in your palm, Wanda oozes into you, and to help her, you bring your free hand to her hip, coordinating her movements as she begins to fail. "I-I'm going to..."

"Don't talk, show." You interrupt her with a proud little smile, moving your mouth down to bite the sensitive spots on her neck. "Come to me, baby, I've got you."

That's all she needs to reach the first climax of the morning, and she is not surprised that you don't stop at the first. Or the second, or the third.

You are on your knees on the living room floor when your first alarm goes off. Breathing as out of breath as Wanda, on the couch with her torso exposed and her legs spread from which you against your will need to remove your face to turn off the alarm when you pull away.

She covers herself when you disappear to the kitchen because she knows it's because of the flight, and when you return, the cell phone goes on the coffee table and you sit on the floor next to her on the couch. 

There is a long silent pause, where only your breaths can be heard. Wanda skirts a hickey on her own thigh and you sigh.

"We shouldn't have..." But you can't complete, it because your voice fails you as if you are going to start crying. You look away, and Wanda lets herself fall to your side on the floor, where she reaches for your hand.

"Detka, look at me." She asks, and you have to wait a moment until you sniffle and do so with difficulty.

"I told you it hurts me, Wands. I can't-" You take a deep breath. "I can't heal if this keeps happening. There’s no getting over you if we keep doing this”

She shakes her head. "I don't want you to get over me." She says and you huff, trying to pull her hand away, but Wanda squeezes. "I love you, you know I do."

"Love is not enough." You retort bitterly, your eyes filled with tears. "Loving me doesn't mean you won't hurt me. Nor that you won't ignore me. Those are just words, Wanda. I haven't felt loved by you in a long time."

She releases your hand from the shock of your words, and watches you create a physical distance between you as you walk away. You slip away to the bedroom, muttering that you need to get ready for the flight, and she tries to make a decision the whole time you are in the shower.

When you return to the room, wearing a set of travel clothes, Wanda is wearing your sweatpants and her own dress shirt. Your chest aches to see her wearing your clothes again.

"Wanda, you'd better go, my flight-"

"I love you, detka." She cuts you off with eyes bright with determination as she stares at you. You swallow dry, but can't resist when Wanda reaches up to touch your face. "I will make sure you know it. You'll know it so deeply that you'll be able to feel it in your bones. And you'll never doubt it again."

You sniffle lightly. "Wanda..."

"Don't worry about it now, detka." She interrupts you more gently, caressing your face. "Have a great trip. I'll be here when you come back home."

You sigh, and Wanda doesn't let you say anything more, kissing you in a calmer, but somehow much more intense way than before. 

She leaves the apartment before you, with a wink and a request that you call the boys before and after the flight. 

And even before she gets to the first floor, Wanda has already texted Natasha about her early retirement procedure after her well-deserved family vacation.

[deathsbestgirl]

So Never Again. Just saw this post and the way she looks up at him there is on a level with Mulder’s famous Fallen Angel eyes and his reaction to her? He doesn't melt? He chooses violence and being a dick? Please tell me why.

i LOVE this question because it is so easy to see it from scully's perspective. it's her episode. but you really have to think about mulder's perspective.

for mulder, this seems out of nowhere, and in his mind she was extremely inattentive with his informant on a case he's taking seriously. he doesn't understand what she's really asking or what the problem is, and a big part of that is she doesn't exactly either. it's almost like she's blaming him for the stand still in her life, but at the same time wants to be seen & appreciated (in a way that she understands, can feel, can see). and i don't think she could have figured it out the way she needed to with mulder. she needed the safety of talking to a stranger, someone inconsequential to her life. (like there's no way she could have that "other fathers" conversation with him lol) so ed jerse is the one to give her that. (she does with ed what she can't yet do with mulder. something neither of them are ready for and she isn't brave enough to do yet. and like. idk i just think she needed this! regardless of mulder lol)

like: "this isn't about you. or maybe it is, indirectly. i don't know." the one thing she got right is "i don't know" lol so of course mulder is confused!!

if you place leonard betts first, she's contemplating what she's leaving behind. has she had any impact working on the x files? on mulder? who is going to remember her? what evidence of her life will be left? in that office...it looks like she's had very little effect. (but i do not subscribe to this one.)

if never again is first, which i like better lollll (it makes more sense to me. i understand why people like lb first, it's more clear cut. it puts a reason behind her behavior. but i just don't think it quite fits. scully literally doesn't know what's wrong. if she was already worried about cancer, i think it would come across differently. but she's frustrated & confused and she wants for something she can't admit, express, pinpoint, articulate? idk what word i'm looking for lol) scully's just hit that point in her pattern again, her cycle...it took her four years, and after some rough cases (paper hearts – she couldn't help mulder despite how she tried, el mundo gira – a dead end. and idk, so many of their cases. and she's always wrong, he always does the crazy thing, he's always hurt)...well anyway, at the end he's still asking "all because i didn't get you a desk?" he still isn't quite understanding, until she says it's her life and he almost says "yes but it's become mine." he doesn't say it, they sit in silence, and in leonard betts, he tells her she did a good job & should be proud. all his little jokes like he's trying to make her laugh, to get back to their usual banter. because he wants to make her smile. so he understood at least a little by leonard betts. but they also come to a silent understanding. i just love the way kae talks about it. and i think the end is kind of the explanation for the beginning. the end is the real answer to the whole episode, and what it took to get there...and this post here, kae just understands him and talks about him in a way that i feel. it's exactly what i see in a way i could never articulate. (and she does my favorite thing!!! connects different moments. the characterization is so good.) and she has such a special insight to both of them, different patterns, but to me two sides of the same coin.

and so, either way, at the beginning of never again, he's completely thrown because he doesn't know. this is when their bad verbal communication and personal issues/insecurities/fears take hold. they're both so good at taking too much responsibility.

we're seeing into scully's mind a bit, but we aren't really seeing into his. but he's afraid, he doesn't want her to leave (something he's feared for a long time), he thinks space is the answer to whatever's going on. but he's also kinda needy and he can't just say that. so he calls her and they misunderstand each other again and she makes a date. he isn't trying to be an ass but he's scared & defensive, and he gets like that when she makes him nervous. like whenever she believes (beyond the sea, revelations, all souls, en ami). it feels like that to me. he's afraid, but this time he thinks he's the problem, their work is the problem. and he kinda said the worst thing he could say to her at that moment. "you were just assigned" — he has no idea how she understood that, how it hurts her. (and she's not thinking about how he means it, what he thinks/feels/fears.) and really, it's because she sucks at just saying the thing as much as he does. it takes them a long time to work out their direct communication. their unspoken communication, the way they work on their cases doesn't translate to their personal relationship. as intimate as their partnership is, working through their own issues takes time and it's those things that hinder them moving forward for so long. ya know?

i think @randomfoggytiger talks about it beautifully here — in depth essay on never again. here they touch on mulder's fear/walls & scully's insecurities/needs. it's a journey!! which they talk about here. and i forget what this one was (lol) but i'm sure i saved it for a reason: a little master post. i love the way foggy breaks things down, especially visually. it's something i could never do.

i also reblogged some other never again posts. not completely on topic but it's all connected!! (you can definitely go through my never again tag to see more probably too!)

[abbyslev]

hi guys I WROTE THIS REALLY QUICK it’s been really hectic and like jjk’s been hitting really close to home and i just wanted to share this. sorry for any hearts broken (mine). i got my little drink next to me so prepare for more drunk angst lolzies:)))) been needing a real strong father figure in my life and it’s hard rn smfh

warnings: very very sad angst do not read if you’re fatherless bc it will send you into a spiral (me actually rn) i csnt think if anything else ok ily bye enjoy

Nanami had a quiet life. One where he went to his everyday office job, worked 9-5, went by the bakery and went home.

It was his quiet life up until Gojo left you on his front door step, leaving him with nothing but you and your backpack. Nanami was very angry, not with you of course. How could he ever be mad at a clueless kid?

“How old are you?” He sipped his coffee, peeking at you from the top of the rim.

“You can take me back to where i came from.” Was all you replied with.

So you were troubled. “I’m not going to do that. I spoke with Gojo, sounds like you were in a bad clan. Its not safe for you to go there, but i heard you don’t want to be like them.” “I don’t want to kill.” You mumbled. He felt that. He felt it so deeply, he didn’t want to see his friends dead on Shoko’s table, but that’s the reality.

After a moment of silence, you spoke up. “I’m 17.” You pushed at your food. “Why don’t you try some?” Nanami softly said. Gojo warned you he was a little strict and rough around the edges, but he had been nothing but nice to you. You ate slow bites, taking a sip of water here and there. He could tell you were tense. “I’m Nanami Kento. I guess you’re gonna stay with me for a while.”

-

“I landed that blow!” You high fived Nanami, running around in circles.

“A little too hard, don’t ya think?” Yuuji scratched his head. “That’s why i told you to keep focused, Itadori.” Nanami shook his head. “I just won me some good dinner, Itadori.” You fixed your skirt, smile beaming. “By almost killing me?” You help him up, rubbing the spot where you hit him. “Yup! I won me some good soup tonight.”

Nanami studied you closely. After days and days of talking, he figured out what you could do. Your technique was too good to go to waste, but he didn’t want to force you into something you didn’t want. So he joined back with you. He promised that as long as you were in there, he’d be by your side.

He never expected such a shy person like you to create so many friendships with everyone around you, especially Itadori. With your technique and his, you two were unstoppable. Nanami felt like a proud dad at that moment.

-

“Open it, open it!” You shove the box in his hands.

You wrapped the blanket around yourself tighter, smile growing by the second. It was christmas morning, and you had woken up Nanami way to early. You didn’t even sleep from the excitement. He lifted the top off the box, revealing a beach shirt. It was nice, thin fabric. A designer button up. “Thank you, this is beautiful.” He was a little confused as to why you got him a summer shirt in the middle of winter.

You slide an envelope from under your blanket. “This one too.” You grin widely. “What’s this?” Nanami’s brows furrowed. “Open it.” Your eyes are filled with excitement, glossed over. He opened the envelope in a swift move, eyes slowly reading the thick paper.

He looked up slowly, his usual bored look now gone. Replaced with joy and disbelief. “These are…tickets to Malaysia…” He broke into a smile. “Surprise!” You gave him a grin. For the first time since Nanami had met you, he pulled you into a hug. You felt his muscles grow tighter with every second, you could hear his heart beat with excitement.

“Everything’s all settled already. I got us two weeks off, hotel booked and reservations for fun things.” You whispered, patting his back. “Thank you.”

-

“In here!” You take Itadori’s hand, pulling him into the station.

You had lost Nanami, and you had been trying to find him. You can’t lose him, especially not in Shibuya. You two turned the corner before meeting some stairs. You could hear grunts and see blood splashing everywhere. You two ran down the steps, bumping into Itadori as he came to a halt. What you saw was just like your nightmare. Everything you wished never happened was happening and you couldn’t move.

Nanami’s body was half burned, worn out. His eyes looked tired, body beaten and bruised. His weapon was covered in blood, along with dead curses all around him. Mahito stood behind him, hand on his back.

“Nanami…” Itadori’s voice broke.

“Itadori…” Nanami turned around completely.

He gave you a half smile, meeting your eyes. You covered your mouth, Itadori’s grip around you arm becoming tighter. “You’ve got it from here.” He looked at Itadori before looking back down towards you. He felt so bad, having you see him all like this. You looked tired, sad, beaten, bruised, and scared. Never in his years has he seen you scared.

“I’ll see you in Malaysia, my sweet child.”

His body grew before exploding. One moment he was there, and now nothing but bloody body parts were flying everywhere. You stare at the empty spot, a deafening scream growing in your chest. You couldn’t get anything out, so you stood there, eyes full of tears, waiting for someone to kill you too. Waiting for someone to wake you up, someone to move you. Waiting for Nanami.

He woke you up. Every morning. He would come by your dorm if you misses morning classes. He ate breakfast with you in his office. He would rarely join you and the other students. He’d mentor you for hours and take you to get your favorite Udon noodles if you did good. Even if you didn’t, he’d still treat you. You had your childhood ripped away from you, and like he said, “It is not a sin to be a child.”

He really meant it. He meant every word he had ever said to you. He loved you like you were apart of him.

“We have to go.”

“But…Nanami…” You said as you pointed to the empty space.

[bruh-changbin]

paper boy

pairing: school paper editor! seungmin x afab reader

genre: fluff + smut (minors dni)

warnings: piv, unprotected sex (be safe), semi-public sex, brief mention of masturbation (m and f), brief mention of oral (f receiving), lots of kissy kissy, uhhhh i think that's it?

word count: 2k

a/n: this is... kind of a random scenario but i think i fw it haha. pls appreciate this little baby seungmin fic because a) i haven't written for him or skz in forever, and b) i'm working on some larger fics that i will share in the near future. as always i would love love love to hear your thoughts 😸 also I promise I don’t think all english students are pretentious I was just playing it up for the fic ok bye

photos not mine, credit to original owners (retrieved from pinterest)

.・゜-: ✧ :-　

.・゜-: ✧ :-　

.・゜-: ✧ :-　

when you first lay eyes on seungmin he looks as if he’s the human embodiment of scholarly.

black wire-rimmed glasses hanging off of his nose, a light grey hoodie donning the name of your university across the chest, brows slightly furrowed as he scans the desktop screen in front of him. he looks cute.

you’ve never been one to read the school paper (who does?). but felix wanted to check out the ads posted in the job section so he asked you to pick up a copy for him while he was in his afternoon lecture. 

you’re a good friend, so you fulfil his request.

you’ve always found people involved with english-based extracurriculars to be, well, pretentious. more often than not they’re snooty rich kids who only use messenger bags and think they’re better than everyone because they know what words like malapropism and valetudinarian mean. see, pretentious. 

ergo, you’re less than excited for your venture to the school paper office. but a promise is a promise (and felix vowed to buy you starbucks if you did this for him), so you follow the directions felix gave you to get to your destination.

when you first step into the office space, you’re somewhat taken aback. it’s much more… homey than you imagined. the walls, painted a welcoming shade of fern green, are accompanied by thick armchairs lining the interior and a bamboo welcome mat you wipe your shoes on. a salt lamp casts a warm, pinky-orange glow from where it’s plugged in in the corner. but the real treasure is the cute, puppy-looking boy sitting behind the front desk. 

he looks nice.

virtuous.

innocent.

the kind of boy who’s coffee-toned bambi eyes are the epitome of sinless, who’s nice white teeth only reflect purity, who’s skin is so devoid of imperfections it looks like glass.

“excuse me, can i get a copy of the school paper?” you stutter out embarrassingly, feeling as if this is your first time operating your mouth, tongue and lips to form coherent sounds and syllables.

the boy behind the desk gives you a look that’s a mix of confusion and annoyance before glancing to his left. only then do you notice the painfully obvious display shelf donning stacks upon stacks of this week's issue, an obnoxiously colourful sign reading ‘school paper: grab a copy!’ plastered to the wall above really rubbing in your lack of situational awareness.

“they’re fresh off the press,” seungmin mumbles before going back to whatever it is he’s doing on the computer in front of him.

you nod even though his focus isn’t on you anymore before grabbing a copy of the paper for felix and heading back the way you came. when your sweaty palm comes into contact with the cold, metal handle of the door it shocks the sense back into you. you decide that no, you are not about to give up on this angelical boy just yet before spinning on your heel and spewing whatever thought pops into your head first.

“you smell like bergamot… what perfume do you use?”

he seems taken aback by your sudden questioning, his soft eyes widening just a smidge before he responds, “it’s uh, classic by clean reserve.”

“it smells nice.”

“yea, i like it.”

“i’m y/n.”

“seungmin.” 

he sticks out a hand for you to shake. weird, not many people in your age demographic shake hands when they introduce themselves. but the way he stuck his arm out with restrained enthusiasm is endearing and you grasp his hand in yours. his fingers are long and dainty while his palm radiates warmth; he shakes your hand twice before letting go.

“what’s your major, seungmin?”

“business.”

“business?”

“yep, you?”

“environmental science.”

“nice.” he sounds genuine, “so are you gonna save the world?”

“i’ll start with saving my grades, then we’ll see about the world.”

he laughs at this. the apples of his cheeks puff up ever so slightly to resemble mochi, his baby pink lips curling upwards to reveal a set of straight teeth, perfected by the wires and brackets that are glued to them. braces suit him well.

you vow to yourself that this won’t be the last time you see him.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　

the first time you’re in seungmin’s bedroom your innocent perception of him is skewed.

he invited you over because he wanted to start watching breaking bad, a show that you, on many occasions, have raved about to no end. 

his room is spotless, a level of clean that you’ve never seen a 20-something year old guy execute. which is why your eyes are immediately drawn to the small corner of paper sticking out from under seungmin’s bed. with the rest of his room being so perfect, this small discrepancy sticks out like a sore thumb.

when seungmin head’s downstairs to do god knows what, you grab the paper from underneath his bed and gasp when you find yourself face to face with a playboy magazine. pages upon pages, some with small tears or doggy-ear bookmarks, filled with women showing off their tits in promiscuous poses stare back at you as you flip through the magazine.

heat creeps its way up your neck and when you hear seungmin begin to make his way up the stairs you toss the magazine back under his bed. he gives you a skeptical look when he sees you standing in the middle of his room, fists balled up at your sides with an uneasy expression present on your face, before shrugging, hopping onto his bed and patting the spot beside him to get you to sit down.

despite the show playing in the background, your gaze continues to fall on seungmin’s side profile. 

how can someone so innocent and good be into something so… raunchy? not that liking porn or hentai or whatever it is that gets you going makes you a bad person, it’s just that with seungmin it’s so out of pocket, for lack of a better term.

you try not to imagine seungmin getting himself off on the very bed you're sitting on, one hand holding his tattered playboy and the other gripping his cock. you try not to imagine the hushed whines and groans that would leave his lips in an exhale, ruffling his blonde-streaked bangs in the process. you try not to imagine how he’d bite his puffy bottom lip and throw his head back in ecstasy as he finishes all over his stomach.

you fail.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　

over time the innocence you once saw in seungmin wanes with a slew of firsts: the first time you caught him looking at your breasts through your near see-through top; the first time you found your mind drifting to thoughts of him and his fingers and his lips when you were touching yourself; the first time you made out with him in the back of felix’s corolla when he and changbin ran into the convenience store to get dorito’s.

if seungmin’s lips were a drug you’d be an addict.

you’ve lost track of how many hours you’ve spent with his tongue down your throat, your face going numb with the feeling of his mouth pressed against yours. he tastes like the spearmint gum he chews around the clock and you feel as if you could drown in his blown out pupils when he stares at you with lust and hunger and desire.

his calloused palms and paper-cut ridden fingertips know your skin as if it’s his own. he’s stronger than he lets on, which you found out the first time he fucked you from behind against his kitchen counter. you still don’t know if the purple and blue splotches that remained on your hips for days after were from his countertop or the grip he had on you.

in some ways he still has some of the virtue you thought he had when you first laid eyes on him.

he’s a people pleaser through and through, and will happily spend hours with his face shoved between your legs tongue-fucking you to orgasm so many times you swear you see god. or, he’ll watch with amusement as you struggle to get yourself off on his cock (which is perfect, by the way). the way he looks at you with something akin to pity when you’re perched on top of him - fat tears rolling down your cheeks because your legs are aching and you can’t be on top anymore but you wanna cum so badly - stirs something inside of you that nothing ever has before.

seungmin’s ability to fuck you so hard you see stars is the perfect juxtaposition to the version of himself he portrays to the outside world. kind, quiet, lenient. a picture perfect boyfriend.

you’d made a pact with yourself to get to know more about what it is he does for the school paper, seeing as that was how the two of you met in the first place.

“what exactly do you do there?” you question him over a slice of cheesecake you’re sharing in a booth at a secluded restaurant.

“i edit, do some admin stuff. you know, the works.” he uses his thumb to swipe a dollop of caramel off of your top lip before sucking on it. you swoon.

“do you want me to show you around the office?” he asks you while pulling on his corduroy jacket that makes him look like a teddy bear.

“what, right now?”

“why not? i’ve got the keys.” he pulls a jumpring holding a multitude of silver and gold keys out of his pocket as if to emphasise his point. 

so you say yes.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

you’ve never been on campus after hours. 

something about strolling through the dark hallways that are normally teeming with students and faculty really gets you on edge. but in a good way, like you’re feeding into the rebellious phase you had as a teen that you thought died out but still exists in some small part of your brain. your thoughts are cut short when seungmin stops to unlock to door to the student paper office and drags you into the place your first met him all that time ago.

seungmin explains how much of newspaper production has gone digital now and shows you the web offset press that’s responsible for printing the many copies of your school’s paper every week. he lets you sit at his desk and shows you how he edits upcoming articles while overseeing practically every aspect of the process. it’s then you realize how much seungmin downplays his contribution to the paper, for if he wasn’t involved as much as much as he is everything would be askew.

when you feel his hands creep their way up your back before stopping at your shoulders you relax into his touch. you’ve known seungmin was in a mood since earlier this evening; it was only a matter of time before he made a move. 

he leaves feathery kisses on your neck and jaw while his hands slip under your top to palm your breasts. even the smallest of touches from him can reduce you to a needy, flustered mess. 

the two of you fooling around in seungmin’s workspace was bound to happen, which is why you follow his lead when he moves you so you’re sitting on his desk, when he slips his hand into your panties, when he kisses you so hard you can’t breathe.

garments are discarded at a leisurely pace and soon enough seungmin has his cock stuffed in your tight pussy and is fucking you on top of his desk. the steady electrical hum from the backup generator isn’t enough to drown out his groans and your sighs of pleasure and the wet sound of your cunt sucking him in with every thrust.

seungmin’s tongue drags across your collar bones as you tangle your fingers in his chocolate brown hair with the toffee streaks in his bangs that you love oh so much. the hair at the nape of his neck becomes slick with sweat as his hips bump and grind against yours in a way that has the ceiling above you transforming into a blanket of stars.

you cry when you cum and pray for this moment to never end, revelling in the warmth of your sweet sweet paper boy’s body pressed against yours.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　

[sabraeal]

a heart felled by you, held by you; Part 2

[Read on AO3]

Obiyukiweek 2024, Day 1: Quadrille

It’s not that Suzu didn’t know Lata’s name or whatever; it’s impossible to forget when it’s stamped right across the office he refuses to use three months out of the academic year— why should I let the university know where to find me? he’d huff, stoking the forge. If they’re going to interrupt my work to harangue me about class numbers and securing grant funding, I have no interest in making it easy for them— and scrawled on every lower right corner of his notes. It’s what every colleague calls across the university atrium before he hurries to out pace the persistence hunter that is professional collaboration; and what Ryuu had tried to stutter through for a whole week when he confused formality for maturity.

But between the towering aisles of his yet-to-be-catalogued accessions, and the number of times Shirayuki— and sometimes even Suzu himself— have been left to make his excuses to professors and professionals far above their pay grade, the idea that’s he’s a noble— a capital ‘F,’ weasel-thing-rampant Forzeno— well, it doesn’t seem quite real.

Not until now, when the doors on this stately manor swing open, and—

“I thought you lived in a shithole,” Suzu blurts out, momentarily blinded by polished marble and gold filigree. He’s no expert on architecture and has only a dubious grasp on history, but even he can tell this place is old. Storied, his mental Kazaha supplies, buzzing through his thoughts like flies over an ungrammatical carcass. “Or at least, that’s what Shidan said when—”

“I said apartment.” Shidan glares at him, like it’s Suzu’s fault he spent ten highly memorable minutes complaining about the stack of specimens that almost toppled onto him that one time he tried to brave Lata’s front parlor.

“It’s a townhouse.” Lata’s all noblesse oblige now that they’re ensconced in his family’s home, acting generous and tolerant, like they’re a good friend’s dogs that he knows are going to piddle on the carpet and he’s determined to be gracious about it. The kind of patience that’s pushed out between a man’s teeth instead of welling up from some internal font of goodness or whatever. “Private land ownership is the only way to receive permission for a forge of that size. And yes, I do.”

“But why not hang out here?” Suzu peeks into one of the fancy urns lining the walkway— disappointingly empty— before letting it rock back onto its pedestal. “It’s big and fancy and there’s a bunch of people whose job is to wait on you hand and foot. I’d never leave.”

“The commute,” Obi offers, sticking his own head down some fancy pot too.  “Or maybe the wallpaper bothers him.”

“That’s certainly one way to put it,” Lata mutters, steering Obi away from the crockery with a scowl. “This is family land, owned by countless generations of Forzeno since time immemorial—”

“672.” Kazaha strides down the runner with his hands clasped behind his back, like he’s the king of the castle— or like it might convince the man who is that he’s not about to have any sticky fingers. “That’s when Motouji Forzeno ordered a fitting home to be built for him within a day’s ride of the capital, which at that point was still based in Wirant, not in Wistal. That only happened once the Wisteria family inherited the throne from a series of strategic marriages over the previous three generations—”

“And in any case, not mine.” He clears his throat, shoulders pulling straight beneath the heavy wool over his tunic, looking more lordly per inch than he ever has at the university. “At least, not in name.”

For as long as Suzu’s known him, Shidan’s never been a confrontational kind of guy; Lata might duck and dodge and, if cornered, bite and rend any interference from the university’s board, but Shidan chooses the path of least resistance. Or more accurately, the path of least surveillance— he might sit and stay and sign the papers the higher up sent his way, but as soon as they had their back turned cajoling some of the more recalcitrant academics in their department, he’d slip right off the leash, doing what needed doing before the deans were any the wiser. That’s how they’d gotten into this whole orimmallys project anyhow, and that all worked out in the end. Mostly.

So when Shidan hums, all considering— the way he does when he’s about to quibble over wording on a paper, but so nicely Suzu won’t even know he’s gotten the run-around until he’s halfway to the dorms— it’s a sign. A portent, even.

“Your father gave you lease over the entire place, didn’t he?” He’s got his gloves caught in his hand, running fingers along some fancy wainscoting. There’s some gold leaf on it, gilding a few fussy fleur-de-lis, and his fingers run slow enough that there’s got to be some grit. Dust, even. “That’s what Garrack said, at least.”

Lata’s brow sours like samples left too long on the bench. “And of course, Head Pharmacist Gazelt would be the expert on my family’s internal affairs.”

“No,” Ryuu murmurs ponderously, so soft they all hush up to hear him. “But she’d be less invested in avoiding them.”

Big blue eyes blink up at his lordship, and if they were any less guileless— or maybe, if Ryuu was any less fifteen— there’d be some sort of dust up. Some flavor of raised voices and shaking fists, and maybe someone would end up with a cold ass on the big field of snow Lata calls the front lawn. But instead he just sucks in a breath, whistling like a hole in a window when the wind’s got its back up, and says, “I thought I was being quite generous offering you all a place to ready yourselves before the gala, but now I’m quite wondering just why I extended the invitation.”

“Because you’d rather be annoyed with us than risk being left alone with one of those lords?” Suzu barely realizes he’s spoken until five sets of eyes swing his way, goggling like he’s hauled off and said something out of band. Again. “Or ladies?”

A laugh’s dour cousin scrapes out from Lata’s chest as they climb what Suzu assumes is the grand stair, if only because it’s larger than the last three. “Yes,” he agrees, more weary than waggish. “Something like that.”

“Hey.” Obi hangs back, lingering on the landing with one thumb hooked over his shoulder. “Is that you?”

There’s a portrait beside him, larger than he is— or Suzu, or Shidan, or any man he’s seen living; so big that it must have taken a whole crew of footmen to install, if only to keep one of them from being crushed under a lordly boot. He’s got to squint to see above the knee, daubs of oils glistening in the gaslight, making it hard to pick out more than the curve of thick, dark hair, or the stern, squarish set the to jaw, or—

“I gotta say,” Obi hums, arms folding over his coat. “Quail hunter isn’t what comes to mind when I look at you.”

“I’m not.” Lata paces a step back toward them, then two, glowering up at the most detailed bird carcass Suzu’s ever seen outside the ruts of a country road. “That would be my father, in his youth. He had a great love of…working his will on the world, one way or another.”

“Ah…” Kazaha sighs, searching for something properly ingratiating to say. “There’s a certain, hm, strong family resemblance.”

Suzu seizes the opportunity to inform the professor, “He means that you both look grumpy.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Right,” he agrees blithely. “It’s what you meant. Like I said.”

Lata snorts, starting back down the hall. “If you think I am ill-tempered, wait until you meet my sire. Why, I’m practically a ray of sunshine next to that old—”

“Oh, are we gonna?” Obi whips around, determined to be underfoot as he asks, “Will I finally get to meet my Knight Grandpa? Sir Grandpa—?”

“I would thank you not to call him that.  And no.” Lata’s mouth thins to a line as tight as his shoulders. “Besides, if we are to take Knight Grandpa at its most literal, it would not be my father, but instead the man who was my master as a squire.”

“Is he gonna be here? Can I meet him?” It’s not physically possible for Obi to wend himself around Lata’s legs, but by the way he bats his eyes up at him, he’s spiritually there. “I promise I’ll be a good little knight. I’ll even bow and scrape and write poetry about women lying in ponds—”

“No.” After a begrudging pause, Lata adds, “He’s dead, actually.”

Obi pops up, shoulders suddenly soldier-straight beside him. “Oh, well. That’s a pretty good excuse. Did he die from some battle wound or…?”

“The drink,” Lata confirms. “He wasn’t, honestly, a very good master. But he was a friend of my father’s. That seemed to matter more back then.”

A laugh saws out of Obi, rough enough Suzu’s surprised it doesn’t take a bit of throat with it. “Seems to matter just as much now.”

The professor doesn’t do anything so obvious as look at Obi, oh no— he just simply clasps his hands behind his back, favoring the hall in front of him with an approving nod. “Doesn’t it just.”

“You frown the same way.” Both men peer over their shoulders, but Obi makes confusion seem casual, whereas Lata just scowls. Ryuu, for his part, doesn’t seem to notice. “You and your father, I mean.”

“Yes.” Lata surveys the hallway over his shoulder before turning back around. “It runs in the family.”

A beat passes before Suzu dares to venture, “Hey, weren’t the girls supposed to get ready here too?”

“Yes.” The professor isn’t known to smile, and he certainly doesn’t now, giving them all a disapproving glare. “They arrived on time.”

*

“What if” —Shidan’s clever little botanist practically froths over the vanity like a flask left too long on the hob, spilling linen and lace where she leans— “I told him I had something in my eye.”

This is hardly the first volley of hypotheticals Garrack’s fielded from that quarter; oh no, the girls had all been down to chemises when the preliminary speculation began— what if…I said I needed some air?— and now what had already been a serviceable set of natural curves has become a feat of human engineering, bolstered by a bulwark of baleen and batiste. There’d been endless layers added on; bust improvers and corsets and girdles, all requiring additional helpful hands, and it lends a weary edge to Izuru’s, “Oh, it’s a him, now is it?”

Shidan’s long-time assistant hasn’t bothered to batten down her hatches— at least, not as much as the botanist girl’s— with only enough corsetry to turn her posture from academic to appropriate. Another assurance that she’s coming along nicely, just the way Garrack always thought she would so long as Shidan’s quiet perfectionism didn’t infest her work ethic the way his little pet project did the university’s water supply.

“What next?” It has to have been ages since there was a woman in this place— heavens know Lata isn’t bringing any inamorata around here to parade around in front of his mother’s mirror— but the painted wood Izuru slumps over is pristine. Or, well, as much as whale bone lets a body slouch.  “Identifying details? A name?”

“He’s hypothetical,” the botanist snaps, which almost guarantees that he isn’t. Too bad she hasn’t caked on the powder yet; even with the lights dimmed as they are, it’s impossible to miss the flush that creeps up her shoulders, pouring onto that pretty face. “He doesn’t exist. Yet.”

There’s quite a bit Izuru seems to have to say about that; her shoulder straighten, her mouth cants, and—

“Is that supposed to be romantic?” Shirayuki frowns into the mirror, hands swallowed up by the untameable beast that is Izuru’s hair. “Having something in your eye?”

“Well, not usually,” the botanist admits, undaunted by the sharp elbow of reality bursting her dreamy little bubble. “But an eyelash…that’s all right. Delicate even! Demure. And when he bends down, BAM.”

Shirayuki blinks. “You hit him?”

“Kiss him!” The girl slumps into a chair— despite all her scaffolding, she makes a better show of it than Izuru— heaving the most world-weary sigh. “I would kiss him, Shirayuki.”

It’s years since she’s been that diligent apprentice, quietly working under Ryuu’s precise direction, but Shirayuki still flushes as red as her hair at the barest mention of grown adults touching in any way but a professional handshake. Garrack would have thought Zen would handle that— three years is a quite a lot of time, and considering what some of her cohort got up to on these cold Lilias nights, she’d have expected the bar for blushing to be a few sexual acts higher. Under the clothes, at least.

“W-wouldn’t that be an awkward angle?” Shirayuki busies herself with Izuru’s hair, letting it twist around her hands as she pins it in place. “You m-might crash heads! And noses.”

“Fine.” The botanist flops on her chair, thoroughly put upon. “What about dropping my handkerchief? I let it flutter, just like this”— there’s no fabric in her hands, but she sticks out an elegant arm, turning away as her fingers go limp— “and when he bends to retrieve it, I—”

Garrack snorts. Not a soft one either; for as unintended as it is, it draws quite the audience. The pretty botanist included, one of her well-shaped eyebrows raised.

It’s a struggle to keep the laugh in her chest from bubbling out, making this whole situation worse. Or injure this girl’s more tender emotions, at least.“Listen, you really think a lord would stoop? For a botanist?”

“He will if he wants to be kissed!” she huffs, arms crossed. Quite a bit of lace froths out over them, like a puffed-out pigeon’s chest. “Which he will, since I’m going to be the best looking girl at this gala!”

There’s one of these girls in every cohort— a little too pretty for their own good, always thinking about which assistants they might be able to catch alone in the fourth floor stock room. Clever, of course— you don’t end up in Lilias if you’re a slouch in that department— but just a bit silly. Whimsical. Destined to be disappointed when they find out royals don’t marry researchers.

At least most royals with most researchers. It probably doesn’t help that the statistical outlier is in the room right now, sending her a long suffering look. “Yuzuri…”

“That’s no slight on the rest of you, Shirayuki,” the botanist— this Yuzuri— assures her, “I’ve just been planning for this my whole life. Or at least since I found out Wirant throws one of the Solstice things.”

“We’re supposed to be here for professional purposes,” Izuru reminds her, having worked for Shidan too long to believe in mixing work with pleasure.

“Oh, boo, Izuru!” Yuzuri straightens, bustling over to the mirror to fuss with the glossy fall of her hair,  pinning up parts of it with her fingers and frowning at the results. “Don’t be dull.”

“It’s not dull,” Shirayuki protests, placing the last pin in hopes that this time, Izuru’s hair might not simply bend the mess of them to breaking. “It’s what Shidan’s asking us to do. I’m not saying you can’t dance too, but if you’re going to be mingling with the nobles, maybe you should try to talk to some of them about what we’re doing with the Phostyrias. Just a couple of them giving permission for us to plant the bulbs would really be—”

“Oh, fine, fine.” She waves one hand— painstakingly manicured, done up in a pearly sort of polish that wouldn’t last five minutes once she was back in the greenhouse— but undeterred. “I can chat them up a little bit too. For the project.”

Tonight might be the darkest night of the year, celebrated in the coldest, most ass-end part of the whole country, but when Shirayuki smiles, Garrack might well be back in her office at Wistal, enjoying the mild summer breeze winding through her window. “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“You better,” Yuzuri huffs, twisting her hair in her hands. “Don’t think I don’t notice that it’s the girl with a guy who’s down to kiss her anytime, any place that’s asking the rest of us to consider this a work party.”

“I…” Shirayuki sputters, and hoh, there’s that blush again, with a vengeance. “Obi wouldn’t…I mean…that’s not…”

Well, well. Looks like she’s been a little behind on current events of the frigid north. And maybe not so wrong about royals and researchers after all.

“What if I asked him off into a side corridor? Or an alcove? Maybe a balcony,” Shidan’s botanist continues, saving Shirayuki a few more stumbles. “Those always have the right ambiance. And then I ask him to check the clasp on my necklace, and—”

“At that point you might as well ask him to kiss you,” Izuru is quick to point out, stepping up to help her hold a swag of hair in place. “You’re not really being subtle.”

Yuzuri groans, pins clattering against painted wood. “But where’s the romance in that? There’s got to be some uncertainty, some risk—”

“You do know,” Garrack hums, crossing her ankles on the convenient hassock in front of her. “Shidan and I are here specifically to help keep down the kissing, don’t you?”

The girl sighs, eyes rolling in her reflection. “But you’re not really going to do anything, are you, Master Gazelt? You know how silly this whole rule is. Aren’t you just going to look the other way?”

Her mouth twitches. It would be funny to see that old goat get twisted up over some twenty-year-olds playing mother-may-I with their tonsils. “Maybe,” she allows, “if I thought it was funny enough.”

*

It hardly seems fair to say Suzu is disheveled when he hardly ever seems, well, sheveled, for lack of a better word. But with his shirt still merely half-buttoned and flyaway wisps of blond escaping their tie with every scrape of his hands over his scalp, Shidan has little else to call him.

“Is the mazurka step-step-clap-turn, or is that the redowa?” His half-coat flaps out around him as he marks out the movements— poorly, but at least recognizable, even if Shidan would be at pains to reproduce them. “Or maybe it’s the waltz? Help me, Obi,” — he seizes the knight as he slips through the door, rumpling the black wool of his coat— “I can’t remember!”

“I’ll run you through the steps before we get out there,” he promises, detaching Suzu from his lapel with more gentleness than Shidan would, under the circumstances. Suzu is a valuable member of his team, a long-time collaborator who will perform any number of demeaning tasks to see a project through, so long as he can avoid a single shred of responsibility and complain about his sorry lot the whole time, but well— even Shidan has his limits. “It’ll all come back to you once you got the band to back you up. These things always make more sense with the music.”

Suzu stares at him, utterly blank, and Obi huffs out a laugh. “Theoretical versus practical knowledge, right?”

“Oh.” Suzu endeavors to smooth back his strays, but they only pop back up in his palm’s wake. “Right. Yeah. Of course. Easy, then.”

“Right.” Obi pats his shoulder with a purposeful sort of confidence, as if he could pass it through flesh and fabric with the ease that footrot does through hoofs. “Easy.”

That is until Ryuu glances up from his book, brow furrowed in the faintest vee, and says, “If that’s the case, then how are you and Shirayuki so bad at it?”

Obi whips around, wide-eyed with betrayal. “H-hey!” he squawks. “We’ve gotten better!”

Ryuu doesn’t reply— not verbally, at least— but the look he turns to Obi is eloquent enough to speak for itself. And what it says is: not appreciably.

“Why are you even concerned about all that?” Kazaha’s costume is so crisp carpenters could use it to cut corners, cape and coat and pants and stymieing haircut all in perfect place. “It’s not as if anyone is going to ask you to dance.”

“Why not? I’m dressed all nice.” Suzu blinks down at himself, taking in the uncuffed sleeves and half-buttoned shirt and the coat canted askew on his shoulders, and adds, “Well, I will be.”

Kazaha may cluck his tongue, may shake his head hopelessly, but even still, he reaches out, straightening Suzu’s cuffs before buttoning them tight. “Because you’re a man, idiot. Girls might inquire if you’d like to take a stroll down Pavilion Street when we’re at the university, but in a ballroom, men do the asking.”

Shidan can’t say Suzu’s ever been popular with the female population, especially among the more established academics who are already well aware of his reputation as a rather acerbic eccentric, more apt to be cozened under tables or smudged with sweat and grit from Lata’s forge than doing the more respectable pastime of benchwork. But there’s always a flush of fluttering young freshmen flouncing outside the lab each year, eager to catch a glimpse of— or even speak a word or two with— the herbology department’s most striking scholar. That is, of course, until they actually talk to him.

“Really?” Spoken like a man who has had invitations hurled at his retreating back for five years running. By Kazaha’s strangled sigh, it’s clear he’s thinking the same. “I’m very pretty, though.”

“That may help with young ladies wanting to dance with you,” Kazaha informs him, pulling his lapel into a shape somewhat approaching acceptable. “But it will be expected that you approach them.”

“Oh.” It’s startling to see that sharp face turn thoughtful. “So I don’t have to do this dancing thing at all.”

“You do.” Shidan’s order scrapes out at the same time Kazaha’s does, creating an odd sort of echo before he presses on, “We’re the guests of honor at this gala. The department is expecting us to socialize with potential donors.”

“Well sure, but that doesn’t mean I gotta—”

“You will,” Shidan promises him wearily. “And you’ll have to at least pretend to like it, if you want to continue our work in the lab.”

“And not in some tiny closet,” Obi adds, brightly. “Where you’ll have to knock elbows with Kazaha just to get a beaker on the burner.”

“Well, yeah.” Suzu slumps, waving off Kazaha’s continued ministrations. It’s too late, however— he already looks respectable. Not enough to pass for a peer, but someone well on his way to professor. “But what if I just hung out along the wall instead. Then I could talk to people, and—”

“It’s rude for young men to be idling when there are eligible young ladies waiting for a partner.” Obi’s words nearly sparkle for all their polish, but he ruins the effect with one of his slant-wise grins. “Don’t worry, I told you I’d show you how to cut a rug. It’s better than getting stuck in a conversation with one of those stuffy old—”

There is a gravitas to the way the doors open in this place, a stately creak that does not imply age so much at maturity; this manor was built long before the sovereigns of Wisteria sunk their roots into Clarines’ throne, and it would last long after they were nothing more than musty portraits in halls long forgot. For as much as Lata might chafe under the weight of that history, might complain about the burden of expectation placed upon a son— the son— of Forzeno, he looks every inch the part as he steps over the threshold, trousers tailored and coast pressed within an inch of their lives, more institution than man.

“The guests are arriving,” he intones with all the cheer of a funeral bell. “Are you through with your preparations?”

“Almost!” Obi sing-songs, helping Kazaha tug the sleeves of Suzu’s jacket straight. “There, done.”

Lata surveys them with the same sharpness as he does his specimens, assessing them as if their flaws were as easily apparent as a gem’s through a loupe. With a long-suffering sigh, one pristine glove pinches at his nose, as if it might be any help at all stemming the incoming headache.

“Passable,” he grates out, stepping aside. “Now if you would follow me, I will ensure that you all make it to the hall.”

Obi’s mouth twitches, threatening a smirk. “Can’t trust us to get there on our own, eh, sir?”

“I have been an academic for nearly as long as you have been alive.” The fit of his coat already has Lata at his full height, but he lifts his chin for good measure, just to give his glare a few more momentum before it meets Obi’s grin. “And there is not a single scholar alive that can travel from one point to another in a straight line.”

Both brows raise now, scrunching the scar right to his hairline. “Not even you?”

Lata clears his throat. “If you would all come this way please. In an orderly fashion,” he adds, when Suzu traipses after him, elbows nearly colliding with Ryuu’s nose as he comes up behind. “I would prefer to avoid any accidents before we even arrive.”

Obi slinks closer, like a cat approaching a precariously placed cup. “But not after?”

A heavy sigh flares out of Lata’s nostrils. “I would prefer you not. But ‘after’ is not part of my purview.”

For all that Obi enjoys dogging the professor’s irritable heels, he makes no move to follow him. Instead, he lingers just inside the door, watching as first Suzu, then Ryuu, then Kazaha pass. Being polite, Shidan assumes at first, but then the moment for him to fall in line comes…and passes, utterly unmarked, save for the amused glance Obi turns his way, gold flaring in the lamplight.

He’s a different man than the one that appeared with the snow, all those years ago. Even more so from the boy that simply manifested in the university’s library, slotting himself between the two royal pharmacists with an ease that had Shidan squinting even then, trying to figure out how such incongruous pieces could fit. Lilias drew all types, it’s true, but even so— he’d never seen one quite like this: a knight with a thug’s scar cut into his brow, swaggering through the stacks like they were old enemies.

Don’t be fooled, Garrack had written him once, loops spiking tight with barely restrained humor. He might look a little rough-and-tumble, but that kid cleans up well.

He sees it now— the strong line of his shoulder accentuated by the cut of his coat, the belt at his waist complementing the taper of his torsi, the loose trousers that only barely obscure the acrobat’s body beneath. There’s no way to cover the scar, not even with a judicious application of pomade, but there’s no need— not when it only makes him look roguish, like a man who might sweep a girl into an alcove and teach her the sort of things proper young ladies only learned from novels. Still dangerous, but not deadly.

Worrying, really, considering. Shidan doesn’t make a habit of listening to scuttlebutt, but, well, he does have eyes of his own. And red is hard to miss. More so than the black he always finds bent beside it. “Obi, if I might have a word?”

That brow of his pitches up, amusement apparent in every angle. “You academics really will do anything to keep from having to go where you’re told.”

Shidan blinks, confused, before shaking his head. “I only thought I might remind you, that er…” There’s no delicate way to put it, not when he’s already wearing a smirk that would set every fine young lady’s fan fluttering. “That this year there is to be no Solstice kissing. By Lata’s request.”

“So I’ve heard.” Obi’s head cocks, curious, though when he takes in the emptiness of the room, the pointedness of the request…the slant his brow takes is clearly…confused. “Is there any reason you’re telling me, specifically?”

It’s a romantic sort of night, he might say, and it’s easy to forget yourself in the moment. Or maybe, you already stand so close I couldn’t fit a paper between the two of you, all it would take to close it is a well-timed trip. Or perhaps more accurately, you’ve been together so long all you need is an excuse. Trust me when I say you should take it.

But Shidan knows better than to speak, not when silence is all the more eloquent. The mind, he finds, often finds the most pressing reasons all on its own. Especially when one's thoughts never strayed too far from them anyway...

“Hey!” Obi presses a hand to the placard of his coat. “I haven’t caused trouble for years.”

It’s a feat worthy of song that Shidan keeps from reminding him of the last time him and Shirayuki rode through these gates. And yet, there’s no graceful way to admit that he hadn’t been talking about that sort of trouble anyway.

“Months, at least,” he relents, grudgingly. With a few moments of thought, he adds, “I’ve been really good this week.”

Shidan, with the patience of a saint, restricts his reply to simply, “If you’re sure.”

Obi does him the courtesy of hesitating. “Well, none of that’s been of the kissing variety, anyway. Not like any of the ladies here are going to be looking to make time with a guy like me tonight.”

He gives him another one of those charming grins, and Shidan sighs, resigning himself to an evening of being pointedly unobservant. “So you say.”

[rhodeybugg]

Dust From The Past: Chapter 1 - Conspiracy

//SURPRIIIISEE It's here!! Song from the Act 1 Playlist is: 'Kara Main Theme'

CONSOLIDATED ANDROID NO 001

SYSTEM START….

Initializing…

.

.

.

Complete.

Data Blackbox : ONLINE

Audio Processors : ONLINE

Adjusting Optics…

Internal Systems : OPERATIONAL

.

.

Its eyes opened—not smoothly, but with the sharp precision of a camera shutter snapping into action, introducing it to the world for the first time. For a moment, it’s vision was a blur of bright fluorescent lights and pristine concrete walls to match.

But just as quickly as the shutter had snapped, the world came into focus.

The room was cold and quiet, save for the humming of the lights above it, and a distant conversation a few rooms over.

Cold air hit the few parts of it’s metal arms and legs that remained exposed by the strange article of gray clothing that covered most of its body, and the robot wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

…It could feel..?

It could….think…?

An involuntary twitch moved the digits of its left hand as an android on another table awoke.

It wasn’t sure how just yet, but something told it that they were different from each other. This one was taller, and based on the few strands of synthetic black hair that it could see curling around its face in the corner of its optics, as compared to the cherry red hair of the new one, the differences were intentional.

“Are they going to work, or not?”

A new sound made both of them turn their attention to the only way out of the room, staring with pure curiosity as two new figures entered.

Humans. A short one in a lab coat with glasses and long, scruffy black hair that had been tied back in a ponytail, and a tall one, a brunette with neatly trimmed hair and a fancy business suit.

“I told you they will, you just have to give them time-”

And then they stopped. Both androids made eye contact with the men.

“...Francis, what is this?”

The tall one glared at the shorter one- who the two androids assumed was Francis.

“Sir, I told you.” The shorter one pushed his glasses back onto his nose. “I took some creative liberties with the project-”

The tall one stepped towards the two androids, a displeased expression on his face. The two androids shared a look of confusion. Had they already done something wrong?

Francis pointed towards the red-haired one.

“These are the two prototypes. That’s Vex.”

The displeased taller human rolled his eyes.

“You NAMED them?”

Francis ignored him, gesturing towards the black-haired one.

“And that’s Jamie.”

“I didn’t ask you for PETS.”

The tall one spun on his heels to face Francis.

“I asked you for MACHINES. TOOLS. Not dress-up toys!”

Jamie. So that was its name!

Jamie…

…Yeah, it liked that name.

“These ARE your machines. I just took us a step further in the project and put us in a brand new direction.”

Jamie glanced at Vex, who had turned their attention to something in the corner of the room. A bug, maybe?

“What the hell are you talking about, Francis?”

Francis moved to Jamie’s side, waving a hand in front of the android enthusiastically.

“Just think! First, we start with clearing out the mine- show everyone what they can do-”

“And?”

“And then, we move UP! Think of all the jobs these guys could take! We could reduce the rate of unnecessary work deaths! If there isn’t a REAL person working the job, there are no liabilities!”

…what the heck were they talking about?

The tall one thought for a moment, before nodding and flashing Francis a smile. Jamie wasn’t sure if it was a genuine one, or a sinister smile.

“I like your thinking, Francis.”

“Here, and you can even take one of the prototypes! Test it out, let it work around the office- send it to go fetch papers or something. Your choice.”

..what was going to happen to the other one?

“Give me the red one.” The taller one spoke without hesitation. “You can put the other one in storage for now. We’ll keep it for the showcase.”

The two androids shared a look of confusion and…another emotion that neither really knew of yet. Had Jamie done something wrong? Had Vex done something? What was going to happen to Jamie?

It felt a hand brush against the sensors on it’s face before it’s vision focused again. Only Francis and Jamie remained in the room.

It stayed perfectly still as his hand moved to the back of it’s neck, doing something with the control panel between it’s shoulders.

And then it finally spoke. It took a few crackles and confused attempts at words, before Jamie finally got the words out of their processor.

“....Did i…..do something..wrong..?”

Francis shook his head, smiling at the robot.

“No, no, sweet girl, you’re just..”

It- no.. she, tilted her head.

“It’s just not your time to shine yet, is all.”

SYSTEM POWER SWITCH OFF.

10 SECONDS TO SHUTDOWN.

“You’re alright.”

She found his words oddly assuring, a confirmation that her simple existence hadn’t been an immediate failure.

“You’ll get your chance again, Jamie.”

5 SECONDS…

The camera lens closed again. She didn’t want to fade back into nothingness again, but she had no choice.

“...They’ll love you. I know they all will.”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Y̵̴̷̵̵̡̧̧̛̼̱͎̠̜̘͍̘̥̣̩̰͔͉ͣ̑ͩ͒ͣ̐̍̾́̈́̅͊̎̀̽͐͊͟͡͠ͅͅơ̧̨̝̼̦̱̰͈͍̙͆͋͒̔̂ͭ̎̑̿̈́͋̂̓̀̐̀̋ͤ͗̑̆̄̕͢͢͠͞ͅụ̷̵̢̭̠͕͈͚̾͋̆̾̿͗͑̌͒̽ͨ̇͒ͦ͞_͕̘̗͔̻̽̓̎͊̊ͯ̂'̪͈̞̙͛̀ͪͬͦ̚r͓̝̖̈́̔ͦ́͌_̡̨̪͍̩̳͙̲̤̳̰ͤ̂̒ͥ̊ͭ͛ͫ͘_̡̼̝͇̘͙̟ͥ͊͋ͤͥ͌̇̕͠͡e̷̸̢̢̜̦̝̝͎͔̩͍̤͍͍͔̹͔̞̯͋͆͐͆ͯͮ͊̋̂̌ͫ͋̿̀́ͮͦ͌̑ͩ͆͟͜͞ͅͅ d̴̸̢̻̙͚̬̩̳̳͍͕̪̗̾̐̓̒͛̑̀ͮ͠ͅͅŗ̵̷̷̴̶̡̱͉͚͉̠̹̟̘͉͖͉͙̍̈̋ͦ͗̔̋́̈̋ͩ̑ͮ̒̏͌͋͐ͥ͌̕͘̕̚͟͡ͅͅe̵̷̶̝̭̭͈̦̜̟̺̮̻̠̦̲̩̫͍ͪ͊̃́̉͆̊͛͗̌̎̃̐̿̂́̏̔̚͘ą͕̯̭͎ͧ̌̃͐ͭ̊ͫ̋͊ͫ̚͢͝m̵̴͇̜̟̠͊̀̕ͅi̴̠̫̼̻͎ͦͥ͛ͩ̔̊ͩ̕͟͠n̗g̷̴̗̖̖̗̦̻̲͕̺̜͕ͯͩ̄̂̈́̉̈̽̅̾̈́͊̃ͩ̋̾ͧͭ̚̚͜͞ͅ a̴̭͇̤̦̻̜̼ͦ̌ͫ̇̾̚ͅ_̶̢̰̦͉͍̙̙̭ͨͨ̾ͣ͂͒ͥ͋̋́̿ͦ͘͟͡g̶̨̝̖͍̰̹̥̦͎̬͍̼̰̯͎̒̏ͦ̑̊͗̽̒̊ͪ̃ͧ͛͢a̝͙̮̎̑̽̚ì̧̺̲̼̤̏ͦͮͥ͛ͩ̕ņ̰̫̰̯̪̦̲͇̺̺̗̲̙̲̹̳ͬͮ̀̏ͩ͂̄ͭ̽̍͊̓͑̀͒̉̄̉ͣ̒̚̕̕͘͜͡.̴̸̞̪̥̭͇̥͔͖͖̬̻͈̮ͥͤͥ̋̇ͮ̓̄̆ͣ̊͘͜͜͟͟

W̫͖͎̝͇̮ͬ̅ͪ̄̍̀̎̋̌ͬ̕ͅa̷̖̣ͯ̃͌k̷̰̦̤̳̖̮̥͔̽ͯ́̈́̈́ͧ̂͛̑̔̋͂ͭ͊̕͝ẹ̙̯̬̘̠̙̘̰͕̒̌ͣ̊̃ͮ̃̇ͥ̈_̱ ṳ̸̧̩̘̙͍̱̋͋̀_̲͊̾̑̕͜p̮̰̦̟ͮ̿̈́̅̏

W̫͖͎̝͇̮ͬ̅ͪ̄̍̀̎̋̌ͬ̕ͅa̷̖̣ͯ̃͌k̷̰̦̤̳̖̮̥͔̽ͯ́̈́̈́ͧ̂͛̑̔̋͂ͭ͊̕͝ẹ̙̯̬̘̠̙̘̰͕̒̌ͣ̊̃ͮ̃̇ͥ̈_̱ ṳ̸̧̩̘̙͍̱̋͋̀_̲͊̾̑̕͜p̮̰̦̟ͮ̿̈́̅̏

W̫͖͎̝͇̮ͬ̅ͪ̄̍̀̎̋̌ͬ̕ͅa̷̖̣ͯ̃͌k̷̰̦̤̳̖̮̥͔̽ͯ́̈́̈́ͧ̂͛̑̔̋͂ͭ͊̕͝ẹ̙̯̬̘̠̙̘̰͕̒̌ͣ̊̃ͮ̃̇ͥ̈_̱ ṳ̸̧̩̘̙͍̱̋͋̀_̲͊̾̑̕͜p̮̰̦̟ͮ̿̈́̅̏ W̫͖͎̝͇̮ͬ̅ͪ̄̍̀̎̋̌ͬ̕ͅa̷̖̣ͯ̃͌k̷̰̦̤̳̖̮̥͔̽ͯ́̈́̈́ͧ̂͛̑̔̋͂ͭ͊̕͝ẹ̙̯̬̘̠̙̘̰͕̒̌ͣ̊̃ͮ̃̇ͥ̈_̱ ṳ̸̧̩̘̙͍̱̋͋̀_̲͊̾̑̕͜p̮̰̦̟ͮ̿̈́̅̏ W̫͖͎̝͇̮ͬ̅ͪ̄̍̀̎̋̌ͬ̕ͅa̷̖̣ͯ̃͌k̷̰̦̤̳̖̮̥͔̽ͯ́̈́̈́ͧ̂͛̑̔̋͂ͭ͊̕͝ẹ̙̯̬̘̠̙̘̰͕̒̌ͣ̊̃ͮ̃̇ͥ̈_̱ ṳ̸̧̩̘̙͍̱̋͋̀_̲͊̾̑̕͜p̮̰̦̟ͮ̿̈́̅̏ W̫͖͎̝͇̮ͬ̅ͪ̄̍̀̎̋̌ͬ̕ͅa̷̖̣ͯ̃͌k̷̰̦̤̳̖̮̥͔̽ͯ́̈́̈́ͧ̂͛̑̔̋͂ͭ͊̕͝ẹ̙̯̬̘̠̙̘̰͕̒̌ͣ̊̃ͮ̃̇ͥ̈_̱ ṳ̸̧̩̘̙͍̱̋͋̀_̲͊̾̑̕͜p̮̰̦̟ͮ̿̈́̅̏ W̫͖͎̝͇̮ͬ̅ͪ̄̍̀̎̋̌ͬ̕ͅa̷̖̣ͯ̃͌k̷̰̦̤̳̖̮̥͔̽ͯ́̈́̈́ͧ̂͛̑̔̋͂ͭ͊̕͝ẹ̙̯̬̘̠̙̘̰͕̒̌ͣ̊̃ͮ̃̇ͥ̈_̱ ṳ̸̧̩̘̙͍̱̋͋̀_̲͊̾̑̕͜p̮̰̦̟ͮ̿̈́̅̏

Junebug gasped as she jolted upwards, digging her hands into the blanket around her.

It was dark. She could see, she knew she could, it just took a minute for her optics to adjust- something about cameras and exposure and…yeah, something like that.

Where was she, again..?

The weight beside her finally registered. Johnny lay peacefully sleeping on his side beside her, arms curled to his chest and his face buried in a pillow.

Spare bedroom, basement, tv…couch…

Right, Clara and Cyrano’s house. She and Johnny did a set at a bar nearby and asked to stay with them for the weekend. The bike was outside, the keys were on the table.

Well, there was no chance of her going back to sleep, not after that nightmare.

Junebug moved slowly and quietly, not wanting to disturb her Cricket, taking careful steps up the stairs and into the kitchen.

She’d made up her mind about halfway up the steps, deciding that she’d snag one of the leftover donuts from the box on the kitchen table, and then maybe..go for a late night swim. Surely they didn’t get a pool put in outside just for it to be a decoration, and she was waterproof anyway, what would it hurt?

Ⱥꞥđ ⱳħⱥⱦ īꞩ īⱦ ɏꝋᵾ ⱦħīꞥҟ ɏꝋᵾ'ɍē đꝋīꞥꞡ?

It was too early to be fighting her inner demons.

She brushed off the nagging feeling of impending doom as she licked a stray fleck of caramel from her chin, making sure not to accidentally trigger the chime that Clara had installed near the back door.

Łꝋꝋҟ ⱥⱦ īⱦ. Īⱦ ⱦħīꞥҟꞩ īⱦ ȼⱥꞥ ēⱥⱦ łīҟē ⱥ ħᵾᵯⱥꞥ. Īⱦ ⱦħīꞥҟꞩ īⱦ īꞩ ħᵾᵯⱥꞥ.

Warm weather, clear skies, perfect conditions for a night swim.

Junebug always preferred to swim in shorts, never a swimsuit. She could never really decide why, and everytime someone asked, she gave them a different answer. She could never find one she liked, or one that fit her, or she didn’t like how they were made, or-

..Or maybe she just didn’t like people seeing the wield marks in her plating.

Ⱦⱥҟē ⱥ ꞡꝋꝋđ, łꝋꞥꞡ łꝋꝋҟ ⱥꞥđ ɍēᵯēᵯƀēɍ ⱳħⱥⱦ ɏꝋᵾ ⱥɍē

The water was perfectly still. The moon provided just enough light for her to see her own reflection as she moved to step into the water.

Her mismatched eyes, the scratches in her plating, uneven wield marks on her neck.

The plating. Her skin.

Łꝋꝋҟ ⱥⱦ ɏꝋᵾ, ꝑɍēⱦēꞥđīꞥꞡ ⱦꝋ ƀē ⱥ ħᵾᵯⱥꞥ. Ɏꝋᵾ ȼⱥꞥ'ⱦ ēꞩȼⱥꝑē ⱳħⱥⱦ ɏꝋᵾ ⱥɍē.

Her breath caught in her throat. She forgot it was possible, artificial lungs, yet another curse-within-a-blessing given to them by the company.

₴₮Ø₱ł₮₴₮Ø₱ł₮₴₮Ø₱ł₮₴₮Ø₱ł₮₴₮Ø₱ł₮₴₮Ø₱ł₮₴₮Ø₱ł₮₴₮Ø₱ł₮₴₮Ø₱ł₮

“...Junebug?”

She hadn’t realized how close she’d gotten to the edge before she lost her footing and fell in at the jolt of surprise.

The water hit her senses before she could even process what was going on, body twisting and flailing in the water as she tried to move in whatever direction she could perceive as up.

A hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her up, and she found a shoulder to rest her head on as she caught her breath.

𝗔⃥𝘳̸𝗲⃥ 𝘆⃥𝘰̸𝘂⃥ 𝗼⃥𝘬̸𝗮⃥𝘺̸?⃥!̸ 𝘑̸𝘂⃥𝘯̸𝗲⃥𝘣̸𝘂⃥𝘨̸?⃥!̸

… Ɉᵾꞥēƀᵾꞡ?!

Johnny. It was Johnny. He had her.

“June! Jesus, answer me!”

After realizing whose arms she was in (And who had accidentally scared her in the first place), she tightened her arms around his shoulders just a bit more.

“I’m fine. I’m fine, Cricket.”

Well, that was one way to get in the pool. They were still in the shallow end, so they could both stand, even though Junebug was using Johnny for support as she rebalanced herself and coughed up the small amount of water she had accidentally inhaled.

“You just scared me, that's all.”

Johnny frowned and furrowed his brows as Junebug pulled back.

“You scared me. I woke up and you weren’t there, and then I came out here to see you hyperventilating beside the pool.”

Shit.

“Just couldn’t sleep.”

Johnny kept his hand on her arm, keeping her close to him.

“Is that really it?”

She tried to pull away as he pulled her into another embrace.

“That’s it, Cricket. Nothing else to talk about.”

“Talk to meeeeeeee.” Johnny pouted.

“There isn’t anything else to talk about.” Junebug stared over his shoulder and into the water. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was making the “alright, I guess we’re doing this” face.

Especially when he started drifting backwards, pulling her towards the deep end of the pool.

“CrICkET”

“What?” Johnny teased, snickering as she wrapped her arms and legs around him this time.

“If there isn’t anything to talk about, surely you don’t mind-”

Junebug playfully swatted at his face. “You know I hate being in the deep!”

It was true, and he knew it. They were both originally built to maneuver in water, meaning that taking a swim in a pool, or even in down in the echo river at the rum colony, was no big deal, but Junebug absolutely DESPISED being where she couldn’t touch the bottom.

“Do I?”

“If you’re trying to get me to talk, this isn’t going to work.”

He planted a kiss on her cheek. She stuck her tongue out and retaliated by nipping at his ear.

“C’mon, June. You know you never win this fight.”

Junebug let her chin rest on his shoulder again. “I’ve told you about my dreams before. There, that’s it. I had a dream and couldn’t go back to sleep so I came out here. Happy?”

Johnny’s playful look turned to a look of concern.

“And you decided to come outside and have a staring competition with your reflection?”

Junebug stayed silent. Johnny knew, they both had their insecurities, despite how hard they tried to act human, how they rebuilt themselves and colored in the empty spots, how they could never get the paint to fully cover up the seams on their limbs.

“....Can you put me down now?”

She immediately realized her mistake, and kicked herself for her words.

“Right here?”

She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist, He was always the better swimmer.

“Right here?”

“JoHNNy DoN’T YoU DArE”

He only released his grip just a little bit, but she still frantically tried to pull herself closer to him.

“CRICKET.”

“What? You told me to put you down-” He shrugged. “I’m just doing what my Junebug wants.”

“YOUKNOWDAMNWELLTHATSNOTWHATIMEANT.”

She only stopped her frantic attempts to stay as close as possible to him when she felt his arms wrap tightly around her waist again.

“Request rescinded?” Johnny got her on the chin this time.

Junebug buried her face in his shoulder to hide her embarrassment. Thank god it was only her and Johnny, for her own sake. He was the only one that ever got to see her like this, that ever got to truly make her laugh or be there when she needed comfort. Those quiet, private moments were the only moments they dropped the act and got comfortable.

And they liked it that way.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ♱⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

“....Gross.”

The Blue-haired one stuck out her tongue.

The purple-haired one shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you’ll blow our cover.”

“I don’t see why we can’t just take them now.” The blue-haired one whispered to the other. “They’re right there, there’s nobody else around-”

The purple-haired one pointed towards the house, making sure not to move past the shrubs they were using to hide behind.

“And there are houses with god knows how many security systems. Do you know what would happen if we got caught?”

The blue-haired one rolled her eyes and replied mockingly, “The boss will get in trouble and then we’ll get scrapped because yada yada bad company publicity.”

“Finally, you’re using your processor.”

They sat in silence for a moment, before the blue-haired one spoke again.

“...but they’re right there. We could get this done now-”

The purple-haired one turned to face her, a hand on his hips as he snarled.

“Do you have the narcotics on you?”

The blue-haired one glared back in an angry silence.

“Hey, Tempest?” She cocked her head. “How about you kiss my-”

The collars around their necks beeped quietly before she could finish her challenging insult. The blue-haired one groaned in annoyance.

“We’re done for tonight anyway.”

The blue-haired one snuck one last glance at the two oblivious bodies down the hill, only turning her attention away when Tempest quietly called for her.

“Surge! Leaving now!”

An excited, absolutely wicked smile crossed Surge’s face as she trailed into the woods after Tempest, cackling under her synthetic breath.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun.”

[ponpuriitx]

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐯𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐬. possible series

summary: You were all on your own taking your ice cream until you heard some screaming and gunshots at the distance on a beach, who would’ve told you that being curious would end you up in hell.

Word count: 2,8k

Warnings: Strong lenguaje, sexual topics and graphic violence will be added (some chapters just not this one) and rampant demon horniness.. Enjoy ! !

Notes: this is a completely non-cannon story, no use of y/n, some of the characters (mostly all them) are not mine! They belong to the show Helluva boss on YouTube! Not to mention this fic was totally inspired by this one shot, so I will base some chapters off of there. Of course giving all credits to the creator, english is not my first lenguaje. (I had a boost of energy and lots of ideas at 2am that made me write this. I saw it now at my drafts so I thought of publishing it, anyways enjoy!!)

*gifs not mine.

Pilot — chapter one

You really didn’t know how you ended up in here.

The only thing you remembered was that you were eating up your ice cream in a bench in peace, then you heard a loud noise and screams. You went to the beach nearby where the screams came from, but when you arrived you saw a giant ass fish being killed by some red Raccoon looking ahh..

After some while you finished eating your ice cream as you watched how the little red raccoons finished killing the fish, you came closer to the group. They were talking to some other people, was that Verosika Mayday? There’s no way… The little Red raccoons opened a portal before Jumping in— Wait, the fuck?

You came closer to the portal to take a better look, no one was looking at you since the other group was being questioned by police officers. But suddenly you felt a hard push that pushed you in the portal, falling off in it.

Oh, so that was how..

Looking around to where you were it seemed like some sort of Parking lot, there were the red Raccoons everywhere, as scared and fucked up you were you took your time to round around and see for yourself where the hell you were.

Oh.

“you got to be fucking kidding me..” you put a hand in your mouth in reflex of your surprise and nervousness when you saw the real big portrait of the side of the road. “666 a new gossip in the News of hell!” what the FUCK???

“Oh I’m gonna throw up—..” You hooded your mouth, fuck that ice cream, it was gonna come out of you anyways.

After throwing up in a random alley over there you sat down in a bench you found walking around. You could hear gunshots in the background but you were used to them since you lived in a kind of dangerous neighborhood since the houses were more cheap around there.

You sighed as you took out your phone, no reception.. Fuck should you buy a hell-phone? But how much money do you have is the question. Suddenly it dawned at you as reality punched you harder than a couch to your toe.

You are in hell, you have no experience here you know nothing about this place, you don’t have a job here nor any type of money. You didn’t know anybody, neither you had a source of money you could rest in for now. You had nothing, absolutely nothing.

You felt like crying, overthinking the worst. What should you do? Fuck it was all so overwhelming. A few sobs fell out of your lips, but you felt a hand over yours. Your head snapped to where the hand came from and you saw an old lady. She had a worried look on her face as well as a confused one.

“Are you alright dear?” She asked, you didn’t know why but she seemed so nice.. And you weren’t thinking that straight since your head was in other places right now.

You told her about your problem, how you ended up here and your frustration about how you would live here because.. Let’s be honest, there was no way you would be getting to earth soon. So you had to make a living out of yourself.

This park was strangely alone at this hour, but all your thoughts went blank when the Lady caressed your hand once more with a worried look on her face, but it was kind in some way.. “You must be so scared..” she whispered, that made you sigh. She was right.

“Let me tell you something, why don’t you stay in my farm. It’s a little far from the city, but that at least when you can find a job of your own honey?” Well, that caught you off guard. Completely.

You should’ve taken this badly, I mean, we’re in hell and this is a total stranger you met twenty minutes ago. Who knows she could maybe sell you or kill you, but what choice did you have? It was that, or be out in the street and taking again that this was hell it would be way more dangerous to stay on the streets alone than in a little farm with this nice lady.

“My children grew up to be now adults, they don’t talk to me anymore and I would love some company. I’m sure my husband would love you too.” Well now that made your heart melt, you were a very sensitive person and to think of her all alone without anyone other than her husband made you sad. And more when she grew apart from her own children.

“Okay, I’ll go with you..” she smiled, holding your hand standing up. But when you stood up you almost drag her to the air, you quickly let go of her hand as she chucked. “Right, I almost forgot”

You chuckled following her lead, looking around at the road as she drove to her home you couldn’t help to wonder how long would you be trapped in here. And who was the person that pushed you over, like why would they even do that?

You snapped out of your thoughts when the car parked in a garage, standing out of the car you saw a man over the porch. Who looked at the both of you with wide eyes and a confused look. Was it really that weird to see a human in hell? Wait, no, scratch that it really was considering you weren’t a sinner neither were you dead. You were just, there.

The woman spoke to the other guy inside the house, while you stood out looking at the field seeing all the types of animals that were there. There were pigs, bunnies, cows, bulls, birds and horses.

Wait, horses? Those horses looked so cool! They had tails with flames and a stiff skin, they are not so different of the horses in the human realm but come on they had flames.

You took several pictures of the horses, meanwhile inside the house it was a heated conversation..

“C’mon Meredith you can’t be serious about this whole letting that human stay here.” He sighed, not so sure about her choice. Taking in all the bad things that could happen if you stayed here “Please honey, she need our help. We can’t just let her be out there in the streets, besides, she could help you out on the farm.”

She was right, her husband needed an extra hand. Taking care of the whole farm by himself was taking a lot of his energy at his old age now, he needed help and it could be good the fact that you could help around. “Meredith, if people were to find out about her what would happen to us?” He looked through the window, both of them looking at you through the window while you took pictures of the horses.

“You know that people would want her. Hunt her, hunt us. You don’t know what type of people would come after her, and if they linked her to us they will come after us.” Meredith sighed, she didn’t thought of this earlier and he was right. But she wanted a little help for her husband, and for both of them to have a little company. Her husband suddenly started to cough, making the woman more worried about his health.

She brought a blanket and put it over her husbands back, as he stopped coughing she hugged his back in comfort. “You know what the doctor said, you need to avoid stress and doing heavy stuff. Just please trust me on this one honey..” She left a kiss on her husbands head, with an annoyed sigh he left her. She wasn’t wrong after all, they could actually use some help around here.

After sitting a while now out in the porch, the woman came out of the house. “What did he say?” You asked, as she smiled at you. “You will stay dear,” a really big grin plastered in your face. Suddenly possibilities didn’t look so imposible anymore. “But I need to tell you something kid, you need to work and help around here ‘Kay?” You nodded quickly without a doubt which made the woman smile.

..

It’s been a while since you’ve been living in the farm now, nothing that you could complain about tho. The food was amazing, and the animals were super cute and you loved to take care of them whenever you or the couple wanted to. One thing that you loved about living in the farm was that you could ride the horses in your free time. Eventually, you got a Job at horse teaching lessons.

You weren’t afraid of the neighbors, and surprisingly they weren’t afraid of you too. Just really really surprised that you could even exist down there. But hey, no one complained you were a good hand after all. Good kid, they said, after some couple of weeks in the business you could buy yourself a hell-phone as you called them.

It came really handy, when you were in the flower/plants field you could get easy a call from Meredith and go back to the house. Now, it wasn’t easy living with you because you weren’t a demon. The couple had to be super sneaky about you, so when outsiders came to visit the ranch you hid inside the house in your room. Not too much problem, right?

Well, after some months of your staying Meredith’s husband just got worse. With some difficulties to breath and heart problems, it was really a shame. You grew closer to the old man, and it made you sad the way that he was looking right now.

it came to a point were he had to stay in bed all day to rest, you gladly did all the Job in the farm. It wasn’t that difficult for you after all, but you guys were running out of medicine.

“We’re out of medicine for Pops” You looked worriedly at Meredith who was tired from working around in the house and helping out her husband. “Well sweetheart, I can’t really run to the store at this point. I’ll buy medicine tomorrow..” She tried to ease your nerves but that only made them grew.

“No, remember what the doctor said, Pops can’t skip any medicine. He’ll only get worse,” you made a pause as an idea popped to your head, you looked at Meredith with a smile on your face. She knew that you had something in mind “How about, I take a quick run to get medicine for pops?—“

Meredith looked at you in a hint of disapproval, but before she could say anything you spoke “Pleaseee, I swear I’ll be super low-key. And I promise I will come in the blink of an eye!” You begged her, when you had that glint in your eye she knew that you wouldn’t stop until she let you. So that’s what she did, and with a grin plastered all over your face you grabbed the keys, a hoodie and took off but not without screaming a ‘I will come early I swear!’ Before going.

It’s been a while since you were back in the loud city. You wore your hoodie all over your head, a pair of sunglasses and a mask. Driving you found the drug store where Meredith went every time you guys ran out of Medicine. You parked your car beside a huge ass van that has a logo in the center, ‘I.M.P’ Hmm strange.

You didn’t took much mind to it as you went inside the drug store. You went over to the isle four, looking for the little bottle you saw an imp with a big ass white spot in his face walking and looking for some other drug besides you. Not paying too much mind into him you took your fathers Medicine, but before you could go out of the isle you noticed how the imp was staring with wide eyes your hand.

You looked over to see if you had anything wrong and, shit! You forgot to cover your hands in front of him. Your human-skin color was standing out before his eyes before you hid them as fast as you could on your hoodie pockets. It didn’t help the fact that you had a mask and sunglasses in this heat. “Hey kid, what are you—“ You went walking as quickly as you could to the register. Him taking the drug he was looking for and following you.

Going over to the cashier you tapped the medicine in the counter, nervousness running through your whole body like a disease “Hurry up!” You told the cashier as he tapped faster on the register box. But it didn’t last when you suddenly felt a tug on your hoodie.

Ah, there was it.

Your hair slid down from your hoodie, No horns, human skin color and it was more suspicious the fact that you had a whole hoodie, mask and sunglasses in this heat.

“I knew it!” The imp shouted while you in panic grabbed the medicines and ran off. Great way to start in the city, your first time actually doing something and you already fucked it up by robbing a place.

“Wait come back here!” The imp ran after you while the cashier had wide eyes, rambling through the counter he found a phone while typing aggressively into it.

“Hey uh I think, no, I just saw a human..”

…

You were running through the parking lot while the imp chased you down, since you were faster you managed to get into the car fast enough to turn it on and take off. While the imp got into the van that was parked besides your car. “How convenient..” you thought to yourself, pressing the accelerator as fast as the car could take.

Dodging cars in the process, suddenly you took upon a closed hill and with a quick move you parked backwards. Making sure the Van wasn’t anywhere near the hill. Well damn, you still got that after a long time out of earth. Taking off in the complete opposite direction, going as quick as you could to the farm away from the city.

When you arrived to your home Meredith stood up from the couch, was she waiting for you this whole time? That’s so sweet.. “Moon pie are you okay?” She placed her warm hands over your cheeks in a comforting embrace. Which made you smile, nodding you reassured to her everything was okay.

“Look, told ya’ I would get em’ quickly.” You gave her the medicine, earning a smile from her as she walked down to her husband’s room. So you sat in the couch, still thinking about the car chase with that imp. And how it reminded you of your life in earth.

It wasn’t the best, you just.. well, existed. You didn’t exactly had a purpose. you just woke up, got to work, eat and sleep, everyday of your life in repetition. You didn’t exactly had any friends since everyone in the office kind of hated you because of a girl that made up a rumor about you sleeping with your boss.

Which wasn’t true, you told that to everyone but no one believed you. So after a while you got tired of trying, what was even the point if nobody was going to believe you anyways? You didn’t have a good relationship with your parents since they pretty much didn’t have a flying fuck about you unless people praised you.

Your father and your mother weren’t together, and you stayed with your mother. You would often be told to be seen and not heard by her, her saying “Don’t speak unless someone asks you something, in this whole room I don’t need to know you.”

It really didn’t dawn at you how fucked up your life on earth was until now. Meredith was truly your blessing, she was a good woman. You took care of them as well as they both took good care of you, starting to see them as your grandparents by now.

After a few days after the car chase, you were peacefully making breakfast. Some pancakes with fruit, keeping it balanced you then heard Meredith call you from the living room with a loud whisper. Huh? Weird.. You came walking close to her but the tv took all your attention when you saw the local news “real life human has been found at a local drugstore.” Wait, WHAT?!

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

Sorry, Wrong Comms! : Hunter x Medic!Reader [Chapter 8]

Warnings and Information: Intended audience is 13+ (18 if you squint). Should know the drill on my use of Mando'a, italics and my headcanons for an AU fic by now if you've been following along with the series this far. Star Wars and real-world swearing. Story picks back up two days after the birthday party. Medic!Reader now has herself a new relationship ehehe~ There's some new sibling-plotting because Hunter's room is a sad, bland mess. Describing the layout of a house is tricky, bedrooms less so. References to medical paraphernalia and an injury. Hunter being a good big brother figure. Hunter is invited to have dinner at Medic!Reader's house (and passes Spoon's standards). Brief mention of the inhibitor chips a few times. Hint of angst. Hunter ends up staying the night with a hint of body worship~. Tender hurt/comfort material at long last.

Word-count: 6,556

The door chimed five minutes after opening, signaling her first patient of the day had just stepped into her medical practice. She ducked out of her back office, surprised her services were needed so soon. Usually it took longer than just five-after, but with the seediness of the travel-hub, there was no telling if someone had been foolishly arguing in the shipyards with the stern foremen who ran then. 

"Hello! How can I assist you this mor- Hunter?"

Clone Sergeant Hunter was standing in her clinic. Alone. None of his brothers or his sister was with him as he stood stiffly, just far enough into the clinic that the sensors didn't keep the door open to the street.

"Hey, mesh'la." 

He didn't look hurt with a cursory once-over to her naked eye, a healer's habit. "Everything alright?" This was confusing. He didn't seem hurt, or appear sick, but he was standing here in the waiting area of the clinic he admitted to hating. So she assumed, very much in-line with her job as she bore the shattered cross on her shoulder of the uniform, it must've been something serious that brought him here. "What're you doing here?" Maybe he wanted to get that second set of stitches out after all after asking to think about it from the other day after he'd messaged her on her lunch break. 

Wrecker, when you come back from the ship, please be sure to come in quietly. Crosshair has a headache. 

> Hey there handsome, wrong comms. Afraid I'm not Wrecker. Just lil ol' Miss Medic~

Oh, Maker… Sorry to disturb you while you're at work, [____].

> It's okay! I'm on lunch break right now, nothing to disturb other than my boredom. Been a slow day. What's up? 

"I… just thought I'd come and say hello. And," Hunter paused, swallowing nervously for just a moment as he looked over one of the bright red and blue pediatric chairs, "start challenging that discomfort of mine about clinics." There was an unspoken for you from the way his gaze softened and his brows un-bunched when he looked at her again. He'd given her a "flexible promise" when they talked things over on the night of her birthday as Hunter walked her home that he'd try being less avoidant and more open with her to make this new… relationship as of two days ago… work a little smoother. 

Stars, she couldn't help the surprise. The touching tug this had on her heartstrings. "Awh…!" Color bloomed in his face and neck at the sound, a twin shade to the bandana wrapped around his skull. "Here, come with me to my back office. It doesn't reek like antiseptic in there, I promise." They could talk in a stronger sense of seclusion back in her office, and her patients wouldn't think she had anyone ahead of them or that she was in trouble if they saw Hunter lingering in some far corner like those shady pirate smugglers once had nearly a year ago. 

She was glad those days were over when she was assured those pirates were encouraged to eat their blasters or they'd wish they had if they bothered her again. She was glad these new days as something a little more intimate and sweet were just beginning. She'd be spending a lot more time with the Batch. If she wasn't careful, she'd find herself living with them in their housing before she even realized that she was spending less time in her own home. The thought of it made her smile, and it burned brighter as Hunter tentatively took the medic's beckoning hand and trailed after her like the tide after the moon through her clinic to the back office, a look in his eyes so distant, like he was focused on a star far out in the great expanse of space out of a viewport in the cockpit of the Marauder. 

Hunter didn't like to be here, he never came here alone for kriff's sake, but even as [____] could see he was consciously fighting the discomfort by dissociating, she couldn't help ask the question building on her tongue. 

"You okay, Hunter?" 

He was trying as he promised; speaking the things he often left unsaid. Trying for himself, but her most of all. 

"I trust you." 

I feel safe with you as she popped open the door to the back office and let him step inside first. It smelled like one of the great forests of Kashyyyk in the enclosed, private space. Wood of the Wroshyr trees, the rich, fibrous soil, and oxygen-rich air that felt like unfettered rejuvenation after a stuffy cycle under nothing but oxygen-recyclers. He wasn't sure how she accomplished this (she had Tech to thank for the help), but it was a thousand times more comfortable than the rest of the stark sterility of the small health practice. 

I'm sorry for being avoidant for so long, too long as she started a second cup of caf in the caf-pot for him, pointing him in the direction of the most comfortable seat she kept in there for the patients when she had to break difficult news.

But at least I know without a doubt that I love you, mesh'la as he took the medic's offered caf-shot, the way he likes it, the way that doesn't bother his stomach, the way she recently learned, just for him. 

You live in discomfort, she told him in her own flexible promise that night that marked another year since her birth, another trip around another star in the galaxy different than the one she'd been born under, but that does not mean you have to be ashamed of it, or, let it stay that way. I can do things to help. Just have to use your words, big guy. 

I can do that, mesh'la. Just… be patient with me. 

"Now that I know what that means," [____] started softly, voice breathy and light with fondness, with a promise over the lip of her cup of caf, "I love you, too, handsome." 

Maker… was he lucky for it. 

Omega eagerly emerged from her room, fresh work of art in hand with bright eyes. "Where's Hunter? Is he in his room?" 

"No," Wrecker laughed from the snug dining table, a mess of bolts and screws sprawled on the flat top in front of him. "Hunter's not in his room. He's not even home." Though he didn't look up from the assorted parts, the expression glued to his face now was clearly understood by Omega.

"Did he go to one of the shops? Our grocery list has gotten quite long…" Tech mused, goggles hanging around his neck, thumb and index cradling his chin in a thoughtful caress as he looked at the household board. It'd only been two days since the party, how were they already out of blue milk? 

"Noooo. He's not supposed to, he's supposed to take it easy on his injuries still," Omega's voice playfully warbles with a laugh, "He's probably gone to visit [____]! I'll just show him what I drew later." 

"Whu- hey I wanna seeee!" Wrecker whined, abandoning his focus on the project. "How come Hunter always gets to see your drawings first before the rest of us?" 

"She's trying to get our bandana'd brother to put some karking color on his walls…" Crosshair yawned, swinging a leg off the sofa in a languid motion so he could sit up. "He's the only one in the house whose room looks like we just moved in. It's like looking at his bunk back on Kamino." Worse than that, actually. 

At least on Kamino, Hunter's bunk bore the crest of their squad in the center of the wall… Here, far from Kamino, there were completely bare walls in the smallest bedroom. No pictures. No crests. Just paint. A faded, dusty and soft gray with purple undertones that had been there when they moved in. 

It was like looking into the makeshift brig on Kamino. The one Hunter had been given a rather aggressive "oh that was just a "love tap", get up!" by a Shock Trooper's stun-staff all for trying to protect Crosshair, even as much as the behavior spurred on by the inhibitor chip upset him. Angered him. 

"You are not taking my brother anywhere! I don't give a damn Sith's left tit what orders you have! STAY BACK!"

Everyone had decided together what rooms they would take, based on the unique needs each of the men had. First and foremost, Omega had been given a room all to herself; the second door on the right side of the hallway, sandwiched between what became Crosshair's room at the end of the hall on the right corner, and Echo's closest to the common room. Wrecker and Tech had taken the biggest room since they didn't mind sharing, or a less than immaculate sleeping space. They'd all added little personal touches to their walls, save for Hunter. 

And Omega found that depressing. 

But for all the artwork she drew, none ever found its way on Hunter's walls with a gentle no-no, you keep it, ad'ika even if she tried insisting that it was okay if he kept it. 

"Really? He still hasn't put anything up on his walls?" Wrecker frowned, bottom lip drooping into a confused, worried pout. "Why… why not? We've nearly been here a year! Doesn't this place feel like home to him already?" 

"I theorize it's not because he wants nothing on his walls, but rather is afraid to put something on his walls for when he's experiencing one of his more severe headaches or ocular migraines." The worried frown melted into one of empathy. Echo had them on occasion much like Hunter, but hardly ever as severe. "Perhaps… small botanical prints would liven up the room, be less, er…" Tech stopped himself with a look at Omega's blurred figure. His sister enjoyed using the loud and bright colors one occasion for livening up their living space, but he didn't want to suggest that the reason many of those sorts of colorful creations weren't hung in commonly used areas was because they were garish.

Far from it, in his opinion. They just had an unfortunate and unintentional effect on the eyes of the marksman and the sergeant. 

Though the movement was hard to see clearly, it appeared Omega's left eyebrow lifted before she asked Tech a question. "Less eye-strain to filter out?" 

"Yes." Tech admitted simply. It hadn't been what he was thinking of saying, but Omega's guess was a good one, one he'd yet not thought of. Proud, Tech gave her a fond nod. "Less eye-strain to filter out. Very insightful, Omega." 

Two siblings made out the opportunity and immediately ran with it, much to his displeasure.

"Was the pun intentional, nerd?"

"Haha, "insightful", good one!" 

Grumbling lightly, Tech squared his shoulders at the tone behind the nerd jab. "That was not intentional. Merely happy coincidence. I don't see-" 

"Well if you put your goggles on, you would!" Echo called from the two-seater, lowering his datapad to break away from the screen (more encrypted messages with Captain Rex most likely) for a moment.

"Oh come now, Echo, not you too..." he whined, giving Echo a look that he hoped said that he expected better of the only brother willing enough to regularly co-pilot with him. 

Wrecker really did try to placate him, but unfortunately Tech's patience was thin enough that the additional remark proved too much. "Ah c'mon, we're only just teasing you, Techie."

He'd had enough and turned on his heel to go retreat to his room, set on temporarily locking Wrecker out. "Oh honestly-! SHIT!" Tech exclaimed, wincing at the sharp snap of his goggles as they slipped from his hands in efforts to quickly fix them back over his eyes. Oh kriff, that hurt… His right orbital socket was wracked with so much pain he hadn't heard one of his brothers had now gotten close to him and laid a hand on his shoulder to steady him as he was still staggered against the wall. Tech flinched, reflexively smacking the hand from his proximity. "Don't touch me!"

He could hear the flutter of paper as it was either set down or dropped. "I-Is he okay?" Omega stammered. Several sets of feet shuffled slightly closer, but only one of them invaded his personal space.

"Hey hold still, move your hand away, Tech; let me see." Crosshair clucked his tongue sharply, grabbing his brother's wrist instead this time so Tech couldn't skirt away, deaf to the protests. He didn't like the hiss of the inhale Crosshair made. "That'll leave quite the shinier, kid… C'mon. Let's take you down to the clinic so she can take care of that cut. While we're there we'll ask if we bother saving Hunter a plate for lunch." 

"I- a cut?" He couldn't feel any cut, or blood for that matter. There was a lot a pain, so maybe he-

"Tech," Crosshair warned him, each word coming out in a slightly stern hiss, "don't go touching it. There's no telling what's gotten all over your hands since you've been working on your projects this morning." He tried moving his hand from Tech's wrist to better take his brother's hand to lead him along, but Tech shook his head. He'd forgotten Tech didn't like holding hands with someone without the barrier of a glove in the best cases, and this was not the best case since he'd reacted poorly to his brothers' teasing; he was not in the mood for it. "N-no. Absolutely not." 

The hand returned around the wrist. "Alright, sorry Tech." Crosshair looked at Omega, who'd opened the front door for them. "We'll say hi to [____] for everyone." he promised her as he led a bitterly grumbling Tech behind him.

Hunter's hearty chuckle at the medic's joke was cut short in a muted choke of shock at the sensor to the door chiming before the sharp swish as it opened. They were just getting back to talking after [____] had settled a return of a patient's prescription canister of mild antibiotics they no longer needed for their malady. He had hoped that they'd pick up the "conversation" they were previously floating by one another, just a trail of whatever came to mind mostly. 

Hunter hadn't been fully aware of the snarled growl of displeasure he'd made until she giggled softly from her desk. "That going to be a regular thing every time you visit me at work, Hunter? Getting jealous when someone needs my attention?"

Before Hunter could retort to the teasing, and it was just teasing, he could hear Crosshair's voice out in the waiting room. [____] could too, judging by the bemused grin. "I'm a marksman, I have good eyes. I'm not going to let you walk into a wall, Tech." 

There was a sharp scoff. "You did when we were cadets!" Tech protested indignantly. "So you'll have to forgive me for recalling the first time you tried to assist me ended with my nose bruising!" 

"Oh dear," the medic tutted, grin dropping sharply, "and here I thought perhaps one of your brothers came to see where you'd gone off to and weren't going to leave you alone. Came to tease you, or something. Sounds like Tech's gotten hurt…" [____] got up, coming around her desk and exiting her office quickly. Hunter followed after, hearing her heart skip with worry. "What happened, boys?" 

Tech wrenched his hand from Crosshair's grasp and blindly clawed the air ahead of himself at the sound of her voice. "[____], there you are," he smiled triumphantly when she found his elbow to guide him to sit in a chair, not clearly seeing the wince when she looked over his blossoming black eye, "I know you'll be honest with me; I do not trust Cross to tell me the truth currently. Am I bleeding or not?" 

[____] exchanged a little look with the snarky sniper that she had the sneaking suspicion that Tech couldn't clearly make out without his goggles. "Well what does Cross keep telling you? Mind the light-" she whipped the pen light out of her coat pocket and thoroughly inspected the orbital injury, tittering worriedly to herself, "oh Maker. That looks like that hurts."

"It does," Tech grumbled darkly, "and he keeps saying that I'm not bleeding, but there's a particularly tender area that feels like the skin has broken when I lost my grip on my goggles." 

The marksman just sighs, "I kept telling him not to touch it." He and Hunter share a look of knowing. Tech's sense of curiosity was a gift and a curse in equal measures. A boon and a burden. Endless entertainment for the brothers in the long stretches of hyperspace, or absolutely annoying when they were, say, trying to sleep. 

The medic lowers the pen light and takes both of Tech's shoulders. "You're not gonna like what I have to say," [____] warns the genius. "Crosshair is right about both of those points. You're not bleeding. And now we're going to have to use the stronger antiseptic wipes to play it safe since you've touched the surface cut. Only because I can't be sure what's all over all your little projects. Okay?" 

Hunter just smiles softly as Tech takes her words to heart without much offense, appreciative she was honest with him as always. "... okay. That is fair." 

Crosshair takes a seat near Tech, stretching his legs out in front of him, ankles crossed. "How'd he get hurt?" Hunter asks, bobbing his head at the marksman while [____] stepped into one of the small examination rooms to get what she needed. "He lost his grip on his goggles trying to pull them back on quickly. We took it too far with the teasing and he got upset…" Cross admitted softly, shaking his head shamefully before Hunter would have had the chance to scold. But Hunter only frowned softly, eyes sweeping from brother to brother. 

It'd thankfully been a long time since Tech had been so badly teased by his brothers he was sulking silently. "Who is "we", this time?" The last time had been started by Wrecker, almost a year and a half ago, and the two brothers hadn't talked to each other for a week no matter how earnestly and sincerely Wrecker apologized for his slights. Maker, it'd killed Wrecker to have Tech so upset him. Hunter wished he could have resolved the old matter differently now; handled it more like a brother, and less like a leader. He could only try to be better now. "Mind telling me what happened so I understand?"

Cross volunteered, voice soft, "I started it. Wrecker and Echo joined in… Made fun of him for not wearing his goggles because-"  

"Omega has more drawings she wishes to share with you, Hunter." Tech cuts in, and his voice has less of a bitter tone, but still rather terse. It's a confusing interruption. 

"Oh?"

"She's worried about the state of your room. It's too plain." 

Hunter sighed softly and took a seat between Crosshair and Tech, all three telling [____] it was no problem that she had to take an emergency call in her back office, dropping off the items she'd need for Tech with them and apologetically promising to be ready to help soon. "It's okay, mesh'la… Yeah, I know Omega is; I agree with her on that." Tech turned sideways in the waiting room chair and did his best to meet Hunter's eye, which just tugged at Hunter's heart seeing Tech's injury so close now, thankful it was minor. "I haven't been sure where to start. So… if you have some kind of plan, I'm all ears." 

Tech blinked in surprise. "You mean it…?"

"Tech." Hunter murmured softly, nodding his head in the direction of the back office with a lazy grin where he could hear her wrapping up the emergency call advising the patient they needed to seek out a clinic with a bacta tank and regretfully had no such thing herself, "If I wasn't sure where I should start with something big like telling her how I feel, of course I mean it."

In the back office, [____] had set down the communicator and spent a minute tidying up her desk by moving Hunter's empty mug of caf from its precarious perch to stall for time. She could make out just enough of their conversation to tell that Hunter was having yet another tender moment with his brothers that she didn't dare interrupt.

She respected and admired Hunter's efforts to take care of his family to the best of his abilities.

It's part of what made her love him, after all.

Come on… he's spent hours in position before waiting for his quarry, but this was agony. Hunter sighed sharply, drumming his fingers into the tabletop with a grimace as he tried returning his attention to the catalog of various paint samples [____] had loaned him. Page after page filled with soothing colors she'd considered for her clinic that she sent home with him when he returned with Crosshair and Tech once she'd treated the orbital injury. 

"I can hear you out in the lobby better than you think, handsome. Go home, have some lunch while Tech spells out some master plan; tell the others I said hello, too. You can tell me how it all goes over dinner at my place tonight… if you're interested?" 

He hadn't even hesitated, even slightly, when he asked "What time do you plan on closing the clinic today so I can take you home?" and ignored how both his brothers snickered behind his back. 

He couldn't focus. He'd much rather be jogging down that shortcut between the high-rises and reach the clinic doors just as she stepped outside to lock up for the night, calling out that Echo was in charge until he got back. Now that Hunter had finally told her, and [____] reciprocated how he felt, he couldn't stop thinking how light and freeing it had become… "Staring at the time won't make it go any faster, Hunter." 

He just smiled softly, not realizing he'd been staring off into the distance again since showering twice to rid himself of the antiseptic aroma that clung to him before giving the catalog a look. "I know, Omega…" 

"I wish it would too, though." his sister admitted, pushing a chair closer to join him and flip through the assortment of colors and all the handwritten notes [____] had crammed in the margins. Hunter gave his sister a curious look, wondering why Omega said such a thing. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

Omega scooched her chair closer, burrowing herself into his side when he put an arm around her and pulled her closer. "Well...You used to be so stressed out all the time since… the chips activated. Things slowly got better when we met [____] and learned that we could trust her. You've been a lot happier since telling her… And I'm glad to see you so happy. We all are." 

Hunter said nothing to tarnish the moment, just allowing himself to sit in silence and return his sister's embrace. He always knew in the back of his mind his sister was highly aware below the surface of the rest of her personality, but there were always opportunities she surprised him; just enough instances of bombshell-revelations to keep the five of them on their toes. Sometimes it was scary just how perceptive she could be. Sometimes, like now, there was a pang of sorrow deep in his chest that she'd been worried about him. 

Yes, she was older than him, physically, and some might (foolishly) argue less mature because she lacked experience, but it personally didn't make sense to Hunter that she should have to worry about him. She should get to be a child while she has time… Crawling into someone's bed because she had a nightmare. Taking breaks from the important studies she had with Tech just to daydream out the window, or tinker around with her few toys, or doodle. Making friends and memories that weren't stained red with the stench of war… 

He should've shaved when he'd been in the 'fresher, he realizes when Omega's hand tenderly cups his cheek the same way she'd comforted every brother when they woke up from the process of getting those chips out of their heads with Captain Rex's help. Her little thumb brushes through the stubble around his jaw, her bright eyes scrutinizing his face as she looks at him and apologizes. "I didn't mean to make you sad…" 

"You didn't, ad'ika." Hunter assures her once he's made up his mind and returns the favor, cupping her cheek before affectionately ruffling her hair after checking the time. "Promise me one last thing before I go pick up [____] from her clinic."

"What's that?" 

Hunter pulled his sister snug against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. Omega was eager to return the offered affection, tucking her head under her brother's chin. "Don't grow up on me too fast, okay? I love you, Omega." 

Releasing one another after a moment, Hunter gathered his things and tied his bandana absentmindedly now that his hair was finally dry, "Let Echo know-"

"He's in charge until you get back, I know. I will!" Omega giggled, playfully pushing him towards the door while calling over her shoulder into the rest of the house that Hunter was leaving. "We'll be fine, don't worry about us. Go! Have fun!"

After years of the Kaminoan mess halls and GAR rations, it mattered very little what one put in front of Hunter for a meal. Was it seasoned with identifiable flavors, human-safe and appropriately warm or cold? Congratulations, it was palatable, the idea of it being "too simple" be damned! He completely understood that she'd be a little tired after the work she does in a health care clinic situated in a spaceport like this. The bustling travel-hub was always rife with those who needed her help, it was no surprise she would have a large assortment of ready-made meals tucked away in her cold-unit for the precious few hours she truly had to herself. 

Her precious few hours she'd sweetly invited him over to share and have some dinner together.

"It's okay; simple is good." She just grinned softly at him, laying the pre-packaged dinners she'd picked up most recently on the countertop after hearing his assurance. "Besides, I'll be able to tell you how everything went that much sooner." 

[____] laughed this time. "Oh boy. This oughta be good." 

It certainly was. It took Hunter most of dinner to explain through shared laughter how Tech had done a lot of measurements, somehow found the floorplan of their exact house and had been so dismayed that the room Hunter had taken was just barely larger than the cockpit of their attack shuttle. 

"He's threatening to find us another house, now." 

"Oh, Maker! How serious is he?"

Hunter just chuckles, stabbing another portion of salted vegetables and noodles before saying with a smile "It took quite a while to talk him out of it. For now."

Next he gets briefly sidetracked by talking about enjoying all the little notes she'd written in the edges around the pages of the color samples she hoped would be kinder on his eyes, and adored, yes adored, the flourishes she added to her handwriting. 

"It's so very… you."

"Well: now I'm curious about your handwriting…" she admits, biting back a smile behind the lip of her cup. 

"Hah, good luck. May need a translation key for my nuna-scratchings."

"Hush, I'm sure it's not that messy. I've seen the most atrocious handwriting from people in my own profession," she countered with a gentle laugh, "I'm sure it's far more legible." 

Okay, she had a point, he laughingly conceded before getting back on topic. Hunter briefly recounted some of the considered colors, noting that was about as far as he got before he’d come to meet her in front of her clinic’s door.

The longer Hunter and [____] spent talking about other things once dinner had been finished, the more Hunter noticed the steadily building ache in his head. It was brushed off easily enough at first, chalking it up to minor, probable causes, but the headache flared stronger not long after it began. Before long, Hunter was cradling his head in his hands when the medic had ducked into her kitchen to take care of the plates and grab something sweet to share.

Maker, what was making his head hurt so much?

"You keep grumbling to yourself in there," [____] called softly from her kitchen over the rumble of the sink as she washed her hands, "you okay?" 

"My head…" he complained softly. "Think I tied the bandana too tight after using the fresher at home..." His skull felt like it was being juiced, and it was deeply uncomfortable now, every beat of his pulse felt through his scalp. 

She set the dessert item down on the countertop and skirted around the table to come behind him, a steady hand on the upper arm of his left side. "Lemme see." With her right hand, Hunter could feel her try to gently tuck her first two fingers under the edge of his bandana, but could only comfortably fit her index before she would have been tugging on the accessory. [____] moves to inspect the knot, and he can hear that sad frown on her voice. "Oh blast sakes… that's a tight knot, big guy. I think I can do something to help with that, if you’re interested." 

Whether pain made him desperate, or it was an exercise of his trust in her, Hunter surprised her by how quickly he agreed to the idea. [____] leads on to her room, guiding Hunter with a tender hand. "In here. S-sorry about the clothes on the floor, Spoon keeps getting into my dirty clothes basket lately…" She hastily kicks what must be some undergarments under some other clothing before scooping it all up and dumping it into the proper receptacle. All he catches is a flash of her favorite color, too focused on the living Tooka currently curled around the Tooka doll. "Hah, speaking of my new little rascal. She's kinda adopted me and decides that she lives here now as of two days ago. Not exactly Crosshair's biggest fan." 

Hunter gives the skittish feline an inquisitive look, offering out his hand, palm up, with his fingers slightly curled to make them appear smaller and less threatening as Spoon took a curious sniff. "Didn't like my brother, hm?" He laughed softly when he received a tentative lick from the Loth-cat before she uncurled herself from the stuffed rendition and buckled her back before hopping down off the bed, deliberately sidestepping to throw her light-furred body against his ankle in a display of trust. "Cross can be a sarcastic little snot, but he's not all bad, I promise." 

[____] giggled softly. It was such a beautiful little sound to Hunter. She could laugh so easily and freely… 

Was it possible that Tech has some sound byte of [____]'s laughter, the same way his brother had several recordings of the joyous way their older sister could whoop with laughter right alongside Wrecker? She could make him laugh just because she was laughing so hard with Wrecker, sometimes… What did [____] think of his laugh? Did it sound natural to her? Would he sound as happy as she did listening to himself in some audio snippet tucked away in that maze of files Tech stored on his datapad? 

He hoped so. 

It was… hard to feel worthy of that happiness sometimes. He had his siblings to take care of. Memories of the GAR to carry for the remainder of his accelerated life; the orders he had to carry out. 

The orders he disregarded. Either because he didn't want to do them, or didn't think they were right. 

She'd caught him reaching under his bandana for that thin, pinkish mark that was the only proof of his inhibitor chip these days. That he used to have one like every other Clone. "Hey. Hunter? Did loosening it help any?" 

Thank Kamino's rains: she just thought he was adjusting his bandana after she'd tried loosening it for him. "Not sure, mesh'la…" he admits, voice a slightly frustrated huff. Loosening it usually helps, but there'd been little improvement. Guess it was just too tight for too long. 

[____] kicks herself up onto the mattress of her bed, patting the space on either side around her. "C'mere then. Lemme take care of you." 

Take the medic out of her clinic…

"Can that bed support two people?" Hunter checks, thinking of the way he saw other Clones, his fellow GAR soldiers and brothers, trying to find a way to squeeze on the same rickety cot after a particularly brutal campaign to find a semblance of security. Comfort. Familiarity so far from Kamino for the younger batches of brothers. And the too many times to count that Wrecker ended up just taking the thin mattress off the cots and the bunks and sleeping on the floor so he spared himself the lecture for breaking GAR property. "F-forget I asked… old habits." 

"Military beds are not that great for a, uh… cuddle, hm?"

"Not always…" Hunter admits, face flushing after he considered what words [____] must have thought of before settling for something so… wholesome. He gets up on the bed beside her, unlacing his boots and shedding his shirt before he tentatively lays down as she suggests. She wants to see if a massage would help with lessening his headache before she scrounges up one of the many over the counter painkillers she has here at her home. Hunter doesn't protest when she breaks apart the knot and lays his bandana on her bedside table, or when she begins to methodically muss his hair. He only hates that he can't comfortably look up at her when he's laying prone like this on his stomach.

She truly did mean it in a wholesome sense, he realizes when she speaks next. "Must've been just awful for poor Wreck… Big guy's kinda a snuggler through and through." 

"Yeah… Wrecker sure is." he agrees. He's received more spine-popping hugs than he'd ever possibly be able to remember. He's also received some of the most effective results of deep pressure therapy for the episodic sensory overloads with Wrecker's help. Many weren't sure why the explosive ordnance expert was so affectionate, but like hell he'd let his brother believe the behavior was bad, rather only the timing, in some cases. 

Her hands creep lower and lower through his hair from the crown of his head, massaging his scalp in sections. She sections off another portion of his hair on the right side, and her breath hitched with minor surprise. "What's-? Is that a scar from an old head injury…? Oh Hunter…" The bed below them shifts as she bends forward to get a better look.

Blast it. Maybe she doesn't know, he certainly can't remember with this splitting headache.  "[____]... Do-"

She hums softly to interrupt him, shaking her head decidedly. "No… that's too clean to be an injury. That's an old incision scar. Less than a year old, I would guess..." She sits back, tracing the old scar with a gentle touch before her hand plants itself on his back, her thumb sweeping over his spine lazily. "That's about… how long ago Crosshair said that everyone had the inhibitor chips removed, based on when he came to my clinic to get some advice." [____] sweeps her thumb over the scar once more, a silence falling over them both, and she moves on to another area, shifting the topic slightly. 

"Crosshair ever tell you how much that hug meant to him when you practically tripped over yourself getting off the front steps? Explicitly?"

It takes him a moment to answer her, the relief ebbing over him as [____] gently scratches and massages Hunter's scalp in little, circular motions is proving a massive boon. She's a natural at this, he's even starting to feel a little sleepy as the headache falls away, degree by degree. "Not explicitly... Not his thing…" 

She laughs softly, the sound gentle and bright. "Must've been in his own little Crosshair way then. Nothing wrong with that…" He hums agreeably, crawling forward and adjusting his arms to get more comfortable at her invitation to lay his head on the tops of her thighs so she can continue to fuss her hands through his hair more comfortably for them both. He can't see it well, but she's smiling down at him this entire time as she watches his blinks growing slower and slower each time she works her fingers through those dark brown curls from root to tip. 

The tension in his body melts away the longer she treats his aching head and spoils him with attention. He's speaking in gentle little mumbles, all the while being this close to falling asleep on her, literally. (She doesn't mind in the slightest; she did it first after all.)

"Taking off the bandana help any?" [____] murmurs after a few minutes of silence passes by, rearranging the hair that's fallen over his eyes. He's awake, but just barely. His eyelids flutter open a fraction of a second, the action a slight twitch of movement more than anything. "Mm…?" 

"Nevermind, sweetheart," she tells him, caressing and stroking the back of his head in a languid, loving fashion, feeling his breath pulling in and out in regular waves across her thighs as he rests on his stomach, his head in her lap. "It's okay. You can just go to sleep, if you want." There's no movement in his face, the hint of his sleepy, easy smile doesn't budge. Just a lazy hum from deep in his chest that she can feel through the mattress and bedding below her as he finally surrenders to slumber, permission given. "...mm-m." 

Only when she's entirely certain that Hunter's asleep does [____] speak, or move in the slightest. With care, she eases his head off her lap and tucks one of the spare pillows beneath him, planting a kiss against his temple. Another over the old incision scar for good measure before she tries to slip away and check on Spoon one last time for the night. "Goodnight, Hunter…" 

Even in his sleep, Hunter is somehow able to find her hand and take hold, latching on tightly before she can get far. He whimpers, kriffing whimpers, her name softly in protest because he must sense her trying to leave. 

"Okay, okay," [____] murmurs soothingly, glad she can turn off lights remotely more than ever as she gingerly rejoins him on the bed, "I'll stay, sweetheart." she promises Hunter, caressing the back of his head once again. She begins with shimmying the bedding over them both, all the lights set to shut off, and finally laying back before Hunter appears content and drifting into deeper sleep. Truly content. 

"I'm not going anywhere..."

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[themostsanebug]

the liminalspace fic i wrote but tumblr vers! (pt.1 of2)

It had been a slower day than usual, much to the relief of Steven. Finally being able to properly deal with the more destructive anons definitely had him in a better mood. Sly was still working on being nice, but at least he was more calm than usual. As of now, sly’s taking a second to assess if there’s anything else that needs to be taken care of. Looking around he can’t see much except for a few things that need to be cleaned. The new hire should be able to deal with that. A sigh left slys voice box before he turned heel and walked towards slys office.

The door slowly creaked open as the knob was turned and pulled, Steven internally cringed at the sound. Just a bit. He’d have to fix that eventually. Jake could be found sitting behind slys desk, messing idly with a pen he must’ve found lying around. They seemed to be waiting for Steven if him looking up with a, what most phones could recognize as, relieved look when the other walked in. A crackle of static left their own voice box before he spoke.

“Hey, I was hoping you’d come in here eventually. We got a new shipment of items and it came with paint for,” Jake paused for a second, tapping at his phone head before continuing. “These things. Figured you’d like to touch yours up a bit or help me with mine.”

Ah. That’s what those paint bottles on the desk were there for. Okay, those had thrown him off when sly walked in. He picked up the bottle filled with what he assumed was the paint for sly. It was bright red after all. He turned the item in slys hand, reading the label with a slightly cautious gaze. It should be fine.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t. Do we have the brushes for it, though? I suppose we could use paper towels if we don’t, I’d just have to go fetch a roll of them.” He heard Jake clear their throat. Oh, the sign sly had been getting ahead of himself. Right. His hands instinctively grabbed at slys tie, toying with it while he waited for slys partner to explain. He was glad Jake was patient with sly. Jake nodded his appreciation, their glitched voice filling the room once more.

“I took the brushes off of the bottles, they were attached to the side, originally. So, are you doing yours yourself or do you..?” His voice broke off into a cough at the last few words. Steven tilted his head, confused by the sudden pause. “Did sly,” what?

A sigh. That was all that left his partner before they finished his thought, rubbing at their dial much like a human would rub at the bridge of their nose. “Or do you want me to do it for you?”

Oh. Nevermind, the pause made sense now. A gentle ring reverberated through slys head, much to his dismay. It wasn’t a sensitive topic or anything, they both just weren’t the best with asking for what they wanted. Which, in this case, was a pretty intimate task. At least, between the two of them. Having to be real careful with the phone heads and what not normally made maintenance a personal task. Even if it was just painting the outside.

“Hm. I don’t- see why not.. Sure.” Still, Steven found slyself agreeing. He didn’t want to be rude. Sly pulled a chair that was left in front of his desk around to the back where Jake was seated, positioning it to be facing the other. Just to make the job a bit easier on them.

Jake hummed in approval, moving to reach across the desk and grab what he needed. They got everything set up eventually; an open bottle of bright red acrylic paint, its cap strewn off to its side, a low quality brush that was bound to lose some bristles after use gripped in his hand, and, of course, their partner sat in front of him. Steven had taken to picking at his nails whilst sly waited, his tail coiled around slys legs. Jake used their free hand to guide Steven’s head up, allowing him to get a better look at what needed to be filled in.

[deepspacedukat]

Good Aim

This fic is NOT RELATED to the 2-part Rekar story that I started last year during Kinktober. Yes, this is still set aboard the Prometheus, but it’s completely separate.

Day 13: Moneyshot

SoC prompt list here. SoC Masterlist here. Cross-posted to AO3 here.

~*~

Rekar (ST:VOY) x Reader

[A/N: This is smut, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]

Warnings: Interspecies sex, Human/Romulan sex, sex on a holodeck, oral sex (male receiving), sex as a distraction, rough oral sex, moneyshot, dirty talk, power play, slight degradation kink, fingering, orgasm delay, mention of touch telepathy.

~*~

This was an ambitious plan. If I was caught, I would be at the mercy of the Romulan who had killed my shipmates. He’d probably make my death rather unpleasant. Voyager’s EMH and the EMH from our ship helped me come up with a plan to retake the Prometheus.

Unfortunately for me, I was the bait.

Masking my bio-signature as I crawled through the Jefferies tubes was the easy part. Doing so while overriding the holodeck controls had been a significantly more difficult juggling act. The Voyager EMH managed to sedate a female Romulan officer, and I’d commed the bridge pretending to be her, garbling the connection enough that I could pass my voice off as hers with relative ease.

“Commander, would you please come to the holodeck? I believe I’ve discovered something that requires your attention,” I requested, and once he said he was on his way, I set up the program I needed. I had to distract the Romulan C.O. while the two holograms made their move on the Bridge. As long as Rekar was out of the way, the boys would have a chance. I had no experience flying a starship. I was just a reserve engineer here to work on minor systems.

Dressing for the part that I was going to play was easy. It was actually getting into the role that I found difficult. Before I was even close to fully prepared, the doors to the holodeck opened with a hiss to reveal the target of my deception.

There really was no need for him to be that handsome, but it made my job so much easier.

“Sub-commander?” He called out in confusion when he could find his officer nowhere amongst the sand and sunlight. Sauntering up to him with a little extra swish in my hips, I put on my most confident facade.

“Welcome to Risa, the pleasure planet! We aim to make your stay as stimulating as possible,” I greeted him, and Rekar’s eyes flitted over to me. Giving me a slow, appreciative once over, he took in the skimpy bathing suit I was wearing and smirked.

“Well, well, these Federation types know how to make the most of test-flights, I’ll give them that,” he said as I walked right up to him and ran my hands across his shoulders. Gripping my waist, I watched as the Commander’s gaze slid down to my cleavage. “Did they program a name for you?”

I hadn’t anticipated that, but looking around in what I hoped appeared to be good-natured confusion, I blinked up at him.

“Y’know, I don’t think they did. I guess that means you can call me whatever name gives you the most pleasure,” I crooned stepping a little closer and giving him my best bedroom eyes. The dilation of Rekar’s pupils accompanied by the hungry expression that crossed his face made me almost hope that the holograms wouldn’t succeed in their mission. This Commander was much too attractive.

“Hm...I don’t know much about Human names, but I’ve always liked the Romulan name T’Rea,” he murmured as his gaze drifted down to my lips. “I’ve never had a Human woman before. Even if you are just a program...I wonder how realistic you are.”

“Those who ran this program before you claimed I was better than some of the real women they’d experienced,” I murmured leaning in closer and brushing my lips against his in a teasing half-kiss. “I’d be more than happy to show you my skills...”

“As pleasant as that would be, I should get back to the Bridge,” the Romulan murmured beginning to take a step away. I caught one of his hands in mine and moved close enough to kiss my way slowly up his cheekbone.

“Surely a few minutes couldn’t hurt? After all, it’s a hard job running a starship, and you feel so tense...” Dragging my tongue slowly up the shell of his ear and sucking gently on the point, I took a chance on Romulan physiology being similar to that of Vulcans. Tracing my fingers slowly, sensually down his, I tried to show him intimacy in a way he might be more familiar with.

Apparently, I guessed correctly. With a hungry little hum, Rekar nodded his head.

“It’s been too long since I was with a woman. Just one question before we begin. Why was this program not listed in the directory?”

Well, I certainly couldn’t tell him it was because I’d just created it. Instead, I let out a giggle and lowered my voice in a conspiratorial way.

“You don’t really believe that Starfleet Command would have approved of a Captain bringing this sort of program on a test-flight, do you? There couldn’t be any official record of me, so only his most trusted officers knew I was here,” I explained skimming my hands down the front of the Romulan’s uniform and pausing suggestively over his abdomen. “Now, what sort of attention would please you the most?”

Running his eyes up and down my body, Rekar licked his lips and raised an eyebrow as if in challenge.

“I’ve heard Humans use their mouths for intimacy,” he said grasping one of my hands in his. “If that’s true...I want to see you on your knees...with your mouth right here.”

He guided my hand to the rather sizable bulge at the apex of his thighs. I’d definitely imagined him wanting much worse than that for this encounter. Hell, I’d been terrified he’d find out I was a Starfleet officer and end my existence with the disruptor holstered on his belt.

“Would you prefer to sit or remain standing, handsome?” I asked, and he led me over to one of the lounge chairs set up near the water. Dropping obediently to my knees on the warm sand, I watched as he unfastened his black pants and exposed his length for me. He was larger than I’d expected.

“If you’re intimida–” Rekar broke off with a moan as I sucked him into my mouth. Almost immediately, he went from half-mast to hard as a rock. The Commander watched me move atop his length with hooded eyelids and parted lips. “Elements...”

Moaning low in my throat so that he could feel the vibrations, I used all the tricks I’d learned over the years to bring him pleasure. One of his large hands brushed my hair from my face just in time for me to look up and meet his gaze. His half-lidded eyes were filled with hunger as I sucked him deeper in my mouth.

After several long moments, Rekar got to his feet and gripped my head carefully as he started thrusting into my mouth. He was slow - almost gentle - at first, but as the frequency of his groans increased, so did the speed of his hips. For a man who’d never experienced oral sex, he had adapted to the situation quickly.

Thrusting as deeply as he could and holding himself there until my eyes watered, he let out a low growl before resuming his prior tempo.

“Such an obedient little slut,” the Romulan crooned as he used me. His voice was rough, almost as if he was overwhelmed. He was breathing heavily as he thrust even faster. I gagged around his length several times, feeling my own warm slick drip down my inner thighs. “I can smell your arousal. Touch yourself, but don’t you dare orgasm until I allow it.”

Stuffing one hand down into my bikini bottoms, a wave of embarrassment flowed over me at how wet I’d become from Rekar’s attentions. I rubbed my clit slowly, carefully, not allowing myself to get too close to the edge. I had to appear to be an obedient character as programmed - or at least, that’s how I mentally justified my compliance to myself. A whimper bubbled up my throat, and the Commander grunted above me.

Before long, he let out a strangled shout and pulled out of my throat. One hand gripped my jaw to keep my head steady while the other rubbed his lok hard and fast. I’d barely processed his intentions when he erupted, spurting cum across my nose and eyelids in hot ropes.

He’d barely dropped back down onto his chair when he coaxed me to my feet and tugged me onto his lap.

“Look at you. My cum is dripping down your face, and you’re more aroused than most of the women I’ve slept with. As much as I wish you could stay that way, let me clean you up. Keep those lovely eyes closed,” he murmured, and after a moment’s pause, a soft cloth skimmed quickly over my face, wiping away the sticky residue of his passion. One of Rekar’s large hands grasped my throat and my eyelids snapped open. “I think it’s your turn, don’t you?”

“But I’m here to please you–”

“Seeing my lovers crying out for me pleases me to no end,” he countered, and I grasped his shoulders as one of his hands slipped between my thighs. Given how wet I was, Rekar’s long, thick fingers stretched me open with little resistance. Lost in his eyes, I moaned as he curled his fingers within me. My hips rolled almost of their own volition as I caught the Commander’s lips in a desperate kiss.

“Please,” I breathed when we parted for air, but he just let out a quiet laugh as he sped up.

“That’s it. You’ve needed this, haven’t you? Go on. You’ve been a good girl. Cum for me,” he crooned biting his way down my neck. His teeth grazed one of my nipples over my bikini top, and just like that, I fell apart. Undeterred, Rekar fingered me through my high, not letting up until I was on the brink of painful overstimulation.

Had that been me shouting? I couldn’t tell through the blissful daze that had washed over me from my orgasm. Blinking slowly as the Commander removed his digits from between my legs, I realized I’d melted as easily against him as I would have with any Human lover.

That raised several implications that I wasn’t quite ready to face. Not yet...not while my lover’s large hands were holding me close and caressing my back so affectionately. Was I tingling because of him? Or because of the intensity of the orgasm I’d just had? The answers all felt so fuzzy in the wake of what we’d just done.

The ship jolted sharply, and Rekar gripped me a little tighter so I wouldn’t topple over. Having disabled all audio alert notifications in the holodeck, I had no way of knowing what the hell was happening.

“Report...Bridge, report! Sub-commander Nevala, report!” He ordered, but there was no answer. I could only hope this was the doing of my two new EMH friends. “Something’s gone wrong.”

I’d done my job. I’d distracted Rekar for long enough that the EMHs had caused some sort of havoc. So...why did this feel so hollow? After a few more concerning jolts, I eased myself off of him at his urging, and we both righted our clothing just in time for a comm channel to open to the entire ship.

“By the orders of Starfleet Command, any Romulan officers still aboard this ship will be arrested and taken into custody. We have secured all vital areas. We urge you to surrender peacefully,” a woman declared over the comm system. Ah, then reinforcements had finally arrived. I...was almost disappointed that I’d have to arrest Commander Rekar.

Glancing at him and wondering how hard it would be to take him in while I was wearing a bikini, I almost didn’t notice the rueful little smile that crossed his lips.

“You should be commended for being resourceful enough to survive for this long. You must’ve been in one of the Jeffries tubes that we couldn’t scan properly,” he said taking a slow step into my personal space again. An icy sort of fear washed over me as he smirked and nipped at my lower lip.

“You knew?” My voice came out as barely a breath, but that Romulan hearing of his allowed him to catch every syllable. Nodding his head, he lifted my hands in his.

“Touch telepath,” he murmured simply, and I blinked up at him.

“Then...then why did you act as if you had no idea?”

“Curiosity. I wanted to see how dedicated you were to your plan...and I really had never been with a Human woman before. I wanted to see if the rumors about your kind were true. Besides, this mission was doomed from the start, and to tell you the truth, I’m...tired,” Rekar said grasping my waist again. “Now, I’d suggest you get back into uniform before I surrender. I would rather submit myself to you for arrest than I would one of your colleagues, but if you take me to the brig dressed like that, well...you’ll have a hard time convincing anyone that you weren’t sleeping with the enemy.”

“Why would you care one way or the other?” I asked as I wandered over to the rock I’d hidden my uniform behind. “As you said, I’m your enemy.”

Rekar was silent for a long enough time that I looked over at him. He was watching me change clothes rather pensively.

“Rekar?”

“The Federation might be my enemy, but you, Lieutenant, are not,” he admitted quietly. Taking a small step forward, he looked at me with an unreadable expression. “Would you...? Perhaps if Starfleet will allow it...will you visit me in the prison in which they'll have me confined?”

I threw on my uniform jacket and zipped it before giving him a small smile and a nod of my head.

“If they allow you visits, I promise I’ll come see you,” I murmured, though I had no real reason to do so beyond my own curiosity. As I led him to the holodeck’s exit, Rekar paused and turned to look at me.

“I’ll go quietly, but only on one condition,” he stated with a twinkle in his eyes. Stepping closer to me, he tilted my chin up. “I want one last kiss.”

~*~*~

Taglist:

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[oxpogues4lifexo]

Keeping up with the Camerons

TumblrTV

Keeping up with the Camerons

Episode 2 - A Helping Hand - Part 3

Episode transcript (/ means cut scene, bold italics means narrator, bold means host)

Word Count: 3.7K

Part 2 Here

“Yeah I’d say Wards like a dad to me! I mean I barely knew mine so he’s the closest I’ll get to one. So yeah I’d say so! He helps out a lot with literally anything and everything. It’s why I offer to do jobs and stuff with him when I can because it’s like payback in a way you know.” She giggles, her smile warm and eyes soft.

/

It was now around 4:30. It had been a long, hot, stressful day and the two of them were ready to go back home and just relax. The sun had already begun to drop, as the wind had picked back up; cooling the once humid air.

The two of them reach the estate, getting out the car and heading inside.

Walking back into the house, Ward stops Bella at the entrance, turning her body so she'd face him. He rested his hands on her shoulders, "I want to apologise for earlier.. I wasn't mad at you. Rafe was getting me worried about the show.."

She shakes her head, taking Wards hands from her shoulders and holding them tightly, "It's okay I know.. it's just.. he didn't do anything wrong?"

"It might not seem like it honey, but when it's constant disobedience it just gets too much and slightly upsetting. I gave him specific rules before starting the show, and so far? He's broken two of them!"

"Rules? What rules?" Bella frowns, tilting her head as she lets go of his hands, placing them by her side.

"There's three! 'Don't start pointless arguments, 'Behave and save the attitude for his room, and three, 'Don't say things that aren't about himself.' The shows about everyone yes, but talking bad about the other people on the show isn't what I wanted it for. I'm glad he hasn't broken it yet but I'm not counting on the thought that he won't."

"But telling the truth is better for the show is it not? You want the show to be a real depiction of your life! Telling Rafe to behave and not be rude is like telling him to not be himself!" Her tone was serious but her words only caused a chuckle from Wards lips.

"I don't think you want him hearing that."

She snorts realising what she said before shrugging it off, "I mean I said to tell the truth!" She giggles.

Ward smirks, taking her hand again, "Come on, he's not following them anyways so l guess you don't have much to worry about."

Hand in hand, Ward pulls Bella through to his office. "Take a seat sweetheart." He gestures his hand to the seat opposite his desk as he places himself in his chair.

Bella sits, crossing her legs on the chair but making sure to pull at the hem of her skirt to cover everything necessary. Ward pulls out some documents from a drawer in his desk, tapping them against the table.

He looks up at the camera beside them that was placed by the window in the corner of the office, "Basically, every month me and Bella add up every dollar she's made over the four weeks, take off anything that 'goes missing' aka Callum has taken for God knows what, work out the average time she's spent actually in the house, and thats how we work out how much she pays for her half of the rent money. It seems confusing-"

"It is confusing! It's why I let you do it and I just sit here." Bella laughs awkwardly, a small wobble in her words causing Ward to chuckle lightly.

"Right yes. I do all of that and her job is to send the money over." They both laugh, Bella's cheeks reddening; Ward fiddles with the paper in his hand. "Because she stays here most of the time but also takes all the responsibilities for her and Callum, I don't feel as though it’s very fair for her to pay the whole chunk, so we work it out to down to the time"

Bella nods, a half smile pulling at her lip, "See, confusing!" She looks into the camera, her complexion blank at the effort of processing Wards explanation.

Knock Knock

The sound made Bella’s body jolt as they both turn to the door to the office, their faces lifting again once they see the familiar face walk in, "Wheezie!" Bella exclaims joyfully, swinging her arms out to gesture a hug. Wheezie skips over with a quiet 'hi" to Ward, falling effortlessy into Bella's arms, slowly making her way onto her lap.

"Everything okay? We sort of have a thing Wheezie." Wards tone stiffened, more forced now. She seemed to shrug it off, not as bothered as Bella clearly was, a sign that Wheezie was most likely used to this behaviour.

/

"She doesnt seem to care but everyone sees it! He's sooo different with everyone. It's actually crazy and it makes me feel really bad. He's so nice with me but when he starts randomly bursting out on Rafe or getting irritated by Wheezie that's when it really bothers me. Its either be nice to everyone or don't bother because thats horrible you know! its mostly when Rafe's trying to talk to me about something Wards said or done to him but then brings up how id never understand because hes so different with me. It physically hurts because ive seen it, i know it happens, yet everyone holds this grudge against me because i get it easy: its not my fault, its not like i want him to be this nice with me i never asked him to be. I dont get why i get the hate?"

/

"Just, Sarah seems upset and Rose is in a mood again, and I'm just concerned about Rafe because he's not here right now and-"

"Hey hey shh." Ward stands up, crouching down infront of the girls and taking Wheezie's hands in his own. "Slow down, what's going on with Sarah?"

She shrugs, a sniffle escaping her nose as she pushes at the bridge of her glasses, "I don't know! I mean I think it might be to do with Topper? Because he seemed mad earlier and Rafe was on about some Pogue she was with or something? And Rose is just mad because of the cameras and also all of us were apparently annoying her and she was getting really stressed I think? I don't know! But I can't deal with it on my own, what do I do?"

Ward looks up at Bella who gives him a reassuring nod, accompanied by a soft smile. He looks back at Wheezie as he stands up, tugging at her hand to pull her from Bella's lap,

"Come on, you go upstairs I'll deal with them okay? Where are they?" He tilts his head down to her level.

Her eyes wander as she tries to think under pressure, "Uhm.. I think.. I know Sarah's on the boat! Rose is in the kitchen I think but I don't think Rafe's in the house?"

"What do you mean you don't think he's in the house where did he go?"

Her face contorts, her shoulders shrugging as she throws her hands up in the air, "I have no idea! Last I was told, he went to go see Bella. But he's not with her so l'm not sure. Sorry." Her eyes fall, Wards hand finds her chin as he guides her face to look at him.

"I’ll find him okay! You go relax, I'll talk to them."

She nods and mutters a quiet 'thank you' before skipping out the office and up the stairs.

Ward lets out a deep breath, his hand running over his face as his brows knit together. He sits himself back down on the black leather seat.

"I thought-?" Bella points to the door, confusion clearly masking her face.

"I'll sort it later. Let's just get this done please!" He sounded irritated, pissed off even. Nothing had happened yet he seemed to switch like that.

/

"How'd it go bro?" Kelce passes Rafe a beer as they walk over the grass to Tanny Hill.

"Don't ask.." Rafe spits, rolling his eyes as he takes a big mouthful, finishing the drink in one.

"Woah slow down man!" Callum catches up, snatching the can from his grasp but it was too late. "Whats up? John B talking up my sister too?"

He groans, running a hand through his strands as he opens the door, "What do you think?"

"She still at the dock? Forgot she was working today."

"No idea. Don't really care." He shrugs, helping himself to another beer from the refrigerator on the way through the kitchen.

"Dude watch your mouth that's my sister you're talking about! Thought you were all obsessed with her or some shit?" Callum grimaces at his own words but also very serious about his question.

"Gross man. I ain't obsessed with her bro!" Rafe spits as if Callum's words were absurd. "I gotta take care of her a'ight? What my old man told me to do."

"So you're using her?"

"Just shut up Cal!! You know that's not what I meant. Why do you care anyways? You hate her!"

Callum's head swings round, gripping Rafes collar in an instant, "Say that shit again and your dead you understand me??"

"Get the fuck off me Callum.." He stares at him, holding his ground whilst also slowly trying to wriggle out of Callum's grasp.

His grip loosens when he hears Bella's voice through the door behind them; he turns around, forgetting about his hold on Rafe.

"Guess she's in there!" Rafe shrugs, brushing himself off; earning him a glare from Callum.

/

"Where were we?" He searches through the papers on the desk. Bella watches intently, her eyes full of concern as her eyebrows form a v shape. She doesn't say anything however, just watches him.

"Okay so you've earned a total of-" A loud bang and a mass of voices erupts through the halls, made out through the crack in the door. Wards face meets his palms as he groans. The noises in the other room only growing louder causing Wards expressions to deepen.

He lifts his head, looking back down at the papers, "A total of-" He's cut off once again by the door creaking open slowly, the sounds coming to a halt. He bites the inside of his cheek as he chuckles away the clear pain this situation is causing him.

Despite opening the door, a small knock is still made out before three figures walk into the room. "May we help you?" Ward spat, his eyes piercing into each of their own.

"There you are Bells!" Her eyes widen at the familiar voice, her back raising as a shiver takes over her body; hesitating before turning to become face to face with her brother. "You been with Ward all day?"

"Yeah!" She frowns, confused about his calm tone.

Callum nods a second, biting his lip as his eyes squint. He gives Bella his hand, squeezing his fingers to his palm and letting go again to gesture for her to take it. "Come!"

"Cal l'm-" She points at Ward and the papers, Callum's face dropping with pure uninterest.

"We're in the middle of something Callum she can speak with you soon!"

He frowns at Ward, quickly turning back to Bella, trying again with his hand. "Well we're going out. Your coming. I haven't seen you all day!"

"Callum!" Wards hand meets the desk with a hard smack, he takes a deep breath, "Callum, just let us finish and she'll-"

"I wasn't talking to you was I? Old man." He heaves, rolling his eyes; not even fazed by the raise in his voice, unlike Bella who looks too terrified to move.

"Cal..??" She whisper-shouts, her brows furrowing at his antics, shaking her head as if to get him to stop.

He ignores her, nodding his head to the door, "Bella let's go." His eyebrows raise, face more serious now as his tone had hardened. His jaw clenched.

The two remaining boys at the door, Rafe and Kelce, both give each other a look of concern, a small word passed between them followed by a shake of Kelce's head before looking back at the event.

Bella looks up at Ward, her eyes full of plea. He merely watches her, his face blank as if he'd switched off part way into the conversation. Her focus follows back to the camera before blinking and nodding lightly, lifting herself from the chair and placing her hand into Callum's.

He guides her to the exit, following the others outside; she pulls herself back into the doorway, giving Ward a small smile, “I’ll send you half!”

“No no don’t worry, we’ll sort it tomorrow!” His eyes widen as he pushes himself up. She nods but didn’t quite catch what he said as Callum had dragged her away from the room.

/

“Would you say you like the Camerons? We haven’t had the chance to speak yet!”

Callum’s face drops, his brows tighten as his expression tenses; scoffing at Ryan’s words, “No why would I?? They think they can control me like I’m their kid or something. But I’m not! And neither is Bella so I don’t know why he’s treating her like she is. She’s MY sister. Not Rafes, not Wheezie’s. Mine!! He doesn’t need to get involved in all her shit, that’s my job now! And it has been for 16 years!” He spits aggressively, shoving past Ryan almost pushing him to the floor.

/

Ward finds himself in the living room, “Rafe? Let me speak to you!” He calls him over from the couch, leading him into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” He frowns, “We’re leaving in like ten minutes!”

“Watch your attitude I just want to talk.”

Rafe roles his eyes, sitting himself on one of the stools beside the island.

“Wheezie mentioned you and Topper were involved in something earlier. To do with Sarah and a Pogue?”

“Of course she did..” He curses under his breath, his hand finding his hair, “Yeah what about it?” He slams his hand on the marble.

“I want to know what happened. I mean you stormed our boat earlier.”

“Yeah OUR boat? I was checking on Bella what’s the problem?”

“The problem is you were arguing with her. I was trying to film for the show and you come and start something. Do you not want to act normal for two seconds when the cameras are on you? Are you incapable of that or something Rafe?” He waits for a response but Rafe simply just stares at him, speechless at his sudden switch in attitude since this morning. “Hello? Rafe I’m speaking to you! What is wrong with you?”

The words hit Rafe like a brick, causing a sudden tense in his muscles as he stands up, the force throwing the stool to the ground. “I was making sure she’s okay?? And your-“

“Why wouldn’t she be??”

“And you’re making it out like it’s a bad thing!! Im sorry I give a fuck about someone for once! I’m sorry I’m ACTUALLY doing something you asked for once! But you know MY bad for actually doing what I’m told. Jesus yeah what the hell’s wrong with me??” He smacks Wards water bottle out his hand, covering the counter and his lap in liquid as he leaves.

“We’re not done Rafe!!!” Ward yells through the room, Rafe flipping him off on his way out.

He cleans himself up before going upstairs to find Sarah.

/

“Hello honey..” Ward slowly opens the door to Sarah’s room, keeping his tone calm because Wheezie mentioned her feeling upset.

“Hi daddy.” She smiles, placing her colouring book on her bed as she gives him her full attention.

He sits himself infront of her on the edge of her bed, placing his hand against her leg; stroking his thumb against her skin ever so slightly. “Are you okay sweetheart?”

She frowns, tilting her head slightly, “Yeah of course. Why?”

He nods lightly, “Just because Wheezie was worried about you! Said something about Topper?”

Her eyes widen and fall as her fingers find a pencil to fiddle with, “Um.. yeah no everything’s fine. He just seemed mad earlier and left me while we were out.”

“What do you mean he left you? Alone?”

She nods, not looking back up at him as his tone shifts only slightly, “Was he mad at you?” He emphasises the ‘you’ as his face tenses.

“I’m not sure. I don’t know what I did! I just went to the bathroom then when I came back he shouted at me and left? So I went to see Layla.” She looks back up at him, her eyes glassing over.

Wards brows furrow; he pulls Sarah into his chest, his hand stroking the back of her head as he places a kiss to the top of it. “I’m so sorry Sare Bear.. I’ll speak to him okay..” He rests his head against hers.

She shakes her head ‘no’ as she lifts herself from his hold, “No it’s okay.” She wipes her nose with her sleeve before tucking her hands into them, “He’ll be fine tomorrow!” She reassures.

“Okay honey..” He strokes the side of her head, his thumb rubbing against her cheek, pulling her head closer to give her another kiss to her forehead. “I love you..”

“Love you too dad..” She smiles softly, picking up her colouring book again. He nods as he leaves to the door, turning back once more to blow a kiss before shutting it behind him.

“That boy is pissing me off..” He mutters to himself as he walks past one of the cameras to go back downstairs; head in his hands.

/

"Hey Rafe?" Bella runs over, catching up outside the gate, her hand slipping into his.

He doesn't fight it but also doesnt reciprocate, not turning his head to look at her, "Mhm?"

She hesitates at his lack of touch, "Hey look I'm sorry about earlier!" The other boys turn back to watch as they kept walking, looking at one another with a slight snicker.

He looks up at the boys, looking back down at his and Bella’s hands before pulling away, "Yeah look it's fine a'ight? You already said sorry."

Again, he didn't look at her once, meaning he didn't notice the way she very obviously noticed his intent behind his hand pulling away as her eyes began to tear up. Holding back a whimper she takes a deep breath, "I mean.. You could've stayed? W- we weren't doing anything." She looks up at him with her forced doe eyes, hoping for atleast a small reaction.

He shrugs, "Yeah well you looked busy with that Pogue so.. didn't wanna bother you." His eyes squint as he scratches the back of his head; a small 'tut' falling from his lips.

Her eyes widen, a frown forcing onto her brows as a tear falls down her flustered cheeks, "I.. I told you that it didn't m- mean anything?" She choked through her tears, causing a slight eye twitch from Rafe as he fights back from looking at her.

"Look Bells I-“

Callum interrupts, turning back and grabbing Bella's arm, "What he means, Bella, is that us Kooks don't hang around those Pogues a'ight? Don't listen to Rafe, he's being a prick." He spits at Rafe, giving him a dirty glare as he wraps an arm round Bella and pulls her infront to walk with him instead.

Turning back, Callum's brows furrow at Rafe, a small 'what's your fucking problem' falling from his lips silently. Rafe feels himself tense; his fist scrunching as his face contorts into a mix of anger and upset. He hits himself in the head, "Stop it.. Stop it." He scolds himself, blinking back the evident tears that glassed his eyes.

We did end up asking Rafe about the situation but it didn't end the way we wanted so for his sake we can't show the footage, we’re truly sorry but it’s confidential.

/

The lights were out, the room lit by only the few yellow flames surrounding the couple. The moonlight through the glass doors, filled the room with a slight warm glow. The small table was covered in plates of salmon and glasses of red wine ontop a white tablecloth.

The two enjoyed the meal, watching the stars whilst midway in a deep conversation about one another. Eyes never left the others, hand in hand, admiring every little detail they had missed about each other in the time they had away.

They join eachother on the couch afterwards, putting on a romantic movie about a pianist and an actress. Bodies glued to the other, heads rested together.

"It's been a long day Rose.. those kids are way too much sometimes.." Ward mumbles as he rests his head against Rose's shoulder.

She lifts her hand to gently caress his cheek, placing a light kiss to the top of his head, "I know baby.. thats why I mentioned finding somewhere else for Rafe to stay.. It's one less person to have to worry about after a busy day.." She leans her head against his as he pulls her hand into his own, his fingers tangling between hers.

"We can't kick him out Rose.. not because im tired sometimes.. Its just difficult with so many things and so many people. I almost snapped at Wheezie earlier.."

"Is it getting bad again..?"

He nods a 'yes' against her chest, causing her to tut as she takes a long breath, placing yet another kiss to his head, "Just take it easy the next few days okay.. The cameras are probably making everything worse than it is.. You have a few days without them so just make the most of it okay baby.."

Ward sighs, digging himself deeper into her body, her warmth radiating onto him causing his eyes to fall shut, "Mhm.. Okay honey.. take it.. take it easy.. got it.." He yawns, resting himself fully as she hushes him to sleep. One last kiss to his head before she turned down the tv volume and pulled a blanket over the two of them.

"Sleep well honey.." She smiles softly, watching his eyes flutter as a quiet snore begins to release from his throat. "We'll figure it all out at some point.."

Thank you for watching yet another episode of Keeping Up With The Camerons! Today was a hard one, but maybe tomorrow we'll have some more answers surrounding this supposed 'Pogue' drama as we join Sarah for her day in the sun. Stay tuned and keep an eye out for the next one!

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[neurodivergentbraingoblins]

Okay, I need advice or information or something because I'm very confused right now.

So the name "Neurodivergent Brain Goblins" comes from these bits of myself that I've named and given an identity to in order to help other people understand my brain.

I've had neuropsych testing done (4.5 hrs of testing, surveys, and forms). They agreed that I have C-PTSD and dissociative symptoms with a somatoform disorder, but they don't agree that I have DID because I don't lose time and don't have other personalities that take over/replace mine.

My brain goblins are their own people but also are just me. Mini little parts of me that sometimes control more of my life than I often do.

Reynold is my logic. He is my assistant manager who definitely wasn't given enough training and is more of a glorified babysitter than anything else 😅 I honor the amount of shit he puts up with every day. He is second in command and acts as a buffer to all the other brain goblins.

Then there is Jeff 🫠 I call him my ADHD goblin. Jeff loves buttons. He loves pushing them and watching them light up and hearing them make noise. Jeff also loves running around, jumping, making ridiculous noises, and seeing how many times he can do the same exact thing in a row before it pisses everyone else off 🤣 sometimes Reynold will give Jeff a tennis ball to go bounce against the wall for a while just so he can get some real work done.

(I'm not done drawing Jeff, but this is him so far 😊 he is a very mischievous little shit lol)

I also have Frank my OCD Goblin. He carries around an abacus instead of a calculator because 1. He is obsessed with numbers and 2. Physically moving the pieces to count calms his anxiety 😅. Frank loves simple repetitive tasks that he can do on repeat so he can count them over and over again. He often teams up with Jeff because of this and then they bug Reynold all day. Kind of a "hey! Hey! Hey check this out! Look what we can do! Hey!"

Bobby is my Autism Goblin 🤣 I love him so much but like sometimes I just.. he tries so hard and his effort is absolutely beautiful, but he just isn't good at any of it 🙃 he is the director of communication, so anytime I socialize Bobby shows up to help navigate talking. But like he just REALLY isn't good at it 🤣 the heart and soul he puts into it though is why he is still the communications director 🥰

I also have Manic Manny, Depression Dave, Sensory Sally. Though they like to work from behind the scenes. Their control is really strong but everything they do is by sneaking up and whispering in Reynolds ear and *poof* disappearing. He can't ever see them, but the weird creepy crawly feeling they give him makes him act on what they said every single time.

There are lots of other Goblins that work in this factory, but they are more like background characters? Like, everyone has a job, but most are just quiet office workers that help to keep the lights on 😅

If you have read this far thank you so much!! My question now is, what are my brain goblins? Is this DID or is it something else?? Tbh I don't really care what it is because these are my Brain Goblins and I love them no matter how much they annoy me 😅 but I also like learning information because sometimes it can really help me with managing life lol

[lobotoboy]

Today I ascended from this mortal plane and remembered why I love movies and want to pursue filmmaking.

For context, I watched Barbie, and the Miraculous Ladybug movie today.

So, I saw Barbie with my mom, in a theater full of women. The first five minutes, I was sat there like "Did the internet lie to me again?" cause I was genuinely confused about what the hell was happening onscreen. But once I managed to get into the groove of things, I really enjoyed myself. I didn't play with Barbies growing up, and it was still enjoyable to me. It was so campy and funny(thank you Kate McKinnon and Michael Cera for being a big source of that), but it had some pretty deep themes, such as criticism against both a patriarchy and a matriarchy, the struggles of women in society, existentialism, and mother-daughter relationships. Definitely a movie for the girlies, but I think it's enjoyable for everyone.

I think the music was great. My mom hates musicals, despises them with her whole heart, but she told me after the movie that she loved I'm Just Ken. And yeah, it was so much. My favorite bit was the fast paced "Can you feel the Kenergy" moments. I've been playing Identity V, and I use that to hype me up for matches. It gives 80s power ballad, and it's super fun to listen to over and over again. Ryan Gosling did a very good job with it. I can see I'm Just Ken and Peaces battling it out for Best Original Song. Push was great as well, despite being underused in the movie, the full version(which is a cover of an existing song) is very interesting, and lyrically fits the movie so well.

I'm not typically a fan of bright colors in movies, catch me watching The Batman any day, but Barbie is the exception, as it just made certain scenes feel so much more important. Mattel offices being cold and gray, really sold that corporate vibes, and the soft white at the ending with Ruth definitely made it feel like Barbie was reaching a life-changing conclusion. It's a wonderful use of color.

Now the themes are the big draw of the movie. Regarding the patriarchy, matriarchy, and daily struggles of women, those themes are definitely hard to miss, but they do so much good with them. Showing Ken being essentially brainwashed by the idea of the patriarchy is interesting, and definitely rings home for anyone who grew up with boys as friends. I've seen a few guy friends of mine turn from sweet guys, into womanizers as they grew older. And it also shows that a matriarchy isn't good either, by showing how the Kens feel less than in BarbieLand. The Ken's situation is a muted version of women's situations in the real world. The Kens aren't sexualized or hated, but they're ignored. In the real world, both in the movie and real life, women have it worse than the Kens, and feel in a similar position. Makes it easy to enjoy both perspectives. Barbie focusing on thoughts of death and change as a whole hits with me on a personal level, as I have a lot of issues with existentialism, and any movie with death as a major theme usually brings me close to tears(such as Puss in Boots 2, curse you good movies). Seeing Barbie meet her creator in Ruth was so sweet, and was incredibly heartwarming.

Special mention to the line "We mother stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they've come". It made me want to give my mom the biggest hug, and I'm in no way a hugger.

Then I went home, and watched the Miraculous Ladybug movie because I had nothing else to do. I've been with the show since 2020, which isn't as long as other fans, but the show still sticks in my brain the same. I knew the animation was going to be great, and that the art direction would make up for any shortcomings in the story. And while yes, the plot was rushed (duh, like, how many years has it taken to get to this point in the show? its gonna feel rushed) but the art was absolutely stunning. My favorite moment was from Hawkmoth's villain song, Chaos Will Reign(available on Spotify) when they pulled out the Disney Villain lime green color. I love that color, and seeing Hawkmoth with it made me ascend. I really love the ending battle as well, the use of colors, lightning effects, butterfly textures, was just perfect. The animation was also really smooth, down to the small details of hair movements, such as when Nino and Alya are on the roller coaster, or when Chat Noir's hair gets wet.

The music was probably my least favorite part, just because I think Cristina Vee could've slayed it, and that the songs sounded kind of generic. But Oh My God, Chaos Will Reign had me bopping and replaying it. In fact, I'm listening to Chaos Will Reign and I'm Just Ken while writing this. It definitely gave me old Disney villain song vibes, mixed with the slightest hint of a Danny Elfman soundtrack. It just sounded so evil, but in a way that I can get behind. Keith Silverstein can actually sing, and that note at the end was wonderful. The vibrato gave me life. I was lowkey hoping Nooroo would stop talking so I could hear more. The chanting was awesome, and gave Friends on the Other Side vibes. I was (and still am) a big fan of villain songs, and this is a throwback to my theater kid days when I exclusively played villains and enjoyed it. Definitely overthrew the Hawkmoth Rap as my favorite Miraculous Ladybug song, but the Hawkmoth Rap is like, second place still. The only crime this song had was being too short. Release the ten hour cut.

Finally, aside from the glory that is Chaos Will Reign, I want to say that the two identity reveal scenes were amazing. I'll start off with Adrien and Marinette's, just because I care about that one the least. I think it was a creative way to go about it, with the masquerade masks. Fanfiction wins again. But I have so much to squeal about when it comes to the Adrien and Gabriel reveal. This version of Gabriel was definitely way more sympathetic than his show counterpart, despite committing atrocious acts. I actually wanted this Gabriel to get some redemption, and I think that bit of forgiveness from Adrien is just that. Let them have a good bond, PLEASE! The whole battle scene was just amazing, the fact that Hawkmoth was willing to do literally anything, and very nearly came close to winning. I knew he wasn't going to win, it's a kid's movie, but I was still on the edge of my seat and biting my nails.

I need both of these movies injected into my bloodstream ASAP.

Do I recommend them? Depends on your preferences. For Barbie, I can see why people wouldn't like it, it's campy(in a fun way), and it's anti-patriarchy and anti-matriarchy, which would make the misogynists and misandrists mad. But I think if you're open to a goofy time that will make you appreciate the women in your life, then give it a watch. It's definitely worth it.

For Miraculous Ladybug, it's a kid's movie, based on a show with a big following spanning years. I think it's something to watch if you're a fan, former or current, of the show. If you're just starting to watch Miraculous, it'll be a better watch if you sit through the show. But, it's a good movie, and still enjoyable for novice Miraculers.

I'm definitely watching these over and over again.

[lotsoflokilove23]

Mine In The Moonlight - 0.2

Previously:

Weird, you thought flipping through the names. Steve Rogers… you raised your eyes, Tony Stark?. You flipped to the back of the pile and your eyes widened, Loki? What the heck, you thought looking through the information on his sheet. Loki Laufeyson!!?? You closed your eyes and then opened them again, This can’t be right… You thought to yourself, There all Marvel characters… You punched in some numbers on your computer bringing up your main work page, you typed in the names and your jaw slowly opened. 

According to the computer these people landed on Earth about a week ago, wearing suits and had what looked like glowing objects and fight gear. 

You read the document over and over again until your eyes start to hurt, you definitely didn’t believe that this was actually happening. A few hours later after a lot of research and hunting, you turned your computer off, shoved the papers into a separate drawer away from the others, and headed out of the office and out the door. 

As you drove into your wide driveway, you parked your silver Audi A5 in the garage and closed the door way. You unlocked the side door leading from the garage out into the backyard of your house, which had a small stoned campfire and a few chairs surrounding it. You walked up the stairs of your back deck and unlocked the door pushing yourself inside, you knew you could use the front door if you wanted to but you had gotten into the habit of going through the back door, it also gives you the view of the ocean to one side of your house and the memories of the woods to the otherside. 

As you kicked your shoes off and hung up your coat, you couldn’t help but stop thinking about all the names on the sheets of paper that Julia had given you today. You knew them based off of the Marvel movies you had watched many times in the phase of your life, but you knew it was only a movie, which is why you were confused as to why all of those names showed up today. You walked into the kitchen opening the fridge door, trying to figure out what to eat for dinner. 

A few hours later after eating, you had showered and changed into a company baggy sweater and sweatpants, you sat yourself down in one of the chairs on the back deck when your phone rang. You picked it up and raised your eyebrows and answered. 

“Hello, Noah,” You shake your head as you answer, “What do you want?” 

“To wish you a happy birthday! Why else?!” Noah laughs into the other end of the phone. “Don’t tell me you forgot your own birthday!” He said, with a small grunt.

“Apparently I did,” You give a small smile. “I’ve been busy.” 

“I can hear,” Noah said, “Well, I sent you a gift in the mail… I assume you haven’t gotten it yet?” He asked.

“No… not since the last time I checked the mail.” You answered. Noah was your brother from another mother, he was one of your best friends, but had moved out of the city to continue his dream of acting, which in your defense he was really good at. 

“Well, keep an eye out for it.” He said with a chuckle. “Anything new happened to you these days?” 

“Just the usual.” You said with a frown, “Although, something weird did show up at work today.” You said, rubbing the side of your head. “Please, do tell.” He said with a curious tone. 

You laugh a little, “Well, you’ve seen the marvel movies right? Well, my job is to find information on people who come in or are new to the area, mainly the people who are supposed to be dangerous or suspicious,” You tell him, looking up at the sky. 

“What does that have anything to do with Marvel?” Noah asks, with a slight hum.

“Well… Half of the names in the pile of sheets that I was given yesterday, all include the names of people from Marvel.” you explained. 

“Like who?” Noah asked through the phone confused. 

“Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Loki-” You paused, slowly grinning. 

“Oh dear, if Loki is real then you're done for…” Noah teases you. “Oh shush…” You laugh, “I’m sure he’s not real, and this is all just fake.” You tell him. 

“If you say so.” he chuckled, “Well I’ll let you go! You should update me” he says. 

“Will see!” You say with a smile, “Thanks for calling!” 

“You’re welcome!” Noah says in a happy tone, “Happy Birthday Y/n” he said and then hung up.

You smiled and put your phone down, leaning back and losing your eyes.

Tags: @cynic-spirit

Note:

Make sure to look at my Master list and read the first few parts before this one if you haven't or take a look at my other stories!

Master List. = My stories here

Other links to this story.

Mine in the Moonlight -Beginning.

Mine In the Moonlight - 0.1

[pbandjesse]

I did not need to be as stressed about today as I had been. Today was excellent. I had such a good group. I am tired but I feel happy.

I didn't sleepy amazing. I woke up a lot. But that is okay. I was starving when I got up though. I don't know why I was so hungry but it was distracting.

I got up and got dressed. James was in their bike gear and getting ready for a ride. They made the bed while I was getting ready. And let me know my backpack was still wet. I had attempted to dye my new little backpack also night because the front pocket was brown and I didn't like it. I left it on the fire escape all day to dry and I'm really excited about it. I will probably do some embroidery on it. But I have many other projects happening so we'll see.

I headed to work and stoped fro breakfast. They were obviously in the weeds and I gave them my receipt at the pick up window because they were all confused. I hope it got better.

I was nervous about my day so I was bouncing around a bit. It was Jack's wife Cindy's first day. And we had our new educator Michael as well. I already like Cindy. And Michael seems great. He's from Nigeria and seems really sweet.

It was a busy busy day. I would spend the morning helping Jordan set up and chatting with him about conspiracy theories and work stuff. I did get a little frustrated with a coworker who was just. Not doing what they were supposed to. And was just adding stress for no reason. But whatever.

I continued to be nervous but as soon as the group got here and I brought mine inside they were so lovely? They were so good. We had a kid with a broken foot and so we weren't sure if he was going to be able to go up the stairs but I checked with him and he said he would just like a job that can stay downstairs. So Mr Platt it is. I think he enjoyed it. And all the other kids did too. They were all so smart. I really had the best time. And honestly just doing my shucking station went great and I had a great time.

We had a double overlap today though and that was pretty stressful. Especially with two new people. And so after I got my group out to their scavenger hunt I went back to help reset and get everything handled. Adam was a little confused to see that the tasks were handled. But like we help each other.

The kids really liked that I did prizes and they were real competitive. And once we went through all of the answers I sent them off to lunch.

I went back to the office to read my book for a bit. When all of a sudden Becca and Adam ran into the break room in a panic that Del's cannery was 20 minute late. How is that possible. And of course it wasn't true. They were maybe 2 minutes behind. The other cannery was just a few minutes early. But there was a 5 minutes panic and texting and running around. And it was just like. Guys calm down.

I went to get the kids and took them to the assembly line. And they did a great job. Gaby was great as a second. And they would finish with enough time to check out the car. Which is always my goal. Though we did have a scare when a piece of the moveable wall fell off and I thought it was metal and was going to hit Gaby in the head. But thankfully it was plastic so it only startled us.

While the kids were out checking out the car I chatted with one of them about siblings. And she ended up asking if she could give me a hug and I always love that. What a sweetheart. Once I walked them out I went to the back to start doing supplies. It was a nice hour cleaning oysters and telling stories.

But I was ready to go home. I wasn't tired yet but I knew I would be soon.

When I got home I would fall apart pretty fast. James was on the couch and after I got changed I would join them. They made me a quesadilla and we worked on booking our honeymoon!!

We did our little trip to DC. Our mini-moon. But this will be the big one. We are going in May. And it's going to be a pretty incredible trip. We were between two. But with the budget we have we went with the one that doesn't stop in Montana. We'll do a Montana trip another time. But this one is going to go from Chicago to Seattle, then we take a cruise to Alaska and back to Seattle. With a few stops at different ports. And we were right in budget and the cruise has at least two rainforest excursions and we found at least two places to eat in the different towns. And two different thrift stores because I think it will be funny to buy thrift store stuff while traveling. If we have to mail things homes so be it.

We took a lot of notes. Wrote down a bunch of things. It's really exciting!! And once that was done I was just like. Hey. This was fun. But also now I feel very tired.

I got in bed and just watched videos for a while. But I gave maybe if a time to get up. And would start going through my closet to make some outfits and out some more Halloween and fall stuff away. James went to the store but before they left they started the bread machine for the first time!! They had had a slight panic that the mixing paddle was missing but I had just put it in the drawer so that tragedy was avoided and in a few hours we would have bread!

While they were gone I would put the dishes away and clean out the fridge. And bake my pumpkin seeds. Which smelled great. I was feeling good.

James would get home and finish the staffs for camp. And I would keep working on organizing the closet. Moving seasonal things around. Hanging my layering shirts so that I remember I have them and to wear them so I'm not cold. I kept joking that I was going to pack for our honeymoon now. But Jess and James think 178 days early is to early. Which is fair.

Jamess bread came out so nice. Maybe a little sweet? But it smelled great. And we would basically just rest the rest of the night. Daylights savings is always hard in me and apparently very hard on James too.

But we are still going to try to wake up to see the eclipse. And tomorrow I don't have to be at work until 1. So I get to have a chill morning. I am looking forward to it.

I hope you all have a good night's rest. Sleep well. Take care of yourself!!