#lipstick packaging ideas

[expandbuzz]

The first and foremost element that should be considered is to develop a brand identity that is promising and stands out in the market. It’s advisable, to begin by introducing the products you sell in the market. Then, put your brand USPs and what you offer apart from the competitors.

[planetaryupscaled]

Disenchanted 3: Public Indecency

Male Reader x Karina

Tags: 3k, blackmail, cheat, creampie

The story is not ours, we alternate the original story to match our desired settings.

Ever since the day at the carnival I sensed a change in Karina. It was almost as if her last few emotional links to Jaewook had finally fractured and torn. The consequence to this was our relationship, if you could call it that became stronger.

Karina was less concerned about being married, her go to line anytime we were about to part take in anything remotely physical. It got to the point that she removed her wedding ring every time we indulged ourselves in satisfying our desires for one another. Jaewook on the other hand began falling deeper and deeper into a downward spiral, we met at least once a week to talk through his issues with Karina. Every time his solutions for fixing his marriage became more and more desperate.

“I don’t know how long we can go on like this.” Jaewook said, as we sat at a random bar off the side of the highway.

“It feels like our marriage has turned into a set of a show, like it’s all smiles and waves for the public, but in private, we go our separate ways.” Jaewook followed up.

I sat back, knocking down a shot of whisky, placing my hands on his shoulders.

“Give her more time, it must be tough for both of you.” I replied.

Jaewook shrugged his shoulders, a solitary tear falling down his cheeks.

“We haven’t had sex in weeks, her answers are cold, I dunno how I can fix this...what do I do?” He asked, eyes pleading for an answer.

Hearing this, jabbed sharply at my conscience as it was only a few hours ago that Karina and I had fucked in her car after she dropped the kids off to school. I still had her peach-colored lipstick marks smeared along the length of my cock after sucked me to completion, taking my pent up load down her married throat. It was becoming her thing, swallowing was once a taboo, a no no, but ever since we got together, having me finish in her mouth had always hit the right spot. It gave me a sense of pride, knowing she only swallowed me, only my load satiated her hunger. Jaewook and I polished off another few rounds before I called him a cab to take him home. The situation was getting untenable in the Lee household, only pushing Karina further into my arms, it was the perfect situation form me yet little did I know, things were going to get much more complicated.

“Hey, so I had a chat with corporate, and they have green us the green light to roll some sample products out at the local businesses.” Nayoung said, handing me the paperwork granting us more budget for the final push marketing our new lines.

“Hmmm that is a great news...I was thinking, maybe we could do something along the lines of nature, maybe draw upon the ecological and environmentally friendly products we have.” I replied.

“I will run it past the team and get back to you.” Nayoung said with a smile before we heard a knock at the door.

It was Karina, her hair wrapped neatly in a bun, wearing a striking pink number, accentuating her flawless toned legs.

“Morning team.” She said smiling.

“Just spoke to Yeonjun outside, good work on securing more funds for our new lines. I was thinking perhaps, marketing some at the local aquarium, drawing upon our environmental packaging and natural ingredients. They have a save the ocean exhibit on at the moment.” Karina said.

Nayoung looked at me with a smile.

“Looks like you have got your answer Boss.” Nayoung said.

Karina looked at me a little perplexed.

“I was just saying we should link our products up with our local businesses, hammering down on our eco-friendly appeal.” I said smiling.

“Great minds.” Replied Karina, laughing.

“Great...team day it is.” I said.

“Gather the troops, maybe we can all go down there, perhaps get some contacts, throw some ideas around.” I replied.

“You free Karina? You can be our secret weapon in getting them to potentially work with us.” I said.

“Are you planning in using me to further your professional career.” She replied smirking.

“You hit the nail right on the head.” I replied, grabbing my coat and walking towards her.

Nayoung was outside with Sohye and Yeonjun getting ready to go. I took the opportunity to peck Karina on the lips quickly, getting another hit of her womanly scent.

“Minho! People...” She startled.

“Might see...” I finished, kissing her again causing Karina to break out in a smile.

“Cmon, let’s go.” I said, opening the door and leading us out.

The local aquarium was only ten minutes away. The entire walk, Sohye and Nayoung updated Karina on various ideas they had on ways to spread our new lines on social media. I caught Yeonjun checking Karina out on a number of occasions, his eyes flickering towards her long slender legs as we reached our destination. I couldn’t blame him she was a very attractive woman. Nevertheless, I felt myself grow ever more protective over her, as I slowly began to realize, what we had was more than just the physical, I was actually falling for her completely.

My musings of how deep my relationship with Karina was, were quickly interrupted by the murmuring of the public around us. She had been recognized and approached by a number of fans asking for her autograph and picture. Karina dealt with it like a pro, smiling and stopping for photos while I flagged the manager. We spoke for a few moments regarding our impromptu visit and plans we had. The brief chat actually going better than I expected as he invited Karina and I to discuss our ideas in more detail. Flagging down Nayoung, I gave her the company card and told her to take the team out for lunch while Karina and I talked to the manager of the aquarium for a bit longer. He seemed, not surprisingly infatuated with Karina’s beauty, nodding and agreeing with everything she said. It took around fifteen minutes flat to organize a small event in the early part of next week to coincide with the finale of their save the Oceans exhibit.

“And that is why I brought you...” I said, whispering in Karina’s ear.

She smiled, slapping me on the arm as we finished up the meeting.

“Do you guys want me to show you around, we have special piece we are doing on Sea Turtles at the moment, not available for the public yet.” The manager asked hopefully.

Karina paused, looking at me.

“Sure.” I said, seeing Karina glare her eyes at me.

“Was this not meant to be a team day?” Karina said, whispering in my ear.

“Nayoung can look after them, besides, I told them to go around and get some lunch, we can all meet up after.” I replied, as we followed the manager around to the back of the complex.

The rumble of the public gradually dissipated to a low murmur as we made our way into a large open space, surrounded my glass screens, behind which was an endless volume of blue. Giant sea turtles floated gently by, as if waving to us as they circled upwards to the surface flanked by numerous colorful fish zipping effortlessly in and out of the artificial coral reefs.

“This is it!” The manager said proudly.

His eyes still glued to Karina as she stared at the beautiful creatures swimming in the deep.

“So when is this exhibit open?” Karina asked in wonder.

“About two weeks, you guys are the first to see it.” He said smiling.

I could see his eyes travel the length of her body the moment she turned around before his visual perversions were disrupted by a loud bang. It came from the main area down the hallway, with some load shouts. It sounded like there was a bit of a scuffle going down from the sounds of the screaming.

“Shit...what now?” The manager said, in frustration.

“Guys...have a look around and come back the way we came...my team will be in contact with you later this week to tidy up the details.” He said.

“It was nice to meet you...both of you.” He followed up, his face showing disappointment at having to leave the company of the once famous Idol.

We watched him leave before sighing in relief.

“He had such the hots for you Karina!” I said chuckling.

“I could feel his eyes on me every time I turned around...it felt- ughh a little creepy.” She said with a frown.

“Why...does it make you jealous when other guys check me out?” Karina asked closing the gap, gently smiling.

“A little...” I replied, kissing her lips.

“That is kinda cute.” She said kissing me back.

“I know right, it’s a problem the jealousy that is, it causes this really bad pent up tension you know.” I replied sarcastically.

“Oh...really.” She said raising her eyebrows.

“Don’t- don’t even say it mister.” Karina said, placing her fingers on my lips.

I looked at her suggestively, wrapping my hands around her waist as I eased her gently onto the glass of the aquarium.

“Minho...seriously...people...might...uhm...see...ughh...us.” She replied, her voice fading into light moans as my hands caressed her tight body.

“Let’s not pretend you don’t secretly like it...” I replied, kissing her down her body as my hands drifted up her dress.

“I do...ughh but- ohh god...that feels- good.” She replied, her pussy creaming in my palm.

“Just a quick...pump and dump.” I said with a smirk.

“A what...? who do you think you are talking to?” Karina said going bright red.

I kissed her full lips, biting down on her lower lip as I continued feeling her up under her dress.

“Shit...seriously- we...ughhh...might...unhh...get...caught...” Karina moaned.

My hand continuing to squeeze and massage her rapidly dampening pussy, causing her to adjust her stance to allow me better access to her burning sex.

“Maybe- ughh…maybe- a quick...pump.” She whispered breathlessly smacking my arm smirking, as she eased her legs open for me, the pleasure emanating from her slit causing a long groan to leave her lips.

Her purring was getting louder as I pierced her wet folds with my fingers, stroking her deep inside her womanly cavern. She ran her fingers through my hair, gripping my head tightly as I slung one of her legs over my shoulders, pushing her standing leg onto her tip toes. My tongue buried into the far reach depths of her married cunt as she flexed her walls around my face, creaming profusely over my mouth.

“Minho- quick…I need you…inside me...” Karina moaned impatiently, her need to be filled spilling out at the surface, rocking her head back and shutting her eyes.

I gave her folds one long lick, the drool from her pussy now forming thick strands on my lips as I hoovered up her sex for the final time.

“I thought...you were afraid of getting caught?” I said, raising my eyebrows as I slipped my drenched fingers from her glistening slit.

“Ughhh- fuck...I still…am, ohh…i can’t believe I’m letting you do this to me...” Karina replied, her eyes now filling with lust.

“Do you want me to stop?” I asked, petting her throbbing clit with my lips.

“Don’t you dare!” Karina, replied gritting her teeth and pulling me up to my feet.

“You want it?” I asked, taking her slippery tongue into my mouth and sucking down hard.

I could feel the vibrations of Karina groaning into my mouth, spreading her legs for me as I hiked up her dress.

“I love it...” She replied, kissing me back and wrapping her left leg around my waist.

Her hands were searching down my torso, fumbling for my zipper as we kissed deeply, our tongues clashing, exchanging spit as she finally set me free. My cock springing out from my trousers, the top of my shaft rubbing tantalizingly along the bottom of her sex. I could feel the warmth of her slit through her now soaked underwear, a mixture of her sensual cream and my spit coating my length as I rubbed up against her.

“Put it in...” Karina whispered, rolling her head into my hands as I supported her upper back in my right arm.

It was a moment of raw passion as we locked eyes, her mouth agape as I thrust my hips forward, piercing her wet folds with my cock. There was no time to take her underwear off I just wanted to be in her, as deep and as hard as I could, fucking my length up to the hilt till I bottomed out inside her precious pussy. Karina was slick, her hands clawing at my back as we found our rhythm, each pump of my dick bringing her further off the ground as her standing leg struggled to reach the floor.

“Karina...you feel so fucking good...” I moaned into her hear.

“Ughhh- keep going...just...like- that.” She replied, eyes shut tight as I nailed her against the glass.

All you could hear each time I penetrated her married cunt were the slaps of our flesh and a deep thud of her rear slamming hard against the aquarium wall. The coolness of the glass rubbing on her back side as I continuously stuffed her with my meat, stretching her tight pussy with my girth as my tip smashed up on her cervix, deep within her womb.

Karina scratched at my back, her breath now ragged as she was losing control, I could feel the walls of her cunt gradually intensify its grip on my straining cock as I pierced her slick folds. The cream from her cunt now dripping down my thighs as I fucked her full of my cock in the dimly lit aquarium.

“Fuckk...deeper- fuck...me...deeper...” Karina whispered hurriedly in my ear.

She was close, her body was tensing as I cradled both arms around her upper back, protecting the back of her head from what was about to happen.

“You want it deep baby?” I asked, my eyes burning with desire.

She nodded, biting her lip as her orgasm began to build.

“Hold on...” I said, kissing her deeply one more time as the brunette braced her core.

Karina knew what was coming, opening her thighs wider for me to allow for my deeper strokes. Gripping the back of her head I mercilessly pumped my dick deep inside her cunt, assaulting her married pussy with my invading cock as I stuffed her wanting womb with my meat.

“ughh...anhh...fuckk...” Karina screamed, her wails reverberating off the glass as I pummeled her cunt for all I was worth.

“Karina...I can’t hold on much...much longer...” I said, my breath now haggard as I continued to pump her.

“Fuck...unghh- inside...cum…inside me.” Karina moaned, now finding it hard to catch her breath as I began to creampied her inside.

It was like breaking a dam, as a river of warm sticky spunk flowed from my tip, seeding Karina’s married pussy. Spurt after spurt coated her pink womb as her cunt walls sucked on my shaft like a hoover, her thighs shaking as we climaxed simultaneously. Holding me close in her grasp, she swayed her hips forward, fucking more of my spasming cock into her tight cavern, milking my meat to completion as I pumped her full of my pent up sperm. Our sweaty bodies slowed in tempo, my twitching dick still buried inside her as I lowered her legs back onto the floor, my warm sperm leaking from her slit and trickling down her toned thighs as we kissed deeply, my hips thrusting one last time to make sure she took all my load inside her womb.

In the thralls of passion, I thought I spotted another person’s reflection in the glass, turning around in a shock but to no avail.

“What...what’s the matter?” Karina asked breathlessly.

She continued to rock her hips, not letting me disengage as the she reveled in the feeling of my seed swimming around inside her.

“Nothing...thought I saw something that’s all.” I replied, still gathering my thoughts.

“I feel so full...you came a lot” she said smirking as I slipped my member from her depths.

A stream of my cum came pouring out, mixed with her womanly grool and cream. The milky substance leaving a trail of destruction down her legs as the rest splashed on the concrete floor.

“You are so bad...” She smiled seductively, hitting my arm.

She was right, we were a very risky pair indeed, seeking out dangerous situations to satisfy our darkest desires.

“Hey, are you guys still here?” The manager’s voice called out from behind us.

Startled, I quickly buttoned my cock back into my trousers, handing Karina a tissue to wipe up the mess I made down her inner legs. Slightly red faced I turned around waving to him as I approached.

“Lovely turtles.” I said, motioning to the deep blue.

Karina joining me by my side, like nothing happened smiled and thanked the man for showing us around. It seemed to work as he flushed red showing us back to the entrance. She still had a smudge of my spunk on her inner leg which she quickly dispatched before the manager noticed, taking it between her pink lips and swallowing it down discretely.

“Your friends have been waiting a while, they are just outside.” He said pointing to the door.

We shook hands once more and departed, meeting the team outside.

“Where were you guys?” Nayoung asked.

“Eh the manager was a bit of a fan, he insisted in showing us around the new exhibit, we figured it was the least we could do for allowing us to market some of our products here.” Karina replied smiling.

Nayoung smiled giving me a small post it.

“Hajoon our director was here, he left with Yeonjun and went back to the office, he says he wants to discuss something with you guys.” Nayoung said slightly concerned.

“Is everything ok?” She asked.

“I assume its to update him on our progress, but why did Yeonjun go?” I asked.

“Dunno Boss, they were talking about a proposal of some sort.” Nayoung said shrugging her shoulders.

Karina looked at me slightly confused as we made our way back to work. Back inside, Karina went ahead to Hajoon’s office while I fixed my sweaty appearance, washing my face with cold water to gather my thoughts. When I knocked on the director’s door and entered, Karina was already sitting down, her expression looked worried for some reason.

“Please, sit Minho.” Hajoon said, pointing at the chair next to Karina.

Yeonjun was sitting on the side his face slightly piqued at my entrance, taking a seat on the cool leather chair.

Hajoon sighed, pushing out a phone on the table.

“It has come to my attention, that a senior manager and an important member of the board have been...partaking in less than professional activities.” He said.

I gulped hard, sweat now forming on my brow as he continued to speak ushering Yeonjun over to us. Yeonjun air played the phone to the tv monitor on the wall, pressing play. It was hard to make out at first, but when the video came into focus there was no denying what we were watching. It was Karina and I, fucking in the aquarium, you could clearly see her face resting on my shoulder, moaning into my neck as I was thrusting my cock deep inside her.

Hajoon’s face was oddly stoic, like we were in a business deal as he wrapped his fingers.

“You both know what this means, if this was to get out.” He said.

“That sounds like a threat...” I replied, my anger building as I turned my attention to Yeonjun.

“Seriously, leverage?” I said to Yeonjun, who remained looking at the floor.

“Don’t blame him, he was in the right to come to me.” Hajoon said.

Karina was sitting quietly next to me, her hands pressed together as we both listened to how our fates would unravel.

“So, what now?” I asked curtly.

“I can make this go away, delete this video and we can all go about our lives.” Hajoon replied, his voice taking on a sinister tone.

“What’s the catch...?” I asked.

“The catch is… a night with me.” Karina replied, her face flushed in embarrassment.

“What? No, absolutely not.” I replied.

Hajoon smiled, silently surveying us both, he had us dead to rights as he wrote something on a piece of paper.

“As you both may know, I am stepping down soon, the rumors are true.” Hajoon said.

“Now, I like you, I really do Karina, you are hardworking and great for the company... you are also very beautiful.” He followed up.

“I was actually going to offer this in exchange for...your body, but Yeonjun with his evidence had made it too good not to accelerate.” Hajoon said calmly.

“When I retire, I will transfer my shares to you Karina, giving you 30% of the company...in return for a night with you.” He said.

“As part of this deal, Yeonjun will also want a night with you, in return, he will delete the video once we finish… our transaction.” Hajoon said coldly.

I nearly punched both of them right there, before Karina grasped my hand.

“Don’t...” She said exasperated.

“I’ll do it... I’ll do it as long as you are there with me.” She said, a tear tricking down her face.

There was a deft silence in the room, I had no idea how to react to that before Hajoon spoke up.

“See, an amicable solution.” Hajoon said.

“After this Yeonjun, I am firing your ass.” I said, my voice laced in venom.

He shrugged his shoulders smirking.

“It’s totally worth it.” He said, pointing at the television as Karina and I fucked on screen.

“See you both soon...” Hajoon said, showing us the door, a wry smile spread on his wrinkly old face...

[shxnigxmi]

[𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐄!𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐁] [ꜰᴇᴍɪɴɪɴᴇ!ᴍ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ]

Another popular trend on Tiktok, the one where women sit on a black painted canvas with colored paint on their bare ass and thighs—

c/w: nudes, feminine male reader, price jacks off to your gift, the 141 boys are all so down bad for you (because i’m an attention whore)

🔞 MINORS/FEM!ALIGNED DNI 🔞

—

Thinking about how fucking hot it would be to do that viral TikTok trend on Price where a woman gifts their boyfriend a black painted canvas with their ass and legs painted a bright color and they sit on top of it.

Cheeky thing you are— sending it to him on base. A little care package to show him how much you love and miss him. He knew you were doing it to be a fucking brat.

He knew that you knew just anybody could come waltzing along and swipe it from him before he got the chance to even see it. You’d wrapped it up in simple brown paper and put a kiss mark in cherry red lipstick in the corner. The only indication that it was from you to Price was the soldier who’d said it was attached to an envelope from you.

The Captain didn’t have a moment at the time to collect his care package from you but he told the soldier to keep it safe and he’d be back for it later that night.

It was kept in the locked and monitored armory, the armory that all his men had access too. All his men who’d heard that you left something special for him, and were eager to be invasive to see what it was.

Jealous of him for getting something from you and frustrated that you sent only him something. Which didn’t make sense since Price was your husband and the rest of his boys were just a casual on and off fuck buddy situation. (With the Cap’s approval of course).

They just couldn’t stand it, they all wanted you so bad that it physically hurt to accept the fact you would always belong to their Captain and him only.

So yeah, he was rather peeved with you for sending him something so lewd and provocative when any of the three others could’ve swiped it from underneath his nose and seen it before he could.

But he was quick to change his attitude when he saw what it was that you’d gifted him. A print of your ass and deliciously thick thighs over a deep black on the canvas.

In the envelope that came with it was a letter, in which you wrote about how lonely and unsatisfied you were without your beloved husband to take care of you. And he felt his cock stir eagerly at the mental image of you whining all pretty for him.

The rest of the contents in the envelope are what made his dick jump to full mast.. polaroids. Small pictures of you. You in lingerie, you with a dildo up your ass, a picture you took in the mirror of the backs of your thighs and ass painted in a deep and sexy red.

The man moved quick, scooting the painting further up his bed and laying the polaroids all over the canvas. He unbuttoned his jeans and pushed his boxers and pants down to his thighs. Sighing in relief as his hard cock jumped when it was released from the confines of his uniform. Then he was clambering into the bed to hover over the canvas and he grunted as he stroked himself with a few relived sighs sprinkled in. Pumping his cock to chase the orgasm he could feel cresting. Like a fire in his chest and broiling in his stomach. It was when he looked down at the painting beneath him that his stomach and balls tightened up and he was shooting his load all over the print of your ass.

He stroked himself through his orgasm, a deep groan that bordered on being a feral growl rumbled from deep within his chest. When he came down from his high an abrupt idea erupted into life in his head.

He grinned as he pulled out his phone and opened up the group chat he and with the rest of the boys.

[Come to my quarters. I got something here I think you’d all quite enjoy.]

—

a/n: somebody put me down like a sick animal🧍🏽

[sdmsims]

ANIME IS REAL

DONT LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS. SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO FOLLOW THAT IMPULSE [i collapse into a heap]

thank you for following me on this journey, it's finally done \o/ inspired by the furry mod and a... certain eroge, this head has a bunch of options for making your entire town excessively sugoi. or whatever.

INCLUDED:

3 head archetypes, each with an additional earless and 'less motion' variant - as well as a combo of the two! less motion entails less mouth movement, for those who aren't into the sim's exaggerated expressions.

SIX face overlays! two from heihu's overlay set, 3 from .serawis (thank you !!)

FOUR pupil types, FOUR upper eyelines, SEVEN eyelashes, THREE lower eyelines, LIKE FIVE I THINK eyebrows, FOUR lipsticks

a 'skin fix' under facepaint, for base skins with differently colored lips and nose that show up through the overlay

so many swatches im dying over here

CAVEATS:

the entire head setup takes up almost every skin detail slot. plan accordingly!

some hairs, particularly ones with bangs close to the forehead and ones with scalp textures, will not work

lipsticks will not work unless made for the head

some eyebrows will look odd / distorted

glasses and earrings may sit uncomfortably high on the face/ears

the majority of these are due to the different shape of the head, and i can't really do much about them without losing the 'style' orz

DOWNLOAD BELOW READMORE (NO ADS NO PAYWALLS NONE OF THAT BULLSHIT)

SFS:

merged || zip with all the individual packages

SPECIAL THANKS:

iowaisms and digidollhouse, as well as pokesims server for testing!

12daystoapocalypse-blog for bouncing a lot of useful ideas!

[astermath]

mark of mine ⋆୨୧˚

pairing: ethan landry x fem!reader

summary: you getting ready turns into something more intimate with your boyfriend. he doesn’t realize he’s about to go out with marks of your affection all over him.

word count: 1.4K

tags: established relationship, fluff, praising ethan for being the prettiest boy, him being so vulnerable to your kisses, marks of red lipstick, idk what else to put here lmao

notes: just a bit of a fluffy blurb, I’ll be trying out a new character soon but for now my ethan landry brain rot must be satisfied. please let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list for further ethan landry related writing!

The room was filled with soft music, the smell of freshly applied perfume and dim, cozy lighting. The two of you were getting ready to head out with the rest of your friends to a party. Or, well, at least you were. Ethan was sat on your bed playing a mobile game, since all he really had to do was get dressed. Sometimes you envied him for not having to put in a lot of effort to look good, but then again, you did like the entire process of getting ready to go out.

You rummaged around your makeup bag, somehow not being able to find your favorite lip gloss, before you remembered you’d let Tara borrow it. You decide to look for something else, until your fingers came across a lipstick you hadn’t touched in forever. It was a gorgeous dark red, and you vividly remember begging your mom to get it for you when you were just a teenager. The memory brought a smile to your lips as the pads of your fingers touched the luxurious packaging.

You looked back into the mirror and took off the cap, twisting the lipstick up and gently applying it to your lips. The texture was smooth, creamy, the color resembling a deep, almost blood-like shade of scarlet red. It worked so well with your skin tone and your features, you wondered why you hadn’t touched it in so long.

You ran it across your bottom lip, twisting the lipstick back down again and putting it away before you rubbed your lips together, releasing with an audible ‘pop’. You admired yourself in the mirror, before a pair of familiar hands distracted you.

Ethan hummed softly, hands finding their place on your hips as he pressed a gentle kiss to your neck. “Hmm… You almost done? I’m getting lonely just sitting on your bed…”

You turn around to face him, hands sneaking up his chest and settling on his shoulders as your back bumped against the sink. “You’re so impatient…”

He leaned his head down to rest his forehead against yours, thumbs gently running circles over your hips. “Can you blame me?” He leaned further down to press a soft kiss to your lips. “Hm… You look so pretty…” He smiled against your lips. Funny he was saying that right when he had his eyes closed to kiss you.

You returned the kiss, body relaxing under his touch. Of course he always thought you looked gorgeous, often sneaking glances at you even if you two weren’t talking, and complimenting you any chance he’d get. But seeing you all dolled up like this, it truly brought something out in him. And when you’d put on that fancy perfume, he’d always be all over you by the end of the night. 

You pulled away and held his face, eyes widening just a little at the slight red stain on his lips. Now you remembered why you didn’t wear this lipstick that much again, it was not transfer proof whatsoever. But that just gave you an idea...

You smiled gently and placed another kiss on the corner of his mouth. A perfect kiss mark adorned his face, and he had no idea. “Hm... We have some time before we have to head out, right?”

“Wh... Oh, uh, yeah... I think so.” He always got so into kissing you, he sounded a little out of it afterwards. “Why?”

“No reason in particular, just wanna spend some alone time with my boyfriend.” You grinned, having to hold back a giggle at the sight of your lips marked onto his skin. You took his hand and guided him back to the bed, getting on his lap when he sat down, straddling his hips. Your dress hiked up just enough to expose your thighs, those gorgeous thighs he could never get enough of. Even now, his hands gravitated towards them, settling gently on the soft flesh.

You leaned in again, one hand sliding into his curly hair, gently scratching his scalp as you peppered gentle kisses over his cheek, before moving onto his jaw. “You’re so pretty...” You mumbled against his skin. You felt Ethan’s hands grip your thighs just a little harder, his hips shifting slightly at your words. He was so easily influenced by you, like your presence alone excited him. 

You dipped down to his neck, his breath getting caught in his throat when you kissed the sensitive skin below his jaw. His hands started moving back and forth, softly rubbing, almost massaging your thighs. 

“My pretty boy...” He could practically hear the smile on your lips when you whispered into his ear, shivering when you nipped at his earbud. The kisses on his neck got more intense, and he responded well to them, making sweet noises as reward for your efforts. He spoke your name softly, almost as a warning, as if to say “if we keep going, I’m going to have a problem”.

You pulled away, looking at him and feeling satisfied with the masterpiece you’d created on his face. He was a little flustered, pink cheeks decorated with deep red marks of your affection. Your lipstick was perfectly intact, but anyone else looking at him would quickly realize what you two had been up to before. 

You were rudely interrupted by a loud notification on your phone, startling you both. 

[chad]: r u guys coming or are u too busy fucking?

[mindy]: please don’t be fucking rn

[chad]: they’re def fucking

[tara]: U GUYSSS just get down here already it’s cold :’(((

You smiled at the screen and texted back a quick “omw!” before tossing your phone to the side.

“Alright, we should head out. The others are getting cold waiting for us downstairs.” You pressed a final kiss to his cheek before getting off his lap. Ethan’s hands remained in place for a moment, ghosting over where your thighs had just been, not fully registering your words yet.

“Right! Right, we should uh... Yeah.” He adjusted himself a little and grabbed his jacket as you put on your heels. 

You were already downstairs, waiting with the rest as you were trying to defend your case of not having sex with your boyfriend right before you were going out.

“Right, what else would have been taking you two so long?” Anika rolls her eyes and teasingly bumps her hip against yours. 

“I’m telling you, I seriously couldn’t find my phone!” You giggled.

“Alright, alright, let’s just hope he hurries up so we can actually go.” Mindy said, hands rubbing her own arms to keep herself warm a bit. “I love your lipstick by the way, I’ve never seen you wear it before.”

You smile at her compliment, and right as you wanted to respond, the sound of the front door opening interrupted you. Everyone turned to look at Ethan walking outside, a smile on his face as he waved.

“Hi! Sorry it took so long, I seriously couldn’t find my keys.” His smile faded a bit when he noticed everyone was staring at him. You felt your own cheeks heat up at the sight of his kiss marked face. In the heat of the moment, you’d completely forgotten to tell him to take it off, and now your alibi for what you were up to earlier was totally ruined.

“Are... You guys okay? Do I have something on my face?” Ethan questioned, oblivious as usual. Chad broke out in laughter at those words, and the rest followed soon after as you brought your hands up to cover your embarrassed face.

“Oh, man! You guys suck at lying!” Chad says between fits of laughter. 

Ethan opens the camera on his phone and his eyes widen at the sight. “S-Shit, I didn’t realize your lipstick rubbed off on me like that.”

Tara and Anika had already snapped multiple pictures of Ethan’s face, so there was no way either of you were ever going to live this one down.

“Alright, alright, very funny, haha.” You try to interrupt. “You might wanna go wash that off babe.” You look at Ethan, and he nods with a bit of a nervous smile.

“I don’t know girl, I think it’s a look!” Tara comments, and they all laugh again.

You rolled your eyes, but secretly, you agreed. 

That picture Anika took of Ethan became your lock screen soon after. 

tag list <3

@kometqh 

[emeritusemeritus]

Hear me out! Possessive sex + Overstimulation + Brat Taming + Breeding. Both of the Weasley Twins please. 🤭

I just always have this thought of just teasing the shit out of them when they’re work and fleeing afterwards. It’s almost as if we took their job of teasing us, and I could just imagine how pent up and frustrated they can be when they can’t do anything since there’s kids and adults around. The joke shop is suppose to be an appropriate place especially when it’s meant mainly for kids..Perhaps, add a part where we purposefully flirt with one of our old classmates. You can choose who! If you don’t like this idea, I completely understand! Feel free to add some kinks if you like or story elements. 🫶

Hi Anon! I’m so sorry it has taken so long to get this out, writing has had to be on the back-burner for now but I’m slowly getting back! Sorry for the lack of smut, it’s more of the setup as I’m abit smutted out 🖤

Warnings: Sexual tension, brat behaviour, Dom!sub relationships, polyamory, teasing, sexual references, mild swearing. Flirting, mentions of pregnancy, pregnancy kink, breeding kink.

Word count: 2.5k

Wonder Witch

You knew what you were getting into the second you opened up your wardrobe and changed into the outfit you'd carefully prepared for today. Your husbands had already long since departed the flat to set up the shop for the day, leaving you just a little later to sleep in, which you were thankful for.

Today was the big launch of new wonder witch products that the twins had been tirelessly working on, perfecting the range ready for the big launch today. You'd helped with ordering violently pink balloons to decorate every orifice of the shop, had banners printed and had even managed to convince Madame Puddifoot's to make some limited edition iced biscuits for the celebration, all in the same sickening shade of pink.

The icing on the cake was the costume that you'd picked out ready to hand out and display the new items, recreating the wonder witch icon on the packaging.

The dress in itself wasn't too risky, an array of pink and gold overlapping fabric that fell just above your knee, with a pointed witches hat in a smilies style. But it also had exposed shoulders with dropped sleeves and a corseted middle which hoisted in your waist to create a rather dramatic shape, highlighting your hips in a way that you knew would drive your husbands crazy. You carefully curled your hair and applied a healthy dose of mascara to really make your eyes pop before applying an equally vibrant lipsticks that you'd found matched the colour of wonder witch perfectly. You added a little highlighter around your cheeks to give you a little bit more of a playful look and slipped on your shoes to really help bring the look together.

When you looked in the mirror, you were more than pleased with yourself. You looked hot.

Checking the clock, you saw that it was 8:53am, just in time for the store to open. You could hear the twins flapping, mainly George, the moment you opened the door towards the staircase. They were bustling ready for the big opening and the unsurprising lack of Verity meant that she was probably going to be late again.

"Angel can you put these products on the... shit." George says the second you walk down the stairs, noticing the outfit almost immediately.

"What's up with you?" Fred asks, walking over to George under the staircase until he comes into full view, noticing that his twin seems to be frozen on the spot. He turns, looking towards the direction George seems frozen at and you watch as his eyes widen also comically wide. "Holy Godric."

"Morning," you say cheerfully, leaning up to press a kiss to George's cheek before doing the same to Fred as they look at you in complete shock, mouths slightly parted. "Where do you want me?"

"Um," George says, clearing his throat though his eyes hardly move from the curve of your breasts, a prominent feature of your dress. You fight the urge to laugh, wanting to keep up your little innocent play, pretending that you had no idea why they were looking at you like that.

"You want these on the shelf?" You ask, batting your eyelashes at them, watching as Fred's tongue pokes out to wet his lips.

The little clock on the wall chimes, signalling the store opening, just as you bend down to grab the box of products and you look up with pouting lips, watching as the twins hardly react to the chimes.

"You gonna unlock the doors big boy?" You ask Fred with a singular raised eyebrows, noticing how he doesn't even attempt to pull out his wand. A frantic knock on the doors pulls him out of his thoughts and you all turn to see Verity knocking to be let it, surrounded by a large crowd of customers ready to shop the new products. You flash a little wink at George as Fred unlocks the doors with a flick of his wand, the fireworks and the tricks beginning all in perfect synchronisation. When you look back up after picking up the box of products and see your two men still staring at you, completely unaware of the swarm of customers bursting through the doors, you knew today was going to be fun.

The store was packed right from opening, a never-ending swarm of people crossing through the doors until the shop was almost too full of people, all wanting to get their hands on the new merchandise. It was an overwhelming success, the new line of wonder witch products and cosmetics and you were thankful, fortunate and insanely proud of your husbands for pulling off the ideas you'd created together. You should have been tired, drained from the day as it neared closing time but truthfully you were on an adrenaline high, on cloud nine from teasing your husbands all day and seeing their increasing desperation.

All day you'd made sure to be a little bit of a brat, an utter tease whilst trying to portray yourself as an innocent Angel- something you knew for a fact that they didn't believe in the slightest.

George was easier to rile up, always quicker to respond to your more subtle teasing. You'd brushed past him a number of times today, the packed shop only aiding your need to slowly brush your ass against the front of his trousers as you squeezed past him or to pass something up to Verity on the stairs, ensuring that he got a face full of cleavage as you stretched up. You'd caught him staring at you more times today than you could count on all your extremities, especially when you climbed the stairs above him, ensuring that he knew your bare thighs were right above him.

Fred didn't always respond to subtlety, so you knew your efforts had to be boosted when it came to him. You'd purposely licked and sucked at one of the dark mark lollipops in the most outrageous way whenever he was paying attention and you'd even heard him choke on his own spit when he noticed.

You knew you had him when you were explaining to a group of seventh year girls about the patented daydream charms and how how they worked, passing out the colourful boxes items around the group as they accepted them with eager and curious eyes.

"Up to thirty minutes of pure, blissful imagination; let me tell you it will create a very realistic daydream of your choice so you know that boy you're crushing on? You're going to have the best thirty minutes of your life."

You're met with a round of playful giggles as you smile at them, knowing you were in for a good sale.

"Have you used it?" One of the girls asks and you nod eagerly with a smirk, knowing that Fred was just behind you from the way you could feel his presence, hearing him talk only moments before.

"Not since I married him," you say with a smirk as you receive another round of girlish giggles. "Between us, those thirty minutes with Fred were some of my most imaginative creations, believe me these little things are special," you say, twisting the box in your hands. "Just don't tell George." You watch as the girls' eyes light up and they quickly shove them in their baskets. You turn then, catching Fred's eye as he pretends not to have been listening and you act as if you're bashful about what he might have heard, placing a strand of hair nervously behind your ear as you walk away, making sure to sway your hips ever so slightly, knowing he'd be watching.

By lunchtime, you'd effortlessly riled them up to a point that it was so painfully obvious what they were trying to hide that you found yourself biting back a smirk for most of the day. They were so easily and deeply affected that it was rather fun to watch, but none more so than when Dean Thomas came into the shop just after the dinner time rush. You'd taken a quick break and had reapplied your lipstick, carefully checking you appearance before you walked down the stairs back to work. Dean had been talking to both of your lives near the stairs when he spotted you, eyes briefly widening as he took in your appearance. Unfortunately for him, Fred had been mid sentence and had definitely noticed Dean checking you out, making his go silent and cause a thunderous look to cross his face.

"Y/n, hi! It's good to see you!" Dean smiles as you approach them all, careful to avoid looking at the faces of your husbands who had now both caught on to Dean's over-pleasant demeanour.

"Dean, good to see you too!"

"You look good! Who knew that y/n (*maiden name) would become wonder witch!" His hands gesture towards your outfit and then to the display of new products to the side with your likeness on.

"It's Weasley," both twins said a little too quickly, in perfect synchronisation, making you have to bite the inside of your cheek to stop a laugh spilling out at their obvious jealously.

"Of course," Dean says somewhat absently, not picking up on the sudden hostility aimed at him by the shop-owners. "So what have you been up to? Do you see the others much?"

"Didn't ask us this many questions," you hear George mumble under his breath to Fred, who has crossed his arms across his chest and is hardly blinking, watching Dean closely.

"The usual," you smile, shooting a fleeting glance at your two husbands who's red faces seem to match their hair. "Keeping these two in line, keeping the shop afloat," you joke.

"So no little Weasley's running about yet?"

You could almost sense the little eye twitch George did at the words and you were certain that Fred seemed to stand even straighter, making himself even taller to tower over Dean.

"Hopefully soon," you say, biting your lip and George's eyes flicker to you with a fire in them, your words affecting him more easily than you'd anticipated. Fred seemed to incidentally lose his footing and was knocked off balance for a second, breaking the rather playful mood that had settled between you and Dean.

After Dean had left with a few things he'd come for, you finally accepted your fate and let the veil slip enough to drop the innocent act you'd been playing all day. Fred had cornered you beside the till, a stolen moment of peace as you reached high up to re-stock the daydreams, flashing him with a glimpse of your stocking.

"Really Freddie?" You pretended to admonish as you felt his rather prominent evidence of arousal against your hip as he started to get grabby with you, nearing the end of his restraint. "This is a respected establishment Mr Weasley, there are children about!"

You shuffled past him with a little tut, hiding your smirk behind your hair, leaving him stranded with mouth agape at your sudden boldness. George wasn't faring much better, his eyes still fixed on the curve of your breasts whenever he caught a glimpse, silently watching you rile him up further and further as your act slipped away.

With one last attempt at completely flipping the switch inside of them, throwing them over the metaphorical cliff, you doubled down your efforts. It was nearly closing time and you walked slyly over to the cash register whilst George was cashing up for the night and began stretching, pointing out your chest and making some very questionable noises. You adjusted the little cold shoulder straps on your dress and readjusted your breasts in the dress, sensing your attentive audience of George who was close by and Fred who had stopped what he was doing to watch you from across the shop. You suddenly turned and walked behind George, placing your hand on his hip as you squeezed past to reach for a carrier bag, carefully dragging your hand over his lower back as you leaned down. When you began to turn and walk away, you felt a large hand shoot out and grab your wrist.

“Angel.”

His tone was clear and clipped, telling you everything you needed to do.

“I know exactly what you’re doing,” he says, moving to stand behind you in the near empty shop, an obvious erection pressing into your behind. “Keep going little brat, you’re only fuelling the fire.”

When he lets you go and turns back to his task with no other reaction, you knew it was time to slip away. You rushed up the stairs, carefully avoiding both of them, ready for the next step of the plan. You’d prepped dinner on your lunch break, wanting to get ahead for the night and flicked the oven on with a flick of your wand as soon as you made it upstairs. You kicked off your shoes, pulled off your panties and waited, busying yourself to ward off the desperate arousal you were feeling, anticipating a good but long night ahead.

As soon as you heard the familiar, incoming footsteps on the landing, you bent over in your skirt to slip the pie into the oven, giving them quite a show when they walked in.

“Fucking Godric,” you heard Fred exclaim when he stepped through the door, followed by a similar curse only moments later by his twin as they see your pussy on full display for them, peeking out from below the short skirt as you bend over.

“Princess,” he says, beginning to stalk over to you as you pulled yourself up, closing the oven. You looked at them innocently, big doe-eyes and fluttering lashes as you watched them darkly approach you.

“You were naughty today,” George says, his hand reaching out to cup the back of your neck as he pulls you into a devastatingly sinful kiss that immediately makes your nipples harden under the dress. You gasp into his mouth when you suddenly feel a hand creeping up your inner thigh, underneath your dress.

“Remember what you said to Dean, princess?” Fred asks, voice dangerously low, prompting you to nod whilst trying to catch your breath. You knew exactly what you’d said, what you’d hoped for.

“Reckon we should start now?” He asks, his hand ghosting over the curve of your ass, feeling the bare flesh underneath his fingers. “Want you knocked up right fucking now.”

“Agreed,” George adds, somehow looking and sounding ever darker and more determined than Fred. George suddenly reaches out and turns off the oven with a harsh flick of his wrist, smirking when you look up at him in confusion at him turning off the oven.

“We’re not gonna be done with you that soon,” he says with a devilish smirk. “Gonna cum in you over and over, taking turns filling you. There’s gonna be so much cum in you that you won’t know where you start and we end, get you all round from us. Now.”

“Get on the bed.”

[landosfolklore]

say don't go | cl16 (pt. 1)

i'm holding out for hope for you to say "don't go"

pairing: charles leclerc x fem!reader

summary: you're dating ferrari formula one racing driver, charles leclerc. life should be good right? maybe it would be if you got to actually see him more. what will happen if he continues to disappoint you?

notes: angsty, based loosely on the song 'say don't go' by taylor swift, ignore inaccurate timestamps!

જ⁀➴ part 2

─────────────────────────────────

your boyfriend was the complete package. sweet, kind, loving, and a gentleman through and through. you loved everything about him, except for the fact that the two of you hardly spent any time together these days. you knew he was a formula one driver and had to constantly travel for work, and even when he was on break, he had training to do. you were very considerate and understanding of the demands of his job. it's not like you were asking to be with him 24/7 or anything.

it seemed like before the two of you started dating and at the beginning of your relationship, he made time for you. but in recent months, it was like you were in a one-sided relationship, as you made an effort and he seemed unbothered at the thought of not seeing you for a long time.

you mulled over it with your girlfriends who had different opinions varying from "dump his ass" to the more rational "sit down and have a conversation about it". so you decided to take your certified mom friend's advice and speak to him about it.

you wanted this conversation to go a certain way. you knew having expectations weren't a good idea, but this was charles. you would tell him how you've been feeling, and he would apologize. he would make things right. it would all work out. he would tell you he loved you, right?

you went to the market and bought everything you needed and decided to grab some flowers and candles too. you made up your mind; tonight would go smoothly. you and charles would make up, and all would be well.

when you got back to the hotel, you immediately got down to cooking and preparing the meal and dessert. you finished almost everything around 7:40 and went to get ready. you decided on a pretty maroon dress and kitten heels and put on light makeup with your signature red lipstick that you knew charles loved. you went back to the kitchen and started setting everything up at the table.

it was now 8:25, so you plated all the food and made everything perfect. once you were done, you looked at the clock. 8:32 it read. hmm, well, he was occasionally a latecomer. you covered the food in the meanwhile and took a seat to wait for him. you checked the time again. 8:40. okay, what was 10 minutes, right? you had a bad feeling deep down but pushed it away. you had already manifested how tonight was going to go down. nothing would ruin it.

another few minutes passed by, and you sighed, giving in to at least sending him a text.

you sat patiently... or tried to at least. to be honest, you were getting a little annoyed but also worried. what if something had happened? one part of your brain asked you while the other nagging part of your brain scoffed and said he's probably out with friends. you didn't want to listen to the nagging part of your brain any longer.

but as you looked at the clock again and saw it was 9:20, you didn't know what to think. you bit at your nails as you tried calling him. voicemail. and voicemail again. and again. now you were really worried. god, what if he'd been in an accident? or robbed? or... something. you had a tendency to think of the worst possible scenarios; charles always joked that it was a gift. it was more of a curse, honestly.

you put your phone down on the table, biting at your nails again. you battled internally on what to do. you picked up your phone again and called lorenzo, his older brother. he told you he hadn't spoken to charles since yesterday and asked arthur if he spoke to charles. arthur said they had spoken that morning and he said he had a team meeting and was gonna train for a bit after then have dinner with you. you thanked them both and hung up.

you started pacing the room. it was 9:40 now. no sign of him yet. no call. no text. god, please let him be okay. maybe you should run down to reception and see if they've heard anything. no. why would they know anything. maybe you should call joris. YES. why didn't you think of that sooner, you facepalmed. voicemail. what. his phone could not be going to voicemail right now. he always picked up the phone. c'mon joris, pick up the damn phone, you thought to yourself as you called again. but to no avail. all you got was his voicemail again.

just as you plopped down on the couch, running your hands through your hair, you heard the door's keycard beep. your head quickly turned towards the door. and lo and behold, it was charles, being carried in by joris and max verstappen. giggling. fucking giggling as you were worried sick.

max and joris greeted you and apologized for charles' condition. you waved off their apology and offered to take care of him as they laid him on the couch. as max stood up straight, he noticed the table. "fuck, i'm so sorry. if i knew you two had plans, i would've told him to come back to you," he sighed. "shit, charles. why didn't you say anything?" joris glared at the sleeping monegasque man.

he clearly went out tonight. knowing the two of you were supposed to have dinner. you were so angry. but also exhausted because of the stress. you thanked the two men for taking care of him and bringing him home then bid them goodnight.

sighing, you went to the room and changed into your pajamas. coming back to the living room area, you heard his snores. you smiled faintly. he always snored so loud when he was drunk. you exhaled and walked over to him. you shook him lightly to get up so you could help him to bed. he groaned a bit but eventually was semi-awake enough for you to get him to bed.

you helped him out of his clothes, tucked him into bed, then slid in beside him. as you nestled in, you looked at his beautiful face. god, you really loved him. but you knew what you had to do. the only way you would stay now is if he fought for you. you turned to stare at the ceiling, lost in your thoughts. eventually, you fell asleep.

[motherofagony]

A HEART FOR EATING // vol. 2

joel miller x f!reader

pairing: post outbreak!joel x f!reader setting: jackson, wy (think tlou pt. 2 minus the golfing) rating: mature, 18+, minors dni word count: 8.7k series summary: a vicious raider attack robs you of human connection and lights a fire of destruction in your life in jackson. joel's fixated on you, and your lives tangle. revenge becomes a needful thing. chapter summary: you take care of joel after a patrol injury, but you suspect there's more to it than he's telling you. the atmosphere shifts as you and joel grow (begrudgingly) closer. content warnings + tags: age gap (we'll say 15-20 years), protective!joel, brief masturbation (f!reader), praise kink for two seconds, blood, bodily injuries, needles (reader gives joel stitches), dissociation/triggers, alcohol, angst, sexual tension intensifies, The First Kiss™, soft!joel vol. 1 // vol. 2 series playlist a/n: we're picking up speed, folks. world-building is my weakness, so i hope you enjoy this nonetheless. honorable mention goes to the readers in the trenches, waiting patiently for joel to [redacted] reader senseless until she [redacted] all over his [redacted]. thank you for the love on the series so far. taglist: @ghostwritesthings, @widowssbite, @p3rkerr, @eternallyvenus, @punkshort if anyone would like to be added/removed to the taglist (or if i missed anyone), please send me a DM!

You’ve always hated flying.

In the great before, the stone ages of family vacations and things to look forward to, fears were singular and planes were yours.

Your family never had a lot of money, not really, but on the special occasion of a death in the family, you’d find yourself trapped to a seat in a metal tube. Going nowhere but up. Sitting through safety instructions that came from smiling, lipsticked mouths that were only hypotheticals until they weren’t.

It’s like a rollercoaster, your dad would say, amused in the way only a dad can be and sleeping through damn near anything in the same fashion. It did nothing to calm the knocking of your knees, to quell the flip of your stomach as you climbed higher and higher until you couldn’t see anything but cotton ball clouds.

It was always unnatural to you that something so heavy could float, that you were supposed to go on doing human things and drinking your ginger ale and munching your pre-packaged snack option. As if you weren’t being hurled into the sky with no one walking you through it.

As if the plummet onto tarmac meant no harm, just completely normal erratic braking that felt a lot like the moments before a crash.

There was no control — it was in someone else’s hands that you never saw. And as you fell, you were supposed to say thank you, that’s exactly what I paid for.

This is your version of the oxygen mask. This is you putting yours on before you help Joel.

You’re on your knees digging through your med bag, thumbing through bandages, checking for a quick count of gloves, antibiotics, wash cloths. You fumble with the zipper, fighting with the tremor that starts in your forearms and liquifies into your wrists. There isn’t much in the way of supplies unless you ransack what’s kept in storage, but there’s no time, and you’re not sure of what you’re about to walk into.

Waiting any moment for a scream, or the blast of a gun when they realize Joel’s not Joel anymore.

And it isn’t really a big possibility in the grand scheme of things, if you consider that he would’ve likely turned on the route home. But it’s still there, tickling the back of your head, nudging your navel uncomfortably. Nothing’s impossible.

You of all people know that.

You linger in your living room, giving a final sweep. Worst case, you can run back for what’s forgotten, but something about the idea of abandoning a vulnerable Joel – if only for a minute – doesn’t settle right in your stomach.

Before you can stop yourself, you’re shoving a bottle of whiskey into the bag, the only anesthetic on hand. And if you’re being honest with yourself, you need to score back some points.

The steps leading up to Joel’s house are sturdy, and you imagine it’s because of the pride he takes in what’s his. Before this, his house was just another skeleton of roof, foundation, windows, and siding.

The kind of houses you pass by every day that are rife with familiarity but you don’t know what it’s like to see the people inside eat dinner, brush their teeth. Fight. Fuck.

Fresh paint from only two seasons ago, reinforced porch posts. A swing. It’s weird to see permanence in this day and age, but his intention to anchor himself and grow roots here flutters meaningfully inside you.

It’s always been a sacred thing to you, you don’t know why. A place you’d never dreamed of entering, but dreamed about what it would smell like. A pair of boots haphazard by the front door, small piles of organized chaos, of collected tangibles. A you never know if you’ll need this in one corner, a saving that for a rainy day shelved in another.

So when you raise your hand to knock, you feel like an intruder, an unwelcome invasion of privacy. And you don’t know why you knock at all, you nearly think better of it given the circumstances, but you’re testing the atmosphere, hoping for voices inside instead of a struggle.

Ellie’s swinging the door open, relief smoothing out the lines in her forehead when she sees you. Her presence seems to answer any unspoken questions you had about Joel being infected, and you don’t voice them to her when you can see unrest in her antsy legs.

“Hey. Sorry for the wait. He alright?”

Her teeth are worrying her lip, probably more traumatized by the sight of him than anything. A few strands of hair have freed themselves from her lazy half-bun at the base of her neck, caught in the crossfire when she ran her hands through it, you think.

“Yeah,” Ellie breathes, committing to it. “Yeah, he’s okay. Bleeding stopped, nothing seems broken. Just needs stitches, I think.”

It sounds more to convince herself than anything else. There’s a foreign fragility to her, and you hate it.

“He tell you what happened?”

The question strikes a nerve. Ellie’s shaking her bowed head, scoffing in a half-laugh that doesn’t touch her eyes. Her hand wraps around her knuckles, cracking slowly in an effort to alleviate the tension that’s reached a fever pitch inside her.

“He won’t tell me, says it doesn’t matter. He shouldn’t have gone alone anyway, he was bein’ a dick. ‘I wanna think, kiddo - need t’clear my head,’” she mocks in a gruff, rolling pitch, the perfect dosage of Texas.

It levels you, potent. Are you the thing Joel needed to clear his head of?

You’re weirdly longing for it, but being flicked away like a bug, peeled away layer by layer from him isn’t something you want.

There’s hope that you’re contagious. That you’re haunting him and lurking in the darkest corners of his mind like an apparition like he has yours. And maybe there’s hope after all, something left to salvage.

But you play dumb, furrow your brow a little too expertly.

Ellie’s measuring you, and there’s a glimpse of worry but she hides it in a way that you wouldn’t know what you were looking for if you hadn’t already found it.

“Anything you wanna tell me about the other night? He was pissed when he left,” she tacks on quietly.

You go a little slack-jawed. You don’t even know how to put it into words, and you couldn’t tell her what it meant even if you tried.

What’s there to even say?

“You know what, none of my business,” she says, her hands lifting in tired surrender when you don’t answer, ignoring your near-sputter. “But you’re not off the hook, just make sure the old man doesn’t croak. And tell him he scared the shit outta me.”

You exhale and hope it doesn’t read too much as relief. You’ll have to answer to her later, but at least you might have an answer to give.

“Handful of salt in the wound, rub in circular motions – got it. Tell Tommy I’ll catch up later.”

Your shoulders scrape affectionately as you nudge past each other, and you cast a wide look at the periphery of Joel Miller’s house. The feeling of unwelcome disappears, and if anything, you’re being tugged further inside. Imagining what it’s like to be a fixture, an adornment in his weird little life.

Nooks that you assumed would be messy are neat, coiffed even. There’s that unavoidable smudge of secondhand all over the furniture – mottled ever so slightly, aged uneven in places that only an apocalypse can do. But it’s an otherwise tidy existence. Another surprise from Joel that you’d never pick up on if you only witnessed him nursing a drink at the bar.

An oak bookshelf props itself at the bottom of the stairs and it rivals your own, dust gathering in thin lines where he’s repeatedly shelved this, reread that. There are paintings hung decisively on most of the walls, breathtaking rural landscapes of wherever.

You’re lugging the bag upstairs, counting your breaths with each step. The whiskey rattles mutely against the first aid tin, and it’s a toss-up now of who you really brought it for.

The landing mirrors the ground level, a purposeful littering of tchotchkes. Doors line the second floor, some closed, some ajar but not inviting, and you realize you have no idea which one you’re looking for. You sway uninvited by the bannister until you hear the unmistakable hiss of breath between clenched teeth, then a soft moan as his weight shifts.

And you’re stepping inside a room – his bedroom – warmed in the soft beginnings of sunset. Joel’s sprawled asymmetrically on his bed, eyes pinched shut, delirious with blood loss but already looking substantially less like a corpse. A damp rag settles just above his brow, and the handiwork of Ellie.

There’s an unrecognizable hurt in him, wounded in ways that he shouldn’t be capable of.

He doesn’t give any indication that he knows you’re here until he’s rasping out something weak disguised as stern.

“I ain’t bit. Shut the door behind you.”

Your mouth goes dry.

“How did you –?”

Joel just huffs in response, as indignant as his body lets him be.

“You see anyone else here? They might as well’ve jumped out the window, as fast as they dumped me ‘n left. I ain’t stupid.”

You accept that and drop the pretense, pursing your lips with a nod. He doesn’t seem that offended, knows it’s just the nature of the beast.

You move over to his bedside, unpacking the bag quickly on a side table, looping your metaphorical stethoscope around your neck and switching gears into a mode that’s strictly doctoral.

Yet, there’s still that hum beneath your skin, the fizzle of unfinished business. It’s thick in the space between you, in the way he flicks his gaze at you lazily. You’ll let him foster the anger, giving it a home. You can be the martyr he says you are.

This new lens feels calmer, almost professional. Your nerves are still firing rapidly, and your composure is forced, but it’s better than nothing.

You drag a chair from the corner up to Joel’s bed, not letting your eyes wander too far into the depths of the space. You don’t have time to dissect the idiosyncrasies of his life. Not yet.

He still hasn’t opened his eyes, but you get the sense that he’s tracking your every move. His limbs are concrete, the tendons in his forearms so tense and coiled like any and every movement is forbidden.

“Joel.”

He grunts, a pained translation. Still no effort to move.

“I need to take a look at you,” you say patiently, bargaining like you would with a kid. “Wanna tell me what hurts?”

Another grunt, softer this time. He motions vaguely, weakly to his head, then the left flank of his abdomen.

You already know what you’ll find under the rag on his head, and it bodes well that the bleeding looks to have stopped. His stomach wound, on the other hand, was enough to bleed through two layers.

“Alright. Lemme see.”

A muted whimper echoes in his throat, so uncharacteristically that it tugs on your heart. Still statuesque, unmoving.

Your fingers are deft, careful as they unbutton the first, second, third buttons of his flannel. Joel’s stock-still, and his breath comes in sharp, slow waves through his nose. Your own breath kind of sits in the back of your throat, and you pretend with a hurried exhale that you weren’t just holding it.

Your fingers reach his navel on the last button, and you’re gently tucking each panel of his shirt under him on either side, focusing too hard on not touching him. It feels like something is somersaulting low in your stomach.

You can’t even dare yourself to look at his chest, his stomach. The patch of hair leading down to the band of his pants.

Get it together. That’s not what this is.

An angry gash looks up at you, thankfully clotted with dried patches of blood. It’s about two delicate fingers long, a nasty slice. It looks clean, abrupt in shape but suspiciously manmade. Not too deep, but not superficial enough to heal without some assistance.

And thank god, not nearly as bad as you thought it would be.

Joel’s looking at you now through heavy lids, wary of you, but something like fear touches the corners of his eyes. You fight to stay medical, methodical in your diagnosis. No emotion slips out, nothing allowed in.

You sit back calmly, letting loose a sigh. Not letting yourself bathe in the intimacy of the moment, in the way he’s staring.

“You need stitches,” you announce simply.

“Like hell.”

“Joel.”

He’s scowling, a hurt animal pissed at its own vulnerability. Silence passes like a ship between you, and for a moment, you think he’ll really fight you on this. He can’t hide anything when he’s like this, the weighing of his options evident in the tick of his jaw, the pathetic pinch just in the center of his brows.

“Fine,” he grits out. “Make it quick.”

This fucker.

You’re rolling your eyes, unceremoniously tugging the rag from his forehead. The cloth is red but not soaked, just twinged pink around the edges. Joel curses, just an octave above unintelligible.

His hand is shooting to the cut near his hairline and you’re smacking it away before he can pollute it.

“Lay still, fuck’s sake,” you chastise. “An infection’ll put you out longer than a few days. Unless you have a puzzle you been meaning to get around to?”

The faux-threat calms him immediately, and the shift in restraint doesn’t go unchecked. He doesn’t say another word, but you catch a glare and a twitch of his mouth.

You make quick work of cleaning him up, squeezing rubbing alcohol on a clean towel and scrubbing patient circles through the mess of dried blood. Joel releases sharp noises you can only describe as growls when you get too close to the border of his cuts.

It’s primal, a dog asserting dominance with his leg caught in a trap.

You try to lose the attitude, and it’s difficult when your patient hates you, doesn’t hate you, won’t clarify either way.

There’s a hint of purple that’s developing like fresh film on the mountains of his knuckles that doesn’t go unnoticed. Places on the most taut peaks of flesh where his skin has split, marred with scrapes that look like indents of teeth. And in the right light, there’s a discoloration of something in the same family splayed on his ribs.

And that… you know that when you see it. Even if everything else can be explained away.

“You wanna talk about it?” you say quietly.

There’s an intermission where he doesn’t respond. Too long to be the truth, too short to come up with a lie. And you know he’s been waiting for this question, might’ve already thought of a story.

“Got clumsy,” Joel recites. “Tripped on some stairs that were caving in, hit my head.”

“Bullshit.” And it’s a statement, not an insult. It doesn’t cover why he has a certified stab wound in his side.

Another stretch of silence, lack of defensiveness, makes it clear that he knows you know. But he doesn’t elaborate, and for whatever reason, you don’t push it.

And maybe it’s enough to acknowledge this sort of thing for now. You can stow it away, let it keep you up at night. Draw parallels where there possibly aren’t any. If he’d run into a human thing, he’d be much worse off, right?

Just like you were.

You take care in lining up the supplies to stitch in neat order beside you, mulling over each step in your mind. Stalling, maybe.

You pull the whiskey bottle out of your bag by the neck and nudge Joel with the cap.

“Something to take the edge off.”

He kind of hesitates, but there’s a tenderness. Recognizing it as an act of mercy, a peace offering.

There’s nothing said, but he takes the bait, spinning off the top and swallowing a messy mouthful. A drip escapes through the corner of his mouth and slips into his beard.

You can feel the taste of it blossoming on your tongue.

He grunts his thanks and keeps a steady grip on the neck of the bottle, and the network of veins in his forearm unwind.

You clamp the needle, laced through with something thicker than thread but not quite medical grade. Joel exhales a shaky whine when you pierce the skin, and his fist grips the sheets when you twist clockwise to push the needle through to the other side.

“You’re doing great,” you murmur.

The needle weaves over the cut, greeting the other side. You pull it through and up, and his lower lip trembles, sweat beading his forehead.

“First one done,” you say, praising him but also yourself.

Joel’s still clenching the linens on the bed, ignoring you and hiding out in his own mind somewhere.

You don’t tell him that you’ve only ever practiced on fruit, that your suture knowledge comes exclusively from the one medical text you have and endless hours of TV you grew up on.

Silence envelopes you again, heavier than before if possible. The pressure waxes and wanes like nighttime waves, licking the shore between you. And it’s not angry, just something… else.

“Some house you got,” you note casually as a distraction, like you’re commenting on the weather. It comes off relaxed enough, though any conversation between you feels like flossing a crowded mouth.

His eyes sharpen, and you think it’s in excruciation, but there’s a twinge of apprehension. You straighten for a moment, hands fixed mid-stitch, and roll your eyes.

“Okay, cool it, Home Alone, I’m not casing the place.”

Joel takes a turn rolling his eyes. You swear that you see his mouth twitch again, but you hang your head, dabbing a cloth where pinpricks of blood form.

You try again.

“I like your paintings.”

You dare to look up, and his mouth is in a tight line.

“You like my paintings.” he repeats dully, not a question. Joel’s as cynical as you, and he thinks it’s a jab, not sincere.

“You’re not gonna make this easy on me, are you?”

“Wasn’t plannin’ on it.”

Now’s as good a time as any. You sigh at that.

“Look, the other night wasn’t my finest moment. It didn’t need to go that way,” you mutter, leaning on the concentration of sewing up Joel’s skin. Otherwise, you might feel too strongly, dissect your word choice with an uncomfortable linger. “Sorry. I know you were trying to help.”

He goes rigid as your second stitch meets a third. The bottle tips to his lips again, and you wonder if it’s an act of liquid courage. You boldly hope so.

“Nah, I shoulda kept my mouth shut. Been thinkin’ I needed to apologize anyway,” he admits, and you know he’s happy you made the first move. You can already feel him loosen, but maybe it’s the alcohol. “You ain’t a martyr, y’know.”

Oh.

The needle hooks into the final sliver of skin, your handiwork tightening into a neat line. You sit back, wiping your brow with the ungloved section of your wrist. It’s a treaty, a handshake at the very least.

“Actually, I think you hit the nail on the head with that one,” you smirk, olive branch fully hanging between your teeth now. “Keeping up the charade is so exhausting.”

Joel presses out a pained half-laugh, and you feel something crumbling between you.

You tie off the last stitch, trimming the excess thread off the knot. The clamp clatters into the tray, and you give it a final once-over before peeling a large rectangle of bandage from your kit and pressing it gently over the wound.

“All done,” you quip, peeling your gloves off. “Didn’t even have to amputate.”

“Not too bad,” he grunts.

“I’ll add it to your tab.”

While you’re riding the high of approval, you stand and move to the foot of the bed. Joel’s boots are still on, laced messily.

And for some reason, you don’t even ask permission, you just start untying, tipping them off and lining them next to one another on the hardwood.

He doesn’t say a word. Out of confusion, maybe.

You scoot your chair and makeshift flatlay along with you, positioning yourself at Joel’s head. That look is back, a side-stare that steals your breath.

That look that knows you could absolutely ruin him, and he’d either thank you or kill you.

The pads of your fingers brush back the hair from his forehead, still slightly matted with blood. It’s a surface cut, but crescent-shaped and easily hidden by a curl of brown, peppered with grey. Butterfly closure it is.

No signs of a concussion show themselves. At least there’s that.

“You might have a scar,” you murmur. Being this close to Joel makes you feel like you’re wearing two layers too many.

And he hasn’t broken the stare, not even minutely.

“Add it to the collection,” he says lowly, not an ounce of self-pity.

Your eyes flash to the scar near his temple. You’re exercising full-on restraint not to ask him about it. But it’s not the time, something you could try to pry out of him later. And knowing there’ll be a later makes you relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw.

He’s nice enough to pretend not to notice, or he’s in too much pain to mention it.

You dab the damp rag around the border of his cut again, mopping up any excess. You reach for the isopropyl.

“You might wanna take another swig,” you warn. And he obeys, down the hatch and white-knuckling through it.

“Good boy,” you’re murmuring automatically, and it just slips out.

Your mouth falls open just so, and Joel’s coughing, clearing his throat against the burn of whiskey. You’re pleading with the universe that his cough was close enough, loud enough to cover the words, but his face has turned a shade of red that’s probably rivaling the heat that reaches your ears.

Good boy? Jesus Christ.

If there was ever a heightened moment of being fucking touch-starved, it’s this.

You make haste with the disinfectant and place the closures over the cut. The bloodied towels and scraps from the DIY surgery are cleaned up, tied neatly into a plastic bag. And now, this is the part where you run and never face him again.

You’re already making plans to board up your windows, maybe have Ellie deliver your meals solely through a slot in the door.

But Joel’s pain is overriding everything, and he’s sunken even further back into the pillow, his head lolling to prop on his shoulder. He’s whispering a weak thanks that’s incoherent at best. You tug the blanket up and over him.

You grab a glass from downstairs, fill it to the brim with water and bring it to him. He groans at the sight, petulant.

“I’m not leaving until you finish this.”

His lifts his arm for it, scowling. “Gimme the damn thing.”

Satisfied, you hand it over and watch him drink it down, his throat bobbing in a hearty gulp. Your gaze can’t help but snag on it.

You have got to get the fuck out of here.

You come back with a refilled glass and sit it on his bedside table, close enough within reach. The medical bag is packed up and ready, sagging slightly in areas where you’ve emptied it. It knocks against your already-knocking knees, and you’re grateful to use its weight as an excuse for how blurred you feel.

“I need to talk to Tommy. You gonna be alright for a bit?”

His eyes are closed again, on the outskirts of rest, but his mouth pulls up in the ghost of smile.

“Ain’t goin’ nowhere, sweetheart.”

And you hope he means it.

—

You track down an unsettled Tommy, finding him pacing in the back of the general store. He’s restocking some shelves but not quite – there’s an gross pairing of tinned fish and fresh eggs sitting on a display that’s unappetizing at best.

“He’s okay. No bite,” you add lowly, acutely aware of how many pairs of ears are in the store. “But he needs to be monitored.”

Tommy slackens, rubbing his eyes that are full of exhaustion and bruised with worry. Index finger and thumb stroking the respective tails of his mustache one, two, three times as the gravity of that strikes him.

He loops you into an embrace, and it’s kind, full of ease. The smell of firewood and smoke tickles your nose. His worry evaporates then, and honestly, so does yours.

“He doin’ alright?”

You chew on that for a moment and nod. There are complications, but nothing to do with Joel’s health.

“He was pissed about the stitches, but I didn’t have a choice. Cut was pretty deep.”

“So… he tell you what happened, then?”

There’s that question again. You feel like you should have an answer, but if he wouldn’t clue in Ellie, you sure as hell wouldn’t be.

Like squeezing blood from a stone, your dad used to say.

“No,” you lie instinctively. You don’t know why.

But it isn’t really. Not if you don’t know the full truth yourself. There’s just something about Joel’s omission that makes you feel entitled to find out first.

“He said he fell down some stairs,” you amend, “just didn’t say where or how.”

Tommy offers you the same look that Ellie gave you – a raised brow coupled with a touch of disbelief.

“If you say so.”

You shrug, playing it as cool as’ll come natural to you. “You know Joel. Doesn’t want to make a fuss.”

He chuckles, shaking his head and rolling out his shoulders that you know have been holding tension. He believes that, at least.

“Sounds like you know him, too.”

—

A few days come and go.

Ellie takes on a lot of the recovery, but she doesn’t like messing with stitches — creeps me the fuck out that you did that without puking all over him, she claims — and she’s eager to substitute for the patrol routes while Joel’s down and out. You offer to step in, with a totally normal and selfless motive.

If she thinks anything else of it, you’d be the last to know.

Your new itinerary consists of changing Joel’s bandages, cleaning up through his hissed breaths and every goddamn it. Twice a day, morning and night and sometimes in closer intervals, but never approaching the cusp of any boundary.

Joel’s fiercely independent, swatting your hands when you try to help. Donning a clean flannel in the space between your lunchtime visit and your nightcap, despite you telling him that he shouldn’t be pushing his mobility.

That said, he’s marginally better about following doctor’s orders, drinking the water you leave on his nightstand but neglecting the pills that would stop him from coiling in on himself like a ready spring. And he doesn’t say it but you know it’s because he thinks it’d be a waste.

You trade regular formalities at first, each of you standing behind your respective walls, daring the other to toe a bit closer.

Joel doesn’t ask, but you bring him some short stories to pass the time and he devours them. You didn’t think much of it other than just straying past the point of being nice, but your heart sings a bit at how he leaves his shell at your coaxing.

You learn Bradbury is his favorite, but when he finishes The Most Dangerous Game, it’s the most he’s ever spoken to you in one sitting, astounded at the perfectly tied bow of an ending, asking you questions that only the author could answer. But it’s a marvel to witness, something you think about when you’re cleaning stables or washing dishes.

He’s unraveling for you, a loose thread tugged too hard on your favorite sweater. He talks of the places in the paintings, sometimes abruptly, like he isn’t sure what his cue is or if he has one.

Mentions of pre-Jackson when there was so much uncertainty and isolation, but it was coupled with those types of watercolor skies that you couldn’t paint if you tried.

These little pieces of him that make him whole – it’s like you’re both in on the same secret. And Joel isn’t doing it to lighten the tension, to be nice; that isn’t his brand of politeness. He just revels in the holy act of confession with you as his witness.

You come to learn that his room is modest, different from the rest of his house. Clues of hobbies sprawled on his desk – leatherworking tools and hand drawn blueprints that you can’t get a good look at with just a sidelong glance.

There’s a dusty stereo tucked at the back towards the wall, and you picture a content Joel, sketching new plans for a porch swing or some small addition while old bluesy country croons from the speakers.

You like this daydream, placing him in something lighthearted where his only worry is that he’s losing daylight on yardwork.

The two of you talk about little bits of everything and nothing. Reminiscing about sending snail mail, discussing what you think places like Italy look like now. How close you came to crossing an ocean in another life.

Tonight, you have a night terror that clings to you like wet denim. Stop-motion, nonsensical. Your head ricocheting into concrete, hitting your temple just so. Flashes of the people that used to be your parents, your friends.

And just as the life drains from you, blood seeping onto the floor and into spidering cracks, you wake up a flailing mess.

You practice your routine, twisting on knobs of lamps and plugging in the twinkling lights hanging around the perimeter of the living room. You press your cheek to the floor, checking under your bed for monsters for good measure.

Bleary-eyed, you’re climbing back under the covers, pulling them snug up to your chin.

There’s a neediness crawling its way through your organs with a one-way ticket south. The juxtaposition of fear mingles with an otherness, and it anchors itself to Joel.

You never cared for a protector, still don’t, but the eagerness that sprouts from him to defend your honor — and for nothing in return — magnetizes you on a cellular level.

Your fingers are dipping into the band of your already-damp underwear, taking inventory of what the thought of him does to you. Body on auto-pilot. A pool of dripping neediness, so slick that you’re coating your clit in excess and rubbing in tight circles.

He doesn’t even have to touch you, and it’s pathetic.

Images of Joel’s beard scratching your thighs swirls behind your eyelids, your hand gliding between the glistening of your folds. Fingers crook inside you, dipping into the last knuckle, and you’re choking on a gasp, already on the edge.

You wish they were more calloused, thicker, with length that can hit the spot that’s desperately out of reach.

You wish they were Joel’s.

It takes only a minute, some curling and pumping of your wrist to make it quick in case it’ll only ever be a fantasy. The wet noises of your arousal are nothing short of obscene, and you’re coming loudly, sharply on a string of moans.

In some ways, you think, you have already died.

And fuck. It’s so poetic it makes you sick.

—

On the fourth day, Maria sends you to Joel’s with some stew — two hearty containers that're meant for the both of you.

She’s been taking her shift at his place, carrying over containers of this and that to keep him fed. You wonder how often she takes on that role anyway, sans injury. You don’t peg Joel as the type to eat three square meals a day of his own accord.

Tell Joel I can’t make it tonight. Gotta do inventory.

She makes no room for elaboration, so you don’t ask. But you thank her with a hug, and you could swear that she’s giving you a conspiratorial smirk.

When you knock on Joel’s bedroom, he gives a new, warm invitation, coated in subtle hospitality. It’s a far stretch from the unaffected what? you might’ve received a week ago.

You place the stew down on the bedside table, along with some bowls and spoons you plucked from his kitchen. He just looks up at you from his bed, uncertainty reaching the lines of his forehead.

“It’s all Maria,” you explain and he hums, catching up.

“Explains a lot,” he mutters.

You eat quietly for a little over ten minutes. Joel’s flannel today boasts a rich navy, buttoned up to the top but not far enough to hide the sprinkling of hair that peeks through.

He catches you staring and pins you with a dark glance.

“You afraid of the dark or somethin’?”

Joel’s ask cuts through the air, and your spoon stops mid-route to your open mouth. It’s so out of the blue that it stuns you momentarily.

“Sorry?”

“You turn the lights on at night.”

What you thought to be private moments of fear were actually on display for all to see.

For Joel to see.

And the memory of your thighs trapping your hand as you came over and over again on your fingers… you’re grateful to at least have had some decorum to draw your bedroom curtains.

“Um.” You dig for a way to say nope, I’m actually just a pussy and I see things that aren’t there. Also, I was touching myself thinking about you last night. “No, just nightmares.”

Every inch of your skin feels like it’s searing. A bead of sweat makes a slow descent down your spine to your tailbone. You laugh lightly to deflect.

Joel’s mouth thins into a tight line.

“It’s nothing,” you promise.

“Ain’t nothin’,” he snaps. His brows are knitted in fury, misdirected. But you get it.

Your stomach is rumbling, but you’ve effectively lost whatever appetite you had. The bowl finds a space on the side table, and you’re pulling your knees to your chest protectively, thumbing at the fray on the cuff of your jeans.

You don’t mean to scowl, but you can’t help it. You can’t even meet his eyes.

Joel’s sighing, his own bowl discarded on the nightstand, grazing the lip of yours.

“Look, it’s not my business,” he starts, choosing his words carefully, “but that kinda shit worries me.”

When you do look up, he’s rubbing his beard with rigid fingers. You should feel nice and fuzzy that he cares enough to point it out, but it’s just embarrassment instead.

That, on top of everything else, you can’t even get through the night without waking up in a cold sweat.

“I know how it looks,” you say in surrender, “but I swear I’m fine.”

You can imagine what it would feel like to really mean it; it’s just on the tip of your tongue. There is a defiance there, it’s just struggling to find a way out.

“You sure about that?”

You let your feet touch the floor, straightening out your legs and busying yourself with smoothing the creases in your pants.

“You worry about everyone else like this?” you muse, hoping to redirect.

Joel’s scratching the back of his neck, eyes fixed anywhere else.

“Always worried about you.”

If you were any farther away, you wouldn’t have heard him.

Outside, kids are yelling, playing tag. You watch in jealousy, can almost hear the crunch of their boots and their tiny, inconsequential conversations. It takes you longer than intended to give a response, and he waits, patiently. Just trickles a look from the crown of your head to your hands to your face. Searching for a reaction.

“You’re about ten months late, Miller.” And you’re smiling briefly. You mean it as playful, but it’s colored with sadness.

His eyes glaze, and the wheels are turning, wondering if that also means too late.

“Didn’t want you to think I was takin’ advantage of the situation. And I thought Max —” Joel bites down on the name.

“Fuck Max,” you spit in disgust. “That was never a thing.”

You don’t have to make eye contact to see that he’s pleased by that. He hums in the back of his throat. Resists a shit-eating grin. From the looks of Joel connecting the dots, you don’t need say much else.

“Yeah, well. We all failed you,” he insists. “I failed you.”

It sets an incredulous spark in some hidden part of you. Nails cut into your palm, your fists balling harshly. Everyone else? Sure, you’d give him that. Jackson spit you out, with the exception of a select few.

But Joel?

“You saved me.”

“Not good enough,” he says under his breath.

—

The next day, you let yourself inside, already learning the language of Joel’s house when you press a little extra weight against the door to seal it shut when it sticks.

It’s quiet, on the cusp of 8, and you wouldn’t be surprised if Joel’s on the brink of sleep.

The sun’s long settled over the mountain, so there’s not much in the way of guidance.

It’s dark, but you expected it to be. You draw the curtains one by one, moving blindly from room to room yet knowing exactly where your feet are. It strikes you as odd, a visitor keeping pace with an unfamiliar house.

But if Joel’s anything, it’s predictable. Unfussy in the way he keeps out of the way, even in his own space. Takes pride in it, sure, but lives in a way that demands nothing but cherishes everything, even the absence of something.

Meaning there’s nothing too unexpected, too risky in its placement. He doesn’t take up too much room in the event that it’s gone tomorrow.

When your hands fumble for the switch of the living room lamp, the bulb springs to life and bathes a wary Joel in light. Sitting on the couch, slouched with residual soreness, but waiting.

For you.

“Jesus, fuck — what the fuck, Joel —”

“You’re late.”

“— sitting in the fucking dark like a lunatic —”

He puts a hand up to stop you, as if to press your mute button.

“I didn’t fall down any stairs.”

Your hands have risen to your chest in the shock of him there, and you’re gripping your shirt in the way he had almost a week ago. You don’t miss that little detail, so much so that you struggle to piece together what he’s saying.

It punches you abnormal; you kept so busy with leaving the subject alone that it slipped your mind that he lied.

“Sit down.”

You’re obedient and you don’t know why. You find a seat across from him, pulling up a stool that’s meant for feet, not your ass. Something crackles beside you, and the embers of a dying fire glow and warm to the left of you.

Your leg crosses over your knee, creating a 45-degree angle that you rest your elbows on. “Yeah, I gathered as much, thanks. You’re a terrible liar.”

Joel’s just eyeing you. And it’s not in a way that sizes you up, more of a calculation of what to say next. What to give away. There’s a beat of this, then another, then another.

“I thought ‘bed rest’ was pretty self-explanatory.”

You’re growing impatient, filling the room just to do it. You both know what happened, and maybe that’s what’s needling at you. That you’re the one person who’d understand the most, but the one person he doesn’t want to know.

It feels wretched and seething, knowing something but not enough.

“I’m gonna need you to cut to the part where you tell me what happened, Joel.”

At that, Joel drags in a breath and leans deeper into the couch. His gaze has moved to somewhere far off, burning into the drawn curtains like he can see outside, can see directly into the window of your kitchen. And with sudden clarity, you realize that he could — it’s a clean diagonal stare.

Are you afraid of the dark?

How many times has he sat in this very spot, taking in the show, watching you make tea, watching you read, watching you stutter and shake with sobs? Witnessing the onslaught of a nightmare?

Touching yourself? Watching you undress?

You aren’t the voyeuristic type, just uncaring to the point of defenseless. But Joel keeping an eye on you in this way is the coup de grâce that does you in. There’s no question now of whether he cares.

“I took Mountain View, headed for the outpost. Not much up that way lately, maybe one or two infected every once ‘n a while,” he says, and it’s unsettling that he’s talking in a way that could be to anyone or no one at all. “Thought I’d stop at the pharmacy on the way up, check that off, too. ‘Cept I wasn’t the only one with that idea.”

He pauses only to crack his knuckles for effect. Fingertips splay on his spread knees, and what seemed so fragile earlier, watercolors of bruises stretching from ligament to tendon, seems threatening now.

“One was lootin’ in the back, didn’t hear me come in. I thought he mighta been alone ‘til his friend followed me in,” he pauses, lost in thought. “Got into it with him.”

As if on cue, the gory split-skin of his hands flexes. Offensive wounds.

You were right, but you wish you weren’t.

“His friend came up from the back, ‘n they took turns for a minute. Long enough for me to get a good look. I ended up takin’ out the shorter one, other one was gone before I could get up.”

Joel doesn’t lift his head, just his eyes. The skin around them crinkles in sinister shapes, lids disappeared, lashes nearly touching brow. You know it’s not anger directed at you, but it’s shrinking you back down into an armchair, your fingers digging and clawing at the fabric without recognizing it.

“Know what’s funny about that?”

You don’t think you can answer with the desert that runs through your mouth. And whatever it is, it’s anything but.

“Not a lot of activity along the outposts this way, unless it’s infected. Everyone else comes straight through to Jackson. The logs say we’ve only run into two groups of raiders in the last five years along the patrol route,” another pause for emphasis. “And one of them was ten months ago.”

Something catches in your chest.

And then there’s a dam that breaks, pure relief. Relief that Joel’s seen the thing you’ve been pointing and screaming at while everyone else shrugs their shoulders and squints.

Then — panic.

Ice sneaks into your veins. The tips of your fingers run numb. It strikes you that you’re standing, that the foot stool is tipped on its side.

He doesn’t move, but there’s a contained rage in his eyes and his voice. A temper bubbling now that you’ve confirmed what he suspected.

“He have any tattoos?” Joel asks roughly.

There’s a flash of stars, hand-poked, bordering on downright sloppy.

“Who?” You say dumbly, but it’s obvious what he’s referring to. He’s seen it, too, and he’s seen it this week.

“You know who.”

You do.

You could draw it from memory if he asked.

Your weight becomes too much for your legs, and you collapse back down, this time into a chair that supports your amoeba-like state as everything in you turns to jelly.

“They’re getting closer. We were in Teton, so if they made it this far —” you jumble out, not sure if it’s just meaningless vomit to his ears. By his solemn nod, it isn’t.

He’s up and out of his seat with a wince that’s not as severe as before, his eyes careful on you, on your hands that you’re gripping together tightly to keep them still.

The isolation of his side is evident in the way he closes the space between you, but he masks the grimace as best he can. There’s a reprimand in you somewhere that he should be resting, lying down at least, but you know it’s pointless.

“Hey.”

He’s kneeling as much as his flank will allow, a pain in his eyes that isn’t for himself. Those fingertips scale the cliff of your jaw, ghosting as if he’s afraid to overstep. They’re prodding you to meet his eyes, and when you do, he drops his hand like he’s been burned.

It connects fiercely to a memory that you try to hold in your hands. A snowy, reminiscent one that slips through like a ribbon of smoke.

“Ain’t gotta worry about him. I’ll take care of it.”

You laugh, a real one that’s stained with sarcasm.

“What does that mean?”

Joel softens now, and the shift startles you. He thinks for a beat before answering.

“Whatever you need it to mean.”

It feels incomprehensible that anyone would willingly put themselves in danger for you, even adjacently, but then who noticed you were missing that day? Who led the pack, found you bleeding out?

The weather was violent, incoherent — a lost cause, a needle in the proverbial haystack. He already toed the line of a dangerous, potentially fruitless rescue mission.

And you never even thanked him.

“Why?” You ask it for the second time in as much as a week. It’s disjointed in conversation, but he knows that you need this answer.

“You remember how you were before?”

And for a split-second, you try.

There are glimpses, a rickety reel of kids tugging on your pant leg as they beg you to join them during recess, a glittering spray of laughter with Ellie as empty beer cans and discarded guitars litter her living room floor.

Of your friends’ faces on too many relaxed, sunny patrols, sometimes forcing them into a detour into the abandoned record store through Alpine so you can see what’s left.

Dinner in warm houses like Tommy and Maria’s, so full to the brim of love and potatoes and mead that you stumble on down to your house with cheeks burning and tuck yourself in with all of the lights off.

Visions of Joel that are fleeting, taped in frames on a film strip, but friendly exchanges.

But it’s a faceless narration. The accident wiped clean of any room for interpretation. Any visitation with these memories. You can place yourself in them, but can’t for the life of you feel tethered to her.

Frustrated, eyes watering, you shake your head.

“That’s why.”

Now he’s holding your jaw like he would some fragile thing, slotting his thumb just under the pulse thrumming in your neck, feeling the echo of it in his hand. There’s a silence, as if he’s straining to hear, to know the sound and syllables of your livelihood. You wish he’d press harder, bring you to the precipice of pleasure and death.

If only to know what it feels to be glass in Joel Miller’s hands, to be given the taste of death after he’d given you the gift of life all those months ago.

Your heart is hammering against your ribs. You know he can feel the adrenaline in your pulse point.

“Joel,” it falls out as a whisper, and you hate how good his name feels in your mouth.

He’s looking at you with empathy, thumbing through the pages of every agony you’ve succumbed to. It’s new and buzzing, knowing that there’s nothing you’d ever have to explain to Joel. No reasoning or fine print for how you are, he just knows. And he stays anyway.

A tear tracks a salty line down your face and it meets the pad of his thumb, an easy swipe.

And there’s a surge low in your throat, seesawing with satisfaction and the tell-tale lump of more tears if you lean in hard enough. Joel never shows his hand, the last to fold, but it feels a lot like you’re the prize he was waiting to throw cards down for.

So, you lean. Concave cheek into his calloused hand, tears without sobs leaking between his fingers down into his sleeve. The weight of only the world — your world, plural and shared — pushing you into him. The cataclysmic release that you’ve been aching for.

Your head is against his chest, cheek pressed against flannel because he’s guided you there. And it’s nice, you think, nice that he’s being a gentleman about the whole thing.

A gentleman just finger-combing through your hair, tucking it behind your ear.

It’s serene, and you’d happily make a home there and fall asleep if it wasn’t for the hammering of your heartbeat. You know he can feel it, and your quickened breath is the cherry on top.

Joel levels your faces, and his fingers are deja vu on the braille of each ridged cheekbone. He’s waiting on a cue, a line to be given to him from offstage, but you see flames licking through each darkened iris.

Something keeps holding him back, keeps holding you back. He’s too careful, afraid of cutting his hands on you. And in exploring every facet of that, it’s because he doesn’t want to bleed on you, not because the sharpest parts of you could hurt him.

You keep telling yourself it’s foreign and you’re strangers to one another.

But is it? Are you?

As if he’s reading your mind, Joel closes the distance in one fell swoop, and he kisses you.

It’s clumsy at first, in the way that clumsy is when you’re learning each other’s mouths. You taste the dregs of whiskey, of something wanton, and every unspoken word that’s ever misted between you. Years of forming smile lines and the prickle of his unkempt beard against your chin, taste the stories of every scar.

You’re tangling with him, lips pressing urgently against Joel. His tongue’s expert but gentle when he dips it inside your mouth, and you’re swapping breathless sighs. You can only imagine what he’s tasting of you, what flavor he’s been dreaming of.

His hands are still at either side of your face, thumbs pressing sweetly into the bony part of your jaw. Joel’s stilling the unrest in you that’s put its bags down and refused to leave. It quiets, tips a hat and walks out, leaving a welcome calm in place.

There’s a chasteness, but you know he’s just as desperate and hungry as you are. Wanting to claim, to devour each other entirely. And it’s not lost on you that he’s on his knees, hands clasping your face in prayer like you’re some communion he’s drinking from.

He engulfs you, and you’re moving together, fitting together like you were poured from the same mold. Joel’s fingers have moved to thread through your hair, one of his hands cradling the back of your head and tugging just barely.

Enough that magma pools in between your hips.

But he slows, letting loose a low groan into the heat of your mouth. It’s helpless, like he’s accepted he can’t swim and has submerged his head underwater.

And when you finally break apart, Joel’s pupils are dilated, on the cusp of black. Your collective breaths are uneven. He looks at you in awe.

“Been wantin’ to do that for a long, long time,” he’s saying, but you can barely hear him. Not when your heart is catching up with the rest of you, roaring above everything else. His thumb skates over your bottom lip, and the instinct to unhinge your jaw for him shouldn’t be there, but it is.

Maybe this sort of suffering is worth it, if it’s Joel you’re suffering for.

If you weren’t in trouble before, you sure as fuck are now.

[bimboothefool]

HELLO!!! I hope your having a wonderful day/night and make sure to take care of yourself :)!! But may I request a wally darling x reader!! Excellent

*drumroll please 🥁 🥁 🥁 *

Reader dose the lipstick challenge on wally or in another way they try out new lipstick on wally and his face is covered in lipstick kiss marks!! But anything will be ok if you wanna change it a bit!! Well if you do this request thank you smm!! ❤️❤️

𝓚𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓜𝓮 𝓜𝓸𝓻𝓮

Cʟᴏᴡɴ’s Nᴏᴛᴇ: Yep I am, I’ve been feeling a bit better lately! I’m drinking water and giving myself space when needed, so thank you so so much Anon for the request!

Tʜᴇ Pʟᴏᴛ: You’ve recently received a package full of lipsticks of huge variety of colors. Soon you call Wally over to test them with you!

Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ Wᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: Nothing, but pure fluff and Wally being unapologetically in love with you along with no mention of (Y/n). It’s also pretty short.

Once you got that huge package from Eddie, you immediately called up Wally to visit you. Lucky for you Wally happily agrees to testing these new lipsticks you’ve bought.

Once he arrived, you excitedly greet him and guided him to the couch. Putting the box on your coffee table. “Pick the colors you want me to test out, Wally!” Wally smiled and curiously shifts through the contents of the package. “Oh, how about this!” He pulled out a bright purple lipstick.

“Oooh nice choice Wally!” You gently took the lipstick from his hand as he watches you applying it on your lips. “It looks wonderful on you, darling!” You giggled bashfully at his comment.

“Wally, you absolute charmer…” Then an idea struck your brain, you gently cupped his cheeks as he looks at you confused. However his question falls to the waistline as you press a kiss on his forehead.

He felt his heart dictate his next choice of words instead of his head. “Guess I’m swatching these colors too…” He said utterly lovestruck by you. Looks like your silly plan worked. “Alright lover boy, gimme another color!” You chirped as you giddily wiped off the lipstick on your lips.

Knowing by the end of this he’ll become a canvas covered in kisses. And if Wally had to be honest, he’s more than happy to become a canvas for your temporary artwork.

Iғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ᴡʜᴀᴛ I ᴅᴏ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛɪᴘ ᴍᴇ ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴏʀ ᴏɴ Kᴏғɪ! Aɴʏ ᴀᴍᴏᴜɴᴛ ɪs ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴀᴛᴇᴅ! Lɪᴋᴇ ᴍʏ ᴀʀᴛ? I’ʟʟ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴄᴏᴍᴍɪssɪᴏɴs ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴғᴏ ɪs ᴘᴜᴛ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ!

[rosemaze-reveries]

― enclosed with love

spending valentine's day with you eli, mary, michiko, naib, norton, percy, philippe

i adored this year's vday café designs so i wrote some hcs for them ^^

⚠️ modern AU

♡ Mary

With a delicate and highly sophisticated palate, Mary is always searching for something new to satisfy her. For Valentine's Day, she books a private tour at a high-end champagne house.

Her driver is scheduled to pick you up in the early afternoon. She arranged your date so “late” to give herself ample time to settle on an outfit. Her room is littered with hat boxes and empty hangers and piles of ‘maybes’. Everything must be perfect for you. But, every second without you feeds into her restlessness, and she ends up calling you to fill the time. Hours go by on the phone & she still refuses to hang up until she pulls outside your residence.

When she first greets you from the backseat of her car, her hands are on you immediately. She smoothes out the collar of your jacket and peppers a couple of warm kisses all across your face, somehow never quite landing on your lips. She quickly dabs away all the lipstick stamps she left with her handkerchief and apologizes for being so forward,,, only to end up doing it again.

Mary takes high pride in her outfits and never compromises on looking classy. But somewhere in the back of your head, you think: All white? To a wine tasting? What if she gets red stains on her dress? From anyone else, this comment would insult her ― she doesn't take kindly to the insinuation that she's a klutz. Coming from you, she laughs it off saying she's always looked better in red anyway.

She waits until arriving for your tour to present her gifts. Mary gives VERY generously. There's an entire table prepared for you. Mountains of roses, desserts, tickets to that trip you've always wanted to take, luxury spa packages -- she has everything.

♡ Norton

This Valentine's Day is the first Norton will be spending with someone. He'll act like he's not that invested in it, that he's just indulging you.

He keeps up a haughty smirk when you first meet for your date. You had a love letter delivered to him that morning, and he's 100% taking the opportunity to tease you about it. You wrote some pretty embarrassing things about him. How's the real deal living up to your expectations? Dying to bring some of those thoughts to life already? Unfortunately, you insisted on having a traditional date for Valentine's, so you'll have to keep yourself in check until tonight. ← He knows he makes you crazy & he loves having that effect on you.

He gives you chocolates as a gift. They're clearly homemade, shaped like rocks of various sizes with a little gold-dusted heart hidden among them. But just in case you wouldn't be able to recognize them as rocks, he also provided a little toothpick "pickaxe."

Presenting something homemade is a little embarrassing, even if he hides it with that big grin of his. He gives your present a little too fast before switching back to teasing you again.

♡ Philippe

As a perfectionist, Philippe starts planning for Valentine's Day very early. He experiments with all sorts of gift ideas. You're not sure what's going through his head, but he has a highly specific vision and won't rest until he achieves it. He seems to find it important that he gives you something handmade.

Matching photo lockets? A decoden case (if you're into fun phone cases)? Not meaningful enough. A flower vase modeled after his own hand, to sit on your desk? Too tacky. A wax figure? Maybe, but that's too predictable on its own. Maybe he should learn guitar to serenade you.

His final choice is ambitious, but Philippe always is. He builds a little table out of resin, and preserved inside it are your favorite flowers, with detailed wax figurines of you and him dancing among them. It sits in a corner of his favorite room, where he often does dance with you ♡

On the day itself, Philippe would prefer to stay home. It's one of the rare times he gets to have you to himself free of work constraints.

He's the type that always needs to be doing something with his hands. He'd enjoy making chocolate sculptures together -- it's a cute idea, he thinks, to watch you make something so passionately. Whatever your skill level, he loves anything you make.

In the evening, he'll take over all the cooking. A quiet night with steak and good wine (or your preferred drink) is a little cliche, but you both deserve it. Plus, he loves nothing more than casually chatting with you while he works in the kitchen.

♡ Naib

Naib isn't really into the idea of Valentine's Day. He might not even realize it's coming up unless you tell him about it. You'd have to be explicit that you're looking forward to spending the day with him, and even then, he's totally unprepared.

Gifts have never been his forte. Neither have grand romantic gestures. But he's good at working his pragmatic side into the little things: so rather than push himself to be this lovey-dovey, chocolates-and-roses type of lover for the day, he focuses on being 'present' for you.

He brings you breakfast in bed. He's a mean cook, and knows all your favorites. Everything he makes tastes like home, warm and full of love.

Most couples give each other flowers, he knows that, so he goes shopping for one. You're surprised when he presents you with a bouquet of lemons. In his mind, they're cool and refreshing like you, everyone could find a use for some lemons, and personally he finds the colors to be appealing. It doesn't occur to him that lemon bouquets might be an unusual thing to give.

He relies on you to direct the date. Whatever you say, he'll agree. In public, he never leans in for kisses but wouldn't oppose yours. You can try to stand closer to him & he'll slink an arm around your waist briefly, as if to reassure you that he'll always have a secure hold on you, but he'll pull away again before long.

♡ Percy

In spite of all of his eccentricities, Percy is surprisingly traditional when it comes to romance. He invites you to a nice dinner date & arrives much earlier than you, waiting with a bouquet and chocolates. When he first sees you, he wraps a secure arm around your shoulders to tenderly kiss your forehead.

Getting to see this side of him is the payoff of building such a deep relationship with him. Percy is a difficult person to get through. He's obsessive to a fault and cloisters himself away in his studio for days at a time ― no one else would have been able to breach his heart like you have. He will take proper measures to express your importance to him.

His first real kiss leaves tiny particles of something on your lips, but they're sweet in taste. He laughs at the startled look on your face and reassures you it was just a sugar cube. At first he says he was just fishing for a reaction, but later confesses: he was afraid the lips of an undead man might have an odd taste, so he crunched a sugar cube to sweeten it.

♡ Eli

Eli spends the morning delivering roses to other couples on his bicycle. People tend to get especially flattered when their flowers arrive via owl, so his services are very popular this time of year.

He enjoys the little bouts of happiness he can bring to others, but of course you are the one he wants to spend this day with most. With every bouquet he delivers, his mind wanders to you, imagining your reaction when he finally gets to deliver his gift.

He asks you to meet him at an ice cream parlor when his shift is done, around noon. Before you even see him, Brooke Rose flies over to tuck a thornless rose behind your ear, and you turn to find Eli already waiting at a table.

He gives you a small homemade cake and a letter he won't let you read until he's gone. He's a pretty sappy guy even in person, so you aren't sure how his letter will be much different. But having something to be excited about, even after you have to say goodbye, makes it worth it.

His bike rides have left very familiar with all the best spots around town. After splitting ice cream, he takes you for a ride to all the little places he thinks you'll love. A flower meadow, a bridge with a superstition attached: if you whisper the name of your love while crossing it, you'll be bound for life. Part of you suspects he made that up, but the way he says your name over and over makes your heart skip a beat.

Once the sun goes down, he brings you to a forest. Somehow he manages to time it just right. He gestures for you to stay very quiet, gently takes your hands, and suddenly you're encircled by hundreds of fireflies.

♡ Michiko

Since losing her ex-husband, Valentine's Day has become a bitter thing for Michiko, especially since it's so close to their anniversary. She has treated it as a day of mourning for some years. Of course, she keeps up a smile for you ― it's not in her character to impose her struggles on others.

The morning goes by slowly and comfortably. You wake up to a gentle massage and the smell of fresh baked pastries. She writes you a sweet letter in her neat script, and she adorns her letter with pressed flowers & a mini bouquet of your favorite candy.

She makes sure to get you a proper gift, too. She follows a rule of getting 1 indulgent and 1 practical thing: a box of luxury chocolates alongside a fine new coat.

Her ideal date would be something intimate and relaxing. Maybe the theatre, in a box reserved for two, or a shaded flower garden where you can enjoy a cup of tea.

[fairykazu]

WHEN YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW FT. MULTI CHARACTERS contents // basically: what would they react to the coquette trend on tiktok, childe, scaramouche, dan heng, gepard x reader (separate), established relationship, modern au, petnames (childe: babe, scara & reader: honey, gepard: sweetheart), lipstick is used in dan heng's but you can pretend it's something else. bow divider | gi masterlist | hsr masterlist

CHILDE: he's confused and lets you do whatever you want

"babe, can you move closer to me?" you asked your boyfriend as he thought you wanted to kiss. he leaned towards you only for you to wrap his head with a bow. his lips were not met with your soft ones but instead a soft fabric. he quirked a brow as you explained, "well, it's a trend on tiktok. i just thought you would look so cute with bows."

he pointed at his mouth covered in a pink, satin bow. "oh, you are just as cute with your mouth closed." he rolled his eyes as if to say "ok, name."

"give me your hands." he placed his hands into yours as you tied little ribbon around them. "see, don't you think you look cute?"

"mhm!!." (duh!!) you laughed softly as you took out your phone, a bright flash came on as childe squinted his eyes from the aftershock. "not too much, babe."

SCARAMOUCHE: he puts up a fight but lets you do it regardless.

scaramouche noticed you were slowly inching towards him with a ribbon roll in one hand and your phone in the other. he knew what this meant: a tiktok trend you desperately needed to be a part of. does he do it? yes but not without a fight first.

"honey, i have an idea!!" you exclaimed, trying to hide the items in your hands behind your back. he sighed, pinching his nose bridge, "name, is it tiktok related?"

dropping your phone and the roll of purple and pink ribbons behind a pillow, you sheepishly put your hand on your neck, "no??" despite your refusal of admitting it is a trend you saw on social media, scaramouche knew that from the hand on your neck was a tell of yours. a tell you always use and somehow think he hasn't caught on.

"the last few times you tried to pull this one on me was two weeks ago, last week, the day before yesterday and this late morning." scaramouche recounted as your trying-to-keep-it-cool face fell to the floor. laughing manically,

"ummm, can we not talk about that??" scaramouche smirked as he knew he cornered you where he wanted you.

"so is it?"

"yes...." you said in defeat, leaning onto him as you grab the rolls and your phone that were "hidden" with the throw pillows on the couch. you drawled out the 'o' in 'so', "so..."

"so?"

"can we do the trend now, mr. instigator."

"mr. instigator? i thought i was 'honey'?" scaramouche questioned as your eyes darted the other way.

"well, since you wanted to play games with you, im suspending you from being 'honey' for a week." after hearing that scaramouche became grouchy, he huffed as you unraveled a pale pink ribbon from its packaging, wrapping it around his mouth. "there, so you won't be growling at me anymore."

"mvry funmhm nahmeh." (very funny, name.)

"thank you, i know."

DAN HENG: he knows his significant other is a repost fanatic.

he noticed how you had been interacting with the coquette trend of putting bows to cope with something or just to be cute. he was wondering when you would do that to him. he wasn't sure what "coquette" was, but he had researched it and sort of had the gist of the trend. he had already bought ribbons, premade bows and pearls beforehand and snuck them into the cabinet of little doodads.

just before he was heading to his home office, he was yanked by the arm from you. "dan heng! i have an idea!" you weren't even trying to hide the fact that you finally found the ribbons he had already bought you as the ribbons' strings were falling out of your pockets. you probably were under the guise that you somehow already had needed decorations already.

"what is it?" he asked, allowing you to pull him into the shared mini library, onto the bay window. pulling out the random ribbons you managed to stuff into your pockets, "have you seen the coquette thing that's like trending on tiktok?"

"ive seen it circulating around, why?" dan heng replied as you opened your phone to tiktok. "well, i wanted to do this trend with you! some are questionable like this girl tied the bow on her boyfriend's jeanis. but i wont do that with you. is that okay with you, dan heng."

he wanted to ask what a jeanis is until he saw the video and instantly understood. "of course, that's okay with me." he smiled sweetly as you took that as an initiative to wrap the thinnest pink ribbon around his ring finger, not too tight but not too loose. you placed a small peck on his ring finger, leaving a small lipstick stain next to his knuckles, as he hoped he wasn't looking too flustered.

"name, may i?" confused but you nodded your head anyway. dan heng wouldn't really do anything to cross your boundaries. he took your dominant hand's ring finger, using the same thin ribbon of pink around your finger, making the most perfect bow you've ever seen. you're kind of jealous because now his bow is less "coquette-y" as the one he tied. "you're so cute, dan heng!!" you said, adding a silver of dramatics in your voice. he chuckled as the color of the ribbon matches his cheeks.

as the minutes spilled into hours, by the time you and dan heng is finished, you and him both were wrapped in bows as if you two were christmas gifts themselves. he guessed that santa came a little early just to give him you.

GEPARD: he gives you the signal to do it

seeing how your friends' boyfriends refused the participate in the coquette tiktok trend made you wonder how your lovely boyfriend would react. walking out of the kitchen to the shared bedroom, you leaned into the bed, "sweetheart, wake up." he only murmured some words you couldn't decipher as you sat into the bed, accidently sitting on his legs. "ah, sorry."

"mhmmm, dear, what's wrong?" he asked, a little groggily. rubbing his eyes with his hand, he sat upright. combing the stray hairs from his face, "i wanted to ask you if you wanted to do this trend with me on tiktok. it's basically putting bows on things."

"sounds simple, sure, let's do it." you smiled,

"whew, because i already got the ribbons." you two shared a knowing look to each other just before bursting into a fit of giggles.

general taglist: @ainnofinway

[an-au-blog]

The idea of Buggy giving out favors to guards for makeup is great but consider… consider…

A guard tossing a small package into Buggy’s cell, much to his confusion „You better fucking appreciate this clown, lots of people could get into real trouble if this came out yanno? Someone must really care about you.“ Buggy rips open the package, hoping there might be anything in there that will make this hellhole easier on him, only to be met with a makeup palette. The colors are smeared and the lipstick has been cut into tiny pieces, whichever guards needed to be bribed at least seemed to make sure there wasn’t a dagger somehow hidden in a small tube of lipstick it seems, but it’s all still usable. One of his cellmates cracks a joke about someone wanting Buggy to look like a pretty prison bitch for them all, making everyone cackle, to which he grumbles something akin to „prettier than you at least“ under his breath, before he takes a look at the tiny card that has fallen out of the parcel.

„Buggy. This is the best I can do on such short notice. Hang in there and don’t do anything irrational. -S“

And Buggy crushes the card in his hand and starts seriously planning his escape immediately. He knows what „Hang in there“ means in this context and he’s not gonna sit pretty and wait for Shanks to come rescue him, however he plans to do that. He appreciates that he got his shades right however

I would lie if I said I consider this omg yes! I can imagine Shanks getting news of his "not-exactly-boyfriend-but-maybe-hopefully-soon-to-be-husband" getting into impel down and thinking flopping himself on the couch like a victorian lady in deep disparity - dramatic and unnecessarily over the top. His entire crew is so curious as to what made him react like that because the captain was usually so calm about everything. Ben tells them it has to do with his childhood love or something which makes them even more confused.

Shanks pulls strings and finally has the makeup delivered. When Buggy gets it, he would never admit how grateful he felt for having at least something. He doesn't do his usual flashy full makeup because 1. it'll be harder to notice the change, and 2. he has to calculate how much he used it if he wanted it to last...

Some of the inmates kept pestering him about who sent this to him, why and if there would be more. He refused to answer but he slipped up with "as if I'd let that idiot break me out".

After he escaped with Luffy, Buggy couldn't help but think about how similar the two were. Which makes him remember exactly why he didn't want Shanks nowhere near him.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

There's Beauty in Tragedy: Part Two

Pairing: Jennifer Jareau x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.5k

Warnings: fluff

Summary: JJ gets a taste of the rich life when you take her on a dinner date on a yacht.

read part one here: There’s Beauty in Tragedy

Square Filled: jennifer jareau for @badbitchesbingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

JJ walks into work with a big smile on her face. She is so invested in her phone that she doesn't see who she almost ends up walking into.

“Why are you smiling so much?” Spencer asks.

“Oh, hey, Spence. No reason. I’m just having a good morning.”

“She was on the phone with her girlfriend,” Derek teases as he passes by with coffee in his hands.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” JJ says and slaps Derek’s arm lightly. All he does is laugh and sit at his desk. “She’s just a friend.”

“Then why is your face red?” Spencer asks innocently.

JJ touches her cheeks to find them really warm. That only causes her to blush even deeper.

“When are we gonna meet her?”

“I met her briefly while on her case, but JJ dealt with her the most,” Derek says.

“She’s a busy woman. Maybe later. You guys should really get back to work.”

JJ makes a quick escape while she can, leaving her friends to laugh and speculate about the status of her relationship. She doesn’t even know what you two are. You two flirted while on the case, you took her out for coffee afterward, and nothing happened. You two talk when you can, but you two went out on an official date. You never asked her to be your girlfriend. Still, that doesn’t mean JJ won’t smile every time your name pops up on her phone.

She gets to her office where there are piles of files waiting to be sorted through. Different police departments across the country send in their files for her to look over, and she picks the ones she feels her team needs to be involved with. The ones she rejects go back to their respective departments with a letter explaining why the FBI decided not to take on their case.

Some of the files she sees break her heart, especially ones with children involved. She has two kids with her ex-husband whom she loves dearly. She can’t fathom the idea of her children being in one of these files. She gets through five of them and decides to take a small break. She leans back in her desk and picks up her phone but there is no message from you.

“Agent Jareau?” someone knocks on her open door.

“Yeah, come in.”

“There is a package for you.”

“Thank you,” she smiles and grabs it.

The only thing on the top is her name handwritten in beautiful cursive letters. She opens the box to see a velvet jewelry box and a note inside.

I thought of your eyes when I saw these. I couldn’t resist.

There is a lipstick print of a pair of lips on the corner of the page indicating whoever sent this is romantically linked to JJ. She doesn't have to see a name to know who sent this. She opens the small velvet box to reveal a set of bright blue sapphire earrings that dangle delicately. She gasps and picks one up carefully, scared she might drop it and break it. She’s never seen this kind of design before, so they must be super expensive. 

Or they might be a one-of-a-kind. You do own a multi-billion dollar jewelry business.

JJ doesn't know what to say. She’s never grown up with money. The most expensive thing she can afford is a three-day cruise to New York and back. The most expensive thing she was gifted besides the earrings was a crystal wine glass set she got at her wedding. Being spoiled with such nice things is a bit overwhelming but she knows you’re doing it in a place of love.

She picks up her phone and calls you. You’re in Quantico at a business meeting that has just finished. You look at your phone and grin when you see JJ’s name and face.

“Did you like my present?” you answer.

“They’re beautiful. I wasn’t expecting them.”

“I know. They’re a prototype of something I’m designing. They’re one-of-a-kind. I might just keep it that way. That way you’ll be the only one to have them.”

“If only you could see me now,” JJ blushes.

“Listen, I’m glad you called. I’m going to be in town for the rest of the week. I want to take you out to dinner. I can pick you up tonight. If you’re not busy.”

“Yeah, I don’t have anything planned.”

“Great. Wear something nice. I’ll pick you up at six.”

“Okay, see you then.” As soon as JJ hangs up, she rushes over to Penelope’s office where Pen and Emily are. “I need help.”

“Whoa, where’s the fire?”

“Y/N asked me out to dinner.” Pen and Emily start to squeal like school girls but JJ shuts them down. “No, I don’t have anything to wear. She wants me to wear something nice, and I highly doubt Hotch will let me take some time to go shopping.”

“Okay, don’t worry. I might have something,” Emily says. “The last case needed me to wear something nice but it was a little tight. You’re smaller than me so it might fit you. Come on.”

Emily, Pen, and JJ walk to Emily’s desk where her go bag is. Emily produces a slim, elegant, beautiful dress. It’s mint green that’s backless except for a few spaghetti straps crossing over each other. It’s very simple with no design but elegant and silky. It’s perfect for what you requested… JJ hopes.

“This is perfect. I hope she likes it.”

“Oh, she will,” Penelope grins.

Come the end of the day when everyone is packing up to go home, JJ is nervously waiting for you to pick her up. Everyone stays behind to meet the elusive billionaire, and you pull up to the building at six sharp. You chose six because this is when the sun is going down, and where you’re taking her needs to have a beautiful sunset.

“I’ll be right back,” you say to your driver and exit the sleek SUV. You walk inside the building, and the only thing that sounds is your heels on the glossy floor. You reach the third floor where the BAU is, and you pull open the glass doors. You’re greeted by four people who look eager for your arrival. “Excuse me. I’m looking for Jennifer Jareau?”

“She’s on her way down. I’m Emily. I’m one of her coworkers.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” you smile and shake her hand. The next hand you shake belongs to Derek, then Penelope, and finally Spencer. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about you.”

“I’m a huge fan of your work,” Penelope says. “My mother got me one of your necklaces as a present one year. Princess cut single diamond necklace.”

“Princess cut is always a favorite of my customers.”

“You better treat our girl right,” Derek says as a half-joke.

“Don’t worry, Derek. She’s in good hands. I promise to bring her back in one piece,” you chuckle.

Speaking of the devil, JJ walks down the short staircase from the second story to the first. She looks absolutely breathtaking in the mint green dress with the bright blue sapphire earrings. There’s nothing about her that doesn’t blow you away.

“I didn’t think it was possible for you to get even more beautiful,” you grin and kiss her cheek.

“I was about to say the same thing.”

“Okay, you two have fun. I expect a full report tomorrow,” Penelope smiles.

You escort JJ down to the car which catches her by surprise. It shouldn’t considering how wealthy you are, but it does. Once inside the car, the driver takes you to the port where there are loads of boats. The colors of the sunset bounce off the water. All shades of purple, pink, orange, and yellow make the water shimmer beautifully. The driver parks by the docks and gets out to open your doors. Waiting on the water is your private yacht with a personal chef, cleaner, and pilot.

“Wow, I can’t believe this,” JJ gasps.

“I had my yacht sail in when I knew I’d be coming here. We’re having dinner and taking a tour of the coast.”

JJ has no words so she decides not to say anything. You take her on board and that’s when the pilot takes off. The first course goes by quickly but you allow the next course to last as long as you can. The sunset makes JJ’s skin shine and shimmer and her blue eyes pop in the light contrast.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she chuckles.

“Only the best for the best. I can offer you all this and more if you want me to.”

You reach and scoop some food onto the fork and bring it to her lips. She moans when she tastes the delicious food the chef made. You set the fork down, pull her in, and press your lips to hers. This is the first time you’ve kissed her since meeting her but nothing feels out of place. Everything is as it should be at this moment.

“Stay the night with me,” you whisper.

“I think I can make that happen,” she giggles.

She kisses you this time as the boat slowly sails on the open water.

x

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[steveharringtonat3am]

Steve Harrington x fem!reader

word count: 1.7k

When the first package appears on Steve’s doorstep, he thinks it might be a mistake. He hadn’t ordered anything, not in a while. It’s quite clearly addressed to him, pink marker stating ‘To Steve Harrington.’ So he takes it inside to inspect.

It’s definitely in spirit of the holiday’s. It’s wrapped neatly with a pink ribbon that Steve almost feels bad for having to undo. The brown wrapping paper is covered in red lipstick kisses and further inspection reveals they’re real. His face warms at the idea of someone kissing all over this present, just for him.

He does his best to preserve the paper, smoothing it down next to him as he focuses on the main event. He opens up the box, smiling instantly when he sees the contents. Inside lies a stack of vinyls from his top artists. He doesn’t even remember mentioning wanting these to anyone, but he can’t contain his happiness.

As Steve carefully lifts out each vinyl, admiring the album covers and running his fingers over the smooth surface, he can't shake the feeling of curiosity tinged with excitement. Who could have sent him such a thoughtful gift? His mind races with possibilities, but he can't seem to pinpoint who among his acquaintances might have known his taste in music so well.

As he sets the vinyls aside, he notices a small note tucked beneath them. With a curious grin, he picks it up and unfolds it. The handwriting is elegant, with a hint of playfulness in the loops and swirls of the letters.

Dear Steve,

I hope you like the vinyls. I wanted to do something special for you for Valentines day, because you really deserve it. We’ve known each other a while now and I’ve been too afraid to admit my true feelings for you. Our friendship means the world to me and if you don’t feel the same, I understand.

Lately, you've been on my mind more often than usual, and I couldn't let the opportunity pass without letting you know how much you mean to me. There's something about your presence that brightens even the dullest of days, and I wanted to let you know that you make me happier than I thought possible.

I hope these vinyls bring you just a fraction of the joy you bring me. You deserve it more than anyone.

With love,

Your secret admirer

Steve's heart skips a beat at the mention of a secret admirer. A rush of warmth flows through him, and he can't help but smile at the thought of someone thinking of him like this. He wonders who this mysterious admirer could be. Theories float around in his head for a bit. One name in particular surfaces for a second but he quickly pushes it away. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up like that. Not just yet.

With a grin, Steve decides to set aside the mystery for now and focus on the joy of the gift itself. He carefully places the vinyls back in the box, already looking forward to playing them later and letting the music fill his room with love and warmth.

“I just don’t know who it could be!” He laments to Robin as he stacks videos absentmindedly.

“I think that’s the point!” She rolls her eyes, having heard about this for the past three hours of their shift. He drags himself behind the counter, drumming against the surface as he thinks. He doubts it would be any of his ex girlfriends, and it would have to be someone who knows him well.

The image of her pops up in his brain once again, smiling and laughing at one of Robin’s jokes. But it can’t be her.

Right?

It’s the last hour of their shift, the store is empty and both Steve and Robin and mind numbingly bored. When the bell chimes, he’s relieved there’s at least something to do. When he locks eyes with the very person he’d been daydreaming about, he nearly falls off his chair.

“Hi!” Robin greets her, elbowing Steve for staring.

“Hey guys.” Her smile is so pretty. She’s looking at him and he knows he should say something but he really can’t think. Luckily, Robin saves him.

“Are you here for Pretty in Pink again?” The question makes her smile wider and Steve’s heart nearly stops.

“It’s a good movie!” She defends herself as Robin heads to the aisle to find it for her. The action leaves the two of them alone together and he can barely think. She’s wearing a pretty red lip colour, and a very distracting rose perfume, he notes. It might be clouding his mind because he feels drunk on it.

“Is your shift almost over?” She asks politely. It’s basic small talk but he jumps on the chance to talk to her.

“Yeah! Can’t wait to get home. I’m actually-uh-waiting for something.” He realizes halfway through his sentence he probably shouldn’t mention the secret admirer to her. What if she thought he was taken?

“Oh, like a package?”

“Something like that.” He smiles, feeling the heat of embarrassment crawl up his neck. Luckily, Robin arrives with the movie in hand.

“Here you go!” She checks her out quickly, and soon enough she’s waving goodbye and getting into her car. Once she pulls away, Steve lets himself weakly slam his head into the counter.

“She thinks I’m a loser!”

“Well…she’s not far off”

When he finally gets back to his tiny apartment, he can’t believe his eyes. Another package sits by his door. He’s quick to scoop it up, hurrying inside.

It’s packaged similarly to the last one and he removes the kiss covered paper as gently as possible. His heart races as he opens the box, eyes widening in excitement when he sees what it is.

Inside the package is a vintage Polaroid camera, just like the one he had admired in the window of a thrift store months ago. He runs his fingers over the sleek design, feeling a rush of gratitude towards his mysterious admirer.

With trembling hands, Steve picks up the camera and examines it closely. It's in perfect condition, as if it had just been plucked from the shelves of a brand-new store. A wave of curiosity washes over him as he wonders who could have sent such a thoughtful gift.

There's a note tucked inside the package, written in elegant script that makes his heart flutter.

Dear Steve,

I know you’ve been wanting a polaroid camera, so I hope you enjoy this one. You always seem to see the beauty in the most simple things. I’ve never met anyone who is as observant and caring as you are. It’s one of the reasons I can’t get you out of my head.

I hope I’m not being too forward with these gifts. I know you may not believe it but you deserve the world. You’re so sweet and thoughtful and always put everyone before yourself. I just wanted to let you know that I’m always looking out for you.

With love,

Your secret admirer

He holds the letter close to him, the faint sweet scent intoxicating to him. As he puts everything away, he allows himself to think. He needs to know who this is, no matter what.

The next day, he switches shifts with Robin. His secret admirer seems to know his work schedule, so changing it up is sure to have them right on his doorstep. For extra precaution, he sits against the door, ears alert and ready for any package drop off.

A bowl of cereal, five comics, and three pillows later, he hears shuffling. It’s quiet enough but the distinct sound of wrapping paper has him launching himself up and nearly pulling the door off its’ hinges.

He nearly scares the soul out of her. But it’s her. Wide eyes and bright lipstick and rose perfume. Steve can barely believe it. But the brown package in her arms finalizes it. For a moment, they stand in silence.

“…You’re supposed to be at work.” Is all she can say.

“Traded with Robin.” He states, not quite sure if he’s dreaming.

“…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-I’m just gonna go actually.” She turns to leave but Steve’s arm shoots out to stop her.

“Don’t go! Just…come inside?” He pleads. She bites her lip while she thinks, before nodding. He kicks the pillows away, clearing a path for her. She takes everything as she walks in and he briefly kicks himself when he notices the mess in various areas of his apartment.

“You saved the paper?” She turns to look at him, standing next to the stack of neatly folding wrapping paper.

“Well yeah…” His brain feels like mush at this point. She’s here. Standing in his apartment.

Oh my god she likes him. SHE likes HIM.

He might faint.

“I’m really sorry if you don’t feel the same. I just-I really wanted to tell you. I felt like you had to know.” He’s never seen her like this, but he supposes this is new territory for the both of them.

“Of course I feel the same. I-I’m honestly in shock that you feel this way about me.” He hadn’t realized how close they were standing now. Had her eyes always been this gorgeous?

“How could I not?” She pushes a piece of hair away from his eyes and the next thing he knows, he’s kissing her. Everything locks into place instantly and he feels like he’s floating.

When they finally break for air, neither of them can stop grinning.

“So…do you want to be my Valentine?”

“Absolutely.”

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Silence

Summary: Javier is back home in Texas after Colombia and just needs a way to silence the thoughts in his brain. And what better way than to visit a shady bar with a glory hole....

Pairing: Javier Peña x fem. reader

Wordcount: 1.4k

Rating: E

Warnings: Glory holes, Smut (Oral; M receiving), anonymous sex, flirting, Javi thinking about Colombia

A/N: literally wrote this in like an hour after having the idea. This might suck (ha! Pun intended)

if you want to get notified for new fic updated follow me @toomanystoriessolittletime-fics

Being back home was harder for Javier than he thought. 

His body may be in Texas, but his mind was still back in Colombia. Fighting the war against drugs. Escobar might be dead, but his legacy still lived. 

He stared at the package of cigarettes he had bought, his car still in the parking lot of the store. It had been a hot day, the sun finally disappearing, the sky darkening, the temperature sinking.

He hadn’t smoked in almost twelve weeks. 

He was… doing good. Or so he thought. 

He just needed a moment of quiet. For the thoughts in his brain to be silent and not remind him how much of a failure he was. 

Back in Colombia he’d go to the brothel for that. Fuck he couldn’t even remember the last time something else than his own hand had made him cum. 

Sure, he could fuck around in Laredo, but it was a small town. Part of the people still hated him for what he did to Lorraine what felt like a lifetime ago, the other part of the people calling him a hero because he brought down Escobar. 

But he didn’t. 

He wasn’t even there. He might have helped, but in the end and when it mattered he was already on his way back to Texas. 

He rubbed his fingers over his temple, his head leaning back against his seat as he took a deep breath. 

He was pushing forty and had no idea what to do with the rest of his life. 

Javier let his eyes wander through the dimly lit neighborhood, his eyes finding the red neon sign of a bar, whose name seemed familiar. 

He searched his brain until he remembered where he knew it from. 

Prostitution might be illegal, but there still were some loopholes. Like bathrooms with holes in the wall. 

He sighed, his cock twitching at the thought. 

Before he could question his intention he had left his truck and walked towards the bar. 

The package of cigarettes unopened on the passenger's seat. 

He nursed his glass of whiskey at the bar counter, watching the dimly lit room and the crowd of people. Some might call it shady, but Javier felt just like he belonged here. People came here to disappear and forget, and that was just what he wanted right now.

Rubbing his fingers over his mustache he eyed the door that led to the restrooms. 

There was another door next to it, a woman sitting in front of it. 

He emptied his glass before he got up and slowly walked over. 

The woman looked up, raising her left eyebrow as she let her eyes wander from head to toe, a smirk playing in the corner of her lips. 

Javier felt a wave of confidence at her checking him out. She was pretty too. Bright eyes and deep red lipstick covering her full lips. Younger than he expected, not that he did know what to expect. 

Honestly, he didn’t know how exactly this worked, so he was just winging it.

He stopped in front of her, sucking his bottom lip in. 

“What can I do for you, Cowboy?” she asked and he chuckled. Hooking his thumb through one of his belt loops he tilted his head. He saw her gaze linger on his crotch, before she looked up again. 

He just nodded towards the door and her eyes lit up in understanding.

“Booth three, left door,” she only said, before opening the door for him. 

He stopped halfway through the door, turning his head over his shoulder, a question lingering on his mind.

“Is there a woman or man in booth three?” he asked and her lips twitched into a smirk. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she winked with an amused smile and he chuckled, shaking his head to himself before he walked in. 

There were six doors. Three Booths. 

He could hear faint moaning as he made his way to door three which was at the back of the small hallway. Left door she had said. Feeling his cock harden he turned the doorknob, walking inside the small room. There was a chair in the left corner, and a box of tissues on the floor. It was a little filthy, but what did he expect?

In the middle of the wall to his right were three holes. One obvious hole in the height of his crotch, the other two holes higher and bigger. 

For his hands probably. 

His fingers twitched. 

He heard a door open and only now did he realize that he was stalling. There was only one reason why he was here. Taking a deep breath he unbuckled his belt, opening the single button, rolling down the zipper of his jeans. 

With a low groan he took hold of his cock, pulling it out. It was already half hard. 

The idea of cumming in someone's mouth making him twitch in anticipation. 

As awkward as this situation was, it also felt right as he took a step towards the hole in the wall, sucking his bottom lip in as he slipped his by now almost fully hard cock through the hole in the wall. 

Nothing happened for a long moment until he felt a featherlight touch. He thought it were fingers first but the next moment something wet and warm enveloped the tip of his cock and he released a long satisfied groan. 

His hands came to rest flat on the wall as he tried to get closer to the mouth the tip of his cock was currently in when the person on the other side of the wall slowly began to take him deeper inside. 

“Fuck,” he grunted, letting his forehead rest against the wall. Sweat was already starting to run down his neck as his cock was sucked. Unintentionally he started to thrust, moaning when he felt his tip hit the back of their throat while they moaned around him. 

It seemed like they liked at and he imagined being able to really fuck their face. Making them gag on his cock while tears sprung into their eyes. 

He’d be cuming in seconds at this point. 

“Shit…” he moaned, his hand bumping against the wall as he felt his balls tighten. 

“Fuck I’m gonna… Fuck I’m gonna cum,” he said, hopefully loud enough for the person on the other side to hear before his cock twitched and the first rope of cum shot into their mouth. Javier heard a long moan, he wasn’t sure if it was him or the person on the other side, a hand wrapping around his cock, jerking him off while his tip remained in their warm mouth, filling it with his spend until he released a long groan as he finished. 

Part of him wanted to know if the person on the other side would swallow it all down. 

And for one blissful moment there was only silence in his head. 

The lips disappeared and he lingered a moment, before he took a hesitant step back, his cock leaving the hole. 

Was he supposed to… thank the person? Was there some kind of protocol?

Before he could think more about it he heard footsteps on the other side and a door opening and falling close again. 

Narrowing his eyes he risked a glance through one of the holes into the other room, finding it empty. 

He huffed to himself, so much for that. 

Taking a deep breath through his nose, he tucked his cock inside his jeans and made sure he was fully dressed before he opened the door and stepped out. 

When he opened the door to get back into the bar, the woman from before was leaning at the wall next to the door. 

He lipstick was smudged and she gave him a teasing smile, before her thumb brushed over the corner of her mouth, brushing away something that looked like… oh

“Did you enjoy booth three?” she asked, bringing her thumb between her lips, licking it clean. 

He felt a rush he hadn’t felt in a while, as his lips twitched into a smirk, his head nodding. 

“Very much so,” he said, stepping closer towards her. 

“I’d like to…. give my proper thanks and return the favor,” he said and she grinned slowly. 

“That would be very much appreciated,” she said. 

They were standing so close now, that her breasts brushed against his chest. 

“Your place or mine?” he asked, his voice quiet. 

“Mine,” she said softly.

[thatgirlwithasquid]

It starts out as a joke on Steve’s part. He really didn’t know how to respond to Billy’s non-answer so figured jokingly-malicious compliance would, worse case scenario, make sure Billy didn’t just dismiss him when he asks these sort of things.

“Billy,” he’d pleaded, “c’mon. Please just tell me what sort of things you’d be okay with me doing to romance you!”

The other guy had snorted at that, not even glancing up from his book.

“I was under the impression we were already dating, Harrington.”

“So?” Steve had whined; and at this point even he can admit he was absolutely whining, flopped over the sofa beside Billy as he was. “I want to do cute things for my boyfriend. I’ll have you know I can be a very loving boyfriend!”

“Whatever,” Billy said, but he was smirking now. “Just use your brain, do whatever the fuck it was you did to get the bitches at school swooning over you.”

“But, Billy—”

“Not listening. Reading.”

So that’d left Steve fumbling to figure out the whole thing by himself. …Or maybe not entirely by himself. Robin had to listen to the whole thing afterwards.

He wasn’t any less put out as he regaled the whole thing to her, both just to complain and for actual advice. By the time he’d finished he wasn’t entirely sure Robin hadn’t just tuned his tirade out, but she turned to him from where she’d been working.

“Well, why don’t you?”

“Why don’t I what?”

“Just do the same things you did with your girlfriends.”

“Because, Robin, he’s Billy, not some girl I dated. I used to get them bracelets and lipgloss and things…”

And that was when the idea took root.

So it started as a joke. But then the day after Steve left a little tissue paper-wrapped package in Billy’s locker, the guy turns up to school with that dainty little sunflower pendant around his neck. The gold of it glints between his fingers when he toys with it, but that’s nothing compared with the overjoyed shine in the guy’s eyes.

Steve tried to shrug it off, the necklace wasn’t too far out from what Billy would happily wear anyway. So, just to test where the tipping point was, he left other things. Mascara on the passenger seat of Billy’s car. A waspie corset in the his locker at the pool.

The lipsticks go down the best though, and, completely unbiasedly, are Steve’s favourite gift for Billy. Not only does his boyfriend only wear them when Steve can see, he suits them so well.

Maybe the best thing about the lipsticks, though, is how smudged and ruined Billy’s mouth looks after making out. They don’t look so bad on himself either, Steve thinks as he traces the lip-shaped marks trailing the side of his neck, all left neat and careful for him to see.

Definitely his favourite gift.