#little guy is perplexing indeed | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hoshigray · 1 year ago

Note

Are you able to right a gojo fic? He pulls you aside after a meeting to a spicy makeout with you that leads to more than just a make out:,)

𝐚. 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: "more than a make out" indeed, lmao

⊹ 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: Gojo x afab/fem! reader - explicit reader; minors DNI - canon divergence; you're gojo's partner who works in Tokyo jujutsu tech with him - kissing; making out - fingering (f! receiving) - clitoral play (swiping and pinching) - breast sucking - deep impact position - praising - pet names (angel, baby, cutie, princess, sweetie) - cameos: Ijichi and Yaga - Gojo is a touch-starved fool, bless him lol.

⊹ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3.1k

“Y/n~~!”

“…! Oh, Gojo!”

“Ahh, it’s Gojo-sensei!”

Being the strongest sorcerer in the modern world is a hassle, no matter how much Gojo loves to shake it off as if it’s not. Not that he doesn’t mind it — no, no. If anything, he prides himself in it. It fills his ego, knowing that a scarce few could be compatible with his power. He’s a dependable light for the jujutsu world, sorcerers of the nation thankful that he's not on the wrong side.

But alas, being the best has its taxing side, especially taking in tedious missions across the land and attending mandatory meetings with the entire jujutsu faculty body — not to mention being a teacher. The white-haired sorcerer was a busy man — no other way to explain it. However, the worst thing about it all was that there would be times when he’d have less time to spend with a certain someone who had him in the palm of their hands. And if he keeps being away from them, he might – no, will – malfunction.

You were Gojo’s partner, his sweet baby that he cherished more than anything. You were a faculty member of Tokyo Jujutsu High, making things a little easier for the two of you to meet and elope (professionally). Nevertheless, those moments seem to frequent less and less with how many meetings have Gojo backed up this past week. The poor guy can’t even remember the last time he heard your sweet voice (which is a lie since you call every morning and night; he makes sure you do).

Although, today would be different. Once this meeting with the Kyoto officials ended, he made a straight beeline out of the room to find you. And to his cheerful chuckle, he skips in your direction when he sees you conversing with Yuuji in the hallway. The salmon-haired teen greets his teacher with a high-five and a bow from you.

Yuuji hears Megumi call for him from outside, so the boy dismisses himself with a goodbye and wanders off, leaving you and Gojo to yourselves.

“Hello, Y/n~,” the man says your name with a happy tune, his lanky figure swaying to be close to you.

“Good noon, Gojo,” you greet him again with a modest smile as the tall man walks to you. “How was your meeting? Did the officials give you a tough ti—Mmmph!?”Your boyfriend surprises you with a kiss, taking in your perplexed moan with his pillowy lips. One peck comes after another while Gojo’s hands sneak to your waist. You quickly push him away, but his hold keeps you close to his figure. “G–Gojo, what are you doing!?” You express your concern in confusion, covering your lips with a hand.

“Mmm? What do you mean? I’m greeting my princess with a kiss,” the blindfolded man says so matter-of-factly, beaming his delighted demeanor that nearly blinds you. “I miss you!”

“I miss you, too, but you can’t just—“ He tilts his head as you try to explain. You chew your lip with cheeks boosting in warmth, averting your glance away from his charming face that’s inching closer and closer to yours. His eyes are masked by the black cloth around his face; however, you can still sense the intensity of his gaze. “N-Not in public, Gojo...”

He plays the whining card, bringing you in for a tight hug that could restrain your breathing. “Ehhh, but I haven’t seen or touched you in days! See, we’ve been apart for so long that you’re going back to referring to me by my last name!”

“I always call you by your family name when in the school, no??”

“Yeah, but that’s only for when people are around, not just the two of us!” His complaints are genuine, swaying around with you in his arms. You roll your eyes, listening to him yap more. “Come on, Y/n; it’s been such a hectic week for me, missions after missions, meetings after meetings. Any more than this, and I just might combust — especially when I don’t have time to see my angel.”

You hear him make fake crying noises to your shoulder, reminding yourself how much your tall, strong boyfriend can be such a whiny puppy if he’s away from you for too long. But you can’t kid yourself; you missed spending time with him just as much as he did. “I know; I wanna see you more often, too. Don’t you worry, okay? This week is almost over, so keep pushing through like the tough man you are…Hehe, my strong Satoru.”

The snow-haired sorcerer springs up with a childish smile at the use of his name, his dimples present with the shine of his teeth. “If that’s what must happen, can your strong Satoru ask for another kiss to make his hell a little bearable?”

You give him a look at his request, but his anticipation doesn’t falter. With a sigh, you smile and whisper, “Just a kiss, Satoru?”

He chuckles lightly, drawing his mouth close to yours. “Yes, princess.”

His soft lips land on yours. There’s no restraint as you welcome him, your hands coming around to cup his cheeks before breaking the kiss. “One more,” he says before your nose is brushed away from his. You comply and place another gentler peck, and the man sneaks a hand from your waist to the back of your head. You withdraw your lips again, but Gojo utters another “One more…” Your stomach does flips knowing what game he’s trying to play. Another kiss is received, and his leg sneaks in between yours.

You mewl, finding yourself stuck in this predicament. He’s now in control, using this opportunity to deepen the kiss and make it more passionate, sucking your bottom lip and running his tongue for more access. You have no choice but to accept him, whimpering at the tongue intruding into your oral cavity while his leg moves further and further.

Your hands come to his shoulders, gripping his jacket as the Gojo furthers himself into the kiss. The hand behind your head keeps you steady, keeping him focused on your mouth, where he sucks on your tongue in a way that leaves you breathless — like, actually. After he quits the kiss, you two are gasping for air so hard, and your lips are wet because of him.

“Hahhh, ’Toru, stop,” you wipe spit from your mouth. “We can’t be doing this here…”

Your complaint falls on deaf ears, the sorcerer placing chaste kisses on your cheek. “Hmmm, why not?”

“Mmm..Someone, your students, we’d be caught here…”

Gojo smirks; it’ll never stop being adorable how bashful you are around him, particularly when he expresses his undying affection for you in public. But he will respect your wishes, and the idea that pops into his head makes him giggle.

Before you can process anything, Gojo picks you up with your legs held up and a hand on your back. You squeak at the unexpected action, grabbing a hold of his neck to balance yourself. Your mouth opens to express your bewilderment. Yet one moment, you two are in a hallway of the school; then you’re transported to a familiar room with a bed the next — your bedroom.

You blink in perplexity as Gojo throws you on top of your bed, stammering to find the right words. “Satoru, I wish you’d stop teleporting without letting me know! And don’t you have another meeting to get to!? Why are we in my apart—“ You don’t finish that sentence; you stop yourself once Gojo crawled up on the bed to you. Suddenly, you feel too small to utter a word.

“Sorry, baby,” No, he wasn’t. Not with that childish grin posted on his face. He brings his face to yours, placing more smacks on your lips. “But you’re the one who said we shouldn’t be doing this on school grounds. Heh, you act so cute when you’re shy…”

“No, Satoru, we can’t—Mmmm,” silencing you with kisses was such a vile card, knowing you’d be whimpering under him just from him twirling his tongue with yours. “Mmph..Mmah…! You’re scheduled for…another meet—“

“Shhh, don’t worry; I can be late for a few minutes,” another lie. If Gojo’s late to another meeting, Principal Yaga will put the younger man in a chokehold again. “I’ll make this quick, I promise. So, just let me enjoy you…”

Sucking your tongue is all it takes for you to give up on trying to persuade him out of what he’s doing. Gojo takes off and throws his jacket to the bedroom floor to let his black fitted tee breathe, and his hands initiate unbuttoning your blouse. He then slithers it down to the bottom of your long pencil skirt to pull up, greeting your undergarments with his digits. You jerk at the contact of his middle finger that presses on the damp spot of your panties, earning a faint, salacious laugh from Gojo.

“Awww, did my baby get wet just from kissing earlier?” He rubs the underwear further, soaking the spot more with your fluids. Your thighs tremble, “Did you miss me that much?”

“Sato—Oooh!” He sinks his finger deeper into your entrance; the material barrier is so wet from your essence seeping through. “Your finger...Mmm.”

“What is it, cutie?” He whispers to your ear, and you have to bite down on your lip to suppress a moan. “You want my fingers?” You nod sheepishly, amusing the snow-haired man. “Now, Y/n, you know I want to hear you tell me what you want. Use your words, princess.”

You gulp to satiate your dry throat. “Yess, Satoruu, I want your fingers. Please, let me cum on your fingers…”

“That’s my angel,” he praises before straightening himself between your sheer pantyhose-covered legs. After sliding your damp panties off, he brings a leg to his shoulder and finally slides his blindfold off his face, his hair losing its spiky position and falling with gravity. Cerulean eyes catch a glimpse of your wet cunt in his sights, biting his lip. “Made such a pretty mess all for me, huh.”

His hand returns to your now bare chasm, sliding his ring and middle finger between your soaking folds. You hum to the touch, gripping on your blouse to use as reins. After a few seconds, he inserts the middle digit inside, immediately going to work after he pulls a gasp from your surprised body.

Slow motions sneak up on you, scraping your velvet texture with the blunt fingertip. His slender digit pushed and pulled from inside you, making sure you took him to the knuckle. He swirls it around, evoking shaky screams from him, scratching your inner walls so diligently. And your eyebrows furrow once the movement quickens.

“Hooohh, ohhh!” You threw your head back to the pillows. “Ahhnn, faster, go faster…”

“Hmm? You want me to go faster?” He teases with a perched brow. He does as asked, but with a catch; he sneaks his ring finger inside with your slick as lube. You shriek, two fingers now ravaging your insides and pleasing you with faster shifts. “Like this?” Did you even have to answer that; were you gripping the sheets and hips moving on their own not enough?

“Oooo, fuahhh, fuuckk, ‘Toru, nooo, y’re making me…Hoohh!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” he kisses your calf before placing his lips on your ankle to lick playfully. “Just let me make you feel all good.”

Fuck did Gojo miss this; it’s been more than a week since he’s had his hands on your body like this. The constant meetings have almost made him forget the warmth and plush of your frame. He needed this, like, BAD. He’s barely containing himself now; the image of your slit taking his fingers so well is bubbling his excitement, and the tent of his pants that shields a boner grows painfully hornier.

You were bound to cum on his fingers in no time, howling with an arched back when he does the ‘come hither’ motion and scrapes your inner walls. They contract around his digits as your legs tremble with the surge of your orgasm. Gojo loves the sight and stirs the fingers to tease your keen nerves more. “Good job, sweetie,” he kisses your ankle again while slowly removing his fingers from you, inserting them inside his mouth to lather his tongue with your juices. He almost caves in just from the taste.

But a sudden buzz in the pocket of his pants alerts him. He brings out his phone ringing with a call and presses the green button before pressing the device to his ear. “Yo, Ijichi.”

“Ah, thank goodness you picked up. Where are you; the meeting starts in a few minutes.”

“Mmm, I’m at Y/n’s,” even if you’re in a tiny daze, your face morphed into an expression of shock at his nonchalant honesty. “I’m only here to grab something real quick, and then I’ll head back to the school.”

“Are you sure…?”

He laughs, “Now, Ijichi, are you calling me a liar?”

That was precisely what he was — a whole liar.

“—Taahh, ahhhn, Sa’oruuuuu! Yer hitting shoo deep in—Saaahh!!”

It’s been a solid fifteen minutes after that call with Ijichi, and Gojo is still in the confines of your bedroom. He was very much late; of course, he was. Why would he not be? He finally has this chance to have you to himself, so he’s indulging it however long he wishes.

Gojo ripped you out of your clothes to meet with his clothing on the floor, leaving you bare and nude for him aside from your pantyhose. You’re lying on your side with one leg up on Gojo’s shoulder while the other is between his, and his cock now pushing to and fro inside your chasm that was filled with his come.

His thrusts were sharp and rough, the curve of his dick jabbing areas in your vagina you never thought would be stimulated. Jesus, his length was dangerous, having you babbling incoherent words to the air and reaching so deep inside that you quaked under him. Your brain is stuck in a haze, especially since this is the second time he’s fucking inside you and made you cum a total of three times!

“Ohhmy, Gohhhd! Sato—Ohhhh…!!” He grasps around your leg to plunge himself further and faster, the work of his pelvis having you see stars.

“Hsshhh, God, you feel so fucking good, baby,” he coos sweetly, juxtaposing with the erratic pace of his hips that move your figure with every rut. Azure orbs take in the display before him; your naked body submitted to him to alleviate his week-long stress and please the both of you. Strands of his silverfish-white hair are drenched from the sweat built on his forehead. “—Hmmgh! Shit…keep clamping onto me like that.”

You chew on your lip, sneaking a hand down on your clitoris to whisk your fingers around it. Oh, it feels so good, playing with yourself as your boyfriend massages your insides. “Mmaaah, s’ good...”

“Hmm, what’s that?” His hips now go slow; the stretch his curve causes when entering inside has your toes curl. “What feels good?” He then snaps his pelvis to startle you.

“—Mmmph!! You! Y’u feel so good, ‘Toruuu..!”

“Heh, you feel amazing yourself, Y/n,” returning to an erratic rhythm, Gojo pumps his cock til the base kisses your squelching folds. His balls smack onto you after every push. He then curves downward for his face to be closer for you to hear him, “Hmmnn, you gonna be good and come again, right?”

You nod cursorily, your eyes shut to enhance the feeling of you rubbing on your bud. “Yesshh, I’m so close, I wanna cum…Want you to fill me u—Uuuhhn!!”

“Jesus, you look so fucking hot,” he grins before bringing his mouth to your nipple, his tongue dancing around the tip to harden. “Let’s cum together, okay, cutie?”

He sucks in your nipple as his thrusts go grim, and severe hits to your cunt result in you wailing far from your control. The tip of his cock picks at your silky walls so euphorically that you hum his name. A hand comes to your chest to keep you steady and synced with him, and he keeps rutting into you even when his body shudders as his load is exerted inside your tight slit. And you’re not far from him either; your orgasm seconds away from his hits you hard, and you quiver in the shocks coursing through your body.

As you two rock slowly through your crescendos, your essence mixes with his seed, and your sweaty bodies heave and pant for the third time this session. Gojo releases your nipple from his mouth after withdrawing his dick from inside, and his jizz seeps out of your frame. “Phew, man, how I needed that.”

You respond despite your brain feeling a bit all over the place. “Are you happy now?”

He laughs while kissing your cheek. “Thank you, princess!”

“You’re welcome, Toru,” you shook your head with a meek smile. “But you really should get going; I don’t want you getting in trouble with—“

KNOCK!! KNOCK!! KNOCK!!

An abrupt sound comes from the front door, confusing the both of you as the knock comes from out of nowhere. Nonetheless, you get up and wipe yourself quickly before putting your clothes back on. Gojo does the same as you walk out of the bedroom to see who’s at your door. And once you open the door, your heart meets your stomach.

“Y/n,” it was Yaga, the principal adorning his usual attire and sunglasses.

“Principal Yaga,” you greeted the older man with a hurried bow. “Wh–What can I do for you—“

“He’s here, isn’t he?”

Your lips flatten at the question, using the silence to speak for itself as you move out of the way for the principal to enter. Yaga apologizes for the intrusion before marching into your apartment and presumably going after the person still in your bedroom, who lets out an exclaimed shout of pain from what you can assume was from a punch to the head from his old teacher.

The former instructor strolls back to the front door where you remained; Gojo is dragged on the floor behind him. “Sorry again for the inconvenience,” Yaga puts his shoes back on before exiting your home. You observe the men leave with a heavy sigh, waving goodbye to your snow-haired sorcerer as he’s pulled across the hall like a toddler.

“See ya, sweetie,” he cries out to you without regard to the neighbors hearing him, putting his blindfold back on. “I miss you already!”

requests/thirsts are open hehe~ 🧸

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pedge-page · 6 months ago

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Joel Dealing with Preggo Wife: Snacks for the Pack

Joel miller x F!Reader

Warnings: some family fluff 🤎

Notes: guys my sister and I moved into our own house, but our dad stops by almost every day to drop something off or fix something in our house, ans he usually brings us something like coffee and bubble yea. It didn't occur to us that we expected it till he came one day and didn't bring us a snacky, and we were disappointed. Thus: this fic is born!

- - - -

Ok, so here's the thing about your Joel. He's so selfless and always thinking about his family, he never consciously realizes it. And that can be a great thing... until you create a pack of spoiled girls in the house who know not what it feels like to not be spoiled 24/7.

So now you, Sarah, Spoon, and Ellie heard the garage, and all subconsciously got up from your spots in the house, lined up at the door, and waited for Joel to come in. He's on the phone when he does, but gives each one of his ladies (even Spoon) a kiss on the head.

But then he just. Keeps walking in. Closes the garage. Drops his keys on the table, and goes straight for his office.

And then four of his duckling family shuffle behind him on cue, in height order of you, Sarah, Spoon, and little Ellie. Eager and patiently awaiting.

He sits down and finishes his call before rubbing his face and opening his laptop. It takes a moment before he realizes 8 eyeballs anxiously staring at him from the doorway. Even Spoon was licking her chops in anticipation.

"Uhhh... can I help you ladies?"

You look very perplexed. "Did you... need help unloading the car?"

"Uh... no. There's nothing left in the truck....?"

"Nothing. Not even like... in the cup holders... or...." you twirl your fingers, hoping it'll suddenly click that he simply put it... somewhere else of course!

Joel's at a complete loss. Did he forget an anniversary? Birthday gift? He didn't say anything before he left to drop off the package at the post office. Yet here you all were with big, pleading eyes expecting something from him.

"You didn't. Get us anything," you say, coming to the disappointing conclusion.

"Wha--no. Was i supposed to? I'm sorry, I dont remember if you had asked"

Well no, we ... never ask but you always just. Bring us a little treat--" God you felt stupid standing here like pavlov's dog trained to salivate when your husband got home.

Honestly he TRAINED you all to be like this!

See, when you were pregnant and suddenly craving snackies every day, Joel got into the habit of just always bringing you something whenever he would come home. A latte, coffee, bubble tea, hot pretzel, frozen slushie, milkshake etc. So much so that you'd feel like you were wagging your imaginary tail and rushing off the couch every time you heard the garage, and eagerly give him a kiss when he presented you with the daily snack.

Well then Sarah came along. He still brought snacks home for you now out of habit, and Sarah got to the point where she'd take a sip or bite from yours. So daddy coming home was very exciting for her indeed. Like a little reward.

But then you got pregnant again. And suddenly sharing ANYTHING with your little girl kinda irked you. So Joel had the very great intuition of just getting her a little something for herself.

Spoon also saw the two of you constantly approaching the door and being rewarded when Joel would come home, so she'd sit patiently, and Joel started bringing little dog treats or pup cups for her too.

Then Ellie came along, and she wasn't much for coffee, but she DID love the little cake pops that the bakery sold.

Joel curls his brows. Thinking about it, he guess he DID usually come home with something, but he never really sets out with intention most days. It's kinda just... a stop along the way. Today he didn't pass a coffee shop so it didn't even occur to him that--

"Daddy, no cake pop?" Baby Ellie asks in his soft, high, sweet little sad voice, twisting her hips with her pouty lips. Her eyes welled up all shiny as if on the brink of tears.

His entire heart shatters in that moment.

Door, keys, ignition, gas.

15 minutes later and Joel is back, balancing an iced coffee, Tea latte, pup cup of whipped cream, and a few cake pops on sticks. You each grabbed what is intended for you ans give him a fat kiss on the cheek before returning to your corners of the house.

Joel blushes with a barely contained grin.

- - - -

Taglist

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#joel dealing with preggo wife #joel miller fan fiction #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfiction #last of us fanfiction #joel miller fic #joel miller fan fic #joel miller fluff #the last of us fluff #last of us fic #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us fic

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moscatosin · 25 days ago

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🖤 inexperienced. tom riddle 🖤 not canon but a girl can dream. oral m!rec. p in v. smut. mdni. have a gin & tonic. 2k

Studying – yep, that’s what you should have been doing. You know, on account of the fact you’d followed Professor Slughorn around the castle earlier in the day for the better part of an hour practically begging for an extension on that potions assignment you’d completely forgotten about. Yet no – as always when it comes to you and your social calendar; a friends simple suggestion of a drink up on the quidditch pitch was enough to have you abandon the quills, ink, tomes and parchments you’d been slaving over for a whopping 15 minutes in the library. Really though, what better way to loosen up and be able to mildly focus on writing a 1500 world paper on Veritaserum that you’d currently scribbled out about 4 words on.

What should have been a quiet few drinks shared between friends had rather quickly turned into something just short of a party. Every single 6th and 7th year had found their way to the pitch – and we mean everyone. You were chatting with your friends when you spotted him – the enigma; Tom Riddle. Who clearly, let’s be honest – a guy like him wouldn’t show up on his own accord, had been ushered along rather reluctantly by Abraxas Malfoy no doubt in an attempt to try and coax him out of his usual cold and hostile solitude.

You had shared classes with Tom for the last seven years and this was the first time, in forever; that you’d witnessed him be mildly social. He’d never been one for revelry – no, this perplexing prodigy held academic achievement higher than any form of social agenda and as such, held an undeniable allure about himself that you oh so desperately wanted to sink your teeth into. Apparently volatile, ever so reserved quietly and very, very easy on the eyes – Tom was the kind of guy who girls lusted over and the boyfriends of these girls, envied.

Rumour had it around the Great Hall that he wasn’t exactly one to date but had broken a few hearts which along with how awkward he could be, led you to believe one thing and one thing only – poor little serpent boy was a virgin and clearly not from lack of opportunity obviously, but more so from a ruthless self-discipline he prescribed himself. Oh, and you – with your sly predators instinct and want to occupy your night with something other than study, could clearly see what was on offer – a boy so dangerously beautiful that he’d be a prize to claim, if only indeed you could unravel him.

Whispering to your friend that you were going to grab another drink, you managed to slink your way through the crowd and over to the cooler boxes where Tom, Abraxas and a few other Slytherin boys stood talking in whispered verses when you by sheer luck, managed to catch his gaze. His eyes meet yours; dark and as sharp as ceramics carved from obsidian before you offer a slow, overly sweet deliberate smile that he responds to with one of his own. Charming.

“It’s pathetic, isn’t it?”, you murmur beneath your breath, just loud enough that Tom will hear, “The need for liquid lubrication to make socializing with another witch or wizard even remotely endurable.”

You’ve managed to catch him hook, line and sinker when you hear him chuckle at your comment which you feel is almost too easy. Perhaps you’ll have no trouble getting the pretty prince of darkness undone. Continuing conversation by explaining that you should be studying – potions, one of his best subjects funnily enough, you offer your dorm up as respite – a safe haven from the chaos which is beginning to unfold. Tom bites; unaware of your true intentions as you glance him over from head to toe in a hope to pierce further into the icy façade that he puts up and aim to draw out a hunger that he may have buried deep within him so. You offer your hand out to take his own and it’s the first time you’ve ever seen him hesitate. His lips thin into a pursed line of uncertainty before his eyes flicker with a hint of intrigue as the rest of him remains rather unreadable.

“C’mon – you could help me study. Who better than to pick the brain of than the Professors prodigy student himself?”

Tom nods; mentioning over his shoulder to his friends that his expertise is needed on a subject and that he might return later before following you towards the castle. It’s undeniable that you feel his gaze on you – lingering at all the places you’d expect; the back of your neck, your hips as they sway, your ass. He’s a typical male really. Easy. Heels clicking against the stone floors of the corridor your dorm is off; each step you take sounds like the sound of a mercy killing as you lure Tom closer to his own chosen defeat.

Your dorm is a sanctuary of shadows and warmth; the air heavy from the faint scent of jasmine candles you forgot to blow out before leaving for the library earlier in the evening which flicker a soft amber glow from your nightstand. The bed is unmade as usual; the sheets a cascade of silk spill rather poetically onto the floor like a lovers invitation you hadn’t even preplanned for. You swore they’d hit the laundry basket when you tossed them in that direction this morning, but a pair of black lace panties; delicate as a whisper, lay discarded near the foot of your bed. Tom’s eyes catch on them; and for an ever-fleeting moment, you watch he his composure faulters. As he takes a sharp intake of breath before tightening his jaw to withhold anything that could potentially be said. Oh he’s so restrained and so untried that it’s amazing that the sight of lace would have his boy start to betray him. It isn’t difficult for you to notice how his cock strains against the inside of his perfectly tailored trousers like a silent confession of desire that he’s never had the pleasure of indulging himself within. You savour the crack in his armour. Pulse quickening at the immediate thought of being the girl to shatter him.

As you start to ask him questions on anything vaguely related to potions that you can think of – best type of cauldron for brewing antidotes, top 3 ingredients to have on hand at all times, blah – blah – things you couldn’t care less about but try, somewhat to make Tm comfortable, you guide Tom towards the bed – fingers as light as a spell, but firm enough to make his breath again hitch. He sits; well – like a trained pet although a little rigid as his eyes follow your every move with a storm of want and curiosity. You drop to your knees before with him a smirk; double tucking stray hair behind your ears as your hands shift with practiced grace to slowly undo his belt and zipper, reverent.

His cock springs free from the constraints it was trapped within; and oh it’s thick and heavy and just as pretty as he. The tip is throbbing with a pearl of precum you can’t wait to get a taste of and the length pulsing with a desire Tom has never allowed himself to acknowledge. The dorm goes quiet as the first graze of your fingers both soft and teasing manage to draw a low, shuddering exhale from him. he sounds like he could be both an angel and a sinner. His hands clench into fists at his sides as if already struggling to maintain control and you promise him that what he’s experiencing is completely natural and that there’s nothing to be self-ashamed of.

“Tom, you need to relax for this to be enjoyable”, you explain and boy; by the time the tip of your tongue has swiped that precum off his tip and your lips have shifted to close around him – mouth warm like a velvet glove of promise against his skin, Tom has no other option but to let his restraint start to fray.

Every move you make is with an exquisite slowness as you savour the way Tom begins to give in. You learn that he doesn’t mind the feeling of your tongue against the underside of his cock and that he definitely has a soft spot for when you use both your mouth and your hand that makes his hips twitch. The scent of him; clean, faint cedar, aged ink; is intoxicating. Tom is so wound up, so unaccustomed to surrender that with each drag of your tongue and every subtle twist of your hand pushes him closer and closer to almost breaking. It’s your eyes though; oh so warm and doe-like in their expression that has him spilling into your mouth the second you glance up at him all innocently. He manages to just stifle a groan as he watches you swallow every drop before smiling at the way his cheeks have flushed. Licking your lips; you watch how his cock twitches and is already beginning to harden again under the weight of your still stroking hand.

Tom lets out a sigh, followed by a ‘fuck’ – you weren’t aware he even had it in him to swear, although you are aware you want him in you. you’re craving more, need more; desperately. Hands swooping up his chest, you push him back against the bed and climb on top; lips finding his jaw to pepper kisses up towards his ear before asking him if he’s okay with all this. He nods, desperately; in silence, unable to comprehend exactly what is happening but knowing what he wants as you pull your skirt up, push your underwear to the side and straddle him – body hovering low enough that you feel his cock sweep between your folds; teasing him for a few seconds before sinking down onto his length.

Your cunt is tight. Slick. Taking him in completely and a broken sound escapes from deep within his chest – a half whimper, half prayer as he begs you not to stop with the single word of ‘please’. His eyes are half shut; head tilted back as you do all the work and ride him with a rhythm that’s both innocent yet indecent. Hands bracing against his chest, feeling the rapid drum of his heart against his ribs, Tom’s find your waist, dropping slowly to dig his fingers into your hips in a desperate attempt to anchor himself into the reality that you’re both in. Oh this could have been so much more intimate and so much sexier if you weren’t still wearing your house colours but fuck it – each roll of your hips pulls in him deeper and it isn’t long until Tom’s completely lost within the moment. Breaths sharp and ragged – both of yours, not just his; Tom’s lips part in a silent surrender as his eyes roll back and he spills into you with a dire greed.

When you’re both finished; Tom is a vision of perfection in ruin – his hair dishevelled, his skin flushed, his gaze glassy, his skin trembling with the aftershock of you. You roll off of him and hit the mattress with a thud; placing one hand on your heart to try and steady your breath as your free hand finds his and you intertwine your fingers together having enjoyed the hit of sexual ecstasy.

“You should stay tonight”, you whisper as he turns his head to look at you; eyes locking. “I really could use the help studying in the morning.”

It’s both the truth and a lie. You’re aware you’ve broken past Tom’s defences, claimed what should still have been the unclaimable and for that he’ll carry you with him – his memory forever to replay the heat of your skin, the silk of your touch, the warmth of your tongue, the ache of wanting more. This won’t be all you get up to tonight.

Hopefully.

It will only be a matter of time before he becomes utterly addicted to you and drawn back over and over and well.. hopefully once the sun rises not only will you of had your dick fix, but you might be able to persuade him to help him finish that assignment that god, you really should have been studying for.

#hogwarts #slytherin #hogwarts universe #moscatosin #slytherin boys #tom riddle #tom marvolo riddle #tom riddle smut #tom marvolo riddle smut #tom riddle fanfiction #tom riddle one shot #tom riddle x reader #tom riddle x y/n #tom riddle fan fic #tom riddle x you #tom riddle oneshot

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ywpd-translations · 2 months ago

Text

Ride 817: Takadajou's strategy

Pag 1

1: I see them, Jou-san!!

2: Ahead!!

3: Kyofushi is 200m ahead of us!!

And Naruko is 100m ahead of them

4: Let's switch, Naruko

Now it's my turn!!

6: Hakogaku is switching the lead

Now the one running in front is

Pag 2

1: number 12, Hakone Acadey's control tower, the third year Takadajou Rei!!

Pag 3

1: Woah, they changed the lead so quicky!!

Oh....

2: Is this how you change lead?

So efficient

Just now, that Takadajou guy

3: passed number 11 on the left, so close it looked like they were going to collide

4: He matched the deceleration of his partner and moved ahead smoothly, as if slipping

Pag 4

1: Like the pocket of your clothes you're used to have store your phone in

2: Unlike MTB, road racing involves a lot of wind resistance for a long period of time

3: Since 60% of the wind resistance is met by the person in the lead, the ones riding behind don't lose much energy

4: In a long match of road racing the loss of energy accumulates, so even small actions like taking turns should be done without wasting energy

5: Moreover, just now they didn't simply “switch”

6: He moved ahead while accelerating and intentionally leaved a gap behind for a moment

7: To close it....

Pag 5

1: We behind had to step on!!

3: Basically, he's making us consume our energy

So while switching, he's also attacking

4: This guy is the type to use his head well while running, yon!!

Pag 6

1: Now, what should I do?

2: The distance is 200m, and ahead of that it's 100m

3: Should I wait until Kyofushi catches Naruko and then swallow them?

4: Or should I decelerate on purpose and let Gunma get ahead?

5: Or, like Kyofushi, should I tear off the ones behind us and join those ahead?

Pag 7

1: Alright, here's a quiz, Yuuto

Which one of the following is the correct way to catch those ahead of us?

2: Wait a sec, Jou-san

3: There are three options!!

4: You should stop grinning and asking quizzes when the race is reaching its climax

I told you before, didn't I?

5: You told me?

6: That if you have an answer then just do it

We really are at the climax – there are....

Pag 8

1: 2km until the finish line!!

2km left until the finish line of the Inter High's first day!!

Pag 9

1: They're chasing the three people ahead!!

The distance is around 100m!! Kanagawaa!!

They're so fast!

2: They're coming into view!!

3: Indeed

Right?!?

4: It's a shame to see your perplexed expression, Yuuto

The quiz's answer....

5: Me? Perplexed?

.. was none of the three

Ah!?

It's the fourth one...

Pag 12

1: “Only catch....”

Pag 13

1: “Kyofushi”

Pag 14

2: Hakogaku accelerated in a moment...!! And they.... they caught Kyofushi!!

3: Who's that four-eyes with the square glasses

He's terribly fast!!

4: Ehi!! The quiz is alright, but if you plan on accelerating please tell me!!

I really am perplexed!!

5: …. mi

6: …. mi

7: Oi, look, Kyofushi's assist moved back a little

Pag 15

1: I couldn't... catch up..... with the red guy.... mi

2: Hacchobori-kuun....

3: And then.... they caught up from behind...

…. mi

4: This guy.... that face....!!

So...rry

5: Puku, but there's still work to do?

This is bad!!

Recover!!

Hacchobori-kuun, if

6: we fall behind in a moment like this..

Recover!!

This guy....

Pag 16

1: is losing sight of the goal!!

2: Tch

3: Kyofushi's number 46 is falling behind!!

What's going on!?

4: Losing sight of the goal....!!

5: When running in road races both stamina and emotional strength are pushed to the utmost limits!!

Especially before the finish line!!

Pag 17

1: For cyclists, their “goal” supports their minds

If they don't have that....!! That's the reason he fell behind

3: So the ones who you should be the most wary of are the ones who have their goals!!

Pag 18

2: Are you kidding me, Kyofushi really was swallowed? The Kyofushi who was supposed to be chasing me!?

3: That was Hakogaku's four-eyes Jou!! The guy Kabu talked about!!

4: Oruaaaaaa!!

Pag 19

1: Kyofushi's aim was to “absorb the lead”.... if they did that, it would have been too late

Completing an event creates the next goal

2: So I absorbed Kyofushi first!!

3: Now if we go a few hundred of meters further we'll be able to naturally absorb Naruko, too

Ugh!! This guy thinks so much it pisses me off!!

4: Even so, isn't it cruel that among the three options the right one was the fourth one?

5: I prepared the fourth one on purpose

Pag 20

1: Because in road races things always go beyond expectations

2: I don't really get what he's saying, but

As expected, when his bangs fall down, Jou-san snaps

3: By the way, your acceleration earlier was amazing, do you have a name for it?

4: Yeah

5: “The euclidean speed of sound”

The origin is always euclidean!!

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twinklingstar1ights · 5 months ago

Text

Wrong Number

Sunwoo Summary: A text that was meant for your best friend ends up going to Sunwoo. At first you wanted to die of embarrassment, yet you still find yourself texting him for some reason. WC:~2.5k Warning:none

photo not mine credits to owner.

“This is why I told you it was a bad idea to use your phone while taking a bath,” you told your best friend as you typed their new number into your phone.

“Look it wasn’t like I was planning on drowning it in the tub,” they responded. “Plus I needed a new phone anyway,” they added.

“Yeah a phone that was a little over a year old was just on its last days,” you remarked, causing your best friend to scoff.

“Ok, whatever,” they say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know you’re going to think that I’m being stupid but Jay may or may not have texted me asking to go out and I may or may not have said yes.

Sunwoo stares very perplexed at the text from a random number that appeared on his phone screen.

Sorry I think you texted the wrong number.

He texted back.

You feel your stomach drop. Of course your best friend would get their new number wrong and now you’ve texted a complete stranger about your dumb relationship decisions. “Haha sorry” you type out. No, I can't send that. You delete the text. “Oops sorry” No. Again you delete the words. “Sorry to bother you” That could work or maybe not. While you're trying to figure out how to apologize to the stranger you just texted, another text comes in from them.

If you know it’s a stupid idea to go out with whoever this Jay guy is, why would you say yes though?

Sunwoo couldn’t help it. He was nosy and maybe he could stop a bad relationship before it started. That’s what he tells himself. He’s helping a poor soul avoid a no good situation. Not sticking his nose in a stranger's business.

Well Umm …cause I like him

You don’t know why you responded to the stranger. It really wasn’t any of his business. Though it’s not like you could talk to your best friend about it right now, so maybe that’s why you responded.

Ah so you like a trash guy?

Well that was blunt you think looking at the text.

He’s not trash!

You argued, despite knowing that Jay was indeed trash. He already stood you up before with the excuse that he got caught up with work. It wasn’t even a good lie, but you chose to believe it nonetheless.

Sunwoo chuckled at your text on his screen. This Jay guy was clearly trash.

Then why is going out with him stupid?

Ok so maybe he’s not the best guy, but I still like him God no wait that sounds so pathetic Why am I like this?

Again Sunwoo laughs as your text ring in. Whoever you were, you were clearly a poor girl caught up on a trash guy.

It’s ok at least you’re self aware

You scoff seeing the stranger’s response.

Look I know I look really pathetic right now, but haven’t you ever liked someone despite knowing you’re better off without them?

You prompted.

Sunwoo wishes that he could say that he hasn’t but he has. He’s like someone that he shouldn’t have and he’s held on too tightly to friendships that were dying.

I have But you should really do yourself a favor an cancel that date Save yourself the hurt

Your lips tug into a line, looking down at your phone. Save yourself the hurt. Do yourself a favor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You didn’t do yourself a favor. Jay was thirty minutes late to your twos date. You check your phone for the nth time looking for a text from Jay. There was none. Just when you were about to leave.

“So sorry I’m late!” It was Jay. “My boss sprung last minute work on us,” he excused. You wanted to believe it, so you did.

“It’s ok. I’m glad that you’re here,” you smiled at him.

“Me too,” he smiled at you taking his seat. See he wasn’t a trash guy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe you actually went out with him!” your best friend scolds you through the phone.

“It was a nice date!” you defended.

“He was thirty minutes late!” they reminded you.

“I told you that was cause of his boss,” you said.

“Do you really believe that? If he was going to be late he should have told you,” they argued. You couldn’t argue back against that. You know Jay should have told you that he was going to be late, yet you still dumbly chose to dismiss it.

“He should have, but wants to go out again and he promised he would be on time this time,” you say.

“Oh my god you’re really going to keep seeing him? Y/n he’s playing with you!” your best friend states.

“No he’s not!” you refuted. “I’ll prove you wrong too,” you insisted.

“He’s the one who has to prove me wrong,” they corrected.

“Whatever, just wait and see. He and I are gonna be happy together.” With that you end the call.

So if a guy was thirty minutes late to a date then promised that he wouldn’t be late to the next one, would you believe him?

You found yourself texting the stranger again.

Sunwoo sighs, shaking his head when he receives your text. You weren’t doing yourself a favor, you were digging yourself a hole.

As a guy I’m telling you not to believe him If a guy is late to a date he’s not serious about you

So this stranger is a guy you think. You sigh after reading the rest of his messages though. All signs point to not going out with Jay, but keep turning a blind eye to them.

What if he really was caught up with work though?

You couldn’t help it. You had to give Jay the benefit of the doubt.

It takes seconds to shoot a text

Again you sigh. You know that, but you don’t want to fault Jay.

I know

Did you at least call him out for it?

…

Sunwoo shakes his head in disbelief. How could a girl let herself get treated like that?

Please don’t go out with him again You deserve better

Even a stranger is telling you that you deserve better.

Thanks

That’s not an “I won’t” My name is Sunwoo btw

Y/n and I’ll think about it

You type Sunwoo’s name into the contact, feeling a feeling that you can’t describe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You thought about it, but you still ended up going on that date with Jay. Who was only fifteen minutes late this time. This time his excuse was having to help his mom. He didn’t even bother to say what he was supposedly helping her with. To make things worse you didn’t even ask, you just took his word for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe you agreed to be with him! Like officially!” Yes Jay was your boyfriend now and your best friend was not so happy about it to say the least.

“He’s really not that bad,” you argued.

“Not that bad,” they quoted giving you a face.

“Ok I worded that wrong, but you know how much I like him and he likes me,” you say.

“For now,” your best friend whispered under their breath.

“Hey-” You were cut off by the sound of your phone going off. It was a text.

“Please tell me that’s not him,” your best friend begged.

“No, it’s Sunwoo,” you inform.

“Sunwoo?” they question.

“Yeah the stranger I ended up texting when you gave me the wrong number,” you tell.

“You still talk to him?” Now your best friend was more interested in your continued talking with Sunwoo than your poor relationship choices.

“Yeah we talk,” you said.

“About what?” they arched a playful brow at you.

“...Jay”

“Oh,” your best friend says very unimpressed. “Well what does he think of Jay?”

“Same as you. That I should do myself a favor and not be with him,” you answer.

“I like this Sunwoo guy. Date him instead,” they insist.

“Aye it’s not like that,” you say.

“But certainly there is some reason that you’re still texting him. Even found out his name,” they pointed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey Sunwoo What do you do for work? Or are you still going to school?

Suddenly interested in me? Did you end things with that piece of trash? I work at an instrument repair shop though

No I’m still with Jay I was just curious

Sunwoo feels a pang of disappointment in his chest. He hated knowing that you were with someone who was no good for you.

Oh Well what do you do for work?

I work in advertising

That actually sounds cool Do you like it?

It can be a hassle at times but overall I enjoy it

Sunwoo’s and your conversation drifted away from the topic of Jay. Instead talking about your daily lives. You find that you did quite like Sunwoo as a person. He could be a bit blunt and a menace sometimes, but he was nice overall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok you seriously need to break up with this Jay guy

You feel slightly confused by Sunwoo’s newest text. You knew that he didn’t like Jay by any means, but to say that you should break up with him so randomly was odd.

Umm excuse you??

No seriously you are so beautiful

He sends you an attached image of yourself.

Too beautiful to be with a piece of trash

Stalking me now

You text playfully.

I simply searched for your company it’s not my fault your photo comes up as a part of the staff

You couldn’t help yourself from looking up Sunwoo. You feel like your world freezes as you look at his picture.

Sunwoo you’re single right?

Why? Wanna break up with Jay after seeing my picture?

No I just mean with a face like your certainly you would have someone

I suppose there is someone I’m interested in But they’re currently with a piece of trash so

Sunwoo

You know I’m right

Normally Sunwoo didn’t mind too much when you left him on read, but given what he just said, he does feel a slight panic when you stop responding. Maybe he said too much. Maybe he was a little too blunt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You haven’t texted Sunwoo in weeks. His half-confession was affecting you way more than it should have been. You were with Jay. You liked Jay, so how come all you could think about was Sunwoo? How come your heart skipped a beat at Sunwoo saying he was interested in you? Why do you miss seeing Sunwoo’s name light up your phone screen?

“Why are you so moppy? Did Jay do something?” Your best friend asks, plopping down beside you on your couch.

“What? No he’s…Jay” you reply.

“That’s it? He’s Jay? Did you finally realize how horrible he is? Is that it?” your best friend does a bad job at hiding the bit of excitement in their voice.

“Could you give it a rest Sunwoo is a great guy!” you state.

“Sunwoo?” Your best friend's eyes widen as do yours upon the realization that you said his name and not Jay’s.

“I-I meant-”

“No, no you said Sunwoo,” they cut you off. You sigh, sinking into the couch and bringing your hands to your face. “What’s going on?” they questioned.

“I don’t know. A few weeks ago Sunwoo told me that he was interested in me and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since,” you explain.

“Interested in you? Like he wants to date you?” your best friend checks.

“I think so,” you say.

“You think so?” they repeat.

“I haven’t talked to him since,” you tell.

“Oh my god! Y/N!” they shout.

“I know!” you shout back. “It’s just….I might be interested in him too,” you admit. “But I don’t know, I’m confused.”

“Do you miss him?” they asked you.

“Yeah, a lot actually,” you answer.

“Miss who?” they questioned.

“Sunwoo. Who else would-oh.” Jay. It only occurs to you now that you haven’t spoken to Jay in a couple days.

“You like Sunwoo,” your best friend states.

“Yeah, I do,” you finally admit to yourself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re breaking up with me? You? With me?” Jay pointed at you then at himself offendedly.

“Yeah, I am,” you declare.

“No! Why? You were so pathetically in love with me. Now you’re breaking up with me?” he says.

“Pathetically?” You repeat.

“Yeah pathetically. I stood you up once. Then continued to be late to our dates, but you never even said anything. Even believed my lies. I was never really busy, I just didn’t care to be on time,” he reveals. It’s nothing you didn’t already know though.

“I know that you were lying, but yeah you were right I used to like you so pathetically that I decided to turn a blind eye to it, but not anymore I’m done with you Jay,” you end things. Jay scoffs.

“Fine, I’ve been seeing other girls anyway.” With that he walks away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your fingers repeatedly tap against the small table of the cafe you were currently at. Foot bouncing up and down as you looked down at the unsent text in the text bar.

I broke up with Jay

You stare anxiously at the text. It has been close to a month now since you last texted Sunwoo. As you wait for his response you begin to think that you ruined things between you and him.

Finally!

His response came through. A relieved breath leaves your lungs. A smile adorns your lips as you look at his name on your phone.

So when you said you were interested in me

“I meant that I liked you.”

You looked up surprised at the sudden voice beside you.

“Sunwoo? What are you doing here?” Sunwoo chuckles as he slides into the seat across from you on the other side of the table.

“I saw you post this cafe on your story and since you’ve been avoiding me I thought maybe it was time we met in person,” he explained.

“So you are stalking me?” you say playfully. Sunwoo smiles at your playfulness.

“So why did you finally break up with him?” he questioned.

“Cause you were right he was trash,” you say. “And maybe I realized that I liked this stranger I texted on accident,” you confess.

“So I didn't upset you?” Sunwoo asked, feeling relieved.

“Upset me?”

“The last time we texted I thought maybe I upset you or made you uncomfortable by telling you that I was interested in you and that you should leave that piece of trash for me,” he chuckled at the end.

“No, I started to be confused about who I really liked after you said that. I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” you explained.

“Well I can’t stop thinking about you either,” he says. He reached his hand across the table to hold yours. You hold his hand back, enjoying the feeling of his palm covering yours. It felt right. “Let me take you out on a date,” he said. Obviously you agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re early,” you say walking up to Sunwoo as you arrive at your date spot.

“I couldn’t wait to see you,” he replied, taking your hand in his and bringing it up to kiss your knuckles.

Yeah you were so glad that your best friend messed up and gave you the wrong number, Sunwoo’s number.

#the boyz x reader #tbz x reader #the boyz imagines #tbz imagines #sunwoo x reader #kim sunwoo x reader #kim sunwoo imagines #sunwoo imagines #sunwoo #kim sunwoo #the boyz fanfic #the boyz fluff #tbz sunwoo #kpop x reader #kpop imagines

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searsage · 2 months ago

Text

Robin: Oh! Wow… I thought you said they wernt predatory.."

Al-an: They are not, however during breeding season the females of this species are quite aggressive in their pursuit of a mate. Though veying for attention may appear…questionable. I am confident its nothing your human companion can not handle."

Robin: what?!

Al-an: Do not fear Robin, I am starting to believe that Ryley's overzealous hypothesis was indeed correct, he is in possession of this revolutionary adaptation your species commonly refer to as 'Rizz'..a trait that i supposedly lack."

Ryley: HEEEELP! Oh god I think it wants to bite my nu-fuck! H-Hey back off man!!

Al-an: Ryley you are mistaken, they are all female, your confusion is however forgivable as the females of this species undergo little sexual dymorphisim.

Robin: Aw he said that..? Don't worry women like nerds. So I think your rizz fine.

Al-an: Thank you Robin. Now would you please fetch me a tablet, it is important i record research notes, I believe Ryley is establishing a power dynamic!

Robin: Really…? I think he's just trying to not get his testicles excised…

Al-an: A notable sacrifice for science…

Ryley: Heeeeelp!

Robin: I mean, your not wrong…

Al-an: Perhaps we should deploy a pheromone pod into the nearby biomes, it would attract a larger sample size?

Ryley: OW DAMN IT MY ASS! - GUYS?!?

Robin:You think that would effect anything..?"

Al-an: Theoretically an increase in opposition would increse enthusiasm, which wouldn't harm our study of the species courtship rituals…

Ryley: Come on guys this isn't funny! Ow!

Robin: Courtship..? I'm more perplexed by his uncanny ability to survive in the most challenging enviroments. In this case in the midst of a megafauna catfight.

Ryley: Wait-wait stop! Fuuuuuck!!!"

Al-an: Yes both are notable phenomenon.

Robin: How about I handle logging his escape efforts you handle the girls."

Al-an Very well, please initiate the pheromone drop, i expect things to get very exciting soon!"

Rylwy: Fuck my liiife!!"

Al-an: I do not believe you'd appreciate such actions in your current predicament..

Robin: He's just screaming out a exclamations big guy, he's not being literal."

Al-an: Oh. I see..Good! Robin please instruct him to scream louder, the females of this species are often enticed by males with the shrillist of beckoning calls, it is imperative he screams like his life depends on it."

Robin: Rodger. Hey Ry! We need a bigger sample size! could you turn it up a-"

Ryley: AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Robin: That's the spirit!"

#robin ayou #sbz #ryley robinson #al an #Al-an #al an subnautica #Sbz #subnatica below zero #subnautica #This is why you dont merry scientists

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temporary-joyride · 5 months ago

Text

Thoughts I am Thinking about after Bridon finale

In love with the frame of unimpressed LG and distressed CXS after the latter thinks his friend signed him up for sex work

Episode name fits. A perplexing one indeed.

"Why is it every time you look at me you have this murderous intent in your eyes?" is such a killer line I love it

The whiplash I got from Vein speaking perfectly normal Chinese only to bust out "what a pity!' in the most British accent ever

No way it means literally anything but I just found it interesting how Vein and LX say the same phrase in this ep. Different circumstances, same conclusion. What a pity.

"They say she can see right through someone in just 5 minutes" really great psychologist? Ranpo-level detective? Got some sort of other supernatural shenanigans running amuck? Only time will tell

THINKING SO HARD ABOUT "I know I can't stop you. But I can make you stay a little longer" SHAKING LINK CLICK BY ITS SHOULDERS- WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? WHAT EXACTLY DOES HE MEAN BY THAT???

The FUCK do you know, LG? It's ok you can tell me

So much to talk about but I'm 100% caught up on this. "But I can make you stay a little longer" I'm gonna leave the Xia Fei and CXS mom stuff to you guys, I'll take care of this one and think about it every waking second for the next two weeks dw

Allowing CXS an extra few moments to connect with his mom? Mmmmm sure. It's not like CXS promised to drop it all and not get anyone else involved, not like LG would have any way of knowing mother and son were talking unless son broke that promise

Genuinely not even joking I thought LG was trying to delay Vein by a few moments to get him hit by a bus or something

What exactly happened is even crazier. What was that, man. What was that. My guy's doing voodoo over here when did he learn that.

"I don't want to change the past. I just want to lead us all to a new future.." not entirely sure those statements are all that different but go off

LG screwed as hell Xia Fei was so serious about finding his boss's killer.

Or... non-killer? How long do you think until he learns Vein is still alive?? Imagine Xia Fei killing CXS in their photo studio in Vein's stead. Picture it. I'm having a vision here.

Pretty fun season but maybe a little awkward? Perhaps just because of the fandom on tumblr but I feel like I was so freaking immersed s1&2 but Bridon felt so silly at times I couldn't take it seriously

hrnngh one timeline, he says. over and over. what does it all mean. how does fate play out. if we're looping only one timeline multiple times then why does it feel like it's slipping through my fingers. the clock is melting right here in my palm. ripples in the stream at my feet. im not sure where the present even is anymore-

time's up!

#kennacanthink #link click #link click spoilers #bridon arc #link click theory #sort of #come back in a few days ill have a theory about the little longer line #hmmmm thinking thoughts #lu guang #cheng xiaoshi #xia fei #link click vein

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makeste · 2 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 406: Secret Menu Hero Name

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was all “NOT EVEN DEATH ITSELF CAN STOP ME!!!” and saved All Might so easily and spectacularly that it immediately became clear why Horikoshi had to keep him on ice for fourteen months straight. All Might was all “thanks for the assist Bakugou-shounen, now please allow me to show my gratitude by lending you my SWEETASS ROBOT ARM that nearly gave makeste a fucking heart attack when she saw it, HOLY SHIT.” Kacchan was all “I JUST LIKE TO SMILE, SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” and he smiled the BIGGEST EVER and indeed has literally not STOPPED smiling ever since, and my heart is warm. <3333

Today on BnHA: A jubilant menace stirs in the air. A chill runs down Kid For One’s spine. A sudden crash behind him. He whirls around, only to be met with the face of Chaos itself in all its raucous glory. The boy is relentless. His pursuit, unending. His blows, unyielding. And his mirth, as perplexing as it is petrifying. What the fuck. Why won’t he stop laughing. He’s laughing. Horikoshi is laughing. The readers are all laughing. You’re laughing. Kid For One is shitting his pants while this cackling sleep paralysis demon gleefully chips away at his frail sanity, one frenetic BOOM at a time. And you’re laughing. :|

doo de doo, don’t mind me, just gonna scroll past the first couple pages of this chapter so I don’t get spoiled for the outcomes of all the other mini-battles I haven’t finished catching up with yet :’)

though I already caught a glimpse of a bloodied-up Shouji before I realized what was happening, so unfortunately that particular cat is now out of the bag. can’t believe the suspense of whether or not Shouji would survive his fight is now completely ruined for me. can you even imagine how tense it would have been wondering whether or not Shouji would get killed off. ...and you know what, even as I type this, I’m realizing that this is really not the type of sarcasm that translates very well across the internet, lol. and even if it did, it could just as easily come across as “WOW, MAKESTE REALLY DOESN’T CARE ABOUT SHOUJI AT ALL, HUH” sarcasm, rather than the “it’s not that serious guys, it’s just that there’s no possible way Horikoshi could ever convince me that he was actually going to kill off one of the kids” sarcasm it was intended as! so yeah. you know what, I’m just going to shut up about all this now and move on. glad he’s okay though

so now back to the Main Character Battlefield, where Kacchan is currently having way too good of a time for someone who actually WAS killed off by Horikoshi fairly recently

All Might is all “he’s so fast!” and yeah he really is lol. ngl, I had a fair amount of Kacchan endgame theory stuff riding on his ability to meaningfully upgrade his speed, so all of this is very satisfying to hear! and to be fair, I do wonder how much of it is owed to the boost from Gearshift as opposed to Katsuki’s own newly acquired exploding bloodsweat. but I’d like to think that even without GS he’s still incredibly fucking fast at this point. like easily still a Top 3 BnHA Speedy Boi

well shit lol now Edgeshot is reminding everyone that even prior to his “death”, Kacchan was briefly able to surpass Tomura’s speed with his upgrade

well there you have it! so yeah, that basically confirms he’s currently even faster than All Might was at his peak. just a homicidal little comet casually zipping around all of these other slowpokes

lol

just for the record, I still have no clue how Kacchan’s bizarre new upgrade actually works, but I am fairly certain that sweat is NOT SUPPOSED TO EVER DO THAT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

like seriously though Kacchan, doesn’t this hurt? like at all?

(ETA: hahahaha. ouch.)

well whatever!! if Tomura was able to bypass Erasure’s loopholes with all of his hand nonsense, then Kacchan’s sweat has my permission to zoom around inside his bloodstream and randomly explode inside him to somehow make him faster without actually harming him in any way, AND THAT’S FINE. the time for nitpicking ended roughly around the same time that a soft-spoken paracord man dove inside of him to forcefully restart his organs

LOL

“DON’T GET ME WRONG, I COULD EASILY KILL HIM ANY TIME I WANT! I JUST DON’T FUCKING FEEL LIKE IT RIGHT NOW, OKAY. THAT’S DEFINITELY WHAT IT IS, AND IT’S DEFINITELY NOT BECAUSE HE JUST EXPLODED ME SO HARD THAT I SAW THE FOURTH DIMENSION”

meanwhile back in Dekutown it looks like Tomura has maybe finally broken free of his impromptu Blackwhip toddler leash

whatever man. how are you still not redeemed yet since I last saw you in chapter 369. you had like an entire year’s worth of chapters. get it together already!!

lol what in the actual fuck is “instadeath”

is this just a Funny Ha Ha fanscan way of referring to Decay?? or were there some additional Tomura quirk developments that I missed out on which were somehow even wilder than the infinityhands

Deku keeps saying that he’s for serious REALLY going to run out of Gearshifts now, but I don’t fucking believe a word this kid says tbh

it will be the “final one” once the fight is finally over, and not a moment sooner. if I know anything about Deku, which I do. and Gearshift, which to be fair I really don’t

-- oh, fuck yeah

what the hell is up with that swirly hand shit though, Kid For One. you better knock that off right now

OH MY GOD THIS FUCKING GUY FOR REAL THOUGH!!

:/ well at least this time you’re being ignored because he’s actually scared shitless of you. shh. don’t tell anyone

holy shit this chapter keeps hitting me with these random bits of information Destiel meme-style and it’s the wildest fucking thing

so while I did obviously clue in to the fact that something must have gone down in the Endeavor+Hawks+Toko+Jirou VS AFO battle, on account of AFO very clearly not being in Jakku anymore, I have not yet caught up to that part of the series, so I don’t actually know anyone’s status! hopefully they’re all alive and relatively unmaimed! although they very clearly failed at their One Job, but oh well

that being said, “AS STRONG AS DARK SHADOW” looooooool omg. DS what did you do. my boy left an impression. I cannot wait to read that, oh goodness

KFO YOU LITTLE TWERP, DIDN’T ANYONE EVER TELL YOU YOU SHOULDN’T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER PEOPLE OR ELSE YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR OWN WEAKNESSES

seems like someone ought to have told you that. could have spared you a lot of pain and agitation to come. more’s the pity

hee hee hee

hello there

so now my feral wolfchild is having a big internal monologue about how he’s finally mastered his new superquirk through the power of being an unrepentant masochist

fsdkfj. listen up Kid For One, he may be “nothing but a pebble”, but I promise you, if you could fucking hear this kid’s thought processes right now, you would already be halfway across the planet. living out the rest of your days in hiding while checking underneath your bed every night to make sure this little hobgoblin isn’t secretly waiting there to pounce at you

FSDLKFJSLDKJFL SDFLKWJEFLKWLF WLKJFLDKS

(ETA: you guys will never believe this but I found a sneak peak of the as-yet-unreleased soundtrack which will accompany this scene in season seven of the anime! SPOILER ALERT!!!)

ACTUAL GHOUL. I AM ACTUALLY SCREAMING. MY SON HAS BECOME GENUINE NIGHTMARE FUEL

THIS IS MY FAVORITE, FAVORITE, FAVORITE THING EVER YOU GUYS. HOLY SHIT. I CAN’T BREATHE OMFG

OUCH. HA! HAHA.

(ETA: once again, I know this sounds highly improbable, but I actually found some 100% authentic footage from the anime version of this scene! I’m telling ya. once this hits the airwaves minds are gonna be blown.)

HE IS THE “WHO” WHEN YOU CALL “WHO’S THERE”!!! HE IS THE WIND BLOWING THROUGH YOUR HAIR

you have to admit though, this really is the exact type of behavior you’d expect from someone who literally just got spat back out from the pits of hell

oh my god hold up what is this sudden tonal whiplash?

you guys I seriously had to sit back and take a deep breath and calm myself down for a moment, because Final Form Katsuki is just So Much. like actually just THE MOST. that I had to physically force myself to slow down and take these next few panels seriously and resist the urge to keep on making jokes about how CLEARLY EVEN HIS PARENTS ARE TERRIFIED. LOOK AT THEM. MASARU IS SOBBING AND MITSUKI’S HAND IS TREMBLING. IN THE WORLD’S MOST EPIC TWIST, AFO GOES DOWN ONLY TO BE REPLACED BY KACCHAN HIMSELF AS THE FINAL VILLAIN!!!

but yeah I had to stop and calm down from all of that because, oh. Masaru has his head in his hands. and Mitsuki’s trying to get him to turn around, but her hand really is shaking though. and it just really hit me that the two of them have spent the last... thirty minutes...?? swept up in the highs and lows of almost losing their child, and then getting him back, and then watching him be so strong and so good and SAVING ALL MIGHT and RESTORING EVERYONE’S HOPES AND DREAMS. and they must be so incredibly proud, but at the same time he’s still caught up in this fight, and the fight is still not over, and they know the tide could still turn again at any moment. and I can’t even imagine what that must be like. especially with them having already watched their son die once today

oh my god Horikoshi you cannot freaking do this to me!

goddammit. and now I’m all caught up in my Bakufam feels. DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI, THE MITSUKI TEARS WERE THE LOWEST OF BLOWS

and now Kid For One is once again whining about this “pebble” who’s pissing him off even worse than All Might. you love to see it!

OH MY GOD?!?!

oh my lord?! is it finally happening?? ARE WE FINALLY GETTING THAT SWEET, SWEET CONTEXT AT LONG LAST? WILL A MAN FINALLY HAVE A NAME??

-- Horikoshi I swear to god

YEAH NO SHIT. NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, THEY DO KIND OF BEAR A RESEMBLANCE. YOU KNOW, IF YOU SQUINT

okay, color me intrigued. so that is indeed why AFO was crying when we previously saw this flashback! this is actually so interesting to me, because it’s literally the one and only time he’s ever shown real emotion outside of generic battle-related stuff (anger, shock, surprise, etc.)

so he says Kacchan pisses him off because he looks like Two. and every time he gets reminded of Two, he remembers how his brother died. and, I guess, made him feel sad for the first and probably last time ever???

holy shit, Kacchan was right

he really is AFO’s Final Boss. like even more than he realized

*~*~*OH MY GOD*~*~*

HOLY SHIT YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!

OFA DOS PARTIAL NAME REVEAL AT LONG LAST!! FULL NAME REVEAL AND ADDITIONAL FLASHBACKS TO FOLLOW NEXT WEEK...?? YES? MAYBE? PLEASE????

I swear to god, if Horikoshi deliberately kept Two’s quirk and name Top Secret for YEARS only for them BOTH to wind up NOT ACTUALLY BEING REMOTELY SPOILERY OR WORTH ANY KIND OF SUSPENSEFUL BUILD-UP IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER, I will. just sit here and be puzzled, I guess. lol. “sometimes I just like to fuck with people like that.” OKAY?? WELL GOOD JOB, THEN??

“Kacchan of the Bakugous” was so out of left field and I am grinning so, so hard right now. BAKUGOU NO KACCHAN. that’s officially the second Heroes Rising reference in as many chapters! sure feels like A Certain Mangaka is building up to a Certain Reveal about SOMEBODY maybe possibly still having SOMETHING which will remain unnamed for now, but which rhymes with “done for mall”! and that’s all I’m gonna say about that

except that it’s not, because I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also have fifteen other entirely different emotions about him proudly introducing himself to AFO not as Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, but as someone even more powerful. “BEHOLD, it is none other than I... Kacchan!!! ( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و lolo get fucked you big dumb fart”

heh. but seriously. just me sitting here basking in the fact that he uses the name Deku gave him. the fact that he decides not to go with his formidable, much-agonized-over hero name in this one moment, but instead chooses to use a far more terrifying moniker, even if AFO doesn’t realize the significance. because Dynamight is a hero, yes. one of the very greatest and strongest!

but Kacchan? Kacchan is the boy with a dream. Kacchan is the boisterous child laughing at the danger, unafraid of the challenge. smiling in the face of the tallest wall. Deku’s motherfucking Image of Victory. hahahahaha. ouch

anyway so yeah! what a chapter. this may have actually derailed me because now my brain just wants to write a bunch of character metas even though I STILL HAVE THIRTY MORE CHAPTERS TO READ. and not to mention I still have to actually post all of them as well lol. but whatever! we’ll make it work. long live Kacchan of the Bakugous, and may his Secret Menu Hero Name always strike fear in the hearts of his enemies

#bnha 406 #bakugou katsuki #all for one #ofa dos #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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syn4k · 1 year ago

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BREAKING NEWS: The queer-themed superhero Arrow Ace has been out on a justice-fuelled rampage this Valentine's Day Morning, sniping villains from above and appearing randomly to whack people who are being rude to the happily single on the day of love.

This is the first appearance that the Arrow Ace has made since October of last year, and we now go to our field reporter Devon, who has managed to get an interview with the enigmatic hero.

Devon: Thank you Gary! I'm here on the corner of 12th and 7th street in downtown Placeville and next to me is the Arrow Ace, who has graciously agreed to be interviewed. AA: Hello. Devon: Sir, many of our newer viewers want to know who you are and what you do. Do you have an answer for them? AA: Yes. Hi. I'm the Arrow Ace, but you can just call me Ace. I was the sharpest shooter in my archery class in college and later decided to make a pun regarding my identity and thus, the hero personality was born. Devon: So do you have any supernatural abilities or are you just really good with a bow? AA: None whatsoever. I'm just a normal guy 99% of the time. Devon: [short pause to listen through her earpiece] Ah. Yes. A question from the studio. Viewers, Ace is most likely referring to the pun his alias makes when talking about his identity. AA: Yes. I am indeed an aromantic asexual, commonly shortened to aro/ace. Devon: Could you perhaps elaborate on that for those watching who might not know what that means! AA: Of course! A person who is aromantic experiences little, decreased, or no romantic attraction to other people. This may manifest as them not getting crushes, not wanting to participate in dating, or being adverse to romantic activities in general. A person who is asexual experiences little, decreased, or no sexual attraction towards other people. They might not want to participate in sexual activities and may be uncomfortable when the topic is brought up in real life or in media. Devon: I see! Thank you for explaining. Does this have anything to do with your backstory? AA: Yes. I originally took up the mask because as a young man, although I didn't have a word for what I was yet, I was often excluded in school both intentionally and not for not having an interest in dating people. In high school, someone who heard I wasn't interested in sex but also hadn't tried it out yet assaulted me to try and "convince" me otherwise. Ever since, I've been trying my best to be a beacon of light for those going through similar or worse ever since to let them know that there's nothing wrong with them and that you can be happy without those types of relationships. Devon: I see! Is there any reason why you're out and about on Valentine's day specifically? AA: I get asked a lot when seen alone in public if I'm single on this holiday. Most of the time, when I answer with yes, the response is something like "oh you poor soul! May you find love soon!" While the person undoubtedly means well, it still annoys me, so I've decided today to be the guy every aro or ace person wishes they had during that conversation.

[B-roll footage filmed on someone's phone of two person having a conversation. The first person asks "So, got any plans this evening?" The second person uncomfortably replies, "No, not really." The first person responds with "Oh, no! Well, better luck next year. Maybe you'll find someone," promptly cut off mid sentence by the Arrow Ace running up behind them and pwhacking them over the head with a paper towel tube. "You're not less whole or less of a person for not having a romantic or sexual partner," he says to the first person, pointing the tube at them. "That is your business and your business alone. I love you. Have a good day." The two people having the conversation stare after him, perplexed, as he runs off out of view of the camera. The video cuts back to Devon and AA.]

Devon: One last question: how do you know if the person in those discussions is aro or ace? AA: I don't, and I never put them on the spot for it. However, whether you experience attraction to others or not, it's never fun to be judged based on the circumstances you may be in at the moment. Devon: A bit of wisdom for us all. Well, sir, it appears that my time is up, but I appreciate you coming to answer these questions. AA: Of course. And, to all who participate, Happy Valentine's day! The shops always have discounts on chocolate the day after. Go treat yourself if you have the means. You deserve it. Devon: This has been Devon of Lucky 7 News. Back to you, Gary!

Thank you, Devon. I have received reports that a new development is unfolding in southeast Placeville- the Nefarious Anglerfish's cat-fish army is leaping up from the docks to attack unsuspecting couples on their walks. I've been told that the Arrow Ace is on his way to get involved. We'll be right back after these advertisements.

#ray's tag #writing #keys' writing #valentine's day #aro #ace #aromantic #asexual #aroace #since i can't provide a video today have this short bit of writing instead!#happy valentines day to all who observe :]#valentines day #sa mention

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eleni-cherie · 1 year ago

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a thief's origin✨ || bts • kth - chapter 0.7

"you're afraid I won't wait." "I'm afraid you will."

a criminal and a doctor should be as different as the sun and the moon - but unexpected things happened every day. like him finding his safe haven in her.

»»»

masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to friends to lovers s2f2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

»»»

30th December Barcelona, Spain

There was no trace of snow in the foreseeable time and Cassandra's already gloomy mood only dropped more as she averted her eyes from the grey buildings outside.

If it was cold, it should at least snow, she believed. But she knew something like this was impossible for a city right at the mediterranean sea. The only thing they got there was humidity and gusty winds.

It was the day before New Year's eve. The second-last day of the year. One day and eleven hours more and it'd be the next year already.

It was a strange feeling considering to her it didn't feel like a year had passed already. The only evidence it did being the coldness outside that had suddenly picked up in the last two weeks.

She returned to study a patient's file. Today would be another double-shift. Could be worse, at least she wasn't working the next two days.

After asking one of the nurses to give the patient 150mg codeine, she finished her round right on time for her lunch break. Already spotting Stella and one of the assistent surgeons and Stella's on-off-crush, Julio, sitting at a table in the far back of the cafeteria and bickering over something as usual. And Cassandra gave them a quick wave, signalising she'd seen and would join them, before going to pick her lunch. Her stomach was already rumbling when a different kind of buzzing caught her attention then. It was the phone in her pocket.

doc (6:30am): happy birthday, wherever you are :)

cool guy (1:12pm): you remembered! cool guy (1:12pm): thanks :P

Her lips instinctively curled up. It was Taehyung.

It had been a week since they'd last spoken, which wasn't surprising considering he had a different kind of busy life.

At least he took time to ressurface at all. Kind of like a penpal, where she had to wait for his letter to arrive and respond before having to wait yet again. Especially since they were indeed one-sided penpals with him sending her postcards from all the places he visited.

She was used to it, but that didn't mean she wasn't worrying a little whenever a longer period of time passed with no trace of him. Unpredictable things could always occur, despite him and his friends being unmatched in what they did.

doc (1:14pm): ofc i did :O

After typing in her quick reply, she shoved it back into her pocket when it started buzzing again. Perplexed by the unexpected incoming call, she hesitated for a moment before eventually accepting it.

"Hey."

She inhaled with a smile. Something about his smooth voice greeting her so cheerfully always making her a little weak.

"Hey, your timing's as great as ever," she giggled when the line moved and she took a step forward. Hearing his surprised 'Oh?'.

"To what do I owe the honour of this call?"

Taehyung could hear the smirk all the way through the line. Laughing under his breath.

"What do you mean? It's my birthday after all. So I deserve actually hearing your birthday wishes."

She bit back a laugh, having missed his silliness. "Happy birthday, cool guy. Was that all you called for?"

"Almost," he said, his tone turning gentle then,"I also wanted to hear how you were doing."

"Well, I.." she began but paused. 'Fine' was her first instinct, however, she concluded he'd most likely see through her blatant lie, because in all honestly she wasn't doing fine at all. So she settled for a more vague response. "..I'm a little tired. But otherwise everything's fine. How's it there?" She knew he'd never tell her where exactly in the world he was currently at, so she didn't even attempted to find out.

"It's.. yeah, it's great. We're working on something.." His voice faded then and Cassandra was about to carry the conversation to the turn of the year, when he spoke up again. His concerned tone taking her aback."You sure everything's fine?"

She swallowed. No matter how hard she tried, she'd always be an open book to him it seemed. Even when he was miles away.

No, she thought, nothing's fine. I almost lost a patient because of bureaucracy, almost messed up a chest tube on another one, haven't properly slept in days, I'm gonna spend the turn of the year all alone and I'm an idiot because I miss you.

She couldn't bring herself to let any of these words slip from her lips though. She didn't feel like making him feel bad and pity her when he was who-knew-where in the world right now and couldn't do anything for her misery anyway. Besides, she also didn't want to embarrass herself.

"Yeah, it's just, you know, work. It's not always that easy." This wasn't even a lie. But she felt he still wasn't completely sold on it.

"Hm, you sure that's all?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because work's always tough for you but you sound more distressed than usual."

She froze. Did she? She didn't even notice anymore, but others obviously did. Or at least, Taehyung did. So with a sigh she gave in, elaborating more after all. "It does take a toll on me. And tomorrow's New Year's eve, which I can't celebrate with my family and I have no plans, which could be regarded as sad and pitiful by some, but hey! At least I'm not working like some colleagues, so can't complain." Her casual laugh to gloss over her gloominess probably sounded forced. And she licked over her dry lips. "I just didn't want to dump everything on you.. I know you're busy with your own work." Another small giggle getting automatically added at the last words, another poor attempt to save her pride. "Anyway, it's also a shame you can't see your birthday gift, you know? It's pretty mad after all."

"A mad gift, huh?" He played along with her sudden change of topics. Although he could sense there was more to her previous words. "And what gift?"

The line moved and it was almost her turn at the registry, "Never heard of a surprise? You've got to wait until coming here again."

Taehyung scoffed playfully on the other line. "Oh, that's how it is?"

"Of course."

"Alright. I'll hurry up then, I guess."

»»»

31st December

Cassandra usually celebrated this day by playing cards and drinking with her family. Since it wasn't possible this year, she settled for eating a whole pizza by herself and watching one of her comfort shows. The perfect plan really.

It was past 10pm on New Year's Eve now and she was in the middle of her little rewatch party, when the sound of the door bell startled her and she paused the episode.

Cassandra didn't expect seeing anyone that night. Especially since there were barely any hours left till the turn of the year.

A knock at the front door followed then, causing her to tense up even more. She wasn't a particularly fearful or easily scared person. However, due to the late hour and randomness her first instinct was to switch off all lights and remain quiet. Only when an annoyed and whiny: "Cas, open up already! It's cold!" was heard from behind the entrance door, her tense muscles finally relaxed.

The last person she had expected seeing standing in front of her door was Taehyung and yet, there he was. Doing just that with furrowed brows and an amused laugh.

"Were you hiding from me?"

"Wh.. no. No. Well, yeah, but I didn't know it was you," she defended herself with a small pout.

His cheeks were slightly flushed and raven hair tousled due to the harsh wind outside, hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his dark brown coat. He looked quite cuddly and inviting.

She instantly shook that thought away, though. Eyeing him suspiciously when also spotting the bare neck and open collar.

"And since when do you feel cold?" she sarcastically snorted then. A knowing smirk on her lips as she let him enter. Meeting his wide boyish grin.

"Maybe I fibbed a little there."

She laughed under her breath, shaking her head. "What are you even doing here? Thought you were working on a job."

"Well.." He let out an awkward laugh when a shiver crept up his skin. He might not freeze, but that didn't mean he wouldn't feel the coldness at all. Especially with the temperature difference inside there. "I don't know actually."

She took a step back to narrow her eyes at the taller man. A puzzled smile tucking on her lips as she tilted her head. "So did you just randomly come here all the way from wherevever you were?"

"It's just.." It sounded too silly, thinking about it now, but frankly, he simply had a feeling of her needing him. And he realised how completely irrational and odd it must sound if he said that out loud. So he stick with another excuse. "We were done with the job earlier than expected and wanted to take a little break, so.. might as well come to collect my birthday gift."

Cassandra blinked. Somehow she wasn't quite buying it. He never struck her as a guy who'd travel countries just for a simple gift. Especially since he should know it wasn't anything of value compared to the actual treasures they were hunting.

"Hope you don't have too high expectations of that gift, though," she mumbled with a coy smile as he followed her further inside, "Might get disappointed otherwise."

Taehyung shrugged with a cheerful, almost childlike grin. "A gift is a gift. I take what I get."

He observed her crunching down at other side of the living room to pick up a rather big square, wrapped in fancy paper, from her desk. She felt her fingers trembling all of a sudden, not having expected to see him this time around after all, so she hadn't had any time to mentally prepare to get embarrassed yet. And the few steps she walked back to him clearly weren't enough.

"It's nothing special, really. I mean, what do you get someone who can literally get anything he wants? But I hope it's not too terrible."

Cautiously, he accepted the object from her with a scowl. Her intention was to lower his expectations but all it did was hightening his curiosity, especially since he didn't have any clue what it could be. He'd appreciate it either way though, whatever it was.

"Happy belated birthday, Tae."

He tried not to rip the paper when opening it, but as it accidentally did, he gave up midway and just tore it off making Cassandra laugh amused at his childish eagerness. Only for her to bite down on her bottom lip and avoid his glance when he finally unwrapped it.

His expression softened, brown eyes grew round in astonishment.

"A painting." He looked up at her in awe. "You drew this?"

She shrugged nonchalantly, still not daring meeting his eyes. "You said you liked my drawings and.. you also said you'd like having one of yourself like, and I quote, 'one of these sleazy rich guys'," she added air-quotations for the dramatic effect. Her hands dropping to the side then. "I know considering you travel around from hideout to hideout, it's not practical, but.. I don't know, maybe if one day you do get that house of your own, you'll find some space for it."

He hummed, his eyes preoccupied with the painting in his hands.

The detailed strokes, the soft-coloured paint. He wondered when she'd even found time to create it in between of sleeping and working. What amazed him the most, however, was the expression on his painted face. The look in his eyes. It tucked on something in his heart, the way she captured this brief moment of tranquility in them. He wondered if anyone else had ever noticed this kind of expression on him when not even he himself had.

That painting was how her eyes saw him. The way she saw him. And it was beautiful. It touched him how someone could see him like this. So.. human. Not a thief. Not a gunman. Just him.

He swallowed. His silent gaze wandered back to her then, catching her impatiently peeking at him as he was taking quite some time to silently gape at the present, increasing her insecurity about it.

He didn't understand why she was belittling herself so much when she didn't have to make him a gift in the first place.

"Thank you, Cassandra," he breathed eventually. His voice unintentionally cracked at the end as it came out hoarser than expected. She had almost missed it, so quiet that it was. But when she realised, her eyes slowly met his already smiling ones and all the nervousness she had felt before was suddenly swept away when seeing the sincerity in his face. He meant it.

She gave him a small nod in acknowledgment.

"Say.." he said then, taking another glance of the painting in his hands, "You said no plans tonight, right?"

»»»

"Should you not avoid such crowded spaces?" Cassandra yelled over the loud background chatter of half-drunks. One of them bumping into her shoulder, his red glittery party hat slipping from his head and almost poking her cheek.

Spending the final hour of the year at platja del Somorrostro, one of Barcelona's busiest beaches, surrounded by a New Year's crowd of strangers brimming the entire area wasn't where she had expected to find herself at.

And all because of Taehyung.

His dark waves peeked out from between a couple of people in front of her, him clearly not hearing her nor noticing her absence beside him and she squeezed herself through to reach for his sleeve not to lose sight of him again. He paused when feeling the tug and looked over his shoulder, catching Cassandra puffing out her cheeks. "Hey, wait for me!" she pouted and he laughed.

"Sorry, did you say anything?"

"Yeah, I asked if you shouldn't be avoiding such crowds."

They pushed through the mess and Taehyung made space for her to follow behind him as he navigated them to a low pavement wall, seperating the sand from the street.

They reached the uplifted sea promenade soon and he climbed onto it when spotting a gap between some chatty teenagers. Holding his hand out for her which she accepted, letting him pull her up.

"More the opposite," he clarified then as he let his eyes wander over the sea of funny party hats, chaplets and woolen beanies. He could bearly spot where the actual sea began and where the crowd ended. His eyes then returned to her with a cheeky grin. "The more people, the easier it is to get lost in the shuffle."

Cassandra could only smirk at this. "I assume that's your go-to tactic at heists as well?"

"Hm, maybe. Who knows," he reciprocated her smirk. Knowing exactly how riled up it'd get her whenever he stayed vague and not providing more info. He simply enjoyed teasing her too much to ever let go of it, besides the obvious benefits of her not knowing any details for her own safety.

To be fair, this New Year's Eve was also quite different from what he'd originally planned for it to look like. The original plan foresaw him and the guys to sneak into a yacht party at the coast of Alexandria - something he wouldn't tell her though.

Partially because he didn't want her to ask why he was missing it out, partially because he couldn't let her know any details.

Furthermore, he'd never been a man of big parties and celebrations anyway, everything always seeming shallow and blown-out-of-proportion to him. And that sense only intensified when sneaking into some fancy party to steal idiots' jewelery and money. So in a way, he also did it for himself and not only for her. Besides, if he acknowledged the influence she had on him to just ditch anything at the mere feeling of her needing him, he'd need to apologise to Jimin for all the times Taehyung had scolded him for doing the same exact thing for Arabella.

"I hope we can see the fireworks from here."

Her words interrupted his train of thoughts and he watched her tiptoeing beside him before setting her heels back down and taking a sip from the mojito bottle she'd bought at a convenience store earlier. Cheeks already rosy from the alcohol in her system due to being a light-weight.

He took a swing from his own bottle of red wine. "Don't worry, we got a clear sight up here."

Cassandra hummed, getting tired of standing she decided to sit down on the cold stone next to a woman with a blue wig. Wrapping her arms tightly around her angled legs and bringing them close to her body. The midnight air making her shiver under her coat.

"Oh!" she exclaimed then, holding her phone up.

He narrowed his eyes at the dim display. The clock said six more minutes to midnight. He glanced at his wrist then, making sure his watch said the same. It was precise after all, something necessary when doing a coup. And indeed, six more minutes.

Explained why people around them became more jittery.

"Do you have any New Year's resolution?"

He mused for a moment over her question. Flashing her a grin then. "Not getting caught. You?"

The red-head lightly laughed at this before shaking her head. "No, don't think I got any."

"Huh, didn't expect that," he blurted out and felt her inquiring eyes on him.

"Yeah? Why not?"

He shrugged. For a moment he contemplated how to phrase his disbelief, licking his lips shortly which had become dry in the low temperature. "You striked me like the kind of person who'd have a whole list of resolutions to be honest. That's all."

Cassandra blinked, taken aback as she indeed used to always have some kind of resolutions while growing up and this might've been the first time she didn't. Perhaps she was more obvious than she liked to admit after all. A dry laugh left her lips then.

"Well, I used to -"

"Knew it," he grinned triumphatically and took another sip from his drink, "What happened?"

"Nothing. I just realised none of my wishes or resolutions ever came true. So I stopped."

Four more minutes.

"But if you would have to do any, what would it be?"

She took a moment to genuinely think about it and hummed while doing so. Only obvious ones popping up in her mind. "I guess.. to successfully complete this training year, not lose my mind in the hospital and.." Her eyes lowered and she paused, smiling to herself in a sheepish manner. "The last one is a secret."

His brows arched, but he didn't press considering it must be private.

He looked down at his watch again.

Two minutes.

Somewhere in the distance behind them someone had already started blaring firecrackers. The loud cracking roaring over the drunk slurring, yells and chatter of the people scattered around them on the sea promenade. As far as the eye could see, streets were completely filled with people choosing spending the turn of the year outside among strangers in the cold. Most didn't seem to mind, Cassandra being the only one shivering.

And Taehyung noticed, scooting closer to her in a poor attempt to shield her body from the wind which had pushed its way through after all.

It was quite unfair, she pouted to herself when leaning into Taehyung's shoulder, how she, with her onion-layers of clothes, thick coat, scarf and beanie, was still freezing while he was out there with nothing but a sweater and a thin coat doing just fine.

"Thirty seconds," he announced when looking at his watch again.

Cassandra tilted her head to take a glance as well. "Twenty."

He sensed her warm breath brushing over his exposed skin. The pink-tinted tip of her nose and cheeks contrasting her pale skin which was faintly glowing under the yellowish streetlamp's light further away.

Everyone around them began counting down at the top of their lungs then.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

Taehyung searched her eyes, seeing she was already smiling at him. And they held each other's gaze while continuing counting down with the crowd.

"Seven!"

"Six!"

Their smiles widened.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

Fireworks errupted from the main square in the distance, splashes of colorful lights painting the black sky and illuminating the crowd with loud popping sound of explosives. The hooting party horns and cheers from the crowd jarred into a deafening wave and everyone fell into each other's arms.

And yet, despite the commotion by the boisterous mass of people, all Cassandra could see was the curve of Taehyung's bright smile. Losing herself in the glittering sparkles in his irises. Just for that moment, it felt as if it was only the two of them there.

"Happy New Year, Cassandra"

"Happy New Year, Taehyung."

They laughed lightly, breaking eye-contact and instead decided to watch the rest of the elaborate fireworks show and its golden rain when some odd - to him at least - customs caught his attention then. "Why're so many people kissing or eating grapes?"

Cassandra tore her eyes from the colourful shapes to briefly glance at him, redirecting them to the night sky again. "New year's traditions. People eat twelve grapes for each month for good luck. Or kiss to save themselves from a year of loneliness."

He seemed intrigued by this. "Are there more?"

"Not sure, I don't believe in this superstitions."

He huffed a laugh at her bolt claim. "Says the girl who bought a lucky charm to a heist with her."

Gasping, she averted her eyes from the fireworks again only to face his shit-eating grin. "T-that's something different. It was my emotional support!"

Taehyung only arched a brow, continuing giving her a doubtful look. Much to her annoyance. "No, I mean it. I don't believe in these New Year's traditions. Or at least I try not to but, who knows.." A rueful smile ghosting over her lips. ".. maybe that's why none of my New Year's wishes ever comes true."

Taehyung looked at her indeciphable expression before looking back at the firework.

"What about you?" She assumed to already know his answer but she was still prying to know.

"I'm superstitious. A little bit at least."

She smiled softly, somehow not being surprised at all. "Oh yeah?"

"I need to, sometimes it's a matter of luck. Especially in what we do." He threw his head back in gleeful joy as another set of fireworks was fired. A cheeky smirk gracing his lips then. "And don't they say luck and timing is everything you need?"

She agreed. Even in medicine where everything was scientific and empirist, they still often had to rely on luck and hope. When it came to a therapy or medication to work or when the surgeons needed to wear their own lucky charms to boost their confidence and succeed in a difficult surgery. But it also depended heavily on the patients themselves, if they believed in it or not.

She laughed under her breath. It was a laugh of self-pity as she felt she neither had luck nor timing. At least not in the way she wanted to. And she emptied her bottle in a swing. A feeling of fizziness and light-headness overtaking her mind.

"You know what?" she blurted out after a short while and giggled highly bemused, "We should kiss for good luck!"

Usually she'd know despite the bubbling feelings for her criminal friend, which she still tried convincing herself didn't exist, that kissing him while being tipsy probably wasn't a good start for anything. But any rationality was clearly last seen 0.5l of mojito mix prior, the very few enzymes she apparently had to break down alcohol, already saturated awhile ago. So her intoxicated mind simply found that sudden idea marvelous and entertaining. She'd never get a proper kiss from him anyway - or any guy in the forseeable future with her work schedules - might as well make him her platonic and amicable New Year's kiss in a desperate attempt for any kind of good luck for that upcoming year.

Taehyung, however, only chuckled when seeing her flushed red cheeks and the empty bottle. Not taking her random request seriously until he saw her face turning into an offended sulk. Bottom lip sticking out. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, it's the tradition!" she pouted, "I don't want a year of loneliness. So you gotta kiss me!" She had an adorable, almost naive giggle decorating her puffy lips. And for a second his eyes lingered on them before eventually shaking his head.

"I don't think -"

"Then don't think," she grinned. "Let's just do this. Just a quick peck."

"Okay, fine," he dragged a sigh, surprised at himself for giving in so quickly when he and Yoongi always accused Jimin of getting easily wrapped around pretty women's fingers. "O-only 'cause I really don't want you to end up a lonely cat-lady though."

Rolling her eyes, she puffed out a snort. "Thank you. That'd be very kind of you!"

She turned her body fully towards him then, head getting dizzy at her abrupt movement.

Why was he even considering this? Oh yeah, to do her a favour.

Emptying his own small bottle of wine, he also shifted in his seat before taking a brief look around them.

Kissing in public usually wasn't his style, but this could hardly be considered public as they were practically unnoticable in the amount of people around them. And besides, there'd been several others, whether friends or couples, who had exchanged pecks at the stroke of midnight.

So he exhaled and placed his hands on her arms, holding her in place so she wouldn't accidentally lose her balance as she was already swaying with a silly smile.

"Alright."

"Mhh, do it."

"I-I'm doing it."

"Fine, then do it."

His skin felt on fire. He shouldn't have drunk that much. He might not be a light-weight like her, but he wasn't a big drinker either.

"Just kiss me already," she began whining impatiently, wiggling under his grip. A couple of loose curls falling from the side and framing her face while doing so. "Or I'll be a bigger loner than I already am."

He frowned with a snort. "That's emotional blackmail," he deadpanned then in an attempt to distract from his irrational nervousness.

But Cassandra immediately paused staring at him wide-eyed as if someone had slapped her and she only now realised where she was and what she was doing.

With an awkward laugh, her eyes fell to the space between them. Perhaps the buzz was beginning to wear off or it was a moment of clarity, but she realised it was pointless if she had to force him. Perhaps that would even give her bad luck in the end. And she already had enough of that.

She shook her head, embarrassed of her tipsy self. "Y-you're right. Forget it. It's a stupid tradition anyway. Can't remember the last time I kissed anyone on New Year's."

His brows furrowed at her sudden change of mind. "No, it's fine. I'm gonna do it."

"No, seriously. We don't have to," she ensured him, her words muffled from her woolen scarf as she tried burying her face in it. Cursing herself from minutes ago for even speaking out that rash nonsense.

However, Taehyung's grip around her upper arms only tightened. Making her grow stiff under his stare.

"I said I would and I keep my word." His voice was calm yet determined, which surprised him considering his hesitation and she dragged a breath, straightening herself under his hands.

Was it weird that she didn't feel nervous despite it all? Probably. She blamed her low cogitation and the knowledge it wouldn't have any romantic significance anyway. Just friends following a tradition like many others around them.

"Fine, let's go."

He swallowed as he met her warm orbs. And he began fidgeting all over again. "Alright, okay, great. That's what I'm gonna do."

"All right."

His hands left her arms, instead placing themselves around her delicate neck and caging her velvety curls in his palms. A light shiver ran down her spine and she wasn't sure if it was the coldness of his fingers or the warmth of his touch. It was firm yet tender and she sensed her pulse picking up in rate with each passing second.

"Okay, ready?"

Cassandra only nodded, unable to speak all of a sudden. Maybe she wasn't drunk enough to stop her feelings and thoughts taking over her senses after all.

Her eyes flicked to his heart-shaped lips before making the stupid mistake of glancing back at him and meeting his eyes. His face was open and vulnerable in the streetlamps and fireworks above them and she caught a hint of wonder on it as they stared at each other. Slowly, he began leaning closer. And she swallowed down the tiny gasp that dared escaping her lips.

"One, two.." He paused then, scowling at himself. "No, wait. I'm not actually gonna count down."

"O-okay."

"That's not my style when I kiss."

"Okay."

"I don't count d-"

"Tae, it's fine," Cassandra giggled, interrupting his ramble. She'd never seen him ramble before. Was he.. flustered? She'd always imagined him kissing lots of women in disguise. Even if he always claimed not even Jimin, the actual flirtatious among them, did that.

The thumbs on her cheek gently brushed the stray strands aside then. His eyes shifting to hers again. The last fireworks sparkled in them and for a moment his heart forgot how to beat.

"R-ready?"

"Yeah," she breathed.

He closed his eyes, his face coming close. A deep crease set between his brows then, making his face look rather angry for a kiss. And her tipsy mind ultimately lost focus upon that hilarious realisation.

"What's this face!" she bursted out laughing, unable to contain herself and he backed off, irritated about her laughing fit.

"W-what face?"

"You can't make that face when you try kissing someone," she choked out in between of laughs while pointing at him.

"Oh, so you say something's wrong with my face now?" Taehyung only scoffed, somehow glad about the interruption though. He wondered if his fingers were actually shaking or if it was from the vibrations of her laughter.

"No, idiot! You're handsome and you know it!"

Startled at the unexpected compliment, a timid smirk tucked on his lips at her drunm words. His chest warming despite him downplaying the muddled feeling that was raising. "Oh, so you think I'm handsome now?"

She groaned in annoyance, lightly hitting his chest over the coat. "Don't pretend."

"So, do you want me to kiss you or not?" His teasing smirk returning.

"Maybe if you didn't make that face."

"That's very nice of you considering I'm doing you a favor here," he laughed under his breath. Not remembering any woman having ever made him laugh so much despite complimenting and confusing him at the same time.

Cassandra inhaled and exhaled deeply, calming himself again somehow. "Alright, let's do this already. No big deal," she nodded to herself, sternly, "Just kiss me."

"Nope."

She gasped at his evil grin. "You were about to, though!"

Taehyung only shrugged unimpressed and abruptly let go of her. "Yeah, before you bruised my ego," he retorted simply, causing her to huff.

"C'mon," she nudged his arm, "I'm sorry. I promise I won't laugh again."

"Apology accepted. But I'm not gonna kiss you." His lopsided smirk torturous, making her frustration grow.

"You're making such a big deal out of it, just kiss me already!"

"I'm not gonna kiss you!"

"Kiss me!"

"No! Not like this!"

Cassandra paused. Her parted lips, ready to counter something back in their bickering, abruptly pressed together into a thin line when processing his last words. She stared at his now bewildered face when he also realised what he had just unintentionally confessed.

"What?" she blinked confused, "What does that mean?"

Taehyung's eyes were wide, panic clouding his mind. "No. No-nothing. I just, I didn't mean it like that," he began with a terrible stutter the longer he looked at her inquiring eyes.

It didn't make sense. He was always capable of staying cool-headed even in stressful situation. It was inevitable in heists and when being in diguise. Then why did he totally blank out with the way her warm bambi eyes were digging daggers into his as the seconds passed. "I just, I mean we can't like that because that's not - it's very - like, you don't.. That's not what -"

But Cassandra didn't even seem to be listening anymore, staring absendmindedly up at the sky instead, being clearly still tipsy and all over the place - he could tell.

Taehyung stilled then. The beanie was pulled to her brows, scarf hiding half her face. Only her round eyes peeked out, holding a lovely innocent wonder in them.

It was irrational. It was scary. How it was more thrilling celebrating with her and cheap wine from a 24/7 store at the beach, than being in an expensive smoking on a yacht surrounded by millionairs while drinking the most expensive champagne.

Cassandra abruptly shook herself out of her short abstraction then and flashed him a smile.

"Come, let's leave or you wanna get hypothermia?" She was joking, but he noticed her anew shivering and he realised she must still be cold.

"Y-yeah, let's go."

»»»

The new year was only a couple of hours old. Quite early to go home for most, but Cassandra felt exhausted despite having completely sobered up by now. Much to her own dismay, she wasn't the night owl she'd used to be anymore.

The air felt colder when she turned into her street. The way home taking longer than expected due to what it seemed half of the city being out on the streets and traffic jams everywhere. Lines of cars, impatiently honking and only moving for a few centimetres before having to stop again.

Taehyung followed behind her, wanting to fetch his gift before leaving the city again. It wasn't unusual for him to only stay for a day there before having to move again, but somehow she'd hoped he'd stay longer.

The night breeze hit his warm cheeks as they reached the front door and she fumbled with the keys in the dark. Eventually finding the right one and unlocking the door, allowing them both to enter.

The painting was on the coffee table where he'd left it. He picked it up, examining it one more time in silence before tucking it under his arm and heading back to where she was in the hallway. Still busy taking off her shoes and jacket.

"Thanks again for this," he smiled gently and watched her lowering the beanie, ruffling through her curls to give them some of their lost volume back. "I'll make sure to store it in a save place." His voice was almost a whisper when he attempted to open the door, only to sense her tugging at his coat.

"Wait, I-" She pursed her lips, gaze falling as she saw his questioning glance. "I wanted to say thank you for spending the turn of the year with me.. I appreciate you coming all the way here so I wouldn't be lonely tonight."

His lips parted, taken aback. Had it been so obvious after all? However, he chose to pretend being confused and not knowing what she meant instead. "Who says that was my reason?"

Cassandra shrugged, lips curling into a rueful smile. "Maybe I just wished it was.. Whatever it was, still thank you. And I'm sorry."

Taehyung frowned. Gaze falling as well. "No need to apologise," he muttered, instinctively knowing what she was referring to. He swallowed then, shoving his free hand into his pocket.

In retrospective, it hadn't been such a big deal and yet, he was glad he hadn't proceeded to kiss her like that. He knew he'd have regretted in the long run.

"I feel like it, though," Cassandra continued then with a sigh, "I feel so stupid. I shouldn't have insisted on keeping a tradition. Especially since I don't even believe in supersticious stuff."

He eyed her with a doubtful look, making her roll her eyes and sigh in defeat.

"Fine, I do. Sometimes. Some stuff. Not all."

He chuckled lightly making her smile.

Truth was, Cassandra was disappointed in herself for getting so weak and desperate, putting him in such a position and creating this awkward tension between them.

"Tae, you didn't have to kiss me." She felt like she needed to underline this. Her voice small and filled with guilt and shame. "Please, don't feel bad."

"I know, don't worry," he reassured before they grew quiet.

In times like this she really disliked his withdrawn and secretive personality. Usually his aloof and coy aura intrigued her, but right now she needed him to speak to her. And the fact he didn't, made her fidgety.

They stood there for a second longer.

Faint music was echoing from somewhere in the building while the piercing sound of lonely firecrackers was heard from the streets.

"Well, okay good then.. goodnight. And Happy New Year again." She tried sounding cheerful, masking her regret of screwing things over in her irrational state.

She wouldn't see him again for an indefinite period and that was how they'd be parting ways now. She hated herself from two hours ago.

Dragging out a breath, she reached for the door handle to let him out when a grip on her elbow prevented her from doing so.

Taehyung grabbed her arm and in a swift move, pulled Cassandra into his chest. Strong arms catching her, wrapping around her smaller figure and before she could even properly react, his lips had already engulfed hers.

That was it. All the self-control she'd exerted over the past months went straight out the window in that moment. Her neurological system completely shutting down by the overload of neurotransmitters, hormones and endorphines, simply swiping her mind blank with the only remaining thought being how incredible his warm lips felt against hers.

Her arms instinctively found their way around his neck to pull him even closer. Feeling the cold metal of his necklace against her fingertips. And she kissed him back fiercely, Taehyung wounding his hands more into her long hair at this. It curled around his fingers, silky and fluffy and for a moment he lost any sense of time or his surroundings when all he could feel was the vibration of her skin against his and the bewitching rum-lime taste of her lips full of unspoken feelings and endless promises.

Their lips moved, molding, melting into one another. Whatever logic and reason there had been, had long gone away. There was nothing left but their intertwined lips and breaths.

Eventually, they slipped from each other after what felt like an eternity but could have only been a minute. Panting against each other.

Their eyes remained closed, not daring opening and letting that moment ending in smoke so soon. Taehyung rested his dazed forehead against hers and leaned in. Planting one last kiss on her lips, this time less heated but rather tender and mellow. Savioring the last bit of the sour-tasting liquor mixed with his sweet wine. And Cassandra leaned into him more before they let go of each other at last.

Her eyes fluttered open immediately, dark lashes lining against her pale skin in a state of surreal haze. He wasn't sure if she'd ever looked more beautiful as in that moment, right after he'd kissed her and he felt the urge to do it again at this sight.

"I meant something like that."

With that, he stepped back and picked up the painting from where he'd set it on the ground. Brushing past her. And he left without saying anything else.

Cassandra stood there in the empty hallway, stunned. Everything around her was spinning and she feared she was intoxicated all over again.

Her fingers slowly rose then to touch her numb lips. Ensuring they were still there. Along with the lasting sense of Taehyung's touch.

Her New Year's wish had finally come true.

»»»

next chapter: 0.8 here

Don't forget to like, comment & leave feedback!♡ It motivates me to keep writing :)

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beifong-brainrot · 11 days ago

Note

Actually, now that I'm looking, Cloudy (went through your rascals tag, sorry) does look a bit more.......aware? than Zorro. I apologize, Cloudy. I was unfamiliar with your game.

(Also, not the vet bodyshaming Zorro. He isn't chonky at all. Let him have his biscuits in peace.)

His liege graciously accepts your apology. He's currently having his bedtime as I massage his large voluptuous brain.

Tbh he's a very smart little guy. A little too smart. I also think he believes he's some manner of herding dog because he keeps trying to 'herd' me or my family to places and he always wants us to all be sitting togetehr in one room. Often when I walk him, he will try to lead me away from dangerous or scary things such as larger dogs, the local boars or floating paper bags. He also has a bunch of weird little rules he made up himself and us.

Zorro is... unaware is a very nice way to put it. He's always been a bit in his own world, my mom lovingly refers to him as the 'space cadet' because he sometimes seems to float away. He genuinely has his moments of smartness, but he kinda gets a bit lost sometimes. He was the runt of his litter and I think he just needs to take his time. But I daresay he's quite happy with us and we do our best to make sure he knows he's loved. He absolutely adores my dad and my dad loves him so much, Zorro's basically the son he never had lol.

This is him hanging with my dad right after my dad came home after a long time away. Favourite child by a long shot

Zorro isn't like morbidly obese, but he has a habit of polishing off his brothers' bowls so he's getting a little bit podgy. His diet basically extends to us making sure he doesn't eat out of his brothers' bowls too. He's very offended by this. What's funny is that he's not like, super gluttonous. Like after we've done something they don't like, for example after I've clipped their nails, we'll give the boys treats. And Haru and Cloudy go wild for the treats we get them. But whenever we offer Zorro a treat he gives me his 'I don't negotiate with terrorists' look and goes to watch us from inside some sort of hidey hole.

Also, let me tell you a tale, I wanna paint a picture for you, anon.

Last week, I was taking Zorro to the vet for a regular checkup. Zorro doesn't enjoy the vet but he's pretty chill, but I am already a rather anxious pet owner and medical settings make me even more nervous so I'm a little on edge. The vet is checking his teeth, which are nice and clean, and his breathing is normal. Then the vet finds a Weird Lump on his side which she hadn't seen before. And while she seems more perplexed than worried, my brain is already spiralling because weird lumps are never good. The vet soom determines that the lump is a rib that is kinda potruding. It doesn't seem to be hurting or disturbing Zorro in any way but I am already going from "oh my god my dog has cancer" to the only slightly less blood chilling "oh my dog has a broken rib".

The vet tells me that it seems to just be one of his floating ribs but she's gonna go get another vet who has more experience with ribs. This does little to quell my worries and while she's gone for 3 minutes i am conjuring the worst scenarios in my head while assuring a very unbothered Zorro that he will be ok. The vet returns with the rib expert vet and a very friendly technician. A veterinary tribunal has gathered above Zorro to decide his fate. He doesn't give a fuck and licks his butthole as my vet describes his mysteriously pokey rib. Rib Expert vet investigates Zorro's ribs and confirms that it is probably indeed a floating rib. He asks if Zorro has gained or lost any weight recently and I say "yeah now that you mention it we think he's gained a decent amount of weight recently".

The technician busts out the scale and Zorro is set upon it and it reads 3.8 kg (around 8.38 lbs). Which isn't a lot, but considering a few months ago he was only 3 kg, (6.6 lbs) this is a substantial increase in chonk for a chihuaha. And so the tribunal of vets soothe my nerves. Zorro has neither cancer nor a broken rib. He's just fat, and it's making his asymmetrical flying ribs more noticeable. Zorro does not seem to mind this assessment, and in fact seems rarher proud to be a big ole kiełbasa boy. I can finally breathe easy.

Behold the elusive chonkerino in his natural habitat.

#if the medical lingo is innacurate here its bcs i am roughly translating it from polish #the rascals tag is there to be viewed don't apologise for it #its called the rascals tag bcs my dad affectionately calls the dogs 'the three little rascals'#still can't believe i lived through a “cheesecake is just fat” moment #rascals tag

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twilightrocksfanfic · 8 months ago

Text

Paul meets his imprint and they have a one night stand

author's note: Reader picks Paul up in a bar and he decides he is in it for a good time not a long time. (Yes he does imprint but he doesn't want to drag anyone into his messy life so he decides to just create this one beautiful memory) This story technically continues as it is part of my twilight literary universe (aka my multiverse of madness) so I could totally do a part 2 if anyone's interested

warnings: mentions of alcohol consumption, fake IDs (both reader and Paul are over 18), no smut but obvious allusions to sex, mentions of y/n

(please let me know if I missed anything)

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Josie was the first to tell you that a guy across the bar was staring at you. You laughed at her, in a mix of disbelief and excitement but you did turn to look at him. You immediately knew who she was talking about because sitting amidst a group of young men there was one who very obviously had his eyes on you.

You swallowed under his gaze and were immediately sure that he knew you had noticed him. One of his friends patted him on the shoulder and he turned away from you, though he wasn't meeting his friends eyes.

You heard your friends laugh next to you but unlike him you didn't want to tear your eyes of him yet. He had dark hair and in the dimly lit bar his face was contoured by shadows that just conveniently fell in all the right places, he looked a little tense for a bar, but when he turned back to look at you, you waved and smiled, he smiled back.

You turned back to Josie to find that Justin and Liza had returned from their bathroom trip. All four of you burst into laughter and you took another sip. You were only on your second wine of the night but something about flirting with strangers just got you into a giggly mood.

The night progressed. The intervals of Liza and Justin having to go to the restroom at the same time grew shorter and Josies encouragement that you should go over to the stranger grew louder. He had been staring at you all night. Of course, the only way you knew that was because you stole a glance in his direction every chance you got but he didn’t need to know that.

After your third glass you ordered a water and your head was getting clear again. And as it did you somehow convinced yourself that you should indeed go over, just to see what would happen.

When Liza and Justin got back, Josie ran her fingers through your hair and off you went.

He looked at you while walking, smiling and then saying something to his friends. You slid down on the bench next to him before turning your entire body to him.

“You know considering you’ve been staring at me the whole night and how attractive you are I really would’ve expected you to come over first.” You said before looking past him and smiling at his friends.

He seemed perplexed for a second then he returned your smirk.

“How about I make up for it with another drink? I’m Paul by the way.”

“Y/N” you held out your hand and he firmly shook it.

And thus, the night progressed. You were unsure when his friends disappeared, you hadn’t even asked their names. You’ve been too busy trying to scoot your thigh close to his in a casual and coincidental way while maintaining conversation.

From the moment you had gone over to his table you had been quite certain that you did not intend to leave the bar with your friends tonight and as the night went on and the ‘accidental’ touches between the two of you grew more frequent, you saw yourself confronted with the horrifying truth that you would have to tell them that.

You told Paul about the bookstore you had gone to that day, and he made some stupid joke about you being book smart which perfectly balanced his street smartness when you leaned in laughing and he grabbed your chin to kiss you for the first time.

It was explosive.

His hands and lips and the air around him seemed to be on fire and you couldn’t help but pull him in by his T-shirt as you slid your tongue into his mouth.

When you broke apart you looked at each other. He seemed to be waiting for something.

You smiled before saying: “Let’s get out of here, mhh?”

You took his hand and pulled him over to your friends to grab your purse and say good bye (and make sure they all had a good look of him in case anything happened).

Thankfully none of them was making an inappropriate joke, though you knew they were only saving them for after. That would be an issue for future you though, Paul looked like he would be worth the trouble.

You weren’t sure how you ended up on his lap on the back of his truck though. Originally you had wanted to drive to his place, sneak in through the window. The thought had been kind of exciting. You had never sneaked in or out of a boy’s house before.

Either way, your hands were tangled in his hair now, neither of you were wearing shirts anymore, so it did not look like you were going to make it to a second location.

His warm fingers were tracing up and down your thighs as he pushed himself against any free inch of skin he could get. There was something hungry about the way he held you, like he would never get enough of you.

Maybe you were only imagining that though because it was the exact same way, he made you feel. His smell was intoxicating, like a forest after rain mixed with the mild but lingering taste of beer on his lips.

“Can we pause for a second” because the thought of alcohol had suddenly made you feel guilty. He pulled back and looked at you, waiting.

The night had started with going to the bookstore with a friend and somehow ended on top of a half-naked stranger in the back of his car. You were glad for his hands on your waist, they helped steady you.

Your hands rested on Paul's bare chest; his skin so hot under yours you were worried about burning. You didn't, he was just warm enough that the cold air around you barely bothered you.

"I uhm..." You took your fingers off his chest and looked away from him for fear his eyes and lips and body would make you forget your train of thought once more.

"I'm not 21. I used a fake ID to get those drinks. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.”

Paul shuffled under you, moving away and reaching for your shirt, which he had so willingly pulled over your head just a few minutes prior. He gave it to you and looked up into your face.

You couldn’t read his expression. Was he mad? Sad? Annoyed?

“I mean, I'm 18 you're not doing anything illegal here or anything, just a little younger than you probably expected” you added quickly because it suddenly dawned on you that he was probably worried about that. You covered yourself with your t-shirt without putting it back on and then his face turned into a smile.

Without saying anything, he reached into his pants and pulled out a wallet. He handed you his driver’s license, which told you that he too had also just turned 18, only a few months after you.

You slapped his chest, and he used that hand to pull you in for another kiss.

"I was actually feeling bad because I lied to you" you mumbled into a kiss, and he smiled again.

"I could tell."

You bid down on his lower lip, as your hands wandered down to his pants. You let your fingers brush over the soft skin on his stomach and casually let them slip into the band of his pants just a little. He exhaled against your lips, his pulling into a smile.

His hands were all over your upper body, leaving goose bumps everywhere they went. He lightly brushed against the side of your bra, you nodded in encouragement and his hand brushed over your covered breasts for the first time causing you to shiver. His fingers followed the seam from your front to your back, coming to a halt at your bra clip. They lingered, softly brushing your skin, as he pulled back to look at you, waiting for some sort of signal. You smiled and kissed him again.

You've never had sex with a stranger before and somehow you felt closer to this really hot guy you've met a few hours ago than you did to the majority of guys in your high school.

Your bra came loose, and you had started to unbutton his pants when he interrupted the kiss once more.

"Anything else I should know?" You thought for a second and shook your head, and he started to consume, to devour you.

He pressed hot kisses onto every inch of skin he could reach.

This wasn't what you had imagined a one-night stand in the back of a car to be like. Paul was making you shiver in the best way possible, and you gladly let him.

Paul hugged you close to his chest for a few seconds, but you could feel him getting soft and you needed to get the condom off before that was all for nothing.

Your legs were shaking even with Paul supporting them, as you slid off him and sat down on the car seat next to him. Leaning against his shoulders and leaving a kiss there. Although the sex was over it felt so right to keep touching him, to keep kissing him, that you did.

You caressed his body as you helped him take the condom off without spilling anything. You wrapped it in a tissue and put it in a plastic bag you had gotten at the bookstore.

Neither of you said anything. The realization of what had happened began to dawn on you. What were you supposed to do now? Were your supposed to leave? Ask for a ride home? Call someone to pick you up?

Paul took your hand, and pulled one of your legs back over his, resting his hand there. You couldn’t help but look at him. His hair was a little damp and extremely messy and the smile on his lips was so bright you wanted to bottle it up and take it home for bad days.

"You, okay?" He looked so genuinely concerned. At least you hadn't picked up some asshole.

You gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I think I'm good. Are you okay?" You realized how tight he was holding onto your leg, as if he was afraid of letting go.

He nodded. There was something in his eyes, it felt like there was something he wasn't telling you and it bothered you. Obviously, this man was a complete stranger and under no obligation to say anything, but the way he looked at you made you want to know every thought he’s ever thought.

“Would it be okay if we just... lay down here?” He asked after a moment of silence.

You nodded and he opened his arms for you to lay down on his chest. Instinctively you started to run your fingers over his upper body again, tracing the lines between muscles and squeezing anything your fingers could comfortably grip.

At first there was only silence between you. Then, you started talking. First about how you originally had the day planned. Then about other things. Your friends, school. And he told you things too, although considerably less.

Mostly he brushed his fingertips over your naked skin and hair. He leaned down a few times to kiss the top of your head and then seemed to stop himself.

Each time you pretended you didn't notice and each time you hoped that he actually would do it this time.

Eventually he did. First your hair, then your forehead. it only took minutes before you were straddling him again and savouring the taste of his lips.

The night passed and only as the sun started to rise in the window shield did you acknowledge that it was going to end.

Paul helped you put your clothes back on and offered to drive you home without taking no for an answer. You were both spent but at the same time, you had not felt this alive in a long time.

Paul dropped you off.

He didn’t ask for your number, and you didn’t ask for his and so you gave him a smile and then waved from the front door.

And that was it.

#paul lahote #twilight #paul lahote x reader #x reader #twilight wolf pack #twilight werewolves #the twilight saga

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brandwhorestarscream · 9 months ago

Note

Brainstorm cataloging everything for science! Projecting a 3d holo of his morphling making a log.

Other incubators and morphs: ^_^'''

He's causing quite a stir up, that's for sure!! The queen of this hive, nearby in the throne room, is very curious about his curiousness (if this is indeed Thesis, Shockwave’s mutated cyclomorph offspring, even moreso!), and as a result the drones keep laser-focused eyes on him at all times. Perceptor joins them, because this has never happened before and he'll never pass up an opportunity to study something new.

Brainstorm is all starry eyed watching his little hitchhiker grow, and eagerly explains to Perceptor what, exactly, he's doing when asked. "I've always wanted to know how you guys work, and I'm the first person to ever figure it out firsthand!"

Perceptor is perplexed 🤭 he's probably the one to suggest assimilating Brainstorm into the hive. The queen is all for it, naturally

#cybermorph au #brainstorm #perceptor

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kylorengarbagedump · 6 months ago

Text

Playing Soldier: Chapter 19

Read on AO3. Part 18 here. Part 20 here.

Summary: You and Goddard come to an agreement. Your journey brings you back to The Worst Man You've Ever Met.

Words: 6000

Warnings: n/a

Characters: William Tavington x Reader

A/N: Co-written with @bastillia.

OMG HAVE WE FINALLY MADE IT BACK TO TAVINGTON :) WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK WILL HAPPEN I JUST DONT KNOW :)

Thank you so much for the engagement with the plot <3 It warms our little authory hearts that folks feel excited enough to stick around for all the parts without penis. Thank you so so much for your generosity and kindness and all of it. We love you and Happiest New Year <3

Benedict Goddard stood frozen to the spot. If not for the murmur of the river and the tiny bob of his throat, you might have believed time itself had stilled. Neither of you looked away from the other.

“I was just—”

“Miss, are you—”

Both of you began and stopped at the same time. You beheld each other for a breath.

“I got stuck here and I—”

“Why are you all the way—”

Goddard winced. Your cheeks strained under the mortified artifice of your smile. Inexplicably, like a lizard trying to shuck its own pinned tail, you yanked again to free yourself. But this only succeeded in toppling you over the stump once more and cramping the arm that hid your pistol. You swore under your breath.

“May I, um…” Goddard cleared his throat, taking one step forward. “Would you like some help?”

“No!” you squeaked.

Goddard paused, casting you a look that hovered somewhere between pain and gastric distress.

“I’m fine, really, I’ll just—ugh.” The stump was unyielding as ever to your efforts. Shuffling your feet underneath you, you threw your weight against your snagged sleeve. “Just—need to—get this—out—”

“Miss, please, before you injure yourself—” Goddard closed the distance with a wary glance at the firearm now flopping and poorly concealed in your grasp.

“Goddard, I said I don’t need—”

Unslinging his musket, “—this will only take a moment—” he aimed the stock at the stump and whacked it hard, snapping the gnarl of wood that entrapped you and sending you spilling onto your backside with a yelp, your flintlock tumbling to the grass.

After allowing yourself a few steadying breaths, you glanced up at Goddard, who was still looking at you as if you were a piece of expensive plateware he’d just dropped.

“I was just, um…” for some inane reason, you still felt the need to explain yourself. “Looking for mushrooms.”

“For… mushrooms,” Goddard repeated.

Suddenly irritated, you sat up a little straighter. “Yes. Is it such a strange thing?”

Goddard shrugged helplessly. His gaze flicked over you, to the pistol laying at your side. Then a lopsided half-grin softened his face a fraction, revealing the boyish ease of the Goddard you were more accustomed to.

“Good thing you brought that,” he said, nodding to the gun. “I hear they’re quick little buggers.”

His attempt at levity stunned you for a moment. You almost barked out a laugh. Almost.

Scowling, you snatched the pistol and shoved it into your pocket before making to stand. “What are you doing here, Goddard?”

He proffered a hand, which you refused. “I could ask you the sa—”

“Were you following me?” you snapped, the idea slamming you the moment your feet bore your weight. “Did Tavington send you?”

“Tavington?” Genuine perplexment twisted his expression. “No, why would Colonel Tavington want to—”

Your face burned. “He wouldn’t!” you said. “Obviously, he wouldn’t even care about what I was doing, so why would you even ask if he would want—”

“Miss, you asked me—”

“Anyway!” You threw your hands into the air, hoping to dispel the last seconds of conversation from his memory. “Forget it.” Sighing, you brushed off the dirt and debris that clung to your petticoats. Could you potentially go one day without doing something humiliating in front of a British officer? “Fine day for a fox chase, indeed,” you mumbled under your breath.

Goddard stiffened. “What was that?”

“What?” You cleared your throat. “Nothing.”

“No,” he said, approaching you. “No, you… You said something.” His eyes searched yours, and you averted your gaze, suddenly all too aware of the fact that he was a British officer and you’d been found in the midst of attempting subterfuge. “Something like…” He stepped forward, trying to force himself in front of where you were looking. “Fine day for a fox chase?”

Your eyes widened. You stood still. Met his stare from the corner of yours. You realized that if he hadn’t actually followed you, the only other way a redcoat could have come out to this spot is if he had been specifically instructed to do so. Perhaps to deposit something for later retrieval.

“You…” Brow furrowing, you stepped toward him, poking a finger into his chest. “You’re the contact on the inside?”

“Shh!” Goddard’s head whipped around, finding nothing and no one around you. “Not so loud!” He stepped closer, voice dropping to a whisper. “How do you know that? Did you—” He gasped. “You’re a spy.”

“Now you be quiet!” you hissed.

“After pretending to be a Tory who denounced her rebel father?” he replied hoarsely. “This entire time!”

Your hand shot out and pinched his lips together. “Yes,” you said, wagging him back and forth like a doll. “And I’ve managed to throw most suspicion off me, so please be mindful of your volume and conduct!”

Grumbling, he shoved you away. “Fine, fine!” He rubbed his mouth, pouting. “Tavington suspects you, though?”

You cleared your throat. “I’m working on that.” A slow breath left you. You examined him—this boy, not even two decades old and having wound himself up in some complex spy arrangement. You were surprised Lottie hadn’t killed him for even considering it. “Does Lottie—”

“No!” He swallowed. “No. She’d kill me if I even considered it.”

As you’d suspected. “She doesn’t know anything about this?”

Goddard averted his gaze. “She doesn’t know much about most of what I do,” he replied. “I tend to not keep her abreast of it all.” He chewed at his cheeks. “I can’t imagine she’d appreciate stories of what others in the legion get up to in the field.” He grimaced. “They’re rather ruthless, and she’s rather squeamish.”

“Well, you aren’t wrong there.”

You hummed in thought, studying him. If you had been given an option to choose someone to entrust your life to, it would not have been Benedict Goddard. As far as you had known, both he and Lottie were as adherent to the crown as any good Tory would be. Now, you found yourself in a position to enter an allyship with him. And if you were to do that, you needed to understand him just a bit better.

His face was red. His shoulders sloped toward the ground. There was something he hadn’t told you yet.

“Why are you doing this, Goddard?” you asked. His face tightened. “I thought that you… Your parents…” You faltered, realizing you knew next to nothing at all about the Goddards senior aside from your own assumptions.

Goddard rubbed the back of his head, then his eyes as he exhaled. “The…” He looked at you. “I suppose you’ll get it,” he said to himself, “not as if you’re a worshipper of redcoats.”

You ignored the polite skip your heart made in reminder of events the week prior.

“Our parents…” Goddard focused on the ground. “When the British tried to take Charleston in seventy-six…” His mouth trembled. “It didn’t go well. Lottie thinks they were killed by a Patriot mob. And I did too, actually. Since that’s what they’d told us.” He nudged the grass with his toe. “But I learned later, once I’d been commissioned…” Drawing in a breath, his shoulders rolled back, and he looked, for possibly the first time, like a young man instead of a boy. “They’d been arrested during the retreat. Put on a ship. They were good Tories. Loyal citizens. But it didn’t matter.” Goddard finally met your eyes. “My father died in confinement before his trial. I’ve no idea what became of my mother.”

Your heart wilted for him. For Lottie, too. “They’re both dead,” you finished for him.

He nodded, sniffled. “That’s all I can assume. And I didn’t… I didn’t have the courage. Until the explosion at Middleton Place.” Nodding to himself, he shrugged. “Made me feel as if I could make it so their deaths weren’t in vain.”

“They won’t be,” you replied quickly, assuredly, because that was what you believed. “All right. We can work together on this. You give me your intelligence. I’ll get it to the Continentals. But we can’t be seen together, and you absolutely cannot mention ever seeing me or my family. Do you understand?”

“Yes, but…” He hesitated. “It’s already well known that you’ve been living with myself and my sister. Wouldn’t pretending we’re strangers only raise greater suspicion?”

“Shite,” you murmured, casting around as if the right answer might be etched in the grass somewhere. “All right, then we carry on as we have.” You looked back up at him. “Keep things reserved, but friendly. Never seem familiar with me, and I shan’t with you.”

“Right.” Goddard nodded, wrung his hands. “I do have just one question, though.”

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. If he blew this for both of you—

“I understand everything,” he said hurriedly, “I really do. It’s just. I was wondering… if maybe you could put in a good word for me?”

“What?”

“With the Continentals! That’s where you said you’re going, right? With this?” He fished a folded parchment from beneath his coat.

“Goddard—”

“Please?” His brows pinched, making him look rather like a puppy that had just been scolded. “The man I spoke to in Charleston was apt to jump out of his skin. Didn’t even want to talk to me, seemed like. Probably thought I’d double-cross him or something.”

“I’m not even supposed to know who you are! Nor you I.”

“I know, I know.” Goddard ran a hand through his mess of curls. “But I think they’re testing me with this. Making sure I’m trustworthy and all. So maybe you could tell them I am?”

“They trusted you enough to tell you the code phrase, didn’t they? Surely they anticipated you might find their camp.”

Goddard brightened. “It could get me into their camp?”

“No—never mind!” You groaned, dragging your palms down over your eyes. It would be a miracle if you both went a month before swinging from a gallows. “Do not seek them out, Goddard,” you said firmly. He wilted. “Do not. Not unless your cover is blown. Us even knowing each other’s identity puts us in greater peril than you can fathom, I need you to understand that.”

“I do, I do,” said Goddard, chastened. “Then we never saw each other here. We won’t breathe a word.”

You sighed. If only it were that simple. “We may do much more than ‘breathe’ should the redcoats ever be of a mind to torture us for what we know.”

Goddard paled. “Then what do we do?”

“How should I know?” You threw your hands in the air. This was a mess. A huge mess that you never should have agreed to entangle yourself in.

“I could put this…” Goddard leaned toward the stump, reaching toward as if to hide the letter.

“Oh, just give me the stupid letter!” You snatched it from him. “Christ.”

Goddard offered you a lopsided grin. You huffed, peering behind him. “Where are you supposed to be right now, anyway?”

He glanced at his boots. “With Major Ferguson,” he muttered. “I conscripted myself to assist his unit as soon as I was aware he’d be passing through Catawba.”

“Right,” you said. “And I imagine you need to return to that encampment relatively shortly.”

“Indeed I do, miss.”

“All right.” You sighed. With this intelligence on your person and with Ferguson still close by, you’d need to make it out of this area as quickly as possible. That meant saying goodbye to Grace far earlier than you’d wanted. You’d hoped to at least have another night. “How’d you get here then, a horse?”

“Yes.”

“Where is it?”

He pointed out behind him, into the forest. “Tied up beyond the bridge.”

You nodded. “I’ll be taking it. You’ll be all right to walk back to camp.”

“Wh—miss, please!” Goddard balked. “What shall I say happened to my horse, then?”

Shrugging, you began to make your way to the edge of the woods. “Say it ran off,” you replied. “Or died.”

“Died—”

“I really must go, Goddard,” you said. “Good luck. Give me five minutes before you leave.”

As you left him in the distance, you heard him sigh. “Yes, miss, I shall…”

You trudged through the trees, eventually spying the shape of the broken bridge, and the horse tied to its posts on the opposite side. After picking your way across the planks, you paused, a sudden sense of familiarity washing over you as you took in the stout little animal before you. Bay, one white sock, a snip of white on his nose.

“It’s you,” you breathed through a smile, walking up to offer your hand. “Remember me?”

The horse flicked his ears toward you and snuffled your hand, puffed warm breath over it. Just as he’d done on that fateful May morning when you’d spirited him away from his lush pasture to become your accomplice in a flight for your life. That might well have been an eon ago. You felt a pang in your chest for both of you.

“Things have changed for us, haven’t they, boy?” The horse snorted softly and reached down for a mouthful of grass. “I ought to call you something proper, I suppose.”

You checked the girth, adjusted one stirrup before circling around to do the same to the other. The late summer breeze soothed your skin, ruffled his mane, reminded you of gentler and simpler times. Like something from a dream.

“What do you think of ‘Puck?’” you mused. The horse reached around to nose at your petticoats. You stroked him between the eyes, and he gave a contented sigh. You smiled. “All right. Puck it is, then.”

—

Grace must have heard the approach of hooves—she had stepped onto the porch before you could make it to the steps, her mouth agape.

“What on—” She looked between you and the horse, her hands on her hips. “Where did you manage to procure a horse?” Another glance at the tack. “A British horse?”

You offered her a tight smile, neck tensing with the force. “Well…” You slowed your mount and hopped off. “It’s part of everything we agreed not to discuss,” you said, guiding Puck to a handrail and tying him up. “But have no worry, I was not pressed to shoot anyone for it.”

“Well, now it seems as if you were pressed,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. A realization sunk onto her shoulders like fog. “What need do you have for a horse?”

“That’s the other bit,” you said, ascending the steps and crossing to her, placing your hands on her shoulders. “I need to be on my way.”

Her face fell, and she averted her gaze. “So I feared.”

“I’m sorry,” you said. “I wanted to stay at least a couple more days.”

Nodding, Grace pressed her cheek onto one of your hands. “I know.” A slow, reluctant sigh escaped her. “I just…” Her mouth screwed in thought. “I did not anticipate being alone again so soon.”

You swallowed, pulling her into a hug. She buried her face in your neck and wrapped her arms around you, breathing you in before relaxing into the embrace. You kissed her hair, holding her close, hoping to imbue her with your love, that it might sustain her in your absence.

As you pulled apart, Grace bounced on the balls of her feet. “Let me send you off with a few things, at least.”

Before you could even begin to protest, she darted into the house. You sighed and moved to unfasten the saddle bags—mercifully empty aside from a spare ramrod and a few loose musket balls. Might as well collect a few things yourself before leaving.

Inside, the sounds of tinkling glass rang out as Grace rummaged through the kitchen. “My bag is here by the stairs,” you called, setting one down before ascending up to your room with the other one.

Humming tunelessly to yourself, you gathered an extra pair of stays (and several ribbons for lacing them), a few petticoats, and your hair comb. Stuffing each into the bag, you allowed yourself to soak in the familiarity of home and tried not to allow preemptive grief to smother you. This wasn’t the last time you’d be here. As long as you held onto that belief, you would make it ring true.

From the bed, a little mrrow drew your attention. Mr. Mouser padded along the edge, tail high, before turning in a circle to beg for pats. Softening, you stepped forward and stroked your fingers along his back, earning a loud rumbling purr. You scooped him up and buried your face in his fur, breathing in the comfort of his smell.

As you released him again, a shape on the bed caught your eye. The Odes still lay open where you’d used it to decipher Papa’s letter. You picked it up, leafed through the pages, smoothed your thumbs over the cover. It was quite a clever way to encipher a letter, you thought to yourself. You wondered where Papa had gotten the idea, or if he had come up with it on his own. Either way, you’d need the book if he wished to continue communicating in code.

After a moment’s hesitation, you slipped the book into your bag with everything else. Then you fastened it, swept a final look around your room, and headed back downstairs.

Grace was kneeling beside your other saddle bag, arranging an assortment of canisters and cloth-wrapped bundles so they fit neatly inside. When she stood at your approach, she wore a wry smile.

“What have you put in there?” you asked.

“Oh, just some tea blends, plus a few dried herbs and provisions for your travels,” she said innocently.

You smiled, shook your head. You supposed you’d find out eventually. “I’ll write you,” you said, taking her hand in yours.

“Please regale me with tales of John,” she giggled, lifting your arm to spin beneath it as if in a dance. “Promise.”

Who’s John? you almost said before stopping yourself. “I promise.” You released her, tapping your forefinger to her nose. “And you promise to stay out of trouble.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Please,” she replied, “I believe that’s a promise you must needs make to yourself.”

“If I made it,” you said, grinning, “I’d surely break it within the day.”

“Within the hour, more like.”

You both laughed, and wrapped each other in a hug again. Another sigh left between you before you drew apart.

“I’ll be going,” you said. “Burn Papa’s letters, all right?”

She stuck out her lip in a playful pout. “Oh, even that of sweet Mr. Pearce?” she said. “You seemed so fond of it.” She tried to stop herself from smiling. “Though perhaps he’s no John.”

You groaned, planting a finger in the center of her chest and pushing her away. “Go on, then,” you replied, unable to hide your own smile. “I’m heading to Fort Carolina. I’ll write to you when I arrive.”

With that, you descended the stairs, secured your saddle bags and hoisted yourself into the saddle. Eyes on your sister, you tugged on the reins and headed toward the main road, waving, sneaking glances at her until the woods swallowed her from view.

The ride toward the camp wasn’t long, but it was long enough to have your mind skipping over every recent event before you truly arrived. Goddard—you’d allied yourself with a child—Grace—you’d left your sister alone again—Papa and Pearce—whoever Pearce was, he’d ingratiated himself to your father so effectively that Papa seemed pleased with his intent on becoming an in-law—and William.

He’d spent the past week at the forefront of your thoughts, and irritatingly, he hadn’t been unwelcome. In fact, you realized that upon your admission to your sister, there was something you nearly enjoyed about your time together that hadn’t been entirely physical. That you yearned to experience again.

It was revolting.

You shuddered, shaking your head as if you could fling the sticky syrup of fondness from your skin like a dog shaking its fur free of water. You could not, would not be a woman who pined, a woman who sat in bubbling glee upon reading a letter penned in his hand. That sort of behavior was suitable for girls like Grace, to be certain, and they could relish that. But you? No, you could never expose the underbelly of your tenderness to anyone, and especially not a man, and especially not William Tavington.

And so you wouldn’t.

Once you’d come within a few miles of the encampment, you cut off the main road and rode through the field until a collection of white canvas rose from the horizon. The sun was beginning to cross into the west; you’d need to make this quick if you planned on making it to Fort Carolina before midnight.

As you approached the shabby huddle of tents, two militiamen rushed you, one with his hand in the air, the other with his musket aimed toward you. You couldn’t blame them—you were on a horse with British tack, after all—and you drew Puck to a stop before holding up your hands.

“Hold there!” said one of the men. “Stay your approach!”

“I’m staying,” you mumbled, and then, louder, “Understood.”

“Dismount,” said the man with the musket, drawing the path he wanted you to take with the barrel. “Feet on the ground and hands up.”

Sighing, you unhooked one of your feet from the stirrups, and went to sling your leg over the saddle, only for strange hands to grasp your waist. You yelped, swinging back atop the horse and glaring at the soldier who’d tried to assist you.

“Don’t touch me!” you growled.

The man’s eyes widened. “I was—”

“Off the horse, madam,” said the soldier with the gun.

You sneered. “Inform your compatriot to have his hands to himself, and I shall dismount with haste.”

“You’re in no place to make demands,” he replied, approaching you like one would approach a pile of vomit. “Perhaps you’re unaware, but the monarchy has no authority here. We’ll pay no heed to a princess.”

“Princess?” You laughed, looked him over. He was young, his hands pillowy and uncalloused. “I would hardly expect deferential treatment from a boy who has clearly spent his entire life delegating labor to his slaves. All while crying ‘liberty’ from around his mother’s teat, no doubt.”

His lip furled. “Listen here, you Tory bitch—”

He snatched your leg, and you snarled, slamming your toe into his chest.

“Get your hands—”

“Enough!”

Both of your heads turned—in front of you, approaching like wildfire, was Captain Pearce. The stupid idiot moron of a militiaman released you and snapped to attention. You restrained a groan, feeling like a spider now indebted to a fly.

“Private, what do you think you’re doing?” Pearce said, his eyes flicking between him and you. “Is this how you treat all women without supervision?”

The man snarled at Pearce. “I’m not your private, Captain.”

“You are under my command in Colonel Martin’s absence,” Pearce snapped, “and you will explain your behavior at once.”

The man seethed, but his eyes shifted away from Pearce’s. “We were told not to allow anyone entry without the passphrase—”

“They didn’t even ask me for a passphrase, Captain,” you interjected.

Pearce’s brows raised. “You didn’t ask?” He looked between the two men. “Your first solution was assault?”

“No, no—”

“My apologies, sir,” the bystander offered.

“This woman is to be permitted entry,” he said, waving you forward. “She’s familiar to me.”

“But the passphrase—”

Pearce shook his head, giving you a quick glance. “Forget the passphrase, the means of obtaining it are far too obscure—”

You frowned. “Fine day for a fox chase,” you said primly, brow raised. “Isn’t it?”

“Oh.” Pearce’s jaw dropped, then clicked shut. Both of the men looked to him and he flicked his hand as way of direction. “Dismissed, both of you,” he said, and they each scurried off. Once they’d made it several yards away, he cleared his throat. “My apologies, miss. My intent was not to assume anything negative—”

“Do you think I arrived here by accident?” You stared down your nose at him. “Or did you imagine that after reading your letter that my newly found affections led me to you like a fish wound toward the rod?”

Pearce’s face reddened. “No.” Sighing, he rubbed his brow and shook his head again. “No, no, you’re perfectly right. My apologies.” He focused on the grass a moment before laughing. “I suppose I can’t manage a conversation with you without stepping on my own feet, can I?”

You cocked your head. “No,” you replied. “I suppose not.”

“Am I to take it then that you did not appreciate—”

“Where’s my father?”

“Ah.” He glanced behind him, then looked back to you. “Your father left with the colonel of the militia this morning. Out scouting. I’m sure he did not expect you to arrive so quickly.” He gave you a hopeful grin. “But I will, of course, inform him that you received the message safely.” A pause, and he took a breath. “What were your thoughts regarding the rest of—”

“So then I can’t hand off the intelligence.” Your heart tumbled.

Pearce’s eyes widened. “Oh, miss, no, I am perfectly capable of receiving it,” he said, holding out his hand. “As you can see, your father and I work very closely together and—”

“Fine,” you said, proffering the correspondence from Goddard. “Take it.” You waited for him to collect it from your grasp, and then leaned forward. “And regardless of what my father tells you, do not write me again.” You returned to sitting straight. “Or at least refrain from including patronizing references to my appearance.”

Pearce looked at the parchment, his free hand curling in and out of fists. With a long sigh, he pocketed it and nodded, his face brighter than blood itself. “As you wish, miss,” he said, and then met your eyes. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Jump headfirst into a quarry. “Give my father my best. And tell him not to write to my sister, as she doesn’t wish to be dragged into war.”

“Very well, then,” he said, bowing his head. “May I tell him where you’re headed to now?”

“Fort Carolina.”

He frowned. “That’s about a day’s ride, is it not?” he asked. “It’s already past noon. You don’t wish to perhaps stay here and ride out in the morning?” His gaze betrayed his attempt to conceal his concern. “The roads can become dangerous for a woman traveling alone, worse still at night.”

“With respect, Captain, given my treatment upon arrival, I’ve no reason to believe your men are safer company than bandits or wolves.” You pulled your pistol from your pocket, brandishing it toward the sky.

Pearce looked as if he’d just watched a frog perform a ballet routine. “Ah.” He swallowed. “Well, then, miss. I bid you farewell.” He reached out for your hand, and when you didn’t offer it, stuck his back in his pocket, his lips pursed. “Safe journey to you.”

“Farewell,” you replied, replacing the pistol where you’d stored it. Wheeling Puck around, you headed back toward the road.

The events of the day rattled through your mind like the pebbles underneath your mount’s hooves. You hoped you had been right to trust Pearce with the correspondence, but you supposed you hadn’t had any other options. You hoped you had been right to trust Goddard with your identity, but he was trusting you with his, too. And you hoped you had been right to decide to do any of this to begin with—hoped you’d made the right decision instead of tossing out Papa and Pearce’s letters altogether.

It irritated you, really, the fact Papa hadn’t been there. He had no reason to anticipate your arrival to be so soon—surely he hoped Grace would write you and bring you to Catawba—but his habit of assuming your capable hands would catch every one of his burgeoning aspirations had your arms waning weary, your palms sore. There was no world in which you would not want to be your father’s most trusted confidante, but harboring that title meant you were now carrying greater, heavier loads than you felt prepared to bear.

You imagined telling your child self, her face muddied and hair a pincushion of twigs, that one day she’d conduct subterfuge for America’s independence. Imagined unlacing the burden from your back and strapping it to hers. Of course, that wouldn’t be fair. But was it fair for your father to do the same to you?

Or perhaps it was to your credit that he considered you so capable. Papa was the most capable man you’d met, after all—he’d taught himself to read and write as a boy and then demanded the knowledge of every skill he came across thereafter. It was to no surprise then he might expect the same attitude from his children. And shouldn't you have been thankful for that? Thankful for all he'd imparted on to you?

That seemed to ring more true than the bottom of abandoning it all. The alternative was something William had said—liberty to define your life free from their influence. But how could you ever resent an influence like Papa’s?

All of that without even mentioning the fact you'd met the man who was betraying the British, and you unfortunately knew him. Without your full and total dedication to this cause, you risked both of your lives, and in turn, potentially Lottie’s, too. Grace, you were sure, would be safe in Ferguson’s high regard. But Lottie only had you and her brother.

No, you would commit to this. Whatever Goddard and your father needed, you would provide. You would not be demurred by fear of your own incompetence.

One tiny, insignificant, needlingly small thorn of hesitation burrowed into your decision. Only quickly, but with enough discomfort that you paid it mind—

How would William feel if he found out?

Of course, that was ridiculous. William did not care about you and you did not care about him. Ruminating on the depth of his apathy would earn you little but frustration. You plucked it from your flesh and flicked it into the ether.

Day dissolved into night. The road awoke with crickets, their rhythm interrupted by the tenor yawning of frogs. Moonlight, fresh in its infancy, glowed in pearl lakes off of the fields, bleached the trees to periwinkle cotton, laid the tapestry for the Milky Way above you. You dissipated into it, awash in awe and admiration—you weren't sure when you finally noticed that the road met its destination.

Not more than a mile away, posted on top of a hill, was what you were sure was Fort Carolina. Curtain walls shot high into the air, torches flickered atop every bastion, and within its perimeter stood a building. A building, you noticed, with windows and candles, which meant a building with people inside. And those people included, potentially, William Tavington.

Your throat thickened. Your heart skipped. How annoying. Were you—you winced outwardly at the thought—anticipating his presence? It had only been a bit over a week, for little baby Jesus’ sake.

Then again, a week had been plenty of time to consider everything he'd done to you, and everything he had yet to do. Everything you wanted him to do.

Like an obedient whore, your cunt ached in want.

Damn that bastard.

Your approach drew the attention of soldiers stationed at the entry. In acknowledgement of your tack, they hailed you, but did not appear to have the intention of allowing you inside, stepping forward to blockade your progress. After ordering you to stop, both of their gazes flicked between your face and your pony, clearly in need of an explanation. For the second time that day, you found yourself needing to prove your bona fides to men for whom you had little respect and even littler patience.

“What brings you to Fort Carolina, miss?” said the man to your right. “And on whose horse? Your husband’s?”

“I serve in the field hospital.” You had no interest in actually answering any of their questions. “Please let me through. I’m arriving from Catawba and it’s been a long ride.”

“Do you have a pass?” said the other man. “Or some kind of written authorization?”

You frowned. No, you hadn’t been given anything of the sort, and you supposed it was too much to ask for William to spend one second considering your needs for returning.

“Is Colonel Tavington here?” you asked, leaning back in the saddle. “He’ll permit me.”

The men looked at each other, worry creasing their brows.

“Ah, well,” the one to your right began, “it’s late, miss, and I’m certain he does not wish to be disturbed at this hour—”

“Oh, I promise you, he’ll be very disturbed if he learns that you turned me away.” You weren’t sure how true that was, but you’d gamble on it for now. “Though I suppose those would be your consequences to reap, not mine.”

They glanced at one another again.

“Please wait here, miss,” Left Man said, before slipping inside the fort walls.

You and Right Man stood there, tension lingering in the night air. In the silence, he snuck a glance or two at you, face taut with unspoken questions about who you were and how you could possibly feel so comfortable invoking Colonel Tavington’s name so late in the evening. Perhaps this violated William’s previous dictate of discretion, but after riding all day, you couldn’t find a care.

The doors creaked open, and Left Man poked out his head, ushering you forward. “Colonel Tavington requests that you come along, miss.”

Right Man blinked. “Oh.” He stepped toward you, reaching up to assist you in dismounting. “Well, um, I’ll take your horse to the stables.”

You frowned, flung your leg from the stirrup and hopped from the saddle in one swift movement, teeth clacking as you hit the ground. “And my belongings to my accommodations.” You looked toward Left Man, chin in the air. “If you please.”

With a nod, he led you through the entrance. The moment your foot touched the tilled dirt path toward the main building, your heart fled from your blood. You felt its beat in your lips, your fingertips, in the pit of your stomach. Colonel Tavington requests you come along, he’d said. You imagined the conversation, imagined what he’d said to William to inspire such a request.

Colonel, a choleric bog woman is insinuating familiarity with you. Colonel, a creature from the swamp requests entry to the fort—it appears to be female. Colonel, there’s a woman on her knees begging for your cock, shall we permit her access?

That last one was probably what William had chosen to hear.

Left Man guided you through the house, through the dancing light that decorated the halls, your pulse bouncing with your footsteps. It was nearly humiliating to be this thrilled about the possibility of seeing a man—but you’d long admitted that William was no ordinary man. Not to you.

Your escort stopped in front of a door, rapped it with his fist. “Sir,” he said. “You requested—”

“Enter.” That was his voice, as clipped and arrogant as ever. You swallowed.

The door opened, and you stepped inside. There, at his desk, embossed gold in the candlelight, was William Tavington. His eyes, paler than the moon, met yours, and the corner of his lip twitched.

You cocked your head, unable to stop the grin that swept your face. “Good evening, Colonel.”

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