#lmk your thoughts :]

[idreaminphosphorescence]

hello simon girlies <3 thinking about...civilian reader who appears to be innocent but actually is the enabler for obsessed ghost.

aka you're both obsessed with each other.

cw: minor violence

you, with big doe eyes and an innocent persona. putting on a sweet face around everyone. always smiling.

always scheming.

you're actually a wolf in sheep's clothing.

your prey? simon riley. it's so easy to rile him. this big, intimidating man that you know would bend down to your every will.

you noticed a stalker following you? oh, simon i'm so scared what if he hurts me. your eye twitched when a man is throwing insults at you for not watching where you walk? he was just so relentless, simon i wished he just stopped. you noticed how a man stared at your chest and you pretend to be oblivious? i don't feel safe anymore, simon. what do i do? what if he does something even worse?

you know your innocent facade drove him crazy. it's apparent when you saw how his eyes darkened when you whined to him. how his jaw clenched. the slight twitch on his hand.

maybe he knew your true nature. you don't care. you relish in it every time.

you know he likes it anyway.

– ☾ –

simon knows you.

he knows you're just pretending. he knows because he's also living behind a mask. it takes one to recognize one.

simon riley is supposed to be a dead man. he's a walking ghost. he shouldn't be attached towards living beings, since he had cut every tie that connected to his name.

yet, here he is. worshipping the ground you walk on, like a saint to his goddess.

you called him crying about a stalker following you? don’t worry, sweetheart. that guy’s brain is splattered behind the alleyway now, left to rot. some man yelled at you for being stupid? his body is now sinking towards the ocean floor. what? a creepy man won’t stop staring at your chest? he makes the man beg for his life before shutting him up for good.

sometimes, he wonders if you are just taking advantage of his feelings. let you play him like a puppet on strings.

even if that is the case, he would still let you.

because he likes it. and he wants to let you know that he does.

— masterlist.

[foresthouseowo]

So....uhhh, @dynamicsimp this is for you? (/°//∇//°/)

I dunno...( ´∀｀ )b But I really love this AU

[the-sun-and-the-sea]

wait…do yall think not having a drivers license is a sign of status in the capitol

[wolvesandshine]

Time passed differently in Azkaban.

Or maybe that was just Barty losing his last remaining brain cells. Either way, he was beyond caring.

Evan was dead. Dorcas was dead. Regulus was dead. Pandora was forever lost to him - locked up as he was in Azkaban.

So really, Barty doesn’t bother to acknowledge his new cell mate.

Whatever he’d done, he was no threat to Barty.

“Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Barty blinks. That voice. It sounded so similar but it couldn’t be -

Barty turned to see the new comer, seeing black hair and grey eyes, his heart beat picking up.

He was alive, he was alive - and -

Oh. Barty slumped, as he realised the person in front of him was not in fact, Regulus arising from the dead.

Sirius, the objectively worse brother, was still ranting. “He’s a fucking death eater and - “ Suddenly he cuts himself off and then starts laughing mumbling something about how he’d join the club. As if Sirius Black would ever become a death eater.

He sounded deranged, unstable, even to Barty’s ears.

The auror seems horrified and without much more effort dumps Sirius in the cell and hightails it out of there.

“If I had known all I had to do to get them to leave was laugh I would have done it ages ago.” Barty muses and Sirius suddenly stops laughing, turning to him.

“You.”

Barty simply stares back.“Yes. Me.”

Sirius ignores him. “What did you lot do to Regulus.”

The name turns Barty cold. “Why would you care? I thought you didn’t have a brother.”

At this, Sirius visibly flinches and Barty stares, shocked. The Sirius Black he knew never displayed any emotions, especially with regards to Regulus that wasn’t blatant disinterest.

Sirius stares at him. “I.. Look.I need to know. I just.. I need to know.”

Barty hears it the familiar heartbreak. That’s the thing isn’t it? He didn’t know either. He had assumed that the order had somehow got their hands on Regulus but well, it was foolish to assume so anyways. Regulus was much too smart to be caught.

“I don’t know.”

At that Sirius intakes a quick breath, “So he’s alive then? There was no body so he could have run away- “

“Regulus was many things but he wasn’t a coward.” Barty cuts in coldly. Regulus wouldn’t just leave them. At least not without informing first.

Sirius just slumps, tears filling his eyes. Good. Barty thinks. Sirius had caused Regulus enough pain. Maybe it was sadistic but it felt good to know that Sirius was also hurt by Regulus.

Finally when Barty thinks that’s it Sirius adds. “He was always one to keep things close to him.”

Barty couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. He had been Regulus’s friend for 7 years and at most he could say he knew 5 facts about him. “Understatement of the century.”

And then they both look at each other and laugh, a harsh sound that comes from grief for the boy they both loved but couldn’t save.

[pendragony]

Busy thinking thoughts about how the writers took the wrong direction with Cas. What Dean needed wasn’t another would-be lover (always second fiddle to Sam) but a surrogate father. If Castiel - righteous, fervent, obsessive and unbending, violent, demanding too much at times, strong but broken, powerful but flawed, a warrior undone by learning to love - couldn’t be a surrogate for John, then who could?

[connormccafferyhater]

who thinks we’ll go 3-0?? 🧐⁉️

[rogueonestan]

close call

summary: after a close encounter with an Infected, the only thing that calms you is the comfort of your partner. 

word count: 5.4k

content warning: tlou-type violence (not too graphic), mention of guns, minor language 

authors note: inspired by opening scene of this fic 

masterlist | ao3

Everything had happened so quickly. One moment you were treading through the depths of the forest with Joel, trying to find a decent spot to rest before nightfall came, but the worst thing happened when you drifted away from Joel for a few moments.

A twig snapped. 

It was a rookie mistake. To bring attention to yourself over something as minuscule as a tree branch breaking underneath your feet, but the simple action caused your heart to beat repeatedly against your chest. 

You mentally scolded yourself for the dumb mistake you made, hoping you didn’t gather the attention of anyone nearby, or even worse, an Infected. You check over your shoulder to see if the noise got your partner’s attention, but when you see that you’re still alone, a deep sigh leaves your lips. You’re not sure if it’s relief that the loud noise hadn’t gained anyone’s attention or if no one approached you because it caused your anxiety to swell up. 

Just when it seemed like the coast was clear to make your way back to Joel and forget any of this happened, to tell him you found a suitable place to crash for the night, the undeniable sound of a Clicker makes the thumping of your heart even faster and harder than it was less than a minute ago. You’ve dealt with Clickers in the past, it’s the reason why you’ve been able to survive in this hell hole of a world for nearly twenty years now, but the sound of them alone would terrify anyone. If it didn’t, the sight of them did. 

Your hand instinctively reaches for the gun you have resting on your hip, but your hand just gently pats the area. Another sigh leaves your lips when you realize where your gun is- in your pack. Whenever you travel with Joel for long periods of time, you usually put your weapon away during the night because you know you would be safe with Joel’s protection. You know he would never let anything bad happen to you. 

Just your luck, you forgot to put your gun back in its holster when you and Joel continued your travels in the early hours of the morning. Maybe it was because it was so early in the morning and you simply weren’t thinking straight or it was lack of sleep or it just wasn’t your day, but regardless, your gun is in your pack and the only weapon you have on you at the moment is the knife that rests on your right thigh as the clicker’s calls keep getting louder and louder as each second passes. 

The simple sound of your knife clicking open is what finally sets the clicker in your direction. The only sound that could be heard from miles was the echoing of the clicker’s screech. The disturbing figure was approaching you at an inhumane rate.

Fuck.

Before you could even prepare yourself against the upcoming attack, the creature lunges itself towards you. The heavy weight easily knocks you off your feet and it feels as if all of the air is knocked out of your body when your back collides with the cool, soft grass. It was a miracle in itself that you didn’t loosen your grip on your knife (probably the first sign of luck you’ve had all day) as the horrifying face grew closer and closer towards yours. It nearly took all the energy you had left to take a calming breath. 

The echoing sound of its snarl makes your ears vibrate with how loud and up close the creature was at this point. You could see the vine-like infection growing out of its mouth. The sight in itself is enough to keep you up late at night with how horrifying it looks. You’ve had a handful of encounters with Clickers before, but you’ve never been close enough to see the tiny details that litters its face and you hope to never come in contact with one this close again. 

One of the Clicker’s hands grasps the arm that isn’t wielding your knife, possibly another sign that things could begin to go in your favor tonight, as your opposite hand lunges at the creature's throat. The creature on top of you lets out another blood curdling scream, the sound bouncing off of your eardrums for a second time with a pain you never wish to feel again. You let out a scream in response as the pain in your ears gets to be too much. When you glance at the creature’s throat, believing that you stabbed it in the area that would kill it with one swift movement, you find that you missed the side of its throat by mere centimeters, the stab revealing itself near its collarbone. 

Of course. You missed.

The stab you managed to get in seemed to have inflicted some pain, but not enough. When the creature let out that blood curdling scream, its grasp on you loosened, just barely, but it was enough for you to shove the creature off of you with your forearm. It took all of the strength you had, but the Clicker flew a foot or two away from you. This gives you the spare moment you need to get up on one knee, preparing yourself to swing your arm in the creature’s direction but before you can lunge another attack, the sound of a gunshot echoes in the forest.

Then… silence. The sound of local birds cawing as they fly in multiple directions is the only sound that could be heard for the next few seconds as the thud of the now dead body falls only inches away from you. Your eyes instinctively close shut at the loud noise, out of fear of the whole event that was going on, but you were surprised at the sight in front of you once you had reopened your eyes: the unmoving body of the Clicker. 

Hell, you were surprised you were alive. 

Letting out a shaky breath, you look at your surroundings to see what the source of the clicker’s death was. 

Joel.

A shaky breath leaves your lips as soon as you see him and it only takes him a few seconds before he joins you at your side. 

You were half expecting Joel to scold you for the dumb mistake you made, telling how you need to be more careful and how you’re not supposed to leave his side (something he’s told you multiple times in the past), but you’re surprised by the 

feather-like touches his fingertips have on the outskirts on the palm of your hand as it still tightly grasps the weapon once he kneels besides you. His fingers gently begin to grasp yours, silently encouraging you to loosen your grip you have on the blade. Without saying a word, your fingers begin to unclasp their grip until the blade simply rests in the palm of your hand. Joel doesn’t waste another second to gently take the weapon from you, slowly retracting the blade back into its rightful place so that it can’t harm anyone else before he puts it in his back pocket. 

His hands cup your cheeks as his eyes scan for any life-threatening injuries you may have gotten. 

“Baby, are you hurt?” He asks you. 

A shaky breath leaves your lips, still trying to wrap your head around what just happened. You muster enough strength to shake your head. “No, no. I’m, uh- I’m okay.” You manage to say.

“What happened?” Joel asks you, the only sign of his worry was the look in his eyes as he looks over for any injuries for the second time.

Events of what just happened from the past few minutes leave your lips faster than you can recall. You tell Joel you don’t know how it happened. You remember being by his side, telling him whatever came across your mind during the moment when he told you should probably begin to settle down for the night, when the next thing you know you’re face-to-face with a Clicker.

You didn’t mean for any of it to happen. You didn’t mean to wander off. You didn’t mean to step on that branch. You didn’t mean to get the attention from the Infected. You didn’t mean for any of it to happen.

It was all your fault it happened. A bunch of ‘I'm sorry's’ leave your lips immediately afterwards. At some point, tears run down your cheeks and onto the palms of Joel’s hands when they never stop cupping your cheeks. 

The sound of his voice sounded like background noise at first, a distant sound trying to lure you out of the awful thoughts that began to circulate within your mind, but eventually the familiar sound of his deep voice helped lure you out of the dark clouds within your mind.

“Hey, it wasn’t your fault.” Joel calmly reassures you as his eyes never broke contact with yours. 

“Yes, it was. It-“

“It was not your fault. You didn’t mean for any of it to happen.” It took everything within him for his exterior to be as calm and collected as he appears to be. 

The sight of you only inches away from death nearly terrified him, his worst nightmare about to come true, but he can’t think about ‘what if’s.’ Not now. He has to be calm. One of you has to be.

“If I hadn’t, then…” You trail off.

“If you hadn’t then it could have found us in the middle of the night. It was a good thing that you found it. Really.” He reassures you.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.” He promises you. 

When he sees the fear in your eyes never faded for a single moment, his eyes soften, trying to ease your nerves within you. It’s worked in the past. Somehow he’s always managed to comfort you when something awful like this has happened in the past, but not this time. Rather than finding comfort in his words or his presence, your eyes wander to the corpse that lies not even a few feet away from you. 

“Oh, God, I-I could’ve…” You trail off as your eyes never stop staring at the body. The nerves within you only worsen as the thought of what could have happened go through your mind. 

When Joel notices what your glance is fixated on, the grasp he has on your cheekbones quickly leaves, the warm sensation of his skin quickly being replaced by the cool wind, as his arms wrap around your frame and guides your head in the crook of his neck. A vain attempt, really, a way to shield you from the horror of what is right in front of you. The familiar scent of his and the steady heartbeat of his helps with the erratic beating of your own heart. 

“I’ll always be there to protect you.” He whispers in the shell of your ear. The soft words of his only helps with the growing feeling that was growing inside of you just moments ago. 

In the past you would have asked for further confirmation, asking why or if he’s sure, but after 

being in each other’s lives for a few years now, you know that Joel is a man of his word. He wouldn’t say something that isn’t true. You trust him with every bone in your body. 

“I could’ve died.” Your body physically twitches at the realization of that, but Joel’s grip on you only tightens. A silent promise to you that he would never let anything bad happen to you. Thoughts of how you, not the Clicker, should be dead roam within your mind and the only reason you’re alive in the first place is because of Joel. 

“That’s not going to happen as long as I’m around.” He promises you as silence falls over you.

Nothing else has to be said between the two of you. The feeling of you in his arms is a physical reminder to him that the safest place for you is to be in his arms. It tells him you’re still here and alive, and the thought of that alone helps with the nerves that made its way home in his bones. The feeling of your hot breath fanning against the crook of his neck only helps with the calming feeling beginning to reside within him, replacing the levels of nerves that lived within him only moments ago. The sight Clicker directly above you, so close to infecting you, was a sight enough to haunt his dreams at night. He couldn’t shake the feeling of losing you that way, not when he’s lost so many people over the years in the same exact way. He doesn’t know if he could handle losing another person, especially someone as important as you.

You were inches away from death. If he hadn’t heard you, if he hadn’t found you in time, you could’ve- no. He can’t let his mind go there. If he does, he may never come back from that state of mind. He can’t lose himself over meaningless ‘what if’s.’ The only thing that matters at the moment is that you’re here and safe.

The words ‘I’m so glad that you’re safe’ and meaningless rambles die on his lips. He wants to tell you just how relieved he is now that you’re okay, that he doesn’t know what he would do if you weren’t his life. Saying those kinds of things don’t come easily for Joel, the last time he allowed himself to be that vulnerable with someone else only ended in him being hurt, so he settles for the feeling of you in his arms.

The grasp he has on your waist only tightens while the arm he has wrapped around your shoulder gravitates down to the biceps of your arms. They’re covered in the material of your jacket, but rubbing up and down your arm helps keep his mind off of things. He rubs countless circles and random shapes to take his mind off of things. It gives him something to focus on for the time being. A soft moan leaves your lips in response and a shadow of a smile appears on Joel’s lips as he continues the action. He can feel the way your lips curl upwards in satisfaction as you bury your head impossibly deeper in the crook of his neck. 

When you curl closer towards him, an inch of exposed skin reveals itself when your shirt slightly rode up. Joel didn’t waste a single second to adjust the grip he has on your waist so that his fingers can feel the warmth of your flesh. Just like he did with the grasp he has on your arm, the feeling of his fingers on your bare skin, rubbing indestinguable shapes, sends shivers down your spine. His movements seemed to be never ending, not that either of you would complain. The intimate moment didn’t have to last this long between the two of you. A simple hug, a short reassurance, would have sufficed, but intimate moments like these were rare in your relationship. 

The physical embrace reminds you both everything for the time being is okay. When your body fully relaxes against his, to find full comfort in your partner’s grasp, a sigh leaves Joel’s lips. 

You’re okay.

You’re safe. 

He saved you.

It’s been such a long time since either of you found comfort in someone else’s arms. That tends to happen when you’re living in a world as messed up as the one you’re currently living in. It’s a great comfort to know that someone cares about him as much as he cares about them- to have his feelings reciopcrated for the first time in what seems like a lifetime ago. 

The small smile on Joel’s face only grows at the thought of that. He’ll tell you someday, hopefully sometime soon, but he needs the time to figure out what to say. He wants to say the right word at the right time, but he settles for the growing warm feeling he has in his belly as he allows the feelings of pure love and adoration to run through his veins- a feeling he hasn’t felt long before the outbreak happened nearly two decades ago.

“I’ll always be there to protect you.” Joel promises you.

“And I’ll be there to protect you. You know that, right?” You ask.

“I know.” 

A moment of silence fills the air, only the local ambience could be heard for miles until Joel breaks the silence. “But we should probably find some other place to spend the night. It’s not safe here.”

As much as you hate to break the short yet tender moment between the two of you, you know Joel’s right. It’s very unlikely someone else or another Infected didn’t hear the sound of the gunshot that echoed not that long ago. You probably brought even more unneeded attention to where you currently are and need to find someplace to stay until the sun rises in the morning.

A soft grunt leaves Joel’s lips when he begins to stand up from the soft grass, silently offering his hand to you. Without hesitation, you accept his grasp and allow him to pull you up from the ground. As the two of you move deeper and deeper within the forest, the feeling of Joel’s fingers firmly (yet gently at the same time, a perfect presentation of himself) intertwines with your hand, never leaving your grasp for the remainder of your walk together. The only time his grasp slightly loosens is to gently squeeze your hand, a physical reminder to himself that you’re here and safe with him. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Joel hadn’t kept you out of his sight since you found a spot to rest for the night. Even when he was preparing dinner for the two of you, every so often, he would look up to make sure you were still nearby.

Hardly anything was spoken when you were eating, mainly because neither one of you knew what to say. The most you’ve said all evening was how surprisingly good the food was or how beautiful the night sky looks, both of which Joel agreed, then nothing else was spoken. You would feel Joel’s eyes on you every so often and when you would look in his direction, his eyesight would go in the direction of the lit lantern that sits in front of you guys. 

Neither of you knew what to say- you felt like you should probably apologize once again for what happened earlier on in the day and Joel wanted to say something, anything, but no words formed on the tip of his tongue. Based on the way your eyes were looking off in the distance for so long, he could tell something heavy was on your mind, but he didn’t know what to say. 

Then, the silence was broken.

“Hey, is everything okay?” He asked you when he saw your eyes were now fixated on the stars littering the sky above you.

“Oh, yeah.” You answer as your eyes go from looking at the night sky, back to him, then back at the star-filled sky as you contemplate on your answer. “It’s just… it reminds me of when I was a kid. My parents would take us out camping when I was younger and it was always something I looked forward to.”

You then continue to tell him about the camping trips that seemed so normal and perhaps a bit boring (being a teenager would do that) but the normalcy of something like that is something you crave so much and you would do anything just to do something like again. Spending the night in the middle of the forest with Joel is probably the closest you’ll ever get that feeling of normalcy again.

You recall of the cliché camping activities you cherished doing with your family over the years: going swimming in the nearby lake with your sister, trying to catch the frogs near the lake with your mom but you were never able to, the hot dogs and s’mores that would be roasted on the campfire at the end of the day, and finally, finding comfort in the night sky above you as you tried to make yourself comfortable in the thinnest sleeping bag ever. 

All of those things gave you a warm feeling in your stomach in the same way you felt when your mom tucked you in at night as a kid- the same way it feels as the warmth of the nearby lantern feels on your skin at this very moment.

“It’s the simplicity of it all that I miss. Just knowing I could drop everything and drive to the same spot that I spent countless summers with my parents, the familiarity of it all is what I miss the most, I think.” You admit with a soft smile.

The same expression reflects on Joel’s face as well when you admit all of this to him.

This was probably one of the stories you told him about your childhood in a long time. It was such a simple confession, one that rolled off the tip of your tongue with such ease, but seeing the way your face lit up with such a child-like joy after the awful day you had was what caused the butterflies beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. Seeing the way your nerves were beginning to lift off of your shoulders, how you were beginning to go back to your old self, helped ease Joel’s mind a bit.

“That sounds nice.” He tells you.

“It was.” You admit, the smile on your face beginning to grow larger as images of times with your parents during your childhood emerge in your mind. “Did you ever do anything like that as a kid?”

“Fishing with my dad.” He admits. “My dad would always wake me and my brother really early on random Saturday mornings and take us out to the closest lake he could find. Tommy always hated it. Waking up so early on the weekends when all he wanted to was sleep in, just to spend it with near silence with my dad for a few hours then to spend another hour or so back on the road, but those times with my father is what I miss the most. The simplicity of it.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Oh, yeah…” He pauses. “Tommy.”

The subtle nostalgic look on his face tells you so much about his brother than words ever could. The way he spoke about him told you they had a falling out of some sort, maybe they eventually went down different paths during the pandemic at one point or even worse, his brother was killed as a result of the infection, you’re not sure. It’s not often Joel speaks of his past, so you don’t question him any further. If he wants to tell you more about his previous life, he will. If not, that’s okay with you. As long as Joel is in your life, that’s good enough for you. 

Then the subject matter is dropped for the remainder of the night as the two of you reflect in the good times in your lives- you were reflecting on the happy times you spent with your family when you were a kid and Joel simply glances at your reflection as you look up at the night sky above you, thankful for having someone like you in his life.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“I wouldn’t have been there to protect you.” Joel says after you both had finished cleaning up the mess you had made from eating dinner and you were finally about to head to bed for the night. The only item remaining is the lit lantern that acts as the only light source for miles. 

His words surprise you as you glance in his direction. “I’m sorry?”

“I thought I had lost you earlier.” He confesses. 

 “You would blame yourself if something had happened?”

“I almost wasn’t there to protect you.”

 “It would've been my fault anyway, I should've been more careful. If I hadn't wandered off, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.” Before Joel could reassure you and tell you it wasn’t your fault, you continue. “I know you think it wasn’t but it was. I'm okay with that because I know you’ll always be here for me. You’ll always be there to protect me.”

“Always.” He promises.

“Besides, you’re the one I should be worried about. You’re the one that's always in danger, not me.”

“You know you don’t have to worry about me.” He reassures you.

“But I still do. I worry that every time you leave, you won’t come back. That you’ll leave the QZ one day, or a deal goes bad, and then I’ll be alone, that I won’t have anyone and that thought terrifies me.” You admit.

“I feel the same way.” He softly admits. 

“You do?”

He nods his head. “Earlier today, I was so scared of losing you and I didn't know what I would do without you. The idea of life without you seemed meaningless and I-I couldn’t bear the thought of that.”

"Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “I don't know. Guess if I had said it outloud, then it would’ve…”

“Would’ve seemed real.” You finish his sentence for him. He nods his head. “Oh, Joel, you mean more to me than you know.”

“I know.” 

A soft smile appears on your face when his hand reaches for yours- his way of telling you how much he cares for you and how he couldn’t bear to lose you without saying anything. You know how much Joel cares for you, possibly even more than anyone else in the entire world, and the thought of that makes the smile on your face grow even larger.

“I love you." He tells you for the first time.

“I know, I love you too.” You tell him as you gently squeeze his hand. The reflection of the lamp in front of you being the only source of light and heat around you.

There were only a few moments of silence between the two of you when the sensation of a pair of warm lips resting against the top of your forehead. The action itself caught you off guard at first, but you eventually caved in, letting your body slump over as Joel’s hands gently cups the sides of your cheekbones. Tender affections like these are rare from Joel, but not uninvited. You’re always taken back whenever they occur, but you always found comfort in the simplicity of his affections.

It’s been so long since you’ve received attention and affection as gentle as Joel is giving you right now, so you’ll take any kind of physical contact you can get.

As soon as his lips come in contact with your warm skin, a soft sigh leaves his body as his eyes shut in relief. The stresses of the day finally escaping. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if something as awful as losing you were ever to happen. The last time he allowed himself to feel this way for another person, they ended up leaving, so he’s willing to do everything in his power to make sure that doesn’t happen with you. If it does, he doesn’t know if he can forgive himself. This world is cruel and unforgiving, and he’ll be damned if those he loves aren’t protected.

Surviving on your own for so long also took so much from you. You’ve managed to not suffer the level of loss as Joel has dealt with over the years, but fuck is it numbing. You’ve lost so many people over the years because of this cruel and awful world, you’ve managed the pain that comes along with the death of someone close to you. You’ve just… existed. When things seemed the darkest, that’s when the beacon of light returned in your life in the form of a man. 

It took a while for Joel to trust you and you’ve never blamed him for it. If you’ve suffered half the amount of loss he's dealt with over the years, you would be the same way, but over the years, you’ve managed to gain his trust. Eventually, he’s revealed parts of himself he hasn’t shown another person since the outbreak occurred. 

Working together was difficult at first. He only spoke to you only necessarily. Traveling to the location of your next job was often filled with sounds coming from around you, sounds often coming from the gravel underneath your feet or the sounds of birds chirping. Over time, the two of you began to grow closer. At first, you traveled together because going out in the open along was dangerous, suicidal even, and going out in pairs was highly advisable because there’s less of a chance you’ll end up dead.

Protecting you from danger was only part of the job at first, to make sure that neither of you got hurt as you were sent out on a job Tess recommended you both for, but those long hours spent together eventually developed into something more. You began to reveal parts of your life before the pandemic, what everyday struggles that seemed life altering really seem minuscule now. Joel usually didn’t have much to say, only letting a few comments out to let you know he’s listening as silence falls on you again, but eventually, he began to reveal parts of his past life to you as you had done to him on so many occasions. They seemed like minor things at first, but it wasn’t until one random night traveling together that it dawned on you just how vulnerable he was being, like the story he told you earlier of his dad. 

“Thank you, Joel.” You tell him.

“For what?” He asks.

“Just…thank you. I don't know what I would do without you.”

 “I’ll always be there for you.” Joel promises you. 

After a few moments of silence, the distant sounds of crickets being only the thing that can be heard, Joel speaks again. “We should probably go to bed.” He says as he guides you to the area where you’ll be sleeping for the night. 

It’s not the most comfortable area, but it’ll do. The feeling of the soft grass on your skin helps give you the minimal comfort that can be found in an area like this. The feeling of Joel’s arms wrapped around your frame helps bring the added comfort you needed in order to feel sleepy. If he hadn’t been there, you probably wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep because of the day’s events.

This isn’t the first time you’ve slept in each other’s embrace, no, you’ve done it plenty of times in the QZ in each other’s apartments, but this time it felt different. Maybe it’s from the intimate confession that was said just a few moments ago, or it’s the calming ambiance of the forest, or it’s a combination of the two, but the feeling of being wrapped in Joel’s strong arms at this very moment is the closest feeling you’ll feel in this world of falling asleep next to your significant other. 

Silence lures over the pair of you. You’re about to drift off to sleep when a question pops up in your mind. Before you can try to push it to the side until morning, your mouth moves faster than your brain. 

“Can I ask you something?” You ask.

“Yeah.”

“Why are you always saving me?”

“Because you’re like family to me.” He tells you as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Hearing those words bring tears to your eyes immediately because you haven’t been able to see your family since the night the outbreak began.

“You’re family to me too.” You tell him.

Then nothing else has to be said. No ‘I love you’s’ or anything like that. You both just know. You both know how much you mean to each other, how you couldn’t possibly imagine life without the other, how life would see meaningless, just having each other gives life meaning since you both nearly have lost everyone else.

“Goodnight, Joel.”

“Goodnight, baby.” He tells you as you both drift off for the night. 

[deadly-kalopsia]

guys okay so i saw a post that offhandedly mentioned tim having an ed elric arm and now i can’t stop thinking about an fma batfam au so here’s my little ideas bc yes.

so i’ve decided that tim is ed (obviously bc that’s what started this whole thing) and duke is al (bc he’s younger, i love him, and i need more of duke and tim being brothers) others that are relevant are: alfred is granny (obviously) bernard is winry (im a sucker for emt bernard)

right now what i’ve got is that tim and duke are trying to bring back bruce after he died (bruce being the one they’re bringing back might change depending on how closely i choose to follow fmas actual story) and they use a tainted lazarus pit to do it (does tim know that it’s tainted? your guess is as good as mine. it’s tainted due to gothams inherent radioactivity and general weirdness. i’m also aware this is not how the pits work but shhh, plot reasons)

they go to set bruce's body into the pit but it goes wrong and duke ends up slipping in, tims leg slips in, and he pulls himself out and realizes that duke is gone and begs for him back, not caring about the fact that his own leg is missing.

they're in one of ra's pit rooms so there's a plot relevant suit of armor sitting near by, tim hears a voice telling him to make the seal on the armor and then tim sticks his arm into the pit to grab duke(‘s soul?) and that's how he ends up losing his arm

duke regains consciousness in the suit and sees tim aggressively bleeding out and wraps him up in his cape to staunch it until he can get back and call for alfred

the pit is in gotham still and that's why it's so tainted because of all of the radioactive shit that goes on there

duke runs to the manor as fast as he can (which is so much faster now that he can't get tired) and collapses into the kitchen sobbing for alfred to help

alfred gasps and rushes tim down to the cave to begin the surgery to save tim and has duke call bernard to get him to come to the manor and help with the surgery. they barely get though it, but tim ends up surviving. mr spleenless obviously then makes things difficult and almost dies during recovery from an infection and during his feverish haze he just keeps crying out for duke and saying that he's sorry and then going between cursing gotham for being a bastard and then praising it

tim obviously barely lets himself heal before he’s starting to design prosthetics so that he can figure out how to get dukes body back (he doesn’t care if it takes his own, he just needs duke to be safe and whole again)

he figures out the equivalent of automail and makes bernard and alfred install it on him despite them begging him to stop and realize that he’s putting himself in incredible danger, he insists and they finally give in (he almost dies again from the installation and the subsequent infection)

alfred insists that it’s going to be a long and hard recovery, but tim is determined to do it in as little time as possible, he reaches out to some of the jl members and asks for help with healing, getting the recovery time down to just under a year (even with the jls help, this seems incredibly quick. they all decide to just take it at face value because it’s a miracle)

when asked what he meant when he was talking about gotham being a bastard and then switching to praising it, tim just went a little pale and then glanced at duke and then his own arm and brushed it off with a shaky voice

im not entirely sure how to work with the alchemy and/or equivalent, duke is already a meta so i’d make sense that he can use his current abilities as well as potentially understanding how to use alchemy if i go that way.

as far as it goes with tim, i think that he has enhancements, he is a little bit stronger, he heals just a little bit faster, he’s got more stamina, etc. but he’s also got something that no one else does.

he hears gotham. not all the time, but if gotham feels like teasing him or testing him, he hears her. while in gotham it’s almost as if he knows everything that’s happening. while on one of his first patrols back after the surgery with jason and duke, he stops dead in his tracks, completely tense and when the other two notice that he’s stopped they look back and him and he just stands there for a minute before shaking his head and backing up, telling them not to go that way, that it’s not safe and they need to leave. when jason starts to tease him to ask if he’s a scaredy cat, tim just shutters and grabs jason’s arm to haul him away.

they find out the next day that a massive shootout went down, along with the building they were about to walk into collapsing completely, everyone in the building (criminals, thankfully. no civilian injuries) crushed and dead. they ask tim how he knew and he just said that he had a feeling. they learn quickly to listen to what tim says when it comes to gotham.

if i do give them alchemy i think that it’ll be a surprise to everyone.

they’re in a fight, all of them for once, an arkham breakout. tim and damian are fighting near eachother while duke is across the room fighting with dick against some of the goons. tim glances over and watches as a goon takes out a gun and aims it at duke, tim is too far away, even dick, less than 10 feet away is too far, none of them will make it in time. tim will never know why he did it, but he shouted at duke and then clapped his hands together, shoving them on the ground, surrounding duke in a concrete orb, the bullet hitting the orb instead of the neck of dukes armor (his seal, if the seal gets broken, his brother is gone) like it was aiming for. as soon as tim clapped, it was like something clicked. he finally understood, it felt balanced, it felt equivalent. tim stood up and hit the goon who dare try and take a shot at his brother with his bo staff and knocked him out. once they had taken care of the rest of the goons, he clapped again and the orb surrounding duke falling back into place as if it had never been disturbed.

after being confused for a moment, seeing the others about to question tim on what the hell was that, duke chuckles and asks why tim bothered to surround him when he wouldn’t feel it anyway, he watched tim’s face fall before tim walked over to him and rested his forehead against the cool metal of dukes armor and whispers that he’s always going to protect him, and that it doesn’t matter if he can’t feel it it would still hurt, and that he’s so sorry for putting duke in this situation and he’s going to find a way to fix it he swears.

[hasanpits]

hasan should let me run the streams. my proposed schedule:

2 hours news

2 hours nearly nude workout

4 hours gaming

[r0t-t1ngxeyy]

Tw: Loli/shotacon, proship, Levi x Luke, Dark romance/abuse/kidnapping, NSFW!!! and

the Lollipop joke..

Im not letting anyone in this fandom forget those two obey me fanfics on ao3 from like 2?? Years ago. Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers them?? It was such a big thing for the fandom, Im so glad I read them before they got deleted because the memory is soo FUNNY HELP ?? I need opinions on these two fics, if anyone actually remembers them:(

Dia x Luci : The Red Means I love you

ABSOLUTELY TRAUMATIZING SHIT BRO WHAT IN THE DARK ROMANCE?? wouldn't even call that romance it was such a hard read. Stumbling across videos of it made on tiktok was probably the worst event that I experienced 👽 ON MY MOTHER THE SCENES WERE SO UNNECESSARY (but the adrenaline rush was pretty good ngl)

I read through that with my heart dropping with each new chapter bro?? I couldn't even read through the entire story. I'm pretty sure it's deleted now cus I've been searching for it to make a whole OM fandom lore post but heyy

To sum it up for the people who were fortunate enough to not read it;

Diavolo kidnaps Lucifer, and keeps him in some cage/almost prison cell area. I think he's chained up to the ceiling, I'm not so sure. It starts off with Dia being nice I think, trying to gain Lucifers trust and eventually have him submit but that shit doesn't work and all of hell releases. Lucifer endures some physical and sexual abuse and attempts to escape. But before he successfully escapes,he bumps into Barbatos who offers to help him

He does not help him. Infact, he locks him back up and informs Diavolo.

What the fuck

The most notable things I believe Dia did was clip lucifer's wings?? And pulled out his teeth (i think Barbatos actually did that I'm not so sure). But I can't really explain how gruesome and detailed the writing was. What's worse is that it also included how the brothers were reacting to Lucifer just disappearing. Very interesting fic, story wise it was fine and well written. It's just the plot in general was what the actual fuck??

LEVI X LUKE : i forgor the title and I'm very relieved that I did

VERY UNCOMFORTABLE READ BTW!! i hated summing this up so much

An absolute wreck, these fanfics were so well written I can't even hate the authors for what they did (the Dia x Luci one didn't deserve any hate imo, but this one?? Holy fucking shit??) This fic was so out of pocket, it ruined the way I saw Levi for a good while.

P.s!! Not the same author!!

WHAT I RECALL!!! aka summary?? Kinda...

So I think Simeon called Levi to look after Luke? Which is really fucking weird because Luke is an angel, sure he's depicted as a kid but if Micheal chose him to follow Simeon down to the Devildom for the exchange program then I'm pretty damn sure he can at least take care of himself without adult Supervision, but whatever. Nice plot, I hate it

Levi was totally against the babysitting thing and actually disliked having to look after Luke

Until

At some point, Luke wants to take a bath and Levi's like suree okay.

THEN ACCOMPANIES HIM TO GIVE HIM THE SAID BATH??? Obviously that's where this all downplays from what could've potentially been a found family fic to some proship shotacon fic. Levi gives him the bath and Luke gets

turned on... (I hate typing this out so much)

So, Levi gives him head. I fucking hate this with burning passion :(((

His mouth 'pops' when he stops which reminds him of a Lollipop!! And I quote this from memory:

Kinda like a Lollipop. Heh.. Loli.

I hate this fanfic so much, I don't claim it in this fandom,its a fic not a fanfic👽👽👽

And yeah, the rest of the story went on with Levi doing that bullshit!!! I don't think I read through the entire thing because curious kills the cat. I just saw some tiktok post about it and decided hey!! Im gonna look for it and read it.

I would've been fine without reading this fic, ever, i would've turned out the same as I am today LMAOO

[melodiousoblivionao3]

Roster thoughts!!!

GKs: no shock. Knew they would be the top two, yay uncle!!

Defenders: Sonnett and foxy!! Huge for me personally. Also YAY FOR NAOMI AND CASEY AND JENNA!!! Casey and Jenna deserve it so much.

Midfielders: Coffey, Horan, Rose no surprise. Cat!!!! And then one sneak that we all already know my thoughts on. I hate it so much.

Forwards: no Alex for the first time on a major roster since 2008 is insane, that’s going to be a crazy adjustment. Love the rest though, solid frontline, some questions about Crystal.

Alternates: HAL AND CROIX!! SPIRIT BABIES!!! Lynn!! (She should be full roster, Crystal alternate imho) and Jane!!

General vibes: this is the least queer major tournament roster since 2008. Only 2 out players, where the lowest prior was 2023 WC (with 3). From 2007-2021 it was always 4+, mostly 6+. I hate that. If anyone finds “make the USWNT gay again” merch please share.

[sleephyuns]

A sharp scream awakes her, nearly sending her toppling off the couch. There’s echoing screams and metallic scrapes that follow, and while she fumbles for anything to hold her upright, two things happen:

First, her hand finally finds purchase on her desk. Second, she realizes the commotion was from the TV.

With a roll of her eyes, she grabs for the remote on the floor and clicks it off, ignoring the way her heart had practically rumbled out of her chest.

On again. Then off. On again. Then off. Just to make sure it won’t happen again.

It’s well after midnight, she also realizes, looking at her phone’s screen. She must’ve fallen asleep while journaling and… yes, her notebook’s currently supine on the floor.

She heaves herself off the couch to retrieve her empty wine glass, and thinks about how messy the rest of the end table is. She should probably clean it… but the thought of having to interact with mess makes her brain feel septic. At least for the moment.

She’ll do one thing, though, and it’s to carefully remove the half-written page of her notebook.

It’s one of her irrational thoughts, the need to start fresh and finish an entry in one go, lest something horrible happen to her come morning.

She’s been having a bit of a spike in thoughts like that lately, not that she lets them get the best of her. That’s mostly because she knows where they come from, the root cause of her stress. Of course it’s…

Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon reminds her of Mina.

Quiet. Very to herself, even if she doesn’t mean to be.

Well, isn’t she kind of like Mina too? In a way. It’s part of why they hit it off so well in the first place. They both have a habit of observation. Though it’s a mystery whether Jeongyeon is the same.

It’s likely. Jeongyeon wasn’t sly in hiding her wandering eyes, her intensity. She just hadn’t realized someone else was watching her too. And maybe she never would.

Another blatancy about her: she was comically bad at acting with any sort of normalcy. With a plastered smile on her face, actions bordering on robotic. She must’ve thought everything was going fine. And well… she’d tried to make the woman feel like things were going fine, in response. So it’s not completely Jeongyeon’s fault.

But what she can do, is notice this line of behavior isn’t Jeongyeon’s usual.

Jihyo always spoke about Jeongyeon like she’d created the universe itself, told her about her days with the other woman as if they were some kind of great tale. And for the most part, they were. She loved to hear about what made her happy, what got on her nerves. Even-

—

“So, Jeongyeon has this idea that if you put a song on loop during sex, you can use it as an instant switch when you want to get in the mood.”

“…”

“You do psych work so… is it true , you think?”

—

So surely there’s more to Jeongyeon than just a few one worded answers.

One worded answers are the devil. Just the thought of them frustrates her to no end. If she makes tea, though, that’ll fix it. That way she can detox and destress as the inevitable happens.

Her inevitable thoughts about Mina.

She rises from the couch and takes her few steps towards the kitchen. It’s there she resumes her thoughts.

They’re amicable, the two of them, when the situation calls for it. Only two other people knew of their history, and there was no point in making a big fuss during group gatherings.

So they chose to let things be, not bothering to contact each other unless they absolutely needed to.

Of course, she has no real ill will towards Mina. Even at her most upset, she always wanted what was best for her. For the both of them.

Though that doesn’t make the memory torment her any less.

—

“I’m alone, waiting for just a text from you with the very little time I have off that we agreed to spend together and you’re either hanging out with your coworkers or begging to spend time with Momo. Where do I fit in?”

—

She laughs, thinking about the quiver in her voice. It might’ve been a little pathetic, in hindsight. Words said in a desperate need to get her point across.

But “you don’t get to do that analyzing stuff with me,” was what Mina had said. And she couldn’t help it-

—

“Well what else should I do when you won’t tell me what’s going on or how you feel? What am I left with if you don’t give me anything aside from ‘good morning’ and ‘goodnight’?”

“What is it you want Mina? Answer me honestly. And I promise I won’t get mad.”

—

Her voice had been soft, as she begged. Pleaded. Because maybe, just maybe, she’d hoped that Mina wouldn’t come to the obvious conclusion. The one that stared them both in the face. She hoped that maybe, for once, her perception wasn’t as spot on as it usually was.

But Mina gave her that look. That damned awful look that told her the next few words weren’t going to be ones she wanted to hear.

And that was that.

No she isn’t carrying a torch for Mina anymore, but the memory still stings, nags at her insides. She even considers journaling about it for a fifth time. But she won’t, not tonight. Instead, she clicks the burner of the stove on and off and on again. Four times until she’s satisfied.

But being around the stove like this… she feels the embarrassment of yesterday creep it’s way up her spine.

“Whyyy did I walk into the kitchen like that?,” she asks her reflection in the kettle.

One more click and it’s gone.

She knows she’s going to have to address this soon, if Jeongyeon won’t.

Their current situation isn’t working for anyone. For as much as Jeongyeon’s been walking on eggshells, she, herself, seems to be completely crushing them under her feet. Which, excuse her therapy brain, means it’s time for a new approach.

Because the thing is? Minatozaki Sana no longer gives up on a challenge. Even if she fumbles her way through it, she won’t give up on happiness so easily. There’s probably something to be said about that, but she resists the urge to analyze herself. It’s better not to make herself go mad.

Right now, she’ll take the kettle off the burner and pour herself a mug of hot tea.

The mug she chooses tonight is one of her recent favorites, simply because Jihyo had commented on how pretty it was when she was over days ago. It’s nice to have a reminder of her on nights where she thinks too deeply.

But it also reminds her of Jihyo’s story in response. How Jeongyeon had bought her a beautiful blue-glazed mug in Jeju, just so Jihyo could have one that better suited her grip.

So yes, Sana concludes, Jeongyeon must be the observant type. And thoughtful, at that. Her gaze is as intense as it is tender. She’d known that all along, really. But her brain, per usual, had to work through the evidence to find the answer.

Even when the evidence was presented to her from the start.

—

“Are you cold?”

“Hm?”

“Your legs are shaking. Here-”

“You can use my jacket if you want. I have a sweater on underneath, so it’s all good.”

—

She remembers the beginnings of protest bubbling up in her throat, when the jacket was draped on her, overcome with the need to convince the other woman things were fine. She didn’t need to sacrifice her own warmth in the chilly outdoor air.

She did so anyway.

An insignificant moment to Jeongyeon, perhaps, for several reasons.

Sana was still fairly new to everyone… except Mina and Momo (and Nayeon by proxy) really. And that particular event had gone beyond their usual group of friends, extending to a few people from campus, maybe some coworkers. Lastly? Sana was still in what she had aptly dubbed her “Mina mourning period.”

Sana had been an outwardly happy person for years, wearing her joyousness like a knight’s armor. It worked well to protect her. Harsh words, snide remarks, testy glares. All of it just bounced right off of her.

It still works well for her, as someone who wants people to adore her, to have people know her as one who was “always happy,” rather than one whose despondency made others uncomfortable.

It worked very well… until her heart was broken. When her armor had temporarily cracked.

She’d been on week 2 of stewing in her own misery. Nothing but nights of tears, scribbled journal entries and enough cups of tea to have her running to the bathroom every hour.

That night had been no different, in terms of Sana’s mood. She was quiet and reserved, nursing her second or third beer in her own little section of the circle. She’d forgone her usual flashy colors and habits in order to simply enjoy bask in the night and maybe feel like herself again.

That one simple gesture, that warmth from the fabric, was bright enough to combat the dull drab of everything else.

But then Jeongyeon left early, not even bothering to take the jacket from Sana.

“Fate’s funny that way,” she mumbles, watching the tea leaves dye her water dark. It really is funny. If Jeongyeon had never left her jacket, there would’ve been no need to approach her “best friend” later.

—

“That friend of yours… is she your roommate?”

“Roommate? You mean Jeongyeon?”

“Yes! I think so. She left this with me.”

“Uh, but also… is she seeing anyone?”

—

It’s a memory she thinks on quite fondly. Sana went in expecting the pretty woman with the sharp eyes to mend her broken heart for a just a while. Months later, she’s blessed with the love and affection of said woman’s girlfriend.

And only a fraction of a hair closer to the woman she’d been initially after.

Sana’s going to change that, though. It’s certain. She taps her tea strainer four times against the mug’s rim to insure it.

Of course she has doubts, because what would be worse: Forcing a relationship that leaves all three people broken, or leaving the remaining two behind to salvage the remains of what they have?

Neither is acceptable. So-

“I’ll just have to walk it back.”

She raises the mug to her lips, basking in its warmth while she ruminates on a potential plan.

Minutes later, when she finds herself properly settled for bed, she’s sure of what she’ll do. Now, she’s left to see how Jeongyeon responds.

[theek-ache]

I read somewhere (Twitter i think) that it was great that Sanji's dream is to find the All Blue, not to be the greatest cook ever, etc. And I have to agree.

First of all, I think that if he had been written as wanting to become the best cook, it would have quickly become gimmicky: I mean, even a great writer like Oda cannot do how many variations on quite a narrow theme (the anime has great filler arcs about it though as far as I can remember).

But it also further highlights Sanji's kindness and care. There is something casual to his approach to food: yes of course it is delicious (mentioned so many times) and it aims at serving Luffy in him becoming the pirate king. But he's not a snob about food?? Of course he will look for good quality ingredients and interesting new recipes, but as long as it feeds someone it's all that matters too. He knows that food is a basic need and he will make do with what he can find as well.

His dream of finding the All Blue is a way for him to try all the fish in all the seas, but it also drives him to go on this great adventure with Luffy, a more personal decision for someone who always feels like he gets validation from doing things for others.

And I just love that about him, and the way Oda managed to develop his character. Post-WCI Sanji is often interpreted by fans as purely selfless and kind and caring etc (which I love and is truly a part of himself), but I feel like we can bring a bit more nuance by taking into account his personal dream. In the end, he is a full-fledged character, one of the best written in the series because of that imo.

[thunder-wolf64]

Along with my dog AU I'm working on a bird AU, I have a bird picked out for all of the main Crystal Gems, but I just wanted to draw this trio the most, I'm pretty satisfied with all of my choices so far.

[loubetcha]

okay i have a very serious question.

mulder & scully vs. chucky.

[streakyglasses]

Dialogue prompt idea: Imagine Chris telling Street ❛ just sit there and look pretty and let me handle this. ❜ 💀

Hello love!

oooh boy. whoever you are, you’ve done things to my psyche with this request. this may or may not turn into a series of vignettes (i have 2 more in mind, but really wanted to get this posted.)

to the other anon prompts i have, they’re slowly being worked on! see the giant note on my last ao3 fic for what’s going on. i appreciate people continuing to send prompts & just sticking with me 🥹 lol but in the lots of love kind of way 💘

now, without further ado:

As much as Street knows Chris absolutely hated this idea, there’s something about going undercover with her that makes his face twist into a fool’s lovestruck smile. 

You have a job to do. He keeps telling himself, usually when he catches himself staring at her and meets her eyes where they’re glaring at him. Brown irises with enough power to level the ground he’s standing on (and he’d be lying if he said, even once, he didn’t want to see it). Clearing his throat, he curves around her so her back is to him and the gap between them closes. Her head finds his collarbone in feigned nonchalance, experienced eyes scanning the bar for their target, and sighing when he’s nowhere to be found. 

“Can you keep it together?” She murmurs, only half-caring what her small sways to the pounding music are doing to him. His hand finds her hip, smirking when that pulls a gasp from between her dark red lips, and his voice is hot in her ear.

“Seven o’clock.”

Their target’s red beard and sunglasses are scanning the bar with the same precision. Quickly, Chris turns in Street’s arms and locks her hands around his neck. While she hates not having a visual of her own, something warm settles in her stomach at how completely she trusts him. His judgement, his skill, how he’ll do anything to make sure she’s safe. 

(That he has, does, and will fight for her, not just die for her.)

If it weren’t for the pure adrenaline in her veins, the realization would knock her out. 

“He just went into the back hallway.” Street says, lips close to her ear so her com picks it up and relays it to the team. She scrapes her nails down the back of his neck—to sell their cover—and waves over the bartender with an easy smile. 

“A club soda and a coke, both with lime please.” 

The bartender hands them over within seconds, and Chris raises them high above her head to avoid the clashing bodies as she turns back to Street. He wrinkles his nose at the coke and murmurs something about the lack of it being diet, but she doesn’t entertain it as her mind shifts gears to focus on the task at hand. 

They wind their way through the crowd, strobe lights reflecting off the clasp of the necklace sitting at the nape of her neck—he tries not to stare. His blood starts to rush like it always does as they close in on the op, matching the energy of the bass that shakes the floor. Briefly, he wonders if Chris feels the same way. And then, quieter, he wonders if she knows that she makes him feel that way, too. 

He doesn’t get the chance to dwell as his body is swirled through space and pressed against the wall a few feet from the door. Confusion is quickly replaced by fire when Chris presses herself so close the water on his glass is going to leave a spot on her top; it’s hard not to imagine the cut of her abs underneath. Their eyes meet again, his mouth open as he searches for words or for air, for just a second until she dips her lips down towards his ear. 

This wasn’t part of the plan. It’s not until Chris sees the security guard standing outside the back hallway eyeing her like it’s his job that she knows she needs to do more. Both prove to the man that they mean business, and show him that she’s off limits. 

She’a moving before she can think about it. Turning, her hands find Street’s wrist and his bicep and she presses him into the wall. Everything else fades into a blur as she watches how his pupils dilate and his breathing speeds up. He’s looking over her in some kind of way full of desire—and she doesn’t break him from the spell until he naturally finds her gaze again. Her lip gloss tastes like chemical vanilla where she has to lick it off her teeth after biting down to keep her own racing thoughts and thundering heart at bay. 

Her only reprieve is that he can’t see her face when she leans in to whisper in his ear. If he could, he’d know how the scent of his cologne and the heat emanating through him are enough to make her want to abandon it all right there. 

“Just sit there and look pretty,” she starts, all hot breath and a raspy tone and her fucking lips grazing his fucking earlobe, “and let me handle this.” 

Street’s certain she’s going to be the death of him. The bad guy is going to get away, and it’ll be all her fault. Chris can’t fight off the shiver that runs up her spine, either. She feels like she could be on Mars the way her body can’t process reality right. 

Somehow catching a glimpse of the guard in her periphery, the familiar sight of someone talking into their wrist is a comfort. It worked. They’re in. 

They’re in it, too.