#loop unlocks real swears

[twinklyylights]

The trailer for a new romance movie is what sparks the thought in Mickey. He nudges Ian’s elbow with his own and looks over to him. He finds his husband to be lost in thought, intensely focused on the screen of his cell phone rather than the television screen in front of them. 

“Hey, where’s the DVD of our wedding video?” He asks.

Ian doesn’t bother to look up from the article he’s reading. Too many of the symptoms in front of him feel familiar.

“In the safe,” he mumbles, distracted. Silently panicked.

Mickey nods. Ian doesn’t sound like he’s in the mood to reminisce, so he doesn’t bother trying to push the conversation any further. 

Ian reads for a few more minutes without a word, but he eventually becomes overwhelmed by what he knows is coming for him. He locks his phone with a sigh, and sets it down on the coffee table, screen side down.

Mickey watches his movements carefully. He does his best to keep his face neutral, but he can’t help but grin when Ian moves to lay across his lap. 

Mickey gladly accepts the gesture. His palm is warm when it goes to rest against Ian’s cheek.

“Hi, handsome,” he murmurs.

Ian closes his eyes. He bathes in the comfort that he only can find in Mickey.

“Hi,” he supplies back through a yawn.

“Tired?”

Ian hums.

“Something like that.”

And he swears he can feel Mickey’s body go stiff.

“You feeling okay?”

Ian waits to answer that. The answer isn’t one he has to think on, but sharing it out loud makes it real.  

“No,” he admits after a beat.

He doesn’t explain it in any more words than that, but Mickey doesn’t need him to.

“Anything I can do?”

Ian opens his eyes then. His solemn ones meet Mickey’s worried two.

“Don’t think so.”

Mickey nods. He forces himself to give Ian a soft smile.

“I’m here,” he promises. “You’ll make it to the other side.”

Ian latches on to that sentiment for the next few days.

Laid on Mickey’s side of the bed, his husband’s words repeat on a loop. And even though he can’t quite see the other side, he trusts Mickey’s assurance that it’s waiting for him, simply because the words have come from Mickey’s lips.

Those same lips spend the week between Mickey’s teeth. Chapped and gnawed at despite Mickey’s best efforts to maintain some sense of normalcy in his day.

This isn’t new for either of them. But, it weighs heavier on his heart than usual.

Ian’s sadness feels like his own.

He barely finishes his bowl of cereal before abandoning it to the sink.

Breakfast together is usually a morning must have. The meal without Ian feels pointless.

He tries to keep himself busy in the living room of the apartment. He goes back and forth between the coach, the balcony and back to the couch again. Without ever accomplishing anything after he reaches his destination.

Laid across the couch he pulls out his phone and unlocks it with a sad smile.

The selfie that’s set as his lockscreen is from one of their first nights married.

It’s a mirror selfie, taken in the upstairs bathroom of the Gallagher house.

Ian has one arm wrapped around Mickey’s waist, pulling him close. His left hand is raised high to flash his ring in the mirror.

Mickey had laughed at him at first, but had quickly matched his move and thrown his left hand up at the mirror, too.

His phone covered his wide smile as he took the picture, but Ian’s smile was bright enough for the both of them.

His next few minutes are spent replying to missed texts. His replies are vague, but he figures they should suffice.

After a while, he dozes off on the couch. It’s a light sleep, but Ian still nestles himself into Mickey unconscious.

He wakes up with an ache in chest that only Ian’s presence can soothe.

Quietly, he tip toes his way to their shared bedroom.

The door is cracked, so he can see that Ian’s on his side of the bed. He’s curled up, bundled in their comforter.

Even though Ian’s eyes are closed, Mickey still whispers to him from the door frame.

“You sleeping?”

Ian opens his eyes immediately.

“No.”

A silence falls between them then. Mickey kinda stares off for a moment, taking in the room around Ian, and then letting his eyes fall back on his husband.

“Need anything?”

“You.”

And well, Mickey wasn’t expecting him to say that.

He comes over to Ian’s side of the bed then and lays down. His movements are awkward and he’s a bit stiff as he lays on his back, but he figures Ian can’t see him to question why he feels so weird in his own bed.

They’re both silent for a beat. Mickey’s the one to bring words back into the room.

“I hate seeing you like this,” He says quietly.

And maybe it’s not the perfect thing to say, but it’s the truth.

Because, it sucks seeing Ian suffer like this. It sucks knowing that Ian will have to deal with this forever.

There’s a helplessness that comes with it all, that, even after all these years, Mickey still doesn’t know how to manage.

How is it that his husband can be going through so much, yet he can’t do anything about it?

Ian makes a noise then. It sounds suspiciously close to a laugh.

Mickey side eyes him.

“You wanna trade brains with me?” Ian deadpans.

Mickey shrugs.

“Sure, why not?”

Ian smiles into the pillow even though Mickey can’t see it.

‘If I had yours, I’d probably bring us both something to eat,” He suggests.

Mickey snorts.

“Oh yeah? What would you bring?”

“Oreos.”

Mickey nods. Okay. Oreos. Oreos are easy. He can do Oreos.

He gets off the bed then and makes his way to the kitchen. He grabs the half-eaten pack of double stuffed cookies and then comes back to the bedroom.

His cheeks lift into a smile when he sees that Ian’s flipped over and is sitting upright in the bed.

His shoulders relax as he comes more into the room.

“My side really that comfy?”

Ian nods, he reaches his arms out to gesture toward the package of cookies. Mickey picks up his pace. He kisses Ian’s forehead as he passes over the snack.

“You don’t even know how much.”

He offers a cookie to Mickey then, and Mickey accepts it.

He didn’t even realize he was hungry.

They eat their cookies in a comfortable silence after that. Once the package is empty, Mickey throws it toward the trashcan.

“Anything else you’d do if you had my brain?”

“Yeah. I’d get out our wedding video.”

He gives Mickey a look.

“I heard you. I think we both could use it right now.”

And with that they both find themselves under the comforter with their laptop between them.

It’s the first time in a while that Ian’s felt like being this close. He kisses Mickey’s cheek before pressing play on the video they’ve both rewatched dozens of times.   

“We did good,” Ian murmurs as the camera pans over the reception hall. “You did good.”

“I used to dream about that shit, man.”

Ian eyes cut over to him then.

“Yeah?”

Mickey’s eyes say it all.

“Yeah,” He promises.

The video cuts after a few more minutes. Anyone else would think it was over, but they both know what’s coming.

Mickey huffs out a breathy laugh. He can already feel himself getting emotional.

Debbie had given them the idea that they should leave video notes for each other before the wedding.

“A last conversation as fiancées!” she had explained it as.

They both didn’t need much convincing.

The next clip is of Ian sitting on the bed in his wedding suit. Off camera, Lip gives him a signal, and he begins to speak after a pause.

“Hey Mick,” he starts, “It’s me, Ian.” He visibly cringes. “You already knew that. Anyway, my watch says its 4:05, so we’re about 2 hours away from being husbands.” On camera he blows out a shaky breath.

“You were so fucking nervous,” Mickey says with a shake of his head.

Ian doesn’t have the energy to acknowledge the comment. He lets it hang in the air as they watch Ian’s confessional.

And even though Mickeys lives in Ian’s love every day, it still brings a tear to his eye as he listens to the man speak so certainly about it.

“…I’m sure about us. I’m sure about, you, Mick,” Ian continues on the screen, “Is it selfish to think you were made to my husband?

Ian turns his head at the sound of a sniffle. His face falls when he sees that Mickey is teary.

“Mick?”

“You still feel like that? Like I was made for this?”.

Ian pauses the video. He closes his laptop and turns so that he’s on his side and facing Mickey.

“’Course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

He reaches up then, and wipes a tear from Mickey’s cheek. Mickey rolls his eyes.

“Whatever. Don’t know why I’m fucking crying about it.” He tries to dismiss.

Ian shakes his head. His hand starts to rub against Mickey’s stomach as he finds the words he knows Mickey needs to hear.

“You know, nobody else would be able to magically make me feel better if you weren’t here. No one in the entire world.”

And sure, the larger, more logical part of Mickey’s brain knew that. But a smaller, more nagging side, needed the reminder.  

“I know that. Fucking sucks that I can’t, though.”

Ian leans over and wipes a fallen tear from Mickey’s cheek.

“What would the meds be for then?” he jokes, before kissing the side of Mickey’s face. He lays himself on Mickey’s shoulder.

“If somebody else could, I wouldn’t even want them, Mick. I want you. I need you.”

“I can’t be that fucking great.”

Ian shakes his head. He’s never heard something so untrue.

“You are. And you’re made just. for. me.”

[ilguna]

WAIT I just remembered pleasee a part 2 to trust fall where they’ve been dating for a while and the child wants to call her mom? 🙏🏼 thank you ur great! Sorry for the many requests 😶

☼ trust fall pt2 (Finnick Odair) ☼

warnings; swearing, use of the word 'mommy' but in a parental way.

wc; 1.9k

notes; two year timeskip between first part and second.

part one.

--

“Alright, little man, remember what we said about steps?” You murmur to Lawson, holding out your hand for him to take.

He tilts his head all the way back to look up at you, a small smile on his face, dimples peeking out. He inherited quite a few of Finnick’s notable features, which will only grow more prominent as he gets older. Like the green eyes, for example, those are unmistakable. 

It doesn’t matter how many times you say it or how badly Finnick denies it—Lawson is an exact replica of him.

“I have to hold your hand.” Lawson says, reaching up to take your palm.

“Because we have to be careful.” You squeeze his hand slightly, guiding him to the steps.

Together, the two of you take them one at a time at his pace, keeping a close eye on where he places his feet. Usually, you wouldn’t be this worried about him going up staircases. In fact, the last apartment you lived in, he used to fly up the stairs with no issue. But those stairs were indoor, and there was never a huge gap between each one.

All it’ll take is one misstep and he could fall between the concrete steps. Which has become your biggest fear since moving into this place with Finnick. As much as you tried to advocate for an apartment similar to your previous one, none were available to rent for several more weeks, and you didn’t have that time.

So, Finnick found a nice one, got himself moved in and became comfortable. When your lease ended, he brought you in, as promised, because he said that he’s been waiting forever for you two to live under the same roof. Which is funny, because it’s not like you didn’t sleep over at his house four days out of the week.

Anyway, Finnick thinks you’re being dramatic about the staircase. He says that Lawson is capable of going up these steps on his own, because he has in the past. Finnick keeps a close eye on his son, of course, but he tells Lawson to hold onto the railing. He wants him to have some independence with this. 

You, on the other hand, like to be the railing. 

“You got it?” You ask him, watching him hesitate on the last step.

He hums quietly, lifting his foot higher, placing it on the landing, and then rocking himself forward to step. You pull his arm up a little bit to take away the chance of him tripping with his other foot. Once both feet are on the landing, you let go of his hand, giving him a big smile.

“There we go. You’re getting better everyday.” You reach over to fix his curls.

“I know.” He beams, before walking to the apartment door, you follow behind him loosely, reaching to grab the keys from your bag.

He stops by the door, looking over his shoulder at you. You jingle the keys in his direction, earning a brief smile. He watches as you unlock the deadbolt, which is the only one you bother locking when there’s at least one of you in the house without Lawson. 

Finnick’s inside somewhere. He mentioned something about taking a shower real quick before you left. He tried to tell you not to bother locking the door, because you live in a nice complex and there’s nothing to worry about. Besides, he thinks he can take on any intruders that come in by himself.

Needless to say, you didn’t listen to him. And you don’t think you have listened to that request once since you started living here.

You open the door, watching as Lawson wipes his shoes on the doormat before stepping inside. He stops a couple steps in, waiting for you to shut the door before he continues his routine.

“Okay, bud, backpack off first.” You hook your finger around the loop on top, prompting him to wiggle out of the straps. “And then put your shoes on the rack, please.” 

He lowers himself to the hardwood floor, pulling off his shoes one at a time. You go around him, placing his bag on the countertop so that Finnick can go through it when he comes out. It doesn’t sound like the shower is running, so he must be done already.

“What are we thinking for a snack?” You ask, looking back at him. “Dragon jelly sandwich?” 

Lawson’s eyes light up at the suggestion, looking at you. “Yes!” He places his shoes on the rack, getting back to his feet. You bought a pack of cookie cutters online of dragons, castles and swords. They’ve been put to good use with how often he eats peanut butter and jelly. He’s in love with the shapes.

“I hear my little man.” Finnick says, voice echoing down the hall.

“Thank you, mommy!” Lawson smiles, before pivoting and running down the hall toward Finnick.

Your hands freeze where they are on the fridge handles, staring at your reflection in the steel doors. At first, your veins run ice cold from hearing him call you that. Then, as the realization that Finnick could not have missed that begins to set in, your body is instantly set aflame.

Oh god, you think, because what else is there to? Lawson has never called you mom before, or any variation of it. This is the first time that this is coming from him unprompted. Fuck. Fuck. What if Finnick thinks that you’ve been advising Lawson behind his back? The way he said it sounded so natural, like he’s been doing it for a while.

You haven’t, obviously. In fact, you haven’t even considered the possibility of Lawson even thinking about it. And it’s not because you don’t feel motherly toward him, because you do. Finnick has even made jokes in the past about you being his stepmom, but you always brush him off by saying, ‘not yet’. 

A part of it has to do with how terrified you are. When Finnick told you he had a son, it admittedly worried you from the start. You thought you’d give it a try anyway, especially since he said that he would mix you two until he was ready. The longer he went without introducing you, the more you grew afraid of the idea that you’d actually run, which is part of the reason why you put your foot down.

It has nothing to do with the fact that you don’t like kids. You do, and you love Finnick’s son so much. No, the real problem stems from the fact that you want to be a good influence for Lawson and you’re terrified of screwing it up. He doesn’t have a mom, she’s not in the picture, even two years later. She wasn’t interested in raising a baby.

You thought you’d have more time before this came around. Before Lawson started looking at you like a parental figure. Which means that Finnick will surely be taking you more seriously from now on. And the first thing that will undoubtedly happen is a conversation about this moment.

“Oh—” You begin, face twisting as you turn to look at them. You want to correct Lawson, but what else would he call you? Just (Y/n)?

“Hi buddy!” Finnick laughs, cutting you off. He pulls Lawson into his arms, holding him on his hip, looking at him like the world revolves around him. “How was school today?”

“It was good.” Lawson says, tilting his head down.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yes.” He nods. “I played with Dennis during recess.”

“You did? What’d you play?” Finnick asks, wandering back down the way he came, their voices getting quieter as they go.

You swallow thickly, slowly unclenching your teeth, loosening your hands from the fridge. You let out a soft sigh, closing your eyes. When you open them, you go back to what you were originally doing; making a dragon jelly sandwich. 

It’s fairly mindless. You grab the jelly, then a place, then the peanut butter, then the bread. You find the dragon cookie cutter on top of the pile in the pantry, plucking it off and returning to the counter. There, you put the sandwich together, cut out the dragon, and place the scraps on a paper towel. 

With how small the sandwich is, you go ahead and add some pretzels and grapes on the side for him. You put the ingredients back where they came from, with the jelly being last, allowing you to grab a juice pouch for the final touch. When you have everything, you walk it to the coffee table in the living room, placing the plate, juice pouch and a napkin down for Lawson when he’s done talking to Finnick.

The anxiety has mostly subsided by now, since you’ve been trying to convince yourself that maybe Finnick didn’t hear him.

“Snack time!” Lawson suddenly roars from his room, before he comes racing down the hall, straight to the living room. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” You smile at him, looking up at Finnick when he appears in the hall. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Finnick smiles, hands reaching for your hips to pull you in. You cup his face, kissing him gently. “Are there any fliers in his backpack?”

“I haven’t checked.” You tell him, releasing his face.

Finnick heads for the backpack, you wander beside him, pulling a stool out at the counter to watch him. He works in silence for a couple of minutes, pulling out the folders and going through them, seemingly finding nothing new. Until his fingers freeze on a light blue paper. As you lean over his shoulder to look at it, he closes the folder.

“So, mommy, huh?” Finnick teases, looking at you.

You’re already shaking your head, not finding the humor in it. “Finnick, I’m so sorry. That’s the first time he’s said that. I don’t even know where it came from. I know—”

“It’s okay, babe.” Finnick places a hand on your knee, squeezing lightly. “Listen, I’ve made jokes about it in the past, but I was being halfway serious. You are like a mom to him.” He raises his eyebrows. “If you want him to call you that, I’m okay with it. If you don’t, I’ll have a conversation with him.”

You sit in silence for a couple of seconds, “I’m just not prepared.”

“Nothing will change.” Finnick shakes his head. “Everything stays the same, except for the name. He loves you, (Y/n). Possibly more than he loves me.”

“I can’t see that.” You laugh, “That’s not possible.”

“It is. And you love him just as much.” 

“Of course I do.” You murmur.

“We’ll ease into it, how about that?” Finnick asks, squeezing your knee again. “So by the time this mother-son dance comes up, you’ll be ready.” He winks.

“What?” You ask, squinting at him.

Finnick flips the folder open, revealing the light blue paper. “This is probably what het got it from. He’s been asking more questions lately, like what are mommies like, and I think I accidentally described you.” He laughs lightly.

“Finnick.” You pout. “Are you sure?”

“With you, I’m sure about everything.” 

--

this was part of my 3k celebration!!

[leiawritesstories]

Just "Friends"

Rowaelin Month 2023, Day 4: Friends Don't Do This

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: some swearing

enjoy!!

@rowaelinscourt

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

Ever since Rowan Whitethorn moved into the apartment directly above hers, Aelin Galathynius had made it her goal to send the building’s management as many complaints as possible. He was too loud after hours. He was always moving around furniture. He entertained friends almost every weekend, and those people never stopped yelling and drinking. He painted the walls. 

That last one had resulted in a visit from the landlord and a very irritated Rowan pounding on Aelin’s door with a promise of retribution. 

But after a prank gone very, very wrong, they had settled into a casual sort of friendship, which eventually matured into a real friendship. 

Now, they were at each other’s apartments more than their own, and Aelin certainly wasn’t complaining. Rowan was a far better cook than she could ever dream of being, and in return, she had a better knack for interior decorating than he did. Fenrys had just about passed out from shock the first time he came over to Rowan’s to find the apartment actually set up for entertaining. He liked to joke that he’d never seen the furniture before, since he was always so busy tripping over it. 

Aelin headed up the stairs with her work tote slung over her shoulder, thinking only of the incredibly long, relaxing bath she was about to take. She checked her phone, scrolling through a whole workday’s worth of notifications, and noticed a text from Rowan from an hour ago. 

>>Your place tonight? Avoiding meddlesome parents. She cracked a tired smile. 

<<Only if you handle dinner. Brainpower is 100% drained. 

His reply pinged through in seconds. 

>>Deal.

She arrived at her apartment to find Rowan leaning against the doorframe, dressed in comfortable black sweatpants and a University of Wendlyn Hockey t-shirt. Through her end-of-the-workweek exhaustion, she only managed to nod at him as she unlocked the door. 

“Hey.” His hand came to rest comfortably on her lower back, offering support and comfort. “Long week?” 

“So long.” She kicked off her heels, dropped her bag on the floor, and pulled the clip from her twisted-up hair. “Gods, I need food. And probably a drink.” 

“I can help with that.” He shut the door behind them, ignoring the way his heartbeat sped up at the sight of Aelin with her hair unbound. “How does chicken Parmesan sound?” 

“Fucking fantastic,” she sighed. “Wait. Doesn’t that take a long time to make?” 

“Not if you prepped most of it earlier.” He looped one arm around her shoulders. “Go on, get comfortable, I’ll yell when it’s done.” 

“Someone wants to have another noise complaint filed against him.” A grin flashed across her face. “I’m going to take a bath.” She headed down to her bedroom and locked the door behind herself out of habit. Within minutes, her work clothes were tossed haphazardly onto the floor and the bathwater was running, filling the tub with steaming hot water and the herbal aroma of lavender bath salts. 

Aelin couldn’t hold back her quiet moan as she settled into the bath, feeling a week’s worth of stress and tension slowly seep out of her body the more she relaxed into the steaming, lavender-scented water. She closed her eyes and went through the steps of an exercise her therapist had given her years ago: see the thoughts, untangle the thoughts, and let the thoughts drift away until her mind was clear. By the time she’d cleared her mind of all the ridiculous bullshit she’d had thrown at her that week, the water had started to cool off, and Rowan was knocking at the bedroom door. 

“Aelin?” A brief pause. “Dinner’s ready, Galathynius.” 

“Out in a minute!” she called back, reluctantly opening the bathtub drain. Within a few minutes, she was dried off and dressed in her favorite sweatpants and sweatshirt set, fuzzy socks on her feet. She threw her hair into a loose braid and headed out into the kitchen, where she found freshly-cooked chicken Parmesan, pasta, a chopped vegetable salad, and a bottle of red wine. Her stomach grumbled. Loudly. 

Rowan laughed. “Hope it’s as good as it looks.” He pulled out her chair. “C’mon, Galathynius, don’t just stand there, it’s not gonna eat itself.” 

“Funny,” she deadpanned. She waited for him to take his set, poured both of them a generous glass of wine, and tucked into her dinner. “Oh my god,” she breathed. “This is incredible.” 

“Thanks.” He grinned at her. “Anything for my neighbor who can’t boil water.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Actually, I can boil water, I just prefer when other people do it for me.” 

After they were done eating, Aelin collected the plates, ignoring Rowan’s insistence that he help with cleanup. “Uh-uh, Whitethorn. You cooked, I’ll load the dishwasher.” 

“But–” 

“But nothing, you hovering buzzard. You can put away the leftovers, but you aren’t helping with the dishes.” She waved off his next protest. “I’m mature enough to keep my own kitchen clean. How about you find a show or something to watch?” 

“Fine,” he acceded. “I’m not picking one of your ridiculous reality shows, though!” 

“You know you love The Bachelor as much as I do!” she called back, teasingly. 

He grumbled, but when she strolled into the living room after the dishes were taken care of, he’d queued up an old season of Project Runway and tossed a few plush throw blankets onto the couch. The lights were dimmed. It was…shockingly perfect. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve been hanging out with me for too long,” Aelin drawled, settling herself on the couch with the blankets wrapped around her. 

Rowan snorted. “More like I know better than to try and put on a docuseries when you’ve had a shit week.” 

“How sweet,” she cooed. “There’s one thing you’re forgetting, though.” 

“What?” 

“C’mere.” She sat up, inviting him into the space behind her, and settled comfortably back against his warm, solid strength. He twined his arms around her middle, fixed the blankets so both of them were cozily cocooned, and let her tired body melt into him. 

“Anything else, Galathynius?” His tone was dry, but lighthearted. “Silk sheets? Room service?” 

“Just press play, you idiot,” she laughed, poking him halfheartedly in the chest. It didn’t hurt at all, since there were several layers of blankets (and clothes) between them. 

He chuckled and pressed play, and in minutes, both Aelin and Rowan were absorbed in the world of fashion design, bad ideas and terrible design choices and horrifically hilarious mishaps and all. Though he’d never admit it, part of him liked the shitty reality TV shows Aelin always watched when she needed to unwind. 

“Oh my gods,” Aelin groaned. “How the hell did they even let him near a sewing machine?” She muttered a few choice curses. “That poor model looks so uncomfortable.” 

Rowan mumbled in agreement, more caught up in the sensation of Aelin’s fingernails combing through his hair than anything happening on the TV, more concerned with the possibility of her realizing he’d shifted his hands to her back and her loose golden braid–a position that bordered on something far more intimate than friendship–and pulling away from his embrace. 

“You’re not even paying attention,” she teased, brushing her thumb across his cheekbone. 

“Um…yes?” A smile curled the corners of his lips at her soft little laugh. 

“Liar.” She turned her attention back to the show, where the designer she’d just castigated was running around in theatrical distress because his beloved creation had split right down the side, but kept her fingertips resting against his face, atop the ink that spiraled up his profile. 

He’d be lying if he said his attention didn’t hone in on that specific spot of contact. 

The episode ended–to Aelin’s delight, the designer she hated had to go home–and she turned her head to face him full-on, rambling about who she wanted to win the season. He barely heard any of it; he was too focused on the vivid sparkle in her eyes. 

“I keep forgetting you don’t watch these shows for fun,” she joked, stopping her breathless ramble before she could go into the designs. 

“But you do.” 

“So you tolerate it.” She traced the lines of his tattoo. 

He slid the tie from the end of her braid and trailed his hand through her silky hair. “I could get used to the overdone drama.” 

She snickered. “Rowan Whitethorn, you’re a–” 

“Oh my gods!” An entirely unexpected voice broke their cozy little bubble. Elide stood in the kitchen, her eyes almost as wide as her dropped jaw. 

In a flash, Aelin was up and rushing to her friend. “Ells! Wait–you don’t need to–I can–” She pulled Elide into her bedroom, shut the door, and prepared for the incoming storm. 

“What the hell?!” Elide shrieked. “You weren’t answering, so I used the emergency key, and I walk into your place to find you and Rowan Whitethorn on your couch, cuddling?!” She rubbed her eyes. “Gods, please tell me you weren’t–oh fuck no…” She trailed off, incredulous. 

Aelin was blushing bright red by that time. “NO!” she screeched, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “We were watching Project Runway! He’s literally just my friend, Ells!” 

“Friends,” Elide hissed, placing her hands on Aelin’s shoulders and staring directly into her eyes, “do not do what I just witnessed!” 

Aelin didn’t have anything to say about that. 

“Aelin.” As always, Elide was far too perceptive for her own good. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you and Rowan are just friends.” 

“Rowan and I are…” Aelin stopped. “I-I can’t tell you that, Ells.” She gulped, sudden uncertainty throwing her for a loop. “Oh gods, what if I say something and he leaves? I don’t know if I–” 

“He’s not going to leave.” Elide cut her off. “Here’s what’s going to happen. First, I’m going to leave, because you don’t need anyone else around for the next few hours. You’re going to go out there. You’re going to tell Rowan what just happened when he inevitably asks. And then you’ll be disgustingly in love for the rest of your lives and you can give me credit at your wedding.” She hugged Aelin briefly and tightly. “Go get the man who’s so hopelessly in love with you that he watches your shitty TV shows.” Blowing her a kiss, Elide left. 

Aelin blew out a shaky sigh and headed out into the living room, tentatively crossing to where Rowan was frozen on the couch. His eyes locked onto her as she padded across the hardwood floor and stopped in front of him, unsure whether to sit back down or stay there. 

“Hey,” he said softly, breaking the silence. “That was…uh…unexpected?” 

“And then some,” she added. A thousand emotions flickered across her face. “Rowan, I–”

“I need to–”

They spoke at the same time. 

He stopped. “You go ahead.” 

“Are we just friends?” she blurted. “Because…because I don’t want to be just friends.” 

“I don’t want to be just friends either.” His voice was a bare whisper, but it thrummed with conviction. “I’m in love with you, Aelin Galathynius.” 

She cracked a quivering smile. “That was fast.” 

He looped his arms around her waist and tugged her down into his lap. “I guess it took me long enough to admit it to myself, and once it was out there, I didn’t want to waste any more time.” 

“Oh, Rowan,” she whispered, wonder filling her tone, “I might be in love with you, too.”

~~~

TAGS:

@live-the-fangirl-life

@superspiritfestival

@thegreyj

@wordsafterhours

@elentiyawhitethorn

@morganofthewildfire

@backtobl4ck

@rowanaelinn

@house-of-galathynius

@tomtenadia

@julemmaes

@swankii-art-teacher

@charlizeed

@booknerdproblems

@chronicchthonic14

@earthtolinds

@goddess-aelin

@sweet-but-stormy

@clea-nightingale

@autumnbabylon

@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

@llyncooljones

@silentquartz

[indigo-stay]

In the Old Forests

Hyunjin x reader

Warnings: this falls in the horror genre, blood, death

•••

“I keep having this dream of you dying and I’m too late to save you.”

Hyunjin’s lithe body is curled against your own, a satin robe adorning him. His brows furrow as he turns in your arms to face you, eyes searching your face.

“You’ve been having nightmares?”

Already the nightmare is fading from your sleep addled mind, the fear you felt with it. You feel almost silly now, mentioning it.

“It’s just the one, over and over again. There’s a big field and out of nowhere a brown bear charges at you and I’m too far away to even reach you.” The hairs on your arms stand up on end. “It happens so fast the bear is just so fast.”

Hyunjin’s eyes soften though. “Are you worried about the boys and I going to Alaska next month?”

You pause. “Maybe that’s just it. Let’s just say it is and not think about it anymore.” You pull Hyunjin more flush against your chest, smoothing soft circles against his back. He practically purrs with content.

“Okay, but we’ll all be super careful anyways and we’ll be traveling in big group.”

You press a light kiss to the top of his head. “I know you will baby.”

Both of you are able to drift back off to sleep easily, with Hyunjin turning further into you to loop an arm around your waist.

…

And ten days later, Hyunjin is out in Alaska, somewhere south of Denali, filming with the others.

It’s normal not to hear from him for a full day when his schedule is packed, so you try not to work yourself up over a normal pause in communication from him, keeping yourself busy by doing chores around the house. You slide on one of Hyunjin’s hoodies, feeling a bit better surrounded by his scent and the soft fabric.

By the end of the day your apartment is spotless, every chore imaginable you have put off completed in a single day. And at last, you feel exhausted enough to sleep.

It’s getting close to when you should be sleeping, anyways, so you double check that your phone’s ringer is on before placing it on Hyunjin’s side of the bed and do your best to ignore the sense of dread pushing from behind your temples.

The bed still feels too empty, but you ignore it.

Maybe you won’t have the dream again tonight. It’s unlikely.

After tossing and turning for hours, despite your exhaustion, a fitful sleep finally embraces you.

…

The dream is beginning again, but this time something is different. It feels like you’re moving through water. Everything is wavy and you keep blinking your eyes to try to clear it. Nothing helps it.

But you recognize the dreamscape well enough from your other nightmares in it.

This is the field with the bear.

But this time your body touches down in a different part of the dream. Instead of across the field, you’re on the side closest to the forest.

Closer to the bear. It’s much larger than you thought.

And this time the bear smells you.

It’s maybe ten paces away, and you swear you see it startle upon noticing you, as if you had truly just popped out of nowhere into this spot in your dream.

But your fear is very real when the bear advances. Faster than you can think, a giant paw is knocking you down. There’s a sickening crunch from your ribs.

You feel jaws clamp firmly around your neck, but before you can feel pain, before you can even think to scream, or to find Hyunjin’s face to look at him one last time, there’s a sharp cracking sound.

You bolt upright back home in your own bed, scream trapped in your throat. Your heart is beating hard enough that it hurts, sending you into a coughing fit.

That had felt even worse this time.

…

Hyunjin is frozen in horror. He’s too far away to reach you in time, too far to do anything but scream in horror as the bear turns, smelling you at the tree line for the first time.

…

There’s 68 texts on your phone. They won’t stop coming through long enough for you to unlock it.

Chan has called you 7 times.

Their manager has called you another 6.

Hyunjin’s texts are indecipherable, text after text of pleading.

…

The ranger with their group has no time to even raise his rifle to take aim before the brown bear has its teeth around your throat.

It feels like Hyunjin can hear the crack of your neck from here as the bear breaks you.

Someone is screaming, maybe it’s Hyunjin still, but he can’t tell.

It’s you.

That’s you in the woods.

That’s his hoodie you’re wearing, the one staining red. You look so so small compared to the bear.

It begins dragging you into the tree line’s shade and out of sight.

…

You’re scrolling as quickly as you can through texts, trying to make sense of the flurry that’s arrived within the last minute. It just doesn’t though.

Chan is asking where you are, asking you to call him immediately.

Their manager is asking if you took a flight to Alaska at a later time than them.

Felix’s scares you the most, it sounds more like a prayer.

Sent 5:04AM:

please be alive

Your heart freezes in your chest. Why wouldn’t you be alive? Why would they think you aren’t alive?

…

There’s yelling and people running about now. There’s a strong arm around Hyunjin’s shoulders leading him somewhere, but Hyunjin is a thousand miles away, trapped in his own mind.

That couldn’t have been real. You were back home in your apartment, asleep. You had to be. What he just saw was impossible.

There’s a loud bang from behind him. It sounds muffled to Hyunjin’s ears.

Chan’s face comes into view, gesturing something. It doesn’t make any sense and Hyunjin can’t bring himself back into his body enough to care.

You can’t be.

…

Your finger hesitates over the call button for Chan. For a moment you wonder if this is some new fucked up layer of the nightmare and you haven’t woken up yet.

You press call anyways. It barely rings once before Chan picks up the phone, almost shouting your name.

“Chan? What’s going on why is everyone calling suddenly?” Your brain still feels addled from waking up. Is all of this still a dream?

“Tell me you’re not in Alaska.”

You pause. “Chan I’m not in Alaska. I’m in my apartment and I just woke up from a fucking terrifying dream so can you please tell me what is going on?” Your voice is binging on hysteria.

“We saw - we saw in the woods. A bear.”

Your whole body feels a chill. No.

“And the bear killed you.”

“Chan that’s impossible.” You choke as you force the words out.

You had dreamed that. You had just dreamed that, how could it be real?

“We all saw it, you died. It- it broke you.”

“That’s not possible.” You whisper, more to yourself. You can’t be in two places at once.

…

They can’t find the bear, not even tracks. It’s as if it was never there. But it wasn’t just one person hallucinating - everyone remembered it the same. Everyone Saw it.

And now there’s a hoodie shoved into the back of your closet covered in blood. Blood that was not there yesterday when it was hanging over the door, blood that spilled like oil down and down the fabric until it was heavy, and a metallic smell filled your room.

[microsoftactivationscripts]

Rambling about Ben 10 and the English language for ~800 words

In March 24th of 2008, Latin America faced a significant problem: the newest DVD release of popular cartoon series Ben 10 had been released, and it did not feature a Spanish dub. This limited access to the majority of the population, since most of them did not speak English. It was a real problem, I swear. Many people were affected! One child in particular suffered most of all… Me. It was me. I was the main victim of this crime. Seven year old me was absolutely obsessed with Ben 10 and I watched the DVD episodes on repeat most days. When I got the season 3 disks, I was confused to see that they did not have an option for translated audio. However, they did have Spanish subtitles available, and I had the determination to continue watching the show on loop. The result of this was watching every episode of season 3 and then later 4 over and over, day after day, listening to English audio while simultaneously reading Spanish subtitles. At some point, one simply starts understanding what they’re saying. 

The image of a child learning a new language out of sheer determination to keep watching one particular cartoon show is pretty funny, which is why for the most part I only bring it up to get a laugh out of people. Going deeper into it, though, it is not hard to see that it actually ended up being a pretty important event in my life. It’s not that the experience of listening to the explanation for how Ben 10 suddenly unlocked Upchuck of all aliens to eat a giant robot in the season finale had a profound impact on me, though the season’s Ghostfreak arc did fuel my continued obsession with the show. It’s that it’s hard to imagine how different of a path my life would have taken if I had never learned to speak English. This is, of course, almost entirely due to the Internet. 

I’ve almost never been in a position where knowing English has been necessary offline, but online it’s a different story, with basically every popular website requiring you to be able to at least understand English, even if not fluently speak it yourself. Without access to this mass of information, I would be a very different person right now, considering that being limited to only what I learned from people and institutions around me would leave me with significant gaps in knowledge. I may have questioned less about how this society works and what is expected of all of us. I would imagine my political views, while still strongly anti-colonialist, would emphasise anti-capitalism less. 

A more personally dramatic change would likely be my lack of exposure to the concept of being transgender. Queer topics are simply never discussed in Puerto Rico, unless by way of disparaging comments and jokes. I would likely still know next to nothing about them had I never learned English and gone online to stumble across information by myself. I might still be occasionally wondering what’s wrong with me in the rare moments of introspection before returning to my default state of running on autopilot, which went on for years which I now genuinely struggle to remember most of. I would also never have met the people that went on to become my friends. What would have happened had I graduated high school in that state and had no one left to talk to, to confide in, to ease my loneliness with? What would have happened had I never met Shahnaz, the person I’m closest to in this entire world, who knows me better than anyone and is the only one I trust to talk to about my deepest issues? They’ve shaped my life in so many ways that it feels impossible to imagine a version of myself that never knew them, never knew her.

Being able to understand this language has, looking back, been a vital part of my development into being the person I am now. It let me consume media I would otherwise have missed out on. It allowed me access to information and perspectives that I may never have been exposed to had I been relying exclusively on what I learned from people and institutions locally, or even limited to Latin American internet, leading me to question more about the world, the society and systems we live under, and myself. It even made me able to connect with people who I otherwise would have had no chance of talking with, some of whom would go on to become close friends and have significant influences on me as a person. Hell, I’m now even planning on living in Scotland, a fully English-speaking country. That’s certainly going to bump up the amount of use I get out of the language. While I may sometimes have a few complicated feelings when it comes to the use of the language due to colonialism, I’ve never regretted knowing it. Being bilingual has widened my perspective on pretty much everything and allowed me to connect with some amazing people. Most of all, it let me watch Secret of the Omnitrix over and over and over again, and that shit is still cool as fuck. I’m gonna go watch Ben 10 again now.

[nerdyenby]

Cyan time :D I’m watching Ranboo

Pre-game

They look so silly /pos

“This is the first MCC in like 12 of them that I’ve been wearing pants” are you wearing pants under the dress sir???

That crown is straight up floating, I know it’s on a headband but it is just not touching his head

Y’all did you know that Ranboo has a show???

Is this Ranboo’s first repeat costume? Or have they not done Rosalina before? He said he bought the costume a couple days ago but I swear he’s been Rosalina before

“‘Men used to go to war’ I could go to war in this, it’s called psychological manipulation”

Do amab people get banned for being shirtless on twitch? I know hot tub streams are a thing so idk

Taylor Swift is an ARG, so true

STOP WITH THE RITTIES I CANT

I WILL GO WATCH OLI INSTEAD, DONT MAKE ME

I am so so SO ready for the Oli and Ranboo chemistry

WHO THE FUNK CALLED OLI TOMMY?!!? I WILL FIGHT YOU /j

Oli is an artist, don’t underestimate him

WHAT THE HELL OLI??????

Ran and Oli looking to Callum for igl and Callum just not even trying because he just knows Tommy’s gonna show up five minutes late with Starbucks and team leader energy

Oli is so out of the loop, Eloise just freaking fed him lies, as she should

I see this team placing between 2nd and 6th in every game, they’re so well rounded

Oli trying to get Ranboo to unlock their true potential and Callum’s just “This is gonna be a really special event” 😭

The way I only just remembered Oli’s reputation as cursebreaker and now I’m ready to actually believe in them winning

Ran and Aimsey barking and meowing at each other 😭

Ranboo is dying

“Considering earlier a week ago we were not discord friends, I now see you as a close one” this is everything I hoped for out of this matchup

More than half expecting tommy to be a no show tbh

How are they going to fit a fourth person into this call, it’s already so much energy and we gotta fit Tommy in here

PEER PRESSURE FOR THE WIN!!

Y’all 😭😭😭

I swear very rarely but this stream got me “wtf”-ing all over the place

“Bark at your therapist” will do, Tom o7

Aqua’s skins are so cool!!!

Tommy banned from mcc, real and true

The screen feels so empty without the vtuber

Grid Runners

BEST GAME TIME!!!

Why does everyone except Ranboo have garbage opinions today, grid runners my beloved

Wish it was later tbh but considering how abysmal these comms are about to be this might be for the best

WHY IS RANBOO DOING A BRITISH ACCENT????

THAT DUNK TANK RUN HOLY CRAP!!!

The way everyone but Ran fell 😭😭😭

Grid is not your worst game, y’all have energy and synergy

*Taking notes* 10th is sick and 3rd is hot

OLI WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT TO SKIP SANDS???

We skip one of the parkour games or tgttosawaf, right? Right????

Top 3 things most wrong with the world according to Tommyinnit: climate change, men, and elevators

Parkour Warrior

The pkw logo 💕💗💕💗💗💕💗💕💗💕

Highkey thought they played this in the event Tommy and Oli won together but that was the other event Oli won, my bad

No one reacting to Ranboo screaming his lungs out is so real

Why is Tommy like this???

CALLUM MVP!!!

THOSE ARE MY BOIS!!!!!!!

Ran and Callum cheering for each other :(((

They got joint 2nd, I love this team so much you guys

Sands of Time

Tommy: “Tell me what to do” Oli: *tells him what to do* Tommy: “No, f*ck off”

This team’s energy oscillates like nothing else, I swear

A different word puzzle, thank god

Mmmm slippy bees

This is such a frantic sot, I think they’re good they just all sound so urgent it’s stressing me out

No one jailed, is that a first???

Ace Race

Ran pulling a Wilbur and tabbing out to adjust music mid ace race

“I’m losing it” sir, you lost it a while ago

Aimsey popping off!!!

Meltdown

“Who’s leading this? “I’m scared to say this, but I think Oli” CALLUM 😭 that is the most backhanded compliment I’ve ever heard, my goodness

I feel like it’s been so long since I’ve watched meltdown

I don’t know how to commentate meltdown, Al there is to say is that that was insane

Callum last man standing real

This bit is killing me

I’m losing it

Battle Box

“I hate battle box” “HEY, IF YOU GO INTO IT WITH A MINDSET OF HATE YOURE JUST GONNA INDERPERFORM, MAN! OK? YOU HAVE TO GO INTO IT WITH A POSITIVE MINDSET OR ELSE I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” new tiktok audio just dropped, you guys

“Guys I really wanna win 🥺” “Do you? 🤨” the emojis are so necessary, you don’t understand

That round against orange was great

This is not going well lmao

Sky Battle

I believe

Heck yeah

Ran getting three kills!!

I love Ranboo’s skybattles because they never expect anything to go well so when it does he just gets so excited :))

This is exactly how skybattle should look after a round ends, look at that beautiful mess

They’re manifesting that hitw finale so hard, I believe (I also got spoiled but y’know)

Hole in the Wall

I’m just happy to be here, hitw is so fun

Ran top 5, as he should!!

“East, East, f*cking yellow, sorry” “Shut the f*ck up” ah yes, synergy

Everyone yelling at Tommy to shut up when he couldn’t hear them 😂

RAN TOP 5, AS HE SHOULD!!

Oli’s “I’m just- I’m glad you all went with my bit” and Ranboo’s matching the faux emotions: “Of course, man”

“MCC in the 80s was just Scott in his basement playing tetris” there is so much wrong with that statement, including but not limited to A) the 80s were forty years ago, not thirty, B) Scott is neither thirty nor was he alive in the 80s, and C) Tetris was only made in the ‘85 and wasn’t released until ‘87

Dodgebolt

Casually discussing what irl names they think fit Shane better than “Shane” lol

Ayo wait the arena is nonbinary colors :)))

GUMI MY BELOVED <3333

Jimmy!!!! :D

GG, great vibes, great times everyone

[fictionfixations]

The Samsaras Took No Time? / Genshin Theory

GENSHIN SUMERU SPOILERSSS Okay so like you know the samsara from the sabzeruz festival? although Dunyarzad did get more ill i think i have reason to believe that it is possible that the 168 loops (according to Nahida in Scaramouche boss battle cutscene stuff) did not, in fact, take 168 real life days

It is possible that Dunyarzad got more ill because it took more out of her every single loop, which goes in line with how we the Traveler and Paimon got more like tired or something, I can't remember but we had some sort of side effect but thats not the point So.. Okay so we went through 168 loops again with Scara's fight. And I mean, sure, maybe it didn't take a whole day like the Sabzeruz Festival, BUT when in the cutscene we see everyone answering how we fight the false god.. You'd think if we were put to sleep for 168 days someone would be worried af and checking in on us since theyd know we were in the Sanctuary of Surasthana. Perhaps it could be though that Scara was the one asleep, BUT remember how Dunyarzad the fill in acted? Like when Dunyarzad's real consciousness couldn't handle it and was out (and we all thought she died) and a replacement Dunyarzad came in? It'd be so easy to tell that nah, Traveler acting off. SURE that could be because Nahida with her gnosis is the one actually doing it instead of humans but like.. DOUBT???? I mean and even if she had to use a knowledge capsule for us to remember every loop, SO DID THE SABZERUZ FESTIVAL- She had to like unlock our memories or something to remember

id think that if EVERYONE knew about Scara being really close to godhood (i dont remember where but I THINK he said that he was almost done when he and the Traveler met in Pardis Dhyai, and they wouldn't have enough time to properly plan it out, like the '168th loops plan' id think??? everyone still had to do their part cause the traveler still needed to be contained and etc etc etc) then yeah maybe they wouldn't rush in and would trust the traveler to deal with it if they somehow made a good plan, but like...

yknow i dont think id intentionally leave my friend to fight a 'god' without any full on planning first - id think they would at least try to help us? i mean yeah they have their own things--

what was cyno doing? and i mean alhaitham- apparently after his cutscene if you go outside sumeru city(?) or something his guards have been knocked out- so lol? but like then he could do something right?? but i think he was in the desert.. (i know he was meant to be escorted there as another mad scholar to like aaru village)

hm....

cyno couldve been escorting azar to who knows where so i guess we cant fault him for being gone....? (and i mean the other corrupt sages prob....?)

and sURE dehya was dealing with the matra in the grand bazaar (and i think nilou too if i remember right) but id think theyd be able to deal with them and then provide help should they have known

and sure tighnaris still in pardis dhyai nursing his wound and keeping watch over haypasia

i just

damn where are yall, i may have an archon on my side but fuck man HES HUGE

ALSO THANK FUCK EVERYONE IN SUMERU IS SMART, couldn't have done this otherwise, like bruh even if we saved nahida we would be absolutely fucked fighting scara with no other loop knowledge (DID YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LOOP??)

Added note: Do you think the people in the desert went through a samsara too? In the Scara cutscene she said that the people of sumeru had to go through 168 loops and samsara cycles, but I mean sure 'people of sumeru' could count as the desert AND the forest, people DO refer to the people of the forest and the people of the desert to be different as if different races so like...

and we never knew did we? I mean what was going on with cyno and alhaitham? what about collei and tighnari?? well actually i think alhaitham knew or something? i swear there was some mention about the sages big project.. i THINK alhaitham asked about it to cyno but i REALLY cant remember their dialogue rn

WAIT NO, ANOTHER ADDED NOTE:

no the desert and the forest probably did not go through it. Why? Because when we tried to leave the I think Sumeru City because I think thats where the Grand Bazaar was in the Samsara, we were kicked out of the dream and forgot. AND its all controlled by like the akasha!!! The desert dont wear those, nor do the forest.

[iliveiloveiwrite]

In The Morning // E.M.

Request: im not sure if you take requests but i literally need a soft!eddie where the reader is comforting him after what happened with chrissy and he falls asleep in her arms. ik its a big rq but id love it sm (btw i love ur writing !) - anon

A/N: Thank you so much for the request! I hope you like and that I've done it justice. I’m sorry for my absence - I’ve been enjoying my time off and I’ve been on holiday.

Warnings: fluff, mentions of death, stress, descriptions of Chrissy’s death, worry, anxiety.

Word count: 1089

It’s the incessant, hurried knocking at the back door that has you reaching for anything that could be used as a weapon. Your breath catches in your throat as the knocking refuses to cease; each strike against the door quickening the pounding of your heart and the rush of adrenaline in your veins.

“Who is it?” You call out, hoping you sound even a shred intimidating as you step closer and closer to the door.

The knocking stops. “(Y/N)! Let me in!”

“Eddie?” You frown, unlocking the door. Your frown deepens when you see the distraught look on his face; the terror brimming in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” You ask, letting him in. “What’s happened?”

He pauses in the kitchen. Turning to you with the explanation ready on the tip of his tongue, but worried that you wouldn’t believe him and throw him out. He opens and closes his mouth so many times he loses count. He can’t be sure if what he’s seen actually happened, or just the result of a bad trip. “I don’t know if what I’ve seen is even real,” Eddie stresses, running his hands through his hair.

A brief moment of déjà vu settles over you as you think back to when you said those same words to Steve Harrington last year through the course of events at Starcourt Mall. The clear distress combined with the outright confusion had the nightmarish memories flooding back in a rush.

It’s a while before you can speak, and when you do, your voice is quiet. “Do you want a drink?” You offer, moving to the fridge. “Tea? Soda? Juice?”

“Why would I want a drink?” Eddie questions, momentarily distracted from his troubles.

You shrug, wanting to delay the inevitable. “My mother firmly believes that the world can be put to right over a cup of tea.”

Eddie shakes his head, refusing your offer of a drink. Instead, he moves through your house, finding himself in the living room, pacing back and forth on the shag rug your mother bought in the late seventies and adores with every fibre of her being.

Taking a seat on the couch, you have a front row seat to watch Eddie argue with himself over what had happened before he arrived at your house and knocked on your door. It was clearly upsetting, you note, catching sight of the slight shake to Eddie’s hands.

“Are you ready to talk?”

“She’s dead.”

“What? Who? Who’s dead, Eddie?” You question immediately, sitting up straighter in your seat.

“Chrissy Cunningham.”

“What were you doing with Chrissy Cunningham?”

“She was buying from me; she needed to calm down,” Eddie explains, his hands gesturing wildly as he continues to pace back and forth. “I left her in the living room whilst I went to find what she wanted. When I came back…”

Eddie breaks off, closing his eyes as he relives the horrors of the evening. There wasn’t a logical explanation for what happened in his uncle’s trailer, and instead of informing the police, he ran away. He jumped into his van and began to drive, finding himself outside your home, needing the familiarity of you.

“What happened when you came back?” You ask, your voice barely more than a whisper.

“She was in some sort of trance,” Eddie murmurs, keeping his eyes closed as the images of the night play on a constant loop. “She wouldn’t come out of it no matter what I tried and then she lifted off the floor.”

Eddie pauses, opening his eyes as he tries to find any disbelief written on your face. When he finds none, he continues. “She lifted off the floor and her bones cracked into pieces; I swear I can still hear them. Then her eyes caved in, and she was dead.”

Within a matter of seconds, Eddie is bent over gasping for breath as the reality of the situation finally sets in. He curls into himself; his arms wrapping around his bent knees as he tries his best to calm down to no avail. He couldn’t save her. No matter what he tried; he couldn’t save her – he wasn’t the hero of this story.

“Eddie,” You coax in a calm, even voice. “I need you to calm down. Take a couple of deep breaths and come back to me.”

You lay a hand on Eddie’s shoulder; squeezing his shoulder tightly before beginning to rub his back. Words of comfort are whispered as Eddie continues to try and regulate his breathing. “Are you feeling better?” You ask after a minute; your hand rubbing comforting circles in the space between Eddie’s shoulders – a soothing, monotonous motion that Eddie focuses on to calm down.

“A bit,” He answers, his voice rough with emotion.

“Sit down,” You mumble, patting the empty side of the couch. “You haven’t rested all night, sit down and take a moment.”

Eddie does as he’s told, cuddling one of the many crocheted cushions to his chest as he slips back into his memories. “I don’t know what to do,” Eddie confesses in a small voice, dropping his head to your shoulder.

“For now, rest,” You answer, brushing your hand through his hair in an effort to calm him down. “We will look at everything again in the morning, but for now, you’re no use to anyone if you don’t rest.”

A low hum of agreement leaves Eddie’s lips, the action barely more than a whisper of breath against your shoulder. Eddie cuddles the cushion tighter; pressing it against his chest as if it would stop him from breaking apart.

You continue to run your fingers through his hair; repeating the motion until you feel Eddie begin to relax under your fingertips. His grip on the cushion loosens as his eyes slip closed and he loses the battle against sleep.

Remaining in your spot, you think over Eddie’s recount of his night. Dread settles deep within your gut, turning your veins to lead as you think through the theory that the Upside Down may be involved with the unfortunate and untimely death of Chrissy Cunningham.

An unexpected snore leaves Eddie: a snuffle follows before he settles back down. The sound briefly distracts you from your lamentations and a small but fond smile crosses your lips as you gaze down at the metalhead snoring away on your shoulder. It could all be sorted in the morning – the Upside Down, the aftermath of Chrissy. It could all be sorted in the morning. For now, rest was what mattered.

*********

Stranger Things taglist: @neptunes-curse​ @thatfangirl42​ @kiss-evans​ @h0n3ysgh0st​

Eddie Munson taglist: @magicalxdaydream @tellmehows​ @thesuncitysworld​ @katsukis1wife​ @sapphicwren​

[psychogirlfriendandsupervillain]

Leading Question

One shot (ish)

Benny Watts x Reader*

(* Reader wears a skirt, has hair long enough to pull (like anything longer than a buzzcut) and a vagina, so anyone who identifies with that: it’s free real estate. I am considering writing a copy that is fully gender-neutral, so if anyone wants that let me know (although I’m likely to do it anyway).)

Content/warning tags: NSFW, 18+, Smut (but it’s the slowest pacing smut, talking slow-burn but they’re both already in the bed, no joke), fluff?, friends to lovers, mention of alcohol, swearing, oral (male receiving), making out, heavy petting, really a whole lotta kissing, porn with no plot?, the porn is the plot, foreplay more like half the fucking play, hair pulling kink, mention of knife kink, sex, plotted during a figurative and literal fever, edited during a figurative and literal heat wave, we love it here.

Summary: Benny half-confesses to his attraction to the reader during a night at the bar and reader takes his clumsily put question and turns it into a homerun.

Word Count: 7k (this is what happens when you give me THAT and then take it away)

A/N: Entirely self-indulgent piece of smut thought out during two hours at 4 AM (and then throughout the rest of the day) the day after watching Fork, because I was frustrated and Benny is hot, whoopsie.

@go-catch-a-chickn showed some interest in what I was writing, but I bet you regret that now! Nonetheless, here’s your tag, have fun!

I’m open to criticism, just shoot me a message or an ask. Let me know if I’ve got errors or missed a warning.

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You and Benny were friends since high school. Not because you also played chess, but because you had been making out with your boyfriend in the back of the library and Benny had come looking for a chess book that was on the shelf you were leaning on. You two paused, moved to the side so that he could pull out the book and then he was on his way.

A few days later Benny was in the cafeteria and came up a few cents short, when a voice next to him told the woman at the register that they would pay for his meal as well as their own. He looked over at you as the cashier added your things to the total and you smiled.

“Now you have money over for other things.”

It continued like that for the rest of both of your high school stays. You would catch him in the corridor and strike up conversations before heading off for you next class. When your relationship with your boyfriend ended (mutually, it should be said; he was interested in another girl, you felt the spark wasn’t there anymore), you told Benny after he asked why you looked a little glum. He was supportive but didn’t bring it up again.

Now the two of you are sat at a bar counter, a bottle in front of each of you, as the day is winding down. You meet up like this between his tournaments and whatever else is going on your lives, touchdowns in the well-known amidst it all. The buzz of patrons has calmed down and outside the curtained windows the street is black, broken up by spots of the streetlights.

“Do you-“ Benny stops. He’s half turned towards you, left hand around his beer on the counter, legs facing you, but his eyes are currently at the bottles lined up against the back wall where the bartender is pouring a drink for someone down the line.

You put down your bottle after a sip, resting your hand on it just like he is. Benny starts again.

“What do you do when your dick tells you to sleep with your friend, but your brain tells you it’s not a good idea?” He’s still not looking at you. It’s almost a hypothetical, almost a thought about someone else.

You shrug, taking a last sip before turning forward.

“I don’t know, I follow what my pussy says.” With that you get up and put money on the counter to close your tab, seeing Benny jump in the corner of your eye at your answer. You’re pulling on your coat as you start for the door, slow enough that he’ll catch up no problem.

“Wait.” He’s at your side in no time. “I’ll walk you to your place.” Even in the slight shade of his hat you can see that he’s a bit flustered.

“You sure?” Benny nods. “Otherwise I could walk you to yours. It’s farther.” You push up the inner set of doors and Benny follows you into the dark airlock entryway.

“Why would you want to walk where it’s farther?” He asks behind you,  a frown audible in his voice, and you hold up your hand to signal for him to wait as you push up the second set of doors.

The air rushes against you and the hum of a road somewhere off campus reaches your ears. There’s no one on the walk path running between fields of grass and lines of trees. It’s still too early for the streets to be filled with people getting home from the bars, too late for any overtime workers dragging their feet.

“Honestly?” You turn to Benny, who’s standing with his coat still unbuttoned and arms hanging at his sides, like he isn’t sure what to do with them. “Because I’m hoping to get invited up, and if I’m going to get fucked, I want to be in your bed, surrounded by the scent of you.”

It takes a second. Then he’s a little bit closer. Not that he was far away before, but he’s close enough that when he leans a little forward you don’t have to take a step to close the gap. Your lips run against his, soft and slow, with the slight scratch of his mustache against your skin, warm cotton and leather so close now, and then you step back, absentmindedly swiping your tongue over your own lips to chase his taste. His eyes flicker between your eyes and your lips.

“Your place or mine?” Benny’s voice is a little rough; maybe it’s the drinking, maybe it’s the kiss.

“Again, yours.” You quirk your lip and reach to catch Benny’s hand, warm in yours. Pulling him into motion you start walking in the direction of his apartment, shoes echoing against the asphalt.  

“I’m not sure I will make it that far.” He sounds a bit tortured, and you laugh, squeezing his hand.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you make it. And if you don’t, I’ll help you clean up and wait for you.”

Benny makes a noise.

“Tell me about Open Sicilian.” You look forward at the empty road as you walk.

“What?” He looks at you.

“To distract you, explain Open Sicilian to me.” He has explained that particular tactic to you several times before, not that it necessarily stuck too well.

“That’s not going to help!” Benny throws head back with a frustrated laugh. The sound makes your stomach flutter. “You’re going to make me tell you about chess, and then ask questions, to keep me distracted? Like you showing sincere interest in it isn’t going to just make it harder to focus.” He shakes his head, looking out over the empty street. “You’re gonna kill me.”

You would have gotten there quicker if Benny hadn’t stopped at every tree, stone wall, and doorway to push you against it and kiss you. He even sat down on a bench when you were halfway and pulled you down into his lap. You let yourself be pulled down but wouldn’t go along with his attempts to make you straddle him, despite his hand on your inner thigh through your skirt and his insistent, chasing kisses.

As you reach the building you let go off Benny’s hand so he can punch in the code for the door. He leads you up the hollow stairwell to his door, noisily unlocks it and lets you in before him.

It’s a short hallway with doors leading off to the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, lit by some cool light falling in from the open doorway to the kitchen. There are hooks for jackets with a pile of shoes beneath it to one side, and a table holding a phone and newspapers further in.

The lock clicks behind you and Benny turns around, dropping his keys back down in his coat pocket. Just as he faces you, you push him back against the door. Shock flashes in his eyes and his lips part but when you place your against his he quickly responds, pushing back against you, his tongue running against your bottom lip, inviting you to taste it. It’s with difficulty that you pull back.

“Okay, I lied.” You admit as you get onto your knees, looking back up at him. “Can I?”

Benny’s breaths are unsteady, and you have to ask him to repeat it before you can clearly hear him consent.

You hum, pushing aside his leather coat to hold his hips back against the door, pulling his belt out from its loops so you can undo the buckle. Benny closes his eyes and groans as you let the belt with his knife still attached fall back against his legs and undo his button and zipper.

“Don’t be too loud, you don’t want the neighbors to hear you, do you? Even solid wood doors are thinner than walls.” You wink up at him and he repeats the sound, head leaning back against the door and hips pushing forward. If you didn’t believe Benny before, you definitely would now, as you feel how hard he is through the barriers of fabric. He’s solid and warm against your hands.

Pushing his jeans down, you move his boxers carefully until you can pull them down as well. Precum is leaking down the underside of his erect cock and his hips push forward again, impatiently this time. You circle your hand around him, the other resting against his hip so that maybe he’ll stay in place, not having the patience to start stroking before you take him in your mouth.

The sound Benny makes when your lips close around his cock is far too loud and not loud enough. His breathing audibly speeds up, encouraging you to run your tongue along the underside each time you pull back. Sucking down his cock, you match your movements with those of your hand, creating just the perfect rhythm that has his hips pushing against your other hand. You look up at him, meeting his eyes as you circle his tip with your tongue and he pinches his eyes closed, turning his head back up and cutting off the whine escaping his throat. You swallow around him, and the whine comes back, ending in a high pitch. You do it again. His hand pushes lightly against your shoulder, and you pull off him, sitting back and licking your lips as he meets your eyes.

“I don’t want to finish before we’ve even started.” His words are low, his hand falling back against the side of his coat. You shift your legs on the floor.

“Shame, I want you to.” You smile and bite your lip. “I told you I’d help clean you up and wait after. I’m in no rush.” Benny’s hips jerk forward again.

“Fuck” His eyes flutter shut.

“Can I?” You wait for the sound of his yes before you lick a line from the base to the head, reveling in how little he is holding back this time. Pushing his hips back a little rougher against the door to keep him in his place you earn a moan of your name which has your stomach fluttering and head spinning. One of his hands rest on your shoulder again but isn’t pushing away this time. He lets you decide the speed, albeit with the occasional jerk of his hips as he hisses and braces against the door.

“Fuck, I’-” You feel Benny tensing and look up to see him looking down on you, breathing heavily and clenching his jaw. “Fuck” He slams his head back against the door, hips pushing him further in, and you can feel the vibrations emitting from his chest all the way in the back of your throat as he releases into your mouth. You swallow it down, catching the whimper Benny makes at the feeling it gives his cock.

When you get to your feet, Benny head is hanging so the brim of his hat casts his face in shadow and he’s leaning so heavily against the door you’re not sure he’ll be standing much longer. His breathing is loud in the quiet apartment, and you can’t help the pride growing in the back of your mind. Still breathing heavily, Benny finally lifts his head enough to look at you. You meet his eyes and swipe your tongue over your lips.

His eyes flicker down to follow the movement and he groans, slumping back against the door. You smile triumphantly.

“Let’s get your clothes back on and then I’ll get water.” You help Benny get his pants back on, refastening the buckle. He’s not standing entirely stable, but enough that you can slide his coat down his arms and hang it up, followed by his hat, before you sit him down on a stool right by the door. Having hung up your own coat and switched on the lights you gesture to the kitchen door. “Do you mind?” Benny shakes his head, blond hair falling in his eyes.

You fill two glasses from the tap, throwing a glance at your watch, before returning to him. Handing one to Benny you drink the other, both of you listening to him regaining control over his breathing while you empty the glasses. As you take your last sip you place both on the hallway table and toe off your shoes.

“Want to move out of the hallway?” You hold your hand out to Benny and he’s standing before you’ve had a chance to blink.

You get precisely two steps into Benny’s bedroom before he’s kissing you again. His tongue runs softly against yours, contrasting with the scratch of his beard. He won’t even let you move forward, blocking you with his body until his hands have found their place on your hips, and even then standing stronger than you’d expect from how he looked a minute ago.

Every kiss he chases after you, when you move to the side so does he, when your tongue touches his lips his tongue comes to greet it. It’s overwhelming and intoxicating, his body heat rising and seeping through his button up and your shirt, the warm scent of leather still lingering in the air around him.

Then Benny moves backwards, pulling you with him three quick steps, refusing to let your lips part for even a second, and lets you fall on top of him on his bed.

You pull back, insisting despite his protests. He managed to switch some light on before getting lost in you, letting you full appreciate the shine in his dark eyes when he looks up at you as you brush blond strands out of his eyes. Flittering over you above him, they keep coming back to meet yours, a playful smile on his lips. You lean back down and let him capture your lips again, his hands splaying one on your back, one running up and down your side. Chasing his smile you kiss the corners of his mouth, dipping your tongue in to meet his. It’s like you’ll never run out of places to taste him.

Straightening back up and moving so you’re straddling him, you undo the first buttons of your shirt, but Benny’s hands stop yours, taking over their work with slow precision. He pulls you back down so he can continue kissing you even if it makes it harder for him to get the buttons undone, not that that seems his top priority. Sitting up and sliding the fabric down your arms Benny throws it in some corner of the room, pulling you closer against him by your hips.

“Easy, tiger.” You hum against his lips and Benny laughs a little, shifting further back on the bed and letting you both fall back against the mattress again, arms wrapped securely around your waist.

His necklaces are cool against your skin, but his hands are on fire. They run over your back and sides, up one down the other, and leave nothing but further fires under your skin. Even his rings don’t feel cold as Benny brushes his fingers up your arm to cup your head, tongue skimming your lip but withdrawing whenever you try to catch it.

Pulling back for the first time, Benny looks up at you with a mischievous smile.

“If I had known telling you I like you would lead to this, I would’ve told you already five years ago.”

Not that you’d really been open to anything at that time. Five years ago, and the five that followed, you had been entirely focused on your academics, and the only person you really hung out with had been Benny. He brought his chess books and sat with you in the library while you read up for exams. You’d chat about everything while trying to cram every bit of knowledge into your tired brains. That really only slowed down once you graduated, the hyper-focus on reading every book and spending hours writing notes over bad coffee.

“Do you want to like” You look up at the head pillows laying vertically to your bodies, and Benny starts laughing, luring you into doing the same. “move up?”

“Sure” He lets go of you so you can both get higher on the bed, but the second you’re close enough Benny pulls you back over him. “Better?”

“Much, thank you.” You smile and lean down halfway. Amused you watch Benny push up to meet you, hungry lips convincing you to push him back down into the mattress.

You can’t help the occasional shifting of your hips against his, underwear pushing against the friction of jeans below your skirt. His hands skim the hem of it, but never ventures below it, favoring to run up to your hips and draw you closer.

Running his hands up your back to hold you against him, Benny rolls you over onto your back. Settling between your legs, he braces one arm above you while the other cups the side of your head, lifting just enough for your lips to reach his.

“You know, for later, we’re still on your bed.” You remind him before kissing the corner of his mouth. Benny’s lips quirk and he follows you back down against the pillow.

“I know.” He runs his nose along the side of your neck, the chains around his sliding against your skin. Warm cotton and leather surround you, and this might actually be heaven.

Pushing back a bit Benny reaches up to undo his green button up but stops when you give him a look.

“Isn’t it my turn now?”

Benny lets go off the button and shows his hands, dropping them to your hips as you reach up, undoing the first button before pulling him down by his collar. His smile meets yours, and it only gets bigger for every button, as the release of each is met with the same celebration.

When there are no more buttons to open you slide the fabric out from his pants and down his bare arms. Holding the shirt out in one hand you look at Benny, whose eyes are locked on yours, his lips kiss-bruised.

“Does this have to be folded on a chair” You tilt your head. “or can I just throw it?”

“Throw it.” His eyes sparkle, his voice hitting a little lower and sending vibrations where your body is touching his.

The green fabric flutters to rest at the far end corner of the bed in your peripheral vision. You weren’t really looking where you were throwing.

“It didn’t even get off the bed.” You speak very seriously, as if it was a grave matter, but you’re absorbed by Benny, whose eyes are as stuck in yours as yours are in his. “If you want it off, you’ll have to throw it yourself.”

His arms shift above you, and without moving away from you or breaking eye contact Benny kicks the shirt, sending it tumbling of the edge with a soft thud as it hits the floor. You push your hips up against his, the hilt of the knife at his belt pressing against the inside of your thigh. Benny’s hips thrust back against yours and he lowers down to brush his lips against yours before devouring you again. Your thighs slide against his bare skin, and he reaches back to hook them further over his hips, swiping his tongue along yours. When Benny pulls back slightly the sound he makes fills the room, bouncing off the walls. The end of it mixes with the sigh of his name pulled from your lips as he dips the tip of his tongue into the corner of your mouth.

“Think we’ll wake the neighbors?” You lift off the bed to chase after him, not giving him a chance to reply, pushing him over onto his back. His hips shift against yours as he settles into the mattress.

“The walls are thicker than the door.” He looks up at you straddling him, his lips quirking up into a smile, blond hair falling over his eyes again. Satisfied with his answer you lower your body back down over his, occupying his mouth with yours again.

From slow, insistent kisses where Benny’s tongue runs against yours, you move to kiss the corners of his lips, his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, his forehead, and his eyelids as he closes his eyes. Continuing down his chin, alternatingly placing kisses on either side of his neck, and one at the dip at the base of his throat, passing over his chains, you shift back to trail down the right side of his chest. As your lips touch between navel and the top of his jeans, brushing along the fabric, Benny touches the side of your head.

“Don’t you dare do it again.” His tone is light and teasing, with just an edge of breathlessness and seriousness.

You move up to kiss his left hip and his hand falls back onto the mattress.

“I won’t.”

You trail back up Benny’s irregularly moving chest, out his right upper arm, and lift his hand. Pressing two more soft kisses to his inner forearm, you place one in the middle of his palm and one to the tip of each finger, before beginning again at his sternum and doing the same to his left arm.

Raising back up you push Benny’s hair from his eyes, inviting the light to dance with the sparks already in them.

“Benny Watts, you are a drug.” You smile a little breathlessly and shake your head down at him. The corners of Benny’s mouth start to raise, and he quickly swipes his tongue up to pull down his upper lip and bites down on his lower.

His attempts fail and when you kiss Benny, he’s beaming, a satisfied sound emitting from the chest pressed against yours. His heartbeats translate through your ribcage and your sentiment is repeated in your mind with a flutter in your stomach.

Ringed hands shift from your hips to your back to hold you closer against him. Somehow, you’ve forgotten Benny’s knife because you can’t even feel it at this point. You only feel the friction of his body against your, the pull of his lips.

“You should be in prison.” His tongue swipes into your mouth at that, stalling your continuation with a dizzying taste. “You should be in jail, and I should be in the same cell with you.” The vibrations of Benny’s laugh and twist of his lips reach your senses at the same time as the push of his hips. Combined they’re enough to make you say his name against his lips, repeating it when he does it again.

Lifting off the mattress Benny’s hands holds your hips down against his as he sits up, lips running down the side of your neck when they slip from yours. The scratches against your skin turn into fire running through your veins, out into your arms and fingertips as you run them over his bare shoulders, along the chains around his neck. You barely hear the sound of your name slip from his tongue against the crook of your shoulder, before Benny turns to make you fall first back into the mattress.

Benny’s hands run from your hips to the hem of your skirt, warm fingers tracing bare skin. You lift your hips against his and he pulls back, but only after sucking your lip into his mouth, swiping it with his tongue.

“Want me to get it off?”

“It’s mostly in the way at this point.” Having gotten his answer, Benny eases the skirt down, letting you lift your hips and moving so he’s not in the way. When it’s all the way off he throws the fabric the same way as your shirt, or maybe the opposite. You can’t remember.

Leaning back over you Benny brushes his lips against yours, meeting you when you arch up against him, then lets himself kiss you fully again. His hips push yours down into the mattress before he pulls them back up towards him. You roll back against him, crossing your legs behind Benny’s back, and he hisses against your lips. The sound of you saying his name causes the grind of his hips to stutter, restart, a low sound resonating in his chest, sending its aftershocks through your body as his hands squeeze your thighs a little harder.

One moves to skim the inside of your knee, hot fingers with warm rings running over equally heated skin. When it reaches the junction of your thigh and hip it slides up along the edge of your underwear and then drops beside your side to support his weight as Benny brings his other hand to hover between your legs and pulls away from your lips.

“Can I?” His dark eyes shimmer.

“Yes.” Since you can’t hear your own voice over the increased speed of your heartbeat you repeat it twice, catching the way Benny’s tongue darts out over his bottom lip as his eyes flicker down.

He runs his knuckles down the slick, wet fabric. You think you hear a breathed-out curse but are distracted when fingertips retrace the same path with just enough pressure to make your hips roll against them. The feeling is dizzying, your breathing skips. Benny’s dark eyes flick back up to yours. Then he does it again, sending sparks where the pads of his fingers almost touch you. Your eyes almost flutter at the way he looks at you when your breathing stops again to become what might have been a curse, or his name, or the curse of his name. The last one in particular feels likely as the sound twists and grows louder, and Benny’s eyes are locked on yours.

Pressing back into his bed you roll your hips against his, his hands planted back on either side of you as he lowers back down to press starved kisses to your mouth. Hips lift off yours, only to change their mind and push back down, accompanied by a curse against the corner of your lips. When Benny’s bottom lip slides against yours, you pull it into your mouth and lightly push down your teeth into it. His left arm buckles as you swallow the sound of his groan.

With little effort you coax Benny onto his back. He willingly falls down onto the pillow, rings sliding against your back as he tries to entice you into press against him. His fingers trail down, skimming along the edge of your underwear until they reach the front, barely touching the waistband, eyes flicking up to yours.

You give permission before Benny even has a chance to open his mouth.

The pads of his fingers push past the fabric, running softly your body until your breathing hitches as they lightly slip over your clit. You resist the urge to close your legs around his hand but can’t help the way your breathing audibly increases when it moves further down. Bare skin slides against your wet folds, stroking up and down; the movement slow and deliberate, and far too good for you hold it out for much longer.

You make a sound.

“Explain Closed Sicilian to me.” Your voice is strained, and you are trying very hard to not focus on every slight change in pressure Benny is subjecting you to right now. Another noise slips out and you bury your face against his chest, rolling your hips involuntarily against his hand. “Please, please explain it to me.”

“Now?” Benny’s other hand pushes against your hip.

“If you don’t, I’m going to come, and I’ve waited this long so I’d rather you didn’t do that before you’re actually inside me.” You lift your head to look up at him, quickly adding “Then again, you talking about that is just going to make it worse, so maybe don’t.” You did not need his eyes lighting up and his confidence going thrice its size because he was talking about something he really, really liked. That was bound to make your situation become much better and much worse really quick.

Benny looks like he’s about to protest before making a face and withdrawing his hand.

“Alright, fine.” He rolls you onto your back and kisses you hard, raising his hips as much as possible but keeping you down with his chest.

Letting you up to breathe Benny’s hands go to his belt, pulling it fully out of the loops this time. He catches the handle off his knife as it slides off the leather and off-handedly places it down on your stomach so he can roll the leather around his hand.

You must have done something as the sheath fell flat or as your eyes shifted up and back down again because Benny’s eyes flick from the belt in his hands to your eyes and then he smiles.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got a thing for knives too.” He teases.

“Listen” You’re a little too breathless for any type of denying being at all believable and it’s visible in Benny’s eyes how little he would actually believe you if you tried. “Messing with that takes practice and discussions, so let’s put a pin in that. I like seeing you get off, let’s leave it at that for now.”

He tilts his head like ‘fair enough’, finishes rolling up his belt and puts both that and the knife out of view to your left.

You reach up to brush Benny’s hair to the side where it’s over his eyes again, letting your fingers linger just above his ear. There’s something very recognizable about the slight way his eyes move at the gesture.

“Do you- like having your hair pulled?” You ask tentatively, and when Benny doesn’t answer right away you continue “You don’t have to say yes.”

It takes a second longer, and you start to pull your hand away before he shifts his eyes away and rolls his shoulders.

“So what if I do?” Benny glances back at you.

“I’ll tell you what” You smile encouraging, guiding the topic to focus on yourself instead to make him more comfortable. “you’d be in good hands; I like it both ways.” Benny visibly relaxes but you don’t move your hand back, favoring to slide it along his jaw to stop below his lower lip.

Softly tilting his head down, you give the slightest pressure.  He follows down to peck your lips before drawing back to meet look at you again, hands rubbing reassuringly over your thighs. The pad of your thumb rests against Benny’s bottom lip, and you tilt your head, trying to read out the thoughts that form and disperse behind his eyes. The corner of his lip quirks up and he dips his head down to catch the finger in his mouth. The flat of his tongue maps your fingerprint, a teasing glint in his eyes.

You make a noise, shooting him a glare as he looks far too smug when you pull your hand back to press it against his back instead. The expression doesn’t leave his lips when you push his side to get him down, as a matter of fact he looks offensively at home against his pillow, shuffling further into it before beaming up at you again. Unable to stop yourself you scoff, trying to look annoyed but failing spectacularly.

“Think you’re ready to go again, if you want to?” You look at your watch, pinching the face of the clock to keep it so you can read the time. “It’s been an hour.”

“You still have your watch on?” Benny reaches up to pull your arm down so he can look at it.

You laugh.

“Well, you didn’t take it off me.” You let him turn your hand over, undoing the watch and looking at it for a second before handing it to you. Leaning over him you put it on the empty nightstand to your left.

“I’m so glad you’ve got two nightstands.” You hum, leaning back to resettle over his hips.

Thinking for a second, Benny makes a face, a mixture between a frown and scrunching up his face.

“It doesn’t make sense to only have one nightstand.” He states, eyes flicking back to yours. Smiling at his answer you bend down to peck his lips.

“That’s what I like about you, Benny Watts. Things can’t just be for you; they have to make sense.” Continuing in the same light tone you add “I might even go as far as to say I love you.”

“Woah, you’re just gonna show your hand like that?” Benny mimics shock, before smiling, his hands rubbing your hips reassuringly. “Throw the whole game?” You snort a little, moving your eyes to the wall, schooling your expression to be serious.

“As if you didn’t show your hand back at the bar.” You tilt your head exaggerated, pretend thought.  “And earlier, now that you mention it.”

“I said liked.” Just like you, Benny is pressing his lips together to prevent himself from laughing, and even then, a smile cracks through.

“I’ll give you that, you did say like.”

Benny pulls you down, kissing you with a smile. Letting yourself sink into it you push down against him, swallowing the sound he makes and feeling his heart beating through his chest. His hands pull your hips closer to his to repeat the motion. His breathing increases as you do it infinitely slower this time, feeling you press against him, although you can’t say you are doing any better.

“Ready?” You laugh breathlessly and Benny groans, pushing his head back into the pillows.

“I was ready half an hour ago.”

“Well, good sex takes preparation. And this is going to be good.” Straightening up you putting the base of your hand on Benny’s chest, holding your index in front of his face to shush him. “No, no, it’s going to be, because I’ll make it so.”

Instead of arguing, with sparkling eyes Benny favors to bend his head forward and close his mouth around your finger, sucking while you talk. His tongue swirls around the digit and the corner of his lips quirk up when you make a sound, mind drifting before you catch it.

“Asshole.” Benny’s eyes light up mischievously at that, and when you pull your hand back, he raises his eyebrows.

“Oh you wan-?”

You cut him off.

“Shut up.” The bed shakes with Benny’s laughter, and you roll your eyes, shaking your head at him. He’s really having too much fun.

When his laughter calms down, Benny looks at you for a second before sitting up.

“Come on”

He nudges you sideways until you get the hint and get off him, letting him get off the bed. Benny offers his hand to pull you up after him. When you’re both on your feet he turns back and in one quick motion rips off the covers, throwing the corner to the middle so the bed is folded half-open diagonally but not all the way down.

You’re just letting your underwear drop onto the floor when Benny turns back around, and he catches up with you in the time it takes you to blink. He holds his hand out again, pulling you with him backwards.

Jut before his legs hit the bed Benny sidesteps, pulling you down first onto the bed and following, catching himself on his arm so he doesn’t fall directly on top of you.

Settling between your legs, Benny tilts his head with a cheeky smile.

“Comfortable now?”

You make a show of settling into the pillow, trying to divert his attention from the way you pull air deep into your lungs. It’s in the pillow, the sheets, the air vibrating around you with tension, but most of all it’s above you, radiating from him. The warm, slightly sweet, smell of clean cotton shirts pulled from the tumbler, a bed slept in until well past noon, and sun-heated leather in the first days of summer.

“Yes.” You smile up at him.

“Good.” Benny lowers down over you and presses his lips to yours, tongue running over your lip once before slipping into your mouth. You hum while he pulls protection from a drawer of one of the nightstands above your field of vision and pulls it on.

Fingers skim lightly over the wetness gathered between your legs, and then Benny pushes into you. It sends lightning through your stomach, sliding slowly, almost torturously, against sensitive nerve endings. His breath is slow and controlled, albeit a bit wavering. Solid warmth spreads from his body into yours and your body clenches involuntarily around him when he stills, breath warming the side of your neck. Your hands run up his sides to find purchase.

“You’re gonna mark me?” You ask the ceiling and Benny shifts, running his nose against your throat and giving you chills.

“You want me to?” His hips pull back slightly, and you close your eyes at the slow drag of his cock against your inner walls. As Benny pushes back in, one hand disappears from beside you, moving your hand from his back to his hair. Sparks dance up your spine when he thrusts a little quicker, igniting you both like a match against a striking surface. Benny makes a sound in the back of his throat before kissing you again.

Carding your fingers through his hair near his scalp you pull lightly. The way his hips jerk forward has you arching against him, moan mixing with his. Tension builds in your stomach and if the room was hot before it is blazing now. Benny presses against you, overwhelming and perfect, filling you. Your hips lift off the bed to meet his, legs crossed behind his back to pull him closer. The drag of his abdomen against you in just the right place has you whining against his lips. His next thrust is faster, causing your body to clench down, approaching the edge fast.

“I’ve waited this long to fuck a master; you better not make this be over quick.” Your hips arch against his despite your breathless words.

“You call an hour and a half quick?” Benny asks in disbelief, but the roll of his hips slows to delightfully slow, burning pulls. He closes his eyes, breathing becomes deliberately slowed. “I’m not going to last long no matter how slow I go.”

“That’s okay, neither am I.” You quirk the corner of your lip as Benny opens his eyes again and pull him back down to your lips. Trying to starve of your orgasm you focus on tasting every corner of his mouth. It seems to have the opposite effect on Benny, as he whines and his hips stutter. One of his arms buckle and you pull your hand free to direct his to your hair before going back to his.

The first slow drag releases a satisfied noise from you, and the slight sting of the next sends a thrill down your body, connecting with where Benny’s cock pushes into you. He slides his tongue against yours, pulling your head close to his.

“Fuck” The word falls from both of your mouths as your fingers pulls the blond strands they’re tangled in, and Benny’s hips jerk forward. You push your hand against his lower back to push him down, deeper, and he pulls your hips up with his free hand, grinding against you. His eyes glitter with pride when you arch, pressing your head into the pillow, mouth falling open.

Unsatisfied, Benny slows even further, changing thrusts for slow grinds, watching you trying to make a sound with a smile, heels pressing into his lower back. Your eyes flutter, trying desperately to stay open, pleasure coursing through you in unrelenting waves. Meeting his eyes, you jerk your hand a little harder in Benny’s hair, and the sound he produces almost has you falling.

His hand pushes between your bodies as he moves faster again. The pleasure is hot and fast, and as Benny pulls your lips to his it explodes, fire shooting through your veins in search of oxygen and shaking your entire body. He swallows the cries of his name falling from your lips, but then his hips stutter and slipping from your lips he repays the praise. It’s loud, it’s messy, and it’s so fucking hot.

Benny drops his head in the crook of your neck, weakly trying to hold himself up. Your chest pushes against his until both your accelerated breathing reaches the same rhythm. There is pleasant ache starting to make itself known, one you’re sure you’ll be feeling tomorrow, and perhaps the day after that.

Softly you push Benny over and he lets himself be rolled onto his back, still inside you. Head landing on the pillow he takes a few more breaths before his eyes pop open. When they meet yours there is a content smile on his lips, with only a hint of unsedated hunger still visible in his dark eyes. He reaches forward to meet your smiling kiss and lets you pull off him and roll onto the mattress beside him.

After a few seconds of just the sound for your breathing your voice comes alive again.

“I hope we didn’t wake anyone.”

Benny starts laughing, breathlessly and beautifully, and you scrunch your nose playfully at him.

“I hope we did.” He looks at you, eyes brilliant, and adds in a more serious tone. “I think they’re all asleep so they can get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow.”

You reach over and pull your watch from the nightstand.

“Two isn’t a reasonable hour to be up?” Benny snorts a laugh at your fake naiveté as you settle back into the bed.

There’s a few more seconds of silence before he talks again.

“I still only made you come once.” Benny looks at you, eyes flicking down to your lips and back up; the hunger more than unsated now.

“That’s okay” You smile teasingly. “I wouldn’t expect you to, you did all the hard work.”

Benny doesn’t find an answer to that, but you have a feeling neither of you think two is very late at all.

[arcadejohn127-9]

Okay so I got a weird request for you 🥸 how would the demon brothers and undateables react to an MC that is turning into a demon? Like MC gets fangs, tail, wings ect from being there for so long or is maybe being corrupted? Could you make it a little bit fluffy, though but I can also see this being funny 🤪❤

This doesn't seem weird at all! The concept is actually really interesting

Lucifer:

Lucifer was going off on you and the other brothers; all of you were caught with his stuff

You just wanted to see what he was hoarding but turns out it was just cursed music and screaming skulls

He immediately charged over and began scolding his brothers

But when levithan made a comment about Mammon already selling his items

He went full demon mode, summoning a whip and began to twist it

"MAMMOOOOOOOON-"

Mammon bolted away, Lucifer hot on his trail

You soon found mammon tied to the chandelier

You glared at Lucifer and went off instinct

"let go off my horns-"

"not until you apologize!"

He kept trying to get out of your grip but you just held on tighter

They brothers were aware you were changing but he didn't expect you to get demon strength so soon

"I will prevent you from becoming a demon if you keep acting like this, this kind of behaviour will not continue-"

"Silence or I'll shake you like a goat!"

Mammon:

You found out about your corruption before anyone else

You've been trying to hide it - unsure if it's a curse or you're actually turning

You were hoping you could get the prince to see you but it turns out fate had a different path in mind

"Oi, I want my shades back, I've let you borrow them for too long-"

He was tired of going for his shades and them not being there

Too caught up in how cute you looked in them he let you borrow them much longer than expected

"Wait - no-"

"YOU GOT DEMON EYES! the hell- you turning into a demon?!"

"uh- suprise?"

He grabbed your face, examining your new eyes

"they're real pretty- not like your original eyes weren't but- forget I said anything, we need to find out what happened to you, dumn hu- uh demon."

Levithan:

The way you both found out was purely accidental

You both noticed your teeth appeared sharper but they both shrugged it off

Believing it to be normal as alot of demon food was meat and had that kind of fleshy tough texture

You were watching some new anime and you got excited

Your favourite character seemed to be on the urge of being killed off but then suddenly - they unlocked a hidden power within and survived!

You jumped up from your seat and cheered

"You're- YOU HAVE WINGS!"

You looked behind you and sure enough, a pair of wings were flapping behind you

"WHOA!!! wait so I can fly now?!"

"But how are you- YOU'RE TURNING INTO A DEMON!!"

You were too excited to care about the corruption of your body, jumping off the walls testing out your new wings

levithan had to quickly rush you to the others to show them what happened

None of them get how you're turning but glad you're taking it in stride

Satan:

When you showed him your growing horns, he was fascinated

Immediately taking you to his room to find his study on demon and human history

"it says here that demon corruption can turn humans into lesser demons but it's normally for those who are already damned to hell and have a bad soul."

You gasped

Wiggling your fingers at him as a wicked grin grew on your face

"so I'm secretly evil, like a villian~"

He just handed you the book, amused by your attitude

He was glad you were fine with your corruption

His eyes wondered and noticing a tail forcing itself out from your clothes

He couldn't help but blush seeing it wag, watching as you read through the process of corruption

"you're the furthest thing from a villian, but if you'll let me - I'll document this, you'll be making history."

"Really? I guess so though - did something just fall out of my body? I'm too scared to look."

"it's just your tail, it seems your body isn't processing the corruption the same so some parts are developing faster than others."

You whipped around, grabbing your tail and began to squeal

Yep, Definitely was the furthest thing from evil

But perhaps it was how open you were to the devildom that it made corruption easier on your soul

Asmodeus:

"Fangs suit you, make's you look more vicious~"

He grinned, a small growl on his voice as he admired your new sharp teeth

You tried not to get embarassed as he prodded at the bottom of your fang

You thought the whole transformation was really cool

This is what most humans want! Or atleast you believed so

When he finally let go, you checked your teeth out in the mirror

"they're so cool! But what's the point it's not like I'm going to be eating anyone-"

"you could always bite me, you know that option has always been open for you."

You ignored his wink and amused smile

You knew he was just teasing but deep down you were happy he was so positive about your transformation

You were scared they wouldn't like you anymore

But they were all supportive, especially asmo

"It's not like you're really changing that much so I don't see any issue, besides I'm curious if you'll be like me and have wings!"

That was a discovery you were yet to find

Your horns were growing steadily and your eyes have changed along with your teeth

But you were yet to get any wings or tail

Beezlebub:

When the brothers found out you were turning Into a demon

First the reaction was panic and wanting to fix you

But you said you were fine with it and the process wasn't hurting you in any way

They relaxed after that

But you actually growing extra limbs such as wings and horns the panic was growing again

"you're going to be alot stronger now, I'm glad."

You flexed your arms, bringing up your fists with a grin

"Oh? You wanna try to brawl or something?"

Beel still easily overpowered you, keeping your little fists at distance from him by pushing back your head

He was smiling, a light blush on his cheeks whilst you were trying to punch him

"No, I'm happy I'll finally be able to hug you without being scared of hurting you."

"oh-!"

You immediately got embarassed

You stopped trying to fight him, looking at him with a smile

"Let's test it out! I wanna see how much stronger my body is!"

Belphegor:

"Get your tail off my tail-"

You glared at him, trying to pull away from his arms, Getting overheated from how close he was cuddling you

You processed his words; wondering what he was talking about

"My tail?! I don't have a -"

He raised his tail to reveal that his and another tail were looped aroulnd each other, clinging

"OH MY DIAVOLO I HAVE A TAIL!!"

You were able to shuffle away, bringing your tail up to your face

You were just staring at it, not expecting to see it

"you're becoming a demon........wanna learn some demon swears?"

"there's special demon swears???!!! TELL ME!"

He chuckled, rolling closer to you and began speaking in a different language, it easily rolling off his tongue

The words felt familiar but you couldn't understand what he was saying

"What does that mean?"

"Let's just say you shouldn't repeat it until you want a demon to die."

UNDATEABLES↓

Diavolo:

He was immediately informed about your predicament

Demanding to see you as soon as possible

When he finally saw you, you were barely changed

Less prominent changes were already in effect but you were yet to truely look like a demon

He was both excited and scared

Excited to see this unique change and that you'll be able to stay in the Devildoom

But scared that this is going to be a hard thing for you and you'll regret and hate them all for corrupting you

But he was surprised by your enthusiasm

"What kind of horns do you think I'll be getting? I hope they're cool."

"I'm glad you're enjoying this, I didn't know un-damned humans could turn into demons."

"me either but I practically live here already so there's not going to be a difference."

He laughed, squeezing your shoulder

You were looking at yourself in the mirror

Just trying to find any horn bumps

"I think they'll be unique type of horns, like Barbatos."

He moved his hands to the side of your head, mimicking his butler's horns

You both agreed barb had super cool horns

"Wait- won't I get that special outfit all of you have when you're in your demon form?"

"i- i actually haven't thought about that."

"do those just magic on or were they chosen and now they're just attached to that form?"

You both had to sit down and actually think about this

Barbatos:

He wasn't too surprised you were having a transformation

It was only due time before the life of the Devildom effected you

But when you came rushing in to see him, tears in your eyes

That completely threw him off

"If you don't want this to happen, I'm sure my lord will let me shift the timelines and you'll be back to normal."

"No way! I wanna be a demon~ I'll have big fangs and spooky wings-"

Seeing your tears weren't one of despair

He smiled, cutting you off

"You'll have a tail actually."

You grew more excited, jumping up and down

When asked why you were crying

Turns out on the way to get him you bashed into one of the doors

He had to check if you had any bruises after you told him that

You took it as a good time to ask what kind of tail you'll have

But he just tapped his noses

"it would be better I keep it a secret, it's your corruption after all, I understand I'm doing this not to be mean."

You let him be

But as soon as your demonic features grew in more you were rushing off to see barbatos

Solomon:

"Hey, Solo! Guess what!"

You surprised your giddy up glee

Standing at the end of the stairs to his mini potions lab

He didn't look at you, too focused on his latest project

"What is it? You've turned into a demon?"

He laughed at his sarcasm

You just grinned, bouncing over to the opposite side of him

"yes actually! I'm finally allowed outside!"

His head snapped up SO FAST

when he saw your demon form he was shocked

Never would he assume you would turn into a demon

He's like Satan, wanting to research and document your progression and abilities

"We could make a pact, perhaps then the brothers will finally-"

"I'm not making a pact with you."

You two spent HOURS discussing your corruption

You were excited to learn more about the possibilities and he wanted to figure out how a non dammed soul was able to turn into a demon

"so, I'm going to be immortal like you, it's seems you're never getting rid of me~"

"After the first 10 hundred years you'll get bored of it."

"Oof- I forgot you're old-old."

He was not pleased

Explaining he was wise not old

You just shook your head, letting him ramble about how aging works for immortal beings and how the concept of age blurs

Simeon:

"Is it painful at all? When the brothers fell I know they had to go through a similar transformation like you."

He never saw his brother's transformation, just watched them descend from the heavens

He was looking at the few differences your new form was doing to you

But you seemed fine, smiling as you sat with him

"It feels weird, I know it's happening - it's more like an itch?"

"I'll see if I can get anything that'll help, you seem fine with the change."

You fully turned to him, grinning

"oh yeah! I think it'll be cool, I'll get to be immortal and stay with all of you."

His heart softened at your words

You'll be a peculiar demon, indeed

But that was okay and he was happy you were okay

He started guessing what animal would represent you

Wondering what type of wings you'll get

Or how your tail would look

"I'm excited to see what your demon form will be when it's complete, I want to see if my theories will be correct."

"I think you can see the future, your TSL story was remarkably close to what happened between me and the brothers and their bonds leading up to my arrival."

He just laughed, that secretive glint to his see

"it's but a mere coincidence but we'll see when the time comes."

Luke:

His best friend is becoming a demon??!!!

This is so unfair!

You were his HUMAN friend! His favourite human out of all humanity!

He was so grumpy about it

Mumbling how the demons corrupted you and now you're forced to stay in the Devildom

Meaning if he wants to visit he'll have to be there which he definitely 'doesn't' want because his friends mean demons are there

"Is there no way to reverse it?"

"probably but I don't wanna - I'm happy to become a demon!"

"But why?! Won't you miss your human life!"

He felt very conflicted; he wanted you to feel the way he did so you could understand him

But he knew you were happy and he wasn't too opposed to it

It's just the fear of change and you being upset or regretting your fee decision

You were always so nice to him

He truly believed you'd become an angel like him and Simeon

"nah, the Devildom has made me the happiest I've been in years, besides if get wings we can go fly together."

You wrapped an arm around his shoulder, hugging him close as he finally un-puffed his cheeks

"you- you wanna go flying? I guess I do want that... it'll be nice."

He smiled, calming down but still wasn't sure how to feel

He wanted to fly with you and even if you didn't get wings, he always wanted to show off his growing wings

If you had a tail he'd just find a different way for you to sour into the sky

[peachsayshi]

Chapter 4 - Domain

Gojo Satoru x Female Reader

Tags: Friends with Benefits, Smut, Teasing and a little bit of Fluff. 

Summary: Gojo returns from his trip, and while the two of you are hanging out you ask him to show you some of his powers. Unable to resist himself, he breaks a rule along the way.

A/N: Thank you so much for the likes and reblogs! I pretty much only have this updated on AO3 but am slowly trying to add all the chapters onto my Tumblr.

- - - 

When Gojo texted you to let you know that he was at his apartment, he did it with a devious prank in his mind. He informed you that you could let yourself in as the door was unlocked but chose to turn off all the lights and hid in one of the closets.

Then he waited.

He heard the patter of your footsteps and a soft “hello”, before creeping out from his hiding place and lightly approaching you. He was quiet enough for you not to hear him, the shadow of your frame slowing down and he could tell you were getting nervous.

She’s going to kill me, he thought to himself but refused to back out now that he had already set things in motion.

He towered behind you, noticing you freeze in place by the unknown and proceeded to wrap his long arms around your waist before pulling you into his body.

“ Boo !” he exclaimed in your ear, earning a well deserved shriek on your part.

“GOJO, YOU IDIOT!”

You elbowed him in the stomach, forcing him to let go of you as a fit of giggles escaped his lips.

You marched over to the light switches, flicking them to illuminate his large penthouse apartment and you furrowed your brows at the six-foot-three goofball who was covering his mouth to hold in his laughter.

“This is how you greet your friends after coming back from a trip?! By scaring the shit out of them?! Who the hell does that?!!”

Gojo tried to contain himself but the image of your jump scare was perfectly etched in his brain, replaying over and over again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry …” he said in between laughs, breathing in to regain control of himself. “I couldn’t help myself but you should see your face!”

“Ugh, you immature , asshole!” you grumbled, throwing the bag that you were holding in your hands in his direction.

Gojo had superior reflexes and caught it before it flew over his shoulder. He took a minute to calm himself down, extremely pleased that his plan went accordingly.

Meanwhile, you tossed your purse onto his coffee table, huffing to yourself as you plopped down on his black sofa. You folded your arms across your chest, unable to even look at him because of how irritated you were.

Gojo glanced down at the bag in his hand, the clear plastic enclosing a number of rainbow colored candies on the inside.

He bit his bottom lip out of guilt. “Okay, I’m sorry …I mean it this time…”

You scoffed, “are you? Because you still seem pretty content with what you just did.”

“I’m not going to lie, seeing you react like that was worth it…”

You scooted away from him as he took his seat next to you.

“What if you were some kind of murderer?!”

“Now why would you think a murderer would be in this apartment when I  invited you over in the first place? You’re smart, use a little logic…” he teased as he tapped your temple lightly before proceeding to open the bag of sweets.

“That’s it, you don’t deserve Rina’s candies...”

Gojo clasped his chest in disbelief, “ you don’t mean that… ”

You snatched the bag away from him, a satisfied smile spreading across your lips as Gojo frowned.

Deep down inside he was really happy to see you. Playful banter and all, your presence was the recharge he needed after his trip.

The two of you met eight years ago at Rina’s candy shop. At the time, your best friend was just starting her own confectionary business which you were helping her with by working part time while you were still studying at university. Gojo couldn’t get enough of her sweets, earning himself a reputation as a repeat customer. You and Rina constantly joke that he practically kept the business afloat during the early days.What you didn’t know is that he also had his eyes on Rina’s pretty friend. Unfortunately for Gojo, you were taken and oblivious to his advances.

He didn’t care; just because you weren’t interested in him in a physical sense, didn’t mean that you both couldn’t be friends. Gojo is the type of guy who would confidently socialise with anyone around him. He knew not everybody took to his personality, especially when the words “narcissist”, “egotistical” and “arrogant” were constantly used to describe him. You knew all this about him but still chose to maintain your friendship. How you put up with his petty behavior and childish ways often had him wondering why you stuck around but he was grateful that you did.  

After all, you were his closest friend - the only person he relied on after Suguru died.

Gojo pouted his lips, singing your name as he leaned forward to you and softening his tone. “If I get down on my knees and apologise will you forgive me?”

“Hmmm…” you pondered, “I think that’s a fair punishment and you’re buying dinner tonight, which I’ll be choosing so you can’t make a fuss about it.”

Gojo nodded his head and shifted his position to plant his knees onto the floor. He placed one hand on his chest, his other lifting up his blindfold so he was peeping at you with just one eye.

“I sincerely apologize for the hurt I caused you. Will you please, with a cherry on top , forgive this idiot who is on his knees?”

He noticed your lovely smile, amused that he was the reason behind this reaction.

“Okay, you're forgiven,” you replied, as you extended the bag of sweets back to him, offering him to take his pick.

Gojo returned to his sit next to you, his fingers dipping into the candy mix before pulling out a ruby colored square and popping it into his mouth.

“Mmmm…” he moaned, as the flavor burst along his tongue, “ this is good.. .”

“It’s a fresh batch. She made it this morning,” you replied, picking up a piece of candy for yourself. “Now that we can be civilized. Tell me how your trip went…”

The two of you spoke briefly about his trip but Gojo wasn’t eager to disclose the headache he is currently going through trying to uncover the fingers of a one-thousand year old curse. Instead he shifted the conversation back to you, asking how your morning with Rina went instead. He was only back for twelve hours before he had to leave again. The two of you wanted to see each other but agreed that you would hold off on “grabbing drinks” until he returned three days from now.

However, Gojo noted how good you looked seated right in front of him. Before all this started, you would usually show up at his place in casual clothes, paying no attention about how you looked but tonight he realized that you made an effort.  

You made an effort to look nice for him.  

He appreciated it, because the pair of denim jeans you had on fit in all the right places that he loved paying attention to. Your white t-shirt revealed a hint of the lace bralette you were wearing underneath and the man wondered if that was a deliberate fashion choice on your part just to tease him. Your lips were painted in crimson, practically forcing him to focus on your mouth. He had to remember that the rules were there for a reason. The rules ensured that the two of you maintained the boundaries of your friendship. The rules were there because you two needed to make sure that this didn’t influence your existing relationship in any way.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, but I can’t promise an answer…” Gojo cheekily replied, popping another sweet in his mouth as he grinned at you.

“Can I see your… domain ?”

“Is that supposed to be a code for my dick or something?”

You rolled your eyes at him, “you keep telling me about all these powers you have but I’ve never seen any of it.”

Gojo squinted his eyes at you, “why are you so curious about me all of a sudden?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you were asking me a lot of questions about work just now, which you usually don’t do, and now you want me to show you my skill set…”

You fidgeted in place, your fingers tapping nervously against the fabric of your jeans. “I don’t know, I think it’s weird that we have been friends for so long but I still don’t know the real you…”

Gojo paused, taken aback by your statement, “of course you know the real me.”

“Not the parts of you that you keep hiding from me.”

It’s for your own good, he thought to himself.

Gojo pressed his lips together to stop himself from saying those words.

“You already know about my Six Eyes…” he light heartedly replied.  

“There’s more to you than that! I guess I’m just curious to see what else you can do. Besides, I’m starting to come up with theories about your powers. Starting with the fact that you have to wear this blindfold at all times otherwise you’re going to start shooting blue laser beams at people.”

“No laser beams, I can promise that,” Gojo replied with a nervous chuckle.

“Then show me the you that “claims” to be the strongest jujutsu sorcerer…” you said, poking him gently on the shoulder. “I just…want to see something …”

Gojo pondered for a moment, sighing to himself as he was not quite sure what he could possibly do that wouldn’t risk putting you in danger. A few seconds passed before he stood up, taking the bag of sweets from your hand and placing it near your purse.

“I want you to stand in front of me,” he requested as he walked around the sofa and found a spot in the middle of the room.

You did as he asked and motioned your way to the position that he had requested. Gojo extended his arm out, ensuring that you were a good distance away.

“Alright, now give me a hug.”

You arched your brow, “seriously?”

“Just do it…” he insisted.

“If this is another stupid prank…”

“I swear it isn’t. Now give me a hug, I’m trying to make a point.”

You walked over towards him, taking your time until you were a few inches away from him. Your arms looped around his waist as you embraced him, but you stared up at him in confusion waiting to see what Gojo was planning next.

“Now what?”

“Okay…” Gojo placed both his hands on your shoulders, before motioning you back until you were an arms length away from him again. “Now I want you to try and push me,” he commanded.

“Push you?”

“Yes. Try to knock me down.”

You scoffed and he could tell that you probably thought he was messing around with you again. Just to play along you nonchalantly placed both your hands up and moved over to shove him, only this time Gojo did something that he’s never done in your presence.

Your eyes widened, your hands pressing into the air that was separating your touch from his body. The force like iron poured over concrete, incredibly powerful and completely protecting Gojo from you.  

“Wait… why…” you voice shook, as your frustration got the better of you. Your hands started to tremble and Gojo noticed you increasing your force as you tried to fight the barrier of his infinity technique.

“ Why can’t I touch you?…”

You were using your legs to push now, every ounce of energy going into fighting the invisible cloak that shielded him.

Gojo smirked before dropping his infinity.

You felt the barrier lift, the pressure giving way as you hurled into him. Your body collided into his, all that pent up energy crashing into the sorcerer as you fell onto the ground. Gojo braced your fall but your face was planted into his chest and your arms lay flat on the ground besides him.

“Are you okay?” he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

You gathered your senses, pushing yourself until you were sitting upright to face him. A puzzled look masked your face as you patted Gojo’s chest lightly before clutching shoulders and massaging your hands down his arms. “I can touch you now!  How…how did you do that?…”  

Your gaze lifted to meet his own both shocked and amazed by what just happened.

With his blindfold on you couldn’t tell that he was looking at you with wonderment.

Gojo straightened his back so that the two of you were facing each other. You shifted your legs, adjusting your position so you were straddling him. Your hands were still pressing his arms, gripping onto them as if you were trying to prove to yourself that you were indeed touching him.

“You asked me to show you something. So I did...” he said with a shrug.  

“Was that your domain? Are…are you the domain?!”

Your innocent question made his heart swell, and a laugh escaped him.  

“That’s not how it works! It's more complicated than that but this is just one of my techniques that I use to defend myself.”

“That’s… pretty cool …”

“Does it satisfy your curiosity?”

“A little.”

Gojo felt you finally let go of him. He glanced down to stare at your hands which were slightly red. He winced at the sight, bringing his fingers to wrap around your wrist as his thumb circled the center of your palm.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, this is from smacking the floor when I tripped.”

“Technically still my fault, I should have warned you that I was going to drop my infinity…”

“When I tried to push you it was the weirdest sensation. Like, I was touching something but feeling absolutely nothing at the same time. Has anyone ever broken it? Your infinity?”

“You forget I’m the strongest,” Gojo smugly replied, “nobody can touch me unless I want them to.”

You hummed to yourself but Gojo could see that you were lost in your own thoughts. You took his statement into consideration but he could tell you still had more questions you wanted to ask.

“Thank you for showing me,” you replied softly, choosing to let it go for now.

Your eyes locked onto his, your cheeks a little flushed when you realized how close your faces were to each other. Gojo could sense your pulse increasing, your chest rising and falling as seconds passed between you both.

Right now, all he could think about is kissing you.

His lips brushed yours, a breathless sigh escaping you as you broke the silence that hung in the air.

“ Maybe, we should order some dinner…” you suggested, your eyes shimmering with anticipation.

“That’s an idea,” Gojo murmured, his eyes from beneath his blindfold dropping to your lips.

“I was thinking maybe we can take away from that place-“

His lips locked onto yours, interrupting your thoughts as he gave in to his desire. His hands moved to your hips, tugging you forward against him so he was holding you closer. He bit your bottom lip, before licking it and sliding his tongue into your mouth. Completely entranced by what he was doing, he didn’t notice your hands trailing up his chest until it circled around his neck. This kiss was different, slow and passionate as Gojo took the time to explore your mouth. The taste of sugar dance across your tongues as he deepened the kiss, and he could feel himself getting hard as your chest rubbed against his. One of his hands snaked it’s way up behind your back, tangling his fingers in your hair. His other hand began lifting your tee from the front, sliding underneath it as he slowly began rubbing the flesh of your midriff. You broke away from him, taking a second to catch your breath as you pressed your forehead into his and hoping to calm things down before they escalate.

“We shouldn’t…we said we weren’t going too…”

“You’re right, we probably should stop…” Gojo agreed, but his lips spoke otherwise as he returned a kiss instead.

“ Satoru… ” you whined, but he could sense the heat between your legs as your hips naturally bucked into him. “We said we wouldn’t…not tonight..”

“Then tell me to stop.”

“What about the rules…”

“Tell me that you want me to stop, and we can go back to what we were doing.”

His lips trailed to your neck, where he nipped and sucked at your skin with every intention of leaving a mark.

You whimpered, tilting your head instead and giving Gojo better access to continue what he was doing. Your silence spoke volumes and gave him the consent he needed to continue.

“Rules were meant to be broken,” he whispered in your ear. “And tonight, sweet girl, you’re all mine …”

- CHAPTER 5: EDGE - 

[stellar-imagines]

NSFW SCENARIO REQUEST: ❝longing for you.❞

[ Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia ] [ Characters: Midoriya Izuku ]

「 NSFW Scenario of Soft Dom Midoriya with his S/O.」 NSFW under the cut!

MIDORIYA IZUKU

When you heard the door to your house suddenly open, you jolted. You put a lid on the dish you had been working on for the past hour and put down the utensils that you were holding on. You didn't bother to take off your apron, quickly making your way to the entrance to see your boyfriend taking off his shoes. He always greeted you no matter how tired he was but at this moment, you could almost sense the tension radiating from him. He would quieter than normal as you picked up his stuff for him. You welcomed him home and pecked his cheek, picked up his stuff and hurriedly made your way back to the kitchen.

"Dinner will be ready soon. How was your day, baby?" you asked. You stirred the pot of miso soup that you had made and waited for Midoriya’s response but it never came.

You continued working on dinner, leaving your boyfriend to do whatever he wanted. He’s been away from home a for a few days, due to an emergency that required backup from the heroes stationed in Tokyo. Midoriya has this tendency to keep silent about his worries and never tell you right away. You were always worried that he will start to get overwhelmed by his feelings and it would end up affecting his work. Just when you made up your mind to confront him, you felt Midoriya snake his arms around your waist and pulls you back into his chest.

”What’s wrong, baby?”

Midoriya almost feels guilty after hearing your worried and concerned tone. He didn't have it in him to tell you that he misses you real bad. Throughout the entire trip, he was thinking about you. How it nice it would be to have you next to him every night, how you would give him a nice massage after his hard work, pressing yourself on his back and tempting him to do dirty things to you. Midoriya left a few kisses on your neck while shamelessly grinding his hips into you. His gloved hands snuck underneath your shirt to rub at your stomach.

You really didn't have to ask him what was wrong because you could feel it pressing against you. It was kind of funny how Midoriya seemed to be quite embarrassed, burying his face onto your neck and keeping his hold around your waist. You managed to wiggle within his grasp, turning around and cupping his cheek. With red dusting his cheeks and eyes avoiding your gaze, you find himself quite adorable. But oh dear, Midoriya was far from adorable when it comes to sex. He loses his shy gaze once he gripped your chin lightly, pulling you in for a fiery kiss. You wrapped your hands around his neck and he lifts you up with ease.

"I missed you, honey." the viridian-haired male spoke between kisses and sets you down on the couch in the living room.

"I missed you too, baby. I'm all yours." you smiled gently.

He sets you down on the couch and immediately pulls you into a kiss. With your arms wrapped around his neck and body weight pushing him down, Midoriya finds himself laying on the couch with your body laid atop of his own. He could feel the swell of your breasts against his chest as his thigh slotted between your legs. It was then he realized that you were not wearing any shorts underneath. He groans and starts to help you with taking off your clothes while you unzip his hero suit. Once your clothes were all off, Midoriya has you settled atop his lap with his hands clutching onto your hips with your back against his chest.

Midoriya's impatience got the better of him, using one hand to take out his cock while you took off your bra and panties. Once you got rid of your undergarments, your boyfriend already has his hand on your clit, rubbing harsh circles that drew out strangled moans from your lips.You instinctively spread your legs wider for him and bucked your hips forward to take more of his fingers. Midoriya let out a deep groan, elated to discover that you were already wet and throbbing for him. He pushes his second finger and angles it just right to draw out another moan from you. 

“You’re so wet here, [First Name]-chan.” Midoriya hummed against your ear while you whimpered softly. He leaves little bites along your neck and increasing the pace of his fingers. While his right hand was inside your cunt, he used his left to rub at your clit which had you crying praises and begging him for more.

”I-Izuku, baby—Aaahh…..Please, faster…..!” you cried out in ecstasy. Your hands surround your breasts, squeezing the supple flesh. Gentle praises and cries of your lover's name spilled past your lips. You were a panting and whimpering mess just from his fingers, you couldn't imagine how you would turn out if he used his cock. His pace slowed down to a stop and you let out a small whine.

"You're such a dirty girl, look at how wet my fingers are." Midoriya pulls out his fingers to show you how wet they were from your juices.

”Izu….want you…..want your cock inside me.” you whined. He turned you around on his lap, now face to face with your flushed face. He used one hand to guide his cock into your pussy and you couldn't help the loud moan that escaped your lips when you sank down on his length.

"Come on, ride my cock." he smirked lightly, laying down on the couch. You moaned loudly, letting your tongue roll out as you gyrate your hips. The feeling of your clit rubbing against him made you throw your head back as you felt yourself getting closer every second.

"Honey......you feel so good around my cock. You look so sexy riding my cock like that. Mgh.....Ahh—Does it feel good to be filled up this way?" Midoriya's voice was huskier and much more lustful compared to usual. You had your hands clawing at the cushions of your couch, body bending forward as your mind clouded from the pleasure. 

"Y-Yes, Izuku.....feels so good—Ahh!" your voice was so dangerous, igniting the primal instincts that he never thought he had.  

Midoriya has his eyes on you the entire time, mesmerized by the way your body shook, how your glossy eyes desperately try to stay open to look at him. The sway of your breasts above his face made him even more turned on. You raised your hips and moved them down to take the entirety of his length over and over. Your body was starting to get used to the sensation of being filled up by his large cock. 

His hands clutched your hips firmly as he thrusts his hips upwards, growing impatient from the slightly average pace you were keeping. He sits upright and lets you loop your arms around his neck. Your pussy was clamping on him so deliciously, it was a feeling that he could never get used to. No matter how many times you both had sex, no matter how hard he fucks you every time, your cunt will always be so tight for him. Midoriya growled possessively at the thought of having your pussy and your entire body all for himself.

"Oh....[First Name], you're so tight just for me. Shit―Aaaah.....this pussy is made to fit my cock in, are you close? Are you going to cum all over my cock like a good girl you are?" Midoriya pulled at your earlobe with his teeth, his voice dangerously lower. The stark contrast of his usually shy and timid personality with his assertive and dominant personality in bed never failed to make you feel things.

"Oh.....Izuku, faster! You're so good―Aaaah, your cock feels so good, haaaahh.....!" you moaned sexily, burying your face onto his neck. 

His cock fills you to the brim over and over, hitting that spongy spot inside of you that had you seeing stars every time. You weren't in the right mind to question how his cock was hitting your deepest parts, ramming against your G-spot over and over. Midoriya's hips were now jerking and bucking into yours feverishly, desperate to make you cum first before he did. Midoriya swears that he could never get bored of this feeling. Your pussy hugs his cock so tightly like it was a perfect fit for him. He leans back a bit to look at you and his eyes trailed downwards.

His cock disappears in and out of your drooling pussy. The sight of your teary eyes looking at him and the moans of pleasure from your plump lips almost made him cum. He continues thrust upwards, now taking control completely of the pace. He was ruthless, drawing out the lewd squelching noises made from his dick going in and out of your tight pussy.

“Izu….Izuku! S’too much! You’re—Aaaaah…..so big!” you were practically sobbing from overstimulation.

”Too much, honey? You have no idea how sexy you look, drunk from my cock that you’re begging for earlier.” he teases you with a small smirk on his face. Your begging made it hard for him to focus, it unlocked the feral side of him so easily.

”Your pussy is always so tight no matter how many times I fuck you—Nghh….clamping on my dick and looking so pretty like that.” Midoriya seemed to be muttering to himself at this point because you could only make out a few words. His eyes were darkened with lust and fixated on the way his dick pummels into your pussy. He could feel you getting close, with the way your body squirms against his and how your cunt got tighter around his length.

"F-Fuck, you're close aren't you? Where do you want me to cum? Speak up, baby." he growled, his voice driven with lust sending heat flooding through your already sore and throbbing nether regions. You didn't dare to speak, fully aware that no words will come out from how much pleasure you were in. All that spilled from your lips were babbles and incoherent begs that you didn't understand yourself.

You cried out his name and lurched up as his cock hit that one spot inside of you. Your nails raked down Midoriya's back, leaving red streaks along his skin. Tears collected at the corner of your eyes from the overstimulation and you let out a loud moan. You couldn't take it, not when he began rubbing fast circles on your clit. Midoriya watched in delight as you came around his cock, a clear stream of liquid squirting out of you and coating his lower abdomen. You trembled above him, your face buried on the crook of his neck as his cock continue throbbing against your spasming walls.

"That's right, such a good girl. You're so fucking good girl for me, aren't ya? Milk my cock, honey, shit, I'm gonna cum too! Gonna fill you up until you're so food, you're not going to spill anything because you're my good girl right?" his entire body tenses up, hips still thrusting into you before hot spurts of his cum shot inside you.

Midoriya pulls out shortly and slowly sets you down on the couch. He pressed a kiss on your forehead, whispering gentle praises before letting you rest. He left you to rest on the couch and went to the bathroom. While you were busy regaining your breath and laying on your back on the couch, you glanced at the kitchen and realized that your pot of miso soup sitting on the stove. Your boyfriend returned to the living room with your pajamas and a wet towel.

“Food’s gonna…..get cold soon.” you muttered, mostly to yourself. You were beyond exhausted, Midoriya was quite rough with your today. There were light bruises on your hips, your legs were still shaky and your entire just felt sore.

”Sorry baby, was I too rough?” Midoriya grows a bit bashful and guilty when he saw you barely moving on the couch.

"No, baby. You're perfect." you smiled gently as he climbed atop of you to leave kisses along your face. 

"So what about dinner?"

"Takeaway?" you suggested.

"Takeaway." Midoriya agreed.

Total: 2042 words Published: 18.07.2021

Thank you for requesting! ｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و*｡ It’s been so long since we wrote NSFW. We hope you liked it! ― author Lou

Thank you for requesting it! Everyone has a spot for Soft Dom Deku it seems.... Hope you enjoyed this! ― author Natsuki

Requests are closed! Matchups are closed!

Please do not mind the grammar mistakes and typos.

[paperpocalypse]

family outing.

50 Wordless Ways to Say “I Love You”: 29. Tucking their hair behind their ear to help them get it out of their face.

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Reader

Word Count: 1,436 words

Warning: Mild swearing

[A/N: Mild S2 spoilers!]

“So,” Vanya’s brow furrows, “Five met you after the apocalypse?”

“Yep.” Leaning against her car, you cross your arms and sigh dreamily. “Hate at first sight. He almost shot me in the head.”

“… With a gun?”

You grin. “Well, he couldn’t’ve shot me with a Twinkie.”

Vanya looks ahead at where Five is talking to some middle-aged guy, his expression friendly and polite. What a businessman. Her eyes narrow in shocked disbelief. “This is crazy,” she murmurs. “My family is crazy.”

Your grin widens as she shakes her head. Something about her mannerisms helps you realize why Five is so fond of her, though he’s never said it outright. She’s definitely your favorite of the bunch. Sans murderous intent.

“Some types of crazy can be good,” you reply, nudging her arm. “But your family’s got all of them and it’s gonna get real messy. Time to spice up your little farm life, Vanya.”

She chuckles a little awkwardly and shrugs. “I just hope I’ll have time to talk to them. Again, I mean. Maybe I’ll remember something when we’re all together.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Noticing Five bidding farewell to the man, you push yourself off the bumper and wave at him. “Any luck, Five?”

He points down the street behind you as he walks back over. “Plano Street Rooming House for Solitary Men,” he answers. “It’s just a few blocks from here.”

“How do you know he’s there?” Vanya asks.

“I really doubt Luther would live anywhere else.”

You snort, raising your hands in surrender when Five returns it with a semi-faux withering look. With a sigh, he shakes his head and opens the rear passenger door, gesturing for you to get in.

As Vanya starts the car and turns into the street, you look through the rearview mirror at Five as he tells her where to go. Despite being stuck in a thirteen-year-old body, he still has that resting glower of his that makes him look perpetually stressed. 

(Of course, it’s not just a matter of looking stressed – he is definitely stressed. Wound up tighter than a spring. You’ll probably need to force him to sit down and relax for at least a half-hour tonight before he explodes.)

His hair is a little disheveled, so you reach over to brush it out of his eyes. It doesn’t really work, but just going through the familiar motion grounds you somehow. “You know,” you muse as Five glances back at you, “Luther’s probably living there, but I doubt he’ll be in right now. He’s probably with Ruby somewhere.”

“Even if he is, we can ask around. I assume that at least one person there knows his business.”

He absently lifts a hand to smooth his hair back, and you smile. “Good point.”

—

“Hello, do you know Luther Hargreeves by any chance?”

After some door-to-door work, someone from Luther’s hall finally answers your knock. He’s a burly man, though not nearly as big as Luther, and obviously drunk off his rocker. Definitely solitary. He squints at the three of you through red, puffy eyes.

“Luther? Yeahhh, I know ‘im. Huge bloke. Real hairy.”

“That’s the one,” Five confirms. “You see, we’re his brother and sister. He hasn’t visited home lately and we’re pretty worried, so we’re just wondering if you know where he is.”

Burly picks at his teeth. “Brother n’ sister, eh? Well,” he rumbles, “I dunno where he is, but I know some of the boys are gonna watch ‘im fight tonight.”

“Where’s the fight?” Vanya asks.

The man regards her with suspicion. “Well, it ain’t a place for a little lady like you.” He swirls his beer around in its bottle, then jabs a finger at all of you. “Don’t want you three squealing to the cops, either.”

“We won’t,” you assure him, smiling sweetly. “We just want to check on Luther.”

With a little more cajoling, you finally obtain the time and place for Luther’s fight before the man waves you away with a grunt, slamming his door shut. You give your companions a self-satisfied grin before descending the staircase back down to street level. Worked like a charm. (You suspect your youthful looks probably helped a lot, though.)

“How’d you do that?” Vanya wonders as the three of you step out onto the sidewalk.

“Simple,” you respond. “I have a knack for sweeping tough guys off their feet.”

You wink secretly at Five. He rolls his eyes, the minutest of smiles at the corner of his mouth, before ushering you and Vanya back to the Chevy.

Your little trio spends the next few hours driving and poking around, looking for Luther or Klaus or Allison. The optimist in you hopes you’ll run across at least one of them. But Dallas is a big place, and darkness begins to fall around 5:30 without a single sighting.

“Dammit.” Five clicks his tongue as you exit a paint shop alone.

“At least we know where Luther will be,” you point out, shoving your hands in your pockets. “How about we get something to eat before we head to the fight?”

Vanya unlocks the car. “There’s a place I know close by,” she says, lips quirking up. “They have sandwiches and donuts there.”

You pat her back. “Sounds great, Vanya. Five? You’ve got to eat something, too.”

Your favorite number crosses his arms as you and Vanya stare at him expectantly. “We’ll get something quick,” he eventually says.

The trip only takes a few minutes. The three of you get sandwiches and a donut each and unwrap them on the bench outside the bakery.

“Sissy and Harlan and I get something from here whenever we go into town,” Vanya says, finishing the last of her sandwich and picking her donut up. “It’s pretty good.”

“So good,” you agree. Lands alive, sitting out here like this makes you nostalgic. Ignoring the upcoming doomsday and the ‘60′s aesthetic, it feels like you’re back in 1927 again, staying out past curfew with your peers. You smile to yourself and look down at your half-finished maple bar. Best to enjoy it while it lasts.

A finger quickly sweeps your brow, tucking a lock of hair out of your face. You blink and glance over at Five, but he’s looking across the street and starting on his own pastry. (Apple fritter. Perhaps you’ll ask him one day why he always gets those.)

Heart feeling even softer than before, you lean silently against his side. He doesn’t move.

After a moment, Five speaks up. “When we were kids, I brought you to this donut shop near the academy a couple times.”

“You did?” Vanya asks.

“Yeah. Griddy’s.” Oh, the one near the academy. The one that had gotten destroyed along with everything else in 2019. He gestures at the last bit of donut – plain, glazed – in her hands. “You usually got that kind.”

She raises her eyebrows, looking into her napkin. “Oh, wow. I guess it must’ve been a subconscious choice or something, then.”

“Hm.”

“You know, I’m glad we found you, Vanya,” you offer warmly. “I didn’t … really have time to get to know you the last time we met.”

A smile spreads across her face. “Same here. For both things, I mean. Not that I’d know much about our first meeting.” She pauses, examining you for a second, then blurts, “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

She awkwardly motions between you and her brother. “Are you and Five …?”

“Partners,” you finish, “in every sense of the word. From what I know, at least.” With a grin, you turn to Five. “Is that more or less right?”

He rolls his eyes fondly. “Unfortunately,” he mutters as you move to smooth his hair back again. He sure had lovely hair when he was a kid – not that you didn’t appreciate his looks back in your Commission days. This de-aging thing really knocks you for a loop sometimes.

Vanya nods, still looking vaguely confused. “Okay. I don’t want to make things weird, I just – well, you two are kind of … young –”

“Believe me, we’re much older than we look,” you quip, standing up. “But that’s a tale for another time. We gotta go.”

Disposing of your trash, you join the others into the Chevy and start your next journey to Luther Hargreeves. Radio turned off, the leather seat squeaks as you lean back and listen to Vanya and Five murmuring in the front.

To see the siblings together again makes you glow inside, a bit of calm before the inevitable storm. You drink it in as much as you can.

[moldisgoodforyou]

bahamas (iv)

warning: everyone is drunk ! , sexual references

wordcount: 6k

_________

The next morning, Allie strolled out of the bedroom with a messy braid, a cheesy grin and a blush that started the second James began to whistle. Colin flipped him off immediately, still as sullen as the night before. “Nice of you to show up.”

“I was busy.” She retorted, then immediately shook her head. “Not like - I just showered.”

“Did loverboy join? What’s his name again?” James questioned, sliding Allie a full plate.

“Carloooooos.” Julia sang, laughing as Allie glared at her. “I saw him sneak out this morning. He said hello. Nice guy.”

“He said he had to get to his shift, he teaches scuba lessons during the day. If we’re interested he said he could snag us a discount.” Allie shrugged, popping a blueberry into her mouth.

“Does he teach underwater basket weaving too?” Colin asked dryly, scowling.

“Is that a real thing?” Rafe asked, looking like he was actually considering the activity for a moment.

Sophie glanced over at him, concerned. “Baby.”

“It’s not?”

Julia shook her head at the couple. “I thought we had a boat today?”

“We do. We’re going sailing.” Rafe confirmed, glancing at his watch. “We’ve got an hour, but we need to pack snacks and drinks. Colin, can you help me grab the cooler from the attic?”

“You can’t grab it yourself?” Colin grumbled, pushing away from the table to follow Rafe up.

“No. It’s too big.” Rafe glanced behind him, making sure they were out of earshot of the group as he led him up the stairs. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“My problem?” Colin repeated, immediately getting defensive. “What the fuck?”

“Yeah, you’re being a dick about Allie’s hookup. No one would say a word if you brought a girl home.” He coughed as he unlocked the attic door and a small layer of dust flew up, the house unused since the beginning of summer. “Actually, maybe you should get laid, you’ll chill out.”

“I don’t have a problem.”

“Then quit being an asshole to Allie. She doesn’t deserve that.”

Colin sighed, helping Rafe tug the Yeti cooler down from one of the shelves. Once it was down, he glanced over at Rafe. “I didn’t mean to be rude. Sorry.”

“Apologize to her, not me.” Rafe told him, looking Colin dead in the eye like he could figure out some hidden secret if he stared at him long enough.

“I will.”

“Good. Just because you’re jealous -”

“I’m not jealous, just don’t like this guy -”

“Ha!” Rafe pointed his finger in Colin’s face, eyebrows raised. “I knew it! You like Allie.”

Colin froze, immediately looking towards the door then lowered his voice. “You can’t tell.”

“Wait, shit, seriously? I was just trying to get a rise out of you...Colin. Seriously? You mean it?”

“The tiniest of crushes. She’s cute.” Colin affirmed, regretting telling him already. “Just - you can’t say anything.”

“I won’t. Brother swear.” Rafe nodded, extending his hand to Colin. “Don’t you dare fuck with her though.”

“I won’t, I won’t.” Colin paused, not taking his hand to shake. “That includes Sophie.”

“Fuck, Colin, for real? You know she doesn’t count.” Rafe whined, running his hand through his hair. “She’s gonna get it out of me. Somehow. She always knows when I’m hiding something.”

“I mean it.” Colin shook his head. “No Sophie. No James, and especially no Julia.”

“Damnit.” Rafe sighed, but grabbed Colin’s hand and shook it. “Fine. You’d better apologize and start making moves or shut the fuck up and let her do her thing, though. No judging.”

“I will, I promise.”

“Good.”

The door banged open, startling them both as James stood in the doorway. “Yo. You two can’t handle this thing?”

“No, we got it.” Rafe shook his head, lifting it easily on his own to haul downstairs. “They send you up here to check?”

“Yeah, Jules started asking questions about last night and Allie clearly didn’t want to gossip with me around, so Sophie sent me up here to get you guys.” James paused, thinking. “She muttered something about you probably getting stuck in some secret fancy passageway. You gonna tell her this house is your dad’s company house, not some family heirloom?”

“I’m pretty sure Sophie wants to know as little as possible about what my family owns. I think she cried for a solid hour on the first night here.” Rafe frowned, taking each step one at a time.

“You tell her about the deb thing yet?” James asked.

“Deb thing?” Colin echoed. “Sarah’s ball? What does Sophie have to do with that?”

“...No. I’m not sure. I think she’ll either agree or rip my head off, no in between.” Rafe sighed. “Sarah’s getting presented at the debutante ball in the spring, Rose suggested Sophie gets presented as well with me as her escort, and somehow my dad thought that was a good idea. Establish her with high society, or whatever. I don’t think he’s forgiven me for breaking up with Brooklyn a week before her deb ball. Apparently me being her escort would have been good for us. Our family.”

James cocked his head. “She broke up with you.”

“Whatever.”

“Huh. Well. That conversation should be fun for you.” Colin patted Rafe on the shoulder just as they got down the attic stairs. Rafe now sported a thin layer of sweat from hauling the cooler down alone, despite him already having no shirt on.

“Oh yeah. Looking forward to it.” Rafe deadpanned, then put on a grin as they all re-entered the kitchen. He didn’t miss the way Sophie’s eyes trailed over his exposed chest, the way she leaned forward on the counter and bit her lip a little. “Found it!”

“Excellent.” Julia clapped her hands together and began filling it with a selection of drinks she’d laid out on the counter. “Sophie, stop eye-fucking your boyfriend and help me out.”

Sophie snapped to attention as Rafe held back a laugh at Julia’s lack of tact. “I wasn’t -”

“Yes you were. Drinks.”

Sophie shook her head, handing Julia drinks with a rising blush on her cheeks.

“I don’t mind, sweetheart.” Rafe murmured to her lowly with a grin, trailing his hand down her spine ‘til he rested his palm on her lower back.

“Ew, we just ate.” Allie complained, pushing her plate away from her. “Thank you for pancakes, though.”

“No problem. It’s my specialty.” Rafe beamed, gathering up the plates and sticking them in the dishwasher.

“Only ‘cause you can’t cook anything else.” Colin pointed out, dodging as Rafe aimed a square punch at his arm.

“He’s not wrong.” Sophie agreed, reaching up to kiss Rafe’s cheek.

“Aw. Thanks for breakfast, Mom and Dad.” James grinned, patting them both on the head.

Sophie whirled on James immediately, only held back by Rafe slipping his arm around her waist (more to protect James than her). “Stop. I mean it.”

“What are you gonna do?” James taunted, grinning. “Hit me? Rafe won’t let you.”

“I will, if you don’t shut up.” Rafe replied, shaking his head imperceptibly behind Sophie’s back.

“What? You weren’t pregnant, it was just the flu - hey!” James took off running the second Rafe let Sophie go, who immediately sprinted after him through the house.

“Fuck off, James!” She yelled, chasing him down the hall.

“I didn’t mean it!” He yelped as she threw someone’s flip flop at him, nailing him in the shoulder with surprising aim. “I’m sorry! Rafe! Help me!”

Everyone else watched from the kitchen, thoroughly entertained. “You gonna help?” Allie asked, glancing at Rafe.

“Nah. He deserves it.” Rafe shrugged. “They’ll get tired soon enough.”

“She only likes fighting when she’s flirting anyways.” Julia added. “I swear all your arguments before you two were dating was just foreplay.”

“Doubt it. She could be pretty mean.” Rafe grinned at Sophie fondly as she strolled back into the kitchen with a triumphant smile, then looped his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Who’s mean?” Sophie asked.

“You.” James informed her as he followed her back to the group, dramatically rubbing a red mark on his shoulder.

“Okay, both of you, knock it off.” Rafe took charge like always, glancing at his watch. “Everyone go get ready, we’re getting picked up in twenty to get to the dock. Don’t forget sunscreen.”

“You really make it too easy.” Julia rolled her eyes, but chose to refrain from calling him Dad again for the fourth time that morning.

“So everyone knows?” Sophie asked the group, frowning.

“For the record, I was team baby. I think you guys would have very cute kids.” James said, already flinching away as Sophie lifted her hand toward him.

“Yeah. Rafe accidentally let it slip when I asked why you looked like hell that weekend.” Colin confirmed. Sophie had stayed at Rafe’s instead of her house so he could take care of her, and Colin had found her sleeping on the bathroom floor curled up in a ball at 2pm when Rafe was in class. (He decided not to wake her up, thinking she was just wildly hungover, and had texted Rafe a photo instead.)

“Great. Fantastic. But if one more person calls me Mom this week, I’m going to rip your heads off.”

“I told you you’re mean.” James grumbled, clutching his shoulder. “I’m gonna have a bruise. How am I supposed to explain that to whoever I’m hooking up with tonight?”

“Tell her you’re into pain.” Allie suggested, shrugging when everyone gave her a look. “What? It could work.”

“...Alright. Everyone go get ready, I don’t want to hear another word from anyone about their sex lives.” Rafe instructed, shooing everyone out of the kitchen as he and Sophie made it toward their room. “Sorry, baby.”

“It’s fine. I’d be more upset if we actually had a kid on the way.” Sophie conceded with a shudder at the thought. “How much did you talk about it with the boys?”

Rafe thought about it, about how James kept going on and on about how he wanted to be a godfather and how their kids would be adorable, and how Colin said he wasn’t really a huge fan of kids but obviously their kid would be family. He thought about how he shared with the guys how nice it would be to have a big family and know their kids would have several metaphorical aunts and uncles, and how much love and support they’d be surrounded by. It made him excited for the future - the far future, of course, but still.

“Not much.” He finally settled on answering, giving her a small smile. “You gonna wear my favorite suit today?”

“The pink one?”

“No, the blue one with the daisies. The one you wore in Nice?” He grinned. “Or, I guess, didn’t wear?”

She blushed, shaking her head. “I think that one’s dangerous to wear around you with our friends.”

“Any bikini is, sweetheart.”

“Control yourself.” She flicked his shoulder in warning. “I have a surprise for you tonight. Don’t let me forget.”

He perked up immediately, smirking. “A surprise? What kind of surprise?”

Sophie just shrugged. “You’ll see.”

“I’ll see...is it a leave-the-bar-early kind of a surprise? A need-the-house-empty kind of surprise?” He asked eagerly, his smirk broadening as she pulled out the light blue bikini from her suitcase.

She laughed, pulling off her shirt before she fumbled with untangling the bikini strings. “I think you can stay quiet enough that we’ll be fine.”

“Will you be able to stay quiet?” He teased, beaming in appreciation as she stood there shirtless in front of him, tongue in between her teeth as she concentrated on fixing the bikini. (He didn’t bother to help.)

Sophie ignored him, rolling her eyes, but glanced up and caught him staring. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

“Don’t tempt me, you know I will.” He shot back. “I know you brought your film camera I got you for Christmas.”

“The last person I want seeing my nudes is the freshman art student that develops my film in the photo studio on campus.” She replied with an eyeroll. “Though I’m sure he’d enjoy it.”

Rafe’s face dropped as he immediately grew protective, grabbing the bikini top away from her and deftly untangled the strings. “Get dressed. We’re gonna be late.”

“Okay, Daddy.” She replied innocently, biting the inside of her cheek to hide back a grin.

He paused, considering, then shook his head. “No. Sorry, no, can’t vibe with that. Find a different kink please.”

She burst out laughing, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, James paid me $10 to tell you that.”

Rafe huffed, tugging on his swim trunks and shoved his feet back into his boat shoes, then promptly slammed open the door, striding back to the group. “James! Fuck you!”

________

Later, once everyone gathered their things and made it down to the dock after their driver for the week picked them up, the boat driver helped them all onto the boat, offering his hand. He was younger, around their age or a little bit older, and Rafe scowled as the driver’s eyes lingered maybe a little too long on Sophie’s bikini top. Then the driver politely leaned over to Rafe to inform him that Sophie had the tag sticking out of her top, hanging on by a thread, and he dropped his scowl quicker than it had appeared.

It only took them twenty minutes before they cracked into the cooler, everyone satisfied with a drink in hand, and two failed attempts to go head-to-head in a shotgun contest with James left Sophie drunk within the hour. She had her sunglasses perched askew on her nose, eyes closed as she rested her head in Rafe’s lap, lying down on the seat next to him.

“This trip is good for you. I think this is the most relaxed I’ve seen you all year.” Julia commented, snapping a quick photo of the couple.

“I do feel very relaxed.” Sophie hummed, taking Rafe’s hand and starting to play with his fingers. “Hm. Relaxed. Relaxation. That’s nice.”

“You’re hammered.” Rafe pointed out, but looked down on her fondly. “I want you to eat soon.”

“Snacks.” She affirmed. “You’ll have to feed me. I’m not sure my jaw works anymore.”

James giggled, more tipsy than anything, but still lacked any filter. “Better for dick sucking.”

“Hey.” Rafe warned. “Watch your mouth.”

“Sorry. Just came out.” James shrugged, having zero remorse. “Can we go swimming? I wanna see dolphins. Do they have dolphins here?”

“Some dolphins. I’ll take you.” Their driver interjected, changing direction of their boat.

“Dolphins can travel up to 80 miles a day,” Allie informed them, confused when she got weird looks from the groups. “What? I’m from Florida, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer growing up. Everyone did.”

“Aw. You would have been good at that, Al.” Julia told her, topping off her drink. “Sophie, no sleeping.”

“M’ not sleeping.”

“No drunk napping.”

“M’ not drunk.”

“Well now you’re just lying.” Rafe told her with a smile, gently nudging her up. “C’mon, I need you to drink water for me. Have some snacks.”

“Here, Sophie.” Colin waved the bag of Sun Chips under her nose, grinning. “Try some. Yummy.”

She batted it away, frowning as she leaned back into Rafe. “Everyone leave me alone.”

He pushed her back upright immediately, ignoring her frown, and pressed a water bottle to her lips. “Drink.”

“Do the thing.” She lowered her voice, challenging him with a smirk.

“Sweetheart, I’m not gonna -”

“Then I’m not drinking.”

He sighed, resigned. “Drink water or I’m not letting you go out tonight.”

“Let me? You don’t let me do anything.” She argued, grabbing the water bottle away and took a long drink.

Rafe just nodded, clearly not in the mood for a fight. He knew Sophie was in charge of the relationship, but the second he said he wasn’t comfortable with something, she listened right away. “Okay. Sure.”

“Trouble in paradise,” James sing-songed, only to receive a glare from Sophie.

“You’re still on my hit list.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“You and Julia are on it.”

Julia sighed, glancing over. “You’re really still hung up on that?”

Sophie sat up a little more, her eyes lighting up, and Rafe braced for an argument. “I told you no -”

“And we’re both grown adults, Soph, we can make our own decisions -”

“You don’t even like him -”

“Ouch.” James mumbled, shrinking back into his seat as if he couldn’t be seen.

“Hey!” Allie clapped, standing and putting herself in between the girls. “Both of you, let it go. We’re not doing this again. Julia, drink more. Sophie, no more drinking.”

“But -”

“No.” She crossed her arms, staring them both down until they sighed, mumbling apologies. “Thank you.”

The boys all watched in silence, impressed, until Colin spoke up. “Right, well, I’m gonna go swim.” He and James nodded, jumping off the back of the boat, and Allie and Julia took a second but followed suit.

Sophie moved to join in until Rafe grabbed her around the waist, protective as he pulled her onto his lap. “Hey. You okay?”

“Yes. I feel good.” She promised, but couldn’t fully meet his gaze and was swaying with the rocking of the boat. “Can we go swim?”

“Will you wear a life jacket?”

“That’s embarrassing.”

“It’ll be more embarrassing if you drown.” He pushed her hair back, out of her face, and kissed her forehead. “You’re way too drunk right now, you’re making me nervous.”

She frowned, placing her hand on his cheek. “I make you nervous?”

“No, I’m just worried something’s gonna happen. Life jacket? Please?” He pulled it from under the seat, offering it to her.

Sophie rolled her eyes but let him put it on, strapping it tight across her chest for good measure. “Now can we go?”

He scooped her up with a grin and stood on the seat, ready to jump. “Now we can go.”

“No, Rafe - wait no!” She screamed, grabbing around his neck as he jumped into the water with her in his arms, plunging down and letting her go to float back up.

James snorted, splashing water toward her. “Nice life jacket.”

“I’d like a life jacket.” Allie interjected, closing her eyes and floating on her back. “Wouldn’t have to do any work.”

“Hold on - Allie, are you high?” Colin questioned, swimming closer and poking her arm. She’d only had half of a drink since they were on the boat, but was still acting strange and zoned out the whole day.

“Carlos gave me an edible. I ate it before we got on the boat.” She mumbled in reply. “I have more if you want it.”

“You took sketchy drugs from a sketchy guy?!” Colin exclaimed, much louder than necessary.

Rafe swam over with a frown, shaking his head like a dog. “Who’s taking drugs?”

“The bartender -”

“Carlos.” Allie corrected.

“The bartender gave Allie drugs.” Colin cut her off. “And now she’s high and probably something else.”

Rafe cocked his head, looking over Allie. “Al? You good?”

“I feel nice.” She replied, moving to tread water and smiled at them. “So nice.”

“Jesus Christ.” Colin cursed, while Rafe kicked him under the water.

Julia swam over, tugging Sophie’s hand to drag her along. “Oh, it’s finally kicking in?”

“You knew?” Rafe questioned, pulling Sophie into his arms as she tried to be subtle and unclip the life jacket.

“Of course I knew.” Julia replied. “Don’t freak out, I looked at it, it’s fine.”

“Oh, you looked at it, great. Thanks, Julia, I didn’t know you were the resident expert on drugs.” Colin huffed.

“Just weed, actually, I haven’t done anything else -”

James seemed to finally realize the whole group was congregated instead of doing their own thing, like he was. He swam under the water, grabbing Rafe’s ankle - who immediately screamed like a child and kicked James in the face. James bobbed up straightaway with his hand clapped to his nose and blood trickling from it like a leaky faucet. “What the fuck?!”

“Why’d you grab me?!” Rafe defended, letting go of Sophie. “This is on you.”

James launched himself onto Rafe, grabbing at him, and the two promptly started wrestling in the water, despite everyone’s protests. Colin stuck his arm in between them to break them up after a few minutes, tugging Rafe off of James and being careful not to hit James’ nose again. “Hey! Hey. Everyone back on the boat.”

“C’mon, Colin.” James argued, but hauled himself back up onto the boat anyways when Colin tapped his watch and reminded them all of their dinner reservations.

Once they all clambered back onto the boat and James had a towel and a can of beer pressed to his nose, the boat driver started taking them back to the shore. Sophie had sobered up somewhat and Allie was asleep with her head in Julia’s lap, with Julia absent-mindedly stroking her hair. “Hey, Rafe? Do you have any good recs for somewhere we could go for dinner?”

Rafe furrowed his brow, confused. “We’re going to dinner tonight, what do you mean?”

“No, no, tomorrow. I was thinking it could be just the girls, you guys could do something else -”

“No.” He replied, firm. “None of you are going anywhere alone. I don’t trust any of you when you’re drinking.”

Allie stirred, finally opening her eyes as she’d been listening in on the conversation. “We could invite Carlos to chaperone,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’d love to tag along. Drag you into some trafficking ring too.” Colin grumbled.

James pulled the towel away from his face, confused. “So that’s a no to guy’s night?”

“No one is splitting up.” Rafe insisted, firm, and reached over to press the towel back to James’ nose.

Sophie cocked her head at her boyfriend. “Where is this coming from?”

“Look, I don’t even let Sarah go out alone here, and we’ve been coming here for years, she knows this place like the back of her hand. I don’t want something to happen to you guys.” He slung his arm around Sophie’s shoulders, pulling her close. “Any of you. I mean it.”

“Man, even my own father isn’t this protective.” Julia remarked casually, then immediately regretted it upon seeing Rafe’s wince. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. But that’s final say.”

“Okay, got it.” Julia raised her hands in defense. “So. Back to Carlos. Do you think he’d get all of us drugs if we had a threesome with him?” She suggested, only for everyone to stare blankly at her. “Oh my god, I’m just asking. It’s not like I suggested meth.”

“Who’s in the threesome?” James questioned, cocking his head.

Julia ignored him, barreling on. “That’s, like, an appropriate thing to ask, right? It feels like an island vibe. He’s gotta know where to get something.”

“Something.” Rafe repeated.

“Yeah.” She directed her question back toward him. “Hypothetically, if he could get us coke, would you say no? That’s like a rich person drug.”

“Rafe hasn’t done coke.” Sophie interrupted, assuredly, then frowned as Rafe seemed contemplative. “Right?”

“...No. Had to think. Been in the room, though, so probably got something secondhand.”

“That’s literally not how coke works.” Julia dismissed.

“I wouldn’t. I’m pretty sure that ruins the lining of your nose.” James supplied helpfully - Julia nodded in agreement, considering this newfound information.

“I’d consider doing molly.” Colin added. “But not from him.”

“Oh, like that makes a difference.” Allie deadpanned, always quick with the comeback while the rest of the group registered their surprise, because - Colin? Drugs? Two words that didn’t go together.

“It does, actually, but I get drug tested at NASA every single week, so.” Colin shrugged. “Not worth losing my future job.”

“Right. No one answered my question.” Julia sighed. “I’m open to a threesome with Allie or James. Rafe and Sophie, you’re out. Colin, I -”

“Yeah. Agreed.” Colin nodded, then hurriedly added, “I’m not saying I’m down for a threesome -”

“Hold on, why are we out?” Sophie frowned. “We’re hot.”

“Neither of you would share. It wouldn’t be fun.” James pointed out, only for Julia to nod enthusiastically in agreement.

“Exactly. You two are too, like, in love or whatever. It’s sick.”

“We would be great in a threesome.” Sophie argued, crossing her arms.

“You are too damn competitive.” Rafe mumbled to himself, shaking his head. “No one is having a threesome, no one is doing drugs. Not until we’re back under American laws. I’m not bailing anyone out of jail here.”

“Boo, Dad.” James grumbled, making Sophie lean toward him and raise her hand.

“James -”

“Okay, Sophie, chill, you can be the only one to call him Daddy -”

“Oh god, gross -”

“Home again!” Their driver announced with a grin, bumping the boat a little against the dock. The group snapped to attention, with James and Colin grabbing the coolers and Rafe helping the girls off the boat. He clapped the driver on the back as he was last to get off, murmuring something in his ear and slipped a wad of cash into his hand.

_____

After dinner, the group was dropped back at the house with the same driver they’d had all week, who now knew them all by name and knew way too much gossip about each of them. He knew that Rafe always sat in the front, the girls crammed into the back and James and Colin shared the middle, unless the girls were too drunk to crawl all the way back safely, and the boys would trade. They were all tired from a long day in the sun and agreed to call it with a lowkey night back at the house.

Once they’d all changed into comfier clothes, rather than how they dressed up for dinner, they congregated in the living room, sprawled out on the couches.

“All right, games. I have...uh…” Rafe rifled through the cabinet under the television, coming up short with only a deck of cards. “There’s just this and a poker set. We didn’t exactly play family games growing up.”

“That’s alright. We can play B.S.” Julia concluded, clapping her hands together with a grin.

“Last time we played B.S. it ended in a screaming match, and you and Colin didn’t talk for a week.” Allie reminded her, wary. Drunken card games in their group usually resulted in made-up rules that were only kept on track if someone wrote down the rules to lock down any possible room for arguments.

James and Sophie returned from the kitchen with two bottles of Sprite, two bottles of lemonade, a handle of vodka and six shot glasses. “Okay! Ready!”

“What the - guys, I said a chill game night.” Rafe raised his eyebrows as Sophie passed out the shot glasses.

“Yeah, we decided it’s our only senior spring break so we want to enjoy it.” Sophie told him, smacking a kiss to his cheek. “We’re playing B.S? Whose rules?”

“Normal rules, for the first round. Second round everyone adds a rule as you get away with bullshit.” Julia declared, shuffling and dealing the cards out to everyone with a surprising amount of skill. “Next birthday goes first, and if you don’t get away with it you have to take a shot. Or chug your drink for five seconds?”

“That’s me. And player’s choice, I think.” Sophie decided, sitting up and angling her cards away from everyone, looking a little too contemplative. She placed her card down, and Colin immediately shook his head. “Bull.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Take the shot, Sophie.” Colin insisted, flipping her card to reveal a jack instead of the needed 2.

“Fuck.” She muttered, following suit.

Rafe shoved her cup of water closer to her before she could pour herself a vodka lemonade instead, shaking his head. “You’re not even sober right now. Finish this first.”

“It’s alright, I’m fine.” She waved him off. “You’re next.”

The game continued on, escalating dramatically as they kept playing. By the time the first big bullshit was called, Allie had to accept at least 30 cards, the group had all taken at least one shot, Julia had been banished to the corner for a whole round, James was wearing Julia’s pink sunglasses upside down and Rafe had made out with Sophie three times, due to a rule he’d made up.

“Total bullshit.” Allie giggled as James placed five cards down at once on top of a huge stack. She was rivaling Sophie for drunkest of the group by far, slumped on the couch with her arms wrapped around one of the pillows as she wore a happy grin.

“Is not.”

“Is too!”

“Challenge!” Julia exclaimed, setting up two cups at the end of the table and handed them each a ping pong ball. (No one was sure when this was added to the rules, but everyone accepted it easily.) “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand.”

The two stood and took each other’s hands, laughing as they followed the customary pre-pong rule of spinning each other three times before taking their aim. “That was four! That was four.” Allie protested, having to grab James’ arm for balance as the room spun behind her eyes. “You need an extra spin.”

“Wait, dude, you put five down.” Colin pointed out, cocking his head. “Fucking idiot, take the cards.”

“Julia said challenge!”

“But you cheated!”

“The whole point of the game is cheating, dumbass!” James retorted, shaking his head. “She said challenge!”

“I said challenge!” Julia cried out, tapping her shot glass against the glass table to regain order. “Now throw.”

Both of them missed their mark terribly, James’ ball falling short and Allie accidentally nailing Rafe in the forehead with hers. “Sorry! Shit, sorry!”

“Oh, no, baby, are you okay?” Sophie asked worriedly, smoothing her hand over Rafe’s forehead as she combed through his hair with her fingers.

“I’m fine. I’m not sober.” He replied, humming with a smile as he leaned into her touch.

Everyone stared at the two of them with grins as they realized Rafe’s mistake in his own rule that he’d made up. The couple took too long to realize, slowly glancing around at the group. “What?” Sophie asked, sitting up straight. “What happened?”

“James missed the shot.” Colin grinned at Rafe, way too smug. “Pucker up.”

Rafe’s face dropped as it clicked for him - he’d made up the rule that a missed shot from falling short meant that person had to make out with the player who’d gone before for at least two minutes. It was a carefully calculated rule, he’d played pong with everyone in the group countless times and knew that everyone besides Sophie tended to overshoot, almost every single time.

Almost.

James laughed at Rafe’s expression, crooking a finger toward him. “Come here, buddy. Do you want me to get chapstick? Soph, do you have chapstick?”

“Do I have to?” Rafe groaned, standing up and striding over to sit next to James on the couch.

“It’s your rule.” Julia pointed out. Sophie shrugged in agreement, not quite putting together all the pieces.

“I’m really honored to be doing this with you, seriously.” James joked. “Sophie, can I touch him?”

“Just the head.”

Julia snorted, and she and James exchanged equally delighted grins at Sophie’s accidental innuendo.

Colin pulled up the timer on his phone, flashing it toward them. “Okay...alright. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Fucking hell.” Rafe sighed, but leaned in to make the first move, eager to get it over with. Both of them had their eyes closed and the kiss was relatively tame, albeit impossibly long.

“Oh.” Sophie murmured quietly, unsure how she felt, but uttered a warning “hey” when James’ hand automatically went to Rafe’s face. She decided she felt mainly neutral about it, but would be a lot more neutral if it was James and Colin kissing instead.

Julia was quiet for the first time all night, unable to tear her eyes away as she watched. Allie couldn’t resist a quick photo but giggled, hiding her face in Colin’s shoulder.

“Hey. Hey! Hey!” Sophie yelled the second the timer went off, leaning over and grabbing at Rafe’s arm to tear him away. “No more.”

James had his eyes closed and had unconsciously chased Rafe’s lips with his as they were pulled apart, but made a show of wiping his mouth afterward. “Okay. Well. Mark that under something I thought I’d never do.”

“And you’ll never do it again, so I hope you enjoyed it.” Sophie scowled, wrapping her arms around Rafe from behind and pulled him back to lean against her chest. “Stupid fucking rule, Rafe.”

“Sorry. Wasn’t thinking.” Rafe laughed, clearly unbothered as he tilted his head to press a short kiss to Sophie’s neck.

She grasped his head in both her hands, leaning down to press a sound kiss to his lips, as if it was a mark of ownership. “There. No one kiss my boyfriend again, I’m getting more snacks.” Sophie declared, getting up and heading into the kitchen.

“I don’t know about y’all, but I’m lowkey horny right now.” Julia muttered much louder than she intended.

“Thanks for sharing, Jules.” Allie laughed.

Julia glanced toward James with a desperate look, pressing her legs together. “Are we done playing? Or do you guys want to keep going?”

Oblivious as always, James shrugged, unfazed, moving back to his seat beside Julia. “Whatever you want. I’m down to keep playing.”

“Fuck, I need to get laid.” Julia mumbled much quieter so only he could hear, and he straightened up immediately like a bolt of lightning had shot up his spine.

“Actually, I’m good. Tired, actually. Yeah. I’m gonna - yeah.” He stood, offering his hand to Julia. “You look tired too.”

“Guys.” Rafe warned, glancing toward the kitchen where Sophie was still raiding the cabinet for any leftover snacks.

“Night, y’all.” Julia grinned, ignoring Rafe’s warning as the two strode off hand in hand to Julia’s room, making sure to go around so Sophie wouldn’t catch them.

Rafe sighed, but bit back a smile as he saw a dirty text pop up from Sophie, with a very detailed idea of how they could use up the rest of the whipped cream in the fridge. “Alright. Night, guys.” He promptly got up and left, leaving Colin and Allie alone.

“And then there were two.” The tension hung thick in the air as Allie leaned on Colin, giggly. “Fuck, I am so drunk.”

“Yeah?” He didn’t dare move, especially as she took his arm into her lap and started tracing lines as she connected freckles on his skin.

“I think I’m gonna call the bartender.”

“No you’re not.” Colin frowned, shaking his head. “No. You need sleep.”

She yawned, blinking up at him. “I’m pretty sure my room’s occupied.”

“You can take my bed.” He offered immediately, resisting the weird urge to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “It’s fine.”

“Where are you gonna sleep?” She asked, reaching up and tracing her finger along his cheekbone. “Your eyes are pretty, did you know that? You have a freckle in your right eye.”

“A freckle?” He smiled. “I’m not sure that’s right.”

“It is.” She insisted. “I can go in your bed?”

“Yeah, I’ll take the couch.”

“Okay.” She agreed right away, hauling herself up. “I gotta brush my teeth.”

“Good thing your bathroom’s shared with mine.” Colin reminded her, following her down the hallway. “Unless you really want to go into your room while...that’s going on.”

“No, thank you.” She shook her head quickly, stretching and nearly smacking him in the face. “Sorry! Sorry.”

“It’s alright, just be careful.” He laughed, ushering her into the bathroom. “Do your thing, I’ll fix my bed.”

They’d all changed into comfortable clothes and showered before playing the game, anticipating intoxication, but Colin still wished he had a reason to offer her something of his to wear to bed. He re-made his bed, even fluffing the pillow, before tugging on a hoodie.

Allie returned a few minutes later, giving him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Colin.” She touched his arm as she passed, crawling into bed.

“Of course. No problem. Yell if you need something, yeah?” He told her, smiling back before leaving and turning out the light, resigned to a night on the couch.

taglist: @drewstarkey @lemur46 @jjmaybanksbaby @edgeofgr8 @quxxnxfhxll @obxtess @hoodpankow @vtgirl802 @outerbankies @messagesinthesky @nicolecarsley @svechnikolan @ilovejjmaybank @obxtess @abbyj1822 @oopsiedoopsie23 @g4bster @jjmaybankzz @freddymaybank @dontjinx-it @illbesafeforyou @moniamaybank @tovvaa @jailcalledlife @sunshineitsfine44 @randomficsandshit @outerbankspreferences @outerbanksbro @karsinner @kkmaybank @whoeveniskendall @lemur46 @outerbankies

[lizbotw]

Could you do an Akaashi Keiji imagine where his girlfriend steals the T-shirt he was wearing after they made out as they got distracted from studying and they playfully argue over the shirt as they both enjoy the view of each other? I’m just soft for Akaashi...

T-Shirt || Akaashi When His S/O Steals His Shirt

same, like honestly who isn’t? i just love him. this ask made me soft, tysm for the request, i loved this ♡ please let me know what you think! also first official scenario/one-shot post :) (even though the others were basically already one-shots on their own but shhh) also, this is gender neutral even though you said girlfriend ♡

warning: suggestive content (making out? but that's about it. also akaashi is hot but we already knew that so here's me describing it)

word count: 3k

Akaashi Keiji

You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, excess saliva dragging across the surface. “Ugh, Keiji, get off. You’re crushing me.”

You squirmed, legs kicking out as you tried to use the momentum to roll him off of you. No such luck.

“Mmm, just a little longer...” His breath tickled your neck, hands still dragging down your sides, balling around the fabric of your loose shorts and then releasing it.

You slumped back down, letting your arms fall away from where they had been looped around his neck. Spread starfish on the floor with an immovable force on top you in the form of your boyfriend, you were about to resign yourself to your fate until your eye caught a glimpse of the colorful textbook page still splayed out on his desk. “No. I swear to God if I fail this math test because of you...”

“Yeah? What are you going to do if you fail? Finish the sentence,” came his muffled reply as he buried his face deeper into the crook of your neck. You could feel the vibration of his laugh and shivered at the feeling.

“I won’t come over anymore.”

The vibration increased as he chuckled against your skin and you instinctively brought one hand up to ball into his hair, stretching your neck away from him and in the opposite direction—he knew you were ticklish there.

“Sure you won’t.” You could tell he didn’t believe you and you didn’t blame him—anyone could call that bluff from a mile away.

While you were trying to think of a witty comeback, you felt him shift and suddenly the weight was gone, leaving you feeling empty at the unexpected lack of contact. Blearily blinking up at him, you could make out his face hoovering above yours for a moment as he supported his weight with his arms planted on either side of you before he pushed himself into an upright position with a slight groan, clearly wanting to stay tangled up in your arms a little longer.

Keiji sat back on his heels and studied you, still straddled about your waist, and right as you opened your mouth to stick your tongue out at him in retort to the intense stare, he shifted again and got up (meaning you got absolutely zero satisfaction out of teasing him), carefully stepping over you.

You kept laying on the floor, watching Keiji closely as he rose and stretched, his back to you now and muscles shifting. His shirt had gotten lost somewhere in the scuffle of limbs and lips earlier, so now his entire torso was on display, toned and rippling under his every movement. Your fingers had traced over each of those lines mere seconds ago, yet you found yourself wondering what they felt like now, as if something about them had changed within the short span since you last touched them.

Sure, you had been the one to tell him to get up, ruining the moment with the reminder of the crushing reality that school still existed, but you weren't above redacting your earlier words and calling him back to you just so you could tug on his raven hair with the same cheeky smile you always found yourself sporting in situations like this. You wouldn't even complain about him laying the wrong way on your stomach and crushing all of the air out of you this time either—promise.

Of course, once again, your words died in your throat and you had to change plans when he made for the bedroom door—you had gotten lost tracing the lines of his arms and hadn't noticed when he had stopped stretching his arms above his head—and you sat up with a jolt, your head throbbing a little at the sudden movement.

“Where are you going? You're not getting out of studying that easily, mister."

Keiji paused in the doorway, hands curled around the edges, and he turned to look back at you over his shoulder, eyes half-lidded and gaze piercing—you swore your heart caught on fire (you silently begged for someone to put it out) and you involuntarily gulped, throat suddenly dry. He hummed in acknowledgement of your words, ignoring your stiffening up at the look he was giving you (although you were sure he noticed it, judging by the way his eyes raked over the small signs of your body language before returning to look at your face).

"Yeah? I was under the impression you didn't like studying on an empty stomach but-"

"Oh! Go then! What are you waiting for?" The prospect of snacks had you perking up, although you were still acutely aware of the tingling in your lips where he had bit a little too hard before, the feeling spreading from that one spot to the rest of the area. You ran your tongue over your lips to cool the feeling—it was studying time now, so reminder to self: get your mind out of the gutter. "Bring an extra bag of chips too. I'm tired of sharing with you."

He quirked an eyebrow, pursing his lips in a way that was a mixture of silent disapproval paired with him trying to hide a smile. (The truth was that you were the one who always took his chips and he didn't even need to scold you out loud for you to understand the correction that should be made in your statement—although even if he did say anything, you would have stuck with your claim that he was the real chip culprit between the two of you, no matter how untrue it was.)

Seemingly realizing that he was going to lose the internal battle of trying not to smile, Keiji pressed his lips together even harder and turned his attention away from you and instead to where his hand was curled around the doorway, watching as his fingers ran over the ridges and bumps. "You got it." And then he was actually gone, out of the room and disappearing down the hallway. You could barely hear his footsteps, even if you tried to strain your ears—they were as quiet as he always was. Reserved and to himself, Keiji seemed to decide that his footsteps would be the same way.

Fully alone now, you flopped back onto the floor, staring up at the ceiling and hands clasp together on top of your stomach. You were replaying the events of that evening in your mind, smiling to yourself as you thought of every little gesture he had made for you.

At some point, plans had been made to study together for the upcoming exam week and that's how you had found yourself on his doorstep, shifting the weighty bag full of textbooks from arm to arm as you waited for him to let you in. It had taken but a mere minute for him to unlock the front door and usher you inside, taking the bag from you—you knew he had been waiting for you, plus he was always a sucker for being on time.

You'd been to his room many times before, but you always looked around to see what had changed from last time, even if it was as minuscule as a stack of papers that hadn't been there before resting on his nightstand.

There was a small, low table in his room, similar to a coffee table, and you two always sat on the floor around it—you found it much more comfortable than sitting on the straight-backed wooden chairs (serious and foreboding in their stance) in his kitchen and dining room. There was a certain freedom of movement on the floor (whether it be to shift closer to him, to spread out your array of pens and highlighters next to you, or to dramatically flop down with proclamation of "I give up!" when faced with a particularly difficult worksheet problem) and a certain aspect of casualness that came with it that set you at ease the same way his presence always did.

This evening had been similar, books crowding the area (and not just school books—“Keiji, I know you like to read, but I have no space for my notebook here and if you don't move your stupid novel right now- What? No, it's not relaxing to read during breaks, what do you think we've been doing this whole time?”) and both of you staring intently down at your work. Keiji had been particularly playful this time though (you thought back to his teasing retorts from earlier when you had told him to get off of you—yeah, he was definitely acting a little different this time around) and one thing led to another before you two were collapsed on the floor next to the table, breaths coming fast and both of you missing your shirts (listen, he had started first, okay?).

Now that you thought about your missing garment, you realize the room was a little drafty, a breeze blowing through his open window and curling it's chilling fingers around your torso. You shivered, wrapping your arms around yourself and sitting up again. Now where was was your shirt...

Your careful glancing around the room stopped short when you caught sight of the bunched up heap of fabric right next to you. You considered it for a moment before reaching out and plucking it from the floor, shaking it out and holding it up in front of you to confirm was it really was; a familiar shirt unrolled from where your fingers pinched the top of the fabric near the neckline. Keiji’s.

Hmm... well it wasn't like he needed it right now. And that was all the justification you needed before an evil smirk spread across your features, mischievous plan brewing in your mind, and you tugged on Keiji's shirt—finders keepers.

Feeling warmer now, you scooted back over to the table, folding your legs under it and messing around with the strewn around papers you had left out, trying to make sense of the mess. You found what you were looking for and straightened up your books, lining them up in front of you before picking up a pen (you were pretty sure that that was also Keiji's) and trying to get back into the working mindset. You actually had to finish this work at some point (even if along the way to the finish line you took a few unplanned breaks in between with your boyfriend’s tongue down your throat—oops, what?) so you easily fell into the groove of writing, your pen scratching against the paper and the quiet hum of the wind outside keeping you company.

It wasn't long before Keiji appeared in the open doorway, balancing a few packets of snacks in one arm. His small grunt when a pack of cookies almost fell off of the top of the stack and he had to angle his arm to keep it in alerted you of his presence (once again, the muffled footsteps paired with your intense focus on your work did not help) and you looked up. Two bottles of water were gripped in his free hand and you reached out to take them from him once he came close enough, allowing him to use both arms to wrap around the mountain of snacks and then carefully let them spill out onto the table so you could take your pick. He sat down next to you, just as he had before, and started to sort the snacks into piles so they wouldn't contribute more to the mess you two had already made.

You pushed a pack of chips off to the side to make room on the table, a small space revealing itself when you did so and on which you rested the water bottles. "No tea this time?"

He didn't even look at you as he focused on the task at hand. "I know you get tired when you drink tea, so no."

"Hmm, but isn't tea supposed to help when you're studying?"

"This isn't a relaxing studying session. We have a lot to catch up on to make up for that missed hour." Even from the side you could make out the beginnings of a budding smirk on his face at your expense. There he was—your responsible boyfriend. He really was going to go all in on you today it seemed—you thought you had escaped his serious study plans because of how playful he had been earlier, but now that he had blown off some steam, it seemed like he was back to his old disciplined self. You internally groaned at the prospect. Couldn't you just go back to cuddling on the floor, even if it was a little uncomfortable?

"Yeah, and who was the cause of us getting sidetracked?" you shot back, not letting him get away with this.

He paused his movement and glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. "...Shut up."

You grabbed a bottle of water and cracked the seal, taking a long sip of the cool liquid to commemorate this small victory over him. "Mhm, that's what I thought."

Keiji finished sorting the snacks into some sort of order moments later and, satisfied with his work, sat back. "Mhm... okay, now that that's done..." He looked around him, twisting in place as he looked behind him, at his sides, and around the table, brow creasing further as he went on. "Where is it?" he muttered, his eyes now glancing further into the room beyond where you two were sitting for whatever it was he was he was missing. "Have you seen my shirt? I could've sworn it was right here...” He shook his head in apology. “Right... sorry, I must have misplaced it, I'll just get another one." He was still racking his brain in bewilderment—trying to figure out where his shirt could have mysteriously disappeared off to—as his eyes continued to rake over the room, but as he moved to get up to walk over to his wardrobe, his gaze zeroed in on what you were wearing. His eyes narrowed in confusion before recognition spread over his features.

You decided to play dumb for now, taking another sip of water to hide your smile. "What are you looking at? Quit staring at me like that."

"(Y/N)..."

You turned to face him fully now. "Take a picture, it'll last longer, Keiji," you taunted, teasing lilt in your tone clearly getting to him as you stuck your tongue out in retort, him bristling at the action (perhaps more so out of a certain type of interest in how the words rolled off of your tongue though, rather than for any other reason).

"If you really wanted to wear it, you know you could have just asked me, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"My shirt, (Y/N). Can I have it back? I'm actually feeling a little cold right now." He ran his hands up and down over his arms in an effort to generate some warmth and you remembered the open bedroom window. Good. That's what he deserves for distracting you from studying in the first place.

You picked back up your pen and twirled it in your fingers as you leaned on the table, elbows resting on the surface, feigning nonchalance. Out of the corner of your eye you watched him, you gaze mostly focused on the pen in your hand as part of your "cool, calm, and collected" act (you wanted to play around with having the upper hand here for a little longer). Wanting to get a better look at him though (you couldn't resist the temptation of drinking in the sight of him), you dramatically looked away from the pen and back to him, as if considering his earlier request for his shirt back.

His hair was still messy from when you had ruffled it before when his teeth had found your neck, and now as he took a sip from his own water bottle, you could see the slight wetness the liquid left behind on his lips when he took the bottle away, not bothering to wipe it away. Your eyes widened at the slight glisten—he knew what he was doing—and you resisted the temptation to immediately look away in embarrassment, instead forcing yourself to don a coy grin and return to taunting him.

"I recall you complaining about it being too hot earlier, Kei, so I'm not sure which one's the truth now." That had been when you two were still pressed together, feeding off of each other’s body heat. And now came the dangerous part—an invitation, the anticipation of the results of the light provocation already stirring up butterflies in your stomach. “If you want it back that badly, why don't you just take it?"

You expected the crashing of lips, him cutting you off and swallowing your words, taking advantage of the fact that your mouth was open—but instead all you got in response was a small tilt of his head and then a knowing smile. Ugh, you should have known it would have turned out this way, you falling just shy of triumph. He never even fell for Kuroo's, the master of provocation’s, taunts, and while Keiji let you get away with a lot because you were you, you were naive to think you ever had the upper hand here.

He brought a hand up to cup your cheek, thumb running over your lips. You wanted to bite out a bark of “Quit teasing me, Keiji,” but also didn’t want to risk him drawing his hand away either.

Your impatience was put to rest soon though when he spoke, voice low. “I guess I really will have to take it back then." And then he leaned in, your own eyes fluttering closed, and the soft movement of his lips against your own had your heart doing summersaults. You know what? Maybe this was better than what you had in mind.

“So much for playing nice," you felt him murmur against your lips when he pulled back slightly to run his tongue over them. You shivered at the sensation and wasted no time obliging him with your lips slightly parted now, dropping your pen somewhere on the floor and moving instead to splay your hands on his back for support. Your fingers ran over the surface as you had so desperately longed to do before as he continued the sweet onslaught against your tongue. His hand still cradled your face, but now the other one took a special interest in gripping your waist and toying with the edge of his shirt there—A.K.A. the object of his attention (although that title gradually seemed to be slipping to you as he got more and more engrossed in your quiet, shuddering breaths against him, you practically melting against his chest).

Just like last time, a single kiss turned into many, each one more desperate than the last, and before you knew it, you were on your back again, Keiji's fingers playing with the bottom of the fabric of your shirt and tentatively running his hand over the skin underneath, gradually creeping higher. (He seemed to be making a conscious effort not to accidentally lean his elbow on your upper arm again this time either—that had hurt.) Well... you guessed the studying could wait for later. A few detours along the way were fine, weren't they?

[kpoptrashlord-007]

Come Home;; PMH

Word Count;; .5k

Genre;; Angst

Pairing;; Rocky x Reader

Summary;;

You hadn't meant to call him; at least that's what you told yourself. You knew he wouldn't respond well to your drunken attempts to reconcile your relationship which has long since gone cold.

Warnings;;

Swearing, drinking

Request;;

hi love! if you are still taking drabble requests could you do Astro’s rocky with “i fucking love you” “hang up, and tell me this when you’re sober” from the prompt list? It’s under the fluff category buttt.. i wouldn’t mind if it was just angst lol 🤍tysm!

My Masterlist || ASTRO Masterlist

   Emerald and amber glass refracted shards of colour across your living room walls as the dulling ceiling light caught on the bottles littered across your table and floor. It brought a splash of life to an otherwise dreary atmosphere. There was no music or conversations to accompany your binge - you were drinking alone, isolated within the cold confines of your apartment.

   Downing every last drop of the harsh liquor you had forgotten the name of, you unlocked your phone. You needed more booze if you wanted to forget him. Searching your contacts for the delivery service app to no avail, blurred names zipped past as you scrolled the list on a loop. None of the words were coherent… except for one.

   Like a neon sign in the middle of a desert, it called to you.

   Without much thought, you pressed his name and the green blob next to it.

   Mere seconds passed before the line connected and his voice rang through the fog polluting your mind. "What's wrong? Is everything o-"

   "Minhyuk," you sniffled, voice cracking the moment you began to speak. It was a mistake to contact him, you knew this. Yet hearing actual concern in his voice despite the argument that had torn you apart still fresh in your mind made every last rational cell in your body fall victim to the alcohol's influence. Tossing the bottle you had forgotten in your hand onto the table with an audible clink, you continued, "I miss you, baby."

   "What?"

   "And I love you, you know? So come home, okay? You need to because I want you to so let's not fight anymore. It's not what I want and I want you. Why did you even leave? It's stupid to fight when we love each other, right? I'll wait up for you to come home now."

   There was a hint of exasperation in his tone when he addressed you again, waiting for your spiel to come to an end before his words cut through the cold night air. "Are you drunk?"

   "I fucking love you, Minhyuk. I love-"

   "Listen to me - drink some water, wash your face and go to bed."

   "What? No, not without y-"

   "Hang up and talk to me when you're sober."

   "I'm not drunk!" you yelled, frustration building in your gut.

   Upon hearing your raised voice, Minhyuk dropped the call, leaving you in absolute silence. You had laid your emotions bare and all you got in return was indifference. Tears streamed down your face. Even if you were intoxicated, your sentiment had been real. No amount of alcohol was strong enough to change that, no liquor-induced haze deep enough to make you forget him.

   "Come home, please."

   Whispering your pleas to the disconnected line, your soft sobs echoed throughout the empty apartment before disappearing into silence.

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