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munsnz · 3 years

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Bittersweet Critic — Steve Harrington ☘︎︎

TW: Cussing??

Requested: None

Pairing: Steve Harrington x GN! Reader

Lydinous Radio: Bittersweet— Kennen

Summary: Steve is sick and tired after working at Family Video for months after the Starcourt incident. Christmas break comes up, meaning more people coming over to their homes. Unlike him, a witty college student comes by for an odd request, making him look like that douche from years back. Days later, he finds this person again, wanting to apologize for the prude actions from the previous..

Masterlist — Requests are open!

Another boring day.

Cold everywhere.

Showing where the bathroom was.

Rummaging through movie posters.

Checking out the pretty girls.

Organizing VHS shelves.

Another Thursday in the cold mornings in Hawkins, Indiana. Steve Harrington had been sick of working at Family Video after working here for 3 months since the incident in July. Now he and Robin were taking different shifts in days and rarely got time to work together at the same times. Watching the customers coming in and out of the store, he sighed due to boredom working there. He would’ve been off to college, possibly coming back for Christmas Break since everyone was coming home for Christmas. More families and couples came in and out of the store now, happy-looking faces, and cheerful moods. Steve realized how lonely he was, after his heartbreak with Nancy, the rejection from Robin, just grew on him, leaving him with the group of kids he mentally adopted. Where was he going with his life now? Was there a possible future for him? Is there-

“Hello? Are you deaf or something?”

The voice made him snap out of his thoughts and feelings to find a conventional rather good-looking person who stood upon him. Steve shakes his head to focus on his attention. “Sorry I was..... I was.....”

”Distracted?” You smiled at him and tapped your fingers on the counter.

Steve nods at your response and shrugs, “I suppose you’re correct.”

“I’m always correct,” You boasted while trying to sound humble about it. There was a silent chuckle shared between the two of you, but continued with the silence, “Anywho, I was wondering if you could give me a good movie recommendation.”

”A what now?” He questioned while being throughly confused by the weird request given by this person who he had just met in 5 minutes.

You sigh at his reaction and lean closer, “I need a good movie recommendation.”

”Oh... Oh...Right,” Steve looks around, trying to remember the movies he’s seen. Although working at a video store, it was hard to keep up with the most popular movies nowadays. He snaps with his fingers and looks up at you, “Back to the future is a good one.”

”I’ve watched it and it wasn’t that good.”

Well, there went one shot. Steve tried to keep concentration in this memory from the last film he saw while dozing off to look at you. Realizing another movies, he chuckles, “Star Wars?”

”A new hope?” You say, furrowing your eyebrows. It reminded Steve when he first got the job at this shithole.

”I don’t really know,” He mumbles, digging his fingers into his hair and watches you cross your arms.

“Well isnt this store supposed to have good staff that actually know a bit about film?”

Steve squints his eyes and clicks his tongue, “Well, I’m just a teenage boy who couldn’t get into college and is trying to earn a living, so I don’t know much.”

“Oh,” You sigh, looking down at your feet, and slide your paper from a notebook harshly across the counter, “Thanks for the help dipshit.”

”Are you a movie critic or something?” He desperately blurts out, wanting to continue to talk to someone,making you turn back to him.

In awe, you look at him up and down, sternly as you said, “I’m not, but I’m studying to work in the film industry in the future as if I’m here to fill out this assignment about the public’s perception on movies, but it’s okay if you don’t want to help, you don’t seem like it.”

”No! It’s actually okay,” Steve apologizes, softening his face and extended his hand to give him the paper, “I really got nothing else to do.”

You watched his hand, almost with pleading eyes to do something in such boredom he was in. After a hot minute of decided, you smiled and breathed to walk away to the exit of the store, “No thank you dipshit! Just remember first impressions are important!”

”What?” Steve gasps, with his mouth open at such rejection, watching you swiftly walk outside into your car to drive off. First impressions were important, he had looked like a total asshole in front of them. Now this was just a huge blow for him, no luck.

☘︎︎ ☘︎︎ ☘︎︎

“So..... what are you doing tomorrow?” Dustin questions, shuffling his feet in the snowy cement, putting his small hands in his pockets to avoid frostbite.

Steve sniffs, watching the people inside relaxing inside the cafe on a Tuesday morning in Hawkins, it was still Christmas break and now both guys were going to have their own day after the holidays.

”I don’t know, I’ll probably catch a movie,” He sighs, shivering in the snow falling on his hair. Watching the people inside, he sees that one familiar person. That movie critic. Different it was though, the person looked awfully stressed with a huge amount of papers scurried everyone on the table, not that one put together person he saw a few days back. His stomach dropped at the sight, not wanting to interact with them, “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, can we cancel this? I’m not comfortable.”

Dustin looked up at Steve, “Why not? We get a free time to hang out together, I heard they give the best hot chocolate!” Seeing Steve flustered, Dustin turned to see at what he was looking at before getting so weird, it seemed to be a person, somewhat Steve’s age, good-looking meanwhile scribbling notes onto sheets of paper. He hangs his mouth open and nudges Steve with a sly smile, “Oooooh! Someone’s got a crush!”

”Shut up,” He snaps, making Dustin stop giggling like an idiot. Steve gulps and feels a bit anxious about it, after all this time, why did he feel this way?

“Try talking to them,” Steve’s friend advices, both of them watching her through the window in deep concentration, “Until you feel the electricity.”

Steve glances at Dustin, “Don’t use my advice against me.”

”It’s not that bad, Steve,” Dustin claims, moving his jacket around a bit, “Maybe this is your chance.”

”Chance,” He scoffs at the comment, “I haven’t felt like this in months, what ever happened to the glory days where everybody would fall for me at first sight?”

“They probably like you,” Dustin shrugs and looks up at his friend hopelessly sigh, “What’s the matter? Do they not?”

“Well......” He mumbles, trailing off, “I made a really bad impression on them, they came over to the store and I seemed like an asshole, they don’t like me.”

After peering through the window, both boys noticed that same person’s eyes meet theirs. Panicked, they looked away rapidly, trying to not make the situation awkward. The person they were eyeing went back to their task, Dustin ran to the door, dragging Steve inside, “Go talk to them.”

Steve flattened his jacket and breathed deeply, feeling Dustin’s pudgy hands push him forward, making the bell ring as soon as he walked inside. Feeling awkward, he slowly trudged towards the table where you were sitting.

”Hey,” He shyly whispered, ruffling his hands inside his sweater, you looked up to meet his warm, brown eyes, confused of who this might be.

”Hey?” You watch him stand weirdly in front of you, feeling a sense of awkwardness in the air, “Take a seat if you want.”

Steve pulls the chair back to sit, scooting himself forward into the table. He looked over at Dustin who was grinning from the outside of the cafe, “How are you?”

”Fine, but have we met?” You squinted, trying your best to remember him, although you couldn’t, then went back to scurrying through your assignments.

”I believe so,” He watches you scurry through more and more assignments, writing quick notes on each page, “What are you working on?”

After finishing the second to last pair of notes, you reply, “Assignments, it’s crazy how college still wants to make you work your ass even though you’re on break. And how have we met?”

”Film student right?” The comment he made making you look up, he was correct. You nodded, watching his every move on how he knew, he sighs and goes on, “Well I’m that asshole that couldn’t do your stupid assignment for college.”

Wide eyed, you nodded your head and breathily giggled, “Oh yeah, the dipshit.”

”The dipshit,” He nervously repeated, remembering the brood impression he made on you, “Yeah so...... how did that go?”

”No one else wanted to do it,” You huffed as the memories of what dick he had been towards you, he seemed sorry for you, rapidly making sharp eye contact and looking away.

Steve watched your expressions changed as your thoughts did too, “Sorry about that.” Was all he said.

“It’s whatever,” You shrug, getting irritated a bit, but before you could comment anything else, he blurted out.

”Wecouldgowatchamovietogetheranddothatwork.”

All you did was giggle at his flustering comment he gave you, he looked so hopeless and dazed off. Taking a sip of your French Roast coffee, feeling the bitter taste touch your taste buds, a new burst of energy filling you, you scratched your head, “Not so easy..... Dipshit. A. I don’t even know your name and who you are, B. you’re desperate.”

”I- w-what?” His words tumbled off his mouth, denying the answer, “I’m not, I-I just wanna help you.”

His dumbfounded expression made it harder for you not to laugh, “It’s okay, I was just teasing you. And I’m free around 4, if that works out.”

”O-oh, yeah I mean I have work but a day to skip won’t hurt,” Steve chuckles, feeling tingly around his hands, he had never felt this for years on end. Cliche much right?

You raised your eyebrows up and a tiny smile escaped your lips, “Okay, just so you know, it’s going to be a challenge to warm up to me.”

He nods his head, bringing his hands together in front of you, “Well I’m up for that challenge!”

”You dipshit.”

”You movie critic.”

#Steve Harrington #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington masterlist #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x original character #steve harrington x reader #steve Harrington x you #steve Harrington x gender neutral reader #Steve Harrington x gn reader #Robin buckley #stranger things #Stranger things oneshots #Stranger things x reader

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kisskeiji · 3 years

Text

7. Lottery.

Lost & Found.

WARNINGS: mentions of alcohol and smoking, like one mention of sex (i think) and atsumu being sentimental.

Winter was your favorite season. You would always stay in for the holidays and spend the winter break at home. Iwaizumi never understood why you enjoyed sleeping with nothing but your underwear and a pair of fuzzy socks if you were going to sleep with three covers anyway, you loved the cold and everything that came with it. Your wardrobe was always full of sweaters and coats and your shared apartment was carefully decorated with things you collected over the years.

Now they remained in the box where you left them the last christmas you spent with him, untouched, since he wasn’t one to celebrate especially now that he is spending the season by himself, refusing to go home with Hanamaki. He still missed you and he tried to do everything he could to get you out of his mind, he even worked on Christmas day but couldn’t stop thinking about you and how you would be wandering around the kitchen cooking dinner for your friends, but he ruined it. You weren’t with him and it was all his fault and he hated it.

There was no one else to blame, but his pride and jealousy tried to blame you too, convincing himself it was your fault too for running away, for not facing him, for moving on before him. Ever since he called you that night and another guy answered the phone his chest tightened to the thought of you with another man. His friends tried to set him up with several women but he never caved in, he didn’t wanted to give himself another chance, he wanted you, and if he couldn’t have you then there was no other person for him, you were the one, and he knew that since you started dating but he gave in to his selfish needs.

It was New Year’s Eve and his boss urged him to take a break. He had no other plans, he called his parents and texted his best friends wishing them a happy New Year because he was going to sleep early that night. Someone knocked on the door when he was on his way to the shower. Hanamaki and Matsukawa greeted him when he opened the door.

“At least act like you are glad to see us.” Matsukawa said.

“I thought you guys were in Miyagi.”

“Yeah, but we knew you were going to mope around all day so we came to see you.” Hanamaki sat on the couch.

“Iwaizumi-san!” Kindaichi entered the apartment along with Kunimi and Watari.

“You guys too?” He asked, hugging all of them, his mood slowly getting better.

“Yahaba and Kyotani are coming too.” Watari informed him before walking to the kitchen to drop the bags of takeout they all brought. “We thought a team reunion would pick you up.”

“You didn’t have to, guys.” Iwaizumi took his laptop and a few papers that were on the coffee table to make some room.

“But you need it.” Kunimi said with evident concern. Iwaizumi’s expression softened and his eyes watered, still wishing you were there but certainly not alone anymore, his friends still cared for him.

“Don’t tell me you are crying!” Matsukawa teased him with an arm around his shoulders.

“Of course not, you idiot, I’m just happy you are all here.” Everyone laughed at him, the ever so indifferent Iwaizumi almost crying was a rare sight, but warmth ran through everyone’s veins in that moment.

Just like Watari promised, Yahaba and Kyotani joined shortly after, with tons of beer and baked goods Kyotani cooked for everyone. Hours passed, sharing laughs and reminiscing their high school days, the alcohol started to get the best of them, even Kunimi was cracking jokes every now and then, a few cigarette ends scattered around the table and empty plates piled on the sink. Iwaizumi laid back on the couch and stared at the ceiling, longing for something.

“Makki told me you tried to call her.” Matsukawa said casually, lighting another cigarette. Iwaizumi sighed and looked at him inhale the smoke.

“I did, but we didn’t talk.” Matsukawa raised an eyebrow. “A guy picked up the phone and I hung up.” Iwaizumi heard a ‘tsk’ from Matsukawa.

“That’s tough. But she has never mentioned anything about dating when we talk, maybe it was just a friend.” Issei reasoned and Iwaizumi nodded, still unsure.

“Have you seen her recently?” Iwaizumi asked.

“We went out the last time she went to Miyagi a few weeks ago. My girl loves her.” Matsukawa took out his phone from the back of his pocket and tapped the screen a few times before showing a picture of his girlfriend and you at some bar, smiling brightly at the camera, cheeks flushed and drinks on the table. Iwaizumi smiled to himself, you looked beautiful yet different, a different kind of light shined in your eyes. “She’s doing great.”

“I miss her.” Words weren’t enough to describe how much he was hurting.

“I know, but you need to get over her, she already figured things out, you can’t hold to the past any longer. What you did was dick move, but give yourself a chance, you don’t have to date right now but try to get yourself out there, have fun and please get some. I’m begging you.” The last comment earned him a smack on the back of his head from Iwaizumi.

“How do you know I’m not getting any? You don’t live here anymore.” Iwaizumi questioned.

“Because Makki won’t stop bitching about your attitude.” Matsukawa explained and brought the cigarette back to his lips and laughed at Iwaizumi’s frown, exhaling the smoke in the opposite direction of his friends. “It’s almost midnight.” He announced.

“Yeah you are right.” Iwaizumi looked back at the rest of the guys currently crowding his living room, smiling to himself once again. “Thanks.” He paused and looked at the former middle blocker. “For this, I mean, I really needed it.”

“Always.” Matsukawa gave him a pat on his shoulder and smiled, he still had hope for Iwaizumi and he wished nothing but the best for his friend, even if you were not together anymore, both of you deserved to be happy.

Meanwhile in some five star hotel in Tokyo, you struggled to check-in, with a small suitcase and a dress bag hanging on your shoulder, you tried to make the receptionist understand you were part of the required staff for the night and not a reporter trying to get in, but you forgot your team ID. Hideko was nowhere to be seen and none of your higher ups were staying at the same hotel. You were screwed until someone could prove you were in fact working that night and you were losing precious time to get ready, you had less than 6 hours before the party started.

“Is there a problem?” You heard someone ask from behind you. Meian and his girlfriend walked to the counter and the receptionist’s attitude changed instantly, he explained the situation politely to the two of them while sparing you a nasty side eye when they referred to you.

“Meian-senshu, please tell them I work with you, they won’t let me check-in and I forgot my ID. My name is on the reservation but they refuse to give me my room.” You pleaded, your dress bag feeling heavier with every minute.

“Y/N does work with the Black Jackals, I assume you know who I am, please let her in, she’s coming to the party too.” He pointed at the access pass on your wrist.

“I’m really sorry, ma’am, I will register you right now.” The receptionist typed quickly and gave you the room key. Sighing heavily you thanked Meian for his help as he checked-in himself. His girlfriend started a small chat with you about what you would wear tonight, she was really excited to wear her gown and complemented yours.

“You are going to break hearts tonight, Y/N!” She teased.

“Well if your dress is how I imagine it is then Meian-senshu is taking two awards tonight.”

“You are not wrong.” Meian added, sneaking his arm around her waist and passed her the key. “Eleventh floor.” He said as she held the card. “Atsumu isn’t here yet?” He asked and you shrugged.

“I don’t know, I’ve been here for a good thirty minutes and I didn’t see him come in.” You explained. “Bokuto is not here either.” Meian hummed.

“I’ll give them a call before we go up to our room, they are always late to these things.”

“They are always late.” You corrected him and he laughed. “See you at the party.” You said before making your way to the elevator, wanting nothing but to get to your room and take a shower.

Your room was rather big, but definitely not a suite, there were two beds, a desk and a closet right beside the bathroom door, and you had a really nice view of the city. Once you hung up your dress you walked to the window and stared at the city, the sunset claiming the sky and the city lights started to shine brighter. You missed Tokyo. Is not like Osaka was boring or anything, but Tokyo brought memories from your first days of college and all the friends you left behind. Sighing, you turned back and opened your suitcase to get the things you needed to shower and get ready.

You styled your hair right after showering and did your makeup heavier than usual, you needed to be ready at least two hours before the actual party to have a small meeting with Hideko and the other teams management and make it in time for the red carpet. Struggling to zip your dress by yourself and accepting that you got half a size too small with your shoes again, you were at the door adjusting your earpiece, holding your clutch bag under your arm just in time to meet Hideko and the Jackals assistant coach in the elevator. “The red carpet shouldn’t take long, I’m trying to call everyone so they can get in at once, Y/N I’ll leave them to you.” Hideko ran you through. “Two minutes on the mark, two or three questions and done, you get in once they are all set.”

“Got it.” You assured her.

“Great.” She sighed in relief. “There’s an after party tomorrow, the big boss wants to have brunch with everyone.” She emphasized the word ‘brunch’ to make it sound fancier and she rolled her eyes. “It is mandatory.” She said before you could ask.

“I’ll be there then.” The door opened and you stepped out to meet a few people that told you the same thing Hideko said earlier, you talked to some acquaintances from other teams that were told to manage the red carpet along with you.

“I’m going to strangle them, every single one of those volleyball players.” Hideko gripped her phone in her hands and you laughed. “They are all going to be late.” She massaged her temples and stomped her heels loudly, you could tell her stress was getting the best out of her. “Can you call Atsumu? I’m sure he’ll pick up if he sees it is you.” You complied to her request and dialed Atsumu’s number and turned the speaker on. After three rings he greeted you.

“Hey, beautiful.” Your cheeks turned pink at the nickname.

“You can flirt later, Romeo, now tell me why you won’t pick up your damn phone.” She gritted her teeth and you cringed. She walked away with your phone as she gave Atsumu instructions to gather all of his teammates and meet her at the lobby. She gave you back your phone and practically ran to the lobby to wait for them. You decided to kill time talking to some people from the event management. After twenty minutes or so, the reporters and paparazzis were lined up in front of the step and repeat and you heard Hideko calling you from your earpiece. ‘They are ready, we go first. I’ll send them one by one, remember, they go first and then their plus one.’

You got yourself in position to receive the players, Inunaki was the first to walk in, you smiled at him and walked right behind him, setting him on the mark and stepping aside to let the photographers do their job. Repeating the same process with everyone from the team and their partners, you were ready to set the last three players, Atsumu, Bokuto and Sakusa.

“You look so good, Y/N!” Bokuto exclaimed when he saw you, Akaashi trailing behind.

“You two look amazing too!” You checked their outfits up and down. Both of them had tuxedos, Bokuto wore a dark grey suit that matched his hair and Akaashi a classic jet black, hair slicked back and their colognes mixed if you were standing too close.

“Akaashi helped me with my tie.” He said proudly and looked at his boyfriend who smiled back at him.

“Are you alright?” Akaashi asked.

“I must look rough, huh?” You chuckled and he rolled his eyes. “My shoes are killing me and I walked on this carpet twenty times already, I don’t think I’ll make it to the end of the night.” You held Bokuto’s bicep. “You ready?” You asked and they both nodded and you guided them to the marks on the step and repeat, Bokuto answered all of the questions cheerfully, excited for his nominations. Once he was done and you were at the entrance, Akaashi tapped your shoulder and made you look back.

You saw Atsumu talking with Sakusa, their tall figures standing out from the crowd of distressed staff surrounding them, you made sure Bokuto and Akaashi were in before walking to them. Atsumu noticed you coming up to him and shamelessly checked you out —you weren’t that subtle either— smiling brightly once you were in front of him. “Who wants to go first?” You asked.

“I’ll do it, I want to get over with this as soon as possible.” Kiyoomi huffed, taking his mask off and throwing it in the nearest trash can. “Let's go.” As always you walked him to the mark and waited for him to answer a few questions. Kiyoomi was a great actor, his stance and expression changed as soon as he faced the interviewers, answering calmly and politely. Atsumu was laughing his ass off, knowing that his friend was most likely planning how to get away from the ceremony, maybe faking a headache or even a fainting. You signaled Atsumu to start walking as Sakusa said his goodbyes to the press, you stepped back when Atsumu made it to the white cross mark on the floor and announced you were done with the red carpet on your radio.

All of the reporters called for Atsumu, yelling questions and complimenting him, he smiled lazily with his hands in his pockets.

“No plus one tonight, Miya?” Atsumu laughed at the question.

“My mom was busy” A few of them laughed with him, but it was barely noticeable, the sounds of clicks and flashes from the cameras filled the area.

“A young man like you showing alone at these events is hard to believe, you sure you don’t have a special someone, Miya-senshu?”

Atsumu looked at you for less than a second and you saw clearly how his smile widened. “Maybe next time, guys.” He said, looking at you once again waiting for his queue to go, you nodded and he made his way to the main entrance, you following behind. “You look stunning, by the way.” He said as he walked past you when you held the door open for him to get in, you stared at his back until he was out of sight. Hideko dismissed you after that, so you could enjoy the party with the rest of the staff, she promised to join you later to have a drink because according to her, you deserved it.

The rest of the teams invited to the ceremony were still coming in, but the salon was already filled with people, from sponsors to team owners, and some volleyball legends you recognized from the countless rambles Bokuto and Atsumu absorbed you in. It was different, it felt different, it wasn’t until that moment you realized the turn your career took after joining the team, it was crazy to think that you were part of this world now. A few taps on your shoulder were enough to snap you back to reality, Aran and Hana greeted you warmly and they looked amazing with Aran’s tie matching Hana’s red dress. “I think I’ll never get used to this.” She said and you agreed. Aran got abducted by some other players and you were left alone with her, the bar was conveniently close to you, so you opted to get something to drink to start the night. “Where’s Atsumu?” She asked.

“I have no idea, he walked in and I lost him, maybe with the rest of the team” You pointed to a table near the center where most of the team members sat, waiting for the ceremony to start. He was indeed sitting with coach Foster and Barnes, laughing fondly and having their first glass of wine. You smiled to yourself in satisfaction, everything was going well, and hopefully everyone would take an award home.

“That man over there is totally checking you out.” Hana said and you turned your head back to see her. “To your left.” As soon as you looked where she told you, you felt your soul leave your body and come back right after.

“I’ll be back in a second.” You announced and walked towards the man that was ‘totally checking you out’. “Don’t you know staring is rude?”

“Oh shut up, I couldn’t recognize you from here.” He defended himself. “I forgot my glasses at home.” You hugged him.

“You’ll never learn.” Giggling he nudged your shoulder and stepped back to have a better view of your face. “My friend thought you were checking me out.”

“Come on, I have higher standards.” He teased. “Where 's Bokuto? He said to meet him here earlier.”

“He’s with the team, over there.” You pointed with your head and he hummed when he saw the grey haired man standing next to his boyfriend, talking with people you didn’t knew. You caught a glance of his smirk before he said:

“Does everyone here greet you with death stares or is it only that guy walking over here?” Kuroo asked. You turned your head back to see Atsumu approaching you, pushing past all the people that tried to intersect him on his way to you.

“Hey, uh, Hideko is looking for you.” He lied, you looked at him weird, you were pretty sure that Hideko was busy talking with the event management.

“That’s weird, she would’ve rang me if she needed me.” You said showing your radio. Picking up on his jealousy tantrum by the way he was standing protectively in front of you, you grabbed his arm and pushed him to the side and made him turn around. “Kuroo, this is Miya Atsumu. Tsumu, this is my best friend Kuroo, the one I talked you about before.” Atsumu’s frown softened a bit but he was still suspicious — and jealous— about Kuroo and his smug grin.

“Kuroo Tetsuro, I work with the institution.” He extended his hand and Atsumu did the same.

“When you say it like that you almost sound important.” You mocked.

“That’s because I am important, baby.” Kuroo said, knowing exactly what he was doing by using that pet name. “Now, I’ll leave you both to it, I need to talk with Bokuto.” He excused himself and you were left alone with Atsumu, with your hand still on his arm, you walked him to the bar where Hana waited for you.

“What was that about?” You asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I saw a suspicious man near you and I thought you needed help.” He shrugged.

“Yeah, right, there’s nothing suspicious about Kuroo, he’s an idiot, don’t mind him.” You reassured him. “That was my best friend, not a man checking me out.” You said to Hana when you made it back to her side.

“He looks like a pervert.” Hana admitted.

“See? I’m not the only one who thought there was something wrong with him.” Atsumu looked at you with wide eyes. The lights dimmed and the last call before the ceremony started was heard. “This is going to start soon, let’s take our seats.” You accompanied Hana to the Red Falcons table and then headed to your team’s seats with Atsumu’s hand in yours at all times, unbuttoning his jacket he sat right beside you.

“Are you nervous?” You asked him.

“Not in the slightest.” He lied to you for the second time that night. He was terrified, he didn’t wanted to lose the award, especially in front of you.

“I hope you prepared an acceptance speech.” He sighed soundly and squeezed your hand.

“No need, Tobio-kun is here, that award is his.” He sounded defeated, it was your turn to give his hand a squeeze. While you knew many sides of Atsumu he didn’t show often, you weren’t familiar with his pessimist persona, it was a sight you didn’t like at all, defeat wasn’t a good look on him.

“Stop that, award or not, you are still one of the best setters in the country and no one can change that.” He let go of your hand to call the waiter to get you whatever you wanted to drink, whining for your long forgotten gimlet you left behind when you were talking to Kuroo, you asked for water. “You made me waste a drink.”

“I didn’t do anything, you are the forgetful one here.” Your banter was cut short by Adriah’s voice, the ceremony started without the two of you noticing.

“It’s an honor to be hosting the twenty-seventeen Volleyball Association Awards. Tonight the best players of all three divisions will be rewarded for their performance during the last two seasons. How are you feeling tonight, Komori?” Adriah looked at the EJP Raijin’s Libero.

“Thank you for that introduction, Adriah, and I’m really excited to see who will win in each category, and speaking of, our categories for tonight are: coach, setter, middle blocker, wing spiker and libero of the year; best captain, and best new comer.” A screen behind both hosts showed the nominations at the same time Komori listed them.

“Both men's and women’s leagues will be presented by our wonderful co-hosts, let’s get started with our first nomination, we leave you with Tsukasa Iizuna from the Deseo Hornets.” Adriah and Komori walked out the stage after shaking hands with Iizuna. He introduced the nominees for wing spiker of the year.

After an hour or so, Inunaki was the only one in the team with an award, sadly Meian lost to Fukuro Hirugami and Suna won best newcomer over Bokuto and Sakusa. “Presenting the setter of the year nominees, Kanoka Amanai, wing spiker of the women’s National Volleyball Team for the 2016 olympics and the Hisamitsu Springs.” Komori introduced a tall girl in a beautiful yellow dress, she smiled nervously and held the envelope with the winner tightly.

“A lot of people often think that us spikers do all the job at scoring points, but the truth is, that setters are the ones that rule the court from both sides, we wouldn’t be anything without our setters. That’s why I’m honored to present to you the nominees for the setter of the year award.” The screen in the back showed pictures and the names from each nominee, Atsumu’s name right beside Kageyama’s.

“And the winner is…” Kanoka said, opening the envelope. “Miya Atsumu, from the MSBY Black Jackals.” She read after a few seconds and everyone cheered. Atsumu looked at you with wide eyes and hugged you instinctively. The rest of the team practically dragged him out of his seat to receive his award. He almost tripped trying to hug Aran on his way to the stage but he made it eventually. He took the golden statue in one hand and stood in front of the microphone with his mouth agape and laughing nervously.

“Wow.” He said, now wishing he prepared an acceptance speech. “This is unbelievable, really. I didn’t expect to win something like this in my first year playing professionally.” He looked at the statue and then back to the crowd. “ Sometimes I push myself too hard for the sake of my team and the weight of losing is always devastating, especially playing this position, but I’m thankful to everyone. My teammates, coach Foster and our management for trusting me and pushing me to do my best. I also want to thank my friends and my brother, who is not here tonight, but he was the best spiker I’ve ever had and the one that trained with me everyday since we were kids, I know he is going to see this, so, thank you ‘Samu, I wouldn’t be here without you.” He was talking really fast and barely breathing. “This means a lot to me, thank you so much.” He finished and the crowd cheered for him, your table was the loudest of them all.

He walked back to his seat where everyone waited to congratulate him but he went straight to you and hugged you again, tighter this time. “I told you that you were going to win. I’m so proud of you.” You said before breaking the hug.

“Thank you.” His eyes were watery and his lip quivered. You made him turn to celebrate with his teammates before he cried and everyone gave him aggressive pats on his back and teased him for being so cheesy. He was happy. So happy he couldn’t stop smiling even when the ceremony ended.

The party went on smoothly but it was quite boring, everyone wandered around the room talking and congratulating the winners, you grew tired of following Hideko around, big parties weren’t your thing if you were honest. You excused yourself and found your way to a huge balcony that worked as an outdoor smoking lounge. The cold air against your skin made you regret your decisions but it was too late to back down. You placed your hands on the railing and tried to get used to the freezing weather, looking down, you saw a restaurant across the street, the customers wore hats and drank happily celebrating the new year. Right. It was New Year’s Eve. After your realization you checked the hour.

11:47 P.M.

“What are you doing here?” Atsumu asked and closed the door behind him. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“I needed some air.” You stated.

“Aren’t you cold?” You felt his breath on your ear and smiled.

“Not really.” You said turning around. He knew you were lying.“Why are you here? You should be celebrating.” You fixed his tie as you spoke, your eyes met his. Taking a better look of his face you smiled to yourself. Atsumu was stunning. Sure he looked good everyday but tonight it was different, it was maybe the tuxedo or the victorious smile gracing his face, he was the definition of beauty, in its purest form; happiness.

“Got bored, and I wanted to ask you something.” He explained and placed his hands on their usual spot on your hips.

“Oh god, please tell me you are not asking me out on New Year’s Eve.” you hooked your arms around his neck and played with the back of his hair.

“That’s exactly what I’m doing, now shut up and let me make this special.” He tried to bring you closer to him and looked at the moon for a second. “I know it has been hard for you to give yourself another chance to live your life like you want to, and you don’t know how thankful I am for being a part of it. I also know your last boyfriend was an asshole and hurted you beyond repair”

“Well that’s a way to put it.” You interrupted him and laughed.

“Let me finish.” He laughed along with you. “I promise you, I will treat you so much better if you let me. I know maybe I’m not what you are looking for but you are all I want.” He was sincere, you could tell by the way his eyes pierced into you, eagerly waiting for you to say something.

“I don’t know where you got that from, but you are wrong, ‘Tsumu. You are all I want too.” You looked at him with the same intensity but you had tears in your eyes. He didn’t waste another second and kissed you. It was long, and passionate, and loving. He wanted to tell you everything he couldn’t with that kiss.

He was yours.

“Now I’m the real winner tonight.” He joked when he pulled apart.

“Shut up.” You kissed him again before he could say something stupid.

“Are we interrupting something?” Aran and Suna peaked from the door. “Get in before the countdown starts.” Suna ordered without waiting for an answer, you did as he said, walking hand in hand with Atsumu, something that wasn’t strange for you but this time it was different, because he was yours.

You had to walk faster to stand with your friends and some team members and the countdown started. Ten. Everyone chanted excitedly to receive the new year.

Nine, eight, seven, six.

“Ready?” Atsumu asked, staring at you lovingly.

Five

“I am. But what if I don’t want this to end?”

Four

“Too late for that, babe, let’s make the most out of this year too.” He kissed the back of your hand and giggled. “Let’s ditch this party first.”

Three

“Please.” You agreed and looked around to spot your friends standing near you with glasses full of champagne.

Two

He brought you closer to him with his hand on the small of your back, lips painfully close to yours.

One

“Happy new year, Y/N.”

“Happy new year, ‘Tsumu.” With that said, he gave you a New Year’s kiss you’ll never forget, once again telling you that he was yours.

And you were his.

(a/n: look who finally came back!! the worst writer ever. so uhm, i literally have no excuse this time, depression has been kicking my ass lately and i had a huge creative block, there was nothing going on in my head, it was just me and mitski against the world. anyways, there you have it, iwaizumi being miserable and a wholesome seijoh reunion without oikawa because he is booked and busy. ALSO !!! ATSUMU!!! WHAT THE HECK MARRY ME IM SO IN LOVE WITH HIM. and no i don’t know what complying to canon is, im sorry kageyama but it was atsumu’s moment to shine, you’ll get it next year... or not. tell me if you liked this chapter, i love reading y’all. i hope everyone is safe and healthy, remember to take time for yourself and that atsumu is the only man ever!!)

masterlist

TAGLIST (closed): @aonenthusiast @wiseeggspickleslime @koushisun @airheadpillar @sunflwrsandprettyskies @bbkiyoomi @daphnxy @shephard17895 @avatarkyoshithewarrior @for-rebloggery @vv-bee999-vv vv @fi16ns @asdfghjkl7things @glassykaashi @strawhatshepard @hawkssnugget @msby-kei @toobsessedsstuff @a-moon-fairy @cuteissei @ramblingsofagoofyperson @pinoyrella @kiyoomisimp

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2idiots · 4 years

Text

Wave inspired!Seonghwa au x reader

summary: Maybe just maybe the boy out in the water can make you loosen your stance up on the tourists crowding your town

word count: 2.1k-ish

warnings: none

gender neutral!reader

The first time you see him you’re walking home from work along the sea wall, your work bag clutched tightly between your arm and polyester polo, a scowl weighing heavily across your face

Every year this time (summer) rockets you directly into a terrible mood, it is literally clockwork and here’s why:

tourists

these rich people and their bad manners flock to your town to spend their summer breaks at the resorts, littering your beaches, buying your groceries, taking your space, and just generally being pretenious dicks

last year you and the rest of town spent a full week cleaning the beaches after the last of the out-of-towners were gone

But this boy, this boy was different

After all it was sunset and he was out in the water fully clothed looking like he walked out of a calvin klein shoot or some shit

the light spilling through the sky cast a orange glow, lighting him up like angel

you were kinda dumbstruck standing on the seawall staring at him for a good minute

he looked like an angel and you looked like someone smacked you over the head with a frying pan, primarily because you had spent the entire day (and all your energy) responding to terrible customers

No they can not just bargain the prices with you because guess what...

You D O N ‘ T set the prices

and as much as they complained about the price on beer you C O U L D N O T change the price, and even if you could you clocked that gold rolex and the expensive pressed polo the minute they walked in so you sure as hell W O U L D N O T

they could more than afford the price of your store’s beer and after they had it they were insufferable

Then there was a women who made you count back your change three times because she thought you were stealing from her, stealing insignificant change

Needless to say you also wanted to get into the ocean in your clothes too and maybe swim out to an island without any people and live the rest of your days as hermit lost in nature

because wow humanity S U C K S

But you had to save money up for the fall semester so that meant putting up with some of the worst of humanity for you bigger dream; that just didn’t leave a lot of space for seeing the good in many people especially out-of-towners

so this mysterious swimmer was probably just another annoying tourist, being pretty didn’t mean he was nice too

so you put him out of your mind that first night

but you kept seeing him on your walk home from work in the heat of the setting sun: always in the same spot, always sporting clothes that weren’t made for swimming

you saw him so much you were actually getting curious, some of your anger lessening, especially when you saw him picking up trash along the shoreline

It wasn’t until your day off that you finally spoke to him and by spoke you ran head first into him walking through the beachfront shops with your friends on your day off

he was surrounded by a group of friends with colorful hairstyles that were all laughing and playing around

you on the other hand were sporting your first non-customer service smile in weeks and you were holding a very precious cone of mint chocolate chip ice cream

Well you were holding it because now it was all over this boy’s shirt and you were mortified and grieving the loss of your ice cream

“oh my god, my ice cream” is the first and only thing out your mouth so maybe not mortified just grieving

Sure you should’ve said sorry but all your apologies had been used up on the customer that said you were mean for making her wait in line instead of cutting everyone after she said she couldn’t wait because it would give her acne

So EXCUSE you if you really wanted your ice cream on your day off

Caught up in your self righteous inner monologue about ice cream, you almost didn’t notice: “wait you’re the boy who’s always in the ocean at sundown?”

Oh wow he was much pretty in person and that was saying a lot because you had been admiring him from afar for far too long

“lol at least you don’t have to worry about washing your shirt since you’re hoping in later anyway”

Oh my god, you could smack yourself; why did you just say that, why did you just expose yourself as a stalker?

He let out a little laugh “and you’re the person on the seawall, nice to see you’re cute up close too. I’m Seonghwa”

“y/n” Wait did that actually work? Did you not scare him away? Did he know who you were too?

Did? He? Say? Cute?

“You should come down and talk to me next time”

his friends were oohing and aahing at him watching the awkward exchange, your friends were doing the same

And that you did, like clockwork he was down by in the ocean in the middle of the sunset while you were walking home from work

Only this time you didn’t just stop and look, you made your way down the stone stairs through the hot sand and to the edge of the beach.

God why was your work uniform all black? it was hotttt out here and you were sweating while this boy looked like a sculpture in front of you

his acid washed jeans sticking to his calves as he walked through the tide pools searching through the sand, his arms on display in the pastel tie dye cut off

“um hey Seonghwa” that’s the best you could conjure up, trying to get in a carefree position but careful not to put your backpack on the ground for fear you would never get the sand out

your non-slip work shoes = already ruined

“Y/n you came?” he stopped his search through the tide pools to smile up at you, nearly melting your customer service persona

“um yeah, sorry I just got off work though so I’m not really dressed from a swim” You looked down to your black slacks and black polo with the store logo on the upper left breast, god you shouldn’t have come maybe if you just slowly back away he won’t even notice you disappear

“That seems like the best reason to get in” there was a soft smile on his face as he pulled up a lump of seaweed mixed with some shells from the sand

“Maybe next time, find any good mementos?”

Only next time you don’t get in either but you did roll up your slacks, take your shoes off, and stick your feet in

He was right, it was much a much needed break to just relax in the cool water and this way you could help him find whatever he was looking for

It doesn’t stop there though, you get a little further into the water every night after work when you meet but never like he was the first night

you also learned a little more about him and him about you

He is here with a group of friends, they are spending their last summer together before some of them head off to college, some go overseas, and some are stuck in high school. They were here the whole summer working on one of the resorts and this was the only time he could get away from everyone for some peace

“So you invite me?” Peaceful, all you did was stomp around in my work clothes and be loud “I’m not sure I fit what you’re going for”

“Nah but I like having you here.”

after that you start to see him outside of the actually water too, once he is picking up the trash on the beach, once he is just laying on the sand watching the sunset

And every time you would make your way next to him and spend all night talking to him

So every year at the peak of tourist season, the locals throw a huge party on a section of the beach that only the locals know about

It’s a power move against the seasonals, one that you participate in every year. In fact you're dropped off some alcohol earlier in the week

Usually you go alone (read: with friends) but for some reason this year you invite Seonghwa, well more like you word vomited your invitation in a 10 minute long nervous ramble about beaches and parties while he smiled at you

normally you would cover your nervousness in a smirk with some sassy remarks but from some reason your stomach is fluttering too much this time, you can feel the nausea bubbling up

tense you throw in a quick "your friends can come too" then metaphorically smack yourself because you don't want his friends to come, you want to go with just him

this was supposed to be you confessing that your countless nights on the beach had kinda made your initial crush stronger but you messed it up

For your incessant rambles he responds with only a few words "Yeah that sounds fun"

"ok ok cool cool" nice save (oh my god you are actually acting like a middle schooler)

"But I don't think my friends can come, is that ok?"

"Oh yeah, um-" insert your nervous tick here- "i don't think my friends can come either so it'll just be us" cheesy smile

btw your friends could make it, they were there the whole time but you told them to stay away and they have not stopped teasing you about it since

the night of the party you meet in your normal place and your jaw drops to the floor like in those movies when the princess comes out wearing the ball gown and looking regal

Only seonghwa isn't a princess but he sure as hell is beautiful and who gave him the right to look like that because your heart momentarily stops before you finally breath some sense back in and hold yourself together

"Are you ready? It's a bit of a hike"

You spend the whole night talking, and maybe you're a little tipsy but only enough to give you a confidence boost and a looser tongue

nothing serious

Or at least you thought it was nothing serious but then you are prying into his life, asking some of the weirdest questions and finally "so why do you swim with your clothes on?"

Meanwhile this whole time he's been laughing at you, not the mean kind of way more like a "wow they really ramble a lot how cute"

"I don't know, normally I just don’t have my swimsuit and the water looks too beautiful to pass up"

"But if you do it every night then why don't you just pack ahead of time" *hiccup* nah jk but you might as well hiccup… maybe you should put that beer down before you embarrass yourself

"I don't know, if I bring my swimsuit everyone will want come with me and as much as I love my friends they're a little high energy" he let out a sweet laugh "speaking of them, I should probably admit…"

Oh god, what was wrong? Is this where you found out he was actually super creepy? Or like a murderer or something? Of course the cute ones always had to be the crazy ones, just your luck

"My friends aren't busy tonight I just said that because I didn't want them to come...”

Oh good not creepy at all (maybe you should stop watching dateline), that's what you did too

in fact your friends kept sending you snapchats of the both of you sitting by the bonfire talking

"I actually think one of them is here, he’s kinda hard to miss his hair is bright red"

Oh strawberry dude, you remembered seeing him wave when you first arrived (very confusing for a powerful tiny man who you had never seen wave at you)

But hold up, you're still caught up on the first thing he said, he wanted to come with you, just you. Did he?? like you??

"Do you like me?" Straight to the point, how in character for you

A rosy blush spread over his cheeks and down his neck and the confidence you had skyrocketed, that all but answered your question

and if that didn’t answer it then his little “ya” did

in a bout of confidence you grabbed him head and yanked him up from the lawn chairs by the crackling fire “Come on!”

"what are you doing?!" he replied, calling out as you dragged him toward the dark water, glowing in the light of the moon

Splashing through the water, you settled on a place where the waves lapped up against your waist like they had the first night you saw him, it didn’t even matter that the warm salty water was soaking through your clothes (don't think about your soaked shoes, don't think about your soaked shoes)

"I'm not sure but the water just looked too beautiful to pass up" cue cliche cheese and a signature smirk provided by you

"Haha don't make fun of me"

"Why not? It’s too much fun" you leaned in closer, your hand still wrapped in his “and anyway I like you too much to stop”

about twenty minutes later you opened a snapchat from your friends of you and Hwa kissing in the ocean and turned bright red

read hongjoong's and yunho's

#seonghwa imagines #seonghwa x reader #seonghwa au #wave au #ateez imagines #ateez x reader #ateez au

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fourangers · 4 years

Text

Fate and Choices (ch.08)

Summary: When Naruto discovered who was going to be his soulmate, he jumped straight at this opportunity, looking forward to spending the rest of his life with his better half. Sasuke well…he was less eager in this regard though. NaruSasu. Soulmates tattoos. Explicit.

Warning: rim job, hand job, edging and NaruSasu anal sex.

Chapter 07

AO3 Link

⏤.⏤

Sasuke was stirred awake from the familiar noise of his alarm, groaning. He was surrounded by Naruto’s comfortable scent, and all he really wanted was to spend the rest of the day nestled together in bed, savoring arms embracing him from behind. Inhaling, he tightened his hands around those arms before releasing them, stepping out of his bed. He instantly heard a grouchy groan, as Naruto’s fingers clung on his sweatpants.

“Mmm…com’ back to bed, Sas’ke…” Naruto mumbled, yawning widely.

“We have to work today Naruto, I’m going to be late. C’mon, wake up.” Sasuke extracted himself from Naruto’s clutches, giving two light shakes on the slumbering body.

“GooooooOooood. Don’t wannaaaaa…” Naruto whined, pushing the blanket over his head as he curled inside.

Sasuke rolled his eyes smiling, and began his morning ritual. The usuratonkachi will handle himself then. When he was busy grilling his fish, he felt Naruto hugging him from behind, placing his chin on the shoulder. He peppered kisses on the pale skin, until he began licking, and sucking the neck.

Sasuke groaned, gripping the blond hair. “Nnnngh⏤Naruto, what are you doing?”

“Having breakfast, what else.” The blond man said almost too innocently, while his hands were already groping his ass.

“I’m telling you, dumbass, we have to go to work. I don’t have time for your aaaaaaaah⏤” He moaned, when warm hands slithered inside his sweatpants, digits lingering dangerously close to his entrance.

Naruto shoved down his pants, pulling Sasuke closer as he admired the firm buttocks. He crouched down, widening the asscheeks and gave a langurous lick on the entrance. Sasuke buckled, his legs shivering a little before groaning lustfully when Naruto's tongue speared inside, moist lips caressing the sensitive skin while fingers firmly held his ass.

"Naruto…fuck." He gasped when teeth scraped on his skin, nose burying on his ass while his lover continued to stimulate him. "I'm going to kill you, we're gonna arrive laaaAaaaaah⏤"

Naruto snorted, lubed fingers thrusting in the loosen hole, loving how Sasuke kept hissing, moaning helplessly and legs twitching in response. At some point his hips began gyrating, burying deeper as digits kept fucking him, head throwing to the back, lost in those pleasurable sensations. He choked another groan, forehead resting on his own arms, when Naruto restarted penetrating him with his tongue, thumbs pressing on the perineum.

Naruto let out a hot breath over his hole, before slathering with his tongue, kissing over it and dragging his lips down. He let his teeth playfully scratch the pale skin, hands fondling the firm buttocks, the tip of his tongue teasing and flicking inside. With one long moan while he licked the tight ring, out of nowhere, Naruto raised himself, patting playfully the pale asscheeks. He was going to step back until a hand seized him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Oh? We should go right? You said you were going to kill me if we arrive late at work.”

Sasuke didn’t even need to turn around to confirm that his boyfriend was wearing a very mischievous grin right now. Nevertheless, he snarled. “I’ll cut your dick off you don’t finish what you started, so get on with it.”

Chuckling, Naruto drug down his jeans, wasting no time in obeying what was requested.

⏤.⏤

15 minutes. He was 15 minutes late all because that dumbass had no ounce of self-control. Sasuke quickened his steps, opening the door and noticing that he was the last one to arrive in his own company. Worst part about all this, is that Naruto wouldn’t arrive as late because the company he worked for was closer than his.

Suigetsu was walking by, stopping at once when he spotted Sasuke. “Ho-hooooooooo. Are my eyes deceiving me? Did I just see Uchiha Sasuke arriving late for the first time in his life? What happened?”

Sasuke didn’t answer his enquiry, glaring as he went to his room.

“No answer huh. That only mean one thing: dating Uzumaki must be going very well.” Suigetsu tapped on his chin, contemplating. “Enquiring minds want to know some things though. Did you top or you let him top you?”

Rubbing the bridge between his eyebrows, Sasuke ignored him and turned on his laptop.

“I mean, from what I’ve heard, you topped back when we were in college. But Uzumaki doesn’t look like bottom material. Or maybe he does, can’t get that hot ass goes to waste.”

There was an annoyed twitch in his eye, but otherwise Sasuke remained nonchalant.

“On the other hand, he can’t sit still in our meetings, so I can infer he has a lot of stamina. Which, you know, are good qualities for someone to do the deed. You look like you’d get tired after a few thrusts, honestly.”

Suigetsu didn’t receive any acknowledgement coming from Sasuke but he definitely noticed that the noises of keyboard typing were increasing by the second.

“Oh, but Uzumaki could ride you then. Hm, just imagining him doing this is really sexy⏤”

“Suigetsu, say one more word and I’ll sue you for harassment.”

His friend raised his hands in mock defeat, turning back towards his seat. He dropped one last thing. “It’d better if Uzumaki topped, because only a dick would loosen up your uptight ass⏤!” He fled to the toilet, Sasuke chasing him hot in his trail.

Meanwhile, in another office, Neji stared in a deadpan with crossed arms.

“You’re eight minutes late.”

Naruto sighed happily, putting coffee on his mug with a goofy grin. “I am, aren’t I? I am, I am.”

Neji observed the dreamy expression on the blond man’s face, the distant look as if he was recalling some really good memories in his mind. “If you’re this late, I can’t imagine how late Sasuke would be then.”

“Yeah, but he’s the boss. What’s the worst that he could get, people teasing him?” Naruto gulped down his coffee, quirking a lopsided smirk. “I mean, it’s not my fault I’m this irresistible. Oh hey, Ayumi-san and Akane-san, good morning!” He frantically waved towards the coworkers that just arrived.

They smiled back. “Morning Naruto-kun! You’re in a good mood, I see.”

“I’m in a great mood.” Naruto beamed. “I feel like this is going to be the start of a great day. You guys are great, this is great, life is great…morning Suzuki-san!”

Neji sighed. The next few weeks are going to be unbearable.

⏤.⏤

In retrospect, reaching this point in their relationship was bound to happen sooner or later. Sasuke would prefer it was a little bit later though, considering that once they arrived at this degree, Naruto could get a bit too…excited might not be the right word. Enthusiastic? Intense with his endless stamina? Sasuke remembered when they spent a whole week having a sex marathon until his energy was completely depleted, though his blond dumbass continued to hop around like some energized bunny.

Plus, that was back when they were young, he’s honestly getting too old for this. Naruto also had this habit of being pretty one-track mind and couldn’t keep his hands to himself (and Sasuke would never admit that he wanted it too, so he just let the situation run its course), so he wished they could concentrate on other aspects of their blooming relationship instead of spending every waking time being human versions of naked pretzels.

He’s definitely going to have a hard time convince Naruto though. Just this morning he received an onslaught of cheerful messages and he’s sure that his boyfriend is now all over the moon. Sasuke was getting influenced by his rambunctious energy that Suigetsu caught him smiling while reading some answer Naruto just sent. The only reason his friend didn’t tease him was because he promised bloody murder if Suigetsu even dared open his mouth.

Work was done, day was over, they were planning to watch a movie, located close to his home. It was hard controlling his loud heartbeats when Naruto was waiting for him at the lobby, an ear-splitting grin widening once blue eyes recognized him exiting the elevator. He grabbed Sasuke’s hand, dragging him to the bathroom. Sasuke gazed with one eyebrow raised while his boyfriend checked if the stalls were empty, mouth open ready to ask what the hell this dumbass was doing, when Naruto’s lips reached onto his.

Whatever rational thought evaporated when warm hands caressed the back of his neck, little shivers of pleasure as Sasuke returned their kiss, arms circling around Naruto and pulling their bodies closer.

After a good couple of minutes, Naruto released him with a fond smile, fingers caressing the alabaster skin.

Sasuke murmured, voice husky. “So…” He cleared his throat. “What was that?”

“Nothing. I just really wanted to kiss you.” Naruto replied in candid affection.

Oh. He forced his hands down that were itching to rip the orange t-shirt apart. Sasuke couldn’t believe that he was this close to making such a ludicrous idea. Which, uh, it’s Naruto’s fault. Mixed signals and all.

If anything this just proves his initial point right. They needed to take things slower. Be disciplined, control themselves. He could practically feel Naruto’s eagerness emanating from his body, fidgeting and grinning while they were walking back to his apartment.

“Naruto, we’re going way too fast in this relationship.” Sasuke declared point blank.

“What.” His boyfriend muttered. “No, we don’t. Why are you assuming we’re going fast?”

Sasuke refrained himself from rolling his eyes. “We’ve been having sex non-stop so far. And I’m sure you chose an early screen in a movie theater close to my apartment because you’re sure we’ll have more sex once this was over.”

“Yeah, it’s like finishing the date on a happy note right. What’s wrong with that.” Naruto said, curling a impish grin.

“That’s what I meant how we’re going too fast, moron. We should refrain ourselves from doing this every single time.”

A blond eyebrow was raised. “Wow, I didn’t know I was dating a monk who wants to celibate.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Affectionate moves should be limited to only hands gestures, with two meters of distance.” Naruto continued to recite, copying Sasuke’s nonchalant tone.

“Stop putting words in my mouth.”

“I might get contaminated by dumbass germs.”

“That part is quite true.” Sasuke snorted, smirking how Naruto huffed in response. “My point is that I want to explore more other aspects of our relationship. I don’t want this be defined solely about how good the sex is.”

“If it’s that good, why should we avoid it then?”

“Because it’s easy to fall in this trap. I’m not saying that we should stop it completely⏤” Sasuke hurried to elucidate when Naruto opened his mouth ready to launch a diatribe. “But there are a lot of other aspects that can be further developed, but when we’re busy⏤”

“Screwing our brains out.” Naruto supplied.

“Yes, whatever term you prefer. When we’re busier doing these activities, we can’t find time to do anything else.”

Naruto hummed, eyes screwed in reflection while he crossed his arms.

“All I’m saying, is that we have the tendency to get too sexual, once we went down this rabbit hole. I wanted to get to know you better, enjoy our dates together.”

Naruto considered his set of words, then nodded. “Sure. Nice and slow. I can work with that.”

⏤.⏤

“OH FUCK! Harder Naruto!”

Sasuke honestly to God didn’t know how their night ended up this way. Might be the fact that Naruto innocently (but not so innocently) gave him one last kiss, sliding through his lips with a healthy amount of tongue. Maybe it’s because he had accidentally (or maybe not as much) fondled Naruto’s buttocks, which promptly made Naruto shove him to the wall, kisses escalating with louder grunts and moans, clothes flung aside.

Within seconds Naruto was already ruthlessly impaling inside him, loud wet noises of slapping skin echoing in his living room. At some point the friction from the floor to his back was bothering him, so Naruto dislodged him, propping him up as he turned around positioning on the couch, hands tightening on the soft surface with his knees on the seat. Not sensing Naruto getting closer to him, his head turned to glance behind and Sasuke blushed when he saw lustful blue eyes admiring the view, hand pumping the glistening cock. Licking his lips, Naruto reapplied the lube, letting his fingers caress the firm buttocks, one digit lazily gliding in, curling inside and stimulating his prostate. The middle finger joined, shallow thrusts while pressing on that sensitive spot, that had Sasuke aching for more.

He grunted. "Naruto, if keep fucking around you dumbass I swear to God⏤" He cried out wordlessly when that thick cock penetrated him. Naruto’s hands reached to his pale shoulders, pushing his upper body down and speeding up his thrusts.

Sasuke’s voice was already hoarse from all the screaming, blurted demands to fuck him harder as Naruto complied him, brutal stabs that had him reeling. His lover had such intimate knowledge of his body that any rational thoughts dissolved away, and all that Sasuke craved was their bodies being melded together, driving to the brink of ecstasy.

As they were both recovering from the high, Sasuke was sprawled on the sofa and Naruto’s body was crammed next to him, he was able to form some sort of rationale. “What about…the restraint.” He muttered between gasps.

“I mean…” Naruto was breathing heavily, staring back at him. He shrugged one shoulder. “There’s always tomorrow.”

Sure. Tomorrow was a sound idea. Tomorrow will be different, he'll have a new attitude, he'll reign more control on himself.

(Tomorrow consisted 69 fellatio in the morning but they didn't have penetrative sex, so that was an improvement. Right.)

⏤.⏤

After a whole week with many failed attempts, gasping after Naruto swallowed his cum, Sasuke had the nagging suspicion that his boyfriend wasn’t taking this whole discipline thing seriously. He confronted with a warning glare when a furtive hand was gliding inside his shirt.

“I thought we established we were going slow.”

“We are.” Naruto blinked. “You also said that we’re not going to stop if this happens naturally, right?”

“And how is this supposed to be natural?”

“My hands are cold.”

Sasuke wasn’t falling for that flimsy excuse, as his incredulous expression showed as such.

“Fine.” Naruto rolled his eyes. “It’s only this time though. I think I’m disciplining myself pretty well, and all the past times were just…you know, circumstances that were out of our control.”

“Yesterday you shoved your hand inside my pants while we were watching TV.”

“I wanted to know how your dick feels around my hand.”

“I’m sure you felt it plenty times back when we were in high school.”

Naruto’s grin was lopsided and mischievous. “Ah, but that was seven years ago Sasuke.”

Sasuke sighed loudly, bumping his boyfriend’s head with the back of his hand.

“It’s not my fault it’s much more entertaining sucking your cock than watching that boring documentary!”

“See? That’s what I meant that we’re too focused on sex. If you talked with me about what kind of movie you like instead of getting eager in giving me a blow job, I’d know your tastes better!” Sasuke chastised him.

“I wasn’t doing this on purpose!” Naruto defended himself. “I really wanted to watch that documentary since I know that you like that type of genre and I wanted to see if I’d start liking it too but oh God, it’s so boring…and well, your dick was right there, and even with your pants I could see the length of it, so I kinda got curious if it’s the same feel as before, and uh⏤you know what happened after that.” He fumbled, eyes straying to the ground.

Sasuke guessed he could only blame himself. After all, Naruto had a notorious short attention span regarding anything that doesn’t spark his interest and had a strong fixation in anything he really liked (mainly Sasuke). He contemplated another plan of contention.

“Let’s do a competition.”

Naruto’s blue eyes focused in an instant, adjusting his seat. “Alright…what are the stakes?”

Sasuke considered this. He couldn’t choose something like the loser will let the winner top him because Naruto didn’t care either way who would take or receive. If he came up about letting the winner indulge some fetish, they might enjoy too much and get further down the rabbit hole. Neither of them are very swayed over the prospect of winning money too.

A light bulb went off.

“If we manage not to have anything of sexual kind for a week, I’ll treat you the famous Ramen that won three Michelin stars.”

The moment Sasuke said the magic word, blue eyes widened and sparkled in childish joy that was almost blinding. Naruto grinned. “Really?????”

“Yes, and if you lose I⏤”

“I’m gonna win! I’m definitely gonna win! There’s no way I’m gonna lose. If this ever happen I’ll shave my hair, I’ll chop off my dick, whatever but I. Am. Going. To. Win.”

Sasuke stared in deadpan, the determined expression on his boyfriend’s face and muttered. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m your soulmate or Ramen is your soulmate when you speak of it with this much passion.”

“Haha, very funny asshole. Don’t worry Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-chan, I’ll keep my word and I won’t lay one hand on you or my name won’t be Uzumaki Naruto!”

“You don’t have to go that far, I just⏤”

“I’ll be a saint! I’ll make all monks across the world jealous about how much restraint I’ll show!”

“I said you don’t have to go that f⏤”

“I won’t touch a strand of your hair Sasuke!”

“Usuratonkachi⏤I told⏤”

“I’ll be better than Virgin Mary!”

“Naruto!”

⏤. ⏤

This bet might have…backfired terribly. Sasuke didn’t want them to go overboard but he sort of expected at least they would have something that went a little beyond chaste kisses, lips barely touching before Naruto would hop off back to his home. When Sasuke mentioned that they could freely kiss as long as they wouldn’t go too far, the blond man shrugged and said.

“Yeah, but Ramen…”

Sasuke sighed.

Meanwhile, Naruto was snickering about how Sasuke was getting visibly frustrated with the lack of physical contact. Never underestimate his desire into crafting the perfect prank. After he dismissed Sasuke for the 6th day with just a short peck (Tsunade was going to visit him that night but he didn’t mention that for greater humorous effect), Sasuke really looked like he wanted to backpedal this whole bet.

He opened his door, not surprising his aunt was rummaging his fridge, with an automatic complaint. “Welcome home brat. What did I tell you about eating a healthy and balanced diet?”

“I’m home, old hag.” Naruto shook his head. “I’m eating pretty damn well!”

“All I’m seeing is a Ramen bowl and some carrots.”

“It’s the end of the week, I’m going to the grocery store tomorrow.”

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, not falling for that excuse. “Anyways, I brought some food with me, I’ll cook dinner tonight. Get your futon ready for me too.”

Pleasantly surprised by the sudden freebie, his stomach growled already imagining the delicious homemade food his aunt would cook for him. He said carefully. “Are you sure? I mean, you’re on the verge of winning an important election, surely you have better things to do right?”

Tsunade patted his head, pulling his cheek. “Even I would get tired having meetings over and over throughout this whole campaign. I really wanted some breather so I could spend some time with my family.” She sighed, glancing unfocused at distance. She began picking some mackerel, cleaning the fish as she changed the subject. “Anyways…how’s your relationship with Uchiha-kun going?”

Blue eyes blinked, then widened a very wicked grin.

“I know that smile well enough to understand that you brewed some trouble that would give me headaches. What did you do to your poor soulmate?”

“I didn’t do anything. I swear.” He was right. In a sense.

Tsunade stared as her nephew continued to laugh mischievously and rolled her eyes. This brat was going to be the death of her sometimes. While she was busy grilling the fish, Naruto helped her out, washing and cutting the vegetables for her, also fluffing the rice for them. Despite her nagging, this young man was eating healthier food in comparison to his preteen years. Time surely flew by in one instant blink, and she wished she had properly followed his growth instead of getting swamped with politics and city administration. She was glad that her nephew didn’t hold many grudges towards her though.

After that nice dinner, they were relaxing watching some historical drama about an emperor’s chef. Naruto was giving his aunt some shoulder massages after Tsunade not-so-subtly began rubbing her neck and reminding him how exhausted she was, promptly gonking the upside of his head when he gave a remark about her advanced age.

“So what caused you to take a long break after many months of campaign?” Naruto wondered while he kneaded her shoulders.

Tsunade let out a tired groan and warned him. “You’re not going to like the conversation.”

He moved his head to one side, not comprehending her cryptic words but decided to bite the bullet. “Maybe, but I guess it’s too late to change the subject. So what’s all about?”

She turned her upper body to study the young man, revealing. “The party has been pressuring me to find a suitable successor.”

“Let’s change the subject.” Naruto picked up the controller, determined to raise the volume.

He inwardly groaned when he saw the familiar knitted eyebrows coming from his aunt, as she fully turned to face him, placing her hands on her waistline. “And you know well that it’s hard for me to find anyone, when I’m 100% sure that the best suitable candidate is right in front of me.”

“We already had this conversation, baa-chan.” He whined.

“I know, but you have to admit that you’re made for this! You’re one of the very few people I fully trust and you’re also perfect to follow my steps! You’re honest, hardworking, also good-looking in my honest opinion. I mean, you got the best genes from our family and your father.”

“I’m not interested in politics.”

Tsunade ignored him, continuing to list his qualities. “You’re charismatic, have a strong sense of justice, charming with great leadership, all are qualities that make people want to follow you! Remember back in college, your soccer team and cheerleading squad went to many tournaments with full sponsorship all because of you!”

“Oh c’mon, you’re inflating my importance on this. It’s all because of hard work from my friends and teachers.” Naruto groaned, already pausing the TV screen.

“That followed you because they were inspired by you. You united them all into succeeding this common goal.” Tsunade attempted to persuade him. “Those are very rare talents that not many people have and I can’t believe you’re wasting not using them!”

“I don’t believe in politicians! I think most of them are always looking for a way to gain more power or money, and even the rare people who want to make a change, end up being swallowed by the system.” Naruto exclaimed, huffing loudly. “I mean, I trust you with my life, but I saw that you had to trade, to make concessions to get something else in return. I followed your political career throughout my middle school and highschool years, that I know enough dirt to make me sure I don’t wanna follow that.”

“You can be the voice of change then Naruto. If you’re my protegée I can protect you, guide you through and you can be the newer generation that will change Japan. I mean, where else are you going to put your leadership and charisma into good use?”

Naruto shrugged. “Well, helping good NGOs. Give them a voice, help them get sponsorships. This is why I’m a social media strategist.”

“And you know that even the best NGOs need to negotiate with government officials to let their ideas blossom. We’re the ones that make all of this work.” Tsunade pointed out.

“Yeah, this is why I’m helping you out, because I believe you’re going to be a good mayor.” Naruto grumbled, scratching his head. “This is why I’m also helping Sasuke, he’s building a NGO in the future. I let your voices be heard.”

“I really appreciate you aiding me, I really do. But all I’m hearing is you making someone else’s dream come true. What about your dreams?”

“Oh God, what’s the problem of helping someone else fulfill his dream?” He let out a displeased groan.

Tsunade grabbed his arms, squeezing with added effort. “Because you’re a natural born leader Naruto, you were never suited to being shoved behind the scenes. I’m sure whatever aspiration you’ll have, you’ll be able to make people move mountains for your cause. And it’s a shame you’re not using your abilities to your full potential.”

⏤.⏤

“Oh? And what happened after your aunt said all this long speech?” Sasuke muttered, trying no to sway too much from the movement in the subway wagon.

“She said that she could see that I was getting really tired and we called it a night. But you know baa-chan, before she went away she repeated that I really have to consider her words.” Naruto sighed.

“Hm.” Sasuke contemplated for a while. “I mean, she’s not wrong. For some odd reason you dumbass is able to charm people into your circle.”

“What? We were lonely brats back then, you forgot?”

“Right, but after a while, you started getting friends left and right. First it was Gaara, that honestly I still don’t get how you managed to change him from a murderous maniac to a gardener.”

“Yeah, back then you were jealous that I have gotten close to Gaara, it was so cute.” Naruto grinned and batted his eyelashes, unaffected by the venomous glare he received from his boyfriend.

“Then, Sakura and Shikamaru. Shikamaru dragged Chouji and Ino with him. Then Neji, with Lee and Tenten, and before I knew, you befriended like half of the school, that you could become some sort of gang leader terrorizing the city.”

“Hah, that would be cool right. My aunt would pummel me to the ground though.” Naruto chortled.

“Right…and I remember back in the day, you wanted to be a Hokage right? To get your aunt’s attention.” Sasuke smirked, gazing how his boyfriend gave an automatic shudder in response.

“You really have to dig all the memories back then huh. The whole reason I wanted this Hokage thing because of some anime I used to watch, it was just some silly kid dream.”

“All I’m saying, is that your aunt is right. You have some weird dumbass charisma that I don’t really get but I guess it’s some sort of innate talent. You listen to people and sympathize with them, which makes them want to return the favor and follow you. Not everyone has this ability in leadership.”

Naruto huffed to himself, distraught that Sasuke ended up agreeing with Tsunade. He was pretty satisfied with his current career choice, but if his closest people planted seeds of doubt in his mind, what if he’s not reaching his full potential then?

“However…I believe that every human has many talents at his or her disposal. You don’t have the need to nurture every single one of them if you don’t want to. Your ability to lead is only one of them, if it’s a waste to develop it or not, the only person who will determine its value should be you.”

Sasuke finished his line of thought, expecting Naruto to be thoughtful or relieved. What he couldn’t predict was his dumbass staring back at him with wide eyes, the usual blabbermouth falling in complete silence.

A little unnerved, he grumbled. “What?”

Breaking his stupor with some blinks, Naruto rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks flushed red. “Uh…well…thanks.” He nudged his boyfriend on his arm with some added shyness. This was one of the many moments Naruto was glad Sasuke existed in his life, to give some voice of reason.

Suddenly, the alarm blasted out of Naruto’s smartphone. He fumbled to turn it off, only to read the contents and broadened a victorious grin. “Sasuke, we finally fulfilled seven days! You know what that means right?”

Sasuke sighed. “You won the bet.”

“Yes, I won the bet! Glorious, glorious ramen to my greatest delight. The restaurant is located in the next two stations.”

“Wait, I have to pay now? After all the great advice I just gave to you?” Sasuke protested.

“Those are two different things bastard. I’m never going to skip an opportunity to savor the greatest food of all time. The delicious noodles, sliced pork, that smooth broth that glides through my throat…man, I’m getting hungry just thinkin’ about it.” He patted his belly as emphasis.

Good thing Sasuke saved up some money because Naruto could inhale a huge amount of food if he so desired. This bet was a disaster from beginning to end. He also had to suffer Naruto spouting poetry over his beloved dish, for an ungodly amount of time while they were walking back to Naruto’s house, that Sasuke was mildly contemplating murder. Or maybe some poisoning. Just little droplets on the Ramen broth next time, that would force his dumbass to spend the entire day in the bathroom. That sounded like a nice, innocent plan.

“Anyways, thanks for paying this marvelous, exquisite Ramen. And give up cooking whatever is going on inside your bastard’s mind, I can see you’re thinking about something evil, I can feel it in my bones.”

“Honest to God, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sasuke muttered, head craning closer when Naruto gave him a cheeky kiss.

Naruto glanced towards his building, staring back towards his boyfriend that was beginning to turn around, back to the subway station. Licking his lips, he placed his hands on the pocket, mumbling. “Sasuke.”

His boyfriend grunted, turning back to face him.

“You want to spend the night here with me?” He shuffled his feet, glancing down. “I mean, now that the bet is over, you understand what I meant with that right.”

Sasuke struggled to keep an unperturbed face, also feeling his cheeks getting warmer. “…right.”

They fell silent for couple of awkward minutes, not daring to voice desires out in the open. Scratching his head, Naruto turned towards the entrance of his apartment, not wanting to insist on this. He took in a deep breath, opened the heavy door but the second he took one step inside, fingers interlaced with his own.

Naruto swallowed dryly, not daring to peek to his left but his hand squeezed in return. They were waiting inside the elevator to go to the appointed floor not one word being exchanged between them, to the point Sasuke was wondering why the fuck they were being so weird about this. It’s not like it’s their first time they had sex.

And yet, his heartbeats were drumming loudly through his ears when Naruto unlocked his apartment and they stepped inside. With his back resting on the door, Sasuke waited while blue eyes focused on him, hand reaching to lock behind him. Using the back of his hand, he caressed the pale cheek, thumb idly brushing his lower lip. Sasuke nipped it in response, stuttering his breath when Naruto approached, mouths matching together, soft and open.

Sasuke did wonder to himself all these abrupt changes. Not even a day had passed since they vowed to keep sex off their dates and they were eagerly jumping back as usual, but another huge part of his mind just wanted this moron to better kiss him like he meant it or else. While his eyes were still closed, he explored every curve and edge of Naruto’s face, nose nudging against his, stubbles on his cheeks and firm jaw, eyelids opening half mast to admire how those azure eyes always looked so youthful.

Once he comprehended such remarks, this surged from the deepest depths of his darkness, a mixture of pride and possessiveness how Naruto would devote all these affections only to him, having all those heated gazes focused solely on him.

Naruto gave one last moist kiss on his lips, whispering. “Let’s go take a bath. Right?” It was impossible for Sasuke to say no (the tattoo on his left hand throbbed for a second), stripping his shirt away while Naruto went to grab a towel for him.

Naruto had the regular japanese style of bathroom, shower head and the tap water located around the height of your knee, so you would wash yourself and rinse on a sitting position. There was a hot tub to soak in and relax once you cleaned yourself, but Sasuke doubted they would use it today.

He soaped his body in stiff movements, tense in anticipation once he heard Naruto approaching, one tanned arm grabbing the shower head and making him raise his face upwards staring towards Naruto’s puzzled expression.

The blond man dropped a kiss on his forehead, muttering. “What, I gotta wash myself, I stink.”

“Stink of Ramen broth I’m sure.” Sasuke replied, growling when Naruto sprinkled water in retaliation. This small skirmish relaxed him as he finished cleaning himself, picking a small towel.

A warm hand touched his shoulder, gliding through his spine and paused on the small back. Lips sucked on his neck, a sultry murmur reached close to his ear. “Let me wash your back.”

Sasuke used his most disinterested grunt in his arsenal, even though his dick twitched in response. A fluffy sponge lathered his body with soap, massaging his kinks and rubbing all over his skin. Naruto then rinsed off with warm water, sponge gliding on his frontal almost in an inquisitive, lazy way.

He leaned his body over Naruto’s, hitching his breath when hands reached to his bellybutton, skimming through his penis that was half-erect and moved to his sacs, foam gathering on that area. Grazing upwards, a sturdy hand curled the soft sponge around the shaft and began fondling his cock. He glided with increasing depth and speed, spurred by Sasuke’s quiet gasps and controlled moans, teeth grazing the pale shoulder as he also felt his cock rising in response.

Naruto threw the sponge aside, lathering his hand with soap and gripped the reddened cock. Sasuke trembled from the direct hot contact, body responding to the familiar touch, calloused fingers as Naruto stroked his length. His palm encircled and stimulated around the sensitive head, applying more pressure with each glide and pull, pre-cum flowing through the slit. Sasuke choked out a sharp moan, noticing Naruto’s hard cock pressing on his back, another hand spreading his legs and rolling his balls.

Sasuke went rigid, gasping heavily but Naruto’s fingers gripped on his base, halting his peak. Mouth glided and licked through his shoulders, hands caressed his chest and played with his nipples, touching nowhere close to his hard dick. Sasuke yanked the blond locks to bring their lips into a furious kiss, resisting the urge to touch his own cock as he entrusted his lover.

Once Naruto saw he was more in control, he restarted groping and sliding through the length, pleasuring Sasuke as those moans were increasing in cadence. Watching in fascination how Sasuke’s handsome features twisted and gasped in wanton need, hips moving to match his strokes, one arm hooking around his neck as their mouths brushed occasionally.

Naruto stopped his movements once again, when Sasuke knew he was very close to the edge. His breathing was fast and erratic, each of Naruto’s hands gripped his wrists and held them to the ground. He rested his head on the tanned shoulder, his inhales and exhales settling in until Naruto resumed jerking his cock again.

“Oh God, Naruto⏤!” Sasuke’s screamed, his whole body trashed in that brutal pace, bowing backwards. He was torn in between pleading to continue, or to stop this delicious torment because, at this point all the accumulated pleasure was way too much, overwhelming him. Powerful jets of semen erupted from his cock as Naruto drove him to completion, yelling hoarsely.

Staring at the ceiling, Sasuke was still milking the best orgasm in his entire life while attempting to regain some ounce of control. He turned around, determined to return the favor but then noticed the milky stains covering the sun-kissed stomach.

Naruto was also breathing heavily and shrugged. “The show was really good bastard.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, lowering himself as his mouth slurped the soft dick, giving one last kiss before both men collapsed to the ground, taking another couple of minutes to recover.

⏤.⏤

Sasuke wore Naruto’s spare pijamas, he was slightly taller than his boyfriend but had narrower shoulders instead. After they watched one more episode of a TV series they both enjoyed, Naruto called the day, stretching his arms and walking towards his bedroom. Following behind, Sasuke braced himself, wondering how much Suigetsu would annoy him after he arrived late the next day.

However, the blond man merely lay down on his bed, patting on the spot in front of him. Sasuke obeyed bewildered, raising an eyebrow when Naruto adjusted his head around his chest, inhaling and sighing content while he laced his arms around Sasuke’s body. “Hey, dumbass.”

Naruto yawned. “Yeah?”

“Is that…all?” He was getting psyched for round two after their bathroom rendezvous, so this simple hug caught him off guard.

“Yeah Sasuke, we ate a huge dinner. It’s called anal sex for a reason.” Naruto then snorted and muttered to himself. “And you call me a dumbass.”

“I know that dumbass. But well, I thought…we were going to use other options available.”

“Oh? You want ‘em Sasuke-channnn?” Naruto’s voice was loud and amused.

“Nevermind.” Sasuke shoved his boyfriend away, ignoring the feeble protests in return.

Naruto laughed. “Just lemme cuddle you cold-hearted bastard. We can do all the naughty things you pervert want for la⏤hey, no punching on the defenceless, that’s cheating!”

Sasuke stopped after one last jab on the blond head, sighing. “You were the one who gave me unreasonable expectations that weren’t met.”

“Sasuke, I can obey whatever your sex crazed maniac wants me to do⏤”

“Wait a minute, you’re the one who kept jumping on me last two weeks, you dumbass⏤”

“Oh right, as if you’re an innocent victim that fell on my hands, you wanted you bastard, I just gave a nudge in the right direction⏤Anyways!” Naruto interrupted Sasuke’s incoming protest. “My point is…you were right. I’m enjoying that we’re taking things slower. I don’t think we have to restrict sex but instead, we can do it when we feel like it.”

Sasuke studied him in silence, and said quietly. “And you…don’t desire to…”

“Of course I do, but lately whenever on bed we end up having sex. I guess I wanted to change a little bit of this pace?” Naruto grinned. “Sasuke, there’s a lot of things I like about you, and mind-blowing sex with you is only one of ‘em. I just want to enjoy cuddling with you for now ok. Even if you’re an incorrigible bastard.”

“…hn.” Sasuke’s arms enveloped around Naruto’s body, chin resting on the blond hair.

“…awww are you hugging me b⏤”

“Do you have a death wish?”

Naruto just smiled. “Fine. ‘night asshole.”

“Good night usuratonkachi.”

⏤.⏤

AN: Two dumbasses in love, great. As usual, please leave a review if you can.

#SasuNaru #NaruSasu #snstext #sn fic #sns fic #snsfic #lemon #drabble

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shirtlesssammy · 5 years

Text

7x11: Adventures in Babysitting

Then:

Cas is dead, and we continue to salute those brave souls that continued to watch this show live without him. Also, Bobby is now dead and I really hate season 7 on so many levels. (Natasha: I survived through pure denial.)

Now:

Knife-wielding Ishim Dude sits at a cafe watching a couple outside. When the couple walks off, he pays the waitress, Marlene, and runs out, chasing them. He tracks them through parked semi-trucks. Suddenly Marlene is there. She drugged him. She flashes snake eyes and pointy teeth before knocking him out.

Week One

Sam and Dean are at Rufus’s cabin drinking beer and watching TV. All they can really summon the strength to do after Bobby’s death.

Week Two

Dean’s REALLY drinking and he’s trying to decipher the numbers Bobby wrote on Sam’s hand right before he died.

Week Three

They’re deep into tracking Dick Roman.

For Dean and Pen Caps in his Mouth Science:

Sam wonders if they should tell other hunters that Bobby’s gone. Dean wants nothing to do with that. Bobby’s phone rings. Dean wants nothing to do with that. Sam answers. A young girl is on the other end looking for Bobby. She tells Sam that her dad told her to contact Bobby Singer specifically. She hangs up when Sam tells her Bobby isn’t there. Sam wants to track the girl. Dean gets pissy because they’re waiting on Frank to get back to them on Bobby’s numbers.

The brothers separate.

Sam tracks down the residence where the girl’s phone number was registered. Sam tells the girl, Krissy, that Bobby is dead. It seems that Krissy’s dad is a “salesman” and has been gone for five days without calling. Sam sees flashes of his childhood in Krissy’s apartment.

He roots through Krissy’s dad’s stuff until he finds the dude’s murder board in the back of the closet. He has a start on where the guy disappeared.

Dean, meanwhile, pulls up to Frank’s hideaway. It’s completely gutted. But Frank is there, guns ready.

He thinks Dean’s a Leviathan, but Dean proves he’s human by bleeding real red human blood. Dean makes Frank prove he’s not a monster either. They head to an RV in a shed where Frank has set up his new surveillance shop. Dean is livid that Frank hasn’t got back to him. Frank has lost track of time and doesn’t see the big deal (and yet is paranoid beyond words..). Frank admits that he thinks the number is incomplete.

He ran a probability program to complete the number and found that they’re coordinates to a field in Wisconsin.

Roman Enterprises recently purchased the land. Time to survey the place.

Sam heads to the morgue to view a dead body, drained of blood with bite marks on his leg and neck. The coroner suggests a vampire attack. Sam doesn’t see the humor.

Sam and Dean reconnect and Dean tells Sam about the field in Wisconsin. He also tells Sam that Dick’s at a Ted conference. He read it on the Huffington Post. Sam wonders when Dean started reading. And I WaNt tO sEt YOu On FirE SamUEl.

Dean and Frank head to the field to check things out.

For Dean in Costume Science:

Frank notices lots of Roman surveillance cameras and decides they should hack those cameras.

Sam calls and leaves a sleeping Dean a message that the missing hunter was hunting a Vetala. They feed slow so Krissy’s dad might still be alive.

Sam then heads to where Krissy’s dad was last and talks to Marlene. She sends him to talk to the woman outside. He asks her about Krissy’s dad. She tells him that she’s never seen the guy, and then in a lower tone tells Sam that “it’s not safe here.” She leads Sam away. She tells him she’ll talk to him in private, so they head for the canyon privacy of two parked semi-trailers. When the waitress comes out, fangs a-blazing, Sally turns out to be a vetala too. Together, they take Sam out.

For A Tiny Bit of Shirtless Sammy Science:

Dean wakes up to Frank settled in front of his surveillance monitors. Apparently Dean slept sitting up in a half-lit trailer for 36 hours??? DEAN BBY. Dean stares blearily at the video. Roman Corp. is planning on building something new in that field. Dean’s less than impressed at their progress, and Frank fires off some advice. “Quit.” It’s either that, or burn himself into nothing chasing after Dick Roman. “Decide to be fine ‘til the end of the week. Make yourself smile because you're alive and that's your job. Then do it again the next week.” Look, I know this episode is in our hate watch week, but I’ve always been particularly fond of this exchange. SO GOOD and SO SAD. Krissy interrupts this moment to call Dean and tell him that Sam’s now missing too.

Sam wakes up tied to a chair. There are bodies in the room (the SMELL, people, come on clean up your meals) and Lee Chambers is tied up next to him.

Sam tells him that Krissy contacted him. Lee fills him in. The vetala have fed on him three times already and he’s incredibly weakened. One more time and he’s dead.

Dean heads into the Chambers’ house like an angry cloud. He tries to shoo Krissy away as he investigates, but Krissy won’t allow any of that. She let Sam take the lead in the investigation while she hung back to be “normal,” but now she’s all-in.

She demands to be brought along on the hunt and tells Dean that she memorized all her dad’s case notes and then destroyed them. He NEEDS her. In the car later, she tries to talk to him. Dean’s not into light conversation. “I'm a fun guy. I'm actually awesome. Okay? But right now, I'm not in the mood.” Dean then threatens to drop her off at a MALL. Hello, child of my generation. Dean speculates that Sam and Lee were bested by the vetala because they both thought the monster was a loner. Dean knows better from a Sammy-at-Stanford hunt experience where he learned that they hunt in pairs.

The revelation that Sam went to college stuns Krissy. Dean goes into dad mode, suggesting that she could go to college as well…

Sally the vetala chats with her trussed up prey before bending her head to Lee’s neck. Sam baits Sally away from Lee, telling her that he enjoyed hunting vetala in the past. Sally rewards him with a big ol’ chomp, sparing Lee for a little while longer.

At the truck stop, Dean and Krissy compete to see who’s the biggest tough guy. Krissy hasn’t ACTUALLY hunted any monsters yet, but she’s totally ready. She spots Marlene, the blond vetala, climbing into a truck and driving it away. They tail the truck to the vetala feeding ground.

Dean celebrates by asking for a fist bump. Krissy calls him a “dweeb.” (Me: creaks rocker and asks if anyone actually uses the word dweeb anymore.) Dean continues to be my favorite because when Krissy finally accedes to a fist bump, he cuffs her wrist to the steering wheel. She’s going to stay in the car where it’s safe! He heads off with her lock pick safely in hand. (But let’s be real, that car’s gotta be brimming with weaponry and picks, right?)

The vetala are merrily feeding on Sam and Lee when Dean arrives. There’s a scuffle, quickly interrupted by Krissy storming in and heading straight for her dad. Sally grabs hold of Krissy and promises to release her if Dean lets Marlene free.

There’s a standoff.

Marlene moves in to kill Lee, and Krissy pleads with Dean for help. Dean freezes as he watches Krissy plead, and I imagine that he’s replaying some choice flashbacks to his own sorry childhood. Krissy twists suddenly and kills Sally with a knife she had hidden on her person. Marlene is quick to follow, killed by a newly freed Sam.

Later at a hospital, Lee’s grateful but Dean’s instantly on edge. “Don't thank us. Quit. Your daughter's 14 years old. She's already a hunter with a kill under her belt. I'm not trying to be a dick, but what do you think that does to her life span? She could still be a regular kid.” He tells Lee that family’s a good enough reason to get out of hunting for good, no matter what tragedy first instigated it.

Outside, Krissy implies that the Chambers family may be giving up hunting and that college could be in her future after all. We get some Dean smiles and it feels like sunshine in this dark time.

In the car, Sam and Dean talk. Neither of them are doing okay, but they’re still alive and fighting. While Sam settles down to sleep, Dean smiles as he tries to take Frank’s advice to just get through it day by day. Just like that, all the sunshine is gone. Oh, Dean Bean.

All Quotes Hunt in Pairs:

Gwyneth Paltrow is not a Leviathan

You think it's easy to see this deep into what's real and also be bipolar with delusional ideation?

Decide to be fine ‘til the end of the week. Make yourself smile because you're alive and that's your job. Then do it again the next week

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 7x11 #adventure in babysitting #dean winchester #sam winchester #hate watch week #supernatural season 7

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incoherentbabblings · 5 years

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Take Back the Cake, Burn the Shoes, and Boil the Rice (1/11)

Within two months there have been two murders of Gotham newlyweds moments after the ceremony. The only connecting factor was both brides wore the same designer's work. Needing to establish who exactly is behind the crimes, Bruce enlists Tim and Stephanie to have the biggest wedding Gotham high society has seen in decades, putting a target on their heads not just for the killer, but Gotham society too. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

Ao3 link here!

Hey, @thatblondeperson @our-happygirl500-fan the odyssey begins, huh? Thank you both for your help with this, I imagine I will keep bugging you with questions and pictures of pretty dresses going forward.

“No way.”

“Batgirl.”

“No! Are you serious? Look, I did the trip to England – even though I have a life here and didn’t want to – because it was like only for a semester and it was to help people… but this? No.”

“I agree.” Red Robin chimed, bolstering Batgirl against Batman. He pulled back his cowl, revealing the tired young man underneath. He didn’t look wholly invested in anything Bruce had to say. “Can’t you fake it? With Selina or… I don’t know. Zatanna or…” Tim shrugged uselessly. “I’ve already had a fake engagement! One’s enough, thank you.”

“No-one is going to believe Bruce Wayne’s engagement… They know it will all fall through.” Dick chimed up. He was sat at the batcomputer, feet up on the keyboard, eating chunks of mango and watermelon and looking completely indifferent to the outraged faces around him. He looked briefly at Bruce. “No offense.”

“Well you do it then!” Stephanie argued. “You’re a…fully grown adult. No-one would blink an eye if you and Babs got engaged! Everyone knows you’re sweet on each other.”

Dick slowed the chewing of his fruit. Looking Steph straight in the eye, he spat out seeds over the edge of the ground down in the depths of the cave. Tim watched out of the corner of his eye as Bruce folded his arms, exasperated. Finally, after a tense stare off, Dick grinned.

“Can’t. Going off world on Friday. Can’t get married if you’re not on Earth. And this case really needs to be closed asap.”

It was a shit eating grin, one that made Steph want to instinctively slap it off his face as she felt increasingly crowded into a corner. Tim meanwhile screwed up his lips.

“You seriously think the designer has something to do with it?”

“Two murders at a wedding in two months. Both bride and groom.”

“No such thing as a coincidence?” Asked Stephanie. She tugged off her cape, hair getting caught as she did so. After a brief fight with the cowl, she tossed both aside and spun back to look at Batman.

“No. Not in these instances.”

“But what’s the connection?”

“Both brides were wearing the same designer.”

Tim nodded, catching on. “So… someone either has it out for the designer and wants her life to collapse… or she’s a wedding dress designer who hates happy couples.”

“Potentially.” Bruce walked towards Tim, seeing he was less aggressively opposed then Stephanie. “All you have to do is pretend. Hire her for the dress, plan the wedding. I’ll find the truth.”

Stephanie was not moved. “Using us as decoys? Really? And with what spare time am I supposed to plan a wedding? This is my final year of college… I can’t drop it all for the sake of a lie.” She looked to Tim, hoping to implore him to side with her. Bruce couldn’t make them both agree, surely.

To her growing distress, Tim was frowning off to the side, pulling his usual thinking face when he was musing something over.

“We’d seriously have to go through with it? Like from engagement, planning…wedding. All of it?” Something sparked in Tim’s eyes, and Stephanie’s stomach dropped.

She shook her head at him, unable to beg out loud. Bruce’s large chest heaved up and down with an exaggerated breath.

“It would have to be public. We’ll be making you targets. Big ones.”

If anything, this seemed to further motivate Tim, rather than placing the pressing guilt that had formed in Stephanie’s lungs. He looked to Bruce, expression serious and earnest.

“But we’d be potentially redirecting it from innocent people.”

Dick blinked, his somewhat sadistic enjoyment of their discomfort shifting as he too noticed Tim’s expression. A sort of desperation that Stephanie recognized in a way that made her breath short.

Panic went through her then, and she blurted out a, “What if I say no?” She tried to put her foot down, but instead it came out quiet and pleading.

“Then I won’t do it either.” Tim said, looking her in the eye for the first time since the idea was brought up. “I don’t want to. Not without her.”

Dick’s expression morphed into what only could have been described as pity. Tim and Stephanie were not dating, hadn’t been for years, but everyone knew from watching that they still knew each other inside and out, better than most anyone else. For all Tim had been drifting in and out of closeness with Bruce and Dick the past three years, it seemed he had only relocated positions within the family. Always to Cassandra first, his sister in every way that counted, and, despite his initial reservations, also to Stephanie, who had taken every effort to move past the worst of their adolescence with open arms.

They had grown closer (still not close enough in Tim’s opinion) but a level of shyness, of fragility remained. One wrong step and the false peace they had put together the past few years would crumble and reveal structural faults that neither could fix.

For all Tim wanted a partner to ensure that his loneliness would depart from him permanently; for all Tim wanted Stephanie to be that partner – Stephanie in all her hard fought and earned independence – Tim knew he couldn’t force her to do anything. Neither could Bruce. Not anymore. That lesson, they had both learned a long time ago.

He had been treading on eggshells for some time now, desperate to not upset her, even if it came at the cost of his own happiness.

Stephanie knew all of this. She had watched him argue with himself and twitch in a way that indicated he wanted to move closer, and she had watched him refuse to verbalise any of it.

He wouldn’t speak; therefore, she wouldn’t speak. Ergo, their relationship was at a dead end.

Unless he could get her to agree to lie with him.

Which would make her miserable. Because he wouldn’t be talking to her. Not truly.

And the uroboros of a Catch-22 situation would continue to eat its tail.

Bruce watched the naked relief play out on Stephanie’s face that she had Tim’s conditional support. He gave another sigh, and Dick watched from his seat, knowing that Bruce was about to play dirty.

“I do not trust anyone else to follow this through.”

Tim groaned, and hung his head down, and Dick knew Bruce had won. Stephanie meanwhile, for a lack of a better term, flipped out.

“No.” She said, and she began to tear off her uniform until she was only in her black tank top and leggings, stomping barefooted back up the stairs.

Trying to not take it personally, Tim rushed to the changing area to get into his shirt and jeans and socks. Maybe if he just caught her…

Dick watched the pair go, chewing loudly on a crunchy piece of fruit.

“Sometimes you’re really cruel.”

“…I know.”

Stephanie rushed into one of the drawing rooms, grabbing her bag she had left resting on a seat to pull out her shoes, collapsing to the expensive rug. Her little purple car was parked out front, so she could make a quick getaway.

Tim practically fell into the room, having thrown on a checked shirt and jeans that made his butt look good.

Stupid Tim.

“Steph.” He breathlessly plead. She tied her shoelaces, ignoring his tone. Finding the expensive cream rug much more interesting, she aggressively tied knots in her shoes.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“We could end up saving a lot of people down the line and –”

“You know that throwing yourself in front of a bullet isn’t going to make daddy love you any better, right?”

Tim stopped breathing, and she knew instantly she had crossed a line. She slumped forward, head banging against her knees. Tim watched her shoulders heave with silent sobs. Instantly he moved to be level with her, curled up on the floor, hidden out of sight from Alfred, or Bruce, or anyone.

His hand hovered, wanting to stroke her hair, but instead he settled for her bare forearm. He felt her muscle spasm under his cold fingers and watched as goosebumps appeared on her arm. She was looking paler than normal.

“Steph I won’t... I won’t force you to do it. But, if we can make ourselves targets then we could be saving someone else, and if Bruce closes the case before we even get to the alter… It doesn’t have to be serious...” He murmured the last part, trying to hide the paranoid part of him that believed Stephanie was reacting so strongly to the idea of being tied to him again – even temporarily.

“Tim, if this were five years ago, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. And not just because there’s no-one else I’d rather do this with...”

Tim smiled, despite the general mood of the room. Stephanie, with her head pressed to her knees, did not see.

“But I’m not going to be fake marrying a nice boy from down the road.”

“What do you mean?”

She finally looked up at him, and her eyes were dry and clear.

“Your name, Tim. Bruce’s name.”

He blinked, still not comprehending. Her fingers crept forward, absently stroking the fabric of his shirt.

“If you were me... If you were just an average Gothamite, and you saw that one of the richest and most handsome guys in Gotham, the one who spends his life in the public eye... If you saw he was marrying a girl who has a father on death row, and a mother who has a history of drug abuse. A girl who he hasn’t publicly associated with before outside of days where his sister was present... A girl who got pregnant at fifteen... How would that look? A two-month engagement?”

“I’d think it was none of my business.”

“And then the marriage breaks off after a month. Or they don’t even make it to the marriage stage. What do you think happens to that girl? How do you think her life is going to be afterwards?”

Tim couldn’t help it, with his free hand he reached for one of hers. Tangling their fingers together, he felt her trembling. She squeezed back tightly, their fingers turning a little purple.

“Bruce and I wouldn’t let anything like that happen.” Tim swore.

“You can’t promise that.”

Still so jaded, under all that optimism. Still so doubtful of how kind the world actually was.

“Yes, I can. I can.”

“God Tim, you’re so naïve!”

She tried to pull away, but Tim held tight, not letting her leave. She stared at him outraged, as he tried to convince her.

“Please Steph. Bruce doesn’t make mistakes about this sort of thing. More people are going to die unless we do something.”

Pale blue eyes stared into indigo, and a long moment passed in silence, the clock on the mantle providing the only noise. Some garden birds chirped outside, and the fluttering of their wings past the window made Stephanie flinch out of the moment. She breathed unsteadily. Tim tugged their conjoined hands closer to his chest.

“You’d honestly rather do it with no-one else?” He asked, smiling crookedly.

She blinked, unable to stand the vulnerability anymore, frowned and looked out the window. “You said the same thing downstairs.”

He blushed, and she tugged her hands finally free. Tim tried not to grimace at the feeling. Steph was always warm, a beacon of tanned skin and golden hair. Without her, his fingers quickly grew cold.

He had run home once, on a cold Gotham day, when he and his dad had spent an afternoon playing catch outside. His parents had been home for two months that time, and he had run in to find his mother and beg for a hot chocolate. He had been only six, and Janet had been sat in front of the computer, dark red hair piled up in a messy bun. Tim remembered her always looking well put together, even in her messier more relaxed moments.

“Mom, mom!” He had cried, cheeks flushed red from the temperature. His mother’s stress lines had disappeared when she spied him coming her way, and she held out her arms to catch him. She had been in a good mood that day. Ready to indulge him.

She pulled him up onto her lap, and Tim had laughed.

“Feel my hands!” And he had put his frozen fingers on her cheeks, causing her to gasp exaggeratedly.

“Frozen solid!” And she had kissed and kissed and kissed him and with each kiss he felt warmer and warmer. “Cold hands mean a warm heart though Tim. That’s the most important bit.”

And his father had entered the room, and the smile had slipped from Janet’s face, and the soft moment with his mother had been over. The warmth fled him, her and the house.

Fifteen years later, Tim wasn’t sure he believed Janet’s little saying anymore. Steph was just plain warm. From her head to her toes, her golden skin gave off warmth like she had been laying in the sun all day. Like she held the sun in her chest, and her hair was the yellow rays escaping. His mother and father’s warmth had come and gone with their moods. Stephanie’s was ever present. Even when she was angry, even when she was being cruel, she seemed incapable of being cold whilst being so.

Tim blinked, realising he had completely drifted off and away from the present moment, and was daydreaming again. Stephanie sat with her legs splayed out, still upset but more reserved than before.

"I’m going to go home.” She declared. “And I am going to think it over. Give me a day.”

“You gonna talk to your mom?”

“If I do go through with it, she’ll need to know.” Stephanie shifted, putting on her other shoe. “You’re already on thin ice with her you know. Have been for years.”

Tim was going to tease her and ask why it mattered what her mother thought of him, but like Steph said, he was treading on thin ice. Even getting her to consider it was a victory in his eyes.

She said her goodbye and got up, Tim remaining sat on the floor. Impulsively, she tugged at his hair playfully. Tim may have imagined it, but he felt her hand stroke his hair, like she used to when he’d rest his head on her stomach. It had started when she had pulled him down in her room, on her little bed, to see if he could hear or feel her baby move. It had continued long after the baby had been given up for adoption. She had said his hair was nice to play with.

Stephanie paused, looking down on him.

“You really won’t do it with someone else? Just me?”

“Promise.”

She sighed and went to go. She stopped, blond hair swinging round her shoulders, and looked like she was going to say something else. She thought better of it, and gave a half-hearted wave.

“See you tomorrow.” She uttered, then she was gone.

Tim remained sat on the floor long after she left. He heard her car switch on and roll off, and he remained on the carpet. His mind was racing.

Bruce eventually found him. Out of costume, in a white t-shirt and black trousers, he sat on the loveseat by Tim.

Keeping his head down, Tim spoke.

“She said… she wanted the day to think about it.”

“Okay.”

Tim stared off, knowing Bruce was waiting for him to ask the burning question.

“Why us?”

Tim heard the frame of the seat creak as Bruce shifted. Neither man was looking at the other.

“As I said. I trust you two will do a good job.”

“And no-one else.”

“You work well together.”

“Do we?”

“Tim…”

“She said that she was afraid of how people would react. Poor girl and a rich boy get hitched quickly and all that.”

Bruce’s response was firm and immediate. “I won’t let people think of her that way.”

Tim tilted his head to look at his father, comforted by the protective nature in his tone. “That’s what I said. She didn’t believe me.”

“Hnn.” Bruce placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder, and squeezed reassuringly. “She’ll help. She won’t turn away from people in need. I’ll leave you to deal with the… nitty gritty of it all.”

He got up to leave, allowing Tim to brood alone on the floor.

“Bruce?”

Bruce turned, looking at him expectantly. Tim swallowed.

“You honestly think we work well together?”

Bruce chewed his tongue, thinking of how best to respond. “I remember, how happy you made each other, and I trust her with you. You’ll both do well in this.”

And that was all. Tim stared at the now empty doorframe, unsure of what to make of Bruce’s statement. His fingers twitched, craving the warmth of Stephanie’s grip once more.

He couldn’t decide if he was being selfish or not for wanting her to agree to such a silly idea. A silly idea that could save several people down the line. Maybe. Or maybe he just wanted an excuse to spend time with her outside of the costume. Only if she wanted it though. He wasn’t that cruel. Falling forward to the floor, butt up in the air, Tim grumbled to himself about how lovesick he was.

Stephanie meanwhile had to pull over halfway home, so emotional that she needed to catch her breath.

This was what was going to bring Tim and her together once more? Another lie?

She couldn’t bare it. To have to pretend to be happy and in love when really what she would be was miserable. But still in love.

She’d never stopped. She still craved his eyes on her (and only her), to hear him say how proud he was.

No.

No, she was past that. That was the point. The point of Batgirl, the point of returning to Gotham.

She rubbed aggressively at her eyes, sat on the layby of the road, and called her mother, unable to wait until she reached home. She put on the speaker, and set the phone on the dashboard.

Her mother had the next three days off, so with some luck she would catch her.

“Hiya Stephie.” She answered. “All good?”

“Yeah. Just driving back.”

“Then why’d you call?”

“I… mom… I’ve been asked to do something. For work.” She clarified. Her mother would understand. “And I’m not sure I should.”

“Why?”

Something in Stephanie snapped, and three years of grief came pouring out. Her mother listened, saying nothing. Stephanie knew that her mother was wary of Tim, of Batgirl, of the whole thing, but she was also the one who could give a somewhat neutral response. As she ranted, Stephanie grew more distressed. She knew from the outside she must have looked like a mad woman, arms flailing and legs kicking. As she drew to a close, Stephanie rested her forehead on the wheel of her car.

“...But I want to help people. And I want to be with him. And I don’t know if that makes me weak.”

“It makes you lovesick.”

Her mother’s tone was soft, sad, and empathetic. Stephanie didn’t know which emotion was comforting and which was upsetting. She sniffed loudly, pressing the heel of the palms of her hands so tightly to her eyes that she saw stars. Crystal was silent, letting her daughter think her rant through. A minute passed, and Stephanie lowered her hands from her eyes, feelings slowly clicking into place.

“Thanks mom.”

“You made your mind up?”

“Yeah.”

Turning her engine back on, she picked up the phone once more. “Gonna be a bit longer until I get back. We need anything from the shops?”

“Another two cartons of milk wouldn’t hurt.”

“’Kay.” She buckled her seatbelt on. “Love you. Bye.”

“Love you too, Stephie. Glutton for punishment that you are.”

Stephanie laughed, then hung up. The smile quickly faded, and she stared at her home screen. Closing her eyes, taking a breath, and flicking her indicator on, she got back on the main road, looking for a place to do a u-turn.

Alfred opened the door to find Stephanie hopping up the steps to the front door, having let her back through the front gates. She smiled bashfully at the butler.

“I’ll inform Master Bruce that you’ve returned.” He said, ushering her inside.

“And Tim?”

“Of course. Make your way to the kitchen, Miss Stephanie. There are some baked goods cooling. You can take some home for you and your mother.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Alfred.”

She perched herself on one of the breakfast bar stools, staring at the banana muffins on the cooling rack. They smelled very good.

Tim arrived first, Bruce following behind. Both men looked expectant.

There was a brief pause as Stephanie collected her words.

“I’ll do it.” Bruce nodded, and Tim, betraying himself utterly, smiled broadly. It made something in her gut jerk, and she continued despite herself. “Only to help you solve the case. You promise to protect me from bad press?”

Bruce’s eyes tightened. “We’ll need a lot of publicity to ensure we capture their attention.”

“Good publicity.”

“Yes.” Stephanie’s eyes flittered to Tim as he moved closer to her, only partially listening to Bruce. “You’ll both have the family clout behind you. Use it.”

“Fine.” She nodded one last time. Tim opened his mouth to say something, but Stephanie turned away to grab one of Alfred’s muffins. Sensing the mood of the room, Bruce left, passing ownership of the task to the two young adults.

Tim moved closer than she would have preferred, close enough to feel his warm breath move her hair, but she still couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Stephanie…”

Taking a large bite, she inspected the granite worktops, finding the little silver glimmers fascinating. Tim saw she was going to be unresponsive. Hating himself a little, he began to dictate their plan going forward.

“We’ll go on a few dates first. People have seen you, me and Cassandra hanging out, so it won’t be a total shock. When do you next have a spare afternoon?”

She bristled at being told what to do in the manner Tim had slipped into, but she answered quietly.

“Thursday.”

“I’ll pick you up from campus. We’ll go to Robinson Park.” Colour rose to Tim’s cheeks as he got lost in his own head. Stephanie continued not to look at him, finding Alfred’s baking less upsetting. He was looking at her longingly. She knew that look well enough that she could sense it on him.

“Sounds good.” She said around a mouthful of muffin.

“You still want me to teach you how to ride my skateboard?”

That got her to look at him. She shook her head, trying not to give in to his puppy dog eyes.

“Tim, not like that. Not with everyone watching.”

This is what she had been dreading. Things she wanted, things she craved, but built on a foundation of lies. She and Tim weren’t going on a real date, so why should she do something she wanted for real? She was fine with lying, she did it every day of her life, but not for this. Not when half-truths were thrown in with Tim.

Tim seemed confused. “You said it just the other day. This is a good as reason as any.” He pushed his way closer into her personal space. Frustratingly, she wasn’t unnerved by it. “Steph… It gets easier. Those guys being around taking photos... Bruce has so much hold over them they don’t come near any of us.”

“Frightened of the big bad bat?”

“More like the billionaire with a big pocket for legal fees.” Tim snorted. “Honest. You’ll forget they’re there.” His tone turned a bit more serious, a bit more somber. “I know the whole thing is…less than ideal. So, let’s try and have some fun, yeah?”

Tim thought he knew that Steph knew that he still loved her. He’d said as much. But that was years ago. He’d also tried to kiss her. But that was also years ago.

Okay, so maybe being forced to get engaged and married wasn’t the best foundation to start a genuine courtship, but Tim could make it work.

So he smiled at her, and Stephanie smiled back. It was genuine.

He could make her happy.

“Okay.” She picked up two muffins to take home. “I’ll see you Thursday then.”

Tim’s smile widened as he watched her go. Mind racing, he twirled around in the kitchen, smacking his hands repeatedly off the counter.

“So… you’re going to tell her that you want to pursue a genuine relationship once this is all over or…?”

Dick’s voice drifted over from the doorway. He was leaning against the frame, one foot resting on his other ankle. His body language was casual, but his expression was deadly serious. Tim dismissed his concerns.

“Won’t need to. I will…show her that I am emotionally ready to get back in a relationship with her, and I know she still loves me so… by the end, the lie can be over, and she can ask me.”

“She has to ask you?”

Dick sounded so unapproving that Tim’s hackles rose. He walked around to the other side of the counter, further separating him from his elder brother.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Tim shook his head, baffled. “Because I’m the one doing all the work.”

Dick tilted his head, frustrated with Tim. “Define ‘work’? Buying her a nice dinner counts as work?”

“No! But I… She’s frightened. I’ll prove she doesn’t need to be.”

Dick’s eyes tightened. Like Stephanie, he thought Tim was being awfully naïve. Tim grumbled to himself.

“Just… go do your space adventure. When you come back in two months… you’ll see. We’ll catch the bad guy, innocent people will be saved, the press will love Steph as much as I do, and we’ll be on our merry way to getting out all the bad air between us.”

“By…not talking about the bad air.”

“We’ll talk! She… she has to start it. ‘Cause I did all the talking in the past. It’s her turn now. That’s all.”

Dick chewed on the inside of his cheek. Tim picked up a muffin and threw it at his brother, unable to bear the condescension. “You have no room to judge. I’ve loved her for half my life. I’m not going to have a mission be another nail in the coffin.”

Dick caught the muffin, ripping the top off and inspecting the inside. He turned to go, knowing he would get nowhere with Tim. Once the boy had made his mind up, it took a plan exploding in his face to realise he’d done wrong.

“No,” Dick said, nibbling as he walked away. “You want a lie to be the kiss of life.”

Tim stood in the kitchen, his loneliness creeping up on him. Looking desperately around, he grabbed his own baked good, then rushed downstairs to take his car back to his apartment.

He could make this work.

#dc #TimSteph #Tim Drake #Stephanie Brown #my fic tag #sorry for posting this twice i think i prefer this format for people

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derryhawkins · 5 years

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Life is a Highway [2/49]

summary: The seven of them made a plan in middle school: use the months between high school and college, and take a road trip through all of the states. Their twelve year old minds didn’t think it would actually happen, but six years later with enough saved up money, they’re going on an extremely long trip together in a large van. pairings: reddie; benverly; hanbrough; stanpat word count: 7.51k a/n: yes i had stenbranlon as one of the pairings but then i fell in love with stanpat so that changed pls don’t be mad lmao (but yes stan still has a crush on mike right now, but i mean who wouldn’t have a crush on mike??)

AO3 Link | First Chap

chapter two: massachusetts

The three hour car ride is filled with blasting music, singing along to said music, and talking nonstop from everyone over said music. Bill does a decent job of driving; he unnecessarily speeds, cutting down time immensely, and Stan keeps on telling him, "You're going twenty over the speed limit, slow the fuck down!"

But with Richie proclaiming that everyone speeds on the interstate, Bev urging Bill to pass anyone who's going "too slow" in the dark of the night, and Mike standing through the opened sunroof to act as if he's flying, Stan's urges for Bill to slow down goes unheard. Even Eddie tries to talk some sense into Bill. It isn't until Ben says something about cops that Bill finally does so. Only a little bit, though; not much at all, but enough to make a difference that makes Stan relax the littlest bit.

They make it to Boston, Massachusetts just ten minutes before one in the morning, and pull up to a cheap Holiday Inn fifteen minutes later. Bill, Stan and Mike are the ones to go in and ask the front desk person for the cheapest room possible for seven wired on excitement eighteen year olds; meanwhile the remaining four stay in the parked van as they finish the game of “I’m going on a trip” without the others.

“I’m going on a trip to Canada and I’m bringing a cat, a map, Eddie’s mom, a blanket, cigarettes, a walkman, Mr. Chips, Georgie, coffee, a lighter, a winter coat, board games, a tiger, Mike’s Grandma’s homemade chocolate pie, shoes, Stan’s pillow, condoms, a first aid kit, and uh... Binoculars!” Bev grins, proud of herself for remembering everyone else’s items and turns to Ben. “You’re turn.”

Ben sucks in a breath of air and let’s it out. “I feel so pressured, oh my god,” he whispers before speaking louder, smiling almost shyly as the others laugh. “Alright, uh, I’m going on a trip to Canada and I’m bringing a cat, a map, Eddie’s mom, a blanket, cigarettes, a walkman, Mr. Chips... Shit. Georgie! And coffee, and a tiger-.”

“You skipped two!” Eddie shouts. He’s pointing at Ben with a large smile, and is obviously too happy that someone has messed up.

Bev playfully whacks Eddie’s shoulder as Richie laughs. “Hey, be nice to Ben,” she defends him. “He did his best. Besides, it’s a miracle any of us made it as far as we did in the game.”

Eddie pouts and rubs his shoulder, acting as if Bev genuinely hit him. “Meanie.”

Bev snorts out a laugh. Richie leans to the side and gets close to Eddie, pinching the shorter boy’s cheek. “Oh, don’t be such a baby, Eds! What, are we gonna have to swaddle and rock you so you don’t cry?”

His expression quickly pinches into annoyance and Eddie swats Richie’s hands away, and shoves him – not too hard, but hard enough to get Richie out of his personal space bubble. “Fuck off!” Eddie yells. “I’m not a baby!” His cheeks are tinged pink, and while Richie just chalks it up to be Eddie’s anger, Bev knows full and well it’s not.

She covers her mouth with one hand to hide her smile, and she leans her elbow against the back of her seat. Her blue eyes quickly move from the two boys in the row of seats with her to the one sitting behind her. She’s acutely surprised to see him already looking at her, eyebrows moving up the slightest bit. Ben’s eyes widen and he looks away, and he clears his throat quietly as his face reddens. Bev removes her hand and rests her chin on top of the headrest, smiling, ignoring Richie and Eddie who are both now play fighting.

The thought of Ben liking her back worms it’s way into her brain. She quickly shoves the thought away, though, and sadly remembers how he used to like her. As in, not anymore. She then pushes that thought away, and decides to just talk with Ben.

“How’re you liking the trip so far?” She moves to get into a more comfortable position. Her chin stays on the top of the headrest, and she undoes her seatbelt so she can turn fully around, arms wrapping around the bottom of the headrest as she sits on her knees.

Ben looks back at her, eyes still wide. “Hm? Oh, uh.” He shrugs and smiles. “I’m really liking it, yeah. It’s nice – fun, too.”

“That’s good. Same here.” She stops. Eddie’s body leans against hers for a moment before he gets pulled away by Richie, the lanky teen trapping the other in a koala-like hug.

“Take back what you said about Bowie! Do it, or you’re dying via the Tozier’s bone crushing hug!”

Eddie laughs and wiggles. He’s barely trying to get away from Richie, not at all doing is best. Because he can get away if he wants to – all of them know that. “Suck a dick, Richie! I just said he wasn’t my favorite! I’d pick Elton John over him any day!”

“That’s it! Prepare to die, Kaspbrak!”

“Not until you drop dead first, Tozier!”

Bev moves her eyes away from them as she rolls them, and they land back on Ben who’s shaking his head at their friend’s antics. “They’re something else, aren’t they?” She asks, keeping her voice low.

Ben meets her eyes again. “If they’re not dating by the end of this,” he whispers, “I’m locking them in the clubhouse back in Derry and not letting them out.”

She snickers. “I’ll help.”

“I’d like that.”

“Really?”

He smiles, looking a bit shy now, but hums in confirmation and nods. “Of course I would.”

Her own smile grows into a wide grin that showcases her teeth. There’s a faint blush on her cheeks, and she hopes that it’s unnoticeable in the dim light. “Good. Great.”

One of the side doors to the van is suddenly pulled open, startling Bev and Ben, yanking the two from their little bubble. They turn their heads to the now opened door and peer around Richie and Eddie to see Mike standing there with a happy smile.

“We’ve got a room! C’mon, guys.”

The four eighteen year olds are then piling out of the car, and they grab everything they need for the night, along with Stan's and Bill's things so they don't have to come back out to the van.

The room isn't the biggest. It's small and with all of their suitcases on the ground, there is barely any room to walk; the room becomes a maze of sorts, and the Losers have to jump over their friends and the luggage to get to the one bathroom they have to share. Then there are two double sized beds and a chair that pulls out into a small twin mattress. It's not the best, and it's certainly not ideal, but they make it work.

Bill absolutely refuses to pick a place to sleep until everyone else has a place, meaning he ends up with the space between the two beds on a makeshift pallet that Eddie makes for him with whatever extra hotel blankets they can find. Bev and Stan end up sharing the bed closest to the bathroom, and then Ben and Mike share the bed near the AC, and finally Richie and Eddie get the small pull out.

None of it is awkward. It's something they're used to, something they've always done. There's even a time when they were fifteen when they all got into a dog pile to cuddle one night, and they all fell asleep like that. So, sharing beds is the norm. It's almost expected at this point and they're so used to it, which is why at some point during the night Bill sluggishly makes his way into the bed with Mike and Ben, neither boy disturbed or frustrated that another body has joined them.

+++

Stan isn't a morning person. It's not that he doesn't like the mornings - because he does, a lot - but it's more of the fact that it takes a while for him to wake up, and if people don't give him his time and space, the person will most likely get either a death glare or harshly snapped at. He knows the same thing goes for Eddie - the spitfire is always harsh and snippy until he's downed some coffee, and he just doesn't like waking up early - and so they're two peas in a pod when morning comes.

Bev can arguably not be a morning person as well, but she, like Stan, just takes a while to wake up. She's just not verbal. So, during the early morning hours of breakfast and checking out and getting their things together for the day, the three of them stay by each other, knowing neither of the two beside them will mess with them too much.

Stan leans against the van beside the opened door with crossed arms and a blank, tired look. It's currently early in the morning, because apparently beforehand he had thought that getting up earlier to have more daylight during their day was a fantastic idea.

Of course, when that idea came to him, he hadn't thought about how grumpy both he and Eddie are in the mornings, and how nonverbal Beverly gets. Or how annoying Mike and Ben are, because they're both very much morning people, talking and laughing and being their usual selves, but somehow it's incredibly annoying. Meanwhile, there's Richie and Bill; neither morning people nor not morning people. Just...two teen boys functioning like zombies until they are awake enough who won't snap your head off if you confront them.

Stan casts his eyes to the side as Ben laughs at something Mike says to him as they put the suitcases back into the trunk. He frowns, crosses his arms tighter over his chest, and rolls his eyes. He tries to tell himself that the feeling in his chest is just his usual morning mood, not him becoming jealous at the simple fact that Mike is laughing with someone else. He sighs and half heartedly rolls his eyes at himself, tuning most of everyone out.

Currently, Richie and Bill are back on top of the van, just laying there until further notice. Eddie is sitting on the edge of the seat in front of the opened van door, staring - correction: glaring - at nothing in particular with a cup of shitty hotel coffee clenched in both hands. Bev is behind him, eyes closed, a half eaten cinnamon muffin on her stomach as she just lays in the row of seats. No one is quite lively at the moment, with the exception of the two morning people. For now, the excitement of everything has dwindled down. Though, Richie is talking Bill's ear off. His words are just slow and lazily spoken as if he's high. Stan knows that's about to change, both because as time passes by everyone is waking up more and more and also because he can hear Richie's words get livelier.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Mike asks suddenly.

It takes a moment, but Stan is quickly realizing that Mike is talking to him. Not Bill or Ben, or even Richie. But him. Stan turns his head to look at Mike, who has the kindest smile on his face despite the early hour, and his dark eyes are directly looking into his own. Stan hopes that he isn't blushing, and shrugs before speaking. "I know there's a few parks and museums. Maybe even a zoo or an aquarium, but I don't know how expensive everything is."

"We should go to Salem!" Richie suddenly yells out, sitting up from his position on the van and peers down at Stan and Mike before the latter can even respond. He sends a subtle wink the Jew's way as Mike looks to Stan to see his reaction.

From inside, Beverly starts to groan in annoyance but cuts herself off. Suddenly she's behind Eddie and poking her head out, the boy looking way more than annoyed at the close proximity as she leans on him for support. "Salem Witches!" She yells, suddenly lively and awake and verbal. "Fuck yes, can we go Stan?"

"Is that Salem even in Massive Two Shits?" Bill asks, still waking up and obviously not caring about pronouncing Massachusetts correctly.

Richie giggles. "Massive Two Shits," he repeats.

"Fucking grow up, Rich," Eds grumbles.

"Oh, like you don't find Massive Two Shits funny."

"It's not."

"Kinda is," Bev butts in, earning a glare from Eddie and a loud thank you from Richie, accompanied by Bill's agreement.

Stan rolls his eyes fondly. "The Witch Trials did, in fact, happen in Salem, Massachusetts," he tells them.

"So can we go? It'll be fun! Oooh, what if we get to see the exact spot where they hung the thirteen witches?"

"They're not real witches, Rich."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Well fuck that, man."

"I will fucking fight y-."

"Okay!" Bill shouts over Eddie's threat and sits up. He quickly moves to lean over the edge of the top of the van like Richie. "Keep the b-b-bickering to a minimum, pluh-please, until we're all a little more awake. Please."

When Eddie opens his mouth to talk back, Bill just looks at him and Eddie shuts his mouth, eyes going to Stan who gives him a Look. One that he gets told is a lot like a parent getting onto their kid. So, of course the curly haired boy uses it when he needs to, because it always works in whatever situation. Eddie licks his lips and stays quiet, and hands Bev the rest of the coffee. Behind Stan, Mike is motioning to Richie to zip his lips for the time being. At noticing some movement, Stan looks up and watches Richie do the action back and toss the invisible key to Mike. He can't help but smile softly at the interaction after Mike 'catches' it.

"I say we go to Salem," Ben speaks up for the first time, sharing his opinion on the matter. "We might not ever get a chance again."

"But we're in Boston," Eddie presses.

Stan frowns. "But things are also really fucking expensive here."

"If it were up to me, I'd skip Boston and go to Salem," Mike says. "Save the big city stuff for New York or something else. Besides, we can't spend all of our money in one place. We have a limited amount, so we gotta be smart about spending it. We only have one shot at this road trip."

"I'm w-with Mike. Do a few things there, it won't be too exp-p-pensive most likely, and just chill out."

Beverly, who is now sitting on the floorboard of the van by Eddie's feet, shitty cup of coffee between her thighs, asks, "Does going to Salem mess up with the route you made, Stan?"

The route. Stan certainly hasn't forgotten about it. It took months to get it right, to find roads that hit one major fun place in each state but to also find ways that wouldn't make them have to go through one state too many times. Eventually he got it right. It's the main reason he's in charge of the map, if anyone is being honest. He smiles, pleased that Beverly actually remembers it. "Depending on how far away Salem is, it shouldn't."

"I saw a sign on our way here for an exit for Salem. Think it's about..." Ben trails off and thinks for a moment. He then lights up some and nods. "fifteen-ish miles out of the city."

"Works for me," Bill says with a tiny shrug. "Work for y-you, Stan?"

Stan nods, appreciating how his friends are taking the route and all he made into consideration. He doesn't know why it's so surprising or so uplifting, but it is. "It does, yeah."

"G-Great! Everyone hop in, we can't waste away our day!"

+++

Beverly stays sitting up during the car ride, too excited to do much else. She's sitting in the same spot as the night before but instead of Richie and Eddie in the row of seats with her, it's actually Ben and Mike, the aforementioned boys sitting behind them while Bill drives once again, Stanley in the passenger's seat with the map. During the thirty minute ride, Beverly tries her best to not lean on Ben too much. At the same time though, she makes sure to not lean too far away on the sharper turns Bill takes that push her away from Ben. All the while, she's also trying to act as if sitting beside her crush isn't the main root of her excitement. It's hard, she'll admit, but it's also worth it.

“What d’you think there is to do in Salem?”

She shrugs at Ben’s question. Then, she’s looking at him and smiling. “What if there are actually witches and they teach some magic?” Her brows lift some. Obviously, that’s not going to happen. But a girl can dream, right?

Eddie scoffs from behind them. Mike, who’s talking to Stan and Bill about lunch plans, glanced behind him briefly to look at the other boy before focusing his attention back on the two up front. Bev turns some in her seat to look at Eddie properly, Ben doing the same; both are relatively surprised to see Richie fast asleep and sprawled out, head in Eddie’s lap. Beverly makes eye contact with Eddie and grins teasingly. The grin merely spreads as his cheeks turn a dark shade of pink.

She isn’t surprised when he ignores the look the best he can and says, “Witches aren’t real, Bev.”

“Okay, obviously,” she says. “But it’d be cool if they were! Right, Ben?”

Ben looks taken back but he recuperates quickly. He’s then nodding and smiling, agreeing with the redhead beside him. “Uh, yeah! It would be pretty neat.”

“C’mon, Eddie, you can't deny the truth! If they were real, think of all the cool magic you would be able to see them do! Or, better yet, if you were a witch.”

“You would be able to have a cat – or another animal,” Ben tells him, knowing that will win him over in an instant. Eddie has always wanted a pet – more specifically a cat – his entire life. Unfortunately for him, his mom never let him get one.

And it works. Bev watches as Eddie’s eyes brighten and how his expression shifts from slightly bored to excited. “Okay, it’s official, I’d much rather be a witch than see one.”

“Good. Because I think you already have a cat.”

At his questioning look, Bev simply points to his lap where Richie’s head is resting with his lanky arms around Eddie’s waist and face close to his stomach. Eddie blushes deeply, unable to get a proper sentence out. He crosses his arms and averts his eyes away from his two friends just as Mike turns around to look as well.

“Shut up,” Eddie mumbles the same time Mike lets out an aw at the sight. Though, he’s clearly fighting back a smile, face hot and pink with blush.

“It’s cute, Eddie,” Ben tells him.

Bev nods and smiles some more. “Adorable, actually.”

“Where’s Bill’s camera? We need a picture of this,” Mike says.

Eddie’s jaw drops. “No! No we don’t!”

“Don’t wake Richie up!” Bev whisper-shouts.

“Too late.”

Beverly covers her mouth with one hand as Eddie freezes up, but before anyone can say anything else the van is coming to a stop at a red light, and everyone’s attention is diverted to the windows. As she turns to look out of the window beside her, she catches Richie sit up from the corner of her eye. She’s tempted to look back just to see how much he’s blushing, but doesn’t. So, she keeps her eyes on the window. Even when Ben leans closer to her to look in the same direction, she doesn’t move. One of his arms go over the head rest and he sits up to look over her.

“Massive Two Shits is actually really pretty,” Bev says, eyeing the scenery before them. The vehicle finally starts to move again, causing them to pass by trees and plants and a few other cars in a blur.

“It’s not when you call it ‘Massive Two Shits’,” Stan mumbles from the front seat.

“But,” Richie starts, and Bev can hear his grin, “it is funny!”

“Massachusetts. Massive Two Shits. Whatever, same fucking thing here. Either way you say it, the state is still beautiful!” She exclaims with a smile, and motions outside.

“I have to agree,” Mike says.

“Me too,” Ben mutters.

She turns her head to look at him. At realizing how close the two of them are, she only inches back a little bit and gives him a warm smile, not thinking into too much detail about how he’s already looking at her. “Glad you agree, Ben.”

Mike sputters from his spot on the other side of Ben. “Hey!”

Bev laughs and leans to the side to look at him. “The same goes for you, Mikey.”

“Thank you.”

Not too long later, the Losers Club are officially in Salem, Massachusetts. Bill drives around for a few moments until he finds a café parking lot to park in. For a bit of time, the seven of them just sit and talk about what they can do in Salem - Mike got a brochure about the town from the front desk at the hotel they slept at the night before. Eventually, they settle on going their own ways for the first little bit of the trip. Eddie has to call his mom, Stan and Bill want to find something breakfast-like, and Bev, Ben, and Mike are content with just walking around for the time being.

So, that’s what they do.

“Remember to meet up at the Derby Drawf Light Station in an hour!” Stan calls out to everyone as they part ways.

Bev happily links her arms with Ben’s and Mike’s, turning her head over to smile at him. “Don’t worry your corkscrew curls off, Stanny! We’ll be there.”

“You better be!”

+++

“That was the longest twenty minutes of my life,” Richie complains as he and Eddie finally walk away from the payphone.

“Well, you didn’t have to come along, y’know,” Eddie tells him.

Richie shrugs, smiles, and bumps his shoulder with Eddie’s. The smile just grows as the familiar warmth from just touching his crush went through him. “Wanted to,” he says simply. Then, “Besides, who knows what would’ve happened if I let you go alone. Talking to Mrs. K never turns out as good as it just did! She would’ve dragged you back home through the phone, but I would have stopped her! What’s the look for? I so would’ve saved you! Who needs Big Bill or Mikey? You’ve got Trashmouth Tozier, ready to keep you from her suffocating clutches at a moment’s notice!”

Eddie laughs and shakes his head, rolling his eyes after. “My knight in shining armor,” he says sarcastically. “You’re so dramatic.”

Richie can only stare down at him for a moment. The midmorning’s sun rays are hitting Eddie just right, causing his usual dark brown eyes to look a bit lighter - more golden, if anything - and his freckles stick a bit more already. Short brown hair is styled neatly but looks soft to the touch. To put it simply, Eddie Kaspbrak looks absolutely stunning - which, hey, isn’t that big of a difference from any other day in Richie’s eyes, but still - and it’s taking everything in Richie to not reach over and kiss him.

So, he holds himself back. He forces himself to look in front of him instead of at his crush. He stuffs his hands in his cargo shorts’ pockets and says, “You’re the one who just mentioned a knight in shining armor, Eds, I merely said I can save you.”

“It’s the fucking same thing, dickhead! And seriously? ‘Eds’? We’ve talked about this, it’s not my name!”

“And it ain’t goin’ away, sweetcheeks, it’s been fourteen goddamn years,” he responds with in the best country accent he can muster up. It’s better than it has been, he knows, but it’s still not perfect.

It’s silent for a moment. And then, “Has it really been fourteen years?”

Richie nearly stops in his tracks. Actually, he does. He blinks, thinking about it, and then his brows raise. “Huh. It has, yeah.” It’s mind boggling, to be honest, to think about how long he’s been friends with Eddie, and even with Stan and Bill. Fourteen years. Nearly their entire lives.

“Never really… It doesn’t seem like it,” Eddie says and faces Richie. “Well, I mean, it does, in a sense, but. Like. I dunno.”

Richie chuckles. “Eloquent as ever, Spaghetti.”

“Fuck off. I mean, I… It just feels like I’ve known everyone else the same amount of time, when reality we’ve only known Bev, Ben, and Mike for six years. Not fourteen. It’s weird.”

“Yeah. I get it.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.” A beat of silence. “I feel like you should be telling me to fuck off by now.”

Eddie rolls his eyes with a fond smile and turns on his heels to walk away, giving Richie the bird as he did so. Richie starts walking as well, merely watching Eddie with what he knows Stan would describe as ‘heart eyes’ if he were there with them. So, when Eddie starts to speed up and start to jog, Richie notices instantly. He doesn’t have time to question Eddie, because suddenly the shorter boy is dashing away, Richie barely catching his words.

“Race ya to the light station!”

Richie sputters and quickly starts to run. “Th- what?! This isn’t fair, Eds, you were on the track team! Plus, you’re cheating - didn’t even count to three! Get fucking back here, asshole, we’re starting over!”

They don’t start over.

Richie doesn’t care, though. He is just happy to be able to spend some time with Eddie, to see the other laugh and have fun and be actually carefree. And he’s happy the he feels the same way. No school projects or assignments are looming over them, no deadlines for anything, no bullies, no suffocating Sonia Kaspbrak who hates every single one of Eddie’s friends except for maybe Bill – because, weirdly, a lot of adults love Bill – and they just aren’t in Derry anymore.

It’s nice. Fun. Freeing. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Richie tries to catch up with Eddie. The fucker was on the track team with Ben, and unfortunately for Richie, his long legs can’t exactly keep up; he isn’t athletic in the slightest. He was a stupid band kid during high school. And he really wants to catch up. He just can’t. So, he slows to a jog, letting out a quiet groan and some unkind words about how stupid the amount of energy running takes, and eventually just settles for a fast paced walk. The heat of the summer sun doesn’t help anything.

A few people are looking at him, and Eddie, oddly. But it’s not the bad odd – more confused, if anything, about two old teens running around as the curse one another out jokingly. They aren’t in Derry anymore. People aren’t so blatant about how weird and possibly stupid it is to see two friends genuinely have some fun.

Richie shrugs the looks off and continues his fast walking. “Eddie! C’mon, man, I’m not a runner like you!” He huffs and stops walking to lean against one of the buildings to catch his breath better. Not too long later, Eddie is standing in front of him with a cocky smirk. Richie chuckles and gently pushes his face away, causing Eddie to stumble backwards a step. “You’re a little bitch.”

Pushing him away is more for his own benefit, if anything. Because Eddie has gone from absolutely stunning to really fucking hot within moments. His hair is a slight mess, some of it pushed back at the front and a few strands sticking in different directions thanks to the wind from how fast he ran, and he’s a bit sweaty but not much. His skin is flushed and he’s breathing heavily, too. It takes all of Richie’s willpower to not do anything. To push that inter turmoil of “I want to jump my best friend’s bones but I can’t for obvious reasons and it sucks” away.

Eddie laughs and shoves Richie’s hand off of him. “And you’re a lazy bitch,” he retaliates with.

At first, for a split second, Richie’s confused. But then—

Right, Richie reminds himself, I called him a little bitch.

He grins. “You betcha!”

“Alright, c’mon, let's cool off. Wanna go in this store for a few minutes?”

“You think we have time?”

“You are worried about time?”

“Eds, I love you, but I don’t wanna face Stan’s wrath already just one day into the road trip.”

“Just five minutes? Please? It’ll be fun!” And then Eddie is doing the puppy dog eyes. For the full effect, he even sticks out his bottom lip a little bit.

Richie groans. “Okay! Sheesh, fine, no need to bring out the puppy eyes.”

Richie doesn’t have time to feel bad, to even think about how late they might actually be, because right then and there, Eddie is grinning from ear to ear and dragging him by the wrist into the little shop they are standing by.

+++

Mike holds the Polaroid camera safely in his hands. Before they all left the van, he had asked Bill if he can use it and take a few pictures. Bill had agreed, so long as Mike didn’t break it or ruin anything. He’s only taken one picture so far, and it’s of Bev and Ben standing together by the tiny, white square building of a lighthouse near some water. The two didn’t notice he took the picture, both too engrossed non whatever they were talking about to notice but they also had looked relaxed. Happy, wide grins and fond eyes paired with the scenery of the Light Station makes for a good picture.

Now, Mike is just wondering when in the hell his two friends are going to get their sit together and date, because he knows Ben’s statement of being over Bev had been a lie those months ago whether he realized it or not. And Bev clearly feels the same way. Mike just doesn’t know for sure how long that’s been a thing, but it’s a thing nonetheless. Everyone already has to deal with Richie and Eddie, they don’t need another oblivious blooming relationship. Or else, Stan might just rip his hair out from how stupid their friends are being, and Mike, despite loving his friends, can certainly relate to that feeling.

He smiles to himself, content. So, maybe four out of the seven of them need to figure out some things before they make Stan lose his mind, but he honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. They’re all together. Happy. Currently having a grand time on a road trip that just started. The nerves that he had felt just the day before are gone for the most part. He doesn’t have a worry, right now.

He lifts the camera to take a picture of the horizon, but stops himself right as he’s about to as two familiar voices meet his ears.

“—and, like, it’s gonna take the entire day but I think I’ve figured out what to do. We can walk to these spots, which takes from five to ten minutes if I did the math right, and I think we’ll have more fun as a group.”

“SSS-Sounds really fun, man. The others are gonna be excited.”

Mike turns and spots Stan and Bill right away, walking close together as the former holds a pamphlet. Bill has a large coffee in one hand, and with the other he’s pointing to something. Mike just stared at them both for a moment. Then, he lifts his camera and takes a picture. The film slides out and he grabs it before it can fall just as both Stan and Bill look at him from hearing the shutter of the camera. Stan’s ears turn the slightest bit pink, and Bill grins wide.

“What w-was that f-for?” Bill asks.

Mike smiles and shrugs. “I just wanted to take a picture of you two. Also got one of Ben and Bev earlier,” he tells him. Then, he’s handing one picture to Bill and the other to Stan. “Here.”

The honest truth is that Mike just wanted to take a picture of Bill – don’t get him wrong, he loves Stan to pieces – because he looks great. Not only in the sense of attractiveness but also in the way where he seems relaxed. Calm, even. Nothing’s bothering him. He’s just having fun with his friends, something Mike hadn’t truly seen since they were kids.

The stress of senior year had all eaten them up. Not one of them had been put together well during those horrendous months of their last high school year. Each of them had to calm Eddie down from a panic attack at least twice because the poor boy was so worried about not passing, not being able to get away from his mom. Stan shut down a few times, causing the Losers to then help him time and time again. Bev had a mental break down after Christmas break and chopped her hair again and even dyed it blue until the school made her dye it back to a ‘normal’ color.

Out of the seven of them, Ben, Mike, and Richie seemed like the better collected of them all, which is far from the truth. Richie had been tempted to drop out, and Mike had given a good ‘you made this far, you can make another few months’ speech to him; Mike is pretty sure the others said something similar to him at some point. Ben had started to go to parties pretty often just to find something to help him relax in between major assignments – alcohol, generally. And between football at the beginning of the school year and school in general, Mike was pretty keyed up as well.

Then there’s Bill. He couldn’t relax once, too stressed and worried about anything and everything, and he probably slept the least out of all of them. Mike’s surprised he didn’t turn out being 72% coffee. It was honestly a crazy experience for all of them. One they don’t want to relive, but one they will because, yes, college is a thing that they’re going to do.

But right now, Bill isn’t stressed. Sure, Mike knows that he misses Georgie a shit ton, who Bill is also bound to worry about, no doubt, but he’s not on his third cup of coffee already from lack of sleep. He’s not scowling from stress, or even showing an ounce of any negativity. Mike smiles more at noticing that, and glances at Stan as he leaves the two for Ben and Beverly who are starting to walk over.

Bill smiles fondly at the picture Mike took. “This is a g-good photo, Mike.” His blue eyes then lift and lock with Mike’s brown ones. But he quickly diverges his stare, cheeks tingeing pink.

Mike chuckles softly. “Thanks, Bill.”

And, alright, Mike isn’t dumb. He can read people. He knows himself. He has a crush on Bill, who likes him back - if the blushing and nervous laughs and that kiss from New Year’s are anything to go by - and you may be wondering: why aren’t you dating, then? Simple answer: Mike also can tell Stan likes him - if the blushing and tiny nervous smiles and lingering stares are anything to go by - which puts him in a predicament. Because Mike only likes Stan as a friend; he likes Bill. So, naturally, Mike doesn’t want to hurt Stan in anyway. If Stan didn’t like Mike, though…

Mike would have asked Bill out by now.

But also there’s this thing called homophobia (or, well, biphobia), so maybe that’s a lie.

So scratch what was said earlier, all seven of them need to figure out some things before someone loses their mind.

Beverly suddenly jumping on his back pulls Mike out of his thoughts. He catches her and stays balanced easily, and once Bill takes the camera from him, he securely puts his hands under her thighs to keep her up. The auburn haired boy is quick to snap a picture as Bev smacks a wet kiss onto Mike’s cheek. A grin spreads across his face.

“Aw, Bev, love you too,” he says laughing. Then, he turns his head and kisses her cheek, less went and more gentle.

She tightens her hold on him as a way to give him a hug. “You’re a sweetheart, Mikey.”

“Where’s Dumb and Dumber?” Stan asks. It’s not directed to anyone in particular, but because Bill and Ben are looking at the picture of Mike and Bev, Mike is the one to answer.

“No clue.”

Bev rolls her eyes. “They probably got distracted by something, knowing them,” she says.

“It probably wasn’t a good idea to let them walk alone,” Mike thinks aloud.

“Wait, who’s Dumb and Dumber in this situation?” Ben asks, looking between his friends. “I mean, they’re both pretty smart - Richie made straight A’s with ease.”

“The fucker was stressed for nothing,” Bev mumbles, and everyone nods in agreement.

“Eddie has more c-c-common sense, s-sometimes,” Bill speaks up.

“Sometimes,” Stan repeats, stressing the word to make a point. “But they need to hurry up. I said an hour, and it’s been an hour.”

“Give ‘em a few more minutes,” Mike says. “They’ll be here in no time.”

Richie and Eddie are not, in fact, there in no time.

Twenty minutes later the two remaining Losers walk up. The look Stan gives them – and Mike, too – makes everyone laugh, and even Stan gives the tiniest of smiles so nothing is really taken too seriously. After Eddie shows them a crystal rock he bought, explaining in detail with fast words and very little breaths of air how ‘Witches’ use crystals for magic and different energies, they set off to go on with their day.

+++

The plan Stan – “Give it up for Stan the Man with the Plan, folks!” – came up with while he was with Bill had them going to seven different spots in Salem, all within walking distance, which doesn’t include the Derby Wharf Light Station.

They walk to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. It isn’t a long walk at all, maybe ten minutes at most, but they spent about an hour at the 9-acre park. They don’t think that they’ll spend much time there – 30 minutes at most – but then they explore a few buildings and a ship or two and whatever a wharve is, and suddenly an hour has gone by. They go the Salem Witch Museum next, which is another ten minute walk, and all of them groan with relief at seeing it was inside a building. The group spends an even longer time in there.

Upon arriving, they got a very dramatic re-telling and history lesson of what happened in 1692 with life-size props and such. Richie wants to complain for the sole reason he wasn’t expecting to learn anything, but he can’t because he’s too interested and invested along with his friends (Mike and Ben especially) as they figured out that the “witches” had been no different that the blacklisted Communists in the ‘50s and the Japanese-Americans in WWII who had been encamped. Then they learn some stuff about witches today, and witchcraft as well, and then they’re off to the Peabody Essex Museum (Richie makes a lot of crude jokes simply because of the word Essex). By the time they get through the museum – it doesn’t take too long, especially with how fast they all walk and they don’t take too much time looking at the different things – they’re all starving.

The rest of the day is like that. Going to and from different popular sights in the town. After getting a cheap lunch, they do the Hocus Pocus Tour, visit a Witch House, go to the memorial for the Witch Trials and end everything with a wax museum because apparently Stan likes museums. They have fun the entire time. Bev buys a witch’s hat from a gift shop, which not so surprisingly suits her, and they got to see where the thirteen women were hung. There’s a continuous debate on whether or not witches are actually real the entire day - nothing serious, obviously.

By the time they are finished, the sun is starting to lower in the sky. Not drastically so, given that it’s only close to five, and everyone is tired from walking around everywhere. Ben and Stan lead the way, the two talking about something or another, and Mike is right behind them with Beverly on his back once again, the witch hat on her head. Eddie is walking beside them, and as he goes on about the various cool things in Salem, the other to listen carefully. Richie and Bill are taking up the end.

“Did you realize it’s been fourteen years since we first started being friends?” Richie asks suddenly, eyes on Eddie for a moment before moving to Stan, and then finally he looked to Bill.

Bill blinks for a moment. It takes a second for him to comprehend what Richie just said to him, but when it finally clicks, his mouth parts slightly. “Really?” That can’t be right. Can it?

“Not the Losers, just… Us, and Stan and Eddie.”

Oh, that makes more sense. “That’s…” Bill can’t think of anything, so he just whistles lowly and mutters a, “Wow.” Then, “What the hell, that’s almost our enti-tire lives!”

“I know!” Richie exclaims back. “And like, what- who gets to say they’ve stayed friends with someone from elementary school? Or even middle school? It’s fucking crazy, man.”

“Dad told me a m-m-month or so ago that what we have is s-something sp-special,” Bill tells Richie. Briefly, he thinks to that day and how Zach Denbrough was even prompted to say that.

At first Bill doesn’t remember, but then it all comes back to him in an instant. It had been after one of those rare occasions during the school year where they did an impromptu sleepover at the Denbrough household, all cooped up in Bill’s bedroom despite the size. Nothing dramatic happened. They laughed most of the time and played games, and everyone was reluctant to leave the next morning despite the fact they made plans to go to the clubhouse that afternoon. Once everyone was gone, Zack Denbrough stopped Bill, explained that not many people stayed best friends with one person from their younger years - let alone six - and then went on to say that the seven of them had - have - something special.

“Why did he have to word it as if we’re all dating?”

Bill rolls his eyes. “Who knows, maybe we are and w-w-we’re just too stu-stupid to realize it,” he jokes.

Richie laughs. “Wouldn’t that be something.” He pauses, dramatically of course. He then reaches over and Bill grins as Richie winks at him just as Richie puts his hand in one of Bill’s pockets. “Babe.” Then, he’s pulling out the keys and dashing to the van. “I’m driving! Everyone get in the fucking car, we’re going to McDonald’s!”

Bill’s jaw drops for a second and then he’s laughing. “You f-f-f-fucker!”

“Oh, hell no!” Stan is then racing after their friend. “You’re not driving, Richie! I love you, but I do not trust your driving skills!”

“I’ve been driving longer than any of you shits!”

“Doesn’t equate to safe driving!” Eddie shouts, cupping his mouth.

“Says the one with the road rage,” Mike comments, earning a laugh from Ben and Bev, and the finger from Eddie.

Bill chuckles and steps beside Eddie while they walk the rest of the short distance. “It’s true, Eddie. Y-You have some b-b-b-bad road rage.”

“Whatever,” he mumbles.

None of them manage to talk Richie out of driving - and poor Stan tries so hard to get someone else to drive - so they all get into their respective seats, but Ben takes Richie’s old spot and Bill takes Ben’s (not so he can sit beside Mike. That’d be absurd!).

(...Okay, fine, it’s so he can sit beside Mike but the others don’t need to know that).

Then finally, they’re off to McDonald’s. They chant the fast food’s name for a solid thirty seconds until they realize they don’t know where a McDonald’s is.

And that’s how they spend forty minutes driving around searching for one.

TAGLIST: @samanthador1205 @snapmyneckandcallmeloki @eddiekazier

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infinitesimal-grey · 5 years

Text

Prince Starved

Chapter 2

Prinxiety G/t College AU

Collab with R and @hiddendreamer67

Links to other chapters and taglist in the reblog

Welcome back to: gratuitous fearplay

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, bullying, violence, choking, general fear

Word count: 1,485

The ginger smirked and exchanged a look with his friends. He appraised Virgil from his stance looming above the human. "Hmm, nah looks like this place is pretty full. How ‘bout you get lost instead?"

Virgil felt his chest ache slightly from the sheer terror of it all, but didn't let it show. "How 'bout you? I'm not leavin' 'til I'm done here, so find another table or fuck off." What the hell are you doing??? These're Giants you can't do anything against them! Nonono augh you already said it!

The Giant scooped up Virgil, coiling his pale fingers around the human’s body tightly. He lifted Virgil inches away from his face. "How. about. no. You're Roman's friend, right?" He grinned menacingly practically spitting the giant's name. Several of his friends laughed and sneered.

Roman, meanwhile, was distracted with Camden calling his name for the drink order. The human barista walked Virgil's hot cocoa out from behind the smaller, human bar built on top of the giant counter while Camden handed him the giant sized cup. The miniscule human drink was in a cardboard tray meant to make it easier for giants to carry. Roman carefully tried to pinch the tray with between two fingers from the human barista. His name tag read Remy, one of Roman's fellow frat members.

It was then that Remy spotted the trouble going down. He looked up at Roman with wide eyes, "Roman! Your friend!"

At the mini barista's words Roman whipped his head around, golden brown eyes instantly locking onto the table across the cafe. Roman's heart skipped a beat when he couldn't see Virgil where he left him. He immediately abandoned both drinks. Roman's eyes flicked to the redhead standing there and narrowed his eyes. Roman recognized the bully from theater and let out a primal growl deep in his throat that he didn't even know he could emit. The giant immediately started storming his way over with all the rage of a chrome knight.

Virgil felt his stomach drop as he was lifted up-this time in a rough grip without warning or consent. Oh fuck, oh fuck. He kept his brave exterior though, keeping the glare up toward the giant. "Put me down."

"Put him down he says," the ginger mocked to his friends, "No. I'm not leaving till I'm done here." he used his own words against him and smiled sinisterly at Virgil, regarding him like a mouse caught in his claws.

Virgil glared, barely keeping himself from shuddering at the sinister grin. "Well I say ya' already are, so how about you fuck. off. ?" What the fuck am I doing. He's going to fucking hurt you if you don't SHUT UP Virge this is why we don't interact with giants!

"You little sh-" The Giant couldn't even finish his insult before Roman appeared in his full six foot five glory. Well, six foot five according to giant scale. To Virgil he was well over a 100 foot skyscraper. Roman vice gripped the ginger's throat, cupping his other hand under Virgil and squeezing the throat hand until the other giant had no choice but to drop Virgil and claw at his own throat. Roman's hand immediately curled around the tiny human and pressed him to his chest protectively. Fury from hell itself blazed in his eyes. Comrade’s friends froze, unsure of what to do without risking triggering Roman into doing worse.

“Huh. I guess your bark is worse than your bite.” Roman’s eye’s sparked dangerously.

Remy and Camden at behind the counter averted their eyes. Camden knew Comrade from working stage crew and Remy heard Roman and the others bitch about the bully and his goonies all the time. It’s not his fault, Remy works long hours and has nothing to do but to listen for gossip.

Virgil's eyes widened, feeling his fear finally betray him as he shook. He watched Roman’s tan hand grip the pale ginger's throat until he found himself falling, only to land in another hand-though this time he wasn't in a fist, instead was cupped up close to a chest... Oh fuck he’s gonna start a fight.

Virgil tried to speak, but his voice came out shaky, barely above a whisper. "Please don't start a-a fight.."

Roman's eyes burned but they flicked downward and smoldered at Virgil's soft words. He growled once more at the ginger, sending a glare worth a thousand scorching suns into the other's eyes. The ginger snarled and held his likely bruised throat, but knowing when he was beaten the giant backed off, signalling for his cronies to leave with him.

When the bell on the door signaled their leave Roman peeled back his hand just enough so he could see Virgil and vice versa. Roman dampened his glare into intense worry but the residual fury didn't completely disappear.

Virgil took a few deep breaths to calm himself, letting out a long sigh before he finally shifted to look up at Roman. "Uh.. Thanks." He turned his gaze away, staring off to the side just so he didn't have to meet Roman's gaze... He'd seen his best friend in plenty of moods, but looking up at him like this... God, it was overwhelming.

Roman's eyes melted. "Hey- are you ok?" He shifted so Virgil was cupped in two palms and held him to his eyes, nudging his arm lightly with a thumb. Roman scanned him, trying to see any damage, but not finding much due to the many layers Virgil always wore.

Virgil hummed slightly, shrugging. He winced slightly from the poke, but didn't acknowledge it. "I'm fine, Ro. Let's just.. have our hot chocolate."

Roman whined slightly, barely audible, before nodding, "Ok." He brought Virgil back down to his chest. He walked back to the drink counter, careful to keep Virgil steady, and held the tray with his hot chocolate out to Virgil.

Virgil sighed quietly. Guess he was staying here, in Roman’s palm... though admittedly, Roman's hands weren't such a bad place to sit. Virgil reached out, tentatively taking the hot chocolate. He blew at the top a few times, before taking a small sip, smiling softly as the warmth and flavor flowed through his body. "They know how t' make drinks at this one, that's for sure."

"Mhmm, been coming here for a while with Patton. I try to get something different each time because everything is so good." Roman picked up his own hot cocoa and looked over at the table that now sat abandoned. He gulped, feeling uneasy just looking at it with what happened. "Wanna just go for a walk?" Roman ran his thumbnail down Virgil's spine gently, not even knowing he was doing so. It was more to absently calm himself than Virgil.

Virgil shuttered slightly at the touch, but it didn't.. feel bad. If anything, it was relaxing... "Sure." He hummed slightly, sipping his hot chocolate.

Roman nodded, heading outside and walking along one of the trails.

Virgil looked around, taking in the scenery. "I usually just go to the one on the Human side a' campus.. I've never really come over to this side of it, in all honesty." The human chuckled slightly. "No wonder I've never seen ya'."

"Huh I guess that makes sense. Giants can be kind of dicks. I wonder if we would have crossed paths by chance if we never found out we go to the same college." Roman’s eyes flicked downward guiltily,

"Maybe.. I’ve never really, gone anywhere that Giants could go though. For uh, reasons stated." Virgil chuckled a bit. He took a long draw from his cooling drink.

"It makes sense why you guys can visit anywhere but we can't, and thank god that law was passed." Roman made a disgusted frown.

"Yeah, thank fuck. Those guys were jerks." Virgil agreed.

Roman glared into the distance, "If they come near you again I can and will shove a rapier up their hind sides." He looked entirely serious as if he were swearing on his ancestors.Shit wait did I just say you instead of us or me.

Virgil felt his face flush. Did he say You?? He quickly hid his blushing face by way of his paper cup. If he mentions anything, I’ll just say the hot chocolate made my face hot. Or I'll just die on the spot. That works too.

Happy Monday, I hope none of you have died during the last school week, I hear many people are having AP exams, good luck if you are!

Please ask to be added or removed from the taglist via reblog or comment ♡!

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thorne93 · 5 years

Text

Stan Lee University (Part 11)

Prompt: What would the Avengers be like in college, more importantly, what would they be like if Y/N existed around them?

Word Count: 3175

Warnings: drama, language, betrayal, violence

Notes: This is based on a HC from @carryonmyswansong. They helped brainstorm and write part of this series. In this AU, no one will have powers, everyone is a normal human. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong

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

Monday, on an early October morning, you were back in physics lab. You could hardly bare to even look at Stephen. He probably heard of your shitty decision and judged you for it. Who wouldn’t? He said the guy was trouble, and you didn’t pay any attention to it.

Stephen and you worked quietly, only speaking when you had to. At one point, you got up to swap out some supplies, and he saw his chance. He leaned over the table quickly and caught Tony and Bruce’s attention.

“Hey, what’s up with Y/N?” he asked, gesturing with his head toward you.

“You haven’t heard?” Bruce questioned.

“If I had, would I be asking?” Stephen shot.

“Y/N got scammed, okay?” Tony said, leaning forward, his voice low. “She hooked up with that asshole Loki. He left before sunrise.”

“So she got stood up. She doesn’t seem the type to let that bring her down this bad.”

Tony shook his head. “She found out later she was just a bet. It wasn’t just an old fashioned one night stand. He literally used her for money.”

“He...did what now?” Stephen asked, clear anger in his voice.

Bruce cleared his throat to signal you were on your way back and everyone shifted back in their position.

“Thanks for running those numbers,” Stephen said kindly.

You gave him an incredulous look. “What? No statement about how you want to check the math? Nothing about how it’s elementary calculus?”

He shook his head. “Not today. Not unless you work better when someone’s berating you. I could arrange that.”

On any other day, that quip might be cute. But you’d had your fill of smart assed men. You rolled your eyes and took a deep breath, getting back to the lab.

------------------

When lab ended, you left the trio of guys and nearly ran back to your dorm, your safe haven. You pulled out homework and immediately started on it. Meanwhile, Stephen was looking for Loki.

As luck would have it, Loki was in the middle of the courtyard talking to three people, walking towards him. As soon as they approached, Stephen reeled back and punched Loki square in the jaw, sending him to the ground. He spit out blood and looked up at Stephen.

“Are you fucking insane?” he asked, wiping his jaw. “The hell is wrong with you?”

But Stephen had already turned around, leaving.

A knock came to your dorm door, but you didn’t hear it. You were on the patio outside of your room. A small concrete slab with two chairs and one small table. Your homework was on it while you worked.

A moment later, you heard a voice. A voice you weren’t sure you wanted to hear.

“Y/N?”

You stopped writing, but didn’t look up as you said, “If you’re here to be a dick or banter, I’m not in the mood.”

“I heard what happened,” he offered softly.

You pressed your lips into a firm line.

“You haven’t been to class.”

“Observant, aren’t we?”

He sighed as he continued. “I don’t know you all that well, maybe not as well as your other friends, but you don’t seem like the type to get this… depressed over one asshole. So what’s wrong?”

You looked up at him, a flash of anger in your eyes. “You wanna know what’s wrong? Everything.” You sighed heavily and sat back, running your hands over your face, your hair.

Stephen took this as a cue to sit down beside you. “Okay, so tell me. I’m all ears.”

“Since when are you a therapist?” you questioned harshly.

“Since I worry why you’re not in class. You were the most obnoxiously optimistic and happy person I knew on this campus and now you never smile.”

At that, you dropped some of the anger towards him. This wasn’t all his fault. It was partially his fault because you really just wished he would’ve made a move sooner, then you wouldn’t have just latched onto Loki because he was the first guy to show interest.

“My friend Wanda isn’t my friend any more, and it’s all because of some stupid fucking internship. It’s not even the internship I care about. It’s the way she got it. It’s the fact that she felt she needed to defile my name to take it from me. My first love and I called it quits for the first time this semester, I thought I could move on with someone like Loki, but I was just a notch on his belt. To top that off, Bucky knew about the bet. He said he forgot, which, I guess I believe but still… he didn’t warn me. I just thought there was more to us, that we had history and he’d warn me. And I thought I was smarter than this. Like… I should’ve seen it for miles what Loki was up to, but I was so god damn blind. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could move on and be with someone besides Bucky, you know?”

He nodded.

“I mean, yeah it sucks that the first guy I gave myself to after my ‘first’ was just an asshole, but that… I could get over that. But graduation is fast approaching and Wanda felt okay doing what she did, and her and her brother won’t speak to me. Our group feels divided and I hate it. Clint and Nat are going to get married after graduation and I won’t see him as much. Then we’ll all go off and our lives will be different.” You shook your head. “I don’t know. This is a lot of stuff coming to surface I guess,” you said with a laugh.

“Well that’s good. You’re recognizing it.”

“Yeah, I mean, the Loki thing hurt, if I’m being honest. Being used, being made a joke, being…. Well used for sex, I felt cheap afterwards, but I’ve come to realize that’s his downfall not mine. I trusted him, he betrayed that, not me.”

“I’m glad you see past that.”

You nodded. “But I can’t see past all my friends, friends I’ve grown up with, betraying me, going down different paths… I’m losing friends right and left and I don’t know what to do and I guess I got scared.”

You smiled, but tears started to fall and your face fell into your hands. Immediately, he scooted closer and wrapped an arm around you.

“Well you’ve got one here, right now…”

He held you for a long time while you cried. He didn’t crack any jokes. He didn’t try to leave. He didn’t judge you. He just… held you. It was exactly what you needed in that moment.

When it got dark outside, you offered for him to join you inside. He grabbed your homework and you went in, leading the way. He put your things down on your desk.

“Hey, are you hungry?” Stephen suddenly offered.

You took a second to pay attention to your stomach. “Now that you mention it…” You trailed off.

“Care to come with me?”

“You gonna take me out to eat?”

“Not exactly.”

“Where are we going?” you wondered with curiosity burning in your tone.

“Grab your purse,” he instructed with a smile. You did as you were told and followed him out of your room. He walked with you across the campus, until you reached his dorm buildings. Well, you assumed they were his, as he was getting into a car just outside of them.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

He shook his head. “No. This is a surprise. Is that okay?”

You eyed him up and down as he backed out of the space before saying, “Yeah… Yeah it’s okay.”

“Good.”

You leaned up and turned on the radio, flipping stations until a good song came on.

“That’s a good one,” he noted.

“Oh yeah? You pick the next one. We’ll see if you pass my music test,” you challenged.

“Oh, I’m gonna make you have an ear orgasm, just wait,” he assured with jest.

You grinned, waiting for the song to end and Stephen to impress you. And he did. You two listened to the radio for a short while before he pulled into a grocery store.

“What are we doing here? Oh, are you stocking up?”

He shook his head.

“No. We’re gonna make dinner.”

“You can cook?”

“You still ask stupid questions?” he shot back with a smile and you couldn’t help but laugh.

The two of you entered the store, with him grabbing a little shopping basket.

“So what are we getting?” you wondered as you walked happily by his side. You weren’t worried about Loki, or Bucky, or wondering why your friends had betrayed you. You were just… with him, and right now, that’s all you wanted.

“Stuff for a pizza. You do eat pizza, right?”

“You still ask stupid questions?” you fired at him, a wide grin on your face.

“Pepperoni okay?”

“Always.”

With that, you two set off to find dough, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.

“Wait,” you said, walking toward the cashier, your hand on his arm. “Where are we going to make this stuff?”

“I’ve got a place,” he assured.

“Your dorm?”

“You’ll see,” he informed with an air of mystery.

You eyed him curiously. “What do you have planned?”

“If you’re determined to ruin the mystery, I’ll tell you,” he said with a soft smile.

You shook your head. “No, no. I’ll be good.”

“Great. Then we can move on.”

He checked out and you two got back in the car. The two of you drove along, in comfortable quiet, surrounded by the sound of the radio. You laid your head back against the headrest and let the feeling of warmth wash over you. Being around Stephen felt easy, it felt… comfortable. It felt comforting. It was so inviting.

With Loki, you felt like you had to put on a show of sorts. With Bucky, you felt like you had to pretend to be the perfect girlfriend.

With as much as Stephen goaded you, you somehow knew that if you made a mistake, that if you had a rough day, that if you admitted you were struggling, he wouldn’t judge you. He wouldn’t look down on you. In a way, with all the grief he gave you, you knew if you needed help, he’d be there for you.

After twenty minutes, you were at a house, a very nice house.

“What is this place?”

“It’s a home. Mine. My parents home to be exact.”

“So do you live here?”

“On the weekends. I stay on campus, just to get more homework done and not have to commute.”

“Smart.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying.” He smirked before grabbing the groceries and getting out of the car. You followed his lead and he went inside the house.

“So your parents live here?”

“Normally, but they’re in Europe right now. Won’t be back for two more weeks. So this is all mine.”

“Must be exciting.”

“The only exciting thing about is getting to cook, in a real kitchen. Not a hot plate in a room.”

You walked with him around a large quartz island in the kitchen. “Hey, a hot plate has made my life bearable, don’t knock it.”

“Yes, bearable, that’s what I am for in life,” he shot back with an eye roll. “Now, have you ever made a pizza before?”

“Once or twice.”

“Great. Roll out the dough on a sheet. Should be next to the oven.”

You went searching, when you turned around you saw a six burner stove. “Holy shit. This kitchen is serious.”

“You like?”

“I love. I wish I had a kitchen to cook in all the time.”

“Where do your parents live?”

“Oh they live almost an hour away from here.”

“Well if you ever need a real kitchen, just let me know and I’ll be happy to hook you up.”

You smiled and bowed, pretending to curtsey. “Well thank you, good sir.” Again, you looked for the sheet, opening up a custom cabinet to reveal them. You got out the sheet and opened the dough and started to knead it onto the pan.

“What are you going to be doing, while I do all this hard work?”

“I’m going to be creating the best sauce you’ve ever tasted.”

“That’s big talk. If it doesn’t live up to the hype, I can never trust you again,” you stated with a sideways look.

He laughed as he set to working on the sauce at the stove.

“Music?”

“No, i have to work in complete silence,” you said in a stoic voice and face.

“Oh,” he said, frowning to himself.

You couldn’t hold back your laughter and burst out laughing. “Joking, I’m joking, Stephen. Music is fine. In fact, I’ll go crazy if it stays quiet.”

“Oh good. I was about to kick you out if you were serious,” he said with a look of relief on his face.

He then told an unforeseen entertainment system to play classic rock. “This okay?”

“More than okay.”

“Alright, sauce is ready.”

“Crust too.”

“Fantastic,” he mused, happily as he walked over and began to pour the sauce. “Cheese me,” he ordered in jest as he held out his hand. You obeyed with a giddy grin. He sprinkled the cheese and then turned to you. “That enough?”

“Not by a long shot.” You grabbed the cheese and nearly doubled the amount.

He laughed when you were done, grabbing the pepperoni.

“Okay, is it ready?” he asked.

You nodded, eager to just eat.

“Alright, here we go.” He popped it inside the oven and set a timer. “And that’s dinner,” he said happily, crossing his arms, clearly pleased with himself.

“I hope so. I’m fucking starving man.”

“Aww, a woman after my own heart.”

You smiled. “Hey, thank you for… this. I’ve been pretty depressed, clearly, and I’m glad you’re trying to pull me out of it.”

“What do you mean? I just don’t like making pizza alone,” he said with a grin as he looked at you from across the island. He shook his head. “Seriously though, it’s no big deal. I could tell you were upset and I didn’t want to see that.”

“Thank you.”

“Wanna hear a confession?” he asked, looking nervous, or worried.

“Sure, unless it’s that you were given a wager to make pizza with me,” you teased bleakly.

He shook his head. “No, I took a bet to get you to go the store with me.”

You rolled your eyes, making him smile again.

“No, that night at Tony’s party… I didn’t need a ride.”

You stood up, worried he was going to say something shitty. Were you really going to go two-for-two here? But before you overreacted, you waited for him to finish.

“I saw that Loki was being a real shithead to you, and I could see how it affected you. I thought you might like someone to talk to, and I thought maybe you didn’t want to be alone.”

“I still really appreciate that,” you noted with a sideways smile.

“I’m glad I did it. You didn’t deserve what that asshole did, that night or the other thing.”

“You seem to be the only one who thinks so. Everyone else seems to feel like I should’ve seen it.”

“Trusting someone shouldn’t be a fault,” he retorted.

“Thanks.”

“Sure. If anything, Loki being a dick was a good thing, for me at least. Means I got some alone time with you.”

You frowned, ready to question him on that when the timer went off. He pulled out the pizza and gathered plates and napkins. He told you where to find some Cokes, and he cut the pizza. He plated you a piece and then himself and showed you the way to the living room where he turned on something light, house renovation shows.

“What a stupid choice for counters,” you noted.

“Don’t like them?”

“No, they’re going to close in that already small space. It’s stupid.”

“You’re very passionate about this.”

“I’m passionate about everything.”

“I can see that,” he noted.

As soon as the two of you sat down and you bit into the pizza, you turned to Stephen. “Holy shit,” you said, resting your hand on his shoulder, “this pizza is better than some I’ve had at restaurants.”

“Told you, secret’s in the sauce,” he said with a proud grin.

“I’m serious!” you insisted. “It must be the sauce. It’s got so much actual flavor! I can taste the garlic, and the oregano. Oh my god.”

“Be careful there, don’t ruin the fabric of the couch with your orgasm,” he teased and you laughed. Ordinarily, you’d blush, but this pizza was just too good to care.

The two of you ate and drank, commentary on the show flowing freely between you two until the pizza was entirely gone and you were nearly in a food coma.

“So you know why I want to be a psychiatrist, why do you want to be a doctor?” you asked, turning your head towards him.

“Money,” he said, his eyes closed.

You laughed. “Bullshit. We don’t do this shit for the money. Tell me.”

“Prestige.”

“Strange, so help me God, if you don’t--”

“My sister. My sister is why, okay?”

“What’s… what about her?” you questioned, unsure what to say or ask.

“My sister. Uh, when I was 11, I helped her when she got hurt on her bike. I was sort of… fascinated by the experience.”

You nodded, sensing there was more to this story, so you kept quiet, letting him talk.

“But uh....last summer, we were in the pool. She had a cramp… I didn’t hear her. She just… had the cramp and went under. I didn’t see that she wasn’t above the surface until it was… well until it was too late.” He took a deep breath. You could hear his voice getting thicker.

“That wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but I feel responsible and…. I don’t know. If I can help save one life by being a doctor, maybe it won’t… maybe I’ll repay the debt I owe her.”

You immediately hugged him and he cried. You held him tight, close until he seemed to get it out of his system.

“Stephen, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to push you,” you apologized.

He shook his head. “It’s fine. That’s the first time I’ve said it out loud.”

You gave him a small, sympathetic smile. “I’m honored that you shared that with me. Thank you.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I don’t know what specialty, yet. I’ve thought about tons, but I think I’ll figure it out when I get to med school.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“And you’re dead set on psychiatry, huh?”

Nodding, smiling, you answered, “Yeah, I am. I just… It’s challenging, interesting, and fascinating to me.”

“You’ll do great.”

You reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. “So will you.”

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

Forever Tag List

@essie1876

@magpiegirl80

@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked

@iamwarrenspeace

@marvel-imagines-yes-please

@superwholocked527

@missinstantgratification

@thejemersoninferno

@rda1989

@munlis

@thefridgeismybestie

@bubblyanarocks3

@igiveupicantthinkofausername

@kaliforniacoastalteens

@feelmyroarrrr

@kaeling

@friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo

@damalseer

@heyitscam99

@yknott81

@sorryimacrapwriter

@glitterquadricorn

@xxqueenofisolationxx

@little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama

@bittersweetunicorm

@alyssaj23

@sea040561

@princess76179

@thisismysecrethappyplace

@sarahp879

@malfoysqueen14

@ellallheart

@breezy1415

@marvelmayo

Steve Rogers

@nedthegay

@camigt1999

@lostinspace33

@alwayshave-faith

@elleatrixlestrange

@ultrarebelheart

@lenawiinchester

@esoltis280

@patzammit

Bucky Barnes

@nedthegay

@lostinspace33

@alwayshave-faith

@elleatrixlestrange

@ultrarebelheart

@lenawiinchester

@its-not-a-tulpa

@esoltis280

@thirstresponsibly

@valecitainwonderland

@buckybarnesappreciationsociety

@howling-at-that-moon @sneakygitsune @whiw0lf

Loki Odinson

@lostinspace33

@ultrarebelheart

@lenawiinchester

@esoltis280

@tngrayson

@wangdeasang

@harrymewmew

@jayfantasyatyourservice

SLU

@eagleandthebutterfly

@disneyfanatic77

@disneyoncerlover815

@meraki–mei

#stan lee university #loki #loki fic #loki x reader #stephen strange x reader #stephen strange #stephen strange fic

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yakumtsaki · 7 years

Photo

Take your hands off me, I don't belong to you, you see, and take a look at my face for the last time, I never knew you, you never knew me, say hello.. ♪

WAVE GOODBYE.

WHADDUP PPL. Much like Ronroneo, we’re back from the dead and ready for a whole new generation of Union fuckery. We’re also officially.. drumroll.. MIDDLE CLASS. Our shiny new house is based on this one by frottana-sims, which I downloaded but dumbassly forgot to install, and since loading the game takes a hot half-hour I opted for this poor recreation instead. We start the extreme home makeover with an incredible budget of..

...Yea, I see the value of getting 6 pets to the top of their careers now. Included in this insane sum is the 20k+ that Wyatt and Jojo brought with them moving in, and at first I’m worried that we’re way too rich for only generation 2. Well, careful what you wish for, cause here’s our post-remodeling budget:

LMAO. It’s as if not a day has passed since Vic started this legacy with a dream in her heart and crap to her name. Let’s check out the new digs!

Everything was purple.. his pills.. his hands.. his foyer.

As eagle-eyed readers may observe, both the hall and the living room were designed with nothing else in mind but whether they matched our cat paintings. Per legacy rules I use as little cc as possible, which isn’t that hard since I feel this bizarre, angular and hugely impractical couch really encapsulates Jojo’s essence. Like if he was a servant in Beauty and the Beast this would be his furniture form.

Apparently the only things I deemed important enough to capture were the cat portraits, so it looks like my Komeization is finally complete! Here’s some floorplan shots tho so you don’t get disoriented in our labyrinth-like mansion. Please note our amazing pink-blue-purple kitchen! Barbie’s Dreamhouse who??

And here’s the second floor, which also illustrates the exact point I ran out of money. Honestly looking back I don’t understand how the fuck this place cost 70k?? Like nothing is particularly expensive except the amazing vintage batmobile which was around 30-40k and some of the paintings? But I guess all the small things add up in the end + I’m super bad with money..

..and I’m not the only one. Jojo GET A FUCKING GRIP and A JOB. Literally no comment @ your cat wants, you inherited the jaw, wasn’t that enough??? ANYWAY. I know the question on everyone’s mind is how is Wyatt going to fit in with the Unions.. and all I have to say about that..

..is LOL. Truly the perfect career for when your mother-in-law is a criminal mastermind and your husband is a serial killer! I mean the jokes practically write themselves. At least he doesn’t want 10 kids or any shit like that, cause I’ve seen hell and it was the result of mixing Jojo/Wyatt genes in cas.

On top of gifting us with his future-probably-fug children, Wyatt also gives us the gift of our first ever kitchen fire when he decides to make dinner with 1 cooking point. His generosity really knows no bounds.

It’s all fun and games now but Wyatt deadass almost died in the inferno and was about to take poor, stupid Komei with him, who of course ran to the fire even though he was in the yard. Meanwhile Victoria was safely watching tv and didn’t move while Jojo..

..was doing this in the next room. Two types of sims I guess!

-So Wyatt, you’ve been here for almost an hour now, burned down our kitchen and I still don’t see any grandchildren. I thought you were a family sim!

-Haha oh mom, you’re hilarious! Ignore her, Wyatt, let’s enjoy your delicious pasta.. It was definitely worth almost dying for.

-Your mama is right, mon cheri, not only do you have an obligatión to your famille but I rolled the want to have a bébé the second we graduated!

-Well it’s still gonna be there when we aren’t broke, Wyatt, god!

-But.. bébés, mon cheri! Tons of bébés I can have but never interact with, in typical famille sim fashión!

-UGH thanks a lot for opening this gate, mom. If only you had found your love of children when I was living on cat food.

-Well it’s different when they are your children, everyone knows that.

-THAT’S NOT WHY PEOPLE SAY THAT MOM

-Honestly, Jojό, I’m prouder of taking down your répugnant suitόrs than I am of graduating with honors!

-Aww Wyatt <3

-And if I have to souffrir through a childless existence to be with mon amour, so be it (:

-Aw- wait what?!

-Really, c’est bien, Jojό, marriage is all about compromise, nό? I mean, not that I would know since we’re not even married yet!

-Wyatt we’ve been here for 3 hours.

-My point précisément.. C’est bien though!

-Can’t believe I’m saying this but I really regret murdering Ti-Ning.

That makes two of us, Jo. Honestly even Francis would be better than this. Family sim spouse??? Tf was I thinking.

Ah, some things never change <3 It’s a new day and someone very special passes by our lot..

UGH NO not you asshole, once again delivering bills at the worst possible time.

-Miss me bitch?? Lolol

ONE OF THESE DAYS DAGMAR. ONE OF THESE DAYS ISTG

No, it’s mismatched beard townie, whose regular outfit is simply iconic, and he’s waving at me! What a sweetheart! TAKE SOME NOTES DAGMAR YOU FROZEN-FACED FREAK

-Umm he’s actually waving at me, moron.

-WRONG, he’s waving at me!

Ok it literally doesn’t matter who he’s waving at.

-Well c’est moi.

OK WHATEVER WYATT GOD. Just go off to work in a position you’re criminally unqualified for and try not to die ok??

-Why would I mourir?

Hm let’s see, maybe because you’re a ‘SWAT Team Leader’ straight out of college with a shocking lack of skill points?? Jfc college degrees in this game are so fucking op it’s legit making me resentful of my sims.

In other news, major dicks Sophie and Victor have started constantly beating each other up and the only thing surprising about this development is that it took this long. Honestly these fights are peak #TeamNoOne. Please note Alegra who continues to give 0 fucks @ the bloodshed. What a gal <3

Burning with religious fervor, fundamentalist nutjob Sophie emerges victorious!

-I WALK WITH GOD BITCH

Tears. Literal tears. Victor is the most unbelievable creature I have ever played.

-The rampant violence in this house is a violation of human rights! I AM OUTTA HERE

Literally still cannot believe this happened, like the sheer NERVE is killing me. Victor has started every fight he’s ever been in for an astounding total of 40-50 fights, and as you all know he almost always wins. Like this one was what? The fourth one he lost?? AND YET HE RUNS AWAY LIKE HE’S THE VICTIM I HATE/LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Meanwhile this happens which, of course. Leave it to me to finally get a chance card right for the only sim who doesn’t even deserve the job he currently has.

..Police Chief Wyatt reporting for duty! And crime increased 80% overnight.

In actual good and not lawsuit-waiting-to happen news, Wyatt brought Amanda, Vic’s only friend/lesbian crush with him! Amanda has the distinct honor of being literally the only non-Union non-Jojo person Vic has ever genuinely liked and hasn’t had an affair with. YET THAT IS.

Man, these are some fat fucking flies. I’m talking 10 plagues of Egypt teas.

-I KNOW, where the fuck is Komei, what are we paying him for?

-I’m over here honey, talking to my least favorite son for the second time in my life, since apparently he’s sticking around.

-Yes, thanks for requesting a recount of the heir vote, dad. I will remember it when I decide where to scatter your ashes.

-I TOLD YOU I WANT THEM MIXED WITH THE CAT LITTER

Ugh Komei, please stop trying to bond with your son and do something productive instead-

-like finally convincing Neo to bang Sophie. She has refused 3 TIMES because there’s a rule I have to earn kittens by suffering. I mean Alegra refusing to procreate with Victor made sense, it was Victor, wtf is Sophie’s excuse? Waiting for marriage?

ABOUT TIME

YAS. CAT GEN 3 ON THE WAY. Human gen 3 will have to wait till I’m in the mood to deal with screaming infants aka it might take a while.

The science career FINALLY SHOWS UP after 5 fucking days, jfc. Love how Wyatt’s dumb ass started as a swat team LEADER but Jojo who has half the skills maxed starts as a science teacher. Also love the idea of Jojo as a teacher in general, I mean just imagine having him teach you science in high school. I would literally drop out.

Jojo returns from work, brings this rando with him and doesn’t get promoted. We can’t all be Wyatt I guess! We’re not completely broke anymore tho so..

It is time.

Gunther, Melody and Max Flexor on one side..

Craig, Brit Brit, Ti-Ning and Daniel on the other. What a bunch of assholes, Craig obviously excluded. Remember him? I invited him because he and Jojo are still semi-friends thinking he wouldn’t show up and yet here he is! What a good guy.

-It’s at moments like this, watching your high school boyfriend get married.. that you really get to thinking..

Awww.

-..there but for the grace of god go I.

Less awww. You’re not wrong tho, definitely dodged a sociopathic bullet..

..not everyone is that lucky. WE GET IT WYATT YOU’RE CRAZY AND IN LOVE

-Mon bien adoré, I vow to aimer and honόr you and not cheat on you again or at least be more discrete about it <3

-And I vow not to kill you and feed you to the cats for as long as we both shall live <3

Ah, true love, you guys.

Too bad half our guests are inside dancing-

-OR HAVING COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE AND UNTIMELY THOUGHTS. TI-NING SERIOUSLY GO TO HELL. I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU HOW DARE YOU

Well at least Vic is excited which is more than I can say for Gunther who is literally LOOKING THE OTHER WAY.

Time to cut the cake with the sky as our only witness, since everyone has taken a plate from the buffet and fucked off inside. Seriously WORST GUESTS EVER

Not one to be outdone by his guests’ questionable behavior, Wyatt takes the time to remind us who he really is.

-And n'est-ce pas forget it!

Despite all the obvious problems, like one of the grooms literally going to sleep, our party score is ‘good time’ which is a truly rare and exciting occurrence. With less than a minute left I’m feeling pretty confident that nothing can ruin this wedding!

Weirdly no one has touched the champagne even though sims in general are obsessed with it?? My best guess is everyone is at a loss for words at having to toast this union and who can blame them tbh. Thankfully Daniel steps up and I find it super sweet because I’ve forgotten that he and Wyatt are mortal enemies and it’s only by chance they haven’t beaten each other up on this instance like they have countless times before.

-Let’s all raise a glass to my beloved brother, Jojo, who generously woke up to attend his own wedding reception! Just one of many examples of his fine, giving character. Too bad he’s committing his life to a complete waste of space adulterous loser like Wyatt, who I’m not even convinced is really french, since his ability to speak and understand english fluctuates according to convenience. Man, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, but this choice in spouse is just too tragic. Oh well! To Jojo!

NOICE, still a good time. SO CLOSE

AND YET SO FAR. Goddammit do you two mind killing each other on your own time and not literally 10 seconds before our wedding ends??

-DIE WHORE, THIS WILL TEACH YOU TO STEAL MY MAN

-THAT’S MY LINE SLUTBAG

-HA! ZUMBA, BITCH

-Wow, so glad I woke up for this, really got my bloodlust going!

Indeed a roaring success if there ever was one. I mean how can this night possibly get any better?

.............of course.

Oh nice, I remembered to install an alarm for once! I’m also desperately trying to wake up Wyatt thinking that he’s fucking CHIEF OF POLICE so he might prove useful in this situation..

..especially since we get this cop of a completely untrustworthy Bieber hairstyle. Talk about striking fear in the heart.

Sadly it turns out that Wyatt could not give less of a shit that we’re getting robbed and picks this moment to head for wedding buffet leftovers-

-while Bieber cop prevails! This robber is awesomely named Russ Bear btw and I wish that was my name, sounds like a slavic medieval folkore hero. But I digress. Please prepare yourselves because our first robbery is about to take a dark turn.

-Ehh, you get at a certain level on la force, you just become desensitized to la criminalité..

-Oh don’t worry Wyatt, I totally understand.. I mean I’ve robbed so many houses in my time, I hardly blink anymore..

-So it looks like you and I are not so different after all.. ;)

.............

.....................

............................why. why has the universe chosen me for the greatest suffering the world has ever known. i try and i try but incestuous relationships just keep sprawling like mythical strangler vines. i bet this wouldn’t happen to someone named Russ Bear. fml

#ts2 #gen 2

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arplis · 5 years

Text

Arplis - News: 12 True Sex Stories You Have to Read to Believe

“WHEN HARRY MET SALLY” - COLUMBIA PICTURES You’re out to brunch with your girlfriends, how long does it take for the conversation to turn to sex? Not long, amiright? It’s not just the ladies on “Sex and The City” who love to talk about sex—it’s most of us. We talk about it with our friends, our partners, and depending on how self-conscious you may feel, complete strangers. We talk about our true sex stories wether it be the amazing sex we’ve had, the comical, the sometimes strange and unusual, and even the not-so-great sex. For many of us, we learned more about sex from our friends than we did from our parents or sex education class. It’s fun to share our sex stories—if it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be live storytelling shows, podcasts, books, TV shows, or movies. Fantasy has its place, but the stories that resonate the most with us are the true stories, those that actually happened. I AM & CO put the word out that we were looking for true sex stories and we received a very diverse response; stories from various sexual preferences, practices, and levels of sexual experience. All of these true sex stories are ones you have to read to believe. 12 True Sex Stories Guaranteed to Raise Eyebrows “Not Friends, No Benefit” Comedian Shalewa Sharpe, creator of "So You Just Out Here?" I ran into my one-night-stand guy at the club. Now, some people might call that a “friend with benefits” but that term suggests that the two parties are friendly enough to schedule a benefit. This guy and I were not friends. Our benefits only happened if we ran into each other at the club. So, we made out for a minute, then he suggested we take this party to my car. This was how I ended up parked behind a grocery store, attempting to have sex with this guy in my 1988 Honda Prelude—a sports coupe, with bucket seats. Have you had sex in bucket seats? If so, a follow-up question: are you double jointed? The guy and I struggled for a bit, then his face fell. “Oh, this sucks,” he moaned. “It’s because my dick’s too small.” I had to console this guy while also keeping an eye out for the cops. If you find yourself in this predicament, don’t end up saying what I said: “Hey man, we’re in bucket seats—this ain’t gonna be easy.” A real mood-killer. We threw in the towel, I dropped him off back at the club and went home. Later that night, my roommate, who was the club’s doorperson, mentioned that she saw the guy with a weeping woman at the end of the night—they were walking in circles around the parking lot, then they hopped on his motorcycle and split. The next day, as I was furiously scrubbing and vacuuming my car, I found a driver’s license for a young woman wedged between the front passenger seat and the middle console. I guess it fell out of one-night-stand guy’s pocket during the, uh, festivities. I scratched out the ID’s info, punched a hole in it, and hung it on my rearview mirror as a cautionary tale. “It’s Part Of It” Jason, Columbus, Ohio We were both in college and had been dating for a while when she decided to take it to the next level. “Tie me up,” she demanded. “Okay, um, I’m going to tie you up now,” I said and went to get some scarves that were conveniently strewn about and set to work. “No!” “Oh, my God! I’m so sorry! I thought that…” and I began to loosen the bonds. “No, it’s part of what makes it so hot.” “Oh, right,” I said and went back to doing Boy Scout knots such as the square knot and the sheepshank. I wondered if I should go with the trucker’s hitch? Nah. Too much. “I’m going to f*ck you now,” I said getting into it. “Let me go!” I immediately stop what I’m doing. “Oh my God, I am an idiot. I am so sorry. I didn’t understand. You see, when you said you wanted, what I thought was, but in reality, I see… Oh no, I’m so sorry.” I quickly start to untie all the knots. “No, it’s part of it.” “What Goes Around, Comes Around” Ashley, Raleigh, North Carolina I paid my boyfriend for sex the first summer we were together…11 years later, he’s paying me for sex. “The Hook-Up Room” Comedian Anita Flores, host of I'm Listening: A Frasier Podcast with Anita Flores. I’m at my first high- school party, and it’s not going well. Between my social anxiety and the fact that I only know the host, all I can think about is how I’m going to escape. I can’t actually leave, or else I’ll seem “uncool.” Fortunately, I come up with the next best solution. After making some light small talk with the host (Cassie) about her impressive selection of snacks, I ask, “Is there anywhere I can take a nap?” At the time, this seemed like a normal way to still be at the party without having to speak to anyone. I can’t say that Cassie agreed. After a long pause, she replied, “Uh, I guess in my attic.” I gleefully head to the attic. All the lights are off and it’s strangely warm, but it beats talking to people. I feel around and discover a futon I can pretend to sleep on. There I am lying down when something round and muscular attacks my face. It’s a butt, and it's smothering me! Ever want to suffocate someone, but don’t have a pillow? Just wear thick, non-breathable polyester pants. I hear a low voice. It’s a boy butt. He hears my muffled cries, gets up and exclaims, “Whoa, sorry dude!” Now there’s giggling. He’s with a girl. Suddenly, I hear what sounds like a lot of teens slurping soup. There are more people in this room than I realized. Cassie sent me to take a nap in “the hook-up room!” Picture “Eyes Wide Shut: The Early Years.” Before the masks, there were braces. By this time, the boy butt and his lady friend have taken the futon from me. I'm standing there feeling left out because no one has asked me to join in. I can’t run away, otherwise, everyone will think I’m a prude! So, I find an empty loveseat, plop down, and close my eyes. Because there’s nothing cooler than ignoring sex. I’ll make sure to tell my future teen daughter that, too. “There Are Rules” Michael, Portland, Oregon I was sessioning with a dominatrix named Vixen when her friend Wendy came over. Vixen blindfolded me and put me in the corner, which I was more than okay with. The minute Vixen’s back was turned, I took off the blindfold, even though I knew (and hoped,) I’d be punished. Vixen took out a strap on from her toy-cupboard and proceeded to f*ck Wendy with it. It was quite a show and later, I was punished severely for watching—it was well worth the tribute that I paid Vixen. “Don’t Stop Under Any Circumstances!” Carrie, Chicago, Illinois My boyfriend and I were having sex one night on my old as hell bed. He was an ex-professional football player and I’m a big girl, so it shouldn’t have been surprising that right when things were getting super intense, the bed broke. He stopped what he was doing, so I yelled, “Don’t stop! I’m so close!” Without moving from the now broken bed, we get back at it and this time we don’t stop until we both cum. If there had been an earthquake or a tornado, I would have made him keep going then, too. “Side Effects Can Be Embarrassing” Krysta, Orlando, Florida I've never been really big into taking birth control, but a coworker of mine mentioned that she was on a pill where she only had a period every three months... I wanted in on that! So, I went to my doctor and got on birth control. I started dating this new guy, who was literally the sexiest human-created. Around him, I tried to be Miss Perfection. Meanwhile, I'm on these new birth control pills and the doctor forgot to mention that they had lactose in them. I'm extremely lactose intolerant, even the smallest bit gives me major gas. The first time the perfect guy and I had sex was a disaster. Every thrust he made inside of me made me pass gas. It was so embarrassing. We literally had to stop and go to Walgreens to get me some type of gas pills because he and I both couldn't take the noise, let alone the smell. Let's just say, I stopped taking those pills immediately. “Sex On The Deserted Beach” Beverly, New York City My partner and I were having a romantic vacation for my birthday in Newport, Rhode Island, and decided to spice things up by making love on a (deserted) beach in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, this beach was not quite as deserted or private as we had initially anticipated. All of a sudden we saw flashes of bright light, immediately stopped, and became alarmed. A police officer arrived, trying to hold back a grin, and asked us if we'd seen some "kids swimming" after hours. We said no, he left, and we quickly packed up our things to make a quick exit. We drove home laughing not quite knowing what to make of the experience, but it certainly was a bonding one. It's definitely an evening and birthday I won't soon forget. “Don’t Disturb Grandpa” Spencer, Phoenix I hooked-up once with this guy who was taking care of his grandpa. It was around 10:00 p.m. by the time I got to his house. Whispering, he asked me to follow him and to not make any noise, his grandpa was watching TV in the living room. The guy sneaked me into a bedroom, but I guess that wasn’t soundproof enough, so we went into the closet and had very cramped and uncomfortable sex in there. I don’t think his grandpa had any idea about what was going on. “Male High Club” Reynaldo, San Diego, California I was taking a night flight home from Hawaii, as I was sitting down, I turned to see a guy who was so handsome I was stunned. Like a lot of us, he wore shorts and Aloha shirts, but he was well-built and looked more like he’d be a lead on one of those Hawaii detective shows. There was an empty seat near me on the aisle, and the guy asked if he could sit there to stretch out his legs. Other than nodding yes, we didn’t talk. The man grazed my knee with his leg, and all the hairs on my leg stood on end. And he didn’t pull away right away, just gradually. He got up to get a blanket from the overhead compartment which he placed over his legs. With no talking at all, he made the slightest gesture to offer me some of the blanket. Before you know it, the blanket was spread over both our legs. Then, our hands somehow started to find each other. And for a long time on the flight, that was it…just our hands grasping together, coming loose, rejoining, stroking fingers. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I was rock hard. And gradually, very gradually, all without talking and with this stud of a guy who I did not know at all, our hands gradually started to stroke each other’s thighs, mirroring each other. And eventually, very discreetly to not get attention or show movement above the blanket, we each found our erections extending out through the bottom of our shorts, and we grabbed each other. Eventually, some napkins or handkerchiefs were brought below, and without making any sound, we both came, and it was pretty simultaneous. “Kung Fu Fighting” Carol Gee, Author, “Random Notes ( About Life. "Stuff"And Finally Learning To Exhale)” A romantic, I fantasized about what it would be like to have sex on satin sheets. My fantasy materialized when my husband and I, two young Air Force sergeants returning from living in the Far East, stopped to visit another Air Force friend and his lady in San Francisco. Invited to spend the night, the lady made the guest room bed up with a brand new pair of red satin sheets. How did she know my fantasy? I couldn’t wait to get my husband in bed to enjoy sex so good that the neighbors in the apartment next door would have needed a cigarette. I took a shower, smoothed on scented body lotion and got into bed. My husband was already in it waiting for me. On those satin sheets, our lovemaking suddenly morphed into Kung Fu fighting. Taking me into his arms I accidentally poked him in the ribs. Oof! Climbing on top of him I kneed in the thigh. Ouch! Attempting to kiss him I missed his mouth and ended up rubbing noses with him. Then his pillow slid off the bed, mine quickly followed. Instead of holding onto him, I held tightly to the bedsheets trying not to slide off, taking him with me. Not only was the whole thing a disaster, but we also got very little sleep that night for trying to stay in the middle of the bed. Frankly, I'm glad those sheets weren’t mine as they would most likely have ended up as pretty red curtains. “Girl/Girl Love Lesson” Sensual Massage Therapist, Jazmin Light The streets of Zurich were empty as I headed toward their place. The gentleman on the phone had asked me if I would "be" with his girlfriend—while he watched. He said she wanted a woman to show him "what women like." The World Cup soccer games were on, and that night, Switzerland was playing. The air bristled with excitement. All anyone talked about was "Fussball." Everyone's windows were wide open due to the summer heat. A classy-looking man in his mid-fifties opened the door to a modern loft apartment. Surprised, I wondered, “Shouldn't he know what women like by now?” Behind him, pouring champagne at the high-top table, stood Nadia, perhaps thirty years his junior. In her red La Perla lingerie and matching stilettos. She handed me a glass and kissed me on the mouth. We made a toast. I took a sip, then lifted Nadia's silky blonde hair and kissed her neck. I let my lips and teeth linger, then gave her a soft bite. She gasped. Suddenly, a roar of voices sailed in through our window and engulfed us. "YAAAAAY!!!” The cheering came from next door, from above us, below us, and from outside. “GOAL!” We laughed as the ruckus died down. I stroked Nadia's hair, neck, and torso. "There are endless ways to please a woman, Manfred," I said, twirling my fingers on her lacy bra cups. Manfred plopped down on the bed and stared at us, his mouth open. I unsnapped her bra, returning his gaze. "There's much more to women then nipples and—" I slid my hand to her panties, "pearls." Nadia inhaled sharply. "So slow down, savor, discover, and—play!" Nadia groaned, Manfred grinned. New shrieks and cheers exploded throughout the neighborhood. *** When you share a sex story, it can help you to connect with other people, learn about yourself and others, and it can inspire you to try new things. As humans, we’re always growing and that includes our sexuality. Sex is part of the human experience and it’s always fun to hear someone else’s stories of incredible sex, confusing sex, or way-out-there sex. #Sex #Relationships

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/12-true-sex-stories-you-have-to-read-to-believe

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willreadforbooze · 5 years

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Hello fellow boozie readers!

Sam’s Update:

What a week. Work was shit but I had so much social fun time and I feel invigorated. This extrovert needed her people time. It’s also Medieval-a-thon!!! Check my TBR here.

What Sam finished this week:

The Simoquin Prophecies by Samit Basu: Good LORD this book took me entirely too long and I’m not happy about it. It’s not that bad I just wasn’t in the mood and then the potential wasted was disappointing.

What Sam’s reading now:

Medieval-a-thon Cape: Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao: This is the follow up to Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. Linz reviewed this second book here. I’m enjoying this far more. I didn’t like FoaTL because the MC was so so very unlikeable and not in the good way. Following Jade is far more interesting. Though, I feel like we’re going to get the repetitive gotta-catch-em-all trope but we’ll see. –

Medieval-a-thon Sword: The Heartwood Crown by Matt Mikalatos: I am about halfway through this book and I’d forgotten what an ABSOLUTE DELIGHT this world is. I loved book one, here’s my review of The Crescent Stone.

Ginny’s Update:

Hi everyone. I’m super tired because it was a good weekend and I got a lot done but this week might hurt a little bit. Luckily a bunch of good things have happened so at least it’s happy rambling.

Currently Reading:

Becoming by Michelle Obama: I put this book on hold like six months ago. I am fucking pumped! Michelle Obama has this beautiful lyrical way of writing and I can’t wait to read more.

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry: This is a book that Sam picked up and let me read before her (hahaha) because we have been flooded with books which is really the best problem in the world to have. Charley can read fictional characters into the world. Rob, his older brother, feels responsible for helping him put them back. But it turns out there are a bunch of fictional characters living out in the world and there’s a mysterious evil force too. I’m enjoying this so far. I’m pretty sure I know what the twist is gonna be, but I’m looking forward to getting there.

Finished: (Editor’s Note: Good lord Virginia…. )

The Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean: I’m not going to bother with a summary here. I like the way the heroine goes about getting her independence and really enjoyed her as a character. I felt the Whit was a perfectly fine hero unless he was talking about his creepy brother. That as a plotline didn’t super interest me. I liked the (relatively) diverse representation in this book and enjoyed the world building. 3.5/5

After the Crown by K.B. Wagers: The first half of this book was a little bit rough, but the second half took off like a shot. I’ve written a review of this one. Keep an eye out for it!

All Systems Red by Martha Wells: This is one of the murderbot books and I know both Sam and Parker have read them and loved them so it should come as no surprise that I loved it too! This book is all from the point of view of a cyborg that has been leased out to an exploratory group as security. They realize partway through that ‘murderbot’ is partially human and might freak out. Meanwhile there are some weird things going on and boy way this fun. Still might write a review but this was definitely a 5/5

Magic For Liars by Sarah Gailey: Imagine Harry Potter if the teenagers were more realistic dicks and everyone was pretty damn hormonal. As a murder mystery this functioned really nicely, I liked the blend of traditional ‘noir’ tropes with magic and the fantasty tropes that tend to show up there. Planning on writing a review so keeping this short.

The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan: This was a novella and was super short, but it added a little bit of background to one of her existing series. It was fun to watch the way the propriety of the past could be used as a weapon in both directions. Very fun, and the way consent was handled was ridiculously great. 4/5

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang: Gotta admit, I’m still not super sure how I feel about this one. I really enjoyed the Kiss Quotient (Linz reviewed this!) and was really looking forward to this. It’s mostly, I’m not sure I really truly believed the love story between ‘Esme’ and Khai. I enjoyed their individual story lines (the fact that Khai getting better about recognizing his own emotions being tied back to family really got me) but I felt there was a lot of telling rather than showing in the deeper emotional moments. Still, it was a perfectly fine read. 3.5/5

DNF

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner: I don’t even remember when this book went onto my TBR. Honestly, the beginning of this book reminded me of the Goldfinch which won a ton of goddamn awards and was a fucking slog to get through. I’m not the biggest fan of misery for miseries sake. And that’s probably a harsh description of this book. All I know is that the back and forth through time storytelling aspect didn’t work for me when multiple vignettes include characters who were mind-numbingly frustrating. Between Bookcon and ALA I have so many books I desperately want to read and not nearly enough time. I didn’t feel the need to push my way through this one.

Minda’s Update:

Work trip this week then the lovely Sam’s birthday trip, so this may or may not be a big reading week, but here’s what’s on the agenda!

What Minda finished:

Wilder Girls by Rory Power – This book is pretty gruesome and descriptive, but in a good way. Just make sure you are in the mood to have your skin crawl! Release date is July 9—so be on the lookout.

What Minda is reading now:

Tiger Queen by Annie Sullivan – A retelling (I know, another one but I’m really into them rn) of the famous short story, “The Lady, or the Tiger.” Honestly haven’t read it, but I saw her panel on YA females in power at ALA and added it to the list!

Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon – Received the ARC on Netgalley dropping in Oct. It’s a duology featuring three women, one of whom is determined to save her sister from death. Looking forward to starting.

Linz’s Update:

Whyyyyy the fuck did I host two book clubs this weekend?

What Linz read:

Swipe Right for Murder by Derek Milman – I’ve been seeing this pop up a LOT on social media, probably because ARCs abounded at BookCon. I’ll be reviewing, so I don’t want to say a lot, but It’s kind of like The Fugitive, featuring The Gay Agenda.

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean – I did NOT care for Wicked and the Wallflower, but Ginny is a fan of her books and told me to give MacLean’s latest book a shot. I didn’t care that much for this one either tbh. MacLean’s writing isn’t bad by any means, but I think her style of romance novels just isn’t for me.

The Beholder by Anna Bright – Boy will I ever be reviewing this alt-history debut novel about a girl who needs to find a husband to become the next leader of her people.

What Linz is currently reading:

The Heartwood Crown by Matt Mikalatos – awwwwwwww this book. Loving this sequel to The Crescent Stone

We Regret to Inform You by Ariel Kaplan – an overachieving high school student gets rejected from every single college she applied to, and she’s left struggling to figure out her next step. I already hate this book in the best way – it takes place in DC, and the mother and daughter share a car to school/work, and my PTSD is kicking in from the memories of learning how to drive on the Beltway with my mom.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Melinda, Linz, and Ginny

Weekly Wrap-Up: June 24-30, 2019 Hello fellow boozie readers! Sam's Update: What a week. Work was shit but I had so much social fun time and I feel invigorated.

#Wrap Up

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sapphicrangertrini · 8 years

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How It All Got Started (2/2)

Show: Supergirl (TV 2015) Relationship: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Tough Girl!Maggie, She’s out she’s proud and she’ll punch you if she needs to, Alex and Kara are new to school, gonna be a series of one shots, but this first one is a two shot, Homophobic Language, because some people in small towns are dicks, Minor Violence, minor so far anyway Series: Part 1 of Fire Meet Gasoline For @thesameenshaw who gave me the inspo and idea in the first place

Also can be found on AO3 here

Summary:

Moving from one small town to another might not seem all that bad to anyone hearing about it, unaffected by the move itself. They might not even believe moving more than halfway through a person’s sophomore year of high school to be too frustrating either. But, then there’s the fact that it hadn’t even been a year since the news was broken to them that Jeremiah Danvers had died in a freak work accident. Alex Danvers knew that was actually a major cause for the move, her mother unable to handle staying in Midvale with all those memories of her husband, Alex’s father. That didn’t mean she was okay with the move, with running from all those memories, with losing everything she and her father shared in that town. Even if some of those things made her cry now, she didn’t want to leave them behind. There was that diner on Oak Trail with the milkshakes she and her father would indulge in during one of those rare days off. Or the hill just outside town limits, where Jeremiah would take Alex to look at all the stars, hardly any light pollution to hide even the furthest ones from view. Even the post in the wall of their home, where she and Kara would have their heights measured, was now painted over and left behind as a seemingly unwanted memory.

It was infuriating, upsetting and exhausting, to pack her entire life away, no choice of her own on the subject. But Alex was raised to obey and even in this stage, her teenage years, she didn’t offer up more protest than a stony silence as she stuffed all her belongings into boxes and settled in for the long drive to Blue Springs, Nebraska. A town she hadn’t even heard of before her mother told her and Kara that they were moving there. A place Alex would have to spend two and a half years in, before she could escape to college. More, if her mother decided she should stay close until her sister graduated too.

Needless to say, the sourness of her mood hadn’t improved over the day and a half drive, or the night attempting to sleep in her new bed, in an unfamiliar home. Yet she couldn’t help the grudging smile Kara drew from her the morning of their first day of school, as a platter with breakfast and a warm cup of tea were placed in her lap by the smiling Kryptonian.

“I helped Eliza pack some lunches for us too, since we don’t know how the food’ll be at school. High school cafeterias are so unpredictable, even if they’re supposed to be held to standard. Better to be careful, right? I would hate if you got sick your first da-”

Alex cut off the nervous rambling by placing a hand on her sister’s wrist, eyebrow arching.

“I’d be a little more afraid that they wouldn’t have enough in stock to feed your bottomless pit of a stomach.”

That drew a protesting ‘hey!’ from her sister’s lips, but also broke the nervous tension that had been building with each word leaving Kara’s mouth.

“It’ll be fine, Kara. Just like the first day you went to school back home, only the high school version. No big deal.” If Alex kept telling herself that, maybe it would be true and this wouldn’t be a complete disaster. “You’ve got your glasses, right?”

She watched her sister nod and pull them from the pocket of her shirt, slipping the lead frames on and carefully pushing them up to settle on the bridge of her nose. It slid a little weight off of Alex’s shoulders, those frames. They didn’t dampen all of Kara’s powers, she still had to be careful about hugging people too hard and such, but they did some of the work so Alex didn’t have to keep as much of an eye out.

They ate breakfast quickly, Alex not even bothering to suppress the urge to point out that, ‘see, this is why I said bottomless pit,’ as Kara inhaled her entire stack of pancakes and at least half of Alex’s in less than ten minutes. Once all the food was gone, Alex shooed her sister out of her room, pointing out that she needed to get ready in the next twenty minutes or they’d be late for their first day. Grateful for the fact that she’d decided to shower the night before and pack her backpack, the only thing left was to change and brace herself for a long and unsure day ahead of her. Not wanting to dwell too much, Alex grabbed the first clean pair of pants and shirt her hands brushed over in the box of clothes she had yet to unpack. Black jeans and a soft gray plaid shirt, it would do. Though she also grabbed at her warmest hoodie, since Blue Springs was definitely colder now in March than most any weather she’d had to deal with in Midvale.

With the hoodie zipped up, sneakers on and backpack slung over one shoulder, Alex trudged out of her bedroom and down the stairs, having to pause at the bottom to remember which way was towards the kitchen, which also was the way to the front door. That was just another thing she’d have to memorize anew, the layout of this unfamiliar house. Not that it was a huge place, just different. Shrugging off the annoyance and unfamiliarity, she soon remembered the right direction down the hallway and made her way into the kitchen where her mother and sister were waiting. Another smile forced its way into lifting the corner of her mouth, as Kara offered a somewhat heavy paper bag that, no doubt, held a lunch her sister would steal at least half of.

“I’ll drop you off today, you should be able to walk home, it’s not far.”

Eliza’s voice hadn’t lost any of its directness since the loss of her husband, if anything there was more of it. As if the woman had taken on the authority of two parents in one body. It made Alex’s spine straighten, even as she continued her silence in her mother’s presence. Nodding, she stepped towards the door, feeling Kara’s arm link through her own without having to look.

“Here we go,” her sister whispered, the excitement and nervousness obvious in her voice, pushing Alex to squeeze her arm in silent comfort.

---------------------------------------------------

Settling in to the routine of her new school had gone more smoothly than Alex could have hoped. She and Kara had arrived with at least ten minutes to go before school started, leaving plenty of time for them to pick up their schedules, find their assigned lockers and for Alex to make sure Kara reached the right homeroom class. After being assured by her sister that she’d be okay to leave and that, yes, Kara could navigate the very straightforward map of the school she’d been given, the brunette then left to find her own first period classroom, Spanish. She hadn’t had to introduce herself, the teacher simply pointed her to the seat next to a boy with short brown hair, who introduced himself as Winn. From there, all Alex had to focus on was taking notes and making sure she reached the right classrooms. She’d always been a quick study and it seemed that the school in Midvale had been slightly ahead in most studies than the one here in Blue Springs.

It wasn’t until she was heading to her class before lunch, chemistry, that things deviated from the quiet routine she’d built up. Turning the corner she hoped led to the science wing, Alex was brought up short at the sight of a fight happening down the hallway. Three boys and two- make that one girl, as the other took off as soon as all attention was off of her and focused on the smaller, darker skinned one. Part of Alex wanted to rush forward to help the unknown girl, especially when she saw the tallest boy’s foot go crashing into her side and send her tumbling back into the lockers. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to move forward, knowing how angry her mother would be if she got into a fight on the first day of school, even while defending someone else. The only way it would be acceptable is if she were protecting Kara, and even then she’d get a verbal chewing out at best.

Luckily, for her guilty conscience, it became obvious to Alex that the girl in front of her didn’t really need the helping hand. Soon the boy that kicked her was on the ground, clutching a nose that was now dripping blood all over his white baseball shirt. He was quickly followed by the other two, one landing hard on his back after being tripped and the other crashing into the lockers with a groan, his shoulder obviously having hit a handle at a bad angle. The girl, meanwhile, was now clutching her torso, breathing hard and lip bleeding slightly, but otherwise not too worse for wear.

“I guess I’ll be stopping to see Nurse Jones first then, boys? We all know it’s better to go one at a time. Might want to put some seltzer water on that shirt, Thompson, unless you figure out some elaborate story that won’t get caught in a lie for once. Thanks for letting me skip out on Chemistry, I really appreciate the free pass.”

“Just fuck off, Sawyer. And don’t you fucking touch my sister again or I’ll beat your ass.” The voice came out clogged and nasally, the boy in question being the one with his nose still dripping blood everywhere.

“Like you did so well with that this time? But sure, not like she’ll come near me again.” Alex found herself leaning forward as she watched ‘Sawyer’ kneel down beside the boy, wanting to catch the last few words. “If I catch any more bruises than the ones you just left though, I’ll be finding you instead, Thompson. Make that broken nose look like child’s play, you got me?” The girl waited until he nodded before standing up again and adjusting her leather jacket. “Good, glad we had this talk.” Then she turned on her heel, only giving Alex about five seconds to shift back around the corner again to stay out of sight. She really didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping on the situation, instead watching the girl slowly make her way past, arm still carefully wrapped around her torso, without a single glance Alex’s way. A breath of relief left her at that, but she still waited until the boys had also left, going the opposite direction, before making her way to her chemistry room.

It was the first class she was late to, leaving her less lucky about having to stand up front and introduce herself. But that passed soon enough and quickly Alex was being pointed to a station with an empty chair. “You’ll be partnered up with Maggie Sawyer for the rest of the semester.” Whispers erupted as soon as the teacher said this, a few choice words popping out to her. A few racist things that made her skin crawl, but were unsurprising of a town that definitely seemed to be utterly white bred. A few mutterings about other fights Maggie had been in before. Then there was the one that stood out the most to Alex, made her stiffen and not even because it was spoken directly to her.

The boy, with spiky black hair and a leer that made Alex want to punch him, leaned into her space from the table to her left. “If that dyke tries something, lemme know and you can be my partner instead. I’ll make Patrick here switch with you. I’m sure we’d make a lot better chemistry and he’s used to covering for the lesbo. Ain’tcha, beardy?” She let the shudder of disgust roll through and then off of her, not bothering with a reply outside of a grimace, catching the eye of the boy next to him, though, as she turned away. A similar expression of disgust to what she was feeling rested on his features, along with an apology in his eyes. Shrugging, Alex fully turned back to face the front, hoping the class would go by quickly and knowing her partner wasn’t going to be showing up anytime soon.

Thankfully for Alex, the class did seem to run by fast, a bell signaling lunch ringing before she even noticed. Packing up her things quickly, she was up and out of the room before the teacher could call her back to go over make up work. A quick search of her sister’s schedule, which she’d copied down that morning, Alex made her way through the halls and towards the english and writing section, catching Kara and a taller, dark skinned boy laughing and talking together as they exited the classroom. At least her sister was making progress with possible friends, not that it surprised Alex in the least, Kara was the kind of person who made friends just by smiling at people.

“Alex!” The happy call and sudden arms wrapping around her made the brunette’s breath leave with a soft ‘oomph’, not returning as the arms tightened to a slightly painful degree.

“Too much- squeeze,” she managed to eke out as a whisper, directly in Kara’s ear, which had the girl quickly letting go and squeaking out an apology, to which Alex just gave an indulgent smile, before nodding towards the boy. “Who’s your new friend, Kar’?”

“This is James, he wants to be a journalist!” The boy, James, smiled and offered a hand to be shook.

“And you must be Alex, Kara’s sister.” His voice was pretty deep for a freshman, but the tone seemed friendly enough and he didn’t try to grip her hand too tightly when she accepted the offered greeting. “Sorry to have to greet and go, but I’ve got a few pictures that I need to develop over lunch. The cafeteria is just through those doors though.” He pointed behind them to a set of double doors just down and across the hallway. “If you’re grabbing lunch, I’d recommend avoiding anything chicken strip related, it’s like trying to eat hockey pucks, rubbery and impossible. Anyway, I’ll see you later hopefully and welcome to Blue Springs.” With that the boy smiled again and then took off down the corridor, disappearing into the nearest stairwell.

“He seems... nice.”

“He is! He’s really nice. He and I shared the last two classes and he made sure I didn’t get lost. He also showed me a few of his pictures, you should see them, Alex, they’re really good.”

Alex couldn’t help smirking a little, as her sister continued to ramble about her new friend and the day she’d had so far, on the walk into the lunch room. The smile dropped as she glanced around the cafeteria, unable to help the search for people she definitely wouldn’t want her sister anywhere near. Not that it was necessary, seeing as practically all the tables were full anyway, aside from one. The one Kara was now dragging her towards. The one with the girl she’d watch take down three boys who looked at least twice her size. Maggie Sawyer, whose name had started all those rumors. Who was now looking directly at her and her sister, surprise on her features as Kara introduced them both and asked to join the girl. Alex could feel the flush rise to her cheeks as she finally took in the girl up close. She was beautiful, really beautiful and it made Alex’s heart speed up a little, even more so when a smirk stretched across Maggie’s split lip, revealing dimples.

“Sure, take your pick. I’m Maggie. What brings you to Blue Springs?”

Alex felt herself being tugged down into a seat across from Maggie, as Kara started the rambling story of how they’d ended up in the town. She was only half listening really though, most of her thought process being taken up by watching this girl in front of her, with a bit of a permanent cocky smirk and warm brown eyes that seemed entirely focused on Kara and her story. Focused, until they darted her way and they locked eyes for the briefest few seconds, only breaking contact when Maggie looked towards Kara again, her smirk growing a little more. Alex did her best to ignore how that tiny interaction had made her heart speed up just a little bit more.

#HS Sanvers au #sanvers fanfic #maggie sawyer #alex danvers #sanvers #fanfiction #my fic #FF: Fire Meet Gasoline #Show: Supergirl #this one got away from me #mine #wow two chapters in less than 24 hours #I'm on a fucking roll #long post

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