#never got service that quick in any apartment

[warlordfelwinter]

owning a house and having to hire your own professional for every discrete issue is both better and worse than just being able to call maintenance like i hate having to find and talk to various trades people just bc i hate talking to people but on the other hand i don't have to wait for a useless landlord to deign to send someone

[bookshelf-dust]

promise to take care of my heart

carmy berzatto x fem!reader

gif by @emziess

word count: 1,830

warnings: nothing? a little swearing, but this is pure fluff and that’s all

synopsis: carmy wants to cuddle with you for the first time.

a/n: hi! new character, i know. but i’ve become rather attached to carm in the past few months and i had a cute idea for him and here we are. he’s bringing me so much comfort right now and now i’m gonna share that with you <333

————

“Why don’t you pick out a movie or somethin,’ bub?” 

“If I could find your damn remote, Carm, I would.”

He lets out a breath of a laugh, eyes on his hands where they sit deep in the dishwater below. Good luck, he thinks. 

You scan the coffee table, the rug below the shabby couch. It’s not like there’s any use checking the tv stand because it’s still a fucking table tray. You know he doesn’t even own the full set of four table trays? He’s just got the one? That knowledge keeps you up at night. Just like how he doesn’t have a ceiling fan pull and has to get tweezers to change the speed.

You find the remote nestled in a stack of freshly organized books. You helped Carmen assemble a very simple bookshelf so that his stash of cookbooks wouldn’t have to live on the floor anymore. 

Just getting to help him turn his apartment into something other than a place to sleep brought you a contagious giddiness. Carmen’s chest aches with how much he’s laughed since he met you. 

Look at all my muscles, Carm. I’m practically ready for my dick now, don’t you think? 

Where’d you even get these? He’d looked down at the little allen wrench in your hand and said I don’t know, they were just here one day. 

Now you have a bookshelf, Bear. What a grown up. 

Carmen wouldn’t let you help him with the dishes after he cooked you dinner. He’d just kissed your shoulder and said, “Let me take care of it, alright?” with that little raise of his brows and quirk of his lips telling you not to argue because you’d never win. 

And when Carmen tells you to let him take care of something, well…you listen. 

You haven’t been dating very long, but it’s been enough that you’ve both developed this rhythm, this way of moving around and with each other and you just…work. 

He doesn’t understand how you can dial his shyness, his hesitance, so quickly, how you can make him feel like a human again so easily. But you do. 

You settle against the back of the couch, flipping through the tv guide (because Carm has never subscribed to any streaming services) until you find something worth listening to. It’s already a few minutes in, but you’ve seen the movie enough times that it doesn’t really matter. 

The overhead light in the kitchen switches off and Carmen pads out to the living room, socked feet dragging on the hardwoods. Your biggest pet peeve is people who don’t pick up their feet, but somehow it’s more tolerable when it’s him. 

He sits down on the edge of the couch. Just sits. On the edge. That means he wants to say something. You give him the time to psych himself up. 

Carmy chews on his thumb nail and rubs his nose before he turns to you, placing his hand on the couch. His blue eyes burn into yours, and the intensity of his gaze, trained on you, makes you feel like the most important person in the world. 

“H-hey, um…can we—could we snuggle, maybe?” He flushes at the fact that he just used the world snuggle. Richie would have his ass so quick if he’d heard him say that. 

Your grin is brilliant. You’ve never cuddled properly with Carmen before. Maybe a head on a shoulder or a leg tossed across another, but never a real cuddle session. “Fuck yeah, we can, Carm.” You giggle and the sound softens that bubble of fear in his chest. 

He bites the inside of his cheek, letting out the barest laugh. 

“How did you want t-to lay, Bear?” You blink at him. “Were you just gonna—” 

He starts to nod. “I was just gonna lay on your chest, honestly.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, that works.”

“Y-yeah.”

You snort. “Lemme’ stretch out for you and then you can be a teddy bear.” 

“Seriously?”

“Yes.” Carmen shakes his head at you. He lets you pull that shit because he likes it. Secretly.

When you have a pillow under your neck and are laid out on your back, Carm slips beside you against the back of the couch and clumsily settles on top of you. He doesn’t want to crush you or anything, so he settles between your legs, only allowing the weight of his torso to envelop you. 

One arm wraps around your back, the other cradling your hip, his curls brushing your chin. He turns his head to face the tv and lets out a satisfied sigh. 

On instinct your hand threads through his tangled hair, scratching at his scalp gently and sorting through any piece that feels knotted. 

“What is this?” Carmy asks, nodding in the direction of the screen. 

“The Wedding Planner. It has Jlo and Matthew McConaughey in it.” 

“Chick flick?”

You hum in agreeance. “Yeah, but you wouldn’t hate it. Jlo’s character is like you but if the restaurant was a wedding planning business and you were, you know, a chick.”

He laughs lightly against your stomach and you can feel the puff of air over your shirt. 

The weight of Carmen’s body on top of yours is easily the most calming feeling you’ve ever experienced. You can’t get enough of him. 

“This okay?” you ask, scratching his scalp a little more for emphasis. This is a new way of showing affection. Uncharted territory. 

“Hm?” He looks up at you briefly, blue eyes fluttering closed. “Oh yeah, feels nice. I like it.”

You grin and continue to play with his hair. He’s right. It does feel nice. It is. 

The next few minutes go by without any conversation, just silence. But it’s so comfortable. Carmen’s tired gaze is on the tv. You can feel him breathing, feel the way he scratches over your back absently. You don’t know if he’s aware he does it, but he nuzzles his nose against the soft of your stomach every now and then like it’s keeping him safe. 

“You know I thought about being a wedding planner?”

Carmy pushes up onto his elbows, looking at you with the smallest smirk playing on his lips. “Really?”

You playfully bat at his shoulder and he moves to lay back down, but not before pressing a kiss to your sternum over your shirt. “Mhm. Still think about it sometimes.” You pause, but Carm doesn’t say anything yet because he knows you aren’t finished with that thought. 

“I guess I just thought it’d be nice to help put things like that together? The organization would make me feel…complete, I guess. And you know I don’t like to help people in such an extroverted way? I like to be behind the scenes.” You laugh, a little self-deprecatingly. “Does that make sense?”

Carmen squeezes your side. “‘Course it does. And then you could come home and tell me stories about all the family drama you eavesdrop on.”

You giggle, and Carmy loves that he can feel it where he lays on your chest. He can feel your joy, and that’s fucking cool. “That I could.”

He rubs your back in small, gentle circles. “And you know, I happen to have some friends who make pretty good food and would be happy to help if you ever needed.”

“Oh, do you? Well, that’s very helpful, Mr. Berzatto. You’ll have to give me their number.”

Carmy laughs into your chest. A pure, genuine laugh. It’s such a beautiful sound, and you truly think you’d have it tattooed all over your body if that was even remotely possible. His glee makes you laugh, and then you’re both snickering like you’re teenagers doing something that’ll get you in big trouble. 

You reach for his hand, the one that’s resting on your hip now, and he lets you lift it towards your face. He bites his cheek, fighting the smile that rises when you press your warm and chapstick covered lips to his knuckles. 

“You have such pretty hands, Carmy.”

He pinches your back. “I still don’t get why you’re so fascinated by them.”

“Because they’re pretty. And, look—” You hold yours up to his. “—they’re so much bigger than mine. And I like your tattoos, obviously. I like that I know how talented you are with your hands and how capable. I’m very lucky to hold such capable hands, Bear.”

“Capable, huh?” He gives you a look, one that makes you want to both tackle him and smack him on the arm. Instead you roll your eyes and he raises up to kiss you. 

“Capable of being the world’s biggest pain in the ass.”

Carmy laughs. It’s that little chuckle, light and airy and like he can’t believe what he’s hearing but he wants to hear more anyway. He flops back down on your chest, making you let out a rather loud oomph. 

You take Carmen’s hand in yours again, rubbing over the dry patches on his knuckles, the scabs on the insides of his fingers, the scar on his palm. His whole life is written in these hands. 

You start massaging the pads of his fingers without even thinking about it. No one’s ever been that gentle with him—definitely not with his hands—and a little part of him melts at the feeling. 

You kiss the tattoo on the back of his hand and just look at his skin. You’re determined to memorize each line and freckle and fucked up cuticle he’s got. 

“At least your nails don’t look like Richie’s, Carm.”

His chest moves with the giggle that travels throughout his body. 

“Trust me, they didn’t look like that when he was still with Tiff.”

You grin, your eyes falling back on the television. Maybe Carm would be open to setting it on the bookshelf? That table tray has put in a lot of work. It deserves a break. 

Carmen can see why you’re so fond of this movie. It’s one of those that doesn’t require much thought, that has humor and feels more human than most. He knows he shouldn’t think it, but you having said what you said before makes him wonder if you’ll plan your own wedding…with him. 

Shut the fuck up, he tells himself. But maybe we’ll get there. 

You catch him smiling when they fuck up the statue in the garden and pretend not to notice. You both keep quiet now, but Carm reaches up and puts your hand back on his head.

Your fingers thread through his curls again, scratching at his scalp gently. Your other hand does the same thing to his back. You know it’s going to lull him to sleep. 

When you say it, he’s already dozed off. But you are so happy that you get to make him feel safe. That he’s comfortable enough to sleep on you like this. Lucky is an understatement. 

“Thank you for letting me in, Bear. I don’t think my life has ever been this beautiful.”

————

please let me know if you liked this! feedback is always appreciated!! comments and reblogs mean more than you know. <33

note: none of the gifs or images i use are mine! i get most of my images from pinterest or here, and gifs from about the same. please let me know if i ever don’t credit someone properly!

[alisonsfics]

too good to me

pairing: carmen berzatto x reader

summary: after weeks of stress and being on edge, carmy blows up and yells at marcus, but carmy holds such a special place in your heart that you go to his apartment afterward to see how he’s doing

word count: 3.2k

warnings: swearing, arguing, general angst and then fluff

You all knew that something had been on Carmy’s mind. The past few weeks, he’d been more than just anxious. He was really putting his perfectionist tendencies to the extreme. It had been three weeks since officially opening The Bear.

Carmy knew that the first few weeks were crucial to a new business, especially one as volatile as a new-age restaurant. He’d been stressed, which was nothing new for him. But, it was more extreme. He had gotten into an hour-long screaming match with Richie about what specific angle the hostess stand should be pointed.

Everyone was trying to keep Carmy calm, but it had to be done carefully. If he picked up on a tone that was too sympathetic, he’d yell “I’m fine,” and storm off.

With everyone walking on eggshells around him, the tickets for the orders got a little jumbled and in a backwards order.

“Somebody better fucking fix this.” Carmy said, running his hand through his hair. You’d seen him do that move a hundred times, and it usually meant that everything was getting overwhelming. “It’s alright, Carmy. I can handle this. Just go take a quick break outside for me, please?” You asked him.

You were Carmy’s weak spot.

He’d always had a special place in his heart for you. He was wrapped around your finger. If anyone else had told him to take a break, he would have told them to fuck off.

Carmy walked around the corner, where Marcus walked up to him with a new pastry in hand. “Hey, chef. I was thinking we could add a new pastry to the menu for that special event next week?” Marcus asked. It was a perfectly innocent question, especially since Marcus didn’t have any urgent work to be done. In that moment, Marcus was just lacking in reading the room.

“Tonight’s service is a disaster, and you’re wasting your fucking time doing this?” Carmy yelled, smacking the dish out of Marcus’ hand.

That was too far. Farther than Carmy had ever pushed it.

You inserted yourself between the two men. “Marcus, you okay?” You asked him. He nodded his head, but looked down at a small cut on the back of his hand. You placed your hand on his forearm. “Go get that cut washed, and then help Sydney sort out those tickets please.” You said, remaining calm.

“Yes, chef,” Marcus said, walking towards the sink.

Carmy was frozen in place, like even he couldn’t believe what he’d just done. “You,” you started to say, turning around to face Carmy.

“I know,” he said, softly.

“Go home, Berzatto. You need to cool off.” You said, trying to be firm but also gentle. Carmy huffed and ran his hand through his hair again. “But I just…one more—” he started to say.

“Home, Carmen.” You repeated, firmer this time. You called him many things: Carmy, Carm, Bear, and the occasional pet name, but never Carmen.

He walked away, but you heard him slam his hand against the wall as he left.

Still rattled from the whole encounter, you tried to get back on your game. “Syd, you’ve got this,” you encouraged your friend, as she directed the kitchen. The rest of the service was a little bumpy as all of you were still a little distracted.

At the end of the service, you were all silently cleaning up your stations. Normally at this point in the night, you were all catching up and joking around with each other. But instead, you all were recalling the night’s events in your heads.

You lightly knocked on the door of the office, where Sugar was sitting and looking through some forms. “Hey, Nat. You mind if I head out a little early? Richie said he’d clean up my station. I was gonna go check on Carmy and see if he’s alright. I’ve been really worried about him.” You told her.

“Yeah yeah, go for it. I think he’ll want to see you. And it’ll be good for him to talk to someone, and you’re the only one he really talks to.” Sugar told you, pulling you in for a quick hug before you left. She hesitated. “Let me know how he is…I’m worried about him,” she told you, softly.

“I will, I promise.” You said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. You turned to leave the office. “Carm’s lucky to have you,” she told you as you walked away. You turned backwards as you kept walking. “The feelings mutual,” you added.

You walked up to Carmy’s apartment and knocked on the door. “Carmy, it’s me, please let me in,” you said.

You heard silence on the other side of the door. You fished your spare key out of your pocket and slid it into the lock. You turned the key slowly and let yourself into his apartment.

You walked into his dark apartment. You saw Carmy’s silhouette as he sat on the couch, staring out the window.

“I gave you that key for emergencies.” He said, coldly. You flipped on the light switch, bringing some light into the dark apartment. “I think what I saw earlier calls for a little intervention, don’t you?” You asked. Carmy sat in silence, continuing to stare out the window. You walked around to the front of the couch so you could face him.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He said, still refusing to look at you. Carmy felt guilty about what he’d done. He’d never yelled at you before, and he was ashamed that you had to see him scream like that. Carmy cared more about your opinion than he did about anyone else’s.

You walked towards Carmy, only stopping inches in front of him. “When was the last time you ate?” You asked, blatantly. He leaned back against the couch, trying to add some more distance between you both. He shrugged, genuinely not knowing the answer to your question.

You dug into your work bag and pulled out a takeout box. You stopped by Carmy’s favorite burger restaurant in Chicago to grab him some food. You knew Carmy would sometimes forget to eat when he was feeling anxious. “Eat it,” you told him, handing the box over to him.

He reluctantly opened the box and started eating. You set your work bag on the ground and sat down on the chair that faced the couch.

Carmy shifted nervously in his seat as your gaze was set on him. He was unnerved that you weren’t talking about what happened at the restaurant.

Carmy could normally read you like the back of his hand, but something about your current expression was throwing him off. He couldn’t tell if you were going to scream at him or not.

“Are you here to yell at me like everybody else? I already know I screwed up. I shouldn’t have yelled at Marcus, and I shouldn’t have argued when you told me to leave.” He told you, hoping he could apologize and avoid you yelling at him.

“You know that I’m not here to yell at you. You really fucked up, but Marcus knows that you were just stressed. I’m here to make sure you’re doing okay because I’ve never seen you blow up like that” You said, finally showing your cards. Carmy frowned, looking guilty.

“God, you’re too good to me. I acted like a piece of shit today, and you’re still trying to make sure I’m okay.” He said, still amazed by the love you had for him. He was looking at you like you were his whole world.

He set down the takeout box and used his hand to call you over to him. You stood up and walked towards him, and he patted the seat next to him.

You joined him on the couch. You both were sitting so close together that you were practically in his lap. He turned his body so he could face you.

He let his hand rest on your thigh, feeling more grateful for you than he ever had. You let your fingers caress his bicep, “you deserve to be okay. I want you to be okay,” you said, softly.

You studied his face. You noticed the small bags that had formed under his eyes. You wondered when the last time he’d actually gotten a good night’s sleep was.

You softly brushed his hair out of his face. When he was stressed, Carmy liked to pull on a certain strand of hair right in the front. You knew him like the back of your hand. You noticed all of his quirks; quirks that most people never picked up on.

Carmy watched as you gently tried to soothe him. He was sure you could see the adoration in his eyes.

“I hope you know how perfect you are. You always know exactly what to say.” He said, smiling at you. He pulled your hand away from his hair and interlaced your fingers. He’d wanted to kiss the back of your hand, but couldn’t push himself to do it.

“Do you wanna talk about why you’ve been so stressed recently?” You asked. You were treading lightly, but you wanted to understand what was making him so anxious. You hated seeing him push everyone away, and you wanted to help in any way you could.

He shrugged. “It’s just the restaurant,” he said, not knowing how else to explain it.

“The restaurant is doing amazing though, Carmy. You have no need to stress about that. You’ve been doing such a great job.” You told him, sincerely.

You watched him get a little more nervous. He was looking down at his lap, avoiding meeting your gaze. You ran your thumb over the back of his hand, trying to silently reassure him.

“You can tell me anything, Carm,” you said, softly.

“You just mean so much to me,” he started to explain. You were a little confused as to where he was going with this conversation. The room was silent as Carmy gathered his thoughts.

“Everything at the restaurant has been going so well. Every time my life has ever gone well, something terrible has happened next. I feel like I’m just waiting for everything to…I don’t know, crumble? Losing the restaurant would be terrible, but losing you and the rest of the team would be devastating. You guys are my family.” He told you, his voice cracking with emotion.

Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. You quickly pulled him into you arms, giving him the tightest hug you could. He clutched onto you like he was scared you’d disappear if he let you go.

“You aren’t going to lose anybody,” you said, holding back tears just from watching how emotional Carmy was.

The soft leather scent of Carmy’s cologne occupied your thoughts as you held him close. You both stayed attached like that for a few minutes. The room was silent, but a comfortable silent.

When you both finally pulled apart, Carmy dried the tears off his cheeks. “Nothing bad is going to happen with the restaurant. We’re all family, and that doesn’t go away based on what happens with the restaurant. You will never lose me, or any of us.” You promised him.

You earned a small chuckle from Carmy when you held your pinky up to him. “You won’t lose me either,” he said, dutifully going through with your pinky promise.

You both stared into each other’s eyes, unsure what to say next. The tension in the air nearly made it hard to breathe.

“I should probably get going and let you have the rest of your evening. I’ll see you tomorrow.” You said, standing up from the couch.

You had never felt so awkward around Carmy. Just the task of walking to the front door felt like a giant opportunity to embarrass yourself. Carmy also quickly jumped up from the couch, feeling equally self-conscious.

His hand lightly grazed your back as he led you back to the front door. “Thank you for coming over and talking to me. You really helped calm me down.” He said, sincerely. You smiled and nodded your head at him.

“Make sure to call me if you ever need to talk about anything. I promise that I’ll always be here to listen,” you assured him.

The tension returned.

You both chose to avoid it.

“Well, goodnight,” you both quickly said, at the same time. You rushed out the door, and Carmy closed it behind you.

The door clicked into place and seemingly broke you both out of your trance.

You both realized you had missed the perfect opportunity. The perfect opportunity to finally confess those feelings that had been weighing you down.

You lowered your head, almost shamefully, and started walking down the hallway.

Carmy leaned his head against the closed door, wondering how he could have missed it. The girl of his dreams was walking down the hallway away from his apartment, away from him.

He started to walk towards his bedroom when he suddenly thought “fuck it,” and turned around.

At the same time in the hallway, you had the same thought.

Your heart beating in your ears, you turned on your heel and headed back towards Carmy’s apartment.

Carmy started walking back towards the front door. Before he could reach the door, he watched the knob spin and the door fling open.

You were back and standing in front of him.

Realizing you both had the same idea, Carmy quickly closed the gap between the two of you. His strong tattooed hands cupped your cheeks as he finally kissed you. You kissed him back immediately, wrapping your arms tightly around his waist.

He moved one of his hands away from you, but just a second, so he could quickly close the front door behind you.

He pushed you against the back of the door. The back of your head bumped against the door causing you to grin against the kiss. “Oh, shit, sorry. You okay?” he asked, cupping the back of your head. You quickly nodded your head. “I’m fine, I promise.” You said, grabbing his collar and pulling him back to kiss you.

He smirked against your lips at your eagerness to not break the kiss for even a second. He held onto your waist and pinned you against the door, while you wrapped your arms around his neck and toyed with his hair.

His lips felt perfect against yours. The kiss was somehow everything you’d dreamed of but completely unexpected.

You shifted your weight against him, gently nudging him away from the door. Carmy picked up on what you were doing. You noticed his signature smirk as he guided you towards the couch.

You fell back onto the couch, pulling Carmy down on top of you. All his weight landed on you, causing you to wince. “Sorry, that more violent than it was supposed to be.” He said, sheepishly. He quickly shifted his weight, so he was holding himself above you.

You both were giggly as these little mishaps continued to happen. It suited your relationship. You both had always been able to joke with each other, especially because of your matching sense of humor. It made sense that when you both finally got together that Carmy would accidentally bump your head against the door. But it didn’t make things awkward. You both were so comfortable just giggling with each other.

“Get back here, Berzatto,” you said, connecting your lips again. He quickly obliged. While Carmy loved laughing with you, he had been waiting years to kiss you and wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

“You look so fuckin’ pretty,” he mumbled as he kissed you. You quickly slipped his tshirt over his head and tossed it to the side.

Then, you both heard a strange muffled sound. You pulled out of the kiss and gave Carmy a concerned look. It sounded like someone was in the apartment.

Your face completely changed when you realized what it was. “Carmy, that’s your phone. You butt dialed someone,” you whispered. His eyes also grew wide. He quickly grabbed his phone out of his pocket, hoping he could hang up and not say anything.

Once his phone was in his hand, he realized it was a FaceTime call and he was now face-to-face with his sister.

“Oh, shit. Sugar?” He said, the shock clear on his face. You immediately held your hand over your mouth, trying to remain completely silent.

“Hey, uh yeah. You called me? Are you okay?” She asked, confused by the whole situation.

“Oh, I must’ve done it on accident, sorry. Listen, I’m really sorry about yelling tonight. I’m gonna come in tomorrow and apologize to everyone though.” He said, sincerely. You were finding it so hard to not giggle. He was on the phone with Sugar while lying directly on top of you, and you just had to stay silent.

“It’s okay, Carm. Everyone knows you’ve been going through a lot. Y/N was going to head over to your apartment. Did you talk to her?” Natalie asked, genuinely invested.

Carmy quickly nodded his head. “Yeah, she came by earlier and we talked. I’m doing a lot better. Yeah, she’s umm—” Carmy stalled as he tried to come up with a lie.

Natalie picked up on his hesitation immediately. “Oh shit. Is she— are you two— wait is she there now?” She asked, putting it all together. You froze, trying to anticipate Carmy’s next move.

He quickly sat up on the couch before pulling you into his lap. “Hi, Nat,” you said, smiling at the camera and bracing for her reaction. You both watched her jaw drop.

“Did my two favorite people finally confess their love for each other? Oh, you guys,” she awed, being able to read you both just from the way you both were blushing.

Carmy buried his face in your neck. He knew how long Natalie had been rooting for this to happen, and he was having a hard time controlling how red his face was.

“You’re good for him. I’m really happy for you guys,” she said to you. You smiled in return and thanked her.

“Well, I’ll let you both get back to it.” She said, winking at you both and ending the call.

“So, how long before everybody knows?” He asked you. You just laughed in response, knowing it wouldn’t be long.

“I think she’s already sent an all-caps text to Sydney and Richie, and the rest of them will know before we go into work tomorrow.” You told him, honestly.

“We could just stay here tomorrow. We don’t really need to go in, right?” He said, pressing kisses to your cheek.

“Would that be the responsible thing to do?” You teased him. He chuckled and pecked your lips. “You know I would spend every second with you, whether it was responsible or not.” He told you.

You giggled, stopping him from kissing you. “Awww we’re only fifteen minutes in and I’m already your biggest weakness? You big softie,” You continued to joke around with him.

“You’ve always been my weakness, sweetheart,” he said, quickly picking up and carrying you to his bedroom.

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[springtyme]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐃𝐨 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ♡

Carmy x afab!reader || Series masterlist || Series playlist

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chapter summary: Six months ago, you made the move to Chicago and since then, the feeling of truly belonging to this new city hasn't quite settled within you. Being far away from friends and family hasn't made the transition any easier. However, one night, a new connection unexpectedly forms when your neighbor, who nearly set your apartment building ablaze, enters your life.

word count: 1.9k

warnings/tags: Eventual smut! (18+, mdni!) Language. Smoking. Angst and fluff. Slow burn. Mutual pining. Strangers to friends to lovers. Set in season one. Just a quick little chapter. I promise the next one will be longer <3

The sound of a bell chimes as you enter the restaurant, and you’re immediately hit with the smell of grilled meats and spices, making your stomach growl in response, and you are suddenly very aware of the fact that you have not yet eaten anything today. 

The room that you have stepped into is not big, the counter is taking up most of the space, with bar styled seating options up against the big window facing the street, but you spot an entrance to another room with a dining area. The wall opposite of the counter is adorned with various framed photos of the city, of customers over the years, people in chef’s attire and newspaper clippings, and at the end of the room there is a small deli counter. 

Definitely not a Michelin restaurant, you can not help but note, but warm and inviting in its own way, with that nostalgic charm of an old family-run establishment. Behind the counter, talking animatedly through the little window to the kitchen, stands a tall man, his hands moving in gestures as he explains something, but his back is turned towards you. You hesitate for a moment, he must not have heard the bell, he is laughing loudly, but as you take a step further into the room the man behind the counter turns around, noticing you standing by the door. 

“Welcome to The Beef,” he greets you, putting both his hands flat on the counter, and leaning slightly forward, as you approach with Carmen’s phone securely stored in your coat pocket. 

Now as you’re closer and he is facing you, he suddenly seems familiar, you can’t quite put a finger on from where, but you can’t help feeling like you have seen him before, and he seems to feel the same way by the way he’s now looking at you, his brow now furrowed slightly and a puzzled look in his eyes. Before you can respond and explain why you’re here, his face changes to a look of realization. “Ey, you’re the couch girl!”

Your eyes widens as you now recognize him as well. He was the other man who carried your couch up to your apartment with Michael. “Yeah, oh my god, you and…” you’re just about to mention Michael, but you stop yourself on the brink of saying it, not wanting to bring up potential painful memories. “You really saved my ass, back then,” you say, a faint smile playing on your lips. “I never even got your name.”

“Richie Jerimovich, at your service,” he replies, flashing you a wide grin as he extends his hand across the counter for a handshake. You shake his hand, offering him your own name, feeling a sense of familiarity settling between the two of you, despite having only met very briefly before. 

“Now what can I get for you, sweetheart?” He says slamming his palms back down on the counter, but you don’t get the chance to explain that you’re actually not here to eat, but to drop off Carmen’s phone, before the door to the kitchen swings open.

“Cousin, did you just call a customer sweetheart? What the actual fuck is wrong with you?” Carmen’s voice fills the room as he barges through the kitchen door, looking accusingly at Richie before turning to you. “I am so sorry about-” he breaks off mid-sentence, a look of surprise crossing his features as he realizes who you are. 

His hair is just as disheveled as it was last night, the loose curls look like he has been running his hands through them many a time throughout the day. He is also pretty much dressed the same as he was last night, but the white tee he is now wearing is looking crispier than the one he had been wearing at your place, and now a dark blue apron is tied around his waist. You can’t help but study his features, it’s the first time you see him in proper lighting, his eyes are, somehow, looking even more blue in the overhead lights of the restaurant.  

You clear your throat, feeling a sudden rush of nerves as you meet his gaze. His eyes are wide with surprise from seeing you here, but the tired lines around his eyes, softening a bit as he looks at you. “Hi,” you say with a small smile, adjusting the strap of your tote bag, hiking it higher up on your shoulder as it had started to slide off.

“Hi…” He responds in the same soft voice as you, but with surprise written all over his face. His wide eyes, blue and piercing, flickering over your face for a short moment, making your heart beat slightly faster in your chest. 

· · · · ·

By the time Richie and Syd are back from the hardware store, Carmen’s anger has defused, all that is left is a lingering sense of exhaustion and defeat. His migraine is gone as well, the excruciating pain from earlier is now reduced to a dull ache. Having to deal with a C in the window turned out to not be the worst thing to happen today.  

The talk with Jimmy had been like a fucking punch to the gut. He had come by the restaurant shortly after Richie and Sydney had left, and that is when he revealed that Mikey had loaned money from him. A lot of money. Money that Carmen now has to pay back. Three hundred grand... Three fucking hundred grand! It is almost too high of a number to be able to take seriously. How his uncle could have even thought about loaning Mikey that much is beyond him, it was down right irresponsible. 

Carmen sighs as he turns the burner down to let the pot with the simmering ragu cool off a bit. He runs a hand through his hair, his fingers feeling the knots and tangles from a long day of work. He has to figure all this out, but right now all he can focus on is to get through the day.  

“Family is ready soon,” he says, loud enough for the other people in the kitchen to hear, wiping his hands on a dishtowel before walking towards the door to the front to tell Richie. There must be a customer, he can hear the muffled sound of voices, but then, just as Carmen is about to push open the door, the anger from earlier comes back to him as he hears Richie’s voice from the other side of the door. 

“Now what can I get for you, sweetheart?”  

Carmen’s blood starts to boil as he listens to the inappropriate comment. He pushes the door open, ready to give Richie a piece of his mind. “Cousin, did you just call a customer sweetheart? What the actual fuck is wrong with you?” Carmen’s voice fills the room as he barges through the kitchen door, looking accusingly at Richie before turning to you. “I am so sorry about-” he begins, turning towards whoever the poor person Richie tried to chat up is, but his words die in his throat as he meets your gaze. 

Carmen has not even tried to process what had happened last night yet. In a weird way, it hadn’t even fully felt real, more like a dream that fades upon waking, but now seeing you standing in front of him, the memories flood back with full force, overwhelming him as your kind, pretty eyes lock with his.  

“Hi,” you say softly, breaking the silence that has settled in the room. Carmen feels a rush of words and emotions flooding his mind, but he is at a loss for how to respond, his thoughts swirling in a chaotic mess. 

“Hi…” he eventually manages to get out, his voice slightly breathless as he continues to hold your gaze. The moment stretches in time, the air filled with a sense of anticipation and uncertainty. 

“You forgot this…” you say, pulling something out of your coat pocket, which he realizes is his phone. So he had not forgotten it at home like he had thought, he had forgotten it at your home…  

You hold the phone out for Carmen, and he reaches out to take it, his fingers brushing against yours for a fleeting moment as he does so. “Thank you,” he says, his voice filled with sincerity. “How did you..?” 

“Your sister called. I didn’t know if it was you who called your own phone or what so I answered. I am sorry if I overstepped any boundaries,” you explain, looking a little bashful as you do so. 

“No, no, that’s… That’s okay,” Carmen assures you, the last thing he wants is for you to feel bad for helping him out. He is the one who should feel bad for forgetting his phone in the first place. “Thank you for bringing it by, I really appreciate it.” He unlocks his phone and sees several missed calls and messages from Sugar, confirming your story.

“You should probably give her a call when you get the time,” you say softly, there is no accusation in your tone, yet Carmy feels the familiar knot of guilt forming in his stomach. He knows that he owes his sister a call, many calls, but he just hasn’t had the strength to face the reality of everything that has been happening. But now, seeing you standing in front of him, who he barely even knows, but has already shown him so much kindness in the last nine hours or so, since you met, his guilt weighs heavy on his shoulders. 

“Yeah, you are probably right.” His voice is soft, his eyes downcast as he pockets his phone before he looks up at you again. “Are, uhm, are you busy?”  

You shake your head, a small smile playing on your lips. “No, not really.”

“We are having food, in a bit,” he adds vaguely, gesturing towards the kitchen. “If you want, you can join us.” He doesn’t really know what to do in this situation, but offering you a meal seems like the polite thing to do. You don’t answer immediately, looking a little hesitating as you mull the offer over. Carmen’s hands are suddenly feeling a lot clammier than for just a little while ago, surprising himself by how much he wants you to say yes. 

“Oh, I don’t wanna impose,” you say, fumbling with your tote bag strap again, looking a little hesitant. 

Carmen just shakes his head lightly. “No imposition at all,” he assures you, echoing your words from last night which makes a soft smile tugging at the corners of your lips. 

“Right, the more the merrier,” Richie, who Carmy had almost forgotten was in the room, chimes in.   

“Okay,” you say, the smile on your face growing brighter. “Food does sound really good.”

Carmen’s heart skips a beat at your acceptance, and he gestures for you to follow him. “Family’s in five,” he says to Richie, who mouths a ‘you two fucking?’ as he moves his hips like he is humping the air in front of him. This makes Carmy’s cheek heat up with anger, (as well as something else though he isn’t even sure about what exactly is, he just knows that it is something that he doesn’t really want to dissect that right) as he glares angrily back at Richie who seemingly thinks the whole situation is fucking hilarious. 

Carmen’s just thankful that your back was turned. He also can’t help but feel weirdly happy about being the one who cooked family today. 

Thank you for reading! Reblogs and comments are always greatly appreciated :) let me know if you want to be tagged in the next chapter ♡

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[raggedytiger]

ragatha/agatha and pomni/penny human hcs!

(r)agatha:

is an english teacher!

yes she still loves horses. she used to ride them, & she loves old western movies.

owns cowboy hat and boots.

analytical and loves long & winding conversations.

has a very happy cat named sandwich.

patches her own clothes, doesn't have kids but if she did she would embroider their names into their belongings.

she still plays cello, she loves music in general, probably sings like an angel.

can't do any mathematics.

can drive, but like a lunatic. somehow has never had an accident though, so it's fine.

probably has a cute little baby blue/yellow car now, but definitely had a beat up offroader truck at some point that got put to good use. or maybe she still does, i'm not the boss.

total lesbian, a bit of a heartbreaker but not intentionally (women just keep falling for her)

goes to town/neighbourhood/community meetings. likely is/was in a knitting circle

absurd number of quilts in her home

pomni/penny:

is an accountant as we know, and cannot cook for shit as we know.

no pets she can barely take herself for walks. is more similar to a cat, but had a dog growing up. would love a collie or a dalmatian probably.

would name the dog something stupid like Thermometer Johnson.

she can drive, but nervously.

really quick thinker, like impressively, unless she's under HUGE amounts of stress. is literally always thinking at 100mph.

no sense of interior decor or personal style. all practical, kind of butch. really does kill a suit.

very much lesbian but not fully to terms with it. probably had short-lived relationships with men in which she was 'content' but didn't really care for it. seeing agatha as agatha for the first time was probably a crazy punch to her little gay heart. not to mention the cowboy gear.

autistic

watches 90s anime to wind down

listens to every single genre of music. passes a lot of time with headphones in, slowly making her way thru the entire world's discography

owns no band merch or anything though she just listens

can't sleep without a fan on, thunderstorm 12hr audio, blackout curtains, weighted blanket, water nearby

does not sleep a lot

both of them (going to call them pomni and ragatha for convenience):

didn't immediately recognise one another. i havent got an exact idea of how they reunited after getting out, but there were tears.

bonded in a very rare and unique way - they got to revel in the newfound joys of real life again. they got to eat delicious food, go on long, unobstructed walks in the real sun, be warmed by it, chew on ice cubes and shiver at the pain, listen to each other's heartbeats, listen to real music, read real books, smell soaps and flowers and sauces. they went to the supermarket together and read all the labels, and bought one of each type of fruit to try between them, and smelled all the candles, and touched all the blankets. spent a lot of time holding hands and kissing and i'm sorry to say, probably having sex, because holy shit, i'm real, you're real, we're real

now live together in ragatha's apartment, after pomni moved out of her small and confusingly-furnished flat.

both of them feel inadequate from time to time. this is resolved by a stern-but-loving talking-to.

sandwich likes pomni very much. pomni doesn't really get cats, but loves sandwich a great deal, and enjoys letting her sleep on her lap.

ragatha is very pleased to see her girls getting along.

ragatha cooks, pomni chops the veg. she often doesn't fuck it up

pomni cleans a lot as a 'thank you for letting me live here, i love you'. she's very much acts of service, ragatha is words & physical touch <3

they watch a lot of movies together. depending on how long they've been stuck, they might have culture to catch up on

ragatha wants to have a house with a garden one day. pomni starts germinating seeds from their fruit & veg like a weird science experiment. ragatha is delighted when she is presented with a baby tomato plant.

clothes are shared. ragatha's are bigger, but most of pomni's are ill-fitting anyway so it can go both ways. ragatha likes to dress pomni up in different outfits and have her do a little fashion show. pomni pretends not to savour the confidence boost.

pomni starts sleeping more

[dance-on-the-moonlight]

Mistletoe // LN4

summary: Lando keeps trying to get you to walk under the mistletoe so he could kiss you. You get fed up at his failed attempts so you take the matters in your own hands.

warnings:

Lando really liked you. He keeps on leaving subtle hints through everything you do, yet you never notice. You mostly just brush it off by him being him even though you never noticed the same behaviour around his other girl friends.

With Christmas nearing, you kept on dragging him through all your chores (and he went happily with you).

The first time he got the idea to get you under the mistletoe was when you took him with you to the mall for decoration shopping.

You were talking about which stores you need to go to and what you need to buy there, when he spotted a couple to your left walk under the mistletoe. He watched them smile shyly and give each other a quick kiss, before sauntering off giggling like school kids.

"... that's where I need to get the ribbons for kitchen counters.", he hummed, so you know he's listening to you before tugging on your hand to walk in the direction of the mistletoe. But you tugged him back, rooted in place. "Where are you going? The store is that way!", you point in the opposite direction. "Did you even listen to me?", you ask him, feigning annoyance. "Yeah sorry, I just got distracted." You smile at him as he walks in the right direction. "So ribbons for kitchen counters? Do we really need that?"

-

The second time was when you went to find a Christmas tree. The mistletoe was tied right at the entrance of the park, there wasn't a chance you wouldn't walk under it. He felt giddy and nervous just by thinking about it.

He let go of your hand to rub them on his pants, so they wouldn't be sweaty (even though he had gloves on). But that was his first mistake as you clapped your hands running to a tree you spotted. "Come on!! I saw the perfect tree!", you yell excitedly running off around the entrance. Never even making it under the mistletoe. Lando huffs and watches the white puff of smoke leave his mouth. He just prayed that the exit has a mistletoe, too (It didn't).

-

Lando was getting frustrated by the minute. Everytime you managed to avoid walking under the mistletoe. As if you knew he wanted that and it scared him a bit. He talked with his friends none giving any good advice.

So when you got home after shopping all day, again, he couldn't wait for you two to get to your apartment. He just hoped the mistletoe he put above it, didn't fall.

"This is so fucking heavy.", you complain as you carry two bags in each hand. He looks at you, eyebrows raised. You chuckle and smile sheepishly at him when you look at him, and the three boxes in his hands.

That's what he didn't count on, all the stuff you'd have to carry. You were unlocking the door as his eyes travelled up, to see the mistletoe still hanging, right above you. But he couldn't do anything from the boxes in his hands. He sighed and shuffled inside when you open the door.

-

It was the day before Christmas Eve as Lando sat on the kitchen island and patiently watched you do the last decorations. He was helping at first but you sent him to sit down, since he kept on putting things on wrong places.

He was absent-mindedly twirling a straw in his drink when he heard you call out his name. He immediately jumped down and walked up to you.

"How can I be of service?", he joked, as he looked at the ladder you brought with you. "I need your help to put a - uhh... a decoration up there." you point up at the archway. He nods his head, observing you pink cheeks.

"Okay, I just need you to hold the ladder for me." You say taking a deep breath. "I thought you wanted me to put it up?" he scrunches his nose adorably and you chuckle. "I said I need help. Now, come on, hold it. Don't let me fall.", you joke. And miss the way he whispers "Never."

He doesn't pay attention on what the Christmas decoration is, only on holding the ladder for you, and looking at your ass.

When you're done, you climb down and clap your hands smiling up at him. "So, what do you think?", you ask him looking up at the same time he does too. A mistletoe hung above you, just like the one at the mall, the one at the park and the one in front of your door.

You watch as he blushes, and looks down at his shoes. "It's a... good idea.", he says, wiping his hands on his jeans, then scratching his neck as he briefly looks at your smiling face then back to the kitchen.

You can feel the nervousness and the butterflies in your stomach as he tenses his jaw.

"So..?", you bite your lip nervously and he glances back at you, his eyes dropping you your lips. "Are you going to kiss me, Lando?", you whisper and he swears he almost fainted.

"Only if you let me.", he whispers back and you smile, nodding your head slightly as he places his one hand on your waist, the other one caresses your cheek. He swipes his thumb over your lower lip, before moving it to the back of your neck as he tugs your hair a bit so you look up at him properly.

"Are you sure?", he asks and as soon as you whisper "Yes." he leans down and kisses you softly.

[golden-hearts-silver-tongues-if]

Demo: (Release Date: when i figure out twine, and then a week)

Life was never easy, but the day you first found your talent for less than legal practices, it certainly got easier. And when you finally got taken in by a nosy noble who could appreciate your talents, life finally seemed like it was looking up. But the highlife isn't all it was cracked out to be. You had to leave behind your best friend for this chance at the high life, and that's not even to mention all the enemies you've made while in service of the person who brought you in. Was it worth it? Can you keep your skeletons nice and tidy in your closet? Or will the past prove to have a few too many chips on its shoulder. ------------- This is a game about many things. Struggling to find meaning in your own life, trying to cling to those you care about as life drags you apart, and what can happen when you don't make peace before the storm. You take on the role of a peasant with a talent for the illegal, be that quick hands or a quicker wit. After years of dealing with the dirt of life to make a living, you get taken in (read, bought into service) of a noble who claims to have nothing but good intentions. They want to expose other nobility for their wrongdoings while climbing the ranks themselves. Will you be willing to remain loyal to their cause, or is money truly the only thing motivating you? That remains up to you to decide. Golden Hearts, Silver Tongues is rated 18+ for explicit language, mature themes, drug and alcohol use and abuse, violence, thoughts and mentions of suicide, self-harm, death and mental trauma. -------------

Customizable MC, choose your gender, pronouns, appearance, sexuality, romantic attraction, personality, history with some characters, potential disabilities, and most importantly, how you choose to go about your crimes. Are you a smooth talker, or someone who prefers actions over words?

Romance one of four available ROs? Will you fall back to your tumultuous Ex/Ex Best Friend? Or perhaps your new coworker or Boss? Or perhaps the most dangerous, the Ex-Noble hunting you down?

Struggle with Morality as you get pulled in different directions. What constitutes good anyways? And let's be honest, do you even care about being good at this point?

Resolve all of your lingering issue, before choosing how to move forwards. To remain trapped by the chains of your past, or to cast it all off and move forwards, unburdened. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

-------------

Romance Options:

The Rival (F, Cis or Trans selectable) - Your one and only friend in the early days of your life, and perhaps something more? You two grew up together and often were the only ones each other had. Perhaps she was your best friend, your lover, or someone you were so close to you could consider them family. Regardless, whatever she was, she isn't anymore. A fight caused a rift between you two, and now you two aren't on talking terms, much less anything else. So, when she shows up to one of your jobs, to steal the same items no less, is it any surprise things don't go well? Tropes - Exes to Lovers, Childhood Crush, Exfriends to Lovers, Rivals/Enemies to Lovers

The Boss (M, F, NB selectable) - The person who scooped you off the streets and showed you what the high life was like, and all you had to do was steal whatever they told you. Simple enough, right? You'd think. In practice, it seems like they keep upping the ante on your targets and at some point, you have to wonder whether or not this is all born out of good intentions. Though, with the looks they keep sending your way, perhaps more than just your skills have captivated them? No, that couldn't be true. After all, a noble and a peasant would cause far too much of an uproar for the already tumultuous figure that is your boss. Right? Gender Footnote - If NB, the Boss will be Agender. Tropes - Forbidden Love, Age Gap, Nobility x Peasant, Employer x Employee

The Coworker (M, Cis or Trans selectable) - A surprise your boss sprung on you just a few months ago, he is another noble who embraced your Boss' rhetoric and now wants to help reveal the darker side of the Kingdom. It's a shame he doesn't know what he's doing, but luckily (or unluckily), that is where you come in. Tasked to show him the ropes of thieving, you must figure out how to teach this eager learner what you've known all your life. He might not have quick hands, nor can he lie to save his life, but if there's one thing, he knows it's how to get up after a failure. And that surely has no correlation to all the gifts of his you've ignored over the years, right? Tropes - Coworkers to Lovers, Master x Apprentice, First Crush, Himbo, Potentially Grumpy x Sunshine

The Baron (M, F, NB selectable) - Hate is a strong word. Luckily, the Baron is a strong person. The first major noble your Boss ever sent you after, they by far had the hardest fall from grace out of anyone you know. Going from ruling an entire quarter of the Kingdom, to being nothing more than a rogue knight hunting you down for revenge. It's a shame they still have so much money at their disposal to hunt you with, and for all that it's worth, they are very good at finding you. Catching you, not so much. You always manage to just barely evade their capture....surely nothing to think about. Gender Footnote - If NB, the Baron will be Genderfluid. Tropes - Hate-Hate Relationship, Enemies to Lovers, Murder makes people hot, Villian Route, Potentially Redemption Arc

------------- Note Zone: Hey there! Thanks for reading all the way through this. This little place down here is where I plan on placing things like links in the future, and also any notes on progress or big topics and stuff that comes up. For now, all asks are welcomed, and once again thank you!

[darlingdekarios]

buffet.

rating: explicit. 18+ only. length: 3,146 content: Eddie Brock/Venom x f!reader, symbiote involvement, is this technically a threesome?, tentacles, smut [v fingering, unprotected p in v, alien tentacles & tongue, double penetration, receiving oral]

the only kind of sharing Eddie Brock will agree to.

It was really only a matter of time before something like this happened. After months of a casual fling with Eddie Brock – quick meetups in your office at work had evolved into hours spent between the sheets of your bed, which had turned into nights of him crawling into his bed beside you. The frequency that flowers came to your office signed with his name had increased, his visits to bring you lunch nearing every day – the other people who worked at the paper with you had their assumptions. And yet, despite the obviously growing intensity between the two of you, there had never been an official name put on whatever was transpiring.

But tonight, the two of you had escalated things by going to a very public press fundraiser together. It was the kind of event Eddie hated – everyone in their fancy suits and dresses, signing checks not to be good people but to make others think they were so, the sticks shoved firmly up their asses as they ate overly-expensive and shitty food. While most of the people present got an idea of the situation when you arrived arm-in-arm with him, the irresistible allure of every dip and curve in your body in your sleek black dress had pulled in attention you didn’t want – or need.

It was Eddie’s final thread snapping that had changed the evening. While you were speaking with one of your old colleagues, his eyes had lingered downward far too long for his taste, and he had put the man in his place with a raised voice. Veins protruding in his temples and neck, Eddie had openly chastised the man for being so indecent toward you, and in doing so confirmed what most of the people in the room already knew – he was hopelessly in love with you. You’d watched on, cheeks pink as you bit into your bottom lip, watching him loudly stake a claim over you that you had to wonder exactly when he’d began to feel entitled to it – not that you had any arguments to present.

It wasn’t a surprise when the two of you were escorted out and refused a car service home due to the scene he’d caused, and so you found yourselves walking through the park to return to whichever apartment was closest. The chilled air was helping to simmer the anger that was boiling in him, and yet he was still walking with an intensity that quickened his step, his breaths coming out in frustrated huffs. Once you were fully removed from the lights and sounds of the ongoing party behind you, one of your hands found its way to grip his shoulder, steadying his movements for a moment. Slipping your hands around his middle you pressed yourself to his back in a gentle hug, your cheek leaning against the leather of his jacket that was warm thanks to the heat he was giving off.

“I’ve never seen you like that over me, Eddie,” you purred, using a quiet voice to soothe him into the relaxation you knew you could bring him to. His large hands came to rest over yours on his stomach, a deep breath releasing from his chest with another huff.

“I’m sorry to embarrass you like that, baby,” he relented, his hands giving yours a light squeeze. His voice was hoarse, rough from the shouting he’d been doing not long before, and yet you knew him well enough to hear the hidden worry his voice carried – he didn’t want you to be angry for hastening the end of your first real night out together. “I didn’t mean to yell, I just…couldn’t handle the way he was looking at you. I didn’t fucking like how anyone there was looking at you, like I wasn’t even there. Like I wasn’t right fucking there.”

“You weren’t the one in the wrong, and I don’t think there’s any question about who I was there with now, Eddie,” you cooed quietly, sympathetic to his rising anger, knowing you could truly subside it whenever you wished. “And you don’t need to be sorry to me. I…will never complain about seeing you that way…for me.”

And at the same time you were coaxing him into a calm lull, the symbiote attached to him was in his mind, its words infused with something primal. 

She likes when we show possession of her, Eddie. We can smell it on her.

 Eddie turned himself then, his arms wrapping to hold you against him firmly as his eyes searched for yours in the pale moonlight. His mind less clouded in anger now, he took in the red hue to your cheeks, the way your bottom lip had already begun to swell due to your repeated biting, the way your eyes had begun to darken – this was a look he was familiar with, a look he coveted. His lips curved upward into a smirk, a look you also knew – a look that meant he’d finally relaxed enough to catch on. The hoarse gavel to his voice did nothing to satiate the flaming heat in your own stomach.

“Seeing me what way for you?” he inquired, the answer already running through his mind. His hands found your lower back, pushing you forward into him so you could relish in his heat. One of his hands slid to grasp your chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting your face up toward his as he bent downward to lightly rub his nose against yours. “You like seeing me get possessive over you, pretty girl? Does it get you all hot and bothered to see me lose my mind over you?”

Pulling your lip between your teeth again you could only bring yourself to nod, quiet breaths increasing in pace embarrassingly quickly as he leveraged his proximity to you by allowing his lips to brush against yours. He loved to see how flustered you were for him – even Venom continued to mentally remark how you looked for them – but you knew what he truly wanted from you. Miraculously, you found your voice, nothing for than a quiet murmur against his lips.

“You look sexy when you’re angry like that, yeah…but what really made me hot was you getting so possessive over me,” you whispered, lips brushing his with feather-light movements as you spoke. His hold on your chin became firmer, his hand at your back slipping to grasp your hip. “Almost like you think I’m yours or somethin’.”

The taunt was intentional, he knew that, and responded in kind by slotting his lips against yours, beginning to pull you with him as he stepped backward repeatedly to disappear into the trees. Returning his kiss, you quickly found your tongue entering a dance with his, his hand sliding to cup your cheek into its warmth. When he felt there were enough trees between the two of you and the path, he pulled away from your kiss carefully, shrugging his jacket free of his shoulders as he went.

“You are mine, I guess maybe I need to do a better job at showing you that,” he teased, his lips connecting with yours again as he began to cover your back and shoulders with his jacket. Backing you into a tree he leaned down closer to you, testing how sturdy the thick trunk appeared to be. “But I know you like it, because Venom says it can smell how fucking wet you are because of it. I didn’t know you wanted to be mine so bad, you could’ve asked nicely, you know?”

“Eddie, Jesus, you talk so fucking much sometimes,” you whimpered, your complaint pulling a laugh from him as he began to trail kisses across your jaw. Your fingers bunched into his shirt on his chest, pulling him closer as you sought to rub your core against his thigh for any amount of friction you could get. His hands began to pull at your dress, bunching it up until he held most of the skirt at your hips, shifting his leg between yours to knock them apart.

“Try to keep quiet, pretty girl,” he whispered when his lips reached your ear, sucking into the delicate skin beneath your ear immediately after before he began to sink to his knees in front of you. “I’d hate to have one of those stuck-up assholes ruin our fun.”

Before you could question his intent, he leaned forward, running his soft lips along the inside of your thigh, inhaling deeply as each of his instincts screamed for him to. Keeping one hand on the fabric of your dress he reached the other to push your delicate underwear to the side, immediately diving into your wet folds with his tongue to test for himself how wet you were. Groaning on at the familiar honey-sweetness of your arousal his hand slipped to lift one of your legs over his shoulder, lapping against you as though it was all that had been on his mind for hours.

A quiet moan slipped from your lips, your head leaning back to the tree as your eyes rolled back – a good thing considering the mere sight of him on his knees for you was enough to make you scream. As his lips sucked against your swollen clit he slipped his hand back to your ass, squeezing firmly before running his tongue downward again. Fucking his tongue into you he released another groan before pulling away, placing kisses along the insides of your thighs.

“You taste so good,” he cooed, his murmured words of appreciation striking into you deeply, pulling another quiet moan from you. “All that fancy fucking food at that dinner tonight and not a single thing tasted this good.”

We want a taste, Eddie.

 The low rumbling voice, no matter how familiar it had become in the last several months, always sent a shiver down your spine. Even the symbiote was conscious of the situation and desperate not to ruin it, quieting its voice to much lower volumes than normal – though only for the benefit of the humans, as if it were left to the alien, it would cherish your moans bouncing off the trees. Eddie licked another desperate line between your folds, flicking his tongue against his clit as he savored every drop of you he could. His voice was husky when he finally found it.

“I’m not the one to ask, V,” he explained, his hand pushing against your backside to encourage your core to his face where his tongue waited again. “I’m not so sure if she’s ready for that.”A cold, slick and slightly barbed tongue licked a surprisingly solemn stripe along the inside of your thigh, chasing the path Eddie had taken minutes ago now. Goosebumps raised across your skin, a soft gasp falling from your lips as your eyes shot open to confirm the sight for yourself. Venom, careful not to anger Eddie, stilled its movements on your thigh as Eddie fucked his tongue into your warm channel again. Your fingers found Eddie’s hair, tangling into the soft locks to steady yourself as you nodded your head weakly, struggling to find words appropriate for the situation you found yourself in.

“You…you’re both part of one another,” you replied, words shaking as you fought to consent through the waves of pleasure crashing through your body. Eddie could feel Venom reaching out to every inch of his body, soaking in the desire every part of them felt. As you managed to nod your head you found words within yourself again. “I don’t want to keep myself from any part of you. Go…ahead, V.”

Eddie’s mouth fell open in brief shock before he reached to connect it with your clit again, sucking against the swollen nib gently as the tongue on your thigh reached higher now. The cool, wet muscle eagerly reached for your dripping hole, experimentally swirling the tip around your entrance. When they were rewarded with the sweetest moan they’d ever heard a groan rumbled in Eddie’s chest, his own tongue flicking against your clit as Venom’s tongue slipped into your cunt, far deeper than any human could hope to reach. As Venom began to swirl its tongue inside you Eddie continued his attention on your clit, reaching his hand that didn’t grasp fabric at your waist to force his pants down, freeing his straining cock with a rough slap against his stomach.

The pressure built in your stomach impossibly full as your legs began to shake, Eddie’s teeth nibbling your clit gently as Venom continued familiarizing its own tongue with the taste of you. It wasn’t long before you had to throw your head back again, a tidal wave of pleasure washing through your body as your orgasm gushed through you, the majority finding its way to Eddie’s mouth – he wouldn’t be the one to waste a drop.

Once content with how clean he’d ensured your folds were, Eddie began to raise himself back up, pressing greedy kisses to any part of your torso that was exposed to him. As Venom’s tongue withdrew from you Eddie hoisted you up, immediately burying his cock to the hilt as he pinned you against himself and the tree, shuddering with a groan as he buried his face in your neck. His strong exterior always melted in those first moments he felt your warmth welcome him in again, and with his face hidden in your neck and eyes squeezed shut he was oblivious to the sleek black tendril that wound itself around your middle, securing you to the tree further so Eddie didn’t have to focus on his hold. You welcomed him home with a moan, as you always did, which encouraged him to give a beginning thrust, grunting into your skin as he began to nibble on the tender skin beneath your ear.

“You’re so fucking wet, baby, my god,” he groaned into your ear, picking up the pace of his thrusts into you. With a particularly perfect thrust the head of his cock knocked against your cervix, eliciting a loud moan from your chest. Another tendril took advantage of your open lips, slipping into your mouth with nodded approval from Eddie. “We told you we gotta stay quiet, baby. Don’t worry, Venom’ll help – be a good girl and suck, love seeing those pretty lips workin’.”

Your moans were muffled by Venom, your glazed over eyes finding Eddie’s as he raised his head to look at you, to confirm that you were following his suggestion. Holding his eye contact and feeling the way your walls clenched him at these new sensations, you began to work your mouth over the perfectly sized appendage. A low, appreciative growl rumbled through the air from the symbiote, Eddie’s thrusts becoming more desperate as he connected his mouth with your neck again, sucking an obvious mark into your skin.

Between grunts he spoke praises, thanking you for how good you were being with your mouth and complimenting how fucking hot you looked for them. Within minutes his thrusts were becoming sloppy, and he took a deep breath to steady himself, unwilling to finish before you could again. Knowing Eddie’s predicament, Venom’s tongue slid carefully up your thigh again before flicking against your clit, mirroring the action it had watched Eddie do many times. Your hips bucked forward into Eddie’s roughly, a deep moan sounding in your chest even passed your stuffed mouth, your eyes rolling back before closing. Eddie reached a hand to cup the side of your face, coaxing you to look at him again with soft words as he began to time his thrusts with the flicks of Venom’s tongue.

“That’s right, pretty girl – keep those eyes on me,” he pleaded, his words broken up between heavy breaths. Though you pushed yourself to remain fixated on his eyes, both of you broke the loving gaze when you felt additional tendrils on your legs, working up your bodies slowly – almost inquisitively. “Venom…wants to make sure we’re both nice and full. You gonna let us?”

You could barely nod, eyes finding Eddie’s again to communicate your consent the best you could with a look. Even if your mouth wasn’t full, you wouldn’t have been able to find the words to describe just how it felt when an intentionally wet tendril prodded at the tight ring of muscle at your backside – nor how it made you feel to see the same was happening to Eddie. Venom worked the tendrils into each of your asses like it had planned to do so for a long time now, like it knew exactly how it needed to enter both of you to make it feel as good as possible.

Venom’s thrusts matched Eddie’s perfectly, its tongue swirling around your clit in a sinful synchrony that had your thighs shaking within minutes. Your hands reached for Eddie’s shoulders, nails digging into his skin even past the t-shirt covering him. Eddie’s breaths were ragged, and yet as you’d mentioned before – he just couldn’t bring himself not to speak to you.

“Gonna let me fill you up, perfect girl?” he questioned, his hands finding your hips as he began to relentlessly ram his cock up into you. He took a moment to look down between the two of you, watching how his cock disappeared into your tight walls with each thrust before fixing his gaze on your face again, groaning when you nodded your approval. If it were any other time, he’d want you to be able to speak – but he couldn’t chance the scream he knew you wanted to let rip through you. “Gonna fill you up so much I’m leaking out of you for days,” he promised, followed quickly by another, “and then I’m going to fill you up some more when we get home.”

Your thighs already shaking, you wrapped them around him tighter as you rocked against him, part of your moan slipping past the tendril in your mouth as your eyes rolled back. Your walls clenching around him pulled Eddie’s own release from him, his thick, hot load shooting deep into you as a low groan sounded in his chest along with a string of compliments.

When your shared euphoria had subsided, Venom departed from where it filled you so you could lean forward to claim Eddie’s lips in a kiss, your hands still clutching to his shoulders and body shaking as the pleasure continued to surge through you. Eddie returned your kiss hungrily, slowly pulling himself from you and steadying you back on the ground with his hands on your hips gently. When both of you were redressed, he pulled you back in for another kiss, his lips moving against yours as he spoke a final promise into the night.

“That’s the only kind of sharing you’ll get from me.”

masterlist. marvel masterlist.

[pimosworld]

Secret Springs Resort

Pairing-Joel Miller x f!plus size reader

CW-18+, MDNI, Angst,hurt/comfort, mentions of body insecurity, mentions of food insecurity, mentions of smut, Joel being so supportive, reader hiding her feelings at first but we always end with fluffiness. Dream vacation Joel vibes.

WC-1.2k

A/N- I decided to go with a different direction for this weeks theme at the Resort for the Secret springs challenge by our mayor @secretelephanttattoo. I love this idea, it was so fun to write despite the angst, it’s just in my nature to make you feel a little.

[Series Masterlist][Joel Miller Masterlist]

Not beta read

Indulgence

If you thought he didn’t notice the first night then you had seriously underestimated the man that was Joel Miller. 

  The man that had turned your world upside down the moment he stepped foot into your kitchen that he would soon remodel. The kitchen that you got to enjoy for just shy of a year after it was completed before selling your home and moving in with him. The newly remodeled kitchen being the major selling point. The smug look on his face when you got well over the asking price. The look that you so often indulged in wiping off his face when you had him writhing beneath you. This burly, breadth of a man that made you believe in love again. 

  He most certainly noticed on the first night of your vacation. The one you had both worked so hard for. 

  Secret Springs Resort

  An all inclusive beach resort vacation that he had meticulously planned down to the minute. Even the daily naps were planned because he knew how you could get bratty when you were tired. 

  It pained him the way you picked at your food and shuffled it around the plate as if he wouldn’t notice. 

  The way you squint your eyes in fake pleasure to signal that you enjoyed the bite. 

  The look he so often noticed at home during a meal or out to dinner but he so foolishly thought you would be care free while in this oceanic oasis.  

  The second night. 

  When you blamed the sun burn and your headache as to why you couldn’t eat much more than a few bites. The way your eyes watered when he moaned eating his steak and you stared longingly at the buttery garlic noodles that you wanted to dive headfirst into.  

  You said you were too full for dessert and yet Joel knew you better than that. A small sliver of hope when he let you feed him some ice cream, but his hopes quickly squashed when you had one bite and pushed it away. 

  The third day was your day to relax. No excursions planned and the weather far too hot to lay on the beach. Joel opted to lay among the sheets with you for most of the morning. His head resting between your plush thighs as you played with his thick curls. 

  The way it always started out so innocent and yet he could have you falling apart beneath him in minutes. 

  It’s the most relaxed he’s seen you this entire trip, and even if he dies for lack of oxygen he’ll never come up for air if it means seeing you like this. 

  It’s why he opts to spend the entire day taking full advantage of the luxury suite. Finding different ways to bend you over every surface of this room…the balcony, the couch, the bathroom sink. The shower steams until the mirror fogs over. Fucking and laughing until he thinks he may have pulled a muscle. The way you call him an old man in jest because he knows he could outlast you any day. 

  It’s why as he watches you sleep, your soft curves peeking out beneath the rumpled covers as the sun sets over the water he decides you’ll just complete the day inside. A quick call to room service and the woman on the other line doesn’t balk when he nearly orders everything on the menu. All your favorites so there’s no room for argument. In the safety of your private room, away from prying eyes so he can finally put a stop to whatever is holding you back. 

  It’s the smell that first wakes you first. In the quiet comfort of the sheets you get the hint of the savory aroma of fresh baked pizza and garlic bread. Your stomach growling and heart warming at the familiar smells that fill the air. You blink sleepily as your gaze falls on Joel, shirtless with his jeans hung low on his hips as he bustles around the room. Plates and silverware clinking as he sets up a small table on the balcony. 

  He turns with a gentle smile as he hears you rustling in the sheets. “Hey there, sleepyhead. I hope you’re hungry.”  

  Your eyes widen slightly at the sight of the spread. A large pizza with all your favorite toppings. One half with pineapple because Joel thought it was blasphemy. A steaming bowl of pasta with Parmesan cheese and marinara sauce. Golden slices of garlic bread arranged neatly on the side. 

  Your throat constricts with the unexpected sensation of gratitude and anxiety. 

  “You…you didn’t have to do all this.” You murmur, feeling a rush of vulnerability. 

  Joel strides over to you on the bed, draping the silky resort robe around your shoulders. “I know.” He says softly as he places a kiss on your forehead. “But I wanted to darlin’. Ya deserve to enjoy all your favorites without feeling self conscious.” 

  Tears well up in your eyes as you look up at him. Overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness, at the way he surprised you everyday. “Thank you.” You whisper, with a slight tremble. “It means a lot to me.” 

  He didn’t expect you to bend so easily, yet he’s relieved all the same. A sense of pride blooming in his chest as you sit together on the balcony sharing bites of pizza and stories about your past. Things you want for your future, some things he’s heard and some things he’ll pocket for later. 

  He can tell as the meal goes on and you relax that you want to say it. To tell him why you’re this way, but he already knows it’s him. The reason he had to break down so many walls. The man whose name is rarely mentioned in your home because anytime it is Joel wants to find a way to make him a missing person. 

  When he looks at you like you’ve hung the moon and the stars as he twirls the pasta on the plate and holds it out for you, like an olive branch to open up. 

  You start tentatively to explain your past insecurities. How your ex made you feel ashamed for enjoying food. How he always made sure you knew to eat less than him. 

  “I always felt like I had to justify why I ate.” You say quietly as you sip your water. “But you…you make me feel comfortable just being myself.” 

  Joel reached across the table to take your hand, placing a kiss to your palm. “You don’t ever have to justify anything with me baby.” He says earnestly. “I want you to be happy and feel good about yourself. You should cuz you’re fuckin perfect.” 

  You smiled gratefully as he wiped a stray tear from your cheek. You knew with Joel beside you, you could let go of old hurts and embrace moments like this. Where kindness, understanding and a simple meal could say so much more than words could express. 

Comments and reblogs are much appreciated

[0anonnymouslyours0]

hi I have literally never done this before but I saw your post just now and thought what the heck

could you write a small thing about spencer reid where reader and him are neighbours and they both have a little crush on each other but never get to interact because spencer is literally never there

until either reader or spencer's apartment floods and it's 3am so they just go to their neighbour and there's maybe a cute confession?

(feel free to add your own pizzazz I love your writing!!!) <3333

hihihi girl! request anytime! this also ended up being a lotttt longer then intended <3

warnings: none, its fluffy its cute, like rlly cute and a bit cliche.

spencer reid. that was your neighbours name. considering he was home very little, you'd only seen him a few times and you've never even spoken a word; it seemed silly how much time you spent thinking about him.

you'll admit, your a sucker for a tall brunette with glasses, who wore ties and vests, and perhaps looked just a little nerdy. it was sweet, spencer looked very sweet.

he also happens to be your next door neighbour. like literally, you open the door of your house every day, and are confronted with the site of his own house. he's right there. you've debated sliding a note under his door, or just knocking and suggesting coffee, but you've always backed out.

the opportunity however, presents itself in a slightly annoying way. in the afternoon, you arrive home and walk into your living room to discover the entire floor flooded. one quick check of the house, and you've determined the entire place is flooded.

"jesus christ." you mutter, dialing a plumber and the flood services in your city.

when they arrive, its determined your house will be unliveable for 2 days. 2 whole days.

the plumber, matt, stares at you. "apologies, lady, but your pipes are pretty busted. its gonna cost you too."

you groan, annoyed.

"oh, uh your neighbour, you should check with them. see if they've got any issues." he adds.

you stop, spencer. your neighbour. you have a reason to go talk to him. you leave the plumber, and his little team to get to work, and cross the street to spencers house.

knock. knock.

maybe he isnt home. you look at his driveway. his car is there. the door creaks, and opens, revealing spencer reid. the man himself. in all his messy hair, rumpled shirt, afternoon glory. he pushes his glasses up, staring at you, suprised.

"hi. sorry i'm-"

"y/n." he says, quickly, and then flushes.

"right." your suprised he knows your name, though you do know his. "look uhm, sorry to bother you.. but my house kind of flooded. like everywhere. so, uhh- i was just checking if your house is all good."

his eyes widen. "your entire house? is flooded?"

you nod, grimacing. "yeah.. i mean my stuffs fine, i just have to find somewhere to stay and its a pain." you say, folding your arms and sighing.

he looks at you for a moment, thoughtful.

"uh.. besides from the fact im a total stranger.. you could um, stay with me? i mean. i have a guest room, im usually out all day. i'll cook." he says, quickly. he looks at you, expecting a no.

your suprised at his offer, intrigued even. he seems safe, your not uncomfortable.. and it would save you from having to stay in some cheap hotel.

"really? i mean- are you sure?" you confirm, raising your eyebrows at him.

he nods energetically, smiling. "i mean, it would be easier for you."

you nod, smiling back.

"well.. uh come in?" he says, shuffling to the side awkwardly.

his house is delightful, with heavy linen curtains, and tall bookshelves. the house is mostly wood, with touches of green and navy. it fits him perfectly.

"nice place you have here." you say, smiling.

"thank you." he says, staring at you for a moment. you catch him, and he looks away quickly.

"do you, uhm want a coffee? we can sit for a bit if you'd like." he says, gesturing at the couches in his living room.

you nod. "black with sugar, please."

"oh- i have mine just the same." he grins, hurrying off the the kitchen, before returning with a cup for you. he sits opposite you, studying you for a moment.

"so.. spencer, how long have you lived here?" you ask.

"5 years. which.. i think is a year longer then you?" he smiles.

"correct. uh, where do you work?"

he pauses, thinking thoughtfully. "truthfully, i work in the fbi. behavioral analysis unit." he says, staring right at you.

you shuffle in your seat, suddenly aware that this possibly means he can read your every emotion, or thought.

"thats very.. impressive, but then again you do have an intelligent look to you."

he chuckles, "well, i have been told i dress the part."

you laugh, smiling at him.

"you know.. i noticed you a while ago." he says, looking down at his coffee and swirling it.

you raise an eyebrow, curious.

"how so?"

"well, if i may be bold, your very- uhm very pretty."

your eyes widen, taken aback. you flush, letting out a soft giggle.

"you think so?" you whisper, staring at him. he finally looks up at you, nodding.

"do you say that to all the women you invite into your home?" you tease.

"i don't often invite women into my home.. in fact, you might be a first. quite special." he smiles. your cheeks feel hotter.

"well, spencer, i noticed you a while ago too. your very cute. you might be just my type." you say, staring at him.

its his turn to blush, and he looks nervous, as he turns away from you, lips parting into a smile.

"perhaps a blessing in disguise your apartment being flooded.." he whispers, the smile evident in his voice.

"i mean," you chuckle. "there has been one good outcome.."

"mmm.. silver linings and all." he says, turning to look you right in the eye. its sweet, hes very sweet. you think your very much going to enjoy your next two days here... perhaps even extend your stay.

[love-letters-for-wise]

I Want Movie, Not Feelings! (Wise x gn!reader)

[ no beta we die like Ethereals | OOC possibility ]

It was no secret that the Random Play siblings were quite the hustle-bustle. Apart from managing the video store, to a few, they also take "special" commissions to guide people at the Hollows. Not only that, being proxies, they had to keep their true identities a secret from parties seeking to unveil them. Though some, a select few people, were aware of the siblings' double lives.

One of the few people was you. Circumstances led you to discover the people behind Phaethon, and since today, you had been bound by a contract that wouldn't let you sell them out. No matter how high the price offered by desiring shadows.

Hence why, you did the second thing you could do best; befriending them! If you couldn't make them your enemies, then you would try to gain their favorability--maybe you could extract a favor or two from them.

That afternoon, you stopped by Random Play, wanting to browse what movie to play later in your homely, well-deserved movie night. The flyer of the memory-erasing pen you got from the technology store a few blocks away shoved down your purse. A silly machine, too expensive for you to want it. The sound of your arrival alerted the person in charge, prompting a "Welcome to Random Play" from behind a rack. A head popped from the side.

"Oh, it's you." Wise's voice sounded a bit guarded no matter how many times you had gone here, but he was quick to put up the professionalism. "Any movie you're looking for today?"

You hoped you could show a bewilderment, but his cynical--you meant--caution did deserve praise sometimes. Your eyes wandered around before settling on his form. "Yeah, I'm looking for something to eat my dinner with. Got any nasty murder documentaries with you?"

Wise was for sure weirded. You caught how his eyebrows slightly furrowed, it didn't help too that his eyebags seemed to enhance that emotion, before guiding you to a rack.

"We have..." Wise's fingers hovered in the air before settling on a video cover. "Don't Fuck with Bangboos," and those fingers began to slide as he listed all the titles on that one row. Just four movies there.

"Huh. And here I thought there would be more variety." Your eyes settled on Wise, the accusation clear knowing how much Wise loved documentaries. You were responded with a sigh.

"Unfortunately, documentaries-lovers, me included, would rather see things they can be grateful of--we have enough 'loss' already."

"Doesn't mean you can't have more of the darker documentaries."

"Never said that; I'm just saying there isn't enough demand for them." His eyebrows furrowed once more. He looked old.

"You really gotta stop trying to merge your eyebrows" Now it was your turn to furrow your eyebrows. Your face quickly relaxed while throwing him a grin, though. "Lest you want wrinkles at your age."

Wise's eyebrows slowly relaxed, staring at you with a passive look.

"There. Much better!" You huffed a wider grin. "Now, with what should you service your customer?"

Reluctantly, a smile formed on Wise's face. Shit, he looks cute. You mentally punched yourself for that.

"O-okay! Good!" Did you just stutter? "I'll be taking 'Don't Fuck with Bangboos', then! S-shall we go to the cashier?" A high-pitched voice.

Okay, NOW you're starting to change your mind on that memory-erasing pen.

Calm down, you! If you keep doing that, you're basically foiling your own plan.

You didn't hear exactly what Wise said. You just heard a plural amount of something, fished your purse and put some dennies on the counter, and took the movie. You did it! You did them all while remaining calm and not looking rushed or anything!

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Wise looked at the counter where you put your dennies on. After counting them, he found that you also put a little piece of paper along. He picked it up, finding the word "Wipe anyone's memory! Rebrand yourself anew!" at the top.

[hauntedhowlett-writes]

i can see you (javier peña's version)

pairing: javier peña x dea agent!female reader

rating: explicit (18+ mdni)

word count: 3.4k

summary:

when javier peña takes credit for your lead, you take revenge.

good thing you know javier can't resist a girl in red lipstick.

author's note:

first javier fic, based on taylor swift's "i can see you". if you enjoy, please consider leaving a comment or reblogging! gif by @pedropascalito

content warnings:

explicit sexual content (18+ minors do not interact), dub con - sexual activity under the influence of alcohol, alcohol consumption, no use of y/n, female masturbation, oral sex - male receiving, dirty talk, praise, lots of lipstick kink, pet names, sex while standing, teasing, semi-public sex (file room at work), vaginal fingering, mouth covering. please let me know if i've missed any!

You storm into the office, boots clicking on the linoleum as you make a beeline for Javier’s messy desk. He’s on the phone as you approach, ever present cigarette dangling from his lips as he speaks to whomever is on the other end of the line. You rip the receiver from his hand and slam it into the cradle.

“What the fuck?” Javier snaps, stubbing out his cigarette in an overflowing ashtray. “What if that had been an important call?”

“Fuck you, Peña,” you hiss, planting your hands on his desk with enough force that several papers slip from precarious piles to the floor. “Where the fuck do you get off taking credit for my lead?”

His eyebrows go up, his lips tilting in a condescending smirk that you want to smack right off his face. “That’s what this is about? We’re a team, alacránita. It was our lead.” 

Little scorpion, he calls you, because of your quick temper. He uses it when he wants you riled up, wants you angry at him, because what else is a scorpion to do but fight back when provoked?

“Oh, really? So, you were the one who stayed up ‘til three in the morning reading transcriptions, huh?” You tap your chin. “No, wait. That was me.”

Javier stands, grabbing his gun from the desk and tucking it into the waist of his jeans at his back. The action has his button down shirt stretching right across his chest and your eyes linger on the view. When you meet his gaze again you know you’ve been caught, the insufferable man grinning like a cat that got the canary. 

“Look, do you want to keep arguing or do you want to actually do something with your intel and go catch some narcos?” He asks, breezing by you. You grind your teeth together as you watch him leave.

“If it’s any consolation—“ Steve starts to say, but you cut him off.

“Shut up, Murphy.”

That night after a long day of work and one beer too many you find yourself staring at the ceiling of your bedroom, your thoughts drifting to Javier and his annoying smirk and the stupid way he carries his gun and his dumb aviators and his gorgeous brown eyes and how good he feels between your—

Fuck.

You try not to think about the first time you met Javier Peña. The real first time, not the awkward handshake and forced smile as he introduced himself as Agent Peña. 

The first time, when he sat beside you at a bar and introduced himself as Javi and you thought that it must be a common enough name, there was no way this handsome stranger was your soon-to-be partner. He told you he worked in environmental services and you claimed to be a teacher. He bought you a drink and his eyes never left your mouth as you wrapped your red lips around a beer bottle. 

A couple hours of conversation later, his hand slid to your knee and he looked at you with brown eyes full of fire as his fingers curled into the flesh of your thigh exposed by your skirt. He asked if you wanted to go someplace more quiet and when you said your apartment was across the street, his smile was full of promise.

As your mind replays the memory in vivid detail, you slide your hand beneath the elastic of your panties, hissing as your fingertips graze your sensitive clit. You circle the bundle of nerves slowly as you continue to imagine that night.

You think back to the feel of his hand in yours as you dashed across the street to your apartment building, how he pressed against your back and nipped at your neck as you unlocked your door. He made a comment about the boxes still scattered around your apartment, some joke you can’t remember as desire fizzles through your veins. 

“These pretty red lips,” he said, pulling you close and tracing his thumb along your bottom lip. “Been staring at them all night, wondering how they would look stretched around my cock.”

“I could show you,” you responded, sliding your hands down his chest until your fingers encountered the cold metal of his belt buckle. You unfastened it, pulling the leather loose from his sinfully tight jeans and tossing it to the floor. “If you’d like?”

“Get on your knees,” Javier said as he unbuttoned his fly, working the waist of his jeans down enough to free his hard cock from the denim. You dropped to your knees quickly and his dark laugh echoed through the room. “Stick your tongue out, baby.”

You remember the salty taste of him on your tongue, the way he slowly fed his thick length into your mouth as you gazed up at him from your position at his feet. Your fingers circle your clit faster as you think about how he’d traced your lips where they stretched around his cock with his thumb, gently pushing at the corner of your mouth. 

“Fuck, look at you,” he growled. You whine at the memory as you inch closer to your release with each swipe of your hand. “Mouth built for sin, isn’t that right?”

You plunge two fingers inside of you with mounting desperation as your mind continues to replay the memory like a movie - the way his dark eyes fixated on the slide of his cock in and out of your mouth, the intoxicating sounds that spilled from his lips, and how he had pulled back from you when he was close to finishing to show you the lipstick stains you’d left behind.

“Dirty fucking girl,” he said, dragging you up from the floor and kissing you breathless. 

It’s the memory of his lips pressed to yours that pushes you over the edge, your cunt pulsing around your fingers as you shatter, biting back Javier’s name as it claws its way up your throat. In the aftermath, staring up at your ceiling, a thought pops into your head.

You know just how to get Javier back for taking credit for your lead.

As a field agent for the DEA, it’s not often you wear more than jeans, a blouse, and a practical pair of boots to work. After all, carrying a sidearm in a dress or running in heels isn’t ideal. 

Today, however, you’re willing to make an exception. With a series of meetings on the calendar this afternoon, the risk of jeopardizing your work for the sake of fashion is, thankfully, slim.

You’ve put on your tightest dress, black polyester hugging your curves and balancing the fine line of work appropriate. The heels you dug out of your closet make your ass look fantastic but the cherry on top of the whole ensemble is the bright red lipstick you slicked on with careful precision.

Steve does a double take as you enter the cluttered office space, your heels clicking on the linoleum. Javier is at his desk, his back turned to you as he speaks to someone on the phone.

“Lookin’, uh, lookin’ good,” Steve says with a cough. “Did I miss a memo or somethin’?”

“Nope,” you reply, your lips popping in emphasis. 

You hear the click of the phone being placed back in its cradle with impressive force. You try to keep your eyes focused on the file you’ve got open on your desk but you can feel Javier’s heated gaze burning over your skin. You glance up, briefly, but it’s enough for you to find his dark gaze and see the tense cut of his jaw as he grinds his teeth together.

Once the meetings start rolling, you don’t have much opportunity to think about Javier, but you know he’s thinking about you. You have fun with the attention, leaning forward to make sure the man can get a good view down your dress, biting the cap of your pen, and licking your lips after each sip of coffee. With each new tease, you notice the way his hand curls into a tight fist on the table or how he shifts uncomfortably in his seat. 

When Messina asks him a question, the usually calm and collected man stutters his response, earning him a raised eyebrow from the woman in charge. You have to bite back a satisfied laugh at his expense, watching as his neck turns a blotchy red in his embarrassment. 

Once the meeting is over, you’re discussing the next plan of action with Steve as you leave the boardroom, Javier trailing behind the two of you. Steve asks Javier a question and a glance over your shoulder earns you the satisfaction of knowing he had been staring at your ass, his head snapping up so fast a flinch of pain flashes across his features as he replies to Steve.

Working through the pile of paperwork on your desk comes with the ever present weight of Javier’s gaze on you from across the room. He fields phone calls most of the morning, cigarette held to his lips as he converses in smooth, rapid fire Spanish that has you pressing your thighs together beneath your desk. 

When he turns away, you grab a stray piece of blank paper and scribble a note before lifting it to your face to press a red kiss mark to the smooth surface. You fold it twice and keep it held tight in your hand as you stand and saunter over to Javier’s desk. 

His dark eyes are fixed to the extra sway in your step as you approach, his grip tightening around the receiver. You set the note on his desk, leaning over just slightly to slide it across the wood towards him. You tap it once before straightening and walking back to your desk to resume your work, watching Javier from the corner of your eye as he unfolds the note.

Stop staring.

Javier crumples the note in his fist in frustration, keeping it pressed to his palm as he frees another cigarette from the pack on his desk. The rush of nicotine in his veins mingles with the white hot lust he’s been trying to beat down ever since he caught sight of you in that tight little dress, and you’ve not been making it easy.

You never make it easy. Ever since walking into work six months ago to a face that shouldn’t have been familiar sitting behind his new partner’s desk, he’s been fighting to remain professional. It doesn’t help that you’re one of the best agents he’s ever worked with - smart, resourceful, and capable of standing up to men trying to pull rank on you.

Today is testing his patience. The dress and heels are one thing, but the lipstick? That’s a low blow. All he can think about is the last time he saw you wear it, that night at the bar that turned into that night in your bed, all the pretty red color faded from your lips because you marked his cock with it instead. He spent the entire meeting with Messina trying not to watch the way you wrapped your lips around the tip of your pen, thoughts drifting to what it would be like to have you on your knees again, staring up at him with less venom and more desire.

He sets the note on his desk, pointedly ignoring it while you’re in the room. He knows you’re looking for a reaction and he’s not going to give you the satisfaction of one.

At least, not yet.

“Murphy, you still need that file we talked about? I’ve got another to pull,” you announce, standing from your seat. The blonde man looks up and nods.

“Yeah, see if you can find it while you’re in there,” Steve replies. You give him a little salute of acknowledgment before leaving the shared office space and making your way to the file room.

Once inside the windowless room at the end of the hall, you pull on the cord connected to the singular lightbulb in the ceiling meant to illuminate the dank space. It smells like paper and dust and it constantly looks like a bomb went off - cabinets half closed with how much has been shoved inside of them, stray stacks of folders that someone couldn’t be bothered to return to their proper place, and a wastebasket overflowing with crumpled paper. 

You lose yourself to the task of locating the files you and Steve needed, distracted enough that you don’t hear the click of the door opening and shutting behind you. It’s not until there’s a low murmur of your name in a hauntingly familiar timbre so you realize you’re not alone.

You turn to find Javier standing in front of the file room door, dark eyes fixed on you as he removes his suit jacket and drops it to the floor. Your mouth goes dry as he rolls up the sleeves of his white dress shirt, exposing deliciously tan forearms and muscles that flex hypnotically. 

“My eyes are up here, baby,” he says, a smirk on his lips that sends anger through your veins but lust to your belly. 

“What do you want, Peña?” You ask. Your voice wavers the slightest bit and you hope he doesn’t notice, but the tilt to his head and the way his tongue darts out to lick his lips says otherwise.

“I think the question is, what do you want?” He’s standing toe to toe with you now, your back pressed against a metal cabinet. “Or do you need me to show you?”

“Show me what?”

Javier chuckles. “What playing with fire will get you.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” you say, tilting your chin defiantly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, some of us have work to do that doesn’t involve harassing our coworkers.” 

But he doesn’t back up, doesn’t give you the room to breathe that you so desperately need. Instead his large hand cups your hip, sliding slowly up your body, a trail of heat running from your waist to your breast until his palm settles against your neck. He rubs his thumb across your lips.

“What do you call wearing this, then?” He holds his thumb up for you to see the smear of red across his skin. “We both know what you were thinking when you put it on this morning, cariño.”

He presses his thumb to your lips, slipping it inside your mouth this time. You give the digit a tentative suck as he presses it forward and back across your tongue, a crude approximation of the memory that replayed in your head as you touched yourself. 

Javier smiles triumphantly and you can feel his other hand working at the hem of your dress, hiking it up higher until his fingers skim the bare skin of your thighs. 

“Tell me to touch you,” he demands, pulling his thumb free from your mouth. You press your lips together, fighting the overwhelming need to give into him as his knuckle skims your pussy through the fabric of your panties. “Stubborn alacránita,” he growls, circling your clit harshly and making you cry out.

His palm covers your mouth, your eyes going wide as he continues his tortuous attention. “Tell me to touch you,” he says again, brow pinched as his eyes search yours. It hits you that this man is just as desperate for you as you are for him, and the rush that knowledge gives you has you nodding your head.

He removes his palm, cupping your cheek and pressing his forehead to yours before whispering into the space between your mouths, “Say it.”

“Touch me, Javier,” you murmur, rolling your hips into his hand. “Please.”

He wastes no further time, hand slipping under the elastic of your panties and dragging through your slick folds. He grins at you, boyish and feral in equal measure as he slips a thick finger inside of you while his thumb presses to your clit. 

“Christ, so fucking wet for me already, huh? Sitting at your desk getting worked up thinking about pulling one over on me with this little dress?” He adds a second finger and the stretch of it makes you moan, his palm returning to cover your mouth. “If this is your idea of a punishment for that lead, I’m not feeling too apologetic.”

You try to glare at him but the curl of his fingers inside of you and the press of his thumb to your sensitive bundle of nerves has your eyes rolling back instead, your head hitting the cabinet behind you. Your hips chase his hand with each pump of his fingers and it doesn’t take long for that wave of pleasure to crash over you, your muscles going tight as you pulse around him and your chest heaves with deep breaths you can only take through your nose thanks to his tight grip on your mouth. 

Javier murmurs praise into your ear that you barely register as you come down from your high. He removes his hands from you to unbuckle his belt, freeing his hard cock that you only get a glimpse of before he’s urging you to turn around, pulling your hips back toward him and moving your panties out of the way. He runs the head of his cock through the mess he’s made of you before positioning himself at your entrance and pressing in, in, in.

You brace yourself against the filing cabinet, the sheer size of him making you gasp as he bottoms out. He smoothes a hand down your spine, giving you a moment to adjust before drawing his hips back and slamming forward with a sharp thrust.

Javier reaches up to grip your shoulder, giving himself more leverage as he pounds into you, using your body to chase his pleasure. You bite your lip to stifle your own sounds as the room echoes with the snap of his hips against yours and the grunts he can’t contain. The hand on your shoulder moves to your throat, pulling you up and arching your back until he’s holding you against his chest.

You turn your face over your shoulder and his lips crash against yours, his teeth digging into your bottom lip and making you whimper.

“Cum for me,” Javier commands, the hand on your hip moving to circle your clit again. As you start to pulse around him, he smiles against your lips. “Fuck, that’s it. Just like that, baby.”

Javier presses himself deep as his own release courses through him, filling you to the brim with warmth and stealing your breath. He kisses your shoulder, a sweet gesture that’s so at odds with what you’ve just done.

When he starts to go soft, he pulls out and fixes your underwear into place before smoothing the skirt of your dress back down your hips, the sound of him buckling his belt following suit. You turn to face him, prepared for some sort of self-satisfied remark from the egotistical man, but to your surprise he wraps a hand around the back of your neck and pulls you towards him for a deep kiss.

As he draws back and your eyes flutter open, you notice the smear of red across his lips, the sight making you smile. You lick your thumb, using the moisture to rub away the remnant of your time together. 

“Thank you, alacránita,” he murmurs, gently grabbing your wrist and pressing a kiss to your palm. You catch a glimpse of your watch, noting the time.

“Don’t you have a meeting right now?” You ask Javier. He checks his own watch.

“Fuck!” He hisses, grabbing his suit jacket and rushing from the file room, the door slamming shut behind him as you laugh and laugh and laugh.

Maybe your plan worked better than you expected, after all.

Javier slips inside the boardroom and takes the seat beside Steve as inconspicuous as possible, straightening his jacket and smoothing down his hair as he does. As he’s trying to focus on the words being thrown around the room, he feels a tap at his shoulder.

Steve leans closer to whisper, “What’s that all over your hand?”

He looks at the hand he’s rested on the table, noting the smear of red that extends from his palm to the thin skin between his thumb and forefinger. He clenches his hand into a fist and sets it in his lap instead.

“Nothing,” he replies.

[mypimpademia]

— Passenger Princess

Izuku x Black! Fem! Reader

Synopsis: Headcanons of what it’s like to be Izuku’s passenger princess

TW: Slightly (but briefly) suggestive towards the end

Bakugo version here!

⇶ One of Izuku’s primary love languages is quality time, so you being his passenger princess is inevitable

⇶ He loves to be with you all the time, and he feels like running around town with you rather than by himself is the perfect way to spend his day

⇶ Riding around with Izuku is something you do at least once a week, normally over the weekend when he has to run errands

⇶ Shoots you a text first thing in the morning, telling you good morning and asking if you wanna come spend the day with him

⇶ He’s an early riser, usually waking up around 5 AM and starting his day with a good workout, so you don’t respond till hours later and he’s okay with that

⇶ He keeps his notification sound on just to make sure he doesn’t miss it when you text back, happily agreeing to come with him

⇶ Izuku immediately puts down whatever weight he’s lifting, or stops his push ups or sit ups, and replies in an instant, telling you he’ll be over in an hour

⇶ Finishes up his workout then takes a quick shower and gets dressed in some sweatpants and a random hoodie before heading out

⇶ You always tell him that he doesn’t have to, but Izuku was raised a gentleman and everytime he comes to pick you up, he’d much rather come to your apartment door to get you instead of just making you walk out to his car

⇶ Always thinks you look the prettiest in a casual outfit, and little to no make up. His heart melts everytime you greet him with a glossy lipped grin, smelling like your favorite perfume

⇶ Never fails to get a kiss from you, despite your protests and whines about how you just put on lip gloss

⇶ On top of quality time, Izuku is alllll about acts of service

⇶ Before you even go anywhere, he asks if you need anything from anywhere

⇶ Won’t take no for an answer, even if you truly don’t need anything

⇶ Takes you to breakfast before anything if you haven’t eaten yet, and pays for the both of you

⇶ Izuku then proceeds to take you anywhere either of you need/want to go

⇶ He may be the one driving, but he still follows whatever you want like a lost puppy

⇶ If you even slightly mention something about going to Target, the beauty supply, Sephora, Ulta, or even IKEA, you can bet that’s where you’ll end up next

⇶ He’s got zero self restraint, and although he’s grown out of letting people walk all over him, he’s still a people pleaser to an extent, and will try and make his loved ones happy by any means

⇶ Especially you.

⇶ Throws anything that you even glance at into the cart

⇶ Don’t even say “Aw, that’s cute,” to anything, because he’ll offer to buy it for you on the spot no matter the price

⇶ Because he grew up with a single mother who did what she could to make sure he lived well, Izuku can be hesitant to spend money

⇶ But that only applies to him spending money on himself and others spending on him

⇶ No matter how much he loves something, if that price tag isn’t pretty, he’s not getting it.

⇶ But when it comes to you? You could drag him into every luxury store on Earth, and he’d swipe his card on every item you ring up without even looking at the price.

⇶ You never make him spend crazy amounts on you of course, but he denies you everytime you try and deny him buying you things

“What? You don’t love me anymore?”

He was exaggerating, of course. He knows you love him, but he gets pouty when you don’t let him show affection the way he wants to.

“Don’t start with that, Zuku,” you rolled your eyes. “And put that back, you are not getting me that. I wouldn’t even buy that for myself for that kind of money.”

Izuku kissed his teeth in response. He could be so sassy sometimes, only he would get this riled up about not being allowed to buy someone a necklace.

“Okay? That’s you,” he argued. “I’d buy it for you, you know I will.”

Emphasis on the ‘I will’, and not ‘I would’. Izuku has always been the stubborn type, and not even you could change that about him.

“Izuku, absolutely not,” you shook your head at him.

He sighed, walking up behind you and placing the gold rope chain against your collarbone.

“C‘mon angel,” he whispered. “You were just talking about how beautiful this was and how you love it so much. Lemme buy it for you.”

He was sweet talking you now, and it was working. You hated it.

“Izu, baby,” you started, but he cut you off before you could protest again.

“You’d look so good with it,” he put the necklace on you, clasping it and turning you towards a mirror. “See? And I could get you a pendant for it, maybe put your initial on it.”

Izuku pressed a soft kiss behind your ear.

“Or even mine.”

Your face was burning up, and you huffed in defeat.

“…How much is it, again?” You asked.

Izuku smiled at you threw the mirror.

“Don’t worry about that, princess.”

⇶ If the man ever went bankrupt, it’d be because of you, but he wouldn’t even complain

⇶ As much as he loves to spoil you on your shopping trips, grocery shopping is his favorite

⇶ It feels so intimate and domestic, he seriously considers proposing to you then and there

⇶ Picking out veggies that look fresh, seeing which fruits are ripened to your liking, and buying extras of things just because they’re on a good sale

⇶ Groceries are always your last activity of the day, just because you always run around doing so much, Izuku doesn’t want to have fresh food sitting in his car for hours on end

⇶ But he always loves walking around with you from aisle to aisle looking for what you need and checking off the grocery list

⇶ Once again urges you to get anything you need or want, and still won’t take no for an answer

⇶ Sometimes, you just pick up a pack of gum or some candy at the register so he stops asking

⇶ Izuku never wants to leave you when the day is coming to an end, so you always go back to his place to put away groceries and cook some dinner together while he convinces you to stay the night

⇶ He’s lucky he’s a pretty boy that’s got a way with words, otherwise, all his sweet talking would never work

⇶ You already have everything you would need at his house. Shower supplies, your usually lotion and other moisturizers, clothes, and more bonnets than anyone needs

⇶ And of course there’s two of every bonnet, just so he can match you

⇶ After dinner, you take a shower together

⇶ Aside from Izuku not knowing how to keep his hands to himself when he offers to wash you, showering with him is relaxing and endearing

⇶ He holds you whole hot water runs over you both, fixes your shower cap so your hair doesn’t get wet, and lets you wash his face for him

⇶ On top of your matching bonnets, you have matching pjs as well, and a lot of your sets are hero themed, naturally

⇶ Izuku lights up a vanilla scented candle, then gets an assortment of snacks from the kitchen while you pick out a movie or a show to binge watch

⇶ And after a long, hard, and oh so draining day of sitting pretty in Izuku’s passenger seat while he buys you anything and everything, you fall asleep on the couch with him, curled under a blanket, and wrapped in his arms <3

—

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—

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[theresattrpgforthat]

Yo, I am under the impression there’s a flourishing market for “campaign supplement” games that can be played as like slice of life side-bars to another campaign? My play group just finished an Ebberon campaign but we still love these characters and I’m wondering what’s out there? I’m curious for whatever but stuff with a focus on settling down or running your new dukedom would be lovely.

THEME: Fantasy After-Campaign Games.

Hello there! Yes, there are a number of games that you can probably use to keep your characters around and explore other parts of their life! I've got a few games that might be somewhere in the realm of what you're thinking, and then I've got some other ideas that popped up in my brain as I was writing this out.

Peace in the Land, by JunkyardTornado.

Peace in the Land is a cozy one page fantasy ttrpg about solving some regular kinds of problems in a fantasy town. There is a very simple character creation process based off a simple system, the Quick and Dirty System, originally designed for one-page rpgs. 

If you want low-stakes problems and quick rules, you might want to check out Peace in the Land. The rules are pretty standard, with a typical success threshold and differently-sized dice according to player abilities. You can probably place the simple rules into a setting that you’re already familiar with, and then generate problems that the townspeople might turn to the player characters to solve. If the group wants to settle down in one location but still go on minor adventures, this might be a game for you.

Pour One Out For Her, by MrPluckyComicRelief.

She was the greatest hero the world had ever seen. She slayed the Beast of Artenfield, rescued every princess north of the Green River, outgambled the demon Jav-Urok The Bold, and she never paid for a drink. All those years ago, all of you stood by her side, as her faithful companions. You supported her through thick and thin, through triumph and tragedy. You thought she would live forever.

But in a cruel twist of fate, you’re all here, standing at her funeral. For her last great prank, she stated, in her last will and testament, that you would all give a joint eulogy.

Pour One Out For Her is a gm-less RPG for any number of players. It's about good times with old friends, reckless adventures, and a celebration of a the greatest hero to ever live, who was taken too soon.

This is more of a one-shot kind of game for a solemn, last goodbye to a character that didn’t make it. Because it’s GM-less, if you traditionally had a GM in the game, this might be a chance for them to embody an important NPC who saw the characters through the bulk of the story.

Pour One Out For Her assumes that the dead companion had a dying wish, and that the companion was a team-player. Apart from that, I think you could use it to remember the ending of a character that meant a lot to the party.

Stewpot: Tales From A Fantasy Tavern, by Takuma Okada.

The adventurer’s life is tough. It's time to call it quits. For years you stumbled through hostile lands, living off stale rations, and struggling to get a few hours’ sleep. Now it’s time to hang up your weapons, sell off your armor, and settle down. If only it were that easy…

Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern by Takuma Okada is a collection of cozy mini-games that tell the story of a tavern run by former adventurers. Gather your dice, pick up a deck of cards, set aside a shiny coin, and get ready for a new set of challenges. Only this time… your adventures start behind the bar.

Stewpot is divided into a series of slice-of-life scenes, with a different set of simple rules and prompts helping adjudicate each scene. You might be scrambling to cook something edible with random ingredients, bartending for troubled souls, calming down a tavern brawl, going shopping for all the things a tavern needs, and more! Work to upgrade your tavern's cuisine, atmosphere, and service. In the process, you might just learn a little bit about yourself - and your fellow party members.

Takuma Okada is known for a number of thoughtful games, including Alone Among the Stars, a solo roleplaying game of introspection in space. Stewpot looks to deliver a cozy, retrospective experience, probably similar to Dungeon Meshi and Legends & Lattes. Stewpot recently finished funding on Backerkit, so if you’re willing to wait for a little bit, you should be able to order a copy of it from Evil Hat’s website! If you’re not willing to wait, there’s a Sampler PDF available on DriveThruRPG.

Wolves & Spices, by A.Tian.

Wolves & Spices is a simple tabletop roleplaying game, based on the traveling mercantile adventures of the light novel/anime series Spice & Wolf.

You are traveling merchants in the medieval country of Feldland. Your shared dream is to earn enough money and goodwill to open a business as a permanent part of a community.

You could use Wolves & Spices if you feel like your characters wouldn’t necessarily settle down in one place, but rather would be more likely to turn to trade as a way to earn their keep while still travelling from town to town. Your goals will probably be more focused around meeting other people’s needs, using your earnings to help meet your heart’s desires (also called your Wolves). If you want a game where the quest didn’t bring about the happy ending your characters hoped for, you might want to try out Wolves & Spices.

Some Other Thoughts

Another way you could possibly re-visit your character’s stories is to re-visit them in a different genre or setting. There’s a lot of possibilities if you’re up to remixing a game or two! For example, you could re-cast your characters as fantasy investigators, such as in Swords of the Serpentine, or follow their attempts at romance, such as in Passion of the Jukebox or Thirsty Sword Lesbians. You could also follow up with the adventures of your characters’ children; my group followed up our Spectaculars game with a game of MASKS, playing as the children of our characters. Games like Kids on Bikes or Kids and Spirits could also work if you want to combine solving mysteries with passing adventure down a generation!

Games You Can Also Check Out

Merchants & Monsters, by AndieSanade.

Dungeon Mart, by May Day.

So, the Beast is Dead, by Prepared Heathen.

Back Again, from the Broken Land, by Cloven Pine Games.

The Laughing Kobold, by therabidbanana.

[desceros]

so. we are all familiar with villain rise leo x reader by now. but do u have any headcanons or just ideas about villain rise donnie x reader ? 🤔

so. this, uh. this got out of hand quickly

villain!donnie au where splinter didn't scoop up all of the turtles when he fled, and donnie got left behind in the exploding lab. god i love pretty boys with trauma

as the lab explodes around him, little baby donnie barely finds a safe place to hide so he survives. he gets crushed under some rubble, and he and his shell becomes scratched and bruised. after everything settles down, he crawls out and manages to escape to the streets of the hidden city. not properly tended, his wounds heal improperly and scar, leaving him always just a little bit in pain.

despite the odds, donnie survives. he's resourceful and brilliant, and with his naturally aggressive nature, he manages. after a painful lesson where he's nearly killed by a small local gang, he learns that hiding his soft shell is important, so he begins picking through the trash and putting things together. he's good at it, he realizes quickly. able to see things that connect together and make something bigger than their parts. he begins to scrap together all kinds of contraptions; a cover for his shell, a tool to help him break into people's houses for their blankets when it gets cold, something that plays soft music and keeps him company when he feels a little hollow in the back alleyway like he's supposed to have someone with him and doesn't.

as he grows up, he learns. he has a cold exterior that never betrays his inner thoughts, because those are just as vulnerable as his soft shell. he has no friends, no family, nobody but himself. he's so, so quick to attack, cruel and unforgiving, defensive and hardened from his youth. if he hurts you first, you can't hurt him, after all.

he starts making money selling his tech to sketchy people, until finally he manages to land an actual apartment. he goes one on the sketchier side of town so he can twist the landlord's arm (read: blackmail) into letting him do whatever he wants. running water, heating, a bed; these are all things he quickly becomes picky about, now that he has them. he craves comfort, so he remodels the entire place from the inside until it's unrecognizable. then, wanting more, making enough money because he's so fucking good at hacking and tech, he gets the apartment next to his, too. puts a door between them. refurbishes the other one into a full-blown lab where he can push, create, experiment.

he's got himself convinced that he prefers it this way, that the hum of his tech around him is all he needs. he finishes something and looks at it, almost like he's waiting for... for something. (...for someone to tell him he's amazing.) but he brushes it off, puts it to the side, then moves onto the next thing. this is all he needs. this is all he needs.

one day, he wants more. there's one more apartment on his side of the floor, so he goes to the landlord. unfortunately, there's someone inside, and they're, uh. not to be messed with. no matter how much donnie twists and grills. infuriated, he goes home to take matters into his own hands—only to learn that the person in the apartment next to his is you.

you are the underpaid, overworked, exhausted, single, addicted to this black swill that you call coffee but you're pretty sure is some kind of yokai magic juice personal assistant to one baron draxum. the motherfucker's been trying to get you to move into his lab for a few years now, but if you have to spend one more minute in his presence, you'll scream. also, you warned him that if he even thinks about mutating you, you'll quit, and since you're the best goddamned assistant he's ever had, quadrupling his tracking numbers since you started, you're also one hundred percent human. ('when you are the last human, then i shall mutate you, as i will no longer have need of your services then.' 'try it. i'll gnaw your fucking arm off and password lock the coffee machine.' '...bah.')

you meet donnie when a package is delivered, mistakenly, to your apartment with his name on it. (it's a passive aggressive gesture where he had it specifically sent to your apartment, so you could come talk to him and he would, uh, kindly inform you that you'll be moving.) unfortunately for him, you're used to dealing with mad scientist egomaniacs whose respect is nigh impossible to earn, so when he tries to threaten you, you laugh in his face, drop the box off at his feet, and go to work.

.......donnie stares at the spot where you were for a good, like, five minutes after you leave.

over the next few months, over and over this little green fucker next door makes your life miserable. he does weird experiments at weird hours—until he learns that actually, you work weird hours, so then he does them at normal hours which keeps you from getting any sleep. he blares loud, obnoxious music. he leaves snide messages on the corkboard by the stairs, even though you both know that you're the only two people who live here so there's only one person who could be doing it. he fucking mutates your favorite pothos plant where it was sitting, innocent, beautiful, on your balcony, so now it sings to you exclusively in nickelback lyrics when you go to water it. (...your one consulation there is that, at least, you aren't the only one who suffers.)

donnie, meanwhile, is perplexed. enraged. how the fuck are you so resilient?! he has done everything short of actually shooting you in the face, which he would have done were it not for your tie to baron fucking draxum, and yet you're still fucking here, preventing the expansion of his lab. it's infuriating. he can't stand the sight of you. just looking at your face and the way you smile and laugh at his machinations makes his chest feel tight. his fingers curl into fists when he looks at you bending over in those stupid pencil skirts of yours to grab your mail when he leaves the door open and it all falls to the floor. he wants to wrap his fingers around your pretty little neck and pin you to the nearest surface and squeeze until—until—

...oh. oh.

the day you get a beautiful bouquet of flesh-eating mutant yokai lilies on your front doorstep, no note attached because really there's only one person who has the resources to do this, the bottom of your stomach drops as you realize, perhaps too late, that you have attracted the gaze of something truly, truly terrible.

[epochofbelief]

Strictly Confidential: A Feysand AU

Chapter One

She's a law student turned confidential informant. He's a prosecutor with only one goal: bringing down her boyfriend for illegal activity . . . What could go wrong?

Hi everyone! Here's chapter one. I hope you enjoy. Let me know if you're interested in being tagged. Any thoughts on the story are much appreciated, too!

Chapter One

Feyre collapsed against the wall as soon as class was over. Sweat dripped from her temples, sliding over the layer of concealer she had plastered on that morning. She wiped her forehead, swearing to herself once again that this would be the last time she allowed Tamlin to drag her to a Crossfit class.

Even though she had made and broken that same mental promise to herself three times a week for the past six months.

As she guzzled from her near empty water bottle, Tamlin slung a sweaty arm over her shoulders, his skin against hers slick. Oily. “Got any of that left?” Tamlin asked, already reaching for the water bottle.

Feyre sighed, handing it off to him. “A few drops.”

He knocked it back without another word. Not an appreciative smile. No thank you, Feyre. Not even a nod of gratitude for the water he had taken from her.

As she followed Tamlin out of the warehouse where the Crossfit classes were held, Feyre made another vow. The first of its kind, but perhaps with more resolve behind it than the one she had made only moments ago.

She was going to break up with him this week.

Feyre trailed Tamlin through the parking lot, eyes on the back of his neck, his blonde hair stuck to it with sweat. Her boyfriend of over a year had fallen into conversation with his best friend, Lucien. Lucien was also a regular at these Crossfit classes, but had met Tamlin through work. Tamlin had hired Lucien as his Director of Operations at his company, Spring Solutions. Five years later, the duo were best friends.

Lucien climbed into the passenger seat of Tamlin’s expensive truck, leaving Feyre to haul herself into the back as usual. Tamlin swung into the driver’s seat and made short of work of getting the vehicle out of the parking lot and onto the highway that would carry them back into the city, back to the building where Tamlin and Feyre shared an apartment and Lucien lived a few floors down.

As the two discussed something about work—a topic Feyre didn’t particularly care about—she thought more about the terrifying new task she had set for herself.

Breaking up with Tamlin wouldn’t be simple.

Because it was her life, of course, and things were never simple.

She had shared an apartment with Tam, who was nearly seven years her senior, since the beginning of her second year of law school. Now, a month into her third and final year, their lives were fully intertwined. Feyre paid a few hundred dollars of rent each month, but Tamlin footed most of the bill. The downtown apartment was expensive, something Feyre could never afford on her own thanks to her law student’s budget.

She rarely paid for meals, either. Tamlin subscribed to one of those ultra-healthy meal services. A week’s worth of dinners delivered to their door every Monday morning. Feyre cooked them on study breaks, and the two would usually share a quick meal before Tamlin logged back on to work in his home office and Feyre returned to her books.

Most of the furniture was his, as was the art on the walls. The kitchen utensils, pots, pans. The bed they shared. Everything.

If Feyre moved out, she would have to return to her father’s house or increase the amount of student loans she had already taken out that semester. Neither option sounded appealing. She had lived with her father and her two older sisters her whole life—all throughout her undergraduate studies and until the end of her first year of law school. How she had made it so long trapped in that house, caring for her family in much the same way she cared for Tamlin, Feyre had no idea. So when Tamlin had proposed the idea of moving in together, she jumped at the chance. Didn't think farther than Get me out of my childhood home.

She hadn't considered what would happen if things didn’t work out. If she decided he wasn’t the one for her anymore.

She had gone straight from her father’s house to Tamlin’s apartment, and had fallen into Tamlin’s lifestyle, even if she still wasn’t quite used to it.

At least the bed in the guest room was hers, and the nightstand and the few books she had taken from her father’s house. Her painting supplies.

“Babe?” Tamlin’s voice scattered the plans she was fruitlessly trying to cobble together in her mind.

“What?” She inquired, blinking up at her boyfriend.

“I asked if you wanted to get dinner out tonight.”

Feyre bit her lip. She had already put off studying to come to Crossfit—if she didn’t get home soon, she would have to burn the midnight oil to get all her reading for class done at a decent hour.

“I really have to study,” she said quietly, praying he wouldn’t try to convince her to come to dinner. Because he would never let up and she, inevitably, would give in.

At Tamlin’s sigh, she tentatively tried again. “I’m really sorry! I wish my professors didn’t assign such long readings, but I can’t change it.”

He didn’t say anything.

“You know I would come to dinner if I could. I would much rather do that.” The words weren’t new—she’d used some variation of them numerous times over the past year and a half. They had almost lost all meaning to her, but she’d found this was the best combination to keep Tamlin happy: apologize, provide an excuse that was outside of her control, and assure him that he would always be her first choice.

“Alright. We’ll drop you at home and come back later.”

Feyre choked back her sigh of relief. “Sounds good. Thanks, babe.”

Lucien’s eyes met hers in the rearview mirror—one ginger eyebrow cocking slightly. Feyre looked away, gaze fixing on her lap.

Twenty minutes later, she waved at the car as it sped down the street toward Tamlin and Lucien’s favorite sports bar. With any luck, Lucien would get him drinking beers and talking about work, and she would have at least three hours to herself to shower. Study. Maybe even time enough to feign sleep by the time Tamlin returned.

And indeed, she managed to accomplish everything she needed to do just before Tamlin came stumbling into the apartment hours later. Feyre shut her eyes tight from her spot on the right side of the bed, her fledgling plans swirling through her thoughts until she well and truly drifted away.

-----

The next morning, Feyre gazed at herself in the mirror, turning this way and that to make sure every inch of her suit was clean and pressed to perfection, not a wrinkle in sight. The black jacket clung to her narrow frame, the pencil skirt she wore beneath it as flattering as a skirt that cut her off just below the knee could be. Her golden-brown hair fell in loose waves just past her shoulders, watery blue eyes popping thanks to the brown mascara she had applied.

“You look amazing,” a voice from behind her said.

Feyre turned, smiling at her boyfriend despite all the promises and plans she had made the night before. “Thanks, honey.”

“What’s the occasion?” Tamlin asked, striding forward and placing his hands on her hips.

Feyre stepped back, grinning up at him. “No touching. I have an important networking event with my firm today and I can’t get all wrinkly.”

Tamlin held up his hands, backing away a step. “My apologies, Ms. Archeron.”

Feyre smiled. Tamlin wasn’t always awful.

Just most of the time.

“So when can I expect you home today?”

Feyre sighed, grabbing her backpack and purse and brushing past Tamlin, striding out of the closet and into the master bathroom. “I’ve got a full day of classes, and then this networking event at six. I’m not sure how long it will go, but I’m really hoping to be back by eight.”

“Just as well,” Tamlin said. “I’ve got a late night at work—probably won’t be home until after ten.” Feyre nodded, and Tamlin followed her out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and down the hall to the kitchen. Feyre grabbed the smoothie she had made earlier that morning and tucked her lunchbox into her backpack.

“Have a good day, honey,” she said, pressing a kiss to Tamlin’s lips. He nipped at her lower lip, green eyes sparking. But Feyre just smiled, retreated, and didn’t breathe deep until she made it to the hallway, door automatically locking behind her.

This week. She was going to do it this week.

Feyre’s day dragged on in one long, miserable slog. She got cold-called by her professors in two of her classes, but she managed to answer most of the questions correctly, her heart thudding violently in her chest all the while.

Cold calls and the Socratic method of teaching were one of her least favorite parts of law school. Most professors gave no warning to their students before they called their names, subjecting them to several questions of the professor’s choosing. If you didn’t know the answer, they might move on. But some waited for you to at least attempt to respond, while the class stared and stared and hands jumped into the air all around, telling you that they knew the answer, that it was obvious. Answering a question correctly felt wonderful—but answering incorrectly usually caused Feyre’s cheeks to burn a bright red.

It didn’t matter how many of the randomly determined “calls” Feyre endured—every time a professor spoke her name, her hands started sweating, her heart rate climbing up and up and up until the professor moved on to another victim.

She spent a few hours at the library after class, tucked in her favorite corner. It was private, but better than sitting in the main quad where most of the law students gathered to study during daytime hours. Feyre hadn’t spent any notable length of time in the quad since the first semester of her 1L year. As her relationship with Tamlin progressed, the few friends she had made faded away as Feyre opted to attend the fancy dinner parties and events Tamlin invited her to. Maintaining a new relationship and keeping up with her studies didn’t leave much time for anything else—not even friends. That wasn’t to mention the time she had spent at home with her sisters and father her entire first year of school, taking care of most of the housekeeping and cooking duties because the rest of her family had “real jobs” and Feyre was still “just a student” who didn’t work a regular 9-5.

Now, she felt like a ghost in the halls of the school. She would wave to her old friends if they passed in the hallways, but Feyre had long ago accepted that this would be her law school experience: sitting in the back of the classroom, answering questions if forced, and generally keeping to herself.

It was a quiet, small existence she led. Class. Tamlin. Attending whatever events or obligations Tamlin dragged her to. Studying.

After she’d had enough studying for the day, Feyre took the train to downtown Prythian, checking her makeup at least four times before the train arrived at its stop a few blocks from a large hotel and event center in the heart of the city. She started to walk the five minutes to the hotel, staring up at the enormous shiny buildings rising around her.

To think, this would be where she worked full-time in just a few short months.

Thanks to competitive firm recruiting, Feyre had had her post-grad job lined up since the summer. She would be starting as a junior associate at Hybern & Night LLP, one of the largest and most powerful national firms in the country. Jobs at Hybern & Night were hard to come by, but thanks to Feyre’s top 5% ranking at Prythian University Law School, and her ability to say all the right things under pressure, she’d scored a job during early interviewing last summer.

The firm occupied the upper floors of one of the tallest buildings downtown. Tonight it was holding a networking event for its partners, associates, recruits, and other lawyers in the community.

She could have skipped the event, but her career counselor had emphasized how important it was to immerse herself in firm activities as quickly as possible—it would make her transition from student to junior associate much smoother, and allow her to make connections with more senior attorneys and partners who might be willing to provide projects for her to work on when she started.

So, she was here, clicking down the shadowed streets of downtown Prythian, gearing herself up to rub elbows with some of the city's wealthiest attorneys.

Some day soon, she would be one of them.

Feyre tugged her coat closer around herself, the chill in the air signaling autumn’s impending arrival. A block away, the windows of the event center glowed warmly in the shadows of the buildings around her. She increased her pace, and soon found herself ensconced in a world of cocktails and arguments. Feyre made a beeline for the refreshments table. She could certainly count on attorneys to ensure there was an open bar at events like this. She seized a glass of red wine and cast her gaze around the room, but didn’t recognize anyone. She had interviewed with at least five of the attorneys from Hybern & Night in order to get her job, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Feyre thanked the man who served her the wine, swallowing back memories of her own time spent as a bartender at Humane, one of the filthiest hole-in-the-wall bars in all of Prythian. She would have preferred talking to the bartender—less posturing required—but forced herself to skirt around the room, looking around for someone to engage in conversation.

She had almost completed a full lap when an enormous man leaned against the wall just in front of her.

“You look lost,” his deep voice rumbled, light brown hair sliding over his forehead, pale green eyes gazing down at her. His cheeks were flushed—probably from the alcohol—and as his eyes slid over her, Feyre was glad she hadn’t yet removed her coat.

“Not lost. Just—” Feyre broke off, shaking her head. “Feyre Archeron,” she said, offering a hand. “I’ll be starting as a first-year associate at Hybern & Night next August.”

“Jax Smith,” he said, an enormous hand encompassing hers. “I'm in my eighth year at Hybern & Night. Hoping to make partner next year. It’s nice to meet you, Feyre.”

Feyre swallowed, taking her hand back and sliding it into her pocket. “You too.” She cast around for one of her pre-prepared questions: So how do you like working at the firm? Any advice for 3L students preparing to enter the workforce? How do you survive the eighty hour workweeks year after year after year? Is the money worth it?

Luckily, Feyre didn’t have to resort to any of her questions, because Jax spoke for her.

“You look awfully young to be a 3L,” he commented, gaze sliding up and down her body.

Feyre cocked an eyebrow, a chill trailing down her spine. “I’m twenty-three.”

“That’s young.”

Feyre gritted her teeth. This was certainly unprofessional. “Not too young, I hope,” she said, forcing a smile. This man was going to be her coworker. She couldn’t just turn around and flee. “I’ll be twenty-four this December,” she said brightly. “Practically collecting Social Security.”

Jax didn’t smile. Only narrowed his eyes like he was trying to see through her coat.

Feyre swallowed another gulp of wine, and as he inched closer, she realized that the alcove where they stood was mostly obscured by two of the many enormous columns ringing the event center. There weren’t any lights in this section, and no one else seemed to be paying them any attention. The rest of the networking attorneys seemed miles away, even the sounds of their voices muffled by a dull roaring that started in Feyre’s head as Jax’s gaze fixed her in place.

“And are you married, Feyre?” Jax asked, one arm resting on the wall next to her head. His gaze dropped to her left hand, wrapped around the stem of her wineglass, her fourth finger obviously bereft of any ring.

“No,” she said, backing away another step.

But her admission only seemed to encourage Jax. He slid forward, eyes focused somewhere just south of her neck, where her coat had fallen open to reveal the v-neck of her dress shirt. “I would be happy to meet you for a coffee sometime. Maybe even a drink. Tell you more about the firm, away from all these stuffy partners. We could even find somewhere quieter here. To talk.” His eyes slid to the hall that led who-knew-where, just behind Feyre, stretching off into the shadows of the hotel.

Feyre’s eyes widened, a lump forming in her throat. This man was her future coworker, her senior. He might even be partner by the time she started at the firm. To turn him down could be fatal. If he took offense, he could spin it any number of ways: She had no interest in learning more about the firm. Couldn’t care less about team-building and getting to know her coworkers. Clearly came for the wine and nothing else.

He could ruin her reputation. And that was something she couldn’t afford. Not if she ever wanted to be free of Tamlin, of her family.

“What do you say?” Jax asked, bending down, his face so close to hers she could feel his breath hot against her cheek.

“I—” Feyre started.

But another man’s voice, smooth as velvet and gentle as the night, floated into the alcove, startling Jax and sending a wave of relief over Feyre.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you.”