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#not sure if I should tag this as anything else- if you think this fits something that should be tagged let me know! :3
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My last Galacta Knight post made me think a little more, so uh. More about this concept in this post :3
Galacta Knight only became stronger because that's all he was taught to do. Train, fight, get stronger. All for a purpose he was never told about. It leads to him having a complicated relationship with himself and the Ancients because he doesn't want to hurt any innocent people, but the Ancients [Redacted], he couldn't just stop! Many years of fighting with himself cause him to lock his emotions down.
The Ancients slowly become lenient with him during the months leading up to his fight with Void. Allowing him to interact with others and take weeks off from training. But then Void shows up and the Ancients become strict again.
Galacta Knight hates fighting. But he loves it at the same time because it's the one thing that has constantly been in his life since he could remember. The fight with Void leads to him becoming even stronger than before, and at some point after that, Galacta snaps. (His species was never good at ignoring their emotions. Try too hard for too long and... well, don't be surprised if [Redacted 2] happens.)
He's tired of being too strong. So he gets the Ancients to seal him away. (They wouldn't listen to him at first, but that's okay. [Redacted 3] happened. They listened to him after that.)
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bibiana112 · 1 year
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Hello, I suddenly had Melanie Martinez's Dollhouse stuck in my head and I realized that if you take out the couple of lines that specifically refer to the parents of a nuclear family, it's a good fit for the Kurashikis (and the Fields, sort of) playing their roles and waiting for their moment of revenge
I think I've had this thought before when I encountered this song in the wild but decided I did not vibe with it enough for the two despite it, probably because I personally cannot place aside the different brand of familial issues but more power to you lol
Ironically though, I sorta like this part,
Picture, picture, smile for the picture
Pose with your brother, won't you be a good sister?
it made me imagine them really small and I like to imagine there's a bunch of innocuous things they used to be told by their parents that they probably don't even remember but that still weighed more heavily on the back of their minds once the household started to shrink– be good to your sister, don't annoy your brother now he's busy, you're older so you need to behave well like a good role model, you're grown enough to not act so difficult all the time, you gotta take care of these two until I'm back alright little guy
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strzlun · 2 months
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REGRET
// lee heeseung //
pairing: brother’s best friend!heeseung x femreader
word count- 4.7k
genre/cws- fluff, slight angst, 1 year age difference, profanity, slow burn(ish?), forbidden love(?), reader’s brother is protective, kissing, confessions, old fling, acceptance of feelings, two people in love
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summary- Heeseung regrets not facing the truth sooner on what could’ve been with his best friend’s younger sister
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Lee Heeseung accepts that’s he’s stupid. People live with flaws and regret all the time, but he swears he had the greatest regret of all time.
A regret that was in the form of you, his best friend’s younger sister. But not in the way you would think, it was in the way that no best friend should know about his best friend’s sister.
And yet, he did know you in ways that no one else knew of, the way you giggled at his words, how you would unconsciously shift closer into his hold as you slept, the way you felt in his arms, and the way your lips just fit perfectly with his.
Heeseung was stupid for not realizing the truth sooner of just what could’ve been with you and that was his greatest regret.
You ushered down the stairs making sure you had everything in your bag, you were running late forgetting that about the blind date your help friend set up.
She said she’d help you get into dating before all the good guys were taken and you were left all alone. But who would break it to her that you didn’t want anyone that wasn’t your old fling with your older brother’s best friend.
Even with the fallout between the two of you, deep down you still wanted him.
Just as you reached the end of the staircase, you froze seeing Heeseung sitting on your couch. Your heart dropped as you stared at him wide eyed. No matter how hard you tried to escape his presence, he was always lingering around.
But before you could even question him, you heard the nagging of your older brother as he emerged from the kitchen.
“You really have to go shopping” He sighed before taking in your dressed up appearance with a raised eyebrow
Your brother didn’t realize how his best friend drank in your appearance, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“Are you going out on date?” You whipped your head towards your brother before sneaking a glance towards Heeseung and unnoticed by you how he clenched his hand on his lap
“What are you two even doing here?” You tried to switch the conversation as you could feel the burning gaze Heeseung gave you
“I just wanted to stop by and see how my favorite sister is doing, is that so wrong?” You rolled your eyes before checking the time on your phone, noticing how you were now very much late for your blind date
“Alright whatever, just don’t mess up anything and make sure to lock the door” You sighed in defeat, not having any time for this
You went towards your front and opened it but right before you could even step out, Heeseung’s voice rippled through you and you slightly shivered hoping neither of them noticed.
“Where are you going?” His voice seemed stern and you almost let out a laugh but held back and right before you closed the door, you answered him
“A date”
Heeseung and you accidentally became a fling last winter. It was new year’s eve and your family had decided to celebrate together outside to watch the fireworks and of course your brother dragged Heeseung along.
You didn’t mind him at the time as you and him were somewhat friends as Heeseung was the only one your brother truly felt comfortable having around you.
Having trust that his best friend would only have the best intentions and wouldn’t try anything(how wrong he was).
You only saw Heeseung whenever your brother brought him around or whenever you ended up tagging along with them and vice versa.
It was a comfortable “friendship” but nothing else of it. However, when it reached 10 seconds on the countdown, everyone was chanting down the numbers loudly and you being one of them didn’t realize you misplaced a step.
But before you could even fall, Heeseung was quick to catch you in his arms. You looked to him with wide eyes as fireworks blew up in the sky.
The fireworks behind him set something off in you that you never knew you could feel before.
“Happy new year” His soft voice and his infamous smile made your heart flutter and you knew you were in trouble
You noticed how Heeseung’s eyes flickered from between your eyes and lips as he continued to hold you in his arms. Everything around you two faded as if it was only the two of you.
You didn’t realize it but you and Heeseung unconsciously leaned in, his breath fanning yours with his eyes never leaving yours as you could feel him tightening his hold on you.
“Can I kiss you?” But before you could even respond, your brother’s voice ripped you away from your trance as the two of you quickly pulled away from each other as your brother finally found his way to his best friend and you
“Happy new year to two of my favorite people in the world” Your brother wrapped an arm around you and Heeseung to give a tight hug
But unknown to him, you and Heeseung stared at each other, your hearts fluttering at what almost could’ve been in that moment.
From there are on, you and Heeseung tried everything in your power to see each other even if it was for a glimpse. It was only when you heard a soft knock at your door where your winter became full of Heeseung.
Heeseung who knocked at your door felt his heart pounding out of his chest as he waited for a response. He was supposed to be asleep but you were consuming his mind that he couldn’t take it anymore.
But as he waited for you, it settled in his mind what he was doing. That’s when he felt a cold wave wash over him, he was outside your room, his best friend’s sister’s room.
He groaned before ruffling his hair realizing what he was doing, he must’ve been insane. He quickly left your room to sneak back into your brother’s room, but he heard the soft click as you opened your door and he froze.
“Heeseung?” Your soft confusion made him tense as he stiffly turned around, he saw the tilt in your head wondering why he knocked at your door in the first place
Something took control over him in that moment as his legs had a mind of its own and made their way to you, before softly cupping your face in his hands. He was panting heavily as he looked to your shocked eyes, he looked for any signs of discomfort or rejection.
But when you wrapped your hand around the nape of his neck to crash his lips against yours, all sanity of you being his best friend’s sister went out the window.
The two of you knew you shouldn’t be doing this, your brother would be furious if he found out that his most trusted best friend broke his trust just to be with you.
But as Heeseung continued to kiss you, he wondered if it was so wrong, why did it feel so right?
As you laid in your bed exhausted from the blind date, you could feel your eyelids become heavy but when your phone dinged you groaned.
You didn’t have the energy to respond but you assumed it was your brother wanting to check in on your mom (and ask about the date). You picked up your phone but you nearly dropped it seeing who actually texted you.
Heeseung: So how was the date?
You knew way too well how Heeseung operated, how he would casually mention the topic that is desperately clouding his mind thinking he was slick(he wasn’t).
And you were furious that he had the audacity to even text you that. Heeseung was in no place to try and say anything when he was the one that ended things between you two.
You: Doesn’t concern you
Heeseung grimaced reading your cold response to his message but he knew better than anyone that he deserved it.
He knew you didn’t want him lingering in your life anymore but that was inevitable, not when he was still your brother’s best friend.
Heeseung knew he screwed up but he freaked out, he wasn’t used to having such strong feelings that when you were in his arms tracing all kinds of shape against his chest, he almost let it slipped that he loved you.
That was a wake up call to him. He was falling deep into a pit that he wouldn’t be able to escape from and so what was the only thing he thought of doing? Leaving before it could ever become anything more.
When Heeseung told you that he no longer wanted to continue whatever it was happening between the two of you after months of it, it shattered your heart.
And you knew that once Heeseung had his mind set on something he wasn’t going to change his mind, so you simply accepted the decision. You cursed him out for leading it on for so long without any intention of ever getting together with you and left it at that.
Ever since then, you avoided him like the plague but with every corner you took, he was right there lingering around you and it was driving you insane.
You wanted Lee Heeseung out of your life when he all wanted was to be a part of it but he couldn’t show that side of him anymore.
“What are you doing here Heeseung?” You glared seeing Heeseung inside your place once again, sitting on your couch way too comfortably for your liking
“Your brother stepped out for a minute, told me to wait here” Your frowned hearing his words and you muttered under your breath that he still should’ve went with him
He heard your remark and bit back his tongue from saying something he knew he would regret. He simply tightened his jaw before bringing his attention back to his phone.
You rolled your eyes before opening your front door to leave but just before you were able to Heeseung called out to you.
“Going out on a date again?” You turned to see he was still scrolling on his phone, not even looking at you as he spoke
“Does your brother know?” Heeseung finally looked from his phone to you and you tried to calm down your beating heart trying to remember what he’s done
“I don’t need to tell him anything” You actually were only going to hang out with a friend but the sudden interested of your life from Heeseung set you off
As Heeseung was still under the impression that you were going out on a date, he only scoffed at your words, throwing his head back from a laugh.
“He kept pestering me all day wondering who you were out with, just do the favor and tell him”
“Are you sure it’s not you who was wondering?” You voiced out your thought before being able to stop yourself, your eyes widen as you quickly looked to Heeseung who froze himself
The silence between the two of you was unbearable, you opened your mouth multiple times to form at least some type of coherent sentence but nothing came out. Heeseung didn’t dare to face you as he stared in front of him knowing that if he looked at you, he would be selfish, so selfish to have you for him again.
For some reason you waited for some type of response from him, telling you that you weren’t wrong, that he didn’t want you to leave. But nothing came and you scoffed to yourself for even thinking that he would say anything.
Your brother walked into your place with a smile but he stopped when he saw you, he was going to question if you were going out but you easily pushed past him and told him to lock the door if he left.
“What happened with her? Wait do know where she’s going?” Your brother closed the door behind him as he questioned Heeseung who tightly held his phone
“She went on a date again”
You: Are you with my brother?
Heeseung nearly fell of his bed reading your message, you never messaged him first after what happened. He breathed heavily trying to ease his racing heart before quickly typing out a response.
Heeseung: No
When Heeseung saw that you read his message almost instantly, his heart soared as he anticipated your response but when minutes passed, you never responded.
He furrowed his eyebrows before sitting up on his bed as his fingers danced across the keyboard trying to type something to keep the conversation going.
Heeseung: Why? Can’t reach him?
His eyes kept darting around his screen waiting to see if you would have mercy and show him the time of day and it seemed his wish was answered as you started typing.
You: Yeah, we were supposed to meet up today but he stood me up
Heeseung: Sounds like him
Heeseung: Want me to come get you?
Heeseung gasped as his fingers instinctively typed out and sent the message that he used to always say when you were “together”.
He cursed under breath trying to redeem himself but his phone finally fell out his hand as he read over your response.
You: Fine
You didn’t know why you agreed to him picking you up, but it was the way you read the familiar message that you were already accepting his offer like nothing before you could even realize it.
You sighed at yourself disappointed you gave in so quickly but when the familiar car came into view, your heart sank finally realizing what you’ve done.
Heeseung rolled down the window to give you the same infamous smile that got you wrapped around his fingers in the first place. You swallowed harshly before making your way to Heeseung’s car, somewhere you’ve been in way too many times.
“Still nothing from him?” Heeseung asked the moment you entered the car and you shook your head, he sighed before driving off
The silence could be cut through by a knife as neither of you said anything but Heeseung’s car immediately recognized your phone and connected you to the bluetooth before playing your playlist.
You and Heeseung jumped hearing the familiar melody of your playlist, something he always allowed you to play in his car as the two of you drove around without a care in the world.
“You never deleted my phone” You softly observed, nervous about how he would take your words
“Wanted to make sure it was there, to avoid the hassle of connecting it again for the day you’d be back in here” Heeseung honestly responded and the two of you could feel the tension rising, you looked out the car window closing your eyes to get out of this nightmare(it wasn’t one)
“Says the one that ended everything” You muffled under your breath but he heard it, he always did
“I wanted to be prepared, never knew what could happen” Heeseung softly spoke as he slowed down reaching a red light
You bit your lip to hold yourself back from adding fuel to the fire but you thought he already opened that door, so it was all fair game.
“Well no need to fret, you made sure it wouldn’t” You huffed out and Heeseung snuck a glance to you before deeply sighing
He knew you were right, he did something stupid just because he didn’t want to accept the truth that he loves you.
“I never wanted us to end-“
“Green light Heeseung” You cut off his words not wanting to hear him out anymore, it was already unbearable enough that your heart still longed for him
But you didn’t know just how much his heart also longed for you, but Heeseung could only dream of what could’ve been between you two if only he told you he loved you that night you were in his arms.
Heeseung was driving himself to brink of insanity as he paced around his room, his best friend, your brother, watched as he was freaking out and he could only wonder what went through his mind.
“Mind telling me what the heck is wrong with you?”
Heeseung shook his head, waving his friend off.
“Come on Heeseung, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong?” Heeseung almost let out a scoff at his friend’s words, knowing he only means well
But what could Heeseung even tell him? That he was practically in love with his best friend’s sister, that the two of you had a fling behind his back, and that he missed you so much that he was willing to beg on his knees for you to take him back.
As if Heeseung would say that.
“Nothing, just thinking” Heeseung mumbled before plopping himself on his bed as he covered his face with his hands
“I know you better than you know yourself” Your brother scoffed at his best friend who could only chuckle at his words
As if, was all Heeseung could think before raising his head and holding his face with his hand.
“Look I don’t know what’s going on but whatever it is. Go for it” Heeseung slowly rose form his bed as he stared at his friend in disbelief not realizing the weight of his words
“I can’t” Heeseung chuckled out a weak smile before trying to move on from the topic but your brother didn’t let up
“Look I’m assuming this is the same girl from months ago, the one you’re painfully head over heels for but stupidly ended it for no reason” Heeseung forgot that he told your brother that, only keeping out the minor fact that the girl was you
When he didn’t responded, your brother nodded knowing that he hit the source. He didn’t like seeing his best friend like this so he wanted to try and be encouraging.
“Just confess your feelings for her” Your brother shrugged easily before resting his back against Heeseung’s chair
“It’s not that simple”
“She clearly doesn’t want to talk to me, I fucked up big time. I don’t think there’s any salvation left” Heeseung admitted but your brother waved him off
“You’ll never know if you don’t try”
Heeseung felt his mind clear in that moment, he gulped realizing his best friend was right. How would he know that you and him were officially done if he never tried.
He wanted to thank you brother for helping clear his mind but it felt wrong because at the end of the day, the one he loves was the sister of his best friend.
“Where’s my brother?” You raised an eyebrow only seeing Heeseung standing by himself
He turned when he heard your voice and the way you looked under the stars, reminded of him what slipped through his fingers. But he was determined to redeem what he lost.
“He’s on his way” A white lie that Heeseung told in order to get you to meet him because he knows you wouldn’t willingly come out to see him
You nodded your head as you kept a distance between you and Heeseung. The two of you awkwardly standing side by side as you waited for your brother to arrive while Heeseung was mentally preparing himself.
“Where is he-“
“I love you” You slowly turned your head to look at Heeseung as if he was insane for the three words that just came from his mouth
“What?” You muttered not knowing if your mind was just deceiving you of what Heeseung said but when he fully turned to face you with a deep breath, you knew you were in trouble
“I said I love you”
“I regret every single day letting you go” Your breath got caught in your throat as you stared at him in pure shock, he couldn’t be serious
“There was one night where you were tracing shapes on my chest as you laid your body against mine, that’s when I knew I loved you”
“But instead of telling you, I freaked out and thought it was best to leave before it could turn it into anything more even though that was all I ever wanted”
“I dreamed of what could’ve been between us if I only faced my feelings for you in the moment but instead I lost the best thing to ever happen to me and that’s my biggest regret”
“I know I messed up, I don’t deserve your forgiveness but please I will prove myself to you. I’ll work from scratch if I have to if it means that you give me a chance to be yours again, officially this time though” Heeseung didn’t plan anytime soon to stop his rant of his pent up feelings for you
But he was quick to shut up when you crashed your lips again his just like first time he kissed you. Heeseung’s eyes went wide for a moment before bring you close to him by your waist to deepen the kiss.
After hearing his confession, you don’t know what came over you but you only wanted to feel what it seems to be the mutual desperation for each other after being apart from each other for so long.
The kiss more desperate than romantic as Heeseung kissed you like there was no tomorrow. He craved your kisses ever since he stopped receiving them, so being able to have them again, he was desperate to savor everything.
“Never letting you go” He murmured in the kiss as held you closer if that was even possible, you tried to break free from the kiss worried your brother would see the two of you
“What if he sees us?” You pulled away as your lips were slightly swollen from the kissing
“Then that’s a risk I’m willing to take” Heeseung smirked bringing his lips back onto yours as he knew your brother wasn’t coming
As he kissed you now more romantic with passion, Heeseung finally felt like a weight was let off his shoulders as he entered cloud 9. This was all he ever dreamed, having you in his arms again and him officially being yours.
You and Heeseung began dating for two months now (behind your brother’s back) and it was like a finally fulfilled dream with the exception of your brother being completely unaware of your relationship with his best friend.
Now, it wasn’t ideal for you to be lying to your brother and Heeseung to be lying to his best friend. But neither of you felt the time was right just yet, so you wanted to hold back just a little longer.
Heeseung was over at your place just like always and the two of you sat on the couch watching a movie. His head resting on your shoulder as he intertwined your hands, you smiled softly as he rubbed soft circles on the back of your hand.
You could melt into the moment but you couldn’t as your front door was bursted opened and in walked your brother, ranting about something ineligible to your ears.
You and Heeseung immediately tried to pull away from each other but it was too late, your brother already froze when he saw the scene in front of him.
He felt anger, shock and confusion wash over him, he was coming to your place to rant about not knowing where Heeseung had run off too only to find where his best friend had crawled to which was by your side.
“What the fuck is this?” Your brother breathed out as he motioned to you and Heeseung who were already separated form each other
Heeseung immediately took charge as he was the first to stand and face his best friend.
“Is this the girl..?” Your brother finally put together the pieces that the girl that Heeseung was head over heels for all this time was none other than you
“You were messing around with my sister this entire time? Behind my back?!”
“You went for my sister?” Your brother quickly came charging to Heeseung as he grabbed his collar in anger and Heeseung accepted it all, he expected it when your brother found out
You gasped as you called out your brother’s name but your voice fell deaf on his ears as he waited for his best friend to say anything, who could say nothing.
“Say something Heeseung!” Your brother ushered his best friend who quickly pushed the hands grabbing his collar off
“I’m sorry for the not telling you sooner, I’m so sorry”
“But I am not sorry for getting together with her. You saw the way I crumbled without her, you of all people know how much I love her. You were the one who told me to go for it”
“But I didn’t know that it was my own sister you were going after” Your brother looked to you who stood by Heeseung, he angrily sighed
“I trusted you to not go after her, I trusted you Heeseung” Heeseung felt terrible, he never meant to break your brother’s trust and go behind his back but you were on the line and he just couldn’t lose you
“I know there aren’t enough apologies to express how sorry I am, but I love her. I really do” Heeseung tried to defend his case hoping his best friend would try to understand where he was coming from
“How long?” This time your brother turned to you, wanting you to answer
You awkwardly swallowed before answering.
“Two months” Your brother groaned hearing your answer, he now knew that you and Heeseung had your fling which Heeseung ended way before the two months you two officially got together
“My best friend?” Your brother looked to you and you opened your mouth to say anything but nothing let your mouth before he switched his gaze onto Heeseung
“My sister?”
“Did you guys take me as a fool?” Your brother asked and you were quick to deny his words
“No, we were just scared to tell you, afraid of how you would react to us being together”
“We’re so sorry for keeping this from you, but I love him too” You grabbed Heeseung’s hand into yours and Heeseung stared at you with wide eyes
This was not how he expected to hear you say you love him for the first time but it still didn’t stop his heart from swelling. He tried to hold back to smile but it was impossible.
Your brother took notice of your actions, words and the effect it had on Heeseung and he took a moment to truly observe the two of you.
Heeseung stared sickeningly in love at you and your brother saw the way your hand tightened around Heeseung’s to stand your ground to him. This was something he never saw before.
Your brother felt conflicted but his soon clouded mind became clearer as he slowly realized, who was he to come in between two of the most important in his life’s happiness?
You noticed the way your brother’s tension slowly faded away before sighing out in defeat.
“You better not hurt her” Your brother warned Heeseung who immediately looked to him from you, trying to catch up with what just happened
But when he finally realized what was happening, he soon gave a smile before nodding his head.
“I would never even dream of it” Your brother reached out a hand to his best friend to shake and Heeseung took his hand
“Take care of each other” You smiled warmly before going to give a hug to your brother, which he reciprocated
A few hours later, it was now just you and Heeseung left at your place as your brother left not too long ago. You rested your head against his body as he held you, tracing small circles on your back.
Heeseung smiled warmly the moment you started to make stars on his chest with your finger just like how you did the night he realized he loved you.
“So you love me huh?” Heeseung raised an eyebrow and he noticed how you stopped your action and he let out a chuckle
“You were the one to say it first” You huffed out but Heeseung raised his hands in defeat
“I never said anything about saying it first” You rolled your eyes at your boyfriend’s word and he cheekily smiled before placing a kiss against your neck
You softly giggled as the kiss tickled your neck, even though it may have taken a little longer than what you wanted. Heeseung was finally yours.
Heeseung was beyond happy, this was all he ever dreamed of, having you back in his arms as he was officially yours. He was grateful he no longer had to wonder what could’ve been between the two of you because now it finally happened.
“I can finally stopped being known as your brother’s best friend and now finally be known as your boyfriend instead”
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battymommastuff · 7 months
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The One I was Meant to Find
Batmom x Batman, Batmom x Batfamily
Prompt: While digging through the attic, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd uncover a secret about their adoptive mother. A secret that reveals the true, and dark story of the most loved couple in Gotham City
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Masterlist
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!!DISCLAIMER!! - This likely won't be comic accurate (Obviously), but I did draw inspiration from the comics. If you are looking for something accurate, then this fanfic isn't for you.
You can swallow fire, you've practically flown through the hair....You've performed in front of millions from age eighteen. You felt like you could handle anything the world threw at you....
Until you entered the Upper district of Gotham City a week after being taken in by Bruce Wayne. The part of the city full of the most lavish, and expensive stores. So many name brands that you only ever dreamed of wearing. Not even Haly himself could afford such luxuries, and he owned the circus. Bruce insisted that he bring you to this part of the city to shop for your new wardrobe. He planned on buying outfits, dresses, shoes, jewelry, perfumes, and anything else you could never need. You tried to convince him to just take you to a thrift shop or some random outlet, but he only looked at you as if you spat on his shoes. 
So here you were, standing in front of a store that you had no business being in. Little did you know, you would be walking into these stores as if you were walking through your home in the future. All in due time...
Bruce enjoyed a cheap glass of champagne while you were given dress after dress to wear. Since your method of employment was no longer safe, he planned on hiring you as his assistant until you were safe to find your own career path. You stepped out in a dark blue dress that fit a little big on you, "Bruce, you really don't have to do this...I mean a thousand dollars for a dress? I'm sure we can find something similar for a cheaper price." You said while holding the price tag. He frowned, standing up from his seat. He walked over to you and inspected the price tag for himself. 
He turned you around so you were facing the mirror, "I think it looks wonderful on you." Bruce said with a smile. He moved your hair to the side so he could zip up the rest of the dress and rested his hand on your hip. You both decided to put off the facade of being a couple while in public. Subtle touches like this were going to happen, but he didn't go too far with it, "I could buy this entire store if I wanted to." He whispered into your ear. A shiver went down your spine, and you bit your lip softly. You knew Bruce Wayne was rich, but just how rich was he? Obviously he was rich enough to keep up his lifestyle as Batman. You turned around, not realizing just how close the two of you were. 
Have you ever had that feeling? That feeling that you were looking at someone you knew? As if you'd been with them a thousand life times. That's what you felt when you looked into his eyes. It was as if your souls found each other once again. You knew the theory of the multiverse from one of the clowns in the circus, he loved conspiracy. The thought of you and Bruce being together in different universes made you giggle a bit, "What's so funny?" He asked, his hand still resting on your waist. 
"Nothing at all, Mr. Wayne." Bruce rolled his eyes then back away from you. You only called him that to be a tease. You two often found yourselves teasing one another. Which is why Alfred was very happy to have the both of you out of the house...so he can be free of the thick tension for a few hours. Now you were walking downstairs to the batcave, dressed in one of your new nightgowns. Tonight was one of those nights where you felt unsafe. Truly, you never felt safe. You knew there were eyes on you outside of Wayne Manor. The only place you felt safe was right by Bruce's side...or Batman's at this time of night. 
"You should be asleep." Batman said as he typed away on the batcomputer. It made you think of the night he rescued you, "You have a busy day tomorrow, and I'm sure your boss wouldn't be happy with you being tardy." He joked then turned to look at you. He could tell instantly that you were scared. He understood the fear. After his parents were murdered, he would be up all night in fear of their murderer coming back to finish him off. Living life having to constantly look over your shoulder was no life to live. Without a word, he stood up while removing his cape. The surprisingly light material was draped over your shoulders to keep you warm. He wasn't going to make you leave. If you felt safe around him, then you could stay. Still in silence, you sat down on a stool next to a table lined with gadgets. You hadn't the faintest clue of what any of them were, but they looked very dangerous. 
Was it strange? That you could picture your life like this? By his side, helping him on his quest for Justice. The Manor already felt like home. More so than the circus ever did. That feeling came back again. The one where you felt as if you've been through this before. As if every choice you've ever made led to this very moment. Led you to Bruce. 
"Do you believe in soulmates?" 
"No." 
Your mouth formed an O shape and you awkwardly nodded. That might have been a question for Bruce Wayne not Batman. You learned quickly that the two were vastly different people. Bruce almost felt like the mask while Batman was truly who he was. Sometimes you saw a mix of the two...which you favored. 
"Y/N. I'm not someone you can love. My life and what I do will only bring you more danger, you will never live the happy life you deserve to live. I can never make you happy, and can never give myself to you fully. I'm sorry." 
Being rejected before the first move was ever made never felt good. You felt your heart shatter at the same time that your eyes began to water, "R-Right...I was dumb to ever think otherwise." You said while sliding down from the stool, "Goodnight...Batman." You whispered and swiftly left the batcave, passing Alfred who instantly noticed the tears falling from your eyes.  He could only shake his head as he made his way down the stone steps. 
"Lying to yourself and to her will only make it worse, Master Wayne." Alfred said as he set down a fresh cup of tea next to Batman. Nothing was ever openly spoken, but it was obvious that Bruce and Batman both had feelings for you. Everything about you just drove him insane. He never believed in soulmates until he met you. He never thought that there could be anyone in this world made for him. Yet there you were, and it terrified him. How could he ever keep you safe? Once his enemies knew of you, you were going to be the target. The Court was already going after you, but he had so many more that would love to watch him hurt. He knew if he let himself care for you, it would only end with him losing you. 
And he couldn't lose you....
TAGLIST
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dreamwatch · 2 months
Text
Ramblin' Gamblin' Man
Written for @corrodedcoffinfest
Day #20 - Prompt: Under The Covers | Word Count: 979 | Rating: M | CW: period typical homophobia (alluded to) | POV: Steve | Pairing: Steddie | Tags: secret relationship, sharp suits, Steve Harrington is stupid for Eddie Munson, Fluff but make it lustful
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Steve’s at the Grammys. Holy Shit.
It’s not the first time Eddie’s been here, but it’s the first time he’s brought Steve. He walked the red carpet alone last time, the rest of the band ahead of him with their wives and girlfriends, Eddie playing up the bachelor angle. Steve watched from their home. 
Tonight they’re ’best friends if anyone asks’, which Eddie thinks is unlikely because there are some big names here and like, who the fuck are they in the scheme of things?
They’re not nominated for anything; Eddie said they’d been asked to play a cover of Ramblin’ Gamblin Man and both Wayne and Steve’s dad are big Bob Seger fans so the band said yes. See, its little things like that that make him want to climb inside Eddie and never come out. Any other act is thinking about the prestige, Eddie’s thinking about whether his family would like it.
He loves this man so fucking much.
The band are sitting about ten rows back; he’s got a clear view of Sheryl Crow from his seat, and he’s pretty sure that’s the back of Whitney Houston’s head over to his left.
His new phone is buzzing in his pocket. Robin is obsessed with sending him messages. Tonight so far:
‘Is Stevie Nicks there?’
‘If she is please tell me she’s hot.’
‘Shit I think I just saw you!’
‘Is that Sheryl Crow in front of you?’
He deletes them to make space for new messages, hopefully something about how their friends are at the goddamn Grammys and not whether Shania Twain has a nice ass. (She does, he looked.)
Eddie taps his arm. “Okay, we have to go get changed.”
“Huh? Why?”
They’re wearing their ‘Corroded Coffin smart attire’, essentially their usual clothes minus the rips. They’re not exactly scruffy, per se, but… Steve’s in a suit here, you know? (The suit is borrowed, but it’s all about the effort.)
Eddie grins at him. “You didn’t think I was performing at the Grammys in this, did you?” He pulls at the long sleeve tee he’s wearing under his new leather jacket. 
“I mean, yeah, I kind of did.”
Eddie tsks. “For shame, Steve.” He leans in, achingly close, his breath tickling Steve’s neck. “Wish me luck.”
Just for a second Steve thinks about kissing him. Fuck everyone else, fuck the fans, the industry, he just wants to kiss his man publicly. But he doesn’t. Instead he shifts so his lips are practically touching the shell of Eddie’s ear.
“Good luck,” he whispers. 
Eddie shivers. Steve laughs.
The boys all leave, and now it’s Steve and The Wives.
Thirty minutes later the sound of a trashy high-hat fills the auditorium, lights flashing in time to the thu-thu thump bass drum pattern. Despite Jeff being their lead vocalist it’s Eddie, with his raspier, bluesier voice, that’s taking the lead tonight, and doesn’t that just make Steve’s heart fucking cry out with pride? And you know, Eddie, his Eddie, singing at a nationally televised event should be the thing he’s concentrating on, and it is! It is. But when the lights go up the first thing he actually notices is—
“Holy shit, they’re wearing suits!” 
Bonnie says it before anyone else gets a chance. He imagines the four of them are a picture right now, side by side, eyes on stalks because their men are all on stage at the Grammy’s wearing blacks suits, crisp white shirts and… fucking sunglasses. 
Look, he’s seen Eddie in a suit. It was a nice suit, but he looked about as comfortable as a priest in a lingerie store. This is not that.
These are sharp tailored suits, fitted to perfection. Eddie has too many buttons undone on the shirt, some of his chest exposed, that old Fender guitar pick necklace replaced with a solid silver copy (the original with Wayne). The stage lights hit his mirrored Ray Bans, the chain, the rings. But Steve can’t take his eyes off that fucking suit.
He’s going to devour him.
Eddie’s not a frontman, says he loves being able to just do his thing and let Jeff take care of the crowd. But he has a feeling things might change after tonight. 
The audience are on their feet, and Steve grabs the girls so they can head down to the backstage area. They have passes but even then he has to pull the ‘pregnant ladies coming through’ card to get them back to the green room. And when they get in there--
They’re still dressed in those fucking suits.
Eddie spins toward him. “Hey! What did you—“
Steve doesn’t give him a chance to finish the sentence, he has his hands on Eddie’s face and he’s dragging him in for a long, deep kiss, Eddie’s eyes wide and cross eyed.
When he finally comes up for air he realises Jeff, Gareth and Matt are all getting much the same treatment from their wives.
“You’re never taking this off, understand?” Steve says breathlessly. “Never.”
“What… the suit?”
“Duh, the suit, yes the suit. You’re never taking it off. I don’t care what you’re doing, mowing the lawn, taking the trash out, washing the car, don’t care. This,” he says gently pulling at a very expensive lapel, “is never leaving your body.” He goes in for another kiss. “God the things I’m going to do to you tonight.”
“In the suit?”
“Fuck yes, in the suit! Told you, you’re never taking this off.”
Eddie’s grin is slow and mischievous. “This is really doing it for you, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
It’s doing it for everyone. There are three respectable married ladies here, mothers no less, acting like groupies at an Aerosmith gig. 
Steve squeezes his hips. “Let’s go.”
“Sunglasses: on or off?”
Steve wants to sink his teeth into him right here.
“On. Definitely on.”
The song:
The inspiration:
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runningfrom2am · 9 months
Text
cold nights // part six
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summary: all the stars aligned, and it was you.
pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader
wc: 2.7k
masterlists / nav / requests
tags/warnings: tribute!reader and mentor!coriolanus, r is very sweet (too kind for this world. literally.), sunshine x grumpy trope kinda, he falls first, violence typical for the source material, r is very smart (as she should), district twelve!reader.
a/n: i just finished writing s1, and we're halfway through! so in case anyone was wondering, s1 will have 12 parts :) i haven't started s2 yet but i am so excited to!!
series masterlist // playlist
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Days passed, no sign of Coryo. The only reason you know he isn't dead is because Sejanus came and told you he would be alright. That didn't do much to quell your worries.
Selfishly, you were scared you wouldn't get to see him again. You knew you wouldn't, actually. Now you were truly alone. Just you and his blanket, the book he gave you, and the dress your mother made. And Sejanus Plinth, you supposed. None of the surviving tributes would even talk to you- not that you really felt like talking. Just reading. You've read and re-read Romeo and Juliet no less than three times since Coriolanus passed the book through the bars to you the night before you went into the arena.
"I know you asked for this, and it's a little early, but happy birthday." Coryo whispers, smiling as the dark of night encases the two of you into your own little world.
He hands you a small box, wrapped in parcel paper and complete with a ribbon made of some kind of knitting thread. You grin, taking it from his hand and carefully untying the bow, delicately pulling the paper apart where it's taped together so as not to rip it. A copy of Romeo and Juliet. Old, tattered, falling apart; well-loved.
"Oh, Coryo, you didn't have to give me anything. That's too sweet." You grin, immediately flipping through the pages despite the dark preventing you from seeing a single word. "Thank you."
"Of course." He says, watching only you as your eyes flick over the pages. What little light falls from the moon is reflected in your eyes, and he wouldn't dare look away.
"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite." You say softly, and at first, he thinks you're talking to yourself until you look up at him. A small, almost shy smile fit perfectly onto your lips.
"You like it?" He asks, the answer obvious even to him.
"I love it."
You were his tribute. Not a friend, certainly not more, but as he reaches through the bars to let his fingers brush over your cheek all rational thought means nothing. He doesn't realize he's staring at your lips until you comment on it.
"Is this why you asked if I have a boyfriend?" You whisper, your natural smile returns, and he's quickly looking anywhere else. Your eyes, your hair, the spot where his fingertips meet your cheekbone just below your hairline. Anywhere else. "Because I know it wasn't on that list of questions."
He's quickly backtracking, dropping his hand. This was wrong and he knew it. "I, uh, Tigris made you some cake. It's not good, but it's the best we could do." He says, redirecting his attention to his bag as he pulls out the small paper bag.
You sit back, blushing furiously. "I'm sure it's delicious." You smile, and it comes across more nervously than you intended.
"Here." He hands it to you, and you gently place the book next to you on the ground so you don't get any crumbs on it. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."
And just like that, he's gone.
You're grateful when you see Sejanus coming back with his bag of food and water. It had become some form of a routine, at this point. The citizens of the Capitol weren't allowed to bring you food anymore, he was the only one who did for you now that Coryo was gone, and now that his tribute had escaped as well.
"Sejanus." You smile, standing up as he gets closer.
"Y/N. Holding up okay?" He asks, a sad look behind his tired eyes. He looked almost as tired as you, you were sure, but you hadn't seen a mirror since you left your house before the reaping.
You sigh. "I'm holding up." You answer simply. Sejanus is the only person you feel comfortable being totally honest with, but at the same time, you don't want to because you know he already feels bad for what you're going through. He's the only one outside this cage who kind of understands. "How about you?"
"I'm alright." He shrugs, reaching into his bag and pulling out a sandwich for you. You could never get sick of these. "I also have salt, if it needs more of that." He hands you a small bag of table salt alongside it.
"Thank you." You grin, tucking the bag into your pocket incase you needed it. "Any news about Coryo?" You ask hopefully, taking a bite. You already feel your starvation-induced nausea fading away.
"Not really. He's recovering, though." Sejanus answers. "Are you ready for the interview tonight?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." You grin. "I was right, I didn't need the book. I already had the whole thing memorized, but it's been so lovely to get to read it again."
"It must be." He nods. "Gives you something to do."
You hum in agreement, looking around at the other tributes. No one is even moving much anymore. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
You look down at your sandwich while you think about how you want to word this. "Is Coryo..." No, that's not it. "I got the feeling that he actually cared for me. Is that true?"
"Coryo has never been one to tell anyone what he's thinking." Sejanus says, entirely unhelpfully. That's not his fault, though. "But if I had to guess, I would say yes."
"I'm just wondering because it's nice to have friends now. Here. At the end." You smile sadly before taking another bite. "And I was worried I had upset him."
"You? No." Sejanus shakes his head. "I don't think you could if you tried."
"Why's that?"
"Well... It's hard to explain. He's always been super focused on school, on the prize, but now, when it matters most, I feel like he's more focused on you and making sure you actually win." He tells you. "But, like I said, he wouldn't talk about it even if I asked him outright."
You nod. "Thank you, Sejanus. For always being honest with me."
"Of course. It's the very least I can do, all things considered."
"Can I ask you for one more favour?" You ask hopefully. "If not I understand, you must be quite busy."
"I have the rest of my life to be busy." He shakes his head. "What do you need?"
"Will you tell Coryo thank you, for me?"
"Yes. Of course." He agrees without hesitation.
"And do you have a pencil and paper?"
Sejanus headed home for a while and then back to the hospital after his visit with you, armed with your note in his pocket to pass on to Coryo. He was hoping he would be awake right now, he had been so on and off the last few days. More grumpy than normal, and Sejanus could tell it was driving him up the wall that he couldn't go see you. But the interviews had already started, so he would get to see you soon- even if it's just through the screen.
"Tigris." He whispers, pulling back the curtain as he sees the familiar girl sitting at his friend's side. She hadn't left her cousin most of the time he'd been bedridden, she was there every time Sejanus checked in.
"Oh, hello." She whispers, smiling at him. "He's still resting, but he's feeling a bit better today I think."
"That's good. I'm glad to hear it." Sejanus agrees, taking the seat next to her. "I went to see Y/N. She's eaten. She doesn't look good, though."
Tigris nods, returning her gaze to her sleeping cousin and pushing his hair away from his eyes. It's not like he needs to see, but she would do it anyway. Just to make sure he wouldn't be annoyed when he woke up. "He's been worrying about her. I can tell."
"She asked me if she did something to upset him. Has he said anything to you?"
"No, nothing." She shakes her head, lip jutting out at the confusing statement. Nothing at all would indicate to her that he was upset with you, but it's entirely possible that stuck in that cage day in and day out you could quickly become paranoid about who you could trust.
"Okay, good. That's what I told her anyway." He tries to be quiet as he speaks, but the whispering wakes his friend anyway.
Coryo's eyes fly open and he gasps, eyes landing on the two of them sitting in front of him.
"Coryo," Tigris says softly, a small, worried smile on her face.
"Y/N?" He asks, his voice husky from sleep. "Is she-"
"She's alive," Tigris promises, gently rubbing his arm, landing her hand on his and squeezing it gently.
"Is she hurt?"
"Not badly." Sejanus shakes his head. "A few decent cuts and bruises, but she'll be okay. I brought her some antibiotics the other day so nothing will get infected." You won't be okay, they both know that, but you certainly wouldn't be dying from the minor injuries you sustained in the rebel bombing.
He nods, slightly, trying to sit up. "How long was I sleeping? What did I miss?"
"Another tribute died from injuries," Sejanus replies. "Everyone is still scared. No one will go see them anymore, I haven't seen any of the other mentors there either. But I've been feeding her. She's okay."
Coryo nods, wincing at the pain in his back as he moves. The burn was bad, but apparently, it was healing well.
"Marcus is still missing. I haven't heard anything about him. They're hunting him but I still think he has a better chance out there than he would tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Coryo asks, rubbing his head with his free hand, Tigris still holding his other one. "They're still going ahead with the games?"
Sejanus just slightly shakes his head, looking away. Coryo knows that that is a yes.
"Oh no... Y/N.... She could've run," He mumbles. "But she saved me."
"I tried to convince her to. I did." Sejanus reminds him. "She wouldn't budge."
All heads turn as Lucky's voice on the TV catches their attention. "And now, our final tribute. I first met this young lady in the zoo not too long ago. From District Twelve, Y/N Y/L/N. Come on out here!"
Lucretius motions for you to step out onto the stage and you do, gently placing the book and the blanket you had brought with you on the floor in a neat pile before joining him.
"Lucretius." You smile. "It's good to see you." You're nervous in front of so many people, the audience in front of you is much larger than the small one you spoke in front of at the reaping, and being in front of a camera without Coryo by your side made you antsy.
"You as well, Darling. Now, I was told you had something you wanted to do for us so I'll just leave you to that. Charm us! Remember, the world is watching." He smiles, gently patting your shoulder before walking just out of view of the cameras. His statement was far from reassuring.
"Uhm..." You stare out at the audience, and suddenly you're scared you've forgotten the entire thing. You had to do well. For Coryo and his prize. He needed this. "I've become aware that not many people know this play." You chuckle, trying to hide your nervousness behind it. "But Romeo and Juliet has always held a special place in my heart and I want to share that with the world, before I go."
You take a deep breath, closing your eyes. You wonder if Coryo is watching. He's not here, you're sure of that, but you do hope he gets to see. And he does.
He stands up as soon as your face first appears on the screen, declining help from both Tigris and Sejanus as he limps over to the TV, cranking up the volume. Your fate depends on this, he knows it, but he can't look past the blue tint under your eyes and the bruises that litter almost every part of your exposed skin. The cuts are what get him the most. Your knuckles are cleaned up, mostly, but red and irritated as you twist your hands together nervously in front of you. Same with the crude black stitches on your upper arm. Irritated, neglected by professionals, but at least it wasn't serious.
"Come on... You can do it." He mumbles mostly to himself, and Tigris reaches up to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder as the three of them watch.
"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" Immediately, he is confused. He expected to be, of course, but he could also tell as soon as you started reciting it, after the first line, your confidence was coming back to you. This play was your safe space.
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love; and I'll no longer be a Capulet." You look out at the silent audience as you speak, a smile forming on your lips. They're listening. "'Tis but thy name that is my enemy: Thou art thyself, though not a Montague."
Coryo is wishing you had explained more to him about what this play is about. "What's Montague? It is nor hand nor foot, nor arm nor face nor any other part belonging to a man. Oh, be some other name." He should have asked. Why didn't he ask? You told him yourself that you could talk about it for hours. Why didn't he take advantage of that when he had the chance?
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title." A rose. Of course a rose, was this for him? He longed to understand it better as he watched the donations tracker tick up and up toward the thousands.
"Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name, which is no part of thee," You take a deep breath for the first time since you started speaking. "Take all myself."
It was a beat or two before the audience clued in that you were done, and then the cheers started. A standing ovation, people wiping their eyes and clapping for you like you had changed their lives.
"Wow! Now wasn't that something, everyone!" Lucky laughs, coming back into the frame of Coryo's view from the camera. Tigris was in tears. The continual uptick of the donations counter was reassuring to him. As you smiled, cheeks flushing red. "The donations are just flooding in with a record high! That must feel good."
"Thank you, it does." You nod at Lucky, trying to place all your focus on him so you don't get too embarrassed in front of the crowd. At least you knew Coryo would be pleased. If you understood his prize situation as well as you thought you did, this was very good for him. "I just want to make my family and my mentor proud."
"You have a real talent. It's such a shame." The host says to you and you laugh awkwardly.
"Well, everyone loves something. I just loved books."
You continually referring to yourself in the past tense makes Coryo want to puke, looking away from the screen only briefly to take in the other nurses and patients watching too.
"We have just a few moments left, but I need to know, what is that about?"
"Oh! Well, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy." You explain, back to yourself again. "It's about two star-crossed lovers from feuding families. So, what Juliet was talking about, to put it very simply because I could go on and on about this, was that she loved Romeo for who he was- not just his name or his family. It didn't matter to her that they came from different places. She loves him anyway, and if he couldn't let go of his family, she would give up her own life for him."
Coryo's eyes widen. So it was about him. He can't help the tug on his lips that threatens to form a smile.
"Alrighty then, that's very sweet." Lucky replies. "Now, you said it's a tragedy. What is so tragic about a love story?"
"Well," You chuckle nervously. "They both die at the end."
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featguler · 3 months
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baby steps, baby ────── a late night conversation in his car. threading on a whole new thing with kylian.
♡ ────── pairing : kylian mbappé x reader ♡ ────── tags : reader's gender, ethnicity, nationality, and appearance is not specified. reader lives in an apartment in paris and is a normal person. reader is somewhat insecure and is filled with doubts abt their relationship. ♡ ────── wordcount : 710 ♡ ────── notes : seems like i'm just writing whatever the fuck i want. send in req's pls ♡ masterlist.
You choose not to ask Kylian if he had ever felt the way you are feeling before.
Why would you?
His past relationships are none of your business, the previous pairs of lips he’d kissed are none of your business, and the beds he chose to spend his nights on before yours are none of your business either.
He opens the door to your side of the car, he orders your food for you, and asks if you would like to share a dessert to hide his own eagerness. He is endearing, and the right now you have is enough.
It’s silly to obsess over did-not-happen-yet scenarios. Your brain, though, cannot help but string you along.
As he drives down the road leading to your arrondissement, on your third night out after an awkward confession in your apartment, Kylian talks about how he has to fly soon to Germany. He talks about how they—whoever they are—have begun integrating group games and activities into practice, and he talks about how keeping a team cemented requires more HR work than anything else.
It still feels out of your mind that you are dating Kylian Mbappé—superstar footballer, conceited on field and humble off it. Grace lace his strides and half the world wants him. Or maybe not. You’re not sure. That’s what it feels like, though.
You wouldn’t imagine that you’d be sharing a drink together a few months back, moreover a car ride, moreover a night out, moreover a kiss.
“...come with me?”
You noticed that you were dozing off the conversation, preoccupied with Paris’ night light just outside your seat window.
“To Germany?” You ask, trying to gauge the context of the conversation from what you remember. “Me?”
He laughs a hearty laugh, glancing over at you as quick as he looks back to the road.
“Yeah,” his grin is illuminated by the occasional streetlights—you recognize the quirk of his eyebrow as the sign of an incoming jest. “Watch me play, beat the whole tournament in one game.”
You laugh along with him. “I’ve watched you plenty, Kylian.”
“Not outside France,” he retorts before stopping for a quick second. “And not outside Paris.”
“Well,” you hesitate, “I’ve got a job and all, you know? Can’t exactly drop everything and leave for Germany.”
You watch the fist around his steering wheel tighten, his lips pursing after yet another one of your rejection. He’d always asked you to come to his games—begged you, even. Far before you had recognized the intention behind his invites, he’d send texts asking if he should save a ticket. It would be a game in Spain or Germany, always somewhere far-off, and always on a working day.
You would think that he had gotten used to the disappointment, but you try putting yourself in his position, and imagine how he would feel. It’s probably different from the hurt you feel every time he has to leave you for long, but you try matching it.
“But anyway,” you speak, hoping to distract the sudden tense atmosphere invading the car. “How do you win a tournament with just one game?”
“You never know,” you hear the light returning to his words. “If I score 20 points in the first 30 minutes, maybe they’d change the rules.”
“I’d change the rules,” you counter. “For you.”
You turn to watch the road ahead, but from the corner of your eyes, you see a quirk of his lips, and then a quirk of his eyebrows.
“That’s sweet,” he reaches over to touch the hands folded on your lap, grabbing one in his. “But it would be boring if all the rules were altered to fit me.”
“Yeah,” you chuckle, flipping your hand to return his hold. “You gotta take it one game at a time, one goal at a time.”
“Uh-huh,” he nods. “Baby steps. I’ll get there in due time.”
He pulls your hand over, pressing a kiss on top of your knuckles. This right now feels too good to be true—if it were you and him against the world, it seems like it wouldn’t be as scary as all of the imagined scenarios in your head.
“Baby steps, baby.” You look at him and cannot hold back the smile, “Baby steps.”
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sniigura-archive · 5 months
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Adam x fem!reader
Summary: A glimps into the future.
roughly based on this and this; can be read as a little epilogue for college au but also can be a standalone
tag/cw/tw: children, adam and reader as parents, parenting, fight between parent and child, puberty
It’s evening when you return home, the sun was slowly settling into the horizon, saying goodbye with its warm orange rays. A much needed outing is was lured you out of the house.
When you close the door behind you, you hear loud music blast through the house. That already was enough of an indicator on what kind of day today was for your family. You hear the TV quietly play, with cutlery hitting porcelain. While you took one shoe off, you hopped towards the living room to take a peak in.
Your two daughters sat on the couch, eating cereal. 17 and 9. Your oldest and youngest. They barley acknowledge you with a weak “Hey Mama.” You sigh, exhaustion settling into your bones. The nigh-shift has begone for you.
You try not to gossip with your children about their siblings or father. The emphasis is on try, and you needed to check out the situation.
“What’s going on?” You decide on asking. You finally were able to weasel out of your other shoe, stepping into the living room.
“We are jus’ wasching TV.” Your youngest spoke through a mouth full off cereal. You smile at her stuffed cheeks.
Settling on your eldest, you look into her golden eyes. Her dark ringlet curls framed her face perfectly. You always said that she got her hair from sera, and everything else from Adam.
“Father and Mr. Puberty we’re going at it. They were already fighting when we got home.” Your eldest took out her youngest sister today, she just thinks her oldest sister is the coolest. So you made sure they had money and the car to spend time together. You slipped your eldest some extra cash in the morning, thanking her for taking the time out of her day. You remember being 17 and thinking your younger siblings being annoying and embarrassing.
“Hmmm. You need me to bring you to bed, sweetheart?” You ask your youngest. Even though it’s not a school night, messing up a good sleep schedule is horrible. She was already yawning, and rubbing her eyes. She scrunched up her nose, and furrowed her brows.
“No. I can’t sleep when the musics so loud…Can’t I stay up a little longer? Please?” She begged you. You rubbed your neck, knowing that she’s right. Glancing at the clock, you saw that it wasn’t that late.
“Alright. But! When I say you need to get into bed, you do without complaining. That includes brushing your teeth! Got it? You’re a big girl now.” You put on your mom voice, while your daughter nodded her head so vigorously that you were afraid it would fall off. She would have probably agreed to anything if it meant being able to stay up later. You brushed a hand through her hair, your little mini me.
You consider, for a moment, if you should go upstairs. Talk to your oldest son. But he sadly got the temperament from his father, so you knew the best thing is to wait till the music got quieter. You weren’t sure when the fighting stopped and you didn’t want to provoke him some more.
Kissing both your daughters foreheads, you walk towards the kitchen. From there you step out into the terrace, seeing your husband sit on the wood. Sulking. He didn’t even look back, when you walked towards him.
You brushed your hand over his shoulder, sitting down besides him.
“Hi, my love….You wanna talk about it?” You ask him, carefully.
Adam scoffed, but he didn’t shake your hand off. That’s good. He rolled his head, like he was playing with the words in his mind,
“..Nothing to talk about. Just wondering if there’s anyway to reverse ageing to keep ‘em babies forever.”
You laugh at that. The baby stage was Adam’s favourite phase. When they were small enough to fit into his one hand, when they couldn’t talk back, when he and you were their whole world. He misses that. You knew that. He wasn’t bothered about changing diapers and waking up every 3 hours to feed them. His heart broke when they took their first steps (away from him), said their first words, and had their first kindergarten and school days.
For you personally, the fun begins when they can talk back to you and walk. You love watching them grow and seeing what kind of people they grow up to be.
“I’m afraid not.” You sadly tell him. Adam sighs, he wraps his arm around you and pulls you into his side. He was starting to relax.
“I mean, we aren’t getting younger either.” You say, gently taking his face into your hand. He’s still the handsomest guy you know, with the extra wrinkles and gray hair. God bless him for not going bald, his hair line is still strong.
“Yeah, but milfs are hot, baby.” You snort at his words.
“So are dilfs.” He wraps his arm tighter around you. Adam kisses the top of your head.
He rubes his forehead with his free hand, his nose was scrunched up and brows furrowed, groaning and finally confessing to you, “I just..I don’t fucking get why we don’t get along? Like what the fuck? Are we goddamn fire and water?…More like oil and fire because of how much we piss each other off. I literally have to reconnect with fucking nature here so I don’t completely blow up.”
You rub Adam’s back soothingly.
“I think it’s because you guys are so similar. You just know how the other ticks so it hits extra hard when you try to hurt each other.” You whisper to him.
He looks into your eyes, defeated.
“And I think we should have only had daughters. Wayyy better.” He jokes at you. You giggle at that.
“Oh no, they also make me wanna rip my hair out. Everything’s perfect the way it is.” You give him a quick kiss on the lips. The music was getting quieter. You stood up, dusting dirt of your butt.
“Go reconnect with nature while I wrangle with our hellspawn.” You walked back into the house.
Deciding to take a quick peak into the living room, you saw both your daughters fast asleep on the couch. The TV was still running. You softly smile at the sight of them.
Walking up the stairs, you gently knock on the door of your oldest son. His door was decorated in various stickers, all following a dark aesthetic.
“Go away, Adam!.” Came a muffled shout through the door.
If your children started calling you by your first name you would also sit on the terrace, to reconnect with mother nature.
You opened the door, sticking your head through.
“Is just me. You want me to go away?” You gently ask him. It’s like talking to a spooked animal.
His sharp eyes took your form in, till he decided to simply shrug his shoulders. That’s a yes? You stepped in, gently closing the door behind you. It’s kind of like walking on ice, when you talk to a teenager.
Sitting down on his desk chair, you simply spun around in circles while looking around. Since he’s old enough to decorate the room himself, it’s always nice to see the new added details.
“..Can you fucking believe that he asked me to clean up my room? Who does he think he is?” He scrunched up his nose and furrowed his brows.
It was really hard to contain your laughter, but somehow you did it.
“I would have also asked you to do that.”. You tell him with a giggle. You stood up, and walked towards him. He was sitting on his bed.
“You know, you all do that.” You booped his nose, and then gently massaged the point between his brows, “And even though you look like us, talk like us, laugh like us you’re still your own people. That’s weird, you know. Having a baby. Taking charge of another person like that. And then suddenly, they yell at you for buying uncool clothes, or for telling them to complete their chores. When, only a moment ago they couldn’t stand the idea of leaving your side.”
He didn’t look at you. He didn’t need to.
“You really don’t want to talk about it?”
“..Goodnight.” He laid down on the bed. Closing his eyes.
“I love you, sleep well.” With that you left the room. Well that sure was productive.
Walking into your bedroom, you saw that Adam was already in there, getting ready for bed.
“How’s nature?” You playfully asked him.
“It’s fucking calling to me, I swear on that. Returning to the old days of being hunter and gatherers. Wanna come with me?”
“Hmm, no I’m like the biggest fan of modern medicine, you know?….By the way. How dare you ask our son to clean his room?” You playfully asked him.
Adam chuckled at that, “I dunno. I’m just such a horrible father I guess. He fucking called me a control freakish facist?”
You started to get undressed yourself while laughing at that, while Adam watched you with intense eyes.
“How’s it possible you only got sexier with time and pregnancies?” Adam walked towards you, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you towards him. You smiled at him, till you remembered something.
“Oh my god! Adam, you won’t believe who I saw today. Guess who’s getting a divorce?”
Adam grinned like he just won in the lottery, “No fucking way!”
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bluebeary-jay · 1 year
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Midnight kisses
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Joel Miller x f!Reader
Summary: Jackson celebrates the New Year’s Eve, and you're thinking about finally confessing to your crush how much you like him. but Joel Miller, the object of your affections, might have other plans in mind. (based on this adorable request!!)
Tags: FLUFF my beloved 🥰, Joel is very flirty in this one, lots of crushinggg, just old sweet mutual pining (also they're both lovesick idiots)
Warnings: mentions of alcohol and being drunk, jealousy, age difference
Word count: 5.4K
A/N: i had a lot of fun with this one 🥰 thank you so much once again for the request, dear, i hope you'll like what i came up with. (btw this was supposed to be a short fic but it seems i'm unable to write one 😔) still i hope yall will like it and as always, happy reading!! 💕
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
The party was in a full swing.
You didn’t expect anything else from the Jackson community. Ever since you arrived here, you were astounded by the effort that the people living in this small town were making to create a life as normal and joyous as possible – for their children and themselves. And today, on New Year’s Eve, they outdid themselves. There was food, music and drinks – almost as if the apocalypse outside those walls never happened.
You were sitting by one of the tables, sipping on your beverage while you waited for your friend, Angie, to arrive. Dancing alone didn’t sound like an appealing idea, so while you waited for her, you opted for some people-watching – though if you were honest with yourself, it was more like ‘person-watching’.
Your eyes strayed to a figure on the opposite side of the room for like a twentieth time, but you couldn’t help it even if you wanted to. Because there stood a man who still, even after more than a year of knowing him, made the butterflies in your stomach take flight.
Joel Miller.
He looked really good in a clean flannel and fitting jeans, you conceded. His hair was slightly wet, like he washed it just before coming to the party, and combed a little to the back, making the silver strands in his hair and beard shine in the low lights. You found yourself unable to look away or get rid of that stupid grin on your face that lingered when Joel smiled lopsidedly at something his brother said. The muscles in his arm bulged when he lifted his glass to take a sip, and you watched the lines of his neck when his throat bobbed...
“You’re ogling,” murmured a voice next to your ear, and you jumped a little in surprise. Next to you stood Angie, smirking at you.
“Jesus, Angie.” You put your hand on your chest, your heart pounding rapidly. “A ’hello’ would be nice.”
Your friend knew, of course, about your massive crush on Joel Miller, and you thought more than a year of pining on your part would cause her to grow bored of all the jokes and teasing that she threw your way. Apparently, you were wrong.
“Hello,” she said, then sat down on the other chair and leaned closer to you with a wide smile. “You’re ogling. In a room full of people, may I add.”
“I’m not,” you murmured defensibly, but your face grew warm at the realization that she caught you. “How long have you been standing here, anyway?”
“Like half a minute. By the way, you’re also drooling.”
“I’m not!” you repeated, now in an irritated whisper. You knew you weren’t drooling, but still had to refrain yourself from wiping your mouth, not wanting to give her the satisfaction. “Stop making things up.”
“You should just go talk to him.” Angie casually nodded in Joel’s direction. “He didn’t come with a date, sooo…”
“That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe he’s waiting for someone.”
“Uh, duh!” Angie flicked you on the forehead, and you hissed. “For you to make a move. You can… oh, I know!” she bounced in her seat excitedly and clapped her hands. “Ask him to dance with you!”
You almost snorted. “Joel Miller dancing? Sure. He wouldn’t agree even if he did like me.”
“He does like you. Jesus, you flirt with each other all the time.” The smile disappeared from her lips and she rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you’d have to be blind and deaf not to notice. And maybe dead.”
“There’s no flirting, I told you.” You took a sip of your drink, glancing at the object of your affection. “He talks in this way to everyone.”
“He never called me ‘darling’,” Angie retorted. “Or gave me his jacket when we got caught up in the rain.”
You smiled softly at the memory, but that just made you feel even more hopeless, because since that day, you weren’t able to have a normal conversation with the man you liked so much.
“What do I do?” you whined, leaning on the table. “He’s so beautiful. And he for sure doesn’t see me that way.”
“Are you drunk already? You said you didn’t want a repeat from–”
“–from last year, yeah,” you finished for her and sighed. “I’m not drunk, just feeling down. There’s no way I’ll be able to tell him I like him, Angie.”
“Maybe you won’t have to.” Your friend nudged you gently. “You can just inconspicuously take him under one of the mistletoe and go ‘oh, what’s that?’, and then…”
“What mistletoe?” you asked, only now looking up at the ceiling where familiar-looking leaves were tied with a string to the support beams under the ceiling and above the doors. “Why is there mistletoe hanging?” you asked skeptically. “It’s a New Year’s Eve party.”
“I think they haven’t taken it down since last week.” Angie shrugged, but then grinned at you. “Don’t you think it’s a sign, though? So many places to kiss your crush under~...”
“Jesus, keep your voice down,” you groaned, hiding your face in your hands again. “You’re impossible.”
“You’re impossible,” she mocked in a low voice. “I’m trying to help.”
“I know, babe,” you whined, and sighed heavily again. “You know what, maybe I should just forget it. Let’s go have fun, dance, and later throw up from all the food and…”
Suddenly, Angie interrupted you with a high noise in her throat. You gave her a questioning look and she looked at you with a tight-lipped smile and wide eyes.
“He’s coming here.”
“What?!” You automatically turned around before Angie hissed for you not to look, and sure enough, there was Joel Miller, making his way through the crowd with his eyes locked on you. “Oh my god,” you breathed, clutching at your friend’s hand. “He must’ve seen us talking. What do I do?”
“You sit there and look smoking hot, and let him flirt with you,” she answered with confidence you didn’t feel. “And maybe you won’t even need to ask for the kiss, maybe he’ll do it for–” Her eyes darted above your shoulder. “Oh, hey, Miller.”
You gulped and took a deep breath before turning around and– oh, God, he looked even better up close.
Angie kicked you lightly under the table when you didn’t say anything, and you cleared your throat, smiling up at the man you were so crazy about. “Uhm, hi, Jo– Mr Miller.”
“Didn’t I tell you to call me by my name, sugar?” He had kind of a boyish smile on his face that made him look younger and even more handsome, which in turn made your stomach fill with warmth. He sat down next to you, and his eyes scanned you down and back up, slowly, lingering on your legs and curves just for a second longer. “You look lovely.” He then glanced at Angie, sending her a nod. “Both of you.”
“Really?” you beamed, and Angie kicked your ankle again, making you wince. “Uhm, thanks. You clean up nicely yourself.”
A trace of smirk ran across his face, but it was gone before you could make sure it was really there in the first place.
“Are you enjoyin’ the party?” he asked casually, hiding one hand in the front pocket of his jeans. Your eyes followed his movement before you caught yourself.
“Y-yeah, it’s nice. A little too loud for me, but really nice.”
“Maybe you wanna step outside for a bit, then?” Joel nodded in the direction of the deck in the back, and your heart started beating faster.
Did he want to be alone with you? Or was just being polite and preferred to talk somewhere quieter, and you were getting your hopes up unnecessarily? You hoped it was the first, that he genuinely enjoyed chatting with you as much as you did with him – but you never knew with a man like Joel Miller. He was an enigma, sometimes serious and so stoic that you couldn’t for the world figure out what was going on in his head, and other times charming and teasing, making you weak in the knees when he was looking at you with that fiery glint in his eyes…
“Sugar?” Joel asked, lifting his eyebrows with what seemed to be amusement, and you cursed yourself mentally for spacing out.
“Sorry, I… Yes, let’s– sure, let’s go.”
All of you stood up and you looked over your shoulder at Angie with a panicked face, but instead of reassuring you, she sent you a quick, sly grin.
“You two go ahead,” she chirped. “I’m gonna go look for my date.”
“Angie–” you whispered, giving her a look, but the woman just winked and turned around, disappearing into the crowd of dancing people. “Angie!”
Before you could go after her, you felt a big, warm hand on the small of your back, and your entire body tensed. Joel leaned over to your ear, whispering in a low voice.
“Shall we?”
“Yeah,” you squealed, so quietly he probably didn’t hear it over the loud music. “Sure.”
Your legs moved on their own, going where he guided you. The walk to the terrace in the back lasted no longer than fifteen seconds, but it felt like hours had passed. You were very aware of the light pressure of his fingertips on your back, with only one layer of material separating your skin from his, and the nerves of feeling him so close behind you were making you walk stiffly and oddly – though, miraculously, he didn’t seem to notice.
“I don’t like how loud the music is, either,” Joel said after you two exited the main room, and he closed the door. Then he glanced at you again, his eyes flicking to your bare legs just for a second longer. “Are you cold?”
“No,” you answered truthfully. Not only was it nice to feel the cool air after sitting in a stuffy room with a crowd of people for so long, but also you still felt warm from Joel’s closeness. “I’m alright.” Joel nodded absentmindedly, and you squinted. “Did you want to talk about something or…”
“Nah, just wanted to escape for a minute.” He rubbed his beard and shrugged, but there was tightness to his body language. “Not much to do in there except for drinkin’.”
“And dancing,” you cut in.
Joel glanced at you, and the lazy smirk returned onto his features.
“You like to dance, sweet girl?” he asked, and you felt your face growing hot when you heard his tone. Low, drawling and oh, so delicious.
“If the party is good, yes, I guess so.” Then you remembered what Angie suggested earlier, and you took a shaky breath, mustering all the courage you had in you. “We… if you want, we could dance a little later, if they play something nice…?”
But the hot nerves in your chest turned to cold disappointment when Joel started to shake his head with a chuckle. “Nah, darlin’. Sorry, I don’t… I’m no dancer.”
“Noone here is,” you retorted, a bit hurt by how quick his rejection was. “It’s just for fun.”
“I know better ways to have fun than t’make an idiot of myself in front of bunch of people.”
“Like what?”
Of course, you just had to ask.
Joel smirked, as if he was just waiting for it, and took a step forward, forcing you to take one backwards. His brown eyes bored into yours, making you weak in your knees, and you promptly turned your gaze away, not able to withstand the tension in the air. With a cough, you walked up to the wooden railing, pretending that you weren’t feeling sheepish at all.
“For one, talkin’ here with you is fun enough for me.”
You forced yourself to look at Joel when you heard it, just to see if he’s joking, but the man appeared genuine. He leaned against the rails, his hand right next to your shoulder, and you couldn’t get rid of the thought of how easy it’d be for him to cage you in this spot with his strong arms, how he’d make your entire body tremble…
But you weren’t quite sure yet if he was being sweet or just tried to mess with you, so you decided that a teasing response would be the best course of action.
“I don’t know.” You shrugged lightly. “I’d still like to find someone to dance with tonight.”
At that, Joel’s hand gripped the railing tighter and his body stiffened. You had to hide a triumphant smirk on your face, pleased that you managed to throw him off his game – whatever it was that he was playing.
“One of your friends?” In your peripheral vision you saw him lifting his eyebrows with the faintest of scowls. “Or one of those shady guys sittin’ at the bar, staring at pretty girls like you? ’Cause they’re no good for you, darlin’.”
“Oh, really?” you scoffed and lifted your chin, feeling touched that Joel was acting so protective – (and maybe even… jealous?) – about what you said. “You were the one that didn’t want to dance. What do you know about what’s good for me, anyway?”
“Those guys won’t treat you right. They just want a girl to spend the night with, and you deserve better than that.”
He was right, of course, but it didn’t mean you were going to openly give him his due. You made an acknowledging noise, not really sure what to say, but Joel didn’t seem to mind. He continued in a quiet, raspy voice that sent shivers down your spine. “You deserve someone who’d take real good care of you, darlin’. Not some drunk out of their ass idiot.”
“Are you drunk, Mr Miller?” you asked, not looking at him in fear he’ll see how red his words made you, though you could still see his smirk in the corner of your eye.
“No.”
“You act like you are.”
“C’mon, sugar, look at me.” He took your chin between his fingers and your body went rigid. His warm gaze met yours for just a second, and he tilted his head forward a little. “Do I look drunk?”
“A little.” You turned your head away, but he tsked and guided your chin back.
“In the eyes, darlin’.” You gulped at his words, and his dark, brown irises twinkled in the fairy lights dangling from the roof and walls. “And call me Joel, please.”
His chest was almost touching yours, and you felt the wooden railing digging into your lower back, but at that moment you didn’t mind at all. Joel was so close, and your breath hitched in your throat when you got enveloped in his earthy smell, with a tinge of bonfire and… was that cologne? For some reason the discovery that he used cologne for tonight made your heart flutter.
But as much as you loved every second of being so close to him, you remembered that you weren’t alone on the terrace. There was a pair of people talking – well, now kissing, judging by the sound of it – and your eyes darted to the side to see if they were looking at you both. “Come on, there are people here. It’s not…”
The man clicked his tongue in disapproval and moved slightly closer, now practically pinning you against the railing with his body, and you squealed unwillingly when he, once again, made you look at him.
“Eyes on me.”
And God, if it wasn’t the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen or heard. It was unfair how much power his gaze and tone wielded over you.
“Okay,” you managed to whimper, and the corner of his mouth curled upwards, creating that adorable dimple in his cheek.
“And my name, sugar.”
You didn't know why you were complying so easily, but something about the softness and tenderness in his voice made you feel safe. He wouldn’t hurt you, of that you were absolutely sure.
“Okay, Joel.”
His thumb brushed the edge of your bottom lip with the softest of touches, making your legs almost turn to jelly. It made you want to say his name again, though in a much more needy tone.
“That’s a good girl,” Joel murmured with a smirk, never looking away.
Lord, have mercy.
You were so grateful for the wooden rails behind your back, because you were sure you’d collapse any second now if he kept looking at you like that.
“I… Joel…”
“Tell me if you’re uncomfortable,” he murmured without taking his eyes off of you for even a second. Your brain was mush at this point, but even if you could formulate any words, you doubt you’d ask him to step away. So you settled on shaking your head slightly, to which Joel nodded. “Lemme know immediately if it changes, darlin’.”
How could you be so blind? All you could think about was that Angie was right – there was no way Joel Miller wasn’t flirting with you. Maybe he even liked you. Maybe – just maybe – he wanted to kiss you just as much as you wanted to kiss him.
“Didn’t you wanna… get back to the party?”
You didn’t make any move to get away yourself, however, not wanting him to drop the arm with which he was holding your chin. The material of his shirt was bulging over the lines of his biceps, and it felt really nice to stand so close to him.
“I’m in no rush.” Joel’s voice dipped, and your insides tightened. “You?”
“No, but–”
“Here you are, you ol’ fucker!”
Joel took a step back, and you both turned to see his younger brother walking clumsily through the door with a big, drunken grin on his face. You cleared your throat, still breathless and blushed, but both Millers didn’t pay you any mind anymore.
“Tommy.” Joel’s face was like made out of stone, but his eyes were betraying how irritated he was with the interruption.
“You thought you’d manage to get away, ya old dog?” Tommy hooked an arm around his older brother’s shoulders and finally looked at you to send you a wink. “Sorry, sweetheart, gotta borrow ‘im for a second. He has a date to get to.”
It took you a couple of seconds to register that yes, you heard him right. A heavy veil of hurt and disbelief slowly fell down on you, and your eyes started to prickle as you looked from Tommy to Joel.
“A date?”
He had a date. Why then did he talk and act this way with you, making you feel like you ever had a chance with him?
“C’mon, don’t keep a lady waiting,” Tommy said to Joel instead of answering you, and tugged the other man back inside, but Joel didn’t move. “Who knows, maybe you’ll even get lucky tonight!”
That you couldn’t listen to.
Trying to hide how painful his words were to you, you ducked your head and tried to slip past the brothers, desperate to get out of here. A hand – which felt so achingly familiar now – shot out and grabbed your elbow before you could escape. You lifted your tearful eyes only to meet Joel’s sorrowful ones.
“Darlin’, wait. It’s not…”
“No, it’s okay,” you interrupted him, tearing your gaze away. “I wanted to go to the bathroom, anyway.”
Joel looked like he wanted to say something else, but you couldn’t bear being in his and Tommy’s presence any longer. You slipped out of his grasp, quickly coming back inside and navigating your way to the bathrooms.
He had a date for tonight. And still he flirted with you and touched you so lovingly, and… and almost…
Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! To think you ever had a chance.
You dashed into the bathroom and quickly opened the first free stall you saw, then shut it behind you. There you just slumped against the wall and wrapped your arms around yourself, giving in to the flow of your tears, but trying not to make a sound.
You felt so foolish for letting yourself fall under Joel Miller’s spell, for ignoring that he obviously couldn’t be interested in someone like you.
He probably saw you as a dumb child. No wonder he’d prefer someone else, probably a woman closer to his own age.
But why did he have to be so cruel, to lead you on and hint that…
No, you realized. It was your own damn fault for letting your heart justify his every action towards you.
Almost ten minutes must’ve passed before you got a grip on yourself and decided to go find Angie. You needed to talk to someone, preferably distract yourself from the unpleasant situation you had to experience, and maybe try to salvage the evening somehow. With that in mind you took a couple of breaths, wiped your eyes and then hesitantly exited the bathroom.
You only managed to take a couple of steps, however, before your eyes were drawn to a familiar and beautiful side profile. You wished you didn’t know his face so well, because then you wouldn’t see Joel whispering something to a stunning woman you didn’t know at the far end of the room. She was hanging off his arm, bright eyes and a million-dollars smile directed solely at him. Joel appeared to be looking around, but a few seconds later he put his hand on the small of the woman’s back – just as he did earlier with you – and started walking. Neither of them looked your way before exiting through the front door and leaving the party.
As well as a gaping hole in your heart.
*****
A few minutes later you managed to find Angie. You were a mess at this point, barely able to stop yourself from sobbing. It was truly pathetic.
“I don’t know her name. But I saw them leaving, and she was hanging off his arm and–” you choked on your words and gave a humorless laugh. “God, I’m such an idiot.”
“I’m so sorry, hon.” Angie looked at you sadly. “We can ditch the party if you want. Go to my place and watch some movies,” she suggested gently, but you were already shaking your head.
“No, no. I’m fine, really, I… I think I'll just go home. But you should stay with your girlfriend.” Angie looked like she was about to protest, but you squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I promise I’m okay. I’m just gonna go straight back home and lock myself inside with a bowl of ice-cream. Or go to sleep.”
“I don’t think you should be alone right now.”
“I… I think I need to.” You gave her a weak, sad smile, and stood up. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay? You have fun, I don’t want to ruin your night, too.”
“You’re not ruining anythi–”
“I mean… this. All of this stuff with,” you swallowed heavily, “him.”
Angie still seemed unconvinced, but finally nodded after a while. “Alright. But come and get me if you feel worse.”
“I promise. Love you.”
“Love you, too. Take care of yourself, okay?”
You nodded, then went towards the side exit and out into the snowy night without looking back. You didn’t want to stay here and watch as all those happy couples share sweet kisses at midnight, thus reminding you of your heartbreak.
This time you had your coat on, but it was far too thin for this kind of weather. You wrapped it tighter around yourself and hid your hands in the pockets, starting to make your way home. It was a bit far from the main square, but you needed to get away from the music and laughter of the partygoers as quickly as possible.
Alas, you only managed to walk one street away when out of nowhere, a big hand grabbed your elbow, stopping you in your tracks. “Wait.”
You turned around and took a step backwards at the same time, freeing your arm with a strong tug. The words full of anger were ready to spill out of your mouth, but that was until you saw who stood in front of you with a painful expression.
The last person you expected to see here.
“Joel?” You whispered surprisedly and looked around, but there was no one else nearby. Not that strange woman you saw him with, at least. “What are you doing here?”
“I was lookin’ for you,” he rasped between gasps, like he ran all the way here. “You weren’t at the party.”
“Why were you… What are you doing here?” you repeated more coldly, the sight of him only making your fresh heartache so much more noticeable. “I thought you left.”
“M’so sorry.” Joel’s beautiful dark eyes were full of sadness and weariness. “I would have never left you if I could help it, darlin’.”
He took half a step forward and lifted his hand slightly to graze yours with his icy-cold fingertips. You weren’t wearing any gloves either, so his touch sent a jolt up your arm. You looked down at it, but gently moved your hand away. “I don’t understand. Didn’t you have a… date?”
“No.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes, shaking his head. You avoided his eyes and instead watched as snowflakes landed and melted in his hair. “No, it was Tommy… You saw how drunk he was, and he wanted to set me up, insisted on talking to that girl, but I…”
“You should get back to her, then,” you said dryly, really not having strength to even hide how hurtful his mere presence was. You went past him, hiding your neck in your coat. “I don’t want to keep you from–”
“Darlin’, wait.” Joel grabbed your arm again, though still gently and without any force. “Listen, she was nice, but I told her that I can’t get involved in anythin’, because I…” He faltered slightly when you looked him in the eyes, for the first time since your talk on the terrace. “There is… it’s– fuck.” He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, as if gathering courage. “There is someone else,” he finally spoke, his voice almost trembling, and looked at you again, “that I’m madly in love with. And it’s you.”
Through the open door to the party someone shouted what sounded like the time, but it was all happening in the background of your mind. All you could focus on was Joel, standing so close to you and looking almost scared as he waited for your reaction.
Cold crept up your limbs and up to your cheeks while you tried to digest what the hell you just heard, but as if held by the invisible force of his gaze, you couldn’t move an inch.
“...what?”
“I… really, really like you,” Joel whispered, his dark and sad eyes drilling into your unbelieving ones. “I went to this party just to see you, darlin’. And I’d never chose to spend the evenin’ with anyone else but you. I’m so sorry I left you like that and…”
He then gulped and very slowly lifted his hand to your face, not fully cupping your cheek but hovering just above it. He searched your eyes, but when you didn’t back away, he touched your skin carefully, and an involuntary sigh escaped you as your eyes fluttered closed.
You never thought one could be touched with such care and fondness. No one has ever treated you like that before, like you were made of the most precious glass.
“You can tell me to fuck off,” Joel whispered, and you opened your eyes to find his face a little closer than before. “I just thought that maybe… if you would maybe, too…”
He was getting flustered again, and it was the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen. It must’ve been close to midnight now, because you noticed that the music stopped and the racket inside the building was at its peak, though it was hard to distinguish the words people were shouting when your heartbeat was almost deafening in your ears.
“But I saw you leaving with that woman.” You had to make sure you were on the same page with him before you did something idiotic. Again. “You aren’t…?”
“No,” Joel breathed a quiet chuckle and tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear, while his eyes danced across your face. “It’s only ever been you, darlin’.”
Then he must’ve heard something – his head turned to the side to look at where the party was still going on, before his eyes returned to you, and you felt his thumb swiping your cheek in an oh, so tender manner.
“May I?” he asked in a whisper, so close that his breath skimmed your parted lips. You hoped he was asking about what you thought, but this time wasn’t brave enough to ask and clarify.
So you just nodded.
And Joel leaned in, without any hurry, and kissed you.
It was fitting, you supposed, that only a couple of seconds later the clock chimed midnight, and shrieks of laughter and cheers filled the air while the people still present at the party celebrated loudly. You couldn’t care less, however, because in that moment, your entire world was Joel. His – still cold – hand caressed your scorching cheek, and the other found its place on your hip. The smell of him, the warmth with which his body radiated, and the feeling of his lips, rougher in touch than you’ve imagined, but still soft in movement – all of it together was almost overwhelming.
You parted after a while with blissful sighs, though didn’t move away – Joel still held you close, his forehead pressed to yours, and eyes shut tightly, as if he was in pain. He took a trembling breath when you touched his jaw with your icy fingers.
“Tell me to stop,” he pleaded in a murmur, taking you aback. “Sugar, if you don’t… Please, tell me to stop.”
You shook your head and held onto him tighter before he even finished.
“Please, don’t stop.”
Your lips clashed again, tongues meeting and dancing together, and it was the closest you’ve ever felt to any type of heaven in this cruel, forsaken world. Joel pulled you flush against him and kissed you again, more forcefully this time, tangling his fingers in your hair. You let out an involuntary moan, but his mouth swallowed the sound immediately, not giving you a split second of respite.
“I wanted to do it a year ago,” Joel muttered between the kisses, before he took your face in his hands to look you in the eyes properly. He smiled, that same adorable and boyish smile, when he saw how breathless and flushed you were. “Wanted to kiss you so much, sugar, but,” he obviously fought back a laugh at this point, his eyes crinkling, “you got wasted and puked your guts out just before midnight.”
“Oh my god.” You didn’t know he saw it, particularly the moment when all the alcohol you consumed a year ago refused to stay in your stomach. “I wasn’t– I don’t usually… I got drunk ‘cause I saw Sheryll kissing you on the cheek,” you admitted with embarrassment, feeling your skin growing even hotter. “I thought you and her were together at that point…”
“But why did you get drunk because of it, sweet girl?” Joel mused, brushing his nose against yours and obviously teasing you. You snorted and shook your head.
“You know why.”
“I want to hear it from you.”
You playfully pushed him away lightly, but he tightened his grip around you, not letting you step away.
“You’re an asshole sometimes,” you whispered, making Joel chuckle. “Fine. I really wanted to kiss you, too. Happy?”
He smiled and kissed you again, softly and passionately this time, cradling your cheek in his palm.
“Very,” he whispered against your lips and dragged his nose up to plant a kiss on your forehead. “Very much, baby.”
Your heart fluttered with joy at his affectionate tone. Joel pulled away, his hands leaving your body to cover your own, situated on his jaw and arm.
“Now, what do you say we head back inside?” he asked with a disarming smile, brushing your knuckles with his thumbs. “And maybe you’ll let me ask you for a dance?”
You didn’t give an answer, but the joyous kiss you pressed to his lips – which, with your enthusiasm, almost made both of you topple over into the snow – spoke for itself.
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roosterforme · 11 months
Text
How You Play the Game Part 6 | Rooster x Reader
Summary: You find more comfort in Bradley's home and in his arms than anywhere else. But time is ticking down, and only a win by the Angels on Saturday evening will give you more of both. Bradley tries to make a compelling argument, because he knows it's finally time to start speaking his mind.
Warnings: Swears, fluff, angst, oral and smut (18+)
Length: 7600 words
Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x female reader
Check out my masterlist for more! How You Play the Game masterlist. Banner by @thedroneranger
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You woke with a small jump as soft lips and a bristly mustache met your cheek. "Bradley?" you mumbled as his deep chuckle next to your ear made you shiver. When you started to push the covers off and open your eyes, you felt a hand on your shoulder. 
"I'm leaving for work, but you should stay in bed. You deserve a day off."
Now you were looking up at him standing next to his bed in his khaki uniform with all of his pins and his name tag. And he looked so good, you knew you were staring. It was almost startling seeing him like this when you were so used to all the Padres shirts and snug fitting jeans. Most of the people in his life were probably more used to this look. The Lieutenant Bradshaw look. But it was rendering you speechless. 
"Can I come to work with you today?" you asked him, earning another chuckle. Spending the day at his house doing your laundry, relaxing and eating everything in his refrigerator sounded actually pretty perfect, but you'd just rather be doing all of that with him here, too.
"It's not Take the sports writer you're completely infatuated with to work day."
Now you were the one laughing as you set up in bed and reached for him. "When's that day? I'll make sure I'm off."
He kissed you sweetly as his hand found your hip. "I think it's in April."
You were giggling against his smiling lips when he suddenly groaned. "I need to go. Text me if you need anything? Or if you just want to distract me?"
"I will."
"See ya, Ace."
When you heard the front door open and then close, you rolled over in his bed and buried your face in his pillow. Then you squeezed it to your body. Bradley smelled incredible, especially since you were so used to the sterile bleach scent of hotel bedding and the stale air of ballpark press boxes. You wished you could bottle this up and take it on the road with you. Take a little bit of Bradley wherever you went. 
Before that thought could take further shape, you climbed out of his bed and shivered in just his TOP GUN tee shirt. Since he told you to make yourself comfortable, you allowed yourself to root around in his dresser drawers in search of a pair of socks. Your eyes caught on the frame of his mirror hanging over the dresser, and you smiled at your reflection as you reached up and touched the ticket from game one. It was the media pass he won from the radio program, and you traced the corners of it before you sat on his bed and put on a pair of his comically large socks. 
It was early, but you were hungry, and you found a fully stocked refrigerator when you went to the kitchen. Bradley's home was a treasure trove of things that were normal for other people but not for you: bedding that smelled like heaven and a delicious assortment of fresh food. You pulled out a container of berries and then found oatmeal in his cabinets. Your stomach was growling loudly as you poured yourself some coffee from the pot he left out for you. 
You sat on his living room couch with your breakfast and looked out the window. It was probably always this sunny here, always this inviting. Bradley's cottage was easily five times the size of your apartment, which you rarely thought about beyond it being a place to hold all of your things that didn't really matter. You didn't have time for stuff; just the clothes on your back and your computer. 
When you finished the last bite of oatmeal, you felt tears in your eyes. You were so lonely. You were so tired of forcing yourself to work harder and harder to make up the deficit between yourself and your colleagues. You just wanted to hide here, in San Diego, with Bradley. You felt safe and desirable, and he wasn't yelling at you or telling you that you needed to go to Boston.
You took a deep breath as you went to the kitchen sink with your bowl and mug. There were a few other dishes there, so you washed everything for him and set them out to dry. It had been years since you hadn't done at least a little bit of work on a day off, so you went to get your computer out of his bedroom. But it smelled too good, so you carried your computer back to his bed and snuggled in where you could work on the beginning of your next article before the game tomorrow afternoon. 
Your inbox was completely filled with offers from recruiters with other newspapers and online outlets. You knew some of them would send you a job offer in an instant without even asking you to interview with them. Some of them had even managed to corner you when you were on the job; they knew your schedule as well as you did. You were always sent to the most high profile matches and events. And while some aspects of what they were offering you sounded very enticing, you were already at The New York Times. 
After you took some deep breaths, you deleted all of them and opened up a blank document and got to work. But you didn't get far before you closed your laptop, because writing baseball stats was a lot more fun when you were sitting on Bradley's lap. You decided to text him.
How's work?
Then you remembered he told you that you could check out his collection of baseball cards in the garage. You jumped out of bed and walked down the short hallway, peeking in the extra bedroom on the way. You opened one door, but it was just a linen closet which he actually had organized by color, which you found charming. The next door led you out to the small, attached garage which was also very tidy. You looked at everything on his shelves before you found some boxes that said Nick Bradshaw- Baseball Cards. The marker was very faded on the cardboard, so you slid the first one down very carefully.
When you carried it back inside to the living room, you felt your phone vibrate in your hand. Once you set the box down, you saw that you had a new message from Bradley.
Bradley Bradshaw: Work is not as fun as playing hooky with you. What are you up to, Baby?
You took a selfie with the box of baseball cards which you assumed had belonged to his father. You added the caption 'About to dig through these and swoon all over your living room.'
The collection was impressive to say the least. You didn't collect cards, because you didn't have the time or space for them, but you knew which of his were valuable when you looked through them. You thought about how much fun it would be to organize these a little better with him. Your phone was vibrating again.
Bradley Bradshaw: You look gorgeous. Send me another picture?
You sent him another selfie, and then he asked for another one. This game went on and on until lunchtime when you decided to mess with him a little bit. 
Now send me one, and you'll get something sexy in return.
He didn't respond immediately, and you figured he must be busy. You made a sandwich for lunch and ate it with some potato chips. Then you found his washer and dryer in a little closet across from the bathroom door and started a load of your dirty clothes. And then you got ready to get in the shower. 
Your phone vibrated on the sink vanity, so you grabbed it before you stepped under the spray of hot water. And you almost dropped it when you saw a set of two photos of Bradley out in the bright sunlight in his uniform. In the first one, he was wearing some aviator sunglasses and smirking. In the second one, the sunglasses were gone, and he was smiling. 
"Fuck," you moaned as you looked at the photos, making sure you didn't get your phone wet.
Bradley Bradshaw: Now where's my sexy Ace?
Before you could tell yourself what a big mistake you were making, you snapped a photo of yourself, water cascading down your breasts and a grin on your face. You sent it with the caption 'You look so good in those aviators, I'm about to start touching myself.'
You were standing there thinking about it. Your nipples were hard, and you were thinking about the scratch of Bradley's mustache on your skin. But his next message had your hand pausing before you could touch your clit.
Bradley Bradshaw: Jesus Christ, Baby. How am I supposed to focus when you send me something that good? Don't you dare touch yourself. I want you dialed up to eleven for me when I get home.
And now you were a whimpering mess as you tried to shower without letting yourself get off, wishing you had brought some sexy underwear on this trip with you.
-----------------------------
Well now Bradley was a mess, thinking about your body while he was supposed to be listening to a safety demonstration out on the tarmac. Why had he bothered to come to work today? He should have taken a second day off and spent it with you. 
But you were leaving soon, and that was why he decided to try to keep to his normal routine. And you were exhausted whether you thought so or not, so he wanted you to have time to relax and unwind. 
"Hey," Nat whispered, nudging his arm. "You okay?"
Bradley sighed and nodded, and then he held up his phone with a photo of you with the baseball cards for her to see. Nat pushed him a little further away from the group and hissed, "She's at your house? Are you insane?"
"Nat," he started, running his hand through his hair. "I know-"
"No, I don't think you do, Rooster. You're going to get your heart broken."
He nodded and looked down at their feet. "It's already unavoidable at this point. And she makes me feel so good."
His best friend sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know you're supposed to come to the Hard Deck for Mickey's birthday tonight, right?"
His plan was to bring you along, buy you a few drinks, maybe dance to the horrible collection of songs in the jukebox with you. "Yeah," he replied. "I'll come if she wants to join me, but I don't want you giving her the stink eye all night."
She scoffed. "I'll be perfectly nice to her."
Bradley shook his head, starting to get pissed off. "Will you though? See, the thing is, I'd like to think that I'm not the only one headed for some heartbreak here, Nat. I'd like to think she feels the same way I do. Like maybe I'm too good to be true, too. And maybe spending time with me now is worth the pain later."
Her face softened immediately. "You are, Rooster. You're too good to be fucking true. I promise I'll be nice. At the Hard Deck and next week if you want to talk about it then."
After that, Bradley just left early instead of hanging out on the tarmac with the others. He skipped the showers since he'd barely even done anything today. Then he could get home sooner and see you and just shower there. When he climbed in the Bronco, he texted to let you know he was on his way. And then he sat there with his key hovering next to the ignition. 
You'd be gone by Monday morning. This was the only time he'd ever get to tell you he was on his way home to you. More than anything, he wanted to know if you were falling in love like he was. He wanted to know if there was even a tiny part of you that wanted to stay. 
Ace: Hurry! I'm making dinner. And you should keep those aviators on when you get here... I'm dialed up to eleven.
He shoved the key into the ignition. He was pretty dialed up as well, but he knew it was at least in part because his heart was invested. He lived so close to base, it only took him a few minutes to get home. When he reached to remove his sunglasses and leave them in the cup holder, he smiled. Then he dashed up the walkway to his front door with his keys in hand and his aviators perched on his nose.
You were right there when he walked inside, wearing one of his favorite tropical print shirts and a pair of his socks and a bright smile. His house seemed more inviting than it ever had before. It even smelled like you were making something delicious. And then you were in his arms, and his hands were inside the unbuttoned shirt all over your soft skin.
"I missed you. Been thinking about how good you look in this thing all day long," you moaned, running your hands up and down the front of his uniform shirt. "But the sunglasses make it magical."
"I missed you, too." Bradley kissed you as your hands made their way slowly down to his pants. "You had me dialed up all day and I wasn't even with you." He wanted to ask you so many questions right now, but you were kissing his mustache and bumping his sunglasses with your nose while you wrapped your hand around his cock and started jerking. And then he couldn't remember anything except how happy you made him.
When you sank to your knees in front of him, Bradley yanked his aviators lower on his nose. You were smiling up at him as you yanked his pants down a little lower and licked away the bead of his precum before you kissed his tip. "Why is this so hot with you in your uniform, Lieutenant?"
Bradley groaned loudly as you took a few inches of him with a smirk. "Why is this so hot with you in my shirt and socks?"
You popped him free and giggled. "All my clothes are in your washing machine. Even my underwear."
"I love that for myself," he grunted as you took him deep. With gentle fingers, he stroked your face as you gave him head in his living room. It was like some depraved housewife fantasy, the way you felt so familiar to him. The way he could smell dinner cooking. The way you bobbed your head and moaned for him.
You sucked on his balls and ran your tongue slowly back and forth as you looked up at him. You had one hand wrapped around his length, and you were touching your tits with the other. Your gaze was the neediest thing he had ever seen as he stroked your cheek. Every time you released him, he groaned for you, and then you just started sucking on him again. He could feel himself tightening up as you kissed his balls and whimpered. 
"Fuck," he growled, hauling you to your feet and getting his lips back on yours as you gasped in surprise. "I wanna fuck you."
"Please," you gasped, nodding and looking toward the couch. 
He shook his head and lifted you up with both hands on your bare ass. "In my bed, Ace." 
"That's even better," you whispered, sucking on his neck and raking your fingers through his hair. "Your bedroom smells like you. I love it in there."
"Fuck," he grunted again, his cock slapping against your ass as he carried you to his bed. And then you were on your back with your head on his pillow as he took off his aviators and tossed them down next to you. His shirt was hanging open on you, and his socks looked ridiculously adorable on your feet, and your legs were spread wide, your pussy already so wet for him. "You are the hottest thing I have ever seen," he announced before burying his face in your pussy and making you scream his name. 
"Bradley!" you screeched and gasped over and over again as he got his face all wet from you before bringing his lips up to yours for a kiss. His uniform pins were brushing against your breasts and you were grinding your pussy against his cock. 
"Shit," he gasped, pulling your lip between his teeth and releasing it. "Where are the condoms?"
"In my suitcase in the hallway," you whimpered. "Skip it if you want. I have an IUD."
And if Bradley thought he was losing his mind ten seconds ago, it was nothing compared to letting himself slip inside your warm, wet pussy with no protection at all. "Ace," he rasped, watching your face as he pushed himself deeper until your back arched off the bed. He fucked you with his hands on your hips until your legs were shaking. You had your hands all over his face, continuously pulling him in for kisses. 
"You feel so good," you gasped, running your feet along his thighs.
He pressed his lips to your ear and asked, "Are you getting close for me?"
"Yes," you moaned, reaching for his hand and drawing it up to your lips. You sucked on his fingers for a few seconds, taking him painfully close to the edge, and then you pressed his fingers to your clit. 
He worked in quick strokes, listening to the sounds you made as you got louder. When you pulled him closer for more kisses, he indulged you before he said, "I wanna watch you come for me, Baby."
And then you did. You came apart with his fingers on your body and his name on your lips. Your face was beautiful as you gasped and babbled nonsense as your pussy drained every drop of cum from him. You were perfect as you reached for him and said, "Now you better kiss me."
You and he had your lips all over each other for so long after you both caught your breath that he was surprised and delighted all over again when he started to pull out of you and remembered he came inside you.
"You're blushing," you whispered as you looked up at him on his knees between your legs.
His cum was slowly oozing out of your opening and dripping down to your ass. "Baby, if you could see what I see, you'd understand." He was transfixed. Obsessed. He leaned down to kiss your pussy and taste himself there, licking along your skin with a soft grunt. 
You propped yourself up on your elbow and tugged him by his hair, and he just knew you wanted to taste it, too. So he kissed you, letting you suck on his tongue. Then he jerked away from you and turned toward the door.
"Is something burning?"
-----------------------------
"Fuck, I'm sorry," Bradley said for the hundredth time as you sat on his couch with him eating pizza. "This isn't as good as yours would have been."
You just laughed. "Seriously, this is probably better. I'm not great at cooking. I was just trying to impress you."
Why exactly, you weren't sure. What difference did it make to Bradley if you could cook a chicken casserole that was good or not? He wasn't yours to impress. You weren't going to be here past Sunday night at the very latest, and that was only if the Angels won game six tomorrow. 
"I'm impressed," he replied, his cheeks a little pink again.
"Yeah," you said, trying to push your feelings to the back burner. "I could tell how impressed you were with me in your bedroom."
"That's not what I meant," he said, looking down at his lap with a frown that made your heart ache. You tossed your pizza crust into the box and climbed on his lap. You and he had taken a quick shower together after he called in a pizza order, and now you were both in your own clothing. 
You kissed him and tried to change the subject. "What time are we leaving for the bar?" you asked. 
When he met your eyes again, he said, "We can go whenever. And we don't have to stay long. Just long enough to say happy birthday to my friend and have a drink?"
You could hardly believe he wanted to take you with him. His friends would want details about who you were and why you were together, so you would just follow his lead. 
It was a short drive in his cool Bronco to the bar, and he sang along to the radio and held your fingers laced with his the whole way. And then he paraded you inside with him like it was the most natural thing the two of you could be doing. "That's Mickey, the birthday boy wearing the blue Captain America shirt. And that's my best friend Natasha wearing the annoyed expression because someone is talking to her."
You laughed, and he leaned down to kiss you as you walked toward the pool table. As you walked past the bar to meet everyone, you noticed the bartender's gaze following you and Bradley as you went. Her expression was one of curiosity as she mixed a drink. 
"Ace, this is Nat," Bradley was saying, and you turned in time to grasp hands with the woman that he referred to as a 'mean little spitfire'. 
"It's nice to meet you," Natasha replied. She didn't look happy exactly, but she didn't look like she was upset that you were here. "I've heard a lot about you."
You looked up at Bradley, a little surprised. "Oh. I've heard a lot about you, too. Bradley said you're smarter than all the guys."
She nodded and smiled. "Yes. Yes, I am. Thanks for acknowledging it, Rooster. You two want drinks?" she asked. 
"Go ahead," Bradley replied. "We'll get some in a minute."
"Hey, Rooster!" Mickey shouted as he waved in between taking shots. 
You laughed. "I don't know if I'd ever get used to everyone using your call sign," you told him. "It's so amusing to me."
Then Bradley wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you in closer. He kissed your forehead softly, but he looked serious. "If you stick around in San Diego, I bet you'd get used to it, Ace."
You swallowed hard as you looked up into his brown eyes. You could tell he was being sincere, which made everything hurt a little more. But you were saved by the group of guys all calling for him. Bradley sighed and kissed your forehead one more time before you and he were absorbed by the group. 
A few minutes later, your head was swirling with names and faces when Bradley asked, "Do you want me to get you a drink?"
"I'll come with you," you told him, and he nodded before taking your hand a little hesitantly. You were confused, because then he wrapped his arm around you just like he always did, and his fingers were softly stroking your side through your shirt. But then when the bartender turned your way, it clicked. She and Bradley had slept together before. You could just tell. 
"Hey, Bradley," she said, already reaching for a pint glass and pouring what must have been his usual beer. The way she looked at him and talked to him was just a tiny bit too familiar. 
"Hey," he grunted before turning your way. "What do you want to drink, Baby?"
You met the bartender's eyes and couldn't help but smile as Bradley brushed his lips along your temple. You weren't his, but he was choosing you right now. And it felt incredible. "I'll have the same thing," you told her before turning your face so he could kiss your lips. 
Bradley dug out his wallet without really looking at her, and she ran his credit card as you sipped your beer. He wasn't being a jerk, and she didn't seem overly jealous, but you just knew they had a past. 
Then the two of you threw some darts and played some pool, and Bradley was more than happy to point out that mini golf was probably your worst game. "Happy to see you can handle a pool cue better than a putter," he whispered with a grin.
"Be nice, or I'll leave my golf ball behind at your place," you replied. 
He looked a little sad as he shook his head. "I want you to keep that." You knew you would, and he knew you would. You could picture the perfect spot for it in your apartment, but you already knew it would never make it there. You'd keep packing that stupid blue golf ball from your date with him in your luggage and take it everywhere with you. 
"Can we go now?" he asked suddenly, his face a little sad. "Back to my place?"
"Yeah," you agreed, and after a round of goodbyes, he led you back past the bar with his arm around you. The bartender tracked your movements, but you didn't care. He was yours right now, the way he was touching you. 
And he was yours when you got back to his house, the way you were touching him. "Ace," he sighed as you rode him in his bed. His body was delicious, but his voice was what had you a mess. "Baby, you're so good. Can't get enough of those little noises. Keep going." The feel of him once again inside you without a condom as he verbally coaxed you to orgasm was only part of what you knew you were going to miss. 
Because the rest of it came next, when he was curled up with you in the dark, quiet room, his arm draped around you, pulling you close. The only sounds were his breath next to your ear and his deep whisper. "Night, Baby."
-----------------------
"Stay in bed," Bradley whispered again. It was Saturday. Game six was this evening, and he was trying his hardest to draw you back to him again. He had successfully made you snuggle in and fall asleep with him again after the first time you woke up.
"You'll mess up my sleep cycle for when I'm in Boston," you murmured before you snuggled against him with the covers pulled up to your chin. "But you're so warm."
Bradley indulged in a brief fantasy where you would fly out to Boston, complete your assignment, and then fly back to San Diego to be with him until you had to go somewhere else. And you'd be here when he got home from a long deployment. Ready to take him to bed and hold him just like this.
"What are you thinking about?" you asked as you ran your nails along his cheek and kissed his nose.
He couldn't tell you, no matter how much he wanted to. "Thinking about how I'm still the worst Padres fan ever. The Angels better win today. We deserve seven games, Ace."
"We do," you agreed, and Bradley was delighted that you fell asleep in his arms again. 
When you and he finally got out of bed, you went to his dresser and pulled on one of his tee shirts like this was a normal occurrence. "Will you let me make you breakfast?" you asked with a smile.
"I was going to make breakfast for you," he replied, patting your ass on his way to the bathroom. "But we could make something together."
You were already in the kitchen, kneeling on the countertop and looking in his cabinets when he came out of the bathroom. "Do you have chocolate chips?" you asked. "We can make chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, maybe some oatmeal. Sorry, I'm just so excited for something other than a free continental breakfast."
He wrapped his hands around your waist and lifted you down as you squeaked. "Not up there," he whispered, kissing your neck as he set you on the floor. "In the pantry."
You turned and scampered across the kitchen, and now Bradley was sincerely hoping he had all the ingredients you'd need for pancakes just so he could make you happy right now. "Found them!" you announced, holding up a bag with a smile that made him weak. 
"Let's get started." 
It was too much fun being with you. The pancakes you made turned out beautifully, and you and he ate on his couch again. This time he accidentally dripped maple syrup on his bare abs since he wasn't wearing a shirt. "I feel like you did that on purpose so I'd either buy you another shirt or lick it off of you."
He smirked. "I mean, I wouldn't be mad if you did."
You sighed dramatically as you set your plate on the coffee table next to the box of baseball cards. "Fine. Extra large shirt? You want the Padres this time?" Bradley laughed at your words, and then you leaned down and licked him clean as you looked up at him. Then you climbed into his lap and kissed him. 
"The Angels better win tonight," he murmured against your lips. "I need them to."
"Do you want to go back to bed?" you asked, and he carried you there, expecting maybe some more tongue exploration. But what he got was you curling up in his arms again, your lips pressed to his chest. You were quiet for a bit before you asked him softly, "What would it be like being in a relationship with you?"
This was an echo of his question from Thursday night, and now he could appreciate that he had really put you on the spot then. How could he describe something spectacular that he wasn't going to get to experience with you, in a way that would make you remember him fondly. Bradley made sure his breathing was calm and even as he said, "Probably just like this, Ace. A whole lot of this right here."
You didn't say anything for a long time, and you kept your face buried against him. But eventually you nodded and said, "I would like that."
-------------------------
When Bradley held your hand during the game at Petco Park, everything seemed a bit more somber today. The press box was quieter than usual even though the crowd was going crazy. During the seventh inning stretch, when you leaned in close and kissed his cheek, Quincy turned around and asked, "You bring him to every game now?" as he nodded at Bradley. 
"He's my intern and my sex slave, Quince. And that's strictly on the record." 
But Quincy was undeterred today even as you and Bradley laughed quietly together. "Heard Greg was thinking about pulling you out of here early to send you to the Bruins? He only pays you so much because you're useful to him. Being a woman and all."
Bradley watched your head snap to face Quincy with a look of barely concealed rage. "Try not to cry too hard over the fact that I make more money than you even though you're twice my age." 
Quincy grunted and muttered, "Same old, same old with you. Always gotta be on top. Always gotta get the last word in."
Bradley watched you press your lips together like you were trying your hardest to not have the last word right now. It was obvious that wasn't why you made it as far as you had. It was also obvious Quincy was trying to bait you. Bradley just felt a little bit bad that he could be used as ammunition against you. "You want something to drink, Ace?"
When you nodded, Bradley stood and went to get you a water bottle. "Thanks," you muttered, looking down at your keyboard as he handed it to you. 
"Hey, don't let these assholes get to you," he whispered as he slipped back down into his seat. 
He was drawing little shapes along your back with his fingers as you looked up at him in surprise. "I don't fucking care about Quincy.... the Padres are up three to zip." You laughed sardonically. "You know I'll have to leave in the morning if they win, right?" you asked him.
Bradley nodded. He couldn't even say the words out loud. So he focused on the game and held your hand tight. The Padres were using their relief pitcher a little early, and he looked fatigued. His pitches were wild, and he was walking batter after batter. Then right at the top of the eight inning, Bradley heard the crack of a perfectly hit ball. 
"That's a grand slam," you whispered before the ball was even beyond the fence. Instead of marking it down on your stat sheet, you tossed your pencil aside and kissed him. "Angels up by one run," you said against his lips. 
"They need to hold the lead," he replied, letting his forehead rest against yours. "They need to. I don't care who wins the World Series, but they need to do it in game seven, not game six."
His words made you smile so much, he wrapped his arm around you to keep you as close as he could. And when the final score was the Padres with three runs and the Angels with four, you were practically on his lap. You were even smiling when Greg called you a minute later to tell you to get to Boston first thing on Monday morning after game seven on Sunday night. 
"I'll have to book my flight," you said to Bradley as everyone started to flood out of the press box ahead of the crowd. "But we have two more nights together instead of just one."
You and he were quiet after that, your fingers laced together as you walked out to the parking lot and rode back to his house. He didn't feel like he needed to rush right now as he unlocked his front door and followed you inside. You pulled him in for a kiss that was so sweet, he was surprised. Just your arms around his neck and your lips moving gently on his. 
"We have some time before my midnight deadline. Can we get changed and snuggle in bed like earlier?" you asked him, your eyes closed as your lips hovered near his. "I want to change into your Padres jersey."
Bradley had goosebumps on his skin as he whispered, "It's your Padres jersey now." 
You looked so damn pleased with yourself as you ran toward his bedroom, shedding your clothes on the way. Bradley undressed down to his underwear while you did the same and then slipped his jersey on before heading for his dresser. "Your floor's cold," you mumbled as you grabbed a pair of his socks and put them on before jumping into his bed. "And now I look ridiculous."
Bradley shook his head as he stared at you. He'd been holding back enough, and he just didn't want to do it anymore. "Nah, Ace, you look... like everything I want." 
"Bradley," you whispered, pulling his blanket up over your face. "You can't."
He slipped in bed and burrowed under the blanket with you. Your eyes were bright as you looked at him in the dim bit of light. "I can't help it," he replied, and you eased yourself into his arms. "There's nobody like you. You're the Ace for a reason."
"God," you whimpered, kissing his lips and his cheeks, and teasing your fingers through his hair. Your palms were warm on his cheeks as you traced every single scar and the curve of his lips. You ran your nose along his mustache, and you just snuggled closer and closer to him. "I can't think straight when I'm with you. It's like, I feel like I could..."
"Like you could what, Baby?" he begged. He needed you to finish that sentence, but you didn't. You just kissed him until you were the one begging and pleading. It was so easy to give you what you wanted right now, because he wanted it, too. He yanked his underwear down and pulled yours to the side, and when he slipped inside you, he watched you pull the blankets down. And now he could see you a little better, and you really were exactly what he wanted. 
It was slow and sweet, and he knew he'd never feel this good with anyone else. He didn't want to let you go. He held your thigh on his hip and rocked into you, thrusting as he thought 'stay, stay, stay'.
"Bradley," you moaned, pushing him onto his back and riding him until you came. He was afraid he was saying exactly what he was thinking now as words like need and permanent surfaced in his mind while he babbled. You told him to cum inside you again, so he did. And when you curled up on his chest, he kissed the top of your head. 
Your lips were on his neck as you silently ran your fingers through his hair. "Ace," he whispered, but you just shook your head. So he pressed his lips together and rubbed his hands up underneath the jersey, and you shivered against him. 
A few minutes later, when he was nearly soothed to sleep with his cock still nestled inside you, Bradley felt your body jerk. "Oh no. What time is it?" you gasped. You climbed off of him abruptly, a look of panic on your face as you searched for your phone. "Fuck!" 
Bradley climbed out of bed as you fumbled your phone and ran for your computer which was charging on his chair. His cum was on his abs and your legs, but you didn't stop to get cleaned up before you ran for his kitchen table. "What can I do to help?" he asked as he followed you.
"Nothing," you snapped, booting up your computer. It was almost 11:30, and Bradley wasn't sure exactly how much you'd written before and during the game; he had been too concerned about the Angels winning tonight. 
He got you some water and whispered, "I can help you proofread it," but you didn't respond. You just typed away frantically while he hovered around the living room, glancing in your direction constantly. Your brow was creased in frustrated determination, and Bradley felt like an asshole for not suggesting that you or he set an alarm before climbing in bed. Because he could absolutely lose all track of time when he was with you, whether you and he were fucking, talking or cuddling. And he knew it.
When he looked at the clock on the microwave, he winced. It was nearly midnight, and you were still typing and looking at your stat sheet. "Anything I can do?" he asked again, but you just shook your head, so he went to the bathroom. He got himself cleaned up and then just leaned on the sink vanity with his head cradled in his hands. 
Fuck. The last thing he wanted was for you to feel any stress when you were with him. He felt like an idiot. When he finally returned to the table, the clock said 12:01 and you were still typing. He was waiting for your phone to ring. Greg would be calling you to start screaming any second now. And he had to stand there and watch it all unfold. You submitted your article at 12:07, and you looked up at him with sad yet determined eyes before you answered your ringing phone. 
"Greg," you said, your voice sounding strong and sure even though your face was defeated. And then Greg was hollering nonstop as you held the phone a few inches away from your ear. Bradley hated it so much. He leaned down to kiss your forehead and then your cheek while Greg reminded you not too kindly that you missed your deadline by seven minutes. Then Bradley cupped your face in his hands and held eye contact with you while you told Greg it wouldn't happen again before you ended the call. 
The silence was almost deafening as you held your phone and looked up at him. Bradley swallowed hard, but his voice was still a harsh whisper as he said, "I hate it when he yells at you."
You shook your head and grimaced as tears filled your eyes. "Well, I missed my deadline, so he had every right to-"
"No," Bradley said, dropping to his knees in front of you on his kitchen floor. "He doesn't, Ace. He shouldn't do that. It's just seven minutes."
"But it's a deadline for a reason," you supplied immediately, looking down into his face. "One minute is the same as seven is the same as sixty. It shouldn't happen at all."
Bradley scoffed. "So he sits up until three in the morning in New York just to call you and scream? That's fucked up."
You swiped at your eyes as you whispered, "I let myself get distracted by you. This is my fault. But when I'm with you, I can't think straight. Which is bad."
"Ace," he whispered helplessly as you cried. "But if we were together-"
"We can't be together," you told him. Your voice was soft and sorrowful, but it felt like a gunshot to Bradley. His ears were ringing from the sound of it. He could tell you were stubborn, but right now, he felt stubborn, too. It wasn't very often that he allowed himself to want something, and never on the scale of how badly he wanted you, but he thought right now it would be worth fighting for this.
"I've seen your email inbox," he whispered, and your eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't need Greg or the New York Times to be successful, Ace. You bring everything to the table, and clearly other people see that."
"Bradley," you said, shaking your head sadly. "It's the New York Times. The pinnacle. There's nowhere else for me to go that wouldn't be a step backwards in my career, and that's a fact. My job is important to me. Writing is important to me."
"But you're more than who you write for-"
You cut him off as you raised your voice. "You knew immediately who I was when you saw my name, because I work for The Times!"
Bradley buried his face against your thigh as he tried to will his heart to stop pounding so hard he could barely hear. He kissed you there before he looked up at you again in agony. "People would follow your writing anywhere, because you're that fucking good. Have you ever thought about writing for someone else?"
You swiped at your eyes as you whispered, "No." "Baby, you could make a big name for yourself on an independent platform. Your style is fun and it flows. You can find something better for yourself than the New York Times. This doesn't have to be that hard."
"It's not that easy either. I told you how it would be, Bradley," you said, your voice taking on a pleading tone. "You would hate it when I was away for long stretches. You would want someone else. Someone easy to be with. Someone who was always in San Diego."
"That's a fucking lie," he growled. "And you know it."
You were silent for a minute as your eyes settled on your lap. "New York is my home. I'm settled there. And you're settled here."
He felt sick. The words had too much finality. But you were waiting for him to confirm, and the last thing he ever wanted to do was let you down. "Yeah. I am." Then he realized he was crying as well when he reached up to cup your cheek again. You melted into his touch before you slid off the chair and onto his lap on the floor. "Ace. Look at you," he whispered, and you met his eyes as your lip quivered. "You're perfect. The perfect woman. I want to be with you. And I think you want to be with me, too."
You wrapped your arms around his neck, and he held you while you cried. "I'm sorry, Bradley," you murmured against his shoulder. 
He knew you were scared to even think that something might be a better fit for you, and maybe he was wrong. Maybe it would be career suicide if you left your job. He didn't know a damn thing about it really. All he knew was everyone wanted you with them. Including him. It was hard for him to breathe as he asked, "What do you have in New York that you couldn't have in San Diego? Here. With me."
But you didn't answer him. You just stayed curled up on his lap until after one in the morning with your arms wrapped around him and his securely at your back. He tried his best to memorize how good and yet terrible this felt, because in a few days, he knew he'd probably give anything to feel you in his arms. 
When you finally eased away from him and kissed his lips, you tried to smile as you said, "Let's just enjoy our last day together."
Bradley closed his eyes against the pain. "Sure, Ace."
--------------------------
All I feel right now is pain. I miss feeling joy. The final game is next. Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls
PART 7
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try-set-me-on-fire · 4 months
Text
Tagged by @eddiebabygirldiaz for seven sentence Sunday! Here’s uhhhhh more than that from a buddietommy vacation threesome fic-
The day is hot enough that Buck is curled up like a bug on the dock between them. He’d stayed in the water longer than Tommy or Eddie had, and had swum out further than either of them, so when he’d crawled back up onto the old wood planks he’d chugged an entire water bottle and promptly passed out. Eddie glances down at his bare torso, just starting to get a little pink.
“Should probably get sunscreen on him again.”
Tommy snorts as he leans backwards, stretching out to grab the spray can. “And you’re worried you’ve forgotten how to be a dad.”
“Fuck off,” Eddie says as Buck, still asleep, makes a similar sound when Tommy mists him all over with cold sunscreen. “It’s been months, man, that’s so long for a kid, who knows what he’s even into now-”
“Minecraft, right?” Tommy says as he smooths his hand over a few places the sunscreen pooled on his boyfriend’s back. “Wasn’t he on a video call with you and Buck about it for like three hours on Friday? Something about- uh- command blocks?”
Eddie is mildly impressed Tommy remembers the word — maybe — because he certainly doesn’t. Buck had only been slightly better at following along than he had as they’d squinted at the probably impressive pixels on the laptop screen. “I don’t know, I just feel like…” Every morning, still, he wakes up and thinks he needs to get Chris’ breakfast started. Whole parts of his being are wired around taking care of his kid, but since he’s been gone Eddie has been trying — in fits and starts and most of the time guiltily — to figure out what the rest of him is for. It’s part of what got him into the whole mess in the first place, chasing after the dreams of a 19 year old who got those dreams from his parents. A nice wife (but they never liked her, did they) and a good job (but firefighting is too dangerous, isn’t it) and a picket fence (one closer to home, Eddie, you’ve gone too far away.) So he owed it to Chris, owed it to himself, to figure out what the fuck he actually wants, so he doesn’t keep twisting himself into knots and taking out everyone around him when the line breaks. He’s not sure he’s any closer to whatever that is — other than it’s unlikely to include a wife of any kind — but in the time he’s taken trying, what if other things got lost in the upheaval? “I keep thinking I’ll just- not remember to do something. Forget how field trip permissions slips work, or not know what shoe size he wears, or- I don’t know. Anything. I won’t pack his lunch and it won’t be the end of the world but he’ll be hungry that day.”
Tommy leans back on his palms and looks across at him, quiet and thoughtful for a few moments in that way he has, like he’s thinking through every possible response before he speaks. He is, maybe; he’d confessed to Eddie that he’d spoken too quickly when he was younger, is embarrassed about a lot of the dumb shit he’d said, so he tries to take his time with his words now. “Eddie. You took us up here this weekend to check and make sure this place is accessible to take your kid to this summer. And- I get that’s a big thing, a big gesture, and maybe you’re worried about messing up the small stuff, but… You’ve still got his favorite kind of jelly in the fridge that nobody else eats. You love him, and he knows that. You’re gonna do fine.” He shrugs. “And he’s almost fourteen, if you forget to hand him lunch he’s gonna let you know.”
Eddie huffs a small laugh. “Yeah, I guess he will.” He groans a little, shaking his head. “Fourteen years old, that’s fucking crazy. I don’t feel old enough for that to be true.”
Tommy rolls his neck so it audibly cracks. “Yeah, yeah, you whippersnapper.”
Eddie grins at him. “You feeling the exercise, old man? Need to go lay down?” He cackles and leans away as Tommy grabs the can and sprays a burst of sunscreen at him.
Between them Buck grunts at the commotion, and rolls towards Eddie. He presses his face into the meat of his bare side above his trunks, and wraps his long arms around his torso. Eddie glances up at Tommy, who just looks fondly amused. “Uh. Wrong guy, there, bud.”
Buck stills, and then pulls back a little to squint up at him. Eddie’s not particularly ticklish, but something like goosebump are shivering across the skin of his stomach where Buck’s forearm rests against him. He has to actively try not to shudder as Buck pulls back and rolls the other way, Eddie watching hypnotized as he gives Tommy the same treatment. Buck presses a little kiss onto Tommy’s hip, in the spot he had just been cuddled into on Eddie, and Eddie’s mouth goes dry.
Tommy lets out a little breath, and Eddie doesn’t think he’ll be able to use the sun as an excuse for how pink he’s gotten as his eyes snap up to the other man’s face. Except- he’d been expecting a raised eyebrow, a flat mouth, some visual indicator of disapproval, that this is one step Buckandeddie too far, that all the rest of their codependent lives have been fine, a platonic kind of care built over years of being there for each other through the worst of the worst, but now the uncomfortable answer to what Eddie wants, the uncomfortable answer he’s been trying to avoid because it's something he cannot have, has been found out and the messy insides of him will have once again ruined something good. But what he finds is a tiny little smile and heavy eyes that-
Well, they don’t look disapproving in the slightest.
“You guys hungry?” Buck mutters, words muffled by Tommy’s skin. “We should go start the grill.”
Tommy’s little smile gets wide and lazy, eyes still stuck on Eddie. “I could eat,” he says.
Tagging @iinryer @shitouttabuck @butchdiaz @chronicowboy @homerforsure @rewritetheending @bigfootsmom if you have anything you want to share!
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summer-of-bad-batch · 4 months
Text
SUMMER OF BAD BATCH 2024 HAS COME TO AN END…TUNE IN NEXT YEAR FOR SUMMER OF BAD BATCH 2025!!
2024 Participants, Completionists & Overachievers!
SUMMER OF BAD BATCH 2024: POST CREDITS (Ao3 Collection)
EVENT BADGES
PARTICIPANT FORM
☀️GENERAL INFORMATION BELOW THE CUT☀️
Bad Batch Would You Rather Game Suggestions
FREE EVENT BANNERS AND DIVIDERS
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Summer of Bad Batch 2024 Prompt List
***Fill prompts all summer! No deadlines! See below cut for more details 😎***
200 Followers Celebration Bonus Prompt:
Bonus Alternate Prompt: "Can you braid my hair?"
300 Followers Celebration Bonus Prompt:
Bonus Alternate Prompt: Light in the Darkness
Week 1
Main Prompt: Water Gun Fight
Alt. Prompt: “It’s not what you think.”
Week 2
Main Prompt: Injured
Alt. Prompt: Comfort Zone
Week 3
Main Prompt: “It’s just a scratch.”
Alt. Prompt: “Forget I asked.”
Week 4
Main Prompt: Cadets
Alt. Prompt: "You really think you're going without me? Not going to happen."
Week 5
Main Prompt: “You’re a bad liar.”
Alt. Prompt: “Need a hand?”
Week 6
Main Prompt: Battle Scars
Alt. Prompt: “Get out of my room!”
Week 7
Main Prompt: “Don’t avoid the question.”
Alt. Prompt: Getting a Haircut
Week 8
Main Prompt: Swimming Lessons
Alt. Prompt: Lula
Week of 9
Main Prompt: “Hold still.”
Alt. Prompt: Stargazing
Week 10
Main Prompt: Hugs
Alt. Prompt: “Just when were you planning on telling us that?”
Week 11
Main Prompt: “I didn’t think I would get this far.”
Alt. Prompt: “Yeah, kid, we’re fine.”
Week 12
Main Prompt: Nightmares
Alt. Prompt: Radio Silence
Week 13
Main Prompt: “Stop touching me!” // “I’m not touching you!”
Alt. Prompt: Crashing Hard
🥳🥳That’s the end of the Summer of Bad Batch 2024 prompt list…feel free to use all prompts and tags forever and ever🥳🥳
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You can find the Ao3 collection HERE!
And I know that sometimes, it can be a pain to figure out how to add to collections (please tell me I'm not the ONLY one who has struggled with this 😭), so here's a step by step!
STEP ONE: Post a New Work OR Edit an existing work.
STEP TWO: Under the Associations category, you’ll see “Post to Collections / Challenges”
STEP THREE: Type summerofbadbatch2024 (no spaces)
STEP FOUR: This is where it gets tricky...the collection may or may not auto populate. If it doesn't, that's okay. Just leave summerofbadbatch2024 in there as is, and save the post (you can even save it as a draft and see if it worked!) It should add it to the collection even if it didn't auto populate 🤓
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Q: What is Summer of Bad Batch??
A: Summer of Bad Batch is a laidback, summer prompt challenge from June 1st-August 31st. Every Sunday (12am CST), a prompt and alternative prompt will be released to inspire creativity in the Star Wars: The Bad Batch fandom! By filling prompts by August 31st, you can qualify as a:
Participant (completed 1-12 prompts)
Completionist (completed 13+ prompts)
Overachiever (completed 13 main prompts + the 13 alternative prompts)
At the end of the challenge, there will be a form for participants to fill out to let me know what category of completion they fall into. A post will be made for each category giving a shoutout and (if you’d like) a link to your Master List of completed prompt fills.
Q: What can I do to fill a prompt?
A: Anything you want! Fanfic, fan art, drabbles, doodles, cartoons, poetry...the possibilities are endless! The only real criteria is that it has to be based on Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Q: Will you reblog prompt fills?
A: Yes! However, since I am keeping this blog PG, I will only reblog prompt fills that fit within that criteria. Basically, if it could be in the literal show itself, it could be reblogged here ☺️
(That said, I won’t reblog any clone x clone content simply because it is one of my main squicks 😅)
Also, make sure you tag your prompt fills! That's the only way I'll be able to find them in the wide world of Tumblr! So, tag your prompt fills with #summerofbadbatch2024 so I (and anyone else who is looking for Summer of Bad Batch goodness!) can find your posts!
(And everything is welcome on the Ao3 Summer of Bad Batch 2024 Collection — so make sure to add to it if you’re on Ao3!)
Q: When will prompts be released?
A: Every Sunday (with the exception of Week 1, which will have a special release date of Saturday, June 1st) at 12am CST.
Q: What if I don’t understand a prompt?
A: Send me a message or an ask! I’d be happy to help!
Q: What if I don’t like the weekly prompt?
A: Every week will have an alternate prompt available! And alternate prompts can be swapped out for any main prompt, regardless of which week!
Q: Where can I post my prompt fills?
A: Anywhere you'd like! Personally, I'm only on Ao3 and Tumblr...but I know that this fandom is literally all over the internet, so wherever you feel comfortable posting, do it!!
Q: What if I don't finish filling the prompt within the week?
A: One of my favorite parts of this prompt challenge is that there are no deadlines! If you want to be a Completionist or an Overachiever, you just have to have the prompts complete by August 31st!
Finished week 2 during week 5? Great!
Finished weeks 1-13 during week 13?? 😅 That works!
Q: Do I have to post/publish my prompt fills to be considered a participant/completionist/overachiever?
A: Nope! I know not to everyone feels comfortable sharing their work, and that’s totally fine!
You don’t have to post/publish a single thing to qualify. At the end of the challenge, I’ll link a form for anyone who participated to fill out. This is all based on the honor system…so if you say you completed “such and such”…I’ll take your word for it 😊 If you want, you can still be given a shout out for whatever level of participation you said you completed. Just let me know!
Q: Can I combine prompts?
A: Yes! Mash up those prompts and make a custom, super prompt if your heart so desires!
Q: But can I combine prompts with other challenges?
A: Absolutely! If the other challenge allows it, feel free to combine Summer of Bad Batch as you see fit ✨
Q: Can I apply prompts to works I've already completed/posted?
A: Prompts should not be applied to already completed works.
But if you have a WIP that's been gathering dust that would fit the occasion, that would be fine!
Have a story that you're adding chapters to? You can apply prompts to new chapters! That's fine too!
Q: Will there be a complete prompt list available?
A: Not until after the event, since prompts will be posted weekly 😘
Q: Can I use the prompts even after the event has ended?
A: Absolutely!
You didn’t find your question here?? Send me an ask, I’d be happy to help!
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causeilikelix · 4 months
Text
Rose Garden - Part Two
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↳Pairing: Prince!Lee Know x Maid!afab reader
↳Words: 12,500~ (oops)
↳Warnings: SMUT obviously so as always minors DNI, unprotected sex (don't do this! but its not like these two had any other choice), p in v sex, oral (m and f receiving), fingering (f receiving), creampie, overall very vanilla stuff. Mentions of nausea but no one does on-screen. (For someone with emetophobia, I write about nausea a lot). Pregnancy scare?, ANGST
If there's anything else I missed, let me know!
TAGLIST: @ohmy-moonlightx , @junebug032 , @giyusatorou , @skzfelixlove , @kittkat44 , @nap-of-a-starr, @ventitto , @blankdyean , @lethallyprotected , @poisonivy21 , @nobody3210 , @chuuswifereal , @hisokasimp1, @lookitsjess
(Strikethrough means unable to tag, if I forgot someone or would like to be added then please let me know!)
↳Notes: I finished this first week of May then got taken out by a mystery illness for basically the whole month (respiratory infection I think). Anyway, today is my 27th birthday so I am giving all of you a gift!
PART ONE
↳Ready on my AO3: Here
“CAN’T YOU BE more gentle?” You groaned as your ribcage tightened.  With every tug of the laces on that infernal corset, your ribs condensed and your breasts swelled.  You could have sworn that a seamstress could thread you through a needle at this rate.  You often wore a corset of your own to work, but it was more for general support than to actually suck you into the point of suffocation.  The whale bone threaded through the offensive garment assured you that once you were in, nothing would move.
“That’s how this works, Y/N.  You should know, you entrap me in my corset every morning.”  Joy muttered through gritted teeth.  Her fingers worked on the laces to make sure they were perfectly snug and not going anywhere.  “It’s not so bad once you get used to it.”
“I can hardly breathe.”  You gasped out.
“Maybe so but you will be the picture of perfection.  This dress is going to look amazing on you.”  Joy promised. 
Your eyes darted to the dress laid out on the bed.  For the day, the queen had assigned guest quarters to every visiting lady with the invitation to spend the night if it fit in the travel plans.  Joy, of course, had jumped at the opportunity for a night away from home.  Especially if that night was to be spent dancing away at the palace.  That meant the pair of you had a private bedroom that could be used to change your identity.  The grand four-poster bed was large enough to sleep four comfortably.  You had a feeling that she would insist on sharing the bed with you.  Poor thing never did like sleeping alone.  You didn’t mind. 
“What is wrong with you?”  You panted.  Your lungs worked overtime to get used to being in such a compact space.  “How can you people wear this all the time?”
“They train us young.”  Joy muttered.  “Aha!  Done!  Let’s get you into this gown, shall we?”
Before you knew it, you were drowning in a sea of blue and pink fabric.  The skirts were never ending and created a full ball gown silhouette, though your bone underskirt held most of the fabric away from your legs.  The gown was made of rich peacock-blue silk and layers of delicate tulle that sparkled and shimmered under the light.  Silver lace appliques decorated the bodice and the top half of the skirt.  Some light tulle fabric hung just off your shoulders, creating a sweetheart off-the-shoulder neckline.  You had to admit that the colors were absolutely stunning.  It didn’t feel right that someone like you should wear a gown so beautiful. 
However, once the garment was secured in place with some lacing, you fell in love with it.  The gown hugged your waist and pushed your breasts up just enough.  The skirts swished when you moved and glittered in the light.  
“Y/N,” Joy breathed, “You look beautiful.  Come, let me do your hair and put on your jewelry.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one getting you ready?”  You asked as Joy guided you to sit down at the vanity. 
“There is time for that.  There’s no harm in being a little late if we need to.  The ball will undoubtedly go all night.”  Joy waved it off.  She pointed at a hairbrush on the table and you passed it over your shoulder to her.  “All of that playing dress up when we were kids was totally worth it.”
“Ow…” You muttered under your breath as Joy brushed out the tangles in your hair.
“I wonder who the Queen chose to be the princess.  Surely it’s not me or we would have received some sort of notification.”  Joy mused as she ran the brush through your hair.  “I wonder why they would have all of these lavish parties if they’re not going to choose one of the ladies who attends them.  Whoever the princess is surely is very lucky.  Prince Minho is quite handsome and I’m sure he will make beautiful babies and-”
“Miss Joy.  My apologies but I’m nervous enough as it is.  I’m terrified of being in the same room as the prince.”  You cut her off, wincing as you did so.  Your training clearly specified never to interrupt your lady but all this talk of Prince Minho marrying someone else was beginning to make your heart feel heavy in your chest.  
You hadn’t found the time to tell Joy about what happened.  You wanted to scream it out to the world that Prince Minho was your soulmate but there was no telling if anyone would even believe you.  When you first met him, he was trying to escape from his duty but after he fucked you he dove head-first into it.  You wondered if someone could die from having their soulmate marry someone else. 
In the end, it would all come down to if Prince Minho would confirm the fact that you were soulmates.  If he were to deny you then you would have to live your life without your other half.  The difference in status would make any kind of relationship difficult regardless of Prince Minho’s feelings.  
You weren’t sure if you had the strength to go through with this facade but you were already dressed.  You’d already made the decision.  You couldn’t back down now.  The dress was on and Joy was carefully putting your hair in a simple updo.  She took a few pins from the hair kit you brought for her.  Each pin had a diamond on the end.  The hairdo you had planned for Joy would use most of the pins, so as she worked on your hair you tried to think of what style you could do instead. 
“Y/N, are you okay?  Your head is up in the clouds.”  Joy’s voice softened. 
“Yes, miss.  I am merely thinking about what hairstyle to do for you.”  
“No, I don’t think you are.  You’ve been gone since Prince Minho’s appearance at tea.  Are you alright?”
“Miss… I don’t know.  I feel strange.  I think me coming with you was a terrible idea.”  
“What?  How could you say that!  I don’t know what I would do without you by my side!.”
“If I hadn’t come then I never would have-”  You paused to blink back your tears.  Joy paused her styling with a quiet gasp,  “I never would have met…”
“Who is it?”  Joy whispered knowingly. 
“I can’t tell you.  It would ruin...”
“Y/N, dear, please tell me.”  Joy moved to your side and bent over to be at your level, “I promise there is nothing you could say that would make me think less of you.”
“It’s not me it would ruin.  It’s him.  He and I can never be together.”
“Y/N, please.”  Joy reached up and gently brushed away a few of the tears that had escaped your eyes.  You couldn’t stop crying.  “Tell me and maybe I can help you.”
You looked her in the eye, hoping that maybe she could read your mind.  You and Joy had been friends for as long as you could remember.  You grew up in the same house.  Your mother was Joy’s mother’s maid.  You, in turn, became Joy’s.  Even as a maid, Joy always preferred to treat you as a friend.  
To no avail.  Joy remained clueless. 
“He’s…” you took a deep breath, “My soulmate is… Prince Minho.”
Joy’s jaw dropped.  She stumbled back a bit and sat down hard on the bed.  She stared at you with wide eyes.  If only, that made you cry harder.  At this rate she would never allow you to go to the ball.  Who in their right mind would let you attend a ball when your soulmate was the prince?  
“Do not lie to me, Y/N.”  Joy warned.
“Have you ever known me to lie to you?”
“I suppose not.  You’re sure it’s him?”
“After what we did in the garden, I would know him anywhere.”
“My god, you performed the soulmate act already?”  Joy gawked, her eyes swimming with questions.  “Tell me everything.”
“I don’t know…”
“I am asking as a friend, Y/N, but I will ask as your lady if I have to.”  
“Okay, well… I wandered off.  I didn’t mean to!  But I needed a break from the sun and-”
You told her the story from beginning to finish.  Meeting him in the garden and thinking he was the gardener, the accidental touch, the intensity of the soulmate act, and the way he’d turned cold afterwards.  You explained how you’d searched for him and how your stomach had churned when he was announced as the Prince.  
“It’s all hopeless!”  You wailed, dropping your tear-stained cheeks into your hands, “We can never be together.  After tonight I may never see him again!”  
“Perhaps not…  But what say you to see if we can get you two to meet one last time.  At least share some words, a kiss, something!”
“How would we do that?  He doesn’t know who I am.  He doesn’t know my name or anything.”
“You’re going to the ball tonight, of course he’ll find you!  If he doesn’t then I will speak to him.  I will tell him his angel is looking for him.  Come on, my dear, let’s get you looking perfect!”
~!~!~!~!~!~
YOU WERE CERTAIN that you were going to pass out at any moment.  The corset was bound too tightly and it was as if you were walking through hell’s inferno.  In reality you were only walking down a long corridor warmed with fireplaces, but it may as well have been the same thing.  
A finely dressed butler escorted you and Joy through the palace to the ballroom.  Joy held your hand as you walked, her grip like an iron vice.  She looked beautiful.  Once it was your turn to make her up, her hair was worthy of the princess’s tiara.  Her forest green ballgown was made of the finest silk that rippled like water when she walked.  She held her head high and turned to look at you with a bright smile. 
“You would fit right in here.”  Joy whispered lowly so the butler couldn’t hear your conversation.
“Maybe in the kitchens.”  You sighed.  “You look more like a princess than I do.”
“Nonsense.  I wasn’t born to be a princess, unlike you.”
“Lady Joy, I definitely was not born to be a princess.  Maybe the gods made a mistake.  They’ve been known to do that, right?”
“There is no way this is a mistake.  It’s clear that you belong here!  You’re the most beautiful noblewoman I’ve ever seen, cousin!”  Joy squeezed your hand pointedly. 
Muffled music played through the doors and you suddenly felt sick.  You pressed a hand to your stomach and stopped walking.  Joy stopped as well.  The butler continued on for a few steps before realizing that you weren’t following.
“I can’t do this.”
“Y/N!  Are you with child?”  Joy whispered and nodded to the hand on your stomach.
“What?  No!  It only happened this afternoon.  It takes longer to develop a child.  I’m just sick to my stomach.”
“It’s only nerves.  Once we get into the ballroom, everything will be okay.  We’ll dance a little bit and then we’ll enact the plan, alright?”  
“I can’t.  This was a terrible idea, let me go back to the room and-”
“No!  Y/N, no!  Just take a deep breath.  I’ll be right there by your side the entire time.”  Joy promised, “Let’s go.”
She pulled you along and the butler continued leading you through the palace.  The music got louder and louder until the butler paused at a large set of double doors.  Joy turned to smile at you one last time before looking forward.  
A pair of butlers opened the doors, revealing a lavish, golden ballroom.  Several crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling with candles casting flickering rainbows on the walls.  The dance floor was packed with ladies and gentlemen alike, dancing away in celebration.  A handful of musicians played a waltz.  
Your eyes were immediately drawn to a raised platform at the back of the room.  A triad of ornate golden thrones with purple velvet and diamonds were perched atop.  In the center throne, a woman in an enormous embroidered gown with a huge crown atop her head tapped her fingers to the time of the music; the Queen.  To her left sat the young princess, no older than fifteen but old enough to be at her brother’s party.  She stared out into the crowd with a polite smile.  Then, your gaze landed on the man you wanted to see. 
Prince Minho sat to his mother’s right.  He wore the same outfit as before, except he’d taken his crown off and hung it off one of the posters of his throne.  He lounged a bit in his chair, not really paying attention to anyone around him.  He sipped on a goblet of wine.  The prince, instead, stared at the ceiling. 
He looked just as beautiful as the moment you first saw him.  Something about the candlelight made his skin glow.  
You sucked in a breath when you laid eyes on him.  It took every ounce of self control in your body and Joy’s hand to keep you from running through the ballroom to be with him.  Something tugged on your heart like an invisible string, urging you forward. 
When you stepped through the door into the ballroom, Prince Minho cocked his head suddenly.  He turned his gaze away from the ceiling and scanned the throngs of dancing people.  He scoured the dancers before turning his attention to the walls.  Servants were stationed by the wall or in the corners where they couldn’t be easily seen unless you were looking for them.  Just out of sight, but there in case they were needed.  Prince Minho searched the face of each one until his gaze passed over the doors you’d just walked through.  
Then came the double take.  He looked on the other side of the room for a moment before turning his head back in your direction. 
When you made eye contact, you gasped and gripped Joy’s hand a little tighter.  Joy immediately snapped her head to look at the prince.  She followed his gaze and found you as the person in question.  He raised an eyebrow in question but said nothing.  He knew your true stature but he was in no position to tell anyone anyway.  
“Come, let’s find something to eat.  You need your energy.”  Joy whispered, pulling your attention away from the Prince.
“But… Prince Minho…”
“There will be time for that.  We have hours before the Prince will retire.  He’s seen you, so there is no doubt in my mind that he will seek you out.”  Joy assured you.  
She pulled you through the ballroom to a dining room.  There were several tables lined with food piled high on silver platters.  Dishes like pork, chicken, rolls, roasted vegetables, you name it.  Instantly, your mouth watered.  You could not remember the last time you broke fast and your dehydration this morning left you with a pounding headache.  
“I am pretty hungry…”  You mused.
“Let’s get you something to eat and then I’ll tell you everything about my plan.”
~!~!~!~!~!~
JOY’S SUGGESTION DIDN’T sit right with you at first, but she eventually convinced you to dance with the very first man who asked.  You’d barely caught the man’s name, Christopher something-or-other.  He was staggeringly handsome, though he could hold no candle to your Destined. 
Christopher spun you around the dancefloor for two whole dances.  He was careful to keep his touches over your clothes but you noticed that his eyes kept dipping down to your mouth and to the swell of your breasts out of the dress.  You wore long silver satin gloves up to your forearms, as was the fashion and the social assurance that no one could find their soulmate at these social events unless you tried really hard.  
At the end of the second dance, a whirlwind of a waltz (where you definitely stepped on his foot more than once), you were beginning to feel a little out of breath.  Joy was off dancing with another man, a complete heartthrob who had introduced himself as Peter.  Joy had promised that she would watch you all evening, but Peter had her absolutely captivated.
Christopher gazed down at you with big, brown puppy dog eyes.  He pursed his lips before opening his mouth to ask you to dance a third time.  However, a terse voice cut through the atmosphere.
“Sir Christopher, do you mind if I cut in?”  The voice sent a shiver down your spine.  You would recognize it, recognize him, anywhere. 
“Oh.  Um, of course, Sire.”  Christopher bowed before disappearing into the crowd. 
Prince Minho took his place in front of you.  You looked at him for a moment before dropping into a deep curtsy.  Your eyes turned to the floor.  Your heart pounded so loudly in your chest that you thought you might faint.  
In an instant, Prince Minho was touching you.  He put his hands on your shoulders to pull you out of the curtsy and one of his hands moved to your chin.  With his soft fingers, he guided your face until you were looking directly into his eyes.  The same grief from this afternoon clouded them and his eyebrows were pulled together.  
The music started and other couples around you began to dance.  Skirts swirled, girls giggled, shoes tapped on the wooden dance floor.  However, none of that mattered.  The outside world became a blur until the only thing you could see was the man in front of you.
He called you an angel before, but you were certain that the angel was actually Prince Minho.  He glowed under the candlelight and his crown looked like a halo.  Prince Minho grasped your waist and took your hand.  You gasped at the contact. 
“Take my arm.”  He commanded.  You quickly set your hand on his shoulder. 
Before you knew it, Prince Minho spun you into the crowd of dancers.  How he managed to lead without taking his eyes off yours, you may never know.  You had so many questions but you had absolutely no idea where to even begin.  All you knew for sure is that this would most likely be the last time you ever saw him.
“What’s your name?”  Prince Minho asked. 
“Y/N.”  
“Beautiful.  I knew your name would be beautiful.”  A smile played on his lips,  “How did you manage to come tonight?  I thought you were a ladies maid.”
“I am.  Lady Joy is more a friend than a lady.  We grew up together.  She asked me to come with her tonight.”  You explained, your voice weak. 
“Damn.  I’d hoped that perhaps you’d fooled me in the garden.  If you were a lady then my mother might have allowed us to marry.”  
“Couldn’t we still pretend?”
“My mother, the Queen, is very resourceful.  She would look into your family and find that you’re of common birth.  Unless, of course, you can provide undeniable proof of noble birth.”
“I’m afraid I don’t think that will be possible.”  Tears brimmed in your eyes at the thought. 
You couldn’t explain it but your heart swelled with affection for him.  You barely even know the man.  However, you could practically feel every cell in your body aching for him and needing to be with him.  His touch sent bolts of lighting through your veins.  His lips were eye level with you and all you wanted to do was claim them as yours.  Party-goers and the Queen be damned.  This man was your soulmate and you wanted everyone to know. 
“My love,”  Prince Minho smiled sadly and moved his hand from your waist in order to brush away a tear that had fallen.  He replaced his hand before you could fall out of step with the dance. “We will find a way.  Maybe it won’t be today but I must have you by my side.  I want to know everything about you.  Please, my angel, don’t think of this as an ending.  Merely a rocky and uncertain beginning.”
“How can you be optimistic about this?”  
“I am a prince.  We have a way of getting things done.”  Prince Minho smiled warmly.  The assurance that he was feeling the same way as you in this absurd situation made your heart ache a little less.  “Dance the night away with me, my love.”
How could you possibly refuse him?
You spent the next three dances in the circle of your prince’s arms.  Sir Christopher asked for your hand for one dance but Prince Minho stole you away the moment it was over.  You twirled around the ballroom, talking and laughing with one another.  He searched your mind, asking about your past, your family, your life.  He wanted to know your favorite meals, your favorite colors, artists, and flowers.  He, in turn, told you all about his favorites. 
More and more things began to line up between the two of you.  With every new thing in common, it became extremely apparent why he was your soulmate.  He was your perfect match in every way.  He was everything you ever could have wanted in a life partner.  He was charming, witty, a fantastic dancer, and he cared deeply about his country and his duties. 
Eventually, Prince Minho led you from the dance floor and onto the terrace outside.  The air was cool against your skin and you hadn’t realized you’d been sweating.  The party continued behind you, grand and gold.  There were three sets of tall glass doors that were propped open between the terrace and the ballroom.  There were fewer people outside, so it gave you and your Prince a quieter place to talk.  
And talk you did.  For hours it seemed, you spoke and shared things about your life.  There wasn’t much for you to share but you wanted to know every detail about him.  
“You must be dreading your marriage.”  You sighed.
“I am… but I know it must be done.  The last thing I want is to be with someone who isn’t my soulmate.  However, I understand that it is what I must do.  My father would have wanted me to do the same as him.”  Prince Minho explained.  “In the garden earlier, I was prepared to run away from it all.  I still wish I could escape.  However, now I know that I cannot escape my duty.”
“The same as your father?  What do you mean by that?”  You asked.  You bit down the stinging pain in your chest from all the talk of him marrying another.  Though, you had to admit that it made sense.
“My mother was not his soulmate, you see.  He never told me who it was but I’m not sure that they ever got to be together before he died.”
“Your parents managed to have children, though!  That is an accomplishment!  I heard that fertility rates between non-soulmates is very low.”
“I think it worked because my mother has never met her soulmate.  She truly loved my father and I believe that it was her love that made my sister and I come into existence.  Or maybe it was pure luck.”
“Do you believe in true love?  Love that isn’t born of soulmates?”
“Well, I suppose I’ve never thought about it.  I don’t think that I have ever loved anyone before.  I fancied a few of the ladies when I was younger, but I always knew that I would either find my soulmate one day or I would have to live without them.”  Prince Minho gazed out into the garden.  The paths were lined with torches that cast a golden glow on the ground.  Two or three lone couples strolled through the garden. 
“I apologize, My Prince.  We can discuss something else.”  
“Angel, it is alright.  There is no way you could upset me.”  Prince Minho assured you. 
He reached out and cupped your cheek with his hand.  He guided your head to make sure you were looking directly into his eyes.  “This situation is less than ideal but it is in no way your fault.  It’s crazy.  It feels as if I’ve known you all my life.”
“I know… I wish I didn’t have to leave.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go.”
Minho guided your face a little closer to his and pressed a fleeting kiss onto your cheek.  His soft lips lingered on your skin for a few long seconds.  His musky scent filled your nose and overwhelmed your senses.  You closed your eyes and breathed him in.  Something deep in your core wished that he would have kissed your lips instead. 
However, all good things come to an end. 
“HEAR YE, HEAR YE.”  A voice boomed from inside the ballroom, “ALL SUBJECTS APPEAR BEFORE THE QUEEN FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.” 
Prince Minho pulled away from you and looked towards the ballroom.  The music had stopped and all of the guests were venturing towards the center of the room to listen to the announcement.  He turned to look back at you.
“It’s time, my love.”  Prince Minho offered you his hand.
Your lower lip quivered and you blinked back the tears brimming in your eyes.  You stared at his hand.  You forced yourself to swallow a sob.  Gently, you took his hand.  He led you back into the ballroom.  The stifling heat made it nearly impossible to breathe.  Your chest ached.  Your heart pounded in your ears.  
Once you got deep enough into the room, Prince Minho pulled you to a careful stop.  He looked deeply into your eyes for a few long seconds.  You stared back, desperately trying to memorize the way his eyes glowed like honey in the candle light.  They sparkled a little and with a start you wondered if he was about to cry.
“I’m going to miss you.”  He whispered. 
“And I you.”  
He gently pulled you closer.  You thought for a moment that he was going to kiss you.  The air between you thinned as his face inched closer.  He cupped your cheek in his hand and pressed your foreheads together. 
“Your lady is Lady Joy, correct?”
“Lady Joy Park.”  You affirmed. 
“I will send for you this evening, my love.  Fear not, this will not be the last time we see each other.”
With that, he vanished into the crowd.  His hand dropped from your face and he let go of your hand.  The other guests of the party bustled around you.  The air in the ballroom ran hot, but you shivered.  You searched the faces around you desperately, hoping that perhaps he would emerge from the crowd and come back to you.  
Prince Minho did emerge from the crowd, but only when he stepped back up onto the platform and reclaimed his throne.  His stoic face was set and he stared blankly into the crowd.  Your eyes welled up with tears and you blinked to try to keep them at bay.  
How were you supposed to go on without your soulmate?  All you wanted to do was run up to the throne and tell the entire room that he was yours and that no one else could have him.  
Almost as if she read your thoughts, Lady Joy appeared at your side.  She took your hand and gave you a reassuring squeeze.  
“How did it go?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
The Queen cleared her throat so loudly the chandeliers quivered.  She rose to her feet and instantly all chatter in the room ceased.  Someone coughed.  
“It is with regret that I inform you that our dear prince has not found his soulmate.”  The Queen began, “Despite all of our efforts to find his destined partner we were unsuccessful.  However, we still have call for celebration this evening.  I am happy to announce Prince Minho’s betrothal to Princess Anna from the Roman Kingdom!  The nuptials will be held next week and invitations to the event and the following balls will be sent henceforth!  They will honeymoon on the island Sicily, where our dear princess was born before they return home to us.  Please, let us congratulate the lucky couple!”
Everyone in the room applauded politely.  Prince Minho rose to his feet and bowed before sitting back down. 
You were absolutely positive that you were going to be sick.  
“Lady Joy?”
“Yes, Y/N?”
“Get me out of here.”
Joy wasted no time. 
She tugged on your hand, urging you to follow her.  She weaved through the crowd of people.  On your way, the man you remembered as Lord Peter stopped Lady Joy.  They whispered to each other for a few seconds, including something about a promise to see each other again soon.  With that, Joy set off again.  Lady Joy beelined towards the doors and urged the guards to open them.  They gave her a puzzled look, but followed her silent command.  
Your lady pulled you into the hallway and you couldn’t help but glance back one more time.  To your relief, or perhaps horror, Prince Minho noticed the opening of the door and his gaze found you immediately.  You locked eyes one last time before Lady Joy led you down the hall, out of sight. 
The heavy doors slid shut behind you, the heavy thud making you wince.  
How were you supposed to leave Prince Minho behind you?
~!~!~!~!~!~
“IS SHE QUITE well?” The butler’s concerned voice carried through the large bedroom.  You heard him even over your crying.  You sobbed into the pillow that was damp with your tears and yet you couldn’t stop.  Your body shook with crying and you could not seem to stop it.  Lady Joy stood at the door, accepting a pile of dry pillows that she’d requested after you’d dampened all of the others with your tears. 
“She is well, do not worry.”  Lay Joy assured him.
“Should I send for a doctor?”
“Heartbreak is something a doctor cannot fix, I’m afraid.  I will call for you if we require anything else.”  
With that, Lady Joy shut the door and made her way back to the bed.  She tossed the pillows at the foot of the bed before climbing under the luxurious duvet with you.  She wrestled with the neverending fabric of the blankets and her nightgown before she settled in and returned her attention to you.  
Both of you had changed out of your ballgowns as soon as you’d returned to your quarters.  You managed to hold back your tears just long enough to get out of your corset.  Then the waterfall began and hadn’t stopped.  Joy did her best.  Supplying you with things to dry your eyes and drink to keep your body from drying up but there was only so much she could do.
You told her everything.  You told her about the dancing, about your conversations, and about how Prince Minho promised that he would call for you.  What made it worse is that it was hours ago.  You’d already gone through at least half a candle, if not more.  The music from the ball could be heard faintly through the window.
“Perhaps he’s still there.  It would be rude of the host to leave prematurely.”  Joy reminded you.
“I can’t help it!  I don’t know what to do!”
“Oh, my dear Y/N, I wish I could help you.”  Joy gently stroked your hair.
“Will the pain fade?”
“Perhaps with time.  It’s getting late, Y/N… you look exhausted.  Let’s try to sleep okay?  In the morning we can escape from this wretched place.”
Your eyes ached from crying.  Your cheeks were sticky with tears.  Joy grabbed one of the dry pillows from the end of the bed and replaced the one you were using.  She slipped out of bed once more to blow out all of the candles in the room. 
Once the room was dark, Joy slipped back into bed with you.  You buried your face into the pillow and sniffled.  Your eyelids grew heavy and you begged sleep, or perhaps death, to overtake you.  You squeezed your eyes shut and forced yourself to think of other things. 
Tomorrow you would have to spend hours doing laundry.  You would be washing all of the undergarments and skirts, ironing dresses, polishing jewels.  The task would probably take the entire day.  The banality of your day to day work would be sure to wipe away your feelings of dread. 
It must have only been moments after you drifted into a restless sleep when someone pounded on the door.  Your eyes shot open and you found Joy had also been startled awake.  You stared at each other for a few seconds before the pounding on the door came again.  Joy abruptly sat up.  She wrestled with the blankets for a few long seconds before she successfully freed herself and hurried to the door. 
You sat up when the door creaked open.
“Is there a young lady here by the name of Y/N?”  A male voice spoke from beyond the door.
“Y/N… is there another name?”  Joy asked. 
“Angel.  Prince Minho sends for her.”
You perked up immediately.  You threw the blankets off and clamored out of bed.  Joy put a hand up and you froze in place.  
“Yes, sir, she is here.  Please allow me a moment and I will fetch her.”  Joy spoke calmly.  You bounced on the balls of your feet. 
“Yes, my Lady.”  
Joy shut the door and turned to you, eyes sparkling with excitement. 
“Y/N, take off your nightgown.”  Joy stared at you expectantly for a few seconds.  “Make haste!”
~!~!~!~!~!~ 
YOU CHEWED ON your lower lip as you stared at the large pair of ornate double doors.  The butler who had been sent to get you waited patiently nearby, waiting for your command to open them.  You couldn’t explain why the nerves and fear that overwhelmed your heart as the butler led you through the dark hallways of the palace.  
Perhaps it was the silence.  The butler didn’t say a word to you unless to remind you to follow him.  Or it was the dark hallways, lit only with a few lone candles.  
Or perhaps it was the nightgown that swirled about your ankles.  Joy insisted on giving you hers.  Your nightgown was a plain white smock but Joy’s was made of the finest pink satin and was decorated with lace and satin flowers.  It came paired with a matching silk robe that tied around your waist.  The sleeves and the skirt billowed as you walked.  It didn’t feel right to you to be wearing such a garment but Joy insisted.  If you were meeting the prince, you had to be dressed accordingly. 
You couldn’t argue with your lady so you agreed to switch nightgowns with her.  Once she had yours on, she promised to get you a nicer nightdress for your birthday.
“Anytime, Miss.”  The butler pursed his lips.  “The prince does not like to be kept waiting.”
“Open the door, please.”  You barely recognized your own voice. 
The butler pulled the door open and gestured for you to enter first.  You took a deep breath before striding through and into a bedroom about twenty times as ornate as the quarters provided to Lady Joy.  The lofted ceiling should have made the room cold, but a large fireplace was lit ablaze and crackled away.   
The door slid shut behind you.  When you glanced back, the butler hadn’t followed you. 
You slowly walked deeper into the room.  You passed through a lush drawing room, surely meant for entertaining.  A study where a large oak desk dominated the space.  A door was cracked leading into a bathroom where the bathtub alone was the same size as your room back home.  Until finally you reached the bedroom.  A large four poster bed stood tall against one wall and a chaise and a few plush couches surrounded another active fireplace.  Against the wall opposite from you stood a pair of floor to ceiling glass doors that were open and led out onto a balcony.
And there he stood.  Prince Minho had his back to you and he leaned against the balcony railing.  He stared off into the night.  If he heard you enter, he did not say.  For a few moments, you stood in the middle of his bedroom and waited.  You weren’t sure if you should say something or not.  Besides, it was not in your nature to speak before spoken to.  You wondered what he was thinking about.  
“Come, my love.”  Prince Minho glanced over his shoulder and gestured for you to join him.  Your feet carried you past the threshold and onto the balcony.  You didn’t have a chance to see the view before you were crushed in the warmest hug you’d ever received. 
Once you were close enough, Prince Minho pulled you into a tight embrace.  He buried his face in your neck and breathed in deeply.  His warmth enveloped you and his body hid you from the cool night air.  You didn’t hesitate long before your arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him into you.  The soft breeze around you ensured that his rich scent invaded your nostrils and you ached to have the smell imprinted on your very soul.  You wanted to remember how he held you.  He held you as if it was truly the last time.  
“We will find a solution, I promise.”  Prince Minho murmured into your neck.
“I wish I could stay.”  
“I could command it.”  
“I can’t leave my lady.”
“I can’t bear to be wed to another.”  Prince Minho pulled away just enough to look at your face.  “This entire kingdom should be yours.”
“As long as you are my soulmate, the entire kingdom is mine.”  You assured him with a small smile.  Even though your entire body ached with sadness and you wanted to cry, you couldn’t.  You didn’t want to cry in his presence. 
“Look at it.”  Prince Minho moved behind you and wrapped his arms around your middle.  He moved until you stood at the railing.  “No matter the circumstance, as a prince you are my princess.  When I am king you will be my only queen.”
Your breath caught in your throat at the sight and his words.  From here, you could see the entire gardens as well as the golden glow coming from the ballroom.  The city sprawled out around the palace, warm and alive.  The lights below glittered and you could almost make out the subjects walking the streets.  For them, their days were just beginning.  The city extended as far as the eye could see until it met the black ocean.  From there, only inky blackness.
“Look.”  You pointed towards the city,  “You see the clocktower?”  
“I do.”
“When I have time to myself I like to go to a park nearby for a walk.  I get a day off a month and I usually spend it there.”  You explained, then pointed somewhere else.  “I take my lady to a seamstress near the tavern over there.”
“Where do you live?”  Prince Minho’s breath fanned against your ear.
“Over there.”  You pointed off to the side, “Just out of sight.  Beyond that spire.”  
“My angel… tell me something lovely.”
“Like what?”
“It matters not.  Tell me something lovely that makes you feel happy.”
“Hmm…”  You mused for a few seconds, “The feeling of grass under my feet on a warm summer day.  The ocean breeze through my hair.  The tiny noises of a puppy.  Crawling into bed after a long day.  The smell of freshly baked bread.  The rich scent of roses.”
“Roses… I may never look at them the same way again.”  Prince Minho chuckled. 
“I don’t think I will, either.”  You giggled.  “What about you?  What are some lovely things?”
“Well…”  Prince Minho’s lips pressed onto your neck and he hummed.  His hair tickled your skin and you couldn’t help the giggle that came from your throat.  “Your laugh is the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.  The smell of old parchment.  Having a warm bath after a hunt.  Biting into a perfectly crisp apple.  Kissing the skin of your beloved.  Pink silk nightgowns.”
Between each offering, your prince pressed a warm kiss on your skin, trailing from your neck to your shoulder.  His fingers gently moved the fabric of your nightgown aside so he could press kisses on all of the skin he could.  You sighed and tilted your head to the side to give him more access.  Your eyes slid shut. 
“Prince Minho,” you sighed when his fingertips traced your collarbones.  
“To you, I am no prince.  I am merely Minho.”  he whispered.  His fingers trailed down your chest to the silk ribbon holding your robe shut, playing with the fabric and running it through the pads of his fingers.  “Will you let me love you?  Let me shower you with my love and bring your body so much pleasure.”
“Pleasure like in the garden?”
“Just like that, but tenfold.”  
Your body trembled with nerves, but you nodded all the same.  Minho pressed soft kisses on your skin and you sighed at the feeling.  He slowly pulled the ribbon free and your robe fell open for him.  He smoothed his hands over your stomach and hips and you sighed at the contact.  You leaned your head back to rest on his shoulder and he accepted your weight willingly.  He wrapped his arms around you and held you tightly. 
“You can say no,”  Prince Minho whispered, “It’s okay.  I can love you in more ways.”
“I want to but… I’m nervous.”  You admitted.  You ached to have him again, if the aching between your legs was anything to go by, but now that the soulmate urge had passed the thought of having something so… big inside of you again made your heart flutter.
“My love, I would never hurt you.  We can take this as slow as you wish.”
You stayed in that position for a few minutes.  Your head on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around you and holding you as close to his body as possible, both of you staring out at the kingdom below.  Your mind wandered, giving you visions of royal life.  Perhaps working in the palace so you could at least be closer to him.  Getting to sleep in his room each night, slipping out in the morning.  You could never be queen.  Joy taught you to read but you never quite understood the classic literature that everyone of noble birth had to read to be educated.  
You imagined attending parties, dressing up, and dancing the night away in beautiful golden ballrooms.  You imagined eating food prepared by the palace cooks each and every morning.  If what the cooks prepared tasted as good as what you had for dinner, you thought you could get used to this life.  Honestly, you didn’t even want to be queen.  Or even a princess.  You just wanted to love him.  Freely.  Openly.  
“All I want is to know you.”  You whispered and Minho hummed to encourage you to keep speaking, “I want to know you inside and out.  I want to grow a partnership,  I want to know what you hate and I want to know what you love.  I want to know how you take your breakfast, how you take your tea, your favorite walking paths, where do you hide when you need to get away from it all?  I don’t want to leave in the morning.”
“Then don’t,”  Prince Minho tried again but he knew your answer, “Stay with me in the palace.  We could figure something out and I will make sure that you stay by my side.”
For a few long seconds, you stayed silent as you contemplated his words.  As the seconds ticked on, Prince Minho heard his answer. 
“I’m sorry, my lord.”  
“Then let us focus on this night.  Let us spend our time focusing on each other.”  Prince Minho turned you around in the circle of his arms so he could gaze upon your face.  His eyes glistened with tears and you wished you could take his pain away.  “Please… call me Minho.”
“Prince-”
“No,” he cut you off, pressing his lips to your forehead for a few seconds, “Just… Minho.”
“Minho…”  You breathed, “Bring me pleasure.  I will bring you pleasure tenfold.  Please.”
“Angel, you never have to ask.”  
His lips crashed onto yours with no more ceremony.  Your heart swelled at the contact and you kissed him back eagerly.  His lips tasted so sweet.  Your favorite sweet could never compare to his taste.  Your arms wrapped around his neck and he pressed you into the balcony railing.  He twisted his head a little and kissed you deeper.  You accepted everything he had to give you.  
Minho put his hands on your shoulders and pushed the robe off.  The fabric pooled around your waist and he started on working the robe off your arms but you pulled away a little. 
“Wait.  Not here.”  You whispered.  Minho pulled away from you.
“No one can see us up here, Angel.” 
“Still… I… I don’t want to lose the robe.  It belongs to my lady.”   You admitted.
“When you are mine, I will give you hundreds of nightgowns made of the finest silk in all the land.”  Minho pressed warm kisses on your jawbone and neck as he spoke, trailing his lips along your skin and leaving trails of fire in his wake. 
“I’m already yours.”
“Don’t you forget it.”
With that, Minho swept you up into his arms and carried you bridal style back into his room.  You yelped when you initially lost your footing but giggled as he carried you.  You held onto him and nuzzled your nose into his neck.  Minho paused in the middle of his room and looked towards the fireplace then towards his bed on the other end of the room.  After a few moments of deliberation, he made his way over to the bed and gently laid you down on the plush mattress.  He was over you in an instant, pressing his knees on either side of your hips. 
“Angel, I want to see you this time.  I want to see all of you.”  
Minho’s hands ran over the fabric of your nightgown.  His eyes trailed over your curves.  His hands moved to gently cup your breasts.  He squeezed them and pushed them together to watch them swell under the fabric.  His thumbs ran over your pebbled nipples and you gasped at the surprisingly pleasant feeling that came from it.  Minho smiled softly and repeated the action again and again, rubbing his thumbs in circles around your nipples.  Your back arched into him and your eyes slid shut so you could enjoy the stimulation.
He moved one of his knees to press at the seam between yours.  Your legs easily fell open to accommodate him.  Minho leaned down to capture your lips in a searing kiss.  He resumed his task of helping the robe off your body.  You assisted him by pulling your arms out of the sleeves and tugging the offending fabric away so it could pool on the ground.  Minho gripped your thighs and worked on pushing the silky fabric up your legs so he could touch your bare skin.  
Your hands busied themselves with pulling his blouse up and over his head.  He broke the kiss briefly to rip his shirt off and toss it on the floor before kissing you again.  He didn’t give you the chance to admire his figure, but your hands traced his strong shoulders and strong chest and abdominal muscles.  
That telltale arousal began to pool between your legs.  The same heat you felt in the garden licked up your spine and made the junction between your legs ache.  Your hips unconsciously rolled upwards, only to catch on Minho’s pants.  The sudden friction made a moan slip from your lips.  Minho pulled away with a gasp.  
“Please make that sound again.  I will worship the ground you walk on.”  Minho moaned out.  He pressed his thigh closer to the apex between your legs until it pressed firmly against your heat.  You gasped at the contact but winced when you remembered that Joy’s silk gown still covered you.  You grasped the skirt and pulled it up over your hips and Minho moaned again.  “Nothing underneath, angel?  Were you hoping I would fuck you?”
Mindlessly, you nodded, choosing not to remind him that it was, in fact, him who ripped your undergarments to the point where they could not be used.  Instead, you pressed your core against his thigh and moaned at the pleasure that sparked through you.  Minho flexed his thigh and urged you to grind against him.  Your hips moved slowly as you got used to the rhythm and the new pleasure.  You whimpered as the pleasure grew but you weren’t sure if you would be able to climax like you did in the garden. 
“More,” you whimpered thoughtlessly.  
“My angel wants more?”  Minho cooed.  He stared down at you with such awe, as if perhaps there was an actual angel below him.  “What do you want?  I shall give it to you.” 
“I…”  you trailed off, your mind going blank, “I don’t know.  I want you to touch me.”
With that, Minho pulled his knee away and pushed your nightgown up to expose your core to him.  Instinctively, you parted your legs a little more.  Minho’s gaze flickered down to your center and pulled his lower lip between his teeth.  Your folds glistened in the low glow from the fireplace across the room.  Minho moved a hand and gently swiped one of his fingers through your folds and brought it to his mouth.  His eyes rolled back in his head at the taste of you.
“Angel, can I taste you properly?”  Minho’s gravely voice sent a wave of arousal through you.
“You just did…”
“I want to put my tongue on you.”  Minho slowly lowered down the bed until his face hovered just above your core, “If it’s too much tell me to stop.”
With that, Minho flattened his tongue against you and your back instantly arched off the bed.  You let out a choked gasp as the dizzying sensation swept through you.  His warm, wet tongue licked through your folds, mapping every ridge and dip and curve.  He swirled his tongue around your opening to gather your wetness in his mouth before he moved up to suck on your clit.  A keening moan left your throat as he sucked and nipped at the little bud.  You couldn’t stop the small moans and gasps you let out as Minho’s tongue played with you.
 “You taste so good, angel.”  Minho moaned.
He licked down to your entrance and slowly wiggled his tongue past the barrier.  He moaned against your core and pushed his tongue deeper into you.  You moaned at the feeling and tilted your hips up to chase his face, as if he had any intention to move.  He lapped at your walls greedily, like a man who’s never tasted water before.  Minho’s eyes slid shut as he savored your warmth in his mouth.  His nose nudged your clit with every few pushes of his tongue and it was enough to build the most amazing feeling in your stomach. 
You recognized that feeling now, it was the same one from the garden.  As if on instinct, you reached for his head to keep him against you before you paused, realizing that this was the prince you were about to touch without permission.  He’d told you a hundred times that you could, but the doubt still hovered.  
As if reading your thoughts, Minho reached up and grabbed your wrist.  He led your hand to the back of his head before hooking his arm under your leg to hold you against him.  Your fingers slid through his silky locks easily.  You gasped out at a particularly harsh suck and you gripped his hair tightly.  Minho let out a moan into your pussy and the vibrations, in turn, made you moan.  
Minho refocused his efforts, moving up to wrap his lips and tongue around your little clit.  His other hand slid between you until his fingertips prodded at your swollen hole.  You gasped at the contact, but tilted your hips up to chase the feeling.  You could feel him smile against you.  The coil within you tightened and you gasped. 
“Aw, sweet girl, are you going to cum?”  Minho cooed.
“Yes!  Yes, please, I need more.”  you moaned out.
“You want my fingers?”  Minho drew a small circle around your hole with a fingertip.
“Fuc- yes!”  You choked out a moan when he pushed one finger into the knuckle. 
“Mm, you’re so tight.”  Minho murmured those last words right against your clit before sucking it into his mouth.  
You were certain you had died and gone to heaven.  The added stimulation of his finger and the incessant swirls of his tongue sent you hurtling towards a release in record time.  Like the wave inside of you, your moans also rose like a crescendo.  Growing in pitch and frequency, you couldn’t hold them back.  You gripped onto Minho’s hair like a lifeline as the pleasure peaked. 
“Cumming- sir!  Sir, I’m cumming, please!”  You all but shrieked as you came into his mouth.  
Your legs shook, even as Minho slowed his ministrations to ride you through it.  Even though he’d just given it to you, he pulled his finger out and moved his face a little lower so he could lap gently at your pulsing hole.  You quivered and moaned as wave after wave of pleasure washed over you until it slowly turned to pain.  After one soft lap, you winced and let go of Minho’s hair. 
He took this as a sign and pulled away from you.  He sat back on his knees and tilted his head back.  He closed his eyes and rested his hands on your legs, just to keep some form of physical contact with you.  You watched as he ran his tongue along his lips as if to gather every single drop of your sweet essence. 
“You’re so beautiful when you cum.”  Minho commented, opening his eyes once more to look into yours.  
“I want to make you cum, too,”  you declared, sitting up and placing your hands on his hips.  
His noticeable and very neglected erection strained in his pants.  You kept your eyes on his as you moved your palm to gently cup him.  Minho’s eyes fluttered shut at the contact for a moment before he opened them once more to look at you.  He cupped your cheeks in his hands as you palmed him through his pants.
“And you will do so once I am inside of you.”  Minho’s low voice slid easily down your spine and you shivered. 
“But Minho… Can I taste you, too?” 
“How can I say no to that when you’re looking at me so sweetly?”
Minho’s nimble fingers immediately got to work on the laces on his pants.  He flopped down on the bed next to you and worked his pants off his hips until they were a forgotten pile on the floor.  His shirt was thrown on the floor next, leaving him completely bare.  His fingers played with the hem of your nightdress and his eyes twinkled.  
Slowly, you lowered yourself to get a closer look at his cock.  Long, thick, and heavy.  The dark pink head oozed precum and you licked your lips in anticipation.  You could hardly believe that this is the thing that had just been inside of you this morning.  Only a few hours ago, this thing had made you cum so hard and it was about to do it again.  
Unable to wait any longer, you leaned forward to press a wet kiss to the leaking head.  Minho moaned on contact, throwing his head back into the plush pillows as you suckled it into your mouth.  You ran your tongue over the velvety skin, sighing as he leaked more precum.  Salty and musky but overall not unpleasant.  Minho’s deft fingers swept through your hair and pulled it back so it wouldn’t get in the way.  You lifted your gaze to meet his and he just about blew his load right there. 
You looked so sweet, gently sucking on the head of his cock while looking at him innocently through your eyelashes.  Your petal pink nightgown hung down just enough for him to get a clear look at your tits that swelled with each breath.  The sight alone made him moan louder.  
“Am I doing it right?”  You pulled away slightly to blink at him. 
“Fuck, yes.”  He responded, laughing softly, “Keep going.”
Not one to refuse an order from your future king, you lowered your head and put him back in your mouth.  Minho moaned softly, the sweet noise encouraging you to take a little more of him.  Minho panted as he watched you take more and more of him until your nose lightly grazed his stomach.  His tip prodded the back of your throat and you choked a little.  Minho rolled his hips up into your mouth and you let out a little gasp. 
“Run your tongue along it.”  Minho guided you.
You wasted no time and swirled your tongue along the underside of his cock.  You bobbed your head up and down his length, swirling your tongue as you went.  Occasionally you rose all the way up and sucked on the head like you would a cube of ice on a hot day.  This action would make him whimper and writhe under you.  Every time he made a noise of pleasure, your core clenched and dripped even more for him.  You couldn’t wait to take him again. 
Minho used the grip he had on your hair to guide you up and down his length.  He kept his eyes on your lips as you accepted him into your warm, wet mouth time and time again.  The knot in his stomach kept tensing, threatening to spill his release down your throat but he wasn’t done receiving all the the pleasure your body could give him.  Maybe one day he would paint your face and lips in his cum, but today was not that day, 
All too soon, he pulled you off of him roughly.  He tugged you up to be face to face so that he could kiss you.  His plush lips caressed yours hungrily, coaxing your tongue into his mouth to suck on.  If he minded the salty taste of his precum on your lips, he didn’t say anything.  Just like you didn’t say anything about the taste of yourself on his tongue.  
“If I don’t fuck you right this instant, I may die.”  Minho murmured against your lips.
“How do you want me, my love?”  
“Naked.”
Minho clawed at your nightdress and pulled it over your head.  The flimsy fabric joined the pile on the floor.  The air hit your exposed chest and your nipples perked immediately.  His hands came to gently cup your breasts and he kneaded them slowly.  His thumbs gently traced matching circles around your nipples and pleasure sparked through you with every touch.  You arched your back, pushing your chest into his hands more.  Minho grinned mischievously before he leaned up and closed his lips around one of your hardened buds.
“Oh!”  You gasped as his tongue circled your nipple.  His teeth caught on the sensitive peak and you moaned and threw your head back.  “Minho!”
“Yes, angel, tell me who’s making you feel good.”  Minho whispered as he moved his mouth to your other breast and latched on.  He sucked and swirled his tongue on your nipple like he would die tomorrow and the only thing that could save him was you and the essence you could promise him.  “Just imagine these beautiful works of art filled with milk for our baby, hm?” 
“Yes,”  The thought of bearing his child sent another wave of arousal through you.  Though you knew it would never happen, you decided to let him play into the fantasy.
“My angel, you would look so beautiful.  Giving our baby life, giving me life.”  Minho sucked harshly on your nipple and switched one last time to the other side.  “I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from tasting you every day.”  
“Minho!”  You moaned when he lightly bit down on your swollen nub. 
“Good girl.”  Minho pulled away with a quiet pop and blew onto your damp skin.  The cold stream of air on your wet breast made you shiver.  “Lay down.  I want to see your face when I enter you.”
You scrambled onto your back, your hands hastily brushing your hair out of your face as Minho crawled over you.  As natural as opening your eyes in the morning, you opened your legs for him.  He smiled as he settled between your thighs.  His cock brushed your inner thigh and you both shuddered at the contact.  He buried his head into your neck and sighed.  He breathed you in, kissing your skin deeply.  
“Minho, please.”  You urged, your hands finding purchase on his slim waist and pulling him closer to you.  Your core ached, wet and empty.  
“I’m going to make love to you now.  If you need me to stop, tell me and I will.”  Minho rolled his hips into yours.  His cock slid through the wet lips of your pussy and caught on the hood of your clit.  
“I never want you to stop.”  
Minho moaned into your neck and kissed his way up to your lips.  He kissed you deeply, dipping your tongue into your mouth to drink in your moans.  One of his hands dipped between your bodies to grasp his cock.  He ran the tip through your soaked pussy, pushing it against your clit to illicit moans and gasps from you.  Each pass made your hole even more soaked and empty.  
“Angel, you feel so good.”
“Put it in.”  You whined. 
Minho pulled back from you just enough so that he could watch your face when he pushed into you.  The head breached your hole and you let out a keening moan.  Your hooded eyes watched his face contort into pleasure as he slowly inched inside of you.  His length caressed your walls as he sunk in, inch by glorious inch.  His eyes never left yours, even when he hit a dead end.  
He bottomed out, his thighs pressed firmly into yours.  You could have sworn the tip of his cock was hitting the back of your throat.  
“You look so beautiful when you’re full of my cock.”  Minho moaned.  His skin was tinted a rose color and the vein in his neck looked close to popping.  “You’re so tight, Angel, I could cum right now.”  
“So full,” you choked out, hardly able to form words around the stretch of him in your cunt.  
“Wanna fill you up even more, Angel.”  Minho buried his face in the crook of your neck again.  He rocked into you slowly, hardly even moving at all.  If he moved too much too fast he was worried that he would cum far too quickly.  Your tight heat choked his cock and coated him in your sweet wetness.  His slight movements in and out of you made your pussy squelch around him.  
“Move,”  You begged.
“I’m going to make you cum so hard.”  Minho promised. 
With that, he pulled his hips back until just his head remained sheathed by your walls.  Then he pushed forwards with all the force he could muster and your combined moans were like music.  Your cunt clamped onto his cock as he fucked you with earnest.  He rolled his hips into yours slowly but with so much force behind them that you were sure you’d be sore tomorrow. 
Tonight, you couldn’t care less. 
You rolled your hips up to meet every thrust.  Minho’s precise thrusts rubbed against all of the perfect spots inside of you.  His girth stretched you wide and you wondered how it was possible that there would be enough room inside of you for his cum.  
Minho wasn’t faring with that thought any better.  Your tight cunt gripped him like a vice.  Every time he entered you, you clenched so tightly that he was worried that every thrust might be his last.  The last time he fucked you, things had gone by quickly and he hadn’t had the time to really feel you.  This time, he was careful with his thrusts so he could feel every inch of your slick walls around his aching cock.  Your walls clenched and clamped onto him.
“Angel, you feel so good,”  Minho moaned, leaning down to suck a mark into your neck, “I don’t think I’ll last.”
“Me either.”
You were surprised with how quickly the pleasure mounted within you.  Your core ached like before, but this wasn’t a quick fuck like in the rose garden.  Minho was making sure that you could feel every single inch of him and that he could feel every ridge and bump of your walls. 
When he fucked you behind the rose bushes it was quick and rushed.  He’d pounded into you like he was going to die if he didn’t.  The orgasm he’d coaxed you through was powerful and quick. 
This, however, was the exact opposite of that.  Each movement was slow and calculated.  Each deliberate roll of his hips made you shudder with pleasure.  It was like he was trying to get his entire cock into you with every thrust while also taking the time to feel every inch.  
“Faster,”  you choked out.
“Want to feel you, angel.”  Minho grunted, “Want to feel you cum on my cock.  Can you do that?” 
“I-it’s too much-”  you choked after a particularly brutal thrust.
“Come on, love, I know you can do it.”
Minho’s hands trailed down your body, to your legs, to hook under the back of your knees.  He hiked your legs up until you had your ankles hooked behind his back.  This gave him a new angle to thrust into you.  His pubic bone grazed deliciously against your clit with every pass.  You were certain that you would lose consciousness at any moment.
“I can’t.”  You sighed out.
“It’s okay, angel.  Just relax and let me take care of you.”  Minho urged.
Only moments later, the string in your tummy pulled taut.  You moaned softly into his neck as he delivered each of his perfect thrusts.  Your back arched off the bed and you pushed your hips up to meet his.  This created the most beautiful and intense pressure in your cunt.  
“You’re squeezing me so tight!  Are you about to come?”  Minho moaned into your ear and you nodded.  “Good girl, let me feel it.”
It was like your body waited for his command.  Your orgasm crashed over you and you couldn’t stop yourself from throwing your head back and letting out the loudest moan of the night.  Minho continued fucking you through it, chanting words of praise into your ear.  Your cunt squeezed the dear life out of him and he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last.  You tightened your legs around him in order to keep him inside you. 
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere,” He promised, “I’m going to come inside of you, mark you as mine so you keep a piece of me with you wherever you go.”
“Yes,” You moaned out, still shaking through your powerful orgasm.  
It was all the confirmation he needed to bury himself as deep inside you as he could to release.  The warm sensation of cum filling you up spread through your belly.  Your pussy spasmed around his length, milking him for every single drop.  He thrusted into you shallowly a few times until he was completely empty.  
Finally, your legs dropped from around his waist and he took that as a sign to carefully pull out of your spent hole.  Minho sat up on his knees to watch as his softening cock left your tight hole.  His cock was coated with your slick and shone in the low light from the fireplace.  
He collapsed on the bed next to you and wasted no time in pulling you into him.  Minho held you tightly, neither of you minding the tacky stick of your sweat-slicked skin.  You clung to him as well, burying your face into his neck.  Together, you came down from your highs, breathing hard and holding one another tight. 
“Please stay.”  Minho whispered into your hair, “I won’t command it, but will you please stay with me until dawn?”
“Yes, Minho.  I promise, I’ll stay.”
~!~!~!~!~!~
THE CALL OF the rooster roused you from your sleep well before you were ready.  Your eyes peeled open and the sun had barely even kissed the horizon.  You sighed and pushed the blankets away and sat up.  You glanced up at the pink silk nightgown that hung from your door.  Lady Joy refused to let you give it back, but you couldn’t bear to wear it again.
Gone were the fine silks and wools of the Prince’s palace bedroom.  Here to stay were your maids quarters with its scratchy sheets and windows that you could never quite get clean.  You gently lifted your hand to touch your lips.  Those very lips had touched the Prince’s months ago.  
Slipping out of bed that morning had nearly gutted you, but you redressed in your lady’s silk gown and returned to her quarters.  All before the prince even awoke.  
Eons ago.  The ball and the roses and the gowns were eons ago.  So why did you still feel his touch on your skin?  Why could you still hear the orchestra playing the waltz that your prince whisked you away to?  
You were thankful that his wedding bells hadn’t rung on your day off for the month.  Lady Joy attended the ceremony but left you at home with a long list of chores to complete.  Most of them were mindless busywork but she knew to keep you distracted.  
Since the ceremony, life simply returned to normal.  Your daily tasks resumed and you cared for your lady to the best of your ability.  Which, as of late, was not much.  Lady Joy did her best to be accommodating, which you were more than thankful for. You just wanted to get back to work.  You had a feeling that the grace she was giving you was beginning to frustrate her mother.  
You forced yourself out of bed and you quickly dressed.  You swallowed down the wave of nausea that climbed up your throat and made your way to Lady Joy’s chambers.  The curtains were drawn and the embers of a fire crackled in the fireplace.  Lady Joy was curled up in the center of the bed, fast asleep.  Her light snores provided some white noise as you rekindled the fire and prepared her vanity for her morning routine.  
Eventually, you flung open the curtains and the warm light from the sun streamed into the room.  You sighed as it hit your skin, basking in the warmth for a few moments.  Joy groaned behind you and shoved her head under her pillow. 
“Rise and shine, my Lady.  You have many duties to attend to today.”  You chided her. 
“Like what?”  Joy groaned, muffled by the pillow.
“There is a tea party this afternoon.  Duchess Loh is hosting and is expecting your attendance.  Then Lady Mina is requesting your presence at dinner this evening.”  You explained, moving from the drapes to the closet.  You threw open the doors and perused the gowns available for the day.  You were admittedly a little behind in your laundry.
“I think we should cancel.”  Joy groaned, “I’m feeling quite ill today.”
“Ill?  Are you alright?”  You retreated from the closet to sit on the edge of her bed.
“My stomach is turning.  I’ve been feeling ill for several days.”  Joy gently rubbed her stomach.  “It usually passes in the evening but perhaps dinner disagreed with me?”
“For the last several days?  That sounds quite serious.  Perhaps I should call for the doctor?”  You cleared your throat, wondering if you should tell her that you’d been feeling the exact same way. 
“Perhaps it is simply the pain of my courses.  I’m supposed to bleed soon, right?”  Joy finally pulled her face from the pillow and sat up. 
“Have you not begun yet?”
“No…”  Joy trailed off.  “Oh, lord have mercy.  The ball was three months ago now, right?”
“I suppose so.  Oh no…”  You trailed off, “My Lady, what happened when I left for the Prince’s chambers?”
“I… made a promise not to say a word.”  Joy chewed on her lower lip, “Sir Peter came to find me.  We had such a stimulating conversation and he wanted to continue it.  It was an accident, but we touched and…”
“Lady Joy!”  You gasped, covering your mouth with your hands, “Why has he not come to call?”
“He’s from Rome, like our princess.  He left the next morning.”  Joy wailed, a dam breaking within her and her tears flowed down her cheeks.  “Dear Y/N, I am so sorry I didn’t tell you!  I thought you wouldn’t want to hear it after everything with the prince and-”
“You need not apologize to me, my Lady.”  You took her in your arms and patted her hair while she cried for a few minutes,  “I know it must be so difficult to be without him.”
“It feels like my heart has been torn from my chest!” 
“My Lady, please let me fetch the doctor.  If you are with child then we must know.  While he’s here, I think he should see me, too.”  You winced as you spoke.
Lady Joy pulled away from you instantly, her eyes as wide as saucers.  Her eyes dipped from your face down to your stomach.  You chewed on your lip, wondering if it was seriously possible that both of you were with child at the same time.  You hadn’t experienced the nausea that most women report but you noted that your courses were late last month, and certain smells that once pleased you were now nauseating.  
“Would that mean that…”  Joy trailed off. 
“I believe so, miss.”
“Fetch the doctor.”  Joy scrambled out of bed and threw the drapes closed.  “And… fetch mother.  I fear we will need to retire to the countryside for the rest of the season.”
Your hand drifted to your stomach, now churning with fear.  You met Joy’s eyes and for a moment.  Anxiety swirled between you as the consequences of your actions hovered over your shoulders.  
For a moment, both you and Joy remained still.  
Then, you did what you do best.  You rose to your feet and walked head-first into your duties and your future.  Without your prince.
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everythingne · 6 months
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one to two (teaser, ls2)
Your father, the President of The United States, has decided the only way to keep you ‘tame’ is up have you married off… to a Formula One driver..?
logan sargeant x first daughter!reader, smau and short fic
tws: arranged marriage, nothing else really? if you'd like to be added to the tag list for this short series, please let me know by commenting on this post or sending me a message!
fc: laura lind (and random other pinterest found photos)
-
“He’s a wonderful guy,” your father sighs at your obvious distaste, “I wouldn’t have agreed to this if I thought he was going to be bad for you, you know.”
“You didn’t even ask me, what if I had a boyfriend!”
“You didn’t.” Your brother says after a sip of his champagne, “and, if you did, Dad would’ve just had you marry the guy you were dating.”
“If he passed the dad test.” you complain, making your brother laugh while your father just rolls his eyes. You don’t have time to say anything else because he’s standing up to greet James Vowles, the team principal, and you follow suit.
"So this is the woman Logan's been keeping a secret?" James grins and you realize, yeah, okay now it's time to act.
"Sorry he kept you in the dark for so long, Mr. Vowles!" You smile, glancing over James' shoulder as you speak to see who can only be Logan approaching, "Logan does speak very highly of you."
"As he does you." James nods, stepping back to allow you to happily pull Logan in for a hug. None of this is rehearsed. None of this is planned. Logan's arms slot naturally around yours life he was sculpted from the same marble, and your head fits perfectly under his chin. When you both step back, you let out of a soft giggle with flushed cheeks and try to not see the obvious overjoyed expression on your fathers face.
-
Logan's drivers room is neat, tidy, but small. He lets you take up the somewhat comfy couch while he pulls his fireproof over his head with his back to you. You both have sat in silence for the past five minutes, your parents whisking you off to the 'comfort' of Logan's room so you both could bond.
"So." Logan turns around once he's fully changed, and you try your hardest to make sure your eyes don't wander because god damnit did those fireproofs have to be so tight?
"So?" You echo with a tad more curiousity in your tone and Logan pops down next to you.
"I was told we need to have a consistent story to not get caught." His eyes meet yours breifly before he's looking away, almost bashfully as his hand comes to toy with his hair, "but I have no idea what that should be."
"You were born in Fort Lauderdale, right?" You ask, and when Logan nods you grin, "Alright, here it is, we were neighbors growing up. Your brother and my brother were really good friends, since I think they're the same age? We tagged along with the older brothers. When you moved we lost contact, but, when you started racing in Formula I got in contact with you via Instagram and the rest is history."
"Childhood best friends seems American enough," Logan grins and a laugh barks out of you that you arent expecting.
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the-travelling-witch · 2 months
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𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐬
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Riddle :: Wrath
A tiny spark is all it takes to ignite a fire that burns blindingly bright. If they won’t respect you and the rules on their own, you’ll just have to make them listen. After all, your wrath is justified, you are in the right here. It’s not you who is blinded, it’s everyone else who just can’t see.
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Leona :: Sloth
Work smart not hard. Or don’t work at all; let someone else do the heavy lifting to get their hands dirty. And why not? After all, lazing around in the sun is what you deserve after being the brain behind this whole operation. There’s really no need to exert yourself when someone else can get it done too. Being awake, being asleep, what difference does it make? Why put in the effort when you will always be second best anyway?
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Azul :: Greed
What’s so wrong with wanting it all? And who cares if you’ll ever find use for any of it, it’s more important that you could. Whether it’s money, knowledge or power, more is better and your desire to have more of it is valid. Avarice and success are two sides of the same coin and it’s golden gleam is oh so enticing.
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Kalim :: Lust
Don’t think too hard about what pains you, just close your eyes and focus on what makes you happy. It’s so much easier than plaguing yourself with arduous topics such as betrayal and intrigues. It’s okay if the world is burning as long as it’s at your fingertips, so just indulge a little. Ignorance is bliss and bliss is what makes life fun, right?
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Vil :: Gluttony
Never satisfied, never sated, you crave improvement the same way a starving man craves food and water. When you finally achieve something you have meticulously worked towards, there is no time to rest on your laurels, your eyes are already fixed on a new way to make yourself better, more beautiful, all in a never ending hunger for unreachable perfection. Would you be satisfied with being the fairest one of all?
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Idia :: Envy
Sure, you’ve had some achievements in the fields you’re interested in but what else do you have going for yourself, nerd? This one remarkable trait aside, who’d be impressed by the rest of you? And it’s oh so easy too, to compare yourself with the people around you and the people you see online, only to find that you just don’t measure up. You’re envious of the people with normal lives, who get to choose what they want to do, who aren’t stuck and who easily fit in. Maybe you’re even envious of your past, where everything was still alright and within reach.
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Malleus :: Pride
Being proud isn’t wrong, is it? Surely, everyone would feel that way if they were you. Just look at what you can effortlessly achieve, whereas others struggle so much with it. But you realise maybe too late that pride is often accompanied by solitude. After all, you don’t need anyone by your side, so why would anyone be willing to stand there? At the end of it all, you are too proud to lose to someone and too lonely to lose someone.
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Yuu :: The Deadliest Sin
You know you’re doing it again. You just can't stop, can you? Sitting hunched over like an invertebrate when you really should know better. Have you eaten anything yet, drank enough water? Seen the sun, taken a walk and gotten enough sleep? I thought so. The time will come where you must answer for your sins, so don’t add to the tally.
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© the-travelling-witch 2024 - do not repost, translate, copy or edit
if you like my content, reblogs, comments and asks are always much appreciated (also, yes, there will be second parts for the characters) ♡
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twisted wonderland masterlist || join my twst discord server :]
➺ send in an ask to be added to or removed from my tag list
twisted wonderland: @savanaclaw1996 @honehbee42
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The Token Human - part 1
So that Welcome Home ARG eh? Eh? You know it right, my followers? You should look into it some, it looks like it's shaping up to be something really, really good.
Anyway I'm a sucker for well-made evil children's characters in horror media so I tried to capture the ✨vibes ✨. I don't feel I succeeded, but oh well. Part 1 of a possible series? We'll see.
Reader [gender not stated] pov CW: Body horror, eye horror, size horror[?], creepy puppets, memory alteration, whump? ask to tag Part 2
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Nobody else in Home was quite like you. But nobody in Home was quite like anyone else, either! Everyone was different, and unique, and special! That's what Wally told you when you first moved in. And he was right, like he always was. 
But still. Nobody was quite like you. Nobody had hair like yours, on your head, on your arms and legs. Nobody had skin like yours, soft and squishy in a different way than everyone else. Nobody had eyes like yours or ears like yours.
Nobody had hands like yours. And you noticed that right away the first time you held hands with them in a game. You had five fingers total. They had four.
You were pretty sure you were human. Julie was human too, but… a different kind of human, you were pretty sure of that, too. Really, everyone just seemed to be… them. Frank was Frank and Howdy was Howdy, Eddie and Julie and Poppy and Sally and Barnaby were all themselves too.
And Wally…
Wally was your best friend.
That's why when he invited you to his Home, to prepare a surprise party, you jumped right at it. You were always up for a party! You were too big for most of the games they played but you could put up the decorations and light the candles on the cake and clean the hard to reach spots your friends couldn't! You were a perfect fit in Home-
Wally called your name.
"Be careful!"
Bit late for that. In your little thought train you stepped back and right off the little ladder you'd been standing on to clean. It wasn't a bad fall, the step ladder was built for your friends after all. No, it just knocked the air out of you. But it reminded you of something else.
Your friends… didn't really seem to feel pain.
"I'm okay!" You called out as the air returned to you.
Wally had been standing nearby with one hand over his mouth, but lowered it slowly. His smile returned, and he laughed.
"Silly, silly," he said between the distinctive sound of his amusement. "You were thinking too hard!"
Yeah, you were. You laughed with him and sat up. He stood over you now, his soft little hands helping you stand. 
"What were you thinking about?" He asked. "Was it the party?"
You hummed, backtracking your thoughts. What had you been thinking about, really? What set that train of thought rolling…? 
"I think I'm forgetting something again," you said, looking at him.
Wally tilted his head to the side.
"Silly," he said. "You're always forgetting things. What is it this time?"
"I don't know!" You said, smiling. "If I knew, I wouldn't have forgotten it, would I?"
You both laughed, but yours faded sooner than his. Your smile fell. What had you forgotten?
A door creaked and swung open. You and Wally turned towards the sound.
"Maybe," Wally said, "you forgot to eat. Let's go in the kitchen!"
"Okay!" You couldn't remember anything else you could've forgotten so into the kitchen with him you went. 
It was a nice little kitchen, though Wally never seemed to use it much unless you were here. He didn't like anyone seeing him eat. In fact, other than apples, you didn't know what he liked to eat at all. He liked sweets, you knew that much…
As you looked down at the colorful kitchen table, you frowned. You didn't feel hungry, now that you thought about it. You couldn't remember the last time you ate but it didn't seem that long ago. 
Maybe, you thought, running your hand over a scratch on the table, Wally was the hungry one but didn't want to say it. That didn't seem like him though, he was so open and sincere…
Your hand ran over and over the scratch. 
"Hey Wally?" You asked. "What happened to your table?"
Everything seemed quiet.
You lifted your eyes up towards the wall. The quiet stretched on and on. 
You had forgotten something. You had. You knew you had. It was close to you, slipping away from you like dangling strings every time you reached towards it.
It was close to you. Right there. So important. 
What did you forget?
"Wally?"
You looked over your shoulder.
You looked up at him.
Your stomach dropped. With a gasp, you stumbled backwards, away, your eyes wide as you looked at him. Looked up at him.
Wally once proudly told you he was twelve apples tall. You, uh, weren't. You were taller than him by a lot. But now he was tall, taller than you, looking down at you.
He tilted his head.
"Is something wrong, friend?" He said. "You don't look well. Maybe you should… sit down…"
"Wally," you said. "What happened to you?"
His mouth curled up, and your gut churned. That kind of smile didn't fit on Wally's face. That kind of smile shouldn't be possible on his face. He was a puppet - 
A puppet? What was a puppet?
Wally laughed. It shook his shoulders, every syllable moving them in a rhythm. As if string moved his shoulders, but he wasn't that kind of puppet so he couldn't-
What was a puppet?
He tilted his head the other way. Jerked it, really. 
"You're thinking too loud, friend." He jerked his head to the other side. "What do you mean, what's a puppet?" He laughed, ha ha ha. "Silly, silly, silly. That's you. You're my puppet."
His pupils went wide, and it was horrible how familiar it was, the feeling of teeth clenching down on - not your skin not your flesh not your head or your arms or any part of you.
You were. So tired. Like the energy poured out of you into a tiny drain.
My fear, you thought, he's eating my fear.
When he stepped towards you, you heard the click of his shoes on the kitchen tile. Had you ever heard that before? Your mind spun, you stepped away from him again.
"Don't-" you started.
Your name comes from his mouth in a tone you've never heard before.
"I won't," he said. "If you promise to stay."
And you knew exactly what he meant. And you knew you would do anything you had to, so you could go home.
You ran for the door.
It slammed shut.
The handle was meant for puppet hands, not human ones. Your legs gave out from under you as you scrambled with it, nails scratching the wood behind it as you tried to open it. Behind you his footsteps clicked, clicked, clicked towards you.
He said your name again, so sweet, so hungry.
"You don't really want to leave," he said. "I don't believe that at all. I know how much you love it here. We'd all miss you so much."
His arm reached out. His hand, with four fingers, took your wrist and pulled it away from the door. You shook your head, your throat wouldn't make a sound.
"Hey now," he whispered. "No more mysteries this time, okay? Don't go digging into things you don't understand. And everything will be fine."
You felt the teeth again, biting chunks into your mind. The panic. The fear. The dread. Gone, gone, gone. 
My memories - you thought. He's going to eat my memories, too. He's going to eat my memories and put me back at square one. I was so close. I was almost-
You took a deep breath and groaned. Your eyes opened to a strange place, one you didn't recognize for a moment or two. The evening sun streamed in through a window, onto the couch you laid on. You groaned again and covered your eyes with your arm.
"Where am I?"
A familiar voice called from another room. You lifted up your arm, and smiled. Of course. You were at Wally's Home.
"What happened?" You asked.
"You fell off the ladder!" Wally said. "You must've been thinking too hard again. You think too much, I think."
You laughed a bit. "Maybe I do. Falling off a ladder? That's a bad time to get distracted."
You frowned. Wally watched for a moment.
"Did you forget something again?" He said 
You sat up fully with the realization.
"The games!" You cried. "I left the games for the party at my house!"
Wally laughed. Was it just your imagination or did it seem… relieved almost?
"You can get them tomorrow," he said. "It's getting dark. You should stay here for tonight. I don't want you to trip on anything."
You thought about it, frowning at the patchwork blanket draped over you.
It would definitely be bad if you tripped and hurt yourself in the dark, you thought. Wally was right, like he always was.
"Okay!" You said at last. "Thanks Wally." You smiled. "You're a good friend."
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