#ok its past my bed time goodnight

[lordiavolo]

to be like frank here, redemption is an ever going cycle. when youve been the problem, the toxic ex, the abuser, you have to know you will have to apologize for that for the rest of your life. you will always have to live with the guilt and conscience of knowing how you hurt that person, or mutliple people. and you have to constantly CHOOSE to not repeat that behavior, and its not easy.

when you meet a new friend the topic of who you used to be will come up eventually, and if you have changed youll be honest with who you were. you cant run from it. you cant try to round the corners and make it seem like the other persons fault, or like it wasnt as bad as it was. its really really scary. because everytime you open up about it, its not just the wound of guilt but its also the fear that theyre going to look inside and not like what theyll see.

but you have to keep moving on and you have to keep being honest. and you have to remember that everyone is applicaple for redemption, you just have to work for it and admitting you were wrong with no buts is the first step.

[aesthetixhoe]

warnings: cursing

CURRENTLY THINKING ABOUT sharing a bed with sam.

two rooms were always the standard when you would stay at hotels on a hunt. one room with two queens, and one room with a single bed for you. it's always worked. until now when the hotel receptionist told you she only had two rooms, both with only one king bed.

“well, hope you like sleeping on the floor, princess.” he smacks sam in the chest, sam rolling his eyes in response. “but seriously, who's bunking with who?”

“is that even a question? i am not listening to you snoring all night! i'll room with sam.” dean raises his eyebrows, but doesn't say anything.

“suit yourself. like i said, have fun on the floor.” he taps sam's shoulder before grabbing his key and walking to his room

once inside you both realize how small the bed is. “oh, king bed my ass.” you groan out, dropping your bag on said bed, and walking into the bathroom.

sam chuckles before saying, “it's fine, it'll be big enough for you, it's basically a queen.”

you peak your head out from the bathroom, “who said i'm sleeping alone?”

“uh, me?” sam retorts, snickering after.

“Uh, me?” You mock, walking out with your toothbrush in your mouth. “I don't care, we're sharing the bed, I'm not letting you sleep on the gross motel floor. You'll get a disease.”

sam raises his hands in a faux surrender, “hey, i won't complain.”

“but hey, if we're sharing a bed, i get first shower.” you tease as you grab a change of clothes from your duffle.

after your shower you walk back out to the bed, seeing sam on his stomach already passed out. you decide to stay up for a while longer, looking for a new case, but when you look over and see the alarm clock read 3:16 you decide it's time to sleep.

you try to sneak into the bed but pulling the covers up to get under them wakes sam.

he rolls over and smiles at you, dopey. “mornin’ sunshine.” you say with a southern twang.

“how long did i sleep for?” he questions as he props himself up on his elbow. you slid down to lay on your side facing him, pushed close by the lack of space of the bed.

“only two-ish hours.” you half smile at him. he nods slightly and lies back down. you're so close your knees are bumping each other's, and you can feel each other's breath. it's peaceful like this; the ambient hum of the air conditioner, the relief of solving a case, the only light being the lamppost light bleeding through the curtains.

you shuffle a bit, trying to find a sleep able position, your legs still bumping sam's, but not enough room to back up.

“you can... like, lay on me if you want. to give you more room.” you've never had a problem being close to him. until after he came back from college. something about him was different. something about you was different. you yearned to be close with him, but always too afraid to make a clear statement, and not just dropping hints.

you took a deep breath and scooted closer to him, your leg draped lazily across his thighs, and your head on his chest, where you could feel his heartbeat. the warmth of him. his arm wraps around your waist and it feels like you were made for this. made for him. “is this ok?” you ask softly, afraid that if you spoke too loud he would realize what he's doing and back out.

“yeah... it's nice.” he sighs softly. contently. you relax, feeling your body loosen once again.

your top arm moves out from its place, squished in between you and sam, and finds its way next to his. your fingers, so close. so close you would swear you feel electricity pasting between them. his hand inches closer to yours, his fingers laying on top of yours.

it's such a small gesture, holding hands, but in a way it means everything.

after a few minutes, and you being nearly asleep, his head tilts down to press his lips to your hair. “goodnight [y/n].”

“night sammy.” you whisper. finally feeling safe for the first time in years.

[bubbleebubz]

I can't handle change pt 1.5

SORTA SMUTT!!! FEM MASTERBATION SLIGHTLY, READER IS A VIRGIN AND HAS NO EXPIERIENCE!!

I'm awoken to a cold sensation between my legs, a cold water bottle slide off the blanket and between my thighs, its condensation giving me chills, making my nipples harden from the cold abrupt feeling, and a thing of strawberry yogurt. I look around, finding Spencer still next to me, where he was when I fell asleep, but now he too was in a light slumber, his head resting on the window next to him. I smile and see the damp sticky note on the yogurt. "Eat this, we don't need your lack of energy to ruin the case", it read. I roll my eyes. I stare at the strawberry yogurt in front of me for a minute, pushing my lack of appetite and craving for coffee aside and gobble the yogurt down and chug the water. "Good girl" I feel a breath in my ear causing me to jump, I whip my head over to look at him, just to see him with a shit eating grin but still 'sleeping'. I groan in irritation after feeling another weird sensation between my legs, clenching them together to relive the unknown tension.

"Spencer I know your awake, it wasn't a ghost." I whisper, looking around to see if anyone was still awake. But nope, they were all out like a light.

"We will be landing in 15 minutes" Spencer whispers again but this time does not attempt to fake sleep. I slap him out of fear. "Stop doing that" I whisper yell at him. He puts his hands up "it's not MY fault your so jumpy" He exclaims with a grin.

We get off the jet, in the middle of no where Texas.

"Ok team, because this town is so old and small, there is only one motel, meaning we will need to share rooms. So, Emily and JJ, Morgan and Garcia, Me and Rossi, leaving Y/N and Reid. " Hotch says, looking down at the notes he has taken. "What, Hotch you can't make me bunk with her" Spencer says, annoyance clear in his voice. "Yes I can, Reid, this is the pairing its always been, but Y/N is new, so you cant be in your own room any longer." Hotch says, brows furrowed. Spencer scoffs in annoyance grabbing the room key, before walking off and past me. "I get the bed closest to the door" He mumbles before I follow behind him. "Okie dokie, but I get the shower first" I say, not all to happy on the situation either.

We get to the room that thankfully has 2 beds, I set my go-bag down on the chair before grabbing my pajama's and bathroom products and entering the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.

"Locks broken, just my luck" I mumble before undressing and turning the shower on and turning the temperature up to the hottest setting due to the old pipes and the slow heating.

I wait impatiently for the water to heat up before getting in, letting the steaming water cascade down my body. A shudder leaves my body making me let out a sigh. My thoughts start racing to earlier. The strange sensation between my thighs returning. "Good girl" My brain plays in memory. I slip a hand between my thighs, exploring my parts. A moan leaving my lips at the new sensation. I rip my hand away in fear before finishing my shower in a rush and running out of the bathroom in my pajamas. "Hey, you ok? You were making some strange noises in there" Spencer asks, now in a pair of grey sweats and a black t shirt, he was laying on his bed reading a book. An un-noticeable bulge in his pants, but it was noticeable to her, everything was noticeable to her right now. Her eyes were glued as he stared at her, waiting an answer. He smirks, confused by how on edge she was.

"Y/N" He says, catching her attention. "yeah? hmm?" She asks, gazing back up to his eyes. "Are you okay? You were making noises in the shower" he says, still smirking.

"Oh yeah no, I mean ya, I'm good, just some new things, I don't know, s'all" She says, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

He just nods, letting her off the hook.

She lays down on her bed. "I'm going to bed now, goodnight Spencer" She says quickly.

She falls asleep, the wetness between her legs still evident.

[tomssexdoll]

I JSUT WANNA START BY SAYING I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

ok.

so ofc u don’t have to do it but it’s just an idea could you pretty pls do a fic with bill and f reader, and reader (idk how what to call it, sorry i’m so confusing) is not really used to showing love in any way, and isn’t used to being shown love, and for the first time she asks bill to cuddle after a rough day or whatever (up to you) and it’s just rlly rlly cute and stuff

SORRY ITS SO CONFUSING i just need more fluff bill😞

YESS

TYSM FOR THE LOVE IT MEANS SO MUCH YOURE AMAZING AND ILYSM AND ILY ILY ILY ILY MWAH

I had a really, really rough day today. Work was so busy, I was working a 12 hour shift at the hospital I work out. I'm a nurse so I deal with so much ever day.

I came home to see Bill waiting on the couch for me, wrapped in blankets ane watching his favourite show, his eyes lit up when he saw me and he ran to me, "hey baby!" he smiled, I groaned "not now honey..im so tired im sorry" I sighed and grabbed his hand, walking to the couch with him.

Me and Bill have been dating for 9 months and he knows I don't really show affection and that I'm not used to recieving love, in past relationships I was severley neglected and used and it scared me, driving me away from any affection at all.

But tonight was different, after being yelled at, puked on, peed on and slapped 2 times I just needed his touch, I yearned for his arms around me, stroking my hair and kissing me.

We did show some affection of course but it was mainly him.

I whined and looked up at him, "can we cuddle..please.." his eyes widened and his head snapped towards me, "oh..uh..of course baby let's go to bed first" he held my hand, leading me to the bedroom and helping me change into comfier clothes, his actions quick so I wouldn't change my mind.

We slipped into bed and he grabbed my waist, pulling me closer, gently stroking my cheek and kissing me softly. "Why the sudden change of heart liebe?" he whispered softly, looking down at me and smiling like an idiot.

"After being abused all day I just need your touch, I need to be in your arms and feel loved.." I buried my head in his chest, wrapping my arms around him tightly and feeling his heartbeat against my ear.

"Do you want to do this more often schatz? I mean if you like it, why not do it more often, hm?" he stroked my hair gently, I considered it, I loved the way his arms felt around me, it was like relief after so long of being mistreated.

"I think we should, I was just scared and had to face my fears I guess, I could spend hours like this" I smiled, he chuckled "me too, me too"

After laying in silence for a while, enjoying each others company and Bill giving me occasional kisses or back rubs, he whispered softly in my ear, "you're becoming sleepy schatz, let's go to bed" I nodded softly and slipped off his chest, turning around and backing into him, I felt his arms wrap around my frame and hold me close, kissing my neck softly before whispering a loving 'goodnight' to me.

I was too tired to even speak and just replied with a mumble, Bill chuckled and turned the lamp off, slowly falling asleep in each other embrace.

tags: @itsmealaiah @ballhair @ge-billsgf @estxkios @bkaulitzlover @itsangelll @cyberleathalz @charliesgoodboy @tomkaulitzloverr

[jackmanbj]

trick or treat!

summary: you and jack take your 2 year old to trick or treat but she gets more candy then you thought and you and jack get into an argument about if you need to take some away or not.

“you really to go baby?” your 2 year old daughter excitedly shook her head yes “ok baby how about you go get daddy and tell him to come on so we can go?” “ok mommy!”

sarija ran to the living room where she knew jack was to find him sitting on the sofa putting on his 550’s “daddy hurry!!” “mama wait please daddy has a headache” “oh no..” you daughter ran back to you “mommy daddy has headache? he ok?” “yes baby i’ll go check on him you wanna come?” she shook her head no while you walked over to jack.

“you ok baby?” “my fucking head hurts” “do you still want to go trick or treating with us?” “yea of course” “ok i’ll go get you some pain medicine stay put.”

you came back to jack talking to sarija while she was giggling “im back, now lets hurry this up so we can go hhm?” “yes mommy!!” jack took the medicine and sarija told jack yo bed down so she could kiss his head “feel better??” “yes princess thank you! you kisses always make me and mommy feel so much better!”

eventually you all had left the house and were on your way to your first house “now what do you say when you get the candy?” “thank you!” you gave your daughter a high five “good girl” at the first house jack went up to the door with her while you stated back at the driveway.

“trick or treat!!” “hi missy! what are you?!” “minnie mouse!” sarija put her hand over her mouth and giggled “ok well i have something extra special for you!” the house owner gave her a huge minnie mouse lollipop “thank you!” “of course!” jack and sarija started walking back to you.

“show mommy what you got princess!” “i not princess today! i minnie!” “ok minnie, show mommy what you got!” you daughter took out the huge lollipop and showed it to you “thats awesome! but baby you need to apologize to daddy, you yelled at him that could hurt his feelings baby, right?” “yes.. im sorry daddy” “thats ok bug.”

you were headed to the 8th house of the night, it was 9:30 and your feet were starting to hurt being as though your costume needed you to wear high heels.

“jack i think im gonna head home, you ok by yourself?” “yea mamas” “ok baby, come home when its to much candy, no going over the limit, im serious” “i got you baby”

you had made it back home and ended up playing some music while cleaning the kitchen, your bedroom, and sarija’s room, you took out sarija’s pajamas and placed them on top of her dresser while you headed back to your room to take a quick 10 minute shower thinking jack should be on his way back with half a bag full of candy.

after 45 minutes of you waiting jack walked through the door with a full bucket of candy and a smaller bag of candy.

“uhm thats way over her limit jack!” “baby its fineee, it’s halloween!” “yea mhm, we’re going to talk later” “fuck!” “JACKMAN!” “DADDY!” “WHAT??” “you said bad word!” “sorry princess, wont happen again!”

you started bringing your daughter to the bathroom and putting her into the bathtub and cleaning her off.

by the time you were done she was good and tired.

“mommy i sleepy..” “ok baby lets go to bed” you took her yo her room putting the clean pajamas on her you had laid out earlier, tucking her in and kissing her goodnight.

you walked out of the room to find jack sitting on the sofa scrolling on his phone.

“jackman bedroom now” you said walking past him, you head jack huff and get up.

“why would you let het get that much candy?” “baby its halloween, its not like were giving it to her all in one day.. its going to take her like 5 months to eat all that” “dont care, your missing my fucking point” “whats your point?” “if i were out there with yall the whole time you would have stopped halfway, you disrespected my wishes” “baby, j really dont see this as a big deal” “its not a big deal but j.. you just went against everything i made rules about, if you keep this up shes going to think whatever i say doesn’t matter, like what her monma says doesn’t matter because daddy said something else, if you would have called me and just simply asked me if you could stay out longer and get more candy i wouldn’t mind, yall had daddy daughter time but stop disrespecting me, understand?” “understand.”

you turned over laying on your pillow falling under the blanket as you felt jack come wrap his arms around you pulling you closer.

“goodnight mamas, your doing so good, great wife, even better mom. i love you” “goodnight baby boy, you doing better, you balanced your work like, made me and sarija your number one prioritys, amazing husband, amazing daddy. i love you.”

[creative-caramel-coffee]

Little Sick Part 2

Pairings: Weems x Thornhill x Reader (platonic)

Word count: 1.2K

Summary: Part 2 of the first chapter

TW: agere?, illness, fever

A/n I had a request for a part 2 of this on my A03 so here it is :) if anyone wants to request SFW age regression I am open to writing it. I will put up some rules about it soon though. Part 1

Weems was betting on the fact the rest of the school was in classes as she walked through the halls with you in her arms. Your head was resting under her chin, your stuffie being clutched by little hands to your chest which as pressed into the chest of the headmistress.

Once she found herself outside the door to her own office, she held you on her hip with one arm as she used the other to unlock the door. You watched with wide eyes and a little sniffle as she let herself in. She propped you up, adjusting you on her hip before walking in. She bypassed the office with you still in her arms and went into her own quarters. She rummaged around in her bathroom, setting you down on the counter as you watched and chewed on your fingers.

After a minute she found what she was looking for. She pulled out the thermometer and a bottle of kid's pain medicine she had bought on accident one time. She helped you off the counter and led you by the hand to her room.

She put down the things on her bedside before gently lifting you onto the bed and kneeling in front of you. She brushed a little blonde cure from your eyes.

“Hello darling.” She said and brushed the back of her fingers over your cheek. “We need to take that temperature of yours my sweet girl.” She said and pulled out the thermometer. You let out a scared whine, not wanting to be tested in any way shape or form after the torture of the facility.

“Sh sh shhh honey. Its ok. It doesn’t hurt. Look.” Weems said and put the stick in her own mouth. You watched curiously before nodding. Weems removed the stick from her mouth and wiping it clean.

“Say ahhh.” She said and you mimicked her.

“Ahhh.” And she stuck it under your tongue.

“Now hold it there until i say so. Ok?” She asked and you nodded diligently. “Good girl. Thank you.”

Weems pulled out the bottle of red pain medicine. It was a syrup, so she detached the little plunger from the side and drew up the right dose. By the time she was done the stick beeped and she pulled it out of your mouth which was quickly replaced by your thumb again.

“101.4” she muttered to herself, “far too hot.” Then she looked at you who was still watching her closely. “Alright sweet girl. I need you to be brave for me and take this magic medicine to make you feel better, ok?” She asked, holding up the plunger. You studied it and nodded.

“Ok.” You said softly and Weems smiled.

“Good girl.” She placed it in your mouth and pushed the plunger in, making sure not to leave any. After a second, she took it out and you swallowed and made a face.

“Yucky.”

“Im sure it was. But you were so good for me.” She said and ruffled your hair which made you grin at her. “Now. Let’s get you into bed for some cuddles. Does that sound ok?” Weems asked. She had noticed the way your eyes were drooping and the way your grip on your stuffie was looser and looser. She was smart enough to know a nap was imminent wether you wanted one or not.

You nodded with a sleepy yawn, and a fist rubbing at your eyes. Weems stood and walked over to the bed; she pulled back the white sheets she had put on yesterday. After a second, she spent cleaning up the bedside table she slipped in beside you. You curled into her side and wrapped a small arm over her waist. Weems put an arm around your shoulder and smiled. You nuzzled into her side with a little huff as you got comfortable and settled down. Weems traced little patterns on your leg as your breathing evened out slowly.

“Goodnight baby.” Weems said. She may not have had the chance or time in the past to have her own kids, but she vowed then and there to protect you with her life. You were a shapeshifter who had been through unthinkable things, and she wasn’t ever letting you go through things alone again.

A little while later, about an hour had passed and Weems knew she needed to wake you up soon or you wouldn’t sleep through the night. Gently rubbing your back, you sat up looking sleepy when weems heard a knock on the door. Only one other person had the keys to her office and that was Marilyn. Oh god, they were supposed to go and get coffee after her classes were over.

Weems stood, picking you up and placing you on her hip. You curled into her and sucked on your thumb, the white stuffie under your arm.

Weems opened the door. Marilyn wasn’t looking at her yet as she began talking.

“Larissa, I have had- … oh.” Marilyn froze. “I didn’t know you had kids' lars?” She said looking at you as you had turned your face into Weems neck to hide.

“I-I … she’s not my kid.” Weems began. “Say hi Y/n.” She said trying to coax you out from your hiding spot. Marilyn’s face dropped.

“Y/n? As in L/n?” She whispered and Weems nodded. “Is … is she ok? I knew she’d been through a lot, but I didn’t realise it was this…” she trailed off and weems grew defensive.

“Bad?” She supplied coldly.

“Yes. No. Sorry. I- I don’t know what to say.” Thornhill said, flustered and not knowing what to do she pushed her glasses up. At that moment you turned your face from Larissa’s neck to look at the botanist who simply melted when she saw you.

“She’s certainly a cutie.” Thornhill said and waved. “Hello Y/n/n.” She cooed and you gave a shy smile and hid behind your stuffie making both teachers coo softly.

It was at this moment your stomach growled.

“Food?” You asked and Weems nodded. “Good idea bubs.” She said and walked into the kitchen motioning for Marilyn to follow.

“Bubs?” She questioned and Weems shot her a look.

“Shes growing on me.” Weems said and turned to you. “Aren’t you sweetie.” She said and pressed a kiss to your forehead.”

You nodded. “La La.”

“Whats that sweetie?” Weems said as she looked through the cupboards for a plastic cup.

“La la.” You repeated and Marilyn laughed.

“I think she’s trying to say Larissa.” She laughed and Weems blushed and looked down at you as you hid behind your hands.

She gently removed them. “Can you say lars baby girl?” She asked softly.

“Wars” you lisped, and Weems melted.

“Close enough.” She said and poured you some juice and cut up some strawberries.

“Can you say Marilyn?” Thornhill asked as weems sat you in her lap and began feeding you strawberries. You banged a chubby hand on the table and smiled.

“Mary.” You smiled and she laughed.

“Close enough.”

“Don’t talk with your mouthful baby.” Weems said and wiped some strawberry off your chin.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out with the two women and their various snacks.

[crackedpumpkin]

1. GO TO SLEEP I SEE YOU 👁️

2. remember how i said i was gonna request… i forgot and finished my crochet. its a bag now, my brain was too big for the “beanie”

3. THE REQUEST. ITS PINNED IN OUT DMS BUT I’LL COPY PASTE IT HERE AS INSPO AND REFERENCE

y/n knows the guys and casey made a bet that he could get a partner faster then raph (pre mona) and hes (casey) is like ‘fake date me to win a bet, i’ll split the money with you’ but raph made the bet so casey could (FINALLY) get with y/n

and then you added something but i’ll leave that for you to write in, IF IT IS THE PATH YOU CHOOSE TO TRED DOWN.

ok well, thanks, rhonda says goodnight, I SAY GOODNIGHT.

NOW GO TO SLEEP >:(

a/n: Stinky boi for a stinky bitch /jk /love you

also, the way i legit went to bed after seeing No.1 LMAO <333 Also, I've already said this but I'm incredibly proud of you for finishing the pouch :DDDDD it looks gorgeous, sweaty <3

|| ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴀ ʙᴇᴛ || 2ᴋ12! ᴄᴀꜱᴇʏ ᴊᴏɴᴇꜱ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ||

[ 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ]

“How you doin', sweetheart?” 

You turn with a roll of your eyes, already fed up with the familiar voice of Casey Jones constantly teasing you. If not for the slight glimmer of affection you felt for him, you’d have pummelled him to the ground by now.

The cocky boy leans against your locker with a casual grin, holding his hockey stick in one hand while the other props him up. You raise a brow, leaning against the cold metal of your locker door. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” You ask sarcastically, scanning his usual bruised arms and scattered bandaids that litter his face. He clears his throat, eyes darting around to see if anyone else is close enough to hear.

“So, you know that bet Raph and I made a while back?” 

“Uh huh,” You reply dubiously, already not liking how this conversation is going. Casey nibbles on his bottom lip in thought, conflicting emotions on his face as he decides whether or not to tell you what’s on his mind.

“Spit it out, Jones.” You sigh, crossing your arms.

“Well, I was thinking. It’s kinda reaching the end of the deadline for that bet, and maybe we could, like, fake date or something? Just to get the money from Raph. I’ll split it with you, of course!” He offers.

You’re taken aback, eyes wide as you slam shut your locker door. “What?” The disbelief in your voice is apparent, the forceful shut of your locker door causing the others next to it to rattle. Casey loses his balance, almost falling if not steadying himself in time. 

“Wait, y/n! I’m serious!” He cries out, grabbing your wrist tightly. You flinch, ripping it out of his grasp with a doubtful stare. He begins walking alongside you, trying his best to convince you with honey-coated words.

“Look, it’s a serious amount of money. He bet fifty bucks! Imagine the looks on their faces when we show up together. Raph would freak!” He points out, noticing the ghost of a smile on your lips. He tries harder, knowing that you’d fall for his bait. Hook, line, and sinker.

“Plus, you could get back at them for making fun of that date.”

You pause, your footsteps slowing to a halt. That did sound rather appealing. Besides, what could go wrong? It’s just a fake relationship, and you’d score an easy twenty-five bucks on the side. 

You sigh, shoulders sagging in defeat as you nod with a weary smile. “Fine.”

— — — — — — — — —

“Okay, we gotta make this believable.” 

You eye his hand with thinly veiled reluctance, only to accept it and walk into the lair with your best lovey-dovey act. Casey all but drags you to Raph, and you can barely disguise your eye roll as batting your lashes at your fake boyfriend. 

Could this boy be any more obvious?

Raph lets out a low whistle when he spots your entwined hands. You look straight at him with a confident gaze, raising a brow as you silently challenge him to say anything.

He raises his hands in mock surrender, closing his comic book. 

“When did this- How did this- Don’t you two hate each other??” Donnie gestures to your linked hands with a baffled expression. Maybe he’s just seeing things. He rubs his eyes, blinking rapidly as he processes that what he sees is real.

Okay, so maybe he’s not seeing things.

Even still, this is you and Casey. The both of you that’re constantly at each other’s throats fighting every other day, while the days you don’t are thin ice. 

“I don’t believe you.” Leo crosses his arms with a smug smile, waiting for the both of you to admit that it’s all just a prank.

“I dunno, guys, sweetheart and I here are tight! She asked me out first, too.” Casey tugs you closer with your linked hands, his free hand propped on his hip as if daring them to challenge his clearly believable story. 

“Then prove it. Kiss her, or are you two, not a couple? As in, a couple of liars.” Raph snickers, Mikey chuckling at the pun.

You’re taken aback by Raph’s taunt, eyes darting between Jones and Raph. Your hand starts to grow clammy, and you want to rip it away from Casey’s gentle grip. However, his fingers squeeze your hand in an assured gesture as if he’s saying, It’s Okay.

“Well, get ready to eat your words.”

“Wait-”

Before you can finish your protest, Casey’s lips are on yours. They move against your frozen ones with such tenderness, and you’re too stunned to speak. However, your wide eyes slowly close the longer he kisses you, his fingers threading through your hair and leaving a trail of fire across the skin of your neck. 

Your eyes slowly slide shut, starting to kiss back though every fibre in your being screams otherwise. Your hands are on his shoulders, moving closer and linking them behind his neck. 

Casey's lips are warm, tugged up into that cocky smile of his you hate so desperately. You hate how you knew every trace of his skin, his stupid face seared into your memory. Even now, he’s probably not taking this seriously.

He’s so annoying, you think, automatically frowning slightly as he pulls away. You’re panting softly, watching his glazed eyes struggle to register your pink lips. You bite down on your bottom lip, your gaze flickering from his dazed eyes down to his lips.

It’s almost instinct, the way you tug him back in for another kiss with a renewed ferocity that rivals your hatred for the overconfident, carefree boy. He’s surprised, words dying in his chest as you squeeze your eyes shut. He can’t help but smile at your cute bravery, holding you a little closer than before.

Maybe a little longer, too.

Whoops and cheers snap you out of whatever had possessed you, pulling away with hazy eyes and flushed cheeks. You’re breathless, lips swollen before your cheeks bloom with a bright red that rivals Raph’s mask, realizing that you have essentially just made out with your fake boyfriend in front of a crowd. 

Leo has his hands over his eyes, Donnie shielding his and Mikey’s vision from being permanently scarred. On the other hand, Raph eyes you both with an equally disgusted yet impressed gaze. If he had caught on to Casey’s and your ruse, he certainly didn’t show it.

He pulls out a fifty from the pages of his comic book, handing it to Casey, who accepts with a smirk, your eyes automatically following his plump lips from when you had practically sucked each other’s faces off. 

You’re mortified.

You all but rip your hand out of Casey’s, clearing your throat and rubbing your arms. “I gotta go study at home,” You lie, plastering a fake smile on your face. Raph just shrugs, everyone else groaning and encouraging you to leave. 

Casey watches you go with a hint of forlorn in his eyes and heads to the dojo, only to be stopped by Raph’s hand on his chest. “Go after her, stupid.” The turtle scoffs, pushing Casey toward the direction that you’ve just left.

“Wha-”

“You’re a bad actor. And so is she. The kiss wasn’t fake, dummy. I know that much. Now go, and since I’m so nice, I’ll let you keep the fifty for your first date.” 

Casey glances down at the fifty dollar note in his hands, crumpling it and pressing it against Raph’s plastron before turning and running in the direction you’ve just left in.

It’s a while before you hear the footsteps splashing in the cold tunnels, hesitating. You turn your head to see Casey approaching you, heart doing a funny flip in your chest. You grit your teeth, shaking your head. 

No. This isn’t happening. This definitely isn’t happening.

“It was just a bet, Casey.”

“Yeah, I-I mean, no! Not anymore…” He rubs the back of his neck, barely able to look you in the eyes. 

“That’s all it was,” You deny, stepping back from him. He takes another step forward, the both of you caught in a cat-and-mouse game with him gradually cornering you. Your back hits the wall, breath hitching in your chest when he’s right in front of you. 

You can’t look up; you don’t dare meet his gaze. Your hair falls around you, acting as a shield for you to hide behind. However, coarse fingers cup your chin, lifting it up so that you’re now looking straight at him. 

Your cheeks are dusted with pink, eyes stinging with unshed tears. 

Casey wants to kiss you again. Instead, he takes a deep breath, his voice low as he admits what’s on his mind.

“It’s not a bet anymore.

Not to me.”

[crazy-fandom-madness]

Short little Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion) x Reader

It’s been a min since I’ve been in the MK fandom so sorry if this was OOC I tried the best I could with what I remembered enjoy

Summary: Hanzo’s past has never been a secret but he will stop at nothing to make sure you are warm at night

Words 700+

SFW/ Gender Neutral/ Little Angst/ Fluff/ Establish Relationship

It was no secret the Shirai Ryu Fire Garden was warm, no hot. It was quite nice to sit outside thought, sometimes watch Hanzo train. You would watch him for hours so fascinated. You often walked the gardens admiring the view as you walked about the garden sipping some tea. The sun was going down and you were sure he had to be done training for today, heading back. As you enter he was getting ready to rest, smiling you walk over and join him. “Busy day?” You knew the answer but still wanted to ask. “Of course but i manage my time well.” He said while opening a window to let some air in.Sure the garden was hot but at night it could get rather cold. “Maybe I should join you, I think it would do me good.” You could really use the meditation.

As you both lay down you go to cuddle him but stop, remembering that physical touch can be hard for him. After everything that happened to his wife and son, you understand and you will never push him to do something he isn’t comfortable with. “Goodnight Hanzo love you.” “Love you too, night.” You were able to sleep for a few hours before waking up shivering. You would get up to close to window but you were so cold, the blanket shielding you from freezing to death.Hanzo woke up noticing that you were shaking, thinking something was wrong he asked you. “Are you ok? Did you have a bad dream?” A hint of worry in his voice. “Oh uhh no sorry Hanzo, I didn’t mean to wake you I’m just cold that’s all.” Grabbing the blanket like your life depended on it.

He turned to face you and wrapped his arms around you. Hanzo has always been warm he is Scorpion so of course he would be warmer than anyone else. “Oh are you sure? I can get up and close the window I’ll be fine I don’t want to rush you.” Wanting to make sure he knew he didn’t want to do this knowing his history but he cut you off. “Please let me warm you up, I don’t mind at all.” He hugged you tighter letting with warm travel to your body. Letting you lean into his chest and smile, finally feeling the coldness leave your body. “Thank you Hanzo what would I ever do without you.” Giggling just a little as you look up to him. He places a small kiss on the top of your head. “Freeze to death.” He adds with a grin. “But I will never let that happen, not to you.” He closes his eyes and soon after you do too.

Sure dating Scorpion had its down sides but no matter how any you would always see the light at the end of the tunnel. When you wake up he’s already gone, training. As you start to wake up you notice how warm his said of the bed is. Without second thought you scoot over to his side and almost immediately fall back sleep. It smelt like him how could you not? Little did you know he was still here, making tea for you to share. Walking back into the room he couldn’t help but smile. He made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t let you go, he wouldn’t let what happened to his family happen to you. And he knew he was succeeding. Placing down the tea he gently wakes you. “Morning did you sleep well? I’m not sure why I’m asking it sure looks like you did.”

Half sleep trying to get up you greet him and thank him for the tea. “I thought you would have been out by now? Is there is reason you’re not?” Sipping the tea a little worried. “Not at all I just wanted to spend the morning with you.” Smiling and putting down your tea you kiss him, and hold his face in your hands. “How did I get so lucky?” He always melted in your hands. “I think I’m the lucky one.” He added while holding you. “How about we head back to bed so I can keep you warm again how does that sound?” Without a word you hop back into bed and rest your head on his chest, letting him warm your heart yet again.

[blacklesbothatlovestowrite]

Shuri x Fem

The Girl with The Tattoos pt 2

Shuri POV

Getting Mbali back to the palace was pretty easy, after she had thrown up she passed out. While she was out, I had Aneka and Ayo stop by her apartment so I could grab her a few things.

Her apartment was very her, or the her that I could remember anyway. She’d painted all over the walls, but what stopped me in my tracks was a painting on the wall of me.

The painting was of myself, T’Challa and my mother. T’challa and my mother above me in the sky looking down. She drew them in the ancestral plane. The look on my face in the painting was pure devastation, it unnerved me to see it.

Another wall was of the Palace garden with two young girls chasing each other. One wearing a tribal gown, and the other in tribal furs.

Realizing I was taking too long, I went into her bedroom found a bag and started to pack some clothes for her. I grabbed her essentials, like her hygiene products and her artist kit.

By the time we arrived back at the palace is was late. I bid Aneka and Ayo a goodnight and took Mbali to my quarters.

I put her things down on my coffee table and stripped her of the skintight dress. She wore only panties under the dress, I put my own oversized t-shirt over her head and cleaned off her makeup.

Once I knew she was settled in my bed, I went over to my work table and started back on my research. Sleep never came easy to me after the past few months so I adapted to it and focused on inventing things that could better protect Wakanda.

A few more hours pass before I’m exhausted enough to fall asleep and I knock out on my desk, not able to make it to the bed.

A scream wakes me up and I jolt, standing quickly looking around. I see Mbali standing on my bed taking in her surroundings.

“Princess!” Okoye bursts into my room, her face stone cold as she looks for the threat.

“Its ok, Okoye.” I say, wiping my eyes. “I’ve got this.”

Okoye looks from Mbali to me and gives me a look.

“Do you know what M’baku will do if he hears that his sister is here?” Okoye exclaims.

“The great gorilla will do nothing.” Mbali grimaces. “I’m an adult, he cannot dictate what I do as I am no longer Jabari. I have no people and therefore cannot be regulated.”

“Okoye, leave us.” I demand, seeing her gearing up to say something else. She nods her head before standing tall and marching out, closing the door behind her.

“Why am I here?” Mbali demands, her arms crossed over her chest.

“When did you start drinking?” I counter. The girl I knew so long ago was so different now.

“Why do you care?” Mbali snidely remarks. “I’ve been in the city for a long while so why do you suddenly care now?”

“I do not take part in the gossip and tea culture of Wakanda. I’ve spent the last year and a half grieving my loved ones, working in my lab and as you know fighting in the name of Wakanda.” I give her a scolding look. “Had I known you were here in the city, I would have seeked you out.”

“Why? You don’t even know me.” Mbali scoffs. “Sure we played together as children but—“

“Played together?” I scoff. I walk towards the bed and pull her down so she’s looking up at me. “I’ve been to your apartment. You and I both know there was more to it then that, I made you a promise and I sure as hell intend to keep it.”

“You never came…” She whispers, her anger melting away. She looks away, but I can hear the sniffle she tries to cover.

“I wanted to but I wasn’t in the right place to look for you. I’m still trying to heal and it is a struggle daily to get up and do as I’m supposed to.” My accent getting stronger.

“I saw you at T’challa’s funeral. You looked so hurt, so broken. I wanted nothing more than to comfort you but I figured you didn’t want me around especially since everyone knew I was in the city.” Mbali reveals and I stare at her, thinking of the painting on her wall. “When you lost your mother, I knew you were in a bad place. Yet I felt I couldn’t approach you, because you didn’t come for me.”

“Mbali when I saw you last night, the only thing going through my mind was ‘does she remember our promise?’ We were so young but I meant every word.” I declare.

“You must be disappointed…” I can smell the scent of her tears, as she continues looking away. I grasp her face in my hand and turn her to look at me. “Drinking to the point I act a fool in public….”

“Mbali. I could never be disappointed in you. You are the same girl I fell in love with as a child. I cannot judge you for doing whatever you did to survive. We all have our vices. I can only hope you’ll allow me to take away the need for those vices.” I beseech her to permit me to be there for her.

“I don’t want to let another person in.” She sobs. “I don’t think—no! I know I won’t be able to survive losing someone else. Everyone left me all alone.”

“I will never leave you, sthandwa.” I swear to her. “I know how it feels to lose the people you love, I would never do that to you. You have my word.”

“Shuri…” She sighs. “You’re to be Queen in only a few days. Tradition is sacred in Wakanda, they will never let you take a woman lover.”

“You’re right.” I confirm, watching as she looks devastated. “They will never accept me having a woman lover but they WILL accept my wife.”

“I…”

“What did I promise you all those years ago, Sthandwa?” I demand. She swallows, biting her lip.

“Say it.” My tone commanding, I needed her to say it.

“You promised to marry me. You said that I’d be your Princess.” She mutters, her chest rising and falling with every breath.

“And I meant it.” I acknowledge my promise. “You will be my Queen. I never had it in my mind to rule, never wanted to but you’ve reminded me that Wakanda needs a ruler that is openminded and willing to enact change”

I remove my family ring, the one that was given to me by my father and place it on her finger. It was identical to T’challa’s as our father gave us both a ring. I would keep T’challa’s ring as my wedding band.

“Will you be my Queen, Mbali daughter of Wakanda?” I ask her, my eyes pleading.

“You already placed the ring, silly.” She giggles through her tears, sniffling. I give her a look, impatiently. “Yes.”

With that one word, Mbali strengthened my heart ensuring I’d do everything in my power to heal as I planned to heal her.

—

I’m thinking of doing a few flashbacks in the upcoming parts. Let me know if you’d like me to upload this story to Wattpad. Until next time. 💕

[madiomens]

Just Pretend [n.s.]

Chapter Twelve

The last show in France came and went and before we knew it we were walking into the Airbnb we had for the two shows in Spain. I yawned as a shiver wracked my body from the chilly night air, bringing my suitcase to a halt so I could wipe the tears out of my eyes. Nicholas chuckled beside me and rubbed my back.

"I wish I could say the very little sleep gets easier, but it doesn't. At least it's only midnight so you can get a little more rest than usual." He said, pulling the hood off his head.

I smiled at him and stretched out my sore muscles. "This is nothing. When it's actually cold outside is when I'll really be yawning."

"You're a cold sleepy person, huh.?" He questioned with a chuckle as he grabbed some water from the kitchen.

"Almost too cold." Noah's voice chimed in from behind me before I could reply.

I squinted my eyes at him, stifling the grin that threatened to make its way on my face. "At least I don't make the room a sauna."

"True. These bitches cut off my A/C all the damn time. Pisses me off." Noah said, shooting pointed looks at the boys.

Folio held his palms up. "Don't include me in that, I don't live there."

I scrunched my nose. "How do you relax without cool air?"

"A/C is not meant to be run when it's cold outside." Nicholas yelled from the kitchen.

"It's also not meant to be 1000 degrees inside." Noah said, raising his hand up to lightly pinch my nose as he walked past me.

I scrunched my nose at him as a smile slid on my face, watching his back as he retreated to claim a bedroom. I turned to look at Jolly, who was standing beside me and giving me a look as if he could read my thoughts.

I furrowed my brows at him. "What?"

He shook his head with a side grin. "Nothing. I just see everything."

"Everything of what?" I questioned.

"Just everything." He said before going to claim his own bedroom.

I squinted my eyes at his back before making my way to the hallway to claim my own bedroom- even though I'll more than likely be using very little of it. My eyes landed on Noah, who was leaning casually against his doorframe with his arms crossed and hood over his head.

I paused in the middle of the hallway, causing Folio, who I didn't realize was behind me, to run into my back. I stumbled forward a few steps as Folio's arms shot out to stabilize me but wound up pushing me right into Noah's outstretched arm.

"God, sorry Folio." I said, turning to apologize to him.

"It's ok, I think I was half asleep." He said through his yawn, rubbing his eye sleepily.

I chuckled and squeezed his arm. "Go pass out in a bed."

He nodded and sloppily kissed my cheek as he walked past me. "Goodnight, Maddie, I love you." He said through another yawn.

I laughed and watched him drag his feet to the end of the hall. "I love you too, sleepy head."

I turned to look at Noah, who was looking at me with a raised brow. "What?"

"Why are you going to claim a room when you'll just be in mine?" He questioned, crossing his arms back across his chest.

I chuckled at him. "Because won't it be a tad suspicious if I put all my stuff in your room if I have a perfectly good empty one right across from you?"

He snorted and squinted his eyes at me. "Maybe you should just go room with Folio since you loooveee him so much."

I raised my brows at him and pushed my suitcase into the empty bedroom before walking closer to the pouting man. "Are you jealous right now?"

He sniffed and pushed off the doorframe, taking a step backwards into his room. "No." He said stubbornly.

"Ah. So you won't care if I actually take you up on that suggestion?" I asked, turning as if to walk towards Folio's room.

He took one long stride forward to grab my hand, causing me to look at him in amusement. "Don't."

I chewed on the inside of my lip to hide the humorous grin that threatened to break across my face. "You want me to stay with you, huh?" He pursed his lips but stayed silent, his grip still on my hand. "I'm gonna need you to use your words, Sebastian."

He sighed dramatically and threw his head backwards. "Maddie, will you stay with me?"

I let my smile break free and reached up to pat his cheek. "See, that wasn't so bad."

He sighed again. "Well?"

I chuckled. "Let me shower and I'll be in here."

"But-" He started before I cut him off.

"No I will not shower with you because I want a quick, hot shower so I can get in bed, capiche?" I said, chuckling as I watched his face fall into a pout.

I pulled his head down to kiss his cheek before turning on my heels to quickly make my way to my room before he could pull me back. I shut the door behind me and shook my head with a chuckle, opening my suitcase to pull out an oversized sweatshirt and some leggings. I quickly showered, washing my hair and body before doing a quick shave, and dried off before getting dressed. I brushed my teeth and ran a brush through my hair before flicking the light off, grabbing my phone charger and phone. I turned the bedroom light off and shut the door softly behind me as I made my way into Noah's room, shutting his own door softly as well. He was walking out of his bathroom, rubbing a towel over his head to dry it off from his own shower.

"You know, for someone who agreed we both didn't need anything but casual you sure are needy." I said with a chuckle.

He squinted his eyes at me as he tossed his towel on the sink. "I don't wanna sleep alone."

"Fair enough." I said before plugging my phone up and sliding into his bed.

He turned the bathroom light off so that the only light on was his bedside lamp, which cast a golden glow over his bare torso. I rolled on my side and watched his every move as his muscles flexed while he pulled on a hoodie, my eyes never leaving him. He looked down at me as he fixed the hoodie, lashes creating dark shadows on his cheeks. He crawled into the bed painstakingly slow before reaching over to caress my cheek with the back of his finger. I reached up to do the same to him with my thumb before pulling him down to press my lips onto his. He dropped his hand to slide it underneath my hoodie, rubbing up my side and sending goosebumps up by body. Our lips worked together in unison deeply. There wasn't any urgency to the kiss like there normally was. Every move was slow and deep, as if we had all the time in the world to relish in each other's embrace. He rolled me on my back so he was leaned down over me, his hand coming up to rest on my breast and gently squeeze it. He broke the kiss to look down at me, eyes searching my face with some sort of emotion I hadn't seen in them before.

"What?" I questioned quietly.

He shook his head as he kept looking over my face, bringing his hand out from under my hoodie to rub a hair off my forehead. "Nothing." He said before sliding his arm under my body and pulling me towards him to lay on his chest.

I placed my hand on his chest and began rubbing circles there, leaning my head back to look up at him. He was staring at the ceiling and chewing on the inside of his lip as he absentmindedly ran his fingers up and down my back over my hoodie.

I furrowed my brows at him and placed my hand on his cheek so he would look at me. "What's going on in your head?"

His eyes searched mine for a bit before replying. "I'm glad you saved that girls life at the festival."

I softly smiled. "Just doing my job."

"If you weren't there, you wouldn't be here." He whispered, voice barely audible.

I rubbed his cheek with my thumb. "I'm glad I'm here."

A crooked grin slid onto his face before he went back to staring at the ceiling, in his head again. "Me too."

I furrowed my brows again as I stared at his face in confusion with the mood change. I took a deep breath and let it out before settling onto his chest more, deciding to let him be with his thoughts. He'll tell me about them if he wants to.

A wave of sleep washed over me and my eyes slid shut, dozing off into the darkness as Noah's heart kept racing with whatever was going on in his head.

[imagoddamnonionmason]

Holidays at the Mason Home: Chapter 3 - Humble Abode

Fandom: Call of Duty

Word Count: 1894

Relationships: Frank Woods x Bell OC, Alex Mason x OC

Characters: Frank Woods, Alex Mason, Bell OC,

Summary: Bell meets Alex's wife.

A/N: ok so I did some research just to make sure my assumption about Christmas basically not being a thing in Soviet Russia, due to the Soviet Union. I was right. The Soviet Union basically said 'no Christmas is bad. no religion'. I'd recommend going and looking it up if this interests you, 'cause I don't wanna hound y'all with a history lesson-

It was half past midnight when the three of them managed to park the pickup and escape into the heat of the home, which had steps leading up to the front door. On it was a wreath of holly, pinecones and red berries brought together with a red ribbon and golden thread. Sometimes, Bell forgot that it was the time of year where people celebrated Christmas, as she had never really done such a thing. Maybe as a child, but from her teen years and onward, the whole thing was deemed nothing more than a distraction the west built up and up on; the usual schtick that her then comrades would discuss in order to villainise just about every aspect of a society that didn’t hold their ambitious ideologies.  

Mason unlocked the door, allowed his friends to step inside first, then turned his eyes to the outside. He scanned, checked everywhere he might expect to find something amiss and when he was satisfied he turned in. He barely had time to take a breath before the stairs light was on and he was being interrogated. 

“What time do you call this? I thought something had happened. Has something happened?” 

Sarah, for all the good that she was, was a worrier. Her fraught lashings always came from a place of deep caring and it was this knowledge that Mason used to cool down the heat of annoyance whenever she got irate. He found her standing a few steps up on the stairs, wrapped warmly in a dressing gown and slippers on her feet. He doubted that their arrival had woken her from sleep, but rather that she had remained awake. 

“Everything’s fine, go to bed.” He offered, “I’ll show these two where they’re staying.” 

“Did you tell them about the room?” She asked, finding another reason to remain. 

Woods and Bell stood silently, having removed their wet boots and removed their winter wear, hanging them on the hooks nestled at the front door. It was clear now that they were edging into tiredness, but neither of them would say it. 

“I didn’t,” Mason admitted.

“Right…” Sarah huffed, rubbing her puffy eyes, “well, why don’t I show them, and you sort out Maximus because the dog won’t come inside and I swear we’ll never find him under all that snow in the mornin’. He never listens to me.” 

Putting his hands up, Mason slowly backed into the hallway that headed to the kitchen, offering his wife a soft smile, “alright, just go to bed after, I’ll sort it.” 

She nodded, wiping her eyes again. Bell could see that she was utterly drained, her skin a little pale and eyes darkened with circles. She wasn’t quite ill looking, but she did look like she was carrying the weight of the world on her frail shoulders. Then, she gestured to the two of them, a sweeping motion with her hand, and invited them to follow her upstairs. 

“Come on, we’ll get y’all settled in,” she offered a warm smile and though it fought to reach her eyes, it couldn’t quite succeed in its endeavour. Woods let Bell go first, taking the rear as he nodded goodnight to Mason. They had shared a look, which Mason had waved him off as nothing to worry about regarding Sarah.

Woods had always found it a little bit annoying how worried she could be, but not because it was her but because of the trait in general; he couldn’t stand to be worried over and, at times, Sarah worried herself out of solutions for the things she worried about - it all seemed pointless and Woods hated inaction. But, she and Mason had their way of dealing with her anxieties, ways that Woods felt he could never quite grasp. He remembered once making her worse when he tried to calm her down. 

He’d never do that again. 

“So, we didn’t have time to finish the other room before you came,” Sarah began, her voice just above a whisper, “David wasn’t very well and other things, so it just got left until the last minute, and then the last minute wasn’t long enough. That means you two are going to have to share the other spare bedroom. There’s a cot in there, but also a double, so… decide between yourselves who gets the comfy bed and who doesn’t. Unless you’re… sharin’?” 

Sarah had looked over her shoulder, a slight glint of hope in her eyes when she asked the question and it caught Woods off guard. He knew exactly what she was implying, but refused to think on it further, unless he wanted to give himself a headache. 

Bell threw her brows up in surprise, lips pursed in question, “why would we share?” 

“Oh, no reason, it’s only an option,” Sarah urged, quickly regaining an air of innocence about her. She would admit that it was a shame to find that the two were not together and she’d tell her husband as such when he’d finally decide to roll into bed beside her later. 

Once at the designated room, Sarah opened the door and let them venture in, flicking the dull light on in the room, a singular bulb with a cream cover hanging from the ceiling. Her voice was erring on the side of teasing, as she bid them goodnight, “behave, you two.” 

Then, the door closed, and it was just them. 

“Behave? What does she think we are, teenagers?” Woods puffed, nose scrunched slightly in his irk. Bell merely shook her head, patting his shoulder before dumping her bag on the end of the double bed. The sheets were pristine white, with the occasional flower patterned along a seam, as well as ruffles that cascaded to the floor all around the perimeter. Four pillows nestled at the head of the bed, the headboard was a cream colour, the fabric velveteen and adorned with buttons in a diamond pattern across its body. 

Then, there was the cot, which looked like it had crawled from the depths of the jungle, gasping for freedom. They had definitely tried to make it more comfortable than what it was, with a sleeping bag, blankets, and a plush pillow.

David even left his bear on the pillow, Woods thought. 

“So, which do you want?” Bell asked, watching Woods with tired eyes. Her tone was enervated, heavy, as though sleep was encroaching on her mind quickly. 

“Take the bed,” he ordered, “you wouldn’t survive on the cot.” 

Her features soured with a look of derision, but she didn’t respond to him. Instead, she hovered in place, eyes watching the same spot of scuffed fabric on her duffel bag, lost in thought. Thoughts of events earlier in the night, of things said and things done, and how easy some of them had come to her. Of course, their camaraderie had meant that she would throw herself on a grenade if the time called for it, if it had ever called for it, as that’s what you would do for those you fought alongside with. 

So, turning on the man that would dare threaten the integrity of either Woods or Mason had been the right thing to do. In anyone else’s eyes, they were veterans of a war they were forced to fight and deserved respect. But, to ease into a character such as a wife, a lover, that had been the surprise; she had never thought about anyone in such a way, really only using the prospect of romance to earn something in return, to manipulate. None of her connections in the past had been of a genuine sort, well, all except one. However, she had buried those memories so deeply that she feared they had fossilised. 

Anyway, she was left to wonder why she was uprooted by this display of affection between her and Woods. It was that which she couldn’t make sense of and it left a bad taste in her mouth. 

“Hey, you still with me?” A hand waved in front of her face and when she broke free of her stupor, Woods stood by her, expertly hiding the concern on his face. 

“Why did you go with it? You could have told that guy the truth,” she asked. 

“You’re still on with that?” Woods raised an eyebrow, before moving to pull his shirt over his head. His arms then rested against his stomach, the appendages momentarily trapped by the item of clothing, as he thought about his answer. 

Bell looked away, quickly. 

“Why not?” That was what he settled on. After all, there was no point in mincing words; Woods had felt no need to explain to a fucking idiot the measure of his relationship with Bell. If the Cliff guy wanted to believe that they were married, well that’s on him. Woods didn’t go around correcting people’s assumptions about him, good or bad, because Woods didn’t give a shit.

“It’s like you didn’t even think about it,” she admitted, sitting on the edge of the bed. Woods soon discarded the shirt onto the cot, hands on his hips, chest open as he took a deep breath. 

Had his decision upset her that badly? Shit. 

“Does it bother you?” He eventually asked, feeling like he was dancing on knives. 

He hated that. 

“No.” 

“Then what’s the issue?” 

She should have anticipated it would turn onto her. 

“There isn’t one,” she chided, folding her arms over her chest. 

Well, maybe just the fact that it leaves me feeling vulnerable, emotionally, and she was not used to that. 

“Good,” Woods almost seemed to smile at this, but he turned his back to her, rummaging through his belongings before she could venture to gauge his features and their tells. 

A beat. 

“Thanks, for putting that guy in his place,” his voice was muffled as he pulled a vest over his head, hair becoming messy as his head popped back into view, “people like him really fucking piss me off.” 

“Forget about him. He doesn’t know what it’s like for people like us.” She offered, as she too began to undress, “they want to make it out to be about choice. They think it’s about being good, or being bad. I’ll be damned if I ever knew I had one.” 

After all, in war the only choices available are to kill or be killed. To take the bloodied knife that had just killed your friend and plunge into the backs of your enemies, less they use it against you. In her time, all choices were out of reach. It was yessir, no sir, three bags full sir, fucking we have a job to do, Bell. 

Her nails were digging into her palms and it was the pain that brought her back to her senses. 

Woods quietly regarded that point and came to the conclusion that he couldn’t have worded it better - Vietnam had taken its toll on a lot of people, but try as it might, that place had failed to create a corpse of him and drag him to the depths. 

He’d crawled out of that hellhole just to spite those who had put him there. 

“Fucking A,” he muttered, after a moment. 

That was seemingly it for the night’s conversation and the two got into their beds. Sleep eventually took them, though they slept lightly throughout the night.

[cloudy-zephyr]

Bakugou x Shinsou + dadzawa

No cws, just fluff!! Some scenes of "oh god aizawa can't know" (but he does hehe)

Dad- aizawa

Papa- hizashi

- in hitoshi's dorm-

"Shut up, fucker. You're way too loud," Bakugou snorts in the dark room, a room he wasn't even *supposed* to be in so if his boyfriend wants him to *stay* then he better shut the fuck-

"But Kats,,, im cold as fuck and you won't get closer," said boyfriend pouts and attempts to scooch over on the bed.

"No, it's too hot just lay down oh my god," he rolls his eyes, "you're gonna get us caught and in trouble."

"No im not! If you cuddled with me we wouldn't even be here and-!" His ramble is cut off by a knock on the door. Shit.

"Hitoshi?? You okay?" It's aizawas voice.

Aizawa is Hitoshis dad and doesn't know he and bakugou are together,, much less *together* past curfew.

"Yeah!! Just talking to myself about this uh show I have on!!" Hitoshi lies, hoping its enough to get his adoptive father to leave him alone.

"Okay, goodnight toshi"

"Yeah, goodnight,"

"Holy fuck, he's so stupid," bakugou scoffs but finally relents and holds Hitoshi close.

-at the aizawa-yamada residence-

"Hey, dad and papa?" Hitoshi stood in the kitchen one Saturday morning.

His dad hummed and glanced in his direction, prompting him to continue.

"Is it okay if Ka- ahem,, uh Bakugou comes over?" *great job, stupid you almost just told them.*

"Sure. Just don't be too much noise, we have to work from home and do paperwork and grade," papa says as he eats his toast.

"Thanks!" Hitoshi runs off to his room to text his boyfriend.

🐱💥 cat-suki

Mind freak 💤: you can come over :)

🐱💥: ok

💤: okaayyy??? Hurry tf up >:(

🐱💥: don't tell me what to fuckin do!

💤: oh stop whining

🐱💥: open your front door before I turn around and go home

💤: bitch you better not 😦😦😦

🐱💥: whore.

💤: damn. Omw

Hitoshi laughs and goes to open the door and let his boyfriend in, making sure his parents aren't in the room and give him a quick kiss.

"Cmon, got a new game the other day."

The couple heads up to Hitoshis room, Aizawa and Hizashi sharing a look after seeing their sons smile and his *friends* soft look.

- at school, specifically aizawas class-

The class is loud, per usual, but something has Kaminari especially wound up.

"Kaminari, would you like to share with the class or be quiet so I can continue the lesson?" Aizawa stood at the front of the room, looking incredibly bored and slightly irritated that Kaminari won't stop passing notes to his friends and giggling.

"I know a secret sir and it's eating away at me!" Kaminari yells, then slaps a hand over his mouth and looks over at bakugou.

If looks could kill, then fly high kaminari because Bakugou just killed him.

"Hmm, and is that secret more important than your education?"

Kaminari is practically vibrating in his seat, and opens his mouth, "Hitoshi is dating a loud blonde!" He yells, and immediately puts his head down.

Hitoshi looks mortified, and Bakugou is about to go in for the kill.

Aizawa just laughs, and everyone goes dead silent.

"Kaminari, you said you had a secret. A secret is something no one knows, and I think everyone knew my son and Bakugou are together. Now you can join me for lunch detention for yelling and disrupting the class. I suggest next time you blurt out someone's secret, tell me something I don't know."

Hitoshi is pretty sure he died of mortification, and bakugou even looks a little sheepish.

AAAHH i love shinbaku so much please 🤲 accept this offering shinbaku nation

[multistansimp4life]

We lost the summer ch.1

Kai and reader are childhood friends and they have this thing where they make a list of things to do for their summers during the school year. How will this summer end!

(Inspired by kissing booth 3)

“I wilL alwAys love yOu”

“Stop stop no more, please my ears” says the brunette laying on the bed with his ears covered. “Maybe you should put singing lessons on the list” he finishes laughing so hard tears are running down his face. 

“Well im sorry not everybody is as gifted at singing as you are” you replied rolling  your eyes. It was true his voice is one of the most clearest most angelic voices youve ever heard. But your singing was the exact opposite your voice always cracked and you couldnt hit a right not to save your life.  

“But how will we do that together” you asked

The list you were talking about is The summer To Do list. You guys made it when you were in third grade and kept the ‘tradition’ since. During the school year yall would fill the list up with a bunch of things you both wanted to do when summer came.

“I could still improve my singing so i can sign up to” kai responded now looking at his phone.

“But we would most definetly be seperated into different classes”

“Yea I guess your right that wouldnt work” he sighed. 

“I have an idea” you say excitedly “ ive always wanted to try acting class”

“That does sounds fun. Write it down.”

You grab the orange sharpie and wrote the number 1. Acting classes. The paper is like a long scroll and looks as ancient as one. You write down the year of the summer leave a space under it for when summer is over to name the summer. Then yall write down the list.

“Lets think of some more things another day.” Says kai yawning. I look over to the clock not noticing how much time has passed its now 11:37 and we both have school tommorow. 

“Ok ill head home goodnight kai “ i say while collecting my stuff to leave. 

“Bye y/n get home safe”

The walk home is like a routine. You live on the same street as kai and the amount of times youve walked to and from his house is to many to even try and count.

When you walk into the house you can hear your parents talking, well more like arguing but in a light voice. You just hope it stays that quiet and you can get some rest. Though its highly unlikely because their arguments always get loud and you barely can rest.

You walk into your room and flick on the lights. Your room was in pretty nice shape since you cleaned just a few days ago.

You go and flop on your bed and almost immediatly fall asleep. There was no need to change since you went to kais in your pajamas. 

“CRASH”. You were suddenly woke up by something fragile hitting the ground. You looked at the time and it was 12:06 you barely got 30 minutes of sleep. You dont know what you were expecting it happens almost every night for the past few months. 

Your parents have both been fighting with each other over every little thing and it was not healthy. You used to not be able to sleep at night because they were so loud but it started happening so often that you invested in some earbuds. 

It was pointless of you to go tell them to quiet down because then you would get yelled at by both of them. So eventually you stopped. 

You reached over in your nightstand and take them out and plug them, hoping you would get enough sleep to be ready for tommorow.

(a/n This is my first fanfic and if you like it pls comment. It helps motivate. Also dont know the update scheduling.)

[aestheticvoyage2023]

Day 264: Thursday September 21, 2023 - "Afternoons with Dad"

I try hard to make the afternoons with Dad active and memorable and not just running out the clock until bath time, and today I got a shock that really made me consider why that was so important.

With these new week day chops, I tell myself its not that its going to be easier than those weekend days, just different cadence. Instead of a full Saturday and Sunday Ive got to fill up right, I am going to be responsible for mornings and afternoons before and after a trip to the Montessori School. A new routine to build - a new plan to make.

Today he was all smiles after school pickup. He enjoyed wearing his new cars shirt and his new shoes to cruise in. Today, his fourth at school with no diaper, he had a successful potty and was sure to tell me that he felt he deserved a big truck for that accomplishment. I didnt have a big truck, but I did have a new puzzle of all the planets. We sat in the great room and worked on it together, learning each planet as places he could go visit in his rocket ship. He then wanted to bring it in his rocket ship seat as if it was a roadmap. Well played. I pointed out Earth - 'we live here' - our neighborhood. Soon, he was telling me pee was coming, and I wondered if it was to try to see what else might be in the prize closet. Unfortunately though, there are no more potty prizes to collect. He's aced it. He continues to work on getting his pants down on his own, but other than he's all about "William do it" - when he resolved to there being no more potty prize, he changed tact - "orange popsicle. big" - ok, that I can do. He's earned it. I love how he is at just the right height now where when he stands next to me, his head and long hair are right at my hand where i can rub his head and pull it into my leg as he hugs me and I tell him he's doing a really good job.

As the afternoon temps dropped, we ventured out to the driveway to play with the cars on the pavement, and shoot off rockets as high as we could. Over and over and over again, from red, yellow, blue - he'd run in a circle counting down from five and then plant perfectly on the launch button, pushing the rocket ship up towards the moon (or at least 10-12 feet). I let him do this for as long as it was fun for him - if he wanted to do this until bath time, I would have been all for it. Fun for both of us. For dinner we hit the store to get weekend provisions, and a quick trip to Bdubs, before home to watch football, play with trucks. William said he wanted hot dog and french fries, and so I pulled that together for him, using french fries with smiley faces that he really liked. As bath time neared, he was bored with football and came up to me perfectly calm and said "watch firebuds please." Turns out maybe potty training isn't the only muscle we've been building. I was happy to oblige. He crawled up on me and rewarded my compliance with cuddles. It was the best part of my day. I turned on a couple episodes of Firebuds to wind down the night then we did a clingy bath time and an easy bed time in which I read a Halloween wheels on the bus, then Little Blue Truck's Halloween, and finishing with a soothing quiet reading of Goodnight Moon. 10 minutes later he'd be asleep and Id be sneaking out. Success.

Its not a full weekend day like I am used to, but still so important. Important connection time that he'll remember what it looked like, especially as the blocks build day in and day out on these coming months. And he reminded me today why it was important.

When we were leaving to go to the store, he was saying something I couldnt understand, a pretty common deciphering puzzle game these past couple weeks as his confidence in his language blooms faster than his ability to pull the right phrase together. Whatever it was, it sounded like Mookie Betts. Over and over again. So I said "what do you know about Mookie Betts. Did you know he plays for the Dodgers?" William looked at me confused - obviously Mookie Betts was not the intended topic of conversation. "Do you remember going to see the Dodgers?" I asked, and William confidently responded with a "yes" - the the normal "i-dont-know-what-you're-talking-about-Yes" that we very often hear. I said Oh! do you remember who we saw the Dodgers with? and he caught me way off guard when he said "Chad!" and then doubled down with the fact that he "got a bobble guy to bring home" which were all true facts. Out of the Dodger blue from 3 months ago. No prompts, or help or any recent reminders. When I told Audrie that night on facetime, her jaw dropped. "Its all in there" she said- but to hear him recall that with such good memory for something that we didn't make a real big deal out of at the time, really brought home that everything we're doing right now counts. He's remembering. He's feeling. He's experiencing, and he's wiring. All those times I push through the exhaustion or the stress or the anxiety to show up and do good, its all going in there. These random Thursday afternoons, are just as important as any time. "hey remember that time we fired rockets off in the driveway?" or rode the train at the zoo, or let you eat your own pizza slice at mod pizza? I wonder what all is in there that he can recall and what else will surprise me. I assumed that this day would be out in the future some time when he would start remembering and pulling the dots together, but I guess that day is now and I am so glad I don't have to worry about what I might be doing to mess it up.... i am so happy to hear that he is remembering these days and these fun experiences we do. Its good motivation to keep up this important good work of being a solid, tired dad.

Song: Ugly Kid Joe - Cats In The Cradle

Quote: “There is no scent of nostalgia like a fragrance drawn from the garden of childhood memories.” ― Aloo Denish

[zacharybosch]

Tasseomancy - chapter 8

🍽dinner is served, eat up 🍽

chapter 1: tumblr / ao3

chapter 2: tumblr / ao3

chapter 3: tumblr / ao3

chapter 4: tumblr / ao3

chapter 5: tumblr / ao3

chapter 6: tumblr / ao3

chapter 7: tumblr / ao3

read chapter 8 below or on ao3!

Kind stranger. New friend. Close confidant. Lover. Edward.

Late on Saturday night, long after Ed had touched him and kissed him and then left with a beatific smile lighting up his lovely face, Stede lay in bed, staring wide-eyed at the dark ceiling and feeling like a perfect fool. It was all so obvious now that he allowed himself to think about it, now that it felt safe to think about it. How could he have been so completely blind?

Ed had— god, he’d held onto Stede’s wrist, in the department store changing room. He’d kept Stede’s hand there, cupping his cheek. Said he was happy. Weeks ago! Weeks and weeks! Ed must have the patience of a goddamn saint. Why hadn’t Stede apologised more earlier, when Ed was still here, for being so clueless? So much potential kissing they’d missed out on because of Stede’s inability to see what was right in front of his face.

Stede pulled his phone off the bedside table and curled onto his side, facing towards the windows. The curtains were parted a little, and a shaft of yellow light from the streetlamps outside cut across his face and chest, and painted golden rims over the dark pools of his cashmere blanket. It was the middle of the night, and the world was utterly silent, save for the soft whisper of the ocean in the distance and the gentle tap of Stede’s fingers against the glowing screen of his phone.

He pulled up his and Ed’s message thread and carefully typed out I’m sorry for being so silly. Their last texts had been goodnight messages from the night before, littered with moon and star and heart emojis. Staggeringly obvious in hindsight.

Ed’s reply came back very quickly.

don’t be, i like your silliness

I wish I hadn’t wasted so much of our time together :(

it wasn’t wasted it’s been the most fun i’ve had in ages years i’d do it all again

I still feel like an idiot though…

ok but at least you’re my idiot now

:) I didn’t think you’d text back this quickly, why are you up so late?

why are YOU up late clearly i’m not the only one at the devil’s sacrament

The familiar urge to deflect reared its ugly head, but Stede pushed it aside. He was allowed to be open with Ed. He wanted to be open.

I was thinking about you, couldn’t sleep.

same tbh you’re a really good kisser

Stede had never been complimented on his kissing skills before. He didn’t even know he had any, not until Ed’s lips had slotted against his and some new part of his brain had suddenly lit up like a christmas tree and his body just moved on instinct. Turned out that kissing was the easiest thing in the world when it was with someone you wanted to kiss, someone who wanted to kiss you.

The three little typing dots on Ed’s side of the screen had been appearing and disappearing and reappearing again for the past minute or so. Eventually, he added:

nice and soft and eager

Stede squirmed beneath his blankets, pressing his legs together and biting his lip. His body did that shivery, clenching thing again, just like it had when Ed had offered a helping hand over the phone.

Is this part of the seduction?

this is the preamble so you were thinking about me huh what were you thinking exactly

The changing room in the department store, when I held your face and you stopped me from pulling away.

you wanted to kiss me then didn’t you

I think so. Yes. I did. I don’t think I quite realised it, but I wanted to very much.

what do you think would’ve happened if you had kissed me

I think Lucius would’ve still come and interrupted us.

OK PRETEND LUCIUS WAS NOT THERE

Right. Of course. This was flirty texting. They better start making a habit of doing this, because Stede really needed to get some practice in.

Sorry :’) I think if I had kissed you, you would’ve kissed me back. I think you would’ve held my face like I held yours. I think it would’ve been a soft kiss, a slow one.

that sounds nice

Stede could see it in his mind’s eye, like he was looking through a peep-hole; a little blurry and distorted round the edges but clear and sharp in the centre where they were exchanging gentle, easy kisses, murmuring against each other’s lips, smiling at the sensation of wandering hands.

My hands would wander, I think. I was so curious about your tattoos that day. I’d want to see more of them. Maybe things wouldn’t remain so soft or slow.

gonna get me naked?

His tender, sensual mental image warped and shifted and then suddenly there was nothing gentle about it: he was pressing Ed up against the wall, dragging his overalls and his underwear off, grinding up against him, threading one hand tight into Ed’s hair as the other fumbled inelegantly with the button and zip fly of his own trousers. Legs squeezing around his waist, worn leather of Ed’s boots sticking to the bare skin of Stede’s backside, silky t-shirt slipping down over a shoulder. Sucking a bruising kiss against the revealed skin.

Not completely naked. Boots stay on. Crop top stays on.

oh it’s like THAT is it i know what you wanna do, you wanna take me up against the wall or smth manhandle me, kiss me hard, make a mess

Exactly. Clinging to me, your legs wrapped round my waist.

do you wanna know what i’m doing right now

Yes please yes

i’m saying goodnight ;) big kissies xxxxxxxxxxx

Stede stared blankly at his phone for several minutes, heart racing and head spinning and body distractingly, achingly roused. If this was only the preamble to being seduced, he wasn’t entirely sure that he’d survive the main event.

***

The seduction began, formally, on Monday morning.

Ed surprised Stede at the Cleanery with a large cup of tea and a fruity danish pastry from Jackie’s. He had the purple tote bag slung over one shoulder, and Stede’s silk scarf dangling out of the back pocket of his trousers.

“Edward, how lovely to see you,” Stede said, getting up from his sewing machine and trying very hard not to give away that his brain was stuck on an endless replay of Ed pulling that scarf from around Stede’s neck when they’d been desperately making out two days prior. “Dropping off some more stuff to be cleaned? I hope you’ve not had any more mishaps with your moisturiser!”

“Nah, nothing that needs cleaning today. I have got this extra tea and pastry though, and I was looking for someone to give ‘em too, maybe like a sexy blonde seamstress or someone… Know anyone like that around here?”

“Oh, I might.” Stede batted his eyelashes, which was something he had never done before in his life and wasn’t entirely sure he’d managed to do completely successfully now; but it seemed to have the desired effect, and Ed leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

“For you,” he said, putting the tea and pastry down onto Stede’s work table with a little flourish. “What are you doing Friday night?”

“Well, I’ve not got anything planned…”

“You have now. You’re coming over to my place. I’m gonna cook for you.”

Stede’s eyes lit up in delight. “Really? Oh, how exciting. Should I bring anything, a dessert maybe?”

“Just bring yourself, I’ve got dessert all figured out already,” Ed said, snaking his hands over Stede’s hips and giving him a very firm squeeze on the rear. He nuzzled into Stede’s neck, and gave a gentle little tug on the silk scarf he had tied there. “Been wearing these a lot, haven’t you? I’m glad I bought you so many. Looks good.”

Stede flushed. He wore one of the silk scarves practically every day, always wanting to have some little token of Ed with him. “I like having a piece of you wrapped around me.”

“I can think of some other pieces of me that you can have wrapped around you if you want—”

“Get a room you two, Jesus,” John piped up from behind the counter. He had been sitting there the entire time.

“I’m planning on it mate, trust me,” Ed replied off-handedly, before grabbing at Stede’s hand and pulling him behind the counter and into the back of the shop. “Is there a private spot or something back here? Just wanna have a little chat real quick.”

The back room was just one big open space with no privacy to be had in any corner of it, but it did contain several supply cupboards of varying sizes and clutter levels. “Oh, um, well the broom cupboard on the left there is fairly empty, that door with the— oof!” Stede yelped as Ed pulled the door open and shoved him inside the cramped little space, then squeezed in after him. They were pressed close, chest to thigh, and Ed’s hands were already roaming. “I thought, wow, thought you were holding off? Oh, god. Doing things, um, slowly?”

“I am. But don’t forget that this is a seduction, Stede, and if I’m going to seduce you successfully,” Ed murmured, ghosting his lips at the corner of Stede’s jaw, “then I’m going to need to touch you a little bit as well.”

Stede already felt more seduced than he ever had in his entire fucking life. Ed was so warm and he smelled so good, and his voice was a deep rumbling purr that vibrated right through Stede’s skin.

“So,” Ed said, rubbing his hands slowly over the front of Stede’s shirt and innocently slipping a few buttons out of their holes, “do you have any allergies?”

“Wh— what…?”

“Allergies. Intolerances. Dietary requirements. For dinner on Friday.”

“Oh, I… I uh, I…” Ed was stroking feather-light circles over Stede’s nipples and looking very intently into his eyes. And that was okay, Stede could handle that. He could absolutely handle the fact that Ed was stroking his nipples and staring at him like he wanted to eat him and Stede was going to expire right there in the broom cupboard.

“Focus babe, this is an important discussion.”

“Um. Sensitive… sensitive to dairy, sometimes, I… Fuck, Ed—”

“Dairy, right, noted. And is there anything that you just don’t like? That goes for food and,” Ed rolled his hips just the barest amount, and brought his face a scant inch away from Stede’s, “anything else you might want me to know about.”

Stede had to very forcefully remind himself that he’d asked for this. He could’ve let Ed stay on his knees and give him what would’ve no doubt been an absolutely mind-melting blowjob, and then spent the rest of the weekend together kissing and rubbing and sucking and fucking, but no, he’d asked for this instead and now Ed was thoroughly and relentlessly giving it to him.

“I hate mushrooms. But I think… I think I’m open to trying anything else that you wanted to offer me.” The urge to close that final space between them and just sink into Ed, into his arms and the heat of his mouth, was overwhelming. “Food or otherwise.”

“That is,” Ed withdrew his hands from inside Stede’s shirt as he spoke, “very good,” carefully re-fastened the buttons that he’d opened, “to know,” he finished, straightening Stede’s collar and letting his hands linger for a moment at his neck. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ed breezed out of the broom cupboard and out of the shop, light and carefree as anything. Stede remained in the cupboard, thrilled and embarrassed and desperately horny, urgently willing his erection to go the fuck away.

On Tuesday, they took an evening stroll along the beachfront after Stede got off work. There was a beautiful peach and purple sunset, and the sea was restless, golden and choppy. Seagulls called wildly as they were buffeted about by the brisk and chilly wind, and Stede and Ed walked arm-in-arm along the promenade, pressed together tightly against the cold. There was an old bandstand halfway along the promenade, worked in wrought iron filigree and painted cheerfully in chipping whites and greens, and it loomed ahead of them, silhouetted against the sun.

“You know, I wanted to kiss you that evening on the beach,” Ed said, as they came up to the bandstand and stopped to admire the view. “When we had the muffins, and you said you’d burn down the department store for me.”

The second time they met, Stede’s cautiously-proposed date-that-he-only-realised-now-was-a-date. It had been a perfect evening: the smell of the rain, and Ed’s leather jacket; eating soggy pastries in a shop doorway; the straggly, wet ends of Ed’s hair; the feeling of being at home. If Ed had kissed him then, Stede would’ve surrendered like a wave to the shore. “Why didn’t you?” Stede asked, and then, with a breath and a bite of his lip, “You could kiss me now.”

“You’re right, I could,” Ed replied, pulling Stede into the relative shelter of the bandstand and pressing him against one of the pillars. “Are you seduced already, then?” He hovered his mouth over Stede’s, hot breath mingling in the cold air, a smile playing about his lips. “Time to seal the deal with a kiss?”

“I…” Stede hesitated. A moment ago he had been so desperate for Ed to kiss him, but now that he was faced with the prospect of it actually happening, it felt wrong. Too soon. As maddening as it was to have Ed so closely within reach and not take that final step, he wasn’t ready for this part to be over yet. “I kind of like not kissing you. Am I mad for saying that? The anticipation—”

“Drives you fucking crazy, doesn’t it? But it feels good, too. Wanting, and not getting.”

“It makes it so potent, every time you touch me. You look at me and I can almost taste you.”

Ed was painted gold in the sunset light, warm and soft and so achingly beautiful as he cupped Stede’s face in his hands and smiled. “You can taste me on Friday,” he whispered, full of promise.

On Wednesday, Ed made another morning tea delivery to the Cleanery. This time it was a sencha green tea that had been blended with little fruit pieces and flower petals, which proved to be a light and refreshing antidote to the dreary morning’s work. He didn’t linger, just dropped the drink off with a smile and kiss on the cheek and a promise of more later, but as Stede sewed and ironed and folded he sipped the tea and felt as though Ed was there with him.

At lunchtime, Ed returned with two carefully-packed sandwich bags and a thermos, which contained an usual concoction of red tea and cocoa and peppermint and tasted like a warm and creamy hug. He’d brewed the tea and made the sandwiches himself at home, and laid them out proudly on the battered little coffee table in the backroom of the Cleanery. They ate cuddled together on the ancient, creaking sofa, heads together, knees pressed close, talking softly about small things.

Ed was back again with another cup of tea at the end of the day, waiting patiently at the door as the Cleanery was closed up for the evening. It was a classic Earl Grey that had been blended with lavender for a soothing, relaxing aroma, and Stede sipped it gratefully, feeling all the little stresses of the day melt away in the steam.

Ed walked Stede home, his warm hand in Stede’s cold one, and on the doorstep to Stede’s building Ed stopped and pulled him into a close embrace, and placed a soft, lingering kiss against his cheek. As he started to pull back, Stede clenched his fingers into the lapels of Ed’s jacket and held him close, nuzzling noses. He thought of what he’d said yesterday, in the bandstand, about anticipation and potency. Having steeped all day in the heady waters of Ed’s tender care and affection, his resolve was not as strong now as it had been the day before.

Stede licked his lips and opened his mouth and made a plaintive noise in the back of his throat. “I want…” he whispered, pulling tighter against Ed’s jacket.

“I know,” Ed whispered back, unfurling Stede’s fingers one by one, and placing a kiss against them when he was done. “Friday.”

On Thursday, a string of messages popped up on Stede’s phone throughout his work day. They were mostly selfies from Ed while he was running errands and doing chores at home, interspersed with some random nonsense thoughts and wildly chaotic strings of emojis. It was all very sweet and innocent at first, but as the day wore on and the chores got boring, the selfies and the thoughts and the emojis all started turning towards one very specific direction.

At the third photo of Ed looking up into the camera with his big doe eyes and a finger in his mouth, Stede had to remove himself to the staff toilet in order to try and calm down.

If he really wanted to calm down though, he wouldn’t have brought his phone with him. He was already nursing a semi, and as he sat down on the lowered toilet seat, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to scroll back and forth through some of the more tantalising photos.

A few shots of Ed in the mirror, posing in various outfits, hip cocked and arm stretched up above his head; some close-ups, hair tucked behind his ear, showing off a little dangly earring and also coincidentally the long line of his neck; and then some lying on a sofa, hair splayed in waves, Stede’s pink bird shirt unbuttoned and open around his shoulders, hand slung tantalisingly low in the waistband of some cashmere joggers.

Stede started to wonder what it might be like, if he was there in the photos as well. Standing behind Ed while he posed in front of the mirror, hands snaking around his waist, nuzzling into his hair. Running his fingers along the line of Ed’s neck as he showed off his earring, placing teasing little kisses in that soft space under the earlobe. Climbing onto the sofa and straddling Ed’s thighs, pulling his waistband down all the way, exposing him to Stede’s hungry touch.

It was enough to take Stede from semi-hard to completely, achingly hard. He absolutely could not jerk off at work, no way, but maybe he could just send Ed a little something back, something to show that his photos were very much appreciated?

Stede leaned back against the cistern, cupped his hand around the very obvious outline of his dick showing through his trousers, and snapped a photo. Was this good? Was this sexy? He was pretty sure that it was. Ed had seemed to be very taken with the outline of his dick last Saturday, after all.

He sent the picture off before he could second-guess himself, and although it was immediately marked as seen, it took a couple of minutes before Ed’s response came back.

Another photo. It was cropped close, just the top half of Ed’s torso and arms, the smooth column of his neck, the plush curve of his open mouth. One hand was draped over his chest, fingers resting in the slight dip of his sternum, and there was— he had—

Ed’s chest was wet. It wasn’t water. It was something thicker, stickier, white, and Stede was suddenly very light-headed. He sternly told himself again that jerking off at work was absolutely out of the question.

With sweaty, shaking fingers, he typed out, Thank you very much that’s very nice I am going to appreciate this properly later when I am not at work.

He slumped back and rubbed a hand over his face, as Ed sent a string of laughing emojis in reply. He’d never been so deliciously, painfully horny in his life. God, he wanted to fuck Ed so fucking bad.

Friday, Ed had said. Friday. One more day.

***

On Friday, nerves having bubbled up all day towards boiling point, Stede spent an inordinately long time picking his outfit. There was no question over whether he should wear a suit or not; a suit was his go-to and he was deathly allergic to wearing jeans, but should it be formal? Casual? Patterned? Plain? Classic cut, or something a little more jazzy? Deep down, he knew that Ed would like whatever he wore, but fussing over suit options gave Stede something to focus on that wasn’t his screaming nerves, and by the time he eventually arrived at a decision he was feeling considerably less frazzled.

He was going to wear his pistachio-coloured suit. It was a perfectly proportioned classic style, made up in a light and fluid wool fabric with an elegant shawl collar and a fun little triangular flap on the breast pocket for a little whimsy. The clean lines and exquisite fit made it timeless and refined, while the light, airy colour and tortoiseshell buttons kept it casual. He paired it with a pale lavender t-shirt in a fine linen jersey, and another of Ed’s silk scarves knotted loosely about his neck.

Yes, he was definitely onto a winner with this one. It wasn’t a suit that he got much wear out of in his old life, but on the few occasions he had taken it out for a spin he’d felt terribly chic — at least, until someone had given him an odd look and he’d started to doubt all his choices and put the suit at the back of his wardrobe until he worked up the courage to wear it again. Putting the suit on didn’t take any courage this time; it went on easy as anything, and Stede looked at himself in the mirror and felt good about what he saw. And to top it all off, it looked very striking against the bouquet of flowers he’d bought earlier, ready to present to Ed at his doorstep.

Ed lived in one of the early-to-mid-1800s terraces near the seafront, a very desirable location and one that Stede became increasingly more jealous of as he walked down the tree-lined street. The front of his house was elegantly curved, with tall sash windows and a little cast iron balcony on the first floor, and the door was painted a very fetching midnight blue.

Stede smoothed a calming hand over his hair and rolled his shoulders to dislodge any lingering tension, held the bouquet of flowers behind his back, and knocked.

Ed opened the door, and the greeting that Stede had been carefully practising in his head stuttered and died on the tip of his tongue. Ed was wearing black jeans, which was fine, and an apron, which was also fine; but he didn’t have a top on underneath the apron, and also his hair was all tied up in a high ponytail with Stede’s silk fucking scarf, which showed off the lovely shape of his neck and reminded Stede once again just why Ed had his scarf in the first place and oh dear, Stede really should stop gawking and get inside before he fainted.

“Welcome to Ed Teach’s Bar and Grill. There’s no bar, or grill, but you are allowed to grope the staff,” Ed said with a little giggle and a wink. “Come on in— oh, are those for me?”

Stede had regained enough of his senses to bring his hand out from behind his back and thrust the bunch of flowers at Ed. Yellow lilies, pink camellias, a few stems of blue salvia, and a little spray of edelweiss; it had wiped out most of the money in Stede’s bank account, but eating only tinned beans and old bread until payday was a small price to pay for the look on Ed’s face.

“No-one’s ever bought me flowers before,” he said, a little dumbfounded. “I— fuck, I don’t think I even own a vase.”

“I’m sure we can find something inside that’ll do just fine,” Stede said, still looking mostly at Ed’s chest where it disappeared beneath the apron. “Shall we?”

They headed inside, and Ed showed Stede through to the living room. His house was very bare; it looked like he’d only just moved in that morning. But it did mean that Stede could take in all the gorgeous original period features, which were bountiful: carved plaster ceiling roses, stepped skirting boards, a cast-iron fireplace, and the most beautiful little acanthus leaf corbels in the hallway.

Ed stood awkwardly in the doorway, fiddling with the ties of his apron. “The last owner was into that minimalism shit. Left all those nice details that you’re cooing over, but stripped everything else back to its bones and just chucked a bucket of white paint over everything.”

“It’s… very striking,” Stede said cautiously, as he removed his coat and laid it over the arm of the sofa. “Very bright.”

“Feels like a waiting room at the doctor's office. I want to decorate, y’know, make it nice and homey and stuff, but I’ve just got no idea how.”

“Well let’s find a cup or something to put these flowers in, flowers will make any home look inviting.”

They went into the kitchen, which was just as big and bare and clinical as the living room. The one spot of colour was a little tin, sitting on the counter next to a kettle: it was a lovely rich blue, and painted with tiny yellow flowers. Stede recognised it immediately as a tea caddy, same as the one Ed had bought for him.

After a bit of rummaging, Ed produced a tall tupperware tub, the kind normally used for storing pasta. He filled it with water, placed it on the white marble breakfast bar that dominated the room, and then plopped the flowers inside. He took a step back to appraise his handiwork, seemed to find it acceptable, and then turned to the stove to check on whatever it was that was simmering away in a large pot.

“That smells delicious,” Stede said, inhaling deeply. “What are we having?”

“Boil up, figured it’d be nice on a chilly night like tonight. My mum used to make it for me, sometimes. Can’t remember the last time I had it, to be honest. Never tried making it for myself, even though I love it.”

Stede looked at him, softly. “Treating yourself doesn’t always have to involve luxurious extravagances and heaps of money, does it? Sometimes it’s just rediscovering something that fell by the wayside.”

Ed sniffed and danced his eyes away, then began to dump out some flour into a mixing bowl. “Mum always did the rēwena bread too, but I’m not that handy. Doughboys are easy though, just flour and salt and water.”

“You know, it’s also what you do in a place that makes it feel homey, not just how you decorate it.” Stede glanced around at the cavernous kitchen with its cold tile and bare walls, and then at the sticky dough covering Ed’s hands, and the bright spray of flowers in the tupperware tub. “Feels better in here already,” he said with a smile.

Ed smiled back, as he shaped the dough into little dumplings and stray clouds of flour drifted to land on his arms. “It’s because you’re in here, wearing that sexy fuckin’ suit. I’ll just put these in the pot and then food’ll be ready in about ten, fifteen minutes. Do you wanna drink?”

“Oh, fab, yes please. What’s on offer?”

“I’ve got the usual suspects, tea, coffee, milk, water, some really old orange juice that will probably kill you. But there’s also a fancy little mocktail I can make, if you want to try?”

That caught Stede a little off guard. For some reason, he had assumed that Ed was the type of guy to have an expensive, extensively-stocked drinks cabinet full of all kinds of aged whiskeys and triple-distilled spirits. “...You don’t drink?”

“Yeah, I… sorry, I should’ve told you. Some people get weird about it,” Ed said, hesitantly. “You can drink if you want though, I don’t mind, I can run to the shop right now and get you whatever you want,” he added hastily, and then paused. The look on his face was familiar; Stede had seen a more wounded, raw version of it before on their trip to the department store, standing in the changing room in that silky t-shirt. “I used to drink, used to do a lot of stuff, but nothing good ever came of it. My, um, my dad was a drinker.”

And in that moment Stede knew, with unwavering certainty, that he would never touch alcohol around Ed. Not for all the money in the world. “I’d love to try the mocktail,” he said.

Stede didn’t realise just how much tension Ed was holding in his body until it all suddenly evaporated in a little cloud of relief and excitement. “Fuckin’ great, it’s a classic sidecar recipe but you’re not gonna believe this man, it’s got tea in it. Tea and marmalade! And honey! Instead of the brandy! Mental.” Ed went to the fridge and pulled out a chilled jug of tea, chattering away while he assembled the rest of his ingredients and began pouring measures into a dented old cocktail shaker. “It’s lapsang souchong tea, got it from Jackie’s. Gives it that smokiness, and then the honey sweetens it up. Marmalade instead of the triple sec, lemon juice and ice as normal, then just give it a good old shake around and voila! Fancy drink.”

He poured the golden liquid through a sieve and into two squat glass tumblers. They toasted to the wonders of tea and marmalade, and looked at each other over the rim of their glasses as they drank.

Unfortunately for Stede, when the drinks had been made and the dishes and cutlery set out in readiness on the breakfast bar, and all they had left to do was wait for dinner to finish cooking, Ed finally had space in his brain to realise that he was still topless, and went to make himself decent.

He put on a woollen sweater which was in a lovely shade of deep inky teal, and in a very happy turn of events it had been knitted in such a way as to have a fingertip-sized hole every inch or so, laid out in a neat grid over the entirety of the garment. It was almost more tantalising this way; while the full expanse of Ed’s tattooed chest and back being on display was very, very nice, having it revealed in flashing little glimpses was even nicer. Stede was suddenly very aware of the fact that they still hadn’t kissed, but he just sat with the feeling, letting it roll around inside his chest. He took another sip of his drink and admired the view, feeling warm and syrupy inside.

“Figured it was better that I take it off rather than get it covered in flour and bits of pig, since it was kind of expensive,” Ed said sheepishly. “No harm though, since you got a nice eyeful, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I did. But I’m enjoying all these little eyefuls too.”

Soon enough, dinner was ready, and Ed ladled the boil up into two large, shallow bowls. The aroma was divine, thick and comforting and deliciously savoury, and Stede breathed in deeply as Ed placed the bowl before him on the breakfast bar.

“There we are. Made with love,” Ed said, and then realised what he’d just said. “Not like… I don’t mean that I— not that I don’t, you know, but— you know what I mean, right?”

“I know,” Stede said kindly, and he did know what Ed meant. Maybe they hadn’t quite blossomed into love yet, but they were planting their garden and sending down roots and watering the tender young shoots; they were cultivating love, tending to the tight bud of it that was aching to unfurl. They were taking their pleasure in the happy anticipation of seeing it grow, the warm excitement of the bountiful harvest. It was a wonderful feeling. “Let’s eat.”

There was nothing like hot broth on a cold day, and Stede could feel it seeping into his bones. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a meal this nice, a meal made with love. In his old life, food was invariably ordered in, or impersonally prepared by chefs. It wasn’t a vehicle for giving love, and there had never been any love to give anyway.

They sat on stools at the corner of the breakfast bar, and were both quiet as they ate, enjoying good food and good drink and most importantly, enjoying making eyes at each other. Stede let his mind drift over the strange turn his life had taken these past several weeks, ever since Ed had spoken to him in the café. Funny how so small and innocent a thing could snowball so quickly into… whatever this was that they were doing.

And what was it exactly? Were they officially boyfriends now? Were they dating casually? There was absolutely nothing about the situation that felt casual, especially not when Stede thought about the eye-wateringly expensive silk scarves sitting in his flat, and the fact that they were skirting carefully around the word ‘love’. Perhaps Ed could shed a little light on what he thought it was that they were doing.

“You know, Lucius said something funny the other week, when he stopped by the Cleanery. He said that you were my sugar daddy. Not sure what he meant by that, to be honest,” Stede said mildly, and Ed spluttered into his drink.

“Um. You know what a sugar daddy is, right?”

“Well, I… Lucius didn’t bother to explain it to me, and I can’t say that googling it has been top of my list of priorities lately. Is it bad?”

“Not really, no, but people can be quite judgemental about it. It’s… well…” Ed stopped to take a huge bite of potato, and chewed thoughtfully for a while. “A sugar daddy is someone you enter into a relationship with so that they’ll buy you stuff, or like give you an allowance, pay your rent, shit like that. In return you do sex stuff. Not always, some sugar relationships are completely sexless. But a lot of them are a kind of tit-for-tat money and sex thing. That’s… not what we’re doing. We’re not doing that.”

As if they weren’t doing that. It sounded like exactly what they’d been doing. “Aren’t we? You’ve bought me lots of things. Very expensive things.” Stede waited a few seconds for dramatic effect, and then: “And now I very much want to have sex with you.”

Ed spluttered for a second time. “Fucking hell, man. Yeah, I have bought you a lot of very expensive stuff. But that’s not why you want to have sex, is it?”

“No.”

“And I’m not buying it so that you’ll have sex with me. So I’m not your sugar daddy.”

“Okay, well, I suppose that makes sense.” Stede paused for a moment. “Unless…?”

Ed’s eyes suddenly got very sharp and intense. “Unless?”

“Unless you are though. I mean, what we’re doing is close enough, right? And I know how it looks to other people. We kind of fell into it by accident, but now that we’re here… might as well lean into it. I like it. And I think you like it too.”

“I like it very much.”

“So why not call it what it is? And you can carry on taking care of me, providing for me, indulging me,” Stede murmured, leaning in close, looking at Ed’s mouth, “and I can carry on doing this.” He caught Ed’s lips in a soft, teasing kiss, their first in a week. Ed’s fork clattered as it hit the counter, and when Stede pulled back Ed chased after his retreating mouth.

“You were always so skittish,” Ed murmured, cupping a hand around the curve of Stede’s neck and rubbing a thumb over his cheek. His fingers trailed down, stroking over the silk at Stede’s throat. “I’m meant to be seducing you, but now you’re talking like this, driving me fucking crazy… What changed?”

Stede looked down at his mostly-empty bowl of food, thoughtful. Something had certainly changed; or rather, it wasn’t something, but everything, and it had been changing imperceptibly by small degrees, ever since their first meeting, and only now looking back could he see how different he had become. Old Stede never would’ve found it so easy to just be with Ed in this new way, playful and carefree. “I don’t know,” he said, slowly. “I think, maybe on some level I still expected it to be awful, you know? That was the entirety of my experience, just awful, awkward situations where I wasn’t enjoying myself and neither was the other person, and I suppose I just assumed that it would always be like that, and I just had to find someone who was worth suffering for.”

“Stede—”

“You remember when I said— on the phone, when we, you know. I said I had no idea it could feel like that. That wasn’t an exaggeration. It was the first enjoyable sexual experience I ever had. And, well, now that I know how good it can all be, how good you make it for me, I feel… safe, and happy, and like I’m free to just… do what comes naturally. Like you said.”

“So you’re a natural fuckin’ flirt then, are you? Saucy Stede, ready to bat your eyelashes and sit in my lap?”

“Maybe not quite like that,” Stede said, smiling, “but yes. I have a lifetime of hideous self-esteem issues to unpack, and I know that some things will always be a struggle. But when I’m with you, it’s easier. You make it easy.”

“I’m so gone for you,” Es said simply, and in those words Stede heard all the curiosity and attention and affection and desire that had built up over the weeks, and the promise of so much more to come.

They fell into another comfortable silence, finishing off the small remainders of their food and swirling the final sips of their drinks around in their glasses.

“Sugar baby,” Edward said, after he tipped the last drop of his drink into his mouth. “That’s what you’d be. My sugar baby. Kept and doted on, wanting for nothing.” He turned on his stool to face Stede more fully, and ran his fingertips over the back of Stede’s hand where he’d rested it on the marble countertop. “Maybe I should move you into my house, keep you like a little pet. Would you like that?” His voice was very low, and Stede shivered.

“Yes,” he said, a little breathless.

“My pretty little thing, all dressed up in finery, bought and paid for. Sweet and greedy and demanding.”

Their faces were very close, and their breath hot. Stede leaned in a fraction, just enough for the barest brush of lips. “Take me upstairs,” he whispered.

Ed stood up from his stool, and immediately fell to the floor with a loud, “FUCK!”

The atmosphere, so thick and heavy with desire a moment ago, was cut in two with all the shock of a bucket of cold water to the face.

“Oh god, Ed, are you okay? Are you hurt? Let me help you up…” Stede bent down and took Ed’s arms in his, holding him while he got his legs under himself again. Slowly they stood together, Ed leaning unsteadily against Stede’s body. “What happened?” Stede asked, voice shrill with worry.

“Stupid fucking piece of shit knee. Fuck! It just gives out sometimes, no warning. Fuckin’. Fuck.” He winced in pain, and leaned more heavily against Stede. “Hurts for ages afterwards. Can’t put any weight on it. Fucking hell.”

“Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need your brace? I’ll get it for you, where is it?” Stede lowered Ed gingerly back onto his stool, and started pacing the kitchen, opening cupboards and drawers and absurdly the fridge, even though it made absolutely no sense for Ed to keep his brace there.

Ed sighed in frustrated resignation. “Brace won’t do much good now. This is basically a death sentence for the rest of our evening, just so you know. Can’t fuckin’ do anything when it’s like this. At least it gave out after dinner…”

Stede gave up his search for the brace and came back to Ed, running his hands fretfully over his leg. “Is there a salve, ice, a heat pad or something, anything I can put on it for you? Do you need a massage?” He had absolutely no idea how to massage a dodgy knee, but if it was Ed needed, he would give it his best shot.

“Stede, you gotta stop clucking over me like a mother hen. I’ll be okay. Just… help me up to the bathroom, will you? A boiling hot soak is usually the only thing that helps ease it a bit.”

“Absolutely, yes, I can do that. Get your arm around me. Where is it, up the stairs, yes? Right. You ready? Let’s go.”

Slowly, awkwardly, with many hisses from Ed and worried yelps from Stede, between them they managed to manoeuvre Ed up the staircase and into the bathroom. It was similarly bare like the rest of the house, save for a messy little pile of lavender shampoo bars and— wow—

“What an incredible bathtub! Gosh, it’s just beautiful. Is it original? Absolutely outstanding. The colour! So vibrant! What a luxury…”

Ed eased himself down onto a little wooden stool, quite forgotten as Stede continued to gush over the big copper bathtub.

“Stede.”

“Hm?” he said distractedly, still admiring the tub and running a hand over the curved edge.

“I’m still damaged here.”

“Oh right, of course, sorry Edward. Shall I run the bath? I’ll run the bath. Oh, I love these taps…”

Stede fussed around, repeatedly checking the temperature of the water, and adding in a generous dollop of muscle soak bubble bath that he found in a cupboard. While the bath slowly filled with steaming water and a frankly ridiculous amount of foamy bubbles, Ed removed his sweater, and Stede politely averted his gaze.

“You’re allowed to look,” Ed said with a little laugh. “It’s not like you’ve not already seen it. Might need a bit of help getting the trousers off, actually. Bending the knee isn’t really an option right now.”

Right. Of course he was allowed to look. Ed wanted him to look. That was all part of flirting, wasn’t it? Looking, being looked at. Playing around with it. Enjoying it.

Stede crouched down next to Ed’s outstretched leg, and carefully began to work his trousers down. “Not quite how I pictured this going,” Stede said, a little coy.

“Been picturing it, have you?”

“Oh, a little bit here and there, yes. It’s just a fantasy, though. I’ve been told the real thing is far better. Do you, um… want a towel? For your modesty.” Stede gestured at Ed’s crotch, covered now only by the thin fabric of his underwear. “I know you said I’m allowed to look, but I don’t want to presume about what exactly that includes.”

“Such a gentleman. Towels are in the airing cupboard,” Edward said with a small smile.

Once appropriately covered, Ed stood on one wobbly leg and shimmied his underwear down beneath the towel. With a steadying hand and many worried noises from Stede, he managed to get into the bathtub, removing the towel and chucking it with a wet slap onto the floor once he was covered by the mountains of bubbles. As he sank further into the soothing water, his eyes drifted closed and he let out the deepest, throatiest moan Stede had ever heard.

After a couple of minutes spent adjusting to the heat and enjoying the weightlessness in his leg, Ed opened his eyes and said, “You don’t have to stay, if you don’t want to. This is definitely not how I was planning for the evening to go. Can’t believe I got cockblocked by my own fucking knee.”

Stede pulled the little wooden stool around to the side of the bath, and sat himself down on it. He combed gentle fingers through the hair at Ed’s temple, and Ed leaned into the touch with a sigh. “I want to stay. The evening’s not wasted.”

“No?”

“No, because now I get to look at you in the bath. You’re very beautiful.”

“More beautiful than the tub itself?”

“Well I’m not sure abou— hey! I was joking!” Stede yelped, as Ed splashed him with water. “The tub might as well be a pig trough, compared to you.”

“Weird compliment, but okay. Keep ‘em coming.”

“In a room full of exquisite cashmere shawls, the only thing I would want wrapped around me is you.”

“That’s a bit more like it. Carry on.”

“You have eyes like a baby cow.”

“Um.”

“What I mean is— you have beautiful eyes, very big and dark with very long lashes, and I get a bit gooey if I look at them for too long.”

“Just think. If tonight had gone how I’d planned, you could’ve been whispering all these sweet nothings to me in bed,” Ed said with a wry smile. “I’d have been putty in your hands, doing anything you wanted.”

“Now you’re just taking the piss,” Stede said, and splashed water back at Ed. “But… say your knee hadn’t given out, and this had all gone how you wanted it to… what would be happening right now? What would we be doing?” he asked, quiet. He kept his hand in the water, swirling it around his fingers, close to Ed’s body.

Ed shifted about a little, and water sloshed up over his chest, leaving a shiny, wet trail of bubbles in its wake. The room was thick with steam, making everything soft and hazy, and Ed’s voice was low when he said, “We’d be in my bedroom. I’d get on my knees for you. Touch you. Get you hard. Finish the job I started at your place last week, let you use my mouth however you wanted. Then I’d crawl onto the bed and arch my back and ask you to fuck me.”

Ever so gently, Stede moved his hand and brushed his wet fingers over Ed’s nipple. He stayed there, toying with the piercing, while Ed looked at him, heavy-lidded, open-mouthed. “And then what?”

“Then… then you’d kiss me, deep and slow, and push my legs open. Kiss down my body, maybe… maybe suck my dick a little. Then you’d, ah, fuck—”

Stede had started to pinch Ed’s nipple, not ever so hard, but hard enough. “Too much? I know how sensitive you can be.” He moved to rub and squeeze the muscle instead, palm sliding over wet skin.

“You’re a fucking menace, Stede. Fuck.” Ed arched into the touch, and his breath quickened.

“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” Stede had never felt like this before in his life. Almost— powerful. It was heady, the way Ed reacted so strongly to just his touch and a few whispered words. “Anyway, you were in the middle of telling me what I was going to do to you. Please continue.”

“God, where was I? Um. You’d— lick me. You know. Fuckin’, eat me out. Get me nice and wet and ready for you.”

Stede began to slide his hand down Ed’s chest and stomach, beneath the water level. He felt the first tickling little brush of hair when Ed grabbed his wrist and held him still.

“If— if you touch me there, Stede, I’m not gonna be able to control myself and I will bend over for you right here. I want to, god I fucking want to so fucking much, but my knee just can’t take it right now.” He moved Stede’s hand back up to his chest, and slid his fingers against his nipple again. “Stay here. I’ll do the rest.”

“Whatever you want, darling,” Stede murmured, and then leaned in for a slow, luxurious kiss. Ed’s mouth felt so fucking good against his, the hot, velvet slide of his lips and tongue, and Stede had no idea how he’d managed to survive the past week without having this every day.

Ed sank his hand back beneath the water. The muscles in his arm flexed as he worked himself, and soon enough he was breaking the kiss and whimpering into Stede’s mouth.

“You feel so good, Edward,” Stede whispered, as he carried on squeezing and tugging at his nipples. He hadn’t planned to touch himself as well, in the moment wanting only to take care of Ed and distract him from his pain, but having Ed wet and whimpering beneath him like that was more than Stede could handle. He flicked open the button on his trousers, carefully drew down the zipper, and slipped his free hand inside.

“Fuck. When you fucking said that— on the phone— drove me fucking wild, I couldn’t believe it—”

“It just came out. I was thinking about you, couldn’t help it.”

Ed’s breath was very fast, chest heaving, hand jerking rapidly beneath the water. His other hand came to Stede’s neck, fingers hooking over the silk scarf, pulling him closer. “What were you thinking?”

“How… how good it felt to have you inside me, how much I loved it. I know it was just a toy, but in the moment it was you, Edward. Fuck. It felt like you.” Stede was in three places at once: in his bed, on the phone, listening to Ed tell him that he could take it; in his fantasy, where instead of a dildo it was Ed pushing his way inside, hot and relentless; and here, in the bathroom, watching Ed become a writhing mess in the water. “Hearing your voice, those words, telling me that you were— oh god, fuck, saying you were fucking me deep just like I deserved, that’s what made me come.”

Hidden by the side of the tub, Ed couldn’t see Stede’s lap, but he could see the tension in his arm, the tight frantic movement, and the deep flush in Stede’s cheeks. “Are you—?”

“Yes—”

“Oh fuck, fuck, Stede—”

Ed yanked Stede in for another kiss, but only managed a brief wet slide of lips before he was moaning against Stede’s mouth and coming hard in the water. His body shook in ripples and waves, and Stede kissed him through it as he followed Ed over the edge and came in a messy splatter into his palm.

They took a moment, just to breathe and exist with each other, an echo of the last time they did this. But this time, instead of deflecting and minimising and talking of other things, Stede said, “I hope you’ll agree that your seduction has proved… quite successful.”

“Yeah? Does that mean I get to keep you?”

Stede smiled warmly, heart thudding in his chest, as he said, “I’m yours.”

Afterwards, Stede helped Edward to his bedroom and got him settled on the bed, leg propped up on some cushions and phone, laptop, emergency walking stick, and a big glass of water all within easy reach. It was a little early still to be ending a date, but it had already been a perfect evening and Stede felt there was nothing he’d missed out on. Besides, he knew that if he stayed and watched TV shows in bed with Edward, soon they would stop watching and start doing other things and that would not end well at all for Ed’s knee.

They kissed goodbye once, twice, seven times. When Stede left the house, he stood on the street and gazed up at Ed’s bedroom window, the warm light spilling out into the dark like a beacon.

[foxtriestobiteandmaimandkilland]

IM SO HAPPT ITS 3AM IM FEELING LOVED I HUNG OUT W SO MANY FRIENDS TODAY AND MUSIC IS SO GOOD AND EVERYONES SO NICEYS AND I GET TO TALK ABT THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY AND SAD BUT IN THE GOOD WAY AND PPL CARE AND MY FRIENDS ARE TH E BEST AND I LOVE THEM AND MY BEDS SO COMFY AND IM GONNA WAKE UP SO HAPPY TMRW AND IM GKNNA HAVE ANOTHER COOL DREAM GOODNIGHT NOW OK SLEEP TIME IMGOING IM GOING IVE BEEN SAYIGN IT FOR THE PAST 4 HOURS BUT NOW ITS RELA