#our little crew is really going through it this week

[barrowsteeth]

Thomas Lovegrove + his soft grey sweater

Transatlantic (2023) 1.05 | The Human Condition

[0mg-bird]

Hangman’s Mystery - J Seresin x Fem! Reader

Pairing: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Shy! Fem! Reader

Summary: Jake takes you to meet the crew after claims of him hiding you from them. You’re extremely shy and aren’t a fan of lots of people, making Jake be more protective of you. For once, Rooster knows more about Jake’s life than the others do.

Warnings: Mentions of anxiety - protective Jake- Fluff!- language.

“All I’m saying is it’s a little suspicious.” Payback says, opening his locker up. Jake just rolls his eyes, preparing himself to go through this debate one more time.

“I hate to say this, but I agree with him.” Fanboy pipes in, pulling his flight suit off.

Somehow, the conversations lately always turn back to you. Ever since the flight crew found out Jake’s been seeing someone and it wasn’t a casual hook up, they’ve bugged him about it ever since. It had come up one night at the Hard Deck, when Coyote suggested to a perky blonde, who had been hitting on him, to focus her attention on the southern boy who was playing pool. She eyed Jake up, pleased with what was in her gaze and moved in on him.

Some of the boys gathered around to watch the cocky pilot work his magic. Coyote figured he was doing the pilot a favor since he hadn’t been seen with a girl on his arm in a while. Imagine their surprise when Jake took a step away from the grasp on his bicep.

“What’s he doing?” Payback questions, looking appalled.

“Is he sick?” Phoenix asked as she finished her beer.

Jake had smiled politely and rejected all advances the girl made, sending her away and going straight to his pool game again.

By the time Rooster came around with a fresh drink, the group scrambled to fill him in on the alien sight they just witnessed.

“He sent her away.” Phoenix said with a slack jaw.

“Like a poor puppy.” Coyote joked.

Rooster took a swig of his beer, then shrugged like they were idiots. “Yeah, he already has a girl.”

“What?!” They all exclaimed.

Ever since that night a week ago, Jake was being grilled on it.

As he takes out a fresh shirt to slip on, Jake shakes his head. “Coyote is getting married, and y’all are icing me for having commitment?”

Payback nods. “Well that’s because we knew of his fiancée, you have been hiding this girl like a dirty little secret.”

“I think him and Bradshaw are pulling our leg.” Coyote pipes in. “I think he made her up just to fuck with us.”

Jake laughs out loud. “You are just being ridiculous now.”

Bob, who has been quiet the entire time, ‘lurking’ as the crew likes to say, finally uses his smug voice. “Look, Seresin, I get it. I had a fake girlfriend too one time in high school, it’s embarrassing to admit, buddy.” His words make the guys laugh, and Jake shuts his locker with a loud clank. “She’s not fake! She just doesn’t really like hanging out with dick heads like you guys. She’s real shy.” He glares.

“Well, I’ll believe it when I see it.” Fanboy states. “Yeah, we want to meet her. You bring her to the Hard Deck on Friday night if she’s real, or else we will never stop bugging you about it.” He says, giving Jake a harsh choice.

His hand runs down his face. “I’ll talk to her about it.”

“He’ll talk to her about it, he says.” Coyote scoffs. “Okay Seresin, go talk to your fake girlfriend about it.”

“She’s not fake!”

~~~~~~~

“Baby?” He calls, walking through your front door. Moving to set his small duffle bag on the counter, he toes off his boots, trying to place where you were in the sea side house. It was oddly quiet, maybe you had your head phones in, oblivious to the world outside.

Down the hall he goes, pushing open your cracked bedroom door. Your scrubs were tossed in the corner, almost making it into the laundry hamper. You lay sprawled in bed, hair out of your braid, asleep in one of Jake’s t shirts he left at your house and some boxer shorts.

Slowly, he creeps to your side, sitting on the edge of the bed as he strokes your hair. You slowly start to stir, opening your bright eyes to him. A smile creeps up your pink lips, you take a deep breath in and twist to sit up.

“Hi.” You grin, happy he’s here.

“You alright? It’s only five, you look tired.” His voice was calm, sweet to you as he stroked the under side of your chin with his finger.

You rubbed your eyes. “Long day.” You breathe. “Mr. Johnson passed this morning.”

Jake’s eyes grow heavy with sorrow for you. He knew that this was normal for you because you were an at home nurse and a lot of the time the elderly patients pass. “I’m sorry, honey.” He says, leaning to kiss your forehead.

You lean into his touch. “It’s alright, I should be used to it by now but…I don’t know, Mr. Johnson was a sweet man, I actually adored his company.” You softly laugh. “But, that’s life, I’ll be fine.”

Pushing the covers further off of you, you lean forward and sweetly kiss the man that’s been in your life for five months. Despite the somewhat short time period, you couldn’t imagine life being any different than what it is. Your mother and sister called you crazy for being with an aviator, reminding you that he won’t stay in town forever, that he is quite literally owned by the government and will be wherever he is assigned to. The thought was scary, getting so attached to someone just for him leave when his ship comes in. It made your anxiety tick higher when you thought about it for too long. But, you don’t think you’ve ever been this in love. You’ll be the first to admit that you’ve never been a social butterfly, you were stuck in a shell, hardly bothering to get close to new people. Your handful of friends knew this about you, so it was a surprise when they met Jake and all of his infectious attitude. Somehow, Jake had a way of prying that shell open, his strong hands took you off the shelf and he learned that there’s a light hearted, good time, girl under all the shy innocence. He loved you for both versions, and it made you love him even more.

You declared that if you could, you’d follow him anywhere.

As he takes a shower, probably using your shampoo, you move to figure out what it is that you wanted to make for dinner.

You turn on some music, cracking a beer open and taking a drink. Soon, the kitchen is full of a delicious scent that Jake smells all the way from the bedroom. He follows the waft, sweatpants low on his hips and a casual tank top over her upper half. Finding you stirring some vegetables, he kisses the side of your head, then snatches the half drank bottle from your hand. This is usually the routine, you can never finish the drink you intend to, so he’s there to finish it for you.

“I want to…ask you something.” He says, leaning back against the counter.

You hum in question, and he loves the little look you toss him from over your shoulder.

“You wanna go out on Friday night?” He asks, making you smile. “Sure, where do you want to go?” You ask, unsure why he seems off.

“Well, I think since I’ve met your friends, you should meet mine. Let’s go to the Hard Deck with them, honey.”

You immediately stop your movements, anxiety sweeping over you. “Jake…I don’t know…a bar…”

“I met you in a bar.” He reminds with a smug look.

“That was different.” You turn to face him. “I was dragged there for my sister’s twenty first birthday and you know I hated it the whole time.”

He smiles at your pointed look. “Yes, I know but this will be different. Look, we’ll go, say hi, prove you actually exist, then come home and have sex on the couch.”

Your eyes widen. “Jake!” You gasp at his bluntness.

“Fine, we’ll do it in the shower.”

“Just stop talking.” You shake your head, hiding your smile. “The crew really doesn’t think I exist?”

He comes to grips with your waist. “They think I’ve made you up, like some sad Freshman geek…like i’m Bob or something.”

“Who’s Bob?” You ask with confusion.

His head dips to your neck. “Come to the bar and you’ll figure it out.” He mumbles, inhaling your scent before nipping at your skin. It makes you laugh, desperate to push him away but his strong arms have you locked in.

Something about him could make you forget anything. Sadness, anxiety, tiredness…the veggies that are burning in the skillet.

As his mouth moves up your throat, he’s engulfing you like a starved man. You try to speak before he’s inhaling you deeply, pulling you impossibly closer with his mouth on yours, searing you with a kiss that makes your knees weak.

“Jake- baby- mm.” You battle. “Okay, I’ll go with you. Jake- vegetables are charring.”

He finally lets go of you, grinning at your laugh and the way you stumble slightly as he lets you go.

~~

Clammy hands run down your jeans, once, twice, three times before Jake pulls you towards the entrance.

“They’re not gonna like me.” You stress.

“They’ll love you.” He states, wrapping an arm around your waist.

“They’ll be bored of me in two seconds.” You continue.

“No they won’t, just breathe, honey.”

You’re submerged into a room full of talk and music, some rowdy college kids are being thrown out and you’re sure you stepped in a puddle of spilled margarita. Your eyes are wide, and you shift closer into the larger body beside you. Jake leans down to whisper in your ear that it’s calmer in the back.

By the pool table, a group is gathered there and you immediately assume this is the infamous crew.

Phoenix is the first to notice, she smacks Payback and Fanboy, motioning for them to look alive.

“Well well, here he is, the man himself.” Coyote says smugly, setting his pool stick down.

A shorter pilot approaches you. “How much did he pay you to be here?” He asks, confusing you.

“What?”

“Just joking, I’m Reuben, but everyone calls me Payback, and you’re gorgeous.” He takes your hand in greeting, making your face heat with surprise and embarrassment.

Payback is pushed aside, and replaced by another. “I’m Fanboy, his back seater which means he’d be shit outa luck if he didn’t have me saving his ass.”

You shake his hand too, unsure of what to say.

“So, what’s your name? Wait, what was the last one, Jake? Abbi? Alison? Sorry, he has a thing for A names. Your name start with an A?” His tone is teasing, but he’s so straightforward, it makes things awkward.

Jake’s grip tightens on you. “Cut it out, Garcia.” He slowly said with a warning look.

Fanboy puts his hands up in defense. “Just trying to get to know this mystery girl you hid from us, Hangman.” He claims, then goes back to your gaze. “What’s your name?”

“Y/N, it’s nice to meet you.” You say softly, brushing him off.

You’re introduced to more guys, all who make some sort of snide comment about your relationship with Jake, well, except for Bob who was utterly polite. To your surprise, you’re introduced to Natasha greets you with a hug.

“Well, you’re real and not crazy so that’s a plus.” She jokes, making you chuckle. “You want something to drink?” She asks.

“You’re sweet, thank you. I’ll just take a beer, I’m not picky.” You say in a grateful tone, she nods, saying she’ll be right back.

Moving in from outside, Rooster makes his appearance.

“I missed the meet and greet? Damn.” He says, making you turn with a grin.

“Bradley, hi!” You greet, stepping away from Jake’s embrace momentarily. Rooster hugs you politely. “Hey girly, how are you?”

The crew grows a sour look.

“You two already know each other?” Coyote asks.

Rooster nods. “I was there when her and Hangman met.” He says so casually.

“Bradley and Ashley come over for lunch sometimes.” You add, making the group look at each other.

“Does no one tell us anything anymore or…” Bob trails off.

The night continues with chatter and worthless bets on pool shots. At no point does your hand leave Jake, whether it’s intertwined with his or on his arm, his back, your finger hooked on his belt loop, anything. It might make you look needy, but it’s something that eases your nerves.

When you do pull away from him with intention of finding the bathroom, he immediately turns when your warmth is gone.

“Where you goin’?” He questions.

“The ladies room, a place you can’t follow me in to.” You tease, starting to walk away.

He’s eyes scan the room, then watch you closely. He doesn’t miss the amount of guys that turn to watch you, scanning you up and down, definitely making comments about how good you fit in your jeans.

His paranoia gets the better of him, he marches across the bar to the hallway where the restrooms are. Back leaned against the wall, he waits, standing guard, in his mind, but the pilots call him a puppy.

“Mystery girl went and made him a golden retriever.” Payback laughs.

Fanboy nods. “We’ve lost him for good. What’s he gonna do when he leaves next month for Po-dunk, Texas- or wherever he’s from?”

They all watch as you and Jake slowly start to walk back to the group. Rooster, who finishes his beer, simply shrugs and leans to line his pool stick up. “He says he’s gonna take her with him and marry her.”

“What?!”

[artists-ally]

Hello sweetheart 😘 I really really adore your writing so much ! So, I dare to send in an idea as well 🥰 maybe you're dating Harvey but he barely had time for you lately, so one time he wants to surprise you with dinner at his apartment and you enjoy your time together. Then you both end your evening with lovely passionate smut and lots of cuddles afterwards. In the morning he wakes up before you and takes time in admiring you, realizing how happy he is to have you ? Hope that's not too cheesy ❤️ thank you so much in advance!

{Warm} Reader x Harvey Specter

This has been sitting in my inbox for god knows how long. I thank you for your patience my dear. I love this idea so much, and this song Warm by SG Lewis is just perfect. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. P.S. nothing is EVER too cheesy for me to write <3

Word Count: 3,998

Warnings: Just some good ole fluff and smut, some very soft dom!Harvey.

Tagging: @rosedpetal @blacktreacle22

Summary: After a particularly brutal month in the office, you've noticed some changes. Harvey is just... not present. Rather than demanding his attention, you just simply float by, knowing eventually he'll return his negligence. And boy does he ever.

~~~~~

“Yn, you really just need to grow a set and tell Harvey he’s being a jackass,” Donna scolds through the phone.

I roll my eyes, “Donna, I told you before. I don’t mind. He’s focused on winning this case, and it quite literally is the life and death of this firm. So, while I appreciate your ‘words of affirmation’, I didn’t ask for them.”

“I know, I just hate to see you so neglected.”

“Oh please,” I pff, flipping my head to move a chunk of hair out of my eye. “Neglected is probably the last thing I am. I can entertain myself. I actually haven’t minded the space. Every once and a while it’s good to go back to the basics. I’ve finally learned how to take care of the plants, I can make a mean lasagna too. I’ve even gotten back into reading. For fun.”

“Sheesh, clearly something is wrong if you’ve been reading voluntarily.”

I snickered. “I don’t know, I saw a book recommendation on instagram and fell in love. Childhood penpals turned strangers, turned back to penpals and she found out he’s the world's biggest rock star and he’s been writing songs about her the entire time.”

“Sounds exactly like the fairytale mushy-gushy shit you love. How you found Harvey to fill those shoes I’ll never understand.”

“He’s just… I don’t know, exactly what I need? My life is perpetually disorganized and he’s too organized. We balance each other out. It just works, and I love our life. I love our dynamic, and I love him. Since he’s so busy, and I have the energy and mental space to, I don’t mind picking up the slack. Again, things will balance themselves back.”

Donna sighed, and I knew that flat line was on her lips. “I know, you’re always so insightful. Optimistic bitch.” I cackled a laugh. “But in all seriousness, Harvey needs you. You’re right, he is too organized. He needs you to unwind him. I know how he is, and he needs a kick in the ass every once in a while. So, if by the end of the week, he doesn’t come around a little, just push him. He’ll fold. Especially for you, and that ass of yours.”

A smile bloomed onto my face, the door of our apartment building coming into view. “Thanks Donna, I’ll let you know how tonight goes. Maybe I’ll stop by the office in the morning and bring the crew some coffee, a few bagels as well.”

“This is why you will always remain my favorite. Now go eat that Chinese food, you sexy son of a bitch.”

“How did you know I had Chinese food?” 

“Because I’m Donna.” Then the line went dead.

Psycho. My psycho, but still a psycho. 

I did indeed have a takeout bag hooked in my elbow filled with Chinese food. Sesame chicken and wonton soup for me, beef and broccoli with pork lo-mein for Harvey. I got a small order of pork fried rice and some scallion pancakes to share. I was about ten seconds away from crouching in an alley and eating myself into a coma. 

The city streets were just beginning to fill up with Friday night festivities. Those heading to lavish dinners or exotic clubs, dressed to the nines with pristine hair and outfits. I looked down at my beat up orthopedic sneakers that kept the never ending foot pain of being a museum tour guide at bay. Here I was, surrounded by the most eccentric and busy place on earth, with absolutely nothing to do.

And that felt amazing. 

I scurried up the steps to the apartment building, greeting our doorsman with a smile and a wave. He gave me one back, pulling open the big glass doors. The mild April chill vanished and the comfortable, still air caressed my cheeks. The elevator door chimed open, chimed closed, and ascended to the top. 

21… 22… 23… the floors climbed and climbed. What was I going to watch? The new season of Bridgerton was out, I could watch that. No, the next season can’t possibly be as good as Charlottes. Maybe a movie? Didn’t that second Dunne one come out? I’m not sure I understand the first one enough to comprehend the second. 

The ding sounds, and I step off, juggling my keys as I rattle off more ideas in my head. 

There's always The Big Bang Theory, maybe Two Broke Girls? Nah, I’ve seen those a thousand times. Maybe I should watch something new. No, nothing sounds interesting. I could try to read, but I don’t wanna risk spilling anything on my book. Once in third grade, I was eating a bowl of cereal in the morning, and I spilled the entire thing on my book. If You Give A Mouse A Cookie was never the same again. 

When the door opened, I toed off my sneakers, kicking them in the corner. I threw the keys in the bowl and hummed a song aimlessly. In the kitchen, I pried a plate out of the cabinet and began to spoon food onto my plate. I won’t tell Harvey, but I stole some of his lo-mein. 

“Yn,” a voice spoke. 

I spun so hard I knocked my hip into the kitchen island corner, a scream bubbling out. “Jesus fucking christ Harvey! You could warn me next time, fucking hell.” 

My heart thrashed in my chest, my eyes going a little wonky from adrenaline. I swallowed, bending at the waist to catch my breath.

“Sorry, my love,” he smiled, coming to raise me from my hunched over position. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“A simple text would’ve been lovely,” I sighed, rising to my full height. “What the hell are you doing…”

All words died on my tongue as I looked around. The table was decorated with a white cloth, candles skewed about. There were flowers in a vase on the counter, beside it a card with two small boxes. There was champagne chilling in a metal bucket of ice, a box of chocolate covered strawberries and cherries next to it. 

“Harvey, what’s all this for? Our anniversary isn’t for two months.”

He grinned, that smirk going right to my chest. “No, it’s not.”

“Then what's all… this?” I waved my hand around, noticing a few balloons blown up and taped to the archway. I somehow completely missed the rose petals lining the floor. 

“It’s because I love you,” Harvey grabbed my hips, pressing our fronts together. “You’ve been… dealing with me for weeks now. My absence, my constant mood swings and lashing out. And I know what you’re gonna say-”

“That I know you’ve been stressed and need some time to focus on the case?”

Harvey tilted his head, a flat expression on his lips. “Yes. That.” 

“It’s not a big deal, Harvey. I know how important work is to you, and I know that you’ve really needed to focus so the firm doesn’t crumble and-”

“But I need you to know that you are a thousand times more important than work,” he says, placing his palms on my cheeks. He kisses me softly, stealing the air from my lungs. “Then the firm,” another kiss.  “And anything that has to do with that hellscape. I love you, Yn. And I don’t know what I would do without your constant flexibility with my chaotic life. So this is a very small token of my appreciation. The first part, at least.”

I hummed against his lips, letting my arms lay across his shoulders. I kiss him deeply. “The first part?”

“Mhmm,” he nodded, hands falling down my back, a less than PG-13 flex of his hands on my ass. “First, I want you to open those little boxes. Then, we’re gonna eat and have some dessert.”

“I feel like there's more to this list,” I smile, making my way back to the counter to get our food. One second to the next, Harvey gripped my arm and pulled me back into his chest. I could feel his desire pressing into me. “Looks like I’m right.”

“You’re always right,” he whispered, breath tickling my ear. He kissed the side of my neck, leaving a little bite below my ear. “Go sit, I’ll get the food.”

A new thrill fueled my body, propelling my steps to the dining room. I sat, playing with the end of the table cloth as Harvey brough everything over. The champagne, the card, the boxes and the food. Before he made his way to his seat, his palm cupped my neck and he tilted my head back. His deep, lust filled eyes locked with mine before he kissed me again. 

“Open whichever you’d like, darling,” he sat opposite me, tucking the napkin across his lap. 

“Just because I did what anyone would for their love doesn’t mean you need to shower me with gifts, Harvey,” I said, giving him a pointed look. 

“And if I bought them just because I wanted to?” 

Point taken. I read the card, a picture of a polar bear wearing sunglasses on a beach with a coconut in its hand plastered on the front. 

Classy. It made me giggle nonetheless.

To my Yn,

Thank you. I’m sorry. I love you. Thank you for being here, even when I wasn’t. I’m sorry for my absence, I promise I’ll be more conscious of my time spent at the office. I love you, more than I ever thought I’d ever be able to love anything. You are everything I’ve always wanted, and everything I never knew I’d need. After this last month, I didn’t understand just how badly I craved you. Your smile, your laugh, your warmth. The taste of you in the morning, and those adorable snores at night. No matter how many times I do it, I’ll never get tired of kissing you. Never tire of taking your breath away. I’ll never get sick of you being the first thing I see when I wake up, and the last thing before I sleep. 

You are forever entwined in my soul, Yn. And I wouldn’t dare to imagine it otherwise. 

I love you. <3 Harvey

I looked up at him, tears lining my eyes. He just winked at me, fork scraping his plate as he shoved a mouthful in. 

“Fuck you for that,” I sniffled, brushing away the tears as I blinked. “That was so uncalled for, you didn’t need to do that to me. That’s so unfair.”

He smiled, “I know you love that shit. And before you ask, Donna didn’t come near me when I was writing that. It all came from up here.”

I laughed as he touched the side of his head. “Good to know all those years at Harvard Law taught you something other than corporate jargon.”

“Open the boxes, little devil,” he sipped his champagne, nudging the boxes towards me. 

Both were a dark blue velvet, unlabeled. They were closed with a silver ribbon. The first one I grabbed was about the size of a book, and something rattled inside. I undid the bow, lifting the lid. Inside was a Kindle. I gasped, pulling it out and looking it over. 

“Harvey,” I grinned, mouth falling open. “You did not.”

“But I did,” he smiled brightly. “Unlimited.”

I could jump his bones from across the table. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Well, after you find out I got you a case, a Pop Socket, and one of those stands with the remote clicker so you don’t even have to hold it, you might love me a little more.” I squealed, pushing out of my chair as I crashed into him. We nearly tipped backwards. Harvey laughed, rubbing my sides as I latched onto him. “I knew you’d appreciate this. I know we haven’t been together much, but I remembered you showed me a video of some girl who had one.” “You remembered that?” A new set of tears choked my voice. 

“Of course I did. And I also remember you telling me that if I bought you another set of earrings you’d use them to pierce my ears, so that option went out the window.”

I swatted his chest, Harvey’s smile easy as he eased me off of him. “This is perfect, thank you so much.”

“Of course, my dear. Now open the next one.”

What could be better than a Kindle Unlimited? With a stand AND a remote to turn the pages for me. Harvey has no idea what he’s done, I’ll literally never get out of bed again. 

Practically ripping the box in half, I take off the lid and peer inside. 

I blink a few times, looking from him to the box. “My passport?”

“Yup.”

“I feel like there is something I’m not getting here.”

“There is.”

“Are you gonna tell me or make me guess?”

“I’m not that mean,” he rolled his eyes. 

“I mean you have been ignoring me for the past month,” I feigned being upset, letting out a little yelp when he threw a piece of broccoli at me. “You're literally four years old.”

“We’re going to China.”

Everything stopped moving. I dropped the box, my small, navy blue passport skittering across the floor. My ears buzzed, my fingers buzzed. “I- What?”

Harvey grinned. Fuck, I missed that grin. “We’re going to China. We won the case last night, and I am desperate for some time with you. You’ve always wanted to go, so why not now? I have everything set up. We’re gonna stay in the mountains, we’re gonna go hiking and see some shows. I also know you’ve wanted to-”

“We’re going to China?” I had to make sure I heard him right? I’ve been learning the language for years now, engrossed with their rich culture and history. The cuisine, the art, the music… everything. Had I been in a different timeline, I would’ve moved there. 

“Yes, my love. We’re going to China. Two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” My eyes nearly fell out of my skull. “I can’t take two weeks off of-”

“Yn,” he cut me off, knowing I was going to spiral into a never ending list of reasons of 'why this and why that'. “It’s all been taken care of. All you have to do is pack a bag and get you cute ass in my car on Sunday morning. Don’t worry about anything else.”

“But-But Harvey… what the FUCK? WE’RE GOING TO CHINA? Oh my god, I have to call Donna.”

“Can you call Donna tomorrow? I have other things I’d like to do before you go blabbering to her about how amazing and awesome I am for planning this.”

I eyed him suspiciously. “Donna planned this, didn’t she?"

“She did find the panda place. And the art festival. But everything else was my doing. You can applaud now.” Cocky, arrogant son of a bitch. My cocky, arrogant son of a bitch, but one nonetheless.

I looked at him, dumbfounded. He did all this for me, just because he had a crazy workload. I feel like it should be the opposite, me pampering him, congratulating him on his huge win. Not him fueling my book obsession and planning my dream trip. 

But it was yet another reason I loved him more and more every day. He just did these things, without prompting. Without need. He felt like he was neglecting me, leading to… all of this. 

We ate our dinner, chatting about anything other than the case. I asked about it, twice, and he completely side-stepped my attempt. I wanted to know, but if he didn’t want to talk, I wouldn’t push. I told him the plot of this terrible Mafia romance book I finished earlier in the week, and he listened to every grating, awful point I made about it. All with a dopey smile on his face. 

Harvey cleared the plates, setting them in the sink. He brought more champagne, the strawberries and the cherries. In a calm silence, we devoured them, eyes raking over each other. I risked a look below the table, seeing just exactly where he wanted the next phase of the night to go. 

“You looking at it makes it worse, you know,” Harvey leaned back in his chair, my legs propped in his lap. He stroked his hand up and down, fingers dipping into one of the holes in my jeans. 

“Good,” I smiled, a sinful intent in my eyes. 

He looked from my smile to my eyes and back down. With a curse, he threw my legs off his lap and pulled my chair close to his. Harvey enveloped his mouth with mine, the sweet taste of chocolate mixed with the sour berry and tarte champagne. Every flavor on his tongue became my own. 

I was in his lap the next second, legs folded against his thighs. Harvey kept me firmly planted. Steady. He wouldn’t dare let me fall. I got lost in him, suddenly aware just how long it had been since I truly had him. Truly tasted him. Truly craved him.

He stood, taking me with him. The familiar route to our bedroom whirled by. I landed on the bed with a soft bounce, tugging on the collar of his shirt until he laid on top of me.

“So demanding,” he whispered on my lips. I wrapped my legs around his hips to emphasize my need. “Fuck… I love it when you get like this.”

“You made me this way, Harvey,” I pleaded, eyes catching him. 

“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to give you what you deserve,” Harvey sighs. It’s not heavy, but it’s noticeable. “Let me take care of you, Yn.”

“I just need you to-”

“I know, my love. Let me worship you. Treat you how you deserve. You’ve been so patient with me, now let me return the favor.”

Well, I’d be stupid to deny him.

Delicately, he kissed down my torso, lifting my shirt over my head and throwing it for tomorrow's problem. He removed my socks, then my jeans. From ankle to knee, he kissed and bit my skin, making me squirm against the sheets.

Every nerve ending in my body was on fire, the tips of my fingers and toes pulsing with anticipation. With the last remaining pieces of my clothes gone, he spread my legs, kneeling to the ground. 

The sight of Harvey Specter on his knees between my thighs was… empowering. Not that he hasn’t tasted me with his tongue, I’ve just… always been on top. Never so… exposed.

A heady sigh left my lips, body going lax with the first pass of his tongue on me. I clenched my legs against his ears, muffling my whines. He pushed them against the mattress, eyes pinning me as he sank his teeth into the muscle of my thigh. 

“You know better than to hide those pretty moans from me, my love.” Yes, I do know better. “Scream my fucking name if you want.”

I just might. 

He made quick work of me, practiced movements easily sending me up and up and up. He’d slow back down, torture me with more bruising marks on my thighs while I writhed and begged for him to let me release. I arched up off the bed when he added his fingers.

I was so close, a month's worth of pent up desire threatening me all at once. My mind and body were on fire. I couldn’t hold off any longer. I chase that high, circling my hips against his face. His hands, firmly planted on my inner thighs, I shook, that month long ache finally subsiding before roaring back to life. 

When I thought he’d stop, he kept going. Around and around and around his tongue went. Teasing and sending an endless supply of pleasure through my body. 

“H-Harvey,” I gasped, my body up in flames over his never ending devotion.

“I’ll stop when I want to. Fuck Yn, you taste so sweet. Almost as sweet as hearing you beg for me to let you cum. Can you take one more?”

Again, I nodded, content to let him spend however long he wanted at my aching core. My second release came much sooner than the first. He didn’t bother teasing me, knowing it would ruin all his hard work if he stopped. With a few more sweeping passes, he licked me clean, sitting back on his heels to look at me. He wiped my cum off on the back of his hand, giving me a wicked grin.

“You are so fucking beautiful, all laid out for me to do as I please,” Harvey said, beginning to strip. 

“Please Harvey, have me. Any way that you like.”

He chuckled, kneeling over me. “I will, but like I said, I want tonight to be all about you.”

“Well I want you to fuck me.” I am not very good at being subtle. 

“How can I deny you when you ask so nicely,” he purred, closing our lips together, I parted my legs for him, desperate for the friction of his body on mine. His chest, his stomach, his hands lacing with mine. I needed all of him all over me. 

It didn’t take long for him to slip inside me, every inch of him stretching me in the most desirable way. I hummed as he stilled, his need clear in the way his arms shook to keep still. 

“Move, please please move,” I begged, threading my hand in his hair. With a reluctant drop of his head, he rolled his hips into mine, our bodies finally meeting in full. 

“I was trying to be gentle,” he reasoned. 

“Fuck gentle, I need you. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I know my love, I know.”

With each thrust into me, a new sensation bubbled inside me. My toes curled, my back bowed, my eyes fluttered shut. He quickened his pace, heavy breaths falling from his lips into mine. His air was mine. Every muttered curse and moan and praise went straight through me. He needed me as much as I needed him.

~~~~~

With my mind not fully awake, I lazily fling myself off my stomach and onto my back. My arm knocked into something hard, and I squinted against the morning sun. Oh, Harvey.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, crashing back down against the pillow. 

He chuckled, kissing the hand that accidentally hit him in the face. “It’s okay.”

“Are you going into the office?” I asked, still keeping my eyes closed. Man this bed is so comfy…

“No?” He said, a question in his tone. “Why would I?”

“Why else are you up so early?”

“I was just looking at you, my love. It’s been a while since I’ve just… looked at the love of my life. Taken the time to appreciate just how fucking stunning you are.”

My heart melted, a lovesick feeling welling up in my chest. I turned over, facing the handsome lawyer and grinned ear to ear. “I’m sure I look fabulous after last night.”

“You’ve never looked hotter. Lips swollen from mine, hair a mess from my hands… your body covered in my-”

“Okay,” I snatched his lips between my fingers, silencing his next words. “I did just wake up, at least let me shower before you destroy me again.”

“Only if I can quote on quote destroy you in the shower before I cook you breakfast and fuck you again on the counter.”

My eyes snapped open, meeting his blown out pupils. “You certainly have a vivid imagination for…” I looked over at the clock on the side of the bed. “... eight thirty-seven AM.”

“Wait till you find out I’ve been awake since six. With nothing to do but plot all the ways I could ruin you.”

I rolled my eyes playfully, offering my lips as a peace offering. He quickly accepted, kissing me deeply. “Man, I missed this.”

“More than you could ever know.”

[theladyofmanyfandomsfanfiction]

Imagine Buggy being furious at your lack of effort to find him…

It had been a morning. Buggy's crew were out of sync without their ringleader and when you demanded that they pay you what you were owed, they threatened to lock you in a cage. Quickly realising that arguing was futile, you wandered through the empty tent with a huff and kicked every crate in sight.

Next time Buggy requested help you promised to drop him into the East Blue.

As you passed the arena ring, you heard grumbling. Pushing the striped curtains aside for a clear view, you quickly recognised the familiar brown coat and blue hair that had been missing for the past week.

Limping to a box, the pirate captain harshly opened the lid and let his missing foot jump out. He heard the jangle of bells above a curtain and turned to find you a few feet away.

He turned and hopped in your direction until his foot finally reattached and paused with a stomp.

“Thanks for the rescue.” He said bitterly. The sarcasm was duly noted given that no such thing had occurred. The clown stalked over to you and bobbed a little as he put forward his point.

“A note for future reference - when the Captain is missing… go find him!” He shouted.

You had had enough of pirate snark for one day and his attitude wasn’t helping. “I did." You bit back.

He scoffed and slowed his pace which felt a lot more dangerous. "Did you now?"

Shrugging, you gave the clown a nod to defend your answer. "Yes. For a good twenty minutes your crew searched and..."

The clown stopped suddenly a few paces away and stared at you with a deadpan expression.

"Twenty?" He repeated. "You gave up after a measly twenty minutes?!"

“You were catapulted out of the tent, Buggy. How the hell was I supposed to pinpoint your location?”

“Oh, I don’t know maybe spend more than twenty minutes searching?!” He yelled now very close to your face.

This wasn’t the first time he raised his voice. In fact, the more he did it, the sharper your tongue became which was something he seemed to enjoy.

“Watch the tone." You warned. "I am not part of your crew. You hired my services to help raid Shells Town and steal a map. All of this business with the stretchy kid was not part of our arrangement so my effort to even attempt to find you was a gesture of goodwill.” You told him. "You know where to find me with the berries I'm owed."

Stepping back to straighten your sleeves and end the conversation, you turned to leave… except, you smacked into Buggy’s nose.

“What the-?"

The clowns body caught up with the rest of him on your other side effectively blocking your exit. He raised his hands and gently brushed your shoulders from invisible dust with a sigh and a smile that appeared sweet but was actually laced with an incoming threat.

“Listen,” he began with a tone much softer than a few minutes ago. “I need that map to get some really scary people off my back."

"How is that my problem exactly?"

"Well since I haven't paid you, you're technically still under my employ. So if I’m screwed then so are you." With a small giggle of amusement, Buggy leaned forward. “Welcome to the circus.”

Shaking your head, you let out a sigh. "I'm going to fire you from a cannon one day."

~ More imagines here ~

[luciferlightbringer]

Love in a Hopeless Place

Chapter 10

Chapter 9|Chapter 10|Chapter 11|Updated through Chapter 12

Lucifer x prostitute fem!reader Word Count: 3.6k CW: Slowburn, Angst, Prostitution, Hurt/comfort, trauma, fluff, depression, anxiety, insecurity,

Over the next couple of days, Charlie and the hotel crew started to prepare for their little "intervention" dinner with her dad. Charlie and Vaggie worked together to make up dinner while the others made sure the place was kept up, mostly Niffty.

Later that night, Charlie heard a knock on the front door. Was that him? Why didn't he just teleport in like usual? Charlie went to open the door and saw Lucifer giving his big focused smile.

"Charlie! It's so good to see you," he said enveloping his daughter in a big hug. It had been weeks since he had hugged anyone, the sting of how much he missed it had started to grow back.

"Hi Dad," Charlie said hugging her father back tightly and swinging him around. "I've missed you so much, it's been weird not having you around as much."

Lucifer tightened his grip on Charlie as they hugged, "I'm- sorry about that sweetie, I just... got busy. I'll try to be better about that, I promise."

Charlie loosened the hug enough to study her dad's face, it was tired and worn out, he looked like he hadn't slept in days. Lucifer tried hard to keep his facade up, but he knew his daughter was trying to read him.

"Dad... are you sure you are ok?" Charlie asked with concern.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" he said still trying to hold a smile, holding a silence but futile prayer that he could find a way to fool her into thinking he was ok.

The other members of the hotel, Angel, Husk, Niffty, Cherri, Vaggie, even Alastor started to walk in from the shadows of the hotel lobby.

"Cuz, with all due respect your highness," Husk chimed in "One, you are a bad liar, two, we actually do care about you," Husk looked over to Alastor out of the side on his eye, "well... most of us care about you, and three... we are also worried about (y/n)."

"Ya!" Angel added in, "You two were a couple of peas in a pod, she was even talkin' 'bout wantin' to move in here, den 'poof', ya both are nowhere ta be seen fa' weeks. What gives?! I thought we mattered to you guys!"

"Ya! I miss you and our girl, where is she?!" Cherri pipped in, "We loved watching you two hangin' out here togetha."

"She was a bad girl! But she was really nice! I liked when she would listen to me talk about my bugs fights!" Niffty added, holding up her knife.

Alastor sighed, "Honestly, I'm mostly here for the entertainment of your sorrow... but (y/n) was important to the growth of the hotel and it's community. Plus, she amuses me. I had grown unfortunately fond of her charms," Alastor said with a wicked smile, his comment made the room pause a moment, Lucifer glared at him.

"We miss both of you, sir, it's just not the same here without you. We just kinda feel like we've been left in the dark," Vaggie added, rubbing her arm.

Lucifer sighed, he didn't realize just how much you had meant to not just Charlie, but to the entire hotel. That you guys together had been. It was important for them to know the truth.

"Ok, ok... I'll tell you the truth... but it isn't going to be pretty," Lucifer said with shame painting his face. Lucifer went to go sit on the couch and the others came to sit around him and listen to the story. Lucifer gave an abbreviated story of the last several months of his time with you, truth that you were actually a prostitute he had hired, the story with how it all started with the conversation with Ozzie, the first appointment and the chaos and joy that cam from it, how you had helped him to connect with Charlie and the hotel again, how you supported either other through the stresses of the war with Heaven, how he protected you, how he realized he had fallen in love with you, and then the last night you were together, the blur and confusion of it all, and how finally you had banned him from being able to be scheduled with you again and how you had been told that the whole dynamic was just her acting like she cared about him. He didn't blame or try to paint you in a bad light, he was just defeated and sad.

During the story, the group went through a series of emotions, all of them now understanding why you had not able to talk about your relationship with him at all.

"Damn it! No wonder I liked her so much! She's in da same industry as me!" shouted Angel when the story was over, "She felt so kindred and I couldn't fuckin' see it. Oh, she is good."

"So... none of your relationship was real?" Charlie asked, sadly.

Lucifer shook his head, "No... no I don't think it was."

Husk shook his head, "You're wrong." Everyone looked at him. "Something here doesn't add up, Angel, Cherri, you remember our conversation with (y/n) the night before the war with heaven?" They nodded, Husk looked at Lucifer, "The only lie I have ever seen (y/n) tell you was that she was sad that night because of the war, which... she still was... but the reason she was sad before you came over to check on her was because she was sad that she could not be honest with us about your guy's relationship. We had asked her about what was up because you guys seemed more than friends, and she told us she could not talk about it. And she has tried to bluff some things about how she presents herself before when we first met her, probably all just to protect the secret you guys had. Trust me when I say, she was never fake with how much I saw she cared about you."

Lucifer shrugged, "It doesn't seem to matter though it though... in the end, she banned me."

"Why?" asked Angel, "Did she tell you? Did you ever hurt her?"

"No. Someone else at the place she works called me and told me, she was gone or... something. I don't know if I hurt her, never physically, but I was so drunk at the end of our last night together... I don't know what I did or why I got banned... and I'd never want to cross a boundary like that... she's had too many fucked up people in her life... I don't want to add to that club any more than I already had," he buried his face in his hands, "it sounds like keeping the secret was already a lot of weight on her, I didn't realize..."

"King, listen, I've been in the sex business for a long time, nothin' about this situation makes sense ta me, both from a sex worka' standpoint or from what I know about her. Did you pay her well?" Angel ask inquisitively.

Lucifer nodded, "Ya, I gave her big tips too, I wanted to to be happy and get what she needed."

"No good sex worka' in their right mind would full on ban you for one weird night, even if you did rough 'em up a bit. You told us there was some other client that had been roughin' her up a bit that you took care of. Tell me, did she ban him on the first night of havin' any issues with him?" Angel asked. Lucifer shook his head, starting to think about Angel's words.

"Right. So unless she was stupid, which I know she aint, she wouldn't've cut off probably the best paycheck in hell just because you had one sloppy drunk night where something may have gone weird. Also, on top a dat, sex worka's can be good actors and can pretend like they care. But they try not to get attached, and like Husker said earlier, she got attached, and boy it was obvious. That's probably a big reason why I didn't sus her out sooner. By da time we met her, nothin' about ya relationship was actin' anymore, on either side. Cuz you love 'er, dontcha?" Angel pointed while he leaned back on the couch.

Everyone looked at Lucifer, he nodded, "I do, I love her."

Angel nodded, "And you would do anythin' to make 'er happy, including keepin' yourself away from her if you thought it would make her happier, isn't dat right?"

Lucifer started to tear up, "Yes..." Charlie started to tear up and hugged her dad.

"Therefore... there is something fishy happenin' here, there must be some form of miscommunication, or... a third party that likes messin' with shit," Angel looked up at the ceiling thinking.

"How do you know all this?" asked Vaggie suspiciously. Angel looked over at Vaggie and have her a sly smile, "When you're life was spent in da Mafia and your afterlife was spent around shitty desperate sex worka's that are dying to get a taste of your success by any means necessary, you pick up on a few things, baby."

Charlie perked up, "You think someone at her work did this?"

Angel shrugged, "It's very possible, not 100%, but it's possible. Lucifer, did (y/n) ever talk about having any issues with other girls at her workplace?"

Lucifer thought a moment, "Hmm... she mentioned there being some annoying girls that she some sometimes needed to put in their place, but nothing this crazy hostile. But then again, she didn't like talking about the Lounge much, and I didn't like asking because I started to get more sad whenever I was reminded that I was just a client to her."

"The Lounge, like the Luxurious Lady's Lounge in the Entertainment district?" asked Angel.

"Ya... you know it?" asked Lucifer.

Angel smiled, "Know it? Ha! Sure do. I know exactly where it is too. May have even seen 'er once or twice without knowin' it"

Charlie smiled at her dad, "Dad, if we know where she is, we should just go and talk to her!"

Lucifer shook his head, "Oh. No, no, nonononono, Charlie... I can't do that."

"Why not? Dad, come on, we can try clearing all this up!" Charlie pleaded.

Lucifer sighed, "I just... until I know for sure that she didn't actually ban me, I won't want to risk that. It's just not a good idea... Plus, I don't want to attract more attention to her if she is having issues there," Lucifer hung his head.

Charlie thought for a minute, then a lightblub went off, Charlie got down to Lucifer's eye level, "Dad, she may have "banned" you for seeing her... but not me! I could go talk to her!"

"Charlie, hold on, dis is a bad idea," Angel piped up, everyone looked at him confused, "Rememba' what happened when you tried to talk to Val for me?" Charlie thought for a second remembering the disaster that was, feeling the guilt return at the memory. Angel smiled, "Obviously I need to go with you!" The room erupted into laughter, Angel almost had them for a second, even Lucifer managed to crack a smile in his down mood.

"You guys are really willing to do this for me?" he asked looking to Charlie and Angel.

Charlie looked at Angel and back to her dad, and grabbed Lucifer's hands, "Yes, for you... and for us."

Lucifer smiled, "Ok... but can we actually have dinner before you go? I was anticipating an actual dinner instead of an intervention, but I guess I should have expected both." The room filled with laughter again and the group set up for dinner before Charlie and Angel would head out to find the Lounge, and more importantly, you.

______________________________________________________________

Later that evening, you were hanging out in the lobby of the Lounge, the same way that you had the nights before Lucifer had started to take up more of your schedule. You were still getting clients, but it was back to the old torturous monotony as before, but it somehow felt worse now that you had gotten a taste of love... or what you thought had been love. Every client made you wish you were back in Lucifer's arms, wanting to explore Lucifer's body... not this shithole and all it's shitty clients.

You felt yourself grow more bitter as you saw Cynthhhhia grow back in popularity with the customers, it seemed her few days on the phones really scared her into staying in her lane, especially because Larry had apparently made her take all of the calls during those three days. Something did not sit right with you about her more recent success, but you didn't want to turn into another her. Plus, the happier she was, the more she left you alone. Guess there had to be a bright side, somewhere.

You were sitting on your favorite couch in a long, blue, shear, flowy robe, when you saw a tall pair of individuals walk into the lobby. But not just any two tall people, two that you recognized, Angel and Charlie. You eyes went wide, and you quickly slinked off to the dressing room to hide.

'What the hell? What are they doing there?!' you thought to yourself. You hoped they hadn't seen you, even though your time with Lucifer was up, you still wanted to keep his secret about the two of you.

Charlie and Angel walked up to the front counter where Larry was standing he did a double-take seeing both of them.

"Whoooaaa, Princess Morningstar! And the famous Angel Dust! What an honor to have you two in to join us this evening. Are we interested in having a little fun tonight? I am surprised, I didn't think one of Val's best boys would be needin' to pay for fun. Unless... you are looking for a change in employment?" He flashed a sharp smile.

Charlie piped up, "Hi! Uhh, Charlie is just fine. And no, neither of those things. We are here looking for one of your girls, (y/n)."

"Is she here tonight?" Angel added.

"Uhh... ya. What business do you have with her?" Larry asked, wondering how they knew her.

"She's a friend ah mine," Angel chimed in, "She's mean MIA for a few weeks and we have been worried about 'er, we were wantin' to check in on her. Charlie has gotten to know her a little too and wanted to come with."

"Can we pleaseee see her?" Charlie pleaded.

Larry thought for a moment, "I don't know, she is still on the clock for several more hours. I can't just let her off early." Charlie and Angel look at each other and nod, Charlie pulls out an bunch of cash, "Will this cover her for the rest of the night." Larry smiled as the amount of money in her hands, it was more than enough.

"I do believe that will work Ms. Mornin- uhh, Charlie," Larry said taking the cash, "Let me go get her." Charlie is glad that she learned that in some situations like this, money talked more than words or power. She came more prepared than she had with her conversation with Valentino over getting more of Angel's time.

Larry searched around before finding you in the dressing room, "Hey Babydoll, you've been bought out for the rest of the night by some friends of yours, Angel Dust and Charlie Morningstar. I didn't know you knew them." He said giving you a look.

They bought you out for the rest of the night? Did they come here specifically to find you? How did they know you were here? Did... did Lucifer tell them? You felt some fear and hope bloom in your chest.

"Oh, haha ya, you know me, I'm just not one to talk about my personal life at work," you gave Larry a big smile. He laughed, "Alright, keep your secrets, sounds like they wanted to talk to you about something, worried about you. Go show 'em a good time tonight, ok?" You nodded, and quickly switching out to a more solid less see-through robe, before walking out to the lobby.

Angel and Charlie saw you coming, Charlie ran to you but you stopped her short of you, "Not here, come with me," and you led your friends up to you apartment. Once you were inside you room and the door was locked, you said "Ok now you can hug me if you want to."

This time, both Charlie and Angel want to embrace you at the same time, starting to tear up a little.

"Oh my god, (y/n)! It's so good to see you! We were so worried about you!" Charlie asked.

"Ya! When you and Lucifer stopped showing up at the hotel to visit, we started worrying, babe," Angel added.

"Wait... hold up, Lucifer stopped showing up to the hotel? How did you know I was here?" you asked.

"We sat my Dad down and he finally broke and told us the truth about everything," Charlie said.

"Ya, he spilled da beans on your guy's relationship, you don't have to keep his secret from us anymore," Angel added.

Tears started to well up in your eyes, "I don't?!" The two nodded. You started to sob and hugged them back. "I- I'm so sorry, I- I didn't want to lie to anyone but he wanted to keep it discreet, which I understand, he is the King! And it was so confusing, and then, one night he got really drunk one night, and it worried me, he wasn't acting like himself, and told me he loved me, but, but I didn't know if I could believe him. And he was getting all touchy and doe eyed, and I didn't know what was really what he wanted because it was all so sudden. So I ran! I ran because I was so scared, and- and- and-" Charlie and Angel both hugged you and tried to shushed you through your crying.

"It's ok, no one is mad at you. That sounds like a hard position to be in, it sounds like there was a lot of confusion on both sides," Charlie said.

"Confusion?" you sniffled, "Is that why he hasn't called to schedule with me again?"

Charlie and Angel looked at each other then back to you, "You didn't ban him then?"

You blinked, "WHAT?! Why on earth would anyone think I blocked him?! No! I freaked out and went on a trip for a few days to clear my head. I came back and I was told that he said he would call to reschedule, and then he just never did! I thought he hated me!"

"No!" Charlie cried, "No, Oh my god, he is a total wreck without you! He misses you like crazy! He thinks he was put on your "No Kiss List" or something"

"We can't even say your name without him shuttin' down and lookin' like we killed his dog or somethin'," Angel added, Charlie gave him a look, "What?! It's true!"

You sat down on the couch and stared out for a minute, thinking, "Why didn't he come to ask me himself?"

Charlie shrugged, "He doesn't remember what happened that night, he is convinced that he hurt you terribly and that it's why you banned him. He didn't want to hurt you so he respected that wish. We tried to get him to come tonight but he was scared in case you really had banned him."

You thought for a few more moments, who could have caused this? Who would have done this to you both. Your eyes widened. No, could this have been... did Cynthhhhia do this? Would she have been the one to make the calls that day since that was her punishment. You were pretty sure, but you didn't want to act without proof. You clenched your fists, starting to fill with rage.

"Is he at the hotel?" They nodded. You thought again, "Can you take me to him?" They nodded again with more excitement.

"I have just one question for you, before we go," Charlie started, looking into your eyes, "Tell me truthfully, do you actually care about my dad, not just for an income, but as a person?"

You took Charlie's hands in your own, "Charlie, I really do... more than anything... in fact... I'm pretty sure I'm in love with him." Charlie and Angel squealed and jumped up and down.

"That's all I needed to hear, let's do this!" Charlie declared.

You took a few minutes to get dressed, and soon you were off to see Lucifer again. Cynthhhhia eyed you a little as you left, wondering what you were doing with the most famous porn star in the Pride Ring and the Princess of Hell. She rolled her eyes and went back to chatting it up with her next client out it the lobby, it was probably nothing of substance, and she already had big enough fish to fry to keep her focused on herself. Although, she did briefly amuse herself with the idea of seducing the Princess' father, oh how wonderful a dream that would be, but she knew better than to put more thought into that. Why would the King of Hell ever need a prostitute? She laughed to herself.

You, on the other hand, were so full of fear and excitement at the idea of seeing actually Lucifer again, it felt like a dream and you were scared to wake up. But if Charlie and Angel's reaction was any indication of anything, maybe Brooklyn had been right after all.

______________________________________________________________

Thank you for putting up with torment! I made sure to get through this one quickier so that there was a return of hope. Next chapter they will finally talk in out, and then... a certain someone may see justice 😈

As usual, leave a comment if you want added to the taglist so that you can get notifications when future chapters drop! xoxo, dany (OMG there are so many of you!😍 Please let me know if the tag isn't working for you) Taglist :(red names are not tagging for some reason 😢)

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[tbgblr2]

Tony's Surprise

Another story written with the help of @shhhsecretsideblog

Lets hope you enjoy it :)

---

Captain Tony Joplins, member of the Royal Marines - and first-time father-to-be was actually giddy with excitement. He stared at the calendar on his desk in the barracks - it had 3 dates ringed. First was the due date of the baby - over a week ago now. The next was the expected completion date of his tour of duty - 2 weeks after the due date of his baby. And today, another date that had been circled. Today was a special day. Today was the day he was going home.

The peacekeeping mission had been a success, his team was handling the handover of power to the local militia, and they were working on demobilisation now. He was granted special permission to return home to see his wife.

If it was through sheer dumb luck, willpower or the obstinate attitude of the mother and baby he didn’t know, but a week past her due date, she still hadn’t delivered.

She always said she would wait until he got back… but never in his wildest dreams did Tony think he would make it back in time for the birth.

He held the phone to his head talking casually to his wife.

“Uh huh. Really… you don’t say. So, how’s the bump? No sign of anything happening ? I honestly can’t believe it too baby. I mean you must be grumpy and aching.”

The call went on for 10 minutes more with the couple catching up on the days news. Sarah, Tony’s wife had no idea he was planning an early trip home, and he wanted to keep the surprise as long as he could.

“Ok baby I’ve got to go. Speak to you tomorrow, get some rest it must be getting late there. Put the phone on your belly so I can say goodnight to our little munchkin. Goodnight dumpling”. He signed off with a kiss down the phone and wished his wife goodnight.

The second he hung up the phone, he picked up his travel bag, turned out the light to the barracks office and signalled the crew driver to take him to the airport. He was on his way home.

***

Sarah hung up the phone and put it back on charge beside the bed. Getting to speak to Tony was always the highlight of the day; she missed him dearly. But she understood his career, why he’d enlisted with the Royal Marines, how much it meant to him to do what he does. It was one of the reasons she fell in love with him - his selflessness.

Being an independent person, it never bothered Sarah to have a husband frequently away on duty. She was happy running the house, going to work, getting to watch whatever she wanted of an evening. And whenever Tony was home, they would more than make up for the time apart by spending days holed up in bed together. Which is how she’d gotten to be the size of a house right now.

Her hand rubbed over the large swell of her pregnant belly that was sitting heavily atop her thighs. A week overdue and she felt… huge. Her ankles were swollen, her breasts were spilling out of all her maternity bras, and her stomach was stretched so far she often found herself cupping her hands underneath to physically hold it up.

But Sarah wouldn’t have it any other way. Tony was going to be home in a week and she was certain both her and the baby could wait that long. The midwife had mentioned an induction to her earlier that day during her routine checkup, given she was a week overdue with still no sign of baby, but Sarah was quick to shut that suggestion down. The baby would come when they were good and ready, and Sarah was sure they were holding out for dad’s return.

Taking a few deep breaths to prepare herself Sarah hauled her body up off the bed, where she’d been resting during her call with Tony, and started getting ready for bed. It was late and her body was exhausted. The one good thing about being this heavily pregnant while your husband was on tour was that she had the whole bed to herself. Well, plus the giant pregnancy pillow.

***

Tony approached the military airfield and hopped on the waiting aeroplane. He turned off his phone with a sigh of contentment. He had to get to the more publicly accessible airport first which involved a quick hop over to the civilian airfields, quick change into his civvies and then a 4 hour flight back home. In around 5 hours he could surprise his wife who would hopefully be sleeping soundly in bed at the time - if she wasn’t up for the dozenth time in the night to pee he recited in his head, the same mantra given to him by Sarah for weeks now.

The military aircraft hop was uneventful, check in at the civilian airport went as expected and as the pilot announced the plane was ready to take off, all was good in the world.

Back at home though, Sarah had struggled to sleep. She couldn’t get comfortable. The Braxton hicks contractions were worse than ever, though she was timing them, expecting things to get progressively worse, they were very erratic.

Rubbing her distended stomach, she asked her little passenger to calm down, to let mummy sleep, but for whatever reason, solely known to her subconscious and her baby, it would never settle.

***

“Did you want anything to drink sir?” The air steward asked Tony.

“Yes please.” Replied Tony as he put down his book and looked over the options available on the trolly.

“What would you like?”

He was technically on leave now, he told himself looking at all the alcoholic options atop the trolley. It had been a long day, getting everything finished before his departure and the multiple flights, he could really use a drink. But his thoughts drifted to Sarah, he wanted to get home as soon as possible and didn’t want to turn up with beer on his breath.

“I’ll just have a splash of water thanks.”

***

The bed was wet. Sarah woke up groaning into her pillow and feeling damp sheets beneath her thighs.

“Oh… oh no baby. You were doing so well, waiting for your dad to come home.” Sarah grumbled as the twisting cramp pulling her further away from sleep.

Curling around her belly, she breathed through the wave that seemed more intense than before she’d gone to sleep. The baby wiggled and kicked inside, clearly they were also disgruntled and disturbed by the change of events.

When the contraction passed Sarah pushed herself up, swinging her legs off the bed and rubbing her heavy stomach. “Hooo- so you’ve decided to come out now then have you?” She asked her unborn babe, talking to the baby was something she frequently did. “Well if I’m not going to be able to sleep, might as well get up and change the bedding. Put the washing on, can’t have these sheets staying like this.”

Sarah bundled up the sheets into a pile on the bed as she stopped, one hand on the bare mattress, one on her belly, a rogue contraction catching her off guard. She groaned through the pain, surprised at the urges her body was going through.

“I wonder if Joss is awake…” she mumbled to herself, something to take her mind off her predicament.

Joss, or Jocelyn to use her full name was Sarah’s midwife, and whilst she knew she was on risk of call at any time considering the late stage of her pregnancy, getting a call at 1am is never fun… especially if she could be potentially in labour for several hours.

As the contraction ebbed away, she grabbed the sheets and walked with the bundle rested on top of her bump as she waddled downstairs into the kitchen, dumped the sheets on the floor, pulled open the washer door and after putting in the load, set the machine away.

She thought of her options. She could contact Joss, but preferred not to this early, and considered trying to contact Tony, but she had no way to contact his military sat phone, only his personal mobile which he may not have access to on patrol - then considered that perhaps she didn’t want to worry him with no way for him to get back home.

The thoughts were racing through her head when the next contraction snuck up on her. She felt suddenly doubtful and unprepared, though she knew she had researched this countless times and knew exactly what to expect. It just suddenly got real though.

With hands braced against the kitchen countertop, Sarah took deep, slow breaths. In and out, in and out. Allowing the long exhales to both aid with the contraction but also to steady and calm her mind.

No amount of research could truly prepare her for the experience of birth. The contractions were sharper and more intense than she’d expected early labour to be, and knowing this was just the start made her teeter toward the panicked uncertainty. Regulating her breathing helped, as did having the task of putting on the wash.

Deciding to wait to call Joss, until things were a bit more established and when she’d actually need the support, Sarah slowly pottered around the kitchen finding tasks to do to distract her. She wiped down all the work surfaces, reorganised all the kitchen cupboards, threw away out of date cans and cleaned behind infrequently used glassware. Unloading the dishwasher proved difficult, unable to bend down with the size of her pregnant belly and forcing her to squat down to get the items in the bottom drawer. It was of course during this task when another contraction struck. With her heavy bump hanging low between her thighs, Sarah grasped up and held fast to the edge of the counter as the contraction tore through her body, squeezing and twisting the muscles, working the baby down towards its exit. A long moan escaped her as it peaked and when it was over she hauled herself back to standing, breathing heavily.

“That was tough” she spoke out loud, vocalising her thoughts to no one in particular. She boiled her kettle and pulled a puppy pad from her birth supplies walking into her living room and placing it on her sofa to give her somewhere to sit.

Feeling another contraction come along as she walked back into her kitchen she paused - hands resting on her counter top again - as the waves took her breath away. She found herself closing her eyes and humming to herself as the wave crested and finally subsided, all the while her thoughts were drifting to suggestions such as ‘this hurts a lot more than I expected’ and ‘it’s happening fast.’

She plodded back into the living room and placed her hot tea on the desk next to the sofa, and in turn, slowly lowered herself down onto the pad she had placed earlier - the squelch and feeling of wetness on her thighs and ass an immediate reminder that she hadn’t changed out of her wet clothes from her water having broken.

She groaned to herself, as much out of frustration as anything else with having to get out of the seat again so early, but the dampness didn’t feel comfortable at all. A waddling trudge to the bedroom later and she had managed to change her pyjamas to a fresh pair and felt much more comfortable.

As she pulled up the damp pad to replace it with another, her body decided it was time for the next contraction and she grabbed hard into the back of her sofa, fingers digging into the leather like upholstery.

The pain left her panting and groaning, once more this contraction had been noticeably worse than the previous one, and she shook her head with it passing, deciding it was time to seek Joss’s support.

The midwife answered after only a few rings. Sarah habitually apologised for the calling at such a late hour, but to Joss it was all part of the job. After informing Joss of her broken waters and the frequency of the contractions, Sarah was relieved to hear the midwife was on her way over.

Over the next while, the intensity of the contractions really started to chip away at Sarah’s resolve. Her confidence in her strength was fading with every wave and Sarah felt herself wanting, and needing, support. Having Joss on her way helped, but it also made it very, very real. And she missed Tony. Her loving husband and father to this child should be here… she really didn’t want to do this without him. She looked up at the ceiling to try and stop the tears from gathering enough to roll down her cheeks.  

Without even realising, Sarah unlocked her phone and called Tony’s mobile. It went to voicemail but she wasn’t surprised. Hearing his automated voicemail message brought a lump to her throat but she quickly swallowed it away before the sound of the beep.

“Hey honey, it’s me. Um….You’re probably out on patrol with no access to your phone. I know you’re busy saving the world, but um…. I guess I just wanted to hear your voice. Hoooo…” her breath hitched as the start of a contraction rolled towards her. “I…errrr also wanted to let you know that -hooooo- it’s baby time. Mmnnn, hang on-” she moved the phone away from her head slightly, humming her way through the latest peak. “Sorry, contraction. I’m okay, don’t worry. I’ve called Joss, she’s on her way over now. I just miss you, babe. I’ll try and keep you updated, though I don’t know when you’ll get these messages. Maybe next time we speak, we’ll be parents.” The smile on Sarah’s face could be heard through the tone of her voice. “I love you.”

Sarah hung up the phone and a minute later she heard the sound of Joss knocking at her front door.

Sarah grunted as she made her waddling way to the front door, one hand jammed heavily into her back, the pressure helped alleviate… something… with the whole process but she was just pleased with the temporary respite.

As the latch clicked on the door and the 2 ladies suddenly looked face to face with each other, it was Joss who spoke first.

“Baby kicking your ass real good?” She asked. Sarah could only nod. “Good, well I’ve got something that’s going to take the edge off.”

It was then Sarah noticed that Joss was carrying a bag slung over her shoulder and saw the gas bottle stored inside.

“Oh my hero… come on in” offered Sarah as she stepped back from the door and allowed Joss to come in behind her, closing the door as she entered.

“So little bubba finally making an appearance?” Asked Joss.

“Sure looks…” as Sarah suddenly grunted “and feels like it” she offered by way of reply.

Joss swung the bag onto the floor with a clunk and dug into it to pull out a regulator and mouthpiece. “Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours dearie… Joss is going to make it all better.”

Sarah took a liking to Joss in the early days of her pregnancy. She liked her amiable nature and her no fuss attitude. As Joss screwed on the regulator to the bottle she asked a few background info checks and finally handed the mouthpiece to Sarah.

“Just in time” she groaned as she put the tube into her mouth and sucked hard. She clenched the tube between her teeth and spoke around it “another one starting.”

Joss nodded and let her take her time before continuing with the admin.

***

At 30,000 feet, Tony lay back in his chair, headphones on and watched a movie. He couldn’t concentrate on it though, all his focus was on getting back to his wife. He looked at his watch. About 3 hours of flight time to go before he lands. He felt like a kid at Christmas.

The stewardess walked past and offered him a snack. He took the sandwich and smiled. By way of conversation the stewardess asked what he was travelling for when he revealed he was heading home for the birth of his first child. The stewardess congratulated him and popped back to the hold, bringing out a plush teddy bear with her. “Hope this brings back good memories of this flight when you get to see the baby.”

***

“I wasn’t expecting things to h-hurt so much so soon…” Sarah panted out and quickly returned the tube of gas to her mouth.

Kneeling on the floor in her living room, elbows resting on the sofa and puppy pad under her knees, Sarah worked through the latest contraction while Joss sat behind her kneading her lower back.

“Childbirth is no joke sweetie, they don’t call it ‘labour’ for nothing.” Joss chuckled to herself mainly, Sarah too busy inhaling the gas to pay much attention. “We’ll get you through this one and then I’ll check to see how far you’ve progressed. You’re doing brilliant dearie.”

Sarah grumbled and groaned through the latest wave, rocking her hips round in circles. When it was over she pulled the mouthpiece away and sat back on her heels, making sure the gas stayed within arms reach at all times.

“That was a rough one eh?” Joss asked, checking her watch and noting the time in her notebook.

“Hooo- yeah. They’re really ramping up now. It’s getting harder to talk through them.”

“Well that’s a good sign, means you’re progressing nicely. Now, shall we see how far you’ve progressed?” Joss asked, grabbing her gloves.

Sarah nodded and got back up to her knees, resting over the sofa cushions. Joss’s expert hands were soon uncomfortably inside her and she grunted.

“Sorry lovely, I’ll be quick.” Joss quipped. “Looking good. Just over 6cm dilated. You’ll be hitting transition soon, that’s where the fun really starts.”

“Can’t wait.” Sarah joked back.

“Are you happy labouring here for the time being? Some mums like to have a bath or shower at this time?” Joss asked.

“Shower would be nice. Might help alleviate some of this back pain.” Sarah said with a groan, stretching awkwardly side to side trying to ease the tense muscles raging across her lower spine.

“Lead the way” offered Joss, giving Sarah a hand to her feet.

“You coming with me?” Asked Sarah, huffing out her breath as she managed to get to her feet.

“Where else do you think I should be… my patient will be in the shower, I’ll be there in case my patient needs me.” Came the matter of fact reply.

“But… but I’ll be naked!” Came Sarah’s exasperated reply.

“In case you aren’t aware, I’ve just seen between your legs only a few minutes ago… and I’ll dare say as things get hot and heavy, you’ll be more than willing to strip for me again, Mrwar” she made a cat like noise whilst wiggling her eyebrows, which in turn sent Sarah into fits of giggles.

“You know what I never thought of it like that… I mean I know I’d need my knickers off but I thought I’d push in my dressing gown.” Answered Sarah.

“If that’s what you want to do, I’ll not stop you” Joss said “but if you want some advice… you’ll get damned hot putting in all the effort. Wear something light, an old tee shirt you don’t mind getting messy… or many mothers prefer nothing at all.”

Sarah had walked over to the base of her stairs during the conversation, has stopped with her foot on the first step, her hand on the banister as the conversation played out. By the end, the contraction had started again.

Joss took her position behind Sarah as she groaned through the pain, Joss’s hand snaking under her pyjamas and finding bare skin to press and knead.

“Do you want the gas and air?” Joss asked.

“No… no… let me see how I manage this, the massage is helping. When I get in the shower, can you put the water jets on my back if I need it?” Asked Sarah.

“Of course babe! Though maybe let’s put some towels down in case of splash back!” Joss sniggered. That in turn set Sarah off and she actually laughed through a contraction, though admittedly at its peak, the laugh warped into a moan.

Finally, after a few moments of respite, the two continued their trek up to the bathroom for Sarah to jump into the shower. She leaned in, set the water to warm, and felt so at ease with Joss she dropped her clothes into a pile at her feet, hands laying on her belly as she gave the shower a few moment to warm ready to step into it. Joss in turn bundled the clothes up and placed them on top of the closed toilet lid.

Stepping into the warm shower was bliss. Sarah hadn’t realised just how tight and tense her back had gotten as she’d worked through each of the contractions. But now, standing under the waterfall, the pressure hitting her spine, she exhaled a moan of relief.

“Told you a shower was a good idea.” Joss sniggered, perching on the edge of the toilet seat and looking around at Sarah and Tony’s bathroom. She always enjoyed this part of her job, getting to see inside her patients homes gave her a great sense of who they were as people.

In this bathroom you could see mainly Sarah’s toiletries littered about the place, very little evidence of Tony, which was expected given he was currently away on tour. But there was still two hand towels on the railing by the sink, two spaces for toothbrushes, and an empty spot beside the sink which was obviously the home of Tony’s wash bag whenever he was back.

Sarah started to grumble when she felt the next contraction began twisting.

“Are you okay in there?” Joss called out over the sounds of the shower.

“Mmmmmm yeah…. Hooo- I’m fine. It’s much better in here with the warmth of the water. But… oooooh could you put the jets on my back now? It’s really starting to pinch…” Sarah planted her palms against the opposite side of the shower to the water, swaying her hips side to side through the wave.

Joss jumped up and changed the setting on the shower so the water came out the jets in the wall instead of the shower head above.

“Better?” Asked Joss

Sarah nodded, silently working through the wave and just letting the powerful jets push the hot water into her aching back.

They stayed in comfortable silence, Sarah shifting and swaying under the glorious streams of warm water, letting the temperature ease the contracting muscles throughout her body.

After a few more contractions Joss offered the suggestion of moving, but Sarah was having none of it. “Mmmm no… happy here…” she breathed, her body swaying beneath the jets her fingers lightly touching the tiles for that bit of stability.

“That’s fine with me, you can stay wherever you’re happiest.”

Then out of no where Sarah’s moaning turned more frantic. “Oooooo no… Joss! I can’t…. Arghhhhh…” Sarah’s hands reached forward, gripping the air, trying to find something to hold and squeeze but there was nothing but tiles. A shooting electricity of pressure and pain shot up the entire length of her back. Knees trembling, hips dipping, Sarah had disappeared outside her body losing all control.

Joss jumped up the second her groaning changed. The sudden change in demeanour signalled the obvious move into transition. Sarah was struggling, with nothing to hold on to her legs were seconds away from buckling. Joss did the only thing she could - she jumped fully clothed into the shower, grabbing Sarah tightly under each armpit and stopped her knees from crashing into the tiled floor.

“It’s okay Sarah, just breathe. I’ve got you.” Joss reassured, the water now splashing her own back as she held Sarah up under the arms.

“I can’t do this!” Sarah cried

“You’re doing brilliant dearie, amazing. Let’s get you down on your knees, get you grounded through this bit.” Joss lowered Sarah gently and the mother-to-be shifted, knees on the floor and her arms out in front.

When Joss was confident Sarah had gotten herself in the position she wanted, she sat down in front of the labouring mother, offering her shoulders to lean on or hands to squeeze.

“ I don’t want to do this anymore. I need a hospital… drugs…” Sarah groaned, grasping Joss’s shoulders and pulling the fabric of her tee shirt into her tight fist.

“You are doing fine my lovely. Just perfect. You are exactly where you need to be, your body is doing exactly what it needs to do.” Joss could feel the water soaking her back and bottom half as she sat on the shower floor. They were no where near the controls to turn the shower off, so until Sarah got through transition, they were stuck there.

***

“The captain has put on the fasten your seatbelts sign, so please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts, we are approaching some turbulence”. It was a message heard all too often in a flight environment, and for Tony he thought nothing of it, clipping his belt shut as the cabin crew went seat to seat to check on things. What he didn’t realise was at the same time his wife was working through turbulence of her own. As the plane rattled and shook through the air, Tony glanced at his watch. An hour and a half. They’ll be beginning the descent in a little bit. Nearly home.

***

Sarah howled, unable to focus on anything else but the arcing pains going through her. There was no more gradual ramp up, groaning, swaying… this was almost torture. She was aware of Joss grabbing her tight but aside from that she was entirely self absorbed. She lost track of time, it may have been moments, it may have been hours. Either way the pain didn’t relent. Each contraction was practically on top of each other…

“I can’t do it make it stop” Sarah gasped out, “it hurts too much I want it to stop.”

“Just relax and breathe through it. You’re in transition.” Joss knew that Sarah may only be part taking her advice in, but she felt her grip slightly relax as her breathing slowed and started back to normality rather than tensing up and fighting it.

“Good, good, that’s it, relax… big deep healing breaths.”

Of course it was easier said than done when the relentless press of her body was in control.

Slowly, too slowly in Sarah’s view, the intensity of transition began to fade. She was loathed to move, scared of provoking another contraction, so remained steady and still, taking long and slow deep breaths.

“You’re doing wonderfully my lovely.” Joss encouraged, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

When she was sure she was through the other side, Sarah’s hands fell limp at her sides and she slumped back on her heels. “Woah… that’s was pretty rough…”

Joss shuffled over to the other wall and finally turned off the shower, leaving the two of them dripping wet on the shower floor. “Yeah transition is pretty intense. But you handled it like a boss.” Joss said as she pulled her hair over her shoulder and squeezed out the water.

“Oh Joss, I’m so sorry, you’re absolutely soaking!” Sarah said feeling guilty, realising now that her full clothed midwife had jumped into the shower with her.

“Oh don’t you worry about me love, I’ve been covered in worse things than water.” Joss joked.

“Did you bring a change of clothes with you?” Sarah asked as she heaved herself back to standing.

“Sadly I didn’t. But I’ll be fine.” Joss pulled a towel from the rail and passed it to Sarah to cover up and dry off.

“You can’t stay in your wet clothes, you’ll get sick. Look, take my dressing gown. You were right, I’m way too hot to be wearing it, so you take it.” Sarah suggested. “I’ll just put on a nighty or stay in the towel for the time being.”

“I can’t wear your clothes Sarah-”

“Why not? It’s just a dressing gown. Get out those wet clothes and then come to the bedroom.” Sarah insisted, heading for the bathroom door.

“If you’re sure…?”

“Yes, now get changed before I have another contraction and change my mind.” Sarah joked.

Joss shrugged. Sarah was right of course, but she admitted this wasn’t quite how she expected things to go.

Following behind Sarah to the bedroom she undid the fastenings to her blouse top, leaving it gaping open as Sarah dug into her wardrobe and pulled out the fluffy robe.

“You sure you don’t mind?” Asked Joss.

“No…. Go right… ahead” the next contraction had started and Sarah was spread eagle in front of her open closet, towel forgotten and dropped to the floor, her feet braced and her hands gripping the doorframe.

Making “hoo hoo” noises as she breathed through the contraction Joss stepped towards her to help only to be waved away. Sarah had started to dance a slow hip wiggle using the door for support moving up and down side to side.

Joss took the opportunity to strip down to her underwear, unbuttoning her trousers and kicking them off whilst keeping one eye on Sarah who, in turn was focused on her body, quietly moaning through a contraction.

Whilst her underwear was also damp as a result of the soaking, she felt that would be way too inappropriate considering the situation.

After pulling the robe over her shoulders, she tied it in the middle as Sarah was coming out the other end of her contraction.

“Phew, that was feeling like I needed to push” came the announcement from the mother to be.

“Yeah you’re reaching the big stretch… I’d have said home stretch, but it’s a bigger deal than that.” Both women at least managed to smile at that quip.

“Where do you want to push?” Asked Joss.

“I want to be on the bed but I never got the covers back on after my waters breaking soaked them earlier.”

“Don’t worry about that let me sort it. Where do you keep the bedclothes.”

“Cupboard in the next room… there’s a tarp there as well to keep the bed dry…”

“Ok let me go look… you wait there, and yell if you feel any more urgent need to push! Can I dry these?”

Sarah nodded as she braced herself again. The next contraction building. “Machines downstairs” as she groaned through. “Can you put the bedclothes in from the washer?”

Joss promised to be right back as she dashed around. First downstairs to load the dryer with the clothes and bedding, then back upstairs, her movements accompanied by loud moans from Sarah.

She popped her head in the bedroom on the way back to find Sarah had moved to a kneeling position as if she was praying by the side of her bed, elbows on the mattress and her head in her hands.

She grabbed the waterproof cover and bedsheet as she walked back in, placing a hand on Sarah's shoulder as a sign she was back.

Sarah looked back at Joss as her hand moved down to cradle her belly, rubbing side to side.

“I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this” she groaned.  

“Don’t worry, baby’s on its way.   Let me get this sheet on and you can hopefully get more comfortable.” Joss replied as she rubbed Sarahs shoulder in a comforting manner.

Joss didn’t like fighting with bedsheets, it was probably one of her least favourite things to do with housework, but ironically when she did house calls, it was something she ended up doing practically every time to swap out stained sheets with fresh ones after the mother got cleaned up. 

She went around the side of the bed opposite to where Sarah was labouring as she looked at her gripping the mattress hard, moving one knee up so one sole was flat on the floor, the other kneeling on the floor, subconsciously opening her pelvis wider.   Joss knew she didn’t have much time.

Stuffing the tarp on the bed first, she hastily squashed the sides under the mattress and let the waterproof sheet flop over Sarahs hands as she breathed through the contraction she was currently dealing with.   It took a long time, so much so that Sarah’s contraction had finished, and she was shuffling off to the side of the room to give Joss some room to work when the next one started.   Sarah was positioned still on her knees with her head to the ground resting on her hands, ass in the air as if she was praying to some sort of deity.   Her groans had become louder, higher pitched and more pronounced as each had happened in the bedroom.

Joss threw on the top sheet after securing the waterproof one, and once more the time taken to fix it into place resulted in Sarah reaching the end of her contraction and asking Joss to check her.  She could feel something moving, coming down… descending.

***

“We’re beginning our descent.   Please fasten your seatbelts, return your seats to their upright position, open your window blinds, and put your tray table away.  The cabin crew will make a final inspection through the cabin, but we should be on land in 20 minutes.   There will be an approximate 10 minute taxi to the terminal.  If this is your ultimate destination, welcome home, and if you are transferring through this airport, please check the boards upon your arrival for your onward flight. I would like to thank you all for flying with us today.”

The tannoy speaker caused the cabin to rumble into motion.   People were shuffling around putting things in bags in the overhead bins, resetting their seats, and all other activities associated with coming in to land.   All Tony could think of was “nearly home.”

***

Sarah had managed to get up onto the bed aided by Joss who in turn had two fingers buried deep between her legs and was checking her progress.   She nodded and confirmed that Sarah was 9cm dilated, so would likely feel incredible urges to push, but she should still try and breathe through them rather than actively push, let her body stretch to let the final bit of lip move out of the way.

Sarah could only nod as Joss withdrew her fingers and pulled off the glove she wore.

“Help me to my hands and knees?” Sarah managed as Joss helped her first lift up off the bed, turn 180 degrees and climb back up.   The contraction that soon followed had Sarah grab hold tight to her pillow, burying her head in the material as she yelled out, loud and screaming.   The noise was very much muffled though.

“Good girl, good job, not much more time left.   Soon be pushing!” came the voice of Joss from behind her, rubbing her back.

“Go fetch my phone please.” Sarah gasped as the contraction faded.  “I want to see if Tony has replied to my earlier message.”   She realised it had been several hours now.  Perhaps whatever he was doing had finished, and perhaps he had rung her a dozen times trying to find out any updates.

Joss headed back downstairs to grab the phone from the armrest of the sofa and brought it back up.  She saw there were no missed call notifications on the screen when she picked it up, but didn’t want to announce that to Sarah, would let her discover that for herself.

As Sarah got the screen and found the same, she opened the phone, set it on speaker mode and dialled Tony’s number again, once more a voicemail prompt greeted her from the other side of the call.

She only called to update him. She knew she would be giving birth to their baby without him, she’d prepared for it, planned for it. Tony was devastated that he’d likely not be there for the birth of their child and so despite their geographical distance Sarah was keen to try and keep Tony in the loop as much as she could throughout this process, even if he couldn’t be here. But the second the voicemail prompt played the recording of her husband’s voice, Sarah’s resolve immediately shattered. She was in too much pain, too exhausted, too uncomfortable, too hot, too thirsty…. Everything was wrong and suddenly she couldn’t imagine doing this without him.

“Tony…” she whimpered towards the phone on her pillow, her body shifting on hands and knees atop the bed. “…hoooo…. The baby’s nearly h-here…” she sobbed. “Joss is with me, don’t worry…”

“Hi Tony” Joss chimed in from the background. “Sarah is doing amazing, everything is going perfectly. You’ll be a dad soon.”

“-hooo….Joss says I’m at 9cm… I can feel the baby, our baby… they’re almost here. Ooohhh honey I wish you w-were here… I don’t want to have to do this without you. I can’t do it without… ohhhh… Hooohooo… oh Joss!!… I-need-to-push-I-need-to-push!!” Sarah cried out with a deep groan and shifted on the bed, and in the movement her hand brushed against her phone abruptly hanging up the call.

“It’s okay lovely, don’t panic.” Joss instructed calmly. “You’re doing wonderfully. If you can, try and pant through it. But only if you can, if your body gives a slight push don’t worry, it knows what it’s doing. And once this contraction is finished I’ll have a quick check to see if we’ve made it to ten. Okay?” Joss perched on the bed beside Sarah, her hand rubbing up and down the labouring woman’s flat back as she rocked and panted and whimpered through this latest contraction. Sarah could only nod her head in response to confirm she’d heard and understood.

In a cruel twist of irony, As Sarah was making that call, Tony was queued in passport control still not bothering to turn on his phone. It was after 3am local time and the airport was practically empty. The first batch of passengers for the next batch of red eye flights were milling around but aside from the relatively short queue at passport control from this flight there were almost no staff on site. He gritted his teeth at the two processing staff on the desks as he knew they wouldn’t have opened every desk for this time of the day… he just wanted to be home.

As he finally stepped through the other side with a stamped passport in hand, he turned on the phone as he walked towards baggage reclaim. Some 30 seconds later he was surprised by a chime on his phone and notification of both 2 missed calls and 2 voicemails. He looked down and he seen they were from Sarah.

His heartbeat picked up a pace as he dialled into his messenger. What he heard relayed through the phone speakers felt like his blood had turned to ice.

He might be too late. He checked the time of the last call, it was only a few minutes ago. He frantically dialled Sarah’s number.

Sarah in turn was wailing. It was getting too much. She wanted the baby out, she wanted to push, she wanted Tony to be there. The alien sound of the music playing from the phone on the pillow shocked both her and Joss into momentary silence.

Sarah managed a moment of focus and gasped “Tony” as she realised the name on the screen and forgetting she was currently mid contraction her hand frantically reached for the phone. Half a second to answer the call, another fraction of a second to switch to speaker and finally… “Tony is that you?” She gasped, the pain and shakiness in her voice more than evident.

“Yes baby it’s me. Have I missed it? Do we have our baby.” He sounded frantic himself.

“No Tony, where are you? Can you stay on the call, I need you, I need to push!” She groaned through the contraction.

“Baby…. I’m… Baby… Surprise I’m back home.” Tony managed to blurt out. “I’m at the airport. I’ve gotten special leave. I was going to shock you at home but it seems you got me instead. I’m jumping in a taxi now and I’ll be home soon. Please if you can, hold on.”

Tony could hear the grunting and moaning of his wife through the earpiece of the phone. It took a few moments for her to compose herself until Sarah managed a reply,

“Hurry. I’ll try not to push but it’s harder and harder with each minute. I can feel the head. It’s bulging between my legs.”

Joss was witness to that statement. She had watched Sarah huff and puff her way through several contractions trying not to push but her own body couldn’t be stopped. She knew the head was moving past her pubic bone and she would soon be pushing, no attempt to prevent pushing would likely work now. She leaned over to whisper into Sarah’s ear,

“Just pant when you feel the urge. We can try and hold off as long as we can.” Speaking a little louder for Tony’s benefit “she’s doing great, but you better find a taxi driver willing to put his foot down!”

Forgetting any thoughts of collecting his luggage, Tony rushed through baggage claim and headed straight for the doors beneath the sign “Nothing to declare” and he burst frantically into arrivals. All the while the sounds of Sarah panting and groaning played in his ear through the phone he was gripping tightly at his head.

“You’re doing wonderful sweetie, keep breathing.” Tony tried to encourage, his own breath laboured as he ran through arrivals, out the exit, and into the cold night air.

It was the middle of the night, the airport was quiet and when he got outside he saw there were no taxi’s parked by the doors. His stomach plummeted; Sarah was literally giving birth right now, he was so close to home, so close to making it for the arrival of his child. Why the hell were there no taxi’s!?!

His hand ran through his dishevelled hair as he looked up and down the road, heart thumping in his chest. Meanwhile Sarah could be heard grunting down the phone followed by a panicked cry of “Oh no! I’m pushing!”

“You looking for the taxi rank mate?” Someone asked, Tony turned to find an airport staff employee on his left who’d come out for a smoke.

“Yes, where are the taxis?” Tony asked desperately.

“Just up there ‘round the corner. They moved it few weeks back.” The stranger instructed.

Tony immediately set off in a run up the pavement, shouting a “Thank you!” back at the man.

“Hold on honey I’m on my way!” Tony breathed heavily down the phone as he jogged and saw the glorious sight of 6 taxi’s parked by the other airport exit.

Sarah’s face was buried in the pillow, backside in the air, as her body involuntarily pushed. Her hands pulled and squeezed the feather pillow while her groaning had turned primal. She lifted her head gasping for breath and fearfully asked Joss “is the baby coming out??”

“Not yet dearie, don’t worry. But it’s coming down, I can see the very top of its head when you push.” Joss said from her position behind Sarah, sat on the bed in her patient’s dressing gown.

“I don’t want to push… Tony needs to be here…” Sarah whimpered.

“Oh honey, you’re not going to be able to prevent your body from pushing when it needs to. But it’s okay, baby is only just starting to appear. It’ll take a bit before they’re crowning so we have time.” Joss tried to keep Sarah calm, knowing how important it was for both parents to be here. But she also knew that Mother Nature could not be controlled, and the baby would come when they were good and ready. “Pant through the ones you can, and if your body starts to push just stay calm and ride it out. Okay?”

Tony stopped short at the taxi at the front of the lot, the driver not even noticing.  He tapped on the window, the driver suddenly jumping to attention and unlocking the door.

“I need a favour; I need you to go really fast… my wife is having a baby.” Tonys words were frantic.

“I’ll do whatever I can without killing us…” came the reply from the taxi driver as Tony dived into the back seat, still listening to his wife’s grunting moans from the other side of the call.   He buckled the seatbelt, and after confirming the address, they were off, narrowly avoiding screeching tires in the process.

“I’ve had to rush a mother to hospital once, but never rushed a dad back to the mum.” The taxi driver tried to say conversationally, but Tony didn’t respond, he was too busy listening to the headset at his ear and speaking words of assurance to Sarah at the other end.

“I need to see you” announced Tony as he pulled the phone away from his ear and swapped it to video mode.   Sarah managed to swap the phone modes over and in front of Tony’s eyes was his exhausted looking wife’s face, her hair bedraggled and sweaty, her face red and looking like she’d just finished running a marathon.

“Darling, you look beautiful” came Tony’s response.  Sarah managed a guffaw as the next contraction started up, filling the car with the sounds of her moaning and screaming efforts.

“I’m on my way” he announced. 

“I can’t hold on, I need to push!” came the wailing reply

“I can see the baby’s hair!” a third voice of Joss joined the conversation.

Sarah had completely lost any sort of control and was working purely on an instinctual need to deliver this baby. She had tried so hard to keep the baby inside her - not to spread her knees, not to push - desperately wanting to delay the birth long enough for Tony to make it back from the airport. However, as the baby’s head crept lower and lower, filling the birth canal, it became too overwhelming and there was absolutely nothing Sarah could do to stop her body from trying to birth the babe.

Just an hour ago Sarah had wanted nothing more than a quick and straight forward delivery, but discovering Tony was not only on his way home but already back in the country - at their nearest airport no less - had changed everything. After that, everything had changed so fast it left her spinning. Suddenly she was fighting her body’s cue’s instead of listening to them.

Rocking forward and back on all fours Sarah had endured wave after wave of agonising contractions, and every one of them pushed and squeezed of their own accord, the baby inching closer towards its exit. Joss had tried to keep her calm, help her pant through the incessant demands of her body to push, but all too soon she was bearing down without permission. She had cried out, announcing it to both Joss and Tony, and she could hear the panic in Tony’s voice as he made his way towards their family home.

Hearing her husband’s voice was her anchor, his reassuring encouragement echoing out the phone was a lifeline in the storm. And when it switched to video gave her the comfort she never knew she needed. But the contractions were too strong, her labour way too advanced for her to truly appreciate seeing him on the tiny screen. Suddenly she couldn’t hold back any more, the head felt like it was barrelling through her at speed and there was absolutely no stopping it - she had to make room, she had to widen her hips, she had to push.

Sarah suddenly announced that she was in too much pain, and flopped out of view of the camera.  “What’s happened, where are you?” came Tony’s pleading cry.

Falling on her side and grabbing her leg behind the knee, Sarah finally gave up and followed her body’s cues and gave it everything she had. The distant sounds of her husband’s voice echoed from somewhere on the bed. She didn’t know what had happened to the phone, she didn’t know how far away Tony was, all she knew was that this baby was coming and it was coming now. With senses overwhelmed, the pressure building, Sarah narrowed her world right down to just her and the baby.

Joss took the initiative and grabbed the phone from the pillow, holding it up in the direction of Sarah, who had given up trying to hold the baby in place, and had put her chin to her chest, pulled her leg back and was pushing with all her might.   Her face was scrunched up, her breath was held, and with the angle that Joss had put the phone at, Tony could see directly between Sarahs legs.   He saw the bulging skin surrounding her vagina, the parting of her lips to see the darkened spot between as the head slowly started to emerge.

“Hurry!” shouted Tony to the driver, who in turn put his foot down a little more, any pretence of sticking to the speed limits lost at this time.  He weaved in between cars doing both overtaking and undertaking to keep the pace down the motorway getting ever closer to their ultimate destination.

Joss moved back into position between Sarah’s legs and kept one hand on the phone, the other rubbed Sarahs knee as she finally gave up on the push, the head slipping back into the bulging area.   “Good girl, keep on going like that and you’ll see your baby soon.”

Sarah was wailing at this point with every push.   Tony’s heart ached each time she shouted, knowing he was only 10, maybe 15 minutes away from her.   He shouted what he could into the handset, hoping it was coming through loud enough at the other side so that Sarah could hear him over her own strained shouts.  She could feel the comforting touch of Joss’s hand on her leg, the faint words of encouragement from both her midwife and her husband as she pushed, but her focus was on the baby crowning between her legs.

“You’re doing great baby.   Another push like that.   Give it all you can, I’m here as best I can.  I’ll be back soon.  Push baby, push!”

“Tony, I need to put the phone down now” came the voice from Joss, “I need both my hands to make sure that she stretches properly.”

“Of course… do what you need to do.”  Tony was heartbroken he couldn’t see anymore, just in case his baby was born without him being able to see, but he knew that Joss had said the most sensible thing.   Suddenly his view shifted to the bedroom ceiling.

His focus instead moved to the road ahead of him.   He knew the route, he knew how long it took, he knew he was 10 minutes from home at the sort of speeds the driver was doing.   He was just thankful for early morning traffic being all but non existent.   He continued to shout encouragement down the line taking Joss’s lead as she announced when Sarah was pushing by chanting her on herself.

Finally, the taxi pulled up in front of his house.   Taking a wad of notes from his wallet, the driver was given what must have been 5 times the fair as Tony thanked him and announced “Baby, I’m here” before charging into the house and hanging up the phone.

Tony shoved the door closed behind him as he flew up the stairs two at a time, the roaring sound of Sarah’s effort ringing around the house.

He burst through the bedroom door to be met with the following scene:

Sarah had her leg pulled back and clearly visible between them was the round, bulbous shape of a baby’s head, well on its way to being born.

Between Sarah’s legs, pressing gently on her parting lips and supporting the head as it slowly emerged was Joss… though why she was dressed in a dressing gown - Sarah’s dressing gown at that - was a complete mystery.

Sarah’s eyes flew open and acknowledged Tony’s arrival with a pleading glance whilst mouthing the word ‘help’ - she didn’t manage to actually make a sound she was so exhausted and focused on the push.

Sarah suddenly closed her eyes again and once more put her chin to her chest, vocalising all the effort she was putting by yelling loudly, as Tony raced around to the other side of the bed and practically vaulted up to it on his knees, grabbing Sarah’s suddenly offered hand. This in turn caused her to let go of the leg she was holding up, so Sarah’s foot found purchase on Tony’s trousers to press against.

“Sarah you’re doing it, you’re doing so well” Tony yelled, his voice loud and proud at that moment.

“Almost there, take a breath and back at it girl” came the voice of Joss, as Sarah gasped a lung full of air and did it again.

Tony watched in fascination as the head of his child slipped further and further out until Sarah gave a grunt, and the head was finally born to the baby’s chin.

Joss worked fast as she tugged and loosened the baby’s cord, then jumped up off the bed to grab a spare towel to press around the fluid pooling between Sarahs legs and spreading over the bed - the waterproof sheet doing what it was meant to do, but the thin top sheet having nowhere near the absorbency needed.

All the while Tony was staring into Sarah’s exhausted eyes as she did the same in return, the two of them exchanging shocked babble between them;

“You did it.”

“There’s a head… I pushed out a head”

“You did so well darling”

“I’m so glad you made it, why didn’t you tell me”

“I thought you liked surprises…”

Joss cleared her throat as the other two looked her over. She was muttering to herself. “Looks like I’ll need to put this in the wash too” she said looking at the soaked dressing gown which had caught a gush of amniotic fluid as the head was pushed out.

“Actually, I’d been meaning to ask about that” Tony asked, finally having a moment to breathe and assess the situation.

“Later…” grunted Sarah as she gripped tight against his hand and closed her eyes again. “Baby’s coming”

Sarah’s leg shook as she dived into the next push. She could feel the baby’s shoulders, pressing and stretching, feeling like it was pulling her apart. Without her hand to hold up her leg the trembling limb started to lower, legs drifting towards each other in an unconscious attempt to lessen the pain.

“No… Sarah keep them open. Your baby’s almost here.” Joss instructed, then turned to Tony “Support her leg, keep it raised.”

Tony kept one hand for Sarah to squeeze and used the other to support her shaking leg as the baby turned and inched its way in to the world. “I can see their face! You’re doing amazing honey, keep going!”

Releasing a primal wail at the end of a big but unproductive push Sarah suddenly flopped her head down on the pillow. “Hooo- why won’t it come out?” She whimpered through gasped breath.

“It’s okay Sarah, you are doing brilliantly. I can see the shoulders, you’re so, so close.” Joss gave Sarah’s thigh a comforting pat, her hands poised above the baby’s head ready to help their exit if required. “I think they’ll be here on the next one if you give us a really big push dearie. Now did mum or dad want to deliver the baby?” Joss asked the soon-to-be-parents.

“No…. Don’t… don’t touch…” Sarah grumbled waving a hand in the space between her legs to deter anyone getting too close. Her eyes were closed and she was focussed on her deep breaths, gathering her strength for the final hurdle.

“That’s okay, we’ll do whatever you want hun.” Joss assured and moved her hands up in surrender, but stayed close by.

Sarah growled and grunted as she pushed, swept away by the contraction and the primal need to deliver the baby. Pushing hard and with everything she had, the labouring mother shook from head to toe, the physical strain showing her monumental effort

The bedroom held a collective breath, feeling like time had stopped. Sarah had gone eerily quiet as her face reddened and knuckles whitened, and then with a gasp of sheer relief the baby slid from its mother onto the towels.

“Oh my god oh my god… my baby…” Sarah incoherently babbled, eyes flying open and hands reaching.

Tony watched the birth of his baby… his son in mute amazement. Suddenly lying there in between Sarah’s legs was this wriggling thing that looked so messy but equally so perfect. He suddenly realised he had tears in his eyes - this big strong burly man who killed for a living suddenly having this other being he would give his life for to protect.

All those thoughts shot through his mind in an instant as only a few seconds later, before either he or Joss could react to Sarah reaching between her legs for the baby, it let out a loud cry.

Joss proceeded to lift the baby up to Sarah’s hands as she in turn lifted the baby to her chest, exhausted pants signalling the end of her ordeal.

As the baby settled into the warmth of his mother’s chest, it still didn’t help calm the yowls of crying he was determined to release.

Tony leaned in and kissed both his wife and his son in turn, wrapping his arms in an embrace around them both… though of course refusing to squeeze too hard just in case.

Over the course of the next 30 minutes Joss oversaw the delivery of the placenta and cut the umbilical cord, whilst Sarah provided the baby’s first feed.

As the sun rose on a new day, the baby’s vitals were taken as Tony helped Sarah get cleaned up.

All that was going through his mind during that time was to thank his luck that he managed to make it back in time.

[thespineoftherighteous]

more more more more aftg show bloopers (p 4?? I think?) whoop whoop de fuckin whoop

Neil's actor being a huge Duolingo dork and in the behind the scenes while the other actors are fooling around between takes you can often see him with his head bent and hear the little 'ping!'s coming from his phone

also during late night shoots, as it gets closer to midnight he always has a point where he's like SHIT my Duolingo streak. and then just blocks out everyone while his fingers fly over his screen

(fans make compilations of him proudly showing his Duolingo streak to the camera and the number grows as the seasons progress)

(he definitely is the kinda bitch who cares more about maintaining the streak than actually learning languages)

actually omg while we're on the topic of languages

Kevin's actor tenderly reciting his French lines to Matt's actor and Matt's actor is just smitten. and he goes "say something else, love" and Kevin's actor strokes his cheek while saying another one of his lines and Matt swoons

(then Kevin's actor turns to the camera and goes "I just told him that he's a disappointment and is going to get his ass handed to him by ravens if he doesn't do exactly as I say" and, from the ground, Matt's actor goes "hell yeah you did. talk dirty to me any day of the week you sexy, sexy man")

coach's actor is always swearing to the point where they implement a swear jar...really it's just something for the kids to jokingly rag on him about, but he goes with it, and every so often they'll empty the jar to buy the cast and crew pizza

they're filming outside at night and it's cold and in between takes Matt's Aaron's and Renee's actors are all huddled together for warmth and Matt's actor gets pulled aside to get his makeup touched up and the other two just shriek at the absence of his heat and catch up to him to tuck themselves against him again

Andrew needs to snap his fingers in one scene but everyone finds out that day that his actor doesn't know how to snap so he has a little impromptu snapping lesson and of course it turns into everyone else trying to one-up each other with their snapping abilities

Nicky's actor telling everyone what he's going to steal from set (will literally say"[about Allison's bathrobe] damn that shit soft as hell. Ive been needing a new bathrobe actually. I'm stealing this" or "I'm stealing this lighter/bandana/sunglasses/etc") but because his humor is so dry everyone thinks he's joking. until months later. when the prop department can't find shit

Renee's actress is doing something completely mundane but Neil's and Allison's actors start narrating what she's doing like they're in a nature documentary (always with Australian accents for some reason??)

"and our specimen now reclines herself vertically on a piece of furniture us humans know as 'a desk.' this clearly less-developed creature seems not to understand the purpose of such an object. but given that this is her first time outside her natural habitat (the jungle) her lack of familiarity with modern technology is to be expected"

Renee's actress: *flips them off*

"ah and here we witness one of the most common behaviors of this specimen. specialists have dubbed it 'flipping the bird,' and explain it as a nonverbal expression of affection" "oh fuck off"

photo from another cold night-shoot and it's of Matt's and Dan's actors, she's standing in front of him zipped up in his hoodie, just her head poking out and they're having a conversation with other castmates like it's the most normal thing in the world, looking the very image of the couple they play

so much glorious content from shooting the dorm sleepover scene. the most popular thing to come from it is a picture from after they wrapped where the cast and some members of the crew had moved even closer to each other amid all the blankets and are asleep on top of each other

Andrew's actor will sometimes actually eat the ice cream he's given instead of just pretending to eat it, and halfway through the scene he casually mentions that he's lactose intolerant and sends the crew into a worried frenzy

if you haven't clocked it yet, these bitches are competitive. and one day, one thing led to another, and soon a bunch of the actors are all being filmed having a plank-holding competition. Dan's actress is the first to drop and she gets booed at for it because "you're an ex-stripper where tf is that upper body strength?"

she flips them off and goes to sit on Kevin's actor, hoping to squash his plank, but instead he starts doing push ups with her on his back. she grins

(Rikos actor wins that competition btw. and Neil's actor goes on a rant about "we succumbed to the ENEMY? a RAVEN? your characters would be ashamed of you" (he also lost?))

Allison's actress pretending to do a get-ready-with-me using all the stuff on Allison's vanity

Wymack's actor falling asleep in The Dad Pose™ when they're shooting a scene on the bus. and everybody gathers in to take pictures

when Kevin and Neil get all up in each other's faces their actors will pretend like they're going to kiss each other

not really a blooper but just all the actors for the foxes and the ravens mingling together in between takes and it looks so wrong

give me all the actors constantly taking the piss out of their characters

for ex during a scene where the monsters are in the car on the way to Edens, Nicky's actor looks towards the backseat where everyone is in character and goes wow what a fun crowd we are you'd never believe we're about to hit the club

night shoots are a. struggle. for Dan's actress. and the others love to take videos of her just standing on her mark with the most spaced out expression on her face

Andrew's and Neil's actors are shooting one of their typical intense, deep scenes and after one take, as soon as "cut" is called, Andrew's actor grabs Neil's face and starts serenading him with the song that's been stuck in his head all day

Renee's actress getting scolded for sneaking snacks into her costume

when Nicky's actor messes up a line (and he's the least likely of everyone to do it) he starts spewing Spanish

Andrew's actor constantly teasing his brother and Katelyn's actress whenever they have scenes together

like the two of them will just be talking together in between takes and Andrews actor will be behind the camera recording them and saying shit like "look at that MINYARD RIZZ" (or he'll use their actual last name) "hey btw [Katelyn's actor] I taught him everything he knows"

that scene where the foxes are rushing out of the dorm to check on their destroyed cars and Matt's actor just faceplants (Neil's actor: "wow. the dedication")

in one scene or other Allison's actress is drinking an iced drink and during one take she just keeps calmly shaking the ice around in her cup until one by one everyone cracks

in one scene Allison's actress is wearing sunglasses. and in between takes she lies down and on camera you can see Kevin and Matt's actors whispering trying to figure out whether or not she's sleeping because they can't see her eyes

Aaron's actor always using Neil's actor as a pillow during car scenes because they're always next to each other and they're actually hella tight irl

the kids love to steal any props that coach's actor needs to use (pens clipboards etc) before they start rolling just so they can watch him try to subtly fidget trying to find his prop before they get to the point in the scene where he actually needs it

all the actors just taking pictures together in the most brutal settings on set.

like Neil's makeup has his face all busted and everyone wants a selfie with him. they all have a photoshoot with the trashed cars. they have another one in front of the "happy 19th birthday junior" set. Neil is tied up at The Nest while they change his hair and Jean's and Riko's actors take selfies with him. another photoshoot with Neil handcuffed in the police car. all these settings in terrible scenes and the actors are in front of them with grins and peace signs

they're terrible.

[onepiecepetalfanfics089]

Enchanted~..

Chapter 3

Yandere! Strawhats + more x witch Fem! Reader ✨

_______________________________

“Ohh? So you’re hiding something now are you? I guess you don’t want people to see, so just let me see!”

Raising an eyebrow, a smirk now sprawled across your face, the feeling of eyes followed your every movement.

Multiple of them.

But at that moment, you weren’t focused on that. At that moment you were determined. Quickly, you uttered the words of your spell and surprise, surprise. A light forest green beanstalk spring beneath your feet to just meet his hight.

His observation haki wasn’t expecting that now wasn’t it?

For some reason, he didn’t stop you. Shocked expressions were plastered on everyone’s face from just your first step of what you were going to do. Staring into his red pink eyes meeting with yours, his constant muttering and talking (which you tuned out) was the only thing you could really hear now as you then grabbed his scarf abruptly and pulled it down with all your might!

GASP

….

silence…

You stared up at the sight before and then..your eyes softened.

“..seriously..? That’s It?..you had me thinking it was a huge scar or something!”

You laughed, now giving a closed eyes smile. His face was full of utter shock in surprise.

..what?..you weren’t scared..? You thought it was..not ‘that bad..?’

A soft smile rested upon your lips, letting out a soft chuckle, you sighed.

“There’s nothing wrong with you..that kind of beauty never really scared me anyways..”

…

Beauty..?

Slowly..his eyes watered..

Tears.

That was a natural response in the body but something else was going on..something was wrong.

__________________________________________

The sea was sparkling, the air was fresh, everyone was laughing and chattering, everything just seemed utterly perfect.

It had been about a week or two since you joined the infamous ‘strawhat crew.’ You were absolutely welcomed with open arms. Delicious food was served to you at all times, though sanji had to put tissues in his nose every time he got close to serve you, you honestly didn’t know why though?

Yeah, It had been exactly two weeks since you left that island you’ve been stuck on for years. The one you constantly dreamed on, dreamed of leaving, dreamed of living finally.

But something just..didn’t feel quite right.

You didn’t know how to describe it or how to even begin to describe this feeling, yes you were having the time of your life, making memories with these people you’d never thought you’d make, but something just seemed..

Off.

When you tried to tell Nami and Robin about, they simply just brushed it off, saying you were just home sick.

You could remember sitting in front of the mirror, feeling their hands tangle and brush through your hair while you stared longingly at your reflection.

Brush

Brush

Brush

Your curls easily ran through brush, and by now it was surely untangled. Yet, they still kept brushing..

The silence in the room was loud, almost deafening. So quiet..yet so peaceful you could call it, taking a deep breath and glancing at the window where you could see the water move, you decided to start a conversation, you needed information since you were now a pirate right?..

“So Nami, what island our we heading to next?..im very curious..I’ve never been anywhere new before..”

You softly spoke, almost a little embarrassed by the truth but you weren’t afraid to admit it. Just that sentence alone had you thinking.

By thinking, you remembered.

The nostalgia..oh the nostalgia..

Would you ever see a place like your original home again? You could almost feel the soft grass on your feet when you would run out and play in the sun. Feel the petals of the soft, beautiful flowers and plants you used for your spells. Hear the birds sing as you would lay in the garden, reading books upon books to cure you curiosity.

“-N..Y/N..!”

You jumped a bit, finally snapping out of your trance and not even noticing the fact that you just spaced out..

“O-Oh? Yeah sorry! Could you repeat that?”

You said, hearing a soft chuckle escape Robins lips as you saw in the reflection of the mirror that Nami had her eyebrow raised. A smooth, tan arm then sprouted from the back of the chair you were sitting in. Slowly, Robin turned your head with her pointer finger to face her, making your eyes look into her sky blue ones. She was truly beautiful..

“We’re heading to Jaya island..we need information on the other place we need to go, Skypia.”

Your ears perked up, did you hear that right?..Skypia?

Ever since you were young, you dreamed about hosting there. So many books you read about this strange world you lived in..ones you’ll never forget..

Although you had no idea what the place looked like, you kind of knew exactly what to expect. The culture and place itself was fascinating.

“Skypia? Really? I’ve only heard about that place in books! And we’ll get to go to another island before that?”

So far, being a pirate was great! You knew they explored the seas and what not, but the fact you could go so many places just perfect for you..for your need to explore..

For your need to be curious..

But, something told you that..your curiosity wouldn’t be the best thing..in fact..it told you it could possibly be your downfall..

There was only one way to find that out right?

A slow sigh escaped your lips. Just what was bugging you? Everything here was great! Yes, the crew could be a bit..overbearing at times..

They wouldn’t leave you alone for a second but hey, maybe they’re just excited for a new crew mate right?..

And you were happy to spend time with all of them! You kind of couldn’t really keep a schedule because there was so many of them..but no matter what you did on the ship it involved them.

For example, reading with Robin was always peaceful..but eventually it would get too quiet..so you would go ask to be with Zoro. You watched him work out sometimes, even joining in if you were THAT bored..but napping with him was always a pleasure..

Playing with luffy, watching Nami do her work with naps, talk with Chopper while he was in his office and so on so forth..but you just now noticed, they never really gave you time to yourself..

Hmm..

You decided to simply tell the one you were hanging out with you were busy, what’s the worse that could happen right?

…

..

It was now lunch time, everyone was eating peacefully now, Sanji flirting with you, Nami and Robin..usual..Zoro taking close glances at you every five minutes..the usual?..Usopp feeling the need to get your attention every second..the usual..

The only remotely wholesome behavior was Chopper’s really, getting every chance he could get to sit on your lap or get some of your sweet, sweet attention..cutely though of course.

This was definitely normal behavior..for them. In all the books you read however, this wasn’t exactly right though..but like Robin said, “books aren’t always realistic..”

Cutting a small piece of your food, you bit it off from your fork casually, chewing before speaking.

“So, once we get to Jaya island..where exactly are we going to get the information?..”

You asked, looking around at the table for your answer. Luffy, with his cheery grin answered in an excited tone, tearing a piece of meat off the bone.

“Me, Zoro and Nami are gonna try to go around and see what information we can find!”

Chuckling at his enthusiasm, you couldn’t help but glance up at him from under your eyelashes. This boy..

This pure boy with the big grin, so excited about everything, it’s like he could do no wrong or be mad about anything!

Right?…

“Ah yeah! Nami told me about that earlier..so since it’s the first island I’ve been on besides home….”

When you mentioned the word ‘home’ you saw the crew stiffen up..even Sanjis eyes widened before he continued to pour some tea into Nami’s cup..

Strange.

“I’m gonna go solo and explore! I’m sure it’ll be exciting don’t cha’ guys think?”

You said with a light hearted laugh, sipping your cup of tea. They all went silent for a while, staring at you intently or something else. Usopp and Sanji especially looked rather..zoned out.

Blinking and setting your cup down back on the table, you looked around curiously. Why in earth were they so..quiet?..this was very odd.

Nami seemed the first one to snap out of it.

“Uhm well…although we know that’ll be fun for you..”

“It’s a stupid idea. You might get hurt.”

Zoro butted in, his tone blunt as he now locked his gaze on you. Raising an eyebrow you waited for someone else to back you up on this yet..

No one did.

Sighing softly, you had gotten rather..tired of their protectiveness in the past few months..but you would never say that out loud however. Something deep down told you not to.

“Well, that is very sweet that you guys..care so much..I’ll be fine! You know I can fight, it’s not like town is known for how dangerous it is or anything..”

Squinting his eyes, Zoro looked as if he was about to say more, but Robin soon chimed In with her smooth voice.

“She’s right you know? Plus, we could get very useful information if there were more of us in different places..”

A smile was brought to your lips, thanks Robin!

It soon faltered a bit once you saw her give everyone a look. A look you couldn’t really..describe. Like a message, a code someone could decipher.

Luffy let put a low grumble, trying to stare that ‘it want safe and, I’ll miss her!’ But of course that didn’t work.

Finally, you would get SOME peace right?

.

.

.

.

The sound of your shoes clicking on the pavement as you walked was oddly soothing. Even though you knew this place wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the world..you were fascinated.

The sounds, the smells the people. Everything you could get your eyes on interested you. Of course you had to take up from Nami and go on a shopping spree, new clothes were just too hard to resist! You knew they would freak once they saw them!

Since the day was sunny, your curly hair was out up into a ponytail to match the heat, humming calmly along with the tube you had in your head.

A yawn slowly escaped you as you felt your eyes flutter softly.

“Hmm..who knew shopping and exploring all day could get me this tired out....I wonder..”

You said, feeling your eyes wonder across the street to grassy clearing. The crew wouldn’t mind if you stayed for just a little longer right?..a girl did need a nap!

Walking into the meadow of flowers, you smiled fondly, picking one up and twirling it in between your fingers. It was daisy, an English daisy. The most common but still beautiful. You tried to find beauty in almost everything..everything or anyone.

Gently setting the bags and your flower down, you plucked a handful of the flowers and uttered the words of your spell..

Shroop~!

A giant, yet lovely flower surrounded you. Enclosing on you and your bags with a little pollen bed for you to rest on. Slowly stretching you felt yourself slowly smile..finally feeling the most peace you could feel at last..

………………………………………………………………………….

A yawn slowly escaped you..what time was it?..waving your hand in an almost dismissive manner around, the flower slowly sprouted, its petals revealing the outside world at last.

Blinking a few times to get adjusted, you finally started to realize..

It was..

EVENING?!

Sundown and you’d still hadn’t come back to the ship!

Oh good lord what were they going to say now??

Even though you’d hadn’t been on the ship that long you just knew deep down..

You were screwed.

Quickly grabbing all of your stuff, you ran out of the meadow to the ship. While you were running however, you passed a man.

Not just any man though..

His aura..his vibe, felt different..

You looked at him, eyes slightly squinted once you were able to spot him clearly.Your eyes locked.

He was tan, big lips and beard with a big bottle of sake you assumed. A red ball necklace around his neck. He smiled. Wide too, revealing his missing and crooked teeth as you caught a glance of the golden ring on his finger.

You shivered..

Something about him didn’t seem quite right..like..

You were going to see him again soon..

Or were you just talking crazy?..

..

.

Lifting up the huge bottle, he took a long sip, the liquid slowly dripping down his chin and down to his neck as he wiped it off.

Still keeping that sane grin, a loud laugh escaped him. Remembering your face clearly as watched the people on the street pass by.

“Well,nice to meet ya too missy! I feel like I’ll be seein’ ya soon too..”

..

…

Did you get to the ship sooner than you expected? Yes. But did you still get very much scolded? Of course.

And they seemed very serious..almost possessive..

Just brush it off Y/N..

Brush it off..

These people were good.

Just something about the way Zoro immediately pulled you into his arms, forcing your head to meet his chest so you could feel his racing heartbeat while the others continued to chatter and scold endlessly at you for taking too long no matter how hard you tried to explain..

Yeah, they definitely weren’t leaving you by yourself..

Anytime soon.

Finally, once you got to the woman’s quarters, you couldn’t stop thinking about the eventful day you had..

Surprisingly, Nami and Robin met you do your night routine by yourself..

If you didn’t know any better, you’d suspect that the whole crew were talking about something while you were gone..

Stop it Y/N! This is crazy talk!

You thought yourself, letting out a soft groan, staring at the ceiling.

But it doesn’t hurt to check..right?..

There was a spell you knew..a powerful one that showed your future or fate..yet, it did great damage to your energy sometimes..but you had to know..you had to know if..this behavior was normal.

Sitting down in a circle full of cards you summoned, turned face down. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath..

“Secrets, secrets show yourself..show my fate,show my true self..for better or for worse I’ll know my fate..I’ll not have to alternate!”

Smoke soon filled the room, all of the cards soon floated and submerged into your head out hand. Taking a deep breath, everything went back to normal. Slowly fluttering your eyes open, you felt your shaky hands slowly start to turn the card over..

Would this finally be an answer?..

“Y/N! Come down to hang with us! We’re all gonna play a drinking game!!”

Luffy called out, causing you to blink.

Why at this time!?..

Glancing over at the card in your hand..you sighed softly, closing your eyes for a split second before gently setting it down on the floor.

Maybe it was best to not read it until later..maybe it was best to try to have some fun right now..the night was young wasn’t it?..

Getting up from the floor, you yelled down a ‘coming!’ Before hurrying down to the lower deck.

Little did you know that underneath that card..was a picture of a rose..a glittering red rose being reached out by many,many hands. Possessive hands, needy hands.

Though, that couldn’t mean anything serious..

Right?..

End of chapter 3~..

———————————————————————

A/N:HIIII MY LOVES~! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And yes, I did publish it late and yes it was TECHNICALLY on a Sunday 😭 but this chapter was basically getting to know Y/N, I promise other characters like all the strawhats, and more (wink, wink) will be shown more as much as their characters! I hope this is king enough honestly 😭 but I really enjoyed writing this and I must say, I’m so glad to be back! For now I will be working on my requests to try to get them back open again and since I have A LOT in waiting, then I will be getting back to this, which will be shortly so dont worry! 🌸💕

And don’t think I forgot to tag you @theg0ddesspersephone 🍀!

Until next time my pretty petals!!~

[ayedafuq]

Hamzah imagine I’m sorry god

POV: You got invited up to Toronto by your friend (Y/F) who hangs in the same circle as the Slushy Noobz crew, u n Hamzah meet at a party, get a little too tipsy, and you flirt just a taaaad .

——

(Y/F) : bitch come out the room and DRINK

Currently hiding away in her room (where I’ve been a freeloader for the past 2 days), I see Y/F’s text to come and join the pregame she’s having in her living room. She moved from our hometown to Toronto, a place I haven’t been before this, and I’m visiting her for the week. I came up on Wednesday and after our playful time catching up together for the past two days, she decided it’d be a good idea to go out with some of the friends she made. She currently has about 8 people in her living room playing drinking games, and I’m sitting on the floor staring into her full body mirror, ready to go to the bar, nervous as FUCK about meeting her friends.

After ignoring her text for approximately 30 seconds, she comes into the room. “OOOO GURRRRL YOU LOOKIN GOOOOOD” she says. I know she knows I’m nervous.

“Wait close the door” I say to her, and she does. “Dude, what if they don’t like me.” My anxiety is clearly getting the best of me.

“Fuck do you mean what if they don’t like you? You’re quite literally my twin. If they don’t like you then I’ll KNOW they secretly don’t like me. And they love me, so chill the fuck out. Get up” she picks me up out off the ground and pulls me out into her living room.

“Guess who’s heeeerrrree” she says to the group, and they all start to cheer. “There she is!” One of the girls says. A guy chimes in, “The visitor has arrived!”

Y/f drags me around the party to share names, my nerves subsiding. Everyone here is really nice. Why was I even worried?

“Hey, I’m Mandy. I work at the animal shelter with y/f. I’ve heard so much about you!” The girl says. I reply telling her I’ve heard about her too. “Y/f says the only reason she goes there is to pet animals and hang out with you” I tell her. “Yea sounds about right, I do the same thing.”

Me, Mandy and Y/f chat for a couple minutes sharing some laughs and stories, until the guy who chanted earlier and his friend come up. “Y/n, this is my boyfriend Martin. And this is Hamzah, avoid him.”

I give my hellos and introduce myself to Martin. We banter for a quick second before I turn to Hamzah. “Hellooo, I’m Y/n.” I give him a quick smile he returns. “Hey Y/n, how do you like Toronto so far?”

Before I can even answer, Y/f interrupts. “I’m gonna need you guys to shut up and grab a drink. We’re leaving for the bar in 30, and me and Y/n still need to demolish half the party in flip cup. Grab two seltzers from the fridge” she tells me. “You better lock in, I told everyone you never miss a flip.”

—

Two hours later and we’re at the bar, and it’s safe to say I’m feeling preeeetty nice. Her friends are so sweet, and I can’t help but feel so happy that she found these people.

Mandy, y/f, Hamzah and I are standing by a high top table, and I take the liberty in sharing some stories of me and y/f from parties in high school.

“When I tell you I turned my head for 3 seconds and y/f was gone, I mean it. I’m running through the party like a chicken without a fucking head, looking like a maniac asking everyone where she is. Mind you, I’m like 17 and hammered, so I was probably acting like the hulk.”

“Jesus Christ y/n don’t..” she says.

“After 10 minutes where do I find this bitch? Asleep in this random bitch’s closet with her head, quite literally, in a bucket.”

Hamzah and Mandy are cracking up. “You didn’t even know who threw the party?” Hamzah asks between laughs.

“Not a fucking clue. Y/f felt right at home though” I say, giggling myself.

“Girl I hate you, but yea I did. That bucket was my crib. Need to go to the bathroom?” Y/f asks me.

I tell her I’m alright for now, and Mandy tells her she needs to go so they scurry off together.

“Wow, so you guys have been friends for a while huh?” Hamzah says, still smiling from the story.

“Yea, we’ve been through a lot together. She’ll never get rid of me I fear” I say back.

“Damn, that’s awesome. Y/f is super cool, I’m happy she moved up here. When’s it your turn?” He says, his smile becoming more of a smirk. It hasn’t gone over my head that this kid is fucking adorable, but hes been acting pretty shy all night. The sly comment took me by surprise.

“Man I wish I could. It’s been on my mind a lot since she moved here” I reply.

“What’s stopping you?” He asks.

“I guess I’m just scared. It’s a big move, and she’s got the balls to do it. I’m not sure I do.”

“I felt the same way too, I pretty much hauled ass across the country of Canada at 18. I lived out of my car for a bit actually, it was a nightmare. I’d do it all again though, it was the best decision I’ve made. If I could do it, a pretty girl like you could too.”

Pretty girl?

“Pretty girl?” I say back, a little smug. The drinks are getting to me I fear.

“I’m sorry, was that weird?” He gets a little shy again. I giggle to let him know it wasn’t.

“Not at all. Thank you, pretty boy” I playfully shove his arm. I cringe in my head. I gotta be fucking kidding.

“Pretty boyyy I see I see” he says with a smile. “You think I’m a pretty boy?”

“Only a little bit. Like, this much” I pinch my fingers together the closest I can without having them touch.

“Well, thiiiis pretty boy” he mimics my fingers, “thinks you should move to Toronto thiiiis much” he separates them a little more. “Because he’d like to see you more thiiiiis badly” he separates them as far as he can. Damn, he has nice hands.

“Wow that’s pretty badly” I respond. Thank god I have makeup on because this cheesy shit might be making me blush.

“Yea, it’s alarming. Think about it, pretty girl” he tilts his head towards me playfully as he says pretty girl, getting a little close and then backing his head away swiftly. His smirk is fully activated and the eye contact we’re making is pretty hot. I smile back at him with my tongue touching my canine (do yk what I’m talking about like that lil sexy smile), tilting my head slightly to the side as if to say oh, ur flirting with me, noted. and just as I’m about to respond, y/f and Mandy return from the bathroom.

“Stop harassing her Hamzah she’s never gonna want to come back” Mandy says. “Come on, we’re gonna go back to y/f’s and play drinking games. This bar is boring.”

Hamzah follows after Mandy, glancing back at me quickly with a cheeky smile before turning his head. Y/f gets in my ear.

“Hamzah likes you. Mandy can tell. She told me in the bathroom.”

—-

Okay guys hi this is like so bullshit but I was feeling playful idk I hope you enjoyed if you made it this far

-ayev

[fleursbending]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲’𝐬 𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. | Sully Family

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : after the successful intervention, your family's hearts still burn for some good ol' revenge. luckily for them, an unfortunate event arises that allows them to do just that.

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : sully!family x sully!daughter reader

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 : i apologise that this took a lot longer than it should have to be posted! i initially wasn't going to do a part 2, but so many ppl wanted it i just decided eh why the heck not?? with that being said, pls read part 1 before this because i don't think this can be read as a stand-alone! mother!tiri really shines through this time so now i'm just healing your mommy and daddy issues atp.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : bullying/teasing?, hurt/comfort yk the drill, angst, fluff, lo'ak pummels ao'nung, pissed mom!tiri, tonowari pops tf off, dorky brother neteyam, ao is a dickwad here!

𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 : (actually highkey proud of this i'm trying to use more na'vi in my stories from now on) Tsmuke - sister, Skxawng - moron/idiot, Tsmukan - brother, Yaymak - foolish/ignorant, Sa'nok - mother, Txavä’ -disgusting, ‘Itetsyìp - little daughter (term of endearment), Tsamsiyu - warrior, Muntxate - wife/female spouse, Olo’eyktan - clan leader, ‘Ite - daughter, Itan - son, Sempul - father, Uturu - sanctuary, Oeyä - my (possessive), ‘Awsiteng - together.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 2.9k words !!

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 :  @pandorainmymind @eywas-heir @spicycloudsalad @missdreamofendless @prty-poisxn @scarlettwitch-4 @23victoria @avidreader3107 @purplehyacinthss @itssiaaax @neteyamoa @tsireyasgf @nijirozzz @useryourbut @yua-himari @sweetheartlizzie07 @grierpilots @reneehillary69 @fruitsalad1 @forasgaard @iwaslikeblah @dumb-fawkin-bitch @theicemav @narutoboi

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 today, it had been storming the last few days. Now you and your siblings were making the most of the sunshine. Things have been really good the past few weeks, and slowly you were finally beginning to warm up to the ocean. The past had to stay where it was, now you were gradually moving on. 

Y/n remembers her dad's words then, "It's the little steps that end up making the biggest difference." 

He was right, they really did. 

"Neteyam", Y/n giggled as he splashed water at her whilst she sat at the edge of the platform they used to easily access jumping into the water when calling for their Ilu's. Her legs dangled over the edge, peering down at her siblings.

"Tsmuke, you are being silly! Come join us in the water!" Neteyam tried to beckon you to join him and Tuk as they played with their Ilu's.

"Yeah, come on Y/n!" Tuk whined, only to be cut off by ecstatic laughter as her Ilu nudged their head onto her back. 

Y/n held her hands up then, an unfinished anklet dangling below the palm of her hand. 

"I am finishing this, you skxawngs." She reminded them, wanting to give it to Tsireya once it was finished. 

As Y/n began to reach out of her reserved shell, Tsireya swooped right in. She, Neteyam, and Tsireya had become a trio of sorts. She was hoping to make matching anklets for all of them.

"Alright, we're going to ride our Ilu's further out. Is that okay, tsmuke?" Neteyam called out to you, pointing further out.

You rolled your eyes at his worried tone. 

You love your family, really you do. But the one downside to the confrontation you had with all of them. Well, they've been treating you like a little baby ever since then. 

The doting and attention were very much appreciated at first. But it escalated to your siblings trailing after you everywhere you went, for the most part. They'd become increasingly overprotective whenever Ao'nung and his crew were in close proximity to you. The kicker? They implemented a curfew for you now. You had to be home an hour before dinner was ready, a whole hour! 

Basically, your freedom and alone time had been cut in half. Stripped away from you. While you looked a lot more healthy and since perked up in the past few weeks - your family continued to remain on the edge. They just didn't anything to further happen to you, especially now that you've progressed so much.

The Sully's knew you were a strong girl, but the pieces you were starting to put back together could easily be ripped apart again. So for the time being, they'll do whatever it takes to prevent it.

Unfortunately for them, such an event was just right around the corner. 

Y/n scrutinized Neteyam and in return, the eldest son wiggled his nonexistent eyebrows in a taunting manner. 

"Yes, tsmukan. Now go!" You urged him to leave as Tuk waved bye to you.

Letting out a happy sigh at the silence that filled you, wow - this was really nice. She thought to herself. Just the waves rippling beneath you is what accompanies you. 

Neteyam was about to dive into the water when he turned to look back and check on you. There you sat in the same position, back hunched and eyes focused as you continued to weave the unfinished anklet. 

He nodded to himself then, satisfied that you were alright.

Yet the moment he turned his back and dove into the water, the infamous group you've been trying to avoid made their way into the nook where your mauri and outdoor area were. 

Y/n tensed as the air shifted, hearing the sounds of multiple footsteps nearing her. A feeling of deja vu surged through her, oh no. 

"Alone, at last, the great daughter of Toruk Makto!" Ao'nung jeered as their shrill laughter raked through the once peaceful aura you were just starting to settle in. 

A not-so-subtle hiss escaped your lips, eyes closing in disdain. Can a girl not get any damn alone time around here? 

"What's this then? Oh, an anklet!" Ao'nung had stalked over to you from behind, ripping the unfinished weaved strings out of your hand. 

Defeat flooded your futures, not wanting to make anything of this. Y/n hoped they'd just say a few insulting comments and mosey on out of here.

"Who is this for, me? I love it soooo much!" Ao'nung mocked, sarcasm dripping in his tone as his friends cheered him on.

"No. It is for your sister." Y/n deadpanned, not finding the amusement they seemed to be in this predicament. 

"Well, it's quite pathetic. I think you should start over if you want my sister to actually appreciate this." He teased, nimble fingers beginning to untangle the hard work you had just done. 

Your ears folded back then, standing up and facing the idiots. Cracking your neck, a harsh glare was sent their way. Sticking out your open hand, palm up in front of Ao'nung. 

"Just stop that and hand it back over. Then you can be on your own merry ways." You tried to appease them.

"When did you suddenly find your voice? I ought to stomp it out." Ao'nung sneered at you then, and in a blink of an eye, he had thrown your project into the ocean. 

"Ao'nung!" She fumed, angry eyes scouting the water but you could no longer see it. 

"Yaymak! Useless like my father had said, how do you even survive? Come on, take a dip!" He contended, bending down beside you to push you in-

A jarring snarl erupts from behind them. They all jump and swivel around, but are instantly stumped. 

There stood your Sa'nok, gripping a basket full of fruit so viciously that it chipped - pieces of dried flax splintering and falling to the ground. 

"Txavä’. Useless? I ought to show you how you can become useless-" She stormed over to them making most of the boys in front of you yelp in surprise and jump back again.

"Sa'nok! Do not!" You remarked, astonished at her shameless way of protecting you. 

Ever since finding out about what had happened to you, she'd been so civil whenever in the clan leader and tsahik's son's presence. Now she realises how eery those actions actually were. Oh great mother, she was just doing it for your sake. 

"Ma ‘itetsyìp, she is a fierce tsamsiyu. Unlike you!" She vehemently fired, pointing at Ao'nung.

He began to splutter out apologies, the realisation dawning on him that he was being reprimanded by one of the fiercest women Awa'atlu had ever come across.

Another figure popped out of the shadows then, Lo'ak. His fists were tightly clenched at his sides, eyebrows furrowed as indignation rolled off of him in waves.

"Yaymak?! He snapped, and before you could even fully acknowledge his presence he rushed forward - tackling Ao'nung who was receiving a scolding from Neytiri, into the ocean before you. 

"Lo'ak!" Y/n fretted as she peered over the edge to see the two boys yelling and cussing each other out as they floundered about in the water. 

"What in the world…" Jake whispered in question to himself as him and Tonowari rounded the corner - quickening their paces due to the faint sounds of the commotion they had overheard.

His eyes widened at the scene before him, the chief mimicking his expression as well as they stopped, stunned in their tracks.

Neytiri was still yelling at the group of bullies, an accusatory finger prodding at one of his shoulders as he looked down at his feet in embarrassment. She turned a blind eye to what he rebellious son had just done, deeming it was rightfully deserved.

 Both their eyes then flittered over to Y/n who was basically dangling on the edge of the platform, hauling a battered Lo'ak back up. 

His drenched body collided with the surface and he grunted, but that didn't stop him from turning around to flip off Ao'nung who was struggling to push himself up.

"Yeah, eat shit!" Lo'ak continued to provoke him, even while branding a busted lip and what looked like the beginnings of a black eye. 

"Lo'ak…" You cautioned, pointing to your father and Tonowari's looming figures.

"Oh fuck." He cursed to himself. 

"What is going on here?" Tonowari boomed then, stepping forward and making his presence known. 

Jake trailed behind him, tail swishing in unease. 

"Neytiri!" He called for his muntxate, grabbing onto her and pulling Neytiri into his side. 

You walked over to stand by your parents, guilt crescendoing - this happened all because of you. Stupid, you didn't want to make a scene in the first place.

"I'm sorry Olo'ektyan. This is all my fault." Y/n confessed, tail drooping as all the attention was shifted to her. 

"She is lying! My 'ite cannot carry this burden any longer, she will not. This is all your son's fault! He has been antagonising my ‘itetsyìp since we came here." She persisted, a sigh of irritation falling from her lips as she once again pointed at Ao'nung.

The mentioned boy wiped his bloody nose, ears shifting as Neytiri said his name with such harsh conviction.

"'Itan, is what Neytiri speaks of true?" Tonowari divulged as he dug into Ao'nungs pride with a mere look.

"Yes, sempul. What she speaks of is true." He blanched at the scrutinizing look Jake targeted toward him. 

It was like he was about to walk into the battlefield, gun in hand and ready to rain blood.

"Look at me, boy!" Tonowari thundered, eyes now slits as he admonished Ao'nung. 

The clan leader's son could've gotten whiplash from how fast his head turned. 

"Go home, and work up an apology. Now." The chief ordered.

"But, I can apologise now-" He tried to reason, wishing to get this embarrassment over and done with.

"It would be insincere." Both Neytiri and Tonowari spoke at once, the former giving an apologetic nod to your mother in agreement.

Ao'nung tried to fess up some words, but Tonowari glared. His chest almost heaving from contempt.

"Go!" He bellowed. Ao'nung with his tail between his legs scampered off back to his mauri.

His friends stood there, almost comically. They knew they were utterly fucked and word of this would travel back to their own families.

"Why are you still here, shouldn't you be working on your apologies as well?" Tonowari antagonised.

"Oh, uhm- sorry!" One of them spluttered before being shoved by another boy as they all ran off.

Tonowari sighed in chagrin, a hand of his meeting his face. He stood straight then, turning to acknowledge your family.

Right in tow, Neteyam, Tuk, and Kiri were pulling themselves back up from the ocean.

Lo'ak went over to help them. Ignoring the worried hands of his older brother that looked over his bruises.

"As Olo'ekytan, I failed in my duties today. As a father, I also failed. I sincerely apologise to you, dear." He looked at you then, eyes full of guilt as he briefly placed his hand on your shoulder.

"I will be sure that he will see through a firm reprimanding, Jake Sully." Tonowari called to the man that had become his good friend.

"I raise my apology to the rest of your family as well. You came here to seek uturu. This will not happen again." 

Jake motioned, Oel ngati kameie, to him. Tonowari returned the motion, bowing his head down lower than usual to try to convey his genuine upset at the situation his son had conjured.

"You are a fierce mother, Neytiri. Your Sa'nok would be proud." Tonowari added, before turning around and making his exit too. 

Neytiri watched him leave, a faint smile on her lips before giving all her undivided attention to you.

"Oeyä 'ite, are you hurt?" She necessitated, lifting your arms up and checking for any wounds.

"Sa'nok, I am fine." You dejected, eyes flittering to look anywhere to ignore her studying gaze.

"What happened?" Neteyam interjected, rushing over to you and bringing you into a hug. He felt terrible for having left you alone.

"I'm never leaving you again." He whispered, holding your head to his chest.

While the words came with comfort, they made your chest constrict. 

Agitated you shoved him away. In return, Neteyam fumbled backward in surprise.

"Y/n!" Kiri gasped in shock.

"I am fine! I'm going to be fine! I'm not dying or anything, I'm still here okay?! I appreciate the concern, but please. Just, leave me alone." Your voice grew fainter towards the end of your speel, tears welling up in your eyes. 

Cursing to yourself you rushed into the family mauri, humiliation seeping into your conscience. 

Jake began to follow you but Neytiri put a hand on his chest. It had emerged on her then, how a situation that seemed so minor grew to become a lot more vocal than any of them prepared for.

Y/n was not one for attention, let alone being stuck in the midst of it all.

"Give her a moment, then we will go and console her," Neytiri spoke with quiet empathy.

"Okay." Jake agreed hesitantly, all he wanted to do was comfort his daughter. But he knew how much you needed your alone time. 

So they huddled, ‘awsiteng. They waited, ‘awsiteng. 

Until the light escaped the sky, and your raspy voice cut through the gentleness of the night.

"You can come in now, you didn't have to just wait outside. I'm sorry."

Jake looked to his family then, before they all slowly got up and made their way into the Mauri.

You were huddled in front of the fire, a blanket shrouding you as you blankly stared into the burning embers before you.

"Ma 'ite. You are not alone." Jake murmured as he sat by you, brushing away a stray strand of hair that had cast itself over your bloodshot and puffy eyes.

"I know." You acknowledged.

"Tsmuke, you are not alone." Lo'ak reiterated.

"Yes, I know." You acknowledged again, finally looking up at them as they all sat in a circle around the fire.

"‘Itetsyìp, you are never alone," Neytiri affirmed, having sat by your other side and giving your cheek a soft kiss.

"I know. Are you all trying to make me cry again?" You garbled, tears prickling in your eyes at the warmth you were receiving after giving them the cold shoulder.

"No, we aren't! I don't like it when you cry." Tuk remarked, jumping up from her spot and running over to you. Giving you a hug from behind as her little thumbs rubbed away the tears that began to stream down your face.

"Useless my ass! That shithead was so stupid to say tha-" It seemed Lo'ak was still hung up on what Ao'nung had said.

"Lo'ak!" You all chided, quiet laughter following.

Jake grinned down at you then, his teeth even showing a little as he watched his pride and joy laugh. "Baby girl, we mean it. We're all in this together…‘awsiteng." 

"‘Awsiteng." You repeated, smiling up at him. 

He combed through your hair, bringing you and Tuk into his chest.

"And you're right. You need some alone time, yeah? But we'll always be right around the corner. Okay?" Jake continued to reassure you, rubbing your shoulder - or what part he could reach since Tuk wouldn't let go of you still.

"Okay." You mumbled, arms wrapping around his shoulders and squeezing. 

The pieces that felt so scattered and displaced suddenly puzzled back together.

This is home. Not the forest, not the ocean, not the mauri you all resided in.

As chatter overtook the silence, your parents began to cook up a late dinner. Your eyes met Neteyam's who sat directly parallel to you - he gave you a dorky thumbs up. Your little sign between each other that Jake had mentioned in passing that sky people do when you were younger, "Hey, are you okay?"

You returned it with your own equally as dorky thumbs up, earning a questionable look from your mother who after all these years - still could not fully grasp the concept.

This is home, the family that would always accept and love you through the toughest of times. Your family, that always made you feel whole. Complete.

As Neteyam yipped happily at your thumbs up, unable to hold his happiness under wraps. You thought then,

"Eywa, there is no other place I'd rather be."

࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ˳೫˚

𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒 :

As your family began to prepare to sleep, Lo'ak tapped your shoulder. 

You turned to him, giving him a questioning gaze.

"Yes, Tsmukan?" 

He opened your hands before a familiar unfinished project was placed gently in them.

"I tried to dry it outside, I don't know how salvageable it'll be but I am willing to help. I know Tsireya really likes- oomph!"

You stood on your tippy toes, tugging him in to a gracious embrace. 

He smiled then, hands wrapping around you as he swayed you two from side to side.

"I appreciate it so much, thank you brother." 

𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 ━━━ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

⤷ feedback and reblogs are always much appreciated ! feel free to ask through my inbox if you would like to join my taglist. ♡

[0phiana0]

Luffy x reader! He's learning how to be a good boyfriend but it's a mess (a cute mess) that's it!

okay so this is actually the cutest fricking idea I love it. Sorry this is super duper short I have vacation tomorrow so just wanted to squeeze this in! :)

Living and Learning Luffy x Reader

The sun slowly drept down the sky as the smell of pastry’s lingered through the air. The cool breeze glided against my skin, pushing my hair ever so lightly as my body was pressed against the railing of our dock. This was the perfect afternoon for a great day. The crew had been docked at this island that, if I’d have to describe as the perfect vacation spot. My thoughts were interrupted by Sanji who had dreamingly called my name, beckoning me to the kitchen for dinner.

“(Y/N)-CHWAAANNN, dinners ready my love!” He swooned. I grumpily pulled my body off the railing, not exactly thrilled that my relaxation had been interrupted.

As much as I was annoyed at Sanji for interrupting my peace I couldn’t tolerate being rude to him or any of my crew mates. My mother had always raised me with an emphasis on manners, although ever since I met the crew my manners weren’t as apparent.

“Ahh..thank you Sanji..I must have lost track of time. My apologies.” My voice was naturally soft which had caused to him to swoon even more mumbling several compliments my way.

I slowly walked towards the door of the kitchen, still taking in the beauty of the view before entering. There sat all my friends already digging into the several pastries and food Sanji had prepared. I sat down between Luffy and Zoro. I was prepared to wait for my food as I had done so before. It was a daily occurrence.

Suddenly I felt a poke to my right shoulder. I looked to the direction of the sudden finger tugging at my shoulder. It was Zoro. His left hand held his plate barely off the table.

“I’m not that hungry tonight. Here.” He grumbled, clearly embarrassed and not exactly used to being so kind.

Before I could answer my boyfriend of two weeks reached over me and lightly pushed Zoro’s arm away. I noticed a slight glare being sent at Zoro.

“No (Y/N) eat some of my food! Here! Here!” I could barely understand him with all the food in his mouth. He moved my empty plate over and placed his own in between the two of us. I hadn’t even noticed that Luffy’s “little” shove sent Zoro to the ground.

“Luffy. He was just being nice. No need to shove him.” I stated calmly.

“Yeah! What the hells wrong with you idiot!” Zoro groaned, his arm pumped up in the air.

Despite both Zoro and I’s protests Luffy just kept digging in on his side of his plate, leaving around a quarter for me. Although I didn’t need to eat from his plate as Sanji gently placed down my own.

“Sorry my dear! Looks like your plate and Usopps got mixed up. I sincerely apo-”

Sanji is suddenly cut off by a kick to the shin. He lets out a harrowing yelp and his hands immediately go to his shin, holding his limb in pain. Everyone goes quiet suddenly, looking at the scene.

“Luffy..you bastard..my..leg..urg..” he muttered out curses.

I stood up abruptly, looking down to my captain and lover. I grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt and pulled him out of his chair. His face depicting confusion, not understanding what he had done wrong. I led him through the doors of the kitchen, hearing the crews voices grow louder as we both left the scene.

“Luffy..” I gave him a soft yet scolding look as pulled his straw hat over his face covering him.

“I..just..I dunno..when Zoro tried to give you his food for some reason I felt really angry. So angry I wanted to punch em. And when Sanji was talking to you it felt really wrong. You’re not his love. You’re my love. I done wanna share you..your mine.” He admitted.

I slowly gave a sigh as I walked closer towards him, pressing my body against his chest. “I know you weren’t trying to hurt them but..that’s not excuse. I understand that sometimes you get jealous but trust me I am yours. And no one else’s. You got it? So you don’t have to knock out the crews men.”

He lowers his head onto my shoulder, burying it softly. “(N/N)..?”

I softly stroked his back as his embrace gets tighter. “Yes?” My hands rub up and down his back comfortably. I can feel the shame and guilt exceeding from his body.

“Am I a bad boyfriend? Am I bad?” He asks, with a tone filled with sorrow.

“No. No you’re not. You’re learning and that’s perfectly okay. It’s okay to get angry but it’s not okay to act on it. Me and you are gonna work hard. Not just on ourselves but on us.” A small smile pressed against my lips.

My words must have been important to him, as he had taken his very trust hat off and plopped it onto my head. He leaned in and captured my lips in his. Not a possessive or angry kiss but a passionate yet soft one.

He smiled into our connected lips and his eyes drifted to mine. His hand pressed against my cheek as his smile widened.

“Okay, as much as I really do love this moment we should probably finish dinner. And you have some apologies to make.” He didn’t grumble but let out a toothy chuckle.

[aimasup]

just found some Valiant AU development sketches and notes in my old OLD sketchbook

I really thought it would be a webtoon

long post warning! And I mean long looooooooong post. If you get to the bottom and go "I'm not reading allat" I do not blame you

more under the cut:

^^^ OC

General notes:

This Valiant AU was meant to be a solarpunk superhero slice of life that slowly reveals a heavier plot, mostly focusing on character interactions and personal growth

White Hat Incorporated is a struggling, newbie business and clients are rare

The episodes can range from domestic shenanigans like fixing a leaking pipe or getting dinner, to running their business by defeating the villain of the week

The villains and heroes stay in their roles from canon. The only ones with major changes are our main 4 guys

All major information about White Hat would be discovered from the point of view of Lumencia and Zug as they realize that not only is PEACE corrupt, but that their boss is neither human nor demon nor alien

Now onto the characters themselves:

Dr. Zug Gleis

Like his name suggests, he likes trains. His train is also a drill that was an attempt to burrow out of government's arrest

Which he then modified into a laboratory, each train cart being a unique kind of laboratory for surveillance, medicine, etc. He sleeps very uncomfortably in cramped spaces and likes it that way

V.I.R.U.S is now a software he created and repurposed into his bratty computer assistant, now Cambot. She's also the one recording all their commercials and making his coffee. Basically Zug doesn't get along with ANY of his children

He doesn't like to leave his laboratories, so he set up a network of tunnels through White Hat's mansion that send and receive messages, inventions, food, etc. There's one little chute for these in most parts of the place

His arc was focusing on his inability to accept help from others because he sees any kind gesture as a possible way to control him. Even worse if the kind person genuinely means it, because he also sees accepting kindness as a handicap, a debt

His villainy was an easy way to make money and show the world his capability without any assistance from any hero or villain organization

Really, he just wants to be able to do whatever he wants, but his need to be the best or else he's the worst is tiring for him. Anger issues don't help

This stemmed from a past of constantly being bullied and compared to his brother, Goldheart

After dropping out of hero college, Zug became his own supervillain's known as The Mad Condoctor, whose theme was, you guessed it, trains. He stole trains, modified scrap metal, targeted stations and trade centers, held hostages, prepared puzzles for heroes to solve, etc

The Mad Condoctor was notorious for being uncooperative and a backstabber. He operated at night and was an expert in secret missions, spyware and tech-based combat and the likes

By the first season finale he would have genuinely cared for his coworkers but still didn't value his own life, so he let himself be taken in by PEACE. The crew have to go retrieve their idiot and many things about White Hat Incorporated are revealed to the public after they clash with their local PEACE headquarters

He finds authority annoying and hates seeing people kiss up. Mostly shameless in his actions and doesn't much care for other people's opinions. Can be honest to the point of hurting

So he is a terrible liar. It's like he's allergic to it or something. Prefers to lie by omission

Will only call White Hat 'sir' and 'jefecito' sarcastically or to get a point across. Unfortunately hopelessly devoted to him at the end of the series whoops

Lumencia

A superwoman with horse-like powers that decided to choose unicorns as her motif because that's way cooler. She has kicks and punches that convert her diet into energy, which is great because she loves eating

Changed it up so that Lumencia is the resident prankster and WH tells puns, not the other way around

She has a room with a slanted ceiling which she can climb out the window of to lie and chill on the roof. She's also converted that space, where flat roof meets slanted roof, into an outdoor cinema/gym, decorated with christmas lights. The mansion is a three-way clash of decorative styles from afar

She doesn't have a license to be a hero, but she helps out wherever she can anyway, stopping purse snatchers and helping lost children find their parents and such

In fact, she is actually one of the most beloved people in the little town they live near, with many residents familiar with her buffoonery but affirming her as a reliable source of help

She's also relatively well-known online, as she posts videos of her playing the guitar and well-intentioned but nonsensical 'Lumencia Tips', filled with terrible puns and comic-like ballpoint pen doodles

Her arc would have focused on letting herself acknowledge her strengths that aren't related to fighting

Shes very buddy-buddy with petty criminals and shop owners alike, able to strike up a conversation and make pals no matter who they are. Once she deems you chill, you can chill, yknow? This isn't on purpose.

Even though she has gross taste in food and is messier than Zug, her handwriting is very pretty and neat. She also is very good at graffiti and sticks to an aesthetic, with glitter and y2k stickers and denim-clad wizards on skateboards, all the works

She has a very straightforward view on heroics and is not big on plans, preferring to punch her way out of situations or annoy her enemies to tears. In fact, her main goal is to become an official part of one of the many PEACE-brand hero leagues.

There's other hero corporations too but PEACE is the number one in America

So one day she just showed up on White Hat's doorstep and never left because it would 'look good on her resume'.

Previously, she bounced from place to place, relying on connections and the occasional tip from her halfway-illegal heroism efforts to get by. She also doesn't remember where her powers are from, only that her parents worked at PEACE and where killed by 'villains' when she was a little girl

Her favourite place is the funfair because that's the last nice memory she had

By season two she would have started another arc where she learns that she was an experiment and her parents were killed by their own higher ups in PEACE to silence them, and she has to come to terms with why she even wants to be a hero as well as stand her ground when her optimism is challenged.

Lumencia's music is like whatever Equestria Girls and Electric Mayhem have going on. I think the genre is power pop? Either way it sounds like those elaborate 80s radical van murals look

Is an effortless liar in the sense that she says the most batshit things with utmost confidence and treats consequences like an afterthought.

Only calls White Hat 'White Hat' and not 'boss' when she feels the situation calls for it. Also unfortunately hopelessly devoted to him by the end of the series

624

An extra set of hands that cleans the place and helps out with their little business. Does not like being interuppted when listening to music

Goes from 'fucking hate these guys' to 'they give me food therefore they are mine' in the span of the entire series

Quite lazy, plays the winning side. Which is usually the heroes here

Dunno if I'd call his arc an arc. All I know is there's an episode where his spoilt teenager-ismd hits their peak and Zug and Lumencia have to reach an understanding with him by respecting his boundaries and helping him feel secure

And after that episode, 624 stopped being a total catalyst for disaster plotwise

White Hat

He is one of the comic reliefs and manages White Hat Incorporated, often making really stupid decisions because profit is not on his mind

The final voice I settled on for him was fucking Australian Markiplier

His "growth" would be the characters and readers seeing him to actually be a caring, experienced-in-heroics-but-not-business individual who gives really sound advice and becomes a source of comfort for his close friends

But is still a MEGA-PRICK. Every time he gets beat up it's for a valid reason

In canon, villainy triumphs because Black Hat is there. In the Valiant AU, the story is in the heroes' favour because White Hat is in his place.

I wanted him to be (mostly) opposite to Black Hat in many ways! BH's office is huge, minimalistic, corporate and cold, while WH's office is small, maximalistic, filled with sentimental items and like a warm cabin.

BH basks in hellfire and while WH does use fire, he prefers the ocean. BH enjoys golf, WH enjoys dancing. BH takes himself seriously, WH very much doesn't. BH detests everything, WH has an appreciation for everything. And etc...

They're still horrible creepy eldritch monstrosities, the fish theme for WH is just because he likes ocean shit and fish are scary

BH has made himself known globally and universally, he has statues and monuments and paintings

WH has nothing; White Hat is five years old. This is his first time being White Hat

But he's been around since the beginning of time, taking many forms and names, learning the wonders of the universe and giving all of his time to help however he could

He believed this to be natural, he's the one of a kind who doesn't need rest or food. He can't die or get really hurt, and would later learn he couldn't bear to love either

Some of the things he was included many plants and animals before the humans, then farmers and warriors, witches and politicians, an entertainer vigilante, a writer, a parent, a fur-clad warrior in the snow, guiding forces of nature, and a female pirate.

I wanted him to cycle through the entire alignment chart in terms of morality as he exhausted everything he could do to make a difference

After World War 2 on earth, his psyche gave out and he collapsed into a long, long nap; a shadow pooling in a lake, his favourite

Finally woke up and decided to take his own form not based on any species or star or tree, chose his own outfit and everything

And made his debut as White Hat, forged documents to start a small business for heroes support

He doesn't have an arc, but if he did, he would be in the midst of learning to let himself get attached again and be properly selfish. Maybe identity issues.

But he doesn't have an arc

And so really only serves to help out Zug and Lumencia. He's comfortable with no one knowing these things about him ever, because what would they even do if they did?

Wouldn't change anything, they wouldn't understand the full scope even, so he's at peace with himself right now, grateful that he's alive for once

He uses manipulation to direct conversations away from himself and get people to spill their feelings, or burrow into their trauma without using magic

if he wants he can let loose to trigger some kind of indescribable primal instinct within a person, that cripples them with terror and despair and love for the sublime face of something divine, bigger than the observable universe. He doesn't like doing this.

He's a fan of ice and shadow manipulation, he thinks the colours go well with his coat

Most animals hate him and he cries about it

He also cries when he tries to download an app on a laptop

He is a competent medical doctor, babysitter, and waiter. In fact, he seems to have infinite patience and calm when he isn't whining over dessert like a toddler

The human skeleton hanging in his office is real

Hopelessly attached to Lumencia, Zug and 624 by the end of the series but they don't need to know that

This AU will forever make me warm and fuzzy inside I love them so much, I had so many locations planned, started Pinterest boards and shit

Instead I think I'll take some of these things and apply them to my OCs instead! HUGE thanks to everyone who enjoyed this version of this AU while it lasted! Maybe it'll come back one day, maybe not. Likely not

[loverwebs]

The Perfect Pair

Pairing: Bella Ramsey x Costar!Reader

Synopsis: After playing Ellie and Riley, you and Bella answer the internet's most asked questions.

Word count: around 1,100

Part Two

Just like any other highly anticipated series, The Last of Us press tour consisted of traveling and interviews. The entire experience being incredibly glamorous and exciting for the cast.

On one of the last few days leading up to the premiere, Bella and Y/n were paired up to answer the internet's most asked questions.

Despite her role for the show being limited, Y/n continued filming in Canada for a movie after wrapping as Riley, which gave her and Bella the opportunity to spend even more time together since Bella didn't finish until a few months later.

The duo would often visit each other's sets and had countless sleepovers, constantly posting the other during their time together.

That being said, they already knew what the internet thought of them. It didn't change anything, though.

They knew they were close.

A little too close.

"Unlike the other boards, this one has questions for both of you." Bella's assistant explained towards the end of the interview, handing the last board to them. "Whenever you two are ready."

Bella cleared their throat before peering at the board in their hands, "Are Bella Ramsey and Y/n L/n..." She looked at the camera through squinted eyes before proceeding.

"...still friends?" Y/n finished off once the sticker was peeled.

"Phew," Bella pretended to wipe sweat from their forehead, meanwhile Y/n dramatically placed a hand over her heart to show relief.

They knew what the question was implying.

"This may come as a surprise to you all, but we actually aren't," Bella deadpanned.

"It's true," Y/n chimed, picking at her nails in an attempt to seem uninterested, "I'm being paid to be here."

"Me too. I despise her so much," Bella grinned.

"Yeah right," Y/n nudged her, preparing to peel off another question from the board. "This one says... How did Y/n and Bella meet?"

"We met a few weeks before filming this little project called The Last of Us," Y/n started. "Maybe you've heard of it. It's not really well known or anything."

"It's remarkably underrated," Bella added with humor.

"Absolutely," Y/n gave an amused smile. "Best day of my life, though. I was so nervous."

"Were you really?" Bella raised a brow, "Because I remember it a bit differently."

"Oh my God," Y/n groaned, turning to face the camera. "You see, I kind of talked Bella's ear off the whole time."

"Kind of? Darling, I couldn't get a word in the entire night." Bella giggled.

"I'm sorry!" Y/n whined. "I just thought you were really cute. I talk way too much when I'm around cute people." 

"Then you must still think I'm cute," Bella teased her. "Because you always go on and on when we're together."

"Moving on!" Y/n sighed. "God, you're so annoying."

"You love it," Bella shook with laughter.

"Hold still!" Y/n laughed as well. "Bels, I can't read them if you're moving! Okay... This one says—oh wow. Y/n L/n and Bella Ramsey kiss."

"My goodness," Bella bursted out in giggles once again.

"That's not even a question," Y/n gave the camera a look whilst fanning the brunette, attempting to calm him down. "Someone needs to get fired for that."

"I'm assuming they meant to ask if our characters kissed on the show." Bella glanced at the crew members skeptically.

"This interview will come out after the episode airs," someone assured them.

"Oh! In that case, we did kiss, yes," stated Bella.

"Our characters did." Y/n clarified, smiling at her friend.

"Well, we kissed. But for the show, of course."

"Completely professional."

"Though we had to do it quite a few times." Bella added.

"Because someone kept 'forgetting' their lines. Definitely not on purpose," Y/n teased them.

"Wow! Way to throw me under the bus there," she pretended to be offended. "I see how it is, L/n."

"Just saying," Y/n shrugged smugly, fingers tugging off another strip.

"Did Bella Ramsey and Y/n L/n play The Last of Us?" Bella read. "Not really…I mean, prior to filming we were told not to play it, but Y/n/n and I tried to get through some of it recently."

"We didn't get very far though. Even on the easiest mode, it just never ends well." Y/n grimaced.

"Yeah, it's tough." Bella agreed. "Neither of us are gamers, so we wind up eating snacks and playing a film instead."

"Which is way less stressful!"

"Is Skipper Y/n L/n's or Bella Ramsey's dog?" Y/n said, struggling to flick away the sticker from her fingers.

Bella immediately noticed and tried helping her, but it ended up getting stuck on both of them, which earned him a small giggle from the girl.

"Despite what Y/n says, Skipper is my kid." Bella announced, successfully placing the long sticker on their chair.

"But she likes me more. I birthed her," Y/n joked.

"I won't lie—she does like to cuddle Y/n/n quite a lot. I think she gets that from me."

"She definitely gets that from you. I like when all three of us cuddle, though." Y/n smiled at the fond memories, "Anyway, I'll settle for the title of being her second mom."

"That works," Bella chuckled. "We'll co-parent her."

"Bella Ramsey and Y/n L/n laying on each other," Bella read through a heavy laugh. "Again, not a question."

"There's a thing called needing body heat, people!" Y/n said defensively.

"Right! Because Canada is incredibly cold. If you were filming in our conditions, you'd do the same." Bella spoke, hiding their face behind the board.

"Yeah, we had to stay warm somehow." Y/n added, her face heating up from the embarrassment of this topic coming up.

"Are we done now?" Bella peaked, "I feel like we've revealed a lot in this ten minute video," they joked.

"Right?!"

"I think that's it," one of the assistants said, laughing along with the team behind the camera. "And we're already shooting, so you can just give us an outro and we'll wrap this up."

"That concludes our Wired Autocomplete Interview!" Bella yelled at the same time Y/n chanted, "Thanks for watching!"

They shared a laugh, then looked back at the camera before continuing, "Make sure to check out The Last of Us." Y/n said when Bella rested their head on her shoulder.

"It's streaming right now on HBO Max," they pointed out.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we're gonna go make out!" Y/n joked, running away from the camera-frame with Bella, hand in hand.

Part Two

[lemoncrushh]

Heartstrings

Summary: You become One Direction's new guitarist and you and your best friend Harry realize you have feelings for each other.

Warnings: None, this is just cute fluff.

Word Count: 5971

A/N: This was a special request I'd received in 2016. It was originally three parts, but I've combined them into one.

I need to talk to you

You must have stared at the text for ten minutes. Harry never said he needed to talk to you. He just talked. Whenever, wherever. The most he might do is ask if you were busy before immediately going into what he wanted to talk about. Even if you were busy, he knew you'd get back to him when you could.

But this...this wasn't him. This wasn't light-hearted, cheeky Harry Styles that you'd known since he was sixteen. The best friend, the confidant. The one person who could make you laugh even when you were at the lowest of the low. This? This was a serious text.

The truth was you had started to develop feelings for Harry. Feelings that surpassed those of mere friendship. It had started out as a little flutter in your chest about a year ago when you'd gone to his house to hang out. You'd watched a movie that was one of his favourites but you'd never seen, and you were enthralled by his enthusiasm. You'd sat on the sofa next to him, your legs tucked underneath you as you watched his mouth while he spoke. Then your eyes travelled down the length of his body, his torso and long legs both clad in all black. You'd blinked and shook your head. This was your best friend. When you'd gotten home that night, lying in bed and thinking of Harry in a different light, you dismissed it as a crush. That was all it was. It would go away.

One year later, and it hadn't gone away. In fact, the feelings were stronger. But you resolved never to let him know.

Finally, shaking your head, you texted Harry back two letters.

Ok

Your phone immediately rang, startling you. Seeing Harry's name displayed, you swiped to unlock it.

"Hey," you said apprehensively.

"Hey, remember when I said the band was gonna need a new guitarist for this tour?" Harry asked, barely giving you time to breathe.

"Uh...yeah?"

"Well, I got the most brilliant idea. And I ran it by the guys and the rest of the band. And they'd like you to come by the studio some time next week."

"What?" you asked incredulously.

"You know, to run through some songs. See how comfortable you are," explained Harry.

"What- What d'ya mean?" you swallowed what felt like a ball of cotton in your throat.

You heard Harry chuckle. "I mean, you might be our new guitarist."

"Harry!" you exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

"Well...if you're good enough."

"Oh my God!" you fell back on your bed, your head hitting the pillow as you kicked your legs in the air.

Harry laughed harder as you bounced on your mattress with glee, telling him thank you over and over again.

Your chest rose and fell with heavy breaths as you grabbed the neck of your guitar and slung the strap over your head, handing it to one of the crew. Stepping off the stage, you felt a surge of adrenaline - the same feeling you'd been getting night after night for the last two months.

"Great show, lads!" you heard Louis exclaim behind you. "You too, Y/N, absolutely incredible."

You turned around, grinning at him as you walked backwards. You nearly tripped until Harry grabbed your arm, steadying you.

"Careful, love," he said. "Don't think we have you insured yet."

You rolled your eyes at him, despite the electricity that his touch ignited on your skin. "Very funny."

Harry's lips turned up into his signature grin, and as you walked backstage together, you made note that his hand had slid down the length of your arm until dropping beside his hip.

"You were on fire tonight," he commented.

"Me?" you raised your eyebrows.

"Yeah. Like...really alive."

You sucked in your lips, hoping your blushing was masked by the already apparent heat on your face from exertion.

"Thanks."

"I like having you here."

The commotion backstage made it impossible to give a response then, but you stood frozen in your tracks for a moment, staring at Harry as he shifted his gaze to observe the hallway. As far as you were concerned, however, the hallway was empty. And you and Harry were the only ones there.

You weren't really sure how you managed to get to your dressing room. But an hour and a half, a shower, and two burritos later, you re-entered the hallway, now virtually empty. You watched as a few crew members carried things out the back door until seeing another dressing room door open across from you.

"Hey," grinned Harry, the wet ends of his hair dripping on the shoulders of his t-shirt.

"Hi," you yawned, though you didn't feel the least bit sleepy.

"Gonna sleep well tonight, yeah?" he winked, walking past you toward the exit.

"Probably not, I never do," you let slip before thinking.

Harry looked back at you as you followed him.

"Why not?"

You swallowed hard. You weren't about to tell him the reason you had sleepless nights was because you were crazy about him and thought about him every second of every day. And you lied awake night after night in your bunk on the bus doing the same until you finally let the night consume you.

"Um...just don't sleep that great on the bus," you shrugged.

"Oh," you said when you reached the doorway leading outside. "Actually, neither do I."

"Really?"

You walked side by side out to where the buses were parked. You shared one with the rest of the musicians, while Harry and the other boys shared another.

"Yeah. I usually end up staying up reading or playing games on my phone until I can't keep my eyes open. Sometimes until we get to the hotel. Then I crash."

"Ah," you nodded. "So that's why I never see you all day."

Harry chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Sorry."

You saw Niall climb onto the bus then, followed by Liam and Louis. You knew Harry would be next, but for some reason he was still standing next to you. You continued to stare straight ahead as the wind whipped through your hair, the dampness causing a slight chill.

"Would be nice to spend some more time together," you heard a voice say, and for a moment you didn't even think it was Harry's.

"What?" you asked, jerking your head to look at him.

"I said it would be nice to spend some time with you. You know, off stage."

"Oh," you mouthed. You bit your lip to keep from grinning, though inside you were screaming.

"If I try not to stay up all night, you wanna do something tomorrow?"

"Um...sure. Yeah." You silently cursed yourself for sounding so moronic. When did talking to Harry, your best friend, suddenly become so difficult?

"I mean, I don't know if we'll be able to go anywhere, we'll have to see. Might just hang out at the hotel."

"That's fine," you nodded.

The sudden noise of the buses being cranked up made you jump, and you felt your heart sink.

"Guess it's time to go," you gestured toward the buses. "Goodnight, Harry."

"Night, Y/N," he lifted his hand in a slight wave.

You gave him a tight smile before turning for your bus. Just as you reached the bottom step, you heard Harry call your name again. You looked over at him, his hand on the side of his bus.

"You were great tonight!" he yelled over the engine.

"Thanks!" you beamed at him. "So were you!"

Harry's dimple dipped deeper into his cheek as his booted feet climbed the steps and he disappeared onto the bus.

A loud obnoxious sound woke you up, and it took a minute to realize it was a knock on the door.

One good thing about being the only female in the band was you always got your own room in any hotel you stayed in. Even when you'd offered to stay with Lou and Lottie, it was insisted that you get your own room. You still weren't exactly sure who's decision that had been, but you weren't about to argue.

Throwing the massive duvet aside, you swung your legs over the side of the bed and made your way to the door. You opened it a crack before you saw Harry standing on the other side.

"Morning," he grinned at you, his eyes momentarily shifting to your pajamas before returning to your face.

"Hey," you cleared your throat. "What time is it?"

"12:30," he replied. "So not exactly morning."

"Morning is any time you've just woken up," you argued with sleepy eyes.

"Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

"It's okay," you scratched your head. "I needed to wake up. I'm actually surprised your awake."

"I promised I wasn't gonna stay up on the bus. I got a couple hours before we arrived here. Then slept like a baby."

The way he was smiling just then reminded you of the early days of your friendship. He looked sixteen again and you couldn't help but smile back.

"So what's the plan for today?" you inquired.

Harry shrugged. "Didn't really have one. Just playing it by ear."

"I suppose it's too late for breakfast," you said.

"Lunch then?"

"Give me twenty minutes?"

He nodded. "Sure. Meet you downstairs."

"You're being ridiculous," you shook your head.

Your stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing so much. After lunch, you and Harry had decided to just go back up to your room to chat - his idea as he said the two of you had been so busy lately that you hadn't really had time to catch up on just being...Harry and Y/N.

He was being his old self, cracking corny jokes and making you laugh like a hyena. You hadn't felt such joy in a long time. Other than the joy you felt on stage. But that was different. That was an adrenaline rush, a feeling of self-worth and pride. Knowing you were getting to live your dream doing what you loved. This...this was the best kind of joy. Being with your favourite person and just enjoying each other's company.

You sat cross-legged on the floor, your back against the bed as you held your acoustic guitar in your lap. You'd been strumming absent-mindedly for the last hour throughout your conversation, though never really playing anything.

As you caught your breath from the giggling, your fingers found a G chord, followed by an E minor as your other hand strummed them both. Then you began to finger pick, not really conscious of what you were playing until you realized you were singing along to "18".

When you'd finished the first chorus, you lifted your head to find Harry watching you, a gentle smile on his lips. Embarrassed slightly, you continued with the second verse but didn't sing.

"Why'd you stop?" Harry asked.

"I didn't," you smirked. "I'm still playing."

"I meant the singing."

You shrugged. "I'm not a singer."

"I would say you are," remarked Harry. "You have a lovely voice."

You hummed before shaking your head. "I'll just stick to guitar."

"If you say so, Y/N," Harry rolled his eyes, rising from the floor and crossing to the bed.

He sat down next to where you were, his long legs in your peripheral view. You heard him sigh and you knew he'd laid back on the bed.

"So, kiss me where I lay down, my hands pressed to your cheeks..." you sang softly.

You finished the rest of the song, accompanying yourself. Then you sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds (although it seemed like forever) before standing up and putting your guitar back in its case.

"Probably about time to head to the venue," you declared. "Soundcheck soon."

It wasn't until you turned around that you realized Harry was staring at you, his arm behind his head. It was a strange look. Not a bad one necessarily. Just one you hadn't seen before. At least not when he looked at you.

"What?" you asked.

Harry blinked though his eyes were still focused on you. It made your stomach do somersaults, and you weren't sure what to make of it. Finally, he shook his head.

"Nothing." You watched as he sat up, slapping his hands on his thighs. "See ya later."

With that, he opened the door to step out into the hallway. But you didn't miss it when he turned to you once more, that same strange look on his face, before heading down the hall to his room.

You sat on your hotel bed, playing your guitar, a classical piece that you'd learned at university. You were a little more than halfway through when there was a knock at your door. Stopping, you laid your guitar on the bed before rising and crossing the room.

"Hi," a beanie-capped Harry greeted you with a grin which you returned.

"Hey," you said. "What have you been up to?"

You noticed the hoodie that Harry had gripped in his hand, his t-shirt marked with sweat.

"Just got back from a run. I was wondering if you'd like to go to dinner."

"Um...dinner?" you blinked.

"Yeah. After I shower of course."

Harry's chest rose and fell with heavy breaths as he spoke, the same grin still on his face. You couldn't help but bite your lip at how attractive he looked at that moment.

"Sure," you breathed. "Sounds good."

"Great, I'll be back in half an hour."

You nodded and sucked in your lips as you watched him walk away. Shutting the door, you leaned against it.

Since that day in your hotel room a week ago, you and Harry had continued spending more time together. A couple of times you'd ventured out of the hotel into whatever city you'd happened to be at that time. You (or rather Harry) had been recognized, but you didn't mind standing back while he took selfies with fans. You enjoyed your time together, even if it was just sitting in your room watching television.

You reminded yourself that this was how it had always been. Yet you couldn't deny that your feelings were growing stronger with each moment.

Watching him in his element on stage, in front of the massive audience of adoring fans, you felt a burst of pride. He was a rockstar. But the moments you spent alone...these were your favorite. Your stomach flipped at the sight of him, your face felt warm as you became aware of your smile growing wider. You couldn't help it. He made you happy. This was no longer just a crush.

You stared at the guitar on the bed. This was one of your free days between shows. You'd seen Harry earlier that morning at breakfast, but when he hadn't divulged his plans for the rest of the day, you'd decided to retreat to your room, spending some quality time with yourself.

The thought of going to dinner shouldn't have been a big deal. You'd eaten with him many times. But suddenly you were nervous.

Grabbing your suitcase from the floor, you dropped it onto the bed next to your guitar. Rummaging through it, you tried to find something suitable to wear for this dinner - something casual that didn't look like you were trying too hard, but still looked nicer than the joggers and t-shirt you were wearing.

Finally opting for your favorite jeans and a soft jumper in a dark plum shade, you changed quickly, touching up your make-up and running a brush through your hair. You'd just slipped into your shoes when another knock sounded. Opening the door, you saw Harry in a black t-shirt and a satin jacket, his long legs covered in his ever present black skinny jeans. He looked amazing to say the least. You almost had to stop yourself from mouthing "wow."

"Hi," you smiled as you noticed his own stare. "So where are we headed?"

"Um..." Harry cleared his throat, refocusing his eyes on yours, "there's a restaurant down the street. I thought we could walk there."

"Fine with me," you said.

Grabbing your bag and your card key, you stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind you. As you walked to the lift with Harry, you could feel his eyes on you. Shifting your own gaze, you saw the same look on his face that he'd had a week ago in your room.

"What is it?" you asked with a chuckle, trying to play it off.

"You look lovely," he replied, his eyes serious.

"Oh," you muttered shyly, looking down at your ensemble. "Thank you."

"I don't think I've seen you in that colour of lipstick before. Matches your jumper."

You automatically sucked in your lips as the elevator doors opened and you stepped in. Gripping the strap of your bag, you stood like a statue on the way down. You mentally told yourself to chill out. This wasn't even a date or anything. This was still your best friend.

Your best friend who'd picked you up at your door and told you you looked lovely and commented on your lipstick.

The sun was setting, the cool night air giving you a calm feeling as you walked next to Harry down the sidewalk. You gazed up at the tall buildings next to you and across the street, a couple more hotels mixed in with businesses and boutiques. You and Harry made small talk, chatting about the band and the next city on your agenda for the tour. Finally, at the end of the block, you crossed the street to find a restaurant at the corner. Harry held the door open for you and you stepped in to be greeted by a tall, ginger-haired maitre d. He gave you both a smile before telling you to follow him.

You sat across from Harry at a small table against the wall. After ordering drinks and taking a gander at the menu, you shook your head, feeling ridiculous about the butterflies that had taken up residence in your belly. You repeated to yourself over and over - This is not a date. It's just Harry.

"So how was your run?" you inquired, setting your menu down in front of you.

Harry snickered, practically rolling his eyes.

"What?" you asked, your eyes wide. "What'd I say?"

"You wanna talk about my run?"

"Sure, why not? How far did you go?"

Harry licked his lips before leaning forward, resting his forearms on the table. "Y/N," he said, his voice low. "Why are you acting weird?"

You blinked. "What do you mean? I'm not acting weird."

Harry smirked, shaking his head. "You looked straight ahead in the lift, as though you were frightened of something. You talked about the weather and the band on the walk here, without even looking at me. Now you're asking me about my run? I've known you for years, Y/N, you've never asked me how far I've run."

"Really?" you played dumb, looking down at the silverware. "Well, maybe I should have."

Harry chuckled. "You wanna know what kind of shoes I wear, too?"

"Sure," you shrugged, thumbing the edge of the fork. "Why not? You're my best friend, you'd think I'd already know these things."

"Y/N," said Harry. "Look at me, please."

Lifting your head, you saw the confusion on his face. "What's going on?"

In a split second you decided you were being foolish and there was no way you were going to give any hint as to your feelings for him. You shook your head, giving him a smile.

"Nothing," you promised. "I'm sorry if I was being weird. I guess it's just odd...you know, being on tour with you."

"How so?" Harry raised a brow.

"Because...I know you. But I guess I never really knew this part of you."

"You've seen me on stage before," he remarked.

"I know, but this is different. I'm with you on stage. I'm with you at the hotel. I'm with you now."

"We're having dinner, love. We've done this before, too."

Just then, the waiter came to take your order, momentarily freeing you from the awkward conversation. When he left, however, Harry returned his gaze to you. You chewed on your bottom lip before lifting your water glass to take a sip.

"So are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" he asked.

You shook your head again. "Nothing's wrong, Harry. Can we just drop it?"

"Fine," he sighed, dropping his shoulders.

You released your own sigh, but one of relief. At least temporarily. You had a feeling Harry wasn't going to let it go completely, but at least you could bide some time and enjoy your dinner.

Once again, your cheeks hurt from laughing. You and Harry were back in your room, lying on your massive hotel bed watching a stand-up comedian on the TV.

"Be back, I have to wee," declared Harry as he rose from the bed.

When he shut the bathroom door, you sat up, trying to catch your breath, wiping your eyes. It felt good to be back to your old self, the same goofiness that you and Harry shared as friends. You wanted to push away the non-friendship feelings you were having, because apparently Harry was getting some sort of vibe from you and it made both of you uncomfortable. You weren't about to lose his friendship over this stupid...crush-thing...whatever the hell it was.

Muting the television, you grabbed your guitar. Playing always calmed your nerves. It had been your escape, your therapy since you were thirteen. You began to play the same classic piece that you'd been playing earlier when Harry had knocked on your door. You closed your eyes, letting your fingers do the work while your brain painted pictures in your head. You heard the door open, but you kept your eyes shut, focusing on the music and the colours that made up the picture.

You could hear his breathing when you stopped, but he didn't say anything. Finally opening your eyes, you saw Harry leaning against the door frame, his eyes not on the guitar, but on your face.

"I heard you playing that earlier," he said.

"Mmm hmm," you nodded.

"I remember that one. It's one of my favourites."

You gave a small smile, grabbing your guitar by the neck and preparing to lower it back into its case.

"No," Harry held up his hand. "Don't stop. Keep playing."

"It's over," you shrugged.

"Then play something else," he requested, walking towards you. "I like watching you play."

Biting your lip, you scooted back a bit on the bed, the guitar in your lap. You began strumming a random chord progression before settling on "Blackbird" by the Beatles. You caught Harry's grin as he took another step forward and crawled back onto the bed. The bed shifted a bit as he laid back in the spot he'd been before, situating onto his side, propped on his elbow.

You sang along softly, feeling slightly nervous that he was watching you. When you plucked the final chord, and turned your head, you almost jumped at his expression.

It was a version of the same look he'd given you earlier only with wider eyes and a dimpled smile. His eyes blinked softly as he shook his head.

"You're amazing," he declared.

"Thanks," you nearly whispered.

"I could listen to you all night," he added, lying on his back, his hands behind his head. "In fact, go ahead and sing me to sleep."

You chuckled, nudging him in the hip. "Sorry, I don't do lullabies by request."

"Bugger," he muttered, his eyes closed.

You giggled again as you finally put the guitar back in the case. Then you laid back against the pillow.

"Wanna finish watching this?" you asked, grabbing the remote.

"Nah," Harry replied.

"Okay."

You stared at the ceiling in awkward silence until you suddenly felt Harry's hand touch yours, threading his fingers through. You dared to turn your head to look at him, but his eyes were still shut.

"I'm so glad you're here, Y/N," he said softly.

"Me too," you whispered.

Harry's eyes fluttered open then. It was hard to read his face this time. But one thing was certain. He wasn't peeling his gaze away from yours.

Rolling onto his side again, you felt the nerves tenfold as you anticipated his next move. You swallowed hard when he brought his over hand up to grip your hip, pulling you closer to him. You shifted onto your side then to face him as he lifted his hand to your cheek. His eyes seemed to sparkle when you looked into them, getting lost in the green. How did you never notice how green they were?

"Y/N," Harry whispered.

"Yes?"

Your heart was beating so fast, you thought surely it would beat right out of your chest. Harry's hand slid down your cheek, his fingers and thumb gripping your chin. Your eyes fluttered closed, waiting patiently. Then ever so gently, he lowered his mouth, pressing his lips against yours.

You bit your lip as you silently cursed yourself. Turning for the backstage area, you handed one of the crew your Strat, trading it for your acoustic guitar. You were having an off night. And you knew why.

That kiss the night before in your hotel room.

Okay, it was more than a kiss. At least it was to you. To you it had only confirmed your feelings for Harry. No longer were you teetering on the fence. You'd fallen for him.

Stepping back out onto the stage, you listened to Liam's chat with the crowd though your eyes were on another certain lad. Your heart thumped in your chest as you watched him wave to the audience, preparing to start the next song. On cue, you began strumming, though your skills now were automatic. You weren't even aware of what you were playing. All you could think about was that kiss...

His lips were incredibly soft. He took his time, careful not to rush. After the first few kisses, you felt his tongue swipe across your bottom lip. Opening your mouth slightly, you invited him in, your tongue meeting his. You felt a sound rise from your throat as you slid your hand up his chest and around to the back of his neck. He pulled you closer to him, his hand grazing the bit of exposed skin above the waistband of your jeans.

His touch felt electric. You thought you heard him hum against you as he continued to devour your lips. You couldn't believe this was happening. Every fiber inside you was on fire, a buzz zig-zagging down your body.

Your lips separated for a moment and your eyes opened slightly to see his mouth still nearly touching yours. His breath tickled your face as you continued to focus on his lips, almost afraid to meet his eyes. Suddenly, you saw his mouth form a word and it took you a second realize it was your name.

You blinked as you shifted your eyes up to look at his, the green seemingly darker than before.

"I...um..." Harry hesitated, swallowing hard. "I should probably go."

You opened your mouth, ready to ask him why, but you stopped yourself. "Oh."

"I mean...it's late and...I have an interview in the morning..."

"Oh yeah," you nodded vigorously. "Yeah, sure."

You watched as Harry climbed off the bed, grabbing his jacket that he'd tossed in the chair before walking to the door. You stayed in your spot, too nervous to move. When he looked back at you, he had that same strange expression on his face. You wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but your mouth was suddenly dry.

"I'll uh, see you tomorrow," he said.

You blinked and nodded. It was all you could do.

"'Night," Harry added before opening the door and slipping out.

You sat up then, looking around the room as though it held the answers. Your stomach flipped, only this time with a different kind of feeling. The worried feeling that Harry had regretted that kiss.

The song was over but for some reason you hadn't moved from your spot.

"Y/N" you suddenly heard, and you looked around before you realized it was coming from your ear monitor.

Completely flustered and embarrassed, you turned around once more to exchange guitars with the roadie. Slinging the strap over your head, you heard the bass drum kick in and you counted off for your intro to the next song. Trying your best to stay focused this time, you completed the rest of the concert, watching Harry and the other boys give the fans what they wanted.

Walking backstage, you handed off your guitar, wiping the sweat from your brow.

"Y/N," you heard again, this time coming from Niall who came jogging up behind you.

"I know, Niall, I missed my cue. I'm sorry," you told him, dropping your shoulders in defeat.

"You alright?" he asked with concern.

"I'm fine," you explained. "Just an off night, I guess."

"No worries, love," said Louis as he passed you, tapping you on the shoulder. "You were great."

You sucked in your lips, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. You shouldn't have let the memory of the night before distract you from your playing.

You continued down the hallway and were almost to your dressing room when you heard your name once more. Stopping in your tracks, you turned to see Harry walking towards you.

"Everything okay?" he inquired, his brows furrowed.

"Yes, alright?!" you exclaimed throwing up your hands. "I know, I fucked up a couple times! It happens! Aren't people allowed to make mistakes in this band?"

"Hey, easy," said Harry in a firm yet calming tone, gently grabbing your arms. "Yes, it's allowed. I was just making sure you were okay."

You shifted your eyes everywhere to avoid his gaze. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just fine."

Pulling away from him, you turned around and walked into your dressing room, slamming the door behind you.

Your chest was heaving with sobs. You weren't sure how long you'd been lying on your hotel bed crying. You hadn't bothered to say goodnight to Harry or anyone else when you'd left your dressing room and bolted for the bus. When you'd made it to the hotel, a very sleepy Harry and Niall had followed you into the lift, but no one had uttered a word and you'd avoided eye contact. As soon as you'd made it to your room, you'd pushed it open just as you heard something that sounded like your name, but you hadn't bothered to acknowledge it.

You hadn't even gotten undressed. Your suitcase sat just inside the door where you'd left it. You'd gone to the bathroom and left the light on, too exhausted and upset to turn it off. The light shone underneath the door, giving the only light in the room.

Why did one kiss have to turn you for a loop? Everything was fine before that kiss. You and Harry were still in the friend zone. He'd taken you to dinner, which had been a bit awkward but then you'd come back to your room and were having fun like old times. Why did he have to kiss you? And why did you have to let him?

Because I'm in love with him, you told yourself.

A fresh set of tears began to fall at the silent confession, just as you heard a knock at the door. Your body jolted, confused that perhaps you were hearing things. But when it sounded again, you knew someone was on the other side.

Quickly wiping your eyes, you rose from the bed, inhaling and exhaling deeply before opening the door. You blinked as the light from the hallway temporarily blinded you before you realized it was Harry standing there.

"H-Hi," you whispered, not sure what else to say.

"Can I come in?" he asked, his voice deep.

"Um...it's nearly four in the morning, Harry, I-"

"I don't care," he interrupted. "I need to talk to you."

You raised your eyebrows then. The last time he'd used that phrase had been in a text. But you recalled how nervous you had been then. The next thing you knew, you were One Direction's new guitarist.

"Yeah," you stepped back, allowing him to enter the room. "Sure."

Closing the door, you walked to the lamp to turn it on instead of flooding the room with unnecessary light. When you turned back around, Harry was standing at the foot of the bed, that odd look on his face. Dropping your shoulders, you let out an exasperated breath.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" you asked him.

"Like what?"

"Like...that," you pointed. "Like you're confused about something, or trying to solve me like some long math problem."

Harry took a step toward you. It looked as though he was about to reach out to you but changed his mind and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I am confused," he admitted. "Because I never thought..."

His words trailed off as he looked down at his feet which you now noticed were bare.

"You never thought what?" you whispered.

You watched him bite his bottom lip before blowing out an embarrassed chuckle. He shook his head and looked up at you.

"I never thought I'd feel this way about you."

Your heart went still in your chest. "You mean the kiss?"

"Yeah, I mean..." he nodded, stepping even closer, "I mean the kiss. But I mean everything else, too."

"Everything else?"

Harry lifted his hand to cup your cheek, his thumb grazing your bottom lip and down your chin.

"I enjoy being with you, Y/N," he cooed. "I know we've been friends for a long time, but... I feel like it's more than that now. Don't you?"

You nodded silently, raising your hand to touch his arm.

"I was kinda hoping I could get you to admit it last night," he grinned slightly. "At dinner. I could tell you were nervous."

You sheepishly looked down. "I was."

Harry lifted your chin with his finger. His eyes burned into yours and your stomach did a somersault again.

"I'm sorry I left last night like I did," he declared. "I was kinda nervous, too."

"You were?" you breathed.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I know you probably think I regretted that kiss, but I didn't. Far from it, actually."

"Hmm," you sounded, biting your lip.

Harry swiped his thumb up, tugging your lip free from your teeth. Then slowly tilting his head, he lowered his mouth to yours. You lifted your hands to his neck, tangling your fingers in the back of his hair. The kiss deepened, making you weak in the knees. Harry's other hand wrapped around your waist, pulling you to him. When he finally released you, you were both breathing heavily, his forehead rested against yours.

"I think I'm falling for you, Y/N," he confessed.

You half cried, half giggled as your hands slid down his shoulders and pressed against his chest. You felt your eyes well up with tears again, only this time they were happy tears.

"What's the matter, love?" Harry inquired, wiping away two stray tears with his thumbs.

You gazed into his eyes once again, your chest falling as you let out a breath.

"I've been wanting to hear you say that for so long," you conveyed.

"Baby..." Harry whispered, his nose nudging yours before pulling you in for another passionate kiss.

This gave me the feels as I read this again. Sometimes I just really enjoy some sweet fluff and declarations of love.

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[gracieheartspedro]

I Can See You

Joel Miller x fem! Reader

Hiya friends, I am back with part 2. This time, it gets juicy (; I'm planning on doing tons of parts to this story, so please give me feedback! I'm not used to writing smut, so this is all new to me.

Warnings: DBF! Joel, age gap-ish (reader is 25, Joel is 39), smut, unprotected p in v, oral (f recieving), fingering, workplace sex, joel being a little bit of a perv, reader not having a filter per usual.

Outline: After an encounter with his boss's daughter that was a bit inappropriate, Joel finds her a bit irresistible and teaches her a lesson in not dressing like a tease at the office.

Word count: 3.7k

PART 1

I was not looking forward to our usual monthly meeting. My father invited all the contractors and office crew to the conference room, where we made sure everyone knew the game plan of the month. I usually gave everyone a heads up on some delays in shipments and new clients. 

Which meant I had to stand in front of Joel Miller and my dad and talk about work. 

It had been over a week since I went to Joel’s house and “apologized” for almost fucking his brother. Last week he was hardly in the office, and when he was, he wouldn’t say anything but “hi” and “bye”. He was busy, I knew that. But I couldn’t help but stare at him when he was in the office. I wanted to say something to him. But I didn’t know how to catch his attention. 

After our talk, where I waltz into his house and he told me he liked to stare at me, I knew we were kind of on the same page. He was hard to read, I was too easy to read. He knew how to press my buttons. And God, did I need him to push all of them. 

If he liked to stare like the rest of them, I was going to give him a good reason to stare, I decided. 

I found a tight blue dress in the back of my closet and heels that were a bit higher than my usual. It wasn’t a dress I usually wore to work, but I could get away with it if I started the day wearing a sweater. 

I usually carpooled with my dad every morning, but he left before I even woke up for some reason. I chalk it up to meeting prep. 

So I grab a banana and my car keys and head to the office. 

—

I walk to my desk, anticipating everyone’s arrival. I hear my dad on the phone in his office, which meant it was going to be a rough start. If someone was bugging him before his second coffee, he was going to have a rough day.

I was the first desk people would see when they walked in, so I would be the first thing Joel would see, so I needed to be strategic in my welcome. 

I start printing out the usual outline for the monthly meeting, glancing up at the door every time it opened. As I was the last page printed, I grabbed my highlighter and started highlighting the most important parts of the meeting. It was routine at this point. 

I lean over my desk, my sweater hanging off my shoulders. I hear the door open and I lock eyes with Joel. And behind him, Tommy. 

He had wet hair, I could tell he must’ve been in a rush this morning. He wears a blue short sleeve button up and dark wash blue jeans. His boots are filthy from mud, which always tracks through the office. 

“Mornin’ Millers,” I say plainly, trying not to make it too obvious I was trying to grab his attention. 

“Mornin’,” Joel says groggily, “Everyone here before us?”

I finish my last line of highlighter and stand up straighter to really face him, “Yes sir.”

Tommy doesn’t say anything, just stares at me with wonder in his eyes. Man this guy saw my tits too, I think for a second. The thought makes me cringe a bit. 

Tommy doesn’t frequent the office often since he’s not the boss of the work sites. He’s mainly Joel’s little helper. He always attends the meetings, just in case Joel or my dad need him to pick up slack somewhere. 

Joel doesn’t say anything, just opens the conference room door. He waves Tommy in, trying to grab his attention away from me. Joel stands against the door, waiting. 

“I’ll be in a second,” I say, grabbing all my pens and my phone, “Don’t wait up.”

He rolls his eyes and lets go of the door, letting it slam behind him. 

Play it cool.

My dad finally comes out of his office, giving me a confused look as I head to the door. 

“What’s the occasion?” He questions, gesturing towards my dress.

“You’re always bitching that I’m not even trying to dress business-y and now here I am, trying, and you-”

“Whatever, hun, just lets get this meeting done. I have a lot of shit to deal with when this is over. Got a long day of meetings downtown.”

I nod, knowingly. 

My heels clack against the marbled floor as I waltz into the room of about 8 men. 

The thing about being the boss’s daughter is, the men that work for him are never going to blatantly ogle you. They will do it when he’s not looking. So when Dad was setting up his screen on the TV, I watched as the older contractors stared at me up and down. I am not a very self conscious person, but old men just gross me out. These guys were old enough to be my grandfather at this point. 

Joel was different. He always kept his head down and looked outside the huge window, unless he had a genuine question. He always stayed later focused at work. No funny business. 

Today, I needed his full, undivided attention. 

So I slip my sweater off and start handing out the outlines. I get a few confused looks, but I keep my composure. 

“Okay gentlemen, good morning,” My dad starts, “We got a lot of shit this week. We have to finish the Locklane Property this Friday. I am having Joel oversee everything is in order there. The check hasn’t fully cleared, so we need everything perfect. It’s a big payday.”

I find my seat next to my dad, right across from Joel and Tommy. 

“The last few shipments for the Brier Woods property are delayed by the way,” I purse my lips, “But I can try to make some calls to speed that up. I know we need it done ASAP.”

“Any status on those kitchen sinks you put in for last month?” Joel asks, directing his question at me. I cock my eyebrow, not expecting a question from him so quickly.

“Not yet,” I lean back in my chair, “But when I get in touch with them, you’re the first person I’ll call.”

“Much ‘preciated,” He mumbles, his eyes go back to scanning the outline. My dad starts his normal speech about not staying on the job too long and how he wants to make sure his crews are being treated fairly. This was normally directed to the older contractors, who treated their crews like shit and constantly overworked them. 

The meeting is usually about 30 minutes long, so when we finish up final talks, my dad practically races back to his office to grab his car keys and leave for downtown. All the other men mosy out of the room and to their work trucks. I watch Tommy eyeball me from across the room while I clean up some spilled coffee and all the outlines littering the table. I look up at him, giving him a slight nod and wave. 

“Have a good day, Tommy,” I say, acknowledging him for the first time since almost fucking him. He smiles, giving me a kurt nod. He walks out of the room with another guy, while Joel hangs around typing on his phone. 

Once he notices everyone is gone, he speaks up. 

“That a new dress?”

My heart rate picks up. I clutch the papers against my chest, “Not new, just never worn.”

He stands up, putting a tooth pick in his mouth. 

“Never wear it again,” He says sternly. I watch him come closer to me, his shoulder lined up next to mine, “Ya’ tease.”

He starts for the door, leaving me as practically a puddle on the floor. 

I find my voice, grabbing his wrist to prevent him from walking further, “Only if by the end of the day, you’re the one taking it off.”

I never have seen a man move so fast, turning on his heels to face me. He’s centimeters away, I can smell his aftershave and his shampoo. 

“Playin’ a dangerous game there, sweetheart,” He murmurs, “You know better, right?”

I smile, inching closer, “Guess I don’t.”

He doesn’t smile back at the little game I’m trying to play, “I’m comin’ back on my lunch.”

And he leaves.

—-

I was just glad that everyone left at the same time during the day for lunch in the office. 

When 12 o’clock hits, everyone in the office bids me farewell for their hour and a half lunch. As one of the assistants opens the front door to leave, she holds the door for, you guessed it, Joel. He strides over to my desk slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. 

“Is anyone here?”

I shake my head, “All left on their breaks.”

I stand up, finding my way to the other side of my desk where he stood. 

“Why did you come back?” I question, leaning against my desk, moving some of the papers with my butt.

I am so nervous but I am still trying to play it cool. I spent all morning anticipating his arrival that I hardly did my job. I couldn’t make a phone call, I couldn’t answer a single email, I was so in my own head. What was he going to do when he got here?

“I don’t really know,” he licks his lips, “Just know ’m eager to have you alone again.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. After all these years of this man practically ignoring my existence, and here he is, eager to be alone?

“Oh really?”

He positions himself in between my legs, wrapping his arms around my waist. His biceps are tight against his shirt when he flexes like this. 

“And these fuckin’ dresses you’ve been wearing?” He scans my body like I’m something he wants to eat, “Has me thinking of all the things I should’ve done when I had you with your tits out in your bedroom.”

I laugh, a little too hard, “You mean when Tommy had my tits out?”

He shakes his head, grabbing my face with his hand. His hand is so big and his fingers so long, he takes up a lot of my face. 

That stops my laughter. 

“Tell me,” He mutters, “Why did you want him so bad?”

He doesn’t release my face, so I just shake my head.

He finally lets me go, his other arm still tightly around me. 

“You left me high and dry after tying up my bikini,” I say, my arms finding their way to behind his neck, “And you were too busy with the new neighborhood MILF.”

I slide a bit more off the desk and onto his right leg. My dress is slowly riding up. If I would’ve known this little dress caused such a stir, I would have worn it months ago. 

“Oh, so you were jealous?”

I felt a pang of embarrassment. I shake my head, “No, no, I just-”

“You are a terrible liar, sweetheart.”

I press myself into him a bit harder, my underwear finally making contact with his jeans. He looks down at what I’m doing, his head shaking. 

“Whatcha doin’ there?”

I smirk, using his grip on me to my advantage. I wrap my legs around his one leg, pressing myself even harder against him. 

“Don’t want anyone seeing us,” I whisper into his ear, “We should finish this somewhere else.”

He nods in agreement, knowing exactly where I was going with this. The only two places that have shades on the windows was my dad’s office and the conference room, so I choose the respectable thing and lead him into the conference room. I draw the shades, while he shuts the door and locks it. 

I walk over to him, my arms finding his neck again. He purses his lips, “I don’t think you realize how badly I wanted to bend you over this table this mornin’.”

Those same pursed lips, find their way to my exposed neck. I was already wet, but there’s something about someone’s breath on my neck. It went straight to in between my legs. 

“You should’ve,” I practically moan, “Right in front of everyone.”

He chuckles darkly, “Right in front of Tommy? Poor guy is down bad for you.”

I pull him away from me for a second, “Do you feel bad doing this?”

He shakes his head, “Fuck no, that guy gets every pussy that comes his way, this one is mine.”

This one is mine. 

I was fucking soaked at this point. 

“Is it?” Is all I can say, because his tongue is back on my neck and chest. He mindlessly tugs up my dress some more, exposing my panties. He uses one arm to lift me onto the conference table, my bare legs getting chills from the cold table top. 

I have been with 3 guys total, and not one of them had ever eaten me out. My first boyfriend was inexperienced and terrified to hurt me. He always told me “we would get around to it” but let’s just say, the relationship ended as quickly as he finished inside me. The other two were one night stands and I was too drunk to remember if they even touched my pussy with anything but their dicks. 

So when he gets eye level with my wet stained panties, I get a bit nervous. I clench my legs together a bit. 

“You gettin’ shy on me?”

I bite my lip, “No one has ever gone down on me.”

He leans back a bit on his knees, “You’re not a virgin are y-”

“No, no, Joel,” I quickly quip up, “I just never had a guy eat me out before. No guy has even shown initiative so I just let them fuck me.”

He looks flabbergasted, before spreading my legs again with his right hand. 

“These boys these days don’t know what the fuck they’re missin’,” He kisses my inner thighs, “Lemme take care of you, girl.”

He kisses my inner thighs, taking his sweet time. Watching him from this angle reminds me of seeing him trying to get those serving plates. He was so handsome, his dark hair falling around his ears. 

His lips eventually find my mound, which sends me into a moaning mess. I lean back, resting my elbows on the table. He uses one hand to keep me in my position, all while using the other to pull my panties off. 

He looks so focused, so driven and hungry. 

“Please,” I whimper, “Please Joel, do something.”

He smirks, “Very eager, little one.”

He licks one long stripe on my slit, my whole body freezes up for a second. He continues, diving deeper into me. He swirls his tongue everywhere. The sounds are pornographic, wet and so fucking hot. 

He presses harder down on my stomach, trying to keep me from moving. 

He brings his other hand up, his two fingers run through my heat. He releases my stomach for a moment, standing up from his spot on the floor. He then lifts his other hand up to my face. 

“Suck ‘em baby, get them nice and wet.”

I grab them with one hand, sticking them into my mouth. I lick and suck them like my life depended on it. Joel’s eyes get darker watching me moan around his fingers. He removes them, those two fingers finding my slit. 

“Gonna open you up some,” he mutters, “Not done eating ya.”

He returns to his knees, using his middle and ring finger now. He’s pushing them in skillfully, before pressing his lips onto my mound again. He starts fucking me slowly, his tongue running up and down my hot slit. 

He sets a pace, his fingers hooking inside me a bit, pressing me in spots I didn’t even know existed. 

“Holy fuck-” I groan, my hands finding his hair, “Don’t stop.”

His mouth finds my clit again, and that’s when I know I’m done for. He’s sucking so good, I can’t even think straight. 

Between the sounds and his expertise, I feel that familiar build up I feel when I’m touching myself. It feels hot in my lower stomach. I feel my legs and arms tense up. He feels it too, removing his mouth from me and focusing on using his fingers. 

“You gonna cum on my fingers? Go on, cum for me.” 

It throws me over the edge, my whole body tenses up. As I do that, his hands leave my tight hole and he starts to rub his entire hand over my clit. The continuous stimulation makes me feel something I’ve never felt before. I watch his jaw tighten as I cum all over him. 

“Jesus, fucking Christ, Joel.”

As I’m trying to catch my breath, I notice him undoing his belt. 

“I’m not done yet, girl,” He mumbles, “I still have so much I want to do to you.”

He pulls his pants down, keeping his shirt on. But I wanted to see all of him. 

“Take your shirt off,” I say, “I want to see you.”

“No time for that,” He groans, letting his dick free from his briefs. 

I practically gasp. 

He’s fucking huge. Bigger than I’ve ever been with, for sure. I knew he’d be hung, but for God’s sake, was that going to fit in me?

“Don’t worry, little one,” He says, noticing my jarred face, “It’ll fit.”

It’s like he reading my fucking mind. 

He finds his way on top of me. I realize all this foreplay, and he still hasn’t kissed me. 

“Joel,” I murmur, his face inches from me, “Kiss me.”

I capture his lips before he can respond. 

It was a patient kiss, at first. When I try to slip my tongue into his mouth, he starts to get a little more passionate with it. I can taste myself on his tongue, which turns me on more than I thought it would.

I was so lost in the kiss, I didn’t even realize he was starting to run his dick along my entrance. When it touches my clit, I pull away from the kiss with a hiss.

“Gonna ease it in,” He grabs ahold of his shaft, guiding it through my heat before settling right on my entrance. 

He pushes forward. I’ve never felt such delicious pressure in my life. I was still sensitive from the first orgasm, that as soon as he continued pressing himself into me, I was a moaning mess. 

He grabs my face again, pulling me up to meet his eyes. 

“More,” I moan, relaxing a bit so he could fill me up. And fill me up he did. 

“Goddamn,” He groans, “So fuckin’ tight.”

Once I adjust for a moment, he removes his hand from my face and lifts my legs up and places them around his hips. I notice I still have my heels on, which only feeds into this workplace fantasy I had imagined before he got here. God this was so dirty. 

He starts to move, his hips snapping into mine at a gentle pace. But something comes over me while he grinding into me. 

He’s watching himself disappear inside me, taking his time. 

“Joel,” I moan, “Fuck me harder.”

He chuckles lowly, “Oh, you ready for that?”

“Pleas-”

He snaps forward, settling into a brutal pace. I couldn’t help but moan out whenever his pelvis rubbed against me for a second. The table was squeaking and moving under us, but Joel just held me in place while pounding into me.

He reaches out, wrapping his hand around my throat. 

“Gonna be a good girl for me,” He’s clenching his teeth while he fucks me, like he’s holding back a little, “Aren’t ya?”

“Yes, sir, yes,” I strain out, not even realizing what I’m saying. 

“Oh my god, girl,” He’s going even faster, like he’s chasing his own orgasm, “Keep sayin’ that.”

He puts those expert fingers to good use again, reaching between us, and finding my clit. It takes less than a minute for him to get me back to the edge, my body starts shaking involuntarily. I had no control over it. 

“Oh my god, please sir!”

I lurch up, wrapping my entire body around him. 

“Squeezing me, baby,” He moans, “That’s right baby, cum all over this cock.”

It’s something I’ve never experienced while having sex. The concept of cumming at the same time seemed like something that only happened in porn or my favorite romance novels. 

But we did. 

We moan in unison, falling over the edge of our highs. He goes to pull out, but I hold him tighter, making him cum right inside me. As soon as we catch our breaths, he let’s go of my upper body slowly. 

“I came inside ya,” He mutters, easing himself out of me. It makes me feel so unbelievably empty. 

“I’m on birth control,” I explain, in between my gasps, “Wanted you to.”

He starts to pull his pants up, stuffing his softening cock into his briefs and away from my view. When he notices me staring, he stands back, getting a good look of me. 

“You look so fucking hot with my cum leaking out of you.”

A sentence I never thought I’d ever hear from Joel Miller. 

I smile, finding my footing on the ground, still kind of wobbly from having the life fucked out of me. I shimmy my dress down to cover my ass again. I glance around the room, trying to find my underwear. He knows exactly what I’m looking for, clearing his throat. 

I look up at him and see he has my underwear on his pointer finger. He gestures for me to grab them, but I think of an even better idea. I grab them from him and ball them up. I grab his belt loop, pulling him towards me. I slide the panties in his back pocket, all the while giving him a shit eating grin. 

“You’re bad news, little one.”

[sumsumstrashbin]

𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 ~ 𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 ✧

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 𝟗𝟓𝟎

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝?

𝐚/𝐧: 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────

The venue was packed to the brim with fans waiting to enter and watch the battle of their favourite bands. You had taken a reserved spot at the back of the building, giving you easy access to bypass the crowd. You made your way inside through the back door, winding through swarms of musicians and crew members hurriedly preparing for their time to shine on stage. Your eyes scanned the room, looking for the subject of tonight’s interview: Sirius Black.

You eventually spotted the door you were looking for, labelled with the band’s name. You knocked without hesitation, waiting patiently for someone to answer the door. 

“Who is it?” A man inside shouted.

“Y/n L/n!” You answered back, crossing your arms.

You heard hurried footsteps thumping towards the door before it swung open, revealing the very man you were looking for. He leaned on the door frame, a cigarette hanging between his lips. He plucked it out of his mouth, leaning his head back to blow the smoke upwards.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of Miss L/n herself?” He spoke, a cocky smirk spreading across his lips.

“Did your manager not let you know that he had scheduled an interview for you?” You questioned, stepping past him and entering the dressing room.

“My manager? Oh, that guy. We fired him weeks ago.”

“Oh. Well we scheduled it last month, and I paid for this, so.” You stated, pulling your notepad and tape recorder out of your bag.

He shut the door, following you inside. “You paid to talk to me? Well, I’m honoured.”

“It’s my job. And you’re hot shit right now. Anyone would be stupid to pass up an opportunity like this.” You settled on one of the leather couches, setting your tape recorder down on the coffee table next to an ashtray full of extinguished cigarettes.

Sirius grinned with pride, taking the seat directly across from you. “I guess I am pretty hot. So are you.”

“That’s not what I meant.” You defended, flipping your notepad open to an empty page.

“But it’s what I meant.” He took another drag from his cigarette, this time not bothering to blow it away from your face. From the look on his face, it seemed like pushing your buttons was bringing him great pleasure. After a moment, he continued. “Alright, I’ll play nicely. Go ahead and ask your little questions.”

You nodded, clearing your throat and starting the recording. “As you know, I’ve already interviewed your bandmates before, so today’s questions will really focus on you. My first question is about the latest album you guys put out. What was the inspiration behind it?”

Sirius leaned back in his seat, resting an arm on the back of the sofa. “I mean, at first we were just fucking around, Writing random shit, as you can probably tell. Some of the songs were purely nonsense. Later in the album is when the lyrics actually mean something. It’s really just about life. Ups and downs, highs and lows. Things that we’ve experienced in our lives, things that we want out of life. We did a lot of collaborating on the lyrics for this one. Usually Remus and I take the lead with the songwriting.”

You jotted down his response, nodding along with his words. “What song would you say is your favourite on the album, and why?”

“If I had to pick, I love Midnight Melody. It literally came to me one night while I was sleeping, and I woke up and wrote it right away. It’s really about reminiscing on past relationships, which is pretty obvious. I’m not the best at hiding messages between the lines, so they’re pretty blatant.”

You continued to conduct the interview, asking him more about what he has planned for the future and other things about his music. Towards the end of the interview, he had succeeded in loosening you up, even sharing a laugh with you a few times.

“You’ve got quite the reputation, Sirius. What’s the wildest thing you’ve done?” You questioned, leaning in with anticipation.

Sirius chuckled, also leaning forward to lock eyes with you. “Oh, darling, you don’t want to know. I’m sure you know that some stories are better left untold.” His voice was low yet confident, sending chills down your spine. 

“Come on, Sirius. I’m sure everyone is dying to know.” You responded with a sly smile, hoping that he’d give in.

He shook his head, putting his cigarette out in the crystal ashtray between the two of you. “That’s all you’ll get out of me for today, Y/n. If you want more information, you’ll have to come see me after the show. Without the recorder.”

The tension in the air was suffocating, and his fixated gaze on you was making it hard to say no. Especially when he kept glancing down at your lips as he awaited your answer.

“I might just take you up on that offer.” You spoke after a moment, shutting off the recorder.

His grin widened as he watched you pack your things into your bag, heading for the door. He caught your wrist, drawing you back to him. “I’ll be waiting for you, Y/n. Right here, after the show.”

In the moment the interview felt so far behind you, as if it was a distant memory. Right now, all you could focus on was the way he was looking down at you, a glint of lust in his eyes.

“I’ll be here. Just make sure your bandmates aren't.” 

“Oh, I’ll make sure of it, sweetheart. And look.” He let go of your wrist, gesturing to the doorknob. “Lucky for us, the door locks.”

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────