#really makes me wonder though. who exactly is reporting to him about me? I WONDER if its the same person I keep kinda

[snekdood]

anyways if nick fartez and any of his skeevy fans are spying on me online I needja to know this: no one will ever love you or like you or fuck you and its all your fault bc your a nazi. the only way you'll ever get anything is if you rape someone and you and I both know that doesnt mean shit except how desperate you are to stick your dick in someone and how much you're willing to violate people who actively dislike you and would never be around you if it was their choice. it didn't hafta be this way but you decided being a ugly skeevy nazi was more important than anything, which is sad. honestly jump off a cliff, save yourself the time.

[thelov3lybookworm]

Hiii!!!

I know that you have a lot of other fics to write but I couldn’t get this idea out of my head

So imagine the reader and Azriel have a daughter and she’s 3 and she has a crush on a boy in her daycare’s class, and when she got home with the reader, Azriel heard her talking about him to the reader, so the next day Azriel decides to pick her up from daycare and when he sees the boy, he’s just glaring at him

I don’t really know if this makes sense but overprotective Az is so🤭…

THANK YOUUU💗💗💗

Overprotective Bat

Summary: No one is allowed to talk to Azriel's Princess.

•○●⛦●○•

A/n: Anon, i love you soo much for sending this in. I loved writing it, i literally giggled when you sent this in lol

Enjoy!

•○🌑○•

"And then what happened?"

Azriel's shadows became alert, rushing to crowd against the windows to watch as their favourite two people walked upto the door. Azriel smiled, putting away the report he was revising before he had to send it to Rhysand, getting ready to be bombarded with all the details from his daughter's- Hazel's- day at the daycare.

"Kaden asked me to play with him." The smile that appeared on Azriel's face when he heard his little princess's voice faded when he realised what she had said, and he stiffened, his hand hovering above his desk. He turned his head just slightly, wondering who this he was.

"And did you play with him?" The jangling of the keys sounded as Y/n opened the door, and their voices were louder when they next spoke.

"Yes mommy! We played hide and seek first, and the he pushed me while I sat on the swing."

Y/n hummed as Azriel began descending the stairs faster than his wings could have carried him.

"So you like him?"

Y/n's tone was teasing, and Azriel could hear Hazel giggling, but he did not like this conversation one bit, and he felt the need to stop it from progressing.

So he walked out, a huge smile on his face that was at odds with the way he was feeling.

"Daddy!" Hazel's eyes lit up, and her smile widened as she ran towards him, her arms splayed wide. Some of the tension in the spymaster's shoulders lessened, and he picked her up, clutching her wiggling body to his chest. He tried to kiss her cheek, which only ended up in her giggling loudly while trying to push him away because she thought he was trying to tickle her.

Y/n met Azriel's eyes and smiled wide, walking over to peck his cheek.

"I'm going to go and get changed, don't do something to get in trouble."

He huffed indignantly, meeting his daughter's eyes. "As if I do anything to get in trouble."

She giggled, clinging to him. he swayed a little, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he set her down. "Come, let's get you changed too."

Hazel nodded, reaching up to wrap her fingers around his finger. Her small fingers wrapping around his big, scarred hands always had an overwhelming amount of pride and joy coursing through him.

"So, what happened in your daycare today?"

And so began the onslaught of details from his little princess's day.

•○🌑○•

Azriel did not like going to pick his daughter up from her daycare, but only because he did not want to scare the other people who had come to pick their kids up.

But now his motive was exactly that as he stood right next to the gates, his wings tucked tightly to his back so no one could touch them.

And he would say he was succeeding in his mission. It was like there was an invisible wall surrounding him, and everyone tried to stay away from him. He just hoped the boy's parent was also in the crowd, so when they found out exactly who Hazel's father was, they would tell him to stay away from her.

Proud of himself and very nearly patting himself on the back, he waited for his little girl.

The door to the daycare opened, and all the children spilled out, running, giggling and screaming, across the playground towards their parents.

Azriel spied a head of hair the same as his, two small braids adoring her little head, and grinned slightly.

Though his grin vanished when he found her holding the hand of a boy, smiling and walking up to the gates.

The moment her eyes landed on him, she gasped, tugging on the boys hand while pointing, and Azriel could read her lips as she yelled, that's my daddy!

She let go of the boy's hand and ran- waddled, really- up to her father, who could not contain his smile.

He leaned down, his arms reaching out to grab her the moment she was close enough. She squealed as he hauled her up against himself, peppering kisses on every inch of her chubby little face.

"Did my princess miss daddy today?"

"Yes daddy!" Then, as if she just remembered, she turned her head and beckoned to the boy she had been holding hands with. The boy's eyes were wide as he stared at Azroel's huge form, his massive wings, his shadows. Azriel flared his wings a little just for the sake of it.

If possible, the boy's eyes went wider, and his steps faltered, meeting Azriel's eyes.

And Azriel knew that he was being an asshole, but he glared at the boy with no restraint.

The boy's eyes filled with tears, and he turned away, sprinting back towards the daycare, his hands held to his eyes to staunch the tears.

Azriel instantly felt guilty, and when his daughter turned to him with furrowed brows, he wanted to run to the boy and apologise. But before he could do anything, a voice spoke up.

"I am glad you feel guilty."

Azriel froze, glancing back at his mate sheepishly.

She shook her head, taking Hazel from Azriel, kissing her cheeks before setting her down. "I knew you had ulterior motives when you asked me if you could pick Hazel up today. You need to stop being such an overprotective bat."

Azriel kissed Y/n's forehead in hopes that she would let him off easy, but she glared at him when he pulled away.

"Mommy? Is Kaden angry with me?"

"No darling, he maybe just got scared. You can talk to him tomorrow and let him know there is nothing to be scared of."

Azriel couldn't stop the scoff that escaped him, and Y/n turned to stare him down.

"Sorry." He mumbled lowly before grabbing Hazel's hand. "Do you want to have some ice cream before we go home?"

Y/n opened her mouth to protest, but Hazel and her father were already running away.

•○🌑○•

General Taglist: @bubybubsters @eos-princess @nightless @harrystylesfan2686 @cassie6392

Azriel Taglist: @darthdumbasss @foreverrandomwritings @kennedy-brooke @hnyclover @minnieoo @sidrapotter

[rad-batson]

AU where Billy Batson is investigating some random magic issue because his powers have been depleted as a consequence, meaning he temporarily can’t be Captain Marvel, but he somehow accidentally tips off Zatanna who’s working in the watchtower that day. She senses the sudden lack of magic in Fawcett City and tries to contact Marvel to warn him, but he can’t be reached so she calls up a few members of the JL to check it out because they want to make sure he’s okay.

Batman, Zatanna, The Flash, and Wonder Woman start wandering through Fawcett with no plan, just looking for some kind of sign that Cap is nearby, when they see this kid in a tattered red hoodie open a PORTAL, and they’re like what the fuck?! So they slip through the portal right before it closes and suddenly they’re in this infinite magical cave, and the boy is pissed. And he’s really not open to questions.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“None of your business.”

“Where are we?”

“Also none of your business.”

The heroes aren’t idiots, though. They know this kid has something to do with Cap’s disappearance, so they ask him questions until he finally gets tired of them and says, “I’m his…protégé.”

“Cap has a protégé?”

“Yes. That’s me.”

“Prove it.”

“Superman works as a news reporter at the Daily Planet.”

“…Oh shit.”

Batman tries to talk to him about how he shouldn’t know this kind of stuff but the kid hits him back with, “You have like ten kids who know everyone’s identities too. Why are Captain Marvel and I suddenly breaking protocol?” Point taken.

So now there’s this magical kid who’s apparently in line to become the next Champion of Magic who knows all of the JL’s secrets through Captain Marvel, and they still don’t know WHERE Cap is so they take him back to the watchtower and try to get as much info from him as possible. It only makes them more confused.

“Where is Captain Marvel?”

“He’s stuck in eternity.”

“What does that mean?”

“He doesn’t have a corporeal form right now.”

“He- what the fuck? How did that happen?”

“His powers were depleted after a big fight last week.”

“But is that reversible?”

“That’s what I was working on.”

“And what were you doing, exactly?”

“I was…trying to help him get his strength back.”

“Okay? How can we help?”

“Umm, you can’t.”

“Is he okay? In eternity?”

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry about it.”

“How do you know he’s okay?”

“We…have a…shared consciousness?”

“Excuse me??”

“I take it back.”

“You can’t just take that back?!“

“It’s Champion of Magic stuff, okay?! You wouldn’t understand!”

The kid’s story just keeps getting weirder and weirder until he refuses to answer questions, leaving them more in the dark than they were before.

[mypoisonedvine]

you could do a drabble about Jonathan Crane...a continuation about a drabble that he helps his patient with his sexual health problems, but now instead of observing he participates 👀 and Reader doesn't want to but does want to 🫠 I love your content, I'm so happy you're back.💜

seems like a perfect continuation to this c: HOW did it turn out so long lmaoooo 18+ ONLY OF COURSE

length: nearly 2k

warnings: noncon/heavy dubcon, abuse of power/manipulation, medical kink, praise kink, pain kink (at least on his part lol)

"How will I know when I'm ready?" you asked hesitantly. "For... sex?"

He smiled, very very slightly, and did that annoying therapist thing where he answered your question with a question. "What do you think are signs that you're ready for that step?"

You sighed, noticing how he'd flipped it back on you (he explained before why he did that-- because his job was to guide you to personal growth rather than just tell you what to do-- but you still wished sometimes it could be more simple) and tried to think about how to answer his question. "I guess... desire, would be a good sign."

"It would certainly help," he laughed lightly. "It's hard to feel much pleasure during something that feels like a chore. Have you?"

"Hm?"

"Have you experienced any desire for or interest in sex lately?" he asked.

Suddenly feeling a bit flushed, you looked away from him and rubbed the back of your neck. "O-oh, uh... I-- I guess that depends on what you consider--"

"So you have," he interrupted, smirking a bit, and you glanced at him before looking down at the floor with a nervous laugh. "I suspected as much."

"Because I brought it up today?" you assumed.

"No, for quite some time," he responded. "Weeks ago."

You blinked quickly, wondering how he could've noticed something like that. "Oh, did I... say something?"

"It's what you don't say," he explained, looking at you with a bit more darkness in his eyes. "It's what goes without saying."

You knew that he knew, but you weren't strong enough to admit it yet. "Wh-what do you mean, Dr. Crane?" you asked, playing dumb and hoping helplessly that it would work.

He sighed and shut his notebook, setting it aside and tilting his head a bit as he looked at you. "What do you think I'm referring to?" he asked.

You scoffed, seeing an opportunity to change the subject. "You know I can't stand it when you do that... you should just answer my questions," you decided.

"Yes, I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?" he smirked. "Simply being told what to do."

You shuddered at the way his voice changed... and his stare, too, it seemed to rake over you. Even though you weren't sure if he was really asking, you found yourself nodding.

"Say it, out loud," he insisted.

"I want you to... to tell me what to do..." you mumbled nervously, "Dr. Crane..."

He smiled, wider than probably you'd ever seen on him and your gaze followed him as he stood up. "I'm glad you've finally admitted it," he said softly, stepping closer to you until his form towered over you as you sat on the couch-- your heart beat faster as you arched your neck to look up at him, swallowing thickly. "Dilated eyes, elevated heartrate, tightly crossed legs-- yes, I noticed all the signs of desire in you. You want me to help you with your aversion, yes?"

"Well, of course, but--"

He leaned down and held your chin softly in his hand, making your words fail into a whimper. "I think you'll experience much faster progress this way," he explained. "You'll do as you're told?"

You hesitated, your heart pounding in your ears, but you nodded slightly; you couldn't exactly say 'no' now, could you?

And he wasn't wrong-- you'd thought about this, with him. But not literally this. You just thought he was attractive, and though he was the one who told you to touch yourself daily at home to desensitize your mind and increase your libido, you never admitted in your self-reports that you were usually thinking about him.

But you weren't thinking about him as your doctor. You were thinking about him as some other person, who just happened to look like that. And though, in your mind, he always took charge... this felt strange in all the wrong ways.

He didn't quite force you down, he just guided you-- but it wasn't gentle, either. It ended up with you laying back on his couch, the decorative throw pillows supporting your back and keeping you half-upright as Dr. Crane slotted himself between your legs, running his hands over your body through your clothes.

He hummed a little, staring down at you in this greedy, voracious way that was totally unfamiliar. You whimpered a little when his hands groped your breasts through your shirt. "Don't worry," he offered, as if it were that simple. "I told you to stimulate yourself like this each night... did you?"

"Yes," you breathed, "but, um... not so... not exactly like that."

"Show me, then."

Your hands were shaking as they took the place of his, and you thoughtlessly bit your lip as you squeezed yourself a little slower, a little gentler-- you both sighed when your fingers pinched your nipples slightly through your clothes.

He reached down to your waist, sliding his hands up under your shirt. His touch on your bare skin was... unexpected, to say the least. His hands were warm, which was a relief, but you still felt shivers run all over you as his fingers delicately moved up your sides. Under your shirt and bra, he cupped your breasts as your own hands fell away. "Like this?" he mimicked your touches, only without the barriers; and even though it made your stomach flip, you couldn't deny that what he was doing felt better than it ever had when you did it to yourself.

Not wanting to admit that to him, though, you just bit your lip harder and nodded.

Just when you started to get somewhat comfortable with-- or at least used to-- what he was doing, he pushed up your clothes to your collarbones, exposing your chest to his lascivious gaze.

"O-oh," you blurted out at the rush of cool air, at the way he stared down at you with an open, hungry mouth-- which he then suddenly latched onto one of your hardened nipples. "Oh!" you whimpered, hips rocking up against him unintentionally when he suckled hard at the sensitive bud.

He wasn't subtle about it, or all that gentle, but it wasn't too much. Thought it was certainly much more intense than you expected.

He hummed against your skin, and you continued to shake uncontrollably beneath him; it was a raw and aggressive sort of pleasure, his tongue and teeth constantly stimulating you, each movement making your pussy clench inside. He'd always told you to be slow and careful with yourself, to even tease and edge yourself if you could... apparently he didn't practice what he preached.

Apparently he didn't need to. You could tell that you were soaking your panties already. Your head was spinning; how the fuck was this actually happening?!

His mouth moved to your other nipple, his fingers tweaking the one still slick from his thorough treatment. He tilted his head, and you regretted glancing down to look at him latched into you like that. This was your doctor, your psychiatrist... you knew it was wrong, you weren't that naive. But you were apparently too stupid to figure out how to stop this.

When he broke away, he grinned up at you. "You're so sensitive here," he purred, "what other places have you found, hm? Those little spots that make your toes curl?"

It must have been a rhetorical question, because he was already pushing your skirt up to your waist. You shivered, feeling that familiar anxiety swell in your chest, but you tried to keep it down. Even if this wasn't at all how you imagined it, you did want to be done with this, to finally say you were able to move past your fear. Maybe this was just as good as any other way-- to just get it over with.

But you had to take a deep, shaky breath when his fingers hooked into your panties... gently pulling them down your thighs-- or in this case, up your thighs, since your legs were forced up and apart by his body between them.

He purred at the sight of you-- or maybe just when he saw how wet you were, but he got the feeling he already knew.

"Very good," he praised, and you sucked in a sharp breath. "You look ready."

Your eyes went wide as he sat himself back a bit, his hands hastily working on his belt and fly; you didn't want to watch him do this, but you couldn't seem to look away.

If your eyes were already wide, then they must have nearly popped out when he opened his trousers and pulled his cock out.

"I-it's too--" you blurted out instantly, scooting back on the couch a bit, recoiling away. "Dr. Crane, you're too--"

"What?" he asked innocently, though it was terribly unconvincing.

"It's too big," you whispered, and he laughed lowly.

"Don't worry about that," he sighed as he leaned down over you again, sliding himself between your slick lips with a groan. "You-- fuck-- you won't have any trouble. My god, you're soaking me already..."

He seemed pretty distracted, and wholly unbothered with your hesitance. You took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself, but you couldn't seem to soothe-- especially not when he guided his head right up to your entrance. "W-wait," you stammered suddenly, moving your hips back, "I'm not-- I'm not ready."

"I think it's time for me to make that decision for you," he said firmly. "If you never challenge yourself, you'll never overcome this."

"But I'm not--!" you began, cut off by his hand covering your mouth. There was a ferocity in his glare as he watched your face, studying the changes in your expression carefully as he penetrated you.

As you had feared, his size was an issue. Even dripping wet, you had to stretch to accommodate him... it had been years since you took anything bigger than your own two fingers. He'd had you buy a relatively thin, 'ergonomic' (as the packaging stated) vibrator to insert in yourself at home, but you'd gotten too nervous and couldn't get it in past the first inch. He told you it was all in the mind, and you thought he was right at the time, but this felt physically impossible. And it just kept going.

You whined, nearly screamed, behind his hand, and he groaned in your ear with hot and heavy breaths.

"You can take it," he assured, sliding in deeper, "you can take my cock. It's going to fit... one way or another."

You sighed with relief when his hips were flush with yours; you were shaking, a thin layer of cold sweat all over you like you'd gone through some awful thing. But it wasn't over-- it had only just begun.

"Fuck," he grunted, starting to pull back and push into you all over again. "I know it hurts now... but you'll get used to it."

At first, you thought he meant just now-- that your body would relax and adjust, which it did eventually. But that wasn't what he meant, exactly. He meant something much more long-term, if not permanent; he meant that soon enough, you would be all too comfortable being his to use.

[veryberryjelly]

hey girl!!! I think ur still writing for jake from b99 (hopefully) so i was wondering if i could request him with a reader who's on her period and she's working, jake brings her home and comforts her (cause her cramps are rlly bad) <3

jake peralta x fem!reader

cw : reader is described as female, reader has truly bad cramps

𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

as a woman, one of the necessities of life was making sure you could function during your period.

if you didn't have a way to cope, it was hard, or almost impossible to do day to day tasks such as going to work.

and you had your emergency kit in your desk drawer. heating pad, tampons, spare underwear, pads and some pills your doctor had prescribed to you when you explained how bad your cramps could get.

and while you would usually replenish your kit a few days before your period started, you hadn't expected the wave of cramps that overtook you as you sat at your desk.

"shit-" you muttered under your breath when you felt the first one.

you were quick to open your drawer and look for the familiar yellow bottle, only to find it empty.

your stomach dropped and another cramp rolled through your abdomen.

you couldn't do much about it now, only put on a heating pad, change your underwear and put on a pad.

so that's exactly what you did. you grabbed your necessary supplies and headed towards the bathroom, making an extra effort to walk straight instead of hunched over.

you felt a pair of eyes on you briefly but just ignored it, knowing your priority at the moment.

when you returned to your desk, heating pad in place over your abdomen, you felt a tiny bit better, but the cramps were still coming fierce and fast.

it must've been the crease in your brow that alerted jake of your discomfort because after a few moments you saw a figure sit down at the side of your desk.

you picked your eyes up to find his familiar brown eyes. a soft smile settled briefly on your lips.

" what's up ?" you questioned, dropping your pen down on your desk quietly as to not aggravate the headache you could feel forming.

" you doing okay ?" he questioned, his voice quiet and comforting.

you should've known jake would notice you acting off. he knew you too well not to notice.

" yeah, i'm fine-" you paused momentarily when you felt a stabbing pain in your lower back. " just cramps "

early on in your relationship jake had found out just how bad your cramps could be. after you had to cancel a date last minute saying you were unwell and he showed up to your apartment with takeout. you had just been honest with him and told him you got really bad cramps.

he wasn't rude or grossed out, he just asked how he could help and you ended the night curled on your couch with his arm draped over your stomach, his palm splayed out under your t-shirt on your abdomen.

since that night he had always been there when you needed him to be.

" v'you taken anything ?" he questioned, his voice still slightly hushed.

" haven't replenished my prescription "

a small hiss came from his lips as he took in the repercussions of you not having the thing that made these few days more bearable for you.

" d'you want me to go and refill it for you ?" his suggestion made your heart melt and you reached your hand over to squeeze his hand lightly.

" it's okay, i can wait a couple hours. can we go by the pharmacy on the way home, though ?" you asked to which he nodded immediately.

he gave your hand a small squeeze, giving you a comforting smile before he departed back to his own desk.

you thought you could wait until the end of the work day, but your cramps only worsened over the next hour.

you couldn't focus on your case reports over the stabbing pain through your body.

" c'mon i'm taking you home "

you lifted your head to find jake stood by your desk, his jacket on and his bag over his shoulder.

" jake, you don't have to do this. i'm fine, and we've both got st-"

" would you just let me do this for you? i talked to holt and he's giving you the afternoon off and i'm taking you home. " the way he said it left almost no room for discussion. he was taking you home and that was the end of it.

you didn't debate with him, just pulled your jacket over your shoulders and picked up your bag.

his hand slipped easily into yours as the two of you walked out of the precinct and down towards the parking lot.

the drive back to your apartment wasn't a long one, it felt a lot better after jake hopped out at the pharmacy and returned to the car with your prescription in his hand along with a bottle of water.

when you arrived home, jake told you to go and shower, change and get settled on the couch while he made some tea.

you were quick to go into your bedroom, grab one of jake's t-shirts and a pair of long pyjama pants and get take them into the bathroom.

your shower was quick but definitely made you feel a bit better. when you stepped out you changed into the clothes you had gotten out and walked out into the living room.

you found jake sat on the couch on his phone, a mug of tea on the coffee table beside a hot water bottle and one of your cosiest blankets on the couch.

nothing was said as you sat down and leant into jake's frame, his arms wrapping around you swiftly. he simply offered you the remote and made minimal comments when you put on a film you both enjoyed.

though as much as you enjoyed it, your head went limp against jake's chest within the first half an hour.

[unknown-to]

What a long ride..

I daydream about Eren often tbh

smut, eren yeager x f!reader ~ 5,7k words

Casually sipping on his vape, Eren sits on the stairs, impatiently waiting for the bell to ring the end of your class.

He takes a sip of smoke in and then blows it out, it feeds his brain just good enough to be honest. And even if smoking was prohibited inside the building, who is he to give a fuck about rules anyway.

He looks around, in case anyone catches him smoking inside the building, or report that he isn’t in class again. Not that he cares but he just wants to leave and not being held in the headmaster’s office for the uncountable hours of class he skips.

Let’s be honest and say Eren isn’t the best student in this university, he might even win if a 'worst student' contest occurred. He’s smart though, but not for class. Not at all, or he just doesn't even try.

He sighs, time seems so long when you want it to be fast, and he loses patience. He lasted twenty eight poor minutes before he feels the urge to take you out of class.

He slips his vape back in his vest pocket and goes to your class. Going up the stairs two by two, until aisle C, where he jogs to your class.

Windows give a sight enough reachable from his height to check whether you really care about the lesson or not. An airy laugh escapes him when he catches sight of you.

"exactly what i thought, you do not give a single fuck about whatever my man mr. Matsuoka is tryna explain"

You’re there, half listening half fighting against your eyes to not close. Leaning your head on your palm, and playing with your pen in your other hand.

Finally you look at the aisle windows and here is his head trying to sneak into the annoying hour you are going through. He blinks at you, shooting you a small malicious smile.

You frown nodding him to go away, when all of a sudden he disappears. You take a breath of relief before the class becomes silent.

knock knock

"come in!"

You hide behind your hands when Eren’s figure appears in the doorframe. Gosh Eren, don’t embarrass me, please..

"hello, um.. i’d like to borrow one of your students if you allow me"

The teacher raises an eyebrow in confusion. What the hell would be more important than attending his class after all ?

A sucker for the headmaster, Eren bets.

"yeah, i was told to bring her to big daddy’s office"

You pinch the bridge of your nose at his words while the whole class giggles. If only you had the ability to disappear, it would help right now.

Seriously Eren ? Big daddy’s office ??

He’s so stupid sometimes you wonder how he didn’t fail his years until now. The whole university have a crush on him even though he’s an idiot asshole and everyone giggles when he says his intrusive thoughts out loud. Having no shame to spit words like this in front of everyone is probably your biggest strength Eren i swear to god, you think.

"Yeager, you better stop fooling around before I send you to the headmaster myself !"

"yeah yeah, anyway, can I ?"

"if he asked you to, go ahead."

In a split second, he locks eyes with you. Everyone turns around to look at you, not so surprised he came for you. The whole college knows Eren follows you around like a dog, whether he just walks next to you looking like a murderer or talks non stop while teasing you.

You look at him, clearly unamused by the situation he puts you in and he nods for you to come.

"take your stuff.. just in case", he says.

You pack your stuff and greet the professor, uttering a small apology before leaving. Eren closes the door behind you and you walk down the corridor, thinking about what stupid plan he found again.

"don’t thank me"

"did not even think about it"

Getting down the stairs, you stop mid-way, making him look back up at you.

"we’re not heading to the headmaster’s office, are we ? where are you leading me Eren ?"

"no, big daddy doesn’t really want to see your ugly face, sorry"

"Eren, fuck, stop being so dumb for gods sake"

"what ! what did i do again ?"

"big daddy ? seriously ?"

"you don’t like it ?"

"i don’t."

"'kay, whatever babe. can we go now ?"

"don't call me-"

"let’s go already, just trust me"

"that’s exactly why i was asking, you idiot”

“ugh.. fuck it, c’mhere"

He walks up the stairs, takes the handle of your backpack and throws it over his shoulder. He sighs.

"the fuck you think you’re doing, 'ren ?"

"learning you how to behave like a good girl"

He winks at you, clearly proud that he got to act stupid again, and tease you more. He bents down waist level, grabbing your legs to throw you over his shoulder too.

You tried to fight at least but you both know who’s stronger here.

As you arrived to the car, Eren sets you back to the floor, opens the passenger’s door and waves in circles like the clowns do i guess for you to get seated in the car.

You just stare at him, unsure however it’s one of the days he’s eager to gain that trust of yours or either it’s those days he ends up with some shitty tricks or plans with you.

He smiles at how undetermined you are to give him your trust and do as he pleases.

"c'mon, babe.. we’re not gonna wait here all day. get inside the car"

You give him your meanest side eye look and get seated in the car while he holds eye contact.

"hhh.. thank you", he nods.

He slams the door back and gets seated in the driver seat. Puts his key in the car before everything lights up and the engine roars.

Eren fastens his seatbelt and looks at you

"seatbelt, miss"

And you do.

After some time, when you’ve reached the highway, your mind just wanders.

He really just made you skip classes to take you out ? Where even ? Couldn’t he just wait for your day to end ? It’s not your business if HE doesn’t want to go to school and have a diploma and.. whatever.

You roll your eyes, Eren has just been inciting you to escape whatever responsible decisions you take.

It makes you think back to where it all began. In this grocery store next to the school, where he just knew so bad he saw you somewhere, and felt the urge to talk to you. Yet, he didn’t know how. And that’s when he took whatever he needed in there and slipped between customers to quickly put his own card on the payment thing.

You were so thankful at first, because he acted so nice and irreproachable. It didn’t last long enough for him to show how irresponsible and childish he could be. Almost stalking you everyday at school, asking you out here and there, while you try to decline but he never fails to make you say yes.

Well, to be very honest, let’s not say you’ve got a crush on this dude because he would like it a bit too much but.. let’s just be honest at the end, and say you actually do. You probably like his annoying ass at least a little. As a secret.

Then again, here you are, going all in for his plan again, who knows what he’ll come up with this time and how awfully awkward it will be.

You turn your head to look at him, seeing he’s so focused on the road in front of him.

He’s just so fine, let’s be honest.

His left hand firmly gripping the wheel while his right one stays on the gearbox. Noticing how he’s still wearing all his jewelry, including the bracelet you’d offered him.

His chest peacefully rising up and down as if life wasn’t stressful at all, making you daydream in the seat next to him.

His hair tied up in a messy bun letting some strands escape and fall on his neck, as well as letting out some streaks of hair fall in front of his face. Do they never get in his eyes ?

His tongue licking wet his pinkish lips from time to time, and his eyes wandering on the road, aware of every details around him.

Those pretty emerald eyes that keep fidgeting between cars and the road, before they snap at you-

You snap your head back to the window, acting like nothing happened.

"i was wondering how long you’d check me out before i’d have to bring you out of your cunt.

it was actually pretty much of a long stare, babe.. i might think you like me more than you show it”

He’s so annoying, you even start to regret staring at him. Sometimes you just wish he’d choke on air.

"shut up, i was just looking around. the silence sounded way too unusual”

He laughed, way too entertained by your annoyance.

“where are we going, it’s been almost an hour you’ve been driving"

“chill, it’s been fifteen minutes, i’m just searching for a good place to stop"

"so you’re gonna abandon me in the middle of nowhere ?"

"Yes, smarty”

Eren keeps messing with you. Checking several times whether you’re looking or not, he puts a hand on your thigh, making you jolt in surprise.

You try to push his hand off but his grip is just so tight and strong, it’s of no use. And whenever you ‘politely’ ask him to take his hand off your thigh, he only gets further and closer.

So at the end you just give up.

After a little moment of fighting with Eren in your head, he drives off to a resting point of the highway.

“what are you doing ? where are we ?”

“have you already fucked on the back seats of a car ?”

I’m sorry ?? that’s when your brain goes panic mode, whatever he prepared to do was never far from any of the hints he’d give you before the revelation of what he planed.

And that one right there, has never ever been one of his hints yet, and besides being a tease and a flirt, spending his time telling you dirty shits just to get you flustered… he never even mentioned actually having sex with you.

While he calmly parks the car, you try to clear things in your mind, trying to hide the obvious heat going all the way to your cheeks.

It's alright, it’s gonna be okay. he’s didn’t really asked that, just my brain playing tricks… your thoughts just mix together, a part of you doesn’t want to give in his game, but then again.. look at him, and look at you melting in your seat at some damn words.

Your stomach tightens more and more as he gets a stop between the parking stripes.

Eren pulls on the handbrake and stays silent for a few seconds as you almost pant next to him, the knock in your stomach feels so tight. Gosh, breathe, it’s fine..

He looks around, some cars are parked farther down the lines, at least not next to his. And then he watches you, and how you stare at your feet, at whatever inexistant detail suddenly appeared to be interesting.

He giggles, as if the situation was hilarious.

"look who became so silent! you’re always opening your fucking mouth, hissing back at me when i say shit and now that i bring sex up.. you’re quiet like never.

‘ssup kitten, cat caught your tongue ? mmh ?"

He tugs your hair behind your ear to have a better view of your face, and you try to pull back. He sits back in his seat, and clears his throat.

“sit your pretty ass in the back.”

“but..”

“that wasn’t a question, doll, i said sit your pretty ass in the back of this car.”

“Eren not here, please!”

“come on, nobody’s gonna see us”

Before he finishes his sentence, you try to pull on the handle but unfortunately his reflexes are good enough for him to manage locking the doors before you leave.

"i was just gonna go in the back of the car"

"ah yes, sure", he nods, before he unlocks the door for you.

You didn’t think he’d believe it so fast but oh well, now that you’re at it, let’s just escape. You'd admit it sounded way too easy, but then maybe he was just playing with you, and knew what you’d do.

You step out of the car and act as if you actually want to go in the back, and your eyes wander around, trying to find a car who's about to leave where you can hop in.

Unfortunately, he sees it and steps out too, calling you out of your thoughts.

"hey, i know what you’re thinking about, don’t test me."

You stare at him, snapping your head back at some people farther back, walking towards their car. Who does he think you are to not try it out, huh ?

"hey, if you run away, i’ll fuck you on the front hood in front of everyone who parks next to us. am i clear ?"

Sounds dissuasive enough but why not try though, it might work to run away. At least you think it could be a good idea. It seems like it, right ?

So you run, as fast as possible, to the strangers car, while Eren sighs yet again, not even bothering to run at this point. He knows you won't get a single chance with strangers on this road.

And here you are stumbling over your words at how to explain or tell them why you need help. By the time you finally get to the point he already reaches you, putting his best actor mask on, proving you how good of a liar he can also be.

"hello man, i’m sorry! she’s kinda lost, you know!

he looks at you,

love, it's okay, c'mhere, it’s alright we’re going home, there’s no big deal, you know how much i love you sweetheart! i'll get you what you want, ok ?

Eren takes a firm hold of your hand,

sorry for the inconvenience! have a nice road man!"

And it was actually ridiculously easy to convince these people that nothing was wrong, they didn't even seem to care. You almost felt ashamed you even thought it was possible, to be honest.

They smiled, occurring an old 'thanks, you too man' and left as if you never begged for help in the first place. And when they got off and left, you both walked back to your car.

"you thought i was joking when i said i’ll fuck you in front of everyone, mmh ?

you think i’m scared like you are.."

And just as he said, he pulled you by your wrist to the front of the car, smirking at your attempt to pull back and your voice echoing just to beg him to not do that. Not here, like that, please.

He pushed you on the front hood, making a sort of metal sound when your elbows reach the vehicle.

He makes you spread your legs with his knees and grabs your pantie under the poor skirt you were so happy to wear today. He takes it off, throwing it in front of you.

"if you continue breathing so heavy and fast, you might also fuck yourself on my cock, once i’m in, kitten"

Shut up. Hearing metallic sounds from what seems like his belt, you close your eyes tight, trying to imagine anything, anywhere else you could be where no one would see you both right now.

He loses no time before his fingers already slide down your clit, making the heat come up to your cheeks and ears when you realise how wet you were already.

"look who’s dripping, i didn’t even touch you yet. is that what being 'desperate' means, mmh ?"

"fuck you"

He laughed, "no babe, fuck you"

He rubs circles over your clit, his boner pressed against your ass. You let out an airy moan at how sweet his fingers feel around your bundle of nerve.

He plays with you, while you debate in your head whether he plays better with your clit than you’ve done alone in your room, wishing it was him all this time.

He draws circles, slides up and down, fast and then slow, changing from one to how many fingers he feels putting over your clit. He was just enjoying that touch as much as you did personally.

His hands, that you spent hours watching, are between your thighs playing like you wish was his tongue. Eren rubs himself on your ass, trying to get some friction from the mere contact of your body, he's so hard, his cock twitches in his boxer already. Just thinking about being inside you makes him want to cum so bad.

He's as desperate as you, let’s be honest. He wants himself inside you as much as you're dying to feel his cock deep inside you.

Within a second after his fingers left your clit, he slips in. As hard and as fast as it could be.

His dick brushes every little part of your cunt, his hands grabbing your waist so hard it starts to burn. The tip of his cock stretches the way in enough for him to fit all in at once.

And surprisingly, it feels so good your eyes roll back and you're already moaning. Even with all the strength you could think of having, it's just so hard to hold back the lewd screams.

Your wetness helps his way in and he slides in and out with so less effort, he smacks his hips on yours, holding your waist tighter than ever to feel all of you.

Eren can’t even think straight, he’s pounding as fast as he can, as hard as he can, the car moves back and forth with his movements, and here you are, moaning and whining under his body for what seems like the best fuck you’ve ever had.

He doesn’t give any of a slight fuck about anything around him, he’s just so focused on the way he slides in and out of your pussy so easily. Sighing in pleasure, he keeps that stupid smirk on his face the whole time, he’s trying so hard to not be loud, muffled and breathy moans come out from his mouth, and the lewd sounds his cock makes, adds to this growing smirk.

Every thrust feels like you’re about to cum, you didn’t even realise you were squeezing him before he giggles in your ear. Your legs trembling from the pleasure and force he puts in his hips, you whine.

"'ren.. mh.. fuck, don’t- stop.."

"don’t worry, i won’t baby, i won’t until you squeeze the shit out of my cock"

Breath hitching and moan escaping in rhythm with every thrust, you’re trying to hold those stupid moans in but they just get out with your breath at how much his cock fills you up so well.

He pounds repeatedly against your hips, fucking your hole like he's been waiting for it for years, he’s so fucking hypnotised by the feeling of your gummy walls squeezing his dick.

He fucks you fast, it almost hurts how deep he is inside you. It doesn’t last long before you’re moaning to let him know you’re at the end of it.

"i-i’m.. gon- mh.. cum 'ren"

He lets out a chuckle, letting you know how desperate and cock drunk you sound. It’s not even been a few minutes and you’re already close to cum. Emptiness hits, and the pounding stops.

Eren suddenly stops, his cock into your cunt not playing with your guts, before your walls would start spasming around him. You were just at the edge of your orgasm but he pulls out as fast as he got in.

"get in the car", he says, walking to the back of the car, hand waving for you to do the same.

It takes you a few seconds to get back on your feet and follow him. So easily, just like this, brain fucked..

Getting in the back, the head rest all the way down, his head thrown back, hair undone falling over his shoulder, he’s there waiting for you. Waiting for you to come and sit on him like a good girl.

At this point you don’t even care if he’s gonna make fun of how desperate you were for his dick, your core feels just so empty.

You get on top of him, hugging him as tight as you can and sit.

"hey hey hey, who said you could sit", he slaps.

The slap makes you flinch, you sit up, holding your ass up while he gets ready. He throws his shirt over his head, and slides down a little on the seat, grabbing your waist.

You'd be lying if you said something else was on your mind at this moment, other than him.

He has you hypnotised and completely drunk on him, his eyes feel heavy as hell on you, and your hands already go for his chest while you're still free for touch.

He grabs your wrists, bringing them to hold his dick. He sighs at the feeling of your soft hands around him, and smiles as he throws his head back again. His gaze glued to yours, keeping an eye on your pretty face. Sliding your hands up and down his wet cock, while you wish it was you going up and down on him again, Eren breathes heavily, holding that unbearable eye contact.

The urge to kiss him is also unbearable, his red lips forming that stupid looking smirk make it so hard to resist from devouring his mouth, but you're too proud to show him how weak you become when it comes to him.

Feeling every vein around his cock tracing your hands under your movements, he curses. Grabbing tightly your thighs as they become red from the violence he was doing to them. Sliding down his length where it stops at his balls and going back up, rubbing circles around the tip already red and ready to paint you. You lean in, placing kisses under his collarbone, although you know it's weak of you but it's so hard to not give in and not taste his skin. He looks so fucking hot like this.

Your eyes following down, watching how his cock never disappears even if you use both hands, debating whether your hands are too small or whether he’s really that big. How did it even fit inside you to begin with ?

He scoffs, watching every little facial expression you make while watching how you’re getting him off.

"’kay enough, now sit", he breathes.

So eager to finally sit on him, you quickly get closer to him and line up over his cock. Grabbing a nice handful of his hair, and when you’re ready you put your arms around his neck and clench your fists when his cock slides right back in. Fuck, it feels just so good..

"good girl"

His voice echoes in your ear it sends shivers down your spine. If only you could just sit on his face for once, maybe he’d stop talking shit with that pretty fucking voice of his while he’s at it.

"fuuck.. Eren!"

After a few minutes of feeling empty, he just feels so big, bigger than when you were bent over the car back there. It makes your eyes squeeze shut from the stretch again, while you're whining in his ear. You just don’t want this to stop, starting to move your hips back and forth before he stops you.

"hey, shh shh, slow down little one. i’m the one deciding whether you can move or not.

He smirks, searching for your eyes.

you would run away from me minutes ago and now look who’s so impatient to be dumb fucked, huh ?"

You feel so ridiculous, it’s so stupid how you were repeating to yourself how much you hated him and now you’re begging him to fuck you deep. A brainless fucking whore.

Before doing anything he yanks you down entirely on his length, canceling any of the small centimeters you didn’t even think about getting inside anymore. You swear it’s about to tickle your stomach if this doesn’t end, and just when you start to adjust, Eren grabs your waist harshly and starts guiding you up and down on his cock, playing with you as he pleases. Once he makes it slow and precise, once he makes it fast and stupidly deep, making the impact echo inside the vehicle.

You moan, it feels so fucking wrong but so fucking good at the same time, your eyes cross and it makes him giggle as usual. His eyes still glued to your face, never missing any of your reactions. It feels so good, and he sees it, he feels it by the way you squeeze his arm, how you’re leaving marks on his skin and who even cares, at least he can finally tease you about how much of a whore you can be when you’re around him, on him.

Your head falls on his shoulder and you can’t help but melt in his arms, letting your collarbone bend, refusing to hold the posture, it’s just too much for your brain to process the feeling there. It’s absolutely not what you were picturing as 'what fucking with Eren' was, you were actually far from there.

It’s fucking deep and hard, and again just when you feel you’re about to lose it, he stops. Earning a whine from you, and your hips trying to move under his strong grip.

"no, no, no, Eren! please!"

“shh, it’s alright, catch your breath kitten, you’re panting."

He says giving you that fake asshole worried look, searching for your eyes again. He slides his hand up in your hair, pulling your head back to have a better view of your mid-conscious face.

He laughs, you look so pathetic. He leans in for a small taste of your neck where he kisses and bites your skin. Please not the hickeys. He slowly and slightly brushes your back with his other hand, before he ends up squeezing you close to him.

He bites and kisses up your jaw, your cheek and looks at you again before he pulls in for a kiss on those pretty reddish fucking lips of yours.

Eren uses the firm grab he has on your hair to kiss you and slides his tongue in your mouth, kissing you nice and harsh. You’re just like a puppet, letting him do as he pleases with your mouth. He smiles, enjoying that kiss a little too fucking much.

You unconsciously move your hips once, signalling him he’s still inside and you want him. Fuck it, fuck me, that’s what i want.

He stops your moves, unbuttoning that pretty shirt you wear, sliding the tissue of your bra down your tits enough for him to free them. As soon as they pop out, he’s on it. Pinching and rubbing circles around your nipple while the other is harassed by his mouth. He bites, licks and kisses the edge of your nipples, making you jolt when it gets too good.

He has you tight between his arms, leaving you no escape from his sweet torture, finally moving your hips over him. His lips bullying your tits like he has been craving for it over ages again.

The grip he has on your waist, leads him to search that perfect spot inside you, forcing his cock deep inside your cunt. Your hips move back and forth over his shaft and while he sucks on your tits, here it is.

"ah! fuck!"

Eren shots his head up to look right into your eyes.

"yeah ? right there ?"

"yeah..", you sigh.

"right there huh ?"

You frantically nod in response, indeed it’s exactly the spot and he’s in for bullying it. Up and down, back and forth. He uses every motion and possibility he has to reach that g-spot over and over until you cum.

You moan louder than ever, it feels like your mind is going blank at how his rubbing on that spot so well.

"a-ah..ngh! Er-!"

"yeah ? right there ? gonna cum f’me, yeah ?

be a good girl and cum on my cock.

c’mon big girl."

You fall forward, losing your strength of holding your back straight again, it’s almost hilarious how you seem so blank and manipulated by him. Yeah, you hate him, but how long can you last before you lose your mind and feel addicted to the feeling of his cunt harassment ? How long can you last, bouncing on his dick so desperate, before you admit you spend hours fucking your pillows at night while moaning his name ?

His perfume gets right up to your brain as he gets faster and faster, punching that fucking spot inside you with the pinkish tip you were rubbing just minutes ago.

He fucks you deep, bullying your walls with his veins and mushroom tip, he wants to cum inside you so bad, so so bad.

The orgasm grows inside you more and more, and Eren knows. He repeats sweet dirty things in your ears while you feel like you’re gonna cum any time soon.

"yeah, see how we fuck pretty fucking whores like you, mmh ?

i’m gonna fill you up so well, you better not waste a single drop of my precious cum, 'derstand ?

fuck.. this feels good, mmh ? show me how it feels, let me hear it."

He’s just so fucking loud for fucks sake.

"shut- up, oh my- god.. don’t s-top.."

"beg.", he stops

"fuck.. pl-ease Eren, don’t s-top.. i beg you.. pl-uhh"

"good girl."

Why does he even love that pet name so much ? He can’t stop now anyway. He’s too pussy drunk too to actually think about stopping his movements. He fucks his dick in and out of you at an inhuman pace at this point. He just wants to cum too at the end.

Before he even has the time to fuck you a little bit more into your orgasm, you moan loud enough to make everyone around the car know you both are fucking, as he lets out a moan too. Your walls spasm around him as you cum and you can’t stop moaning while he’s still pounding into you to reach his own high.

He moans, airy or low toned, he does as it comes out, he feels even better, not that you weren’t already tight enough for him to risk cumming from the first pull but the way your walls spasm around him tickles the veins and tip of his cock so well.

Eren is so close to cum, everything feels so right from the way you sit and bounce on his cock like a good little whore, to the way you moan his name as loud as you used to yell how much of a piece of shit he is.

"Eren.. please"

"just a little more, kitten.. i promise"

As fast as he is fucking you, one thirst left and he’s spilling his cum inside you, making it drip down your thighs. A bunch of loads, feeling up the entirety of your core and he just can’t stop fucking his dick back inside you.

"we’re not gonna waste any drop, yeah ?

wouldn’t like if you end up making the back seats dirty ‘cause of your nasty behavior, mmh ?"

Quick enough he slows down his thirsts and gets his breath back. Hands all over you, helping your head up, catching your gaze through the mist of your teary eyes. He tugs your hair back behind your ear. He giggles, seeing how fucked out you look. You really do look wasted, and yet not even a drop of alcohol or drug was spilled in your blood.

He presses a kiss on your lips.

"let’s get back on road, babe, I have to drop you off before they start wondering where you’re at."

He lifts you up from his cock after a minute of recovering, letting you drop off on the seat next to him. It takes you a few second before you finally get up and come back to your senses.

He hands you your pantie, tugged in the back pocket of his jeans, and you quickly put it back on.

Everything is so weird to talk casually when you get back on road. He stays silent for once and his eyes swings between you and the road more often. Eren is mostly just so happy he proved you wrong about you hating him, you’re down bad and now you can’t even try to lie to him anymore. It’d be pointless.

He knows how he makes you feel on a daily basis, he knows so well all your eye rolls are to hide the fact that he makes you feel giggly. He knows how all the mean words you say to him sound like a ‘fuck me, i’m begging you’. He knows you too well now.

Now all you’re wondering is how you're gonna make it through the night, sleeping or replaying that fuck scene over and over in your head until you find something to hate him about again.

Without a word, only a small good night, you leave his car and head to your house, waving him goodbye.

"i might be an asshole sometimes and she might be stubborn as fuck but.. damn she moaned my name louder than i expected her to", he scoffs.

He's such an asshole.

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well.. that’s a bit more like it.

yeah, i know that’s a lot of f word uses oopsies

im so unsure abt this one, mc was supposed to be kidnapped at first and still able to go to school thats why she wanted to escape but.. whatever i guess we still like his pretty fucker ass.

anyway, hope you like it [:

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©unknown-to. please do not copy/translate/use as your own.

[navybrat817]

Make Yourself at Home

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader Summary: You find a familiar face in your home after a long day. Word Count: Over 2.1k Warnings: Pining, fluff, feels, swearing, sass, a bit of humor, mentions of blood and trauma, Bucky Barnes (he’s a warning, okay?) A/N: Hey, lovelies! I began this in June of 2021. That's right! I'm slowly, but surely, trying to make my way through WIPs and this felt good to complete. Shockingly no smut for Sinday. Beta read by the beautiful @buckyownsmylife, but any and all mistakes are my own. Moodboard by the wonderful @sweeterthanthis. Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Please reblog or comment as it means the world!

To say that you had a rough work day was an understatement. Between spilling your drink all over yourself on your way to your desk, being unprepared for a last minute meeting (which your boss called you out on), and your system crashing right before your report was finished, you were done. All you wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a stiff drink. Anything to forget that you had to stay at that place to get a paycheck. 

I can't even fuck out my frustrations since I'm painfully single. I really need to buy a new toy.

The moment you walked in your front door, you knew it wouldn't be a relaxing evening. The glow from the living room gave it away. Sighing, you tossed your bag and keys down before heading into the room. You weren’t shocked when you saw Bucky Barnes slumped against your couch, but you weren't exactly happy either.

The dark tactical gear clashed with the soft throw pillows surrounding the soldier. He often looked larger than his 6'3" height since he took up space, but he somehow looked like he belonged there. He cut his long locks some time ago, his short, dark hair urging you to run your fingers through it. Maybe you could pull it if he gave you the chance.  

I would have a crush on a man who may have a death wish.

“Hey, doll,” he smirked when he acknowledged your presence. “We really need to stop meeting like this.”

“Well, maybe we would if you would STOP BREAKING INTO MY FUCKING HOUSE!”

He seemed to wince more at your tone than the wound on his right arm. “What can I say? You and your place are comforting.”

You tried to ignore the way your heart raced faster at his sincerity. “You’re bleeding on my couch!”

“Sorry. I’ll get it cleaned or replaced. I promise,” he swore as he sat up more, smiling a bit when you rushed over to help.

“That’s what you said about my rug,” you muttered as you sat down. How does someone bleeding smell so good? He already had your first aid kit, water and towels on the coffee table. He knew by heart where you kept everything. "What happened this time? Who did this to you?"

Bucky’s smile widened as he shifted to give you more room. “Why? Will you take him out for me?”

“I just might,” you said. Truthfully, your heart stopped whenever you saw him in a state like this, even though he bounced back quickly. And you wanted to hurt anyone who hurt him. 

I’ve got it bad. Why am I like this?

"I’m flattered, but I handled him and you don’t need to worry about it. Fucker had a knife up his sleeve though. Not as nice as mine," he told you as you opened the kit, taking a moment to figure out what you needed to clean the wound with.

"Better not let Steve catch you swearing. He might chastise you."

"Don't let that punk fool you. He swears like a sailor and he's still kicking himself for saying 'language' to his team. Wish I could've been there to hear that."

The fondness made you smile a little. You were glad Bucky had a good friend by his side. You were also flattered that Bucky trusted you enough to tell you stories. "Super soldier reflexes certainly don't stop you from getting hurt, do they?"

"Nope. Still human."

"You know, sometimes I think you fake these just so you have an excuse to visit me."

"You caught me," he half joked, something soft in his eyes as he looked at you. 

"Bucky, how many times have you broken in?"

"More than enough," he acknowledged.

The first time Bucky broke into your place, to hide out from someone whose name you can’t even remember, you almost took a swing at him because you thought he was a burglar. You, luckily, recognized the former Winter Soldier and he promised he wouldn’t hide out long. But after the day you had today, you were reconsidering grabbing the nearest object and throwing it at his head. If only for making you worry. 

I doubt it would knock any sense into him. And I shouldn't be mad at him. He didn't do anything. Except break in. Again. 

Every few weeks, Bucky let himself into your place when he got injured or needed a quiet place to relax. Some nights he talked to you and others he hardly said a word. He even left you "thank you" gifts following his visits. Admittedly, you looked forward to them, even on your bad days, because you simply got to see him. You just wish you knew why he kept coming back. 

"Seriously. Why don't you see a doctor or a nurse?" you questioned, carefully dabbing at the cut. "They're much more qualified than I am."

"I told you, doll. You and your place are more comforting."

"Stop calling me doll!"

"Sure thing, sassy," he smirked, making you groan when your cheeks felt hot. 

"Grumpy," you grumbled back at him. 

If I use one of his own knives on him, can I consider it self defense? 

"I'm not grumpy. I'm an old man," he argued.

"You don't look like an old man. My new boyfriend might be jealous."

Your eyes flickered up just in time to catch the tiny tick in his jaw. "You're seeing someone?"

"No," you scoffed, not bothering to continue with the joke. "Still single, like every other time you've shown up."

Bucky slowly exhaled, relaxing against the cushions again. "That's good," he whispered.

Your teeth ground together as you cleaned him up. Maybe it was good to him, but it wasn't to you. It was lonely.

"You okay?" he asked. 

"Fine," you lied, avoiding his gaze.

He gently caught your wrist before you pulled away, the metal cool against your skin. "I really am sorry about the couch. I know the last thing you want is to deal with me."

Guilt crept in when you saw hurt in his icy blue eyes. “It isn’t ‘dealing’ with you, Bucky, and I’m sorry for snapping. Work was shit, but that's no excuse to take it out on you."

“I'm sorry you had a bad day," he swore and you wished the ground would swallow you up. The man was hurt and he felt bad for you. "And I don’t blame you. I did kind of invade your space again.”

“It's okay," you said, glancing at your wrist. He was still holding it, his grip softer than you expected. "Why do you come here? Is it really comforting?”

He sighed as he rested his head against the cushion. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere since it’s my place,” you teased, making him chuckle. You did pride yourself on making the often stoic man laugh. “So, try me.”

"You're not afraid of me," he stated, his thumb moving in slow circles over your pulse. You weren't sure if he was aware that he was doing it, but it had your heart racing faster. "Most people are."

"I have no reason to be afraid of you. As many times as you've managed to break in, you would've hurt me long ago if you wanted to," you said, shaking your head. "And I don't think you'll do that."

"I've hurt and killed people," he swallowed as he looked at the ceiling.

You weren't sure if he wanted you to listen or respond, but you chose the latter. "I know," you acknowledged, shifting so you could face him as he lifted his head. "But from what I've heard and what you've told me, it wasn't you, Bucky. You didn't have a choice."

"It doesn't make what happened go away," he said, blinking rapidly at the wetness that filled his eyes.

Seeing him on the verge of tears made you blink a few times, too. You wanted to hug him, but refused to initiate that kind of touch without his permission. "No, it doesn't, but you aren't who they tried to force you to be."

"Then who am I?" his voice cracked as his grip tightened on your wrist.

It doesn't hurt. You won't hurt me.

"You're Bucky," you stated, like it was the simplest thing in the world. "You're a hero and good man. You're also a pain in my ass who keeps ruining my furniture."

Bucky chuckled, his nose scrunching like you told a hilarious joke. The sound soothed the cracks his tears formed in your heart. The pain hadn't left his eyes, but it began to fade. "That easy to answer, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that. I think it's just easier for us to see the best in others because we tend to see the worst in ourselves."

"Is that what you do? See the worst in yourself?"

"I try not to," you admitted, but you were human. It was easy to hyperfocus on your flaws. 

"I don't want you doing that," he said, frowning as his hand moved from your wrist to your fingers. 

The delicate touch had your thighs pressing together. You hoped his super soldier senses didn't detect arousal. Though you pretty much were turned on at some point during each visit, this was a heart-to-heart moment and no time to want him.

"You don't have to worry about me."

"But I do. I worry about you when I'm not around," he said, sitting up a bit as you moved closer. "It's one of the reasons I don't use your front door. I don't want your neighbors to recognize me and be afraid."

"Yes, because breaking and entering is safer. Great logic, grumpy."

Bucky laughed, his eyes warm again. "Can I admit something and you can throw me out, sassy?"

"I won't throw you out, but I'm listening."

He cleared his throat, toying with your fingers. "I don't have nightmares after I see you."

His words hit you in your chest. You didn't know what to say. "You don't?"

"No," a heartbeat passed before he spoke again. "Most nights I wake up in a cold sweat, remembering the screams and fear. I remember everything."

"Bucky, I'm so sorry," you spoke, wishing you could take that pain away.

"The days I see you before I go home, I think of your smile, your scent, even your sass. A woman who showed me kindness time and time again, even on tiring and long days," he smiled sadly as you hung on his every word. "I eventually fall asleep and wake up peacefully. Nothing else I do works."

It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to you. "I had no idea."

"It's why I'm glad you don't have a boyfriend because I know he wouldn't tolerate me being around. Among other reasons."

You almost threw yourself at him, but had to maintain your dignity as you carefully leaned in. You weren't sure if the temperature rose in the room, but the sudden tension had you breathing faster. "What other reasons?"

"I think you know," he whispered, his gaze dropping to your lips. 

Oh, shit. 

"For the record, no boyfriend of mine will tell me who I can and can't be friends with."

"I don't doubt that," he said, placing a hand on your cheek. 

"He needs to clean up his messes," you teased. "Like bleeding on my couch."

"That's a given," he smiled, his massive thighs opening so you could move in closer.

"I would also like it if he took me out on a date once in awhile," you added. 

"I can take you out," he offered as you pressed closer, your heart pounding faster. You were practically in his lap and he wasn't stopping you. "Wherever you want to go."

"Yeah? You want to be my boyfriend?" you asked, smiling at how silly the question sounded. "You've already bought me gifts."

"If you'll let me," he answered, his lips a fraction away from yours. "I'll even use the front door."

"I'd like that," you sighed, closing your eyes as his nose touched yours.

Finally. He's finally going to kiss me.

"Buck!" Steve said from the window, climbing inside as the two of you broke apart. Bucky caught you before you fell backwards. The former captain's boots didn't make a sound as they touched the floor, brushing his gloved hands on his thighs. "Why didn't you answer your- Oh. I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?"

Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me?!

Bucky ran his hand over his face with a sigh and handed you one of the pillows. "Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?" 

 "Duck."

*****

Love and thanks for reading! ❤️

[darlingofdots]

Formal vs Informal Address in German Temeraire Translations: a report

So I have picked up my German copies of the Temeraire books for the first time in over a decade for reasons unrelated to this post but I immediately got distracted by the matter of formal address in German and how translators have to make a very specific and important choice when translating from English. German (like French and many other languages) has two forms of direct address in the 2nd person, an informal one for friends, family, children etc., and a formal address for strangers, teachers, colleagues, professional contacts. It is famously a Whole Thing when you switch from formal to informal with somebody: usually the person with a 'higher' position in the relationship has to explicitly offer it and it can be a big deal! A common instance might be when you've worked at a new job for a while and your colleagues tell you to use informal to indicate they consider you Part Of The Team, or your girlfriend's parents do it when you've been dating a while and they signal that you're part of the family now. In translation, this can be a really tricky choice! For instance, I have not watched Elementary in German but I would say Sherlock and Joan would absolutely start out addressing each other formally (Sherlock calls her "Watson" most of the time), but by the end of the show there is no way they would not have switched. Obviously English-language media does not have an explicit conversation about this and the closest analogue would be switching to first names when they've only ever used last names before, but you can't rely on that and translators end up having to make choices about characterisation and relationships based on like, vibes. With all that said!

In the Temeraire series, there's a lot of formal address around, such as among officers; I knew Laurence would be addressing his cadets formally because even though they are like, 9 years old, they are his officers and deserve to be treated with that respect. I only have books 1-5 in German but I'd be willing to bet that this doesn't change even Emily's been with him for nigh on ten years, and the same goes for Temeraire. Also Laurence uses formal address with both his parents, in case you were wondering.

What I was not sure about was a) how other people address dragons and how dragons address each other and b) the finer interpersonal relationships among aviators. Jane addresses Iskierka formally but Temeraire informally; the dragons of the formation are formal with each other but Temeraire, Lily, and Maximus are not, and Temeraire quite happily scolds Iskierka like a misbehaving child. I would LOVE to find a bit of, say, Laurence talking to Lily or Berkley to Temeraire!

Among the aviators, Laurence and Jane are informal with each other once they've slept together, but I just saw that Laurence is also informal with Harcourt but not with Chenery, which is interesting but I suppose makes sense if you go by the dragons' relationships too. What really fascinates me is that at the end of Victory of Eagles, Laurence and Granby are still formal, which makes sense because until five minutes ago Laurence was his superior officer, but if I were the translator for this series I'd have them switch to informal with the beginning of book six but unfortunately I do not have that on hand so I can't check.

Now for the main event: Tharkay uses formal address with Laurence when he leaves to fetch more ferals at the beginning of book 4, and I thought he switched for the infamous "Laurence, what are you doing" which would have been exactly the right moment if you'd asked me, but in fact there is one random informal when they're out rescuing Granby in London (loose quotation: "that is [Woolvey's] problem and for those who would weep for him, even if they are close to your [informal] heart")? And then he goes right back to formal all the way to "Laurence, what are you [informal] doing" and finally switches properly, at which point Laurence follows his example. At first I thought that was weird and I am not sure if it was done on purpose, but on second thought I kind of like that he tries it out first when speaking of something personal (Laurence's concern for Edith) but isn't sure of it yet and retreats back to familiar territory until he realises that he needs to shock Laurence out of his war crime depression.

It's interesting to me that Tharkay was the one to take that step. Traditionally, like I said, it would be on the person in a position of authority to offer or, like with Granby, Laurence could have just switched once Granby was confirmed in rank to indicate that he wants to be friends now that he doesn't give orders anymore. Of course it makes perfect sense that Tharkay would not care one bit about rank, and he's not really an officer anyway and he certainly does not consider Laurence to have authority over him. I love that the translator (Marianne Schmidt) recognised that moment on campaign for what I think it is: not so much a turning point in their relationship but one that cements a degree of intimacy that Laurence doesn't have with anyone else. They would not have had access to book 6, I think, when they were working on book 5, so it very much is a deliberate choice based on their interactions up to this point. I made a list recently about people that Will Laurence calls by their first name (former first lieutenants, Catherine Harcourt, 1 FWB, and Tharkay) and now I feel like I need to make another list of people German!Will Laurence uses informal address with!

[infamous-if]

On theme with the thirst tweet asks how would the ROs react when reading thirst tweets about the mc instead of themselves👀👀👀👀👀👀

I love these sort of "pop culture" scenario asks. I think they're my fav lmao

HMMM I feel like we always need to specify if they're dating or not because the reactions can vary so much omg I'll do if they're dating since people are more interested that!!

Orion: I did say Orion is mildly possessive so I think he'd just be pissed at the thought of anyone but him thinking of MC in that way. "...This is inappropriate. Do they have any personal info on their account?"

Director: "err...why?"

Orion: "I'm going to report them." (he says this completely seriously)

And then he'd save some so he can ask MC later: "Is this what you like? I'll keep that in mind."

Victoria: Victoria is very open and not afraid of speaking about things like this, but when it's someone she likes she can be surprisingly shy. It really depends. I can find her staring at the tweets like "this is what people are saying about MC?" I think she'd want to one-up them and send MC texts of her own. She'd be just a *bit* insecure knowing people see MC the way she sees them, but she'd understand it too. "MC is attractive, I'm not surprised" kind of deal.

G: Would laugh, would agree, and then say some thirsty things of their own. I think they'd just find it all funny and just be like "wait let me take out my phone i want to like this tweet lol"

Sebastian: (nervous/awkward laughter, blushing profusely) "People say this about MC? Don't they know we're together?"

Director: "they don't care about that."

Sebastian would just be scandalized over it, and then be very aware of the content of the tweets and won't be able to stop thinking about MC in that context. Seb isn't a stranger to talking like that though he's pretty much a pro when he's in the mood so he'd test it out and see how MC reacts lmao

August: Probably laugh a little. And then just ask MC directly how MC feels about it. I think they'd actually be smug knowing people think of MC like that and August is the one who MC likes. Though August would wonder what exactly MC likes in terms of...that. IDK August being thirsty is such a funny visual im sorry like they're just so indifferent it would make laugh

Seven: "How did you find my alt account lol"

Seven gets quite embarrassed sometimes, so they'd try to play it off with jokes. But Seven, much like Orion, would ask MC if that's what they like to hear. They would be a bit jealous, but more in a humorous way. I promise, Seven has probably thought much thirstier things about MC than anyone on the internet can think of lmao I can see Seven teasing MC about it but the teasing would just be subtle ways to find how MC feels about all of it.

I just realized this cast is just filled with a bunch of people pleasers (MC pleasers?)...rockstars, amirite

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

By Camila Tominey,

“Just as I have always admired the seamless way the Duchess of Sussex’s truth has sometimes clashed with fact, so too do I have a grudging respect for Omid Scobie.

"Lest we forget, this is a man who spent a decade raking over celebrities’ private lives for US Weekly, only to brazenly tweet in 2021: “Privacy means freedom from *unauthorised* intrusion. It is the right to choose what you share with others and what you don’t. That’s it!

"At the time, such outbursts left journalists like me in disbelief. Wasn’t this the guy whose entire career was built on analysing snatched paparazzi images of the rich and famous? Imagine our incredulity when Scobie launched into repeated attacks on the very royal press pack he followed around like a puppy. I saw with my own eyes how he tried to muscle in on the rota system in a bid to gain access to the very members of the Royal family he now seeks to trash in his second book, Endgame, which hit bookshelves on Tuesday.

"You have to admire the brass neck of the bloke, you really do. I remember one incident on a royal tour when he was literally begging me to tell him the sources of my various royal scoops. And to think he’s now so reluctant to discuss his own! Who on Earth could they be, I wonder?

"Perhaps the most amusing thing about Endgame is how much this fearless journalist gets wrong in his tireless pursuit of Meghan’s truth. “Palace aides were racking their brains to remember the ‘five’ private secretaries who have come and gone from the Duchess of Cambridge’s office (there have been three). And contrary to the claim ‘you’d be unlikely to read about it in any British newspaper’, The Telegraph reported on exactly that staffing issue last week.

"Hey, but why let facts get in the way of a good story? In one passage, I am described as The Telegraph’s Royal Editor – which I’m not and never have been. Referring to a piece I had written about the now infamous dog bowl incident, in which I suggested that it showed how much love William has for his little brother that he felt the need to physically wrestle him to the ground, Scobie comments that I sound like the “excuses of domestic abusers everywhere.”

"Domestic abuse? Is that what we are calling sibling rivalry these days? We are now being asked to believe that it was a “translation error” that the names of two “alleged” royal racists had been left in the now-pulled Dutch copies of Endgame – even though they were completely absent from the English version. And we’re supposed to accept this narrative even after Scobie had bragged on US television that he knew the names of both alleged racists?

"You know, I really thought I’d seen it all when Meghan told Oprah, with a straight face, that the Archbishop of Canterbury had married them three days before their official wedding ceremony; that she’d had her passport confiscated only to jet off on multiple holidays; that Kate had made her cry and not the other way round.

"I thought I’d heard it all when “sources” close to these two multi-millionaires (who were still receiving a £700,000 allowance from the King after Megxit) revealed the couple were so “desperate” they had no choice but to sign deals with Netflix et al – even though we know they were speaking to streaming companies as early as 2018, a whole two years before they stepped down as “working” members of the Royal family.

"I thought I’d heard it all when Scobie, of all people, claimed to be both a champion of privacy and an accountable press, only to publish not one, but two completely unauthorised intrusions into the lives of the Royal family so lacking in balance as to be laughable. We must believe all victims of bullying, insists Scobie (who was comforted by Meghan when he copped the kind of flak we all get, day in and day out on social media), except when they’re accusing the Sussexes of it. You really couldn’t make it up."

Thanks!

[unnerving-presence]

hey how do you think stars wesker would react to an s/o who's SUPER affectionate and kinda clingy?

-🐺 nope this is not me no siree what are you talking about

i love stars wesker hes so skrunkly poo

not proofread

Honestly? Wesker doesn’t mind too much. He’s pretty tolerant of your clinginess and doesn’t have much of a problem with it as long as the other S.T.A.R.S. members don’t find out he’s getting soft. If Chris ever found out it might as well be the end of his career..

Though he was averse to it at first, Wesker thinks it’s quite sweet if you go into his office just so you can sit on his lap and take a short nap. It’s especially cute when you snuggle up to him in your sleep. Smiles a little every time you do it. Always makes sure you lock his office door before sleeping. He refuses to let anybody see him in such a position.

Finds your touch to be a stress reliever of sorts and finds it adorable that you want to give him so much love. He’s not exactly sure why they are, but your face kisses are his favorites. There’s just something about seeing that warm smile on your face after you kiss him that makes him happy. It makes it just a little bit easier to get through the day knowing there’s someone who cares about him so much. It truly warms his heart.

You are unfortunately a big distraction for him when it comes to his work. He really does love you, but he needs to get these reports done and you kissing all over his face isn’t helping him focus.. Sometimes even your mere presence is a distraction to him. How dare you be so cute..

While giving affection back isn’t the first thing on his mind when you want to give him love, he will occasionally step out of his comfort zone to let you know he appreciates all you do. Small pats on your back whenever you’re sitting on his lap, a hand on your waist whenever you’re at his side, and even a gentle caress of your face to let you know he cares. As time goes on, he does these a bit more and tends to be a bit bolder about it around other people. If he can get away with it, he’ll do it.

He can’t help smiling when you give so much affection to the point that you start squealing because of how much you care for him. He has to admit, it is quite adorable when you hold him a bit tighter with that cute little smile of yours. It makes his day.

He’s so used to you being around him that he’ll start.. missing you if you need to leave to go do something. He hates that he’s feeling such things when he has important work to do, but you’ve gotten to him more than he’d like to admit. You make his feelings confusing sometimes.

Even if he unfortunately won’t let you be so affectionate around others, it doesn’t mean he won’t let you cling to his side when you don’t need to do some other task for the day. It often gets the others wondering why you’re with him all the time. It gets to the point where they question why you’re even in his office for more than 10 minutes at a time and Wesker soon has to start making excuses as to not cause gossip between the others. It probably ends up happening anyways though. Damn you, Chris!

[loveroftoomanyfandoms]

Mise en Place, Chapter 3

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: M

Story Summary: Things are looking up for Chef Matthew Murdock -- Not only was he the subject of a front-page article in the New York Bulletin, but (after a few misunderstandings) he managed to get a date with you, the beautiful journalist who wrote the feature.

Now that Matt is no longer the subject of one of your features, your budding relationship with him is starting to simmer -- until someone from Matt's past threatens to turn off the heat.

With another obstacle in your way will your and Matt's relationship cool, or can the two of you work together to put "everything in it's place"?

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness, no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, developing relationship, things gone get SPICY later 🔥 (aka smut in future chapters), things gone get angsty for a minute first though 😈

Word Count: ~1850

A/N: I finally figured out how I want the story to flow, so please note the change in summary!

Divider by @theradioactivespidergwen

Tag List: @danzer8705 @shouldbestudying41 @capylore @mattmurdockstateofmind @yarrystyleeza

“Hey, sorry I'm late,” Matt said as he entered his and Foggy's office the next morning. “I stopped by the florist on my way here and it took a bit longer than I expected. Who knew flowers all had different meanings?”

“It’s fine,” Foggy replied. “So…you look happy. I take it your date was a success?”

Matt huffed out a laugh. “It was. Thanks again for your help.”

“No problem, dude. Anytime. I mean it.” 

Matt took his coat off and hung it on the coat rack. “So how's this week's order looking?”

“Well in both good and bad news, we have lots of stuff left over from last week's order, so all we really need to order is our usual perishables and the stuff for the new menu items that we don't already have on hand.” Foggy paused. “...Or at least we would've if we hadn't gotten a bunch of new reservations, including 12 just for tonight.”

Matt grinned. “Really? That's great!”

“Yeah, and almost all of them said that they had heard of us through the Bulletin article.”

Matt sighed. “I know I was an asshole about that at first, but seriously, thank you for setting that interview up.”

Foggy chuckled. “Honestly I'm just glad it all worked out in the end -- both professionally and personally. Oh, and by the way, Skyler told me this morning that the Bulletin would be covering Kingpin's closure but she wasn't sure yet who would be writing the article or when exactly it would be out.”

Matt wondered if you would get the assignment – after all, you did write a lot of other stories in addition to your weekly features. “I still can't believe Kingpin actually got shut down. I mean I can believe it, but we always suspected that Fisk had most of the Health Department on his payroll and that it would never actually happen.”

Foggy huffed out a laugh. “Too bad for him that one of the few health inspectors not on the take did the inspection this time.”

Matt nodded. Mahoney was one of the honest ones. “Did Brett say anything else?”

“Just that he was sure that Fisk was going to try to appeal the shutdown but that with the number and severity of violations there was no way he was going to win it.” Foggy paused. “You know, that makes me wonder if there's going to be an internal investigation into the health department.”

Matt hummed. “It’s more than likely. Because of the shutdown they'll probably pull the records for Kingpin's previous inspections, and if they do I really wouldn't be surprised if they found discrepancies in the reports.”

He shook his head. “Alright, let’s get to work on prep. I have a feeling we're going to be a lot busier than usual tonight.”

“Hey, Ellison wants to see you right away,” Skyler said as soon as you walked into the Bulletin.

You nodded as you walked over to your desk and locked your purse in your drawer. “Okay. Coffee afterwards?” 

“Of course.”

You smoothed out your blouse and walked to Ellison's office, then knocked on the open door. “Hey, Skyler said you wanted to see me?”

Ellison nodded. “Hey, yeah, come on in.”

You walked in and closed the door, then took a seat. “What's up?”

“I wanted to fill you in on yesterday,” Ellison replied. “Although I'm sure you've probably already heard at least most of what happened.”

You nodded with a wince. “Yeah, I heard that Kelsie didn't exactly go quietly.”

Ellison huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, ‘quiet’ is definitely not a word I would've used to describe her departure. I tried to handle things peacefully without having to get security involved and without the rest of the staff knowing exactly what was going on, but she insisted on causing a scene on her way out the door.”

You shook your head as you imagined Kelsie being dragged out of the Bulletin kicking and screaming. “I bet that made for an interesting staff meeting.”

Ellison sighed. “Actually, because of her antics I spent most of the day filling out extra paperwork and had to postpone this week’s meeting to today.”

“Oh, okay.”

Ellison studied you for a moment. “So how are you doing?”

You shrugged. “All things considered, I'm actually doing okay. Chef Murdock stopped by my apartment yesterday morning to apologize for getting so upset with me over Kelsie's article, then he…” A soft smile spread across your face at the memory of your evening with Matt. “He asked me to have dinner with him.”

Ellison raised an eyebrow. “I take it from the look on your face that dinner was off the record, so to speak?”

You huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, it was.”

“Then that's all I need to know.” Ellison turned back towards his computer. “Staff meeting in 10. Tell the others for me, would you please?”

“Sure thing.” You stood and turned to leave.

“Oh.” Ellison said your name. “One other thing.”

You turned back towards him. “Sir?”

“Just so you know…” Ellison shot you a small smile. “I’m happy for you.”

You nodded with a smile of your own. “Thank you, Mitch. I really appreciate it.”

“Alright, get out of here.”

You walked out of Ellison's office. “Boss said staff meeting in 10 minutes, everyone,” you announced as you exited Ellison's office.

“And don't be late!” Ellison chimed in from his office.

Skyler followed you to the break room. “So, how'd it go last night? I've been dying to know.”

You got your coffee cup from the cabinet and filled it with water. “Honestly, it was amazing. Matt served dinner up on his rooftop, where we ate and talked for hours before going back down to his apartment for dessert.”

A sly grin spread across Skyler's face. “Was it cake?”

You shook your head with a laugh as you poured your water into the office Keurig and put a pod in. “No, it was not cake, actually, it was chocolate mousse, which was so good.”

You closed the Keurig and pressed the start button. “Oh my gosh, that reminds me… while we were eating dessert Matt told me I had some on the corner of my mouth so I wiped at it and asked if I got it, but then he shook his head, wiped at the corner of my mouth with his thumb, then kissed me.”

Skyler huffed out a laugh. “Way to make a move.”

“I know, right?” You grinned. “Afterwards I asked him how he even knew I had chocolate mousse on my face and he suddenly got all shy and said that he didn't know, he just wanted to have an excuse to kiss me.”

Skyler shook her head. “Oh my God, that's so damn cute.”

You nodded. “I told him he didn't need an excuse to kiss me, so he kissed me again and we wound up making out in his kitchen.”

Skyler chuckled. “Get it, girl.”

You waited as your coffee finished brewing then moved your cup over to where the sugar and creamer were kept to fix your coffee to your liking while Skyler brewed hers. “Anyway, Matt said that he had been imagining all week what it would've been like to kiss me and that he definitely wants to keep seeing me, then since by that point it was getting late he walked me home before kissing me good night.”

“Aww. So when's your next date?”

You shrugged. “I’m not sure, but he said he was going to call me at some point today.”

You took a sip of your coffee before nodding in satisfaction. “So finish telling me about your date with Foggy. Did you two kiss?”

Skyler shook her head. “No, we just hugged, but he gave me a kiss on the cheek yesterday when he brought me lunch and we're getting together Sunday afternoon, so who knows what might happen?”

You grinned. “You might be getting some cake of your own soon.”

Skyler laughed. “Fingers crossed.”

She added a bit of sugar and creamer to her coffee before stirring it in. “Come on, let's get to the conference room.”

The two of you headed back down the hallway to the conference room and took your usual seats along with the rest of the staff.

A few minutes later, Ellison walked in. “Okay, let's get this over with. As most of you already know, Kelsie is no longer employed by the New York Bulletin. Before you ask, no, I'm not revealing exactly why. Just know that any sort of unethical journalistic behavior will not be tolerated and are grounds for immediate dismissal.”

Robert, who handled the local crime beat, raised his hand. “So who's taking over the food and restaurant circuit?”

“Luckily with this being Restaurant Week everything is already covered for now,” Ellison replied. “We'll be advertising the position starting next week however, so if anyone is interested, let me know.”

“Think you want to apply?” you whispered to Skyler.

“No way,” she whispered back. “Kelsie probably put a curse on the position before she left.”

Ellison cleared his throat. “Now on to important business -- this week's new assignments. Skyler, you're covering the Fall Food Festival at the community center on Thursday night.”

Skyler nodded. “No problem.“

He said your name.

You nodded. “Yes, sir?”

“It's too late to get anything about Kingpin’s shutdown to print, but do you think you can at least get me five hundred words by noon for the online edition?”

“Absolutely, sir.”

“Great. In addition, I'm approving your next three weekly features since I know you'll be busy with the food drive for the next couple of weeks and will need to fit the interviews in when you can. And speaking of the food drive, I'm issuing a personal challenge to all of you -- let's fill up those boxes and make this the best food drive possible!”

Ellison finished giving everyone their assignments. “Alright, let's move, people. The news waits for no one and we're already behind.”

You stood and headed back to the bullpen.

To your surprise, a beautiful bouquet of pink and white roses sat on your desk, your name on the small attached envelope. A note in the security guard’s handwriting accompanied it.

These arrived for you while you were away from your desk, so I took the liberty of bringing them up to you.

--Phil

Skyler gasped. “Are those from who I think they're from?”

A broad smile spread across your face. “I certainly hope so.”

You took the card out of the envelope, your heart fluttering when you saw the message printed on it.

Thinking of you and our dinner together last night. Can't wait to see you again.

--Matt

You pulled your phone out of your pocket and sent Matt a quick text. Thank you so much for the flowers. They're beautiful!

(By the way, I'm thinking of you too and also can't wait to see you again. ❤️)

You put your phone away, hoping that you'd get to thank Matt in person soon.

[thedepthsoffandomminds]

The guest PT 14

Masterlist

A baby had been born, between you, Belle and Hetty you had performed a successful cesarean operation. Both mother and child living through it. A body had been brought in in Red's place allowing the mother and child to escape Gaines' clutches. The Captain, though suspicious, was placated by the Professor, drunk as he was, declaring the woman dead. Though it had been the body of Kit Wilderkins in truth. You and Belle had returned to Government house.

"Jack a word." Hetty called to the Doctor. He wandered over to her, every step filled with confidence.

"It's about y/n." She says. Jack understands and pulls Hetty aside.

"You need to know exactly what is happening. Y/n is not from here." Hetty began.

"I know, she's from a different world." Jack scoffed.

"Not just one, she is from all of them. My uncle adopted a girl that was just like y/n. There is a legend, one from Ireland, France, here all over the world there have been reports of people like her. They are called the fortellers. People who slide between worlds."

"oh."

"But it isn't good. Not for long, they need a tether, Jack. A real hold onto one world or they disappear."

"Does, does she know this?" He asks.

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"The tether, I think, I think you could be it for her. My uncle wrote about it, he said that Lulu was here strongest when her family truly wanted her to be. If you want her as much as you make it look like you do then you could make her stay."

Jack thinks for a moment.

"Hetty, why are you so good?" He looks into her eyes. "I have been so awful to you but you're still here helping me."

"Not just you. Y/n is a good person. She doesn't deserve to just drift away." She turned and left Jack alone. He sighed, his mind whirling with too many thoughts.

*_*_*_*

"Thank you, Rotty."

"Thank you." Fagin and Jack spoke at the same time.

"So, our old Cheekybones did well." Fagin laughed.

" Yeah. She did, didn't she? Belle might make a great surgeon one day."

"And your Miss y/l/n, she did well." Jack's smile grew wide at Fagin's words, "Still, it's not really her world, is it? And you've got to remember, Dodge, hers isn't yours."

A dot of panic ran through Jack, wondering how much he knew about y/n.

A shadow outside caught his attention and he glanced outside, seeing you stood just outside. He got up bringing his cup with him.

"I must warn you I am a little bit drunk. In fact, I am approaching strutting pigeon." He smiled. You reach out and take the mug draining the liquid.

"So am I, now." You giggle. He takes a step closer to you.

"I've tried to stay away from you, but I need to tell you. I don't know everything, Jack. The show I didn't finish it and everything I knew has happened. I'm clueless about what happens to you now."

"Then we'll have to discover it together."

"I don't know how long I have left her." You admit.

"then we shouldn't waste it."

" It's hopeless, isn't it?" You say taking a final step and closing the space between your bodies.

"Oh I wouldn't say that." He brings his arms around you, brushing back the flyaway hairs around your face.

"I just want to feel you, at least once." Your whispered words were all Jack needed to hear. He pressed his lips to yours in a heated kiss. His lips were warm against yours. The hands that held onto you seemed to ground you. Made your body feel weight once more. Like you were finally, truly part of the world. Like being held against him was like an anchor holding a ship in place.

Neither of you noticed the man watching you, his dark eyes taking in every moment. You didn't notice him following you both as Jack walked you back to Government house, stopping occasionally to kiss you along the way.

@fandomfan-102 @deanstolemydragon @mydeputyghostwagon

[jell0buss-37]

Why not? (Peter B Parker x reader) pt. 3

God he is such a hunk.

This one took a long time, but there are nods to my Peter B headcannons in this!

Warnings: near death, an epiphany, and a kiss

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

He can't exactly pinpoint the moment he started, but he knows exactly when he realized what these feelings were. And when he had felt the same attraction from you towards him. Only, it wasn't him. A fact that he had put into his head to remind himself of a thousand times probably, and a fact that pained him more than that of MJ's. He finds himself looking back on it, sometimes sadly, more often than not fondly though.

Especially now, as he finds himself in a strange place, staring at an image of himself in a televised obituary.

It makes him wonder what would have happened if he hadn't have been scared to just buck up and face his feelings like an adult. Someone you deserve. He can't wallow in self pity right now though, where the hell is he? All he knows is that he needs to figure out what just happened, and fast. He'll have to lie low for a bit, obviously, given that this does not feel like home, and according to what seems to be a different universe or some alternate timeline, he was dead. Damn, if only he'd payed more attention to Harry whenever he would talk about his work.

Oh yeah. Harry. The one who had gotten him into this mess in the first place.

He doesn't know why he even decided to take that story on to begin with. Maybe it was the way that glint, that adorable glint of yours that had brightened up at the mention of how his ex roommate was working for Oscorp. Maybe it was the enticing promise of an easy and early end to your guys' shared night, with really tempting movie night plans. Well, any night was tempting if it was with you. Hell, you were his best friend! Why wouldn't he be excited to just hangout with you? To just do anything if it was in your presence? He couldn't help but feel that pride swell in his chest whenever fellow reporters referred to you two as the dynamic duo, who always somehow get to the bottom of any story.

Either or, his judgement was severely clouded due to the Osborne. Norman, Harry's father, had been a very docile man in comparison to his son, a man who just wanted to support his son and his work. However due to that devotion he had been killed in a horrible accident in the Oscorp main lab. Something Peter had tried so hard to prevent, but just happened to fall short in saving Harry's only peace. His grief had turned him cruel, a fast Nemesis of Spiderman. The Green Goblin, as he's known throughout New York. Although Peter hadn't known Harry, his childhood friend, had been the creature in green. Nor Harry with Peter.

It was when he and you had made the trip to visit Harry that Peter had to make a horrible discovery, as well as one of the best discoveries in his life.

Due to his close connection with Harry, they were able to get access to Oscorp facilities "easy peasy!" Peter boasted to you, that shit eating grin of his flashing his features again, making you giggle and roll your eyes fondly at his antics. "It's actually more complex than that, Pete." You hear from behind you, the voice scaring you out of your wits.

"AH- o-oh, uh, Mr Osborne! A pleasure to meet you-" he cuts you off, taking your hand that you had out stretched, bringing your knuckles to his lips to breathe a kiss to your skin. "Please, call me Harry. Mr Osborne was my father. And the pleasure is mine." He speaks with an air of confidence. He seems well put together, handsome. It made you… uncomfortable.

Peter picks up on it immediately, swooping in quickly to help you, while also humbling his old friend. "Woah, Hare, who knew you figured out how to talk to women! I'm proud of you man, those YouTube videos I keep emailing you are finally starting to pay off man!" He claps a hand on Harry's shoulder, effectively taking his attention off of you.

Harry just rolls his eyes. "And how've you been then, Pete? It's been, what, 17 months now? And yet you're still single?? Yikes." He digs at Peter. All he does is laugh, bringing him in for a bear hug, which Harry reciprocates willingly. It had been over a year since he and MJ split up at that point, and he'd say it's safe to say he'd moved on at that point, and can now look at those times as a fond memory. He wasn't really looking for another relationship at that point either. Hell, his best and most stable relationship he had was with you! Why go and add something else to that? You were more than perfect for him. And he was happy with how things were.

You both went up to Harry's office, and enjoyed their playful banter, writing down any juicy stories, wether it be about the company or about Peter. You loved seeing Pete in his element, finally relaxing around someone other than you. His smile was infectious. Although, Harry seemed to be more annoyed, constantly looking at his watch. It was as if he had somewhere to be. Neither of you thought much of it, at the time. He was an important man.

Once it was all over, you and Peter were just walking down by yourselves, you teasing him about his childhood more. Both of you just enjoying yourselves. You both had set foot outside when suddenly it had happened. The top of the building had exploded.

You were in complete shock. All you could do was look up in awe and terror, you hadn't even noticed Peter dashing off. He was gone so quickly, he knew something was off, his Spidey senses going haywire the second you walked out of Harry's office. It's why Peter had rushed you two by suggesting a movie rather than a tour of the facility.

He was suited up quicker than ever, swinging in to help any civilians inside, his main goal being to find Harry. He made it closer to the top, calling out Harry's name as he was putting out different flames. He was mid-air in swing when he was suddenly knocked to the ground, the air in his lungs being knocked from hitting the wall to the side.

"Well well, spiderman, it looks like my hypothesis was correct. You were here the entire time!" He grabs Spiderman, pinning him to the wall. "I could smell you." "Huh, and I thought this new shampoo was working better for me." Spidy chokes out. As he's about to shoot a web into the goblins eyes, it seems someone beat him to it, as a brick hits the goblin in the back of his head, causing him to drop the Hero.

"It's not nice to throw people, dickhead!" At the sound of your voice, his heart stops. Why were you here!? You should be safe on the ground! Before you knew it, the Villain was back on his feet, and snatching you up, jumping through a window and landing of to his air board, Spiderman shooting a web out to attach to the aircraft, tailing behind.

The sounds of your screams were ringing in his ears, as well as the sound of his heart racing. He couldn't panic thought he had to save you. You all had landed on the roof, where Goblin had dropped you off to the side. Spiderman was already on him though, and you watch in awe as they fight, grabbing your camera. After all, that's why you'd ran back up there. Where danger was, Spiderman was soon to follow.

Before you know it, the hero had a leg up on the monster, webbing him down to the ground. It seems a victory was soon! Until one of the Green Goblins bombs were tossed your way. Everything happened in a blur, Spiderman dashing to push you out of the way, the bomb going off and knocking you over the edge.

Peter's heart stopped. One moment you were there, then you were plummeting to your death. He was after you quicker than ever. The sight of your body falling engraving itself into his memory and into the fear in his heart.

You had felt everything in slow motion, absolute fear over taking your senses. You closed your eyes, accepting your fate. Until you feel your head on a hard chest, your body being encompassed in a bear hug, and you hold on to him for dear life, bringing your arms and legs to wrap completely around him. He swung you two over to a nearby rooftop, landing safely.

Your heart was racing a millions miles, and you felt his on your chest. It was so loud, so… comforting. His arms were wrapped around your waist. You felt safe. Until he sets you down and starts yelling at you.

"ARE YOU INSANE!??? WHY THE HELL WERE YOU UP THERE WHY DIDN'T YOU STAY ON THE GROUND WHERE I LEFT YOU!?? DO YOU KNOW YOU COULD'VE DIED TODAY!?" He was talking a lot, holding your face in his hands and inspecting you, they felt so warm. You feel your legs give out, and you fall into his chest, your eyes stinging with tears. He went silent, instead holding you, his fingers carding through your hair.

He smelled so familiar. You looked into his eyes, tears streaming down his face, and his heart stopped. You looked so beautiful. You were alive, and here, and so goddamned beautiful. He couldn't help himself. Before you knew it, you felt a warm pair of lips on your own. Your heart was racing, and they were so soft. And warm. You can't help but melt into him even more. He pulls away, a smack separating your lips. He pulls down his mask almost too quickly, and holds your face in his, commiting the lovesick look in your eyes to memory. And then you were panicking.

"PETER!!" You startle him out of his daze with your panic, scrambling out of his arms and frantically searching for your phone. In all of this action you had completely forgotten about him!!! He watches you as you run around, his heart swelling in his chest at how worried you were for him. Oh no. He's in love with you.

[castiologist]

buck 3.75

853 words

Summary: Buck goes to a bar to work out how he’s going to come out to the team, and runs into some old friends.

***

So. Tommy’s going to be his date to the wedding. Which is cool, great. There’s just the small fact that literally everyone in his life is going to be there and therefore know that he’s dating a man.

Which is fine. He’s not ashamed. He doesn’t want to lie about it.

Buck 4.0, he’s decided, is going to be Openly Bisexual and Proud Buck. It’s just that he’s not sure he’s quite there yet.

He wants to tell Hen and Chim before the wedding, but every time he tries to say it, he freezes. It just never feels like the right time. Which is stupid, because he knows they’re not gonna have a problem with it. He’s just struggling to let go of that mask that he’s always worn, unknowingly up till now, because he’s worried about how people will see him without it.

Buck’s one beer deep into his thoughts when he catches something moving out of the corner of his eye. Something coppery-orange and shiny.

He turns his head and accidentally makes eye contact with Taylor Kelly at the other end of the bar.

She’s seen him now, and knows he’s seen her, so it feels rude not to go over and say hi.

“Taylor, hi,” he says. “I, uhh, heard about your book. Congrats.”

Taylor grins. “I guess I should thank you. You helped write a lot of it.”

“Well, you’re welcome. Not sure I’d say I’m happy to help, but… I’m glad it worked out well for you.” He didn’t come over here to start an argument with her. After all, she was right. He knew who she was when he started dating her.

“Thank you,” Taylor says. She hesitates before adding, “I should probably tell you, I’m actually here with my girlfriend.”

Girlfriend?

“Girlfriend?” Buck says. Taylor’s looking at him - not with trepidation, exactly, but like he’s some ongoing event she’s reporting on and she’s not sure what’s going to happen next. He scrambles to correct. “I mean that’s… that’s great, I was just surprised, did you… were you aware of this? While we were dating?”

Buck’s not sure why it even matters to him. Taylor’s looking at him with narrowed eyes, even more on guard now. However, like with any disaster happening right in front of her, her instinct is always to stick around and find out more.

“You mean being into girls? I guess I was always a little aware of it, I just never really thought of it as a concrete possibility before. Until her.”

“Right, that’s great,” he says. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be… I mean, I think it’s cool. I’m, uhh, kind of in the same boat.”

Taylor’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

“Yeah, I’m actually going on a first, date tomorrow, with a… a guy.”

Any tips? he considers asking for a fleeting second. Whether it’s for dating men or being bisexual in general, he’s not sure. Maybe both?

“Huh. Well, congratulations.” She raises her glass to him, takes a sip, before cocking her head at him. “You know, I did always wonder a little about you and Eddie.”

“Eddie? I’m not… I mean, Eddie’s straight, I’m not dating Eddie.”

“No?” She flashes her shark-like grin. “Well then, who’s the lucky guy?”

“Tommy. He used to work at the 118 with Chim and Hen, he’s a pilot in air operations now.”

“Huh,” Taylor says, “I guess we have that in common.”

It’s only then that he clocks the figure approaching them, coming up behind Taylor and slinging an arm around her.

“Hi Buck,” says Lucy Donato. “How you been?”

“Lucy, hi,” he says. “I’m uhh, I’m pretty good.” Buck 4.0, he thinks about adding, even though it would probably be meaningless to both of them.

“Well, I guess we sort of have you to thank for this,” Lucy says, tilting her head towards Taylor. She beckons the bartender. “So have one on me.”

He orders a bourbon before returning to his original seat, trying to process what just happened.

It’s weird, but they kind of work together, Taylor and Lucy. He watches them leave together a little while later; Lucy casually helping Taylor into her jacket and wrapping an arm around to hold her waist as they walk out. They just seem so normal, and happy. And look, he’s been friends with Hen for years now, it’s not that he’s never been around gay couples before. But Hen has always been Hen. To him, she’s been into girls as long as she’s existed. It’s as much a fact about her as it is about him. Taylor and Lucy? That’s new, and different.

But Taylor Kelly is still the same bold, irrepressible Taylor Kelly he’s always known. He doesn’t see her differently, he thinks. He just sees her more. And now she sees him more too, and he likes that. Makes him feel like the gap between the person everyone in his life knows and this new version of himself is smaller than it seems.

He finishes his drink and pays his tab. He’s still a little nervous, but also feels a little more ready.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

She turns to Dinah when Susie is distracted in her office one day and bites her lip, opening her mouth to make a request, but doesn’t get a chance. The other woman hands her a little slip of paper with a phone number and address on it.

Midge frowns, perplexed. “What is-“

“You got hypothermia because you went to see his show,” Dinah shrugs, grinning at her understandingly. “I figured you’d want his contact information.”

Midge smiles gratefully and slips it into her purse.

*****

She thought she’d be too busy to think about him, but when it’s quiet and everyone else is asleep, she wonders how he is. If he’s enjoying the warm weather. How things are going with his daughter. If he’s happy.

She wants him to be happy.

Midge just wishes…

Sometimes Midge wishes for a lot of things.

But she keeps moving forward. She starts landing more jokes on the show. Ethan is still having sleep issues, but she knows if she’s patient and attentive things will get better. Esther is getting more grown every day and she worries she’s not doing enough for her little girl, but she does try.

She dozes off in front of the television one night, and when she blinks awake, it’s to find the sun coming up and the morning news on.

Except Walter Cronkite only does the evening news, but here he is anyway with some sort of special report.

Midge narrows her eyes at all comes into focus.

“…Found dead at his California home of an apparent heroin overdose…”

Her stomach lurches hard as she shakily gets to her feet.

“…Survived by his mother a one daughter-“

“No,” Midge mutters as the screen flips to –

She had no idea they’d be willing to show real dead bodies on TV, but there he is. She knows exactly who it is, having seen him bared before her, warm and beautiful, very recently.

She means to crumble back onto the couch but misses and hits the floor instead, and suddenly she’s yelping awake, sitting up quickly.

It’s still dark out.

The television is still on its test screen.

Midge fell off the couch.

She scrambles to her feet, rushing for her purse and Dinah’s little slip of paper, and soon she finds herself back on the living room floor, behind the couch with the phone in her lap, shakily dialing his number.

“One AM here,” she mutters, looking at the clock above her. “Eleven there…so he’s either out or-“

His voice is confused when it picks up. “Hello?”

“You need to come back,” she blurts out.

“Midge?”

“You need to come back, you can’t stay in LA,” she babbles. “It’s- bad for you. All that sun is bad for you.”

“Wait-“

“You can move your daughter here,” she keeps going quickly. “There are tons of great apartments and schools, and we can plan playdates and-“

“We don’t do that,” he reminds her gently.

There’s a warmth in his voice that brings tears to her eyes.

“We could,” she tells him. “We should. We should do that. Ethan is weird, and he could use another friend, and Esther could use a little girl who’s a little older and probably the coolest kid on the planet who listens to free jazz and smokes candy cigarettes.”

“Kit’s pretty hip,” Lenny admits, getting sidetracked. “Midge-“

“See! Her name is Kit! That’s a cool name! She doesn’t belong in California, she’s an East Coast kid.”

“Are you ever going to tell me what has you so terrified that you called me up in the middle of the night to demand that I relocate again?”

She freezes, unable to tell him. Partially because she’s starting to realize just how insane she sounds and partially because it’s cruel to tell him.

“Midge.” His voice is so gentle.

“I had a really terrible dream,” she says, trying to steady her voice. “And I just-I want you to be happy, but I miss you like crazy even though I’ve been trying to ignore it, and I thought I was doing a good job but then I had this awful nightmare tonight and I just-“ She loses steam finally, blowing out a breath. “Sound like a lunatic.”

 “A little,” Lenny admits. “Though I admit it’s kind of a turn-on.”

“Lenny.”

“If I said I was sorry for that joke, I’d be lying,” he tells her. “Midge, I…”

She waits.

She waits for him to shut all of this down. To assure her that all is well. That he’s fine. That he has to stay in LA. That they don’t do these kinds of things. She feels herself tense up, taking a breath and closing her eyes.

“I miss you, you know.” It comes out quiet. “There’s a lot going on with the legal troubles…with a lot of things. I wish…I wish I could be…”

“You could.”.

“You have too much faith in me.”

“Just enough.”

“How did you get this number anyways?”

“I’m a very good stalker,” she says.

Lenny sighs softly. “I’m back in New York in two weeks. Let’s get a drink. We’ll talk.”

“You promise?” she asks quietly.

He means it when he says “I promise.”

“Okay,” she says after a moment. “Did you have a gig tonight?”

“Yes, and I even managed to stay out of jail,” he says. “It went pretty well, all things considered.”

“I’m actually kind of surprised you’re home.”

“I had to relieve the babysitter,” Lenny explains. “I’ve known prostitutes with cheaper rates. There’s something in that. Something about childcare being a worse gig than sex work.”  

“With sex work you leave sticky for the right reasons,” she giggles, and it makes him laugh, too.

“Please tell me you’re using that,” he says, and she can hear him smiling through the phone.

“Bet your cute little ass I’m using that,” Midge tells him. She sighs. “I’m sorry, Lenny. I shouldn’t have- I just-“

“It’s nice to be missed,” he admits. “And if I’m being truthful, I really do hate it here.” His voice goes quiet again. “I miss the snow.”

They both sit with that for a moment, letting to quiet wash over them. Three thousand miles away, and one sentence makes her feel more connected to him than ever, even though she knows she should be giving him shit for letting her nearly freeze to death after yelling at her.

“Two weeks?” she asks finally.

“Two weeks,” he promises.

 ***** 

It turns out that while they both intend to keep that promise of meeting in two weeks, it’s harder than he thought it would be to catch her. Between her day job at the show, and her night gigs and her kids, and his lawyer meetings and his gigs it winds up being almost impossible. 

When he steps into the Button Club (previously warned hat it’s her ex’s club, and the man has no idea that Lenny and Midge…well…were ever Lenny and Midge), he lets his eyes rake across the crowd of people.

And realizes he’s just in time for Midge’s set. 

He manages to slip into a small table in the back and orders himself a scotch and water from one of the waitresses before sitting back and watching Midge do her thing.

God, she’s so fucking good.

She runs with the sex work childcare joke, too. 

“You know why it’s more expensive?” she asks. “Because in childcare you leave sticky for all the wrong reasons. There’s jam. There’s gum. There’s play-doh. What’s a little sweat and jizz compared to that?” 

Lenny laughs hard, giving a clap that catches no one's attention except the owner.

Ah, shit. 

"Mr. Bruce. It's an honor to have you at my club," Joel Maisel tells him. 

Lenny glances at him and then nods to Midge."I'm here for her."

"Midge is good," Joel agrees. "Is there anything I can get you?" 

Lenny could just let it go. 

He could. 

He won't. 

"Yeah, a martini, up with olives for when she wraps up."

Jo stands there frozen. "You uh…you know her drink."

"Three years of camaraderie and closeness I fucking should by now," Lenny comments, before turning back to watch her set.

To Midge’s credit, she hasn't let seeing her ex and whatever Lenny is to her throw her off her game, and he's relieved when Joel walks off. 

Lenny grins at her mischievously.

*****

She heads for his table, sits and takes a sip of her martini. "Did you torture my ex?"

Lenny considers. "Maybe the tiniest by knowing you cocktail preference."

"Lenny."

He grins and leans in. "Hi Midge. Great set."

"And I didn't even have to go on a date with you this time to get the compliment," she teases. She sighs. "Thank you for meeting me. I know the setting isn't ideal."

"I did promise. And scheduling was tight, but we made it work," he says. He gazes at her for a moment and impulsively reaches for her hand. "Anymore bad dreams?"

She lets her guard down a little, letting the warmth of his long fingers envelope hers as she nods. "Same thing, over and over."

"Ready to tell me what it is?" He asks. 

"No," Midge admits honestly. "But we worked so hard to meet in person so I kind of have to." 

And she does. About waking up in front of the television to a news broadcast about his death. The graphic photo she keeps dreaming about. How she wakes up before she really knows what's happening other than "Lenny died alone."

His thumb is circling her palm by the time she finishes. Her eyes are glassy. She hates that a silly dream makes her cry but she can't help it. 

Lenny takes a deep breath. "I don't have the best proclivities, as you're aware," he admits. "But I'm going to do my damndest to keep that from becoming reality."

She opens her mouth to offer help but stops when he holds his free hand up.

"I know you want to help, Midge, and I love you for it but-"

He stops as they both adjust to the weight of those words. 

"You-"

"I-"

"Refills?" Joel's voice asks from over them, and Lenny moves to let go of her hand, but she tightens her grip. 

"Wait," she blurts out, staring into Lenny's wide, shocked eyes. "You love me?"

"He what?!" Joel snaps. 

Lenny swallows. "Midge, here? Now?"

"You tell me, you said it," she snaps.

"I don't expect you to feel the same," he tells her quietly. "I just-"

"Of course she doesn't," Joel blurts out nervously. 

She can barely hear Joel's panicked voice as she gazes at the man in front of her. She lets go of his hand to stroke his jaw. "Lenny, don't be stupid. You know I do." 

"You do?" He asks, a little baffled. 

"You do?" Joel asks in shock. 

 Midge can’t help grinning warmly at Lenny. “A little hard not to at this point, don’t you think?” 

“You scraped me off of a sidewalk, watched me have an utter meltdown, and then do the pee-pee dance in front of your building,” he points out dryly. 

“The pee-pee dance?” Joel ponders, confused.

“So attractive,” Midge jokes. 

“You nearly lost a toe because I yelled at you instead of sleeping with you the night of my Carniegie gig,” he adds. 

“I would not have slept with you after you yelled at me,” she argues.

“I’m sorry?” Joel asks, really panicked now.

“You also watched my entire suitcase fall open and dump its contents onto the carpet at JFK and then watched as I stood there and didn’t clean it up,” Lenny goes on.

“Endearing,” Midge shrugs.

“I am standing right here!” Joel snaps loudly, finally getting their attention. 

“Right!” Lenny cries, turning to him, looking more than a little annoyed. “Drinks! She’s have another martini up with olives, and I will have a double scotch and soda.” 

“That’s not-” 

Midge takes a deep breath and looks up at her ex-husband. “Joel. We’re trying to have a conversation. Can you please-” 

“No!” he cries. “No, I won’t please! I want to talk to you in private. Now.” 

“No,” Midge says simply.

Joel stares at her. 

“I’m in the middle of a conversation,” she reminds him. “It’s an important one. And it has nothing to do with you. So you can either go get our drinks, or we can leave.” 

He stands there, weighing those options, and Lenny glances down at his watch.

“You get fifteen more seconds to decide,” he announces without looking up. 

Joel gives a groan before storming away, leaving them to their conversation as the other patrons of the club turn back to their drinks and conversations.  

Midge closes her eyes and takes a slow breath, letting it out.

“So that’s the ex?” Lenny asks, hiding a grin behind his hand. 

“That’s him,” she confirms. “I don’t know how much you would love me if you had to deal with him all the time.” 

His voice comes out soft again. “It would be worth it.” 

She finds herself re-taking his hand, playing with his fingers. “What do we do?” 

“Well,” Lenny drawls out.  “I hate LA. It turns out the lawyers here are, actually, better, you keep having nightmares about my untimely death and it turns out we’re in love with each other. And while I very much should not drag you into all of my horrible garbage…” 

She watches him carefully, knowing that there’s hope written all over her face where there shouldn’t be. That this could all blow up spectacularly, she can’t can’t help herself. 

He leans in, his eyes avoiding hers in favor of looking at their hands. “I want this with you.” 

His words have her tugging him in closer, letting go of his hand again to cup his jaw, pulling him into a tender kiss. 

**** 

Susie Myerson tries really fucking hard not to get involved in her clients’ personal lives. 

Because they’re actual friends, Midge makes it fucking hard to stay out of it, though. 

So does her shitty ex-husband. 

“I don’t need to be here,” she snaps as she steps into the Button Club. “The whole point of her gigging at this place is to try out new material, and give me a couple of nights where no one needs me to hold her fucking hand!” 

Joel looks livid and pale, and he points aggressively toward the main room of the club.

“What?” Susie snaps. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” 

He points harder. 

Susie rolls her eyes and wanders over to the entryway, letting her eyes scan the crowd, and eventually she lands on-

“Oh,” she says simply, watching as Midge pulls away from Lenny Bruce her hands still cupping his face in the most tender gesture Susie has ever seen in her entire fucking life. 

She’s had the misfortune of seeing Midge with a number of men. That Benjamin guy. Nice, but stiff. Joel. An asshole. 

She’s never seen her alone with Lenny, though, and it’s-

Fuck. It’s love. 

“You gotta stop it,” Joel demands. 

Susie snorts out a deep, dark laugh. “For so many reasons, go fuck yourself.” 

“Susie-” 

“First and foremost, Midge’s lovelife is none of my business,” Susie stops him. “Is this ideal? No. Do I think it will probably blow up in her fucking face? Yeah.” 

“So stop it!” 

“Second of all: That’s not just some fling,” Susie goes on. “That’s not just grabbing a quickie in an alleyway after a gig.” 

“Thanks for that mental image,” Joel complains, squeezing his eyes shut, looking pained.

“Look at his face,” Susie goes on. “Look at hers. That’s real. And I may be a heartless asshole sometimes, but even I know not to stand in the way of that shit.” 

“Susie,” Joel says warningly. 

“And third of all,” Susie says as she grins slowly. “It’s gonna be way too much fun to watch you lose your wind over this. It already is.” 

Joel glowers at her harshly, and, without a word, storms back behind the bar, slamming the office door behind him. 

Susie rolls her eyes and slips back to the bar to get a drink.

***** 

“The kissing is nice but it doesn’t solve our problems,” Lenny points out gently as he allows himself the indulgence of brushing his fingers through the ends of her hair. 

“What’s the lease like?” Midge asks. 

“Month-to-month,” he admits sheepishly.

She laughs. “Lenny.” 

“I may be a man with a lease, but I never said I was any good at it,” he admits. 

Midge takes a breath, and he knows she’s talking about how long he should stay at the house in LA, and what they can do to plan his move back to the east coast and she’s dropping the name of some lawyer her father knows, but he’s missed her so much all he can do is gaze at her face; commit her eyes to memory; let himself be soothed by that lilting intensity in her voice. 

“Are you paying attention to anything I’m saying?” she asks finally. 

“I’ve changed my mind,” he tells her. “I think the kissing would solve our problems.” 

She laughs, and it’s the best sound ever. 

Sadly, they’re interrupted again by the scrape of a chair coming up to the table, and Susie taking a seat with her drink, which she sets down with a loud thunk. “Okay.” 

Midge looks deeply confused. “Wasn’t tonight a Midge-less night for you?” she asks. “You didn’t even want to hear my name tonight.” 

“Joel called, said there was an emergency, and then alerted me to…whatever the fuck this is,” she explains, gesturing towards the two of them.

Lenny sighs and pulls away from Midge, sitting back against the wall. 

“Tell me what’s going on,” Susie says. 

Midge hesitates, and glances at Lenny, before both of them wind up launching into a years-long tale of irresponsible flirting, ridiculous weather-related shenanigans, and their current predicament. 

“Right,” Susie nods after they’re done. “So you’re in love.” 

Again, Midge hesitates. 

“It’s a new development,” Lenny admits, even though it really fucking isn’t. 

“Sure,” Susie waves a hand. “Look, I could care less, but the press is gonna eat this up hard, so we’ve gotta strategize your story here, and while I typically don’t condone telling the truth, I think it’s our best bet. It makes both of you look like sweet, adorable disgusting lovebird angels.” 

Lenny opens his mouth to protest, but the short woman lifts up a hand. 

"You wanna keep fucking my client, you're gonna do what I say."

He shuts his mouth. 

"Good," Susie nods. "I'm leaving. Don't fucking get arrested."

*****

Joel steps out of his office as Susie heads for the exit. "So? You get rid of him? Put a stop to it?"

Susie grins then. A strange, satisfied grin. "He'll see you at the next family dinner."

With that, she leaves, and Joel feels bile gather at the back of his throat. 

***** 

They sit and talk for another hour, and in the back of Midge’s head, she knows that they should have left after Susie did; that sitting here for another hour is likely driving Joel up a wall, and leaving will be much harder the longer they stay.

But Midge is selfish sometimes, and she just doesn’t want to break whatever spell Lenny is under that has him talking about real things, as his real self. 

Because what if he chickens out? 

What if she chickens? 

What if it all just crumbles? 

What if her terrible dream becomes real anyways?

Lenny leans in then, narrowing his eyes at her. “I can see the wheels turning, you know.” 

She grins sheepishly and shakes her head. “It’s fine. Everything is fine. Really.” 

His eyebrow lifts skeptically. “Having second thoughts?” he asks.

“No. I’m afraid you might be.” 

“Oh, I’m terrified,” he admits. “But I want this much too much to run now.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Midge asks softly. 

Lenny sighs softly, thinking it through. “Then…we’re gonna break up, and we’ll probably hate each other for a while, and you’ll talk shit about my dick on stage, and I’ll sleep with a woman who’s far, far too young to make myself feel better, and then maybe one day when we’re old, we’ll look back on it at some sort of comedy special where they wheel out the geriatric set and we’ll laugh about it.” 

“Even if we don’t break up, can I talk shit about your dick on stage?” she asks hopefully.

He chuckles and sips his drink. “You have blanket permission to tell audiences whatever you would like about my shvantz in your act.” 

She beams. “You really do love me.” 

"You wanna head out? See if we can sneak past guard at the door?" Lenny offers. 

Midge finishes her drink and gets to her feet. "I'm going to have to face him sooner or later." 

Lenny nods, getting to his own feet and helping her into her coat before they wander towards the exit.

Midge makes eye contact with Joel as he downs his umpteenth drink behind the bar, and shifts from Lenny to at least say goodnight. 

"His place or yours?" Joel asks bitterly. 

"Probably coffee in the village," Midge tells him truthfully. "Go home, Joel. Sleep it off."

"You coulda told me," he snaps. "Shoulda told me." 

"I didn't want to," Midge tells him honestly. 

"Why?"

She pauses, gazing at him for a long moment. "Because there are so few things in my life I don't have to share. That are just mine. This was just for me. Goodnight, Joel." 

She wanders back over to Lenny, taking his hand and heading for the door.