#robin almost maddened by longing

[the-lark-ascending69]

Robin spent years being obsessive, resentful and jealous over the Steve and Tammy situation. Ik she's friends with Steve but I need her to be obsessive now too. I need her to be obsessively in love with Nancy, I need her to be angry and jealous and dark. Because with Tammy, she didn't say "I liked her" she said "i wanted her to look at me", she wanted Tammy to see her and like her and she wanted her to be hers, and she didn't waste time telling herself she shouldn't want her - she just wanted. Like she wants Nancy to look at her now.

But once again, the object of her affections only has eyes for Steve. It's never her. It's always fucking Steve.

[oddlykilledghosts]

Someone That Actually Likes Me - Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Working at Family Video and constantly being a witness to Steve’s neverending flirting, reminds you of how much you want to be liked by someone and like them back. It just so happens, at the same time, Dustin is up for some meddling between two of his elder friends.

I may or may not be thinking of making a part two?? depending on how this goes?? who knows?? no it should have a part two

Word Count: 4.2k

Pairings: Eddie Munson x reader, FamilyVideo!reader

The day was starting to become boring. There didn’t really need to be three workers at Hawkin’s local Family Video (even on a Saturday), but you had come into work anyway and pulled yourself together enough for the first couple hours. You tried looking your best, fixing your hair and putting on some fun makeup, as well as applying some electric blue eyeliner and smiling at yourself in your mirror when you topped it off with bubblegum pink lip gloss. You might not have been the preppiest person, but you sure loved the colorful makeup the 80s had brought on the masses. Hopefully it was at least enough for your flirting to be successful in getting customers to rent more movies. Unfortunately however, one of the only customers that the store had had all morning was Dustin, looking for another copy of Neverending Story (something about his girlfriend, Suzie, that you didn’t bother asking about further) and he had not even bothered to ask about your day (something about a pressing D&D campaign that was happening that very night). The other, a girl Steve was chatting up about what you were pretty sure was Pretty in Pink, even though you had never so much heard him mention ever even seeing that movie before. You rolled your eyes at the sight of the two; Steve, leaning up against the wall his body tilted toward the girl, and the girl not even the slightest bit self-conscious in the way she placed her hand on Steve’s bicep and laughed at something you were sure wasn’t that funny.

You felt a shoulder brush yours, and suddenly Robin was at your side seemingly done with rewinding the old tapes. “You’re sulking.” She said plainly, but even without looking you could tell she had a smug smile on her face. You and Robin had become fast friends. Faster, because you both loved to make fun of Steve. 

Sighing, you shrugged and said, “Maybe. Is it so wrong?” When Robin didn’t respond you resorted to turning your body away from the couple so that you could look at your friend and you found her giving you a disappointed look. Yet the smug smile hadn’t vanished. “What’s so bad about wanting someone to like me enough to pretend to like Pretty in Pink?” You definitely were sulking. Steve flirted with almost every girl that came into the store, it couldn’t possibly be that deep. But again, no one had quite been desperate enough to be an expert on a movie they’ve never seen for you. It had been awhile since you had felt seen by someone worthwhile. Flirting with customers felt hollow, however much it may have helped your job. 

Robin laughed and headed towards the computer to report the intake of tapes she had just finished with, typing fast on the keyboard. “I think it’s wrong when you’re longing for someone to pick you up with a Steve Harrington move.” She paused, feigning thought and continued, “But maybe it isn’t wrong. Maybe it’s just sad.”

“That hurts Robin.” You pointed to your heart and faked a pout, “Right here.”

Steve and the girl, who you assumed was now going to rent Pretty in Pink as it was held in her perfectly manicured hands, were now making their way over to the register. This meant you and Robin had to make busy and not totally fail at watching the couple out of the corner of your eyes. The girl couldn’t stop giggling. You almost scowled, but held back your facial features. It wasn’t embarrassing for her, you couldn’t care less whether she giggled for the rest of her life just because of this small encounter with Steve, but it still felt maddening to listen to someone else be so happy when you just felt bleh. Finally, before leaving the girl wrote down her number on Steve’s hand. Which would only be unfortunate for the boy if he found another girl to flirt with later in the day. The good thing for him was that you were close to closing and he could go home, wash his hand and be able to start anew the next day. Woefully, you would be there to watch.

You watched painfully out of the corner of your eye as Steve skillfully aced what boring small talk came out of the girl’s mouth as he checked out her rental. Gag. When the girl finally left, Steve’s demeanor changed and he was back to his regular self. Still handsome and charming, just putting on less of a show.

Robin beat you to speaking first by saying quickly, in a hushed chuckle, “Y/N wants you to flirt with her.”

Steve’s gaze immediately fell onto you, cocking his head in what was obvious confusion. And yet a smile tugged at his lips, “Is that so?”

The heat in your cheeks burned furiously and while you knew Robin was joking, you felt the undeniable urge to duck your head under the counter and stay there until everyone left. “No. That is not what I said. I merely want to be flirted with. By someone,” You shoved past Steve and picked up a pile of tapes that needed to be reshelved, “That actually likes me.” This time you really did duck behind the shelves, putting back the tapes where they belonged, thankful for the cover and blissful in not seeing Steve’s reaction to what you had said.

Steve’s voice followed you into the racks of movies, “Who says I don’t like you?” You hadn’t realized he was now standing at the end of the aisle you were in and bumped into his chest on your way to exit, dropping the remainder of the tapes that had been in your arms. Sometimes, you wished you had Steve’s effortlessness he used while flirting. You would definitely run into people a lot less. 

The two of you then simultaneously leaned down and began to pick up the movies when the bell to the door rang.

A new customer.

“Hello?” A new voice rang out. “Anybody here?” Apparently, Robin had been quick to hide in the back of the store and pretend to be busy while you and Steve worked with the small amount of foot traffic that made its way into the store. She often did this when she decided she deserved a break, and for all it was worth, she dealt with you and Steve almost every day so you’d say it was pretty well-earned. Footsteps sounded on the linoleum floors. “Helloooo?” This time the voice held onto the word in a singsong tune until it petered out softly into the store. The guy's voice sounded playful and amused as if this (aka a Family Video in Hawkins, Indiana) was all such fun.

Still busy with the tapes, Steve didn’t react to the newcomer and instead whispered a soft, “I got this.” to you before shooing you away in hopes that you would be able to deal with the customer. If the stranger to the store had been a murderer, you would’ve had to fend for yourself. Well, of course you had Robin but it was obvious you would die first in such close proximity. But clearly, when you stood up and found the long mess of wavy hair staring at you from the top of the shelf you were behind, that was not the case. He was smiling satisfyingly and his brown eyes gleamed from behind the rack of tapes when you popped up from the floor. 

“Hello.” He said pleasantly.

As you walked out from behind the stack, the customer followed. And when you finally reached the other end closer to the register and the door, it gave you both the chance to view each other fully. Your eyes went immediately to his shirt, and it triggered some sense of deja vu that settled in the atmosphere. The devil logo sneered playfully back at you as you stared at the guy’s chest. Unlike your unwavering gaze on his torso, his eyes, unbeknownst to you, hadn’t left your face. “You must be Y/N. Didn’t think you could be prettier up close.” When you looked back up, he gave you a smile that reminded you of the Cheshire Cat. Playful, but somehow devious. A new feeling shook through your body, ending up in your cheeks which were now charmingly warm. 

Your hands went instinctively to your face, where the new warmth was homed, in an act of sudden shyness and you smiled softly, “And you must be…?” Then you knew where the shirt had popped up in your memories. Of course. Dustin wore one just like it constantly. You looked further in your mind as Lucas and Mike also popped up in your head wearing it on certain school days. Days that always came with some obligation on their end. Then it struck you. D&D. Which meant that this was…

“Eddie.” He said with another overconfident smile. He didn’t hold his hand out to shake or anything, but was pleased when you kept your own grin. Of course you remembered him from school, even though his hair was a lot shorter in your recollections. He was your age too, although he still hadn’t graduated (unlike you and Steve who had done so the year before). Truly, you should have recognized him sooner. It wasn’t like Dustin constantly talked about him as if he were some mythical creature to be worshiped. That was totally not the case. 

“Right,” You said sincerely as you shook your head and led him to the large counter in the center of the room. As if by magnets, your eyes kept trailing to his leather jacket. Had you ever noticed how attractive leather jackets were before? You’re sure you had, just not in such close observation. Quietly you chuckled to yourself as you continued, “I should’ve known too. The shirt says it all. Dustin’s a part of your campaign, right?” 

Eddie’s performance of a smile shifted into more of a genuine beam as you got another thing right. The first was your unwavering smile, people’s expressions usually didn’t hold steady with him. Yet because he was still a little surprised you knew what a campaign was, he didn’t answer your question. People usually skipped over the D&D terms and just called it a club as it said so on the shirt, but it was nicer when people paid attention to the details. Especially about something most people in Hawkins considered so nerdy. Something people would usually turn their heads at when they found out it was led by a freak like him. You were trying, though it was obvious you didn’t know much on the subject. And that itself was different. 

There was a beat of silence between the two of you as Steve, at long last, popped up, seemingly having finished picking up the remainder of the fallen tapes. He made a load of noise as he struggled to get up and his sneakers squeaked awkwardly on the floor. Then, as if to further his inopportune entrance, the boy looked suspiciously between the two of you, trying to send you a secret look that asked if you wanted him to take over as Eddie’s guide to Family Video. You didn’t miss the message Steve was trying ‘ever so subtly’ to send you, but you ignored it. Dustin’s opinion mattered some, and you wanted to learn a bit why he looked up to the boy in front of you so much. Eddie was definitely different from most of the crowd you rolled with (though you could see Robin losing her mind over a nice leather jacket) and in this case, different was refreshing.

Taking things into his own hands, Steve walked over to your side of the register and leaned against the counter slyly. You noticed, amusingly, a piece of hair had fallen in front of his eyes and he was trying not to jump up and fix it. “Did you need any help finding anything?” His head was directed at Eddie, but his eyes stayed on you. 

“And here I thought, Y/N was being ever so helpful.” Eddie mocked Steve, an innocent look on his face. You thought back to high school…they didn’t have anything against each other, did they? Sure, there was that rivalry that Steve had fully concocted on his own because he was jealous that Dustin had another older boy to look up to. But other than that it seemed as if the boys had barely interacted. Then again, not everyone had gotten over “King Steve” as easily as you and Robin had. No one had seen just how nerdy and awkward (and sure, you could say endearing) as Steve Harrington really was on his off days of being a former high school douchebag. 

“Well,” You said as you flattened the creases in your work pants. “I was about to be.” This time you turned your head to Steve who was now a breath away, “I don’t think that Eddie will want your expertise on Pretty In Pink anyway, Harrington. I’m sure Robin needs help in the back.” 

Steve squinted at you while you saw Eddie hold back a small laugh. He, at least, thought your comment was amusing. “I don’t think-” And there were those brown, puppy dog eyes. Save them for the next girl, Harrington, you thought to yourself.

“No, I’m very sure that Robin needed help. It’s a mess back there.” You pushed Steve back out from the counter and towards the back room where Robin was most definitely not busy. “It’s one customer Steve, take your break.” With him sulking, you had to push him all the way into the back of the store, where you did happen to catch a glimpse of Robin watching Teen Wolf (just as Micheal J. Fox turned hairy) on one of the old TVs they kept back there. 

When you got back to the register, Eddie had made himself a little more at home. He was leaning against the counter, albeit the opposite side from you, and was playing with some of the rings on his fingers. You tried not to stare at his hands and the intricacies of his jewelry, wondering quietly where he got them all. And yet he had not made a move towards any of the movies in the store. The best thing about Family Video was the browsing, in your opinion. Sure, you had limited choices. It was only one store. But being able to actually have the options in your hand, and sift through favorites and classics was one of the reasons you liked working there. It was a tangible way to like films. And still, Eddie had not moved from the spot you had left him. Usually, no matter how helpful you seemed to think you could be, the minute you stepped away customers went with their bad selves in the store. Most of them thought they knew more than you. Which was rarely true.

Eddie almost looked uninterested, and a little nervous. But it was such a stark contradiction to how you had just perceived him that you questioned your own perceptions of things and moved on.

“So,” You started looking at Eddie and placing your hands on the counter in front of you. “What are you looking for?”

“War Games.” Then, after a beat, “The one with the computer. Want to play a game?” He said in a robotic cadence, copying Joshua’s voice. You ignored the fact that in the actual movie, it says ‘shall we play a game?’.

“Yup, I know the one.” You mused. Truly, you had seen most of the movies the store offered. Keith, the manager, made it practically part of the job. ”With Matthew Broderick, right?” You motioned for the boy to follow as you began making your way to the section of the store that you knew the tape would be in. “I really enjoyed that one. Sure, it’s fiction, but it shows just how far technology can go.” You weren’t sure why you were rambling, but Eddie just followed nonchalantly behind you, his hands stuck in his pockets as if he were a little kid with sticky fingers.

When you reached the section you grabbed the tape and turned back around to be met inches away from the D&D player’s face, almost knocking heads. He backed away first, suddenly shy. Then when he spoke, he backed away another step as if one wasn’t enough. You didn’t notice, however, that as he talked his body subconsciously tilted towards you. If you had noticed, it would’ve reminded you a lot of how Steve and the girl from earlier looked.  “It’s actually for Dustin, I owed him a favor.” Then with a more sarcastic spirit, “As if I don’t have things to do. Said he meant to get it and the only other time he could come back was during our session so…”

“As the leader, don’t you have minions for that? And isn’t Dustin one of them?” You laughed lightly, still waiting for Eddie to take the tape from your hands. 

“Yeah but Dustin’s-” He didn’t mention how much he liked it that you knew, at least in some capacity, that he was the dungeon master. 

“Special.” You finished, nodding with the secret knowledge you, and only a select few had of Dustin Henderson. “Yeah, I know. But wasn’t Dustin already here today? He could’ve picked it up then.” The tape remained in your hands as you talked, with no movement from Eddie indicating that he was going to take it any time soon. 

Eddie’s dark eyebrows knit together, harboring a soft annoyance there, although it didn’t spread to the rest of his face. Then like a light turning on, so slowly, “I think Dustin is trying to set me up.”

You smiled, especially since you knew Dustin would scheme to do just that. He meddles too much. “In what way?”

Eddie’s voice was low this time, all of his former confidence gone, scrubbing the surface of a softer interior, “With…you.” If it had been winter, you could’ve sworn that you would’ve been able to see one clear breath exit your lips at his words; as if all the air in your lungs had decided to vacate at once. Yes, it made sense to you that Dustin would try to set up his friends. But it didn’t make sense why Eddie came to that singular conclusion so quickly. And yet, you’d heard so much of Eddie over the past two weeks. Had you really tuned out Dustin that much? That the constant compliments weren’t just brags? That they could’ve been for your benefit. They surely weren’t for Steve’s. 

Then, as if in an instant, it all turned back on and Eddie straightened his back, “Well, this has been nice. But I actually have some unsavory activities to get to and I’m sure-”

Without thinking, you grabbed his arm stopping him from leaving the aisle of movies you were in. He protested for a second, stopping in his tracks, but turned back to you easily. Still guarded from the prying eyes of your coworkers as you stayed behind the stacks, you questioned the brunette, “Wait. What are you talking about?”

Eddie studied your eyes for hints of deception and insincerity, thinking that there must be at least some trace there for the simple fact that you hadn’t fun away yet. “Dustin, he’s a troublemaker. And here I am. In the making of his trouble.” Hints of Eddie’s mask were being put back up, and it looked as if he wanted to run out of the store.

“No,” You shook your head. “Go back. Why would Dustin set us up?”

“Right. Because ‘we’ wouldn’t make sense.” There was that wall again, still playful but defensive. 

You felt your eyebrows knit, “No. It just-” This time you were the one searching his eyes. Again, there were your memories flooding back up. Just as clear as day you had graduated last year and there was Eddie, floating around in your mind. In his band. Late nights passing each other after respective basketball games and D&D sessions. In the cafeteria. And in every single one, you found those deep brown eyes staring back at you through your own mind. The reason Dustin was talking Eddie up was because Eddie liked you. And in those memories, no one else paid him any mind. But you had. 

Had Eddie Munson talked about you to Dustin?

“Ask me out.” You said finally, letting go of his arm that you hadn’t realized you had still been holding. It had probably kept him from running initially, so no harm done. 

Eddie laughed, suddenly taken aback, “What?” Then realizing you were serious, “I don’t think it counts if you tell me to do it.”

“Do you want me to do it?” 

He thought for a moment, pretending to be vexed. “You realize if I ask you, we’re doing what Dustin wants.”

“Mm-hmm.” you hummed as a small response.

Eddie straightened again, this time with truer confidence, “Will you, Y/N…” He leaned forward, bowing a bit in front of you for show, which made you laugh, “Go out with me?” Then he perked up and placed his hands on his chest as if to protect himself from impending doom.

“Would you still want the movie if I said, yes? I have a quota.” You joked as you wagged the film in the air with your hand.

Eddie squinted at you, and yet a small smile tugged at his mouth and he staggered backwards. He struggled out the words as he held his chest where his heart would be, “I’m sensing that you’re saying yes.” Then he recovered slowly, his hands beating up and down where his chest would be and added, “My heart just grew three sizes.”

“Oh did it?” You smiled through a loud laugh as you put the tape back on the shelf. “I think you’ll still need a receipt though.”

Before Eddie could protest, you quickly walked back over to the register, leaned over the counter to grab a post-it and wrote your number speedily on the small piece of paper. Then, again, when you turned around to walk back you bumped into Eddie this time steading yourself by holding onto his arms. You had been walking faster than usual, with an excited energy around you, but was glad when you were able to touch him. Because yes, Y/N, he’s really there. Instead of feeling self-conscious, you stuck the post-it to the front of his shirt playfully. “There. Transaction done.” At the same time, you decided to ignore the two spying heads peeking out from the back room.

Eddie peeled it off his shirt gingerly and looked at it with a cocky grin, “You’re one of the good ones, Y/N.” 

“Like it or not, so are you Eddie. At least,” You smirked at him. “From what I’ve heard.” 

And then he and his leather jacket were gone. Not without him looking back at you as he left, for good measure.

You reminded yourself to hit Dustin over the head and thank him.

It took no longer than five seconds after the Munson boy had left for Robin and Steve to emerge from their hiding place. Usually, they wouldn’t have provided you any privacy during your interaction so you had to at least be somewhat thankful (even if you didn’t say it aloud). You sighed, turning around to face them, “What’d you hear?”

Robin, of course, exploded with energy the minute you invited her to talk, “Um, everything?” She immediately slid into the counter, leaning towards you and talking excitedly about how she wanted to help you get ready, even though she wasn’t sure she shared the same fashion sense as you. Really, she wasn’t sure she wanted to help with the fashion at all, but just wanted to be there before the date. Before you could remind her that technically there was no set date yet, she started prattling on about how you needed to prepare. Maybe Dustin could lend you a D&D book. She was sure she had at least one Metallica cassette somewhere. You were switching into a different social circle after all, you needed to know these things. You could tell Steve had filled her in on Eddie while they had been hiding together, though you knew she had been there on occasions as well when Dustin couldn’t shut up about him. This continued for a while, even after you assured her that you don’t need to change your whole personality to go out with Eddie. If you were lame and preppy then so be it. And then, to get his attention because the both of you had practically forgotten he was there, “Steve…?” 

Steve, who had gone back to reshelving some of the videos that had been misplaced by Dustin earlier in the day and didn’t seem as interested in quelling Robin’s ramblings as he usually is, smiled sheepishly, “I think Y/N found someone to flirt with. Someone that actually likes her.” He just quoted you, back to you. Get your own lines, Harrington. And stop pretending to be a responsible worker.

“And he didn’t even need to pretend to like Pretty In Pink.” You said, raising your eyebrows smugly in Steve’s direction. 

“Ha. Ha.”

[mistress-of-vos]

It's their turn! 💛❤️✨

(Extra context of the meme below (mini fic?)!!!)

After the events of Red Robin, Babs and Luke inform Jean-Paul of the issues and problems going on among the bats. During a mission, Bruce got hurt again and has been benched, meaning the situation of "Dick covering for Batman" is once again back in town. This creates a lot of tension among Dick, Damian, Tim, Jason and Bruce, making it almost impossible for them to work together.

Having their hands full with actual city saving, Luke and Babs called JP to ask him to go back and help for a while. Luke does apologize for it, since he knows JP is way happier in Europe and working on his own. It's not that JP doesn't like Gotham, but he grew tired of Bruce and Dick treating him like trash, so he left months after Jason had that - violent encounter with Tim on Titans Tower.

Jean-Paul admits that was part of the problem too; he didn't like it that Bruce seemed so at peace with Tim getting hurt. And Tim... Tim allowed Bruce to ignore his pain. That was maddening, btw, and Jean-Paul had snapped a few times against Tim, screaming that he shouldn't let Bruce walk over him.

Whatever. Jean-Paul had left. He went to Europe and traveled, getting rid of the order of st. Dumas by himself alone, and then getting rid of other groups equally awful and cruel. It was a tiring, slow job. He traveled a lot, and from time to time visited Brian in Spain to chat, but mostly he focused on ending the cycle of violence that he had been raised into. Eventually he did, and just months later, Luke and Babs call.

Being back in Gotham is - weird. It has been years, and Jean-Paul feels uncomfortable around Jason and Damian. His dislike towards Dick hasn't lowered, and it has stayed as a mutual feeling, although JP can't help to feel a bit of pity for Dick when he sees how tired and old Dick looks once he takes off the Batman cowl. But hey, didn't Dick argue that JP wasn't worthy? Then perhaps he should carry the weight of the mantle he insisted JP tainted.

Mostly, JP doesn't like being back at Gotham. Until he sees Tim.

Tim, who has - grown into such a smart, beautiful and sassy young man. Tim, who wears eyeliner, mascara and red lipstick. Tim, with acrilic nails as sharp as Catwoman's. Tim, with a perfume even more hypnotizing than Poison Ivy. Tim, lethal and beautiful. Tim, that makes JP's knees tremble as if he's a teenage virgin boy.

And it gets worse when they start working together. Huge news! Ofc JP had been called back because Tim refused to work with the bats anymore, and it's JP's duty to work with him and push him back to Babs (she does understand that Tim doesn't want to be close to the others, but she worries about Tim being alone, and doesn't want him going out without any support). And doing that is hell, because JP falls hard and deep for Tim.

JP is sure that he was completely whipped by the end of the third week working together. Maybe even sooner.

That's how Luke learns about it, since JP is awful at hiding his crushes. And Luke has the nerve to laugh, telling JP to ask Tim out as if Tim wasn't way out of JP's league! Does Luke enjoy seeing him suffering? JP thinks he will go crazy if he has to hear one more phrase about taking risks...

And yet JP follows Luke's advice: He asks Tim out.

He asks Tim out in a chat. A grupal chat. With Luke on it. And maybe he's hugging his cat George all the time while waiting for Tim to reply.

Against all logic, Tim says yes, and then texts JP on their private chat (the one that's supposed to be used for cases only), saying just one sentence:

"You're adorable, Jean-Paul."

For the record, the first date goes great. JP manages to get to third base, and Tim smirks smugly while murmuring "Puppy" on JP's ear, nails holding his long blonde hair to keep him in place: At Tim's mercy.

[dairy-farmer]

Back at it again with Civilian Tim AUs because there is so much Spicy Fun that can happen there? Like? Bby Tim realizing that he has itty bitty noodle arms and can't be the Robin, Jason was? But Batman NEEDS a Robin. Hmmmm he thinks to himself. He's got it! He'll be "Robin" not Robin! He's GREAT at stalk- *cough* he means FOLLOWING some of the best trained people in Gotham. How hard could NORMAL people be?

So he starts collecting information on drug rings and police cases etc. Then? "Robin" the informant... waits for Batman on one of his routes, which he SHOULD NOT KNOW, and tosses him the information! It's the perfect plan!

Except Batman chases him. Wants to know how this small child in his dead boys colors GOT this info. Timmy doesn't want to go to jail OR the hospital... or worse, have his PARENTS get called! And runs. Tim escapes.

He KEEPS escaping.

Gets faster. Smarter and more flexible. Learns the terrain better. Batman all the while keeps chasing him. Even after he gets an ACTUAL Robin. Even when Jason comes back. Batman is both an obsessive man AND incapable of letting things go. He also has a Thing for the chase. Wires start getting crossed the longer it drags on, the longer and more near misses there are. Those moments where he ALMOST pinned this "Robin" or ALMOST got a restraint of some kind on them.

And let's be real, Batman is DEFINITELY Tim's sexual awakening here. The thrill, the muscles, the "what if he catches me?"

Then he DOES. He finally, finally DOES pin that squirming little escape artist beneath him. Gets him tied in a way he CANT escape. And he just... God he DEVOURS him. Maybe it's all the "chases" with Selina. With others. But one moment he's pressing the false Robin to the roof top, the next he's ravaging his mouth and balls deep. Taking all those YEARS of chases ended in failure out on that sweet hole and sensitive little clit.

He won't be running after this, that's for damn sure. No more escapes. Bruce has WON, damn it. He's gonna drag the little bird back to the cave, ID him, fucking CHIP HIM, the up to his room to personally insure he won't be LIMPING anywhere either. Yes he realizes he's probably not thinking clearly, but YEARS of this chase! Worth it. The false Robin hot and tight and almost sobbing on his cock, gushing wet and twitching from how many times Bruce has brought him off. Bruce is gonna make him INCOHERENT.

Might even fuck a kid into him. Can't run if you're pregnant. His, his, his. This maddening focal point, this anchor of sanity, during his lowest point. A mystery to chase that he finally solved and CAUGHT. It held him together. Pulled him back from the edge. Now? Now he can barely stop rutting his hips into that blissful heat long enough to drag him to the bat mobile. Long enough to chip him and drag him upstairs.

Tim's in for quite the marathon before Bruce calms down enough to talk. But regardless, Tim's not going ANYWHERE.

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bruce's sexual attraction for someone like catwoman is at least 85% the thrill of the chase and with tim whose not "hurting" or "stealing" or really a rogue in the strictest definition but does have an apparent fixation on bruce- it would absolutely fill his mind with obsession for him. and it would be made worse because bruce is in a delicate position after jason's death and tim's existence gives him purpose and something to occupy himself like a caged lion that's been given a live animal to toy with with the live animal keeps getting away from him. initially bruce has genuine anger towards tim because he's in robins color and knowing things he couldn't but for the longest time tim is his only constant companion or presence that doesn't actually....harm him. and bruce is a creature of obsession so he can't help but fixate on tim more and more until his perception shifts and the chase and need he has to get tim and pin him down takes on a different...tone.

bruce is so fixated on tim he barely gives mind to his other distractions- selina, other rogues. bruce deals with them efficiently and with none of the dancing around each other because bruce is so locked onto tim completely. bruce is more efficient as batman, better, faster, and its because he needs to be ready and available when he finally spots tim on one of the numerous cameras he's using to monitor gotham. when he catches tim- when he FINALLY catches tim it's a rush of euphoria and years of being constantly taunted and teased by just barely catching him.

so bruce fucks him. of course he does, how can he not. he's pleasantly surprised to find a cute, pink, little pussy when he rips off tim's pants. but that little cunt is practically glistening from the bit of light from the streetlamps nearby so bruce barely has a hard tim working off his cup and letting his hard cock flop out because something strange happened usually. whenever bruce would spot tim he'd start getting and by the end he'd be growling and grunting about losing him and furiously glaring down at his throbbing cock that he'd take care of in the batmobile before returning to the cave.

but now. when he GETS tim he wraps a gloved hand around his hard cock and pushes into that tight little cunt that goes even tighter around him as he starts immediatly rutting and fucking in. bruce is letting out grunts and curses and feeling victory course through his veins as he finally catches this little fake robin who is writing and squirming under him. bruce feels him bucking under him and holds down those little hips, forcing the legs to wrap around his lower back as bruce speeds up and starts fucking harder and harder so that this little fake robin can understand exactly what bruce had been dealing with for years. people like selina never changed and never understood no matter how many times bruce tried to get the lesson through their heads but their little robin? bruce would make sure they learned their lesson even if it meant he had to tie them to a bed until they were fat with his child- give the kid a bit of responsibility, make him understand what it really means to be a functioning member of society. when bruce cums inside that tight little pussy he's been after for years, he feels decades of relief and satisfaction flood him as he jolts and pumps his hips to make sure every single drop is pressed into this pussy he's determined to make his.

[lavenoon]

early morning blorbo thoughts here we go

have there been any instances where Dusk/Dawn/Robin have been 'grounded'? whether due to a near-miss with their identity on a mission, a need for HQ to fill in some vital paperwork, because someone in command said "hey this guy/these guys did 3 missions in 3 days, they're at risk of burnout", or some other reason - one or all of them are now off missions for a few days to a week.

how would Dusk/Dawn and Robin deal with being kept off missions for that long? do they even go into the agency, or does it end up with Sun, Moon and Y/N hanging out in the apartment until they get a call in? - @clxckwork-sun-n-moon

It's not quite common practice, at least in regards to overworking. The agency pays per gig - of course the paperwork gets considered, too, but how long an agent takes is not really their business. They only start caring when it gets really concerning, supervisors reaching out to higher ups to demand some executive power and keep agents off the field (and out of their offices, if need be).

What does sometimes happen, adjacently to this, is when agents overdo it on the action and neglect the paperwork - then they get grounded to their office until the backlog is taken care of. Boring, but not quite as maddening as being stuck at home!

If they get a near miss however? Almost get caught, or get injured on the job? Nope, that's when the agency develops some common sense (for selfish reasons), and keeps them home for a while as paid time off. The pay isn't good, and only trickling in as long as the absence is justified in the agency's eyes, but it's something to keep them afloat while they recover/ lay low.

If it's just to lay low there is some paperwork to take care of usually, but after that? Just stay home, and wait until you get the okay to come back in again. You get no timeline. Good luck, have fun.

Robin had that after the stabbing. They had to stay home for a good while, and even upon return were limited to paperwork only before getting only easy missions requiring barely any parkour.

For them, that was near unbearable. Sun definitely noticed his neighbor getting antsy, and it's about the most information he got on their job - something physical then, if they still can't work? Y/N is frustrated, their job is the one thing they feel proud of, and now they can't even do that because of their own mistake! It's maddening, and I can honestly see the outings with Sun picking up here as he takes pity on them, getting them out of the house and out of their own head. There's so much time in the day without work! And there's this new craft store, or market in town, and why don't they join him as he checks it out? And as much as they appreciate it, and even though it does help, the fact remains that they messed up and are now reaping the consequences, all while they can't even let Dusk know they're fine. (Agent River tells him they're grounded until they're recovered. The blasé way she relays the information assures him they are recovering)

In the end, they do go back to work, and by then they have a lot of restless energy to get out. Dusk "helpfully" comes by after his field missions to keep them from doing something stupid, and offers them his paperwork if they ever get bored <3 Directs their ire towards himself and distracts them, and it makes the rest of the wait a bit more bearable

Dawn may run into the issue of his reverse psychology "no one will suspect me if I look like the flashiest guy around" backfiring into almost being discovered. On the outside, he may seem fine, and takes the order to lay low in stride. Goes home, and gets busy in the workshop - but really, it's just a ruse. He's very proud of his job, too, and now has to deal with the sting of having messed up and being pulled from said job until someone else declares the risk as low enough again.

So he gets all that time to ruminate and at some point runs out of gadgets to fix or build, and then he just does so many craft projects that even Y/N has to take notice. They're a little concerned, but he promptly assures them his leave of absence at work is temporary, and he'll have enough for rent - not that that's what they're concerned about.

Sun needs to feel competent and useful. At this point, he thinks he's neither. It's not a good time for him in any way, though he doesn't show it/ refuses to acknowledge it. Moon can't help much - but then Y/N invites him out for their grocery runs, and asks him for advice on a couple repairs/ renovations they planned for the duplex. He's smart enough to realize it's a ploy - but they shrug and explain that sure, they want him to feel better, but also they have been up for like one hour and cannot be trusted to make a decision right now, so which brown for the new coat of paint on the porch?

He's easy. He gets into it, and it keeps his mind off things for the time he's with them and after, when he has that to think about. The first few hours of the day when they're asleep however just aren't fun until he can actually work again, and not just play helpful tenant doing the landlord's jobs (he offered, once he ran out of craft projects)

Dusk almost being discovered honestly handles it the best out of these three. It's not that he isn't proud of his job - but he doesn't make it his identity. He's miffed, and bored, but all in all shrugs it off as "Well, this is bound to happen at some point, it's gonna happen again, I wasn't fired, so it'll be fine."

That is, until he spends extended time alone in a house where the neighbor/ landlord doesn't even know him and frankly, this is not the time for introductions, he's really not feeling up to that right now. So he's bored, thinking of all the fun he's missing out on, and slowly there's some doubt cropping up, mostly regarding his rivalry with Robin. What if they think he's an idiot for the near miss? They wouldn't, right?

... Right?

And so when being confined to his home is driving him too crazy, he starts parkouring at night. Purely his hobby! He's not working! But he knows a certain someone's favorite leisure routes, too (at least, some of them), and Robin spots him easily, as bewildered as they are. Roof hangouts for them, then - Robin starts pressing him for the reason of his absence, as they only got the memo he's been grounded to ensure his identity is safe. They maybe laugh a little when he admits to the details, but then remind him that hey, they were grounded for much longer. He's got a lot of catching up to do to reach their level of house arrest!

Until he's allowed back for paperwork and then missions again, that becomes routine. Robin spends a little while every night with him, moving their hangouts to the roof of the agency, and he's reassured that even grounded he hasn't lost what's important, so really, all is well. Will be much more of a menace still once he's allowed back in the field, he's got a lot of shenanigans to catch up on!

(They all do semi well when just confined to paperwork - getting restless and bored, but at least it's work, and already something they're used to doing, so it's bearable. They're still gonna be happy once they return to missions though, it'll feel like finally stretching your legs at your destination after spending hours sitting cramped in a car <3)

[chiefatticcreator]

Prompt: A continuation of Erik teasing the hell out of Chizuru. Now its Orihime's turn. But the half-grimm only plows Orihime's ass.

Even if she had seen him fuck nami and Robin, taking them away from her, this was even more humilating. Even more maddening, too. Orihime had been chizuru's first slave, her "princess", the one she had lusted after for so long, the one she had dreamed of making hers and groping and using all she wanted.

And now she could only watch as Erik's immense cock rearranged Orihime's stomach. Just like before Chizuru couldn't really move, and only feel her cunt and ass stimulated as she watched.

The dildo machine had been calibrated really well, fucking her hard enough to bring her to the brink of orgasm, but stopping anytime Chizuru was clsoe to actually cumming from the stimulation. It only added to her frustration.

And right in front of her, so close that Chizuru could almost touch her (if her arms weren't bound behind her back), Orihime was being fucked by that annoying bastard Erik. By that cock ass who had decided to humiliate Chizuru, to take all her slaves and women, to fuck her right in front of her. To show her how much better he was at fucking them than her. And orihime's expression was proof of that.

Whimpers of pleasure as her ass was fucked, lewd smacking sounds as the half-grimm's heavy balls smacked against Orihime's plump asscheeks.

She could hear all of Orihime's cries of pleasure, of worship of Erik and his cock, of her "Princess"'s mind being broken to pieces as she completely forgot about Chizuru herself, only caring abotu her new master, ehr new owner.

And Chizuru was forced to watch it all unfold, while being fucked, and not allowed to cum.

This was pure torture, this was pure hell. And Erik's knowing smirk as he looked at Chizuru's frustrated scowl only made it clear he revelled in her suffering.

[paradimeshifts7]

Chapter 2

A snippet from the most recent chapter:

*****

Later, when he’s out by the pool dimming the loudest of his thoughts with what he’s told himself is his third and final beer of the night, he’s less than surprised when Steve sinks down on the concrete lip next to him. He watches out of the corner of his eye as Steve dips his foot in the water, keeps the injured one tucked up, and a potent wave of guilt washes through his bones – enough to propel his arm. He offers his beer to Steve, and the younger man shakes his head.

“I’m good, thanks man,” he says, focus drifting back to his foot in the water.

Eddie shouldn’t ask, because it’s a slippery fucking slope, but he’s never been one to make good decisions.

“Is this, like, a thing?”

“No, I just…promised Robin, that’s all.” Steve’s tone is soft, subtle ebb of energy that says there’s so much more to that statement than he’s letting on. He’s fishing, casting out a net to see what he can drag back, pulling on that rope between them like it’s still anchored firmly in place – like it isn’t frayed and fragile at best in its current state. But he’s always been like that. Too wrapped up in his pretty little head to notice Eddie reeling that rope back in. He kicks his foot in the water, jaw suddenly tight in his mouth, something hard and heavy sitting in his stomach and growing by the second.

Because he knows how this ends, with Steve and every other guy like him – beautiful boys who suck idiots like Eddie in, pull like gravity when they’re just a little bit mean. And Steve has always been a little mean, flips shit so effortlessly that it’s hard to see it coming until it hits like a good slap to the face. He’s a little cruel, and fucking gorgeous, and everything about the way he moves about a room is like a siren call – so enticing in the heat of the summer of 2010 that Eddie barely felt the water in his lungs until he was drowning.

Because falling in love with Steve Harrington was sweet, over-rich and dripping saccharine, heavy on his tongue and warm in his belly like honeyed whiskey. Steve slid down his throat like syrup, laughter the color of sunrises and fresh feet of snow. The former jock let his face crack open into that unrehearsed smile while the world almost ended around them, a straining ray of sunshine amidst the bleakest of circumstances, and Eddie never stood a fucking chance – gone from the very beginning, dragged kicking and screaming into all-consuming affection. And the whole thing was made so much worse because, against all odds, the two of them just fit – cracked edges slotting together so close that it sometimes left a terrified tang in the back of his throat.

But to love Steve Harrington is to fight a losing battle. It’s like grasping at smoke, fingers ghosting through fumes in a maddening search to hold, but Steve can’t be held, could never belong to him – at least not in any way that would ever be enough. He’s got a track record with women like Nancy Wheeler, notches in his bedpost etched by pretty girls with soft, feminine fingers. Eddie’s hands are calloused, have always been rough from picking at nickel strings and burning himself in the pursuit of a good high, and it had taken him a long time to be okay with himself – to flush his peers’ voices out of his psyche for good and stretch out in his own skin.

So it was hard not to recognize the awful, poetic nature of falling in love with Steve, this boy with a larger than life shadow who made him feel like the weird little gay kid all over again. Not that it was his fault, because the worst part of it all was that Steve was completely fucking obtuse to the effect he had on people. A good guy at his very core, he loved people like he just couldn’t help it and threw castle walls up around the people that he deemed his.

He walked around with the base level confidence of someone who’d been swooned over, but he would still never be able to see just how fucking incredible he was – because Steve Harrington was born just a little bit broken, or so he whispered one night under clouds of smoke, head tucked against Eddie’s shoulder like it didn’t have to mean anything. His smile felt like love incarnate when he flashed it Eddie’s way, when he touched so easily, laid out across his lap and grinned up at him like there was no place he’d rather be. And Eddie would go home every night and jerk off in his bedroom, love-fucked and drenched in shame when he came hard in his hand, Steve’s lips flashing behind his eyelids.

It was a complete fucking mess from the start, like he could never discern up from down because everything about Steve was sideways. So when he got the call from a studio out in Los Angeles, it was almost a relief in a fucked-up sort of way to turn towards goodbyes – license to escape their strange patterns and actually get some room to breathe. And as much as it broke his heart to wrap Steve up in what he suspected would be their last embrace for a good, long while, it felt needed. Like treading any further into the deep end would’ve torn the whole thing down, because he could never trust himself with the likes of Steve Harrington. Washed up jock who seemed to know his heart by name. Deep-seeded bond running through his body chemistry like heroine, and he was hooked from day one — drunk on it, caught so completely in Steve’s orbit that when it came down to goodbyes, there was only one option. He couldn’t bend, only break. He slid his arms around the younger boy’s shoulders and let the world fall away one last time — and then he was done.

He told himself that he was done, because he wouldn’t survive another heartbreak at that boy’s hands.

When he surfaced in LA, wrung out from months tangled up with Steve Harrington, he crashed — lost himself in whoever would let him just to get the taste of Steve out of his mouth until it nearly ruined him. One too many nights spent either shaking uncontrollably or mostly delirious as he reeled from whatever drug he’d taken to chase all coherent thought from his mind. On the occasions that he had the wherewithal to get help, Gareth would sit on the floor with his back pressed up against the couch, turning every so often to make sure he was still breathing. Sometimes he would curl up next to Eddie on the bed, and sometimes they would fuck until they were gasping for air, rough and mean, like they needed the hurt to justify the act. So different than a few heavy make outs in high school, a couple quick fucks in the back of his van, trying things out that felt a little dangerous in the innocent hours after school.

Steve Harrington had waltzed into his life, sucked him in like a siren and fucking eviscerated him with soft touches. And maybe it wasn’t his fault, but Eddie would never forgive him all the same. He’d nursed his Harrington hangover for years, and he’s not about to hand over his sobriety chip just because he’s got a busted foot and a very apparent issue with alcohol. Not when it had taken work to get Steve out of his system the first time.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43288104/chapters/109157680#workskin

[soulmate-game]

Omg omg omg

Time travel.

Okay, so, Alix gets fed up one day with how Tim and Jason treat each other, so she gets drunk (as an adult ofc) and enters her Burrow, searching through the timelines to see Where it All Went Wrong. Finds it. Takes tiny pre-death Jason from his timeline, drops him on Tim’s lap. In the old robin costume still.

Tim. Tim still holds a very special place in his heart for The Second Robin. Not Jason, stupid dream-breaking, never-meet-your-heroes confirming jerk. But who Jason used to be, the Second Robin that Tim looked up to and considered his own personal hero. So Tim takes care of Little Jason, and is super adorable Ideal Big Brother with him. Even manages to somehow put a bunch of fan-boying in there without coming off weird— in fact, Little Jason eats it all up, super proud of how much this Obvious Adult from an equally Obvious Different Timeline thinks so highly of him. Little Jason is Not used to people thinking this highly of him, not used to being Anyone’s favorite. But he’s this adult’s favorite. And that’s awesome.

And Actually From This Timeline Jason happens to just. See all this happen. By this point, Alix has sobered up and called in Marinette’s help to restrain Jason so he didn’t ruin everything, and the three of them have been spying on Tim and Little Jason almost the entire time. Even though Adult Jason has his own very bitter thoughts about his past self (Alix writes that down as the next thing to ask him to go over when he goes to his next therapy session), he can’t help but just watch the two interact with awe. He didn’t realize Tim had ever idolized him. Hadn’t realized how Tim had actually seen him, thought so well of him before the... death thing.

And it brings a lot of emotions. Jason realizing just how much a combination of bad timing, Tim’s selflessness, the Lazurus madness, and his own trauma had combined to ruin the relationship he and Tim could have had. Had given Tim trauma Jason didn’t even realize he had given him. Sure, he remembered the whole almost-murdered-tim thing, but not the fact that Tim had almost been murdered by his old personal hero. That was ten times worse.

Eventually, Alix drops Little Jason back off where he belongs. Jason and Tim still don’t talk for, like, a month before Jason finally bites the bullet and approaches Tim about the whole thing.

They talk. For a very. Long. Time. It’s uncomfortable the both of them, extremely so, but it helps begin to mend old wounds. Eventually, they become brothers for real— they act like it more often. They have a decent relationship for the gremlins that they both were. It’s not what it could have been, but it’s good. They develop a unique kind of sibling bond like what they had with their other siblings (except Tim and Damian, which is a whole other plan for Drunk Alix in the future to handle). They make inside jokes, they go to each other for very specific types of comfort. They know when they can rely on each other. It’s good.

Meanwhile, Little Jason’s whole life has been permanently altered by Alix’s meddling. Good thing she grabbed him from an identical but separate timeline to begin with. Little Jason goes through most of the same events as Adult Jason, except this time when he comes back from the dead and plans to kill his Replacement, he recognizes the face of the teenager in the Robin suit. He remembers the day he was taken to an alternate future, when he watched a slightly older version of this very kid wax poetic about how much he looked up to him. How that version of this kid had avoided talking about the adult version of Jason in that timeline at all.

And it makes the Pit Madness fade, just long enough to avoid the same disaster. And in that timeline, Tim never has to deal with almost being killed by his idol. He only has to deal with mildly-frightening-but-not-ultimately-anything-new fights with a maddened and clearly struggling version of his idol. Who he helps get better, and who he forms a very deep bond with. His Idol isn’t the same, but he isn’t tarnished either. Just got a new coating of dark glaze and went in for a second firing. The story isn’t necessary better, some might argue, from a literary perspective. But it was softer, and kinder, and stronger in certain areas than its predecessor. Different, yet equal.

[handy-dandy-monster-candy]

Sessile

Rating: NSFW Length: 1614 Pairing: Male Forest Guardian/Leshen/Plant Monster x Male Reader (both cis)

A commission for my friend Dito.

xxx

You’ve never been able to ignore the lure of the forest. It has called you since childhood, its creatures more friend to you than most humans. You spend whole summers catching and releasing bugs and frogs, watching fireflies in its meadows, and swimming with the fish in its rivers and streams. You start to find things in the forest when you’re in your teens—things that you know are for you. There are glittering stones or golden acorns left on your clothing when you return to it from swimming, and at times the crows bring you trinkets like a necklace of bottle caps on a leather string, or small plastic hair clips that once belonged to a small child.

You keep each gift in a shoebox under your bed long after you’ve moved out on your own, aching to return to the forest when life loses the carefree nature of childhood. You make few friends wearing your clips in your hair and acorns strung around your neck, but you don’t care; someone cared enough about you to gift them to you, so you were going to display them proudly. It isn’t until you begin to study biology that you find others who experience the call of the forest, but none of them have been courted by it like you have. None know the call of a crow bearing gifts.

It isn’t until you’re late into your twenties that you work up the nerve to give something back. That summer, you give pretty ribbons and wood crafts you carve or burn back to the crows in exchange for your trinkets, and you’re startled to see that the gifts begin changing in nature. Where once there were acorns, now there was a fine tunic spun from raw silk waiting for you when you came back from swimming. It felt like cool water against your skin when you slipped it over your head and smoothed it down along your thighs, relishing in the soft caress of it against your skin.

The next time you traded trinkets, it was for an orange diamond that was as big as a robin’s egg and warm to the touch. It shone red and gold in the light and reflected rainbows across the grass when you held it up to the sunlight, and you immediately took it home to make a little cage for the gemstone to sit in while it hung around your neck. After that, the crows gave you gold coins that seemed to be priceless, but you tucked them into your shoebox just the same.

You spend the next few days on a woodworking project that keeps you up late into the night, but you don’t mind; the bracelet, when finished, is your finest work, carved to display flowers and vines and inlaid with small chips of all the precious stones you’ve received over the years. The response is swift and shocking: this time, the crows bring you a glittering ring. The message is clear, and it frightens you a little. Whatever is in the forest, whatever you’ve been doing, this back-and-forth… Just what have you been courting? A faery? A demon?

You leave the ring and run.

Staying away from the forest is the hardest thing you’ve ever done. The trees seemed to whisper your name in mourning whenever you’re anywhere near it, and the forest followed you into your dreams to haunt you. Each dream was the same, warm and welcoming one moment, cold and lonely the next. You wake with wet lashes and a bitter ache in your heart, until it becomes unbearable and then a day more.

When the time came that you felt your heart might break and never mend, you returned in full regalia, wearing nothing but your fine silk tunic and all of the trinkets that your forest has ever given you. Whatever madness this was, you were ready to accept it. When the crows came again, tentative and wary, you took the ring and placed it on your finger, leaving no room for misinterpretation. The crows took flight and disappeared into the forest, but that is when he appeared.

At first, you thought him terrible. He was half as tall as the trees and just as broad, with long limbs made of twisted wood and thick, flowering vines. Flowers sprouted from his chest and over his shoulder, weaving into what looks like a cape made of vines and leaves. His head was little more than a deer’s skull with sharp, imposing teeth, eyes deep, glowing pits the same colour as the diamond at your chest. He was the forest itself, a guardian lost to man and time.

“I thought you would never return,” he murmured, and his voice was the most wonderful thing you’d ever heard—all birdsong and the hush of wind through the trees.

You ran to him, allowing him to gather you up into his strong, firm arms and wrapping your own around his long, willowing neck. “Oh, I’ll never leave you again,” you whispered, kissing at the skull’s cheeks and along its jaw until your guardian shivered and purred.

“You would leave the human realm behind?” he asked, trembling at your attentions.

“Yes.”

“You would let me love you?”

“Yes.”

“Oh!” he cried, speechless with joy, and his long tongue slipped free from his skull to glide into your mouth to kiss you.

He tasted of wood and honey—of something dark and sweet and wonderful—and you knew at once that you would never tire of his kisses. Heart pounding wildly in your chest, you asked him to take you to his home, and he happily obliged. Deep in the forest was a grand house made entirely of wood and flowers, and you held his finger as he led you through and showed you where you would both spend the rest of your days.

“Why me?” you asked at length, looking up into his face and watching as his eyes flickered in and out of existence.

“Why not you?” he countered, drawing you back into his arms to kiss you again and again. “You were always so kind to my subjects, so respectful of the forest, so at home within my realm. How could I not love you?” His hands caressed your backside and chest as though you were a precious thing, the bark of his skin catching gently in the silk of your tunic until you were driven to pull it over your head.

“Take me,” you begged, and he groaned his assent.

He laid you back tenderly into the grasp of several vines as soft as velvet, and you felt both utterly safe and entirely exposed when the vines pinned your wrists above your head and spread your thighs to reveal your hardness. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured, carefully tracing the tip of one gnarled finger down along your twitching cock.

“Tell me your name?” you whimpered, pushing up into his touch and being rewarded with a gentle stroke of his warm, careful hand.

“Sessile,” he whispered back, and when he knelt to taste you, hands on your thighs, you noticed the bracelet you made on one of his fingers, worn like a ring.

“Sessile,” you moaned, writhing around the press of his hot, slippery tongue. It was working you open at a pace that was maddening—too fast one moment, too slow the next. “Please.”

“‘Please’ what, my love?” he murmured when he pulled away, eyes a soft shade of red that reminded you of roses.

You squirmed under his gaze, moaning again when his tongue wrapped around your cock and stroked. “Oh, gods, please fuck me.”

“Are you certain?” Sessile asked, standing up so that he towered in front of you. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t care if you do,” you said, rocking up against the vine that replaced his tongue. “I just want you inside me.”

“Very well,” murmured Sessile, cupping your body gently in his giant hands. “Hold onto me, sweet thing.”

The vines that held your wrists slid away and let you move again, allowing you to wrap your hands around his thumbs and watch as a strange, pink flower blossomed from between Sessile’s thighs. When it bloomed, it was with a thick sheen of slick nectar, revealing a long, flared appendage that looked somewhere between a cock and a flower’s pistil. When Sessile nudged up against your entrance, you felt the nectar tingle and burn, heightening your sensation as he pushed himself into you.

It hurt, at first, until it didn’t. You suspected the nectar had something to do with the ease of entry, but those suspicions and all other thoughts disappeared the moment that Sessile began to move inside of you, pushing against your prostate time and time again. You lost yourself to sensation as he thrust inside of you, holding onto his hands as though you’d fall off of the face of the earth without him there to ground you. It wasn’t long at all before your balls clenched and cum shot up along your stomach and chest, but Sessile was there to clean it with his long, wonderful tongue, kissing you hungrily so that you tasted yourself on him as he continued to rock his dick inside you.

The sunset found you nestled in the arms of your lover, sharing sweet kisses and a large, mossy blanket that he made just for you. “Will you truly stay?” Sessile whispered to the growing darkness, almost as if afraid to hear the answer.

“As long as you’ll have me,” you murmured back, smiling as you played with the ring on his finger, “and then a day more.”

[sdvvillagers]

Fic - Gus

Word Count: 4,475

Summary: Gus has a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Notes:  Thank you to @purpleandgreen13​ (purpleandgreen on AO3) for coming up with this prompt, it was such a fun and inspiring one to work with!  You’re the best! ^.^

From the moment Gus woke up, he should have known that today was going to be an awful day.  Water dripped from the ceiling of his room, plopping onto his forehead and waking him with a start.  The rainstorm forecasted for the day had begun, revealing a leak in the roof that Gus hadn’t known was there until the rain unceremoniously woke him from his slumber.  After clambering out of bed in shock and confusion, Gus wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked upward as another drop of rain landed right in his eye.

“Son of a-,” Gus mumbled, giving himself a wide berth from the bed to avoid getting wet any further.

His sheets had already soaked up some of the moisture, but the last thing he needed was a soaking wet mattress.  Gus rushed to the storage room to grab an empty bucket to collect as much rain water as he could until Robin could come by to fix his roof.  Hopefully it wouldn’t be long or else he’d be back and forth all day dumping the bucket.  It was expected to rain heavily all day long.

The next sign that Gus’ day would be terrible arrived only moments later when Gus stepped on a small puddle of water that had dripped onto the floor, causing him to lose his balance and fall backward.  He slammed his back hard against the footboard of his bed, causing him to yelp out in pain.  His already bad back was now throbbing in pain.  Wincing, Gus rose from the floor and hobbled across the room to at least change out of his wet pajamas and into something warm and dry.

Upon opening his closet, Gus reached for a plain t-shirt and his favorite orange jacket.  It wasn’t until the jacket was on and he reached down to zip it up that he noticed the huge rip in the sleeve of his jacket.  It was likely Emily could mend it for him, but it was another rough blow to his already awful morning.  Gus elected for one of his lesser preferred jackets instead.

Being awake far earlier than he was used to, Gus shuffled out of his room into the kitchen of the saloon.  Usually he wouldn’t wake up until almost lunch time due to being up late every night for his business, but with the rain waking him up so early, he figured he would at least fix himself a meal.  It wasn’t often he ate breakfast anyway, so treating himself to a complete breakfast and a glass of homemade orange juice seemed a decent enough consolation prize.  Robin’s shop wouldn’t even open for another twenty minutes anyway.

Gus stepped into the walk-in refrigerator in the kitchen and began pulling the ingredients he needed to make his breakfast.  Once he had everything in-hand, he turned to leave and heard a high-pitched squeak.  For a moment, it sounded like a mouse.  It was enough of a distraction for Gus to momentarily forget where he was or what he was doing and the armful of ingredients he was carrying fell to the floor as Gus accidentally dropped them.  The squeak, it turned out, came from a squeaky floorboard he had stepped on and wasn’t a rodent at all.  Gus almost wished it was, at least it would have justified his flustered response.  Instead, all he was left with was no ingredients for breakfast and a huge mess to clean while his back was out of sorts.

It took over a half hour for Gus to completely clean up the spill, the cracked eggs seeped down into every crevice and cranny of the walk-in fridge.  Not to mention, it was a very chilly ordeal to clean a mess inside of such a cold space.  Gus had lost all track of time while he was cleaning the mess in the fridge and all thoughts of calling Robin to repair his roof had left his mind until the job was done.  By the time he realized it, he glanced at the clock and saw that she’d been open for fifteen minutes already.  He hoped he wasn’t too late.

“Hello there, you’ve reached the Bennetts!” Demetrius’ voice answered cheerfully when Gus finally picked up the phone to call.

“Hey Demetrius, I’m in a bit of a bind,” Gus began, getting right to his point.  There was no time for pleasantries today.  “The roof of the saloon is leaking.  Right over my bed, actually.  Any chance Robin can head out here and fix it?  I’ve got a bucket under there right now until she can make it.”

“Oh no, I wish I could say she could but she’s actually out of the house right now,” Demetrius answered apologetically.  “Her parents called her first thing this morning, her father is ill and she needed to head out to help her mother.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Gus replied sincerely.  As unfortunate as his situation was, he really was sorry to hear that there were health issues in Robin’s family.  It was a situation where Gus couldn’t in all conscience be mad at Robin for being unavailable despite his desperation.

Once he hung up with Demetrius, Gus heaved a long, heavy sigh.  Someone in town had to be able to help him, there was no way he could put it off.  There weren’t many other people in town Gus could think to ask, but he started at the top of the list and worked his way down.  Sebastian seemed like a decent possibility given that his mother was the very woman Gus needed for the job, but Seb made it quite clear that he had nothing to do with her work at all.  Shane was next on the list, he was actually quite the handyman, but the call went straight to voicemail.  Gus had to assume he was working at Joja today and had his phone silenced.  Alex at the very least was strong, but as Gus suspected he had no knowledge of how to fix a leaky roof.  Gus was even desperate enough to call Lewis who had been the town’s handyman before he was mayor, but of course his old age made him too hesitant to help Gus out.  Not that Gus could blame him, of course, but it was maddening how limited his options were.  He’d have to call a company in Grampleton or even in the city which would end up costing him at least triple what Robin would charge.

One very expensive phone call later, Gus managed to get an appointment with a roofer from Grampleton for 4:00pm , right when the dinner rush would be starting.  As anticipated, the flat fee was already more expensive, plus additional fees for travel and late notice.  Until they arrived, Gus would have to keep shuffling buckets around to catch as much water as he could.

By the time the roofer was sorted, Gus realized that there wasn’t much time left until the saloon opened at noon for lunch.  Having dropped a substantial amount of ingredients earlier in the morning, Gus knew a trip to Pierre’s was necessary.  It wasn’t far to Pierre’s store but in this rainstorm, Gus knew he’d need every protection even for such a short walk.  After another trip to his room for his raincoat, rain boots, and umbrella, Gus was ready to face the elements.  With his back still aching, Gus crossed town square slowly and carefully towards Pierre’s shop.  The last thing he needed was to try and rush to get out of the rain and fall once more.  He chuckled to himself at the thought that Doctor Harvey would commend him for choosing safety first.

The trip to Pierre’s was just as frustrating as the rest of his morning had been.  It took him quite some time just to get out of his wet rain gear and Pierre snapped at him for leaving a puddle by the entrance even though it wasn’t exactly something he could help in a rainstorm.  Pierre’s selection wasn’t great either, he was out of stock on a few ingredients that Gus needed so Gus would have to tweak his menu slightly to accommodate.  He knew he would get an earful that night when Shane couldn’t order pepper poppers.  When Gus went to checkout, he realized he’d forgotten his money at home in his rush and had to practically beg Pierre to let him pay at a later time without having to go all the way back for his money.  It wasn’t until he started to remind Pierre of his own ongoing tab at the saloon, within earshot of Caroline, that Pierre quickly shushed him and agreed that Gus could stop by the following day to pay for the groceries.

The short walk home was plagued with its own difficulties.  Gus had three bags of groceries and with one hand holding his umbrella, the other had to carry three full shopping bags while trying to keep them dry under the umbrella.  By the time he arrived back at the saloon, his hand was aching from carrying the weight of the groceries which had gotten slightly wet despite his best efforts.  Even Gus himself had gotten wet, the jacket he’d put on that morning had a drenched collar and water had gotten into his rain boots and soaked his socks through.  Another change of clothes for the day.

Lunch prep went fine enough other than a small slice of a finger while chopping onions.  On any other day Gus would consider it a terrible misfortune but today, it was nothing compared to everything else that had happened so far.  It wasn’t serious enough to warrant a visit to Doctor Harvey, thank goodness.  Nothing a bandage couldn’t fix.  It did make the rest of his lunch prep awkward and it certainly hurt, but the pain at least distracted him a bit from his aching back.

Because of the rain, the lunch “rush” wasn’t exactly a rush at all, which was fine with Gus on a day like today.  Only a few people stopped by for lunch, mostly to-go orders.  Ordinarily he’d feel bored with nothing to do or worried by a lack of paying customers, but he welcomed the chance to take a break after his busy morning.  His back was still aching from his fall and his finger throbbed uncomfortably under its bandage.  The worst he could say about the lunch crowd was that any time a customer entered the saloon, it meant drying the rain puddles left behind in their wake once they left.  Of course there was also the constant back and forth from the bar to his room to switch out buckets, a task he had to do almost every thirty minutes.

At 3:30 he could hear the door of the saloon open while he was in his bedroom, switching out yet another bucket under the leaky roof.  By now his back was on fire from the constant back and forth, lifting heavy buckets, and mopping up the puddles of water in his room and at the entrance of the saloon.  When he heard the door open, he heaved a sigh of relief knowing that help was on the way.  It was no doubt Emily arriving for her evening shift.  Gus was hoping she could take on a bit of the work tonight to give him some reprieve.  If he could manage to only get away with cooking for the night, he’d be happy.  Yet when Gus reentered the saloon, he was surprised to find Haley standing near the doorway looking around for him.

“Oh, there you are!” Haley huffed, sounding incredibly impatient and irritated.  “Honestly, we thought you were dead, you haven’t answered your phone all day.”

While Haley stood in the entrance, arms folded in annoyance, Gus rushed over to his phone to see what was the matter.  He didn’t have a cell phone as he’d never really had a need for one so he relied on a landline at the bar for any of his phone calls.  Gus groaned when he noticed he hadn’t properly set the handset back down on the charging dock and it had run out of battery.

“Geez, kid, I’m sorry,” Gus sighed, setting the phone back on the dock to start charging.  Haley huffed impatiently in response.

“I had to head all the way over here in the pouring rain just to tell you that Emily can’t come in tonight, she’s sick,” Haley went on, arms still folded angrily.  “First she’s got me running over here for her, then off to Pierre’s to pick up a few things, then over to the clinic for some medicine.  Ugh, this is the worst day ever.”

Gus had to try very hard not to burst out laughing at this response, if Haley’d known the kind of day he was having, she certainly wouldn’t consider a few errands ‘the worst day ever’.  Instead Gus swallowed the urge to rant and smiled kindly in return.  Kind smiles were his specialty, after all.

“Sorry to hear Emily’s sick,” Gus remarked in concern.  “Need me to send you with any hot soup?  Ginger ale?”

“We got it covered,” Haley replied.  “I’m just gonna stock up on cans of soup at Pierre’s, it’s fine.”

Gus cringed knowing that his employee was sick at home and would be having canned soup as her meal, it was something that he would go out of his way to stop if it were any other day.  But between the roof repairs, working solo for the night, and the numerous aches and pains he was experiencing, he begrudgingly accepted that canned soup would have to do.  Maybe on another day he would have to make it up to Emily some other way.

“Tell Emily I hope she feels better soon but that she shouldn’t worry,” Gus went on, his kind smile still plastered onto his face.  “I can handle things here.”

Haley left with a brief wave leaving Gus to sigh heavily the moment she was gone.  He didn’t entirely believe that he could handle things on his own, but there wasn’t much of a choice.  Business still had to continue with or without help.

4:00 came and went with no sign of the roofers.  Gus was getting anxious awaiting their arrival, hoping they wouldn’t cancel on him.  The buckets were filling up quickly as the rain poured down and now he was emptying full, heavy buckets every twenty minutes.  It didn’t help that by 4:00, customers were already starting to pile in.  While the lunch rush was light from people wanting to avoid being out in the rain, it seemed there was the opposite sentiment at dinnertime.  Maybe everyone was sick of being cooped up at home, maybe they didn’t feel like cooking, maybe they liked the ambience of dining in a cozy saloon during a rainstorm.  Either way, business started to pick up quickly and Gus had to strategize every minute to make sure no time, energy, or effort was wasted.  He’d find himself taking orders one minute, slicing vegetables another, running to the back to empty and replace a bucket, then back to refill a drink, then off to the burners to cook a meal, all while coping with a bandaged finger and injured back.  It was chaos.  He’d long since stopped trying to squeeze drying the floor into the mix, instead he setup his wet floor sign and hoped for the best.

Just before 6:30, Gus could hear a clang outside followed by the sound of loud thuds overhead.  The roofers must have arrived and already set to work.  The activity on the roof caused many of the patrons to stare up at the ceiling in annoyance, it certainly wasn’t the most pleasant sound and a lot of the louder thuds and clangs were drowning out the jukebox.  Gus could already see on the faces of his patrons that they were irritated and for that matter, he was irritated as well.  Of course the work had to be done, but it was hard to focus with so many distractions.  He found himself getting side-tracked in the middle of what he was doing and as a result, the orders were coming out more slowly.  This was only causing further irritation among the bar patrons.  Thankfully everyone seemed to realize many of the disadvantages Gus was working with between a bandaged finger, no extra employee to help, and a loud series of bangs outside beyond his control so no one ever complained to him.  Still, he could sense the overall tension in the room and it only added pressure to an already stressful day.  Luckily when Gus broke the news to Shane that pepper poppers weren’t an option, Shane opened his mouth to whine but stopped upon seeing the look on Gus’ face.  Though Gus was ordinarily relaxed and downright jolly, he was sure that today his bad day was reflected in his mood.

It was only a half hour or so later that the doors of the saloon opened and in walked two men Gus had never seen before, absolutely drenched.  It must be the roofers.  Their entrance alone brought a massive puddle at the doorstep of the saloon and as they walked across the room, they left a trail of rainwater in their wake.  Gus would be lucky if no one slipped and fell and slapped him with a lawsuit.

“Well we did a temporary fix for now to stop the leaking, but we’ll have to come back when it’s dry to fix it properly,” one of the men explained.  “Though truth be told, that roof’s definitely seen better days.  How old is it?”

“32 years?” Gus answered uncertainly, screwing up his face in thought to try and recall how old the roof could be.

“I guessed as much,” the other man replied.  “We can fix your roof, but your best bet will just be to replace it.”

Gus’ stomach clenched at this news.  Of course.  Of course on one of the worst days he’s had, he now had to face the prospect of replacing the roof of the saloon.  Even at Robin’s rate it would still be a costly project.  Gus shook his head wearily and looked up to the roofers, not even trying to attempt his usual smile any longer.

“Well thanks for patching it up for the time being,” Gus sighed.  “How much do I owe ya?”

“We’ll mail you the bill in three to five business days,” the first man answered.  A bill that would no doubt include the travel surcharge as well as a late notice surcharge all to do a very temporary patch job.

When the roofers left, Gus stared down at the massive puddle of water in the middle of the saloon and spaced out for a moment, disconnecting entirely from everything going on around him.  The day started poorly enough, but it never let up.  It was the kind of day that beats you down until you just want to call it quits and crawl back into bed to start fresh in the morning.  Gus didn’t often have bad days and when he did, his general optimism was enough to make the best of it.  Today, there was nothing at all to make the best of, no silver lining he could find and no positive twist he could spin.  Today was horrible.  It only got worse when he snapped out of his brief moment of calm to the smell of smoke.  The arrival of the roofers had snatched Gus’ attention from the fish he was cooking on the stove and now the filet was smoking in the pan, most definitely burnt by this point.  Gus rushed to turn the burner off and removed the fish from the heat in a panic.  Just when he felt seconds away from a total breakdown, he could hear a soft, gentle voice to his right.

“Gus… are you okay?”

Doctor Harvey tilted his head with an expression of concern, clearly noticing Gus’ flustered state.  As usual whenever Gus was going through personal problems or having a rough day, he attempted to suck it up and put on a warm, welcoming face for his patrons.  Many of them came to the saloon for an escape from their own problems, they certainly didn’t need to contend with his.  But the moment Gus even tried to plaster a smile onto his face, he could feel his shoulders shaking as a swell of emotion took over.  He was moments away from bursting into tears.

“I…” Gus began in a shaky voice, still grasping at the chance that he could play it off but ultimately failing.  “No… no, I’m not.”

Harvey very suddenly looked on high alert and his friendly concern became far more serious.

“Are you in need of immediate medical attention?” Harvey asked suddenly, already rising from his barstool.  As awful as his day had been, Gus couldn’t help but chuckle at Harvey’s reaction.  He couldn’t explain why, but it was amusing how quickly Harvey was ready to jump into action if needed.

“No, no, nothing like that, Doctor H,” Gus replied, shaking his head.  “Just a bad day.  I won’t bend your ear, I’ll… I’ll handle it.  Sorry for burning your fish, I’ll get started on another one right away.”

Before Gus could even turn around, however, he noticed Harvey shake his head vigorously and pull out the barstool next to him.  Though Harvey was often quiet and reserved, preferring to keep to himself whenever he was at the saloon, in this moment he smiled a kind and welcoming smile as he patted the seat next to him.

“That won’t be necessary,” Harvey replied.  “I can’t in good conscience contribute to your hectic night tonight.  If you’d like to join me and talk about it you’re more than welcome to or you can take a seat behind the bar to unwind for a bit.  Either way, you need a break.  Doctor’s orders.”

It was strange how quickly all eyes in the saloon were on Gus the moment he stepped away from the bar, walked around the counter, and took a seat on the barstool beside Harvey.  Everyone had only ever seen him behind the bar taking orders, filling drinks, or preparing food.  Gus couldn’t recall a time he sat on the customer’s side of the bar during business hours and clearly no one else could either.  A collective silence filled the room and no one even tried to hide their stares.  Once Gus was seated next to Harvey, it was surprisingly Shane who spoke up first.

“You doin’ alright there, Gus?” Shane asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

“Just need a breather,” Gus replied as calmly as he was capable of.  Clearly it wasn’t that calmly, though, because now all the patrons in the saloon looked just as concerned as Harvey had moments earlier.

“Is everything okay?” Marnie asked from the back of the saloon.

“Gus, what’s wrong?” Leah asked, dropping the sketch she was working on to step closer to the bar.

“Lookin’ a little pale there, Gussy, you’re scarin’ me,” Pam remarked, worry lining her face as she stared at Gus.

It seemed all of the attention in the saloon was on Gus at the moment and he wasn’t sure whether that was making this whole ordeal better or worse than it had been.  Gus wasn’t used to the spotlight on him, he was used to being the one shining the spotlight on others, encouraging them to open up and talk about whatever they needed to talk about.  Whether it was gushing over good news, venting over a rough day, or asking for advice from a friend, Gus was always there to support his patrons.  It was odd to have the tables flipped and be the one in need of support.

“Nothin’, nothin’, it’s just… it’s just a rough day,” Gus tried to explain, but no one was buying it.

“Take a load off, Gus,” Marnie offered, pulling her chair out to give Gus a more comfortable seat than a barstool.

“I’ll grab some ice water, you should stay hydrated,” Harvey remarked, already heading to the back of the bar to prepare a glass.

“Want something to eat?” Pierre offered, bringing his plate of fried calamari over.  “I’ve only had a few, you can take the rest.”

Leah hadn’t said another word, she had already started drying the large puddle in the middle of the saloon with towels she had found behind the bar.  Within minutes, Gus was seated in one chair with his feet propped up on another, ice water and food on the table next to him, in the middle of a newly dried saloon.  His patrons surrounded him, close enough to show their support but not so close that it was suffocating, and all looked at him expectantly.

“What else do you need?” Pam asked, rolling up her sleeves as though prepared to get to work on something, she just didn’t know what.

“I’d like to take a look at that bandaged finger,” Harvey pointed out, glancing at Gus’ injured hand.

“Who were those men that showed up outta nowhere?” Shane asked, glancing towards the door.  “Did they say or do anything to you?  I swear to Yoba if they did, I’ll…” Shane trailed off when he caught sight of a disapproving look from Marnie, but Gus caught Shane’s hands ball up aggressively into fists.

“I’m fine, really, I already feel so much better just to have all of your support,” Gus answered honestly.  “Those were just roofers here to look at a leak in the roof, it’s fine.  Really.  It was just one of those days where everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong but putting it all into perspective, it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.”

It was true, Gus was already feeling better just in the few short minutes that had passed.  Moments earlier he had been on the verge of a breakdown but it was incredible how quickly that changed just from receiving the love and support of his community.  It was always Gus who was the one providing support, providing help, providing a shoulder to cry on.  He’d never needed the same in return until now but seeing how his patrons responded in his moment of need was overwhelming.  It warmed his heart to know that if he ever truly needed anyone, they would all be there for him, ready to help and support him.  They proved it tonight.  Today may have been one of the worst days Gus had had in quite some time, but tonight somehow proved in an odd and unexpected way to be one of the best.

[whereflowersbloom]

Cracked heart

He had made a terrible mistake. Somehow, before the tragedy he’d begun to believe in the visions of a bright and hopeful future. Of a new world where the stars listened and dreams were answered. His half-human heart had shown him how foolish he was. It was his fault. It had been all his damn fault.

Everything was maddening chaos. Red lights and noisy alerts in the monitoring equipment of the Tower. Nightwing yelling orders at everyone, preparing for a major battle. Starfire organized two groups. There two teams were forcibly separated by a force field that cut off compete communication between them. Of course they never expected the aftermath would cost them more than they were able to imagine...

"We need to wait for Raven.” He answered to Starfire, his voice cracking mid-sentence. He knew he they had to leave, but if they could just wait one more minute. One more minute. For her. He wouldn’t leave her behind. More voices warning him to hurry up. It was too much for his ears and head.

“I can't leave her behind!" His voice shakes with panic and fear, his entire being was shaking as the alarms blasted his ears, red lights flashing continually. He doesn’t waste any more time and took off to the sky eyes scanning for any signs of Raven.

Deep inside, a small part of him was sobbing in wretched, horrified guilt as his half-kryptonian eyes looked at the brutalized body of his teammate. He recalled her expression. Heartbreaking panic and torment made her achingly familiar eyes bright and chaotic. There was a desire stirring inside him to return to the days before she became broken, before her inconsolable soul shattered, a minute, a single minute just to save him was the key to her happiness. But even he knew such wounds of the heart never healed even with the fast flow of time.

With his heart clenching painfully he took a step closer to her door room. He didn’t bother to knock, quietly he opened the door and let himself in.

“Raven...” Conner released a breath that he hadn’t fully realized he had been holding and felt his shoulders slump with inhuman physical fatigue.

Raven opened her amethyst eyes to meet electric blue ones, she recognized the guilt in them. She had stayed in her room for more than five days. She closed her eyes and begged to Azar this was a terrible nightmare, to listen to her prayers. Let him live. Please let him come back to me. She still wanted to scream. Instead she turned away and looked towards the window. Most days, she would only stare vacantly into space. Sometimes kept looking at the clock visualizing Damian walking inside, done with patrolling, allowing her to listen to his steady heartbeat as they snuggled in their bed.

“He’s dead.” Her voice was so low and hoarse that Conner felt a bile of anger in his throat. Raven sounded devastatingly broken. She sounded disappointed that she did not sound like herself or was it the hurt of admitting the cruel truth out loud.

She likely needed a shower since her hair was greasy but she could not find the energy to climb out of bed and get into the shower. Couldn’t find the energy or will to do anything. She felt disgusting. Kori had informed her she was suffering from depression and when she was ready to seek therapy or medication, they would be there for her in any way. Raven did not believe she was truly depressed. The idea seemed bizarre. She had just lost...her lover. One half of her soul. Her heart had been ripped out her chest and spattered. Robin was gone. Damian.

Conner swallowed hard. The grief and sorrow were consuming her slowly, eating her up from inside out. Her face was breaking out, particularly around her forehead and chin. Her eyes had dark circles and her face appeared so shallow that she looked like a different person. This was not the Raven he knew.

Please, he begged silently, please understand. Please let me save you. Those words were the ones he wanted to voice with urgency. ‘He isn’t here but I love you’ even so he couldn’t confess his feelings for her. Not when she’s in this state.

It’s over, they were back home but it’s never over really. In her mind, she was in another world part of another constellation and system, it’s on fire. There was nothing else she could think about, nothing else she could feel. But the scalding hot flames turning her lover to ashes and dust. Reduced to nothing. In minutes Robin was gone. All Conner could feel in that moment was the blurriness in his vision perhaps caused by the sting of the radiation or the fact that he could barely get any air inside his lungs despite his alien genes. The grim realization that he probably couldn’t keep going any longer, if he didn’t step her out in time, hitting him hard and suddenly, making a rush of raw pain spread through his body like poison. There was no time to mourn Robin, there was nothing left of him to take except for his sword, which Raven clung almost inseparably to as if her life depended on it. His last possession. No time to be relieved that they were both alive, or scared to death because she was in such danger. She persisted using her powers attempting to bring the dead back to life; fruitless. No success. She used up all her magic and energy until she eventually collapsed. Conner made the decision then, quickly he took her in his arms and flew away from this everlasting bloody hell of a place.

He was right here last week and all of a sudden he was gone. “Damian is gone...” She cried painfully with broken voice, finally it all was let out with anguished screams and sobs, and then she could not breathe. All the emotions she had been holding onto for the best part of the week. She felt trapped in her own body, her mind racing at ninety miles an hour, her heart felt like it was going to explode, and then she was hyperventilating. Overwhelmed. Her boyfriend, second in command of their team and the strongest person she knew....was dead. Her gentle Damian.

After a minute she perceived a source of warmth embracing her protectively.

It was Conner and as soon as he saw Raven’s sweaty and trembling state he immediately went over to her and tried to get her to use him to support herself and get control over her breathing.

“Focus on my voice Raven." Conner whispered soothingly, stroking her dark hair until she calmed down. "You're gonna make through this, I promise." She let out another sob and he continued to rock her back and forth. He closed his eyes shut as he felt like his heart was being stabbed over and over again. Gods, how powerless he was not being able to comfort the woman he loved profoundly.

Never he thought that she would need him this much. He dreamed of having her in his arms countless times but never this way. He would have fought for her openly. Made his intentions clear as water. Why did Wayne had to be so reckless and jump to action? Where did his so called redemption and sacrifice got him?

Something else inside him twisted as he thought the kind of pain she must be feeling to let him cradle her like this. She had never shown him such vulnerability, fragility so defenseless. Somply touching her making it seem like she would vanish in the air. Yes, everyone mourned Robin but none had the right to mourn him like she did.

“He died before my eyes... I couldn’t bring him back...” As those words hit her in the chest once again for the thousandth time in five days. She squeezed violet eyes shut as fresh tears burned at now red eyes. The life they had built had crumbled away, she had none of it now. Nothing.

Her hot tears streaming down her face hit him like a punch to the gut. The sound that escaped pink lips could hardly be called human, a mix between a sob and a wail. The mournful melody of a banshee weeping resonating betond all other sounds on earth. She felt her knees buckle beneath and almost crumpled to the floor but Conner got her. He would never let her fall or suffer alone. No.

"I'm here. I will always be here for you, I promise." He vowed solemnly with firm voice, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. He wished to held her a little tighter. For a little longer. For her to see him with a new light, gave him a ray of hope.

He didn't know how long they remained like that. And honestly he didn't care. Even if his arms could hurt for holding her, and his back ached like hell for being in the same position for god knows how long. He didn’t give a single fuck.

All he cared about was that no matter what, he would have done absolutely everything in his power to make sure that she got through this. It would take a very long time. And maybe she wouldn’t be completely whole again, but whatever she had to offer him in the future. He would gladly accept it and stand by her side until the end of time. Because he understood perfectly you didn’t just move on and get over the love of your life. Conner knew it too well. He would keep her safe for him, in his name.

As the sky loved the mountains providing rain to water their trees, helping them grow strong gracefully and with ease. He would love her the same.

I’m feelings bit down so I wrote some sad and angsty Damirae/Konrae sorry 😭😭😭

Might edit later but hope you enjoy @amaati @grassfour @andthendk @xxitzmikoxx @niahti @alerialblu

[chenziee]

if you’re still taking requests -

sick, drunk, sleepy or hurt Sanji x Zoro

no emeto please😰

thank you

Thank you so much for the request, anon! I had a lot of fun with this one, I hope you like it :D

Here goes drabble request #3~

Excuses

As Zoro carried the stupid shitty cook back to the men’s room, he wondered what had gotten into Sanji today. He didn’t drink this much, not even when there was a reason to. He might get tipsy or even drunk sometimes during parties but not to the point of passing out and someone has to carry him to bed.

Why was Zoro the one taking him back anyway? He sure as hell didn’t know. Once the cook fell asleep on them, the girls started whispering and then decided by themselves that Zoro had to go. He had tried to protest but once Nami threatened to raise the interest on the money he had borrowed last time again, there was nothing he could really do. He still didn’t understand what Nami’s smirk and Robin’s sly smile were supposed to mean, though.

Dropping Sanji onto his bed, Zoro sighed. This guy really was hopeless. Maybe some girl dumped him, he thought bitterly, not entirely sure why the idea pissed him off so much.

“You could have at least put me down gently, Marimo. Since you just had to carry me like a sack of potatoes,” Sanji mumbled, his words slightly slurred as he slowly blinked up at Zoro through his eyelashes.

Zoro rolled his eyes. “So what, you gonna kick me? In that state?”

“No, but I might just accidentally cover your food in chocolate tomorrow.”

Zoro clicked his tongue, lightly kicking Sanji’s shin for that before he replied, “Don’t be disgusting.”

Sanji laughed, the sound light and more relaxed than it ever was when he was talking to Zoro and the swordsman startled at how nice it sounded. He could really get used to it. If only the man himself wasn’t so incredibly maddening, maybe then this something between them wouldn’t be so frustrating.

Running his hand through his hair, Zoro tried to chase his thoughts away. It wouldn’t do any good to go there anyway; no matter how big Zoro’s crush might or might not be and how long Sanji would stare when he thought Zoro was too busy training to notice. “Whatever,” he finally sighed and shot Sanji a look, crossing his arms over his chest. “Sleep it off, shitty cook. I don’t know why you got so shitfaced but let me tell you, it does you no good.”

“Speaking from experience?” Sanji asked, a teasing lilt to his voice and Zoro chuckled, a smirk pulling on his lips.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he asked, laughing at the way Sanji stuck his tongue out at him.

Zoro was about to turn around and leave to let him sleep but Sanji spoke up again, his voice suddenly turning serious. “Wouldn’t you want to know why I got myself drunk?”

Zoro frowned, regarding Sanji with a long, contemplative look. What was he getting at? It wasn’t exactly Zoro’s business, nor should it be. Right? So why did it look like Sanji was begging him to ask? They stared at each other for a moment, brown to blue, inquisitive to almost begging. Zoro had to wonder what that look meant.

Finally, he sighed, shaking his head at the blond before humoring him. “Fine. Why did you get drunk and pretended to pass out?”

The other man grinned, a spark appearing his his eyes that made Zoro’s heart skip a beat. Sanji didn’t immediately answer; instead, he slowly raised one of his arms and Zoro could only watch as the cook’s hand came to gently rest over his chest. He really hoped the cook couldn’t feel the way his heartbeat sped up at the contact but judging by the smile that pulled on the blond’s lips—he probably did. But Zoro wasn’t the one doing weird shit and touching him so gently so it was all on Sanji.

That was what he was going to say anyway, if it came down to it.

Suddenly, Sanji’s hand curled into a fist, grabbing onto Zoro’s shirt tightly and before the swordsman could so much as gasp in surprise, he was yanked forward and down until he fell onto the bed as well.

He only barely managed to catch himself before the two of them broke each other’s noses; instead, Zoro found himself lying on top of Sanji, their chests pressed together and their faces so close that he could feel Sanji’s breath against his skin and hear his quiet, carefree giggle in his ear. At the very least, it didn’t seem like this position bothered the cook at all, even though Zoro basically had him pinned to the bed under him.

Zoro frowned in confusion, still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. “What are you—”

“I got drunk—” Sanji interrupted him before Zoro could even finish his question— “so I had an excuse to do this.” As soon as he was done speaking, Sanji raised his head and closed what little space was left between them.

Zoro’s eye widened in shock and disbelief. He only lay there, frozen, letting Sanji kiss him with his soft, slightly chapped lips which Zoro had wished for so long that he could taste, the simple touch sending shivers down his spine and making his head spin. He wondered, if he opened his mouth and let his tongue run over those lips, if they would taste like sake, like the lobster they had for dinner earlier, like cigarettes. Maybe it would be a mix of all three, or maybe something completely different. He wanted to find out so bad.

But then it was over, as soon as it started. Zoro didn’t get to do anything, didn’t even have the time to kiss him back before Sanji released his shirt and let his head fall back down, his breathing heavy and a bright blush on his cheeks. His eyes veered off to the side refusing to look at Zoro and damn, Zoro really wanted to kiss him again.

“Okay, you can get off now,” Sanji mumbled, his words barely audible.

Zoro only huffed, not moving and not bothering to fight the smile that spread on his lips. “You got drunk just so that you could kiss me?”

If at all possible, Sanji blushed even deeper. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fine,” Zoro said casually, doing his best to keep his amusement out of his voice. “Then I guess I won’t have any idea about what I’m gonna do to you now either.”

—————

When Zoro went to sleep that night, it was with the taste of sake, cigarettes, and toothpaste on his lips.

When Sanji woke up the next morning, it was with a blush on his cheeks, a hickey on his neck, and a smile on his face.

[sonderthroughthestreets]

@robbesdriesen you chose 4! So here it is 😌💫

4. “I can’t believe you!”

Dialogue prompts!

Edit: it says he’s halfway across the world and that’s because he was supposed to be in New York but I’m dumb and wrote Paris 🙈

✧ Happy one year anniversary of us being friends bb!! ✧

He was flipping pages back and forth and not a single word was going into his head.

It was raining outside, the pitter-patter of the droplets hitting the window, slowly making their way down to the pane and the sky was as grey as ever, clouds engulfed in each other blending into a hazy wash. Robbe thought it some cruel pathetic fallacy mocking him for the way he felt because he felt rather gloomy on this particular day. His mother was out and wouldn’t be back until later in the evening and though he had some studying to do this weekend, he still felt restless and incomplete.

It also didn’t help that the love of his life was halfway across the world right now.

But it was okay. It had to be.

Because when Sander had told Robbe about this brilliant opportunity to showcase his art internationally, he couldn’t contain his excitement and the sparkle in his eye as he envisioned it all already. His face had lit up completely because “Robbe you don’t understand out of all the students, they only choose three!” and “This is like the opportunity of a lifetime” and “This could mean so much for my career, it’s gonna be so great I can feel it in my bones.”

Then came the doubt. “But what if I’m not good enough?” and “What if they don’t like my work and I slaved away for these pieces for nothing and what if this was all a mistake and they hadn’t even meant to choose me?” and then finally as he had looked down, his eyes losing all that spark, “And it means leaving you.”

Sander might have thought that Robbe didn’t understand the weight of those words, but he did. He knew that even though Sander was leaving now for about three weeks to London, New York and Paris, a week in each city, if he was successful, he’d move onto bigger things. He’d gain publicity and he’d be asked to be present in more showings and if fate allowed it all, then pretty soon he wouldn’t be here much or have much time for him. But Robbe was ready to except that because this was Sander’s dream. This was literally what he’d been working for this whole time. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.

“You should go,” he had said, encasing Sander’s hands in his. “You have to go because Sander, your art is breathtaking and it deserves to be seen and even if it means leaving, I know you’d do the same for me.”

And Sander had squeezed his hands back, his heart and gut wrenching at the thought of it all and with the utmost sincerity, with absolutely no hesitation, he’d whispered back, “I would.”

So, he’d packed up for London, the first city in his mini tour, and he’d endured his mother’s fussing while simultaneously mentioning how proud of him she was and he’d trapped Robbe in the longest hug he could possibly maintain before boarding his plane, his head peeking back at the gates, bleached hair falling over his forehead.

That was about three weeks ago and Robbe had just learned that Sander’s stay would be extended for one week more. While they’d FaceTimed whenever they could, Robbe couldn’t stop the ache in his chest, the burning longing that tingled as soon as he woke up, lingering still after a night out with his friends, soaking into him as he fell asleep. And he still felt it now as he sat there at his desk, textbook open but his thoughts diverting to soft hair, the lashes upon his green eyes, the moles on the side of his face. Just as he was about to try to really focus on the letters of the page to get that feeling out, he saw his phone light up beside him.

It was Sander calling him and he felt his soul replenish a little at the sight of his name.

“Hey,” he smiled into the greeting, lifting his phone up to his ear.

“Hi, Robin,” Sander’s voice came through, deep and raspy and filled with a static haze.

“You’re not gonna FaceTime me?” he asked him. He heard more static, some shuffling around and it was a while before he responded again.

“Uh no, no FaceTiming this time,” replied Sander, the hint of a smile already present in his voice. “I mean we won’t need to for now.”

Robbe was now suspicious with his cryptic words.

“What are you up to?” he asked, knowing his boyfriend was capable of the most outrageous shenanigans. And even though he was technically in Paris right now, that didn’t mean he didn’t send him videos of the stupid shit he’d be doing in the hotel lobby.

Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time for sight-seeing and Sander had said it ‘keeps him busy’ to which Robbe had laughed and said ‘don’t fuck it up and get in trouble.’

He still hadn’t answered as more shuffling proceeded to sound through the phone.

“How’s your day been?” Sander asked. He probably hadn’t heard him.

“Good. Would’ve been better with you here,” Robbe chuckled.

“Same.”

There came more shuffling and breathing, like Sander might’ve been lightly jogging. It made Robbe all the more curious.

“Sander are you out right now? What exactly are you doing?” he asked again.

He heard his laugh shimmer through the phone, low and enticing, and it made him long for him even more.

“Patience, Robin,” he said and Robbe could practically see the smile that was probably stretched across his lips.

“Precious coming from you,” he teased.

Sander let out a real laugh now, faded and a bit distorted from the line that for some reason didn’t seem to want to connect very well today, but Robbe still wanted to drown in it.

“Just...hold on a sec. I’ll see you soon,” he said.

“What does that mean?” Robbe asked. But Sander was already bidding his goodbyes. “Sander, no, what do you mean?”

He sighed as the line cut, but then suddenly there was a loud knock mimicking the beat of his heart and the look of confusion across his face turned into anticipation as he slowly put the pieces together.

Opening the door, he failed to let his eyes adjust to what he was seeing. He even blinked a few times just to be sure.

No way this was real.

Because there was Sander standing in the doorway in his black leather jacket and his Doc Martens splattered slightly with mud, his bleached hair a little damp from the mist of the rain and his eyes shining bright with a smile.

‘Missed me?” he said.

And Robbe couldn’t help but pull him in, pull him closer and envelope him in an embrace that was sure to break a few ribs. His arms wrapped around him tight, wrinkling his jacket as Sander’s hands returned the gesture, holding his back, fingers grasping softly at the fabric of his dark sweater. Robbe breathed him in. He was almost certain he was forgetting what Sander smelled like and the shirts he’d loaned him weren’t nearly enough. The thing about rain though, is that it always heightened a smell, made it stronger, heavier. The faint scent of leather and cologne and something sterile that smelled of airport clung to him. He buried his nose in the ends of his hair and squeezed him even tighter. He felt Sander do the same, face hidden in his dark curls.

Robbe slowly pulled back but only to lightly smack his arm.

“I can’t believe you!” he exclaimed with the biggest smile on his face, his sentence breaking off in laughter. “You said you’d be back next week.”

“Are you really yelling at me because I came back early? I’ll go back to Paris, the hotel was pretty nice there,” Sander pointed his thumb toward the door.

Robbe just laughed with him, shaking his head, not quite believing this was reality and not a dream.

“I missed you,” he said.

Sander pulled him in, his finger delicately running along his jaw, his thumb tracing the supple skin of his cheek. His eyes flickered from the deep browns in Robbe’s down to his lips still curved at the corners, a residual of a smile. He leaned in and then just waited, playfully delaying this moment.

Fucking tease.

When his lips met him, it was soft and airy, light and feathery, like a barely-there press against his skin. He took his time with that first kiss. The second one, however, devoured him and deemed him senseless. It was urgent and needy, it was tongue tracing into his mouth, it was unspoken words of their love, it was deep and driven and maddening, maddening. Over and over and over and over again.

They pulled away with breathy sighs, lips lingering near the other. Robbe pressed another light kiss to his mouth and their hands travelled slowly, Robbe’s from his neck to his shoulders and Sander’s from his hair to his waist.

“I missed you, too,” Sander whispered into him.

He gave him one more sickeningly sweet kiss.

“Come on, let’s get you warm and then you can tell me all about your showcase,” said Robbe, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from Sander’s forehead.

They got settled in and Robbe heated some leftover lasagna from the fridge and they ate leisurely under the glow of the kitchen lights. Or rather, Robbe ate while Sander took a forkful only to settle his hand near the plate as his other one gestured the words he was saying, talking excitedly about his trip.

“It was amazing, Robbe! There were so many great pieces and the others who were chosen, Elise and Oscar, right? Their stuff is so cool. I think I took some shots before we left, but some of them should be up on the gallery website anyway and I was like,so fucking nervous,” he then looked over at Robbe. “Like I truly wished you were there to hold my hand and I reached for it before realizing you weren’t there and instead I almost held hands with Elise and then she gave me a really weird look after,” he rambled.

Robbe just watched him with all the love in his heart and all the adoration in his eyes.

“That’s cute,” he said leaning closer to him, palm in his cheek.

“No, it was so fucking embarrassing,” Sander gave him a look.

Robbe refused to believe Sander got embarrassed about anything, but after being with him for more than a year, he knew that he tended to get really nervous when it came to art showings. It’s not that he cared about his art being on display, it was mainly the people and the atmosphere and some sense of pretentiousness he couldn’t handle.

He sighed, finally taking a bite of his lasagna.

“Enough about me, though,” he said. “How have you been?” he asked like he didn’t text him that every day. “And where’s your mom? I didn’t get to say hi.”

“I’ve been good. Just studying and missing you and my mom’s out for a bit but she’ll be back,” Robbe chuckled.

Sander nodded.

Then, something settled in the air as Sander forked his lasagna, sticking the metal in the dish this way and that. His lips curved into something, some sort of bittersweet emotion Robbe couldn’t get a grip on.

“It was good, Robbe,” he said quietly, talking about the showcase. Some longing was seeping into his voice. “I mean it was really good.”

Robbe put a hand over his as his stood up with his empty plate (he’d been done his food for a while).

“That’s good,” he smiled, trying to convey with his eyes that he meant it and that whatever insecurities or doubts or irrational fears he had were all in his head because Robbe supported him. He knew how much he wanted this.

He walked over to set the plate in the sink, a chore for later once Sander finished his slice, and then he stepped back slowly grabbing onto Sander’s shoulders, his navy hoodie wrinkling under his fingertips and swung his legs around him as he sat his in lap. Sander let him, holding his thighs to balance him.

“I don’t know what I’ll do if I actually make it. If I actually somehow become an artist,” he said as Robbe leaned into him, his face drawing close.

“You are an artist,” he smiled.

“Yeah, well,” Sander snorted. “A well-known artist, then.” He brushed his nose across his, playfully nuzzling it up. “I’d take you with me next time,” he said.

“We both know you can’t do that,” Robbe let out a rumbling laugh.

“I’d take you anywhere with me,” Sander now stroked his arm, pushing up the sleeve of his sweater a bit, exposing the skin on Robbe’s wrist where his heart pulsed rapidly.

“Hhmm.”

“Would you come with me?”

“You know I would.”

And then there weren’t words left between them anymore. The space had closed and it was lips on each other once again, heads titling and mouths tasting. They mostly tasted of salty and savoury, a bit of leftover grease from the lasagna. But Robbe wouldn’t have it any other way. He wrapped his arms around him tighter, smiling into the kisses he gave and received.

And it went like so for a bit.

Being absolutely overwhelmed with a need for other. Waves inevitably crashing into rocks as they crashed into each other. Some hollowed form being filled by each other, moulding and meshing and weaving and intertwining. It was some kaleidoscope of colours bursting at the seams, some devastating desire and want.

It was

I love you

Me too

I missed you.

I know.

I miss you.

I’m right here.

And suddenly, Sander was lifting him off the chair, barely making it to Robbe’s room in the mess of giggles and kisses adorned with love. His plate of lasagna was still untouched but it was fine because Robbe got the feeling Sander was hungry for something else.

A hunger filled with yearning and joy passion and warmth.

And like he could imagine him saying...

Who was better than Robbe to satiate such a feeling.

[jamespotterthefirst]

Adore You (Ethan x F!MC)

Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Lilac Allende) Word count: 1,000+ Warning: Adult language Premise: Ask from @hatescapsicum​ : Can you please write a fic where Ethan "I'm a spoiled child" Ramsey mulls over the day's events and realizes how massively fucked he is and how utterly powerless he is in front of MC?

_____________________________

“For someone who's always talking about the way life works, sometimes you don't seem to get it.”

After the day he had, the last thing Ethan needed was to add insult to injury. Yet, his traitorous mind replayed her scathing words in a constant loop. 

If it had been anyone else, Ethan would have returned the insults tenfold, spectacularly ending his speech with a write-up or worse. The problem was that no one else at that hospital would have dared to set him right. 

“Oh, I'm sorry. Would you prefer ‘spoiled child?’ Or maybe ‘entitled jackass?’ Baz, June, and I are doing our best in a crappy situation. What exactly are you doing to help?”

No, the real problem was that, instead of nursing a bruised ego, Ethan found himself repressing an ever-growing admiration for her, paired with a swelling in his chest he refused to acknowledge. 

This power she held over him without even knowing or trying was maddening.

He was utterly fucked. 

Ethan stopped at the sliding doors of the diagnostics office. There she was, her back to him, her attention enraptured in a patient file. 

At the sound of his approach, Lilac shut the file and turned. “Sorry, Baz, I was on my way — ” Their eyes met and she paused. “Oh. I just came in here for the Solano file.” 

As he neared, he noticed the deep set crease in her brow and the carefully schooled smile she offered him, too weak to be authentic. 

“You're agonizing over something,” he observed. 

Lilac blinked, surprise etched on her beautiful features. A quick flush colored her cheeks. She was no doubt wondering how he could possibly know that with such certainty. 

Instead of asking him that, she gave a defeated sigh, shoulders deflating. “We saved Leland Bloom’s life today.” 

“That we did.” 

“Then why do I feel so fucking awful about it?”

“Ah, that,” he said wearily, running a hand down his face, the exhaustion of the day finally weighing on him.

There was a long pause as he considered his response. The shit storm that had been the Leland Bloom case was weighing heavily on him too.

“I won't lie to you and say that we should nullify our feelings of disgust and guilt because we saved someone,” he started at last. “But I can tell you, with absolute confidence, that the unfair advantage people like Leland Bloom have over others is not your fault.”

Lilac laughed humorlessly. “No, what is my fault is exploiting that advantage for the sake of monetary gain.”

“To help patients in desperate need of care,” he returned without missing a beat. His voice rose slightly impassioned. “Lilac, you were right. We might not always agree with the outcome but you were still right all along. Don't let the shitty state of our country's healthcare system or me acting like an ass convince you otherwise.”

Lilac looked wholly unconvinced. The way she gazed at him then, tormented and doubtful, was a far cry from the vehement, righteous Lilac who put him in his place. She had looked confident, beautiful in her fury, and more of an equal than a subordinate. 

He felt a stab of guilt for being the asshole who made her doubt herself. 

Ethan sighed. “Lilac, you’re better than this,” he said almost imploringly. His feet, of their own volition, carried him closer to her until only a feet or two separated them. 

 He offered her a small smile. “Just think of it as draining the rich of their money to give to those who need it.”

To his relief, she smiled at that. A playful arch of an eyebrow as she said, “Are you suggesting I think of myself as Robin Hood?" 

Ethan rolled his eyes, a smile of his own threatening to break over his face. “I'm not encouraging you to actually steal from them, Lilac. And if you are, don't tell me so I can have some deniability.”

“A doctor having deniability —” 

“If you make a Hamilton reference, I swear to God,” he interjected sternly though not unkindly.

That earned him genuine, delighted laughter that made his stomach feel weightless. He enjoyed the sound, feeling far too gratified that he was the one to make her laugh like that. 

They had moved closer to one another unintentionally, mere inches separating them now in the quiet office. 

When her laughter naturally subsided, she quietly studied his face, lovely green eyes finally fixing on his. Her teeth bit into her lower lip, a tell of her anxiousness. Ethan’s eyes focused on her lips and all coherent thought abandoned him. 

“Ethan, what I said, the other day at Leland's…” she started, the words spilling out in a rush. It was almost as if she wanted to say them before she ran out of courage. 

“When you called me a spoiled child?”

She grimaced at the memory. 

“And an entitled jackass,” she added.

“I recall.”

“I might've been too harsh.”

“You were harsh,” he allowed. “But I was being an unwarranted, unrestrained asshole all that morning. That's exactly what I deserved and probably more.”

It was definitely admiration and pride, that feeling stabbing through his chest. In a mere year, she had gone from an almost meek intern who wilted under his stern feedback to a self-assured, empowered doctor who could call him out without a moment’s hesitation. 

She said nothing, probably playing his jarring words from that morning in her own head.

 “I’m sorry for that,” he said quietly. “I was out of line with my remarks to you that day. You didn’t deserve that.” 

There was a short, stunned silence as both allowed the rare Ethan Ramsey apology sink in. 

Then, with a small smile, Lilac stepped even closer, completely closing the space between them. Her hand reached up to rest on the ridge of his jaw, thumb tracing the line of his cheekbone. The gesture, so intimate that it made his breath catch, was her way of accepting his apology. 

He allowed his eyes to close briefly against her touch. When he opened them again, he hoped she would not recognize the unconcealed love struck way in which he looked at her. 

It was the most contact they allowed each other to have. Lilac must have realized this at the same time as him because she gently dropped her hand and stepped back. 

A small silence. 

“So,” she said with a playful glint in her eyes. “You listened to Hamilton.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “What makes you so sure?”

“You got my reference,” she returned. “Way to keep up with the youth, old man.”

He almost laughed at her teasing. “You’re impossible.”

That laugh again, tantalizing and beautiful. He resisted the impulse of staring at her, awestruck as he was. 

He was utterly fucked. 

__________

Author’s Note: She was agonizing over you, Ethan. 

Also, all I can think about now is MC convincing Ethan to go see Hamilton live. They can go on his one dollar a year salary.

THANK you so much for reading. Truly! 

Masterlist

_______

Tags: @openheart12​ | @ethandaddyramsey​ | @noboundariesplease​ | @silverlitskies​ | @the-soot-sprite | @infinitiestones | @emotionalswift2 | @flyawayboo |  @paulfwesley | @hatescapsicum​| @myusualnerdyself​ | @thatysn​ | @choicesyouplayandmore​ | @chasingrobbie​ | @trappedinfandoms​

[hecallsmehischild]

Recent Media Consumed

Books

A Knot in the Grain and Other Stories by Robin McKinley. Not bad for a fantasy short story compilation, but as I read the stories I felt like too many questions went unanswered, or the answer wasn’t clear enough. I know there’s an art to not answering questions and making that intentional, but I didn’t pick up the feeling of the author being intentionally vague. It was still fun to read. I’m really just in a fantasy binge mode.

Fire and Water by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson. Both books are collections of short stories based on elemental spirits. Eh…. they were okay. Didn’t like them as much as the others.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Hard book to get through. There’s so much monologuing and it doesn’t all make sense to me. People seem to be talking trite nonsense half the time and then being unbearably deep the other half. It is an interesting look at morbid aspects of the human heart. Might be that it’s a bit over my head to appreciate fully, but I’d like to read at least one more by this author. Maybe The Brothers Karamazov.

Movies

Hello Dolly. (mini liveblogging of reactions) There are way too many musicals I have not gotten around to seeing, simply because I have old favorites and sometimes it’s hard to get out of a rut. I am two minutes and four seconds in and CLEARLY not watching this before now was a failure on my part. I am in awe of the opening sequence that is just a series of legs and feet, but they are all moving to the music and they tell a dozen different stories that are very easy to understand even without seeing anybody’s top half, this is EXCELLENT framing and shooting and I feel like I’m in for a real treat. (In the middle of “It takes a woman”) I cannot tell you how much I missed over the top satire. This very much has the feel of My Fair Lady’s “With A Little Bit of Luck”. But then it’s taken up by the protagonist with an entirely different tone and WHAM the feels hit. I’m not enjoying all of the musical numbers, but there’s this one bit in the middle of the song about dancing where Dolly accepts a dance invitation from the grizzled old groundskeeper, and seeing this high-class looking widow take his invitation without a shred of irony, and to see him take her dancing in such a way that shows he’s clearly done this for many years and may be a widower himself, it’s just this strange sweet kind of moment that’s meant to be savored. And then again WHAM this high class widow, whenever she has a musical number in private, just NAILS you with her song and performance and all her emotions. Barbara Streisand was incredible, absolutely incredible. A lot of the other characters don’t really feel real, they feel like Musical People. She slips on the clothes of a Musical Person but then she drops the facade and shows you how hard all this is for her and it’s incredible. The movie is worth it just to watch HER. Even if it is very stressful watching her manipulate conversations and move people around like pawns. I have to say I do not, for the life of me, understand why she wants a relationship with Mr. Horace Vandergelder, or why he agrees. They look like they’ll make each other miserable for life.

Honest Thief. I went in with low “dumb robbery movie” expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I think I was most surprised by the fantastic chemistry of the couple and pretty much everyone’s acting. Aside from the acting it wasn’t anything remarkable, but everyone took it up to the next level. Nice flick. Also it tickles me to hear the voice of Aslan talking about how he carried out perfect robberies.

Nezha. Holy. Cow. Okay it doesn’t make total sense to me, not all the way through, but I chalk that up to missing cultural/lit knowledge and translation issues. Setting that aside, animation was gorgeous. Story was fun, but also compelling. There was some gross-out humor, but I’ve seen worse. And the climactic fight scene? Man. It went SO LONG but I didn’t even care. Some fight scenes drag on, but this one could have been twice as long and I would have been fine with that. The creators of this film really went all out with creativity and variety all throughout the film. I don’t totally understand the ending but I would love to see more (as the credits scenes hinted that there might be more). Oh wait, there is more and it’s called Jiang Ziya…

The Mitchells vs The Machines. This movie was so full of heart and also so full of complete over the top dumb goofiness. It kind of reminded me of Despicable Me in that way. Definitely brought a smile to my face.

Shows

Star vs the Forces of Evil. I had to re-watch through Eclipsa’s and Meteora’s arc because I’d seen that much before, but too long ago to remember. I re-watched it, then settled in for the last season which I hadn’t seen before. Watching through the new content and… I’m… disappointed. Story seems to be all over the place. The conflict is so forced it hurts. People are flatter than flat. And they’re all idiots. I feel like the show is trying to reach for a moral and don’t even know what that is from episode to episode. Wow. And as I go into the final arc, it just gets worse. Ham-fisted with zero focus and twists out of the bloody blue that make zero sense. You know… this series was hard to get into because characters were annoying and gross at the start. But then it added depth to each character and made me care about them as it went along. But everything after Eclipsa became queen has flushed all of that down the toilet as fast as possible and it is maddening to see that story-trust wasted. Nothing means anything in this story, that’s the conclusion I end up coming to. Nothing means anything and there is nobody worth caring about. I am radically disappointed. And kind of angry at the sheer number of levels at which the storytelling became terrible.

Games

Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle another controller-based game after getting so accustomed to Breath of the Wild (I’m on a second re-play of that, I play it whenever my brain is on the fritz so badly that I can’t do anything else). But it turned out to be pretty easy to get into. The hardest part is getting stuck about how to solve certain puzzles and trying to figure it out over and over. Sometimes I figure it out, but sometimes I need to look up a hint online. I’m almost at the end of the game and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. I want to play more Zelda games...

Katamari Re-Roll. This is so stupid. I mean, SO VERY STUPID. And so much fun. You start off as this tiny little person just rolling a ball around and you can pick up anything smaller than you (thumbtacks, coins, caramel candies) and as your ball gets bigger, your options open up (mice, carrots, eggs, crabs) and open up (shoes, toys, cats, dogs) and open up (humans, food carts, cows). I hear you get to roll up houses at some point. I’m looking forward to that. For now I’m at the level where I’m rolling up a lot of people. They’re all wiggly and shrieky. It’s funny. There’s a time limit on each level, and you have to reach a certain size by the time limit, which is the only really annoying thing about it. But I’m still having a lot of fun.

World of Warcraft: Classic. Of all the games I never thought I’d play, this is probably toward the top of the list. I don’t like the concept of grinding. I like story. But after playing Breath of the Wild, I also found out that I love exploration/open world type games. My husband helped me build a character and we ran around doing quests and levelling up. Now I’m a level 17 Dwarf hunter who does skinning and leatherworking. I have a pet wolf named Chompers. I’m having a lot of fun. Probably not obsessive levels of fun, but enough fun that I’m happy to sink a couple several-hour sessions a week into playing.

[birdlord]

Everything I Watched in 2020

We’ll start with movies. The number in parentheses is the year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. Here’s 2019’s list. 

01 Little Women (19)

02 The Post (17) 

03 Molly’s Game (17)

04 * Doctor No (62)

05 Groundhog Day (93)

06 *Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (86)

07 Knives Out (19) My last theatre experience (sob)

08 Professor Marston and his Wonder Women (17)

09 Les Miserables (98)

10 Midsommar (19) I’m not sure how *good* it is, but it does stick in the ol’ brain

11 *Manhattan Murder Mystery (93)

12 Marriage Story (19)

13 Kramer vs Kramer (79)

14 Jojo Rabbit (19)

15 J’ai perdu mon corps (19) a cute animated film about a hand detached from its body!

16 1917 (19)

17 Married to the Mob (88)

18 Klaus (19)

19 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (19) If Little Women made me want to wear a scarf criss-crossed around my torso, this one made me want to wear a cloak

20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (19)

21 *Lawrence of Arabia (62)

22 Gone With the Wind (39)

23 Kiss Me Deadly (55)

24 Dredd (12)

25 Heartburn (86) heard a bunch about this one in the Blank Check series on Nora Ephron, sadly after I’d watched it

26 The Long Shot (19)

27 Out of Africa (85)

28 King Kong (46)

29 *Johnny Mnemonic (95)

30 Knocked Up (07)

31 Collateral (04)

32 Bird on a Wire (90)

33 The Black Dahlia (05)

34 Long Time Running (17)

35 *Magic Mike (12)

36 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (07)

37 Cold War (18)

38 *Kramer Vs Kramer (79) yes I watched this a few months before! This was a pandemic friend group co-watch.

39 *Burn After Reading (08)

40 Last Holiday (50)

41 Fly Away Home (96)

42 *Moneyball (11) I’m sure I watch this every two years, at most??

43 Last Holiday (06) the Queen Latifah version of the 1950 movie above, lacking, of course, the brutal “poor people don’t deserve anything good” ending

44 *Safe (95)

45 Gimme Shelter (70)

46 The Daytrippers (96)

47 Experiment in Terror (62)

48 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (88)

49 My Brilliant Career (79) one of the salvations of 2020 was watching movies “with” friends. Our usual method was to video chat before the movie, sync our streaming services, and text-chat while the movie was on. 

50 Divorce Italian Style (61)

51 *Gosford Park (01) another classic comfort watch, fuck I love a G. Park

52 Hopscotch (80)

53 Brief Encounter (45)

54 Hud (63)

55 Ocean’s 8 (18)

56 *Beverly Hills Cop (84)

57 Blow the Man Down (19)

58 Constantine (05)

59 The Report (19) maddening!! How are people so consistently terrible to one another!

60 Everyday People (04)

61 Anatomy of a Murder (58)

62 Spiderman: Homecoming (17)

63 *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (95) Of the 90s drag road movies, Priscilla is more visually striking, but this has its moments.

64 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (92)

65 *The Truman Show (98)

66 Mona Lisa (86)

67 The Blob (58)

68 The Guard (11)

69 *Waiting for Guffman (96) RIP Fred Willard

70 Rocketman (19)

71 Outside In (18)

72 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (08) how strange to see a movie that you have known the premise for, but no details of, for over a decade

73 *Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (91)

74 The Reader (08)

75 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (19) This was fine until it VERY MUCH WAS NOT FINE

76 The End of the Affair (99) you try to watch a fun little romp about infidelity during the Blitz, and Graham Greene can’t help but shoehorn in a friggin crisis of religious faith

77 Must Love Dogs (05) barely any dog content, where are the dogs at

78 The Rainmaker (97)

79 *Batman & Robin (97)

80 National Lampoon’s Vacation (83) Never seen any of the non-xmas Vacations, didn’t realize the children are totally different, not just actors but ages! Also, this one is blatantly racist!

81 *Mystic Pizza (88)

82 Funny Girl (68)

83 The Sons of Katie Elder (65)

84 *Knives Out (19) another re-watch within the same year!! How does this keep happening??

85 *Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (10) a real I-just-moved-away-from-Toronto nostalgia watch

86 Canadian Bacon (92) vividly recall this VHS at the video store, but I never saw it til 2020

87 *Blood Simple (85)

88 Brittany Runs a Marathon (19)

89 The Accidental Tourist (88)

90 August Osage County (13) MELO-DRAMA!!

91 Appaloosa (08)

92 The Firm (93) Feeling good about how many iconic 80s/90s video store stalwarts I watched in 2020

93 *Almost Famous (00)

94 Whisper of the Heart (95)

95 Da 5 Bloods (20)

96 Rain Man (88)

97 True Stories (86)

98 *Risky Business (83) It’s not about what you think it’s about! It never was!

99 *The Big Chill (83)

100 The Way We Were (73)

101 Safety Last (23) It’s getting so that I might have to add the first two digits to my dates...not that I watch THAT many movies from the 1920s...

102 Phantasm (79)

103 The Burrowers (08)

104 New Jack City (91)

105 The Vanishing (88)

106 Sisters (72)

107 Puberty Blues (81) Little Aussie cinema theme, here

108 Elevator to the Gallows (58)

109 Les Diaboliques (55)

110 House (77) haha WHAT no really W H A T

111 Death Line (72)

112 Cranes are Flying (57)

113 Holes (03)

114 *Lady Vengeance (05)

115 Long Weekend (78)

116 Body Double (84)

117 The Crazies (73) I love that Romero shows the utter confusion that would no doubt reign in the case of any kind of disaster. Things fall apart.

118 Waterlilies (07)

119 *You’re Next (11)

120 Event Horizon (97)

121 Venom (18) I liked it, guys, way more than most superhero fare. Has a real sense of place and the place ISN’T New York!

122 Under the Silver Lake (18) RIP Night Call

123 *Blade Runner (82)

124 *The Birds (62) interesting to see now that I’ve read the story it came from

125 *28 Days Later (02) hits REAL FUCKIN’ DIFFERENT in a pandemic

126 Life is Sweet (90)

127 *So I Married an Axe Murderer (93) find me a more 90s movie, I dare you (it’s not possible)

128 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (67)

129 The Pelican Brief (93) 90s thrillers continue!

130 Dick Johnston is Dead (20)

131 The Bridges of Madison County (95)

132 Earth Girls are Easy (88) Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are so hot in this movie, no wonder they got married 

133 Better Watch Out (16)

134 Drowning Mona (00) trying for something like the Coen bros and not getting there

135 Au Revoir Les Enfants (87)

136 *Chasing Amy (97) Affleck is the least alluring movie lead...ever? I also think I gave Joey Lauren Adams’ character short shrift in my memory of the movie. It’s not good, but she’s more complicated than I recalled. 

137 Blackkklansman (18)

138 Being Frank (19)

139 Kiki’s Delivery Service (89)

140 Uncle Frank (20) why so many FRANKS

141 *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89) watching with pals (virtually) made it so much more fun than the usual yearly watch!

142 Half Baked (98) another, more secret Toronto nostalgia pic - RC Harris water filtration plant as a prison!

143 We’re the Millers (13)

144 All is Bright (13)

145 Defending Your Life (91)

146 Christmas Chronicles (18) I maintain that most new xmas movies are terrible, particularly now that Netflix churns them out like eggnog every year. 

147 Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (18)

148 Reindeer Games (00) what did I say about Affleck??!? WHAT DID I SAY

149 Palm Springs (20)

150 Happiest Season (20)

151 *Metropolitan (90) it’s definitely a Christmas movie

152 Black Christmas (74)

THEATRE:HOME - 2:150 (thanks pandemic)

I usually separate out docs and fiction, but I watched almost no documentaries this year (with the exception of Dick Johnston). Reality is real enough. 

TV Series

01 - BoJack Horseman (final season) - Pretty damned poignant finish to the show, replete with actual consequences for our reformed bad boy protagonist (which is more than you can say for most antiheroes of Peak TV).

02 - *Hello Ladies - I enjoy the pure awkwardness of seeing Stephen Merchant try to perform being a Regular Person, but ultimately this show tips him too far towards a nasty, Ricky Gervais-lite sort of persona. Perhaps he was always best as a cameo appearance, or lip synching with wild eyes while Chrissy Teigen giggles?

03 - Olive Kittredge - a rough watch by times. I read the book as well, later in the year. Frances Mcdormand was the best, possibly the only, casting option for the flinty lead. One episode tips into thriller territory, which is a shock. 

04 - *The Wire S3, S4, S5 - lockdown culture! It was interesting to rewatch this, then a few months later go through an enormous, culture-level reappraisal of cop-centred narratives. 

05 - Forever - a Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen joint that coasts on the charm of its leads. The premise is OK, but I wasn’t left wanting any more at the end. 

06 - *Catastrophe - a rewatch when my partner decided he wanted to see it, too!

07 - Red Oak - resolutely “OK” steaming dramedy, relied heavily on some pretty obvious cues to get across its 1980s setting. 

08 - Little Fires Everywhere - gulped this one down while in 14-day isolation, delicious! Every 90s suburban mom had that SUV, but not all of them had the requisite **secrets**

09 - The Great - fun historical comedy/drama! Costumes: lush. Actors: amusing. Race-blind casting: refreshing!

10 - The Crown S4 - this is the season everyone lost their everloving shit for, since it’s finally recent enough history that a fair chunk of the viewing audience is liable to recall it happening. 

11 - Ted Lasso - we resisted this one for a while (thought I did enjoy the ad campaign for NBC sports (!!) that it was based on). My view is that its best point was the comfort that the men on the show have (or develop, throughout the season) with the acknowledgement and sharing of their own feelings. Masculinity redux. 

12 - Moonbase 8 - Goodnatured in a way that makes you certain they will be crushed. 

13 - The Good Lord Bird - Ethan Hawke is really aging into the character actor we always hoped he would be! 

14 - Hollywood - frothy wish-fulfillment alternate history. I think the show would have been improved immeasurably by skipping the final episode.