Tumgik
#round rim sunglasses
bisamwilson · 1 year
Text
i got my eyes checked today and put in a new glasses order and it will probably be like two weeks till i get them and i’m already like pakige
12 notes · View notes
abuddyforeveryseason · 7 months
Text
Tumblr media
What if I told you this was the Buddy for March 9th? Round-rimmed sunglasses look kind of Hugo Strange-ish.
But all things considered, I like the red lines and coloring on the face and hair. It's pretty nostalgic for me since I used it when I first started drawing. And the hatching in the background's good too. I'm usually pretty lazy about drawing backgrounds, so figuring out a new hatch that works is always cause for celebration.
5 notes · View notes
faeriekit · 2 months
Text
43rd Annual Gotham Academy Bake Sale
Tumblr media
dp x dc | FosterDad!Frostbite
❄ Now available to own on video and ao3 ❄
I promised @tourettesdog a snippet of More Yetis™ ages ago and I finally finished lol
❄*❄*❄
Bruce looked up.
And up. 
...And up. 
The— parent?— glanced down at him with a fanged smile. Not— not meanly. Just fanged. As in, he had fangs. 
And thick, puffy fur. And glacial blue horns. And a soft, muzzle-esqe face, and an equally blue prosthetic arm, with what looked like his original bone structure underneath it. 
What a sight at the PTA bake sale. Bruce huffed lightly.
(Remarkably, the puff of air came out as cold steam. Huh.)
“Good afternoon,” the parent, presumably, greeted him, his voice a low rumble. “I’ve been told that the purpose of this event is to raise money for the school, so there are baked good available for purchase. Please tell me if you are interested in any of the selection.” 
Bruce watched the giant, furry parent carefully set out a crocheted blanket to serve as a tablecloth on the provided folding table, dotted the space with carefully organize tupperwares and displayed, and sanitized his— claws— before setting out little treats on round wooden trays. A stack of napkins completed the setup. 
It was a good first-time setup. Downright exotic, even, considering the setting of Gotham Academy. It had a homey, home-grown feeling that was entirely anathema to the cultivated air of the usual attending crowd. 
It was nice, though. Bruce took a picture of the table for his public instagram. 
Usually Bruce and Alfred would man a table for the younger kids, but Damian was still attending the lower school, and Duke had been opted out of participating due to…prior circumstances…which left Bruce to be an attendee rather than a fundraiser. It was kind of nice. He got to try new foods. Check things out. Meet a giant yeti. 
“They look good,” Bruce complimented, because they did. They didn’t exactly look vegan, so Damian couldn’t try one, but they did look good. “What’s this one? On the bun?” 
The giant…whatever he was daintily got himself into a folding chair. From his side-satchel came a paperback copy of Elin Hilderbrand’s Summer of ‘69. “Salmon patties on potato buns. My charge assures me that they’re perfectly edible, although we did have to shop around for a suitable vehicle with which they could be eaten.”
Alright, so the guardian had missed the boat on exactly what bake sales were supposed to consist of. So what? The food sounded good, smelled good— and for four dollars, that was a good deal. 
“Keep the change.”
They tasted good, too. “Hey," Bruce exclaimed, "This is pretty grand!”
The yeti’s eyes crinkled around the edges. The muzzle couldn’t exactly replicate a human smile, but Bruce had the distinct impression that this was the equivalent expression. “Thank you. Daniel told me that it was overkill to catch my own fish for the raising of funds, but I always prefer the taste of a fresh catch.” 
With those fangs, Bruce would believe it. He took another bite of what was probably a salmon burger. “Nothing beats fresh-from-the-sea. When I lived in London for a few months, I was very spoiled by the seafood selection.” 
The yeti’s ears swiveled upright in interest. “Oh? I will say, living in Gotham, there is a lack of interesting seafood. The shellfish grows to be as large as my arm in my home territory.” 
Well, that didn’t lower the location down to anywhere in particular. The arctic? The deep ocean? Some vast, unknown world? “Sure sounds more interesting, that’s for sure. Hey, I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new to the school?” 
The being kindly answered his nosy-enough question. “I have taken temporary leave of my people to care for my charge. As he is mostly human, his elder sister and I came to the decision that the human plane was a better locale for him to grow up in. Gotham city simply has more volatile energy floating around.” 
Bruce’s eyebrows rose up over the rims of his sunglasses. Gotham was their first choice to raise a child in? A not-completely-human child to boot? “You sure about that?” he asked, just to be clear. “It’s not so safe here. We’ve got a guy who blows up buildings for fun. I think we’ve had the most toxic gas leaks…ever, really. I love the place, I grew up here, but man do we have problems!” 
“Hm,” the yeti hummed. “We were concerned about that. Daniel spent the first few nights beating up pickpockets, however, so I foresee that he will likely enjoy the challenge.”
As someone who beats up pickpockets, Bruce had no reliable say on the matter. He took another bite of his salmon patty. He made a note of the issue nevertheless. If there was going to be a new, half-human vigilante in his home territory, that ought to be something he stays abreast of.
“Hey! B! Over here!”
Bruce spotted Duke’s hand a head above the crowd. He waved back; his newest foster edged through the crowd of wealthy parents and their nepo-baby children to make his way over, a cupcake in his hand. “Duke! Find anything good?”
“Yeah!” Duke confirmed cheerfully, raising the cupcake in his hand. He continued his approach. “They had tamarind ones at the stand Mrs. Cheng is running! I got you one just in case you wanted to try it. They were almost out, and—“
Duke paused beside Bruce. And looked up.
And up.
...And up.
Bruce didn’t bother to hide his smile. “I’m getting to know some of the other parents here. Hey, what’re your thoughts on salmon?”
“It’s,” Duke started, thoroughly distracted by the parent’s height, “Good. Um. Hi?”
The gigantic being (he must be, what, nine feet? And balancing on that horrid folding chair the PTA shoves out every year?) roved a yellow eye down to his foster son.
“It’s very nice to meet you, young one,” the parent rumbled, cheery as anything. “My name is Frostbite. You may know my charge, Daniel. He is in his junior year.”
“Danny? Danny Fenton?”
Bruce finished off his burger with a bite. Well, there was curious tone. “Do you know him, Duke?” he asked. The tone wasn’t quite warning, but the edge was to be found in his phrasing.
Duke winced. “Yeah, we…uh. We might have gotten into a fight on his first day. And his second week. …And…last week.”
Bruce. Blinked.
“…And maybe a few hours ago. But to be fair, he has a really punchable face—“
This sounded more like Dick and Jason in their first weeks at Gotham Academy rather than Duke, who was generally better-mannered than most of his brood. (Bruce tended to chalk it up to the effect of being raised largely by loving, attentive parents.)
“But. Um.” Duke shuffled a little closer to Bruce, and a little farther away from the tallest parent to ever grace the pristine lawn of Gotham Academy. “He’s…you know. He’s fine. Usually.”
Thank goodness Alfred was across the way with Damian. He would have disapproved highly of the both of them for this slip.
Still, the gigantic creature only…huffed. Bruce would dare call it a chuckle, even. He popped a barely punctured bookmark into his novel, and gently set it to the side. “My apologies, young one; fighting is a favored form of socialization in our culture. His interest in you is likely genuinely meant, if…rough. Tell myself or his sibling if it becomes unbearable, and he’ll calm down.”
Duke’s lips twisted. “No, it’s not— It’s. Fine? I guess? We like blow off steam and stuff. When I sprained my wrist, he just punched my other arm and bought me ice cream.”
Bruce wanted to judge this kid and whatever parenting style this yeti was putting this kid through. He wanted to pass judgement so badly. But this also sounded exactly like something one of his own kids would do with someone they were friends with.
So.
So he bought a second salmon burger, took an offered bite of Duke’s tamarind cupcake (very generous), and tried to remember everything he could about his brief foray into romance novels. “Say, have you ever read any John Grisham? It’s not quite the same genre, but I’m more of a fan of thrillers myself…”
Honestly, the surreal part was that nothing untoward happened for the entire bake sale. Bruce would happily do this again next year.
655 notes · View notes
cheonstapes · 11 months
Note
omg plss do a miguel x bimbo reader im in love <3
miguel o'hara stars in... 'HANDY MIGGY'
(っ╹ᆺ╹)っ
Tumblr media
a/n ~ I. LOVE. BIMBOS!!!! thank you for the request sweetie, love you💗 miguel would deffo love a cute little bimbo, i just know it
summary; you don't know how to change your tyres. why would you? that's what your boyfriend's for!
pairing; miguel o'hara x bimbo!reader
wc; 1.4k+
cw; SMUT!!!!, breeding kink (can you tell i have a breeding kink), semi-public sex, fuckin on the car, reader speaks a bit of spanish, daddy kink, meanish!dom miguel, sub!reader, reader is a bit stupid, princess treatment!, reader is a bad bitch, overstimulation, squirting, orgasm control, teensy bit of aftercare, THEY'RE IN LOVE YOUR HONOR, nawt proofread - i cannot drive, yet.
Tumblr media
surely you weren’t that dumb? were you?
standing there in the 40° heat - wedge sandals, short skirt with your thong riding high on your hips, sweat-sheened tits spilling our of your cute little crop top. a girl always has to look her best, even when she’s about to melt into a puddle from the sun. doing things that required you to use your brain wasn’t something you did often, that’s what your boyfriend’s for! 
to be fair, you were never big on cars. barely passing your drivers test, and your daddy getting you your first car shortly after - you didn’t really want to drive around everywhere yourself, the pink porsche taycan collecting dust in your garage, being a passenger princess is the lifestyle now. unfortunately for you, your boyfriend - even though he would collect all the stars in the sky for you if you asked - refuses to let you put that car to waste. so now you’re forced to resurrect the thing, cleaning it up a little bit - and…you have to change the tyre’s. 
you even forgot about the punctures, after you accidentally drove over a few spikes in the road coming out of the wrong exit - sometimes you question why you ever qualified for a license. all the tyres were severely fucked up, deflated so much they look like they melted into the floor. your daddy gave you a bunch of spares in case (he knew it would) it ever happened. they were just so heavy, though. you weren’t built for lugging around fucking tyres - but your boyfriend is!!
so you called him, in the middle of the day, knowing he’s probably busy doing his big man job or whatever - but you knew he would drop everything to come and help you, this is an emergency girl! to no one’s surprise, he got there within 15 minutes of you ending the call, speeding into your driveway as he jumps out of the car. sometimes, you forget how mouthwateringly sexy your boyfriend is. 
a tight black compression shirt, matching shorts that clung to his thick thighs - black rimmed sunglasses matching yours pushing his hair back. not to mention the little grimace on his face from stepping out in the heat. “what’s up, baby? you ok? need me to get anything for you?” aw, he was so worried. he’s gonna be so pissed when he finds out what you really need him for.
“hi papito, so glad you’re here.” let’s try to sweet talk him a little bit, maybe it won’t be so bad if you give him a little love - the one thing he can’t resist. you hold his face in your hands, pressing a glossy kiss on his puckered lips. his brows furrow slightly, big hands resting on your hips as he pulls you close him, a low moan escaping him as he pulls away. “good to see you too, angel.” he had an amused smirk on his face, lightly caressing your ass under your skirt. “now, tell me what you need help with.”
nodding, you shyly take his hand in yours and lead him to the garage. it was a mess, to say the least - tools scattered everywhere, tyres rolling around where they’re not supposed to be, something that looked like grease spilled on the floor. “the fuck were you tryna do here, babe?” you smiled sheepishly, looking down at the floor before looking back up at him with round eyes. 
“…’m tryna change my tyres.” 
he rolled his eyes, placing his hands on his hips as he stared at you - an unimpressed look on his face. “god, you’re really a-
——————————————————————————————————
- dumb, fuckin’ slut, aren’t you?” the hood of your car was covered in a mix of your shared arousal, drool dripping out of your swollen lips down your chest. “only good for taking this fat cock, hm?”
hard nipples rubbing against your windshield, body jolting violently as your boyfriend abused his cock into your cunt. he was stretching you out so deliciously, his arms under your legs to keep you stable. “m-miggy, mm- fuuuuck, ‘s too much!” he really didn’t care, not when you looked so pretty under him. secretly, he loved how much you would rely on him - seeing that look on your face when you’d ask him for help, shit if it didn’t make him so fucking hard. but, god did he love to punish you for it. 
“too much for your stupid, little brain, baby? y’re so cute, you know that?” nodding dumbly, you grind your hips back onto his, flipping up your skirt to slam your ass onto his pelvis so he can watch the cheeks ripple. miguel let out a low growl, slamming a hand down by your head so he can lean against your back, the other gripping your hip. “just wanna fuck you ‘till you’re nothin’ but a senseless breeding bitch f’r me.” his breathing was heavy against your ear, sharp teeth nicking at the sensitive skin. 
“you’d like that, wouldn’t you muñeca? quieres que te llene de mi semen. esta linda barriga toda pesada con mis bebés. wouldn’t let you raise a finger again, ‘m gonna do everything f’r you - since you’re too fuckin’ dumb to do it yourself, gorgeous.” he had such a mouth on him, didn’t he. that didn’t sound too bad, being a stay at home mum. as long as you don’t have to do anything, then you’d happily stay plugged up with his cum all the time.
his balls were heavy, smacking against your stiff clit as he worked your hips back on him. the sensations were overwhelming. every ounce of your body was feeling the pleasure, the reflection of his strained face through the windshield making you clench tightly around him. he hissed, smacking your cunt before gripping your neck and holding you against his hard chest. “stop fuckin’ clenching. if there’s anything that small brain of yours should comprehend, it’s don’t cum till i tell you to.” 
“papitooo- please, i need’ta cum - i can feel it, baby!” you, poor, poor thing. too bad he doesn’t give a fuck. he pounded into you even harder, blunt head bullying your cervix. he quickly flipped you around, pressing your back onto the car as he gripped your hips, grinding slowly into you. “hold it.”
angling his hips just right, he drove his fat cock deeper into you, coarse hairs tickling your clit. his fingers trailed up your body, ripping your shirt as he flicked your nipples, spitting on your chest to get them nice and wet. “y’re so pretty, mm, my pretty baby.” his balls tightened, cock twitching hard inside of you as his tip drooled all over your walls.
“gonna cum in your tight, fuckin’ cunt, babe - rub your clit f’r me, or is that too hard for you?” he was so cruel but so sweet. sadistically watching your shaky fingers work your aching clit as his pelvis slammed into you. “goood girl. squirt f’r me, muñeca.” he gazed deep into your eyes, big hands caressing your cheek. 
it all gushed out at once, a heavy stream jetting out of your and coating his chest as he let out a deep chuckles, plugging you up with his girth. he fucked you through it, pinching at your throbbing bud as you shook in his hold. “w-wait, miggy, ‘m too sensitive!” he grabbed your wrists, pinning them to the car. he let out a low snarl, covering you completely as he rammed deep inside. “quiet. keep that pretty mouth shut.” he didn’t realise how much that would set him off, his orgasm coming before he could even process it.
his whole body tensed up, ass clenching, fingers bruising your hips, hips jutting in and out of you - filling you to the brim with his cum. he was breathing sluggishly, pulling your hips down towards him to keep all his seed inside. “you…you did so good, baby. i love you, yeah? so much.” he whispered, leaning down to kiss your face affectionately. “i love you too, papito.”
you stayed there for a few minutes, wrapped up in each other as you found each others lips, making out smoothly on the car. you pulled a way, placing a hand on his chest - staring at the new tyres that he fixed on for you. “migs?” he nodded, kissing and biting your neck.
“how do i change the oil?”
-quieres que te llene de mi semen. esta linda barriga toda pesada con mis bebés - you want to be filled with my cum. this cute tummy all heavy with my babies.
-muñeca - doll
-papito - daddy
Tumblr media
-i wanna be a bimbo doll!
2K notes · View notes
joeloverture · 8 months
Text
sea-cret obsession | j.m. x f!reader
Tumblr media
masterlist | updates blog pairing: dad's enemy!yachter!joel miller x f!reader summary: [no outbreak] your dad's always had a superiority complex when it comes to his place at austin's finest yacht club. when joel miller joins the club, not only does he dethrone your dad — he also becomes your newest obsession. warnings: (18+ mdni) yachter!joel, dad's enemy!joel, age gap (mid 20s/mid 50s), alcohol, joel is implied to be older than reader's dad - don't read too far into it, reader wears a bikini (anyone can, i promise!), fantasizing, creepyish joel but reader's into it, soft!dom joel, porn with a paper-thin plot, m!receiving oral, throatfucking, facial, cum-eating, f!masturbation, blowjob in the captain's chair, daddy kink (oops), thigh riding, dirty talk, praise, degradation, pet names, aftercare [no use of y/n] word count: 2.9k a/n: this was supposed to be a ficlet for @iamasaddie's ✏️game. this is not a ficlet. please suspend your disbelief, this concept simply fell into my lap the moment i saw the wonderful moodboard aly put together for me. go check out the other fics, most of which are much shorter than mine and are absolute brain candy, that stemmed from aly's game!
Tumblr media
Austin is hotter than the hinges on the gates of Hell, and you haven’t stopped sweating bullets since climbing out of Lake Travis. After an afternoon of floating belly-up in your bikini off of the dock of the yacht club your dad frequents, your need for a drink finally outweighed your need for aimless swimming.
Your bare feet are still burning from the hotfooted walk across the wooden deck into the bar. Water droplets cling to your skin and leave a pattern of stippled concrete in your wake. It’s been a few hours you’ve seen your dad around the club, having already gotten into a pissing contest with new club members over horsepower and amenities. Your dad’s the type to always want the biggest and the best: the most decks, the biggest wine fridge, the nicest galley — because God forbid he lose his running ten-year superiority to a newbie.
So yeah, you need a drink. You don’t even have to order; the bartender, Callie, simply slides your usual order over, which you nurse while watching a preseason football game. You haven’t bothered to sit down, your hip popped out with your elbows propped up on the granite countertop.
You don’t even notice the wolf whistle from behind is directed at you until a man sidles up next to you, flashing a smile at Callie. He looks like he belongs in a yacht club, curls styled and sculpted neatly around his face down to where the collar of his blue blazer begins. Some of the buttons on his striped shirt are undone, and your eyes, much to your chagrin, linger at the slice of tanned chest peeking through the fabric.
He looks you up and down, unabashedly licking his lips when he sees the crease of your thighs. “Sweetheart, you’re much too pretty to be entertainin’ the ragtag kinda men around here.”
It’s not the first time you’ve been hit on by the yachters at this particular club, but it is the first time one of them has caught your eye. “I’m not–” you start before you hear the telltale sign of your dad’s laughter coming from close by. You turn around, drink in hand as he rounds the corner, sunglasses on and a towel around the back of his neck. 
Your dad’s expression immediately sours with a speed you’ve never seen in him before. His lips draw tight at the sight of you – or maybe the sight of the man next to you.
“Joel,” your dad says, separating from his entourage. He wraps a protective arm around your shoulder and pulls you into his chest. “I see you’ve met my daughter.”
“Seems it,” the man, presumably Joel, nods, flagging down Callie for an old fashioned. The glass sweats condensation along his sturdy hand. He holds eye contact with you while he sips, only looking away when he runs his tongue along the rim of the glass. “Oughta let me take ‘er for a ride one day. Bet she’d appreciate the fine machinery of a real boat.”
You don’t miss the innuendo to his words even if your dad doesn’t. You scrub your hands along your sides, your sunscreen-sticky skin dewy beneath your palms. You shush the part of yourself that bets you’d appreciate it, too.
“Your boat is maybe good for getting to the retirement home across the lake,” your dad snaps, squeezing your shoulder. He pushes his sunglasses up his nose. “C’mon, kiddo, let’s head home.”
You find your flip flops at the bottom of your beach bag, barely having the time to kick them on before your dad is practically pulling you out of the yacht club. He gives half-hearted waves to his usual boating buddies until you’re in the parking lot, surrounded by heat shimmering over the blacktop. The scalding hot leather seats burn the backs of your thighs and the small of your back as you settle in. With a purr, the air conditioner blows a fresh burst of wind in your face.
“What was that all about?” you ask when he starts the engine.
Your dad clips his sunglasses on his polo shirt, gripping the steering wheel ten and two with a winded sigh through his nose. “Fuckin’... rookie with his triple-decker Ferretti.”
Joel looked rich. But not Ferretti rich. “Who the hell in Austin owns a Ferretti?”
“That son of a bitch, that’s who. I don’t want you runnin’ amok on Joel’s boat, you hear me?”
“Ain’t planning on it,” you respond as if you don’t already know what’ll happen if Joel propositions you again.
Tumblr media
You see Joel again soon, but only in passing. A wink behind your father’s back, a drink from the gentleman across the bar that was only coincidentally Joel. The locations of these run-ins are always different. Sometimes you walked by each other on the dock. Sometimes he’d give you both a quick wave from across the water before he sped off, leaving the boat rocking on the stirred up tide and your dad cussing up a storm.
Today’s almost-tryst happens on the dock. You’re walking past Joel’s designated dock in a bikini that you’d nearly thrown out because of its snug fit. You have to smother your disappointment when you don’t see him on the top deck sipping a beer. You know better than to be disappointed over the man who your dad has not only claimed as a mortal enemy, but also claimed as the antichrist. With the thoughts Joel gives you when your hand is between your thighs, it might not be too far from the truth.
You think you have most of it figured out – he’s rough, he has to be. With how relentless as he is on the waters, it makes no sense for him to be anything else. His fancy, custom belt buckles snicking as it comes undone so he can yank his jeans down and get inside of you. Those chains he always wears would hang in your face, swaying with every roll of his hips into yours as he chases his pleasure deep inside of your–
“Woah there, darlin’,” a honeyed voice coaxes you, a muscled arm darting out to stop you in your path. “Almost walked right into the lake.” Your head snaps up to look at Joel, the very inconvenient object of your fantasies. You swallow the quickly-forming lump in the back of your throat. “You sure you ain’t had too many?”
“Positive,” you say. You haven’t even done a shot s0 far today.
“Mmm, alright.” The playful glint in his eyes doesn’t seem too convinced. It makes your heart stutter before you remind it to keep beating. “Tell ya what, you’re welcome to ‘sober up’ on my boat.”
You look between where your dad’s dock sits empty. He’s out with his co-workers today, shooting the shit too much for their own good. Then you look between Joel and his boat, the beauty of a Ferretti that’s just two steps away.
Mouth already watering at the possibilities, you say, “I do remember you promising me a ride, old man.”
Joel’s lips curl into a knowing smirk, and he makes the long step from the dock to the boat, hand held out for you. You don’t hesitate to let him help you aboard. 
Tumblr media
You’re on your knees in front of the captain’s chair before he gets to the middle of Lake Travis. “Old man,” he mocks above you with his legs spread as far as they can go. You kitten-lick his hardened cock, making sure to lap up the obscene amount of his precum. There’s certainly one part of Joel that doesn’t need to go to a retirement home, and it’s in your mouth. You suckle at the leaking head of his cock while his strokes your cheek, only pulling away to spoon a drop of his precum from your lip onto your tongue. “You like suckin’ an older man’s cock, pretty girl?”
You nod eagerly, taking him deeper so you can tongue the vein along the underside of his cock. From that, he groans, head slumping on the headrest so he can gather himself. You spit a generous amount into your hand, wrapping around the base to properly suck him.
“Bet there’s a whole ‘nother lake in that skimpy lil’ bikini of yours, ain’t that right?” You nod around his length and go a little deeper. He’s heavy on your tongue, long and girthy all at once. He presses lightly against the back of your throat, prompting you to gag around him, but you wouldn’t pull away from him even if the yacht itself set on fire. He moans as you start to bob your head up and down. You rub your thighs together just thinking about what his cock could be capable of between your legs. “Mhm, I know, baby. You wanna push that outta the way and give it a rub for me? A rub for your real daddy?”
A choked whimper punches its way out of you. His hips jerk from the vibrations, unintentionally pushing himself further down your throat. You expect it to be too much, but it isn’t. You pull away from him, taking a quick breath as you wrap your hand around the wide palm seated on his thigh and raise it to the back of your head. “Please fuck my throat, daddy,” you pout up at him, a mixture of your spit and his precum dripping down your chin and into your cleavage.
Another groan tugs its way out of him when he looks down at you. He cups the back of your head and brings his cock back to your mouth. “Can’t say no to such a gorgeous fuckin’ face. Gonna look so damn good covered in my cum.” You keep licking his tip, not wanting to miss a single drop of him. “Go ‘head and put a hand on your pussy, baby. Rub that clit that daddy’s got all throbbin’.”
And how could you ever say no to him? Your hand is down your bikini within seconds, peeling your tacky panties away from your cunt so your fingertips can rub circles along your clit. A circle against your swollen core pulls a moan from you right as he thrusts into your throat. He starts out slow, tentative as he pushes all the way into your throat and then pulls all the way out. His second thrust is much harder, stifling your breathing for a moment as a strangled noise of pleasure leave his parted lips.
He nudges you further down onto his cock, burying your nose into the triangle of skin exposed by his rumpled button-down. You force down the gag that builds in the back of your throat. Joel keeps your mouth speared on his cock with shallow rolls of his hips into the warm wetness of your mouth. You whine, prompting a hearty chuckle from him. “Good girl, daddy’s good little girl. Keep playin’ with yourself for me.” He smirks down at you. “Ain’t much different than what you do in your own bed, huh? Pussy just cryin’ for some cock, I bet.”
You moan in agreement as your eyes flutter shut when you rub your clit harder, harder, harder until arousal is smeared all over your knuckles and across your mound. “Nuh-uh,” he says with a punctuating adjustment of his hips. You gag, spit webbing through Joel’s happy trail. “Eyes on me.”
You’re satisfied to find him just as debauched as you feel. Strands of his usually put-together hair are out of place along his forehead, and his golden chain glistens with sweat. His hands grip the arms of the captain’s chair, spread on the tanned leather and exerting dominance over your kneeling silhouette. But you aren’t fooled. There’s a certain rosiness to his cheeks, a flare to his nose, that lets you in on the secret: he’s just as wrecked, just as in deep as you are.
You pull up and immediately sink down on his cock again, pleading eyes looking up at him, asking him. I want it daddy. I want you. And then he’s fucking your throat in earnest. His hips buck up to meet the back of your throat. You struggle to keep up with his size, his pace, but you suck his cock even with the knowledge that you won’t know how to explain your sore throat or raspy voice to your dad.
Joel squints down at you, absorbing the seeping spit from the corners of your raw lips, your droopy, ecstasy-laden eyes. He sighs, sinking down into the chair as he grinds his cock into your mouth and moves your head up and down his length. You take the hand that isn’t playing with your clit and reach to grab at his balls, kneading them. A narrow breath trips out of his lips. “Nasty bitch. Fuck, baby. Daddy’s close. Keep – keep doin’ that.” You drag your tongue along that bottom vein again, kneading one of his balls and making sure that when he pulls you off of his cock, you treat the head to one final taste. 
“Open up, slut,” he coaxes. His cock twitches. He jerks himself once, twice, and then cums, rope after rope hitting your damp skin. His cum is hot, sticky, and you’re too preoccupied with trying to catch some of his release that your hand stalls over your cunt. You whimper when his cum lands on your tongue and follow it up by swallowing. Joel’s breath is unsteady as he looks down at you, cock softening in his lap. “Good girl,” he praises, reaching out to run his thumb along your stained skin. Drop by drop, he feeds you his cum, and you lap it up just as eagerly as you’d lapped him up. 
You pull your hand out of your bikini when he’s done, tacky arousal stretching between your fingers. Going back on your haunches, you suck in a deep breath through your abused throat. 
Joel pats his wide, thick thighs above you, the same ones you’ve been fantasizing about since that first day in the bar. “I promised you a ride, didn’t I?” A familiar, hooked smirk pulls at his mouth. Your face lights up in recognition and you practically scamper onto his thigh, stumbling as you tug your bikini out of the way to settle yourself on the linen coral shorts he has on. Joel laughs, a noise that has your cunt leaking onto the fabric, clit fluttering from the friction. Heat pulls tight in your stomach.
His hands land on your hips, guiding you back and forth when you hesitate at first. “Grind on daddy’s thigh, baby. Wanna see you cum on me.” Your head tips forward, forehead slotting against his shoulder when you start to push your hips into his. Need springs awake in your stomach when he drags you forward. A frayed moan tumbles out of you from his near-manhandling. You rut into Joel, bouncing, grinding yourself on him in the same way that you’d imagined yourself doing at least a dozen times before this.
“Daddy,” you whimper when the muscle goes taut underneath you, plucking something in your cunt. At the same time, a speedboat passes Joel’s yacht outside, leaving the ship rocking on the water in time with your movements as you ride his thigh. You yelp, a strained noise as the pressure intensifies on your clit. “Close!”
He grips your hips even tighter, bounces his thigh up against you. “That’s it, that’s it. Let it happen baby, give it to daddy.”
You come undone with the taste of his cum still rich on your tongue and his words ringing in your buzzing ears. Your orgasm whips through your body and leaves you shuddering against his center, halfheartedly continuing to roll your hips up against him. His thumbs rub circles into your skin while you come down. You suck in a shaky breath, Joel’s palm stroking the small of your back. “Did good for me, baby. Look real pretty when you come. Real pretty.”
You give him a shy smile, and he leans forward to kiss you, a brief moment of gentleness amidst his usually ubiquitous harshness. He pulls away with a tiny pat to your ass. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
You stumble off of him on shaky legs, leaning against the captain’s console. Joel pulls his shorts down his thighs and tucks his cock away, the wet spot your cunt had made on him beyond visible as he stretches himself out. He fishes around in a drawer in the galley for his baby wipes and joins you back at the console. He takes them to your face, wiping down where his cum had hit your skin. He even dabs gently at your thighs. Orgasm bliss clings to the edges of your vision still, and you can’t help but lean into him as he takes care of you.
“Could take you for a real ride, now,” Joel says with a moderate shrug. “Nice cove on the west side of the lake, good for a quick swim. I’m sure your dad would throw a fit if he knew, but I’m sure you’re good at keepin’ secrets, too. Got a real good mouth on ya.”
You playfully punch his shoulder with a roll of your eyes, and in that moment, it feels like you’ve known Joel much longer than you have at all. Like this isn’t your first time on his boat, and this wasn’t his first time being in your mouth. “Alright,” you begrudgingly smile at him. “Whatever you say, old man.”
It’s his turn to roll his eyes as he starts the engine.
1K notes · View notes
spirit-lanterns · 1 year
Text
FAST AND FURIOUS 2
Tumblr media Tumblr media
synopsis: you catch the eye of the infamous street racer (part 1 here)
featuring: jingliu, yukong, tingyun, himeko, natasha
rating: 18+ smut (men and minors dni)
warnings: (street racer AU) sub! afab fem reader (jingliu, yukong, himeko, natasha), dom! afab fem reader (tingyun). strap ons, fing.ering, lap s.ex, s.ex while driving, cunnilingus, dirty talk, mentions of car crash and injury (natasha), blood (natasha), some established relationships, illegal street racing, may be ooc.
art credits: initial D
Tumblr media
JINGLIU
Street Racer Jingliu! Who is an urban legend in the street racing community, notorious for not caring about the safety of others, and doing whatever it takes to cross that finish line. She had taken a hiatus from racing a couple years back, but now she was back and ready to instill fear in the new generation of racers…
Street Racer Jingliu! Who is intimidating when she pulls up to the starting line. Many of the racers gawking at her in shock, as the infamous legend herself gets out of the car to scan the crowd. When she spots you in the midst of the watchers, her lips curve to a smirk, and she walks over to you to tilt your chin up at her. “Looks like I came to race on a good day…” she whispers, voice husky from years of retirement. “I hope to see you at the finish line.”
Street Racer Jingliu! Who proves to be a brutal competitor in terms of actually racing, as she’s fast, agile, but worst of all, dangerous. She knew what she was doing, potentially risking her life and others on the road, but she didn’t care. Her eyes are a burning, crazy orange that leaves you thinking of her while you watch, and you can’t help but silently root for her as she narrowly evades tumbling off a bridge and soaring down into a ditch. 
Street Racer Jingliu! Who gets called crazy, insane, and absolutely psychotic. But you can’t help but fall in love with that as she screeches past the flags and stops inches away from where you were standing. Any longer and she would’ve run you over, but she wouldn’t let that happen, after all, you were too pretty to be killed <;3 
Street Racer Jingliu! Who walks up to you and slides her sunglasses off, staring at you with those beautiful, burning eyes of hers. “You’re the only one who seemed to be rooting for me,” she hums, gravelly voice sending shivers down your spine, “What a…surprisingly loyal fan you are.”
Street Racer Jingliu! Who couldn’t care less about the way the crowd boos at her for almost injuring the other racers. Her eyes  are solely focused on you, as she wraps a gloved arm around your waist. “I think I’m ready for another round, care to race with me?” She asks with a grin, pulling you into her car and revving the engine up until it sounded like a roar. 
Street Racer Jingliu! Who has you in her lap as she speeds through the highway with your pretty legs draping over hers. Thick, rimmed, strap on plunging into your walls, as she tries to give you the ride of your life (literally). All the while driving at dangerously high speeds. 
Street Racer Jingliu! Who has your heart hammering and your adrenaline pumping, fucking you with her cock as she multitasks driving and pushing you towards an orgasm before she reaches the finish line. She’s racing two races at the moment, and she intends on winning them both, eager to claim her prize of a second victory, and your cum staining the leather of her pants. 
Street Racer Jingliu! Who soars past the finish line just as you cream all over the strap, one hand gripping your ass before she murmurs “Looks like I won again” into your ear and delivers a tiny spank. She groans at the way you rest so perfectly in her lap, and she can’t wait to take you home with her for the rest of the evening. 
Tumblr media
YUKONG
Street Racer Yukong! Who is a retired street racer that is greatly admired within the community. She is pretty much everyone’s role model, so when she pulls up to the starting gate in that memorable, yet legendary vehicle, everyone goes apeshit. Completely in awe at the sight of the legend before them, as many start to grab snacks to watch the race of a lifetime…
Street Racer Yukong! Who is a little rusty when it comes to racing against youngsters, but once she gets back into the rhythm of it, it’s like second nature. She’s so unknowingly charismatic that all the fangirls in the crowd seem to love her, yet there’s only one she has her eyes on, and that’s you. The cutest, sweetest girl she’s ever had the pleasure of meeting, as you were the one she used to screw in the backseat of her car back when she was a rookie. 
Street Racer Yukong! Who’s maturity while racing is a dreamboat for many of her fans. They all admire how calm and composed she could be, as she narrowly avoids a crash on one of the busiest highways. Everyone is anxious for the safety of their beloved Yukong, but you know better. Instead, trusting that she knows what she’s doing, as you’ve ridden with her (and on her) countless of times.
Street Racer Yukong! Who sees you cheering her on in the stands and smiles softly at the sight. No matter how old you both get, you will always be her number one fan. Evident with how you always wore her old racing jacket, as it was the one she gave to you after a rather passionate night spent in the backseat of her car. (It always smelled like her whenever you wore it, so you’ve always kept it on you whenever the time was appropriate)
Street Racer Yukong! Who decides to greet you at the stands for old times sake, pulling you in for a winning kiss, and nearly lifting you off the ground with how happy she was to see you. “I missed you…” she says in that gruff, husky, voice of hers. “I want to celebrate with you for just a little while longer…”
Street Racer Yukong! Who is impossible to say no to as she drives you down to the hotel she was staying at with eagerness to see you naked again. It’s been…so long since she’s seen you naked beneath her, and she hopes to see more of you after this exchange as she is now back into street racing.
Street Racer Yukong! Who has you bent over her hotel bed with a strap on pounding into your insides. Where she stashed it, you had no idea, but you found yourself moaning in ecstasy, as the familiar pace of Yukong’s hips slamming mercilessly had you all nostalgic. Tears building up in your eyes, as you missed the feeling of her cock ramming so deep in you…
Street Racer Yukong! Who grunts like an animal in heat before lifting your legs up off the bed and slamming back into you brutally. “Goodness…you feel amazing…” she groans, already missing the feeling of being by your side for all those years. “I can’t leave you alone again… you’re mine. Mine.”
Street Racer Yukong! Who doesn’t leave in the morning this time, and instead stays curled up by your side by the time you wake up. Gruff, messy, bed head tickling your neck from behind, as she whispers “Looks like I’m staying with you, dear,” into your ear before kissing it affectionately. 
Tumblr media
TINGYUN
Street Racer Tingyun! Who is a rookie in the street racing community that looks up to her idol: Yukong. She’s a little inexperienced, somewhat cocky, but that doesn’t stop her from winning a few races before going up to the big leagues. She looks very out of place when lined up besides the other famous racers, but you can’t help but notice her as she just looked so cute standing there! So innocent and so…unprepared.
Street Racer Tingyun! Who almost crashes several times when the race begins. It’s a miracle how she managed to not get into any accidents, as Tingyun was definitely not prepared to handle the brutality of the other racers. You felt bad when you saw the panicked look on her face, but her panic eventually paid off, as through some miracle, she won. 
Street Racer Tingyun! Who is stunned silent when she’s the one who makes it across the finish line. Her eyes wide with shock as the crowd cheers for the rookie who managed to outspeed the pro racers. It takes her a moment to recollect herself, blinking in disbelief before Tingyun leaps into the air with excitement. “I did it! I actually won!” She exclaims, suddenly getting her cockiness back. “That’s a legendary race for sure!”
Street Racer Tingyun! Who’s ego gets stroked even more when you walk up behind her with a bouquet of flowers in your hand. She’s stunned speechless at the sight of a cute girl delivering her flowers, so she gets half the mind to flirt with you a little (even though you knew she was bluffing) “Oh? Are these for me?” She giggles smugly, taking the bouquet from you with gratitude. “So cute, say…how do you feel about you and I getting out of here, hmm? I’m sure I can show a pretty girl like you a good time.” 
Street Racer Tingyun! Who doesn’t catch the way you roll your eyes at her request, as you did not like how smug she got after winning just one race in the big leagues. You figured you’d have to humble her one way or another, so you smirked and agreed to her proposal. “Great!” Tingyun grins, holding you by the waist and leading you back to her car. “I definitely know how to show a girl a good time…”
Street Racer Tingyun! Who did not expect to have her legs spread over your shoulders, tongue lapping vigorously against that drooling of cunt hers, while pressed against the hood of her car in a parking lot. She was expecting her to please you, not the other way around! Yet here she was, a moaning, crying, mess, trying to hold in her sobs as she gripped your hair with her fingers.
Street Racer Tingyun! Who is panting so heavily while her clit gets pushed against by your nose. Feather light kisses causing her to scream, before wrapping her legs even tighter around your face. “Oh…g-god…!” She whimpers and tries to keep herself calm but to no use. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to go!” 
Street Racer Tingyun! Who you can’t help but giggle at as you thrust your tongue into her walls to taste all that she could offer. She was so embarrassed at the way the tables turned, but you didn’t care, as you wanted more of her cum dripping down your chin and staining the leather of her pants.
Street Racer Tingyun! Who lets out a squeal as she squirts all over your face in ecstasy. She’s trembling and shivering from the way you blow on her clit, and pretty soon she’s begging for more. “Oh…please come home with me later. You’re really good at this…”
Tumblr media
HIMEKO
Street Racer Himeko! Who is like a teacher to many of the younger street racers of this current generation. Known as one of the biggest rivals to Street Racer Kafka, Himeko is another legend amongst the community, due to her infamous races and ability to adapt to any situation quickly.
Street Racer Himeko! Who looks so effortlessly beautiful as she sits on the hood of her expensive, yet luxurious looking car. Everyone is taking photos and yelling for her attention, but she merely takes a sip of her coffee and ignores them while waiting for you. You’re the only girl in the world she would ever pay attention to, so you get treated like a VIP as you walk up beside her and join her by her car.
Street Racer Himeko! Who draped her large coat over your figure and opened the door for you like a gentlewoman. “Let’s go on a ride,” she says with a smile, treating the race like a leisurely drive as she was not at all nervous for the ride of a lifetime. “I promise to hold back a little for you, darling.”
Street Racer Himeko! Who keeps one hand protectively on your thigh while speeding at dangerous speeds down the road. She chuckles when you complain she’s going too fast, so she eases up on the speed now that she was so ahead. “Too fast for you, love?” She hums while squeezing your thigh. “I can always slow it down, we’re way ahead anyways.”
Street Racer Himeko! Who looks so ethereal as she rolls down the windows and lets the wind blow through her hair. She looked so…relaxed as she held you by her side, one hand on the wheel before completing the race on one smooth glide.
Street Racer Himeko! Who couldn’t care less about the praise she received from the crowd outside, as she only wanted to bring you home and claim her reward for winning yet another race. “Let’s go home, love. I’m exhausted and I want nothing more than to have you crying my name…” she whispers, pulling you away from the crowd and flash photography. 
Street Racer Himeko! Who sees the needy look in your eyes and groans “fuck it” under her breath before pulling you back into her car to finger you. She uses her coat as a makeshift bed for you, and eagerly plunges her long, smooth fingers into your dripping cunt. 
Street Racer Himeko! Who smothers your neck in kisses as the smell of new cars and perfume fills your nose with comfort. Himeko was always gentle and loving with you, despite doing something like illegal street racing on the side. She plants a crimson kiss on the side of your cheek, and thrusts two more her fingers into your walls. “It’s alright if you get my seats dirty,” she chuckles into your ear, “I wouldn’t mind any stains if it’s you.”
Street Racer Himeko! Who succeeds in her wants as she has your cum sliding down her arm and dripping all over her seats. She lets out a delighted hum and licks each digit clean, helping you slide up your panties. “Get your shorts back on, doll, I have reservations at a hotel across town. I’m not done with you just yet…”
Tumblr media
NATASHA
Street Racer Natasha! Who is a retired street racer that now works as a medic for injuries, crashes, and anything dangerous that happens on the road. She used to be a racer that taught Seele how to race, but due to growing older and having other responsibilities to take, Natasha retired and led a life of healing and recovery.
Street Racer Natasha! Who may be old, but definitely still has some of that racer energy left inside her. She’s quick and efficient when dealing with injuries, and the first time you saw her, she was pulling you out of a crashed car and checking your face for any cuts. “Easy there, don’t worry…” she hums in a comforting tone, “You’re just a little shaken up, I’ve got you…”
Street Racer Natasha! Who suddenly hoists you up in her arms and carries you bridal style to her car to take you to the infirmary. You had no idea that the medic was so strong and jacked, but you figured she had to carry people out on a daily basis, so perhaps this was just another day for her. 
Street Racer Natasha! Who speaks so gently and softly to you before pressing a sweet kiss to your forehead. “Let’s get that pretty face all patched up, hm?” She chuckles softly, placing you in the back of her car with ease. “Don’t worry, I’m a doctor with quite the skilled fingers.” she says with a smile, completely unaware of the dirty implications she just implied…
Street Racer Natasha! Who’s fingers are so soft and tender as they rub some gauze against your forehead to clean the bloodied cuts. Her face is extra close to yours for maximum efficiency, yet you can’t help but think she’s staring at your lips despite cleaning the wound on your head. “Are you staring at my lips?” You ask in a hushed voice, Natasha casting you a smile before patting your head. “I am. They’re very beautiful.” 
Street Racer Natasha! Who decided to screw it and place a tender kiss against your lips, caging you in on the patient’s bed. “My sweet patient deserves a reward for letting me bandage her so smoothly,” she hums, eyes growing dark with lust. “Let me spoil you, my dear…”
Street Racer Natasha! Who lets you cling onto her as she fingers your tight, needy hole with some lube. Her thumb presses your clit like a button, and you find yourself resting your head on her shoulder and whimpering against her neck. “Just like that…” she whispers, groaning a little when she feels you clench, “So tight…nngh…you like how I finger you, hmm? Naughty girl…”
Street Racer Natasha! Who slaps your clit with her palm and smirks at the way you suck her in the more she talks dirty. “Oh? It seems you get wetter the more I talk,” she chuckles, leaning in close to your ear. “What a good little racer you are…”
Street Racer Natasha! Who thinks your injuries are too serious to send you home just yet, even though they were just minor cuts and scrapes. She makes the decision to keep you resting in her infirmary for at least another night, resting in her bed while she stuffs her fingers up your cunt all night long. She has to make sure you’re well rested and healed for next week’s race after all...
Tumblr media
1K notes · View notes
7s3ven · 8 months
Text
UR MY LOVER. luke (pjo)
( master list )
IN WHICH… Camp Half-Blood has its very own band to entertain themselves. Most of the campers aren’t sure where they get their electricity for their instruments but one thing they are certain about is that the substitute lead singer and lead guitarist definitely have a thing for each other.
“Look in my eyes, they will tell you the truth. The girl in my story has always been you.”
A/N : Luke seems like he’d be in a band
Warning : sex references, some details differ from the og books, modern references
Y/N has been lounging in the sun on her rickety front porch when something, or rather someone, blocked the rays of warmth. She groaned, lowering her sunglasses to get a better look at who was bothering her.
“What?” She grumbled to the mischievous son of Hermes, Luke. It’s not like she hated him, quite the opposite to be honest. His presence was a breath of fresh air in her stressful days at Camp Half-Blood. But she was sleep-deprived and in desperate need of a rest. Luke merely smiled down at her, unthreatened by her hostile tone.
“Hey, little bolt.” He uttered, crouching down beside her to almost match her height. Y/N rolled her eyes, pushing her glasses back up with her middle finger. “So as you know, Chiron is letting us form a band. The only problem is I have an electric guitar and, you know, it needs electricity. And there’s not enough ‘round here. Personally, I think we’re lucky to have a daughter of Zeus.”
Y/N scoffed. “No.” She quickly retorted, already guessing what he was going to ask her. “I won’t power your stupid performances.”
“What? Why would I ask that? I was going to ask you if you wanted a quicky backstage.” Luke sarcastically joked, his lips curving into a cheeky smirk. Y/N’s lips curled into an unamused sneer as she set her sharp gaze on the boy beside her. “Help me out this one time, babe.”
“Ew,” She furrowed her eyebrows in disgust, “Don’t call me that.”
“Come on, sweetheart. I ain’t gonna stop until you agree. I won’t ever ask for this favor again, pudding.” His nicknames were becoming increasingly worse and Y/N's ears were practically bleeding. Y/N cringed and covered her ears, desperately wanting to bang her head into a wall to drown his voice out. Her last thread was Luke calling her kitty.
“Okay!” She sat up, flinging her glasses at him. Luke effortlessly caught them, looking down at the intricate rims. He traced his fingers over the gems embedded in the sides. They shined in the light and small rainbows reflected off them. “Just stop calling me those horrid names!” She exclaimed, slapping his shoulder.
He grinned, “Deal. Practice is tonight, 8 pm sharp. Don’t be late.” He tossed Y/N’s glasses back at her and quickly stood up. “See ya, princess.”
Y/N wanted to hurl a rock at him for that stupid pet name but Luke was already running away, bellowing out a laugh as he tilted his head back in amusement. “I’m going to electrocute you, Luke! I hope your guitar backfires!” She screamed, earning another chuckle from Luke.
“Yo, guys.” He burst into his cabin, grinning at Chris and Charles who were positioned on his bed, lazily lying down. “Y/N’s in. Now we just need a lead singer. Charles, how’s convincing Silena going?”
Charles pressed his lips into a thin line. “You know she has stage fright.” He uttered, referring to his girlfriend, “Maybe if I mentioned that Y/N will be there then she’ll go? I think she has a girl crush on Y/N.” Charles let out a low chortle.
Everyone liked Y/N, apart from when she was deprived of sleep and grumpy. She was like a fire ready to flare up, stalking its way through the high grass.
“So, how did you convince Y/N? I heard from Annabeth that she was in a particularly bad mood today.” Chris uttered, chuckling. "Did you promise her sex or something?" Luke shrugged as Charles chucked a can of Sprite his way.
He pulled back the tab and the can opened with a pop and fizz. “Nah. A part of me wishes, though. I might get some if I did. But, I have my ways.” He retorted, grinning. “Band practice is at eight. Charles, do your best to get Silena on board because I can’t deal with Clarisse as lead singer.” Luke sighed, taking a huge gulp from his can. Chris chuckled while Charles silently nodded in agreement.
“She is rather hard to deal with.” Charles muttered, his voice almost a whisper in fear that Clarisse would overhear him.
Luke would have asked Y/N to be the band’s lead singer but he knew she wasn’t happy with having to power up his guitar. She’d rather jump in water than agree to sing and she hated water. It probably had something to do with the fact that she could create electricity with her bare hands.
Water and lightning never went well together.
Luke was buzzing with excitement as he jogged towards an abandoned cabin Chiron had agreed to let them use for practice. He opened the creaky door, surprised to see Y/N already sitting on a dusty couch.
“I already hate it here.” She said, turning to face him. He cracked a grin.
“Not enough sleep last night, huh?”
Y/N scoffed, shaking her head. “I barely got any. Some idiots were up all night, singing their hearts out to Olivia Rodrigo.” Luke was ashamed to admit that those idiots were him, Chris, and the Stoll brothers. “I mean, how much of a loser do you have to be to scream your heart out to jealousy?”
“I don’t know.” Luke shrugged, sitting next to her. Dust surrounded the air around him and he coughed, fanning it away with his hand. His actions made Y/N lightly chuckle. “Maybe they related to the lyrics. Unlike you, perfect girl.”
Y/N scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m not perfect. I’m far from it.” Luke quickly turned to face her, resting his arm on the back of the couch.
“How come? You’re pretty and smart and you’ve got Zeus as your dad. Come on, you hit the jackpot on that one.” Luke grinned and the corners of Y/N’s lips twitched.
“You think I’m perfect?” She asked, confused. She quietly laughed, giving Luke an almost judging stare. “I don’t even have my life together. How can I be perfect?”
“Most of us don’t have our lives together. Look at me, I’m well over sixteen now and I’m starting a band at camp because there’s nothing to do ‘round here. And I’m also sitting in a dodgy looking cabin with dust everywhere. But hey, at least I have a pretty girl with me.”
Y/N stared at Luke for a second before she huffed in amusement. “You’re a no-good flirt, Luke.” She playfully shoved him.
“You seem in a better mood.” He smiled, proud of himself.
“You had nothing to do with it, I can assure you.” She rolled her eyes and turned her head, spotting Chris, Silena, and Charles walking towards the cabin. “Looks like your band mates are here.” She uttered, sitting up.
“Hey man, what’s up!” Chris joyfully greeted Luke while Charles’ approach was more quiet. Silena smiled at Luke and waved at Y/N with a bright smile.
“Alright, so everybody’s here. We got Charles on drums, Chris as back up guitar, me as lead and sub vocals, and Silena as vocals.” Luke loudly clapped his hands as away to earn everybody’s attention.
“Does that make me your back-up generator then?” Y/N butted in.
“Yeah. Hold this, darling.” Luke handed her a cord that connected to his guitar and she begrudgingly took it.
“No more names.” She warned, sending a small current to shock Luke. He yelped, taken aback, all while Y/N smirked. She stayed true to her words to electrocute Luke if he ever annoyed her.
Y/N lay on the couch, clutching onto the cord and aimlessly staring at the ceiling. The sound of Charles’ loud drums and Silena’s soft voice merged with the loud ringing in Y/N’s ears. She kept her eyes fixed on a certain spot, completely dazed until Luke pressed a cold can to her face.
“We’re taking a break.” He said, offering her a drink. She arched an eyebrow.
“Why are you giving me one?” She questioned, sitting up and taking it away.
Luke shrugged. “I mean, you are powering up my guitar. You deserve a little thanks.”
Y/N merely stared at Luke before cracking open the can, taking a small sip. “I trust you haven’t drugged this?”
Luke lightly snorted. “I have no purpose to put coke in your drink.” He held out his hand, silently asking for sip. Y/N shoved the can into his arms.
“So, when did you get the idea of forming a band?” She questioned, tapping her foot against the wooden floor. She glanced at Luke who smiled, a strange wishful look in his gaze.
“I’ve always loved music.” He admitted, “And being a demigod, you don’t exactly have a lot of chances. I did play at one festival, though… and it was amazing. But then I got attacked by a monster.” Luke chuckled under his breath, shaking his head in amusement. “It was still the best moment of my life. And I want that kind of joy back.”
“I’m sure you’ll get it back. What’s it like playing the guitar?” She quirked an eyebrow, tilting her head to the side. Luke grinned, his tongue peeking out from between his teeth.
“Amazing. You wanna learn?”
Y/N rolled her eyes, “I can hardly hold a guitar correctly, let alone play it, Luke.”
“Come on, pretty. I’ll show ya.”
“I need two hands to play. But I also need to power up the guitar. How do you suppose that’ll work?”
“You’ll figure out a way. You always do.”
That’s how Y/N ended up holding the plug with Luke sitting almost directly behind her, guiding her hands. He smiled as Y/N struggled, her fingers never quite reaching the right chords.
A twig snapped and Chris walked into the cabin, wiping away sweat with the back of his hand. “Man, it is hot outside- Oh, sorry. Did I interrupt something?” Chris paused, staring the pair.
“No.” Y/N quickly answered. They practically jumped away from each other. She handed Luke his guitar, clearing her throat.
“I should get going.” She announced to nobody in particular. She briefly smiled at the two boys before spinning around on her heels, quickly walking away.
“Hey, pretty, wait!” Luke stood up in a hurry but Y/N was already out the door and walking past the tall trees.
Tumblr media
Y/N rubbed her tired eyes as she waltzed out of her cabin, almost screaming when she saw Luke leaned up against the wall.
He grinned and greeted her, tipping an imaginary hat. “Hey, pretty. You up for charging my guitar today? I need to practice my riffs.”
Y/N thickly gulped, looking for any sign of Chris or Charles or even Silena, who she knew was busy with teaching kids archery. “… Alone?” She questioned after a long pause.
“Yeah. Does that bother you? I can practice another time.” Luke offered.
The warm sun bore down on Y/N as she stared at Luke. “No… it’s not a problem. When do you want to practice?”
Luke stood up straight, folding his arms over his chest. He grinned down at Y/N. “Right now if you’re free, pretty. But it looks like you just woke up. Bad sleep?”
“Hardly any at all. Again.” Y/N retorted, sour and harsh. She silently followed Luke to the cabin, raising her eyes in surprise when she saw the lack of dust. “You cleaned it?” She questioned, craning her head to get a better look.
“Yup. The dust was getting to my eyes.” Luke uttered. Y/N hummed in quiet approval.
“You’d make a good house husband. You can clean, you can charm your way through everything, and you can play guitar. What’s next? Cooking?”
Luke smugly smirked, “I’m actually great with a pan, pretty. I’ll make you cinnamon toast someday. Or do you prefer pancakes?”
“Food is food.” She shrugged. “So, how’s the guitar going?” She fiddled with the cord, “I always wanted to learn piano. I tried it a few times but it never stuck.”
“I think you’d look charming playing the piano, pretty.” He flirtatiously smiled, twirling a strand of Y/N’s H/C hair around his finger. Y/N stiffened, her cheeks practically glowing red.
“Are you going to practice or stare at me until we grow eighty?” Y/N muttered, leaning away from Luke.
“I think I’m going to continue staring.” He retorted, winking at her. Y/N looked away, lightly frowning.
“So, what songs are you going to sing?”
“Silena’s gonna be doing most of the vocal work but there’s one song I’ll be singing.”
Y/N raised an eyebrow, silently telling him to continue because as much as she tried to dislike being here with Luke, she was curious. Luke plucked at the guitar strings, humming out a quiet melody.
“Wait.” Y/N articulated, “You aren’t going to sing to me, right? I don’t want a Barbie moment.”
“Too bad.” Luke replied, already getting ready to sing. Y/N softly groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. She was expecting Luke’s voice to be like nails on a chalkboard, a horrible sound overall, but the lyrics slipped past his lips and Y/N found herself not entirely hating it.
“Are you seriously singing Elvis Presley?” She said over the sound of Luke’s voice and guitar. He merely grinned, nodding his head.
“Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you?” Luke smiled, his gaze never faltering. He was staring straight at Y/N as he meticulously played complicated chords. She felt uncomfortable under his eyes and a part of her wanted to sink into the couch. “This is one of your favourite songs, is it not?” Luke asked as he continued strumming.
“How would you know that, Luke?”
“Trust me, pretty. I hear you singing with the Apollo kids. As grumpy as you are without sleep sometimes, you sure sound cheerful when you’re singing Elvis. Join in on the singing, won’t ya?”
“Like a river flows. Surely to the sea. Darling, so it goes. Some things are meant to be.” Luke swayed, waiting for Y/N to join. She begrudgingly did.
“Take my hand. Take my whole life, too. For I can't help…falling in love with you.” They sang in unison. Y/N’s eyes were focused straight ahead of her while Luke’s ran over her soft features and lips that had been tinted with lipstick.
“Like a river flows. Surely to the sea. Darling, so it goes. Some things are meant to be.”
Luke couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face as Y/N’s voice drowned out his own and he stopped singing. She was far too lost in the music to notice.
“Take my hand. Take my whole life, too. For I can't help falling in love with you.” Y/N turned back to Luke, faltering when she saw how he was staring at her. Like she was his whole world or like she had planted the beautiful stars in the sky.
“For I can't help… falling in love with you.” Luke sang the iconic last line, grinning. His face was much closer to Y/N’s than he anticipated, causing her to flinch. She didn’t shuffle away, though.
“Have I ever told you how pretty you look… pretty?” Luke chuckled at how his sentence and his nickname for Y/N clashed. The apples of her cheeks turned bright pink and she didn’t sneer at him this time. She only stared at him with eyes that were vulnerable lest Luke give her another compliment.
The door to the haughty shack slammed open, Charles entering. He spluttered in surprise when he saw Y/N and Luke. “Sorry… I can leave and come back… if you want…”
Y/N stood up, brushing the non-existent dust off her shirt. “It’s fine. I was just leaving.” She didn’t spare Luke another glance as she hurried out, flustered.
“Were you two about to kiss?” Charles questioned. Luke frustratingly groaned, holding his face in his head.
“I liked to think we were going to.”
Tumblr media
Y/N stood in the side lines of the stage, holding Luke’s cord while staring at a clipboard she held in her other hand. It was the list of songs Luke had given her to keep her occupied.
i, Lovesick by Laufey - sung by Silena
ii, Venus by Regina Song - sung by Silena
iii, Can’t help falling in love by Elvis - sung by Luke
The second song fit the daughter of Aphrodite. Y/N glanced at the stage, her eyes immediately finding Luke. He was helping Charles set up his drums. Luke seemed to sense her eyes on him and he lifted his head, smirking.
Y/N quickly diverted her gaze as she heard Luke jog towards her. “Hey, pretty.” He greeted her, “Silena’s vocals can only take so much singing so are you good taking over the last song?”
“No.” Y/N answered but Luke didn’t hear her, or he chose to ignore her.
“Thanks, pretty. I owe you one. Love ya!” He ran off while Y/N mentally cursed at him. She angrily looked at the list, her eyes slightly softening when she saw the song.
iv, Lover (remix) by Taylor Swift + Shawn Mendes
It was one of her favourite songs. She could remember listening to it when she wasn’t aware of her demigod status, always wishing for a love as pure as Jack and Rose’s. Despite being swamped by complicated emotions, she was still a teenage girl secretly wishing for a teen romance like the books and movies and songs suggested.
The makeshift concert started with a short light show conducted by an Iris kid and that’s when the band finally stepped out. The demigod crowd cheered, clapping their hands. The Aphrodite girls were holding signs up for Silena and Luke quietly chuckled as his Hermes brothers yelled a little too loudly.
Silena’s voice was beautiful as she sang and Y/N found herself shrinking back. How could she compete with that? She didn’t even want to sing. She was fine sitting backstage with nothing but a clipboard to stare at.
At least Luke seemed to be enjoying himself and all the attention he was gaining from the girls. Y/N felt her chest tighten. It’s not like she had feelings for Luke… did she? In this moment, Y/N wanted nothing more than to be an Aphrodite kid because at least they could sense love.
Luke sang the melody to the Elvis Presley song with as much tenderness as he did in the cabin, occasionally glancing over at Y/N to see her mouthing the words.
“Pretty, you’re up.” Luke said as the band hurried back stage for a small break. He took the guitar cord from Y/N, plugging it into some sort of machine that she didn’t recognise. “Drink some water so you don’t get dehydrated. You know the words, don’t ya?”
Y/N could only nod, too confused to process everything at once. “What about your guitar?” She asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
“It’ll be fine. Don’t ya worry.” Luke ushered her up the steps onto the brightly lit stage. “Alright guys, we’re back. Did ya miss us? Of course you did. Anyway, Silena’s swamped so we’ve got Y/N singing. Don’t worry, folks, she has a great voice when she’s feeling nice.”
Luke cheekily grinned as he adjusted his headset microphone while Y/N glared at him.
“Anyway, this song will be a duet between me and Y/N. Last song for the night, hope you guys enjoy!”
The music started playing immediately, causing Y/N to stiffen. She locked eyes with Luke, who was standing a meter away from her, nodding his head to the beat.
“We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January. And this is our place, we make the rules.” She hesitatingly sang, earning a few hollers from the Apollo cabin. “And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear. Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?”
“Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close forever and ever? And ah, take me out, and take me home. You're my, my, my, my…” The vivid image of Y/N and Luke singing together, their faces millimetres apart, haunted Y/N. She could feel her cheeks heat up as she glanced at Luke once more only to see that he was already smiling at her.
“Lover.” Luke mouthed as Y/N sang.
Luke tapped his foot, slowly playing his guitar. “We could light a bunch of candles and dance around the kitchen, baby. Pictures of when we were young would hang on the wall. We would sit on the stoop. I'll sing love songs to you when we're eighty.”
“See, I finally got you now, honey, I won't let you fall.” They lulled out in unison. “Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close? Forever and ever, ah. Take me out, and take me home. You're my, my, my, my lover.” Their voices blended together perfectly and the crowd found themselves swaying to the music, clearly noticing the romantic tension between Luke and Y/N.
“Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? With every guitar string scar on my hand. I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover.” Y/N nervously clasped her hands around her mic, her breath shuddering when Luke beamed at her.
“Look in my eyes, they will tell you the truth. The girl in my story has always been you.” Luke strummed the guitar cords as he walked towards Y/N, “I’d go down with the Titanic, it’s true. For you, lover.”
The music ended there, despite the song still having another chorus left. Y/N furrowed her eyebrows at Luke. “You had enough electricity this whole time?” She whispered away from the mic.
“Yeah. I just wanted to spend time with you, pretty. I like you, Y/N. More than I should admit because my fan girls will be a little upset.” Luke chuckled as he jogged off stage, Y/N following close behind.
“So I used my electricity for nothing? You could’ve just asked me to accompany you!” Y/N slapped his shoulder.
“Oh, come on, pretty. Be realistic. You wouldn’t have come if I merely asked. Even if I confessed to you then and there.”
“And what exactly do you like about me?”
“Everything, Y/N. The way your eyes shine when you read, the way you smile when you sing Elvis songs, and the way you have freckles that line up in a square, like constellations on your face. The truth is, you could break my heart into tiny little pieces and I’d still pick them up for you to hold. You like rainbows, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t everybody?”
“I adore you, Y/N. And it doesn’t matter that sometimes our worlds are coloured with different hues. Because when the colours bleed into each other, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Apart from your face and soul, of course.”
“What if the colour turns out to be an ugly yellow?”
“You’re ruining the mood, pretty.”
Y/N clicked her tongue as she tilted forward, gingerly pressed a soft kiss to Luke’s lips. He gently gasped.
“Your mics is on, by the way.” She whispered, “Just thought you’d like to know.”
PJO TAG LIST : @lostinhisworld @julielightwood @outerbanks-stuff @jennapancake @csifandom @evrybodydies1 @kkrenae @s0ulsniper @annispamz @justanotherkpopstanlol @soraya-09 @simpforeveyone @papichulo120627 @corpsebridenightamare @lilacspider @prettylilsimp @urmomsbananabread @ur-lacol-dsylexic @hottiewifeyyyy @kamiliora @be-bap @finnickodaddy @th0tblckgrl @shoyofroyoyoyo @uniquely-her @imafrkinsimp @syraxesrevenge @ahh-chickens @dracoslovergirl @midnightstar-90 @8812-342 @liv1104 @krkiiz @arialikestea @ch16rles @lizziesliz @maryclx01 @lukecastellandefender @yuminako @coryoskywalker @julielightwood @crybabysbakery @jsbabyyy @liviessun @p3pperm1nttea @angie-esc @purplerose291 @prettylilsimp @10ava01 @froggiesstalks @happy-jj @czennieszn @gisellesprettylies @loveyava @csifandom @luvvfromme @mashiromochi @kamiliora @yorksyree @mqg125 @jamesmackreideswife @niktwazny303 @2hiigh2cry @user021099 @living-in-my-imagination88 @xx-all-purpose-nerd-xx @randomgurl2326 @niktwazny303
628 notes · View notes
megalony · 5 months
Text
Medical Attention
This is my first Eddie Diaz x reader x Tommy Kinard imagine, requested by anon. I hope you will all like it, let me know what you think.
Taglist: @justagirlthatlovedtoread @musicistheway @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @luula @missdreamofendless @bradleybeachbabe @woderfulkawaii @amberpanda99 @daggersquadphantom @marvel-and-chicago-fan @angryknightstatesmantrash @minjix @lyjen @kmc1989 @itsmytimetoodream @noonenuts @hiireadstuff @ashie-babie @classyunknownlover @jayyeahthatsme @sp1ritssz @dumb-fawkin-bitch @oliverstarksbae @gimatida @heart-35 @supernaturalstilinski @stefansalvatoresgf @kyky9103 @wutheringhearts2275 @gay4hotmilfs @itshamleth @chaoticnosleepinfluencer @gs29 @wh0reforsmutstuff @mel-vaz @natashamea18 @chrisevansdaughter @alexandra8484 @deena-beena-weena @targaryenluvs @shelbygeek @kpoplover-19 @marvelmenarebeautiful @gillybear17
@zoeybennett @mrspeacem1nusone @zephyrmonkey @estella-novella
Tommy Kinard Masterlist
Eddie Diaz Masterlist
Summary: While Tommy and (Y/n) are out with the kids, they end up in a car crash. Eddie and his team come to the rescue, who have no idea Eddie has a family.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tumblr media Tumblr media
"Don't run." Tommy tilted his head back and arched a brow above the rim of his sunglasses.
His eyes focused on Chris and Cassie and he watched the pair of them abruptly stop in the middle of the pavement and look over their shoulders at him. The tone in his voice was enough to tell them he wasn't joking. He didn't want them running too far away when they were near the main roads.
He could see one of them was about to protest until they looked down at Daisy.
The four year old wanted to run ahead with them, but her backpack had a plastic lead which attached to the strap Tommy had around his wrist. And when she tried to rush after her two older siblings, the strap tensed and the tension pulled her back until she stumbled and fell down on her bum.
It was the easiest way to go out with Daisy if she was too excited and energetic for her pushchair. This way, she could walk beside them but they could keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't wander or try and cross the road without them.
A small cry burst past Daisy's lips and she tilted her head back, looking up at Tommy through watering eyes as she held her arms out for him.
"Up we go, baby." Leaning down, Tommy hooked both hands beneath Daisy's arms as he bent over her and swiftly lifted her off the floor. He set her down gently on her feet and pressed a sloppy kiss to the top of her head. He tightened the strap around his wrist so it was shorter to keep Daisy closer before they began walking again.
Both Chris and Cassie waited for (Y/n), Tommy and Daisy to catch them up before they carried on walking down the street, making sure not to stray too far ahead of their parents.
When they all reached the car park, Cassie turned and held her hand out for (Y/n) while Chris moved to stand on Tommy's left side. Neither of them could remember where the car was parked and they didn't want to be running round here. Not when the cars were moving and people were pulling in and out of spaces.
A teary, sniffling grin broke out on Daisy's face when she turned to face her dad and held her arms up expectingly towards him. She watched the way Tommy's eyes softened and a smile creased his eyes and he crouched down to pick her up. He sat her on his hip and let her bind her arms tight around his neck while he kissed her cheek and moved his other hand to hold Chris's shoulder.
"Alright, off we go."
(Y/n) kept her hand tangled with Cassie's and guided her across towards the car. She could feel Tommy stood behind her like a shadow looming over her, but it was comforting.
As they walked towards the car, she felt Tommy's arm pressing into her back and Daisy's foot tapping against her shoulder as if to let her mum know she was there too.
When they reached the car, Tommy let go of Chris's shoulder to fish the keys from his back pocket. His lips quirked into a smile as Cassie bundled into the back in the middle seat and Chris followed after her to sit behind the driver's seat.
"Here we go Daisychain," He murmured softly as he moved round to the over side and leaned in the back.
He pressed his shoulders up into the roof, cramping his broad frame into the back of the car to clip Daisy in her car seat. He could see their youngest looked about ready to fall asleep. All trace of tears were wiped away and she let her head flop against the side of the car seat as she shuffled around to get comfy.
She stayed still for once as Tommy buckled her in and just as he was about to get up, he stopped. Daisy leaned forward and kissed his nose.
"Thank you baby," He whispered, reciprocating the action to kiss her button nose.
Tilting her head back, (Y/n) looked across at Tommy when he got in the car. Watching him drive always made her smile because she couold see the concentration in his eyes. The way he held the steering wheel, how he looked at the gear stick at least three times and the way he wriggled his feet against the pedals. All to remind himself he was driving the car, not the chopper.
The amount of times (Y/n) had seen him look for the headset or try and reach for the control pannel that he didn't have in the car.
"You okay?" Tommy shifted into gear and pulled out of the car park, sparing a quick glance across at (Y/n) as he did so.
Once he'd changed gears again, he reached his hand out to drag his fingers across her thgh and give a squeeze.
"Just a headache… what time does Eddie finish?"
"About eight, I think."
(Y/n) wasn't as good at remembering shift dates and times like the boys were. She had to check the calendar in the kitchen to remember when the boys would be at work and what times they would be home.
It was a little easier with the fact that Tommy didn't do a lot of night shifts. He only did the odd night shift, maybe one a month and a few more if he was on call. Whereas Eddie did a mixture, although a lot of his shifts were days because he preferred days to nights, the same as Tommy.
(Y/n) hummed and nodded before she closed her eyes and slouched down in her seat. She could feel herself smiling when Tommy's hand moved from her thigh to graze along her stomach. She curled her hand around his and concentrated on the way he started to draw patterns over her bump until he had to switch gears again.
She reached across to curl her hand over Tommy's thigh, scratching her nails through his jeans until she realised he was tensing his leg beneath her. And when she cracked open one eye, she noticed him glance across at her with a certain look behind his tinted lenses and an arched brow.
It was a good look when Tommy wore his sunglasses which mixed with his curls and the sharp angle of his jawline.
"Can we have the radio on daddy?" Cassie kicked her heels and wriggled from side to side, wedged between her brother and her sister's car seat.
"Sure baby."
A grin took over Tommy's face and he moved his hand to run across his jaw, obscuring his open mouthed smile as he glanced in the rear view mirror at the three of them. He could hear Cassie belting out the Fleetwood Mac lyrics rather well. Then there was Chris who was humming rather than singing and tapping out the drumbeat on his knees. And Daisy was clapping and throwing in the only few lyrics she knew.
It wasn't exactly harmonious or in any sort of tune, but it made Tommy's heart swell and explode all in one.
(Y/n) opened her eyes at the wrong time.
She wasn't sure what made her look out the window, but she wished she hadn't when she noticed the car speeding their way at the junction.
"Tommy!" Her nails punctured into his thigh harsh enough to make him tense and hiss.
He didn't have chance to say anything. He barely managed to tear his eyes away from the road to see what had panicked his partner before it was too late to press down on the gas pedal or hit the breaks. The car ran through a red light, blazing into the middle of the junction and smashing straight into the passenger side of the car.
All their screams combined. Tommy could hear all of it; his head filtered each noise and processed them separately to make his agony worse.
He heard (Y/n)'s scream before the horrid sound of her head bashing into the window hit his ears like a crack cutting through a frozen river. He processed Chris's scream, one that matched the kind he had at home when he had his meltdowns or when he was angry.
Tommy heard Cassie scream his name before Daisy's high pitch wail broke through the air and felt like it had burst Tommy's eardrums.
His hands clenched into fists around the steering wheel and he tensed up, locking his elbows and his arms into place to try and brace himself back into his seat. It didn't matter how hard Tommy pushed himself back into the seat, his body still moved when the car spun on its axis and flipped them round in circles like they were on the waltzers.
His forehead slammed down into the top of the steering wheel at the same time as he braced his foot down on the brake to try and make everything stop. He felt his sunglasses imbed into the bridge of his nose and smash into his eyebrows and when the car spun again, his body propelled to the right and his head collided with the window.
Another car hit them. It was bound to happen, they were doing circles in the middle of a four-way junction. Someone couldn't break or swerve in time and they smashed into the back of the driver's side of the car, propelling the car in another direction.
"Fuck!"
Tommy could feel his hands shaking and his arms imbedded into his sides, compressing himself like he was trying to make himself smaller to minimise the harm and the pain.
He couldn't see when he opened his eyes. His trembling hands reached up and curled around the broken glasses imbedded into his face. He tore them off and chucked them in any direction he could, blinking furiously to sort his vision. He could feel blood dripping down the bridge of his nose and when he moved his hand to the right side of his head, he hissed. He had a cut there.
He'd fractured the glass from how forcefully he headbutted the window.
"Sweetheart, are you okay?" His voice was gruff and he swallowed thickly, turning to the left to look over at (Y/n).
Looking down, (Y/n) tried to clear her vision and stop the trembling that was rattling through her system. Her arms flopped onto her lap and she winced, smothering a sob when she looked at her left arm. It was definitely broken about an inch down from her wrist and it was already starting to swell.
Her head hurt. She felt sick. The baby was kicking and churning around as if the car was still spinning them in circles.
"Okay," (Y/n) mumbled and when she felt Tommy's fingertips graze across her stomach, she nodded. The baby was moving, that had to be a good sign right now. "Kids… c-check the kids." (Y/n) curled her fingers around Tommy's wrist and give a gentle squeeze. She would be alright for now, but they needed to make sure the kids were okay.
"Is everyone okay? Who's hurt?" Tommy wrangled with his belt and flung it to the side so he could slowly turn in his seat and look into the backseat.
He looked at Chris first. The eldest had blood trickling down the side of his head. His glasses were hung round his neck, tears were freshly falling down his face and he was gasping and shaking. Both his hands moved down to his right leg and he started to point until Tommy looked down; his ankle was swollen. He might have broken it.
When his eyes darted over to Cassie in the middle, Tommy's lips curled down and he pressed them into a thin line to try and stay focused.
Cassie was hyperventilating, taking shallow breaths as tears streamed silently down her face. She was in shock. She was cradling her left arm close to her chest; her hand looked damaged. Tommy took a guess that she had got her arm trapped against the car seat and all the force had broken or in the very least fractured some of the bones in her hand. Maybe her arm too, he couldn't be sure without taking a closer look.
But it was when his eyes set on Daisy that Tommy felt his heart lurch up into his throat.
The four year old was pushing back in her car seat, shaking and silently crying as she flapped her hands down near her left leg.
The window had broken. She had a piece of glass impaled in her leg.
Tommy lurched between the seats when Daisy moved her hands down towards her leg.
"Don't touch it!"
"Daddy…" Her voice was quiet and croaky and as soon as she found her voice, she began to wail. Deep, horrid choking sobs left her lips as she gasped for air only to continue screaming out. "Daddy!" She all but screamed on repeat until Cassie was whimpering at the volume and leaning into Chris.
"Baby, baby I'm coming to help you now, alright? Do not touch anything, I'm getting out now. It's all okay, you're okay."
"W-what's wrong?" (Y/n) could see the panic in Tommy's eyes and she tried to grab his arm but he moved too quickly.
He jammed his shoulder into the door until he creaked open and he threw himself out the car, moving as fast as his jelly legs would take him.
He rounded the back of the car, relieved to see there was enough space between their two cars for Tommy to open the doors and get the girls out if needed. There was enough space for the emergency services to come and help them.
"Mummy," Cassie leaned forward towards the front seats while (Y/n) turned around to try and look over at the kids.
She swallowed harshly, forcing down a cry when she realised all three of them were hurt; Daisy especially.
"Stay there, baby. Just stay where you are please, you're okay." (Y/n) reached her right arm towards the back, smiling through tears when Cassie leaned forward to hold her hand. The touch didn't last long, neither of them could lean or strain for long to stay connected, but it was enough to calm one of Cassie's electrified nerves.
When he opened the back door, Tommy crouched down and pressed his knees down against the footwell so he could lean up in front of Daisy and look her over properly.
"Daddy… hurts!"
"I know Daisychain, I'm gonna make it better. And I bet papi's on his way here to help us too. Just stay still for me, okay?"
When she moved her hands down, Tommy wasn't sure whether she was reaching for him or for her leg. He could see she was itching to take the glass out of her leg but he couldn't let her do that and cause irreversable damage if she did.
"Cass, baby hold her hands for me please."
Cassie whimpered and leaned her cheek on the edge of the car seat, moving her right hand out to clamp down around both of Daisy's hands. She couldn't get a good grip or hold her properly and she didn't dare move her left hand that was swelling up and going numb on her lap.
Tommy pressed his lips into a thin line and tried to be careful when he looked over Daisy's left leg.
She wriggled and squirmed, pushing back in her seat as both legs jerked. A horrible whine left her lips and she began gasping again, desperate to kick out until both Tommy's hands planted down on her thighs to keep her steady.
Turning to the left, Tommy leaned over the back of (Y/n)'s seat, taking the chance to kiss her cheek in the process.
"I need something for a turnequit, my belt's too big and she's nicked an artery."
He had to stem the bleeding that was spurting out of Daisy's leg and soaking the car seat. If he didn't stem it soon she would bleed out in the car before help got to them. But Tommy's belt was too big. Daisy was only four and her leg was thin and fragile as a stick. He couldn't knot his belt tight enough around her leg to stop the bloodloss.
(Y/n) looked around the footwell as strangled breaths tumbled past her lips. Oh God. What were they going to do? They needed help. They needed Eddie's team or Tommy's team down at Harbour to get here and help them. They needed to get Daisy out quickly.
Leaning forward, (Y/n) supressed a groan as her stomach pressed into her thighs and she reached down for her bag that was between her feet.
"C-can you break the strap?" She handed it back to him. The purse had a long but thin leather handle that would be perfect if Tommy could break it off her bag. She had no doubt that he could tear it apart as easily as he liked to tear her lace underwear.
"Thank you."
He kissed her cheek again before he turned back to face Daisy. He rested the bag on his lap, clenched the strap in his fists and tore in opposite directions until the leather grated and crackled as it ripped apart.
"Daisychain, I want you to close your eyes and stay as still as you can for me. I'm gonna fix your leg and make it better, okay?"
The blind trust Daisy put in him made Tommy's heart swell and break at the same time.
She will never trust me again after this.
Anytime Tommy asked her to trust him from now on, he just knew Daisy would never listen after what he was about to do. This was going to help her but the pain it would cause her was too much for a four year old to comprehend or understand.
He slid the strap beneath her left leg around her thigh as the glass was punctured in her leg two inches up from her knee. Once it was in place, Tommy gave a sharp pull and quickly knotted the leather so tightly that it sank down into Daisy's thigh like it was going to split her leg in two.
"No!"
Her shrill scream tore through the car and her small hands pulled out of Cassie's grip. She batted them against Tommy's shoulder, but she couldn't sway him an inch. She screamed so much her inner lips went blue and she started to black out. Her hands flopped onto Tommy's shoulder and her head lolled against the seat as she laid panting and gasping, on the verge of passing out.
"Baby, baby, look at me. Breathe with me, deep breaths. Copy daddy, hm?"
Reaching out, he firmly held Daisy's chin in his hand and tilted her head so she was looking at him. Once she tried to open her eyes, Daisy started to watch the way Tommy purposely took deep breaths and puffed out his chest. Then deflated his chest and lowered his shoulders to get her to copy him.
"Good girl."
Taking a look around the back of the car, Tommy grabbed Daisy's bag from the footwell below Chris and rummaged through until he found an old shirt tucked in the bottom. They always brought out a spare change of clothes, some wipes and toys in case of any accidents; never this kind of accident, though.
He stretched the shirt as much as he could and wrapped it around the cut just below the glass. Pulling it tight so the little blood that was still leaking out would soak up and the pressure would keep her leg going until they got her stitched up at the hospital.
"Such a good girl." Tommy murmured against her temple, pressing a lasting kiss there before he leaned over to look at Cassie and Chris.
Cassie whimpered quietly and held her arm out towards Tommy so he could see the damage done. She cringed and shivered as he tried to be careful assessing her hand which he laid down on her lap and leaned over so he could kiss her cheek.
"Are you hurt anywhere else, baby?" When she shook her head, he kissed her again and smiled in relief. That was good. A broken hand or wrist was okay and easy to sort out at the hospital. "Chris, buddy what about you, can I look at your leg?"
Chris held his right leg out towards Tommy and braced himself in his seat as his dad started to assess and prod his ankle and up his leg.
"Might just be swollen buddy. Come here, look." Tommy's voice softened as he let go of Chris's leg and reached out to gently place his glasses back over his nose and around his ears.
"It's dad!"
"Papi," Cassie sniffed, leaning close to Chris to look out the window as Tommy did the same. She felt Tommy's hand on her shoulder and he kissed both their heads when he looked with them towards the trucks and the ambulances that were beginning to pile up.
"I-is it Eddie?" (Y/n) leaned around, one hand on her stomach as her other hand grazed up and down Tommy's back.
The kids saw any fire truck and assumed it was Eddie. Much like Daisy saw any helicopter up in the sky and started shouting 'daddy' because she presumed Tommy flew every helicopter in the sky and that he never touched the ground when he was on shift.
"Yeah, yeah it's him," He breathed through his words and shuffled back so he was in the footwell in front of Daisy.
The toddler was sniffling and in between panting and whimpering, unsure whether she was going to pass out again or not.
Tommy took a second to spin around and look back over at (Y/n). He leaned around and moved his hand to her waist while he kissed her neck. "His team's gonna get a shock."
He almost felt bad. While Tommy told anyone at Harbour who asked that he had two partners and three kids, Eddie was reserved. He wasn't ashamed or annoyed, but he liked to keep his family to himself and hold them close to his heart. They had had enough people comment on their family for Eddie to know that to protect them and shield them, he had to keep them hidden away at times.
He had talked to Tommy about it. Tommy knew Chimney and Hen from years back when he worked at their station. He knew they were caring and understanding and Eddie was close enough to the team that he wanted to introduce them to his family soon.
He had been waiting for the right time. This crash would blow that out of the water for him.
Eddie slung a medic bag on his shoulder and turned away from the truck, looking through the mess in the middle of the junction.
Three cars were crashed together right in the centre of the junction. Another car had hit someone else when they came to a harsh break. A jeep had derailed from the road and collided with a street light, presumably to swerve and miss hitting a pedestrian.
This all looked a mess. It was good that they already had two other ambulances here as back up and another team was on the way to help evacuate people and get everyone out.
"Chim, check the driver in that jeep, see if they can get out or if they need to be in an ambulance. Buck, I think we might need the jaws for this BMW over here. Eddie-"
Whatever order Bobby tried to give out to Eddie went in one ear and straight out the other when Eddie got closer to the three car pile-up in the middle of the road.
Oh God.
"No- no I know that car- that's my family!"
The words left Eddie's lips in a flurry and before anyone could ask him what family he was talking about, he was off in a sprint. The bag on his shoulder slammed repeatedly into his hip and gave him jolts as he ran over to that all too familiar car. That was Tommy's car.
Did he have the kids in the car with him? None of the kids had ever been in a car accident before. They'd never been seriously hurt before. Did he have (Y/n) in the car with him? She was pregnant, a car accident was the last thing she needed right now.
Eddie planted his palm down on the boot of the car to keep himself upright and slow himself down so he didn't trip or collide with the car.
He dropped the medic bag down to the floor and skidded to a halt just as Tommy clambered out the back seat.
His broad frame blocked some of the sunlight beaming down on them and Eddie had to squint to look up at him. He looked a mess. His shoulders were tensed up and showed off how harshly he was breathing. His shirt was damp and glued to his chest like a second skin Eddie just wanted to peel off. Tommy's hair, usually brushed and tamed, was now wild and free with curls popping up in every direction possible like he'd had an electric shock.
He had a cut on the bridge of his nose and one across his left brow that was swollen a tiny bit. There was a cut to the right side of his head that had trickled down onto his ear, but it was Tommy's hands that made Eddie go rigid.
His hands were lathered in blood. So were his jeans and he had a few blotches around his abdomen.
When Eddie didn't step forward, Tommy moved to him. He looped his arms around Eddie's neck and reeled him in until Eddie jolted out of his frozen state. His hands clutched at Tommy's back and he buried his face in Tommy's shoulder, inhaling his scent that mixed with the smell of smoke, a hint of iron from the blood, and his signature cologne.
Pulling back, Eddie moved his hands from clutching Tommy's back to cup his neck instead. He didn't care if the team could see him or not. He pulled his partner down for a quick but searing kiss before his hands were moving again.
He held Tommy's wrists and yanked them closer, inspecting his hands, arms and then around his chest.
Where was the blood coming from? Where was he hurt?
"Babe, are you alright? Where are you hurt?" Eddie trailed his hands across Tommy's chest and moved down, about to grab his shirt and yank it up when Tommy stopped him. He held Eddie's wrists, accidentally smearing his hands with blood. Their daughter's blood.
"I'm fine, baby the kids… I've had to strap up Daisy's leg, she's cut an artery-"
"What?!"
Tommy took a step back when Eddie weaved around him to get in the back of the car. He knew that wouldn't go down well. If it was the other way round, Tommy would have had a heart attack upon arrival if he heard those words.
"Daisy, baby girl, it's papi." Eddie cupped her tear-stained face in his hands and pressed a flurry of kisses against her temple.
He felt the way she wailed into his neck and started to whimper, trying to grab his arms but he moved a little too fast. He leaned down and looked over her leg, already feeling the tears welling up in his eyes as he stared at the make-shift turnequit Tommy had made and the glass sticking out of her thigh.
"Okay, it's okay we're gonna look after you." He spoke quietly against her temple, letting her hold his hand for a few moments while he looked across at Chris and Cassie. "Are you two okay?"
Both of them moved at once. Chris lifted his right foot to show his swollen ankle and Cassie whimpered, holding out her left hand that was swollen up like a football and she couldn't move her fingers anymore.
"Can we get out now?" Chris looked around and pointed to his belt. Neither of them had removed their seatbelts. They were still in the car. The car was in the middle of the road. Were they allowed to take off their seatbelts? Were they allowed to get out the car now their other dad had arrived and all three parents were with them?
"Yeah, yeah come here and you can wait with dad."
As soon as Cassie unclipped her belt, Eddie leaned over and scooped her up. He made sure not to nudge or touch Daisy in any way and placed Cassie down on her feet next to the car. He did the same with Chris, making sure to hug and kiss them both before he looked across at Evan who was waiting nearby in case he could help.
"Can you check the kids please?"
Evan was the best person to have around the kids. He was great with kids. They levitated to him and he could calm them down and make them feel safe and comfortable which is what the pair of them needed right now.
"Cap, I got a four year old with a cut artery and a makeshift turnequit, I need the ambulance and a stretcher over here." Eddie spoke into his radio while he switched places with Tommy when Daisy started to scream again.
Tommy knelt in the footwell and cupped her face in his hands, brushing away her tears with his thumbs while he kissed her nose. "Just look at me baby, we're gonna look after you."
"No- no I- don't-" (Y/n) leaned over to the right, shuffling in her seat as much as she could when a woman knelt down at the side of the door.
She barely heard the woman ask if she could take a look at (Y/n). All she could do was bat her arm out to get her to move back. (Y/n) didn't want that blood pressure cuff on her arm. She didn't want strange hands on her. She wanted Eddie or Tommy. No one else needed to assess her, no one else understood her like her boys.
Spinning on his heels, Eddie twisted and moved to stand behind Hen. His heart soared and broke at the same time when he looked over at (Y/n) in the passenger seat.
She had her hands pinned against her ears and her eyes closed.
She didn't do well with hospitals or injuries and she couldn't handle strangers, especially not if they were trying to touch her. It didn't matter that Hen was only trying to help. (Y/n) couldn't deal with it.
"She doesn't do well with strangers, I'll get her out if you can help Tommy get Daisy out for me? Please?"
"Sure."
Hen smiled kindly and left her medical bag on the floor while she switched to move near Tommy. The surprise was evident in her eyes when she looked over her friend who she hadn't spoken to in months, possibly even a year or more.
He never said he was in a relationship with someone who was currently on Hen's team. Eddie never brought him or (Y/n) to their station parties or brought them round for drinks at the station. He never said anything about this and Hen was going to quiz them both later and find out everything.
"Baby… baby it's me. It's okay, it's just me." Reaching out, Eddie gently held (Y/n)'s wrists and pulled her hands away from her ears before he cupped her face in his hands. His thumbs brushed across her cheekbones and he leaned up to press their foreheads together, smiling softly at her when she opened her eyes.
He took a deep breath, puffing out his chest until (Y/n) copied him and waited for him to release his breath so she could do the same. After doing this for a minute, Eddie nodded and smiled sweetly.
"Can I take a look at you?"
(Y/n) nodded and sheepishly held out her left hand so Eddie would look at that first. Her wrist was her main concern. Her head was probably concussed but the only thing she had broken was her arm very close to her wrist.
She watched the concentration on Eddie's face and the way his lips pressed together and his brows furrowed as he assessed and prodded at her arm.
"I'll give you a splint until you can get it checked out." He found two wooden splints in the medical bag and a roll of bandage.
Within a minute, he bandaged the splints on either side of (Y/n)'s arm to keep the bone as straight as he could and stop it from moving in transition. He bandaged it tightly until (Y/n) was wincing and hissing and pushing back in her seat.
"Okay, let me take a look at you both. Any other injuries I should be worried about?"
(Y/n) leaned back in her seat and tried to stay still while Eddie ran his hand along her arms and over her chest just to check she had no other bruises or breaks or swelling. But when he moved his hands down towards her stomach, (Y/n) sucked in a sharp breath.
She rolled her lips together and held Eddie's wrist, moving his hand down to the right side of her bump. "I'm getting cramps." She whispered hoarsely, biting down on her lip at the look in Eddie's eyes when he glanced up at her.
He pressed the heel of his palms around her stomach, checking whereabouts the baby was positioned and making sure he couldn't feel any hernias or anything that indicated internal bleeding.
"Might just be the shock. Let's have a listen to his heartbeat." Eddie reached down and grabbed the stethoscope from the bag, but he found himself smiling when he heard Tommy pipe up.
"It's a girl."
Tommy thought they would have three for three. He was certain this next baby would be a girl, he had a gut feeling they would have another girl and have Chris as their one and only boy. Eddie seemed to think otherwise.
(Y/n) stayed still as Eddie listened to her heartbeat first, noticing it was a little high but not in the danger zone. He couldn't expect her to have a normal rhythm after a car crash.
Once he pressed it to (Y/n)'s stomach, he felt her grip his wrist while he dragged his thumb across her bump and leaned in close.
"Little fast, but otherwise they sound okay. Let's get you all out."
"I got her," Tommy murmured to Hen so they could switch places. He would rather get Daisy out himself. The girls took after (Y/n), they weren't great with strangers whereas Chris was the social butterfly of the group. Tommy wanted to get Daisy out so she knew she was safe and that he wasn't about to leave her.
Plus, it wouldn't be nice for Daisy to scream in Hen's ear when they'd only just met.
He could tell Hen wanted to say something along the lines of 'careful' or 'don't move the glass' but she held her tongue. Tommy was one of them. He knew what he was doing.
"Come here Daisychain."
He looped her small arms around his neck and carefully wedged his left arm beneath her legs. Doing his best not to jostle her left leg. He didn't want to hurt her or cause any damage.
Once she was up, Tommy smothered his lips against the top of her head and turned to set her on the gurney Hen had taken from Bobby.
"Daddy…"
"I'm not going anywhere, I'll ride in the ambulance with you." He unhooked her arms from his neck but kept hold of her hand so she knew he wasn't going to leave her. Eddie was going to have to ride with (Y/n) and they would split the kids between them so none of them were on their own.
Tommy glanced back over his shoulder to see Eddie stood with (Y/n)'s arm around his neck and his arm around her waist. He tucked her into his side and helped her start walking away from the car. While Chris and Cassie moved to stand next to Eddie, waiting for instructions as to where they were going and what they would be doing from here on out.
"Let's get you to the hospital, little lady." Hen smiled down at the youngster while she looked towards the ambulance.
She could tell it was going to be a struggle getting an IV line into Daisy's hand. Leaving that for the doctors might be the best course of action. They could sedate her and get her sorted with everything she needed while she was in surgery. Hen didn't want to traumatise Daisy any further.
But just as they made their way towards the ambulance, Hen stopped the gurney when Tommy paused.
His attention was focused elsewhere.
Daisy had hold of Tommy's left hand in a death grip, but his eyes weren't looking down at his youngest anymore. He was staring ahead at Chimney who was helping a driver out of his car.
It was the driver who had gone through a red light and hit them. The driver that had caused all of this mess, who had injured Tommy's partner and all three of his kids. And seeing the driver climb out of the car, leaning heavily on Chimney while he wobbled and flopped onto the bonnet with a dazed look in his eyes made Tommy's blood boil.
"Is he drunk?"
His sharp tone caused everyone to look at him before they all looked across at the driver.
Chris held onto Eddie's free hand and pushed into his side while Cassie stood just behind (Y/n) and Eddie, her good hand tucked into Eddie's jacket pocket so they didn't lose her. She pressed her face into Eddie's back, shivering at her dad's tone. That was his unhappy voice.
Eddie looked between Chimney and Tommy, unsure who was going to move or talk first. He knew what was going through Tommy's mind, it was the same thoughts Eddie himself was having. A drunk driver had caused all this damage. He had gotten behind the wheel in that state and caused all of this to happen.
And Chimney's expression told Tommy he was right in his assumptions.
"Tommy, go in the ambulance-" Chimney pointed over at the ambulance before he tried to reel the drunk driver up off the bonnet. He needed to go sit him down on the pavement and try to get him on an IV to sober him up. He needed to get a neck brace on him to help with the concussion and check his arm which seemed to be broken.
They also had to wait for the police to arrive and take his details so they knew who had caused this crash and who to prosecute. Starting a fight in the middle of this mess wasn't going to help anyone.
"You're seriously pissed up? What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
(Y/n) shivered and pushed into Eddie before they moved over towards Hen and Tommy. Daisy was starting to whimper, clutching Tommy's hand tighter so he didn't leave her when he looked like he was about to walk away from her and start a fight.
When they got close, Eddie leaned down and wrapped his free arm around Chris. He lifted his boy up and sat him down on the end of the gurney. He could ride with Daisy and Tommy while Eddie took the girls in another ambulance and met them all down in the emergency room.
"Babe leave it." He reached his hand out and held onto Tommy's shoulder, shaking him until he looked back at them. "Not in front of the kids."
"He's endangered all of them because he got behind the wheel with a bottle of whiskey!"
Tommy could feel the rage bubbling away inside of him. He was desperate to go over there and sink his fists into that driver. He wanted to ask him what he thought he was doing and what he thought he could achieve by driving whilst intoxicated. Or why he thought he had the right to endanger everyone else on the road just because he thought he could.
But the way Chris held onto his arm and Daisy pulled on his hand made Tommy look back down at them.
He could start a fight later once everyone was seen to by a doctor and all sorted and cleared. Now wasn't the time or the place, not when all three kids were watching and needed medical attention.
"We'll meet you there." Eddie pressed a tender kiss to Tommy's shoulder before he scooped Cassie up and sat her on his hip while his right arm stayed around (Y/n).
They would sort this all out.
They would get all of them seen to by a doctor and get Daisy in for immediate surgery which was not going to go down well when she realised what would have to happen. Once everyone was tended to, Eddie would have a word with Bobby and see if they could talk to Athena.
And Eddie would have a word with his team and introduce them properly to his family.
355 notes · View notes
musings-of-miss-j · 3 months
Text
no rest for the wicked (nor the foolish)
part eight: in which you're forcibly removed from your comfort zone by none other than the resident ginger, and you meet a certain someone's alter ego(s)
Tumblr media
a harbingers x gn reader series!! (includes dottore, childe, arlecchino and pantalone x reader. the rest of the harbingers will not be romantic interests)
notes: surprise surprise, the burn is still slow!! mentions of blood, gn reader with a dosage of snark that probably exceeds the recommended value
series masterlist
author's notes: *daddy's home plays faintly in the background, slowly but surely increasing in volume as i approach you on a hoverboard with a comically large witch's hat on my head and a ridiculous pair of sunglasses on*
word count: 4725
*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚**  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚**  ੈ✩‧₊˚*
It was, by all accounts, supposed to have been a completely normal lab session. You were planning the reaction route you’d take to test the enzyme you’d synthesised and the various ways to ensure its effectivity other than the rate of the reaction and the yield as you waltzed through the door (the inscriptions were glowing a pretty purple-pink hue reminiscent of sakura blooms that day). The redox apparatus from two days prior was sitting exactly where you’d left it, nothing out of the ordinary there. The abnormality came in the form of a segment currently in the process of detaching the round-bottomed flask where your product had accumulated from the condenser; the first thought to register was the sheer audacity for anyone to even contemplate touching your experiments, while the second, this is my chance to study the constitution of these ‘segments’ up close, wasn’t far behind. Glancing up sharply, your flask still clutched in his un-gloved hand, (a voice in your head shrilly protested his lack of adherence to safety procedures) the segment began moving away, no doubt to disappear to wherever him and the rest usually stayed. With more agility than you thought you possessed, you rounded the workbench and grabbed him by his sleeve.
“You. What are you doing with my condensate?” You demanded, grabbing the flask from between his fingers and setting it down on a stand. Now that the imminent danger of your work going to waste was neutralised, you took the time to analyse this segment of your supervisor’s while you had him cornered. This version of Dottore was at least five years younger than the one you were familiar with, probably from his late Akademiya years. And he wore no mask, leaving two brilliant scarlet eyes on full display, rimmed with pale blue lashes and dark shadows beneath them. The segment coughed and fidgeted, trying to find a way to escape your clutches.
“Hold still,” you ordered, reaching up to touch his face. You were startled by the smoothness of the skin, having expected something cold and metallic. How in Teyvat did he pull this off? You tilted the segment’s face this way and that, looking for hidden wiring or steel plating or anything else that would belie machinery, yet you found nothing. You gave his cheeks an experimental squeeze, and were further surprised when your fingers dug into what seemed to be soft skin, then dropped your hands, stumped.
“Huh. You look very human.”
“Prime did tell me that was the intention,” the segment agreed, flushed in the face and still trying to discreetly push past you.
Even his voice didn’t sound robotic in the slightest, riddled with natural dips of tone and perfect inflection for the context. Your eyes took in every detail, every movement, still failing to spot anything that would’ve given him away as a machine.
“Incredible. Did he give you a name?”
“No. Prime wouldn’t waste a second thinking about something so inconsequential.”
If you weren’t mistaken, the segment sounded almost bitter, staring blankly down at the wall with those striking eyes. You felt a twinge of pity; being a clone for Dottore was probably a thankless task. “Would you like one?” You offered, not unkindly. “If your system permits that sort of input, of course.”
“I- I have no use for such things.” It was strange to think that your Doctor, impenetrable and unmoving as he was, had been capable of stuttering to the point where he himself recalled and implemented the trait.
“How about Theta? I’ll need to distinguish between you lot somehow.”
 “It’s of no difference to me,” the segment- Theta- mumbled, before shooting you one last look, then disappearing in the split second it took to turn your head in his direction. You wondered where he’d gone, and why he was so wary of you.
Oddly enough, you didn’t see the Doctor for the entire morning and well into the afternoon. It was far from ordinary for him not to be in the lab the moment you arrived, (you suspected he slept there, if he even slept at all) muttering under his breath as he worked and occasionally ordering you to hand him the wrench or scalpel or graduated pipette in a tone so entitled it tempted you to bash him in the head with the very equipment you handed him. Still, you couldn’t deny his usefulness. Having two pairs of hands was always easier than one, especially when the other pair was as experienced as they came; you could bounce any question off him and receive a convincing answer, even if he could never resist throwing in a mocking remark about ‘how shameful it must feel to have such a rudimentary fact slip your mind.’
However, you had much better uses of your time than fretting over the location of your boss, such as extracting a sample of noradrenaline from the brain of a body so fresh you half expected the eyes to open in the midst of your operation. Even after such a time-consuming procedure, the Doctor had yet to make an appearance. You wrote it off, assuming he wouldn’t be present that day, and ate all the fruit tarts you’d brought while boring holes into your notebook with your eyes and trying to determine what exactly had gone so wrong amidst your calculations that the percentage error was at an unforgivable fifty seven percent.
“One hundred cubic centimetres of sulphuric acid sounds unreasonable,” a voice from over your shoulder remarked. You blinked, refocusing on the sheet of paper. A whispered curse slipped past your lips as you registered where you’d went wrong; the decimal point of the volume of acid was indeed one too many zeroes to the right. You twisted to see who’d given you the hint.
It would’ve been incredibly easy to mistaken this segment for Dottore himself,  but he lacked the jagged scar spanning from above the mask to his chin and cutting right through the corner of his lip. This segment’s face also wasn’t as harrowed, unlike Dottore’s hollowed cheeks and deathly pale complexion. You probably would’ve missed the difference yourself, if you weren’t so accustomed to the tiny details of the Doctor’s countenance. The segment grinned lazily.
“Like what you see, sweetheart?”
Oh, for the love of-
You shoved him away with a roll of your eyes. Not quite as Dottore-like as his appearance suggested, then.
“You segments are rather friendly today. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Since Prime isn’t here to hassle us about disturbing you, we thought we might as well make use of the main lab.”
A frown formed between your brows as you mulled over his response, absent-mindedly scratching out the mistakes in your calculations.
 “Main lab? There’s others? And why would the Doctor forbid you from utilising it on my account?”
The segment leaned over, resting his elbow on the workbench and his cheek in his hand as he watched you. “What do you mean why”- a delighted expression crossed his face, and his resounding cackle made you look up apprehensively from your notes. “Oh, what a scream. You mean you don’t know?”
The notion of ‘not knowing’ made the scholar in you bristle. “Don’t know what?” You snapped, crossing your arms and turning to subject him to the full force of your glare.
“You’ll find out soon enough, lovey,” he replied with another laugh. You scowled.
Patronising piece of-
“I heard you even gave one of us a name,” he said, interrupting your furious train of thought. “I didn’t think you were so besotted.”
You clicked your tongue dismissively, waving him off. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s counterproductive not to know the names of one’s assistants.”
It was the segment’s turn to bluster. “I am no one’s assistant!”
“Mhm. Be a dear, Gamma, and pass me the dichloromethane so I can make some aspirin for the inevitable headache you lot are going to give me.”
Muttering and grumbling and secretly preening over his namesake being a highly dangerous electromagnetic wave, he slid you the bottle and even a measuring cylinder and pipette to boot. You rewarded his extra efforts with a small smile, and Gamma suddenly understood every nonsensical thought that Prime had experienced since you arrived in Snezhnaya.
Throughout the day, more and more of the segments appeared from Archons-know-where and took to hovering around you while you go about your business, or chattering and doing a fine job of distracting you from whatever you were reading, or even rushing to assist you. You didn’t complain; it was fascinating seeing these different facets of the Doctor. Most of the older segments are rather similar to him, although Gamma had a rather prominent flirtatious streak, while another you’d named Omega was more snappish and impulsive. The younger ones were unfailingly comical; Theta was so easily flustered and a little more apprehensive about explosive compounds than the rest, and Pi, whose name referenced the pastry that was such a direct contradiction to his character, was rude, arrogant and reckless.
(“Since you’re such a bitter pill to swallow, I’ll call you Pi.” You grinned at your own joke. “No other aspect of you is remotely close to sweet, after all.”
Pi scowled animatedly, shattering the beaker in his hands from how hard he’d gripped it. “I won’t answer to a name given by a simpleton.”)
“Pi, clean the mess you made in the fume cupboard! Some of us have organic lungs that can’t handle toxic fumes, you know!”
“I don’t see how that’s my problem,” he snapped back, then slunk off to do as you’d told him when you weren’t looking.
The youngest of the segments, who barely reached your waist and had yet to even speak in your presence, had taken to trotting after you wherever in the lab you went, weaving between your legs and staring up at you with wide eyes half-hidden by a mop of messy blue hair. You’d come immensely close to tripping more than once, but you couldn’t bring yourself to scold him at all, instead nudging him out of the way like a cat sitting in the middle of the hallway. The segments were helpful enough, even if you’d been talked back at more times that day than your entire career as a lab technician in the Akademiya supervising young recruits, and by the time you were contemplating the prospect of heading to the dining hall for a bite to eat everything was in order; reagents alphabetically stored in their cabinets, counters wiped and glassware washed, even the enormous, curved windows were polished to a high shine. You spared them an approving look as you walked past, arms laden with bottles of (carefully separated) acidic and basic waste, admiring the aerial view of the snowy forest below, draped over the mountainside like a shaken-out blanket. The young segment was still tailing you, a lollipop you’d fished out from one of your pockets in his mouth; his utter disregard for where he was stepping had put you on your last nerve, but every time you sat him down in a safe corner he’d stare dolefully up at you before reappearing in your peripheral vision a few moments later. It was a wonder you hadn’t lost your temper, really.
“Epsilon, I can see your reflection in the window,” you pointed out in an unimpressed tone to the segment who’d been on the verge of grabbing your shoulders in an attempt to startle you. He huffed and grumbled, shaking the hair out of his eyes and cheekily tipping the neck of one of the bottles you were carrying as though to let the acid milkshake within, so to speak, spill, then pranced away from your scathing glare with a merry tune on his lips. You didn’t know how the segments seemed so familiar with you, as though they’d known you all their lives; Pi somehow knew how much value you placed on your leather gloves, as he’d threatened to use them for chromium extraction when you didn’t let him take one of your fungi petri dishes, Gamma had off-handedly mentioned how it was a shame your ear piercings had closed up years ago because you couldn’t match with their fluorescent blue test tube earrings, and Theta wordlessly handed you a pile of the expensive cider wood parchment you preferred to use and hurried away before you could say anything. It was baffling, to say the least, but you appreciated the extra help. It meant you could skip off to have a rather overdue lunch without fretting over something or other you might have mistakenly left over a Bunsen burner, even if it was strange leaving the lab without the Doctor’s voice criticising your lack of commitment to your education as the door swung shut behind you.
You weren’t even surprised to find Childe outside, leaning against the doorframe and tossing a dagger through the air, letting it flip over itself before catching it once more. When you opened the door, he stumbled into you and the dagger slipped from his hands as he nearly knocked you backward; but in a rare moment of swift reflexes you jumped to the side to snatch it from mid-air before it could stab either of you in the leg, only for Childe to latch onto your cloak as he fell and subsequently landing you on top of him. For a long, drawn-out moment, you just stared at each other; one of your hands pressed to the floor near his head while the other gripped the knife a safe distance above you. You quickly noted two things. One: Childe was bony and being draped over him was overall an uncomfortable experience; the apex of each of his ribs dug sharply into your chest, and two: his eyes were a peculiar, beautiful shade, less like the sea and more like heavy velvet thrown over something that glowed bright and blue, dimmed by the weight of the fabric.
Childe was finding it difficult to process anything other than your closeness. Yes, you were even more breath-taking up close and yes he would’ve given anything to place his hands on your waist and pull you closer still, but he was even more enamoured by the dips and points of your knuckles where your hand gripped the dagger, the creases in your leather gloves around each finger and the oddly calculating look in your eyes as you appraised him. You could stab him, he realised with a rush, staring up at you. You could drive the blade down and lodge it between his ribs and he probably wouldn’t be able to react fast enough because it was you, and his blood would stain your cloak and blouse and a coppery taste would fill your mouth. He wondered if Signora was right, and whether you really would look better in red.
You cleared your throat, breaking the spell, and Childe suddenly noticed all the other tiny little things he probably wouldn’t get close enough to see again. The notion that such things would remain secret almost made him panic, and it took considerable effort not to clutch at you as you rose to your feet and dusted yourself off. You extended your hand to him, and he allowed himself a split second of self-indulgence, the liberty of seeing your outstretched hand reaching towards his collapsed body as something more than it was; he let himself believe that you, so bright and resplendent in your every trait you might as well have been the moon, were offering him, a creature writhing in the darkness, salvation or even just a moment’s respite.
You hauled him up from the floor with a grunt of effort (he couldn’t possibly be as bony as he felt. All that weight had to come from somewhere), then took off your glasses and held them to one of the wavering white lamps, handing him the dagger.
“Hello, Eleven.” You frowned at the new scratches on the lenses and started rubbing them with the hem of your blouse, even if you knew it was a fruitless endeavour. “How long were you waiting out here?”
“Long enough,” he all but whined in response, slinging an arm around your shoulder and ruffling your hair. Your only protest was a half-hearted grumble as you shoved your glasses back on, and his chest warmed with the thought that you no longer instinctively rebuked his touch. “C’mon, Trixy. I didn’t think you were the type to ghost someone after a date.”
“What are you talking ab- oh, for heaven’s sake,” you said exasperatedly, shooting him a look as he walked towards the stairs with you in tow. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
He beamed so widely you nearly stumbled on the steps, blinded by the intensity of his glee.
“So you’re not denying it was a date?”
You sighed out an incredibly inappropriate curse, drowned out by Childe’s hearty laughter.
“You are an incorrigible man.”
“Well you went on a date with this incorrigible man,” he countered cheerfully and not without a healthy dose of smugness. That earned him a withering look, and you detangled yourself from his side as you walked down the corridor.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” you said with a shrug, laughing slightly when he let out an indignant splutter. Childe bristled, trailing after you with an exaggerated pout.
“You should apologise for hurting my feelings, Trixy.” “If I were to apologise every time I bruised your fragile ego I’d never have time to say anything else,” you teased, linking your arm with his and pulling him along. “Now come on, they serve an exquisite pumpkin soup on Wednesdays.”
You wondered at what point you’d become so friendly with the Harbinger, to feel relaxed enough to so casually poke fun at him. Maybe your self-preservation instincts were decaying. Maybe it was worth it.
“I don’t want to see that… Arlie again,” Childe protested. You looked at him sidelong.
“Oh?” You asked, feigning surprise. “Why not?”
Because she outranks me and I don’t like having to share your attention, he thought. “She beat me in a fight once,” he admitted grudgingly. It wasn’t even a lie; that bitter defeat was indeed part of the reason he felt less than ecstatic around her, though the atrocities she’d carried out to become the fourth Harbinger were impactful too.
 “Infighting between members of the same organisation should not be the norm,” you stated, shaking your head. “You Fatui are ridiculous.”
Childe laughed, tugging you closer by your linked arms to elbow you in the ribs. “You’re one of us ridiculous Fatui now, remember?”
“I am not!” You protested, affronted, before sighing at the self-satisfied expression on his face and changing the subject. “Tsk. So you refuse to speak to her just because you lost to her once? That’s immature, even for you.”
“No, no, defeat is all part of the battle. I don’t like that she refused a rematch.”
You hummed thoughtfully, chewing over his response.
“So you believe you’d win this time?”
“Maybe,” he replied with a shrug, steering you past the dining hall’s entrance. “It doesn’t matter though, does it?” He continued, as though the idea of combat for the sake of combat was the most normal thing he could possibly conjure. “Sparring with a strong opponent is the real goal. Say, Trixy. Are you any good in a fight?”
You snorted. “I’m a scholar, Eleven, not a warrior. And even if I was, I wouldn’t spar with you.”
His face took on an almost comically wounded expression. “What? Why not?”
“Because I know when I’m outmatched,” you replied dryly, letting him drag you along. A dejected expression you felt compelled to ease fell over his face. “Although I do have passable aim with a bow and arrow,” you reluctantly offered, and the change in his demeanour to unadulterated ecstasy was laughable.
“Really?! You’ve got to show me.”
“What? No, absolutely not.” Your reply was swift and decisive, but Childe was nothing if not meddlesome and persistent.
“No, no, no, you’re not getting out of this,” he jubilantly exclaimed, tightening his hold on your arm as if to prevent you from running off. “We’re going to one of the training grounds right now, and you’re going to do some target practice.”
“I’ll use your bloody head as a target if you don’t drop it, Eleven,” you threatened.
“Great idea, let’s try that too!”
Even as you lamented his utter insanity, Childe steered you to the west wing of the palace where you’d never been before. Upon looking around, you concluded that all forms of combat training happened there; the sound of crashing steel and muffled gunshots, interspersed with the occasional crackling, sloshing or rumbling from what was probably from Vision holders practicing how to utilise their elements in battle. The silver in the walls was twisted into different patterns from what you’d become familiar with, abstract depictions of battles long-past and a whole wall of solemn, important-looking text gleamed almost menacingly, commanding the attention of any who walked past it. From your passable fluency in the Snezhnayan tongue, you deciphered it to be an oath of sorts where the reader swore to carry out a myriad of jovial things such as turning the snowy landscape into a ruby’s facet with the enemies innards or their own, and wreaking havoc within the heavens until it rained scarlet. All in the name of Her Majesty the Tsaritsa.
Wow. Bloodthirsty much?
You eyed the oath distastefully, missing how reverently Childe mouthed it as he led you into an empty archery range. Rows of targets stood on the other side, pockmarked and their paint scratched, with a few of them sporting an unfortunate red-brown stain. You were grateful that there was no one there, at least; if you were a little rustier than you remembered then there was no one to witness your mediocrity other than Childe, who was presently looking through the extensive selection of bows and chattering about the various advantages and disadvantages of different models. You riffled through one of the many quivers of arrows scattered haphazardly about, admiring the high-quality steel of the heads. Some of them even had meticulous patterns along their shafts, no doubt hand-painted, and you appreciatively traced a particularly striking golden dragon with tiny, methodical scales spanning the entirety of the arrow, ending at the head where the dragons jaws were open in a roar.
“Well, Trixy? What bow are you going to use?”
You glanced up from the quiver, twirling the dragon arrow between your fingers, eyes skipping over the countless bows laid across the stands. You noted the ones tossed carelessly across them with a disapproving glance, and eventually picked the one that was the most similar to what you remembered using, long-limbed with a straighter taper and made from wood you recognised as Yumemiru from the distinctive diamond-shaped whorls.
“Why that one?” Childe asked, mesmerised by the sight of you in his element with a weapon at your fingertips. What were you thinking about when your hands reached for that particular bow? Did you have any specifications, preferences in regards to size or even the type of wood it was made from? Were your eyes drawn by the faded blue leather wrapped around the handle? Would you prove to be better, smarter, quicker than he was? The thought sent his heart racing and his brain spiralling with the prospect of having you as a competitor, an opponent.
“Does it matter?” You replied with a shrug, testing its weight in your hands. “I’m no expert when it comes to the craftsmanship of weapons. The bow I learned to shoot was probably older than me with a string practically on its last life.” You frowned slightly, looking up at him. “Why do you ask? Is there some sort of technique or guideline I should follow?”
“No, no, don’t worry about doing something wrong,” he reassured, his back to you as he assembled a quiver of arrows. You lowered the bow to stare at him, flabbergasted that he’d so quickly and accurately read the involuntary hesitation in your answer.
“Usually we have beginners start with a compound bow, but you probably have your own inclination by now,” Childe continued, oblivious to your astonishment. “What you’ve got there is a longbow,” he added, tossing you an archery glove. “They’re generally more difficult to master and harder to use.”
You pulled off your glove after making sure his back was still turned before replacing it with the one he gave you, and then picked up the bow again with new interest.
“I see. And yours?” You asked, nodding towards the one he had picked, white wood gracefully curved and narrowed at the tips.
“This one’s a recurve bow. They’re better at close range and generally need more strength to draw.”
Childe couldn’t help but be entranced by your contemplative expression, all furrowed brows and a distant gaze as you took in the new information. He had to agree that you really were a scholar before all else; the pensive look you so often sported might as well have been made to be worn by your features. In your eyes, even an archery range became an experiment, a mystery to untangle. You sighed and turned to face the targets, nocking the arrow and drawing the bowstring back to touch your chin. Childe watched as you adjusted your aim, mentally evaluating your form, then let the arrow fly. He let out a low whistle of appreciation when it hit the centre with a satisfying thunk.
“Clearly your aim is more than just passable,” he remarked with an excited glint in his eye that you didn’t quite like.
“Accuracy is all I have,” you replied with a shrug, lowering the bow and gently pressing your fingers into the indent the bowstring left in your chin, perfectly aligned with the barely-visible scar there. You’d forgotten how tender the skin could get. “I doubt I can still hit a moving target, for one.”
“But you can get the bullseye every time?”
“Not every time,” you corrected, making your way to the target to pull the bow out of the wood. The painted dragon really was a masterpiece, and you took a moment to admire it before heading back to the archers’ stand. Childe grinned and followed after you, bow temporarily forgotten.
“So most times then?” He pressed, trailing closely behind you.
“Where are you going with this, Eleven?”
 “I still think we should spar,” he replied brightly, so close he was practically breathing down your neck. “We’ll make it so that if you manage to shoot me even once, I go down, or we could”-
You twisted around to poke his chest with the fletching of the arrow, cutting him off. “No.”
“Please?” He implored, rounding on you whatever direction you turned to avoid him. “Please, please, please?”
“No!” You repeat, louder and with the full force of your irritation. “I’m not dying before I get this damned certificate!”
There was a beat of silence as he stared at you, slightly aghast. “You think I’d kill you?”
“…I don’t think you’d do so on purpose, no,” you conceded, taking out your pocket watch. “But your strength exceeds mine to the point where fearing for my life in a duel wouldn’t be unreasonable.”
“It is unreasonable to assume I’d ever hurt you,” Childe groused, continuing to block your path every time you tried to move past him. “Stop trying to get away,” he added, bending over to pinch your cheek. You stared at him, utterly at a loss for words, then quickly smacked his hand away with an irate grumble.
“I need to get away, I still have lab work to do.”
Childe flapped his hand as if physically shooing away the idea. “You work too hard, Trixy. Take a break.”
“And what do you think this little exercise was?”
“A chance to impress me with your archery skills, of course,” he replied without missing a beat, wiggling his eyebrows teasingly. You rolled your eyes with a quiet huff of laughter, pushing past him, and he dutifully followed after you.
“You’re not very difficult to impress, are you?” You teased back.
Only when it comes to you, he thought wistfully.
*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚**  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚*  ੈ✩‧₊˚**  ੈ✩‧₊˚*
taglist:
@viridian-coffer, @vvzhyxx, @darifes, @whore-of-many-hot-men
@aenishas, @lovel3tter, @randomidk-123, @autistic-deer
@luvenus702, @zoriaisasimp, @ra404, @crownohomo
@diamondcookie45
if i missed you somehow please message me directly, bold means i’m having trouble tagging you! to be added or removed please comment on the masterlist post of this series <3
169 notes · View notes
kaeichi · 7 months
Text
mixed drinks, mixed feelings.
[wc: 1.9k] ex fwb! gojo. sfw. angst. alcoholism. hurt/no comfort. you and gojo are teachers at jujutsu tech.
Tumblr media
“hey, gojo?”
“...”
gojo hates drinking.
you're not sure who this imposter is—this slumped figure who is currently hunched over the sticky countertop, tangled white hair sprawled messily against the dark sleeves of his arms, accompanied by four almost-empty shot glasses nearby. no, the man you know has never even taken more than a couple sips when the staff goes out for drinks after work hours, nor could he barely tolerate the smell without gagging, his beautiful face contorted almost comically into unequivocal disgust, so whoever this is in front of you couldn't possibly be him.
around an hour ago, the crew decided to head over to the nearest izakaya to celebrate nanami’s newest promotion at his job. he may have left jujutsu tech a long time ago, but he remained close friends with everyone nonetheless. it was only after multiple rounds of drinks that you realized how gojo has mysteriously disappeared for a suspiciously long time, and everyone was too buzzed to notice. after checking the bathrooms and excusing yourself outside, a strange feeling washed over you; for some reason, you eventually found yourself making your way to the bar right across the street.
it seems that one way or another, there is that invisible string that persists, faintly pulling you towards none other than gojo satoru.
tentatively, you lean down, a hand reaching over to gently shake his shoulder. the overwhelming stench of liquor invades your nostrils, but you resist the urge to withdraw, your concern winning over. “you alive, gojo?”
“…it's satoru,” he groggily mumbles.
sighing, you drag a bar stool to sit beside him, observing the uncharacteristically disheveled male. the sight is so bizarre that it makes you audibly laugh in disbelief, and you're tempted to snap a picture for blackmail purposes—he deserves it, you think. just because it's him. what the hell happened to the suave, well-groomed, overly confident sorcerer that you know? the man with very little to no apparent weaknesses at all?
even the strongest has his moments, i guess. if you recall correctly, this might be the first time you've seen him so openly vulnerable. you try to will away the strange sputtering in your chest.
tugging at his wrinkled sleeve, you urge, “look at me.”
no response.
the drinks you've consumed earlier are now starting to take effect, a light headache incoming as you try to think of what you should do. you count one, two, three, before a haunting realization comes to you, making you grab a fistful of his snowy tufts and forcefully gripping it upwards. his eyelids twitch, adjusting to the light after previously being closed shut. when he finally opens them, your breath gets caught in your throat—his once brilliant azure eyes are now a bland gray, with a hint of red rimming the outline.
“gojo?! christ, snap out of it! why can i touch you?”
somehow, the fucker still manages to smirk.
“why not? you've never complained about it before, so why start n—” you let go of his hair, letting his forehead slam back on the counter with a dull thud. he makes a dissatisfied noise, whiny and drawn out, before groaning, “who do you think i am? i can sense your presence way before you came here—my infinity wasn't off this whole time. and again, that's satoru for you.”
that gave you little reassurance, unsure whether or not to fully believe him—especially in this sorry state. despite his devilishly good looks and capabilities, gojo satoru is lame, a menace, and acts like a fool most of the time; but even you know that's a ruse. right now, there's no silly antics, no mask to hide behind, no façade to protect himself. even his fancy sunglasses are long forgotten on the ground below him.
“care to share what's on your mind, my dear friend?”
the seemingly disoriented colleague of yours adjusts his head so he can face you, still leaning against the dirty wood as his lips pull into a pout. “your dear friend, huh…”
“what was that?”
“nothing,” he then sits back up, his voice back to a normal volume. “so? wanna take a shot with me?”
you try your best to refrain from grabbing him by the hair again and slamming his head downward, on purpose this time. “you already drank a whole bottle back at the izakaya, and even that's pushing it. what's with you?”
his glassy, bloodshot eyes regard your stressed expression for a moment before he turns away, opting to stare at shelves of alcohol displays in front of him. “do you remember how megumi acted the first time he met you?”
…of course he'd ignore your question. having a conversation with someone like gojo will never be as clear-cut as you’d like it to be.
still, you decide to entertain him; it is a nice memory after all. fushiguro megumi, one of your students, who is also the little kid whose sister you coincidentally saved from a near death experience many years ago. little megumi came up to you after learning what happened, his head bowed low as he muttered his sincerest thanks in a small, quivering voice. you had kneeled down to his eye level, assured him not to worry about it, but he refused to look up, nor to even budge an inch. then as a joke, you told him to give you a nice big hug if he wanted to thank you more, and he complied, much to you and (especially) gojo’s surprise.
“mhm. didn't know you were the sentimental kind. is that why you refuse to get drunk?” you tease.
“whatever. i've been taking care of that brat for over ten years now, and he's never given me any kind of gratitude or affection whatsoever.”
“...have you ever thought that maybe it's because you have a personality issue?”
“that's not the point!” he whips his head to you, glaring at you with such venom that you can't help but grin widely. he immediately stops scowling at your reaction, maintaining eye contact for a few seconds before he averts his gaze once again. “i… understand him, is all i’m saying.”
“you ditched the group and went all the way here, alone, just to reminisce about the past? you truly never change, huh? you're still as dramatic as ever.”
“disrespectful little sh–” and he's back to glaring at you with a subtle sneer. “why'd you even come here?”
“first: you can't call me that, i'm older than you,” you click your tongue. “second: why not? are you telling me to leave or what?”
“no, seriously. why?” gojo repeats.
at this, your brows crease together. why what? “because i was concerned?”
“why…” he sinks further into the counter, head in between his crossed arms, much like how he had looked when you first walked in.
“i don’t get what you're trying to… are you asking me why i’m concerned? well, why wouldn't i be? it's not like we're not friends outside of work. of course i’d—wait, where are you going?”
you quickly hop off the stool when the tall sorcerer abruptly stands up, now briskly walking away and heading towards the exit. you call him a couple more times but he doesn't bother to look back, and you resort to nearly running to be able to keep up with his freakishly long legs. right before he rounds the corner of the street, you harshly pull his wrist; at the contact, he jerks his head back, dull gray eyes flashing angrily.
“is that all you see me as?” he yells, his voice echoing through the dark, empty street. you’re taken aback by the harshness of his tone, letting go of his wrist in surprise. “tell me no. lie to me at this point. did all our nights spent together mean nothing at all? i was just a quick fix for you, wasn't i?” the volume of his voice raises even higher, and you frantically wave your hands at him to stop.
“no, that's not true! i—” now you understand why he's been drinking irresponsibly. fuck. if you knew this is how it’d end up, then you wouldn't have started anything with him in the first place. you don't regret anything, but is it really worth ruining your precious friendship? all the years of your youth shared together has now gone down the drain, all because of a couple of drunken nights?
“—then why don't you look at me the same way as you do with nanami?” he says, and your stomach drops. one look at your shocked expression and gojo already knows. he knows, yet he needs one last confirmation that comes directly from your mouth, no matter how excruciating it is. “tell me i’m wrong.”
“i’m sorry, go–”
“it’s satoru, damn it.” this time, he doesn't scream his words, nor does he ball his fists so tight that his knuckles blanch. instead, what comes out is merely a quiet, trembling whisper.
you wince at the sheer amount of emotion behind his words, the feeling of guilt heavy on your shoulders.
“listen to me, satoru. there's nothing going on with me and nanami. and what you and i both have– had, is in the past now. you know why we can't be together, right? i can't leave my dear students behind.” the two of you are well aware of that predicament; you and him can never have a real relationship, unless you're willing to risk relocation to kyoto prefecture.
would you really do that for someone you're not even 100% sure you're in love with?
“then stop pretending to care about me. stop doing all this like you mean it,” the white-haired male spits out. you look down, a hand reaching in your pocket for the discarded sunglasses you've picked up earlier, gently placing the pitch black lenses over gojo’s face.
you want to say it's for his sake, but truthfully, you just can't bear to look him in the eyes anymore.
“but that's the thing; i do care about you. and i never stopped caring about you. you're such a great person, satoru,” you assure him with a much softer tone. before you know it, you're reaching towards his face—however, as soon as you made contact, your palm seems to burn from realization (of him further misunderstanding your actions? of you knowing your place?), making you quickly retract your fingers.
you pretend you don't see him chasing after your touch.
“please believe me when i say this,” you continue. “you deserve someone who's just as kind as you, someone who actually deserves your love, and i’m not that person—”
“kiss me.” you nearly lose your balance as he suddenly places his hands on your hips, pulling you close to him, his voice breaking as he pleads. you're glad you can't see his eyes anymore—it might shatter your already fragile resolve even more. “i don't care. i don't care if you're not the right person, or if you think you're undeserving of my love. none of that has ever mattered to me. so please, kiss me. just one more time.”
huffs of your breaths mix together, faint white clouds forming in the chilly night. your heart shivers with anticipation as your gaze lingers on his soft, familiar lips for a moment too long.
one,
two,
three.
“…i can't. i'm sorry, gojo.”
for being the strongest sorcerer alive, he’s undeniably and pathetically weak when it comes to you. for being the strongest, he can't even snap that thin, flimsy cord, unable to sever that invisible string that ties you both together.
gojo hates drinking, but he would down glass after glass until his body gives up before his mind does. he absolutely hates drinking, but he hates uncertainty and loss of control even more.
Tumblr media
159 notes · View notes
mostmagical · 5 months
Text
Pairing: Stranger/Stranger (Adrinette, but they don't know that) Words: 4k Summary:
“Can I kiss you?” It's costume theme night at the local bar, and Marinette finds herself a bit entranced by a pretty stranger wearing cat ears. She thought she would be content just watching, until Alya suggests she asks for just a little bit more.
Marinette chewed on the edge of her fingernail, trying not to be too obvious as she peered across the bar at the stranger on the corner.
They had met on the dance floor not too long ago, and she had been having trouble looking away ever since. He was attractive, despite the obnoxious cat-eared beanie tight over his blond hair, drawing her towards him in a way she really hadn’t felt in, well, ever. At least, not towards someone she barely knew. Not since the breakup.
The liquid in his delicate cocktail glass was dyed pinker by the spotlight he stood under, so she couldn’t tell if he was actually drinking anything as passion fruit-flavored as the color, or if it was just straight liquor. Her breath caught as he removed his hand from the water-beaded surface, lifting it to adjust the thick-rimmed specs he wore and reminding her of the sparkling green eyes she’d spied earlier.
Blond hair. Green eyes. 
She wondered if it was some cosmic joke that this always happened to her.
Even the cat ears were suspect, but she was trying her best not to acknowledge that.
A hand landed on her arm, and she jumped before realizing it was Alya returning from the bathroom.
“Still staring?” Alya asked. She had forgone her eye glasses that night for the sake of ‘accuracy,’ providing Marinette a clear view of the humor glittering through her friend’s hazel eyes.
Marinette sputtered, readjusting the skewed heart-shaped sunglasses over the bridge of her nose. “Wh– What? Staring? Staring at who– I mean— Staring at what? Because obviously I’m not staring and even if I was I wouldn’t be staring at anyone, certainly not anyone handsome and charming and—”
Alya interrupted Marinette’s spiral with a laugh. “Right, right, right.” She shook her head, the red curls bouncing across her bare shoulders. “You weren’t staring at the guy you danced with earlier, and you haven’t been nervous and jittery ever since. I imagined all of it.”
“Yes.” Marinette nodded sagely. “Thank you, exactly. It was all in your head.”
Alya simply hummed, turning to get the bartender’s attention and ordering the two of them another round. With her friend distracted, Marinette couldn’t help but let her eyes wander again. The stranger was now scrolling through his phone. Oh no. Was he calling a taxi? Checking train schedules? Was he leaving?
Pain blossomed over her thumb and the taste of metal hit her tongue as she bit down just a bit too hard.
“Marinette!” Alya hissed, pulling Marinette’s hand away from her mouth and quickly wrapping it in a cocktail napkin. “What are you doing to yourself? Do you want to get kicked out?”
She was sober enough to feel the embarrassed flush cover her cheeks. “Sorry.”
Alya’s barely concealed eye roll was colored with humor. “You should just go over and talk to him.”
Marinette blinked owlishly. “And say what?”
“Ask him for a kiss.”
“What?!” She knew her shriek was loud enough to disturb the patrons on either side of them at the bar, but all she could hear over the pounding of the bass was the blood roaring in her ears. “Why would I do that?”
Alya just laughed. “Look at you” —she waved a hand at Marinette’s napkin wrapped finger— “biting through your nails because you can’t stop thinking about how hot you are for him.”
“I– I–” Marinette faltered, her mouth feeling like it was stuffed with cotton the more she tried to move it. “I am not.” At Alya’s raised eyebrows, she tried and failed to come up with another reason why not. “I– You know I’m not like that!”
“Normally, yeah,” Alya replied, shrugging, “but there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun, just this once.”
Marinette swallowed.
“And have you ever been so attracted to a stranger in your life?” Alya continued. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this wound up. Not since Adrien, or Luka, or– actually–” She stuck a finger in the air as if the thought had just struck her from above. “No, not Luka; it’s more like with Chat N–”
“Stop stop stop!” Marinette cut her friend off, throwing a hand over her mouth to stop up the words.
Alya licked her palm in objection.
“Ew! Hey!”
“You are so silly, M,” Alya laughed as Marinette pulled her hand away and dramatically wiped it on her shirt. “It’s not weird to have a crush on a superhero.”
Marinette chewed her lip, traces of the watermelon drink she’d had hours ago still tasting in the corner of her mouth. “You know it was more than that.”
A hand patted her shoulder. “Of course I do, but the point still stands.” Alya grinned, as sly as her own superhero persona would imply. “You deserve one night to not care. Treat yourself. You need to cut loose after, well, you know.”
Marinette couldn’t deny that since she had presented it, Alya’s idea was sounding more and more appealing. Though maybe that was the vodka talking. Or the desperation.
“He sure seems like your type after all,” Alya pressed, squinting her eyes as she studied him. “Tall, pretty, charming... blond.”
“Green eyes, too,” Marinette added, despite herself.
“What?” Alya laughed. She reached out a hand, flicking the frame of Marinette’s sunglasses playfully. “You could tell through these bright pink abominations?”
Her face warmed in embarrassment. “I may have, sorta, practiced discerning colors on my posters of Adrien with them before,” she admitted. She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “His eyes look the same.”
Alya laughed again, full and delighted. “Marinette! Oh, there’s no one like you,” she said, grinning. “Now you really have to do it. I’m convinced it’s fate.”
It did feel almost divine.
Alya squinted once more, and Marinette wished her friend had listened to her when she told her to wear her glasses anyway. “He even kinda looks like—” She cut herself off with a hum, shaking her head. “You deserve to get out there again anyway. It’s been ages and I kinda think you need a rebound.”
Marinette wasn’t sure if she fully agreed with that statement, but she wasn’t exactly in the mood to broach the subject and down the mood.
“What if he laughs in my face?” she asked instead, sticking her lip out in a pout. It was meant to look cute, so maybe Alya wouldn’t push so much, but the fear was very much real. Sure, she and the stranger had had an amazing conversation, and their chemistry had been more intoxicating than her drink, but he was still that— a stranger. There was no telling what might happen if she walked up to him and asked for something so daring as a kiss.
“Marinette, look at me,” Alya said, placing both hands on either of Marinette’s shoulders. “You are hot. You are cool. And he is totally into you.”
Was there any explanation for the way her heart leapt straight out of her chest?
“Into me?” Marinette repeated. “What makes you say that? Are you sure?”
Alya smirked dangerously. “Well, don’t look now, but I may have caught him taking a few glances over here while your back was turned,” she explained.
Marinette, of course, looked. Her head turned at just the precise moment to catch his gaze in her own, and sure enough, the stranger’s jaw momentarily dropped upon making eye contact. He recovered quickly with a sweet smile, raising his glass in a cheers motion from across the bar.
Alya sighed, shaking her head. “Well, at least there’s another sign for you,” she said, amused. Grabbing Marinette’s shoulders again, Alya turned her back around to look at her face-to-face. “See? Repeat after me: I am hot.”
A bit dazed from the encounter, Marinette could do nothing else but exactly what Alya asked. “I am hot,” she repeated.
“I am cool,” Alya continued.
“I am cool.”
“He is into me.”
She choked, the last phrase a little rougher on liftoff than the others. “He is, guh– into me.”
“One more time, all together.”
Marinette closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She regretted it, as the smell of sweat and hops stung her nose. But the intake of air managed to ground her, all the same.
“I am hot. I am cool,” she chanted. “He is into me.”
“Yes!” Alya cheered. “Good job!”
The mantra was like a magic spell. Marinette opened her eyes, suddenly energized. Her stomach pitched a little, but it was full with excitement.
“Two cognacs,” the bartender announced, jolting Marinette from her reverie.
“Merci!” Alya picked up a glass, pressing it into Marinette’s hands with cool insistence. “Drink this, and then get over there!”
Marinette obliged, downing the drink in two big swigs. The alcohol no longer burned the back of her throat, settling in her stomach with a pleasant warmness. She replaced the glass on the bar with a firm clink, then sucked in another deep breath, wiping her upper lip with the back of her hand.
“Okay,” she said under her breath, hyping herself up. “Okay!”
“Go!” Alya gave her one more push, spinning Marinette around and pressing the heel of her hands into her shoulder blades. “Your prince charming awaits,” she sang.
Marinette stumbled forward, unsteady from Alya’s shove, but she quickly regained her bearings. Her blood pumped faster in her veins as she approached the other end of the bar. She swore she could feel every fingertip throbbing with her own pulse as she got closer.
Just a little kiss.
Plenty of people did that.
(Although, it wasn’t something she had ever considered doing herself.)
It wasn’t... weird to ask.
And like Alya had said, he was into her. The stranger probably felt the exact same magnetism she had. He would want to kiss her.
Right?
Steeling her nerves, she stood behind him, watching him swirl the liquid around in his glass. His head tilted towards where Alya stood by her lonesome on the other side of the bar, and Marinette’s heart skipped a beat in her chest as she wondered if he might be looking for her.
She smoothed down the synthetic purple wig as best she could, and adjusted the collar of her leather jacket. She almost wished she could dart off to the bathroom for a final appearance check, but she knew she would lose all her built-up confidence if she did. With butterflies brushing the insides of her tummy, she reached out a hand, tapping him twice on the shoulder.
The stranger turned, and she thought she might let herself believe his face really brightened when he saw her.
Nervously, she waved. “Hi.”
“Hey, Clara,” he said in a soft voice, somehow still audible over the loudspeakers. His smile was sweet and reserved. Her throat tightened up. “I was hoping you’d want to talk again.”
Marinette felt like the breath was stolen right out of her lungs. “You– You did?”
A hand reached behind the back of his neck in what must have been a nervous tick— yet another similarity to more than one of the loves of her life, oddly enough. “Yeah, I mean—” Was that a hint of red on his cheeks, or were her glasses fogging up again? “You– Uh, I loved dancing with you.”
The smile pinched her cheeks. “I loved dancing with you, too,” she said. “I had a lot of fun.”
“Wait a second,” Marinette said, her mind finally catching up to the last 60 seconds. “You called me Clara. I didn’t—?”
His mouth twitched into a grin. “Your outfit,” he pointed out. “Inspired by Clara Nightingale, right? From the ‘Heartbreak Disco Baby’ video?”
“You recognize it?”
The stranger’s face seemed to light up, even in the darkness of the bar. “Of course!” Marinette watched agape as his eyes scanned up and down her body, dare she say, appreciatively. “I’ve only watched that video about a million times and this is a perfect recreation.”
Pride swelled in her chest at the praise. “Thank you,” she replied. “I do take my costuming very seriously. My best friend even dressed to look like Sonia Auclair from that video.” She gave her loose hair a flip over her shoulder as she took the moment to seize up his outfit as well. “And you are—”
“Dressed at the very last minute,” he supplied bashfully. “I wasn’t exactly planning to come out, but luckily I had this beanie.”
“It suits you.”
His smile seemed genuine at her compliment. “You really think so?” he laughed, playing with the edge of the material. “Thanks.”
He was adorable. She bit her lip against the rising heat on her face.
“Heartbreak Disco Baby,” he repeated thoughtfully. “That doesn’t mean you’re a little heartbroken, are you?”
Adorable and considerate.
Now or never, she thought.
“Can I kiss you?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, her chest seized up. She said that. Oh god. She really said that.
The stranger’s face blazed a delightful shade of red, and Marinette wondered if they would match or clash were someone to compare the two of them. “Sorry,” he coughed. “I think I might have misheard you?”
She could run away. Back out right now, and save herself the mortification. Unfortunately, a flash of movement on the other side of the bar caught her attention, and she was met by Alya fluttering her fingers across the way. Marinette forced down a swallow.
“I asked to kiss you,” she repeated clearly.
When he only continued to stare at her, face crimson and eyes wide, Marinette slipped dangerously close to panic mode.
“Forget it!” she practically screeched. “You don’t have to do that—” She cut herself off with an awkward laugh. “I just— whew! Is it hot in here? I just— My friend over there told me I need to cut loose, and she told me to just go for it because I, well, I mean you’re very pretty— and we had chemistry…? Oh god, I said that— I mean, no, I stand by that, we do—” She covered her mouth, eyes wide in horror over her spew. “I swear I haven’t had that much to drink,” she admitted, rubbing her temples. “Sorry, I’ll go.”
“Okay.”
Marinette froze, slowly drawing her gaze away from the floor and back to the stranger’s face. “What?”
He rubbed the back of his neck again, the redness of his face having faded to a lovely pink that blended with the colored shades of her glasses. “Okay,” he said again. “I’ll kiss you.”
“You- You– uh. . .” Words didn’t seem to want to come to her rescue.
Luckily, the stranger did. He eased off away from the bar, facing her fully as he took her limp hand in his. With a gentle tug, he guided her to step closer towards him. “Is this okay?” he asked, his warm tone sending her heart fluttering.
She nodded almost too vigorously before she finally managed to rouse her tongue. “Yes, yes, it’s okay.”
This close, she could smell his cologne, a cluster of warm linens and nutmeg that sent a pang of recognition down her spine. His chest was firm and radiated a comfortable warmth that Marinette felt she could fold into. She followed his eyes as they dropped down to her mouth and back up again. Goosebumps raised over her skin as his hand glided up her arm, his face an image of patience. Until it changed to panic.
“Wait, oh no,” he gasped. “You’re not–”
“What?” She tilted her head in confusion, not really sure where this reaction had come from.
His mouth was a worried line. “Have you been drinking?” he asked. “Because I’m sober, and I don’t want to be taking advantage of you–”
Marinette cut him off with a snort. “I promise you, I am completely of sound mind, when I do this.”
Riding the sudden wave of confidence, Marinette mirrored his earlier movements, allowing her hand to trail up his arm and over his neck, warm skin beneath her fingertips. As she gently cupped his cheek with her palm, she pressed up on her tiptoes, rocking forward to sear her lips to his.
His breath fanned her mouth as he gasped into it, truthfully without a hint of the taste of alcohol, and his lips were pleasantly warm and plush against hers. She found herself quickly sinking into it, especially as a hand landed on her lower back and held her steady. Her other hand dove into the hair at the back of his neck, teasing the soft strands in rhythm with the glide of their kiss.
It was more than sparks and explosions and fire— all things she never expected she would feel while kissing a complete stranger.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something achingly familiar— comfortable, her mind supplied— about the pressure of his mouth on hers, and the little hums she could feel vibrating over her skin. Despite herself, she cracked open her eyes and studied his face as he continued to kiss her.
Green eyes. Blond hair. Cat ears, puns, those lips. Her heart almost seemed to stop as she realized she knew exactly why the sensation was so familiar. She had felt this kiss before. It could only be Chat Noir, she realized, warmth flowing between her shoulder blades.
She pulled away, just a centimeter to breathe between them. “Mon Chaton?”
He blinked open dazed eyes, blinking at her as if waking up from a dream. “Chaton?” he repeated. His eyes widened. “My Lady?” His voice was breathier than she was used to hearing it, and it sent a thrill up her spine.
“It’s you.” She almost wanted to laugh. “No wonder we fit so well together.”
It only took a few seconds for her partner to recover from his dreamlike state. He grinned his cat-like grin. “We’ve always been the purrfect team, after all.”
“Oh my god,” Marinette groaned, pressing her lips to his once more to shut him up. However, his mouth remained shockingly slack against hers. She pulled back. “What’s wrong?”
Seemingly dumbfounded, he replied, “You kissed me again.”
Oh god. Oh, god. He didn’t want to kiss her now that he knew. She was such an idiot.
“I’m so sorry.” Hastily, she tried to push away from his chest, only for him to grab her wrists and prevent her escape.
“Wait, no. I just–” His mouth worked wordlessly, endless green eyes searching her own. “Are you sure you want to be kissing me? What about—”
“Adrikins!”
Marinette froze in place, the familiar voice sending a chill up her spine— one that was cold and bruising, rather than warm and thrilling tingles that her partner had sent up and down her back all night.
Her hands went limp, still caught in Chat Noir’s hold, as the spray-tanned arms of Chloé Bourgeois wound around his neck.
Chloé, dressed in a flowing gown that did not at all match the whimsical costumes in the bar, immediately launched into complaints, current company left unnoticed, or rather ignored. “Thank god, I finally found you,” she cooed. “I can’t believe you left me there with that cousin of yours and Tsurugi. Ugh.”
A pained expression flashed Marinette’s way before her partner turned his head to meet Chloé’s powder blue eyes. “You had Zoé, too, didn’t you?” he asked her.
“Ugh, you know I would rather it be just us two.”
Marinette was rooted to the spot. It felt as though her brain was misfiring in about a billion directions. And yet, somehow all those directions ended at the exact same destination: the stranger before her.
A stranger, she was realizing, that was not so strange after all.
In fact, this was probably a person she knew better than she ever thought she had.
Because if she added everything she knew up, carried the two, and multiplied by three, well...
It seemed like Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste and the two (three...?) loves of her life were actually just one.
Nervous green eyes peeked at Marinette, as if to check that she was still there. The redirection of his— Adrien’s, oh god— attention finally drew Chloé’s eyes east, and if Marinette thought she could make it out of this easily, she was quickly corrected when an appalled groan filled the air.
“Dupain-Cheng?” Chloé stuck her nose up in the air, somehow glaring at Marinette through only the corner of her eye. “What are you doing with her? I thought you two broke up.”
“It’s complicated,” Marinette said, at the same time Adrien burst out “Marinette?”
She took one look at his face before immediately casting her eyes away again, an angry red blush overtaking her cheeks.
What the hell what the hell what the hell.
She found herself almost wishing for an akuma alert to save her. Except, no. No, she didn’t, she realized, because she would still have the same man right there with her.
“Marinette?” Adrien repeated again, voice sounding almost far away, even in a room where her ears were already blocked from the loud music.
Shyly, she met his pleading eyes, pushing her sunglasses back up and onto the top of her head. His jaw all but dropped open as he watched her, recognition flitting through his eyes.
They were quite the pair, weren’t they? Marinette could have laughed. A pair of glasses and neither realized that they were talking to their own ex. And the fact that she had recognized Chat Noir’s kiss, but not Adrien’s... No. Nope. Not going to unpack that.
Chloé glanced between them, a look between disgusted and bored plastered across her face. “What’s with that reaction?” she asked. “Listen, if you’re getting back with this weirdo, I–”
“Chloé!”
Marinette had no idea where Alya had appeared from, but she had never been so happy to see her best friend throw an arm over the other girl’s shoulder. Chloé physically recoiled under Alya’s touch, attempting to lean away, but to no avail.
“Césaire,” she grunted.
Alya grinned, unbothered by the less-than-enthusiastic response. “Oh my god, it really is you! I could barely tell; forgot my glasses, silly me. How’ve you been?” she asked. “I want to hear all about the new campaign.” Over her shoulder, she threw Marinette a wink.
The realization that Alya was providing her a way out burst across Marinette’s skin. In a flash, she had wrapped her hand around Adrien’s wrist, bodily dragging him through the crowd and away from their classmates. He came along willingly, only slowing down to dodge around drunk patrons that stepped between them.
Eventually they found themselves comfortably alone in a quiet hallway leading to the bathrooms. The hallway was much brighter than the main floor, illuminating all of Adrien’s features in a way that she couldn’t believe she had missed before. Marinette looked up at him in question, squeezing his wrist tight between her fingers. “When did you get back?” she asked, too desperate for the answer to pretend like she wasn’t.
He looked worried. “Just tonight. I– I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me.”
“Of course I did,” she murmured. She realized she had said it too quietly to be heard over the speakers when Adrien kept going.
“Everyone was asking questions.” He pressed a hand against his forehead, twisting her heart with it. “And just talking so much about my dad and England and... I don’t know. I– I had to get out.”
Her breath caught. She began running her hand up and down his arm to try and soothe him, saying, “I know, kitty, I know.”
“Zoé mentioned you and that’s when I realized I had to make a break for it.” He ducked his head shyly. “I should have figured I’d run right towards you.”
Marinette huffed out a laugh, her earlier conversation with Alya about fate and divinity seeming oh so relevant now. She let her hands rest on both his cheeks. “Yeah, seems like we’ll always be in each other’s orbit, doesn’t it?” she asked. “I just can’t seem to ever let you go.”
His eyes went shiny, and she wondered if he was about to cry. “Do you really mean that?” he asked, covering her hands with his own.
Her shoulders dropped with the tension she had been carrying. “Of course I do,” she replied, running her thumbs over the dark circles beneath his eyes. “I’m sorry about that night. I just didn’t want you to leave and I didn’t know how to say it.”
“I didn’t want to leave either,” he said with a watery smile. “Are you disappointed you didn’t get to kiss a stranger?”
She used her thumb to brush one errant tear away from his eye. “Considering I’d rather be kissing you, anyway?” she teased. “No, I’m not disappointed at all.”
His mouth twisted into a wry grin. “Not even about...?” He glanced back and forth down the hallway, as if checking for any listeners, only to look back at her with just an eyebrow waggle to voice his concerns.
Marinette giggled again. “Come here, kitty.” With a gentle tug, she guided his face down to hers, kissing him all over again.
If you enjoyed, consider dropping a kudos or comment on Ao3! <3
119 notes · View notes
irisintheafterglow · 1 year
Text
End Game #4 (volleyball captain!gojo x you)
summary: your ex shows up as a captain at a training camp and your captain puts him in his place.
word count: 1.8k
cw/tags: language, jjk volleyball au, reader's ex sucks (allusions to cheating and crossing boundaries, but nothing descriptive)
note: i'm a sucker for protective satoru, that's it.
likes/reblogs/feedback are always appreciated <3
Tumblr media
The last time you could recall Satoru taking his duty as captain seriously was during training camp several months earlier, and even then, his motivation was fueled by spite. 
“Fuck.” 
“What’s wrong?” 
“Nothing, it's fine. Can we just go around this way instead?” You pinch the sleeve of his track jacket, tugging him back the way you’d just entered. He follows, obediently but puzzled, sneaking a glance over his shoulder to see who you were avoiding. Your vision zeroes in on the doors, ears ringing in panic. Just a few more yards, you think. Just a bit further.
“It’s good to see you, sweetheart,” a sickening voice calls from the other side of the hallway, and your body tenses on its own, heart dropping into your stomach. Your jaw aches from how hard you’re clenching your mouth shut, and your feet are carrying you faster away from the asshole behind you. You don’t dare look at Satoru. “Aw, ignoring me? I see you haven’t changed.” Hold out. Ignore his remarks; they’re just words. Just get Satoru out of here–  
“Huh.” He makes an unamused, slightly disgusted noise. You can clearly imagine the scowl boring into the back of your head. “That's your new boy toy?” 
Immediately your captain digs his heels into the linoleum hallway, effectively screeching you both to a halt. You look back at him, eyes pleading with him to keep moving in the reflection of his round-rimmed sunglasses. But he’s stubborn, and cracks his neck from side to side like he’s ready for a fight. He turns, and his eyes narrow dangerously as he takes in the guy approaching him. You watch his body subtly drift in front of you, so easily and protectively that it makes your heart falter. 
“Satoru, wait–”
“It’s okay. Let me handle it,” he murmurs, flicking his eyes across the player standing right in front of him, tall enough for their eyes to meet. His voice drips fake chivalry and lethal venom. “From the countryside, hmm? You must be pretty good since there’s nothing else to do out there.” 
“How ‘bout you ask your little manager what we’d do out there?” Red-hot anger flares in your chest, but the cool calm of Satoru’s voice cuts you off. 
“I’m not gonna ask them anything regarding you.” His voice is even, but his fists open and close, a habit that only showed itself when he was on the brink of snapping. “Since they already deemed you unworthy of their time, you’re definitely not worth any more of mine. Toodles!” You cough, choking on your own oxygen at his childish goodbye.
“You fucking–”
Razor-sharp blue eyes stun him into silence. “See you on the court.” 
Satoru’s long, muscled arm snakes around your shoulders, pulling you into his side and steering you away from the prick in the hallway. He doesn’t let you go until you’re safely deposited by Yaga’s side, even as you take the long way around the school to the gym. You mumble out a thank you before he walks away to join the rest of the team warming up, shooting a lopsided grin over his shoulder. “Tell me about him later, yeah?” 
“Yeah.” You smile softly, chuckling as he dances around the trembling first-years in an attempt to ease their nerves. As much of an idiot Satoru was, he was a caring upperclassman when he wanted to be. The tender moment doesn’t last long, though, as the team you’re matched against first takes their positions on the other side of the court; there in the middle, wearing a repulsive leer and rolling a broad shoulder, is your ex. 
He was a summer fling from when you stayed with relatives for a month in a rural prefecture outside of Tokyo. His family was a friend of a friend of a friend, and you’d met at a neighborhood reunion when no one else your age was present. You’d bonded initially over volleyball, and you found yourself naively fascinated by his egotistical boasting. He asked you out shortly after, but rushed your relationship even when you were still new to having a partner. Nothing intimate occurred beside kissing, but you’d abruptly cut things off when he started wanting more physically than what you were comfortable with, not to mention the handful of other girls he kept on speed-dial when you weren’t available. Now he was here, captain of his school’s volleyball team, about to face off against the captain of your school’s volleyball team. It seemed that Fate had a cruel sense of humor. 
Yaga summons the team to huddle before the match starts, spouting his usual instructions to focus on offensive power and allow defense to flow organically. The players nod in assent, but you catch Satoru’s eye one too many times to be called merely an accident. 
“We haven’t played them before, but that doesn’t mean they should be underestimated. Be smart. Don’t die.” Yaga finishes his spiel, and the boys scoff at the usual melodrama of the ending, preparing their hands to break like clockwork. To them, it was just another practice match; you give them a pained smile when they ask you what lunch will be. You wring your hands unconsciously, sweating slightly from the unrelenting stare of your ex on the back of your neck. 
Carefree laughter dies back as Satoru’s stern voice cuts through the comfortable atmosphere of the team. “Oi, oi. Quiet, all of you.”  His expression is serious and unreadable, eyes dark with determination. “I’m going all out, this game.” You’re taken aback, and you catch Suguru blinking, dumbfounded. Even Yaga looked surprised. His face asked what you were all thinking: Why now? “I’m not saying you should go all out; that’s not what I mean.” His large hands quiet the team’s muttering. “This isn’t a command.” His gaze settles on you and your heart stops.
“It’s a warning.” 
The match starts, and it ends just as quickly. 
Satoru, Captain Satoru, leads your team to rack up fifteen points like he’d done it in his sleep. 
Most of the points were service aces from his own hands, to the point where Suguru and Nanami started grumbling that the match was just target practice. Even though he said he would go all out, you could tell he wasn’t wasting any extra energy; you bit your lip in an attempt to muffle laughter when you saw him yawn. The match wasn’t anything special, but you witnessed him act as captain in his own way, instructing players to do things that he knew would piss off the other team. Inumaki barely had to touch the floor as his upperclassmen formed an impenetrable wall over the net, much to the dismay of the other team’s hitters. He told Megumi to trial-run his setter dumps, Yuuji to try his jump serve at full power, and even pulled off a few good fakeouts with Panda that had you fistbumping Yaga. When the match concludes, you sneak a smug glance at the captain of the other team and are delighted to see his face bright red, practically steaming from the ears. He huffs out a muddled threat of a rematch before stomping away with his team to run the punishment lap around the school. 
You gravitate to Satoru, handing him a water bottle and a towel as he rests his head against the wall of the gym, cross-legged on the floor. You slide down next to him, and the corner of his mouth quirks up arrogantly. 
“You see me block that idiot’s cross shot?” 
“I did.” You look at him appreciatively, too happy to hide behind spunk or cynicism. “It was nice, seeing someone so effortlessly counter what he brags as his best attack.” 
“‘Best attack,’ my ass. He loves to act like he’s ambidextrous, but he’s–”
“More comfortable on his left than his right. I’m surprised you noticed.”
“He’s also shit at receiving and bullies that kid setter to give him the ball every other play. Their defense wouldn’t know a hole if they were the ones that drilled it.” 
“You really analyzed the hell out of them, Satoru.”
“Of course I did. Needed to know how to properly kick them to the curb.” You chuckle at the unfiltered malice in his voice and he beams back at you, bright as full moonlight. Your stomach turned, and you let yourself acknowledge how beautiful he looked, blue eyes glimmering and hair falling messily across his forehead. 
“Why can’t you be like this for every game?”
“Because I’m not defending your honor in every game,” he says nonchalantly, tilting the bottle toward you for emphasis. His tone is casual, but you both knew that he was taking a practice match more seriously than usual, more than it deserved. 
You can’t help feeling amused at him considering your ex a petty villain, like a rival knight from a neighboring kingdom. “Is that what that was, then?”
“Oh, loudly telling Suguru the match was a waste of time wasn’t obvious enough?” 
“Mmm, no. I think you should do it again,” you tease, bumping your shoulder gently against his. He mirrors your smile, alleviating any lingering worries pestering your mind. His voice softens, eyebrows dipping as he carefully chooses his words. 
“Were you with him for that month when you were in the countryside?” 
“Yeah.” 
“When you abandoned me?” He jokingly glares at you, and you roll your eyes. He was impossible. 
“Satoru.” 
“Sorry. Force of habit.” It’s silent for a moment, and then Satoru’s voice drops to a barely audible octave, low and cautious. “He didn’t do anything, did he?”  
Understanding washes over your face and you shake your head adamantly. “No, no. I cut him off before he could try anything stupid.” 
“Good. I knew you wouldn’t let him, but I wanted to be sure.” His eyes are still dark with something like suppressed wrath, mouth drawn into a tight line. 
“I don’t like that look on your face.”
The dangerous expression is gone in a blink, replaced by faux-indignancy. “This is just my face! Are you saying I’m ugly? I can’t believe you just called me ugly.” 
“No, I’m saying you look homicidal.” 
He snorts. “You’re not wrong.”
“Satoru!”
“Kidding! Partially.” Your face falls when he walks back into the gym, scowling and breathless from the punishment lap. Satoru catches you looking, and clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “You don’t need to worry about him anymore.” 
“You think I’m worried?” 
“I know you are, even if you won’t admit it. I’m just saying. I won’t let him bother you. I'm the strongest, after all.” You’re speechless at the earnestness of his statement, and settle for mumbling another thank you, avoiding his eyes. 
For the remaining days of the training camp, Satoru is attached to you at the hip, guarding you from the hungry stares and glares of other players. Though the rest of the team notices, he doesn’t explain his declaration of war against your ex’s team. In return, you feed him the meager information you had about his strategies, murmuring what ankle he seemed to be weaker on so Satoru could exploit it and enrage him further. The best part was that he did all of this subtly, never drawing extra attention to you or giving the impression that this was all to make you laugh. You find that he likes to look at you over his shoulder when he does something to piss your ex off, and his grin gets wider when you laugh. 
You find that you like it when he looks over his shoulder at you, too.
Tumblr media
279 notes · View notes
bettyfrommars · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
I'm on Fire
Part 13: This Heart is Haunted
18+Only, mature content, angst, reader is being stalked, mention of physical & emotional abuse, biker MC, unprotected sex, sex with someone other than reader, exes are everywhere, mention of battling cancer, home invasion, tarot reading, spiritual guidance, mention of a gun, mention of taking someone's life, hurt & comfort. wc: 8.6k
Masterlist Playlist
Summary: Reader and Eddie are very much in love as the world piles on again. Both of their exes are in town, and Craig leaves a disturbing calling card to let reader know he is watching. Steve is properly introduced to Charlene in more ways than one, Astrid tries to protect Steve in the best way she knows how, and we get a peek into what Wayne "Uncle" Munson is thinking
--------
"Wendy let me in, I wanna be your friend I want to guard your dreams and visions Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims And strap your hands across my engines."
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
I'm on Fire Part 13: This Heart is Haunted
--------
John Gregson sent you a generous down payment for his commissioned painting, and most of it went right to the art store with you to by a roll of canvas, new paints, and brushes. Eddie went with you, and insisted on driving your car, but not before he had to adjust the driver’s seat all the way back so that he wasn’t eating his knees. He found a paint-by-numbers color pack of a dragon for Oliver, and crept up behind you, pretending to be someone else.
“Excuse me, miss? You are so fine,” he whispered in the sketchbook aisle. “Are you single, by chance?”
You checked to each side of you, feigning to look for him. “There’s this one guy I fuck from time to time, but it’s not serious.”
“Oh, is that right?” Eddie tickled your ribs, and then picked you up off your feet, munching down on the side of your neck with his teeth. “You better take it back.”
“You’re gonna get us kicked out,” you wiggled free with a laugh that seemed to echo off of the store walls, shoes squeaking on the linoleum.
Eddie wouldn’t let you carry anything on the way out to the car, and you did not miss some of the feminism that left your body in that moment as he held one of the bags in his teeth. The canvas roll was almost too long for the back seat, and you had a moment of panic, but then Eddie figured it out, clapping for himself after and taking a small bow.
The big, scary biker with the tattooed hands and the War Machine insignia kindly reminded you to fasten your seat belt, just as he clicked on his own and slipped his sunglasses on.
“I don’t know, Munson,” you grinned into the sun as he backed out of the parking space. “You’ve been such a help today, there might be some roadhead on the menu.”
He slammed the brakes and snapped his head to look at you, his hair flying, making you get the giggles. “See, now you’ll have to forget I said anything. I want it to be a surprise.”
He continued backing out, checking over his shoulder. “Surprise roadhead could kill a man, baby. You gotta give me some warning.”
So far, it had been the most chill day since before you’d been fired. You were sinking into the routine of “normal” couples, doing mundane chores together, holding hands in public, being sickeningly, adoringly head over heels for each other. And it felt really good. So good, in fact, you could almost forget for a second about all of the shit that had gone wrong, and could possibly go wrong.
Much earlier that morning as you lay curled up naked next to him in bed with your leg over him and your head on his chest, listening to a song by Mother Love Bone pour out softly from the stereo in Eddie’s apartment, he asked what you were thinking.
You’d been quiet for a while, zoning out, touching your fingertips to his as he spread them out to meet yours across the menacing bat tattoo on his chest.
“It’s silly,” you mumbled, kissing his shoulder with the side of your mouth. The morning was warm with a soft breeze blowing one of the long, blue curtains out into the room, and above the sound of the music came the rumble of motorcycles rolling into the compound, and electric drill firing in the garage across the way.
“Still,” he rested his head on yours. “I want to hear it. I want to know what goes on in that quirky brain of yours.”
As comfortable as you were with Eddie at that point, you were shy about admitting some of your deep-seated insecurities.  What if you spoke them out loud and they came true? What if you started to let him know what went on in your “quirky”, anxiety riddled brain, and it scared him off?
You decided to take a chance, burying your face a bit more in the indentation of his armpit.  “In the past, whenever I've felt genuine happiness, or everything seemed to be going really well, that’s always when everything would go to shit.  So, I have this fear that—”
“---that you’re going to lose me?” Eddie interrupted softly, sliding his fingers down to intertwine with yours.  
“Well, yeah,” you admitted.  “Exactly that.  Losing you, or something happening to Katie or Steve’s family.  Anyone I care about.”
“The same shit happens to me in my head,” he promised.  “It almost won’t let me enjoy whatever good thing is happening because I’m already thinking about how it could get fucked up. I’m always anticipating the next bad thing.”
“We are a sad pair,” you snorted a laugh. 
“Hey, really though, listen to me,” he squeezed you tighter. “You’re not going to lose me, baby, fuck that.  As long as we tell each other what is going on and we don’t have any secrets, no one can fuck with us.  I won’t let anyone fuck with us.”
You propped up on your forearm to meet his eyes; they were bright brown and earnest.  You swept his bangs to the side with your fingertips. “Well, that’s good to know because I don’t think I’d survive this level of heartbreak.”
“I won’t ever break your heart,” Eddie searched your face, running his knuckle down your cheek.  “And if you break mine, I’ll probably sulk around for the rest of my life, just a shell of a man, playing songs on the street corner for loose change.”
You chuckled and scooted closer to kiss his mouth.  “What are the deal breakers for you in a relationship? Something you could never forgive?”
He squinted curiously at you.  “Are you trying to walk that line, sweetheart?”
“No,” you bit your lip through a smile, but then dropped your head back to the warm skin of his shoulder.  “My deal breaker is cheating. I can forgive a lot of things, but never that.”
Eddie took a big inhale, thinking about this, but then he swallowed hard. “Just the thought of another man touching you, past or present, makes me see red, baby.”
There was a tension in the air as Eddie considered the crushing weight of said betrayal, and you bit at a piece of skin on your thumb, thinking about the complex inner workings of Eddie Munson.
To break the heavy silence, you started crawling on top of him, kissing his neck, working your core against his stiff morning wood.  Eddie held your face and sucked at your bottom lip, running his tongue along the soft skin there, while you pressed the slick of your slit on his cock, arousal already evident.
“Would you really kill someone for me, baby?” You breathed, reminded of how he said he would kill or die for you.
“Without question,” he hissed at your wetness, reaching down to line the tip of his cock up with your entrance.
You sank down quickly, needing all of him with fluttering urgency.  “When I think of someone, I will let you know,” you hushed.  He cursed into your mouth and spanked your ass as you rode him, knowing that this was the only cock you would have inside of you for the rest of your life, and you felt like the luckiest girl in the world.  
Back in the sunny parking lot outside of the art supply store, Eddie continued on behind the wheel, pausing for a group of people as they strolled into he store, hand on your leg, squeezing your knee as he waited. He angled the car down in front of a clothing store, on his way to exit onto the street, and had to wait for a couple more people to cross.
You weren’t paying attention, too absorbed at the time pawing through the bag of goodies in your lap, fingering the new pastels and linseed oil with glee. But Eddie’s fingers dug into your leg and gripped there in a way that made you glance over at him.
Waiting at the crosswalk, Eddie’s skin drained of color as he watched the people pass in front of the car. You followed his attention: there was an older woman, perhaps 50, two younger girls maybe ages 7 or 8, a pretty blonde girl around 30, and a woman who could have been a supermodel with long, auburn hair, a short denim skirt, and a dragon tattoo on her thigh.
Your attention rose to Eddie and his nostrils flared, blinking a few times, teeth grinding.
For whatever reason, the tension made you nervous. “Baby, what is it? What’s wrong? Do you know them?”
Eddie swallowed, patting your leg a few times, forcing a smile that did not reach his eyes. “It’s nothing sweetheart. I just remembered something I had to do later on, that’s all.”
Not even a full day had passed since you’d both agreed to never to keep anything from each other, and there he was, lying already. He knew that you could tell he was withholding something, which made it even worse. His hope at the time was, if he ignored it, maybe it would go away.
Somehow, Melanie coming into town had almost slipped his mind, until he saw her there with his very own eyes walking with Chrissy, her mom, and her twin daughters. She looked different, but also exactly the same. The difference was that he no longer found her attractive; she might as well of had rotting flesh rolling off her bones for how repulsed he was to see her there in the street. He wasn’t afraid to tell you, he just didn’t want it to be real, he wanted to ignore her until she left town, and you could live in the bliss of never being able to put a face to her.
First of all, Eddie was a horrible liar. It was not hard for you to put the pieces together and realize that he did know one of the women in that group, if not all of them. But, you took one last look at his profile, told him you loved him, and decided to let it go. For now.
----------
A few days earlier, after the incident with Inky, Steve rolled up to the house at dawn to find Robin waiting up at the kitchen table. She was having a cigarette with her coffee, and Robin never smoked. He watched her bite into her thumbnail, chew it off, and then spit it on the floor as he stepped into the room.
“What’s up?” Steve shut the sliding door behind him and locked it. “Where’s Oliver?”
Robin put her finger to her lips to ask him to ask him to keep it down. She saw how he was favoring his freshly bandaged hand, but chose not to ask questions. “Katie is asleep,” she flicked the end of her cig over the ashtray. “Oliver spent the night with Wayne.”
Cautiously, Steve clapped down into the seat across from her, wallet chain hitting first, motioning for her to slide the pack of bargain basement knockoff cigarettes over. He had his own lighter, but she shot the box of matches over to him as well. Striking the match to light his smoke, Steve bucked his chin at the manila envelope she had next to her. “What’s in there?”
Robin brushed her hair off of her face and hunched forward. “Oh it’s just a little something. Might cheer you up.”
She pushed the envelope toward him with the pads of her fingers, both sets of eyes on it as it traveled across the faux wood surface. Now Steve knew exactly what it was when he saw the label on the front but even then, he was riddled with confusion.
“How did you--?”
A part of Steve knew, even though there’s no way he could’ve had any idea where Robin went that night or what she’d said to Tina to get her to sign her rights to Oliver away. Or the gun she’d pointed loaded and proud, letting them know there were only two ways the night could end, and both involved her walking away with those signatures. The saddest part was how quickly Tina had agreed to take the money in exchange for Oliver; there hadn’t even been a glimmer of internal struggle. Robin told herself it was for the best though, and once Oliver was old enough to ask questions, he would never know about that night, or how quickly he’d been given up.
Now, they really were broke, even more than before, and without any safety net to fall back on. But, no one would ever show up and try to take their son away again without facing legal ramifications, and Robin might’ve also let her know that she wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in her throat if she ever tried to get sneaky. “If you take Oliver, Steve and I will have nothing to lose. You know what they say about not wanting to fuck with someone who has nothing to lose.”
Steve peeked inside, exhaling a long, hot breath. After sucking on his lip for a few seconds, he raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. “You’re telling me you got her to sign these and you got them notarized?”
“Katie,” Robin squinted and took another drag. The sleeve of her flannel fell down to expose the vine of an ivy tattoo on her forearm.
“She’s a notary? No shit?” he said the last part under his breath, chuckling a bit to himself.
Katie’s old job status as a notary public was a small detail that Robin had been fascinated to discover. Meeting up at a seedy motel in the middle of the night in her pajamas did not put Katie in a particularly compliant mood, but she offered her official services without too much of a fight. In fact, she had to admit later how much it had turned her on to find her girlfriend holding two people at gunpoint like that. It made her feel like she was in an episode of 21 Jump Street.
Steve rubbed one eye with the palm of his hand. The other hand, the one Astrid had cleaned and put a fresh bandage on for good measure, had just been used as a deadly weapon and pummeled a guy to the brink of death just the day before. He’d do it again in a heartbeat because no one threatened his family and got away with it. “Jesus, fuck, Rob. You know I love you, right?”
“Oh, you better,” she snorted a laugh, and then, softly,“I’d do anything for Ollie. And you. You know this,” and then she smashed the cigarette out in the ashtray. She couldn’t look him in the eye for fear the floodgates would open.
A sob hitched in his chest and he had to clear his throat. He really was on some real emotional bullshit lately and he made a fist with his good hand and banged it on the table, trying to collect himself. “Ditto.”
Robin got up and stretched her arms back with a yawn. “I’m going back to bed for an hour. You at the shop this afternoon?”
“Until late, yeah,” Steve couldn’t take his eyes off of the envelope. “I’m working on that chest piece for Thor.” Thor was one of the other Coffin Kings, a huge, beastly blonde dude with a long, braided beard.
Robin braced her hands on the back of the chair. “You thought anymore about going to Scott’s wedding this weekend?”
“Scott, you mean Daphne’s Scott?” Steve shook his head. “I haven’t thought about it at all, actually. There’s no way I’m going to that.”
Steve had only met Scott once at one of their barbecues, and Daphne knew Robin because her daughter and Oliver were the same age, but the last place Steve wanted to be stuck at was a wedding for two people he barely knew, or any wedding at all for that matter.
“You sure?” Robin craned her neck. “There’s going to be an open bar at the reception.”
“Nah, I got a thing on Saturday,” Steve waved his hand. “Take Katie, why don’t you?”
“I’ll think about it,” Robin worked her neck from side to side. “What do you have on Saturday?”
For some reason, a voice inside of Steve whispered that he should keep his plans vague. “Body guard gig,” he offered in a bored tone. He didn’t have to ask to know that Robin must’ve had to have paid off Tina somehow, and now they’d need some extra cash more than ever. What he wanted to do was change the subject. “Any word from Susie or Dustin?”
“Now that you mention it,” Robin scratched her cheek. “She’s due any day now and no, I haven’t heard a word. I should’ve checked in, I’ve just been out of my mind lately.”
“Dustin knows we’re in the thick of it,” Steve assured her. “We’re the first ones on the call list when she does go into labor, but I’ll give him a ring this afternoon to say hey.” He yawned, blinking his tired eyes a few times. “Should I take Ollie to the shop with me?”
“No, after Wayne drops him off, I got him,” Robin stole a curious look at Steve, knowing full well that there was something he wasn’t telling her. She was too exhausted in that moment to ask any questions as she turned to head down the hall. “Take a shower, dingus. You look like death warmed over.”
-----------
Wayne always kept his shotgun up high in a locked closet whenever the kid came to stay, but when he returned from dropping Ollie off with his parents, he stood there at the open closet looking around for a minute. He fingered through the flannels and old jackets, skidding the wire hangers along the wooden dowel, until he found the frayed denim edge he was looking for. He yanked back the line of clothes so he could pull the article of clothing out and take a look at it.
It was his original denim with the sleeves cut off, known as a cut, or Kutte, with the Coffin Kings MC insignia on the back. The matching insignia among club members were all “cut” from the same cloth. He held it up and wiped his hand down it a few times, as if to dust it off, looking over the worn and road weary patches, including the one with his nickname “Uncle” over the pocket, because he’d been an honorary uncle to so many, including Steve and Astrid.
He took it over to the mirror on the back wall of his bedroom, set the hanger on the chair and pulled the denim on over his white tee, adjusting the collar, working his shoulders through. Chemo had taken a lot of his size, and so it hung a bit loose, but the shoulder muscles were still there, and he flexed his hands, knowing they could still deftly maneuver a blade or a gun, just like the old days.
Sticking out of the side of the mirror was was a black and white photo that had been bent in half and wrinkled over time. A photo of a much younger Wayne, Astrid’s mother Evelyn with her jet black hair over her shoulder in a braid, and Steve and Eddie as little kids; not much older than Oliver. The boys wanted to be a part of the life so bad, even then, that Evie made them their own vests, complete with Munson and Harrington patches and the Coffin Kings skull on the back. Evie had her hand on Wayne’s chest in the photo, gazing up at him, and Wayne’s arm was around her shoulders, but his eyes were on Steve, his mouth open about to say something. Steve was making a face, his mouth in a grimace to expose two missing front teeth, both of his arms up, flexing to pretend he had muscles. Eddie was more stoic, his expression set without emotion as he stared into the camera, hands in fists at his sides, feet braced wide. Off to the side was young Astrid. She was a few years older than the boys, but still a baby. Wayne remembered she didn’t want to be in the photo, but Steve started acting out to get her to come over, and there she was, face slightly blurred as she tried to move away, but a smile on her face nonetheless.
Wayne met his eyes in the mirror; windows to a soul that was familiar but set in a face he no longer recognized. He thought about his panhead motorcycle collecting dust at the storage unit across town. He thought about how badly he wanted to protect Oliver from the horrors of this world, from the MC life. The boy liked to paint and draw and bake things, and Wayne didn’t understand that either, but he didn’t see the lust for danger in his eyes like he had with Steve and Eddie; Steve, especially. Like he wanted to turn the world on its head and dump it out to see how it worked. Maybe he had the love of a good mom for that, the kind of mom that stuck around. He thought about all of the things this disease had already taken from him, but it wouldn’t take this. He wouldn’t go down without a fight.
-----------
You’d stayed at Eddie’s for the past two nights in a row, and even though he would have you there with him every night if he had his way, you needed to set up your art room and take advantage of one of your afternoon off to work on John’s commission before you went back to the Hammer. You needed to stretch and frame the large canvas first, a meticulous process that took place in the garage, and then put up painters plastic around the art room so you wouldn’t flick paint around on the walls of the rental.
Eddie had brought you to work and picked you up the night before, and he took you home that next day in the tow truck so he could head to a job after. He popped in at the diner on the way to grab two coffee’s to go in tall white, Styrofoam cups. The older, married waitress there named Donna had a crush on both him and Wayne, and always gave him free stuff, for which they tipped handsomely. He came out of the diner holding the two cups up, wiggling his eyebrows at you.
“Things with Donna and I are getting serious, just so you know,” Eddie climbed up into the cab and passed your coffee to you, and then leaned over for a kiss once he was behind the wheel. “Black with two sugars for my lady.”
“Well, I don’t blame her one bit,” you clicked your tongue, leaning over to smell the fresh brew through the mouth opening in the lid and feel the steam on your skin, snuggling down into one of Eddie’s hooded sweatshirts. “Now I need to find an older, married boyfriend, and we’ll be even.”
What was meant to be a joke hit a little different because of the whole John Gregson situation, but Eddie snorted a chuckle as he put his cup in the holder on the dash. “You’re gonna turn me into a homicidal maniac if you’re not careful, sweetheart.”
As he got back on the main road toward your place, a glimmer caught your eye. The guitar pic on the ball chain hanging from the rear view mirror had always been there, but now there was a little, silver worry ring on the chain too, hanging flush with the red pick. It was the worry ring you usually wore on your thumb that you’d thought you had lost weeks ago. You reached up to take a better look and make sure.
“Baby, what is my ring doing here?”
Eddie took a wide turn, sucking his cheek, realizing he was properly caught red handed. “You left it on the nightstand that first time you came over,” he answered.
Your mouth fell open to goad him. “Why didn’t you tell me you found it?”
Eddie’s eyes found the ring in question where it swayed with the movement of he vehicle. “I don’t know, I think I meant to, but then I kinda liked having it in here with me. Whenever I look at it, I think about you. Something stupid like that.”
Your heart rushed, sending waves of heat through your veins. You were staring at his profile now, unable to look away, absolutely, wholly filled to the brim with love for this man.
“You really got it bad for me, don’t cha Munson?”
He offered a small nod and a shrug, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel to the beat of the music.
--------------
It was almost 9am by the time Eddie dropped you off at the duplex. Katie was already at the school, and your orange tabby cat Charlie was in a mood, so you sat on the couch with him for a bit while you finished your coffee. Although Charlie loved affection, he was normally such a chill dude, but that morning he didn’t want to leave your side even after you put his favorite gravy bits breakfast in his food dish. You had been gone for a couple nights in a row, but you always came by during the day to check on him, so it wasn’t as if he’ been abandoned. It was almost as if he was trying to tell you something.
You stroked his ears back and kissed the top of his head. “Tell me, my boy, what’s on your mind?” But he only meowed, nuzzling closer, massaging his claws into your leg.
You ate some granola and dropped your bag on the floor at the end of your bed without turning the light on, heading straight into the bathroom for a much needed shower. You let the water get as hot as you could handle it, noticing the bruises on your hips for the first time from the way Eddie man-handled you during sex. You smiled against the stream of water at the memory.
Charlie was sitting on the sink with his tail curled around his feet when you opened the shower curtain, staring you down. “Close your eyes,” you told the cat as you clutched in the air for the green bath towel that was hooked over the metal dowel.
At least, you thought it was hanging there, but now you were grabbing at air because it was on the floor. You wiped water from your eyes and snapped another look at Charlie before you bent down to pick it up. “Did you do this?”
You were mumbling to yourself, wrapping the towel around your body and stepped out onto the mat. You remembered closing the bathroom door, but now it was open and you imagined that Charlie had pushed it open with his brute strength. You paused to put some moisturizer on your face, and then turned to open the door the rest of the way and face the bed, and that was when you realized there was something terribly wrong.
The bed was made; everything neatly tucked, comforter folded back at an angle, as an invitation. Had it been that way before you went into the shower? You wouldn’t know because you hadn’t turned the light on to look. The pile of clean laundry you’d thrown on the messy bed just the day before were nowhere to be found. You weren’t freaking out yet, not when you knew that Katie went into turbo cleaning fits when she was stressed, and there had been a lot going on with Robin lately. But it wasn’t like her to come into your space while you were gone and mess with your things.
A fear began to bubble inside of you as you clutched the towel tighter around your body, senses heightened as you inched over to check down the hall and in the closet. You were starting to feel so afraid that your hands got cold as shock began to set in preemptively.
With trembling fingers, you took hold of the wood knob and pulled open the top drawer of your dresser, only to jump back, covering your mouth to try and trap the scream that erupted.
Your underwear and socks were neatly folded into color coded rows. You yanked out the drawer under that and the next, only to find the same symmetry of tediously folded clothing. The second drawer fell all the way out and crashed to the carpet. In a frenzy, you dove forward and started scooping all of the clothing out of the drawers, yanking them all to the floor, making them a mess, throwing them around the room, tears running hot down your cheeks. You didn’t stop until the bottom drawer was empty; the drawer that had a few pieces of lingerie and silky pajama sets, all of it had been sorted and folded in the exact same way.
You covered your nose and mouth with your hands and sat down on the bed, taking sharp inhales, adrenaline preparing you for some kind of fight, flight, or fawn: whichever would keep you from eminent danger. There was and ocean in your ears.
You did not do this.
Katie would not do this.
The only person in the world who would ever do this
was your maniacal, neat freak ex fiance Craig.
Now you could hear a footstep creak on the wood planks in the hall just outside your bedroom and from behind you on the bed, Charlie hissed.
------------
Eddie didn’t have to take the long way back by your street with the old Chrysler on the back of the tow, but he did anyway, just because he liked being in your vicinity. Much like the “old days” when he would ride by your work, back when he thought you wouldn’t give him the time of day.
As he turned onto the street, he could see the front of your duplex on the corner, but his smile faded when he saw the front door was open. Not open just a crack, but open all the way, exposing the interior or the house, and you didn’t have a screen door, so he wouldn’t imagine you’d leave it that way on purpose. What if your cat got loose? He took a sharper turn than he should have to line the truck and pull along the opposite side of the street to park it, doing his best not to crush your neighbors garbage can, all the while keeping his eyes on the entrance, thinking maybe you’d appear and there would be some explanation.
He paused before crossing the street as a guy in a hunter green utility vehicle inched its way to the stop sign. The driver stared Eddie down as he went at a crawl, and Eddie was taken aback to be aggressively eyeballed by a stranger, but he returned the heated glare, bucking his chin. “Fuck’s your problem, man?” Eddied shouted, shrugging his hands in the air. The guy gave an open mouth smile, and made a motion of dragging his fingers across his throat, just before he stomped on the gas and flew through the stop sign, taking a right. Normally, Eddie would’ve taken more notice of the details of the license plate and whatnot, but his attention quickly returned to your open door, taking long strides to the opposite sidewalk.
Eddie looked around before he stepped inside, hand on the hilt of his knife. “Baby? Are you in here?” He asked it softly so it wouldn’t scare you. “It’s Eddie. Your door is wide open.”
His ears followed the sound of things being tossed around, and something heavy hitting the ground with a wooden crack. But then you screamed and his heart tightened as he bolted down the hall.
“Baby?” He entered your bedroom to find all of your dressers drawers open, and two on the ground, clothes scattered everywhere. You jumped when you saw him, scrambling back with a shriek, clutching a towel to the front of your body so that you wouldn’t be exposed.
You were afraid of him, or whoever you thought he was. Cheeks wet with tears, eyes wild like a feral animal caught in a trap. You backed all the way to the wall with your hand out, palm up, before you realized who it was.
“Eddie?” Relief flooded through you, and you dropped the towel, stark naked, to run into his arms, a sob choking in your throat. The feel of his denim and cool of his belt bucket against your skin helped to soothe your nerves, taking a deep inhale of the woodsy spice scent of his aftershave.
Eddie’s mind was reeling as he held you tight; one hand cupped behind your neck and the other at your back rubbing in slow circles. “It’s me, baby. It’s just me.”
You blinked hard, wishing he’d never had to see you like this, wishing you’d never have to tell him about Craig and why you were so afraid of him. You had no proof that your ex had actually been in your house, but also---you had all the proof you needed. This kind of sick fuck head game was right up Craig’s alley. But how had he found you? How would you ever get rid of him now? You didn’t want Eddie to have to get involved with this mess. Sure, Eddie was tough, but Craig was certifiable, and you were well aware that there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep you in his life.
You buried your face in Eddie’s chest and wrapped your arms as tight as possible, wishing you could both run away and disappear and not have to deal with any of this.
“Talk to me, baby,” Eddie said in a lower octave than normal, his blood boiling. “Who did this to you?”
-----------
That afternoon on Friday, Steve went to meet the woman he’d be doing security for the next day. He gave a low whistle as he rolled up to the main gates, “holy shit,” he mumbled, pinching a smoke between his lips, lighting it while his bike idled and he pushed the buzzer to announce himself. He combed his fingers through his hair as he rode in over a blood stain that was embedded in the cement, shooting a look to the 10 car garage, wondering what kind of beauties were in there and hoping he’d get to drive one.
“Be careful,” Astrid had warned a few nights ago when he stayed at her place. She shuffled her Tarot deck and did a quick reading for him. She tapped her finger on one of the cards. “I don’t like the look of this. I think someone with a dark heart has their evil eye on you.” Without looking up at him, she continued. “I need to do a protection spell before you go.”
“Does that protection spell include you riding my face?” Steve scooted his chair forward, lunging to kiss her temple, but she shrugged him off, trying to concentrate.
Her eyes were sweeping over the cards she’d just pulled for him with a tense bundle of lines between her thick, dark eyebrows. “I’m serious Steve. It’s someone with power who wants to own you, and I think the offer will be very tempting. Think Satan in a Sunday hat.”
She pulled two more cards. Her eyes flicked from Steve to the table several times. “Are you going to some kind of formal event this weekend?”
Steve winced. “Not if I can help it, why?”
This gift that Astrid had was much deeper than deciphering the magic in a deck; she had always been able to see beyond the veil of the known world. It was her gift that kept her lonely, and more often than not, she saw it as a curse.
She sat back in her seat to look the cards over again for an unnerving amount of time. Her intuition was foggy, and she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what would go wrong yet, but there were multiple threats on the horizon and her gut told her it was time to circle the wagons.
Steve’s tongue flicked out to lick the corner of his mouth. “Don’t leave me hangin’ here, darlin’. Do I get kidnapped by a bunch of circus clowns, or what?”
Her eyes locked onto his, letting him know she was serious. “Watch your back this weekend, Stevie.”
He took her hand. “Don’t I always, sweetheart?”
He thought about Astrid’s words as he wound the bike around to park at the front door, exhaling smoke as he flicked the cigarette to the side. He slid his sunglasses up on top of his head, taking in the expanse of the entryway, heavy boots plodding up the steps. At his wrist on a thin leather band was the tiny charm and gemstone Astrid had made him wear after she dowsed him in sage smoke and said a bunch of words he didn’t understand.
Charlene greeted him in nothing but the tiniest of bikinis, a straw sun hat, and a blue and red kimono, and Steve couldn’t help but adjust himself in his jeans at the way her breasts were almost spilling out of the tiny yellow top.
She offered him a drink out by the pool under one of the umbrellas, and Steve accepted a beer.
“I should thank you again for bailing me out,” Steve took a drink, glad that his eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses because he couldn’t’ take them off her heaving rack; the way the sweat trickled down her tan cleavage. A pool boy in tight, cut off jean shorts was cleaning debris from the surface of the crystal clear pool with a net at the end of a long handle.
“Anytime,” Charlene was so very charming when she wanted to be. “A friend of Eddie’s is a friend of mine.”
Steve took a generous gulp and put his forearms on the table. “Yeah? You know my buddy Eddie?”
Charlene flipped her blonde hair off of her shoulder. “Has he never mentioned me? We go way back.”
“Never,” Steve said without hesitation, making Charlene frown. “Not that I remember anyway. But Eddie and I don’t talk as much anymore. We’ve been too fucking busy.”
That seemed to lighten her expression, but the thought did occur to Steve to wonder how Eddie got word to her that he was in jail? He was pretty sure he didn’t even know about what happened until the next day. But, fuck it. Who cares how she found out? He just wanted to get this bodyguard gig over with and get his cash.
They agreed on a price for an evening of Steve’s services, and then Charlene led him inside to guide him up the big, lavish staircase to a guest bedroom where she had a gray and white suit waiting for him. She unzipped the black Armani sleeve it was in and Steve gulped. His mind immediately raced thinking about how much he could pawn it for on Sunday if she let him keep it.
“My cousin is getting married tomorrow,” she perched at the end of the floral bedspread, watching him pick the suit up to admire it. “I guessed at your size, but I can have a tailor meet us here before we leave if it needs fixing.”
Sure, Steve had been a bouncer forever, and had worked as an extra bodyguard a few times for visiting celebrities, but a personal bodyguard and escort for a woman like Charlene? Never. He wasn’t even sure why she needed protection for a wedding; looking down at the suit, he felt more like a gigolo than hired muscle.
“Nah, I’m sure it’s perfect,” and then he eyeballed the wedding photo on the vanity of a much younger Charlene with some other dude. “Where is your husband these days? Why can’t he take you?”
Charlene stretched back so that she was spread out on the bed, the nipple of one breast poking out from under the thin material. Her body was toned and supple and not at all what he expected a woman in her mid 40’s to look like. “My husband leaves town a lot for work. He doesn’t ask what I do, and I don’t ask what he does.”
“Fair enough,” Steve flicked his tongue over his gold tooth, watching the way she arched her back, exposing herself to him, making him palm his erection through his denim.
“For instance,” Charlene reached behind her neck to undo the tie for her bikini top, pulling it down, letting him see the expensive titties in all their glory. “He left yesterday and won’t be home until next week.”
So, of course Steve fucked her. He came between her tits and gave her a pearl necklace made of his cum, liking the way it dripped down her throat. He fucked her ass because she begged him to, using only spit for lube, her face pressed into the mattress, until she came, and then Steve milked a few more bursts of cum onto her backside with a grunt.
He liked getting paid and getting laid at the same time. He felt like he’d been waiting his whole life for a perfect situation like this to fall into his lap.
---------
Eddie paced at the doorway, flexing his hands into fists, “so this Craig fucker came here to what? Terrorize you? Try and get you back? I will put a bullet in his skull.”
You gave Eddie the cliff notes version of your relationship with Craig while you got dressed. How you thought he was fun and charming at first, but once you moved in with him, things got scary. He wouldn’t let you talk to your friends or go anywhere without him. When you first got the courage to leave, he broke into the house you were staying at in the middle of the night and put a knife to your throat. He’d been honorably discharged from the military and used his connections in the police force to bypass the protection order you filed on him. He was emotionally and physically abusive and stalked you for two years before you were able to make it to Hawkins without much more than the clothes on your back, and Eddie was reeling with how bad he wanted to get his hands on this guy. It made him want to start going up and down every street looking for him, which was not totally out of the question.
He had to go outside on the back patio for a smoke and you followed him. You sat down in one of the camp chairs on the concrete slab facing a patch of lawn that was maintained by the owner of the duplex, but Eddie stayed on his feet. You watched the muscles in his jaw flex as he frowned into his cigarette, his thoughts going to dark and dangerous places.
From what you told him about what the guy looked like and the description of his car, that was the dude who had stared Eddie down earlier. He didn’t want to alarm you anymore than you already were by telling you that he saw him, that the fucker had probably been in your house while you were taking a shower. He couldn’t have you staying at the duplex anymore until he could make sure that creep was long gone, and by long gone, he meant he was ready to put him in the dirt. If anyone could find him, Eddie could. He had family of the Kings who worked at police dispatch, and he had eyes all over town, from other tow truck drivers to every member of several MC’s. If this guy thought he was so sneaky, Eddie could do him one better.
Eddie was in a bad mood, cracking his knuckles, thinking about how much he would enjoy hurting this guy, when he heard a sniffle and realized you were crying.
“Hey, hey,” he snubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray Katie had there for the smoking she did when she was buzzed, and got down on his knees in front of you. He wiped a single tear off your cheek with his thumb, holding your jaw with gentle force so you would look at him. “This guy, he’s not gonna get near you again, alright? You’re gonna stay with me until I know you’re safe.” He cupped his hand around your neck and pulled your forehead to his. “Hey, I love you. You trust me when I say I’ll protect you, right?”
“It’s not that,” your eyes went to the Munson’s Garage patch on the front of his light blue work shirt. You kept your forehead pressed to his because you couldn’t look him in the eye. “Craig is dangerous, baby. I mean, he’s really crazy. I don’t want you getting hurt or---”
Eddie sat back on his heels, tilting his head to meet you eyes. “And you don’t think I’m crazy? Baby. I know you get the fluffy side of Eddie but I can do dangerous and crazy with the best of them. Okay? That’s all I’ve ever done. No one is going to fuck with my girl.”
His chocolate eyes searched you, needing to know that you believed you were safe.
You gnawed at your lip, eyes dewy and bloodshot. “I just wish this wasn’t happening,” you dropped your head again, mouth jerking down with impending sobs. “I wish we could run away.”
“Sorry baby but, fuck that,” Eddie stood. “You had to run from this guy once, he’s not gonna get the satisfaction of scaring you off this time. You’ve got me now.”
He squatted again, motioning for you to give him your hand and then he held it tight, brushing your knuckles with his thumb. “And Steve and Robin and Wayne, and the whole Coffin Kings MC, baby. I want you to trust me. This fucker will be sorry he ever stepped foot in Hawkins.”
You slotted your hands on either side of his neck at his jawline, pulling him in, and the salt of your tears mingled in the kiss, your mouth opening wide to take him deeper. Unexpected moans of desperation escaped both of you, hands greedy for purchase on each other’s parts. You made it back inside the house just in time for Eddie to dive his hand down the waistband of your shorts.
“You’re mine,” he breathed, fucking two fingers up inside you, stifling your cry of pleasure with his mouth.
You scrambled to undo his jeans, pushing them down his hips. “I need you so bad, baby. Fuck me.”
There was no time to make it to the bedroom, you broke the kiss only long enough to bend over the kitchen island, shorts down, arching your ass up. Eddie swiped his cock along your glistening core only once before burying it inside of you groaning at the sensation. “Holy fuck, I love you,” Eddie murmured, proceeding to fuck his entire length inside, pulling your slit apart with his thumbs so that he could watch himself enter you.
You bucked back against him, meeting his urgency, biting your lip through hungry whimpers. Eddie shoveled his hand around the front of your throat and pulled you back, choking you with soft pressure while he other hand braced at your hip and he fucked you hard. He preferred to look at you when he was about to cum, but the two of you were frantic, and he was already close. Clinging to the counter, the wet slapping sounds of Eddie stretching you out were about to throw you over the edge. His hand moved from your throat to your mouth, dipping inside for you to suck them.
Eddie’s hips locked onto you as he came, and the sensation made your walls flutter, gripping him in a way that extended his orgasm, cursing, both of you crying out, able to forget about the worries of the world if only for those precious moments as you rode the high.
---------
At a decent chain Motel by a truck stop near the highway, Craig Ludlow paid for a week in advance and sat in the dark puffing a cigar by the window with the curtain tightly closed. An episode of The Twilight Zone was on the TV, and it was the only light but for the golden glow from the bathroom in the hall. On the table next to him was a razor blade on a mirror with white powder residue, a shot glass empty of its Jim Beam, and a handgun.
There had been an ugly landscape painting on the opposite wall, but he took it down to make room for his work. There was a big cork board there now, a place for all of the information he had on you and your little biker friends. Steve’s mugshot was up there, along with one of Eddie from 10 years earlier. Information on Wayne, Katie, the Velvet Hammer, every person or place you’d touched since you’d been to town. Somehow you’d slipped through his fingertips, and oh god, how he had missed you. Being a part of your life and knowing what you were up to was a part of who he was now, and he’d been feeling lost without it.
He planned use his connections to get in with Chief Hopper and make sure your new biker boyfriend had the law down his throat around every turn. Why was it so much to ask for you to let him love you? Your house was a mess, your bed not even made. Nothing in your drawers had been folded. It was obvious that you needed him and missed him and just didn’t know how to ask. You had always been such a prideful, silly goose.
A girl named Shari was working the night shift at the motel when she noticed, not for the first time, how odd the guy who checked into room 11 was. Shari happened to be the old lady of a Coffin Kings member named Jester, and she would tell him all about it, including the make and color of the SUV he drove, over the phone when he called to check up on her that evening. Coincidentally, War Machine had just let everyone know to keep an eye out for a creep of the same description who was stalking his girl. Jester headed over to make sure Shari was okay and waited in the shadows near the truck stop on his chopper, watching the lights from the TV flicker in room 11, keeping an eye on this guy so he could follow if he took off. Keeping him in his crosshairs to see if he should take care of this guy himself before he passed the word on to Eddie.
PART 14
-----
thank you so much for reading, my loves! Don't forget to tip your favorite stories/writers by commenting and/or reblogging ❤️
-----
Taglist: @notsobubblybaby @eighty6babyyy @unfocused81 @aysheashea @etherealglimmer @manicmagicmayhem @dream-a-little-nightmare @chaoticgood-munson @ms1oftheboys @emxcast @rhirojo @bexreadstoomuch @micheledawn1975 @lma1986 @falling-solar-system @secretdryrose @kurdtbean @whatwedontdointheshadows @miarosso @seventhlevelofhell @corrodedcoffincumslut @lofaewrites @goldyghoul @chloe-6123 @kelsiegrin @chelebelletx @stylesxmunson @dandelionnfluff @lilpotatobean2 @clincallyonline17 @tlclick73 @eddiemunson95 @sidthedollface2 @hideoutside @truffleshuffle12 @tenthmoon @texasblues@emilyslutface@mmunson86@onegirlmanytales @layla-loves-ed @rhirojo
314 notes · View notes
Text
Eris Week 2024 | Day 6 | Modern AU | Read Chapter 1 on AO3
The Night Court Lounge | Tribeca NYC
Tumblr media
The beautiful man knew Azriel was studying him. Broad shoulders tapered down to a long body beneath a perfectly tailored suit. He wasn’t built like Tamlin Rose or Helion Day. His strength was something different. This man was far more dangerous. He was like smoke, a viper in waiting. When he struck, one would not see it coming, and it would be deadly. 
Azriel’s hazel gaze met those gilded eyes. Bid on me. His eyes and body were betraying him and screaming out to this dangerous stranger. He looked at the long, pale fingers slowly making circles along the rim of his glass. How would those fingers feel inside him, slowly opening him up, pulling his hair, wrapped around his throat… 
He shifted, uncomfortably hard now. The male clocked the movement and slowly lifted his glass to his lips. He cocked his head to one side, seeming to study Azriel like one would a specimen, something rare and beautiful. It was somehow both demeaning and sexy, and Az would, at that moment, kneel at this man’s feet to have those eyes study him all night. 
“I hear ten thousand from Ms. Suriel.” Azriel snapped back into the moment. His eyes moved towards the elderly woman holding up her white flag. Oh god. Ok. He could sit with her. It would be like going to Bingo secretly with his aljada.
“Thirteen,” Tamlin called out again. And it went on for quite some time. Back and forth. Grandma Suriel had dropped out at twenty thousand. Lord Kal Winters topped out at twenty-five.
An androgynous figure wearing dark shades and a hooded sweatshirt joined at thirty thousand. Azriel could not tell their gender or age beyond the loose-fitting hoodie and sunglasses that dominated a round, pale face. A tuft of dark hair peeked out from beneath the hood. Their mouth was wide and painted purple, and their voice almost had a plurality to it. 
“Thirty thousand for Bryaxis,” Feyre called out. Bryaxis. The famous electronic DJ from Amsterdam. No one had ever seen their face before. Azriel was intrigued, wondering if he’d be the first. What would be this enigma’s kink?
“Forty thousand,” Helion immediately countered. 
Azriel was getting tired. A third of that would be plenty to pay his rent for a few months. And the Days seemed normal enough. He could handle them for a few hours. Besides, his legs were starting to go numb. 
He and Fey had devised a plan where he would tap his thigh three times when he was done, or tug his leash discretely if he felt uncomfortable with a bidder. He tapped his leg. One. Two. Three. 
Feyre looked down and nodded imperceptibly. Az looked up one last time at the golden eyed stranger. The sting of disappointment and a little rejection coiled through him. It was silly. He didn’t even know if this red-haired stranger was into men. But Az swore he’d seen the heat and sheer possession in those amber eyes… 
Feyre called out, “Forty thousand going once, twice, and—”
“Fifty thousand.” A smooth voice called out from the corner. Azriel clenched at the sound. It was like velvet and so sure of itself. 
Feyre’s shrewd eyes immediately clocked Azriel’s body language, the way the winged man sat up on his haunches at the red-haired man’s single bid. She smirked knowingly. “Sold to Eris Vanserra for fifty thousand dollars.”
Read all of Chapter 1 on AO3
Please let me know if you ever want on/off the taglist |
@the-darkestminds @fieldofdaisiies @mistandmemories @secret-third-thing @chunkypossum @erisweekofficial @talibunny30 @amalhe-kofee @shadowsandlint @queercontrarian @molcat07 @c-starstuff-man0 @lovely-vanserra-sunshine @hieragalbatorixdottir @brunetterebel010 @pippsmcgee
39 notes · View notes
violetsandfluff · 1 year
Text
You Are My Sunshine
Tumblr media Tumblr media
summary: mustacherry likes long drives in the middle of nowhere when he can tune out his life of fame and focus only on y/n and his cds ☀️📀🧺
a/n: his mustache is hot and schmexy
wc: 362
•••
“Are you serious?” you screeched. “Never shave it off, baby. You’re so hot with it.”
Harry lifted his chin and peered at his reflection in the rear view mirror. “D’you think so?” he mused softly as he sniffed out his cigarette, his voice slightly raspy from shout-singing along to his favorite songs all day.
“Absolutely,” you sighed, leaving across the center console to rest your head on his shoulder. “It’s so schmexy.”
“Schmexy, you say?” Harry’s eyes wrinkled closed as he laughed.
“Hot and schmexy.”
Harry threw his arm out the window of the car, feeling the wind as it ruffled his hair and sleeves. Judging by the expanse of fields around you, you couldn’t distinguish where you were and it was a liberating feeling. A few days of not having to worry about interviews, recording, or the release of the album was just what Harry needed.
He had thrown on a pair of jeans and a green and white striped t-shirt before he left the house, not bothering to shave and throwing a claw clip in his hair to keep it out of his eyes. A pair of round, wire-rimmed sunglasses was perched upon his nose, and his chipped painted nails glittered in the sunlight.
His hand reached for the dial to turn up the volume of his Fleetwood Mac CD.
“D’you really think I look all right?” he fretted, rubbing the rough patch of hair growing above his upper lip. “It feels so… different.” His hand began snaking up your thigh, his rings feeling cool and smooth against your skin.
“Like I said,” you giggled, leaning over and puckering your lips. “Hot and schmexy.”
Chuckling softly, Harry leaned down and connected his lips with yours, resulting in a delicate kiss. His mustache tickled the tip of your nose. “Y’know what else is hot and schmexy, darling?”
“What?”
Harry’s thumb caressed your lower lip as the rest of his fingers hovered beneath your chin. Taking his eyes off of the road, he leaned in tantalizingly close to your face, looking shamelessly at your lips. You held your breath, waiting for another kiss, but at the last moment, he moved his head to your ear. “You are, sunshine.”
🏷️ Taglist: @madybeth21 @sortingharryshairclip @fishingirl12 @groovychaosavenue @mrspeacem1nusone @tenaciousperfectionunknown @cayleyhannha-blog @whitemancumslut @xxrosebunny @hsdaydreaminghaze @daisyharry @madeintheniamh @rach2699
387 notes · View notes
kallie-den · 4 months
Text
Your Type
Paige, a trans woman, goes on a date with a reality-warping lesbian who is determined to mold her into ‘her type’
If you like my writing, please consider supporting me on Patreon!  For less than the price of a cup of coffee each month, you can get immediate, early access to everything I write - 4 pieces of hypno-smut a  month, including the latest chapters of all the multi-chapter stories I write. Your support helps me keep writing and is greatly appreciated <3
---
“So,” Paige said, watching her date carefully over her wine glass as she took a sip. The bar’s house white - good, but a touch dry for her palate. “What’s your type?”
Sophia, the woman sitting opposite her, laughed, amused. “Quite a question, for a first date. It really puts me on the spot.”
“Does it?” Paige challenged playfully.
She was having a good time. Paige had been skeptical - when you were a trans lesbian, dates with strangers could be risky. But she’d decided to take a chance and, fortunately, Sophia was making a good first impression. The woman her friend had set her up with was dressed smart, in a white, satin dress that matched nicely with her fair skin and platinum hair. She was pretty, too, and seemed professional - a good match for a career woman like Paige. Yes, it was strange that she was wearing darkened sunglasses inside a bar, but Paige was happy to overlook a small affectation.
“Well,” Sophia mused, stroking the rim of her glass, “if I tell you that you’re my type, it sounds like nothing more than boorish flattery. But if I describe anything else, then I’m offending you. I’m in a bind.”
Paige laughed too. She was pleased her date could enjoy a little verbal sparring. The atmosphere was perfect for it. The bar was classy - quiet but not dead - and the two of them were tucked away in a private corner so they could talk. Paige had come straight from work but she’d still been able to steal some time to freshen up, and she knew she looked good in her tailored suit, with her long, brunette hair up in a nice ponytail and her nails newly-manicured.
“It’s actually something I ask on all my first dates,” Paige explained. “The answer tells you a lot about someone.”
“And what are you looking to hear?” Sophia shot back, smiling.
“The truth.” Paige shrugged. “Look, I’m not expecting to be exactly your type. That would be one in a million. I just want to see if we have a real shot. I turned thirty a few years ago, I don’t feel like playing games anymore. I’m in your strike range? Wonderful, and we can make sure the mismatches aren’t deal-breakers. If I’m not? We make this just a drink, maybe a night of fun, and go our separate ways.”
Paige knew exactly how that sounded. In fact, it was part of the test. If Sophia got spooked by Paige’s no-bullshit way of doing things, it wasn’t going to work out. Better to find out now than in two months’ time. Fortunately, Sophia was still smiling. The other woman raised an eyebrow as she sat back to sip her wine.
“You’re a woman who knows what she wants,” Sophia noted. “I like that.”
Paige nodded appreciatively. “Oh, and I’m not afraid to put my cards on the table first. You are definitely my type.”
Sophia giggled. “Well, thank you. I’m happy to share, really - I love games, and this is a delightful one. So, let’s get very clear on something first, shall we?”
“What’s that?”
Suddenly, Sophia leaned forward and reached up to lower her sunglasses. She fixed Paige with a devastatingly sharp gaze.
“You are going to be my type. In fact, you need to be. You’re desperate to be.”
For a moment, as Sophia spoke, Paige stopped breathing. It wasn’t Sophia’s words. It was her eyes. Her irises. Paige had never seen anything like them. It was impossible. They were moving, shifting, a hundred times a second, endlessly; an infinite fractal-pattern of shapes, sharp and round and spiraling all at once. And the colors! Every color was in those eyes. In those patterns. A rainbow, kaleidoscopic, but more than that, too. Colors Paige had never seen before. Impossible colors. Maddening colors.
Staring into Sophia’s eyes was like looking into a glitch in reality. And the longer she looked, the more she felt like that unstable glitching was spilling out. Enveloping her. Engulfing her. Paige felt the very fiber of her being as it was unwritten and rewritten - and all just because she’d seen those eyes. It made the skin of her own existence feel so perilously thin, and her very reality feel dizzyingly malleable.
But then Sophia pushed her sunglasses back up over her eyes, and it was all gone. And then the words caught back up with Paige.
“I’m going to…” Paige repeated dumbly. “I need… desperate…?”
She looked at Sophia, in urgent need of clarity. Sophia just nodded.
“That’s right, Paige. You’re going to be my type. You need to be my type. It’s probably why you’re so keen to ask me about it.”
Paige’s mind was racing with a million questions. The big ones - what was wrong with Sophia’s eyes? What was that feeling that had washed over her? - were far too great to fit into words. Perhaps that was why, instead, she found herself latching onto the small incongruities.
“N-no,” Paige said slowly. “No, that’s not right. That’s not why I ask. Like I just told you, it’s because I think-“
Paige stopped talking. She froze because she was realizing that somehow, impossibly, she was wrong, and Sophia was right.
She needed to be Sophia’s type. She was desperate to be. And she was going to be.
Paige barely understood what that meant, but all the same, she was filled with a breathless eagerness. She felt like a butterfly about to burst from its cocoon, ready to taste the world in newly metamorphosed lungs - but to experience that plunge, that freedom, she needed an answer. She needed the answer that only Sophia could speak. Suddenly, Paige’s need for it was agonizing. She was trembling. Craving it, like an addict for a fix. She needed to know what Sophia’s type was.
But clearly, there was something more important than that going on. Paige suppressed the new urge and gripped the edge of her seat, knuckles white, to steady her nerves.
“What did you do?” she demanded, shocked.
“Hm?” Sophia seemed faintly surprised. “Oh, yeah, you’re probably a little distracted, aren’t you? Let me explain, although I won’t get technical on you.” She reached up and tapped the corner of her sunglasses with a fingertip. “With these eyes, I’ve got reality wrapped around my little finger. Past, present, future. Body, mind, soul. All of it.”
“You… you can just… change reality?” Paige was dumbfounded. It sounded impossible, but the urge welling up inside her was all the evidence she needed. Was the woman sitting across from her a superhero? A goddess? “How is that even possible?”
“Tsk.” Sophia shook her head. “This always happens. Sorry babe, but we’re supposed to be on a date. I’m gonna need you to focus on me here. So…”
Once again, she reached up and lowered her sunglasses. As soon as Paige realized what was happening, she tried to look away - but it was too late. The very first glimpse of those impossible, reality-glitch eyes had her captivated. And there it was again: the gnawing, discomforting awareness of her own malleability. As she stared, entranced and powerless, Paige felt like nothing more than an origami doll. Her existence was as thin as paper - and here was a woman who could bend and fold her into new shapes.
“Just don’t worry about it,” Sophia told her.
Paige blinked back to life as those eyes once again disappeared behind the sunglasses. As the existential unease faded, Paige expected her intense concern about the nature of Sophia’s abilities to return - but it didn’t. It just didn’t. Somehow, Paige couldn’t seem to muster up any particular feelings about what Sophia could do, or what she was doing to her. It simply didn’t seem important.
She wasn’t worried about it.
“Oh…” Paige said faintly, as that dawned on her. “OK.”
Perhaps not worrying should have itself worried her, but she proved to be equally cut off from that. Instead, as momentous as Sophia’s power seemed, it quickly became unremarkable to Paige. She wasn’t worried about it. Her date with Sophia was far, far more important.
And Paige’s new need came roaring to the forefront of her mind.
“So, um,” Paige said restlessly. She took a sip of wine to try and calm herself. It didn’t help. “What’s your type? I really need to know.”
“You do, do you?” Sophia's thin smile widened. She sat back again, clearly pondering. “Let’s see… what’s my type today?”
Paige was hanging on her next words. She could sense they would mean everything to her.
“You know,” Sophia said eventually, with an air of frivolity that was entirely at odds with how Paige felt about the pronouncement, “I think my type is girls with short hair.”
A pang of disappointment made Paige inhale sharply as, for the first time ever, she regretted her commitment to growing her hair out. But it faded just as suddenly as it had appeared, when Paige realized there was no problem whatsoever.
She had short hair.
Paige had to reach up and check, which was funny, because having short hair was perfectly normal for her. That was just the kind of girl she was. Sure enough, instead of a ponytail - why had she expected a ponytail? - her fingertips touched the ends of her short bob. That seemed wrong - but only for the briefest of moments.
“I… I have short hair?” Paige said dumbly. She wasn’t sure why it came out like a question.
She had short hair. Of course she did.
But why? That fact seemed oddly incongruous. After all, long hair had always been so important to Paige. It was a symbol of her transition. Of her femininity. She’d always hated the thought of getting it cut. So, why would she have short hair? The more she dwelt on the incongruity, the more it became an insisting, throbbing ache at her temples. She needed to make it make sense.
And then it did.
Paige felt herself plunged into an unfamiliar memory. Herself, rushing to a salon the morning after a sobbing breakdown, voice trembling as she asked the stylist to cut her hair off. It had felt so freeing. Her long hair had become a prison of expectations. Cutting it off had been a ritual. An affirmation.
She didn’t need long hair to be a woman. To be feminine. She simply was. Paige could look the way she’d always wanted. Peering further back, to those miserable college days before her egg had cracked, her memories of her transition goals were shifting. Sigourney Weaver in Alien. Winona Ryder in Girl, Interrupted. Of course. Of course Paige had ended up with short hair. It made perfect sense.
Soon enough, her memories lost that unfamiliar flavor. They had always been like that. She had always been like this. Paige had short hair.
“Wow,” she giggled, “I’m off to a lucky start. Looks like I’m your type.”
Right away, the fact of her short hair became euphoric. She had short hair. She was Sophia’s type. That was wonderful. Amazing. It was the best news she’d heard in months. It was what she needed.
“Indeed.” Something twinkled in Sophia’s eyes. “You’re rocking the look.”
“Thank you.” Paige reached up and touched her hair. She did that a lot. It made her happy. Short hair didn’t take a lot of effort to keep neat and sleek, but still, it was nice to be complimented for it. “I’m glad you like it.”
She was. She was unbearably glad. Paige just had to hope her grin wasn’t too off-puttingly eager. Knowing she was Sophia’s type made her so happy.
Only, surely Sophia’s type went beyond just hair. The gnawing craving in Paige’s chest itched at her anew. It wasn’t even close to sated.
“And…” Paige pressed. “What else? Tell me more. What’s your type?”
She had to strain to keep her voice measured. Paige didn’t want to make this creepy. But she couldn’t help sounding a little urgent. This was so important.
“Hmm…” Sophia mused. It was plain that she was enjoying the way Paige was sitting forward, shoulders tense, desperate for an answer. “Now that you mention it, I’ve always felt like girls who are all about pink are my type. Know what I mean?”
“P… pink?” Paige said plaintively.
She tried to reason with herself over it. Paige liked pink. She liked it as much as the next girl, anyway. Didn’t that count? In her heart, she knew it didn’t. Sophia’s type was girls who were all about pink, and Paige had always felt faintly at odds with the color. Pink clothes, pink lipstick, pink accessories - they all made her feel like she was stereotyping herself a little. Girls didn’t need to wear pink all the time.
But Paige did.
It hit her like a roaring wind. The infatuation. The obsession. Paige loved pink. It was a touch stereotypical, yes, but that was exactly why Paige adored it so much. There was something indulgent about surrounding herself with it. It was something she could rest her identity on. Blue was for boys, but pink? Pink was for girls. Girls liked pink.
“Pink,” Paige sighed happily, reverently, as the story of her life flailed and twisted out behind her like a serpent’s tail.
When she’d started her transition, pink had felt like coming home. Everything pink she’d bought had become a source of joy. It was funny, though, because Paige remembered feeling a little tokenized whenever someone - a family member, a friend - had given her something pink to clumsily signal their acceptance. Then, a moment later, she remembered more. She remembered overcoming that little hang-up. All of a sudden, her unwillingness to embrace pink was recast as early-transition blues; as holding back, as instinctive repression.
She’d overcome it, of course. And now Paige was all about pink.
Paige looked down. Her suit was pink. Of course it was. She owned a black suit, sure, for somber occasions, but mostly it was consigned to the black of her closet to gather dust. Paige always wore pink suits to work. It turned heads, naturally, but she didn’t mind - not as long as when people looked at her, they saw ‘pink’. Plus, she rationalized - and as she rationalized, it became her truth - it was a nice way to make sure her short hair didn’t mislead people into thinking she was aiming to be androgynous.
“I’m all about pink!” The words burst out of Paige; a cry of joy, a plea for attention. She was Sophia’s type, and she needed Sophia to know.
“So you are,” Sophia giggled. “You’re quite the Barbie.”
The comment made Paige shockingly euphoric. But why wouldn’t it? She was all about pink, and what was pinker than Barbie? Paige remembered seeing the movie posters, and the ads, and- no, no, suddenly she remembered seeing the movie itself. Making time on opening night, despite the pressures of work.
It had been so worth it. So much pink.
“Thanks,” Paige replied, still glowing with the pleasure of being Sophia’s type. “I know it’s getting a little much, at my age, but I just can’t help-“
“At your age?” Sophia seized on that gleefully. “That’s another thing. My type is younger girls, actually.”
“Younger girls?” Paige was immediately crestfallen, but she could already feel the explosive energy of change welling inside her. Already, lines were disappearing from her face. She was caught between despair and hope. “Younger than… you?” She wasn’t sure how old Sophia was, exactly. Suddenly she was hoping for late thirties. Perhaps even pushing forty. “H-how young?”
“Oh, you know.” Sophia seemed to be deciding. She made a little show of counting down on her fingers. “Early twenties, say.”
“Fuck,” Paige breathed - both out of regret, and out of awe at the reality shift that was starting to take her.
This one was different. It made her head throb like nothing else. It felt like her skull was going to implode. Paige could feel her past not just changing, but contracting. Memories gone. Birthdays snuffed out. Suddenly, the nineties she’d grown up in was nothing more than a set of images on TV; a set of anecdotes recounted by older coworkers.
Growing up without the internet? It was a crazy thought, suddenly. Paige found that, even in her last moments of remembering it, she couldn’t seem to comprehend it.
The process was terrifying - or it should have been. But Paige wasn’t worried about it. Couldn’t worry about it. Instead, her eagerness to please, to be Sophia’s type, forced its way through her confusion.
“T-that’s good,” Paige struggled to say. “I’m y-younger.” And she was so pleased about it, too. “I’m… I’m…”
It was a little alarming to realize that she didn’t know quite how old she was. Paige’s age was still in flux. It was like Schroedinger’s cat. She’d yet to settle on it. Paige found herself torn. How young was ‘younger’? Part of her wanted to push her luck. To save what could still be saved of her past. Twenty-four? That could still be ‘early twenties’, right? It was younger than twenty-five, at least.
But what if it wasn’t good enough? That was the other thought, and it soon carried the day. Above all, Paige needed to be Sophia’s type. It was so important.
“I-I’m twenty-one!” Paige sang out, in a voice that was suddenly just that bit fresher and higher.
Twenty-one. Of course she was twenty-one. It had only been last month - her birthday, that little ritual, going to a bar, buying a drink with her real ID as her friends cheered and the bartender winked. As moments passed, that memory became more and more solid and concrete in Paige’s head. It was real, undoubtedly. Far more real than the ten or so years she’d just lost, all of that life and time metaphysically shredded into nothing more than hypothetical abstraction.
“Twenty-one?” Sophia cocked an eyebrow playfully. “That’s kind of hot.”
Paige tittered and blushed. That was so naughty. There was something thrilling about going on a date with an older woman - why did that thought taste so new? It wasn’t. Paige was sure of that. At least, she thought she was. She’d been giddy with anticipation ever since her friend had, with a knowing wink, proposed setting her up with Sophia.
Paige had a thing for older women. She must. Why else would she be on a date with Sophia? Her attraction to Sophia took on a new flavor.
“Twenty-one,” Paige repeated. The thought was settling. “Yeah. Um. Yeah.”
Twenty-one. She was twenty-one. Fuck. She was younger than Sophia.
She was still dizzy from the change. So much of her life had been put into flux. Only slowly was it falling into place. Paige struggled to make sense of it all, grasping at possible solutions that turned to stone - to reality - as soon as she latched onto them. Her transition moved backward, to her teenage years. The miserable, closeted portion of her life was high school now, not college. College - that felt like just yesterday. Paige had only just graduated. She was so young!
But of course she was. She was twenty-one.
It changed everything. Only the bare outline remained fixed. Suddenly, instead of Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder, Paige had been showing her hair stylist pictures of Miley Cyrus. Kristen Stewart. Those were her idols now - at least, in some ways. Neither of them was quite pink enough for Paige’s liking.
2010s pop culture was pouring into her head, replacing what she’d lost. It was a wild experience. And somehow, it felt like it had always been there.
And then there was her job. Paige was a successful career professional. She worked in management. A twenty-one-year-old manager? Wasn’t that absurd? Paige tried her hardest to cling to that one thing. She was so proud of it, after all. Mercifully, the thread of reality she was pulling on didn’t quite snap.
Right. Yes. She remembered now. She was a twenty-one-year-old manager. Paige had started interning in college, and she’d made a big impression at the company she’d worked for. They’d been willing to take a chance on her and hire her into a senior role right out of college. She was a rising star. It was rough sometimes, of course, having so many subordinates who were younger. It was a fight to get them to take her seriously. Especially given all the pink she wore. But Paige couldn’t be stopped. The pink became a statement. Young women - young trans women - of her generation could do anything. She was a girlboss. The world was her oyster.
And a thousand other things about her reality shifted. Big changes and small ones, spreading out along implications and possibilities like cracks in ice. With the strange power Sophia had infused into her, Paige was rewriting her entire being - and all of it, just to be Sophia’s type.
“How old are you?” Paige asked. She just wanted to hear it.
“Old enough,” Sophia replied rakishly. “The waitress probably thinks we’re mother and daughter.”
Paige shivered rapturously. It wasn’t the age gap, not really - although, yes, she found that hot, now. Frankly, working in management was a little distracting in that department. So many hot, older women were Paige’s coworkers. It was the kind of thing a young lesbian could get worked up over. But what mattered far, far more than that was that she was Sophia’s type.
“So… I’m perfect, right?” Paige was desperate to be. It was written into the fiber of her being now. “Perfect for you?”
“You’re getting there,” Sophia offered. Just hearing that was intoxicating. “But… oh, I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t say it.”
“What?” Paige’s heart skipped a beat. The mere possibility of a mismatch between herself and Sophia’s ideal was panic-inducing. “No. No, tell me.”
She needed to know. She needed to know, so that she could become.
“It might be a big ask,” Sophia warned. The smile on her face was more than a little cruel. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Yes!” Paige answered at once. Her apprehension was swept away effortlessly by gnawing desperation. “Please.”
“If you insist,” Sophia replied. Her manner was painfully unhurried. “The thing is, my type happens to be girls who are… well… dumb.”
“W-what?” Paige whimpered. “That… that’s…”
It was awful. Sophia’s type was dumb girls, and Paige had always prided herself on her intelligence. But as much as she feared losing her brains, the inexorable pull towards becoming Sophia’s ideal was stronger. Paige could already feel it, taking her into its flow, draining hard-won knowledge out of her head.
“I’m dumb,” Paige pleaded, half-sincerely, searching desperately for an angle to shoot for. “At least… um… m-maybe a little forgetful? My friends are always saying-“
She froze. Saying what? Paige could feel reality shifting beneath her feet as the memories came back to her.
Ditzy. Airheaded. That’s what her friends always called her, wasn’t it? After all, she’d always been the slow one in the friend group. Even in college, someone had to be the dumbest. Of course, in Paige’s case, they even joked it was a miracle she’d been able to graduate. Paige could feel it, even now. Her head getting a little foggier. Her thoughts, a little simpler and cruder. As soon as she felt it, it became familiar.
“Oh, no,” Sophia said, dashing her hopes. “I’m afraid it goes a little beyond that. I’m talking about really dumb girls. That’s my type.”
Paige’s head throbbed painfully as she absorbed that, and reconfigured herself again. College? No way. She’d tried, sure - middle-class family expectations - but Paige had ended up dropping out in her first year. She simply couldn’t follow along in lectures.
“I’m… I’m really dumb,” Paige confessed bashfully. It was kind of embarrassing, coming right out with it on a first date - but hey, it was better than a new lover dumping her after three months once she realized Paige couldn’t hold an intellectual conversation.
Not that she had to worry about that with Sophia, of course. Dumb girls were Sophia’s type, and that alone made it something to be proud of. For the first time ever, Paige was truly, wholeheartedly glad of what a total ditz she was.
"That’s really cute, honestly,” Sophia told her, any predatory glint in her eyes concealed behind those dark sunglasses. “Adorable.”
Her approval was like a red rag to a bull. “When I first got my job, everyone was, like, so surprised!” Paige gushed. “I mean, me? Working in management? That was… was… um… I-I mean, that wouldn’t even make…”
A fresh wave of dizziness hit Paige as the total incongruity of her career dawned on her. It didn’t make sense. A twenty-one-year-old working in senior management was already pushing it. Only exceptional aptitude could possibly justify that. Now that she was dumb - which, of course, she’d always been - that particular thread of reality was finally snapping. It gave way, plunging Paige into another pit of uncertainty.
What was her job again?
There was only one real answer, as embarrassing as it seemed. Paige was a secretary. Not a manager. A secretary. Why had it ever seemed like she’d been anything else? Secretary work was the only kind of office job Paige could handle.
“When I first got my job,” Paige said slowly, trying to pick up the anecdote, “people joked that I might not be cut out for all that, like, reading and typing. Sometimes I kinda need help with some of the more, um, technical documents.”
It was true, she realized a moment after. Paige could now remember hearing workplace rumors about how she’d only been hired because her pink outfits really brightened up the office. She looked down. Her legs felt a little chilly all of a sudden - only, it wasn’t sudden. Paige had been wearing a cute little pink pencil skirt all day. Not pants. A pantsuit was a little much, for a secretary.
“I guess I’m kind of a bimbo,” Paige giggled self-consciously, as she joined the dots between her ditziness and her obsession with all things pink.
And she was. She really was. Maybe that was why she was so confused. Maybe that was why she kept half-remembering another Paige - a Paige that was older, and smart, and successful, and serious. But that wasn’t her. Not anymore. No, not ever. That Paige wasn’t real.
She was becoming less real by the moment, as the waves of this latest change rippled back into her past. Her high-school grades retroactively plummeted. When she’d first started transitioning, there had been more than a few sexist little jokes about being girly and pink suited her better than trying to be smart and serious and masculine. The dizziness started to recede as, more and more, Paige’s life started to make sense again. Once again, the implications went deep. Everything about Paige was malleable. The only fixed points were the things Sophia liked.
Paige wasn’t worried by that, of course.
“A real girly girl,” Paige added, as her reality settled. “You… you like that. Right?”
“You know?” Sophia mused. “Now that I’m seeing it, I’m not so sure. It’s a little, well, cliché.”
“Cliché?” Paige echoed, in a wounded voice. “Is that, like, bad?”
It certainly sounded like a reprimand, but Paige had to be sure. Already, she felt her existence becoming fluid again. The sensation was like nothing else; a dizziness, a fuzziness around her thoughts, around her memories, especially, as they blurred, ready to change.
“I suppose what I had in mind was something a little… rougher?” Sophia continued. “Punk? Is that the word I’m looking for? You know what I mean. A little bit of that blue-collar charm. Dumb, strong, rough.”
“B-blue… collar?” Paige panted. “Punk?”
The headache was like thunder inside her skull. Gale winds, too, blowing away the Paige she’d been steadily coming to terms with. There was no fighting it. At once, Paige’s head was flooded with stereotypes. Punk girls. Working-class girls. She dredged up every impression she’d ever had of them to fuel her transformation. A transformation that tore her life story to shreds.
College? Fuck no. Her family had never had a lot of money. They couldn’t afford to waste it paying tuition for a girl with rocks for brains. Paige had struggled to graduate high school, let alone get a degree. What would have been the point? You didn’t need book smarts to haul ass on a construction crew.
Right. Construction. That was where Paige worked. Suddenly, the idea of herself as a secretary seemed preposterous. Lame. Paige would take fitting joints and carrying pipes over some stuffy office any way of the week. Hers was a good, respectable, union job. Those ran in the family, didn’t they?
Yes. Yes, of course.
Paige was good at it, too. Strong. Sophia had mentioned strong, hadn’t she? Paige was sure of it. Her self-confidence was bolstered back a little. Everyone wanted a strong girl like Paige on a construction site. Even a trans girl. Oh, sure, she’d heard plenty of shitty comments about that. But Paige didn’t take them lying down. She wasn’t that kind of girl. She could stand up for herself. She was rough.
Paige smirked at Sophia. She let her legs fall apart as she slipped into her natural, girlspreading stance. For some reason, wearing a pencil skirt crossed her mind. She wrinkled her nose at the thought. That sounded so needlessly restrictive compared to her loose-fitting pink jeans. The glass in her hand wasn’t wine anymore. Beer.
“Good news, miss,” Paige said, and her accent sounded classless and coarse to her until it didn’t, because she’d always talked that way. “Looks like I’m your type, right down to a fucking T.”
Sophia giggled. Paige lapped up her approval. It felt wonderful. Being Sophia’s type was all-important. Now, though, she was used to girls giggling at her that way. What kind of lesbian didn’t love a tough, strong, working-class dyke?
“You sure are,” Sophia cooed. “You look really punk.”
Paige really did, she realized. In fact, she was a little out of place at a classy bar like this, with her studded choker, heavy boots, and her battle jacket - blue, but covered in pink patches and pins, of course. She’d always dressed that way. Ever since… when? Paige soon supplied the answer. Ever since she’d come out as trans. Her transition goals shifted again. Siouxie Sioux. Joan Jett. The goddesses of punk rock.
For a moment, the fact that Paige liked pink so much bothered her, but her warping mind soon resolved the contradiction. Pink was punk. That was now - always - Paige’s defiant battle cry every time someone questioned her punk cred. In a world that hated women and denied trans women at every turn, pink was punk.
Paige’s music taste, having lurched violently away from pop, started coarse-correcting back. She was punk, for sure, and she loved the classics, but she had to admit that pop punk was a guilty pleasure. Avril Lavigne was so hot. She really got it. Pink was punk.
"So. Anything else?” Paige asked. In this new reality, she was cockier and more confident than ever - but she couldn’t help being insecure about exactly one thing. “Or am I completely your type?”
“You know,” Sophia said slowly, looking Paige up and down as she weighed her up. “I think you’re exactly what I was feeling today. Yeah. You’re my dream girl.”
Paige grinned. Her whole body was thrumming with the delicious pleasure of affirmation. It was like a gnawing emptiness inside her had just been filled. And now she felt so good, there was only one thing on her mind.
“In that case,” Paige said, sitting forward, “how about we get out of here and I show you exactly how good I am at laying pipe?”
She laughed at her crude double entendre - by her standards, an impressively witty joke. A classy, older woman like Sophia was out of her league in at least three different ways, and Paige would hate to blow her shot by moving too fast, but this kind of bar really wasn’t her scene, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up in conversation. Besides, she knew Sophia liked her rough edges. She was Sophia’s type, and she couldn’t wait to have her moaning all over Paige’s bed.
Paige had undergone a head-splitting number of metaphysical changes throughout her date. But one thing that had remained constant throughout was that Paige was a top - and a damn good one.
But Sophia didn’t seem to agree. “Actually, maybe you’re not my type after all,” she said, with an air of particular malice.
Paige was immediately heartbroken. “W-what?” she gasped, shocked. There were tears in her eyes.
“Sorry.” Sophia didn’t sound sorry at all. “It’s just, I’m not that interested in the kind of girls who lay pipe. Bottoms are really my type.”
Paige head started throbbing dangerously again. “I…” she pleaded. “I could… I can bottom.”
And she could, Paige realized as it became true. She called herself a top, sure, but that was just part of the game. Paige could feel her orientations and preferences shifting beneath her feet.
“Really?” Sophia replied idly.
“Yeah!” Paige panted, eager to convince. “I-I love to bottom!” A secret thrill entered her voice. Oh god, she really did. It went against her vibe, her style, her demeanor - but that was part of why it felt so fucking good. “ I’m, y’know, v-… um… I’m… vers?”
It just didn’t taste right in her mouth. Paige wanted to say it - wanted to keep that part of herself within her grasp - but she soon realized why she couldn’t. Sophia had said she wasn’t interested in girls who top. Even being vers was out of the question. Paige felt a sorrowful pang as that part of herself vanished into abstraction - but then the sorrow vanished too, because this was just who she was.
A complete and total bottom.
“Are you now?” Sophia queried.
“No,” Paige admitted. She blushed and leaned in, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I just… god, if word got around, I’d never hear the end of it, OK? Big, tough Paige? But I’m… um… yeah. A bottom. Totally.”
Still the rough kind, of course. Paige wasn’t the type to go down without a fight. She needed to be overpowered. To be dominated. To be shown who was boss. A punk brat. That was her, she decided. It was a little frustrating people always mistook her for a top. What did they think all the pink was about? Couldn’t they take a hint?
Sophia giggled, and said in a teasing voice, “A punk bottom. Now that’s fun.”
Paige stiffened briefly at being mocked, before that, too, was folded into her sexuality, and she squirmed in her seat. Sophia liked bottoms, so she had to be a top, right? Paige loved getting teased by tops. It was so hot.
“It’s kinda embarrassing,” Paige offered, eager to please. “I get these subby girls coming on to me all the time, but… god, I just wouldn’t even know what to do with them in the bedroom.” Her blush deepened, but she made sure to flash Sophia a defiant look that she hoped would stoke her interest. “But… I don’t know if I believe you’re the kind of woman who knows what to do with me.”
Prove me wrong, she was begging with her eyes.
Sophia didn’t rise to the taunt. At least, not directly. “You wouldn’t know what to do with them?” she repeated curiously. “That’s pretty cute. So would you say you’re a pillow princess?”
Paige bit her lip. She could feel it inside her again. The empty, gnawing need that was the furnace of her transformations. “Would… you like it if I was a pillow princess?”
“Oh yes.” Sophia laughed at her. “Definitely. That’s my type, for sure.”
“Fuck!” Paige whimpered, as she was rewritten once more.
She was so pleased. An older woman who liked pillow princesses? Paige had hit the jackpot. She couldn’t let herself fumble this. She just needed to stop pretending to be something she wasn’t.
Bratting? Giving a top some attitude? She’d tried it once, sure. It had seemed a little more dignified, somehow. A little more like what people expected from a punk girl like her. But it hadn’t felt right. Paige was the kind of girl who blew over in a stiff breeze.
She loved the way Sophia was toying with her. Playing with her expectations. Making her change to match them. Paige could feel herself getting hard under her jeans. She’d never been so turned on. And the best part was, she could sense that she could count on Sophia to understand that just because she had a cock, it didn’t mean she was interested in using it.
“That’s better,” Sophia purred approvingly, as she watched Paige whimper and squirm. “Yes, that was just the finishing touch you needed. Now you’re perfect.”
“T-thank you,” Paige whined instinctively. God. She knew how absurd it was for a rough-and-tumble punk like her to sound so meek and submissive. She hoped Sophia was going to bully her about it. “So, um. Maybe, if you wanted, w-we could… get out of here now? Please?”
It was pitiful to beg, but Paige couldn’t help it. She was burning with need. Being around Sophia made her feel even stupider and more tongue-tied than she always was.
Sophia just stared straight at her. Paige could sense those ineffable, eldritch eyes burning behind her sunglasses. “Please what?”
Paige let out a low moan. “P-please, mistress.”
“Good girl,” Sophia told her. Paige moaned again. She could feel herself making a mess of her panties. “Very well.”
Paige shot to her feet with embarrassing eagerness. “Thank you! Um. God. Thank you. I-I’m just really excited, you know? I really got lucky here.”
“Don’t mention it,” Sophia replied kindly, as she rose to her feet. “Besides, I’m the lucky one.”
“You really think so?” Paige asked timidly.
It was hard to believe. A young, dumb punk with a construction job? Paige knew she wasn’t much of a catch for a lady like Sophia. Compared to her classy outfit, Paige’s pink, punk style and short hair were more than a little garish. And she couldn’t even top.
“Of course,” Sophia giggled, leading Paige towards the door of the bar. “How often do I get to meet a girl who’s exactly my type?”
---
I would like to express my gratitude for the generosity of all those who support me on Patreon, and to give a special thanks to the following patrons in particular for their exceptional support:
Artemis, Chloe, Grillfan65, The Secret Subject, Morriel, Dex, orangesya, Red, dmtph, MegatronTarantulas, Vanessa, Madeline, BTYOR, Sarah, Mattilda, Emily Queen of sloths, ntad, Shadows exile, Abigail, Hypnogirl_Stephanie_, Jade, mintyasleep, ZephanyZephZeph, Michael, Be_Be, Tasteful Ardour, Chris, Dennis, Full Blown Marxism, Morder, S, Brendon, Drone 8315, Jack the Monkey, Jim, Erin, HannahSolaria, Christopher, hellenberg, Kay, Miss_Praxis, Violet, Noct, Charlotte, Faun, BrinnShea, B, Foridin, Jennifer, EepyTimeTea, Slifer274, Roxxie, Phoenix, Jim, Sebastian, Joseph, Yaoups, Thomas, Liz, naivetynkohan, Basic dev, SuperJellyFrogEx, Katie, Lily, spyrocyndersam13, zzzz, Mal, Jose, Bouncyrou, Anonymous, Bacon Man, Nimapode, Melody, Kunoichiru, FemKUltra, Flluffie, Ash, Artemis, Geckonator, TheRealG, Anonymous, Bob, J, nathan, GladiusLumin, Ada, Kyle, Marina, Space Prius, Alex, Michael, Thomas, Lavender, Dasterin
50 notes · View notes