#she said yes it would be cool. she would be cool with that.

[bellaveux]

hihihihi ur one of my favvv writers and i just wanna request a fic with nat and fem reader where reader doesnt know what overstimulating someone during it is and asks nat what it is and nat demonstrates to reader until she passes out. u dont have to write it if ur uncomfrotblr

JUST ONE MORE | n. romanoff x fem!reader

pairing: natasha romanoff x fem!reader

summary: natasha gets distracted from her work and refuses to pay attention to anything else but you.

content warnings: 18+ minors dni. smut; top!natasha, bottom!reader, inexperienced!reader kind of, lots of teasing, fingering (r! receiving), oral (r!receiving), heavy overstimulation, squirting, nat is pretty soft/and in love with reader

word count: 6.3k

Natasha remembered the day she bought this apartment, the weight of the key cool and solid in her hand as she stood in the empty, sunlit space, imagining what it would look like with you in it. It was a while ago now, but she could still recall the nervousness that buzzed under her skin when she’d asked you to move in with her. The apartment was perfect—spacious, private, tucked away in a quiet corner of the city where the both of you could breathe and just… be. It was the first place that had felt like hers in a long time, away from all those safe houses, not wanting to be moving around constantly, but from the moment you said yes, it belonged to the both of you.

Over time, the apartment transformed in small, meaningful ways. A coffee mug you had picked out sat by the sink, a stack of your favorite books now lined up on the living room shelves, and your soft blankets were draped over the back of the couch. Natasha found herself noticing these small changes—the faint scent of your perfume lingering in the air, the framed photographs on the walls she always took of you, some you’ve taken of her—and each one made the space feel more like home. Yet no matter how many pieces of you filled the apartment, it never felt like enough. She always wanted more—more of you, more of the softness you brought into her life. God, she would do anything for you.

You sat curled on the couch just a few feet away, the hum of the TV filling the otherwise silent room. Your legs were tucked beneath you, a slight smile playing on your lips as you watched some old movie. Natasha sat at the dining room table, an open area right by the living room where you were watching, the dim glow of her laptop casting soft shadows across her face as she thumbed through a stack of confidential files. She glanced over the top of her files every now and then, her sharp green eyes flickering from the text to her laptop, then to you. Each time she stole a glance, she noticed the same thing—the faint, almost imperceptible blush that dusted your cheeks. 

The warmth in your face was unmistakable, soft and endearing, and it tugged at something deep in Natasha, something she couldn’t ignore. The way your cheeks flushed when you knew she was looking, the way you pretended to be engrossed in the screen but kept glancing at her out of the corner of your eye—it was subtle, but to Natasha, it was clear. She could see everything—she always sees everything. It was what she was good at.

She let out a small sigh, her attention drifting more towards you than the files in front of her. Her eyes lingered on you as you pretended to pay attention to whatever was playing on the TV, the soft glow from the screen highlighting the delicate blush blooming across your cheeks. The way your lips parted slightly, your breath catching every now and then as you tried to focus on the movie. You were trying to act composed, but you were failing miserably.

Natasha shifted her gaze, observing you more closely. Your thighs were pressed together, your movements subtle but telling, a slow, restless rubbing as though you couldn’t quite sit still. And then it clicked. It wasn’t just her attention that was making you flustered.

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Natasha’s lips as realization settled in. You were horny.

She had seen you like this many times before—innocent, yet not. She absolutely loved seeing you like this. It turned her on to see you like this. In fact, she memorized this look. Natasha’s eyes darkened with amusement and desire, watching as you shifted again, your thighs tightening against one another. There was something achingly sweet about it, how you didn’t fully realize how obvious your need had become.

She could often get so lost in her daydreams when she would look at you like this. In fact, she can’t even seem to focus on anything in the room except you anymore—the files on her desk, now closed, tossed and forgotten. She’d imagine all the things she’d do to you, all those dirty things she fantasizes about—that innocent look in your eyes when you’d look up at her, how soft your thighs are, how she’d never get tired of using her hands to spread your legs apart just for her to see, to dive into. The merest thought of your soft, wet pussy filling her mind was enough to make her groan, eyes and head rolling back as she thought of you.

“Natasha?” She heard you say, your voice soft and curious.

Her eyes fluttered open, her green orbs meeting yours as she slowly took a deep breath. You don’t miss the way her eyes rake up and down your body, stopping for a moment where your short, lace-trimmed night dress meets the curve of your ass, almost inviting her to come closer.

Distracted now, Natasha let out a quiet breath, the focus she once had on the files completely evaporating. She tossed one of the documents across the dining table, its pages fanning out as it slid to the edge. Her eyes were locked on you, her mind already far from the contents of the reports. She leaned back in her chair, her gaze intense yet soft as she watched you shift on the couch, still blushing, still subtly squirming. The sight sent a warm wave through her, a tug of affection laced with something deeper, more primal. Feral.

“Detka,” she said, her words coming out lowly and seductively. “Come here.”

And you don’t waste another second. Your reaction was instant. Your body tensed for a brief moment, your wide, innocent eyes flickering toward Natasha. But there was no hesitation. You stood almost immediately, your movements a little shy, but your legs carrying you forward with purpose, as if Natasha’s words had lit something inside you that you couldn’t resist. The soft padding of your feet on the hardwood floor was the only sound in the room now, the TV’s noise fading into the background. As you approached, Natasha’s eyes trailed over you, taking in the way your body moved, how your tits bounced slightly underneath that thin night dress you were wearing. Fuck.

You stopped just in front of Natasha, your fingers twitching slightly at your sides, eyes downcast for a moment before meeting her gaze, that blush still painting your cheeks. Natasha’s lips curved into a slow, knowing smile, her fingers gently reaching out to graze your wrist, pulling you just a little closer. Her smirk deepened, the corners of her lips curling into something soft yet undeniably confident. Her fingers, firm yet gentle, wrapped around your wrist, drawing you closer with a slow pull. Your breath hitched as you stood right before Natasha now, close enough to feel the warmth radiating between the two of you. Her other hand moved with easy grace, patting her lap with a quiet command.

“Sit,” she murmured, her voice low and smooth, eyes never leaving yours.

There was a flicker of hesitation in your gaze. You shifted slightly on your feet, your eyes darting down to Natasha’s lap before meeting her gaze again, wide-eyed and flushed. Her smirk softened, her thumb brushing lightly against your skin, coaxing you forward.

You hesitated, your breath catching in your throat as your fingers lightly grazed Natasha’s shoulders. Your cheeks were flushed, your eyes wide with nervousness and need as you slowly, shyly brought one leg over her lap. It was a tentative movement, careful and deliberate, as if you were testing the waters, her knee grazing against Natasha’s thigh before you fully straddled her. Once she settled onto her lap, your heart raced, your body warm and squirming. The way your bodies fit together, made your breath come quicker, your chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven movements. You glanced up, your eyes flickering with uncertainty, but before you could overthink it, Natasha’s arms were around your waist.

Her gaze locked onto yours, her smirk fading into something deeper, her green eyes dark and soft, before moving closer to you.

Your breath hitched as Natasha’s lips found the soft curve of your neck, brushing against your skin with the lightest, most teasing touch. The warmth of her breath sent a shiver coursing through your body, and you instinctively leaned into Natasha, your hands resting on Natasha’s shoulders, fingers trembling slightly as you tried to hold yourself steady.

“You’re so pretty, milaya,” Natasha whispered, her voice low and husky, the words spilling over your skin like honey.

The way she said it—so softly, so sincerely—made your cheeks flush even deeper, your heart stuttering in your chest. Your eyes fluttered shut, your pulse quickening as her lips lingered at your neck, the feeling of being so desired, so cherished, washing over you in waves. Natasha’s hands traced gentle patterns along your back, holding you close as if she couldn’t bear to let go, the words still hanging in the air. Her kisses were slow, wet and unhurried, savoring the warmth of your skin, the quiet little sounds you made in response. But then your voice, soft and teasing, broke through the haze of desire.

“Shouldn’t you be working, Nat?” You murmured, your breath hitching slightly as Natasha’s mouth lingered just below your ear.

She froze for a fraction of a second, her lips still pressed against your neck, her mind trying to process the words through the fog of distraction. The files—yes, the ones she’d tossed aside with no real intention of returning to.

She barely pulled her mouth from your skin, her hands still tracing soft, absentminded patterns along your back as she muttered, “Yeah,” in a voice that held none of the focus she needed for that answer.

But even as the word left her mouth, Natasha made no move to return to the work she’d been so intent on earlier. Her lips found yours, kissing you just a little deeper, her hold on your waist tightening as though there was no part of her that truly cared about the files scattered on the table anymore. Her tongue immediately entered your mouth, exploring every corner. Work could wait—right now, all she wanted was you.

You pulled back slightly, your breath coming in shallow, uneven gasps, and your chest rose and fell quickly as you tried to catch your breath.

“N-Natasha—” you managed, your voice shaky, eyes wide and dark with need, yet laced with a hint of restraint, as though you were trying to gather your thoughts, to form some semblance of control.

But Natasha wasn’t giving you any space for that.

Her arms still held you firmly in her lap, hands playing with the hem of that short, black night dress you had on, fingers dancing along the line of your lace underwear, and her eyes locking onto yours with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. Natasha’s lips curled into a knowing smirk, her voice low and husky as she leaned in just enough to close the distance again.

“I was watching you…” she began, her words soft, almost a purr against your lips. Her hands moved slowly, deliberately, under your dress, tracing the curve of your waist, drawing you back in as she stared at your lips. “I can tell, detka. I can tell when you want me.”

There was an edge of amusement that teased at the corners of her smile, but beneath it was an undeniable truth. Natasha’s gaze roamed over your flushed face, your dilated eyes, the way you shifted in her lap, restless and needy. She could feel your pulse racing under her fingertips, could hear the way you sighed against her.

“I always want you,” you whispered back, your voice barely above a breath, almost shy in its confession.

For a moment, her breath steadied against your neck. She let out another quiet, ragged breath, then shifted slightly, her lips brushing lightly against your shoulder. A slow smirk crept across Natasha’s face, one that you couldn’t see but could definitely feel.

“That’s my girl,” she murmured, her voice low and rough, almost a growl against your skin.

Natasha’s forehead dropped gently onto your shoulder, her body pressing closer, almost as if she needed to ground herself in the moment. Her hands tightened instinctively around your hips, fingers digging just a little deeper as she held you, squeezing as though she was trying to keep herself from completely losing control. For a moment, Natasha just breathed, her face buried in the curve of your neck, feeling the warmth of your skin, the pulse beating beneath it, and the way your body fit perfectly against her own.

She instinctively pressed closer, your hands slipping from Natasha’s shoulders to rest on her chest, feeling the steady beat of her heart beneath your fingertips. Natasha could feel the way your body responded to her, how much you wanted her, needed her.

Your girlfriend’s mind was already clouded, her focus narrowing down to the warmth of your body pressed against her, the way your hips fit perfectly in her hands, the quiet, desperate little breaths you let out. She wasn’t thinking about anything else, not the scattered files she had to look over, not the day’s work she had abandoned—just you.

Her voice dropped even lower, to a huskier murmur, the words slipping out before she could even stop them. “Wanna make you feel good…”

Her fingers moved on their own then, sliding slowly, deliberately beneath the hem of your short, black night dress. The fabric was soft, cool against her fingertips, but the heat radiating from your body drew her in like a magnet. Natasha’s smirk faded into something more focused, more intent, as her fingers grazed the edge of your laced panties. She paused there for just a moment, feeling the way your body tensed slightly, a soft, shaky exhale escaping your lips.

When Natasha’s fingers finally dipped lower, pressing against the delicate lace, she could feel just how wet you already were. She let a low, quiet groan slipping past her lips as she teased her fingers over the damp fabric. She didn’t rush—Natasha was never in a hurry when it came to you. Instead, she moved with agonizing slowness, her fingers tracing light patterns over the lace, applying just enough pressure to make you squirm in her lap.

Natasha’s eyes darkened with every little movement, every small, breathless sound you made. She could feel the tension coiling inside you. Her free hand slid up your back, pulling you in closer, grounding you as she continued to tease, the lace now soaked with the evidence of your need.

“Feel good, baby?”

“M-Mhm…” You hummed out.

Natasha pulled her head back just enough to look at you, watching as you nod your head, her fingers still teasing beneath the hem of your dress, but her attention had shifted entirely to the way you responded to her. She studied you for a moment, her green eyes dark and heavy-lidded, drinking in every little detail—the way your cheeks flushed deeply and irresistibly, the way your breath hitched, the slight tremble in your hands as they rested on Natasha’s chest. You always grew shy under her gaze, and Natasha knew exactly why.

She was naturally flirtatious, a little playful, and she loved watching you get flustered, even though you never seemed to know how to handle it. Right now, under Natasha’s intense stare, you shifted slightly, your eyes darting away for a second before you tried to meet Natasha’s again, your lips parting just a little.

“W-What?” You stammered, your voice soft, unsure.

Natasha’s smirk grew wider, more mischievous. She leaned in just a bit, her fingers never stopping their slow, torturous movements over past your soaked panties.

“I’m just thinking…” She said, her voice dropping to that low, almost teasing tone she always used when she had you exactly where she wanted you. “Thinking about what I want to do to you.”

You swallowed hard, your eyes widening just a bit. “What… do you wanna do?” You asked, barely above a whisper, already feeling your pulse quicken at the way she was looking at you, like you were the only thing in the world that mattered.

“I think…” Natasha paused for effect, her smirk deepening as she watched your growing nervousness. “I think I wanna overstimulate you.”

“O-Overstimulate me?” You repeated, your voice uncertain, as though you were trying to grasp what your girlfriend meant.

The innocence in your tone, the fact that you didn’t quite understand, only made Natasha’s desire grow stronger. She let out a soft, amused breath, her smile turning softer, more affectionate, as she realized just how innocent you still were sometimes in moments like this.

“Yeah,” she whispered, her voice gentling as she brushed her thumb over your hip. She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to your jaw before pulling back just enough to meet your eyes again, the smile still playing on her lips. “You don’t know what that means, do you?”

You shook your head lightly, your lips parting as if to say something but no words came out. Your girlfriend let out a quiet, indulgent chuckle, pulling you closer, her fingers teasing your folds so, so softly past the lacy fabric of your panties.

Before dating Natasha, you weren’t all that experienced when it came to sex. Sure, you had been in relationships before, but none of them had ever ventured into the kind of passion and intensity you found with Natasha. It wasn’t that you were naïve—you understood the mechanics of desire—but with Natasha, everything was different. She was confident, naturally sensual in a way that left you breathless, and she had a sex drive that matched her intensity in every other part of her life. From the beginning, she had taken her time with you, teaching you in ways that were equal parts gentle and overwhelming. The way Natasha touched you, the way she guided you, wasn’t just physical—it was emotional, intimate, like she was slowly unraveling all of your inhibitions and fears. With every kiss, every whispered word, every lingering touch, Natasha had shown you how to let go, how to trust your body, and how to embrace your own pleasure without hesitation.

“It means I’m going to make you feel so good,” Natasha murmured, her lips ghosting over your ear, voice low, almost a whisper, laced with the promise of everything she was about to do, “Over and over again, until you can’t take it anymore. And even then, I won’t stop…”

Your breath caught in your throat, your eyes widening just slightly as you stared at Natasha, speechless. You could feel your heart pounding in your chest, the heat between you making it hard to think, hard to breathe. But even as your mind raced, you couldn’t focus on anything but the way Natasha’s fingers felt, teasing lightly under your soaked panties, sending shivers through your entire body. The sensation was overwhelming, and you were completely lost in it, your lips parting as if to say something, but no words were coming out.

Natasha’s smirk grew wider, watching the way your gaze flickered with both uncertainty and desire. After a moment, she tilted her head slightly, her eyes darkening as she leaned in closer, her breath warm against your skin. Her voice, already deep, dropped even lower, taking on a huskier tone that sent a pulse of need straight to your pussy.

“Would you let me do that to you, detka?” Natasha asked, her words slow, deliberate, and filled with intent.

You swallowed hard, your pulse quickening even more at the sound of Natasha’s voice. Your mind was spinning, but all you could feel was Natasha—her fingers, her gaze, the heat radiating from her body. You almost couldn’t form a coherent thought, couldn’t find the words to answer, but your body answered for you as you instinctively pressed closer to Natasha, your lips trembling as your eyes flicked up to meet hers again, completely and utterly captivated.

Natasha's eyes darkened as she felt you grind harder against her fingers, your body responding to every teasing touch. But she wasn’t satisfied with just the physical reaction; she needed more. Her free hand gently cupped your chin, tilting your head up so your eyes met.

“I need to hear you say it, baby,” Natasha urged, her voice low but insistent, a hint of a growl underneath the softness. Her thumb brushed against your trembling lips, waiting for the words.

Your mind was a blur, lost in the heat of Natasha’s touch, your body moving on instinct, your hips grinding harder against Natasha’s fingers. The pressure building between your legs made it nearly impossible to think. Absentmindedly, you leaned in, your tits pressing against Natasha’s chest, your body seeking more of that intoxicating closeness. Your voice was barely more than a breath as you nodded, your eyes heavy-lidded.

“Yes… yes, please…” The words spilled out, shaky and whiny.

You had given her exactly what she wanted, and now she had no intention of holding back.

Natasha’s smile twisted into something devious, a flicker of dark satisfaction passing through her eyes as she finally pushed two fingers inside you. The heat of your pussy wrapped around her digits instantly, tight and soaked with need.

Your reaction was immediate—a loud, breathless moan that escaped your lips, your body tensing and arching in response to the sudden intrusion. But Natasha was quick, her lips crashing against yours in the same instant, swallowing your moan. She devoured every sound, every shaky breath that you tried to release.

Your hands clung to Natasha’s shoulders, your body grinding instinctively against Natasha’s fingers, searching for more, needing more. Natasha missed you harder, her tongue fighting yours and winning with her fingers curling inside you with deliberate slowness, drawing out every gasp, every shiver of pleasure that ran through you. Each movement was calculated, each kiss more demanding than the last, as if Natasha couldn’t get enough of you, as if tasting your moans wasn’t enough—she needed to feel them, consume them entirely.

Your breath hitched, a desperate whine escaping your lips against your lover’s mouth. “N-Natasha…” you gasped, your voice barely holding together as her body squirmed in her lap.

Natasha pulled back slightly, just enough to take in the sight of you—flushed, trembling, your lips parted as you struggled to catch her breath. Without missing a beat, she fucked you harder, fingers plunging deeper, her pace quickening, pushing harder into your pussy. Her grip on your waist tightened, pulling you down harder onto her fingers. Natasha’s smirk returned, but this time it was darker, more possessive. God, you were driving her crazy.

“Let me hear you, detka,” Natasha growled lowly, her voice rough with desire, her fingers moving faster now, harder, as she watched your body react to every thrust. Each time you gasped or whimpered, Natasha’s lips hovered just above yours, teasing but not quite kissing, as if she wanted you to beg for it, to give yourself completely over to her.

Your head fell back, your hands gripping Natasha’s shoulders tightly as the pleasure kept building and building, your moans louder, more frantic, barely able to form words. Her eyes never left your face, smiling mischievously as she felt you fall apart in her lap.

As her thumb pressed against your clit, your body tensed all at once, at every curl of Natasha’s fingers. Your breath came in short, ragged gasps, your hands clutching at Natasha’s shoulders like a lifeline, and then, all at once, it snapped. The orgasm hit you like a tidal wave, crashing over you with such force that you nearly screamed, your body shaking uncontrollably.

It was overwhelming—your muscles tightening, your hips jerking against Natasha’s hand as you rode her fingers, wave after wave of pleasure coursing through you. Your vision blurred, your head spinning as the sensation ripped through you, leaving you breathless and completely undone. You felt yourself soaking Natasha’s lap, the wetness spreading between your thighs as your release came in a hot, overwhelming rush, slick and uncontrollable.

Natasha didn’t stop.

If anything, she pressed harder, her fingers curling deeper, dragging out every last bit of your pleasure as your body shuddered and jerked against her. You could barely think, could barely breathe through the intensity of it, your moans breaking apart into desperate, breathless gasps as the orgasm continued to pulse through you. Natasha’s eyes darkened with something primal, her fingers still working inside you as she watched you completely fall apart all over again.

And when you finally collapsed against her, trembling and soaked, Natasha exhaled a single word, her voice rough with surprise and raw desire, “Fuck.”

She hadn’t expected your first orgasm to hit this hard, hadn’t expected you to be this wet, this desperate. It stirred something deep inside Natasha, something that made her want to pull you even closer, to keep going, to claim you again and again until you were nothing but a trembling, soaked mess in her arms.

“Another one, baby,” Natasha murmured, her voice thick with desire as she pressed her fingers to your swollen, sensitive clit, rubbing in slow but rough, deliberate circles. At the same time, she started pumping her fingers inside you again, this time with a rhythm that was familiar and demanding, knowing exactly how to push you to the edge once more.

Your breath hitched, your body still trembling from the aftershocks of your orgasm, but the new pressure on your clit sent another wave of pleasure rushing through you. You let out a broken whine, your body reacting instantly to Natasha’s touch, your hips moving on instinct as Natasha’s fingers slipped deeper inside you.

Your mind was blank except for the overwhelming heat and pressure building inside you again. You clutched at her, your nails digging into her shoulders as you struggled to catch your breath, every thrust of Natasha’s fingers sending her closer and closer to the edge.

“N-Natasha, I-I’m—“

It didn’t take long. Natasha’s fingers inside her and the teasing circles on her clit sent you crashing into another orgasm, harder and faster this time. Your whole body arched against Natasha, your moans desperate and broken as your pussy clenched tight around Natasha’s fingers. You came again with a soft cry, the wetness spilling over her hand, dripping down your thighs and soaking her lap all over again.

Natasha’s fingers were still moving, sending you directly into another orgasm as you whined and shuddered in her arms, your entire body trembling with the aftershocks. Your forehead fell against Natasha’s shoulder, your gasps of breath hot against her skin, your body still jerking with the overwhelming pleasure Natasha had coaxed out of you for the second time.

She made you come on her fingers a third time soon after, then a fourth… a fifth… seven? You lost count.

Your body was trembling uncontrollably as you reached another orgasm, your thighs quivering against Natasha's lap, your head spinning with the overwhelming intensity of it all. You gasped, your breathing ragged, your entire body shuddering as Natasha's fingers kept moving inside you, dragging out every last pulse of your release.

With her free hand, Natasha gently cupped your face, her thumb brushing tenderly across your cheek, wiping away your tears carefully.

“You’re doing so good for me, detka,” she whispered, her voice low and sweet. Her lips grazed the side of your face, barely a kiss, just enough to soothe. “You’re so beautiful when you come for me.”

Your eyes fluttered closed, your body aching with pleasure as her words washed over you. Your breath hitched, tears still slipping from your eyes as Natasha’s thumb continued to tenderly wipe them away, whispering soft nothings against your skin.

Natasha’s lips curled into a soft smile as she kissed your lips tenderly, her hands sliding around your waist, holding her close. Without breaking the kiss, she stood from the chair in front of the dining table, effortlessly lifting you in her arms as if you weighed nothing. You let out a quiet gasp, your hands clutching at Natasha’s shoulders, but you didn’t protest. She laid you down gently behind you, your body stretching across the table, legs naturally falling open to make room for Natasha between them.

Your head rested just beside the clutter of files and Natasha’s open laptop. She glanced at the papers for a brief second, her focus shifting from the work that had once consumed her to the woman now lying beneath her. Absentmindedly, she pushed the files and the laptop aside, not caring as they scattered across the floor. Natasha kissed you again, deeper this time, her hand brushing against your cheek, the other trailing down to your hip. Soon, she began trailing soft kisses along your jaw, down to the curve of your neck, down to your breasts.

When Natasha’s lips finally closed around your nipple, you let out a quiet gasp. She sucked gently, her tongue flicking over the sensitive skin, savoring the way your hands instinctively reached for her, fingers threading through the fiery strands of red hair. Her lips left no part of your skin untouched as she kissed lower, her mouth tracing a slow path down her stomach.

Your body trembled beneath her, the dining table cold against your back. But as Natasha’s mouth ventured lower, brushing just above the waistband of your lace panties, her fingers tugging them down your legs slowly. Your grip tightened in Natasha’s hair, and a soft flush crept over your cheeks. Natasha paused for just a moment, her lips ghosting over your lower stomach, her hands caressing the sides of your thighs. She glanced up, her green eyes filled with tenderness, as if silently asking for permission to continue. Your breath caught in your throat, and you bit your lip, nodding your head softly and hesitantly.

Without warning, Natasha shifted, her hands gripping your thighs with a firm, possessive hold. She dove between your legs, her mouth immediately finding the soft, wet heat of your pussy. Natasha’s tongue worked fast, flicking and slurping with a skill and hunger that took you by complete surprise. Your jaw dropped, a loud moan escaping your lips as your body reacted instantly, back arching off the table. Natasha’s mouth was relentless. Your legs trembled as they instinctively tried to close, only for her to hold them wide open, refusing to let you pull away.

Your hands flew to her hair, fingers gripping tightly, tugging on her hair as your moans grew louder. More desperate. You were helpless against Natasha’s tongue, her hips jerking involuntarily as she devoured you, the wet sounds of her slurping filling the room. Her lips sealed over your clit, sucking hard before sliding her tongue deeper, tasting you fully.

“W-Wait, I—“ You whined. 

Natasha hummed softly, the vibrations sending you spiraling, your legs trembling even harder as you writhed on the table, completely at your girlfriend’s mercy.

Another orgasm tore through you, wave after wave of intense pleasure crashing over you as you came hard against Natasha’s mouth. Your back arched off the table, your moans loud and desperate, your fingers still tangled in her hair, pulling almost too hard. But Natasha didn’t slow down. In fact, she only pressed closer, her tongue continuing to work, relentless and determined.

The overstimulation hit hard, your body jerking uncontrollably beneath Natasha’s hold, your thighs trembling against her head. Your hands shook, the pleasure bordering on too much, too intense. But Natasha wasn’t stopping—she was taking you deeper into it, making you feel every ounce of pleasure coursing through your body. Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes.

Your body convulsed as you came all over again, your hips bucking uncontrollably against Natasha’s face. You moaned helplessly, your voice cracking, but the pleasure quickly turned to something almost unbearable as Natasha kept going, her tongue still flicking and licking your folds.

“I can’t… I can’t…” You whimpered, your voice a fragile plea, breathless and broken. Your hands weakly reached down, fingers trembling as you tried to push Natasha’s head away, your body too sensitive, too overwhelmed.

But Natasha wasn’t ready to let go just yet. With a gentle but firm grip, she caught your wrists, pinning them softly to the table by your hips, simultaneously keeping your legs open for her.

“Shh, baby,” Natasha whispered against your soaked skin, her voice low and thick with hunger. Her breath brushed over your sensitive folds, making your body jolt with the slightest movement. Natasha’s lips pressed tender, teasing kisses along your pussy, and she began whispering softly, her voice laced with praise and adoration.

“Just one more,” Natasha murmured, her lips grazing your clit, sending a shiver through your overstimulated body. “You’ve been so good for me… I just need one more, baby. Can you do that for me? Please, detka... I know you can.”

Tears ran down your face, the pleasure too much for you to bear. The overwhelming sensitivity made you feel like you were teetering on the edge of something too intense, but Natasha’s soft, pleading words kept pulling you back in.

“One more,” she whispered, her tongue flicking softly again, barely grazing your clit as she held you open. “My beautiful girl… You’re so perfect, you’re doing so well...”

Your body trembled uncontrollably, your head lolling back against the table as Natasha’s mouth worked you over once more. Your breath was ragged as you whimpered beneath her touch. You could barely form words, your voice a soft, broken murmur.

“T-too much…” you muttered, your eyes half-lidded, on the brink of passing out from the sheer overload of pleasure. But despite the exhaustion weighing on you, you didn’t stop Natasha—didn’t pull away. There was a part of you that wanted to push through, that believed you could handle just one last wave, just one more time.

And Natasha sensed it—the surrender, the way your body gave in completely to her. Natasha’s lips curved into a hungry smirk as she kissed you deeper, her tongue flicking and swirling in ways that made your entire body quake. She was relentless now, moaning against you, her fingers digging into your trembling thighs, holding you firmly in place as her mouth continued its unyielding work.

Your moans grew louder, turning into a series of broken gasps, your hips jerking wildly as her tongue moved faster, slurping with that same insatiable hunger. Your breaths were shallow, your body arching off the table as you teetered dangerously close to your breaking point.

And then, it hit again—harder than anything you’d felt before.

Your body convulsed violently as she came, and this time, it wasn’t just a release—it was a flood. Your hips bucked uncontrollably as you squirted, a gush of warmth spilling from you, soaking Natasha’s face and the table beneath them. Her mouth stilled for just a second as she pulled back, staring at your pussy in awe, her eyes wide with disbelief, and her chin glistening in your release.

“Oh, fuck…” Natasha whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

Her voice was thick with amazement, her fingers still gripping your thighs as she watched the way your body responded, the way you gushed uncontrollably, your orgasm hitting her like a tidal wave. She reached up with one hand, fingers gently stroking the inside of your thigh as if in reverence, her gaze never leaving your pussy.

“God, look at you,” she whispered, her voice almost worshipful.

But then Natasha’s eyes flicked up, and she saw your face—your head tilted to the side, lips parted, eyes closed. The flush in her cheeks was deep, her body completely limp. For a second, Natasha panicked, her hand gently patting your thigh as she leaned closer.

“(Y/n)?” she whispered, her voice soft with concern.

It took a moment for Natasha to realize—you passed out. Your body still twitched faintly, small aftershocks running through you as the intensity of your final orgasm slowly faded.

For a moment, she just stared, watching your chest rise and fall, your body limp and flushed from the overwhelming pleasure. Her eyes traced every inch of you, from the faint sheen of sweat on your skin to the way your thighs trembled softly. There was something so innocent about the way you looked when you were like this—vulnerable, completely undone, as if you’d given everything to Natasha and trusted her completely.

Natasha felt a small pang of guilt, realizing just how far she had pushed you, how close to your limit she had brought you. But as she took in the sight before her, a slow smile spread across her lips, warm and a little smug. She didn’t regret it, not for a second. The memory of your moans, the way your body had responded so perfectly, how you had given herself over so completely—it was intoxicating.

With a soft smile, Natasha leaned down and pressed one last kiss to your temple before gently pulling away from you to grab a soft towel for your legs, careful not to disturb your rest. She cleaned you up tenderly, wiping between your legs with the utmost care, her touch soft and careful.

As she held you in her arms, carrying you toward the bedroom, Natasha’s mind drifted to tomorrow, already making plans to spoil you. You deserved everything—her love, her care, her gentleness—and she promised herself she’d make up for pushing you so far tonight. She laid you down on your shared bed, tucking you in gently, and made a mental note to shower you with affection, pamper you, and make you feel cherished in every way possible. Because if there was one thing Natasha Romanoff was certain of, it was that she had never been so in love with anyone as she was with you.

And for that, she’d make sure you knew it every single day.

— navigation

[papaya-twinks]

mauve - l.n - p.1

Warnings: Mentions of sexism, swearing.

Pairing: Lando Norris x williams!fem!reader

Taglist: @cheriiepies @jan1on @sagestack @fall-bambi @meglouise00 @eclipsedcherry @suzzie105 @rebelatbay @fly-me-away @cabbyhabs @djoenthusiast @georgeparisole

The announcement of you being the new driver to fill the seat of Logan Sargent had taken everyone by surprise. For many reasons - but it wasn’t a secret to see that you being a woman was more than likely the centre piece of most people’s surprise.

You knew what you were getting into when you signed that contract, and when you shook James Vowles’ hands, you knew there would be uproar. But you were good, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. And whether the keyboard warriors at home wanted you there or not, you were there to race.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Lando wasn’t a sexist person in the slightest. He gave as much respect as he could to women, and he knew that being a woman was tough, but he couldn’t help being a little bewildered as he read over the announcement from the F1 page.

There was no doubt going to be a lot of pressure on you, tenfold what a usual, well, a usual man would receive when they would start in F1. But reading your reply, your joking reply, made Lando frown. He wasn’t sure why he cared so much.

He simply told himself he didn’t care, but surely you should show some sort of…humbleness? Not that there was anything wrong with joking around and stuff, but you were in a privileged position, one of merely twenty, so there should be some sort of modesty.

“Mate, have you seen Williams have gone for some chick?” Max asked, looking over to his best friend as Lando snapped out his thought. Lando was sprawled across the sofa, wearing dark black joggers and a hoodie, a cap pulled low on his head.

“It’s cool, I guess,” Lando said, unsure what to truly say. He didn’t want to make a remark that seemed sexist, when his intentions weren’t as such, so he just didn’t say anything. “It’s gonna be…interesting,” Max said with a small shrug, “you coming golf, then?”.

Lando would never turn down golf. And as he swung his club over his flexing shoulders, the ball sending far down the grass mound, all thoughts of you had fled his mind. He didn’t even understand why he cared. He didn’t care, that’s what he told himself.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

One of Lando’s pet hates was being forced to bring himself to the pre-season grid photo. But he couldn’t deny he wasn’t curious. Other than you, there weren’t any new drivers on the grid, except a few move-arounds, which was rare in some aspects.

“You saw her tweet, right?” Max asked as he zipped up his suit, letting the woman on the stool adjust his hair. “Yeah, she’s taking the piss, mate,” Lando said, dodging the woman and fixing his own hair in the mirror.

You weren’t there with the drivers or the stylists as you were a woman, meaning you got your own space to dress and change. “She’s decent on the eyes, though,” Daniel said, nudging Lando as he rolled his eyes.

“Calm down,” Lando snickered, “she’s, like, 12 or something,” he shrugged, “little bit young for you, or is that the age you go for?”. Finally, the 19 male drivers were ushered out into the area of the Bahrain track, the cars lined up behind them, as they stood in boxes in their pairs.

“Classic girl, right?” Lando whispered to Oscar as the Aussie laughed, noticing you hadn’t come out. And finally, as Lando and Oscar continued chatting away, Max joining in behind them, you walked out. You were pretty, yes, Lando could give you that.

But Lando was hot, he knew that. Well, in his own words, he was ‘alright’. And looks got you nowhere in terms of pure, racing talent. Lando hadn’t even seen you race but he had one thing in his mind already. That there wasn’t an ounce of talent flowing through your veins. Not a drop.

Daniel whispered something along the lines of, ‘They welcome grid girls back?’ as you accepted Alex’s hand, letting him pull you onto the box beside him. The suit fit you well, showing off your body in all the right places as you copied Alex’s stance.

You were directly behind Lando, and he could basically hear you breathing, as he pushed you to the back of his mind, setting his stoic expression for the camera. Maybe he should talk to you. Him and Oscar were once again shushed from their random chatting, as he huffed.

“Smile,” the cameraman said, as Lando gave a somewhat forced one, his usual shining smile clearly outdone by your radiant one. It was obvious you were happy to be there. But, for some reason which was hardly your own fault, Lando wasn’t happy for you to be there.

“Car shots, now!” a woman with a clipboard called out, directing each pairing of driver’s to their car. Once again, the Williams was placed beside the McLaren, almost like a clash of colour together, to show of their vibrancy compared to the dullness of the Mercedes of the VCARB.

If you blurred the lines of the McLaren and the Williams, you’d be left with mauve. Once the photos had been taken, the drivers had 30 minutes just talk and catch up with each other, as winter break had finally finished and most hadn’t spoke to each other for a while.

Lando watched with a half bitter expression as some of the drivers, his teammate included, as well as Carlos and Max, went over to you to introduce themselves. “Hello,” you were saying as Lando begrudgingly walked over to the group of drivers.

“New Williams driver, then?” Max said, stepping back subconsciously to let Lando into the circle. “Yeah,” you replied as Max smirked. “Well, you can light up the rear of the grid for us,” Carlos said with a nod as you smile somewhat faded.

In some ways, the Spaniard was right, the Williams, judging by last year and the year before, was in no place to fight for the top ten, let alone wins, but it did hurt to be put down so early. Before you’d even driven, actually.

“Maybe even the front, hopefully,” Alex said, shooting Max and Carlos a half-forced smile. “Quit it, mate,” Oscar shook his head with an amused smile as you followed Alex to examine the car. “McLaren’s looking good,” you said, kneeling down to examine the side of the car.

“Don’t get too close, there,” a voice said, making you jump as you straightened, seeing Lando. “Uh, I didn’t plan on it,” you said, cheeks a little red as he nodded. “Right,” he said, “it’s a good car, no?” he asked, eyes flashing across your face to gauge your reaction.

“Looks fast,” you said, eyes on the car, trailing over the bodywork. “Well, I’ll see you later, then,” Lando said with a half-hearted smile, “maybe when I lap you, I doubt I’ll be as low on the grid to pay you a visit,” he said coolly.

“I admire your confidence,” you said coolly, still looking over the car, Lando’s somewhat cocky nature faltering for a second. “Stay in your lane, Y/L/N,” he nearly hissed, leaning forwards as you felt his breath fan across your face, “and don’t step out of it,”.

A/N - Comment if you want to be in the tag list 💜

[ihopesocomic]

That "everything My Pride got wrong about lions" list you mentioned in one of previous asks? Would love to actually see that 👀

We don't have an exact "list" per se but here's the main things that spring to mind that are shown in MP that are factually incorrect:

Prides are led by a single male and no other male may have control of the pride: incorrect. Prides can and will consist of more than one male and males will sometimes team up to run out the resident male or males.

Lions can bite through a rival's mane: a lion's mane is like thick, fluffy armour that protects the throat and it absolutely cannot be penetrated in the manner like Quick did with Starmane. This is why lions actually opt to attack the face, the back, or the hips.

Lionesses do not defend their cubs from rogue males: lionesses absolutely do defend their cubs from males, including those that are related to them by blood, such as the father. They're very protective mothers. There's even reports of lionesses running their cubs away from the pride and hiding them so the rogue male cannot find them.

Lions are active during the day: lions are actually crepuscular and more active at dawn, dusk and at night for the African nights are cooler and present better hunting opportunities. They tend to rest during the day. I know there are instances where this isn't the case, but that just comes with being opportunistic hunters. They will also hunt during storms, uilitising the weather to their advantage. Hence why Travellers have names related to the weather. We just thought it was a cool fact.

Lions have slit pupils: lions, like all big cats, have round pupils. There are theories as to why this is, but at the end of the day, only domestic cats have slit pupils.

Male lions are called manes: Yes, we know that this is a xenofiction thing and MP has every right to adopt their own vocabulary, but people literally think that male lions in a pride are called "manes" and male lions not in a pride are called "no-manes". So apparently it needs to be said that male lions are simply called lions, and females are lionesses.

Tsavo lions are a subspecies of lions that do not develop full manes: So, this appears to be a misconception that some MP fans have walked away with and I just want to correct the record on this. Tsavo lions are not a subspecies of the African lion. They are named after the geographical location where maneless lions are more apparent, because geography and environment seems to have an effect on how a lion's mane forms. Lions are sensitive to heat, so the hotter a region is, the less likely a mane is to form. The Tsavo region is known to be hot and dry and this is why lions there have problems developing a full mane. Genetics is also theorised to play a role. Such a thing has also been observed in West African regions and Ancient Egyptian art has also depicted maneless lions. It's also worth noting that Asiatic lions also have smaller manes than their African counterparts due to Asia having a hotter climate. This is why some of our characters like Fade and Larkspur do not have full manes. Both of them have either been raised in a desert region or a region adjacent to a desert and the heat has affected them developing a full mane. So, Moonstrike being described as a Tsavo lion was completely pointless and confusing. I can only assume it was Tribble trying to flex her lion knowledge but she also didn't even bother to explore why exactly Tsavo has a connection to maneless lions, thus fans assuming that the lack of a mane is down to Moonstrike being part of some sort of subspecies. I'm probably missing some things out but this is what I have so far. - RJ

[rey-jake-therapist]

Ok, here am I again posting another TROP/Haladriel meta... Feel free to mute me if you can't take it anymore, these are gonna be two long weeks as there are still two episodes left...

We're having a lot of discussions about what we'll get to see in Episode 8 (maybe even a bit in episode 7??), and it's really great and exciting to speculate about what will happen when our two love birds mortal enemies finally meet again.

It seems to be the general consensus that Sauron will try again to convince her to be his queen. Now I may be the dissonant voice, but I personnally don't think it will be that straightforward.

Charlie said several times that Sauron was pissed that Galadriel rejected him, but that it wasn't the end of the world, for him. Meaning: he totally believes he can make it without her.

To the Nerdist, he said :

"Speaking of your old screenmate, Sauron asked Galadriel to be his queenOpens in a new tab at the end of season one of The Rings of Power. How much, if at all, does he still want that by this point? And does he think it’s a possibility? Vickers: I think he probably does think it’s still a possibility because he has this hubris and this self-love. He thinks he’s really cool, and he thinks, “Well, she rejected me once, but next time I come back for her, she won’t reject me again because I’ll be so powerful she won’t be able to.” But I don’t think he necessarily wants that. I think his initial proposal to her was to join him, and they could be king and queen of Middle-earth, but really, he would’ve been king, and she would’ve been his righthand woman. Any kind of dreams he has involve her being number two and him being number one."

(I would love to see him try to submit Galadriel to his will, btw. I mean, c'mon man)

To Collider, he said,

"His getting rejected definitely leaves him with this sour taste in his mouth, and he goes away thinking, “I can make this right.” Whatever that means to him. That's one of his throughlines in terms of his motivation or goals for this second season is how much he's driven and how much this relationship gives him a sense of purpose."

And to Schön:

That connection will endure as long as the show endures because although they might not be together in proximity when we pick it up, he’s pissed off that she has turned his pitch down [laughter]. That drives him to think, I can make her join me, or I’ll make her pay for this.

Here, there's also an interview he gave for Total Films, where he reveals that there's a "huge amount of urgency in each of them trying to obtain what they want in that situation": https://x.com/totalfilm/status/1830244276539654595

I'm sure I've read an interview where Charlie said that Sauron would probably want to taunt Galadriel with what they could have done together had she said yes. Edit : found it! Interview for TV Insider.

Second to his lust for more rings is Sauron’s desire to get the Elven rings back. “While he didn’t directly touch them, which is a big thing this season, [Galadriel] has this ring that he put all this effort into, and he wants that back,” Vickers admits. Sauron “covets” these jewels, “and particularly hers,” he explains, “because he knows what they represented when he was making them.” Sauron feels “taunted” and “pissed off” that Galadriel rejected him. That makes getting her ring back personal, but Vickers insists that “he’s past ruling with her.” That won’t stop him from showing her “what could have been, what you could have had,” Vickers teases.

Of course Charlie can't give much away. But so far, it matches with what we saw in season 2 : he's in Eregion, forging his rings of power with Celebrimbor, he's visibly happy (just kidding, the man looks exhausted and depressed), but sometimes he can't help but think of Galadriel.

I love how the experience is completely different for him, from it is for Galadriel: while she had a bittersweet flashback of her and Halbrand in the Southlands, he gets lost in the contemplation of Mirdania's hair because she reminds her of Galadriel, and manifests images in his mind palace that also remind him of her (there are several posts about all this on Tumblr, including one of mine... I won't enter into the details again).

It would be very OOC of Sauron to display an outright nostalgia for the time he spent with Galadriel as Halbrand, imho, even if it was only for the audience to see. He's not supposed to be sad and nostalgic, but pissed at her for rejecting him, and determined to move on and to obtain what he wants without her in the picture. He's probably annoyed af to see his thoughts shifting towards Galadriel while he's in the middle of something very important. He's in his "the fuck with her" phase of the breakup, which pretty much matches what Charlie said. In his hubris, he believes that once he has his rings, he will be so powerful that Galadriel will have no other choice than joining him. She hurt his pride, so now he wants to relish the sight of her submission to him.

Regarding the mind palace scene, precisely the one where the guy tells the Galadriel look alike he wrote a poem : it probably remained unnoticed by most viewers, but I think it's very significant that this scene arrived at THIS moment. Let me explain:

To convince Celebrimbor, Sauron first assures him that when the story of this age is written, the Silmarils will be "no more than a whisper". Of course it's meant to motivate Celebrimbor who always wanted to create something that would be remembered, like the Silmarils. But it can be interpreted as a personal goal for Sauron as well :

1) Morgoth found the Silmarils so beautiful that for weeks, "he could do nothing but stare into their depth".

2) Fëanor admired Galadriel's hair so much it gave him the idea of imprisoning and blending the light of the Trees, and three times requested a tress of hers (she always said 'no').

The two people he loved/admired but hurt him the most are connected to the Silmarils in a way, so he could see the creation of something "more precious" as a personal challenge. After he promises Celebrimbor that his rings of power will be "deemed the most precious creations in all Middle-Earth", and Celebrimbor returns to his workshop, his attention is caught by the sight of a couple. The man (whose face remains unseen, because he's a just a self-insert) tells the Galadriel look alike :

"I've written a poem, but I fear your beauty still overshadows anything I could possibly write."

Of course we joked about Sauron's pathetic attempt at poetry (it's terrible lol), but imho there was a deeper meaning to this scene. I think it was his subconscious manifesting what he already knows deep inside of him : that without Galadriel's light, there will ALWAYS be something missing. That what he told Celebrimbor was a lie, no matter how much Sauron wants it to be the truth. The Rings of power are his poem, but Galadriel's beauty/light will always overshadow it.

Hence why it's pretty much granted that he will try to "get Galadriel back". He'll show her how powerful he is now that he has the Nine rings, and his proposal will probably not be as charming as it was the first time. I think we should prepare ourselves to a lot of gaslighting and threatening from his part (he's still pissed off, guys). He'll surely tell her that Eregion is burning because she refused him, that kind of thing. He will definitely use her memories of Halbrand (it's pretty much confirmed by the presence of Halbrand's theme within The Temptation music, and maybe Galadriel's vision of Halbrand enters that scheme too), but will it be to show her what they could have had if she had said yes the first time, or what they could still be? It remains to be seen.

We probably shouldn't forget that in his mind, it happens like this: "she joins me, or I'm making pay for it".... It should be pretty intense.

Then we've got what Charlotte Brändström revealed about Sauron (bless her heart) :

"I think Sauron even really loves Galadriel and you will see that at the very end”

There are already several threads discussing how Sauron will show his love for Galadriel... Will he spare her? Save her in one way or another? Heal her because she's hurt? Prove her in some way that what he said he felt as Halbrand was real? Something entirely different? Anyway, it will be something that can't be confused with manipulation.

There, I said my piece. Why isn't it next Thursday yet?

[jpitha]

Hospitality

Meandering River and Q'ari sit in the canteen during midday break chatting and drinking some herbal tea. The Humans introduced both the drink and the meal. They call it 'Lunch' and while only the Humans seem to need the calories supplied by the meal, the break and the tea has proven to be a big hit among the other sapients...so long as they stay away from the poisonous teas. There are a lot of poisonous teas. Most everyone can have chamomile though.

The conversation meanders as they do, and eventually, they both come to talking about things they've noticed about the humans, one of the more recent additions to the Coalition. Everybody has their own cultural and biological quirks, but the conversations has been steering towards the humans lately. Everyone is a little too quick to point out that It's not that they're... weird, it's just the differences.

Q'ari puts her tea down with a clink on the small porcelain saucer. "Did you know that the Humans have a whole thing about being nice to visitors? It’s called 'hospitality' and they have almost entire religions about it!"

"What? They have religions about being nice to people you meet?" Meandering River said, as her feathers rustle, reflecting shimmering colors.

"Pretty much! My guess is that living on their world is so hard that they just felt obligated to help people who were passing through their village or peer group or whatever. The idea was that no matter who shows up - even their enemy - you give them a meal and a bath and let them have a nap and point them towards where they need to go if they're lost." Q'ari took another sip of tea. "You weren't even supposed to ask them questions about who they were or what they were doing!"

Meander was baffled. "But that makes no sense! What if the person was going to hurt you or your group? You had no way of knowing. Better to just let them pass by, and not interact."

"Yes, but the idea is the next time it was you traveling, you'd get help from others too." Nancy said from behind them.

Q'ari fur poofed out and Meander's feathers rippled in surprise and they both slid their chairs back to jump away before stopping themselves and sitting down, tea spilled everywhere. Predator/Prey reactions were deeply ingrained in Innari and Sefigans, and Humans were exceptionally good predators, even when they didn't mean to be.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Nancy said, seeing their reaction. "I didn't mean to startle you! I just heard you talking about hospitality. People everywhere don't treat it like the religion it used to be, but it's still a common thing that people do. Here -" she said gesturing on her pad "Let me buy you both another Tea to say sorry for spilling yours. Chamomile, right? I feel so badly about startling you."

"I-It's all right, we know you didn't mean to." Meander says, smoothing their feathers automatically. We were just fascinated by the concept of hospitality. Please, join us." She gestures towards a chair.

Nancy sits down, and wipes away some of the spilled tea with a napkin. "Being polite to strangers is just something that's taught from an early age. It's not done everywhere, and it's not done the same way, but it's still done. It's... complicated though." Nancy said, as a serv platform came over with two fresh cups of tea. After it had left, she continued. "Codifying being nice to strangers and offering them a place to stay and food to eat is a way that people could travel in the time before money and hotels, but also, it could be used as a shield against forming real friendships."

"What do you mean by that? If you're inviting strangers into your house, wouldn't that help make friends?" Meander said, blowing on her tea to cool it slightly.

"Well, it could. But if the whole process is ritualized and formal, then you could use it to keep 'foreign' people at arms length. Sure, you'd invite them in, let them sleep, bathe, eat, but you'd send them on their way in the morning and that would be it. There would be no connection, no friendship. There is a long, long history of being nice without being friendly."

"It's all very confusing." Q'ari said. "There seems to be a lot of implied connections, and ritualized actions that on the surface appear kind, but may - or may not - be, depending on thousands of different things."

Nancy nodded. "Hey, things are never black and white. There is always nuance. I'm sure it's even the same way between you and your people. Q'ari, you're not originally from Sef, the homeworld, right?"

Q'ari's teddy bear shaped ears waggled. "That's right. I grew up on Llamanian, one of our middle tier colony worlds."

"And even though you are a Sefigan citizen, when you go to Sef sometimes you get treated like an outsider, right?"

"Well, I suppose a bit, yes." Q'ari's finely laquered claws slid out of their sheaths, just a centimeter. "They say that my gelbin isn't the same as on Sef. Er, that's a traditional vegetable dish." She adds, for their benefit.

Meander's crest slides up and then back down. "I've had your gelbin Q'ari, it's delicious! What could possibly be wrong?"

She shrugs, a decidedly human gesture. "The spices are wrong, they say. We have different versions due to the ecology and soil of Llamanian, even if I were to use the exact same spices in the exact same proportions, it wouldn't taste the same."

"It's not just humans. Everyone has things that are different, and people - no matter which sapient group they are - will use those differences against them sometimes." Nancy said, taking a sip of tea. "Knowing that it happens, and keeping an eye out for it, and having some understanding, can go a long way. But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be nice to strangers when we meet them. After all, they might be the Gods in disguise!" Nancy's eyes sparkle when she said that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see a people called the Greeks believed that..."

[sassenach77yle]

||COUNTDOWN ||SEASON 2 EPISODE 07 || FAITH ||

#83daysofoutlander☆

“Wait, Claire!” I half-turned; he was almost upon me. The soft gray numbness around me quivered, and I felt a sort of frozen panic at the thought that the sight of him might rip it away from me. If it did, I would die, I thought, like a grub dug up from the soil and tossed onto a rock to shrivel, naked and defenseless in the sun. “No!” I said. “I don’t want to talk to you. Go away.” He hesitated for a moment, and I turned away from him and began to walk rapidly down the path toward the arbor. I heard his steps on the gravel of the path behind me, but kept my back turned, and walked faster, almost running. As I paused to duck under the arbor, he made a sudden lunge forward and grasped my wrist. I tried to pull away from him, but he held on tight. “Claire!” he said again. I struggled, but kept my face turned away; if I didn’t look at him, I could pretend he wasn’t there. I could stay safe. He let go of my wrist, but grabbed me by both shoulders instead, so that I had to lift my head to keep my balance. His face was sunburned and thin, with harsh lines cut beside his mouth, and his eyes above were dark with pain. “Claire,” he said more softly, now that he could see me looking at him. “Claire—it was my child, too.” “Yes, it was—and you killed it!” I ripped away from him, flinging myself through the narrow arch. I stopped inside, panting like a terrified dog. I hadn’t realized that the arch led into a tiny vine-covered folly. Latticed walls surrounded me on all sides—I was trapped. The light behind me failed as his body blocked the arch. “Don’t touch me.” I backed away, staring at the ground. Go away! I thought frantically. Please, for God’s sake, leave me in peace! I could feel my gray wrappings being inexorably stripped away, and small, bright streaks of pain shot through me like lightning bolts piercing cloud. He stopped, a few feet away. I stumbled blindly toward the latticed wall and half-sat, half-fell onto a wooden bench. I closed my eyes and sat shivering. While it was no longer raining, there was a cold, damp wind coming through the lattice to chill my neck.

He didn’t come closer. I could feel him, standing there, looking down at me. I could hear the raggedness of his breathing. “Claire,” he said once more, with something like despair in his voice, “Claire, do ye not see … Claire, you must speak to me! For God’s sake, Claire, I don’t know even was it a girl or a boy!” I sat frozen, hands gripping the rough wood of the bench. After a moment, there was a heavy, crunching noise on the ground in front of me. I cracked my eyes open, and saw that he had sat down, just as he was, on the wet gravel at my feet. He sat with bowed head, and the rain had left spangles in his damp-darkened hair. “Will ye make me beg?” he said.

“It was a girl,” I said after a moment. My voice sounded funny; hoarse and husky. “Mother Hildegarde baptized her. Faith. Faith Fraser. Mother Hildegarde has a very odd sense of humor.”

The bowed head didn’t move. After a moment, he said quietly, “Did you see the child?” My eyes were open all the way now. I stared at my knees, where blown drops of water from the vines behind me were making wet spots on the silk. “Yes. The mâitresse sage-femme said I ought, so they made me.” I could hear in memory the low, matter-of-fact tones of Madame Bonheur, most senior and respected of the midwives who gave of their time at L’Hôpital des Anges. “Give her the child; it’s always better if they see. Then they don’t imagine things.” So I didn’t imagine. I remembered. “She was perfect,” I said softly, as though to myself. “So small. I could cup her head in the palm of my hand. Her ears stuck out just a little—I could see the light shine through them. The light had shone through her skin as well, glowing in the roundness of cheek and buttock with the light that pearls have; still and cool, with the strange touch of the water world still on them. “Mother Hildegarde wrapped her in a length of white satin,” I said, looking down at my fists, clenched in my lap. “Her eyes were closed. She hadn’t any lashes yet, but her eyes were slanted. I said they were like yours, but they said all babies’ eyes are like that.” Ten fingers, and ten toes. No nails, but the gleam of tiny joints, kneecaps and fingerbones like opals, like the jeweled bones of the earth itself. Remember man, that thou art dust.… I remembered the far-off clatter of the Hôpital, where life still went on, and the subdued murmur of Mother Hildegarde and Madame Bonheur, closer by, talking of the priest who would say a special Mass at Mother Hildegarde’s request. I remembered the look of calm appraisal in Madame Bonheur’s eyes as she turned to look me over, seeing my weakness. Perhaps she saw also the telltale brightness of theapproaching fever; she had turned again to Mother Hildegarde and her voice had dropped further—perhaps suggesting that they wait; two funerals might be needed. And unto dust thou shalt return. But I had come back from the dead. Only Jamie’s hold on my body had been strong enough to pull me back from that final barrier, and Master Raymond had known it. I knew that only Jamie himself could pull me back the rest of the way, into the land of the living. That was why I had run from him, done all I could to keep him away, to make sure he would never come near me again. I had no wish to come back, no desire to feel again. I didn’t want to know love, only to have it ripped away once more. But it was too late. I knew that, even as I fought to hold the gray shroud around me. Fighting only hastened its dissolution; it was like grasping shreds of cloud, that vanished in cold mist between my fingers. I could feel the light coming, blinding and searing. He had risen, was standing over me. His shadow fell across my knees; surely that meant the cloud had broken; a shadow doesn’t fall without light.

“He had risen, was standing over me. His shadow fell across my knees; surely that meant the cloud had broken; a shadow doesn’t fall without light.

“Claire,” he whispered. “Please. Let me give ye comfort.” 

“Comfort?” I said. “And how will you do that? Can you give me back my child? ”

He sank to his knees before me, but I kept my head down, staring into my upturned hands, laid empty on my lap. I felt his movement as he reached to touch me, hesitated, drew back, reached again.“No,” he said, his voice scarcely audible.

“No, I canna do that. But…with the grace of God…I might give ye another?”

His hand hovered over mine, close enough that I felt the warmth of his skin. I felt other things as well: the grief that he held tight under rein, the anger and the fear that choked him, and the courage that made him speak in spite of it. I gathered my own courage around me, a flimsy substitute for the thick gray shroud. Then I took his hand and lifted my head, and looked full into the face of the sun.

Cap 28 - The Coming of Light  ~ ‘Dragonfly In Amber’

[starryevermore]

dumb love, i love being stupid ✧ ruhn danaan 

angst city™ library |send in a request (consultrequest faqs first)

pairing: ruhn danaan x fem!reader 

summary: you thought you had found your forever, but he wanted to keep it casual. 

word count: 2,346

warnings?: angst city™ bitch, not proofread

“So how’s it going with that one girl? Been seeing her a lot lately.”

“Eh, we’re just keeping things casual,” Ruhn said, eyeing a pretty faun from across the bar. 

You watched as his friend—Declan, you realize—arched a brow, took a long sip of his drink. Ruhn couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes as Declan said, “That why you keep bringing her around so much?”

“We both know what this is. I like her company, so I invite her out sometimes. That a crime?” Ruhn didn’t wait for an answer. He set his drink down on the bar and began to make his way to the pretty faun. 

“Guess not.” Declan looked away from his friend, eyes somehow finding yours. Despite the distance and lighting, you couldn’t miss the flash of pity. 

Before he could say anything to you, you turned on your heel, ready to leave the White Raven with whatever scraps of your dignity you had intact. You pushed through the throngs of people, ignoring the annoyed voices of those who you accidentally elbowed in the process. You just needed to get out of there. 

A hand caught your arm just as the exit was finally in sight, pulling you to a stop. “Hey! Where are you going? The fun’s just about to start!” Bryce cheered. Behind her stood Hunt, who offered you a smile and a soft “hey.”

Wriggling lose of Bryce’s hold, trying to maintain an air of playfulness, you managed a laugh. “Some of us have early mornings and can’t party til dawn.”

Bryce rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a buzzkill. Do I need to drag Ruhn out of whatever corner he’s hiding in and convince you to stay?”

Your heart skipped a beat, and you prayed neither Bryce nor Hunt could hear it. “Didn’t realize he was here. Saw Declan for, like, half a second.”

She wiggled her eyebrows at you. “So that’s a yes? Getting your boy toy will get you to stay?”

“He’s not my boy toy,” you said, “and it makes me feel icky for you to call your brother that.”

“You’re no fun!” Bryce whined. 

Hunt, either because he believed your story about an early morning or because he could sense your unease, took Bryce by the waist and slowly began to urge her away. “C’mon, this is a losing battle.”

“Fine, but you’re coming to the party this weekend, right?”

You probably weren’t, but if agreeing was what it took to get out of the White Raven without crying in front of Ruhn’s friends, then that’s what you’d do. “Duh, you think I’d miss it?”

Bryce grinned, and Hunt finally successfully urged her into the crowd to find the rest of their friends. You loosed a breath, rolled your shoulders, and made your escape. No one stopped you again, or even spared you a glance. For that, you were grateful. You weren’t sure how much more people-ing you could handle. 

Unfortunately, you did plan on making one more stop before you went home. 

Ruhn really needed a better hiding spot for his spare key. Was there anything more obvious than a potted plant by the door? It would have been laughable if you weren’t effectively breaking into his home. (Is it really breaking in if you found the key? And when the owner of said key told you where it was hidden?) 

You didn’t bother being quiet, figured that all of the home’s residents were out at the White Raven. Yet, when you shut the door, a voice had you jumping out of your skin. 

“Ruhn come back with you?” Flynn asked, leaning against the entry to the kitchen. 

You tried to steady your breathing and racing heart. “Nah. Think he’s at the White Raven with Declan. I was just swinging by to grab a couple things I left behind.” You held up the spare key for him to see. “Y’all need a better place for this than the only potted plant on the property. You’re practically asking someone to steal all your shit.”

Flynn nodded. “Cool, cool. Shout if you need anything, and try not to rob us blind, yeah?”

“Eh, I’ll leave your shit alone, but can’t say the same for Ruhn and Declan,” you joked despite yourself. 

He snorted out a laugh. “You’re funny. Shame Ruhn got to you first.”

You shrugged. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

As you walked up to Ruhn’s room, Flynn disappeared into the kitchen. He’d probably leave you alone. As long as you don’t take a long time, probably. You didn’t plan on sticking around, though. You just wanted to grab your things and get out before Ruhn returned with that faun he was eyeing. If he thought this was casual, the last thing he would want is for you to be hanging around while he was trying to get lucky. 

Thankfully, you knew where most of your things were. A couple of shirts thrown in his closet, a jacket strewn over a chair. Some miscellaneous socks mixed in with his laundry. You grabbed your lipgloss you thought you lost from the bathroom, and the pretty hand towel you brought because there was no way in hell you were using the scratchy ones they bought in bulk. Your favorite bras, buried in the top dresser drawer. 

Once you were satisfied you got everything you cared about, you made your way out of the home, praying that you wouldn’t run into Flynn again. 

He was on the couch when you came out. He eyed the bundle of clothes in your arms. “Moving out?” he teased. 

“Getting this stuff out before he thinks I’m trying to move in.”

“You and I both know Ruhn wouldn’t mind if you did. Honestly, he’d probably be more offended you were sneaking all that shit out.”

Liar. “Eh, I need to wash all this and I don’t trust you idiots to not fuck all my nice stuff up.”

Flynn laughed, throwing his head back. “You make us sound like beasts!”

“Excuse you, I was here when your sheets were stained pink after a sock made its way into the machine, and when half of Ruhn’s clothes got bleach stains after one of you forgot to rinse out the drum,” you giggled.

Fuck, you wished you had fallen for Flynn instead. Or even Declan. They were easy to talk to, and wouldn’t make you feel like an idiot for thinking that something more than casual was going on. That was more your fault than anything, you supposed. You knew who Ruhn was when he approached you at the White Raven all those months ago. He never tried to hide who he was. You were the idiot who thought he might settle down.

“Fair enough,” Flynn laughed. “Hey, you be careful alright? Ruhn’d kill me if you got hurt after leaving here.”

You were already hurt, but Flynn didn’t know that. Didn’t need to know that. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, you mother hen.”

Flynn flipped you off as you left, still laughing. The bitter part of you thought he was laughing at you, knowing how big of an idiot you were. The more rational part knew he was just having a nice time joking around with you. Whatever. You probably weren’t going to be seeing him around much either way. 

Loud knocking on the door woke you up. When you glanced at your phone for the time, it was barely one in the morning. Several more hours until you would need to start the day, and way too late for anyone to be bothering you right. With a groan, you got out of bed, wrapped yourself up with a robe, and went to the door, fully prepared to chew out whoever was interrupting your beauty sleep. 

You yanked open the door. Ruhn stood on the other side. Whatever steam you had rising up inside you dissipated when you saw him. 

Pulling the robe closer around you, you asked, “What are you doing here?” More questions stayed locked in your mind—Why aren’t you home? Why aren’t you with that pretty faun? 

“Flynn said you stopped by to get some of your things,” Ruhn said. “Looked like you took more than a few. Just wanted to see if you were alright.”

You opened the door wider so he could see into your small apartment. You gestured to the couch, where your laundry basket sat, topped off with the clothes you took back from his place. “Was needing to do laundry,” you lied. “Wanted to make sure all my stuff got washed.”

He pouted—actually pouted. “I could’ve done that for you.”

“It’s no big deal—”

“Or you could’ve done it at my place. Throw in a couple of my things if you didn’t have enough for a load,” he continued. Ruhn took a step into your apartment. You took a step back. “I like having your stuff around.”

“It’ll all probably end up there again anyways,” you shrugged. You doubted it. Ruhn might have wanted to keep this casual, but you weren’t that sort of person. You craved intimacy, the closeness of a relationship. If Ruhn wouldn’t offer that, you didn’t see the point in sticking around. 

Ruhn’s violet eyes searched yours. You weren’t sure what he was looking for. It would probably be easier to walk into your mind than try to pick it up with context clues, but you also didn’t want him anywhere near your head. You didn’t want to hear any excuses he had. Anyways, Ruhn was good about staying out of your mind. He said he didn’t want to violate your trust. What a joke. “Why didn’t you talk to me tonight?”

“Huh?”

“Dec said he saw you, and Bryce said you two talked. I was there, too. I know we didn’t plan on doing anything tonight, but I would’ve liked for you to say something.”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “Why are you really here, Ruhn? I know it’s not because I got my things or didn’t talk to you tonight.”

“Are we good?”

The scoff fell from your mouth before you could stop it. Seriously? Why did he even care? If this was casual, why did he care about your feelings? “You don’t have to pretend, Ruhn. I know you want to keep this casual.”

Ruhn blinked, slowly working his jaw. “What are you talking about?”

“If you want this to be casual, that’s fine. I mean, you wish you had told me that, but I can’t change the past. If you want, you know, company or whatever, that’s okay. But I’m not that sort of person. Let’s not let feelings get any more involved than they already are.”

Realization dawned in his eyes. It took him long enough. Ruhn was far from stupid. It didn’t make sense for it to take this long for it to all click. “You heard me and Dec.”

“And saw you with the pretty faun.”

Ruhn looked away. His jaw clenched and unclenched. “I didn’t realize you were there.”

“Does it matter that I was? I mean, if this is casual, you can flirt with anyone you want. You can fuck anyone you want.”

“Stop saying that,” he near-growled. You raised your brows. What right did he have to get upset? At you no less? Fuck, you needed to put an end to all of this. Tonight. Now. 

You couldn’t hide your own ire as you said, “Why? Only you get to call it casual? I get to sit around thinking that maybe you actually give a shit about me, that you want to stick around for the long term, but you get to sleep with half of the city. Do I have that right?”

“No.”

“No, I think I do,” you said. You reached out, started to push him toward the door. Ruhn snatched your hand and tugged you against him. “Ruhn, let me go.”

“No.”

“Let me go and get the fuck out of here.”

“No,” he insisted. It was hard to ignore the desperation in his voice, but you weren’t going to fall for any of his tricks. You fell for enough of him already. 

Tears pricked at your eyes. Godsdammit, you weren’t going to cry in front of him. He didn’t deserve to see you so vulnerable. Not anymore, at least. “I am not going to be the idiot in love with you,” you said, your voice thick, “not when you don’t give a shit about me.”

Ruhn’s eyes flashed. With what, you weren’t certain. “I fucking care about you!” he shouted. Oh, what you would’ve given to hear that just hours ago. Now, it meant nothing. 

“No. You either lied to Declan about this being casual, or you lied to me about wanting something with me. Either way, you lied. You do not lie to the people you care about.” You wrenched yourself away from Ruhn, grabbed the door, and pointed out to the hall. “Go. I won’t ask again.”

“I want to talk about this.”

You gestured into the hallway again. “I have nothing left to say. I’ve got neighbors, Ruhn, and you’re probably waking up the whole building.”

He said your name, so softly your resolve nearly crumbled. But you looked away, steeled yourself. You weren’t going to let yourself be treated like shit just for a fae who would never respect you. 

“Lose my number.”

Ruhn stepped toward you. He stopped right in front of you, brushed away a strand of hair that fell in your face. His eyes scanned over you, as if memorizing you. But you wouldn’t look at him. Couldn’t. Then he stepped through the threshold of the door, and you shut the door before he could say anything else, twisted the locks before he could try to open it.

You pressed your back against the door and sank down to the door. Face pressed against your knees, you began to cry, and you pretended you couldn’t hear Ruhn still standing on the other side. 

It was better off this way. 

[ladykailitha]

Of Butterflies and Backstrokes Part 5

Hey guys!! Things are finally starting to move in this story, I'm not sure how much longer we have, but I just started Eddie's training, so whooo!!

In this we have Eddie being dumb, fixing it, and then apologizing properly! He can be taught!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

~

Robin smacked the back of Steve’s head as she walked past. “No staring. It’s creepy!”

Steve ducked his head and blushed. He had been caught staring so many times today that, yeah, it was starting to be a little creepy now. But in all fairness, Eddie was staring right back. A thought that sent Steve spiraling. But like in a ‘oh shit, that’s hot!’ way.

Which he really, really needed to tamp down on, because yes, the guy was eighteen, but like barely.

“You should just go talk to him,” Robin encouraged gently. Because for all her teasing, she knew how important it was for Steve to talk to him about his swimming.

Steve nodded. He had time until his next class. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. He walked up to Eddie and flashed him his patented Harrington smile.

“Hey, you’re Eddie, right?” he said warmly. “Robin tells me you like to swim on Saturdays, yeah?”

Eddie blinked at him for a moment. “Um, hi. Yup! That’s me. My mom used to call me her little fish.”

Steve grinned. He liked that. He wished his mom had taken that kind of interest in his swimming. “I saw you swimming when I was helping Joyce set up for the party last weekend and you were really good! Did you compete in high school?”

“Nah,” Eddie said with a shrug. “I wanted to, but I couldn’t get someone to take me that early in the morning so I stopped. Competed in middle school, though. I was decent enough, I guess.”

Steve was shocked. To have to stop just when you hit your stride must have been quite the blow.

“That fucking sucks, man,” Steve said with a grimace. He scratched his cheek thoughtfully. “You ever think about competing on the national level? Because I really think you could.”

Eddie rolled his eyes with a scoff. “Yeah, right. I couldn’t afford the coach let alone all the traveling I’d have to do to make it to meets. I’m going to have to pass on that one.”

“There’s actually a program here for people who can’t afford it,” Steve hedged. “Robin used it when we both first started out.” He was fighting back the urge to start biting his nails.

Eddie’s eyes narrowed and Steve gulped. “Is that so?” He nodded. “Well ain’t that nice. Still not interested.”

Steve wished the floor would swallow him or that pool would suddenly flood or that he’d get a brain aneurysm and die, right there on the spot. He pursed his lips together and nodded with his whole upper body. He turned on his heel and walked away.

When he was about to the other side of the pool, Eddie called out, “Who would even want to coach me?”

Steve turned around with a grin. “I would.” Then he spun on his toes and walked out of the pool area to the cool fresh air of the hallway.

~

Once Steve was out of the pool area and into the hall, he had a full on panic attack. He sank to the floor and held his head in his hands. Why the fuck did he offer to coach Eddie? He didn’t know Eddie, he was afraid of deep water, and he hadn’t even talked to Joyce yet.

It was a real mess now, but the words just forced themselves from him and now he wants to gobble them back up. Well maybe they’ll just avoid each other from now on. They had done a pretty good job up to this point, they could just continue as normal and forget all about how Steve made a fool of his himself.

Then slowly he began to come out of his panic attack to the sounds of soft words and the gentle rubbing of his wrists with their thumbs. His breathing evened, his heart rate dropped, and his eyes fluttered open.

The eyes looking back at him were warm chocolate brown and deeply concerned. The angel in front of him said something but Steve couldn’t hear. Then all at once all the sounds came rushing back into the hall. And suddenly there were more people in the hall with him than he thought. In addition to Eddie who was the one holding his hands, Robin and Joyce were there too.

“I think he’s coming around,” Joyce said gently as Steve’s eyes focused on her. “Hey, there, Steve. Are you okay now?”

Steve gulped, nodding. He was feeling better. In fact he didn’t have a pounding headache like he usually had after an episode. “My head doesn’t hurt.” He looked over at Robin in confusion. “Why doesn’t it hurt?”

“Uh...” Eddie said hesitantly. “I might have something to do with that. I used some calming techniques my friend’s dad showed me.”

Steve turned to him, mouth open in awe. “Oh. Thank you.” He didn’t know what to do with that because technically it was his conversation with Eddie which caused the panic attack in the first place. But maybe that’s why Eddie helped, because he knew he’d caused it. That was a nice thought, Steve supposed.

Eddie smiled and stood back up. “I have to get back to work. You take care of yourself, okay Stevie?”

Steve nodded and Eddie slapped his hands on his knees, standing up. He muttered goodbye to the two women and then wandered off.

As Robin helped him to his feet, she said dryly, “I take it the conversation didn’t go well.”

He barked out a laugh causing Joyce to look back and forth between them in confusion. So Steve put her out of her misery. “I was telling him that he was good enough of a swimmer to compete, but I think he thought I was mocking him or something, because he kinda blew me off.”

He rubbed his temples for a moment before adding. “I even offered to coach him.”

Joyce blinked at him for a moment. “You offered what now?”

When he looked up both Robin and Joyce were looking at him with large, wide eyes and slack jaws. “Yeah, that’s kinda what started the panic attack if I’m honest. I know I am like the worst person for the job with all my...” he waved his hand helplessly. Then he snapped his fingers. “Issues. Anyway. It was nice of him to help me out after all that.”

“Dingus...” Robin said with a heavy sigh. “What were you going to do if he accepted?”

Steve grimaced and ducked his head. “Have you help me?” He looked up at her through his eyelashes and batted them, pouting.

Robin pushed his shoulder. “Disgusting!” Then she gave him a huge hug and kiss on the cheek. “Of course I’d help you.”

“I think it would be perfect,” Joyce blurted out. They both turned and looked at her. “This place could use the publicity if I’m honest. There are other pools in Indy that have been bringing in the bigger names. So if Eddie accepts and starts training under five time gold medal champion Steve Harrington...”

“Then this place could start bringing in the big names again,” Robin said. “Not to say that Steve isn’t a big name of his own,” she added when Steve’s face twisted into something like offense.

Steve shook his head. “Which isn’t going to happen because he said no.”

Joyce and Robin sighed. There was that. But they knew they shouldn’t go trying to pressure Eddie into it. Plus, despite how good he was there was no telling he’d be on par or better than his younger peers.

Steve and Robin left Joyce standing there, pondering her dilemma.

~

Eddie chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. He was grateful that the technique worked, but he was pretty sure that he had caused the attack in the first place. Which was... not good. He could have handled the offer to have him trained to compete a little better. Steve was paying him a compliment and he threw it back in his face as charity. He didn’t need charity not from no one.

There was no two ways about it. He was going to have to apologize. Which was never his strong suit. But he’d do it. He just wasn’t going to take Steve up on his offer. He would see about staying on here as paid help because then he could still have access to his beloved pool.

It took him a couple of days but finally their schedules matched up and Eddie was on his break and Steve had time between classes again.

“Um, hey,” he said timidly, sauntering up to Steve. “I just wanted to apologize for being a bitch on Monday. I was rude and that wasn’t fair.”

A slow smile spread out over Steve’s face. “Thanks. I did just spring it on you without an preamble, so...”

Eddie laughed. “Yeah, there was that. But it still was mean and I should have been nicer.”

“Well, you made up for it by helping me with the panic attack afterwards,” Steve said. “I’d say that makes us even.”

“A panic attack I’m pretty sure I caused.”

Steve winced, confirming the worst of Eddie’s suspicion on that one. Steve rubbed his chin thoughtful. “I’ll tell you what, if you teach Robin and Joyce that technique you used to pull me out of my panic attack, then we’ll be even.”

Eddie smiled that sweet closed mouth smile that melted Steve’s insides when he saw it. “Sure thing I can do that. On Saturday before the crew swim. I’ll teach them both.”

Steve’s shoulders relaxed. That was going to be so useful, having multiple people know how to get him out of an attack would make it easier for him to go out in public. Something that was very limited after the incident in Beijing.

“That’ll be great, thanks.”

“You should come too,” Eddie suggested. “I know you don’t like being in the pool, but you could come hang out and have a little fun for a change.”

Steve gasped dramatically. “What do you mean? Isn’t teaching beginning classes meant to be fun?”

Eddie’s eyes went wide. It took him two seconds long than it should have to realize that Steve was joking him. He pushed Steve’s shoulder playfully.

“At least with us,” he teased, “we won’t try and drown you, deliberately or otherwise.”

Steve tilted his head to side and looked at him in confusion. Where the urge to bite those cheeks came from, Eddie will deny knowing until his last breath. “I saw that snotty teenaged little shit try to pull you into the pool. That’s fucked up at hell.”

Steve’s smile was blinding. “Fair enough. I like getting to sleep in on Saturdays, but we’ll see.”

Eddie grinned back. “I never used to get up this early for school. But ya know, keeping out of jail is pretty inspiring.”

“I could see that, yeah,” Steve agreed. “It was the one downside being on the swim team in high school.”

“You went to a regular high school?” Eddie asked tilting his head. “I would have thought after getting fifth in your first Olympics you would have gone to a special school for kids that are huge in sports or whatever?”

Steve blinked at him for a moment. “Do they have schools like that?”

“They do for like actors and shit,” Eddie said with a shrug. “So I assumed they would have something similar for the jocks.”

Steve laughed. “Yeah, no. That would have been preferable.” He shook his head. “But no, it’s much more cut throat that than that. Pretty much, schools try and poach students from other schools to make the best sports teams.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, really?”

“Yep!” Steve said beaming at him. He looked up at the clock on the wall. “Look, my next class is about to start. So I really should get going. Especially with Joyce’s son in the class, I don’t want to be late.”

“Why is he starting so late?” Eddie asked. “I would have thought with Joyce being in charge of the rec center and his older brother literally being a trainer too, he would have been in the tots class.”

Steve nodded. “She didn’t get the manager position until five years ago and Will was afraid of the water by then. So they just waited until he was ready.”

“So he’s ready now?” Eddie asked curiously.

“Mhmm,” Steve hummed. “All his friends are going to be in the class with him, so he ready to hop in the pool with them.”

Eddie smiled. “That’s cute.”

That surprised a huff of laughter out him. “Sure is. But don’t tell him that. He’s at the age where cute is akin to baby and well...”

“He’s too old for that?” Eddie finished.

“Yeah.”

“I feel that,” Eddie agreed. “Have fun in your class, and remember you can always make it look like an accident.”

Steve laughed out right at that and waved goodbye. Eddie watched him go feeling better about the whole panic attack thing. Now all he had to do was make sure it never happened again. Or at least not by his own big fucking mouth.

~

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9- @chameleonhair @sadisticaltarts @dreamercec @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @mac-attack19

10- @aol19 @eriquin @tartarusknight @gloomysoup @morallyundefined

[bigdsgirl]

Love Next Door Episode 12

look i had to watch sports and do chores (sigh), but I am HERE now. and i have THOUGHTS. because lovelies, we fucking MADE IT!!!!!!

these two dweebs, just kiss again. <3 with your banana milk <3

god these two are children i am cackling, they cannot admit what is happening!!!! lmfao!!!

seung-hyo is dying and i love it

not him offering her food. DEAD. I will not survive the episode.

and not her being like hey!!! only i get food offered by my man!!

WERE THERE ANY BUGS????? lol omfg.

the way they continue to revert back to their sassy selves each time they transition or deal with wild news 😭😭😭

"I've always been with you" BYE I AM DUST

not the going through their history through small touches. BYE.

okay now smooch. please for the love of god.

NO GIRL not the hair!!! KISS AGJLDGJAFGK

omg he is so happy with them cuddling <3 this man is over the moon.

i will be the using the shot of them on a bench as a background somewhere, mark my words. or it's going to be the center of a bullet journal spread because AHHH

omg mo-eum girl, rock the interview! you got this babe!

as a hiring manager at my work, girl you killlling it

oh hi mr. seung-hyo's dad! and other guy! are we about to brawl? kinda feels like it.

goodness that man is just... so fine. silver/grey hair is gorgeous.

this man is so confused lolw hat is happening

YEAH TELL HER YOU LOVE HER! AND HE CANNOT SWAY HER!

YEAH SHE IS SO PRETTY HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE HER???

HAHA OMFG HES GAY! GO OFF KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this. is. a. comedy. i. love. it.

well this changes everything and i love it <3 just two queens that are besties who work together <3

bahaha he's so embarrassed. i'm dying. the GROAN ma'am i love it

finally communicating, i love that. also she has a point! it's not her secret to tell! omg. and he's like "i married a baddie my god" and boy you are right.

omg "mom I'm an influencer now" omg she called it an influenza. I am using that now. ☠️

omg no not the blind date for seok-ryu

i have a feeling it will be the journalist and i will lose it

omfg his FACE when mom asked about the blind date. i will fucking die this is a comedy of the highest tier

cowards!!! you tell your biggest fan!!!

oh she knows. and a superfan would know! go off queen!

WE ADMITTED IT LETS GOO!!!

"I feel like my body and soul is refreshed and massaged" GIRL SPEAK ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!

not the flashbacks with everyone being like YOU ARE IN LOVE!!!!! and Mo-eum just in the background 😭🤭

Not her saying she's out of his league and that's why people never put seung-hyo and mo-eum together I LOVE HER

dear god if yeon-du is not her step daughter by the end of this show, I will be committing crimes of revenge. they are a FAMILY.

HELL YEAH MOM! Yeon-du should be her daughter!!!

ALERT! ALERT! GORGEOUS GREEN SHIRT ON HIM!!!!!!! I AM LOSING IT!!!!!!

he was built to be a dad, i luv him.

"arizona si, chicago no", what in the sam heck are these shirts, hilarious

he says look, i want to scream this from the rooftops that we are together. <3 and boy, I get it.

oh no girl. girl he is planning forever with you. oh no oh no.

oh girl, seok-ryu looks so cute in those PJs!!!

hahah oh girl you are going to regret saying what you said. he says no one can know? got it, 12 feet apart at all times.

oh girl what the fuck why you do that!!!!! that's his phone!!!!

I am glad he is standing up for himself. because i agree, her behavior is not appropriate at all!!!!!!!

movie! date! making out at the movies! lets go!

adventure day with the fam let's freaking do it!!!!!!

are we CAMPING???? YAY! I love a good camping trip!

oh they are such a good team <3 cute cute!

Mo-eum is such a cool cat, i love her

jfc they are such a family already!!! barbecue! water gun fights!

did this show just say trans rights? I am electing yes with the umbrella shot 😎

we love a trip sponsored by electric cars. fancy!

the 🤌yearning🤌

omg the water spot on the shirt hot him bothered! ope! omfg not the giving her his FLANNEL!!!!!!!

my girl looks so good for her movie date!!!! eep!! oh goodie, time for her..... to experience the "no one can know". lol he's working on architecture project, of course. omg everyone is cuddling except them!!!!!!!! WAHH NOOOOOO

what a gorgeous sunset for these gorgeous people. ugh she is the cutest lil kiddo. omg. wait. wait. is it time??? are we gonna.... ya know, talk about it??

WAIT CAT I SAW A CAT!!!!!

god she loves this girl so much, how can you not want her as her step mom?????

holy shit. holy. shit. she said it. SHE SAID IT.

i am stunned. what a beautiful confession. MO-EUM MY GIRL.

yeah let's cancel the agreement!!!! it wasn't a mistake!!!

NEVER???????????? SIR????? 😔

No no no no please, you three deserve happiness and its with each other! please!

god damn it. Now she's gonna take the job in antartica so he doesn't feel bad.

HAHAH the hand reaching. girl just GRAB IT!

LOL the "you go in first"

oh no not the doc visit.

OH THANK GOD ITS NOT ALZHEIMERS! YESS!!!!!!! GOD BLESS!!!!

Due to stress and anxiety??? well I hope that is the case.... I am not a fan of this. hmm hmm hmm.

LOL HES SO HAPPY!!! My lil baby <3 he's such a drama queen.

like father like son :)

oh girl. oh girl. I laugh because you did this to yourself. you asked him not to bring it up!

ope a family dinner oh my goodness. my girl Tae-hui stirring the pot like the queen she is

omg seung-hyo is so nervous and she is SO JEALOUS

these two are children omfg, just communicate

PARENTS OVERNIGHT TRIP????? SO THEY WILL HAVE THE HOUSE TO THEMSELVES???? LETS FREAKING! GO!

love the fanny back good sir

lol them arguing and seok-ryu dying, i feel the same

OH BROTHER IS LEAVING TOO????

oh we about to fuck. shit. up! let's go!!!!!!!!!

the parents being so silly and jealous of each other

oh he GOT THE LENS -- that lens is way too big but i love the enthusiasm lmfao - he STUDIED

GIRL TIME! YAY!

boy call her she might kill you -- i hate to say it

omfg! bestie boy time too!! except these boys need to stop being awkward <3

God bless Mo-eum, she is the truly best friend to both Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo <3

Mo-eum baby you deserve the world <3 i hope he grovels so hard when he realizes how much he mucked up

god this show just nails friendships at all stages, acquaintances, work friends, new friends, new neighbors, long term besties as youth, young adults, later in life. just ALL OF IT!

NOT Tae-hui giving him WEDDING CUPS FOR THE TWO OF THEM??????? A QUEEEEEEEN.

omg he mad a pet house??? for the kitty?? the she saved??? that she is allergic to??? omfg. i am a mess. the baby house he made them, and the upgrade now!!!

WAIT THEY ARE THE BABIES OF THEM??? AHH!!!

SHE WAS HIS FIRST CLIENT!!!! HE MADE IT! FOR HER!!!! WAHHH

date night at the crib! screaming!

he is so happy she was jealous <3 h

he couldnt focus at work??? omfg girl you are wrecking him

"comic books in my room" ooooooo is that what we are calling it now??? heh!!!!

first time in here as a your BOYFRIENNND

he's admitting he went for HER! not the book!

omg he's admitting how nervous he was!!!!!!!

BOY IS IN PANIC MODE FROM DAY ONE!!!!!!!!! WAH!

YAY COMMUNICATION!!!!!!

she said, bad thoughts are fine 🤭 and approved bad deeds? boy we are in it NOW! the DOOR IS SHUT! EEK! THE LIGHT IS OFF? OH HELL YEAH! LFG!

[carlyraejepsans]

AMA: A Cursed Amulet Appears Before You And Demands You To Choose,

You Get To Talk To Toby Fox For 30 Minutes And He Has To Answer Any Questions Truthfully. This Is Broadcast World Wide Over All TV And Radio Waves, Meaning You Will Be Criticized By All For The Questions You Choose.

Or

You Get To Marry Toriel For Real But She Has A Really Regular Animal Head.

What Do You Choose?

i would not choose the second option. this is not because the animal head is a turnoff, rather this whole thing smacks of monkey paw curling business. getting to marry toriel doesn't necessarily imply any of the other characters also exist, and i daren't separate a woman from her emotional support bestie. if ONLY toriel becomes real i am not doing that to her, even if she was the perfect irl furry replica of herself.

i would unironically choose the first option AND i would ask him intentionally non spoilery or lore questions. i trust the guy too much as a storyteller to disrespect his reticence towards word of god. here's a list of cursed amulet toby fox questions i would ask on live mondovisione so you can yell at me for them.

if you could change or have another try at any part of undertale now that you have more experience as a gamedev, what would you revisit

what's your workflow while composing? has it changed much since you started out? how, how not?

if you magically had the resources to localize UTDR to yet another language (and also personal knowledge of said language to oversee the project for accuracy), what language would be your first pick?

when asriel/flowey shrugs and acts cool it kinda reminds people of sans. was this something you were aware of while making those scenes, or would you say it's just part of your writing style

ever thought of pursuing digital art beyond concept designs and ms paint doodles? if yes, what art styles are you more drawn (lol) to, what artists would inspire you the most?

personal favorite character from each UTDR game currently out?

favorite game you've played recently

have you watched revolutionary girl utena

have you read the omniscient reader's viewpoint novel

when will you read omniscient reader's viewpoint

while avoiding spoilers, if your characters could see any person, from any time in history, regardless of age, logic, or life status, who would they pick?

ok seriously though i think you would really like orv...... promise....

[lovelyatomicpeace]

The silence between us

Plot: Steve and y/n have been friends all their lives, separated during adolescence. Thanks to what happens in '83 the two will be able to meet again and build a stronger friendship than before. One day y/n proposes to Steve to go to the beach together, he will accept, but what will happen during this week? and especially once they return to Hawkins will the two have the opportunity to understand what happened between them or something horrible is going to happen?

Good morning guys, today a part came out that I was particularly fond of and I hope I managed to tell it to the fullest... as always let me know if you liked it by leaving a comment ❤️

Sixth and Last Night (part 3)

Steve POV

I squinted against the strong light of the beach club. y/n was standing next to me, wearing tight light-blue pants and a crisp white blouse: the fabric danced along her curves, teasing the edges of her sun-kissed skin whose rays were caught by her hair. God, there was too much space between us.

"Let's get something to drink," she suggested, her eyes shining with mischief. "I need something strong to relax me."

"Well, lead the way" I said; the bartender greeted us with a confident smile, immediately captivated by y/n "What can I get you, beautiful?"

"A vodka tonic, please. And will he take...?" He turned to me, playfully raising an eyebrow "Surprise me," I said, in turn raising an eyebrow, which earned me a complicit smile from him. "All right, let's see if you really live up to the reputation of 'party animal," he said in a tone of voice that combined defiance and mockery.

"There you go!" The bartender set our drinks down on the counter shortly after, with the glasses catching the disco lights from above. Y/n lifted his own, sparkling with anticipation. "To the last night of our adventure!"

"To good memories," I toasted, watching his face light up with joy. I took a sip, the coolness of the cocktail bringing relief to the warmth that enveloped me. We drifted back into the chaos.I watched her, half amused, half anxious, as I sipped my drink, hoping it would help quench the inexplicable desire simmering inside me. We made our way through groups of people dancing, "Come on!" he shouted over the cacophony, grabbing my hand, his grip surprisingly firm. The moment was electric. When our hands joined, the world melted away. I could feel the warmth radiating from her, and for a split second, all the boundaries we had drawn faded into the background: y/n pulled me closer to the crowd, her laughter infectious, and I couldn't help but join her, our movements synchronized as if orchestrated by an invisible force. Waves of music swept over us, and we closed our eyes, losing ourselves in the rhythm.

"I could get used to this," I shouted over the pounding beat, in an attempt to convey something deeper than just the excitement of the party, "Me too! We need to do this more often when we get home!" he replied. Something in her tone sounded wistful; I wanted to seize that fleeting moment, to tell her that I would always be there, ready to say yes to adventures with her. How could we remain just friends when the line between friendship and something more was thinning? In that moment, I forgot everything: the walls we had built, the unspoken words that lingered in the depths of our friendship, all trapped in the cloud of despair that emanated from us. We were two stars in orbit around each other, not quite colliding but in an ever-approaching dance. I made her laugh, a musical sound that made my chest flood with warmth.

Just as the people around us lost themselves in passionate kisses and heated embraces, the idea of us enveloped only by the dance floor came closer. y/n's body brushed against mine, an electric moment when I felt time hold my breath. Why couldn't we break this barrier? Why was it so complicated?

I was overwhelmed by the sensations: all I wanted was to reach out toward her again, pull her closer, infinitely closer....

but the sound of thunder interrupted me, drawing our attention to the sky where dark clouds had gathered. "Looks like the party's coming to an end," said y/n, with the corners of his mouth turned downward in disappointment. That's when the first drop of rain fell, barely perceptible against the wave of sound around us: the clouds unleashed their grip and the downpour swept over the party, forcing the outsiders to disperse.

"Hey, let's go! We can find shelter along the catwalk." A wave of determination swept over me. As we ran, the rain fell hard, harder now, and all I could think about was that undeniable bond we had almost overcome: we huddled under the fronds of a palm tree, but it was a fragile barrier against the fury of nature. I focused my attention on her: her hair, tousled by the breeze, now framed her face, wet but radiant, rain dripped from her eyelashes onto her cheeks, and I could see the way her dress clung to her skin, transparent and revealing enough to make my heart flutter.

"Steve!" she shouted, her voice barely audible above the storm. I could barely hear my heart beating, louder than the thunder that surrounded us. "What do we do?", I grabbed her shoulders, pulling her closer, trying to protect her from the cold and wind. "Let's go back to the motel,"... but before we could go, an uncontrollable impulse assailed me. I felt as if the world had narrowed to us, just to that moment. Without thinking, I moved closer, capturing his lips with mine in an impromptu kiss that felt like an explosion of emotions. It was violent and unrestrained. My hands entwined in her hair, pulling her closer, as if I were trying to fuse our bodies into one. Water cascaded around us, the world beyond our messy intimacy lost in the storm. Her lips were soft, hesitant for only a moment before she melted into me, returning the kiss with an urgency that made my head spin. His body pressed against mine was intoxicating: each brush of skin sent electrifying impulses through my veins.

I could taste the rain and salt on his lips, a chaotic mixture not unlike the storm raging around us. We were outlaws, fugitives from the world summoned in a reckless moment, our heartbeats synchronized in time with the thunder above us.

I turned away, breathless, and peered into her eyes: deep furrows reflecting surprise and something akin to despair. For those brief seconds, the storm ceased to exist: Time seemed to stand still as I pulled away, her eyes wide and surprised, as if I had stolen a piece of the storm itself. My heart was pounding, not from fear, but from euphoria, the kind of euphoria that made the boundaries of my reality fuzzy and bent.

She stood there, motionless for a blink more, confusion engulfing me completely. Had I frightened her? Had I ruined everything? My heart sank, the chaos around me suddenly all too real, the storm now echoing inside my soul, "y/n?" I asked softly, my voice cutting through the flood like an invocation. "Are you okay? I'm sorry," I stammered, the gravity of our kiss hitting me all at once. His silence lingered as the rain continued to pour down. And then the most unexpected thing happened. Without another word, he moved closer, his trembling hands found my shoulders as he leaned down, his lips meeting mine again.

~~~~~~~~~

In the motel room, the air was thick with desire. I closed the door behind us, the soft sound of the latch clicking into place amplifying the silence that hovered between us. The atmosphere changed; tension electrified the air, making each breath heavier with possibility.

I turned to her and searched her eyes for something, a recognition of the whirlwind that had swept over us. "Y/N..." I dared to take a step forward, my voice barely a whisper.

"Steve," she replied, in a low tone, as if unsure where this path would take us. But in that instant, it didn't matter. My heart was loud enough to cover the sounds of the storm outside, heartbeats mingling in a shared rhythm that promised something new and intense. As I reached out to tuck a wet strand of hair behind her ear, I realized that that night was not just about the storm outside; it was about the storm we were igniting inside each other, two souls drawn together by an unexpected spark, wrapped in the tension of the unknown.

Our hands began to explore our bodies, discovering each other in the way only people who have longed in silence can do. I could feel her heart beating fast, in tune with mine, a rhythm of excitement and raw need. The air was charged, heavy with unexpressed desires, each touch sending sparks dancing through my veins. She hesitated when I brushed her waist with my fingers, but there was an invitation in her eyes that made my pulse quicken. In that room, in the midst of the storm, we became more than just friends. We were explorers, navigating the wild territory of newly found love, passion intertwined with uncertainty. As we held each other, the night transformed; we embraced the wonderful chaos together.

I moved closer, feeling his warmth draw me in like gravity. "Are we really doing this?" I murmured, my voice barely audible. The question hung between us, flickering like a candle flame. She nodded slowly, her breathing stopped slightly, and I felt a fierce need to protect that fragile moment, to honor the intensity of what we were about to share. "You are so beautiful," I murmured, in a low, rough voice. Y/n's cheeks blushed with a hint of shyness, but she met his gaze with fiery determination. She knew what she wanted and would not let the opportunity pass her by. She moved a step closer, bridging the distance between them, and whispered, "Show me how much you want me."

My hands began to tremble slightly as I unbuttoned her blouse, which slipped off, revealing the delicate lace of her bra. Quietly, never taking my eyes off hers, I did the same and dropped it to the floor. Her breasts were leaking out, a perfect handful, I was hesitant to touch them but y/n took my hand and rested it on one of them and that's when I felt the weight and warmth of them. I kissed her neck, my tongue dancing on the sensitive skin, making her gasp.

Her hands reached for her belt and, with trembling fingers, unfastened it, The sound of her zipper echoed in the room, y/n took a moment to appreciate the sight of her, the muscles in her abdomen rippling as she moved, her chest heaving with each breath. I moved closer, pressing my body against hers: my hands slid over her hips, gripping her firmly as she lay on the bed, the coolness of the sheets contrasting with the warmth of our bodies, causing us to shiver.

I kissed her deeply, her tongue exploring my mouth as her hands roamed my body, leaving a trail of fire. Her hands found their way to my boxers, sliding them down. I groaned, letting my eyes roll back in pleasure.

With a swift move, y/n stood over me, and eagerly wrapped her legs around my waist. She felt his tip at her entrance and gasped, her eyes opening to meet his. He paused for a moment to look at her, savoring the look of pure lust on her face. Then, with a slow, deliberate movement, he thrust into her, filling her completely. The sensation was overwhelming, and she moaned my name as he began to move. His rhythm was perfect, each thrust hitting just the right spot, sending waves of pleasure through her body. She tightened her grip on my shoulders, her nails digging into my skin as she went along with movements and her hips rose to meet me.

The room was filled with the sounds of our lovemaking: the slap of skin against skin, our mingled gasps and moans, the rustle of the sheets beneath them: as I increased the pace, she felt the pressure inside her grow, a delicious tension begging to be released with her body shaking from the force. I watched her and my arousal reached new heights as I felt her tighten around me. With one last, powerful thrust, she peaked, her body convulsing as I filled her with my release. We stood there, panting, hearts beating in unison, lost in the aftermath of shared ecstasy.The world around us vanished, leaving only the sound of our labored breaths. My hands clung to her hips, my fingers dug into her soft flesh as I pushed deeper into her,y/n, out of pleasure, she threw her head back, her long hair falling over her shoulders and onto her back, and the sensation of wetting myself against her was driving me crazy, and I knew I couldn't hold on much longer.

With one last, desperate cry, Y/n shattered, her body reaching orgasm. And I followed her, our bodies locked in an embrace that seemed to defy gravity. We clutched each other, hearts beating wildly against their chests, as the world around blurred into a haze of pleasure and need. For a brief, perfect, instant there were no interruptions, there was nothing but the two of us, lost in passion. But reality had a way of intruding, and as the aftershocks of our orgasms subsided, we became aware of our surroundings again. The room was silent, the only sound being that of our panting breaths and the thunder outside.

We lay there for a while, our bodies embraced, and finally the weight of unspoken words settled over us again like a shroud and I realized that I could not ignore the elephant in the room forever. I pulled out of her gently, rolling onto my side and resting on one elbow. I shook a strand of hair from her face with a serious expression. "We need to talk." Y/n nodded, her eyes seeking mine.

"I know," she whispered, her voice a little rough from screaming. "But not now. Not yet": for now we had this moment, this perfect slice of time when it was just the two of us, our bodies and hearts entwined in a symphony of passion. And that was enough for the moment.

We stayed there, wrapped in each other's arms, with silence speaking louder than any words. The weight of what we had done hung between us, a silent promise of something more to come, a pact sealed in sweat and passion: for the moment we were content to bask in the glow of their illicit encounter, with minds racing with thoughts of what was to come, hearts beating in sync like a secret rhythm that only they could hear.

We had crossed a line and there was no turning back...

[raayllum]

bit of a longer sneak peek since "horizons" (oneshot of rayllum travelling to the moon nexus from the starscraper in s6) is already like 3k and only maybe half done, but here ya go!

It was earlier the next day when Callum said, “Why don’t we touch down here?” Rayla glanced over, her face scrunching up when a cloud came in between and she nearly flew through it, almost dousing herself in a thin veneer of water. “What? But it’s not even evening yet.” “Yeah, but it will be eventually.” He flew a bit closer, gesturing with his chin down below. “And there’s a town down there. We could get more supplies.” “We still have plenty of rations from the Star—” “Yes, but our, erm, night time activities work up quite an appetite, don’t you think?” “Oh, hungry for more sandwiches, mage?” The tip of his ears flushed despite himself. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you about that dumb cover up with Ez—” He rolled his eyes, softening and annoyed when she cackled, all too pleased with herself and their shared, occasionally piss poor sense of humour. “But what I meant is that if there’s a town, there’s an inn, too. With, you know, a bed.”  The Starscraper had felt like a luxury after close to two months on the road—though Callum supposed for Rayla, even just having company while travelling constantly with anyone other than Stella was a luxury for her in its own way—but a bed had been one thing they’d had to go without in their stay with the Celestial elves. It hadn’t bothered Callum at first, more than satisfied with hot water and warm meals neither of them had to prepare for themselves. But then he and Rayla had gotten back together, and his hammock and shared bedroll had been nice, but… a bed would obviously be nicer. And, if he was being totally honest with himself, the thought of him and Rayla getting cozy together like that in an inn had run rampant in his daydreams (and regular dreams) since spotting that quaint little inn on their way to Lux Aurea.  Nor was the parallel opportunity lost on her, it seemed, as her eyes widened slightly, her cheeks turning rosier than they already were in the cool air. “Another, uh, do-over then?” “Well, not as much as before,” he acknowledged, more glad than ever that he hadn’t let his anger get the better of him for more than a week. His fear and confusion and state of the world had overstayed their welcome. “But yeah. If you want.”

[thatrandomlemononyourcounter1]

The Problems With TMNT 2012 April O'neil (And Why It's The Writer's Fault)

(side note this accidentally low-key turned into an April O'neil defense post, and I apologize.)

Hello everyone! This post was seven pages on google docs so that's fun :D

When I was younger, I thought April O'neil was so cool. She was part Kraang, had multiple guys chasing after her, and was training to be a kunoichi.

As I got older though, and rewatched the show, I realized that while her character was cool, there were a lot of issues with said character.

Now, before I really start, I want to clarify, I do not dislike April! In fact, I still think she's a really cool character with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, said potential has been lost to the grasp of time and space, but that's not her fault.

A lot, and I mean a LOT of people don't like April. The most common complaints I hear about her are as follows. A, she led Donnie and Casey on. B, she's a Mary Sue. C, she got too powerful too fast. D, she's just annoying and two-faced.

Let's start with point number 1.

The Love Triangle between Donnie, April, and Casey is one of the most controversial things in the show. Some people love it, most people hate it, not that I blame them. The biggest point against the love triangle was that it deterred from the characters, and was honestly just kinda gross and cringey.

This could not be more true.

I could make whole other posts on why Donnie and Casey's characters would've been so much better without the love triangle, but this is an April post, so let's talk about April and the first point where the writer's screwed up.

Introducing April as a love interest

If there was one thing that I could take away from TMNT 2012, it would be the fact that they introduced April not as her own character, but a love interest. The fact that they did this set the stage for what April's character was meant to become.

If they had simply introduced April as her own character, then we would've been able to get a better grip on her personality.

But no.

April had never really been a love interest in the iterations before tmnt 2012, and that was because she usually stood in as an older sister figure for the turtles. Yes, some fans shipped April with the turtles, but it was never implied in any of the previous shows that any of the turtles had a crush on April or vice versa.

I don't know why TMNT 2012 decided to change that, but they did.

Making April the same age as the turtles wasn't the problem, and honestly, neither was shipping Donnie and April in the show.

It was how they did it.

In shipping the two of them, they dumbed April's character down to just a love interest, and made her seem bitchy. They wrote her having romantic moments with both Donnie and Casey, and supposedly turning both of them down at other moments.

A Foot Too Big is one of the most controversial episodes in TMNT 2012 period. The episode consists of Donnie rescuing Bigfoot. Bigfoot then proceeds to follow Donnie around like a lost puppy, invade his personal space, touch him without consent, blah, blah, blah. This causes Donnie to realize that just like how Bigfoot is acting is making him uncomfortable, how he's acting around April is probably making her uncomfortable. He then proceeds to tell April that he was going to try and start leaving her alone, and that he understood he was probably making her uncomfortable.

Then, in one of the most controversial moments ever, April grabs him and kisses him, saying "You're my mutant."

Yeah.

Prettttyyyy bad.

I think this incredibly out of character for April, and I think that the entire reason this scene happened was so that they wouldn't lose their most played gag, well tied with making Mikey look stupid after proving him to be smart time and time again, but that's a post for another time.

An excellent point that I've seen made by others was that the whole love triangle was never planned to have a solution, it was there to be played for laughs, which in turn, made April's character suffer for it.

I do believe that April's character would've thrived if not for the love triangle, and I believe that Donnie and Casey's characters would've been better off as well.

Point 2: April's a Mary Sue

Boy oh boy.

First of all, let's look at the definition of a Mary Sue.

"Unrealistically lacking in flaws or weaknesses."

So...people want to call April bitchy, and then call her a Mary Sue, as if being bitchy isn't a character flaw?

This is argumentatively one of my LEAST favorite arguments against April's character, because usually the argue-r defeats themself when they say the statement.

"She's annoying." That's a character flaw.

"She leads people on." That's a character flaw.

"She let herself get controlled by the stupid crystal." That's a character flaw.

April has a lot of flaws, and that's one of the reasons why I think her character could've been really interesting!

Let's take a look at some of the things that build April's character, and therefore make her not a Mary Sue.

April is shown from the very beginning of the show to be more of an action-oriented person, not always thinking things through.

(i.e. in S1 EP6 Metalhead when she went to go investigate the Kraang warehouse by herself or even in S1 EP1 Rise of the Turtles when she tries to come up with a plan to escape the Kraang's holding her hostage)

This is a character flaw, and it's one that we see a lot throughout the show.

April is also shown to be very empathetic. You can see this in multiple instances, such as when Karai admitted that she believe Splinter was her father, and April believed her.

This isn't necessarily a character flaw, but it has gotten her into trouble a few times. Usually her empathetic attitude helps more than harms.

April stands up for what she thinks is right. This is an important piece of her character that ties into her empathetic attitude.

April is sassy sometimes.

April can hold a serious grudge.

But, she can also be forgiving.

April is stubborn.

So, as I've pointed out, April definitely has a personality. It's just that usually, these elements of her character were ignored in favor of the love triangle, dulling down her character overall, and making her sometimes seem like a Mary Sue.

Speaking of the Mary Sue argument, let's take a gander at another requirement for being a Mary Sue, which is "everyone likes them, and people who don't like them are shown to be wrong for not liking them."

This is NOT true for April.

TMNT 2012 had no problems making Karai and April have serious beef, and Karai was never shown to be in the wrong for disliking her, except for when Karai took it a step too far.

Obviously, most of the other characters (who aren't villains) like April, because the other characters that are shown are her friends, or friends of friends.

Another aspect of the Mary Sue argument was that the character was usually too powerful without a reason, or out of nowhere.

This also ties into point number three:

April got too strong too fast/April's too strong

Okay!

So let's get into this point.

When I was a little younger, I used to think that people who argued this had a point, but again, as I've gotten older and applied my critical thinking skills, I realized that this isn't actually true.

Some people didn't like that the show made April half-Kraang, claiming it was too strange, just a way to make a female character seem like a 'girlboss', and of course a variety of sexist comments.

I am among the lovers of half-Kraang April, mostly because I think it was a really interesting take on the character.

But! A lot of people claimed that her "kraang" powers were too strong, making her unlikeable.

You want to know how the writers remedied this?

By making April get possessed by the Aeon crystal! (In my opinion, this was actually a really interesting writing direction)

Whiiichhh...of course a bunch of people also had a problem with.

Look, I can't make you like the Aeon crystal writing choice, and I'm certainly not about to try, but, by making April get possessed, the writers inadvertently added a flaw to their apparent "flawless" glorified love interest.

Now, it's been a hot minute since I watched any of the later seasons of TMNT 2012 (mostly because paramount plus is my mortal enemy (side note if anyone has seasons 3-5 downloaded feel free to DM me wink wink)), but I think I remember April losing some fights.

It wasn't like the narrative made her invincible, is my point.

So yes, April was strong, but she wasn't insufferably strong to the point where it was annoying.

I often see this argument used against Captain Marvel from the MCU as well, and I loathe it with my entire being so.

Now for the "April got too strong too fast" complaint.

I just gotta ask, did we watch the same show? /hj

April was shown to have something strange going on with her since season 1! Her powers were alluded to multiple times, so it wasn't like this was a last minute writing decision.

Her power grew stronger as the seasons went on, and there were a few episodes in each season that showcased this, such as S3 EP7 Eyes of the Chimera.

Yes she was strong in season 5, but that's because it was the last season!

As for her ninjutsu skills, it's the same thing. She'd been training since season 1! She grew as a ninja over time.

Now, for the last point:

April's just annoying.

Yeah, if this is you, I don't know if I can change your mind. Also if this is you, there a many times per season where I agree with you!

But let me tell you dear reader the same thing I tell myself.

It's not the character, it's the writers.

Unless the very idea of April O'neil makes you mad, my guess is that most of the gripes you have with her character are the writers' fault. The not choosing between Donnie and Casey, the 'character trait swaps', all of that was the writers.

None of those things are April's character.

Conclusion:

If you made it all the way down here, and read all of it, I applaud you.

Overall, I can't make you like April, but I can attempt to analyze her character and give you the finished analysis, that is mostly just me blaming all the problems of her character on the writers.

April had the opportunity to be an amazing character, and that opportunity was poured down the drain.

But, there are still some redeeming things about her character, and those things are the things that made me like her.

So, like most things in life, if you focus on the positives, you'll be okay.

This was CJ and her April O'neil analysis, that accidentally turned into a defense post.

Sorry if none of this post made any sense, I wrote it at midnight after a very long day.

[justtogetthrough]

Update: she's queer but monogamous

Platonic cuddles are a total go though

😁

[raycatzdraws]

ribbonwood

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

how about that uhhhhh Fantasy Julie. she gets her sword <3 no one can take it from her <3

rambles:

SIKE you get an extra, lower quality doodle

SIKE AGAIN here's the rambles

yeah... i caved and gave her a tail... I'm Not Sorry! it's cute! i wanted to stick with her sorta flower motif - it's stronger in her princess look, since I imagine that when she was part of the royals she was very blatantly flower power based. it was her Thing!

but a Julie free of her noble shackles... she deserves her big sword. like yeah, she has flower magic, but who needs it when she has a Giant Blade??? on the royalty vein, and if we're classifying "rainbow monster" as a species, i feel like horn size/curve would be a status symbol of some kind. maybe Julie would have kept her horns filed short. but if she ran away from that life... longer horns! i like to imagine that they'll keep growing until she has a pair of Extra Weapons attached to her head! curved forward like mammoth tusks maybe!

i imagine that like Frank, she goes with minimal armor - range of movement over protection, yk? some scale mail over her front, a thick leather flower over her chest w/ scalloped leather pauldrons, wrist armor and metal knuckles! i'd think that the faux-suspenders include a back sheath for her sword... i wish i'd thought of that Before i finished the little ref! i don't feel like going back and editing!

i imagine that she was forced to cut her hair when it got caught in something (a gelatinous cube, mayhaps). it didn't look good! don't let anime and Mulan fool you! cutting your own hair with a blade will not look nice! but someone - Eddie, probably, he's good with scissors i'd assume - cleaned it up for her. and hey, it didn't look bad! plus, Julie probably liked being able to just tuck up her long strands into her hat when she's feeling a bit more like a Julius than a Julie!

it's been a fun challenge transforming their canon outfits into a similar variation with fantasy flavoring and twists! i want them to suit the setting but still maintain Themselves! Julie's was tough i gotta admit. i was messing around with the princess look and the fighter look side-by-side. it worked better when i sat back and thought "fighter Julie is Julie unrestrained. that version would be more aligned with her canon look"

i wanted her princess form to look Restrained! she has to be a ~delicate flower~, a noble woman, pristine and poised and very much a princess. soft colors, poofy clothing, bright white gloves that are not to be sullied. carefully bundled up hair! jewelry! that dress must be Heavy and hard to move in! her tail must be so cramped under there!

but Julie Unleashed? violent pinks! rose gold accents! short skirt so that she can sprint and Kick! fun boots that she can be active in and delight in watching them get dirty! her hair is free to whip in the wind and get caught in things! fun straps and Deadly Accessories! a sword that she stole from the royal armory on her way out the window! she has forearm wraps both to match Frank and to support her wrists!