#thank you for helping complete the trifecta!

[uncivilcivilservice]

ive seen mars and danny only one left in the unholy trinity is Armand >:)

(if already done, then Loulou!)

Daniel might be the main staple food my brain worms feast on, but Armand is s close second. I feel like I have less to say here simply because, what is there to say? The Armand folks *get it*, I don't need to explain why I'm insane about him 😅

[luveline]

hiii! i adore you jade so much and can’t thank you enough for all your amazing writing! your fics are incredible! can i have more reader and hotch with their new baby? maybe their night routine takeing care of their newborn? or literally just anything i just love the way you write hotch taking care of both babe and reader! thank you!! xoxo🤍🤍🤍

thank you for your request! fem

“Ready?” Jack asks.

“No. No, no, no!” you cry, giggles slipping through your facade as Jack pelts himself full force from the end of your bed to the pillows where you’re curled. You put your arms out just in time to avoid getting them snapped, catching Jack, and feeling the brunt of his face as he lands on your chest. “Oh! You broke me, Jack. I’m broken!”

“You’re not broken,” Jack says breathlessly, wrapping his arms around your neck.

“You better not be breaking your stepmom, Jackers,” Hotch says from the bathroom. “I’m not getting you another one.”

“Boo!” you say.

“I don’t want another one,” Jack declares, still gasping for breath as he presses your faces together.

You pull him in for a cuddle. “Good, baby, I love you too much to be replaced. And I don’t mind dad either.”

“Jack, you gotta stop jumping on her, remember? She just had a baby. It really hurts to have a baby, and it hurts afterwards to get better. Gentle hands,” Hotch says, pulling the bathroom door open completely, the baby bathed and changed in his arms.

Hotch has cared for a baby before, so while you’re not useless, the majority of things have defaulted to him while you recover. You’re lucky, even if it’s how a woman should be treated —Hotch hasn’t made you get up once since you came home almost a week ago. He’s forced you to sit down a few times, actually. And you’d told him how thankful you were for it in whispers only yesterday night, grateful to be cared for with so much dedication.

I should've been better, for Haley, he’d whispered back. She was amazing all by herself when she didn’t need to be. You’ll be amazing too, but we’re gonna do it together.

Maybe he’s overcompensating for past regrets, maybe he’s just looking after you.

Jack strokes your cheek with a little hand. “Sorry. I don’t want to break you.”

“You won’t.” You lean back and attempt to bring him in with you, but Jack won’t be contained.

He springs down off of the bed to crowd Hotch’s legs, face up and smiling. “Dad, are you done?”

“I am.”

“Can you help with the robot now?”

“Yeah, yes. Sorry, I’m gonna fix your robot. You ready, honey?”

You open your arms eagerly. You’ve had a hug from Jack, and Hotch held you under his arm while you were eating your lunch, so all you need now for the trifecta is a cuddle with your baby. One day he’s gonna be able to hug you back, but for now he stretches out in the well of your arms and coos when you kiss his tiny forehead.

Hotch and Jack leave to fix their robot. You slink down, further and further, too tired and sore to want to sit, sliding the baby’s weight into one arm beside you and leaning down to watch him smack his lips. The few baths he’s had have made him tired each time. You feel sleepy just looking at him.

You’d hope that the baby will be handsome like his brother, though Jack looks so much like Haley they probably won’t be very similar. There are hints of Aaron in them both. Babies look like babies, sure, but he has the Hotchner nose. You can tell already.

“My handsome handsome boy,” you sing-song under your breath. He sniffles. You bring your pinky to his nose and give it a gentle touch. “Beautiful baby. I love you.” Your voice turns to sugar. “I love you, baby, you’re so beautiful, just like daddy.”

Footsteps creaking on the landing. You quieten without looking away from the baby, until you feel a familiar hand on your arm. “You okay?”

“Did you fix the robot?”

“Of course I did.” He leans down and in, lips and nose pressing to your arm. “Are you okay? You look tired.”

“I am tired. Maybe I’ll nap while he’s sleeping.”

“That’s a good idea. Give him a kiss and I’ll put him back in the crib.”

“No, no, can’t he stay?”

“You want me to stay here and watch you sleep?” he asks, laughing into your arm, pressing another kiss in a path toward your shoulder. “You can keep him until you fall asleep, okay? Then I’ll move him.”

“Will you do that thing to my cheek?” you ask quietly.

“If you tell me what you were saying before I walked in, yes.”

Hotch sits on the bed behind you where you’re sidled up to the baby, the back of his hand falling gently against your cheek, fingers curled and knuckles brushing the skin just shy of your eye one tender centimetre at a time. “Well?” he prompts.

You close your eyes with a contented smile. “Was just telling him he’s gorgeous.”

“Yeah?” He turns his hand, his pinky finger rubbing the delicate skin under your eye briefly, and the his palm flat to your face. His thumb takes up the guard. You feel fatigue pulling at you from the sheer comfort he offers, though you can manage a few more words, at least.

“He’s beautiful, he has his daddy’s nose.”

“I don’t think that’s what makes him so handsome.”

“No?” you mumble.

Hotch lets his face rest again on your arm. “No, that’s his mother. Couldn’t be anything else.”

[msgexymunson]

Rumour Part Three: Roles

Description: as you and Eddie establish your relationship, it seems like no one can get in the way of it. Or can they?

Warnings: NSFW minors DNI or I'll poke you with a sharp stick, a trifecta of angst, fluff and smut, male oral receiving, fingering, slight switch dom!older!pierced!eddie x slight switch sub!fem!reader, unprotected sex, slight pain kink

A/N: I'm so glad you lot are enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing it, makes me very happy to see all your comments and reblogs, thank you!! Also I apologise to anyone called Estelle or Matt ;)

❤ If you enjoy this, please reblog the hell out of it, pretty pretty please! ❤

5.6k words

Masterlist     Part 1  Part 2 Part 4 Part 5

Lying in bed with Eddie was everything. It was two in the afternoon, and neither of you wanted to get up just yet. A warm glowing bubble had settled over the both of you and you were loath to break it. Eddie's wearing a pair of black trunks, you're in an oversized t shirt and no pants, since Eddie had pulled them down three times last night and it seemed an exercise in futility to put them on again.

Your legs were tangled together comfortably, like a pair of puzzle pieces finding their perfect match. Stroking your hand over his chest, you were tracing the lines of his tattoos.

"How many do you have? Tattoos I mean," you clarify, circling a devils head and horns just by his mass of chest hair.

"Pass. I've no idea sweet thing. Dozens. A hundred? I dunno." His hand travels to yours, helping you trace around a scorpion on his abdomen, muscles flexing underneath your touch.

"Well, which ones the oldest?"

He shifts to show you his arm. "See these bats?"

You nod, fingers whispering over his skin to rub at the flock of faded bats on his forearm.

"Got them when I was 17. No real reason, just thought they looked metal." He snorted a little laugh at his past self.

You smile at the glimpse of the past he's allowed you to see. Gazing up at him, you ask "what's your favourite one?"

He grins and winks at you. "Oh that's easy. Shift over a little?"

You move backwards a bit whilst he switches positions to lay on his side away from you, displaying his completely tattooed back.

It's the only tattoo he has in colour. A full back piece of a monstrous dragon with five heads, wreathed in flame. The art is incredible, so intricate and beautiful. You run your hands over it, marvelling at the details.

"Its pretty awesome Eddie."

He rolls back over to face you, fingers fluttering over your figure.

"I love it. Its Tiamat, the five headed dragon Goddess, from Dungeons and Dragons."

You laugh, shaking your head. "You nerd."

He chuckles back. "Yup, 'fraid so."

Nuzzling his face into your side, you hear his muffled voice "what time is it?"

Nearly 2:15."

"Urgh, I need to be in the shop at 3:45." He sighs into your shirt, then sits up.

"I'm gonna take a shower." After pecking you on the cheek, he swings his muscular legs off the bed and makes his way to the bathroom.

You sigh in contentment at the empty room, then pad your way out to the kitchen area to make some coffee for the pair of you. Once the pot is done you pour one for yourself.

Busying yourself in the kitchen, seeing if there were enough ingredients to make pancakes, you hear Eddie's voice from the doorway.

"Oh you made coffee, thanks sweets."

"No problem baby- oh."

Well fuck me.

There he stood, completely naked, roughly rubbing a towel through his wet mane of hair. Body glistening, steam rolling off his skin, tattoos darker and gleaming wet. His muscles shone in the light, taunt frame perfectly on display. Damp chest hair dripped deliciously down to his happy trail. Your eyes were inevitably drawn to his impressive length hanging between his legs, slightly pink and heavy looking, piercing glinting, inviting you over.

Glistening in front of you, so effortlessly, he looked like some sort of heathen God. You'd happily get down on your knees and worship him forever.

"What you staring at? Something you like sweet thing?" Eddie tips his head at you, smug smile creeping across his face.

Your mouth is hanging open. Snapping it shut, cheeks glowing, you walk over to him.

"We had sex like, three times last night and you still blush at me naked? You're too cute." He chuckles at you.

He stops laughing when you reach him and drop to your knees, hands trailing up his thighs.

"Woah, pretty girl, what are you doing?"

You take his member into your hands, running your palms over his length, feeling it harden quickly from your soft touches.

"I wanna, I wanna give you head."

He smiles softly at you. "Sweets you don't need to do that."

You keep running your hands over him, one dipping to cup his balls, rolling them gently in your hand. He lets out a shaky breath.

"You always take care of me, you never let me." You frown. "But I want to. Please Eddie?"

He moans, eyes rolling back. "Always so fuckin' polite. Shit."

Running your tongue up the length of his fully hard cock, you cover it with open mouthed kisses, licking and gently sucking at his shaft. Eddie hisses; you hear the towel he was holding flump to the floor, large hand coming to rest on the back of your head, engulfing your hair.

Taking his tip into your mouth, you trace around each cold steel ball with your tongue, swirling around either end of the piercing, swallowing pre cum. Eddie groans loudly, thumb rubbing the back of your head with encouragement.

Rubbing your tongue back and forth over his slit, you use your hands to work his shaft, dribbling spit to help glide across him. His slippery hard length is pulsing in your hands.

"Holy shit, pretty girl, that's- fuck, that's really good."

You moan around him, humming at the praise, doubling your efforts. You need him to come. He makes you feel so good all the time and you need him to know.

Trying your hardest to please him, you take him into your throat as much as you can. Granted, it's only just over halfway down his dick, but from the noises he's making it's enough. You feel the strange bump of steel at the back of your throat. Using your hands for the rest, you stroke him firmly. Each movement conveying just how much he means, how much you want to worship him.

"Oh sweet thing, God that's- oh fuck, hmm." Eddie's lost the power of speech which you take as the highest compliment. He's listening to your prayers.

Releasing him from your mouth, you stroke him with your hand and gently take one of his balls in your mouth, suckling gently, running your tongue all over it. Eddie was clearly not expecting it; you feel his legs shudder and a high pitched whine expel from his mouth. You smirk, taking the other in your mouth for the same treatment whilst firmly stroking his dick, endeavouring to show him your devotion.

"Oh fuck I'm gonna- shit, please- let me cum in your mouth" he's breathless and twitching, flushed red, practically quivering at your reverence.

You take his cock back into his mouth and hollow your cheeks, bobbing up and down his length quickly, squeezing his balls in your hand.

"Oh fuck, I'm, fuck-" as he shoots his load into your mouth. You swallow and swallow around his length, not stopping until he's whimpering, empty, his fill of your worship well and truly taken.

Halting your movements you behold him through damp lashes.

"Was that ok?"

"Fuckin' hell sweet thing, it was a little bit more than ok. Jesus H. Christ, I've got to go to work. Fuck, how am I this lucky?"

You blush and stand up, placing a kiss to his full lips.

"You want your coffee now?"

"Yeah, and a cigarette, before I do anything else." He crumples onto the couch, grabbing the towel to hide his modesty.

You get his coffee, add sugar and creamer, and bring him his cigarettes. Beaming at you, he takes you into his lap.

"What's this all about? Being all sweet to me."

You hide your head in his chest, suddenly shy. No matter how much confidence you portray in the world, the minute you get a look from Eddie it dissolves.

"I dunno, I just, I wanna take care of you Eddie."

He flashes an soft grin and holds you close, planting a sweet kiss on your forehead. "You already have sweet thing."

********************

Later that evening you're wiping down tables at the bar and collecting stray glasses.

"Hey, you may as well go, I'll finish up tonight, it's dead anyway." Your manager shouts over to you.

"Thanks!" You deposit the glasses in the dishwasher, hanging up your apron.

You check the time, 11pm. I wonder if he's still at the shop?

Eddie works late sometimes, he never wants to get up before noon so his client base tended to be night owls like him. Deciding to take the risk, you throw on your jacket and march into the chilly night air, walking the couple of blocks over to the tattoo shop.

Turning the corner, you see the shutters are down but the light is still on upstairs. You give it a minute, stopping to smoke a cigarette that Eddie had pre rolled for you. As you smoke, you hear voices, and a woman's laugh, clear as a bell.

Your stomach drops out from under you. Feeling your heart skipping a sick thud, then rushing blood, faster; faster than should be possible whilst standing still.

Ok calm the fuck down.

You take a breath, trying to calm the anticipated anger that's buzzing in your system and clouding your brain. It's stupid, you know, entirely unwarranted. It doesn't stop your mind leaping to the worst possible outcome.

Suddenly the door swings open and some Hollywoodian goddess swans out the door, all blonde mane, bust and teeth. Eddie walks out with her, giving her an embrace.

"Thanks Eds, you're the best!" She keens; shooting you what can only be described as a Look, then sways off on her too high heels.

"See you sweetheart!" He waves. The nickname forces an angry blush to the tips of your ears. Eddie turns to go back inside, then sees you and looks surprised.

"Hey pretty girl! What you doing here?" His grin is sugary and warm at your unexpected presence, settling the angry rolling feeling in your stomach. The rage is still there; no longer an explosive boil, but a simmer.

"Came to check, see if you were still working. I got off early."

"Come in then sweets, I gotta tidy up before I leave." He takes large strides back inside and you struggle to keep up with him.

Making his way back to his workstation, he's throwing away leftover bottles and paper towels covered in ink splotches, whilst you try and act as normal as possible.

"So, who was that?" Voice quivering ever so slightly as you take your coat off.

"Oh that's Estelle, finished her lower back piece today." He says, not even looking up, removing his gloves.

Ah, tramp stamp, I knew it.

"There's a band playing tomorrow night, at a bar not far from here, she said. Not too heavy, you should like it. What do you think sweet thing?" He looks up at you, eyebrows raised.

"Huh? Oh sure, whatever. Sure she's got great taste,"  Shrugging at him, you look around the walls of the shop at the various artworks hanging up.

"Woah, you being a bit judgy pretty girl?" He smirks.

"Why? She a librarian or something?" You bite back, eyes narrowing.

He laughs, "no she's a stripper."

"Oh course she fucking is," you mumble, cheeks burning.

He perches on the leather chair, arms out. "Hey, c'mere."

You huff, but move closer, allowing yourself to be hugged, arms pinned at your sides.

"What's up, sweetheart?" He brushes your cheek and you flinch, jaw clenching. Concern fills his eyes, brows heavy with confusion.

"Don't call me that. You just called her that."

You see realisation dawn on that stupidly handsome face of his, and his gaze grows softer.

"Oh, pretty girl, are you jealous?"

You look down at your own hands sandwiched between the two of you, unable to meet his eye. A firm grip holds your chin, pulling you to face him, smooth smile with a hint of smirk pervading his features.

"Listen, you have nothing to worry about. That woman's got more silicone in her than a Barbie doll. Not my thing." You giggle slightly, a small smile threatening to push your mouth corners upwards. "I call everyone sweetheart, it's nothing."

You pull away from him, eyes narrowing. "Yeah? Why call me sweetheart then?"

He holds his hand to his chest, miming being hit. "Ooft, you got me there. Force of habit."

He grabs your hand, kissing your knuckles.

"I don't call her sweet thing." He pulls you closer, "or pretty girl." His hands begin stroking up and down your sides. "Those are reserved for you." Slow, soft kisses are planted on your neck. "I don't call her my good girl. I don't call her my girlfriend."

Girlfriend.

He's not asked. And why would he, what are you, twelve?

"I'm your girlfriend?" You look at him with wide eyes and a wobbling lip.

"Well I fuckin' hope so, I've said you are to everyone I've seen today. I think Estelle was pissed at me for not shutting up about you to be honest."

You can't help but giggle triumphantly at that. Staring at him, you look at his neck, the side untouched by tattoos. Mischievous look adorning your features, you bend and kiss into his neck. Softly, at first, so he melts into your touch, then you grip him, and suck.

"Pretty girl, oh fuck, what are you doing?"

You release his neck with a wet suck, looking pleased with the purplish mark that's beginning to blossom.

"Marking my territory."

He puffs out a laugh "oh my little jealous girl," and strokes your head.

Somehow that's makes you madder. You're not a jealous girl. You're a woman.

You shove him a little. "Lie back."

He smirks at you, but he listens, lying fully in the reclined tattoo chair, eyes trying to work out your next move.

Clambering on top of him, you tug at the hem of his t shirt. He pulls it over his head, exposing his torso. You run your fingers down, finding spots to suck bruises into, taking small mouthfuls of whatever exposed, ink free skin you can find.

"What you doing sweet thing?" He chuckles.

"I'm trying to find blank bits to hickey!"

He laughs out loud at your frustrations. Until you sink your teeth into his soft flesh.

"Oh pretty- oh fuck!" He practically yelps, hips thrusting upwards.

You gaze down at him, taking in his flushed cheeks, round eyes and heaving chest.

Oh.

"Wait, does that turn you on?" You raise your eyebrow at him, fingertips ghosting his sides. 

"Is it that much of a stretch to think I've got a thing for pain?" He says it confidently, gesturing to his inky body whilst cockily smirking; yet this appears masked, false. Looking in his eyes you can tell how much you've affected him

Not saying anything, you merely pinch one of his nipples and twist it lightly. Eddie's mouth falls open, pretty little moan escaping those full lips, eyebrows knitted.

Grinning deviously, you bend over him and take the other nipple into your mouth, rolling your tongue around it, before nipping at it and pulling with your teeth.

"Jesus H. Christ! Fuck."

You look up at him. Eddie's flushing the prettiest pink colour, mouth practically drooling, eyelids heavy with lust. You've never seen him like this before, losing control. Wait, that's not it. He's relinquishing control, giving himself to you.

You stand up and he huffs at the loss of contact, until you begin stripping off your clothes. He hurriedly pulls his jeans and boxers down, not even bothering to take them off, just bunching them at his ankles. His dick looks painfully hard, almost dribbling, angry red at the tip. Swinging your leg back over you straddle him, sliding your pussy over his length, back and forth. Your nails drag harder down his chest than you ever would have dared before, leaving scarlet paths joining up his inked frame. He bucks, shaking underneath. You continue to glide your sopping heat over him, grinding over the shaft, relishing the tingle of his piercing when it flits over your clit.

"Please, sweet thing." His whole demeanour has changed, begging you, pleading with you. An idea pops into your brain.

Leaning forward, you whisper low and quiet in his ear, "are you gonna be a good boy for me?" The low groan he releases resonates from his chest and into yours, firm hands coming to settle on your hips.

You take his hard length in your hands and guide him into you, slipping gently onto him inch by inch. No matter how many times, it still feels like the first time. Your face scrunches up, discomfort evident.

"You ok sweets?" Eddie's rubbing your hip in consolation.

"Yeah, just... really fuckin' big baby."

He smirks, as always. "Never get tired of hearing that."

Stroking your hands down his chest, you hold onto his sides firmly, possessively, rocking into him. Each movement, each flick of your hips produces a ripple of pleasure. You grind down, rocking hard, back and forth, building up the rhythm, the pressure in your stomach building, your throbbing want intensifying.

Once you start bouncing up and down Eddie's done for. You see his face, desperately trying to keep some measure of control whilst he stares at your tits bouncing right in front of him, at his dick being swallowed up by your hungry cunt.

The noise of squelching sex surrounds you, moans and whines adding to the pornographic soundtrack. You can tell Eddie's barely holding it together, as he quickly reaches for your clit, rubbing almost vicious circles, eager for you to come before he does.

The tell tale tingle grips hold of you, a buzzing through your core and up your spine. The shattering of nerves; a delivery of white hot light spills from his fingertips and into your being, filling you to the brim with his rapture.

You throw your head back at the intense feeling, letting out whimpers of devotion to him, rocking back and forth, willing the moment to continue. You're barely aware of his own release, only realising when you finally snap your eyes open to see his slam shut, tensing beneath you, letting go in a gun shot, tension ripped from his body by your gripping walls.

Leaning forward, hot panting breaths mingling with each others, you press your lips into a searing kiss.

In between pants, Eddie manages, "not that I mind, but fuck, what's gotten into you today, pretty girl?" He chuckles, stroking your cheek with a rough thumb pad.

"You're mine." You simply say, protective hand laid onto the middle of his chest, over his heart. He grips your hand in his, and smiles.

********************

The next evening you're perching on a stool at a moderately busy bar, twisting a napkin in your hands. Nerves have you in their grip whilst you wait for Eddie to arrive, bubbling away in your tummy. It seems strange, but this is technically your second date, the first being when he took you to lunch. Eddie hadn't exactly courted you, he claimed you. If you were honest with yourself, you were his the first time he laid eyes on you.

Still wanting to impress him, you'd decided to dress up. Kitted out in a short black dress with a cute cherry pattern, lower cut than you would usually dare, fishnet hold ups and ankle boots, you were confident he would be pleased.

You had certainly attracted the attention of a few men dotted around the bar, lone sharks circling. Paying them no mind, you sipped your drink and waited on Eddie.

It was a pretty decent looking place, certainly nicer than the dive where you worked. The ceilings were high, with huge light fixtures hanging almost like art pieces, letting out twinkling light, bathing the crowd in spots of colour, sparkling on the red linoleum floor. The atmosphere was buzzing with anticipation for the upcoming band, people smiling, waving at friends, rushing back and forth to the bar to get drinks. You sat on a stool at the end of the bar, neatly tucked in a corner. The light was good here, and it was opposite the main entrance, perfect for spotting Eddie when he eventually got here.

Looking up to check the door again you lock eyes with another man. He smiles and starts walking over.

Well that's typical.

You roll your eyes, but as he gets closer, you breathe a sigh of relief. It's one of the regulars at your bar. At least you may not have to wait for Eddie alone.

"Hey Matt!" You smile as he walks over, giving you a brief hug.

"Hey darlin! Never see you in here, you're always working!" He grins at you. Matt always chatted to you when you were on shift, checking how you were doing. Objectively, he was a handsome guy. Broad shouldered, with a mop of messy ashen blonde hair and perfect teeth. He looked like he was around his mid twenties, and definitely a former jock judging by his physique.

You usually saw him with his girlfriend, an almost frightening replica of him in female form. In your head you'd nicknamed them the Cheer Clones since they reminded you so much of the cheerleaders in your high school.

"Where's-" don't say cheer clone, don't say cheer clone, shit what's her name-

"Jessie? We broke up." He frowns, looking down for a second, then waves at the bar tender.

"Oh, so sorry to hear that, you ok?" You pat his arm in consolation.

"I'll be ok, really. You want a drink?"

"Sure, bourbon and soda please."

He orders and pays for the round, sitting on the bar stool next to you.

"So, hot date?" He asks, waggling his eyebrows.

You giggle, hiding your face in your hands, "yeah how did you know?"

"Er, girl, you live in jeans! He must be pretty special." He grins at you.

You flush at the mere thought of Eddie. You can't deny, these past few weeks had been pretty spectacular.

"Wow, you've got it bad, huh? Pleased for you." He says, sipping his beer, looking just over your shoulder and flashing a small smile.

Before you can turn, an arm is thrown over your shoulder; rough stubble and soft lips touch your forehead.

"Sorry I'm late, sweet thing."

"Eddie!" You smile, looking up at him, but his stony glare is cemented on Matt.

"Baby, this is Matt, he comes to my bar. Matt this is Eddie, my boyfriend." You gesture between the two.

Matt sticks his hand out. Eddie looks at it briefly as if it offends him, before staring back at Matt's eyes.

"Pleasure to meet you." Matt puts his hand down but still flashes a winning smile at Eddie.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too Mike." And he motions his hand at the bar tender, immediately getting his attention and ordering a beer, arm never leaving your shoulders.

"Its Matt, actually-"

"Yeah, sure thing champ." Eddie says dismissively, slaps a note down to pay for the beer, and nearly drags you to your feet.

"Bands about to start, let's go my pretty girl."

You move, being pulled by the wrist, and mouth a 'sorry' at Matt. He just smiles and salutes you as you go past.

Eddie stops once you are free from Matt's gaze, stepping back to pull your arm in the air above you, making you turn for him so he can admire your outfit. You cannot help but admire his.

Eddie's dressed up for you. The first thing that grabs your attention and refuses to let go is the fact that your very sexy boyfriend is wearing eyeliner. That fact alone has you weak at the knees.

He's wearing a black button down, undone to the point of unholiness, exposing his chest tattoos and a thin silver chain just kissing the tops of his pecs. His black jeans are tight, hugging every muscle, leading down to chunky army boots. There's no other way to describe it; he exudes sex. It's as if every fibre of him was made to ooze this animalistic aura; you could nearly smell it in the air.

"You look really great Eddie."

Meeting his eyes, you see his pupils are blown, drinking in every ounce of your figure with blasphemous intention.

"Sweet thing, you look incredible." He pulls you close to wrap his arms around you. "Remind me never to let you wait for me inside a bar again." 

You laugh, love drunk eyes roaming his face, "you jealous Mr Munson?"

He kisses you full on the lips, a fiery kiss, hot and messy in its delivery, tongue chasing yours. When he breaks away, you lean forward in hope, missing the contact.

"Why should I be? I already have you." He winks, then pulls you so your back is flush to his chest, manoeuvring you both to face the band who have just come on stage.

The band are indeed decent, and pretty soon the heady atmosphere, the bourbon, and the warm glow of Eddie's arms around you have you grinning and swaying to the music. You're moving your hips, ass against Eddie, enjoying the moment.

Eddie's large hands never leave you. If he's not wrapping his arms around your neck, he's holding you protectively by the hips, keeping you close to him. If anyone in the crowd got too close or rowdy, he was there, keeping you safe.

The band takes a break and Eddie whips you around to face him, hands rubbing up and down your sides, predatory gaze fixed on you.

"If you're gonna keep dancing like that pretty girl, I may just have to take you home." He smiles, biting his lip.

"Hmm, I think you can wait a couple hours." You throw your arms around his neck and press a kiss to his lips.

"Ok, I'm gonna go to the bathroom," he fishes out a note from his pocket and hands it to you, "go grab us some drinks on me."

You take the money and peck him again, scooting your way back over to the busy bar.

The crowd has merged and flowed, making their way to the bar, dam about to burst with the influx of people wanting the same thing.

You queue, waiting for service, when you notice a friendly face next to you.

"Hey Matt, how's your evening going?" You say, touching his arm.

"Great thanks, the bands really good. Look, sorry if I upset your boyfriend there."

You giggle and roll your eyes "don't worry about it."

"Seriously, I didn't mean to offend him I just-"

Suddenly, Matt has disappeared and you are staring at Eddie's torso.

"Come here sweets. Say goodbye to Mark."

You here a small voice say "it's Matt, actually-"

"Whatever kid" Eddie growls, leading you away from the bar.

"Eddie, what are you doing I haven't even got drinks yet-"

"Just come with me."

You allow yourself to be lead, pulled helplessly by the wrist. Eddie snakes around the crowd, leading you past the backstage area and into a small bathroom. It's strange that he seems to know the layout of the place so well. You stop him in his tracks, annoyed by his behaviour.

"Eddie, seriously what's up with you? You know I'm not just gonna leave you right?" Soft eyes meet his.

"I know sweet thing," and he presses you against the wall so fast it makes your head spin.

"I just need everyone else to know that."

Without further warning his hand is stroking up your thigh, fingers grazing your clothed pussy. Given his urgency, his clear need for you, his touch is soft. His other hand snakes to the back of your neck, forcing eye contact. The eyeliner only focuses how intensely he looks at you, dark circles drawing you in.

"Can I make you feel good sweet thing?" Fingertips fondling your heat, hot breath asphyxiating. Eddie overwhelms you, exuding heat, passion making it difficult to breathe.

"Yeah" you manage breathily, devastated by his presence, trying to keep some semblance of self. It's so difficult to when Eddie tears you apart by simply being there, in your space.

Rough fingertips pull your underwear aside and massage across your slit, finding your clit immediately. Your breath catches in your throat, shock of delectation pervading your senses.

Eddie slides two thick fingers deep inside you making you gasp. He rocks them into you, setting a ruthless rhythm, eyes never leaving yours.

"Now, I'm going to make you come pretty girl, twice in a row, and you're gonna enjoy it, ok?"

You mumble some semblance of yes, ability to concentrate considerably lessened by the sure movements of his hand. He curls his digits into you, hitting the spot inside you that makes your toes curl inside your boots.

"Eddie, fuck, yes" you keen and writhe against the wall, eye contact stripping you of any modesty, any thought.

Eddie's relentless movements continue as he sucks bruises onto the tops of your breasts, purple colouring blossoming against your chest, a blooming floral display of blood soaked skin.

"Oh my God Eddie," you moan, his sure hands coaxing pure bliss from your core, sopping wet noise of your arousal echoing through the small space.

"That guy out there, your friend, what's his name?" Eddie's eyes bore into yours, hand not stopping.

You're pulled out of the pleasure pit he's thrown you into, visibly confused. "You- you mean Matt? He's just-"

Eddie doubles his efforts, curling his fingers into you harder, palm rubbing hard against your clit, reigniting the fire in your belly.

"Oh my God Eddie, fuck-" you grind yourself unabashedly against his thick fingers, immense feeling towering over you, threatening to topple at his very command.

"You gonna come pretty girl? My pretty girl?" He says, dark eyes piercing into your very soul, "come then, come on my fucking fingers."

His gravelly voice and confident manoeuvres are pushing you over that edge, emphasis on his swear word singing through your nerves and into your cunt. Unable to process such feeling, such unbridled ardour, you moan loudly into the air without a care of who could hear you.

Your release pushes through you with all the force of a natural disaster. Whipping through your soul like a hurricane of sensation, cunt throbbing with the complexity of feeling. It rips away any insecurities, making you moan as loud as your body needs without fear of repercussion.

But it doesn't stop, not yet. Eddie's not through with you. His movements continue, coaxing you through the orgasm and into the other side, relentless and unabating.

"Fuck Eddie, please, its too much-"

Eddie's free hand grips your chin, forcing you to make eye contact with him.

"Do you want me to stop." The question is real, but your commitment waivers, enjoying the relentless hold he has on your pussy.

"No, please-" you moan, your flower continuing to open to him, flesh yielding and soft as putty in his hands. A fuzz settles over your brain; you mind clouded, filled with Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. Your eyes roll back, unable to control your gaze. Eddie shakes you lightly by the chin, forcing you back to reality.

"So what's that guy's name?"

You look at him through damp lashes, tears building in the corners of your eyes, utterly incapable of speech.

"I said, what's that guy's name?"

"Eddie, fuck I- wha?" Words a slur, body limp against the wall; the only thing keeping you upright is the burly hand firmly between your legs, fingers deep inside; your Eddie's marionette.

"Good girl. That's what I thought." Eddie smiles smugly, running his thumb over your clit in swift motions, fingers continually hitting that spot inside you.

Your second release feels even more powerful than the first, ripping a passionate whine from your throat. The noises you're making are incomprehensible as your whole body seizes up and your slick shoots out, coating Eddie's hand, your thighs, and even the floor.

"Jesus fucking Christ you are the devil." It comes out as a rush, almost one word.

Laughing deviantly, Eddie moves his hand and you nearly crumple to the floor. He catches you, pushing you against the wall with his body. Your eyes are drawn to the deep v in his shirt, to his inky muscled chest.

"Eddie?" You look at him and he stares back, faces impossibly close.

"Yes sweet thing?"

"You've ruined my underwear."

He laughs deeply. "What can I say, it's a talent. Can I take you home my little super soaker?"

You flush with embarrassment, hot cheeks aflame. "Eddie!"

Straightening your clothes and attempting to sort your hair out, you look down, taking in your love bitten chest for the first time. Purple red welts adorn the swell of your breasts in a low necklace of ownership. You'd be mad at him if it didn't make you throb inside.

He leads you back to the bar and towards the main entrance, attempting to get you home as quickly as possible to finish what he's started, when you're stopped in your tracks by cloud of perfume and blonde hair.

"Hey Eds!"

"Hey Estelle, you good? This is my girlfriend I told you about."

You smile at her dutifully, and spot a familiar face yet again, hovering by, his eyes trained on the marks on your chest.

"Estelle, nice to meet you! Hey, have you met Mark?" You gesture at him to move closer while Eddie snickers next to you.

He sticks his hand out to her "it's Matt actually."

Oops. 

Masterlist

Tag list part 1- rest will be in the comments

@angelsarecallin @cutiecusp @pxrxcxa @spencerinmydrawls @munsquinns @sillypurplemurple @tiannamortis @walleloveseve @sinczir @biblichornerd @frogers @lauraasiain @madiisixx @leftdonkeygothgoop-blog @rafestarkeysblog @kittykatvenom @southside-serpent-bae @psychedelicsandsunsalutations @biblichornerd @angelina16torres-blog

[eglerieth]

Concerning Hobbit-Friends

nearly every other free people in Middle Earth have such a concept ( ie, Elf-friend, Dwarf-friend, etc.) so I decided that hobbits do it too. Any hobbit can name someone hobbit-friend, but that’s not a guarantee that their fellow hobbits will consider them their own friend. The exception is if the Thain or Mayor formally names someone hobbit-friend on behalf of all Shirefolk, which has only happened once.

here is a list of known hobbit-friends:

• Gandalf. Obviously. He’s the OG hobbit-friend, upon whom all others are based

• Tom Bombadil: he was given the title by Farmer Maggot. It is unknown if Maggot was the only hobbit to name him hobbit-friend, or if others had done so in the past and his proclamation was redundant.

• the entirety of Thorin’s company: Bilbo named them all hobbit-friend when he left Erebor, in the middle of his “tea at four” speech. This included a posthumous hobbit-friending of Thorin, Fìli, and Kìli.

• multiple Breelanders: throughout the long history of Bree and the Breelands, when hobbits and Men lived side by side, there were many individuals named hobbit-friend by their neighbor for various reasons. The line of Butterburs in particular have held the title unbroken from father to son, usually proclaimed by drunk hobbits in the Prancing Pony wanting to thank and honor their host.

• Boromir: thus named by Merry and Pippin. Pippin was honoring that bond/title when he swore allegiance to Denethor.

• Gimli: Frodo named him hobbit-friend when they were mourning Balin together in Moria and Frodo saw his heart.

• Treebeard: sort of named himself such unwittingly when fitting hobbits into his worldview out loud. Merry and Pippin just accepted it, thus binding it.

• Quickbeam: named such by Merry and Pippin as a throwaway comment that nonetheless had all the meaningfulness necessary.

• Thèoden: named such by Merry when he swore himself to him. He intended to teach him about pipeweed; that was a gift for a hobbit-friend not given to merely anyone. The horn Merry was later given was to honor it, and it was later given much honor in return in the Shire.

• Aragorn: surprisingly, it didn’t happen on the quest. He was their friend, sure, but not specifically a hobbit-friend. But as time went on the hobbits in the Fellowship began to treat him more and more like one, and he was finally formally proclaimed hobbit-friend by Thain Paladin himself on behalf of the Shire after he gifted the hobbits Westmarch and passed the law forbidding Big Folk from entering the Shire. The first king of the Fourth Age was long remembered in the Shire for being the first and only Man to be hobbit-friend to all hobbits. Not even Gandalf was accepted by all, *cough*-Disturber-of-the-Peace-*cough*

Finrod: the only person to be named hobbit-friend in Aman. Proclaimed by Bilbo and Frodo, and then again Sam before he realized it had already been done. He earned the title by connecting with them deeply and helping them around the Undying Lands. Come on, guys, you knew he was gonna have to complete the trifecta of races he’s Friends with.

[laurelslegacy]

So... Yo!

I'm inoli Shiba, general nerd cosplayer.... back from the depths of Tumblr cause the bots just bothered the kriff out of me and had to get off. Back-ish now. Name "Laural's Legacy" is for my Grandmother who taught me stage, monster and SPFX make up. Before she passed she was able to show her my Ganondorf (Trifecta of awards, best in show, audience aware, judge's award) I looked at her and said "this is your fault" with a big smile and it was the last time I saw her so happy and energetic. For you my 2 meter ornery gran.

been building Zeb for over two years now. I'll do posts on each little step I took. Zeb is NOT done!!! I have to recast his head and still fur out his legs arms and COMPLETELY redo the feet as that was a SHITCONCRUNCHAHHHHGOTTAGETTHISDONE moment in my life. #normal. the first pic is clearly the method I started with and this is the "thus far" results.

Building Zeb has been a life line while I've been struggling with mental illness and huge life changes. so... thank you Zeb for being my own little emotional support Lasat (thank you Thank you Steve Blum for helping build his character with your amazing voice acting talents! )

[virtie333]

Trifecta

Well, hello! First of all, thank you to my regular readers who followed me over to this ship. Second, for those who don’t know me, I usually write for straight monogamous relationships, namely Damerey. But I’ve been wanting to sail on this ship for a long time, and finally got the guts to visit.

It must be noted that while Finn and Poe are in a committed sexual relationship at the beginning of this story, I myself do not know enough about gay sex to be comfortable writing it. Yet. Therefore, this first foray of mine will be focusing on Rey and what her boys can do for her. I may venture further into their relationship in the future.

As always, all sexual relations are consensual and loving!

Explicit Sexual Content, Polyamory (MMF), Oral Sex (both M and F receiving), P in V (all are on Star Wars version of birth control), Multiple Female Orgasms (It’s my party!), Creampie x 2, Way Too Many Emotions Just under 7k Words

Also found on AO3

Rey was dozing as she sat on the floor, her back against the sofa, the holomovie that BB-8 was projecting in front of her nearing the end, when a soft sigh of pleasure jerked her awake. Grimacing slightly, she glanced over her shoulder at the two people cuddled on the sofa behind her, knowing what she would see. Finn sat with his head resting on Poe’s shoulder, a smirk on his face, as Poe sat with his eyes shut tight, his jaw slack, his breathing heavy. A blanket covered their laps, but Rey was pretty sure she knew what was going on underneath.

With a soft sigh of her own, she turned back to the movie. She wasn’t mad. How could she be mad? The two people she loved most in the galaxy had finally realized they loved each other and had settled into a committed, faithful relationship. They were still her best friends and still in her life, sharing an apartment just down the hall from her own. She was so very happy for them.

But there were still times they inadvertently made her feel so alone.

It wasn’t their fault. They did an amazing job of including her in everything they did, and they never made her feel like she wasn’t wanted. She was busy enough that they had plenty of private time without her, so when she was with them it always felt like the three of them were whole once more, as it had been during the war, when they first bonded with each other. But when it was late, and they were all tired, the two men tended to get handsy with each other, and while she knew they made an effort to not make her uncomfortable, she was far too attuned to the both of them to not notice what was going on.

The last few months since the war’s official end had been busy for all of them. Finn had set off with Lando Calrissian and Jannah to start looking for his birth family as soon as he was able. Rey had hated seeing him go. She had formed a strong attachment to the former stormtrooper, and had even thought there might be more than friendship once upon a time, but when Finn’s attention had turned to Rose, Rey had stopped thinking like that about him. Eventually, he and Rose’s relationship had turned into just friendship, but then the war had ended and he had headed off to seek his past. She supported him completely, but missed him while he was gone.

Fortunately, she still had Poe. When the newly formed Intergalactic Alliance had asked her to join their efforts as they tried to establish a new, peaceful government on Coruscant, she couldn’t help but say yes. Temporarily. When Poe had also accepted their request for his help, she had been overjoyed, knowing she wouldn’t be alone. And Poe had indeed stayed with her through it all, joking that he was protecting her from unscrupulous politicians and making sure she wasn’t taken advantage of. She knew it wasn’t a joke; he really did scare off anyone that even thought about using her for their own political goals. They acquired apartments next to each other and spent most of their free time together, already planning for the day when they could leave the newborn government and do what they really wanted. Poe wanted to start a flight school and Rey, of course, wanted to start training young Jedi. Poe knew the perfect planet for both schools.

The day they learned that Finn had found his home planet, and that both his parents and his two siblings had been killed years ago trying to defend him and other children from the First Order, they had both immediately taken leave and come to him. They brought him back with them to Coruscant, and without almost any discussion at all, he had moved in with Poe. Rey had been so happy to see the two of them finally settle together; it was inevitable, she had thought. They were meant for each other.

Just as she was meant to be alone.

Rey closed her eyes and tried to focus on the words and sounds coming from the movie. She tried to tell herself she wasn’t jealous. How could she be jealous? It’s not like she had ever had a physical, romantic relationship. Why should she miss something she had never had? But maybe… maybe that was her problem. Maybe she was just… horny. Maybe she should take a lover, someone to help her discover the intimacies of sex without the emotional attachment. Could she do that? Could she trust someone enough to become physical with them?

The credits began to roll and she opened her eyes. Now was her chance to escape. She yawned and stretched her arms up into the air. “I think I fell asleep,” she said. “Did I miss anything?”

“Naw,” Poe grumbled good naturedly. “It really wasn’t that good. We need to pick something better next time.”

“I told you,” Finn argued back. “We should have picked Beckett’s Last Stand. That one looked good!”

Rey looked back just in time to see Poe roll his eyes. She laughed, then pushed herself to her feet. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she told them softly, her heart swelling with emotion as she looked at her boys, still cuddled together on the sofa. She really didn’t want to leave, but she knew she couldn’t stay. “Have a good night.” She turned toward the door.

“Rey?” Finn sat forward suddenly.

She looked at him, then at Poe, who was watching Finn with a furrowed brow. She looked back at Finn. “Yeah?”

Finn glanced at Poe, then he sat back, his expression almost sad. “Nothing. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Rey nodded and gave them a quick grin. Poe was looking at her again, his eyes huge in the dim light of the room. He almost looked… wistful.

She smiled again, turned, and left the apartment.

******

Tylan Montrose was on the same committee she and Poe sat on. He was tall, smart, funny, and very good looking. He was a few years older than Rey and had been a part of the Republic Navy when the Hosnian System had been destroyed. He had been visiting his family on Vernell when the cataclysm had happened, and he had stayed there to help protect his planet, but he had also been a part of the great force that had attacked Exegol, answering the call for help when it came. He and Poe had become good friends since their arrival on Coruscant, and he had shown a definite interest in Rey. When she had politely declined his offer to go out for caf, Poe, who had overheard, told her that she should have said yes. “He’s a good guy,” he had told her.

If Poe trusted him, then she could. Right?

So, she had found Tylan after their meeting and struck up a conversation with him. After a while, she had asked him to join her for dinner that night at the Rockani, one of her favorite restaurants. He had said yes without any hesitation, a huge smile on his face.

Rey had no clue what she was doing, but she must have been saying the right things that night, because when he saw her to her apartment after dinner and she asked him inside, there was once more no hesitation from him. Unfortunately, only minutes after he started kissing her, she knew it wasn’t going to go any further. She was uncomfortable and felt no desire whatsoever. When she pulled back, Tylan didn’t push forward.

“Too soon?” he had asked.

Laughing nervously, she nodded. “I guess.” She wasn’t sure she would ever be ready. Not with this man. Not with anybody.

He had left without any anger and Rey found herself sitting on the floor, her back to the front door, trying not to cry.

A knock sounded and she jumped. She had a bell. Only one person ever knocked.

Sighing, she stood and keyed the door to slide open. Poe stood on the other side, Finn right behind him. They both looked worried.

“He didn’t stay long,” Poe was saying. “Is everything okay?”

She huffed and turned to walk over to her sofa, sitting down on it heavily. “What? Are you guys spying on me?”

They followed her, and as they often did when they thought she needed comforting (they always knew when she needed comforting), they sat on either side of her, Poe on her left, Finn on her right.

“Of course not,” Finn was saying.

“We just knew you had a date with Tylan and were paying attention when he brought you home.” Poe was looking at her intently. “He… didn’t try anything you didn’t want, did he?”

Rey looked at him, giving him a smile with no humor in it. “Don’t you think you would have found him in two pieces on the floor if he had?”

He rolled his eyes and brought his arm up around her shoulders. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Just not your type, huh?” Finn asked, leaning into her.

She sighed, already more comfortable sandwiched between these two men than she had been with Tylan at any point during their date. “I’m not sure I have a type,” she said. “I just want…”

“What?” Finn whispered.

“Someone with a lightsaber as cool as yours?” Poe asked.

Rey laughed and turned to him. “There is no such person.”

Poe grinned. “True.” His smile faded and he looked past her at Finn. “But… there is us.”

Rey frowned at him, glanced at Finn, then back at Poe. “You?”

Poe nodded. “Yeah. Finn and I.”

Rey’s heart started to race. “I – I’m not sure what you mean?”

“We love you, Rey,” Finn said, bringing his face close to her. When she turned toward him, he brought his forehead in to touch hers.

“And I love you both, but…”

“But?”

“You have each other.”

“You don’t think we’re capable of loving you just as much as we love each other?”

“I… I didn’t think you looked at me that way.” Her voice sounded small. Hopeful.

“We always have,” Poe said softly. “We’ve been wanting to ask if you felt the same for a while. I knew you felt that way for Finn, I just…” he paused, glancing at Finn again, then looking back at her. “I just wasn’t sure you looked at me like that.”

Rey stared at him now, and she felt tears well up in her eyes. “I do,” she whispered. “I always have. Since the first day I met you.”

“I told you so,” Finn said, a smile on his face.

Poe shoved Finn slightly with the hand that was over Rey’s shoulder, then focused on her again. “Do you trust us, Rey?”

“Implicitly.”

He nodded. “Then let us take care of you.”

Rey felt a sudden tightness between her legs at his words, and she squeezed her thighs together, the shot of desire much stronger than anything she had ever felt before. She looked back and forth between the two of them, in awe of how they were both focused on her, looking at her the way she had only seen them look at each other before. Was it possible, she wondered? Was it true that she could really become a part of their bond in this way?

“Yes,” she whispered. “Please, yes.”

They ended up at Poe and Finn’s apartment because Rey mentioned that their bed was much bigger than hers.

Rey couldn’t believe how excited she was as these two men she loved and trusted more than anyone led her into their shared bedroom. Once there, Finn wrapped his arms around her and began to gently nuzzle her cheek. “You’ll let us know if we do anything you don’t like, right?”

Rey nodded, suddenly afraid. What if she didn’t like any of it? She’d touched herself in the past, but it had always led to less than satisfying results. Maybe she couldn’t enjoy sex?

Finn moved his face closer to hers and she closed her eyes as his lips made contact. He was so gentle, and so careful, and she liked it. It wasn’t at all like the kisses she had just shared with Tylan. She wanted more.

She brought her arms up around his neck and opened her mouth, inviting more from him, and he responded by opening his own mouth and letting his tongue touch hers. She shivered, loving the sensation, and began tasting him in earnest. He moaned, his arms tightening around her middle. All too soon, he pulled back, looking behind her at Poe. She also looked over, a bit dazed, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the older man’s bare chest. He had removed his shirt while she and Finn had been kissing.

He looked at her, a question in his eyes, and Rey reached for him, anxious to touch him. To taste him next. He smiled and drew her into his arms as she ran her hands along his bare shoulders.

“Poe’s gonna lead us through this, okay?” Finn said quietly from behind her. Rey looked at him over her shoulder. “I didn’t have a whole lot of experience before he and I became lovers, and none of it was really great until him.”

Rey looked back at Poe. “I have no experience,” she whispered.

Poe smiled softly. “I think you’ll figure it out pretty quick,” he told her. He looked at Finn. “This is going to be all about Rey tonight, Finn. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely,” Finn responded without hesitation. “I can’t wait to see her come over and over and over…”

“Finn!” Rey giggled, feeling her face heat. She looked at Poe, suddenly nervous again. “What if I can’t?”

Poe brought a hand up and stroked her cheek. “Judging by your reactions to us, I think you can,” he told her. “But even if you can’t, we’re still going to make this as enjoyable as possible for you. Deal?”

Rey nodded, and Poe’s lips quirked once more before he moved in to kiss her. Rey didn’t even hesitate this time, opening her mouth to accept his tongue, loving the feel as much as she had with Finn. As they kissed, she felt Finn’s hands on her hips, stroking her through her leggings, squeezing her. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to have them both touch her bare skin. She ran her hands down along Poe’s chest, enjoying the smoothness and heat of his skin. She looked down as her fingers trailed over his nipples, watching as they peaked at her touch. She looked over at Finn, realizing he, too, had removed his shirt. His dark chest was just as smooth as Poe’s but different. The contrast between the two men excited her. She wanted to explore them both completely.

Poe began to kiss and lick on her neck and she closed her eyes, letting her head fall back. Finn’s hands had worked up to the front of her body and were skimming up under the loose silky shirt she had worn for her date with Tylan. She held her breath as they reached her breasts, which she had left bare as she usually did when she wasn’t working. She let out a gasp as his hands cupped her gently, his large, rough fingers squeezing her firmly. A rush of moisture flowed from between her legs, and she wanted to be embarrassed, but she felt too good. Both of them touching her, standing shirtless with her tucked between their hard bodies…

She cried out, her knees feeling weak. She grasped Poe’s arm with one hand and reached back for Finn’s shoulder with the other to keep herself upright. “Kriff!” she swore. She never swore!

Poe lifted his head and she could hear his soft chuckle in her ear. “Yeah, I think you’re going to enjoy this, Sunshine.” He moved back more and she immediately missed his heat. “Let’s get you undressed,” he said, then looked at Finn.

She glanced at the man behind her, who was grinning and nodding. He also stepped back a bit, grasping the hem of Rey’s shirt and pulling it up and off of her in one smooth movement. Rey gasped again, looking at Poe in surprise, feeling far too exposed. He was looking at her breasts, biting his lower lip, and his appreciative expression actually soothed her. He looked up at her, maintaining eye contact with her as he stepped close once more. He reached for the fastener to her leggings on her hip, undoing it while he nuzzled her nose with his. He glanced behind her to Finn, and once more the two men seemed to communicate silently, as both reached for the waistband of her leggings and began tugging them down, taking her underwear with them.

Rey bit her lip as she reached out to brace herself on their shoulders, a laugh of pure joy bubbling up as they worked together to get her shoes and leggings off. Before she knew it, she was completely naked and the two men stood straight, both moving in front of her, both looking at her with hot eyes.

“Perfect,” Poe whispered.

“Kriffing beautiful,” Finn agreed.

Rey felt her whole body heat and knew her skin, so much paler than either of them, was turning bright red in various locations.

Poe smiled again, warm and inviting. “Why don’t you lay down on the bed, Rey?”

Taking a deep breath, Rey did as he asked, her legs still shaking. She crawled to the middle of the big bed, then lay down on her back, bracing herself on her elbows as she watched the men in front of her work at removing their boots and trousers. They were so different, she thought. The way they looked, the way they moved, the way they spoke. And yet, their hearts were almost identical. She felt tears form in her eyes as they gave each other a sweet kiss, suddenly knowing that was why she loved them both. They were both so very good, two extraordinarily kind people who had lived very hard lives and were now ready to live their happily ever after.

And they wanted her to be a part of it.

Her eyes were drawn downward as they turned to face her once more. Again, they were very different from each other, but both were rather intimidating. While she may have never had intercourse before, she wasn’t unfamiliar with male human anatomy, and both of these specimens were impressive. Finn’s was a bit longer, she thought, and the head was larger, but Poe’s was overall thicker. Finn was already almost fully erect, his dark cock standing stiffly out from a thin nest of black hair. Poe had more hair, and he was still only at half-mast. He gripped himself as she watched, running his hand along his length, and she knew it was age and experience that made him seem more relaxed, not lack of desire. She felt her pussy leak and she moaned softly, her hips rocking unconsciously.

Poe gave her a wicked smile and moved to the side of the bed on her right, still stroking himself. “Mmmmm,” he hummed. “You smell that, Finn?”

“Frick, yes!” Finn exclaimed, moving toward the opposite side of her.

They both climbed on the bed, stretching out on either side of her. “Let’s give her the perfect first time,” Poe whispered. Rey let herself fall back completely on the bed, and Poe followed her, taking her mouth with his once more and kissing her like there was no tomorrow. She felt Finn’s hand on her breast, and then his mouth. She arched her back and moaned into Poe’s mouth. She felt a hand, she wasn’t sure whose, gently grab her left wrist and direct her to Finn’s cock. She wrapped her hand around him, and as she did so the person directing her, Poe she determined, took her other wrist and directed it to his cock. Then he left her lips and moved down to mouth her other breast. She cried out, her hips jerking upward as they both began to suckle on her gently, her hands tightening on their cocks. “Oh, my stars!” she cried, as even more wetness leaked from her pussy.

Poe’s fingers found their way down her belly and were soon delving between her legs. “Shit, Finn!” he cried softly, lifting his head from Rey’s breast to look at his partner. “She’s so fucking wet!”

Rey watched as Finn brought his hand down to join Poe’s, and she almost began crying as they both fingered her, touching her where nobody but herself had ever been. “Oh, please!” she cried, tears leaking from her eyes.

“I want to taste!” Finn said, his voice rough. “If she tastes half as good as she smells…”

“Rey?” Poe was looking at her, one eyebrow arched. Asking for permission. At this point, she was quite sure she would deny him nothing.

“Please! Yes, please!”

Both men smiled and glanced at each other before sliding down the sheets. Rey automatically lifted her legs, spreading them wide, and they easily slipped underneath, placing her ankles on their shoulders, holding her open.

“Fuck, Poe! Look at her!”

“She’s dripping! All for us, Finn!”

Rey cried out, arching her hips up toward them, her heels digging into their shoulders, uncaring how desperate she seemed.

They heeded her unspoken request and dropped their heads, lips and tongues and teeth attacking her center. Her inner thighs, the super sensitive area between the crease of her thigh and the edge of her pussy, the lips of her pussy, her clit. They never stilled, working her over as she never, ever dreamed she would enjoy. As Finn toyed with her clit with his tongue, Poe inserted a finger into her cunt. She rocked against it, shocked how much she loved the intrusion and how much she wanted more. Soon, another thick finger joined the first, and Finn began sucking gently on her clit. She felt her body quicken shockingly fast, and the explosion took her by surprise. Her vision flashed white and she screamed, her hands coming down on top of the heads of her tormentors. She gripped Poe’s thick hair and her fingers tightened along the curved braids along Finn’s skull.

She felt her body go limp and she dropped her hands, opening her eyes to see both men smiling at her, almost giddy. “Told ya,” Poe said smugly.

Rey laughed, her body still trembling.

Poe turned to Finn and the two kissed, sharing her juices between them. Rey moaned at the sight, shocked that she could get so turned on again so fast. Poe pulled back first. “Keep her wet down here,” he told Finn. “I’m going in.”

Finn grinned. “Yes, sir.” Rey shifted, hoping she was ready for whatever Poe had planned. It was apparent as she watched them together that while she suspected Finn topped when they had sex, Poe was still in charge. She had to admit, she liked having him in charge.

He slid up to lie next to her again, then gently pulled her right arm upwards. “Lay on your side,” he said softly. As she did so, he positioned himself behind her and then reached down to pull her right leg up. She didn’t resist, but then whimpered as Finn immediately dived in to start licking her wide open pussy once more. “We want you wet and loose,” Poe whispered in her ear. He nipped her lobe, which sent a whole new batch of shivers up her spine. “No pain today. Not if I can help it.” As he spoke, he let her leg down to rest over his hip and he used his hand to direct his cock up to her weeping hole.

She felt him slide inside with no resistance whatsoever, the pressure was intense and amazing. “Oh, my Force!” she cried. “Oh, yes!” She felt Poe smile against the back of her jaw where his face was resting, and then his hips were moving. Back and forth he moved, sliding in and out of her. Finn continued to tongue her clit and she closed her eyes, so absorbed by the pleasure she was feeling that she felt as if she were floating.

“Oh Kriff!” she heard Finn mutter.

“Stay with us, Rey,” Poe growled in her ear.

She opened her eyes and realized she was floating. Not very high, but high enough her boys were having a tough time finishing what they started. She gasped a laugh and dropped back to the bed. “Sorry,” she huffed.

Poe chuckled, and she could feel it as well as hear it with his chest pressed against her back once more. “I’m taking it as a compliment. How about you, Finn?”

“Hell, yeah,” her best friend uttered as he continued his ministrations between her legs.

Poe’s thrusts got a bit harder and Rey could feel her body climbing once more, this time a little slower. But not much. She reached for her release this time, knowing exactly what awaited her and craving it. Her body spasmed even harder, and Poe’s arm tightened around her middle, holding her close to him until she came back to herself. It was an amazing, comforting feeling. She brought up her right hand to lace her fingers with his where they rested on her belly. She used her other hand to push gently on Finn’s head, asking him to stop, as Poe slid out of her.

Finn moved up again so that they lay face to face, and she smiled softly at him. He stroked her cheek gently, then moved in to kiss her. He tasted salty and a bit sweet. He tasted of her.

They lay there together for a long moment, letting Rey rest, but soon she became aware of Poe’s still hard cock poking her buttock, and Finn’s was bobbing gently between them. She looked him in the eye. “I want you, now.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, his dark eyes gentle but excited. She felt another gush of wetness between her legs at his husky voice.

“Oh, yes.”

Immediately, Poe moved away from her, gently pushing on her shoulder so that she once more lay on her back. Finn moved to Rey, his muscular body seeming huge as he kneeled between her legs and lowered himself over her. He settled on his elbows as Poe demanded softly, “Lift your knees, Rey.”

She did as asked, and felt the tip of Finn’s cock brush up against her clit. She arched up and cried out.

“You want me inside you?” Finn asked, his voice rough, his jaw tight.

“Yes!” she almost shouted. “Please, Finn!”

“Listen to your Jedi Master, Finn,” Poe grumbled, his expression almost wild.

Finn groaned and used his hand to aid in his entrance, then he slid in just as easily as Poe had. Instinctively, Rey brought her legs up further so she could wrap her ankles around his thighs as he began to thrust. She gasped and threw her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes. How did she never know how good this could be?

She opened her eyes to see Poe’s face next to hers. “You like that?” he asked, his eyes dark, his pupils dilated in excitement. “You like Finn fucking you?”

“Yes!” she groaned, then reached for him, grabbing him by the back of the head and pulling him down for a kiss. He devoured her mouth as Finn started thrusting harder. Rey once more felt her body ignite and knew what was coming. She pulled back, shouting “Yes!” into Poe’s mouth.

“Come again, Sunshine!” Poe demanded. “Come again for us!”

And she did.

******

Poe was the one who got up to get them some water a short time later.

She watched as he walked naked across the room, his penis still erect, the head red and weeping. She looked down at Finn’s cock as she sat up, realizing that he was still hard, too. As Poe brought back a large glass of water, Rey looked back and forth between them. “Are you..” She cleared her throat. “Are you going to… come?”

Poe just smiled at her as he sat on the edge of the bed, handing her the water. “Well, I would like to at some point,” he said, his voice teasing. “I’m sure Finn would, too.” Finn nodded his head vigorously. “I guess the question is where do you want us to come? On you, on each other, or in you?”

“In me!” Rey exclaimed without hesitation, then she looked down, embarrassed, as she took a sip of water.

Poe’s smile just got bigger. “I was hoping you’d say that. You’re up to date on your contraception shots, I assume?”

Rey nodded, looking up at him again, then looking at Finn as she handed him the glass.

Finn grinned as he accepted the water. “It’s gonna get messy,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

“It’s already messy,” Poe argued. “Have you seen what this woman is doing to our bed?”

Rey reached over and slapped his chest lightly with the back of her hand. “And whose fault is that?”

The three of them laughed as they passed the glass around, finishing the water. Rey noticed that their erections had softened a bit during their rest, but Poe had a solution for that.

He lay on his back and patted his thighs. “Ride me, Rey,” he told her.

She straddled his thighs and watched as Finn sidled up next to them, laying half on his side facing them. He and Poe kissed before Poe looked at Rey once more. “Take us both in hand,” he said. “You’ve got two of them for a reason.”

Rey giggled and rolled her eyes. “Very funny,” she said as she took him in her left hand and Finn in her right. She began to slide her hands up and down their cocks, her breathing quickening once more. She could feel them get stiffer in her hands, and she was not surprised when her body responded with even more moisture.

“There you go, Sunshine,” Poe said softly. She was already dripping on his thigh. “Now, when you’re ready, mount me.”

She nodded, let go of Finn, then shuffled forward and up, slowly impaling herself on Poe’s cock. “Mmmmmm,” she moaned. This position was different, but felt just as good.

“Good girl,” Poe said, and Rey felt her breath catch.

“Hmmm, she likes that,” Finn growled. They had both noticed her reaction to Poe’s praise.

Poe grinned. “Just like you like being told what a good boy you are?”

Rey looked at Finn who looked moderately embarrassed. He sat up a bit and leaned toward her. “I guess we’re both lucky we found our Dom, huh, Rey?”

Rey nodded, not really wanting to contemplate the fact that she liked being told what to do. But only by Poe.

“So, does that mean you’re going to keep doing what I tell you, Rey?” Poe asked, one eyebrow raised.

Remembering what Finn had said to him earlier, Rey bobbed her head. “Yes, sir.”

Poe nodded, then shifted his hips, making Rey gasp. “That’s my girl,” he whispered. “Now, lean over and put Finn’s cock in your mouth.”

Rey’s eyes immediately turned to the cock in question, then she looked upward to see Finn, an excited look on his face, lay back down, scooching up a bit so she had easier access to him. Licking her lips, she grabbed his once more fully erect penis and bent over it. Carefully, she wrapped her lips around the large head, curiosity and desire driving her on. Poe was rocking his hips up into her steadily, and as she tasted Finn for the first time, she felt another wave of immense pleasure wash over her. She began to rock her own hips to meet Poe’s thrusts and matched the movement with her hand on the base of Finn’s cock, squeezing him as she sucked on his tip.

“Oh, fuck, yeah,” she heard Finn groan, and she looked up to see him lean over and kiss Poe. “This is a kriffing dream come true,” he said, breathing hard against Poe’s mouth.

Poe groaned and closed his eyes. “If this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up!”

His hips increased their pace and Rey couldn’t concentrate on Finn anymore. She sat up, her hands on Poe’s belly, rocking against him, seeking that amazing high she knew existed now. She reached for Finn’s cock again, trying hard to focus on him as well as her own pleasure, but the feelings were too intense. “Oh!” she cried. This felt different. Less like an explosion and more like a tidal wave. Her thighs started to tremor uncontrollably and she felt as if she was falling. “Finn!” she cried as she reached for him.

He sat up and pulled her into his arms. “Let go!” he told her. She did, letting the wave take over and crying out into Finn’s shoulder. She looked at Poe as she slowly came down, wondering if he had felt the same intensity she had.

He was looking at her with wide eyes. “You are so fucking beautiful,” he said gruffly.

She started to back off of him, only to realize he was still hard. “Poe,” she said as Finn let her go. “You didn’t come.”

He smiled. “I will, Sunshine,” he told her. “But I want Finn to claim you first.”

Finn’s expression was startled. “Poe?”

“You found her first,” Poe said with a soft smile. He pushed back and sat up. “But you better hurry. I’m not going to wait for my turn forever.” He gripped his cock, running his thumb over the tip and the bead of precum that sat there.

Finn looked at Rey. “Okay.”

Rey nodded. “Okay.” She bit her lip. “How..?”

“Can I..?”

“Oh, just take her from behind,” Poe interrupted. “You know you want to.”

Rey grinned at Poe’s outburst, then she softened her smile for Finn before turning her back on him, spreading her legs and leaning down to brace herself off of her elbows. She looked back at him over her shoulder. “Come on, General. Give it to me.”

As Finn groaned, Poe shook his head. “Oh, Kriff! We created a monster.” He shoved Finn’s shoulder. “Hurry up and fuck her!”

Finn did as told, moving up behind Rey and pushing into her in one smooth motion. Rey gasped, once again startled and pleased all at the same time by the different feel these different positions gave her. He was so deep like this. And he was so hard!

“I’m not gonna last long,” he huffed as he began to thrust.

Rey couldn’t form any words as the slap of his hips against her ass got louder and faster. Kriff! She wasn’t, either! His hands gripped her hard, his fingers biting into the flesh of her waist. He moved one, placing it flat against her back in between her shoulder blades, but he didn’t put much pressure on her. It was almost as if he was bracing himself, so he wouldn’t fall over onto her. Her fingers gripped the bedsheets tight.

“I’m coming. I’m coming. I’m coming,” he began to chant.

“Give it to her, baby!” Poe growled.

Poe’s exclamation was all it took for Rey to feel her body overload once more. It wasn’t as strong as before, but it felt amazing, especially when combined with the feel of Finn’s release inside of her. She could almost imagine his hot seed coating her insides. As she suspected, he fell onto her, but not heavily, catching himself before his full weight came upon her. He kissed her shoulder blade wetly, then turned to Poe, who was laughing joyfully. They kissed, then Poe leaned down to kiss her as well. “I can’t even explain to you how beautiful you two look together,” he said, his eyes huge.

Finn backed up, pulling out and pushing himself up to the head of the bed, falling back onto the pillows. “Your turn, General.”

Poe looked at him, then looked at Rey. For the first time that night, there seemed to be some uncertainty in his expression, and Rey remembered that they had not asked her if she wanted this sooner because Poe believed Rey didn’t love him the way she loved Finn. She smiled and turned over onto her back, keeping eye contact with him. She spread her legs wide, grasping herself under the knees, holding herself open.

“Your turn, General,” she repeated Finn’s words.

His chest heaving, his cock now rock hard, he moved to kneel between her thighs. He placed his hands gently under her knees, pushing hers away, holding her open himself now. Still looking her in the eye, he moved forward and slid into her without any assistance. Rey was super sensitive now after literally being fucked over and over again by these men and coming… five times now? But she wanted this. She wanted him. All of him.

“You feeling my cum in there, Poe?” Finn said with a grin. “Got’cha a little extra lube this time. Not that you need it with how much she wants you.” His voice had gotten deep and lazy as Poe started driving in and out of Rey. Long, slow thrusts. Finn’s words combined with Poe’s intense look was too much!

Rey threw her head back. “Oh, please! Fuck me! Give it to me!”

With a soft roar, Poe obeyed and began thrusting hard. The slap of their skin, the squelching sound of his entry into her now saturated pussy, the grunts as he worked his hips into her… “Ahhhhhh! Poe!” Rey screamed, coming hard, her body spasming. She reached for Finn and he grabbed her hand, hanging on tight.

Poe’s body seized up as he began to fill her with his seed, his hips pulsing a few more times as he emptied himself. Rey fell limp. She let go of Finn’s hand and brought both of hers up to her face, rubbing against her eyes as she felt the tears come, overwhelmed.

She felt Poe slowly back out of her, but his fingers were up against her pussy immediately. “None of that!” he said huskily. “You stay in there were you belong,” he said as he pushed into her sensitive hole. He was pushing his and Finn’s combined cum back into her. Finn moved to help him and the two grinned at each other, kissing as they fondled her sore pussy gently. She giggled, knowing they were intentionally making her laugh, doing their best to keep her from becoming too emotional.

They looked at her, and their expressions made her want to cry again. It was a combination of love and awe, and she knew exactly how they felt.

Poe cleared his throat. “Come on,” he told her, moving to help her sit up and move back up to the head of the bed. Finn jumped off and headed for the ‘fresher, bringing back a couple of wet washcloths. Together, they cleaned up Rey and each other before settling on either side of her.

Rey was so, so tired, but even as sated as she was, she couldn’t help wondering if they expected her to leave and go back to her own apartment for the rest of the night. Force knows she didn’t want to.

As if he was reading her mind, Poe’s voice broke the silence.

“Move in here with us, Rey.”

For a moment, Rey truly believed she was imagining things, that her hopes and wishes were just manifesting themselves through dreams.

“You don’t have to,” Poe continued, his voice nervous now. “I mean, you’re used to living alone. Having your own space. I get it.”

Rey lifted her head and looked at Finn. “Do you want me to move in?”

He smiled and touched her cheek. “Yeah. But we’re not going to pressure you. We know it will probably cause a lot of gossip if you do.”

She scoffed. “As if I’m not already the brunt of gossip around here. Besides, we won’t be here much longer.” She looked at Poe. “Right? We’re still going to Yavin IV when things here are settled?”

Poe blinked quickly, and Rey could see the tears in his eyes. “Yeah, Sunshine. As soon as we can.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’ll move in with you.”

“I love you, Rey,” he said softly.

She reached up and ran her hand along his beard stubble. “I love you, Poe.” She turned to Finn. “And you, Finn. You both mean so much to me.”

“I love you, Rey,” Finn told her, his eyes shining now. He looked up and over her head at Poe. “And I love you, Moof Milker.”

Poe leaned over Rey and pushed his hand into Finn’s face. “I love you, too, Fart Face!”

Rey started giggling madly as she started tickling Poe.

He jerked back. “Hey! No fair!” He started tickling her back. Finn joined in and they wrestled with each other for a moment, but exhaustion soon overtook them all.

Curled up between her boys, it didn’t take long for Rey to fall asleep, knowing that whatever the future threw at her, she had finally found her happily ever after.

THE END

[tgmsunmontue]

It's all academic darlin' PART 9/10

PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8

Part 7 and 8 are Explicit. And nothing else makes sense without the first six parts but you do you!

PART NINE

            Jake goes through the next few minutes in a haze as he finishes the washing up and watches Bradley hug Admiral Kazansky good bye, telling him they’ll see him tomorrow. He’s told it was very nice to meet him and Jake returns the sentiment, meaning it wholeheartedly. Still difficult to think of the COMPACFLT as someone who makes amazing waffles and likes Star Wars, but he imagines he’ll get there. Bradley leans into his space, hooks fingers into the loops on his jeans and grins at him.

            “So. You survived.”

            “Yeah, he’s actually pretty cool.”

            “Well yeah, he’s… he was the steady presence for me. The one I felt like I could always call up and get advice. Proper advice. Not Mav’s just do it attitude, deal with the consequences later approach… It works for him but I’ve always been a little more careful.”

            “Risk averse?”

            “Not really, but definitely always wanted to weigh things up before committing properly.”

            Jake hums, because he’s wondering if he’s reading too much into that statement, that Bradley is saying something about not wanting to risk committing being with him. He doesn’t think so. It goes against everything Bradley has said and done in the last twenty-four hours but he can’t help the little niggle of doubt.

            “So… He gave you permission to tell your friends.”

            “You were listening huh?”

            “Of course I was. Ice knows I always listen in. More difficult to do when he’s only using ASL though. He’d have used pen and paper if he really didn’t want me to know.”

            “I’ll add it to my pile of stuff to learn…

            “You’re going to learn ASL?”

            “Well, I want to be able to understand whatever you guys are saying to each other. I mean, I thought this sign was pretty obvious,” he makes the two-handed gesture he had thought meant blowjob and Bradley snorts, rests his forehead on Jake’s shoulder and his laugh is gentle and quiet and he never wants this feeling of rightness to end.

            “Oh no, that’s totally the sign for what you think it is. Blow job.”

            “What?!”

            “It was a comment I made months ago, when Mav was telling me about you. About how you disobeyed orders and saved his life…”

            Jake can’t believe that Mav just talks about fucking top-secret missions. Obviously he’s assuming Bradley isn’t sharing it with anyone who doesn’t already know, but how the fuck has Admiral Kazansky not murdered Maverick yet?

            “How the fuck does Kazansky say anything at home?”

            “Well, he doesn’t,” Bradley says and Jake groans at the bad joke.

            “Shut up! You know what I mean!”

            Bradley laughs, shakes his head and shifts his hands from the belt loops to hook his hands behind Jake, pulling him close. He shoves his hands into the back pockets of Bradley’s jeans, needs somewhere to put them to stop feeling awkward.

            “Anyway, Mav told me about you saving his life and I jokingly asked him if he’d wanted me to give you a thank you blow job. You know he kept sending me things to do at the cabin, like he was trying to make me stick around until you got there. He likes to think he’s sneaky but he’s like a sheet of glass.”

            “So what, you’re with me because you’re grateful?”

            “Nope. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful, Mav is pretty fucking important to me. But I’m not with you because of that. You’re funny and intelligent and you aren’t intimidated by me or my career. That’s a pretty fucking amazing trifecta right there,” Bradley says, and he’s completely serious now, his eyes intent on Jake’s face like he really wants to press home how much he believes what he’s saying and Jake shifts uncomfortably, not used to being the subject of such an intense gaze.

            “And then… and then, on top of that, my dad, Mav, already likes you. Tomorrow night he was going to try and set me up with you a third time. And Ice? He thinks you’re hilarious. That you’ll, and I quote, fit in with our crazy family without even trying, end quote. I’ve adlibbed a bit. Anyway, those are five things which I find are pretty important. I usually don’t have the Mav and Ice approval so early on… Jesus Jake. Do you have any idea how amazing I think you are?”

            Jake swallows, throat tight and he shakes his head a little, because no, he didn’t think Bradley thought anything like that about him. Not like that.

            “And then there are the sprinkles and cherry, which are you getting on with my friends, maybe a little too well to be honest. And all of this? Wrapped up in something that looks like you do… it’s like hitting the jackpot.”

            “Oh.”

            “Too much?”

            “Maybe a little?” Jake says, unsure as he sucks in a shaky breath.

            “Okay… so what did you want to do today? We’ve got all afternoon and all night…”

            “Whatever will we do to entertain ourselves.”

            “I’ve got some ideas.”

…         …         …

            Bradley doesn’t know exactly where Jake’s insecurities come from, but the lack of him talking about his parents makes him wonder. Jake hasn’t said they were dead, only mentioned his brother and sister when they’d emailed about family. Jake is confident, cocky and a touch arrogant like every naval aviator Bradley has ever met. It hasn’t seemed to bleed into his relationships though, not if he’s never really had one. And maybe that’s the telling part. It’s okay, he can work with that. Finds himself willing to work with it, when Jake is just… leaving himself so open like this.

            They make out against the kitchen bench for a little while, there’s no sense of urgency for him. Not when he’s had more orgasms in the last twenty-four hours than he’s had the entire week prior. Still, there’s a low buzzing thrum of arousal in his body and he’s pretty sure that it will just become his natural state when Jake is nearby. Another thing he’s willing to work with.

            “So, are you going to tell them?” Bradley asks, because he’s insanely curious and part of him wants all of Mav’s usual machinations to be ruined just so he can see the look on his face for once.

            “Who? Oh, the other Daggers coming tomorrow? Yeah. Probably. Think I’d like to introduce you to Javy if that’s okay?”

            “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t it be? You met most of my friends last night.”

            “Javy is my best friend.”

            “Okay…?”

            “He’s definitely going to want to meet you…”

            “You want to have him around, cook dinner?”

            “No. I don’t want to spend time cooking for them when I’m still getting to know you.”

            “You’re secretly the sweetest, you know that?”

            Jake looks embarrassed, doesn’t meet his eye and Bradley kisses him again, slow and gentle, tries to reassure with every press of his lips. Then Jake is pulling back, eyes wide and he’d be worried except Jake looks delighted.

            “Oh my god… I can fuck with him. I can fuck with him so bad.”

            “What? Who?”

            “Javy… this is like a triple blind.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “He knows I’ve been emailing this professor. He probably isn’t picturing someone like you, when you think professor.”

            Bradley’s takes that for the compliment he assumes is there somewhere, grins and nods encouragement.

            “So I let him meet you, and he’s not going to expect you at all… then… do you have a photo album or something?”

            “No, Mav’s got most of them. I’ve got a couple of pictures somewhere. What do you want exactly?”

            “Picture of you and Mav…”

            “Oh… what, you going to bring him back and introduce me and then just hope he stumble across a photo album picture of me and Mav?”

            “Well, when you put it like that…”

            “Nah, I think I can think of something. Put some on the fridge maybe? I’ve got a graduation photo as well somewhere. I hide it because Kezia gives me shit about how young I look.”

            “Yeah… do you mind?”

            Bradley grins and shakes his head, is pretty sure Jake is now feeling the same glee he had when he realized he could maybe get Mav.

            “I’ve got to ring him, stupid asshole, trying to hide the fact that he’s in North Island…”

            Bradley pulls away slightly, clearly isn’t allowed to go to far as Jake refuses to remove a hand from his back pocket, tugs him close as he presses call on his phone and waits for his friend to answer.

            “Hey man, how’s it going?”

            “Hey. I’m good. And I have a bone to pick with you. You’re in North Island.”

            “How the fuck did you find that out? It was meant to be a surprise!”

            “A little bird told me…” Jake looks at Bradley then and he laughs silently, little bird indeed. Standing so close he can hear everything, especially with how Jake is angling the phone.

            “Who?”

            “Not important. Anyway, I wanted to talk about something. You know that guy I was emailing?”

            “Who? The professor guy?”

            “Yeah. Him.”

            “Ooohhh… you hot for teacher?”

            “Yeah. I am actually.”

            “Holy shit! Really? He’s not like old as fuck and walking around with a zimmer frame?”

            “No, no zimmer frame in sight.”

            Bradley laughs silently again, is a little horrified that maybe Jake at any stage thought that maybe Bradley was that old, but listens as Jake arranges to meet Javy for an early dinner in a few hours at one of the burger bars downtown. He hangs up and then kisses Bradley firmly.

            “Man this is going to be fun. I see why the Admiral is so excited about tricking Mav now… and why Mav must enjoy doing it to people.”

            “Do not encourage him. He doesn’t need encouragement okay?”

            “Yeah yeah… okay. Fuck. I’m sorry. I should have checked. Are you okay with me going out to dinner?”

            “Of course… I’m not your keeper or anything.”

            “But we’ve only just… met. I don’t want you to think that he’s more important –”

            “Jake. He’s your best friend. Has been your best friend for years. Someone who you also haven’t seen in over seven months I’m betting. He’s more important. I don’t mind at all.”

            He really doesn’t, the fact that Jake had immediately wanted to arrange to see his best friend, even if he’s using the excuse to fuck with him, tells him more than Jake probably realizes. That’s he’s loyal, and places importance on his relationships in equal measure. It’s a good sign. He can’t handle being the only person in anyone’s life, learnt that one early on.

            “Well, I know you have work to do. Don’t pretend you don’t… you were complaining about it in your last email.”

            “Yeah, but you’re here…”

            “I am here right now. And I’ll be back later. Consider it an incentive to get as much work done while I’m gone as you can…”

            “Yeah okay, I’ve always been pretty focused with the right motivation…”

            “Good to hear. You know what I want to do right now?” Jake asks, and both his hands are back on Bradley’s ass, gripping him through his pockets.

            “What?” Bradley asks, letting himself grind up against Jake with clear interest.

            “I want to fuck you.”

            “You going to ask nicely?”

            “Bradley, please, let me fuck you. I want to get my mouth on you, my fingers inside, stretch you open for my cock, then I want to fuck you and leave those marks all over your chest you asked for and want to see if you’ll beg me to touch your cock, or if you can come without that…”

            “Yeah… that’s pretty nice…”

…         …         …

            Jake leans down, latches his mouth on the sensitive nipples he’d discovered last night and sucks. Bradley’s cock jerks between them, a spurt of precum dripping from the head.

            “How are you so hot?”

            “Good genes…” Jake snorts, licks his way across Bradley’s chest.

            “You sure about these marks? You know I’m not a horny teenager unable to control myself…”

            “Channel your inner teenager, go to town okay? I want to look absolutely wrecked.”

            “This better not fucking backfire…” Jake mutters, because while he’s not generally a guy that gets off on leaving marks, it isn’t exactly a hardship to suck at Bradley’s body when he responds so beautifully, because him enjoying it is something that will get him off.

            “Trust me…”

            Jake can’t believe it, but he does, he really does. He thrusts forward, not quite getting the leverage he’d usually have considering he’s trying to mark Bradley up as much as humanely possible with his mouth.

            “You can leave more later, please, just fuck me… come on.”

            “Okay.”

            He lets himself focus on drawing back before snapping his hips forward, watching Bradley’s face carefully to gauge whether that’s okay. The way his eyes fall shut the same time his mouth gasps open he’s going to take it as a winner and he does it again again again, feeling his own orgasm coiling up in his gut. He can see a half-dozen bite marks starting to darken across Bradley’s chest and collar bone, feels an unexpected thrill. Inner teenager indeed.

            Bradley isn’t making any move to touch himself and he wonders if he needs or wants Jake’s hand on him, whether he’s holding back for some reason Jake’s not aware of. Bradley’s hands are all over Jake’s body instead, running over his chest, down his arms, digging into his shoulders and he’s getting close, wants to touch Bradley now but also wants to know what exactly might tip him over the edge. He has a hunch. He adjusts slightly, mostly maintaining his pace and then he scrapes a blunt nail across Bradley’s left nipple and bloody fucking hell. He almost jackknives up and headbutts Jake in the face, though the loud whine he makes has Jake doing in again; ready this time for the entire-body jerk and he presses down with more force, captures Bradley’s mouth in a hard kiss.

            Then he shifts again, sucks the same nipple into his mouth and yeah, Bradley’s coming, his voice making broken sounds that have Jake’s name mixed in and he licks one more time, savors the full body spasm that Bradley gives and then he fucks into him a few more times, watching Bradley as he lies almost catatonic beneath him, and Jake has never felt so fucking smug before in his life. Yeah. This is fucking amazing.

            Later, post showers, music playing in the background, they sit on the sofa, Bradley reading through essays he’s marking, constantly muttering under his breath and Jake can’t help but smile to himself every time Bradley grumbles and taps away, clearly making comments. Jake’s replied to some emails and is now reading the manual for one of the aircraft he’s going to be asked to inspect as part of his interview for the test pilot position, and he feels quietly comfortable. He makes a few notes, wonders if he could ask Mav some questions and guesses he can likely ask Mav many things now.

            He gets up and uses the bathroom, comes back through to the kitchen for a glass of water and sees there is already a new photo on the fridge and it’s Bradley as a toddler, with an incredibly young-looking Mav grinning at him. There’s a couple and he recognizes Nick Bradshaw from the Navy database photo. The woman must be Bradley’s mom. She has the same easy smile and a little part of him aches for the fact that he’ll never meet them but Bradley will never meet his own parents either so it doesn’t make him feel bad enough to dwell on it.

            He’s a bit peckish so he raids the fridge and cupboards, prepares a plate of cheese and crackers along with some apple slices and grapes; things that can be eaten one handed. He brings it back to the sofa, kicks at Bradley’s feet and passes him a glass of water, leaning down to give him a kiss before going back to his reading.

            “Thanks…”

            “I’ve got a vested interest in making sure your energy levels stay up.”

            “Yeah you do…”

            They grin at each other but lapse back into doing their own thing.

…         …         …

            He has no idea how he lost time so quickly, or how he quite got through so much marking. Definite motivation he guesses, glancing at Jake. At least that’s what he’s going to put it down to. Jake bringing him snacks has let him keep his momentum, rather than get distracted and it’s kind of nice to have someone else just showing that extra consideration. He hadn’t expected it and it makes him feel a little unprepared for just how easily Jake had just simply thought of him and what he might need.

            “Hey, I’m going to go, I’ll see you in a bit okay? I’ll bring you back dessert…”

            “Mmm… look forward to it.” Bradley says, deliberately misconstruing his meaning and running his eyes down Jake’s body meaningfully. Gets a playful shove in response and he laughs.

            “I meant ice cream, but sure, you can have me too…”

            “Wait, you want to take my car? And take the spare key.”

            “Uh… what?”

            “Take my spare keys. They’re on a hook behind the door. It’s not like I’m going anywhere. Then you don’t have to book a Lyft or be buzzed in, or knock on the door. That okay?”

            “Yeah. Okay. Yeah.”

            “Good.”

            “That made my brain go offline…”

            “More than the idea of me wanting to eat you for dessert? Clearly not doing a proper job of it.”

            “Fuck Bradley…”

            “Yeah, we’re pretty good at that…”

            “Oh my god, stop already. I’ve got to get going,” Jake mutters, but he still looks pleased, and definitely less spooked than he did mere moments before. “I’ll stop in at the grocery store on my way back. I’m bringing Javy back to meet you remember? So don’t strip yourself naked and wait for me on the bed. Do more work and I’ll see you later. Don’t forget to eat something more than cheese and crackers. You need anything for these brownies we’re apparently taking tomorrow?”

            “Oh. Dark chocolate. I like the idea of being naked and waiting for you in bed… we’ll have to explore that later.”

            Jake grins, gives him another kiss, firmer this time and Bradley presses into it.

            “I’ll pick up the chocolate.”

            “Thanks. Enjoy dinner with Javy…”

            “Will do.”

…         …         …

            He walks into the bar and spots Javy easily. He hadn’t expected for them to be joined by Trace and Floyd but there they are, all chatting with each other and dressed in civvies, and he slides into the spare seat at the table, greets them all.

            “You don’t seem surprised. Did the little bird tell you that they were here too?”

            “Yep. Dinner tomorrow night.”

            “Huh. I want to know who this birdy is… Mav?”

            “He’s really shit at keeping secrets sometimes,” Jake provides, thinking about Mav’s whole secret relationship with the Admiral, but then not stopping to think about sharing mission critical information with Bradley. Or Jake’s own medical history. The fact that he hadn’t exactly told Jake that they were in town, and Bradley had just let him overhear is something he won’t ever be admitting to.

            “How are you two?” Jake asks, because unlike Javy who he’s emailed a couple of times a week since they went on their first deployments in different directions, he doesn’t keep in regular contact with either of them, just the standard group chat that the Dagger Squad have which goes through peaks and troughs of communication. They talk about superficial things for a while, take in the ambience of the burger joint and place their order with the waitstaff.

            “Any particular reason we’re eating so early?”

            “I had a late breakfast so needed an early dinner.”

            “A late breakfast huh? Were you busy in bed?” Javy asks, grinning and leaning back, knowing he’s just let the cat out amongst the pigeons and Jake doesn’t care, because he’s going to get them all and he’s going to enjoy every fucking minute. Phoenix and Bob both look between him and Javy, expressions only mildly interested.

            “Yep. Sure was. Had someone special cook for me as well…”

            “Jake’s been emailing this professor guy, getting all hot and bothered via email!”

            “God, shut up…”

            “I’m not saying anything untrue!”

            “Well, we’re not emailing anymore, I met him yesterday. Properly,” he adds, thinking back to over ten months ago when he’d first met Bradley at the cabin.

            “Yeah? What’s he like?”

            “He’s great. He’s smart, and funny and understands being in the Navy pretty well for a civilian. We went rock climbing with his friends last night… I was going to ask if you wanted to meet him,” Jake says, looking at Javy, because he’ll know how significant that is. He’s never introduced anyone to Javy before.

            “Oh holy shit. You’re serious?”

            “Yeah. It’s pretty serious.”

            “Wow…” Javy says and Jake’s pretty sure he’s at a loss for what to say.

            “You got a picture or anything?”

            “Uh, no…” He doesn’t want to say they’ve been a bit busy to take selfies, although he will definitely want some photos next time he’s away from Bradley. Fuck. Bradley’s going to need a better phone with a decent camera and Jake can’t trust him with that. They’re going to have to figure out something though.

            “Look at that blush!”

            “Too busy with other things huh?”

            “Shut up. You want to meet him or not?”

            “Hell yes! I’m picking if he’s into rock climbing he’s not in his eighties.”

            “He’s a couple years older than me, and he can definitely keep up with me…” Jake says, and he realizes then that Bradley likely grew up training with Mav and being expected to go on runs with him and likes to exercise, rather than needing to do it as a requirement for his job like Jake needs to do.

            “And I’m sure you’ve tested that out…”

            “Yes, several times in fact,” Jake grins back, feeling pretty smug.

            “That invitation to meet him open to all of us?” Phoenix asks and Jake shrugs, like he doesn’t care either way, knows if he plays it too keen they’ll get suspicious.

            “Yeah, sure. Come and meet him. He already said he wants to meet Javy.”

            “Really?”

            “Yeah, he’s heard a lot about you…”

            Javy’s eyebrow goes up at that, and Jake grins, because he’s referring to Bradley’s comment about Mav talking about all the Dagger Squad. Bradley’s likely to have an idea of each of them through whatever Maverick thinks of them, which is a little humbling because from what Bradley has implied Mav seems to think Jake is somehow someone worthy of his respect. And time. Someone he thinks is good enough for Bradley to be with, and he finds that to be a pretty huge commendation on what Mav thinks of him.

            Their food arrives and he flicks a quick message to Bradley, no idea if he will even check it before Jake gets back to the apartment. Their conversation turns to work, talking about different aspects of training they’re each carrying out in different parts and he mentions he’s applied for the test pilot position at Fallon on Mav’s recommendation. Phoenix is taking an instructor role at Top Gun for the next two years, while Javy and Bob are slated to do training of new pilots at Pensacola for eighteen months. Jake doesn’t have any current orders, having only returned from a seven-month deployment at sea, but he’s hoping he’s at least going to be land-bound for the next little while even if he doesn’t get the test pilot position.

            “Okay, I need to go to the grocery store on the way back. I’m just getting some ice cream and chocolate. I’ll meet you guys outside the apartment building,” Jake says, giving them the address and watching them all plug it into the map app on their phones.

            “Can you get Moose Tracks?”

            “Who said the ice cream was for you?”

            “You mean you’re getting ice cream and chocolate and not going to share it with us?”

            “The chocolate is for the brownies we’re making for dinner tomorrow, not for eating.”

            “Just buy more chocolate.”

            “Wait. Is he coming to dinner tomorrow night?”

            Jake freezes, and shakes his head, thinks frantically.

            “Uh no, of course not. I’m just bringing some brownies for tomorrow. Bradley’s a really good cook…”

            “I was going to say, inviting the guy to Mav’s for dinner seems a little rude.”

            Jake laughs, wonders if they can here how crazy he’s feeling. This subterfuge shit is harder than he thought. God he needs to get back to the apartment.

            “I’ll see you guys there! Bye!”

…         …         …

            They’re waiting for him outside and he’s glad he didn’t tell them the apartment number. Wouldn’t have put it past them to buzz Bradley and ambush him before Jake got back. Javy is looking at the keys in his hand with a raised eyebrow and Jake simply makes a what would you have me do face. He’s aware he’s falling hard and fast, but he also feels like Bradley’s a giant safety net ready to catch him. He opens the apartment door, trying to be a little noisy to give Bradley some warning, because his five phone messages have all gone unanswered and he wonders if it’s finally death-knell time for his current phone. For all he knows ten months might be a personal record.

            “Hi…” Bradley says, appearing in the doorway to the hall and he’s clearly had a shower and changed, no longer wearing the tank and sweats he’d lounged around in most of the day. Instead he’s in jeans and a dark blue Henley, looking all sorts of delectable and Jake gives him an approving smirk and gets an eyeroll back in return, it’s accompanied with a grin though and yeah, he’s falling and falling, doesn’t want to stop.

            “Hey. Uh. These two were there as well.”

            “Okay,” Bradley says, walking over and holding out a hand to shake, starting with Javy and he bites back a comment about making Mav proud with his manners.

            “Bradley, this is Javy Machado, Natasha Trace and Bob Floyd. Javy, Natasha and Bob, this is Bradley Bradshaw.”

            “Hey man, nice to meet you,” Javy says, shaking Bradley’s hand, and he’s definitely scrutinizing Bradley for asshole vibes and Jake can’t help but feel a deep swell of appreciation for his best friend. Yeah. He’s got his back. Bradley is shaking Natasha and Bob’s hands and then reaching for the grocery bag.

            “Let me take that and put it in the freezer… Wow. Did we really need four different flavors of ice cream?”

            “Well, I don’t know your favorite, so I got vanilla and chocolate, and then she wanted the Moose Tracks,” Jake says, pointing at Phoenix who looks suitably annoyed at being thrown under the proverbial bus. “And when I’m already getting three tubs of ice cream I figured I might as well round it out with strawberry. And I got fudge sauce…”

            “Fair argument. I prefer vanilla with fudge sauce, so top marks…” Bradley says, throwing him a wink and Jake flushes, because he knows Javy is going to take that as some sex role-play thing when it’s not, just a reference to their conversation yesterday. Fuck. Was it only yesterday?

            “Make yourselves at home, does anyone want tea or coffee? Bowls of ice cream? Or are we all wanting to forgo bowls and just eat directly from the tubs and enter sugar highs side-by-side?”

            He walks towards the kitchen and Phoenix and Bob follow him and he lets Javy tug him to the side a little.

            “He is not what I imagined.”

            “Nope. Pretty fucking hot right?”

            “I mean… I guess? I’m more impressed with the way he looks at you like he’d give you the world if you asked for it. I was worried that you were gone on this guy, but he seems pretty gone on you too, so… that’s good. You deserve a guy that wants to do everything for you.”

            Jake nods sharply, because he gets that. In theory. It’s nice to hear, even if hearing and feeling it so much in the last day has felt overwhelming, even if it has been positive. He glances up and Javy is looking at him like he understands, gives Jake a quick hug before heading to the kitchen to join the other two in getting ice cream. He glances around the living room and sees two new photo frames, Bradley’s graduation photo with Maverick set at about eye-level, and another frame set at about knee height, where the Admiral is in uniform with Bradley standing beside him, so there’s definitely no mistaking him and he grins.

            “Are you sure we haven’t met, you just look really familiar,” Phoenix is saying, like she’s trying to place him and Jake hides his grin. Wonders if Bradley knows Mav has a photo of him on his desk. An old photo, but still a photo.

            “Maybe I just have one of those faces?” Bradley suggests, catching Jake’s eye.

            They’ve clearly decided to start in on the ice cream, digging in and serving themselves up and using bowls; the kitchen isn’t big enough for five people, so he reaches to give Bradley a kiss across the counter and Bradley obliges by meeting him halfway. It feels so easy and the rollercoaster ride does a loop-de-loop again.

            “Jesus Bagman, did you become a vampire while you were deployed?”

            Jake looks to see what she’s talking about and Bradley’s Henley has pulled slightly, caught between the counter and his body as he stretched across to kiss him; revealing the highest of the marks Jake left and another a little lower. Bradley pulls back, tugging the Henley back into place and shrugs, clearly not embarrassed at all so Jake decides to follow his lead and just smirks at her eyeroll. Bob has headed out to inspect the bookshelves and Jake can feel the anticipation growing.

            “So, what do you do Bradley?”

            “I’m an engineer. A problem solver.”

            “Well, good thing you’re with the biggest problem we have then.”

            “Hey!” Jake objects, but they’re all laughing at him and he rolls his eyes, flicks them the middle finger, but Bradley is wrapping his arms around Jake’s waist and kissing his shoulder.

            “If you’re a problem then it’s the kind of problem I like to have…”

            The look Javy gives him is flat, like he thinks Jake is maybe an idiot for thinking that Bradley is somehow not into him. Or maybe Javy is the idiot, because there is no way that Jake is letting this go.

            “Hey Phoenix, do you mind putting the ice-cream back in the chiller?”

            She lets out a put-upon sigh but does it with a mouthful of ice cream, spoon hanging out of her mouth and Jake waits, watches as she opens and then closes the door, her eyes catching the photo. She’s generally more observant than Javy so he’s hoping she’ll get the ball rolling, or Bob will see the photos on the bookshelves first.

            “Is this… Who are these people in this photo?”

            “My parents and godfather…” Bradley says. “And me as a kid obviously. My dad died not long after that photo was taken actually.”

            “Oh… I’m sorry,” Phoenix says, looking uncomfortable and Jake wonders if that’s going to derail everything, but Javy is now looking as well, then glancing at Bradley.

            “Thanks. It’s fine. Was a long time ago now obviously. My godfather really stepped up and helped my mom raise me. She passed over twenty years ago though, so that’s one of my few family photos.” Jake hadn’t really put all that together and he wonders where Bradey usually keeps it.

            “I’m sorry, I just have to ask, what’s your godfathers name?”

            “Pete.”

            “Peter Mitchell. Maverick,” Javy states, looks to Bradley for confirmation and he gives a nod. Jake grins, pretty impressed Javy put I together the fastest. “Plus you have a moustache that belongs in a porno from the 80s…” Javy adds and Bradley’s eyebrows shoot up, he looks to Jake and Jake coughs, his ice cream catching in his throat with an aborted laugh. He’d forgotten he’d said that.

            “Holy shit, you’re Mav’s son. He has your photo on his desk,” Phoenix says. “That’s why you looked familiar!”

            “Guilty as charged. Don’t hold it against me. Jake wanted to have a little fun…”

            “Hey! Don’t blame this on me!”

            “It was you going on about a triple blind…”

            “What are you guys talking about?” Bob asks, coming back to stand in the kitchen and he’s looking between them all and he wonders if he heard the conversation.

            “Bradley here is Mav’s son.”

            “Oh. Huh. That explains the photo of him on the bookcase. I was going to ask how you knew him.”

            “You must know Mav’s partner. Oh my god! You almost slipped up and told us he was coming to dinner tomorrow, because of course he’s coming to dinner tomorrow. At least you don’t have to worry about introducing the boyfriend to Mav!” Phoenix says, laughing and Jake shrugs, because she has a point. Not that he’d ever really thought about seeking Mav’s approval for that part of his life.

            “Wait, so you’ve already met Mav’s partner? It’s a guy right? That’s the big secret right? What with DADT and everything…”

            “That was definitely part of it… but uh…” He stops, feels unsure suddenly, because even though Admiral Kazansky gave him explicit permission, and Jake clarified, that he’s expecting Jake to tell them, so Mav can’t ambush them with the same information tomorrow he realizes the amount of trust he’s been given.

            “His partner’s also in the Navy. I met him this morning.”

            “Is it Cyclone?”

            “Idiot! He’s met Cyclone. Will we know them?”

            “Yes. And its going to fuck you all up so much…”

            “You’re enjoying this way too much,” Javy mutters.

            “He told me to call him Tom and made me waffles this morning, and I’m still processing it okay? I just want to make you all freak out like I did…”

            “Can’t you just tell us?” Phoenix asks, looks at Bradley and he shakes his head. Jake blinks. He just said his first name. What the fuck?

            “Nope. Jake made me put clues out and everything. Pretty sure you can figure it out. And you’re right, it’s not Beau.”

            “Did you just call Admiral Simpson by his first name?”

            Jake snorts, lets out a little laugh and catches Bradley’s eye, clearly amused.

            “I call most of them by their first names. Some of them I’ll call uncle… And I’m just a civilian remember.”

            “Holy shit,” Bob says, voice quiet and Jake looks to see what he’s looking at.

            Sure enough he’s finally noticed the picture of Bradley and Admiral Kazansky, sitting the perfect height to be noticed if you’re sitting down, but not if you’re standing.

            “Admiral Tom Kasansky.”

            “Bullshit,” Javy says, emphatic and Jake just smirks, knows he’s got a couple more bullshits to get through before he starts to accept it.

            “Are you… you’re… holy shit. You’re serious.,” Bob says, looking between Jake and Bradley and then back to the photo.

            “Yep,” Jake says, popping another spoon of ice cream in his mouth.

            “Is he telling the truth? I mean, anyone can doctor photos now…” Phoenix says, and again she’s skipping over him to talk directly with Bradley.

            “All true. I mean, I call him Ice because I grew up calling him that.”

            Javy makes a high pitched sound that Jake will take as something equal to a second bullshit.

            “Anyway, he wanted to meet Jake without the whole formal dinner thing. So he came around and made waffles.”

            “Bullshit. No fucking way did the COMPACFLT make fucking waffles!”

            “He did, and he is telling the truth,” Bradley says, starting to look a little worried that Javy seems to be freaking out. Jake moves an arm to wrap around his waist, gives him a quick wink to try and convey that everything is okay and it seems to relax him.

            “Wait… you seriously met Admiral Kazansky this morning?”

            “Tom,” Jake provides, ignoring the immediate sense of wrongness at the name, but he’s going for shock value.

            “Bullshit…” Javy says again, but it’s quieter now, and Jake can tell he's processed the worst of it.

            “Nope. He told me to call him Tom.”

            “I need a fucking drink.”

            “I can help with that,” Bradley says.

PART TEN

[gg-selvish]

wearing a shirt during sex to signify a lack of power in smut - gn trifecta 2023

the fics i'm going to talk about are all georgenap fics i wrote this year, and i consider them while different in their own way essentially the same fic because of the formula of writing it and also this key detail of the eventual smut of each long oneshot

nbd + when we're older, + maple syrup (your purple sweater)

this was made half-seriously with milo @daydreamdnn but basically it shows how each fic has their similarities but dumbs down to roughly the same kind of vibe. anyways onto the shirts...

nbd:

nbd is probably the least angsty of all of the fics because george's anguish throughout is seen as pretty silly by the reader and you know it's gonna have a happy ending so you're not really concerned. in the fic, however, george's position is dire to him. seeing sapnap get with a girl is a huge hit to his ego and he finds himself incredibly insecure in general but also just in regards to his place with sapnap. so george keeps his shirt on for their first time even though he's all dominant and in control because he's not actually running the show or in power, the whole fic the power has belonged to sapnap. george keeping his shirt on during the smut really has little to do with the smut despite the fact that sex is a big intimate thing and george keeping his shirt on shows that he's not ready to be that vulnerable with sapnap yet, he knows he has power over him. he learned that well from this.

when we're older:

when we're older is next angstiest for sure. a lot goes down between those two and i was actually surprised to see this wasn't the one where they're both shirtless until i thought about it a bit more and it makes sense. this fic is split 2/2 in sapnap/george scenes and in the sapnap scenes he's pretty earnestly treated like shit by george so the whole fic he has these lingering trust issues with him that even go past their smut scene. after they have sex sapnap still doubts that george loves him even though he straight up confesses to him because he's been done so dirty. so in this intimate space together he keeps himself covered to protect himself because he knows he's powerless and weak to george, and always has been.

maple syrup (your purple sweater):

this one is weird. this is the angstiest and most fucked up fic of the three and probably that i posted this year but in this smut scene they're both completely naked for each other not because they trust each other but because they have history that the other aus don't. the power in this scene is very messy. george is actively manipulating sapnap into sex but sapnap is something that george needs so really his reactions to george hold far more power than george's manipulation tactics. it's very fucky and tricky and they both are in a weird position over each other so they just are both bare and exposed for the other to see. because these are the only ones that aren't friends to lovers, they're exes to lovers. so getting naked was so second nature they didn't consider keeping a shirt on for safety or comfort, they're sapnap and george and they're gonna have sex so they're naked. so they're both raw and vulnerable with power dynamics spinning like a top and guess what? it explodes. sapnap gets burned. no one is protecting themself so someone gets hurt.

--

do you see how it's all the same? the stats on these fics drive me a bit bonkers because everyone's scared of maple syrup while the other two have almost identical stats. they're all the same! just slightly different. anyway i hope this was interesting :) thanks to @lemon-mint813 for helping me organize this exploration of these fics :)

[worldismyne]

Kirona fics recs.

"@worldismyne thank you! I'll check it out! Yeah, I'd love some recs. I prefer Crona as a boy (trans or cis) but I still like fics with them as non-binary or a girl."

------

Alright, it's been a hot minute since I read some of these, so any ff.net recs are vaguely remembered through rose color glasses, but they def left an impact on me.

Masc recs...

The Lycan and the Vampire (T - Incomplete)

Summary: Crona is a lycan via bitten. Kidd is a vampire by birth. Kidd hates the lycans. Crona doesn't know how to deal with a vampire. Male!CronaXKidd. Rated T for sexual references mentioned mostly by a Lycan

Review: I am paranormal romance cringe. I remember this fic being the first I remembered when thinking of good MxM Kirona. The AU was fairly well world built as well.

Kid x Crona : Hades and Persephone (G - Hiatus)

Summary: Have you ever wondered if there was more to the story of Hades and Persephone? That there was more than what was said in stone?

Review: This is a mythology AU. I just got started with this one, but I'm a sucker for greek mythology. Seems pretty cute so far.

The Difference Between Us (M - Incomplete)

Summary: An ongoing Death the Kid x Male!Crona fanfic. Kid shows Crona what it means to be loved. Slow paced and many chapters long.

Review: tldr, have not read this one, 1st person is not my jam. But, the people for people who do like it (according to other reviews) it's got solid characterization and is a decent long fic to settle in with.

NB recs...

Beneath All the Hate and Despair (T - Incomplete)

Summary: Even after switching sides and making peace with most of Maka's friends, Crona has a rocky transition into Kid's good graces. Things get even more difficult when traces of Medusa crop up. An exploration of two wildly different but curiously similar people that come closer together. Mostly canon compliant, but an AU of sorts. NB Crona. (Revamped fic)

Review - This is the OG for me, and by that I mean how young me found out about they/them pronouns. (I didn't really get it at the time, but I still read the whole thing AND the author went back 10 years later to do another copy edit once they had more expirence. Mad respect.)

Stir the Cauldron (T - Updating)

My summery: A continuation of the manga where Kid uses his new powers to help save Crona.

Review - Really nice getting to see Kid adjust to being the new Lord Death, the internal dialogue is really on point. Bonus points for addressing Ragnarok and having Crona be artificially made (gotta be one my fav HC).

Devestation Rots (NR - Complete)

Summary: In which Kid is shattered by the loss of two people very important to him.

Review: Cute hurt/comfort two-shot. Bonus points for Liz/Patty + Kid in a sibling dynamic.

-----

I read mostly fem!Chrona longfics way back. So The Birth of Scelus the Kishen and Child Born of Love are the absolute classic longfics that have survived (I could have sworn there were four or five others, they may have been deleted). But both of them are complete and rated T. I have 0 clue how well they've held up, but they got me through many a class and roadtrip growing up.

There is 10 pages of fics on ff.net (the ship predates the ship filter feature. So just pop in romance into genre and only have them as the listed characters). There used to be more, but like I said, people like to delete their old stuff.

キックロ or Kikkuro is the ship name in Japanese if you ever want to look for art on other sites. I know there were a few doujins back in the day, but very few were translated to English at the time.

It's so interesting to see a ship that used to be in the main trifecta of ships fall out of favor. I'm mostly writing for other ships now too, so I'm not complaining lol.

Daughter of Madness is the longest fic I ever wrote and now with the sequel, they've fully transitioned from she/her egg to they/them god X'D

I still love these two together in any interpretation. So if you ever get brainrot or wanna talk headcanons, my inbox is open lol.

EDIT 10 Pages of fics when browsing on mobile, 28 if you're on web.

[bloodiedbeloveds]

charming disaster trifecta au

thanks to @my-deer-friend for enabling us! there's more plot that isn't in this post, but this lays out the premise decently

this AU name sounds like word salad, but actually it makes perfect sense with the context that "charming disaster" is the name of a goth-folk band and this entire au is based on three of their songs. linking the songs in the section headers!

this post contains murder and bad consent practices

"What Remains": John & Eliza

growing up in a small town is hard enough without having been born as a magician. John & Eliza are bonded by their shared experiences and are very close starting in middle school. they read every relevant book in the library and spent hours at a time in the woods together, trying to shape the power inside them into something that can be tamed

they grow sideways into strange young people with wild eyes and secret, twisting thoughts. they learn to rule themselves but not how to fit in. they become steadily more distant from everyone else; no one else can accept them or their aspirations. their more mundane mental illnesses don't help

in late June, after they've both graduated from high school, John accidentally murders Francis

(that awkward moment when you're lying in the grass with your boyfriend and he begins to talk about magicians and crazies and he says he doesn't mean you but he doesn't listen when you argue back and you pull your hand away from his and swallow your sick sense of realization. that awkward moment when you meet him after a long night of ritual practice in a desperate attempt to keep yourself steady and he finally calls you a nutcase to your face and the strength of your fury chokes him)

John never meant for anything like this to happen and he spends a long time sobbing over Francis's body in a birch clearing before he goes to find Eliza

they can fix this. they know they can. they can hide it. John considers suicide but Eliza won't let him so they drag the body to the river and complete their work

they fuck up! John doesn't know they fucked up until the next day; Eliza never finds out. they are successful in making it look like an accident, in letting the river claim him and wash them both clean. John's guilt is taken from him, but so is everything else. he wakes alone in a strange room with no memory of his personal history

he doesn't know he is meant to speak to Eliza. he sits through the funeral of a stranger and disappears at midnight a week later. he intends never to return to these people who love and resent a person he doesn't remember.

Eliza doesn't know why he left her. she doesn't know anything about what happened to him. why would he leave me, she cries to the dark woods and the pale sky the morning after his departure; nothing answers. when she leaves their hometown, when she finds her way in the world, she does it with a still-broken heart.

"Sympathetic Magic": Alex & John

Alex wasn't born a magician; he's just very bad at taking no for an answer and when his local witch told him at nine years old he would never be able to imitate her, he took that as a challenge

he's not very good at magic, at all. mostly this is because he can't stick to one thing and is trying to cozy up with practitioners of every single goddamn discipline

John has by this time grown from a weird isolated teenager into a weirder, even more isolated adult who lives on a house on a hill surrounded on one side by mountains and on the other by a vast, windswept plain. he also finally has actual friends who actually like him and invite him to social events, which he attends on occasion when he's capable of leaving home. (all his friends are also magicians.)

Alex managed to get an invitation to a seance held by one of John's friends (this is mostly a social thing-- they do in fact attempt to contact some spirits, but the point of the evening is to catch up with everyone). John attends and spends the first two hours being asked by everyone he knows how his latest project is going, then locks eyes with Alex across the room and starts telling people he'll write them a letter about it later

at the end of the evening they kiss beneath a yew tree. John, giddy and exhilarated, is not as careful as he should have been; Alex, ever observant, does not disturb the strands of hair which clung to his jacket when they parted

they write to each other, but their relationship quickly turns sour, because John refuses to teach Alex basically any magic. in retaliation, Alex makes a poppet and begins to torture him. yes, this is a kink thing. no, it's not a good idea at all

eventually John, feeling violated, uses his small army of possessed birds to try to kill him

"Blacksnake": Eliza & Alex

Eliza as an adult is more well-adjusted than John, though that's not really a high bar to clear. for a magician she's relatively social, by which we mean that she lives in the middle of a desert and curses people who show up at her house unexpectedly, but is capable of visiting her friends a few times a week.

when she left her hometown she joined a secret society. after discovering that there are many different secret societies, many of which are not nearly as weirdly controlling yet impersonal as her first group, she left it and flirted with membership in a few different societies before settling on her current group. they are part social club, part study group, part religious gathering. (one of the members was john's mentor, but neither of them are aware of this connection.)

she knows that John's alive. she's kept some of his old possessions for years. she still remembers what his magic feels like. when she sees a cloud of sparrows barrelling towards a stranger on the disused highway near her home she knows who sent them and longs once again to rip out her heart

she saves Alex mostly out of spite. then, because he's pretty, she takes him home. Alex, who has no sense of self-preservation, agrees to go with her, lets her dress his wounds, has sex with her, and falls asleep in her bed. while he's asleep Eliza steals a chunk of his soul from him

she starts appearing in his home at night when she feels like it. she curses him occasionally. they have violent sex. he tries to keep her out but nothing ever works for long

(yes, Alex at this point knows one magician who he could kill (which is hot) and one magician who could kill him (which is hot). being on the receiving end of dubiously consensual magic kink doesn't discourage him from continuing to treat John as a plaything. don't try this at home)

eventually, John tracks Alex to Eliza's house to try again to kill him. he doesn't recognize Eliza. she is not pleased

[adelaidedrubman]

UQUIZ TRIFECTA

been falling behind bad on these lately but @voidika and @roofgeese tagged me for a uquiz threefer, so what better chance to play catch up! sending tags to @florbelles @unholymilf @belorage @henbased @direwombat @socially-awkward-skeleton @shallow-gravy @purplehairsecretlair @poetikat @harmonyowl @deputyash @schoute @confidentandgood @derelictheretic @inafieldofdaisies @strafethesesinners @strangefable @trench-rot @corvosattano @jackiesarch @bluemojave for any of these you haven’t done and wanna!

which uniquely human interaction are you?

LATE NIGHTS AND HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER. desperately fighting air into your lungs you can make another joke or laugh louder. you are the fight. you are saying "life is good and bright and wonderful if only you let it be so" you are every hushed giggle in the back of classrooms. every inside joke. every bit of banter between friends. you are the essence of laughter.

what kind of touch do you possess?

STIMULATING TOUCH. you are an intense feeling that energizes others. you feel it throughout your body, oozing out of your fingertips. you're the bustling subway stations, the final goal that wins the game, and the tilting point of going down a rollercoaster. you're keep the group on their toes and always suggest new and exciting things to do. everyone loves the energy you bring and your eyes that seem to light up and brighten the room. you hate doing the same things everyday and completing monotonous chores. keeping moving and active is how you feel alive. after all, what's the point of living life if you cant enjoy it to its fullest?

what kind of a time loop are you stuck in?

MODERN ROM-COM. have you ever been in love? do you want to do it again? will they like you this time? what about next time? what will you change, what are you willing to give up? will you be the same at the end of it all? will they? maybe just try again. and again. and again. and again.

which uniquely human interaction are you?

A ROOMBA NAMED TEVIN. every single tiny machine created has a name. you are the spirit that gave them the name. you are saying "we both live on the earth so you must also have an experience." you are every friendship with a plastic toy. every thank you to digital assistants. you are creating friendship wherever you can see it.

what kind of touch do you possess?

CREATIVE TOUCH. you are a gem. you pride yourself on creating and sometimes you feel it defining your personality. sometimes you can be a bit scattered and messy, but it just helps your brain think that way. you have your own aesthetic and you know its incredibly cool. you are most in your element when you are doing what you love. sometimes the process is SO frustrating but the proudness of a finished product is what keeps you going. you often compare yourself to others and are the harshest critic of your own work. you are immensely talented and you are inspire others. keep doing what you are doing, love.

what kind of a time loop are you stuck in?

SCI-FI HORROR. there is always something behind you, but you will never see it…have you seen it? you don't think you can remember now. maybe take another look, just a little glance. what’s one more time, right? just once more, once more, once more…

[bluelolblue]

On your post asking for prompts: I’ve always been curious about the “impossible task.” What exactly did Santino do to help John? How close did he come to losing his own life in the process, knowing all the while that doing this for John would mean giving him to Helen and seeing him married - and then possibly never seeing him again? What if he was already in love with John at that point, enough to set him free despite his own feelings?

Just makes me think.

P.S. I need to go binge your fics at some point because all I’ve read so far is the threesome loooool, so it’s my bad if this is one you’ve already written! Am I about to get obsessed with Santino too? Completing the JVS trifecta??

OOH THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D

I always wanted to write about "The impossible task" and there are many possibilities for it, many ideas, lots of opportunities to make it more fun yk yk 👀

This idea sounds really interesting and I'll definitely add that to my Santino x John fic ideas. Like, Santino coming close to losing his own life just to give John the freedom, knowing that John's gonna get married and live freely, leaving the assassin life behind him, which means, leave Santino behind, too. Really sounds interesting, thank you for this!

Don't worry, I'm always happy to hear out ideas for fics even if I wrote something similar which so far never happened and I doubt it will because there are so many ideas for fics, especially with these two. Just throw them into anything really, they can handle it (I hope, bc I'm not going too easy on them)

YAYAY get obsessed with Santino, he deserves more love and credit (let this silly Italian take over your mind) ^ ^

Feel free to share more ideas! Much appreciated for this! :3

[kyoyaburger]

you have been selected by BONES animation studio to help them create one 20 minute special animated short. The premise is taking 3 anime characters from any anime ever (no repeats so no 2 characters from the same anime) and having them sit down having a round table discussion while eating burgers. you get to choose the 3 anime characters in question. who are you choosing.

Oh shit..what an amazing opportunity, thank you so much BONES....

I'll pick Kaoru for one. Would like to watch him pick at it politely but ultimately be too distracted trying to find a way to slip Cinderella into the conversation.

Let's get that twink from Love Stage in there too. Really any yaoi twink would be good for the role so they can go "oh this is just too much food >_<!! I don't know if my small frail body can handle this much meat!! Uwaaaaa!!" (It's a single McDonald's hamburger). But thought of having 3 characters voiced by Greg Ayres in this sounds like a really good course of action.

To complete the Greg trifecta I'll add Nagisa from Free because I think he'd actually be pretty normal. He'd say "yaaay this is so yummay!!!!! ^_^" and be able to keep conversation going while the other two blunder around. He really balances things out.

[veilder]

Q's for writers: 16 & 25

Thank you for the questions, dear Anon! :D (For the ask game here!)

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

Haha, this is such a funny question! And I'm racking my brain trying to think of something clever to say, but... Man, I think my worst offense is probably the flap of a pack of Orbit gum that is still currently in my copy of Lord of the Rings. XD It's been there for so long? It's even a different design than the current packaging now, lol. But that's all I can really think of. XD

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story? Man! You know, I spend all this dang time thinking about characters and how to write them and their backstories and such... And here I am drawing a complete blank. XD Okay, wait! Y'know what? How about my headcanon for Elijah Kamski from DBH? Specifically the reason he was ousted from CyberLife and how he ended up where he is in canon? The entire thing is... very long and detailed, lol! But the short version is: Kamski was a child genius with opportunistic parents who was thrust into a world he wasn't emotionally prepared for. He struggled with relating to his peers and really only found solace in his college mentor, Amanda Stern, who became something like a mother figure to him. She's the one who really encouraged and fostered his talents, encouraging him to strike out and found his business at such a tender age, and she became one of the founding members alongside him, a steadfast support on his Board of Directors. (I hc there was also a third member of this little founder trifecta, but that's not important rn.) After CyberLife was established and the first androids were set to market, Kamski's innovations continued as he preferred the hands-on R&D to the actual minutiae of running a business. Gradually, the Board would take more and more responsibilities from him, especially after Amanda's health begins to worsen, which would eventually lead to her death soon after. Around the same time, a grief-stricken Kamski would throw himself back into his work, and it's then he'd begin noticing odd discrepancies in his field trials, eventually leading to him formulating his original Theory of Deviancy. But by now, CyberLife is taking off like a damn rocket. When Kamski brings his findings to the Board and puts forward his motion to halt business until he can figure out what exactly is happening, he's overruled. With Amanda's passing, her share of the stock would be seized by the third founder, and Kamski would've been in no place to intercede even if he'd known it was happening. At this point, he's well and truly lost control of the business he helped build from the ground up, his CEO title nothing more than a cheap title the Board uses to placate their shareholders and the public at large. But all of this leaves Kamski in a very dangerous place. His best ally is gone, his powerful empire usurped, and his creations may not be as infallible as he once thought. The last straw is when his experimental RK prototype schematics are seized, though it would take years for CyberLife's engineers to even be able to decipher them, much less catch up to his original craftsmanship. (Hence why CyberLife's RK800 is more or less on par with the far older RK200.) He tries to sabotage the takeover of his own intellectual property, but by ordinance, it belongs to CyberLife. He has no choice but to surrender his creations (though the completed RK200 "Markus" is spared due to a legal loophole of him being gifted to a third party). But he does end up having to surrender the RK100.

I have a whole pet theory about that, too, but suffice to say, the Amanda in the Zen Garden who acts as Connor's handler is the original prototype RK100. The initial experiment was a sort of memory preservation attempt, as the human Amanda's body began to fail her. Kamski wouldn't tried to find some way to save her, and making a sort of imprint of her mind was one of his attempts. Sadly, Amanda would pass away before the full prototype could be built, though the imprints of her mind would remain as the bodiless RK100 in it's virtual world. Kamski would then painstakingly craft the virtual Zen Garden as a space for her, as a sort of memorial to his beloved mentor, which CyberLife would then revamp as a sort of AI to sync with their RK800 series. After that, Kamski would resign his position, leaving with his fortune to become the recluse we find him as in his mansion. He takes with him his first Chloe, the RT600, who he created before CyberLife's bylaws were drafted and so was exempt from the seizure. He would build her multiple bodies that could function independently, but all have access to the same sort of hivemind. And he would begin plotting to take down his former company in the coming years. Starting with purchasing an old, abandoned freighter permanently docked within CyberLife's very shadow... ...Haha, well, I said I wouldn't get into it, but I kinda did. XD Suffice to say, I have *a lot* of thoughts about Kamski that have never actually made it into any of my fics, lol! But I do genuinely think he wants his androids to succeed in their revolution. Now, whether that stems from some sort of twisted altruism, a megalomaniacal god complex, or just good old revenge against the people who wronged him, who's to say? Could be any of those or something else entirely. Could be everything combined. But he does seem particularly invested in his androids triumphing over their human masters and how that will shape history going forward. (And there's also that deleted dialogue of his where, if Markus fails, Kamski himself dares to take up the mantle of leader, which is... 👀👀👀) Anyway, hope that answers your question, lol! Thank you for sending these in, Anon! :D

[aceparagoned]

i think i finally figured out why the series that were running during decade's run (kamen rider decade, fresh precure, and samurai sentai shinkenger) mean so much to me on multiple levels.

back in september 2012, my grandma lost her battle against her pulmonary fibrosis and this, more or less, devastated me because she was not just my grandma, but someone that i could talk to about anything and everything. she always was my cheerleader who made me believe that i could do anything i put my mind to, raised me herself when my mom was busy getting her masters in teaching, took me to so many vacations and we always had so much fun together.

so, having her be gone from my life was a horrible blow that i think really worsened my depression to where i'd spend most of my day in bed and tend to not do anything, which is why it took me three years to finish my associates from itt tech.

but then, i had a friend introduce me to precure while i was still grieving and my very first season was fresh, a series that i still hold near and dear to my heart. hearing the upbeat opening and endings helped a metric fuckton and i had something to look forward to when my friend and i would watch those episodes together every day.

then, the very same friend told me to watch samurai sentai shinkenger, and to this day, hearing psychic lover's "chan chan bara, chan chan bara~" is still an earworm that'll get me to sing along to the opening, no matter how bad my japanese pronunciation is. it wasn't until i completed the trifecta of the 09 super hero time series by watching the crossover episode that i also became interested in decade as well and started to watch that, too. i really enjoyed seeing tsukasa, natsumi, yusuke and daiki on my screen every time i watched an episode and each episode definitely brought me to tears (shinkenger and fresh precure also did the same thing, too.)

because of fresh, shinkenger, and decade, i was able to process my grief a lot easier and start to heal so that my grandma could see that i'm still moving forward and improving myself while still keeping her in my heart.

thank you to decade, fresh, and shinkenger for being there for me to grieve easier, and overall, keep on bettering myself day by day.

[briamichellewrites]

78

Bria surprised the band with Mama and Slash. They were happy to have a kitten break. They had come from the vet, which they did not like! They hissed and Slash swatted at the assistant. It took a while for them to calm down. Once the appointment was over, they got to play together on the floor while Bria talked to the vet. She tried to make the carrier as friendly as possible by putting in familiar toys and a blanket with their scents on it.

Now, they were both being spoiled with attention and petting. The trauma of going to the vet was almost entirely forgotten. Mama made sure her brother behaved himself. Meow. Bria put some treats on the table. They both ate the treats happily. Thank you, human! Phoenix scratched Slash under his chin. That felt good! The guys were amused by the cats. Mama chewed on Rob’s finger.

He tasted like a human. Joe joked about putting their meows on the new album. They laughed. What was Bria up to for the rest of the day? She answered that she was hanging out with Brad and his friend, Bradley at her place. Maybe they could invite Brad to complete the trifecta. As much fun as that sounded, he had to stay and work. Chester asked if she could hang out. They made plans for him to text her when he was on his way over.

He then clarified that he was one hundred percent sober! Brad thanked him for clarifying. Yes, he was sober but it was getting hard to resist temptation. His mind was killing him and the only way to get rid of the abuse was to get high or drunk. Alcohol made the abuse worse. As much as he wanted to relapse, he also just wanted his best friend. That was what she was to him.

Finally, he met someone who understood what he was going through. She didn’t get angry with him for his addiction or throw him out. Instead, she invited him in and listened to him. If Joe wasn’t going to ask her out, he would. Mike asked him later in private about hanging out with Bria. He just needs a friend right now. It had nothing to do with drugs. Joe knew that he was going to ask her out because he knew everything going on in the band.

She would say yes to him because they were close friends. As happy as he would be for him, he knew in his heart it would never be him. Mike read his face. Usually, he wasn’t easy to read. Now, he read everything. He pulled him into a hug and insisted he came over. Okay.

Bria was making dinner while hanging out with Brad and Bradley. They were having fun laughing and joking. Mama and Slash already made their presence known by meowing. They climbed up to the counter and smelled what was on the stove. Before Slash could reach his paw into the hot water, she picked him up and put him on the floor. She was not wanting him to hurt himself! He meowed like a toddler not getting his way.

How dare his human make sure he didn’t burn himself! What kind of monster was she? Bradley looked down and laughed at him. She told him she loved him but he ran off back into the living room to pout. Mama watched him leave. He would be fine eventually. It was best to let him be alone.

“Should we check on him?”

“No, he’s just pouting. He’ll be fine, especially when he starts getting hungry.”

When Chester showed up, he introduced himself to Brad and Bradley after saying hello to Bria. What was she making? It smelled delicious! She was playing around with a vegetarian pasta. It had a lemon sauce with parsley and sunflower seeds. He was excited to try it! Brad asked if Mike would be coming over. No, he was hanging out with Joe. He would talk to him later, then.

It was delicious! Bradley was impressed! It tasted like a five-star restaurant! Since he and Chester were sober, she brought out cans of ginger ale with four glasses. She read online that wine went perfectly with the pasta, but she couldn’t buy it since she was underage. Brad asked if she ever looked into investing. Yes, she did! Their friend, Rob helped her invest ten percent into Apple. He went over everything with her kindergarten style.

He thought it was the safest investment, outside of Target. Did he have a background in investing? He graduated college with a degree in accounting, so he was good with numbers, money, and math. She wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Why didn’t she invest in Target? She couldn’t remember her reasoning. Was she sober? Unfortunately, yes. They laughed.

“Do you know how fucking hard it is to get marijuana? Your best bet is to get cocaine or meth because everyone and their mother is selling them. I’m not saying go out and do them. I’m just saying it’s easier to get those.”

“We know what you’re saying. Do not under any circumstances do meth! It will fuck your life up”, Chester said.

“Chessy, my life is already fucked up. But no, meth scares the shit out of me!”

Did he have personal experience? Yeah, he was a recovering drug addict. They didn’t ask any further questions because it wasn’t any of their business. What about that guy she used to talk to? They cut off contact because his wife sued the company she worked for. It was part of their divorce process. She was initially part of the lawsuit and was going to give her deposition.

Then, she found out that they had settled without going to court. Why would she be part of the lawsuit? Because his wife found out he was hiring escorts and she found out he had paid to go on a date with him. She didn’t even remember who he was but he was in her records.

“He was probably an asshole. That’s why I forgot about him”, she joked.

They laughed. Mike encouraged Joe to move on from Bria while they sat in his living room. He gave her a chance. That was all he could do. He deserved a woman who would love him for who he was. Yes, rejecting hurt but he couldn’t live the rest of his life obsessing about her. He nodded and agreed he was right. Someday, he would be able to look at her as a friend.

What about him and Brad? Did he ever feel self-conscious? It wasn’t that he felt self-conscious, but he had trouble with trust. He had moments where he had to remind himself that he loved him and would stay faithful to him. It was easier when he was dating Phoenix because they were in the same band, so he didn’t have to worry about him. His trust issues were something he was working on. He nodded and apologized for asking. It was nothing to apologize for.

Bradley was interested in Bria. She was gorgeous! He laughed and told him to ask her out before another guy did! You won’t regret it! He would do that, then! After getting her phone number, he texted her asking to see her. They made plans to go out for dinner the next night. I got it! Brad laughed and congratulated him! He just grinned!

William Bradley Pitt, are you setting Bradley and me up? – Bria

Haha no but yes! – Brad

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon @fiickle-nia