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bella-rose29 · 6 months

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Deck the Halls (and not your partner) - Part 2

To make this work (I'm sorry) the reader has a very large family, and they will have names (I genuinely cannot be asked to try and figure that out and make it entirely... non OC)

Word count: 4.5k

Warnings: swearing, lockwood and children so beware your hearts, lockwood gets hugged and can't deal with it, the family members are mean, reader doesn't eat much, lockwood is still a bit of an arse and so is the reader (but hers is more justified), proofread maybe once

series master list

So far, it had absolutely been a shitshow.

Lockwood had remained silent for the next hour and a half of the train journey, and with not much else to do but plan every tiny detail of their fake relationship Y/n thought she might be going mad.

Luckily they already knew a lot about each other, so they could get away with not going over basic details about the other's life, but Y/n hadn't talked much about her family to anyone other than George in rants after phone calls with them, so if they thought that she was talking shit about them behind their backs (which she was, but they didn't need to know that) then they would descend like vultures.

She was disrupted from her thoughts when Lockwood stood up from the table seats they'd managed to get, his leg kicking at hers as he manoeuvred into the aisle, not sparing a second glance at Y/n. She frowned, about to call after him and ask where he was going, but when he disappeared out the doors and into the next carriage she decided that she didn't really care, and at least he wasn't brooding in her field of vision.

Y/n had barely been on her own for a minute when a family of five came into the carriage (they must have got on at the station they had recently stopped at), and with her being the only one sat on a table on her own and all the others taken, they made for her. She swallowed, for once wishing Lockwood was here to make her look less selfish, and sat up a little straighter in her seat.

"Excuse me, but would you mind moving? We've got three kids and need somewhere for us all to sit, and since there's only one of you..." The man trailed off, looking at Y/n pointedly, and while initially she had wanted to hold her ground she could feel herself shrinking under his gaze.

Where the fuck is Lockwood?!

He could talk his way out of this, she was sure. It was one of the few things she begrudgingly accepted was brilliant about him. It's not like Y/n didn't need the table; Lockwood's huge bag was sat on it and taking up most of the space, and her own backpack was on the seat next to her, but suddenly her breath was coming too quickly and her throat was closing up, and the man in front of her looked a little too similar to that one uncle-

"Is everything alright?" Lockwood's voice broke through the silence, and Y/n was annoyed to find herself reaching for him.

"Yeah, we just need this table, but this girl isn't moving."

"Sorry, my girlfriend's pretty tired at the moment, what with agents being in high demand right now. How about if we share? I think she needs a nap, poor thing, and we've got rather a lot of luggage between the two of us. I'll move over her side, shall I? Then you can take the other- yes, hello, little one." One of the couples' children had been tugging on Lockwood's hand, and Y/n could see the man's posture relax the more Lockwood talked, watching as her fake-boyfriend picked up the small child with ease and planted him on the train seat. The other two followed quickly, glad to not be on their feet any longer, and Lockwood came to sit next to Y/n, pulling his bag closer to them on the table and shoving her backpack onto the floor between everyone's legs. "See, you three all fit there perfectly don't you! You're only small," Lockwood was saying to the children, not yet noticing Y/n's shaky state. Their parents seemed to be content with the arrangement, taking their own seats across the aisle where they could watch their kids, and through the slight haze covering her eyes Y/n could see them visibly relax.

Once everybody was settled, Lockwood shuffled around in his seat trying to get comfortable, and when his elbow accidentally jabbed into Y/n's side he frowned at her.

"You alright?" he whispered, not wanting to draw the attention of their new companions. She took a moment to reply, not quite registering that Lockwood had actually said anything.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

"Right... just- you didn't say anything when I elbowed you just then and I'm worried you might be having a stroke."

"I'm not having a stroke, you idiot," she said, glare appearing on her face. She had some much better names for him, but with three children under the age of ten in front of her, she figured she should stick to the more family-friendly ones. Lockwood smiled, bright and wide and far too blinding.

"That's better." Apparently he had forgotten about the mishap on the platform earlier, and his previous ignorance of her presence, because after that he launched into a whole spiel of what their plan would be.

"Actually," she interrupted, not caring that he looked annoyed, "I've had a lot of time to figure this out. I just need you to confirm or come up with something better on a few things and we should be fine."

"Alright then, what's your grand plan?"

"Well we already know most of the basic stuff about each other, what with living together for nearly three years, so that solves that problem. One thing I did think of was family, since neither of us have actually..." she trailed off, unsure where the two of them stood on that subject given what had happened earlier. Lockwood was only nodding, his brow furrowed.

"Come to think of it, you've never really mentioned your family much," he said.

Y/n shrugged. "I just don't... you know... I just don't..." she flailed her hands around in front of her for a few moments, trying to come up with the right words.

"I don't know," Lockwood replied coolly, "Should I?"

"I just thought I'd tell you about who's gonna be there today, which is my mum and dad, my four brothers, my sister, my Aunt Linda, and her daughter Stephanie. Oh, and my grandparents on my mother's side, but they'll probably be in bed by the time we get there."

"That's... a lot of people."

"Yeah. There'll be more for the party tomorrow, and then the day after will be the same group from today again, and we're leaving that day anyway."

"Okay... what about names?"

"My mum is called Emma, my dad is Ben, my brothers are Sam, John, William, and Tom from oldest to youngest, and then my sister is called Olivia. My Grandma is Jean and my Gramps is Richard."

"Right." Lockwood paused for a moment, reciting the names under his breath. "Anything else I should know?"

"Aunt Linda and Steph are gonna be the worst, since they always try and make life miserable for me. They're ridiculously rich and like making fun of my job- oh, yeah, barely anybody supports my life choices or my job as an agent, so just prepare for that. Uh, where was I? Oh yeah, Steph and Linda will try and find out anything that could be used against us, so I really hope you can act because otherwise they'll figure this whole thing out in seconds."

"Wait-"

"And my brother Will is the most supportive, 'cause he knows that there are options for work after my Talent fades and I'm not going to be out on the streets-"

"Y/n-"

"-and he, John and Sam all play rugby so try not to piss them off because they're twice your size and will snap you like a twig-"

"Y/n!"

"What?!"

"You need to slow down! Go back to the part about your family not supporting your job?"

"Oh, there's not much to it, really." She felt awkward now, his gaze far too sharp for her liking. If he knew the full extent of how much she didn't like her family, he would waste no time in using it to make fun of her and take the upper hand while he could, and she would be left to sink further into herself until she disappeared. "They just don't think I'll have many options, so they want me to think about my next steps."

"Okay..." Lockwood trailed off, getting distracted by something the children were talking about and being asked his opinion on starfish. He looked as though he was about to start conversing with her again, but the train pulled into the platform they needed, and Lockwood was all business getting the luggage out safely.

~~~

"Are you alright?"

Y/n jumped a little in the back of the taxi, not expecting Lockwood's voice so close to her ear. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"You're very bouncy. If you're fine then could you not? You're jolting me."

Why had she thought he was trying to be nice? She should have known better by now that he wouldn't ever be that way with her, but it still stung.

Truthfully, she was on the verge of tears.

She wouldn't ever tell Lockwood that, of course, because how could he understand? He seemed to walk into any situation effortlessly, with endless optimism and charm that made life easy for him. Y/n was stuck panicking about seeing her family again, because if she couldn't even stand up to some random strangers on the train, how was she ever going to stand up to her family? No, she would just have to do her best to hide everything from Lockwood, to reduce the amount of blackmail material he would have against her.

~~~

The taxi pulled up outside the large cottage-style house, and Lockwood let out a low whistle.

"L/n, you never said your family was this fancy."

"They aren't. It was my Grandma's house, then she got dodgy knees and never moved out, and we moved in after selling up our old place to look after her and Gramps. We're about as fancy as your family, Lockwood, in that we too have multiple mortgages on this building to keep it."

"Anthony."

"What?" Y/n frowned, not sure what he was talking about.

"If we're going to pretend that we're dating, you probably shouldn't be calling me by my last name."

"Oh." She hadn't thought about that. The only reason she even knew his first name was because it was in large print on the sign outside the house, since it was generally accepted that he went by Lockwood and that was that.

"Or you could use some sort of nickname. I've got a few for you if you'd like to hear them." The grin on his face made Y/n think that she really didn't want to hear them, but he opened his mouth again anyway. "How about Sugarplum?" Y/n got out the car, slamming the door shut on him a little more harshly than she needed to. "Snookums? I think you look like a Snookums." The taxi driver was giving the two of them strange looks as he unloaded their bags, but Y/n ignored Lockwo- Anthony (she would have to get used to that) and handed over the money for the drive. "What about Sun Beam? Actually, you're too grumpy for that one. Oh, I know! My personal favourite," he paused for some sort of dramatic effect, being left behind on the driveway as Y/n stomped towards the front door. "Schmoopie."

Y/n stopped suddenly, turning to look back at her fake boyfriend with an incredulous look on her face. "Schmoopie?" He looked far too proud of himself as he picked up his bag and caught up with her, and she resisted the urge to hit him.

"Don't you like it, Schmoopie?"

"Call me that again and I'll be chucking your Source in the furnaces within the week." Lockwood (Anthony - she really needed to start calling him Anthony or she'd be saying 'Lockwood' to her family) Can't you just use my name? Or, you know, a more generic pet name?"

"Fine. You're very boring, I hope you know that."

"Sure. Just swear to me you'll never call me 'Schmoopie' again." She said the word with disgust, scrunching her nose up and fighting the urge to gag.

"Whatever you want, darling." That wasn't much better, but at least it was normal. Y/n raised her hand to knock, but before she could the door was being flung open, revealing a woman in a very festive jumper.

"You're here! She's here!"

~~~

Lockwood stood back slightly as the woman wrapped her arms around Y/n, squeezing so tightly he feared for his colleague's spine.

He braced himself for a similar treatment when she pulled back and spotted him, and the next thing he knew he was close to being suffocated as she brought him into a hug. Lockwood held his breath, his eyes wide and arms stuck out to the side as he tried to figure out what the hell he was meant to be doing. He hadn't been hugged like this since, well, since Jess. It took him a few seconds to work out that he needed to reciprocate the hug, but once he had, god. Why was he choking up? He could feel Y/n's eyes on him, so he shut his own and basked in the feeling of actually being held.

"You must be the boyfriend!" the woman said, pulling back and holding him by the forearms.

"Mum! Please don't terrify him!"

So this was Emma L/n, Y/n's mother.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs L/n." He flashed one of his winning smiles, and he could see her visibly relaxing.

"Oh Emma, please!" She looked back over her shoulder at Y/n, mouthing (incredibly non-subtly) 'He's handsome!'

"Mum!" Y/n hissed, starting to turn red.

"What's your name then young man!"

"Anthony Lockwood," he replied, and took particular pleasure in seeing Y/n squirm in the background.

"Well, you'd better come in. Do you need help with the bags?"

"Oh, no, I've got them," he assured her, shouldering his large bag and reaching for the suitcase handle that Y/n was currently holding onto. She didn't relent for a moment, and they had a silent argument for control of the suitcase until eventually with a small tug he won, stumbling ever so slightly from the effort.

"Everything alright?" Emma asked, frowning at the two of them.

"Yes, perfectly fine!" Lockwood called back, shooting a glare at Y/n. She reciprocated, clenching her jaw at his smug smile that came afterwards. He moved inside the house, Y/n following shortly behind and closing the door to keep the warmth in.

"Where should we put our bags?" Y/n asked her mother.

~~~

They had a problem.

A very large problem.

"Well I'm not sharing with you," Lockwood said, moving further into the room that Y/n's mother had shown them to.

"Good," she said, eyeing the double bed. "Just don't complain when your back gives in from sleeping on the floor for so long."

"What? No, I'm taking the bed."

"It's my family home, what gives you more reason to have the bed than me?"

"I'm your boss, and I pay your wages. If you want to keep being paid then I'm having the bed."

Y/n scoffed, shaking her head. "Arsehole," she muttered, going over to the windows and closing the curtains against the now-dark sky outside. The bed was definitely large enough for two people to share, but when those two people hated each others' guts and weren't actually dating, the bed was far too small.

"What was that?"

"Arsehole," she repeated loudly, making sure to look him dead in the eyes when she did so, then immediately turning and heading into the en-suite bathroom.

"What is your issue with me?" he said, following after her.

"You're taking the bed! It's my fucking house!"

"Let's not forget that without me, you would be in a lot more of a tricky situation! I think I deserve the bed for my efforts; it's not easy pretending to love you, you know!"

"Oh, like it's so easy to love you?! You are so horrible to me, all the time, and now I have to pretend to actually want to be with you?! I'd have been in a difficult situation anyway, the only difference is that in this one, I have a fake boyfriend. I could deal with the humiliation of not having anyone with me, but this?" she laughed bitterly. "This is near to being beyond me, Lockwood." Fuck, why was she tearing up? She closed the bathroom door firmly in Lockwood's face, ignoring the shocked expression on his face in the second before he disappeared from her view.

She pushed the lock, waiting for the click before turning and facing the sink, bracing her hands on the edge and heaving a few deep breaths. She hadn't realised how hard it would be to pretend that she was completely fine around her family while they picked and prodded and commented and made snide remarks, and having Lockwood around was only making it worse.

She couldn't even begin to imagine all the things he would use as ammunition in the future. He'd have a field day on this holiday, taking all of her family's words and turning them against her, becoming even worse than he had been before.

A knock sounded on the door, light and unsure, and Lockwood's voice followed afterwards. "...Y/n? I- I'm-" he sighed, and she could imagine him clenching his jaw and looking up at the ceiling as he tried to fight against the nice words he was clearly trying to say. "I have a shit sleep schedule anyway, and you go to sleep a lot faster than I do so it's better for me to sit in a chair when I can't get to sleep and you can lie down, so... yeah." Y/n was surprised at how kind he was, and was starting to wonder if he was having some sort of stroke. But then he started talking again and she knew that he was completely fine.

"If you could not take for fucking ever in the bathroom though that would be great, because I really need a piss."

~~~

"Ah, there you both are! You took your time putting your bags away!" Linda's gaze drifted to Y/n as she said that, eyes sharpening and making the back of Y/n's neck prickle.

"Oh, that's my fault, sorry," Lockwood started, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in. Y/n stiffened, not used to being so close to him, and tried to force a smile onto her face. "I got carried away asking questions about the photos around the room, and I think I might have driven her slightly mad." He was smiling so widely and cheerfully that Y/n could practically feel everybody relaxing and warming up to him. It was frustrating, really, how they had known him for roughly ten seconds and already seemed to like him more than her. Her brothers were eyeing him up, trying to figure out whether they needed to take him outside or just give him a good talking to. Her sister Olivia was also eyeing Lockwood up, but in a very different way to their brothers that was making Y/n somewhat uncomfortable. It wasn't that they didn't get on and that was what was wrong, but they were sisters, and therefore they naturally disagreed on some things.

Apparently Lockwood's level of attractiveness was one of them.

"Oh, not to worry," her mother said, already loving having Lockwood here. "I made tea, if you'd like some? There's cake too, and far too much of it, so take as much as you want!"

"Tea would be lovely, Emma, thank you," Lockwood said, moving his arm away from Y/n's shoulders. She nearly jumped out of her skin in shock when she felt his hand land on her lower back instead, pushing her forward towards the empty loveseat that sat closest to the roaring fire. "Try not to look quite so horrified at this whole thing, darling," he whispered right into her ear, emphasising the pet name. "And maybe relax a little too, yeah?" He sat down on the chair, leaving very little room for Y/n to sit down herself without pressing up against him. She gave up trying to keep space between them when she ended up perching on the edge and gained strange looks from everyone else. Lockwood pulled her back towards him, grabbing her waist with both hands and tugging until she was right up against his chest, their thighs pressed together. He didn't let go, keeping his arms around her and nestling his head in the crook of her neck. She hadn't loosened up since walking in to the living room, and she was entirely sure that her spine was as stiff as one of the wooden floorboards under her feet. Her mother handed over two mugs of tea, placing them on the small side table next to their chair, then went to cut two slices of cake, starting with Lockwood's. He accepted his plate gratefully, smiling brightly up at her.

"How big of a slice, Y/n/n?"

"Uh... maybe-"

"Don't give her too big of a slice, she doesn't need that much," Stephanie interrupted, her tone sickly sweet. Y/n froze, and behind her she could feel Lockwood glancing between the two girls, trying to figure out what was happening. Her mother cut a decent sized slice, ignoring her niece's comment and handing the plate to Y/n.

"Did you make this, Emma?" Lock-Anthony (she might just give up trying to correct herself in a minute) asked.

"Oh, yeah, but you know, it's not my best."

"Well I think it's delicious, you'll have to share the recipe with me so I can have more of it back in London!"

"I'd be happy to! Do you bake then?"

"Oh, no, I'm awful. I'd burn the house down I'm sure. But our friend George is a magician in the kitchen."

"Remind me what you do for work again?" her father asked.

"Actually, maybe you could just... tell us. Since we know nothing about you!" Linda laughed. "We don't even know your name!"

"Anthony Lockwood," he said, yet another of his classic Lockwood smiles taking over his face. Y/n was starting to feel sick from the way Stephanie and Linda were watching them, and she put her fork down on her plate. "Y/n hasn't mentioned me much then?"

"No," Linda simpered. "I have to say, I was very surprised when I heard my sister say that Y/n had a boyfriend. I'm even more surprised that you actually exist!"

"I can't really blame her for not saying anything, I suppose. We're very busy a lot of the time and when we are free I'm often dragging her out on dates and the like, so if you haven't heard from her then that's entirely my fault." God, how was he such a good liar? Everybody believed him right away, but if she tried to get away with something like that they'd be asking so many questions she would give up and tell the truth.

"And... what is it you do for work?" her father asked again, desperate for the answer.

"I'm an agent."

"Fittes or Rotwell?"

"Uh... no, I-"

"Bunchurch then? Or maybe Grimble?"

"Actually," Lockwood glanced at Y/n, and she nodded slightly, bracing herself for her family's reaction. "I run my own agency. George, who I mentioned earlier, is our researcher, Lucy is our Listener, Holly our secretary, and then of course there's Y/n. Best Touch in England." He squeezed her slightly, and when she looked back at him he was smiling up at her so adoringly that she wondered how she ever hated him.

Then he jabbed her side, making her wobble and nearly spill the tea that she'd just picked up, and she remembered that he was a dick.

"Your... own... agency?"

"Yes." Lockwood didn't seem perturbed, which was lucky, because Y/n was feeling increasingly more unsettled with every second that passed. "We're based in London in my family home, but we take clients from all around England."

"Right... so that makes you Y/n's... boss?"

"I know it's not... the usual, but there is nothing that says we cannot be in a relationship. Believe me, I've checked. I don't think there is anything that could have been done to stop me from falling for your daughter, sir, despite her own best efforts, and I like to think that I keep my role as her boss completely separate from my role as her boyfriend."

Y/n stared at him in mild shock, not quite believing how sincere he sounded, and Lockwood was refusing to look at her.

Uneasy glances were exchanged by nearly all of Y/n's gathered family members, the only exceptions being Will, who had always supported Y/n, and Olivia, who was too busy checking Lockwood out. Y/n put her plate of cake down, having spent the last few minutes picking at it and barely eating any, and ignored the look that Lockwood gave her. She wasn't feeling hungry at all now that she was surrounded by everyone, and Stephanie was watching every move she made with terrifying intensity. No doubt there would be some fresh insults this year, and Y/n couldn't wait to be back home again.

Home.

Since when had she considered Lockwood's house her home?

"You alright?" Lockwood whispered in her ear. He kept asking her that, and it was freaking her out a little.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She stood up, gently detaching herself from Lockwood's grip and putting her mug of tea on the side table, half drunk. "Just need the loo, be back in a bit." She tried smiling at everyone, but the water gathering in her eyes made it difficult to pretend that she was actually fine, and she left the room finding it hard to breathe. Y/n headed up the stairs and into the bathroom attached to the room that she and Lockwood were staying in, and for the second time that day braced herself on the sink as she tried to regain control of her body. "Fuck," she muttered. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." She splashed some cold water on her face, holding it against her skin in the hopes that it would shock her back into being alright again, then turned off the tap and sat on the floor, her back to the sink and her legs stretched out in front.

Only two more days to go, and then she could go back to her normal life.

Two more days of this, and she was free, and could eat as much cake as she wanted, because George and Lucy would be stuffing their faces too.

She just had to fake it until then.

part 3

Tag list: @ahead-fullofdreams, @anathemaloren, @augustisintheair, @avdiobliss, @aysha4life, @briar-rose23, @curseofhecate, @dangelnleif, @el-de-phi, @ell0ra-br3kk3r, @informedimagining, @karensirkobabes, @locklyebrainrot, @locknco, @mentallyillsodapop (I just realised I hadn't added you I'm so sorry 😭 although I don't know if you wanted to be added actually idkkk) @mischivana, @mitskiswift99, @mrsklockwood, @mrsyixingunicorn10, @no-morning-glories, @novelizt, @ran23sblog, @superpositvecloudshipper, @t2sh0, @taygrls, @tournesol77, @whenselenefallsinlove, @wordsarelife

please let me know if I've missed you off the series tag list, and I'll put you right on! <3

#lockwood and co #lockwood & co #anthony lockwood #anthony lockwood x reader #anthony lockwood x you #lockwood x reader #enemies to lovers #fake dating #christmas

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inyourfantasyfanfics · 1 year

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Hi! Can we have the crusaders reacting to their fem!s/o wearing lingerie for them, but she was really insecure to use it, because she doesn't have like, big boobs or bigs thighs and booty. And she tells them that and they tried to comfort by saying sweet words to her and maybe it leads to some smut? Maybe comforting her by touching her too?

(you can age up Kak and Jotaro :))

Yeah absolutely!

Warnings/disclaimers: slightly spicy, mentions of sex, part 4 jotaro and kak.

Lined for modesty hehe

Joseph JOSTAR!

He’s EXTATIC when he sees you all dressed up for him, you probably won’t have time to express any concerns before his hands and lips are on you. He’s so big compared to you and he LIVES for it

When you can finally get a word in and tell him that you feel super insecure it will almost completely fly over his head but the look on your face stabs his heart. And he will immediately reassure you by basically screaming praises and kissing every little insecurity until you smile at him.

He is going to take his time with you that night, to fully make sure you understand just how sexy you are to him.

Never doubt you have beauty around this man because he's going to disagree and he's going to be loud about it. He will learn from this moment and make it a point in the future to compliment you more. He's also going to buy you more cute skimpy outfits. He says it's like exposure therapy but really he just wants to see you in lingerie.

Jotaro Kujo

You can’t read his expression when he comes into your shared bedroom. You had just finished adjusting the fabric to your body when you spotted him. He was exactly on time. Everything with him was like clockwork. He doesn’t say a thing as he sets down his things and removes his coat, never breaking his dangerous eye contact.

You use this moment to almost apologize as if your standing in all your beautiful glory was something to ever apologize to him for. He does however let you voice your insecurities as his hands find your hips and he pulls your fronts together. He almost rolls his eyes when you say that you're lacking in ‘important areas’ He doesn’t roll his eyes though. For once, he deems this situation unfit for his attitude.

He backs you to the bed with a “Be quiet.” And presses his hips to yours. His arousal was apparent and it made you swallow hard. He will start debunking all of the insecurities you listed before he cornered you on the bed. His gaze was intimidating and his tone dangerous as if he was daring you to disagree. He would have none of it. He didn’t like hearing a pretty voice say negative things. It was pointless. What pissed him off the most was seeing you upset.

He made it his goal that night to make sure that the only thing that came out of your mouth was pretty little moans.

Avdol

He is very perceptive and probably noticed and had conversations about your insecurities before. This man worships the ground you walk on and he hates seeing you uncomfortable. So when he sees you in pretty lingerie he thinks maybe there's been a breakthrough and you are one step closer to seeing the goddess that you are.

It occurs to him that he's just been starting as if analyzing you when you start to apologize. This man gets on his knees before you and thanks you for blessing him. He’d start kissing your thighs and hands completely ignoring that you were apologizing for not being more.

His words haven't worked before his actions will have to suffice. Don’t get me wrong I think this man has an ultimate praise kink and will still spill sweet words about you through this whole ordeal but he may not justify any self-degrading comments with any sort of response

Polnareff

He’s a lot like Joseph in the way of pouncing now and asking questions later. Fully tackles you to the bed the moment his eyes land on you, hands are everywhere he just can’t help himself. Unlike Joseph, you won’t have time to express any concerns because he’s ravenous. You’d have to kick him to get him to listen.

This man is so confused because he thinks the world of you. But deep down he understands he has quite a bit of insecurity too whether he shows them or not is a different thing.

He’s the type of guy to be butt-ass naked and stop what he’s doing to find a guitar to serenade you. It’s awful and hurts your ears but the effort he put into it is astounding. He’s probably the one that shows you off the most out of the group. Having insecurities about your size around him is near impossible.

Kakyoin! (He’s alive and lives till a very old age ok!!!???) anyway this would be part 4 kak

The type to very happily watches you get into the lingerie without disturbing you. He’s very quiet so you sometimes are startled after realizing he’s in the room on a day-to-day basis. He enjoys people's reactions, especially yours. So he stays letting his eyes scan your body like it was built for him. That is till he notices your pained expression when you look in the mirror or your hands that restlessly adjust the fabric in discontent. Only then does he strategically enter.

He probably starts in the room a little noisier so you aren’t caught off guard by his presence. He will immediately launch into pretty compliments and touch you in the places you hate the most. He’s calculating and cunning. He wants you to associate his loving touch with your insecurities in hopes that it will make you love them too. He has deep-rooted insecurities as well so he knows just how terrible they can make someone feel. He doesn’t want you to be hurt like that.

This man kisses every inch of your body that night and gives you a reason he loves every part of you. I think his words are so sweet it would be hard not to cry because of them

#old joseph joestar #joseph joestar x reader #mohammed avdol #avdol x reader #polnareff x reader #jotaro x reader #kakyoin x reader #stardust crusaders x reader #jojos bizarre adventure #jojo part 3 #stardust crusaders headcanons

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artistsmellslikeunemployment · 4 months

Text

Things that natla did do:

- Katara stealing a water pouch from a merchant shop at night

- zuko draws!

- include pieces from the books and comics (mother of faces, Kyoshi‘s personality,

- „water the most promising seed“

- Katara standing by and smirking as Sokka flounders trying to impress Suki but her not buying any of it

- Katara never letting anyone talk over her once diplomacy fails

- Bumi‘s armpit hair

- Zuko talking about Lu Ten

- Azula learning to use a blue flame and failing

- what can I say, the actors make the show very enjoyable 🤷🏼‍♀️

- Kuruk refusing to take possession over Aang‘s body/ Avatar state

- overall I think they drew info from the books about the other eras

- the sound of Iroh‘s firebending reminding of a dragon‘s growl

- Avatar Roku making fun of Avatar Kyoshi

- Zuko basically enthusing about Kyoshi‘s strength only to then get his ass kicked by her

- Suki (and mom) gushing over seeing their role model Kyoshi in action

- random woman with broom and Zuko letting her hit him

- Aang running away at the end, after the battle. He might not have run from his responsibility but he ran from the consequences

- „have you seen my flying bison?“ which is way better because even less believable

- Katara being bold enough to train her waterbending in the abandoned fire navy ship around Wolf Cove

- emphasis on Sokka‘s inventory skills and by elongation his bad ice dodging skills

- Zuko deciding to stay with/ look for Iroh instead of chasing Aang twice

- Lu Ten‘s theme playing every time Zuko and Iroh confess their love for each other

- Omashu‘s part of the earth kingdom being India coded

- Zuko so specifically being triggered by the word „compassion“ but not „empathy/ emphatic“ because he actually does believe in kindness and much like Azula is still trapped in the pressure of having to represent all his father believes

- Zuko looking disgusted all the time

- 41st division bowing to their prince

- I had fun watching it and most of it makes sense tbh.

What I don’t get (logic mistakes):

- Mai being too openly anti fire nation by saying she wouldn’t ever come back if given the chance

- Iroh finding the Blue Spirit‘s mask in Zuko‘s pile of clothes but maybe that’s not even a negative.

- no talk about the meaning of the necklace

- Gyatso Living in the Spirit World (doesn’t Aang have enough guides with all his previous lives?);

- that assassination attempt on Ozai and Azula infiltrating the plan? Was this meant to show Ozai‘s cruelty and Azula‘s strategic thinking??

- what was Bumi‘s point exactly?

- Yue being a spirit fox. Why? It added nothing.

- „i bet you taste like chicken“ no opossum chicken. just chicken.

- Kyoshi being the narrator

- Aang being able to communicate with his past lives only by visiting their shrines and not in the right order (usually the avatar has to contact every avatar before him in the order of their lifetimes before he can get through to the next)

- Aang being shamed and gaslight by everyone

- confusion over what happened to the villagers as well as Katara and Solla by mixing Hei Bai‘s and Ko‘s stories as well as the Fog of Lost Souls and creating a new loophole into the spirit world when people stand too close to Aang while he meditates? Also, Ko‘s „Magic“ with individuality and his reason for stealing faces when showing emotion is lost.

- with all due love, what was Suki‘s mother for?

- Wan Shi Tong randomly sitting at some wayside

- Why wouldn’t normal people understand Wan Shi Tong? How are they planning for Team Avatar to find out about the solar eclipse if not through Wan Shi Tong‘s library later?

- Iroh suspecting Ozai behind the apparent assassination of Zuko so openly in front of Zhao

- Iroh justifying his war crimes with „I was a soldier“??

- Iroh „sacrificing“ himself in Omashu when the earth kingdom forces were looking for the firebender even though they both would’ve gone undetected otherwise

- Iroh killing Zhao

- does Momo carry the spirits‘ life now?

- the fire nation inventing a solar system model to predict Zosin‘s Comet and potentially the eclipse as well

#avatar #atla #atla la #natla #natla spoilers #natla positivity #i actually like this #netflix #i agree with the criticism tho #avatar the last airbender #zuko #uncle iroh #kyoshi #katara #the effects were decent

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brainr0t-landfill · 4 months

Text

🌃 Mercurial

ghoap x male reader

Chapter Three: Devour

"I can be good, I can be true

You know I don't love anyone, but I love you"

-Nicole Dollanganger, Chapel

(tw: poverty, dishonest reader)

You don't like it, you don't like it a damn bit.

You don't like the bandage on your bottom lip, you don't like the smiley face doodle next to their supposed names, you don't like that your front door is locked with the only key of the shitty, rental sitting safely on the cracked tile floor.

It makes you feel small, it makes you feel pathetic; like a small thing desperate for help the feeling claws away at you twitching your fingers as you punch their numbers in and thank them, lashes out your throat when the same snobby kid comes into the shop with the same posh car he's brought in four times this month.

It makes you restless, it makes you damn near resentfull to these two men who in no way deserve it, they just helped some poor bloke get home after a night out, they probably never thought about it again or maybe they did; maybe they still do maybe they think about how needy you are as you three text back and fourth.

You feel as like you owe them and it kills you inside, so you decide to repay them.

'hey off work this Sunday wanna hangout? :)'

And then it began, looking back now, from this distance, you can see the way you'd twisted the narrative, convinced them they could love you, that you were good.

It was awkward at first, then it was friendship, then you were sitting cross-legged on the bed getting invited into their relationship. At the time it had seemed too erratic, too fast, no time to sit and think, no time to second guess but from this distance you can see how you wiggled your way into a place meant for them, carved a space out in hearts desperate for stability and already occupied, for someone like you, somone who didn't know how stay.

It was always transactional on your part, or at least it was supposed to be.

You would help them out for the grace they had shown you that night and you would prove to them that the help they gave you that night was justified you would lead them into thinking you were a person deserving of good things. You had no ill intension despite the driving force behind these actions being festering, putrid emotions. And then you'd leave once the cards were even, your feathers smooth. You'd skip town like so many times before and leave them behind with good, happy memories.

But you stayed.

You showed up on time to planned hangouts, you cleaned up after yourself when you stayed over and cleaned up the flat they shared with the spare key Ghost had given you half a year into knowing you and stocked the pantry with foods you knew they liked, listed on a little notepad while they were on what you used to know as business trips.

You were overstepping boundaries, you were too much, you were restless. You were appriciated.

Then you let them in after they got kicked out from their flat because John got into a fight with the nosy landlord. You took notice of their likes, dislikes, the things that set them on edge wrote themn down and acted accordingly.

You gave the neighbours fake names and vague answers whenever they asked about them, you kept scotch in the kitchen closet and sleeping pills behind the cracked bathroom mirror, you kept the door barricaded with a chair at night and didn't even think of unlocking it untill you confirmed it was them.

In turn they opened up to you about their profession, their pasts, their relationship, their insecurities their desires.

You were ingenuine, you were too obedient, you were smothering.

You were becoming irreplaceable.

You were sitting by the window sill with John ,Simon out on an errand, when he said.

"Ye ken, we uhh- we appreciate you a lot hare. Wit' what we do 'n how we can be I ken we ain't the easiest folks to be around."

You snorted into your morning tea shaking your head as you knocked your shoulder against his.

"And I'm just the dew on morning grass ain't I? It's lovely to have y'all around, needed me some reliable mates for a while now anyways. And don't I owe you?"

John turned to you recently plucked eyebrows raised.

"Owe us? Fer what?"

"Y'know, that night by the pub, I'd have probably become a headline that night without you two."

It's his turn to shake his head in disbelief, giving you that lovely smile you're slowly becoming accustomed to.

"Don't ye think that score's been settled a few dozen times by now?"

And before you knew it the three of you were saving up money for a new flat (you should have said no, you shoul have told them you always kept your suitcase packed for when you were finnaly sick of things too familiar, too comforting, too yours).

The scotch and the pills are replaced with fresh strawberries from the farmers market and melanin gummies in the new fridge Simon cleaned every Sunday, days of biting your tounge against customers were now full of work at a different shop with encouraged and nurtured patience and a customer service smile half genuine with the thought of going home to them. Nights out at pubs were slowly becoming dates, vauge answers and calculating looks were confessions and and eyes soft in the light spilling through the tall window of your new apartment.

Someone smoothes their hand down the expanse of your back as you're putting up curtains, it's early but you want it done before you head off to work so all three of you sleep better in the privacy and shade it provides, so the new apertment feels more like home.

Simon's smiling at you, his face is bare and his hands warm, they just got home yesterday, none of you sleep well in new environments, you're glad the new bed has enough room for them to toss and turn.

His cheeks are flushed from sleep.

"Bit short for the job angel, let me help?"

You step down from the stool and hand him the end of the thick curtain, marine blue with patterns swirled on it like puffs of smoke.

"Always nice havin' tall lads at my disposal."

You joke watching his muscles flex and his hands work as they slide the rings on. You lean your head onto his thigh.

"It's warmer here, don't ya think? Real airy too, lots of room for us."

You nod, you haven't lived in a place so nice in years.

"Better when it's with you two."

Ghost and John became Simon and Johnny then Simon, you and Johnny.

You had dug yourself into a hole you did not deserve, built yourself a place not meant for people like you, filled it with the care and concern that had once been so calculated and planned before it became effortless, natural.

Your home, your safe heaven, your boyfriends; with your old suitcase rotting in a landfill somewhere.

Before you knew it you were restless once again.

<< Next Chapter / Next Chapter >>

#ghoap x male reader #ghoap x reader #mercurial #cod x male reader #simon x reader x johnny #simon riley x male reader #john mactavish x male reader #john mactavish x reader

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leviathanspain · 2 years

Note

Babes! Can i request one for benedict bridgerton? Just the good ol' angst where they have an argument and benedict says things with out thinking, maybe something that's personal to the reader and she confined it in him and now he used it against her.

Fluff ending, we ain't that tough around here

i’m not saying it’s your fault

benedict bridgerton x reader

synopsis: benedict brings up your infertility troubles amidst an argument

“im sorry.” he whispered, looking down at the floor for a brief moment before his eyes traveled back up at you. you shook your head, “this isn’t okay, benedict. you made a fool of me at your family’s dinner and you come back here and try to justify what you said?”

benedict scoffed, “i’m not saying it’s your fault!” he tried to keep the pressure of children off your back, especially when that seemed to be all anyone asked about these days.

“you are, though. you are.” tears spilled from your eyes and dripped onto your cheeks as you held up a hand, walking away.

he was relentless, and so benedict just followed you into the next room, even as you sat defeated in front of the fire place, benedict kept going.

“maybe if you hadn’t gone against my word and went to visit your parents during a storm, then you wouldn’t have lost the baby!” benedict threw his hands up, “you ignored me even when i pointed out the risks and i didn’t blame you then but you knew i was right!” he yelled, and your face twisted with fury, you stood up and got in his face, angry that he would use that against you.

“i told you because you were my husband. i could’ve lived without telling you about any of that but i told you. why? because i love you. i would’ve never thought you’d use that against me? for what? a little bit of spite? revenge?” you saw benedict falter as he stammered out an apology,

“save it. use your breath for the next time you want to prove you were right.” you stalked away and only did this time benedict leave you alone.

the silence in your own home was painful. you had avoided your husband, ignored every attempt he tried at conversation, and had even kicked him out of your own bed.

benedict was miserable, he regretted every single thing he had said that night but you weren’t having it.

“darling, please, talk to me.” he begged on the other side of your bedroom door. you were sitting on your bed, wrapped in the blankets listening to his pleas. it was nice to hear his misery but if you were honest, you had gotten over what he had said, understanding it was a very man thing of him to do, and you couldn’t blame him because you’ve said things of a painful manner to him as well.

“get in here you brute.” you called and the door was thrown up, benedict, a mess as he walked in.

you patted the bed and benedict walked over, lying down next to you. he kissed your forehead, “i’m so sorry.”

you hummed, “thank you. i do hope you know that you’re not allowed to have an opinion on the baby’s name now.”

benedict looked at you with raised eyebrows, “what baby?” you grabbed his hand and put it on your belly, “this baby.”

he seemed shocked, laughing, “what?!”

“found out a few weeks ago. if you had saved your bitch fit for another time, you would’ve known earlier.” you snarked and benedict kissed you, “im sorry my love. i love you so much.”

#benedict bridgerton imagines #benedict bridgerton smut #benedict bridgerton x reader #benedict bridgerton fluff #benedict bridgerton angst #bridgerton smut #bridgerton angst #bridgerton x reader #bridgerton fanfiction

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theriverspath · 27 days

Text

Ineffable May, Day 22: 1941

Rated Teen for spicy tension and one mild language.

Crowley lounged on the little sofa of the dressing room, trying not to listen to the rustle of fabric coming from the other side of the changing screen. When a pair of tan trousers were neatly draped over the top, and the black ones tugged down to disappear behind it, he tried (and failed) to not imagine a half-naked angel sliding socked feet into each leg one at a time.

“You know, you really should go take your seat in the auditorium. It’ll raise suspicion if you aren’t there for the first half of the show. We wouldn’t want anyone else in the audience to realize you’re my, what we call in the business, ‘confederate.’” Crowley heard the quotes around the last word, and cringed at his own reaction. What was it about this fussy, enthusiastic side of Aziraphale that caused a swarm of butterflies to take flight in his chest? It had been that way for so long that he’d lost track of when it had begun. In Rome maybe, with the oysters? His mind slid past that, back to that old basement and the ox rib. The butterflies kicked up, threatening to swirl lower down his corporation. Nope. Best not to dwell on that for too long…

“Sure, if that’s what you want, angel. But, maybe I should stick around until you’ve finished changing into your costume? To, er,” Crowley scrambled for a reason to justify his unwillingness to simply saunter out of here, to give up this chance to be in this room alone with Aziraphale, “To have another set of eyes to look over things? Could be useful.” There was a pause in Aziraphale’s movement, and Crowley held his breath. He only let it out when the angel replied.

“Yes, alright.” The words were quieter, a little slower. He didn’t have time to figure out what that meant because the angel stepped out from behind the screen. Crowley stood, suddenly unable to stay still.

“Well, what do you think?” Aziraphale took up the little bit of floor space the cluttered room offered. There was a hopeful, unsure look on his face. He spread his arms a tad, and the sparkling starbursts on his sky-blue cape twinkled in the lights from the vanity. The butterflies in Crowley’s chest settled, replaced by a warm glow.

“Marvelous,” he said, and meant it. Aziraphale smiled, relief flooding in with his happy nervousness.

“Crowley, I can’t thank you enough for this.” Aziraphale took a step forward, and Crowley tried his best to not give in to the temptation to close the rest of the distance between them. “If it weren’t for you…” They both jumped at the loud rapping on the room’s door.

“The show’s starting, Mr. Fell.” A bored voice sounded from the hallway. “You’re on in fifteen.” The speaker didn’t wait for a reply, and they both heard footsteps trail away.

“Well, um. I guess I should…” Crowley gestured past Aziraphale to the door. “Like you said, don’t want to give the game away.”

“Yes, I suppose you should.” Aziraphale nodded, but didn’t move to let Crowley pass. Instead, his eyes remained on the demon’s face. Crowley saw a question in them, and felt his own breath catch. “Before you go, perhaps you could help with my stage makeup? I never can,” Aziraphale cleared his throat and swallowed before continuing. “I never can seem to get the mustache even on both sides.” So quickly it surprised Crowley, he leaned over to the vanity’s desk and snatched up a kohl pencil. Was he imagining it, or did Aziraphale’s hand shake when he offered it to Crowley?

“Er, mmm, uh, yeah, okay, I’ll, uh, I’ll see what I can do.” Crowley mentally kicked himself as he stumbled his way through agreeing to the angel’s request. He took the makeup stick, and his pinkie made contact with Aziraphale’s hand. Sparks flew up his arm, just as they did when he’d handed over the book satchel after the bomb, just as they did when the beaming angel had grabbed his hand in the magic shop. Aziraphale took another step forward so that he was close enough for Crowley to reach. He tilted his face up and closed his eyes, apparently waiting for the demon to start.

Crowley thought his corporation might just spontaneously combust at the sight. He deposited his glasses onto the vanity and took a steadying breath, realizing only too late that Aziraphale could probably feel his exhale. He lifted the pencil and placed it just above the angel’s lip. Slowly, he drew a curved line ending in a little curl. Aziraphale didn’t react, staying perfectly still under the movement. When Crowley tried to start the second side, his hand was too unsteady.

Without really thinking about it, he slid his free hand around the back of Aziraphale’s head to brace himself. He froze at the small gasp of surprise the touch elicited. Pale pink lips parted, and stayed that way. He waited, but Aziraphale didn’t show any signs of wanting him to remove the hand. Unable to look away from the delicate beauty of Aziraphale’s cupid’s bow, Crowley completed his task without knowing if he had achieved the even appearance asked of him.

When he lifted the pencil from Aziraphale’s cheek, he glanced up to find gray-blue eyes looking into his. The question was still in them, and Crowley wanted more than anything to answer it. He felt Aziraphale sway forward, and his fingers gathered the soft curls they had buried themselves into.

“Angel, I…” Crowley’s voice came out as a hoarse plea. He had to know if this was alright, if this was what Aziraphale wanted, too. Did he really see the smallest of nods?

The clomp of heeled shoes and the peal of women’s laughter penetrated the wood of the room’s door. The first number was over, and the dancers were returning to their own rooms to change. Out of instinct, Crowley’s eyes flicked towards the unexpected sound. He felt Aziraphale stiffen in his touch. He looked back down to find the angel blinking, his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

“Thank-” Aziraphale was breathing heavy, like he did when nervous. “Thank you. That was most helpful.” Crowley’s heart sunk. It had been too much, afterall. He released Aziraphale and stepped back. He retrieved his glasses and returned them to his face.

“Don’t mention it. I’ll see you on stage.” With that, Crowley slithered his way around the angel and slipped out the door. He nearly ran into a human holding a clipboard. The man raised his eyebrows in a knowing look. He even had the audacity to wink at Crowley as he knocked on the door.

“Five minutes, Mr. Fell.” Crowley curled his lip, growling at the human for his puckish impertinence. Unintimidated, the man merely snorted a laugh and walked off down the hallway. Crowley straightened his already impeccably arranged tie, settled his features into an approximation of bored nonchalance, and made his way to the audience. He had better get himself together if he was going to be of any use to Aziraphale in this damned foolish bullet catch trick.

-------

prompt list

#ineffable may #ineffable may 2024 #good omens 1941 #aziraphale/crowley #aziracrow #aziracrow fanfic #good omens angst #angst #mild angst #the amazing mr fell #magician aziraphale #good omens #good omens fanfiction #aziraphale #crowley #good omens pining #pining #mutual pining

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badchoicesworld · 10 months

Note

Hello hello :)

I hope you're having a good day!

May I request Hobie and Spider-Noir with a s/o who cries a lot?

Not only out of sadness, but out of everything. They're happy? They cry. They're frustrated? They cry. It's just their body's natural reaction to any intense emotion. Even like, if they're listening to a song that itches their brain just right, boom, tears (talking of personal experience, me? Absolutely.)

I'm just kinda insecure about my crying habits lol, I need reassurance. (I cried to System Of A Down and Slipknot, send help)

Thank you and sending lotsa love :)

hobie brown and spider-noir with an s/o that cries a lot !

ok, first i wanna stress that you should never feel insecure about your natural bodily functions- ever. crying is completely natural and a normal way to express any type of feeling, so i hope you gain a little confidence in your ability to feel so strongly :] it’s a beautiful thing

second, you should check out demon slayer in you haven’t, there’s this character that always cries at everything and he’s the strongest ! gyomei my love

third, these are kinda short and i’m very sorry, i struggled w noir

separate scenarios

warnings: crying ?? insecurity ?

pairing: hobie brown x gn!reader, spider-noir x gn!reader

requests: refer to this bad boy

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

i bet hobie’s one of them guys that gives out great advice about mental health or just in general and doesn’t take his own advice

he’s too cool to cry, he claims

but suddenly it’s not cool for everyone else to NOT cry

also uses common sense and figures that crying is a completely natural reaction when you feel any type of emotion, won’t be embarrassed by you if you start bawling your eyes out in public if you happen to feel happy to be spending time together

he just smiles and rubs your back, shaking his head but in a playful way since this is a common occurrence

does one of those side hug things where he hooks his arm around your neck and squeezes you to his side a few times, talking about “let it out”

it’s nice in a way, he knows that you’re crying cause you’re happy to be spending time with him

he’s close buddies with pav who i can also see crying at a lot of things, man’s not judgemental

and he can of course understand crying at sad things ! if you two are kicked back one day and you’re violently bawling at a movie that’s meant to be a tear jerker, he’s not gonna shame you

he’s probably thinking about how accomplished the movie directors must be/feel while simultaneously shaming the big company who produced it

it’s nothing new and he’d rather not address it directly by asking you each time if you’re okay when you cry, he imagined it would get irritating and make you feel like it’s wrong

so he probably does something to show he’s there, an arm around your shoulder, maybe he ruffles your hair or something if you’re excited crying (i do this w my special interests, there’s no shame)

overall, hobie just wants you to feel comfortable enough to cry at all- this stuff should be normalised after all, no reason to even justify it to begin with

he may even encourage you to cry, get it out your system

he definitely understands frustrated crying, i imagine he’s a man who’s had his fair share of frustrations and sometimes crying is the only way to cope

if it bothers you so much, he might try introducing you to other coping mechanisms that he personally does

encourages you to get into music, play an instrument, do something spontaneous with your appearance

if he ever catches you crying over one of his own creations, the man’s floored with this appreciation

the last fucking thing he’ll do is ever make you feel guilty for crying, he’s having none of that and he’ll silently scowl in such disgust at the people that do

it’s not cool to shame peoples emotions, no invalidation here

if he’s in the right mood and you’re crying for something, happily he might just hype you up honestly

go bestie go, cry your eyes out

noir

someone else who sees nothing wrong with crying- he admittedly associates it most with grief so definitively panics the first few times he sees you crying at anything

but explain how crying is your response to everything and he’ll relax

he’s probably envious of your ability to feel so strongly about everything, since he struggles to feel a thing

the man literally lets matches burn to his fingertips out of hopes of feeling anything

that being said, he doesn’t want you to think like you now get to feel ungrateful for your tendencies to cry at everything since he envies it- crying is still taxing as fuck and you’re entitled to your own functions, he just wished he could take a page or two from your book

nine times outta ten he will probably assume each time that you’re crying out of sadness, he’s horrible at reading the room

it’s a pretty instant reaction from him to ask what’s wrong and assume the worst, man’s is instantly ready to start a fight if you’re crying for something bad that’s happened

makes a really big deal out of hugging you and dramatically wrapping his coat around you before suspiciously listing all of your enemies

he’s more of a “cheer up, sport” kinda guy and is a lot more insistent about talking to him about your feelings

partly because he want to understand the feelings, mostly because he wants to help you

probably cites some old 30’s techniques on how to make your face less puffy after crying if it bothers you- a really bizarre remedy

he’s also heard some more modern techniques, like chewing gum when cutting onions

he assumes that works for crying as a whole

happy crying takes him some time to wrap around his head, but he’ll get it

it’s a little surprising to him at first that you cry at every little thing, but that’s okay

he cant imagine that he’ll ever get over that initial surprise, seeing you cry at all immediately catches his attention - he’ll eventually stop assuming it’s bad, but he does attempt to comfort you each time without fail

you could be crying in such joy and he’ll fail to read the room, strokes your head while talking to you like you’re a dog that’s just had their paw stepped on

thinks he’s helping an incredible amount, has a small ego boost when he does successfully comfort you

he really does embrace it instead of trying to avoid it, which he imagined would be arrogant anyway

he’s envious, overall

good for you for being so in touch with your emotions

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

IM SORRY THIS KINDA SUCKS IM BAD AT CRYING

#across the spiderverse #spider man: across the spider verse #imagine #oneshot #headcanon #ask #hobie brown #atsv hobie #hobie spiderverse #hobie brown x gn!reader #hobie x gn!reader #gn reader #spider noir #spider noir x reader #spider noir x gn!reader

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saintsenara · 3 months

Note

Do you think there’s any situation in which Sirius/Snape could work as a ship if James Potter was alive/around?

I love both Sirius/Snape and Sirius/James (platonic, romantic and everything in between) as ships so I’d love to see a universe in which the 3 of them have a lovely time together but I dunno if I can picture it. I can mainly see Sirius/Snape working with James and Lily dead and Sirius post Azkaban because it really brings him off his pedestal and leaves that shared grief and longing for that intensity of companionship.

I guess part of the problem is trying to imagine Sirius being able to even remotely care about or prioritise someone else with James in the picture, even if James is only giving platonic on his end. But then doubly so if that person was someone James had a massive rivalry with and doesn’t want near his wife. (Although if he knew Snape wasn’t interested in Lily like that maybe he’d chill out about it? Or would only child syndrome kick in and he’d hate him even more for trying to “steal” Sirius from him because it would be really shocking and maybe low key traumatic for James to have any less than 110% of Sirius’ attention…again even if they were only platonic… 🤔)

If it was going to work I could see it maybe more after Hogwarts when they’ve all grown up a bit and James and Lily are wrapped up in their family and Sirius is a bit adrift at adjusting to not being able to have all of James all of the time.

The closest I’ve seen to making something like it work was a fic where Snape was horribly tortured for killing Peter in front of Voldemort to stop him telling the secret and it left him vegetative for years and the Potters cared for him and eventually Sirius took over so they could go live their married lives. I was really interested in where they were going with it and pretty sold on that being a situation in which it could end up all happy families but unfortunately the fic was kinda preslash and stopped before it explored how things would go romantically for Sirius/Snape after Snape regained his consciousness.

Would love to hear your thoughts on any scenarios in which you think the 3 of them could get along swimmingly!

My other thought was maybe if Sirius had been put in Slytherin and James decided to talk his way into Slytherin to be together, they might eventually adopt Snape into their wider friendship group for his dry wit the way they did Remus. I feel like James was waiting his whole life to have both a best friend and his own gang and would make one wherever he was with the best of what he had available (lbr Peter is hardly a stellar pick), and without the “he’s evil because he’s Slytherin” divide they could potentially find the Dark curses Sev knows fun/useful against whoever else they decide to bully instead, might notice in the shared dorm how poor he is and get a pity thing going like they did for Remus’ werewolf issue (which Snape’s pride would hate but he’d probably milk knowing how he was with Lucius?), and if Snape was gay and as devoted to a crush on Sirius as he was to the canon one on Lily and therefore willing to do some wing maning for James with Lily to keep in James and Sirius good graces, it could really cement his value as a pal….and if Snape had other options for well connected friends who could get him out of Cokeworth (picturing Fleamont setting up summer internships for James’ unfortunate looking poor but impeccably mannered pal at Sleekeasys R and D department 🥹) I’m sure Snape would be happy to not bother with the blood supremacist half of his year who want his childhood best friend dead (unless we think he joined to be in with them as a way to keep Lily safe, but I think that would be more a rationale he’d give himself or her later to justify his behaviour) ……..but anyway even if all of this elaborate scenario could happen so that the 3 of them would be pally, I still can’t picture Sirius being able to love/fancy someone more than James if James is right there, even if it’s only platonic on James’ end.

Unless I guess we take a reading of canon that Sirius was so mean to Snape because he fancied him madly and was furious about it, or because he could sense the queerness in him he hated/was being told by family to squash out in himself. Then maybe they’d have a special type of connection that could be powerful in a way Sirius wouldn’t be able to share with a straight James? Would that be enough though for Sirius never see one without the other Black? 🤔

I do think if that was the friendship group and they made Snape the secret secret keeper instead of Peter James and Lily might have lived! (And Snape might have let himself get killed keeping the secret 🥲) …although that said if Peter had an inkling James Potter might go to Slytherin he probably wouldn’t have fought the hat so hard and would have still been in the gang too!

I’ve really gone on a tangent here but yeah so interested in any scenarios you could see it working, I think about this a lot and I love the way you think about HP things! 👏

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

this is a question which i've wondered about for a while, which i'm going to answer with a tentative... yes.

because i do agree with you that one of the things which makes snack-in-the-90s really work is their shared grief over the loss of james and lily [and their shared guilt and desire to punish themselves for the role they each played in their deaths] and how it contributes to them being one of the series' most interesting narrative mirror pairings.

but it's equally true that they're narrative mirrors even without the grief aspect simply because of their mirrored love - whether you wish to interpret this as platonic or not - for one half of james and lily, and the quiet devastation [even though sirius expresses this very differently to snape] they feel when the two pair off.

and so i do think - in a world in which both james and lily survive [i don't think it can be either/or] - there is the potential for snape and sirius to find themselves drawn together by a grief which is less profound than that caused by james and lily's deaths, but is still transformational in a way that i think is often overlooked in fandom: the grief of realising that the person you love doesn't feel the same way.

because i love platonic prongsfoot and platonic snily as much as the next girl, and i think that the grief i'm describing can apply just as much to platonic love as to romantic love.

but i prefer - and, indeed, i'm on the record as being convinced this is the text's actual intention - to read both snape's love for lily and sirius' love for james as romantic.

and - obviously - the intensity of this feeling prevents either snape or sirius getting a grip while they're in their teens [especially if they're both also grappling with the idea that they're not straight - i'm afraid i've never bought the fanon that the wizarding world is more enlightened when it comes to sexuality]. it makes perfect sense that - as you say - it's impossible for the nineteen-year-old sirius to imagine caring about someone the way he care about james, and to convince himself that the only way he can live his life is to spend decades pining nobly from afar, never letting on how much his heart aches.

but one of the great tragedies of the canonical snape and sirius is that they get stuck in a state of arrested development from their lives - essentially - stopping when they're both twenty-one. there's an inherent pettiness to their interactions in canon - the obsessing over schoolboy experiences, the fact that snape finds himself stuck at school and sirius finds himself stuck in his childhood home - which other characters clearly don't quite understand [dumbledore saying to harry at the end of order of the phoenix that sirius was too sensible to be goaded by snape seems dismissive in the context of what we - the readers - have seen, but it makes perfect sense that - from dumbledore's perspective - a thirty-six-year-old man wouldn't still care about playground beef from twenty years ago.]

in a world where james and lily live, snape and sirius get a chance to act their actual ages - and with that, sirius gets to learn how to accept that his role in james' life will change as his best friend settles into being a husband and father and snape either gets to learn how to stop pining for lily from afar or how to start trying to make amends for his treatment of her.

and james and lily also get to grow up too - to recognise how their priorities towards their friends will change as they form a family of their own and to see their school days [and their behaviour during them] more objectively the further removed from them they become. james at eighteen would rather die than have anything less than 110% of sirius' attention. james at thirty has other things to worry about.

i think that it would only work in a scenario where snape and sirius encountered each other again after having left hogwarts [i like the slytherin!james suggestion - and i'd be interested to see how you'd write it - but i personally think that there's no way on earth james is having snape anywhere near him until he's - for want of a better term "won" their rivalry over lily]. but i also think it would only work if that scenario was decades after they graduated, rather than years, and that the two don't meet again until they're - at least - in their early forties.

i think you could do something really quite interesting with james in that setting - as he realises, as his children reach adulthood and start to fly the nest, that sirius is chronically single and decides the project he wants for his middle age is to find his friend true love.

never expecting that his friend will bail from a date he arranges with a lovely woman and end up hiding in the leaky cauldron talking to snape - but then being mature enough [after some running around screaming "snape? snape?" at lily] to think that if sirius is happy, then he is.

and on this point, both sirius and snape canonically struggle to be realistic about how they see themselves and their worth - for example, in how they both refuse to believe that they could successfully atone for their roles in causing james and lily's deaths. when this is combined with the fact that sirius grew up in a community which is obsessed with blood and lineage - and how that blood and lineage is continued - and snape grew up with his primary masculine role-model being a violent man who was presumably also a homophobe, i do think that both of them would find it difficult to be open about their sexuality, especially since - in a world where they get to live normally after 1981 - they would be starting to understand themselves as queer during the aids crisis [which i refuse to believe doesn't impact the wizarding world, because i loathe the implication of canon that wizards are resistant to muggle diseases].

i think you can plausibly write them as both still in the closet in the 90s/00s - and for sirius especially to be worried about james' reaction if he found out he was interested in men. [which is a dimension often left out of things which examine sirius as queer and james as straight. lots of queer men worry - sometimes unnecessarily, sometimes, sadly, justifiably - that being open about their sexuality with straight male friends will cause those friends to back off from their platonic relationships due to a homophobic fear that queer men will automatically interpret platonic physical and emotional intimacy as romantic.]

but - whatever else he is - james clearly isn't a bigot. and i think he could once again get over the fact that sirius has shacked up with snape [snape?] in order to be proud that sirius was finally comfortable with who he is.

[and yes, i do genuinely think that sirius and snape's canonical vibe can be read as having some level of sexual attraction in it - they are both just so obsessed with each other that it's giving "why do i have this hyper-intense need to get in this other boy's face oh wait that's why"...]

#asks answered #asenora meta #asenora's opinions on ships #starprince #snirius #sirius black #severus snape

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jbuffyangel · 29 days

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My Life. My Choice: Arrow 2x03 Review (Broken Dolls)

For the CW, “Broken Dolls” is actually really creepy. It’s this episode and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “The Gentleman” that give me an absolute wiggins.

Creepiness equals solid bad guy which equals FELICITY IN DANGER and PROTECTIVE OLIVER. This happens to be my sexual identity. Excellent. We also get a very overdue confession from Laurel Lance regarding Tommy’s death.

Source: Paige

Let’s dig in…

Oliver and the Lance Family

We’re kicking off the episode with Oliver surrounded by cops in Laurel’s office. It’s not one of his handy trick arrows that save him however, but the Lady in Black and her sonic thing. A whole bunch of windows explode and everyone collapses except Oliver and the Lady in Black. I don’t think the sonic thing is based in real physics.

With the sonic thing as a clue, Felicity discovers the Lady in Black put five would-be rapists in the hospital and seems to be strictly targeting misogynist criminals. What is not to love about this woman? She’s still not talking to Oliver yet, so he must rely on Roy to find her. He chases Sin to the clock tower where he is subsequently knocked unconscious.

When he wakes, the Lady in Black is standing over him asking, “Are you one of them?” Roy is just as confused as the rest of us. When he gets a call from Thea, the Lady in Black tells Sin to release Roy and she vanishes. Well, that answered absolutely nothing.

When Oliver returns home safely to the bunker, Diggle asks the question everyone is asking, “What were you doing at Laurel’s office in the first place, Oliver?” God bless our logical King. Where would we be without you? Oliver wanted to convince Laurel he was doing things a different way, but acknowledges he was wrong to think he could simply convince her. From now on the Arrow will be steering clear of the Assistant District Attorney. FINALLY.

That’s not to say some of the Lance family can be convinced the Arrow has changed his ways. Detective Lance reaches out to Felicity to contact the Arrow because a serial killer he once arrested is back on the streets. His name is Barton Mathis aka “The Dollmaker.” He suffocates his victims with a flexible polymer he pours down their throats and then dresses them up like dolls (hello to the creepy). He escaped from prison during the earthquake and is killing again.

It’s personal to Lance because Mathis killed eight girls before he caught him. The police department is stretched too thin to stop Mathis before he kills more woman, so Lance is also trying another way and teaming up with the Arrow. YASSS!!

Lance swings by Laurel’s office to check on her and get the name of Mathis’ defense counsel. Laurel is not thrilled her father is digging into this case on his own time because of the way it consumed him the last time.

Laurel: Whatever guilt you’re feeling, you’re just using it to justify a vendetta.

Lance: Well maybe I’m not the only one.

SHOTS FIRED!!!!

Lance stops by the Dollmaker’s defense attorney, but brings the Arrow as backup. Oliver is no longer killing, but that doesn’t mean he’s above torturing.

Lance: I thought you were done killing people!

The Arrow: He’ll live.

Lance: He’s going to report me to my lieutenant.

Source: Paige

Honestly, this is one of the Arrow’s best lines ever. I am cackling. The defense attorney coughs up a possible location – the Bisque Museum. The building reminds him of Germany which is where porcelain dolls was invented. Thanks for nothing, Germany.

Lance and the Arrow track the Dollmaker to the Bisque Museum, but instead of finding Mathis they find a doll, with the article of the Dollmaker’s arrest attached to it, and a phone. Mathis calls to taunt Lance as he kills another woman.

While on a stakeout with Lance, Oliver uses the hood to address his issues with Lance’s daughters once again. He makes a somewhat snide remark about Laurel no longer believing in him. Honestly, I wish Oliver wasn’t so hung up on this thing with Laurel, but apparently he needs someone to explain it to him like a four year old.

Lance: She suffered a loss. Grief’s got a way of shifting a person’s belief. But then you know all about that. You’ve lost people too right?

The Arrow: Why would you say that?

Lance: Why else would you be doing this? My youngest, she died.

The Arrow: I’m sorry.

Lance: Less than a month after it happened, I ended up catching the Dollmaker case. Threw myself into it. I think on some level, with each girl, I was trying to save Sara. And just like with Sara, I couldn’t.

Not that I’m in favor of Oliver using his secret identity to worm his way back into the Lance family, but this was the first time he could really apologize to Quentin and Quentin receive it. He doesn’t blame the Arrow for Sara’s death. He blames Oliver. He’s just too angry with Oliver to hear anything he has to say – even if it’s just expressing remorse. But Lance can accept it from the man in the hood.

I find it actually shocking at this point that Oliver doesn’t understand why Laurel is lashing out at the Arrow. Oliver’s entire mission is fueled by the grief of his father’s death – and every subsequent loss he suffered those five years. He found countless criminals to target his rage and sorrow at. Laurel is just targeting one criminal. Oliver really needs this explained to him? Buy a mirror buddy. Yeesh. Self reflection is not his strong suit in Season 2 apparently.

Lance is arrested for obstruction after attempting to arrest the Dollmaker on his own (with Team Arrow’s help), but having an ADA for a daughter comes in handy and Laurel gets the charges dropped. This leads to a very interesting argument about the Arrow. Do I love that Lance officially renamed him the Arrow? Yes, I do. He came up with the Hood, so it seems only right.

Lance: A guy with a bow and arrow can’t save a guy who’s had a building fall on top of him. What’s going on with you is not about the Arrow.

Finally, someone said it to her face. Lance cannot understand why Laurel feels guilty about Tommy’s death (*COUGH*WE CAN*COUGH*), but targeting the Arrow is not going to bring Tommy back. Lance is genuinely worried about Laurel, but she blows her father off like she’s does to anyone trying to help her lately.

The Dollmaker ups the ante and kidnaps Lance AND LAUREL by the end of the episode. Now, I am not a huge fan of Laurel at the moment. I have my issues with her, but seeing her tied up with a tube shoved down her throat, as her father begs for her life, was sufficiently scary.

Lance: Laurel, sweetheart, close your eyes. I’m here. I’m here, honey.

UGH. A parent telling their child to close their eyes during traumatic events traumatizes me!! Anytime the Arrow would like to show up would be swell.

Source: @dinahlaurellancesource

The Arrow saves Laurel of course, but he’s not the only masked vigilante the Dollmaker must contend with – the Lady in Black has shown up too. Well, this fits her MO since the guy is a freaking SERIAL KILLER OF WOMEN. In fact, now that I mention it, where the hell have YOU been Lady in Black?

Oliver is prepared to bring the Dollmaker back to prison after he immobilizes him with a couple of arrows, but the Lady in Black is not having it and puts a baton through the Dollmaker’s chest. You know, I’m not worked up about this kill. It's fine with her resolution skills.

Laurel cannot understand why the Arrow saved her, particularly since she’s been hunting him like prey.

Laurel: He came… he came to save me.

But this time, Laurel is not talking about the Arrow. She’s talking about Tommy.

Laurel: Oliver, he told to me to stay out of the Glades and he told me to get out of CNRI and I didn’t. Tommy was only there because I was too stubborn. Too stubborn to get out when I had the chance. You were right. I was blaming the Arrow because… Oh, my God. It’s all my fault, Dad. It’s all my fault that Tommy died.

Laurel collapses into her father’s arms and he comforts her as Oliver secretly listens to her heart wrenching confession, hidden away in the dark alley.

It’s a callback to the scene in the pilot when Oliver watched Laurel and Tommy from a distance. It foreshadowed that Oliver and Laurel’s superhero journeys would be linked and the tether was Tommy. It was simply not in the way either of them imagined.

We are not at the end of Laurel Lance’s Season 2 story, but the very beginning. While her confession is necessary, it will not solve all her problems. Acknowledging guilt and grief is one thing. Being ready to deal with it is another.

Did you notice that Quentin didn’t immediately tell Laurel she was wrong? I am not so inhuman that I hold Laurel completely responsible for Tommy’s death. Malcolm Merlyn killed his son. Not Laurel.

But she bears some culpability. If she had listened to Oliver or Quentin – Tommy may have lived. It’s possible he could have died another way, but what we know for certain is he never would’ve been at CNRI. He was there because of Laurel and only Laurel. That is the guilt she must carry for the rest of her life. Laurel doesn’t hate the Arrow. She hates herself.

That is a feeling Oliver Queen knows all too well. He goes to Laurel’s apartment to check on her and Quentin. When Lance thanks the Arrow for saving his daughter (again) Oliver’s response is surprisingly detached.

The Arrow: She needed help.

Just like Quentin. Just like all the other citizens of Starling City the Arrow has sworn to protect. I am not delusional to pretend that Oliver Queen doesn’t care more for Laurel Lance than a stranger on the street, but there is a note of dispassion. Oliver is not there because he’s trying to change Laurel’s mind about him or chase after her forgiveness or use the hood to weasel his way back into her personal life. He’s there because she was a person who needed help. That is all. And that says a lot. It’s quite a shift from the Oliver Queen of Season 1.

Source: @dinahlaurellancesource

You cannot help someone who doesn't want to be helped. I think this pull back is necessary. Oliver cannot always save Laurel - she has to learn to save herself. This her life. These are her choices. The road Laurel is headed toward is one that neither Oliver nor the Arrow can follow her down.

Olicity

After the Dollmaker’s latest victim is discovered, Team Arrow wants a peek at the forensics, but the police have sent everything to a private lab. Felicity can’t hack it because their system is offline. Seems she did too good of a job last season. FIELD TRIP TIME!

Lance and the Arrow break into the lab, so Felicity can download the forensic records. There is a list of chemical ingredients of all the make-up found on the victims. Lance recognizes one of the chemicals - ethyl paraben sodium laureth sulfate, which is found in skim cream. Lance remembers one of the victims was wearing some kind of Mermaid skin cream, which had the same type of formula. Felicity quickly tracks it down, which leaves Lance gobsmacked by her abilities and Oliver smiles with "That's my girl" pride.

The Dollmaker picks his victims by their skin and the skin cream is how he finds them. All the victims use Mermaiden Skin Cream, which is very expensive and only carried at limited boutiques. Felicity volunteers to buy the skin cream at the four boutiques available in Starling City. Both Oliver and Diggle balk at that prospect of Felicity in that much danger.

Source: @smoakgifs

The boys can’t help but be a little awed by her bravery. Slade makes a similar comment about Shado when Oliver worries about leaving her behind in the plane so she can examine the Japanese soldier bones.

Slade: Her life. Her choice.

Oliver is romantically involved with Shado at this point, so it’s extremely telling the writers are drawing a direct parallel from Shado to Felicity. It’s also clear at this point that Team OTA is paralleling Team Flashback. This was such a cool shot:

Lance: Just for the record, I’m not a huge fan of dangling helpless girls in front of psychopaths like meat.

Felicity volunteers because she’s an absolute bad ass, but she also knows without a shadow of doubt that Oliver (and Diggle) will never let anything happen to her.

Source: smoakandswan

Once again, Felicity’s belief is proven right when the Dollmaker snatches her. Even though Diggle, Lance and Oliver are close there is still enough time for the Dollmaker to drag Felicity into a back alley. CREEPED OUT ALERT!!! Every woman has this exact fear every time they leave their house. #pickthebear

Oliver lands an arrow in this sick son of a bitch (YASSS MY KING!!!) and the Dollmaker releases Felicity. Unfortunately, she stumbles and hits her head as she falls to the ground. Lance chases after the Dollmaker, but Oliver does not.

He immediately runs to Felicity’s side and gently checks her head and tells her not to move. He stays with her until Diggle arrives.

Source: Paige

SWOON. This is not the “Mission is all that matters” man we saw last season. Some things (or someone) matter more.

Unfortunately, the Dollmaker escapes like he’s freaking Houdini. He kidnaps Laurel as ultimate retribution for Quentin arresting him.

Dollmaker: You know I could maim you, I could slice you up into a thousand pieces, but if your soul remains intact what have I wrought? Huh? Nothing.

The goal is to hurt Quentin by killing his daughter, which will cause the emotional pain the Dollmaker desires. However, "If your soul remains intact what have I wrought?” feels like a reference to Oliver. Not Quentin.

If Oliver loses himself to the darkness of the hood, if he allows all the pain and suffering to destroy his soul, then it doesn’t matter how many bad guys he arrests or how many times he saves the city. The villains will win.

It’s an argument Oliver has been having with Slade the last few episodes. Slade disapproves of Oliver’s relationship with Shado primarily because he’s madly in love with her. That said, Slade made no moves towards any type of romantic relationship with Shado, which means he could truly believe what he’s telling Oliver – attachments get you killed.

Oliver: You think caring about people is what gets you killed. I think it’s what keeps people alive.

Slade: I was wrong about you. You’re definitely an idiot.

The question then becomes how do we go from Oliver believing in love in the flashbacks to emotionally closed off in present day? I say closed off purposely – not shut down. Oliver still feels very deeply, but he keeps those emotions in check, hidden under a hood and layer of steel forged during those five years away. Something happens in the past that changes Oliver mind about caring for others.

What’s so wild about Oliver’s statement to Slade is that he’s right and Island Ollie is seldom right about anything. It is crucial for Oliver to maintain his connections to Diggle, Felicity and his family. However, present day Oliver is not entirely wrong. Love can save his soul, but it can also destroy it. If a villain discovers who Oliver loves then it makes that person a target. How many people can Oliver lose and his soul remains intact? Maybe it’s not a question of how many, but WHO. Regardless, it’s a risk Oliver has been reticent to take. For now.

The flip is the people Oliver cares about get a vote. They get to decide for themselves how much risk they can accept. And because they believe in Oliver so much they are willing to risk their lives. At the end of the day, it's their choice. Oliver gave Felicity the respect she deserved in making this decision - this respect should apply to all aspects of her life.

Source: smoakandswan

Stray Thoughts

“He’ll be out for 36 min.” That is an oddly specific time for a tranquilizer dart.

Shado was pre-med. I feel like Slade & Oliver should have known this sooner than a year later. What else do they have to talk about?

Prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against Moira. Oliver keeps saying he’ll never let that happen, so I’m thinking he has a Mom jail break plan.

Sometimes you need a good old fashioned gratiutious shirtless scene.

Source: Paige

What secret is Moira willing to die to keep? It is something she believes will cost her relationship with her children. So that’s a big pile of yikes.

I am completely comfortable with the way Diggle & Oliver pass the time.

Slade’s hands and face are seriously burned from freighter bombing. Oliver is imprisoned on the boat. Who knows where Shado is. Flashbacks are straight up hell again!

LADY IN BLACK IS IN KAHOOTS WITH RA’S AL GHUL!!! Batman Jen squeals with delight.

Listen to the Watchover podcast reaction to 2x03!!!

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me!

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scmg11 · 1 year

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KATE BISHOP x READER

SEX EDUCATION (PART 1)

A/N: HELLO HELLO HELLO PEOPLE! FIRST THING FIRST HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I know I kinda disappeared and went M.I.A. for a while but I'm studying for a really tough exams and it's making me exhausted 😩

Anyway, I didn't stop writing! So here I am with a new chapter that will have a part 2 that I've already wrote and it only needs to be proofread (and a part 3 that I'm actually working on and maybe a few more parts if inspiration hits me!).

So enjoy! And don't forget to tell me what you guys think! ❤️

Sending love ❤️

Summary: Y/N and Kate got assigned to a new mission into an high school to find expose a few people selling illegal weapons, using their position to get away with it without consequences and getting caught.

Warnings: smut.

Word count: 17817 words.

Y/N sighed in fatigue after the umpteenth squat she did and let the heavy ball fall off her hands and onto the floor when Maria Hill entered the room calling her name. "Hey Y/N!"

"Hill! What a surprise! How are you?" Y/N walked over the bench where she left her towel and dumped her sweaty forehead as she watched Maria approach her with a small smile.

"Good, things in Washington are pretty crazy, I missed this place."

"Pftt, yeah, stay here for a couple of days and you’ll fly back to Washington in no time." Y/N joked before taking a large gulp of water as Maria laughed gently at her sentence.

"Oh please! A couple of days are too much! I’ll give her 5 hours." Y/N turned around with a snort when she heard Cassie’s voice coming from the gym’s entrance and her stomach lurched up into her throat when she noticed Kate standing beside her with a smug smirk on her face, mirroring the blonde’s one.

"Still too much." Kate butted in with a mischievous tone as she leaned with her left shoulder on the doorstep and crossed her arms under her chest, a gesture that made Y/N’s body set aflame and she thanked her workout and God she could use her workout to justify her red cheeks, as her smile grew bigger, "I’ll give her one hour."

"Keep doing this relentless teasing and I’ll go back to Washington in 2 minutes." Maria joked alongside the girls and made all them laugh heartily with her. "Anyway, I’m sadly here for just a week. Fury asked me to organize a few files and to assign you guys a few missions to work on. I’m starting with Cassie and Kamala. She is already waiting in my office."

"Oh no, called into the principal’s office. Good luck Cass." Y/N joked and dodged a bottle of water when Cassie threw one at her at her mocking while Kate laughed care-freely.

"Do not joke too much about it Y/L/N. You too Bishop. You two are next."

Maria left with Cassie right after, both sporting smug smiles when they saw the other two girls gulp loudly in fright as they met their eyes.

"Oh girls! Come sit!"

"First of all, do not call my parents okay? It was a stupid prank and it was all her idea!" Y/N continued to joke after letting Kate into Maria’s office and closing the door behind her, taking a seat right beside Kate in front of Maria’s desk and laughed loudly when Kate opened her mouth in outrage and slapped her shoulder with the back of her hand.

"You bitch! That’s how it is now? We agreed on sharing the blame!"

Maria shook her head at the two Avengers’ banter but laughed under her breath, she missed them so much. "Okay kids enough. As much as I love this, we need to discuss a few serious things. I have a mission for you two."

"Great! It’s been a month since my last mission and I missed going on the field to kick some ass!" Y/N clapped her hands enthusiastically and smiled at Kate, who sported her same ecstatic expression as she nodded at her in agreement.

"Well this time there are going to be no ass kicking, well in some way it can be involved but not that kind of ass kicking! Anyway, I’m rambling. Hm- speaking of going to the principal’s office, I need you to infiltrate into an high school in California. We had been keeping an eye on the principal and a few more employers there and we think they are involved in illegal arms traffic, including a few weapons that are not from this world and they are benefitting from their positions in the school to get away with it. We want you to find out how many people are involved and to stop them."

"Okay, it should be easy." Y/N nodded after grabbing the files Maria gave them as she explained their mission and skidded her eyes over quickly to gain as much information as possible while listening intently to Maria delivering their mission’s details.

"Yeah." Kate nodded in agreement as she read over the file and scrunched her eyebrow up in confusion when she noticed the file didn’t have her profile for the mission. "What are we gonna do? I don’t see my profile in here."

"Oh here." Maria gave Kate a paper before doing the same with Y/N. "The mission should last about 3 months."

"What?!"

"What?!" The two girls asked in confusion at the same time, moving their eyes from their profiles to Maria, not having enough time to look at their covers for the mission, too much in disbelief to have the time to read them.

"I know, I know. But it is important that you two will blend well with the school’s environment to not rise suspicion before taking action. You two will gain intel at first then will take action later on the mission."

"Ugh and I thought I was done being an high school student after graduating." Y/N sighed dejectedly and she grimaced at the thought of having to go back to the hellhole everyone calls high school.

"Well, you’re not gonna exactly be a student." Maria stated vaguely as she avoided Y/N’s curious gaze, making her move her eyes then on the profile and gasping loudly when she read her cover for the mission, making Kate look up from her own papers and meet her gaze curiously.

"I’m gonna be a teacher." Y/N spoke up with something Kate couldn’t exactly detect as she tried to read over Y/N’s papers.

"Well you got lucky, I will have to study all over again and go to class!" Kate whined comically, hoping to hear Y/N’s laugh but when she turned her head to look at her she found her face red as a tomato as she avoided everyone’s gaze. "What?"

"Really? Of all subjects you could’ve choose, that is the one you picked up?"

"I’m sorry! It was the only free spot in the school!"

"Can someone help me understand?"

"I’m going to be a sex education teacher."

"Oh."

After running over the details, Y/N and Kate went their separate ways to prepare for their mission since they have to leave in a few days. "Fuck. How am I going to function normally when I’ll have to listen to her teach about sex?"

Kate whined loudly as she stressed over the situation before falling face first on the bed and groaning into the pillow, "oh come on now, Kate Bishop. You should not worry about it."

"Really?" Kate lifted her head from the pillow and met the Russian’s gaze with her right eyebrow arched up expectantly, waiting for Yelena to explain further down her thoughts.

"Yes! You already don’t function properly around her, so I don’t see why trying to do that when she will talk about sex in front of you." Kate groaned at Yelena’s mocking and slammed her head back into the pillow, hitting her knee gently with her foot when she heard her chuckle beside her.

"I’m still trying to understand why I even try to ask for your help."

"Because I give pretty good advices Kate Bishop."

"I beg to differ. All you do is make fun of me and of my crush for Y/N."

"Because is very funny watching you make a fool out of yourself in front of her. I’m considering asking Maria to join you just to witness you struggling while she talks about vaginas."

Kate grunted in frustration and turned herself on her back to stare up at the ceiling while brushing her hair off her face, "I’m screwed."

"Only if you listen and put into practice those lesson Y/N will teach. Maybe ask her to tutor you." Yelena mocked and teased Kate some more and chuckled at her grunt on frustration before patting her head and laying beside her on the bed to discuss a bit more about the mission’s details and tease Kate about her crush on Y/N.

"No Pete, I’m serious! What do I do? Fuck! I can’t stand in front of Kate talking about sex!"

"I don’t see the problem Y/N/N. I mean it is embarrassing to talk about sex in front of horny teenagers that will probably laugh every time you will say something sexual-"

"Or like blush adorably just like you do every time I say clitoris. Ha! There it is!" Y/N laughed when she saw Peter look down at his wringing hands as his face flushed deep red.

"Anyway, you should really tell her how you feel Y/N/N. I saw how Kate is with you, there is no way she doesn’t feel the same."

"Are you crazy? No! I’m not compromising our mission because of my feelings for her. I cannot stand spend 3 months, maybe more if we need more time, with her avoiding me because she doesn’t feel the same and she rejects me after I confessed my feelings for her. I’ll just avoid her gaze in class and think about her not being in the room with me."

"And when you have to ask questions to the class and correct her papers?" Peter asked with a knowing tone, smiling proudly in advance, knowing he had a point.

"You’re right! Fuck, I’m screwed."

"Holy shit this house is huge!"

"Yeah, Maria said it had a panel control that will automatically split the house in two houses if someone comes snooping around to prevent them to suspect we live together."

"Wait, how do you explain a teenager living alone?"

"Tony created high technology holograms that will make your fake parents appear if needed." Y/N explained as she left all their bags in the living room and sprawled on the couch in exhaustion with a huff.

"Wow, they thought about everything." Kate sat carefully beside Y/N’s head and immediately started caressing her scalp when the girl scooted closer to her and leaned her head on her lap, humming in appreciation at the sweet gesture.

"Anyway, we should be safe. This house is far away from any snooping and nosey neighbors and we live right outside the city."

"You’re right. We’re just have to endure the hellhole that is school."

"Okay, do you want to review your cover?" Y/N asked as they made their way around the house to put their weapons safely all around it as they familiarized with the place.

"Yeah, sure. It will help us get into character. I’ll start then you’ll review your cover." Y/N nodded and let Kate talk, giving her undivided attention as they stopped their chores and sat on the couch, "I’m Laura Anderson, I just moved here from Boston. My dad is a bioengineer that just got a new job here, while my mom is a lawyer."

"Great! And I’m Elizabeth Williams, I am psychologist specialized in sexology. Ugh, this is gonna be so fucking embarrassing!"

"Go on! We’ll discuss about how much embarrassing it will be after your review." Kate interjected with a wave of her hand and snorted with a smug smirk when Y/N regarded her with an unamused look then laughing softly under her breath, "don’t make that face and do not even start laughing to mock me, go on, c’mon- hey! That rhymed!"

Y/N shook her head when Kate lifted her finger up in surprise at her rhyme and giggled softly, "okay! Hm- I’m from Georgia and I just moved here after applying for the job at our school."

"And-?" Kate pressed Y/N on with a big smile, something that made Y/N grunt out loud with a roll of her eyes, making Kate’s grin getting bigger at her exasperated gesture with fondness filling her eyes.

"And- fuck this shit, they accepted me right away because of my PhD about the many physical and phycological layers of a vagina."

Y/N’s face fell in an unamused look when Kate bursted out laughing as she leaned her forehead over and laid it on her forearm, leaning her elbow on the doorframe of the living room after she walked back from getting a glass of water, while Y/N stared at her with fake annoyance from her sitting position on the couch. "Oh my god, that was amazing."

"I don’t know why you find it so funny." Y/N grabbed a pillow and hit Kate with it when she continued to giggle after she sat right beside her and pouted at her childishly.

"I don’t find the research funny, I found your discomfort talking about it funny." Kate explained with a too sweet smile and teasing wiggling eyebrows, making Y/N grunt in frustration as she pushed her gently on her shoulder, making her laugh heartily in the process.

"I hate you Bishop."

"No, you don’t." Kate smiled brightly at Y/N and grabbed her pillow from her hands when she tried to hit her with it again and smashed it softly on her face instead and giggled when Y/N regarded her with a pointed stare and grunted at her, before squinting her Y/E/C eyes at her, making Kate smile innocently at her as she winked flirtatiously at her then put on a smug smirk on her lips, something that made Y/N loose focus for a few seconds, "I know for a fact that you love me. C’mon say it, say you love me."

"Pfft, yeah sure. Keep dreaming Bishop."

"Don’t try to play the badass card with me. You love me. Admit it, you big softie."

Y/N was trying really hard to let the butterflies flying around her stomach to calm down but Kate was right. She loved her. She was in love with her. But she would never admit something like that to her. She let a small smile roll over her lips when the archer started poking her ribs with her pointer finger as she tried to shield herself away, even though she only wanted to lean more into the archer’s touch, "if I say I love you, will you leave me alone?"

"Only if it’s an heartfelt admission." Kate smiled sweetly at her and attacked her with both her hands now as she tickled her gently.

"Okay! Okay! Stop! I love you." Kate stopped just a few seconds, letting her hands hover over Y/N’s stomach as she stared pointedly at her with her right eyebrow arched up in question, "I do! I truly dO NO STOP!" Y/N shrieked loudly when Kate let a shit-eating grin dust over her features before continuing her tickling attack on Y/N. "Okay! I love you! I love you! I LOVE YOU! KATE PLEASE STOP!"

"See?! It wasn’t that difficult." Kate laughed heartily at their playful banter and leaned her head on Y/N’s shoulder as she tried to regain her breath and sighing contentedly when Y/N rounded her arm around her shoulder and leaned them both back on the couch, cuddling softly one another, before focusing again on their files and covers for their mission that was about to start in two days.

"Good morning class! I’m your new teacher, Miss Williams. I know you guys will probably spend a lot of time in my class laughing your ass off about things we will discuss, but I just want to clarify a few things." Y/N wrote her name on the blackboard and turned around, met Kate’s eyes just a brief second before looking at the class staring at her wide eyed, "yeah I said ass. It’s not like we’re not gonna talk about it during this class." Y/N smiled at the class laughing at her joke and watched as Kate rolled her eyes fondly with small shake of her head and a knowing smirk. "Okay, no swearing in my class. I just wanted to make that joke." Y/N snorted as she clapped her hands before she walked over her desk and leaned her butt on it gingerly, "anyway, like I was saying, I know you guys will probably feel embarrassed or amused with a few, if not all of them, of the things we will cover in my class, but I just wanted to create a safe space here to talk seriously about sex. That’s why I’m here." Y/N smiled sweetly at the students staring at her with rapt attention and nodded softly, "also if someone of you makes fun of your classmates, will be sent right away to the principal. Do not make me do that. I want to be your teacher but also a friend with whom you can talk freely and seriously about sex. Now, here’s what we’re gonna do. Move all your seats to form a circle, c’mon." Y/N watched as the teens moved their seats around diligently and looked expectantly at Y/N now sat comfortably on the desk, "since this is your first day of school I wanted just to talk freely about a few things and include you guys in it. First thing first. This-" Y/N lifted a blue and green medium sized ball in her hand from behind her and showed it to the class, "is what I like to call my ‘talking ball’. I will pass it to one of you guys so you can answer whatever question I asked you, if you don’t know the answer don’t worry, just throw the ball right back to me and I will toss it to someone else or answer the question myself!" Y/N started to throw the ball all around her students, who seemed clearly invested in her lesson if their big smiles and eager behavior were anything to go by as they introduced themselves, asked questions and answered a few question from Y/N, before smiling warmly at Kate and throwing the ball to her.

"Hm, I’m Laura Anderson. I-I just moved here."

"Well, nice to meet you Laura." Y/N smiled a bit more to Kate before she threw the ball back at her to let a few more of her classmates to introduce themselves, "okay, now that we introduced ourselves, be patient with me. I may be young but I will need a few days to remember all your names!" Y/N joked as she rolled her eyes and tapped her temple gently, making the class laugh loudly. Kate had to admit Y/N was a pretty good actress. The more she watched her the more she noticed how much into character she was, not to mention hot as fu- what? Kate you can’t seriously think about that right now. She is supposed to be your teacher! My very hot, very distracting teacher though. "Let’s start with a few basic things about sex education. Do you guys know what a vagina is, right?" Y/N laughed alongside her students about her joke and watched as Kate imperceptibly rolled her eyes fondly at her, "from your laughs I assume you do! Anyway, let me start with dispelling a myth. You can’t actually lose something in there. The vagina is bounded at the inner end to the cervix-" Y/N lifted a book up and showed her students an image of a sectioned vagina and pointed to the aforementioned cervix, "and by the vagina’s own tissue. In other words it is not connected to other body parts. So nothing will ever go missing, it will just hurt a lot getting it out of it if something will ever happen." Y/N turned then a few pages and opened it to an image of a sectioned penis, "your penis is longer thank you think." A few murmurs followed by Y/N’s statement and she immediately stopped them with just a pointed stare at the boys smiling smugly, "like I was saying, around half of its length is stashed inside your body, but let me clarify that it just needs to stay this way to function properly."

Y/N continued to deliver a few random facts about sex, before deciding to include the class into her lesson and started asking a few simple question about sex, "okay Mia, can you tell me if it’s really possible to break a penis?"

The blonde girl grabbed the ball and squeezed it anxiously as she thought over the answer, "no?"

"Nope, it is actually possible. Don’t worry! It’s fine if you give me a wrong answer as long as you listen to the correct one!" The girl smiled in appreciation at Y/N and nodded as she listened intently to her explaining further, "it can actually happen to break it, usually during rough sex or when someone falls off the bed with an erection. It happens when you break the fibrous covering of the corpora cavernosa, that is a tissue that becomes erect when engorged with blood." Kate listened with rapt attention Y/N explaining all these things even though she knew she had to study them to make everyone believe she actually was a sex education teacher, "okay Laura, it’s your turn." Kate blinked a few times before grabbing swiftly and effortlessly thanks to her reflex - thank you archery - the ball that Y/N threw at her and forced her brain to work, "is it true that the clitoris has a lot in common with a penis?"

"Yes?" Kate asked more than answered and shivered copiously when Y/N regarded her with a proud smile.

"Very good! Can you tell me why?"

"Hm- no."

"It’s okay. It’s because it develops from an outgrowth in the embryo called genital tubercle. It is initially undifferentiated, but then it develops into either a penis or a clitoris for a vagina during the development of the reproductive system depending on the exposure to androgens, that are primarily male hormones." And right after her sentence the bell rang and all the kids groaned in frustration at the sound, "wow, I will make every other teacher jealous that my students wants to keep learning in my class."

Kate laughed alongside her classmates at her joke as she collected her things and walked over her next class, "have a good day Miss. Williams!"

"Thank you guys! Have a good day too!"

"I don’t know how you can talk so easily about sex without laughing or blushing." Kate admitted after taking a bite of the pizza they ordered and looked at Y/N incredulously as she chewed happily on her big bite.

"I don’t know actually. Maybe because I am acting."

"I would’ve definitely combusted when Troy asked ‘how do you know when a girl is coming?’. I almost did and I am playing a student."

"Oh my god I was about to laugh in his face! I had to restrain myself from commenting how, as usual, boys don’t know how to make a girl cum. But I had a small idea for tomorrow’s lesson."

Kate blushed at that and forced her face to not resemble a tomato right in front of Y/N, "what idea?"

"You’ll see."

"Okay guys! Yesterday Troy asked a really important question. I am not only making sure you know enough about safe sex and have it as safe as possible, I wanted you to know exactly how both your body and your partner’s one works! So I brought here with me something I used during my college days!"

Kate widened her eyes in surprise when Y/N lifted the cloth she placed on something on the desk and came face to face with a pretty faithful reproduction of a vagina and a penis, "what are those?" Kate turned her head around to her classmate Rose as she leaned over her chair to look at those two things on Y/N’s desk and stopped her mind from spiraling out of control and to get her head out of the gutter, especially when the main character of her dirty scenarios was right in front of her teaching a class.

"These are devices that replicate how a vagina and a penis work. Since Troy asked about how to know if your girl is coming and a lot of you seemed lost with my boring theoretical explanation, I’m giving you guys the opportunity to show your skills and to make this devices come! Wait that sounded wrong and weird! It sounded better in my head." Y/N grimaced and slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand, making the whole class laugh. Kate, despite putting up a façade and laughing along her classmates, was actually freaking out about this whole thing. It was already hard listening to Y/N explain the multitude of ways about how to make a girl come, but this? This was going to destroy Kate completely. "I see you guys a bit hesitant about all of this and since we have a pretty good relationship built on trust, I’m just gonna start first." Scratch that, this was going to completely ruin Kate - and of course completely ruin her panties, but let’s not focus on that now - .

"Hm, miss Williams?"

"Yes, Tracy?" Y/N turned around to the source of the sound and smiled warmly at the brunette with a lifted hand up, encouraging her to speak up.

"Do-do we have to work on both devices or-"

"Oh yeah! Good question!" Y/N clapped her hands and looked all around her students to calm their nerves down with a warm and comforting smile.

"Thanks."

"Okay." Y/N thought about her words for just a few seconds before grinning widely at the students all gathered around her in their chairs and looking at her expectantly with big, attentive, alert eyes full of curiosity but also a bit of fear and embarrassment, something that warmed Y/N’s heart at their obvious discomfort for the ‘test’ Y/N wanted to put them through during her lesson. She took a few more seconds to let silence wrap around them in a mix of comfort and awkwardness, keeping her students on their toes for good measure and for a bit of her own entertainment, meeting Kate’s curious but also a bit insecure eyes for just a brief second and forced herself on not winking at her, before sighing out loud and continuing with her train of thoughts, "if you want to, yes of course you guys can. But if you don’t feel comfortable around a vagina or a penis or both, just tell me. Don’t be afraid to talk about your sexuality and your preferences. We are like a family and family does not judge their members. Ever. Am I right guys?"

"Yes miss Williams!" Y/N was a bit surprised at the instant choir of voices following her sentence but smiled warmly at them, especially those guys whose were laughing and murmuring in amusement about a few things regarding sex the first day of school. Kate felt pride and love swell wildly into her chest at how thoughtful Y/N was and was being right now, how caring she had been since day one of teaching and how fucking good and hot she looked with her blue suit, half sat on her desk with her left leg bent and perched on it while she balanced her weight on her right foot planted on the floor and she had to literally restrain herself from putting aside those devices and show her classmates how to make a woman come with Y/N as a test subject. "I’ll start okay? So everyone will be comfortable enough to do the same if they want. Even though I had to work on both of them in college, I am gay. I like girls, so I would definitely like to work on this only. But, to show and demonstrate to everyone how these devices works, I will work on both of them for you guys." Y/N pointed to the fake vagina beside her and grinned encouragingly around the room.

"Oh no! Does it mean I lost my shot with you miss Williams?" Roy joked as he slammed his fists on his small desk dramatically, making Y/N laugh heartily alongside the class.

"I’m sorry Roy, I’m sure you will find your one and only. Keep searching, she will come up to you one day and you will be forever enchanted by her." Kate did a double take when she noticed Y/N looking at her with the corner of her eyes more than a few times, believing her brain was pulling a joke on her, but her mind pretty much short-circuited when Y/N looked at her for a brief second after finishing her speech, sending her the smallest of smiles she had ever seen before asking to the class, "okay, now, who wants to speak up next and tell us their preferences?" Kate looked around to make sure no one noticed Y/N regarding her small speech to Kate and sighed softly under her breath when they were all engrossed in Y/N teaching her class. Who would blame them? Y/N enchants everyone with her beauty and wonderful mind. Not to mention she is so fucking hot. Kate lost a few minutes of the conversation going around her, too much engrossed in daydreaming about Y/N, and came back to earth only when Y/N sighed out loud sadly as she grabbed her watch on her wrist with her thumb and pointer and middle fingers and looked at the time on the watch, "oh no, it seems we will not make it in time for everybody to work on the devices, so I’m splitting you guys in a few groups and we will separate your work on for the next classes."

Kate sighed out loud when she wasn’t in the first and the second group, she was just too much stunned to even function after their quick moment and her mind was too busy trying to analyze each word Y/N spoke to make sure she understood what Y/N was implying to partecipate in the conversation around her, so she stayed quiet as she thought about Y/N and her words. She was talking about me right? Why else would she look at me while speaking? Fuck I really do hope she feels something for me just like I feel something for her because this shit will make me go nuts for the rest of the day. I need to ask her if she was talking about me. Are you fucking insane?! No! Well not ask her straight away, maybe find some subtle way to ask it? Hm, I need to think about it thoroughly. "Okay then we have Torres, Anderson, Duncan, McGuire, Hart. You guys will be up on Thursday."

After deciding all the groups for their project, the bell rang and everyone placed their chairs back in place before gathering their things and walked out of the class to go to their next one, Kate being slower than usual since her mind was still racing miles a second as it tried to wrap around Y/N‘s statement and was the last one to leave the classe. Y/N winked subtly at Kate and snorted with a small shake of her head when the girl stumbled upon a desk and almost sprinted out of the class when she smiled awkwardly and nodded swiftly before exiting the class fast.

"There’s not way!" Kate stated incredulously while she staring at Y/N in shock as they shared their giant pizza they ordered for their Friday movie marathon night.

"I’m telling you it’s possible!" Y/N countered back before taking a large bite of her pizza, then continuing with her story, "I swear! I once saw Fury smile. Can you believe it?" Y/N looked bewildered at Kate as she lifted her hands in shock and watched the girl sporting the same expression as she tapped her face with a napkin to wipe away a bit of oil on her lips from the slice of pizza she just had.

"Fuck, I owe Yelena 10 bucks! He is human after all!"

"Lucky you!" Y/N snorted under her breath and shook her head with a small roll of her eyes at Kate’s sentence, as she thought back at the moment she saw Fury smile after a joke she pulled right in front of him, "Natasha bet 50 bucks he would laugh eventually to one of my jokes. I still think she made a deal with him and made him fake laugh at my joke only to have 50 bucks. I am still in shock he fucking smiled at my joke. He smiled. Okay, it was small and brief, but it was still a smile. It counts as a normal human activity right?"

"Don’t ask me! I’m still trying to recover from this life changing information." Kate joked, making Y/N laugh heartily at her.

"Well get ready for the next news because it’s cute but also shocking."

"Shoot."

"I saw your English teacher make out with the History teacher in the janitor’s closet."

"Oh really?! I KNEW IT! Ugh I’m too good as a detective."

"You should’ve seen their faces when I entered the teacher’s room with those devices." Y/N pointed behind herself at the devices placed on the table, making Kate look at them just a second before flushing almost imperceptibly at the dirty thoughts plaguing her mind. "Mr. Ford was actually curious about my lesson with those devices and when I explained the process to make the device come, Mr. Pierce looked down at his pants while Miss Dawson blushed as red as a tomato. It was the highlight of my day."

"Oh my god! Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, I didn’t know if I wanted to feel embarrassed for them or smile mischievously at them."

"Oh shit, this is huge and also gross!" Kate grimaced after her brain tried to imagine the two teachers together, making Y/N laugh at her antics.

"I know, right?!" Y/N smiled incredulously at Kate after taking another bite of her pizza and laughing alongside her when she both shivered visibly and let out loud ‘ew’s at the thought of the two teachers together, having sex somewhere into the school. They stayed in silence a few more seconds before Y/N leaned over to take a sip of her water, placed her glass back on the coffee table and regarded Kate with a mischievous, cheeky and smug smirk, "can you imagine it? Can you believe it?! Maybe they had sex on your desk and you wouldn’t even know!"

"EW! Y/N/N! You little piece of shit!" Y/N laughed her ass off as she didn’t even try to shield herself from Kate’s attack, letting her beat her with a couch pillow. "Do. Not. Do. That. Ever. Again."

"Okay I won’t, I promise!"

Kate giggled under her breath after she chanced another withering glare to Y/N, who smiled innocently up at her, and pushed on her shoulder gently when she caved in with a soft sigh. "Besides, they could’ve had had sex right on your desk, maybe even on your chair."

"Oh no!"

"Payback, bitch!" Kate laughed evilly before morphing it in a soft one when Y/N crossed her arms under her chest with a pout and grunted out in protest. "Oh c’mere, you big baby."

Kate bopped Y/N’s nose with a pout of her own before cuddling into Y/N’s arms instinctively and almost automatically when the girl uncrossed her arms and opened them to welcome the archer into her body comfortably. "Let’s stop talking about those two, it freaks me out."

"You have yourself a deal miss Y/N Y/L/N." Kate stretched her hand over and clasped it around Y/N’s one dramatically, making the Y/H/C girl laugh heartily at her childish behavior. "But seriously, where did you find those things?"

"You mean those incredibly accurate devices?" Y/N trailed off and kept going only when Kate nodded gingerly at her question, "Shuri created them for me."

"Did you seriously ask Shuri to create two devices resembling a vagina and a penis?" Kate asked in a mix of merriment and bewilderment as her eyebrows lifted up in question and her smiled broadened, meeting Y/N’s amused eyes.

"No." Y/N giggled at the question and shook her head softly, "I asked her to create some kind of interactive things like a program to do an interactive quiz in class. But Shuri being Shuri, she created those things after she found out I was a sex education teacher in an high school."

"Oh yeah, now it makes perfect sense." Kate laughed heartily at the new piece of information Y/N just delivered and nodded as she tried to imagine Shuri as she found out Y/N’s cover for the mission, then discarded the thought about her knowing her crush on Y/N, her being one of her students and making her create and make those devices to make her brain short-circuit if and when Y/N used them in front of her and the whole class for a demonstration and show them how to use them and to make her combust from too much sexual tension. It was already so difficult behave in front of her in class when she talked about how to make a woman come, when the only thing she wanted to do was to walk over to her and make her come to let the whole class understand it completely, adding more things to make her and turn her in a flushing, mush, gay mess wasn’t going to do good to her sanity. "It is clear now that she is the one that made them. But I mean, she did a really good job! They are really similar to the real vagina and the real penis."

"Yeah, that’s what made them something that Shuri created." Y/N chuckled as she eyed those things a few seconds before she acted on a wicked idea that passed through her mind before questioning it and discarding it after being too scared to act on it. She was done waiting. "Do you want to see how they works?"

"What?" Kate widened her eyes in shock at the question as her brain exploded right on the spot. "A-are you showing favoritism in your class?!" Kate pulled herself away from their cuddling position to sigh out loud and lean a hand on her chest dramatically as she patted herself on the back at her witty come back after she forced herself to act cool and felt pride swell in her chest as butterflies flew around her stomach wildly when Y/N leaned her head back to laugh loudly at her comeback.

"Me? Absolutely not! I’m just offering to tutor one of my students." Y/N countered back smugly as she turned her body more towards Kate as she leaned her right arm on the headrest on the top of the couch.

"If I remember correctly, I am your best student in your class." Kate decided to prolong their banter a bit more and broadened her grin when Y/N rolled her eyes while she sat up to go get the devices and bring them towards them and place them on the coffee table. "Can-can you only bring the v-vagina?" Damn Bishop, never stutter in front of your crush, especially when the word vagina is in the sentence!

"I mean, yeah- but I though you were more interested in y’know- this." Y/N pointed to the fake resembling penis on the table and Kate watched as a small blush settled on her cheeks and ears while a quick glint passed too fast through Y/N’s Y/E/C eyes for Kate to dwell on it and opened her mouth to counter her statement back but Y/N stopped her as she spoke up again and started word-vomiting her spiraling thoughts, "oh yeah! Of course! You don’t need to understand how this works since you already know it!" Y/N stated matter-of-factly as she bumped the heel of her hand on her forehead like to silently tell how stupid she was for even asking why Kate wanted to experiment on the fake vagina, but it only made Kate furrow her eyebrows in confusion at that statement.

"Oh please, I’ve never touched a penis and I sure want it to stay that way, even if it is only a device resembling it."

"Oh yeah, su- wait what? Really?" When Kate nodded as she puffed her chest proudly, Y/N’s confusion only deepened on her features, "hold on, you’re not straight?!"

"Hm no?! What the hell made you think of that?" Kate asked horrified at the mere thought of Y/N being sure she was straight and stared at Y/N shock.

"W-well you never said anything about liking girls and you are always complaining about those boys trying to sweep you off your feet at your mother’s parties."

"Yeah, because they don’t get a fucking no as an answer. Not even when one of them asked me on a date while my tongue was in a cute but really hot blonde’s mouth right in front of them." Y/N tried to cover her blush at Kate’s sentence and busied herself with wringing on her fingers anxiously to distract herself from her heart beating wildly into her ribcage from the jealousy triggered by Kate’s admission about kissing a girl at her mother’s party and at the possibility of having Kate like her. Of course if ever Y/N was her type - little did she knew she totally was, witty, funny, loyal, professional when needed, goofy and extremely attractive. - .

"Oh, well I guess we won’t need this." Y/N spoke up after she let silence wrap around them for a few seconds and decided to be as brave as she ever was and grabbed the device resembling a vagina over the coffee table. "I touched a penis once and it was an enough traumatizing event. I won’t let that happen again." Y/N joked as she sat beside Kate and felt her stomach flip over itself when Kate giggled cutely as she pushed on her shoulder gently. "Okay, Shuri told me the devices have a program that is based on the average responses a woman has during sex and the average time a woman takes to come undone."

"Does it variate with sex with a man or with a woman?"

"Well I don’t know exactly, but I did some researches and the average time is about 13 or 14 minutes for a woman to reach an orgasm. Of course it can variate from 5 minutes to 20 minutes, but since Shuri is Shuri, she created the devices to respond to your movements. So if you’re really good with your fingers, the device will simulate a woman orgasming."

Kate felt her face blush furiously at Y/N’s last sentence as all the moisture in her body travelled right between her legs. She swore she saw Y/N look at her pointedly when she spoke that sentence and it only fueled the fire burning in the pit of her stomach more as she stared back at her resolutely with an hint of smugness, that grew each passing second as she got ready to form a witty comeback, "please, 15 minutes? A lot of them must’ve had sex with men, because I can make a girl come at least twice in 15 minutes." Kate threw her hair over her shoulder and smirked widely when it was now Y/N’s turn to blush hard.

"Hm-" Y/N cleared her throat to try to get rid of her lump that formed in her sudden dry throat and willed herself to not spiral out of control with dirty thoughts that she shouldn’t have with Kate right beside her since they involve her as she fucked Y/N into oblivion onto this very couch. "Cocky much Bishop?"

"I’m just stating facts."

"Well, since you’re so sure of yourself, let’s switch the device on and let’s see what you got." Y/N turned the device so the vagina was facing Kate and switched it on, before grabbing her phone and lifting it up for Kate to see she opened the chronometer app and was about to time her. "I’ll time you and we’ll see."

"You are skeptical I see."

"I’m not! I’m just making sure Kate Bishop is telling the truth, or I’m gonna have to tell everyone Kate Bishop is full of bull-HEY! I didn’t say go!" Y/N started to mock Kate with a smug smirk on before looking in shock at Kate when she stared at her in determination and pushed two fingers in, then pressing ‘start’ on the chronometer app.

"Holy shit this feels so real!" Kate widened her eyes in shock as she felt the device pressing around her fingers and felt a moisture wrap around them, making her ministrations on the device very similar to the real sex with a real vagina.

"I know right?!" Y/N widened her eyes in shock as she agreed with Kate’s statement and slapped her right thigh softly with her free hand, the one that wasn’t holding the phone timing Kate, "I never saw something artificial so accurate and so much resembling a real vagina. I didn’t have the time to try it. I wanted to but I haven’t had the time to try how it works."

"Well it really feels like a real vagina. I mean each time I do this-" Kate trailed off to curl her fingers into the device before continuing with her train of thoughts, "I feel the walls of the fake vagina clench around my fingers."

"What did you do?" Y/N asked curiously after swallowing imperceptibly when her eyes fell down on Kate’s fingers pushing in and out of the device with precise movements, drenching her panties completely as she wished it was her vagina the archer was touching, but, alas, it wasn’t.

"I curled my fingers right after pushing back in a little bit more forcefully." Kate stated nonchalantly as she focused on delivering the best pleasure she can give to the device to prove Y/N she actually has good skills in bed to hopefully try them with her later.

"Hm." Y/N couldn’t find in herself the right amount of force and strength to speak out without moaning out loud, so she sticked with humming softly as she clenched her thighs together to try to subdue the overwhelming pulsating sensation there.

"I can feel the walls squeezing around my fingers more forcefully now. I think I am close to make the device reach its orgasm."

"It’s been 5 minutes and 16 seconds Bishop."

"So?" Kate asked with a smug, cheeky grin and Y/N rolled her eyes at the girl’s cockiness, so she pushed on her shoulder softly before starting to mock her.

"Pffft. You are too full of yourself Bishop. Okay, here’s our deal, I’m going next and if I make the device reach an orgasm before your timing, you’ll clean the house for two whole weeks."

"And if I win, like I’m planning to do?" Kate counter offered back with a smug smirk and winked at Y/N for good measure, laughing when she rolled her eyes again with a loud sigh.

"I’ll cook for two whole weeks."

"Deal! Now let me focus!" Kate shushed Y/N and doubled her efforts, pushing more forcefully into the device and adding her thumb in the equation and laying it on the vagina’s clit to increase the pleasure she was delivering to the device. Y/N stared frozen in her spot at Kate’s ministrations, unable to move a muscle fearing she would explode or, worse, moan out loud at the hot sight she was witnessing. "I can feel it, I think the device is nearing the orgasm."

"7 minutes and 37 seconds, Bishop." Y/N surprisingly found her voice and she shocked herself when she spoke up with a firm tone and didn’t even stutter once.

"Here it is! Oh shit the device is really coming. Shuri outdid herself this time." Kate widened her eyes in shock when she felt some kind of liquid hit her fingers before it spilled out of the vagina and it pooled on the coffee table.

"Oh no, fuck. Let me go grab a towel to clean up!"

"Thank you." Kate smiled in appreciation when Y/N returned with a fresh towel and gave it to Kate to let her clean her wet fingers before using it to wipe down on the coffee table to clean the small pool of fake orgasm liquid that dripped onto it then moving the device just a bit to place the towel right under it to prevent any more juices to spill out of it when it was Y/N’s turn to try the device and try to beat Kate’s timing. Kate looked at her fingers sheepishly when her brain finally caught up with everything she had been doing in the past 10 minutes or so and was having an hard time in meeting Y/N’s eyes, fearing she would spill out and confess her feelings to the Y/H/C girl and would make her run away if she didn’t reciprocate her feelings. She had been feeling like that for a while now and she had been stashing all her feelings for the Y/E/C girl inside her to prevent to lose her as a friend. She was willing to put away her feelings if it meant keep being friends with Y/N. She just hoped she was braver and had enough guts to confess everything to Y/N, to maybe take her on a date, to kiss her like she had always wanted to and to make love to her like she had been dreaming for for a while now. But, alas, she was not brave, she was a coward, that much so that she was having an hard time meeting her friend’s eyes after making a device reach its orgasm to prove her great skills in bed. A throat clearing made Kate finally look up from her fingers and meet powerful Y/E/C irises staring back at her ocean blue eyes intently with clear determination in those Y/E/C pools, "well it seems like I just proved my point. Those girls that lasted 15 minutes were definitely having sex with a man."

Kate reveled in the soft giggles that left Y/N’s mouth after her statement before she moved her eyes just a second from Y/N’s ones to look at the phone in Y/N’s hand and read ‘7 minutes and 51 seconds’ on the screen. "I must admit I’m impressed Bishop. But-" Y/N trailed off to take a screenshot of the timing before saving the time on the chronometer app then resetting the chronometer and meeting Kate’s eyes with a fire burning deep into her own Y/E/C irises mixed with clear determination, "I’m gonna make the device reach the orgasm a lot sooner than you. So prepare to lose!"

"Oh please! You are the one so sure of yourself now!" Kate scoffed in fake indignation and repressed the smile that wanted to roll over her lips when Y/N pushed her hair over her shoulder and placed the phone into Kate’s hand as she turned the device towards herself and got ready.

"Like I said, prepare to lose Kate." Y/N sing sang the last part and smiled innocently at Kate before nodding at her and slipping her fingers into the vagina, Kate tapping on ‘start’ simultaneously to start the chronometer to time Y/N’s efforts and actions.

"I wouldn’t be so sure of that." Kate remarked right before swallowing loudly when her eyes followed Y/N’s gaze on her fingers, her body setting aflame in mere seconds at how much hotly Y/N’s fingers were moving in and out of that fake vagina, her mind already imagining it was her vagina Y/N was pushing in and out of it and it was driving her mad and crazy.

"Oh shit, you were right! It feels so real!" Y/N stared transfixed on her movements in the device before wrapping her mind around Kate’s sentence and turning her head around to look into Kate’s eyes in determination, "well we’ll see."

"I can’t wait to taste everything you’ll make for the next two whole weeks." Kate stated a few seconds later to tease Y/N some more, before almost loosing it when her eyes skimmed over Y/N’s arm and watched as the bicep and tricep stood up from under her t-shirt sleeve from the efforts she was putting into her ministrations, her tongue begging her to slide down those defined and strained muscles to worship them the way the deserved to be worshipped.

"Ha! I can’t wait to relax on the couch while you clean the house for two whole weeks." Y/N laughed evilly at her remark as she pushed more firmly into the device then curling her fingers slightly, feeling the device’s wall clench hard around her digits.

Kate felt her mouth dry up as she pretty much ignored Y/N’s gloating as she leaned forward just a bit to take a better look at Y/N’s fingers, not noticing her body inching closer and closer to Y/N until she felt the side of her left boob brushing over Y/N’s arm moving rhythmically into the fake vagina as she supported herself on her arm stretched between the couch and behind Y/N’s back. "Do you feel the walls clenching around your fingers?" Kate had to take a double take when she heard her own voice coming out of her mouth an octave lower and without her permission, but she was glad it happened because the shiver she saw running over Y/N’s skin was priceless. Maybe she does feel the same.

"Y-yeah." Y/N cleared her throat when it came out hoarse and strained, her breath labored not from her efforts in making the device reach its orgasm, but from Kate’s proximity and from how hot her voice sounded as it travelled right between her legs and into her pulsating core. "I c-can feel them squeeze my fingers to pull them in more."

"Hm." Kate hummed in thought as she clenched on her thighs when a gush of fresh wetness left her already wet center, "good job. It means the device is reaching its peak."

"Y-Yeah." Y/N shuddered wildly at the praise as she involuntarily doubled her efforts with thrusting her fingers in and out of the fake vagina forcefully while pressing hard on the device’s clit to help it reach its orgasm.

"Tell me what’s happening." Kate whispered sultrily into Y/N’s ear, purposefully brushing ever so slightly her lips over her ear shell and smirked when she felt the girl shiver copiously at her gesture. She felt empowered by Y/N’s responses to her actions, making her confidence grow each passing second as she finally found the courage to act on her desires.

"I-I just curled my fingers and fuck, the walls are squeezing them so hard. I can feel the orgasm is close." Y/N moved her eyes from her digits’ movements and turned her head around to look at Kate, gulping loudly when she was met with almost black irises staring back at her and noticed how close their faces were as she felt the archer’s soft breath hit her face gently. She expected the black haired girl to be focused on her hand, instead she had her beautiful ocean blue eyes fixed on her face as they held something powerful Y/N couldn’t put a finger on but was eager to find out. She also expected the archer to pull away from their close proximity, but she was proven once again wrong when Kate moved impossible more closer to her, their noses almost brushing together as their breaths hit their lips teasingly.

"Good. But you’re not just moving your fingers into the vagina right?"

"No, I’m applying pressure on the clit to increase the pleasure. Here look-" Y/N and Kate both mover their heads just slightly towards the device to see Y/N rolling the clit under her thumb with precise strokes before pressing on it just right, then returning to their previous position and moved just imperceptibly closer to each other, so much so their lips almost brushed together.

"Fu- yeah I saw it." Y/N smirked inwardly when she heard the archer’s almost slip up and reveled in the sensation of affecting the archer just as much she affected her with her previous ministrations and stared intently into Kate’s eyes.

"I can feel the orgasm is near." Y/N gasped under her breath when Kate’s other hand left the phone on the table and laid on her thigh gently as the archer moved closer to take a better look at her fingers’ movements, her boob now fully pressed on Y/N’s arm as their lips almost met, all the while never breaking their intense staring contest.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Y/N felt her core clench over nothing at Kate’s raspy tone and had to force herself to focus on the task at hand instead of fulfilling her deepest desires and kiss Kate. "I just thrusted in deeper and I think I hit something new because I felt the clit twitch under my thumb." Y/N trailed off for good measure, her shallow breath mixing with Kate’s just as much short breath as they now pretty much panted into each other’s mouths hotly, "I pressed on it to tell it I’m not neglecting it."

"Oh no, it would be bad."

"Yeah, it needs to be treated well."

Kate’s hips moved on their own accord as they bucked slightly over to try to find something to rub against to gain more friction and made her let out a soft whine under her breath when her own clit brushed over her pants when they pressed down on it from her hips’ movements, making Y/N let out a gentle wail herself as she thrusted in as deep as she could into the device before rolling on the clit forcefully, imagining it was Kate’s core she was thrusting her digits in, "is the orgasm near?"

"Yeah, it’s coming. Here it is." Kate didn’t even felt sorry for herself when she moaned gently between them when she heard wet sounds coming from the device under them, but she didn’t move her eyes from Y/N’s mesmerizing Y/E/C pools, she just moved her hand from Y/N’s thigh to stop the chronometer before laying it back down on it, this time placing it on her inner thigh not too much far from her core. "How did I go?"

"Fucking amazing." Kate stated before she couldn’t control herself anymore and pressed her lips down on Y/N’s ones in an hungry kiss, moaning loudly into her mouth when the girl kissed her back eagerly, her moan mixing together with Y/N’s one when the girl whined into Kate’s mouth when she pressed their lips together. Y/N’s free hand combed into Kate’s black tresses to push her more into her while her tongue slipped out of her mouth and pushed forcefully into Kate’s one to explore it greedily and subduing Kate’s tongue for a few seconds before it pushed back and slipped past her lips to lick every nook and cranny of her mouth. Y/N moaned pitifully when Kate bit down on her tongue before sucking on it forcefully while she clenched her hand around the inner thigh, making her legs open slightly apart from the movement, and pushed her body more into Y/N’s arm, causing the girl to shiver when she felt the outline of Kate’s clothed boob pressed on her skin. When air was necessary they reluctantly detached their lips away, but stayed into the other’s personal space by leaning their foreheads together as they smiled at each other with short breaths. "Fucking amazing." Kate repeated, making Y/N giggle softly as she understood she wasn’t talking about her ministrations on the fake vagina anymore.

"Yeah, fucking amazing." Y/N parroted Kate’s words and pecked her mouth tenderly, staying glued on those plump and soft lips for just a few more seconds without deepening the kiss, keeping it chaste, before pulling away with her cheeks flushing hard, "you didn’t kiss me just because you lost and wanted to distract me from our bet, right?"

Kate laughed heartily at the statement, but couldn’t help herself to hear a bit of insecurity and uncertainty into Y/N’s tone, so she pecked her lips quickly to reassure her before shaking her head hastily, "no, Y/N/N. I had been trying to find the courage to kiss you for a while. I guess I need to thank Shuri now."

"Oh please don’t. We won’t hear the end of it." Kate nodded in agreement and stared lovingly into Y/N’s eyes before laying her hand gently on her cheek and pressing their lips together gently, "so, are you ready to clean the house for two whole weeks?"

"Do not act so cocky Y/L/N, I’m pretty sure I wo- shit."

Y/N smiled brightly as she slipped her hand out of the device and cleaned her hand and fingers as she gloated to tease Kate a bit, "I’m already tasting the popcorn I’ll eat while you’ll clean."

"Hm, I wouldn’t be so sure of that. It’s a tie."

"What?" Y/N moved her body over to read on the phone screen and widened her eyes in shock when she read ‘7 minutes and 51 seconds’. "Holy shit."

"So, it means we both are really good in bed." Kate stated boldly as she put a finger under Y/N’s chin and made her head turn around to meet her lips in a languid kiss, that Y/N reciprocated eagerly right away.

"And it also means we both won and lost the bet." Y/N pouted cutely and Kate couldn’t help but awe at her and lean over to kiss her again, her tongue pushing past Y/N’s lips forcefully as she licked her mouth’s inside eagerly. "Well, we got each other in the end. So I guess we both won."

"Yeah." Kate nodded in agreement as she grinned widely at Y/N while nuzzling their noses cutely together, "but I still want to win that bet. My timing can be improved. I was just playing nice and going slow to make it easy for you."

"Cocky Bishop." Y/N shook her head in amusement as she grinned at her softly, "since we’re being honest, I did too play it nice. I had a distraction. I could’ve make the device reach the orgasm sooner if it wasn’t for your enchanting lips and mesmerizing eyes trapping me in."

"Oh so this is my fault?" Kate asked rhetorically as she bracketed Y/N’s face and pushed it closer to hers, their lips almost brushing together as their grins outshined the sun.

"Absolutely." Y/N nodded resolutely before giggling loudly. Kate then promptly swallowed Y/N’s laugh as she kissed her again, her body filling up with pure happiness as she hugged Y/N closer while their tongues danced together lovingly into their mouths. They kissed with no rush at all, just savoring each other’s taste, basking in the other’s closeness as they tried to wrap their minds around the fact they were finally kissing. "You’re so beautiful Kate."

The blue eyed girl blushed furiously at Y/N’s words as she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear when they parted their lips to take some needed air back into their lungs, "and you are gorgeous Y/N/N." They both smiled sheepishly at their loving words whispered between swollen lips and brushed their noses together cutely while giggles left their throats and mixed together, "so, do we have to repeat our work on the device or are we both paying our bets?"

"Hm, I actually have a better idea, but first, come here." Kate chuckled when Y/N’s hand snaked around her neck and pushed her back onto her lips, letting her crush their mouths back together in an hungry kiss as her own hands fisted the Y/E/C girl’s hair to push her more into her. Y/N growled under her breath at the light stinging sensation on her scalp and moved her other hand planted between Kate’s shoulder blades down her back and grabbed her left ass cheek hard, glad Kate chose to wear sweatpants so she could enjoy and explore her ass more freely, something she wouldn’t have done that much easily if she had wore jeans. Y/N swallowed Kate’s moan after Y/N squeezed harshly her butt then whining into Kate’s mouth right after when the black haired girl’s sucked particularly hard on her tongue before licking thoroughly her mouth like her life depended on it. "C’mere." Y/N murmured between kisses before she moved her other hand gripping the archer’s neck hard down her ass and pushed on it eagerly to let her sit on her lap.

"Hm." Kate hummed at the new position and settled comfortably on Y/N’s legs after she straddled them while her tongue slipped out of her mouth and right back into Y/N’s one to take her time to suck on her wet muscle hungrily. When air became necessary they had to reluctantly pull away from one another, but their desires growing each passing second made it almost impossible to stay too much away from one another, so Y/N attached her lips onto Kate’s neck and peppered light kisses along the archer’s throat, smiling onto her skin when she heard and felt the archer whine in pleasure at her ministrations. "Oh Y/N/N."

"Wanna hear my idea?" Y/N murmured on Kate’s skin before biting gently on the girl’s pulse point then licking the raw skin tenderly to relieve the light stinging sensation there and smiled smugly when Kate moaned out loud and bucked her hips imperceptibly down onto Y/N’s lap, then when she recovered some of her sanity and her mind cleared, she nodded resolutely. She then grabbed Y/N’s scalp hard when the girl continued her assault on her neck as she kept kissing, licking and biting her skin but didn’t explain her idea yet, making Y/N smirk on Kate’s neck and left one more kiss there before moving up to her lips and kissed her gently and tenderly before nuzzling their noses together cutely then speaking up after moving a bit away to create some space between them, since they both didn’t know how to behave now that they could kiss the other like they had always wanted to. "I was thinking that, since we were too distracted by one another and by the unbearable sexual frustration surrounding us, we could repeat our work and timing us again. But I was thinking about discarding this device and maybe repeat everything onto each other?"

Kate felt her head spin wildly at the proposal as she had to take a double take while staring wide eyed at Y/N blushing furiously but carrying and bearing a determined, lustful glint and look in her gaze. "W-what? Really?"

"Yeah! But of course, only if you’re up to that. I’m willing to wait as much as we both need to take that step. I know we just kissed but I felt like maybe- I don’t know- I felt like we could take that step because I want you so so much and I feel like you maybe want me just as much, but I don’t know I maybe read the signals wrong. Oh shit, I’m sorry for overstepping some boundaries, forget I said any- mmph-"

Kate stopped Y/N’s cute rambling with bracketing her face with her hands and kissing her harshly, effectively taking both their breaths away and shutting the Y/H/C girl up, who was now sporting a dumb smile on her features. "You look cute, adorable when you ramble babe." Kate giggled at Y/N flushing visibly and combed her fingers in her hair when the girl leaned her face forward and hid it in the crook of her neck, "but to answer properly to your amazing suggestion- yes. I would love nothing more."

"Really?" Y/N asked timidly after she pulled herself away from Kate’s neck and met her eyes full of lust and desire, making her swallow visibly as something within her was set aflame by Kate’s intense stare.

"Yeah."

"You’re not just saying it to make me feel better? Because consent is important and-"

"Y/N/N I thought I was the one who adorably rambled and rambled to no end." Kate chuckled when Y/N blushed some more, making her face resemble a tomato, before kissing both her flushing cheeks softly.

"I’m just nervous okay? I like you. And we’ve just kissed. I don’t want to seem desperate or horny. Or looking for a one night stand. Because I don’t." Y/N clarified quickly as she stared deeply into Kate’s eyes while she listened intently. "You are so much more to me Kate. I’ve been pining over you for a while and I want to give you the world, hell the whole multiverse if I can."

Kate smiled lovingly down at Y/N and leaned over to leave a tender peck on her still swollen lips before pulling away and speaking up, "I don’t want a one night stand either. I like you, I’ve liked you for a while too. I’ve been trying to find enough courage to make a move on you, but I was too much of a coward fearing I would’ve lost you if you didn’t reciprocate my feelings." Kate admitted shyly as she played with a strand of Y/N’s hair, but her nerves instantly calmed when she felt a pair of warm hands caress her back softly.

"I would’ve never done something like that."

"I know, I was too afraid of telling you. But tonight something made me feel braver. I don’t know if it’s this device or not but I definitely need to thank Shuri."

"Y’know now that we are being honest, I almost asked you out last month when we were at the compound."

"Really?!" Kate asked in shock as her eyes widened comically, "why didn’t you ask me out then?"

"You were face timing your ex."

"WHAT?! No! That idiot called me because she wanted a relationship advice. She wanted to ask her teammate out and didn’t know how to do it." Kate groaned as she rolled her eyes, leaning her forehead on Y/N’s shoulder as she recalled that night, feeling the girl chuckle softly above her, making her body wobble gently with her own as she laughed. "You seriously have bad timing Y/N/N."

"Well excuse me, I wasn’t the one heart broken right after!" Y/N joked as she caressed Kate’s soft hair before she felt the girl lift her head up and meet her gaze.

"I’m sorry. We stayed on good terms. We dated just a few months and we pretty much just searched some good sex from our relationship, so it wasn’t a bad break up." Kate explained apologetically as she caressed Y/N’s jaw, "she started to have feelings for someone else and I just wasn’t feeling anything other than just a great friendship between us. So we broke up."

"Well you could’ve told me that when you talked about her." Y/N slapped Kate’s shoulder gently and both giggled at their conversation.

"I’m sorry!" Kate laughed loudly after a few seconds of silence and Y/N looked at her with a big smile as her stomach exploded with millions of butterflies flying around into it.

"What?"

"Can you actuality believe she gave me pep talks to ask you out that night?" Kate smiled brightly as she saw incredulity fall on Y/N’s face.

"Well I can since you just told me you were giving her some relationship advices to help her ask her teammate out when you couldn’t even do that with me."

"She said the exact same thing!" Kate stated with widened eyes and chuckled alongside Y/N as they both shook their heads in amusement. "Anyway, back to our previous conversation." Kate trailed off as she lowered her tone and watched as mirth shifted from Y/N’s eyes and desire settled back into them at her voice, while she moved Y/N’s hands from her back and pushed them down her ass, feeling her squeeze her ass cheeks once and making her moan softly before continuing, "take me to the bed and show me how good you actually are."

Y/N growled in pure desire as lust pumped fast into her veins at Kate’s sentence and sat up quickly with Kate into her arms, "do you have your phone with you?" When Kate nodded and patted her left pocket she sprinted down the corridor and entered her bedroom, before laying Kate gently down on the mattress and then crawling over her body slowly, just like a predator approached her prey. "Our bet still stands so I want to time my work in your wonderful pussy." Kate moaned loudly at Y/N’s crass sentence as she opened her legs and invited Y/N in to let her lay down on her body between them.

"Well I guess we need to get rid of these clothes then." Kate immediately proved her words by lifting Y/N’s sweatshirt up and off of her before moaning pitifully loud when she came face to face with her naked chest, meaning she neglected wearing a bra underneath her hoodie and that thought alone made her moan aloud as she took her time to admire Y/N’s boobs, "are you telling me we had been kissing with these amazing tits completely free under your hoodie?"

"Yeah. We were having a cozy night in, how did you expect me to wear a bra under comfy clothes?"

"Fuck."

"Earth to Bishop." Y/N chuckled at the archer whispering under her breath that word as she kept staring in awe at her chest, sending excited shivers all over Y/N’s body at the lust growing exponentially into Kate’s now almost black eyes each passing second.

"Sorry." Kate reluctantly detached her eyes from that mouthwatering and mesmerizing sight and met Y/N’s amused Y/E/C irises sheepishly, a small, soft blush dusting over her cheeks as she bit on her bottom lip slightly, a sight that Y/N found extremely adorable and cute, not to mention hot. She smiled tenderly at the archer and pecked her lips gently before nuzzling their noses softly together, "your boobs are a bit distracting. They are so beautiful you can not stare at them. I mean I could stare at them, all the time if I can, if you will allow me to of course. But y’know, what I’m trying to say is that they are just- fuck gorgeous, amazing, wonderful."

"Y’know, I never thought I would’ve ever heard you ramble about my boobs. I hoped so, I dreamed about it, but I never thought I would ever witness it. But here we are." Y/N joked with a smug smirk as the blush on Kate’s cheek deepened and it extended to her neck and ears. "And holy shit it made me feel so many things all at once."

"So it wasn’t kinda lame me rambling because your tits turned my brain into mush, was it?"

"Not even for a second. It was cute, adorable, extremely lovely. But now, I was wondering- are you going to just stare? Or are you also gonna do something?"

"Are you serious? C-can I?" Kate asked with her eyes shining brightly like she was a kid on Christmas Day opening her presents and gifts, making Y/N chuckled amusedly under her breath before pecking her lips sweetly.

"Of course, but first, you are too overdressed for my likings."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours of course." Y/N countered back with a smirk, delivering a great witty comeback, as she played with the hem of Kate’s hoodie, her digits brushing gently and softly Kate’s warm skin of her lower stomach, feeling the muscles there tense under her touch and sending shivers down both their spines in excitement and anticipation, Y/N shuddering for feeling those amazing, defined muscles tense under her finger while Kate shuddered for the amazing stimulation on her skin and for wanting nothing more than for Y/N to slip her fingers past the waistband of her pants and panties and fuck her.

"Why is that?! I think it’s pretty much your fault I’m still completely dressed."

"You’re right." Y/N smiled mischievously down at Kate before she sat up slowly while placing a hand behind the archer’s back, right between her shoulder blades, to make her sit up with her and as soon as they found themselves into a sitting position, Kate switched their positions quickly and straddled Y/N’s thighs and sat on her lap comfortably. "Fuck." Y/N murmured under her breath as she stared mesmerized up at Kate before she came back to her senses and lifted Kate’s hoodie up and threw it on the floor, then got rid of the sport bra Kate had under and almost drooled at the sight of Kate’s full breasts and perk up nipples staring back at her while her eyes filled with pure, raw, animalistic and predatory lust, "holy shit you’re so beautiful. I can’t wait to finish undressing you so I can see this masterpiece of a body fully and completely naked for me."

"I can say the same thing about you babe. I’ve been imagining how you look naked for a very long time." Kate murmured in an hoarse, sultry tone as one of her fingers traced Y/N’s left collarbone, traveling right between her breasts before circling Y/N’s left nipple teasingly with her pointer finger, making Y/N whine gently under her breath.

"Did you touch yourself when you thought about me naked?" Y/N asked in a seductive, low voice, watching elated as Kate’s hips bucked imperceptibly down her lap as her pupils dilated visibly before her and her bottom lip got trapped under her teeth, making Y/N want with all herself to replace her teeth with Kate’s own, but stopped herself to keep teasing the archer. "Did you make yourself come while you pictured me fully naked for you?" Y/N’s hands wrapped themselves around Kate’s torso before moving up her sides and finally grasping both of the archer’s full breasts and squeezing them experimentally, eliciting a loud, guttural groan from her before skidding her hands behind her back and traveling south to grip forcefully her ass to push her hips down on her lap teasingly, "answer me baby."

"Yes."

"Yes, what? Tell me more." Y/N teased as she attached her lips on Kate’s pulse point, leaving a few soft kisses there before biting down on it gently and licking the light sting with her tongue, watching as a small mark formed there.

Kate moaned at the gesture and bucked her hips again down on Y/N’s lap as she tried to find her voice to answer Y/N’s question and curiosity. "I imagined y-you naked with me in the shower."

"And?" Y/N mumbled on Kate’s throat before resuming her assault on her skin to leave another mark there as she basked in the small sounds leaving Kate as she tried to speak properly.

"You naked in my bed, in the Avengers Compound’s kitchen when no one is there, on my apartment’s couch, fuck, I- I imagined you everywhere naked with me. On my kitchen table, in the Avengers Compound’s gym, in my office, in your bed, in my bathtub, hell even in the Avengers Compound’s conference room."

"Hm, so many places. You must’ve touched yourself a lot." Y/N pointed out after leaving another mark yet before pulling herself reluctantly away from Kate’s skin and met her blown out pupils with fire burning into her almost black Y/E/C irises, "show me."

"W-what?"

"Show me how you touched yourself." Y/N repeated after explaining herself better and watched amused as Kate’s eyes widened comically while a whimper left her slightly parted mouth in shock.

"What?" Kate seemed to let out only that word as her brain tried to stop melting at the request Y/N just asked her to fulfill as fire burned wildly into her stomach at the dirty thoughts jumping to the forefront of her mind.

"I want to see you touching yourself in front of me. I can undress myself completely to help you and the process." Y/N smirked smugly as one of her hand left Kate’s ass to fondle with her breast again and watched as she archer opened her mouth to moan out in pleasure while arching her back and leaning her head back with her eyes closed for a few moments.

"I-I don’t-"

"Only if it’s okay with you. I know it’s a shocking request, but you don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to. I just imagined you touching yourself like I’ve done a few times and fuck I want to witness that sight so bad. But if you’re not up to that, it’s okay."

Kate smiled warmly at Y/N and at her sweet words and pulled her into a languid kiss to calm her nerves down as she made up her mind, "no of course I want to. And shit, did you really thought about me touching myself?"

"Yeah, a few times. I’ve had the best orgasms after imagining you touching yourself in front of me." Y/N admitted truthfully and shamelessly as Kate blushed furiously at the new information, while her panties got completely ruined as fresh arousal spilled out of her already drenched core.

"Fuck, then I want to see you touch yourself too."

"Deal." Y/N kissed Kate soundly before pulling away, "do you want me naked?"

"Is that even a question? I will always want you naked." Kate countered back smugly as she gripped Y/N’s chin, pressed on it to part her lips wider and slipped her tongue forcefully into Y/N’s mouth to kiss her deeply, swallowing the needy moan leaving Y/N’s mouth at her bold gesture and words.

The two girls got rid of each other’s clothes as quickly as humanly possible before Kate resumed her position on Y/N’s lap, after the girl scooted up the bed and sat up on the headboard’s bed, giving the Y/H/C girl a wonderful view of her drenched pussy with her movements and smirked widely when she heard her moan with her eyes fixated on her core. "Like what you see?"

"A lot. I can’t wait lick you completely clean after you’ve pushed yourself off the edge." Y/N declared boldly as she stared intently into Kate’s dark blue pools, making her moan needily as her thighs twitched in anticipation.

"Fuck."

"Now tell me, what is your favorite scenario?"

"Hm, I think the one where you fuck me on the bench press after our daily workout at the Avengers Compound. Or the one where I eat you out on my kitchen table. Fuck, I came so fucking hard each single time after imagining you with me in those scenarios." Kate’s hand twitched around Y/N’s neck as her core pulsated wildly with those images flowing through her mind and reveled in Y/N’s small whine breathed out on her lips.

"Hm, just think how powerful your orgasm will be when we will make all those scenarios come true." Y/N stated with an humming, low tone as her lips returned on Kate’s neck and sucked the skin there harshly, eliciting another loud whine from the black haired girl as she bucked her hips down Y/N’s lap again to gain some friction.

"Fuck I can’t wait! Ah! C-can I t-touch myself now?"

"Baby you can do whatever you want." Kate moaned loudly and nodded furiously before moving one of her hands from Y/N’s neck and skidding it between their bodies before slipping it between her legs and teasing her entrance gently.

"Oh Y/N/N!" Kate moaned loudly at the stimulation her core was receiving before focusing her fingers’ touch on her clit, circling it a few times as she fought her eyes to stay open and stare back at Y/N, who was looking at her with her mouth open and her eyes full of lust, switching her focus from Kate’s dark blue eyes to her hand teasing her wet center.

"Holy shit, you look so hot right now."

"Fuck, oh Y/N/N, t-this i-is amazing, shit." Y/N licked her dry lips as she moved her eyes from Kate’s ones to look down at her hand’s movements between her legs and moaned alongside Kate when she watched the girl slip just the tip of her middle finger into her core before pushing it out again, "hearing your voice is so much better than imagining it."

"Does my voice turn you on?"

"Ah! Fuck yes!" Kate couldn’t take anymore teasing, so she just slipped her middle finger in and closed her eyes just a moment to bask in the amazing sensation of being finally touched and filled by a finger, even if it wasn’t Y/N’s one, yet.

"Can I talk while you touch yourself?"

"Holy shit yes, yes, yes!" Kate chanted as she pushed a second finger in and started pumping slowly but steadily into her core while moving her hips down after each thrust up to increase her pleasure.

"Y’know we’ve been here on this mission for almost a month and I must admit I touched myself a few times while thinking about taking you on my desk when everyone was out of the way in some other class."

"Oh fuckfuck." Kate breathed out loudly as she sped up her movements just tad as her other hand gripped Y/N’s neck hard, making Y/N lose her focus on Kate’s eyes just a moment to look at her ministrations in her core, before shaking her head to focus back on her words and train of thoughts.

"Have you?"

"Shit! Yes! I never imagined you as a professor, but holy s-shit-fuck- you are hot as hell as one of them." Kate trailed off to moan loudly after a particular hard thrust into her core and shivered copiously when she felt Y/N’s hand on her hips twitch gently on her skin. "Last week when you talked about licking a girl out properly? Fuck I came three times that night in the shower."

"Holy shit." Y/N growled as she recalled her lesson and remembered that night Kate took longer than usual to shower as she cooked their dinner. "Y-you said you did some yoga before taking a shower."

"I-I lied. I couldn’t exactly tell y-you, ‘oh sorry for taking so long, but my pussy demanded three orgasms before being satisfied after your amazing lesson about eating a girl out’."

Y/N chuckled at Kate’s bite into her tone before choking on her laugh as it died in her throat when Kate sped up some more her tempo and used the palm of her hand to stimulate her clit, while rotating her hips with her fingers’ rhythm to increase her pleasure. "You could’ve said exactly that. I would’ve tutored you with private lessons with a few demonstrations."

"Holy FUCK!" Kate moaned loudly at that as she pushed her fingers deeper into her, the coiling feeling into her stomach making itself known as it was almost ready to snap. "C-can you- fuck ah!" Kate moaned loudly when she hit her clit just right and bucked her hip down her hand to chase down her growing orgasm, "can you put your hands on my a-OH SHIT YES!" Y/N didn’t even let Kate finish her question before her hands flew down her ass and kneaded it greedily as her lips attracted themselves right back on the archer’s neck, "oh Y/N/N I’m so close."

"Fuck Kate, you look so hot like this. Let me see you come. Let me see how beautiful you look while letting go." And Kate did a few second later with a loud wail moaned right into Y/N’s mouth, her juices spilling out of her core and onto her hand as her body spasmed and trashed wildly from her powerful orgasm. "Holy shit, that was so fucking hot."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. That was so powerful." Y/N kissed Kate’s cheek repeatedly to help her come down from her high before engulfing her lips into a slow, sensual kiss, taking advantage of Kate being distracted by her kisses to grasp the hand’s that was buried into her core wrist and pull her fingers up to her face level, then detaching their lips to take some air. Kate looked at her confused as she took shallow breaths and was ready to lean back into another kiss when she stopped in her tracks as a moan left her lips when Y/N pushed her fingers still glowing with her juices into her mouth to lick them clean, moaning lewdly around them as she sucked them clean.

"Hm, you taste so good babe." Kate growled under her breath after Y/N pulled her hand away from her mouth with a loud pop and stated those words smiling smugly and gripped Y/N’s neck harshly to clash their lips needily, her tongue immediately slipping into the Y/H/C girl’s mouth to suck on her tongue and moaning loudly into her mouth when she tasted herself on her tongue.

"I want to see you touch yourself too now."

"Do you want to switch places?"

"No, I actually want to sit back and enjoy the view." Kate sat up from Y/N’s lap and scooted back to the middle of the bed, sitting back on her shins as she eyed Y/N hungrily, "spread your beautiful legs for me and let me see that pretty pussy of yours."

Y/N almost came at Kate’s purring tone and immediately did as she was told, planting her feet on the bed and spreading her legs apart to give Kate a wonderful view of her dripping pussy. Y/N shivered visibly at the hungry look Kate was giving her as her eyes stayed laser focused on her pussy while licking her lips hungrily. "I love how you’re looking at me right now." Y/N stated as she teasingly moved her right hand between her legs and spread her folds before moving her fingers to her clit to roll it slowly between them, just to tease herself but especially see Kate’s reaction to her actions. She smirked widely when she watched her eyes darken instantly with pure hunger burning behind them as she clenched her fists on her thighs while biting on her bottom lip hard.

"You have no idea how much I’m fighting against myself from jumping on your bones right now."

"I let you have your fun while suffering for not touching you. So now you will do the same." Kate moaned pitifully as she nodded in understanding while Y/N slipped a finger in, too much turned on to endure some more teasing for herself. It was already turning her on to no end the archer witnessing her masturbating. Kate staring at her like that was enough. "You can touch me wherever you want except my pussy. That’s my job for now. You let me kiss you neck and touch your ass as you-fuck- pleasured yourself, so you can do the same now."

"So I can do this, right?" Kate asked with a mischievous glint into her eyes and a wide grin slipping on her lips as she scooted closer to Y/N, positioned herself right in front of her, careful in putting enough distance between their bodies to let Y/N touch herself freely, and stared intently into her eyes as she lowered her face on Y/N’s chest and wrapped a perk up nipple into her mouth. Y/N moaned loudly at the gesture and increased her speed into her core, moaning again when Kate sucked hungrily on her nipple before biting on it hard. "Your tits are amazing." Kate mumbled with Y/N’s nipple into her mouth before swirling her tongue around it and then focusing her attention on the other one, giving it the same treatment. She moaned around Y/N’s breast as she left a hickey there, when Y/N’s free hand laid between her shoulder blades was pushing her more into her chest, making Kate’s abs flush on Y/N’s arm and wrist working into her core and making her feel the movements of her hand buried into her core on her abs’ skin and driving her crazy to no end.

"Oh Kate, I’m so close! Kate!" Y/N moaned loudly when Kate involuntarily pushed her torso down onto her body and made her hand push in deeper into her core, "fuck do that again." Kate repeated her gesture and this time moaned alongside Y/N when her own center demanded some more attention again, but restrained herself from doing that, wanting to make this all about Y/N. She will discuss about the idea of giving the other pleasure while they pleasured themselves later and see if they can do that later on. Kate bit particularly hard on Y/N’s nipple and felt the girl cant her hips up after a particular hard thrust and moaned loudly in ecstasy, "shit babe, I’m so close."

"Wait, I want to see you come properly." Kate murmured on Y/N’s boob, before sucking on her nipple a bit more then reluctantly pulling away and resuming her previous sitting position in front of her, making Y/N spread her legs wider involuntarily. "Look at you, spread out for me and ready to come."

"Yes baby, I’ve wanted nothing more. Shit, I can feel it!"

"Come for me baby. Let me see that amazing pussy come." Y/N moaned pitifully at those words and increased her speed as humanly possible, pushing deeper and deeper before coming with a loud moan of Kate’s name. The archer stared mesmerized as she watched Y/N’s core clench around her fingers as juices spilled out of her center and a bit onto the sheets, licking her lips hungrily as her tongue itches to taste.

"Wow, fucking shit." Y/N whined when she pushed her fingers away from her core and looked seductively at Kate as she moved them around in the air between them, "wanna ta-HOLY FUCKING SHIT YES!" Y/N moaned out loud as a scream left her lips when Kate didn’t let Y/N finish her sentence and dived right between her legs, attaching her lips onto her core, then engulfing her still a bit pulsating clit between her lips and sucked on it harshly. "Oh babe, it feels so good." Y/N whined in satisfaction when Kate’s tongue joined her lips and lapped up at her clit precisely, sending white shocks of pure pleasure throughout her whole body, making it twitch in ecstasy. Y/N’s fingers, after cleaning them on the sheets, combed needily into Kate’s black tresses and gripped on her scalp heavily every time Kate bit or sucked particularly hard on her clit, making her moan a few times from the pleasurable sting and its vibrations made Y/N arch her back and neck as she wailed in rapture.

"You taste so good baby. Can I fuck you with my tongue?" Kate pushed against Y/N’s grip and pulled her head away just a bit to look into Y/N’s eyes from her position between her legs and ask her gently, smirking when the girl’s pupils blowed instantly as a moan slipped out of her lips.

"Yes, oh fuck yes!" Kate chuckled when Y/N pushed her head back between her legs before resuming her previous ministrations on her core, paying some more attention on Y/N’s clit, suckling on it and adding precise stokes of her tongue before moving down Y/N’s folds, opening them thoroughly by passing her tongue between them, before pulling herself slightly away to look up at Y/N and admire her naked form from that angle.

"So beautiful." Y/N whined in need as their eyes stayed glued to each other and watched as Kate leaned her cheek on her inner thigh as she gazed her body hungrily.

"You can stare at me later, please fuck me now."

"Bossy." Kate smirked as she teased Y/N just a bit more, before giving what Y/N needed and slowly eased her tongue into her core, wailing in the process when she felt the intoxicating sensation of Y/N’s walls wrapping around her wet muscle as she slipped it as deep as she could into her and of her heady smell and taste invading her senses. She stilled her movements for just a few seconds to let Y/N adjust to the intrusion, smiling widely when Y/N bucked her hips up in need after a few seconds and then slipped her tongue out almost completely before pushing it right back in.

"Fuck, your tongue is so fucking good."

"Hm, just wait for my fingers." Kate murmured right onto Y/N’s wet lips, before thrusting her tongue right back in, repeating the same movements over and over for a while to let Y/N enjoy herself as much as she could and just as much as she was enjoying fucking her with her tongue. When she felt the girl’s orgasm was starting to build as her movements became sloppier while she started to moan more frequently, increasing her voice copiously in the process, Kate slipped her tongue out and moved her lips up to engulf Y/N’s pulsating clit once more, and smirked in anticipation when Y/N whined in protest, only for that sound to morph into a loud scream of pleasure, when Kate, without notice, slipped two fingers in and started an already fast and relentless pace into her cunt. "Told ya."

"OH! AH! Babe, fuck, yes! Right there! Oh fuck, fuck!" Y/N was a moaning mess as she tried to not to get overwhelmed by the incredible pleasure she was experiencing, Kate delivering it with precise and hard movements that almost made her see stars as she neared the edge after each deep, harsh thrust. "Fuck, there, babe! I-I-"

"Don’t hold back. Scream loud who is making you feel this good."

"OH SHIT KATE THERE!" Kate smirked proudly around Y/N’s clit when she bit gently on it as she pushed her fingers deeper and harder before curling them a few times into her center.

After about 2 minutes later, Y/N’s hips sloppily canted up to meet Kate’s thrusts, her body trashing around in pure pleasure as she was near the edge, making the archer feel an urge to see, feel, taste her come undone with her fingers and mouth, so she pulled her lips away from the Y/E/C girl’s pulsating clit just enough to murmur on it her next sentence with labored breath and lustful eyes, "come for me babe. Give it all to me."

And Y/N did. Right after Kate’s words, Y/N came with a loud moan of Kate’s name falling off her lips, her body spasming uncontrollably as her orgasm spilled out of her core and right into Kate’s mouth, who promptly slipped her fingers out and replaced them with her tongue to drink Y/N up completely and lick her clean thoroughly. "Fuck." Y/N whispered when Kate slowed her movements to a stop and pecked her clit before laying another peck on her left inner thigh before pecking Y/N’s skin all over as she moved up her body before stopping at her lips to lay a gentle peck there after asking silently if it was okay since she still had a bit of Y/N’s juices on her lips and chin and Y/N nodding in assertion. "You were right. You are so fucking good."

Kate felt pride swell into her chest at Y/N’s truthful statement and kissed her soundly before laying her body over hers and cuddling her warmly, "thank you. I would really like to say the same, but-" Kate trailed off to shrug innocently as a wide, cheeky grin fell on her lips at her teasing words and chuckled amusedly when Y/N opened her mouth outraged and gasped dramatically.

"You Kate Bishop, are going to wipe that smirk off your lips, or I will."

"Hm, I would really love to see you tRY OH GOD." Kate laughed heartily when Y/N lifted her body up to switch their positions, laying Kate comfortably on the pillows and mattress as she hovered over Kate and looked at her predatorily. "Fuck."

"You. Yeah, that’s what I’m about to do." Y/N murmured seductively on Kate’s lips before engulfing them into a slow, languid kiss as her hands skidded all over her body to feel as muck skin as she could. Y/N promptly swallowed Kate’s moan as she slipped her tongue into her mouth when both her hands wrapped themselves around Kate’s boobs and kneaded them eagerly, "fuck."

It was Kate’s time to swallow Y/N’s moan when she arched her back more into her hands while her own clasped around Y/N’s ass to flush their bodies together more. "Please baby, I can’t wait any longer. I want you inside."

"Your wish is my command babe." Y/N murmured on Kate’s lips as she immediately detached one of her hands off Kate’s chest and skimmed it down her body before reaching its destination between the black haired girls legs, onto her core, circling around Kate’s entrance and gasping loudly at the amount of wetness she found there as she collected it to lubrificate her fingers. "Hm, so ready for me."

Kate moaned pitifully when Y/N eased one finger in, almost coming undone on the spot when she remembered it was now Y/N pushing her finger in and out of her and not herself anymore as she imagined Y/N fucking her. It was really happening. "Shit, you feel so good babe."

"So tight." Y/N grunted as she slipped her finger out and pushed it back in after adding another one in the mix, reveling in Kate’s moan of approval as she arched her back in pleasure. "So beautiful."

"Oh fuck. Babe!" Kate slammed her head down on the pillow when Y/N pushed her digits back in and curled them once she was buried knuckle deep into her center to hit a new spot within Kate that made her writhe her body in ecstasy. Y/N moved her lips down Kate’s throat to leave another visible mark there yet before slipping her tongue out and licking a trail down her collarbones and sternum, reaching her yearned destination on Kate’s chest a second later when she kissed Kate’s right nipple softly before engulfing it with the warmth of her mouth and sucking on it harshly all the while adding her thumb in her fingers’ mix on Kate’s core and pressed on the archer’s clit hard, rolling it a few times before releasing it and repeating the motion. "Fuck, shit, fuck. Babe, more please."

"Do you want another finger?"

"Yes, please yes!" Kate wailed out in rapture when a few moments later Y/N slipped her two fingers out and added a third one before slamming her digits back into Kate’s core forcefully, hitting something deep within her that made her back arch in pleasure as a loud scream left her lips, "Y/N/N!!" Kate’s head trashed around side to side as pleasure filled every cell of her body, making her almost see stars every time Y/N slammed her fingers back in forcefully.

"Are you close baby?" Y/N asked after she pulled her mouth away with a loud ‘pop’ from Kate’s nipple and basked in Kate’s face contorted in pleasure with her mouth open in an ‘O’ shape and profanities, mixed with her name moaned out loud, left it.

"Yes!" Kate moaned out loud as she canted her hips up sloppily to meet Y/N’s thrusts and to increase her pleasure, hitting a new, deep spot inside her that made the coiling feeling into her lower stomach almost ready to snap and tip her off the edge, her body wrecked by hard shivers each time Y/N curled her fingers and made her clench her digits into Y/N’s back’s skin, positive it will definitely leave red marks there from how hard she was gripping onto her back in pleasure. Y/N grunted gently under her breath at the soft stinging sensation on her skin but pushed it aside and focused on delivering the best pleasure she could give to Kate and help her reach her tipping point, then pulled her thumb away from the archer’s clit and used the palm of her hand instead to tease and stimulate it as much as she could, pushing on it each time she thrusted her fingers back into Kate’s core. She felt the girl’s walls clench hard around her fingers, a clear sign the black haired girl was near the edge, so she doubled her efforts and sped up her movements meanwhile she switched to the other nipple and sucked on it like her life depended on it, "yes baby! Oh shit, like that! Fuck, fuck, fuck, I can feel it!"

"Come for me baby. Let me see how fucking beautiful you look when you come on my fingers." Y/N murmured greedily on Kate’s nipple pulling away from it just a moment to speak those words before biting on it particularly hard, but not too much to hurt Kate, smirking proudly when the blue eyed girl arched her back in pleasure at her gesture, and then engulfing it with her tongue to lick it thoroughly and to soothe the stinging sensation from her bite and to wear it off. After a few hard, deep thrusts Kate tipped off the edge with a particularly loud scream of Y/N’s name leaving her mouth, her juices flooding out of Kate’s core and onto Y/N’s hand as her body twitched in pure ecstasy. Y/N gradually slowed her fingers down to help Kate ride her post-coital wave as much as she could before stopping her movements altogether only when the archer’s body stopped trembling and slumped back on the mattress. Y/N then reluctantly pulled her mouth away from Kate’s nipple, left a loving peck there before moving up Kate’s body, leaving a trail of sweet, tender, soft and gentle kisses in her trail up the blue eyed girl’s wonderful body, and reaching her destination on Kate’s lips a second later, pecking them repeatedly a few times in a sweet gesture before kissing her languidly as she laid her naked body over Kate’s naked body, careful in not crushing her body and hurting her. "Hi there."

"Hello baby." They both smiled sheepishly at one another as they leaned their foreheads together and nuzzled their noses cutely, before sharing another sweet, gentle peck, then pulling away to let Kate continue with her train of thoughts, "I feel so thoroughly fucked I think I’m flying."

"No babe, you are here with me. But I’m happy you feel like that, it means I did something good."

"More than good. Wonderful. Amazing. Incredibly sublime." Kate stated still a bit dazed and watched a cute smile unfold on Y/N’s features that freed the butterflies in her stomach and made her own dumb grin broaden widely. They let a few moments of silence engulf them before Kate spoke up once again, "so, who did ultimately win?"

"Oh no, we forgot to start the chronometer!" Y/N turned her head around to locate Kate’s phone and found it laying on the floor where she left it in her pants she threw there not too long ago.

"Well it means we have to do another round." Kate stated seductively as her hands descended down Y/N’s body and found their purchase on her ass, squeezing it hard and kneading it greedily as she flushed their bodies impossibly closer, eliciting a loud moan from the Y/H/C girl as she laid her head on Kate’s collarbones, nibbling the skin there softly.

"Let me go grab the phone then."

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jacks347 · 4 months

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Thanks to the brilliant GB here on Tumblr I was reminded of the dreamscape episode of Bastard Warrior with that whole debacle and you know I wouldn't be here if I didn't have an opinion.

Let's talk about how Albus’s perfect world didn't have Faith in it until she put herself into it.

I've brought up this point singularly in the Discord before but this is my Tumblr where I'm making it a habit of going way too into detail about shit so here we go again.

My singular point was "Even in a world of his own design, Albus refuses to make a world where Faith loves him because he doesn't feel he deserves her."

Which is...arguably correct for the time it was proposed but far too surface level for my liking.

Because even if that is the case, why would she be completely excluded? It's not exactly like Albus is known for having a lot of friends so why would he completely cut out one of the only people that has ever treated him with genuine kindness in his life? Why not add her as just a friendly face like Devlin? He made his brother a bartender so that he's never away from him but couldn't even make Faith a passing merchant?

And then I remembered something literally as I was typing this. Yes, the world is based off of Albus’s desires and what he believes his perfect world would be but he didn't actually make it. Kravitas did.

Y'know, the demon that Faith kicked in the dick literally two episodes earlier? The one that already didn't like her and now likes her even less? The one who knows she's one of Albus’s weaknesses because he cares about her whether he likes it or not? That Kravitas?

Yeah you can see where I'm going with this, can't you?

What if Kravitas purposefully cut her out so she couldn't have an effect on Albus? Completely blocked her from his memory and made a world where she didn't exist so that Albus’s love for her didn't break the illusion and snap him out of the dream.

Am I using my own lore point of "love transcends all" to justify this? A little bit, yes. But I fully believe that if Kravitas had given Albus that storybook ending where he gets the girl and has the white picket fence life, he would eventually realize something wasn't right. He would eventually realize that this wasn't Faith, that something was missing. There's something inherently real about being in love with someone that you can't just replicate, especially with someone in Albus’s situation. And in a world with untraumatized Albus, there would be something crucial missing from his relationship with Faith that Kravitas would have no way to replace.

So what do you do with something you can't fix that will eventually break down your entire operation?

You get rid of it.

So in order to preserve Albus’s dreamscape for as long as possible, Kravitas got rid of Faith. Let Albus have his name, his brother, his career as a paladin, and never tell him that his heart is far beyond the clouds with a woman he forgot exists.

Obviously it didn't work cause Faith is so headstrong she could crack diamonds and wasn't gonna let some silly thing like a dimensional barrier keep her out but an attempt was made and I respect it.

Do I also believe Kravitas could've gone the complete other end of the spectrum and given Albus a harem so he wouldn't need Faith? Yes. Do I think it would've worked any better? Maybe. Possibly. Though I think Albus’s need to attach his self-worth to his sex drive comes from that trauma I mentioned earlier so in a world where that doesn't happen, maybe not. Who knows. I never claimed to be good at this.

Also can we talk about Faith entering that dream world? Just dropped out of the sky and faceplanted into the dirt, I'm shocked she didn't break anything. Albus finds some random lady face down in the grass probably looking like she was contemplating every decision she's ever made in her life and was just like "?? You good?"

100/10, no notes, absolutely flawless.

#asmr roleplay #good boy audios #gba bastard warrior #bastard warrior #gba faithful #gba albus #gba devlin #i think too much #many thoughts head full #i told you i was finally giving Redacted a break

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separatist-apologist · 5 months

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A Lost Princess Of Sunlight

Summary: Lady Elain has spent her life in the idyllic countryside wanting for nothing, so when her adopted sister Vassa begs her to accompany her to court, how can Elain say no? The roguish prince is in need of a wife and Elain, certain she'd make a terrible princess, has no interest in such theatrics.

But something about the palace brings back memories lost to the sea ten years before. Memories Elain had been certain she'd never get back…memories that speak of a colder place, and sisters long forgotten. Amid the tumultuous politics and the looming war, Elain finds herself embroiled in a mystery to find out who she really is.

And where she really comes from.

My humble offering to @writtenonreceipts for the @acotargiftexchange. Am I releasing fewer chapters because I've realized I need more than 7? YesNO STOP ASKING

Thank you again to @velidewrites for the moodboard and making me seem more put together than I am.

Read On AO3

He was doing it again.

Lucien knew it, rationally. Knew he was making all the same mistakes he’d made with Jesminda—rushing head first into something without thinking about the consequences. Damn them, he decided blithely as he made his way toward his mothers chambers. All Lucien could think about was Elain in the moonlight, her lips on his.

Might as well declare his intentions privately.

Just in case.

It was here Lucien was finally confronted with the sight of his eldest brother, standing at a window just outside the door that would take him to their mothers room. The sight of Eris Vanserra was the only thing that could empty Elain from Lucien’s thoughts. Eris had no right to his home and his presence was unwelcome.

There, hands clasped behind his back, Eris looked every inch the pensive king and Lucien’s fingers curled to fists at the sight. No one could touch Eris but Lucien and Lucien was itching for a violent confrontation. He’d argued passionately that giving Eris free reign of their home would see it laid to rubble for all the good it did.

Eris turned his head, eyes sliding down Lucien’s body as his lip curled with disdain. Lucien still remembered the last time they’d seen each other—he’d been ten, Eris nineteen and Eris had kicked him hard in the spine off a ledge straight into the frothy ocean water below.

No amount of telling his mother had earned Eris any consequences. He was always favored though Lucien was sure Eris didn’t think so because Eris was so spoiled and selfish nothing would ever be good enough for him. Maybe if they all died, then Eris would be satisfied. Until then, he’d continue appearing on occasion and ignoring their mothers letters in between, determined to punish her for the crime of leaving his father.

Lucien used to wonder how Eris rationalized that. How he could look at his mother, covered in bruises from the neck down and so thin his father had once said he didn’t know how she stood, and blame her for leaving. Lucien didn’t wonder now—Eris couldn’t be bothered to sympathize because he was the same terrible bastard as his father.

And Lucien had a score to settle.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Lucien said, praying Eris would hit him with just enough attitude he could justify the punch that was coming, at least to his father. There was no avoiding his mothers tears, her guilt, and the fear that perhaps she should have stayed, if only for Eris’s sake.

“I was invited,” Eris replied, his voice dripping with condemnation. “As much as it displeases you, mother still finds value in me.”

“The only person in the world, I imagine,” Lucien shot back. “I’m surprised you left given the state of your father. Though, I suppose if I had poisoned my father, I wouldn’t want to be around when he finally died.”

“When you require assistance on that front, you’re welcome to shelter in my court,” Eris replied, slick and stupid as ever. Lucien loved his father and was in no hurry to be King, besides. It seemed like it was aging his father at an accelerated rate, not mentioning the utter responsibility Lucien had no interest in.

The insinuation was foul, besides. If Eris was hoping to provoke a reaction, it was working. Lucien’s self control was shredding by the moment.

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll take you out before—” That was enough. Lucien swung without thinking, howling in rage well before his knuckles ever connected with Eris’s jaw. Eris slammed against the window hard enough to rattle it, blood splattering against his nice jacket. Lucien knew he fucked up the moment his brother refused to hit him back, teeth stained red as he flashed Lucien a sly smile.

His expression crumpled into pain the moment their mother flung open her chamber door, eyes on the pair of them.

Eris shook his head. “If you didn’t want me here, you could have said so,” he spat, eyes on their mother. Russet eyes became glassy with tears, and Lucien could have killed Eris right then for the guilt he was capitalizing on.

“Why would you do this?” his mother asked, turning her gaze to Lucien. “We raised you better than this.”

Eris’s gaze gleamed with triumph. Nothing Lucien could say would fix this moment for his mother. What she wanted was for Lucien to take the high road, to forgive and forget rather than respond to Eris’s goading. And there was no way for Lucien to act as though he’d been forced into hitting Eris—he’d wanted to.

“Someone should have a long time ago,” Lucien hissed instead, surprised by the way both his mother and brother seemed to flinch back from his words.

“Go tell your father you said that,” his mother ordered, her words blunted with ice. Finally, a good idea. Unable to bear the sight of his mothers grief or Eris’s vindication, Lucien turned on his heel and strode away. His father would understand, even if he couldn’t totally absolve Lucien of his violence. There would be a little eye rolling and a promise to talk to Lucien’s mother to smooth things over.

And Lucien could finally tell someone in his family about Elain. If he told his father and his mother, he could tell Elain his parents were just delighted he’d picked someone born and raised in the South so she’d stop wringing her hands over the circumstances of her birth. Lucien needed something positive to happen and being able to track down his lady and inform her his parents were thrilled by the match was the only thing that convinced Lucien to see his father immediately, rather than to wait until his mother forced him to.

His father was lounging in his office, the balcony doors, head tilted toward the warm sunlight. Lucien stepped through the bright room, ignoring the paperwork stacked that Lucien probably ought to know about. He likely ought to know more about state affairs and kept himself intentionally oblivious to get out of taking on more responsibility.

But…maybe…maybe he ought to try, if only to prove he was worth marrying. Jesminda had hated everything to do with the monarchy but did Elain? Lucien realized he didn’t know much about her at all.

It was merely another problem he needed to rectify.

“Father,” Lucien said, forgetting Eris’s blood was still splattered against his face. He hadn’t forgotten the ache in his hand and when both he and his father looked down, Lucien saw his knuckles were cracked and swollen.

“Tell me you were fighting Jurian,” his father ordered, groaning when Lucien set his jaw. “Tell me he deserved it—and your mother doesn’t know.”

“He did deserve it,” Lucien swore vehemently, unable to say the second part.

“You let him crawl under your skin far too easily. What upset your mother?” his father asked with some amusement. Sighing, Lucien set his elbows against the wide lip of the marble balcony and stared out at the sea.

“That someone ought to have hit him long ago.”

His father exhaled a breath. “Ah. That’ll do it.”

“Is it wrong to wish Beron had—”

“Yes, it is. Your mother desperately wished to bring Eris with her. In another life, under different circumstances, you two might have loved each other. You shouldn’t wish that, though, no matter how much you loathe him. Keep your distance if you can’t be civil.”

“Fine,” Lucien agreed through gritted teeth, “I can do that. I didn’t come to talk about Eris. I’ve come to tell you about a woman.”

His father turned, golden eyes bright with delight. “So your mother was right, just as I knew she was. Tell me who so I can start wooing her father.”

“Lady Elain Koschington,” Lucien said, surprised when his father took a step backward.

“Are you certain?”

“Well…there’s time…but I’ve made my intentions toward her plain—”

“How so?”

“Just courting, nothing untoward!” Lucien assured his father, slightly embarrassed.

“There’s time to change your mind,” his father declared, catching Lucien off-guard. Surely he was happy that Lucien had picked a woman rather than pining after Jesminda and sleeping his way through the city.

“I’m not going to change my mind,” Lucien said, uncertain if that was true. “What is the problem with Lady Elain?”

“She is hardly a lady,” his father replied.

Lucien swallowed. He didn’t care—he swore he didn’t. If she’d been with another man, that was fine. Maybe he was jealous, but he’d certainly been no saint either. “I don’t care—”

“No. You may not court Lady Elain—”

“Mother said any Southern born lady—”

“And she was not born within our border—”

“She is a citizen of our crown and you are merely quibbling over semantics!” Lucien exploded, angrier than he’d ever been with his father.

“I forbid it,” his father said, facing Lucien with all the wrath of a king. “And if you test me, I will have her sent so far from your reach it would take you lifetimes to find her.”

“Why?”

“Are you asking as a prince? Or my son about to disobey me?”

Lucien hung on a knife’s edge. If he demanded the truth, he would be bound by it. Lucien would be forced to put duty over his feelings, something he’d never been good at. And if he asked as his fathers son, Elain would be sent away. Which was worse, he wondered? Never seeing her again, or seeing her while knowing he couldn’t have her?

“The truth, as both your son and the prince.”

“Elain is an Archeron, and a political prisoner of my court.”

Lucien blinked. The heat had finally overwhelmed him and he was hallucinating.

“A fisherman scooped her out of the sea when she was a girl and kept her separated from her sisters. It was my original intention to ransom her back…but she had no memory of her life in the north and I saw an opportunity to keep her troublesome family in line. She hasn’t be mistreated, but when we returned her sisters under the treaty, we kept Elain as insurance for when her father inevitably tried another invasion.”

Lucien felt like gagging. “You…”

“To marry her would start a war. You cannot court Elain, nor can you marry her. No man can—she is off limits.”

“And what happens when she realizes she is unmarriageable? Have you seen her?”

“She will think there is some quality of hers that men find unappealing and adjust to life as a spinster, like many women do without complaint or regret.”

“Does mother know about this?”

“Yes.”

Lucien felt his world crumbling. In his mind, his family was above reproach and morally righteous. Everything they’d done had been in service to the safety of their home and anything said to the contrary was merely lies meant to discredit his fathers rule. The idea that his father was calculating enough to use a little girl as a political pawn—and would steal her entire life on the bet her father might one day try and invade—was too much for Lucien to process.

And Arina—oh, Arina. She was trying to find the village Elain had come from. How long before she put it together? Lucien opened his mouth to warn his father before snapping it closed again.

Why?

What would happen to Arina? And Elain? Hell, what would happen to him? Rubbing his eyes, Lucien said, “How could you?”

“You will do just as bad—worse, even, if needs become must. That is our life. One of duty, not romance.”

Lucien scoffed, unwilling to say what he was thinking. Had it been duty when his own father had nearly started a war over his mother? He could see his father daring him to say so and knew it would not end well for him if he did. “Swear you’ll stay away from her.”

Fingers crossed behind his back like he was a child, Lucien looked his father dead in the eyes and lied. “I swear.”

Lucien had no intention of staying away from Elain. No. A new plan was forming in his mind—one that was just as idiotic as his fathers original plan to dangle her like meat over her fathers head. As if that wasn’t justification for war? As far as Lucien could see, there was no outcome that avoided it other than Elain simply vanishing into the ether, never to be seen again.

At least if she was his wife, Lucien could argue they were now allies, not enemies.

Fool. He was an utter, stupid fool. It was Jesminda all over again. One kiss and Lucien was ready to make her his wife, consequences be damned.

And yet as he walked out of his fathers study, Lucien felt confident.

Certain of his decision.

“What happened to your face?”

Beautiful Eris Vanserra trudged up to the library where he had no right to be, his left eye brutally swollen, nose blooded and shirt stained. Arina rose from her spot at her desk, forgetting she wasn’t supposed to touch him again—a promise she’d made to herself after he’d kissed her—to reach for his face. Dull, amber eyes peered back at her, uncertain of what was about to happen.

“Who did this to you?”

“Don’t make your first kill on my behalf,” he said with none of his usual fire.

“Sit down,” she said, careful to keep her own voice soft. Arina had no intention of killing anyone ever, though she might have words with the offender. “What happened?”

“Your lovely prince’s fist happened.”

Oh.

“What did you say to him?” she asked, making her way toward a pitcher of water. It would have to do for now—just to clean him up. After, she could cajole him into seeing a healer, if only to make sure he hadn’t broken his nose.

“You assume it was my fault? Cruel.”

“I think I know you well enough to know you can’t help yourself,” Arina murmured, pulling up the hem of her dress to soak it so she could dab at his face. Eris watched, tracking her every move the moment the fabric exposed her thigh. Of course that would interest him.

He was a rogue—a villain, really. Arina knew exactly what Eris wanted—a distraction during his time here only so he could forget her the moment he left—and she was determined not to give it to him.

Which was difficult given she wanted to. Arina was no lady, even if technically, by birth, she could have been. Should have been, truly. Her father had ruined himself long before Arina had come up but Helion could have salvaged her reputation much like he’d salvaged her fathers. Arina could have asked for a household of her own—but she wanted peace and quiet and to be freed of the expectation that a man she hated would get to decide her future.

But perhaps there was some wisdom to it, given she’d been ready to throw her lot in with Eris Vanserra, damn the consequences. She’d half convinced herself the time spent with him would be worth it, besides. How many women could say they’d been with a king? A lot, probably, given their reputation for infidelity. Still.

“I wanted to piss him off,” Eris admitted, his gaze uncharacteristically soft. “I thought it would bring me some peace.”

“And did it?”

Eris slid a hand up her bare leg, halting just above her knee. “No.”

Pretending she hadn’t notice how warm his fingers were, Arina began wiping at the blood though it was ruining the pink of her dress. “Then maybe you ought to employ a different tactic.”

“A blade, then?”

“How about a conversation?” she suggested, arching her brow. “An honest conversation.”

“I’d rather he stabbed me,” Eris grumbled, tilting his chin ever so slightly. It looked as though he was giving her access, permission, even, for a kiss. That path only ended in destruction and she knew it. If Eris ever learned she was half as attracted to him as she truly was, he’d never leave her be. The only thing saving Arina was his belief she was mostly ambivalent about him and required persuasion.

In truth, she required no persuasion at all. Eris was beautiful—easily the most beautiful man she’d ever laid eyes on—and ever since he’d kissed her, she’d thought of nothing else. She couldn’t be the one to kiss him again—to kiss him ever. If nothing else, Arina wouldn’t give Eris the satisfaction of one day breaking her heart.

“Would it be so terrible if he liked you?”

Eris considered this for a moment, eyes glazing over which made wiping the blood from his face far easier. Copper salt mingled with woodsmoke and whiskey which wasn’t entirely unpleasant. And she had to admit, there was something particularly inviting about the sight of Eris covered in blood, though she would rather see him covered in someone else's rather than his own.

“Yes, I think it would be,” Eris finally murmured.

“Why?”

His eyes grew sharp and cold. “Prying for secrets, are you?”

She shrugged. “I might give you something in return.”

Straightening his spine, Eris asked, “Something I want?”

“Within reason, I suppose. I’m not taking my clothes off for you.”

The grip on her leg tightened as if to say, we’ll see about that. “If I liked Lucien…if I liked your self-righteous king, even…” Eris drew in a sharp breath before rushing out the words, “it would mean she was right to leave us.”

Arina’s fingers slid over his cheek without meaning to, wanting to comfort him before she even considered why she’d want that. Eris didn’t seem like a man with deep feelings or thoughts beyond what might best service him.

“I don’t think she left because of you,” Arina murmured, wondering if he considered himself part of the problem. Eris raised his brows, his expression betraying how little he believed her. However, his next words held none of the vulnerability as the ones that had come before.

“You promised a kiss.”

“I promised to give you something you wanted—”

“That’s what I want,” he said, his free hand gripping her waist to pull her into his lap. Before she could protest, Eris had his mouth against her own and she found that her fingers betrayed her, sliding through his hair before she ever thought about it.

He tasted like warm sunlight somehow. It was a mistake, one she knew she’d come to regret but right then, Arina told herself kissing him couldn’t hurt her. Couldn’t hurt anything, really. She knew what this was—nothing at all. Passing attraction, a distraction that they’d both tire of if they ever had to spend any significant amount of time together.

Besides, he didn’t know anything about her. To him, she was simply little more than a servant, a peasant that had been elevated just enough to be given importance, but without the family name or wealth that would make her a viable candidate for courting. Safe to dally with because no one would ever expect him to make good on any promises he made to her. Helion wouldn’t demand Eris marry her if Arina complained and so Eris could bother her, could slide his hand up her dress, could accost her with his mouth.

He’d go home and pick a suitable woman and forget her.

And she swore that was her preference.

It made it easier to kiss him without fear. I’m no one to him.

Though right then, she certainly felt like someone. His mouth was warm, his hands soft and Arina wanted. Wanted this unattainable, emotionally disturbed man and the mess he was almost certainly dragging behind him. He’d destroy her before she ever managed to peel back that first layer, leaving her in bloodied ruins as he sauntered off, divorcing her from his memory while she thought of nothing else.

“I love this,” he whispered, teeth nipping along her bottom lip as he fisted her thick, long hair. “All of it.”

“Love it less,” she heard herself responding, her own heart thudding in her chest. “It’s not yours to keep.”

Chuckling, Eris bit harder. “You won’t come to my bed?”

“I wouldn’t go to dinner with you,” she lied. Arina would have gone a great number of places with him, though it was far easier to lie to herself and pretend she wouldn’t. That this was all nothing and he was meaningless to her.

“You had breakfast with me,” he reminded her, as if Arina could ever forget.

She let him kiss her again, cognizant of the hand creeping toward her thigh. Frustration was building in her chest—both because she wanted him and because he so casually believed she was his for the taking, if he wanted her.

“I have breakfast with many people—your brother, for instance, most mornings.”

That soured Eris’s mood. That bruised, blackened eye met hers and she found it was filled with loathing.

Twist the knife, she ordered, holding herself on his lap like she was so utterly careless. Arina cared, far more than she should. Better to stop this now. “I’d have dinner with him, too.”

“Why not throw yourself at his feet, too?” Eris snapped, rising so sharply Arina all but fell to the floor in a graceless heap. “Or is that reserved just for me?”

That was better, she decided. Better for him to loathe her than to want her—or worse. “Your brother is nice to me.”

“Oh, is that it? He thanks you for putting a knife to his throat?”

“He’d never give me cause to do so,” she bit back as she wiped her palms on her dress. “Your brother is a gentleman.”

“Yes, perfect little Lucien,” Eris snarled in response, advancing on her. “And yet here you are. Kissing me.”

He waited for a comeback, some response that would explain this all away. What was she supposed to say? That if she lined Lucien and Eris up, there was no comparison? That she’d have picked Eris with her eyes closed, hands tied behind her back and that fact scared her? “At least Lucien likes me,” she whispers, certain that she was right about this. Eris was attracted to her, of that Arina was positive, but she thought the fact rankled him. He didn’t want to—and hoped to exorcize her from his system at the very first opportunity.

His eyes flashed. “Who says I don’t like you?”

“Do you like me, Eris?” she challenged as he reached for her face to draw her closer. What was happening? They were supposed to be fighting and yet the tension in the air had shifted again and she knew she was going to kiss him.

“I like you right now,” he murmured, mouth brushing her own. “I like you enough to come looking for you.”

“You’re just bored,” she whispered, one hand half-heartedly pushing against his chest.

“Surely there are simpler ways to get a woman naked if I was truly that bored,” he disagreed, nipping softly at that bruised lip of hers. “Women who would pay me a compliment, even, without me having to beg.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Among other things,” he managed, kissing her softly. “Say something nice to me, Arina.”

“You first,” she replied, grateful for another kiss that silenced them both. She didn’t want to hear him say anything nice to her, knowing full well she’d turn those words over in her mind until she’d made them more romantic than they were. Eris didn’t push it, either, content to pull her back to his chair and into his lap and kiss her until they were both breathless.

Arina was careful when she climbed out of his lap, not daring to touch anything but his hands for fear he’d take it as an invitation. Eris stood, adjusting his clothes as if that would distract from his ruby red mouth and his mussed hair. Arina walked around her desk, bracing herself against the wood as she waited for Eris to leave.

“You’re too good for Lucien, you know,” he murmured, halting with his hand on the door handle. Without looking back, he added, “Probably myself, too.” And then he was gone.

She’d been right about that compliment—for the rest of the night, Arina turned it over and over in her mind, trying to make meaning of it until she found the words romantic.

Fool.

She was an utter fool.

“Move your foot just a little,” Cassian murmured, stepping toward Nesta’s slim thigh before he remembered he wasn’t allowed to touch her. It was becoming far too easy to forget. She had been alone with Rhys last night, taking a turn around that dead garden or something equally horrible. Cassian had been agitated the entire time and Rhys’s silent return only to stalk into his bedroom did little to improve Cassian’s mood.

What had happened? And which was worse? A night that had gone so well Rhys needed to lock himself behind a closed door in order to deal with it, or so terrible he’d had to hide his rage? Cassian didn’t want to think about his brother treating Nesta badly—nor did he want to imagine Rhys realizing how wonderful Nesta was, either.

Cassian had woken to a dream that Nesta was his queen and he was made to bow before her, unable to look either her or Rhys in the eyes. As if the alternative—a world in which she was ever his—existed at all. That much was clear given he and Nesta were hidden in her dead sister's bedroom while he taught her the finer points of self-defense…and it was one in the morning.

“Do you sleep?” Cassian dared to ask as Nesta looked down at her booted feet, adjusting them just like he told her to. She had a dancer's stance, her movements lithe and graceful even if she was still a little clumsy with a blade. Give her time and Nesta would be lethal, a shadow much like Azriel if she wanted to be.

What would Rhys say when he learned that Cassian was teaching Nesta to potentially kill Rhys in his sleep should they ever end up married?

“No,” Nesta replied, though she looked like she should. Cassian had no business trying to put her to bed which was enough to focus him. “You train Rhysand’s military, don’t you?”

“I do,” he replied carefully, well aware of why Nesta wanted to know. There was nothing Cassian would have liked more than to unseat her father and those prickish nobles always sneering at him and seeing Nesta sit on that gleaming throne. It was another lurid fantasy best left to the dark of night when he was alone and no one was around to witness him.

“Our general isn’t so…”

Handsome? Virile? Single?

“Young,” she finished, looking up at him. “How many battles have you won?”

Her eyes lingered on his neck and that old wound he was both hoping she did and didn’t ask him about. He could paint it heroically enough—after all, he’d lived, hadn’t he? Barely, but that was a story for another day, another time.

“Enough,” he said, gesturing for her to try and stab him. “I don’t have all night, princess. Some of us need sleep in order to maintain our good looks.”

“Who told you that you were good looking?” she replied with a gleam in her eye.

“Are you implying they lied to me?” Cassian shot back with faux hurt.

“I’m not implying it. I’m stating it outright.”

Cassian laughed as Nesta lunged, her sharp blade slicing through the thin material of his shirt and cutting through his skin. It was a shallow wound hardly worth the loud gasp that escaped her and yet…

“Oh,” he breathed, eyes not on the blood now soaking his clothing but at the woman mere inches in front of him. “You stabbed me.”

“I’m so sorry,” Nesta said, tugging at his shirt to get a better look. Cassian knew he was a bastard because it barely stung. It was hardly worth paying attention to and had it been Azriel or Rhys, he would have kept sparring, unconcerned. Instead, Cassian removed the offending garment so the princess could fuss over him a little.

“It’s nothing,” Cassian told her honestly, dropping into a chair they’d pushed to the side while Nesta fretted, looking for something to dress the cut. “I doubt it’ll even scar. Besides—you got me. That’s something, Nes.”

She turned, wisps of hair brushing against her cheek and gods she was so beautiful.

“I did, didn’t I?” she replied, a genuine smile curving over her lips. What would happen, he wondered, if he just kissed her?

Nesta was still holding that bloodied dagger in her hand which was enough to temper Cassian’s thoughts. He didn’t need to teach her to stab, after all—that was intuitive. Still, Nesta seemed like the kind of woman who ought to have been born wielding a weapon and he suspected with a little more practice, she’d be a born natural.

And then what? Would Rhys want to help her wrest control of her kingdom from the men who’d long ruled it? Cassian was certain he didn’t, that he was only here to prevent their long-standing ally Helion from another war.

It was a secret he was keeping from her.

He didn’t owe Nesta the truth. After all, he was no one to her. Just some man she’d tricked into helping her. Cassian imagined Nesta did this every day with any number of men and he was merely the latest one. And yet with each passing day, guilt gnawed at him because she genuinely believed they were there to help her.

And they weren’t. Rhys and Azriel were more likely to destabilize things entirely than they were to offer her any real assistance. Maybe Rhys would offer her an out by making her his wife—but maybe he wouldn’t. Cassian would be the villain because his job was to destroy their military and leave the north in tattered ruins.

Nesta came closer, a little ripped piece of cloth in her hand. Cassian caught her wrist, wanting so badly to touch her when he knew he didn’t have the right. “Don’t worry about me,” he told her, holding her gaze. “I’ll have forgotten about this in the morning.”

Nesta came closer still, until she was standing between his parted legs. “You’ll forget me?”

“That’s not what I said,” Cassian heard himself reply. He didn’t feel in control right then, but like a spectator watching another man who was far calmer and more collected speak to the woman of his dreams. “I don’t think it’s possible to forget you, Nesta Archeron.”

It was that other man, still holding her wrist, that turned her palm up and pressed a kiss against her skin. A man who knew how to court a woman like Nesta—who knew what he was doing at all, even. Not Cassian, who felt as though he was screaming with delight and fear, pressed against his own eyes to watch. She was going to shove him, would scream for her guards and he’d be arrested. Rhys would ask him if it was worth it and Cassian would say—well, Cassian would say it had been worth it. Because it had.

Nesta didn’t do any of those things. Shuddering, she took a careful step backward with an audible swallow. “Is it hard? Killing another person?”

Was that what she was thinking? Like cold water had been poured over his head, Cassian felt his desire cool. It was with great reluctance that he dropped her hand, sighing softly. “I can’t speak for everyone. Killing is personal, even when it's not.”

“Do you think I could?”

Holding her gaze, Cassian thought Nesta could do anything with sheer will alone. He understood what she was asking, though: did he think she could follow through? Did Cassian think Nesta was capable of taking a life? Yeah, Cassian thought Nesta could kill as well as the best of them—maybe better.

“Yeah, Nes, I think you could.”

Nodding her head, a soft smile spread across her lips. “I have a list.”

Cassian had never wanted anyone more than he wanted her right then. “Oh? Where do I fall on it?”

“You’re so full of yourself,” she said, smothering a smile. “Why would you think you rank at all?”

“Hope, I suppose,” Cassian replied with a grin.

“You hope I’d kill you?” she asked, eyes wide with a mixture of what he thought was delight and surprise.

“Anything to feel your hands on my skin,” Cassian responded before he could think about it. Nesta sucked in a soft breath and he knew he’d taken it too far. He shouldn’t have said that. Heart hammering, Cassian turned slowly to look at her, waiting for her to order him out.

“That’s pathetic,” she said, her voice strangely breathless. “Where is your dignity, General?”

Had he ever been so aroused in his life? Cassian was hard pressed to think of a time as Nesta made her way toward him, hips swaying beneath her dress. She was out of bounds, and even though Rhys said he had no intention of courting her, she did technically belong to his brother. What would happen if Rhys learned of this?

Would he be jealous?

Angry?

“I suspect you hold that, along with everything else, princess,” Cassian replied, deciding he was going to see this through to whatever conclusion. Nesta closed the gap between them, her body close enough that her breasts all but touched his chest. Cassian wanted to kiss her and swore he wasn’t going to right until she tilted her chin upward with that hint of defiance he liked so much.

Was that what this was? Just a princess defying her father until she couldn’t? Or did Nesta feel the same attraction Cassian felt, too?

Reaching for her cheek, Cassian held it in his hand, thumb sweeping against soft skin. Oh, he was in such trouble and yet he knew if he hesitated, Nesta would never give him another opportunity. He might lack dignity but Nesta held her pride so tightly he suspected she wrapped it around her body like a second skin.

She wasn’t going to beg him. Cassian would have, though.

Still, Cassian didn’t know just how true those thoughts were until his mouth brushed hers. Nesta smelled sweet, like something sugary baked on the streets of Velaris. If he’d smelled it while walking by, Cassian would have ducked in for a taste, unable to help himself. He felt the same right then, kissing her with a sharp inhale of air.

It was a miracle that Nesta kissed him back, her fingers gripping the tops of his arms to hold him steady. Cassian felt dazed, drunk on his success though he had no idea how he’d managed to convince her to kiss him in the first place. All he knew was he wanted more and would commit an unknown, unnamed number of atrocities to kiss her again.

He ought to have known she was unpracticed—that Nesta would need more care than he was used to. Cassian was so lost in the moment he didn’t think about winding an arm around her body to pull her flush against him. Nesta gasped, her little hands pressed to his chest as she tried to back away.

“I—Sorry,” he breathed, eyes on her as she put a healthy amount of space between them. Nesta’s fingers touched her lips, eyes glassy and far away.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered, her words a knife to his heart. “I…that was a mistake.”

“Don’t do that,” Cassian half pleaded, half growled. “You know it wasn’t a mistake.”

Her spine straightened. “It was. You’re—” she swallowed the words she was about to say, eyes flashing a warning. If Cassian had been smarter, he’d have let them die.

But Cassian had never been accused of intelligence. “I’m what, Nes?”

“You’re no one at all,” she replied lightly, eyes sliding toward the door. “And I’m a princess. This never happened. Forget it like I already have.”

“You’re a liar, Nesta Archeron,” Cassian called, swallowing his anger in favor of keeping his tone light. She turned, eyes flashing.

“You can’t talk to me like that,” she snapped.

“Just did,” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “Throw me in prison if I offend you.”

“You will keep your distance or—”

“Or what?” Cassian murmured, taking a casual step toward her. They both knew she couldn’t—Nesta wanted to learn to use a blade and could ask no one but him. Either she abandoned her plans or she sought him out. Either way, Cassian held all the cards. They stared the other down, searching for some weakness to advance their position. It was Nesta who turned again, chin raised with a haughty arrogance that made his blood race.

“Or nothing, Cassian. This never happened.”

“We’ll see, Nes!” he hissed after her retreating back.

Cassian didn’t give up that easily. Not when he wanted something.

And Cassian had never wanted anything or anyone half as much as he wanted Nesta.

Feyre’s heart thudded in her throat as she raced through the palace, skirts held in one hand, feet slipping against the smooth stones. You’re dreaming, you’re dreaming, you’re dreaming— It wasn’t a dream. Tamlin was standing in the grand hall, head bowed low as her father and Lord Nolan spoke to him, their words too soft to be overheard by the hiding Feyre. What could her father have possibly needed from Tamlin to call him back?

Feyre’s hands were numb, cold despite the roaring fire that warmed the room. The only thing that had ever given Feyre peace was the knowledge that Tamlin was not coming home. He’d never have a chance to apologize for what he’d done, which meant she’d never cave and forgive him like she knew she would.

Seeing him there, though, broad shouldered and beautiful, softened some of her resolve. He’d struck her but it had been an accident—she’d merely been in his way and he hadn’t intended to hurt her. He’d meant to strike the wall, to knock over his desk and its contents. She’d rushed forward and he’d lashed out and Feyre was far softer and more breakable than stone and wood. It was the kind of bruise that couldn’t be explained away, couldn’t be hidden.

Tamlin had offered a half-hearted apology, his kisses turning into reassurance sex that left Feyre feeling empty and hollow in the aftermath. She hadn’t protested when her father ordered Tamlin away and Tamlin hadn’t put up a fight. He’d merely packed his things, leaving Feyre with a ruined reputation and a broken heart.

Feyre waited until there was a lull in the conversation to step into the room. It was strangely empty, devoid of the usual advisors and courtiers that made the grand hall seem so small. Now it was cavernous, a death march as Feyre made her way toward her father, desperate not to look at Tamlin at all.

She’d been summoned, after all. That was how she’d known—a nervous servant had told her to meet her father and when Feyre pressed, they’d whispered of Lord Tamlin’s return. Feyre felt her stomach sinking lower and lower as Nolan stared her down, his curiosity warring with some other emotion. Was it irritation, perhaps? There was no joy on that face.

“Majesty,” Nolan murmured when Feyre approached, bowing low not to her, but her father as he excused himself. Feyre wanted to grab his arm and beg him to stay though she didn’t dare. Lord Nolan would never intentionally help her—he cared only about his own standing, his own wealth, his own power. She was merely a pawn in whatever game he played to get his son on the throne.

She was close enough to Tamlin she could smell the soft, masculine scent wafting from his form. Could have touched the fingers at his side if she’d wanted to—and some pathetic part of her did. Feyre looked at her father, too afraid to look at Tamlin.

“Feyre,” her father began, rising from his chair to descend the steps of the raised dais so they could be at eye level. “How did you sleep?”

“I—” Was that really what he wanted to know? “I slept well.”

Her father nodded, reaching out a hand to brush her cheek. The same cheek Tamlin’s bruise had once adorned, faded with time. “I’ve called Lord Tamlin back to court for a purpose, Feyre. Before he left, he offered—”

“Please,” she whispered, swallowing hard.

“Feyre,” Tamlin tried but Feyre stumbled back a step, holding up a hand as she finally looked at him. He was even more beautiful than she remembered, so achingly handsome it made her want to go to him. “What happened between us…you have to know how sorry I am. I always—it was always my intention to ask you—I left and the rumors—”

“No,” she breathed, taking another step back. “You can’t be serious.”

“Think on it,” her father urged with kindness in his voice. Was she allowed to decide for herself, or was this an order dressed up like a choice? Feyre turned without another word, storming from the hall before she could do or say something she’d regret. She wasn’t marrying Tamlin, couldn’t bring herself to marry a man who at best was so angry he occasionally lost control of himself and at worst had meant to hit her and only felt sorry because he’d been caught. More than that, though, Feyre wasn’t going to do anything that made Lord Nolan happy. This was his doing and she knew it, some game he was playing in which Feyre was the unwitting pawn. If she slowed down, she likely could have figured it out. She could have gone to Nesta, who likely knew exactly what was happening and was three moves ahead.

Instead, Feyre went outside into the mist, trying to control her breathing.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” a voice murmured from the fog. Feyre started as Rhysand appeared, his usually perfect hair plastered against his forehead. Gone was the elegant king, replaced with someone who looked like any regular man. A regular man with a perfect face, but a regular man all the same.

Feyre found herself at a loss for words as she looked up at him, remembering his hands on her body in the hot spring and the way his eyes had been on her mouth the entire time she talked. He was here courting Nesta, she reminded herself. Rhys was merely amusing himself with the daughter he’d heard was easier to get undressed, which made him a prick, not someone to fantasize about.

“Walk with me?” he asked, offering Feyre his arm. She took it without thinking, fingers sliding over the velvety soft black fabric.

“Is something wrong?” Feyre dared to ask, noting how tight Rhysand’s jaw seemed to be.

“I need some quiet,” he replied, closing his eyes for a moment as he led her from the sparse, gray courtyard and into the city proper.

“Then why bring me?”

“I always want to talk to you,” he replied without his usual mockery.

“Did something happen?” Feyre heard herself asking—like she cared. Maybe she just wanted a distraction from her own problems but…Rhysand never seemed like the kind of man who was bothered by anything.

“Your courts politics frustrate me,” he admitted, running a hand through his wet hair.

“Yours are better?”

He shrugged, some of that charm seeping back into his expression. “Would you like to find out, darling?”

Wrenching her hand from his arm, Feyre elbowed him in the ribs. Rhysand smiled, ducking his head as if she’d given him a compliment. “Don’t be gross.”

Rhysand only grinned, the sight of which made her blood warm. “What is Velaris like?” she heard herself asking after a moment of comfortable silence. “I hear it’s cold.”

“You should visit,” he began, eyes shining. “There is nowhere in the world like Velaris. We have seasons—it’s not just snow and ice all year round. We also host some of the best artists on the continent…and I hear you like to paint.”

Feyre’s throat constricted. “Who told you that?”

“I’m not divulging my sources,” Rhysand replied, those once starry, shining eyes dulling as he drank in the capital city. It was dreary, she supposed, though the fog and rain did little to help. People didn’t want to be out if they didn’t have to be, and if they did, they were bundled in wool cloaks to keep them from getting wet. She doubted his own perfect home was devoid of mud and animal droppings and the sounds of people shouting over each other as they traded for goods.

“Why are you talking about me?”

“I like talking about you,” Rhysand replied with a smoothness that irked her. “I want to know everything there is to know about you.”

“Why? Shouldn’t you be getting to know my sister?” Feyre demanded, though something oily slid through her at the mention of Nesta. Rhysand, too, shifted, his body more rigid, his face stonier. He didn’t want Nesta and Feyre wasn’t stupid enough to pretend he wanted neither of them. He’d come looking at the eldest daughter to consolidate his power but now he was looking at her.

Did her father know?

Oh gods…did Nolan know? Was that why Tamlin was back? Nolan knew Rhysand had no interest in Nesta and hoped to keep all foreign interest out of their court by dangling Tamlin over Feyre’s head. Had he thought she’d jump at the prospect, or did he merely bank on her father wanting to silence the rumors swirling around Feyre and her virginity?

“Can’t I get to know you?” Rhysand asked, his voice smooth and low.

Feyre halted in her tracks. “Are you asking to court me?”

Rhysand merely grinned. “That depends on the answer you give me.”

Feyre’s mind raced. Nesta wanted Rhysand’s army for retribution on the south but Rhysand didn’t want Nesta. If Feyre told him unequivocally no, he’d likely leave sooner than he said he would and Feyre would be pushed into a marriage with Tamlin. Did she want that? Part of her did, but the other part—the part that still remembered the fear, the pain, and the heartbreak—wanted to never see him again. To bury one of her arrows in his throat and watch him suffer the way she had.

That didn’t mean she wanted Rhysand, though. He’d owe Nesta through an alliance between their homes, but…he’d take her away from her sister. And that felt intolerable to Feyre. The choices were unfair, her position a misery. Did she want Rhysand to court her, though, was the question?

Taking a breath, Feyre said, “Fine.”

“You’re so romantic,” Rhysand teased, his cheeks warming. “You can say no, darling. My ego can withstand rejection.”

Feyre believed him, too. Something about him—the casual way he talked, the friendly demeanor his warriors employed around him, and the way he looked at her made Feyre think he was being honest. If she officially declined, she suspected Rhysand would withdraw entirely out of respect. Even if she didn’t know what she wanted, she knew she didn’t want him to leave just yet.

“Can we keep this between us for the moment?” she heard herself asking, wringing her hands nervously in front of her body. “Just until…”

He raised his brows. “Until the summer is over?”

“Yeah,” she breathed with relief. That way, at least, she didn’t mess things up for Nesta and whatever clandestine things she was planning and almost certainly not telling Feyre about and see Tamlin sent back to the countryside, ideally forever. And if she ended up like Rhysand, well…that wasn’t a bad thing, was it?

“Whatever it takes,” Rhysand murmured, staring down at her with the kind of affection that made her stomach twist in knots. She’d seen that look on a man's face before and it hadn’t ended well. It always started sweet but how long until Rhysand erupted and hurt her? After all, much like Tamlin, he was accustomed to getting what he wanted and Feyre was famously difficult—or, that's what people said about her, anyway. What did he even want, she wondered? Obedience? An alliance? Something else she hadn’t considered.

“I do have one request from you, since we’re negotiating terms,” Rhysand continued, flexing his fingers at his side.

Here we go, she thought. He was going to ask her to get in his bed since she was no longer a virgin, and—

“I’d like you to call me Rhys.”

Feyre blinked. “What?”

“Only my enemies call me Rhysand,” he informed her, eyes bright again. “But my friends call me Rhys.”

“Is that what we are? Friends?”

“I hope so,” he replied, and for some reason, Feyre believed him.

She took a breath. “Alright then, Rhys.”

He smiled. “That’s my girl.”

#elucien #sorry this takes forever to write #i dont anticipate that changing lmao

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