#there will be more later my cousins found like 3 others in their time here :3

[synth-spinner]

WHEN I SAID SPIDERMAN CENTRAL I WASNT KIDDING!! BUG SPOTTED‼️

I heard there's a bunch of spiderman statues just randomly strewn around the place and i can confirm it is so true. He is just on a money exchange place.. why....

[boldlyvoid]

Little White Lies

18+ Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader

Summary: Readers sister is having an Engagement/Christmas party this year and her cousin will be there. With her new fiance. Who is reader's ex. The only logical thing to do is to show up with her own new boyfriend... who isn't really her boyfriend. He's her boss.

Warnings: fake dating, mutual pining, idiots in love, flirting, teasing, there's only one bed, love confessions, getting together, oral sex (fem receiving), condom use, p in v smut, meeting readers family

Word Count: 5.3k

She sits in the corner of the jet, facing Aaron in the two-person seat near the entrance to the cockpit. She’s sat there with him on almost every trip for the past 3 years. He’s good company, not too talkative, he gets her drinks and he gives her little smiles every so often. It’s relaxing to sit with him… however, tonight, she’s not in a good mood and he can tell. 

He looks at her all concerned and then looks around at the others to assure they’re all busy. “Are you alright?” He whispers. Keeping her business between them. 

She shrugs, “My sister’s been texting me. Her engagement party is coming up and I promised I’d go but I just found out that my cousin and her fiancé are going to be there…” 

“Do you not like her?” 

She shakes her head, “it’s complicated.” 

“I’m all ears?” He reminds her. 

She sighs, “Her fiancé is my ex-boyfriend. She slept with him while we were still together… I was in the academy and he was apparently lonely all by himself and didn’t have the time to travel here to see me so he fell into her bed instead.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Hotch says, concern all over his face and disbelief in his voice. “That’s awful, why would your sister invite her?” 

“Because my parents are paying for it and all the family gets to go, no matter what,” she scoffs. “It’s to show off, nothing more.” 

“You know…” he tilts his head to the side and his brows go up as he thinks, a pondering look on his face that’s quite amusing. “You could bring someone with you, someone to prove to him that you’ve moved on and you’re in a much better place now?” He suggests. 

“Yeah, like who? Morgan?” She teases, laughing slightly. 

“Or me?” He offers. His brows were still raised but the softest, most sincere look on his face. She’s never seen him look so… so affectionate. So careful. Unless he’s with Jack. This is his ‘I love you like family I’ll do whatever you need me to’ look. 

“Yeah,” she gives in. “That would be nice… it’s December 22nd. Would you be able to take time away from Jack that close to Christmas?” 

“Where is it?” 

“they’re having it in New York, that’s where my sister lives now,” she explains. “I’m taking the train up the night before, I have a hotel room booked but I could stay with my sister and you could have the room for the night?” 

“Could we switch to a double queen?” He suggests. 

She shrugs, “I can call and find out?” 

“Okay,” he nods. “Jack’s with Haley this Christmas, I see him boxing day till New Year's Day and then he goes back to her.” 

“We’ll have to bring him home something,” she suggests. “We can even go a bit early or stay later if you want to go shopping a bit in the city?” 

“He’s always said he wants M&M’s with his face on them,” he teases. “It’ll be fun.” 

“I’ll tell my sister to expect another person,” she says as she pulls her phone out. “Do I tell her you’re my boyfriend?” 

He nods, “Whatever you want to call me, I’ll be it for the weekend.” 

—

She tells him to pack a suit and obviously an overcoat to stay warm in the cold New York air. The party they’re going to is going to be on the top floor of this really expensive restaurant, they’ll have rooftop access and there’s free drinks. It’ll be the fanciest non-FBI party he’s ever been invited to. 

The team doesn’t know they’re going together, everyone has the next two weeks off unless there’s something serious like terrorism or multiple bodies dropping, or a kid going missing. But it’s not often their Christmas breaks get disrupted. So they pack up on the 20th, everyone takes the elevators down to the garage together and they say goodbye before their vacations. 

He meets her at the train station the next day at 11am, their train leaves at 11:20, and he comes with snacks and coffee. Always in dad mode, he knows what it’s like to go on a long trip with someone who’s hungry, it’s not always fun. They have a little booth together, the trains are mostly empty this close to Christmas. Everyone’s either where they want to be already or taking last-minute flights. So it’s quiet, they get to look out the window together and she shares an earbud with him, with her phone on shuffle, exposing him to a whole bunch of new music. 

And she has a nap, head on his shoulder and wrapped around his arm. It’s not the first time this has happened, he’s let her sleep on him on the Jet and they’ve had to share beds in hotels before. He’s hugged her after rough cases and when she’s just sad… she’s his family. Everyone on the team is. He just feels it a little stronger for her. 

He rests his cheek on her head, looking out the window with a smile on his face. Excited to pretend to be her boyfriend for the next 2 days. To have her hang off his arm, to dance with her… maybe even steal a kiss or two to really sell it. And he can’t wait to see her dress, or how she does her hair or if she’s going to wear makeup? She doesn’t get all dolled up for work, but he’s seen her dress up for the bar and events for the bureau and he thinks she is so, so beautiful. Always, but especially when she puts on lipstick and her good perfume. 

He’s been harbouring this little crush on her for so long that he’s not really sure how much longer it can stay a secret. 

They arrive in New York at 6pm. The hotel they’re staying at has a restaurant and Y/N, being the genius she is, booked a reservation for 6:30. They have enough time to put their bags in their room and head back downstairs, but their room is wrong. 

“They told me they could switch to two queens?” She complains as she sees just one bed. A King bed. 

“Did you specifically say two queens or a double queen?” He teases. “Cause a double queen might make them think you want a bigger bed…” 

She groans, holding her hands over her face, “Oh god, I fucked up.” 

He gently rubs his hand on her back, “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t mind sharing for 2 nights, there’s lots of room in there. Plus… it might be good for playing pretend.” 

She smirks, “my boyfriend would sleep in the same bed as me.” 

“and enjoy it,” he pulls her in for a hug and rests his chin on her head while she snuggles into his chest where she feels safest. 

—

After dinner, they walk around the city a bit. She still has to get her sister something and she has a registry at some fancy store nearby. They get hot chocolates and stand close together as they walk, hands brushing each other but not holding, no matter how much she wants to hold his hand. So she rubs her knuckles against his and waits for him to be the one to finally give in. 

It takes a while, they walk down the block and explore two stores but he finally takes her hand in his, fingers interlocked, as they cross the street. And he doesn’t let go once they’re safely back on the sidewalk. He simply guides her towards the store her sister is registered at and they head inside, closer than ever before. 

“Hi, can I help you with anything?” One of the workers asks with a genuine smile on her face. 

“my sister has a registry here,” Y/N explains. “It should be under Lindsay and Connor Higgins?” 

She’s taken to the register and handed a list, everything they want is on it. Some crossed out as they’ve already been purchased, but a decent amount of things are still there. A lot of it is pointless, fancy shit but she likes to think she knows her sister well. She knows what would actually be used by her and what would just be a decoration to prove she had good taste. 

Her sister works really hard at a very important publishing company, she’s gone to work by 6am and home no later than 8pm most nights. She lives on coffee and wine to wake her up in the mornings and relax her at night. So she gets her an espresso maker and some crystal wine glasses. But when she goes to pay for them, Aaron reaches out and pulls the wine glasses towards himself. “I’ll get these, I can’t go without a gift.” 

She smiles, “you don’t have to.” 

“I want to,” he assures her. 

They pay, they get a decorative gift bag each and head back outside to the cold. He reaches for her hand again and she lets him, smiling over at him. “You’re taking this assignment very seriously.” 

“Have you ever known me to slack on the job?” He teases. 

She bumps her shoulder against his, “No, I guess not… and I guess this is helping, it’ll look more real in front of everyone tomorrow.” 

“It won’t be that hard,” he assures her.

“Why, 'cause I’m so loveable?” She jokes, not believing the words that leave her mouth. 

“Yes, actually,” he nods, smiling over at her. 

She just laughs, not thinking he means it as anything other than familial. “Thanks. You’re pretty great too when you’re not telling me what to do.” 

“I don’t boss you around that much,” he laughs too. “Dave teases me all the time about how much nicer I am to you than the others.” 

“Well, I am your best agent,” she shrugs with a proud smirk. “You wanna go back to the hotel or is there anything you want to do tonight?” 

“We can go back,” he agrees, leading them in the direction of the hotel already. “I’m going to need some good beauty sleep to make your ex jealous tomorrow.” 

“Ha!” She laughs, raising her hand that’s carrying the bag to cover her mouth as she giggles. “Yeah, no you don’t. You’re like a million times hotter than him, it’s not a fair fight at all.” 

“Yeah, okay,” he shakes his head in disbelief. 

“What?” She looks at him like he’s crazy. “Do you not think you’re hot?” 

“Not exactly…” 

“I knew you were funny but that’s hilarious,” she jokes. “You’re very, very hot. One of the hottest men I’ve ever seen in my life, like People magazine should be reaching out to you for sexiest man of the year. You’ve been on the news enough times, surely the public will agree.” 

He laughs at the compliment, “Thank you, I guess… I guess I should trust your judgement here the way I do everywhere else.” 

“Yes, 'cause I’m never wrong,” she reminds him. 

They keep joking around, teasing each other until they get back to the hotel. Up the elevator and into their room. They leave their gifts by the door and Aaron lets her take the first turn in the bathroom to get ready for the night. 

She takes off her makeup, she washes her face and does her skincare routine and he knocks, “Are you okay in there?” 

“Yeah, you can come in,” she announces, still fully dressed. 

He opens the door slowly, “You’ve been in here 10 minutes already I thought you were just changing?” 

“Nope, skincare is important,” she smiles at him, massaging the moisturizer into her face. “Want some?” 

He smiles, “Sure, why not?” 

“Wash your face first, get a new face cloth over there,” she points and steps out of the way of the sink. “My face wash is right there.” 

She watches him wash his face carefully, smiling at him through the mirror with so much affection behind her eyes. He’s so cute when he gets soft like this, she could easily see them having a life like this together. Getting ready for bed together, doing their nighttime routines and falling into the same bed. Night after night. Forever. 

Once his face is washed he looks to her, “How much moisturizer do I use?” 

“Want me to do it?” She offers. 

He nods, “please?” 

“Sit down on the toilet lid,” she instructs and he moves over there quickly. 

She opens the jar again and takes a decent-sized amount onto her fingers, she puts the jar down and smiles at him, “It might be cold.” She dabs it on his forehead, cheeks, nose and chin and then starts to rub it in for him. He closes his eyes and sighs as he leans into it. “Like it?” 

He hums, nodding slightly, not wanting to talk incase he accidentally got cream in his mouth. She just smiles, adoringly, loving that she gets to have moments like this with him. “You’re so cute…” she whispers. 

He chuckles, finally looking at her again. She cups his face in her hands, “all done.” 

“You’re cuter.” 

“What is happening here?” She asks, completely serious. “Are you just a good actor or—

“I was in a few plays,” he teases. “But no, I’m not acting.” 

“Do you have a thing for me?” She lights right up. “Oh my god, you do?” 

“And you call yourself a profiler,” he shakes his head. “Yes, okay? I like you. I think you’re wonderful and beautiful and everything I want— is that what you wanted me to say?” 

“Get up,” she says, pulling at him. 

“Why?” He asks as he stands. 

“So you can be taller than me when I kiss you,” she teases. Grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him in. 

The kiss is soft at first, cute and sweet… but then they get needy. Years of close proximity and bubbling feelings and “what ifs” all coming to the surface. He cups the back of her head with one hand and holds her lower back with the other, holding her flush to his chest as his tongue makes her acquaintance. 

She accidentally moans as his hand goes down to cup her ass and he smiles against her. He pulls back slightly, noses brushing. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to do that.” 

“Really?” She can’t believe it. 

He smiles before he steals another kiss, and another and another and before they know it he’s backed her out of the bathroom and all the way to their king bed. He has her on the mattress, hand on her back and the nape of her neck as he cradles her and hovers over her. His tongue on hers, their chests pressed together, and her hands on his back with her nails desperately clinging to the cotton. 

He eagerly moves to kiss her neck and while it feels so good, she’s worried about what is about to go down. Sure, she hoped for this. She thought maybe they’d have a few drinks at the party tomorrow and stumble home and fall into bed together and regret it in the morning but this… admitting to liking each other while completely sober, was not on her mind at all. 

“Aaron,” she whispers, hesitation in her voice. 

He pulls back, “something wrong?” 

“Are we going to regret this?” She worries. 

He cups her face gently, his body weight still on top of her, it’s oddly comforting to feel so trapped under him. “I know I won’t, but if you will, then we stop. I never want you to regret your time with me. I never want you to be uncomfortable with me. I never want to lose what we have… so if that means we never have more than a friendship, I'm perfectly okay with that.” 

“I have tried so hard not to love you for the last year and a bit that we’ve been friends,” she admits. “If we go further and you change your mind, I’ll never recover.” 

“I won’t change my mind,” he says, confident as ever. “I want you to love me as much as I already love you.” 

His thumb caresses her cheek while he talks, he looks at her with the most affectionate look she’s ever seen on him. He’s so handsome all the time, but this look. The softness, his big brown eyes, the way he smelled like her face cream and he kept looking down at her lips like he was dying to taste them again… she’s always believed him when he speaks, but this is different. He’s opened his chest and handed her his heart and he wants her to hold it and keep it safe... forever. 

“I love you,” she admits, tearing up because this is so unreal. “I love you so much, Aaron.” 

He kisses her again, so gently, breathing her in and savouring every moment. Sure, it’s not their first kiss, that happened 10 minutes ago, but this is the first kiss they’ll have being openly in love with each other. 

She kisses him again and again, never wanting this to end. She wraps her legs around him, she holds him closer than ever and he lightly moans against her. She starts to work at his shirt, unbuttoning it so she can get her hands under it. She wraps her arms around him, touching his hot skin as he breaks the kiss and moves down her neck. 

“I love you, so much,” he reminds her again. 

“Show me how much?” she whispers right into his ear. 

He pulls back, delicately looking into her eyes, “are you sure?” 

She nods, “more than I’ve ever been before.” 

He gets his shirt off, and he pulls her forward to pull hers off too. Through kisses and rolling around, his pants are off, then her’s. Behind her, he kisses her spine while he unclips her bra, pushing each strap off her arms with kisses to her shoulders, he cups her breasts and kisses up to her ear again, “lay down.” 

She listens, he gets between her legs and peels her underwear off. Raising her right leg, he kisses her knee and down her thigh, as he gets on his stomach, he looks up at her for permission and all she can do is nod because this seems unreal. His big beautiful brown eyes are looking at her from between her legs as he kisses the most intimate part of her body and she’s in heaven. 

She’s died and gone to heaven. The train must’ve crashed and she’s in her own personalized forever with the man of her dreams…. But it didn’t. This is real and happening and she should be enjoying it. 

She grips his hair, and her back arches as she moans into the contact, he’s so fucking good with his mouth because of course he is? Is there anything this man can’t do?

Full of love and zero expectations or worry, she feels herself getting closer to an orgasm so much faster than she has with anyone else ever. Not even herself. Normally she’s so in her head, so nervous and worried or barely being taken care of… this one just sneaks up on her, trembling through her, she grips his hair a little tighter and moans out his name, “Oh, oh I’m cumming, I’m— oh!” 

He laps up every last drop as she rides it out, overstimulating her slightly, and he can tell. He pulls back with a grin, proud of himself and enjoying the way she looks so fucked out like this. 

He kisses back up her tummy, between her boobs and then hovers over her while she’s still catching her breath, “hi…” 

She smiles, “Hi?” 

“Ready for me to show you the rest?” 

“There’s more?” She teases, “You love me more than that?”

He laughs, “Yeah, that was just a taste…” 

She pulls him in for a kiss, tasting herself on his lips. “Mm, a good taste.” 

“You’re telling me,” he growls. “I could do that every day for the rest of my life.” 

“And I’d let you…” 

He kisses her again, cause if he doesn’t, she won’t stop teasing him. 

Kissing him while coming down from her high, feels unreal. She’s floating on a cloud, and might as well be on drugs— it feels too good, she moans against him, legs wrapped around him, she never wants to let him go. He kisses the side of her mouth, “baby—

She hums, pulling him back in for another kiss. 

He pulls back, “I can’t fuck you with my boxers still on.” 

She sighs, pretending it’s more work than it is, “Fine, take ‘em off.” 

He shakes his head with a smile as she lets him go and he’s able to push his boxers off. “And I need to grab a condom—

“did you bring condoms?” She sounds shocked. 

He nods, “yeah… I didn’t expect anything, I just always have some in my toiletries bag.” 

She watches his cute ass jiggle as he walks towards his bag, he squats to undo the zipper and she tries not to laugh at the view of his balls dangling but it’s so endearing somehow? He’s real and there and he’s about to rock her world. 

He’s quick to grab what he wants, he rips the condom open with his teeth and tosses the wrapper to the floor as he rolls it on right beside the bed. She watches carefully, eyes scanning his whole body. She hasn’t really had a good look at him while naked yet, he’s been pressed against the bed or on top of her. But damn. 

“Jesus,” she whispers under her breath. 

He smirks, “what?” 

She waves her hand around in his general direction, “You just walk around with all that under your suits every day?” 

He shakes his head again, “I could say the same thing about you.” 

He crawls back onto the bed, between her legs again, one hand on the bed as he hovers over her, “you okay with this position?” 

She nods, “perfectly okay with it. It’s a very underrated position.” 

“Mhm,” he agrees, leaning in to kiss her again. One hand on her hip, he grinds himself against her, “Ready?” 

She nodded, watching as he lets go of her hip to grip himself at the base, she spreads her legs a bit more and he taps her clit once just for fun but it makes her whine, “Don’t tease me.” 

“But you can tease me?” He asks, head right at her entrance, about to push in… she nods and that’s when he does it. Watching her head tip back with a silent moan. “Now I know how to get you quiet.” 

He goes back to rest his hand on her hip but she reaches for them and interlocks their fingers, instead. He bottomed out and dropped to hover over her once more, bringing their interlocked hands over her head. 

She reached up to kiss him, but Aaron pushed into the kiss and made her settle into the pillow once again. It honestly felt like a movie scene, the first time between two star-crossed lovers. He pulled out ever so slightly before thrusting in again, she gasped against his mouth. Aaron trusted more while she pushed her hips into it as well, an offbeat rhythm developed in pure ecstasy. She let go of Aaron’s hands to snake them around his waist, to run her fingers over the soft and slightly chilled skin of his back. Feeling the bump of his spine Aaron ducked into the crook of her neck, placing kisses along her collarbone.

He changed the position of his thrust as he wrapped his arms under her, arching her back ever so slightly to reach the bundle of nerves that left her a quivering mess. She, in response to the added pleasure, ran her sharp nails down Aaron’s back and he groaned at the feeling, “do that again.” he requested.

“Like that?” She asked, dragging his nails down him once more.

“Yeah,” Aaron moaned, dark and deep. “Mark me… where no one can see it, only you know tomorrow.”

So she does, she runs her nails over his back with more intent, knowing there will be 8 red lines spread down his back in the morning. Just then, he starts to kiss lower, down to her boobs, where he sucks a mark that shouldn't be visible in her dress tomorrow… he wanted to mark her just as bad. But his kisses quickly return to her neck and lower ear. 

“Aaron,” she moans out. “Go a little faster?” 

He does as she asks, keeping that loving feeling but picking up the pace. The feeling of pure bliss overtook her body with each thrust, warm chills ran through him with each brush of his thumb on her clit. Every kiss to her neck and squeeze around her waist made her feel like she was on fire. The hairs on her arms stood up, and goosebumps formed along his forearms. Aaron kissed from her neck to her nipple and took the hard nib into his mouth causing her to moan like she never had before.

“Aaron,” she panted, pulling Aaron’s face back up to his.

His eyes were absolutely blown out in pleasure, those chocolate wonders he used to stare into were now replaced solely by the pupils. She ran her thumb across Aaron’s cheek before reaching to the nape of his neck to pull him into another kiss. Open mouths pressed together, hot air on each other’s faces as they panted to the pleasure.

She was in heaven.

Her orgasm bubbled in her stomach, “are you close?” Aaron whispered right beside her mouth, kissing her cheek lightly after.

She hummed, unable to speak with the mass amount of pleasure coursing through her body. Aaron fucked into her a bit harder, a tiny bit faster, hitting her G-spot dead on each time to the point the nerves in her thighs were quaking uncontrollably.

She was so close, Aaron used 3 fingers to quickly rub over her clit before she threw her head back with a shout. Cumming with her eyes pressed shut, pleasure coursed through her body stronger than she’s ever felt before.

Nothing had ever made her cum that hard, ripping through her like her soul was leaving her body. She dug her nails deep into Aaron’s skin holding him close to his body while he kept thrusting.

A high-pitched gasp left his lips, close to her ear as his hips sputtered into hers one last time. She still hadn’t opened her eyes, her breath rigid, she felt winded. Aaron had stilled as he came inside of her and then collapsed into her, deadweight lying on her.

But she didn’t mind. Not in the slightest. She wrapped herself around him even tighter and kissed the side of his head, “I love you, too.” 

He kisses her neck, “I can’t believe I was afraid to tell you…” 

“Silly man, we could’ve been doing that the whole time,” she teases him again the first chance she gets. 

He huffs a little laugh out of his nose, smiling against her. “We can do this all the time now.” 

“Mhm,” she squeezes him a little tighter. “I hope you know this means we’re dating now. I don’t just fuck anyone. Especially not my boss…” 

He manages to push himself up to look at her, and the look on his face says it all. “Yeah, I know… and I’ll handle the paperwork when we get back.” 

—

They get all dolled up together, between kisses and flirting and teasing… they end up fully dressed, presents in hand, on their way to the party. They hold hands the whole cab ride over, up the elevator and into the booming restaurant. 

It’s entirely booked out for her sister’s party, on the top floor of a fancy building. It’s completely catered, there are fancy waiters walking around with trays of hors d’oeuvres and expensive champagne. They have their gifts taken from their hands upon arrival and their hands are instantly filled with a drink. She looks around, looking for the first person she knows well and spots her mom and dad over on the other side of the room. 

“Come with me, I have some people I want you to meet…” she says as she leads him through the crowd. 

He’s nervous but more excited. She gets to show him off and this isn’t a lie. He really is her boyfriend and they are in love and happy and this is everything he’s ever wanted. With his hand around her waist the whole time, shoulder to shoulder, he meets her parents and her sister. He shakes hands with her dad and her new brother-in-law, he gets hugs from the mom and sister, they’re looking at her with eyes that he can hear. They’re saying how much of an improvement he is to the last guy, they’re amazed at how handsome he is, and he blushes slightly in response. 

“So how long has this been going on?” Her dad asks. 

She looks up at him and smiles, “Not long, but we’re really happy.” 

“The happiest,” he agrees, stealing a quick kiss from her that makes the women swoon. 

“You know, this is fantastic,” her sister announces. “I was worried you’d be upset to see Brad and Cameron here together but now you have Aaron and they’re not even coming anymore. Something happened… I don’t even think they’re together anymore.” 

“Oh?” She’s completely shocked to hear that. 

“Once a cheater always a cheater,” her brother-in-law says under his breath with the roll of his eyes. 

“We see it all the time at work,” Aaron agrees. “It’s pathological. They crave attention so intensely that they’ll do anything to get it, to the detriment of the people they love. They cheat because for a moment they’re the most important person, they’re attractive enough to get who they want and powerful enough to get away with it. And even when it blows up in their face they can play the ‘you wouldn’t be this mad if you weren’t so obsessed with me’ card.” 

“That’s Brad,” her dad agrees. “Good riddance, honestly.” 

“Let’s just leave it there,” her mom announces. “We’re here for Lindsay and Connor.” 

“It’s been lovely to meet you Aaron, but we have a lot of people to mingle with,” Lindsay announces and Connor sighs. “We’ll talk again later?” 

“Sounds good,” Y/N lets them head off and then she’s just with her parents. “Um, I’m hungry… Aaron, did you want to go raid the snacks?” 

“I’d love to,” he agrees. “It was lovely to meet you both.” 

“We hope to see you again regularly?” Her mother throws in. 

“I don’t plan on going anywhere,” he assures, “you should get used to me.” 

She manages to pull him away from them, a little overwhelmed and so in love with him. She gets him to an empty corner and looks up at him like he’s crazy, “did you seriously say that?” 

He nods, “What part of last night didn’t you understand? I’m madly in love with you. I would marry you tomorrow if it wouldn’t take the attention off your sister.” 

She just laughs, shocked and amazed that he just said that. “Really?” 

“Yes. Really.” 

She shakes her head in disbelief, “o-okay… but you still have to ask me. I don’t need anything big and extravagant and I’d like to maybe pick the ring out with you if you want but—

“You want to?” 

She nods, that teasing smirk he loves so much plastered on her face, “I don’t just want to be your work wife, Aaron.” 

“We’ll revisit this in the new year… I need Jack to know about this and be okay with it before I spring a step-mom on him,” he explains. 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

General Taglist 

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 @squishyturtle @katsukis1wife @buckleyhans @mrs-ssa-hotch @ssavanessa22

[wifey-badalee]

Clearly you’d rather be with her

Part 4

Alexia had sat by your bed the entire time not wanting to move until her sister had to force her out to go and change and take a shower. You still hadn’t woken up from your coma and this made alexia feel so much more guilty. The police had come to interview Alexia and the family to try and find out who had done this to you. Alexia had barely spoken she felt so bad that her last time she was with you was her fighting and he making you feel bad, yes she finally sat down and thought about all her actions and her feeling towards you and Olga and she saw exactly what you had meant. She felt disgusted that she could have treated you like that, you were the love of her life and she never thought of loving anyone other than you…..until Olga. She realized that her feeling towards Olga aren’t friendly and that’s what you had been seeing, she know understood why you were so insecure and annoyed at Olga. She needed to fix things with you and apologize but she didn’t now what to do with her feelings towards Olga.

The police went back to your house and went through all the evidence to try and find fingerprints and they did, it led them back to a gang that has been doing these crimes since a long time but they just didn’t see how that and connected to you. It went on for 3 days trying to locate the gang and they finally did. The police managed to arrest 3 out of the 5 but it was perfect because they were the ones who did it.

“ Can you tell us why you did that to the girl?”, asked the police officer.

“ I did it because u felt like it!”, the one guy answered

“ You know that’s not true , you have no involvement with that girl or any sort of contact, so I’ll asked you again why did you do that, and if you don’t answer we’ll beat the answer out of you!”, said the police officer

They went back and forth until finally they started to beat the up and one of the guys finally gave up.

“MY cousin, she came to me saying that that girl was causing trouble for her in her relationship with alexia and she was trying to steal alexia away from and started bullying her, and I wasn’t gonna let that slide , so I just wanted to threaten her but things got out of control when she tried to fight back and everything just went downhill from there, she was never suppose to get hurt ,just threatening her.”, he confessed.

“And who is this cousin?”, asked the officer

At the hospital you had finally regained consciousness and Alexis couldn’t be more happy. Her family was a little nice to you considering your position. Although you weren’t, you were tired of being nice and everybody taking that for granted and taking advantage of you especially Alexia, you were beyond pissed at her , you didn’t even want to see her face. Oh and not mention another face that made you lose control Olga that girl you knew what she did and you were beyond furious you wanted to kill her infant but you were in no condition to fight. As soon as you saw her face you threw a tantrum and asked the nurse to kick her out.

“ Get her out of here , I don’t want to see her face and I don’t want her near me , get her our immediately!” , you screamed.

The nurses escorted Olga out , and Alexia’s family was shocked at you behavior. You then turned to Alexia and asked her to leave as well.

“ You should follow her and leave to , you should check up on her like you always do, leave now!”, you yelled.

“Please just give me time to talk to you, just us two I need to explain myself and apologize, I really need to talk to you!”, she asked desperately.

But you could care less, the nurse escorted them all out especially since you shouldn’t be put under any stress. A few minutes later Alexia got a call from the police officer saying they were heading there to discuss what happened and that they had found the guys.

Alexia was happy that they did and she was furious she wanted to kill them, for putting you through all of that.

The officers arrived and told them everything

“We caught the guys, they told us they were sent by someone, and that someone is you miss Olga Rios. Your gonna have to come down to the station with us.”, the officer said.

Olga’s face completely changed colour, infant she lost all of it she started stuttering and didn’t know what to say, by them the police had her in cuffs.

“What are you’ll doing are you’ll insane let her go , this is crazy she would never harm anyone or even think of harming anyone , those men are lying!”, Alexia defended her.

“Let go off her, go question Y/n inside and get proper proof you can’t just arrest her they are lying , why would Olga do that.”, Eli yelled.

The one officer went in and got your statement and came out and told everyone that indeed the guys were sent by Olga they had told you everything and they came there to threaten you and tell you to stay away from Alexia. Alexia was confused why were you lying she knew you didn’t like Olga but this was too far, this was getting someone charged and possibly going to jail why were you like this, all her thinking of your reasoning went down the drain and she was back to being mad at you. She stormed in your room and banged the railings on the side of your bed and hovered over you.

“ What is wrong with you, have you lost your mind, has your hatred for Olga gotten so bad you want to accuse her of such a malicious thing. How disgusting of you, since when did you do such malicious things!”, she yelled at you.

Too be honest you were dumbstruck how could she even think you were capable of saying such lies, you were never that person and never even showed that side , did Alexia even know who you were, why did Olga matter so much more than you that she would believe that you would make up things like this. You finally realized that you had officially lost Alexi.

You were in no headspace to argue with her, you were also in pain and didn’t want to fight so all you did was turn you body to the other side nd ignore her , if she didn’t believe you that’s on she would see what a fool she was being in the end when it’s too late.

“Answer me don’t ignore what is wrong with you , how could you!”, she kept screaming.

The nurses then came and intervined and took Alexia out of the room and told her too leave the hospital and that she couldn’t come back, she was creating chaos and putting you under stress which was very bad for you. Your condition was still critical. The officers took Olga to the station and Alexia and her family followed they called Olga’s mom and Alexia Called her manager to get a lot of money ready so that she could pay bail for Olga if she was arrested.

“I told you this girl was no good , she would set you up for destruction and now she’s destroying your friends lives too, she’s disgusting and shameless , I’m telling you know that you will break up with her and never see her or speak to her again.”, Eli said.

Alexia just looked at her mom and nodded , she just kept thinking of how scared Olga must be and hoe she would make it up to her.

P.S hecticcc there will be more parts tmr or the following day,but now writing this I’m starting to think they may not have a happy ending.

[luvgavii]

meeting the parents. / pablo gavi.

request: hi! i was wondering if you could do an imagine where Gavi is scared about meeting your parents for the first time. good luck with the future of your account btw<3

summary: you take gavi with you to your mom’s birthday party where he meets your parents and family for the first time.

author’s note: hi anon! thank you sm for your request. i changed it up a tiny bit but i hope you don’t mind. thank you for your sweet words and hope you’ll send more requests <3

“Is this shirt okay? Or am I overdressed?” Pablo asked you over FaceTime while you two were getting ready to have dinner with your family for your mom’s birthday. 

“You should wear your black shirt so it can match my dress.” You said while putting in your gold earrings that Pablo got you a few weeks ago. “Are you nervous?” You giggled when you saw that he was struggling to button up his shirt while cursing in Spanish quietly. 

“Honestly, a little. But that’s normal, right?” He asked you looking at his phone, at you giving him a smile, the smile he loved so much. 

“Of course, but it’s going to be okay. You’ve met them before so it’s not like they are total strangers.” Which was true. There were multiple occasions when you were out with your boyfriend and met up accidentally on the street with your mom and dad. But they never really hung out or got to know each other properly, so that was why you were taking him with you to one of the fancy restaurants in Barcelona where your mom was celebrating her anniversary. 

What you didn’t know was that Gavi was properly nervous. Terrified even, he was terrified of the thought of not getting along with your parents, especially your dad and knowing how family oriented you were, the thought of him not getting along with your father made his stomach drop. But he promised himself he would impress your father. You told him multiple times what a big football fan your dad was, and how excited he got when he found out his little girl was dating the golden boy himself. This made Gavi confident he would sweep him off his feet tonight, but even so, he was sometimes overthinking. 

.⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆. .⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆. .⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆. .⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆. .⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽

One hour later, you and Gavi were walking hand in hand into the restaurant, being greeted with the friendly smiles of your family. 

“They’re here!” Your mom exclaimed as soon as she saw you two, getting up from her chair and almost running to you two, both you and Pablo giggling and letting go of each others hand so you could hug her. 

After she squeezed the life out of you, she went in to hug your boyfriend while complimenting his appearance over and over again. Gavi felt himself relax at your moms kind words, already knowing he would love her like his own. 

As you went to hug your uncles, aunts, and little cousins, Gavi moved towards your dad, hand out to shake his hand. While his stomach was doing turns, his face was confident and had on a big friendly smile, which your father returned.

“Heard many good things about you, Gavira.” Your father said while motioning to Gavi to sit down next to him. 

You sat next to Pablo, and soon enough you two were bombed with questions from your family. 

“How does it feel to be one of the youngest players ever to score in The World Cup?” One of your little cousins asked your boyfriend, who was still in shock that his cousin was dating the one and only, Pablo Gavi.

“It feels pretty good, not gonna lie.” Gavi laughed with your family while giving a kiss to your hand, and holding it over the table.

By the time the food came, everyone got so comfortable that jokes were flying from every side of the table.  Everyone besides the kids were already a little wine drunk.

Pablo leaned onto you, whispering in your ear how happy he was and how much he loved your family, how he felt at home with them. This made your heart so happy, you kissed him over and over again, earning a big “awww” from your family. 

That night was one of the best one’s of your life, one you would always remember and wouldn’t change for the world.

[theangrycomet-art]

Sonic Underground Reprise: Hedgehog Family Tree Hedge

Here- the parents, the aunts, the uncles, the grandpa and grandma's and even some cousins.

Now, are most of these characters relevant to the main plot? No. But if you have followed me for any amount of time you should know of my love of expanding character's family trees.

COMMISSIONS OPENED

Kofi

Family Notes: (this gets kinda long)

Parlouzer Lore (paternal side)

Charlotte was a sailor who split her time exploring and fishing with her crew

she may or may not have been a pirate

Maurice was a skilled carpenter who worked from his home workshop in Port Mobius

he was just a humble, if a bit on the quiet side,

the two met by chance when Charlotte was exploring the area while Maurice was trying to get groceries

instantly charmed with one another, they kept in touch and she made it a point to always come back to see him every chance she could

after about 5 years of this she proposed to him and the two were married the next day

Chuck was born shortly after (honeymoon baby)

he mostly stayed on the mainland with his father while Charlotte continued working on the high seas

Julius was born when Charles was 12, and Pauline Pauli when he was 19

Chuck left for college early at 16, so he wasn’t particularly close with his younger brothers until they were practically adults

Jules ran away when he was 13 to join the circus, completely cutting off contact for nearly 5 years

At 17, he and several other members of the circus (including Argus) were arrested in Casino City after being framed for treason by a rival performance troupe. Due to their age however, the two were given an alternative to jail time: enlistment, which they begrudgingly accepted (this was HIGHLY illegal btw, as both were underage and therefore not qualified to be enlisted)

around 3 years into service, Chuck got wind of the bullshit charges placed on his brother and threatened to raise hell if the two were not brought back home immediately

Jules and Argus were then hired as a part of the Royal guard where they were charged initially with guarding King Max’s son, Crown Prince Nigel

Pauli avoided trouble growing up, having taken more after his father than his lovely, impulsive older brothers

Ihe developed a passion for piloting and decided to start his own delivery business, which would be how he would meet his future wife Bernie

Bernie

Nadim Lore

ditch the royal family part and exchange it for a powerful magic fam

Hatshe is the matriarch of a powerful magic guild, the Rising Sun, though she has retired from any official position

the Rising Sun was formed by Aman-Rapi long ago

Hatshe met Olgilvie when traveling through the Kingdom of Mercia when the then King requested the aid of the Rising Sun’s strangest magician (they had meant to request “strongest” but their had been a slight typo, luckily for them Hatshe was both)

Bastard son of a a duke, Olgilvie was knight renound for his skills with a blade as well as the strings

he was assigned to aide Hatshe in her assignment

the two did not get along initially, as both were headstrong individuals who had their own way of doing things, but eventually became friends, and later lovers

He ran off after her once her assignment had been completed and continued courting her back home

Layla is Aleena’s older sister, as well as the current leader of the Rising Sun

Though she may appear calm, collected, and regal, outside of official appearances she is a very much a dork who is not above a little mischief

she met Terios when the were children during the family’s travels

more specifically, she found his half dead body lie partway out of a river bank

he was taken in to the guild, where he showed strong promise in healing magic

childhood friends-> lovers, slowburn 160k words basically

everyone knew that they liked eachother except themselves

despite some initial mishaps, the guild has been thriving under her leadership

despite Robotnik’s efforts, their guild halls have remained hidden to him, as well as serving a safe havens for those trying to escape his reign

they work loosely with the Resistance, though Layla leaves it up to the individuals to come forwards and offer aid

[nostxlgicrose]

☆ Star-Shaped Seelie ☆

Genshin Impact Ensemble x Child!Seelie!Reader

Synopsis: You decide to do some experimenting without your family watching. Your little experiments catch some attention, though.

Note: here we go guys, we going straight into it 🏋🏼 oh and by the way, if you want to be added to a taglist for this series, lmk in the asks or through my inbox!! 🫶

Warnings: affection-deprived reader, child reader, seelie reader, PLATONIC relationships, hilichurls, maybe possibly ooc

< Previous Chapter

Chapter 3: Flowers Are Underrated

"Where's Mister Goblin?"

The next few days were a blur as your hilichurl family packed up and began moving away from their home camp. Considering what you had overheard last night, you weren’t surprised to see that you were all on your merry way to a whole other area. You were now camping in a more open field, away from the strange temple…thing.

One morning, though, you were a bit shocked to find that your family of hilichurls had halved in number completely. You noticed Mister Goblin was one of them...even their supplies were considerably shortened compared to last night.

You quickly found out that your sudden move was linked to the visit from that icy abyss mage. You thought the big, scary lawachurl was the leader of all of them. Apparently some tiny bird-looking creature was scarier than him, funnily enough.

You also figured out that Mister Goblin was out in a party of other hilichurls to do something. Maybe they were hunting, or doing a thing the big, scary abyss mage was telling it to do! These were all just guesses, but you supposed you’d see him later today.

But the abyss was no matter to laugh about. Their aura was imposing and dark...just being in their presence was enough to send shivers down your spine. You had a strong feeling that meeting them would cause problems.

"Okay, time to be a big kid now..." You huffed to yourself in determination.

With your hilichurl mask still strapped to your head, you decided to sneak off towards the stone arch you had come from. Your plan was to continue trying to shift between your two forms, and you thought doing it next to the structure would help. Informing the hilichurls of your leave would cause at least one of them to follow you (you never left without company), and you didn't want them finding out about your other form...yet. You still had to be the magical superhero with a secret identity!

That wasn't the only reason, though.

With every passing moment in this world, you felt...different. Thinking upon your past would cause your thoughts to become clouded, as if your brain was trying to hide it from you.

An example was what had happened the day you arrived. When you arrived through the arch, you went to sleep with a fired-up will to go back and bring your cousins in this new world to play. That was always your reaction to new things—you'd want to share them with the two who you saw as siblings you never had.

But when you woke up the next morning, that spark had disappeared. Your first thoughts consisted of how to adjust to this new world, and you only remembered your need to see your cousins later in the day.

Perhaps it was no longer a need anymore, and you weren’t sure how to feel about that. Scared? Confused that your tiny brain was making you forget things?

Even now, you could feel something clawing at your head. Just thinking about it now was already starting to make your head hurt. Your mind was constantly racing with thoughts and questions, but it also felt like it was trying to erase certain things.

And maybe it succeeded, because you couldn't even remember what you were trying to think of earlier.

You floated next to the arch, examining the structure with a squint. You floated through it—nothing. It was just some ruined arch. Just strolling on through didn't take you back home.

You should've been scared. Upset, even. But you weren't. You weren't sure if it just wasn't hitting you yet that you were stuck here, or if you didn't care.

Or maybe you just couldn't remember why you should be terrified.

You shook your head, snapping yourself out of your thoughts as you looked around. No one was there—you were free to test things out now!

"Day two...operation un-jellify is underway!" You called out confidently, though your words, as per usual, came out in squeaks and chirps. That didn't deter you, though, as you pumped your tiny jelly fists into the air. "...Maybe I shoulda made a plan first."

Nevertheless, you looked around the area for ideas. You tried spinning around, doing tricks in the air...you twirled around you physically couldn't continue, leaving your vision spinning for three minutes straight. You even tried screaming—

Nothing.

You groaned, flopping onto the grass tiredly. You've been trying for so long! Nothing was working, and it's been hours since you've started!

(It's only been five minutes.)

You quickly dragged yourself off the ground, not only because you were ready to try again, but you didn't want something to step on you. Yeah, you were flopped on the ground once before, only for the babychurls to accidentally trample over you as they ran by chasing a crystalfly. Not a great experience.

"I just wanna be a person again!" You teared up, punching your tiny fists against the stone arch despite it doing nothing to the surface. It's not like you were trying to break it, but still...it made your mood a lot worse as you had the sudden urge to see something break at your hands.

Were you being a little overdramatic? Yes, but you were far too upset to care at that point.

“Okay, I gotta focus!” You declared to yourself, trying to push away your frustrations. “You can do this…maybe.”

Clearly, trying to change your form by thoughts alone wasn’t enough. You’ve thought of becoming human multiple times during your stay, and that didn’t change you back. Screaming out transformation words didn’t seem to help either. What else could it have been?

Maybe there was something you needed to…interact with? A magical object?

You looked around the area, floating aimlessly around. You began to drift from the stone arch, and found yourself back at your original home camp near the large temple.

“What a big scary house,” You muttered as you looked up at the stone building, which was glowing an intimidating red. “Wonder who would live in here.”

But the doors wouldn’t budge. You decided to lay off the scary building and explore elsewhere, but there wasn’t really much to see in these ruins.

“Ughhh.” You found yourself floating aimlessly in the air, groaning in frustration. “Maybe I can’t do anything. Am I stuck as a tiny yellow jelly rabbit forever??”

The thought was terrifying. You liked your hands! The ones with five fingers! Your legs were nice to have, too. You just wanted to be able to talk, or something…! You flopped your body onto a nearby stone sculpture, resisting the urge to have a breakdown.

‘Huh, what a weird stone thingy,’ You mused as you wriggled inside the structure, fitting very snugly into the open top. ‘What a comfy space. Maybe I should ask Mister Goblin to bring this back to—‘

Your thoughts were interrupted when you felt something shift. Your eyes shot open as you realized that you were no longer feeling the cool, smooth surface of the stone, but rather, you were practically ejected from the comfy statue.

“Hey! That’s not very nice!” You scolded the statue with a frown, only to freeze in realization.

You could…hear yourself talking. Not the strange squeals and babbling, but your voice.

"I-It worked?” You raised your hands up in front of your face, flexing your fingers as you almost cried at the sight. “It worked! I dunno how it happened, but I’m not a jelly anymore!”

You were so excited, that you grabbed ahold of the random boy who appeared out of nowhere’s shoulders and shook him eagerly without thinking straight. "Mister Strange Guy, it worked!!!" You couldn't help but laugh, relieved that you were truly not stuck as a rabbit jelly like you thought.

Wait…there was a stranger?

“WAHHH!” You screamed, jumping back in fright as you hid behind the stone statue. Now that you looked at it, it was pretty small. “Stranger danger…”

The strange boy's wide red eyes stared down at you, blinking curiously. But there was also a bit of concern in them. "...Um…hello. Razor was told there was…a falling star. From the sky."

A falling star? Well, whatever it was, you definitely wanted to see it! Or…maybe he was referring to you. Did he see you try to plunge like a meteor down to the ground earlier? Whoops.

"Oh..." You smiled nervously, trying to think of an excuse. It didn't help that you were trying to get used to talking again, after days of talking to yourself due to the language barrier. And on top of that, you were just realizing that there were indeed other humans here in this world. "Ehm...I don’t know what you’re talking about! No falling stars. That sounds really cool though!"

Maybe you were just really lucky today, because he bought it and nodded slowly in understanding. The boy—Razor, you recalled, then tilted his head to the side. His messy gray hair fell across his face, and you idly wondered how it’d be like to brush through it. If you looked closely, you could probably see a question mark appear above his head. "...Oh. I see. But…why are you here?”

Scratching your cheek, you shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly. “I just wanted to explore…and…I was looking for a place to sleep. Yes.”

“Out here?” The boy looked concerned as he looked at you. “Not safe…for little child. I will help.”

"Heyy, I can—wait, help? You mean help me??"

"Yes," He nodded slowly. "I have iron claws and teeth of thunder. I protect you."

You gasped, looking at him with stars in your eyes. "Iron claws and teeth of thunder?! So cool! But I don't need protecting, Mister Razor. I can take care of myself very well!"

As if on cue, a small hydro slime popped out of the ground. You shrieked, practically crawling over the boy's shoulder to hide behind him. "I-It's a water jelly!"

The boy watched in confusion as he looked over his shoulder, seeing you look back up at him with comical tears streaming down your face. He patted your head reassuringly before turning to the slime, where he merely gazed at with an electrifying glare.

...And then he stabbed the slime with his claymore—wait, where did he pull that out from?

"Oh." You stared blankly at where the slime once stood, before looking up at the boy. "Umm...I was just...testing you. Yes. A test."

Instead of seeing right through you like you anticipated, Razor stared at you expectantly. You swore you also saw a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. "...Did Razor pass?"

Your nervous expression melted into a grin, giggling as you patted his shoulder. "Yes, Mister Razor! You did!"

A pleased smile appeared on his face as he looked accomplished. He didn't say anything, but his aura seemed a lot happier now. He was like a cute little puppy who had just gotten a treat.

"Well, thank you for saving me, Mister Razor!" You hummed, before turning around and beginning to march off. "But I gotta go now! See ya!"

"Wait!" The boy called out, quickly running to stand in front of you as his lips were curled into a frown. "Stay. Cannot...protect yourself."

You spluttered, huffing as you crossed your arms. "But I...oh."

Right...the slimes. You didn't want to deal with those terrifying jelly things that were almost half the size of you. And with all things considered, you really didn't know what else lurked out there. Your hilichurl family was very insistent on keeping you where they could see you, which wasn't exactly a big range.

Though reluctant, you decided it was best to stay with him for now as you sighed with a nod. "Okay, fine. I'll stay with Mister Razor, but I have to go home before it gets dark!"

The boy perks up, before nodding in agreement. "Okay."

"Good!" You clapped your hands together, before placing them on your hips. "Alright, Mister Razor, guess we're friends now! And since we're friends—oh! My name is [y/n]!" You introduced yourself quickly.

"[y/n]," He hummed, before placing a hand on his chest. "I am Razor. The wolves are my Lupical. My family."

As you two began to walk towards the forest—Wolvendom, you learned it was called—you looked curious at his revelation as you'd never heard of such a thing before. "Really? You're related to wolves!?"

"Yes," He smiled. "They raised me. We live together."

"Woah. So cool!" You looked up at him excitedly, clasping your hands together. "Can I meet your family? I wanna see!"

“You…want to meet my Lupical?” He tilted his head to the side, a look of surprise appearing on his scarred face.

“Mhm! Pleaseee?”

You thought he’d shut down the idea as fast as it came, but instead, he considered the request thoughtfully. “My family is out. To hunt. When Lupical gets back, you can…say hello.”

‘Well, it wasn’t a no…’ You thought to yourself as you beamed, nodding. “Okay!”

With a pep in your step, you walked ahead as you became distracted by…various things. You stumbled upon a cool-looking blue flower, while Razor watched as you picked some up, and then…put it in your mouth?

Did you eat these sorts of things? He’s tried eating them before, too. He didn’t like it. He wondered if you did.

In reality, you were just trying to see if you would be able to absorb the little blue flower in your current form. You held it to your stomach, but it didn’t seem to work. So you thought, maybe the next best thing would be to eat it.

The flower had a tinge of sweetness to it as you munched down. It was only a bit though, so there was nothing special about it. As soon as you swallowed it, you sat there for a moment. Then another.

And then you felt it. The burst of energy that tickled your stomach after it went down, just like how it’d feel when you absorbed something. It must mean something, you were sure, but you just…didn’t know what exactly it was.

“I should eat all the pretty plants.”

You joined Razor back on the trail, but now you were practically eating anything you saw in sight. Whether it be another one of those blue flowers, or the tall mint leaves, or even those yellow sweet flowers you remembered from before (those were your favourites), you ate them all.

Razor was amazed to see you run around, stuffing your face like the forest was a whole buffet. Did children like eating plants? He mostly ate meat, but he did have the occasional vegetable (ahem, potatoes). Still…he knew most kids turned their noses at the sight of them.

Another thing he noticed about you was that you were glowing. Not so much that it was noticeable, but it was there. Faint. Maybe it was because it was bright outside? You seemed really shiny to him.

He also noticed the little rabbit ears above your head. They felt like jelly when he touched them. When he first saw you, he thought you were a bunny. You didn’t exactly smell like one though, so he ruled that out.

Then again, you didn’t smell like anything. You didn’t smell like an animal, but you didn’t smell like a human either. The only thing he really smelled on you was the wildflowers you were shoving in your mouth like it was your last day on Teyvat.

The rest of the walk was uneventful. The boy was rather quiet in nature, finding trouble in speaking due to his isolation from socialization. He tended to stick with his wolf family because of this, as being around others forced him to speak more than he was comfortable with.

This tiny, glowing child in front of him didn’t seem to mind that, though.

You were talkative in nature, he picked up on that when you babbled on and on about achieving something from sleeping (he still didn’t understand why). But he noticed your constant conversation was more so you ranting on and on about the most random things, without prompting him to answer any of them.

Of course, you did ask him a few questions…like the names of certain flowers, or about his Lupical. But it didn’t go any farther than that. He didn’t feel like he was being interrogated. You seemed to be content with him listening along to your mindless chatter.

He appreciated it. Whether it was intentional or not.

“Razorrr,” Your voice snapped him out of his thoughts, as he tilted his head at you. “Where are we going? We’ve been walking around in circles.”

“Oh.” He stops in his tracks, looking around. It seemed he got distracted. “...Sorry.”

You only smiled, patting his arm reassuringly as you looked up at him. “It’s okay, Mister Razor. Hey, I have an idea! Let’s play hide-and-seek! I hide, and you seek!”

He raises an eyebrow, frowning slightly. “...Hide-and-seek?”

“Gasp…Mister Razor, don’t tell me you’ve never played hide-and-seek before!” Your hand flew to your open mouth in shock, before shaking your head. “That’s not good! That means we absolutely have to play now!”

Despite his confusion, you walked him through the game step by step. It wasn’t that hard anyways, given the simplicity of the game’s objective, but you were unsure if he’d understand it. Mostly because you tend to ramble when you explain things, overdoing it and making it a lot more complicated than it really is.

But to your surprise, he nodded in understanding once you finished. “Okay. Razor understands.”

“Good!” You clapped happily. Well, if he got it, who were you to question it? “Now, count to ten…really slowly! Don’t peekkk,” You reminded him as he closed his eyes, and you immediately ran off to look for a hiding spot.

You knew not to run too far. You didn’t want to get lost, but you also just didn’t want to make it too difficult for your new friend’s first game.

As you looked around for a hiding spot, you looked up at one of the trees. Eyeing the indents in the tree, you wondered if you could…

Turning back to look at Razor, you saw that he was covering his eyes in the distance. You then looked back up at the tree, before launching yourself at the trunk.

With little time to spare, you did your best to climb yourself up onto the tree, where you settled on the lower branches comfortably with your back pressed up against the trunk. You got comfortable before looking down, holding back your giggles so you wouldn’t give away your location.

Suddenly, you heard rustling down below. The boy was running around, and you had to stop yourself from making any sounds as you watched him turn over a rock as if you were underneath it. You did notice that his nose was twitching a bit, as if he were trying to sniff you out. Which did make sense, but hey! Wasn’t that cheating?

Nevertheless, you kept quiet. He didn’t look like he was onto you, and you watched him pass by beneath you multiple times. There wasn’t any way that you’d—

“Found you!” You screamed when you heard a voice from behind, and your physical reaction almost made you fall straight out of the tree. Panic flashed onto Razor’s face for a brief moment, as his hand shot out to catch you by the poncho instinctively. “...You okay?”

“...Yep,” You held a thumbs up, before your smile melted into a pout. “But hey, you found me! Was it too easy?”

The boy smiled, nodding in confirmation. He was really just following your scent. He just got a little confused for a second, thinking you were on the ground. He just had to look up and see the faint glow from above.

“Aw, man. Guess I gotta find a better hiding spot!” You huffed, before poking the boy’s cheek gently. “Alright, Mister Razor! It’s your turn to hide!”

Razor’s eyes sparkled as he nodded eagerly, and the moment you blinked, he disappeared from sight. He seemed rather excited… “Wowie! That was fast! He must be super good at tag….”

You should definitely teach him more games later. Then you’d be able to play together! It’s been way too long since you’ve interacted with someone…in your human form, no less. You were excited.

After ten excruciatingly long seconds (it was only fair you gave him some time…you may have peeped just a tiny bit though), you finally hopped off the tree branch and started looking. You didn’t have Razor’s keen sense of smell, but you were good at seeking! You’d easily find your friends when playing, so finding the wolf boy would be a breeze.

You ran around looking up into the trees, staring into bushes and…okay, maybe you got a tiny bit distracted eating flowers when you found them, but you were still focused!

A quiet rustle caught your attention, and you whirled around to look for the source. There were bushes all around, but you squinted at one that moved a little too suspiciously for it to just be caused by the wind. You slowly snuck up to the bush.

Upon closer inspection, you noticed a spike of gray hair popping out from the green leaves.

“Boo!” You suddenly shouted as you pounced onto the shrub, giggling when you heard a startled yelp. “Mister Razor, I got you!”

The said boy finally popped his head out from the top of the bush, shaking his head to clear his hair of the small twigs and leaves that were strewn into the strands. He rubbed his head and glanced at you, before breaking out into a smile. “…Fun. Hide-and-seek is fun. Like hunting.”

You tilted your head, trying to piece the two together to see the similarities. Huh…now that you thought about it, hide-and-seek really was sorta like hunting. Except no one dies. “Oh, right! I see it now!”

The next words would die on your tongue as you looked up, seeing the sun high up in the sky. But it was now nearing the horizon, meaning it was a bit past the afternoon…but all you knew was that you should probably get back before your hilichurl friends began searching for you. “Okay Mister Razor, that was really fun! But I gotta go now. Mitamomma is gonna scold me if they find me alll the way out here?”

“…Mitamomma?”

“Mhm! So I’ll see you later!”

“Wait! But…you will be okay?” Razor stared down at you with worry, unsure if he should really let you wander off after the slime incident. “I can…come with you.”

“Uuhh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” You laughed nervously as you recalled how…protective they were sometimes. One time, you tried introducing the new boar friend you made. You came into camp sitting on its back, explaining in incoherent squeaks that you made a friend after you shared a sweet flower with it. The hilichurls were not as welcoming as you thought they’d be, but they tolerated it as you fell asleep with your friendly boar that night.

…The next morning, it disappeared. Your family shrugged when you tried to ask, while some would even point into the distance, as if they were trying to say it ran away.

You were very sad about this, no doubt. But to cheer you up, they made you soup. The soup that day was really good.

They wouldn’t tell you what the secret ingredient was, though..

To this day, you made the assumption that they chased it away. Your boar friend was really happy with you, so there was no other possible explanation! You hoped it was doing well in life. Maybe it went back to it’s boar wife and children. Now that you thought about it, their protectiveness felt more like jealousy…because it wasn’t like the boar was trying to eat you or anything. At least, you hoped it wasn’t.

“Oh…okay,” Razor deflated at your rejection, his eyes casted down to the ground. “Will…Razor see you again?”

“Of course I will!” You giggled, patting his arm with a silly smile. “I’ll come to visit! You live in Wolfing-tom, right?”

He didn’t catch the way you completely botched the name. “Yes!”

“Then I’ll come back tomorrow to play again! I promise.” You held out your pinky, tilting your head to the side.

The wolf boy mimicked your actions, looking a little confused. “Um…”

“It’s a pinky promise!” You exclaimed, waving your pinky up at him. “Here, I’ll show you. Stick out your pinky like this, and…”

You grabbed his hand and brought it closer to yours, before linking your pinky fingers together. “There! A pinky promise! Now I can’t break it, or else my pinky will break!”

“W—What?!”

“Don’t worry Mister Razor, I’ll keep my promise!” You waved before running off, heading back towards your home. “I’ll see you tomorrow! Byebyeee!”

Although he remained surprised by your rather morbid words, he waved back at your retreating form. As you slowly became a simple dot in the distance, he turned back to walk into the forest with a nearly excited smile.

He just couldn’t wait to tell his Lupical all about you.

Note: hope this was okay! this series has been fun to write about so far ^^

Next Chapter > [WIP]

[hslllot]

insieme in paradiso

“together in paradise”

rated m | 2.7k words

better late than never, right? this is a short piece for my dear friend’s @harry-on-broadway​ fic challenge (the prompts used are in bold)! It is basically an extended version of this concept I wrote back in 2021... We’ve had such great latam content lately that I feel like I should have adjusted the setting of this, but I hope you enjoy anyways! As always, please let me know what you think. xx shan

———

Was this heaven?

You were certain that you’d never felt more relaxed as you bathed in the Tuscan sunlight. Lounging beside your love, you let your eyes close, the book you were reading abandoned in the sand next to your chair ages ago. Every worry, every stressor, every bit of tension in your muscles that you carried with you drifted away in the winds of the ocean breeze. 

This was the private getaway with Harry you’d been longing for. It seemed like forever since the two of you were able to spend an extended amount of time alone together. 

“Mum just posted this photo. Look. Thea’s getting so big.” Your boyfriend interrupted your daze when he reached out from beside you to shove his phone in your face.  

You opened your eyes slowly and lowered your sunglasses so you could take a proper look. Using your hand to shield the glare of the Italian sun, you saw on his screen an Instagram story his mother had posted of his cousin’s baby. 

“She’s adorable, H.” You responded, adjusting your sunglasses back to cover your eyes. “We should give Ella a call later, maybe we can FaceTime.” All you heard in response was a short grunt as he laid back in his chair, eyes still fixed on his screen.

He was grumpy and you could tell. 

One thing about your boyfriend of three years, which you found incredibly endearing, was that he loved his family more than anything. Unfortunately, when his family was gathered and he couldn’t be there, he’d tend to get a bit pouty. You’d find him glued to the group chat or Instagram to get updates on what they were up to. Sometimes you would catch him ‘liking’ or ‘reacting’ to their posts and stories (on his private account of course) in an attempt to make himself feel more included. 

Birthdays. Weddings. Babies. There was a long list of family events he often had to miss because of his job, and you knew it weighed heavily on his heart. 

A small part of you was slightly annoyed that he wished he were somewhere else. But another part of you, perhaps the more compassionate part, understood that multiple truths could exist at once: 1) He was happy to be spending time with you, 2) he was grateful for his job that took him to beautiful countries and allowed him to live a lavish life, and 3) he missed his family dearly. 

But sometimes you didn’t understand why he wouldn’t just go home and visit them whenever he felt like it. He certainly could afford it, and he had the power in all of his business relationships to take a vacation whenever he felt like it. Sometimes you wished he had more of a ‘diva’ type attitude when it came to certain things, like allowing himself to take breaks from work. However, another thing about your boyfriend was that he was a chronic overachiever and people pleaser with a tendency to overcommit to new projects. And you figured it wasn’t so bad to have a partner in life who was considerate of other peoples’ time and feelings. 

Plus, you couldn’t complain much because his commitment to a new project was how you found yourself at the beautiful, private, Il Pellicano in Tuscany. 

The two of you were finally spending some much needed quality time together. Coordinating your schedules had been an absolute nightmare and it was a miracle that you were able to take some time away from work to join him on this trip. He was technically here on business, preparing for the launch of his Gucci collection with Alessandro. But you had spent the majority of the trip together, watching him model his clothing, sitting side-by-side on the small private beach of your villa, and wrapped around one another in the bedroom.

At the moment though, Harry’s frustration, guilt, and longing to be with his family was threatening to penetrate the bubble of relaxation surrounding you. You could feel the restless energy emanating off of him. Without opening your eyes you heard the way he moved around in his chair and sighed under his breath as he scrolled through his phone and typed away messages in his family group chat. When you finally did open your eyes you found him on his stomach, his head at the other end of the chair near your feet, and his phone two inches from his face. And while this position afforded you a great view of his tanned back and taut muscles glistening in the Italian heat, clad only in a small pair of black swimming shorts, you could feel the tension radiating from him and you couldn’t ignore it any longer. 

You reached across and placed your hand on the back of his calf, rubbing your thumb back and forth against his warm, sun-kissed skin, as if to soothe him.

“Hey baby?”

“Hmmm?” He responded mindlessly, not bothering to look up from his phone. 

“Hey, look at me.” You urged, squeezing his calf to gain his attention. 

“Sorry” he murmured, putting his phone down. He twisted in the lounge chair to face you, sitting up to give you his full attention. You reached for his hand and intertwined your fingers with his. 

“I was thinking… I know we’re supposed to head back to London on Sunday, but what if we took a few days in Holmes Chapel?” He raised an eyebrow at you curiously, wordlessly asking where this had come from. You continued, “It’s been so long since we’ve seen Anne and I miss her… Plus, we’ve only seen Thea once since she’s been born. I think I can extend my vacation by a few days.”

He sat there for a moment silently, teasing at his bottom lip.

“I have a meeting with Lambert and Molly on Monday in London.” He winced, remembering his prior commitment.

“Surely you can do it over Zoom. Or just push it a couple days. You are the boss, aren’t you?” 

Something flickered in his eyes and a slight smirk crept his lips at your mention of him being the boss. 

His gears were turning and you knew him well enough to know the battle going on inside his brain. He probably didn’t love the idea of moving a meeting to go see his mum, but since it was technically your idea it was like a free pass. He could feel less guilty about it because he was doing it for you. 

(Obviously you both knew this was entirely for him… But you needn’t say it)

You thought he might pass on the opportunity, and were startled when he removed his hand from yours and scrambled up from his lounge chair. He quickly moved onto your chair, straddling you with his entire body weight pinning you down. With his forearms rested on either side of your head, he placed quick kisses all over your face. Almost reflexively, you wrapped your hands around his biceps. His hot, sinewy arms flexed in your grip. 

“Yeah,” is all he said before placing a long, slightly wet, kiss on your forehead. “I AM the boss. And I would like that very much. Thank you for suggesting it.” Unable to wipe the smile from his face, he placed one more tender kiss on your lips.

You reached for the sunglasses that sat atop his head and removed them, freeing space for you to run your fingers through his soft brown curls. “You’re welcome, H.” He lowered into your touch, eager for a cuddle. “But you have to get up. You’re squishing me.”

“Right, sorry.” He removed himself from on top of you and took a seat by your feet at the end of the chair. It was his turn to soothe you now, grazing his palm along your calf and up to your knee, which he gave a squeeze before dragging his hand back down.

“I think it’s time we get out of the sun, yeah?” The sly look on his face was all too familiar as his gaze trailed down your bikini-clad body. “You’re lookin’ a little sunburnt.”

“Am I?” You teased.

“I’ve got something I can rub on it back in our room.”

You rolled your eyes at him, feigning annoyance at his flirtation. Nonetheless, you knew where this was headed.

Gathering your belongings hastily, you were both eager to make your way back to the air conditioned room that held your luxurious king bed. You trailed behind Harry, climbing the stone steps up to the private entrance of your villa hand in hand. 

Once inside your room, you dropped your tote bag and walked over to the balcony, sliding open the curtains and the door to let the sunshine and salt air filter through the room. Looking out at the scene below, you could see the private beach where you and Harry had spent your morning and admired the way the Tuscan sun illuminated the sapphire blue ocean ahead. You took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as you felt Harry come to stand closely behind you.

“Thank you for bringing me here.” You said quietly. Harry wrapped his arms around you from behind, allowing you to rest your chin on his forearms. He nuzzled his face into your neck where he left a delicate touch of his lips.

���Thank you for being here with me.” He responded. 

Any annoyance you previously felt toward your boyfriend’s proclivity for FOMO melted away when you realized how grateful you were to be here with him. In the chaos of his busy life, while he missed his family deeply, he chose to be here with you, together in paradise. 

You turned yourself in his arms, your body flush against his, to find his soft, yet intense, gaze on your lips. 

Harry held lightly onto your hips. Leaning in, his lips parted, and you could feel his warm breath against yours. You placed your hands on his chest, his skin burning under your fingers. With every shallow intake of breath he edged closer, until finally catching your top lip between his.

His hands trailed up your sides as your kiss became deeper, fuller. You felt like you might melt against him, heat racing down to every part of your body that was touching his. He roamed your curves and the expanse of your back, pressing you even closer to him, before finding the strings that held together your bikini. With two gentle tugs, the piece of fabric fell to the ground. 

He broke away from your kiss only briefly to study the sight of you, topless, in front of him. “Bellissima,” he whispered, his voice deep and slow. You saw the muscles in his jaw tick as his gaze burned holes through you. It was your turn, this time, to grab onto him and press him closer against you, feeling his hardness. 

It wasn’t long before Harry’s mouth started to move down your body. Your neck, your collarbone, your chest. His tongue dragged over your nipple before sucking it into his mouth and an intoxicating heat rippled through you. 

“Bed, please” was all you could muster under your breath. Harry reluctantly pulled himself off you and started walking you back, stopping when the back of your legs hit the bed. He gently lowered you onto the bed and resumed his work dragging his mouth down your body, finishing off with a chaste kiss to your hip bone.  

He stood up straight at the edge of the bed, towering over you. Eager for him, you removed your bikini bottoms and tossed them to the floor. 

“A bit impatient?” He chuckled, looking down hungrily at your naked body. You didn’t bother to respond, leaning back on your forearms, you kicked your leg out and toed at the tent in his black swimming shorts, encouraging him to take them off. “Tell me” he said sternly.

“I want them off.”

He pulled his shorts down and discarded them on the floor before climbing on to the bed. You admired the way he wrapped his hand around his cock and began slowly stroking himself, a small sense of relief evident on his face. He lowered himself over you and pressed his lips to yours. While your tongues met, the pads of his fingertips began to explore, trailing delicately down your stomach. Your body responded to his familiar touch, goosebumps racing over you and a fire simmering in your belly. 

You were desperate for him, your body begging for him to touch you as his fingers made their way down to your heat. A heavy moan left your lips when he began running circles over your clit. At that moment, you were completely overwhelmed by him. The way his lips felt against yours, the taste of his tongue, the scent of his cologne, the soft pads of his fingers on your most sensitive spot. 

“I want you,” you whined.

“You have me,” he answered teasingly, his mouth only a fraction of an inch away from yours. He dragged his finger down and dipped into your entrance. “Fuck - you’re so wet.”

“Please…”

At your begging he positioned himself between your legs, removed his fingers, and replaced them with a press of his hips against yours, the tip of his cock firm against your slit.  

Your hands grappled to hold on to any part of him you could, eventually landing on his shoulders. Gripping tightly, your fingertips dug into his skin. You wrapped your ankles around his calves and felt the way his body fit perfectly against yours.

The first thrust inside you was slow. Every inch of your body pulled tight around him as he sank deeper. Your breath hitched as a wave of pleasure raced through you. 

“Fuck,” Harry rasped as he rocked into you. The sound of his voice sent a tingle down your spine. “I love you so much,” he whispered into your skin, brushing a kiss across your jaw. 

You said it back to him as the two of you moved against each other, getting lost in the feelings of love and undulating pleasure between you. 

———

You and Harry spent the rest of the day immersed in one another in your private villa. 

The last go around, you unraveled together with his face buried in your neck while you were clutched tight around him. 

He pulled out and collapsed beside you, trying to catch his breath. 

You turned on your side to look at him, flooded with warmth and giddiness as you acknowledged how handsome he was. You used the tip of your finger to trace the lines of his face. The sharp cut of his jaw, the slope of his nose, the full of his lips. As you were about to trace your thumb over his eyebrow he grabbed your hand, bringing it to his lips. 

“Thank you again for suggesting we go to Holmes Chapel after this,” he said against your hand, still pressed to his lips. 

“Of course,” You moved closer to him and he let go of your hand in order to wrap his arms around you. “You can go home whenever you want, you know.” 

He placed a soft kiss on the top of your head. “I know. It’s easier to go when I know you’re coming with me.”

You hummed in understanding and pressed your lips against his chest.

“I should give Jeffrey a call and ask him to make the travel arrangements for us… And postpone my meetings.” 

As if on cue, his phone’s ringtone chimed from his tote bag on the floor by the door. He was reluctant to let go of you, but you gave him a look of approval that had him scrambling out of the bed to retrieve it. You took the opportunity to admire his naked body, silently thanking the Italian sun and his morning cardio routine for the glorious sight of him. 

You felt a warmth in your chest, though, at the smile that grew on his face when he looked down at his phone to see who was calling.

“Hey mum, yeah….guess what…I’m coming home.”

———

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think. 

[usergreenpixel]

JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 36: THE GAME OF HOPE (2018)

1. The Introduction

Well, hello there, Citizens and Neighbors! I’m alive and back with a review, as promised. (Very happy about it too because I missed you!)

Now, to cut to the chase, @josefavomjaaga was the first person who told me about the novel’s existence, which had me a bit intrigued already due to my constant search for new media to consume and review.

However, my dear friend @tairin helped seal the deal and officially put this particular piece onto my review bucket list, as a physical copy of the book (in Russian) was her present for my birthday last year. I read the book back then but, due to all the other reviews and personal life stuff, kept putting away this particular review.

Fortunately, I finally found free time to catch up on the piece and post it, so here we go.

Before we proceed, here’s a link for anyone who wants to download the book in English. As mentioned, it’s available in Russian too, but Russian-speaking members of my audience will need to purchase the epub or a physical copy to be able to read it. I’m not sure if it’s available in any other languages.

Also, this review is dedicated to @josefavomjaaga , @tairin and @frevandrest ! Okay, let’s. Fucking. Begin.

2. The Summary

“The Game of Hope” tells the story of Hortense de Beauharnais, Napoleon’s stepdaughter, and her coming of age journey, including crushes, rivalries, and her life at Madame Campan’s boarding school for girls.

Although I loathe Hortense with a passion, review material is review material and I was still intrigued by the premise, so let’s see how this premise plays out in the book!

3. The Story

Generally, I enjoy coming of age stories and YA novels and, luckily, this one is no exception. It is melodramatic, but it’s justified because Hortense is a teenager and a dramatic person, so her POV having melodrama is expected.

It’s a slice of life kind of story and most political events happen in the background but still realistically affect the characters, which is realistic and very neat!

Also, this is by far the only book where anti-Frev sentiments don’t give me an urge to flip the fuck out, since Hortense lost her father and almost lost her mother during Frev and is far too naive and young to understand politics! Of course she will think Frev is evil and of course she will believe that being noble would be enough to have her executed!

The pacing is great too. There are some time skips but the author clearly knew when to do them and when to slow down. Now complaints here.

If you are craving a story with typical teenage melodrama involving historical figures, then I guess it’s a book for you.

4. The Characters

I don’t like Hortense as a person here, but as a character she’s realistic and nuanced. She has the selfish and bratty nature that would stick way into adulthood, but she genuinely loves Eugene and her friends at the boarding school. Also her resentment towards her stepfather and the Bonaparte siblings is quite realistic, as from her point of view they’re just asses towards her mother for no reason.

Caroline Bonaparte starts off as a rude bitch (also thanks to Hortense incorporating her own bias), but luckily she becomes more and more nuanced along the way and becomes sort of a frenemy to Hortense. Caroline clearly doesn’t enjoy studying under Madame Campan and wants out of there. Perhaps due to my bias, or because we don’t see her POV, Caroline grew on me more than Hortense.

Eugene (I HAVE to mention him) appears later on in the story and, as expected, is an absolute cinnamon roll.

Josephine is idealized in the story by Hortense, but she isn’t flawless and keeps trying to find Hortense a husband in the beginning. However, she also helps Caroline and Joachim marry, which makes their treatment of her later on a fucking dick move.

Émilie, Hortense’s cousin and close friend, is slightly older and already married (not that unheard of back then), but is still a teenager going through the typical motions common for that age. She is more mature than Hortense and feels trapped in a loveless marriage with Captain Lavalette (no idea who that is).

Campan is very strict but genuinely cares about her students. I liked the part where she has The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen attached to the back of a portrait of Marie-Antoinette and flips the portrait when inspection arrives. Simple, but quite clever!

5. The Setting

No complaints here! Gorgeous descriptions that are very much historically accurate, and Hortense’s POV is conveyed masterfully, which aids the story greatly.

6. The Writing

Simple yet beautiful, without diving too much into purple prose territory and doesn’t shy away from mentioning or implying normal things like periods or sex. I can sense some pearl clutching might happen, but personally I think these topics should be normalized so I don’t complain. Also, my copy graciously included translations of Italian phrases, which is doubly awesome!

7. The Conclusion

Overall, an excellent, overall accurate and believable story! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about Hortense or just looking for a Frev/Napoleonic coming of age story without too much action.

Alright, on this note, I’m concluding today’s meeting of Jacobin Fiction Convention. Stay tuned for updates, guys!

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

[borahaerhy]

Dealer (3) - myg

Summary: Your boyfriend seemed like a dream come true: always wanting to be around you, making sure you would get home safe, never taking his hands off you. These little comforts became your whole world, and then the only thing you were allowed to have left in the world. Luckily, your boyfriends drug dealer turned out to be a much nicer guy.

Pairing: DrugDealer!Yoongi x Female!Reader

Genre: Mafia/drug kingpin au, Y/N coming from nothing, found family, Eventual smut

Warnings: A concerning father-son relationship, More of Zeke being lowkey insane, New BTS member introduced!, hitmen, a dead body, a lot of other smaller stuff but only referenced and it has to do with the hitmen, so yk what to expect.

Word count: 1.5k (Ik short as fuck, apologies <3)

Previous | Next

Note: If you are sensitive or triggered by abusive relationships or manipulation in any way, please do not read this fic, it can be very triggering. It will also be referenced that Y/n used to self harm, and has self-harm scars. This is fic is going to cover a lot of intense topics, and there will be a lot of drugs.

“Goddamn it, Zeke, calm the fuck down so I can actually understand what you’re saying,” Jeff had honestly been sick of his nephew’s bullshit for a very long time. Sat hunched over his desk, half paying attention to Zeke and half paying attention to the papers on his desk that should be consuming his entire focus.  

“They fucking took Y/n, Jeff. Someone came in here and fucking kidnapped her; and I know exactly who did it,” Zeke’s voice was easier to understand, but shaking with the kind of rage that would scare anyone.  

Anyone except Jeff, that is.  

“So you want me to take the guy out and get your little girlfriend back?” Zeke started yelling again, not pleased with his uncle's disrespectful tone, but to put it simply, his response was “yes”. Jeff sighed, not wanting to waste any of his good men’s efforts on some low-grade pot dealer. He moved a few people around, checked to see who was available.  

Not wanting to send the guy who has yet to do a solo mission, he called in ole reliable.  

“Jay, get your ass in here,” He called someone on the buisness phone on his desk, after finally getting Zeke to hang up after assuring him he'd get you back. He hung up before they could even get a word in edgewise, and two minutes later, a man walked in in a baggy hoodie and sweatpants, hair disheveled and hands in his pockets as he slouched in his place.  

“Yeah boss?” Jeff looked up at his son, sighing at his disheveled appearance in the middle of the afternoon.  

“I’ve got a job for you. Names Min Yoongi, he’s a low-level drug dealer whose kidnapped someone. I need you to kill him and get her back,” Before Jeff could finish his sentence, his son had already pulled out his phone and looked for the name on any public records, then to see if he was affiliated with anyone.  

“No,” He slid his phone back in his pocket and turned around, ready to walk back up to his room and go back to sleep.  

“Jay, you’re going to want to do this one-”  

“Nah, I don’t think so. He hasn’t committed any major crimes or atrocities. He’s never hurt anyone, never sold anything harder than some weed, and he volunteers at animal shelters in his free time; I’m not killing him.”  

Jeff looked at his son with animosity, clenching his jaw as he began to type in a new number. As Jay began to turn around again, about to go back to bed for real this time, the other line picked up.  

“Min Yoongi, mid-sized drug dealer on the south side, kidnapped my nephew’s girlfriend. Kill him, get her and bring her back here. You have an hour.”  

Fuck.  

That was a fucking setup.  

Jay finished walking out of the door and ran up to his bedroom, needing to find out where you were as soon as possible.  

- 

“Oh, Y/n, this is my cousin, Jay.” You reached your hand out to shake his, bright smile on your faces as Zeke’s arm pulled you tighter into his side.  

“It’s very nice to meet you, Y/n,” He bowed slightly while your hands were shaking before he stood back up and let go.  

“Don’t mind him, his mom raised him for a while in Korea before they moved back here.” Zeke’s comment was meant to be insulting, but you had only been fascinated.  

“You grew up in Korea?” Jay’s smile returned to his face, not used to meeting people that had associated with his family that were interested in his culture.  

“Yeah, only until I was 11 though. Then we moved back here so I could meet the rest of my family.”  

“Wow, that must’ve been a hard transition at such a young age. Did you know any English when you moved here?” He was almost taken back from the emotion he could see spelled out on your sweet face. He couldn’t help but keep smiling, even at the thought of one of the worst periods of his life.  

“I knew a little; basic English is taught in most schools in Korea at a very young age. But it wasn’t so bad, I still had my mom,” You smiled at his facial expression only getting warmer as he mentioned his mother again. The two of you had sat and spoken for hours, Zeke never leaving your side, but rarely ever interjecting in your conversation. He sat near and spoke to the other members of his family, mostly of how weird it was that Jay was even talking to anyone, and how annoying it had been that it was you that he was talking to.  

The family gathering had come to an end hours after the sun had set and the food had been packed up and stored back in the house. You were saying goodbye to everyone as Zeke stood beside the car at the side of the road, annoyed and ready to leave.  

“It was really nice to meet you, Jay,” You spoke softly as he engulfed you into a hug that lasted a bit longer than it should’ve - something Zeke definitely made sure you knew after you got back home.

“My name’s actually Jimin,” You looked slightly confused as you pulled away from the hug. Jimin smiled. “No one here likes to acknowledge that I’m Korean now that my mom’s gone. Easier to pretend she never existed when my name's Jay.” You smiled again, this one slightly more sad than the previous bright ones you held so proudly upon your beautiful lips.  

“Well, Jimin, it was very nice to meet you. You can call me anytime,” You smiled and hugged him again briefly before making your way back to the car.  

Jimin had watched you walking away, and then never saw or heard from you again. He messaged you a few times but he never got any response. He had always known his cousin was not the best person from the time they had spent together as children. Sure, Jimin was a hitman, but Zeke was a million times more fucked up than he could ever even imagine being.  

Though, trying to think positively, he just hoped you had accidentally given him the wrong number. Not that you had lost your phone privileges from being too ‘overly flirtatious’ with him.  

- 

Jimin arrived at Yoongi’s house only 20 minutes after the newbie had gotten there. His car still being there wasn’t a good sign. Jimin sighed as he pulled on latex gloves and grabbed his Glock out of the glove box of his car. He got out and held the gun down by his side, being sure to be aware of every movement that was happening in the surrounding neighborhood as he made his way up to the front door.  

Dumbass.  

Jimin sighed as he pushed open the broken door, bewildered as to how he thought it was a good idea to shoot through the front door of a suburban neighborhood.  

Right inside the front door was the body of the man whose name Jimin could not remember, but was definitely the guy his father had sent on the job. The blood had stopped flowing from his as if it was all already completely drained from the pale face of someone that couldn’t be more than 20 years old; probably just trying to make enough money to support his family or pay off some debts.  

He sighed as he swept the house, making sure there wasn’t anyone else here before he made his way back out to the car, dialing his father’s number as he went.  

“Speak.”  

“New guy’s dead, looks like our low-level dug dealer is a little more than that,” Jimin put the phone on speaker as he pulled his lap top out of the back seat of his car and got to work.  

“I trust you’ll take care of it from here?”  

“On it boss.”  

It took Jimin less than an hour to get a clean-up crew in and out of the house, and had guards posted all around the neighborhood to keep watch on the house to see if anyone should return; and was sitting in some random parking lot trying to find anything on him that might suggest where he would have gone next.  

Every car, weapon and address listed as belonging to him at any point in time, and any known affiliates that he had. Aside from other mid to low-level drug dealers and the person who sold the drugs to them, there was only one other person he was known to be acquainted with.  

Kim Seokjin.  

Seokjin had been on their radar for quite some time; having had several hits put out on him in the past. They stopped accepting hits on him when everyone sent out to take care of him had never been seen again; no body, no trace, nothing. Even the people who hired them to kill him had gone missing seemingly overnight without a trace.  

Jimin groaned loudly as started his car and headed off to the only place he swore he’d never go.  

I just hope I can get to them before they get to Seokjin.  

-

Taglist: @pamzn @fvcuidk @cybm1n @limiworld @scuzmunkie @hyunjingin @nellyboosworld @giselleg7784 @zaeve @lovelgirl22 @rosquilleta @kooliv @bangtannie7 @strawberryjimin13 @anjoellamorte @limitlessdespondency @lalaoise @roxy1205 @lavender-ivy @orangecarrotlemon @billy-jeans23  

[bella-rose29]

You can what?!

requested by anon: Hey! If you’re still taking requests, can I request platonic Lockwood x reader (cousin) who finds out reader can communicate with like, weaker ghosts

I got a bit carried away and it's turned out as more of a 'reader, holly and George are matchmakers' fic, but hopefully this is still vaguely what you wanted, anon! <333

(I'm also not gonna lie I had no idea how to end this so it feels kinda weird at the end)

Word count: 2k

Warnings: swearing, locklyle not realising that they're locklyle, George is annoyed about that

Tag list: @anathemaloren, @augustisintheair, @avdiobliss, @briar-rose23, @dangelnleif, @el-de-phi, @ell0ra-br3kk3r, @informedimagining, @karensirkobabes, @light-23, @locknco, @mischivana, @mitskiswift99, @mrsklockwood, @mrsyixingunicorn10, @no-morning-glories, @novelizt, @ran23sblog, @superpositvecloudshipper, @t2sh0, @taygrls, @tournesol77, @whenselenefallsinlove, @wordsarelife

(not my gif, credit to owner <3)

Lucy Carlyle was the best Listener in London, hell, in England, and Anthony Lockwood was proud to call her his friend.

Her abilities came in handy when they were in a sticky situation, and often lead to her finding the Source of a Visitor much more quickly than if she lacked the skill.

Unfortunately, she was also stubborn, and when she refused to do what Lockwood asked for whatever reason it was at the time, she meant it. That then left the other members of Lockwood and Co to fend for themselves, guessing at what the Skull was saying to her through the jar, and hoping that eventually they would fix the issue that had affronted Lucy and she would pay attention to them all again.

Lockwood was particularly annoying when this happened, in George's opinion, because while he could see it clear as day that Lockwood and Lucy were meant for each other, they themselves apparently couldn't. Lockwood got twitchy when Lucy wasn't listening to him, and when Lockwood got twitchy the whole house knew about it.

That was partly why, one sunny morning in July when the doorbell rang and made George spill his tea over himself, muttering expletives under his breath as he wiped it off and opened the front door to see a young person stood with a suitcase and a wide smile, he invited them in at their claim that they were Lockwood's cousin. There was something in the back of his mind that told him that they might be able to sort Lockwood out, and he hoped to everything that he was right.

"Y/n. I did write ahead to let him know I was coming, but I doubt he actually read it if you weren't expecting me."

"He didn't mention anything. George," he said, sticking out a hand and wincing when Y/n grabbed it with force.

"Nice to meet you, George! I don't need to stay here, by the way. I can find accommodation elsewhere if there isn't any room." Charm must have run in the family, because while George didn't normally find himself warming up to people right away, there was something about Y/n that made him want to be friends. He found that he was making excuses for Lockwood and his lack of preparation, or perception, and wondered what the hell was going on.

"George? Who is it?" Lockwood's voice rang down the stairs, and a moment later his body appeared, bright pink socks poking out from under his trousers. "Y/n? What are you doing here?"

"I did write," they said, amused smile on their face. Lockwood looked embarrassed as he moved forward for a hug, wrapping his arms around Y/n's frame.

"Sorry. We've had a lot of mail recently. Why... are you here? Not that it's not lovely to see you!"

"If you'd read my letter then you'd know, dipshit. Mum's got a business trip and Dad has to work extra hours because we're falling behind on bills, so I thought I'd come and stay with you guys. Like I said to George, if you don't have room then I can find somewhere else to stay; it's not a problem."

"Nonsense. We'll find a spot for you here. I think we still have a blow-up mattress somewhere, so we can put that wherever it will fit."

"Thank you. Oh, hello!" Lucy had appeared at the sound of voices in the hallway, and upon sighting her Y/n had waved in greeting. "I'm Y/n, Lockwood's cousin. It's lovely to meet you!"

"Lucy, hi. Sorry, Lockwood didn't mention a cousin?"

"His fault. He very rarely talks about his biological relatives at the best of times, so I don't blame you for not knowing about me. You're Lucy Carlyle, yes?"

"Uh- yeah?"

"Lovely! I've read pretty much everything about you in the papers. Not in a creepy way," they said at the alarmed look on Lucy's face. "I'm a Listener too, so I just wanted to see if I could learn anything from you."

"Oh."

A pause followed, where everybody was stood in the hallway (although Holly had yet to appear) just staring at each other. Lockwood cleared his throat, trying to clear the awkwardness in the air.

"Anyone for tea?"

~~~

George was intrigued.

He was often intrigued, to be fair, but something about Y/n made him want to study them under a microscope. Within five minutes of arriving, they had managed to stop Lockwood's twitching, get Lucy talking to Lockwood again, and had somehow made Holly laugh without a care in the world.

Even Lockwood himself couldn't do that half the time, and his cousin had turned up and done it right away.

George was glad that Lucy and Lockwood were on speaking terms again, and she'd stopped being quite so stubborn about not working the next case with them (although Lockwood had been forced to change his plan of action around to accommodate). Currently the five of them were sat in the kitchen, cups of tea being passed around while Y/n chatted to Holly about something or other. Lockwood had planted himself on the chair next to Lucy's, and George had to suppress an eye-roll at his boss' need to be so physically close to the girl he liked. Why he didn't just fess up, George had no idea, but if one of them didn't make a move soon he was going to have to do it for them.

Maybe he could lock them in the basement together until something happened. Then he'd have the rest of the house to himself, nice and peaceful.

Y/n seemed to have noticed their cousin's behaviour too, raising an eyebrow at George across the table when they saw Lockwood sit down, handing Lucy her tea with a soft smile. George had only shaken his head, exasperation written all over his face.

The conversation died down for a moment, everybody sipping their tea and munching on the biscuits that had been laid out on a plate, until suddenly Y/n gasped. The sound was so loud and unexpected that George spilt his tea over himself for the second time that morning, and he was just moving to grab some tissue when they spoke.

"Is that a Sunrise Corporation jar?"

Lockwood was the one to reply, muttering a hesitant yes.

"May I?" Y/n asked, already reaching for the jar that had hastily had a cloth thrown over it. Lucy nodded, her expression nervous. The skull came into view, and despite the early hour and the sunlight streaming in a faint green glow could be seen. "Holy shit, this is awesome. Wait," they furrowed their brow, "aren't these kept by Fittes?"

"I might have taken it as a parting gift when I got fired," George said, sitting back down in his chair. His hands still stung slightly from the tea.

"A 'parting gift', huh?" Y/n's eyes were practically sparkling, but they quickly looked away when something else drew their attention. "Wait." They were staring at the ghost jar. "Wait. Lucy Carlyle, is this a Type Three ghost?!"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Could you make out what it just said? Because all I got was some unintelligible mutterings."

"He- actually, it's probably best that you didn't hear what the skull said."

"Hang on a minute," Lockwood piped up. "Y/n, how come you could hear something?"

"Oh, I can talk to ghosts."

"You can what?!"

"You heard me. Don't make me say it again just because your hearing's gone, old man."

"We're basically the same age!"

"You're older though."

"Stop changing the subject!"

Y/n sighed, rubbing a hand over their face as they sunk back into their chair. "I can talk to ghosts. Not all of them, and it doesn't always work, but most of the time I can hold some sort of a conversation with Type Ones. I haven't been able to get much further than that. Well," they eyed the jar in front of them. "Until today. Although I couldn't actually make the words out, so I guess technically it doesn't count."

"How long have you been able to do this?" Holly asked after a significant pause in the conversation. Y/n shrugged.

"Not long. I figured out that I could hear some ghosts better than others a good few years ago, it just took a little bit longer to realise that I could communicate with them too."

"And you never told me?" Lockwood frowned, a flash of hurt passing over his face.

"You never listened, which is kinda funny, actually, given how much you were always too busy trying to tell me about your 'excellent Listener and amazing friend Lucy Carlyle'," Y/n said, mimicking Lockwood's voice as they spoke and emphasising the word 'Listener' to drive their point home. Lockwood himself starting blushing, the back of his neck and the tips of his ears going red, and Lucy looked mildly awkward sat between the two of them.

"I don't sound like that," Lockwood protested after a moment of spluttering, and Y/n just snorted.

"You absolutely do. Holly or George, either one of you can answer this: has my cousin proposed yet, or does he need to grow a pair?"

Lockwood and Lucy both gaped at Y/n, and Holly and George shared a look before answering at the same time.

"They don't even know that-"

"Really it's ridiculous how-"

"-they're obsessed with each other and-"

"-they don't even notice that they have feelings and-"

"it's so frustrating!" Both of them finished their sentences at the same time, and in the same way, and the other three stared at Holly and George's outburst. Y/n recovered first, sending a smug smile in the direction of their cousin, who was stubbornly ignoring everybody else in the room.

"You know, I've been around the two of you for what, twenty minutes maybe? And I noticed whatever weird thing you have going on right away. So maybe you need to start listening, Lockwood, and then you won't be quite so mopey all the time 'cause you'll have a girlfriend."

Lockwood himself had nothing to say, it seemed, too embarrassed at the entire situation to do anything but hide behind his hands and blush, and Lucy looked like she had long since zoned out of the conversation to save herself from further awkwardness. George didn't bother hiding his eye-roll this time, and even exaggerated it a little to make it more obvious.

"They're not exactly wrong, you know. Anyway, I think that us three," he gestured to himself, Y/n and Holly, "should head off somewhere else. I've got some questions for your cousin, Lockwood, and I'm sure Holly won't want to be left alone with you two." He stood up, scraping his chair against the kitchen tiles and making his way over to the kitchen door, and Y/n and Holly followed shortly after. "We'll see you later, yeah?" George didn't give them a chance to reply, instead ushering the other two out and closing the door shut behind him, breathing a sigh of relief. Y/n looked amused by the whole situation, a faint smile playing on their face as they looked past George at the door.

"Do you think they'll finally confess?" Holly asked, her tone hopeful.

"I really really hope so. I don't know what more we can do, to be honest."

"I can always try and communicate with your skull in a jar. I imagine it'll want someone new to gossip with, so I can get all the good stuff," Y/n said, and George was half tempted to go back and grab the jar off the table to get them to try.

He was stopped, though, by the sound of the door opening behind them, and Lockwood and Lucy stepped out, faces bright with blushes.

"Oh. Didn't think that you lot would be... alright," Lockwood looked pleased, and George only needed to take one look at the two of them to know what had happened.

"Finally. Can we test out Y/n's ability now that you two are together?"

"George!" Lucy hissed, resembling an angry cat. Lockwood only laughed, nodding.

"I'd like to test some things too, actually. Only if you're alright with it?"

"Course not. As long as you get me food I don't mind."

"Deal."

[ashes-writing]

stranger things ● forever, pt 2 ● s.harrington

warnings

{ part 1 } <- can be found by clicking. everything else I've started will be updated asap. this just grabbed hold and i had to lean into it, that's why there are two updates for it in one day.

Angst, hurt comfort, internal angst (because reader/you and Steve apparently love to overthink fucking everything), baby talk (your kid is 3. she's still grasping speech.), so much dad!steve fluff omg, robin has a crush and might get the girl, (Barb. it's barb and i am fully prepared to die all alone on this hill.), small town judgment and rumors and shit ( if curious.. this has both to do with eventual Robin/Barb and also bc stevie, in my mind, looks like she could be steve's actual daughter bc drama ), huge changes to seasons 1 thru 4 (Everyone but Jason lives, Max is not in between life or death, Billy's brush with death has redeemed him.. slightly, starcourt is rebuilt, the portal to the upside down is closed PERMANENTLY), vaguely hinted at that Vecna may have mentally tortured Steve and it may have gotten in his head a little when Vecna 'attacked' his mind in my version of events for this, alcohol/smoking mentions, eventual filth (probably gonna have Steve's known breeding k*nk front and center, fwiw.), swearing, arguing, roommates trope eventually, slow burn (as slow as I can tolerate tbh ), reader has not had a very good life prior to Hawkins, ( more will come on that later trust me )

Reader/you are Robin Buckley's cousin. Reader/You was born female and you identify as female with female parts and a 3 year old daughter named Stevie and reader/you have personality + a past and backstory. This is self indulgent and I do not apologize.

word count

5302 exactly. I uh.. got carried away.

summary

“Okay, but.. For whatever reason, she’s attached to your friend. It might get annoying, Robin.” you point out after turning your attention back to the television for a few minutes and having a little more time to think about it.

Robin thinks what you’ve just said is hilarious and she’s doubled over laughing as she pauses to look at you and shake her head. “You don’t know Steve. Trust me. This will not get annoying for him. And anyway,” Robin rolls onto her stomach and looks at you, “He likes her.”

aka, the one in which Robin -and Steve also Barb watch Stevie while you try to interview for a job.

taglist + shoutouts

-- taglist is here. if you wish to be added click the bolded part to be taken to it. if you're here for eddie/gareth or other guys from ST and don't want to be tagged please let me know.

@allelitesmut

@chaoticcancer - just wait. my heart was also like ahhhh.. writing these two parts. I really hope you like this, thank you for reading!

@caravelofthesun

@dylanwritesgood

@eddiemuns0nl0ver

@just-a-blue-nerd

@music4life42

@slyisbehindyou

@spaceconveyor

@tbmunson bestie. babe. babesss. i had to do this okay? we needed it. and i proceeded to go ham. oopsies.

other links

masterlist ● steve's masterlist ● about + rules

TWO

You must've put in an application at every place imaginable all over town. It's been a week and the phone lines have been silent. You're starting to wonder if you'll get any callbacks.

"Will you relax? Someone will call, okay?" Robin speaks up from the doorway of her room. You sink down to sit on the bed. "I'm seriously having my doubts."

"They will." Robin is unwrapping a bomb pop and holding it out to Stevie. Stevie takes it and climbs up onto your lap. You grimace at her reddened shoulders from an afternoon spent in the kiddie end of Hawkins pool and she leans back against you as Robin leans forward to hit play on yet another movie Steve Harrington rented for your daughter. Tonight it's Alice in Wonderland and as the opening credits roll, you're surprised to find yourself wondering what he's doing at the moment. It's a thought quickly buried as deep as you can.

As Alice finds herself in Wonderland on the television screen, your aunt's landline rings and you slip off the couch so Stevie goes to sit in Robin's lap. Until she remembers the glittery 'picture' she drew earlier and goes to get them both because she's made one for Steve too, a little thank you for being so nice to her when she knows she might be annoying at times.

"Who's this one for?" Robin asks, looking at the squiggles, circles and squares covered in glitter and drawn in vibrant red marker beneath. The purple glitter is falling off the page, settling on Robin’s bed. 

"Steve. I make him dragon. Only he doesn't breathe fire, he breathes toasts."

Robin laughs and smiles. "I see that. I'm gonna put mine right here. On my bulletin board." She hugs Stevie again and Stevie is hugging back, playing with her hair.

"'Kay!" Stevie laughs, looking up at Robin. “I like Steve. He’s sooooo nice.”

“Oh you do, huh?” Robin laughs again. Stevie nods. 

You wander back in and Robin speaks up. “Well?”

“That was the secretary job I applied for? I’m a ‘risk’ but they’re willing to give me a shot?” you’re still a little shocked because when you applied for the secretary position at some office in town, they were literally the last stop. You didn’t think they’d even look at your application, let alone hire you. “They want me to come in for face to face interviews tomorrow.”

Then it hits you. Your aunt Janet has to work. “Shit.”

“What?”

“I can’t, Robin.. Your mom has to work.”

“And?”

“And, I can’t take Stevie. I also can’t leave her alone.” you bite your lip as you mull it over.

Robin speaks up. “I’ll take her to Family Video with me. I’ve got a shorter shift tomorrow and it’s gonna be slow as hell anyway.”

“Robin…” you eye her warily.

“I’ll take her.” Robin repeats, firmer. “It’ll be fun. Won’t it, Stevie?” Robin gazes down at Stevie. “A little help here?” she asks, fluffing Stevie’s hair. Stevie is nodding. “Please, mama? I be so good.”

“Okay, sweetie, but aunt Robin is working. You have to be a good girl.”

Robin laughs. “Relax. She’s an angel.” she looks over at you and now both of them are begging.

“Okay, alright. Fine. The second I have money again I’ll pay–” you start to tell Robin you’ll pay her but she’s already shaking her head. “You’re not. I wanted to do it.”

“Okay, but.. For whatever reason, she’s attached to your friend. It might get annoying, Robin.” you point out after turning your attention back to the television for a few minutes and having a little more time to think about it. You’re grasping at straws because you’re already seeing Stevie form a little bit of an attachment to Robin’s best friend slash co-worker and you’re just so afraid that sooner or later, the novelty is going to wear off for the guy, leaving your little girl heartbroken and missing something she’s never actually had and most likely never will.

A father.

Robin thinks what you’ve just said is hilarious and she’s doubled over laughing as she pauses to look at you and shake her head. “You don’t know Steve. Trust me. This will not get annoying for him. And anyway,” Robin rolls onto her stomach and looks at you, “He likes her.”

“Yeah. Now, in theory, when he only has to deal with her a few minutes here and a few there. A whole day with her underfoot is different.” you take a deep breath. “I’m just..”

“I get it. You don’t want Stevie to get too attached.” Robin mumbles quietly, nodding in agreement. “You need the job, right?”

“Well, yeah, I’d like to find an apartment sooner or later. I’d like to be able to do things for Stevie..” you trail off, letting the rest of your sentence go unsaid. Because Robin knows exactly how awful your mom was now, the two of you had a really long talk recently. You finally told her everything that’s been going on, full honesty. Instead of letting her believe everything was fine like you’d done before.

Robin nods. A grim look on her face as she shakes her head. “I wish you’d told me and Mom everything way sooner.”

“I didn’t want you guys to worry.” you answer, going quiet. “Okay, alright. Don’t let her annoy him, please?” you give Robin a pleading look and Robin nods. “I’m telling you though,” she insists, “Stevie is not annoying to him. Like… not even a little.”

“Robin.” you laugh and shake your head. “He’s probably got an image or something.”

“Yeah, as a giant dingus.” Robin states, laughing. “I know what you’re thinking. Just stop overthinking already, okay? Steve Harrington is a good guy. He’s not going to treat her like dirt because she’s three.”

You blow at damp strands as they fall down into your eyes. “I just.. She’s never really like.. Attached herself to a person like this before.”

“Could have everything to do with her mommy being stingy.” Robin teases gently, laughing as she looks up at you. Stevie wanders back in with a yogurt cup and spoon. Robin reaches out, pulling her up before you even get the chance. “Guess what, sparkles?”

“Yeah?”

“Your mom finally gave in. We win. You can come to work with me tomorrow.” Robin and Stevie share a laugh and Robin takes Stevie’s spoon and takes a bite of yogurt for herself. “We can watch movies all day.”

“Yay!” Stevie claps her hands together in excitement. “Will my fwiend be there?”

Robin laughs softly. You tense up slightly. Look at your daughter with a soft smile as you warn, “Sweetie, you don’t need to bother him too much, okay?”

“Otay.” Stevie nods. But she has no intention of listening because she likes being around Steve. He’s nice. Really nice. And he gives her piggyback rides sometimes. He tells her stories about dinosaurs and some weird thing called basketball that he used to play and really likes a lot. He showed her how to tie her favorite purple sneaker earlier when he dropped off her aunt Robin after work, because her shoe was untied and he said he didn’t want her to fall on her face.

CONTINUED

The morning comes too early. And it’s off to a not so good start. You’re rushing around because you forgot to set an alarm the night before, and the button’s popped off the only ‘suitable’ shirt you own for an interview.

Stevie’s missing her shoe and she can’t find her current favorite stuffed animal, a stuffed husky that Robin won out of the claw machine outside of Big Buy when they went in to pick up groceries for your aunt Janet. So she’s upset. Robin spots the shoe and holds it up. “Aha! I knew it was in here somewhere!”

“Fank you!” Stevie throws her arms around Robin’s neck. Robin grabs the hair brush from her dresser and motions for Stevie to sit in front of her. You laugh. “She’s tender-headed.” you warn as you flip over your own hair and try to make something out of the wild and thick mess of curls you have going on now, no thanks to your old reliable blow dryer quitting earlier. You’re in the midst of scrunching your hair to create a more defined curl pattern when Stevie wanders over, bending down to look up at you through a curtain of hair. “Mama! Mama, your skirt dirty.”

“Shit.” you say it without stopping to think and just as Stevie looks as if she’ll repeat it, you tack on quickly, “Mommy didn’t mean t’ say that, cupcake. You’re still a baby. That’s an adult word.”

“I know.” Stevie answers, giggling. “It sound funny.”

“It’s not, though.” you smile at your daughter and laugh softly. “You’ll let your aunt Robin braid your hair but you won’t let me? I might cry.”

“Don’t, mama. It’s just aunt Wobin do it better!”

You pout a little, flipping your hair over to stand and look in the mirror. Robin notices the stain on your skirt too and nods to your aunt’s room across the hall. “My mom’s got a suit or something? I think?”

You nod. After digging through your suitcase, you happen to find a modest -and totally shapeless, t shirt style black dress, you grab that and rush down the hall into the bathroom of the trailer to change. 

“This looks like I’m wearing a trash bag. If I wind up working at this place I’m gonna have to get dressier stuff.” you wrinkle your nose at the thought. Because it’s money you don’t want to have to spend, but if you could luck into getting this secretary job, you’d be thrilled because it’ll be more money than you’ve ever made at once before.

And the job actually has insurance.

Robin’s friend Barb pulls to a stop outside and Robin’s giddy, laughing and smiling as if she could float. She drops a quick kiss to Stevie’s head and hugs you, lingering in the doorway. “I’ll see you in a little bit!”

You laugh and nod. “Yeah!”

After Robin’s gone, you scramble some eggs and squeeze an orange to make some juice for Stevie and as she eats ketchup covered scrambled eggs and a piece of fried ham, you try to finish getting ready.

You hate the shapeless dress, it’s one of your least favorite articles of clothing and even adding a belt to it doesn’t do anything to make it look better. You laugh at yourself in your cousin’s full length mirror on the back of her closet door and you toss the belt at your open suitcase on the bed. “Just get it over with. You’re probably not getting the job anyway, they said you were a risk to hire.”

Stevie’s sitting on the floor watching you. “We go, mama?”

“Yeah, we should get going,cupcake. Turn off the tv.”

Stevie pushes the button to turn off the television atop the dresser at the foot of Robin’s bed and you scoop her up,carrying her out. As the two of you walk out of the trailer, the girl with red hair is outside skateboarding again.

Stevie gives her a wave and the redhead waves back, quick to turn back to her skateboarding. The muscular blond with the mullet is leaned in the open door again, you can feel him staring. When he grins at you, cigarette smoke billowing out of his mouth, you manage a stiff wave and turn your attention to getting Stevie fastened into her car seat.

It’s a hard pass on the guy for you. He’s exactly the type of guy who fathered Stevie when you were 17. You are not going down that road again. And as you slip into the driver seat, a thought pops up out of nowhere. Surprises you a little when it does.

,, he’s not as handsome as Steve Harrington, either.” and as soon as this thought rises, you’re quick to shove it back down.

He’s definitely not an option.. You know, if you were even considering anything. The last thing any guy your age is going to want is to get a package deal and you’re just not willing to settle for anybody who won’t love and cherish your little girl as much as you do.

As you drive into town, you hum along with the radio, watch as the tree lined blacktop turns to buildings and houses. You pull to a stop in the parking lot of Family Video right around the same time that Robin and her friend Barb are pulling to a stop. You watch as Barb leans in closer to your cousin and you smile softly to yourself.

Robin mentioned someone in her letters around Valentines Day. You’re wondering if Barb might be the girl she mentioned. You hope so, because the way Barb looks at your cousin when she’s not looking is the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen with your own eyes, hands down. Robin spots you as the two pull away from their super close conversation and she grins brightly, waving.

As Robin and Barb wander over, Stevie’s already grumbling as she fusses with the way her upper harness in the seat likes to hang up. “I just wanna get out! Stupit buckle.” as she fumes and keeps trying to work with it, you lean over and unfasten it. Gently caressing her chubby little cheeks as you look into big brown eyes. “Mama will be back later to get you, alright? Be a good girl for aunt Robin.” you go quiet, adding a second later, “And don’t bother Steve so much when he’s working, please?”

“But mama..”

“Stevie Robin..” you using her first and middle name has the  desired effect, but she’s pouting and not happy about it. “Otay! I try not to bother him! But if he wants t’ play, I not stop him.”

You laugh softly and press a kiss to her hairline. As Robin opens the door and scoops up Stevie, she’s laughing. “Ready for a big adventure, sparkles?”

“Uh-huh!” she laughs and smiles, hugging against Robin. One of her braids is already trying to come undone. You smile at Barb. She smiles back as she reaches for the old backpack you use to keep everything Stevie needs inside when you have to leave her with sitters and you fight down the usual guilt that comes rushing up when you’re thinking about just how well used that backpack is by now and how it means you hardly get to spend any time with your daughter like you always dreamed you would when you were little.

The time your own mother refused to spend with you.. Unless, of course, she took you along with her to try and ply single men by playing the single mom who needs sooooo much help card. 

“She’ll be fine, ___.” Robin’s gentle teasing and the reassuring grin she gives you has you nodding. Smiling at her even though leaving Stevie with them while you go off for an interview is the last thing you want to be doing.

You’d rather be spending all day with your little girl. Making a blanket fort in the living room of your house. Making crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as you both lie around, you reading her book of Grimms fairytales to her. Cuddling. Until the man you love comes in from work, where you’d have a nice home cooked meal, not something frozen or canned or even burned beyond recognition.. The life you didn’t have and always longed for as a kid.

,, you really need to accept the fact that this is your reality. Unless you want to turn into her, parading an endless string of faceless and nameless ‘uncles’ in and out of your life, always leaving you hurt and confused when they were gone and she was mean and bitter all over again.” the thought comes and you shove it out.

You watch as the three of them disappear into the video store, door banging shut behind them. And then you put your car into drive and pull out, merging with traffic. Journey is playing on the radio so you hum along and you hope it’ll distract you from a full to bursting mind. You’re just focused on doing your absolute best at this interview. Because you have to get money coming in somehow.

CONTINUED

Steve’s flipping through the channels on the old tv set that sits down on the counter out of sight. His legs are reclined and he’s just.. Fighting the urge to pass out from exhaustion.

To say sleeping through a full night since March has been a struggle would be a gross understatement. It’s been literal hell on Earth for him because every time he starts to doze, he can feel the earth rumbling beneath him. The sensation of free falling and then a hard thud as he connects with solid. And then he can hear Vecna’s evil laugh all over again. The way Vecna forced him to watch his worst fears and deepest secrets play out in front of him just to torture him. He had to watch everyone move on and leave him behind. He had to watch as his parents just went on with life as normal after his ‘death’, totally unaffected. He had to hear every single dark thing he’s ever thought or felt but never given a voice to, on repeat. 

It’s not until his alarm’s going off every morning that the torment stops as Comfortably Numb starts to play and brings him rushing out, into another long day.

It was the same this morning and yet somehow, it wasn’t. Because Robin let it slip that Stevie was going to spend the day with them while you were interviewing at one of the offices in town for a secretary position. And somehow, knowing the little girl was going to be around to distract him all day just made things a little better.

She’s eating gummy bears that Robin and Barb stopped at the gas station in town to buy her as she makes her way over to him and motions for him to pick her up. “Tell me more about baske..About the game.” Stevie asks, holding out her bag of gummy bears to Steve as she smiles. “I wanna play too.”

Steve chuckles.

“Hang on, little bit.” he reaches for the remote, “Maybe there’s a warm up game on or a replay.” he flips through stations until he finds the channel he’s looking for. “That’s basketball.” he nods to a replay of an old Bulls game. “I used to play in high school.”

Stevie’s eyes fix on the television and she holds the bag out to him again. Steve takes a handful of gummy bears and pops them into his mouth as he arranges Stevie on his lap a little better. 

As this is happening, Barb nudges Robin. “I never thought I’d see this happen.”

Robin laughs softly and nods. “Me either. From what __ has told me, Stevie doesn’t meet strangers though.” she shrugs, “Does he seem off to you too lately? And it’s gotten a little more obvious since Nance and Jonathan left town.” 

“It has.” Barb admits, leaning against Robin slightly. Not enough to be obvious or invateRobin’s personal space but enough that she can feel the slight weight of the other girl and just..be close.

She wishes she could be so much closer. But she doesn’t know how to even begin telling her.

Robin feels her cheeks burn at the slightest hint of contact and she bites back the smallest whimper threatening to break free. She forces herself to pull together and calls out to get Steve’s attention. “Dingus, don’t get her into sports!”

“Looks fun!” Stevie is grinning and she’s turned herself to face Steve. “Open your mouth.” Steve opens his mouth as the little girl’s asked and Stevie tries to toss a bear in but she misses. The blue gummy bear settles on the front of his new polo shirt and he picks it off, eating it.

The bell over the  door jingles and Robin glances over to see who it is.

“Harrington! Yo! Dude!” Billy’s calling out Steve’s name as he wanders the aisles to search for his former enemy turned friend. He finally gives up the search and stops in front of Robin and Barb. “Either of you seen Steve or do I need t’ go over and drag his broody ass outta bed again?”

“Right here, Hargrove, jesus.” Steve speaks up. Billy nearly chokes on the gum he’s chewing as he sees Steve sitting behind the counter with the cute little 3 year old daughter of the hot mom living across from him and his stepsister and her mom in Forest Hills. “You stealin kids now, Harrington?”

“I came t’ him.” Stevie sasses, leaning in against Steve just a little. Steve laughs and shrugs. Robin speaks up. “Yeah, he stole her from me! It took two hours to convince her mom I’d be able to watch her today when she went in for the interview. He’s had her since Barb and I got here.”

“You get her all the time, Robbie.”

“And? She’s my sparkles.” Robin argues back with Steve playfully. Billy chuckles. When he spots the game on tv he laughs to himself. “Girls don’t like that sh–”

“Mama said that’s adult word.” Stevie warns, giving Billy a very stern little look. Billy snickers. “It is, huh?”

“Mhm.”

Steve looks up at Billy. “She wanted to watch it, actually.”

“I did!”

“Anyway, what’d you want?”

“You’re comin with me tonight, dude. Munson’s band’s having a gig at the new bar. Told him we’d go.”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Fuck no. No you don’t, Harrington. I’ve got tomorrow off, I’m not gonna waste th’ night sober.”

Steve grumbles but shrugs. “Not like anything else is going on. Okay, fine.”

“I guess you can drive the Camaro because I’m not gonna be seen in the grandma mobile.” Billy smirks, he’s purposely being a shit now, hoping that maybe if he just keeps treating Steve like the way he treated ‘old Steve’ it’ll eventually piss Harrington enough to bring out just a little of the fight and spunk that’s been gone completely since March.

He’s really worried about Steve. He figured him out fairly easy right after he hit Hawkins their senior year. So he knows that walking out of the station with Eddie to his waiting car after everything played out in March.. Seeing the girl he wanted to be with more than anything reunite with a guy she claimed she ‘wasn’t sure about anymore’ when they looked like they’d reconnect. Billy knows this killed Steve.

And then there’s the whole Vecna thing, something Steve absolutely refuses to talk about with anyone. Even Robin, his best friend.

Billy just doesn’t want to see Steve go down the path he’s been down already.

“You loud.” Stevie mutters, giving Billy a dirty look as she leans against Steve’s chest and nods to the little television set. “We watch baske..” she gives up, “the ball game.” and Steve chuckles.

“Bas-ket-ball. C’mon, try it.”

“It’s big word! I 3.”

“And you’re really smart for 3, Stevie. C’mon, try it.” Steve coaxes.

With a little grumbling, he gets her to attempt sounding out the whole word. When she finally says it, she’s laughing and smiling, clapping chubby little hands together. “I said it! Aunt Wobin! I said it!”

Steve laughs. “You did.”

Billy snickers. “Try this one, shortstuff.. C-a-m-a-r-o.”

Stevie gives him a blank look and places a hand on her hip. “What that?”

Billy gestures to his haphazardly parked car outside the store and grins proudly. “The best car ever.”

“Uh uh! My mama’s car is best.”

Robin and Barb laugh. “Oooh.. a three year old just burned you, Hargrove.” Barb taunts and Robin laughs, " How'd that feel, Billy?"

“Shut it, both of y." Billy grumbles. "I'll be over at 9, Harrington. You're going if I have t' drag you."

"I said I'd go. Jesus." Steve gives Billy a dirty look. The guy has gotten it in his head lately that he's gonna make it his daily goal to find ways to annoy Steve.

Billy leaves and Stevie scowls at the door before looking up at Steve. "He's loud. It scare me."

Steve smoothes a hand over her hair. "He does, huh?" he looks down at Stevie and smiles, "I'll tell him to calm down, 'kay?"

"Fank you. I gonna go to aunt Wobin now. But I come right back." Stevie slips off his lap and makes her way over, instantly picked up by Robin. As she sees the movie Gremlins, she reaches for it and Robin laughs. "Sparkles, they don't stay fluffy the whole movie."

"Why not?"

"Because someone fed them after midnight." Barb answers, laughing. "Did you get tired of watching the basketball game, bub?"

"No. Just wanted to come t' you for a while."

CONTINUED

The afternoon is dragging by for him. Hardly anyone's come in since 9 that morning and the pattern seems destined to continue. Then there's a steady drizzle from a surprise afternoon storm as the rain drops pitter patter against the stores tin sheet roofing. Robin and Barb went to get the four of them some lunch and Steve flips the sign on the door from open to closed.

Stevie is asleep in his chair at the circular desk, huddled into a jacket he kept in back in case the store got too cold. The bag of gummy bears is dangling from her fingertips and about to settle on the floor when he decides maybe she'd be more comfortable on the couch in the office besides the break room.

But he's so damn tired, the 2 to 3 hours he's been getting a night since late March, those are catching up to him. He tells himself he'll just sit there and read a magazine while she naps but it turns into him laying down too, on the opposite side of the couch. And at some point, Stevie wakes up, comes over to where he's laying and crawls onto the couch with him, laying on his chest with her little arms around his neck.

This is how they're still sleeping when Barb and Robin come back a few minutes later. Barbs the one to find them and with a finger to her lips, she gestures for Robin to come to the door of the office. Robin peers in over Barb's shoulder, smiling to herself.

"Hang on. I actually think I have my camera with me out in the car." Barb hurries out to go get the camera and Robin stands in thr doorway watching the two of them sleeping on the old leather sofa. "___ is totally wrong in thinking Stevie is going to annoy Steve and I think this is exactly what he needs right now."

After Barb takes the picture, she and Robin decide to put the fast food they picked up for Steve and Stevie into the microwave and just let them sleep.

You make your way in, a brow raised at the silence. You're still processing the fact that somehow, you impressed the office interviewing you so much that you got the job. Robin grabs your wrist and practically pulls you to the office in back so you can see the way Steve and Stevie are sleeping on the couch.

"I hope she didn't bother him all day."

"She didn't. They crashed while we went to pick up food. Steve hasn't been sleeping at all and I think Stevie playing with Will when he came in with the other kids earlier tired her right out." Robin smiles, "by the way, Steve's kids have adopted her.. well, Max, she's still warming up to her but..pretty sure if you want a sitter all you have to do is say so."

"Steve's kids?" you question, brow raised. This leads to Barb and Robin sitting you down in the little break room and as they tell you everything, from the start to what’s only just come to a close -hopefully for good, as of March, you're gaping. “You..He.. Oh my god, why did nobody stop it? Like.. they had to know, right?” you’re looking at your cousin in concern and if you thought Robin Buckley  was a badass before, you really believe it now. Because all she does is shrug it off as if it were nothing. 

"The running joke is that Steve's kind of adopted them all..because we've been through so much." Robin goes quiet. Weighing how much she can tell you without you freaking out on her. Even thinking about the insanity she’s been through the past few years is still a lot for Robin to get her own head around, let alone try explaining it to someone else. 

"Wait..back up." You're trying to process it all, from secret government science labs to these kids -and their teenage counterparts, including Steve and Robin, having to fight as if they were in a war just to save the town. Robin can see you freaking out so she explains quickly, "Billy,Dustin Eddie and Steve saw the portal close because Eddie almost didn't make it up. That nightmare is over now, thank God."

,, well, you think to yourself, now I'm really fucked when it comes to finding a reason, any reason at all to keep from getting feelings for the guy." and of course, this is quickly overruled by one thought.

He's in the prime of his life. He probably wants to enjoy that. He probably doesn't want you and all your baggage plus your daughter. And thankfully, this is just enough, for now, to keep you from letting yourself get in too deep. 

Steve wanders in with Stevie on his hip and his hair sticking up everywhere. Stevie has never liked waking up before she's ready so she's got her sour face on. Steve hasn't said a word to anybody, he possibly hasn't noticed the three of you sitting at the table in the break room or the way you're staring hard right now yet.

He heats up Stevies food and then his own and when he turns around, he finds himself being watched intently by the three of you.

You smile at your daughter. Everything Robin's just gone into detail to tell you comes rushing back and in light of it, you decide that maybe he needs this. Maybe it's okay to let her seek him out until he says otherwise.

"Did you have a nap, cupcake?"

Stevie is still yawning. Steve sits her chicken nuggets down on the table and Stevie climbs into your lap to eat them. "We did, mama! And we watched movies and this boy came and he gived me crayons!" Stevie digs in the old and faded backpack until she finds the crayons that Will gave her earlier.

You laugh softly. 

"How'd the thing..the interview go?" Steve asks, locking eyes with you as he bites into his own double cheeseburger. 

"How did that go?" Robin asks.

" I got the job. And they're willing to let me bring Stevie if I need to." You smile. 

Steve is staring. And as you smile, he feels himself smile too because there is just something beautiful, something contagious about your smile that he can't help but do it too. 

"That's great!"Robin hugs you and you both laugh. 

"I start tomorrow. I'm working in the mornings, so open to 2?" 

You're excited. Maybe everything will finally start to go better for you and your little girl.

[slutforstabbings-archive]

The Penpal

Only an hour an a half late to my own party! lol Here's my fic inspired by my news article about survivor!Corey and my conversations with @cordelium and @toxicanonymity!

survivor!inmate!Corey Cunningham x fem!Reader

As someone who grew up with awareness of Michael Myers despite not living in Haddonfield, you were gripped by the news of what happened on Halloween 2022. You reached out to Corey with a letter, and your correspondence became more than you ever dreamed it would.

contents/warnings - descriptions of prison, court, etc, family angst, handjob, riding, rough doggy

6,264 words

@rebel-blue @nachtmahr666 @wolvesandvampires @multifandom--mess @ethanhoewke @hersweetrevenge

18+, minors dni

Corey Cunningham. The man, the myth, the legend. The psycho babysitter, acquitted of aggravated manslaughter. The Michael Myers copycat who survived several severe injuries to become a celebrity during his murder trial. And, officially this afternoon, your husband. 

You made the long drive to Chester from Chicago yesterday and stayed in a hotel overnight so you would be well rested for today. You go down to the hotel lobby in sweats and smash the continental breakfast before returning to your room on the third floor to get ready. As you wait for the tub to fill with water and steam clouds the bathroom, you reflect on the past year and a half, how a single letter changed your entire life.

<3 <3 <3

On November 1st you woke up to a barrage of texts from your cousin Kristin who lives in Monmouth, 20 minutes from a cursed small town. Growing up she was always so obsessed with The Boogeyman of Haddonfield, a mixture of fear and fascination. As teenagers she would always call you when she was babysitting, after the kids went to sleep. You would stay on the phone with her, just in case, even when it wasn’t anywhere near Halloween. You opened your eyes to a crisp fall morning, looked at your phone, and saw the messages. 

11:30

HE CAME BACK AGAIN 

HE CAME BACK AGAIN AND THEY KILLED HIM AND HES ACTUALLY DEAD THIS TIME

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT

I don’t have any other details yet but they fucking did it!!!! They killed the boogeyman!!!!

12:15

Oh my god they put him in an industrial shredder of some kind???? 

They turned Michael Myers into fucking ground beef!!!

12:48

Corey Cunningham is involved somehow!?? 

There’s a lot of rumors and conflicting information but 

it seems like he either killed someone or was killed by someone who thought he was Michael?? 

1:03

Okay not much more clarity on the Corey Cunningham thing, we still don’t know how what happened to him relates to Michael but he was shot AND stabbed and they found him in Laurie Strode’s house!? But he’s ALIVE and they airlifted him somewhere up by you. What a wild fucking night. Jesus Christ.

Kristin had told you all about Corey Cunningham. You remembered the news articles she’d sent you, the photos of him they ran in the local paper. You felt deeply for the guy, what a horrible case of wrong place, wrong time. And it couldn’t have happened to someone more gorgeous, which felt like it increased the tragedy, even though it shouldn’t. His face still lingered in your mind all this time later, coming to you as soon as you read his name. While you were very interested in what could’ve led to Michael Myers being turned into “ground beef,” you were much more concerned with what would happen with Corey.

In the following days and weeks, Kristin kept the updates coming. Much of what she told you wasn’t supposed to be public knowledge, but she had a loose lipped friend of a friend in the Warren County Sheriff's Office. Michael’s final rampage had left 12 dead. It would be 13 if Corey didn’t survive, he was in the ICU in a medically induced coma. Laurie and her granddaughter Allyson had killed Michael and taken his body to a junkyard to drop it in the metal shredder. 

Then, suddenly, the police weren’t so sure all 12 victims had been Michael’s. They weren’t sure any of them had been. They found Corey’s fingerprints and DNA, clear as day, incontestable, on a glass door at one of the scenes. Everyone who died was connected to him somehow, including both of his parents. Laurie gave a statement that Corey had stolen Michael’s infamous mask and emulated him in a murder spree for days leading up to Halloween. When he woke up, if he woke up, he’d be arrested. 

He occupied your thoughts for the whole month of November. A sick obsession you couldn’t shake. For years Kristin had told you about the way people talked about him, how even though he’d been acquitted, people treated him like he was just as bad as Michael. You read everything you could about him. It wasn’t hard for you to understand how being told you’re evil every day could make you snap — they wanted it, and he gave it to them. 

The cops were keeping the hospital Corey was in out of the news, but when word came along the grapevine that he had woken up and been moved out of the ICU, you asked Kristin to find out. She gleefully delivered. You wrote him a letter. Really you wrote so many letters you lost count, trying and failing to express your sympathy, your hope that he would recover and beat the charges, struggling to decide what tone the letter should take. Finally you felt like you had done the best you could, and you dropped it in the mail. You weren’t sure why you did it, or what you expected to come from it. Something in you just needed to reach out to him. To let him know, even after everything, he wasn’t alone. 

<3 <3 <3

  You sink into the bathtub. You never thought you would get married. The whole thing always seemed so hokey and archaic. But only spouses and children are entitled to unsupervised family visits at the prison. You can’t keep spending every visit you make with a guard breathing down your neck, barking at you every time you dare to reach across the table for Corey’s hand, timing your hugs when you get there and when you leave. Sporadic phone calls and driving 6 hours to sit across from him for 45 minutes once a week aren’t enough. It was a hell of a lot of paperwork, and you feared that the publicity your relationship had received during the trial would lead the warden to prohibit the wedding, but after months of red tape, you finally got the word. The marriage was approved. 

You slather your legs in gritty body scrub, massaging scratchy circles. When you trust that all the dead skin has been obliterated, you plunge your legs back below the surface of the water. Bubbles plume around you. You want your skin to be silky for Corey. You know he’s touch starved in there. Affection between inmates is highly frowned upon, and he doesn’t have many friends anyway. 

The other prisoners resent his notoriety. More than once you’d come for a visit and his beautiful features were hidden from you under bruises and swelling from getting jumped again. When you expressed your concern, Corey just smirked. “You should see the other guy,” he told you. You worry about him, but you’d be lying if you denied feeling a little pang between your legs when you think about how dangerous he is. You believe the other guy looks much worse.

<3 <3 <3

11 days after you sent your letter, you stopped in your apartment building’s mail room after work. Your mailbox was stuffed with what looked like the usual stack of garbage, but as you shuffled the envelopes on your way up the stairs something different caught your eye. A handwritten address, and not one of those bullshit fake handwritten ones from the cable company. You broke into a sprint, zooming up the remaining flights of stairs to your apartment. You slammed the door behind you prompting your roommate to shout at you from their bedroom. The sound of their protests barely registered. Hands trembling, you opened the envelope. 

You read Corey’s response, and then you read it again. And a third time, still leaning against the front door of your apartment. The officer assigned to guard my room is writing this for me. I can’t move my arms yet, he began. Your letter meant a lot to me. I’ve been awake for two weeks today and you’re the first person who isn’t a nurse, a cop, or a lawyer that I’ve heard from. The letter was brief and a little stilted, but that was understandable. He probably had to be very careful, especially since he was dictating directly to a cop, not to say anything that could be used against him in court. 

You sent your reply the next morning. After that his response came quicker, and again you sent something back right away, including a photo of yourself at his request. A few days before Christmas you heard from Kristin that Corey’s address at the hospital had gotten out, been published somewhere online. In his next reply Corey himself confirmed it. I’m getting a ton of letters now… They want me to write a book and turn the book into a movie… I’ve never gotten this much attention before… I always look for something from you first. But the most interesting part of that particular letter came at the end. 

You’re so pretty. I had them prop the photo you sent up on my bedside table. I can move a little more now, so I can actually look at it. I hope that’s not weird. I talked to my lawyer about putting you on my visitor’s list. You should get a letter from his office soon. He’ll help, if you want to come see me. That’s all I want for Christmas. 

<3 <3 <3 

Fully clean, exfoliated, and conditioned, you rise from the tub. You’ve had butterflies in your stomach all morning, but they multiply as you dry off and look at yourself in the mirror. You’re starting to realize why more traditional brides tend to have huge entourages around them. Despite your disdain for marriage as an institution and your unconventional circumstances, you still wish there was someone here. Someone who was happy for you and could make sure the back of your hair looks okay. But nobody in your life even knows about this except for Kristin. The prison doesn’t allow guests at weddings, so she stayed home. You still should’ve asked her to come, to be there before and after.

You do your hair and makeup under the bright vanity lights. You always try to look your best when you visit Corey, but today is a special occasion. If not the wedding, then what happens after. Your first time getting more than 45 minutes with him in months, your first time alone with him in longer. You think about his hands. What a special pair of hands. Broad and freckled and strong. A huge, gnarled scar across his left palm. The hands that wrote you all those letters. The hands that took 10 lives and have broken countless bones in the other inmates’ faces, but would never ever touch you with anything other than love. You finally get to feel them on your skin again today. And that makes everything worth it.

You go to the closet and take out a long garment bag. You lay the bag on the bed and pull the zipper down. You can’t help but laugh. When the wedding was approved, the prison sent you a massive list of requirements, including a ridiculously long and yet somehow vague dress code. Nothing too full skirted or too heavily beaded. No cleavage. No trains. No veils. That was all fine with you, a cupcake shaped Cinderella gown doesn’t exactly seem appropriate for a prison wedding with no guests, even if the rules allowed it. You just picked something simple, and as sexy as possible without violating the rules. Corey doesn’t know anything about the dress, you tried to talk to him about it and he shut you down. “The groom’s not supposed to know anything about the dress until he sees it,” he told you. Well if he wanted to find room to be a little bit traditional, you could do that too. Turns out you look pretty good in white.

<3 <3 <3

It took until a week into the New Year because everyone was out of the office for the holidays, but you gave Corey his Christmas present. It was extremely awkward at first, sitting in the hard chair next to his hospital bed, a cop leaning against the wall in the corner, pretending not to be listening. He was handcuffed to the bed, just like in the picture you’d seen in your newsfeed that morning. He beckoned subtly for you to lean in towards him and he whispered to you. “My lawyer took that photo. He leaked it himself. He thinks it’ll help people see me sympathetically.” The cop in the corner yelled at him for whispering. You leaned back away from Corey, but he smirked at you. You loved being his conspirator.

The photo of him in the hospital worked. It sparked massive outrage that someone in his condition would be handcuffed. Where did they think he was gonna go? It seemed needlessly cruel, even for a murder suspect. It succeeded in making him more sympathetic with everyone… except your family. 

When they found out you had written to him, they could understand why you might want to send a letter or two. They knew about Kristin’s fixation on Michael Myers and that you two were close. Everyone had felt bad for Corey and rooted for him during his manslaughter trial. Around letter number three is when they started to be weird about it. The case against him was mounting, more details were being released. Some of the victims died in really horrific ways, didn’t you understand that it wasn’t just a terrible misunderstanding happening to a handsome young man this time?

They were the ones who didn’t understand. The more you learned about Corey, from the news, from his letters, from the old coverage of his manslaughter trial that you’d been revisiting, the more you believed in him. Not in his innocence necessarily — you didn’t know how to feel about that, going back and forth from being certain he did to to being certain he didn’t. But you believed in his heart. If he did it, he did it for a good reason. That DJ that died had spent years promoting insane theories about him being a part of a cult that worshiped Michael or some bullshit. You couldn’t imagine what that would do to even the kindest of people. 

When you got home from the hospital, they were waiting to confront you. Visits were the last straw. It was one thing to be a murderer’s penpal. It was quite another to hang out with him. What could you stand to gain from this, they wanted to know. Apparently genuine connection with another human being was not the answer they were looking for, and hybristophilia wasn’t a funny joke. You just stopped talking to them about him. They knew, or at least suspected that you were still visiting him, that when you were “busy” every weekend you were really with Corey. But if you didn’t talk about it, it wasn’t a problem. 

When he was discharged from the hospital, Corey’s lawyer worked to get him on a pre-trial release program where he could be on house arrest instead of in jail until the trial was over. He wasn’t supposed to have visitors unsupervised, but you did spend a few glorious hours alone with him, once. He’d been in pre-trial release for a few weeks and realized his release officer was overworked and underpaid and would not be paying very close attention to him. Corey had a short term lease in a shitty apartment building, the only place his lawyer could find with a landlord that agreed to host an alleged murderer on house arrest. 

You stood on the stained, threadbare carpet outside his apartment, heart beating in your throat, vibrating with anticipation. You’d planned your visit in innuendo, pretending to tell each other about books you’d been reading, things you’d been up to. The building is really old and drafty, but at least I don’t have bugs, he’d written. The b in bugs in cursive, despite his usual cramped print. Bugs. He’d checked to make sure he wasn’t being listened to. In his coded way, he told you not to knock. So you stood there, kneading the floor with your sneakers, trusting he would check for you through the peephole soon. 

Then the door swung open, and there he was. Standing up! No spinal halo, no neck brace, in sweatpants and a t-shirt instead of a hospital gown. His survival was so miraculous, you kind of never thought you’d get to see him like this. Heat flooded your cheeks as you made eye contact with him. He reached out and grabbed your wrist with his giant hand, gently pulling you into the apartment and into his chest as he closed the door. You were so unprepared for that first hug. You’d never gotten so wet from just a hug before, but feeling his arms slide around your waist made you gush. 

He couldn’t stand up for very long yet, so he led you to the couch. He sat in the corner, half against the back, half against the arm stacked with pillows, and folded one leg towards him. You sat sideways to face him. He asked about your job, what was going on in the world out there, you asked him how he was adjusting to life outside the hospital bed. The arousal you felt from the hug refused to subside. You found yourself struggling to focus on the conversation, inching closer to him, watching his lips while he complained about how uncomfortable the ankle monitor was. 

“Can I see it?” You asked.

“If you want to,” he said. He pulled the hem of his pants back on the leg folded on the couch between the two of you, and there it was, a little green light on it blinking. Your nails were longer than Corey’s and your fingers were more slender, so you slipped the tips of them under the strap and scratched. His lips parted in a sigh. 

“Be careful. It has a sensor thing, so they know if you’re fucking with it.”

“Okay,” you whispered, scratching and rubbing all the way around his thick ankle, trying to jostle the monitor as little as possible. “Is that better?”

You looked up from his ankle to his face, and caught sight of an imprint in his sweatpants on the way up. 

“Yeah, much better. Thank you,” he breathed. 

You leaned in to him, pulled as if by a magnet. “No problem,” you said, face only inches away from his. You hovered, basking in the tension between you, until he brought his hand to cup your jaw and urged you towards him, closing the gap.

The warmth of his lips set your whole body alight. Your heart raced. You wanted to pounce on him but you had to be gentle. It was painful to restrain yourself, and you could tell he had the same problem. But you would take him any way you could get him. You took his top lip into your mouth and ran the tip of your tongue across it, following its gorgeous arch. He sank his teeth into your bottom lip.  You moaned into his mouth, and he groaned back, reaching out to put his hands on your hips. You could tell from the way he dug his fingers in that if he had the strength, he would be yanking you into his lap, so you hurried to straddle him. 

You hiked your skirt up to set your soaking panties directly on the bulge in his pants, rocking your hips ever so slightly.

“I’ve wanted you since you sent me that picture,” he said in a strained voice. “I hoped you would be pretty, but I didn’t expect you to be so pretty.” 

“I have you beat. I’ve wanted you since I saw your mugshot in 2019.”

“You have?” He asked, looking at you in confused wonder.

“I thought you were devastatingly hot, and it’s even worse in person. I was almost your 14th alleged victim the first time I saw you in person.” 

His face changed from awestruck to a cocky, almost creepy smile. You leaned back from him, standing up off the couch and his smile only got bigger as you took off your shirt and dropped your skirt to the floor. In just your underwear and a simple bralette  you sunk to your knees in front of him. You put one hand on his thigh and the other on his cock, wrapping your fingers around the shape of it through the fabric, stroking him slowly. His smile fell as his face went slack with pleasure. He put his hands over yours, encouraging your stroking hand, weaving between the fingers of your free hand, and you clenched your thighs together as he moaned your name.

You relished making him feel good, treasuring every second with him, so it was extremely difficult to resist just making him cum, sitting on your heels, looking up into those beautiful eyes. But this might be your only chance to feel him inside you, ever. 

“I brought a condom,” you purred. 

“You- ah- you did?” he panted. 

You slipped the fingers of the hand not stroking him out of his grasp and reached behind you into the pocket of your skirt. You held the little foil packet up for him to see and he made a deep, guttural sound. With some shuffling yourselves and the pillows around, you wound up straddling Corey’s lap again, naked and hovering over his latex-sheathed cock. You planted your hands on the back of the couch on either side of his shoulders and lowered yourself down onto him. You let out a long, high whimper as you settled onto his length. For a moment you just rested there, mentally pinching yourself to make sure it wasn’t a dream. You were really doing this, getting this close to Corey Cunningham. 

You had to ride him carefully, deliberately, not to hurt him. Every nerve in your body strained as you fought your desire to fuck him, until the frustration itself became erotic for both of you, intensifying the sensations of your gentle movements. When his hands went from resting on your hips to grabbing them, you knew he was close. The thought alone pushed you over the edge and you dropped your face to his shoulder to muffle your whimpers, letting out the ecstasy vocally rather than in frantic spasms that might jostle him too much. Hearing you, feeling you clench, Corey followed suit, cursing and calling your name. 

“Is the state paying for this?” You wondered, looking around. You’d both put your underwear back on, but didn’t get any more dressed than that, wanting to maintain skin contact as you sat together on the couch, enjoying the post-sex haze.

“I am. My life’s savings,” he sighed. “It’s not like I’m gonna need it.”

“Don’t say that. You don’t know that.” You admonished him, but really you were saying it for yourself. You couldn’t let go of the tiny sliver of hope that he would beat the charges.

“Do you think I did it?” Corey asked after a few moments of silence.

“What?” You replied, caught off guard.

“Do you think I’m innocent? Or do you think I’m guilty?” 

“I… don’t know. The evidence I know about is… pretty damning.” You said falteringly, shifting uncomfortably against him. You’d considered what all the potential outcomes would mean to you. Could you keep seeing him if he really was a murderer? You knew the answer, had known since you heard about the boy who died with the torch in his mouth. Kristin had shared the crime scene photos with you. They were truly grisly, and for days afterwards, the specter of that burnt out face lingered when you closed your eyes. But even being fully confronted with the reality of what he - allegedly - did to those people, you felt nothing but affection for him. Still, you didn’t like the conversation. It seemed inadvisable. He’d checked for bugs but you still couldn’t quite relax.

“Would you be afraid of me, if I told you I really did it?” 

“No,” you barely whispered. 

“Jeremy, the kid I was babysitting? That really was an accident,” he began. And then he told you everything. Everything, everything. His whole life story, all the things it was too risky to say in his letters. You were still nervous about surveillance, but once he started talking it was like he couldn’t stop. And you couldn’t stop listening either. It was such a rush to hear him describe the kill. You felt all his emotions with him as he spoke. Heartbreak. Elation. Rage. 

“You shouldn’t have told me all that,” you said when he finished. You adjusted your position on the couch to look at him better. “I’m so glad you shared it with me, but… They know we’re close. What if they call me as a witness?”

“I’m gonna make sure they don’t need to,” he said, eyes darkening. 

“How?”

“You said it yourself. The evidence is pretty damning. The case against me is strong, and I can help the jury decide I’m guilty. The state won’t add you as a witness at the last minute if they feel like they’re winning.”

“Does your lawyer know you’re planning something?”

“No. He told me they didn’t have a case at all. Because of Michael complicating things. So I plead not guilty. But now they have a case. My fingerprints and my DNA at every crime scene. Even though I didn’t shoot Ronald, they’re charging me with that too. My fingerprints were on the gun.”

“Were you going to kill him?” You asked, morbidly curious. 

“I hadn’t decided yet,” Corey admitted. “If he had just stayed in the office… It doesn’t matter now.”

For a moment you looked at each other in silence. 

“How are you going to help the jury?

Corey chuckled a mirthless, black chuckle. “I’ve been researching all these other famous killers. Gein, Gacy, Dahmer, Bundy, Ramirez, the Manson Family. It’s practically a tradition to do crazy shit in the courtroom. The papers are all calling me a copycat. Why not keep copying?” 

“Corey, that’s insane,” you protested.

“I am the psycho babysitter.” He took your hand and stroked your knuckles. “Do you want to help me?”

“Help you get life in prison on purpose?” 

You remembered when he whispered to you in the hospital, how good it felt to conspire with him, to tuck his secret into your pocket, where not even Kristin would know. The idea of going to such lengths with him was so tempting, but you wanted him to put up a fight, to argue that the cops already had it out against him because of his history. All he needed to do was give them one little reasonable doubt. 

“Look, I’ve been through this before,” he reminded you. “It’s hell. I already know I’m guilty in most people’s minds. There is no getting off this time. There’s only a guilty verdict, or a hung jury, and then I have to do it all again. I want it to be over quickly. I don’t want to wait two weeks for a verdict again. I wanna rip the bandaid off.” His gaze was so intense, you knew he meant it.

“Okay,” you agreed. 

<3 <3 <3

When you pull up to the prison, you follow all your usual rituals. Turning your phone off and putting it in the glovebox, giving yourself a pre-pat down pat down to make sure you didn’t slip up and bring something prohibited. You check your hair and makeup in the rearview mirror one last time before heading inside.

You and Corey aren’t the only couple getting married today. The prison does weddings in batches. You’re shuffled into the visitation room with two other women, and a man. They’ve arranged the cafeteria style tables to somewhat resemble an aisle and an alter, and the prison chaplain stands at the far end of the room, prepared to officiate, assembly line style. 

You sit anxiously on the edge of your seat, waiting for the prisoners to be brought in. A loud buzzer sounds and the door on the other side of the visitation room swings open. There he is, shackles around his ankles, handcuffs on his wrists, shuffling behind the other inmates. When he sees you his jaw drops in disbelief. You smile and wrinkle your nose at him. 

Luckily the two of you are the second couple in line. When it’s your turn, a guard removes the cuffs from Corey’s hands, but not the ones around his ankles. You meet him at the end of the “aisle” and you’re thankful for all the experience you’ve had restraining yourself with him, holding back the force of your affection to be within the rules. Practice has made perfect.

The prison chaplain runs through the standard wedding vow script. You sign the marriage license and hand the pen to Corey. You just got fucking married. You’re allowed one brief kiss. Then a guard comes over with a polaroid camera and takes two pictures, one for each of you, before they put the cuffs back on Corey’s wrists and lead you out of the visitation room. 

Rather than going through the prison, you’re escorted out into the yard and around the side of the building. The guard buzzes you through several doors and leads the way down a long hall. Finally you come to a door that sits ajar. Inside is a little room that reminds you of the dorm you lived in as a freshman in college. More than just a bedroom, but not quite a whole studio apartment, full of simple, sterile furniture. The guard releases Corey from his restraints, both sets this time, then locks you into the room with him for the next 6 hours. 

You stand motionless next to Corey as the sound of the guard’s footsteps retreat down the hallway. When you can’t hear them anymore, you turn towards him and break into a massive smile.

“Hi,” you say.

“Hey,” he replies, grinning back.

Then you collide. Kissing messily, hungrily, violently. He wraps his arms around your waist and crushes you against him with surprising strength. You cling to him, desperate to get closer, wanting to eliminate the space between you all the way down to the molecular level. 

Within seconds his thick fingers are roaming, trying to figure out how to get your dress off of you. Still kissing him, his tongue filling your mouth, you put the bottom hem of your dress in his hand. He gathers it up around your waist and holds it in one big fist while the other hand cups and kneads your ass. You feel a hot flood between your legs, and your clit throbs. You rake his scalp with your fingernails as you step out of your shoes. 

He hooks his thumb in the waistband of your underwear and yanks them down to your thighs, before returning to get a handful of ass cheek. You can feel his rock hard cock against your stomach. You push against him, trying to get enough space to actually get undressed, but he won’t let you get farther away from him than a centimeter.

“Corey,” you say against his lips, “We have all night.” 

He groans, but he lets you pull away from him. You pull your dress up over your head and drape it over the back of one of the chairs at the little table in the room. Then you step back into him and take over undoing the buttons on the front of his jumpsuit. You get all the way to the bottom and push the sleeves off his shoulders and halfway down his arms before you look away from his face.

“Holy shit. When did all this happen?” You hiss in awe.

When you had been with him before, he was weak from his time in the hospital. Not small, he wasn’t built in a way that would let him be truly small, but he’d lost a lot of muscle just laying there for weeks. You could tell he’d bulked up some since then, but the jumpsuit obscured the true extent of his progress. You squeeze one of his biceps and he flexes it in your hand. The muscle hardening under your hand makes your clit throb.

That isn’t the only surprise though. He’s got tattoos. So many tattoos. He’d mentioned to you on the phone that he was trying to figure out how to build a tattoo machine, that he liked the intellectual challenge presented by his limited resources, but you had no idea it was going to be used on him. 

“I guess you got that tattoo machine working.”

He laughs. “I was gonna tell you, but when we started trying to get married, I thought you might like the surprise.”

“I do,” you half moan, half giggle. 

You squat in front of him and pull the jumpsuit the rest of the way off of him, leaving him in a tight thin tank and his prison issue briefs, already so wet with precum they’re see through in that spot. You ache to have him inside you. You rub your hands over his thighs, then slide them under his shirt as you stand back up. He reaches behind you and unhooks your bra. You let the straps slide down your arms and drop it to the floor. 

Corey grabs your hips and pulls you in for a hard kiss, then uses his grip on you to spin you around, so your back is pressed against him. The desire to grind back against his cock overtakes you immediately, and you thrust your hips into him hard. He reaches under your arms to grab your tits, massaging them, pinching your nipples. Your underwear are still pulled halfway down and you can feel his wetness on your skin. You let out a deep moan. 

The room is narrow and it only takes a gentle push from Corey for you to be on the bed on your hands and knees. He pulls your underwear the rest of the way off and finishes undressing himself. You requested condoms on one of the hundreds of forms you filled out to get married, and the prison provided three in silver foil on the little table. As Corey unwraps one and slides it over his raging erection, you wiggle your hips, putting on a show for him. 

“Fuck,” he huffs, stepping toward the edge of the bed. 

You feel the mattress sink as he kneels behind you, lining himself up. He rubs the tips of his cock against your pussy, tracing circles outside your entrance. You look back over your shoulder at him. His chest and face are flushed a deep red and his eyes look almost black. The sight is too much to take and you jerk your hips towards him. He takes the hint and slides himself in, all the way in. 

You both cry out in unison. Corey pulls almost all the way out of you, then slams back into you, so hard you both lurch forward. Your knees slip out from under you and you end up flat on your stomach with your arms pinned under your chest. He comes down with you, but catches himself with his arms on either side of your head. 

Corey pounds you. You thought you’d been fucked before, but you had been mistaken. This is fucking. With every thrust, the bed hits the wall and bounces off. He’s so deep, hitting just the right spot, so fast and so hard your moans all blend together into one long wail. He presses his forehead between your shoulder blades as he slams you into the thin mattress. It feels so good, all your other thoughts completely dissolve. You get one arm out from under you and wrap that hand around his veiny, freckled forearm. Your fingers don’t even make it halfway around. 

Your long, unbroken sound changes from a moan to his name, spelled with 100 O’s. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he grunts. 

It feels so insane, you don’t think it could possibly feel better, but the pleasure builds and it does. It feels better and better and better until you unravel completely, knowing you're screaming but unable to hear it, the orgasm ravaging your whole body. And it doesn’t stop. Corey keeps thrusting and you keep cumming, your vision going white until finally, with a growl of your name, he collapses the rest of the way, all his weight crushing you. 

You take the deepest breaths you can with him pinning you down, your brain completely fried, until you’re brought back to earth by him pulling out and standing up. You roll onto your back and groggily watch him remove the condom, tossing it into a small trash can under the table. A shy smile crosses his face when he sees you watching. He lies down next to you and puts his arms around you gently, all the animal lust gone from him for the moment. 

“I love you, Corey Cunningham,” you say. 

“I love you too, Mrs. Cunningham,” he says. You both laugh. 

Your eyes fall onto the clock on the wall behind him. You have five hours and two condoms left and you intend to get everything you can out of them.

end note:

While writing this, I found out that Illinois actually does not have conjugal visits or any kind of private spousal or family visitation for prisoners. Most states don't. And many prisoners never even get letters. If you have the time and inclination, I highly suggest getting in contact with a service that provides prisoners with pen pals. Many of them let you choose to only write letters to people serving certain types of sentences for your comfort, for example if you want to write to someone serving life, or if you'd prefer to only talk to those convicted of non-violent offenses. No matter what crimes they may have committed, prisoners are people and people need connection and support.

And if you think the whole system is broken, I highly recommend reading about prison abolition.

[aita-blorbos]

wibta for continuing to refuse to tell my dad about my existence for over a year?

so i (24nb) was raised in new york by my mom with my 3 half-siblings, and spent a lot of my early life wondering about my dad (who i’d never met, and my mom didn’t know much about, lol) long story short some shit happened, i got disowned by my mom and still have a relationship with my older half-brother (jury’s still out on my younger half-siblings but i dont expect them to talk to me anytime soon lol) and so i was basically… drifting for several years until i found myself in california and settled down, went to college, and then for… complicated reasons the city i was in basically became an active warzone. my (now) fiancee (27f) saved me and i finished college and started a business as a pi. funnily enough, even though i wasn’t still actively looking for info anymore, i have a pretty distinctive appearance, and based on that and some timeline clues i was able to figure out who my dad is. i was unsure whether to pursue a relationship with that side of my family or whatever bc i already had a pretty established life outside of my family and being on my own has been kinda. a staple of my life since i was 15, but it didn’t matter as much bc he and his sibling were missing, so the only member of that family i had access to was my cousin.

which is where we get to him

so my cousin (27m) grew up thinking he was an orphan in some cult, i think he thought his parents were dead or didnt want him or something? anyways, when he was about 19 he met my dad (now 46m, at the time 38). he didn’t know my dad was his uncle at the time, but evidently my dad figured out who my cousin was pretty quick. my dad then made the decision to continue working with my cousin to fight, uh, some bad people, but did not tell the cousin about them being related. for about 6 years.

eventually my cousin’s parent (46???) resurfaces (they all thought he was dead lol) and a lot of shit happened (including that uh… whole city-being-a-warzone thing i mentioned) and it basically came out that my cousin’s parent was, well, my cousin’s parent. and then immediately after both his parent and my dad disappeared on an… extended business trip and went missing. three years later, my fiancee is dying of cancer, and decides to go on a trip to look for some experimental treatments to get rid of the cancer. after a few months of her gone, my dad and his sibling return, and two months after that, my fiancee returns (apparently she found them and got them brought back?)

a week before this, a friend of my fiancee’s (23f) went missing, and i started a search for her, but i realized there was a lot more going on than i bargained for, so after my fiancee went back, we made the decision to seek outside help. this help happened to come in the form of my dad, and his company. so basically i had to talk to my dad whether i was ready to or not, and since i definitely wasn’t, i made the decision to keep certain things from him. like the fact that he’s my dad.

so we’ve been working together for a while (we found the friend, he just also enlists my help as a pi for other cases sometimes) and i just… haven’t told him yet. here’s the fun part.

so my dad has a habit of picking on his twin for not knowing he had a kid for 25 years. my dad thinks this is hilarious, his twin and my cousin, less so. i happen to turn 25 in a few months, so i thought it’d be hilarious to wait until i’m at least 25 to drop this on him. my cousin doesn’t know, but he’d think it’s HILARIOUS, but my fiancee thinks i should tell him bc from what we’ve gathered it sounds like he’s had a good bit of tragedy surrounding his family, and my fiancee knows what thats like. one of my dads coworkers who pieced things together thinks its funny, but agrees that i should probably tell him sooner rather than later. wibta for waiting, if only for the sake of being able to turn his own joke on him and make fun of *him* for also not knowing he had a kid for 25 years, and definitely not because i’m irrationally mad at him for not knowing i exist for that long?

the reason he doesn’t know who i am already is because i make it a point to hide the distinctive features that are pretty inherent to his side of the family, not because i’m trying that hard to hide who i am from him, but because i have certain people who i don’t want to be able to identify me.

also, i realize i may have made it sound like my dad is a cop or a vigilante. he’s not a cop, i’d want nothing to do with him if he was, and vigilante isn’t exactly accurate either. mercenary might be a better term here.

[heaven-s-black-box]

Notes- Modern Star Wars pt.1

Return to File

Recovery date: August 15th, 2022

Description: N/a

Notes: N/a

Parts: 1 2 3 4

Back to directory

- the jedi all go to the same temple, in this au the jedi religion is no different then being Jewish, Muslim, Christian, ect.

- Caleb and Cal are neighbors, they've been besties since kindergarten (I refuse to separate these two, they are now a pair)

- Caleb's nickname is Kanan

- masters= parents (adopted or bio, a few exception cases like Ahsoka and Ani, Obi wan and Ani, ect.)

- obi wan is qui gon's bio kid, Anakin was adopted

-Ahsoka is adopted by plo koon

- while I would love to include all clones, last time I tried that I fried my modern AU, so here's a more edited list with my faves

- Jango had Boba and Omega

- Rex and Cody are brothers, they're boba and omega's cousins

- the bad batch(quintuplets) + domino twins are brothers and are boba and omega's first cousin once removed (so Jango's aunt/uncle's kids)

- pretty much everyone in the fett family joins the military to some degree

-Bd-1 is Cal's small dog, C3P0 is a golden retriever (or possibly a service dog for Ani due to childhood trauma) and R2 is a cat (maybe a tuxedo), Chewwie is one of those big super fluffy dogs, Chopper is a ginger cat, and Jar Jar is Padme's overly excitable yippy dog (couldn't decide on a breed)

- Hera and Kanan eventually adopt a wolf dog they name Dume, Chopper hates sharing attention

- Kanan adopts Ezra

- Sabine is related to Bo-Katan and Satine (somehow, I know she's the same clan so extended family!)

- After meeting clan Wren (I am writing this as I watch Rebels) I have decided Ursa was Satine and Bo-Katan's adpoted first cousin once removed

- Hera is totally Airforce, like I feel like that's the closest to her role in rebels, her and Kanan met in highschool

- their song, which later became their first dance at their wedding, is "Ain't no mountain high enough"

- Zeb is another friend of theirs from highschool, he was a year or two younger

- Zeb is a security guard, Ezra is an animal conservationist (see him and Loth wolves), his parents had a radio show where they talked about endangered species

- Kanan is a firefighter (because irony) and Cal is an elementary school teacher who is in charge of his school's fencing club

- in this au Kanan's injury comes from a job, once he's blinded he joins Ezra in his work

- Cere is a highschool music teacher, Merin is a history teacher who also has an elective cultures course, and Greez is a freelance pilot who's business is definitely totally 100% legal(/s aka he takes some shady jobs)

- Cere and Greez are neighbors, Merin works at the same school as Cere, and she meets Cal through her

- Din obviously adopts Grogu at some point, and Luke volunteers at the temple's Sunday school which is where he meets them(???)

- I feel like Luke would own a martial arts school, Leia becomes a politician like her mum, Anakin would be a robotics engineer

- Satine is prime Minister of Mandalore, Bo- Katan is either military or lawyer (she strikes me as the lawyer type), Sabine was going to join the military but ended up pursuing an artistic career, Korki wants to go into politics like his aunt

- Mandalore works like the u.s where it's a bunch of small countries a trench coat, except they're more functional... mostly

- Obi wan is either a social worker (helping other kids like Anakin) or some kind of diplomat, he only became a diplomat cause he took a few classes to spend more time with a cute international student *cough* Satine *cough* and found he was good at diplomacy

- Plo Koon and Ahsoka are body guards/ security, Plo has his own company, Ahsoka started as being in charge of marketing (I consulted my mom for Ahsoka's job and she suggested marketing because she's so bubbly)

[roadtogracelandx45]

Current State of Affairs|3| Lee Dutton

part two

masterlist

Three: Lies Unraveled. 

After the main course was served, Lee pushed his chair back away from the table and grasped Spencer's hand before standing up and pulling her with him. "Excuse us." He nodded at their fathers and his siblings. Lewis had been sat at another table and he was furious, especially after the showdown he had with Frank, John, Royal, and the boys where he got called out on all of the things that they thought they knew.

 He had been under the impression that Spencer was a drama queen that acted out to get attention and what happened between them happened for a reason.

But of course, other people didn't see it that way, especially her father, uncle, and cousins. Before her second cousin Amy's birth, Spencer had been the only girl in the Abbott family so she was spoiled and used to getting things her way and Lewis was going out of his way to make sure that didn't happen with him. 

Shaking his head he watched as the older Dutton boy led his fiancée out of the dining room. He wanted to follow but the murderous look that was being directed at him by her cousins and how one of the Ranch hands, Billy stabbed the end of his steak knife into the tablecloth near his fingers stopped him.

He would go after her when this was all over. 

**

"Where are we going Lee?" she asked once all eyes were off of them and they were standing in the hallway. 

"Just come on." He ordered as he led her out of the house and towards where the tree house, that Spencer had been begged to build when Beth started spending more time over at her house after her mother's death and her father eager to appease any burned feelings by his divorcing her mother who later died. Frank had it built. It was not only a getaway for Beth but for Lee, Jamie, Kayce, and to a point Rip.

"I am not climbing that ladder in this dress or shoes.'

"You have before." He smirked, remembering how they spent New Year the first year that she and Kayce seriously started dating and there had been a fight between Frank and John that they didn't want to see, and so the girls climbed the ladder barefooted, the material of the skirts hiked up way past their knees. 

"I was also 16 and hadn't been drinking like I have tonight."  

"I will  be right behind you, you know I will never let you fall."

  Glancing back once at the party and then at the man that was standing in front of her, she toed off her heels and gathered them in her hand before grabbing a hold of the ladder to start climbing, grumbling as she did so. 

Lee smirked and glanced once back at the party himself then turned his attention back to Spencer who was about halfway up the ladder by then. 

“Lee?” He shook his head and motioned for her to keep climbing, he didn’t want her to know that he was looking to see if Lewis followed them. But he knew that Rip and her cousins had it in hand and they would take care of it.

***

The treehouse hadn’t changed much since the last time that Spencer had been in it right before she left for Yale.  The blankets and pillows that still lined the floor were still in blue and white, and the pictures from her days at the Rodeo still lined the walls along with her last crown still hanging on the corner of the picture frame. 

 “Wow, it hasn’t changed in 8 years,” Lee commented as he shrugged off his jacket and dropped it onto the hook. 

“No, it hasn’t, I think Leighla kept it like this just in case I came back.” She returned going over to the crown and plucking it up and twirling it between her fingers.

 “Why didn’t you come back before now?”

 “Because Lee, it hurt too much being here.” Her blue eyes followed him as he pulled his shirt out of his pants and went over to where they had stashed the bottles of red wine. 

“If I didn’t see my mama in the corners of the barn.”

 She was the one who found her mother in the barn after she killed herself, and was haunted by it for years. Having nightmares that were only soothed by drinking half a bottle of wine. It drove Lewis crazy, he thought that she should get over it, it had been 15 years since it happened and she tried to explain everything to him but he didn’t listen, and just didn’t care. It had always been Lee and Kayce who comforted her throughout it all. 

“I was reliving my relationship with Kayce. And the hurt of him picking Monica out of nowhere.”  The crown went around again, the rhinestone sparkling in the dull fairy lights, “I was reliving the hurt that I had from you walking away from me after we had sex like it was nothing. It was reliving those.” She trailed off, her eyes finally dropping to the crown that was keeping her hands busy. 

“Reliving what?’ He asked crossing the room handing her a full wine glass and taking the crown away from her, he wanted her to focus on their conversation and not on what was in her hands.  

“The feelings I had for you, the overwhelming feelings of I needed to be with you every single day or I would go crazy type of thing.”  She had heard Ryder’s husband Jax refer to their love like that one time and it just made a lot of sense, especially for how she felt about Lee.  In an instant he was in front of her again, his hand stealing to her waist and pulling her into him.  

“Spenc, I wanted to stay with you.” He started as she took several sips of her wine trying to slow down her rapidly beating heart. “I wanted to make you mine that day.” He paused to press a kiss to her forehead,  “But I had to think how it would have looked.” 

“How it would look? Since when did you care how anything would have looked?”  

“Since being in love and wanting to marry my little brother’s girlfriend would have been seen as a slap in the face to him. And we are all under the microscope with our last names and our reputation in town.” His fingers were playing with the zipper that was on the small of her back. 

“After mom’s death and your mother’s suicide, we didn’t need any more bad press.” 

“Look at you.” She teased, her free hand trailing over the crisp white shirt smoothing out the invisible wrinkles. Trying to be all forwarded thinking.” 

“Jamie is rubbing off on me.” He returned, “He wants good press for the Ranch and for his career.” Spencer rolled her eyes, that was one reason why she muted Jamie for so long, he did nothing but talk about his career and how he handled everything for Yellowstone. 

“He hasn’t changed in 8 years. Maybe a bit more annoying.” 

The older Dutton boy nodded his head with a laugh and slowly started lowering the zipper of the dress. By the end of the night, he was going to make sure she was his. And for her part, Spencer didn’t stop him, this is what she wanted. 

She wanted  Lee and wanted a relationship with him for years. 

And maybe Ryder and Beth were right, she should do what makes her happy.  For years Lee made her so happy.  Once upon a time she would get giddy just thinking about him. Hell even seeing him standing in the foyer next to his father and brother gave her butterflies. 

Butterflies she hadn’t felt in ages. 

"We can stop." He started as the empty wine glass she had her hand dropped to the ground and he pulled her in closer to him. 

"Don't you dare stop.' She muttered.

***

Lee trailed his fingers over the scars that lined her lower back and hips, scars that he had never seen before. "Lewis." She mumbled as she turned her head to look at him, "He won't ever leave marks where others can see them. He didn't want people to see what he did behind closed doors."  Her fingers grabbed a hold of his and moved it to the still fading red line that was under her bust, "This one happened after I went to see Uncle Royal, and the boys and I did a barrel race. I went down hard and bruised my hip to knee."

"You have had worst.' He commented as he ran his fingers over the scar and the undersell of her breast, 'Broke your collarbone and your leg.'

"I remember." She returned with a shiver, "You went with me in the back of the ambulance with my collar bone." 

She vaguely remembered a fight breaking out between him and Kayce and how the older Dutton appeared in her line of sight a few moments after the fight started.

 She never thought to ask about it. It was never one of those things she ever thought to ask about.  So she asked the one thing she could, "What're we going to do? I leave in 3 days to go back to New York." 

 Lee sighed heavily and rolled to where he was resting between her legs, his hand framing her face. "We will figure it out, Spence, I promise, I am not letting you go this time. Not without a fight." 

**

Kayce Dutton flashed on the screen of Beth's phone causing her to sigh, they had just left the Abbott Ranch, and the last thing she wanted to do with her father, Jamie, and Rip in the car was talk to him, but she knew that she had too.

"Hey, now isn't really a good time." 

'Is it true? Spencer is back home?" Kayce bulldozed.

"It is. Her father is getting married, she is Leighla's maid of honor.' The only Dutton girl admitted that the only thing that she was going to admit to was Lee and Spencer leaving together and not being seen again.

There had been enough fights between the two brothers over Spencer. “You made your choice when you picked Monica over her. Leave her alone.” 

[sinosauropteryx--prima]

National Fossil: South Africa

Welcome back to my silly little paleontology poll about which fossils should represent each country. This time we're focusing on the African continent and right now on South Africa.

You know the drill: As always, it could be a fossil that is just exceptionally well preserved and beautiful, had a huge impact on paleontology and our knowledge of the past, is very common/representative of the area, is beloved and famous in the public eye, is just a very unique and interesting find, or has any other justification.

So here are our contestants:

Australopithecus africanus (Taung Child): As we‘re moving into Africa it should come to the surprise of absolutely nobody that the continent is covered in fossils telling us about our own human evolutionary history. The Taung Child, the skull of a young Australopithecus, was discovered in 1924, and as the first early hominin ever found, it sparked lots of controversy in the scientific community, as this was long before we had a good understand of the “ape-to-human“-transition: It took decades for Australopithecus to become fully accepted as an “early human“, but since then it has become one of the most important paleontological finds ever.

Homo naledi: A much more recent find is Homo naledi, discovered 2013 in a cave system. Even though the bones of at least 15 individuals have been found, these cousins of ours are still quite mysterious, as they show some archaic characteristics that seem out of place for how young the fossils are and more research needs to be done.

Lystrosaurus (Art by John Sibbick): Oh look, it‘s everyone‘s favorite mass extinction survivor! The small to medium-sized dicynodont (an early cousin of what would become the mammal line) made it through the Permian mass extinction, aka The Great Dying, seemingly unharmed - on the contrary: In the early Triassic they were so numerous that in some South African fossil sites more than 90% of all found material are Lystrosaurus!

Inostrancevia (Art by OrsoMoretti): Someone who didn‘t made it through The Great Dying was Inostrancevia, but that doesn‘t make the 3 m long gorgonopsid (another “not-quite-a-mammal-yet“) any less impressive. Its most striking identifier were the 15 cm long sabertooth-canines. In that sense, gorgonopsids like Inostrancevia did their impression of sabertooth-cats over 200 million years before cats even became a thing.

Sivatherium (Art by Jaime Chirinos): If you’d rather choose something that feels a bit more like a typical african animal, maybe just as a slightly more ancient version - South Africa of course doesn‘t disappoint here either: Sivatherium, a short-necked giraffe might hold a good balance between something that is recognizable enough to our modern eyes, yet strange and unusual enough to be a unique and interesting pick.

Heterodontosaurus (Art by Gregory S. Paul): Lastly, if you want to pick a dinosaur, South Africa provides you with some good finds on early dinosaurs: Heterodontosaurus lived during the early Jurassic and was a very basal member of the ornithischians, the same group that would later include such famous figures as Triceratops, Stegosaurus or Parasaurolophus. Apart from generally giving scientist a hard time placing it on the familiy tree, the small dinosaur is mostly known for its strangely shaped teeth, from which it got its name.