#this wasn't going to be a two parter but people wanted it

[metalhoops]

Steve and Eddie: Alternative ‘First’ meeting part 2.

Read Part 1 Here

Eddie Munson never expected Steve to be his friend. He kept waiting for the former king to realise how different their two worlds were. When that day came, he hoped Steve could look back on his time spent with the strange Metalhead with affection.

Several months had passed since the two had their first encounter in the woods outside the trailer park, and he hadn’t scared Steve away yet. Eddie found the boy following at his side every other day when he wasn’t at work. He was loyal as a golden retriever and strangely, almost as happy. When he and Steve run into each other for the first time since Steve’s graduation, one thing was clear: Steve wasn’t happy. 

Now, most days, he appeared more happy than not. Yet, he was still distant. There were things he was keeping close to his chest, but Eddie didn’t feel like he was close enough to push. 

Eddie kept waiting for the moment he’d chase Steve away. He talked the guy’s ear off about Hellfire, now that the school year was back in full swing. They’d both agreed to keep Steve’s flock of wayward children in the dark about their friendship, lest they think Steve was using Eddie to keep an eye on them, ever the babysitter. Steve listened attentively. 

He invited Steve around to watch obscure B-grade, horror schlockfests. There was no way he enjoyed it, but Steve stayed. He jumped at all the right times and laughed at all the wrong ones, just like Eddie. Steve was too good to be true. One day, something had to give. 

When they drove together, Eddie played the music too loud and performed air guitar solos at stoplights. He’d even gone so far as to serenade Steve with KISS songs as the guy helped him put together a dinner that wasn’t from a microwave container. 

He’d expected Steve to roll his eyes and call him a nerd, which admittedly he did. However, right after, he’d equipped himself with a wooden spoon and performed an equally cheesy rendition of a Bob Seger song. 

Hell, once his parents were out of town and they’d stayed the night at Steve’s he’d shown Eddie his best impression of Tom Cruise in Risky Business, complete with high socks, a poorly buttoned button-down, and too-short, shorts. Eddie was so gone for Steve Harrington, and it was horrible because he knew something was going to go wrong.

He was sick of waiting for it to happen. The two had been friends for months, and Eddie was sick of holding his breath, with each passing day knowing that the hurt would be all the greater as his attachment to Steve grew. 

Steve’s parents were out of town, which always made for a more relaxed Steve. He’d invited Eddie to stay the night at his place for the first time. Eddie realised what had to happen next as Steve invited him to crash with him in his bed. 

This was the thing that would finally scare Steve away. This was the thing that would get Steve to finally give up his reformed jock status and call him a freak. He couldn’t share a bed with Steve without him knowing, it wasn’t fair. 

“I kinda like taking the side next to the door. You mind taking the window side?” Steve asked so casually it made Eddie’s heart ache. 

He found it hard to swallow as he bit the bullet and told Steve the thing he’d been dancing around for months. 

“I’m gay, Steve.” He wished he’d been more eloquent, but he hadn’t. He spoke to the shitty plaid wallpaper, his words running together. 

When he finally looked, he found Steve sitting on the bed, his wide eyes looking equal parts alarmed and confused. He wasn’t cursing at Eddie or chasing the guy out of his house, so far, it was going better than he’d expected. 

“Uh... thanks for telling me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you steal my side of the bed,” Steve finally replied. Eddie was goddamn floored. 

“You heard me, right?” Eddie repeated. There was no way in hell this wasn’t the thing that chased Steve away. 

“Roger Dodger. Loud and clear. You don’t like boobs,” Steve paraphrased as he wriggled under the covers. Eddie let out a sound between a snort and a sob because, holy shit, Steve didn’t care. He was also an absolute idiot, but that was expected.

“And you’re still cool with me sleeping with you?” Eddie asked. 

“I don’t like to sleep alone much, anymore,” Steve spoke with a vague shrug of his shoulders. There it was again, the uneasy sense he got that Steve wasn’t telling him something important. 

Eddie didn’t pry, because Steve hadn’t pushed when he’d just goddamn come out to him. Eddie slipped beneath the covers, closest to the window and lay beside Steve until the man fell asleep. Eddie couldn’t sleep, his head still reeling. 

After an hour, he felt Steve twitch at his side and mumble something incoherent. Eddie stayed still, thinking the moment would pass, quick and painless as a sun shower. Instead, Steve started to thrash. Eddie sat up in bed, flicked on the lights, and gazed down at the former king’s pinched brows. It was hard to believe this was the same boy who’d stalked the halls of Hawkins High, looking seemingly untouchable from Eddie’s ranks amongst the outcasts and common folk. 

“Stevie?” Eddie breathed, placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder in an attempt to wake him. 

The other man’s body stilled beneath his hand, and his face remained contorted. In his sleep, he crept closer to Eddie, curling his body around him. He had no idea what the hell to do. Steve hating to sleep alone made more sense. 

“It’s okay, Harrington. I got you. You’re okay,” Eddie mumbled, taking a risk and leaning down to card his hands through the man’s hair. 

Eddie sat there for another half-hour, muttering quiet nothings until he stilled and slept peacefully. 

When morning finally came and the two found themselves dancing around each other in the Harrington’s oversized kitchen, Eddie decided to broach the subject. Steve kept setting off alarm bells in his head, and he had no idea how to quiet them on his own. 

“Steve, I know I’m a shitty listener because I love to hear the sound of my own voice, but you know, if you ever need to talk about anything, I’m here, right?” 

Steve stepped back from the kitchen cabinet to get a better look at Eddie, his face the picture of conflict. He kept looking as though he were seconds from telling Eddie something before going dead quiet. Finally, he spoke.

“I don’t think I’m entirely straight.” 

That hadn’t been what he was fishing for, but holy shit. 

To make matters worse, Steve was sending him all the right goddamn cues. His eyes flickered to Eddie’s lips, then back to his face. He chewed on his bottom lip and ran his fingers through his carefully styled hair. Screw it. 

Eddie crossed the space between them and smash their lips together, pushing Steve’s back against the cabinet. It was a car crash kind of desperation. Limbs and lips everywhere. Steve ended up on the countertop, his legs wrapped around Eddie’s hips, hands in his hair. Eddie’s head was a chorus of holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. 

Eddie Munson never expected Steve to be his friend, but the one thing he’d never expected to ruin their friendship was a kiss. 

Tags

@rhyswritesreadsandcries @lightwoodbanethings @beeing-stuupid @chaoticvictorianspirit @korixae @ihaveahordingproblem @lyriclight @exyvey @ashwinmeird​ @breealtair @eviltwistedpixie @adelicioustragedy @theoncelee @bubblegum192 @aceflavouredyougurt @pluto-pepsi @occasionallyifailtoart @didntwant2come​ @catboyb​adankrivervalleynearyou

[williamrikers]

haven't finished watching 1899 yet but the fascinating thing about it is that they put just about every single horror trope they could think of in there and yet none of them are executed well. for every single story element, i can name a show that Did It Better™

[halfagone]

Is it Canon or Fanon?

A little over a week ago, I received a very thought-provoking ask that wondered whether the Fenton parents could be considered good parents after everything they've done throughout the show. I did leave a response to that ask, and you can find the original answer here. But even afterwards, it had me thinking:

Why did we start depicting Jack and Maddie as Bad Parents to begin with?

I aim to answer this question through canon evidence to see where this argument might have come from. Now, something to keep in mind is that we still tend to ignore canon a lot of the time, so there may be some people who won't take this meta to mean all that much anyways. But for the purpose of fanfiction, we have to acknowledge that there needs to be an in-universe explanation to these events and sadly, the 'it's a Butch Hartman show' or 'it's an early 2000s cartoon' excuses don't really cut it.

So let's start with some basic stats. There are 49 episodes to the Danny Phantom cartoon (we will not be using the Graphic Novel, A Glitch in Time, for examples); 20 for the first season, 17 for the second, and 12 for the third. If you looked this up on Google, you might notice that these numbers don't line up with the episode list provided. This is because I counted any two-part episodes as one for convenience's sake. Season 2 has three two-parters: "Reign Storm", "The Ultimate Enemy", and "Reality Trip". Season 3 has "Phantom Planet".

Jack appears for 43 of those episodes, although he does not have any speaking lines in the episode, "Frightmare". Maddie, on the other hand, appears in 40 episodes. The three episodes that Maddie does not appear in, but Jack does, are as follows: "Memory Blank", "Flirting With Disaster", and "Double Cross My Heart".

Let's Start with Season 1:

"Mystery Meat": Jack is shown as dismissive to Danny and his friends' preferences, telling them, "True, I've never seen a ghost, but when I do, I'll be prepared. And so will you, whether you want to be or not." Later on, when Sam and Tucker are visibly shaking and Danny is panting from exhaustion, he doesn't realize something is off about this. When Jazz offers to drive Danny to school, the Fenton parents quickly assume that she's a ghost and go off to track them down... even despite her previous argument that she was mentally an adult (should I be concerned that Jazz called Danny an 'abused, unwanted wretch' to make a point to their parents?) A POINT TO MADDIE, she worried about hurting Jazz if she really wasn't a ghost but Jack quickly dismisses that, as their ghost-hunting device only hurts when gets into human hair (spoiler alert, it gets into Jazz's hair). She also insists that Danny is not a ghost, but unfortunately she ultimately doesn't try to stop Jack when he insist Jazz is a ghost. Standing aside and letting abuse play out does not mean Maddie is innocent of hurting her daughter too.

"Fanning the Flames": When Jazz and Danny are struggling to study for an upcoming test, Jack decides that they should put their kids into the 'Fenton Stockades' which is basically an iron maiden. And yes, the Fentons have an entire floor that is meant to torture people. I feel like that should probably be addressed at some point. A POINT TO MADDIE, she stood her ground and refused to let him put their children inside, and even locks him inside instead.

"Teacher of the Year": After hearing displeasing news about the state of Danny's grades in a parent-teacher conference, Maddie lectures Danny by saying, "Get this straight Danny. You're a Fenton. Fentons get As. Or in your father's case, B minuses." Before this, when Danny tried to explain himself, Jack shuts him up with, "Now that's enough of your sass talk mister." Do a lot of parents act like this? Yes. Does that make this a good, conductive way to help your child improve their grades? No, it does not. In fact, Maddie's response in particular probably reinforces the idea that Danny doesn't fit in with the rest of his family and further proves that Jazz is the favorite child. Not a great parenting moment.

"Fright Knight": In this episode, Jack tells Danny, "If I didn't consider it a sign of weakness, I'd weep with joy!" Not a very promising sign when a parent tells their child that it's wrong to show emotion. It's especially telling, however, when it's crying from joy and not even sadness. Yikes.

"13": This is the episode where Jazz 'dates' Johnny briefly, and we see Danny stalking them on their dates. I've seen people give Danny a decent amount of flack for that as well, so this would be a good time to say that the Fenton parents were there too and even encouraged him to keep stalking his sister. Danny was wrong to ignore Jazz's privacy like that, but he definitely learned it somewhere.

"Public Enemies": Here we see more of the Fenton parents' aggression towards ghosts. We get a line from Jack: "I'm gonna tear that ghost kid apart into a million different-" Notice something here? He recognizes that Phantom is a ghost 'kid' and yet still fully intends to shoot at him with the intent to hurt if not straight-up kill him. The only time Maddie disagrees with him is to insist that she does the dirty work because she has better aim than him. These are not the type of people you should let children stay with.

"Maternal Instincts": Okay, I gotta say it, this is a really cute episode. We get to see Maddie reminiscing over how close she and Danny used to be and wishing they had that bond again. Unfortunately she does get some points docked off for deciding what they should do as a bonding activity instesd of asking what Danny wanted to do and maybe learning more about his interests and who he is as a person now that he's a teenager. But there is this really sweet moment where Maddie tells Danny 'I love you' at the campsite which absolutely melted my heart and then later on when she saves Danny from the ghosts, Danny tells her she's awesome and gives her a hug. So sweet. But then she kinda ruins it by asking her son to act as a distraction and- Please do not ask your teenage children to keep skeevy old guys 'entertained' when you know he's a creep. A POINT TO JACK, while all this is going on he's defending his daughter and even shouts, "Back off, she's a minor!" That's some Dr. Doofenshmirtz energy right there, I respect it. He also talks about making Jazz an action figure, which was a really cute moment amidst the chaos.

"The Million Dollar Ghost": This episode is filled with some great Danny-Jack bonding moments and goes to show how much Danny cares about his father that he's willing to get caught to make Jack feel better about himself. We also get to see how much Jack cares about how Danny views him and he wants to be someone in Danny's eyes. Unfortunately, this is the episode where Danny gets lectured for not doing all his lab chores, such as cleaning the beakers and changing the ecto-filtrator- despite knowing that the portal could blow up if they don't change in time and knowing that Danny is bad at cleaning his own room. And we literally get a scene where Jack knocks something over and tells Danny to clean it up because he was too busy running around to do it himself. Is it important to give children chores? Yes, it teaches them responsibility. You should not be asking them to deal with hazardous, dangerous chemicals that can literally cause an explosion capable of killing people. Something to keep in mind.

Now let's look at Season 2:

"Doctor's Disorders": In this lovely (sarcasm) episode, we have Jack saying to Danny's face: "Poor Jazz. She's always been my favorite." I don't feel like this one needs much more explanation for how horrible this is. Also, this isn't really too relevant to the bad-parent-thing and more to the "they wouldn't take Danny's reveal well under other circumstances" thing, because Maddie literally says to Tucker: "Everybody knows humans can't have ghost powers." Which would technically, probably, dehumanize Danny in their eyes.

"Identity Crisis": There's one line in particular in this episode I wanted to point out, which is from Jack where he says, "Safety features? Why, safety features are for punks." ...I know this is probably supposed to be a joke, but when you think about it, it's even worse than you might think. In fanon we do tend to stress how forgetful the Fentons are when it comes to lab safety, but it's one thing to forget and it's a whole other thing to purposefully dismiss it. I could even argue that we're doing the Fentons a service by characterizing them as simply forgetful.

"The Fenton Menace": This is one of the episodes I referenced in the original ask as well, for its... plethora of concerning material. There are lines such as, "Whether it's air land or sea I won't stop until we capture a ghost and tear it apart. Molecule by molecule." A POINT TO MADDIE, she told her family she loved them by saying, "Nothing like spending quality family time with the people you love." However she immediately loses those points when she and Jack attempt to 'spin the crazy' out of Danny. The episode transcript reveals Danny's reaction to this, which is described by, "Danny screaming, his face and hair flying around. Zoom out to show him strapped to a table, which is attached to a metal arm. Zoom out to show the metal arm connected to a centrifuge-like device on the ceiling." As well as, "Danny is shaking, hair sticking up with bags under his eyes." Is this supposed to be a joke? I wouldn't know because quite frankly, I'm not laughing.

"The Fright Before Christmas": So in this episode we learn why Danny hates Christmas! Which is because he got peed on by a dog. As a baby. What kind of parent lets their baby get peed on by a dog? Again, child neglect is a criminally punishable offense, and if they had left him out, in the cold, with dog piss on him, we could have had a lot bigger problems here. They also ignore both their children for most of this episode due to their arguing, although they go back later on and tell Danny that he shouldn't be alone for Christmas and where was all this concern before?

"Secret Weapons": Ah... This is the episode where it happens. Here we get the infamous interaction. Please note how a ghost is referred to as an 'it'. Not a person, not even a kid. But an 'it' that can feel pain that will go ignored.

Jazz: "Does it hurt the ghost?" Maddie: [laughs] "Oh, Jazz! You know your father and I don't care about that. Jack: "Yeah! If we hear it scream, then we know it's working."

"Micro-Management": At the very end of this episode, Jack makes a comment to Danny, "I'm so proud. Our boy finally has the physical prowess of a 60 year old president. Here's to you son." Clearly it's meant to be a compliment, but I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't take this as a compliment.

"Masters of All Time": This one takes a more distressing turn, because after Maddie catches Danny for snooping around, she has his strapped down to a table and fires a laser at him to interrogate him, thinking he's a ghost (though the laser doesn't hit him, just threatens him, which... isn't much better). And this is after he's already insisted that he's her son. He is still very clearly a child, and even if she doesn't believe that he's her son (for admittedly understandable reasons, people usually remember when they bear children), the fact that she strapped him to a table at all does not look favorably on her. Especially when he very clearly believed that she was his mother, and he was her son. And she still did this to him. Yes, there were time shenanigans involved, but that doesn't make this any easier on Danny just because he knows the truth.

"Reality Trip": This episode showcases that the Fenton parents can actually be decent parents. While they have a hard time believing the truth at first, they do eventually accept it. However, it is still important to remember that Danny could have never known what their reaction would be, so his fear is understandable and rooted in real concern for his life. Here are some of the best points from this transcript:

Jack: "Imagine, our own son has had ghost powers all this time and has kept them a secret from us. [confused] But we love him! [turning to Maddie] I wonder why he didn't trust us enough to tell us." Jazz: "[sarcastically] Hmm, let me guess. [mimicking Jack] "Hey, Maddie, let's destroy the ghost!" [mimicking Maddie] "No, Jack, let's dissect the ghost." [mimicking Jack again] "I know, let's catch the ghost and rip it apart molecule by molecule!" [normal voice, sarcastic again] You guys are so understanding." [Jack and Maddie drop their gazes, ashamed.]

Moving onto Season 3:

"Eye for an Eye": This is more a passing mention, but Jack seems to be a little obsessed with the GIW and huge fans of their work, and you do see it some more in "Livin' Large" later on in the season as well.

"Girls' Night Out": We see Jack trying to make an effort with Danny in this episode again. I did point out in the original ask reply that Jack was obviously trying to be a good father for Danny, which definitely deserves some points. However, it is still important to point out how generally uninterested Danny was in the bonding activity. It goes back to how Maddie ignored the chance to give Danny a choice, and how dismissive they tend to be towards him. I still want to award Jack a point for looking for advice from 'Father/Son Relationships For Stupids!' but I do so half-heartedly. Their interactions in this episode definitely reek with discomfort, but considering everything that has gone down in between now and "The Million Dollar Ghost", that does make sense.

"Torrent of Terror": This is another instance of extreme lack of safety precautions- the airbags don't deploy? In the GAV??? Somewhere out there, OSHA is crying.

"Forever Phantom": Maddie and Jack show a lot of anti-Phantom rhetoric in this episode. So this tracks how uncomfortable and/or threatened Danny might feel at home. Some examples include:

Jack: "He keeps this up he's liable to make people forget he's nothing but a putrid rancid ball of self-aware protoplasm."

Maddie: "Don't be fooled sweetie. He's up to something. Remember that time he attacked the mayor? Or stole everyone's Christmas presents? Once a filthy ghost always a filthy ghost."

"Livin' Large": Something to remember, the GIW intend to fire a missile into the Ghost Zone after gaining access to the Fentons' portal. While they didn't have the password right away, it cannot be understated that the Fentons basically gave away their house in exchange for wealth. Thankfully the missile was just a fake and not a real weapon of mass destruction, but do not mistake this to mean that- had it been real- the GIW wouldn't have gone through with it. And the Fenton parents would have been just as responsible.

And that concludes our canon research for this argument! Let's wrap things up with some stats. Of the 49 episodes in the show, we have evidence in 21 episodes. That is roughly 43% of the show, and this does not include comments that Danny has made about his parents and how they treat him. Obviously, at the end of the day, human error is possible. There is always a chance that I could have missed another piece of information, or perhaps another thoughtful addition to this list. However, 43% is no laughing matter.

Yes, the Fenton parents had their shining moments, but with all the other evidence presented that overshadows those little gems, can you confidently say that they are good parents? And most of all, if you were in Danny's shoes, would you say the same thing?

It's easy to excuse this as a cartoon. When you're writing in this world, playing with these characters, that excuse instantly evaporates.

Thank you for reading, I hope you all learned something about the Fenton parents like I did.

[pastel-peach-writes]

Hiiii! I really loved your jealous Korra fic so i wanted to request one of my own. Im a sucker for enemies to lovers or rivals to lover so i was hoping you could do one for Korra? Could be that the reader is in an opposing pro bender team and they’re soon to vs the fire ferrets?

OOOO YES.

Fire Comes From Within | Korra x Reader

╰┈➤ PLOT: The rivalry between you and Korra should be recorded in history books. It started when she suddenly became one of the fire ferrets, then revealed herself to be the Avatar. It wasn't fair. You spent your whole life training to be a probender and now the Avatar was taking your rightfully owned space on the Fire Ferrets. With your match against the Fire Ferrets approaching, your team members and other probenders thought it would be nice to have a gathering before the big match.

╰┈➤ WARNINGS: Rivals to Lovers, Cursing, Not Proofread, No Use of Y/n, Two Parter, 3,000+ Words

PART TWO

⍣ ೋ Enjoy!⍣ ೋ

Nectar juice slid down your throat and slipped into your veins. The humid air underneath the party tent was sticky and smelt of cheap plastic.

There were many people around you, most conversing with themselves and your teammates. You sat at your table accompanied by dirty metal and porcelain dishes from dinner.

It was apparent you didn't want to be here. Why would you?

You didn't have friends on any other teams besides your own, you had to wake up early for training tomorrow, and the girl who took your spot on your dream team would soon arrive with her stupid smile and beautiful deep skin.

Tonight was the night of torture. Why couldn't anyone else see that?

"Hey, Lightning," an old colleague, Kei, greeted as she sat beside you. Kei used to be on the team you're currently on, The Element Mixers, but she was offered a spot on an international team. She obviously couldn't refuse. The pay was a lot better than what she had and the benefits were outstanding. "Whatcha doin' all alone? You know the party's over there, right?" she nodded her head towards the cluster of people. She laughed.

You shrugged as you swirled the nectar in your cup. "Yeah, so? I have no business being over there."

"Why's that?" she frowned, squaring her body towards yours. "You still feel like you don't belong?"

"No, I feel like I belong now," you sighed. You picked at the skin on your nails. The sweat on your palm combined with the condensation on the metal cup was making your drink slip out of your hands. "There's just someone here who I don't want to see."

Kei's frown deepened. She looked around the room, trying to find someone who would be unworthy of your love and greatness. There were some grungy people, but they were nice on the inside, so they were somewhat worthy of your love. Everyone else was colleagues Kei saw you with or your teammates. "Well, you mind telling me who?"

You threw back your drink, the nectar momentarily solving the itch in your throat. You haven't told anyone about your animosity towards Korra. How could you? She's the Avatar, a beloved icon for centuries, and you were hating her for selfish reasons. You don't even know her. You just know you don't like her.

"Someone from the Fire Ferrets," you confessed.

"Oh!" laughed Kei. "Well, luckily for you, the Fire Ferrets aren't even here."

"What?!" you exclaimed. In a normal setting, your volume would've caused others to turn heads, but with the loud chatter and music, no one batted an eye.

"Yeah," Kei laughed once more, "the Fire Ferrets were unable to some because of some arrangement the Avatar had prior, so they decided not to come altogether. I think Bolin said they were going to do something small by themselves."

You scoffed. Of course, you waste all your party energy on someone who's not even here. You could've enjoyed this party. You could've been the life of the party yet you decided to sulk and be angry. Why didn't your teammates tell you? How did Kei know?...

You glanced at Kei with a raised brow. At the sight of her colored cheeks, you had your answer. She had a little crush on Bolin. She probably got his number back when she was on The Element Mixers and never stopped talking to him since. You made a mental note to tease her about that later.

Right now, you had a party to leave and moves to train. Saying your goodbyes to Kei, you found your teammates and informed them of your updated plan.

They should be surprised that you wanted to leave the party early, but they're not. You loved to train super hard before a big tournament and knowing that you may be going against the Fire Ferrets, a team you have some weird stuff against, they should've seen your early dismissal coming.

"Just don't overwork yourself, okay?" your team leader, Guo, prefaced.

You waved him off with a huge smile on your face. "Wouldn't dream of it."

-

Pumped from last night's training and the amazing breakfast you've had with your teammates, you were ready to take on anything. You didn't even care you were fighting against Korra today. You had a few games before you went against her, considering if she even won her games before your match.

With your duffle bag slung over your shoulders, you laughed at a joke a teammate made as you guys walked into the training room. It was protocol to warm up before matches to prevent injuries, but your captain liked to get in early to have the training room to yourselves.

Turned out, the Fire Ferrets captain thinks smiliarly.

The smile wiped off your face when you laid your eyes on Korra's ponytail. The brown skin on her arms flexed as she punched punching bags and grunts came deep from her stomach.

"Of course, they're here early," you mumbled to your team. "It's so like Korra to flex and show off before the big game."

Guo and your other teammate Yi glanced at each other. "Uh," Yi said. "Looks like she's just training to me."

You scoffed, walking into the room and heading to the benches. "Yeah, right." You threw your bag onto the floor. The items inside your bag clattered and clanged against each other. You sat on the bench and shook your head as Korra moved on to her water warm-ups. "Just look at her. She thinks she's all that just because she's the Avatar."

Your teammates reluctantly came to your side. They sat on the bench and changed out of their shoes and into their workout shoes. They really didn't see anything out of the normal from Korra.

She was already practicing before the three of you walked in, so she had no one to show off to unless she wanted to show off to her teammates. But even then, she was so in the zone, your teammates were sure she didn't even notice y'all walking in.

As you approached the training floor, Mako and Bolin cut in front of you with scowls on their faces and their arms crossed over their chest. Mako looked scarier with his thin eyebrows and scrunched-up face while Bolin looked like an angry teddy bear.

You totally understood why Kei had a crush on him. He was totally her type.

"Can I help you?" you sneered.

"We heard you have some altercations with Korra," Mako spoke. "We wanted to make it clear that we would have none of that. Your personal business stays outside of the ring and disappears the moment you set foot into the arena."

You scoffed, pushing past Mako. "What Korra and I have is none of your business. You're not my captain, Hothead. I don't have to listen to you."

"Well, can you?" you swore you heard Bolin whine. "I can't stand the animosity on the court. Do you remember that one time Korra fought that guy and he almost lost his life? I don't want that to happen to you." Bolin eyed his brother. "Or us."

You let out one loud laugh. The laugh echoed throughout the room causing your team and Korra to pay attention to the conversation you were having.

"You think she's strong enough to make me cower during the match?" Okay, that came out douchey-er than you want to, but it's too late now. "Please. Just because she's the Avatar doesn't mean she's one of the greats in Probending. Just means she has an unfair advantage."

"Hey," Korra's voice boomed from a few feet away. "It's a well-known fact that I only use water bending to compete. Anyone would know that if they actually paid attention to the games."

"Sorry," you feigned a pout. "But I don't care about your games. I focus on what I have to bring to the table and improve my moves from there."

"So, you don't study your opponents?" Bolin questioned. With a slight smirk, Mako winced.

"That's not exactly the best tactic, Mixer."

You grumbled. Of course, you studied your opponents' moves. It was stupid not to know what you go up against. You were just trying to prove to Korra that you didn't care about her.

"Yeah," Korra chimed. She walked up to you, her arms crossed over her chest. Now, it was your teammates' turn to stand behind you like guard dogs. Mako and Bolin copied their stands but stood behind Korra. "That's not the best tactic and everyone knows you're obsessed with me. You don't have to lie to look tough."

You crossed your arms, squaring your shoulders to have a wider frame. "I'm not lying and I always look tough. I simply don't care about you so why would I study your moves?"

"To win," Korra snickered. "But it's fine. If you didn't study my moves, that means it'll be an easy fight because I've studied all yours." Korra stepped closer to you. You matched her move. "I know all your tricks."

"I highly doubt that," you whispered with narrowed eyes.

You tried with all your might to intimidate Korra, but every move you made triggered some sort of amusement in her. You could see it in her eyes, how they lit up when you tried to act tough; the corner of her lips would upturn into a smirk.

"I don't understand why you don't like me, Mixer," Korra took your lead in whispering the rest of your conversation. "I haven't done anything to you and we barely go against each other."

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out," you spat.

A satisfied hum came from Korra's lips. She leaned closer to your face, scanning your facial expressions and features. As she continued to gaze at you and you returned her gaze, your teammates stepped closer.

Mako and Bolin did the same, their eyes burning into your teammates.

Finally, after a slow and painful moment that felt like minutes, she pulled away. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. I'll see you in the arena, Mixer. Be sure to keep the crowd riled up for me. I can't wait to hear their cheers while I kick your butt."

With a laugh, she turned on her heels and resumed her training.

You let out an exasperated groan, turning your back to her and throwing your arms in the air. "I just can't stand her! She's so annoying and cocky. Like, who does she think she is?"

"The Avatar?" Yi spoke. She earned a glare from you, but she ignored it.

"Come on, Lightning, she was only like that because you started talking smack about her first," Guo attempted to rationalize with a hand on your shoulder.

You shrugged him off, another scoff leaving your mouth. "You don't get it. No one gets it. I'm going to beat her scrawny self–"

"–Scrawny?" Yi interrupted. Both you and Guo glared. She scoffed, putting her hands up in the air. "Come on, look at her! No one with thighs like hers and arms like hers is ever considered scrawny. You're insane."

--

The game against the Fire Ferrets was anything but easy. The matches before them went by like a breeze. No player was ready to feel the fire of your fury.

However, with the Fire Ferrets, you could barely make hits. The three of them were basically unstoppable. Maybe your conversation with them earlier riled them up more than you meant to. Rookie mistake.

Unluckily for the Ferrets, your team was just as fired up. Yeah, your team wasn't making any hits, but neither were they. There was a thick tension in the arena, even the announcers picked up on it.

"Oh, and another miss from the Fire Ferrets!" one of the announcers claimed. "I would hate to be you if you were missing this fight! While none of the teams are landing hits on one another, their determination is through the roof! It really keeps you on the edge of your seat."

"I really wish they would shut up," you told Yi as the two of you covered each other. Guo was too busy taking care of Mako to talk.

"Yeah, but hey, they're kinda entertaining."

An earth disk flew from the opposite side and made aim toward Yi's head. She dodged, Bolin exclaiming a sorry from the opposite of the court and then earning a scolding from Mako.

Guo took the opportunity to send a blast of water his way, causing the 6-foot something to fall onto his back and slide into the second ring.

You cheered Guo on. Finally, some minutes into the match, there was some action.

Since then, the action seemed to skyrocket. Hits upon hits kept flying by and landing on each target. Guo and Yi seemed to flip-flop between Mako and Bolin, but you had your eye on Korra and Korra only.

There would be an occasional blast of fire from Mako or some earth sent your way from Bolin, but you would send a string of earth discs their way to tell them to back off.

You wished you kept your mouth shut this morning. You've never seen such impressive teamwork from the Fire Ferrets. While your teammates were strong, Mako and Bolin were significantly stronger. Yi and Guo were out faster than the Flash.

No wonder you didn't make the Fire Ferrets. You weren't fit for them.

You spend half of your pro-bending career convincing yourself otherwise, but now, in the middle of a match, your reality was dawning on you and chipping at your heart until it broke and shattered into a million pieces on the arena floor.

You weren't fast enough, good enough. You didn't have the strength or dexterity as the Avatar. You hated to admit that, but you didn't. No amount of training will let you be as good as her and it was eating you alive.

Halfway through the second round, the Fire Ferrets won the first, your muscles ached. You were giving your all to Korra, letting your teammates pick up the slack against Bolin and Mako yet again.

Much like the first round, Yi and Guo were out within minutes. Now, unlike the first round, it was 3v1. At least in the first, you and Guo had wilted Mako down before Guo fell off and forced Mako to go with him.

Mako's fireballs and blasts caused you to sweat and your uniform to chafe as you kicked and flipped to avoid Bolin's and Korra's attacks. Your chest heaved, your breaths wheezy and coarse as you tried to defend yourself.

You could hear your teammates' cheers and Kei's encouraging words in your head. But no matter how cheerful their words were or how loud the crowd cheered for you to conquer, you couldn't do it.

This was your toughest fight thus far.

Your arms felt like falling off your shoulders and your legs were so heavy, you weren't sure if you could pick them up to walk.

A water whip to your gut pushed you into the second level. With the loud buzzer of a timeout, the Fire Ferrets cheered. They gathered around themselves, hugging and squeezing as if they won the match.

You scowled at the sight. Something inside your stomach quesed and churned. Heat spread throughout your chest while your teeth ground.

"You're okay!" Guo shouted. "Keep going! You got this!"

His words fell upon deaf ears.

The end was near and you had wished his optimism would die short in a fire. Could he just be real for a couple seconds? Would it kill him to tell you that you sucked and everything you've ever said and trained for would be for nothing?

Your eyes stung as you regathered yourself. You weren't sure if your eyes were stinging from tears or sweat, but that didn't matter now. You had a new game plan in your mind. First thing first, send Mako back. The closer his fire, the hotter it is. If you could send him to the second level, you would have some sort of relief.

The second part of your plan was to send Bolin back as well. Earth vs Earth was easy for you to figure out and Bolin excelled in short-distance combat. Sending him back would either tire him out or eliminate him altogether. You didn't care which one would happen first.

To handle Mako, you sent a few boulders his way along with pebbles to annoy. Mako did find the pebbles annoying, as predicted, and ended up in the second level.

You had a similar tactic for Bolin but didn't focus your earth elements to hit him but instead to push him back further and further to the second level line.

"Oh! And this is unexpected, but the single Elemental Mixer is taking on the Fire Ferrets alone!" the announcer from earlier well, announced. "The Fire Ferrets have to be the team to beat this year with the help of the Avatar and her training tactics."

You groaned, dodging blasts from the three of them still. "She is not all that cracked up she's made to be!" You sent slabs of earth towards Korra's direction. She used a thick string of water to slice the slab in half.

Why weren't you born a waterbender? She cut your slab so effortlessly, it was as annoying as it was impressive.

"Aw, whining about me again, little Mixer?" Korra taunted as she sent more water your way. It hit your shoulder and the liquid absorbed into your uniform, but the force wasn't strong enough to knock you into the third level.

"Shut up, Korra." You used pieces of rocks and slabs to make your own shield from the three's attacks. You were borderline fatigued. Even if your moves slowed Bolin and Mako down, Korra was still in the first line beating you up.

"I'm not sure if I want to." Korra used her water to wipe away your makeshift shield. Mako and Bolin went right back to throwing attacks.

They were getting tired too, their attacks were getting sloppy and barely hit you anymore.

"What happened to showing me up and winning?" Korra taunted. She sent a gush of water to your stomach, but you created a rock to take the hit. The water disbursed from either side of the rock and fell into the water below.

You threw the rock up then gave it a sidekick. The rock's pieces flew toward Mako and Bolin, but Mako used his fire to dissolve the pieces into ash. "You're not my priority right now," you told Korra.

"Oh, that's a shame because you're mine." Even behind her helmet, you could see her fake pout.

"Look, Korra, I'm not in the mood."

"Awh," Korra sent water ropes around your ankles. She flipped them, causing your ankles to cross in front of each other and send your stomach first onto the floor. "Because you were earlier. What happened? Got a change of heart?"

You really missed the days when your rivalry was one-sided. "Don't get on the Avatar's bad side". That was everyone's motto and warning to live by.

Why did you have to talk smack about her? Why didn't you have to challenge her and talk as if you were on the same skill level as her? You weren't. That was painstakingly clear now.

You couldn't even hear your teammates in the stands anymore. Was this how hopeless you were? You were acting so badly that your team lost hope? Or maybe they were so into the game that they forgot cheering was a part of the atmosphere. Whichever it was, it didn't matter anymore.

Your body was ripping at you, screaming at you to give up and you were going to listen to it.

Not bothering to get up from the floor, you send earth discs to their ankles. They hopped and scrambled over the discs. Your move caused Bolin to put himself in the third ring, but other than that, no one else budged.

As soon as you pulled yourself off the floor, Mako sent a blast of fire to your chest. You jumped back, putting you in the third ring and then finally to finish it off, Korra sent a strong gust of water to send you dropping into the water below.

You couldn't hear anything on your way down. When the cold water hit your hot body, it was like steam fled off your skin. It was over. The hard part was over and you didn't want to see or face anyone right now.

You stayed under the water as long as you could without worrying someone. Swimming to the surface, you could barely see Korra's ponytail bouncing up and down while she hugged her teammates.

Defeated, angry, and somber, you swam to the edge and went to the locker rooms to change.

--

By the time you showered and changed, all the sadness and defeat were replaced with annoyance and yet again, anger. You should've been the one to jump around with Mako and Bolin, celebrating your success in the finals.

You should be the one joking around with Bolin while Mako scolded the two of you for not paying attention.

Hanging out with them, training with them, and getting to know them was your dream and Korra had to swoop in and ruin it. She had to ruin everything.

Your feelings towards her were a mild dislike, but now, you hated her.

You, Lightning of the Elemental Mixers, hated the Avatar and wanted her to know it.

Part Two | WC: 3,612

[lacetulle]

What was your favorite met gala gown?

This is a tough question and my answer is going to be a long one. Mostly because this was the second part of a two-parter exhibition. In America: A Lexicon of Fashion was the exhibit in September last year, and that particular gala seemed very boring. There wasn't a specific theme other than Americana, so it was underwhelming since it encompassed such a broad amount of time. So when they announced that this gala had a 'Gilded Glamour' theme, I was thrilled that they were trying to hone in on a specific time period. Unfortunately, they announced it not even a month ago. The amount of time that goes into planning these looks spans well beyond a month, so while I think the theme was grossly ignored, the theme announcement came way too late for designers and celebrities.

Also, fashion designers are who truly get the invites to the gala. Vogue does invite a handful of celebrities and they get to work with whatever designer they want, but when we see a crowd of celebrities with Moschino or Louis Vuitton or Prabal Gurung...the designers choose what the celebrity wears. So unless you're at a certain level of star power, sometimes you just get to show up and look out of place (I'm looking at you, Michael Kors and LV girls) because the designer gets to choose. With that said, here is my favorite. And some honorable mentions.

Blake Lively is my winner. I loved the homage to the Statue of Liberty and its patina effect. I actually didn't really like it when I first saw her on the carpet...the metallic bow gave me more of an '80s vibe. But after her reveal and the bow unfurled...I loved it. The tiara, the gloves, the designs on the dress. I loved it all and seemed like a love note to New York City. Blake is one of the ones who gets to envision an idea and talk to a designer and make it come to life. She really did have a big hand in designing this with Versace and you can tell by the amount of pride she had when breaking the dress elements down. And bonus points: the Statue of Liberty arrived in 1885, right in the middle of the gilded age time period.

Billie Eilish is my runner up. She took the theme to heart. I love that she asked Gucci to use upcycled materials. I don't have anything else to add because she's the only one who literally went with the theme and I applaud her.

Chloe Grace Moretz in Louis Vuitton. Even though I didn't like the LV girls as a whole, Chloe is the exception for me. I loved the nod to men's fashion in the gilded age and I wished more men actually went this route.

Rosalía in Givenchy. The glasses annoyed me. But I do love the dress. The nod to gigot sleeves are probably what make the look for me.

I also really loved Carey Mulligan's Schiaparelli dress. I think she flew under the radar because while the dress might be safe, I do love the nod to gilded equaling gold and gilded aged fashion. And while I'm surprised at how tame it is, considering Schiaparelli's looks can be way out there, I think it was a lovely mixture of gilded age fashion in a modern look.

And finally, the Cinderella story of the night: Genesis Suero wearing Lucia Rodriguez. Flawless. The dress fit the theme. And like so many people who stopped reading the theme after the word 'gilded' and just said, GOLD EVERYTHING...Genesis had a 2-for-1. A gorgeous golden gilded age dress.

I had high hopes for this gala and the theme, since historical shows are so popular right now. And I was even willing to overlook people disregarding the era of the theme and thinking it just meant they had to be dripping in gold. But I could not believe the amount of people who thought this theme included the roaring '20s or the golden age of Hollywood. Once again, the best Met Gala by far, was 2018's Heavenly Bodies, and I'm disappointed that more people didn't show up with high neck, bustles, gloves, and lace.

Thanks for asking! Sorry this turned into a novel. I guess I'm very passionate about the Met Gala.

[cinnamon-girl-writes]

mastermind ✧ ‧˚₊ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧

Getting assigned your first case after getting accepted into law school is exciting-- unless you're paired up with your least favorite person and rival, Hiromi Higuruma.

academic rivals to lovers, no curses au ₊ ⊹˚✧

by @cinnamon-girl-writes

You didn't hate any of your peers.

Your lab partner was always pleasant. The group of girls that always sat in front of you was friendly enough. Even the guy that always asked you for a pen wasn't too bad. And then there was Hiromi Higuruma.

You had never met a person more infuriating. His aloof personality coupled with his seeming desire to always outdo you in every test and every case drove you insane. It was in his casual nonchalance and natural aura of intelligence. You could hardly show up to class without thinking about outshine him that day. Is he prepared? You've written your entire case report. What would he wear? You would dress nicer. Where would he sit? Would you be able to see him from there?

Today was a special day. You had been given your first ever case to apprentice as a law student. You had studied your case files all night and you flipped through the pages as you entered your classroom, choosing a seat near the front. As you sat, you smoothed out your skirt and ran your hands over your legs. For some reason, you were unusually nervous for the lecture to start.

Your professor entered the class a few minutes later, carrying a stack of papers. You leaned in eagerly, wanting to get more information on your case study.

The man set the papers on his desk, coming forward to the class and speaking, "Due to unforseen circumstances, you will now have assigned parters for this project." Partners? Okay, this couldn't be too bad. At least you'd have some help if the workload was too much.

He began calling the names of groups and one by one, they'd walk up to the front of the class and recieve their packets. In your head, you counted down how many people had gotten their groups already. You were starting to panic when you realized most of the people you know had already been paired up. Hopefully you'd be with someone competent at the very least.

"Y/n L/n and Hiromi Higuruma."

You freeze in your seat. Seriously? Out of all the people in this class, you had to be paired up with your least favorite?

Lost in your stupor, you didn't notice Hiromi walking down the aisle to the front. You mentally scolded yourself for letting him be more on top of things than you.

You followed him to recieve your respective packets. You noticed the way he thankde the professor cordially, making sure to do so as well. Again, you followed him back up the stairs to your seat. God, this is going to be awful.

When everyone had been partnered up and had returned to their seats, your professor explained a little more about the project. "I hope this change of plans won't be too much of a burden. Your partners were chosen based on similar GPA's and test scores, so you should be matching on intellectual levels."

Of course, that's why you were placed with him. You knew for a fact that you had the two highest ranks in your class, mostly because you were always struggling to keep your lead.

For the rest of class, you couldn't think about anything except him. You almost fell out of your seat when everyone started getting up to leave, surprised that the class was over already.

As you're getting your bags together, you feel someone walk up to you. "Hello, I'm sorry we didn't get to talk earlier . . ."

Turning around, you come face to face with Hiromi. You greet him and finish gathering your things, starting to walk out the building with him trailing beside you.

"I'm very interested in our client's case. Have you studied your files yet?" he asks.

"Yeah, I read them all last night. But hopefully this new information will give us a little more insight," you say.

He nods, "I agree. Are you free for coffee sometime? To look over the case together."

You're a little surprised. After all, you would have plenty of time during study hall and probably some time after lectures. "Sure, sounds good to me."

He sports a small smile, "Tomorrow, 9 o'clock?"

You agree, and soon you make your way down the sidewalk together to where your paths diverge.

"Oh, and Y/n." You look up, and he looks at intently. "I hope there's no bad blood between us."

You straighten a bit, offering him a hand. "Of course."

He accepts your handshake, and you notice his grip. It's firm and his hand is warm and soft. You feel a little disappointed when he takes it back.

You quickly exchange phone numbers before saying your farewells and going your separate ways on campus. As you head back to your dorm, you can't shake the thoughts of everything that had happened that morning: how kind he was. The feeling of his hand in yours.

This was going to be a long few days.

-

The next morning, you were leaving your dorm at 8:30 am on the dot. In all honesty, you were really looking forward to your coffee this morning.

The air was cold and crisp, and you felt leaves being crunched under your shoes. As you walked, it dawned on you that there was now only two days until the hearing. You'd have to spend more time with Higuruma than you anticipated.

Eventually, you entered the quaint cafe that Higuruma had invited you to. You liked it here, with it's large windows that let in plenty of sunlight and homemade coffee. You wonder if Hiromi likes it here too.

Seeing him wave, you walk over to the table he's seated at. The contents of his case file are currently spread across the table in what appears to be a methodical order. You examine the notes he has written down, comparing them to your own.

The rest of your meeting goes well. After getting your coffee, you continue to compare notes and discuss the case.

After a few moments of silence, each of you reviewing your own work, you asked, "Hiromi?"

He looked up from his notes, humming to signal his attention.

"Do you think we can really win this case?" you asked. "I mean, there's enough of evidence to convict, but this is the first time either of us have done this. I can't help but think . . ." you trailed off.

He set his papers down, taking one of your hands in his. "It's going to be okay, Y/n. You're capable, I know you are."

You felt your cheeks warm. "Thank you. I just really want to do well."

"I know," he says with a hint of sympathy in his voice.

— The day of the trial was finally here. You shuffled your files nervously as you made your way into the courtroom and sat down at the prosecutor's counsel table. You layed your files out in front of you in the same way you had seen Hiromi do at the cafe. You chided yourself for imitating him, but you had to admit, you did look up to him.

Speaking of the devil, a few moments later, he joined you at the table, his dark hair neatly combed back and his clothes elegantly pressed. Watching him from the corner of your eye, you envied how calm and collected he looked. Sure, you can study all you want, but natural skill is just as valuable as the all-nighters you pulled.

You look over at the defendant's lawyer and think maybe you're in over your head. A large, burly man sits at the table, reviewing his files with a self-assured look.

Hiromi set his files on the table next to where yours were spread out. "Good morning, Miss Y/n."

You nodded politely, "Good morning."

He sat, flipping through his case files. "You look lovely this morning."

You uttered a small thanks, fighting to keep the blush from your cheeks and hoped you were wearing enough makeup to conceal it.

Sooner than expected, the judge made her way into the courtroom and the session had began. Since neither of you were technically lawyers yet, you had a mentor there to take care of the logistics of the courtroom.

The judge, an older woman with spiky brown hair, announced to the jury, "Mr. Sato has been accused of embezzling funds from LSA Real Estate Company." She goes on to state that the accused has pleaded not guilty at his preliminary trial, which is why this session is taking place.

She announces that it's time for the prosecutor to make their opening statement. Higuruma stands, as it was agreed upon that he would take this job. His claim is short and precise, unlike some of the drawn-out opening statements you've heard, and he delivers his words with confidence and conviction. You're astonished by how good he is at this. You felt like you've been pacing the floor since you were assigned this case a week ago.

When he sits, you call the witness to the stand. She takes her oath, swearing to tell the whole truth, and begins her testimony. She claims that she's seen the defendant purposefully transferring money from the company's account to his own under his work title. You know what she's saying is true because you've got the security camera images in front of you and you shared a copy of them with the judge before the trial began. When she's done talking, the judge asks if you have any more witnesses, which you don't. She then instructs you to make your closing argument.

With shaking hands, you stand and smooth out your skirt. But before you could move to the front of the table, you felt a hand grasp yours and give yours a reassuring squeeze. Hiromi. You knew it was his before you looked down because of the way his hand felt the other day and the day before that. You're a bit embarrased that you remembered the feeling, but before you have a chance to react, you're in front of the jury.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've provided ample evidence as to why the defendant is guilty. He has been proven by the witness to have embezzled funds from his company. I trust that you'll make the right decision in the name of justice." With that, you're taking your seat next to Hiromi. You want to thank him somehow for his reassurment, but you feel that now isn't the appropriate time.

The defendant's lawyer stands and makes his closing argument. It's good, you have to admit it. It seems like it's going to be a close call.

As he finishes, the jury exits the room and begins their deliberations. You want to say something, to reach out to Hiromi, but the room is nearly silent and the jurors could come in at any minute, so you decided against it. You don't look over at him, instead opting to scan your files one last time, but you can sense him becoming more and more anxious to hear the results.

Tensions in the room were rising when the jurors finally come back into the courtroom. At this point, the verdict has aready been decided, and you're anxious to hear it.

The judge picks up the verdict written by the jury and reads it aloud. You're on the edge of your seat as she says, "Mr. Sato has been found guilty of embezzlement against LSA Real Estate Company."

You'd done it, you'd won the trial! Although you wanted to celebrate, it would be improper to do so at the moment, but you risked sneaking a glance at Hiromi. He had a silently triumphant look on his face which you relished in. You'd done it, and though it was against your pride to say so, you'd done it together.

The verdict is announced; he'll serve six years in federal prison.

The session was adjourned. The defendant, now in custody, was being led out of the building. As you gathered your things to leave, you started to think anxiously.

You realized you didn't want this to be the end. You wanted to spend more time with Hiromi. You wanted to study with him and talk to him and hold his hand again. You weren’t ready to say goodbye.

The court made their way out of the room, filing one by one into the lobby. You got outside as soon as possible, deciding you needed some fresh air.

As you walked outside and started down the cobblestone steps, you hear someone burst out of the courtroom doors.

“Y/n!”

Higuruma appears behind you, his files in a messy pile in his arms.

“You never said goodbye,” he explains. “Aren’t you happy we won the case?”

You look up at him, feeling a little sad. And then you were embarrassed that you were sad, because you hardly knew him and you were supposed to hate him.

“Yeah, sorry. I just figured you’d want to leave soon,” you say.

His face falls a little. “No, I wanted to talk to you. About the case.”

You faltered. Did he want to talk to you about something else?

“Plus, I didnt want to leave you just yet,” he says.

"Oh . . ." you trail off. What does he mean? "Okay. Is there something about the case you wanted to ask? Or can it wait for some other time?"

He held his eye contact. "No, it's not about the case." You waited for him to explain. What was this all about? Was there a problem?

“I . . . I really like you, Y/n. You’re dedicated and intelligent and I want to spend more time with you.”

You step back slightly, which causes you to nearly topple over, forgetting you were on the stairs. It's Hiromi's arm that catches you just in time, looping around your waist as his other arm grabs onto the rail for stability.

He's alarmingly close now, so close that you can feel his nose touching your own.

"Y/n, are you okay-"

"Kiss me," you say, "Kiss me, Hiromi."

And he does; he leans in even closer until his lips are flush against your own. It's hot and it's intimate and you're sure there are people watching you right now but you don't care. The kiss deepens and you taste him, golden honey and mint and things you can't name but want to memorize.

All too soon, he pulls away. He helps you down to the sidewalk with his hand still on your waist. He kisses you again, but this time it's slower, more intentional.

You share many kisses that day, and even more that night. You share kisses for the rest of the semester, and the rest of the year.

Needless to say, you're growing more and more fond of Hiromi Higuruma.

[scenteddelusion5]

"Two households, both unalike in dignity, In our unsightly hell, where we lay our scene," PART 2

Vox x gn reader (Alastor's child)

Note: I learned how to do ť̷͐̀��̛̠̝̈̎̐h̵̢͎̥͙̳͚͉̮̊̿̋͑̃͜͝ị̵͖͉̈́͂̾̽s̷̮͖͕̞͉̲̝̿̈́͗̿̏́̚͜͠

Also this is definitly going to be a 4 or 5 parter.

Word count: 3385

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Y/n was sitting on their bed, looking at the surprisingly tin device in their hand. These smart phones looked so different compared to the phones in their time. Turning the thing on was a bit of a struggle, but thanks to Vox choosing the settings were easy and his phone number was already saved.

Hello Vox, this is Y/n. I hope you get this message.

The man on the receiving end hadn't read it yet, which they learned they could see bases on colour of the checkmarks, so instead they started exploring the unfamiliar tech a bit, mainly the internet. It wasn't invented yet when they were alive but with the amount of books they read, they were familiar with how it worked.

Y/n was looking up pictures of the TV Demon when a knock came from their door. "Little fawn, we need to talk." They swiftly hid the smartphone under their pillow.

Y/n sighed, "come in."

Alastor walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. "Fawn, I would first like to apologize for the way that I acted yesterday, it was unbecoming, however, I need you to understand that you can't trust Vox." His shadow grabbed one of their romance books and brought it to him. "He only wants to get close to you, to get to me and I don't want you to get hurt. Not only does he already have such a relation with his colleague Valentino but me and him have been in a long feud. You see..." Their father proceeded the tell them the same story Vox had.

"So that's why, I'm sorry this wasn't the novel worthy romance you hoped it was, but if you wished to meet new people, I would gladly take you out of the house sometime."

"Thanks for telling me dad." They put their head on his shoulder. "I forgive you... So where would we be going?"

"Hmm, that's a surprise. Put on something decent and come down for breakfast." Alastor stood up and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Y/n reached for the phone. A message popped up from the screen.

God, I got to teach you how to text Anyway I was thinking There's this new restaurant opening up, want to go?

I see, Y/n thought, texting is very casual.

I would love too but my father is taking me out today to make up for yesterday. We could go tomorrow

Sure I'll see you at the edge of the forest

Y/n was casually dressed, their phone hidden in their jacket. Alastor and them were walking down a familiar street. "I've already been to Cannibal Town, you know that."

"Yes, yes, I know, little fawn. That isn't the surprise." Alastor waved them off.

The two made their way to Rosie's Emporium. Rosie was standing outside with a younger looking man standing next to her. He wore a brown waistcoat, matching pants and a bowtie. His eyes were pitch black like Rosie's.

"Alastor! You really kept us waiting!" Rosie laughed. "And here I thought you were a gentleman."

"Yes, yes, we took a bit longer. Anyway speaking of gentleman, Y/n, meet Paris." Alastor pushed the man in front of them. "He's a young, stand-up, cannibal demon. I thought that you surely didn't want to explore the rest of hell with your old man, so I asked Paris here to go instead."

"It's an honour to meet you." Paris kissed Y/n on the hand. "I would love to show you around the rest of hell."

"Uhm... I..." Y/n looked between him and their father. "Sure, let's go," they sighed.

Alastor and Rosie watched the two leave. "Once they've spend their day with him, Y/n'll forget all about Vox. Now come inside. I've got a new shipment of livers." Rosie invited her old friend inside.

Vox was still removing the thorns and branches from his favourite suit when Velvette entered his room.

"Wait, so you did go after them?!" She pulled one of the branches out of his hat. "You're sooo whipped. Did you find some dirt on Alastor?"

"No, I didn't." Vox stood up and straightened his suit. "But I do need to prepare for tomorrow."

"No-" Velvette jumped onto him and held his screen between her hands. "- you have a DATE!!! OMG, you two should totally get married, could you imagine the Radio Demon's face. Hahaha." She pulled up her phone and started typing something in google. "So where are you taking them? What are you wearing?"

"We're going to that new restaurant and I'm wearing my usual suit." He pulled away from the other Vee.

"You're not wearing your work clothes. Follow me, we're going shopping."

"So yeah that was the first time I had ever eaten a human heart, it was quite experience, hahaha." Paris was rambling on and on. "Rosie had introduced me to your father, he seemed have approved of me. I, mean, that's crazy, he is THE Radio Demon and all... Oh, have I already told you about my cooking? I-"

The whole time this demon had been talking about himself, oh and the Radio Demon of course. Paris seemed to idolize him, which only put Y/n off more. At least they got to see the rest of hell. The two were walking down the road, a unfamiliar city standing in the distance.

"We should go the other direction." Paris was about to walk the other way.

"Why?

"Oh that's like, uhm, the three Vees territory. It's not a place to take a fair maiden to."

"Dad told you to show me around hell and I want to go there." They continued to walk to the city and it's flashy lights. "Are you coming or am I going alone?"

The two were heading towards the shopping centre. The whole way Paris was trying to convince them to go back. But Y/n was stubborn.

"This really isn't a place for civilized people as you can see, I can show you around another circle in hell." As Paris was talking, they walked up to a window.

The shop window showed a total of ten TV's. Vox 2 Night was on. He looked so handsome in his suit talking about VoxTech's newest invention. They were immediately pulled away from their conversation with the cannibal and lovingly stared at the demon on the broadcast.

"Hey, Y/n." That wasn't Paris' voice.

"Velvette, why are we going to the mall when you can just conjure an outfit for me?" Vox asked.

Velvette pulled up her Sinstagram and showed it to Vox. "Because it's part of the EXPERIANCE, just look. Shopping pics are all over everyone's for-you-page and if we say we're preparing you for a date, we'll totally go viral."

"That's no, we're not telling anyone I'm going on a date." Vox grabbed her phone out of her hands. "Who knows how Val will do when he finds out. No, nope."

"But-"

"No!" Vox's screen zoomed in on his left eye, black circles spiralled in it. As he was using his hypnotising powers, he caught sight of a familiar figure standing in the distance.

"Fine," Velvette sighed, "but at lea-"

But Vox wasn't paying attention to his colleague again. He was walking to the person standing in front of one of his techshops. They were intently watching his night show. Their eyes sparkled.

"Hey, Y/n," he greeted them.

"Vox! What are you doing here?" Y/n's face immediately brightened seeing the TV Demon.

"Hello, I'm Paris." The demon stepped in between the two lovebirds. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, you can fuck off." Vox pushed past him.

Y/n, me and Vox were just about to go shopping. Do you want to come with?" Velvette asked.

"I would love to." They pushed a hairlock behind their ear.

"Another time, I was showing Y/n around and we were just on our way to doomsday district." Paris butted in again. "Besides, aren't you and the Radio Demon rivals? It's highly inappropriate for someone who has not been approved by their father to be around them."

"And I don't think a wannabe, cannibal who doesn't know his place is worthy of being seen with them." Vox retorted. "So Y/n, what do you think?"

"I would love to go shopping with you!" They turned to the other cannibal. "I'm going to hang out with them, you can either come with or leave us alone."

"But-" Before Paris could make another objection, Y/n dragged the overlord by the arm to the shopping centre.

"So what's up with hollow eyes over there?" Velvette asked as Vox and Paris were fighting about a suit or something.

"Oh yeah," Y/n's nervous laugh filled the room, "dad wanted him to come with me while going out, I've never been here before. I didn't really get a choice in the matter."

"Hmm, don't worry. I got ya!!" Velvette walked up to the bickering boys. "Hey, Paris! I saw this polo that would suit you. Come on." She winked at her colleague while pulling him away.

"I never realised Velvette's taste is stuck-up bitchass," Vox murmured.

Y/n linked their arm around the TV's. "It isn't, that's why we should make a run for it now before she gets sick of him."

The mall was giant, every corner held a store a different store. The two were looking around a souvenir store.

"How about this?" Y/n asked as they held up a keychain of a hung rat.

"That's disgusting, wh- HEY HEY!!" Vox screamed as they held the dead animal close to his face. "Stop it!"

"Fine..." Y/n took a step back. "Hey, how do your hypnosis powers work? I know you use them for your shows, but I didn't sense anything at all."

"Indirect hypnosis isn't as strong as direct. My shows only work on lowly denizens, so you have nothing to worry about in that regard." Vox looked at the snow globes decorated with death animals.

"And direct."

Vox looked away from them. "I could make you do anything I wanted but I'm not going to do that. I like you just the way you are."

His words shot straight through their heart. "Stop saying corny stuff like that." A red blush decorated their face.

"But I love your reactions, sweetie."

"Stop."

"Sweetheart."

"Vox..."

"My love~"

"VOX!" Their face was brighter than Alastor's hair. "S̴̹͎͗̈́͂̏͛̈̿͝͝T̸̡̛̼̥͓͖͂͛́̒̈́̄̀͛̏̔͒̎̌̕͝͝O̵̧̖̖͍͕͔͈͂̈́͑̅P̸̢̥̝̦͎̂̌̽ Ȉ̴̟̗̗̗̖̟̞͍̙͊͑̐̋̂̀̆̋T̵̺͉͔̮̺̩̔͌̽͊̔̍̆̿́̔̇̇͘." Their ears fell back, eyes glowed and their teeth got sharper.

Vox was stunned by this reaction, they were terrifying yes, but they were also kind of cute? Pixel hearts floated across his screen. "Wow, you're so hot."

"I, I- uhm, you're handsome too." They twirled a hairlock around their finger.

...

...

"So." Vox broke the awkward silence. "How is that phone suiting you?"

"Oh." They pulled the little device out of their pocket. "Yeah, I'm still figuring out what the apps are all about but I think I understand the chatting and goulgle." They opened their phone and showed it to him

"You still have the standard VoxTech background?" Vox asked.

"You can change it?"

"Yes." Vox grabbed their phone and posed for a selfie. Y/n, not completely understanding what's going on, copied him. "Wait," the overlord said as he was focused on their phone, "here."

He showed them their new background; a picture of the both of them smiling, Y/n looking straight into the camera and Vox glancing lovingly to them, a edited in, glowing heart surrounding the both of them.

"That's so cute!" They stared at the picture now decorating the background of their little picture device.

"I also downloaded 666+ for you along with a free account. you can watch any 666 show on there."

"Even your shows?" Their eyes sparkled.

"Of course." Vox was definitely going to download that image of them to his hard drive once he got home. "Anyway, let's leave. I don't think we're going to buy something here."

"Velvette? Where did Y/n go?" Paris asked.

"I don't know," she answered, "oh look at this shirt." She held up a striped polo.

"I promised their dad I would look after them. Oh, if the Radio Demon finds out I lost them, he's going to hate me!" The cannibal started to panic. "No, I should go to him, if I tell him in time maybe he won't kill me."

"Relax." She rolled her eyes. "Let's go find them, they couldn't have gone far. Besides what would the Radio Demon say if you left them lost and alone now?"

"Right, yeah right." Paris started searching throughout the entire shopping mall.

Vox! I can't keep distracting this guy He's dead set on finding them

We'll come Meet you at the restrooms on the Westside

"Hey! Paris, I know where they are!" She yelled at the still freaked out man.

"Right, lead the way!"

When they arrived, Vox and Y/n were already there.

Paris rushed up to them. "Y/n are you alright? You're not hurt are you? What would your father say if he knew you ran off?"

"I don't care what he would say. I'm my own person." They retorted and then turned to Velvette. "Are you hungry too? Me and Vox wanted to go get some food."

"Sure, I could use a snack."

Paris' face brightened. "I know this great restaurant close by that I just know you would love." He tried to hide his smirk when they agreed to go there.

The restaurant looked nice enough but there didn't seem many people inside. But that also meant they got a table of four immediately. The inside was decorated with abstract paintings and decorative, animal skeletons.

"I've never been in this place. It's rather nice." Vox studied a squirl skull. He couldn't understand why Paris was looking so smug. The waiter passed around the menu and left again. Even the staff was polite, what was going on? But when he opened the menu, it clicked...

It was a cannibal restaurant.

Vox was about to protest when Y/n spoke up. "Oehhh, I didn't think they had places like this outside of Cannibal Town. They even have my favourite!"

He looked over the menu again, looking for anything he could possibly stomach. There weren't any vegan options... shit. This was going to be a loooong lunch.

Velvette shot a concerned look at Vox, when the waiter came back. "Have you made a decision?"

"Yes, I'll have the legbeef, medium rare, and the lady will have the smoked heart." Paris ordered for the two of them.

"Uhm-" Vox glitched, hastily trying to make a decision. I'll have the smoked heart too." It was their favourite dish, he should've at least tried it once.

Velvette was still in utter shock that her colleague was going along with this. "I'll have the uhm... Liver bolognaise." She quickly chose the least horrible sounding dish, at least there would be a shit ton of cheese and sauce on it. The girl still couldn’t believe she was doing this and for Vox of all people!!!

The dinner went fairly well all things considered. Velvette barely touched her dish, while Vox did take a full bite and it didn't taste as bad as he'd expected, actually it tasted great! But knowing he was eating an actual demon spoiled the dish for him. Still, he finished it.

After lunch the group split up again, Paris and Y/n going back to Cannibal Town while Vox and Velvette went back to the V-tower.

Alastor had brought some of his daughters romance books to Rosie, one of them laying open on the table. He wanted to at least try to understand what got Y/n so hung up about Vox and romance.

"So, they basically get threatened and stalked by this vampire and they fall in love with him? I can't believe Y/n has been reading this nonsense." Alastor rolled his eyes and reached out for the next novel. "And this one, to get over her heartbreak, a young demoness writes heartfelt letters, confessing her love for the sinners, never intending to send them. However, when she opens her box one morning she finds all her letters gone, send out. How will she deal with the 5 denizens she accidentally confessed to? Is this supposed to be interesting, I don't get it."

"Come on, Alastor. You want to bond more with her, right? This is part of it." Rosie picked up one of the books to and reads the back. "This one doesn't seem too bad, it's about the love between two demons who look back on their living years as young champs."

"Ugh," the Radio Demon complained. "Luckily I don't need to worry about them and Vox anymore. I must say that Paris boy is quite the charming man, a perfect addition to our home, tell me how did you find him?"

"Oh, Paris is a BIG fan of yours and came to Cannibal Town in the hopes to meet you. For the last few months he has been admired by ALL the ladies in town. Dapper, charming, smart, looks, he got it all as they say, " Rosie laughed, "so when I heard your little conundrum I just knew he was going to be perfect for them."

"Yes, he would make quite the son-in-law but we'll have to see how the date went first." Alastor almost spit out his coffee when he read the backside of the next book; an older Cannibal and younger tech demon falling in love despite being from rivalling families. Was this were Y/n got the idea of falling in love with vox? "Seems like I'll have to have a talk with y/n about fiction and reality."

When Velvette and Vox got back, the last Vee was waiting on them. "Did you two go out without me? You're hurting my feelings."

"Oh, fuck off Val, we just went out for a new suit." She held up her middle finger as she left for her department.

"Oh really?" Val asked, "you went out for a new suit? And you weren't with that whore?" He held up his phone showing Sinstagram. A blurry picture of Vox and Y/n could be seen.

"Yes, I was buying a new suit Valentino, we just ran into them is all." Vox tried to keep back his blush. "Besides, what do you care?"

His colleague's answer infuriated him. "What do I care? Since you met that useless whore, you've kept me dry."

"Not everything is about sex and I highly doubt you're dry, you've got enough playthings." Vox walked towards the elevator. "You don't need me, get over it."

The elevator doors closed again, leaving Valentino all alone. "That fucking doe-eyed BITCH!! I'm going to kill them! Kill their whole fucking family!!!" He grabbed a glass from his assistant and threw it against de wall. "But I'm going to start with them..."

"It's unfortunate our date was interrupted by those two, but no matter we could always meet again," Paris spoke as the two of them were on their way back to Cannibal Town. "I am free this wee-"

"Wait!" They yelled. "This was supposed to be a date?"

"Well, yes."

"No, not happening! Listen up, I am in no way shape or form, interested in you that way!"

"Hmm, I see, what a shame." Paris put on a seemingly fake frown. "You know I was going to keep quiet about Vox and you but it seems like I'm more devoted to the Radio Demon. I wonder how he is going to react... What he'll do to that bastard... Oh well."

"What? I... Please don't tell dad!" Y/n begged.

"Hmm, how about this, I keep quiet about your little rendezvous, your affair, and you become my girlfriend."

"I... Uhmm..."

"How about this I'll give you two days to think about it." The cannibal put on an atrocious smile. "Choose wisely, or you might never see Vox ever again."

"There is my favourite demon." Alastor patted their head. "Did you have a good time, little fawn?"

"Yes, I did. It was great." Y/n smiled widely, doing their absolute best to hide their nervousness.

"That's amazing dear." Their father turned to Paris. "Thank you, I hope you will show them around some more another time."

"I would love to sir!"

Part 3

I'm an unoriginal ass. I know, I know, <3

JK here's part 3

Masterlist/request guidelines

[moonah-rose]

It's kinda funny when people ask me about CBS Ghosts, I usually tell them to give the first six episodes a go, and to try not to be put off by the first two-parter. Because those first two episodes do have a lot of forced jokes, a lot of shot for shot scenes of the UK pilot which feel badly copy and pasted, and a bit too much toilet humor. I almost quit the show after the first two hander and then decided to give it another chance and am glad I did because the show does find its own identity pretty quick after that.

But what's interesting is that, I had a similar experience with the UK version. I did NOT like the show at all on first viewing. My best friend suggested we watch it, I sat through the first three episodes and thought...."meh". Like the plague ghosts got a chuckle out of me but not much else. And I HATED the main ghosts. So much. It kinda had the opposite problem to the US version, while the characters there felt too flat and cheesy, the UK ghosts felt way too mean - not even in a fun way like Red Dwarf or Blackadder. Like the first episode is fine, but in the second one they are all basically torturing a woman who literelly just got out of the hospital after barely surviving - because of them! With the exception of Pat and Kitty, I really didn't want to like any of these guys. And then the third episode, even when they stop tormenting Alison, I found them trying to set the builders up really cringy and a little uncomfortable, especially the scene with planting Alison's wedding ring. These episodes work great on rewatch to see how far the ghosts and Alison's relationship with them develops, but at the time I just wasn't enjoying the show so stopped after that. But my friend continued and kept saying it was amazing.

So a few months later I decide to give it one more try and the next episode up was Free Pass. I think this episode, while not the strongest of S1, is very underrated because this is what won me over and kept me watching. And I think it's because this is the episode where the ghosts are not just annoying assholes. We get to see them as actual people being excited and interested in the film crew. Aside from Robin messing with the lights, the ghosts aren't really a hindrance to anything. Instead it's where we see that Alison is just as unhinged and morally grey as they are - willing to put people at risk in her unstable house for the sake of making some money. The whole thing about her winding Mike up with her celeb crush is also funny and cute. It's also interesting to learn that this was the first episode the guys filmed and you can kinda feel that buzz of them all being excited to start and how it bleeds over into the episode. After that I was hooked.

[jazzymarie1006]

Logan and Ororo in the two parter episode "One Man's Worth" are still so very great!

Warning: Long post is LONG!

First there's this gem of a scene. Not sure which is better. Logan believing that Ororo called him beautiful, Ororo telling Logan he's beautiful in his own way, or the implication that they've had more than one picnic (with or without Charles).

The apple scene was great. Ororo knowing that Hawk would make a "Garden of Eden" parallel is too great.

When the Timeline is being absolutely DESTROYED, Logan and Ororo run into each other's arms as Charles disappeared from existence.

Which brings us HERE! A timeline where Magneto is leading the mutants in a war against machines and super humans. And Logan and Ororo are married! Also Logan took Ororo's last name, that's the only right answer.

The close-up on the the rings was great! But it had me thinking... how were they even married in the first place sense Mutants clearly aren't treated as people? Did Morph turn into the Justice of the Peace again?

Logan catching Ororo and making sure she's safe is great! Love to see it.

Absolutely LOVE how Logan puts the claws away when Ororo says she believes Bishop and Shard. The fact that they weren't together in the main timeline had Logan so upset. You know he was just looking thoroughly through what Bishop and Shard were showing them!

Ororo: My Dearling... would you condemned the whole world just to keep our love.

Logan: You bet I would. Why would I care about anything else?

This man didn't even hesitate! The kiss Ororo gave him was brief, but it of course shows that she’s also going to miss their marriage.

Of course Logan was gonna go if Ororo was going. That's a no brainer!

Later we get one of the BEST scenes in the show! Logan and Ororo are snitched on for being an interracial couple in the 1950s. And Logan immediately jumps into action when Ororo's insulted!

Ororo is also the only person able to stop him. She couldn’t even stay mad at Logan!

Logan coming in the save again! Ororo can NOT be in any form of danger around this man!

After the mission to save Charles fails, Wolverine's ready to go back to where he and Ororo were before (this man said fighting a war alongside Magneto wasn't so bad!). Of course Ororo knew Logan wasn't going let Bishop and Shard down and he knew too!

These two weren't apart from each other for few seconds while in the bad future!

Logan really pretended to pass out JUST TO STEAL A KISS!

How he wiped her tears!! I can't with them!!

Just gonna get this outta the way... Charles fainting when Logan threatened him was hilarious! He rejected immediately! He does NOT like it when Ororo's upset with him!

After Charles reads their mind, he quickly reveals that someone (Logan) doesn't want the mission to succeed! Of course this has Bishop ready to start blasting. Which gives us this line (which Charles most likely remembers later on).

Logan: I feel the way I feel bub. That don't mean I'd turn traitor!

Watching this now should NOT have still been able to make me tear up!!

After Logan says "Don't you leave me", the two kiss and the timeline is restored. The two are even seen hugging!

The bit of flirting near the end!! The writers KNEW what they were doing!!

Then Charles pulls up, reveals to us that he remembers what happened with the Alternate Duo and watches them briefly before leaving them alone. He knows that these two are willing to give up happiness with each other to do the right thing for the world!

I love all of this so very much!

[juanarc-thethird]

Beautiful! The next day Jaune and Harriet confront Winter. Jaune came to apologize for what happened and tries to explain himself. But Harriet doesn't care and instead wants Winter to join in this time for a three way. She talks about how good Jaune is and tempts her with him possibly getting Winter pregnant. Does she give in to temptation.

The New Guy Part 3

Winter's Office

*knock Knock*

Winter: Comen in.

Jaune: *Opens the door a little bit* Hello Miss Schnee.

Winter: Jaune! W-What are you doing here?

Jaune: I'm sorry for bothering you. I just wanted to talk about what happened yesterday. Is this a good time?

Winter: S-Sure, please come in.

For a moment Winter felt excited for some reason. Is it because of how strange this whole situation is that doesn't know how to feel this properly or is it because she hopes, no, she wants this conversation to lead to more? Whatever that emotion was, it died when she saw that the person was walking behind him, Harriet.

Harriet: *Smug* Hello Ma'am.

The two of them took a seat across from her and Jaune started talking.

Jaune: First of all, we want to apologize for missing the meeting. Time flew by and we didn't realize it. I also want to apologize for what you saw. It was a very shameless act on our part and we want to apologize. *Looks at Harriet*

Harriet: What? I am not going to apologize for that. It is something natural. We all do, it's her fault for entering my room without knocking.

Winter: Is ok Jaune I understand.

Jaune: Is not ok, it wasn't a decent act on our part and we both need to apologize.

Harriet: *Chuckles* Decent. Says the guy who used me as a Fleshlight the moment she left.

Winter: *Blushing* F-Fleshlight?

Jaune: Harriet!

Harriet: Oh you should have seen it Winter. This boy has talent. He put his hands under my legs and took me by the waist. He picked me up, he put his big dick in my pussy and fucked me like an animal. God damn, it felt so good! fuck! Just remembering those kisses on the neck and how you moved your hips, Fuck! I'm already getting wet.

Jaune: *Embarrassed* Harriet Please

Harriet: Sorry, anyways, after the fifth time that I came, I fainted. He was so scared that he took me to the infirmary while complete naked! *Laughs*

Winter: You went to the infirmary because of "that"?! Nobody informed me!

Harriet: Well it's because I had a deal with the nurse.

She takes out her phone and shows a very interesting photo to Winter.

Winter: *Red* Oh my god!

The photo shows the head nurse with her assistant giving Jaune a blowjob, while Harriet appears in the corner smiling and showing the peace sign with her hand.

Harriet: But this is the one I like the most.

She changes the image and in this one the same two people appear smiling, with smeared makeup, and their faces covered with cum. In the middle of them was the big jaune cock covered in lipstick.

Harriet: Hot right?

Winter: *Eyes glue to the screen* Y-Yes, Wait! No! Is not ok! You are not supposed to do that with the staff!!!!

Harriet: Hey, I didn't force them. I just told them that if they kept this emergency out the records, my dear parter would show them how grateful he can be. Oh and they did like it how grateful he was~

Winter: Grateful?

Harriet: Yep, and while we're talking about it… Jaune could share that appreciation with you if you put what you saw aside. You know, we're looking for a third person for an "activity" this weekend. Who knows, you might end up "stuffed" with bun in the oven. What do you say? *She sends her a message with both photos*

Jaune: Harriet what are you-

Harriet: *Covers his mouth* Do you want to be appreciated like them?

Winter sees the photos on her phone

Winter: *Red and smoking from the head* I...! I....!

Harriet: Yes?~

Winter: I need you to get out of my office, NOW!!

Out of nowhere Winter uses her semblance and drags the two out of her office.

Jaune: *On the floor* I think she's mad at us.

Harriet: *Sitting on top of him* Maybe.

She gets up and takes a peek out the door.

Winter: *Looking at her phone while sensually touching her chest* So big, fuck~ *Bites her lip and starts to lower her hand to her pants*

Harriet: Or maybe not~

[harunovella]

so can you keep it secret? ; e.y.

synopsis: Porco Galliard hated Eren Yeager, that was a given. It was the way he looked, the way he behaved, how he carried himself... And you couldn't help but be curious about this man. Why did your step brother despise him so much? And why did it feel so good sneaking around and falling deeply for your step brother's arch nemesis?

cw: college au, female reader, minor age gap (5 years), strangers to lovers, fwb (eventual couple), car sex, thigh riding, smut, long-haired eren (goth!eren) bc that's a warning in of itself, minor blood, everyone is aged up (18+)! srry if i miss any! MDNI!

wc: 11k+

an: so my spiderman!eren au did so much better than expected (it's at 500+ notes thanks?!) and I have a few other eren stories that I had on my ao3 so I thought I'd slowly integrate them over here... enjoy and reblogs are much appreciated! xo p.s. this originally was a two parter but I squashed it together... p.s.s. i'll make a masterlist when I post more!

Eren had finally made it, he was going to finally graduate medical school and finally get his father off his back about following in his footsteps. It wasn't like Eren hated the path he was on, it just wasn't ideally the career he wanted. He had lived a life wanting to explore the world, to travel and be carefree, but then his parents reminded him that he needed an actual career with a great salary to be able to do such thing. So, as a way to keep his childish dreams from being anything but that, he decided becoming a doctor would at least give him the money he needed.

However, things didn't always go so easily.

He wasn't the lively boy he once was, things changed, life happened... and people who didn't really know him saw him in a different light. It was one of his final courses, a semester long project to get students prepared for working in dynamics with others in their field—a supposed required course for every major to take. A way to improve the social skills of this generation wherein the older ones believed they lacked due to their technological obsessions. Word for word, exactly how Eren remembered his counselor said way back when he first started his journey.

That's how he ended up paired with the only person in the entire university who couldn't stand him or his entire existence. Eren didn't seem to care about others false opinions, he never paid them any mind, after the person he'd become—which was just antisocial and goal driven—he was mistaken for a druggie, womanizer. Something he wasn't.

Sure, he had his fair number of tattoos and piercings, and he had his hair long and always hanging over his face or pulled back in a messy excuse for a bun, but that didn't mean he was a delinquent. It was just who he was. However, to Porco Galliard, that did not seem to matter. Appearances—to him—were everything. And, of course, Porco was his assigned semester long partner.

Lucky him.

Porco didn't seem to care if Eren was in the top 5% of their class—something no one expected from a expressionless man like himself. He also didn't seem to care if his father was a medical genius or that he did come from money because of said father, no, Porco always saw Eren to be beneath him. And, in all reality, Eren just didn't care for Porco either. He was a rich snob who always had to have the final word.

"Maybe he's just jealous that you're anti social and still get the ladies for having a pretty face," Sasha would tell Eren whenever he would mention Porco's childlike hatred towards him. 

"Though it doesn't help that you look like a pothead manwhore," Jean would add, earning a smack on the arm from Mikasa. "What? He does! His hair and that emo vibe he gives off!"

Yet somehow everyone else saw him as just that. Something he wasn't. Sure, he had his fair share of stupidity when he was in that age between who he once was and who he had become, but that was all experimental and he didn't really like it. It wasn't something he wanted to pursue, but with the look he found to be the most... him, brought on that constant speculation. He gave up on denying it, the ones who knew the truth were the only ones that mattered anyway.

And so did you.

At least, eventually, you would learn.

Eren could remember that day as if it were yesterday. The day he first met you.

The moment he had arrived at Porco's home to begin their semester long project. How he entered without receiving a hello from the dirty blond, how said man left him to his defenses as he went to use the bathroom. Eren stood at the doorway with his hands deep in the pockets of his jacket, eyeing the surrounding home. It was well furnished, minimal frames lingering about, a two story townhome Porco managed to afford on his own. Or, at least, Eren recalled him mentioning when he had eavesdropped on a conversation. However, as Eren walked further into the home and spotted the tiny backyard, a young woman was crouched tending to a small garden.

He couldn't recall Porco having a sibling or someone he lived with, or maybe he just didn't care in the moment to remember. His head tilted at the sight, eyeing her as she watered the flower bed, a bucket hat on her head, and a sundress snug to her body. Sandle cladded feet digging into the dirt as she smiled to herself.

It was you. He hadn't known who you were, but he had recognized your face from one of the photos he had passed by earlier. You stood up and brushed some loose strands (that slipped your braid) behind your ear. Were you Porco's sister? Girlfriend? No... The one thing Eren did remember was that Porco and Pieck Finger had a thing. Or, rumored to have.

Watching you as you reached for your water bottle, uncapping it and chugging away the contents, Eren felt entranced. The way you tilted your head back, how beads of water slipped down your chin and neck. He blinked a few times before he looked elsewhere. Maybe it was because he hadn't had sex in a while, seeing as you so easily piqued his interest.

Sometimes he hated being the antisocial person he had become, it made him feel more desperate for human contact than he should.

Eren snapped himself out of his thoughts before he turned away. If he was to be left on his own, he might as well do some snooping. It wasn't like he cared to be scolded by Porco, he already got pointless insults from him daily, anyway.

That's how he found himself on the second floor, standing before a room covered in pastels.

Clearly, this was not Porco's room. The amount of posters and trinkets around, the floral bedsheets... A beanbag, stuffed animals. Magazines and a vanity full of makeup. A bunch of Polaroids hanging on a string of lights. It was your room.

Eren walked towards your desk, a collection of colorful pens and sticky notes amongst journals and books (and other educational tools), sat on its surface. Leaning over and eyeing the photos, seeing the consistency of you and some friends, he furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of a pair of recognizable faces. Gabi Braun and Falco Grice. The former being the little cousin to one of Eren's friends—Reiner Braun—and the latter being the little brother of an acquaintance of his, Colt Grice.

"What are you doing?" A voice had spoken up, causing Eren to nearly jump out of his skin as he turned to face the person.

To face you.

What he did not expect was to see a subtle smirk on your lips, you leaning against your own door frame, and arms crossed. Your feet were bare and your hat was gone. Just you, your sun dress, and (you must've undone your braid) loose hair.

He recalled the innocent look you tried to put off, the way you had lowered your arms and held your hands together before turning your smirk into a gentle smile. It was an act, clearly, he saw right through it. He wondered how often it was used. You must've been a Venus fly trap. "I was looking for the bathroom."

"Well, you're in my bedroom," you had chuckled, shaking your head. "Though, I do have my own personal one. There is no spare one up here. The two bedrooms have their own, then there's the half bath downstairs," you had explained, then stood up straight to approach him.

The whiff of your perfume had hit him—a scent he would never forget—so sweet yet so seductive. Something a siren would conjure. His heart had skipped a beat when you were mere inches away him, his eyes landing on your neck. He thought about the water that had trickled down your skin. His focus slipped from your clavicle down to your cleavage before it swiftly made its way up, to your lips, and back towards your eyes. "Apologies..."

He knew he should've walked out, knew he should've made his way back downstairs... but he couldn't seem to. He was too enthralled by your beauty. There was something about you... You must've been a siren.

"Hey, where the hell did Yeager go?" Porco had called out, causing both your's and Eren's eyes to widen. You didn't think twice when you grabbed Eren's hand and shoved him into your bathroom before shutting the door. Like nothing, you came up with a lie, shouting back how you didn't even see whoever this Yeager person was. All while Eren listened in from the confines of your bathroom (a place he would soon grow accustomed to). You were such a liar.

After that day, you and Eren would encounter one another more often than not. With him working with Porco, Eren would become a common guest at your shared home. Not only that, he would eventually pursue something with you that was beyond friendship.

Porco had a habit of disappearing on Eren in the midst of their group work to do god knows what. It was a different excuse each time he ran into you; majority being phone calls while others he straight up would lock himself up in his room to game with some online bodies who were from a different time zone. All an excuse to stay away from Eren. In those instances, Eren would be left alone to do his part—and any other homework or studying he had to do—before the Galliard man would return... usually an hour later.

Eren had hated that.

Keywords, had hated.

As days turned into weeks, and his presence became more prominent in your home, you grew more and more acquainted with the long haired man. You, unlike Porco and Eren, were soon going to start your freshman year as a college student. You were in the midst of your last summer break before classes would begin, fresh out of high school and already exploring the world with your best friends.

Except, those outings became almost less and less the more you found yourself trying to get close to Porco's arch nemesis.

Eren Yeager was no mystery man to you. You knew of him. You would hear Porco rant about him all the time and, well, you kind of grew an unhealthy obsession. Sure, Porco wasn't a big fan of Reiner Braun... but Eren Yeager? Now that was pure hatred. And, out of pure curiosity, you wanted to get close to this Eren person.

And that's what you did.

Porco Galliard was your step brother, an addition to your life when you first started high school. You had always wanted a big brother and he became that. He was standoffish and quite harsh towards you at first. Being as he was half a decade older than you and wasn't fond of the idea that his father was marrying your mother... he kind of took that out on you. He told you he had an older brother he lost and didn't need a replacement the day you two met. However, as time passed, he started to realize how much of an ass he was to you and slowly opened up. It also helped that his father didn't appreciate how he treated you when you were nothing but kind to him. Probably why Porco took the role of the overly protective big brother a little too serious.

It was a bit suffocating, at first you didn't mind, but the older you got... the more irritated you became.

You understood where he came from, but you were already an adult. Technically speaking. Someone who was entering the real world and was no longer a child. Yet, Porco never could see or understand this.

It was one of the many reasons why you started seeing Eren behind his back.

What started off as shameless flirting on your end blossomed into something... raw. You recalled the ways he'd look at you when he thought you weren't paying attention, or how you'd let your hand linger a little too long on his thigh. Little touches and glances lead to you making out with him at one of Gabi's cousin's parties (yes, your group of three always attended them seeing as Reiner could never deny his precious cousin). You had basically thrown yourself at Eren and had half expected him to deny you... not indulge and lock the two of you up in a bathroom.

From that day on, the two of you started something you couldn't seem to stop.

What you claimed to be a way to relieve endless sexual tension, with Eren being the first man to ever do any of that with you, became something of constant need. Which eventually blossomed into the constant desire to simply just be near one another. What once was shameless hookups became a secret relationship. The reason you were already reaching your five month mark with him.

"I can't believe you're actually dating him," Gabi said as the two of you sat at one of the couches in Reiner's home. It was his annual Christmas party. Your first semester of college went smoothly, what with you having a now graduated boyfriend who loved to give you rewards every time you did well in classes. The incentives were a nice form of motivation. It also helped that he had gone through all the same classes you went through and was the perfect tutor. Now on your winter break, you felt as if you could breathe freely. Somewhat. Porco still hadn't figured out that you were dating his quote unquote enemy.

After that forced group project of their final semester, the two so happened to take part in the same residency... Which meant Porco and Eren seeing one another more. Which meant even more complaints and rants from your step brother.

"Why are you surprised?" You asked as you sipped at the cup in your hand, eyes lingering towards the hallway that lead to the kitchen. From your spot on the couch, you could see Eren leaning against the wall parallel to the island table where two of his best friends—Armin and Mikasa—stood at. They must've been doing something, a wall blocking your vision as you could only see the two walk by every so often. Eren would open his mouth and speak a few words before brining his own cup to his lips. Though his closest friends and your own as well knew about your relationship, you couldn't quite do much in public. When it came to Reiner's home, it meant Porco was somewhere nearby. Or, at least, some of his close friends were. Whenever he'd enter a Braun party and spot Yeager, Porco would turn and walk right out.

Except this time, he was still lingering, mingling with Pieck and Bertolt in the dining room as Colt and Reiner were shooting darts.

The house was packed, Reiner always managed to befriend almost anyone and everyone from all walks of life. There was no wonder why you always found yourself in a corner with Gabi, it was overcrowded and as fun as it was, you didn't trust college boys. Especially when they were drunk. It was enough that you were taken and couldn't quite show it, but it was another thing having to constantly dodge their advances. You hated it but with Gabi around—and her temper—it helped. Only a semester in college and she made a name for herself.

"Because of Porco," Gabi shook her head as she sipped at her drink. "I mean... he hates Eren."

"Yeah, I'm well aware," you snickered, eyes looking back into the kitchen as Eren was now talking to Jean—another good friend of his you met a few months back. Another friend who knew of your secret relationship. "But I don't hate him."

"Obviously," Gabi clicked her tongue. "I'm just glad no one in Eren's group has a big mouth."

Nodding, you took a sip from your cup, "Connie and Sasha have a bit of loose screws, but they know how to keep a secret. I don't worry much about it. Plus, it helps that some of them have already graduated or soon will, it isn't like I'm on campus making out with Eren."

"The perks of having an older boyfriend," Gabi sighed, earning a swat from you.

"Please, you and Falco have been in love with each other since you were in your single digits—"

"Shut up!" Gabi hissed, earning a laugh from you. 

Just as you threw your head back, your eyes landed on said blondie. Lifting your head up and smiling at your best friend, you eyed your now empty cup before standing. "I'm gonna get a refill while you smooch up your boyfriend," you said as Falco approached, you patting his arm as he then took your seat. "Have fun!" You said as you leaned in between the two from the other side of the couch, earning a blush from Falco and a hushed curse from Gabi.

"You're such a fucking idiot, Kirstein," Eren grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

"You are, bastard!" Jean fired back.

"You both are idiots," Armin laughed as Mikasa sighed. You walked in, unsure what was happening, only knowing it was just them four there within the chaos of junk food. The kitchen was littered with dozens of opened and unopened beer bottles, tons of liquor, bags of chips, plates and napkins... all strewn all over the place. You felt bad for Reiner, but he never complained, Bertolt and Annie always helped him clean up since they, too, lived in the home. You'd often offer, but Reiner always said you did enough by being Gabi's best friend. It never ceased to make you laugh.

"Oh, hey," hearing your name as you were pouring yourself another cup from besides Armin, you turned and were greeted by his sweet smile.

"Hey," you smiled back, then noticing how everyone was looking at you—including Eren. "What are they arguing about now?"

"Some dumb shit," Armin waved off as you grinned.

"Nothing new," Mikasa shrugged as she approached you, gently bumping her arm against yours in an endearing way before whispering, "Eren's been waiting for you."

Blushing, you looked at the grey eyed beauty, "Porco's still here..."

Frowning, Mikasa sighed, "we'll cover up for you if he asks or anything."

Smiling, you nodded, "thanks." Walking past her and greeting Jean, you casually sat on one of the barstools adjacent to Eren. Sipping at your cup and pulling out your phone from the pocket of your cardigan, you scrolled through your social media. Without noticing it, Mikasa, Armin, and Jean all exchanged looks before discreetly ditching the space, leaving Eren alone with you. You tried to keep yourself busy, liking photos here and there, reading a few DM's you hadn't checked before a shadow casted upon you. Looking up and seeing Eren with his arms crossed over the counter as he leaned towards you, you bit back a grin. "Hi."

"Hey," he nudged his head. "How are you?"

Biting your inner lip, you fought the smile forcing it's way onto your lips, "I'm good... yeah, classes just ended... passed them all. How are you?"

"I'm alright," he sighed before one of his hands moved, tracing the tile on the counter as your eyes bounced between the many silver and black rings that adorned his fingers. "A bit bummed out though..."

Lifting your eyes from his fingers (that you were very well versed in) up his jacket covered arm, towards his neck and jaw, your eyes lingered on his plush lips. Oh, how badly you wanted to kiss him. "Why's that?" You asked, eyes still studying the handsome man before you, from the piercings that decorated his ears to the loose strands of hair that slid from his bun, towards his stunning emerald eyes (that seemed more interested on the counter than you), you shifted in your seat.

"I've walked under a shit ton of mistletoes, my girlfriend was nowhere in sight, but when she was, I couldn't kiss her," he pouted as your heart skipped a beat. The two of you had seen one another a few times throughout the night, walking by each other even, almost as if the other was a ghost with the lack of acknowledgment. You both hated it. "Kinda afraid she kissed some other man."

"Oh, poor you..." you played along, mimicking his pout as you tilted your head. "Though I doubt anyone would cheat on a pretty face like yours."

Finally lifting his stunning eyes to meet yours, Eren's toothy grin presented itself to you, his pearly whites on display as your heart throbbed within your chest. "Is that so?"

Nodding, you walked your pointer and middle towards his hand, your fingers gently trailing along one of the veins that was on full display. "Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen a man like you before. I'm kind of jealous. I mean, damn, she's a lucky girl... too bad I can't be seen with an older man. Especially one that looks like you," you frowned. Eren wanted nothing more than to take your hand and run into the nearest bedroom. "What, with all those piercings and that fashion sense... how are you a doctor?"

Eyeing you as he licked his lips, Eren took in a deep breath, "I sadly have to remove the earrings and hide any visible tattoos. Lucky for me, they're pretty hidden under my work attire."

Smiling, you pulled your hand away. You noticed the way Eren's own twitched, wanting to yank yours back. "That's a shame, if you were my doctor I'd want to see it all on full display."

Sucking in a sharp breath as he could hear his blood pumping, Eren looked at you with hungry eyes, "you're a little minx."

Grinning, you settled your cup and stood up, "I've gotta go... I'll see you around."

Feeling his heart drop, Eren stood straight, eyes slightly widening. "Where you headed to?"

"My boyfriend's car, he's waiting for me," you shrugged before walking off, smiling to yourself as you knew Eren would follow.

You slid past the crowd that had huddled up in the home, chanting Sasha and Connie's names—they must've been doing some sort of drinking or eating contest. Your step brother was still busy in his own world, unaware of your body walking out the front door. Mikasa, Armin, and Jean—who were now in the same vicinity as Porco—noticed you (followed shortly by Eren) exiting.

Walking past the stoners and a few couples making out on the porch, you strolled along the collection of cars, further down to where you knew Eren parked his car. He always kept it away from the rest, not trusting anyone around his car—and also for instances like these when he wanted the two of you alone.

Reiner's shared house was situated along a row of homes that sat before a park, a park in which you now walked along, spotting Eren's ride. Just as you approached it, the doors unlocked and the lights flickered. Eren wasn't too far behind. Opening the backseat door, you slid in, on your hands and knees as you made your way to the other side. Soon after, you felt the car shift as the door slammed, your body being tugged back. Now facing Eren, your sudden giggle was interrupted as his body hovered over yours, lips crashing on to your own with such desperation.

Eren slid his tongue past your parted lips, meeting your own as his hands grabbed onto the meat of your thighs, parting them and situating himself in between them. Though his car wasn't tiny, it wasn't massive either for either of you to be completely comfortable. However, you two had become pros when it came to having fun in the backseat of his ride.

Running your fingers along his hair, pulling it out of the bun it was in, you slid his hair tie around your wrist before you felt Eren grind up against you. Your heart skipped a beat at the pressure against your clothed core, Eren's bulge pressing against his jeans, begging for freedom. One of your hands slid between your bodies, palming against his hardness as a moan escaped the man before you, the kiss becoming sloppy as he couldn't seem to put his focus on anything else but the pressure you gave him. You grinned as you felt his hips jerk against you, your other hand settling against the back of his neck as you lifted your head enough to meet his lips once again.

In an instant, Eren had you straddling him, your thighs parted as you moved both of your hands into his hair once again. Your breathing was heavy, your lips desperately meeting one another as you began to grind your hips against him. Eren's fingers slid under the skirt of your dress, pressing into your thighs and bruising the skin. You grew impatient, your forehead pressed against his as you shifted and situated yourself against one of his thighs. The sounds of your shared breathing filled the air, Eren's parted lips catching your own as you began to rock yourself against him. The friction, that pressure you needed against your bundle of nerves had you seeing stars. You felt so needy—extra needy. It was enough that you had to sneak around to see Eren, which made the both of you even more desperate than you should've been.

You felt like a bitch in heat, every time you were alone with Eren, you always found yourself riding his hand, his thigh, or even his face, to get off. After all, that's how your relationship first started. And he (almost) always made it about you and your pleasures. He never complained. He liked seeing the way you unraveled before him, the look of pure ecstasy across your face, how your eyebrows furrowed and lips parted. The way you squeezed your eyes shut, how quickly you breathed, and the grip you had on his shoulders or head, always leaving behind angry crescent marks against his skin. He wore them—and any other markings you gave him—as a badge of honor. He loved making you come.

Reaching down and tugging at your panties, Eren pushed them as far as he could before you did the rest, allowing yourself to feel freely. Your slick staining his black jeans as you eagerly rubbed yourself against him. Eren watched in a daze, his head thrown back against the head rest as his fingers pressed into the flesh of your bare ass. You held onto your underwear, placing it in the pocket of his jacket. "Keep it," was all you said. Eren didn't even question it, he never did. At this point, he had a whole collection of your underwear in its own drawer—and not just from when you stayed the night.

Feeling your grip tighten as your moans became louder and quicker, Eren slid his hands higher and helped guide your hips. Helped you find your release as you orgasmed before him, the heat burning up your body as you lowered your head to his shoulder. You knew that wasn't it, it never was one and done. You soon found your lips on his neck, licking at the skin, lazily biting and leaving marks behind.

Eren undid his belt and pants, lifting his hips with you as he pushed his jeans down his thighs. Your own hands moved down to his underwear, tugging down the waistband and letting his length spring free. The fact that neither of you had spoken a word showed how desperate you were. Eren was in a haze and you were straight up horny. After weeks of studying for final exams, unable to free yourself from your step brother's watch as he knew you were changing due to college, you were hardly able to sneak around with Eren. You couldn't even remember the last time you two fucked.

Normally, Eren would tease you for being so damn desperate, but he was feeling it just as bad. He missed you. He really missed you. He dreamt plenty about you, fantasized and thought about you while he was supposed to be focused on other things. There wasn't enough porn in the world to make up for the itch he needed to scratch. You two were truly addicted to one another.

Eren slid into you with little to no resistance, he wondered if you kept busy while he wasn't around to make up for the lack of his presence. He didn't want to think about it. All he wanted to do was fuck you. Fuck you and fuck you and fuck you as much as he could in the back of his car before anyone could see you. He truly hoped Mikasa was keeping her word. He needed this time with you.

Lifting his hips to meet your own as you raised and lowered yours, the two of you groaned and moaned out each other's names. Tears lightly pricked your eyes, you felt like you were seeing god—though, to be fair, Eren always looked like a god in your eyes when you were being intimate. You could hear the angels singing. God, how you missed his dick.

It was embarrassing, you knew neither of you would last long. You fucked each other, eagerly needing to feel one another. Eren hissed as you yelped when he gave you a rough buck of his hips, tearing into you. Your body shook—as did the car. Your skin slapped, the sounds melting with every other obscene noise your bodies were making. From your mouth to his, down to your pussy. Everything was so loud and fast and hot...

"E— Eren—" you stuttered, gulping, trying to catch your breath. Your eyes squeezed shut, your head fell back as a scream ripped from your lungs.

"Fuck— Fuck, baby, it's been— it's been too long," Eren shook his head, head falling back as you squeezed tightly around him. Eren was going to come, he could feel it, you were already reaching your climax and crying out and it was only making him choke out on his moans. "Wh— Where do you—"

"In me— Fuck— Yes!" You shrieked, riding out your high. You didn't have to tell Eren twice, he came hard, shooting ropes of his seed within you until you were practically overflowing with it. It wasn't often, but whenever you did let him come in you, he loved watching the way his own release leaked deliciously from you. It almost always lead to him fucking you again. It was a wonderful thing that you were on the pill.

"Shit..." Eren breathed, taking a moment to collect himself as you did the same. "We should go back inside... Get cleaned..."

"Yeah..." you whispered, now looking down at him with hooded eyes. A lazy smile was on your lips as your hands moved up to push his hair away from his face. You leaned in and gave him a sweet kiss, nuzzling your nose against his before gently nibbling at his jaw. Eren sat there, his hands falling to his sides before he reached up and fixed your own hair that was a bit tousled.

Gazing up at you, a smile mirroring your own—one of satisfaction and a bit prideful at the sight of your blissful expression—he leaned in and kissed you. "Let's go."

Sighing, you opened the door and climbed off of him, adjusting your dress and shivering. Not only had you purposefully left your panties in Eren's pocket, but you could feel his release trailing down your leg.

Eren stepped out after fixing himself, shutting the door behind him before locking his car. He reached for you and brought your hand to his lips, kissing your knuckles, wrist, then tugged you to him as he kissed your lips. Your arms wrapped around his waist, his towering frame hunching over to deepen the kiss. His tongue met yours, yours hands tugging at his jacket, you smiled... but then suddenly you were standing there. Stunned. Your arms now open before you and Eren's body gone.

You blinked, and you blinked again and again, yells and grunts were heard, the sound of rustling and curses echoed into the night sky. You couldn't process it, too dazed. What the hell was happening?

"Porco! Porco, stop it!" You recognized that soft voice... it was Pieck.

Why was Pieck there? Why had she been calling out to Porco?

A gasp left you, one that made you light headed. Your eyes landed on Porco, clutching onto Eren's collar with one hand as his other was curled into a fist, punching at Eren's face. Your heart dropped, your eyes widened. Blood. Blood was everywhere. You screamed, you screamed so loud all you could hear was ringing. You reached for your step brother, tried to pull him off, but he shoved you back. You fell into Pieck's arms as she held you tight. Her usually calm voice yelled at Porco to stop, begging him to leave Eren alone. You tried reaching over again, voice cutting in and out as tears streamed down your cheek at the sight of your boyfriend taking every single hit.

He didn't block his attacks, he didn't even fight back. Why wasn't he? Why was he letting Porco do this?

Everything was happening so fast, your ears continued to ring, your vision blurred. Suddenly, Reiner was there to pull Porco back. Suddenly, Jean was there with Armin to tug Eren up to his feet. Mikasa was before him, checking his injuries as Bertolt and Annie stood before Porco to block his view. Gabi and Falco were beside you in an instant, speaking, saying things you couldn't pick up. All you could focus on was the blood that stained the sidewalk, the sound of your heart racing in your ears, and the sudden need to crumble to your knees.

To then black out.

"Hey." You were pretending you couldn't hear him, you stood there with your back pressed against the wall, a cup in your hand. Gabi and Falco stood before you, childishly bickering over something as you kept to yourself and watched it all unravel. It was always like this, you third wheeling and never seeming to mind, you didn't need to go to the movies when you had them. "Gabi snapped?"

Biting your inner lip as you fought a grin, you turned your head and tilted it up in acknowledgment. "Hey... Yeah, nothing new," you sighed as you eyed the emerald eyed man beside you. Eren had his hair down—a sight you adored—as he dressed in a pair of black jeans, a band tee, and a jacket over it. You tried to be discreet, definitely not checking him out in front of him... but how could you not? He was too handsome for his own good. Sometimes moments like these happened when it was just you two, eyes lingering, silence weaving between the two of you. You could smell his cologne. It made you want to tremble. Sometimes you hated his charms, even when he wasn't trying... he always had you enamored.

"About what?" Eren curiously asked. He was being quite social with you when your step brother wasn't too far off. It was another one of Reiner's gatherings, you were sure Porco hadn't noticed Eren just yet.

"Oh, you know how Gabi thinks she's always right," you waved a hand before leaning in, "when she's not."

That earned a snicker from Eren as he kept his focus on your two best friends, watching with such amusement. "Poor Falco."

Grinning as your eyes trailed his pretty face, freshly shaven jaw, perfect nose and lips that always appeared in your dreams, you turned your attention over his shoulder. Jean stood in between Sasha and Connie, lecturing them like a father. "Though, they remind me a lot like a pair of somebodies," you said, looking back at Eren as his eyes shifted to meet your own.

"Do they?" He arched an eyebrow as you nodded.

"You and Jean. Always bickering like a married couple," you teased, earning an eye roll from Eren. "I'm not wrong, everyone thinks that."

With a scoff, Eren crossed his arms, "Jean wishes he could land me."

Letting out a small laugh, you shook your head and turned your focus back to your best friends, "well, if he can't, I wonder who can? Mikasa?"

"I was thinking Porco," Eren teased, earning a snort from you as you were in the midst of drinking from your cup, nearly choking. Eren rubbed your back as you patted your chest, clearing your throat.

"Oh, you're funny," you pointed a finger as he flashed you a smile. A smile that always had you weak in the knees. "Though, you kinda have that mellow feel sometimes—like Pieck. I can see it."

Shaking his head, Eren removed his hand from your back before he brought it to your chin. "Eh, I wouldn't want him anyway."

Eyeing him as he kept his gaze locked on your face, gently shaking your head as he held your chin, your heart fluttered. "Who'd you want then?" You asked, blushing without a warning. Why'd you ask that? You were bold around him, sure, but in the comfort of your home. Never out in the open.

You just wanted him so bad.

"She's kind of hard to get," he sighed, letting go of your chin before resting his forearm above your head, against the wall you leaned on. "Got this overly protective step brother who hates my guts..." Lifting his free hand, using his thumb to push around the ring on his middle finger, your eyes widened as your throat locked. You?

"Oh?" You whispered, blinking, staring at him with a racing heart. "And that stops you... because?"

Stopping the movement of his thumb, he lifted his gorgeous eyes to meet yours, "not sure if she's into me."

"I'm sure she is... if she's been hinting at it for a while... Who knows, maybe she's willing to sneak around..." you trailed, voice coming out more breathy than intended. You couldn't help the way your breathing quickened in anticipation. You hoped he was catching your drift. After all, your words were pretty direct.

"Sneak around, huh..." Eren nodded. "Maybe I'll try that." Suddenly he stood straight, turned in his spot and walked away.

"Wh— Where are you going?" You nearly called out, getting off the wall and watching him with wide eyes.

"Gonna head to the bathroom, maybe I can find her there."

Without hesitating, you settled your cup to the nearest flat surface—the top of a speaker—before you followed after.

Your knees buckled in as you looked at Eren, then at Porco, then back at Eren. You could hear your stepbrother cussing at Reiner, trying to fight the solid man off, threatening more violence. Eren stood with a bloody nose and busted lip as Mikasa asked him questions. If he was okay, if he broke anything, if there's any pain... Jean and Armin watched him with worry.

"Go to him," Pieck whispered to you as your world finally snapped back into motion. You turned your head and eyed her with confusion. What was she saying? How had she known? "I may be quiet but I see things. I noticed the way Eren would look at you, how he treated you compared to everyone else. It also doesn't help that I just saw you two kiss. Go to him, stay with him, make sure he's alright. I'll handle Porco, okay? Please don't overthink it."

Slowly nodding, you eyed Porco as he continued to thrash around in Reiner's grip, Annie and Bertolt still blocking him. Turning your head and eyeing Eren, a look of... well, there was nothing. No sign of emotion. Expressionless. It was a defense mechanism, it was how he looked when he felt too much at once and shut down. Or maybe he saw this coming and had nothing to say. With a frown still on your lips, you walked over and gently gave Mikasa's arm a small squeeze. Her and the two men looked at you before giving you space, you taking Eren's hand in your own. "I'm going home with him."

"Okay," Jean nodded.

"Let us know if you need anything," Armin spoke.

"Please let me know when you make it," Mikasa added as you nodded.

Pulling out his keys from his pocket, you guided him back to his car, putting him into the passenger seat before you took the driver's. You adjusted the seat and rear view mirrors, seeing Porco in the reflection as Pieck now stood before him, completely blocking his view of your leave.

The drive to Eren's place was quiet, nothing but the hum of their air conditioner and the occasional noises the car made. Eren kept his solemn gaze ahead as you gripped the steering wheel with both hands. Your heart was all over the place and you constantly had to blink away tears that suddenly made their presence known. When you arrived, you were quick to park his car and rush to Eren's side, taking his hand once again and guiding him into the apartment building.

The moment you made it to his floor, to his door, and into his home, you sat him on his couch before gathering what you needed. You knew where things were, aware of the ins and outs of his apartment with the many times you visited and stayed the night—claiming to be at Gabi's. Bringing back his first aid kit, a damp towel, and some water, you settled it all on the coffee table before him.

Eren watched as you disappeared into his bedroom, the sound of his bathroom sink running lasted a few moments. Then he heard drawers opening and closing, minutes later you returned with clean hands and socks on your now bare feet. He hadn't even noticed when you removed your heels—maybe you had done it in his room—he wasn't sure.

He couldn't stop hearing the ringing in his ears, the white noise that had yet to leave him. The moment you wiped away his blood and cleaned up his wounds, up until the very second you started shedding tears and fought a whimper, the sounds around him came back to normal.

Your hands fell from his face as your head now hung. Tears fell down your cheek and collected on the ground between your feet. You tried holding it in, tried fighting it back, but your body trembled and a small gasp of air broke the silence.

Carefully, Eren brought you onto his lap and wrapped his arms around you. You buried your face in his neck as you clung to his shirt. "I'm sorry," you whispered. "I'm so sorry... It's— It's all my fault... I pursued you, I suggested all of this, I—"

"Stop," Eren finally spoke. "Don't blame yourself. I'm not going to let you feel guilty over your own happiness."

Feeling him gently push you back as you eyed him with blurry vision, your heart sank at the sight of his now bruising cheek and split lip. "Why didn't you stop him?" You asked, voice low. Your hand gently traced around the bruised areas, pouting as your eyebrows narrowed further. "You let him hurt you."

Sighing, Eren brought one of his hands up to your face, thumb brushing against your bottom lip as his fingers moved to hold the back of your neck. "As much as I would love to fuck him up, I wasn't going to. Not when it would make matters worse. Not when it would hurt you more. It's enough he had found us the way he had... I mean, hell, I hate to say I get where he's coming from."

"But his hate towards you is so stupid!" You shook your head, more tears surfacing. "It's judgmental and ridiculous! He hates you because, what? You look a certain way? He doesn't even bother to get to know you. You're not a bad guy! You're— You are so kind and you care so much for the ones you love. I see it. I see how you are with Mikasa and Armin. Sasha and Connie... Hell, even Jean! I feel it, too... It's not fair..." your voice lowered as did your eyes.

Watching you with soft eyes, Eren tightened his arm around your waist as his other hand moved from wiping your tears, to cupping your cheek. "I wish I could kiss you..." he whispered, earning a small smile from you.

"No, your lip..." you shook your head before sighing. "I just... I wish— I wish he would see it. I wish he would understand."

"What if he doesn't?" Eren asked, studying your every look. The way your eyes trailed around his shirt, how your hand fiddled with the material, only to stop at his question. "I won't stop loving you..."

Blinking a few times, your heart skipped a beat, eyes trailing up his body to meet his own. "You... Eren?"

Gazing at you, he nodded, "kind of hard not to." Letting out a small chuckle, he looked off to the side, bringing his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it. "I haven't been in a relationship in a while. School was a lot on my plate... I guess I caught you at the right time, huh? I've loved you for a while now, about a week in. Maybe it's because I haven't been doing this for a while that I fell fast, but that sounds shitty, so I won't say it's that. I just..." sighing and lowering his hand, he reached for your own—the one that held his shirt—and gave it a small squeeze. "I wish I said it sooner, but I didn't want to scare you away. Who's to say you want something forever with an older man like me?"

Smiling, your eyes softened as you shook your head, "you're like five years older, don't make a big fuss about it." Loosening your grip from his shirt, you moved your hand to hold his. "I wouldn't have left. Sure, I would've been a bit terrified, I mean... a week in?" You teased, earning a laugh from him. "My past relationships didn't last too long. I've had like two before you, all lasted a few weeks. Different circumstances... After having a step brother around, it was even harder to go on dates."

"Clearly," Eren huffed. "You're young... You've just started living, you haven't even hit your 20s yet—"

"Don't give me that," you glared. "I can enjoy my life on my own while simultaneously enjoy it with you, Eren. Nothing will get in the way of what I want. And what I want is you. I have you. I mean, I was such an obvious flirt because of how bad I wanted you," you laughed.

"Yeah, because Porco made you curious," Eren teased.

"There's no denying that," you shrugged before taking in a deep breath, looking him in the eyes, those emerald pools that always pulled you in. "I'm glad I did. Even if I was more attracted to your looks at first," you cringed, but Eren smiled. "I grew to love everything about you. Even the dumb things you do that can bug me, you're a man after all."

Laughing at that, Eren pulled you into a hug and breathed you in, closing his eyes for a moment and sliding his fingers into your hair, pressing against your head. "A man in love—"

"Shut up," you grumbled through a smile. "I love you, too..."

Tightening his grip, Eren took in a deep breath before letting it out, leaning back and resting his forehead against yours. "If all else goes to shit and he kicks you out, you can live with me. It's kinda lonely being on my own."

"Eren..." you sighed, pushing back and looking at him. "Don't tempt me."

Shrugging, he brought his hand to your cheek, brushing his thumb just beneath your left eye, "I don't care, you can come in tomorrow with your bags and I'd welcome you with open arms."

"I don't doubt it," you smiled before standing up, taking his hands in yours. Pulling him up to his feet, you guided him to his bedroom. Undressing one another, left in only your undergarments, the two of you slid under his bedsheets. Holding tightly onto him as you practically cocooned yourself around him, the two of you fell asleep.

When morning had come, you and Eren shared a shower before dressing and making yourself breakfast. You were anxious, to say the least, having to go back home to an angry Porco. A Porco who—without a doubt—will give you a migraine from all is yelling and the potential crying that'll come from it. You knew you'd be just as angry, refusing to let him treat you as if you were a mindless child who couldn't make decisions. Refused to let him belittle Eren when he hardly knew him. It wasn't what you were looking forward to. You could only imagine if he had already told your parents or if he decided to keep it to himself.

Though, in all honesty, your parents already knew about Eren. It happened a month into your relationship with him, you two were together at the local mall, window shopping and having dinner together. You knew Porco wasn't a fan of the mall, always complaining about how packed it was—and that night he had his own plans. However, you didn't expect to run into your mother and step father, who had spotted you holding a boy's hand. Eren's hand.

You could remember how your heart dropped, the way your eyes widened and your hand twitched into his grip. Eren had been dressed in ripped up jeans, a distressed black tee, hair down and arm tattoos on display. It wasn't like you were embarrassed to be with a man like Eren, not ashamed to be with a guy who looked like he was plucked out of 90's rock band... you just didn't want this meeting to happen in public... Nor did you want them to react the way Porco did whenever Eren was around. Judgmental and with distaste.

Maybe luck was on your side, or the world wasn't truly cruel, because your boyfriend was nothing but respectful and your mother (plus step father) were nothing but kind. Although you had gotten a few questionable looks your way, and a few phone calls after that moment, they had no right to criticize. To tell you how to live. After all, you weren't living under their roof.

Plus, when they learned that he was on the road to becoming a doctor, they definitely eased off on questioning your taste.

"What are you doing?" You asked as Eren parked his car in a visitor spot rather than leave you out front. "Eren—"

"It's you and I not just you," he said as he slipped out of his seat and pocketed his keys. You quickly exited the car, rushing to his side after shutting your door and shook your head. "I don't want you getting attacked for something that's not your fault."

"Eren, you can't— He will only be even more upset!" You reasoned, but Eren didn't listen. Instead, he walked down the road and up to the townhome that was yours, you quickly following. "Eren—"

Looking down at you, he gently got a hold of your chin, eyes boring into your own, "I rather take the heat again than you, get yelled at and be the punching bag, enough for him to hear how much I love you. It may not be reasonable, but, we are in this together, aren't we?" Seeing you nod, he left a soft kiss on your nose, then forehead before letting you go.

Sighing, you pulled out your keys, ready to unlock the door before you... only for it to swing open. Eren tugged you behind him instinctively, you nearly losing your footing as your step brother and boyfriend were now face to face. It felt like hours had passed with how long they stared at one another before you finally spoke up. "Porco."

"Why the fuck is he here?" He spat, causing you to suck in a deep breath.

"Enough! He's my boyfriend, you had your fair share of abuse yesterday when you nearly beat him to death!" You snapped, lowering Eren's arm so you could step in front of him. "What you did was wrong, instead of approaching us like a mature adult, you beat the living hell out of him. And for what? You thought that'd make him run away? That I'd break up with him? If anything, it made you look completely foolish," you clenched your fists. "Your hate for Eren is pointless. You don't like his looks? Grow the hell up. You still look like a frat boy and you don't see anyone complaining!" You went on, now pointing a finger at him with eyes narrowed.

Porco stood before you, stiff and unable to counter. "Yes, I kept it a secret from you for this exact reason. You overreacted and not only hurt him, but you hurt me. I'm not asking you to love the guy, but I'm asking you to respect me. He is my boyfriend and I love him."

Feeling himself flinch at the word love, Porco took in a sharp breath through his nose as he kept his eyes locked on yours.

"And he loves me too," you nearly whispered, not realizing that you had tears pooling up in your eyes.

Gulping, Porco lowered his focus to the ground, recalling the events of the previous night. He had everyone hounding him, telling him he overreacted, that he fucked up. Reiner yelling in his face saying how he hurt you more than Eren with his actions. Annie nearly beating the shit out of him herself, Bertolt trying to ease the tension... Pieck saying you were an adult now and were allowed to be with whoever you wanted to. And somehow he knew, deep down inside, his long lost brother would be just as ashamed as they were.

It also didn't help that as he was ready to open the door, he overheard what Eren said to you. How he'd take the heat. How he loved you. Porco hated that. Hated how wrong he was. How stupid he had been behaving.

"I heard..." was all he said, eyes still low.

Your own widened, blinking before tilting your head in confusion. "Heard... what?"

"What Yeager said, about loving you. I heard it before I opened the door," he grumbled.

Eren, though silently listening the whole time, stood behind you with a subtle blush on his cheeks. He watched the way you took a small step back, how Porco stubbornly looked anywhere but at you. Placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder, Eren broke his silence, "you're lucky I love her as much as I do, I would've fucked you up worse—"

"Eren," you hissed, looking back at him as he shrugged. So nonchalant.

"Psht, whatever, Yeager," Porco glared as he instantly looked at the green eyed man behind you.

Rolling your eyes, you pinched the bridge of your nose, "look, I don't ever want to see you two fight again." Removing Eren's hand from your shoulder, you slipped your hand into it, noticing the way Porco's nose scrunched up. "Porco, I think you have something to say to Eren."

Sucking in a sharp breath, Porco crossed his arms, "I don't know why I have to apologize—"

"I'll move out," you quickly said, earning a look of shock from Porco.

"Wha— Fine! I'm sorry, Yeager," Porco huffed.

Smiling, you tugged Eren inside with you, "how hard was that?"

"Wait, why are you bringing him inside? He—"

Grinning, Eren lifted his fist and nudged Porco on the chest, "I am her boyfriend after all, Pock."

Grounding his teeth as he watched Eren walk past, making his way up the stairs with you, Porco called out, "I'm heading out, I better not see him when I return!"

"No problem, I'll be in her room where you can't see me," Eren smiled as he leaned over the railing, you shaking your head and tugging him with you.

"Stop instigating," you sighed, hearing a grumble from Porco before the front door slammed closed.

"It's the least I could do after he busted up my face," he huffed, sitting on your bed as you shut your bedroom door.

Stepping in between his legs, you cupped his cheeks and left a gentle kiss on his lips. "You still look handsome as ever," you gazed, gently tracing along his hairline, pushing away the hair from his face, behind his ear. Quietly gazing at one another, you continued your ministrations, softly caressing his cheek, brushing your thumb along one of his eyebrows, pressing your finger against his bottom lip.

Eren's hooded eyes watched you as you studied his face with a sweet smile on your lips. Giving your ass a small squeeze, he gave it a light tap before sticking his tongue out. Wrapping his lips around your finger, he watched as your cheeks flourished with heat before he leaned back. Letting your finger fall from his lips, he scooted back on your bed and brought you with him. Settling you on his hips as he fell back against your pillows, he trailed his hands up and down your thighs. "You were so assertive out there."

Grinning as your hands fell onto the expanse of his hard chest, you licked your lips, "I was defending my boyfriend."

"Yeah, and it was hot," he said, caressing and squeezing your thighs. "Porco took it better than I thought... After last night, you would've thought he would've gone for a round two."

"I have a feeling Annie and Reiner did something... Though, Annie probably beat the shit out of him..." you sighed, unbuttoning the top buttons of his plaid shirt to expose his chest. "She's always had my back when it came to Porco."

"I would have murdered him if I didn't hold back—"

"Shut up," you rolled your eyes. "You must really love me to take all of that."

"I do," Eren said, looking you in the eyes. "I really do..."

Blushing, you leaned down and kissed him as your hands caressed the skin of his chest. Moving your kisses down his neck, you licked a stripe up the column of his throat before meeting his lips once again. "You're such a gentleman."

"Only because he's your family," Eren lowly spoke.

"Yeah, but you still are one. Such a handsome... kind... sexy, gentleman," you breathed against his skin before finding that sweet spot just below his ear, marking him. "I could fuck you right now."

"Is that so?" He hummed as you nodded. "Why don't you?"

Lifting your head and looking deeply into his own, you shook your head, "I just told my brother about us..."

"And you also brought me up to your bedroom in front of him," he added. "Not like he can do anything about it."

"Not now," you sighed, sitting up and pulling off of him, earning a groan from Eren. "I need to check on my garden."

"Sure, leave my dick aching while you water your flowers," he groaned, arms crossed behind his head as he started at the ceiling.

"Come on, help me," you tugged at his jeans, Eren looking at you with an eyebrow arched before he forced himself up with a lazy groan. "If you help me, I can finish faster, and then I can fuck you."

Before you could process it, you were in Eren's arms, making your way down the stairs and towards your tiny backyard. "You better keep your word."

"You feeling better?" Annie asked, sitting across from Porco. There was a local cafe they met at weekly—as long as their schedules allowed it. Porco, Pieck, Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt taking the same outdoor table, talking about their week, work, and life. This time around, Pieck requested it be earlier after the previous night's events.

"Yeah, totally, after you kicked the shit out of me," Porco glared, rubbing his side that still ached from Annie's beating. When you had left with Eren, Porco got his karma in the shape of Annie's sneaker covered foot. "Still fucking hurts."

"Good, now you know how Eren's face feels," she crossed her arms.

"Though I'm sure your sister kissed it better," Reiner teased, earning a low curse from Porco telling him to fuck off.

"Alright you two," Pieck spoke up. "So tell us what happened before you got here."

Sighing, Porco leaned back in his chair, "she came with Yeager, scolded me, proceeded to tell me she's in love with him and he loves her... threatened to move out, I apologized, then they went up to her... room..." he frowned, crossing his arms. "God knows what the fuck they're doing all alone there. I shouldn't have left—"

"Your legal step sister alone... in a home she helps pay for... What are you? Her father?" Bertolt scoffed. "Let her be, stop worrying so much, you'll lose the top part of your hair like you did the sides—"

"It's a fucking hairstyle, Gumby!" Porco snapped, earning stifled laughter from the rest of the group. "Whatever, I know she's legal and basically an adult now, but Yeager better not fucking hurt her."

"I'm sure he's broken her back plenty—"

"Fuck you, Braun!" Porco shouted, standing up and pointing, only to be tugged back down to his seat by Pieck. "I don't want to think about it!"

Lifting up his hands in defense, Reiner leaned back in his seat, "I'm just stating the obvious. I've seen her walking funny plenty of times and I've caught them fu—" cutting himself off, Reiner scratched at his goatee. "Never mind."

Blinking as Porco eyed him in shock, he clutched onto the seat he was in. "You... caught... them?"

"Like... once or twice—"

"Once or twice?!" Porco exclaimed.

"More like a handful," Annie added, earning a look from Porco. "What? Your step sister isn't innocent. None of us are. Why are you so damn surprised? Good for her for getting action from a man who makes her happy. I wouldn't want anything less."

"That's because you're always on her side!" Porco cried out as Annie shrugged while Reiner looked anywhere else but at Porco. "You too, Reiner! No surprising there since you guys always take her side!"

"What? I like her more than you, anyway," Reiner was now the one shrugging as Annie nodded in agreement.

Sinking into his seat and crossing his arms like a stubborn child, Pieck rubbed his upper arm as he mumbled, "assholes..."

"I haven't done this since I was little," Eren said as he wiped some sweat from his forehead, leaning back on the lawn chair after pulling his hair back into a low bun.

"Garden?" You asked, handing him a water bottle as you sipped on your own.

Nodding his head as he twisted the cap off, bringing the bottle to his lips and nearly chugging its entire contents, you watched in awe. The water slipped down his chin and along the side of his neck, causing you to bit your inner lip. "Yeah, my mom had her own garden in my childhood home. It was her favorite place to be. She always had me watering the plants when I was a kid, she was always the happiest when we were out there, surrounded by the flowers and under the sun."

Snapping out of your thoughts, you settled your bottle down besides his now empty one on the small, wobbly table. "That's so sweet... No wonder you're so good at watering," you teased, moving to sit on your knees. Eren sat with his legs spread, the space in between his thighs now being occupied by you. Your hands reached up to his shoulders, smiling at the sound of Eren's small laugh.

"I'm good at other things," He said in a much more hushed tone, eyes lowering to your lips.

Repositioning yourself as your legs now hung over his thighs, either knee pressed into his sides, you scooted yourself closer. "Like what?" You asked, moving your hands to his flannel, unbuttoning the remaining buttons before opening it up.

Moving his hands onto your thighs, giving them a squeeze, he pulled you even closer to feel his hardness. A small gasp left you as Eren leaned in and blew against your ear, biting onto your earlobe and whispering, "making you wet, of course." You felt his hands move higher, slipping underneath the loose shorts you were in. That morning, you had borrowed one of Eren's shirts and gym shorts, though baggy, it was better than staying in the dress you wore the night before.

Eren's fingers slid underneath your panties, gripping your ass before pushing your hips against his. A small whine left you before you huffed, "Eren... Someone could hear us..."

"Then you'll just have to be quiet," he whispered, lips now hovering over your own. "I'll be quick."

In a matter of seconds, Eren's hand dipped through the front of your shorts, into your panties and against your heat. Your slick coated his fingers as he swiped his fingers up your pussy, then finding your bud. Rubbing circles and making you squirm, Eren smiled against your lips as he kissed you, swallowing your moans as his tongue slithered into your mouth. Your heart raced as his finger prodded your entrance, pushing in as you bucked your hips. Using his free hand to press against your ass as he began to thrust his finger, he pulled out and added a second one. Your mouths just barely grazed one another, kissing the corners, his chin, your saliva spreading. Your eyes squeezed as Eren thrusted his fingers in you, curling and finding the spot that'd make you come. "Eren..."

"I said I'd make this quick," he mumbled against your cheek, pushing his fingers deeper as his thumb pressed against your clit. "I'm keeping my word."

Burying your fingers into his hair, as you turned his head so he could kiss you properly, your lips desperately met his as you chased your release. You clenched around his fingers as he continued his ministrations until your juices coated his hand; and just as you shook against him as you came, Eren pulled out his fingers and presented them to you. Your chest heaved as you watched him bring his slick covered fingers into his mouth, licking away every bit of you from them. "That's..." Not even bothering to finish your sentence, you pulled him back into the kiss, earning a chuckle from him as you eagerly kissed him.

"Not again!"

Pulling back and seeing Porco (amongst Pieck, Annie, Bertolt and Reiner) standing at the sliding glass doors, you covered your mouth. Pieck gave you a sweet smile as Reiner gave you a thumbs up, Annie carrying a look of indifference (though keeping an eye on Porco) while Bertolt fought a grin. Eren looked over his shoulders at the crowd and sighed.

"I said—" before he could finish, Pieck pulled him away as Annie and Bertolt followed, Reiner giving you a big grin, mouthing good for you! before Annie reached for him and yanked him back.

Smiling while shaking your head, your eyes left Reiner before settling on Eren. Your eyes then widened, "I hope he only saw us kissing..."

"Well, he couldn't see much anyway with my back facing him. Not like Annie and Reiner haven't caught us plenty—"

"Eren," you groaned.

"Don't worry," he said, kissing you once more before leaning back and smiling at you, "now Pock knows our secret and can't do shit about it."

[atopfourthwall]

Watching thru Star Trek Voyager for the first time. Do you like this series if so, favorite episode?

Posting my full thoughts below a read more because spoilers. But it's a mixed bag at best, favorite episode the two-parter Scorpion.

It's biggest issue is that it refuses to abide by its central concept: a Starfleet vessel lost 70,000 lightyears from home with few resources and in a place the Federation have never been to, made up of a mixed crew of both Starfleet and the Maquis - a rogue terrorist organization set on freedom from Cardassian oppression due to shitty treaties the Federation made in the name of peace.

Voyager goes for seven years and you would think with a premise like this, the ship should be a WRECK by the time it gets home - barely held together with duct tape, flickering lights and debris in spots because there just isn't time or necessity to deal with minor stuff like that when there are bigger concerns to deal with. You'd think the crew has gotten more lax, dirtier or with more rolled up sleeves and casualwear as the situation has made them less of a formal structure like a regular Starfleet vessel and more like a found family, maybe with a ton of alien crewmembers from the Delta Quadrant who have decided to join Voyager along the way because they (and the Federation by proxy) have offered something that wasn't present in their corner of the galaxy, something better and they want to join the mission back home. You'd think the ship itself would have changed in appearance as they've had to patch it with technology and because they don't have regular drydocks to replace lost/damaged systems and bulkheads. Sure, Star Trek has replicator technology, but I can't imagine Voyager has MASSIVE replication technology capable of creating HUGE swaths of the hull. At the very least, you'd think you'd see cracks in the hull hastily sealed up - maybe a kind of Kintsugi thing where the cracks are a different color because of special alien material used to keep it strong. You'd think those Maquis crewmembers, despite being former Starfleet, wouldn't be wearing Starfleet uniforms because why would they? They're here because they're stuck and what's Starfleet going to do if they haven't shined their boots? Throw them all in the brig for however long it takes to get home? More interpersonal conflicts between crewmen as they have to find a way to live together, have different approaches to solving problems, maybe deal with the crippling loneliness and despair that comes with thinking you may never make it home (either because of the dangers of space travel or just because it'll be 70 years on our current technology to get there).

But no. Nothing like that ever happens in Voyager.

Because it followed the pattern that had made Star Trek TNG so successful (despite it having a premise that DEMANDS more serialization), every episode the reset button is pressed. The ship is restored to normal, character development is rare or confined to a single episode. The few attempts at serialization are just… badly written (or just met with a shrug), which probably explains why they mostly dropped it in later seasons. You'd be forgiven for watching the first episode and then the last while thinking "Wow, not much changed except for Janeway's hairstyle."

Oh, but there WAS change… just not very much. A new cast member to replace one leaving… and a character brought on to be the breakout character - one of the few times we brought on new crew from this part of the galaxy - was shuffled away the episode beforehand because inexplicably some of his people were farther out than they ever should have been and he decided to stay with them because he met them for a few days. A romance between cast members that… was okay, but not great. Another romance introduced at the last second because they needed one of their characters to actually DO something because they had spent 7 years inventing boring hobbies and interests for him separate from his identity as fake-90s-Native American-whose-entire-culture-was-thought-up-by-a-fraud-who-tricked-Hollywood-into-thinking-he-knew-what-he-was-talking-about.

A lot of plots could have happened on any other Trek show. A lot of plots dealt with "Hey, maybe we'll get home THIS time!" and they of course would not. They invented a whole new way of propulsion that allowed you to be in every spot in the universe at once (and easily reversed the negative side effects by the end of the episode)… aaand then just pretended it never happened. The recurring villain enemies ranged from godawful to okay, but not fully realized.

Behind the scenes it was often full of office politics before actual quality. Whenever an episode needed some padding? Add technobabble. Have an ambitious idea for an episode? Nope, we're not interested in anything challenging. Do anything that might make the characters look bad or have more shades to them? Noooope. There were plans and ideas, things thrown out like, for instance, a year-long storyline where the ship would get as battered as I suggested… and it was shot down, turned into a two-parter with the reset button pushed hard at the end of it.

There's plenty to like about Voyager. Some really do love the characters and I like a lot of them, too. And there are plenty of episodes that I recommend and really enjoy and rewatch… but it's mostly wasted potential. It's telling that Ron Moore, who joined Voyager's writing staff after Deep Space 9 ended because he wanted to keep doing Star Trek, left after only 3 episodes… and went on to make the Battlestar Galactica remake, which for all its flaws did the Voyager concept considerably better and with all of those ideas I mentioned up top concerning the crew, the damage to the ship, the shades of grey, the hopelesness at times but still hope, etc.

[void-ink-studios]

Gala of the Gods (Part 1)

A few people suggested some stuff with Scarab and Nightmo, I've become obsessed with some of the art I've seen of these two in fancy clothes, so I'm going to combine the two.

Behold, my attempts at describing fancy clothing!

I am an artist as well, so if there's anything from this fic series you might wanna see me draw, just let me know.

Also, this is multi-parter! So y'all are gonna have to be patient.

Enjoy y'all!

Part 1 -You Are Here- | Part 2 | Part 3

Word Count: 2,200

Mail was not something Scarab expected when he first came to live in the Time Room. He figured anyone with something to say to Prismo would just take it as an excuse to show up and hang out for a while.

But, as with many assumptions he had, Scarab was wrong. Well, kind of.

The mail was never frequent, and it was almost only from the higher ups, but it had happened enough time with nearly missed important updates for Scarab to add checking the Time Room's make-shift mailbox to his routine.

And it was a good thing he did. Because they had mail. Fancy looking mail. And the beetle felt sick to his stomach when he began suspecting what this was about.

"Prismo! Mail! Letter from the Organizer."

Prismo made a rather undignified noise as he snapped awake from where he was dozing off in his hot tub.

"The Organizer? Ooooh, is it that Gala thing?"

"I suspect it might be. It's addressed to both of us, shall I read it?"

"Knock yourself out, Lovebug."

Scarab rolled his eyes a little but smiled regardless. He broke open the seal and unfolded the letter.

"To the Wishmaster and his assistant,

You are both cordially invited to the bicentennial Cosmic Gala. Attendance is compulsory, however you are not required to stay for the duration, should your godly duties require you to return to your posts.

The Gala will be hosted in the Judgement Hall, and will begin 340 time waves from now.

You are expected to be on your best behavior. There will be no physical altercations within the Judgement Hall. Please leave any and all grievances with coworkers at home. Snacks and drinks will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you there.

-The Organizer."

Scarab had suspected for a long time that that last paragraph was pointed at him specifically. It's not like he started fights, it's just gods get aggressive at him for doing his job.

"Oh, I haven't even thought of the Gala... Man, a lot has happened since the last one..."

Scarab clicked in agreement. Then was struck with a sudden thought.

"Wait a moment. How are we meant to attend while in this form?"

Prismo raised an eyebrow. "Have you never seen me attend before?"

"I always left early. I made excuses that my job as Auditor required my attention, so I arrived as it started, stayed for perhaps one Time Wave so my boss could see I showed up, then I left. It's not fun sticking around a party where no one likes you."

Whoops, that came out more bitter than he had meant... It's not like he minded not attending more of the party, parties were never his scene to begin with...

Or, was that another thing he convinced himself he didn't like so it wasn't being taken from him?

Hmmm...

"Well, you can come with me this time. We'll stick by each other's side. I think you'll look nice on my arm, Lovebug."

Scarab's mandibles snapped up.

"O-On your arm... Are you suggesting we attend as... as a couple?"

"I-I mean, if you want..." Prismo looked uncharacteristically flustered, smiling nervously at the beetle.

"I think... I think I would like that, Prismo. But, you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, yeah, the form thing. Well, how it works is the Organizer gives us authorization to make copies of our corporeal body that we can inhabit. Like ghosts or some deal. They last for a few days, and then we get returned to the wall."

"Our... corporeal bodies..."

"Yeah, it's pretty much the only time I get to exist as 'Old Man Prismo' and not cease to be me. I think it's pretty neat. And you get to be taller than me for once."

Scarab barely responded to that, a far away look on his face.

"Can we... modify these bodies at all...?"

"I mean, you can make them look different colors, I guess, or make yourself look younger but why do you..." Prismo's expression filled with sadness. "...You can't restore limbs, if that's what you're asking. I'm sorry, Scrabby."

Scarab sighed. "It's... fine. It was worth asking."

He made a few clicking chirps as he thought.

"...I suppose I should dress up for once? If I'm attending with you and lingering longer?"

"I mean, you could. I like to, since I don't get the luxury of clothes very often, and I'd rather not show up to a Gala as a naked old man. But it's not like you have to."

Prismo watched Scarab's expression. He was deep in thought, that was obvious with how much his mandibles were twitching. Then, his expression lit up.

"...We can conjure almost anything in the Time Room, yes?"

"I mean, anything not sentient, pretty much."

"Hmm... Would you mind if we arrived separately? I think I'd like to... surprise you. You know the lobby outside the Judgement Hall? Wait for me there. I will meet you there."

Prismo was intrigued, to say the least. "A surprise? Just for me? Well, let's do it then. I'll wait for you."

"Perfect. Thank you, love." Scarab nuzzled his cheek sweetly. Prismo giggled, returning the favor with a soft little kiss.

"I can't wait to see what you come up with, Scrabs. I know you'll look gorgeous."

Scarab's elytra clicked as he purred, smiling softly. He'd been doing that a lot more recently. Prismo decided to take pride in the fact he's made the unflappable Scarab smile and blush like a goof.

The days leading up to the Gala were at the same time quiet and buzzing. Scarab was very clearly cooking something up, as he had carved out a little room in the basement that Prismo was explicitly forbidden from entering.

If you had told the Wishmaster he'd be okay with Scarab, of all gods, having a secret room he's not allowed in in the Time Room, well... well, you'd be given quite the strange look, that's for certain.

"Scrabby! Can you come out of your lair for a moment?"

"For the last time Prismo, it's not a lair, it's a work room!" Regardless of the terminology of whatever was going on in Scarab's little private room, the beetle acquiesced and emerged into the main chamber. "What is it?"

"Our uh... Bodies are here."

It was always just mildly upsetting to Prismo when they just... appeared. It unnerved him to see his own sleeping body at the best of times, but seeing it completely still, not even breathing, was... strange.

"Ah, okay. Is it almost time for the Gala then?"

"We have I think 3 More Time waves before the party officially starts, so we should probably start getting ready now."

"And how long are these good for?"

"Uhhh... I think 50 Time Waves?"

"Why do they stick around so long after the party?"

"I don't know, actually. Maybe they're being nice?"

"I've never known the higher ups for being... Nice. Regardless, how does this work?"

Prismo stretched his arms a bit, examining the two empty shells on the ground. "Don't worry, it's easy. Alright, so all you've gotta do is touch it, and imagine yourself waking up. It's not super nice feeling when you first wake up, just as a warning. Watch."

Prismo slid across the floor, positioning himself completely covering his body, and closed his eyes. He felt himself fade, almost like he was disappearing, but sensation quickly returned as he jumped into his body. He pulled in a gasp of air, everything tingling as his senses caught up with him.

"Prismo? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." His voice sounded dry. He needed some water. He ran fingers through his long hair and beard as he sat up. "See? Easy."

"Are you certain you're okay?"

"I'm fine. It just... takes a minute for me to adjust. I'm not 3d very often." Prismo laughed it off, but it didn't stop him from holding a hand over a now beating heart and breathing lungs. "Your turn."

Scarab hesitated, looking between his body and Prismo. Slowly, he crawled over, letting himself overlap with the shell. The blue shadow faded, the body shooting up into an upright position, breathing heavily.

"Oh, that felt wretched..." The beetle could only describe it as similar to that falling sensation one has that jars them awake.

Scarab looked as he flexed his own fingers, claws lightly clicking together. It felt... strange to be in a body like this again. His senses buzzed. He felt the weight of his shell for the first time in months. The weight of his mask...

Slowly, he rearranged the mask to tuck behind his head. He would be going to this party as himself. Proudly.

"Heya gorgeous."

Prismo had scooched a bit closer, taking advantage of new senses to hold his love for the first time in a 3d space.

Scarab's breath hitched. He was not prepared for how... warm and soft Prismo's touch would be. He had gotten used to the Wishmaster's touch in their wall forms. But... touch in the third dimension... gentle touch, touch not meant to harm him, it was... new. Alien. His mandibles thrummed as he leaned into the hold, purring, claws experimentally touching the soft, coiling gray hair nearly covering his partner.

Prismo, meanwhile, was fascinated. He explored the texture of Scarab's shell and face. The fine grooves separating the plating reminded him of polished armor. But it was warm, alive, he could feel the beetles muscles moving underneath, the thrum of blood and life. And his pink face, while prickly at the edges, was soft to cradle.

"There you are... That's my pretty Lovebug. Look at you..."

Scarab preened under the touch and praise. He was beautiful. Prismo made him believe it.

"I must say... I think you're quite lovely in this form as well."

Prismo's cheeks flushed a lovely pinkish red color, Scarab chirping in pride. He nuzzled at him, marveling at the feeling of it with a physical body.

"I'm going to go get ready, Prismo. I'll meet you at the Judgement Hall lobby."

"Alright, Scrabs. I'll be looking for you."

The bug purred one more time before sequestering himself in his mystery room once more.

Prismo chuckled as he himself got ready.

Brushing his long, unruly hair was a task in and of itself. He pulled part of the mop into something a bit more elegant, a waterfall of gray tied neatly with a pink and gold ribbon falling down his back.

Prismo wasn't much for formal clothing, but he did like robes. Something soft, light, breathable. And had amassed quite the collection from these Galas in the past. He did like his pinks and golds, but who could blame him? He liked how he looked in them.

The robe had layers of color to it, a light pink similar to his shadow form on the inner most layer, slowly shifting out into a dark, rosy red. There were imagery of gold eyes and hands cascading down the back and sleeves, giving way to constellations and stars on the long skirt that dragged a little on the floor.

He accessorized with bracelet and rings and necklaces and pendants until he glittered like the stars. That was always his favorite part of these events, the accessorizing. He wasn't one to care much about looks, but he did enjoy making himself sparkle.

He looked into a summoned mirror, checking everything from head to toe. His golden orange sash was tied nicely, his sandals looked good, everything was in place. Perfect.

"Scrabby, I'm heading out now! I'll see you there, Lovebug!"

In lieu of a proper response, he heard a loud chirp echoing from down in the basement.

Prismo couldn't help but be curious about what Scarab was doing. All the more reason to be excited, he supposed.

In a rainbow of fragmented light, Prismo deposited himself outside the lobby of the Judgement Hall, other gods already milling about and conversing.

"Prismo! Sho-Hoot man, I always forget how nice you clean up for these events."

The Cosmic Owl flew over to him, dawned in a cloak of gold and silver feathers of starlight. Death also joined him, in a simple, but sharp looking white robe. In the distance, Prismo could spot Life, in a beautiful flower and coral dress, chatting with some other gods.

"Aw, thanks. You two look nice too! It's nice you got to bring Life with you this time, Death."

"We both needed the night out."

"Where's Scarab? He's coming right?"

"Yeah, but he wanted to arrive separately. Said he wanted to surprise me, so I'm indulging. He wouldn't even give me a hint, man."

"Well, consider me intrigued."

The three chatted for a while, Life soon coming to join them, after giving Death a peck on the cheek of course.

"And then the dude just... just tried to pluck one of my feathers out! Like for a good luck charm or something. Do people not get that dreams aren't physical?"

"I don't know, man, people just don't know how to act around you, I guess," Prismo chuckled. He was about to add on, when the doors opened, and a hush fell over the lobby.

Prismo looked toward the entrance, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"...Sho-Hoot, man."

And in walked Scarab.

[trashiewrites]

can you maybe do a fanfic for mw2 2022 that the reader gets kidnapped and soap or ghost has to save them

OH HOHO HO

THis one is a two-parter!

A/N: SORRY THIS TOOK LIKE FOREVER!!! NOT ONLY WAS I HAVING A WRITER'S BLOCK BUT ALSO TMNT TOOK OVER MY LIFE SO HERE WE GO!! I AM GONNA DO ALL THE REQUESTS I GET I SWEAR!! Without further delay, enjoy!

Took You Long Enough: Part 1

(Soap x F!Reader)

(Trigger warning: light angst, mentions of violence and death) if case idk if anyone need these Moreofthismainlyinpart2 maybe maybe

"I don't see why I can't go with you guys!" You protested to Soap, "you guys need all the help you can get to get those missiles!" You grabbed his arm, as he continued to walk past. It's not in your nature to question orders but this doesn't make sense to you.

"I get it (Y/n) but that's not your choice to make!" Soap whipped around to face you; his face as serious as he could manage. "I don't quite get LT.'s thinking either but it's not our place to question it. Plus, you get the privilege of interrogation against our little drug lady."

"I don't see how that could be helpful... she already told us where the missile is." You shrugged, "if anything, Ghost is the better interrogator. At least more efficient..."

"Efficiency isn't the focus here lass," Soap grasped firmly to your shoulders, "LT trusts you to get some more info on where she is taking Hassan. I trust you to do it if anyone can; it's you."

"But what if-" you said before being pulled into an embrace. Soaps arms wrapped tightly around you but yet so gentle, his warmth making you melt deeper into the hug. He placed one hand firmly upon the top of your head.

"We will be back before you know it, (y/n)."

——————————————

Watching as the boy boarded the heli was bittersweet, to say the least. Soap's talk yesterday did help you get the idea that it wasn't as pointless as you thought. But the lingering fear of something bad happening just around the corner was irking you. To be honest, you could care less about the actual mission, as much as it was your job that wasn't why you wanted to go.

John Mactavish, your sergeant, you had always been fond of. You both knew each other in your last platoon before the 141. He was the one who recommended you to the captain, who surprisingly agreed. To say you two were close was a gross understatement, in your head at least...

You do one final salute as they head up, John with a sly smirk also gives you a small heart with his fingers. You smile, standing there till the heli is no longer in sight. Heading back inside you went into Alejandro's office; you were glad he allows you to use it to gather your thoughts and prep for interrogations. He also states that if you need anything then call for one of his troops. They have been instructed to do as you ask within reasonable means of course. You lean back in the plush chair, writing notes on how you wanted to begin your approach. ————————————————-

To no one's surprise, the drug lord is a tough cookie. In the beginning, not spilling a word. Secondly, you dug into her relationship with Alejandro. Perhaps her getting riled up would have her slip a thing or two. Within the first day, you had managed to get that they didn't stop the trade for Hassan. Despite their Boss being taken hostage.

"No les importa que yo esté aquí. No importa si muero, El Sin Nombre sigue vivo." Valeria spoke, she spoke deeply with a sick grin on her face. "My legacy will live on even if you decide to kill me now. Especially in the stupid states."

"What do you mean?" You grabbed her by the collar, "Where did you send Hassan; what is he planning?"

"Like I'd say anything to you, puta~" you backhand her straight in the face. Grabbing her face and crushing her cheeks with your hand.

"¡Borra esa puta sonrisa de tu cara, zorra!" You growled, "how could you be proud of yourself, you betray your people, Your home!"

"You know nothing of my home." You punched her gut; you watched as her head dropped low. Taking a deep sigh, and taking a break outside would probably help calm your nerves. Opening the container door, you covered your eyes as the sun blinded your vision. Walking just past the guard stationed in front, you rubbed your temples. Quiet footsteps move behind you.

"No need to cover the door," you raised your hand, "I'm gonna hea-" within moments you felt an arm wrapped tightly around your neck and a cloth held over your mouth. They kicked your shins, having using legs no longer your first thought. After harshly struggling you felt your consciousness slip, fading quickly to an empty void.

Upon stirring awake, eyes flutter open. Your head pounding mixed with the coldness of the surroundings. You attempted to move your arms, hearing an unmistakable clanging of metal chains. You were cuffed? Your mind raced, how in the world did this happen? Where were you and how do you get yourself out of this shit hole? Taking a moment to clear up your thoughts, taking a very needed deep breath. You noticed people talking loudly outside the cell. "You know what happens to those two British guys?" Americans... is Graves behind this? "Yeah, I heard they both fled. One was wounded though." 

"Serves them right, you don't fuck with the commander!" one laughed aloud, "speaking of which!"

"Where's the girl," Graves's voice sounded stern, he was not here for a happy chit-chat; you knew that much... But once you find out what the hell is going on you're going to murder that man yourself... "Open that cell"

"Yes, commander." Both men said in unison. How the mood dropped, silence so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Broken by the screeching noise on the cell doors. There stood the tall man with a disgruntled face.  You stared in horror as behind him two men pulled an unconscious Alejandro behind him. 

"Graves... What have you done?" You stared at him in disbelief... "How could you? After all we have been through!"  

"It's nothing personal beautiful~" Graves crossed his arms, leaning against the frame of the cell doors, "Just a change in command, that's all. Daddy's in charge now!" You felt yourself wanting to vomit hearing such foul words exit his mouth. How crude... Classic for him and his people if you were honest. "Now with how gracious I am, I am giving you a choice. Get out of this heaping shit pile and work beside me, or rot in this rusty pothole!"

"Graves..." You stood up, arms forced down to your side due to chain restrictions, "Where is Soap and Ghost?"

"You worried about those wanna-bes? Those traitors?" Graves chuckled, "Fine, I'll tell ya! Ghost, man is probably running for his life right now from my men! Begging for mercy! I can imagine it myself." You clenched your fist, the thought in your head that this is what he has thought about us this whole time... Our brothers in arms your ass... "And Lil'Soapy boy! Oh," He rubbed his hand on his chin...  "My men shot him up pretty well! I wouldn't see it impossible that he's bleeding out in the streets right now!"

"YOU BASTARD!" You lunged forward, pulled back once again by the chains. Grave's laugh haunted you, not a hint of remorse just utter amusement. "WE TRUSTED YOU! YOU AND YOUR TEAM WERE OUR BROTHERS!" 

"Keyword, 'were' my dear! " Graves eyes within a moment were back to those of a dead cold killer, smiling like a greedy bastard. "You see, 'Brothers' was revoked when they weren't so willing to uphold the chain of command. Now tell me," Graves walks forward to you, "What happens when a small puppy barks at the big vicious dog?" 

"What?" you snarled, and he extended his hand. Grabbing your face and pressing down your cheeks so tightly as to crush your jaw. 

"You. Get. Bit..." Graves lets go, swiping his leg under your feet. You fell back to the floor with a harsh thud. "Now, I'd love to chat more... but I have a lot of work to do!"  he laughed once again before heading to the cell door. "Say. Let me know when you take me up on that offer earlier. Still stands till whenever I guess!"

"Go fuck yourself Graves!" You yelled back at him, "You'll pay for this! I SWEAR IT!"

"Tell me when~" He grinned, "Close her up boys!" As the doors closed you were once again left to your thoughts... Your head was empty, no matter how much you tried only one thing haunted you... 

"John..." You hugged your knees close, resting your head as tears unknowingly flew down your face. "I-I knew I should have come with you..."

Part 2! Out now!

[onsunnyside]

Hey Sonny! Will princess reader feel that she’s is unworthy of becoming chosen bride to be queen of a powerful country? Will she be secretly harassed by the other princess? Will the first time she sees Curtis be in a portrait as well or up in the alter!🫣 sorry for so many questions! Please, you don’t have to answer them 🫶🏾

hi friend !! no need to apologize, and consider these spoilers for the fic:

yes you'll feel very unfit and unprepared bc your country was nothing like Curtis'. there won't be any mean characters like that, we're going for a slow and steady, but also chilly love story 😌 just two people who already have that little spark, but take a while to feed the flame. the first time you see him will be when he comes to get you, you wanted to get married in your home country but the lack of resources and fast-approaching winter won't allow it. it breaks your heart to leave your home and your parents to ultimately become someone entirely different, in the eyes of the public anyway.

so there you are on a big ship, sitting in the cabin before your future husband, wondering why on Earth he chose you instead of someone else. but of course, you don't ask.

"Can you read?"

You finally blink and look down, not realizing you were staring at him for who knows how long. "Pardon?"

He holds up a book, "can you read?"

"Yes? I-I can write too." You frown, "do you think I can't?"

"I've met princesses who don't know how to hold a pencil." It was pitiful, so he never gave them a second glance. "Here, the ride to the next country will be a few hours. We'll stay the night and arrive in Boreas the next day in the evening." And your wedding will be a week later, he's already told the organizers to do whatever you please—but he doubts you'll have much to say. This wasn't exactly a perfect situation. He goes towards the door, "If you need me, I'll be with the Captain."

AHH ME THINKS THIS WILL BE A TWO/THREE-PARTER !! CURRENTLY DECIDING ON A TITLE (i have a few options but none of them hit), IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS, FEEL FREE TO SEND THEM TO MY INBOX !!

[9leaguesofmirrors]

Things Nobody Knows About Lisgoe (a Ross Gaines x Joseph Lisgoe fanfic)

So, fun fact, this fic is a two-parter! This one centers around Lisgoe and the second part, you guessed it, centers around Ross - very simple, I know, but that's not always a bad thing

Things nobody knows about Lisgoe:

He's actually incredibly knowledgable. People look at him and expect nothing more than a violent whackjob, but Lisgoe does have his moments of cleverness. Though he isn't good with rationality and certainly not reasoning, he has extensive knowledge on all things dark

Ross has lost count of the number of times he'd reference something, only to then have to go into an in-depth explanation of a cult, serial killer, or torture method in order for him to understand whatever joke was just made

Although he often ended up disgusted by the mini seminar, Ross had to admit that there was something very attractive about Lisgoe's confident delivery and shocking level of intellect

He has a high spice tolerance. This irritates Ross slightly, because he can barely handle 4.5 chilli fries without needing a considerable gulp of water. Meanwhile, Lisgoe once mistook hot sauce for ketchup and didn't realise until halfway through his meal, then took a swig of it and asked "is this a different brand?"

That man can take on any amount of chili powder without breaking a sweat, and it's a trait that Ross, though he'd never admit it, is wildly jealous of

I mean, what's more embarrassing than having to hide the fact that your insides are slowly dying while your partner complains that the curry you're having "isn't even that fucking spicy"

He's practically nocturnal. Is it because of his job? Is it just him? Ross doesn't know, all he knows is that Lisgoe seems to prefer being awake until the early hours of the morning

This should've been a bit of an issue due to Ross liking to be up no later than 6am everyday, but it means that he gets to wake up to the sight of Lisgoe asleep. In a rare state of complete peace and even gentleness, a sight that nobody in the whole of Royston Vasey has ever gotten close to

And Ross can't help but feel smugly satisfied with that

He mutters to himself a lot. If he's doing something in the room next to Ross, he'll be able to hear him going over things under his breath. Whenever he brings it up, it's denied, but it won't be long until it starts up again. Usually it's a string of curses and insults; at first, Ross assumed it was aimed at the situation or whatever object had caused the irritance

And it does start that way, but then it changes - that's when Ross realised something else about Lisgoe:

He's incredibly hard on himself. That's not to say he isn't confident and can't be an arrogant bastard when he wants to be, but Ross notices that Lisgoe isn't forgiving towards himself when he fails or things go wrong. He's angry, and his muttered swearing and insults quickly aim themselves directly into his own chest. Ross has lost count of the number of times phrases like "you stupid fuck" and "god, what a twat" have escape Lisgoe's mouth in sharp whispers

He wasn't sure when, but one day something clicked and he realised something:

Lisgoe doesn't think that highly of himself. That's not to say he's insecure, Joseph Nigel Lisgoe is not an insecure man at all. No, what Ross realised is that Lisgoe doesn't think he's worthy of a lot of things

Truly, Ross respects Lisgoe's self-awareness - he doesn't pretend to be a perfect, righteous person. He knows he was a bastard and wears it like a badge on his chest

But there was something in the way he replied to compliments with an eyeroll or "fuck off", as if it were a big joke, and the way he refused to accept help even when he truly needed it, that made Ross realise that Lisgoe doesn't hate being treated with a shred of decency - he doesn't think he deserves it

Ross has found out a lot about Lisgoe; the fact that he shows his love through touch rather than words, that he's obsessed with true crime and the macabre. He also knows that Lisgoe is fiercly protective over those he cares about, and nothing will pull him away from the few people he considers important

Everyone knows who Lisgoe is. They see Lisgoe in the street, open their doors to Lisgoe, the whole of Royston Vasey knows Lisgoe

But, little by little, Ross is quite happy that he got to know Joseph. Lisgoe stays outside as Joseph enters. Joseph is the one pressing a kiss to the corner of Ross' mouth and Joseph is the one he bickers with. Joseph lies beside him, their conversations quiet and isolated from the world. It's Lisgoe that Ross met, and it's Joseph he cares about

And what people don't know about Joseph is that he's the one thing Ross truly can't imagine life without