#to actually do any of the snooping around work and it’s great I love when my friend talks to me about his fic and au ideas so much man

[nonbino-chaos-fox]

Sometimes you just gotta watch a show and talk to your friend about the stupid shit that is happening during it and then they get a batfam fic idea out of it

[dizscreams]

Show Off — Jack Champion ★

PAIRING: Jack Champion x Fem!Reader

SUMMARY: Jack showing off ur matching necklaces during an instagram live

A/N: “honestly i know u had a thought abt the instagram live one and i feel like with him you could do a lot with answering questions and then him going over to readers dresser and showing the necklace and maybe some fluff when reader comes back?” A LITTLE COLLAB FROM ME AND @ang3lik <33 I KNOW I HAD SAID INTERVIEW WHEN I CAME UP WITH THE IDEA so I hope you guys don’t mind that I switched it to a instagram live! I just couldn’t think of a way to start the interview idea I’m sorry :(

He toyed with the initial of your first name on the gold chain he wore around his neck while thinking of what to do. You weren’t at home with him, you were at work which he was very bummed out about. Luckily being in your room comforted him as he waited for you to arrive home.

He wasn’t snooping around or anything he just missed you and your bed was comfortable. Plus the room smelt like you and he liked admiring all the posters and decorations you had in your room.

He looked at the clock, it hadn’t changed from when he looked at it just 30 seconds ago. He groaned and kept scrolling through Instagram pretty bored out of his mind and not really paying attention to his feed. After thinking of what he could do he decided it might be a fun idea to go live. Why not? He’d never done one of his own before, well he’s never done one now that he’s gained popularity.

He made sure he looked presentable and looked at the ‘Go Live’ button. He wasn’t sure what he’d do, probably just talk to fans and hope it wasn’t boring. He had a feeling they’d eat it up though. Lately, it seemed he could breathe and everyone would go wild. It amused him to be completely honest.

He propped up his phone and sat against the headboard of your bed and pressed ‘Go Live’.

Once it started he awkwardly played with his hands waiting for people to join. It didn’t take long, in about 2-3 minutes there was already a bunch of people flooding the chat with ‘hi’s’ and ‘love you’s’ and a bunch of questions. They weren’t anything specific just about him and his job, he was grateful they weren’t too invasive.

user97027: hii jack! are you working on any new films right now??

He saw the comment as it quickly flashed by, “Yeah I am actually, I’ve been working on Freaky Tales and Everything’s Going to Be Great. So yeah, I’m excited for you guys to see those,” he said with a soft smile across his face.

user88992: did you always want to be an actor?

“Uh, it wasn’t really planned,” he chuckled, “just the day I found out you could get paid for acting and it was a legitimate job I was immediately on board,” he talked with his hands as he answered the question. He leaned forward with his eyes squinted a bit, trying to find another question.

user561183: Jack!! Who would you say inspires you the most?

“Oh man that’s a good question, who inspires me the most,” he repeated the question as he put his chin in his palm and lightly tapped his fingers across his cheek as he thought of a good answer. “I’d have to say my castmastes and my family definitely. Oh! And my girlfriend, of course. They’re all very supportive of me.”

He slightly laughed as a bunch of “awe’s” ran through the chat. He scanned through the chat, almost getting a little bored cause of how awkward he felt. It wasn’t uncomfortable for him he just wasn’t used to this but he liked talking with his followers nonetheless. As he was about to come up with an excuse to log off he saw a question that made his eyes light up.

user336473: what’s the initial on your necklace stand for?

He wasted no time in answering, “The initial on my necklace is my girlfriend’s! She actually has a matching one but it has my initial instead. I could probably show you guys, one second. She didn’t take it to work today” He explained as he got up, taking his phone with him, and excitedly waddled over to your vanity. Jack propped his phone on a little stand up mirror you had and gently took the piece of jewelry and held it up. “Isn’t it cute? I got these for us on our 6 month anniversary,” he told his viewers as he proudly smiled.

A knock on your door made him quip his head towards the entrance of your room, “Jack, you in there?” He looked at his camera whisper shouting a little “She’s backk! Hold on,” he then looked back at the door, “Come in!” he yelled.

Once he saw your figure opening the door a lovey smile adorned his face. He was head over heels for you and made no effort to hide it. “Oh hey babe, I was just showing them our matching necklaces.”

“Them?” You asked raising an eyebrow.

“Mhm, I’m on instagram live,” he softly grabbed your hand giving it a chaste kiss before bringing you in front of the camera. “Guys this is y/n my girlfriend, y/n these are my instagram followers,” he introduced with a goofy smile as he wrapped his hands around your waist and gave the back of your head a kiss.

You looked at the chat, which was gushing with comments about how cute you two were. It made you smile as you remember what he told you when you came in, “Wait, you were showing them our necklaces?”

“Yeah! Someone asked about it and I think I started rambling,” Jack explained as he toyed with the chain that was still in his hands suddenly getting an idea, “Can I put it on you?” He whispered into your hair so only you could hear. You nodded at his question not being able to contain the shy smile on your face as he let go of your waist and put your hair to rest on your left shoulder, giving you goosebumps. Once he made sure none of your hair would be in the way he undid the necklace and slowly put it around your neck. He made sure it was centered properly and closed the clasp, “Perfect,” he said as he gave a sweet kiss to your cheek.

“You’re such a show off, Jack,” you laughed at his shocked expression as he put a hand on his heart with a small scoff, “What?! Can you blame me for wanting to show you off? Look at you!” He told you as his signature goofy smile reappeared on his face causing you to laugh more. “No I guess not,” you smirked as you gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you, causing him to get a little flustered. To be honest you both kinda forgot you were live, you were too busy wrapped up in each other, until Butters entered the room meowing so loud you and Jack snapped out of your love sick gazes and turned to him.

“Aw, what is it, Butters?” Jack asked as he went over and picked the cat up and cradled him like he was his baby, technically he was. Butters only answered with another meow causing you to pet him on the head, “I think he’s hungry,” you looked up at Jack. Another meow followed.

“Alright, I hear you Butters,” he turned back to the camera where he saw the chat freaking out about the adorable moment you two just shared, “We have to go but thank you all for joining. Byeee!” He disconnected the live and quickly put Butters down.

You looked up at him confused but didn’t get to say a word before Jack was kissing your lips. You kissed back and pulled away after a few moments. “What was that for?”

He shrugged, “I dunno, I’ve just been wanting to do it all day,” he said as he smirked. As he was leaning in for another, his movements got cut off by another loud meow from Butters. Jack groaned as he put his head on your shoulder and you laughed as you lifted his head up and slightly pushed Jack’s curls from out of his eyes before you kissed his forehead, “C’mon lets go,” You grabbed his hand and you followed Butters into the kitchen.

He had a lazy smile on his face with hearts in his eyes. This man was so whipped for you.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED! I love this sm <33

tags: @ashlesys-blog @wekiamo @dizzyscreams

[upat4amwiththemoon]

Hey can I request a wanda x fem reader where wanda and reader are dating and wanda knows this sweet side of the reader but one day the avengers go on a mission and need reader’s help because she is a CEO of a company bigger than stark industries and she is all badass and destroys whomever the avengers need destroyed.would love nat, tony and reader friendship.

The CEO

Summary: Looks like a cinnamon roll, could kill you.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x female!reader

Warnings: none

Word count: 1440

a/n: I’m sorry I don’t know how to be intimidating

Tags: @thought-of-you-and-me @rafecameronswhore @sayah13 @wandsmxmff @emsmultiverse @natashamaximoff69

masterlists | guidelines

“He’s not giving us anything.” Natasha walks into the room, where Wanda and Tony are watching the interrogation room. “He keeps asking for his lawyer.”

“Can’t you like,” Tony imitates punching sounds, “do that to get through to him.”

“It doesn’t work like that.” Natasha rolls her eyes. “At the end of the day, we don’t have hard evidence he is the behind the organization.”

A particular organization has been tormenting the Avengers for a long time now. They’ve started attacks against people and buildings, destroying many important properties and killing people. Yet, they have always hidden any possible leads.

Until now. They finally caught someone, Mr Blight. The group’s clean up crew made a mistake and left evidence on site, bringing the Avengers to him.

After bringing him to the compound for interrogation an hour ago, they’ve gotten nowhere. He’s smart, he knows what they can and can’t do, which is why they have to think something different before they run out of time.

Wanda stares at screen, deep in thought. “Where did you say he worked at?”

“He is one of the owners of the Blight Industries.” Tony glances at the file they have on him. It’s a thin file. “Do you know him?”

“I think his company works with Y/N’s company.”

“Miss bubblegum’s company?” He frowns, looking at the man though the monitor. “Really?”

“Oh, this’ll be fun.” Natasha grins. “She can help us, right?” She turns to Wanda.

Taking out her phone, Wanda starts texting her girlfriend. “Uh, yeah. I think she could help us.” She mumbles, a bit unsure on bringing her into an Avengers mission. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Wanda and Y/N have been dating for two months, they’re still in very much their honeymoon phase, neither really talking about work things. However, Natasha and Y/N have been friends for a long time. She actually introduced the couple to each other. She also still continuously reminds them of this, taking great pride into making their relationship happen.

“Oh, yeah. She’ll be able to crack him.”

Tony and Wanda both frown. “Am I missing something here?” He points at Natasha. “How will little miss sunshine help us?”

“You’ll be in for a treat.”

Tony pushes Mr Blight forward when the elevator comes to a stop. He is already looking nervous, he recognizes where they are. “Wait.” Tony looks around the building. “Why did neither of you tell me Y/N is the CEO of the biggest company in the US? I’ve been trying to get a meeting with the boss for ages about Stark Industries, but I always get a negative answer.”

Letting out a short laugh, Natasha leads them in front of Y/N’s office. “Maybe your company isn’t that important.” She mumbles, throwing him a look. Knocking on the door, she opens it for Mr Blight when a faint come in comes from the other side. “Don’t shake too much, she can sense fear.” Natasha whispers with a smirk when he walks past her.

Wanda furrows her brows, moving in front of the window. The blinds are mostly shut, but she can see inside the room through a small crack. Natasha and Tony move next to her, the latter being a lot less inconspicuous about snooping.

“Natasha, care to tell us how she’ll help us?”

“She breaks anyone who walks into that room.”

Y/N is working on her computer, completely ignoring Mr Blight walking into the room. He closes the door behind him, slowly making his voice towards the table.

He clears his throat, but Y/N pays no mind to it. “Should I- sit? Or, maybe..”

“What do you usually do when you walk inside someone else’s office, Mr Blight?” She finally lifts up her head from the screen.

Nodding, Mr Blight sits down to one of the chairs. He lays his hands on his lap, though he can’t stop moving them.

“We have been business partners for a long time, have we not, Mr Blight?” Y/N sits on her office chair with the perfect posture, her hands laying on the table. The look on her face is neutral, but terrifying.

Mr Blight clears his throat before answering, so Y/N wouldn’t hear it shake. “Yes, we have.”

“So,” sighing, Y/N shakes her head, “imagine my surprise when I hear you’ve made an enemy out of the Avengers.” She tilts her head, making Mr Blight gulp. “Do you understand how this looks like to my company, that I have worked so hard to build from the ground up?”

“I- I understand, Miss Y/L/N.”

“See, I don’t think you do.” She stands up, leaning closer to him. “You’re making this more difficult for everyone involved by not telling the truth.”

“Respectfully, Miss Y/L/N, I have spoken the truth. I have no ties w-“

“Have you?” Y/N interrupts him. She stands up properly and turns her monitor to face Mr Blight. “You’re aware that I know everything, correct?” He nods. “So, what you’re telling me is, if I open these files over here,” she points towards the files shown on her monitor, “there will be nothing about you deciding to join the organization two months ago?”

His eyes widen. He tries to hide his expressions, but nothing goes unnoticed by her. Mr Blight opens his mouth to say something, anything to save his name, but nothing comes out.

“On the second of September, you made a donation to a charity, which then send out that money to a third party.” She reads through one of the files. “You’ve been making consistent visits to Washington DC once a week, in the guise of visiting family. However, I remember you telling me your family move abroad last summer, is that right?”

“Well, yes, but-“

“But, what Mr Blight?” Her voice raises a notch. She stares him down, crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you have some other excuses? Or lies perhaps?”

He shakes his head in defeat. “I will talk to the Avengers.” He mumbles. Y/N raises her brow, waiting for something more. “And I will tell them everything.”

Y/N smiles, expressing him to stand up, which he does. “A pleasure. Remember to tell Blight Industries we aren’t working together anymore before you get locked up, would you?” She shakes his hand when he doesn’t know what to answer, before pointing to the door. “You may leave.”

Mr Blight opens the office door, getting grabbed by a SHIELD agent and pulled away. Natasha, Tony and Wanda stay behind, stepping into the office.

“Hi!” Y/N has a wide smile on her face as she waves at them. “So glad to see you guys. I hope I was able to help.” She kisses Wanda before hugging Natasha.

Tony is looking at her with an indescribable look. “You, are a fraud.”

“What do you mean?” Y/N frowns, tilting her head to the side.

“That!” Tony points at her. “You did that while talking to Mr Blight and looked scary, just like witchy woo over here when she does her thing, and now-“ he moves his hands around her and Wanda, “now you look like a cinnamon roll.”

With a grin, Natasha throws her hand over Y/N’s shoulders, pulling her closer. “She has been my secret weapon for years. You don’t understand how many people she has broken.”

Wanda stays quiet as she listens to the conversation. She has only seen the sweet side of Y/N, but she isn’t necessarily disappointed by the other side either.

“I think I like you even more now.” Tony pats her arm. “Now, do you think we could talk about a collaboration between Stark Ind-“

“No.” Y/N states. “There’s a reason I always tell you no.” She smiles sweetly at him. “Now, if you don’t mind, I still have work to do.”

“Thank you for your help, I’ll see you later.” Natasha grabs Tony’s suit and pulls him away from the room, leaving Y/N and Wanda alone.

“Hi.” Y/N smiles.

“Hey.” With a brow raised, Wanda stares at her. “That was different.” She mumbles, wrapping her arms around Y/N’s waist. “I kind of liked it.” Using her magic, she closes and locks the door.

“Oh, really?” Y/N grins, her arms going around Wanda’s neck. She giggles as Wanda starts kissing her neck while pushing her backwards. “Don’t you have work to do?”

Wanda lifts Y/N, so she’s sitting on the table. “I have some time.” With a smirk, she goes right back to attacking her neck.

[godisshook]

A Ride to Remember

I had known Liam since high school, he was one of the smartest in our grade, but he barely talked to anyone. I considered him a friend, and would work with him whenever I could. Knowing this I should probably introduce myself, my name is Adama Traore, son of two loving immigrant parents, and luckily, very gay. Later during freshman year, I got a boyfriend, I still remember him fondly as my first kiss, and my first heartbreak. When we broke up junior year, I went into a complete spiral, going to gay bars and hooking up with any guy I could find, neglecting my whole life because of a breakup. I barely spoke to Liam that year, I had heard he got a girlfriend in sophomore year, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. When college applications came around I applied to everywhere I could, just to see who would let me in. I knew that Liam was dead-set on going to Pell College, one of the most selective schools in the country. I applied to Pell too, and when decisions came out, I checked it last. It felt like slow motion when I saw in big letters:

ADAMA TRAORE,

WELCOME TO PELL NATION

I was officially a Dire Wolf (the Pell mascot, it’s lame, I know). I saw on the big board in the front office all the other major acceptances. Liam had a couple, but one stood out, a big wolf paw with his name in it, he got in too. I wasn’t shocked, but this most certainly meant we were going to the same college. While this would be the start to a great conversation, it simply never happened, we had just grown too distant.

Senior year came and went with me seeing little of Liam, and now it was summer break. I was college prepping and my mom was sobbing as she took me shopping for essentials each and every day. One day, I went onto our schools acceptance page on Instagram, and the latest post had a familiar person, at least, a familiar name.

@lgporter876 Hey guys, my name is Liam Porter and I am going to be a freshman at Pell in 2023, i wanna get to know ppl so leave ur snaps in the comments.

He was completely different. The shy sweet guy that I knew from high school had changed entirely. I didnt care though, he was doing his own thing and I was doing mine. I posted a few days after him, and I become flooded with dm’s of sorority girls asking me to be their gay best friend, truly something out of a nightmare if you ask me.

The day before classes, all of my things were moved into my dorm and I met my roommates. Kyle was your average nerd, he had brown curly hair and freckles, and wore glasses with wide rims. Next was Jamie, he was quiet, but stood at 6’2 and was here on a basketball scholarship. I immediately started chatting him up, and tried to see if he could be a potential fling. Finally was Eric. Eric was lanky but wasn’t entirely introverted like Kyle, hanging out with people and even becoming a good friend of mine on campus.

One of the buses drop off a load of students to the dorms, and a familiar face comes out of it with bags in hand:

My mom had barely seen Liam since freshman year, and never caught on that it was him, but I most definitely did. He walks to one of the dorms further down from mine, “There goes my chance to chat with him in the hallways.” I think to myself. I was a Literature major, and from what I knew Liam wanted to study Mechanical Engineering, so there was little chance we would ever see each other in the same class.

I go to my first class of the day: “History of Pre-Columbian Writing and Forms” taught by a frazzled professor who looks no younger than 76 named Dr. Fredericks. He was an awesome teacher, and I actually paid attention in class. Afterward I head to my Civics and Common Law class, it was rather empty, except for Liam. He was sitting in the 5th row, and as I open the door he glances back and meets my eye. I sit in the 7th row, open my computer, and start snooping. Lo and behold, this very class was an optional GenEd for Mechanical Engineering, and Liam chose it. I quickly leave class, and rush to my dorm.

A few weeks pass and my minifridge is empty. After eating the dining hall food for practically a month straight I was tired, so I drove to the gas station near our school to get some snacks and microwave meals. In the far back of the gas station I spot a group of frat bros, from the letters I could make out they were in Delta Zeta Kappa, known as one of the most toxic on campus. Laughing right with them is no other than Liam himself.

“You should’ve fucked her!” one of the bros near him says before patting Liam’s back. I try to quickly pick my stuff up and leave, but one of the other brothers whistles at me. It was Tyler Felton, a guy who I drunkenly hooked up with at one of his frat’s parties. Tyler calls me over and introduces me to each of the other brothers, and they start chuckling and jabbing Tyler in the arm, clearly he’s already talked about me to them. When I shake hands with Liam, it’s bare sly even a touch before he already has his hands pulled away.

Leaving the gas station was rather embarrassing, simply because I could imagine what they would talk about once I left. But Liam, he confused me. I didn’t think we were on bad terms, but by that handshake it seems we were.

I go back to my room and go straight to his instagram to figure out what’s going on. He still follows me, and it’s clear he unfollowed people from high school, so if he hated me why in the world did he still follow me?

I look at his recent posts and my eye catches to one of them:

He had clearly been going to the gym, and even though he might be a jerk now, he’s fucking HOT. I pull down my pants and start masturbating, thinking about feeling those muscles of his and fantasizing about how big his cock must be. I close my eyes and start imagining it, and the thought of it makes me end up getting cum all over my phone, and I immediately start wiping it away with tissues, feeling ashamed that I just came to a picture of a guy who is most definitely straight. After my little session on his insta, I study for my pre-calculus exam, and slowly drift to sleep over my notes. My alarm jolts me awake, as drool is all over my notes from my sudden study sesh coma. I rustle them together into my backpack and head to class for the day. Liam is there (as always) and we don’t speak at all during or after class (as always). As we’re packing up Dr. Stevens, the professor for the Civics course, announces we have a group project, but he’s already picked the partners.

As he rattles off last name pairings, I have yet to hear mine or Liam’s, until-“Mr. Traore, Mr. Porter, you two will be paired for this assignment.” My heart sinks to the very bottom of my chest. The guy who I now have nothing in common with, paired up for a 3-week assignment, nothing could be worse. “I can just handle it and you can get credit.” Liam says as he passes by me to leave class. Before he could fully pass, I grab his arm. He jerks back and stares at me. I glare back, “I will do my part too, I don’t know about you, but I care about this work.” Liam keeps my gaze and smirks. He easily releases his arm from my grasp, and walks away.

I don’t hear from him for a while, but he gets to work on our shared document, as do I. I suddenly get a DM on insta, while I expected it to be Liam, it was Tyler, sending me a flyer to his frat’s Halloween party. While Liam was most definitely going to be there, I just wanted a chance to dress all skimpy, so I accepted the invite.

After getting my sluttiest Daphne costume, i head down with Tyler, who decided to pick me up, and match with me as Fred (against my will mind you). My car had broken down, and I was simply far too broke to get it fixed now. We get to the party and it’s already insane, people are outside, beer pong tables set up everywhere, and girls grinding on all the brothers on the dance floor. I see nothing of Liam, but decide that’s a good thing.

The party goes much as I would have expected, with Tyler finding every way to stay near me, and me trying my very best to escape him when I can. I catch a glance of Liam while I walk for my 9th bathroom break to get away from Tyler. As I walk out, he’s near the door, and pushes me back in. “I want us to talk again.” he says, and before I can even get a word out, he leaves, never to be seen again.

Two days later I get a snap notification from none other than the man himself:

Using a shirtless gym selfie to get back into my good graces is a bold choice, considering i’m “talking to” one of his frat brothers, but I assume it’s all platonic, and send a photo of me studying for my literature exam in my bed back. After snapping back and forth for a few days I assume that will be all there is, and accepted that at least he was talking to me about our project. After checking the project the day before it’s due I see an announcement.

YOU ARE TO USE POSTER BOARD TO PRESENT KEY POINTS, POWERPOINT AND OTHER DIGITAL PROGRAMS WILL NOT BE USEABLE AS THE PROJECTOR IS DEAD.

Dr. Stevens was giving us an extension to find the stuff we needed, and I quickly text Liam to go pick up some poster board as my car is still very much broken. He chats back “come with me.” Confusion swept my face as getting poster board definitely wasn’t a two person job, but he quickly chatted again, “we can work on it together at my place.” Seeing this as a chance to actually reconnect, I say yes, and he comes to pick me up.

I start taking hits of my dab pen in the car, knowing that high me would actually be able to get some work done. As we pull into a residential area, he stops and pulls to the sidewalk. I ask him, “Why in god’s name did you stop here??? The store isn’t for a few more miles.” “I have been waiting for this my whole life.” he replies. Thinking i’m about to get axe murdered by my old friend I try to get out, but the doors are locked. He then says, “I never knew how I felt about you until I saw you with that fucker Tyler, the dude doesn’t deserve a pet rock, much less you.” The sudden romantic shift of his words gives me whiplash, but at least he’s not trying to kill me? As he says this, he puts a hand on my thigh. Even though I had ended my villain era, a little hookup between old friends was just what the doctor ordered.

I get in the base of the seat under him and pull his pants down very slowly. His hard dick pops up out of his underwear, and he glances down at me as I start to suck. He groans loudly and grabs the handle at the top, looking at me straight in the eyes the whole time.

As I continue doing down on him, he says, “I knew this would be the best.” If the rumors were true, he had fucked nearly half the freshman girls, and somehow i’m the best? I smile and keep going until he stops me. With his massive arms he pulls my head up and says, “It’s not over yet.” He pulls his shirt over his head, revealing that hard body and, as he starts the car he says, “Keep sucking.”

On the road in the rain, I keep looking up at this old friend of mine, wondering if i had missed a signal, and as I keep going, he starts to push my head down on his massive cock, and then let’s put a loan moan, as he cums all in my mouth. I swallow it down and look up at him, still listening to his music and focusing on the road.

While still below him, we come to a stop. He unbuckles and gets out, only in his boxers. I shimmy up and stumble out, clearly not at a Walmart or any place we could get poster for that matter. “It’s my cousins place, he’s not home so he lets me stay.” Liam says as if reading my mind. It’s clear what he wants, and I get ready for it.

After getting in he immediately starts kissing me, Unbuttoning my shirt, and pulling down my pants until i’m much like him, only far less muscly and way shorter. He pins me against the wall and starts kissing my nipples, saying, “Do you like that?” as he goes on and on. Eventually he takes me upstairs, and as I do I see him pull his boxers down. He tells me, “Get on the bed.” and I comply.

As i’m under him on the bed, he starts shoving his dick in my ass, pounding and pounding my tight ass and grunting all while doing it. He flexes his muscles in a mirror right next to the bed, which is the only way i can even notice what he’s doing as he’s giving me the best backshots of my life. He tells me to get up and wrap my legs around his, with his cock still in me i maneuver around and do it, and he asks, “Is that better?” After nodding he says, “Good boy.” and I look down, completely falling for him. As he pounds me again, I feel up and down his hard body, and he keeps fucking me ruthlessly.

After pounding my ass until it goes from a dark brown to a purplish tinge, Liam says, “I’ve had a crush on you since forever, but I never knew what to say, and by the time I could you had a boyfriend. I was always looking for a chance but I thought it would never happen, so I worked to be the guy you would want, and I just hope I fucking am.” How had I been so naïve??? He wanted to be with me since freshman year and I was the one to friendzone him. Letting this words sit with me for a while I caress his face and say, “You have always been the guy I wanted, I was just too blind to see.”

He smirks and starts fucking like never before, he takes my hips and moves it towards and away from his cock, grunting each time his cock goes all the way in me. In this moment I don’t see anything else but him, and as he cums in me I pull his body towards me, pulling him into me, and embracing him as our warm sweaty bodies touch. After that we end up continuing for five more rounds, each getting more and more passionate. After that whenever we would see each other after class,we would go into the supply closet and fuck again. I felt like a ball of hormones but it felt good with him.

Finally at present day, with us having been dating for three years, it seems like all of this could’ve been missed if anything had gone wrong. Every moment with him is truly memorable, and even though I never would’ve saw myself with the quiet nerd turned frat guy, I guess that’s what happened. I thank the universe each and every day for that fateful car ride, and as i get ready to graduate, I start thinking that Porter sounds like a perfect last name for me.

[hairstevington]

flowers and ink (part 1)

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Summary: Steve and Robin work at a flower shop together. One day, the pair decides to get matching tattoos at the place across the street. You can probably guess who their artist turns out to be. (requested by @thereindeerlady)

part two, part three, part four part five part six part seven part eight final part link to Ao3

Word Count: 2.6K

Warnings: This is just cute fluff, nothing too serious, modern day AU, Tattoo Artist!Eddie, platonic soulmates Steve and Robin, also I threw Bob Newby into the mix because I love him

A/N: I'm wrapping up the semester and am finally tackling my request list! Thank you for reading! :)

Robin applied to Flowers for All because a really pretty girl worked there and Robin needed a reason to go in and talk to her. 

She was hired, then the pretty girl promptly quit. Also, she was straight and engaged to a man. That was a huge bummer.

Still, the job stuck, and since they were down an employee…

“No,” Steve said when she brought it up.

“Please?” Robin begged. “Come on, you hate your job and it’s been forever since we worked together. It would be just like old times and -”

“Robin, we never used to get anything done when we worked together. We were terrible employees.”

That was true, but it did not deter Robin from her master plan. 

“Okay, well so far the only other applicant is the seventeen year old son of the owner who thinks the shop is actually a marijuana dispensary, and there’s no way I’m gonna work with that little twerp -”

“He didn’t take himself from the running when he found out you just sell literal flowers?” Steve asked, amused.

“I think he’s going to set up his own business in the back, honestly,” Robin sighed. “Please, I promise I’ll do everything and you can just hang out and -”

“Okay,” Steve said. 

“Wait, what?” 

Robin wasn’t anticipating he’d agree to it so quickly.

“I said okay. Sure. Fine. Where’s the application?” Steve took his phone from his pocket to find the Flowers for All website. He clicked on the “apply now” button and scrolled through the questions. 

There were basically no requirements. He just had to put in his name (Steve), education (high school), and any experience he’d had with flowers (none), and then boom, submitted. 

He got an email the next day to come in for an interview. Robin was assigned to be the interviewer.

He got the job. 

-

Eddie started as an apprentice for Ink About It when he was fresh out of high school. It was run by this dorky middle-aged man named Bob, who didn’t have any tattoos and initially seemed mismatched for the profession. Still, Bob was supportive and kind, and he let Eddie grow and thrive in the tattoo shop. He also happened to be amazing at working with clients and was a decent artist. Go figure. 

“Hey, Eds?” Bob asked as he tapped his knuckles on the door. Eddie was on his break, snacking on some chips while watching YouTube on his phone. 

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking of inviting Joyce’s son here sometime so he could see the place. He’s this great artist, and I think he’d love to meet you and see how we work here.”

“How old is he?” Eddie asked, his eyes still fixed to the screen. 

“He’s seventeen. Just about to graduate high school, can you believe it?”

Eddie didn’t really pay attention when Bob talked about his family. He probably should have listened more, but the man was just so dorky. 

“Okay,” Eddie agreed. He didn’t really want some kid in the shop snooping around, but it wasn’t really his decision. 

“Okay, great,” Bob replied with a smile. When he didn’t leave the room, Eddie knew he had more to say. He shut his phone off and turned to face his boss. “You see, uh. Will’s been having some trouble lately. Bullies and all that. He just came out, you know? And he’s a great kid. He’s so great, and some people at school are just - well, they’re bullies.”

Eddie didn’t really know where Bob was going with this. 

“That sucks,” Eddie acknowledged. “I remember when I came out, people said all kinds of shit - I mean, uh, stuff. Sorry.”

“That’s kinda why I’m telling you about it,” Bob said, shifting his weight on his feet nervously. “I think Will could really use someone on his side right now. Someone who really understands, you know?”

Ah. Eddie got it now. 

“Someone who’s gay,” he deduced. Bob knew that Eddie was gay, and he never cared or said anything about it, which was great. While he didn’t really want to be some motivational story about overcoming adversity in a hetero-normative society, he knew that Bob didn’t ask for much, and talking to a struggling kid seemed easy enough. “Okay, yeah. I’ll talk to him, if you want.”

“Great,” Bob said, breaking out into a smile. “You’re gonna love him. He’s a huge fan of that Dungeons and Dragons game, just like you.”

“Shit, really?” Eddie replied. “I mean - shoot. Sorry.”

“I never told you to stop cursing in front of me, Eddie,” Bob chuckled. “I know I may seem naïve and innocent, but I got into all kinds of trouble in my youth. You’re free to be whoever you want to be here, as long as you’re nice.”

He was just so wholesome it hurt. Eddie imagined the trouble Bob was referring to being something along the lines of sneaking a beer into a movie theater. It would probably break his heart to know some of the things Eddie had gotten into before he’d started working at this place. Maybe Wayne already told him, and he had just never said anything. Eddie certainly wasn’t gonna bring it up. 

“Hey Bob,” Eddie said. “Why did you start this job in the first place? Aren’t you this huge tech wizard?” Bob smiled warmly.

“Sure was. Bob the Brain, they used to call me. I still love a good puzzle, but life takes you to all kinds of places you don’t expect to go.”

“Yeah, but that seems like a pretty big career change,” Eddie continued. 

“Well, did you know this building used to be a RadioShack?” Bob asked. Eddie shook his head. “It was, and I used to work there. After it closed down, some artists tried to make it a tattoo parlor, but had no idea where to start. I stepped in as manager and they did the tattooing. I rebranded it, changed the name, and have been running it ever since. The rest of the story you’ve been around for.”

Bob was a great guy and a wonderful manager. He motivated Eddie to get his life together, and things had really leveled out for him just by having a stable job he enjoyed.

After their conversation, Eddie’s break was over, so he went back to work. He continued a design for a client who’d come in wanting a quarter sleeve, and then at 4pm he was scheduled to tattoo a bird on a guy’s shoulder blade. 

Overall, it was a normal day.

-

Robin knew every single plant and flower in the shop. She knew their names, their seasons, how to take care of them, and what they meant. 

She just happened to be really bad at keeping track of watering schedules, and tended to kill anything she touched. 

“Maybe I should work at a pet store,” Robin sighed, discouraged that the gardenias that had just come in had already wilted.

“What? Robin, why would you do that to the poor animals?” Steve replied, horrified. 

“Shut up, Harrington,” she snapped back. “Animals can tell me when they’re hungry.”

She looked sad, and Steve hated when she looked sad. 

“Aww, Robbie,” he said, jumping off the counter to put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. I can help. If you tell me what to do, I can do it.”

“Are you sure about that?” she asked. 

“Nope,” he responded confidently. “But they’re already dying, so it’s worth a shot, right?”

Steve actually turned out to be a natural at taking care of plants. He tended to be very good at looking after people, so it shouldn’t have been that surprising, but what was most shocking was how much he enjoyed it. Robin caught him talking to the flowers quite a bit. It was adorable. 

Ink About It was right across the street from Flowers for All. Steve and Robin stared at it every single shift through the front window. Neither of them remember who started the bit where they’d come up with weird matching tattoos they’d get with each other, but it became a staple every time they worked together. 

“Salt and pepper,” Robin greeted him as he walked in one day. 

“You’re pepper?”

“Obviously,” she responded with a smirk. They continued working, but it was a slow day. The ideas got progressively unhinged as the hours went by. 

“What about…” Robin wondered, her chin resting on her hand as she sat at the register. “You get my face and I get yours.” Steve chuckled. 

“Or we both get Harry Styles’ face.”

“Yes!” Robin’s face lit up as she laughed. “What about something flower themed?”

“Like what? A flower and a pot?” Steve proposed.

“Sure, you can be the pot,” she remarked. 

“What? Why am I the pot?”

“Because you smoke pot and I don’t,” she explained. Steve shook his head and scoffed. 

“Weak reason, Buckley, but fine. You’re the flower.” She smirked, pleased with herself, but then Steve added - “The flower is dead, though. For obvious reasons.”

“Steve!” She yelled, laughing. “Harsh, but fair.”

Their shift ended, but instead of going home, they went to the bar next door. They continued the bit until they were tipsy, and ended up arguing over who would be Bert and who would be Ernie. It got kind of heated. 

“Whatever!” Robin huffed, throwing her arms up. “It doesn’t matter, because you know I hate puppets. We’re not getting Bert and Ernie tattoos.”

“You’re acting like we’re actually going to do this,” Steve said as he sipped his beer. 

“I mean, if we find something we like, why not?”

“Why not?” Steve echoed. At first, he was going to give her all the reasons he could think of why they shouldn’t get tattoos together, but then he realized he didn’t have any reasons. “Uh, I guess you’re right. Okay, so no Bert and Ernie. What about Frog and Toad?”

“Are you just going through all the queer-coded best friends in children’s media, Steve?”

“Basically, yeah,” he replied, smirking. “Fuck, I’m Toad aren’t I?”

“I’m glad you said it and not me,” Robin replied. They sat in silence for a moment, coming to the same conclusion. 

“Uhh, so maybe that’s - Like, maybe that’s not such a bad idea,” Steve said. “Am I just buzzed, or -”

“No, I’m right there with you,” Robin responded. Of course she was, she always was. 

Before they knew it, they were stumbling towards Ink About It.

-

Eddie had just wrapped up his final appointment and was quietly working on other designs. Bob had left for the day, and sometimes Eddie stayed late just because it was a quiet place to be. 

It became less of a quiet place to work when two tipsy idiots stumbled in. 

“Hello!” The man greeted Eddie. “We would like tattoos, please!”

“Okay?” Eddie replied, confused. 

“He wants Toad and I want Frog. You know, from Frog and Toad are Friends?” The woman said. “Can you do that?” Eddie eyed them both and did his best to refrain from rolling his eyes.

“I can do whatever, pretty much,” Eddie replied. “Except, uh - I mean, do either of you have tattoos?” The pair shook their heads. “Do you know where you want them?”

“We didn’t get that far,” the man responded, prompting both of them to giggle.

“Right, okay,” Eddie said. “So, since you’ve clearly been drinking and this is your first tattoo, I’m gonna say it’s a no-go. Think about it, and come back tomorrow if you’re still interested.”

This kind of thing happened every so often, so Eddie was used to it. People never came back. They always came to their senses once they sobered up, and Eddie would never see them again. He figured it would be the same for these two. 

It wasn’t. They showed up again the next day. 

-

“We’ve thought about it!” The woman said as she walked into the shop. She dug into her bag and pulled out a picture. “This is what we want. Inside of the ankle.”

“Wow,” Eddie said as he looked at what they’d chosen, impressed. “I really didn’t expect you’d wanna go through with this.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” the man argued. “It’s an amazing idea.”

“Yeah,” the woman agreed. “And work’s been slow, and we’re bored, and this is not even close to the wildest thing we’ve done together.”

Eddie didn’t find spontaneous tattoos to be that wild in the first place. He was covered in them, and most of them were on-the-fly. Once you have a few, it gets easier and easier to add more. 

“Right,” Eddie said, wondering what the other wild things they’d done together were. He wondered if it was some sort of innuendo, like they were the kind of couple that secretly went to BDSM clubs or something like that. “Well, lucky for you, it's slow here today, too. Shall we?"

Eddie had them fill out paperwork while he got the stencil ready. He had adjusted their reference picture a little bit just to add his own flair, and after they approved it they were basically ready to go. It turned out their names were Steve and Robin. 

Eddie thought that Steve was kind of a stupid name, and didn’t match the pretty boy associated with it whatsoever. 

They didn’t even seem that nervous, which was baffling. Eddie figured there must be more to them than he had originally assumed. They were also a lot less annoying when they were sober. 

“So, who’s first?” Eddie asked, gesturing to the chair. 

“I’ll go,” Steve answered, raising his hand. Eddie put the stencil on his ankle and got final approval before they got started. 

“You ready?” Eddie asked, holding the tattoo needle in his hand. He waited for Steve to back out, but he nodded instead. “Okay. It’s gonna sting a little.”

“I have a pretty high pain tolerance,” Steve replied. Eddie tried to hide the smirk on his face. He’d heard that line before, many times. 

Eddie put the needle to the skin, and Steve didn’t so much as blink. Huh. Well, okay then.

Tattooing someone naturally involves a lack of personal space. It never bothered Eddie, because he tended to not think about personal space at any given moment, but some clients were a bit more hesitant than others. Ankle tats were thankfully not as intense as a rib or hip placements, but it did mean Eddie had to have a stranger’s foot close to his face, which wasn’t amazing. 

He wasn’t a foot guy. The man attached to the foot, however…

Eddie couldn’t help it. Steve was gorgeous. He also was charismatic, which was a quality that Eddie always appreciated and was attracted to. Steve chatted with Eddie during the whole 45 minutes he was being tattooed, and even made Eddie laugh a couple times.

Robin started to show her anxiety the moment it was her turn. 

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Steve reminded her. 

“Uh, of course I do!” she retorted. “This was my idea. You think I’m just going to let you have a loan toad on your ankle?” Steve and Eddie laughed. 

“I don’t mind. It came out pretty badass, thanks to Eddie.” Eddie smirked at the compliment. 

“If you can do it, I can do it. Come on, Eddie, let’s do this.”

She was shaking a little at first, so Steve pulled up a chair and held her hand. He asked her to start naming all the flowers they sold, and she did so rapidly. Eddie hadn’t heard of a lot of the plants she’d listed, and the list was unending. Ten minutes in, she eased into the process, and the rest went by without a hitch. 

Steve and Robin were really cute together. Eddie wasn't sure how long they'd been dating, but he wished them the best.

Steve left a sizable tip - like, an absurdly high tip - and then they were off. 

This time, Eddie was sure that would be the last he’d see of them. 

It wasn’t. 

(part 2)

__________________________

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[whorety-k]

Ebony Coasts [Part 2]

I couldn't resist the allure of part two with our favorite raven man so please accept my continued rambles.

Pairing: Merfolk!Corvus Corax x fem!Marine Conservationist!Reader (second person POV)

Song recommendation: Cosmic Love - Florence + The Machine

“No dawn, no day / I’m always in this twilight /In the shadow of your heart.”

Warnings: Ocean mentions / potential thalassophobia, the dull horrors of an average day at the workplace

Word Count: 2k

[Part 1] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7 (NSFW)]

Submitting your report had been a frustrating endeavor with what felt like a million following questions. How many perpetrators? “What age were they?” “Why were you out alone?” “Why were there no tracks?” If you weren’t someone who so fiercely kept their word, you would have wondered if the paperwork of telling the world about the existence of mermaids was better than the droning interrogation by your supervisors. Thankfully, the excuse of nightfall and the surprising lack of CCTV around the marine protected area allowed you to actually get away with the lies you were feeding into your statements. Your submission to make that area of the beach quarantined off from the surrounding sands was approved, which you celebrated eagerly. Your reputation and knowledge definitely helped the push.

Your patience, however, could be better. You tried to return to Corvus’s beach the very next night, determined to let him know that he wasn’t going to be bothered by your agency any longer (and perhaps fully convince yourself that he was, in fact, real). You nearly missed the cave during your search; Corvus must have put more effort into concealing his newest home, as the entrance was thoroughly hidden amongst new coastal vegetation that wasn’t present the night before. 

It shouldn’t have been surprising that he was nowhere to be seen, his den left empty aside from the sloshing of water as you searched for him. Still, you were determined to gain the merman’s favor. The items you had taken from him as ‘evidence’ had unfortunately already been disposed of, so you had to resort to doing the next best thing. You left a proud silver pearl from your own trinket stash on one of the shelf-like rock formations deeper within the cavern. Seeing no other reason to stick around or snoop any longer, you headed home.

When your supervisor slaps down a manila folder detailing Corvus’s beach under the watch of you and your team, you could have hollered. You instead thank her politely before she returns to her own tasks, figuring an outburst wouldn’t have a great place in the quiet office. A quick read through the included documents and permits informs you that your team is now directly responsible for observation and maintenance of the shoreline, detailing the duties specific to you and each other member. Nothing appears to be too invasive toward your mysterious new friend– if you can call him that. 

The first week out is spent surveying. It’s a task you’re intimately familiar with at this point in your career: taking notes on the flora and fauna of the area and their current condition, measuring certain formations’ levels of erosion and wear. It’s easy to fall into a flow state and forget yourself, not finding much of note as you converse with your coworkers and strategically leave out the depth of a certain familiar structure.

On the third day of the survey, you find that you’re the only one of your team to show up. A frustrated huff leaves your lips as you withdraw your phone in haste, tapping away inquiring messages and finding out that everyone but you has a convenient case of the common cold. You roll your eyes as you pocket the device. Surveying can be incredibly boring work– you really, truly know– but it’s important for record keeping. With your hands tucked into your jacket, a pack full of equipment, and your trusty waders to keep you dry, you set off along a safe path down the cliffside. 

You reach the coastline without a hitch and set off to get started on today’s work. Time flies by as you check off each necessary task. The sun is nearly setting by the time you get around to making a routine documentation of the native succulents, when a piercing sensation of unease stops you cold. A look left or right reveals nothing of note, nothing out of place. You suppress the shiver down your spine as you kneel down and withdraw a metal pen from your backpack. Halfway through noting the species name of the invasive aizoaceae, the distinct prickle at the back of your neck becomes too much. You groan as you stand, brushing off your knees and turning around. 

A mixture of a gasp and shriek leaves your throat when you come face to face with a familiar figure standing directly at your back, startling him almost as much as he startled you. 

“Corvus–,” you choke out, placing a hand on your chest as you catch your breath. 

The merman gives you an apologetic look. His baritone voice clears the tension in the air. “My apologies; I did not intend to alarm you."

You take a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh to calm yourself, looking up at the giant before you. You offer a pacifistic hand his way as you speak, “Apology accepted, but please stop doing that. I don’t want to die of a heart attack anytime soon.”

Corvus looks at your hand with marked confusion, much the same way he did the previous week. Mirroring his previous action, he tentatively places his much larger hand over your own. “It would be unpleasant to have to dispose of your body,” the merman utters.

You give Corvus an incredulous look before it clicks that he’s making a joke. You chuckle at his words, squeezing one of the digits of his hand before placing your hands in your pockets. 

The peaceful staring contests between the two of you are starting to feel strangely comfortable as he observes you. In the waning sunlight, you get a far better look at his form than you could have in his cavern. Although still so starkly black and white, you’re able to see the muted grays and silvers speckled within his fins and scales. Looking at his fins, you notice that there’s actually quite a few more of them than you had originally observed. The dorsal fin at his back separates into a second caudal fin that wraps around the base of his tail. Two fins that would be pectoral fins on a regular fish lay at his sides just above the transition from skin to scale. Ventral fins trail below his hips at his front, obfuscating any anatomy you would have rudely just stared at. Corvus Corax has more similarities to a black betta fish than any other marine animal you could think of. 

“You gifted me a pearl.”

The sound of the merman’s voice causes you to look back up at him.

“Was there a purpose for it?” he asks, leaning down to be closer to your level. The movement only serves to reinforce just how large he is compared to you, at least twice your size.

You momentarily gather your words. “I wanted to make up for the things I took from you earlier,” you reply, “I know it doesn’t make up for the entire thing but–”

“Thank you,” Corvus interrupts, the ghost of a grin on his face. The expression is so subtle in the abyss of his almond eyes that it’s nearly invisible, but the upturn of his normally ever-frowning lips is hard to miss.

You feel your cheeks warm at the genuine show of gratitude from the giant, excitement palpitating in your chest. You reflect that smile back at him. “I’m in charge of conservation at your beach now,” you shift topics with ease, enjoying the merman’s presence as he seems to slowly open up to you, “You’ll be seeing me around a lot more often.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll be able to leave you a few more presents from time to time.”

The way the large mer faintly perks up like an excited dog at your promise melts your heart in an instant, and you hide your disappointment when Corvus tempers himself, taking on the more solemn posture characteristic of him. “I will be grateful for each of them,” the merman responds with grace, “but perhaps refrain from using pearls in the future.”

A sinking feeling fills you. It had taken you two entire hours to decide on what you were going to give Corvus for your official ‘sorry for stealing your hoard’ offering, and it distressed you to think that he didn’t like it as much as you had thought he would. You decide to apologize. “Shit, I’m sorry. Are pearls not your thing?”

Corvus emanates a low chuckle, the first of that specific sound you had heard come from the man. It reminded you of a low drum. His answer comes warmly, “The pearl was lovely. I am rather fond of them.”

You quirk your head at him, perplexed. “Oh… okay?” Your voice raises with confusion, a silent question laced within your remark.

Corvus’s face twists with brief intensity as he struggles to determine what to say. He exhales as he looks down at his tail fin. The look on his face can only be described as bashful, and for once it isn’t you struggling to respond. He keeps his face angled away from you when he eventually explains, “I find it difficult to deny a marriage proposal from someone so well-meaning.”

If your cheeks had only been warm before, they could make the sun itself shy away now. You gawk at him like a fish (a surprising twist of events, as the human in the situation), stammering as embarrassment quickly floods through your nervous system. 

Both of you share the awkward moment unable to figure out a suitable response, Corvus cringing at his words and you hastily trying to apologize. 

“I am grateful for your interest,” Corvus finally says in an attempt to ease the tension, “but I am not one to make such decisions hastily, so please allow me to ponder it.”

Words finally claw their way out of your throat. “I wasn’t trying to propose!” you accidentally bellow, making Corvus jump. You wrangle your emotions in, exerting visible force, before you continue. Your voice levels out, “...I just wanted to give you something back. They threw everything I took from you away already, so I couldn’t retrieve anything.”

Corvus’s expression is unreadable as he turns his head to fully look at you, mouth slightly agape. His lips seal and he nods, seeming relieved and… something else? “That greatly simplifies things,” is his short response.

You place your hands at the side of your head, grumbling, “Is there anything else I need to know about gifting you so I don’t accidentally, I don’t know, curse your family and insult your bloodline?”

The attempt at humor eases the giant in front of you and earns another soft chuckle. When he makes to lay upon his chest, the pink of the setting sun reflects off of the scant silver scales along his body. He settles upon his elbows, one clawed hand resting upon the other. A Corvus-sized trail in the wet sand behind him comes into view before you decide to sit down beside him, crossing your legs and resting your elbows on your knees. Corvus examines how your legs move with curiosity, shifting his tail into a more comfortable loose curl. It protects you from any of the more ambitious waves that travel up the beach. 

“Any genuine token from you will be received positively,” the merman states.

You nod appreciatively to him, then turn your attention back to your previous task. As the sun dips below the horizon, you take the tranquil moment to finish up your survey notes, jotting down the remaining information about the invasive flora. Corvus’s eyes focus on your work, and he shifts closer to observe it. You complete your statement and shut your notebook with a dull thump, placing it at your side and clicking your writing utensil shut. When you shift to grab your backpack from behind you, your gaze lands on the jet merman. Even with his stony exterior, you can see how plainly his ebony eyes transfix upon the silver pen.

“...No.”

“Pardon?”

“You can’t have my pen.”

Corvus pouts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm absolutely whipped for this man and already thinking about making this a slow burn series for the month of May.

Also if anyone has any feedback, please to tell!! I enjoy everything from constructive criticism to incoherent keyboard mashing and your tags keep me inspired.

Until next time, my loves <3

[Part 3]

[enden-k]

it always makes me really happy to see artists that are more 'fandom-centric' by nature posting their OCs and other things along that line and getting positive feedback, which then in turn causes them to create and post more OC stuff tbh (this is meant 100% genuinely, i apologise if the way i phrased it is a little stilted or odd, i just love seeing non fandom content on my dash)

anyways, feel free to use this ask as a free pass to give us some random tidbits about your OCs and their stories! whatever is swirling around in there that you haven't been about to find a spot to talk about just yet would be great /gen

tbh i always drew my own characters and stories since childhood but started doing fanart when i joined my first big fandom back then (which was bleach in my teenage years); i kept drawing my own things until college between fanart here and there but the moment i made my art blog here i neglected my works more and more and did more fanart instead (for fgo back then). i havent drawn any of my comics again for 4 years or smth but now that my sister got back into hers again she motivated me to pick up my old stories again!!

i think bc ppl were so excited abt my fanart i always knew my own stuff wouldnt get as much reaction so i didnt even try and then just stopped working on it hhjhdfkj but yea, now that my sister gave me motivation and energy and now that i see ppl are actually liking my stuff its smth else aaaa. sry for rambling, i just wanted to clarify that im not fandom-centric by nature, it just happened over the time

anw idk what i should babble abt so uhhh have a fun fact:

not only is this specific story the first proper, planned through one i drew in my teenage years, its also the one that got me in trouble and caused a lot of serious pain bc my adoptive father snooped in my room back then and stole specific pages (like gore or smut scenes, yea i was edgy but also heavily traumatized and in a very bad place) and made up random shit about it to make fun of me, expose me by showing my friends and others and claim outrageous stuff. i tried to remake it later but always stopped with each version and never attempted to revive this story again bc it always filled me with shame and horror knowing he still owns these pages. me redrawing it now is lit the first time in YEARS that i touch it again and it feels very healing, like im seeing my teenage self again drawing this stuff with sm passion and not the person anymore who trampled on it and used it to cause me pain. bc that exact thing was what kept me from working on it again. i just couldnt do it.

(as usual w personal stuff, im just sharing this very dry like facts and i get uncomfortable when people send comfort so ye, reminder to not do that please)

[yloiseconeillants]

🌙 for yloise, perhaps?? 🫶

🌙do they need an emotional connection or are one-night-stands an option?

under the cut because this got long not because there's anything other than just abject fucking secondhand cringe

She's definitely not at any level of emotional maturity for either an actual relationship or one-night stands but HISTORICALLY SPEAKING, she did have like, aspirations to have one-night-stands as what she imagined to be an 'easier' option after she broke up with B'raemha and moved to Limsa Lominsa.

Her first attempt ended up being like a two-month stand (apologies forever and always to Aersthota who tried Very Hard to make it work) and when that blew up, Yloise responded Very Badly and slept with like, the first willing participant (or rather, the second, as the first already had a girlfriend and there was a bar fight and this is why Yloise is not allowed in the Missing Member any more).

He was a field assessor that had returned to Limsa Lominsa very briefly before heading back out on assignment (so sort of a coworker. Someone she had occasionally seen around the Gate) and they had a very lovely night before he shipped out again and Yloise may or may not have decided to do some snooping once he left -

ASIDE:

she'd been in limsa lominsa all of like, three months at this point and very, very reckless and up in the air with regard to her entire life, so upending her current situation to go follow Some Guy She Met halfway across the world to be like 'hey what's up do you need an assistant'

FUCKING LITERALLY

END ASIDE

Yloise may or may not have decided to do some snooping once he left, and lo and behold, the dude is Married. Yloise is TERRIBLY embarrassed and ashamed of this and doesn't tell a single person that any of this happened and like, swears off all Romantic Entanglements from then on, which she does with great success until the events of Dreams of Ice but like, between Haurchefant courting her and Ysayle doing God Knows What to her latent villainfucker instincts, I can't blame her.

Generally speaking, I think Yloise needs to have some sort of emotional investment if only because she's not going to act on hunches or initial attraction. There's a required deliberation period of 'am I making all of this up in my head or is this person flirting with me' which can take up the entirety of the so-called relationship when neither party makes a move past this point (the Artoirel Situation) or the other party can make this situation VERY CLEAR in which case it's a different kind of clownshoes from that moment on (lmao Emet-Selch).

apologies as always for the answer ;laksjdf;alksdjf

sinday asks

[rdbrainz]

I just found you through some Bleach tags today and I love your art! Zanni is so cute, I love the jester vibes. Would you be willing to share some tidbits about Zanni? If not, I'm a big fan of Shinji. Do you have any hca about him and the rest of the Vizard crew?

Thanks!! Tbh rn I can't add much to what I've written about Zanni so far without telling about the other members of my arrancar troupe but I hope soon enough I'll bring myself to drawing them... Anyway I'm glad you loved him! It means a lot when my designs gain positive attention 🤧 Here's what I have for Shinji:

I think everything that happened with Aizen really took a great toll on him. Ofc Shinji is not the kind of person to show how he's really feeling and the only one he puts the blame on now is Sosuke but for the hundred years that he was in the world of the living every time it was raining he stayed in bed until late afternoon. Literally just lying and doing nothing with music in the background because he felt terrible. No matter how much he tried the rain really did bring the blues out of him and sometimes it had gotten so bad he felt physically ill. Probably because it had been raining a lot when they ended up in Karakura. This habit of his kinda returned once he was in the position of the captain again because he felt like he was not supposed to be there. For the first couple of months his higher-ranking officers had to do EVERYTHING for him on rainy days.

His love language is acts of service... when the person he likes is doing something for him of course. Sometimes he would literally whine so they would cook for him or something like that but he is very grateful if they give into this stupid game. He would snoop around to check on them and sometimes even sneak up on them to look over their shoulder and say something silly.

Speaking of love I think he's very good at unconsciously studying and remembering the habits of the other person. If they do the same and for example don't try to wake him up when it's very cloudy and just leave the tray with breakfast on the bedside table/floor for him to eat later then he's head over heels. It means a lot to him when people take him seriously at all times even though he does and says stupid things a lot.

The last two paragraphs may be the reason why he was very into Kensei at one point lmao

Others:

Kensei has always been very popular among both women and men. I mean look at this guy!! Though it's a source of a lot of stress for him because 1) "My eyes are up here... have some fucking respect" and 2) he's actually very old-fashioned when it comes to love and attraction. Casual flings because he happened to be attractive to someone is NOT his thing. What happened to courting your love interest and all that?..

Sometimes Rose would sing for others. It didn't happen a lot because he didn't exactly get much inspiration in the situation they were in and he knew for sure other vizards couldn't always be in the mood for some music. It was far too cramped and noisy already for something like that and Shinji had already taken the role of the person who was going to annoy everybody with noise. Once they returned to Gotei he hoped it would change but with the sheer amount of work that waited to be done it was deemed impossible. Too busy, too tired, too uninspired. Who sings just for themselves anyway? Though I think if someone asked he would be soo happy to play or sing something for them

Lisa knows EVERYTHING about other vizards. Sometimes she would pick up on things even faster than them. She's not being creepy about it ofc. Well... Usually. But if she thought it could help someone or herself she's gonna use it either for them or against them.

[goshen-applecrumbledore]

Hey so regarding your recent post about past tense vs present tense: I would love to hear thoughts about why you prefer one over the other, if you feel like sharing?

I love your writing style, you have such a good sense of dialogue as well as making the settings feel very like... viscerally real, and your characterisation is always spot on, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on writing and how you approach it in general. I remember you mentioning once that you pay a lot of attention to smells, are there any other things you're like consciously trying to do when you write?

(this is so long sorry) hello! I love talking about writing, thank you!!

tense is very personal, but for me: my goal with writing is to be as economical with my language as possible, while still doing all the things good writing should do. I always think, every sentence should have a job. Move the plot along, share something new, convey something. that's what I like to write and read, personally.

and for me, past tense lets me do that much more easily. I feel like present tense has a very alluring way of making everything sound poetic and immediate and sexy, almost like spoken word, but for me it's always felt like a crutch, and at direct odds with the goals I mentioned above. tldr I think it's got a way of injecting false gravity, I guess. past feels like the opposite. I think it slows me down and encourages me to choose words more carefully, focus on good verbs and think about what everyone is actually doing and what I'm trying to say.

with that being said: that's 100% a matter of style and what you're trying to do as a writer!! I recently wrote a fic in present tense for the first time in a VERY long time because it felt like it suited the story, which itself was different than my usual style. the POV flowed back and forth between two characters and it was for true detective s1, so I was trying to evoke a very grimy greasy sexy violent type of thing, and I thought that present tense suited it.

BUT! right now I'm working on a fic for the show The Bear, which I also want to be grimy greasy sexy violent, and I thought present would suit it, but about halfway through I just kept reading over what I'd written and thinking, this doesn't work, this doesn't feel good, it feels like stumbling downhill. so I changed the tense (painstaking) and now it's going much better. it's funny how much it makes a difference, I think

for other things I think about-- I love that you remember my thing about smells, lol. smells are very important to me, especially bad smells. sweat, morning breath, lube and latexy condom, dirty clothes, unwashed hair, unwashed dick. I like gross stuff, I think it evokes a v unique kind of discomfort around sex/romance. getting fingered by someone who hasn't washed their hands, blood and shit on a condom after anal, snowballing. for setting a scene, I like to think about 1-2 things I can mention about an environment that would pack the biggest punch instead of describing everything. does it matter if there's a bookshelf against the back wall if there are heaps of dirty clothes on the floor? etc.

I don't know what I can share about dialogue but I love writing it more than any other part of a story. I love how people talk. I watch a lot of movies (good movies, I think) and I think it's so great to dissect HOW a character says something and figure out what else they would say.

for fic specifically, I try not to get too far from the source material. I have to be actively watching/reading something to write fic for it, and the farther I get from that, the worse the voices come out. you can see this bigtime in my spn fic. my watching slowed down around snooping and breaking things, and I don't like much of what I wrote after that. even pine sweat has weak characterization, compared to like, human hands or yesterday minnesota. a xerox of a xerox.

hope any of that was helpful. for some more general writing advice, this post has some thoughts and resources that I still stand by!

[the-paris-of-people]

Truly I need to talk about the under-appreciated gem that is Canaan Green. We talk about Lila, Kimberly, Leighton, Nico, Whitney, Jackson, Tatum, and semi-Alicia (I really feel like the Alicia underappreciation is REAL) but aside from the break-up with Whitney, I never see anyone talk about Canaan as a character and a love interest.

Our first introduction to Canaan is that he's incredibly funny. The way he flips the script on Kimberly when she asks him what it's like being black at Essex by fabricating a story about his crack-addicted mother is absolutely hysterical and the way he drags Lila into it as well makes it for an excellent scene, one of my favorites of season 1. I love his reactions to Kimberly's antics, like when she pulls the hard-boiled eggs out of her pocket, Christopher Meyer's comedic timing is just absolutely excellent and I feel as if not enough people appreciate those little moments in which he infuses Canaan's reactions.

Canaan is probably one of the most multi-faceted, well-balanced students we've seen at Essex so far, or at least a great example of one (Honestly they're all killing it at college). In s1ep5: That Comment Tho, he tells Kimberly to focus on her Econ homework instead of obsessing over the comment from Nico on her Instagram. We know that he works several jobs, including at Sips and on the side picks up catering gigs. At the beginning of season 2, we learn that he has a detailed ten year plan to become a hedge fund manager of an impact investing firm, then later we learn he founded a startup to off-set the cost of AD treatments. At the Econ banquet, we also learn he was in the top of THREE of the professor's classes, so clearly he takes his schoolwork seriously enough to perform well too. He also has an active social life at the KJ House, has time to date, and has several friends with whom he hangs out. He's incredibly ambitious, hardworking and balanced as a student, and what's shocking of all of this information, is that he's incredibly humble about it. He didn't want to go to the banquet to accept his Econ department award for whatever reason, and Kimberly, who worked with Canaan ALL YEAR, was shocked go hear about his accomplishments.

I always think it's telling if a person is kind or not by how they treat multiple people, and Canaan treats Kimberly, Whitney, and Lila really well throughout the series. He and Lila are clearly close friends at the coffee house and he sings her praises to the customer in the episode where Kimberly encourages Lila to interview for the manager position, and he takes Lila home when she's too sick at the Winter Underland party. Although I don't like that he didn't tell Whitney about Zoe's feelings for him, I thought it was really mature of him to call their relationship off before they could progress any further after she snooped through his phone. No one I ever knew from college, or even anyone I knew who is an adult now, could ever have the foresight or self-awareness to do anything like that. Even after their breakup, he's kind to Whitney when he sees her around, actually acknowledges and is civil to her. AGAIN, way more mature than any breakups I saw at that age. In general, I really thought Canaan treated Whitney well while they were together, he was really kind and encouraging and the "talking behind her back" he did was honestly just normal conversation to friends about the person he was dating and he immediately apologized and reassured Whitney when she brought it up. Canaan is also clearly so openly appreciative of Kimberly in several instances throughout the series, to giving her a cut of the tips they made when she helped him with the catering gig at the comedy gala (which was wholly unnecessary and a very kind gesture) to thanking her MULTIPLE times throughout the night for encouraging him to attend the econ banquet and deserve his well-deserved recognition. Just by the way he speaks to others, he's very kind and gentle even when being sarcastic or funny or firm. Lastly, we learn that Canaan cares deeply about his family and thinks it's his responsibility to take care of his mom's AD, which is incredibly sweet and something I would love to see in the next season with Kimberly.

Canaan is also... fucking hot, let's be real. I mean, that face, that body, that smile? His romantic looks? I adore him. We learn more about him with each episode he stars in and there's clearly more to learn which I think also makes for a compelling love interest. IMHO Canaan is by far the best love interest on the show and an under-appreciated character and he needs more love

[chaoticgeminate]

Kinktober 2022 - Day One

Pairing: Javi Gutierrez x f!Reader

Rating: Explicit (If that was not entirely clear)

Series Summary: You’re a fanfiction writer turned novelist, which was great since it was the path you wanted your writing to take you down in life. What you never thought would happen was meeting the Javier Gutierrez, who you actively write smutty fanfiction about from his film with Nic Cage, and you especially didn’t expect him to have a crush on you.

Fast forward several months of dating, with a good chunk of your relationship being distance due to his constant traveling and having to go home to Mallorca, when he surprises you with a prompt list and a vacation planned around exploring it.

You haven’t even worked up the nerve to tell him about what you write and post to Tumblr about him as a character yet.

Notes: Going to be using prompts from @ the-purity-pen for my meta as hell indulgence! There are feelings in this (I have no idea how they got there) and I may end up removing some possible chapters here and there depending on how I’m feeling, I apologize in advance if that happens because my brain is super mean sometimes.

Possible Warnings: This chapter is fairly tame aside from fingering (f receiving) and dirty talk

Dirty Talk (2k)

“Miss, we’ve arrived.”

Paolo’s voice was soft as the car rolled to a stop outside the white stone villa, you had gotten an apologetic phone call from Javi about his own travel being delayed due to some issues with investors, so you were going to be alone in the Villa for the first few hours of your vacation. While it was disappointing you honestly were thankful to even have a month of time away from everything, it also meant you could set up a surprise or two before he got there and explore on your own. He’d given you the go ahead, of course, but it felt delightfully silly to snoop around without anyone to stop you.

“Thank you, Paolo. I hope you and your family have a lovely vacation of your own.” The driver smiled as he pulled your luggage from the trunk of the rented SUV, shaking his head when you went to grab one of the cases, and you sighed good naturedly as the man began wheeling the cases to the main door. It was very unassuming from the front, right off the road with a low wall and metal gates, but you knew that there was more than likely a fairly advanced security set up in place.

Cézar greeted you at the porte-cochère and took your bags from Paolo, the housekeeper lived nearby with his husband Leonel, the couple were in charge of keeping the vacation home tidy and handle any minor -or major- repairs that popped up. You only knew of them but Javi had shown you pictures so that you had a face to the names, the two refusing to actually live in the home despite Javi’s continued offer to do so.

Apparently, the rest of his family wasn’t great at treating any of their employees well and Javi was still trying to get people to understand he was different than they were.

“Welcome, Miss, would you like me to give you a brief tour?” The offer made you smile fondly and nod, trying to grab one of your cases but not able to as the man beat you to it, and the wheels were smooth on the tile floor of the entryway. The inside was very royal, like a small palace, with a massive great hall that you couldn’t help but marvel over. Cézar’s amused expression made you blush and hurry to follow him, taking in the elegant décor as he told you about how the home had been in Javi’s family since it was built.

He had handed off your luggage to Leonel, his cheerful husband greeting you warmly, and they mentioned everything would be waiting in the west suite for you.

You could see touches of decoration that you knew Javi hadn’t chosen, he certainly loved his colors and patterns but you suspected that an interior designer had been hired for this particular project and had been directed by someone with a love of opulence for the sake of show.

“That’s- that screams Javi.” The hall with the elevator was lined with divots where there may have once been something like expensive statues, opulence for the sake of it style art, but instead now there were Nic Cage statues or display cases of memorabilia in their place. Beside you there was a soft chuckle as Cézar nodded to confirm what you’d already suspected; you knew your boyfriend and Nic were actually good friends now too but he was still a superfan of the actor.

“Indeed, it was one of the first changes he made.”

“His brand of opulence is certainly refreshing. I half expected suits of armor, since this place looks like a palace.”

“That is precisely what Señor Gutierrez replaced, Miss. The armor was in pristine condition so he had it donated to several museums across the world for display.”

Something about Javi’s outlook on things, his endless positivity despite how he’d grown up and the world he’d lived before Nic basically walked into his life… it was refreshing. He was not without his demons of course but Javi had proven to be able to not let them stop him from living as freely and happily as he could. He was the ultimate fanboy and you respected the hell out of him for it, you weren’t without your autographed pictures and posters and fan art of your favorite shows and movies either.

Your tour carried on through the theater, the spa and sauna, the back yard with a small stretch of private beach, the outdoor jacuzzi that was designed to look almost like a hot spring in a cave, and even the lounge with a bar and a wine cellar; the home office was the security room, Leonel’s advisory that you shouldn’t mess with it made you nod since you had no reason to, and the tour ended in the west master suite with the bed in the center of the room. At the foot of the bed was a cabinet that you knew had a hidden TV, it wouldn’t be Javi otherwise, and the room had wide windows and clear glass doors.

There was nothing but ocean in your sights being the second floor of three but the openness of it all made your heart thump in your chest.

You thanked both Cézar and Leonel, who handed you a small keyfob that would allow you to enter and leave the home without Javi or one of them, and after a few minutes you took in the fact that you were all alone in this massive place. There were so many things you could do but right now as the flight, the drive to the house, and the tour began to finally sink in the idea of a nap was perfect so you plugged your phone in and with a sigh of delight you stripped down to your underwear and slipped under the covers.

In a fit of pure fit of indulgence, you moved into the center of the king size bed and spread out as much as you could, the mattress was so soft and the sheets were definitely some stupidly high thread-count so you basked with no shame. Maybe if Javi didn’t already go out of his way to make sure you had smaller luxuries at home -a brand new Keurig for your office when you were writing even though you had one in your kitchen, very luxurious towels and a matching bath robe, the softest house slippers among these small but meaningful gifs- maybe there would have been a modicum of restraint.

But he wasn’t here to watch you giggle like a child as you laid there alone in that room, knowing that the second he showed up you could shower him in affection and appreciation for wanting to take care of you like this. It was like something out of a sugar daddy fanfic, honestly, complete with a meet cute; you hurried to send him a text to let him know you were there safe and that you were planning to take a nap, knowing he likely wouldn’t see it for at least a few hours since he was either still in meetings or on a plane.

Javi had no idea just how ready you were to spoil him in return for this.

It was big, warm, hands pulling you against an equally warm body that pulled you out of sleep as Javi slipped into the bed; his breath tickled against your ear and neck as he managed to wiggle one of his arms under your head and you reached up to hold his hand and tuck it close to your body as you snuggled against him.

“My sleepy girl, do you know how beautiful you look here in my bed?” His voice was husky and soft as he began to leave the lightest of kisses against your skin, the arm curled over your hip positioned so he was tracing random swirls along your thighs with featherlight fingertips. You wiggled back more as consciousness began to return to you fully, the feeling of Javi’s bare skin against yours sparked heat through your entire body.

A low, rumbling, breath escaped him as you brushed the bulge of his cock in his briefs; he wasn’t fully hard yet but the touches against your thighs became firmer with the press of you against him.

“I think I can feel the answer.”

You didn’t forget the reason for your vacation, remembering the adorkable little chart he had printed up and given to you with all the things you’d talked about during the process of planning this month out. But Javi clearly hadn’t forgotten the assignment either, pulling one of your thighs up and sliding his own between your legs, and you couldn’t help but whimper when he laid his hand just below your belly button and pressed your hips back at an angle so you were grinding against his leg.

“My beautiful, mouthy, girl. You think you can feel the answer? The way I ache to have you any way you will allow me to, how the sight of you in this bed makes me want to keep you here so I can bury myself in your wet pussy whenever I want?” The scrape of his facial hair against your skin made you shiver and the grind of your core against his bare thigh had your grip on his hand tightening.

He was helping you rock your hips back and forth, the fabric of your panties damp with each motion, and you nearly choked on your own spit when he slid that hand on your lower belly down into the cotton before he was easing up with his thigh in order to sink his fingers into you. He was rocking his hips against your body, the hardness of his cock pressing into you somewhere between your hip and the curve of your ass, and your free hand reached back to grip his hair and you thrust your chest out.

“Fuck- fuck Javi-!” Your breath was harsh at his pace, the burning stretch of two fingers without easing into it had ignited all your nerve endings. Your back bowed more, a loud moan choked back as his hips stuttered a little, and Javi crooned softly in your ear. He liked it when you pulled his hair, you knew that so maybe it was playing dirty by grabbing him since he clearly wanted to work you up, but you wanted to make him fall apart too.

His voice was wrecked when he moaned your name as you tugged his hair, the soft curls were your favorite thing to play with, and he squeezed your hand back when you loosened your grip just slightly.

“That’s it, listen to you. This month I plan to touch you, to lick that pussy of yours, to fuck you in every room of this house. I will hear you begging for more, or begging me to stop, like an echo that will never go away; I want you to be loud for me, Solecita.”

Oh, you were, you were so loud as you keened when his thumb slipped up to circle your clit, the hoarse cry of his name echoed in the room and you felt him throb against your back before his hips rocked up once -twice- and the sticky warmth seeped out and was soaked into his briefs. He hadn’t stopped, still moving slow to work you down from your high, and when he finally did stop Javi peppered the softest of kisses to your back and shoulders.

“Shower?” Your question earned a soft hum and Javi snuggled closer to you.

“In a moment.” Nodding and closing your eyes, the mid-afternoon sun still very present, it was a wonder you didn’t fall asleep again. But Javi untangled himself from you, helping get you out of the bed and into the en suite shower, and you shared languid kisses between washing each other off and talking about lunch as well as the idea of spending some time on the private beach.

All Fics Taglist: @hardc0rehaylz @wordsnwhiskey @pagannightwitch @radiowallet @musings-of-a-rose @amneris21 @trickstersp8 @practicalghost @rominaszh @alwaysdjarin @alexxavicry

Just Pedro Taglist: @maievdenoir @beecastle @littlemisspascal @writeforfandoms @AynsleyWalker @lovesbiggerthanpride @mswarriorbabe80

Alt Taglist: @imtryingmybeskar @fan-of-encouragement @grogusmum @sizzlingcloudmentality @deadhumourist @prostitute-robot-from-the-future

Kinktober Only: @nicolethered @katareyoudrilling

[im-the-afterglow]

The thing of it is... I think there are people who do live naively in their coupledom and who never have to see the world for what it is; or who can just kind of ignore it.

There are people who think everything is roses and everything is a straight line and people and families and relationships are simple and straightforward.

And then there are little girls who snoop through drawers at age 7 and read private letters written to their supposed grandfather who allegedly abandoned her dad and, essentially, her, and it shapes her whole entire life, differently from everyone else's.

And that little girl's mother travels for work so often she is barely around, and that little girl's father didn't like the life he chose and goes out a lot to escape it. And the mother chooses career over kids and moves to Colorado when the little girl is 11. And there is such a specific kind of lonely in that abandonment.

And that little girl spends the next 3 decades wondering why no one, NO ONE, will love her the right way.

But also... along the way...

She learns that the letter she read when she was 7, and the wild internet searches she went on at 29, and the time that she felt so discarded and unwanted by everyone that was supposed to show up for her... That night she swallowed those 2 bottles of pills and cut her arms up on the bathroom floor... was all for... a lie.

She learns the letter sent to a man that was her namesake was not someone who abandoned her father; she was, essentially, not abandoned by him either.

She learned life is complicated, love is complicated, and that her grandmother had kept the biggest, hardest possible secret.

And this is why I cannot fault Anais Nin, cannot fault Henry Miller, cannot fault Ted Hughes. Love. It was all, selfishly, for love. They loved fiercely. Just like my grandmother loved someone fiercely enough to ruin her marriage, but the man didn't love her back fiercely enough to ruin his. And my own mother loved herself fiercely enough to ruin her marriage and abandon her kids. And my father wanted a love so fiercely he went searching for it and abandoned his kids. And nothing in life makes any sense and I've now been awake thinking about all of it for 3 fucking hours.

I want to fault someone for the loneliness handed down to me. But I cannot fault my actual grandfather who didn't show up for my dad, or my grandmother for the secret she kept. She did have love in her life, a great love, a big love, the right love. I saw it with my own eyes. She did get that. And the mother who abandoned me got love. And the father who abandoned me got love. And for all I know... I may as well have died on that bathroom floor 12 years ago. Because what the fuck is this life even? I'm so tired. I'm so fucking tired of showing up for myself. I would like to rest, please.

[adventures-of-the-creeping-bam]

NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: THE ADVENTURES OF THE CREEPING BAM,  BOOK FOUR: THE HUNT - CHAPTER 11

If you’re new to the story, please go check out Book 1 first …

Boof 4 Chapter 1 is here …

IMPORTANT:  Please note this story includes content that may be considered mature, such as moderate battle violence, some strong language and occasional mild sexual scenes.

If you want to support my writing, feel free to swing by my Patreon or Ko-fi.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:  DRAMRATH

When I was fourteen years old, and had been training with blades for less than a year, my father caught me one night playing with some of his own prized weapons.  I’d snuck down to his office in the small hours before the rest of the house was awake because my curiosity had long since driven me mad, the standing rule about none of us being allowed in there not scaring me off for a moment.  There were various mementos displayed throughout our expansive mansion that we were only allowed to touch while supervised, but he’d long since ruled that I was not allowed to do so until my sword-master had told him I was ready.  After more than six months of consistently beating three out of my four larger and supposedly more talented brothers in the circle, I was getting immensely frustrated that, as far as either of them were concerned, I still had work to do before I’d proven myself.  So if I was going to break the rules, I might as well go all the way.

So I picked the lock, which I’d learned to do entirely on my own just out of my own curiosity a few months before, and snuck in there quiet as I could around three in the morning, when I was reasonably confident I wouldn’t see anyone else for a few hours yet.  I remember spending a fair bit of time to begin with just snooping round the room once I’d lit a solitary candle in the corner, since I’d never actually been in here before and it was quite the novelty.  I couldn’t make head nor tail of anything on the desk, the various scattered papers made no sense to someone who had so little real experience of the outside world as I did back then.  But then the siren song of the various swords, knives and other blades hanging in his glass-fronted cabinet became too strong, and I tried a little more lock picking.  This one was a bit more of a challenge, but ultimately only took me a minute or so longer than the last.  And then I was in.

Most of what he had hanging in the rest of the house were just prizes of his various adventures in his youth, when he was a great knight in the service of Rundao, before he took his wounds and couldn’t fight anymore.  It made him damn bitter much of the time, I know, he’d never talk about his adventures unless he was deep in his cups, and by the end of a heavy bout it would usually make him seethe enough to turn violent, so I’d usually duck out before it got too far.  I was never that sure how much of it I really believed anyway.

The weapons he had in his office, though, were his own, either carried by him in battle or passed down from his own illustrious ancestors, or at least those that weren’t taken to the grave with them.  It was all pretty fancy stuff, but it was his bastard sword that he prized highest, his pride and joy, the sword he was determined to take to have buried with him.  Elven steel, but crafted to a more regimented martial design than normal blades of their type, which in a way made it all the more unique and exotic.  It caught my eye quicker than any other that day, and I think I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.

Needless to say this was what I was wielding when he walked in on me, roused early for an emergency business meeting and come to collect some important file.  And I was swinging it around with what he immediately took to be immense disrespect, even though I’m sure my form was as smooth and precise at it ever was in the circle.

He beat me bad enough I couldn’t leave my room for a week, I had to piss in my bedpan every time and wait for the chambermaid to remove it for me.  I never got to touch any of the weapons on display in the house after that, even the ones out in the pen.  Long after I’d proven I actually was the very best of his brood he still stuck to that punishment with increasingly petty bitterness, which is why when I left I took the sword with me instead of plumbing for one of the captured prizes like I’d always thought in the past.

I didn’t even bother picking the lock to get into the office that time.  I just booted the door clean out of its frame and then broke the cabinet wide open.  So he’d know how much of a point I was making about it.

Every time I tend to and clean this blade, there are a few moments when I just to smile a little over how much it tickles me that I took this away from that cruel old bastard.  I was tempted to belch a whole lungful of fire into room before I left, just to let him know I’d finally mastered that little ability too, but I held short at it.  I didn’t want to burn the whole place down, not with my siblings still in it.  I only hate him, even now the rest of them just earn a varying range of dull dislike to relative indifference.  Except maybe my big sister Kildrac.  There’s times I still find myself missing her a little …

Setting aside the whetstone at last, I take a few moments to test the edges on last time, cautious as ever when my thumb as I go knowing how fiercely keen the elven crafting tends to keep it anyway.  No need for more than gentlest passes here and there with the stone much of the time, just to keep the blade to a razor’s fineness at times like this, after a big fight like the one I had with that big woman.  I check it over once more, just to make sure I haven’t missed any particularly fine nicks or dents while honing out the larger damage from that dwarven forged monster she was wielding.

Still a little rattled by how it just sprang back into shape after hitting that magic shield, any regular sword would’ve been a twisted mess after, or just snapped clean through.  I have to supress a little shudder now at the thought.

Gods, she really was … but then I don’t know why I’m still surprised by just how deadly she clearly is.  Kesla Shoon, the daughter of one of the finest warriors Rundao’s ever seen.  His reputation alone makes my own father’s achievements look positively pathetic by comparison.  And she clearly inherited every drop of talent from him along with his blood.

Earlier, I flat out asked young Gael Foxtail just how good she really is.  I didn’t really expect them to actually answer me, any more than the rest of the questions I put to them, but in the end I think they gave me an honest answer simply to rattle me.  She’s the best they’ve ever seen, no swordsman can stand against her.  Apparently old Edhril taught her everything he knew, and I know full well he knew pretty much everything there is to know about warfare.

It doesn’t even sound like a lie to me, or exaggeration made by a friend, to make her seem more dangerous than she really is.  It didn’t feel like anything else but the gods’ honest truth, simple and matter-of-fact.  Like they were almost glad to tell me how fucked I’d be next time we cross swords …

To be honest, I found myself actually getting to like Gael Foxtail after talking to them for a time.  They were rightly wary of me, of course, very guarded with their answers, but … they were polite with it too, and it became clear enough to me that it wasn’t just down to them being very careful not to offend me given their imprisonment.  I have the feeling they’ve been raised to be civil and respectful no matter who the person they’re talking to is, but also I think it might be second nature to them anyway, just some quirk in their very character.  It’s incredibly endearing, actually.  In this way they remind me very much of Trouble.

They were certainly much more careful about the information they gave me outside of Kesla herself, but they let a few interesting titbits slip all the same, some I’m sure were intentional enough, meant to make me a little more nervous.  They were happy enough to tell me about their golem, certainly … yes, that great complication is every bit as worrying to me as it was when I saw the great hulking thing appear from out of thin air on the Heath.  Driver 8, as it’s known, is, according to them, almost uncannily aware of everything going on around it, and completely indestructible too, while also being easily strong enough to kill ogres with its bare hands.  I had a little chuckle about that when I said that Suret seemed to do fine against it, although that was perhaps a little bit of an exaggeration on my part, but they just laughed me off in response.  Apparently they’ve actually seen it do just that.  That gave me genuine chills to hear …

While we were talking, they gave away more little slips which I’m sure were less intentional, just little inflections and clues here and there that I pieced together myself while we were talking, or later when I was going over everything I’d heard, and not heard.  Like how the half-orc woman that ran Kuth so ragged, Shay, is new to the group, or that they themselves have a very strong personal connection to the bakaneko that Tham shot.  And that he’s a genuine prowler, not just a talented merc.  And not the only one in their group right now, too.  Which complicates matters even more.

Also there seem to be more mages in their group than we originally expected too.  They didn’t let anything slip about the other two spellcasters we fought on the Heath, but the way they were so guarded about that told me enough by its omission.  Another particularly strong personal connection to both, it would seem.

Altogether, their core crew are a very tight knit group, but it’s clear enough that they’re bonding closely with the newcomers they’ve picked up in this as well.  Gael seemed genuinely upset when they heard that Trouble had potentially killed one of the dwarves, and indeed this effectively ended our conversation because they became particularly upset and as much angry at me as grief-stricken.  They slung a few choice admonishments my way before getting themselves under control enough to just stop talking entirely, but the way they were furiously seething when I finally left the room after a clumsy commiseration spoke just as loud to me.  They lasted ten whole seconds after I’d closed the door behind me before I heard them through it, starting to openly weep, and it sounded harsh enough to make me feel very dark about my own part in that fight.

We took our leave of Vandryss and the rest directly after, I’d just had enough of that fear-stinking cellar and its oppressive atmosphere as much as her grating, offensive company.  So we collected a now particularly hungover Riveck and beat a retreat to our apartments across town, the mood fractious between us the whole way.  Once we got back I shut myself away in mine and Kuth’s room, determined to get some time to myself tending to my weapons while he went to get us some food, but mostly just spent the first ten minutes stewing in my own interminable frustration.

Taking care of my sword has, like always, helped me to gain some calm and focus again, but less than I’d really like.  When I give up testing the edge and instead just hold out the sword at arm’s length, looking down the blade first one side and then the other to inspect it for fresh imperfections one last time, my mind’s still churning some underneath my focus.  Not enough to distract me, but … damn it, I’m still restless as I let the sword settle on the folded blanket laid across my lap and give my hands a good shake.  Working out the kinks before I move to the next step.

Reaching to the bedside table, I pick the pot of oil up while selecting a fresh rag from the bundle mostly by touch.  I’m flicking the stopper free on its tether when the knock at the door comes, and I hold in the curse that wants to come mostly unbidden, even though I’m still instantly stiff from pure irritation at being so effectively interrupted.  Even though it was so polite …

Kuth would just walk in, whether the door’s closed or not, so I know it can’t be him.  The others know better than to bother me at these times, but if any of them dares to it’s invariably her.  So I rein my frustration in and let my breath out in a little sigh as I shake some oil out into the rag after all, clearing my throat as I call out low:  “It’s not locked, Trouble.  You can just come in.”

A long, loaded moment passes before she turns the knob and pushes the door open, and even then it’s very hesitant.  At first she leans in just enough to poke her face through so she can look in at me, checking to make sure I’m not about to jump up and lop her head off in anger, it feels like that the way she looks so reluctant.  Gods, she gets so timid sometimes, even after all this time, in spire of all that capability and talent she has.

“I’m sorry, I just –”

“Stop it.”  I breathe it as gently as I can, not wanting it to sound remotely forceful, and I think it works to sound like a request rather than an order.  “Just come in already.  You know I don’t mind.”

Frowning deeper, she looks down at the floor as she draws up to a little more of her relatively diminutive height and pushes the rest of the way inside, quickly pushing the door to behind her but not closing it entirely.  She stands there for a long beat, still awkward, seeming to be thinking about what to do next, and I let another sigh go as I just fiddle with the now oiled rag somewhat before carefully taking my sword up with my other hand and starting to polish the blade.  Going smooth but slow, cautious as always of the edge but also respectful of the steel.  Just like my swordmaster taught me.

Finally she steps over and, after a little last hesitation, very carefully settles at the far end of the bed, close as she dares while giving me room to work, I know.  She’s not standoffish, of course, we’re good enough friends that she’s comfortable getting close to me, even hugging me when she feels confident enough to do it, but she’s very deferential too.  So she carefully hitches herself up on top of the covers and mattress to perch the best she can on the edge, her feet dangling a little now while her slender tail with its shaggy tuft of black hair twitching back and forth between her ankles.  The clearest indicator of her mood, of course.

For a few moments I just continue to work away, letting her settle, her own silence letting me know she’s waiting for me to speak first, but I just wait.  I’m not looking at her now, concentrating on the job at hand instead, just vaguely watching her tail through the corner of my eye, but I’m sure she must be frowning deeper now.  The way I hear her breathing entirely through her nose tells me her lips are set tight, letting me know there’s some greater urgency here I didn’t immediately pick up on before.

So I let another sigh go and carefully set the rag aside before turning the sword over to start on the other side, taking another deep breath before I look her way.  “All right … what’s up?  Did Riv’s healing not take as well as you’d hoped?”

She looks up now, blinking in surprise.  “What?  Oh … no, he’s all right … I fixed his arm just fine.  He was annoyed again about the way I keep sobering him up, but that’s nothing new …”  She looks down and frowns again, letting a heavy breath go through her nose.  Thinking again, more decisive now.  “No, it’s … Kuth’s back.  He got the food, and he’s preparing something, but … he heard something while he was out.  I think he may have been listening out for it, actually.”

I have to stop mid-swipe to keep from cutting myself by accident.  Damn it, Kuth … I wanted to just ignore that bitch and all the problems she keeps dumping on us for a while, but of course you had to …

Taking another breath, I count down in my head and let it go slowly, grounding myself the best I can, just making sure I’m calm after all before I look up again.  “That sounds about right, yeah.  I didn’t ask him to do that, but –”

“He’s Kuth.”  She nods, sighing again.  “He can’t help it.”

For a moment I consider just setting the sword aside and heading out to ask him direct what he’s learned, but instead I stay put, not wanting to get worked up over it.  So I loosen my fingers again, mindful I’ve made my hand particularly slick the way I’ve been squeezing the grease out of the rag, and work it round for a moment before continuing with what’s left of my cleaning.  Clearing my throat before I speak again.  “So what is it, then?  Clearly he’s already told the rest of you, or you wouldn’t be so worked up.  More than you’ve already been.”

She almost doesn’t meet my eye at that, I can see it, but she manages to look for a moment before looking down and gritting her teeth.  “Yeah, well … it’s really not good.  Apparently Vandryss … it’s like you thought, out there.  She did something ... awful.  How she even did it I don’t … but it’s bad.”

Fuck.  Fucking Vandryss … the way she peeled off after getting that information from Darion Foxtail, after dragging his child around more in front of him, yanking their hair, putting a knife to their throat at one point, just to ram it home for him, I hoped, but even then … it gives me chills to think on it, but more the glee she had in her face when she left the room, that made me feel sick to see it.  She’d viciously cajoled a whole list of names out of him, and it worried me enough how many of them I actually recognised.  I remember thinking at the time that there was no way that she’d actually go through with what I thought she might be planning on doing, Hontiresk would never stand for it, but …

Damn it.  He’s changed since you saw him last, Dram.  He’s still the same nasty, cold-blooded piece of work as before, but … no, the way she’s got her claws in him now, however subtly … she did it, clearly.

It takes me a few moments to get myself under control enough that the first word out of my mouth isn’t a particularly loud curse, but by then I’m already tossing the rag aside for the last time and lifting the sword from my lap again.  Gripping the hilt a good deal tighter than I’d like as I pick up the scabbard and work hard at keeping my hands from shaking long enough to guide the blade home into it.  Finally I just breath the word out anyway, but most of the worst venom’s eased off, at least … “Fuck … how many are dead?”

Trouble looks up at me, her eyes about as sad as I’ve ever seen them, as bad as they were yesterday when she was so cut up about the dwarf she’s likely killed.  She opens her mouth to answer, but can’t seem to find the words.  She’s got her fingers laced together now, fidgeting awkwardly as she frets over this, and she’s gnawing hard on her lip too, there’s a chance she might bite right through it soon if she gets any more worked up.  “It’s … My Lady … oh shit, Dram, it’s a lot.  There are … at least ten very important nobles, they’ve been … it was ugly, Kuth says.  The folk he talked to said the townsguard didn’t know what to make of it, it’s nothing natural, something horrible happened to them all.  And not just the nobles themselves, but … their families are dead too, and more besides.  Most of them were in their homes at the time, and it sounds like …”  Her breath hitches, not starting to weep but still catching badly as her voice fails her.  As her words fail.

“So this … whatever it was that’s been doing it, it just killed everyone that was there?  That’s what they’re saying?”

When her eyes track down to look at my hands, I realise that I’m still gripping my sword tight, the right on the hilt while the left is squeezing the scabbard hard enough to make the leather creak.  It’s all I can do to pry them loose again, careful to let the weapon settle on my lap again as I take another deep breath to ground myself.

“Um … I’m sorry, but … yes.”  She licks her lips, further betraying her nerves.  “Perhaps indirectly, I mean … there’s no real way for anyone to be sure that it’s really her work, since this was clearly some kind of fell supernatural … thing, but …”  She trails off, again unable to keep eye contact.

Snapping the sword home in its sheath, I toss it roughly behind me and look down at my hands, still visibly shaking as they threaten to turn into real claws.  When I speak I have to do it through tightly clenched teeth.  “You don’t believe that any more than I do.  Do you?”

Letting a heavy sigh go, she slumps entirely, her shoulders drooping as badly as her head as she continues to wring her hands.  “No … of course not.”

“The people who are dying, or at least the most obvious targets among these great … piles of dead this … whatever it is has been leaving behind, they’re all nobles, yes?  High-ranking ones?  And among the more … upstanding citizens among the city’s highborn, I’d imagine.”  I give up fighting now and just let my fingers curl into fists after all, keeping them balled close in my lap.  “More than a few of them would have been veterans of the Wars, wouldn’t they?”

She looks up again, and doesn’t seem anywhere near as surprised as she should have been in the face of this supposition.  She’s still just sad, but with an edge now.  Something sharper.  It feels almost like guilt.  “Yes … the majority of them, in fact.  And the rest … according to Kuth, the rest would certainly have been sympathetic to the veterans.”

“Which is exactly what I gathered from the list of names Vandryss pulled out of Foxtail when she used his child as leverage.”  I pry my teeth apart now, having to really work at it, but I need to work my mouth now, the urge to spit’s so strong it feels like I’m chewing on something genuinely vile now.  “That fucking psychopath …”

Pushing myself up, I start for the door, then stop myself short of it, halting on the spot for a long beat as I go over things in my head.  My head’s racing with a thousand thoughts at the moment and I’m fighting hard to get some focus into it, but right now …

When I turn back I see Trouble’s watching me very carefully, and maybe there’s a little nervous worry in her expression again this time.  Like she’s extremely wary of saying the wrong thing in case she shakes a particularly bad reaction loose.  It hurts me seeing it, I’ve never wanted her to have any reason to be afraid of me, despite what she knows about my past, what I’ve done, what I’m capable of.  The reasons Ixen still defers so readily to me in spite of his own strong alpha male tendencies …

Forcing my fingers to loosen, I wave her down the best I can, but it feels as half-hearted as it must look, I just can’t muster enough will to be convincing right now, shook as I am by this development.  I am angry, that’s the problem, I’m fucking furious, I’m ready to fucking kill and I’m itching for a target, and I know exactly who I want that to be, but right now it makes me extremely dangerous to be around, and Trouble’s instincts are too strong for her to miss it.  No wonder she’s so skittish around me now.

“No … no, that’s … it’s all right, Trouble.  I’m not …”  I let the breath I really don’t want to be holding go and it comes out in a sharp hiss, and I can feel how hot the air is, the way it steams as I spit it out.  It’s a bad enough sign on its own, that …  “Shit.”

She doesn’t answer me, simply looking down instead, visibly demurring so she can appear good and passive to me now, and I feel a sharp stab of shame through me that kills some of the fury in me dead on the spot.  Not enough to cool me down, but … well, at least it’s enough to take the edge off, perhaps let me get a grip on my temper again and force myself to just chill.

So I pull in another deep breath, feeling the air in my chest blazing hot as it builds, and again I take a moment to count down good and slow in my head before finally moving again.  Even so, when I step towards the bed again, even though I’m not approaching her Trouble still shies from me as I come.  I almost freeze seeing that, but instead it just makes my step falter, and I have to skip a little bit to avoid tripping as I keep moving.

First I pluck up one of the cleaner cloths from the stack I’ve laid out with the rest of my kit and shake it out, breathing a little less ragged now as I work on getting my air under control and a good deal cooler than it is inside the furnace my chest’s becoming.  I really don’t need to start spitting flames by accident right now.  Once I’ve got the cloth loose I do my best to wipe the oil off my fingers and palms, concentrating as much on this simple task as I can in the hope it might calm me down further.  Even so, I become aware of Trouble settling on the bed again, likely deciding now I’m not any real danger to her after all.  Meanwhile I try to convince myself of the same thing.

“Um … yeah, I’m sorry about that, Trouble.  I really am all right.  I promise.”  There’s not so much growl in my voice now, nowhere near the threat there was before, and my breath feels cooler now, no more smoke or steam pushing out as I speak.  “Listen, I have to go out for a little bit.  I think …”  I pause, shaking one hand out while I ball the cloth up in the other, taking another breath.  “Um … yes, I think that would …”  My words falter, and I just turn to her instead, hoping I don’t look fierce any more either.  “I think you should come with me.  Are you all right with that?”

This time she just frowns, seeming as surprised as she is perturbed, as if she doesn’t quite understand what I’ve just asked.  “Are sure … wouldn’t Kuth be better to watch you back?  He’s your second, and besides –”

“No, I don’t think that would work.  I need someone I can trust to keep a level head no matter what.  I could pick Ix, but …”

“Oh no, he wouldn’t do at all.”  She shakes her head, the hints of a smile touching her lips now, and weak and rueful as it might be it’s good to see it.  “No, he’s just … Ix can keep a level head just fine and he’ll still murder someone without any provocation at all.  No, you’re right.  I suppose it should be me.”  She starts to push herself up too, then slumps once more, her face falling again.  “I mean … I should be the right choice, but …”

“Hey!”  I step right to her now, and at least this time she doesn’t cringe away like I might have expected after her previous reaction, so I can put my hand on her shoulder and give it the softest, most hesitant squeeze while I try to keep my voice gentle.  “Hey, come on … no, I won’t have that.  You’re the toughest person I know, and you have the most level head by far out of all of us.  You’re right, you are the right choice for this.  You’re perfect.  I wouldn’t want anyone else backing me up right now.”

Tucking a couple of fingers under her chin, I lift and turn her face toward me again, instantly seeing how nervous she is again, but in a different way now.  “I mean it, that’s enough of that shit.  You took a knock before, but you’re tough as hell.  Don’t worry about this thing, I’m not going out looking for a fight right now.  I promise.”

For a long beat she just watches me, wary still, but finally her face hardens and she gives a cool nod.  “All right.  Yes.  I’m good.”

While she makes a far more successful attempt to stand up this time, plucking her sword up from where she left it leaning against the table, I retrieve my own and start unravelling the belt again, taking time with it so I can focus on the task and make sure I do it right.  I’m mostly done strapping it on when I finally look up and find her frowning at me as she watches what I’m doing.

“I thought … you just said we weren’t going looking for –”

“We’re not.  Trust me.”

Once I’ve got the sword cinched and let it hang in its best spot at my hip, I turn back to look the rest of my gear over for a moment, thoughtful again.  Mindful of what I’m about, I consider the rest of my blades with a more critical eye.  I know I said I’m not looking for a fight, but … that being said, I’d be a moron not to plan for eventualities all the same.

So I retrieve the two stilettos and slip them into their concealed holsters under my bracers, then instead of wasting more time shrugging back into the rest of my leather armour I simply duck over to the chair and pick through my pack.  Finding my shortest, most lightweight jacket, I shake it out and then drag it on, taking a final moment to check the slits in both sleeves are still open, ready in case I need to get at the stilettos fast.  Then I come back to the bed and grab one of my medium knives, slipping it into the corresponding slot in the inside lining on the right side of my jacket.

Trouble’s still giving me a complicated look, like she’s genuinely questioning if I really meant what I just said to her, but I just shrug as I reach up and shake my hair out from under the collar.  I can’t be bothered binding the plait back up into its bun again, so I just let it hang down my back, taking a beat the brush my bangs to either side of my face.

“Come on, then.  I have a bone to pick, however carefully I might plan on doing it.”

I can feel Trouble wanting to speak up at that but holding her tongue instead as I step past her out of the room, and just carry on into the corridor, trusting her to follow.  There are the usual sounds of conversation from the lounge, immediately letting me know most of the group are in there, but I keep going past it instead, instead heading towards the front of the apartment.  Approaching the door, and the turnoff into the kitchen.

For a beat I consider just stepping straight out without saying a word, but instead I slow my steps at the last and instead take the turn down the short passage next to the main door, into the kitchen.  I can hear the clatter of crockery within, so I just take a breath and step through, just in time for Kuth to stop in his tracks the moment he turns round with a full platter of food in his hands, surprised to see me.

“Oh!  I thought …”  He frowns, clearing his throat, and steps forward after all.  “I was –”

“Never mind.”  I hold my hand up, feeling a little sheepish now but hiding it well enough as I just try to keep my voice cool and gentle.  “I’m sorry, I know you’re making an effort.  But we’re going out after all, so –”

He looks down at the food in front of him for a beat as he listens to me, and his frown deepens.  He’s not exactly a spectacular cook, but he knows how to pull off the basics, so he’s stuck to his few strengths, clearly having gone out for food that he doesn’t have to put too much thought into.  So the platter’s heaped with sandwiches, fresh sliced bread rolls filled with thick slices of salt pork or beef, some with scraps of lettuce and tomato, but others without, likely very much in deference to Ixen’s far more carnivorous preference.  This food’s for the whole group, but at the end of the day I know full well he’s gone to all this effort mostly just for me.

“But I thought …”  He shuffles his feet for a moment, awkward now, as he looks back up.  Not quite pouting, but he’s put out all the same, and I start to regret the decision a little.  “Right now?  You ain’t had anything to eat since –”

“Yes, I know.  But this needs to be addressed, what’s happening …”  I let out a particularly heavy sigh this time.  “I have to deal with this shit that she’s doing.  It’s a problem, and –”

“All right, well gimme a minute and I’ll –” He starts to move forward again, likely planning on inching past me so he can deliver the food, but I just step into his path, holding up my hand now.

“No, I’m going with Trouble.  I’m not going to see Vandryss, I’m going to see Hontiresk.”

Cocking his head, he just considers me for a moment.  “That’s not … I don’t see why that would make any difference, though.  I though he was thick as thieves with her.  Why would it make any difference?”

“Because he wanted us to do this quietly, that was supposed to be, like the whole point.  Instead, from the sound of it she’ just went and murdered half of the Hill since yesterday.  With … whatever fucked up dark shit she’s got her fingers stuck in.  That is pretty bloody loud, if you ask me.  He can’t be all right with that.”

“Well, I still think I should be the one –”

“No, please, I’d rather you sat out on this one.  Get some rest and some food, along with the others.  There shouldn’t be any danger out there.”

He just keeps frowning at me.  “I dunno, after what happened the other night …”

“How the hell are they ever going to find us?  They have no way to even start.”  This doesn’t seem to perk him up any more than anything else I’ve said, so instead I simply duck in around the platter and give him a kiss on the cheek.  I seem to take him a little by surprise, but instead of stiffening, as I pull back he instead lunges in and plants a fuller one right on my lips.  It takes me so unguarded that I don’t even think about responding, so he presses it tight and holds it for a long beat, lips parting now, and this finally spurs me into my own action.

I don’t kiss him too deep, with the tray still in his hands it’s an awkward position, but I open my lips and turn my head all the same, letting his tongue slip into my mouth and responding in kind.  It’s quick and a bit stiff and clumsy, but I still have to fight hard just to pull myself away from him.  He has to take a breath when I break away, but I just give my lips a firm little brush with my tongue, definitely wishing I could do more than that now, and I’m sure he’s feeling much the same as he adjusts his stance a good deal more self-consciously now.  I just step back, but then hold for a beat, considering, before coming back and grabbing two of the sandwiches from the pile.

“I’ll be back soon.”  Stepping back past Trouble as she frowns up at me before heading over to grab a roll for herself too, I skip back out of the kitchen before he can reply, heading straight for the exit.  Trusting her to catch up, I just keep going as I slip the locks, bolts and chain, pulling the door open and ducking out without a pause, not slowing until I’m out in the corridor beyond.

Now I start taking stock of my surroundings.  It’s still morning, late enough at least that most of the city’s already left for work or whatever long since, but there are voices around the worn, ratty interior of the building all the same.  Mostly coming from below, the sound of children mostly, I think, but when I listen out I can pick up at least one low muffled conversation through the wall to my right.  Nothing that sounds any different from what I might have expected stepping out of the door at this time of day.  Certainly no threat.

When Trouble comes through and closes the door behind me, taking a moment to turn some of the locks again before pocketing her own key and turning my way, I’ve already moved off towards the stairs, taking my time now as I tear a hungry bite from one of my own rolls.  Pork, with lettuce and a particularly juicy slice of tomato, and the bread’s soft and fresh, but with a rewarding crunch to the crust.  It’s all I can do to savour it instead of just wolfing the rest down in one go, now I’ve remembered my appetite.

“You’re really sure about this?”  she asks now as she catches up, falling into step as I swallow the mouthful and take the turn to start stepping down the stairs.  “He’s right, I mean … after what happened, what we just did …”

“No.  I’m not.  Not really.”  I fight the urge to sigh again, instead just biting off another mouthful and plunging on, watching my step now so I don’t take a tumble and choke myself to death like an idiot.  “Of course I’m thinking about that too.  But I have to try.  You do see that, don’t you?”

For a few moments she doesn’t answer, instead seeming to mull it over as she keeps pace as we continue our descent.  Not frowning so much now, but still so serious …

Finally she just lifts her own sandwich and takes a similarly heaty bite, looking pretty dogged and relentless now, I realise.  “Yeah, I suppose I do.  I’m with you, boss.  All the way.”

TO BE CONTINUED ...

[loorain]

Sims 4 Fontenot Legacy - Stay-over Day 2

Day 2 of the stay-over is underway, and a big moment for the twins is about to happen!

Robin: You girls ready to get your first taste of real food? Trust me, it's a lot better than just plain milk!

Sigrid: Don't talk about my milk like that!

The two laugh.

Robin: Sorry, Mommy's sensitive.

Sigrid: And Daddy's itching to get himself in trouble.

Alma goes first.

Sigrid: Okay baby, how do we feel about some yummy rice porridge?

Alma takes a big mouthful of the concoction, squishing her fingers in her mouth immediately and covering herself in the contents. Alma is an enthusiastic eater, and her parents found that out the hard way 😅

Sigrid: Think that means she likes it!

Robin: Okay Audrey, now's your turn! Here comes the airplane!

Robin: Uh... what's that face mean?

Sigrid: Not sure...

True to Audrey's personality, she's not as immediately enthusiastic about this new taste and texture. More research will need to be done 😆

While Juno takes a nap, Sabrina makes a call.

Nyla: Well hey there stranger!

Sabrina: Hey Nyla! I know, it's been some time.

Nyla: I understand, you've been busy being a parent. Welcome to the club by the way. How's he doing?

Sabrina: You know, doing what babies do... which is practically nothing.

They laugh.

Sabrina: No, but seriously, he's great. How's my little guy doing over there?

Nyla: Driving me and his father crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't wait for Juno to get bigger so they can be the best of friends.

Sabrina: That is if Roddy isn't too cool to hang out with little Juno!

Nyla: You might be right about that! His age-up day is coming up, right?

Sabrina: Yeah, tomorrow actually.

Nyla: You're going to have your hands full!

Sabrina: I know, but enough about all that! How are you and Alex doing?

Nyla's mood shifts some.

Nyla: Things are... okay.

Sabrina: "Okay?"

Nyla: We've hit a plateau. We're just so focused on Roddy... If he's not caring for him, he's doing work around the apartment, and if he's not doing either of those things, he's not home. We don't really see each other much these days...

Sabrina: Are you worried about something?

Nyla: Well...

Nyla: Alex was out late one night, and my jealous trait got the best of me... I snooped through his stuff. I found a ring in Alex's bag. I think he's going to propose to me. I don't know what to do! If he does, I've ruined the surprise by letting my jealousy get the best of me, and if he doesn't it's only going to make me more suspicious.

Sabrina: Nyla, listen to yourself! You found a ring! Alex is definitely going to propose! Sure, you've kind of ruined the surprise now, but this is big!

Nyla: Well what should I say?! Yes!? No!?

Sabrina: Do you love him?

Nyla: I... I care about him. He's a great dad to Roddy. We're lucky to have him.

Sabrina: But do you love him?

Nyla: Marriage is a big commitment Bina! I can't go into it solely on love.

Sabrina: Well I'm not hearing anything negative factoring into saying no either. I think you're just scared. Don't run from this, Nyla.

Nyla gets a little defensive.

Nyla: What do you mean by that?

Sabrina: Well, when you found out you were pregnant and things between you and Alex were rocky, I tried to be there for you and you ran. Disappeared without a trace.

Nyla: I left because I didn't want to bog you down. You had goals. I was getting in the way of them. And frankly, you had your own drama to sort out.

Sabrina: Drama-- ugh, look, all I'm saying is really think about this. Does Alex make you happy? Or is this relationship more stressful than it is enjoyable? Are you looking for an out, or are you self-sabotaging?

Nyla takes a deep breath.

Nyla: I... I gotta go.

Sabrina: Okay, talk soon?

Nyla: Yeah. Bye.

Sabrina thought the conversation took an odd turn, and they feel bad that the first time they talk to their best friend since before they gave birth ended in such a way, but they let it roll off their shoulders. Meanwhile, Nyla obviously feels a lot different, but is it because of something else?

[baddiedaddy7]

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀🥀🖤

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲😎

strong presence. can be charismatic. minds their own business lmao. their mysteriousness makes them sexy. might be pale. observant. can come off as cold or moody. might get tattoos and piercings. might like to “redesign” themselves every now and then. has good intuition. can be too secretive. doesn’t trust easily. can come off sinister. likes it rough. since first rules the head they might be into hair pulling.

celebrities:Beyoncé,Keanu Reeves,Britney Spears,Ryan Reynolds

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲🤑

probably great with money. ambitious. practical. can be stingy. hard headed. might be motivated by 💵 lol. good at making plans. try not to indulge excessively. likes sensual and strong scents. dark colored perfumes. sensual ppl in general. might have a thing for ppl with a “dark” style. likes someone they can’t easily read. desires oral sex, and hickeys.

celebrities:Cher,Heidi Klum,Harry Styles,Robert De Niro

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲🗣

charming in speech. might be a fan of murder mystery’s. likes to talk abt sex related things a lot. can be manipulative w/words. might have a deep or “sexy” voice. might’ve fought a lot/been bullied a lot in school. witty. over protective when it comes to siblings. the sibling that has mood swings lol. might even have jealousy issues with their siblings. siblings probably have scorpio in personal placements or a prominent pluto in their chart. doesn’t trust ppl easily. might have a knack for psychology. dirty talk, and sweet nothings gets these individuals aroused. anything that deals with hands are also a turn on. might not like sessions to be long, and into nudes lol.

celebrities:Céline Dion,Bella Hadid,Drake,Michael Jordan

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲❤️‍🩹

honest. strong-willed. mature, esp emotionally. loyal, and most likely reliable. can be jealous of family members, or just clash with them. mother might keep big secrets away or be abusive. mother might’ve been overly attached or obsessed with you. these ppl might’ve been an unexpected pregnancy. probably quiet and mysterious as a child, kept to themselves. the kid that probably just sat by themselves during recess/could’ve been a loner. moms death can take a great toll on you. parents might’ve been controlling but wanted the best for you. trauma stems from childhood. could’ve went through sexual abuse. mother that’s probably passionate, and can be caring. she might also have a lot of pluto/scorpio energy in her chart. these ppl might be hard to get to know. pragmatic. shouldn’t do one night stands, they might get too attached, so they’re most likely to sleep w/someone they have an intense connection with. touch boobies lmao. might like positions where you stare into eachothers eyes, and have access to hugging lol.

celebrities:Sandra Bullock,Selena Gomez,Kanye West,Ben Affleck

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲☀️

can be romantic, yet intense. probably spiritual. might like rock n roll music, or music that talks abt dark subjects like death, drugs, etc. enjoys horror movies, conspiracy theories, and true crime stuff. probably into witchcraft tbh, also probably really likes astrology. your flings might end up becoming very serious or intense. children, esp the first child might be a scorpio or have a lot of scorpio/pluto influence. try to avoid being judgmental. might also be childish. children may be intimidated by you at first, but get too attached later on. sex will be full of passion. positions like the anvil, or doggy, any deep penetration positions might work best for you.

celebrities:Mariah Carey,Lady Gaga,Gordon Ramsey,Will Smith

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝘅𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲🫐

can be open minded. might be obsessed with health, and get freaked out over the littlest things. cats would make a great pet for these placements. they also might own unusual pets like spiders, reptiles, etc. workaholic. might have health issues with genitals, so be careful. might have surgery done on genitals at some point. might crave being in control. probably wants to be their own boss. always trying to improve or reinvent themselves. you probably have sex, or masturbate every day. might have sexual relations with co-workers. the shower or bath might be a good setting for sex to these ppl. might like anal lol.

celebrities:Shakira,Demi Moore,Snoop Dogg,Michael Jackson

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲🤍

loving. extremely passionate. can be empathetic. might attract scorpio/pluto placements a lot. lovers may be overzealous, overprotective, and/or envious or you might be this way. relationships can be life changing. can be low key aggressive. love, and being vulnerable can terrify these ppl. might keep their personal relationships private. selfless in the bedroom. all abt pleasing their partner. might be into spanking, or butt rubs lmao. face to face positions are a turn on for these folks too.

celebrities:Rihanna,Kourtney Kardashian,Barack Obama,Orlando Bloom

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲🪐

the ultimate lol. great intuition, has a knack for conspiracy theories, psychology, astrology, and probably taboo things. likes getting in trouble���. sensual, and has major sexual appeal. people smart. thinks about sex, mortality, the unknown, and just general dark themes a lot. either fears or embraces death, maybe both. ambitious, and usually actually lives for a long time. experience makes these ppl wise. goes through a lot of transformations in life. understanding. a lot of ppl envy ppl of this placement, mostly bc of their sex appeal/attractiveness. powerful in some way lol. likes that moneyyy. can be possessive, either with possessions or ppl or both lol. sex can be life changing and intense. into or open to bondage, d/s, rough sex, etc but might like it romantic, erotic and sensual too.has an amazing sex drive.

celebrities:Princess Diana,Brigitte Bardot,Marlon Brando,Bruce Lee

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲🌺

full of curiosity. analyzes. deep rooted. might be emotionally invested when it comes to the beliefs/beliefs may take over their life lol. when in college, might major in psychology, solving, investigating, etc. justice is important to these individuals. judgement also, and self obsessed. likes big butts w/a side of thighs. sex is fun to these ppl, and they’re probably up to trying new things. lube is your friend. probably has a big penis/fat cat lmao.

celebrities:Nicki Minaj,Winona Ryder,Robin Williams,Frank Sinatra

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲🥂

charming, and creative. might come off as standoffish or just disrespectful lol. private reputation, and keeps things in the dark. might be known for being inappropriate. controversial reputation. known for being passionate among peers. may be feared by some lol. can manipulate their way to the top. i can see someone with this screwing their boss/authority lol. into domination and bdsm. leash and whips.

celebrities:Bjork,Taylor Swift,Prince,Eminem

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲👩‍🎤

friendship is a priority. friends are really enemies so watch out. friends might have scorpio/pluto energy in chart. kind. probably a good listener. the mysterious or quiet friend. you might not like when your friends bring around other ppl lmao. you don’t give your trust away easily, and prefer a small circle of friends. can be dismissive. might lose virginity to friends tbh or have sex w/their friends. experimental. group sex maybe. might get piercings on genitals

celebrities:Scarlett Johansson,Kylie Jenner,Chris Evans, Albert Einstein

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗳𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲🧜‍♀️

selfless. intuitive. past life was full of intensity. might’ve had a public death in the past life. past life could’ve been filled with crime. these individuals can be distracted and very sensitive. wild imagination. dreams can seem so real, and dark. dreams might predict things. may take secrets to the grave. gotta have a strong and emotional connection to want to have sex. won’t sleep with just anyone, unless they need to cope with something. might try to please too much during sex but you should focus on your wants and needs too. foot play is also big here.

celebrities:Marilyn Monroe,Madonna,Steve Jobs,Tom Hanks