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#warehouse liquors
thedaily-beer · 1 year
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Mikerphone Brewing Mikerphone Check 1,2 DDH DIPA (Picked up at Warehouse Liquors in Chicago). A 4 of 4. The orange citrus fruit dominates -- a bit candy-like in places, and a nice bit of other citrus and some tropical fruit behind it. The body feels a touch juicy and acidic that fades to bitterness, although there is some nice fruity sweetness in the middle, too. There’s some heft to the body -- it’s not incredibly thick like some hazies, but has a nice texture.
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maltrunners · 1 year
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Kilchoman 8 Year (2012) Single Cask Madeira Finish (Warehouse Liquors pick)
Review by: The Muskox Between Warehouse Liquors and Binny’s, those Chicagoites have a pile of good choices for cask picks. Distillery: Kilchoman. Bottler: Official bottling. Region: Islay. ABV: 55.2%. Cask strength. Age: 8 years. Distilled March 1st 2012. Bottled March 1st 2020. Cask type: Cask #83/2012, a Madeira cask. Finished for 18 months. Price: N/A, sample. Color: Amber. Natural…
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crotchapple · 2 years
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Had a guy come in for a pint of cheap whiskey and show me he got shot over the weekend and it made me almost forget that I had another customer almost throw up on my counter and tell me he's been coughing up blood. This was all before noon and within 10 minutes of each other
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lmwarehousing · 6 days
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onnsynexftz · 13 days
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Salient Features For Warehouses Services For Liquor Products 
The liquor and beverages industry is one of the leading retail consumption sectors in India with demand growing every single day. In this digital age, everyone has a busy life, and dependence on stored foods and beverages has increased. The logistics and storing inventory for liquor beverages are conducted at a large scale, so naturally, the need for good warehouses has risen in the country. 
Logistics service providers such as OSV FTWZ give their best shot at managing and holding liquor products in their pristine state. OSV offers a wide range of cold chain warehousing facilities and options that are 100% capable of storing liquor for an extended time. 
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Warehouse Operations & Alcohol Sector 
The alcohol sector requires strict rules regarding its storage and preservation. Liquor products need additional security and compliance to pass from one country to another. The warehouse industry plays a pivotal role in establishing these factors. Warehouse services for liquor products go beyond the simple or standard storage procedures. Liquor manufacturers have to negotiate through complicated legal jargon and environmental control tactics to follow compliance rules and ensure the complete safety of the liquor goods. This also concerns the need for controlled liquor trade operations relating to the import/export of liquor goods. 
Regulatory Compliance for Liquor Products 
Liquor storage and management are anchored in stringent regulatory obedience. Right from the monitoring of inventory to preserving the goods in suitable environmental conditions, the liquor industry has to follow strict rules enforced by the TTB - Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau along with the related boards that control the handling and trade of liquor. Compliance involves record-keeping, proper inventory control, and audits. 
Another strong feature of warehouse services for liquor products is good security measures with solid security systems in place including access control, CCTV surveillance, and alarms to discourage fraudulent activities and wrongful access. Inventory is handled exclusively by trained and authorized staff. Reputed warehousing facilities offer strict control and the safest environment to give adequate protection to withstand all kinds of internal or outside potential dangers. 
Warehouses for the Food & Beverage Industry 
The food and beverage industry produces goods in large quantities that have to be stored and held using correct procedures to maintain their taste and quality before delivering them to retailers or end consumers. Warehouses can effectively prevent any risks like spoilage of liquor and contamination. Warehouses offer the most convenient way to keep your beverage products in top condition before delivery. 
Warehouses services for liquor companies help generate the ready availability of the products and efficiently deliver them as the final stage. Which is why warehousing is known as the most crucial aspect that dominates the liquor industry supply chain. There are many reasons why warehousing holds such an important place in the liquor business. 
FTWZ - Cost Cutting Strategies & Inventory Management 
Smart and automated warehouse technology can provide a prime centralized tracking system that can be used effectively in managing inventory. A well-established warehousing facility can offer a central inventory tracking system. Such a system aids in proper order management and automatic fulfillment, at the same time reducing the tedious order cycle period. 
Free trade warehousing zones FTWZ can manage all your warehouse-related tasks with precise accuracy and good security by using advanced technology. A timely inventory can enhance efficiency and productivity. Inventory costs are significantly cut down by OSV FTWZ. companies can reduce their expenses while still offering the best product quality and delivery by storing their goods in a free trade zone warehouse. You can store food and beverage products and distribute items in a streamlined manner. All reputed FTWZ can provide such sustainable inventory management procedures and improved storage handling. 
Convenient Distribution Plans 
Manufacturing and storing of liquor products can pose a problem for small or medium-sized factories. When the manufacturers are situated away from the city or the consumption point, the goods can become spoiled or delayed during transportation. Due to this, keeping the liquor products in cold and suitable conditions using storage warehouse units close to the city or point of consumption can help limit delivery time. Nowadays, modern warehouse services for liquor products also provide ready supply equipment, which can further reduce your expenses and make it convenient to hold and supply fresh and unspoiled products to the consumer (both raw materials and finished products). 
Global Demand & Availability 
Citing the global demand for liquor goods, it should not be a case wherein the demand in an area is strong but the goods are unavailable. Fortunately, keeping products in a reliable warehouse can make the product available for that season, or sometimes, the product availability is there for the entire year. 
Other Considerations for Choosing Warehouse Option
India is ranked prominently in terms of fruit and vegetable production worldwide. And the easiest way to prevent food damage is to utilize cold goods storage. You can set the temperature of fruits, vegetables, and beverages in a controlled environment via smart storage and timely distribution to keep the products fresh, edible, and tasty for a long duration. 
Likewise, even the security standards are quite high in warehouses, as they have to adhere to strict safety guidelines and regulations. Warehousing facilities provide the most dynamic outsourcing services for the liquor industry in India.
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rvs-junk-shop · 2 months
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How much do you wanna bet I just inhaled a non-trivial amount of Asbestos
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if-you-fan-a-fire · 1 year
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"DISTILLERY ROBBED OF $2,000 LIQUOR," Toronto Star. July 29, 1933. Page 1. ---- 89 Cases of Scotch, Rye, Gin Stolen by Men in Truck --- Port Colborne, July 29. - Police to-day are searching for thieves who entered the Highland Scotch Distillery of Humberstone Friday by cutting a hole in the roof of the warehouse, opening a side door and stealing 89 cases of scotch and rye whiskey and gin valued at $2.000.
Police and distillery authorities were non-communicative about the robbery. and news of the break-in was not learned until to-day. Provincial Constable Harry Peel of Welland is in charge of the investigation.
The liquor was removed by truck or car from the side door. A portion of a fence being removed to permit passage of the vehicle to the side door.
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some-bunniii · 25 days
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Alastor and Lucifer come to your rescue
・❥ You’ve been kidnapped. Good thing you know two handsome fellas who’d come to your rescue in a heartbeat—or lack thereof.
~ 5k words
x: reader is g/n. no use of y/n. enjoy 🥰
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“You better just let me go. It won’t be pretty for any of you if you keep me locked up for much longer!” You called from the suspended prison cell, hanging from the ceiling with a single, thick chain.
The demon thugs below barely blinked, ignoring your words as they continued their game of hellish poker. Empty bottles of liquor were scattered across the floor, their heads spinning with a drunken buzz while they snickered between each other.
“Whoever wins this round gets first tool pick for torturing the prisoner.” The dealer laid out the deck of cards, flicking his gaze to the cage just above their heads.
“Maybe that will finally shut them up. It’s been–what, three hours since we grabbed them, and they’re still yapping.” One of the shark demons sighed as he shuffled his hand.
The iron bars pressed against your fingers, their chill biting your skin as you gripped them. The dank air, thick with the stench of mold and something fouler, clung to your lungs with every breath. They had plucked you from the street just as you stepped out of the bar, saying you owed money to some freak down in the Greed Ring and your stash of cash needed to be coughed up before the night's end.
Except you have no memory of stealing money from anybody! They must have confused you for someone else, and surely whoever is waiting for their mula will find out your kidnappers snagged the wrong passerby. Sure, you were in Hell for a reason, but your behavior since working at the Hazbin Hotel had improved considerably.
You’d have alerted any of your friends at the hotel of your whereabouts if you could, but the thugs had shaken you of any loose change and electronics the moment you arrived at this dusty, empty warehouse. Angel Dust was the fastest texter, but you were sure he was at the studio by now—in every position except the one that would answer your cries for help.
Was three hours enough of an absence for anyone to be worried? Maybe Charlie would find you tardy for this evening’s lesson and panic, or Vaggie would notice your desk was empty much longer than usual.
You knew someone who would notice the moment your presence became suspiciously absent. Actually, you could name two that would–and who’d come to your rescue in the blink of an eye.
One of them was the very King of Hell himself, Lucifer Morningstar. You met him when Charlie gave him a tour of the hotel all those months ago, and you were immediately taken by his humor and perfect looks, awed by his power and history as an angel. You would like to feel that Lucifer felt those same butterflies upon being introduced to you when you dipped your head and batted your lashes at those pretty eyes of his.
“I heard you built this hotel up from dust with a single thought!” you said, your voice trembling with excitement as he drew closer. “I've never met someone with such a skill in architecture.”
“You flatter me,” the angel chuckled, extending an open palm, “but also undermining my powers. I’m so much cooler than that. Let me show you!”
In a burst of red magic, a yellow rubber ducky appeared with a comical pop, and you blinked in surprise at the familiar face staring back. The ducky looked… just like you, and a smile spread across your features at the silly little you, reaching out a finger to brush across its beak. 
“That is pretty cool,” you affirmed with a laugh, meeting his prideful gaze, “I never thought I’d look so cute as a duckling!”
“You do that all on your own. Here, you can have it.” Lucifer held out the duck with a wink, and your eyes widened in delight, and you quickly lifted a hand. “Just a generous gift from your gracious, very impressed King of Hell!”
When your fingers brushed against his, it was like feeling earth’s sunlight on your cheeks again, a warmth that spread up your arm and had your shoulders loosening in relief from unnoticed tension. Taking the toy in your hands with sudden, fresh energy, you turned it for a close inspection. It felt real, rubbery, and smooth against your palm. It definitely sounded real when you squeezed its little body, and it quacked, like a real duck! 
When you lifted your head, he had been dragged off by his daughter to finish touring the halls, and you were left with a pounding heart. 
You brushed a thumb across the little duck, warmth rising in your cheeks from the encounter with the angelic man until your smile faltered as his words echoed in your mind.
Very impressed. Did he… like you? The conversation had been brief but charged, and you hoped to see him again and learn the real Lucifer Morningstar, not just the King of Hell. If Charlie could win him over with that visit to Heaven, that is.
That was your first interaction with him–and not your last, either. He began visiting the hotel quite often, reconnecting with his daughter and lending a hand behind the scenes whenever she desired. Lucifer always made time for you, too. 
Giving you colorfully themed rubber duckies became his little tradition, gifting them with theatrics and compliments that had your cheeks hot every time. Lucifer’s features always glowed when you laughed at his stupid dad jokes and stared in awe at the creations he took the most joy in.
The morning you had been kidnapped, you reached for your phone, clicked on the contact with a rubber ducky icon, and typed a quick message while heading for the lobby.
[You: Going to the bar with some friends next to the sweet shop. Want one for the next time you stop by?]
[King of Ducks: You know I can just snap my fingers and make a dozen, right?]
You were shocked to see Lucifer had answered immediately; that was rare for the reclusive king. He had gotten better at including himself into the hotel and as a normal member of hellish society, and you liked to think that was in part due to your efforts. 
[You: Yes, but their desserts are good. Plus, when was the last time you went out and ate non-magically cooked food?]
[King of Ducks: Yeah… no thanks. I don’t trust anything made by sinners. How about I dig around for my last bag of Eden Apples and whip up an appetizer for dinner tonight? Will you be at the hotel?]
[You: Yes, I will only be out for a few hours. See you then!]
[King of Ducks: Can’t wait. ʚ(•ө•)ɞ]
You weren’t sure how to categorize your relationship with the King of Hell. You were one of the very few people he spoke to and who he enjoyed talking to, yet there had never been a confession or a kiss, just outings and shared time at the hotel that bordered on date nights.
Could Lucifer be at the hotel now, waiting for you to eat caramel apples with him? He’d get worried, but would he be able to navigate the hurdles of modern technology to track her phone to the warehouse? That might be a problem. You sighed, hope diminishing as you watched one demon clean the barrel of his gun.
There was one more, however. A powerful demon that knew almost every corner of the rugged outskirts of Pentagram City, where he practiced his expanding powers on criminals just like the scum that gossiped about their latest murders below you. 
“Alastor, I'm going out to the bar.” You had stood in the doorway to the lobby earlier today, lips curving into a soft smile as you tipped your chin up to meet the crimson gaze of the fluffy-eared and charismatic facility manager. “Just visiting some friends, I won’t be long. Save a spot for me at dinner, okay?”
Alastor’s gaze lingered on you, the sharp edges of his grin softening. “But of course, my dear,” he purred, his voice full of warmth. “Take your time, enjoy your evening. I’ll make sure there’s a spot just for you—waiting, as always.”
Alastor always knew where you were heading, partly because he was technically your boss—since you sat as the concierge and receptionist for the hotel—but also because you felt completely safe wherever your journey would lead if you knew the infamous overlord was watching your back. 
The terror he inflicted on any bystander who heard his name didn’t rub you so terribly, not when they had even deadlier crimes. They were in Hell, yet the demon’s only victims had been those clutching pearls of insatiable greed and power, ones that wished to climb the ladder by slaughtering anyone who opposed their seat of violence. 
Alastor was the one who welcomed you into the hotel in the beginning when he found you scrounging for scraps in the alleyways like some feral cat. He had approached you with interest, and when your eyes set upon the infamous Radio Demon who offered you a warm place to sleep and delicious food to fill your growling stomach, you had almost taken it in a heartbeat.
Then, you remembered who exactly this demon was.
“If you think I will make a deal with you, think again! I’m not that desperate to sell my soul!” You backed into a brick wall with a glare.
“Nonsense, I would never ask such a thing.” He brushed off your words with a dismissive wave of his hand. “All I ask in return for room and board is for you to work. Tell me, are you efficient with modern communication devices?
“Yes, I can operate a phone.” You had held back an odd smile.
“Excellent! That is all I require.” Alastor had taken you by the elbow to lead you toward the large, seemingly abandoned building at the top of a grassy hill. “I disdain all these newfangled gadgets that have taken over our wonderful city. I have no use for it, but alas, it is a staple of our world now, so we must become accustomed to stepping out of our comfort zone.”
You had listened to him chatter about the modern world's problems in comfortable silence. Although strange, his voice was smooth and lively, diverting all of your attention to the eloquent words that easily rolled off his tongue. 
No stranger had ever offered you such kindness, especially in a place like Hell, and you were determined to make the most of it. Alastor did not seem to mind your company, even when he showed subtle resistance to the companionship of the others in the hotel, like Angel Dust, who always tried to wind up the demon with constant references to his provocative career choice.
He even let you catch the fireflies in his strange but breathtaking pocket lagoon hidden in the shadows of his room. They danced across the soaked grass, lighting up in soft, yellow hues that blinked a trail across the darkness, one that you followed eagerly with a glass jar in your grip.
With gentle hands, you entrapped three… four… five lightning bugs into their new glass home, where they lit the darkness between your palms, like clutching gold sparkling in the sunlight.
Alastor watched you with an amused smile as you took joy in such a meaningless endeavor. Catching bugs to light up a jar, what a silly little idea. 
But… what a cute little endeavor. Innocent fun that brought light to the most beautiful aspects of the natural world familiar to his childhood home in the South. One of the few things he missed about the painful, mortal world above. 
When a flickering cloud hovered over the murky pond’s edge, you stood right at the water as it lapped at your feet and leaned as far as you could over the shimmering depths. Outreaching your arms, you reached for the fireflies dancing just out of reach with a quiet grunt.
Right as you clamped the lid shut on a flurry of lights, the dewy, slick grass beneath your feet sent you stumbling into the pond. You dropped the jar and flailed, squeezing your eyes shut to await the cold plunge into the muddy water.
Nothing came, however. Only the feeling of a sturdy force wrapped tightly around your midsection. Your eyelids fluttered open, and you tipped your chin down to find a green, smokey tentacle holding you steadily, with another clutching the fallen jar above the pond’s motionless surface. 
“In the mood for a midnight swim, hm?” Alastor teased, and you twisted your head to face him, surprise written across your features. 
He snapped his fingers, and the tentacles slithered back into the middle of the clearing. Carefully lowering you onto the soil, they dropped the container into your open palms before dissipating into the air.
“You caught me!” You breathed in relief. 
“Of course I did.” Alastor chuckled, tone softening as he looked you over. “I can’t have you slipping away from me too easily; who will try my Cajun sauce when you are not around?”
“I do like your sauce,” you replied with a laugh. “Thank you; I’d rather not be soaking wet trying to care for these little guys.” 
He watched you closely, a hint of amusement lingering in his eyes as you carefully cradled the jar. The way the soft lights danced against your face seemed to draw his gaze, and for a moment, the usual mischief in his expression faded into something more contemplative.
“What will you do with them, if I may ask?” He tilted his head.
“I don’t know.” You shrugged, following the flickering lights between your palms in a trance. “I just think they’re beautiful. Maybe as a bedside night light? Or, we could use it as lanterns for the hallways. Angel Dust would be grateful for a path back to his room during late nights returning from the studio.”
“An interesting idea. I’m always touched by your capacity to care for the wellbeing of others,” he had replied, a genuine warmth underneath the faint static of his honeyed voice.
Your cheeks warmed at the compliment, and you hid a bashful smile by pulling the jar closer to your face. A thought struck you suddenly, and the container lowered in your hands as your brows furrowed. You glimpsed at Alastor’s door behind you, lips tipping downward. 
“Wait, isn't this all apart from your room? Which means when I leave, they’ll just… vanish?”
The Radio Demon watched your falling features in surprise, struck by the fact this was emotionally tolling on you. A pang of… something strange had his chest tightening, a feeling Alastor hadn’t felt since he watched his mother cry over an antique vase that shattered after he had romped with the dog a little too wildly as a boy.
Why would he deny you something so innocent and harmless? He’d find no joy in restricting you from taking the silly little creatures with you. 
He may be a demon, but he wasn’t a monster.
“Usually… yes,” Alastor began, lifting a claw to tap gently on the jar’s lid, “but I see no disadvantage in giving you a little sample of my home.”
The glass fizzled with green energy, the fireflies growing anxious by the strange magic that consumed the jar for only a moment. The jar sizzled out like a dying bulb, and the remaining demonic aura sent tingles through your fingertips.
That smile of yours wrapped him tighter around your finger, and your eyes widened in wondered delight. You met his crimson gaze with a hurried thanks and dashed out of his room to find the perfect spot for your twinkling lantern. Your quick farewell didn’t bother Alastor; he knew you’d be back to collect more, and he’d greet you once more with the usual dapper grin. 
You weren’t sure what your relationship with Alastor was, either: but, you knew he would come to your rescue at a moment’s notice. Except, he would never set foot near any gadget that could ping your location. So… how would he find you? Were you doomed to be swinging from the ceiling forever?
Then, your hands settled upon a tiny object still deep in your pocket. Lifting it to view, your eyes lit with an idea. 
A paper clip, one that you could transform into a makeshift lockpick. It was a good thing you knew how to pick locks. Very well, if you were to brag. Bending the metal with practiced ease, you scooted to the lock that kept you sealed away and quietly slipped the clip’s end into the tiny hole. You strained your ears, listening for the familiar clicks that would lead to your grand escape. 
“You son of a bitch!” One of the demons snarled below, slamming his fist onto the table as he glared at the player across from him, startling you. “I know you cheated!” 
“It’s called being a sore loser,” the other drawled, swirling the liquor in his glass. “It's not my fault you’re this bad at—”
“Excuse me, gentleman.”
Their heads snapped to the open doorway across the floor, your eyes trailing up the finely-tailored red suit until they landed on a pair of fluffy ears and tiny antlers that stuck out from the top of his head.
“Alastor!” You cried happily from above, wiping your brow with relief.
His gaze flicked to your figure dangling above the criminals, who rose slowly with deadly glares at the new arrival. They lowered back onto the men around the table, his grin sharpening as it widened from ear to ear, and his nails tapped against the microphone on his staff.
“I believe you’ve taken someone who does not belong to you,” Alastor continued, boredom lacing his tone, “return them, and I will grant you a less painful death.”
The room was unfathomably silent. The only sound reaching your ears was your own heartbeat thumping against your ribcage as you watched the scene below in breathless anticipation.
“Is that him?” One of the thugs whispered, and another nodded with a set jaw.
“Yes, but he’s outnumbered twenty to one. We can take him.” He pulled an angelic blade from his sheath. “Alert the rest of our men. The Radio Demon won’t last for much longer.” 
His accomplice obliged, and Alastor let them go, thrilled by the added challenge as he took another step forward.
“Well?” He hummed, looking at the men expectantly.
One parted their lips, beginning to speak, until the overhead lights flickered and fizzled out, except for one on the opposite end of the warehouse. Everyone, even Alastor, furrowed their brows in confusion. 
“Behold!” A disembodied voice echoed across the long space, dripping with theatrical flair. You perked at the familiar tone, a smile tugging at your lips. The remaining light in the warehouse intensified, casting an exaggerated, almost divine glow on the figure emerging from the shadows. 
“The Morning Star has arrived!” Lucifer announced with a flourish, eyes shut and arms outstretched as if addressing an adoring crowd. 
Unfortunately, he was faced in the opposite direction of the crowd. Alastor’s smile faltered at the sight of the short king before it sharpened even further, and his claws clenched around his staff.
“And I am here to—! Oh.” Lucifer’s yellow gaze met the wall, and he pivoted on the heels of his boots to face the group across the warehouse, snapping his fingers and vanishing in red smoke.
In an explosion of confetti, the angel popped into existence beside Alastor, and Lucifer’s grin grew in devilish triumph.
“As I was saying.” He cleared his throat to the jaw-dropped onlookers, twirling his apple-tipped cane in his fingers. “I am here to relieve you all of life, forever, since you can’t keep your hands to yourself like decent people.” 
The thugs blinked, glancing between each other. Some looked like they were about to beeline for the exit, while others only bared their teeth in anger.
“Did you follow me here?” Alastor ground out, eye twitching as he twisted his head with a crack to side-eye the king.
“No!” Lucifer replied with a huff. “This is my city, remember. I know my way around these parts just fine.”
“I was here first,” Alastor hissed, adjusting his suit with a hmph. “This is my rescue. Don’t you have some toys to play with back home?” 
“Still up here!” You called from the bars of your cell, peering down at the two bickering men with an eye roll.
They looked up at your crouched figure, then at each other with calculating glares, and finally rested on the mass of criminals before them, more pouring in from the open doors.
“Watch and learn, bellhop.” Lucifer rolled up his sleeves and stepped toward the group of thugs who clutched their angelic weapons with trembling fingers.
He lifted a hand, pointing a finger gun toward the closest demon, whose eyes widened as the King of Hell aligned his sights as he looked down the imaginary barrel of a gun.
With an audible “pew!” A firework shot from Lucifer’s fingertip, slamming into one of the demon's stomachs and skyrocketing him out a window with a shriek. 
The darkening sky lit up in a burst of sparkling colors, and a thunderous boom shook the building. The thugs around the table blinked, glancing at each other warily as the apple-cheeked man clasped his hands and looked at them expectantly.
“Anyone else?” Lucifer smiled with shark-like teeth, brushing the dust from his coat. 
They gulped, lowering their weapons, but the largest demon, a centipede-like man who stood three or four Alastor’s tall, hissed in rage and lifted six silver, gleaming pistols toward the angel, all clutched in its multiple pairs of arms. 
If the angels could be felled by their own steel as they did during their attack on the city only two weeks ago, surely their once-heavenly king could fall from it, too. There was too much money on the line to flee just yet. The demon pulled each trigger simultaneously, and Lucifer quirked a brow.
“Huh, that’s efficient,” he said as bullets flew past his hat, and he ducked quickly to avoid them. 
Alastor threw up a shield of green, the bullets from the rest of the thugs ricocheting off the powerful barrier and zipping across the floor, hitting one of the demons right in the chest with a pained gasp.
“Do not worry your fragile little crown.” The Radio Demon stepped forward, waving off the king without a glance. “I will handle these delinquents.”
“There’s not a chance in Hell I’m letting you have all the fun,” Lucifer replied, and he pulled a long, fiery whip from within his coat. 
The whip crackled with an infernal glow, flames licking the air as it uncoiled. He cracked it against the floor, splitting the concrete and leaving scorch marks across its surface. With a snarl to charge, the thugs surged forward, brandishing their weapons and aiming their guns at the two men’s foreheads without faltering.
In an unspoken competition, your dual saviors readied themselves, green tentacles curling around Alastor protectively as a few snaked forward and throttled a group of demons while another threw one out the already-broken window. His antlers extended, eyes turning to radio dials as his form grew and shifted into a demonic monstrosity, claws extended for the succulent fleshbags before him.
Lucifer lashed out with his whip, the flames searing the air as it wrapped around the largest demon’s pistols, yanking them from its grasp with a force that sent the weapons clattering to the floor. With a flick of his wrist, the whip coiled around the centipede-man’s legs, dragging it down to its knees. 
“Kneel before your king,” Lucifer sneered. He gave the whip a final, violent crack, sending the demon sprawling across the ground, flames licking at its many dismembered appendages.
Lucifer danced across the room, ducking and diving as he karate-chopped a demon, and they exploded into colorful paper mache. Alastor grew twice the size, his antlers lengthening and his eyes shifting into radio dials as he plucked a snarling criminal from the floor and swallowed him whole. 
You did not want to sit around and take a stray bullet to the heart, so you continued picking the lock with hasty fingers. Bullets flew past your cage, but you did not halt the task as you heard the familiar clicks of unlocking mechanisms. 
Realizing their chances were much slimmer than initially thought, some of the men hurried away, teeth chattering in fear, as they left the rest of their friends to be eaten by the hulking red demon and set on fire by balls of flame that engulfed Lucifer’s hands.
The final click had the lock to your cell plummeting to the ground, bonking one thug on the head, and he face-planted onto the concrete with a groan. 
“I did it!” You beamed, chest swelling with a rare ego.
The door swung open, and you poked your head out, watching with a fluttering heart as the two contrasting figures worked in tandem to rescue you.
A tendril curled around the last demon’s leg, dragging him toward the gaping maw of the Radio Demon as he cried out in fear. The sudden force had his finger curling around the trigger, discharging a silver bullet that flew right above your head and shattered the chain that kept you suspended with a piercing shriek of metal.
The cage fell, and you along with it. With a gasp, you helplessly grasped at the bars, squeezing your eyes shut for the impending pain and misery as the floor rushed to meet you.
Six wings spread quickly, and Lucifer sprang forward, arms outstretched to catch your screaming figure midair. The cage around you burst in a plume of red smoke, and you coughed, brushing away the lingering smoke as your heart pounded. Your eyes lifted to meet Lucifer’s soft gaze, the overwhelming relief washing over you like a wave, and you instinctively wrapped your arms around his neck, clinging to his warmth and safety.
“Are you alright?” He asked, scanning your body for any injuries. Heaven only knows what he would have done if you had any.
“Now that you two are here, I've never been better,” you replied with happy tears brimming. 
“Right, that guy is also here.” Lucifer rolled his eyes, glancing at Alastor’s shrinking figure as the demon licked his lips in satisfaction. “I hope you know I could have done everything without him.”
Of course, you did. He was the King of Hell. You shook your head with a smile as he descended smoothly, carefully lowering you onto two feet. Your chest was still heaving from the adrenaline as your gaze fleeted across the broken bodies littered across the ground, stomach churning at the sight.
Alastor strolled forward, taking his turn to examine you. His smile had receded, softening at the edges as he sidled up to you.  
“You know, you handle yourself quite well under pressure without assistance. I knew your skills would come in handy someday. Although, in a few more minutes, I would have been there to free you without fuss.”
“Except I'm the one who caught them. That is a sole save in my books,” Lucifer cut in before you could speak. “All you did was have a late-night snack and ruin my good mood.”
“Preposterous. It was I who took care of most of these nuisances and saved our dear one,” Alastor chuckled dryly, shaking his head. “Without me, you’d have only been floundering against the opposition like a frail duckling in alligator waters.”
“I’m so thankful that you both saved me,” you proclaimed, eyes shining with gratitude as you locked elbows with both men at your sides, “I couldn’t be more grateful for the rescue. Why don’t we get some celebratory drinks from Sinbucks on the way back? A hot cup of black joe and an Earl Grey tea for my handsome saviors.”
“Fine.” Alastor shrugged, not sparing a glance at the man on the other side of you. “But only if this blathering fool pays for it.” 
“Anything for you,” Lucifer agreed, winking your way, “but your friend here better wait outside on the curb. I’m sure they wouldn’t like a rabid animal stinking up the place.”
With a giggle, you pulled them along and left the warehouse, strolling down the trashed streets with a skip in your step. 
You glanced at both of them, pleased and content with just being near you. There was never a dull moment with either of them at your side, or with them together, for that matter, and you wished times like these lasted longer.
Although, you hoped that could happen without being kidnapped next time. 
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heyyy guys 😇 im back!! sort of. more like i took a break in writing my novel (roughly 70k words in) to work on an idea i’ve had for awhile but didn’t have the motivation for until now. also, summer overtime at my job and physical therapy have shortened my spare time to do anything… ick.
but now i’m freeeee!! so have this “little” guy for now, and i’ll have more to feed you all soon! now time to crawl back in my hole and write 🥲 goodbye 🤍
taglist 🏷️ (combined characters, 1/2)
@ohnoivefallen @doodlebob2726 @coleisyn @undertale-is-sansational @nehy019 @mixplara @chewbrry @yellowsubiesdance @airwolf92 @lxkeee @jellybellyrulez @catnoirsleftnut @mbruben-stein @froggybich @moonlovers34 @just-trash-yeah-thats-it @wings-of-sapphire @the-tortured-poet @enigmatic-blues @bethleeham @blue122 @cherry-4200 @azullynx @luzzbuzz @for-hearthand-home @helluvapoison @th3-st4r-gur1 @concentratedconcrete @cimadreamer @marsenbie @guacam011y @maxiskindahere @purplerose291 @fictional-character-whore @0willowwisp0 @yourlocalgoldenretrieverboy @wpdarlingpan @halo-balo @chipper-chip @lvstyangel @acrazyartist @midorichoco @ivebeenthearchersstuff @indestructeible @otherthoughtsofbu @anonymousewrites @watchinthestarz @mechanicalmari @luxmessorem @cherry-cola-100
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daisynik7 · 8 months
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I want to be with you everywhere
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“You really didn’t have to walk me back,” you say, staring down at your feet, slow steps across the wet pavement, not at all minding the puddles.
Nanami’s beside you, umbrella tucked between his ribcage and bicep, hands inside his pockets. “It might rain again,” he replies, gaze also focused on the ground below you, a stray strand of his blond bangs falling across his forehead. The aftermath of happy hour is evident amongst the two of you, from the slight blush tinted on his cheeks to the buzz tingling along your hot skin. Though you’re not entirely sure if it’s from the alcohol or from being in such close proximity with the man you’ve fallen for. Maybe it’s both.
Your coworker has always been a gentleman around the office, but recently, you can’t help but wonder if he’s any different towards you versus someone like Mari in Accounting or Hana in HR. It seems that any chance he gets, he chooses to be with you in some shape or form. Working on a project together, volunteering to help you search for archived files in the warehouse, inviting you to lunch with him and only him. It could be wishful thinking on your end, or it could mean something. Whatever it is, you’re not complaining, enjoying his company way more than a normal coworker should.
There’s a comfortable silence as you continue your stroll, his elbow brushing yours with every stride. You like this about him, how he doesn’t force a conversation just to fill the void. Sometimes the silence is more telling than words themselves. It gives you the chance to secretly study his mannerisms, the ones you’ve memorized and buried inside your mind like hidden treasure. How his lips twitch just barely to tease that smile of his. The cadence of his steps, not too fast, not too slow. You’ve learned to recognize his gait just by the sound of it from hearing it so often in the office. At this point, it’s almost soothing, like the steady rhythm of a heartbeat.
But not yours in this moment, because it’s currently racing. Your confession lingers on the tip of your tongue. You chalk it up to the liquor you consumed more than two hours ago, plenty of time for you to sober up. Still, you blame it on that, because if it goes wrong, then at least you have that to fall back on. A momentary lapse of judgement and not at all a humiliating misunderstanding, right?
Before you can speak, the rain interrupts you, almost as if someone watching from above is determined to save you from impending doom. Nanami looks up, then at you, grinning. “See?” He opens the umbrella, holding it tight in his hand, hovering over your side more than his. “Good thing I’m with you.”
His unprotected shoulder starts getting dotted with wet spots from the drizzle. You close the distance between you, huddling nearer to him. Without thinking, you grab the handle, grip right below his, steadying the umbrella to cover the two of you completely. “You’re right,” you smile softly, still avoiding his eyes. “I’m happy to be with you.”
The confession can wait a little while longer. For now, this is more than enough.
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Author's Note: Was listening to this song all day today and it just makes me feel like falling in love, idk 🩶 Divider credit to @/cafekitsune. Part 2 here.
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peppermint-toads · 4 months
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adam sackler coded simon riley is plaguing my thoughts
simon ghost riley who starts out as your fuck buddy. you would swing by his flat when you were in the neighborhood, not leaving until he’d thoroughly fucked your brains out.
his flat was a twilight zone. he was always working on some new woodworking project. the entire place was a fucking safety hazard his neighbors must hate him.
you knew he didn’t sleep well. on the nights where he didn’t complain about your staying over, he revealed to you how he has trouble sleeping. you didn’t say much to that, just pressed your chest up against his back and spooned him, scratching your nails over his scalp.
he never complained about your extended stays after that.
in fact, he got a little needy. usually, you felt like the one intruding into his space, but lately he’s been asking you to come by. he never expressly asked, but you saw through his texts.
“you in the neighborhood?”
“send a text to—siri, operate! jesus fuck—”
*incoming call from simon*
anyways, one night you’re both invited to the same warehouse party by johnny. you honestly did not expect to see simon at a warehouse rave of all places. johnny, of course, fit right in.
you spot simon from across the hazy dance floor, leaning on the bar and taking occasional drinks from his beer. you’d never seen him anywhere besides his bedroom. it was kind of comforting to know he actually did exist beyond the walls of his home.
you smile, can’t help the laugh that spills from your throat. he seems to be at peace with himself, so you decide to leave him be for now.
you dance, for the first time in a long, long time. song after song plays, and you progressively get more lost in yourself and the liquor.
you’re pulled from your trance with a harsh tug to your arm. suddenly, simon is towering over you and leaning down to yell into your ear.
“wanna go down to the beach with me?”
you shrug. alright. why not. you need some fresh air, anyways. it’s getting a bit too stuffy in here.
you trust simon as he guides your warm, pliant body to the dock. the beach isn’t pretty, not many of those in the uk, but it gets the job done. besides, you’re too caught up in watching simon be simon to pay any mind.
he was inspecting a giant hunk of washed up wood, maybe he could use it for one of his projects. maybe he’d make you something one day.
“simon, wanna go back to yours?”
he grunts. you’ve known him long enough to know that is a no grunt. your buzz is wearing off and now you’re irritated. fine. maybe johnny is up for some fun.
you shove yourself up from where you’re sitting, promptly beginning your march back to wherever the fuck it is you’ve come from.
“where exactly are you going?”
so now he speaks. great.
“somewhere else!”
you shout back at him, already having put a considerable distance between the two of you.
“what do you want from me?” he shouts back, clearly agitated. “want me to be your fucking boyfriend? is that what you want?”
“yeah!” you scream.
“okay! i’ll be your fucking boyfriend!”
it feels childish, this back and forth. considering the two of you are fully developed adults, but it’s seemingly the only way you two could effectively communicate.
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cybrsan · 7 months
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Light It Up! — K.HJ, P.SH
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STORY SUMMARY: The year is 2077, and the world is a lawless dystopia where tech giants and major corporations hold all the power. Kim Hongjoong and Park Seonghwa are an infamous criminal duo who have made names for themselves fighting against the "techno brainwashing" of society. Discovering they're on the brink of getting caught, they decide to go out with a bang—and who better to help them than their favorite plaything?
PAIRING: Kim Hongjoong x F!Reader x Park Seonghwa
RATING/GENRE: M ; smut ; criminal / cyberpunk / dystopian AU
WORD COUNT: 4.4k
WARNINGS: Arson, breaking and entering, clubbing, alcohol + drug use, pet names (doll, precious), rioting, violence
NSFW WARNINGS: Choking, creampie, cum stuffing, cunnilingis, deep throating, exhibitionism, fire play, fingering, free use, hair-pulling, knife play (light), multiple orgasms, play party, public sex, spitroasting, sub drop, threesome, overstimulation
A/N: Don't blame me, blame the MATZ m/v.
LINKS: Masterlist, cross-posted on AO3.
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“And… there!” 
After days of meticulous planning, organizing, and making shady, back-alley deals, it’s finally done. The last camera is in position—everything is ready for the big event. All that’s left for you to do is step back and admire your work.  
Switching on your illegally procured holodeck, you press a few buttons and watch as the space around you completely transforms. What was once an abandoned warehouse is now a club that could rival any in the city center. Neon lights pulse to heavy synth, serving bots whiz from place to place,  and the makeshift bar looks inviting enough with rows of expensive bottles on display. Whether or not the liquor in the bottles is worth the price, well… Hopefully people will be too distracted to notice. 
The focal point, the one thing you are most proud of, is the transparent stage that extends at least 15 feet above the dance floor. Taking in the grandeur of it all is more than enough to get you excited for what's to come. You're certain that Hongjoong and Seonghwa will put on the performance of the century. 
Today is incredibly important for both of them, and the fact that they have trusted you enough to include you more than makes up for the long hours and strenuous work. They’re currently out setting up their "grand finale," which they have been painstakingly cryptic about. You have your suspicions, not that you need or even want to know the specifics. 
A low whistle pierces the air. "You really outdid yourself this time, doll." 
You turn to look at Seonghwa as he enters, and your heart practically skips a beat when you take in his appearance—he must have changed in preparation for the big event. His hair, pulled away from his face, lets you focus on his features; dark eyes, full lips, all beautifully accented by his smoky makeup. His outfit is one you haven't seen on him before, but it suits him perfectly, from the gold chains hanging around his neck to the deep cut of his silk shirt.  
"Thanks, Hwa," you reply bashfully, dusting off your hands on your jeans. "Just trying to do my part." 
He approaches you, a smirk tugging at his lips. The way he stares at you, drinks you in… it makes you feel like a prey animal who has found itself in the sights of a predator. You blush and cast your gaze to the floor, suddenly fascinated by the specks of dirt at your feet. 
"And you have done it spectacularly." He lifts your chin with his pointer finger, forcing you to look him in the eyes. "I think you deserve a reward." 
Seonghwa drops his gaze to your lips for just a moment before he leans in, closing the space between you with an almost agonizing slowness. The kiss is gentle and commanding all at once and you shiver, immediately pulling him closer. The fatigue, the stress—all of it melts away.
His fingers tangle in your hair, pulling on it with just enough force to make you gasp. His tongue slides expertly against yours, the taste of him something sweet and darkly rich, like cherry liquor. It’s addictive. But the moment ends too soon for your liking, leaving you breathless and yearning for more.
Seonghwa doesn’t pull away entirely, resting his forehead against yours as he lifts a hand to brush a stray lock of hair away from your face. He lets his touch linger as he traces a path down your neck, lithe fingers playing with the necklace dangling above your chest. Three dainty, silver hearts. One for you, one for Seonghwa, and one for—
The rev of a motorcycle engine cuts through the air, and your head snaps toward the sound just in time to see Hongjoong park his bike at the door. He takes off his helmet and shakes out his hair which you’re surprised to see is freshly dyed. It almost makes you laugh; of course even as he’s out running errands for his coup de grâce, he finds time for fashion.
“Not starting the party without me, I hope?”
Hongjoong’s heeled boots click pleasantly atop the concrete flooring as he walks over to the two of you. His synthetic fur coat is a bright orange, the complete opposite of what one might expect a criminal on the run to wear. But both he and Seonghwa have never been ones for hiding.
“Never,” Seonghwa replies, clapping a hand on the back of the younger’s neck. “Did you get it done?”
Hongjoong scoffs in a teasing manner. “Did you doubt I would?”
“Of course not.” Seonghwa squeezes Hongjoong’s neck once before letting go and clapping his hands together. “Looks like it’s time for the show.”
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A few hours later, the party is in full swing. The once-empty warehouse is now filled to the brim with people dressed in cloaks and masks for the sake of anonymity. Some are on the dance floor, grinding against each other, while others have drifted toward the bar, downing shots and laughing.
Toward the back of the room, there's a group huddled around a table, huffing glitter, black lace, and who knows what other kinds of drugs. Meanwhile, others are tangled together on couches, lost in the throes of ecstasy. The air is so thick with the smell of smoke and sweat that it almost makes you dizzy.
A hand wraps around your neck from behind, pulling you against a warm body, and you gasp. “That’ll be us later, precious,” Hongjoong whispers, hot breath fanning against your ear. Your nervousness ebbs away, immediately replaced by eagerness.  “Do you like watching them? Or maybe you’d prefer to be the one being watched?”
You lean back against him, the hand around your neck a welcome pressure. “Both,” you breathe.
You feel his chest rumble with laughter. “Good.” 
He separates from you, and you turn to face him. He seems so confident, so excited, that it’s hard to believe he and Seonghwa are about to paint targets on both of their backs. Hit by a wave of anxiety, you lean forward and kiss him. He immediately reciprocates, nipping at your bottom lip and eagerly exploring your mouth with his tongue. 
Kissing him is always different than kissing Seonghwa. Seonghwa’s kisses are controlled, with a hidden power brewing behind them. There’s always a promise of more, a hint at what is to come when he finally lets go. On the other hand, Hongjoong kisses with reckless abandon. He is uninhibited, always ready to devour you whole. When he pulls back, a string of spit hangs between you before snapping.
“You nervous?” You nod, and he gently tweaks your chin between two fingers. “Don’t be. Those tech bastards have no idea what we have in store.”
“I just want the two of you to be safe.”
“And we will be,” he assures you. "After everything goes up in flames. Trust me, precious. Trust us.”
“I do.” And it’s true. You trust them with everything that you have.
“That’s our girl.” He kisses you again. “It’s time to go live.”
You take out your holodeck, and with the click of a button, all the cameras you set up switch on. You hurriedly switch channels through all the local stations, thrilled to see that it worked and the entire club is being streamed live to every device in the city. 
You stop the music and make the lights go out, causing a hush to fall over the crowd. You shine one beam of light directly onto the stage and you watch as Seonghwa steps out to address the throng of people below. He is captivating and has no problem commanding all of the power in the room. 
“Welcome one and all,” Seonghwa begins, voice booming over the speakers. “If you’re here, it means you are brave enough to fight against the corporations that enslave our society!”  
Hongjoong steps up next to him, and while he’s smaller in stature, he exudes no less power. However, he stays silent as Seonghwa continues, “We will not be silenced any longer. Tonight, we raise our voices in defiance; we will no longer bow down to those who seek to control us!” 
The crowd explodes into thunderous applause but immediately falls silent when Hongjoong raises a hand. "But tonight isn’t just about the revolution—it is also a celebration of our freedom, our individuality, and our unity. So let loose because everyone in the city is watching and we all know that, deep down, they wish they were us!” 
Cheers and shouts fill the room once again as everyone raises their glasses in solidarity. Your heart swells with pride as you take it all in. You have become a part of something far greater than yourself and, just like your boys, you are willing to do whatever it takes to see it through to victory.
You switch the music and lights back on and the party resumes in full force. People seem to go even harder than they were before, playing up their hedonism for the cameras. Seonghwa and Hongjoong have disappeared into the crowd, likely to mingle and spread their message one-on-one. 
Seonghwa favors the dance floor, hypnotizing those around him as he moves. A contented smile tugs at the corner of his lips as his hips sway to the beat, as beautiful as he is provocative. He flits from person to person, holding them close as he whispers into their ears. He occasionally catches you watching him, always making sure to tease you with a wink. 
On the other hand, Hongjoong stalks the perimeter of the room, moving from group to group. His skill lies in charming people with his words, and tonight is no different. Everyone who speaks to him smiles and laughs, completely enamored with everything he says. He shakes hands, claps shoulders, and you have no doubt that if people weren’t loyal before, they will be when he’s through.
You stick to one of the quieter corners of the room in order to keep an eye on the cameras. You need to make sure that everything is running smoothly both in and out of the club; the last thing you need is for someone to reveal your location or try to hack into your network and ruin everything. You also keep a close eye on your boys, making sure they stay safe.
It’s past midnight by the time they come and find you. Hongjoong sits on your left, placing a hand on your thigh as he leans toward you and kisses your cheek. His lips linger a moment longer than necessary, and as he pulls back, he purrs, “You should be out there, dancing, having fun.”
“I am having fun,” you say, taking the champagne glass offered to you by Seonghwa. 
Seonghwa sits on your right, throwing his arm around your shoulders and pulling you against his side. “You would be having even more fun if you put down the holodeck.” 
“But—”
Hongjoong takes it from you, throwing it haphazardly onto the cushion beside him. “Don’t argue.” 
He leans forward again, this time lightly nibbling your earlobe with his teeth. You gasp, knuckles turning white as you tighten your grip on your glass out of instinct. Seonghwa watches the two of you with half-lidded eyes, his hand trailing down your side and slipping underneath the hem of your shirt to trace patterns over your flushed skin.
“It’s a night for celebration, doll,” he murmurs. “You have done your job. The only thing we need from you now is… well, you.” He squeezes your hip and you jump slightly. “The badges will be here in a little over an hour according to one of my sources. While not as long as I’d like, it gives us just enough time to have a celebration of our own.”  
Your thighs clench in anticipation—you know exactly what he’s hinting at. 
"Lead the way, then," you say, setting your half-empty glass down.
Seonghwa’s gaze meets Hongjoong’s over your head, an unspoken agreement passing between them. They stand up and pull you toward the dance floor, surrounding you, one at your front and one at your back. You sway between them to a slow, seductive rhythm, closing your eyes as you let yourself enjoy their attention.
Seonghwa’s hands rest on your waist, pulling you against him as he starts to move his hips in tandem with yours, grinding against you. Meanwhile, Hongjoong cups your face, thumb tracing your bottom lip. His eyes are dark and intense as he captures your mouth with his own in a searing kiss. 
Seonghwa’s grip tightens, fingers digging into your skin as he watches Hongjoong devour you. He keeps one hand on your hip while the other snakes around to cup the back of Hongjoong’s neck, causing the younger to moan into your mouth at the touch. Now with a possessive grip on you both, Seonghwa gets to work nipping and marking the exposed skin of your shoulder. 
The room seems to disappear around you as they continue to explore you, their mouths and hands feeling like they are everywhere at once. It's intoxicating, even more so than the champagne you were drinking earlier. You feel Seonghwa’s hand trail even lower, disappearing under your waistline, snapping the band of your underwear against your skin.
You gasp and Hongjoong laughs against you, nipping at your bottom lip before pulling back with a satisfied smirk on his face. “Let’s give them a good show, hm?” 
You let the two of them drag you onto the stage, cheeks ablaze as you realize exactly what they’re planning. You’re hyper aware of the fact that you are being watched; even though most of the club-goers are lost in their own pleasure, the viewers that are steaming have nothing better to do than keep their eyes locked on you. 
Seonghwa clicks his tongue, squishing your cheeks between his fingers. “Look at our girl, acting so shy.” His fingers find your heart necklace, tugging at it just hard enough to make you gasp. “As if wearing this doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want to you, whenever and wherever we want.” 
Hongjoong takes a switchblade out of his pocket, flipping it open with a maniacal grin on his face. He uses it to cut away your clothes, exposing your body for everyone to see. Your knees shake and whether it is out of anxiety or anticipation, you can’t tell. 
He traces the tip of it against your skin, the cold metal leaving goosebumps in its wake. “We know you love it, precious,” he says. “Don’t you want everyone to see how good we make you feel? Think of all the viewers out there that will feel oh-so-scandalized but still won’t be able to look away. Not to mention all the greedy whores who will be getting themselves off to us, wishing they were in our places.” 
Seonghwa pulls you against him just like he did on the dance floor, once again letting his fingers tease his way down your stomach. But this time, he lets them travel even lower, dipping into your folds. 
“Look how wet you are just from this,” he remarks, bringing his fingers back up and spreading them so you can see the evidence of your own desire. He then extends them to Hongjoong who greedily laps at them, sucking them clean. 
You whine, trying to keep your legs closed from embarrassment, knowing anyone below the stage can look right up at you and see exactly how aroused you are. But Seonghwa won’t let you, shoving his knee between your thighs. Almost instinctively, you grind down on it, letting another pathetic sound slip past your lips. 
Hongjoong’s eyes glint with wicked delight at your reaction, his own hands reaching out to cup your breasts. “Someone’s eager,” he teases, tweaking a nipple between two fingers.
You hear a few wolf whistles from the crowd, a few lewd comments being thrown your way, but they only make you more excited. 
“I…” You’re panting heavily, making it hard for you to speak. You have to take a deep breath before trying again. “I want you. Please.”
“Anything for you, doll,” Seonghwa coos, returning his attention to your core. He pushes in one finger all the way to his knuckle with no warning and, if it weren’t for his hold on you, your legs would have buckled. 
“Fuck.” The curse slips from your lips, half whimper, half moan, as he continues pumping his finger inside your wet heat. 
Hongjoong lowers his head, taking one of your nipples in his mouth as he pinches and tugs at the other. You grip his shoulders for purchase as your head lolls back to rest on Seonghwa’s chest, whining at the onslaught of sensation. The feeling of Seonghwa inside of you while Hongjoong lavishes his attention on your breasts is unlike anything you have ever felt. 
As Seonghwa adds another finger, Hongjoong’s lips mark a path from your breasts, to your stomach, and then lower as he sinks to his knees in front of you. He grabs your thighs, fingers digging into your skin, just as his tongue finds your clit. His tongue draws figure eights around it as Seonghwa continues to pump his fingers relentlessly inside of you. 
“T-too much…” you gasp. But neither of them slow down—if anything, feeling how close you are makes them double down on their efforts. Hongjoong sucks your clit into his mouth at the same time Seonghwa adds a third finger, curling them inside of you. 
Seonghwa kisses the back of your ear, his hot breath making you shiver. “You’re so beautiful like this,” he murmurs. 
That small bit of praise is all it takes to send you tumbling over the edge, eyes rolling back as your body goes taut with pleasure. Hongjoong eagerly laps up your release, only prolonging your orgasm. Seonghwa gently removes his fingers from you and you hear rather than see when he brings them to his mouth, tasting yourself on his skin. 
Hongjoong pulls back, licking his lips to clean them of your release before his trademark smirk returns. “I think it’s time for you to return the favor, precious. Don’t you think, Hwa?” 
Seonghwa trails a hand down your spine, humming. “I don’t know if she can handle it.”
“I can,” you gasp, eager to please them just as they did you. “I can, I promise. Anything you want.” 
You almost jump from surprise as some spectators in the crowd start yelling their vulgar suggestions as to how exactly they think you should please your partners. You’re sure if you looked at your holodeck, the live chat would be filled with similar comments as well. 
Hongjoong laughs, grabbing your face in his hand. “Don’t worry about them. You can have us however you like.” 
Blushing, you say, “You choose.” 
His eyes light up and he immediately looks behind you to Seonghwa. Just like earlier, some sort of silent communication passes between them, and then you feel Seonghwa’s hand on the small of your back, urging you to bend over. 
“Why don’t you show our Joong what that pretty mouth of yours can do while I fill you up, hm?”
You barely have enough time to nod your agreement before Hongjoong is unbuckling his belt and freeing himself of his constraints. You nearly salivate at the sight of his cock, red and wanting. He grabs your hair and pulls, tugging you forward as much as he can with Seonghwa’s bruising grip on your waist keeping you in place. Tears prick at your eyes but it’s as pleasurable as it is painful, and you take him into your mouth eagerly.
The head of Seonghwa’s cock teases your folds before he finally pushes forward into you. He starts moving at a slow, torturous pace, pulling out of you before slamming right back in. Each thrust propels you forward, forcing you to take Hongjoong deeper into your mouth. You feel so full, so used. It’s incredible.
“Look at her,” Hongjoong coos, staring down at you. “Look at how well she takes us.” 
Seonghwa just groans, grinding into you so deeply that you have to choke back a moan around Hongjoong’s cock. He’s gotten quieter, his thrusts sloppier, a telltale sign that he is losing himself in his own pleasure. Meanwhile, Hongjoong’s grip tightens around your hair, guiding your head back and forth on his length. Each thrust cuts off your air supply, making you see stars.    
Seonghwa’s hand snakes around to your front, fingers finding your swollen clit. You moan again, and Hongjoong echoes you as the vibrations travel up his cock. 
“Shit,” he curses. “So fucking good.” 
Seonghwa’s thrusts grow increasingly erratic and you hear his breath hitch; instinctively, you clench around him, and he spills into you. His release sends you spiraling into your second orgasm of the night, walls fluttering around him as you milk his cock of every drop. 
Hongjoong pulls out of your mouth not long after, squeezing the base of his shaft to prevent himself from following the two of you over the edge. The second Seonghwa steps away from you, he is taking his place, forcing himself inside of you before any of the elder’s cum can drip out. 
“Hongjoong,” you gasp, nearly falling forward from the force of his thrusts. Seonghwa maneuvers himself so that he can support you, holding you in his arms as Hongjoong pounds into you with bruising force. 
“Gonna fill you just like Hwa did,” he growls. “Make you mine. Ours. You’re ours.” 
“Can’t… can’t…” Words escape you, your mind going blank. 
“Yes, you can,” Seonghwa says, stroking your hair. “You can take it. You can come for us one more time.”
His voice is comforting, but you also hear the command in his tone. You choke out a sob, nodding weakly as Hongjoong guides your hips back against him again and again. You can feel another orgasm coming on already, the coil tightening in your stomach. Seonghwa continues to murmur words of praise, stopping only to pepper kisses along your heated skin. 
The coil snaps and you cry out as you come undone, Hongjoong’s cock still buried deep inside of you. His hips stutter and he curses, his warm release mixing with Seonghwa’s. He slowly pulls out and you can feel as some of their cum trickle down your thighs. You collapse against Seonghwa completely, no longer able to stand on your own two legs. 
You feel light-headed and blood pounds in your ears, muffling the cheers you assume are coming from the crowd. You’re too far gone to be embarrassed, and a lazy smile tugs at your lips—the three of you surely gave them the show of a lifetime. 
Suddenly, you feel heat lick at your skin, and you snap back into yourself fully, cringing away from it. Your eyes focus, and you see Hongjoong flicking a lighter open and closed, open and closed.  
“There’s our girl,” he remarks. He brings the lighter to your skin again, just close enough for you to feel the heat of it without it burning you. “I think we were a bit rough with you, precious. You were totally out of it, shivering and everything.” 
Seonghwa is behind you again, rubbing his hands up and down your arms. You press further against him, squirming as the heat tickles your skin. 
“Back with us?” Seonghwa asks.
You nod. “Yes, yes, I’m fine.” 
“Okay. Hongjoong—enough.” 
Hongjoong stops immediately, flipping the lighter closed with a tsk. “Fine. It’s gonna get hotter in a minute anyway.”
Now that you’re focused, you finally hear the shouting and crashing coming from below. The very people who were just watching you on stage are now rioting, destroying the warehouse and everything in it. The cameras, the bar, all of your hard work—now there is just destruction, everywhere you look. 
You shoot up, hurriedly dressing yourself so that you are no longer the only one naked as panic begins to take hold. “What’s going on? Seonghwa, Hongjoong, we need to—”
You waver on your feet, nearly tripping. Luckily, Seonghwa catches you. “Calm down, it’s okay,” he says, hushing you. “This is all part of the plan.”
Hongjoong gestures to the crowd, pointing out some things you missed. “See how some of them are drenching the place with gasoline? We’re gonna light it up.” 
Maybe you’re still delirious from your multiple orgasms, but you are having trouble understanding what the two of them mean. “Why? I thought… I don’t know what I thought.”
“This was all a distraction,” Seonghwa explains. “The club, the livestream, us putting on a show. We did it so that all eyes would be on us, and all the badges would be wasting their resources trying to find our location.” 
You nod slowly as the pieces begin to come together. “So, while I was setting all of this up…”
“We were out there. Planting bombs at some of the biggest tech headquarters in the city.” Hongjoong smiles, spreading his arms wide. “Our coup de grâce, just like we’ve been saying.” 
Despite all of your suspicions, this is something you never would have been able to guess. Before you can even begin to truly comprehend the magnitude of what they’ve done, sirens pierce the air. Everyone screams and begins to run out of the warehouse. Seonghwa grabs your hand, and nods to Hongjoong. “Now!” 
Hongjoong throws his lighter to the ground below and flames erupt instantly, devouring everything in sight. Luckily, most of the crowd has already escaped, and you feel confident no one should get caught in the aftermath. Still, it’s pandemonium, and smoke fills your lungs as Seonghwa pulls you closer, shielding you with his body as he hurries toward the nearest exit. 
Hongjoong follows after you, but lags behind as he keeps looking over his shoulder at the fire with a sadistic grin on his face. “That’s how we do it,” he yells, voice barely audible over the blaze.
“Get yourself together,” Seonghwa barks. “We need to get out of here before the cops realize what’s going on and find us.” 
Suddenly, Hongjoong trips, his foot catching on some loose debris. Seonghwa reacts instantly, yanking him back to his feet and throwing an arm around his waist. The three of you continue onward as the heat of the fire licks at your back. You crash through one of the exit doors, and stumble away into the night, disappearing into the sea of masked faces. 
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All across the nation, devices light up with the same headline: “City in Chaos as Blazing Inferno Distracts from Large-Scale Bombing of Tech Giants.”
“Nation-wide manhunt underway. Suspects Kim Hongjoong and Park Seonghwa believed to be connected to an underground criminal group called The Black Pirates…” 
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NETWORKS: @cromernet @kflixnet @pirateeznet
TAGLIST: @yessa-vie @nebulousbrainsoup @ad0rechuu @sanniesbunnie @seonghwaddict @fruitcakebin @kickti @abby-grace @fireseo @yunhofingers @ohflorah @oiminho @baekbao @byuntrash101 @hyukssunflower @thatnerdytomboy @straykidsholicleigh
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kedsandtubesocks · 3 months
Text
graveyard heart
Post Outbreak!Joel Miller (Hades) x F!Reader
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summary: your mom, a FEDRA officer, warned you about the darkness lurking - it arrives as the underworld smuggling king and he is indeed dangerous (but oh so terrifyingly beautiful)
warnings & tags: 18+ ONLY MDNI. dark themes || dead dove: do not eat. loose retelling of the Hades & Persephone myth, canon divergent, kidnapping, hostage situation, enemies to lovers, age gap (reader’s age not mentioned but is a drinking adult & was a child on outbreak day), dubcon - power dynamics & possible stockholm syndrome, morally gray!Joel, controlling/complicated parental relationship, brief scenes of assault (not from Joel), canon typical violence (gun usage, blood, fights with infected, awful raiders and fireflies), discussion of grief/character deaths, angst with sexual tension, masturbation (f&m), smutty thoughts, finger sucking, cum eating, poetic allusions to smut, light spit kink, protective!Joel, slightly possessive!Joel
word count: 11.6k (i’m sorry)
a/n: HI PLEASE READ & BE AWARE OF THE CONTENT WARNINGS. This is my first stab at darker content for the fandom & I’m a bit nervous, i kindly ask that if this isn’t for you pls just keep scrolling - so i blame my 2014 8tracks hades & persephone playlist for this but here are are lol! this is my piece for @beskarandblasters the pedro pantheon challenge! also the biggest thank you to @pr0ximamidnight & @ahauntedcowboy for being the absolute angels & letting me scream about this lol, now to you, if you’re reading this too I also can’t thank you enough ♡
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(i)
You rarely go outside after curfew, much less to a gathering hosted by smugglers.
Boston had one of the most prolific and stubborn smuggling systems across all the quarantine zones, or so from what you’ve heard. Your mother and the other FEDRA officers had mentioned many times how, once the fireflies were extinguished, the smugglers were the next to go.
Especially the man in charge of the entire network.
Known as the most prolific and notorious smuggler, no FEDRA officer has even seen him.
The ruler of the smugglers, the king of the underworld.
Now, you’re here at a secret warehouse gathering apparently hosted by the illusive man.
It’s rather impressive. Outside is a large warehouse, decayed and ancient. Inside, the old office spaces were gutted out to create a new building. Commotion radiates from it.
The underground world was painted to be something out of a terrifying horror story. The parties had been urban legends whispered around the QZ. Your oldest friend had urged you to finally sneak away to one.
“This will be your fun night out to celebrate your new big adult job!” She had argued. “And besides, you need to live a little. Don’t worry about your mom, just enjoy having fun for once!”
Your mom. If she knew you were here she’d pop a blood vessel or worse.
But your friend is right. You want to experience more, don’t want to feel stuck under your mom’s watch forever.
Panic still crawls over you though, like at any minute your mother might walk in and scream your name catching you.
“Y’okay there?”
You didn’t realize you’d be dazed out for so long until a voice draws you out of your thoughts.
The accent is so strikingly thick, a drawl you don’t hear often. The man standing by the mixture of the homebrewed moonshine takes your breath away.
Ruggedly handsome, with a beautiful striking nose, older and wearing the lines of age gracefully with his gray hair, he seems brewed of something fierce and wildly beautiful.
You almost feel too stunned to talk, but manage to blurt out an apology.
“Yeah I’m good, just never seen a party like this.” You admit.
The man hums a bored sort of noise before he nudges towards the table.
“Want anything?” He offers, and nodding you tell him to surprise you.
Even with a scruffy glare on his face, the man’s eyebrows raise ever slightly, surprised.
The drink he hands you is harsh, stings your nose, isn’t anything like the liquor you’ve drank with your mom. You even cough at its harsh taste.
“Don’t tell me you never drank before.” The mystery man’s voice sounds offended.
“I’ve drank before.” You fire back. “Just never anything like this.”
The man’s dark rust colored eyes survey you, actually scan you up and down, making your skin tighten, feeling strangely judged and exposed.
He takes a sip of his own drink, yet his gaze continues watching you.
“So ya lost? Is that how you ended up here?” His words are simple, cold, and a frown tugs at your lips.
“My friend was invited, decided to tag along.” Your reply is blunt
“Your friend,” he nods. “And they’re where?”
Notorious for being a roamer, even when you were younger, you’re not surprised your friend wandered away for a moment.
“Guess just went to enjoy the rest of the party.”
“It ain’t a party.” The man says deep.
“There’s alcohol, people enjoying half ass drinking games, this looks like a party.” You shrug surprisingly braver. Guess the home brewed alcohol did that.
This mystery man’s face scrunches up, like he’s annoyed with you. He simply just takes another sip of his drink.
Apologizing low, you also thank him again for the drink and decide to exit. The man doesn’t stop you. Now you go looking for your friend peeking around the party. No sign of her.
Slightly worried, you check outside.
What you discover petrifies you on sight. Your best friend tries to leave from the shadow of the guy she’s talking to. Before she can leave, his hands grab her arms, a dark prison refusing to let her go. With full force he slams her against the wall. A small scream escapes her, and fear drowns her eyes while the guy grins demonically.
You rush over fast. All you have is the drink on hand, but once you’re close enough you slam the hard plastic right against the man’s face.
He screams in pain at the sudden attack.
“Leave her the fuck alone!” You scream not caring you’re being loud. You scurry to grab your friend quickly.
“You little fucking cunt!” The attacker roars and turns to you. Wild blood streams down his nose.
He swings his fist, and you try to escape the path of impact. But it still lands a solid hard hit against the side of your head. A scream comes from your friend and everything stings. You try remembering the self defense training your mom tried drilling into you.
Until a hard impact cracks in the air.
You blink into focus. Your assailant is now on the ground.
And the grumpy mystery man you met stands above with a bloody knuckle.
He’s the one who punched the guy.
“What the fuck man?! Fucking bitch hit me first!” The bastard on the floor screams.
“Get the fuck outta here. Or else.” The mystery man barks.
The guy on the floor’s eyes go wide, like he’s finally taking in the man above. Even in the dark, you witness terror rise fast across the guy’s face.
In a possessed panic, the assailant snaps up and simply leaves.
Your head throbs where the hit landed, yet your eyes stay stuck on the man who came to rescue you.
A soft voice suddenly eases in, and you’re met with a striking older woman.
“Come on, let’s get you both back inside.” Her name is Tess, and she holds a sharp grace to her as she guides everyone to the makeshift kitchen.
You want to help your best friend clean up, but Tess orders you to sit down and reassures she’ll take care of your friend in one of the bathrooms.
“You need to sit and get your head checked out.” Your friend tells you, worried.
Before you can even move to follow her and Tess, your scruffy savior waltzes in.
“Sit down.” He barks at you and moves to grab a cooled bottle to hold against your head.
You hiss when the cold glass touches your head.
“You smashed the shit outta that drink into that fucker’s nose.” The man begins with a gruff mutter. “Got a lot more fight in ya than y’look.”
You snort.
“I just acted fast that’s all…” you mumble back.
Turning to the man, you earnestly thank him. However, his deep eyes, almost the color of ancient rust, already stare at you. His gaze is intense, sharply piercing.
“So why do you guys even throw parties? Does your boss know it doesn’t seem safe.” You comment.
“Mainly to show off the products we got.” The man explains gruffly.
Made sense.
“Wait, is your hand okay?” You suddenly blurt out remembering the blood staining his knuckles.
“M’fine.” He answers and moves his hand away before you can try examining it.
Footsteps walk into the room, and Tess returns. Her eyes gleam soft.
“Your friend’s doing good, actually making jokes and everything.”
Relief floods in.
This may be the sign to head home. It would take a lot to sneak back to your best friends’ apartment, especially this late.
“Headin’ out?” The man asks when you return from checking in on your friend.
You nod weakly.
“Don’t. It’s late. Plus we got space in the back you two can crash in.” Tess reassures, and you graciously thank her.
“Don’t thank me, Joel was the one who offered.” She grins nudging the man.
Joel, his name - it’s beautiful.
Joel glares terrifyingly hard at her. Tess simply shrugs.
So you thank Joel, even use his name. This serious but stunning man doesn’t say anything and instead walks towards the other door.
“Come on.” He suddenly commands. You and your friend rapidly follow him.
Just as promised there are rooms safely tucked away. Though room is a gracious term with the stacks of various boxes and rusty cluttered furniture, but you won’t complain.
Joel says nothing, simply shows you the room then leaves.
“He’s weird as fuck.” Your friend whispers. You had to agree.
Even in this back room space the hum of the party continues to leak in. The lights from the hallway become a sliver under the door.
Soon enough boots thump outside the door, and your eyes creak open. From the light under the door a shadow moves. You’re worried for a moment until a darker shadow goes to rest against the door.
More footsteps, lighter ones, come.
“Gonna sit there all night? You’ll get a creak in your fucking neck.” Tess.
“Just get back to the party.” Joel.
His voice rumbles back, and you feel wide awake now.
He’a staying in front of the door, keeping watch.
You don’t know this man, just met him tonight. But you’re comforted knowing he’s here. Safety is hard to find in this world. Yet soft residuals of it seem to reside buried within Joel.
When you wake up however, he’s gone nowhere to be found.
On the walk home, your best friend is thankfully upbeat.
“You know,” she comments. “I’m actually kinda a little bummed we didn’t get to meet the scary head smuggler guy.”
You laugh, a dark humored type thing.
“Yeah me too, but after last night I’m kind of glad.” You agree.
You might not have met the infamous smuggler kingpin, but meeting Joel felt precious in its own strange way.
(ii)
You run into Joel again - literally bump into him.
Trying to put all the papers and books into your bag, you step outside the school and collide into a hard body. But instead of stumbling and falling back, firm hands steady you. All your items still drop.
Something fierce constricts your throat when you focus on who you ran into.
Joel, a very grouchy Joel.
You immediately ramble out a mess of apologies while you try picking up everything. Joel silently crouches down to help gather your fallen items.
“You’re a teacher.” He notes with a gruff low rumble.
“Oh, uh, yeah. Just started this week…Someone’s gotta teach the kids what the water cycle is.” You joke.
He snorts very faintly, and your heart jumps.
The handsome man has been in your mind ever since the party. Now he’s materialized here.
Your mom calls your name walking out of the building.
In her commander FEDRA officer uniform, you hate more than ever that she’s wearing it.
“Who’s this?!” Her eyes immediately flicker suspiciously to Joel as she smiles politely.
“Someone I just ran into that’s all.” You quickly answer.
Rapidly you turn back to Joel and politely thank him again for helping pick up your scattered papers.
Joel statically nods. But you don’t miss the way his eyes narrow at your mom before he leaves.
Your mother doesn’t seem to pay him any mind, not bothered by a stranger. A very FEDRA Trait.
When your first late night working at the school comes, that has your mom worried.
“I can call in and walk you home once you’re done.” She urges.
You’re an adult. You’ve faced scarier things. After much persistence, thankfully your mother begrudgingly relents.
The sky looks beautiful when you step out of the building. You can’t see the stars often from here but still feel comforted seeing a few twinkles above.
“Keep staring off like that and you’re gonna bump into someone again.”
The familiar gruff voice jolts your heart into overdrive. When your focus whips back to earth, Joel stands a few steps away.
“Fancy running into you again.” You beam, feeling your heart flutter at the sight of him.
Joel shrugs. “My way back from work came this way again.”
“Mind some company?” He nudges his chin towards you and you quickly, embarrassingly fast, you welcome him to join you.
Joel falls into step besides you.
You ask about how his day went, and he shrugs simply saying it’s been fine.
“So, your mom’s a FEDRA officer.” He suddenly comments.
You had a feeling he’d mention it. You almost want to make a joke that she just stole the uniform. But it’s hard with how Joel’s gaze seems to simply pierce through whatever he sets his eyes onto.
“I promise,” you blurt. “I haven’t told her about the party or anything.”
Joel nods, silent again.
Abruptly he stops walking. You do as well. The soft evening lights color the streets a dingy muted gray. The curfew call would arrive soon. There’s already barely anyone on the street.
He sighs turning to you. That sword's sharp piercing gazes of his makes you worried.
“This is my stop here.” He nudges to the apartment complex across the street. “But can walk ya home, if you want.”
You exhale relieved, even find fondness sneaks in.
“Oh no, it’s okay, it’s late anyway.” You earnestly thank him.
Suddenly a hand swings across your face out from behind. A cloth covers your mouth. Before you can even scream your eyes flicker heavy.
Joel is the last blurred sight you see before darkness overcomes you.
Groggily opening your eyes, you’re now in a barren basement type room lying on a mattress on the floor. Immediately you spot Tess. Then you notice a man with a large rifle standing by the door.
“What the fuck happened?!” You scream.
“Hey, relax.” Tess says eased. “It’s nothing personal.”
“Nothing personal?! What the fuck do you do to me?! Why am I here?!”
Before she can answer you, Joel waltzes into the room. The room shadows paint him a terrifying creature who stares at you hard.
“Look,” Joel’s voice is cold, unwavering steel. “I’m gonna be straight with ya. We ain’t doing shit to you. Just need your mom to make FEDRA give us what we want.”
Your eyes go wide.
You’re being held as a hostage.
Before anything else can be said, another man steps in.
“Sorry boss, but we’re getting word there’s chatter on the coms.” The man explains to Joel.
He nods then glances over to you from his shoulder.
“Y’don’t do anything fucking stupid and we might all make it out of this alright.” That’s all Joel says then exits.
The man with the gun nods to him almost as a sign of respect.
Even though so many thoughts buzz around in your head like angry wasps, it clicks fast.
It’s Joel.
Joel is the infamous underworld smuggling king.
(iii)
The rest of the day is a blur. You’re left alone and cry into your hands until it hurts. The man with the gun standing guard outside your door doesn’t seem to care. Tess at one point returns with cleaner clothes, even offers you a shower and a meal, but you stay silent.
Some of the smugglers pop their head into your room, curious about the new hostage.
“Aw, you’re too pretty to cry.” One of them grins.
“Yeah there’s someone else I could give ya to cry about.” Another snickers disgustingly, and you want to crawl into yourself.
Joel barks a hard loud yell.
“Any of you fuckers so much as even looks in there again or even dares touch her, you’ll have to fuckin’ deal with me, understand?!” Joel commands, a god among chaos.
It’s not entirely comforting, but it’s enough.
Not a soul walks by your room after that.
Later that night Joel comes with rations and more water.
“Y’need to eat something.” He suggests. You don’t even move to touch the food.
Joel sighs, placing his hands on his hips.
“I’m doing this to find my brother, simple as that. Need FEDRA to give us a good car or even a battery at best to get us on the road.” Joel explains sharply, methodically.
All of this for his brother. The love of a family member in exchange for the love of another. You understand, even can sympathize, but you hated this still, hated him.
With thorny malice, you glare hard at Joel staying silent.
He frowns harder, and it highlights his wrinkles. Joel doesn’t say anything, simply clenches his jaw and leaves the room.
In the room’s solitude, you try formulating a plan. If you just get a gun you can maybe make your way out of this place.
Whatever this place is, it’s the central base. It’s hard not to listen to all the commotion and talk done in the other room. The smuggling empire is terrifyingly impressive. From what you’ve caught there’s multiple routes and tunnels that operate for different means. Some smuggle in necessities like food or medicine, while others provide arms.
Joel orders and strategizes it all. Tess is just as in charge and orders commands as well.
“You should eat.” Suddenly the guard on the other side of your open door suggests.
You’re almost tempted to throw the rations out the door.
A sudden explosion cracks above and the ground rattles. The air stills, and everything shifts.
“Fireflies!” Someone screams.
This is your chance. In the rush of the commotion and the echo of gunshots, you hope to escape.
You’re left alone.
This is it. Adrenaline pumps through you fast as you frantically search for an exit, a gun, anything. But the chaos swirls fast. More yelling arrives underground, and gunshots fire off closer.
But your legs start buckling, and your eyes start getting foggy too. Fear comes fast. Did they maybe drug you?
No. You just realize…you haven’t eaten this entire day.
Now it’s getting hard to walk.
Stumbling, barely keeping focus, you lean against the wall. Your body feels like it’s going to crumble.
“Oh, look what we have here.” Someone coos. A shadow soon falls over you. “Fuck didn’t know the smugglers had someone this cute.”
This can’t be happening.
Your lips tremble while fighting back tears, can’t even focus on who’s around you.
“Maybe we can keep her as a nice treat.” Another voice laughs, and your stomach feels sick.
A gunshot rings into the hallway. A body collides so hard and fast on the floor it makes your vision focus. Crimson spills onto the concrete. When you snap your focus aware another firefly man screams in anger until Joel takes him down with ease.
Disrobed relief spills into you. Joel’s here.
In this fucked up moment you’re about to cry grateful because he’s here.
But your vision blurs more, and your body feels light.
Then your world again goes dark.
Sunlight this time wakes you up.
Panic causes you to bolt up fast, but the dizziness hits you. Hissing, you steady yourself.
“Don’t get up too fast.” Joel’s dull voice speaks from the abyss.
You’re in a small apartment now, or the decaying barebones of one. In one small room is the kitchen and a living room. You rest on the couch while Joel sits at the table.
“What happened?” You ask with a croak.
Joel nudges to the small dusty coffee table where water and rations sit waiting for you.
This time you don’t hesitate to snag them.
Joel explains all that happened. The fireflies attacked the tunnels for supplies, and it spilled into the base.
“Used the underground tunnels to make it outside the QZ. Then, came here to a safe house.” He finishes.
“Where’s Tess?” You ask.
“Stayed back. Need someone to communicate to me how the deal’s going.” You suddenly notice the radio sitting on the countertop.
“So it’s just you and me.” You mutter.
“Un-fuckin’ fortunately.” Joel replies with a hard scowl.
Your mind tries to settle now.
You’re in a home in the middle of fuck knows where. Your hope of maybe escaping is not as bright as it was in the underground compound. So you steadily resolve yourself to accept this situation. Your mother will come. She will find a way to make the deal and you’ll be back home.
When you finally glance out the window you discover you’re on the outskirts of the QZ.
Infected roam here.
“Shouldn’t we head back into the QZ?” You ask worried.
“And have you turnin’ my fuckin’ ass in? No way in hell.” Joel glares at you.
“Infected are out here.” You snap fierce.
“And you got me. Won’t need to worry ‘bout ‘em.” He says simply.
It isn’t that reassuring, but you think of how he’s proven himself already to be rather sturdy even for his age.
“So are we just gonna wait until we hear something?”
“Yeah.” Joel answers with a deadly deadpan that refuses to leave room up for any discussion.
The space stays in a tense thickness until the radio flickers to life scaring the shit out of you.
Tess over the radio gives an update. Still no word from FEDRA. Instead she goes into discussing work with Joel.
They talk in code, use numbers and different colors to describe things. But at one point they let the code slip. You piece it together easily. They work with FEDRA officers to get certain supplies. You knew FEDRA wasn’t squeaky clean, even argued about it with your mom. But this just solidifies the murkiness of it all.
None of them have a car or battery to give.
Joel ends up falling asleep in the chair at the tabled hands crossed over his chest. You now snoop around the place quietly. There’s an extra backpack for you as well as various contraband items still waiting to be delivered.
You silently steal one of the liquor bottles and place it stealthily in your bag.
You also unpack what’s in the bag.
The change of clothes Tess had first offered you, a few rations, a flashlight. No weapon though. You do spot flint, and that’s slightly reassuring.
The sun starts to dwindle. You need to rest. It’s obvious you’re not going anywhere for a while. So returning to the couch you close your eyes.
Then the howl of a clicker wakes you.
Instinctual primordial terror has your eyes snapping open wide in fear. Before you can move, you discover Joel beside you. Even in the dark you see a finger raised up to his lips.
Keep quiet.
You nod, sealing your lips tight.
The ominous clicking noise rattle outside the hall. You almost miss it with how loudly your heart hammers in your ears. The infected’s chatter sounds fainter as it wanders down the hallway.
You exhale through your nose, hopeful this means the infected is close to maybe leaving.
Until the radio flickers to life blaring a tune.
Horror collides into you fast. The clicker roars. Joel acts immediately raising his gun to shoot the radio silent. But it’s too late. The infected screeches, rushing down the hallway with violent steps until it rams into the door with full force. You hold back a scream.
Joel fires at the door, and a loud thud follows.
“Come on!” he snaps, scrambling to get up.
More would come. You slide the backpack on, and instantly follow Joel in a frantic rush.
Heart racing, you stay close to Joel while the two of you rush to escape out of the apartment complex. Screeches of more infected approach.
The night is dark, but Joel is surprisingly keen in maneuvering the area. He leads you into another ransacked building and holds his hand up, a silent sign to stop.
You’d be stopping here. You’re glad. All of your body feels weak. You haven’t seen a clicker up close in years. Now fear eats away at the adrenaline.
“We’ll stay here until daybreak.” Joel speaks barely above a whisper. “Get rest while ya can.”
You’re afraid to sleep now. Don’t even want to think about it.
Suddenly he says your name.
It’s the first time he’s ever said it.
He stares somberly, seriously at you. Joel must have seen whatever fear ran across your face. You fully take in the sight of him. Standing tall, his strong rifle in hand, he’s the image of unwavering determination.
“Sleep, I’ll be up.” He orders.
The distrust you hold for his man slowly is ebbing away. You know he’s simply keeping you alive for the bargain, but it’s enough for now. So you sit on the ground, try to just close your eyes and gather yourself together.
Sunlight again wakes you, and Joel continues standing watch.
He glances back to you, and with his stoic stome nature, he nods.
Time to move.
The journey through the debris and fallen memories of Boston is quiet, tense. Joel stays closer to you the entire way.
“Have another safe house just outside the edges of the city limit. We’ll be safe there.” He mutters low and you nod.
The smuggler king leads confidently. Even though you’re still petrified of infected, you take in the sights of the city. The intricate green vines, the lush landscape among the bones of civilization, it’s all a haunting sight, but you also think of how beautiful it is.
“Y’ever been outside the QZ?” Joel suddenly speaks low.
“Once,” you tell him truthfully. You had been a child then and you barely remember the journey.
“So you’ve been in Boston this entire time?” Joel asks now, sounding curious.
You have. It’s why your mom has such a high ranking within FEDRA.
“Your accent…where are you originally from?” You decide to ask questions now too, keeping the same low tone as Joel.
A part of you assumes he won’t answer or will just respond sarcastically.
“Texas.”
You’re surprised he answered.
“You're a long way from home then.”
He hums a noise that sounds like he agrees.
“Must have been a journey to get you all the way to Boston.” You note, now more curious about him.
Joel stays quiet for a moment, then replies with the lowest ‘yeah’ effectively ending the conversation.
Soon the buildings fade away. The forest creeps in denser as the suburbs approach.
At the edge of the neighborhoods, a home sits splintered off inching into the woods. It seems like the perfect secluded safe house base.
The place hasn’t been touched in a while. Leaves scatter across the title floor, and dust covers so much. You’re thankful this has more space than the small apartment. Joel immediately slings his backpack off then opens a door leading down to a basement. You follow him.
“Don’t fuckin’ follow me.” He snips, yet you stay behind him. He doesn’t stop you.
Instead Joel flickers on many camping lanterns and illuminates the basement. The stockpile here is barren, hardly any weapons or canned goods. Of course a radio sits on the table. Joel flickers to life, but no one answers when he sends his Morse code clicks. His face grows dark with worry.
“Please get me if you hear anything from my mom.” You finally say quietly.
“Yeah, will do.” Joel agrees somber.
It’s enough for now.
Two days pass. No sounds come from the radio. You and Joel walk around each other on egg shells and rarely speak. It’s suffocating. So you rummage around the house to find something to do, anything.
You find a deck of cards and it feels like a gift from above.
Quietly in the living room, you set up a lone game of solitaire on the coffee table. Or patience, as your mom loved to call it when she taught you how to play. Seems perfect to play now. You flip through the cards, placing them at the correct spots and columns.
“Solitaire?” Joel’s voice surprises you. But what shocks you even more is him moving to sit on the floor.
“You play?” You question.
“Not in a while, play other card games like poker or black jack.”
“I play blackjack.” You perk up, and Joel’s eyebrows rise slightly shocked.
You hand him the deck, cleaning up the rest of the cards and start a new game with him.
The game is tense at first, like you and him are still trying to navigate the thick tension. You peek at your cards and he glances at his.
He wins the first game, but now you’re determined.
Eventually you and him get sucked into playing. So many matches pass that when you win Joel pouts, throwing his cards down.
You burst out laughing. It feels like it’s been so long since you’ve laughed, and it’s freeing.
“You’re a sore loser.” You tease.
“I ain’t.” Joel rumbles back, scowling harder.
“Mhm, yeah sure. There’s a candyland box nearby I can get to prove you are.” You surprisingly joke, buoyant.
Joel shakes his head.
“I’ll show ya who’s a sore fuckin’ loser when I beat your ass at poker.”
“I don’t know how to play poker. Go Fish or nothing else.” You shrug.
Then, Joel snorts. It’s not a laugh, not even anything special, but it eases the strain among you and him even more. He starts shuffling the deck and hands out the cards to you.
With the most stern of voices, so seriously Joel, he asks if you have any sevens.
You laugh into your hand.
“I’m being fuckin’ serious!” He snaps.
You laugh even harder.
In this fucked up moment, in this murky situation, this brightens your soul.
A week passes.
Over the radio you hear Tess tell Joel flat out how heavy it’s gotten in the city.
“The fucking fireflies…FEDRA, everything, it’s gotten fucking insane… we might not get the car, or even the fucking battery Joel. We need to think of a plan b.”
Your stomach twists sick. Where was your mom? And what would happen if they decide you’re not worth the hassle anymore.
Shakily you head into the bathroom and sob into your hands trying to stay as quiet as you can.
Soon you’re a shell of yourself.
When you step back outside however, you’re resolved. Instead of the basement, Joel now waits in the kitchen, and his eyes widen seeing you.
“What’s wrong?” His voice picks up with a wind of worry.
“Joel.” You begin calmly and somber. “Be honest with me…”
You ask him the question that’s been haunting you.
What will become of you if FEDRA doesn’t hold up their bargain? If even your mom can’t follow through?
“Will…you get rid of me?” You speak soft, without even having to divulge more, but the festering rotting truth lies under your words.
The silence feels sharpened.
Joel quietly speaks first.
“No. Won’t do that to ya.” He mutters.
You don’t know if he’s lying or telling the truth.
You and Joel simply stare at each other. So much hangs tangled and barbed between you and him.
All you can do is simply nod. You swear his eyes soften for just a moment.
Another week passes. No signs or commotion from FEDRA. It’s beginning to feel like you’re in a room slowly filling with water, like you’re on borrowed time.
But you manage to pass the days with Joel through more card games. You try playing Pictionary with him, but his attempt at drawing a dog looks like a camel, and you laugh so hard at how badly he pouts.
It’s becoming amicable now, you and him.
But supplies are running low. Joel doesn’t sugar coat that harsh truth.
“There’s another stop we can go to from here, but I’m hoping we won’t need to.” He’s still waiting, hoping for FEDRA to answer.
Eventually the night settles in, and you’re surprised he joins you for another card game.
Right now you and him try another game of poker. You’ve come to learn you are not very good, which is also why you think Joel likes playing it knowing he wins.
“So how does a Texan far from home become the king of smugglers?” You try to ease the air by pushing more conversation with him.
“Just something that happened honestly,” Joel mutters, passing out the weathered cards.
“Got involved with my brother back when we started traveling outta Texas and just…never stopped.” He reveals.
“Your brother, he’s the one you’re looking for…” You remember.
“Yeah.” Joel agrees low.
“I hope you find him.” Gathering the cards dealt to you, you mean those words.
“Thanks…hope we can get ya back home.” A hint of sincerity leaks into Joel's voice and you appreciate that.
You’re about to deal your hand when rustling comes from outside. Glancing out the window, you try to find something among the dark shadows.
“What?” Joel asks fast and low.
“I don’t know… thought I heard something.” You mumble.
In that same breath, bullets fly through the window, shattering everything. The moment unfolds in a flurry of chaos.
“Raiders!” Joel shouts while you and him try to stay low. You crawl towards your bag.
The door gets kicked in and your heart races fast. Even as you and Joel scramble to maybe get down to the basement it's hard with the commotion rushing in.
Joel is swift with his gun, but the raiders keep coming.
Windows shatter further in the back of the house. They’re infesting. Time to leave. It’s a rapid rush to get outside. Before running into the woods, you stop to rummage in your bag finally remembering something important.
“The fuck are ya doing?!” Joel screams with a snarl.
You act fast. You rip a piece of your shirt edge, and grab the alcohol you stole along with the flint.
“Shit.” Joel breathes out realizing what you’re doing.
You’ve seen plenty of these, just never believed you’d ever make one.
Cloth in the liquid, Joel moves to help you light the flint.
Then when fire sparks catches onto the strip of clothing you stand up.
The adrenaline sets you ablaze. You throw the bottle with all your might. It manages to collide against the house’s porch. Soon the world is engulfed in a vibrant orange flame, a hellfire right before you.
Screams of raiders mix with the flames.
“Come on.” Joel urges and grabs your hand.
A rush of footsteps comes and it’s too late to react.
Something hard hits the side of your face. You cry in pain falling to the ground. The world spins on itself. Everything is disoriented. Your face throbs so bad, and you cough through the tears stinging your eyes. The sound of Joel firing off his gun again comes.
Then his hands steady you up.
“Y’okay darlin’?” He asks frantic and you nod, tired.
“Let’s go.” Joel grabs your hand again. This time don’t let it go.
Even arriving at the abandoned gas station deemed safe to stay, you don’t let his hand go. He doesn’t yell at you about it.
Instead Joel sits besides you, flush against your side.
Against the shadowed darkness of the old building, you hold his hand firm in his and he doesn’t let go either.
You wake up first this time and find your head slumped against Joel’s shoulder, resting against him now. His head also rests on top of yours.
This is new.
But then again, so was the term he used for you. You wonder if you just imagined it.
Unlike now, this is very real. You’ve never been this close to him, can smell the faintest traces of him, musky and dark. He snores. His hair tickles against your head, but you don’t want to move.
If anything you close your eyes again hoping for a few more minutes of peace. Joel eventually shifts, waking you both up. Nothing is said about the sleeping positions.
Then he turns to you, and his face falls.
Immediately Joel moves closer. Delicately one of his hands moves to your chin to examine your cheek.
“Does it hurt?” He asks gently and you shake your head.
Not as much. You know there’s probably an ugly bruise, but it could be worse. You’re grateful this is all you have.
“You should’ve seen the other guy.” You darkly joke.
Joel scoffs a small noise, maybe the echo of a laugh.
“So… Should I be worried about anything else you might’ve stolen?” His dry tone doesn’t sound upset.
You promise the bottle is all you took.
Joel hums, nodding.
“You continue to keep surprisin’ me.” His words are softer than he’s ever sounded
Now you realize, Joel is closer than ever before too. His face intensely scowled up now stares directly at you.
You drink in the sight of the king of the smugglers this close. The sun spots on his face, the age lines along his gorgeous features, it’s hard to deny how stunning he is.
After yesterday night it’s like you’re reminded raw and fierce how dangerous, but gorgeous of a man Joel is.
You think of the party you first met Joel. You remember thinking how you felt the remnants of safety, of protection that Joel showed then.
You should hate him. You wouldn’t be in these situations if it wasn’t for him. But when you ask yourself if you would rather be in the QZ, the truth is a distorted answer you might not be ready to face.
Without a word Joel whips around and moves to sling his backpack on better.
“Come on, let’s head out.” He announces.
You stay close to his side.
You expected another silent journey. However, the warmth of the day, the stretch of houses blurring more into the woods brings Joel out of his shell.
He talks about the Texas heat and how it used to be scorching. Interestingly points out different housing structures, and you learn he used to work as a contractor. Joel even asks about your job working at the school.
“It’s a job.” You say a bit standoffish.
“You don’t like it.” Joel sees right through you instantly.
“My mom likes it.” It’s safe, secure, stable and away from any harm and under the watch of FEDRA.
“What d’ya want to do then?” Joel asks surprisingly patient.
You pause momentarily, and the wind blows across your face.
It’s such a simple silly dream you hold in your heart…
Having your own house, enjoying peace, simply embracing living day to day without any worry about what to do or if your mom would approve.
“To simply be.” You answer. It’s enough for Joel, and you swear you see a faint grin tugging his lips.
The trail transforms into a serene sight, and you’re in awe of the beautiful landscape.
You should be scared that you’re walking away more and more from the QZ, even trusting Joel to follow him. But you’re not. The stretching trees untouched by the city, the edges of summer still peeking through the greenery, it's beautiful.
And getting hear Joel open up more, means more than you care to admit. He talks about this one mix up a couple of his guys made where they mistook baby milk formula powder for cocaine.
“Not Mister Scary Lord of the underworld getting upset over that.” You tease, and it almost feels like flirting.
Joel rolls his eyes. It adds a glowing playfulness to him, like seeing a small glimpse of the man he was before the world ended.
The further from the QZ you go, the deeper and deeper you’re drawn into this endless maze of a man that is Joel.
(iv)
You never believed a place like Bill and Frank’s existed.
Their own personal town is otherworldly. They, mainly Frank, welcome you with warm and glimmering hospitality. They’re both older, slightly around Joel’s age.
“So, what’s a lovely thing like you doing with Joel?” Frank asks jokingly.
“Oh, I’m just a hostage.” You sleepily grin. Frank’s face falls while Bill barks a laugh.
It’s easy to melt into this new world with these two and Joel. You never expected him to have friends like this, and it’s interesting uncovering more facets of him.
Bill barks for you not snoop, but Frank winks reassuringly to make yourself at home. The hot shower is an oasis, and the comfortable bed becomes a cloud.
Well rested, the next day you wander the town. You stay out until it’s dark. No infected, no raiders, no fireflies or no worries… just simply you and the beautiful night sky above.
“Still not payin’ attention to where you’re goin’.” Joel’s voice flutters in.
Along the side of the street he looks dreamy under the soft dark night.
“Can’t help it,” you truthfully say, glancing back up. The stars are too lovely not to admire.
You end up wandering closer to Joel or maybe he walks towards you. It’s too hard to tell.
“You can never see the stars this bright even at the QZ.” You return to admire the stars even with Joel besides you.
If your mom just knew how far you were.
Joel snorts, and you realize you spoke those words aloud. Even though you’re a bit embarrassed you simply shrug.
“It’s true.” You agree.
“Seems like she’s kinda…” Joel trails off.
“Controlling?” You finish, and he nods.
You understand why. She’s seen horrors, lost so much. But you’re an adult, a fully grown one and you’ve seen a fair share of hardships too. You just want to be understanding both to her, and to yourself.
You even explain this to Joel.
“You’re good, maybe too kind.” Joel mutters and you now intrigued turn to him. His eyes twinkle in the dark night more than they ever have. “Don’t seem to see the bad in people.”
Maybe you do. Maybe you understand that people in this world contain fuzzy and hard to decipher multitudes now.
Joel snorts when you tell him that.
“Y’know you’ve been traveling with a one of FEDRA’s top bad guys this whole entire time right?”
You know. Joel even calls himself a thief. But he doesn’t seem as evil as you believed him to be.
Glancing at him, the way the darkness should bring out his shadows. It instead illuminates him like a faint star. You think someone this man can’t be fully evil. Or maybe you’re not as good, blooming and unfolding in the mud to reveal your true nature.
You and Joel simply walk back to Bill and Frank’s in silence.
The radio also stays silent another week.
You’re worried about overstaying your welcome, especially with how hard Bill glares at you like you’re a pest. Frank however, eagerly includes you in so many of his projects and errands.
“Not as young as I used to be.” He teases while tending to one of the gardens, and you readily help as much as you can.
You stare in awe at all the beautiful lush vegetables and plants. There’s even a couple of fruit trees.
“Joel always asks for fruit when he comes for trades.” Frank chuckles.
You never would have expected Bill and Frank to be a part of Joel’s team.
“I know, we don’t seem like the type, or maybe I don’t seem like the type to be helping smugglers.” Frank comments teasing, as if he read your mind.
You quickly stammer out that you don’t mind.
“This world, it’s not as black and white as we think it is. Surviving an apocalypse really does paint everything in a murky gray. Sometimes, it’s okay to just accept that.” Frank explains.
You’re slowly starting to agree more and more with that.
“I know…there’s…a delicate situation going on between you and Joel.” Frank speaks cautiously.
“But I want you to know…that if this is serious, and you don’t feel comfortable with Joel or truly want to go return home, there’s ways we could figure it out.” His tone is serious, truthful and sincere.
His words warm you.
But you swallow hard. In the watch of the peaceful yard you reveal a shadowed truth that’s been building in you.
You don’t know if you want to go back. You know you will have to if FEDRA and your mom honor the trade. But you’re dreading returning to your life under the eyes of the decaying QZ streets, FEDRA, your mother…
And even if you do return there, you can’t imagine going without Joel.
“I just want to make sure he’s safe.” You add quietly.
“You probably think I sound awful or out of my mind.” Then you laugh hollow.
Frank doesn’t reply immediately. You wait for him to judge you.
“I don’t think that at all.” His hand gently pats yours. “I think you’re actually really brave being so honest.”
That brings a thickness in your throat. Frank grins warmly at you, squeezes your hand comfortingly. You soak up his kindness like a flower bud in the sunlight.
However, another day passes with no noise among the picturesque world.
At breakfast you try holding back your laughter while Bill and Frankie aruge over the Wizard of Oz.
Joel, who surprisingly slept in late, emerges to take a seat at the table.
Him and Bill immediately jump into discussion about smuggling routes and new supplies. Frank slowly slips out to the kitchen.
“What day is it?” Joel asks.
Bill simply tells it to Joel, but it’s like a switch is flipped on.
He shoots up out of his chair, doesn’t even care that it topples over or that he slams into the table knocking everything. Bill yells at him fiercely. But Joel storms out of the room leaving everyone in his aftermath.
“What happened?” Frank asks, emerging back into the dining room.
“Joel, being fucking Joel.” Bill sneers.
Frank ignores his husband and turns to you. Explaining what happened, his lovely face frowns instant.
“Oh…oh I forgot about today.” He mutters.
You ask what today means. Frank slides closer to you with his eyes low.
“If I remember right…Today’s Sarah’s birthday.” He answers.
Confusion bubbles up, and you ask who Sarah is.
Frank’s face contorts in shock.
“Sarah…she’s Joel’s daughter that passed away.”
Those words take your breath away and you feel your world tilt on its axis.
Joel was a dad. Joel had a daughter.
You never would have expected. Frank must see the look in your eyes now as he places a hand on your shoulder.
“He doesn’t talk about her much. It’s not your fault you didn’t know.”
You’re left haunted by it all though.
Eventually you get the confidence and bravery enough to find Joel.
Walking around the vacant neighbor, you eventually spot him sitting on the porch step of one of the homes.
“Fuck you doin’ here?” He snaps, but there’s no malice in his voice, only a hollowness.
Standing besides him, you inhale deep.
“My big sister was infected on outbreak day.” You begin.
It happened after school when your mom was talking with your neighbor outside your home. You were still so little, barely remember pieces of it.
But the memories you have are sharp.
You’re in the kitchen, laughing at something your sister says. Suddenly she starts twitching. Then your world ended. You still hear her snarls sometimes, still taste the terror when she tried biting you and how you prayed it was just a game, until the screams of your mom came. It’s simply been you and her ever since.
Joel’s face finally turns to you and his eyes are wide, glossy obsidian gems and so open, so unlike Joel. Yet it’s like you’re seeing a true layer of him.
“I’m so sorry about your daughter Joel. That pain of loss never really leaves and I get it.” You carry your big sister’s ghost with you now.
Joel doesn’t say anything, instead clenches his jaw and blinks away the shimmering gloss reflecting in his eyes.
“It ain’t the same.” He suddenly snaps back. “You never felt the pain of losin’ a child.”
You feel insulted.
“Loss is still a loss Joel. Don’t you dare say my hurt is less than yours. What would your daughter say?” You snap back.
You know that’s not a kind thing to say. It galvanizes Joel. He bolts up and becomes a terrifying looming force that pierces you where you stand.
His voice silence is deadly, slices through you.
There’s so much you want to say to hurt him, but what good will it do. You simply blink away tears and walk away, leaving Joel to his ache as you try to quell yours.
Trying to settle your emotions, you end up walking around the ghost town and spot various glorious wildflowers, blooms so vibrantly colorful. You grab as many as you can.
Back at the house, Frank brightens immediately seeing the flowers in your hands.
“I got just the vase for them!”
Frank asks if you picked these for yourself and you shake your head.
“For those who have passed, and for Sarah.” Your answer.
Frank doesn’t say anything but instead nods, a silent understanding.
You head back to the guest room to try taking a nap. You accidentally left the door open partially, and soon enough Joel’s arrival lumbers into the grand home.
“Bill get those for you?” He notices the flowers.
Frank snorts. “You know Bill wouldn’t.”
He instead clarifies you did.
“For today…for Sarah.” Frank then adds.
Joel is quiet. You close your eyes and now drift into the flickering world between falling asleep and being aware.
You swear you faintly hear the door creak open more, catch the faint smell of cedar, and feel delicate but callous fingers run across your face.
But when you open your eyes, no one is in the room.
It’s like nothing happened between you or Joel the next morning. He even helps you and Frank outside harvesting some of the ripe new fruit.
“Can't handle Bill’s grumpy ass anymore.” Joel explains.
“Two grumpies together might just be too much.” You tease. Joel glares dully at you. Frank snickers amused.
You perk up bright seeing the lovely apples on the tree.
“Go ahead! Try one!” Frank eagerly urges and you do.
You haven’t had fresh apples in years. Your eyes close in bliss tasting sweet heaven and you munch away.
Suddenly a thick thumb runs against your cheek and your eyes snap open.
“Sorry. Got some on your cheek.” Joel clarifies drawing his hand away.
He suddenly draws it into his mouth to have a taste. You feel a bit dizzy but in a way that makes your stomach flip.
Joel’s eyes go wide, momentarily realizing what he did. Without another word, he bolts.
You and Frank are left staring at each other stunned.
The rest of the day Joel stays glued to the radio in Bill’s workshop.
Later that night your fingers crawl silently under the sheets, under your underwear, and you imagine what Joel would feel like. This man that’s taken you away from your home - you should feel guilty and ashamed, even horrified at this. But instead you only find an ache for more for his fingers to replace yours.
But even among the decadent desires you indulge in more and more…
Another week passes.
You and Joel share a somberness, slowly facing the harsh truth.
You may not be returning home.
“I want us to have a nice dinner tonight!” Frank must sense it too because he declares a bright order.
“So that means new outfits and everyone taking a good shower!” Frank insists proudly showing you to the clothing boutique the town has.
You end up grabbing the softest looking sundress. It’s delicate, fits comfortably on you and even makes you feel brand new.
Especially after taking another warm shower with the homemade lavender soap Frank gave you as another gift. Bill seems to be warming up to you. He even makes a dull joke about you taking a shorter shower than Joel.
When Joel does emerge from the shower, something shifts in you. His wet slicked back hair highlights all his silver streaks. In the new button up shirt Frank shoved at him and ordered him to wear, he’s gorgeous.
The terrifying ruler of a smuggling empire, now just a man who seems almost embarrassed, fidgets because you stare at him so directly.
Dinner is thankfully wonderful.
At some point you realize the role of hostage, of someone kidnapped, doesn’t feel so barbed. You now roam freely without any fear. Laugh warmly at the stories Frank tells that makes Bill scoff and Joel roll his eyes.
You insist on cleaning up to let Bill and Frank enjoy the nice evening to themselves.
In the kitchen you gather the plates until the door creaks open behind.
“Needed to get away from Bill’s god damn glarin’ st me being the third wheel.” Joel huffs.
Smirking, you find Joel effortlessly begins putting away dishes, helping.
It’s peaceful. In another life you wonder if this could have been a regular evening, in a house you owned…with someone you cared for.
Someone who you hate looks eerily like Joel.
You shift to go grab something just as he moves, and the two of you gently collide. It’s nothing extreme, but Joel’s hand moves to steady you against your lower back.
“Sorry.” He mutters, and your eyes flicker to him. He’s close again. So close you can almost smell the rosemary and pine soap among a scent so deeply Joel. He doesn't move yet. Neither do you.
That’s when you catch it, Joel’s deep rust eyes glance away from your gaze and towards your lips.
You wonder if maybe you’re seeing things, or have something on your face. But his hand against your back feels warm, steady, like you never want it to leave. His face ever so slightly begins to pull closer towards you.
You don’t want this to stop.
But Bills footsteps clamor to the kitchen. It electrifies both you and Joel causing him to scurry out of the kitchen.
That night you’re unable to sleep.
Frank always offered his collection of books for you to browse through. You decide to glance around and hope something sparks your interest.
That’s when a muffled groan floats out into the hallway.
Curiosity and a hint of worry has you walking back towards the rooms.
A choked out sigh comes from Joel’s room and the world melts away.
You need to go back to your room, even head back to the living room.
But you instead lean closer and find the door is slightly cracked like Joel thought he closed it but didn’t.
You faintly hear it, the sound of him jerking off. His soft sighs, his hand rubbing out his cock, it makes your mouth dry and water at the same time.
You’re no better than a creepy pervert, but you can’t help it.
Joel’s hand speeds up faster and now your wet core begs for attention already.
Then his climax hits with a deep loud groan, and it’s delicious.
You shift trying to quell the heat crawling all over your body.
But Joel sighs.
And he says your name.
It’s clear, steals your breath.
Maybe it’s been this recent journey that’s reminded you how short this life is… but whatever galvanized energy it is, it surges through you to move and push into Joel’s room.
Oh he’s a sight.
Your mouth waters seeing his cock, thick, beautiful and messy before it’s covered by the blanket.
Joel scrambles up petrified. “What the fuck y’doing here?!”
“You said my name,” you whisper slowly creeping towards him while shutting the door behind you.
“You’re hearin’ shit.” He barks low, angry and harsh.
You swallow hard.
“I think about you too… whenever I touch myself.” You admit barely above a whisper.
Joel’s eyebrows fly up to his hairline, but immediately he coughs as if he got punched.
“Go back to your room.” He urges, but it’s not persistent. You shake your head no, and now arrive against the side of his bed.
“We… you…this shouldn’t be happenin’.” He urges.
“You say you’re a thief, that you’re the bad guy here,” you mutter posessed. “Maybe I am too.”
“Darlin’” Joel breathes out that sacred term, the one you’ve prayed to hear again.
Confidence surges through you more toxic than any other poison.
“Maybe I wanna take for once,” you whisper, moving onto the bed. Your eyes glance to the wet white sticky mess against Joel’s stomach and his hand that he didn’t cover.
Your mouth aches to taste him.
So flickering your gaze to Joel, it’s a cautious moment and what you’re about to do can fall apart in a minute. But your hand moves delicately, cautious. Your eyes stay on Joel, waiting for him to tell you no or react.
But he doesn’t.
You grab his cum covered hand still keeping your eyes on him. Until you glance down at his hand, his calloused beautiful large hand.
He still hasn’t pulled away or made a noise to stop you.
Tentatively you lick up his fingers, tasting his release.
“Fuck!” Joel barks out a harsh hiss.
You’re worried he’s going to yank his hand away, but he doesn’t. He instead sits up more like he’s been electrocuted.
It’s enough to let you indulge now.
So you draw his fingers into your mouth.
They’re so large. The salty taste of his cum and the taste of his skin on your tongue makes your eyes close as you clean his fingers.
“Fuckin’ shit, baby.” You want to hear him say those words over and over, want to cherish how wrecked his voice breaks.
Now, very slowly, Joel’s fingers move in your mouth and you moan. He traces your teeth, drags the meat of his fingers across your tongue and plunges deeper into your mouth.
Your eyes roll back, and on instinct you start sucking.
“Yeah darlin’ yeah.” Joe whispers hoarsely, and you want to get drunk on him.
Steady, his fingers plunge in and out, fucking your mouth as you become putty in his hold. His other hand now runs up your thigh, under the edge of your dress.
“Want you so bad Joel.” Even with his fingers in your mouth you whimper out those words maybe mainly to yourself, maybe thinking this is just a dream.
But the way Joel surges up, yanks his hand out of your mouth to clutch your face, and he kisses you like a parched man…
This feels too good to be a dream.
You melt into it, into Joel, greedily stealing all he gives you. Just as you welcome him to steal all he wants from you, and you readily give him everything. No worries about anything else, it’s simply you and him.
When Joel slides into you, deep and wide, when his breath tickles the heat of your skin, you taste the essence of him all around - the world feels reborn.
Joel however, is slightly more reluctant.
“M’too old for you.” He argues after the second night you crawl into his room.
“You think I care?” I simply say running your fingers against his warm chest.
“You should.”
Well you don’t and you tell him that.
Then the dark doubt creeps in.
Because there are other things you should care about.
“Are you doing this…”
Just to be cruel, to maybe even control you.
Joel sits up holding your hand against his chest. Your eyes met his. There’s steeled sincerity in his eyes as he shakes his head.
“No… hate that I wanted you from the start, before all this.” At the party. That feels like ages ago.
You can’t help but ask him why, why you.
He sighs, and his thumb strokes your hand.
“Saw you when ya first walked in. You laughed at something your friend said. It was so loud, so fuckin’ genuine.”
You’re about to apologize, embarrassed, at how loud you laugh until Joel continues.
“Knew you were something fierce, something beautiful. I was gone the minute you smashed that god damn drink in that guy's face.”
He doesn’t have to say anything else. So much clouds the room and it feels thick, but it’s like the thickness of a misty morning fog you want to get lost in. You kiss him tenderly, as if you have all the time in the world.
After this a new shift comes between you and Joel. His hands always seem to be on you, gently touching your arm or grazing past you closer. After your nights with him, hickies paint your thighs and you admire them in the morning.
In the dark, Joel tells you more about Tommy, about the plan he has for finding his brother. Even sometimes he reveals bits and pieces about Sarah.
You soak in every moment you can with him. Joel even stays a full day away from the radio helping Bill renovating one of the sheds. It’s a gift watching Joel work with his hands and tools, like watching the shadow of a past still existing in him.
Your heart becomes a treasure chest holding all these moments.
But something darker still rots in you.
FEDRA still remains silent.
(v)
Summer winds down. Cooler air settles in the town, and you happily enjoy sitting on the porch more and more.
You’d been eyeing the pomegranate for a few days. Now after Frank happily told you to enjoy, you excitedly and greedily cut into it. Joel even showed you how to earlier.
Currently you sit on the porch enjoying the soft breeze. Frank sits besides you watching Bill work on a project. You laugh at how affectionate the two are even while bickering.
Scooping out a couple of the pomegranate seeds, their beautiful ruby color stains your finger. They taste of a sweetness you never want to leave. Boots approach from behind.
“Joel! Come, sit. Enjoy the nice early autumn weather.” Frank calls and you turn to grin at him.
“FEDRA finally got in contact.” Joel’s words pop the air.
Everything stills.
When you turn towards Joel, the somber stare on his face already reveals the answer.
FEDRA denied the exchange.
The rest of the pomegranate sits uneaten on the porch.
You sit in Joel’s room quietly for what feels like years. The tears don’t even come anymore.
“She can stay here! She’d be a welcomed addition” Frank urges from the living room. “We’ve appreciated all the extra help around here.”
“No. Take her back.” Bill interjects flat.
Frank shushes his husband.
The conversation becomes low, muffled, and you’re too tired to even try and listen. You instead curl into Joel’s pillow, and let sleep take you.
A callous hand gently stroking your cheeks wakes you. The low early evening light bathes Joel glorious, and you faintly smell wine Joel must have had.
“You gonna get rid of me now?” You mumble hollow.
Joel shakes his head no.
“Too late for that.” He says with the faintest hint of a crooked grin. “Told ya, I’m head smuggler for a fuckin’ reason, like to keep what’s mine close.”
You place your hand over his and squeeze it tight. But the tears manage to return.
“What’s gonna happen now?” While you ask, your voice breaks.
Joel exhales.
“Don’t know.” He says truthfully.
You’re grateful he’s being honest. Joel’s dark autumn eyes glance away.
“I know we’ll manage, find a car, get Tommy.” He nods to himself.
“But…” he adds with his voice trailing off.
“Don’t wanna think about you leaving,” Joel admits with the lowest rumble.
“Can’t fuckin’ handle it… thinkin’ about not knowin’ how you’re doing, not seeing you…” he shakes his head.
“It’s fuck up. I know it’s god damn fucked up... If you want me to take you back to the QZ, I’ll do it. If you wanna just stay here, I’d let ya.” Joel’s voice sounds strained, almost debris filled with so many emotions begging to get out.
You slide your hands around him, and he draws you closer. The world might be crumbling again all around you, but he feels like a steady rock amongst it all.
“I don’t wanna leave, don’t wanna leave you.” You whimper out the truth.
Joel holds you tighter into his strong warm embrace.
That night you fuck Joel like it’s the last time you’ll ever see him, and a grim darkness seeping in your mind whispers it might be.
You want every piece of him. So when you open your mouth wide, without any question, Joel runs his thumb across your bottom lip and spits into your mouth. You greedily swallow.
What surprises you is when you’re seated in Joel’s lap, slowly grinding up and down on his thick cock, he weakly opens his mouth as well.
Tenderly stroking his cheek, you gently lean down and let the spit drip from your mouth into his. You feel drunk watching Joel’s eyes roll back as he swallows.
Instead of feral roughness, or a devouring passion, it’s tender, makes your heart swell. Joel’s hands map you out like you’re a cherished rare gem.
In his arms, in the quiet stillness of the room, your heart begs for weeds to start growing around you.
(vi)
From a glance out the window, the pumpkins seem to be flourishing beautifully. They’re your first big vegetables you’re growing, with Bill’s supervision of course. But you’re proud of the progress nonetheless.
You’re finishing cleaning the last bit of dishes from breakfast when a sturdy arm slides around you from behind.
For someone so grumpy, Joel is surprisingly and secretly a cuddly creature. His wonderful nose burrows into the side of your face.
“Wanna work on the kitchen today,” he mutters.
The old house across the street from Bill and Frank’s has become the new project. While you still stay with Bill and Frank, your hope is to eventually make that empty house a home.
The autumn air invigorates you as you go to visit Frank in his sunroom.
“Will you be okay here by yourself?” You ask him gently.
Frank snorts. “You and Bill both, such worrywarts.”
Frank’s been moving slower, coughing more. It tugs at your heart. Over the radio you now even ask Tess if there’s other medication options for him to try.
You’ve grown to care about him, even grouchy Bill and Tess who even seems to warm up to you now.
It’s your own carved out universe.
Frank good naturedly pats your hand, reassuring you he’ll be fine. With a squeeze to his shoulder and a warm goodbye, you head across the street.
Of course Joel takes charge, and it’s hard not to jump his bones seeing how effortlessly he takes to fixing up this house.
The night you decided to stay here, Joel slid you a paper and pen.
“Draw me your dream house.” He told you gruffy.
He kept that very poor drawing. It’s what guides the renovations. The house is smaller than Bill and Frank’s but to you, it’s a perfect size.
“You know I can do it myself, make Bill work too.” Joel had told you when you first showed up to help.
“I know, but I wanna help. Wanna know my elbow grease went into everything too.” You told Joel with a grin.
He didn’t shoo you away after that. Now you get to help around when you can. The sanded cabinets and freshly painted walls, all fruits of your labor and you’re excited, proud, seeing the house come together. It’s breathing life into his dusty space, and you cherish it.
Eventually you head back to Bill and Frank’s.
Frank calls to you. “The radio came on.”
With Joel throwing himself into fixing up the house, interestingly enough you’ve become his stand in. It’s how you and Tess slowly began bonding. You’ve told her FEDRA routes and patrol changes and she’s in turn gossiped about what’s been happening in Boston.
You miss it often, but the peace of walking to visit your pumpkins, to helping Frank at breakfast, of having Joel in your bed…it’s like a new breath in your lungs.
“Hey.” You greet Tess.
She says your name, somber and you still.
“Your mom…she finally got in contact with us.”
You inhale shakily. A part of you had wondered if your mom would do something like this.
Finally managing to get a hold of a battery, your mom is offering to trade it for you.
A wave of fear does grip you. You don’t want to leave, don’t want to go back. But you also miss her dearly.
When Joel returns, beautifully coated in sweat and saw dust, he’s like a construction god. But seeing your face, he instantly understands something’s up.
In the seclusion of your room, you tell Joel you’ll return to Boston, and his eyes become moons.
“You don’t have to go back.” Joel whispers to you later that night. “Can say we want more.”
You shake your head.
Your mom has been through enough, and Joel needs this.
“You need to find Tommy.”
His hand curls against your face holding your cheek so precious. “We’ll find another battery, or hell I’ll take one of Bill’s. Don’t want ya feeling like you’re forced to go back.”
This has all been out of your control and now, you have a say.
You’ll return with Joel, but you won’t be fully returning to your life in Boston either. You’ll exist between these two worlds now, visiting your mom and primarily staying with Joel.
Your mom won’t be happy about this, you can almost hear her fury already. But this is what you want. It’s the journey your path will take.
“Y’okay with this?” Joel suddenly asks before leaving the gate to the town. His eyes search yours. “You don’t have to do this, especially for me.”
You understand what he means, but this is for you.
Gently you draw Joel towards you and kiss him soft.
With the smuggler king, you walk firmly into the sunlight. The early autumn breeze gently guides you forward.
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tastesousweet · 8 months
Text
⭒ the girl with the tattoo (iii) - pt 1 pt 2
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matt sturniolo x fem!oc / reader
summary : no one frustrates and confuses y/n more than matt
warnings : smoking weed, alcohol/drinking (i headcannon everyone 21+!), tension, sexually suggestive
mickey speaks : THIS IS LONG AS SHIT!!!! ngl im not obsessed w this part but u guys r the sweetest thank u for loving this story so far and for ur patience. part 4 definitely won't have as long of a wait.
THIS IS PART THREE GO READ THE FIRST TWO PARTS NEOWW
MATT hates hosting parties.
now that he and his brothers have hosted three of these "get together"s to promote the warehouse, he’s realized just how much attendees dont give a shit about respecting the space they're in. he found it to be a cool concept for sure: give out free tiny tats along with food and drinks for more exposure and networking. nick came up with it and it sounded perfectly easy way to build their brand and get to know people in LA.
except the first one was a complete mess, with chris constantly promoting the party (he mentioned it to almost everyone he talked to, encouraging them to bring friends along), frequent instagram posts dedicated to the event, and natural word of mouth the warehouse was suddenly overcrowded and trashed within the first hour of being open. matt barely got through that night without losing his temper or calling the cops to shut down his own party.
that’s not to say matt hates attending parties as severely as he hates to have his own. he’s more than willing to go out when he has a set time to leave and good enough company. he’s trained his anxiety to behave within those spaces so that he's not ruining his or anyone else's time. now it seems his anxiety only spikes when it comes to (what feels like) hundreds of people surrounding him in his space with no intentions of leaving until well into the morning. at that point he’d prefer to be at home, completely alone.
just as he does now that nick has dragged him out to a nearby liquor store to buy “goodies” for the event later today.
matt’s face carries his typical dry expression as nick stands next to him, hands resting on his hips, eyeing the various vodka bottles.
“nick, it’s alcohol not the fucking newspaper,” matt grumbles.
“i know that! i just don’t wanna choose the wrong one.” he defends.
“if they don’t like something i think we have more than enough to choose from at this point,” matt sarcastically nudges his arms that hold onto a wide selection of alcohol that nick has impetuously given him with quips of ‘okay, hold this one.’
“matt, i wouldn’t have brought you if i knew you’d be such a buzzkill, jesus.” nicks tsks.
“alright, don't say that like i was begging to come here, nick. i had no choice and-"
nick cuts him off swiftly, noticing a few girls have joined them in the aisle, “matt, move." nick guides him backwards with his hand, "you’re like, in the way.”
matt turns his head to see what exactly he was blocking, before turning back to nick and scowling, “‘m literally not in the way at all.”
“they might need to see all the options,” nick shrugs, going back to narrowing his options down while matt stands in slight annoyance, zoning out.
until he overhears the two girls call, “yeah it’s over here, y/n! come!”
and matt can’t help but turn and look (at an embarrassingly quick pace that he’d blame on his brain's pristine sound recognition and not that he wanted to see you, necessarily).
and sure enough your frame comes into view (clad in a sweatshirt and small pair of shorts), confirming that he did not mishear and you unfortunately were in fact the y/n called for. not wanting to deal with small talk, he immediately turns to nick, “the second one is best, nick. alright, let’s go.”
nick looks over to him, throwing his hands up loosely, “ohh, now you wanna be helpful whe-" he closes his mouth when he sees you over matt's shoulder, "did you know y/n's here?” his eyebrows draw together and he swiftly grabs a tall bottle of Absolut and places it in matt’s arms before walking around him (ignoring his hand’s poor attempt to hold nick back).
you’re too busy discussing which vodka tastes best with a few of your friends to notice nick walking up to you guys. you only look over once you hear a snap followed by a hushed “matt!”
you host a tender smile when you recognize the two tattooed boys, “nick? what are you doing here?” you glance from nick to matt who seems to be holding a full bar's worth of liquor while nick holds nothing but a tote bag and sunglasses he enjoys fidgeting with.
“y/n, i have a party i’m hosting tonight why would i not be here? now the real question is why are you here at 11:30 AM?” he jokes, squinting his eyes at you.
“same reason as you,” you shrug then realize you haven’t introduced your friends properly. “oh! and these are my friends; i texted you about bringing along, remi, erin, and andrea.” they each wave slightly as you gesture to them.
after an exchange of greetings and smiles (though you could tell matt’s was so phoney), nick backtracks, “okay but actually why are you here?”
“did you think i was joking? i’m getting drinks for your party!”
“i mean this in the kindest way possible: why?”
“i wasn’t gonna show up empty handed! it’s common courtesy to bring you guys something whether or not you ask.” you insist and matt fights the urge to roll his eyes.
he knows you have no mal-intent but god damn do you make yourself look so fucking pretentious.
“yeah, we’re trying to figure out what would be the best kind to bring right now,” erin chimes in.
nick immediately agrees, “oh my god, tell me about it. i was just struggling with that too!” and he turns to matt to validate, see! it’s not stupid to care about possibly buying the wrong thing!
matt just rolls his lips into his mouth, trying to give anyone a fucking clue that the conversation should be wrapping up by now.
“we’ll probably just end up getting pink whitney,” andrea reaches for the bottle on a nearby shelf.
matt can feel your eyes on him but he chooses to keep looking down at nick's ugg boots as if they’re the most interesting thing he’s seen.
you shift your eyes back to nick who’s still talking to andrea before you begin to speak, “well, i’m sure you guys are busy, you know, party planning.”
suprisingly, matt speaks up to agree with you, "yeah, you’re right actually. we are pretty busy."
nick cuts in with a shake of his head, “well, we’re actually not doing much before the party starts, honestly. we’ll probably just drop this off at the warehouse and set up a little, then go home, right matt?” nick shrugs to his brother who's eyes only widen with a look of question, “oh that's so true, matt!" he turns back to the girls with a smirk, "if you guys want you should come hang out with us now!”
matt wishes he currently had a free hand so that he could slap it over nicks mouth and drag him away before he sells his own kidney next.
"oh that's okay, we still have some stuff at home to do before we even think to get ready, but we'll be there tonight," you smile and look over to the girls who each agree.
"okay, we'll see you around then." matt tilts his head to the side encouraging nick to follow as he walks away.
"you have my insta so just dm me if you need anything. okay, bye! don’t forget swimsuits!" nick smiles and waves before rushing to catch up to matt who has already left the aisle.
౨ৎ
“i still can’t believe y/n was there, like what are the odds?!” nick giddily sighs and looks over to matt as the two walk out of the store.
“yeah, how fuckin’ weird," he murmurs, adjusting the brown bags in his hands to reach for the keys hanging from his belt loop. "small world, i guess.”
౨ৎ
“how the fuck are you so calm?” you ask in shock from behind the bat squishmellow you hold while sitting on nick’s baby pink couch, legs crossed.
“y/n, it’s like the teeniest, babiest tattoo ever,” andrea almost laughs as she takes another bite of a miniature rice krispy treat.
this “get together” at the warehouse has been a hit as far as you can tell. when you and your friends arrived it was already rowdy with people everywhere, music pounding, and bottles of alcohol scattered on the counters of a kitchenette (where you placed your own bottle of pink whitney, tied with a dainty white ribbon). you all found nick early on dancing in a crowd of people. he gave out hugs and easily convinced andrea and remi to let him tattoo them. after looking over the flash sheet nick made specifically for tonight, the girls decided to get matching cherry tattoos.
nick’s work area was so soft. he had bright hues of berry hugging his walls in the form of posters and paintings and faint creamsicle colored pillows to keep his couch company. when you all first walked in he explained how much he enjoys when clients bring in a friend so he had to make sure they had a comfy place to sit. you found nick so endearing in that since, he’s very caring and thoughtful despite his attitude at times (a far more understandable attitude than matt’s).
“it’s soo small,” nick adds, “i still think you two should get one,” he smirks looking over to you and erin huddled on the couch.
“hell no, i think i'm good for like another year," you shake your head and look over to erin while you gently run your fingers over your tattooed lower hip.
"yeah, absolutely not. i'm not even close to drunk enough to do that shit right now." she laughs.
౨ৎ
matt finds joint rolling to be the most satisfying part of smoking. the precision needed to perfectly fill, wrap, and burn makes him giddy in his own matt-kind-of-way.
after working on his last client (who wanted a somewhat abstract piece for the lowkey means of a “free tiny tats event”) and successfully sneaking through the crowd to grab a snack then sneaking back into his work area, he wanted nothing more than to get high alone.
he begins to gather his spare weed, grinder, and rolling papers from a spot tucked away in a drawer. he stops by his desk to turn his speaker back on, playing hushed kendrick lamar thorughout the space.
he taps his fingers along to the beat before sitting in a chair and displaying the items in front of him. he begins to grind the weed while humming, only to be interrupted fairly quickly.
"matttt!" chris peeks his grinning face through the curtain before taking it upon himself to walk in, "what are you doin' all alone in here?" matt pauses his movements with a sigh.
"no way you were rolling up and not planning to share? what the fuck?" chris pries in jest, rolling a chair over to sit in front of matt.
"dude, 'm so over this fuckin' party. i was planning to just smoke this and go nap on nick's couch or something." matt explains as he carefully lays the weed in the paper.
"you were barely even out there! got all your clients to text you whenever they got here." chris mumbles a scoff. "that is not the fuckin' point of this by the way, supposed to be meeting new people." chris rolls his eyes leaning himself so far into the chair that his back has practically met the seat.
"at least i'm doing something, you've only given like a tat or two all night," matt mumbles, slowly filling the white paper with weed.
because chris knows he's right he deflects the conversation to the reason he even came searching for matt in the first place. he clears his throat, playing with his fingers, "nick wants to take the girls up to the hot tub."
"thought we weren't allowing randoms up there anymore?" matt smirks at the memory of nick just hours before lecturing the both of them on what ground rules needed to be set so people don't demolish their shop for the fourth time now.
"obviously if they're with nick they're not just randoms." chris shakes his head, "pretty sure it's y/n and some friends she brought along. you remember that girl, right? she was-"
matt stops sealing the blunt to respond, "uh huh, i remember her."
chris lets out a breath, causing matt to finally look up and make eye contact with his brother (after spending their entire conversation too focused on rolling) in surprise at his pause in speaking.
"yeah, she's cool." chris yawns.
"i guess." matt says while finishing off the joint.
matt then lifts his hand up to give chris a view of his rolled joint. "stellar." chris smiles and matt hands it him, "swear you have a gift for this shit or somethin'." chris holds it in different angles near his face.
matt just shrugs and reaches for the tiny red lighter in his back pocket, "light that bitch up," he encourages chris.
"wait, no, let's save it for hot-tubbing."
"no? let's not? i didn't roll it for anyone but myself, let alone a group of barbies."
"be nice, matt."
"give me it, chris," matt rolls his eyes and signals with his fingers for chris to hand it over. “also who says i’m joining you guys in there?”
chris hands the joint back over to matt who’s immediately putting it in his mouth and bringing it towards the lighter’s flame, “nick wants the both of us up there, he thinks it’ll be fun.”
matt’s words come out quieter now that he’s speaking with smoke held in his lungs, “is he shit faced?” matt exhales the smoke as he speaks, “you know he thinks anything is ‘fun’ when he’s drunk.”
he takes another hit while chris explains, “no he’s actually really fuckin’ coherent, hasn’t had anything compared to me.” he smirks knowingly.
“not too much of this for you then,” matt exhales and passes the blunt over to chris. “so who’s gonna be hosting this party if we’re all on the roof?” matt asks squinting at him while playing with the soft edge of his graphic tee shirt.
chris’ face hides behind the smoke he releases, “we have dontae and claire working tonight too, they know how to deal with shit. i’m not too worried.”
“cool, so nick has contradicted himself twice already tonight, what happened to ‘one of us three should always be keeping an eye out’?” matt questions.
chris shakes his head, handing matt the smoked down joint, “literally how am i supposed to know why that kid thinks the way he does?”
matt licks his lips with a smile at his brothers comment then goes to hit the blunt once more.
“but i do know you need trunks on asap, brother.” chris lifts himself up, feeling a little looser now that he’s quite faded, and begins to dig through matt’s backpack in the corner of the room.
“why the fuck are my trunks just casually in my bag?”
“i put ‘em in there knowing you wouldn’t listen when we told you to pack them.”
“because i’m never getting in the pool at a party, that sounds terrible.”
“you think everything sounds terrible,” chris rolls his eyes throwing the plain black swimming trunks at matt’s chest.
౨ৎ
“‘kay so the game is just called, “i dare you…” but we’re gonna play it like drink or dare,” chris explains before taking another sip of his pepsi (he’s attempting to ‘sober up’ before playing a drinking game). “assuming the crowd knows what drink or dare is..?” chris looks around to everyone to confirm. there’s quite a lot of people in the spacious hot tub: you and your friends, the triplets, asha, and two of the triplets’ friends nathan and cameron.
when everyone nods in understanding chris explains something about the order to follow and how to discard any used cards, but you only loosely pay attention. instead, your eyes keep an unfaltering stare on matt who sits across from you with the shadows of his face highlighted light blue from the water below and a warm amber from the outdoor lighting above.
he wears his hair messy and his signature silver chain that reflects in the water harshly. you find yourself focusing on his tattooed hands (large in proportion to the joint he’s just finished rolling), and his pink tongue that has slipped out a number of times to lick at the joint and secure its shape.
he’s so into his own task he hasn’t even acknowledged your presence really. somehow that bothers you and attracts you to him at the same time. his face is so neutral as well, it’s not easy to find matt without a resting bitch face and an foul mood to match.
you feel andrea’s hand guide up your back, carrying water in its trail. you still continue in your curious trance until she leans down to your ear, “don’t start drooling now.”
you immediately look up towards her (as she’s sat on the ledge of the hot tub, cautious of her new arm tattoo). she barks out a laugh and you try not to laugh as well, punching the side of her leg instead.
“what did i miss? what are we giggling aboutt?!” nick excitedly asks as he climbs into the hot tub and sits in the empty spot to the left of you. you turn and greet him with a smile and he immediately hands you one of the many beer bottles he holds, “here, take one, pass it down.”
“oh it was nothing, thank you.” you reply when handed the final bottle.
nick nods before swatting at chris who still stands in the middle of the hot tub, “kid, you can sit down now, i think we all got it.”
chris looks over to nick, “you go first then, nick. i’ll queue up a few songs.” he shifts a floaty that holds a set of cards in it towards nick before taking a seat next to erin (you can overhear him introducing himself even though your attention is on nick as he draws).
“who’s the bright one who chose a game with cards to be done in water?” nick jokes finally looking at the card.
“i’m sure you can guess,” asha laughs next to him.
you watch as nick’s face welcomes a large grin upon reading his dare. “okay…i’m reading this out loud, right?”
“i thought ‘we all got it’?” chris jokes and watches nick deadpan, “yes, nick just say it.”
“this one’s easy, ‘i dare you to make one of the group members crack a smile in less than a minute.’” nick adjusts himself to face nathan, “nate look at me.”
“oh come on nick, nate laughs at everything when he’s drunk.” matt talks despite his lips closing over the joint he’s just about to light.
“i don’t!” nate says before looking over to cameron, who elbows his side, making nathan giggle and cover his face. “no! for real, try me nick.” he adjusts his expression to be serious but just as nick opens his mouth to speak nathan explodes in sudden laughter causing the rest of the group to laugh as well.
even matt laughs into his arm as he passes the joint to remi, next to him.
౨ৎ
as the group continued playing the dares leveled in dirty extremity. asha nibbled on cameron’s ear like a hamster, nathan texted a friend asking to have a threesome, cameron licked sugar off of andrea (who very much enjoyed it), until finally it was matt’s turn.
matt’s been far more sociable and charismatic this entire time spent in the hot tub than you’ve seen him before. but you can’t tell if it’s the weed and alcohol or even just the fact that he’s surrounded by a group with some of his close friends that’s bringing this out of him. you’re shocked the only nagging he’s done was to break up a small argument between his brothers and of course make fun of you, mouthing “you scared?” after you denied hitting the joint for a second time. you mouthed back “no” and rolled your eyes at him but his playful smirk never left.
matt hangs his head and stifles laughter after reading his card, “i dare you to bend over backwards and let the rest of the group spank you, chose who’s best.”
“oh my god!” chris’ laugh is higher in pitch now that he’s extremely high.
“guys i really don’t wanna,” he sighs.
“matt, don’t be lame! you’ll be the first one who’s drinking,” asha encourages.
“fuck this game,” he mumbles under his breath before adjusting himself to lean over the hot tub, everyone laughing at the sight. it was fun to see matt so unserious for once.
after taking turns to hit matt’s ass, he decided the fourth person’s was the best, per his dare’s request, and nathan celebrates with a throw of his hands in the air.
remi then performs a trust fall with the person she trusts least in the group, cameron (who she told there was no hard feelings since they’d only met today), making it now erin’s turn.
she blushes at her card before reading aloud, “i dare you to give a lap dance to the hottest person in the group.” she bites her lip in embarrassment but nonetheless leans over to chris and requests a song in his ear.
chris smiles and taps his phone as erin adjust herself to standing. “this is gonna be hard to do in water,” she messes with her hair.
“you’ll be fine!” you encourage with a smile.
“alright, you ready?” chris looks up to erin and she nods in response.
body party by ciara begins to play sensually through the nearby speaker gaining a few “oouuu”s from the group.
what you don’t expect is for erin to lean herself in front of matt. and matt definitely doesn’t expect this either, but he’s not too mad about it.
“oh shitttt,” cameron grins, he and nathan occupied in their own awkward-laughing fit while watching with wide eyes.
she moves slowly and hovers matt in a straddling position to “grind” on him. you take a heavy sip of your drink while watching in an attempt to hide your odd feeling about this. it was like watching a car crash. you watch as matt’s eyes gaze up and down her body, not daring to touch her but unashamed of his attraction.
asha laughs and whistles in support when erin turns around to give matt a view of her ass. nick dramatically ducks behind you yelling, “i actually can’t watch this! oh my god!”
you laugh and to mess with him whisper, “don't worry, it’s over now.”
nick looks back and immediately goes back to covering his eyes and laughing with you, “you bitch!”
you look back to matt who tilts his head back with wide eyes and lips puffing out in humor. and finally, after it feels like the two have dry humped for hours, erin stands back up and bows. matt claps with a wide smile, everyone else joining in.
when erin sits down you look up to andrea who just stifles a laugh with a sip of her drink. “well how the fuck am i gonna top that shit?!” chris exclaims while grabbing a card.
“real question is how the fuck will matt recover from that?” you joke causing matt to look over to you.
“oh don’t worry about me, sweetheart. i’m sure i’ll recover fine. chris,” he lifts his head gesturing for chris to begin his dare.
your tongue travels along your teeth to stop yourself from ruining a good time with your confusing feelings.
“i dare you to give a hickey to the person to your left.” chris bites his bottom lip and blinks slowly before looking over to andrea who just smiles and playfully flutters her fingers at him.
“you’re cool with this right, ‘m not tryna make you uncomfortable or any-”
“chris, shh.” andrea says.
“'kay, where do you want it?” he smiles.
“let’s make this fun,” she adjusts her bikini top and presses her manicured fingers along her right breast, “right here.”
nick is extra dramatic when it comes to watching chris suck harshly on his new friend’s tit, “okay, why the fuck did we choose this game?!” he turns away.
when chris is finished andrea shows it off to the group as proof and pushes chris’ cocky face away with a laugh, “nice job, stupid.”
afterwards, andrea gets a dare to expose her search history with the group, which she does without a problem.
it’s finally your turn to pick a card. “i dare you to lick whipped cream off a person of your choice.”
“oouu who’s it gonna beee?” nick nudges into your side.
you look around the hot tub, wanting to pick someone unpredictable, “ashaaa, you haven’t had much to do yet?” you look over to the girl who now has wide eyes and a growing smile.
“okay, yeah let’s do it,” she shrugs. “nate could you go get whipped cream, please?”
once nathan’s back you move closer to asha and decide to put whipped cream on her shoulder. “it tickles,” she giggles when you lick the entire dollop off of her easily.
you both laugh and you lick your lips as you head back to your seat.
౨ৎ
after another round it’s finally matt’s turn again, he draws a card that reads: give a kiss anywhere, on the person you’d “take home to mama.”
matt slowly stands and rubs his chin with a devious smile. “ummm,” he draws out, giving multiple looks at everyone before he walks over and hovers over you. you’re shocked by your body’s ease when his wet hand lifts to hold your face and his lips connect to yours. the kiss isn’t sloppy, but rather needy. you were just getting used to the taste of the bitter beer he’d just been drinking when he pulls away and steps back, unfazed.
you blink and wipe your fingers around your lips as matt wipes a hand over his eyes while laughing to himself.
“mom, would love y/n,” chris adds, calling back to the initial dare that led to that stomach turning kiss.
“'course she would, she’s a fucking saint.” matt sighs.
you squint your eyes and tilt your head, “i wouldn’t say that…”
“yeah, shit, my bad.” matt spreads his legs across from you, “forgot you have that little tattoo. i’m sure you’re not such a good girl anymore.”
you’re fucking annoyed now. you hate that he thinks you're inferior to him in any way. “hey where’s that ashtray, chris?” you ask, adjusting your seated position.
“uh, here,” he reaches behind him and places it on the same floaty as the cards, along with the lighter.
“you guys are cool to keep going,” you say and take the abandoned joint in your hand to relight it.
matt watches in spiteful anticipation.
“take it slow, and hold it” andrea explains to you in a whisper, knowing you’d never smoked in your life.
erin begins her dare to prank call a customer service line and dirty talk them when you take a hit of the joint.
matt eyes never leave your bothered figure as you inhale and cause the tip of the joint to light a bright red. he can tell you’re trying to prove a point which makes it more amusing to him when your eyes begin to water after you shakily exhale and attempt to hold back a cough.
“don’t hurt yourself.” matt quips under his breath.
౨ৎ
the group hadn’t realized just how long they’d been in the hot tub nor how drunk they all are until they struggled to get out and back to the main floor of the warehouse.
though, lots of giggles and piggyback rides helped them all stay together as they traveled back, cold and still damp. all partygoers were gone at that point, leaving the warehouse empty yet a mess.
nick (being the self-proclaimed good host he is) led the mass of drunk people to the bathrooms and brought extra graphic tee shirts and sweatpants to change into from the many boxes of merch sold in their tattoo shop. the boys had insisted that everyone just sleep at the warehouse due to their abundance of couches and chairs and their fear in sending anyone home in an uber at close to 3 AM.
matt is throwing pieces of trash in a large black trash bag when you step out from the bathroom near the colorful kitchenette of the warehouse.
he glances up when you approach slowly, feeling yourself sobered up quite a bit after peeing and washing your face.
“hey,” his voice is rough in tiredness.
“hey, do you have any water over here?” you ask politely, your lips taste salty when you lick over them.
“in the fridge,” he replies, crumbling wrappers and adding to his bag.
you notice how red and puffy his eyes truly are now that you’re this close to him and in better lighting. you walk past him to get to the fridge, almost completely empty after a long-lasting and full party.
“are you sleeping any time soon?” you ask, opening the water bottle.
“i don’t know.”
“i can always help you clean this if you need me to.”
“‘m good.” he analyzes a glass bottle to decide whether it’s worth keeping.
you nod your head, “cool.”
“you should probably sleep.” matt suggests looking over to you.
“i think i can decide that for myself, thanks.” you drink more of your water.
“you’re right i can only suggest. i’m suggesting you to go to sleep. and if you do stay up i'd suggest you don’t spend your time talking to me.”
you finish off your water and move closer to matt, placing it in the bag. “you truly know how to piss a girl off.”
“it’s my specialty.” he whispers and looks over your face now that you’re so close.
he’s so fucking hot that it genuinely upsets you at this point. you just back up and turn to go find the couch andrea’s decided to sleep on.
“goodnight, sunshine.” he calls after you, going back to his cleaning.
you're not too far away when you hear the bathroom door open and once again matt is greeting someone, only when you look over your shoulder you see erin approaching and matt leaning on the island counter with a smile.
you turn the corner with irritation. and you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having a problematic crush on matt while wanting nothing to do with him at all.
꩜⋆ ˚。⋆🎱˚
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do u have any sort of website that can tell me jobs in a small town? trying to write a story set in a small town but i cant come up with any ideas for jobs apart from the essential ones like police or hospital
Jobs in a Small Town
Government: mayor, city manager, city council member, city attorney, city clerk, code enforcement officer, customer service representative, finance director, fire chief/firefighter, paramedic, human resources manager, information technology department, librarian, municipal court clerk/administrator/judicial specialist/court security officer, parks and recreation director, planning and zoning director, police chief/officer or sheriff/deputy, public works director, utilities clerk, wastewater plant operator
Business: business owner/operator or employee (such as a clerk, receptionist, manager, or administrator) at a shop, restaurant, cafe, gas station, mechanic, tow truck, locksmith, landscaper/lawn care, handyman, florist, funeral home, pool cleaner, daycare center, grocery store, feed and pet store, car dealership, clothing boutique, ice cream parlor, liquor store, bar, nightclub, community theater, "big box store" (like Walmart), warehouse store (like Costco), movie theater, mini-golf course
Medical Services: hospital (administration, doctor, surgeon, nurse practitioner, nurse, nurse's aide, respiratory therapist, anesthesiologist, orderly, receptionist, lab worker, security, etc.) Doctor's office or urgent care (administration, doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, receptionist, etc.) Dentist or orthodontist (administration, dentist/orthodontist, dental assistant, orthodontic assistant, receptionist, etc.) Nursing home/assisted living facility (administration, doctor, nurse, orderly, etc.)
Random: country club employee, dog walker, babysitter/nanny, home nurse, museum director/curator/specialist/employee, town archaeologist (if area is rich in history), industrial jobs (mining, factories/manufacturing, farming/crop production, fishing/fisheries), wedding coordinator, convention center director, attorney, judge, taxi driver, utility repair technician, railway worker, bus driver, school jobs (principal, teacher, teacher's aide, librarian, cafeteria worker, counselor, security officer, custodian), airport jobs (administrative, security, service provider/employee, airline worker, pilot, flight attendant, plane mechanic)
That's all I've got at the moment, but keep an eye on the comments in case others come up with ideas! :)
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lmwarehousing · 11 days
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Enhance efficiency in logistics and warehouse services with L&M's expert solutions, designed to optimize storage, transportation, and distribution.
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unplugfromthesource · 24 days
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Body Glitter
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✨About: After catching your boyfriend cheating on you at a night club, you come into contact with a man that changes your life all in one night.
🚬Josh Kiszka x reader
🪩Word Count: 4k
🍸Warnings: mentions of sex, drinking, smoking, angst, crying, cursing, yelling (sorry if I missed any 🌝)
🎤Authors Note: I hope everyone enjoys it! It took me a lot of rewriting but it’s here! if the formatting is messy- my apologies🩷
🎶playlist:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The night almost didn’t feel real. Maybe it was a mix between the undeniable amount of times you saw guys checking you out, or the cheap liquor coursing through your veins, but the second you saw your boyfriend of 2 years cheating on you with some dumb blonde in the sea of people, you lost it. Your, now ex, boyfriend raved on and on about this small nightclub in Nashville called, The Ether, saying they had the best drinks and the best DJ in all of Tennessee. You followed him up on this request, slipping on a silk mini-dress with sheer black tights, bows adorning the back side, and a pair of simple black heels. You let your hair fall into loose curls as you finish up your makeup and walk hand in hand with your boyfriend into The Ether. 
The air felt thick, lights flashed and glitter sparkled as you pushed through the people. You let him lead you to a small bar on the far side of the room, and you smile as you lock eyes with the bartender, tattoos running up both arms and being stopped by a tight-fitting black t-shirt. 
“Can I get a cosmo?” You shout over the thumping music as you lean forward slightly on the bar. All it took was one nod from the man for him to turn around and begin shaking up your drink. The man silently took your boyfriend's order and you followed him back into the crowd of people, drinks in hand. 
It felt routine to you. Dance for a few songs, find a bathroom, fix any slight imperfections, go back, drink, dance, repeat. It went on like this for about 2 hours, time flowing like a river and your body getting freckled with glitter upon each move to the restroom from the other partygoers. 
I smiled to myself in the mirror as I took in my appearance. My hair had been frizzy from dancing, and silver and gold glitter was sprinkled everywhere, my lipstick was nearly gone, and my feet were starting to hurt. I looked behind me in the mirror and watched as another girl fixed up her makeup on her phone camera. I turned without a second thought. 
“Do you have the time?” I said softly as her glazed eyes drifted over to me. 
“It's 12:47,” she said lazily, the alcohol running off her tongue. 
I smiled as a thank you and silently returned to the big warehouse-looking room. As I walked through the crowd the scene unfolded in front of me so quickly I didn’t have time to question if it was happening. There, amongst the group of people and hundreds of other bodies pushed into here, my boyfriend stood happily as he locked faces with some blonde whose extensions were too clear to see. My face grew hot as tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks as I turned to leave. I walked quickly, the tears only running faster as I pushed open the metal door and walked out into a back alleyway. Sobs racked through my body as I walked out onto the sidewalk, earning stares I couldn’t bother to care about. 
I felt helpless. The man I loved, the man I saw the rest of my life with, so easily just dropped all we had for a quick fuck. I crouched down on the curb and rested my head on my hands as I debated my next move. Go back and confront him like a psycho bitch or… go home. I sighed as I reached out next to me, going to grab my phone. Fuck he had my phone. I let out a frustrated scream as it all came together; It was nearly 1 am, my boyfriend just cheated on me, I was slightly tipsy, and I had no form of communication. Just as I moved to stand, a pair of black dress shoes with small scruffs on the tips appeared next to me. 
Slowly, I dragged my eyes up his body, taking in his outfit and appearance. He wore semi-tight black suit pants, hugging his hips in all the right spots…it was followed by a black button-down linen shirt, leaving only the bottom buttoned. A triangle pendant hung on his toned chest as it beamed in the light off his tanned skin. My eyes met his and I would be lying if I said he wasn't gorgeous. He had chocolate brown eyes that were ever so slightly sunken in, three white lines dragged out under each eye, soft, plump lips with a cigarette resting between them, well-kept facial hair, and a head full of curls that made out to be a mullet, but not in a Western way. While he didn’t seem to stand that tall, he felt it. The way he dressed in rich clothing, the toned body, the way he so confidently stood over me as the lust spilled off him. 
I locked eyes with him as he took a drag of his cigarette before removing it from his lips and exhaling slowly whilst looking down at you. 
“Why ya crying pretty girl?” he says cooly.
“Why do you care?” I said a bit harsher than I meant to.
“Cause you're too pretty to cry,” he said crouching down next to me and placing the cigarette back into the side of his mouth “And I hate,” he said as he wiped a tear from my cheek “to see pretty girls cry.” 
Silence filled the air as I looked over at him and then back down at my feet. 
“My boyfriend cheated on me,” I said shakily as I felt more tears run down my face at the mere thought “brought me to some club, and then when I came back from the bathroom I caught him sucking faces with some dumb blond…” I say, my breathing heavy as I try to calm myself down in front of this random stranger. 
Silently, he stood. While he didnt appear to be that tall, his demeanor and ego made him stand 6 '5. 
“Come on,” he said coolly as he extended an arm down towards me. I grabbed it without a second thought and stood, holding onto his hand as he began to walk, dragging me along behind him. 
“Where are we going?” I said curiously as I tried to match his pace. 
“To have fun.” 
“What's your name?” 
“Josh.” 
What a cute name for such a serious-looking man I thought to myself as I walked behind him. 
“Josh what?” 
“Kiszka.” 
I smiled at him as he answered my plethora of questions, trying to act annoyed even though we both know he took me out for “fun”
“Are you going to ask me for mine?” 
“What's yours?” He said with a smile as he glanced at me from over his shoulder. 
“y/n. y/n y/l/n.” He nodded slightly in response. Odd I thought to myself. Who picks up a crying girl from the street and just walks with them? A guy named Josh. 
“You do this a lot?” 
“Do what?” he says with a hint of curiosity in his tone.
“Go find random girls to “have fun” with,” I say with a bit of disgust. 
“If you think I'm taking you back to an apartment or house, you're wrong, so don’t think so poorly of me when our night has just started.” 
“I was-” 
“Stop talking” his voice cutting through my words, as my eyes widened at his command. 
“Who the f-” before I could even finish my sentence he turned around quickly, grabbing my wrist. 
“You can either stop talking and trust me, or I can ditch you and let you continue to cry on the side of the street. We both know you don’t want that, do you, pretty girl?” 
I moved to give him an answer but he simply said “That's what I thought” and kept walking. 
I stayed silent as I let him lead me down the streets of Nashville, nightlife still buzzing, lights still flashing, and music still being sung. Finally, we landed at a small bar that seemed to be hosting a singer, for the music could be heard from outside; a complete change of scenery from where I was not even 10 minutes ago. He opened the door for me as I walked inside, taking in the scenery. The lighting was dim and the ceiling was filled with small fairy lights, leaves, and flowers. The tables were made out to look like tree stumps while the stools were made to look like daisies and sunflowers. My eyes landed on the small stage in the far back of the room, where a girl stood singing, laughing as she read the lyrics off the screen. Josh moved from behind me, tilting his head as a single to follow him as he walked up to the small bar and ordered himself a drink, turning to get my order to which I politely replied with “a cosmo please”, my go-to order. 
Once we got our drinks, Josh led us to sit somewhat close to the stage, bringing me to a booth that was dimly lit with purple lighting and large crystals making up a barrier between the other booths, as if it was our little room. 
“This place is cool.” I say, taking in the scenery around me. 
“Yeah it's pretty neat, been in here a few times but never long enough to enjoy it..” he says while twisting his glass between his fingers. 
I nodded as I looked down at my drink, sipping it here and there, the awkward silence eating me alive. I cleared my throat as I moved to speak, 
“I don’t know what to say..” 
“Do you like karaoke?” He said, looking up to meet my stare. 
“Maybe if I was super drunk” I said with a small laugh as I nursed my drink. 
“What would you sing if you had to do it?” he said with a small smile. 
“Uh… gosh I don’t know, probably like an older song… maybe My Way, Don't Go Breaking My Heart if i’m with friends though?” 
“Mm good songs” I nodded my head in response as conversation began to flow, along with the alcohol. 
After about 45 minutes of talking, I completely forgot about the night I started off having. I felt like I knew everything there was to know about Josh and I feel like he knew everything there was to know about me. Just as I finished my drink he stood, and I smiled as he let me know he’d go get us another round. As I sat waiting for his arrival, I heard a familiar sound. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. Sneaky Bastard, I thought to myself as he walked back towards our booth with drinks in hand and a smile on his face. 
“What’d you do…” I said with a laugh as he set the drinks down in front of me. He simply shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to my side of the booth, grabbing my arm and leading me towards the small stage. 
“What are you doing?” I said, laughing out loud at the action. 
“Getting you to have fun,” he said as he led me up the stairs and handed me the microphone. 
“No Josh im so shit seriously I'm so bad,” I said as I pushed the microphone back towards him.
“It's fine so am I,” he said with a smile as the lyrics started to pop up on the screen and he began to sing. I sit in disbelief as I watch him sing the lyrics, laughing slightly as he does so, to the very small crowd, barely paying attention. “Ok Mr.Kiszka” I laughed as he moved to wrap an arm around my shoulders as he moved the microphone to sit between the two of us as we sang together. 
Perhaps it was all the martinis I was downing, maybe it was the fact that Josh was undeniably one of the most handsome men I've ever seen or even the way he made me feel better and completely forget about the fact that I had been cheated on like there was no one watching, but for the first time the entire night, I genuinely felt happy. This random man that I just met tonight, made me feel a way I haven’t in a long time. As we finished the song, we made our way back to the booth, finishing our drinks in a rush. I followed him to pay the bill, wrapping my arms around his waist as I watched him and we quickly rushed out the door once he got his card back. 
The walk back towards my apartment felt like a scene from a movie. Both of us equally drunk, stumbled down the street, pausing every few blocks to get our hands on each other. Thankfully I lived right on Broadway so it wasn’t a far walk back to mine. Once we got to my complex, we wasted no time running up the stairs to my apartment, fumbling with the keys, and dropping everything the second we finally got inside. 
I opened the door and Josh made quick work of getting us inside, closing the door, and turning me to face him, forcing himself onto me as our lips connected into a deep and passionate kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck, tangling a hand in his curly locks as I slowly walked us backward, breaking the kiss and grabbing his hand, leading him towards my room. I pushed the door open and turned to face him, moving to kiss him once more. 
Our mouths met and his tongue licked at my bottom lip, seeking entrance. The kiss only went deeper as his tongue explored my mouth, his beer from earlier still lingering on his tongue. I turned to us slowly, having his knees hit the bed as I pushed him to sit, slowly lowering myself to sit on my knees before him. I made quick work of undoing his belt, pulling his pants down, and planting soft kisses on the inside of his thighs, then softly on his boxers, earning a soft groan from him. 
“Don’t tease me, pretty girl,” he said with a scruff voice, his eyes piercing into mine as I looked up at him through my lashes. I rubbed a hand over his growing bulge as I moved my hands up to his waistband, painfully slowly pulling down his boxers as he lifted his hips. 
I smiled as I brought my hand up to his cock, rubbing it once over as he let out a shuddered breath. I moved my lips along his thighs, slowly bringing them to his base, licking a stripe his length before wrapping my lips around his tip and sinking my mouth onto him. 
“Oh fuck” he gasped out as I began to bob my head up and down on him. “God you're amazing,” he said, bringing a hand to my hair, making a makeshift ponytail. “Could watch you all day.” I laid down a steady rhythm, his moans filling the air. 
“Faster, faster please baby,” he said between moans. With that, I picked up my pace moving faster than before. Eventually, he began to reach the back of my mouth and I choked back a gag as hard as I could, tears forming in my eyes as I did so. His moans filled the air like music to my ears. Before I could keep going, he pulled at my hair, lifting me off of him. I looked up at him as I tried my best to catch my breath, wiping the back of my hand on my mouth. 
“What's wrong?” I said between breaths.
“Close,” he said with his head tilted back and his breathing equally as heavy as mine “C’mere,” he said, grabbing at my arms to lift me and I stood with ease. He began to plant small kisses along my clothed torso, scrunching the silk fabric up slowly, revealing more of my legs. Carefully, he lifted the dress and I met his hands at my chest, removing it all the way, revealing my bare chest as I stood in my tights and underwear, feeling rather shy as I went to cover my chest with my arms. 
“Fuck..” he said in a growling tone as he took in the sight of my body and I watched as his eyes moved up my chest, looking as I attempted to cover it. 
“Why are you getting all shy on me now, pretty girl?” He said, grabbing my arms gently and moving them down, sliding his hands down my arms and then to my tights, pulling them down softly. 
“Get these off you” he said with a smile as he looked up at me. 
Once they were off completely, I moved to straddle him, doing the same to him and taking off his shirt, running my hands down his body as he leaned forward, kissing down my neck to my chest. He brought one hand to my hips and one to my chest, massaging my breast in his palm while he placed the other in his mouth. I moved my hand to the back of his head as mine moved back slightly. 
“J-josh..” I gasped out as I could feel him smile against my skin. 
He moved his kisses back up along my body to my face, our lips connecting once more like glue. I pulled slightly on his hair, earning a groan from him that got muffled in the mix of me biting at his bottom lip. Heat began to form between my legs and naturally, I moved to grind down on him. I moved my lips down to his neck, biting and sucking hard as I continued to pick up my pace, grinding into him. 
“Fuck, you're soaked,” he said with a slight laugh as I leaned back and let out a pornographic moan as he moved a hand between us and brought it to the outside of my underwear. 
“I need you so bad” I mumbled as I rested my head on his shoulder “Please… please..” 
“Please what?” 
“Fuck please touch me,” I said as I dug my hands into his scalp, pulling on his hair tightly. 
With that, he moved my underwear to the side, brought his fingers to my clit, and began to rub in small circular motions, his touch being feather-light. 
“Fuck Josh please,” I said as I bit down slightly on his shoulder. 
With that, he withdrew his hand and hooked it into the seams of my underwear, and moved back slightly, forcing me to stand, my legs shaky with a mix of the alcohol and the pleasure he was bringing me. He lowered my underwear slowly, as I moved to step out of them and crawl back onto the bed, straddling him once more. 
He smiled as I sat on top of him, leaning down to plant small kisses down his chest and once more his neck. 
“Do you have a condom?” he said as he stretched his neck to the side to give me more access. 
“I’m on the pill,” I said between kisses.
Those words alone earned a groan out of him. With ease, I sat back up, looked down at him with hooded eyes, and slowly lowered myself onto him, my jaw dropping slowly in pleasure. 
He sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh fuuuuuck” I watched as his eyes fluttered shut as I slowly began to pick my hips up before placing them back down onto his and he moved his hands to hold onto my hips. 
I bit my lip as I slowly picked up my pace and placed my hands on either of his shoulders. Gently, he brought one of his hands up to my chest, grabbing and rubbing my breast in his palm as I moved a hand between us as I began to soft rub circles onto my clit, moaning out louder. I felt his hand leave my chest and grab at my wrist, replacing my fingers as I leaned forward and pleaded into his ear. 
“Ple-please don’t stop holy shit” I say as my hair falls off my shoulders in soft waves. 
As our bodies moved in unison, I moved to sit back up, trying to regain some composure before all was lost again. 
“Open your eyes” I let out a small whimper as the words left his lips “Look how good I’m making you feel”. 
I opened my eyes, looking down to where his hand met my body, biting my lip as I watched the way our bodies connected. I wanted more, didn’t want this to end. Ever. 
I felt the pit forming in my stomach, my breathing growing heavier as I felt myself get closer to the edge.
“M’close Josh- don’t stop” I practically screamed out. 
Our moans filled the air till something else joined the mix.
“What the fuck!” 
I’m too deep in to turn around when I realize who it is. My boyfriend. Nothing mattered in the moment, I was so close and I wasn’t going to let some asshole ruin it for me. 
“Who the fuck are you?!” I hear him call out to Josh 
“Fuck she’s so close…. She’s squeezing me so tightly” I open my eyes to look down at him as he smiles at the man standing behind me. 
“J-josh..” Between him telling the man I was still currently dating how I was making him feel and the fact that he hadn’t stopped moving his fingers, my release came fast “i- fuck I’m coming”.
Josh let out a low moan as I stopped moving on him and my body shook with pleasure. He brought his fingers to a halt, now opting to move for me, fucking my cum back into me. 
“Shit m’there too baby…you gonna stay to watch?” I could hear him say with a smile, and then the door slammed shut, followed by the front door. Josh moved quickly, fucking me hard as he came to his finish. 
My name flowed out of his mouth like a mantra as he came, his movements faltering slightly before coming to an end. I slouched slightly as he finished before slowly moving off of him, breathing rapidly matching him. 
He groaned at the loss of contact as I moved to lay down next to him, resting my hands on my stomach. 
“I’m sorry I didn’t know he w-” 
I was cut off by him bringing a hand to mine, rubbing my knuckles softly. 
“It made things 10x hotter” He said with a smile as I turned my head softly to look at him, matching his smile. 
“And for the record,” he said with a sarcastic chuckle “you can do way better than that!” he said with a look written on his face saying “ME!”. 
I laughed at him as I moved to place my head on his chest.
“Well if you find someone, send them my way,” I said with a soft shrug and smile. 
“Oh wait actually,” he said as I sat up slightly to look at him “Do you have your phone?” 
I looked at him confused. Why would he want my phone? 
“no… why?” 
“Fuck” he says sighing a bit “I’ve got the number of someone better for you” he said coolly with a slick smirk. 
“Touche,” I said as I leaned down to kiss his lips. “This will be discussed over coffee in the morning Mr.Josh” I said sternly as my lips hovered above his.
“I look forward to it Ms.y/n” I smiled as he leaned in kissing my lips once more before I pulled back. I pulled at the covers, lifting them over ourselves and moving to lay on my side, back facing him as he wrapped an arm around my stomach, pulling me into his backside. 
“Goodnight pretty girl” he whispered as he kissed my hair and lay his head down next to mine. I hummed out slightly before saying, 
“Goodnight Mr.Kiszka.”
The end.
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