#we gotta make updated version

[danothan]

sniffs. what changed 😢

[orteil42]

Cookie Clicker turns 10 today! Having outlived our enemies, let us celebrate with a fresh batch of announcements!

🍪First of all, Cookie Clicker is 40% off on Steam this week! The perfect gift for your loved and/or hated ones! (the web version is still free forever but you don't get Steam achievements or music by C418!)

🍪Secondly! The mobile version has been lagging behind the browser game for years and is in dire need of an update. I've been dedicating most of my time recently to bringing its content up to par! Here's a progress report:

Compared to the current version, this update adds back 284 upgrades and 179 achievements from the web game, which leaves 83 upgrades and 94 achievements still unimplemented plus a good amount of heavenly upgrades. I am determined to close that gap!

Seasons and the pet dragon are currently partially implemented. These are complicated, compound features with side-effects in all kinds of places so once the update gets an alpha release I'll likely be needing everyone's help to hunt for bugs and oversights. I'm being as thorough as possible but there's no way I didn't forget some obscure interplay somewhere!

I'm also updating the UI! Cookie Clicker's interface makes heavy use of woodwork, which is largely absent from the mobile version; I've been aiming to bring it back. Rather than recycling desktop assets, I'm looking to push the game's visual identity towards less "plain wooden boards" and more "victorian biscuit shop" (something I'd have liked to go for when I first made the game but didn't quite know how yet). Here's some early screenshots!

I'm using Blender for the new assets, I might make a more in-depth post about my process in the future. Please note that these are experimental and I'm still fiddling with the look! Once I'm happy with it I'll ideally be giving the desktop game a similar makeover.

This update will hopefully come out later this year and will likely involve multiple rounds of alpha. Once stable, future updates will focus on adding sugar lumps and as many of the minigames as possible.

🍪Thirdly: the Makeship grandma plushie is real and we're doing a giveaway! Please read this twitter post to enter. Note that if the launch campaign succeeds we've got other plushies in mind! Maybe a wrinkler?

🍪Fourthly - there was going to be a really cool announcement here but I've been informed I'm not yet at liberty to discuss it. It's sooooo cool tho trust me. things happening. u gotta take my word for it. tune in next time

🍪Lastly:

i've got enough dough for like, idk 50 more? mom's recipe. white+dark+milk chocolate. they're very good thank you

PS. thank you for playing with us all these years! odds are some of you reading this have been here since the very start. that's mad to think about! Opti and I couldn't have done this for 10 whole years without all of you hyping us up. i want to see if we can do 10 more. get real freaky with it

[j-esbian]

i hate google chrome lmfao

[ohisms]

↪     𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 , 𝑰'𝑴 𝑨 𝑭𝑬𝑾 - ᶰᵒ ᶠᵃᵐᶤˡʸ ˒ ᵗᵒᵒ . 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑚 𝑖 ?    (  a  series  of  sentence  starters  from  season  1  of  “ orphan black ” .   adjust  phrasing  as  necessary . will be updated !  )

i wanna see [ name ] .

well , that's not fair , is it ?!

oh my god , you look like crap .

i didn't miss your birthday , did i ?

something really weird just happened at the train station .

what the hell is wrong with you ?

listen to me , [ name ] , i'm only gonna ask you this once .

oh , i'm fine by the way , thank you .

get in the car .

when you don't give a damn , i get pissed .

you'd better be ready . are you ready ?

you're sure as hell overdressed . what , were you out all night or something ?

this shit is as hard as it gets . but you've gotta stop making it worse .

i panicked , what do you want me to say ?

i'm kidding . where's your wit gone ?

you don't have to babysit me , dipshit .

i know this thing's got you all twisted up , but try to forgive yourself .

[ name ] , open the goddamn door !

yeah , the last thing i am is special .

[ name ] , where have you been ?

where have i been ? uh .. long story .

oh , jesus , are you alright ?

you have a few words , [ name ] ? anything you want to express ?

plead your mercy & your pity .

love is imperfection itself .

say it . go ahead , say it's my fault .

who the hell are you ?

of course not . you think we'd let that happen ?

i'm at home , you've got it all wrong .

you know what ? don't . i'm going to ignore that .

i'm worried you're losing the plot again .

sorry , i've got ... i've got a lot of work to do .

i mean , what am i supposed to do ?

you don't have to take this on .

i can't keep waking up every night , checking your breathing , worried you're mixing your meds , booze ... god knows what else .

i knew it was too good to be true .

why would you help such a stupid plan ?

i'm not going to play [ name ] in the middle .

i'm not dirty , i just freaked out .

if there is another version of this story ...

walk me through it again . so i know you won't crack under questioning .

you're making me nervous .

finally ! where have you been ?

who am i speaking to ?

how did you find me ?

idiot . do you even know who you're talking to ?

i don't care who you are .

nope , that is not my responsibility .

go , & wait for a call .

what i'm trying to do is move on .

we have known each other for awhile now , [ name ] .

i nailed it , man . every detail .

come on , [ name ] , give me a little love here !

you know , my skin just breaks out every time i leave downtown .

whoa , hey , [ name ] - you always do this to me !

i don't do backup , i don't even know what backup is !

i got stuck , i was running from my own shit .

i'm not giving you shit 'til you give me some answers .

don't ! do not shoot me , please !

seriously , it's life or death .

am i going insane ?

[trans-rite]

How to join the Transgender Ancestor Rite: an FAQ on our updated format

What is it?

an annual, non-denominational ritual honoring transgender individuals who have passed on

an act of solidarity with the lineage of transgender ancestors who have come before us and paved the way, as well as with the descendants who will come after us when we are gone

a chance to share tenderness and kindness with the restless spirits of transgender people who lost their lives to violence

an opportunity for living transgender folks, including those who have lost trans loved ones, to grieve, mourn, and pray

a labor of love from a multiracial group of trans spirit workers, each at various stages of study in ancestor veneration practices, who have been putting on this ritual since 2014

When is it?

the ritual should take place on or around the Trans Day of Remembrance on November 20th, preferably within a week

most of us do it at night but any time of day is fine

if you need to do it a little before or after the 20th, don't sweat it

Where is it?

wherever you are!

groups are welcome to host local events and inform us about them, but the ritual itself takes place in a location of your own choosing, usually at home

if you have access to a local TDOR event that could incorporate some or all of this ritual, you are welcome to bring it there

most of the organizers have historically been located in the northeastern US but you don’t have to be

Who is it for?

it honors everyone from this year’s Trans Day of Remembrance official list, as well as any other deaths of trans individuals from the year that participants wish to include

illness losses, violent deaths, suicides, and natural deaths are all eligible for inclusion

it includes, cumulatively, all transgender deaths from previous years as well, named on the TDOR lists and unnamed, throughout history

it honors and praises the trans ancestors, people who were alive both recently and longer ago, who feel themselves in connection with us, who have received the care and honor we offered through previous years’ rituals, who are bright and well and who can tend the line from the other side

participants can be trans or cisgender, of any or no denomination or faith

Does it cost money?

nope! this is an anticapitalist affair

you can buy incense and offerings if you like, but you don’t need to spend money to participate

Why are y’all doing this?

honestly this could take pages and pages about the importance of this work and of soothing the troubled dead and tending our ancestral line et cetera et cetera ad infinitum but the short version is

we gotta

our ancestors require it and we’re making sure they get it

Okay, how does it work?

during the ritual, you sit or stand at an altar, light a candle, put out a glass of fresh water, and read a prayer

you may also make any other offerings you feel called to do

if so moved, you read the names of the dead from this year's TDOR list and call on our bright and well ancestors to tend to these newly passed souls

all the people participating in all the different places in the world help create a rising raft of energy that is greater than the sum of its parts, delivering the restless dead among our line into the care of our bright and well ancestors, who, in turn, also care for us, the living

Prayers? I thought you said this was non-denominational.

prayers can involve divinity, or they can be kind and soothing words to say to the dead

you can look through our prayers tag to get ideas and inspiration, but feel free to find poems on your own and/or write something yourself as well 

you are welcome to include deity or not, as you prefer

the organizers of this ritual incorporate gods and spirits in our practices but you by no means need to

on the flip side, if you want your gods involved, feel free to do so in whatever respectful manner works for you

What do I need on my altar?

the basics are an altar cloth (white is traditional; a bandana works), a cup to be filled with water, and a new or dedicated candle (white is traditional here also but follow your instincts)

other great offerings include cut flowers, portions of your food and drink (though alcohol is not advised with restless spirits), tobacco, honey, pictures and/or names of the deceased, art, music, dancing, and any gender paraphernalia you think the ancestors might like

do not put pictures of living people on the altar

it can be as simple or ornate as you choose: the important parts are the candle, the cup, and the cloth

Isn’t it sketchy to be working with dead people?

a little bit

it is much less sketchy since our format change in 2022, at which point this ritual shifted from working directly with restless spirits (dicey) to interfacing with them only through our cadre of elevated bright and well ancestors who have already benefited from previous years' rituals

we advise that you cleanse or purify in whatever way you prefer, ideally before and after the working

if you’re in a Western (especially American Christian) culture that views death as The End and discussion of death as taboo, consider reading up on cultures where ancestor veneration is a normal part of everyday life (hint: it’s most of them)

Other questions? Send them in and we’ll answer them, and maybe add them to the list! If you post about the ritual, tag #troe2023 and we will check it out!

Thank you for joining us!

- Mod Alder and team

[captainofthetidesbreath]

Between the teaser trailer and the How It Began, we got nice shots of all these figures at the front of the GM screen frontpiece. The figures are clearly invoking religious weight, and the screen overall takes a lot of elements from the Catholic-esque feeling of the Bulbian Church (note: censer at left and chalice at right).

So, naturally, I've gotta make some guesses for inspirations here.

First, we've got Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with the Commandments, with clear inspiration from Gustave Doré down to draping.

The pecan appears to be Mary under her title of Rosa Mystica, the Mystic Rose. (The statue at right has a hood, the angle just obscures it.) It's a bit of a niche pull, but the roses at the lapels is distinctive.

Easy one. Our favorite sexy male saint, Sebastian.

The crown, sword, object in hand, and (barely visible at the lower left) brick tower identifies the leafy green figure as Barbara, patron of artillery persons, military engineers, armorers, and those who work with explosives! (She's sometimes depicted with a cannon.)

I was previously uncertain who this figure was until I noticed the difficult-to-see tower, but Barbara was actually my first guess; I should've stuck with it, but I got really antsy after I struggled to find the specific statue. If you're curious who I originally put forward as possibilities, which included Barbara, you can check out the old version of this post before I updated it with the correct identification.

Now, I have no idea why these particular image touchstones (or possible ones in the last case), or even if there IS a reason, but maybe the series itself will shed some light on that one.

[melodygatesauthor]

The Best Kept Secrets - Marc's Story

dbf!Marc Spector X f!Reader

Not Beta Read - Masterlist - AO3 Link

Suggested reading order - Marc -> Steven -> Jake -

Steven's Story - Jake's Story

Summary:

You've just graduated college and you find yourself developing feelings for your dad's best friend after your graduation party. Three different versions of the same story all with different boys.

Tags/Warnings (for all three fics):

NSFW, age gap (reader is about 22 - boys are 40), reader is not race-coded, reader graduated college in America but isn't necessarily American, p in v creampie, unprotected sex, dbf trope, oral sex, coercion (sort of on both sides), Jake being Jake, Marc being Marc, Steven being Steven, forbidden relationship, forbidden sex, blowjob, mild bondage, dirty talk, alcohol consumption, car sex, bad puns

Word Count: 9.4k (apparently I can't write anything short anymore)

You got out of the Uber when it stopped in front of your childhood home. Your dad was already waiting for you by the front door, smiling wide. He came over with his arms out, pulling you into a big hug. You grunted from the tight squeeze.

“Hi dad.” You choked out.

“I sweetie.” He let go of you and looked you over. “How was the ride from the airport?” He started taking two of your bags out of the trunk and walking back toward the house with you in tow.

“Long,” you said with a tired laugh.

“Well, hope you’re not too tired cause there’s a few people here to see you.”

He opened the front door and you were greeted by several relatives and family friends in the kitchen. They all shouted, congratulations! at once, holding up an assortment of beer bottles and glasses of wine. Knowing your dad, the drinking had been going on for a couple of hours before you arrived.

“Thanks everyone,” you said with a big smile, feeling a little shy having all those eyes on you.

You noticed the black and gold, congrats graduate, banner adorning the wall above the table in the dining area. With the initial excitement over, the crowd dissipated and you watched everyone start mingling once again. Your cousins came up to you and started exchanging quick updates on their lives while everyone else chattered around you throughout the house.

“What do you think, huh?” Your dad asked, coming up behind you while you admired the cake in the center of the dining table. He handed you a mixed drink.

“Dad, this is really great. There’s so many people! I really wasn’t expecting this when you said we were having a graduation barbecue. Thought maybe only a couple people would show up.” You looked to see your aunt talking with one of your dad’s friends in the living room.

“You know me better than that. Not everyday your kid graduates college,” he patted your back proudly, “shit, gotta go check the grill. I’ll be right back.”

While he was gone, you watched your aunt and your dad’s friend finish their conversation. You’d known Marc since you were a kid, but it had been a long time since you’d seen each other. He came over to you and held up his beer as if to say cheers. He still looked so rough around the edges, just how you always remembered him. You looked him up and down, trying not to make it seem too obvious.

Has he been working out?

“Congrats. College…wow.” He took a swig off his beer bottle, “all grown up.”

You gave him a nervous giggle, “yeah, I guess.” You felt inexplicably shy all of a sudden, you tried to make small talk, “How have you been? It’s been so long.”

He shrugged, “been keeping busy, staying out of trouble,” he gulped some of his beer down and then looked at you with those brown eyes that seemed to sparkle when the light hit them just right.

You felt your cheeks getting flush for what felt like, at the time, nothing worth getting flustered over. Marc was handsome, anyone could see that, but you’d never looked at him that way. He’d always just been your dad’s best friend. Then again, he’d never looked at you like that. Were you imagining things? He seemed to be sneaking glances at different parts of your body. His eyes trekked over your neck, down to the crevice of your slightly low cut shirt, beyond your denim jeans and finally onto the floor which is when he rubbed the back of his neck like he was nervous.

“Still fixing toilets?” You sipped your drink, trying to change the subject quickly.

“Yeah…well…sort of. I do all kinds of handyman stuff, not just toilets. I also do home inspections.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it over to you.

You read the print and huffed out a laugh at the obvious pun.

Marc Spector

The Home In-Spector

“It’s dumb I know.” He rolled his eyes, taking another drink.

You raised an eyebrow, “I think it’s clever. Definitely memorable.” Someone called your name from outside, interrupting the casual conversation. “Oh, I gotta go, see you around, Marc.”

“Yeah…you too.”

After several hours and a few drinks later, you were sitting around the firepit with only your dad, one of your cousins and Marc. You remembered the roaring laughter over a dumb joke that Marc made at your expense. You grumbled and gave him the finger. You weren’t actually upset, and had a hard time keeping yourself from bursting out into laughter as well. Marc flipped you off in return and smiled at you. Marc’s smile was so fucking beautiful. Why hadn’t you noticed before tonight how good looking he was? This feeling you had was so wrong…but you wanted him so badly all of a sudden. It had to be the alcohol, that was the only explanation.

A little while later, you were tipsy and felt your eyelids closing involuntarily, no matter how hard you tried to keep them open.

They closed again, and when you opened them this time, it was only you and Marc left around the fire.

Closed again.

You weren’t sure how long you’d been out, but the sudden movement stirred you awake. You were being carried by a set of strong arms. Did your dad come back to get you? No. He would’ve woken you up so you could walk to bed. You wrapped your arms around the man’s shoulders and buried your face in his neck. Marc, you thought.

He smelled warm, like he’d been in the sun all day. Your lips brushed the soft skin there, and you felt a strong sense of comfort wash over you. Alcohol had a way of making you forget to filter your emotions, and right now you were hoping Marc would never let go. You didn’t know why you felt that way. None of it made sense. It’s not like he’d made any sort of pass at you during your growing up, and he had certainly been respectful all night.

So why did you feel like you wanted him to fill you up with everything he had?

It had to be the alcohol. You drank too much, and it was making you feel flirty, and foolish, like you didn’t care about the consequences of any bad decisions you might be inclined to make. Marc sat you down on your bed. You didn’t lay down yet, you just sat there, clutching his shirt so he couldn’t walk away. He grabbed your wrist and looked down at you through his own hooded and intoxicated gaze.

“Marc,” you said softly.

He knelt down, eyes level with yours, “what?”

You looked between his eyes. What did you want from him? Did you expect him to throw away a friendship that was older than you’d been on the planet so that you could fulfill this seemingly random and new feeling? If you would just let go of his damn shirt, he could leave and you would go to bed. It was so simple, but you felt an ache between your legs and a burning desire for him that you couldn’t make sense of.

“Don’t go, please.”

He gave you a gentle smirk, “I have to go to bed,” his smile almost killed you, “you gotta let go of my–”

“Take care of me first…don’t you know what you did to me?”

You were both breathing so heavily, and his eyes kept darting to your lips. You weren’t sure who dove in first, but you both started kissing each other hungrily, motions made sloppier from the alcoholic influence you were both under. Marc continued to claim every moan that left your mouth while you guided his hand down to the waist of your pants. He tucked his thick fingers in and felt between your soaking wet folds.

“Holy shit,” he commented in a breathy rasp, “did I really make you that fuckin’ wet? How long have you felt this way about me?”

“A long time,” you lied.

You always had found him attractive. Objectively speaking, Marc was a good looking man. Regarding wanting to let him take you on every surface in your childhood home? That feeling was brand new to you. Something between the drunken fogginess and the sweet way he carried you changed something in your DNA. You needed him…badly.

All too suddenly, Marc gained a conscience. He pulled his hand free from your pants, and backed away from you quickly. He looked you up and down, running a hand through his hair, eyes plagued with guilt. It was all too clear that this fantasy of yours was over. Whatever this moment was that the intoxication had afforded you, ended with some sense of clarity that tore through Marc.

“No, no.”

That was all he could say, not one word more before he left your room in haste. He didn’t need to say anything else. You knew deep down you were dumb for thinking Marc would actually do anything with you. You knew that was a one-time thing, and that he would want to go about as though it never happened. For your father’s sake, you would take an oath of silence, despite the feelings you were keeping buried deep.

----

The next morning at breakfast, Marc had flat out refused to make eye contact with you. Even when you asked him to pass the orange juice, he kept his head down when handing it to you over the turntable. You scowled when you took it from him, but took the bottle without added drama. Of course you understood that things were awkward, but if he kept treating you like you didn’t exist, that was even weirder. If he thought blatantly avoiding you in front of your dad wasn’t suspicious, he was sorely mistaken.

The moment your father went up to use the bathroom, you took the opportunity to talk to Marc who, at that moment, was clenching his jaw and pretending to look at his phone. The man still used a Motorola flip phone. You couldn’t imagine there was anything very interesting on a phone without internet access, unless he was trying to avoid you deliberately.

“Marc, I’m not going to say anything to him or anyone, but you acting like this is more suspicious than if we fucked on the table in front of him so–”

“Can you please watch your mouth. Don’t say things like that.” He said in a harsh whisper, “I just don’t want to think about it, alright?” His thick Chicago accent always came out when he got irritated.

“I’m fine with that, I just mean…you’re not being very subtle. Just pretend nothing happened and treat me like I exist…please.”

When your dad came back downstairs, Marc seemed to make a better effort to act like he always did around you, and it worked. Even you had a couple moments where you almost forgot that there was something awkward between you two. You kept reminding yourself it was only a kiss, and it was only a kiss, but you’d be a liar if you said you didn’t want so much more.

----

For two weeks you fought off thoughts about your dad’s best friend. You tried so hard not to think about the way his arms felt carrying you up to bed the other night; so hard not to think about the way he smelled when you had your face buried in his neck; you tried so fucking hard not to think about the way his fingers felt brushing over your clit while he kissed you so passionately.

You were surprised when your father left for work and only a couple of hours later, Marc arrived. You didn’t know he was there, and nearly screamed when you heard him whistling downstairs as you were stepping out of the shower. You peered out the window and saw his truck with his company logo on the side. You let out a sigh of relief, realizing that there wasn’t a burglar in your home, but that initial fear was quickly replaced with an anxiety that you couldn’t shake. The only thing you could think about was how badly you wanted to feel his lips on yours again.

After you changed into your shorts and a tanktop, you decided to make your way downstairs to see why he was there in the first place. Marc was laying under the sink, cabinet doors open on either side of him. You couldn’t help but notice the way his biceps flexed under the tight t-shirt he wore, and the dark trail of hair that disappeared under the waist of his pants on his exposed abdomen.

“Marc.” You said gently, as though hearing your voice any volume higher might send him into a rage.

He froze, letting out an exasperated sigh that split through the room. He clanked some of his tools and grunted as he sat up to look at you. He held a furrowed brow, daring you to say something about the night you shared two weeks ago; daring you to bring the memory of that deep shame back to the forefront of his mind. You found yourself having a hard time speaking all of a sudden.

“Look, your dad asked me to come by and fix a few things, just stay out of my way and–”

“M-my air conditioner isn’t working and I was hoping you could take a look at it.” You spat your words out so fast you weren’t sure if he would even be able to understand you.

There was, of course, nothing wrong with your air conditioner, but you wanted to get Marc in your room, alone again, if only for a second. He stood up, aggravation still apparent in his furrowed brow.

“Your ac is broken?” He crossed his arms over his chest, “what’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t know, isn’t that your job? I just need you to look at it.”

He grabbed his toolbelt off the ground and followed you up the stairs with a look that told you he was unimpressed, and hardly believed that you needed him to actually fix something. When you got to your room, he went to the window where your perfectly functioning air conditioner sat, and you silently latched the door behind yourself. You felt it getting harder to breathe.

He turned the air conditioner on to test it, learning immediately that he’d been tricked into going up there. He turned slowly, brow furrowed in frustration. Despite his obvious aggravation, you noticed the quick shift of his eyes taking in your frame before looking back at your face. He crossed his arms tightly, scowling at you.

“The hell are you trying to pull huh?” His accent came out in his peeved tone. He walked up to you, but you stayed firmly in front of the door. “Move.”

You looked up at him, “Marc please, I can’t stop thinking about you since we kissed.”

He grabbed your shoulders roughly and you thought he might slot his lips over yours in a flurry of breathless kisses, but he didn’t. Instead he turned to scolding you as though you were a child, which only served to piss you off.

“It was a drunk mistake that never should’ve happened. I let it go, you should too,” his voice was low and harsh.

It was crushing to hear that he wasn’t even going to entertain the thought, though it wasn’t exactly a surprise. You weren’t sure what you’d expected. Marc was always trying to do what he considered to be the right thing, and now was no different. You were his best friend’s daughter. Of course he wasn’t going to do anything with you. But when you looked over at his flexing biceps on either side of you, and felt the strength in the way his hands held onto your shoulders, you couldn’t help the way you wanted him.

“I can’t. I…I think about you almost every night.”

There was another cold silence, save for the hum of the air conditioner that was still working exceptionally well. You weren’t normally so forward, but it was true. Despite your attempts to not think about him since your encounter, you’d failed. Most nights since then were spent with your fingers two knuckles deep in your soaking wet cunt, thinking about all the ways you wanted Marc to take you under your father’s roof.

“You’re stupid you know that? Just stop, you’re my friend’s kid. He know you act like this? Huh?”

If his tone wasn’t evidence enough that he was through with the conversation, his actions were. Marc moved you aside by force and then made a quick escape from your house. He hadn’t even finished working on the sink downstairs. You wondered if Marc was going to tell your dad about your conversation that day, but when your dad got home that night, he never said a word about it. You tried to move on, despite the ache in your chest.

----

You wondered if Marc would ever come back to your house again, until your dad was on his way out the door for work and told you he was coming back to finish the sink. Your cheeks grew hot immediately when you thought about it. Your dad left, and you rushed around getting ready for Marc to show up. You knew he’d told you to back off, but thoughts of him continued to plague your mind and you couldn’t seem to help yourself.

What the hell am I gonna wear, you asked yourself.

It was foolish to think about what you were going to wear in a silly attempt at seducing your dad’s best friend. You couldn’t even begin to understand why you were attempting to seduce your dad’s best friend. It was obvious that he didn’t want you, he’d pushed you out of the way the other day. That didn’t stop you from wondering what it would feel like to brush your lips over the soft skin of his throat again. It didn’t stop you from thinking about what his thick fingers would feel like stretching out your pussy while you dug your nails into his toned shoulders.

When he finally arrived, you waited to make sure he was working before you went downstairs. You were silent, knowing that alerting him to your presence might make him run off. You’d chosen to wear a short little skirt, a tank-top, and you opted out of your bra and panties. You needed to make it as easy as you could for him to take what he wanted from you. Despite the way he pushed you away, you knew he wanted you.

He was working hard, twisting a wrench around one of the pipes. His arm obstructed his view so he didn’t see you coming. Without a word, and without his knowing, you walked over to him, standing on either side of his thighs. He noticed you when you dropped to your knees, straddling him. He looked at you with that signatured furrowed brow.

“What the…you’re starting to be a real fuckin’ problem, you know that?” His voice was dark and threatening.

“Am I?” You asked in a coy tone, dragging your cunt over his crotch, feeling the brush of the denim against your clit.

He sat up fast, and you thought he might shove you off of him, but he didn’t. Instead, his hand grabbed your hip firmly. You gasped when his face got close to yours, eyes narrowed and wracked with guilt. His nose brushed against yours. You felt your hips involuntarily rock against the growing bulge behind his jeans.

“What’s it gonna take for you to let this go, huh?” He used one hand to push your skirt back while the other slid up your inner thigh. “What’s it gonna take for you to stop this shit?”

You put both of your hands on his shoulders for stability. His fingers found your folds and you felt your entire body surge with desire. Marc’s chest rumbled when he leaned in to steal your moans in a mess of deep kisses. His grasp on your thigh was so tight it left divots in your skin. He pulled you forward, sliding his middle finger deep into your channel.

“Fuck, I get you that worked up?” He said against your lips.

You hummed an affirmative into his mouth. He slid another finger in, and already you felt the delicious stretch of his thick digits testing your hole. It was a tight fit, two that is, and it felt better than you could’ve dreamed. If you’d known it was going to be like this, you might’ve been more persistent when he came up to your room the week before. He curved them, touching that sweet spot that made you whine in response.

“Where are all the boys your age? Why aren’t you going after them, hm? You like pissing me off?”

You didn’t want to answer him, because the truth was stupid. You didn’t care about the “boys your age”. Most of them wouldn’t know their way around a pussy if you had an arrow pointing to all the important parts for them. They also didn’t know you like Marc did. Marc was there to talk to you on the late nights after a family barbecue when you couldn’t sleep and your dad was already in bed. He was there to judge your prom date with a threatening glare if the guy ever tried to hurt you, and he was there when you left for college, making sure you knew how to properly use your pepper spray keychain.

He was there for you now when you were wet and dripping down his wrist while moaning one desperately hungry kiss after another over his lips. The third finger hurt a little, but the ache of the burn became more bearable the more he worked in and out of you. Marc brought his face to your throat, leaving soft kisses there that had your cunt fluttering over his thick fingers.

“M-Marc I’m…I’m so close I–”

“Sh, just shut up. Don’t want to hear it.”

You didn’t know if it was the guilt causing him to act so cruel, but it didn’t matter to you at that moment. You were there, seconds from sweet release, but the beep of a car door locking froze you both to your core. Marc pulled his hand from you, leaving you feeling empty. You stood fast and ran up the stairs quickly, leaving Marc down there to deal with your father. You felt bad, but knew he could handle it.

When you got to your room, you could hear them start talking downstairs.

“Hey Marc!” Your dad said as he walked in, “how’s it coming?”

You heard Marc huff out a laugh, “it’s not.”

----

It would be a lie to say you weren’t thrilled at the prospect of Marc coming by to check on you while your dad was out of town for the week. You wondered if he was excited too, or if he wished that he’d never met your dad now that things had become more complicated between the two of you. Complicated wasn’t even the right word for it, it wasn’t like this was something you did regularly. You hadn’t even seen him since he fingered you by the sink two weeks ago. He seemed to be limiting his time spent at your house those days.

You understood, you weren’t stupid, but at the same time it didn’t change how badly you wanted to see him again. In fact, most days, he was all you thought about. Something about him was intoxicating. Maybe it was the danger of getting caught? Or perhaps it was the thrill of something new? It could also be the fact that he was older, and you had a feeling he knew exactly how to make you come undone like no one ever had before.

When he finally showed up, it was after dinner. You were sitting on the couch watching some crappy movie about five guys taking down a Columbian drug lord. You paused the movie and turned around to see him standing there. He ran his hand over his face and crossed his arms over his chest. You felt your heart rate picking up.

“I’m just here to check in on you, I don’t want any funny business.” He said firmly.

You gulped, and nodded, “okay, yeah that’s…I understand.”

He dropped his hands to his pockets. You watched his entire body relax before your eyes. While you understood that he didn’t want to continue the little thing you two had going on, it didn’t change the fact that you still wanted him, badly. Marc’s face looked irritated, nothing new there, but there was a mild softness to his brow.

“Well, I’m just watching this dumb movie…do you wanna watch with me?” You gestured to the other side of the couch.

Marc sighed before nodding and walking over to sit as far from you as possible on the other side of the couch. You pressed play and sat in silence for some time. Just being in his presence was making your mind buzz. You couldn’t stop replaying him fingering you by the sink on repeat in your head. When you looked over at him, his eyes were trained on the television, not because he was interested, no, it was painfully clear that he was trying to avoid eye contact with you. You couldn’t sit there anymore. The ache between your legs was growing and if you didn’t go take care of it, you were going to do something to upset him.

“I have to use the bathroom, you don’t need to pause, I'll be right back.”

You went upstairs and closed the bathroom door behind yourself. You knew it would be suspicious if you spent too much time in there, but at the very least you needed to clean yourself up. You were soaked, so wet that you probably left a mark on the couch downstairs and you didn’t know what to do. What if he saw it? Surely he’d be upset if he thought you might be thinking about him again.

When you were finished wiping up, you opened the door. You were fully prepared to go down there and tell him to leave, but you didn’t make it that far. He was standing right outside the bathroom door, eyes looking you over like he might devour you.

“Marc I–”

He stole your next words when he slotted his lips over yours. Your mind went blank, focusing only on the way his tongue tasted when it entangled with yours. His hands grabbed your shoulders, sliding down until he found purchase on your hips. A soft moan slipped through your lips while you brought your hands to the waistband of his pants. You weren’t going to beat around the bush this time, you knew exactly what you wanted and you intended to take it. 

You brushed your fingers over his pubic hair, relishing the way it felt against your skin. Marc lifted you by your rear, and you were forced to grab his broad shoulders for stability. He carried you to your room and gently laid you down on the bed, never disconnecting his lips from yours. Marc started grinding his hips against you, the hard prod of his erection apparent through his jeans.

“This what you wanted from me?” He looked at you with a combination of anger, guilt, and lust, “think you can even handle it?”

You whined, “yes, I need it, please Marc.”

In a blur, you and Marc got your clothes off so your bare chests were against each other. His skin was deceptively soft. The feeling of his thick cock gliding over your inner thigh was maddening. You arched your back upward and brought your hands around the base of Marc’s neck. He used both of his hands to pin your wrists down above your head.

“You turned out to be such a fuckin’ brat you know that?” He was almost growling out his words.

“Guess you’ll have to put me in my place-OH SHIT!”

Marc thrust himself into you and buried his face in your neck. You weren’t quiet while he moved at an unforgiving pace. His lips dragged over your throat, leaving soft kisses in their wake. The juxtaposition of between his harsh fucking and tender kissing was making your mind go blank. Everything he did felt so good, better than you could’ve imagined. You still couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

“Marc-feels so good fuck-yes!” You shouted through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, I bet it does honey, bet it feels really fucking good. You happy now? You glad you got me to fuck you? Hm?!”

Marc was taking his guilty conscience out on you. He picked his head up and looked down at you, grabbing your jaw tightly in his hand. You whimpered at his firm grip, but you were enjoying the way he manhandled you. His lips were pulled together in a thin line while he huffed in tandem with his thrusts. A few stray hairs fell down from their normally slicked back place and into his eyes. Fuck he’s so pretty.

“Yeah, I am,” you taunted, knowing it would only serve to piss him off even more. “Are you really going to act like-oh shit-like it doesn’t feel good? You make me so wet-fuck!”

He was slamming your bed against the wall with how hard he would pull back and then snap his hips forward into you. You were writhing underneath him from the sensations all over your body, but you couldn’t move your arms still. He went back to sucking on your neck, and you were surprised when his hands slid off of your wrists and moved to intertwine your fingers in his.

Marc was being intimate with you.

Just when you thought it couldn’t feel any better, he was starting to nuzzle his nose behind your ear, taking a deep breath and inhaling your scent. His movements slowed to a more even pace, as though he were trying to savor every delicious movement, rather than fuck the guilt away. You turned your head to the side, meeting with Marc’s lusty and hooded gaze. Electricity sparked in your stomach at the sight of him.

“Marc–”

He started kissing you again, as though the sound of your voice was going to cause him harm if he had to hear you speak any longer. You wondered if it reminded him of who he was sleeping with. You didn’t care that he was your dad’s best friend anymore, you hadn’t for a while. Nothing had ever felt so good in every way. His hands squeezed around you tighter, and you heard him start moaning louder into you.

“Gonna fill your little pussy up baby, then we’ll see how mouthy you are.”

You couldn’t speak as your climax approached faster than you’d anticipated. All you could do was let your eyes roll back and your body melt into the bed. You felt your cunt squeezing around his thick cock as he filled you with his hot spend. Fuck he sounds so good. He was moaning deep rasps into your ear while he fucked his cum into you.

When his thrusts finally slowed and you were both a sated and panting mess, he pulled out of you. You mumbled about the towel on your dresser that he used to clean himself off and then toss to you. You wiped yourself up and then slowly stood, starting to change into your clothes.

“You can stay,” you said to Marc, hoping that he wasn’t going to just fuck you and leave, but you knew better.

Marc finished getting dressed and then he looked at you, brows furrowed and guilt etched into every pore on his face. You knew that he was going to say no, so when the words left his lips you weren’t surprised. That didn’t change the disappointment that you took with you downstairs while saying goodbye.

“We can’t do this again,” Marc said coldly in the doorway, “it’s done…alright?”

You nodded sullenly. He nodded in return and left. You were alone again.

You weren’t sure why it made you emotional to hear him say the words ‘it’s done…alright?’, but you felt a pit in your stomach. Was it because he’d been so intimate with you not ten minutes ago? Was it because he made you feel like no one else ever had? Perhaps it was a combination of both. Either way, you spent the evening finishing that terrible movie with your face buried in a box of tissues, just begging for sleep to take you away from your overwhelming feelings.

----

You didn’t see Marc again for three weeks. So much happened in three weeks and you were determined to act normal when you saw him again after that time had passed. When your dad had told you he was coming over for dinner, you froze. It had been a while since you and Marc had been in the same room, and even longer since you’d been in the same room together with your father present. The pit in your stomach was already forming.

Your phone buzzed on the counter and you picked it up. Joey, the guy you’d met last week at the local coffee shop was asking if you were still on for tomorrow night. You replied, ‘yes’, and then put your phone in your pocket. As hard as it was, going out with someone else was a necessary step in getting things back to normal. What were you holding out for anyway? For Marc to come in and sweep you off your feet? To tell your dad that he’d been sleeping with you and that you were going to be together now? Maybe if you both had a death wish, that would be a perfect plan.

When he walked into the house, burgundy shirt hugging his chest a little too tight for your sanity, you felt your breath hitch in your throat. He was still so handsome. It’s not like you expected that to change, but you’d hoped that maybe you would’ve stopped mentally putting him on a pedestal by now so you could move on. But you didn’t, and you couldn’t.

“Hey, Marc.” You said softly as he made his way to the dining room.

“Hey.” He actually looked at you this time, as if he wasn’t going to burn alive by meeting your gaze.

The heat rose to your cheeks in a rush, making you feel lightheaded. You sat down at the table and both Marc and your father joined. The small talk was just what you needed; your dad asking Marc how business was going and Marc asking you about your job hunt. Marc was making a career out of drinking his wine. If anything was a sign of his nervousness it was that. You were glad that you weren’t the only one feeling the awkward weight in the air.

“So, why don’t you tell Marc about…you know,” your dad gave you a knowing look.

You shifted nervously, “um, well…” you looked into Marc’s dark brown eyes. His brow was knitted together tightly, “I’m going on a date tomorrow with a guy I met at the coffee shop up the road.”

You swigged your own wine down in one gulp. It was quiet except for the ticking clock above the archway to the kitchen. Your silverware clanked on the plate while you poked the lettuce from your salad. You looked back up at Marc.

“You like this guy?” Marc finally asked, never taking his gaze off of you.

“I don’t know,” you tried to sound indifferent, “only talked to him a couple of times.”

Marc paused before responding, “good…it will be good for you to find someone you can spend time with.”

This conversation wasn’t about you and Joey.

“Yes…and someone who isn’t going to just take advantage of me,” you stabbed your fork into your food harshly.

“Oh definitely,” he sounded sarcastic, “and make sure you’re careful with what you wear and how you act, some guys your age might get the wrong idea about the kind of girl you are.”

Asshole.

“He’s right, you know.” Your dad chimed in, seemingly oblivious to the private conversation you and Marc were having right under his nose.

“So are you saying I dress like a slut?” You stared at him, waiting to see how he planned to answer that one.

“Alright now you’re just acting like a brat, I never said–”

“Who wants more wine?” You asked, getting up and going to the kitchen and trying to end the awkward back and forth that you, admittedly, started.

The glasses of wine were filled while you and Marc continued your eternal staredown that your dad seemed oblivious to. You both guzzled down three more glasses each while your father and he entertained more small talk. When dinner concluded, he got up and went outside to start putting together a fire, and your dad asked you to do the dishes and join them when you were finished.

You did the dishes, but you didn’t join them. You told your dad you weren’t feeling well and instead retreated to your room. The last thing you wanted to do was continue the awkwardness that transpired at the dinner table. You thought that would be the end of it, that Marc would’ve had enough of your attitude and never want to speak to you again.

You were wrong.

Your father had gone to bed almost a half hour before you heard Marc working his way upstairs. You thought for sure he would walk right by your room and go to the guest room, but he didn’t. Marc twisted your door handle and walked in, closing the door quickly while he stepped inside. You sat up and looked at him quizzically, rubbing the fatigue from your eyes.

“What are you doing in here?” You asked.

Marc sat down next to you, leaning over so his face was close. You could smell the alcohol on his breath. He reached a hand up to cup your cheek, you felt him pulling you closer.

“You know exactly what I’m doing in here,” he said in a low whisper.

Of course you did. His lips were soft and tasting of liquor when he pressed them to yours. His tongue tasted even more like alcohol, but you didn’t mind. Whether it was the intoxication, or maybe he was just more comfortable with you now, his tongue felt soft while it melted against yours.

“So you have a date? Hm?” Marc looked at you, eyes dark and brow furrowed.

So that’s what this was about.

You nodded, “mhm.”

“He can’t do for you what I can do honey.” He dropped his hand from your cheek and rested it on your waist. He kissed your neck right by your ear and said, “I know just what you like.”

“I can go on a date with him…in public.” A breathy moan escaped your lips as he sucked on your skin more.

He stopped and looked at you again, “that’s not fair.”

“Nope it’s not.”

“I could take you out if–”

“But you can’t so–”

“-so, he can’t make you feel the way–”

“Maybe he can–”

“Shut the hell up.” Marc’s mouth covered yours, rendering you silent save for the moans escaping you.

He slid you forward so you were laying down and then pulled your covers off your body. That’s when he noticed that you were in nothing but a t-shirt and your underwear. His mouth closed over yours, and his hand trekked over your lower abdomen and tucked into the hem of your panties. You felt the pad of his thick middle finger brush against your clit. You could hear the wet sound it made when he started circling there.

“You’re such a little brat, you know that?” He was so breathless.

“I know,” you said just above a whisper. You arched your cunt toward him, chasing the feeling his fingers gave you .”You sound like you’re jealous.”

“I’m not, you can do whatever you want, not gonna stop you.”

“I want you, and you do keep stopping me.”

Marc sounded like an animal the way he grumbled and pulled your panties down to your ankles. You grabbed his pants and worked on getting them off, hearing his belt clank against the floor when he tossed them aside. You writhed under him, feeling the way his fat cock brushed your inner thigh. You could’ve cried it felt so fucking good to just have him touching you. Marc was right…that other guy would never be able to give you what he did. He could never make you feel the way Marc made you feel.

His erection was prodding at your hole, the leaking tip testing to make sure you were ready to take him. You grabbed his hip, pulling forward while arching into him, feeling it go in just a little further. You were feeling needy and impatient.

“Marc please,” you begged, “please.”

He dropped down to his elbows, resting on either side of your head and caging you in. You leaned up and kissed him. One of his large hands cupped your clothed breast as he thrusted full to the hilt inside of you. If not for his mouth covering yours, you would’ve screamed and awoken your father who was sleeping only two doors down in the hall. He pumped slowly, being careful not to make the bed creak.

“Better be quiet, keep your pretty little mouth shut honey.” Marc was whispering harshly while glaring down at you.

The head of his cock dragged against that spot deep inside that you could never quite reach on your own. You choked on the cries that your lungs tried to punch out of you. You wondered if this other guy would make you feel like your guts were being pushed aside every time he plunged his length deep inside of you. You wondered if he would make it hard for you to breathe every time his girth twitched in response to your fluttering walls. Mostly, you wondered if he would act like you were the most precious thing he’d ever seen every time his eyes landed on yours.

A gasp fell from your lips.

“You trying to wake up daddy? Hm? Want him to hear his little girl getting railed out of her mind?”

“N-no it just…it feels so good,” you whined. 

“I know baby, oh yes I know,” his voice was low, “no one else can make you feel like I do, right?” His voice was rough and wrecked.

“No one…n-no one, Marc.” You were struggling to keep your voice down so he covered your mouth with a large hand.

“That’s my girl.”

My girl, you thought. He said you were his girl…you wondered if he meant those words or if it was the alcohol talking.

“I’m always going to know what you need. I’m always going to know how to make you cry and squirm and fucking-fuck-baby-squeezin’ me so fuckin’ tight-shit.” He started moving faster, you heard the bed creaking and you began to panic.

“Mmmm!” You couldn’t get a word out.

You felt numb, and at some point his hand became slick over your lips with the drool that leaked out beyond your control. Your mind was gone, and all you could focus on was the pleasure rolling through you with every smooth glide of his cock through your channel. Your body trembled beneath him. Your knuckles ached from how hard you grabbed his hips.

“Are you going to be a good and quiet little girl for me when you come? Or are you going to embarrass yourself, hm?” Marc’s grunts were getting louder and you started to feel nervous. “Oh honey, you feel so good. Such a tight little pussy baby-f-fuck.”

You both came at the same time, bodies pressed into each other as tight as you could so you could feel it. You noticed the way his abdomen flexed against your tummy with every pleasured groan that escaped him. You noticed how his lips tightened along with his closed eyelids; you noticed the way his cock pulsated, stretching you out while filling you to the brim with his hot cum as your cunt clenched around him firmly.

God you just wished he could stay. You wished so badly that he could just lay there in your arms when he was done and the two of you could drift off to sleep together. There was hope though. He called you his girl. He would only say that if it meant…

“Marc,” you said finally as he pulled his shirt over his head.

“Yeah?” He slid his underwear on over each leg.

“If you’re saying I’m your girl, does that mean we’re…you know?”

He looked at you with a raised brow, “what? Oh…no it’s…it’s not a thing.”

You couldn’t help the heartbreak that fell over you. You weren’t sure what you were honestly expecting. It was dumb to think anything else would’ve come from this. What were you thinking? That Marc really meant he was going to…what…go into your dad’s room and tell him that you were dating now? That he was just going to hold your hand in public and shout to the world that you two were seeing each other despite him being your dad’s best friend?

Of course not. Marc would never. The guilt would eat him alive more than it already had. You were stupid for even suggesting such a thing. He probably wished he’d never slept with you in the first place.

“Oh.”

He sighed and put his hand on the door handle.

“You have a date tomorrow, you should go on it and enjoy it.” He opened the door, letting the light from the hall pour into your bedroom. “Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea.”

“That’s it then? You’re done with this?”

“Never should’ve started this in the first place. Try to have fun. I’m sorry.”

The door closed, and you just felt empty inside. 

----

You’d never felt so stupid.

There you were, standing in the rain outside of the restaurant where you’d been stood up. Your dad was gone for the weekend on business, and you didn’t know who else to call, that’s why you called him. He’d always be there for you, you knew that. No matter the situation, no matter the time, he would always come to your rescue.

Marc.

He pulled up to you, stopping fast by the sidewalk and getting out of the car. He ran over to you and immediately took off his jacket to put it around your bare arms, but not before muttering about how dumb it was for you to wear something so impractical in the first place. You pulled the coat closer to your body as he opened the passenger’s side door for you and you sat down inside.

You looked like a drowned rat as you observed yourself in the mirror. Your makeup was running down your cheeks and your tight red dress was soaked through. He was right, you were dumb, but not just for your clothing choices. You were dumb for thinking you could avoid him, for thinking you didn’t want him, and for thinking even for a second that you could possibly grow to love anyone besides him…but he didn’t love you. He’d made that abundantly clear.

The ride to your house was silent, awkwardly so. You felt a pang in your chest over the fact that Marc wasn’t talking. It meant, to you, that he was serious about his words the night before.

“Thanks,” you said as he pulled into the driveway.

He put the car in park and turned off the engine, “couldn’t leave you out there in the rain. Your dad woulda killed me.”

“You can come inside if you want. Dad has some extra beers in the fridge.” You opened your door.

“I probably shouldn’t I–”

You paused for a moment and then muttered, “fine.” You took off his coat and shoved it in his lap. “Goodnight, thanks again for the ride.”

You tried to wait until you got inside to start sobbing, feeling vulnerable and rejected, but you failed, feeling the tears coming down along with the rain. You never should’ve made all those moves on him over the course of the last couple months. It was all a huge mistake, and deep down you’d always known that, but now after your failed date, and Marc’s refusal to comfort you, you felt the weight of your stupidity on your shoulders. The rain drowned out his footsteps, so it shocked you when you turned to close the door and he was holding it open, pushing through to follow you inside. That’s when he noticed the fresh tears escaping you.

“Are you okay?” He asked, furrowing his brow, eyes darting rapidly between yours.

“No, Marc, no I’m not okay!” You walked to the living room and stood with your back to him. “Just go,” you said when you heard him coming in behind you.

“Why are you doing this? Huh?” He was raising his voice at you.

You flipped around and looked at him incredulously, “excuse me? Why am I doing this? You are just as guilty as I am! I am sick of you acting like the victim here.”

He stepped closer, “I know I kissed you that first night, alright? I know I shouldn’t have done that but everything else is on you.”

“Oh so I’m the one who made you walk into my bedroom last night? I’m pretty sure I went to bed and avoided you.” You prodded his heaving chest with your index finger, “you’re the one who came into my room to torture me last night.”

“Oh really? You call that torture?” He stepped closer, chest brushing against yours. “Didn’t sound like torture honey, sounded like you were having the time of your fuckin’ life! You know what’s torture? When your best friend’s kid acts like a goddamn tease and he’s expected to keep his hands to himself.”

“Oh poor YOU! Big strong guy getting seduced by a little girl? Fuck you Marc! You didn’t have to do anything and you know it!” You shoved him with your arms, but he stood like a brick wall, “get the hell out of my house.”

“That what you want? You want me to go?”

His face was close, nose brushing against yours. You were mad at him. You had half a mind to slap him and push him away again, but you didn’t. You stupidly kissed him, letting his body melt into yours. You were crying even harder now, and Marc stopped, pulling back to look at you and cupping your cheeks in his hands.

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No, I don’t ever want you to go, I don’t know what to do but I don’t ever want to be without you.” You said finally, letting your feelings come out.

Marc nodded, breathing heavily while he scooped you up, holding you against him and walking you to the couch with his lips over yours. In under a minute he had his pants around his thighs, and your panties pulled aside so he could plunge his cock into your wet heat once more. You both let out a pleasured cry into the living room.

“Marc please,” you looked at him, not really sure what you were begging for, but you were begging. 

“Please what?” He rolled his hips forward, never taking his eyes off you, “say it honey.”

“Please don’t push me away again, I can’t take it.”

You had more tears trickling down your face. Marc brushed them away with his thumbs. He kissed you softly, moving his hips at a slow, sensual pace. He looked at you with a forlorn expression. He was filled with pain, guilt, and something you couldn’t put your finger on.

“I won’t. I promise.”

He grabbed your hip and started moving faster, pulling you in as he pushed forward. You’d never felt anything like it, the unseen but warm comfort that filled you with his words. You brought your lips to his again, tangling one hand in his hair while the other squeezed the meat of his behind.

His moans made your body feel soft and made you pliant for him. You would’ve given him even more of yourself if it were at all possible. He rested his forehead on yours, eyes boring into you while he continued his smooth glides deep into your cunt. You’d never felt so connected to anyone, you’d never felt so special to anyone.

“Are you ok?” He asked, moving to kiss your cheek.

“Y-yes, mm, yes. Better now.”

“There’s my girl.” He cooed, forcing your stomach to flutter.

“Oh, Marc.” You whined in his ear.

He hummed into your neck, brushing his lips there gently. You felt him thrusting harder, stuffing you and stretching you wider with every forward snap of his hips. His breath was punching out of his lungs right into your skin. You felt an overwhelming swell in your chest, a desire to hold onto him and never let go. You felt him getting harder as he moved. His breathing was heavy and rough against your neck.

“Gonna make you feel good all the time honey, always gonna fill you up,” he started moving faster. “It’s insane how-fuck-how good you feel.”

“Good enough to make a good boy misbehave?” Your giggle was followed by a sharp gasp when Marc nipped the skin on the side of your neck.

He started really fucking you, skipping over the part where he gradually ramped up his speed and moving straight into the skin slapping thrusts you craved. You could tell he was getting close, forcing you so roughly into the couch you thought you might become one with it.

“I think if anyone’s been misbehaving, it’s been you honey, couldn’t just let me be could you? Needed to feel me that bad? You’re always so wet. S-so fucking wet for me.”

“Always so hard for me,” you dug your nails into the flesh of his rear.

“Hear that?” He stopped, sliding back until his cock was about to fall out of you. As he pushed back into you, painstakingly slow, you heard the sound of his cock moving along your slick coated walls until he was flush against you again, “such a wet little girl.”

You were never going to last if he kept talking to you like that. Your pointless contest of who was harder or who was wetter ended with his display. He’d won, and that was fine with you. He was right anyway, you were soaking wet, slick coating your thighs and probably his too. You brought both hands to his cheeks and made him face you, lips pressing to yours while you both approached your climax.

“Are you gonna come for me? Make a mess all over your daddy’s couch?”

“Yes, oh fuck yes!” You kissed him deeper, feeding him your heavy groans while your orgasm overcame you.

You arched into him, feeling his mouth while he kissed through your pleasured cries. He huffed loudly while he came, holding you closely as his cock pulsated hot ropes into you. You felt like, when you were finished, your bodies let out an exhale of relief. All the emotions, feelings and physical desires pent up inside of you both were released with that one moment you shared. You’d come to an agreement, you were going to be together.

“Where do we go from here?” You asked, looking deep into Marc’s eyes while he grew soft inside of you.

He sighed heavily, “we’re going to have to find a way to tell your dad.”

No matter how tough things would be, you knew everything would work out now that you had Marc, and Marc had you.

Moon Knight DBF Masterlist

Moon Knight Masterlist

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[amxrany]

!! CHAPTER 7 / DIASOMNIA ARC SPOILERS !!

First dream we land is Epel's dream, let's get going:

So the gang land in a street in NRC where the Great Seven are located. Idia assists the group through his tablet and everything seems to be normal, but they still don't know whose dream this is.

Until we see this

(They really made the memes a reality in the worst way possible (affectionate). i love and hate twst for this lmao)

Let's just say, the entire group is absolutely traumatized. Like legit Grim said Buff Epel is taller than Jack 😭. Even Sebek was scared when he called for him. Then Grim asked Epel if he was supposed to be shorter, but Epel doesn't remember much. All that he knows was that when he came to NRC, he was already taller than most of the students.

Sebek also remembers that Epel is shorter than Lilia, in which Epel remembers that he admired how he play an active role together with Malleus even though he's a short king. Then, he remembers Lilia's advice "Mage strength isn't related to their size".

Grim's trying to make Epel remember everything from the events of Book 6, where he was the first one to save him. Grim thought that Epel was cool at that time.

That's when Epel learns the truth, that accepting himself for his strengths and role as the poison apple is what made him stronger. This causes Epel to wake up, but because of that fakes of Rook and Vil proceed to try and stop them. But before they fight, the gang has to do their magical girl transformation (I keep giggling at this)

Epel manages to trap the fakes with "Sleep Kiss". Once they were done, Epel tells the gang that they showed his uncool side. But Silver disagrees, saying that only people who are strog-willed can fight the darkness. Gotta mention that Epel is also horrified of his buff version. Sebek says that he thought Epel was feeble, but he could fight; and he managed to develop his unique magic. Epel said that success rate was around 70-80% but he managed to do it, and Sebek got a bit jealous. Of course, Silver teased Sebek not to lose and Sebek doesn't need to be told twice about that.

So we get an update of the plan from Idia, where he said that involves creating fake NPCs to fool Malleus into thinking that dreamer is still there but in reality they have already escaped. So, Idia sends out invitations to anyone who could possible be "awake"

In the end, Epel tags a long with us as we go to another dream...

Ok finished Epel's dream today, I'll be doing Rook's dream and Vil's dream tomorrow since it's already late in the evening as I'm writing this so yeah have fun guys ❤️❤️❤️

Previous: Part 1 Next: Rook's Dream

[prolifeproliberty]

Important PSA:

If you see a headline or article that is ridiculous, shocking, or “saying the quiet part out loud,” DO NOT SCREENSHOT IT.

Or at least, don’t just screenshot it.

Grab the URL, go immediately to Archive.Today (it will redirect you to whatever they’re currently using - right now it’s archive.ph, but that seems to change every so often) and paste the URL into the red box at the top of the page.

It will take a minute to archive - you’ll see a bunch of lines of text load and turn green as it archives different features on the page. Cool part is it bypasses paywalls - you can actually use this to read articles that are subscriber only.

Then it will load the article in the archive view. The URL will now be a unique link to this iteration of the page at that moment in time - if someone updates the archive later, it will create a new unique URL for that version.

Now you have the archive of the page that you can share anywhere you like. It won’t be taken down, and anyone you share it with can verify that yes, this was a real thing that was on the internet, and they can verify what website it was from (such as a government or corporate website).

If you do see a screenshot going around with no link, please make your best effort to find the link and archive it before reblogging or sharing the screenshot.

We gotta do our due diligence, because the other side doesn’t.

[anemoarchonhoe]

Greetings! Writing commission details:

Commissions: Closed.

Fandoms I will write for:

Genshin Impact, Undertale, Deltarune, Undertale Yellow, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (I only watch the anime, so-), my own OCs

AUs I will write for:

Genshin: SAGAU, modern au

Undertale: Underfell, Underswap (I prefer TS!US' version so I will write for it in default unless you want the original), Flowerfell, Farmtale, Underplayer

Characters:

Genshin: Venti, Xiao, Wanderer, Aether, Xingqiu, Gaming

Undertale/Deltarune: Papyrus, Sans, Napstablook, Mettaton, Muffet, Mad Mew Mew, Asgore, DR!Asriel, Dalv, Starlo, Martlet, Ceroba

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End: Frieren, Himmel the hero

My OCs (pictures below, in order): Vee the purple witch, The Janitor, Elwin the elven rogue, Eye of the Storm (has a name instead of them being Reader-insert, Genshin, no pics sorry)

Will write: fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, mildly suggestive, selfship (reader/canon), OC/canon, friendships, yandere character/reader

Won't write: Homophobia, pedophilia, incest, gore, smut, self harm, anything nsfw

Rules (sorta):

If you want me to write for your OC, please give me detailed information about them. I wouldn't know how to write them if you don't. Character sheet and/or a picture would be nice. If you don't have a written personality for them, we can quickly discuss how you at least imagine them to act in the fic in DMs. I can also just give it my own interpretation if you wish, but I will charge you $2 for the extra effort. Keep this in mind.

For reader-insert, I usually write the Reader to be strong and determined, so if you want a more subdued personality, please let me know or I will default to this one.

For 500/1k word fics, love letters, and headcanons, please give me a scenario to work on. I only write one shot fics for commissions, so don't try to ask for a multi-chapter, please. I am busy with college, so one shots are all I can afford to write.

And tell me if you are okay with me posting the commissioned piece on Tumblr or if you'd like to keep it for yourself.

You can ask me for updates on your commission. But please understand I have a life outside of social media that I gotta prioritize (like my studies) so it may get delayed a little depending on how large your commission is. I also prioritize smaller/less wordy commissions so I can give them out immediately, so don't be mad.

I reserve my right to reject a commission if I feel like I couldn't do it.

PLEASE DO NOT FEED MY WORK TO AI.

Languages I can/will write in: English and Filipino

Payment:

For my Filipino friends, I accept both Paypal and GCash. I'd like it more if it was Paypal/ko-fi, though.

For overseas commissioners, Paypal/ko-fi only.

You can pay me the full amount as soon as we finalize your commission or you can pay me the full amount once I finish your commission. I'd appreciate it if you do the first option but I won't hold it against you if you choose to do the second. Everyone doesn't want to get scammed.

However, if you do not pay and ghost me, I will modify the work to my taste, post it on my ko-fi page, and then block you from my Tumblr/Discord.

Now that you're done reading, reply to this post immediately to get a slot and if you make it, I will DM you my Discord handle for further discussion. I have a small slot for now because I don't wanna get overwhelmed. I will reopen immediately once they're done, though, so don't worry if you miss out!

First come, first serve.

Slots: 3

[talesfrommedinastation]

My redneck neighbor Doug on 'Tribe'

When not turning his home into a giant light hazard for Jesus's Birthday or getting into yelling fights in the alley with Bobby Lee (another redneck neighbor who is a DIE HARD 'Bama fan) about SEC football, Doug's been randomly texting me things about the Jedi.

I'll update y'all on that soon enough. (Plo Koon = Sexy Shrimp Daddy?!)

Meanwhile, here is his review of his favorite episode of Season 2 of The Bad Batch...TRIBE, or as Doug calls it 'Chewbacca Junior and the Weed Business'.

Yes, a random fetch quest one in which Clone Force 99 helps out a random Wookiee kid. His favorite. Don't ask.

Need a Doug refresher? Check it out under Doug Talks Star Wars here.

TW: Doug Doug's as is his Doug-like wont. Hold onto your butts. A little calmer since Daddy Warcrimes is MIA in this one.

-----------------------------------------------------------

So we got Daddy Rambo and the gang making counterfeit licenses for underage drinkers or whatever. You gotta do what you gotta do, I guess, and Daddy Rambo will do a lot of things, but obtaining gainful employment ain’t one of them. 

Ryan-from-Accounting is smug as hell about his counterfeiting operation. You’re so smart, Ryan-from-Accounting, why don’t you go to law school and start practicing corporate licensing? At least you can get equity there, ya dingaling.

And Little Orphan Blondie runs away because she’s embarrassed to be seen around them. I get it, kid.

Woah, it’s Chewbacca Junior! Are the lizard and robot people trying to sell him to the circus or something? Oh, he’s a Jedi?! When did this happen, this is awesome! I loved Chewbacca! I love Wookiees! AWESOME!!!

And Little Orphan Blondie is protecting him, go Little Orphan Blondie, go! 

I hope they adopt Chewbacca Junior and get him a collar and a nice bed on the floor of the HMS Search Warrant. They need a pet. Little Orphan Blondie can brush him and put bows in his hair! Do you think he uses a litter box?

They’re taking him home, and look! Little Orphan Blondie is giving him her Lunchables. I’m proud of the Dad Batch, they’re teaching Little Orphan Blondie good morals. Oh, poor wee Chewbacca Junior, he has no family and when he talks it sounds like Jimmers when he’s treed a squirrel*.

But Ryan-from-Accounting can understand him! Ya know, I wonder if his helmet can translate Bitch and that’s how Ryan-from-Accounting talks to his Bitch Wife Laura. 

It would be awesome if they adopt Chewbacca Junior and he attacks people with his lightsaber. He’s like a pet version of an MR-15! Imagine the DAMAGE his furry ass would do on the battlefield! 

Ooh, they made it to Wookieeland! Ya know, it always reminded me of where Jenny and I used to camp in northern California. I wonder if there’s a brewery nearby? I bet Toaster Strudel needs to throw back, that man needs a beer and a restraining order from Daddy Rambo. 

Oh SHIT, looks like the bugs from Klendathu made their way down to Wookieeland. Somebody call the Starship Troopers! Oh, wait, they can talk to those things like Dougie Houser did? Woah. Neat. 

Looks like the Empire found the Wookiee weed farm and torched it. Poor Wookiees, they’re just trying to make an honest living growing herb. Leave ‘em alone!

Which planet makes meth, my money’s on Tatooine, it looks like New Mexico and that place is meth Disneyland, there was a whole TV show about it. 

(Above is...Tatooine?! - Dr Meat Muffin)

Oh man it’s Houma-BBQ-Bitch’s shitty brothers and they’re burning the whole weed operation to the ground. Guess they work for the DEA.

Kick their asses, Wookiees! Now they want Chewbacca Junior, but the Dad Batch is saying FUCK YOU! 

Go Dad Batch go! Fire ‘em up! Destroy the tanks! GO JULIO GO! It’s like Apocalypse Now with Bigfoot!

More Wookiees! And they’re riding giant monkey-cats! AWESOME. Man, I feel stoned just watching this episode. Why can't I stop giggling.

Granny Wookiee says come on in and have some weed! Oh, shit, are they doing ayahuasca? Toaster Strudel ain’t having it, but Julio’s down. Julio’s down for anything, he’s probably gonna stick around, use his pipe laying skills, and get some free ganga out of the deal. Man, we all need a Julio in our life. Love him. 

Oh, poor Chewbacca Junior can’t find a home. Come on, Granny Wookiee, just let him crash with you guys! He can clip weed on the side, he’s got that lightsaber, let ‘em have it. But first, let’s talk to the trees! Did they take mushrooms before this scene, Jesus Christ this really does take place in Humboldt County, doesn’t it.

Ah, nevermind, the gators that run the DEA are here. With Stormtroopers. Oh shit, are the gators wearing Wookiee pelts while fighting Wookiees? That’s some Silence of the Lambs shit right there.

Welp, time for fire fights, Smokey the Bear does not approve of this episode, especially as one of the lizard men chases Chewbacca Junior and Little Orphan Blondie into the woods with a flamethrower. 

Oh shit, there are the bugs! Shit, am I actually cheering on the bugs from Starship Troopers? What is going on here, I’m so confused. Whelp, they’re eating Houma-BBQ-Bitch’s brother, good for them.

Back to Granny Wookiee’s Pot Palace, where Toaster Strudel and Julio throw back her questionable moonshine and smile at each other. If they end up with Wookiee girlfriends, it will be weird, but I will be happy for them. 

And Little Orphan Blondie and Chewbacca Junior are talking to the trees, again. Just watching this episode makes me wanna go back to Electric Forest. Except I don’t think Oceana County has wookiees, but it does have crazy people in the woods I guess. 

*=Jimmers is Doug’s extremely handsome poodle mix dog. His full name is Jimmers Jimothy Jimerson III and they found him as a stray when he was eating trash behind a bowling alley in Nacogdoches. 

Where my Doug fans at? @amalthiaph @eyecandyeoz @merkitty49 @sued134 are the biggest, but let me know if ya wanna be tagged in the next installment!

[redfurrycat]

🤠🤴👑🏰🐓Royalty Fic Recs🐓🏰👑🤴🤠

Check the Top Gun Masterlist post for the latest updated version. 💕

Ao3 Authors: 64PackofCrayola, Aishii420, Alltherecklesshours, Hangmanbradshaw, Lovelybattle, McDanno50, PleaseHellMe, Renai_chan, ToukoJalorda003, Trinipedia.

> Navy Prince, aka THE Nepo Baby

Heart on Your Sleeve by Renai_chan {T}

/Medieval Royalty AU/

Jake and Bradley are princes of neighboring kingdoms who grew up together. On Bradley's eighteenth birthday, everything changes.

Man of his own invention by trinipedia {T}

/Medieval Royalty AU/

Jake is an enticing young man with blonde hair 70 feet long, who has been kept in a tower his entire life by his seemingly overprotective mother. Everything changes the day that Rooster the thief, by chance, scales the tower and stumbles upon him; Jake strikes a deal with Rooster so that the charming thief takes him to the place where the floating lights he has seen every year on his birthday come from. Jake is about to discover the world for the first time, and in the process, he might even find out who he really is...and what he really wants.

Rival Princes AU by hangmanbradshaw

/Medieval Royalty AU/

I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland {E}

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to go.” He said as Bradley, confusingly, looked even more devastated. The pain washed over him again, and he started to stumble. The blood loss was definitely starting to make itself known. That spurred Bradley into motion. He seemed to snap out of whatever daze he’d been in, and he stepped forward, grabbing Jake and holding him up. “Shit. Get Halo, now!” Jake felt himself starting to lose consciousness. As he succumbed to the blackness, he heard a soft voice saying “stay with me, Jake” and then he was out.

and I feel like my castle's crumbling down {_}

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to go.” All it took was nine words for Bradley's heart to rebuild and break again.

Innocent by lovelybattle {E}

/Medieval Royalty AU/

Bradley has no idea how he ended up here. It’s all a blur. One minute he’s standing in a field by himself, and the next he’s got the crown Prince spread out, beautifully and blissfully naked, beneath him.

loose lips sink ships all the damn time by hangmanbradshaw {E}

/Buccaneering Royalty AU/

“Wait, is this the Dagger?” That stopped Rooster in his tracks. He looked over curiously from where he was unwrapping a rope. “You’ve heard of it?” “You guys are…you’re…” Rooster dropped the rope and walked over, a challenge clear in his eyes. “We’re what? Go ahead, say it.” Jake breathed out, “Pirates.” Rooster took another step followed by another. Each step was calculated. He stopped a foot or two away. Jake hated the fact that he had to look up into his eyes, not by much, but still. “We prefer the term vigilantes.” Or The Princes & Pirates AU

it's 2am and I’m cursing your name by hangmanbradshaw {E}

/Medieval Royalty AU/

“Yeah, but you know him better than anyone, right? You could give me advice.” He raised an eyebrow. “I know I’m not an expert on romance or whatever, but if he’s your true love, shouldn’t you just, I don’t know, be yourself?” “You gotta help me. I don’t want to be stuck as a rooster forever. Please.” The final please broke him. He looked so sad, voice clearly miserable and desperate. Jake took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and mumbled. “I’m going to regret this.” He opened his eyes and said louder, “Fine. Alright.” Or Rooster's a rooster, and Jake definitely isn't his soulmate aka the Hangster Princess & the Frog AU (with a twist) After all, all it takes is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust (or in this case, bickering, helping the guy you're in love with land another prince, and a meddling warlock)

Call Me Yours by Renai_chan {E}

/Medieval Royalty AU/

Jake is the perfect Crown Prince of Seresin--handsome beyond compare, educated by the world's most renowned scholars, draped in all the luxuries his wealthy kingdom can afford, magnificent in battle, with multitudes of adoring subjects throwing themselves at his feet--but all he really wants is to be put on his knees and called a filthy whore by his slave, Bradley.

The Prince and His Knight by McDanno50

/Medieval Royalty AU/

On A Dreary Night {E}

Jake felt his heart thump quicker, galloping in his chest, as the clicking of claws grew closer. Heavy breaths not his own let Jake know he was no longer alone. He remained still even as natural fear urged him to look over his shoulder to gauge the threat. But there was no real danger because Jake knew in his soul that he was safe with the monstrous wolf-like creature that lurked in the flickering shadows. The beast who terrified the men, women, and children not born of Miramar was hardly a monster to Jake. The bright light of day sees the Crown Prince of Miramar, Jacob Seresin, protected by his personal knight: a Lycan named Rooster. But at night, Jake loses himself to pleasure by Rooster's wolf form.

A Speckled Rooster Crowed {G}

Lycans had few offspring, litters born every ten years. The last Lycan pups included Julian’s own knight, Cyclone. And now it was Jake’s turn to choose a knight – his very own Lycan pup to raise and train as his personal bodyguard. He’d never known something so exciting yet terrifying. The time has come for Prince Jake to select his knight. Five pups vie for his attention, but one young Lycan seems a bit preoccupied with a fowl enemy.

Of Sex and Flowers {E}

If Heaven truly existed, Jake was sure his would be exactly like this. With Jake and his knight Rooster, alive and together in this peaceful place. Nothing outside of the meadow mattered when they were here: Jake was not royalty and Rooster was not a Lycan. They could play pretend and just be two men hopelessly in love with no duties and no secrets. Jake sneaks out of the castle to spend some private time with Rooster in a meadow. Their relationship will change once Jake becomes the Crown Prince so they say goodbye in the only way they know how.

Of Crowns and Medals (That Don’t Shine Like They Should) by ToukoJalorda003 {M}

/Modern Royalty AU/

It wasn’t as if Rooster hadn’t wanted to serve in the Guard his entire life - he had. Serving the king, his country…it was the only thing he’d ever wanted. …Until it wasn’t. And with the rules being as strict as they were, there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Bradley falling in love with Jake was going to get them both in trouble - and he wished more than anything that he could change that.

Swan Prince by 64PackofCrayola {_}

/Medieval Royalty AU/

(Based on Swan Princess 1994) A beautiful prince falls in love with a prince from another land, but an exiled sorcerer who wants him for himself conjures up a spell to transform him into a swan. Forced to embark on a dangerous quest to reverse the magic, the prince is helped along by some new-found human turned animal friends.

Break Free from the Chrysalis by aishii420 {M}

/Medieval Royalty AU/

In a Kingdom far away, The King and Queen of Corona decided to have a baby. Everyone was overjoyed, especially their brother, the Captain of the Royal Guard. All was well until the Queen fell ill, and the Captain set off to find a cure.

Crowns And Collars by PleaseHellMe {E}

/Modern Royalty AU/

King Peter "Maverick" Mitchell had been ruling the kingdom of Miramar for the past two decades after his father was killed. The pressure of mating with someone and producing an heir had been lifted from his shoulders as the crown would be passed to his godson. Maverick never felt the spark to mate with someone and opted to wait for the right person. Then one day, when Maverick had been walking in the market square, a tall blond-haired angel caught his attention, and suddenly all Maverick could think of was how he could make this man his. -- Thomas Kazansky lived outskirts of Miramar with his son Jacob. He was raised in nobility, but then things went south, and his family was stripped of their status. There have been multiple people who wanted to mate with him, but their offers were met with rejections every single time. Usually, it took only one time for the suitors to get the hint, but suddenly Tom finds himself in a situation where the same person keeps sending him courting gifts day after day, refusing to give up before Tom accepts the offer.

stolen kisses, pretty lies by hangmanbradshaw {E}

/Modern Royalty AU/

Bradley had never expected he'd be awaiting coronation in a country he'd never stepped foot in until his 30s. Then again, there were a lot of things he'd never expected- being told he had to find a suitable spouse, a security team being necessary just to drive down the road, and Jake Seresin...he'd never expected Jake Seresin. Jake's parents just needed him to settle down. He'd had other plans, and Bradley Bradshaw had not been on that list. Or, Jake's a prince with a reputation for breaking hearts, Bradley just wants to marry someone he at least likes, and neither of them ever saw the other coming. AKA the How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days/Princess Diaries 2 AU inspired by Blank Space. Yes, you read that right.

I'll see you by and by by alltherecklesshours {G}

/Medieval Royalty AU/

"He's been doing the bare minimum with his responsibilities. His coronation is in less than a year and he keeps evading important meetings, disappearing for days without a warning. How is that doing a good job?" Uncle Pete asked, crossing his arms over his chest, looking annoyed. "And how is finding him a partner going to change that, Pete?" No. Bradley wouldn't take them fighting because of him again. "If I promise to do better with my responsibilities, can we postpone the idea of marriage? "Fine. But this is your last chance. If you don't do a better job this time, I will call for a ball with every unmarried person in this kingdom and the ones around, and I won't let you leave until you find someone. Am I clear?"

[ynbabe]

Titans x Male reader

Dick: Every time I hear someone talking about updog, I’m torn between not wanting to fall for it and wanting to help them complete their joke.

Kory: Okay, but what is updog?

Rachel : Updog is a long sausage in a bun, often served with ketchup, mustard, onions, and/or relish.

Gar: Not, that’s a hot dog. An updog is when a new version or patch of an application is released.

Jason: No, that's an update. You’re thinking of the fourth largest city in Sweden.

M/N: Surely, that’s Uppsala, where’s updog is the giant spider in Harry Potter.

Dick: That’s Aragog. Updog is a symbol conventionally used for an arbitrarily small number in analysis proofs.

Gar: You’re thinking of epsilon. Updog is an upward-moving air current.

Rachel : No, that’s an updraft. An updog is the modern version of a henway.

Kory: What’s a henway??

Dick: Oh, about five pounds.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Dick: If you bite it and you die, it’s poisonous. If it bites you and you die, it’s venomous.

Kory: What if it bites me and it dies!?

Rachel : Then you’re poisonous. Jesus Christ, Kory, learn to listen.

Gar: What if it bites itself and I die?

Jason: That’s voodoo.

M/N: What if it bites me and someone else dies?

Kory: That’s correlation, not causation.

Gar: What if we bite each other, and neither of us die?

Jason: That’s kinky.

Dick: Oh my God.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Dick: I CAN'T DO IT!

Kory, laughing: I CAN'T EITHER!

Dick: I CANT FUCKING DO IT ANYMORE

Rachel, saw them walking in: WELL I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, YOU CAN EITHER GIVE UP NOW, OR YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT. BECAUSE WE CERTAINLY CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU, AND WE KNOW YOU CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT US.

Dick:

Dick: I appreciate it,

Dick: BUT LOOK WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH-

Gar, was the man in the chair: Dick-

Dick: YOU GOTTA DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE!

Gar: Dick we gotta-

Dick: YOU GOTTA DRAW A FUCKING LINE IN THE SAND. YOU GOTTA MAKE A STATEMENT.

Dick: YOU GOTTA LOOK INSIDE YOURSELF AND SAY 'What am I willing to put up with today?'

Dick, motioning to M/N and Jason covered in blood, standing in his room’s doorway like the shinning twins: NOT FUCKING THIS

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

*Jason is cooking*

M/N: Any chance that’s for me?

Jason: It’s for Gar. I’m planning on making some bad choices tonight, and I need him on my side.

Kory, preparing the med bay: I never realized the forethought that went into being a disappointment.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

M/N: I just ended a two year relationship.

Jason: Oh, fuck. You good?

M/N: Hm? Oh yeah, I’m fine. It wasn’t my relationship.

*Gar and Rachel fighting from across the room*

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Jason: Do you think different paints have different tastes?

Gar: They do.

M/N: ...Why did you say that with such certainty?

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Jason: Come on, I wasn't that drunk last night.

Gar: You were flirting with M/N.

Jason: So what? He’s my boyfriend .

Gar: You asked him if he was single.

Jason:

Gar: And then you cried when he said he wasn’t.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Jason: What if mayonnaise came in cans?

M/N: Well, that would suck because you can't microwave metal.

Gar: DICK!!! M/N AND JASON ARE BEING WEIRD AGAIN

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Gar, trying a new recipie: Please bring home PURIFIED water with NO minerals added for taste

Jason, being a bastard: We got spring water

Gar: NO.

M/N, bastard^2 : with EXTRA minerals

Jason: it's like licking a stalagmite

Gar: DON'T COME HOME.

M/N: Mmmmm cave water

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Gar: I woke up and chose VIOLENCE. I WILL COMMIT ARSON AND BURN EVERYTHING TO THE GROUND!!! I AM ANGRY-

M/N: Awwww, you're so adorable! Give me a hug~

Gar: Wh- What? NO, YOURE SUPPOSED TO BE SCARED OF ME! TREMBLE BEFORE MY WRATH-

Jason, recording: This is so cute.

GUYS!! I just rewatched Titans after a yearrrr and I swear to god idk why Gar is so underrated. He has such a great character arc and he is absolutely HILARIOUS. also I just realised he became like all the male role models he had in his life, like when he used to live with the Doom Patrol, Larry and Cliff were the primary caretakers, they would make the food and give emotional support and then Dick, he was basically a dad to him and Rachel

[astrstqr]

things that make sense in my main drs

𓈀 ៶៶⠀ ⠀ yana dr ⠀ ✸

- my mom is apart of destiny’s child

- i’m practically the beyoncè of kpop

- the sims being realistic looking

- my two story penthouse

- the label/company i’m under is owned by beyoncé and my mom

- idols having beef like western celebrities

- the vibe of the celebrity world is the embodiment of 2016-2019. just fun all year round

- idols having their sort of own little city (basically a mini version of seoul and los angeles mixed together)

- more shows for idols. (like 106 & park, or something similar to love & hip hop without all that extra unnecessary stuff)

- survival shows being fun and entertaining, not just work work work.

- me being the brand ambassador for playstation (free games anyone?)

- people still caring for the library of alexandria so it was never destroyed from laziness

- tv companies still make tv shows similar to the 2000s and early 2010s , just updated to keep up with the times

𓈀 ៶៶⠀ ⠀ bratz dr ⠀ ✸

- all of my member’s moms were in destiny’s child (still including beyoncè , just not kelly and michelle)

- attending and performing at beyoncé’s renaissance tour

- no light pollution (goes for all my drs honestly)

- my royale card (same as a black card but there is no pre-set spending limit)

- me having two mics and in-ear pieces

- me popularizing juicy couture tracksuits and mini skirts in modern fashion

- being in multiple kpop groups mvs

- being known as suga-t because fans think me and suga of bts rap at a similar speed, and how we aren’t afriad to call someone out

- my group being know as the fastest 5th gen group to win soty & roty

- my group literally being the ambassadors for kpop

- my group being known as irl bratz dolls

- my group ranking #1 in popularity

- my group having beef with a whole other group

𓈀 ៶៶⠀ ⠀ etherea dr ⠀ ✸

- the arcane nexus that mysteriously popped up after the celestial war

- the assassination of high king brightblade l

- a burst of energy from the arcane nexus opening the portals back up to the other realms

- the etherean spire (a library just the alexandria)

- a mysterious figure known only as the watcher begins to appear in the dreams of etherea’s most influential leaders

- different types of humans

- giants (thats all i gotta say)

- dragons and leviathans

- hybrids

[herrmannhalsteadproduction]

That Herrmann/Halstead DNA (Chapter Seven)

Summary: This is Part Twenty-One of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.

Click here for the Series Rundown where you can find the links to read all of the previous installments (which I highly recommend you do so that this one makes sense.)

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz/Original Female Character, Will Halstead/Connor Rhodes, Assorted OC Couples

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Assault, Stabbing, Gunshot Wounds, Blood and Injury, Whump, Trauma, Eventual Hopeful Ending

A/N: I received my degree from the medical school of Television Drama which means while things might not (*cough* will not *cough*) be accurate, they will be exciting. *jazz hands* SEE END FOR MORE NOTES

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Jay

Jay was about ready to crawl out of his skin.

He needed to do something—anything—but…Mouse was taking care of Bex, Connor was with Will, and Chris was on the phone updating Cindy.

Ms. Goodwin had come by and said she would take care of checking on Connor and Will. (And hopefully get an update about how the operation was going.)

Nobody needed snacks. (He’d asked.)

He couldn’t even work the friggin’ case. (Detective Medeiros said so.)

Waiting around, not knowing what shape Bex was in or if Will—

If Will was going to—

Jay scrubbed a hand down his face. He was two seconds away from losing his damn mind.

“Halstead!” Platt came charging down the hall with most of Bex’s school friends trailing behind her. “They put us on lockdown upstairs and just let us out now. Said there was a shooter. What the hell happened down here? Everyone okay?”

A debrief. He could do that.

Jay looked at the huddle of worried faces in front of him and gave a pared down version of what happened, trusting that Platt could read between the lines.

“But they’ve got him now?” Isaac asked, sending an anxious glance back at the elevators. “Ty? He’s in custody? Sam’s up with Emery by himself. Is that—”

“There’s absolutely no way he’s getting loose again,” Jay reassured him. Between Detective Medeiros and Voight, that was an iron-clad guarantee.

“Any word on how Will’s doing?” Devon asked quietly and Jay shook his head.

He was trying not to think about it too hard. Surgery like that always took awhile and they really hadn’t been gone that long. Will was strong. He was going to be okay. He had to be.

Jay wasn’t going to accept anything less.

“Yeah, no, we, uh, we haven’t heard anything yet,” Jay said, sighing. He jerked his chin in a little nod at Chris as he ambled toward their group, finishing up his call with Cindy.

“I love you too,” Chris said, stopping to stand beside Jay. “I will. Yes! I promise!” he said into his phone, raising his eyebrows. “He’s right here. It’ll be the first thing I do. Yup. Yup. Okay. Hug the kids. Love you. Bye.” Chris ended the call with a tired smile. He stuffed his phone into his back pocket and turned to Jay, immediately pulling him into a bear hug.

“Wha—”

“This is from Cindy,” Chris said, squeezing him tighter. “You gotta take it. No arguing.”

Jay hesitated a moment before letting himself melt into the hug. He had a feeling Cindy would somehow know if he didn’t accept it and would immediately call Chris back.

Besides, he was tired. So tired of this shitty, shitty day.

He needed the damn hugs.

Chris gave him a couple of pats before finally letting go. “Guess who we forgot about?”

“I can’t even think right now,” Jay said. “Just tell me and—oh, crap, it’s Kol, isn’t it?” Poor dog had been left alone for hours now. “We have to go get him. Where can we—”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Chris said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. “Cindy realized as she was leaving and swung by Will and Bex’s place to pick him up. Thank god she’s in charge of the spare keys. The kids are thrilled to be looking after him for a few days and honestly?” He rubbed at his face and sighed. “It’s a good distraction for them right now.”

Yeah, Jay didn’t envy Chris and Cindy trying to navigate explaining everything that had gone down to the kids. Annabelle and Max would probably be satisfied with the bare bones now that they had Kol there, but Lee Henry and Luke were getting to the age where they caught on when their parents were trying to hide stuff from them. And were insisting more and more that they could handle it all.

Jay could barely handle it.

Ms. Goodwin returned just then and Jay felt Chris stiffen beside him, neither of them sure how to read the look on her face. Jay was almost afraid to ask, but he forced himself to try. “Were you able to—”

“Yes, I have an update from Dr. Allan,” Ms. Goodwin cut in immediately, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. “Dr. Halstead lost a lot of blood and there was some damage to his spleen, but they’re making good progress with the repair. I think we can be cautiously optimistic.”

Okay. Jay let out a shuddery breath. That was—he would take that.

“How’s Connor doing?” Chris asked.

Her smile gave way to a sad frown. “I’m not sure he even knew I was there,” she said. “He’s very concerned about Dr. Halstead and I—I think the sooner we’re able to convince him to get some rest, the better.”

“We’ll work on him,” Chris promised. “Thank you, Ms. Goodwin, for checking on them.”

“They’re my people too.” She handed Chris a card. “This has my number on it,” she said. “Please keep me updated on—” she waved a hand through the air “—all of this, as you can. I’m going to see what I can do about covering the ED for the next few weeks.”

Chris pocketed the card with a grateful nod and she headed off. A clatter of wheels in the hall had Malia craning her neck to take a peek and she let out a soft gasp. “It’s Bex.” She and the others moved aside to let Chris and Jay through.

Sure enough, Dr. Fahir and a nurse Jay didn’t recognize were bringing a bed with Bex back to her room. Mouse was walking along beside, talking quietly to Bex as they went. More surprising was seeing Dr. Abrams consulting a tablet as he followed along behind them.

Was Bex’s concussion more serious that they’d thought?

Chris and Jay followed them into Bex’s room, hanging back while they got her set up again. Tried to hang back anyway. Bex spotted them right away and started to push herself up with a grimace which set off Dr. Fahir, Dr. Abrams, the nurse, and Mouse; all four of them quickly trying to get her to lie back down.

“Ms. Herrmann,” Dr. Abrams said firmly. “Remember what we talked about.”

“Rest,” Dr. Fahir added.

“But—”

“You gotta try and stay still,” Mouse urged as he leaned in, stroking her hair away from her face. “What do you need? I’ll get it for you.” He followed her finger, understanding dawning when he caught sight of Jay and Chris. “Oh! Yeah, one sec.”

Mouse waved them over, moving back so the two of them could stand closer to Bex.

“Wh-what’s happening with Will? Is he—is he okay?” Bex looked up at them with teary eyes as she took a shaky breath. Jay wished more than anything that he had good news for her.

“He’s still in surgery,” he said. “But it sounds like it’s going well—whoa!” Jay reached out, trying to steady Bex as she fought to sit up again. “No, hey, come on—what are you doing?”

“Need to go,” she muttered. “Gotta see him.”

“Bex, sweetie.” Chris moved in to gently stop her and made eye contact with her. “Will is in surgery. You can’t see him right now. We will tell you as soon as we hear anything else.”

“He—Will’s hurt, Chris.” Bex’s voice cracked as a tear slipped down her cheek. “I need—”

“I know, baby girl, I know.” Chris kept whispering to Bex as he coaxed back down and got her settled against the pillows. “I promise he’s being taken care of and I’ll take to you see him as soon as I can. But for now—can you close your eyes and rest for a minute while I talk to the docs. Can you do that for me?”

Bex grumbled something that Jay missed, but made Chris smile. Her eyes fluttered shut finally and Chris stepped over to pull a haggard-looking Mouse into a quick hug. Jay grabbed him for another one immediately after.

Fuck it. Tonight was hug night now.

“How’s she doing?” Chris asked quietly, looking between Mouse, Dr. Fahir, and Dr. Abrams. The nurse turned down the lights in the room and they all moved closer to the door to speak in low tones.

“The fractures in her arm and ribs have been aggravated further,” Dr. Fahir said. “One of her ribs has become subluxated.” She caught was Jay was sure was a completely confused look on his face and took pity on him. “That means it’s slipped out of place, but hasn’t been fully dislocated. It will heal on its own along with the fractures, but she’ll be in a lot of pain.”

“Did the contusion get worse?” Chris asked. “What about the internal bleeding?”

“The internal bleeding has slowed, but not as much as I’d hoped,” she said. “We’re still keeping an eye on that and the contusion along with her concussion symptoms.”

“How bad is the concussion?” Jay asked as he dug out his phone so he could start writing this stuff down.

“Mild, luckily,” Dr. Abrams said. “Aside from the pain, she’s also dealing with some confusion. There was…a bit of difficulty getting her to stay still for the scans.”

“She got upset while she was getting checked out because she forgot Will had been shot,” Mouse murmured to them. “Doc had to give her something to calm her down.”

“Her memories of the last few hours are foggy and that may or may not clear up,” Dr. Abrams said. “Someone should stay with her to make sure she doesn’t make it out of bed on her own.”

“Yeah, we can, uh, we can handle that,” Chris said, running a hand through his hair. “Gotta say, Dr. Abrams, I freaked out a little when I saw you here. Had me headed straight for the worst-case scenarios.”

“I was having dinner with Ms. Goodwin and Dr. Charles when she received the call about the shooting and we all returned to the hospital,” Dr. Abrams said in that very clipped and professional tone he had. “When I heard about Ms. Herrmann’s injuries, I offered to do a consult since I was here anyway.”

His voice was all business, but Jay caught the ever-so-slightly fond and faintly worried glance he gave Bex. She might be right about him being a secret softie.

“I know you all have your hands full at the moment,” Dr. Fahir said, drawing Jay’s attention back to their discussion. “But I cannot emphasize enough how important it will be for Bex to truly rest over the next few weeks. Overexerting herself will set any healing back exponentially.”

Jay bit back a groan as he met Chris and then Mouse’s eyes.

Make sure Bex stays still and rests.

While Will and Emery are in the hospital.

“I mean, we’ll do our best,” Chris said, shaking his head. “But it’s gonna be a battle.”

Jay and Mouse snorted, but Dr. Fahir’s next words had them sobering up.

“She’ll be in too much pain the first couple of weeks to get very far.” Dr. Fahir gave them all a stern look. “The medication can only do so much.” Jay remembered that from his own times at Med. Rib injuries especially were a beast.

“Rest. It’s the most important thing, gentlemen,” Dr. Fahir repeated. “I’m counting on all of you to help her navigate this.”

“None of us want to see her back in a hospital bed anytime soon,” Dr. Abrams added.

After promising to check back in tomorrow, the medical team swept out of the room, leaving Jay, Chris, and Mouse watching a restlessly snoozing Bex.

“Tying her to the bed is probably out,” Chris whispered. “But what are the odds on us getting her a prescription for that sedative to last the next few weeks?”

“I mean…I know a guy,” Mouse said, holding up a hand when Jay smacked him in the side. “Kidding. Jeez.”

There was a soft knock at the door before Platt stuck her head in. “Got a pile of firefighters out here hoping for an update.”

“You guys can go,” Mouse said, pulling a chair over to the side of the bed. “I’ll stay.”

“You sure?” Jay would rather stay too, but he didn’t blame 51 for wanting to know what was going on. Bex was as much their family as Chris was. And he really didn’t want to leave Chris to face what was guaranteed to be a flood of questions all on his own.

“I, uh, I don’t think I’m going to be able to leave this spot any time soon, man.” Mouse carefully took Bex’s hand in his own.

Jay felt that down to his bones. He was pretty sure Bex’s pullout couch was going to be his new home for the foreseeable future.

“We’ll be right outside,” Jay said, following Chris to the door. “Yell if you need anything.”

He and Chris didn’t make it very far. Platt hadn’t been lying about the pile of firefighters. It looked like all of 51 was crammed into the hallway. Boden, Severide, and Casey standing at the front with matching worried frowns etched into their faces.

“What the hell happened after we left?” Severide asked.

Jay sighed as he leaned against the wall and Chris huffed out short laugh. “The answer to that depends,” he said.

“On what?” Severide demanded.

“How long your break is?”

***

Connor

“—nor? Connor. Look at me, please.”

Maggie’s voice broke through the rushing pulse of blood pounding in Connor’s ears. He tore his gaze away from the flaking patches of blood—Will’s blood—on his hands and met her eyes.

“There you are,” she said softly. “The surgery is done—”

“Done?” Connor scrambled to his feet, gripping at the sink as he peered through the window. Which was empty save for a couple of orderlies doing clean up. “Wh-where is he? What happened? Is he okay? Maggie, I—”

“Need to breathe,” Maggie said, gripping his hands in hers. “He made it through surgery. Dr. Allan was able to repair all of the damage and Will is stable. She’s taking him to observation.”

“Oh,” Connor gasped out, trying to what she was telling him sink in. “Oh. That’s—that’s good, that’s, uh—jesus, that’s—” Maggie helped guide him back to the floor as his legs gave out and his words crumbled into sobs.

She rubbed at his back, holding onto him for who knew how long as everything Connor had been trying to keep a lid on for the last few hours bled out of him.

When his sobs petered out into sniffles, a paper towel appeared in front of his face. Connor looked up to see April crouched in front of them with a sympathetic smile on her face. Ethan stood behind her with a bundle of clothes in his arms.

“Dr. Allan said you can come with her to let everyone know the good news, but you’ve got to get cleaned up first,” April said.

“She said you’re going to terrify the patients if you want through the halls like that,” Ethan added.

If he looked half as bad as he felt, Connor figured she probably wasn’t far off.

“Okay.” Connor took a bracing breath before heaving himself to his feet and reaching down a hand to help Maggie up. “Gimme five minutes and I’ll be good to go.”

“Yeah, we’re not trusting you to do this without keeling over yourself,” April said. “Strip that top off, Rhodes. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before.”

Connor was too tired to argue. He let himself be manhandled until they deemed him fit for the public eye again. After he was dressed in fresh clothes, Ethan handed him one last item.

Taking it in his hands, Connor unfolded it, throat growing tight as he recognized it as one of Will’s hoodies.

“Grabbed it from his locker,” Ethan said, not quite meeting his eye. “He may or may not need a new lock.”

Stifling his laugh against the fabric, Connor took a moment to breathe in Will’s scent before putting it on. “I’ll replace it,” he said. Connor looked around at the three of them, ducking his head in a grateful nod. “Thank you. All of you.”

“You’d do it for us,” Maggie said as April and Ethan nodded. “You and Will—you’re our family too, you know?”

Maggie and April hugged him while Ethan clapped a hand on his shoulder and steered the group of them out the door.

“Let’s go,” April said, breaking away to lead them toward the stairs. “The sooner we let everyone know the good news, the sooner you can go and see Will.”

Connor sped up, beating her to the stairwell.

He didn’t want to wait another second.

***

Mouse

Bex stirred shortly after Jay and Chris left the room. She blinked blearily at him.

“Mouse?”

“Hey,” he said, leaning in. “I’m right here.”

“Will?”

He shook his head. “Nothing new yet.”

“Time izzit?”

“Uh, late?” Mouse laughed softly, letting go of her hand to pull out his phone. “Yeah, it’s after midnight.”

“You should go home,” she mumbled. “Get sleep.”

“I’m good right here,” he said before pausing as doubt crept in. “Unless, I mean…do you want me to go home?” He seriously didn’t want to do that, but if she didn’t want him here, he’d go and sit in the hall or something.

“No, wan’ you to stay.” Bex frowned, reaching for him and he took her hand again. “But…”

“But what?” he prompted when she trailed off.

“We were gonna have our big date,” she sniffled. “And now you’re stuck taking care of me.”

Mouse reached out with his free hand to gently wipe away the tears that were welling up in her eyes. “Bex, if it was me in this bed and you in this chair, would you consider yourself stuck taking care of me?”

“Can’t shake my head,” she grumbled. “Hurts. But you know.”

“Yeah, I do.” Knew without a doubt she’d be doing the exact same thing if their situation was reversed. Wouldn’t even question it. “Of course, I want to be here, Bex,” he said. “I lo—”

“No!” Bex’s eyes flew open and she winced back against the soft light. “No, don’t—”

“Don’t what?” Mouse hoped the problem wasn’t what he thought it was.

“Don’t say it,” she whispered and his heart sank. Did she not—not that she had to. They’d come so far already. It didn’t mean she had to be ready to say or even be ready to hear—

“Stop,” Bex said, squeezing his fingers. “Stop thinking bad stuff. It’s not—I just—I don’t want you to say that because of today. We can’t—it’s not fair.” She paused, closing her eyes and taking a breath before opening them again. The next sentence came out slowly. Deliberately. “I don’t want that memory to be tied with today. Does that—do you know what I mean?”

Once he’d parsed through her words and thought about it, he did. They both deserved better than a declaration that was partially a knee-jerk reaction to fear and trauma.

But this was—it wasn’t that. It was different and more than that in its own way and he couldn’t let it go, not completely. “I promise this is not me saying it or making a big declaration,” he said. “But I need to say this. Please.”

“Okay,” Bex whispered, giving his hand another gentle squeeze.

“I almost lost you today.” Mouse shook his head, trying to clear away the haunting images from the last few hours and focus on what he wanted to say. “I heard that shot and for a few horrible minutes, I had to live in a world where I didn’t know if you were still in it or not.” He scrubbed at his face with his free hand and Bex made a soft sound.

“Yeah, it was, uh, it was kind of terrifying,” Mouse said. “I kept thinking, I haven’t said enough. I haven’t—I haven’t shown her how much she means to me.”

“Mouse—”

“Hey, you promised.”

She pressed her lips together tight and watched him with shiny eyes.

Mouse took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. “You’re my family, Bex,” he said. “You and Jay. And you know—you’ve, uh, you’ve been that for a lot longer that you and I have been circling each other.” He tapped his fingers against his chest. “You’re here. You’re a part of my heart—like, a pretty large and permanent piece. That’s, uh, that’s what I needed you to know. I’m full of regular, lower-case love. For you.”

He didn’t even want to think about what it would have felt like if he’d lost her and never had a chance to tell her that.

“Nothing regular about it,” Bex whispered.

True.

But she was right before—now wasn’t the time for that. Mouse could wait until it was.

They both deserved that.

Bex tugged him closer and he hugged her as carefully as he could. She mumbled something against his chest.

“What was that?” Mouse pulled back, still hovering close though as he returned to his seat.

“I said I’m full of regular, lower-case love for you too,” she said, sighing into her pillow. “If you were wondering. And to be clear about what kind of moment we’re having.”

“Still a good moment.” Mouse raised her hand and pressed a kiss into her fingers. “You gonna let me take care of you now?”

“Yeah.” Bex sighed. “My feet are freezing.”

He grinned, remembering the bag from Lucy that Ed had given him. “I’m on it.”

***

Jay

“Hey,” Jay whispered as he and Chris came back into the room. The 51 crew had headed back out on shift and Chris had managed to convince Bex and Emery’s friends to go with Platt and rest in the ICU lounge. It had better couches and was closer to Emery. And the three of them had Bex covered for now. “How’s she doing?”

“Her medicine’s really kicking in and she was pretty out of it,” Mouse said. He looked down at Bex and the side of his mouth ticked up in a smile. “She was, uh, she was pretty cold and I got her some socks, but that wasn’t enough so she tried to talk me into getting in the bed with her. Said I was warmer and she wanted to sleep inside me like a tauntaun. I gave her my hoodie instead.”

Jay pressed a hand to his mouth, trying to smother his laugh as Chris looked between the two of them in confusion.

“Like a what now?”

“A tauntaun,” Mouse repeated. “It’s from Star Wars—when they’re on Hoth and Luke is about to freeze to death so Han cuts it open—”

“And stuffs him inside!” Chris finished for him, finally making the connection. “She said that? What the hell, Bex?”

Jay snorted at Chris’s flabbergasted look, but then they all froze when Bex stirred, holding their breath until she settled again under Mouse’s hoodie.

Chris shook his head as he stared at her. “She’s such a weirdo,” he whispered, half to himself. “I raised a friggin’ weirdo.”

That set off another round of laughter in Jay that he tried to keep quiet, but he lost it again when Mouse just shrugged and said, “I thought it was sweet.”

Jay dropped down into one of the chairs and buried his face in his hands, muffling the sound as his shoulders shook with giggles.

Chris sat down beside him and patted his back. “Okay there, Jay?”

He sat back up, wiping at his face, a little startled to realize there were tears running down his face. “Yeah,” he said, sniffling. “Shit.” Mouse handed him a tissue and Jay wiped at his nose. He sighed. “I just—I love you guys.”

“We love you too,” Chris said and Mouse murmured his agreement.

“I, uh, I wish Will had been here for that,” Jay said, turning to Chris. “Your face—”

“You can tell him all about it when we see him,” Chris said quietly before grinning. “In full detail so he can roast Bex too.”

“What are we roasting Bex for?” a tired voice asked for the doorway.

The three of them were on their feet as soon as they turned to see Connor standing there.

“How is he? How did it go? Is he okay? Is he—is he good?” Question after question spilled out of Jay as Connor stepped back to bring them out into the hallway. Maggie, April, and Ethan were standing there along with a doctor Jay had never met. Chris joined them in the hall and Mouse hung back in the doorway, keeping one eye on Bex.

“He’s okay,” Connor said, reaching out to squeeze Jay’s shoulder.

Jay slumped back against the wall in relief. “That’s—I mean, Ms. Goodwin said it was going well, but I’m really, really happy to hear that.”

“You and me both.” Connor gestured to the short woman standing beside him in wrinkled scrubs. “This is Dr. Allan,” he said. “She performed the surgery on Will and can give you all of the details.” He came over to rest on the wall beside Jay, leaning into his side a bit as they listened to Dr. Allan give the details on Will’s injuries and how he was doing.

Which was pretty good for someone who got a big hole blasted through their middle.

There was a long list of things they were keeping an eye on and things they’d have to watch for—most of which Jay was going to have to get Connor to translate for him later—but he made it. And he was going to be okay.

And Bex made it. And she was going to be okay.

And Emery made it. And if there was any justice in the world, she was going to be okay too.

Jay didn’t think he could ask for much more than that.

Dr. Allan left after giving her update and Maggie, April, and Ethan said their good-byes shortly after that. Maggie with strict instructions for Connor to get some sleep.

Good advice for all of them at this point.

“Well?” Chris shot a look at him and Connor and Mouse. “How do we wanna do this? Divide and conquer?”

“I’ll go with Connor and you stay here with Mouse?” Jay suggested.

“Keep our phones on and keep in touch,” Connor added.

“Works for me,” Mouse said, nodding at them, already turning back toward Bex’s bed.

“Go team,” Chris said with a little grin. “Say what you want, but we sure can handle a crisis.” He gave Jay and Connor a pair of back-slapping hugs before heading into the room.

Connor and Jay stood there in the hall for a moment while Connor checked his messages for Will’s new room number.

“Mind if we take the stairs?” Connor asked as they started walked and Jay shook his head. “Thanks,” he sighed. “Think I need a few days before I can step foot in the elevator again.”

Jay got it. Probably more than Connor realized. But he was also happy Will was only one floor up. He could’ve forced himself to do more if he had to, but the sooner he could find a chair to pass out in, the better.

“So,” Connor began while they both focused on putting one foot in front of the other up the stairs. “What are we roasting Bex for?”

The laugh Jay let out echoed around them in the stairwell. “Apparently she was cold and the socks Mouse had weren’t cutting it…”

***

Connor

The sun was peeking up over the horizon when Will finally woke up.

Connor had been watching him, cataloguing every breath and twitch he’d had since they’d moved him into this room, waiting for that first flutter of his eyelids.

Not wanting to miss it.

Not quite able to believe Will was going to be okay until Connor could look into his eyes.

“Will?” he whispered, gripping his hand as he leaned in. “Hey. There you are. Hi.”

“C’nr…” Will mumbled, groaning softly as he scrunched his eyes shut again for a moment.

“I’m here,” Connor said quietly. “You gonna wake up so I can see those pretty brown eyes?”

Will blinked a few times before managing to focus on him. “Hi.” A loud snore cut through the quiet and Will’s eyes widened. “Was that me?”

“No.” Connor shook his head with a little laugh. “That was Jay.” He shifted to the side so Will could see his brother sacked out in a chair on the other side of the room. “He’s been pretty worried about you guys.”

“Bex—”

“Is okay,” Connor cut in quickly, running a gentle hand through Will’s hair. “She’s got a mild concussion and a little bit more rib damage, but she’s been checked out and Chris and Mouse are with her now.”

“Good. Okay.” Will settled back into his pillows with a quiet hum, face tilting into Connor’s hand still stroking his hair. “Hey, Con?”

“Yeah, Will?”

A tired, but still fully shit-eating grin spread across Will’s face. “Saved your life.”

The surprised laugh that burst out of Connor quickly became mixed with sobs. “My hero,” he managed to get out.

“C’mere.” Will pulled him in for a hug, fumbling to pat at him with clumsy hands as Connor buried his face into his neck. They stayed like that for awhile until another snore from Jay had them giggling and pulling apart.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” Connor whispered as he tangled Will’s fingers in his. Every bit of fear and frustration and anger from the last few hours bubbled up in his throat, but Connor swallowed it back when he saw Will’s eyes already starting to fall shut.

“’m sorry,” Will mumbled. “Love you.”

“I love you too.” Connor leaned in, pressing a kiss onto his cheek. “So much.”

Another little smile flitted across Will’s face before it relaxed as he fell asleep again. Connor scooted his chair forward, keeping Will’s hand tight in his and rested his other arm on the bed. He watched his chest rise and fall, needing to reassure himself a little while longer before he could close his eyes.

That Will was still here. Still alive.

Still Connor’s.

***

Saturday morning

***

Bex

Bex was miserable.

Everything hurt.

Everything.

Chris and Mouse had told her that Will made it through surgery and was doing well and Dr. Latham was happy with how Emery’s stats were trending although they were keeping her sedated for a while longer.

But Bex wasn’t allowed to go and see either of them.

Wasn’t allowed to move.

Not that she could move much if she wanted to because again, everything hurt.

But still. She wanted—needed to see them both. For herself.

Apparently, that was out of the question.

She was trying not to be miserable—on the outside at least—because she could see how tired and stressed everyone was and she didn’t want to add to that, but if she wasn’t going to be allowed to see Will or Emery, the least people could do was leave her alone.

“So, this Detective Medeiros,” Mouse was saying, bouncing his leg as he sat beside her bed, like he always did when he was nervous or stressed. “She wants to ask you some questions about what happened and she was hoping to take some pictures of, uh, of your injuries.” His head whipped up and his eyes met hers as he frowned. “But you don’t have to, Bex,” he said. “We can do it tomorrow or never. It’s up to you.”

Never honestly sounded pretty good. But Bex knew that wasn’t really an option. “It would help the case though, wouldn’t it?”

Mouse nodded reluctantly and Bex sighed.

That was important. Probably more important than how she was feeling right now. She wanted to know she’d done everything she could to make sure Ty gets put away for hopefully forever this time. And she knew enough about how things worked to realize this—her statements, her injuries—were all important pieces to making that happen.

“I’ll do it,” she said.

“We can stay with you,” Chris said quietly from where he’d been standing at the end of her bed. “If you want.”

“No,” Bex said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly judging from the tiny flash of hurt crossing both of their faces. “It’s not that I don’t want you here…”

But she didn’t want them to see.

Not yet.

Not when the little glimpses she’d caught on her own today showed ugly purpling skin and angry red scrapes. Technicolour violence that hurt to look at. She knew it would hurt worse to see them looking at it. Whether that made sense to them or not, she just—she couldn’t have them here.

Not for this.

“Is Cindy here?” she asked and Chris’s face softened with understanding.

“She’s already on her way,” he said. “I’ll let Detective Medeiros know we’re waiting until she gets here.”

“Anyone else?” Mouse asked. “There’s time to get them and you should have as much support as you want for this, Bex.”

Bex thought it over. Dr. Fahir was going to be there to help document her injuries. Even though they’d only met yesterday and under some pretty crap circumstances, Bex liked her. She was straightforward and…kind, but not in a pitying kind of way. Bex had a feeling she’d help make the process as short and too the point as possible.

She honestly didn’t want many more people in there with her. It was going to be hard enough without feeling like she was on display.

“Just Cindy, please.”

Twenty minutes later, her room had been cleared of everyone except for Detective Medeiros, Dr. Fahir, and Cindy. The door was closed. The lights were still low. And Cindy had a gentle grip on her good arm.

“We’ll go as slow as you need to, Bex,” Detective Medeiros said. “Let’s start at the beginning…”

***

Chris

Chris paced the hall as he typed away in the 51 group chat. Everyone had been making plans to come by and see Bex, but he’d had to nip that in the bud. She hadn’t been in any shape for that this morning and she definitely wasn’t going to be after this interview.

They all understood, obviously, but had wrangled a promise from him to let them know as soon as they could come by. No one was going to be happy until they’d had a chance to see her for themselves. And he had a suspicion there was some kind of giant card in the works.

Maybe that would put a smile on her face.

Not that she wasn’t trying to put on a good front, but even her best front didn’t much of a chance against what she was dealing with. Poor kid had been through the wringer and she was in pain. So much pain. Chris hated seeing her like that.

He just wished there was something more he could do to help. To make it better.

Wished he could be in there with her right now.

At least she let Cindy in. Cindy could always see right through her and she’d put a pause on things if Bex needed it, even if Bex wouldn’t. Especially when.

Kid was too damn good at plowing her way through shit.

She’d fallen apart a bit yesterday, but Chris could see her already shoring things up. Putting her focus on Will and Emery. The case.

What she needed to focus on was herself. He hadn’t been joking yesterday when he said getting her to do that would be a battle.

He needed to make some kind of game plan with Jay and Mouse and Cindy and anyone else who was going to help take care of her. Make sure she didn’t try to plow her way through recovery.

Chris stopped his pacing when the door to Bex’s room finally opened. Cindy, Detective Medeiros, and Dr. Fahir came out and Mouse slipped back inside.

“Thank you for all of your help,” Detective Medeiros said to Cindy and Dr. Fahir. “I’ll be in touch.” She nodded at Chris before heading down the hall.

“I need to start my rounds,” Dr. Fahir said. “But I’ll be back to check on Bex soon.” She patted Cindy’s arm with a smile before leaving.

“Hey, hun, how did—” Chris didn’t even get the question out before Cindy was throwing herself into his arms and burying her face in her chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight when he felt how much she was shaking. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here. Talk to me, Cinds, please.”

“It’s not okay,” Cindy said, voice muffled by his shirt. She finally looked up at him with red eyes, sniffling as she shook her head. “It’s not—Christopher, she—what he did? God, he hurt her. He hurt her so much and I’m just—oh, I am so angry. I want him to pay and I want him gone and I want to never ever let Bex out of our sight.” She let out a hiccupping sob as he pulled her close again.

“I’ve already been working on my pitch to convince her to move into our house,” Chris said, running his hands up and down her back as he kissed the side of her head.

Cindy huffed out a laugh. “The kids would be over the moon.” Then she sighed. “How do we get her through this?”

“It’s just gonna take time,” he said. “And patience.”

“I wish there was something we could do right now,” she said. “Something that would help even a little bit.”

“Actually, I think I have an idea about that.”

***

Jay

Jay sat up as he read through the text from Chris. He’d been trying to distract himself while Will slept, knowing he couldn’t pop down and see Bex while she was being interviewed.

Detective Medeiros wanted to keep them separate since Jay was a witness.

He knew why—it was a process he’d been on the other side of any number of times—but knowing the why, knowing the process almost made it worse.

He knew exactly what Bex was going through right now. Reliving everything. Having to sit there and be catalogued.

At least Cindy was there with her.

And now Chris had a genius idea that would probably be helpful to not only Bex, but Will too.

The soft sounds of conversation had him standing and walking over to the bed. Connor and Will both looked up at him, pausing their quiet chat.

“Feel up for a chat with Bex?” Jay asked, waving his phone at Will.

“Yes!” Will’s eyes lit up. Jay laughed at the grabby hands he made, shooting off a confirmation to Chris.

“Okay, let’s get you set up.” Between him and Connor, they very carefully moved Will into a slightly more raised position. Jay grabbed the table tray and moved it into place before setting his phone on top. He started up a video chat with Chris who answered after a few seconds.

Sort of.

“Chris,” Jay called out as Will and Connor chuckled beside him. “Chris! You’ve gotta—you’ve got the camera turned around, man—”

“Aw, heck.” Chris’s muffled voice came through the speaker and then finally, instead of a view of a table and sheets, they saw Bex’s face.

All three of them tried to cover their shock, but Will couldn’t quite stop the wince at the sharp breath he took. She’d been in rough shape yesterday, but now that her bruises were starting to come up, it was—it was hard to see.

“Will?” Her voice shook a bit as she peered at the screen.

“Hey, Bex,” Will said, smiling softly at her.

“Hi.” She smiled back…and then her face crumpled and she burst into tears.

“Oh, shit.” Will tried to reach for the phone, but fell back with a grunt. Connor grabbed it and held it closer for him. “Bex, I’m here. I’m okay, see? Dr. Allan said I’m going to be fine.”

That didn’t help much. Bex just cried harder and Jay was at a loss for what to do. She might hurt herself at this rate.

Chris’s face came on the screen, looking tense. “Hey, guys,” he said. “We’re gonna hang up for now and maybe try this later, okay?”

“Chris?” Will called out faintly.

“Yeah, bud?”

“Just…give her a hug for me, okay?”

Chris nodded at the screen. “Always.” The call ended and the three of them slumped back.

“Well,” Jay said eventually. “That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.”

“Help me up.” Will held out a hand to Connor, shaking it impatiently when he didn’t take it. “Come on, we can get me in a wheel chair and I can go down and see her.”

“Absolutely not,” Connor said, crossing his arms as he stared Will down.

“I’m in better shape than she is right now—”

“Bullshit!” Connor exclaimed.

“Dude, you were shot,” Jay chimed in. “You might have come through surgery okay, but now’s not the time to get cocky.”

Connor nodded, but Will ignored him to point a finger at Jay. “Yeah, I’m not taking advice from you on how to safely navigate recovery.”

Rude.

“Okay, okay, okay.” Connor sliced his arms through the air, cutting off the rest of their argument. “Listen, there’s a solution here that I think will make everyone happy. I can make it happen, but there’s one condition.”

“I’m listening,” Will said slowly.

***

Chris

Chris was on board as soon as he heard Connor’s plan. He didn’t care about what anyone else thought at this point. He couldn’t sit through Bex crying like that again. Not if he could help it.

Or Connor, rather.

Dr. Fahir took a bit of convincing, but she agreed to it once she realized they could get it all done while Bex was sleeping. Minimal disruption seemed to be her magic words.

It was actually kind of fun, whispering and sneaking a whole hospital bed through the halls while Bex slept. She was going to be so surprised when she woke up.

Oh, god. Chris hoped she didn’t cry again.

That would be counterproductive.

As the medical team worked on getting Bex set up in the new space, Chris went to stand beside Jay, whistling under his breath. “This is pretty sweet,” he said, looking around at the spacious private room. Will and Bex’s beds were side by side, but there was also not one, but two couches and a few plush arm chairs. Chris lowered his voice, tilting his head toward Jay. “How much do you think—”

“Ah.” Jay held up a finger. “That’s the one condition,” he said. “We’re not allowed to ask how much it costs. Something about not wanting to have to fight about it with Will later.”

“Fair enough.” Chris nodded. “But seriously, is he like loaded loaded because this is a crazy nice room.”

Jay shushed him, shaking his head as he laughed.

“Yeah, alright, no more questions.” Chris grinned at him. “Man, I kind of want to wake Bex up just to see her face. I’m joking!” He held his hands up when Dr. Fahir sent a glare his way.

Time to go sit on that fancy looking couch and stay out of the way. He plopped himself down and immediately waved Cindy and Jay over. “You gotta try this. It’s better than Jay’s!”

***

Bex

Bex blinked as she slowly began to surface, eyes still a bit sore from her, ugh, ridiculous cry session from earlier. She started to rub at them and someone gently pulled her hand away.

She blinked again, focusing. “Jay?”

“Hey, sleepy head.”

“Why aren’t you with Will?” He was supposed to be keeping an eye on him along with Connor. He shouldn’t—

“I am,” Jay said, grinning as he stepped back.

Bex squinted in the dim light, looking around the room. Mouse was on her other side. Chris and Cindy were…on a couch? Where did that come from?

Wait.

Was this a different room?

A quiet chuckle on her right had her turning to see Connor standing beside…another bed? And—

“Will?”

“Surprise!” He waved at her while Connor did jazz hands.

“How—”

“They decided to put all of their problem cases in one room,” Jay said, quirking an eyebrow at her. Chris snorted and Cindy shook her head, leaving the couch to go and stand beside Connor.

“Ignore them,” Cindy said, wrapping an arm around Connor’s waist. “It was his idea and he made it happen too.”

“Thank you,” Bex whispered to him and he came over to give her a smooch on her forehead.

“Now I can keep an eye on you both,” he said,

“Can we bring Emery in here too?” Bex asked hopefully, but Connor shook his head.

“Not yet,” he said. “She’s needs to stay in the ICU, but I promise you they’re keeping a close eye on her and she’s doing really well.”

“For now, you focus on resting,” Chris said, turning a stern eye on her and Will. “Both of you.”

Bex looked over at Will and he smiled at her again. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” she said, trying her best not to tear up again at the sight of him. Here. Alive.

“You know what I think would help us rest right now?”

“What?” Bex asked, voice going hoarse.

“French fries.”

They both laughed and then groaned, clutching at their sides.

“Okay, maybe this wasn’t the best idea,” Connor said, shaking his head at the two of them.

“No,” Bex said. “It’s perfect.”

***

Statesville Correctional Center

The guard—Peters—stood outside of the cell, shifting his weight on his feet nervously.

He was the perfect kind of lackey. Easily bought and yet ferociously loyal after the fact. And still wary enough of the stories he’d heard to have a healthy amount of fear during their dealings.

He’d certainly lasted longer than some of the others.

And he was proving himself to be quite diligent.

“That name you wanted me to keep an ear out for,” Peters said. “It came up. There was an attack.”

That deserved attention. “What happened?”

“Domestic of some kind, it sounds like? Trying to help her friend?” Peters shrugged. His attention to detail would need to be addressed. All in good time.

“And?”

“And what?” Peters squinted at him.

“How is she?”

“Oh! She’s alive, but it sounds like she’s pretty banged up,” Peters said. “They got her at Med.”

A hospital stay.

Hm.

Distressing.

He should send flowers.

“Thank you, Peters,” he said, dismissing the man. “Let me know if you hear anything else.”

Waiting until Peters was on the other side of the doors, he headed back to his bunk, digging out his phone. A few messages had his plan in motion.

But what to send?

He couldn’t include a card. Not yet. It was too risky.

But flowers had their own beautiful language. If he picked carefully, there would be no way his songbird wouldn’t know they were from him.

***

Sunday

***

Cindy

“More flowers!” Cindy exclaimed as Chris accepted another delivery.

Will and Bex’s room was almost overflowing with flowers and balloons and treats that neither of them were cleared to eat, but that Chris, Connor, Jay, and Mouse were steadily working their way through.

“Oh, those are beautiful.” Cindy took the bouquet of red asters and set them over by the window. She plucked out the card and, hunh, that was funny. “They say they’re for Bex, but there’s no message or name on it. Any idea who they could be from?”

Bex frowned as she stared at them. “No,” she said. “I feel like everyone I know has already sent something so I have no clue.” She frowned harder. “I want to be able to thank them though.”

“Why don’t we post a picture,” Cindy suggested, scooping up Bex’s phone. “We can put it on all of your accounts so you can say thank you and mention there was no name on the card. Maybe it was just a mistake and whoever they’re from will speak up.”

“That’s a good idea.” She sighed. “Would you mind doing it? I’m not supposed to look at screens still.”

“I’m on it,” Cindy said, setting up the shot. “Hashtag, beautiful flowers. Hashtag, mystery gift!”

Bex giggled a bit which was exactly what Cindy had been hoping for. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Ten bucks says Capp will try to pretend it was him,” Chris said.

“Hand it over then because he sent those daisies,” Bex said, pointing at the shelf behind him.

The rest of the guys laughed as Chris squawked and stalked over to read the card. “Hunh. He didn’t even try to piggy back on Tony’s gift. That’s a first.”

Bex wasn’t wrong about pretty much everyone they knew sending something. They’d had to be pretty firm about spacing out the visits and keeping them to one or two people at a time so Bex and Will didn’t get overwhelmed. As it was, Cindy could already see them fading.

And no wonder. Her eyebrows flew up as she caught sight of the time. “It’s lunchtime! I bet you’re all starving.” She set Bex’s phone down and started hustling Christopher toward the door. “We’ll go grab something and bring it back up here. Any requests?”

“I will eat literally anything you put in front of me,” Will said.

“Not you, mister.” Cindy waggled a finger at him. “I’ll be following your restrictions until Dr. Allen tells me otherwise.”

“Cindy, anything you can grab will be wonderful,” Connor said, reaching for his wallet. “Let me—”

“Nope.” Mouse beat him to it, handing a card over to Cindy. “This one’s on me.”

“Ooh, get extra cookies,” Jay called out from where he was lounging beside Bex’s bed.

“Thank you, Mouse,” Cindy said, ignoring the general shenanigans of the room and utterly charmed by how he blushed when she smiled at him. “Behave yourselves,” she told the rest of them. “We’ll be back soon.”

Soon turned out to be a generous estimate.

Christopher, sick of hospital food, insisted on going to a sub shop “nearby” that was apparently delicious, but still took almost ten minutes to get to. It was a hole in the wall kind of place with a perfectly worn feel that made her think his claims of deliciousness probably weren’t too far off. That and it was incredibly busy—even for a lunch time rush.

Forty minutes later, they made it back to the room with their miniature feast only to find the whole gang passed out cold.

Will and Bex were asleep in their beds. Connor was curled up in an arm chair beside Will’s bed and Jay was sacked out on one of the couches. Mouse was tucked in on the edge of Bex’s bed, one hand gently keeping hold of her un-splinted arm.

“Guess this’ll have to keep,” Chris whispered to her, smiling as he shook his head at their family. They put everything that needed to be kept cold in the fridge and left the rest on the table. Chris tugged on her hand, leading her over to the other couch and pulling her down into his lap.

Cindy relaxed back into him with a sigh.

It was the first truly peaceful feeling moment they’d had since Friday. Cindy could hardly believe everything that had happened since then. It was too overwhelming.

Took her right back to—to when Chris was here and they all rallied together, scared and unsure of what was going to happen, but helping each other through it as best they could.

It made her want to weep sometimes, how much violence and heartache her family had been through. How many scars they now bore.

“You look like you’re thinking heavy thoughts,” Christopher murmured, nuzzling his nose into her hair. “Wanna talk about it?”

“I just—” Cindy brought her hands up to press over her stomach. “What kind of world are we bringing this little bean into?”

Chris was quiet for a moment before he placed a hand over hers. “One where they’ll be surrounded by family,” he said slowly. “A family that will support them and help them learn how to be strong and smart and kind and brave and silly. It’ll be a world where they will always, always know that they are loved.” He held her close. “Always.”

She tilted her head back to look at him. “How did you get so wonderful and wise?”

“You.” Chris smiled, leaning in to give her a kiss. He gave her a little squeeze before settling the both of them into the back of the couch. “Now, come on and get comfy,” he said. “We need to get back into practice.”

“What on earth are you talking about, Christopher?”

He gestured at their sleeping family. “Gotta sleep when the babies sleep, right?” Cindy stifled a giggle and he shushed her. “I’m serious!” he whispered, fighting his own giggles. “Nap time!”

Their giggles settled down as he snuggled into her side and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep and Cindy followed him soon after.

***

Bex

Bex cracked her eyes open, smiling to herself as she watched Cindy and Chris sleep tangled up in each other on the couch.

Mouse stirred beside her. “You okay?” he asked quietly.

She thought about it for a moment before answering. “Yeah.” Definitely not all the way, not yet and maybe not for awhile, but—

“I will be,” Bex said.

Because she had her family. One that was strong and smart and kind and brave and silly and that she knew always, always loved her.

Click here to read on ao3:

A/N #2: If you haven't read the rest of the series, that Statesville scene is a call back to one that happened in a 'Honesty. Horrible, Horrible Honesty.' Consider this to be the start of a slow burn villain arc.

A/N #3: I'll do another 'coming up next' post for those of you who enjoy spoilers so keep an eye out for that.

And here is the tag list (let me know if you wish to be added or removed):

@sorry-i-spaced, @thegirlwhowishedeveryonelived, @ivyalmighty, @thewannabewriter, @lexhalstead3, @multifandomgrl08, @foxes-and-cats, @sensitivemallysix, @thebewingedjewelcat, @emme-looou, @trulylavandedarling

[qwertyprophecy]

and the Unrelenting

Character Design of The Dark Queen of Mortholme, Pt. 2

(Pt. 1)

With the story playing out from the point of view of their opponent, the Hero is characterised mainly through the mystery they present to the Queen. They're unassuming, yet determined to go further than the Queen could ever imagine. Humble in a way she might view as lowliness, but they try to prove holds the key to remaining open to improvement. They might not be powerful, efficient or elegant—not next to the Queen, at any rate—but they for sure are resilient.

The first priority was for them to look tiny in comparison to the Queen; it shouldn't come as a surprise how little damage to the Queen they do per hit. Not weak, but certainly overpowered. More stocky and short, like all of their considerable willpower has been crammed into a compact package. A lot of the exaggerated proportions like the poofy trousers, big head and little hands and feet are to make them a bit cute and goofy. This is not a hardened adventurer, this is someone who's trying their best.

At the start I had some sketches with an uncovered head to contrast with the Queen's helmeted one, maybe to have a long ponytail to give the Hero's movements a nice flowy follow-through. That's before I decided to characterise them as a mystery, however, and all the subsequent designs got a hood to hide their face.

I even considered a whole cape, but it was too much. They're not actively hiding themselves; it's only the Queen who has difficulty comprehending their nature. Next to her decked head to toe in plate armour, the Hero should come off as someone comfortable being more vulnerable. Maybe they're a bit of a dumbass, maybe they're boldened by the knowledge that even if they get hurt, it won't stop them for long.

Thus, practical if rather unintimidatingly floppy-sleeved chainmail it was. They get a sword, because they're meant to evoke the most typical fantasy protagonist possible. Our interest with this character isn't in the character per se, but in the player-like will behind the avatar, so an overcomplicated design would only serve as a distraction. The only extra detail they get are the belts to suggest resourcefulness.

It's implied that between their attempts at the boss, they have whole little RPG adventures outside of the boss room that the player is locked in. The Queen doesn't get to participate in any of it, so we know nothing about this part of them. Yet we see the results as they with their new abilities, tools, perhaps dialogue hinting at their emotional attachment to some storylines that motivate them to push through. Design-wise, I thought I'd like to depict their updating toolkit not only through their animations, but through an evolution of their sprite: a shield appears in their off hand, a bow on their back, potions on their belt. (It's possible this will be cut content due to the effort of making multiple versions of every single sprite sheet, but who knows. I have poor impulse control.)

The palette, unsurprisingly, is mellow grays and warm hues to oppose the Queen's starkness and cold. Gotta use the clichés when they work! I didn't want the Hero's main colour to be too bright a red, though. It was picked (from the few potential options that would stand out from the blue-dominated background) to represent their fierce determination, but in her own way the Queen is determined, too. It's the Hero's stubbornness to improve, their malleability, which distinguishes them. So they wear a softer, earthier red.