#woman uses trash instead of grocery store

[balkanradfem]

So I've been thinking for the last few days about how I wanted to make a sour cherry pie; they're still not ripe enough to eat and it's been cloudy so it's taking a while. But they're great for a pie. I've been getting an obstacle in form of 'in what container can I bake a pie', because all of my oven containers are big, rectangular, and generally not great to take a pie out of. I considered maybe using a plate, or a broken pan, but I would get a little put off. Whenever I see someone else do it, they're using those round glass containers for baking; I've always wanted one, but they're way too fancy for me, and I'd never buy one.

So fast forward to this morning; I had given myself way too many chores, failed to eat breakfast, got woken up too early by my roommate, and by 7am I was already in the garden, then working the field, then foraging for nettle. I was on my way back at 10am, feeling a little faint, but I noticed a big trash container in my way, and I'm all grumpy about having to go around it, the damn thing was in the middle of the walkway.

However, I noticed this trash container had a bucket, and a gardener needs buckets; as many buckets as possible (for catching rainwater). I also needed on for my future compost toilet, so that's another great reason to check out this bucket. I assumed it had to be broken or have a hole in it to be thrown away, and I peeked inside to see. There was some stuff in it. Some stuff that suspiciously looked like.. no. I couldn't mess with it in the middle of the street, I just took the entire bucket home, and decided to check it out in privacy.

I got it home, took the thing out, it was extremely, extremely filthy, filled with some sort of grease and ashes, I left it to soak in chlorine for a while to remove any bacteria, scrubbed and washed it several times, and this is what I got!

A perfect glass pie container! At the exact moment I needed one!

And, this is not all the bucket contained. It also had: one small miniature glass vase, a few pieces of cardboard (thrown away), a particularly strong nail, a very strong screw (I'm collecting nails and screws to use them in furniture construction), a paintbrush (but a bad one), and a very low value coin (lucky coin).

And the bucket wasn't even broken. I'm so ready to start a homestead you gyns.

Extremely cheered up by this lucky find, I went to gather cherries and find flowers for my new tiny vase, I'm off to make a cherry pie.

[youngerdrgrey]

all the pieces aren't even in the box // the morning show, bradley/laura, chapter two

about: Bradley and Laura's last few months in Montana and how the world reacts along the way (and maybe how they find their way back to each other) ~ read chapter one chapter two summary: in mid-July 2020, the gulf between Bradley and Laura widens as Sandy's funeral approaches. Laura's well-meaning ideas could change their relationship forever.

notes: my friends have requested/actively campaigned that this is not solely a break-up story. (they're anti-break up in general. we'll see, but either way, there will be joy as well.) it's not long after chapter one. Here's Bradley Jackson to kick us off before Laura takes the reins again. (read chapter one on AO3)

mid J U L Y (2020)

Somehow Sandy Jackson’s funeral becomes the hottest ticket in West Virginia.

It’s not like Bradley can go either way, but suddenly everybody she’s ever known wants to go and pay their respects. And fucking Hal — bless him — he’s never made an e-vite in his life. Bradley’s the one who types up the information and sends him the template. All he has to do is input the emails and paste it on Facebook.

But when Hal finally fucking posts it, he’s taken out the note about masks and social distancing. Bradley calls him up immediately, but he screens her call. Of course she leaves a voicemail.

“Hal! Don’t make me call you again. I haven’t asked for much, but you’d think since our mom died of fucking Covid that you would keep the mask mandate at her funeral. Or do you wanna die too?”

Bradley winces as soon as the words leave her mouth.

It’s just the kind of shit her mom used to say. She can’t fucking put that on Hal. She doesn’t think he’s suicidal. He’s just…. He doesn’t use his head right. He doesn’t want to be uncomfortable because once he gets uncomfortable, he starts thinking about what makes him actually comfortable, and he’s not supposed to be doing any of that anymore. He’s managed to stay sober since Mom died. She can’t fucking push him to the edge now.

So she hits the button to re-record and snaps, “Don’t screen my calls. Call me back. I don’t want Mom’s funeral to be a superspreader. Just put the masks as optional if you have to.”

She hangs up so that version of the voicemail will go through. Huffs as her phone buzzes with another dozen RSVPs. Fucking Harvard boy Alan from South East News Network clicked maybe. He’d never even met her mom.

Who would’ve thought when you cussed out those coal protestors that you’d end up anchoring at UBA? Let me know if you’re coming back for the funeral. We should get coffee.

How in the fuck did he even see this?

.

.

Bradley spends the rest of the day on a warpath. She stomps ahead of Laura on their afternoon walk. She turns on a movie even though she knows Laura would rather watch another episode of SVU. She even finishes the coffee creamer and puts it back in the fridge instead of chucking it into the trash.

It’s not like it matters. She’s the one who has to take it out anyway. She’s the only one who ever leaves the house for real. She can go to the grocery store, but she can’t go say goodbye to the woman who raised her. She can talk to the whole country every morning, but talking to the rest of her family? Giving some emotional eulogy about who they lost, or why they have to fucking wear masks even though some random coworker on Facebook who hasn’t washed his hands in three years claims to be an expert on disease.

At least Laura takes it in stride. She pulls up a separate blanket for herself on the couch without comment. She pours her wine a little heavier and gives Bradley a wide berth for their unintended movie night. She’s more patient than Bradley deserves. More patient than Bradley would be in reverse. 

Bradley would’ve started emptying other things just to make the point of how fucking frustrating it is to have empty containers in the fridge. But Bradley’s a mess, and Laura is not. Laura has an entire ranch with horse stables and an in-home studio. A bookcase in her sitting room with her Emmy awards and her Pulitzer. A real life with real people who come over when she’s lonely and play charades in her backyard.

What does Bradley have? What has she ever had in this shitty world she’s trapped in?

Hal finally calls Bradley back an hour into the movie. Bradley waves Laura off before Laura even reaches for the remote.

“You can keep watching,” Bradley says as she gets up off the couch. 

She heads out the french doors to the backyard. Figures that way if she starts yelling at her brother Laura won’t freak out too much. Bradley’s gotta stop bringing chaos into Laura’s house. Wasn’t that what Laura said back in Nevada? No chaos. That’s why she cut off Alex. That and the outing, but it’s not like Bradley can out Laura a third time.

Hal launches into a speech the moment Bradley answers. He says, “I’ll have a box of masks there, but if I put that in the invite, that’s it. All they’ll talk about is masks and how vaccines won’t work once they’re ready. It’s a funeral, Bradley, not one of your debates.”

Bradley bites on her tongue so hard it stings. It’s not a debate either way, Hal. It’s basic science. 

She grinds out, “Fine. But where’s the Zoom link?”

“Come on, Brad.”

Her eyes flash. “Don’t ‘come on.’ There has to be a Zoom, or I won’t see it at all.”

“That’s not fair. I’m the one setting all this up.”

“And I’m the one paying for it! I’ve been making all the calls—“

“And I’m just the screw up who puts the tables out, huh?”

It’s a trap, but Bradley’s not letting it go. “You said it not me.”

“Yeah, I said it. You can make all the calls you want from your little girlfriend’s cabin, but I’m the one actually sitting in this shit.” Hal’s voice shakes. Like roof tiles in a thunderstorm. Garage doors on the way down. “You want to deal with all the fucking food in the deep freezer? All these shitty ass casseroles? You know the fridge couldn’t even close the other day? We should’ve had a death as kids. That would’ve filled it up.”

“Don’t say that.”

He’s not listening. He sounds manic. Not at full tilt, but ramping up. “Everybody’s got something to say. They miss her. They loved her. They’re full of shit. You know how many people called when she had Covid? Guess. Guess how many, Brad.”

Saddest fucking guessing game of her life. 

“I don’t know, four.” That’s Roberta from the church, Mary Anne from their old park, and Lewis from the senior center. He was sweet on their mom last Bradley heard. Better to her than their no good father ever could’ve been. Mom’s words.

“One. You.”

A chill rolls down her spine. Only one.

She averts her eyes out to Laura’s yard. Technically she’d been looking out that way before, but she wasn’t looking at first. It was just something to glare towards since she couldn’t glare at Hal. 

But there’s a squirrel picking at the open table fire pit. There’s probably some marshmallow if it digs deep enough. Laura dropped half of hers the other night. The s’mores were meant to be a pick-me-up for Bradley. They hadn’t been able to do them when Emma and Sam were over. Sandy’s death put a damper on their gay double date.

Sandy Jackson, for all her faults, didn’t deserve to die alone. A whole life, and the only people who checked on her were the kids who had to. Hal couldn’t avoid it. He lived there. And Bradley….

Maybe Hal was wrong. Maybe he missed the calls or the texts.

Bradley asks, “You sure? Nobody from the church?”

Hal sniffles. “Not until after she died. Then it was flowers by the screen door. Casseroles and all them knocking whenever they saw Ma’s car in the driveway. I put it in the garage. Turned off the lights so they’d leave me alone.”

Bradley’s heart aches. He used to do that as a boy. Sit in the dark during fights and try to see how quiet he could be. Like he could make himself small enough to just disappear. He should’ve grown out of that by now. He shouldn’t still be so damn afraid of being alive.

“What about Sheryl?” That’s Hal’s girlfriend. “Why don’t you go to her place? Hide out over there.”

“Like you and Laura?” Hal huffs. “I’m fine here.”

“You’re not fine. You’re —“

“I’m fine. Sitting in the dark’s a lot better than getting high. You want something to fix? Help me keep Dad from showing up.”

Bradley freezes. She hasn’t heard from their dad since she started on TMS. He’d called her out of the blue, and she’d told him never to talk to her again. Was he still talking to Hal? She can’t stop that. She can’t let him back into her life.

She must take too long to say something because Hal huffs a second time.

He says, “Didn’t think so. Forget it. You want a Zoom, then send a link. I don’t have the fancy one. Mine’ll cut off after an hour.”

“Alright.” Her voice sounds too soft. Quiet. Weak. She repeats herself with force behind it. “Alright, I’ll send you a link. Add it into the invite. Tell everybody they can log in if they don’t want to go in person.”

She knows as she says it that he won’t do that. He’ll add the link, but he won’t make the suggestion. He wants all those people there. He wants the strangers and the church fellowship and the fans who only go to see if Bradley will show up. He wants a village. And she can’t give him that.

“I gotta go, Brad.”

“Yeah, me too. Laura’s… watching a movie.” Bradley can’t remember which one now. “Call me if something else comes up.”

“Yeah, sure.” He hesitates, but he clicks off without saying that he loves her. 

“Love you too,” she says to nobody.

.

.

Laura isn’t watching the movie when Bradley walks back in. It’s paused on nearly the same screen Bradley left it on. An immature part of Laura had wanted to change the channel while Bradley was gone. They were meant to watch SVU tonight. Bradley knew that, but the blonde’s been lashing out in little ways.

She lets the trash overflow before taking it out. She makes her own coffee while Laura’s in the shower and stews in the studio until show time. She stops calling Laura babe.

But Bradley is allowed to be upset that her mom died. Bradley gets to react to that. Would Laura like if the reaction didn’t feel targeted at her? Of course. That does not change the fact that this is how Bradley needs to grieve. Laura can give her that. Until after the funeral at least.

So Laura finishes her first glass of wine and pours a second. Picks up the book on attachment styles that she’s only partially reading out of passive aggression. And she waits for her girlfriend to come back. And if it feels like she’s still waiting, even as Bradley returns and settles back onto the couch beside her, well, that’s between Laura and her next therapy appointment.

“How’s Hal?” Laura asks. 

Bradley circles her jaw, but she doesn’t make a sound. Not the worst call then. “He invited half of West Virginia to Mom’s funeral. Everybody will be there.” Except her. “Except me.”

Laura closes her book to reach for her wine. Says without thinking, “You’re welcome to go. You’d just—“

“Quarantine when I got back, I know,” Bradley finishes. Laura’s jaw ticks. Another little rebellion. Bradley’s eyes flash with recognition. “I cut you off.”

“You were right this time.” Not to do it, but about what Laura would have said.

If Bradley goes to the funeral, then they won’t see each other for nearly three weeks. There’s the nearly two thousand miles from Montana to the other side of country. The day for the ceremony and another to help Hal clean up before Bradley turns around to drive all two thousand miles again. Then two weeks of quarantining. That’s only if Bradley doesn’t catch Covid from anyone out there.

“Three weeks,” Bradley voices. “It’s not forever. You know Emma and Sam could come over. Have some s’mores. Talk all about me when I’m not inside cutting the strawberries.” She says it like it’s an actual possibility. Like it could be a change of pace and not the first step in their death march.

What if Bradley gets sick? What if she can’t leave West Virginia again? What if her case is serious, and Laura can’t get to her without it literally killing them both?

But if Laura doesn’t let Bradley go, isn’t that another end in and of itself? They’ve barely been dating five months. Four if they count from when they became official instead of when they kissed in Iowa. And again in New York. In Bradley’s hotel.

Five months is too soon to restrict somebody’s movements. Not quite restrict; it’s not an act of control. It’s an act of consideration. A relationship is compromise and partnership. Five months is too short a time to ask for this kind of sacrifice. If Laura even asks, she’ll sound unreasonable. Desperate and delusional. What kind of partner would Laura be to ask Bradley to miss her own mother’s funeral?

So Laura takes a heavier sip from her wine. Drinks until she can’t breathe and the only thing on her tongue is the black cherry notes in her cabernet sauvignon.

Bradley looks mildly concerned, but below that, underneath the fire that she barely tamps down, she looks hopeful. Laura can’t snuff that out.

Her mouth’s dry as she tries not to croak, “It’s not forever.”

Bradley almost squeals. She flips her phone over instantly. “I’ll message Gayle. She can coordinate with Stella and Mia. I won’t tell Hal until it’s official. Don’t want to get his hopes up if I can’t get another day off. D'you think Alison will do it, or do we need to see who else is available?”

She talks without looking at Laura. It’s for the best. Laura keeps a smile on her face, and she nods along, but all she really hears is three weeks. You’re welcome to go. And Bradley’s squeal at the thought of leaving Laura here alone.

.

.

read chapter three

[hisbucky]

Our Frayed Edges

It all begins here in Winter, 1996.

Left in the streets of LA, a blue-eyed boy finds his home.

This is his story, his life, what he learns and who he grows up to be.

And all it took was a little love

[full fic here]

Main Pairing: Parent!Athena & Adopted!Buck

Featuring (in future chapters): Bathena, Buddie

Rating: M for Mature Themes

Winter, 1996

The weather is cold outside.

Athena doesn’t need to look any further than the light dusting of frost on her patrol car window to know that LA weather as she knows it is going through one of its record lows at the moment.

Hell, she can’t even remember the last time she saw genuine snow in this part of town, and she’s lived here all her life. This is probably the first time she has the car heater turned on in the middle of the day.

It was honestly nothing compared to Big Bear, but just the sight of snow falling this near the coastline was frankly astounding, beautiful even.

And yet something about it is making her feel uncomfortable.

She hears the passenger side door click open and close, bringing with it a slight chill into the heated car. “Freak weather, ain’t it ‘Thena?” her partner’s voice grunts out.

Turning her head to the other, Athena hums in agreement, blinking her eyes when she sees the man holding out a paper bag to her.

“Here, a cup and a whole box of donuts for you. Well, minus one that I took for myself. You deserve it.” Brogan says, a rare smile gracing his face.

“Why thank you,” Athena smiles back, a little touched at the nice gesture from her usually aloof partner. “I’m just glad I finally got promoted, even if I’m the last one in my year.” She jokes, but it clearly falls flat from the way McCluskey sets his jaw.

“That ain’t anyway your fault.” He snorts, “The brass still isn’t ready to accept the fact that my rookie, a proud and independent black woman, is kicking all the other grunts asses by being the best in her year despite all of the prejudice she faced, mine included.”

Athena takes a sip from her cup to hide her pleased smile, more than thankful for her mentor’s support, but unwilling to give herself away so easily. Instead, she teases the older man, “Now, now. Don’t wanna hurt that brain of yours using a big word like that.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Brogan rolls his eyes, prompting a few chuckles between the both of them.

With nothing else much to say, they eat in companionable silence, the friendly mood a staple thing between them ever since they worked out their differences all those years ago, and especially since Brogan had helped her through that part of her life.

Six years already, the line of her mouth thins as Athena remembers. And still nowhere close to figuring out who was there that night.

The night Emmett took his last breath in that grocery store.

Staring outside at the gentle snowfall, Athena quietly broods as she goes through the crime scene in her head, something that might as well be a daily routine of hers for the past six years. Somewhere out there, she figures Rick is doing the same, the both of them having dedicated most of their time off trying to find the bastard who did it.

Athena could barely find anything in her to celebrate her well-deserved promotion right now, or even trash talk the ‘traditional’ old white men who held her back all along. Not when there is still no evidence on that case—no suspects, no fingerprints, no murder weapon.

You’re going to run yourself to the ground, her Mama said.

Now six years in, she’s starting to think her Mama was right.

“Athena,” Brogan’s steady voice clears through the cloud of her thoughts, and a moment later she finds herself apologizing to her partner for being distracted while on duty.

Brogan waves it off, “No, I get it. It’s that time of the year again, and you have more reason than most to mourn for him. If it was my wife…” the man trails off, letting the unspoken words fill the silence.

Taking the chance, Athena changes the subject, “Have you ever seen LA get this cold, Brogan? Unlike Kelly, you were born and raised here.” She offers her box of donuts, to which her partner gratefully takes.

“Could say the same to you,” Brogan grouses, eyes darting around as he takes in the unusually white landscape, “I think the last one was in 1962, and I was like a babe or something, but my Ma and Pa said it was an amazing thing.”

His eyes squint at the scenery, Athena recognizing it as the distrustful gaze he usually reserves for blatant suspects, “Looking at it now, to me it just feels weird to see this. Not to mention the shit I have to check back at my house later because of it.”

Wincing in sympathy, Athena thinks back to her own apartment and about how unequipped it was for cold weather. In unison, the both of them sigh at the thought.

After each of them has polished off their second donut, Athena sets her empty coffee cup and the box aside as Brogan radios in the end of their lunch break, putting them back on radar for the day.

It was just before she pulls the clutch does she notice something else in her peripherals.

“Brogan,” Athena shakes her partner’s shoulder, getting an inquiring hum in return. She points him to the nearby alley, darkly lit, a seemingly innocuous sight to the untrained eye.

Then it happens again, and she knows Brogan sees the flicker of a shadow just like she did when she hears the man take a short breath at her side.

Like a silent agreement, the both of them carefully get out of the car, watching the alleyway closely for any more sudden movements.

From the corner of her eye, Athena sees Brogan’s hand hovering over his gun, and she does the same. If it was just another tweaker all they have to worry about is tackling them to the ground before they could get away, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Just last week there was another officer who got injured because of carelessness after all.

What greets them, however, is nothing like what they expected.

“…M-mom…?” a voice whispers, and Athena zeroes in on the blue eyes peeking at them, the owner just a little boy huddled in the corner, barely wearing anything but a simple t-shirt and a pair of shorts to bear with the cold.

read the rest here

[umichenginabroad]

Space Invaders! And the Louvre

Welcome back to another installment of the blog! I’m your host, Ian, and today, we will start the mundane topic of traditional French cuisine before moving on to the fascinating business of hunting Space Invaders around Paris.

Tuesday morning, CEA took us on a tour of the neighborhood of Montorgueil to enjoy the delicious eats there. Our guide began the tour by asking us if we recognized the French words that made up the name of the area. Mont was an obvious one, referring to any sort of sloped or elevated surface. This road was certainly on a decently steep slant, so it makes sense to call it a mont. Orgueil, most of the time, directly translates to pride. But in this case, it takes on a less common meaning of a tool that is used to take trash and move it elsewhere. This meaning is appropritate, as the “mont” that we’re referring to in the name is actually a medieval garbage pile that is many meters deep. Since it has been paved over and turned into a true district, the quarter has been a food hub, hence, we took our tasting tour there. 

Entrance to Montorgueil

We began at a boulangerie (bakery) and tried not just any baguette, but a tradi, short for tradition, which is a baguette that is prepared and baked in a slightly different way as for the crust to have a nice crunch to it. It was super delicious, and now when I go to order my baguettes, I get only tradis. They cost about 10 cents more than a usual baguette, but the investment is certainly worth it. The next item was also bread, but this time, a roll with fig baked into it. I wasn’t the biggest fan, but it was hot and freshly baked, which was certainly appreciated. Then we tried our hand at some cold cuts from a butcher. There was chorizo, ham, and another kind of spiced ham like the chorizo, but in more of a French style. I’m not the biggest fan of cold cuts, but I didn’t mind the spiced hams. 

After the meat, of course, came the cheese. We each had five pieces of cheese, starting with two cow cheeses, then two goat cheeses, and ending with a piece of sheep cheese. The first one was the famous Camembert. As you may recognize from the local grocery store back at home, this cheese had a “crust” (for lack of a better word) to it. You do indeed eat the crust of the cheese, which felt weird, but, it didn’t taste like much. The rest of the cheeses had no crust. Most of us, myself included, weren’t too big of fans of the goat cheeses, but the sheep cheese was delicious. You also eat it with this little jelly square made of paste from the Quince fruit. Don’t worry, I’d never heard of it either. But the combination of sweet and savory was super delicious, and the textures mixed well. We discussed why the French eat their cheeses at the end of the meal instead of the beginning. Any guesses? Well, spoilers, it’s because you want to eat the most fatty, unhealthy things when you’re already almost full! Makes a lot of sense, actually, and she said that it’s the French secret to staying in shape despite eating nearly pure fat in some of these hardier cheeses. 

The cheeses we ate (discussed from inside to outside)

We ended with macaroons from a bakery that’s been around since 1730! Pistachio and chocolate flavored. Of course, delicious. One interesting note before I move on: it is illegal to change historic store fronts in Paris, so walking around, you see what used to be cafés but are now convenience stores, for example.  

Old storefront preserved. Now a convenience store, originally a café.

See, I’ve been noticing recently that there are these pixelated characters plastered on walls, street corners, and even some rather high-profile monuments. I was so curious as to what these were, and I suppose I asked the right person. The woman giving the tasting tour knows a lot about these things. They’re an art instillation around the city that began in the ‘90s. Someone developed an app to track these, and every time you get a picture of an invader you haven’t flashed before, you get points roughly proportional to the size of the artwork. Small ones will get 10 or 20 points, larger may give 30 or 50, and the largest give 100. In total, there are 1,471 Space Invaders in the city of Paris alone, totaling 39,880 points available. They’re also in cities all over Europe, some elsewhere, and even one on the International Space Station! Our tour guide has currently around 27,000 points, which corresponds to a stupid amount of invaders captured. She said that her family at one point was picking vacation destinations based on where invaders were... She showed us around to some of her favorites, before letting my friend and I go find our own for about three hours. By the end of the day, we both had about 1,000 points, and after three days with the app, my score is 1,780, with 48 invaders captured. This is supremely addicting. Finally before class, we visited the Musée D’Orsay. 

Left: a space invader in the wild. Right: some of the invaders I've captured.

I actually hadn’t eaten all day besides that food tour, so when coming back from class, I decided to pay my local boulangerie a visit after the supermarket, inspired by the tour from earlier. Since I was so hungry, I was stumbling through my French, but I think the boulangère appreciated my French, as she gave me a little extra treat to go along with my loaf of brioche. Both were delicious. 

The main attraction of the next two days was the Louvre. We couldn’t get much time on Wednesday because I had class (and a quiz) at 5:30 and my friend’s class ended at 2, but we basically high-tailed it to the Mona Lisa, and then appreciated the amazing artwork in the surrounding area for about an hour. There were some really amazing paintings, and rather (un)popular opinion, some way cooler paintings than the Mona Lisa. The next day was spent entirely in the sous-sols, the basement floors (which are interestingly denoted by negative numbers, and the ground floor is 0 in France). There, we saw many amazing artifacts from Mesopotamia and Egypt. I took a class last semester on ancient languages and scripts, and it's always been a topic I’ve been fascinated by. There were more cuneiform objects than one can count, including a stele (vertical stone tablet) with the Code of Hammurabi—the first true law code. Certainly a very cool object. Meanwhile, as you can see in the photo, the “Mona Lisa” are of the museum was packed, but this area was nearly empty! It made me slightly angry that people flock to see this one random painting that society has decided is important, rather than admiring the frankly unbelievable and exotic achievements of humans in the past that still affect us today.

Top left: no caption needed. Top right: Cuneiform tablet. Bottom: Code of Hammurabi tablet.

I walked around the city for much of the rest of the day, before going rock climbing at this very cool place close to my house with some friends at night. 

A+ (= à plus tard, later!)

Ian Rosenberg

Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering

IPE Paris

[thran-duils]

Was Ich Liebe (P.3, Final)

Title: Was Ich Liebe (Part Three, Final) Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark!Tony Stark.  Tony becomes enamored with a stripper at a club his hedonistic friend Thor owns. A casual sexual relationship quickly becomes possessive and the reader sees more of the underground mafia life than she would like to. The cherry on top is that Tony is married and so is she. Him to a woman who has no intention of losing her throne at any cost and the reader to a deadbeat alcoholic. Feeling trapped by both her previous life and the suffocating hold Tony is trying to put on her, the reader steals away in the night, which is not going to go over well. Words: 4,647 Warnings (for whole fic, more may be added): Dub-con, smut, infidelity, stripping, vaginal fingering, public sex, possessive behavior, angst, degradation kink, violence, physical abuse, domestic violence, language, drug use, alcoholism, death Warnings for this chapter: Mention of abortion! Author’s Note: As usual, this is 18+.

Part Two || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

Tony was calling. He must have gone to the apartment and found you gone by now, especially since you had not been answering him via text or by phone. You sent him to voicemail letting your music start again. You had rented a car to drive away from the city.

The jewelry he had given you came in handy to get cash that you were using for gas and hopefully a down payment on an apartment somewhere. Stripping joints were abundant, and you were sure if you found a sizable city, you would find work without an issue. You were thinking about Milwaukee. It was far enough away from NYC and there was a college there too.

Your phone beeped with another voicemail from him. Signing, against your better judgment, you reached forward to press play, it coming over the car’s speakers.

He was pissed. Unsurprisingly. He had been tight on the last one he had left, wound up that you were not answering him. But this was a whole different level. He was practically shouting.

“This better be a goddamn joke, Y/N. My patience is already up with it though. Did you think I wouldn’t notice you had snuck out? Where the fuck is all the jewelry? Huh? Your clothes? If I find out you left and you’re cheating on me, I’m gonna kill them.”

You did not doubt him when he said that. And he confirmed he was at the apartment if he noticed your stuff was gone.

“And were you planning on telling me about the pregnancy?” Your eyes widened and then you swore remembering you had not emptied the trash in the bathroom. “Or were you just gonna keep that to yourself? Listen very carefully to me, if you do something drastic, I’m not gonna be nice about it. Not in the fucking slightest. You best believe that and take that to heart! Don’t be fucking stupid! Call. Me. Back.”

The voicemail ended.

Yes. The pregnancy. You were already thinking about which office you could go to. You had left a note for Thor about quitting and you wondered how quickly your health insurance was going to stay in place. Before after leaving a job, it had stayed on until the end of the month, but you were unsure, and you were not about to call him and ask. An appointment at a clinic though, that was something you needed to deal with quickly. You were sure there was a facility you could find when you got yourself established.

<><><>

“You’re a psychopath,” Carol said to Tony, smirking.

She was watching him put up security cameras around Y/N’s apartment, hidden from the normal eye with his technology. And when he had taken the lock apart on her door to install tech he could control himself from his cell, she had shook her head.

“I prefer creative,” Tony responded, as he tested it out. It worked perfectly. “Little bitch isn’t going to be leaving without trying extra hard.”

<><><>

You found a hotel in Columbus. You made sure to put a chair underneath the door handle on top of using both locks. It was scary to be traveling alone. And especially when you did not know the area.

The next morning, you woke up to another voicemail from Tony. You had reached over to silence it while you were sleeping, knowing damn well who would be calling you at 2:30am.

He sounded sloshed.

“Do you remember me telling you I was never going to let you go? Cause I said it multiple times. That hasn’t changed, Y/N. It’s been almost 24 hours since you answered to me!” Slip up there with that ‘to’ added in. “It’s really fucking frustrating, and you know goddamn well I don’t like being frustrated. It’s…you’re being disrespectful!” There was a slight pause and you heard him take a drink. He let out a humorless laugh. “You won’t run away from me. I’m going to find you.”

He hung up.

Hearing how mad he was, your stomach was twisting. He was not a man that liked to be thwarted or feel like he was being disrespected. Not to mention that he was a fucking mafia member. If he got his hands back on you, he was not going to be kind. And the time he told you he would never hurt you would be tested, you worried.

Why did you let yourself get so far involved with such a dangerous, jealous man? Again?

Forcing yourself to get up from the bed, you went to take a shower to try to relax in the hot water. Afterward, you walked across the street to the coffee shop. You wanted to get on the road again to put some more distance between you and NYC and ultimately between you and him.

<><><>

You drove around the edge of UW-Milwaukee, stealing glances at the campus. A city like this with a college surely had good clientele for the clubs.

Pulling over and parking, you opened your phone beginning to search for an apartment and a job. There had to be an abundance of apartments available around the college since it was summer and a class had just graduated.

<><><>

He kept calling and kept calling. He was not going to stop. It had been two weeks. You had been trying to convince yourself to answer him and tell him to leave you alone and that it was over. You thought about changing your number and you would, but after the conversation you needed to have.

Piqued, you answered, “Tony, I’m busy—"

“Oh, you’re busy? So busy you couldn’t fucking answer me? Over the last two weeks, you’ve been ‘busy’. Too busy for me? That’s hilarious! You should have your own fucking stand up show.” His tone was dripping with condescension.

Sighing, you said, “I’m getting ready for work! This needs to be quick.”

“Work?” Tony chuckled darkly. “Now you care about work? You fucked Thor over by quitting on the spot. How were you even able to get a reference?”

“I danced. That was reference enough.”

“Of course you did. Of course you’re stripping. Where are you?”

“I’m not going to tell you, Tony!”

“Y/N, baby,” he started, sounding like it was taking everything in him to keep his voice even. “If you just apologize and tell me where you are or just come back, I’ll be able to let this go easier. You can come back to me, and it’ll all be okay.”

You mustered out a strong, “No! I am not going to do that.”

His leash was back off. “Why are we playing this stupid game, Y/N? I can handle you being bratty — cause I love fucking it out of you — but this is really pushing me over the edge!”

“I’m not being a brat! You were suffocating me!”

“Suffocating you? I worship you!” He was so easily able to confuse his possession with love. He continued on irritated, “I shower you with gifts! I make sure you’re well taken care of! I’ve treated you better than anyone else has! And you’re coming at me like this? What is your fucking problem, Y/N? What? Is being on the phone instead of in person giving you some fake confidence? Don’t think I’m not keeping track of this ungrateful bullshit just because you’re not standing in front of me!”

He was quickly losing his temper. You had never made him this mad, had never pushed back.

You were shaking as you tried to stand up for yourself, “I’m not the one with a problem! I didn’t force you to move anywhere or—"

Tony interrupted you furiously. “Do you understand how much that apartment cost? How much that car cost? You barely drove it!”

Frustrated he was steam rolling you as usual. you said fighting to keep tears back, “Sell it then!”

“If that was supposed to be a joke, it was an awful one. This shit isn’t fucking funny, Y/N! When I find out where you are, I’m gonna drag you back by your goddamn hair!”

“Good luck!” you spat, it slipping out before you really thought about it. Your eyes widened at what you had just done, and you quickly hung up as he started to snarl something back.

He was immediately calling you back and you sent him to voicemail again.

<><><>

Tony let out an aggravated shout, throwing his phone down on the desk when she did not answer him back.

Good luck was right.

She had stayed on the line long enough to give him time to trace her down to the general area. Milwaukee. Near the university. He would find her, and he was gonna find her quick with getting eyes on the ground to spot her leaving her place wherever that was in the area. And she was not going to like it when he came knocking to collect her.

<><><>

The bag from the closest grocery store was heavy with groceries for the week. You had returned the rental car when you signed your lease, able to use the bus system until you bought your own car.

You noticed there was a man watching you across the street and you slowed in your pace, narrowing your eyes. He did not look away and you swallowed sharply before resuming your pace. You felt like you could still feel his eyes on the back of your head. You had felt like there had been eyes on you earlier this morning too. A foreboding feeling was creeping; you wanted to get inside and quick.

Entering your apartment, you kicked the door closed and struggled to lock it immediately. The bag crunched as you walked over to the kitchen and placed it on the counter.

You put the few groceries away and walked around the counter, tearing your shirt off and tossing it on the back of one of your chairs. It was hot since you were on the third floor and you had not been able to buy an air conditioner yet.

“This place is a shithole.”

You screamed, startled at the voice, whipping around, your eyes searching wildly.

Tony was sitting in the end of your bed in your room.

He had surprisingly not called you for the last few days, not after the conversation the two of you had. Not hearing from him had set you on edge just as much as him calling you did. You knew he was not going to give up easily and the silence was a trap if you fell into it thinking that it was done.

Your eyes flicked to the door, and he chastised you in low, dangerous tones, “Y/N, you’re already in enough trouble. Don’t make this worse for yourself. Carols outside. So is Rhodey. And a handful of other people I brought along in case you were gonna cause more trouble.”

The man outside. So, you had been being watched.

Tony stood up from the bed and came out of the bedroom, and up to you. You took a few steps back and he tsked you. You stopped immediately, knowing what he wanted. He closed the rest of the space and raked his eyes up and down you.

“Why did you have to go and cause trouble in the first place? You think I was suffocating you? That’ll seem like a cakewalk compared to when you come back with me. See, we’ve lost trust. I can’t have you running around when you know as much as you do. And you running off looks like you were going to squeal.” You opened your mouth to protest but he rose his voice, shutting you up. “And I can’t have that. Not when I have other people to answer to on the team. I will not be the weak link in the chain, which means you are not going to be running off in the middle of the night. Even if it’s not what you planned to do, it looks bad.”

His hands came to rest on your biceps, squeezing in tight, causing you to flinch slightly. His eyes were hard. “You could have had the world and you threw it away.” His thumbs caressed, his tongue slipping between his lips. “But I can be a forgiving man if you make me believe that you’re sorry. Just do that for me, beg for forgiveness, and I’ll take care of you and that baby.”

You gulped at the mention of the baby, and he noticed. His eyes narrowed. He leaned in, searching your face and you looked away, but he forced you to look back at him, his hand holding your jaw tight.

“Y/N, baby… you got something to tell me?”

You were silent, your heart starting to hammer.

“Y/N, you know I don’t like repeating myself.”

His grip tightened and you felt tears pricking, apprehensive of how he was going to react.

Your voice warbled, “I…I had an abortion.”

Tony was frozen, his eyes wide and incendiary. His grip on your jaw loosened and you took a step back away from him. His jaw clicked, eyes not leaving you. You saw he was going to explode.

Raising your hand shakily, as if that was going to hold him off, you started, “Now, Tony—"

His backhand sent you stumbling. He caught you before you could do it yourself and slammed you up against the wall.

“You’re lucky I didn’t cold clock you!” He snarled, his fingers digging in painfully to your arms.

“Tony, don’t—”

“Don’t? Don’t what? Be fucking furious that I told you not to do anything drastic and then you went and did just that? Without even consulting me? I have a goddamn right to be furious! How fucking dare you!”

You were sniffling now, terrified.

He gave you a rough shake before demanding, “What’s the lease on this place?” You took too long to answer. “Answer me!”

“Month to month,” you whimpered.

“Smart. Makes this easier.” His nose was practically brushing yours. “Look, you’re gonna be good and listen to me about exactly what is going to happen—"

“You can’t—"

“Did I tell you that you could talk? No! I told you you were going to listen. Keep your fucking mouth shut!” Tony lashed out. You closed your mouth, your lip warbling. “You’re coming with me. And I haven’t decided yet if I want them all to listen to you beg for forgiveness on the plane or if I’m waiting until we are alone. Not doing it here. Don’t wanna alarm your neighbors and have to injure any of them if they try to interfere. I don’t want, nor need that type of mess.”

He shoved you as he let you go, and you wiped at your eyes.

“I can’t fucking believe you. Can’t even follow simple goddamn directions. What are you? A child?” he snorted angrily. He snapped his fingers at you and pointed at your room. “Get your shit. We are leaving and going home. The jets at the airport.”

<><><>

He had not punished you on the plane. You instead had sat, curled in as tightly as you could to yourself in the chair across from him under a blanket, looking out the window as much as possible. You felt him watching you intensely the whole two hours. You could only imagine the deranged ideas going through his head about what he was going to do to you when he got you alone.

The moment you stepped into your apartment, he ordered you, “Get yourself done up. I want you to look nice for me. I’ll be out here watching the game.”

His goons brought in your suitcases and put them next to the kitchen table before leaving at his order. Tony grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. He saw you were still standing there, and he glared.

“Y/N…” he said dangerously. “I don’t see you moving.”

You grabbed your suitcase with your clothes and trudged down the hall, feeling his hard stare at your back until you disappeared into the bedroom. You had left a lot of your clothes here but there was a dress you had brought with you, one that he liked specifically. Which shocked you a little bit because it was loose and free; still short though.

Taking the time to shower, blow dry, do your makeup, and dress, you felt the anxiety rising about what he was going to do. You thought the extra time would calm you down, but it was doing the opposite because it was giving you more time to think.

When you walked back down the hall, your black wedges announcing your arrival, Tony looked over the back of the couch. You saw the bottle on the coffee table. He had been drinking, not a surprise. He gestured you over and you walked around the couch, coming over to him. He ran his eyes up and down you, taking you in.

“Well, don’t you look just perfect?” he asked, an edge underlying his tone.

He stood up from the couch and you stayed still. He pulled his phone out and took a picture of you without giving you time to prepare. He turned his phone around and you looked dumbstruck in the photo.

But he complimented, “Look at that. Pristine. That’s what good girls look like.” A cruel smile flashed across his features, and he tossed his phone down on the couch. “But you’re not a good girl are you, baby?”

You only had a moment to react before he was forcing you down to your knees. You hissed in pain as your knees slammed against the hardwood.

“You brought this on yourself. You think I like punishing you?” Tony asked, working on his belt with one hand as the other held you by the back of the neck. Your hands came up to grip his thighs, pressing back against the hold he had on your neck. “Ah ah, stay where you are.” He stroked himself with purpose, his hand moving at a steady pace. “Look at you. A pretty little slut that needs to be taught a lesson.”

He was hard now, the head of his cock pressing against your lips.

“Open your damn mouth!” You clenched your teeth, knowing he was gonna be rough and not wanting to choke. He let go of you to slap your cheek and sneered, “Don’t make me ask you again!”

You opened your mouth reluctantly, and he grabbed you by the back of your neck again and shoved his dick in all the way, your nose brushing his pubes. You gagged before he pulled back out, running his head around your lips. He groaned at the sight, slipping back in and using your mouth.

“Tell me you love me!”

“I love you!” you got out around his width.

“Look at me!” You forced your gaze up to meet his and he thrusted faster, hitting the back of your throat. Your hands gripped tight onto his thighs, eyes begging for him to slow down. But he was not relenting, and your throat was aching. Another groan left his lips as he demanded, “Tell me you love me, you little bitch.”

It was hard to say it, you choking now, tears stinging your eyes. “I love you!”

He pulled away roughly, his hand wrapped around your hair tightly, keeping you in place. Your saliva was stringing messily between him and your lips. Your chin as well as his pubes were glistening with your drool. You gasped for air, thankful for the reprieve from your jaw aching from being open so wide.

The reprieve was short lived though and you cried out in pain as he began walking, dragging you by your hair.

“Forgive me that I don’t quite believe you. But I’m gonna make sure I do believe you. I’m gonna get a genuine one out of you before I’m through.”

Tony sat on the edge of the bed and held you tight. “Give me a show. Take that dress off and let me see you. Let me see what I’m going to take.”

Shakily, you stood up as his grip laxed and he was watching you like a hawk. You wiped at your lips, knowing there was little to do about your eye makeup since he had made tears come with how hard he had been choking you. You started to sway your hips, trying to find a rhythm amongst the excitement. You turned away from him so he could not see your face as you struggled to calm down enough to dance.

It was sloppy, unconfident. But that did not seem to bother him. He pulled you into his lip and his hands slipped up your dress and into your underwear.

“Don’t get to tell me now that I can’t touch,” he husked against your cheek, his fingers slipping into your pussy. “All mine.”

He was stroking you, getting you worked up, making you lose focus on grinding. You bit your bottom lip, a strangled moan escaping.

Tony chuckled, nuzzling your cheek. “I know you like that. Gonna get you good and wet for me, sweetheart. Spread your legs further.”

You were falling so easily into his touch, your core wanting more. You were getting wound up and he was loving it. He worked quicker, his breath heavy as he felt how aroused you were, wetting his fingers.

“Maybe you are a good girl. Look how well you are behaving for me. Is this you apologizing?” He pulled away just to lay a hard smack on your cunt. You bucked, crying out and he did it again. You whimpered as his fingers entered again, focusing on your bud. “You’re a needy little slut, aren’t you baby?” You nodded and he sucked at your neck. “You’re repenting so well… but you’ve got a long way to fucking go.”

You were so close, but he suddenly shoved you away roughly, causing you to stumble in your heels.

“Strip.”

You did as he asked, pulling the dress up and tossing it behind you, leaving you in just your underwear. He rose his brows expectantly and you turned around, bending over slowly. You pulled your underwear down, feeling how wet they were at the crotch. You heard him hum at the sight of them and your glistening pussy. They fell to your ankles, and you turned around, kicking them off.

Tony stood up and pointed at the bed. “On your stomach.” You did as he asked and heard him getting undressed. You peeked over your shoulder at him undoing his tie as he walked towards your closet. He emerged again with a scarf, his eyes fixated on you. “Did I tell you you could look at me?” You turned back around quickly, butterflies swarming.

He grabbed one of your ankles and yanked you down the bed. You felt his tie around your ankle, and you tensed as he tied you to the bed frame. He was at your opposite ankle and tied your other leg with your scarf tightly.

“Tony…” you said hoarsely.

He did not answer you and you laid there, spread wide. The bed creaked with his weight and his thick thighs straddled you, holding you even tighter in place. You felt him pressing in and your fingers dug into your quilt. Each inch filled you up more and he exhaled as he reached his base.

“That’s the gentlest thrust you’re going to get, sweetheart. Enjoy it.”

Tony was not lying; he was pounding you into the mattress and you were not being quiet about the intrusion. You were already so wet, and he was adding to the sensation the way he was working you.

“You’re gonna remember who you loves you the most,” he groaned. The bed was shaking with how hard he was driving into you. “You’re gonna remember to behave!”

Pulling out of you, he smacked you hard against your ass. “Get up on your knees. Now!”

You obeyed, maneuvering with the restraints and his fingers replaced his dick, rubbing your clit. You keened, your back arching at the intense contact. You were ashamed that as usual you fell to the arousal, letting him take you over completely even when he was being as mean as he was.

“Fuck, you little whore. Look at you. So needy for cock. Why did you leave me in the first place? You were never going to find anyone that would love you like I do. You hurt my feelings, baby. And I don’t like having my feelings hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” you gasped without any prompting.

Tony’s fingers fell from your sex, and he was up, holding you by the throat. His breath was hot on your ear. “I might just leave you here on the bed right now. Tie those delicate wrists up too. Keep you on display for me. I’ll just walk by and see you stuck here, just dependent on me to come back to release you.”

You shook your head, begging pathetically, “No, p-please.”

“You want me to finish?”

“Yes!”

“Do you deserve it? Cause I don’t think you fucking do.”

You shook your head, “No. I don’t. But, please!” He brushed your pussy lightly with his fingers, teasing and you broke down even further. “I love you! I love you! Please!”

“You’re not gonna leave me again.” It was a statement, not a question.

You shook your head furiously again, gasping, “No! No, I won’t leave you!”

He yanked you up painfully by your hair again and new tears stung your eyes.

“I’m gonna make fucking sure of it. You’re gonna be on house arrest until I see fit to let you out! Face down,” Tony snarled, pushing you roughly down by the shoulders. He was behind you again. “You’re gonna be full of my seed when I’m done.”

Your chest hit the bed as the room filled with skin slapping skin loudly as he ravaged you. It did not take long for your body to tense up and a shriek left you as your pussy clenched around him. Tony’s breath was erratic as his pace lost control, his fingers digging into your hips. Broken husks were falling from his mouth, you could not make it out over the buzz in your ears. You felt the warmth though when he filled you up, his cock buried deep. He was making sure it was up against your cervix. His groan was long and loud, his hands squeezing your ass tight.

When he pulled away, you laid out flat, feeling worn. You heard him leave the room, the hardwood in the hall creaking with his footfalls. Your body was covered in sweat, heavy pants leaving your lips. For a moment, you forgot you were tied and tried to adjust and let out a sigh of disappointment when you felt the tug of the restraint on your ankle.

Tony was back with his phone. He cooed, “Oh, sweetheart. You’re so tired. Look up at me.” You lifted your head and saw him snap a picture of you. His lips curled into a smirk at the photo, and he turned it around to show you. Your makeup was ruined, tear trails on your cheeks, mascara and eyeliner smudged. You looked like a mess.

“Look at this lovely sight,” he purred. He flipped to the last photo of you looking made up and then back again. “Look how dirty you got pleasing me compared to before. I’m going to keep these.” A malicious glint flashed in his eyes, and he said, “I’ll give you a few to recover. But baby, there’s gonna be round two and no, I’m not going to let you clean up. Let’s see how much dirtier I can get you.”

~~~

Marvel tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld @holl2712 @agustdowney  @biiskuitx @buttercupfangirl

Fic tags: @buttercandy16

[mypunkpansexualtwin]

Noticing the Little Things

-shows up a week late to Kiss Ryuji Day with Starbucks- I’ve contributed to a fandom event! mo you didn’t contribute shit I’ve contributed! Took a break from Misguided Wingman, so instead of a WIP Wednesday, y’all are getting 6.6k words of fluff instead!

Under a cut cause that’s a little much, and link to AO3 in the reblogs cause tumblr does terrible things to posts with links in them.

Hey, come meet my mom!

Ryuji had sprung the offer on him last minute via dead of the night text. It wasn’t as though he’d been trying to catch Ren off guard intentionally; it was more a matter of this being her first full day off in nearly a month that hadn’t fallen through for one reason or another. Ren had quickly learned that those sorts of days were few and far between, and notoriously difficult to plan around because of it. Even rarer were the days where both Sakamotos’ schedules lined up for a full day of quality time, especially now with the addition of Phantom Thievery. And Ryuji had offered to share this once in a blue moon opportunity with his best friend. Naturally, even as tired as he’d been when the message came through, Ren had jumped at the chance. For once it (mostly) didn’t have anything to do with his crush on his best friend that could have been viewed from space, Ren was just excited to finally meet the woman whose praises Ryuji’d been singing since they met.

The next morning, Ryuji had texted him again uncharacteristically bright and early--especially for a Sunday--hoping to put their heads together for something nice to do for her. He didn’t want her to do a bunch of work on one of her rare days off and Ren didn’t blame him one bit. He pitched the idea of takeout; no effort to cook, no dishes to wash, only trash to take out after. Ryuji shot it down, hesitant to admit that they couldn’t quite afford enough takeout for all three of them this late in the month and even less willing to ask Ren to cover the whole thing. Which meant going out to eat somewhere was probably also a no-go. And then Ren was struck by divine inspiration.

Or rather, he looked down at the breakfast that Sojiro had so kindly prepared for him before Leblanc opened. And then he texted Ryuji.

What if I made curry?

And that was how he ended up spending the rest of his morning at the grocery store, picking through produce with such a critical eye that it would have brought a tear to Sojiro’s. He’d assured Ryuji several times over that it was no trouble, he needed the practice anyway and he’d gotten some sizable bonuses from a couple of his jobs, so the shopping was no issue. Ren sent the list of what he needed and, after a little more convincing, Ryuji had sent back a list of what they didn’t already have in the apartment, as well as a promise to have the kitchen ready when he arrived and to do dishes after all of his friend’s hard work. On top of the rest of his list, Ren added a nice tuna filet for Morgana, who’d be stuck in Yongen all day rather than risk getting anyone in trouble for bringing the not-a-cat to the Sakamoto apartment.

Ren double checked his bags and tried to shake off the feeling that he was missing something while Morgana halfheartedly berated him between bites of fish for being left behind. Halfway down the stairs to the cafe, it hit Ren and he couldn’t help but feel a little dumb for forgetting. His thumbs skated over his phone screen to ask Ryuji a question, only to get a question himself from Sojiro.

“Got everything you need to impress your mother-in-law, kid?” His tone was teasing as he looked over the boy’s armful of groceries. Ren sputtered an objection that was less actual coherent words and more disconnected, indignant noises, red as the bell peppers he’d selected as his caretaker chuckled. His phone buzzed as Ryuji’s answer came in.

“Actually…” Ren managed after the worst of the heat faded from his cheeks. “I was wondering if I could borrow a couple of things?”

-----

“Out.” Ren commanded, brandishing a freshly washed carrot like a dagger and flicking the water off of it at his friend.

“Hey! It’s my kitchen!” Ryuji argued but stepped back anyways with his hands up in a vain attempt to shield himself from the droplets.

“They’re my groceries. Go sit, I’m cooking.” Ren retorted and turned back to the cutting board. Sakamoto-san’s laugh could be heard from the living room, not that that was very far. It was a small apartment and the kitchen and living room weren’t so much two separate rooms as they were one room about the size of Leblanc’s attic interrupted by a short stretch of countertop. When he’d first come in, Sakamoto-san had scooped up the groceries from Ren’s arms before he’d gotten half a word of greeting out, Ryuji had dragged him off for a quick tour of the apartment, and he’d come back to everything he’d need laid out in a neat array next to the stove in the five minutes he’d been distracted.

“He fusses if he doesn’t get to help.” She explained while Ren worked. “He does it to me, too, y’know.” He couldn’t help but wonder with a roll of his eyes where ever could his best friend have gotten that habit from?

“Oh I fuss if I don’t get to help?” The blond asked dryly and then helpfully voiced Ren’s inner sarcastic inquiry: “Wonder where I picked that up?” A smile found its way onto Ren’s face as they continued bantering back and forth while he worked, Sakamoto-san sipping on tea in front of the television and Ryuji leaning on the counter from the living room side to watch his best friend cook.

It was comfortable, but not quite in the same way Leblanc had become; the cafe was a place to rest, to breathe, to hide. His attic bedroom felt undeniably safe, but was somehow paradoxically isolated from the world around it and almost entirely devoid of privacy. The apartment, though… With the sound of the tv providing soft background noise to Ryuji and his mother’s easy conversation and the smell of curry spices filling every corner of the small space, it felt safe in a way that felt like home, in a way the attic hadn’t quite managed yet, in a way his own home hadn’t really felt since he was a little kid. Something tense in Ren’s chest unwound and he hadn’t realized he was humming until Ryuji and Sakamoto-san had stopped talking to listen. It wasn’t even particularly good, at least as far as he was concerned, but it was the only way to get rid of the Velvet Room’s mysterious song when it got stuck in his head like it lived there. The silence stretched for an uncomfortable beat when he realized he had an audience.

“Um.” He glanced up from the frying pan for a moment, then quickly back down to it to hide his blush after meeting two matching sets of wide, brown eyes watching him. Nothing like an unblinking stare to make one self-conscious. “S-sorry. Did I interrupt you two?”

“Oh no, not at all! You have a lovely voice, Ren. Don’t let us stop you.” Sakamoto-san insisted with a kind smile that turned a little too knowing as she glanced over at her son.

“Yeah, man, you ain’t gotta quit ‘cause of us.” Ryuji affirmed, still watching him with a grin and a warm, wide-eyed look that the other boy couldn’t quite put a name to. “And she’s right, you’re pretty good. Hell, maybe we shoulda gone to that karaoke place for real the one time so you could show off.” Heat rose to Ren’s face that had nothing to do with the food he was cooking.

“Well, we could always go back, make that our next celebration after-- uh,” Ren quickly changed course before he accidentally blurted out ‘after the next change of heart’ in front of Sakamoto-san, “after exams. Get everyone together, take turns picking songs, that sort of thing.” Ren suggested. “Of course, that means you’d have to sing, too.”

“No way--!” The blond tried to object before his mother cut him off in her own excitement.

“Oh that sounds so fun!” She grinned more widely, with a mischievous gleam in her eye. Ren had seen an identical look on her son’s face enough times to slightly dread whatever she was about to say. “Maybe you boys could do a duet? I know a few songs that’d--”

“Mommmm!” Ryuji groaned indignantly while Ren smothered a laugh and prayed any color in his cheeks could be written off as a result of leaning over the hot stove.

-----

Ren watched a flurry of movement from where he’d gotten up to stir the curry and break out the pour-over setup. Boss had only let him borrow this one because it had been chipped a few years prior--still functional, but no longer restaurant quality--and because Ren had laid the flattery on especially thick when he begged to use it.

“Ooh, you’re gonna make coffee? I’ll be right back, I know what else’ll go perfect with it!” Ryuji had jumped up and all but bolted for the door. “Be right back!”

“Wait, I was just--” He tried to tell the blond, but the door had already snapped shut before he could finish, “--setting it up.” He sighed and offered a helpless shrug to Sakamoto-san. “It’s supposed to go with the curry, but that’s going to be simmering for a while.”

Sakamoto-san chuckled and smiled fondly in the direction her son had disappeared. “You know how excitable he can be, and he’s been looking forward to introducing us for a couple of months now.” She stood and stretched with a groan, then walked over and leaned on the counter. Ren could practically feel her gaze on him as he worked; even with as warm and casual as the look on her face was, something in her eyes felt scrutinizing. He was being sized up with no idea as to why. Sakamoto-san’s smile stayed in place, as gentle as before when she asked, “why not brew us each a cup anyway? Ryuji’s been raving about the one you made him and how well it’d go with old lady Ueda’s ginger peach danishes since the beginning of summer. And since he’s even less of a coffee drinker than I am, I’m eager to see the master at work.”

“If you want to see the master at work, you’ll have to come by Leblanc and meet So-- um, Sakura-san.” He explained with a nervous, slightly forced chuckle of his own. After a moment of internal debate, Ren nodded. “But I did bring enough for everyone to have a couple of cups. Couldn’t hurt to see if you like it as much as Ryuji does. Maybe I’ll impress you just as much, Sakamoto-san.” That had been exactly why he was doing this, why he had worked so hard to convince Boss to part with even a little of his cafe equipment.

She barked a laugh at that and startled Ren enough that he nearly knocked over the bag of coffee he’d traded away a full week of work for. “Two things. Three, actually. One, please just call me Hana. Because, two, I’ve been impressed with you for months, kid. And, three, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t impress me as much as Ryuji ‘cause that’s gonna be an awfully high bar to clear. I don’t know exactly what you did to do it, but you pulled him out of…” Hana-san trailed off with a sigh, and then continued with a slightly thick edge to her voice, “out of a pretty dark place, y’know. My boy adores you.”

With that and the overwhelming warmth in her eyes, Ren could feel his own throat tightening, but he managed to choke out a weak, “O-okay.” And then he couldn’t force anything else out. How were you supposed to react to hearing your probably-unrequited-crush’s mom tell you that said crush adored you? As if she could read the question on his face, she reached over to clap him on the shoulder encouragingly.

“Don’t worry about sayin’ anything, My sunshine’s told me you’re not much of a talker. Just make sure you keep showin’ him how much he means to you too, alright?”

“I will. Thank you, Hana-san.” He finally replied and got the same annoyed frown he’d gotten from Ryuji two days into their friendship, when he’d met his new nickname with Ryuji’s family name. Although responding to Renren with Sakamoto back then had been an attempt at teasing on Ren’s part, calling Sakamoto-san by just her given name felt like too much.

The door creaked open and pulled her attention off of Ren as Ryuji came bouncing through, nearly forgetting to kick off his shoes in his excitement to deliver the prized pastries.

“You weren’t kidding when you said this one was formal, sunshine.” She sighed. “And damn, I’ve never seen you make that trip so fast. You that excited to show off to your Renren? ” Ryuji squawked in offense and Ren could feel his face flame at how she’d emphasized his nickname.

“N-nah, he could probably sense that I was just about to ask about embarrassing baby pictures is all.” Ren deflected as he went back to prepping their coffee.

The only thing better than the look of utter betrayal Ryuji gave him was the one of unbridled delight on Hana-san’s face.

-----

Dinner had passed cheerfully, if somewhat raucously, as Hana-san and Ryuji regaled their guest with stories about Ryuji’s childhood, and the boys entertained her with stories about their time together since the beginning of the school year. Ren felt himself opening up more and more easily as the meal had gone by and even shared a few stories from his time working at Leblanc, as well as the specifics behind balancing the night’s coffee and curry. As per usual, Ryuji didn’t really seem to be absorbing the specifics, but seemed more than happy to watch his friend talk about something he was enthusiastic about. Ren was even openly laughing by the end of dinner while he and Ryuji recounted the time they had met up for lunch after separately incurring Ushimaru’s wrath by falling asleep in class, then bursting out laughing at each other’s identical chalk bruises on their foreheads. They didn’t mention that each of them still had the other’s half of the subsequent selfie set as their phone’s home screen.

Afterwards, the atmosphere in the apartment settled a little when Ryuji shooed both his mother and his best friend out of the kitchen to sort out leftovers and wash dishes. In the meantime, Ren and Hana-san sat in comfortable quiet in the living room while half-watching the talk show on tv and enjoying the last of the coffee and danishes. Ryuji had been spot-on, Ren noted, the flavor paired beautifully with what he’d been secretly calling the Kidd Blend since he first got his right hand man’s seal of approval. As per usual, even if Ryuji didn’t have a head for the specifics, his instincts were unparalleled.

“He’s got good taste, right?” Hana-san remarked as she watched Ren’s thoughtful chewing. He nodded. Again with that uncanny ability to read him; it would have been unsettling if he hadn’t already been used to it from Ryuji and just figured that she was where he got it from. She cracked a smile after taking another sip from her coffee and said, “I gotta admit, I was skeptical when he said it was good enough to go with our favorite dessert. Figured he was just talking you up again ‘cause I’ve never had a cup of coffee I actually liked. I only drink it if I need the caffeine fix. But this? This is damn good.” Hana-san drained the cup and let out a satisfied sigh before she settled back a little further into her seat.

At that point Ren had been keeping a running tally of how many little gestures and features Hana-san and her son had in common. Despite their differences physically--where Ryuji was tall and all lean, hard lines, Hana-san was considerably shorter than her son and built soft and sturdy--there was no denying they were mother and son with as many quirks and features as they had in common. The same warm, brown eyes that tilted upwards just a little at the outer corners; the same bright smile that lit up their entire faces and laughter that filled every corner of the room; the same animated manner of speaking, all open expression and wild gestures to tell a story; the same bright quality to their voices, loud and boisterous without being overwhelming. The same way of making him feel like he’d known them all his life within the span of a few hours. That last one was about when he’d lost count, and therefore couldn’t say where he was when he noted that even with the difference in their specific posture, the two even relaxed the same way when they sat. Ryuji tended to sprawl out and Hana-san seemed more comfortable curling up when she sat, but they both had something loose and open about the way they sat, something oddly approachable.

“You’re always welcome to come by Leblanc, Hana-san.” Ren said with a smile, then added somewhat proudly, “Although I’ll have to direct Boss since Ryuji only gets coffee when I make it.”

“We’ll see if I get some time. And seriously, kid, just Hana is fine. I’ve heard enough about you from Ryuji that I feel like I already know you.” She insisted.

“Wh- really?” His head snapped up from his drink. He knew that he and Ryuji were best friends, probably the closest friends that either of them had ever had. But he hadn’t actually thought about the fact that that meant Ryuji talked about him to other people. It was probably silly the way something that obvious could warm him from the inside and fill his chest with butterflies, but it did.

“Oh yeah. Honestly, I knew I liked you before he ever even said your name. It was like out of nowhere his grades started picking back up, I wasn’t getting any more calls about him skipping classes, he seemed motivated again, like he hadn’t been since…” Hana-san looked over at Ryuji, busy and oblivious in the kitchen, as her face darkened and her voice dropped before she continued, “since before that sonofabitch broke my boy’s leg.” The bitterness passed after a moment and she fixed Ren with a gaze brimming with that same overwhelming warmth and kindness from before. “I knew that whoever it was that brought my boy’s smile back… that was someone I wanted to meet, y’know? That was someone I wanted to thank. So, thanks Ren. You brought my sunshine back.”

“I… You’re welcome.” Ren mumbled. “It’s not…” He stopped himself from saying it wasn’t a big deal because that definitely wasn’t true. “I mean, he did just as much for me.” Then he took a sip from his coffee, at a loss for what else to say.

“I’m sure he did, he’s a good boy. But this is me thanking you, not him.” She shrugged as she watched him drink and her smile went crooked as her voice took on a teasing lilt. “Still, I guess if Hana is too informal for you, you could always just call me Mom. Might as well get in the habit now, right?”

So. Hot coffee coming out of one’s nose was very painful. That was the immediate sensation that momentarily distracted Ren from the shock of Hana-san’s statement. She jumped up in surprise as he choked on his drink, then quickly grabbed a dish towel from the nearby counter and handed it to him. He coughed a few times and wiped at the surprisingly little amount of coffee that he’d gotten on himself, before finally clearing his throat and wheezing out, “Excuse me?”

Hana-san was very clearly trying not to laugh at him while she gave him another of those warm smiles that just confused him this time. “I know you two are dating, I’m not blind, kid.” Ren’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Hard. It prompted another coughing fit and Hana-san couldn’t hold back from laughing this time. “Even if I was, I still would’ve picked up on it. You two are too obvious. It’s sweet, really. The way you light up when you’re watchin’ him? And the first time I finally got your name out of him, you were suddenly the only thing he wanted to talk about. ‘ Hey mom, I’m hanging out with Ren today, don’t worry ‘bout dinner for me, we’re gonna get ramen. Man, can’t believe Ren’s never been to a real arcade before. His hometown didn’t really have one, so I’m gonna show him my favorite tomorrow. Hey mom, me and Ren are going to the gym today, yeah we’re gonna be running, yeah I’m running again, didn’t I tell you? Nah, I don’t need anything for my birthday, I know money’s tight this week and Renren’s taking me fishing so it’s all good. Hey, did you know Ren hung the moon? Ain’t that sweet of him? I should do somethin’ to say thanks.’ Like I said, kid. Ryuji adores you.” Hana finished softly. Almost ruefully, but he missed that part. Ren’s head was spinning, out of sheer confusion and excitement and terror and hope that he’d been aggressively stomping down for months, as well as the fact that all the blood in his body seemed determined to rush to his face all at once.

“He… told you we’re dating?” He managed hoarsely, eyes flicking to Ryuji still washing dishes and still completely oblivious to their conversation with the water running. Did… Had Ryuji confessed to him without Ren realizing? Had those moments he’d dismissed as wishful thinking, bein’ free and my place is next to you, actually been what he hadn’t dared even hope for?

Had he been dating Ryuji Sakamoto this entire goddamn time without even realizing it?

“Well, no. At first I thought it was because he was nervous about coming out to me. I did what I could to let him know it wasn’t an issue, and since he never really changed how he talked about you, I figured he must have just been so excited to have such a wonderful boyfriend that he just... forgot to tell me.”

Ren barked out a rough laugh and then winced at the way it grated on his scalded sinuses. “Then that would make two of us, Hana-san. If I had realized this was that kind of ‘come meet my mom,’ I would’ve convinced Sojiro to let me bring one of the top-shelf blends.” A hollow laugh escaped him as Hana-san’s face fell.

“Oh. Oh… Ah shit, I’m so sorry! I went and made things awkward with him now, haven’t I?” She winced apologetically and looked down at the dishtowel when Ren handed it back. “And wasted that fantastic coffee on top of it, too. You’re sure you’re okay?” Ren waved the apology off.

“It’s fine, please don’t worry about it, Hana-san.” She frowned at him and he finally relented. “Hana. I just... have a couple questions for him now. That I have no idea how I’m gonna ask.” He ran a hand through his hair and glanced back at Ryuji again, who was nearly done cleaning up the kitchen.

“Well, good luck when you do. But I don’t think you’re gonna need it.” She assured him with a wink and a gentle clap on the shoulder. “So, if that wasn’t the top shelf stuff, what was it? Besides still pretty damn killer, obviously.”

“Huh? Oh. Second from the top. Still took some serious convincing and I’ll be working behind the counter at Leblanc all week to make up for it.” Ren flashed Hana a tired smile. “Worth it, though. Every non-coffee-drinker I impress is a win in my book.”

Her laugh in response took the sting out of his embarrassment. And his slightly burnt throat. “Well then, guess I will have to find a minute to come by, enjoy me some coffee, curry, and a captive audience.” Hana grinned and Ren couldn’t help but return it.

“I’ll look forward to the company.”

-----

Rather than walk straight to the closest station, Ren and Ryuji had decided to take the scenic route and loop through a nearby park once first. Ren stuck close to the blond, given that he was a lot more familiar with the area as one of his go-to running practice routes. That and, while it was refreshingly cool for Ryuji outside the apartment, Ren ran colder than his friend and was starting to get uncomfortably chilly. As if on cue, Ryuji fell into step right next to him and threw an arm around his shoulder, and Ren felt himself immediately relax into the touch to leech his right hand man’s body heat.

“I’m really glad you finally got to meet my mom. Glad you hit it off with her, gotta admit I was kinda nervous at first.” Ryuji finally said.

“Really? Why?”

“Well you know after my old man took off, it was just me ‘n her, yeah?” Ren nodded. “Even when I had other friends before… everything, Mom was always my best friend. Lame, right?” Ryuji gave a halfhearted, self-deprecating laugh. Ren nudged his shoulder a little more firmly against the blond, not willing to let the disparagement pass uncontested.

“Not at all, she’s pretty great. Wish I was half as close with my folks as you two are.”

“Right. Yeah, she is. Anyways, yeah, mom was always my best friend. So when you turned up--and it’s not like she said anything so I could be wrong--but when you turned up I think she was a little jealous? Not like tellin’ me not to hang out with you or anythin’, she’s been real glad to see me with friends again! But I was kinda worried she felt…” The blond trailed off, waving his free hand vaguely as he tried to come up with the right word.

“Pushed aside?” Ren supplied.

“Exactly! So even after I knew she’d warmed up to you after hearin’ about you so much, I was kinda nervous that she wouldn’t get along with you. So yeah, I’m glad you guys hit it off.”

“I’m glad, too.” He couldn’t help but wonder if Hana had told Ryuji what she’d told him, how she knew she liked Ren as soon as Ryuji started getting back on his feet again. There was no way she’d told him she was certain they were dating, although that probably would have made bringing it up easier for Ren, if no less awkward. It wasn’t as though he could just blurt out ‘hey are we dating, your mom was pretty convinced I’m your boyfriend and I’m really hoping she was right’. Well okay, he could if he could work up the nerve, but that was a pretty big ‘if.’

“Hey.” Ren could hear the frown in Ryuji’s voice and didn’t have time to react before his glasses were being tugged off his face and tucked into the collar of the other boy’s shirt. “You’re doin’ that thing again, where you’re overthinkin’ somethin’ and you disappear behind your damn glasses. What’s up?”

Ren blinked up at Ryuji a few times, barely registering that, huh, that was a habit of his wasn’t it, before the words “Why sunshine?” fell out of his mouth.

“Huh?” Ryuji fixed him with a puzzled look that shifted into one of flushed embarrassment as the question registered. “Oh, right, the nickname. Uh, my hair, mostly.”

“Makes sense. This is gonna sound dumb, but even though I know you bleach it, I was still surprised that your mom’s brunette.” Ren admitted. “I guess part of me was expecting her to be blonde, too.”

“I was actually aimin’ for her color the first time we bleached mine.” Ryuji admitted, then frowned like he hadn’t meant to say anything.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I didn’t… I wasn’t always so gung-ho about the whole ‘fine, you’re gonna call me a punk, I’ll give you an effin’ punk’ thing, y’know? That didn’t really click all the way into place ‘til I got Kidd.” The blond took a slightly shaky breath and exhaled deeply before shooting his friend a questioning glance. Ren nodded for him to continue. He wasn’t going to push and Ryuji knew that, but he was definitely curious. “Right. So, this was back when my leg was still healin’ last year. Had a rough day on it, came home feelin’ like ten kindsa shit, like bad enough I went straight to the bathroom and threw up I hurt so damn bad. And as I’m washin’ my face after, I catch how my face looks in the mirror and… and I look like just as much shit as I feel.” Ren could feel how sharply Ryuji spat the hollow, bitter laugh before he continued, “specifically, I looked just like my old man whenever he was hungover. Effin’ hated it, seein’ a face I had damn near blocked out ‘cause it’d been so long since I saw it just starin’ back at me from the mirror.” Ren wrapped his arm around his best friend’s shoulders the same way Ryuji’s was draped across his, then gave his best shot at a comforting squeeze.

Ryuji shot him a crooked smile and brightened as he kept talking. “Anyways, I told Mom what happened and asked if we could dye it the same color as hers. And she was totally down for it. So she went out, got a bleach kit, annnnnd when we used it, we totally overshot it. I lost track of time and turned my hair bright freakin’ yellow and patchy as hell, too,” he laughed. “And man, we laughed harder than we had in months at that. She spent the rest of the night callin’ me sunshine to mess with me, but it was nice seein’ her really smile again, y’know? So when she asked me the next day what kind of dye I wanted to cover it up with, I told her to grab more bleach and we’d try and even it out cause the blond grew on me. And honestly? The name did, too.” Ryuji shook Ren’s shoulder in warning. “But don’t tell her I said that.”

“My lips are sealed. It suits you, though. The name,” Ren affirmed and ruffled his hand through the shock of surprisingly soft, blond hair, “and the look.” Ryuji swatted his hand away with a laugh and let it settle back on his shoulder.

“Yeah. Long as I can get away with it, I’m keepin’ it.” Ryuji stretched and fixed Ren with a look. “Aight, now what were you actually thinkin’ about?”

“Uh, w-well.” Shit. Nothing else came to mind through the haze of mild panic that struck Ren. No excuses, no delays, no deflections. Oh, to hell with it, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Time to just rip the bandage off. “Your mom thinks we’re dating and you just forgot to tell her because you got caught up in being excited about it.”

“WHAT?!” Ryuji yelped and jumped back like he’d been burned. Not the best reaction, but Ren was already determined to just get it all out.

“Yeah. And as soon as she put it like that, I suddenly wasn’t sure that I just… hadn’t realized I’d accepted a confession at some point.” He explained, eyes fixed on the path in front of them. Ryuji laughed, high and nervous, bordering on slightly hysterical.

“Wh-when would I have even--”

“My place is next to you.” Ren’s heart was hammering in his chest hard enough that he was worried it might crack a rib or five.

“...oh. Right. Okay, yeah, that’s… that’s fair.” Ryuji had stopped walking and was frowning at the concrete as he scuffed the toe of his shoe at it. “So you been tryin’ to let me down easy or somethin? Don’t worry about it, dude, that wasn’t…” He trailed off and Ren finally turned to face him. The pang that squeezed his heart left him breathless when he saw the look of utter disappointment on Ryuji’s face. Ren was frozen, even as something in the back of his head screamed at him to fix it before Ryuji got the wrong idea. The blond straightened up with a laugh that sounded more like a scoff and ran a hand through his hair. “Man, that explains all the ‘you know you can tell me anything’ conversations she’s been tryin’ to have lately. I was worried she’d caught on about the Phantom Thief stuff, but she just… God, do I even wanna know what you told her?”

Ren practically jumped at the opening. “I told her if I’d known it was that kind of ‘hey come meet my mom’ that I would have brought better coffee.” He tried to look his best friend in the eye as he confessed, but just… couldn’t. Better to focus on getting the words out however he could. “I haven’t been trying to figure out how to let you down easy, kind of the opposite, actually.” He did his best to ignore the quiet intake of breath that got, or the way Ryuji tensed in his peripheral vision. “I’ve been working up the courage to ask and bracing myself for when you shot me down. I… I really like you.”

“...forreal?” Ryuji’s voice was soft with disbelief.

“Yeah.” Ren’s voice cracked, nerves finally getting the better of him. But he could at least answer, even if he still couldn’t look the other boy in the eye.

“You… You like me? Like, like-like me?”

“Yes. Have for a while, now. I might... “ Ren cleared his throat and tried again. “I might be a little past just like at this point, honestly.”

A breathless, disbelieving chuckle followed by, “Seriously?”

“Mhm.” A stiff nod.

“Why?” Ryuji’s tone had escalated from disbelief to full-on incredulity, sapping away all of Ren’s nerves in favor of sheer indignance when he whipped around to his best friend.

“How could I not?!” Ren nearly shouted, just self-aware enough to be glad they were alone. “You’re brave, so goddamn brave and so goddamn kind, protecting people--total strangers, sometimes--and expecting nothing back! You’re ridiculously good-looking and have an amazing smile and the best laugh I’ve ever heard, not to mention you’re just so damn compassionate? Quick to help people and even quicker to apologize when you mess up, even with just the little mistakes, and you always mean it and try to do better. And I’ve never in my life met someone as loyal as you, never had someone that I could rely on the way I rely on you!” Ren ranted, slightly light-headed from how quickly the words just poured out of him. “For fuck’s sake, you saved my life when I was just some guy off the street! The Phantom Thieves wouldn’t exist at all without you, and I… I would have spent the rest of the year, maybe even the rest of my life hiding if I hadn’t met you--”

“Hey.”

“Huh?” When had Ryuji stepped so close? How had Ren not noticed those warm, calloused hands cupping his jaw and tipping his head back up to look back at a face that wore an achingly-sweet expression of pure admiration, tempered only by the hint of apprehension at the corners of those warm, brown eyes Ren was such a sucker for?

“I’m gonna kiss you now. Izzat okay?”

“Please.” Ren whispered as his heart jumped up into his throat and Ryuji’s flushed face drew closer.

Both boys’ eyes fluttered shut at the first brush of lips, soft and deliberate. The second was just as gentle, just as careful, even as Ryuji’s fingers twitched against Ren’s jaw like it was taking all of his self control not to just dive in. Like he’d been thinking about how to do it right, planning it for a while, and that thought made Ren’s stomach flip. He slid one hand up the nape of Ryuji’s neck and buried his fingers in his hair at the third kiss, and wrapped his free arm around the blond’s waist to pull him closer partway through the fourth. From there, he lost count. It was the seventh or eighth kiss that found him pressed up against a nearby tree, and something like the thirteenth before nerves gave way to excitement and one of them deepened the kiss. He stopped counting entirely after the cautious sweep of Ryuji’s tongue over his lower lip temporarily shorted out his higher brain functions and pulled an embarrassingly needy sound from the back of his throat. Somewhere in the distantly coherent part of his brain, Ren made a mental note to start buying gum or mints because coffee-and-curry breath was… not great for kissing. It still took the two of them several minutes to break apart because kissing Ryuji, finally actually kissing him, was so much better than he’d imagined, even after months of daydreaming.

“So…” Ren sighed against the corner of Ryuji’s mouth, their foreheads resting against each other as they caught their breath. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page, no room for confusion--”

“Oh my god Renren, seriously?!” The words didn’t have any bite, being equal parts incredulity and laughter as Ryuji shoved gently at Ren’s shoulder.

“I just wanna be sure!” Ren laughed right back.

“Are you effin’ serious, how can you not be-- fine.” Ryuji pulled him into a tight hug, peppering his face with kisses as he spoke. “Ren Amamiya,” kiss, “will,” kiss, “you be,” kiss, “my,” kiss, “boyfriend?”

“Yes.” Ren turned his head to catch another kiss that Ryuji had aimed at his temple, sliding his tongue into the blond’s mouth and kissing him hard enough that his best friend was scarlet when he pulled away. “I would love to.”

Then he kissed Ryuji again. And again. And again.

-----

Eventually, Ren and Ryuji had broken apart long enough to return his glasses and get him on a train back to the cafe. He had been grinning like a dork for the entire ride and practically floated back into Leblanc when he got back, earning a weird look from Morgana on the counter. Sojiro was too busy to notice, nearly done cleaning up with most of the dishes already put away and the next day’s curry prepped and simmering. Ren stepped in, grabbed the washcloth off the side of the sink and started wiping down the counter.

“I can finish cleaning, you go ahead and get home to Futaba.” He insisted.

“Well you’re in a good mood. I take it you impressed the mother-in-law?” Boss teased.

“Yep, I think I did!” Ren chirped from behind the counter, then tried not to laugh. Sojiro did a double take and his face flickered through several expressions at once--sly and teasing, smug triumph, confusion, recognition, and further confusion--as he realized his ribbing hadn’t landed like it had just that afternoon.

Eventually he let out a “hmph” before probably deciding not to ask. “Don’t forget to lock up, and put back everything you borrowed, alright? I’ll see you in the morning.”

Ren waved as the door jangled shut behind him and hummed cheerfully as he worked.

“I take it you two idiots finally figured it out?” Morgana asked and Ren only grinned. At that point his face was starting to hurt from smiling so much. “Blech, glad I missed out.” The cat stretched languidly before hopping down and trotting up the stairs. “Congratulations, though. Taste notwithstanding, I’m happy for you two.”

“So you don’t want the play-by-play?” Ren called after him.

“I will steal your bed and make you sleep in a booth!”

[noonastooneshots]

Hoseok:   Hopeful Hearts

                              ꧁ Hopeful Hearts ꧂       

ᥫ᭡ AU: Single Parent       

ᥫ᭡ Themes: Hallmark Movie / Back to Hometown       

ᥫ᭡  Kinks: Masturbation, Multiple Orgasms,Cuddling 

Written For the @bangtanwritershq​ Hobuary Challenge Event

~2984 words~

After a nasty divorce, Jane and her 10 year old son, Jake, moved back to the hometown she fled as a wild teenager to follow the love of her life.

The last decade hadn’t been easy. In fact, Jake’s dad was serving time in prison for armed robbery and working on getting himself sober. They hadn’t seen him in a few years, so getting the divorce to go through was fairly simple.

Jane grew and learned a lot throughout those years, and sometimes it felt like she and Jake were both growing up together.

The church ladies had a field day when they saw the moving van drive through town on its way to her parents house, and the gossip channels went wild.

They’d barely parked the U-Haul when the first one popped up in the yard to welcome Jane back, asking all manner of kind, but intrusive questions.

She just smiled and gave her the most generic answer she could… the truth.

“Well, Mrs. Johnson, you know my dad broke his leg pretty bad skiing, and he needs some help with the shop, so he asked us to come help him out. I’m sorry to answer and run like this, but we have a lot of work to do before dark. Have a great day!”

Mrs. Johnson was on the phone with Mrs. Moore before Jane had the first box off of the truck, and the official town gossip phone tree was officially in use.

They’d only just got the last box in the spare room she’d be sleeping in when Mrs. Brisbane was at the door with a casserole.

“I keep them in the freezer for occasions like these! Welcome home!”

Once the woman was gone, though, Jane’s mother, Carol, threw the dish in the trash.

“This looks like it’s been in the freezer for ten years. Sweet lady. She means well.”

Instead, they had pizza for dinner and hit the sack early. They were exhausted, and had a lot of errands to run the next day.

After taking the U-haul to the rental agency, and doing some grocery shopping, Jane and Jake went to the family hardware store, Smith Hardware, with her dad, Bob, to see what needed done before they opened on Monday.

Jane did her best to ignore the looks she got from seemingly every person they passed. Jake was curious, though, “Mom? Why are these people looking at us like that?”

She sighed , irritated at the local busybodies that made it necessary to explain these things to her son.

“Well Jake, when I was a teenager I was a little wild according to their standards. And the fact that I ran off with your father right after I graduated made me a legend to the gossips in this town.”

“A legend?” Jake nodded his head, “My mom is a legend. I like it.”

Jane laughed. She loved her son. He was laid back and had a great sense of humor.

Monday morning Jake started at his new school and Jane opened the hardware store. Her father insisted he be on site in case she needed anything, and hobbled back to the office where he laid on the couch and watched movies most of the day.

Jane spent many hours working in the store when she was younger, so she knew the lay of the land and was comfortable with her tasks.

What she was uncomfortable with was the customers. The older folks came in out of curiosity, wanting to find out more about Bob and Carol’s wayward daughter’s grand return.

The customers that were around her age came in to eye her as competition or see if she was up for a date. Hell, even her ex-husband's old friends came by to see what she was up to.

By the time it was time to close up shop, Jane was emotionally exhausted. She pulled the car around front and went in to collect her dad. She got him in the car and locked the store door.

When she turned back to the car, she saw a man she didn’t know talking to her father. Bob was jovial and laughing, “Jane! Come meet Hoseok! He owns the florist shop next door.”

The man turned and Jane was met with a bright, happy smile, and friendly eyes.

“Hello,” the man said as he reached to shake her hand, “My name is Hoseok.”

She took his hand and smiled back, “Jane. Nice to meet you.”

He pointed to the building next to the hardware store, “That’s my shop, Sunshine Flowers. Stop in and say hi any time.”

Always one for a good conversation, Bob jumped in,

“Janey, Hoseok also has a son around Jake’s age. What is he now? 8? 9?”

“Henry just turned 10 last month.”

“10? Already? My grandson Jake is 10, as well. I’ll have to ask him if Henry is in his class.” Bob looked at Jane, “Hoseok volunteers at the rec center. He coaches most of the sports teams down there.”

Hoseok smiled, “I just like to be involved with my son’s interests. It’s a huge plus that it helps the community, as well.”

Jane was impressed, “Jake loves sports. I’ll bring him by the rec center this weekend, see if we can't find something he likes.”

They bid each other a good evening and went their separate ways, though Bob couldn’t stop talking about Hoseok, regaling Jane with the many ways he was a good man all the way home.

The rest of that week, Hoseok stopped in the store here and there to say hi, and even brought coffee when he was finished with his daily deliveries. She liked him. It was refreshing to be able to relax around someone who didn’t know her in this town.

Sure, the locals had filled him in with her so-called salacious past, but he only moved there 8 years prior, and didn’t bear witness to her mistakes.

Jake and Henry made fast friends, and were inseparable. They both spent many hours at the stores, and having a friend so close made it a lot more fun. They joined every sports team they could find, and Jane was more than thankful for Hoseok adding her son to his carpool. Jake never missed out on anything those days she was unable to leave the store and her parents were busy.

“That Hoseok is a wonderful young man,” Carol beamed one afternoon. She’d brought lunch and passed him on her way in, “Very sweet and dependable.” She looked conspiratorially at Jane, “And very handsome.”

Jane laughed, “He sure is.” She could see right through her mother’s meddling ways. The woman was thrilled that Jane made friends with the friendly man, and that Jake was spending so much time with a man she felt was such a great mentor.

Carol dropped hints left and right that Jane ought to be dating such a catch, and even got the boys involved in her schemes.

Jake and Henry decided that they would make excellent brothers, and enthusiastically joined in on Carol’s scheming.

Jane and Hoseok thought their conniving was entertaining. They flirted plenty, but neither seemed willing to take the next step so they settled on forming a close friendship, instead.

A few months later, Bob was all healed up and able to walk again. After being cooped up for so long, a tragedy in his mind, he planned a long weekend camping trip for himself, Carol, Jake and Henry.

“I want to take the boys fishing. They need the fresh air. Experience the outdoors.”

They were so excited about the idea that Jane and Hoseok just laughingly agreed to let them go.

When Bob and Carol stocked up the RV and left with the kids, Hoseok turned to Jane,

“Would you like to join me for dinner tonight? I was thinking about making some kimchi fried rice.”

“Sure! What can I bring?”

“Just yourself.”

“Hmmm. That doesn’t seem fair. How about wine?”

Hoseok laughed, “Ok. bring the wine, 5 o’clock work for you?”

Jane showed up at Hoseok’s house at 4:55 with a bottle of his favorite wine in hand. Apparently he’s the only one in this small town that drinks that particular brand, because the clerk knew exactly who it was for.

Dinner was delicious, and the couple quite enjoyed having time together without the kids around.

Hoseok was all smiles as they cleared the table after dinner, “You’ve been here so many times, but I’ve never given you a tour of the greenhouses! Would you like to take a look? I need to check them before it gets dark, anyway.”

The greenhouses were just across the yard, huge and filled to the brim with the most beautiful flowers Jane had ever seen. The smell when Hoseok opened the door was a mix of sweet flowers and wet soil. He took her hand and led her around, explaining the flowers that had special needs versus the easier plants to grow. He even plucked a particularly pretty purple blossom and put it in her hair, just above her ear.

Jane smiled shyly and tried not to giggle at Hoseok’s attention. He smiled back and took her hand again,

“Jane? I really like you. And I think you might feel the same about me. I don’t want to make things awkward, especially with the boys being so close, but I would really like to be with you.”

Jane tilted her head to the side, “Be with me?”

He nodded his head hopefully, “Yeah. Be with you.”

“You are with me.”

Hoseok laughed, “No. I mean be together. As a couple. Date. See where our relationship goes from there.”

He took her hand and led her to a fire pit he had set up in the backyard. The pit was surrounded by stone, and the ground around it was brick. The benches surrounding it were roughly carved from logs, and large enough for at least four people each to relax comfortably.

Hoseok lit the fire while Jane refilled their wine, and it wasn’t long before the new couple was snuggled up together watching the flames, talking about nothing and everything at once.

He was the perfect gentleman. At the end of the evening, he placed the sweetest kiss on her cheek after walking her to her car… and that was it. There was no expectation of more from her, other than asking if she wanted to have dinner again the next night.

It blew Jane’s mind.

As she lay in bed that night thinking the entire evening over, she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face. Hoseok was handsome, caring, sweet, and responsible. He was a great father to Henry, and easily took on the role of pseudo dad for the boys around town that, like Jake, didn’t have a father in their lives.

Although Jane had a reputation in that town, she really was fairly innocent. Her ex was the only man she’d ever actually been with, and her experiences being married to him made her think that she wasn’t going to be one of those people that’s just lucky with love.

But cuddling up with Hoseok by the fire made her want to try again. Really try. Not just a date here and there, but an actual relationship.

Her body tingled in ways she hadn’t felt in years. She rolled over and internally laughed for already getting ahead of herself.

Two hours later, Jane woke from a particularly hot dream featuring herself and Hoseok in one of his greenhouses. She was covered with sweat and severely frustrated. She moaned and rolled to her back, noting as she moved that her inner thighs were even more sweaty than the rest of her body. It wasn’t until she kicked the covers off and her body started to cool that she realized that her panties were soaked through.

She lifted her hips and slid off the offending material before tossing them to the side. Laying in bed in just a t-shirt felt naughty. Like she was exposed to the world, when in reality Jane was all alone, in the dark, where no one would be able to see her.

It’d been a long time since she’d been naked for any other reason than bathing.

Huffing out a breath, Jane brought her arm up and laid it over her eyes. The dream replayed across her closed eyelids like a movie screen.

Hoseok placed the flower behind her ear and kissed her. One of his hands slid into her hair while the other was planted firmly on the small of her back. His tongue was simultaneously rough and smooth in a way she thought would only happen in a dream. She felt every single move it made against her own. The nerve endings in her entire body seemed to feel it as they slid against each other. The taste of him was heavenly.

Her hand slid up to softly caress her own breast as she tried to recall the exact flavor. She giggled, feeling like a sommelier describing the notes in the wine.

Dream Hoseok only pulled his lips far enough away from hers to whisper her name.

She rolled her nipple between her fingers and moaned at the quiet way “Jane” blew past his full lips. Would she ever get to hear it in real life?

Jane could almost feel the way he nibbled down the side of her throat as his hand slid from her back to the side of her thigh. Dream Hoseok slowly bunched up the material of the mid-length summer dress she was wearing until his hand could caress bare skin. That hand slid back and cusped her bottom as his lips found hers again.

His kisses were passionate and all consuming as he lifted her leg to wrap around his waist. When she almost lost her footing, he stopped and lowered her to the lush grass that grew in between the flower boxes.

Jane didn’t hesitate for a second in that dream. She knew what she wanted, and she wanted Hoseok.

As her hand slid down her torso to touch the wetness the dream left behind, Dream Jane reached out to caress the hard length pressing against his linen pants. Hoseok’s sharp inhale at her touch made her clench, both in the dream and in real life. His nostrils flared and he lunged forward to take her lips in another heated kiss as his hips cradled between hers. The hardness she had in her hand a moment before was suddenly pressed to her most intimate place.

It was hot and thick, and when Hoseok’s hips moved with the same motion as his tongue, it pressed her panties into her softest flesh and added extra sensation as he rocked into her.

Just the idea of what that might actually feel like, along with the feeling of her middle finger circling her clit, made Jane moan a little louder.

Dream Hoseok groaned when she grabbed his ass and pulled him into her even harder, “Jane, I need to see you. I need to taste you. Worship you like you deserve.”

He kissed and nibbled down her throat, paying close attention to her clavicle, all the while keeping his cock snugly rubbing against her clit.

He grabbed the front of the material covering her bosom and wrenched it apart, sending buttons flying in all directions.

Her back arched off the bed as her breasts were exposed in the dream and she fought to catch her breath. She truly felt the cool air caressing her nipples, which took the erotic feeling up several notches.

Not able to help herself, Jane slid two fingers inside her pussy… The first time she’d been penetrated in far too long.

Dream Hoseok dove right in, kissing every inch of exposed skin. His lips and teeth worked to make sure no part of her was left untouched. He grabbed her panties and tore them away from her body with a growl. He stood and rid himself of clothing and was back on his knees between her legs before she could even feel the cool air.

“I want to do everything to you and with you. I want to make you cum. I want every orgasm to be mine.” He held his unprotected cock and circled the tip around in the wetness of her pussy without taking his eyes off of hers. He pushed inside and smiled at her gasp.

Jane pulled her fingers out and continued to circle her clit. She was sweating now, and starting to shake. The tingling feeling of lightning was beginning to build in the base of her spine.

Dream Hoseok owned her body. Everything he did to her seemed to drag more orgasms out of her. Jane was glad it was a dream, because she wasn’t sure if she’d actually survive having that many orgasms in that short amount of time.

By the time Dream Hoseok leaned down and breathed in her ear, “I”m going to cum inside you Jane. I’m going to fill you full, and you’ll be mine,”

She was more than ready to let go. As he let loose in the dream, Jane let loose in real life. Her body shook and throat let out noises she’d never been known to make.

Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest and she struggled to catch her breath. Her hand was just as soaked as her panties were.

She giggled into the darkness and gave herself a few minutes of afterglow before she went to get cleaned up.

Maybe it was time to trust another man. Maybe Hoseok will be the man she’d always hoped for. As she settled back down to sleep, she hoped for another dream like that and couldn’t wait for their next date.

꧁ End ꧂

One Shot Master List

[haikyuuwaifu]

Trip

Genre: Drama, Angst, Humor, Crack

Warnings: Swearing, Fighting, Name calling, Mentions of Blood, Violence

MASTERLIST

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD| GIRLS NIGHT OUT

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Y/N stretched her arms over her head, her eyes shutting as she felt the kinks in her back pop. Looking over, she noticed Momo scanning through the books vaguely. “You should have gone with everyone else.” Y/N muttered, cleaning up her station. Momo merely scoffed, waving her hand in her friends direction. “It’s not going that well if the GC is anything to go by. They’ve been making sneering faces at Jirou and Toga since they arrived...besides, I didn’t want to go if you weren’t going to be there to keep me in check.” Y/N snickered, shaking her head softly. “We both know you’d have been the one to keep me in check.” she answered, continuing her clean up. Silence passed for a few minutes, before Momo spoke hesitantly. “You like them don’t you?...that’s why you don’t want to go?” Y/N peered up at Momo, an unreadable expression on her face. “I don’t...not like them, I just...I don’t know enough about them to t-” Momo cut her off with a snort. “You can’t lie to me, I’m your best friend. It’s okay if you like them. We all know that things that are meant to be will happen in it’s own time...now let’s go get some food so I can stare at Rumi for a while.” Y/N could only laugh as she packed up her station, and the two women made their way to the back of the shop, and out the building.

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

Everything at the BBQ was tense. Jirou and Toga were sitting in one corner of the setup talking to Rumi and Mina. Both women apologizing profusely for their bosses girlfriends. Kiri was trying to have a conversation with Bakugo, but Ochaco was trying to pester him to talk to her. It seemed the two still haven’t made up since the whole mall fiasco. Camie was perched on Keigo’s lap talking his ear off about some expensive jewelry he wanted her to by. Kendo and Shoto weren’t even talking to each other. He couldn’t figure out what she was mad at him for this time, so he chose to leave her be. Shinsou and Nejire were inside arguing yet again, about the 

The creaking of the fence, told everyone that someone else had arrived. Toga jumped up her hands clapping at the sight of her boss. Y/N smiled, waving her offering above her head. “I didn’t know what I needed, so I just brought some b-” Before she could finish her sentence, Camie let out a shriek as she recognized the woman from the grocery store. “What the hell are you doing here?!” Ochaco snarled, standing up to get in Y/N’s face. Nejire stepped out of the shop to see the commotion, and sneered at the sight of Y/N. It seemed that all four women have had a run-in with Y/N, and they had decided she needed to go. Camie snatched the drinks out of Y/N’s hands, and threw them on the ground smirking when the glass shattered. “We don’t need any fucking hand outs from you skank.” she huffed out, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t be a fucking skank Camie, she didn’t fucking do anything to you!” Izuku snarled, ready to snatch her by her hair. Dabi held his boyfriend back, shaking his head. “No one invited you here anyway.” Kendo snickered, flipping her hair behind her back. Rumi stood up, and stepped into Kendo’s space, causing the shorter woman to move back. “She’s the owner of the shop across the way. This was planned as a welcome to the neighborhood gathering; instead she has to meet the best paid hookers in the city.” Rumi snarked, ignoring the reprimand Shoto sent her way. 

Momo merely scoffed, sliding her glasses further up her nose. “If this is what the neighborhood has to offer, then I don’t think we’re interested.” She mused, eyes raking over the four women in front of her. Y/N had yet to say anything, her eyes still trained on the broken glass on the ground. “Can’t speak for yourself bitch?” Ochaco hissed, reaching out to grab Y/N’s arm. Before she could wrap her hand around the other woman’s wrist, Y/N snatched it. Tugging Ochaco forward, she connected her knee with the short haired woman's face, and smiled at the crunch the contact made with her nose. Shoving Ochaco aside, she reached for Nejire, wrapping both hands in her hair, Y/N pulled her head back and slammed it forward. Nejire screamed as the pain coursed through her face. Kendo and Camie went to grab for her, but Y/N was faster; decking Kendo, Y/N grabbed Camie’s arm, and threw her over her shoulder and into the trash behind her. 

Dusting her hands off, Y/N turned toward Mina and Rumi, a smile on her face. “We’re going out tonight, girls and gays are welcome. You can meet us outside the shop in about two hours?” Y/N questioned, waiting for confirmation. “Don’t worry about finding a D.D. That’s going to be Shiggy’s job.” And Y/N and Momo left, no apology on their lips as the four women cried and screamed, bleeding all over themselves. 

-The four men were stunned, and sat for a good ten minutes unable to comprehend what exactly happened. Y/N’s employees left, along with Mina and Rumi, which left Dabi, Izuku, and Denki to deal with Ochaco, Camie, Kendo, and Nejire.

-The four women wanted to press charges, but Keigo put his foot down. Y/N was provoked first, and he went off on Camie. It was the first time he’s yelled at her in their long relationship, but he was so disappointed. He just wanted to welcome someone to the neighborhood and it was shot to shit because they couldn’t even be nice. 

-Trouble in Paradise bby’s. 

@dabilove27​ @ouijaeater15​ @kit-kat428​ @lia-faerie-queen​ @grapesauze @mushimoon14​ @iloveyouasmuchaspoohloveshoney​ @patricia-ceballos​ @starrygoblin​ @cathy8taffy​ @moon-spirit-yue​ @eraser-baby​ @yafriendlyfangirl​ @ditu-m9 @loverofallthingsfoxy​ @percabethismyotp14​ @alorathebear​ @endeavors-big-dick​ @akward-youtube-trash @chefakari​ @swoonhui​ @black-rose-29​ @prettyinblack231​ @sunnyflowers​ @oppositesunchild​ @victory-is-here​ @barnesparkers​ @elianetsantana​ @that-chick212​ @angelofdarkness1020​ @sugabeaniee​ @fucktheworlddude​ @sempiternal-amour​ @bumblebeesofspace​ @elisamousse​ @nightlygiggless​ @mirajilana

[drabbles-mc]

Protective Detail (4/?)

Nestor Oceteva x Reader

Warnings: language, violence, blood, guns, mild injuries, Nestor being a goddamn thirst trap

Word Count: 3.6k

A/N: This chapter is a liiiiittle longer than the others have been but hopefully that’s not a problem. Did I do a deep-dive on Gino Vento’s google photos to be able to know what his body art situation is?? You betcha. Enjoy! xoxo

Chapter Index

Protective Detail Taglist: @masterlistforimagines​ @sillygoose6969​ @mydaiilyescape​ @lovebennycolon​ @the-radical-venus​ @gemini0410​ @garbinge​ @slutformayansmc​ @paintballkid711​ (as always, if you want to be on my taglists feel free to let me know!)

Despite the fact that the only thing on your agenda for the day was going to the grocery store, you still came into the kitchen in the morning to see Nestor sipping coffee in yet another button-down shirt and pair of slacks. You wondered for a moment if the man even owned just a pair of casual blue jeans.

“I don’t know where the Galindos shop,” you said with a laugh as you poured a cup of coffee, “But the grocery store I go to doesn’t have a dress code. I thought you knew that.”

He shook his head but you could see the smirk pulling at his lips, “This is just how I dress, Y/N.”

He didn’t use your name often, but each time he did you felt your entire body turn into jello for a few moments before you regained composure again. You took your time getting ready, loving that you didn’t feel rushed or like you were on a schedule. You told Nestor that he could drive, pretending that you just wanted the extra space in his car for shopping purposes. But you were also testing a theory that if you let Nestor have his way more often, he would let you know a little more about who he was as a person. Plus, you had to admit, you didn’t really mind his driving too much. Even if he did drive without the radio on.

Having Nestor with you while you grocery shopped was nice because you got to leave him in charge of pushing the cart while you perused the aisles and picked things out to eat for the next few days. You’d shove produce in his face and ask him if he thought it was fresh, and he would begrudgingly help you out, rolling his eyes at how terrible you were at telling if cantaloups were ripe.

The two of you were walking down the cereal aisle and he was shaking his head at you while fighting back a smile, “You’re like a child with access to a credit card.”

“Listen, Nestor,” you stood on your tip-toes to try and reach towards the back of the top shelf, “Coco Puffs have no age limit.”

He reached over you with ease and grabbed the last box from the back of the shelf and placed it in the cart, not saying a word as he continued pushing onward. You smiled to yourself for a few moments before snapping back to reality and speed-walking a few steps to catch up with him.

He was helping you bag items at the self-checkout and if you were honest with yourself, every now and then you would forget that he was with you to keep you from getting shot or kidnapped. Sometimes you even felt like friends, as much as someone like Nestor would let a person be friends with him.

Once you were out on the road and heading home, you looked over at Nestor with puppy-dog eyes, “Can we stop at Starbucks?”

He looked at you, shaking his head the second he saw the way you were looking at him, “The lines are always ridiculous. The ice cream will melt.”

You sighed, knowing that puppy-dog eyes most likely weren’t going to work on him but it was worth a shot anyway. You leaned back in your seat and scrolled on your phone, wanting desperately to play music to break up the silence.

Nestor passed the street that you normally turned off to get home. You looked over at him and saw how tense his body was. You sat upright, putting your phone back in your purse, “What?”

He nodded towards the rearview mirror, “Car’s been following us since we left the store.”

Your stomach knotted and you tried to take a deep breath but it didn’t help to calm you down at all. You instinctively reached for the glove compartment like it was your own car, and you were expecting Nestor to stop you, but instead he reached and opened it for you, not having to take his eyes off the road to dig around and get the gun out for you.

“You shouldn’t need to use it,” he placed the weapon in your hand and his lingered for a moment, “But just in case.”

He did his best to stay on busier roads, hoping it would be a deterrent, and also hopefully make it easier to lose whoever it was that was tailing them. You felt your heart pounding inside your chest—you had been hoping that your father had dealt with everything and that Nestor really was just an unnecessary precaution, but that wasn’t the case.

Somewhere along the way, the road went dead. Nestor was white-knuckled on the steering wheel and you were trying not to let your hands shake. He had been steadily increasing your speed, but even so the car had kept up and pulled up alongside you. You tried to get a good look at the people who were inside, but before you could, Nestor slammed on the gas and tried to speed ahead of them in one last burst to lose them.

Before he could successfully get in front of them, they swerved and hit the back driver’s side corner of the car. With the speed that Nestor had picked up they hit you hard enough to send the car spinning. By some miracle the vehicle didn’t roll, but you swerved off the road and slammed into an embankment, trashing the front of the car and pinning Nestor’s side. Even if he wanted to open his door and get out, he couldn’t. It all happened so fast, you don’t think you would’ve been able to explain exactly how the two of you ended up in that position even if someone tried to pay you to.

The other car pulled up, opening their passenger door. You had already undone your seatbelt and you instinctively shot the gun in your hand, busting the glass window. You fired off a second bullet and got the man who was coming towards you in the leg, causing him to drop. You were getting ready to fire off a third shot when a third man jumped out of the car and dragged him back throwing him in the back seat, the only sound in the air was a slew of curses of the man who was bleeding. You froze up, unable to take an easy shot that would take someone’s life.

“Just fucking go!” the man yelled as he barely got his accomplice into the back seat.

The car started peeling away before the back door was even completely shut. Clearly, they hadn’t been planning on you being armed at all, let alone ready to shoot. You took a shaky breath as you put the safety back on the gun. You turned to Nestor, who had a harsh burn along his neck from his seatbelt, as well as a cut and a welt on the side of his forehead from where his head slammed against the window while you were spinning out. You unclicked his seatbelt and gently tried to wake him without shaking him, not knowing how hard he had slammed his head.

“Nestor?”

He groaned in response, “Fuck.”

“Oh thank god,” you let out a sigh of relief.

“How many?”

“At least three,” you gently and slowly turned his head, trying to get a better idea of his injuries. You had a feeling that it was nothing serious—he was just going to be bruised and sore for a few days. His side of the car got slammed pretty bad when you went off the road. You pressed your lips together for a moment, “Still got feeling in all your limbs?”

He laughed, although it was weighted with sarcasm, leaning back against the headrest, “Yea.”

“Good,” you sighed, letting your body sink back into your seat as well, “All things considered, this could’ve gone a lot worse.”

He looked over at you, “Looks like we’ll be using your car for a few days.”

You slowly shook your head, “The ice cream is definitely gonna melt.”

His next laugh was genuine, despite the pain he was in, “You have the worst priorities in the world.”

“Hey, I checked to see if you were alive, didn’t I?”

After a few phone calls made to your father and some of his connections, you had a tow-truck and a temporary replacement car there in no time. It was convenient, the only thing you weren’t thrilled about was the fact that your father was the one who delivered it.

“What happened?” he ran to you and wrapped you in a hug

“They followed us out of the grocery store,” you said, taking a slight step back when he finally released you from his embrace, “Nestor noticed right away. They never saw my house.”

He nodded, “That’s good at least,” he held you gently by your upper arms, “How are you? Are you hurt?”

You shook your head, “Neck is sore from getting spun out, but I’m alright. I should probably get Nestor home so I can get his cuts cleaned up.”

“You have things to take care of him?”

You nodded, “Yea of course.”

“Is there anything else I can get you?”

You shook your head, “No, I think we’ll be okay. I just wanna get home.”

He nodded understandingly, “Okay. I love you, mija, you know that right?”

You smiled, “I know. I love you too,” you hugged him, “I’ll talk to you later and give you a full download of the situation, alright?”

“Alright. Please, drive safe.”

“I will,” you kissed his cheek, “Te quiero.”

“Te quiero,” he walked over and shook Nestor’s hand, “Thank you for keeping her safe.”

He nodded, feeling like there wasn’t much to thank him for in this situation, “Your daughter is a very capable woman.”

“She is,” with a final nod and one last look over at you, your father went back to his own car and took off.

You and Nestor waited for the tow truck to finish loading the SUV before finally piling into the car your father had brought for you. It was pretty reminiscent of Nestor’s SUV and you knew that was probably by design. In the back of your mind you knew your father probably wanted it to be your car so he could finally give you what he considered to be a real car. Truthfully you hated driving bigger vehicles, but you weren’t about to hand the keys over to Nestor.

“I’m sorry,” he said one you were both in the car.

“What’re you sorry for?” you asked as you buckled in.

“It never should’ve come to that, to you having to use my gun.”

You shook your head, “Don’t do that. You were unconscious. Not even you are cool enough to be able to pull that off while knocked out. Thanks to you, I get to sleep in my own bed tonight. So don’t beat yourself up,” you waited for him to meet your eyes, “Self-pity is the only thing that doesn’t look good on you, so knock it off,” you offered a small smile as you started the car.

He smiled as he settled into his seat but he didn’t say anything. The drive passed in silence, and for once you weren’t itching to turn the radio on. Part of you wanted to reach over and cover Nestor’s hand with your own, but you fought the urge. He somehow managed to keep his eyes open the whole ride home.

Once you started getting what was left of the groceries out of the car, Nestor asked for the house keys so he could do a check. You told him not to bother, that there would be no way a second threat would be lurking in your house after what just happened, but he insisted. It wasn’t a battle you were going to pick, so you handed over the keys.

The house was quiet, and you didn’t make any comment on it as you started unpacking the groceries. Nestor was sat on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, and the look on his face made your heart feel heavy. You texted your father, asking for one small, very ridiculous favor, hoping that he would grant it to you.

Once all of the groceries were put away, you went and grabbed your first aid kit from the bathroom and sat down next to Nestor on the couch. This time, he didn’t look annoyed about the closeness you shared.

“C’mere,” you motioned for him to lean closer to you so you could start wiping and cleaning out the cut on his forehead. Neither of you said anything while you tended to him. He cringed slightly when you used the alcohol, but he remained silent. You told him that after he showered you would put a bandage on it just as a precaution, but the gash wasn’t really that deep. It was more to make you feel better about it. You wiped down the burn across his neck with an anti-bacterial rub, but there wasn’t a whole lot else that you could do for it.

“How’s your side?” you nodded to his side that got slammed into the door of the car when you hit the embankment.

“It’s fine,” he wasn’t looking at you.

“Can I see it?”

He stood up, ready to go shower and wash the day away, “I said it’s fine.”

“Well if it’s fine then there’s no reason not to let me see,” you weren’t yelling but it was a firm tone that you hadn’t used with him before.

He sighed, not having the energy to put up a fight. He untucked and un-buttoned his shirt, pulling the one side out so that you could see his chest and ribcage. There were a few bruises starting to come in, but it didn’t look terrible. You tried to stay focused on the real reason you wanted to look at him, but you had to admit that you let your eyes linger a little longer than medically necessary. You hadn’t been expecting to see so much ink on his skin.

“Can I go shower now?”

You nodded, “Yea. Thank you.”

You didn’t have the energy to go and get changed, so instead you melted into the couch, pushing the first aid kit to the floor. You heard the shower turn on and then, for the first time, he put music on. Your eyes went wide, thinking for a moment that you must’ve hit your head at some point too and were hearing things. After a minute went by, you finally let yourself relax, not even wanting to turn the television on and risk drowning out the melodies drifting out of the bathroom. You didn’t know what kind of music you were expecting Nestor to listen to, but what he was playing was much more mellow than you thought it would be.

You were resting with your eyes closed when there was a light knock on the door. You got up, smiling because you knew what it was. You opened the front door, smiling at your father’s newest assistant who looked like he was only a couple weeks out of college. He stood there with a smile as he held out a brown paper bag to you.

“Your dad said you needed these?”

You smiled and nodded, “Yes, thank you so much,” he nodded and went to walk away when you caught his attention again, “Hey, I never caught your name.”

“Ricardo. You can call me Ricky.”

“Thank you, Ricky.”

“You’re welcome, Y/N. Have a good night.”

You shut and locked the door and put the bag in the freezer, grinning over the fact that your father was still willing to indulge you in silly things like this even after all this time. You snapped back to reality when the sound of the shower and the music both shut off. The door creaked open and you fought the urge to peak into the hallway.

After a few minutes went by and Nestor didn’t reappear in the living room, you took it upon yourself to go to him. You grabbed the bag out of the freezer and two spoons before making your way down the hall.

You knocked lightly on the door, not used to it being shut. His voice was quiet on the other side, “Yea?”

You opened the door and fought to not let your jaw hit the floor. Nestor was lying on his bed, eyes closed, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. All you could think about, though, was the fact that he was lying there with no shirt on, just a pair of sweatpants. You truly couldn’t believe the number of tattoos that the man had. His chest, stomach, and arms were completely decked out in ink of all kinds. You hadn’t given much thought to him having tattoos—you saw the one on his neck and his hands but other than that it never really crossed your mind. Your quick glance earlier didn’t do his extensive body art justice.

And his hair wasn’t braided—his long, thick curls were thrown up into a messy bun on top of his head. You were certain that there would never be a better look for him than that. You wished it didn’t take such a rough day to get it out of him. You cleared your throat slightly, chastising yourself over how your mind instantly flew to some very unprofessional places.

“I come bearing gifts,” you said as you walked over and sat on the edge of his bed, “Well, gift. It’s just one.”

He opened one eye, smiling as you set the pint of ice cream and spoon on his nightstand, “Which of your father’s assistants had to drive that over?”

You laughed, “The new one, Ricky.”

He forced himself to sit upright, “Poor kid.”

He reached for the ice cream and your eyes were glued to his forearms, figuring it was the safest place for you to study as you digested all of the new ink that you were seeing. You were trying not to gawk but he was making it really difficult for you. You bit down lightly on your bottom lip, unable to force yourself to look away.

He noticed you staring and immediately became very aware of how he looked, “Fuck, sorry. Let me grab a shirt.”

You shook your head, “Stop. This is your home too for now. I don’t give a shit,” you laughed, “After today you can wear whatever you want,” you took a scoop of ice cream out of your pint, “Your hair looks good like that, by the way.”

He smiled, slowly pulling his legs up so he was sitting cross-legged by his pillow, “Thanks. You tell anyone and I’ll kill you.”

You laughed, “Hey, man-buns are in right now.”

He chuckled as he methodically scooped away a layer at a time. You pulled your feet up and sat the same way he was, the two of you facing each other. Neither of you said anything as you ate, and you soaked up the moment.

“Can I put a bandage on your cut?” you asked as you put the top back on your ice cream container.

“It’s really not that bad.”

“I know but it’ll make me feel better.”

He shrugged, nodding, “Sure.”

You gathered up your spoons and what was left of your ice cream and walked out of the room. You tossed the containers back into the freezer before going to grab the first aid kit off of your floor. After thinking about it for a moment, you made a pit-stop in your room and changed out of your clothes, opting for a pair of sweats and a baggy t-shirt.

By the time you walked back into his room, Nestor had put on a t-shirt moved to the edge of the bed, swinging his legs off so his feet hit the floor. You sat down next to him and looked at his forehead. You sifted through the different-sized bandages you had before you found one that was satisfactory. You leaned in, gently applying it to his forehead.

You rested your palm on the side of his face, lightly tracing your thumb over the bandage to make sure it was completely on. Nestor’s eyes were closed, and without thinking better of it, he leaned slightly into your touch and you froze, not wanting to give up the contact. You tried to relax your body, but you couldn’t.

A few seconds later he opened his eyes again, and realized what he was doing. He sat upright and cleared his throat, not sure what to say or do. You forced yourself to break the silence, “Need anything else?”

He shook his head, “No. Thank you. I know I’m here to keep you safe but you definitely saved my ass today.”

You chuckled, “And you can save my ass tomorrow,” your expression grew a little more serious, “But really, you good?”

He nodded, “I’m good.”

“Okay,” you rested your hand on his knee for a moment, “Goodnight, Nestor.”

You went to take your hand away as you stood when you felt his come to rest over it, completely enveloping it, “Goodnight,” he gave your hand a soft squeeze.

You walked out of his room, shutting the door behind you. you turned off all the lights in the house before going to your room and collapsing onto your bed. You stared up at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had happened that day. You traced over the top of your hand where Nestor’s had been and, despite the day the two of you had had, you found yourself smiling.

[bossyleo]

Beautiful Crime, (CH 1)

Summary; Kat and the trio of women rob the grocery store. Their normal lives go down the drain when they met a leader of the gang. Kat has double life's, will her past life crash her down? will she keep running like she always has to start fresh or will she stay and fight from her past life and bad blood? Along the way, she fell in love with someone who she never expected to be.

Warning: +18, gun mention, robbery.

A/N; I want to say thank to @prettygangfriend, @cacoetheswriting for helping me and editing the story. Thank to @ skamlover to help me with my OC Spanish language. This is my first fanfic I publish is here, Please let me know what you think and I’m interested in your feedback, don’t be silent readers. I worry if I hear no comment, it mean that nobody like my story. I apologize if my grammar is awful, ENJOY!!! Also, let me know if you want to be TAGGED!!

Here is the cover @atriaedits has made

__________________________________________

The sound of the obnoxious chewing, followed by the sound of a loud, snapping pop, is coming from the backseat, slowly driving Beth insane.

“Oh my god! I asked you to stop doing that like five minutes ago.” Beth turned her head away from the window and glared at her friend, feeling annoyed by that ridiculous sound she’s been hearing since she picked her up.

“Damn girl. You know what, fine” Kat spits out the gum and tosses it to one of the trash cans standing outside of their window. “Happy now?” She glances at Beth then opens the vanity mirror to check herself out, trying to fix her hair. Pulling two strands of her brunette hair, she adjusts her face-framing bangs. As she takes a minute to admire her shining, golden hoop earrings, they hear a screeching sound of a tire coming up behind Beth’s van.

Both of them look up, only to reveal the red, rusty car, that belonged to no other than Annie. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of Ruby sitting in the passenger seat, while Beth was already preparing her big sister speech.

“I cannot believe you,” Beth started, once Annie had parked her car. She threw her hands up in defense, trying to calm down Beth.

“Chill, sis. I’m like, two minutes late.”

The four women gather around and go up to the back of Annie’s trunk, popping it open to reveal four ski masks and four toy guns. Kat grabs the plastic guns from the gym bag, admiring the crafty work of Beth’s painting job. She has to admit, they look pretty realistic—well, realistic enough to make sure the hostages will comply.

“Wait, Annie, I think you should use the concealer to cover the tattoo,” Kat says.

“What, Nah, I’ll be fine, my shirt will cover it.” Annie reply.

“Let’s get this over with,” Ruby says, letting out a deep sigh, while Annie passes everyone their very own ski-mask. Both Beth and Annie wore a blue one, Kat went for the color black, as she wanted to make sure to match her outfit, and Ruby decided to go with a bandana instead.

Not wasting any more time, the four women walk into the ‘Fine and Frugal’ grocery store. It takes a couple of seconds before people notice their cloth covered faces, but once they do, the ladies go into action.

“Listen up!” Annie yells out, pointing her gun up into the air, “Everyone just stays cool, and nobody gets hurt!” 

The rest of the women are quick to follow Annie’s actions, and start pointing their guns around the store. People look around in both confusion and fear, but they make sure to get onto the ground. A smirk appears on Kat’s face, while watching the store manager walk up to them, his hand up in the air.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a robbery,” Annie said as if she announced to the customers.

           THREE WEEKS EARLIER

The ripping of a wax strip echoes through the room, followed by a loud shriek of pain coming from Beth, who’s currently finding herself on her arms and knees.

“I wonder how Kat’s doing” she wonders out loud, “Oh god, she won’t hurt Ashley, right?” 

The lady waxing Beth has a look of concern on her face, silently praying for her co-worker Ashley. “She’ll be fine, ma’am”, she reassures Beth, before continuing her work.

“I can only hope-“ before she could finish her sentence, a young brunette walks into the room. Beth turns her head to figure out what was going on, or what was important enough to interrupt her session.

“Mrs. Boland? I’m afraid your card has been declined” 

Beth couldn’t help but frown and come up with something that would explain the situation, but Kat walked in just in time, handling it. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it,” Kat tells her, sticking her hands inside the pockets of her white, comfortable robe. The woman gives her a quick nod, before walking out again.

“I’ll pay you back,” Beth says, shaking her head while looking over at Kat. “I’m sure Dean just forgot to pay a bill, he’s been really busy and distracted, lately.” 

Kat raises an eyebrow at her explanation, already knowing there’s a lot more to it than just Dean forgetting the bills. She’s always thought of him as someone who’s rather suspicious, and untrustworthy, but she wasn’t going to insult Beth’s husband to her face, so she drops it.

“Yeah, I’m sure” Kat mumbles, hoping Beth wouldn't catch the sarcastic tone in her voice, which she didn’t.

Kat feels her phone vibrating, and she lets out an annoyed sigh. The name of her boss pops up on her screen, and she couldn’t mentally curse herself for hurrying to answer it.

“Hello, sir“ she rolls her eyes at the familiar sound of her boss yelling and ordering her around on the phone. “Yes, of course- Hello?“

 “He just hung up on me!” Kat calls out, making Beth scoff loudly. “First he insults my cooking, and now this? What an asshole!” She says, and Kat nods at her in agreement while remembering that day all too well. 

Last week Kat tried to get out of a work thing by telling Mark, her boss, she already did had dinner plans to attend. She didn’t know how or why, but apparently he thought it was a great idea to invite himself. If that wasn’t bad enough already, he felt the need to tell Beth he wasn’t a big fan of her cooking. Beth was ready to defend herself, but of course, Dean told her to calm down, which ultimately led to those two pricks becoming buddies, who even started hanging out.

“The truth is, he’s just an idiot who thinks women can’t be equal to men. One day I will prove that piece of trash wrong, trust me. Kat convinces Beth while taking off her robe, revealing her work outfit as an office assistant, underneath it. 

She was wearing a cream button-down paired with a matching suede jacket. She brushed a dark curl off her shoulder, walking toward the mirror against the wall. A glance at her reflection, reapplying a dark red lipstick with a flourish. She shifted her weight. “ I got to go, Adiós “ Kat picks up her purse and leaves the room, leaving Beth to sigh heavily as she picks up her phone, calling the bank wondering why her credit card decline, she knows her husband, Dean probably forgot to pay it.  Beth thought.

Kat enters her hybrid car small with a four-door which she got a good deal from her friend, Beth’s husband, Dean. She drove to the coffee shop which is near the diner where Ruby works at. She stands in line, waiting patiently for her turn.

 Then she placed the orders, she checks her phone to see what time it.  Glad I’m on my lunch break, can’t wait to see my baby soon. Kat thought happily.  Kat grabs two medium cups and hurries to her car. The girls would be expecting her at the diner soon. She quickly drives to the meeting spot and dashes in carrying her coffee. 

The bell ding above the door as Kat enters... See Beth and Annie is already in their booth near the window. Kat smiles at them as she walks over to them, “Hola.” She pushes Annie’s legs off the seat as she sits down.

“Ooo, Coffee!” Annie was about to grab one from the tray but Kat hit her hand as she scolds her “I promised my jefe I would bring him some, so keep your hands off “ Annie glances at her,” I don’t know what you just said, but it sounds hot” Kat shake her head as she chuckles.

“Where’s the translated book I got for you? You need to read it.” Annie shakes her head and replies “I tried to but then I fell asleep.” Kat chuckles again.

“ And she was only halfway through my wax.” Beth continued the conversion she had earlier to Annie before Kat walked in. “But I offer to pay it, What happens?” Mia asks.

Beth shook her head, “I changed my mind, You need the money for your son, Mateo.” Beth answers. Kat wants to help her friend Beth but knows she is right. “Gracias”. Kat reply, showing her red lips turn into a smile. “So, What happens?” Annie asks. Beth answered, “Well, now I’m uneven.”  

Ruby walks over to her friends, places the coffee pot on the table. “I don’t even wanna know.”

“Dean maxed out their credit card at some lingerie store,” Annie explain to Ruby.

“Do you think he’s sleeping around?” Beth glance at Kat.

Annie and Kat chuckle. Ruby shakes her head and replies in a sarcastic scoff, “Don’t nobody want Dean.”  

“MmM, Sometimes I wonder why you married your first boyfriend? I heard that the first boyfriend isn’t a good keeper.” Kat said out aloud.

“What, But, Annie married Greg!” Beth says as if she defends herself.

“Look how it turned out,” Kat replied sarcastically.  They chuckled.  “Maybe it’s your anniversary present,” Annie says, trying to make her sister think the bright side but fail to.

Kat tries to hold her snort from Beth but fails. “Yeah right, Dean isn’t the type, I have a feeling like he is one of the old fashion types.” Which led Annie to join in laughing with Kat. They take a breath as soon as the laugh dies.

Beth rolls her eyes and decides to ignore Kat’s comments “He already gave me 100 coupons to Bed Bath & Beyond.”  She looked at her friends.

Ruby’s upper lips curled in disgust. “Ew. Really?”

“Son of a bitch.” Annie says bluntly, hissed.

“No, I really do love it there.” Beth smiles.

“Really? He should’ve given you a coupon to Bath & Body Work instead.” Kat takes a sip of her coffee, Ruby nods in agreement.

“No. That old guy is stealing your tip.” Annie pointed her fingertip at the old guy. The trio follows her gaze, their eyes settle on an elderly man slowly but surely walking toward the empty table, and seems like he’s struggling to walk properly. He looked around, smiling harmless when a couple passed by. 

Kat placed her hand on Annie's hand. “Girl, pointing is rude.”  Mia shakes her head. 

Ruby turns around and gives an ‘Are you kidding me’ look to Annie “He can’t even walk.”  

Annie urged Ruby “ Go get it.” She gave ‘go get it’ hand gestures which cause Ruby to sigh then she gets up on her foot and slowly walks toward the table. Her eyes widen when the elderly man was about to lean in. Ruby quickly swipes up her tip just before he even touches it.  He sent Ruby a look as he made his exit, cane in his hand, dropping the act. 

“Shady S.O.B,” Ruby said shaking her head as she sat down, her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief, “absolutely shady.”

“Don’t let the innocent look fool you ” Kat says as she takes a sip of her coffee.

 A smile appeared on Annie’s lips, almost proudly. “At my old job, we just got robbed all the time, So I got the six sense now.” 

Beth looked at her sister, “Are you serious?” She hopes that Annie is kidding. 

“I mean, it’s no big ideal,” Annie said as she gave a half shrug.  “ All the stores I work at eventually get hit.” 

Shaking her head, Beth met Annie’s eyes showing concern in her eyes “You could get shot.” 

“Ugh. One can hope.” Beth took a breath. 

“These guys, they don’t want to hurt anybody. They just want the money. So we let them have it. Nobody’s trying to be a hero.”

Hunching over and leaning in closer. 

“Do they get caught?” Ruby asks. Beth slowly turned to look at her friend, brow’s knitted together as she looks at Ruby questionably.

Annie let out a ridiculous scoff, “Yeah, the dumb ones do ‘cause they park in the front by the security cameras.”  Kat mutters idota, but is glad that Annie and no one got hurt. 

“You gotta put your getaway car in the back by the loading dock,” Annie shows hand gestures as if she planing out the blueprint. “And you never get dick around with the registers.” She added.  “The real money is back in the vault.” 

“You’ve really worked this out. “ Beth nods is impressed by her little sister.

Annie’s shoulder shrug “Just keeping my options open.”  Kat nods in an agreement.

“How much is in the vault? Ruby asks as if she gives a thought.

“Thirty grand, give or take.”  Annie answer. Ruby’s pupils widen open, eyebrow up raises up. Kat let out an ‘O’ shape of her mouth. Letting out a whistle like she is impressed by how much.

“Damn, I could use that money.” Ruby says as Kat nods, “perfecto count me in.” Kat reply with a grin. 

“Oh my god, me too” Annie joins in. Beth looks at them like they are crazy or serious.

“So, when do you want to do this?” Ruby glance at Annie and Kat.

 Annie replies “Well, I already bought three automatics and filed off the serial numbers so really, name a day” 

Kat pauses her lips for a moment to think which day is better. Beth looks at the three women, not sure if they are serious or not  Until Ruby’s lips turn into a Cheshire Cat grin at Beth which causes the trio  to laugh at Beth.

“You should see your face” Annie points out.

“It’s whiter than usual,”  Ruby says, Kat chuckles.

The four women entered the Fines & Frugal with their masks covering their faces and a toy gun in their hands and stopped in the center of the hallway.

"I'm gonna need you to all get on the ground," Annie says as the four women point the toy gun at the hostages. "Get your cell phones out of your pockets and keep your hands where I can see 'em," Annie says as the hostages follow the instructions. 

“All right, good. Now, I need you to get your manager up here. Annie says, but no one is moving or listening. Annie says it again but still no reply.  Annie looks at Ruby as she shrugs her shoulder like she doesn't know what to do. Ruby yell in a nice tone "Hey, where's y'all's boss at?" Still no response from the hostages. 

All of a sudden, Beth decides to act like a bad cop.  " I better get a manager up here right now or I will start capping people! I'm not even joking, mother.” Beth kicks the wooden boxes with her right leg. Causing people to be afraid of her as they gasp in fear. Causing Annie's and Ruby’s eyes to widen as if they are in shock at Beth while Kat nods and is impressed by it.

                     ONE WEEK EARLIER

 Kat enters the entry foyer inside of the Boland’s Residence with her son whose’s six years old. He smiles happily when he saw his friends, Beth’s four children in the living room, playing. He let go of his mother’s hand and run toward them. as he pulls his little backpack off as he  drops it on the floor, Joining his friends. 

Meanwhile, Kat walks into the kitchen, seeing Beth cooking dinner and Annie sipping diet coke soda "Hola," Kat puts her purse on the chair and car keys inside the purse as she sits down next to Annie. 

"How was work?" Beth asks, chopping the chicken fingers into stars. Kat sighs heavily, “he’s killing me, I swear sometimes I just want to punch him en el hosico.” 

Beth and Annie look confused at first, and then Annie says “Ooo! Asshole” Finally, Beth understands what her friend, Kat’s saying. Kat looks at Annie “it amazes me that you don’t know Spanish words, just only cuss words.” 

Annie smiles. “What can I say, I love curse words.” Annie smiles, proud of herself which causes Kat to chuckle.

“Oh, because your life is so great. I should want this life?” Annie asks, frowning

“Woah, what’s going on?” Kat asks, wondering why the sisters are arguing. 

“Lil miss perfect think’s I’m running my life.” Beth looks at Kat and back to Beth. 

“I didn’t say that,” Beth said, cutting the chicken fingers.

Annie scoffs and rolls her eyes, “Look at Kat, She’s a single mother with a gorgeous figure and a cute son. She’s living the best motherhood life.” Annie says, flattering her best friend. 

Kat chuckles, “oh honey, No I’m not. My boss who thinks women can’t be CEO, I’m still his assistant which I should’ve moved next level, but noo. Also, My son keeps asking about his father every single day.” Katsays sadly. 

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Beth replies as she put her hand on top of Kat’s hand to comfort her as Annie gave her a hug. Kat has told her friends that the father isn’t in the picture.

“And, I mean, not to pile on, look who you married. “ Annie glances at Beth.

“It’s 20 years and four children. Marriage sometimes takes little work.” Beth says, defend herself and Dean.

“Well, It depends on the sex life, and when you told me that you and Dean aren’t wild like you used to, it means something went wrong ” Kat says then Beth glare at her like she can’t believe she says to her face.

“You could lose your daughter. Has that occurred to you?” Beth ignores Kat’s comments and focus on her little sister.

“Well seeing Greg is suing me for custody and I can’t afford it, yes actually, the thought has crossed my mind.” causing Beth to stop at what she doing. Kat hugs Annie for comfort. 

“I didn’t know,” Beth says.

“Now you do,” Annie replies as she pulls away from the hug. Then Dean car dealership Boland Motor commercial appears on the tv.

Beth glimpses at the tv as she sees Amber, the seller. She heard Annie said “Jezz, who’d this chick have to blow to get on TV?” as a joke.

Beth takes another look at the blonde woman on her screen, while Kat's words linger around in her head. She has seen the lady talking to Dean before, and now that she's thinking about it, it is awfully coincidental she's gotten such an unexpected promotion.

"Kat, Can you drop the kids at Annie's neighbor, the babysitter? We'll be right back." Beth asks.

Kat reply" yeah, sure" then she gave her car key to them because she knew five children won't fit in her car so she will use Beth's van instead.

"Hijos!" Kat yells as she searches for the children then goes upstairs and finds them in one of Beth's children's bedrooms, playing and coloring, drawing on the papers. She took them in Beth's van and drove them to Annie's neighborhood so the babysitter can keep an eye on them.

An hour later, "I'm back," Kat says to sing an along tone and is about to shut the front door until she hears a familiar voice "hey!" from outside and seeing it from one of her friends, Ruby. Kat let her inside. Then close the door.

"Guess who found those caramels Bugles at Kroger?" Ruby asks, trying to find Beth and Annie, but finds them in the living room instead. Normally, the four women would sit in another room to watch The Bachelorette but instead, they are in the living room and Beth is lying on the couch while Annie tries to comfort her sister.

Kat's and Ruby's brows knitted in confusion and then Beth immediately went up to them and hugged them. They hug her back but look at Annie over Beth's shoulders confused.

'Dean's having an affair' Annie mouths to us. Kat's pupils widened as she figures it out. But Ruby doesn't understand' what' Ruby mouths back.

Annie mouths it again but a bit more forcefully. Kat whisperer in Beth that she be right back. Beth nods and lets Mia go and hug Ruby's.

"Huh" Ruby questions again. Annie sighs 'Dean is' Annie says then makes sexual gestures then Ruby finally gets it "son of a bitch" She mutters. " Oh, what can we do?" Ruby asks. She rubs Beth's back.

"How about a screwdriver?" Annie suggested. Kat came in from the garage, carrying a sledgehammer over her shoulder.

Beth sees Kat over Ruby's shoulder and an idea pops in her mind, as she replies "a sledgehammer." Annie and Ruby glance at each other's confusion while Kat's lip turns into a smirk.

Shattering, Beth swings the sledgehammer and hits Dean's computer in his office. Beth hit his trophies and then the file cabinets as she yanks the files and throws them on the ground, the paper flying in the air. Continuing hitting the other file cabinets. While Annie and Ruby, Mia stand in the doorway of Dean's study office, watching Beth take her anger on the cheating husband's things and destroy them. "Are you planning on stopping this?" Ruby asks, "Hell no," Kat says as she's recording what Beth is doing on her phone.

Ruby glance at her friend, Kat. "What are you doing?"

Kat grins, "Dean shouldn't mess with Beth, I might post it on YouTube."

"Don't do that, her kids might see it." Ruby scold her. Kat rolls her eyes dramatically, and replies, "fine but I'm still keeping the video."

"Send it to me," Annie says. Kat nods and sends the video to Annie's phone. Ruby scoffs.

Kat says goodbye to the girls because she has to pick up her son and then head home. She picks up her son and drove to her apartment she shares with Mateo. She fed him dinner and gave him a bath before bedtime.

Kat tucks her son, Mateo in his bed at home. "Good night Mi Amor" Kat pecks his little forehead, "Noches Mami " He rubs his little eyes with his thumb. She sighs heavily, feeling angry at Dean and feeling bad toward her friend Beth. She doesn't deserve this at all. Kat thought.

Meanwhile, Beth sat in the dining room, waiting for her cheating husband to get home. Drinking her vodka out from the bottle. She remembers the conversation she has with Mia and wondering if she'd make a mistake to decline Kat's offer.

“Are you SURE I can’t punch him in the face?” Kat asks, 

“Yes,” Beth responded.

“What if I break his nose a little?” Kat suggests. Beth gives her ‘no’ expression look.

"Are you SURE I can't punch him in the face?" Kat asks.

Spanish translate (Correct me If I’m wrong)

jefe- My Boss

En el hosico - On the snout

Mi Amor - My love  

noches mamá- Night Mama

[tatooedlaura-blog]

The Warmest Thing I Own

Feeling good enough for the time being to attempt herding Mulder in a grocery store ... 

Our Moments: Chapter 1: Five Words (post-Leonard Betts) Chapter 2: Sidebar Nonsense (post-Memento Mori) Chapter 3: Interim (floating somewhere around Unrequited) Chapter 4: Max 2.0 (post-Tempus Fugit/Max) Chapter 5: Shadowed Grey Eyes Chapter 6: The Warmest Thing I Own @today-in-fic

&&&&&&&&&&

The following morning, she woke him up, stretching beside him, humming as her muscles flexed and moved, liquid twist of spine and limb. He felt her and opened his eyes, finding the room grey but light, “what time is it?”

Her voice scratched out an, ‘I don’t care’ before burying her head back in the pillow.

“Are we not caring today? ‘Cause I can get behind not caring today.” Reaching out to poke her side, “how are you feeling?”

Rolling in his direction, she gave him a smile that could have lit the city had she come with plug and adaptor, “I actually feel okay. I don’t think I’ve slept like that in weeks.”

“No nightmares?”

“No. Only dreams of farmhouses and men in kilts.”

Mulder laughed, “more than one?”

“Maybe.” Sighing deep, “it’s Saturday, right? Now, I know we’d normally share the worry today but I think I’d rather ignore it completely and go grocery shopping and maybe make dinner and eat a gallon of ice cream.”

“It’s actually Friday but I’m good with all that anyway.” Finally able to see the clock on her nightstand, “it’s 8:27 so I vote you call Skinner while I go shower, then we commence.”

Booping his nose, “you’ve got five minutes or I’m coming in.”

Good God.

He knew she was joking. Had to be joking. But he found himself washing a little slower than usual, wanted to see what she would do at the five-minute mark.

She stood outside the bathroom door at 4 minute, 45 seconds, hand on knob. She felt giddy and free and happy and relatively well and the thought of opening the door made her stomach tighten but would it be all kinds of stupid?

Five minutes.

She felt her hand turning the damn handle.

Just as Mulder pulled the door open.

She stumbled forward into wet flesh, towel around waist holding fast as Mulder took a step back, catching her in his arms, “hi there.”

Both knew she had been opening the door.

“Hi.”

“Almost didn’t make it.” Eyes sparking down at her, given he now knew she had been opening the door, “damn slow water heater.”

She was red.

It amused him.

“Were you coming in for something?”

Something, at the moment, in her mind, was removing his towel and taking him back into the shower but instead, she pointed around him, “toothbrush.”

His grin made her shake her head, slip under his arm, brush her teeth, and keep taking deep breaths.

They were both crazy.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Grocery shopping with Mulder was akin to herding cats. She looked left at something, he threw three things from the right into the cart. She questioned two of them and winning, turned right to replace them on the shelf while Mulder, pouting, turned left, tossing in two other things, plus a box of Twinkies.

Finally, she threated to make him sit in the cart and while he looked her square in the eye, evaluating life and limb, he reached up, tipping a box of CocoPuffs from the top shelf into the cart, never breaking eye contact.

By the end, they had at least remembered the juice boxes.

Steaks were the order of the day, Mulder waving away her cheap-ass $6.00 on sale frugal fingers in favor of the New York strips, thick, red, mouth-watering, and definitely not $6.00. Mistaking her longing look for hunger, he gently turned her away, “we need to cook them first.”

Swallowing, “I know.”

Mashed potatoes followed, “yes, I’m getting the box of potato flakes because real potatoes are too damn much work.”

“Fine by me.” Then came the three pounds of mushrooms, “who the hell is washing all these dishes?”

Mulder smiled, tossing a bulb of garlic in the cart, “dishwasher. You have one but you never use it. I’ll teach you how tonight.”

She just kept stealing glances at the steaks.

Ice cream came last, small tubs of chocolate, cherry, orange sherbet, mint, dark fudge, and peanut butter swirl, “I like variety. Don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m just wondering if either of us will be able to fit through the front door by the time we’re done.”

“You could stand to gain twenty pounds.”

He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, bring reality into their fun but glancing at her, he saw understanding in her eyes, her hand finding its way into his for a moment, “I’d rather not do it all in one night, if that’s okay?”

She got a long hug for that, shoppers steering around the odd couple embracing in the freezer section but smiling at them regardless because, really, there’s nothing wrong with a little love in frozen foods.

Mulder paid the bill and Scully didn’t fight it, especially after she saw the amount of items he’d stashed in the basket under her radar, “how did I not see any of this?”

“Once you caught sight of the steaks, I could have jammed an elephant in here and you’d have never noticed.” Handing the cashier his credit card, “little woman’s got an appetite.”

Swatting him on the arm, “Mulder! Did you see how many things of ice cream you got? I don’t know how we’re going to fit all that in the freezer.”

The cashier grinned, handing him his card back, “you can always buy her a bigger freezer.”

“This is very true. Freezer shopping next.”

Scully gave up, “that’ll be tomorrow’s trip. We’ll just have to eat all this tonight.”

“Challenge accepted.”

&&&&&&&&&&&

Back at the apartment, groceries spread from one end of the counter to the other, Scully was mid-ice cream put away when she stopped, hand shaking, head spinning. After a second, she turned to Mulder, his back to her, “I’m, um, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go lay down.” Her hand was already rubbing her forehead, “are you okay putting everything away?”

Turning, his stomach sank at how pasty pale she’d become in the last two minutes, “yeah. I’m fine. Go take a nap.”

She was already moving, one hand on the wall of the hall to steady herself as she headed to the bedroom. Once alone, he slowly, methodically, put the groceries in their proper places, shutting cupboards quietly, trying not to rattle pasta or click jars. Five minutes and a fully stocked kitchen later, he realized it was only a little after one. She’d made it four hours. It had been a good four hours but …

If he dwelled on that, he’d scream at the top of his lungs, cursing the sky, fist shaking in the air. Instead, he pulled the mushrooms back out, deciding some manual cooking labor would keep his mind occupied.

That and trying not to cut the tips of his fingers off.

Three pounds of mushrooms, a stick of butter, six cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of salt, and ½ that of pepper later, and small, diced onion to boot, he set her crockpot to warm, snapped the lid tight, and wondered what next.

Sheets.

Put the sheets in the dryer.

Checking that the stains were gone, he hit the button to set the machine humming.

Clean up.

Last night’s Chinese cartons and chopsticks were still on the coffee table. Trash. Check.

Take out the trash. It smelled. He killed five minutes tying the bag, walking it to the garbage chute. Coming back inside and locking the door.

Then he stood there. Tight circle rotating, trying to find something else.

He knew what he wanted to do but felt he shouldn’t. She was fine. She would yell for him if need be.

Bu something kept pulling him in the direction of her bedroom.

“Fuck it.”

He made his way to her door to find her curled on the bed, small lump under thick covers. Stealing to the other side, he carefully lay down, sliding under the quilt in silence. If she wanted to, she could hit him later for arriving in her bed unannounced.

He would love it if she had the strength to hit him hard enough for it to make an impact.

Then again, she’d hit him before and it never made an impact.

It mostly just made him more stubborn and annoying.

He couldn’t help a small smile as he thought about how irritating he could be but she just kept coming back anyways.

She’d come back from this, too. She had to.

She had no choice.

He could see the tension in her face, even while asleep, forehead wrinkled, eyebrows tight. Reaching out, he began massaging between her eyes, imaging that fucking tumor only an inch below his thumb. How the hell could they not take the damn thing out? It was right there.

Right.

There.

Another thought he had to banish from his mind or screaming would ensue, he kept rubbing, watching her face slowly relax, pinched look disappearing, “mmmhmm.”

Soft sound in the back of her throat told him to keep going, small circles, occasionally venturing to the round bones surrounding her eyes, the bridge of her nose, up to her hairline. Another ‘hhmmmm’ later, then a deep sigh, she rolled to her back, making his task a little harder, arms more awkward in their reach.

Shifting slightly, arm now across her chest, he continued. Feeling himself drifting off, his thumb movements lighter and slower, he felt her turn her head, face him, “Mulder?”

“Hi.” Rolling towards him once again, her hands slipped under his arm and one palm to his face, she moved forward, kissing him. Shocked, he pulled back after a moment, “are you awake or asleep?”

He saw her suddenly blink, head shake, both signs she was just waking up, “what? Mulder?”

Knowing she didn’t recall anything because there was no embarrassment turning her red, no heat in her cheeks, eyes innocently confused, “nothing. You said something and I thought … I just wasn’t sure if you were awake. Go back to sleep.”

Caught in limbo of dreams and Mulder, she didn’t care, and scooted closer, into his arms, “you are the warmest thing I own.” Snuggling into him, about as up close and personal as they could get fully clothed on a Friday afternoon, “I like it.”

She so totally did own him and he would be perfectly fine declaring that by billboard, sky writer, or booming voice from the sky. Lips to her forehead, he left them there as he agreed, “I do, too.”

&&&&&&&&&

[lailyn]

Supermarket Sweep

“Now remember, guys. We are here to get a few items, and these items only,” Stephen warned. 

“Come on, Stephen. Live a little.” Tony slung an arm around his husband’s shoulders. “It’s been a while since we’ve gone grocery shopping together. You never want to take any of us with you when you go.”

“Yes, because when I go to the shops to get bread, bread is what I get. Not a gazillion boxes of mince pies and Christmas pudding.”

“They were on discount!” Tony argued.

Stephen rolled his eyes. “It’s already Easter, of course they were!”

“They were covered in edible gold dust,” Tony said with a defensive shrug. “Loki said the puddings looked really pretty.”

“Yes, they were,” Loki said dreamily.

“Fine, but no more! It’s not the healthiest thing, eating Christmas pudding for breakfast every day, and I had to do it for weeks,” Stephen ranted. “Can we please get something you’re actually going to eat this time? Here, if we stick to the grocery list - ”

“Yes, yes,” Loki sighed, grabbing the list out of Stephen’s hand. 

“Thank - ” and Loki crushed the list in his fist and dropped the ball of paper onto the ground, “ - you,” Stephen finished glumly.

“Tsk-tsk, Loki,” Tony chastised. He patted Stephen on the back and bent to pick the crumpled list from off the ground.

“Thank you...“ Stephen’s voice trailed off at the sight of Tony chucking the list into the trash can. “Tony.”

“Tsk-tsk, Stephen. Why do you always concern yourself with such inconsequential matters?” Tony asked, mimicking Loki’s crisp accent. “You’re going to give yourself wrinkles.”

He ruffled Stephen’s hair affectionately, before making his way toward the store entrance where Loki was already pulling out not one, not two, but three shopping trolleys. “Hey, Lokes, wait up!”

“Wrinkles,” Stephen muttered, resisting the urge to finger his face for fear of finding new ones. He was sure a few had just cropped up and they had not been here five minutes. 

__________________________

Loki stood at the fruits and vegetable section, half-listening to Stephen and Tony argue over the merits and demerits of getting imported fruits over local, seasonal ones for Happy Hogan’s fruit basket, who was currently in hospital recovering from something called a pacemaker operation.

Loki did not understand why they were making their own fruit basket as a get-well gift instead of doing the conventional thing by ordering it online.

Stephen had said something about how a personal human touch would make anything more special and...Loki could not very well argue with that, having acquired not one, but two personal humans of his own. 

Oh look. A little human. 

"Hello," he said mildly as a woman pushed a trolley past him. 

She only gave him a suspicious look before clearing her throat. 

Loki took a few steps to the side to allow her access to the ready-to-eat chilled soups and packaged salads. 

Soon, he found himself locked in a staring match with the toddler sitting in the trolley.

Loki wondered what it would be like if they had little humans of their own. Their place was certainly big enough for a dozen of them.

He reached for the 'Free Fruit for Kids' display basket, picked a banana from the pile of loose fruits and held it out to the boy.

"Eat it," Loki commanded.

Tony lunged and grabbed the banana out of Loki's hand, before dragging his lover down the aisle as far away as possible from the boy and his mother, who by now, was looking seconds away from calling the police.

"Loki, you can't feed other people's kids without their permission!" Tony hissed, while Stephen apologised profusely to the woman in the background.

"I see," Loki murmured, unperturbed. "If I wanted to feed little humans, I have to make sure they are my own." 

"Huh?" Tony asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Loki only hummed appreciatively at the revelation and walked away. This required some thinking and quite possibly a serious discussion with his humans.

________________________

“Sumac? What do you even use that for?”

Loki shrugged. “It’s the only one we don’t have. It is not my fault that the ancient Romans settled for so many letters in their alphabet system.”

Loki was obsessed with the supermarket’s own-brand must-have A-Z selection of spices. He hardly cooked but whenever he deigned to help out in the kitchen, Tony and Stephen had better use one if not most of the spices. 

“What do you mean? There’s plenty of spices starting with S.”

“Name one.”

“Sage.”

“You said sage makes your eyes water.”

“Salt. Salt begins with ‘S’.” 

“Salt isn’t a spice.”

“Is too.”

“A spice by definition is a seed, fruit, root, bark or other plant substance. Salt isn’t any of those, is it?”

“You just want to collect all the bottles, don’t you?”

“They’re pretty,” Loki said simply. He nuzzled his pout against Tony’s stubbled jaw. “I like pretty little things.”

“Yeah?” Tony asked huskily. “What else do you like?”

Loki’s smile widened.

_______________________ 

“You do know there is a reason why supermarkets are laid out the way they are?” Stephen asked dryly upon finally locating his husbands in the cereal aisle after a fruitless search of the first few aisles, which they had obviously bypassed. “This is why it takes ages shopping with you guys.”

His two husbands appeared to be engaged in a hushed but heated discussion about something. 

Stephen frowned. “What’s going on?” 

“Nothing,” Tony and Loki said, almost in unison. 

“Loki, please step away from the trolley,” Stephen requested politely.

Loki tried to stand his ground in front of the trolley, but groaned in frustration when Stephen simply put his hands on Loki’s hips. 

Loki could never win against his husband’s tactile style of persuasion. Very, very reluctantly he stepped away from the trolley. 

Stephen dug through the boxes of all sorts of sugar-free, multi-grain based breakfast cereals, all offerings to appease Doctor Stephen Strange. 

Just as he expected, right at the very bottom of the trolley, were a few boxes each of Frosties, Fruit Loops and Honey Nut Cheerios.

“Can you leave me just one?” Loki pleaded. “Please?”

Stephen had to smile to himself. Innocent subterfuge aside, Loki could have used magic to conceal his treasure trove of teeth-rotting cereal but he did not. 

He replaced the healthy cereals back on the shelf, leaving Loki’s selection untouched in the trolley. 

Tony and Loki stared at him in bewilderment. 

“Live a little, right?” Stephen sighed. “Just as long as you eat them, I’m happy.”

Stephen had never seen Tony beam more proudly or Loki’s eyes shine as bright, and he wondered if he had not been bewitched, just a little bit. 

_______________________

“That was such a good trip, wasn’t it?” Tony gushed as he stepped out of the portal.

“Yep.” Stephen had to agree. “There was no magic, no stealing, no stabbing. I think we did alright, considering.”

“We did awesome,” Tony corrected. He had to pause in the midst of gushing to enjoy the sudden kiss Stephen was planting on his mouth. “See? I was right. We should do more of these things together, just the three of us.”

“Oh.” 

Tony and Stephen turned. 

“What is it, Games?” “Did you forget to get something?” They spoke at the same time, noticing the frown on Loki’s face. 

Then Stephen noticed a brown paper bag in Loki’s hand that had not been there when they left the store. “What have you got there, babe?” 

From the bag, Loki slowly retrieved a chocolate Easter bunny half the size of a football. Then he took out two more, arranging the three of them neatly on the kitchen counter. 

“I don’t eat chocolate, but thanks anyway,” Stephen said, relieved that Loki’s secret purchase had simply been chocolate. Their not-strictly-human husband had brought back some strange items in the past. 

Loki rummaged through the paper bag again.

“There’s more?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “Sorry to disappoint you, Lokes, but the bunnies are 100% chocolate, they only wrap them in gold paper - ”

A tiny Easter bunny joined the family of three on the counter. 

A silence so absolute fell over the house that Loki could practically hear his human husbands’ fantastic brains turn and their heartbeats pick up pace. 

“What do you think?” Loki asked, hoping his shaking voice would not give his fears away .

“What do we - ” Stephen swallowed hard. “Are you saying that you’re - ?”

Tony was lost for words. He hurried to Loki’s side. 

“No, no.” Loki shook his head vehemently. “No…” Before he could hesitate for too long, “But I could be.”

The tightening of Tony’s arm around his waist gave Loki the final push he needed. “I suppose what I am trying to ask is...could we be?”

Tony and Stephen’s exchange of stunned looks lasted only a second before Stephen dropped the grocery bag he was holding onto the floor. He marched across the kitchen and closed the distance between them. 

Before Loki knew it, Stephen had wrapped his arms around them both, engulfing his husbands in a rough hug.

“I’m in.” Stephen kissed Loki and Tony’s temples one after the other, over and over. “I’m so fucking in.”

“Tony?” Loki called his name uncertainly. 

“Gosh, Loki. You promised you wouldn’t make my eyes water,” Tony managed. 

Loki bit the inside of his lip. “I would apologise for that, but uh, does that mean you’re in?”

“Of course I’m in, silly!” Tony laughed. “Someone needs to inherit all my billions!’

[ms-rampage]

Just as I Was About To Give Up

Kenny Omega x Female reader

Warnings: Angst and fluff

Summary: The reader's long time boyfriend Kenny Omega has been trying to get her pregnant, and after several failed attempts she gives up on it, but then she gets hit with a surprise.

Note: I find weird that I've never written a Kenny Omega fanfic, and I've been love with him for like 3-4 years.

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

You and Kenny have been trying for months to get you pregnant, but every time it always comes back negative every damn time. After having sex again in another attempt to get you knocked up. You took another pregnancy test but you wait 3 weeks to take it instead of the usually 9-15 days, and once again another failed attempt.

You're backstage at AEW Dynamite, and were hesitant on telling Kenny, he has enough on his plate already with everything that's going on with him, the Bucks, Hangman and the Inner Circle.

Another failed pregnancy is the last thing he needs on his mind, but of course he's gonna ask about it either way.

You wait patiently until he came back from his match. Nervously sitting on the couch in the locker room, watching his match against some wrestler who's name you don't even remember because that's how nervous you are.

You don't even know why you're nervous, its not like its your fault you can't get pregnant.

Anxiously watching the TV, the locker room door open a bit.

Britt Baker and Reba walk past, and they see you looking anxious and visibly upset.

Britt knocks on the door, and you look up from the TV.

"Hey Y/N" she says, with a smile.

"Hey Britt, Reba" you reply, with a forceful smile.

"What's wrong?" Reba asks, concerned.

You stumble over your words but you decided to be honest with them since they're your friends.

"Kenny and I are trying to get pregnant, and-" you say before holding up the pregnancy test "Another failed attempt".

They can see how stressful this whole situation is to you, and they try reassuring you.

"Give it time, you'll get pregnant eventually" Reba says, holding you shoulder.

You smile, and nod your head. They reassure you for another a few minutes. You take Reba's advice and try not to stress over it, but part of you wants to give up on trying to get pregnant.

They leave for their match, leaving you to cope with your thoughts. You zone out looking at the floor, and the sound of Kenny's voice from down the hall snaps you back to reality.

You look towards the door, waiting for it to open and just for sure Kenny walks in holding a water bottle, towel around his neck and his half of the AEW tag team championship.

"Hey honey" he says, kissing the top of your head.

"Hey" you softly say, trying to avoid looking in his direction.

He drops himself on the couch next to you, sighing loudly, he leg brushing up against yours. He notices you're not attempting to look in his direction, and he can also see the anxiety on your face.

"Did you take the test?" he asks, placing his hand on top of yours, entwining his fingers with yours.

You nod your head, still not looking at him.

"And? What's the result?" he asks, his voice filled with hope.

You hand him the stick, still not looking at him. He takes it from your hand, and lets out a soft sigh of disappointment.

He can't blame you for not getting pregnant, you hate how your stupid body can get hurt, bruised, cut up, and sick very easily but can't get any sperm into your fallopian tubes to meet your egg to get your pregnant.

He squeezes your hand, lifting it to his lips to kiss it. He pulls you close to him, wrapping his arms around you. Kissing the side of your head.

"Its okay, we can keep trying" he reassures you.

Your next words come out like vomit, "I'm gonna give up".

He looks down at you confused, "What?".

"I'm just gonna give up" you say, sitting up. "Its clear I'm never gonna get pregnant". You hold back tears, biting your lip.

Kenny looks at you with sad eyes, he knows you want to have kids, start your own family. He knows how important that is to you, and its important to him as well. What more can he do? Have sex with you everyday until you get pregnant? He could if you want him to.

"You sure you want to give up?" he asks, brushing your hair behind your ear.

You nod your head, and say "Yes".

____________________________________________________

Next the following week on Dynamite you sit in the crowd for Kenny's match against Sammy Guevara.

You're standing on the right side of the crowd with Big Swole, Shida, Luchasaurus, Marko Stunt, and Jungle Boy halfway through Kenny's match, you had the urge to vomit. Jungle Boy looks over at you, and sees you've gone pale.

"Y/n you alright?" he asks concerned.

You nod your head, and say "Yeah, I just-I just need to use the restroom"

You run slowly towards the bathrooms, hand over your mouth, your burst into the womens restroom looking like a mad woman, and you vomit into one of the toilets.

Kenny's match finishes, he picks up the win against Sammy.

He looks over at where you were standing, and he doesn't see you. He pans the small crowd trying to find you. Jungle Boy tries to tell him where you went but Kenny doesn't hear him.

He exits the ring, and goes backstage. Looking like a lost child in a grocery store looking for his mom.

"Y/n!" he shouts.

"Have you seen Y/n?!?" he asks a couple of crew members. They shake their heads no.

He continues down the hall, and goes to the locker room hoping you'll be there. He opens the door and it's empty.

"Y/n!!" he shouts again.

He goes to catering, and you're not there either.

He starts to internally panic. Could you still be upset that you can't get pregnant that you're ghosting him?

One of AEW's doctors call out for him.

"Kenny!".

He turns around "Where's Y/n?" he asks.

The doctor motions him to follow him, and he follows him into one of the medic rooms, and he sees you sitting on the table holding a small trash can on your lap.

The doctor took your temperature, it came back normal, he checked your blood pressure, it came back normal, blood sugar came back normal.

You had mention to the doctor that you were trying to get pregnant, and he said that it could be a possibility, and he gave you a test to take.

The doctors leave the room to give you and Kenny privacy. "Are you okay?!?" he asks, placing his hand on your forehead and cheeks.

"I'm fine, I just had to throw up during your match" you respond.

"What happen?! You didn't catch the virus did you!??!" he asks, frantically and worried.

You shake your head "No I didn't catch the virus but I did catch this" you say, showing him a pregnancy test.

His eyes widened when he sees that is says positive.

"You're pregnant!?!" he exclaims, in shock.

You nod your head, and smile "Yes!!!"

"Oh my god!!!!" he says, before pulling you into a tight embrace. You wrap your arms around his neck, holding him tightly, and not wanting to let go.

After so many failed attempts at getting pregnant, you finally get that chance with the love of your life.

"I want a boy, or girl, whichever" he says, in your shoulder clearly crying.

The doctors, fellow wrestlers and Tony Khan outside hear this and they start applauding, and congratulating the two of you.

The soon to be parents. The Best Bout Baby.

[pies-writes-and-more]

AVENGERS M A S T E R L I S T

**SERIES**

Falling Masterlist Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader // Collaboration with @wxstedhexrt​ // poetry focused fics! // TW: anxious thoughts, disassociation experiences and others so please read the warnings in each part! Based on poems written by the incredible Destiny of @wxstedhexrt! Bucky Barnes is falling in so many different kinds of ways - he’s falling in and out of his brain, in and out of reality, in and out of nightmares... and falling in love? Maybe this is the one he doesn’t want to fall out of.

Mr. Steve ( part 1 // part 2 ) Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // Soulmate AU In a universe where your soulmate’s name is written on your wrist after you meet them, receiving a wedding invitation from her friend is just another reminder that (Y/N) has yet to find her soulmate. But maybe this wedding will be a little bit more exciting, with the help of a tiny child without a filter.

can’t take my mind off of you, Mr. Steve Rogers ( part 1 // part 2 // part 3 ) - COMPLETED Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader Steve Rogers and (Y/N) used to date. Emphasis on the used to. But when an important date from their relationship comes up, it stirs up some emotions too. As if to add to the fire, (Y/N) bumps into an old friend who suggests that maybe Steve’s feelings towards (Y/N) aren’t quite gone. And even though it’s hard to admit, especially because she has a new boyfriend, maybe (Y/N)’s feelings aren’t gone either.

Must’ve Been the Wind ( part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // part 4 // part 5 ) - COMPLETED Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader // Song Inspo: Must’ve Been the Wind by Alec Benjamin // requested TW: mentions of abusive relationship that (Y/N) is involved in, not too graphic in my opinion but please be wary reading if it may trigger something for you.  The girl in the apartment above Bucky’s seems to be in some sort of distress, though she insists that Bucky’s just hearing things. The two bond quickly and soon enough, Bucky wants to rescue her from a situation that she insists isn’t there. Is he just hearing the wind? Or is it a cry for help?

Unlovable ( part 1 // part 2 // part 3 ) - COMPLETED Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader There’s one other person besides Steve that makes Bucky feel comfortable in the era he’s not supposed to be in. She makes him feel safe, never pushes him to do anything, and that smile always makes his stomach flip. But a situation without clear communication leaves both Bucky and (Y/N) unsure of if the other feels the same about them.

**Domestic/Homely!Steve Collection ( Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader ) :

Home  After months without hearing from his wife and daughter, Steve just wants to be home. He doesn’t care if he could be hurt from his fights, he just wants to see his little girl and the woman he loves. (The beginning of my Homely!Steve Collection!)

Grocery Shopping Steve wants to help out any way he can at home since he’s gone so often. But grocery shopping without a list can be a little stressful, especially with a little mischievous girl.

A Kid’s Imagination When (Y/N) goes to pick up Sarah from school, she’s met with an odd response from the teacher about an announcement Sarah made to her classmates. Rather than talk to Steve about it, she decides to have a little fun with it.

Santa Claus Steve’s back from a long mission and all he wants to do is be with his wife and little girl. Thankfully, they’re not too far from home… and Steve has the perfect Christmas plan to surprise them.

kidnapped.... or pretzels? Steve wakes up in the dead of night to find an empty bed beside him. His mind immediately goes to the worst case scenario as to what could’ve happened to the love of his life, (Y/N). 

Dance Recitals If there's one thing that Steve Rogers loves, it's watching his little girl learn how to dance. So he goes out of his way to make sure he doesn't miss too many of her practices. Now, he has to find out how to not miss her first dance recital...

** Stay tuned for more! Send in a request if you think of some cute Dad!Steve Rogers prompts!!**

**ONE SHOTS**

Dinner and a Show Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // done for a writing challenge // prompt: “This is one of those moments when I tell you something isn’t a good idea and you ignore me, isn’t it?” The one where Steve impulsively insists on proving that Y/N’s date for the evening is trash instead of figuring out his feelings for her, meanwhile, Bucky learns that food is way overpriced lol

accidentally ruining relationships Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader  Y/N spends the evening desperately looking for answers about her love life with her close friend, Bucky. Maybe the reason her relationships aren’t working out is because her heart belongs to another. 

A French Kiss Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // Alternative Universe Fic // based on a tweet Y/N came to Paris with a plan: take a photo with a cute man next to the Eiffel Tower, just like how her and cheating ex-boyfriend had always planned on doing, and make that son of a bitch jealous. Thankfully, there’s a super cute blond guy who just so happens to be nearby.

Makeshift Thanksgiving Dinner+ Steve Rogers x Fem!EastAsian!Reader Steve Rogers is beyond nervous to finally be meeting his girlfriend's parents. Especially when it's a meeting for Thanksgiving dinner... though (Y/N) neglects to mention until they're almost there that her east asian family doesn't usually have a typical 'American' Thanksgiving dinner... (Super fluffy I promise :))

Take a Hint Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader (Y/N) literally just wants to go out and have a good time with her girls. So why do guys seem to never take ‘no’ for an answer? To try to prevent more annoying encounters with men who can’t take a hint, (Y/N) slips on two rings onto her left hand and assumes the married life. It’s all well and good... until someone sees the rings as a challenge. Enter from stage right, our hero.

boardroom fantasies NSFW, 18+ only, S M U T // Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // done for a prompt challenge // prompt: “You wanna have sex….here? Now?” Steve can’t help how tight his pants get when (Y/N) is working nearby. While everyone else goes out for drinks, he pulls her aside to show her that the Accounting Guy who keeps asking her out isn’t who she should be with.

Holiday Kiss Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader // Christmas fic Bucky is a little tired of Christmas traditions for the day but with (Y/N) around, there’s just one more tradition he’d like to give a try. 

Anxiety Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // TW: lots of anxious thoughts based on my own so be careful if this is a trigger for you! Today’s the day Steve comes back from a mission and (Y/N) is beyond excited to see him. But when you have a little Anxiety monster whispering believable nonsense in your ear, it’s hard to get out of your head.

5 ways Steve Rogers says I Love You (and 1 way he doesn’t) Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // sad ending so if you don’t wanna be sad, don’t read the last bit lol Steve Rogers loves you and here’s just a collection of ways he shows it. But not everything has a happy ending.

Healthy Competition Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader // Sam Wilson x Fem!Reader // SURPRISE PAIRING // requested It’s not every day that the boys are all infatuated with the same human being. So when they realize they’re all falling head over heels for one girl, Steve insists some ground rules need to be laid out. Little do they know, there’s one person already that (Y/N) is swooning over.

home is a person Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader // Post inspo: “Someone asked me to describe home and I started talking about your hair colour and the sound of your voice and the taste of your lips and how your skin feels like. Until I realized they had expected to hear a place.” When asked what home was like in a conversation about their past lives, Bucky Barnes immediately thinks of something other than his 1940s home. He thinks of her.

The Waitress Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // done for a writing challenge // song prompt: “If things get worse, will you still be here?” 405 by This Wild Life Steve Rogers has finally worked up the guts to ask out the super cute waitress at the diner he frequents… except it’s hard to ask out of a girl when you’re a) already super nervous, b) unsure if it’s rude to ask her out, and c) when you have Dumb and Dumber insisting they tag along.

Fate’s Ribbon Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader // Soulmate AU Fate ties a ribbon to every baby that’s born. It’s black to everyone else but your soulmate, who sees it as bright red. Bucky Barnes doesn’t want a soulmate, especially after becoming a completely different person than he was in the 40s. But you can’t run away from what Fate has planned for you.

Happy Moments Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // prompt list // requested Prompts: a perfectly brewed cup of tea and dust floating in golden sunlight Steve Rogers has a few happy moments stored in his brain for when times got tough. He thinks about each of them and how they’re each a part of him. But in this moment, this place, he was happiest.

Probability Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader Steve Rogers is an insecure little bum sometimes. But he’s 75% sure that the girl of his dreams shares his affections… okay 70%…. maybe less….

Fate’s Sense of Humour Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // Soulmate AU Everyone is born with a soulmark, generally a signature or some sort of mark to define who this person was. And when you meet your soulmate, your mark gets darker and darker. Everyone is born with this. Except Steve Rogers. He had practically given up on finding someone to be with without a soulmark, until he wakes up from the ice to find a faded grey signature on his arm.

Jealous (Strong) Steve Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // requested Steve Rogers, the man behind the shield, knows that his strength only came from an injection. He isn’t a Norse god, how could he compete against Thor who seems to have all of (Y/N)’s affections? Steve Rogers is a jealous man. A strong jealous man who just keeps breaking things.

Studying Anatomy Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // requested Steve loves his girlfriend very much, so when she practically begs for him to help her study for her anatomy test, how can he say no?

Young But Sure Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // requested Sometimes people have different wants for their future. Sometimes their future includes a pet, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes people want to live in the country, and some just want to live in the middle of the city. Steve Rogers wants kids… and he assumed that his girlfriend did too.

Nosebleeds Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader A Stark Industries tradition was that every year, interns, agents, admins, and all the Avengers were asked to join in on a volleyball tournament. And every year (Y/N)’s team wins. She expected to have some fierce competition from the Captain’s team… she expected wrong.

Coming Home Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader No matter how long he was gone, (Y/N) always slept on the couch when Steve was away on missions so she could be the first thing he saw when he came back. Steve is happy to be home with the girl he loves.

Kiss (* Endgame Spoilers *) Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader He just looked so hot, the fire in his eyes, ready to fight. (Y/N) just can’t help herself, she just needs a kiss before they go off to their potential deaths.

Blue Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader Steve in blue is too much to handle whilst sober, (Y/N) decides. So while attending Tony Stark’s birthday party, (Y/N) doesn’t stop to drink her anxiety away making for entertaining company for Steve.

Pizza and the Medical Student Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader // College Roommates AU // requested (Y/N) just wants to study for her final. Steve wants to keep her happy. Bucky wants them to just admit their goddamn feelings for each other already.

**Super Cringy-ish Older Fics I Wrote that I Don’t Have Good Summaries For**

[lolabangtan]

My cat neighbour | pjm

Fair enough. Weirder things had already happened to you, like that time you swore to have seen a shadow vanish in the corner of your room. Odd? Indeed. Impossible? Not quite. Buzzfeed? Unsolved. However, the fact that the cat you had seen settling down near your flat was actually a human—a hybrid, as he had stated—was certainly a bit too much.

index • next

Word count: 6k

Warnings: well if you’re not into hybrid smut (although i can grant you that all genitals and erotic zones addressed in this story are 100% human) then you probably shouldn’t read this. Anyways, this is a mess, i don’t even know what is this supposed to mean. Ended up being kinkier than i expected. Don’t look too deeply into it. Please. My therapist will be really disappointed if she ever finds out.

Also: some doctor who-shaming. Sorry, i hate cheesy sci-fi.

# cat hybrid!jimin, dom!reader, animal rut as a poor excuse to indulge in my kinks, dry humping, overstimulation, masturbation, nipple play, lactation kink, praise kink, Jimin really hasn’t grasped the concept of ‘non-pregnant women’s breasts don’t produce milk’, impregnation kink, vaginal sex, ‘mommy’ and ‘kitten’ as part of my big fat kink, of course.

After all those years, you were decided to put your life together and stop being a nuisance for society. No more partying until the next afternoon, no more sleeping around and not stepping on your apartment for days. You’d become the best, most responsible version of yourself from now on.

Why, people might ask you? Well, the reason was a pretty ball of blonde fluffy fur you had bumped into a few days ago.

You two had first met the day you caught him sneaking through the window into your kitchen, having probably smelled your delicious food from the street. As everyone in the neighbourhood knew, the colony cats used to gather at the end of the backstreet to share the food they found, so you assumed that was the reason why the cute kitten had shown up in your kitchen.

You fed him some turkey and fresh water, and he ate and drank plenty. The little cat didn’t look too dirty, nor too famished. It’d probably been abandoned by its owner not so long ago, and the thought made your heart ache.

“Do you mind if I pet you, kitten?” The cat meowed, looking at you with its big, black eyes, and rubbed its head against your hand. “Oh! You’re a smart little guy, aren’t you?”

However, the cat ran away shortly after, and you rushed to dress up for work, the hangover from last day still lingering.

The next time you saw it, it was raining cats and dogs, no pun intended, so you invited it in, towelled it dry, and fed it the leftovers of your dinner. It was dark and cold outside, so you also pitied it and allowed him to sleep with you on your bed. Its purring sang you to sleep.

By the time you woke up, the kitten had already disappeared from your embrace, so you got out of the bed to look for it, worrying about whether it had been caught by one of your neighbours’ evil kids to torture it. Kids nowadays were merciless, or at least so were the ones you had met around the block. Besides, your maternal instinct was less than alive.

“Kitten?” you called, leaning out of the bedroom door.

You heard a mellow meowing from the kitchen and saw it sticking out his tongue as it drank the running tap water, too engrossed in it to bother to look at you.

“Kitten! How did you turn it on?”

The cat only jumped off the counter and headed back to your room, so you let it go and followed it, giggling at its strange behaviour. Animals could be so weird sometimes. It had already claimed its spot on the bed, so you simply laid down next to its warm, purring body, and covered you both with the blankets, kissing it good night.

Minnie, as you had named it, kept coming back every once in a while, probably when the weather was too cold and there was no food on the streets. However, you began to wonder if Minnie really was a stray cat, for it looked quite healthy and well-fed, and always seemed to come from the same place—the flat next to yours.

It often came over for food and to shelter from the rain, but the kitten ended up demanding cuddles, since it started to stay the night almost every day, falling asleep curled up on your chest, although its purring and warmth weren’t really helpful when you already struggled to wake up in the morning.

You felt during the night something heavy resting on your chest, some pointy furry ears tickling the tip of your nose, making you giggle in your sleep. Someone was breathing against your exposed cleavage, but you were both sleep and sex-deprived, and your dried-out brain induced you into believing that it was just a dream. Enjoy it while you can, you horny bitch, it told you.

It was the first time you’d had the chance to sleep next to someone in weeks, even if it was just your mind playing you dirty, so you moved to face your inexistent lover, put your leg over his apparently naked thigs, and pulled him into your chest while your hand scratched gently the back of his neck down to his lower back.

Cuddling a boy in your lucid wet dream felt kind of fucked up, but who would find out? The stray cat sleeping next to you that had probably already snuck into your kitchen to steal away your low-fat turkey leftovers? Nonsense.

You kept caressing the soft hair, nuzzling his neck. It was quite vivid to be only a dream, as clear-headed as you felt. Drowsiness had slowly abandoned your body to leave room for the warmth coming from the stranger’s skin, and you couldn’t help rubbing your lower half against him when you felt something hard pressing on your belly.

“Mo-mommy.” A fucking whimper.

Hell, your mind really hated you. How dare it use the mommy kink against her master and commander? I’ll force it to binge watch Doctor Who for twenty hours straight. Let’s see if it survives to the worst show ever created.

Listening to your peaceful humming, he tensed under your palm’s brief touch, fingers caressing his belly hair, close to his already hard and wet dick, but not close enough. Your hand, your fingers, they were only a teasing presence, the shadow of what it would feel like. The other hand ghostly roamed around the shadow of his left nipple, reminding him how close he was—to you.

You felt a weight sink the mattress as he turned on his own body, pulling the dripping hardness away from your belly.

But you didn’t let him go. The hand caressing his nipple went up to the back of his neck, and you tangled your fingers in his hair. A weak ‘mommy’ came out of his lips again, and this time you felt his hand travelling down his torso to his dick.

“Mo-mommy, sorry, I-” You heard a continuous wet rubbing sound and a mellow voice. “I-I’m sorry.”

The bed was quaking under the increasingly frantic movement of his hand. You could feel against your chest how his breathing began to quicken as he tried to swallow down his little whimpers, but then your fingers came back to one of his nipples and you pinched it, tearing a delicious moan away from his lips.

The boy choked on his spit as he spoke. “I-I’m close. Sorry, ah, mommy, I’m so sorry-I… I-”

He did his best to keep his load shot away from your skin, trying to focus on the grip of his hand instead of the way his hips were thrusting into nothing in an attempt to handle the pleasure of his sneaky orgasm.

When you felt his breath calming down against your chest, you moved your hand to his half-spent dick, a smile creeping on your lips as you felt your fingertips getting dirty with his cum. Then you took its length, softly, gently, eyes still closed, far away from the darkness of your room, and pumped it. The boy whined, nuzzling the beginning of your breasts while his hips followed the pace of your hand.

“Mommy, ple-please,” he begged, almost sobbing, “I’m gonna-I’m gonna come again.” But with his whispered pleas he was not asking you to stop. “Mmh, ngh! Coming, mama! I’m coming!”

This time, some of his semen ended up streaming against your skin, although it took him a few seconds to realise it. Horrified, the boy stared at both your cum-stained hand and belly, and moved his shivering thighs to the other side of the bed to get out.

That was the end of your dream, and you were fairly weirded out when you woke up.

However, you were pissing yourself, so you ran into the bathroom and sat on the toilet to enjoy one of your favourite parts of your morning routine—staring at nothing while you started feeling how your ass goes numb against the cold porcelain of your toilet.

When you turned around to fetch the toilet paper, you were faced instead with a lonely cardboard tube, so you grabbed it, frowning, and threw it in the trash with a jerky move. “I wish I had a flatmate I could blame for these things.”

After you peed and flushed the toilet, you headed to the kitchen to get yourself your daily dose of caffeine and, perhaps, let Minnie have some of your skim milk. It had apparently been craving it for a few days now—the brat let you know yesterday, after it knocked down your mug as it tried to drink before you even had the chance to pour coffee in it.

“Minnie!” you called, “Pspspspspsps!”

Your heart ached at the thought of losing your kitten. Yes, it was not yours, and its name probably wasn’t even Minnie. But you couldn’t deny that taking care of it had made you feel something that you never thought you’d be able to—the desire of nurturing, of spoiling and babying your kitten.

The kitchen window was half opened, cold coming through it, waving the white curtains. Perhaps Minnie had gone out to come back to the colony.

It was nine in the morning. With that in mind, you grabbed a coat after putting on the first trainers you spotted and opened the door to the hall, hoping to bump into any of the old ladies that fancied doing the grocery shopping as soon as the convenience stores opened their doors. And you were lucky that morning—Mrs Oh, the middle-aged woman who lived across the hall, had just closed the door behind her.

“Madam! Excuse me, Mrs Oh, have you perhaps seen a yellow cat around the building? Not too big, with dark eyes. It looks healthy and well-fed.”

The woman pressed her lips together. “Oh, miss, I haven’t. I just got out. Did it get lost tonight?”

A clattering sound grabbed your attention, and you turned around to see one of your neighbours rushing to get his keys to open the door of his flat.

It was Park Jimin, the boy next door. Handsome, cute, highly shy. He barely interacted with the rest of the neighbours but was always willing to lend a hand if someone needed him to. Despite his casual clothing, you found yourself horrified by the ugly hat covering his head. It was too big, too wide, and too tall.

“Yeah,” you muttered, completely heartbroken.

“Was it your cat?”

You frowned. “Yes… Yes, it was short of my kitten.”

“I didn’t know you had any pets since you’re always going in and out of your flat…” As much as you were fond of Mrs Oh, she tended to be quite gossipy and nosy, so you cut her off with a brief and sad ‘thank you, anyway’ and turned around. “Perhaps Mr Park knows something! Do you, sir?”

You noticed Park Jimin had been eavesdropping your entire conversation with Mrs Oh, cheeks all flushed and shiny dark eyes. A fatal jerky jolt of his fingers made him drop the keys, startled when he saw the two of you staring at him, so he bent down to pick them up and used those seconds to think about what on earth he could add in a situation like that.

“Yes?” stuttered the boy, looking at you with his elusive eyes. His voice sounded awfully familiar.

“Miss Y/L/N’s kitten got lost. Have you seen it, sir?”

“Now that I think of it,” you suddenly said, “Minnie prowled your door quite often, Mr Park. It’s a yellow kitten, small, really cute, with dark eyes. You must have seen him.”

Jimin shook his head, looking down to the floor. He was chewing on his bottom lip. “Minnie?” The boy finally tilted up his chin to stare at you, but soon looked back at your hands. “I haven’t seen your… kitten, sorry. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

“Thank you so much,” you breathed. Even if Park Jimin hadn’t seen your baby Minnie, he was willing to lend a hand, as always. “Don’t hesitate to ring if you find out anything, Mr. Park. I live next door.”

“I know.”

You stayed in silence for a few seconds, but thanked him anyway for his help and headed back to your flat, sad and depressed that you couldn’t spend your lazy Saturday with your kitten. How you wish you could hold Minnie in your lap to pet and pamper it! You were even willing to stay at home for the rest of the weekend, too, instead of going and painting the town red.

Honestly, you had lied—you weren’t going to torture your own mind watching Doctor Who. You simply chose an uninteresting movie to fill the silence of your living room while working on your laptop.

Every once in a while, you turned your head to check if Minnie had come back: the window was still open, inviting, and you thought about leaving on the counter a bowl with your favourite skim milk to lure the kitten into your den, but you didn’t even know if it was around.

Almost an hour later, someone knocked on your door. The knocking was gentle and patient, so you moved to the entrance of your flat with much curiosity and looked through the peephole.

“Mr Park!” you said, opening the door, “God, did you find my Minnie?”

Jimin looked down for a second before gathering the courage. “I… I’d like to talk to you. May I come in?”

You hesitated. Yes, Park Jimin was your cute neighbour, the handsome boy that lived next door, but he was practically a stranger either way. What if he was a psychopath who was using your kitten to break into your flat, tie you up, and kill you—in the best scenario?

“Please,” he insisted with a weak voice.

“I don’t know, Mr Park. I barely know you.”

“It’s about… your cat. I need to tell you something, but I-I can’t do it out here. Anyone could see me—that’s not helping, is it? Please, Y/N, I wouldn’t even dream of hurting you.”

“Alright.” With a deep sigh, you grabbed his shoulders and pushed him into your flat, only to turn around yourself to press your back against the door, hand already gripping knob, ready to turn it at any time in case you needed to run away. “Go ahead, I’m all ears.”

Jimin stood in the middle of your living room in silence, not so sure about the best way to tell you. You wouldn’t believe him if he used only his word, he had to show you, somehow, but your gaze was too sharp, too intense for him to focus on anything that wasn’t your eyes. So, the boy simply closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and bit his bottom lip.

“It’s me,” he said, “I’m Minnie.”

“What?”

Your hand slipped from the doorknob, making you trip onto the floor, although you managed to keep yourself on both of your feet. By the time you looked up, Minnie the kitten was standing in front of you, staring at you over a pile of clothes—the clothes that Park Jimin had worn just a few minutes before.

You scoffed. “So, this was a bloody prank? Go to hell, Park Jimin, or whoever planned this, and take your cat with you.” It’d be stupid to deny that you sounded hurt. You were. Minnie, your kitten, your baby, was only part of a bigger trick. Where could the cameras be?

But Minnie meowed to get your attention, and you had to fight the urge to take it in your arms and kiss it.

“Mr Park?” you called. The flat was silent, except for the kitten, which meowed again. “No,” you laughed then, scoffing again through your nose, sceptical. “You must be joking. It can’t be…”

With more meowing—that sounded a little bit impatient now—Minnie grabbed the clothes piled under its paws with its fangs and dragged them behind the kitchen counter, protected from your wide-open eyes. You were still trying to process everything, but it was undeniable that there was conscience in Minnie. When he looked at you, he saw you.

A few moments later, Park Jimin peeked over the counter. His big, rounded eyes shone through the blue morning mist, but you were not standing there to admire his features, his luscious lips, his little frame hidden behind the countertop. On the contrary, you approached him with cautious steps and confirmed that the kitten was nowhere to be seen.

What struck you most was the ugly hat clenched in his hands. Now that it was not covering his head, it was easy to disguise the two furry, pointed yellow ears camouflaged in his blond hair.

“You are a cat?” you mumbled, completely astonished.

“A hybrid,” he corrected you, “I can take the form of either a cat or a human, but I’m a hybrid… And this-this can make interactions a little bit weird for us, so I understand if you… I thought you’d be horrified if you found out since, hm, what happened last night.”

“So it wasn’t a wet dream!”

Jimin started fidgeting as he talked, and you swore, he was too cute for your own good. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you since you moved in, but you always seemed so… busy. Thought you’d only have me around if I was a cat.” His cheeks were blushing with a bright red. “Guess I’m braver when I’m your Minnie.”

“That’s why you kept coming around? Because you wanted to be with me?” you asked, still not quite sure how you wanted to feel about it.

“Yeah. I know it sounds creepy but-”

“That’s actually really cute. Awkwardly cute,” you laughed, “Aw, Minnie, come hug mommy.”

There was nothing but innocent intentions in what you said, in the way you addressed yourself, but Jimin couldn’t help shuddering when you surrounded him with your arms, crawling him into your chest.

You noticed how he took a deep breath against your neck, completely embarrassed. “I’m so sorry that I-I touched myself. I’ve been getting my rut these days, but I was trying to control it! I swear I’m more than happy with your kisses and your cuddles, but then you were—shit, I know it wasn’t your fault, it was mine, but-”

You took him out of your embrace so that you could look at him better and have him pay attention to you instead of wrapping himself up in a chaos of apologies and stuttering.

“Jimin,” you cut him off, “I appreciate that you’re apologising, but you don’t have to worry.” The boy hopefully tilted his head up. “You don’t.”

Actually, it was you the one who felt like shit. While Jimin was nothing but the victim of his own natural instincts, your biological functions, unlike his, were less than dead loss when it came to reproduction per se. Technically, it was you the one who took advantage of his needs, no matter how asleep you were.

Pressing him again against your chest to calm him down, you sort of felt something, and you couldn’t help the smirk that crept on your lips.

“Are you hard?”

He looked down at his crotch and nodded as he looked up back at you, a cute pout on his lips.

“You can’t help it, can you, kitten?” Your hand rose to his pointy furry ears and caressed them with the utmost delicacy, not wishing to disturb him or hurt him in any way, but still wanting to make him feel calm around you. It was a familiar touch for Jimin already, your hands on his head. “It must be bothering you.”

“I-It’s okay, mommy, I’m fine. It’ll go away,” he mumbled.

“Why don’t you use my bathroom to take care of it?” Jimin stared at you with his eyes wide open and a wild blush taking over his cheeks. “Go ahead, don’t be shy. You said it’s a natural reaction so, proceed. Don’t mind me.” And, in order to add more solidity to your offer, you pointed at the bathroom door with both hands.

His way to the bathroom was awkward, at least for him.

While Jimin was sometimes prey to his natural instincts, that didn’t mean he didn’t have proper sexual desires. You were the living proof of that. He wanted to be yours, yours—he wanted you to hold him while he merged into you and whisper to him what a good kitten he was. He wanted to feel you close. He wanted you to touch him where it hurt and kiss him and pet him and nurture him and love him.

When Jimin went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, he knew perfectly well that it wasn’t right, just like last night, when he let himself go against your warm touch. He was taking advantage of your maternal instincts towards him and was betraying your trust with his silence.

And it felt so good, and so wrong, pulling down his trousers and pants, freeing his already wet and hard dick. You had told him that you’d be in your room, in case he needed anything. But all he needed was you.

Meanwhile, you had decided to work on your bed, much more comfortable than your couch, hoping to get away from the moaning and groaning you heard coming from the bathroom. What the bloody hell were you thinking about when you told him he could touch himself there? Now you’d have to deal with the wet fabric of your underwear and the empty feeling in your crotch.

Jimin let out a moan, louder than any other sound you had ever heard from him. “Shit, shit-!” This was so fucked up. You were so fucked up. Your brain wouldn’t survive if he kept moaning and whimpering and whining like that. “Mmh- Mommy, p-please!”

“Minnie?”

You wondered why he was calling you so suddenly. What if he had accidentally hurt himself? You couldn’t think of any other reason why he’d be calling for his mommy—you really shouldn’t think about that.

The door was ajar when you arrived at the entrance of the bathroom, and all the lights were on. It was impossible to avoid staring at him and his figure in front of the mirror, moving frantically at the rhythm of his hand. If Jimin had not yet finished, he was close. Like a kid who kept mumbling ‘just one more sweetie’, you couldn’t rip your eyes off him. ‘Just one more look’.

Jimin turned around, leaning his back against the counter, unashamedly showing himself to you, his invisible audience. A high-pitched whimper came out of his mouth as his thumb stroked the sensitive tip of his dick.

Instead of reacting appropriately and hiding behind the wall, your body froze up as your mind looked for an excuse for why you were standing there, watching him touch himself in your bathroom even though you had ‘allegedly’ granted him privacy.

Sorry, I thought you were calling me.

You opened your mouth to speak, but you realised that Jimin had not flinched from your presence, continuing with his ministrations. He hadn’t noticed you—he was too engrossed on the way his fingers felt around his cock to do so.

His pointy ears twitched in your direction. “Hmf, please, so good,” he groaned, throwing back his head to flex on his thick neck. It would look amazing with your hands or a collar around it.

But then he looked at you through his narrowed eyelids, and it clicked.

Jimin was putting on a show, bending his back and softening his grip on his dick so you could see his angry red tip. He was putting on a show for you to see. To test you. To challenge you, tease you, dare you to come and take him. And, Lord have mercy, you fell into his trap.

“Were you calling for me, kitten?” you asked from the doorframe.

He nodded eagerly. “It’s not enough, mommy. Can’t cum.”

You looked down at his cock, caged between his short fingers, as you approached him. It was a game, and perhaps he was asking you to play along, but you needed to be sure that he wanted you to ravish him.

As far as he was concerned, he wouldn’t make the first move. He wouldn’t ask for anything, not even your hand. Jimin wanted you to go to him, because it was worth it only if you wanted him. And to get it, the kitten knew he had to lure you in.

But you could play that game, too—Park Jimin wasn’t the only one who knew which buttons to push and which strings to pull to drive someone crazy. If he wanted to push you beyond your limits and make you go feral, he’d have to work for it and bear with the consequences.

“Not enough? What isn’t enough, Minnie? I won’t know unless you tell me,” you muttered, stroking the tip of one of his furry ears.

Jimin soon understood the way you were going to play, and it was hard for him to keep a smirk off his face as he continued to move his hand up and down his dick. “My hand, mommy. It’s not enough, doesn’t feel right.”

“How so?”

“Your puss-shit!” he finally moaned. You felt his warm, unbridled breath on your cheek as he pressed his chest against yours. “Your pussy, mommy, I need your pussy, I need to be inside of you and fill you up, spill it into your womb so good! Please, let me, mommy, I need-”

You cut him off. “You need it, don’t you? You can’t help it. You’re so naughty, Minnie, wanting to fill me up…”

“So naughty,” he parroted out of breath.

In your defence, you couldn’t say it’d be easy for you to deny him anything at this point, given how damn wet you were or the way you were throbbing down your belly. Hell, Minnie had ended up having the upper hand, the lusty kitten. His lewdness was unquestionable. He could ask you the world and you would give it to him.

“Poor little thing. Since you can’t help it,” you agreed.

Jimin could have your pussy, but you knew that, eventually, it wouldn’t be enough, and that he would ask for more, but he’d have to play on your terms.

“Let’s go to my room.” Taking his hand, you lead him to your bed. “Oh, kitten, there’s no need,” you said when he started taking off his trousers. “I know it’d be embarrassing for you. Keeping them down to your thighs will do. You don’t have to take off your jumper either.”

The disappointment that shone momentarily in his eyes tasted like honey.

He couldn’t argue with you, no matter how much he wanted to beg you so you’d let him strip for you. “O-okay…”

Just as he was not surprised to see that you had no intention of taking off more clothes than necessary either. Jimin crawled in silence across the mattress to you as you lay on your back after taking off your pyjama shorts and throwing them somewhere.

It was all fun and teasing and jerking off to turn you on until the boy finally processed the fact that he was kneeling between your legs, dick hard and freed, waiting for you to get rid of your knickers.

“What is it, Minnie?” you cooed. He had suddenly got even redder and his ears were turned back. His dilated pupils were looking straight at you. “We can stop this if you want, kitten, don’t worry. Just tell me and I-”

“I want this,” muttered Jimin.

Smiling fondly, you pet his ears. “Then what is it? Are you nervous?”

The way he nodded, nuzzling your neck in embarrassment, made you move your hands towards his cheeks and pinch them gently, smiling down at him.

You thought for a second what you’d do with your hands. If you followed the lines you’d mapped out for your game, you’d have to keep them still, but that felt sort of weird and, what the hell, you weren’t willing to stoop so low. You wanted to touch Jimin and you would, even if it meant playing his game.

“Ready, kitten?” you asked as you took off your wet underwear.

Encouraging him a bit, your hands then went to his back, nails sinking into his soft flesh to keep him grounded, and Jimin finally gathered the courage to thrust up into you.

You didn’t lie—it took you more effort than you first thought to shut up a groan when you felt the way his dick stretched you out. But you managed, somehow, and that allowed you to hear the little sob that came from his lips as you noticed his whole body going into overdrive and shivering over yours.

This was going to be more fun than you thought.

“Anytime, Minnie.”

Once Jimin bottomed out—which seemed to take a year and half a second all at once—he began to build up a pace that surely wasn’t enough for you, but that you hoped wouldn’t be enough for him, either. He was visibly holding back, teasing your labia with the tip of his dick as he watched your reaction. It was funnier than you expected, seeing him press his lips together every time you showed him nothing but a calm, soft, and encouraging smile.

But even Minnie’s dick had a limit, and you soon felt that he was getting closer to his orgasm. You needed to change your strategy.

“Do you mind if I pet your ears? They’re so soft.”

He’d come straight away if you did. Jimin needed to make you let your guard down first, make you go feral on him, kiss him with your teeth and caress him with your nails and mark him all over and spank his ass. You’d stroke his ears, call him a good kitten, and it’d be over before it could even start.

“May I?”

Jimin shut his eyes. “I-I’ll come if you do it.”

“Isn’t that the whole point, kitten?” you teased him, “Having you come inside my pussy so you can quench your needs.”

“But-” The boy went silent instantly when both of your hands moved to his ears, stroking the tips up and down with the pads of your thumbs. He cried into the curve of your neck, tensing his thighs as a last resort not to come in a flash. “Shit!”

“How long are you going to keep up this game of yours, you naughty kitty?” you asked, moving to grab the back of his neck so he’d look at you, but let go of him, tired.

He breathed against your chest, pressing his nose on the hem of your loose top. “This isn’t a game for me anymore. I’m your kitten, mommy. Claim me—claim me and I’ll be yours. I’ll be your Minnie so you can kiss me and bite me and mark me and-fuck!” Jimin couldn’t stop his hips from thrusting into yours, the friction too good and the climax too close. “Fuck me! Fuck me all you want, as hard as you want!”

“Now that’s my kitten,” you smirked.

You only needed a tilt of your head to make him turn both of you over so you could straddle his lap and line up his dick with your cunt. The smirk on your face was indelible, and for Jimin it was priceless.

“I don’t know if I’ll last, mommy.”

Jimin drank from your caress on his cheek as if he hadn’t been touched in years. “You’ll last as long as I tell you to, kitten. Be good for me, will you?”

“Yes,” he groaned.

It was crazy. He had been smelling you from the very first moment, how wet you were, and how impassive you seemed despite rubbing your thighs together every time you thought he wasn’t looking. Jimin knew he could fill that emptiness as soon as you told him to. But he had to get his shit together—thinking about his dick buried deep in your soaking cunt wouldn’t help him hold his load.

Soon enough, you grabbed the hem of your shirt to take it off, making your tits bounce free as you gestured Jimin to follow your example and strip, something he did almost instantly.

“I want mommy’s milk.”

You stared at him in awe, wondering what on earth ‘mommy’s milk’ was. Your skim milk he seemed to love? “Does that mean that you wanna suck my tits?”

“Yeah, I want mommy’s milk,” he repeated, nuzzling your chest as he stared at your perky nipples.

Some cock-warming would do him good to cool down, so you fixed your posture on his lap and grabbed his nape gently to guide his lips into one of your breasts, holding your breath. That one was new for you, but you couldn’t say you were even a bit less excited than Jimin.

He sucked the areola into his mouth, flicking his tongue around your nipple and ripping a moan off your proudly smiling lips. “You’re so good, kitten, drinking so well from mommy.” His dick twitched inside of you and you swore, you heard Jimin whimper against your soft skin. “What was that, Minnie? You don’t agree with mommy? Don’t you believe that you’re doing incredibly well? Because you are, baby. So good to me.”

The kitten had his kinks, just like everyone else.

After taking a deep breath through his nose, the boy wrapped his lips around your nipple again, and you thought for a moment if he really thought milk would leak from your bud at some point.

“I’m gonna-shit, mommy, I’m so close.” His voice was muffled by your skin. “Let me cum, please, let me fill you up, fuck!” You clenched around him when one of your fingers travelled down your belly to rub your clit. You’d only need a minute to reach your climax. “You’re so tight, I can’t hold it! ”

“You will hold it, kitten, or else I’ll use your cum to lube your useless spent cock and fuck myself with it until you’re begging me to stop,” you growled.

That shouldn’t have turned him on even more. It really shouldn’t have. But the moan that came from the depths of his chest gave him away, and Jimin had to use forces he didn’t know he had in order not to cross that limit, so close yet so far, that kept him from coming inside of you.

“I know you can do it, kitten, you’re so good for me already,” you cooed, trying to encourage him, as your voice was getting higher, “Just like that, baby boy, you’re doing so good.”

It hit you like a hammer. You reached that sweet point that unravelled the knot in your belly, making your thighs shiver and your hips push against his, shoving his cock deeper into your cunt.

How he didn’t come despite having you clenching around him so tight, you didn’t know, but Jimin did let you know that he had felt it deep in his bones when his hands grabbed your ass to speed up and shove himself into you, moaning loudly between gasps with his mouth agape.

But you scoffed out of breath, looking down at him, and pushed his chest into the mattress, raising your hips off him. “You’re gonna cum on my terms or you’re not gonna cum at all.”

“Mommy?” he gasped, “What-what are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing?” you growled in his ear, forcing his hands onto the metal raids of your bed headboard. Jimin got the idea instantly and grabbed them, using the grip to propel his hips and thrust up into you. “I’m mounting my pussycat, Minnie. Didn’t you say you were going to fill me up? That you were going to spill all your load into my womb?”

“Yes, yes, please! I’m gonna fill you up so good, mommy, so fucking good!”

God bless this boy’s stamina.

You pushed your hips down his dick with all the strength you could gather. The tip bumped your cervix a few times, not hard enough to hurt, but firmly enough for you to feel it. Then his cock twitched over and over again, his heavy balls hardened under your ass.

“I-I’m coming, mommy, fuck, harder, please! Hug me, hug me!” he sobbed, you couldn’t help obliging your kitten. Jimin sank his face between your breasts, barely sucking on your skin as he couldn’t close his mouth, and shivered in your embrace, thrusting up erratically into you. “Shit-so good, so tight! Fuck, fuck, hm, yes!”

With a final groan, he spilled his cum into you and shoved it up your cunt to ride out his orgasm before coming down on you, totally and utterly spent by the time you raised your hips off his dick.

But your thighs didn’t betray you, and they let you at least reach the edge of the mattress so Jimin could breathe, away from your suffocating breasts, as much drawn as he seemed to be to them. Then you felt something wet down your belly, and you looked down at your crotch to see cum dripping down your inner thighs.

“Mommy, it’s leaking!” he pouted, lazily sticking a finger in your cunt to keep his load inside of you. It seemed to truly concern him.

“Mommy’s sensitive down there, kitten,” you hissed in response, “You can try and fill her up again tomorrow if you want, but now we should take a nap. You can barely move, baby, and I can see you can’t keep your eyes open.”

Jimin nodded and threw himself onto your mattress. “Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“You don’t have to work tomorrow, do you, mommy?” You shook your head, lying next to him and covering you both with your bedspread. “And the next day? You always wake up so early on Mondays, mommy.”

You frowned, wondering how on earth did he know that you worked the morning shift on Mondays, but Jimin’s warm arms tangling up around your waist so he could lean his head on your chest made you think that there were weirder things on this world than your cat neighbour knowing your schedule by heart.

He was your kitten now, though—it was better if he knew.

[ozarkhealingtraditions]

Animism and Environmental Protection

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Animism lies at the heart of Ozark folk belief, although it’s a modern word you probably won’t hear many of the old timers using. In the mountains, this worldview manifests as a deep connection to the land, in particular the local bioregions that surround the individual and community. Old trees, caverns, natural springs, rivers, etc. are viewed not as lifeless land features, but rather as unique personalities with their own lifecycles and souls. Solitary trees in fields are often said to be protected by the “Little People” or Ozark land spirits, akin to the fairies from across the Celtic world, brought to these lands in the hearts of believers. Old growth trees hold their own roles within the spiritual hierarchy and often go by the names of “grandpa” or “grandma.” Natural springs were at one time fiercely protected by hillfolk because of their life-giving waters, used not only to sustain the body but also as sources of spiritual cleansing and healing. Legends and folktales abound about the invisible owners of certain caverns or large boulders that often stand out against the wash of the forest landscape.

Traditional views toward appeasing the land spirits is often simplified to maintaining a good relationship with these otherworldly inhabitants. Protecting and maintaining springs or allowing certain parts of the forest to remain wild are just a couple examples of this important take on environmental protection. A good balance with the natural world was at one time integral to not only the physical survival of hillfolk, but also a means to ensure good spiritual health for the community. This is an equilibrium lost to many modern inhabitants of the Ozarks with more and more reliance shifting off the land itself and onto local grocery stores, city water, and the pharmacy. For many though, this balance is still seen as a part of the Ozark identity. I myself have encountered many old timers who still give offerings of food, smoke, water, and other traditional items to these places of power in order to keep this tapestry of life intact.

This relationship with the land has birthed many traditions of environmental protection amongst those still living closely with the plants and animals of the mountains. It’s a culture rooted in the views of animism, which sees everything in the natural world as possessing its own unique identity. As opposed to many pantheistic worldviews, animism is deeply connected to the spirits of the local landscape as opposed to “higher” beings like gods and goddesses. The spirit of a mountain spring is then unique amongst other entities that might surround it. These guardians are often said to have had their own births at one time in the ancient past. Likewise, they aren’t always considered immortal. The destruction of these places of power then means the death of the individual spirit itself.

On one of my travels, I met an old man who was still shaken by the removal of a huge boulder near his home to make way for a modern road nearly thirty years before my arrival. His family had been on their land for several generations and recalled to mind many of their folktales about the spirits or Little People who had their villages inside the rock itself. It was common knowledge to the local community that disrespecting the rock would bring a curse not only upon the individual themselves, but also their family. This spiritual affliction would manifest as strange illnesses without any physical cure, and it was said the only remedy was apologizing to the Little People and making amends with certain food offerings. In a particularly sad part of our conversation, the old man said when the road crew removed and destroyed the boulder it sent a shockwave through his family. They themselves didn’t see any curses from the removal but he reckoned anyone who was a part of the work had. I asked him what he thought might have happened to the villages displaced by the act and he just shook his head saying, “When something like that happens, they’re [Little People] killed off…they can’t survive outside their homes.” In his words, this act was akin to genocide. It was almost as if members of his own family had been taken away to a very uncertain future.

This was by no means an isolated story and I’ve encountered many people, old timers and young folk alike across the Ozarks with similar tales of cutting down old growth forests, plugging up springs, and more. One woman I met said her family protected an old patch of ginseng near their family home for many generations. “Probably the last one around these parts,” she told me. Because the patch wasn’t on their land, they were unable to protect it from eventual clearing for new construction as the local town expanded. She still cursed the name of the developer, although he’d been dead for years. According to her, the ginseng had put a curse on his family for their disrespect. She said shortly after the houses were built, they had trouble with fires and power outages limited only to that spot. In addition, she said the developer’s family all became “sickly,” and eventually moved away from the area. Whether this tale was true or not, I don’t know, but there were others in the area with similar anecdotes about the situation.

When viewed in these terms, protecting the local environment takes on a very different life from simple ecology. The land is protected not just because of the vital food, water, and medicine it might provide, but because the spirits of the land become members of the family or clan itself. The same respect is shown to these invisible members of the community as it is to the living. Just like a person wouldn’t bulldozer over someone’s house, rip out a home garden, or poison a well, the land spirits are respected and left to their own lives and communities. Maintaining this equilibrium with the natural world then recognizes the vital importance the land has to offer to all those living there.

This belief has been such an important part of the Ozark worldview not just here on colonized land, but it stretches back to our ancient ancestors who didn’t see themselves as being separate or above the natural world but as just another link in the chain. The spirits of the land are important because they’re seen as being individual entities with their own stories, wisdom, and magic to offer. Just like when we lose our own tales, remedies, and other traditional knowledge with the passing of the older generations, never to regain them again, how much have we lost from ignoring the spirits of the land? How many grandpas and grandmas have been lost to us by being thrown into the gears of materialism and so-called progress?

For many people today, this animistic worldview is foreign to our modern mindset. Protecting the environment is left to those struggling in the Amazon rainforests, or those fighting for their rights to clean sources of water. We somehow see ourselves as too forgone, perhaps, or wholly apart from the problem. And meanwhile, our mountains are being leveled for new cookie-cutter housing subdivisions, forests uprooted to make straighter roads, and native prairies dug up and replaced with invasive ornamental plants not suited to our climate and local wildlife. Working towards healing this equilibrium starts with you and your home. Here are some other ways you can help protect the land.

Instead of planting invasive ornamentals like privet, bush honeysuckle, nandina, or bamboo, consult local nurseries that specialize in native alternatives. In many cases, native varieties of plants have much more to offer. They are usually better suited to our climate, require less water, and provide a plentiful source of food for both pollinators and birds. They also add to the seedbank of the land. Seeds travel across large stretches of land by air or are carried by local wildlife. Planting with natives ensures the spread of these important species that are too often shaded out and killed by invasive varieties. You can even help out if you’re living in an apartment with little access to the land. Several friends of mine living in apartments have started planting native flowers in pots on their balconies to attract local pollinators. Many of these wildflowers are also edible and used in traditional Ozark medicines.

Reconsider removing large trees on your property and instead try and maintain them by trimming properly.

Spay and neuter your outdoor cats and participate in local programs to catch and release feral cats. Along with deforestation, outdoor cats are the number one source of native songbird loss here in the Ozarks.

Consider volunteering with groups who help to return natural areas to a more sustainable system. There are several here in Northwest Arkansas who go out to the local trails at certain times of the year and pull out invasive plant species that are killing out the native varieties. If you don’t have a group around you, consider starting one! Consult your local extension office for guides to invasive plants affecting the area.

Protect springs and other natural water sources by volunteering to clean up trash around the area. If you’re unsure of how to clean and maintain natural springs on your own property, contact your local extension office.

Honor the spirits of old trees, springs, and mountains with traditional Ozark offerings of loose tobacco, cornmeal, beans, milk, and water.

Many of these suggestions are doable not only for people who own land but even for those living in apartments or on small lots. Whether you’re someone interested in animism as a worldview, an environmental protection advocate, or even someone who doesn’t really like going outside, it’s important to reconsider your own relationship to the land and help out where you feel comfortable. Extreme actions like chaining yourself to an old growth tree about to be removed aren’t required for caring about the natural world around you.