#yeah they have an age gap of eleven years

[ofstoriesandstardust]

it’s so rude that i have to go to class instead of getting to work on my hangman fic

[skitskatdacat63]

17,82

War AU x Second Love

Lmao Sam this is literally the plot to the Nandopoleon AU this exists in my head 😭😭

So Fernando is Napoleon, right? And Napoleon had two wives, right? Mark is his first love(i.e. Josephine), older than him, and who he is deeply in love with but has to divorce because Mark can't really provide anything(i.e. no political advantages, infertile, etc.) So Fernando needs to make a political marriage. And who does he marry! The young son of one of the most prominent monarchies in Europe: Lance, Archduke of Austria.

Lance is very resistant to this at first of course. All grumpy like, "Dad, why do you want me to marry the guy who just defeated us in four separate wars. He's literally beaten us since practically my birth, and now I have to marry him? Yuck." Both him and Fernando come into the marriage with bad expectations, Lance despising Fernando for all he represents and Fernando viewing Lance as just a means to an end. But Lance fits in to the kingdom very well and Fernando comes to adore him and pamper him all the time. And suddenly Lance to his father is all like, "the Emperor is great actually 🥰 I was so wrong 🥰"

Meanwhile Mark is just forced to the side, and has to watch while Fernando's love for him diminishes, and his love for Lance grows. They still talk a lot and spend time together, but Mark is constantly sniping at Fernando about his new "wife."

I think Lance would stick by Fernando's side during his exile and subsequent return. He grows to be more loyal to Fernando than to his own family and original kingdom. And even though Fernando originally just views him as a means to an end, he eventually lets Lance fight alongside when they are eventually drawn back into war. Maybe in this AU, he actually wins 😔

[leafjoon]

Between the lines - pt. II

words: 5k warnings: swearing, alcohol, age gap, slight angst, jealousy, mentions of cheating, smut, spitting, one slap, unprotected sex, daddy kink (barely). its also v fluffy n has aftercare

It was Saturday evening, and you decided to go out with your friends and enjoy yourself a little. You knew you deserved it after the absurd week you had. You finally turned those pages to Alex in time, cramming and staying home almost every night—the assignments you had neglected piled up, and you had to catch up.

But none of that mattered tonight. No, tonight you would have fun with your friends and let loose. Most importantly, you wanted to ignore the desire that had crept up on you for your editor since that night.

"Let's do shots!" your friend Rachel yelled out. You chuckled at her enthusiasm, deciding to join in. "Tequila?" 

"You know it," she replied with a wink. It was half past eleven, and most of you were already drunk.

After you ordered your shots, everyone quickly shot them down their throats, some scrunching up their faces due to the sour taste. "God, this never fails to fuck me up," you said.

As you were listening to Sophie rambling about in her drunken state, you spotted a familiar figure out of the corner of your eye. Squinting a little, you weren't sure if it was him. He looked like one of your ex-boyfriends. You quickly turned, not wanting him to see you.

Things had gone sour with him last year when you found out he had been talking to another girl behind your back. You were stupid to trust him. His lack of insincerity was evident to everyone else but you.

You huffed, not wanting to bring down the mood but getting agitated at the reminder of his existence and the insecurities he had brought out of you.

"Show me your phone," you said sternly, your nostrils flaring up. You felt insane for making such a demand, but your gut told another story.

"What the fuck? You've gone crazy," he said, letting out a chuckle.

"James. Just show me your last text, and we can forget about this. Okay?" you said, pleading with him. You wanted to trust him.

He looked at you, his face laced with guilt, and looked away. "No."

You let out a shaky breath. "Get out," you whispered. You knew exactly what this meant. You felt your chest tighten. 

"What?" he asked, confused and angry.

"Get the fuck out!" you screamed at him, tears forming in your eyes. "I don't want to see you." Your heart was thumping in your chest.

He looked at you and clenched his jaw. Grabbing his coat, he let out a huff of disbelief and left.

“(Y/N)?” Sophie called out your name.

Your eyes, completely zoned out, now focused on Sophie's face. "Huh?"

"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?"

"Uh. Yeah. Sure," you said, nodding, trying to be convincing, and taking a sip of your drink.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes at you, visibly annoyed.

"Sorry, I'm just drunk," you told her, pouting a little and giving your drink to her as a peace offering.

Your eyes searched for the exit, beckoning you to take a much-needed break outside. A quick smoke and a breath of fresh air sounded good. You weren't a smoker, but this situation called for it. 

"Hey, can I grab a cig?" you asked one of your guy friends, Finn, as you pulled him in for a hug from behind. "Sure," he said, extending his pack of cigarettes to you.

When you went outside, you were met with a cool breeze. You lit up your cigarette, bringing it to your mouth, and felt slightly calmer as you exhaled the smoke.

Suddenly, you heard a voice from behind calling your name. “(Y/N)? Is that you?"

You froze. No. You didn't turn around, hoping he would leave you alone.

"Hey," he approached you with a slight smirk. "Started smoking, huh?"

"No, not really," you said in a dull tone, glancing at him for a split second and then looking away.

"Haven't seen you in a while. How've you been?"

 "Fine, thanks," you replied, slightly turning away from him. You hoped you didn't have to cause a scene to get him to leave.

"What, that's it?" he chuckled.

"I came out here to avoid people, James," you said, looking anywhere but in his direction.

"Come on, lighten up," he rolled his eyes.

Your head snapped. You were about to throw a snarky remark at him when you heard a low voice calling you. “(Y/N).”

When you turned around, a pair of gentle eyes met you. Your face immediately fell into a relieved expression, and you smiled. "Alex?"

James turned to look at him, eyeing him up. As Alex approached the two of you, he sensed your discomfort.

He talked to James and exchanged pleasantries. Alex wanted to snatch you away, not let him have the time of day with you.

"Do you mind if I steal her for a second, mate?" he asked, not waiting for a response. "Sure," James uttered, his intense gaze settling on him.

You and Alex started walking away from him, turning around the corner and settling in an alleyway.

"What a nice surprise." You said, your cheeks flushed. You took note of his appearance. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a brown blazer. His hair styled as usual, with a few strands falling on his face. He looked gorgeous.

"You seemed uncomfortable earlier," he furrowed his brows. "You alright?" he asked, squeezing your arm.

You shivered slightly from his touch. "I-uh. Yeah. Thank you for that. I didn't know how to get away," you admitted.

"Who was that anyway?" he asked, his eyes glued on your face, taking in all your expressions.

"Just some dickhead. You know how terrible college guys are."

He chuckled lightly. "I do. I used to be one."

"Oh, were you also a dickhead?" you joked.

"I don't think so." You laughed. He smiled, admiring you.

"So, you've taken up smoking in the three days we haven't seen each other?" he teased you.

"No," you laughed shyly. "Just really needed one right now."

"Care to light mine then?" he asked, his eyes glinting.

You brought your lighter close to his face, feeling his faint breath on your hand.

"Thanks," he blew the smoke the other way.

"What are you doing here?" you asked, sounding like you were interrogating him.

"Well, you know, sometimes we older people like to go out too."

You laughed, slapping his shoulder lightly.

"No, actually, I was passing through on my way home. Then I saw a familiar little head." 

"Oh. Well, that's lucky," you smiled.

His gaze lingered on you. His pants slightly tightened when he took notice of your flimsy outfit.

You were wearing a thick jean jacket covering your dark blouse. Your breasts peeked out of your top, revealing your supple skin.

Alex felt himself growing jealous, imagining the amount of men that leered at you throughout the night. A beautiful girl like you, he was sure they were foaming at the mouth.

You suddenly felt shy under his gaze and looked away. Your phone vibrated, and you took it out of your pocket, slightly humming.

"Where the hell are u?" Finn had texted you.

You checked the clock, and it was already 12:07 am. You felt a little tired and wondered if heading home would be a good idea.

"Friends?" Alex interrupted your thoughts.

"Yeah. They're wondering where I went." He nodded.

"Think I'm gonna go home, though. I'm getting a bit sleepy," you said, glancing at him and waiting for his reaction.

"Sure." He replied.

You tried again. "You know, the apartment I'm staying at isn't that far from this bar," you looked at him expectantly.

"Would you like me to walk you?" he said softly.

"Sure." You mimicked him.

After saying goodbye to your friends, you returned outside, meeting Alex by the door.

The apartment was only a fifteen-minute walk from there, but it felt much quicker than that. You had good company, after all.

You started shivering a bit, crossing your arms to emit heat.

Alex took notice of that and came closer to you. He removed his jacket and draped it over your shoulders, one of his hands lingering on your arm.

You felt your body tense at the close contact. He slowly let his hand fall as you were walking.

"Don't you live in a dorm?" he asked.

"I do. I'm cat-sitting for one of my friends. She went to visit her family for the weekend."

He nodded. "Is the cat behaving?"

You chuckled. "He's adorable. You have to see him."

A smile played on Alex's lips as you both arrived at your friend's apartment. The evening had been enjoyable, yet you felt a subtle disappointment as you stood there. You hesitated, not wanting to say goodbye.

"Do you want to come in?" you asked as you met his gaze.

His eyes flickered to yours. Silence stretched between you, and he struggled to find the right words.

"I, uh... It's getting a bit late for me," he finally said, his gaze momentarily dropping.

"Okay," you replied, your gaze shifting downward, a sense of vulnerability washing over you. You handed Alex his jacket, your fingers lightly grazing.

"It was nice seeing you again," he said, his fingers gently brushing a strand of hair that had fallen across your face. The touch lingered, leaving a trail of warmth.

"Night, Alex," you replied, your gaze fixed on him. As he turned to leave, the quiet echo of your thoughts filled the space, leaving you to wonder about the possibilities that danced in the corners of the night.

*

As the days passed, you were distracted by endless thoughts about your editor. It became evident, especially during class. Images of his warm smile, big hands, and fluffy hair filled your mind. You felt yourself growing more drawn to him whenever you weren't together.

When your professor dismissed the class, you realized you had been daydreaming about him almost the entire time and scribbling gibberish in your notebook. You let out a long sigh and started gathering your belongings, stuffing them in your bag.

Sophie joined you as you exited the class. "God, can he give us any more assignments?" she let out a huff of frustration. "What assignment?" you asked.

"Didn't you hear him?" she asked. "No," you shrugged.

She laughed. "What were you doing? I kept looking at you, and you seemed so zoned out."

"Oh. Nothing. I was thinking about my novel," you blurted out.

"How's that going, by the way? Is Mr. Turner treating you well?" she asked. 

Mr. Turner. Oh boy. 

"Sure! I mean-yeah, no he's great," you stuttered.

"Okay..." she glanced over to you. "So what are you doing today?" you asked, changing the topic.

You quickly returned to your dorm room, not wanting to run into anyone else you knew. When you entered your room, you kicked off your shoes, threw your bag somewhere on the floor, and flung yourself on your sofa. You groaned. What the hell were you supposed to do with these overwhelming feelings?

Flicking your phone open, you saw a text message from Alex. Your heart started racing. 

Hi. I hope you're well. I will not be available tonight to help with your assignments. Would it be all right if we rescheduled for tomorrow?

You felt a pang of disappointment as you read the text. You had felt so jittery all morning and couldn't wait to see him, and now this. Sighing, you replied to him and immediately texted Sophie. You needed to go out tonight.

*

You made dinner plans with your best friend and decided to try out a new restaurant that had opened downtown. The menu looked amazing, and the prices were pretty decent. Your parents had always been generous with you about money, but you made sure to save and indulge occasionally.

As you entered the restaurant, you felt a warm ambiance enveloped you. The smooth jazz tunes filled the place, and the hostess escorted you to a free table nearby.

When you sat down, you and Sophie excitedly looked through the menu and ordered your drinks and meal. While Sophie was telling you about her latest situationship, your eyes wandered around the restaurant, taking in the beautifully decorated place.

The warm lights cast a beautiful glow on your friend, and you listened as she told you about the intense chemistry she felt with this guy. "Ugh, I don't know, there's just something about him." her eyes sparkled.

"You mean the incredible sex you're having?" you said playfully.

She cracked up. "I mean…among other things."

"So why aren't you making it official?"

"I don't know (Y/N). I'm unsure if I want to be in a relationship right now. It seems like too much work. I got my plate full with everything going on," she sighed.

You nodded, glancing behind Sophie. She continued talking about how he wanted to see her all the time. Wait-You thought you spotted someone. Was that Alex?

Your gaze focused on him. He was seated at a distant table, laughing with the woman beside him. Your mouth slightly dropped, and your eyes fixated on them.

Frozen in your seat, you felt a surge of emotions within you, the sight creating a knot of unease in your stomach. What the hell? Had he canceled on you to go out with some woman? 

You swallowed thickly, and Sophie noticed the change in your demeanor. "Hey, you okay?"

"Uh-yeah," you replied. "Who do you keep staring at?" she said, looking over her shoulder. 

Then she spotted the man who preoccupied your mind. "Oh, is that Mr. Turner? Should we go up to him?"

"No! I mean, he seems busy," you lowered your gaze. 

"Yeah, I guess he's got a hot date," she giggled.

You nodded, taking a large swig of your wine. You prayed he wouldn't see you. The last thing you needed right now was for him to notice how stupid you looked.

You cringed, hearing their distant laughter and shared joy starkly contrasting to the quiet ache that tightened within you.

You decided to distract yourself and urged Sophie to continue telling you about the boy she was seeing. "Well, at least one of us is getting some action," you joked, feeling slightly bitter.

You tried to enjoy your meal and ignore the pit in your stomach. Forcing yourself to focus only on Sophie, you refilled your wine glass and continued talking to her.

Later in the evening, you noticed that their table had become empty. Glancing over, you caught a glimpse of Alex and the woman leaving, and an inexplicable mix of relief and regret washed over you.

You were thankful he didn't see you and talk to you, but at the same time, you couldn't believe he blew you off to go on a date. He didn't owe you anything. After all, he was only your editor.

That night, tipsy and emotional, you stumbled to your dorm room. How were you going to face him tomorrow and ignore your growing feelings? In your drunken haze, you decided that was a decision for sober you to deal with, and you went to sleep, comforted by the spinning room.

*

The next day arrived with a weight on your shoulders that matched the dull ache in your head from last night. As you walked to Alex's place, slightly hungover, the memory of him having dinner with another woman gnawed at your thoughts.

You awkwardly entered his house, exchanged a few words with him, and immediately buried your nose in your assignment, minimizing any chances of small talk. Alex finally spoke up after an hour of you struggling to make any progress.

"Is something the matter (Y/N)?" he asked gently.

"What do you mean?" you mumbled.

"You seem agitated today." He sighed.

"I'm fine," you huffed.

"Are you sure? We aren't getting anywhere with this assignment," he continued, face laced with concern.

You clenched your jaw. How the hell could you? Oh yeah, well, I thought I felt a spark with you, but that went to shit when I saw you having dinner with a gorgeous woman. Not to mention, I'm probably insane for even thinking there was something between us.

You sighed. "Nothing is wrong; let's just finish this," you murmured.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he pressed.

"Why not?" you said, annoyed.

"We've been stuck in this section for an hour. Maybe we should take a break, or you can go home and rest," he replied, his worried eyes meeting yours.

Oh, so now he's kicking me out. Fuck this shit.

"Fine. I'll go," you spat out, getting up and grabbing your papers and notebook roughly.

He stared at you, confused, wondering if he had struck a chord in you.

"Hey," he said gently. "Hold on."

You ignored him and continued gathering your things.

"(Y/N)."

Disregarding him, you shoved everything into your bag.

"Will you stop acting like a brat and tell me what's wrong?" he said, slightly irritated.

You looked at him in disbelief. "Excuse me?" You swallowed thickly. "You wanna know what's wrong?"

You huffed. "I saw you!"

His head tilted in confusion. "Saw me where?"

"The other night, with that woman," you blurted, the words leaving your mouth faster than your thoughts could catch up. 

You continued, "Am I crazy for thinking that- that," you stuttered.

Groaning, you ran your fingers through your hair.

"That what?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing," you replied.

"(Y/N)," he said, his voice softening, "why are you making such a fuss?"

Your attempts to brush off the situation faltered. "I-" Your voice caught in your throat. "It seemed like you were on a date," you finally said.

He stared at you for a moment, his expression softening. "I wasn't on a date. I was catching up with an old friend."

You couldn't meet his gaze, your eyes fixated on your hands. 

The weight of the misunderstanding pressed on your shoulders.

"Why does it matter if I was on a date or not?" he asked, a genuine curiosity in his tone.

"It doesn't. You're allowed to do whatever you want," you whispered.

"But you don't want me to, right?" he pressed, with a hint of concern.

You looked at him, your expression uncertain. "Whatever. I'm gonna go. Please forget I said anything," you mumbled, hurrying towards the exit.

"Hey, hey," he said, grabbing your forearm gently but just enough to stop you. "Is this why you've been so moody and distracted all day? Because you thought I was seeing someone?"

You shrugged, feeling embarrassed. "You canceled our session to see her," you mumbled.

He sighed. "Let's sit down and talk about this, okay?"

You mumbled an 'okay' and followed him to the couch.

He started, "I wasn't on a date, and I certainly don't want you to think I'm not considerate of your feelings. I did cancel our session to see her, and I apologize. She's only here for a few days before returning to Sheffield, where she lives with her husband."

"Oh," you said quietly.

"Maybe I should've communicated better," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"It's fine, I guess," you muttered.

"I'm sorry. You mean a lot to me, (Y/N)," he smiled at you, putting a hand over yours.

He scooted closer to you, his face merely a few inches away from yours, and your breaths mingled in the small space between you. Alex's eyes lingered on your lips.

Your heart started racing. With a slow movement, Alex leaned in, capturing your lips in a passionate kiss. You felt a wildfire of emotions as the kiss intensified, leaving you breathless.

Barely pulling away, he whispered, "How 'bout I show you how I feel about you?"

You felt a flutter of anticipation in your stomach and nodded in response.

His hand found its way to the back of your neck as he pressed his lips against yours again. His other hand settled on your thigh, his fingertips tickling your skin. His tongue slid against yours, massaging it gently.

He pulled away slightly, panting, "Do you want to go upstairs?" You nodded. 

He dragged you upstairs to his bedroom, the air charged with desire. His eyes were filled with an intensity you couldn't ignore.

Alex's hands found the small of your back, pulling you closer. His lips found yours once again, slipping his tongue inside your mouth, letting you taste him again.

He guided you to his bed, and you sank into the mattress, sprawling beneath him.

He settled on top of you and pressed his body against yours. His nimble fingers squeezed your thighs as his half-hard member rested between your legs. You gasped quietly when you felt him on your arousal, feeling his hot breath tickling your skin.

He sighed as one of his hands found its way to your cheek, grazing it lightly. You felt soft, just like he'd imagined. He gently pressed his lips to yours, and you opened your mouth, your tongues tangling.

You let out a sound when his other large hand came down to caress your waist, settling below your breast.

He broke the kiss with a smack, leaned down, and whispered in your ear, "I'm gonna make you feel so good, sweetheart," his words sending goosebumps all over your body.

As he left a trail of hot kisses and bites down your neck, he made sure to suck a spot, marking you. He wanted to ruin you. Pleasure you until he was the only thing on your mind.

"Alex," you sighed, bringing one of your hands to grab his hair, the other settling on his back, gripping the material of his t-shirt.

He smirked against your skin as his big hands roamed your body. He cupped your breasts roughly, pulling a whimper out of you.

Pulling away from your neck, his eyes settled on your face. His fingers flicked your nipples, playing with them. This made your arousal only grow more.

He retreated his hands and took off your shirt slowly, revealing your tits. He hissed, "Fuck. You're stunning," as he caressed your naked breasts. He leaned down to suck softly on one of your nipples.

"A-alex," you whispered, gripping his hair tighter.

He moaned, enjoying it in his mouth, flicking it with his tongue. He bit down softly on it, making you gasp and your back arch.

"So stiff," he muttered, making your face heat up. His mouth found your other breast, leaving open mouthed-kisses on it, his lips wrapping around your nipple.

His hand made its way down to the zipper of your trousers, and he asked, "Can I take these off?" 

You nodded, and he slipped them off you, throwing them on the ground.

He towered above you as his hand went down to your delicate panties, rubbing your arousal, feeling your wetness. The sight would be plaguing his mind for weeks on end.

"Already soaked for me, yeah?" He whispered, soliciting a quiet moan out of you. "Hm?" he looked at you. You gulped, "Yes."

He half-grinned as he pushed the thin material to the side and started stroking your slit. "So drenched," he gasped.

Your skin was on fire, and you moaned quietly. He started teasing your entrance and gathered your slick. He then slipped your underwear past your legs, throwing them somewhere on the bed.

"Spread your legs for me, baby," he uttered, and you obliged, feeling shy under his gaze.

He licked his lips at the sight and stroked your thighs tenderly before returning his finger to your clit. He rubbed it softly, emitting soft moans out of you. His other hand crept on your throat, resting there.

"Oh!" You moaned loudly when he found a spot that made your legs shake and started rubbing your clit faster.

He looked at you in awe, his mouth slightly agape. You were adorable, giving yourself to him completely.

He continued rubbing your bundle of nerves, drinking in all your reactions. He slipped a finger, and you threw your head back, gasping softly.

He pumped in and out of you, and his cock twitched in his pants. He felt painfully hard. He slipped in another finger with ease and stretched you out, his knuckles deep inside you.

Curling them inside, he hit a sweet spot that made your eyes roll. "Think you can handle a third one, sweetheart?"

You nodded, whimpering. Alex's hand snaked to your jaw, opened your mouth, and stuck his thumb inside. You made sure to suck on it.

He pushed his finger in, pulling out a loud whine from you and spreading you out like never before.

"Good girl."

He noticed you clenching around his fingers. "Like it when I call you that?"

You nodded. "Well, you have to earn it," Alex said as he fucked you with his fingers. 

Your chest heaved as his other hand went down to your pussy, now playing with your clit.

"Look at you, taking my fingers so well."  

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as he continued to pump in and out of you. "Such a perfect cunt," he mumbled to himself.

You grabbed his wrist roughly, signaling to him that you were getting close. He noticed you were clenching his fingers more, and your moans were getting louder.

He slowed his movements and gently slipped his fingers out of your pussy, leaving you empty.

"Alex…" you whined, your hands grabbing the front of his shirt. Breathing heavily, you looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

"What is it?" he teased you.

"I need you..."

"Need me? For what?" he asked. His cock needed stimulation so badly, but he wanted to make you beg.

You huffed. "I need you to fuck me," you whispered quietly, bringing him closer. "Daddy," you whispered.

He groaned, "Fuck. You're so greedy. Can't be satisfied with what I give you, huh?" he asked, unzipping his trousers, slipping out of them.

You started unbuttoning his shirt quickly, tossing it to the ground. Alex sighed as you roamed your hands on his toned chest.

He removed his boxers swiftly, exposing his thick cock, precum pooling on the head already.

You bit your lip as your hand went down to his member, stroking it, earning a few moans out of him.

He pulled your hand away after a few minutes and grabbed his member, positioning it near your entrance.

He teased your folds with his cock, gathering your wetness and rubbing your clit, letting out soft moans. 

He then tapped your entrance and started entering you slowly, filling you to the brim, the sensation bringing tears to your eyes.

You gasped and closed your eyes. Alex grabbed your cheeks. "Look at me," he said hoarsely.

You wrapped your hands around his back and pulled him flush against your chest. 

He started moving slowly, letting you get used to the stretch of his cock.

"F-fuck. You feel amazing," he stuttered.

You barely managed to keep your eyes open. You felt so full of him.

Your breaths mixed together, and you pleaded, "Faster, please," he obliged, fucking you faster, making you whimper loudly.

"You look so pretty, taking my cock," he soothed as he slammed his hips into yours, making you gasp.

It felt so good you couldn't contain any of your whimpers and moans. Filthy squelching noises filled the room, making you even more wet around him.

Your sweaty bodies were pressed against each other, and he engulfed your senses. He grabbed one of your breasts roughly, massaging it as his pace became fast and steady, fucking you deliciously.

You felt so fucked-out, your eyes were rolling to the back of your head repeatedly. You felt desperate for him. As he hit a delicious spot inside, you repeatedly cried out his name.

"That's it, baby, scream my fucking name."

He held you close to him as he slammed his cock in and out of you, making you feel every inch of it. He grabbed your jaw and ordered, "Open your mouth."

You did as told, your tongue peeking out, slightly panting. He pursed his lips and spat roughly on your tongue, uttering, "Swallow."

You swallowed, whining, and sank your nails into his back.

"Such a slut for me," he hissed.

You moaned loudly, clenching on his cock uncontrollably. You felt yourself approaching your climax, and he could feel it, too.

"What? You wanna cum?" he teased you.

"Please," you begged, nearing your release for the second time.

"Gonna have to do better than that, love," he replied, slowing down a little.

"Alex, please," you whined. "Don't stop. I need you," you pleaded with him pathetically.

"Do you, now?" he asked, stopping abruptly. He grabbed your jaw roughly, forcing you to look at him.

"No!" you whimpered, your chest heaving. "I'll be so good. Just let me cum."

"Where?" he asked in a husky tone.

"I-," you stuttered. 

"Go on, say it," he encouraged you.

"On your cock," you whispered, flushed.

He grunted, "Good girl," his hand immediately going to your pulsating clit. His other hand smacked your cheek harshly.

You whined, tears gathering in your eyes while reveling in the stinging feeling. Cupping it gently, Alex alleviated the pain a little.

"It's alright, princess," he soothed, leaning down to capture your lips in an open-mouthed kiss.

He started fucking your drenched pussy at a fast pace, making you see stars. As he grabbed your waist for leverage, you felt overwhelming pleasure pooling in your abdomen.

Your orgasm was building quickly, ready to snap at any moment, as he thrust into you repeatedly. Your legs were wrapped around him, needing him as close as possible.

His movements were becoming sloppy, an indication of his own climax approaching. Your skin was ablaze, and the way he was moaning was making you delirious.

"Cum on my cock, sweetheart," he said.

"Fuck, Alex!" You screamed and felt waves of pleasure spreading throughout your body as you orgasmed on his cock, convulsing. You were whining uncontrollably.

Your nails were digging into his arm, surely breaking the skin, but you were too cock-drunk to care.

"Fuck, your cunt is so tight," he groaned as he struggled to thrust into you. It only took him a few more thrusts for him to cum inside you, letting out a drawn-out moan.

His hot load completely filled you up, his jaw hanging slack. After he emptied inside you, he collapsed on top, burying his face in your neck.

As you both came down from your high, he pulled out of you gently. He couldn't help but look down at your pussy, admiring the mess he made out of you.

He loved the way his cum seeped out. No one could have you now.

He laid down beside you and stroked your waist. "You alright?" he uttered.

You were still catching your breath and opened your eyes slowly. "Yes," you sighed.

You turned your back to him, feeling exposed. You were still trying to figure out what to do now. Should you…leave or stay? Your thoughts were interrupted by him as he pressed his body against yours and draped an arm over you.

"We should get you cleaned up," he whispered, kissing your shoulder, his arm stroking your stomach.

"Okay," you whispered.

"Want me to draw us a bath?" he asked.

"I love baths…" you muttered.

He chuckled. "Perfect." He pressed a kiss to your head and headed for the bathroom. Soon, the sound of running water reached your ears, and you sat on the bed.

Alex returned with a tender expression. He extended his hand, inviting you to join him in the bathroom.

You felt a bit shy, especially since you were still naked and not hazed by your lust anymore. Alex made sure to hold onto your hand, which reassured you.

You stepped on the cool tiles, and Alex asked, "You want bubbles?"

"Yes," you murmured. 

After a few minutes, you eased yourself into the hot water, and so did he, sitting on opposite ends of the bath.

The water had a comforting effect on you as your body melted into it. Alex broke the silence. "Why are you so far away?"

"I don't know. Why are you?" you replied. "Come here," he said, extending his arms to grab yours and turning you around, pressing your back to his naked chest.

You settled yourself between his legs, relaxing against his body, and he wrapped his arms around you. "Why'd you get all shy on me now? You were yelling at me an hour ago," he chuckled.

"I wasn't yelling at you," you furrowed your brows, growing defensive. "I'm just teasing," he whispered close to your ear.

You rolled your eyes. "Whatever," you puffed. "Why are you getting so defensive?" Alex said, holding you tighter. 

"Because, I have no idea what this means now," you mumbled.

He smiled, sensing your uncertainty. "Well, what I do know is care about you and…would love to take you out sometime. And do this again," he said, kissing your cheek.

"Me too," you replied, your cheeks flushed.

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hm."

"Why don't you stay the night? It's getting late anyway."

"It's like 8 pm, Alex."

"Exactly. So late," he replied.

You laughed. "I have nothing to wear to bed nor do I have a toothbrush," you protested.

"I can give you a t-shirt. They'll look better on you anyway. And I'll go to the shop and buy you one. How's that sound?"

You giggled. "Okay, you've convinced me."

Leaving the bath, the air between you and Alex felt different, as if the weight of unspoken tensions had been washed away. Wrapping yourselves in fluffy towels, you talked to him effortlessly and discussed what you should eat for dinner.

The decision to spend the night together unfolded effortlessly, and you decided to get some Chinese take-out and watch a chick flick.

Later in the night, you found yourself nestled on Alex's big, comfortable bed and drifted off to a dreamless slumber, comforted by the presence of the man spooning you.

[electronickingdomfox]

Star Trek TOS crew biographies

There are plenty of detailed biographies of the TOS crew, both online and in reference books. But I wanted to check what actually appears in the Original Series and the six TOS movies about this subject (that is, not counting secondary sources or later series). And the result is... very little, actually. I was surprised by the amount of data that I took for granted, just to find out it came from a novel or wasn't 100% set in stone. This is what I could find about each major character, just judging from the TOS series and movies. Feel free to add to this or correct mistakes.

James Tiberius Kirk:

Although in the series he's referred just as James T. Kirk, his middle name "Tiberius" appears in Star Trek VI. "Tiberius" was also his middle name in TAS episode Bem, and the novel The Galactic Whirlpool (both by Gerrold), as well as in Roddenberry's TMP novelization. So yeah, no doubts about his name.

He was born in Iowa (Star Trek IV) and had one brother, George Samuel Kirk, and three nephews (What are little girls made of?). Sam married a woman named Aurelan (Operation: Annihilate).

Kirk was 34 in The Deadly Years. Assuming each season is a year of the five year mission, he could be 33 at the start of the series. And this is the only reference for his age I could find. As for actual dates, I didn't find anything, except his statement in Star Trek IV that he comes from the late 23rd century. (It wouldn't be until Voyager episode Q2, that a date was given for the end of the five-year mission: 2270. This follows Michael Okuda's Star Trek Chronology, and all other dates for TOS are inferred from this).

At age 13 he witnessed the massacre of Tarsus IV (Kodos was governor twenty years ago, in The Conscience of the King).

At age 18 he had just entered the Academy and was tormented by Finnegan. At this time he also met Ruth (fifteen years before Shore Leave).

He served in the USS Republic as an ensign, at some unspecified time after his Academy years, where he reported Ben Finney for negligency (Court Martial).

At age 21 he visited the planet Neural and befriended Tyree (thirteen years before A private little war).

He teached at the Academy as a lieutenant. One of his students was his friend Gary Mitchell (Where No Man has Gone Before).

He was a lieutenant in the USS Farragut at age 23 (eleven years before Obsession), where he first encountered the cloud creature that massacred his crewmates.

Kirk had a relationship with Areel Shaw when he was 29 (four years before Court Martial).

He became captain of the USS Enterprise after Pike. If we suppose TOS first season happens during the first year of the five-year mission, Kirk was around 37 at the end of this mission.

There's a big gap of fifteen years between Space Seed and the second movie. And apart from the five-year mission, most of those years are unaccounted for. Kirk's been an admiral for two years and a half at the start of TMP. But we don't know if he became an admiral right after the Enterprise's mission, or much later. That is, we don't know at what point of that gap take place the events of TMP. Around this time, both Spock and McCoy had retired from Starfleet, though they both returned when Kirk took the Enterprise again for the V'Ger incident.

By The Wrath of Kahn, Kirk should be 48 years old (fifteen years since he left Kahn stranded in Space Seed). If David is around 30, Kirk's relationship with Carol could have been at the Academy, but it's also possible that David is younger.

The third and fourth films happen shortly after The Wrath of Kahn, but no idea how much time elapsed since then and the fifth and sixth films (though see the info for McCoy).

Spock

Known simply as "Spock". His full name is considered unpronounceable for humans, though the novel Ishmael gives it as "S'chn T'gai Spock".

His parents are Sarek and Amanda (Journey to Babel). Amanda's last name was never given, though TAS episode Yesteryear, some novels, and the 2009 reboot film establishes it as "Grayson". Spock also has a half-brother: Sybok (Star Trek V).

I couldn't find anything about Spock's actual age during the series/movies.

He was betrothed to T'Pring at age seven (Amok Time).

He probably joined Starfleet eighteen years before Journey to Babel, since that's the time he spent not speaking with Sarek. If he joined Starfleet at 18 years old, he'd be 36 by season two (but that's just a supposition).

He was part of Pike's crew thirteen years before The Menagerie, during the events in Talos IV. He'd be 22 by then. Spock served under Pike for eleven years (also from The Menagerie). That means Kirk had been captain of the Enterprise for at least two years before season one.

After that, Spock's career runs more or less in parallel with Kirk's, so I won't go over it again.

Leonard H. McCoy

His middle initial first appears in Star Trek III, as well as the name of his father: David. The novel Provenance of Shadows explains the middle initial as "Horatio", but other novels call him "Leonard Edward McCoy" (???).

Much of his biographical background comes from the "Writer's Guide" by Roddenberry and Fontana, but never made it to the series. That includes the fact he's 45 (by season one?) and born in Georgia. As well as the fact that he's divorced and joined Starfleet as a result of this, and that he has a 20 year old daughter (Joanna). Presumably, the story of his divorce and Joanna would have appeared in The Way to Eden, but the story was severely altered. His daughter is mentioned, but without name, in TAS episode The Survivor, and in several novels. The Gold Key comics call her "Barbara" instead. His ex-wife is given different names in the novels and comics: Honey, Jocelyn, Joan, Gillian...

No idea when he joined Starfleet (that depends on how long was his marriage), or when he met Kirk.

Ten years before The Man Trap, he had a romance with Nancy Crater. Though in the episode he sometimes says he knew her twelve years ago, and other times ten years ago. Either it's a mistake, or the relationship simply lasted two years (though McCoy's doubts about Nancy remembering him, imply the relationship wasn't very long).

At some point, he visited Capella IV for a few months (Friday's Child).

He served in the Enterprise for 27 years (Star Trek VI), but only under Kirk, it seems. If he was 45 when he started, he'd be 72 in the last film, and Kirk would be 60 years old.

Note on McCoy's age in later series

The "Writer's Guide" statement that McCoy was 45 at the time of TOS, was contradicted by later series. In TNG episode Encounter at Farpoint, he's said to be 137 years old. While in the episode The Neutral Zone (also from TNG season one) the year is 2364. As both episodes probably happen in the same year, McCoy would have been born in 2227. Since, according to Voyager, the five-year mission lasted from 2266 to 2270, McCoy would have been 39 at the start of the mission. I'm following the Writer's Guide figure, however, because I consider this document more relevant for TOS itself. After all, many things that are facts in later series, aren't the same in TOS, and viceversa. Also, considering that the age of the characters seems to be close to the age of the actors, I find more likely that McCoy was 45, and not 39, at the start of TOS. To give you an idea, Shatner was 36 in season two (Kirk was 34), Nimoy was also 36 (just as Spock) and Kelley was 47. The twelve year gap between Kirk and McCoy, would be almost the same as the eleven year gap between Shatner and Kelley.

Montgomery Scott

Very little about him, but at least we got his full name in the series. He's supposed to be Scottish, and has lived in Aberdeen (Wolf in the Fold).

Apart from being Chief Engineer in the Enterprise, he was engineer advisor in a freighter, running from Deneva to the asteroid belt (Operation: Annihilate).

Uhura

We never knew her first name in TOS! This is one of the things that surprised me the most. However, "Nyota" is her first name in the reboot films, the new series, and well before that, the novel The Entropy Effect.

She was probably born in east Africa, since her native language seems to be Swahili (the language she reverted to when her memory was wiped in The Changeling). Thanks to user @sapsuckers-and-stardust for pointing this out.

Very, very little about her bio background. Most of it has to be collected from novels or comics, and those never intended to be coherent with each other.

Hikaru Sulu

Though his first name was unknown for a long time, it was revealed to be "Hikaru" in Star Trek VI. But before this, he was also called Hikaru in The Entropy Effect.

Sulu was born in San Francisco (Star Trek IV).

Again, almost nothing of his bio in the series/movies. Though the DC comics explored his character significantly. And in Star Trek: Generations, he had a daughter, Demora.

By Star Trek VI, he was finally a captain of his own ship, the Excelsior.

Pavel Andreievich Chekov

His full name appears first in The Way to Eden, where we also learn he had a romance with Irina Galliulin at the Academy.

Chekov has no siblings (Day of the Dove).

He's 22 by season two (Who mourns for Adonais?).

After serving in the Enterprise, he was first officer in the USS Reliant during The Wrath of Kahn, though he returned with Kirk after the Reliant's destruction.

Christine Chapel

She abandoned her career in bio-research to sign aboard the Enterprise as a nurse, and search after her fiancé Roger Korby (What are little girls made of?) Strangely enough, a few episodes before, she had confessed her love for Spock. She chose to stay in the ship after finding out Korby was dead.

By the time of TMP, she was a doctor in the Enterprise, though she doesn't appear as part of the crew in the later movies.

Janice Rand

She served as a yeoman in the Enterprise during the early five-year mission, but disappears from the series afterwards.

In TMP, she's the transporter chief. And in Star Trek IV, Janice is seen at Starfleet Command, along with Chapel.

By Star Trek VI, she was the communications officer of the Excelsior, under Sulu.

[lixzey]

Letters

Info: age gap, reader has nightmares

The Second Letter.

Timothée woke up with a terrible hangover. The party was great, and he had an amazing time with his friends. He sat up and walked to the bathroom of his hotel room. He stared at himself in the mirror; he was still in the clothes he had on last night. Timothée hopped into the shower, feeling the cold water against his skin, sobering him up.

After a relaxing shower, he remembered the letters. The basket he shoved under the bed, he knelt down, grabbing the basket from under the bed. He untied the stack—eighteen letters—all eighteen letters still there.

He sat on the bed and opened the second letter, dated June 18, 2023.

Dear Timothée, 

Every night before I go to sleep, I whisper good night to you. I have a framed photo of you on my bedside table. I know, it's weird and creepy. I don't know why, but I've done it for so long that I can't even remember when I started it.

Is it weird for a grown woman to have a stuffed animal to be able to sleep at night? Yeah, it's weird. My stuffed bunny keeps my nightmares at bay every night. Julie told me that one day, all of my fears would go away and my nightmares would end. And I'd be able to look back at my past without getting hurt. But everything's getting worse. Every fucking night.

Maybe you're wondering, "Why in the world is this girl telling me this?" Well, I don't know, really. Maybe it's because you'd listen? Who am I kidding? I don't even know if you'd even get my letters. I've locked up those memories for so long, and it hurts to think about them, let alone talk about them. I'm not going to tell you everything, but a little something about me can't hurt, right? It's better to write it all down rather than talk about it.

I remember when I was a little girl, my parents would take me down to the park near where we lived. My dad would push me on the swings, while my mom would set up a little picnic for us. Life was happy. Until that fateful day when I was ten. Let's just say that my life wasn't the same as it once was. I thought my life was perfect, but boy, was I wrong.

I've tried everything to get the nightmares to stop, yet nothing ever works. Not once in the past eleven years have I had a good night's sleep. Honestly? I'm terrified of falling asleep; the nightmares keep getting more vivid. My room mate, Ava, gave me a crystal bracelet—to protect me and keep the bad auras away. She's the only one other than Julie, my therapist, who knows that I get nightmares. Since Ava's room is right next to mine, she hears me scream every fucking night.

Oh god, that sounded morbid. I should stop. Well, it's not like you'd ever get any of my letters. So I'll carry on writing, pouring out everything in these letters.

I'm going to try to get some sleep; it's literally half past three. I have exams in the morning. I'll probably fail again anyway, since I'm not exactly the smartest. Wish me luck?

All my love,

Y/n. 

Timothée was slowly understanding Y/N. She's seven years younger than him. He checked the envelopes, searching for an address so he could reply to her after he'd finished all of her letters. But he couldn't find anything—not even in the basket.

“How on earth did these letters get here? I'm in a fucking hotel that only my family knew." Timothée muttered. Questions filled his mind. He put the letter back in the envelope. He picked up the next letter, hoping for answers.

[findingnemosworld]

𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 - 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐬

・𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲: 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬

( 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 )

𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩 ( 𝟏𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 )

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧.

To say she was puzzled would be a trivialization, for the past three weeks she would walk into her office to find a singular tulip along with a folded note and a cup of coffee, from the café she would frequent almost every single day - at first, she didn't think much of it yet as it continued on, along with the notes, she couldn't help but feel both flattered and nervous as it seemed that she had a secret admirer, an admirer that had no plan of unveiling themselves anytime soon much to her frustration, this had prompted her to keep an extra eye over every single player as she would be out capturing photos of them, she'd mostly paid attention to the younger players unsure of who could the secret admirer be? blissfully unaware that the secret admirer was right under her nose the entire time.

His return to Sevilla was meant to be distraction free, yet the last thing he had expected was to have his heart stolen by the team's photographer, Ivan and Jesús had raved about her so much so that upon meeting her, everything they'd said did no justice to her incredible persona, she was considered to be the 'little sister' to most of the players; he understood why, aside from her talent in photography - she was the most helpful person he'd ever seen, almost always lending a hand to someone when they needed a hand.

He was in love, madly in love yet an invisible barrier laid between them, the barrier in question being the obvious eleven year age gap, with him being thirty seven; her being twenty six.

His age, despite his impeccable physique had always been an underlying issue for him, an issue he refuses to face as most if not all of his previous affairs had ended for the most outrageous reasons possible, hence why upon meeting her, the fear had returned in full force forcing him to take another route entirely, arriving early to the training center to ensure no one spots him as he leaves her a singular tulip ( based on Ivan telling him that she loved tulips ), a coffee cup from her favorite café and a note professing his fondest emotions towards her.

He watched as the weeks rolled by; had even tried to gather as much courage as possible to showcase his love yet it seemed as if she did not view his affection, instead brushing off every attempt as that of a friend rather than an individual that is hopelessly infatuated with her, it wasn't facile by any means especially given the fact that he'd seen the younger players swarming around her like bees to honey, yet it did not deter his desire to make her his, he just needed to try harder.

She, on the other hand was growing rather frustrated - three more weeks had flown by with the exact same routine, only this time there was a sweet treat next to the coffee cup every morning, what’s worse — it was her favorite sweet treat, a mint chocolate chip cookie from the same bakery she always frequents, who was this person? she wonders to herself before her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of her friend Ivan Rakitić.

" Hey what’s wrong? " Ivan asks, walking in to find her staring at the contents on her office which caused him to chuckle and add on, " the secret admirer again? "

" It’s not funny Ivan " She groans in frustration, " Six weeks and I'm still lost here “

" Have you tried asking? " Ivan suggests.

" Oh yeah, like that’ll work " She mutters sarcastically, " I’ll just go up and say, hey are you the one that’s been leaving stuff on my office table? "

Ivan laughs, shaking his head. " You’re in quite the dilemma then! "

" I just don’t understand who would like me much less be a secret admirer " She states, confused by the situation.

Ivan knew, he knew who it was yet the situation was too good for him to spoil the surprise, he smiled then said. " Maybe it’s someone you don’t expect "

She chuckles softly, " It can’t be you cause you’re married, It can’t be Navas cause he’s also married, obviously not the assistant coaches cause they’re old enough to be my fathers which leaves … " her smile falls, eyes widening as she whispered. " No "

Ivan held back a grin, " What? "

" No no … no " She repeatedly shakes her head, refusing to believe that out of everyone he’d be the ‘secret admirer’ — she looks up at Ivan who’s watching her, " It can’t be Sergio, can it? "

Ivan shrugs, " I mean … this inicident did start after he joined "

" But … how? " She wonders finding it extremely arduous to believe that Sergio Ramos, the Sergio Ramos would be interested in her especially given the fact that she’d always admired him ever since she started watching football. " It’s insane "

" That’s falling in love dear sister, it’s unexpected and insane; to be fair, Sergio wasn’t making it hidden quite well … " Ivan states.

" What do you mean? " She asks, confused by his statement.

" He’s the first to greet you, the first to talk to you, is always asking about you and I am not joking when I say, his eyes are always on you, how come you’ve never noticed it? " Ivan wonders.

She frowns, her brows knitting as she thinks back to the past few weeks, trying to connect the dots yet everything seemed blurry. " Sergio is … he’s … and I’m me " she mutters.

" Sergio is human, and so are you — he just so happens to be in love with you " Ivan said with a knowing look.

She looks at Ivan, " Did he tell you anything? "

Ivan shakes his head then chuckles, " I told you, it’s not exactly that hard to tell, I’m surprised you haven’t paid attention "

" Ivan, I didn’t exactly expect the guy who’s a lot older than me to be interested in me " She states, still trying to comprehend what she heard. " There’s like an eleven year age gap between us "

" So? " Ivan asks. " You’re an adult "

" Who’s eleven years his junior, someone like him would normally go for mature glamorous women, not someone like me and I’m not fishing for pity but it’s hard to believe " She said.

Ivan sighs softly then says, " Listen, you just have to confront him ok, find a proper moment and confront him "

" And if I’m too much of a chicken to do it " She retorts.

Ivan laughs, " Then you resort to other methods "

" Such as …? " She trails off.

" Here’s what you’ll do … " Ivan begins as he recounts his idea while she listened intently, nodding in understanding at what he had suggested, she wasn’t certain if it’ll work but what’s the point of wondering if you don’t try it out.

" Are you sure about this? " She asks.

Ivan nods, " Yes, it’s not going to be easy but it’ll work "

She sighs, " You better hope this doesn’t fail "

Ivan grins, " It won’t "

Later that evening, she was in her office working on the last set of photos when a knock on the door caused her to look up and find Sergio standing there, her heart suddenly flutters as she offers him a soft smile and said, " Hi Sergio "

He smiles back, " Hi muñeca, why didn't you go home yet? "

" I just have a bunch of photos I need to edit " She states with a nervous giggle, " You? "

" I was going to ... but I saw that you're still here and well " He chuckles, " If there's one thing my mother taught me, it's that a woman shouldn't be left alone anywhere at night "

His words caused a dust of pink to coat her cheeks, " Oh, she raised a gentleman then, a gentleman who just so happens to like to break player's legs " she giggles.

He laughs at her remark then replies, " It's a Sevilla thing "

" Mhm " She laughs as her gaze shifts back to her laptop.

Sergio decides to sit across from her, " Muñeca, do you mind if I ask you a question? "

" Not at all " She smiles softly then adds, " What's up? "

He grows silent, gnawing on his bottom lip for a brief moment before he said. " I have - or um ... my friend has this problem, it's not me "

She looks up with a raised brow, curious by his statement. " ok? "

" You see, I have this friend who is um ... he has a big crush on this girl he works with, but he's insecure about telling her his feelings " He said. " What do you think he should do? "

She hadn't noticed it then, yet now - his eyes were speaking to her more than they'd ever did. " Well .. " she begins, " Did he try to ask her, to get to know her? her likes, dislikes? "

" He did, well ... kind of, but the thing is, his age is what he's insecure about, she's younger than him so he thinks she's better off with a man her age " He responds.

Her brows shot up, " Oh? " she paused before adding. " Maybe she's into older men "

" Well she didn't exactly tell him cause she sees him as a friend " He said.

She hums then nods before saying, " Maybe he didn't look harder "

" So should he? " He wonders.

She nods softly, " Yeah "

He nods in response then stands up, " I guess I'll tell him then muñeca, thank you "

She watches as he makes his way out, " Make sure to tell him to be himself, girls love a man when he's his most authentic self "

He grins, " I will muñeca "

_

A week had rolled around, Sevilla was set to face Real Madrid, a bout everyone awaited due to Sergio's history with the La Liga champions, even she expected a lot of intensity due to the hype the social media created - As the team were warming up, she was snapping photos of them when suddenly she was approached by one of the players from the opposition side, a player whom she recognized as Brahim Díaz - their interaction had caught the attention of Sergio who was visibly displeased by it.

Jesús, who caught his teammate's glares had chuckled then said, " I see someone's jealous "

" Huh? " He said, turning to him. " What do you mean? "

" You're literally murdering the boy with your glares, all because he's talking to her " Jesús states as if it wasn't quite obvious.

" I don't care, she can do what she wants " He murmurs, shifting his gaze back to training.

" You don't? " Jesús laughs, then adds on. " Sure you don't "

Sergio would steal glances her way, ignoring how his heart twinged each time she'd smile at something Brahim said, he then turned to Jesús, " I don't understand, I tried everything but it's like she doesn't see it "

" Maybe she needs a further nudge, like ... you scoring a goal and dedicating it for her? " Jesús said.

" You think so? " He wonders.

Jesús nods softly, " yes, so score that goal and tell her how you feel "

Sergio glanced her way once more before nodding, " I guess I will "

After warmups, the match soon began, tensions were running high on each side with several missed chances as well as disallowed goals that frustrated both sides - allowing the first half to end on a 0-0 scoresheet, she made her way back to her office to change her shirt into a Ramos 4 jersey, covering the jersey with a coat before she returned back out to the pitch.

The second half soon began, with the same intensity - around the 54th minute Dani Carvajal had scored frustrating Sevilla who were now more than determined to fight till the very end and indeed, at around the 63rd minute Jesús Navas scored the equalizer sending the fans coursing with cheers as they rooted for their side to take the win, she watched as Sergio got into a scuffle with Rudiger effectively scaring her for a moment before they were broken apart by their teammates.

As the match proceeded, it seemed as if all hope was lost until the very last minutes, where Sergio was able to score a header that sent everyone into a fit of cheers including her as she watched Sergio run to the corner to celebrate with his home crowd, before he turned to her pointing at her then drawing a heart causing a broad smile to appear across her face, she snapped a photo of him just as the final whistle blew signaling Sevilla's historic win over Real Madrid.

Sergio had shook hands and embraced his former teammates before he walked up to her, " Remember when you said my friend should tell the girl he likes? " he asks

She nods slowly. " yeah? "

" Well I'm standing now to say, that it was me, I was the one who sent you all those trinkets because I wanted you to see that I liked you, a lot but I was scared to admit cause you're just so perfect " He breathed out.

She giggles, " How about you? you're perfect yourself and frankly I didn't think you'd like me cause of our age gap "

" So did I " He laughs.

Suddenly she removes her coat and twirls to show him the jersey, " I guess we were both clueless "

Sergio then tugs her towards him to give her a soft kiss then whisper, " I love you pequeña "

" I love you too " She smiled.

[melodygatesauthor]

Chapter 2: Voices

prof!Steven Grant-Jake Lockley-Marc Spector X f!Reader

Mood Boards - Book Cover - Masterlist

Chapter Summary:

You and Steven both try desperately to put your forbidden feelings behind you, but you're both finding it extremely difficult. Steven starts worrying that he's hearing things.

Tags/Summary (these are for the ENTIRE fic):

college AU, no powers/not in MCU/no Khonshu, talk of mental illness, Marc has DID, forbidden relationship, age gap, reader is 21y/o, Boys are 38y/o, reader attends college in America but isn't necessarily American, smut, sex, masturbation, p in v, creampies galore, reader is on birth control, dubious consent due to identity issues, ANGST, romance, fluff and smut, oral sex, falling in love, reader is not race coded.

Word Count: 2.7k

You woke up the next morning feeling better than the night before. You’d resolved to forget about anything to do with Steven that didn’t involve schoolwork. He was just a history professor. Nothing more, nothing less. It was nearly ten, and Layla was already gone. You wondered how you had managed to miss her alarm, but it wouldn’t be the first time you’d slept through noises that could cause an earthquake.

Your first class wasn’t until eleven, giving you ample time to get ready for the day. When you left, and you saw the logo for Moonbean Coffee down the road, you thought about going in there for a second. You gulped, clutching your bag close to yourself. As you approached the glass doors, you noticed he wasn’t inside and let out a sigh of both relief and disappointment. A small part of you had hoped to see Steven at the counter.

When you walked inside you waved to the cashier who saw you and got started on your order. There was a poster on the wall that you decided to read over while you waited. It talked about different attractions in the area. Your eyes stopped on a local art gallery, and you couldn’t help but wonder if Steven was at all interested in art.

“Here you go!” T said.

She snapped you from your thoughts. You thanked her, paid and then took your warm drink. It was disappointing not to have your quirky walking partner today, but it was for the best; at least, that’s what you kept telling yourself.

As you approached the brick building, you pulled your schedule out of your bag. You’d forgotten the room number for your creative writing class. Room 301 with Professor Harrow. You’d had a class with him a couple years ago and always remembered him being nice enough. His voice was soft, and he was understanding when you missed a couple of assignments due to poor time management.

When you got to the room, there was a guy you’d had writing classes with before, Cameron, sitting next to the only open seat. You walked over and sat down next to him, giving him a friendly smile which he returned.

“Same professor, same room,” he chuckled, flashing his charming grin.

“Same seat.” You said, recalling that the two of you managed to sit in those seats the last time you were in Harrow’s class together.

Professor Harrow, or Artie as he liked to be called, walked to the front of the class with a calm smile across his face.

“Welcome class, did you all enjoy your winter break?” He asked, to which the class responded with a few lackluster ‘yeahs’.

“Good. I see some familiar faces.” He looked at you and Cameron. “And some unfamiliar ones.”

As much as you enjoyed listening to Artie’s lectures, he had a tendency to talk very slowly and lull you nearly to sleep. If not for the man on your left, you would’ve been reprimanded for falling asleep during the class. There was one thing that immediately perked you up though. You looked out to the hall through the open double doors as a familiar curly haired man walked by.

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

Steven’s morning began on an odd note. He woke up on his couch, television on a channel he didn’t frequently watch, and his alarm blaring. He didn’t remember setting an alarm. Steven groaned, sitting up and running his hands over his face. This had to be addressed, before it went much further. With a tired stumble, he made his way to the bathroom, hands on either side of the sink, eyes directly at his reflection. 

“If you’re in there, yeah, movin’ around and all, the least you can do is let me in on it.” He stared at his own reflection for a while, watching for any change, any sign of them. “Who was it? Was it you, Jake? Marc?”

Nothing. Not one sound.

“If you’re not going to talk to me, then leave me alone.”

He walked out to the living room again and started his day, getting his coffee brewing while he showered. You crossed his mind while he stood there washing himself. He felt guilty for touching himself the night before to the thought of you. It really was so wrong, and Steven normally behaved by the book.

When he’d finished, he went out to the kitchen in just his towel, grabbing a travel mug and filling it with his usual brew. He sort of wished he’d made his coffee himself yesterday. If he’d done that, he wouldn’t be trying to fight these new and confusing feelings he developed for you. He had just wanted to try the local coffee shop on his first day.

He found himself thinking about you more while he dressed himself. What was your favorite color? He was glad he didn’t know, or he might’ve tried to pick a tie to match. His cheeks were reddened by the thought of it, dressing in something that he hoped might catch your eye. He didn’t know if he could handle you looking at him again, though he knew he’d have to get over it sooner rather than later. You were his student after all. That’s all you were, just his student.

He didn’t live far from the building that his class was in, and he enjoyed the walk, even though it was chilly. When he was going by the familiar cafe that was Moonbean Coffee, he looked inside. 

There you were. 

His heart leapt and caught in his throat. If you turned around and caught him staring, it would be extremely awkward, but he needed to look, even for just one moment.

You were reading the poster on the wall, not looking in his direction at all. He remembered seeing it yesterday. Something on there made your lips quirk and he briefly wondered if you were also interested in the art gallery. He’d noticed it too when he was in there yesterday and it piqued his interest. When you turned to grab your coffee and leave, he knew his time was up and so he shuffled away quickly, not wanting you to catch him staring.

He got to the building without your noticing. He even watched you from the safety of his classroom as you walked by. You hadn’t even looked in to see if he was there. That was probably for the best; it meant you weren’t thinking about him as much as he was thinking about you and that was good. As his class ended a little while later, he continued to remind himself that you didn’t care, that you’d just casually walked by.

There was a paper he needed to make copies of, a handout for his next class on Ancient Greece, and a book he needed to borrow. With a smile on his face, and relief from the pressure of his impeding thoughts, he felt lighter as he walked toward the library.

Finally he was thinking about something other than you while he roamed the halls. He was thinking about the new show on TV he’d been waiting for. It also occurred to him that he didn’t do the crossword for the day yet. He smiled as he thought about stopping by the local diner to grab a bite and cozying up on the couch for a quiet evening in. Just him and Gus.

That is, until he looked into room 301, and you looked back, shattering all the thoughts in his mind.

You stiffened immediately. He even froze in the hall, catching your gaze. Your lips parted as you recalled the night you’d spent with your finger inside your soaking channel, wishing it were his instead. He moved away quickly, breaking your line of sight. Professor Harrow said your name, causing you to jump nearly out of your seat.

“Is there something much more interesting than this class happening in the hall?” He asked you, raising heat to your cheeks.

“U-um, no Mr. Harrow, I’m sorry it’s just…class was over five minutes ago and I have to get to my next class.” You gulped.

He squinted at the clock above the door and his lips curled into a humble smile.

“Would you look at that, it would seem I’ve become carried away once again. Well, I need that five page short story on my desk Thursday morning.” He said to the class. “Enjoy this beautiful day, folks.”

“He’s such a weirdo.” Cameron said, letting out a chuckle from behind you as you made your way to the door.

You giggled, “No kidding.”

You didn’t have another class for a couple of hours, meaning you could turn right and head to your dorm to pass the time with some TV or doing homework, but you were instead drawn to the left…where Steven had gone. 

There was only one thing in that direction you could imagine Professor Grant heading toward: the library. You should’ve turned right. You should’ve walked away right then and there, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. He was right there. He was right down the hall and you just needed to see him.

Your school had a decent selection of books, both fiction and nonfiction. It was two stories tall, one of the biggest libraries you’d ever been in. There were a couple of librarians tending to some students at the counter, and several other students in the various tables and study spaces around. The lighting was dim and relaxing, you could spend an entire day in there easily, and figured that you might do that the next time you needed a quiet place to study.

You couldn’t very well walk up to the librarians and ask them to tell you where the frazzled looking british man went when he walked in there. Instead, you listened. Steven was anything but quiet in the short time you knew him.

“Bugger, this bloody machine!”

As you’d suspected, he gave himself away too easily. You still shouldn’t have been there, chasing after your history professor like a lost puppy, but you couldn’t help yourself. You heard him smacking something when you walked by several shelves of books to see him in the printer room, fighting with the machine.

“Steven?” You said softly.

“Yeah, yeah I’m trying to get this damn-” He turned around and finally noticed that it was you talking to him. “Oh…hi.” A dopey smile spread over his lips.

“Hey.” You said, returning the awkward smile.

He shook his head out of the fog it was under and slapped his hand on his thigh in frustration.

“This bloody thing, it…I can’t get it to work. I just need twenty copies of this one…” He turned back around, crinkling the sheet in his hand as he tried to pull it out of the printer.

“Steven, stop, Steven!” You said, grabbing his hand and putting your other palm on his back.

He stopped trying to pull on the paper, like your touch had frozen his body in place. You had moved to grab his hand so quickly you hadn’t really thought about the fact that you were touching the man who you’d masturbated to the night before. His hand was soft, you thought nervously, letting go as if he’d burned you and stepping back.

“I…erm…the machine, it…doesn’t work.” He said as if all the air had been removed from his lungs.

“Let me take a look. I used to help out at my dad’s office sometimes.” You squeezed around Steven and into the small space.

All the air had all escaped his lungs. The feeling of your fingers around his hand remained like a burn across his skin, branding him. He stepped back, giving you space to work. You were gentle in the way you opened the printer, pulling out the crumpled sheet of paper. You looked at him, holding the manhandled sheet, raising your eyebrows.

“You’re going to need a new paper to make copies with.” You said to him.

“It…it was my only copy and I thought, I thought I knew how to use a little printer. Got myself through a PhD, no problem.”

He watched you go back to work, completely dumbfounded. You straightened out the sheet. He was mad at himself for staring so longingly at every curve of your body. There was a little bit of your back showing where your shirt and the waist of your pants were supposed to meet. He found his hand pressing to his chest in sheer amazement of your beauty. He’d never felt so foolish as he did in that moment.

That was, until you bent down. He hadn’t backed up nearly far enough and your rear brushed against him. He stepped back quickly when you whipped your head around, eyes full of surprise. He raised his eyebrows sheepishly and stared at the floor.

“Sorry I-erm-I didn’t realize I was so close.” He said, nearly collapsing from embarrassment.

Settle down, pendejo.

“Sorry, what?” Steven said to you.

You stood and turned around, “What?”

His blood ran cold. That couldn’t have been…

“Sorry I thought you said something.” He muttered.

“No, I didn’t. How many copies did you say you needed?” You asked, waiting expectantly.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, “erm, twenty.”

Amazingly, the deformed sheet went through without an issue, and the printer started spitting out pages. When you turned back around, you noticed Steven’s hands clasped in front of his nether region. You trailed up to look at his eyes, following his tie that coincidentally was your favorite color. A genuine smile spread over his face.

“Thanks for your help…” His toothy grin remained as you skirted by him.

“You’re welcome. See you in the morning.” You said, leaving the library quickly so your knees wouldn’t give out from shaking so hard.

For the rest of the day, he flooded your mind. Steven was a heavy cloud, sitting inside your cranium and soaking through you, deep into your core. His smile burned into your memory like a hot iron. You’d never felt like this about anyone, so why him? There were perfectly attractive men at your school that you could date. Perhaps Cameron would be interested in going out for coffee. There was no reason to be so infatuated with the one that you weren’t allowed to have, but you couldn’t help it.

Why did he have to look at you like that, like his brain shut down the moment his eyes fell on you? Every. Single. Time. Why did he have to stand so close to you while you worked on that damn printer? Why did you go to the library after seeing him walk that way in the first place? You should’ve walked to the right, back to your dorm, when you’d left Professor Harrow’s class.

Steven was asking himself the same questions, but particularly falling on the one regarding his close proximity to you while you fixed the printer. He stayed in the printer room for a while, even after the pages had finished spitting out of it, just willing his erection to cease before he went to his next class. You had his mind racing, only thinking about you.

He was ashamed to have given the class a simple writing assignment so he could spend his time thinking about you instead. The way you smiled, how your hand felt touching his, how your bum felt against him. He cleared his throat, catching the attention of several others in the room before they returned to their work. He looked down at his glasses, and there was a delay in his reflection, as though it were running behind. It was there, for sure. He saw it.

There was a delay…they’re back.

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[faust-the-enjoyer]

Drunk dbf!keegan who’s careless with his flirting, passing you a beer even though your father would probably dissaprove, getting all touchy nd everything

Drunk dbf!Keegan!

Warnings: gen!reader, reader is 21+, legal age gap, mentions of alcohol and getting drunk, flirting, pre-established consent, mentions of guilt and disappointment, cursing, slight nsfw implication, reader gets called "kid" a couple of times, pet names.

Word count: 1,080 words.

A/n: made this gender neutral because there no gender specification in your request, hope you like it! Sorry it took a while.

You came over his house to watch some football with him, specifically due to his consistent rants about it, as they intrigued you. It started innocently enough, you two sitting on the couch, a couple of sodas and some popcorn on the table, and you asking him questions about the game. After two hours, the tv is on a different channel, and Keegan started drinking, first it was whisky, now it's beer. He passed you a cup after he finished his own, and you kept looking at it, eyes undeciding, your father would be disappointed in you, even though you're old enough to drink; your family always had negative views on alcohol. "What's wrong, kid?", his says slowly, concern evident in his tone, although drunk, he was well aware of the frown on your face and the sad look in your eyes. "I...you know he wouldn't like me drinking, Keegan..." you tell him, he knew your father well, they've been friends for years now, and he knows how your father despises alcohol and its effects on people. "You don't have to if you don't want to, sweetheart.", you look at him, his face is slightly red, blue eyes kind and half-closed, smile content. "Come 'ere," he slurs, patting his lap, signalling you to come sit on it, it's not the first time you sat in his lap, nor the first time you've been touched by him like that, though it never went further. You look at your beer, pint glass full of that rich yellow drink, you reach out your hand and take the glass cup and drink, drinking until half of the drink is gone from the cup. "That's it!" he cheers excitedly, he knows you've only drunken a couple of times before, only behind your father's back, calling Keegan at eleven in the evening to come pick you up from some bar you went to.

You get up from your spot on the couch to settle on his lap, putting your full wight on him, he doesn’t care, he can handle it, he's a soldier after all. "There we go..." he says, his hand wrapping around your stomach to hold you as you lay your back on his sweaty chest, his other hand resting on your thigh, "Comfortable, baby?", ""Baby"?" you laugh, it was unlike him, really, he never dared to be like this towards you, sure, he'd sit you in his lap, but blatantly flirt with you? Never. He'd compliment you here and there as well, but never went too far. "Yeah, "Baby", or do you want me to call you something else, hm?" he gives you a relaxed, hearty laugh, so contagious that you laugh with him. You take the cup again, drinking all of the beer this time, you can practically feel Keegan's smile on your neck now. "You've always been so good, so fucking beautiful, always doing what you’re told..." "You like that, huh?" you both chuckle, "Hey, it's not every day I get this hammered, ok kid? Just let me have this..." he says, his lips on your neck now, kissing it gently. "Fine, but you're the one giving an explanation to my dad tomorrow if he asks, alright?" you tell him, tone half-serious. "Alright alright, Jesus kid, you act just like your father.", You try to conceal your smile as you slap the hand on your thigh, feeling him squeeze your flesh in return. “Wanna watch something else on tv?” he asks, his words now slurring more than before, “Yeah, sure.”, you grab the remote and flip through the channels, feeling his hand gently rub your thigh, and the thumb of his other hand drawing circles on your stomach.

You decide on turning the tv off, not finding anything interesting at all. As you turn it off, you hear a disappointed grumble come from behind you and you giggle. It was obvious that he was getting a little drowsy, his head is resting on your shoulder, and his hands loosely on your abdomen. “Keegan, want me to take you to your bed?” you asked quietly, “Mhm, do…whatever you think is…right, sweetheart…”. You sigh, getting up from his lap and going to the kitchen, grabbing two cups, and filling both up with water from the sink’s faucet you drink yours first in the kitchen, then put the cup in the sink. Coming back to the living room, you see Keegan asleep on the couch, “Keegan, here.” You tell him as you help him sit up sleepily, handing him his cup of water to drink. He drinks the whole cup, a bit of water running to his chin from the side of his mouth, he’s really fucked now, and he’ll be even more fucked in the morning. “C’mon Keegan, we gotta get ya to bed now, help me out here.”, you throw his arm over your shoulder, slowly helping him get up from the couch as you walk towards his bedroom. You stumble with his drunk body while walking to his room, opening the door quickly and walking towards the bed, helping lay him on his side. His hand reaches out for your face, gently caressing your cheek, “Always…so good to me…”, he says while faintly smiling. You smile back at him as you tuck him into bed, getting up to turn the lights off and getting back to his side on the bed. “He’d be disgusted with him…” you thought to yourself, if your father found out that his best friend had been touching you like that, having you sit on his lap and kissing your neck, getting drunk around you and giving you a drink as well, you’d get an earful, while Keegan will definitely be treated worse. However, you are an adult, a working adult who can manage their own business and relationships, whatever the morning of tomorrow brings you, you won’t be alone to face it. You look at Keegan’s sleeping face, so peaceful, it’s not as if this is the same man that cursed at the tv during the game hours before. You take your shoes off and walk to the other side of the bed, slowly lowering yourself on the soft mattress as you heard Keegan’s soft snores. You turn towards him, “Goodnight.” You whisper to him, kissing his forehead and laying your head on your pillow, closing your eyes, you’d put your head on his chest, but it’d be too hot for that, you’d sweat so much.

-(divider by vase-of-lilies)!

[just-a-torn-up-masterpiece]

I don't normally request stuff but your joyce fics give me life and this woman has got me DOWN ON MY KNEES so here we go: I'd love to see the reader getting a bit jealous of hopper and how he tries to shoot his shot at joyce, so she wants to show joyce that she's the one that can pleasure her more than any man could ever...and maybe it could end with a little bit of ✂️✂️👀 (if you're comfortable with that)

masterlists

you're mine

Pairing - Joyce Byers x fem!reader

18+ :age gap, secret relationship, hopper slander, smut; fingering (joyce!receiving), oral (joyce!receiving), marking, possessive reader, slight dom/sub energy kind of

Word Count - 2566

A/N - okay so idek how to write uh ✂️ ✂️ 😭 so i didn’t include that part i’m sorry BUT i hope this is okay, i really loved this idea, thanks nonnie 

Also everyone is a couple of years older than canon, so reader is about 21 - idk who’s house this is set at just pretend the layout makes sense

You were laughing with your friends in the Indiana summer heat, just a free and easy day, cool beer bottles in hand with your legs stretched over the grass. The large group of you chatted away, the younger members sipping on coca cola, though you may or may not have let El try a sip of your beer (she did not approve).

From where you sat you could see Murray, Hopper and Joyce talking away beside the barbecue - Murray was sporting his favourite apron whilst the two men decided they’d be in charge of the grilling, spatulas in hand. 

Your eyes zeroed in on them, the conversation you were a part of becoming a mindless background noise as you observed. The way Hopper was gradually inching closer to Joyce - your Joyce. Sure, it was a secret tryst, just sneaking around having sex behind everyone’s back but it’s not as if you could tell anyone.

You couldn’t just go to one of your best friends and say, ‘hey Jonathan, by the way, I’m fucking your mom’. That would not go down well.

It took a conscious effort to stop the scowl crawling over your face at the way he touched her arm, leaving his gross hands on her - only you could touch her like that. You channelled your annoyance into the scraping of your nails on the glass bottle in your grasp, peeling away at the sticker that had dampened with condensation. You flicked specks of paper onto the grassy floor as you saw his hand squeeze her shoulder and she laughed at something he said.

You’re the one who makes her laugh, the beautiful sound was etched into your mind, not him.

“What about you, Y/N/N? Any action in your life?” Nancy asked with a nudge of her elbow into your side, snapping your eyes back to the expectant ones of the group. 

“Oh, uh, no. Not right now.” You smiled with a bashful shake of your head.

“Yeah right.” Robin scoffed. The others looked at you as though they also didn’t believe you whilst you just raised your eyebrows in shock.

“What do you mean ‘yeah right’?” You mocked. “I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Oh please.” Max sighed with a teasing roll of her eyes. “We can all see this weird pep in your step the last few months - you’re obviously getting fucked - even El can see it.” She added, earning a nod in approval from Eleven. 

“Max!” You laughed, taken aback by her matter of fact words but it was clear nobody believed you. Your skin was hot under their stares, it didn’t help that the topic had brought the thought of Joyce’s face buried between your thighs to the forefront of your mind, the way her fingers-

“You’re totally getting laid.” Argyle muttered with a dopey smile. “I bet that’s what you’re thinking about right now.” 

“Just tell us who it is.” Will urged, god they were all ganging up on you. Lucas, Dustin, Steve, Jonathan and Mike were even watching in anticipation.

“No.” 

“Aha! So there is someone.” Robin exclaimed, the others laughed when you lay on your back with a groan. After a couple more minutes of teasing they finally let up, moving on to teasing Dustin - more specifically the ‘Dustybun phenomenon’.

You were mindlessly watching the clouds floating across above you until you heard a loud, boisterous laugh - you rolled your eyes at the sound. You turned your head to the side to see Hopper sidled up beside Joyce, watching her intently as she spoke, leaning up the wall nodding at her words. You were close enough to see his eyes darting down to her lips every now and then as his hands stole touches here and there.

No matter how ugly the sight, you couldn’t help but smile at her voice - explaining the plot of a movie she’d watched recently with great excitement, her hands gesturing wildly. You’d watched it together and it made your heart swell how much she’d enjoyed it, you’d listened to her go on and on about it afterwards. It was impossible for her voice to tire you. 

“That sounds great, maybe we should watch it together some time.” He spoke. This had your eyes that had since fluttered closed against the sunlight to snap open, hoping you could somehow absorb some of El’s powers to burn a literal hole in the side of his head as you stared.

“Oh. Um, maybe.” She answered with a polite grin and she didn’t pull away when Hopper’s hand set up camp on her arm - again. 

You clenched your jaw at the sight, hands balling into fists at your side as you sat up. Despite the anger it was causing to pulse through you, you couldn’t look away. It was when your eyebrows furrowed that Joyce’s eyes locked with yours, a tiny smile accompanying it, an attempt at reassurance though it didn’t quell anything. Especially when he continued to flirt with her.

“I’m gonna get another drink.” You announced, not waiting for a response before you made your way over.

“Hey, kid.” He greeted and you plastered on the fakest and most sickly sweet smile you could muster.

“Hey, it smells good.” You answered. “Ms Byers, you don’t think you could help me out with something do you? I don’t want to interrupt anything, of course.” You smiled but she wasn’t buying that fake, polite innocent bullshit for even a second. 

“Anything I could help with?” Hopper asked, of course he had to interfere - could he not just get the hint?

“Oh, well, it’s girl stuff.” You returned shyly, biting back a laugh at the way red flew into his cheeks and he stuttered out a weak answer.

“Gosh, Hop. Menstruation isn’t so taboo nowadays, you should really educate yourself.” You heard Murray begin as you stepped inside the house, making a beeline for the bathroom with Joyce in tow.

She shut the bathroom door behind her, turning to face your aggravated self - she’d be lying if she said the sight of you jealous didn’t do something to her. She’d not seen it before but it was definitely a good experience so far; the way your jaw squeezed tightly shut and your eyes had darkened.

“What’s up, babe?”

“What’s up?” You scoffed. “That fucker out there is what’s up. He can’t keep his hands off you.”

“Oh? I guess I didn’t notice.” She lied, looking at you with those doe eyes she sports so well. You huffed a laugh at her words. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think somebody was jealous.” She approached you with a teasing poke to your chest. You rolled your eyes and guided her to the counter until she was pressed against it, your rested your hands on it either side of her so she was trapped in and your face was mere centimetres from hers.

“Only I’m allowed to touch you like he was. You’re mine right?” You spoke, an air of nervousness and uncertainty in your question.

“Of course I am.” And she knew you were hers.

“Then fucking kiss me.”

She didn’t waste a single second before her lips crashed to yours, her hands pulled you into her by your hips while yours cupped her face. The kisses were desperate and she let you take the upper hand this time with the way you pushed your tongue past her lips, the taste of your beer in her mouth.

You pulled away with a tug to her bottom lip before lifting her up onto the bathroom counter. She yelped at the sudden action, a movement with the kind of force you’d never exhibited before, the kind of force she’d usually use on you. Though she wasn’t mad at this new side she was seeing. 

“You’re mine.” You whispered against the skin of her neck, lips brushing against her causing the goosebumps to rise over her body. Joyce’s arms looped around you as you kissed beneath her ear, your teeth grazing at her lobe and your hands gripping onto her bare thighs where she sat in her denim shorts. She’d chosen her outfit this morning with you in mind, legs exposed and chest hugged by her fitted t-shirt.

You kissed across her jaw until your lips slotted with hers again and your hands dragged upwards over her waist. She groaned into your mouth when you palmed at her breast through her shirt, arching her body into your touch. You pulled at the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head when she moved away from you to do so. 

You kissed her exposed chest with a bite to her collarbone, sucking the skin until a decent mark was left behind - a mark to show she’s yours. It looked so pretty against her smooth flesh, just beside your favourite freckle on her body - you’d memorised them all.

You smirked at the way she sighed heavily when you slid your hand beneath her bra, giving her nipple a squeeze between your forefinger and thumb, pulling at the hardened bud, squeezing the pillowy breast in your hand.

She almost protested when you pulled away but soon changed her mind at the feeling of your fingers stroking down her torso to the waistband of her shorts.

“Come on, baby. Show me who I belong to.” She whispered, almost teasing you and the more dominant role you’d slipped into for the first time - she made a mental note to make you jealous more often.

You did just that with a frustrated huff, roughly yanking the button of her shorts open and pushing your hand down. She was so wet already and you smirked at the feeling of her slick coating your fingertips as you teasingly slid them through her folds. 

It wasn’t the most comfortable position for your hand to be trapped in but the way she groaned at your fingers pushing into her made it worth it. You claimed her lips with yours, thrusting into her needy pussy with a perfect curl of your digits, one that made her choke a moan into your mouth, fingers digging into your upper arm where she held on.

A lewd sound filled the room with the way your fingers pulled out of her and pumped back in at a pace that had her reeling. When your thumb began to rub over her clit she had to pull back from the kiss trying to catch her breath, gasping out at the feeling. 

“Fuck, Y/N.” She sighed, attempting to quieten the moans that threatened to make themselves be heard across the neighbourhood by burying her face in your neck. She sloppily kissed at the skin, nails digging into the back of your neck where she grabbed on aimlessly. 

“Cum on my fingers, baby. Show me how good I am.” 

It didn’t take much more for her perfect groan of pleasure to sound beside your ear and her dripping walls to clench around your fingers as she came. It hadn’t quite satisfied you yet, you needed to show her what she’d be missing out on with him. Felt the need to prove just how much better you are than any man could ever be at making her feel blissfully fucked. 

You nudged her backwards from where she was still catching her breath with her chin resting on your shoulder, pulling your drenched fingers out of her and staring into her eyes as you sucked them clean. Humming at the taste as you pushed them into your mouth, making a show of you tasting her, cleaning up the beautiful mess she had made. 

She watched with parted lips as you pulled at her shorts, lifting up to let you pull them from her body along with her underwear, letting them pool to the floor beneath her. You eyed her glistenening slit with a hungry gaze, licking your lips in anticipation, dropping to your knees before her.

You wrapped your arms around her thighs, pulling her to the edge of the counter - hygiene be damned - and pressed a kiss to her still sensitive clit. Your tongue slid through her tentatively, her sweet juices covering your tongue and you lapped them up desperately. 

When you sucked at her clit her hand clamped onto your hair as she fought back a moan; you peered up through your eyelashes to see her, locking eyes with her when she peeked down at you. You saw how her face heated up, a pink blush creeping over her chest when you kept your gaze fixed on hers while you licked through her folds, teasingly flicking your tongue over where she needed it most.

She dug her heels into your back, pulling you into her frustratedly when you just made her grow even more desperate for you. You squeezed at the flesh of her thighs before harshly sucking at her bud, watching as her head fell backwards and her hand clamped over her open mouth to muffle the loud moan at the back of her throat. 

Her chest rose and fell in quick succession as your tongue expertly flicked over her clit, eating her pussy like your life depended on it; her hips bucked slightly as her hands pulled at your scalp, grinding herself onto your tongue in an urgent need for a release. The pull at your hair made you groan against her, vibrating onto her heavenly.

It barely took anything more for her to cum into your mouth, legs shakily wrapping around you whilst a poorly quietened moan ripped from her throat into the air around you. “Fuck.” She breathed as you lazily licked her through her orgasm, dragging it out and helping her ride it through.

You pulled away from her with your lips and chin covered in her arousal, darting your tongue out to clean yourself up. Joyce yanked you into a heated kiss, tasting herself in her blissed state.

When you pulled away for air you bent down to pull her underwear and shorts back up her legs before muttering to her.

“Next time Hopper is fucking you with his eyes, remember how I fucked you in his bathroom. Remember how your legs were shaking and you moaned my name - nobody could ever make you feel the way I do.”

She gulped at your words, stunned at the peck you planted on her lips before smiling and tossing her shirt to her. You were right, of course, nobody could make her feel the way you do. 

You turned and left the room with a smirk tugging at your lips whilst she tried to make herself look a little less freshly fucked. She stepped outside where you were talking to Hopper.

“Yeah we got stuck chatting - you’re taking your time with this food though so at least we haven’t missed anything.” 

He laughed at what he thought was a jest but Joyce smirked knowing it was as much of a dig at him you could come up with.

“Oh - Ms Byers - sorry again for talking for so long. You know what I’m like, my mouth has a mind of its own. My mother always said it’d get me in trouble one day.” 

She choked on the mouthful of beer she was attempting to swallow, smiling lightly at the discreet wink you threw her before sauntering across the grass to the rest of the group.

[joekeeryswife]

Beautiful boy - S.H

you had recently moved to Hawkins. to say you were upset was an understatement. you had moved all the way from the UK, leaving behind your whole family except your mum, dad and brother. you had made quite good friends with your neighbour, Robin. she had made you feel welcome and safe. pretty much she was your only friend.

you were happy that you were 19 because that meant you wouldn't have to go to school, you were very socially awkward. it was a Wednesday morning when you heard a knock on your front door. you carefully walked through the cluttered house and opened the front door. you saw Robin standing there with two other girls who looked about 15.

"hey y/n, i was wondering if you wanted to come out with us to the mall?" Robin said, smiling gently. "oh uhh yeah okay. i need to get ready but i'll meet you there?" you replied, looking down at your outfit. you were wearing christmas pyjama bottoms and a hoodie. "oh yeah sure. would you wanna meet at like eleven maybe? that gives you an hour and a half is that okay?" Robin said, looking at her wrist watch. "yeah that's perfect, i'll see you later" you said, watching them walking away. you closed the door and started getting ready.

you finished getting ready and asked you mum to drive you to the mall. seeing the time you had ten minutes to get there, it took about five minutes to get there so you would get there early. you arrived at the mall and saw Robin standing there with the two girls that were at your house this morning. you got out the car and walked to Robin. "hey y/n, you look pretty" Robin said, pulling you in for a hug. you thanked her quietly and pulled out of the hug. "oh how rude of me, this is El and Max. they are my friends" she said, introducing you to the two girls. they both said their hellos and we all walked into the mall.

you walked to 'The GAP' where you guys started to do some shopping. to be honest, you had an amazing time. you didn't think that you would honestly and because you were socially awkward, you surprised yourself. you guys went into about twenty different clothing shops and your hands were basically full with bags that were full of clothes, shoes and accessories. when you moved, you wanted to change for the better, so you started with outfits. "i'm hungry" you heard Max say. she looked a little pale and you all decided it was best to go get some food. you walked to 'Burger King' and ordered food.

"you know, it's been nice today" you heard Robin say to you when the two girls were sat down in a booth. "yeah it has. thank you for inviting me, you didn't have to" you replied, smiling to her. "oh of course i did. you're one of my best friends and i know we haven't known each other long but it's nice to hang out with a girl who's my age." she said, lightly banging her shoulder with yours in a jokey way. you laughed and sat down with the other girls and all ate. the meal was filled with laughter, jokes, and conversations you'd never thing to have. "so, maybe we could all go to my house later and watch a movie? i work in Family Video so i could get whatever movie i want." Robin said, breaking the joking atmosphere. "yeah okay, what movie were you thinking?" El said, replying to Robins suggestion.

"oh maybe we could watch 'Grease'. i've never watched it and it came out ages ago." you said, throwing out a suggestion. all of the girls looked at you in shock. "you've never seen Grease? that's actually heartbreaking. we need to watch that" Max said, her eyes wide. "well, i haven't really had any time." you said, looking down. a little embarrassed that you hadn't seen the film. "oh no it's okay. i'm just shocked that you haven't seen it" Max replied, feeling a little bad that she made you uncomfortable.

"Grease is a shout. maybe we could invite the boys" El said. "who are they?" you said. you'd never met them before and you started to get nervous. "well, they are a of 14 and 15 year olds who are nerds. you'll be fine" Max said, replying to your question. "maybe we could invite Steve. he's working today. i'll ask him when i go get the movie" Robin said. "ooo yeah invite Steve. he's nice." El said. you had never been more confused but nevertheless you kept quiet. you all finished your food and then left the mall. your mum was waiting outside and you said goodbye to the girls. "y/n, come round my house at around 6 or 7, it's up to you." Robin said as you hugged her.

you walked to the car and got in, you put the bags in the back seats and your mum started driving. you got home at around 5 so you got changed into comfier clothes. you waited downstairs, speaking to your mum for a while before you walked to Robins house. you arrived at 6:23pm. you knocked on the door gently and a boy, about 14 years old opened the door. "uhh who are you?" he said, tilting his head to the side, analysing you. "i'm y/n. is Robin home?" you replied to the curly haired boy. "i'm Dustin. yeah she is, ROBIN" he shouted her name and she came walking to the door. "oh hey y/n. Dustin why didn't you invite her in, i said she was coming" Robin said to the boy. "well i was just making sure it was her." he replied, moving out the way so you could walk in.

you walked into the house and saw a group of young, teenage boys with El and Max. you smiled and said hello before sitting down next to Robin. you guys laughed for a bit before someone knocked on the door. your head turned to the door and you saw a boy, about 20 years old, wearing a bomber jacket, jeans, and a plain t-shirt. "woah" you whispered. Max, who was sat next to you, turned to you a smirked. "that's Steve" she whispered back. you instantly blushed. you didn't think anyone heard you, you hoped no one else heard you.

“STEVE” you heard Dustin scream. he ran over to him and hugged him. Steve hugged him back and smiled. “hey man, how are you?” he replied, stroking his back gently. you smiled a bit, you’d never seen an ‘adult’ boy be so kind to a teenager. they are usually rude and disrespectful but he seemed kind and caring. they both pulled away and walked into the living room. “hey guys, who’s this?” Steve said, saying his hellos to the group before turning to me. “oh, that’s y/n. she just moved here from the UK and she’s Robins friend, she’s nice” Mike said, replying to Steve’s question. “oh hi y/n, it’s nice to meet you” he said, smiling at you. “hi Steve” you said, smiling back.

you could not keep your eyes off Steve. his smiled as he whispered to Dustin about something you couldn’t hear but he was beautiful. his hair was a bit messy but you did not mind. he looked amazing. you turned back to the film which you were starting to enjoy. Robin turned to you “you like Steve” you heard her whisper, making sure no one else was listening. “what? no i don’t. i just met him” you whisper shouted back. you instantly started to blush. your face was bright red and you were thankful for the lights being off. “yes you do. i just met you and i can read you like a book” she replied laughing out loud. everyone turned to Robin and she instantly closed her mouth. “please don’t say anything. i’m begging you” you said, turning to look her in the eyes.

“i wouldn’t do that. i promise. but you should start hanging out with us more so you can, you know, get to know him more” Robin replied, giving you a small smile. you both turned back to the TV and kept watching the movie. the movie finished and basically everyone was asleep you looked around to see Dustin, Max, Robin and Steve were the only ones awake. you got up and got the stuff that you brought and spoke up. “i better head home. thank you for inviting me Robin. it was nice to meet you guys” you said as you started to walk to the door. you heard someone get slapped before someone spoke up. “wait. i’ll walk you home. it’s dark out there” you heard someone speak up, you turned to see Steve getting up off the sofa.

“oh urm thanks Steve.” you said. your face blushed again. he walked to you and you walked out the door. “bye guys” you said, turning back to the group. before walking away. “so. i’ve never seen you around here before. why did you move here?” you heard him say as you both walked slowly to you house. “well, i moved here two weeks ago. bit of a shock i’m not gonna lie, but it’s nice to have someone to talk to. Robin made me feel so welcomed so i’m happy to know someone” you said, a bit embarrassed that you just said how you felt to a person you just met. “well, Robin is a nice girl. she’s one of my best friends.” he replied, laughing a bit. it was nice to talk to him.

“well, this is me. thank you for walking me home Steve. i really appreciate it.” you said as your walked up the steps to your house and turned around. “no worries. it was nice talking to you. maybe we could hang out just us two some time?” he said in a questioning tone. you smiled lightly, “yeah, i would really like that. ask Robin for my number and call me whenever you want to meet up” you replied, your smile growing. “oh yeah i will. bye y/n” Steve said, walking backwards, a smile growing on his blushes face. “bye Steve” you said, walking into your house, you waved and closed the door gently. you leant your back on the door and smiled widely. “what a beautiful boy” you said, as your cheeks flushed a bright red colour.

[felassan]

Snippets/speculation etc of interest from Mark Darrah part 2 (in parts due to Tumblr character limits. Part 1 link), from his co-stream of The Game Awards, under a cut due to length:

"[BioWare] did have a trailer just 4 days ago [the new cinematic], it was a trailer that wouldn't have gotten, Geoff would not have put that on TGA, so it was too small for TGA and too big to be [inaudible]". He said it would have been a lot at one time to show the new cinematic on DA Day, Absolution releasing and to be at TGA. On why that video was chosen, he said probably because it was done, or close to done

When another game was announced and gave a date in its announcement during the world premieres, he said "Yeah, see, they're literally dating and announcing at the same time, Dragon Age might be thinking of doing the same thing"

When asked in chat "​does this mean we're getting DA:D in 2024 tops? Not even late 2023?" he said "no, it doesn't mean that, it means they're keeping their options open and they're just planning to spend their money over their summer, like they're just compressing their marketing so they can have a louder campaign, it doesn't mean anything. It means you're not gonna see it [it's not going to release] in the summer [of 2023], but you were never gonna see it in the summer. 'Cause they have one more big beat. They could drop a big trailer at E3, that's June, if they come out in November that's still tons of time. We'll see something from them in the summer, unless something goes horribly wrong they would have to do something in the summer. I still think they're targeting November 2023, like, eleven months from now. They would do it [push to 2024 if they had to], their financial year ends at the end of March, but the reason they would delay it is for quality reasons, EA wouldn't push it for any other reason"

He said "I don't know, but I doubt DA:D will have a multiplayer at all". Chat asked "the mandate from EA to make DA4 MP when you were running it, did you think it would eventually shape up and work, or was it a bad idea from the start?" and he said "it could have worked, but it was the right choice to move away from it. [...] It could have been made to work, there was work yet to be done there and definitely there wasn't perfect alignment on it. [...] The team wasn't really on-board with multiplayer so it would've been uphill. If the team doesn't wanna do it, it's basically a virtual impossibility to get them to do it effectively and make it good"

He doesn't think the temporal gap between DA:I and DA:D matters really, if the game is good, though "you're definitely not building on momentum. It's a standing start, for sure". "2016 was the best time to release another Dragon Age, but after 2016 you largely lost that moment". Mass Effect is going to have the same situation obviously - "there's enough time between them. [though] it can actually work in your favor because you don't have any drag either"

When asked in chat "wonder if BioWare could have afforded to release DA spin offs in between DA:I and DA:D. Heck why not have some other studio make something? Lack of resources?" he said "EA doesn't like spending money"

"RPGs are expensive and they take a long time". "Probably we need to get used to long development times, but I do think the industry knows, we haven't figured out a way out the other side yet. I think the answer is more true sequels and more [asset] reuse, but there is an active [gaming] community backlash against that sort of thing, so". Not reusing assets much between DA games has happened "for stupider reasons than concern about fan backlash" though

"You just have to treat Frostbite with respect. BioWare has not built upon itself [re: Frostbite] as effectively as it could have unfortunately"

When asked in chat "what did the Dragon Age 'finalling team' do in Mass Effect: Andromeda?" he said "lots of things. The DA team helped shipped ME:A, they came up pretty late, helped with triage, helped with bug-fixing, some level, I think one level was made by that team"

The Alpha phase is much later than two years out from release

"I don't know what it's gonna be like playing DA:D [himself], because there will definitely be stuff in there that was there when I was working on it, so it'll be really weird, I think"

He's not covered by any NDA from BioWare about any upcoming news, but he doesn't ask them for things that he wouldn't want to talk about, because otherwise they would stop telling him things

One of his pitches for Joplin was "no DLC and to make another game in 18 months"

Expansions and DLCs are things you can have devs working on while you're waiting for the next franchise to pick them up. When asked in chat "​why were DAI DLCs so short compared to games like The Witcher 3 DLC? Any reason in particular?" he said that the DA DLCs were trying to be more focused, while The Witcher 3 DLCs were stretching up towards expansion packs and CDPR had/has different terminology for things like patch vs DLC vs expansion pack

When asked in chat "has the origin of the Blight plot been modified since DA:O or did the team stick with the original vision?" he said "the idea is always to leave those threads as open as possible so that they can be tied into a lot of different places, so. Broad strokes are still the same, yeah"

"If we don't see DA:D today we won't see it til EA Play or E3, because that would be as late as you could go in date for pre-orders. I doubt we would see anything between now and then, anything like a trailer at least"

Mark and Matthew Goldman were working together on the DA:D teaser trailer from 2018. "More Matt than me, because I was already taking over Anthem at that point". Mark's talked a few times to Matt since he left BioWare. Matt was only on Twitter because of his role in BioWare and is still in game development

For voice acting in DA, Kate Mulgrew became expensive after Orange is the New Black (which released in 2013)

When chat said "I think it would be a bit late to change DA4 based on Absolution's reception" he said "they wouldn't change it based on its reception but they could change their positioning"

When chat said "maybe they want to give some time between showing Absolution and the trailer for DA:D just in case, since new fans may judge DA:D by Absolution" he said "yeah, that's the thing, they might be holding, they might be keeping some powder dry in case, if Absolution stinks they have something to, a palate cleanser. I think that's reasonable thinking"

[source, part 1]

[marvelous-writer]

Two Lawyers and a Spider

Summary: In which Peter is struggling with holding the weight of the world on his shoulders, as well as his own problems and winds up having a bad panic attack on a sidewalk in Hell’s Kitchen when he’s hanging out with Matt and Foggy. 

Whumptober Day 7: Shaking Hands & Silent Panic Attack

@whumptober @whumptober-archive

Rating: G

Word Count: 2,731

Genre: whump, hurt/comfort, fluff

Link to read on AO3

It’s close to noontime when Peter finds himself walking down a crowded, noisy street in Hell’s Kitchen with Matt and Foggy on their way to grab lunch, the two men laughing as they recall a time in college. Peter unfortunately misses what they’re talking about with how spacey he’s feeling today.

That’s probably due to all of the late night’s he’s been pulling lately, getting less than two hours of sleep here and there.

“But, seriously, Peter if you need a reference for college I’d be more than happy to write something up. I could also see if I could namedrop you to one of my professor friends at Columbia to see if you could get in next semester?” Foggy’s voice filters through Peter’s ears, snapping him out of the fog he’s been in.

“I would be happy to as well.” Matt adds.

Peter looks up at them and forces a smile. “Uh, yeah… I’ll think about it. I really haven’t given… the whole college thing thought yet with everything.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Foggy says, nodding. “I took a gap year myself when I was your age. It let me figure out some stuff and what I wanted to do. Nothing wrong with that! Matt, do you remember that time we-“

Foggy’s voice fades out of Peter’s ears as he looks back down at the concrete sidewalk, focusing the front of his beat up sneakers as he walks. For some reason, his chest feels super tight, the familiar feeling of anxiety clawing away at him.

He’s had so much on his plate recently, it’s been hard to even think about college. With May and Happy’s wedding last month, babysitting Morgan up at the cabin now and then, dealing with the fact that MJ and Ned are away at college now living their new lives without him, patrolling, taking photos of himself as Spider-Man and selling them for some extra cash at the Bugle, and not to mention the fact that he’s still recovering from everything that happened with his identity leaking and Dr. Strange trying to reverse it only for Peter to screw it up and dealing with the repercussions that followed, then the whole thing with the multiverse villains going rogue, meeting the two other Peter’s, and May almost dying after Peter destroyed Happy’s old apartment during the fight with the Goblin.

College hasn’t been at the top of his to-do list.

Peter’s chest tightens more as his brows pull together, digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands to focus on something else, other than everything swirling around in his head at rapid speed.

Sometimes it’s all just… too much.

Car horns blare around them from the traffic, hearing people yelling from inside their cars.

Peter winces at the sound. He can hear the sound of all of the people walking on the street, hearing heels clicking against the pavement further up at the intersection, as well as a dog panting, car tires scraping against the road as it takes a turn.

It’s all too much.

Peter grits his teeth and closes his eyes for a brief second, mindful of the fact that he could accidentally bump into anyone on this busy sidewalk. He can feel his heart starting to steadily beat faster, thrumming against his chest and into his throat.

It’s going to choke him.

Peter snaps open his eyes when his spider-sense goes off, just in time for him to avoid bumping his shoulder into someone. His eyes dart around at all of the people around him, smelling a thousand smells all at once.

Everything’s dialed up to eleven.

He goes to take in a deep breath to calm himself… but he can’t. His heart is beating so fast—too fast—and his chest feels way too tight, not allowing anymore air inside. It only seems to be sucking out any air he has in there.

He knows this feeling too well, unfortunately.

A panic attack.

He’s having a panic attack in the middle of a crowded sidewalk in Hell’s Kitchen.

He’s going to die from suffocation and embarrassment.

Peter’s thoughts race as the panic truly starts to set in.

What do I do? What do i do? What do I do? What do I-

“Peter,” He hears Matt say in a firm voice admits all of the loud sounds around them, feeling the man’s hand on his right elbow, gently squeezing. “You need to take a deep breath.”

He can’t.

It’s all too much.

Way too much.

He can’t even get any air in his lungs.

“I-I-“ Peter stutters out, gasping. “C-can’t breathe—“

Before he’s even aware of it, he feels Matt pull him off the sidewalk, everything starting to blur around him. He’s able to notice the change in brightness around them, picking up on a moist, gross smell which could only mean they stepped into an alleyway.

“Whoa—what the hell’s going on?” He hears Foggy ask in a worried voice.

“Peter, you need to try to take a deep breath in for me, okay?” Matt tells him.

Peter tries to tell him that he can’t but all that comes out of his mouth are choked gasps.

Why is this happening?

He can’t breathe.

He can’t breathe.

He can’t freaking breathe.

“Oh my God, Matt!” He hears Foggy exclaim as a wave of dizziness and an odd, cold sensation washes over him.

Peter is distantly aware of himself falling backwards into the alley wall, feeling the bricks scraping his back as he slides to the ground. A pair of hands grab him, saving him from slamming his head on the dirty, concrete ground.

“Peter, I need you to breathe. You’re alright. I promise.”

“Oh my God. That’s it—I’m calling an ambulance.” Foggy says in a panicked voice.

“No,” Matt forcefully says. “No hospitals.”

“But Matt—he’s turning as white as a sheet and he can’t even breathe!”

Peter squeezes his closed eyes more, tightly clenching his fists as he desperately tries to focus on the hands on his shoulders. He feels one of his hands being grabbed by a warm one and brought up to a chest, feeling his knuckles brush up against the smooth fabric of a shirt.

“Peter, focus on my voice, alright? Try to focus on my breathing. Do you understand?” Matt’s voice comes through the sound of Peter’s heart beating away. “Feel my heart beating and me breathing, okay? Try to breathe with me, Pete.”

Peter feels the chest expand and he tries to do the same, letting out a choked gasp.

“It’s okay. You’re alright—just keep trying. Breathe in… breathe out…” Matt tells him in a calm tone.

It take a long time until Peter finally feels air enter his lungs. He takes in a wheezy breath and holds it for a few seconds before he lets it out, repeating the process again. With each inhale and exhale as he tries to follow in sync with Matt, breathing starts to get a little easier.

“That’s it. You’ve got it.” Matt encourages.

When the panic is over, it leaves Peter feeling absolutely drained as he opens his eyes, a little surprised to find that he had been crying when he sees tears sticking to his own eyelashes. Matt is kneeling right in front of him on the ground with a concerned look on his face, partially hidden beneath his glasses, while Foggy is kneeling next to Peter with an equally concerned expression on his face.

“Feeling better?” Matt asks.

Peter looks back at Matt, blinking as he shakily nods. “Y-Yeah,” he says as he lets his head drop back against the wall, letting out a shaky sigh. “S-Sorry… I don’t know where that came from.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault.” Matt reassures.

“Yeah,” Foggy agrees. “I’m sorry if it was something I said-“

Peter shakes his head. “N-No it wasn’t. This… this happens sometimes.”

“You get panic attacks like this often?” Foggy asks, his brows pulling closer together in sympathy and deeper concern.

Despite Foggy knowing Matt is Daredevil, he doesn’t know that he’s Spider-Man. It’s not that Peter doesn’t trust him… it’s just that he’s learned that the less people who know his secret are safer that way. Matt knows what he means by that, with Daredevil having almost as big of a target on his back than Spider-Man does but he’s reassured Peter that he could tell Foggy and even Karen if he wanted too and that they’re the most loyal people he could meet. Which Peter knows that’s true from knowing them for such a short amount of time of less than a year.

It’s just a risk he isn’t willing to take… not right now, anyway.

“Not too often,” Peter finally says after a few moments of catching his breath. “I just… my life’s a little stressful, I guess.” He says, not knowing what other excuse to say.

A look of realization washes over Foggy’s face. “Was it about the college thing? Pete, I’m so sorry if I-“

“No, no. You’re good. I don’t really know what triggered it. Sometimes it just.. happens, I guess.”

“Do you feel better now?” Matt asks after being silent for a little bit.

Peter looks at him, nodding. “I think so.” He says as he looks down at his hands, noticing how badly they’re shaking in his lap.

“Why don’t we go into a quiet café and get you some water and something to eat?” Matt suggests as he stands up, extending a hand for Peter.

“That’s a good idea. I know a great place too.” Foggy says as he gets up as well.

Peter feels pretty lightheaded when he stands up with Matt’s help but he shakes his head and tries to fight through it, not wanting to end up fainting on top of that panic attack. He almost did and he’s had enough embarrassment for today, thank you very much.

“Lead the way, Foggy.” Matt say, his hand gripping Peter’s arm, either to reassure him or keep him grounded.

Knowing Matt, it’s probably both.

…

Foggy ended up bringing them to a little bookstore café a few blocks away. It’s dimly lit inside with warm, golden lights and it’s very cozy. They take a seat at the back of the place, surrounded by bookshelves stuffed with endless books as Foggy goes up to order and grab Peter a water.

Peter melts into a comfy beanbag he found as he looks around the place. He thinks about MJ and how much she would probably love coming to a place like this. He’ll have to remember to bring her on a date when she’s home on break from college next month for Thanksgiving.

“How are you feeling?” Matt’s voice interrupts his thoughts.

Peter looks over at him, seated in a chair. His head is tilted to the side, his round, maroon glasses shimmering in the light.

“A lot better now, thanks to you guys.”

“That’s good,” Matt says, nodding. “But what really triggered it?”

Peter bites on his lower lip, looking down as he bunches his Midtown hoodie in his fists. He’s honestly not sure what truly triggered the panic attack this time around. He hasn’t been sleeping lately, so really it could have been anything with how sensitive he gets from lack of sleep.

“I have a feeling it had something to do with Foggy mentioning college to you, right?” Matt guesses, causing Peter to snap his head up at him. Matt must hear the bones in his neck snap from the movement as he tilts his head to the side slightly. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell him, I just want to know.”

Peter bites his lip harder, just enough to draw blood. “I-I don’t know… maybe?” He says with a shrug before he lets out a long sigh. “It’s just… life has been crazy lately and everything’s going so fast. With everything that’s happened and the Blip… I feel like I’m left behind. MJ and Ned are off at MIT a-and… I’m not. I got accepted but… I couldn’t go. And… I know that Tony really wants me to go there, more than anything. I… I just don’t know how to tell him I don’t. ”

Matt leans forward with his arms resting on his legs, nodding for him to continue.

“I couldn’t go… because I didn’t think I was ready. A-And I still don’t think I am. I can’t leave the city or my family behind. I know that everyone my age goes through that and it’s normal but… it’s just different, especially after everything that’s happened.”

“With the whole Dr. Strange situation, right?” Matt asks to clarify.

He had told Matt about what went down that night at the Statue of Liberty, another time when Peter had a panic attack while he had been out on patrol and luckily Matt was there with him. It was just two months after the whole thing happened, so it was fresh on Peter’s mind at the time.

Five months later, here he is, still struggling to cope with it.

“Yeah,” Peter says with a nod. “There’s been so much going on and… I don’t want to go away to college and leave everything and everyone behind. I just… I have too much of a responsibility to the city and my family.” He says, lowering his voice in case anyone were around to listen but the cafe is so dead in here, its highly unlikely.

Matt nods, silently for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face. “I know what you mean. But… I think that you could do both, one day when you’re ready, if you wanted to. You could attend a college around here. I hear online learning is becoming popular these days, so you could be at home and study and be able to do… some extracurricular activities on the side.” He says, lowering his voice at the end.

Peter straightens up at the mention of doing college online. He hadn’t actually thought about that.

“That’s a good idea.” Peter says.

Matt smiles. “Good,” he says as he sits back. “There are options out there. You should look into something like that then if that sounds like it could work out. Think it over and don’t rush into it. Give yourself time. As for Tony, knowing how much he loves and cares about you… I think if you told him the truth he would understand. You just have to be honest with him, Peter.”

Peter nods with a small, grateful smile. “Thanks, Matt. Really… I don’t know what I would have done if I was on the street alone and panicked like that.” He admits.

“Anytime, Peter.” Matt says, the corners of his mouth pulling up into a smile.

Foggy comes around the corner at that moment, carrying two cardboard disposable trays with drinks on one and wrapped up sandwiches on the other.

“I’ve returned with the goods,” Foggy announces dramatically as he walks over and sits down in the chair next to Matt, holding out a coffee cup to him. “For you, Matthew.”

Matt breathes out a laugh at that. “Thank you, Franklin.”

Foggy’s nose wrinkles at the name but he doesn’t say anything about it as he hands Peter a drink as well. “I don’t really know what you usually order and you really shouldn’t have coffee after all of that, so I looked it up and it said chamomile tea is good for people after a panic attack and…” he says as he grabs a paper bag. “I got you a chocolate chip muffin to help raise your sugar levels and stuff.”

Peter smiles as he takes it with a thankful smile. “Thanks, Foggy.”

The three of them settle into a comfortable silence as they enjoy their lunch. Foggy and Matt start telling Peter about some funny legal cases they had when they first opened their practice and how people gave them actual chickens as payment, which makes Peter laugh at that. For once in a long time… Peter finds himself to be relaxed, sipping at his tea on the comfy beanbag chair.

He’s very lucky to have met Matt and Foggy. They’re both very good lawyers and even better friends.

And one of them just happens to be a badass, crime-fighting vigilante, so that makes it even cooler.

[underforeversgrace]

healing the wounds we hid - 9

title: healing the wounds we hid

Finally, the sequel to broken trust and the wounds hidden behind! (Refresh here on AO3 or here on Tumblr)

Story Summary: Now that his father knows, Danny's life is changing for the better. Jack encourages him to let his friends and the rest of the family into his small word. Unbeknownst to Danny, Jack is secretly worried about how Maddie will react to the news upon her return to Amity - and how to confront Vlad once Jack learns his true identity. Amidst it all, an enemy lurks and plots their revenge.

Chapter 9 of 11: Rescuing You

AO3

Tumblr Chapter One

(Tumblr Chapter Ten will be here)

~~~~~~

Maddie fidgeted uncomfortably in the passenger seat of the GAV as conversation and last minute preparations swirled around her.

“And you’re sure this will work? You threw it together in ten minutes from scrap.” Vlad asked, holding up a device the size of his palm.

“I’m positive. C’mon, an RFID jammer is one of the easiest things to build, what self respecting techno-geek wouldn’t know how to cobble one together?” Tucker retorted.

“I don’t think ‘self respecting’ and ‘techno-geek’ are ever able to go together,” Sam said. A strained laugh echoed around the GAV at the girl’s attempt to lighten the mood.

“Are there any other questions?” Jazz asked, trying to take charge and seem calm, but the way she repeatedly wrapped and unwrapped a strand of hair around her finger betrayed her anxiety. “Or are we all good on the plan?”

Soft murmurs of agreement went around the vehicle.

Maddie watched Jack as he drove, letting Vlad and the teenagers fall back into bickering behind her. He was dressed in a plain outfit, something she hadn’t seen from him in years. Jack wore brown slacks with a brown button up, a hat of the same color on his head. Even with his bulk, Jack looked like an ordinary everyday Joe, especially if she only glanced at him.

Her head itched under the wig she wore and she picked at the sleeve of the white coat she had on to keep from scratching at it. Why Sam had even had a blonde wig, especially of such high quality, Maddie had no idea. Maddie was similarly dressed plainly, a simple blouse and black slacks covered by a lab coat.

Jack turned the vehicle off the main road, stopping a half mile back from where they knew the facility to be.

“Vlad, Sam. You’re up. Mic check.” Jack said, hooking a Fenton Phone over his ear. Sam and Vlad followed suit. They only had four of these, so Tucker had the fourth one. The four of them flashed thumbs up to each other when they confirmed the Phones worked.

Sam scowled slightly down at her outfit - she’d dressed up in a costume as well, a black pencil skirt with a dusty pink top and light makeup, which, for a girl who Maddie had seen wearing combat boots since age eleven, was quite out of the ordinary. Vlad was the only one who would be interacting with the agents who didn’t have to change into some wildly unusual outfit.

“Be safe,” Jack said as Vlad and Sam clambered out of the vehicle. Both just shared solemn nods and began the trek to the facility.

“Hold on, I think I can patch the Phones into the GAV’s radio so you two can hear as well, Mrs. F, Jazz,” Tucker said, leaning forward and popping open the center console to expose the wires. After less than a minute of fiddling, static began to crackle through the speakers.

“Can you still hear me?” Tucker asked when he finished.

“Yes,” Sam answered as Vlad said “Affirmative.”

“Fuck yeah!” Tucker said with a grin, though he looked sheepish as he remembered who he was talking to. “Uh! I mean! You’re coming through the RV’s speakers, we can all hear you now.”

“Copy that,” Sam said. “We’re in sight of the facility.”

“Gotcha. Mr. F, wanna get us closer? Another quarter mile or so?” Tucker asked.

“Why?” Jazz asked.

“So that Vlad and Sam don’t have to walk as far back and so there isn’t as long of a gap between them leaving and Mr. and Mrs. F. arriving.” Tucker explained. “We don’t want to give them time to calm down.”

The four of them quieted down as the speakers flickered.

“Name and reason for visit?” A bored voice could be heard distantly.

“Vladimir Masters and my assistant, Eliza Jordans, here on behalf of Dalv Co. We have a meeting with some of your agents.” Vlad said smoothly.

“It’s six in the evening.” The agent answered, his boredom audible in his voice.

“Trust me, I am aware. I quite nearly canceled the visit when I was informed that your higher ups refused to meet with us at a more reasonable hour.”

“They were quite adamant this was the best time to meet with them,” Sam added, sounding timid and shy in a way that threw Maddie for a loop. That girl had been hard headed ever since the first time Maddie had met her, demure had certainly never been a word Maddie would describe Sam (or anyone in her family) with.

“No higher ups are here,” the guard grunted. “You’ll have to reschedule.”

“Oh, this is ridiculous!” Vlad said, doing a very good impersonation of a grown man having a tantrum.

“Mr. Masters, I think they don’t respect your time,” Sam added, sighing.

“Who is your manager? I wish to speak to him this instant!” Vlad said, the sound of a hand slamming against metal reverberating through the mic.

“He’s placed the jammer,” Tucker said.

“Sir, I apologize, but there is no one here higher than me at this time. You’ll need to call tomorrow and schedule an appointment.” The agent answered, clearly exasperated.

Maddie had to resist the urge to chuckle as she listened to her old friend absolutely rant and rave at this poor guard, but the stern, serious faces of the other three in the vehicle made her hold her tongue. They still believed Danny was being hurt, after all.

“That is enough!” The agent yelled after over a minute of Vlad screeching at him - a whole fifty seconds longer than Maddie herself would’ve lasted. “Call in the morning and get out of here before I call reinforcements! This is federal property and you are now trespassing!”

Sam sighed. “I’ll add it to my calendar tomorrow, Mr. Masters. But honestly, if they can’t make time to see the CEO of Dalv Co, are they worth your time? There’s other agencies that would grant you the respect you’re due if they want the multi-million dollar funding.”

“The - the what -“ the guard choked out.

“Right you are, Ms. Jordans. Be sure to mention this… lovely agent’s name when you call tomorrow to inform them why we will not be pursuing a partnership with them.”

“Certainly, Mr. Masters.”

They were listening to Sam get the guard’s name - and his stuttering - when Tucker distracted them with a yell. “No!”

“Tucker, what’s happened?” Jack asked, turning to look at him.

Tucker just blinked tears from his eyes, looking away from his PDA and jerking the singular headphone bud he wore out of his ear, leaving the Fenton Phones in his other. “Danny just woke up. He’d been unconscious until now. They’re…” Tucker took a deep breath. “Jazz, you said you were good to do first aid? He may have burns.”

Jazz and Jack both paled at the information. Tucker took a deep breath and returned his attention to the device in his hands. He flinched as he did so but didn’t elaborate further about what he saw as he pressed the headphone back into his ear, pain on his face. “You still have the blueprints I stole from city hall’s archives?”

Jack nodded, fishing the folded up paper from his pocket. “And we’ve got it noted which room you’re showing Danny is being held in.”

“Good. It sounds like Sam and Mr. Masters are done. You’re up.” Tucker said before looking up and making eye contact with Maddie. “Please bring him home.”

Maddie tried to give him a reassuring smile. Even if he didn’t realize this wasn’t really Danny, he clearly thought it was and it warmed her heart to see how much he wanted to help save her son. “I’ll get him,” she said.

“Here, your badges,” Jazz said, grabbing the fake cards from beside Tucker and handing them to Maddie and Jack.

Maddie nodded, tugging the badge into her pocket and straightening her wig, but Jack hesitated behind her.

“Tucker…” Jack started. He breathed shakily before continuing. “How hurt is Danny?”

“Hurt,” was all Tucker said. “Get him out of there. Please. I can’t… I can’t lose him again.” He pleaded.

“Don’t worry, Tucker,” Jack reassured. “I’m not going to lose him again, either.”

Maddie stayed quiet, merely nodding along as Jack finally hopped out of the GAV and they made their way towards the GIW facility.

“Thank you, Mads,” Jack said when they rounded a corner and were out of sight of Tucker and Jazz.

“For what?” Maddie asked.

“Believing our son. I know it’s hard, but… it’s him, Maddie. It really is.” He said, pulling the Fenton Phone out of his ear.

“How did he convince you so fast?” Maddie asked, keeping an eye out for Sam and Vlad.

Jack shrugged. “Same way as you, that video. Once you realize it’s him, it becomes so obvious in everything he does. I saw that video, I saw Danny’s goodbye… and I just knew it was him.”

“So what? He showed you that video and then everything just became fine?”

“Oh, no,” Jack shook his head. “I found the video by accident. I had gone into his room for something and found the USB and medical supplies hidden under his bed. He didn’t even know I’d seen the video. After that… well, you saw how afraid he was of us. I needed to earn his trust. It took a few weeks, but I did. He told me his secret of his own choice.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all of this, while I was away?” Maddie demanded. How long had her son been missing?

“Maddie, I love you and I always will. But it was… delicate. Tell me you wouldn’t have come home and accused me of being overshadowed and then shot him because you couldn’t believe he was Phantom without proof.”

She didn’t respond, they both knew he was right. She still knew Phantom wasn’t really Danny, after all. “Did he give you that? Proof?” She asked instead.

Even in the slight gloom, Maddie could see Jack’s lips turn up into a small smile. “I’ve seen his transformation a dozen times by now. He’s told me stories, explained things about what he’s hidden from us since this happened. The beakers he kept dropping in freshman year, you remember? Even that was because of being Phantom. He couldn’t control his powers yet.”

Maddie nearly stumbled as Jack kept talking.

Freshman year.

Pain spread in her heart. There was no way Danny was still alive after two years kidnapped by a ghost. Her son was dead and replaced.

And she hadn’t noticed.

Jack was still telling her things he’d learned since ‘discovering’ Danny was Phantom when Sam and Vlad finally came into view.

“Maddie. Jack.” Vlad said, pulling the Fenton Phone out of his ear and handing it towards her. “Is something wrong with your communication device? Mr. Foley and Jasmine have been trying to reach you.”

“Shit,” Jack swore, putting his Phone back in as Maddie followed suit, though her movements were slower and she felt more like she was in a haze.

Danny was dead.

He’d been dead for two years.

“You guys okay?” Tucker asked in her ear.

“We’re fine, sorry Tucker,” Jack apologized. “I was talking to Maddie.”

“Glad you’re fine,” Tucker said. “Remember, the jammer won’t work for long, hurry.”

Jack and Maddie did as they were told, Sam wishing them luck as she and Vlad made their way back to the GAV.

Icy determination fueled her steps as she pushed forward, patting gently at the weapon in her pocket. The jammer Vlad had planted for them would disrupt anything not powered by ecto-energy within fifteen feet, he’d said, so she’d decided to bring the gun just in case, and she was glad she had.

Phantom was not going to escape this night with his afterlife. Of that, Maddie was certain. 

Soon, she reassured herself as she tried to bury her feelings as deep as they would go. The plan was still the same - break into the facility and find Phantom. The only thing that had changed was her end goal - she’d have helped free him if it meant saving her son. But she had no son left to save.

The facility came into view - though ‘facility’ was a loose term for it. She’d seen the blueprints so she knew it wasn’t a very big place but she’d definitely been expecting more of a federal building, regardless. It was a squat, square white building with nothing of note to mark it, not even the name of the agency. Maddie looked to Jack and they shared a nod. They’d go in separately, Maddie was up first. Jack, dressed as a janitor, was there to help smuggle Phantom out, a Fenton Thermos tucked into one of his many pockets, and help Maddie fight her way out if it came to it.

“I’m right behind you,” Jack murmured, reaching for her hand and gently squeezing. “Let’s get our son.”

Maddie knew her smile looked strained, she could only hope Jack interpreted it as her being afraid about sneaking into the Ghost Investigation Ward’s base. With a deep breath, Maddie drew herself up to her full height, exuding confidence as she walked forward.

“Good evening!” She said pleasantly, fishing the fake badge out of her inner pocket.

“Evening,” the guard said, looking slightly shell shocked, probably thinking he’s about to lose his job once Dalv Co ‘calls’ tomorrow about the ‘funding meeting’ they were supposed to have.

Maddie just gave him a friendly grin, swiping her card over the access panel, which beeped angrily at her, a red light flashing. “Damn it,” she swore lowly, swiping it again and getting the same response. “Ugh, excuse me?” She asked.

The guard seemed to blink away some of his daze. “Uh, what’s up?”

“The door isn’t letting me in. Are the scanners acting up again? I thought they fixed that.”

“Damn it, again?” He asked, pulling out his own badge and getting the same response.

“Whoever is in charge of fixing this place really doesn’t want to do their job, do they?” Maddie asked, giving the man a sympathetic look.

“No,” he grumbled.

“Can you let me through? I was called in about the… specimen that was obtained today,” she said, glancing to the door in pretend worry. “I can’t miss it or my boss is going to blacklist me!”

The guard mumbled again, trying his badge uselessly. “I’ll put in yet another request about this. Go on in,” he said, buzzing open the door manually. “No one else needs to get fired,” he added so quietly she barely heard him.

“Oh, thank you!” Maddie said, overacting her relief as she hurried through the door, letting out a heavy breath as she did so. That had supposedly been the hard part according to their planning, getting into the building. “I’m in,” she said, pressing on the Phone in her ear.

“Copy that, Mrs. F.” Tucker said, though he sounded more staticky now. “These people really do say everything in their emails. Anyway, their shields are causing some interference but I can hear you loud enough. Mr. F, wait a minute and then follow her. We only have about four minutes left on that jammer.”

“Got it,” Jack answered. “Mads, start looking for Danny. Is he still in the same room, Tucker?”

“Yeah. Room B17, sub level number two. Please hurry, Mrs. Fenton.” Tucker said, his voice breaking slightly as he asked.

“On my way,” Maddie said, pressing at the earpiece again to silence her microphone. The halls were mostly empty - it was after 5pm on a weekday and this was a federal government agency, after all - so Maddie hurried towards the stairs, her hand going back to the blaster hidden beneath her robe, on her hip.

She had to get to Phantom before Jack got inside. He’d never let her do what needs to be done, never accept Phantom had only pretended to be their son, accept Danny was dead and they had been too negligent to notice. She only had a little bit of time to blast that ectoplasmic scum to whatever Hell he had avoided the first time he’d died.

She had no trouble getting down to level two - security really was astonishingly lax here. Tucker had said as much - the emails he’d gotten access to indicated the GIW’s focus was on stopping ghosts, not humans.

“I’m heading in,” she heard Jack say and she swore. He needed to stay out! Maddie desperately scanned around her for an idea, grinning when she saw the sprinklers in the ceiling. Perfect. A fire alarm would keep Jack out and may help clear out whatever scientists were with Phantom. She pulled the prototype Fryer from her waist, aiming it at one of the sprinklers above her. 

“Mrs. F, what are you doing?” Tucker yelled in her ear. 

“My son is dead,” she answered calmly, pulling the Phones from her ear as she heard Jack begin to scream her name, dropping the device to the floor and crushing it beneath her heel. She lowered the voltage of her weapon and fired, the sprinklers going off instantly as the fire alarm began to echo loudly throughout the halls. She heard scattered shouts of shock as she bolted out into a full run, relying on her memory of the blueprints to lead her to B17. She found the room just as someone jerked the door open and ran out, forcing her to jump to the side to keep from being trampled.

“Get back here!” A voice screeched from the room. The scientists paid the man who spoke no mind, more focused on evacuating.

None of the scientists paid her any mind either as she slipped into the room, Fryer held loosely in one hand.

“Cowards!” The man yelled, furious. It took Maddie a moment to recognize him - Operative O. He appeared more disheveled than she remembered him ever being, also wearing some type of metal prosthetic where his hand had been last time she’d seen him.

Maddie quickly studied the room - it was clearly some sort of surgical theater, full of medical equipment and sterile metal surfaces. Phantom was shackled to a stainless steel table in the center of the room, electrodes connected to various spots on his upper body. She didn’t care to study him too much, noticing the way O was standing beside him, hands on the table as he yelled.

“Get away from Phantom,” she ordered, holding up the gun and aiming it at O.

Phantom snapped his head to the side to stare at her. A gag was settled in his mouth, preventing him from talking. Tear streaks ran down his face, tinged with the same glow as ectoplasm. She’d have to be blind to not notice the Lichtenberg scars running across his arms and torso, sickly green that shot over him like lightning, so dark and concentrated over where a human heart would be that it looked like burnt flesh. Small branches of the same design poked out from around the sticky pads connecting the electrodes to him.

His eyes were wide as he stared at her, though she couldn’t bring herself to truly study his face.

What if? Her mind whispered and she stomped the sentiment away.

“Who’re you?” O demanded.

“Doesn’t matter. Phantom is mine. Back off, I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, making a shooing motion with her hands.

“He is mine,” the man hissed, going for the gun on his waist and aiming it at her, one handed.

“He killed my son,” Maddie shot back. “Back off!”

She heard Phantom make a slightly strangled gasp through the gag, but she refused to look at his face again.

“He killed my brother!” O shot back. “He needs to pay!”

“He does,” she agreed. “But he’s tricked humans. They’re coming to save him. He dies now or he escapes!”

That made O stop, even lowering his gun. “Phantom can’t escape again. He can’t.” O’s face crumpled slightly in grief. “He has to pay for what he did to K!”

"He does," Maddie agreed, stepping closer to the table. "But if we don't get rid of him now, he's going to escape."

Maddie ignored the sounds Phantom was making as he struggled on the table, screams muffled by his gag. She accidentally looked at him - she saw the pain and hurt and betrayal in his eyes as tears dripped down his face.

What if? Her mind muttered to her again. No! She insisted, forcing herself to look back at O. She held up the weapon so he could see it. "I think this can destabilize him. It has a high enough electrical current, based on my theories, to unravel a core. We never used it because we wanted a specimen we could study. I’m willing to make an exception,” she said, gesturing towards Phantom with the gun.

Phantom began to actively pull and strain at the metal cuffs binding him to the table. O practically growled, angrily flipping a switch on the machine near him. Maddie jerked away as electricity crackled and sparked along the ghost’s frame.

His entire body seemed to dance with electricity, his back arched so far he’d have broken his spine if he were human and had one. His eyes rolled back into his head, spit dripping from the gag as he screamed so loudly it may as well not even be there. It didn’t last for long, O turning the switch back to its ‘off’ position. Phantom collapsed back down with a thud, fresh tears falling from his eyes as he sobbed, eyes clenched tightly closed.

Good, she determined. He can feel pain.

She did her best to not notice the rise and fall of his chest as he desperately tried to draw in air.

“How high is the voltage on that?” O asked, turning away from the crying ghost. Maddie answered and he frowned. “We’ve shocked him with something higher than that already and he showed no signs of destabilization.”

Maddie frowned slightly, glancing at the watch on her wrist. The fire alarm had delayed Jack, but it wouldn’t keep him away forever. She nor Jack had ever actually destabilized a ghost, all they had was theory.

“We’re running out of time. I’ve got an idea. We may be able to disrupt the core by running two separate currents, so the core can’t find an equilibrium. Meaning - you turn yours on, and I’ll turn mine on,” she explained, dialing the voltage on the prototype as high as it would go.

Operative O’s grin could only be described as sadistic. “You hear that, Phantom?” He asked, clapping his metal hand roughly against Phantom’s shoulder. “Time to ride the lightning! Something you already have experience with, hm?” He added, gesturing to the distinct scarring on the ghost’s chest.

“Goodbye, Phantom,” Maddie murmured. The ghost turned to look at her, wide eyed and afraid as she pressed the gun to his forehead. She didn’t mean to, she really didn’t, but she ended up holding his gaze.

There was no anger, no malice in his eyes. No desire for revenge, no defiant sass.

No, all that she saw was terror - pure, unbridled terror - mixed with agony. Tears tinted green fell freely and a scream that was clearly a plea for help, for mercy, was audible through the gag.

What if I’m wrong? pierced her mind and her grip on the gun loosened slightly, enough that Phantom noticed. Hope filtered into his green gaze, though it didn’t stay there long, as O flicked the machine back on, turning the voltage to max. Again, Phantom’s body seemed to involuntary raise, trying to pull away from the table as he screamed so loudly she wondered if she’d go deaf.

What if I’m wrong? echoed in her head as a memory came to her unbidden. A family vacation down south, to the coast, the first time Danny had ever seen the Atlantic Ocean. He’d been eleven - was it really only five years ago? It felt like a lifetime - and he’d gone too far, getting caught in a riptide. Jack had gotten to him easily, but she’d never forget the look on Danny’s face when Jack had pulled him up out of the water and he’d choked, drawing in breath.

Why was that memory coming up now?

Maddie took a deep breath, steadying her hand, which had begun to shake at some point as the ghost child’s screams continued to fill the air. She could hear O’s laughter as Phantom cried out in wordless agony.

What if you’re wrong, Maddie? kept being screamed inside her mind.

This isn’t my son! she argued with herself, pressing the barrel of the weapon close to Phantom's head.

Before she could fire, a loud crack! sounded around the room and Phantom screamed even louder, his body arching even further in the air. The odd shape he contorted into made her heart skip a beat. That was his spine breaking.

He had a spine to break.

Are you willing to kill your son? was a quiet, tired sentiment in her head, the memory of Danny’s terrified eyes the day at the beach and Phantom’s similar look shoved themselves to her.

Not just similar. The same. It’s the same.

That’s my son!

Maddie made her decision instantaneously once she could no longer deny the proof in front of her. She raised her gun and fired at Operative O - knowing she was shooting hundreds of volts of electricity into a human, more than anyone could survive.

Killing a human to save a ghost.

Killing a human to save her son.

He dropped immediately and Maddie released her grip on the gun, letting it clatter to the floor as she ran to the device, quickly turning it off. His body fell heavily onto the table, unmoving and with closed eyes, even his chest still.

“Danny? Danny!” Maddie screamed, pulling the gag out of his mouth and jerking the sticky pads off his skin, ignoring the nausea that sprung up in her stomach as blackened, charred flesh was exposed with each electrode she removed. “Danny, please!”

A single bleary eye opened, unfocused. “Mom?” He asked, his voice hoarse from screaming.

“I’m right here, Danny, I’m right here,” she reassured, fumbling with the button marked to release the cuffs holding him down. They retracted and disappeared.

“You didn’t kill me?”

“No, no, of course not,” she said, running a hand through his hair, biting her tongue to keep from hissing in pain as he was so cold it burned.

“Dad won’t let you dissect me,” he said softly. “He won’t.”

“Oh, God, sweetie, I’m so sorry, I’m not going to hurt you! I swear! But we need to get out of here! Can you sit up?”

He made a grunting sound but nothing happened. “I can’t,” he said, a panicked edge in his voice. “I… do I have legs right now? I can’t… Mom, I can’t feel my legs!” He said, his panic growing the longer he talked, though his speech was slurred.

“Your back,” Maddie realized and guilt burrowed into her soul. “I think you broke your back!” She was struggling not to panic, not to throw up. Had she just paralyzed her son?

“Fuck,” Danny swore, his voice hitching in pain. “It’ll heal. We need… We need…” He trailed off, gaze again unfocused. Maddie had a strong suspicion he was going to lose consciousness any second now.

Determining she had no other option, Maddie leaned over the table, tucking her arms under Danny, lifting him and holding him close to her.

He was so light.

He was so scarred.

God, what had she done?

[lochrannn]

Hi thanks so much for answering my first ask!

I just had one other question-how do you write your characters in your fanfics? Like, I constantly struggle with writing Klaus and Lila in character, and just in general how the siblings would react to different situations. Is there a way to fix this? (is it just rewatching the show until i get sick of it lol).

TLDR it's hard to write some of the siblings in character and especially Lila. In your fic writing experience, how do I fix/get better at this?

I have honestly never thought about it, so what I'm going to say now is an attempt at explaining what I presume is subconsciously going on.

(I don't write anything other than fanfic, and haven't really written for anything other than TUA in more than a decade).

So, I think there's basically three mechanisms at play and one basic fact that I think just might help more than any other: I was born eleven months before the wonder babies, so when the show came out, I was almost exactly the same age as the character. I'm going to assume that helped a lot with me being able to relate to them, and also it was one of the reasons I loved the show from the get go. Messy millennial failures? Yes please.

So yeah, what I think I do in trying to write in character:

A) Close observation. I don't think you need to watch the show till you get sick of it, but maybe rewatch some pivotal scenes that you think are both typical for the character and that give you a lot to work with to see how they react to other people. How do they react to provocation, are they the type to do some provoking themselves, do they seem confident, are they insecure? Are they sharp in conversation, insightful, or rather clueless?

B) ask yourself is there a part of you that you feel is similar to the character whose perspective you want to write from and tap into that. I write a lot of Diego and Lila and I tap into the person I am in the shower when I'm reliving an argument and can manage all the snappy and almost aloof answers I wish I had had in the moment to put myself in Lila's shoes. I write Diego from the way I actually am in arguments; I won't back down but I will say some really dumb shit to try and keep my end of the discussion up.

C) I think I have maybe two or three adjectives I could pull out of a hat that I think describe the characters and not much more than that. Maybe two obvious ones and one less obvious one that I think might inform some of the subtext. But I also don't overthink it or have long character studies. People might think of themselves as having this consistent personality but I think that's as much a story we tell ourselves as anything else and so it is totally fine for characters to do stuff out of character as long as you can see a world where they would justify it as something normal for them. And then it's something that can drive the story.

Right, I can't promise you any of this is really helpful, because I'm not sure to what extent I really do this. Though life is currently making it hard to for me to just sit down and fuck around with a fic (not least because I've already written quite a lot and then the things I want to say that want out have become fewer over the past year), I always found it easy to have a general plot idea and then just fill in the gaps with some balance of action and character stuff. I didn't particularly plan ahead, just wrote what I thought I would like to read and wished someone else had written.

Oh, also, a lot of what makes up a character can be included both in their own pov narration or in someone else's when they think about them. (I obviously don't know ow how you are planning to go about it but I always found it useful to switch pov from section to section to give a broader look at a situation, especially if you don't have like one character that the story is focused on.

So yeah, what version of the characters would you like to see presented on a fic? Write that!

[twochildreninamoteldemo]

omg!!! finally someone who sees 1/11 🫶

LOOK I am a sucker for "you and I are alike, we can reshape the world! see? We're matching opposites!" kinda ships (really brings me back to my darklina and grindeldore roots--kinda funny that jamie plays that role in both grindeldore and 1/11 lol) especially when there's an age gap...yeah fight me or whatever but its such a good trope! Perfect for angst and whump.

Not to mention that Henry is a manipulative creep, so 001011 as a ship is not only possible but plausible, and he does all sorts of sus stuff like getting eleven to trust only him, holding up her chin Like That in ep. 7, bringing her hand up to touch the soteria in his neck...it all felt decidedly...off.

And on the macro level, Stranger things 4 is the perfect blend of the campy 80s dnd based horror it's always been and a new blend of gothic elements. We see it in the classic aesthetics--cemeteries, asylums, old haunted houses, in the tropes--a monster that haunts via past trauma (our "ghosts" if you will), an almost sympathetic supernatural villain (more humanized at least compared to ST's previous monsters), a witch hunt with "modern" anxieties (in this case, the fear that children/teens will mix up fiction with reality and shouldn't be playing dnd...hmm I wonder if that's still a discourse we're having 40 years later?? Spoiler alert: we are), the mysterious stranger (again, henry as an orderly), the secret lab (brenner and the kids), madness (victor), the grotesque (vecna)...I could go on and on. ST already had a lot of these, but they amped it up a ton in 2022.

The point is that one of these tropes is the gothic heroine who has to deal with growing up too fast, lost innocence, and often breaks free of abuse. Again, this all keys in with canon already, but especially with elevenry (I like that ship name a lot it sounds really pretty) as a dynamic.

Sorry for the long response but I get super geeky about modern interpretations of gothic fiction. Stranger things only fuels my obsession heheheh

Anyways--ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US!!! there are like five of us, two fics on ao3, and of course the beauty that is the show itself. Welcome😈