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#Basic D&D
oldschoolfrp · 2 months
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Hakra the black dragon with two hatchlings in their lair (Terry Dykstra, D&D adventure pack The Dragon’s Den, 1992)
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thecreaturecodex · 2 years
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Tortle
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Image © Wizards of the Coast
[The tortle is a monster that originated in Basic D&D before migrating over to AD&D in the Mystara Monstrous Compendium. In 5e, they first appeared in Tomb of Annihilation, then as a playable race in a PDF sold by WoTC, then in Mordenkainen's. Tortles have gone back and forth as PC species vs. monster, but I'm more interested in them as monsters. Humanoids are allowed to have Hit Dice sometimes. I did want to put a spin on them, namely, making them a bit more like real tortoises. Tortles traditionally have shorter lifespans than humans and are semelparous, dying after they lay eggs. That's weird, especially for an anthro tortoise, so I changed that. I also made them generally polysexual and promiscuous, in part because it fits with real tortoise behavior, and in part to drive a wedge between "lawful" and "boring". D&D has long characterized lawful characters and cultures as stodgy and boring, presumably because lots of D&D players like to think of themselves as rebels. Which is funny, considering that the hobby is taking make-believe and adding more rules.]
Tortle CR 2 LG Humanoid This creature appears to be a humanoid tortoise, with a bulky shell and clawed hands. It has a steady, calm expression.
Tortles are peaceful wandering humanoids of turtle-like aspect. It is said that a tortle’s home is on their back, and most tortles travel throughout their lives. Those few settlements that tortles make are agricultural in nature, farming the land for a few years and then moving on to clear new land and allow the old to return to a natural state. A few tortles live and work here full time, and these communities serve as waystations for tortles to rest, socialize and raise children. Tortles can live for more than a hundred years easily, and have several clutches of young during that time. Parenting duties are shared by the entire community as a matter of course. Something that surprises many outsiders is that most tortles practice free love; they care little for monogamy, are frequently pansexual, and may pursue romantic relationships with members of other species.
Tortles rarely come into conflict with non-evil humanoids, as they are peaceful and patient creatures. They usually fight only to defend themselves, which they can do with their clawed hands or with weapons. If a tortle is sorely pressed, it will often withdraw into its shell and hope that its foe gives up, or to give reinforcements time to catch up to them. Tortles are decent swimmers, and may flee a losing fight by stepping into a nearby river and floating downstream to safety. When defending their community, they work together in units called warbales.
Tortles advance by character class, with paladin, cleric and monk common choices. Few tortles become evil, but even fewer become chaotic. They venerate a number of spirits of nature and order with honorifics instead of names; Mother Earth, Father Ocean, Sister Grain and Brother Shell. Treat this as worshiping a pantheon with access to the following domains: Earth, Law, Plant, Protection, and Water. Clerics of the tortle pantheon can access the Defense, Growth, Loyalty, Ocean and Solitude subdomains
Tortle    CR 2 XP 600 LG Medium humanoid (tortle) Init +0; Senses low-light vision, Perception +5 Defense AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (+7 natural) hp 22 (4d8+4) Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +5 Defensive Abilities shell defense Offense Speed 20 ft. Melee 2 claws +5 (1d4+2) or spear +5 (1d8+3/x3) Ranged light crossbow +3 (1d8/19-20) Statistics Str 15, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 10 Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 15 Feats Endurance (B), Great Fortitude, Self Sufficient Skills Heal +10, Perception +5, Survival +10, Swim +10; Racial Modifier +4 Swim Languages Common, Tortle SQ buoyant, hold breath Ecology Environment warm land Organization solitary, bale (4-9), warbale (10-24 plus 1 leader of 3rd-5th level) or tribe (30-300 plus 1 leader of 3rd-5th level per 20 individuals and 50% noncombatants) Treasure standard (spear, light crossbow, 20 bolts, other treasure) Special Abilities Buoyant (Ex) A tortle gains a +4 racial bonus to Swim checks, and can rise to the surface of a body of water without making a Swim check if it chooses to do so. Shell Defense (Ex) As a move action, a tortle can withdraw into its shell. When withdrawn, it gains a +6 natural armor bonus to its AC and a +6 racial bonus to CMD, but can only take purely mental actions or emerge from its shell as a move action. A tortle gains no benefit from wearing armor.
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fnrrfygmschnish · 1 year
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Tonight I fiddled around with solo-playtesting OSE again!
Returning from last time (...because he was the only survivor of that fight with the skeletons) is Wimp Lo the thief, represented by the little black ninja like before. And yes, I added all the money and several useful items from those less-lucky characters' backpacks to his inventory... He is a thief after all!
New party members include Friar Quagg the cleric (the Quagsire), Squishy the magic-user (the orange ninja), and Paunch the elf (the Hitmonchan, because I have so few humanlike figurines lying around besides those tiny ninjas and didn't want a full party of just color-coded ninjas. 😂)
Also tagging along is Pothead, a normal human (level 0) who Wimp Lo hired as a retainer, represented by the little green soldier guy.
Squishy is so named because of his unfortunately low Constitution stat that guaranteed the most HP he could have starting out was 2... And he was not that lucky, so yep, just a single hit point for the poor guy. He was much luckier when I rolled for his starting spell randomly and got Sleep!
Paunch on the other hand ended up with... Ventriloquism. But I think he'll be okay without a really powerful spell, he was rich enough to afford great equipment and also rolled *three* stats in the 16-17 range.
Pothead, as you might expect from a level 0 ordinary human, was also very squishy -- he also rolled only a single hit point. He did come with decent armor and a crossbow, however, so ideally he'll just... not get close enough to anything to get hit.
Rather than just having a fight with a mess of skeletons, these guys took a trip across some woods, where I picked a random encounter for them from the appropriate table included in the OSE rules tome.
The result? Giant Crab Spiders, which are described as ambush predators that blend in with their surroundings. Rolled for how many appear, and got two. They're a bit scarier than the skeletons from last time (more HP and a dangerous bite attack), but I figured I'd go ahead and see how things turn out...
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So I plopped some plastic spiders from my bag o' bugs on the tops of two of the trees and then rolled to see if the spiders surprised the party, which was very likely due to their camouflage. But nope -- it was the other way around, actually! Wimp Lo and friends snuck upon the two spiders and spotted them up in the trees before the spiders were aware they were there.
Noticing the spiders perched in the trees ready for an ambush, Paunch fires at one... and misses by a mile, lodging one of his arrows in a tree instead. Wimp Lo and Pothead both have better aim, and the spiders (having taken a point or two of damage each) are now aware of their presence...
...Just in time for Squishy to finish casting his Sleep spell, succeeding in causing *one* of the spiders to abruptly doze off as if it hadn't just been lightly scraped by a crossbow bolt. Everyone readies their weapons and watches as the second spider comes scuttling down from the tree...
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...and then rather than attacking, it immediately goes scurrying off away from them as fast as its eight legs can take it, disappearing into the woods! Since half of the spiders were incapacitated after the Sleep spell, I made a morale roll for the remaining one and it came up as a 12 -- the highest possible on a 2d6 roll. Anything above a 7 would've meant the spider would flee.
So... In a complete contrast to the run-in with the half dozen skeletons, everyone survived this time! Even the spiders!
Rolled to see if there was any random treasure left behind in the area (stuff previous victims of the spiders may have dropped), with no luck. Everyone now has 10 XP more after successfully disabling or scaring off the spiders, though, and Pothead is upgraded from level 0 classless minion to a level 1 fighter.
Well, that was definitely quicker than the last time, but still a lot of fun. It's interesting to see how drastically different things can end up from one game to another, even just playing the rules 100% as-written without even getting other people involved. After a few more of these for rules familiarity and just general practice, maybe I'll try to see if I can get actual other people to play with me sometime 😂
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bridgekc · 1 month
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did anyone order a luffy mermaid au?
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in this universe, he’s usually a person with legs cuz of the human-human fruit, but he also falls in the water all the goddamn time and reverts back to fish.
he still gets all weak in the water cuz of the devil fruit, so he’s kinda just a useless floppy fish sometimes 😅
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sigmasupreme · 11 months
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Keep on the Borderlands (OSE) - Battle Report - Session 1
I have just finished my first session of Old School Essentials using the module - B2 Keep on the Borderlands. I want to post a summary of the session here so I can chronicle the adventure, in an attempt to help me remember what’s going on, reflect on it and learn from it.
This is probably going to be difficult to understand for those that have not either played or read the adventure. I probably have got things wrong as well, so go easy on me.
Character Creation:
I decided that I would go through the process with a player who hadn’t played in a while, but due to this and arrival times, everyone did character creation at different speeds and times. I also think I provided too much information to starting players. I didn’t need to give them the full details on every class, just a short summary. I also think I should have only given 1 summary sheet for each player, I feel making players share some information might have guided them if they were working together on character creation.
I only had time to grant 1 random rumour to a player before beginning. It referred to an area called “the northlands”. Since I did not use this terminology again, the player did not know what the rumour was about.
The process probably took longer than I thought, maybe 40-60 minutes for 4 players. The results were Dante the Cleric Theric the Thief Maximus the Fighter Cuicatl the Magic-User Since the module stated to give additional support to groups with only 3 players, I did not grant any additional items to the party. This I think was a mistake.
Initial Encounter & Town:
The party were on their way to town, I started the first combat encounter. The magic-user cast Sleep, which ended the combat a lot faster than I was predicting. I could not work out if sleep required a saving throw. The players recieved 30XP and and 55cp from this encounter. As well as 3 swords.
The players continued toward the town, and I told them about the basic services on offer. The cleric visited the chapel and was warned of the priest. The magic-user drank a few pints of ale and received additional rumours. One of them was blatantly false. At the time, I couldn’t work out how to convey it sounding true, especially when the player asked for more rumours.
The cleric and the fighter hired additional help from a magic-user and cleric.
These two NPCs were:
Farned of the Great Church, Cleric Glom the Mighty, Magic-User
I should have realised at this point that the party did not have enough fighters. I looked at their numbers and made the thief roll a reaction for the next NPC to hire, I also made the NPC ask for a large sum of money to be hired. In retrospect, I should have given the party more fighters for free. However, the high price for that one hireling (an Ogre called Borc) was explained later as being necessary to pay for the large amount of food an ogre requires.
The party booked a room for the night and rested so the magic-user could memorise spells.
The party embarked on their expedition without any additional purchasing of equipment.
Arriving at the Caves
The journey to the caves was not very eventful. I feel that the process should be expedited. Travelling in the area surrounding the keep is not interesting. There’s nothing that tells players to go off the road. But I did tell the players to find the caves by following the road, through one of the NPCs. I also used one of the NPCs to give the players the basic tips on starting in the caves of chaos (sticking to the starting areas).
Although the players couldn’t really tell the difference between each cave entrance. There was no info there to give them in the module, so I had to improvise. I’m going to add more of that next time. This was a problem as well when the players entered a cave of goblins. There were 3 passage ways, and I couldn’t work out how to distinguish them, and the rolls to listen for noises were bad.
The players encountered a group of 6 goblins, but the retainers were sent to the front lines. The combat was slow at first because we were learning, but it sped up.
I didn’t add much detail to the room though, so there wasn’t much to interact with. Next time I have to at least throw in a table and a few chairs.
The Battle
I feel like player facing rolls helped a lot with this encounter. It seemed to roll ok. However, the players had a lot of bad rolls and the goblins gained the upper hand. I had to consult the rules quite a bit for some things like morale. I also did make any loyalty checks for NPCs. Not sure I should have.
The goblins lost about half their forces, passed two morale checks and began to fight to the death. They killed Farned and Glom. Even with two of them remaining, Cuicatl also fell. I was not prepared to kill a character, but the players did help me and reminded that it had to be a possibility. Cuicatl fell without casting a single spell.
I did not inform the party of Glom’s spells or Farned’s oil and so they did not know to use those, and I did not make them use them, so that was definitely a huge mistake on my part.
After the battle, the party got 30XP and 17sp. Not nearly enough treasure to justify the deaths of their comrades.
The players returned to town and hired new NPCs at a cheapre rate. I rolled insane stats for a fighter which will join them. The player with the magic-user seemed ok and seemed somewhat excited to play the Ogre next time.
Summary
This is a wargame. Players need as much info as possible to succeed. 6 goblins was frightening and dangerous. I’ve got a whole host of improvements for next time, including increasing rewards, the chance of rewards, better telegraphing danger and other clues, as well as some other changes. I’ll definitely add more fighters in next time.
It was still kind of fun though. Characters died but players weren’t annoyed, and I don’t think anyone felt like I was being unfair in anyway, but I should have reminded the thief and magic-user of their abilities.
Until next time.
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shaneplays · 1 year
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Chris Holmes has a unique historical perspective on fiction writer John Eric Holmes and Holmes Basic D&D, given that he’s JEH’s son. Chris is doing cool stuff in his own right, including his fantasy art and a day job where he gets to introduce kids to D&D. Chris’s posthumous RPG project with his father called Things Better Left Alone. How much did JEH make for creating the first D&D Basic edition? Chris and Shane have different approaches to playing with alignment. What is Chris’s favorite D&D edition (it’s a trick answer). Edgar Rice Burroughs. Send in the Pinkertons! Tarzan’s super power. Weresharks. Ask Cthulhu. Zombie movies, Rob Zombie, Dragula, and Sherlock Holmes.
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puppetmaster13u · 26 days
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Prompt 271
“Grandmother is visiting,” Damian suddenly said with no warning and with his usual not-quite demanding tone. 
“Who?” Tim wasn’t the only one to startle, seeing as Bruce had practically froze, a downturn to his lips in a silent show of confusion. 
Damian scowled. “Are you deaf Drake? Grandmother is coming to Gotham to, quote, make sure I am being properly cared for.” None of them had known that Ras was with anyone actually. At least Tim was pretty sure that would have been in the files. 
“Oh?” Dick didn’t quite crouch to Damian’s height but it was a near thing. “She-” “He,” Damian corrected, interrupting him. They all exchanged a glance before Dick continued. 
“Is he coming to the Manor or…” 
Damian scoffed again, a tiny bit of a flush against his face. “No, Grandmother will most likely be staying with Akhi-”
Now wait one moment-
“YOU HAVE ANOTHER BROTHER?!” 
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hungharrington · 6 months
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a little less conversation, a little more action, please
[rings bell frantically] CALLING ALL PPL WHO HAD BAD SEX EXPERIENCES!!! if that’s you, this is for u :D ! this has been in the drafts 4 months and i’m excited to set it free! enjoy! 8k words, fem!reader, oral (f receiving) MDNI THIS ENTIRE BLOG IS 18+
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You think you might be the only person your age in the whole of Hawkins who doesn’t seem to get the hype.
Couples have been caught all over in the act. At the drive-in cinema, in the back of the cinema, hell, even beneath the bleachers at school — tongues down each other's throats and pants around their ankles, so caught up in each other that they don’t care about consequences. That it’s that good, that it’s worth the risk. 
Sex. 
You just don’t get it.
Once upon a time, one boyfriend ago, before you’d ever experienced it, there had been an inkling of eagerness within you. Curiosity twined in with piqued interest, you wondered eagerly about when you’d find someone who’d show you all about why sex got its reputation. 
And then you had it— with Samuel Cosgrove in his twin bed when his parents were out of town, 3 weeks into dating him. Your expectations crumbled. 
You decided quickly that everyone must be lying if that was what you were supposed to be looking forward to. It wasn’t… sexy. You didn’t feel sexy having it either.
It only left you feeling somewhat awkward and a bit foolish, with Samuel trying to ruck your shirt up even though you had asked to keep it on. Embarrassment crept in easily at how you seemed to be half a step behind him the whole time, not quite warmed up, not quite sure if this was the mood, not quite ready to take all your clothes off. 
The springs on his bed were loud and squeaked with every shift of weight. The whole thing sort of hurt more than anything.
You chalked it up to the first time, dredging together your hopes even as they rapidly deflated inside you, cemented by Samuel’s sloppy kiss that missed your mouth and landed wetly on the corner of your lips when he finished. 
His sweat stuck to your skin and you didn’t feel sexy, or good, or relieved or anything else the dozen Cosmo magazines under your bed promised you would. 
Next time, you said to yourself. You had even confided in your close friend, admitting to the underwhelming experience, and asked quite plainly when it ‘got good’. 
“The first time always sucks!” She’d assured you, her voice a hushed whisper over the diner table.“Trust me, the first, like, three times totally suck.” 
You didn’t mean to but, subconsciously, three became the number to reach— get through the first three terrible times, and… all would be peachy in paradise. 
And so when the next time was… underwhelming, you weren’t exactly surprised. Worse, was how it wasn’t anything Samuel did but what he said that stuck with you long after he’d drifted off on your sheets. Lying in the cradle of your hips, Samuel had traced his hand up your legs and then frowned, yanking his hand back. You had startled, propping up quickly to ask him what it was. 
“You’re spiky,” he said, chuckling in a mean way. You could feel your chest ache pathetically at his words and you instinctively tried to curl your legs in, wanting to hide them away. So what if they were? It was the middle of winter and he’d surprised you, showing up at your window to sneak in. 
When the fourth time happened and disappointment weighed heavy on you again, you deduced the truth. Sex was some big scam- some stupid joke that everyone was in on and just pretending to enjoy. 
It was easier to blame sex if only so you didn’t blame yourself. But… it niggles in the back of your brain, a line-up of indisputable facts that all point to the same thing. That, maybe sex isn’t the problem — but you are. 
And, look, it’s not really a problem when you’re not dating or seeing anyone.
… Enter Steve Harrington.
Admittedly, Steve was not someone you thought you would ever date. Or maybe it was the other way around, that you thought that Steve would ever date you.
His reputation as a bit of a player was as far from something you were interested in, especially considering your feelings towards sex, but… he had sort of proven you wrong every chance possible.
One month of dates and it’s been no more than holding hands and kisses on cheeks. You’ve kissed him properly, of course, once or twice, but lest you give him the wrong idea, they hadn’t been much more than a quick kiss. Steve still seemed to glow afterward, no matter what. 
It made you feel good. Safe. Warmed you to know he was happy with whatever affection you felt ready to bestow, and never pushed for more. 
You could tell he wanted it. It was hidden in the flex of his fingers and even the not-so-subtle adjusting of his pants when he’d invited you over for a dip in his pool. You’d shown up in your bathing suit— and it was the most amount of skin Steve had ever seen from you and it did not go underappreciated. He had been touchy, hands skirting up your sides, but still respectful. 
And strangely enough, you find yourself… wanting it too. 
Wanting for his touch, thinking about letting your own hands wander across his skin to find what makes him sigh, makes him groan in pleasure, what might make him whine. It surprises you, the ferocity of your eagerness, how it presses your thighs together tightly and licks pure arousal up your spine — even when Steve’s not even trying. 
(He was, you just didn’t know it. Steve knows exactly when girls seem to be looking at his arms and he’s unashamed to say he will flex his muscles and pretend he hasn’t. Robin has caught him doing this several times.) 
And today has been nothing short of wonderful. 
A balmy Saturday which you found yourself swept up in Steve’s company over at his house, laziness fuelled by the golden sun rays of the day. 
You weren’t even doing anything in particular, just enjoying being near each other. You had stretched out on a pool lounger with a book in your hand for the most part and it was with giddy delight that Steve seemed more than chuffed to just lay beside you, sizzling in the sun and then occasionally cooling off in the pool. 
Which is a spectacle all in itself. 
The sight of his chest gives you one or two steamy ideas, especially as it drips with water when he pushes up on the edge of the pool. His biceps bulge deliciously as you peer over the edge of your book, not as subtlety as you might think. You honestly don’t even mind if he catches you staring, not when this is your view. 
Your eyes trace the sparkling drops of water as they roll down his chest tantalizingly slow, through the chest hair between his pecs, down, down, trailing down his happy trail— fuck, okay, he totally caught you staring. 
Your eyes dart back up to his face to find Steve’s already looking at you, his eyes holding a playful mirth to them. His smile looks just a little bit cheeky. Bastard. 
Water splatters on the tiles where he walks as he pads over to collect his towel bunched on the end of the lounger beside your own.
“Good book?” He asks sweetly.
He says it as he scrubs the towel over his face, drying it off and then starting on his hair— he gives it a quick rub over rapidly so that when he pulls the towel away, his hair is sticking up in every direction. He holds the towel to his chest and gives his head a quick shake, like a dog, shaking out the extra water.
When he looks up at you again, beginning to towel dry his bare chest, you realise you haven’t even attempted to answer his question. 
“Book.” You echo. Steve chuckles a little bit and it kickstarts your embarrassment, finally remembering to say something else. You hold the book up to gesture with it, “Yes! It’s good, it’s…” 
Steve’s resumed drying himself and you find your words leaving you as the towel drags down his tummy, leading your eyes with it. Your mouth feels suspiciously dry. Want. You want him.
“It’s…?” 
He’s teasing you again. You startle, wondering if he’s purposefully trying to put on a sensual towel-drying show for you. You’re surprised to find you’re actually glad that he is. 
It feels like another subtle way to affirm all his affections for you without all of the touchiness you’ve yet to reach with him — come and get me, it’s like he’s saying, if you want. 
You snap your book shut. “It’s too hot to be reading, I think.” 
Steve frowns in his worry and steps forward, closer to you. He presses the back of his hand to your forehead lightly. “You feelin’ too warm? Y’gotta careful being out here too long if you aren’t gonna swim.” 
He sounds on the concerned side but there’s a touch of cheek in his voice too, like he knows why you haven’t turned the page for the last 5 minutes. It stokes the firey feeling that’s beginning to burn in your gut. A smile curls at your lips and you huff a little laugh, leaning back and batting his hand away from your forehead. 
“Yes, mom.” You jest, hand falling back onto the lounger. You lean back onto it to get a better view of him. “I’m not too hot.” 
Steve grins. “Oh, I would say the opposite. You are, in fact,” He leans in closer, one hand coming up to push some hair behind your ear. His hand lingers, fingertips on the edge of your jaw. “Very hot.” 
You couldn’t stop your reaction if you tried— which you do try, some sputtering cough with a duck of your head as you feel your body flush hotly at his words. His forwardness is something you’re still getting used to.
Just as you’re about to stumble through a poorly constructed sentence, Steve saves you— reaching over to grab his rumpled t-shirt and pulling it over his head. A small, disappointed, part of you wilts. You catch yourself from being so obvious, scooping up your bookmark and stuffing it in a random page. 
Steve offers his hand out for you to take. “C’mon, we both need some water I think.” 
You ponder if there’s a second meaning to his words as you trail along beside him, letting him lead you back through the sliding glass doors that open to the kitchen with your intertwined hands. Steve gives your hand a quick squeeze before he drops it to open the fridge, peering inside. You lean back against the counter, arms folding loosely over your front and allow yourself to look at him. 
Your boyfriend. It sounds even a bit strange in your head and you know if you tried to say it aloud, it would get caught on the way out, tripping over your teeth. Calling him your boyfriend cements all those expectations you worry so much about… even though, not-so-secretly, you revel in the fact thats he’s your boyfriend. 
“Thinking hard over there, I can see,” Steve comments teasingly and you blink, realising he’s already looking at you. He must have asked you a question and you missed it. 
“What?” 
Steve laughs a bit, pink lips pulled into a slight smirk. He shakes the bottle in his hands a little bit, bringing your attention to it. “Did you want to try some of this? I think it’s sparkling and…” 
He trails off, pulling the bottle closer to his face to scan over the front of it. You can’t help but think the furrow in his brows as he reads is adorable. He hums, obviously not finding what he’s after, and flips the bottle over. 
“…raspberry flavour?” He finishes, looking up at you, brows raised. He gives a little shrug. “That sound nice?” 
You think about it for a moment and then shake your head. Steve laughs in agreement and places ii back in the fridge, some mumble about his mom leaving it here the last time she visited home. He turns back to the fridge still rummaging. “Okay, anything in particular you want?” 
You are thirsty but… your stomach swoops as you realise it’s for something else altogether. If you want it though, you’ll have to ask. 
“Maybe, a kiss?” 
Steve freezes for an instant, then he whips around like he’s not entirely sure he’s heard correctly. The fridge door clatters loudly and he quickly grabs it, stopping the rattling bottles and looking mighty flushed when he shoots you a grin. 
“A kiss?” He checks. He lets go of the fridge doors to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly, too aware of his own unsubtle eagerness. “I heard that right, didn’t I?” 
A nervous chuckle scrapes out your throat but you nod. You uncross your arms but can’t settle them, crossing them again nervously as Steve comes closer. His brown eyes scan your face intently, searching to make sure he’s getting every signal right. 
When you smile assuredly, Steve sighs in relief and his shoulders drop an inch. He smiles too, his hand reaching up to hold your faces cupping your cheek. His strokes across your cheekbone as he talks. “Oh, thank god. I was beginning to think, maybe, you just weren’t into kissing me.” 
Then he leans in— and you hold your breath without meaning to. 
The thing is, Steve is a good kisser. A very very good kisser and even your strange gaspy noise as you try to remember to breathe is not enough to ruin the kiss. His plush lips capture yours and have you feeling as hot as the day, a heat blooming in your chest and spreading like wildfire. Your fingers flex at your sides. 
You push up on your toes without even thinking, to steal more of his touch, and when Steve breaks the kiss, you’re embarrassed to find yourself chasing his lips. You clear your throat and avert your eyes, sinking back down— embarrassed at showing how much you’d melted under a single kiss. 
You just don’t realise how it looks to Steve. 
“You do… right?” 
Your head pops up, eyes widening as you try to comprehend his question. 
“Like… kissing you?” You ask meekly, more embarrassed that he’s asking for confirmation. Embarrassed that you’d somehow been overly eager and also convinced him of the opposite in one kiss. God, maybe there is something wrong with you. 
“Yeah.” Steve nods, pulling back a little further from you— like he needs physical space in case you say something absurd like ‘no.’ 
Your hands react faster than your mind, reaching to grab his shoulders to stop him from putting space between you. 
“Yes!” You say loudly. You try to rein in your embarrassment for his sake, swallowing your nerves which feel thick and swollen in your throat. “Yes, I like kissing you. It’s just, I’m… I’m worried.” 
How do you say this? How can you explain that you’ve been so afraid of your kisses going a few steps further because then- then when things get heated and Steve’s expecting things, you have to explain that — that what? 
That you’re not really sure if you even like sex, or maybe that it just doesn’t seem to work for you or — or that there’s probably just something wrong with you that means you can’t figure out how the hell to relax and enjoy sex- and that it’s not his fault but probably totally yours but— 
“Woah, woah, woah,” Steve cuts into your spiralling thoughts, having seen the dilemma spilled across your face. “Stop thinking what you’re thinking and just, like, take a breather.” 
He places his hand on his chest and mimes a deep inhale. You copy him without thinking, chest rising and falling in sync with his, unable to look at him for a moment. When you find the courage to dredge your eyes up to his face, his eyes are soft and his brows have knitted together in concern. 
“Good.” He praises, hand falling off his chest to rub gently at your arm. “Okay, now instead of doing all that worrying up there just… tell me what’s worrying you. Please?” 
Part of you want to huff and hide, to make him really pry so you know that he means it. It’s dramatic, you know — especially because he’s being so good at communicating. He’s asked outright. You try to put the words in the correct order. 
“Just… we haven’t— I haven’t kissed you a lot because I’m worried about what it might lead to.” You say quietly, eyes back to avoiding his gaze. You stare at his chest, the tuft of chest hair peeking out, and do your best to swallow the knot in your throat. 
“And I— I don’t want to disappoint you,” you admit, frustrated at how a familiar sting burns at the back of your eyes. “But I- just, in the times I’ve gone that far and— and slept with someone, I didn’t… I just didn’t like it. I didn’t enjoy it.” 
You squeeze your eyes shut tight, proclamation out in the open, and try to take a deep breath— just like Steve had instructed mere moments ago. Courage gathered, you open your eyes and peer up at him again. 
“Oh,” Steve breathes. You can nearly see the cogs turning in his head, his eyebrows twitching as he takes in what you’ve said and what it means for the two of you. “Oh, well that’s okay. I mean, if you didn’t want to I would never—“ 
“—That’s not the thing.” You interrupt. “I want to. I do. I just…” Your voice trails off, taking on a  trembling whisper as you say the thing you’ve yet to say aloud yet, for fear of speaking it into existence. You can’t quite look at him, eyes focused on the kitchen tiles instead. 
“I think it’s me. I think— I’m worried there’s something wrong with me.” 
Your words hang in the air for a moment and Steve feels his worry shift into something deeper, something closer to devastation, as he realises how deeply you believe what you’ve said. 
You genuinely think there is— even thinking it makes him want to scoff aloud. He forces himself to focus on consoling you here and now, instead of riling himself up with thoughts of whatever— whoever lead you to your immense self-doubt. 
“Well, there’s not,” Steve says plainly. Like there’s no room for discussion— his hand drifting down your arm to gather your hands in his own. They get swallowed, his hands huge when compared to your own. 
“There’s nothing wrong— you- you could never disappoint me in that way.” 
Your eyes lift from the ground to his face, desperate to see if you can see the truth in his words. He can tell- fuck, he can already read you so well. 
“Honest,” He insists, giving your hands a quick squeeze. “I promise you, okay? I- if I was disappointed over something like that it would be- that would be such a dick move.” 
“Well, you wouldn’t be the first.” You mutter bitterly. 
The words slip out without entirely meaning to; you aren’t trying to start a pity party but how are you supposed to explain why you think the way you do? How can you explain why you’re so worried about taking it further? Deep down, you know he deserves to know. 
Steve’s eyes widen for a moment, your words sinking in and cutting as they go. He doesn’t want to think about you sleeping with other people, for all the jealous reasons, but mainly because everything he’s learned today is that nobody has taken proper care of you. 
It twists his heart thinking of some fucking idiot not taking his time with you, not getting you comfortable— so that you get to this point, embarrassed, avoiding his eyes, and so entirely convinced that you’re the problem. 
“Look,” Steve says softly. His hands squeeze yours again and he tries to think of how best to say this. “If we never sleep together, I don’t care.” 
That catches your attention, your head jerking up to look at him — what? That has never even been an option with dating someone. Not in your mind, at least. You find yourself reeling, fumbling for words but Steve just keeps talking. 
“If you don’t wanna, I don’t wanna,” Steve shrugs, like that’s all there is to it.
“There’s nothing wrong if it’s not really your thing.” Another squeeze to your hands. You look up at him, aware you must look a picture of bewildered — there were a thousand ways you imagined this conversation going and this was not one of them. 
A smile pulls on his lips as he chuckles a bit, eyes falling to your conjoined hands. “Hell, for all we know I’d add to your disappointing experiences.” 
You laugh quietly but it’s saturated in fondness. He’s taking jabs at himself to make you feel better. 
“Hardly likely, considering the rumours I’ve heard about you,” You murmur lowly. You find it in yourself to squeeze his hands back, peering back up at him. Steve’s brows rise and he grins. 
“Oh? And just what rumours are we talking about?” He teases. 
“Shut up,” You say, no heat behind it in the slightest. Your chest is starting to feel lighter and lighter as the reality of his words sink in. “You know what they say about you.” 
Steve grins wider. “That I slept with Mrs. Click just to pass her class?” 
“What?” You wrinkle your nose at the horrid picture of your old English teacher with your boyfriend. “No! Did people really say that about you?” 
Steve’s grin fades, edging towards jaded. He gives a soft sigh, tilting his head back an inch. “People say everything and it all means nothing unless it’s coming from the right person.” 
He wriggles a hand free from your unaware tightening holding to brush his knuckles against your cheek tenderly. A piece of hair flops over his forehead, curling back upwards, and the buzz of cicadas fills the empty noise around you.
“So, I don’t know if some asshole told you or you just think that you’re wrong, but…” Steve inhales, his eyes darting between yours. 
The brown in them is intense, holding you fixed beneath his heavy gaze. “If— just you said you want to so, we can try and- and we can go slow and I’ll stop the moment you want to, okay? For whatever reason.” 
You feel a strange bubble of hope churn in your gut. It feels too good to be true. 
“…You’re sure?” 
“M’sure,” Steve nods. “Even for something as small as you don’t like the way my dick looks or—“ 
A laugh startles out of you and you shake your head. “I meant more about stopping but good to know anyways.” You pause a moment. “…Should I be worried?” 
You’re teasing. Steve delights in it, his own voice slipping that little bit lower— his knuckles on your cheek swiping across, down your jaw, til he lingers near your neck. 
“Why don’t you find out?” 
The hunger in your tummy returns with a new heat, rivalling the day. You suddenly feel nervous again, a roll of nerves turning over, but this time it feels far closer to anticipation. The kiss you’ve been yearning to give him, hot and messy, burns up inside you and when you rise on your toes, Steve meets you in the middle. 
Your lower back presses against the counter as Steve leans into you, his mouth slotted against yours. One kiss snowballs into another, and another, the fervency growing as you let yourself give into your desire. Your hands on his shoulders shift, trailing down to feel up the chest you’ve been gawking at all day.
Steve lets out a quiet grunt as your nails dig in and his other hand finds your waist, tugging you to press against his body — his other hand slides into your hair, clutching the strands loosely. You sigh into his mouth, nerves still alight beneath your skin but the way they buzz makes you feel good. Steve makes you feel good. 
Right as his hand scrapes along your lower back, heading lower, you’re both startled by the loud beep! that sounds in the kitchen. At the same time you peer around him, Steve turns and gives a sheepish chuckle, seeing the fridge door still ajar from when he’d been fishing around inside. 
He steps away from you, pushing the doors closed gently. Turning back, your chest swells with pride seeing the effect you’re already having on him; red lips, shiny with spit and a faint ruby colour in the apples of his cheeks. Steve smiles, boyish and charming. 
“Do you wanna keep—“ 
“—yes.”
You’re not going to squander this chance, not going to waste the days' chemistry when there’s still that tiny worry niggling in the back of your brain that today is all a fluke. That Steve’s words might just be an offer, something else that wouldn’t be a first for you. 
Steve grins. He holds out his hand and you intertwine yours with him, letting him lead you. Your stomach swoops as he takes you out the kitchen and heads for the stairs, checking back on you with a quick glimpse. You do your best to show him your excitement instead of your nerves. You’re not sure you succeed. 
Squeezing his hand does the trick for a final reassurance. Steve resumes leading you up the stairs, taking a familiar turn towards his bedroom, beginning to talk softly as he does. 
“Remember, anytime, anything you don’t like, just say the word.” 
You both pause, standing in his room and you swallow the doubts that try to claw back up your throat. Giving a sly glance at him, you smile coyly and wiggle your hand out from his. Trailing backwards to his bed, you pretend to think about it, til your thighs hit the edge of the bed. 
“Hmm… well,” You begin, a touch of sultriness dipping into your voice. “I don’t like… that you’re still wearing your shirt.” 
Before you, Steve huffs a silent laugh, that handsome smile gracing his lips as he ducks his head. He doesn’t disappoint though, his arms reaching up behind his head to shuck his shirt off in one fluid motion.
He chucks it aside thoughtlessly and where it lands doesn’t even matter — your eyes are fixed on his chest. His bare chest that you’ve been given permission to properly ogle at. You swear you feel your mouth salivate a bit. 
“Should've known this would go first, considering the way you were drooling outside,” Steve remarks cockily, folding his arms loosely. It makes his biceps bulge and you swallow again, this time nothing to do with nerves. 
“I wasn’t drooling,” You defend weakly, beginning to fidget with the hem of your own shirt. “I was admiring, okay? There’s a difference.” 
Steve saunters over slowly as you talk, steps slow and measured. He’s smirking by the time he’s before you, so close you can feel the heat of him. “Uh huh. Totally, sweetheart, I believe you. Need help with this?” 
His hand has reached out, fingers pinching the same hem you’re fiddling with. You nod slowly, “Yes, please.” 
Steve’s smirk fades into something sweeter and he grabs the hem with two hands, beginning to ruck it up gently, his eyes locked on yours — you raise your arms when it starts to get caught, holding your gaze to his until the fabric intersects. Your arms drop and you push away the urge to wrap them around your middle. 
Steve drops your shirt much more gently than his own but his eyes are still entirely on you. There’s a shine of awe in them now, flicking up at down the newly exposed skin. 
The intensity of his gaze makes you want to shy away but you chose bravery instead, reaching out to grab his side. Steve jumps, barely an inch, and before you even get a chance to question, he’s smiling. “Y’got cold hands, honey.” 
He draws them up to his mouth, laying soft kisses across your knuckles. Heat flushes through you and you melt beneath it, lowering yourself back on the bed. Steve follows eagerly, still kissing at your hands. He kneels between your legs and when he finally drops your hands from his, it’s to reach out and cup your jaw. 
“Keep breathing,” He murmurs quietly, eyes dancing in amusement. You hadn’t even realise you had been holding your breath. You realise it in one big exhale and this time, when you reach for him, you actually succeed in tugging him closer. You tumble backward into his sheets and Steve comes with you, his forearms planted on either side of you and his body pressed up against yours. 
“I don’t like…” You say, continuing the bit from earlier, your voice quiet and still tinged with a poorly hidden nervousness. “That you keep waiting to kiss me.” 
Steve’s brows hike up an inch but his smile hides his surprise easily, his entire face glowing a bit brighter. He looks fucking gorgeous bathed in the buttery sunlight, even though it’s just beginning to fade towards darkness behind the curtains. 
You stare unabashedly up at him, marvelling at his features that are etched in with adoration for you. You follow down the strong line of his nose, along the soft arches in his eyebrows, the faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that he has from smiling. 
You study the swell of his cupids bow perched above his pink lips and each of the moles dotted all over your favourite face— and think to yourself it’s not fucking fair that he looks like this. Like he’s been carved from marble and cast in gold. 
Thank God he’s yours. 
He doesn’t disappoint you — his lips finding yours and kissing you deeply, his chest brushing your own. Your entire body seems to sigh at the touch, tingling with anticipation — you’ve been overdue for all these kisses for far too long and it seems once you’ve gotten started, it feels impossible to stop.
You kiss needily, your hands moving off his midriff to drift up to his jawline. You cradle it gently, your lips a little less gentle- you try to remember how to do this, how to nip at his lips teasingly, how to soothe them with your tongue. 
Slowly, Steve’s body weight lowers onto you as he focuses more and more on figuring out what you seem to like. Time melts like candle wax and you feel as goopy as it too, all warm and pliable, softened by his kisses. Heat begins to simmer in your gut. You don’t know how long you’ve been kissing when Steve pulls away, his mouth cherry red and his face flushed. 
His fingers slip beneath the strap of your bra, toying with it but nothing more. He checks over your face as he asks, “Wanna take this off?” 
You nod, breathlessly. Up til now, it’s been easy to turn off your brain and let all your thoughts revolve around getting kissed absolutely stupid by Steve. 
But as his hands work deftly beneath you, unclipping the strap of your bra and beginning to tug it down, you feel the first worry creep in — this is usually when your panties follow, then his boxers, and then the expectations. Even with all your enjoyment, you know that if he tries now, you won’t be ready. 
Frustration bubbles up in your chest, mingling with your insecurity and you squirm a bit, trying to think of how to tell Steve without disappointing him. 
You’re so sick of disappointing people for something you can’t seem to help. 
Steve notices your squirming. His head shoots up to meet your gaze, a furrow back in his brow. “Hey, hey, what’s goin’ on?” 
“I…” Words die on your tongue easily, a war happening inside your throat as you debate what to say. You like him— you really like him and don’t want this to end and… he told you he wants you to tell the truth. 
“I don’t… I’m not—“ Your whisper climbs in volume alongside your frustration. “Steve, this isn’t working.” 
The wrinkle between his brow deepens and it’s not a comforting sight. Steve shifts a bit, his hand moving from the straps of your bra up to your face. He pushes back a few stray locks of hair, eyes sincere. 
“Not working?” He murmurs, “Baby, we’ve only just started.” 
You blink up at him once, twice. Your mouth opens and then closes again. 
You know that but you also know how this goes. Well, you think you know— so why do you suddenly feel so foolish? 
“Oh.” You say shyly. You sink your teeth into your bottom lip and try to ignore feeling like you’ve just ruined the mood. 
Steve takes it all in his stride, nothing but a twitch in his furrows brows as he takes in your embarrassed expression. He leans down, and kisses your neck, then your collarbone. His lips trail down, down, slow and sensual. Your bra scraps down your arms, tossed aside absentmindedly.
“Sweet girl,” he whispers into your skin. “I’m so sorry.” 
“Sorry?” You echo, a bit breathier as Steve's kisses scrape down your breast. Your nipples peak to attention.
“Mhm,” he hums, his lips wrapping around your nipple and sucking— his hands paw greedily at your back which arches eagerly into his kisses. Steve drags his mouth off, beginning to mouth softly down your breast til his plush lips kiss at your sternum. 
“M’sorry that nobody has ever taken care of you before.”
You squirm beneath him at his words, a warm flush washing through your body as desire spins up inside you. Steve continues as if he hasn’t turned your whole view inside-out— his hand shifting up to thumb at your nipple as he takes your nipple back between his lips. 
“Steve…” you sigh out. 
He’s kneading your body in just the right way, the sensitivity of your chest fuelling the pool of heat growing deep in your stomach. You feel your thighs clench together, hips shifting up instinctively. You haven’t been touched like this before and fuck, it’s a lot. 
“I know, honey.” He says lowly, voice muffled against your skin. He suckles at your nipple and just nips at it, a flash of teeth, enough to make you arch further. Your eyes slip shut and you push your chest further out. 
To your disappointment, Steve pulls back instead. Your eyes open, neck craning to look at him, your chest rising and falling with your heavy breaths.
“Y’tell me if there’s anything you don’t like, alright?” 
Somehow, the heat in your gut flares that much hotter — knowing that there’s love behind every motion. You scramble for threads of courage and hold them tightly. Then you bend your legs until you can slide them around his waist, ankles crossing and tugging him closer. His cock, straining in his pants, presses flush against your core, and at the same time you inhale, Steve stutters out a groan. 
“I’ll tell you.” You say, sinking your teeth into your bottom lip to hold back your grin. It melts away as Steve shifts against you purposefully, one of his hands dropping to hold your hip. The hard length of him grinds against your cunt, catching the angle of your clit in a way that makes you mewl beneath him. 
Steve kisses your breast again but your hands are already reaching for him— fingers cupping his jaw to tug him up. Your lips capture his and this time, when he rolls his hips into yours, the soft noise you make is swallowed in his kiss. It’s fervent, your kisses gaining speed and mess. You tighten your ankles and experiment with your grind and are rewarded with a jagged moan from Steve. 
Faintly, you consider how it makes a little more sense now. That all those desperate motions of making out, rutting against each other, hot open-mouth kisses— fuck, if it was always like this, you get it. You feel like you’re on fire. 
A breeze flutters the curtains across the room, the only indication of time outside your little bubble. It’s far too easy to get lost in the motions— building up your lust until you’re sure the cotton between your legs is soaked through. It feels silly but god, even though you knew this was one of the things making all those past times so terrible, you had just assumed that’s how it would always be. 
The stickiness feels vulgar, your cunt pulsating with heat like you’ve never felt before. It just makes it all feel better though— the warm, hard heat of Steve’s cock, fitting snug between your folds. 
A pause in the makeout to catch your breath. You’re huffing wildly and Steve takes the moment of his undistracted attention to focus on the shorts you’re wearing. He doesn’t ask verbally this time but as he hooks his fingers beneath the waistband, his eyes flash up to yours in question. 
You wiggle your hips and Steve takes his cue, the fabric scraping against your skin as it slides down, down, down. To your surprise, Steve goes with them. He gets halfway down the bed, his head aligned with your belly, hands kneading at the flesh of your boobs before he halts. 
“I wanna try something,” He says, looking up at you. He dots a quick kiss onto your skin as he does, not breaking eye contact. “And I think you’re gonna really love it.” 
He drags out the word really, his voice low enough that it rumbles, nearly a purr. 
“It involves a little bit of this.” He murmurs, pressing a kiss into your navel. He kisses nice and slow, the plushness of his lips scraping across the stretch of skin. 
You shiver a little, feeling how your thighs part instinctively and Steve smiles wickedly, seeing the motion. 
“A little—“ He travels further down, his hands sliding to hold the outside of your thighs. He grips the skin and urges it to spread wider— then takes a greedy fat lick along your inner thigh. “—of this.” 
You squirm. It’s unnerving in the best way, having someone so dedicated to making you feel good— but Steve’s face betrays no hint of insincerity. In fact, if you had to guess, you’d say he even looks excited. 
His large tan hands cover your hips, slender fingers curved atop your thighs to keep them pried open. You’re expecting the next question to be getting the final scrap of clothing off you— a mixture of nerves and excitement at the vulnerability that comes with taking them off. 
He doesn’t though. Drawing a line with the tip of his nose, he nuzzles down from the inside of your knee to your thigh, the warmth of his breath fanning across sensitive skin. He kisses your cunt, once, soft. You twitch, a sweet noise pushing past your lips. 
Steve does it again. This time, his lips part and you feel his tongue press through the soaked cotton of your panties — he kisses again, harder, moving over your clit with his tongue. This time you moan and feel your hips tip up to chase his mouth, surprising yourself. 
Fuck, when have you ever been this wet before? The cotton between your legs is sticky and it only gets messier with Steve’s every lick. The duvet crinkles beneath you as you sigh and sink into it, the low throb of pleasure curling up in your gut. 
“Steve,” you sigh his name like it’s a prayer. 
He hums against your core, his fingers gliding beneath the elastic of your panties but not pulling them down just yet. His hot mouth drops lower, his nose pressing into you at the perfect angle. Your breathy exhale is lilted with moans. 
“See?” He murmurs, so low you nearly don’t hear him. 
“S’Nothing wrong with you, sweetheart. Y’just needed…“ His fingers grip your panties and begin to pull and you aid him quickly with a lift of your hips. “…someone to take a little more care with you.” 
Any fear of vulnerability is whirled far away; you need his mouth back on you, like, yesterday. Especially when Steve groans. Like the sight of your glistening cunt is enough to make his cock ache. Your tummy heats further at the thought. 
His hands re-situate, soothing up to your tummy before sliding back down to grasp the tops of your thighs again. He pulls them open wider. 
Pure fire streaks through your nerves, a sweltering pleasurable burn twisting in your gut as Steve’s tongue licks through your folds in one bold stroke. Your hips try to twitch forward but his hands are already there, holding them down. 
There’s one more pause, one soft curse of adoration, as his nose nuzzles along the soft skin of your inner thigh. You feel unbearably warm in his sheets, heat pulsating and dancing beneath your skin. 
“Steve,” you whisper his name again, urging him gently. “Please.” 
“I got you,” He murmurs in response.  “You don’t gotta say please with me,” He hums lowly, then kisses right on your clit, languid and warm, his tongue swirling around it deftly. You cry out softly. 
He drags his mouth off you and if you looked down, you’d see the soft sheen of your slick on his rosy lips. “I wanna give you everything you want.” 
You gasp as he finally puts his mouth on you properly, pleasure dribbling through your core as he suckles on your clit. He’s killer with his tongue, twisting it and flattening it against your bud in a way that has you squirming. The sheets scrunch in your frenzied grip. 
For the first time, you understand why pornos even sound like that— taking a moment to realise the whiney gaspy noise you’re hearing is coming from you. 
“Oh god,” You whine prettily. “That’s— uh— fuck, that’s really good.” 
Between your thighs, you hear and feel the moan Steve gives back. Your thighs are twitching, torn between trying to keep them apart or warm your boyfriend's ears. Your hips are moving, subtle grinds up into Steve’s face and he takes it all appreciatively. He sucks and slurps, tongue dragging down your folds to toy at your clenching hole— making you squeal. 
“Fuck,” he rasps, pulling back for a moment. His voice is doused in arousal. “You’re so wet.” 
Heat plumes low in your tummy as he dives back in, a groan echoing from his throat. The coil in your gut tightens, winding tighter and tighter. Your chest heaves as your voice melts away until everything you say is a whimpery little “yes, yes, yes,” and Steve’s name. 
His huge hands are still pressing your thighs apart but one shifts suddenly, barely noticeable in your mounting euphoria, until it’s tapping at your hand fisted in the sheets. 
You lift your head, confused, and peer down at him. 
It’s a mistake. His hand is resting on the bed in front of your own, propped up and fingers spread. It's clear he wants to hold your hand. Chest heaving and still lightly moaning, your eyes dart from his hand to his face — and that’s the mistake. 
He’s fucking beautiful. Hair mussed, rosy-cheeked, and dark-eyed, Steve can only hold eye contact for a moment before his eyelids slip shut as he moans against your cunt. Fire blooms under your skin, coil turned tighter and together. He wants to hold your hand. Your fingers just manage to tangle with Steve’s, holding tight, as you tip over the edge with a cry. 
It’s intense — jagged waves of pleasure that ride through every nerve in your body and have you nearly overwhelmed with how fucking good it feels. Incoherent babbling whines pour from your mouth. Your thighs lock up, beating Steve’s strong hold now that he’s down to just one hand, and close around his head. He moans in response, his tongue never letting up, licking and sucking at your cunt fervently. 
And he holds your hand the whole way through. 
You feel thoroughly flattened by the time your orgasm tapers off, your legs relaxing and flopping tiredly against the bed. Vaguely, you’re aware you should apologise for likely cutting off his oxygen flow for a good couple of seconds there but you’re too out of breath yourself to do so. 
Your chest rises and falls and a sweet contentment settles into your skin. You feel happy, loved. Without meaning to, an awed laugh titters out of you. 
Then another, and another. You can’t seem to stop laughing, a gleeful silly joy as you release his hand to bury your face in your own. 
“Holy shit,” you whisper to yourself. Then, slightly louder. “Holy shit, Steve.” 
You hear him laugh and the sheets crinkle — and then he’s in your field of vision, hovering over you with an adoring grin on his face. His lips are still so pink and there’s a shine on his chin. He wipes it away absentmindedly, focused on you. 
“I take it you enjoyed yourself?” He says, genuine and not at all cocky. He settles down, one arm on either side of your chest. One of his hands sweeps over your face sweetly. 
You nod, tucking your bottom lip behind your teeth to constrain your grin. 
“Uh huh,” you say, voice all gooey. “I didn’t—“ 
You pause. “I thought— and then you— and Oh my Goddd.” You cover your face with your hands again, groaning exaggeratedly as you try to roll over and melt away into his bed sheets. 
“See? I told you it wasn’t you,” Steve says, peppering little kisses where he can reach. He kisses your shoulder, along the side of your face. He coaxes you out gently, pressing your shoulder to roll you onto your back. You face him properly.
“There is nothing wrong with you.” He reminds you. You’ve never been so happy to be wrong. You nod, hair scrunching against the pillow behind you. 
“Okay,” You say, with a small smile, finally believing it. “There’s nothing wrong with me.” 
Steve’s stare is glowing with fondness and the next moment, he’s lurching forward to press his mouth to yours. You kiss back greedily and lazily all at once.
He pulls back and you hate how the thought comes to you, unbidden; the smallest wrinkle creasing between your brows. 
“But,” You begin, voice small. “That wasn’t sex though.” 
Steve’s head tilts an inch, like an adorably confused puppy. “What do you mean? That was sex.” 
“What? That was— that was like second base.”
Steve huffs a laugh, though not directed at you. His gaze shifts above your head as he chooses his words. “Uhh, sure, if we were still in high school. But even then, that’s still sex. We just had some sex.” 
Stating it so plainly, you can’t help how it makes you giggle a bit. Steve rolls his eyes, even though you can tell he’s entirely endeared. 
“We just had sex,” You repeat his words, eyes bright and grin growing. “And I really enjoyed it.” 
Steve laughs loudly and steals a quick kiss from you. Holding up his hand, he wiggles his eyebrows at you. “Just had sex high-five?” He jokes. 
You slap your hand against his anyways, twisting your fingers to hold onto his hand as you let them fall to the bed. Steve beams, cuddling in closer, the tip of his nose nuzzling against your own. 
Turns out, you might be starting to get the whole big deal around sex after all. 
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salamispots · 8 months
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dream from several days ago
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horsechestnut · 19 days
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There are so many Dick, Bruce, or Tim kills the Joker fics on AO3, meanwhile Barbara was the one talking about how The Joker should be the exception to the No Kill Rule years before Red Hood Jason even existed.
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karlydraws · 14 days
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You know what AU this is
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oldschoolfrp · 2 months
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Discovering the lair of Anandak the red dragon (Terry Dykstra, from "League of the Red Serpent," the final climactic adventure of the 3 books included in the 1992 boxed set The Dragon's Den)
This set was labeled for use with Dungeons & Dragons, implying "not AD&D." Left unstated on the box: it was specifically designed for The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons Game, which was the 1991 "basic" version of the 1991 D&D Rules Compendium. Once you open the box, the adventure books mention needing "the black basic D&D game" which describes the "New Easy to Master" game's box and book. By now the names of the separate parallel product lines had become even more confusing than before and apparently not even TSR could figure out a clear way to reference them.
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mequetrefis · 7 months
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and they were crewmates 😳
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fnrrfygmschnish · 1 year
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So, recently I've found myself watching a lot of YouTube videos of random people talking about various versions of D&D and related games, and though I've never actually played anything it's been pretty interesting.
I ended up ordering this book, and it showed up at the post office this week!
It's essentially the same rules as a version of "basic D&D" (as opposed to Advanced D&D, because for weird legal reasons they had to have two separate D&D product lines back then) that was going around in the early 80s, but with certain names changed to avoid legal trouble (you can't call your floating eyeball monster a Beholder or use the term "Dungeon Master," or they'll sue you.)
After reading through a bit, I decided to poke around with character creation a bit and then did a bit of a "test run" of the combat rules. So here's our party, as represented by random toys I had lying around...
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Stomptoitles the cleric, who was so broke that he had to choose between armor and a holy symbol; ended up going with the armor because it was somewhat unclear exactly what the holy symbol was used for and I figured it was only needed for casting spells -- which clerics in this version don't get until level 2!
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Wimp Lo the thief. We trained him wrong on purpose, as a joke! He started out broke too, but thankfully the ammo for his sling was just random rocks he found on the ground.
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Jason Wideman the fighter, who was very unlucky with his HP roll (ending up with only 3 HP), but much luckier with his starting money roll (he could afford plate mail *and* a shield on top of various other starting stuff.) He was also terribly unlucky with his to-hit rolls, which I took as his not terribly smart self (int 9 and wis 7) taking a while to realize that sticking a spear between a skeleton's ribs only works if they *have* anything between their ribs.
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And Neen Jah the magic-user, who looks like a ninja because it turned out I didn't really have any figurines who looked even vaguely wizard-y. Just for fun, I rolled his starting spell randomly rather than picking Magic Missile or something -- and ended up with "Read Languages" which was, of course, not useful in a fight. So I had him use some of his nicely sized pile of starting gold to buy a tinderbox and a bunch of flasks of oil and "cast" Molotov Cocktail instead.
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I had them come across a group of skeletons (some of which look like mummies because it turned out I only had two of these dollar store skeletons and one didn't want to stand up on its own.) I rolled randomly to see how many and got six, which seemed like a bit much -- so I had them show up in two waves. Once they had taken care of three, two more appeared from around a corner!
Poor ol' Stomptoitles forgot he had the power to "Turn Undead," and got killed in one hit (the sword wielding skeleton slashed him for 5 damage, and he only had 4 HP.)
Neen Jah, lacking a usable spell and not wanting to get up close, chucked holy water (which missed) and then a couple flasks of burning oil (one of which hit, and the damage from the lingering fire destroyed that skeleton the next turn), but got unlucky when the last two arrived -- his last oil flask missed, then one ran up and killed him.
Jason fought a group of them up close pretty much the whole time, with his armor ensuring that they almost never hit him -- he only actually got hit twice despite being the focus of 2-3 skeletons pretty much the whole time. Plate mail and a shield together feels *really* strong, which seems appropriate. Eventually he was beaten, thanks to his unfortunately low HP and a lucky roll from one of the last two skeletons, but it took a while and he finished off a couple skeletons pretty much singlehandedly.
Wimp Lo got hit once early on and then immediately ran 50 feet away to snipe at them with sling-stones from a safe distance... but because we trained him wrong on purpose as a joke, he kept rolling 1s and 2s. When he did hit, though, those rocks did the job pretty well! He took out more skeletons than anyone else and in the end was the only survivor.
Some thoughts on things that stood out to me: plate mail and ranged weapons both feel really strong, which seems fitting for the whole medieval fantasy concept. I noticed that I started coming up with more description of what was happening over time -- how when a skeleton rolled a 5 it just missed its target entirely, while an 8 meant the attack bounced off Jason's armor and a 15 was close enough that it had to be actively blocked with his shield. Character HP being a die roll at level 1 leads to very fragile characters so I can definitely see why more recent versions let you go with the max possible HP at level 1 and only rolling dice for it after that. The idea of the wizard throwing Molotov cocktails for lack of an attacking spell was a lot of fun and more than makes up for the fact that you only get a single use of one spell at 1st level.
It was a pretty neat first experience with the game, and basically my first experience with *any* game along these lines. Despite the lack of... y'know... other people to play with. Maybe someday!
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kuriliancharlie · 2 months
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Sooo last night i got a random idea (since i finally watched poppy playtime chapter three) and this came into existence!
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ruporas · 10 months
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kiss (ID in alt text)
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