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#But again again even still he's a very young and new adult - there's a lot of chemistry going on in his brain that makes the job hard
sysig · 7 months
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Lose myself to you (Patreon)
#Doodles#SCII#ZEX#The Captain#Vent?? Maybe??#I've been having something of a rough time of it lately so I actually broke and made myself some SCII hurt/comfort for a change of pace#I almost never make hurt/comfort - more of a whump creator haha ♪ - but yeah I needed it#It ended up just being a short little 1.6k jaunt but I did do it all in one sitting and got some needed emotions out so thank you these two#I think it's also my first vent fic :0 So that's interesting!#As well as the first one that I inserted images into! I've been wanting to for a while but I never have! I know how to now! :D#Constantly thinking about how oddly on equal footing these two are despite being so different#It makes the way they differ so interesting!#They're both important figures in their respective military forces and yet the Captain is so young!#Not only a lack of experience leading to the blows hitting him harder proportionally but also just - that's just how teenage human brains do#(If the Captain is still a teen - it's gotten very stuck to me that he hasn't quite turned 20 yet haha)#But again again even still he's a very young and new adult - there's a lot of chemistry going on in his brain that makes the job hard#And so having ZEX as a partner and a mentor - it creates a weird dynamic! It's interesting to me#ZEX /is/ definitely weird towards the Captain haha but past a certain point he really does only have so much power over him#And I just like it better when he guides him over trying to control him <3 Usually anyway lol - in this instance for sure#Their weird dynamic being a source of comfort and escape ♥ Of ZEX being gentle with him while still working to his own ends haha#ZEX is such an interesting character; he's hard to classify and I like that about him very much
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daemour · 3 months
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I Can See You
Pairing: single dad! Seonghwa x babysitter! f! yn
Word Count: 10,137
Warnings: cursing, alcohol consumption, a creepy old man in one scene, age gap (10 years but both are adults (and not just barely)), smut warnings under cut
Genre: Angst, fluff, smut, single parent au, M for mature audiences
Summary: When you took a job babysitting a young toddler, you didn't expect to be so drawn to the family. And more specifically, her frustratingly hot and single dad.
Smut Warnings: masturbation, sexual fantasies, riding, slight (if you squint) corruption kink, sliGHT breeding kink, unprotected sex (DONT DO THIS unless you discuss safely outside of sex!), breast play, overstimulation, undiscussed kinks (yn is fine with it. but discuss your fucking kinks guys *gun emoji*), slight cumplay
thank u to @pyeonghongrie and @mingsolo for beta'ing and for the title hehe <3 this is also a collab with @potatomountain who is also writing a dilf hwa, we're just on two sides of the spectrum lol...and this is so damn long
-
“Hello, I’m here for a babysitter interview with a Mr Park?”
“That would be me. Miss (Y/N)?”
When you answered the ad in the newspaper about babysitting, you were so ready to see an older man, around his fifties. But this man looked so young, around his late twenties although you’re sure he’s probably forty. And you’re not one to judge—nearing your mid-twenties one wouldn’t be expecting you to still babysit as a full-time job. But it pays the bills and helps you get some hands-on experience in your degree, child development.
“Ah, yes. That’s me,” your words spill out as you realise he is awaiting an answer. Mentally, you berate yourself for the immediate blunder while Mr Park’s eyes crinkle with amusement.
“Come on in and make yourself comfy on the couch. I’ll be right there. Would you like anything to drink?” Mr Park’s voice is smooth like butter and you have a hard time making sure you don’t get lost in it.
Again, you nod, actual wordy responses jumbled in your brain, walking to the couch and sitting down almost mechanically. If you were mentally present, you would have noticed the smile the older man sends your way.
He doesn’t take too long, returning with two glasses of water. “You didn’t say what you wanted to drink so I just got you water. Is that okay?”
Thankfully, you finally can respond coherently and smile, albeit a little shakily. “Yes, thank you so much.”
You take the glass with both hands, thanking him again quietly and taking a small sip before just holding it as you wait for him to be seated. You’ve felt awkward before, but this is a new extreme. Normally you pride yourself on keeping your cool in front of someone you think is hot, but Mr Park…he’s something else. You try your best to keep your eyes trained on the coffee table, only letting yourself glance at him occasionally so he doesn’t realise just how in awe you are.
“Jihee will be home from school soon, so you’ll see her soon. For now it’ll just be old me and my questions,” Mr Park starts his interview as soon as he sits on the couch across from you. “Now, I saw in your application that your major was in child development? Can I ask why that interested you?”
You blink at him for a moment, not expecting that question. Sure, bringing it up was expected, but the way he sounds like he’s interviewing you for a position in a company amuses you. “Uh…I just grew up with a lot of siblings and their kids. I’m the youngest of six, and the oldest is sixteen years older than me so I have a lot of nieces and nephews as well. Children have always been a part of my life, and my first job was babysitting so it’s something I’m very used to. Child development was just a way for me to learn even more and in a less… hands-on way. Poopy diapers are not my favourite.” You pause. “Not that I can’t change them! Or that Jihee uses them. Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
You’re so sure your face is bright red right now as you stumble over your words, and you’re ready to be kicked out, but all Mr Park does instead is laugh at your embarrassment. It’s a little mean but it’s better than your worst conclusion so you’ll take it. “It’s okay,” Mr Park smiles at you. “It’s okay to ramble, it was actually quite amusing. Now, I’d just like to warn you, Jihee has trouble with working on schoolwork. While that usually isn’t an issue, she may be asking you to help her with her homework and reading and I just thought I’d give you a heads up. Would that cause any trouble?”
“It wouldn’t bother me, and I’ll try my best. I took children’s education in college as well so it’d be a good time for me to exercise that,” you laugh quietly. Your first dream was to be a governess, no matter how few jobs there are for that type of work.
Mr Park nods thoughtfully. “Glad to give you some experience in that,” he hums after careful consideration, a smile on his face. “Her struggles lie in understanding the problems and in English. If she faces any difficulty then I can always help out.”
Before either of you continues speaking, his watch beeps and he glances down. Without another word, he stands and goes to open the front door. “Uh–” Your confusion escapes you before you can stop it.
“Oh, Jihee’s almost home and I always leave the door open for her,” he explains, eyes still trained on his watch. “You’ll get to meet her, and then we can discuss more details. And just to reiterate the ad, this is going to be a job that requires a lot of hours. I, of course, will be paying you for any sort of overtime if I need to stay at the office later. Does your schedule still allow for that?”
You hold back your smile. Your schedule mostly consists of scrolling the internet for job opportunities and eating lunch with your friends. “Yes, I can do that,” you affirm. “I’ll need holidays off, but I assume that’s a given as you’ll also be with Jihee?”
A smile pulls at the corner of Mr Park’s mouth. “Very astute,” he chuckles. “Now, here she comes.”
The door swings open without another word from either of you and a little girl dressed in pink and ribbons barrels into Mr Park’s knees. He lets out a quiet grunt, stabilising himself against the door as his hand strokes at her hair. “Hello, Jihee,” he hums fondly. "How was school today?"
The young girl beams up at her father. "So fun!" she grins, her words slightly slurred in her excitement. "Today, Mrs Lee had us do shapes and my favourite colour is blue now! I have so many blue crayons."
Mr Park's eyebrow raises at the mention of crayons. "Do you have them with you?" he asks, and Jihee nods vigorously. "Can I see them?"
Another nod comes from the child and she immediately plops on the floor, pulling out her pencil case and opening it to reveal at least ten crayons, all of varying sizes. What stands out to you the most is that half of them are green. "See! All blue. But this one's my favourite." She grabs at a particularly long and skinny one, a shade of emerald green.
"Ah. Lovey, remember, your colours are a little different, right?" Mr Park talks in a gentle voice, very different from the very adult voice he used with you. "That's a green crayon."
Jihee's face drops. "Oh." Her bottom lip juts out in a pout.
Mr Park holds out his hand and Jihee drops the crayon into his palm. "You can't take the crayons from school anyway, dear. Why don't we leave these in your bag and you can give them back and apologise to Mrs Lee tomorrow?"
Jihee's pout grows bigger but she nods. "Okay, daddy," she agrees and Mr Park nods proudly.
"Now, do you want to meet your new friend?" You flinch as Mr Park mentions you, sitting up straighter in your chair before ultimately deciding to stand instead.
"Hi, Jihee," you do your best to speak with the same quiet tone Mr Park used. "I'm (Y/N)! It's nice to meet you."
You offer your hand for her to shake and Jihee looks at you, her thinking face almost a spitting image of her father's before she walks over and takes your hand with gusto. "Hi, Mrs (Y/N).”
"Ah, I'm not a Mrs," you correct her. "You can call me (Y/N)."
"Miss (Y/N)," Mr Park quietly interrupts and you nod, not wanting to override his parenting although being called 'miss' will catch you off-guard for the time being. "Why don't you tell her one thing about yourself and then Miss (Y/N) has to go, okay?"
Jihee's mouth twists in sadness, her hand still gripping yours. "Okay," she sighs again. "I get to talk to her more later though, right?"
Mr Park nods. "Of course. Miss (Y/N) will be spending a lot of time with you, so I'm glad you like her."
Jihee nods solemnly. "I like pretty people and you're super pretty," she tells you earnestly and your heart swells at the compliment.
“Thank you, Jihee,” you thank her genuinely, although you’re amused at the fact that she considers her appreciation for physical looks a good introduction to herself. “It was nice to meet you.”
With another decisive nod, Jihee turns and marches right off down the hall, presumably to her room. Mr Park turns to you, finally shutting his front door with a sigh. “That was Jihee. Ball of energy extraordinaire. She comes home from school at one-thirty, and will put her own things away before coming to eat a snack. She has one worksheet to do a day but with your help she’ll get it fairy quickly. I’ll email you a list of house rules.”
You nod. “That sounds perfect. What would the schedule look like? What time would I be here, and when would I expect you to come home?”
Mr Park hums, running a hand through his perfect hair. “For her school days, I’d like to have you in here maybe ten minutes before she comes. I’ll always leave her snack in the fridge and you can just pop it in the microwave and make yourself comfortable before she comes barrelling in. Then I’ll be home at five-thirty sharp whenever possible. Every other Saturday I’m in the office for eight hours and you’ll be watching Jihee for those days. If you can’t do a Saturday, just let me know so I can get someone to watch her, but generally I’d like you here from eight to five.”
You nod. All your friends have atypical work schedules so your Saturdays are empty in general, and since the weekdays are shorter hours you don’t mind. “When it comes to after-school playdates, should I expect you to be home or would you like me to take care of them?”
Mr Park’s lips tighten almost imperceptibly. “That won’t be an issue. Jihee doesn’t do playdates.” Your curiosity spikes at his short answer but his tone leaves no room for discussion so you don’t press it. “I’ll give you a key now. Tomorrow is my off-Saturday but if you can come in just to adjust yourself that would be great. I have some work to get done anyway so I’ll be mostly out of your hair although you can still ask me questions.”
You nod again. “Yeah, that works,” you confirm after a quick check to your phone calendar. When you look up, Mr Park is already holding out a key and you take it after a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
Mr Park nods, moving to open the door when Jihee calls out with a whining tone to her voice. “Daddy, I need help!”
Mr Park sighs but it’s full of affection for his daughter. “I would walk you to your car but she calls for me,” his head dips into an apologetic bow but you shake your head.
“Don’t worry about it,” you smile at him. “There’s no need for that at all.” That is one of the main reasons, but another part of you doesn’t want him to know you have no car and you take the bus to his neighbourhood and then walk the rest of the way.
A twenty-four-year-old with no car? It’s a little embarrassing, especially in the area you both live in where it’s almost required to have a car to do anything. Generally, your babysitting jobs were close enough to your home, but the salary of this job enticed you to give up walking.
As you exit, you can hear Jihee starting off her complaints about her jacket and you smile to yourself subconsciously.
-
You’ve been working with the Parks for almost a month now and generally, it’s a good time. You only really see Mr Park when he comes home, but by then you have one foot out the door. There are days when he looks so beaten down that you want to offer him some encouragement, but you don’t want to step out of your boundaries. So, you just keep your head down and leave.
Jihee is sweet and easy-going, not hard for you to get along with. She always has some sort of fun idea for you to play along with and her schoolwork hasn’t been too terrible although you dread when she starts getting into more difficult maths.
But today, as soon as Jihee walks into the door, you suspect something is wrong. She doesn’t greet you as excitedly as she used to, just stalking straight into her bedroom and coming right now, settling herself down on the couch with a pout on her face.
“Jihee, don’t you want to eat?” you try to coax her to the dinner table, but she just shakes her head, immobile. You frown. It’s strange for the usually talkative child to be this closed off. “Did something happen at school?”
Jihee glares at the coffee table, shaking her head. “No,” she mutters but her cold-stone facade drops immediately as she suddenly bursts into tears. Your heart drops for the child crying on your couch and you immediately run to her and pull her into your arms. “Why don’t they like me?” she wails into your shirt and your heart drops.
You had suspected it when Mr Park shut down the playdate idea very quickly, but this just solidifies your thoughts. How could the kids at school not like such a sweet kid? As you’ve been working for the Parks for quite a bit now, you’ve grown to adore the young girl like she was one of your own nieces.
You don’t say anything just yet, just patting her hair and doing your best to calm her down. It takes almost an hour but now she just curls up in your arms, her hands gripping your shirt as she’s so close to falling asleep. You don’t have the heart to wake up so you resign yourself to letting her sleep on you for now.
Within ten minutes, you fall asleep as well. It’s not what you meant to do, but you couldn’t have stopped yourself. When your eyes open again, Jihee is no longer in your arms and there’s a large fluffy blanket laid on top of you. You blink yourself awake before panic sets in and you shoot up, looking around. “Jihee?” you call out and hear deep laughter behind you. When your head snaps back you see Mr Park chuckling at your face.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Miss (Y/N).”
It takes a minute for your words to register, blinking stupidly at your employer for a few moments before your face drops and you practically leap off the couch. “I’m so sorry!” you cry, bowing rapidly at a low angle. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep and it won’t happen again.”
You keep your eyes lowered and you look up at him through your lashes, scared of how he’ll react but to your surprise, Mr Park’s smile grows and he shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, you looked comfortable and the doors were locked. Jihee didn’t get into any trouble, just was a little bored since you were asleep.”
You shake your head. “Regardless, I shouldn’t sleep on the job but thank you for the kindness. Jihee is very responsible for her age and it certainly reflects on your parenting.” You smile back at him.
“Well, thank you for your kind words. It means a lot to me as well,” Mr Park hums. “Would you like to join us for dinner? I know you usually leave around the time I get back but let me at least feed you before you go.”
You frown. “I’d like to, but I should get going,” you say absentmindedly. “I have to make it in time to catch the bus.”
You’re looking around, trying to gather your belongings, when you realise how silent Mr Park is. And in turn, you realise what you just said. “You take the bus?” His voice lowers and you stare at the look of concern he has on his face. “It’s practically dark by the time you leave and you’re walking to the bus stop by yourself?”
“Ah– it’s okay! It’s not a far walk, just up the street.” You hurry to defend your choices, waving your hands. “I’ve gotten home safe so far, no?”
Mr Park shakes his head. “No, you can’t take chances. I’ll drive you home tonight after dinner. You must stay.”
You stare up at him with wide eyes, but his stance is unwavering. And as much as you would usually protest—being taken home by a much older man would usually ring alarms in your head—the idea of not having to wait in the cold and the dark by yourself is very appealing. And from how you’ve interacted with him before, Mr Park seems very sweet, and you trust him just a little more than you probably should.
“Well, I do thank you for your kindness,” you sigh, nodding your head in concession. “But this will be the only time.”
Mr Park chuckles, not taking you seriously. “We’ll see. Now come on. Tonight is beef stew and my younger brother will come for dinner as well.”
“Uncle Uyu is coming?” You can hear Jihee’s excited voice coming from the kitchen as well as her feet pittering on the floor as she launches herself into your lap. “Hi again, Miss (Y/N).”
“Hello again, Miss Jihee,” you tease, pressing the tip of your finger to her forehead and Jihee giggles.
“Are you staying for dinner?” You nod again and she screeches in happiness, not giving a second glance at how you wince at the sound. “I can’t wait! I have to make you pretty! Come with me.”
With as much seriousness as she can muster in her body, she pulls you by the hand into her room as Mr Park watches the two of you with a soft smile and follows the two of you into Jihee’s room. He takes a seat on the bed as Jihee fusses over your hair, styling it with her toddler's hands and putting an obscene amount of hair clips into it. But you’re whipped for the little girl and you let her do whatever she wants, ending up in two uneven pigtails and a plethora of Hello Kitty clips.
“Daddy, isn’t it pretty?” Jihee giggles, moving your head to tilt so her father can take a look at her work. “It’s better than your hair to practice!”
Mr Park, mock-affronted, holds his hand to his chest. “Betrayed by my own daughter? Alas, but I can let it slide as this may very well be your best work.”
Jihee giggles, pressing her face against your cheek when the doorbell rings. “Uncle Uyu!” As always, her focus is diverted by any new thing and she runs for the door, both you and Mr Park following shortly after. As she yanks the door open, a man around Seonghwa’s age greets her just as excitedly, bending down to pick her up and spin her around.
“Jiji,” he cheers, “Already so big?” His eyes find you and you offer a small wave. “And who’s this? Seonghwa, you found a girl?”
Mr Park’s jaw drops and your eyes widen as you rush to contradict. “Oh, no, no, I’m just the babysitter. Mr Park has kindly invited me for dinner.”
Wooyoung chuckles at the look on both your faces. “Don’t worry, I just like to pull on Seonghwa’s leg. You’re a little young for him too.”
You offer a smile. “Yeah, and the forties are a little out of my age range as well,” you try to joke, but to your surprise, Wooyoung breaks out cackling, startling Jihee who starts laughing with him confusedly. Mr Park’s shocked face has somehow become even more intense.
“You think I’m how old?” Wooyoung has reigned in his laughter although a smile still pulls at his lips. “I’m only thirty-four!”
A gasp made its way out of your mouth as you start bowing rapidly again in apology. “I’m so sorry! You look your age, I just assumed you had to be older.”
Mr Park sighs, although an amused smile now graces his face. “It’s okay, I can understand it. I’ll just be giving you a hard time from now on.” He punctuates with a wink and your eyes snap down to Jihee in embarrassment.
“Let’s get on with dinner so I can go home and just melt in embarrassment, okay?” you groan and the two older men laugh. Jihee seems to agree with your sentiment, declaring her hunger grumpily and you laugh and pick her up. “See, even Jihee’s on my side. Let’s eat now.”
Mr Park hums, stepping aside. “All right, I see I’m outnumbered now. I hope you don’t mind how casual this dinner is, but I promise the food is worth it. Wooyoung’s the better cook, but he’s taught me a few tricks.”
You shrug. “Any food is good food to me. At home, I have instant ramen and fried rice so it’s a nice change.”
Out of disapproval, Mr Park shakes his head although the smile does not leave his face. “I do not miss my college diet. Please, take a seat.” He motions to the dinner table, pulling out a chair for you to seat yourself, sitting beside you as Wooyoung and Jihee join the other side of the table.
“So, tell me about yourself (Y/N),” Wooyoung hums, leaning on the table by his elbows. “You’re in college?”
You shake your head. “I graduated a year and a half ago, I’m twenty-four now, but it feels like just yesterday I was taking my finals,” you chuckle. “What was your major, Mr Wooyoung?”
Wooyoung smiled, “Please, call me Wooyoung. Mr Wooyoung just sounds weird. But to answer your question, my major was culinary, of course. Before I taught Hwa how to cook, he was hopeless. I think I was feeding him and Jihee primarily other than his sandwiches and canned soup.” He sighs, leaning back and smirking at Mr Park whose ears are red.
“Hey, Youngah, I paid you for your work. Don’t make me seem incompetent,” Mr Park snorts, leaning over to smack the back of his neck. “Wooyoung may be eight years younger than me but he certainly acts like he’s five.”
You laugh at the banter. “Me and my siblings were the same way. We’d always fight but in the end, we care for each other. It’s sweet to see you guys act the same.” You smile, taking a bite of your stew. “Thank you for letting me sit in on your family dinner.”
Mr Park shakes his head. “Of course. Can’t let you walk on your own at night, you know. I’d be happy to give you a ride home from now on.”
“Ah, no, I can’t make you do that,” you try and decline again but Seonghwa is having none of that.
“It’s not a matter of making me, I offered. I can’t let my babysitter just stand around in the dark. Let me do this for you. Jihee cares for you, she wouldn’t want to make you get hurt.”
You frown, pursing your lips. “I suppose I can’t argue with that,” you concede. “Thank you once again.”
Mr Park shakes his head, his hand moving up to ruffle your hair. “Don’t worry about it.” His hand rests atop your head a moment longer before he remembers who he is in relation to you. “Ah, sorry. Habit from Jihee.”
The heartfelt moment is cut loose by everyone amused at Mr Park’s habit. Jihee immediately takes the initiative to start rambling about stickers, engrossing everyone in the conversation, Wooyoung being particularly vocal. The dinner is finished with no other events, and you offer to help clean up, ignoring Mr Park when he tries to protest.
“Thank you for helping out,” he tries to thank you but you wave your hand dismissively.
“You fed me and are driving me home. It’s the least I could do. Shall we head out though? I don’t want you to have to leave Jihee for too long.”
Mr Park nods, grabbing his keys and jangling them as he opens the door to the garage. You do your best to not show your surprise at the sight of his fancy car. Of course, you knew he was well off, but you never imagined you’d actually be sitting in his car. He even opens the door for you, letting you slide into the passenger seat.
You hold yourself stiffly, but Mr Park looks over and just laughs at you. “Relax, I’m not going to bite you. Just let me know where to go and we’ll be set. Want a piece of gum?”
He holds out a pack of gum and you gladly take the piece, happy for the distraction. Most of the car ride is silent, except for you telling him occasionally where to go. But as he pulls up to your street, he slows to a crawl.
“You know, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around.me. Sure, I’m your employer, but I’m also a dad. I got the dad instinct, you know?” Your lips twitch at his attempt to be comforting. “Really, though. Don’t hold yourself so tight around me. I don’t mind doing this for you.”
You turn your eyes down. “Thank you. I’ll try, it’s just a little weird for me if you understand. But I do appreciate everything you’re doing for me.” As you unbuckle your seatbelt, you smile at Mr Park. “I hope you have a good night.”
As you go to your apartment building, Mr Park leans out of his car and calls after you. “You can call me Seonghwa, (Y/N). Mr Park makes me feel old.”
You laugh at his admission. “We’ll see, grandpa!” You can’t help but tease him before running into your home, leaving an amused Seonghwa outside.
-
These days you and Seonghwa have become a lot more friendly. He’s taken to driving you home despite your protests and during the car rides, some interesting conversations have happened. For example, you learnt that he built his company from the ground and yet is respected in many old money circles.
Okay, maybe you didn’t learn that from a conversation, and instead just searched on the internet. But what can you say? You’re curious about the man who happens to be your charge’s father and the man who happens to be very very handsome.
Maybe you have a bit of a crush on Seonghwa, but you couldn’t blame yourself. There was something about him. It is the aura he holds himself with, the kindness in his smile when he arrives home, and it helps that he is hot. Every so often, you can’t help but find yourself glancing at his pretty hands, or his well-toned arms, and you have to look away before heat spreads up to your ears.
You’re down bad, and it’s not getting any better. Every time you see Seonghwa, you want to jump him but it would be inappropriate. Not only is he your employer, but he’s also a decade older than you. There’s no way he would be interested in you, he probably sees you just as some kid.
With a sigh, you look down at your sketchbook. Today was supposed to be a fun day. Both Jihee and Seonghwa were off today, so you were spending the day with her as Seonghwa was still called into the office to put in some extra hours. But then the toddler fell sick and you were tasked with taking care of her.
At least it was a fairly easy job—Jihee slept most of the day and you were free to work on some of your more personal projects. Although your passion lies in children, you do enjoy drawing and even took a couple of classes in college. As you lay on the couch sketching, you get so lost in your mind you don’t even register the door opening and the footsteps coming towards you.
“Is that me?”
A shriek rips its way out of your throat as you do your best to whirl around and hold your drawings to your chest, but your legs get caught in the blanket and you instead fall half off the couch to the ground. Your chin props your head up on the ground but your legs are still tangled on the couch, your arms twisted into the blanket, the sketchbook an arm’s reach away.
“Hi, Mr– Seonghwa. How was work today?” you mumble half into the carpet, too embarrassed to look up. “Jihee’s taking a nap in her room.”
After a moment of silence, Seonghwa laughs, although it’s a little pained. “Uh. Do you need help up?”
You groan, pulling one of your arms out from your cocoon prison. “That would be great, thanks. Sorry.”
One of his cool hands gently takes your elbow as another comes to rest on your back. It’s at the moment you realise your shirt has ridden up. You can’t help but tense at the touch, hoping the embarrassment doesn’t show on your face. “Jihee’s taking a nap?”
You’re grateful he chose to brush over the incident. “Yeah– yeah. She’s not much better, but she’s not much worse. It’s just a simple cold, so she needs to sleep it off.” You chose to ignore the hand lingering on the small of your back, instead scooching back on your butt to distance yourself just a little bit. He’s your employer, there’s no way you can give in to your feelings.
But the couch seems to be against your plans, as when you try to pull the blankets off your feet you tumble into Seonghwa’s legs, knocking him down as you land on his firm chest. Your face is mere centimetres away from his and you freeze. “I–” you stammer out, Seonghwa equally as awkward.
“Sorry–” He tries to sit up, but it just results in the blankets twisting tighter and pulling you two even closer together. You swear if you could hold your breath, you could feel and hear his heart beating. “Ah, shit.”
You can’t help but laugh a little at his profanity, not something you’ve ever expected to hear from him. “Welcome back, Seonghwa.”
Seognhwa’s eyes widen, his blush deepens, and his head snaps away from you. Your brows furrow at the change in his features and you can’t help but wonder if it’s from the proximity, or if it’s the proximity to you specifically. “Ah. Let’s get out of this, shall we?” he coughs. He carefully detangles himself from the pile and holds out a hand to you.
You grasp it, noting his firm grip and letting him pull you up. “Thanks.”
“I’ll drive you back to your apartment first since Jihee’s asleep right now. It won’t take long.” While Seonghwa’s voice remains warm, his eyes move away from you.
Suddenly a guilty feeling pools in your stomach and you turn away as well, bending to pick up your sketchbook silently. “Of course.” The disappointment fills your head as you internally admonish yourself for even trying to entertain your fantasies of the older man.
But, to your surprise, a warm hand pats you on your shoulder. “You are good at art, (Y/N). You should continue to pursue and practice it, even as just a hobby.” His words make you look up into his eyes and you see a sparkle behind them. “You’re a talented person, and you should take advantage of it.”
“Thank you, Seonghwa,” you smile at him again. “Once again, I appreciate the kindness you offer me.”
Seonghwa chuckles, spinning the car keys as you’ve quickly found out is his habit. “(Y/N), thank you for putting up with such an old man who can offer you nothing but kindness.”
You snort. “You’re not even that old, you geezer.” In retaliation, Seonghwa leans over and pokes you in the forehead.
“Oh, hush and let me take you home.”
-
It’s been almost six months since that day and your feelings have only intensified. But this time, you swear perhaps he may be returning your feelings too. Sometimes you catch him looking at you with a gentle smile, and his hand on your shoulder lingers a little longer than you think. But then he talks to an employee on the phone and you remember how accomplished he is. Even if he wasn’t much older than you, there’s no way you would fit into his lifestyle.
And, like any self-respecting person would do, you start to avoid him. What else are you going to do? Tell him? You’d be crazy to even entertain the thought. There’s no way he would even take you seriously.
These days you’ve just been going to work, and heading straight home. Seonghwa barely has time to catch you, and you’ve been plotting with Jihee to keep him away. She doesn’t quite understand why, but it’s fun to her so she’s happy to. You’re pretty sure half your wallet has gone to sticker sheets. But no matter how many stickers you’ve bought, it doesn’t help Seonghwa from figuring out something is amiss.
It’s your one day off and you’re spending it at home, lounging around and just watching movies while you sulk about your tangled feelings. Watching all these romantic movies doesn’t help at all and you groan. There’s no way you’re going to act like a lonely teenager, you declare to yourself. You’ll go to a club! Maybe meet someone closer to your age and you won’t feel like a wet sock anymore.
That’s it, you’ve convinced yourself. You’ll give yourself a night out. Suddenly inspired, you throw off the blankets covering you and start donning your nicest clothes. There’s a club you used to frequent in your college days, and you haven’t been back since you got the new job. It’d be nice to let loose again.
As the nighttime approaches, you’re almost all ready to go. You have your outfit and your makeup, and all you need is your shoes. Once you pick out your favourite pair of heels (comfy and not too high), you make your way down. You can feel the excitement pounding out of your chest and you can’t wait to get the night started.
As you enter the club, your body immediately relaxes as you take in the atmosphere. It’s been so long, you’re just excited to have fun. Get drunk, find a nice guy, and forget your problems. You down drink after drink, hyping yourself up, but as late night comes, nothing happens. With a sigh, you plunk down your last drink, feeling the buzz of the alcohol burn in your veins.
Nothing will happen tonight, and you just have to come to terms with it. You place down a couple of bills to pay off your tab, tip, and stumble out of the bar. You’re plastered. You can hardly walk in a straight line and you lean against the cool brick for a minute, letting the sensation sober you up a bit as you do your best to call up a taxi.
But before you can do so, a hand creeps onto your bare waist and your head snaps up to see a man, no younger than fifty, leering at you. “Uh, hi?” you slur out, your hands fiddling with your phone as you try and discreetly move to the phone app. You may be plastered, but you’re not a fool and you know what could happen in this situation.
Unfortunately, the old man seems to know what you’re trying and he grabs one of your wrists. “Now, pretty lady, take a break there. Why don’t you come hang out with me for a bit?” His words are greasy and slimy, and you almost gag at the idea of what he’s insinuating. At least Seonghwa isn’t triple your age…and he’s hot.
“Ah, no thanks,” you manage to push past him, pressing your most recent contact and holding the phone to your ear. “I’m a little uh…” You’re cut off when whoever you call starts speaking.
“(Y/N)? Why are you calling me? It’s nine.” Seonghwa’s voice crackles through the receiver. “Are you okay?”
“Ah, shit,” you groan, stumbling to your side and colliding with the wall. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to call you. I’m just out and–”
Once again, the old man approaches you and pulls you back by the waist. “Come on, pretty. Get off the phone and pay attention to me.”
You shake your head and pull away again, moving even more down the street. “No, no, I’m not– just leave me alone. I want to go home,” you say, shaking your head, still holding the phone to your face. “Just…I wanna go home.”
“(Y/N), are you okay? Where are you?” You can hear the worry in Seonghwa’s voice rise and a faint jingling of keys. “I’m going to get you. Wooyoung’s here so he can watch Jihee. Talk to me, (Y/N).”
“I’m at the club Desire. Or near it. I don’t know.” Your head is muddled and no matter where you look, the street signs are blurring and the old man is still trying to get your attention. “I just want to go home,” you repeat, tears springing to your eyes. “I thought I told you to leave me alone!”
The old man growls at your tone, grabbing at you again. “Don’t be stupid, child. You can come home with me and I’ll teach you how to be proper for a man like you.” His breath reeks of alcohol and bad breath and you instinctively slap him across the face. Surprised, he jerks back, and you take a couple of shaky steps back again.
“Leave me be! I don’t want you near me.”
The old man’s eyes narrow at you and he takes one menacing step forward, his hand raising to strike you but you bring up your arms to block the slap, whimpering in pain when the hit lands and your phone clatters out of your hand. “You insolent child!” Your eyes squeeze shut and you hope Seonghwa gets there soon.
-
Seonghwa has never driven so fast in his life. He’s racing through the lights and he counts his lucky stars that they’re all green and that the police aren’t around right now. He can hear arguing coming from his phone and he’s calm enough knowing you’re at least still on the phone. But then he hears a noise and what he assumes to be your phone falling on the ground. “Fuck,” he mutters to himself. “Please, please be okay, (Y/N).”
Stepping on the gas, he roars around the corner to the club you mentioned, praying you’re still there. As he gets out, he’s looking around but can’t seem to find you. “(Y/N)?” he calls out. “Where are you?”
He races down the street to find you pinned against the wall, your hands attempting to push an old geezer away and he sees red. He marches right up, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from your shaking figure. “Fuck off,” he growls in his face, delighting in the fear that moves across his face. “Don’t let me catch you near this place again. Now fuck off!”
He practically throws the old man to his knees before turning and cupping your face. “Seonghwa,” you practically sob. He can still see the drunken haze in your eyes but it’s almost completely cleared up now and his brow furrows even more.
“Come on, I’m taking you home.” He pulls you along and you do your best to keep up with him in your inebriated state. “I can’t believe you would do this! Have you no sense of security? Why didn’t you get anyone to come with you? Why would you call a taxi outside of the establishment?”
He still opens the car door for you and you slide immediately in, eyes staring wide at the pristine dashboard. He slides in and puts the car in the ignition before sitting back and groaning in frustration. “I hope you’re ready to talk as soon as we get inside,” he gripes. “I still am so shocked, (Y/N). You act so mature about Jihee, but what happened then? You could’ve been hurt…no, you were hurt!”
He continues his rant driving up to your street, ushering you into the elevator and into your place. “Do you know how my heart dropped when I saw you struggling? I don’t want to see you hurt. You need to take care of yourself.”
As he yells at you, his eyes rake over you to see if you’re injured any further, but something else stops him and the words die in his throat. You’re wearing a sheer shirt, your lacy bra underneath just showing off your chest. Your leather skirt has ridden up your thighs and your eyes fill with unshed tears. And something burns in his brain.
It’s been months since he hired you, and with each passing day, he finds himself more and more attracted to you. He berated himself every time these unwanted thoughts popped into his head. Sure, you’re sweet, good with kids, and are passionate about what you care about. But you’re also so young. You can do so much better than him, a single father with no prospects.
But seeing you like this, heat sparks in his gut and he leans in, his face mere inches away from yours. “When you wear things like that, it makes me want to rip them off you and do things even that creep couldn’t even imagine,” his low voice pierces through your thoughts and your mouth gapes open.
“I’m okay with that,” you whisper, hand reaching out to brush against his chest, but Seonghwa blinks as he realises what he just tried to do, and he jerks back. Your eyes flash with hurt and Seonghwa would like to hit himself for doing that to you but he can’t let you come onto him when you’re still drunk.
“I– I’m sorry,” you whisper, your hands reaching behind you to steady yourself on the wall. “I just felt so lonely. I wanted to be wanted.” 
Seonghwa’s breath stutters as he stares down into your wavering eyes. “I–” He wants you so bad. But he can’t bring himself to say it. Not when you’re drunk. “Go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.”
He turns away and hears your disappointed sigh alongside your footsteps trudging to your bedroom. With a groan, he sits on the couch with his head in his hands. He wants to reassure you, but he can’t help but feel guilty about it. But he’s still straining in his pants and after locating your bathroom, he sits on the shower bench, leaning against the cool tile and breathing in and out. With a groan, he unzips his pants and pulls out his half-hard cock. The feeling of regret rises but he pushes it down to his gut as he spits in his hand and presses his thumb against the head of his dick.
As he wraps his hand around his cock and pumps it, he can’t help but close his eyes and imagine you. You with your mouth wrapped around his cock, with your hands gripping his thighs. You seated on his throbbing member, grinding your hips against him as you lean down to kiss him. He can feel his dick jump and he wonders what it’ll feel like to fill you with his cum.
He lets out a broken moan as his grip turns tighter. His image of you would scratch your nails down his back. He can almost hear your little whines and breathy moans as your hips work over him. You’d lean in and whisper into his mouth, “Seonghwa, fuck me hard,” and—
Seonghwa sighs as he looks down at his cum-coated hand and the mix of shame and relief swirling around his brain. Maybe he should just go to sleep on the couch and hope he doesn’t dream of you. As he washes his hand and goes to lie down, he can already feel a stress headache coming on. He hopes you’ll at least fare better in the morning.
-
When you awaken, you have a throbbing pain in your head and you groan and roll out of bed. You’ve taken your club shirt off as well as your skirt, but your bra and underpants are still on. You’re sure your makeup is smudged too and you have no clue how you got home but all you want is some coffee and oatmeal.
You trudge to the kitchen, rubbing your eyes from sleep. There’s a blanket fallen on the floor so you toss it onto the couch and head straight into the kitchen to start your coffee maker. As you lean against the counter and yawn.
“(Y/N), are you feeling better?”
A voice calls out from behind you and you shriek, whirling around to see a sleepy Seonghwa, blanket wrapped around him and his hair a mess. You shriek again, realising how little you’re clothed and duck behind the counter, your cheeks flaming and your heart beating faster than you ever thought it could.
“What are you doing here?” you force out, your voice tight.
“Do…do you not remember last night at all?” You do remember most of what happened. He took you home, but that’s about as far as you remember. And you’re not sure you want to know the rest of it. But you’re far too embarrassed to admit, so you put your acting skills to use. You’re not sure you can handle the shame of a real conversation.
“What?” you ask, forcing your voice to pitch higher as you slowly stand back up, hands covering your chest. “I didn’t– Oh my God, I’m so sorry if I came onto you. I was drunk, I must’ve been out of my mind. Please accept my deepest apologies.”
You notice Seonghwa’s eyes trail down to your chest and then snap back up to your face as if he’s forcing himself to and he chokes out a breath. Despite the headache, your mouth twitches. Maybe you’re still a little out of it. “No, nothing like that. I fetched you from the club because you called me to save you from a creep. Then I took you home and we slept.”
You sigh. “I’m glad. I do apologise for whatever my behaviour was. It was out of line and it won’t happen again. I understand if you want to let me go–”
“No!” Seonghwa’s outburst surprises you and your eyes widen. The lack of clothes you’re wearing has been long forgotten and you move around the counter to stand in front of him. Seonghwa has the decency to look a little embarrassed at the volume of his voice. “Sorry. I just…it’s like you’re a part of our family already. I care for you just as much as I care for Jihee.”
Ah. He thinks of you like a child. Your suspicions were right. You turn slightly to face away from him, trying to keep the disappointment out of your voice. “I see. Well, I appreciate that. It’s nice to have a second family,” you chuckle, internally beating yourself up. How could you even entertain the thought of the two of you being together? “Let me change, and I’ll walk you out.”
As you return to your room, you finally let your heart sink as tears brim in your eyes. You hastily wipe them away as you rummage in the pile of clothes on your bed for something fairly appropriate to wear. First, you make a fool of yourself in front of Seonghwa, and then your crush is unfounded. You can’t seem to catch a break.
With a sigh, you pull on some shorts and a large shirt before heading back out. “Hey, (Y/N), could we talk first?” Seonghwa asks, still standing in between the kitchen and the living room as his eyes flit around nervously.
After some hesitation, you finally find your voice. “Sure? What’s up? You can sit on the couch if you want.”
Seonghwa takes a seat, hiking up his sweatpants and you move to the floor across the little coffee table. “Last night…you told me something.” Oh no. This is it. You bite your lower lip and look down, awaiting his next words. “Uh. So. You think you came onto me, right? Well. It was. Uh. It may have been me.”
You blink at him foolishly as your brain tries to wrap itself around your head. “You what?”
Seonghwa raises his hands and lowers his head ashamedly. “Let me explain, please. I saw you outside with that horrid excuse of a human and something in me snapped. I just wanted to protect you and I brought you home. But seeing you in that outfit? It just made me want you. And I told you. And you reciprocated. At least, you tried to.” He chuckles a little to himself, bringing up his hand to grip at his hair. “I told you we would talk in the morning. But one thing you said stuck with me. You wanted to be wanted. And all night I’ve been thinking about it. (Y/N), you were drunk. But you weren’t that drunk. Something you said had truth to it. Please. For my own sanity, tell me how you feel about me. Please.”
His voice cracks at the last syllable and something in your heart hurts at the sound. “Seonghwa I…I do care for you. More than I should. You’ve shown me unbendable compassion and you’ve never taken my words or myself for granted…or treated me like a child. Against my better judgment, I’ve fallen for you.” You sigh, tightening your fists. “I’ve been hating myself for the better part of six months because of it. You were so much better than me. In job, in maturity. What was I supposed to do? I went to the club to forget you, but it appears that didn’t work.”
Seonghwa stands quickly, shuffling over to kneel in front of you. “How could you think such a thing? Me better than you? Don’t make me laugh. I may be older than you, and yes, I have a better-paying job. But in the end, how could you compare? You’re amazing with Jihee. You’ve managed to teach her in ways I could hardly hope to imagine. And just because I have a higher wage doesn’t mean your job is less important. I wasn’t lying when I said it felt like you were already part of the family.”
“You told me you thought of me like Jihee,” you argue, and Seonghwa laughs, leaning forward to take your hands.
“I said I care for you as much as I care for Jihee. Not in the same way, (Y/N).” Seonghwa smiles kindly. “I know if this does happen we’ll need to put a lot of care into this, but if you’ll have me, I’d like to be with you.”
You’re not sure whether this is a dream or not, staring up at Seonghwa with wide eyes. You’d be a fool if you said no, but the worries in your head won’t seem to cease. Taking a deep breath, you push them aside and smile up at him. “I’ll have you, Seonghwa.”
As soon as the words fall out of your mouth you can see Seonghwa’s eyes crinkle as he smiles and leans in, his nose almost touching yours. “May I kiss you?” he murmurs in his deep voice, and instead of gracing him with a reply, you meet him in a soft kiss.
His large hands cup your face as he deepens the kiss, and his thumbs brush against your cheekbones. “You’re so pretty,” he hums, pressing a multitude of pecks to your lips. “Last night I was so conflicted. Seeing you like that made me almost go insane.”
An idea sparks in your brain, and a smile widens on your face. Your fingers crawl up his shoulders to rest your arms on them. “How insane?” you ask, and Seonghwa’s eyes darken.
“I’ll show you,” he grows before capturing your lips with his once again. This time his arms shift to wrap around your waist and he pulls you closer until you’re practically pressed against his body. You squeak at the sudden movement but it’s swallowed by the kiss.
He pulls you onto his lap and you can feel the growing hardness in his slacks. You wriggle your hips a little, grinding down, and the moan that Seonghwa lets out is heaven to your ears. “Fuck, (Y/N). You’re so pretty,” he repeats, burying his face in your neck and nipping at the sensitive skin.
You whine at the pain blooming into pleasure and your hands fist into his hair. Your precious sounds get to Seonghwa and he groans, moving your legs to wrap around his waist and he hoists you up and brings you over to the couch. “Your noises are so pretty, baby,” Seonghwa groans into your mouth. “Can’t wait to hear them when you’re wrapped around my cock.”
“Please–” is all you can muster out and your whines only serve to make Seonghwa’s cock harder in his pants.
With a groan, he pats your ass, motioning for you to move up. As soon as your hips lift, he grabs the waistband of your shorts and pulls them down to your knees, leaving your underwear and shirt on. In the same motion, he shoves his slacks and boxers down just far enough to let his cock spring free.
“Seonghwa–”  you whine and something in Seonghwa’s stomach burns at the idea of you crying on his throbbing dick. He sits back, guiding you to sit right above his cock as he moves it to rub against your soaked underwear. Every time the angry-red tip of it brushes against your clit you let out breathy moans and it only serves to make Seonghwa impossibly harder.
“Fuck, I can’t wait any longer,” Seonghwa breathes, his free hand coming up to brush against your face. A smile blooms on your face as you bend to kiss him again.
“Then don’t.”
Something flips in Seonghwa’s brain and he lifts you, pushes your underwear to the side, and lets his cock press into you slowly. The both of you throw your head back and groan loudly at the feeling of him slowly filling you up. He’s not the biggest you’ve had but that doesn’t matter as the sting of the stretch is enough to make you drool. You can hardly speak as you whine nonsense into his ear and let your head drop to the crook of his neck.
“You fit around me so well,” Seonghwa praises, his head spinning at the feeling of finally fucking you the way he dreamed of. It was only yesterday he was fucking into his hand at the thought of you and here he is, only a few hours later, his painfully hard member inside of you. “Look at you, a mess for me. Bet you’ve never been with an older man before. Do I make you feel good, baby?”
You clench at his words. “Fuck, yes, the best I’ve had,” you babble, squirming at the already overwhelming feeling. “You’re so good to me.”
Seonghwa laughs delightedly at how gone you seem to be not five minutes in. “So precious, especially for me, (Y/N). Sitting on my dick so prettily.” He gives a little experimental thrust upwards and you gasp. The noises you make are so addictive, he can’t help but do it again. And again.
You’re panting, moaning as he fills you up so deliciously and your hands grip at his now-wrinkled dress shirt. His cool hands slide up your baggy shirt to shove up your bra and cup your boobs. The weight of them sitting in his hands makes him groan as he leans in to mouth at them through your shirt.
“Been dreaming about these tits since last night. Jerked off in the bathroom after seeing you, you know?” Your eyes widen at the admission and Seonghwa smirks at how embarrassed you look. “Wanted you so bad and you thought I wouldn’t like you in that way? You’re so cute, (Y/N).” He punctuates each word with one thrust after another.
The feeling of his dick pumping into you as well as Seonghwa’s teeth scraping against the soft flesh of your tits makes you so overwhelmed. It’s almost embarrassing how close you are already, and Seonghwa knows it, chucking up at you from between your chest. “Aw, baby, you’re so far gone. Am I that good?”
You cry out and sink your teeth into the junction of his shoulder and neck. You’re trying so hard to keep your noises down but Seonghwa isn’t having any of that. His hand finds its way to your hair, gently tugging on it until your head falls back, exposing the column of your neck.
As his warm breath ghosts over it, you stiffen, and when he moves up from your chest to lick a stripe up it and nip at your earlobe, you come with a groan. Your hips are shaking from the intensity of it but his thrusts don’t stop and soon you’re whining from the overstimulation.
And he still hasn’t come.
“Fuck, Seonghwa, it’s so much,” you groan, mouth hanging open. Seonghwa greedily swoops in to capture your lips once more, licking into your mouth as his thrusts become more and more erratic.
His dick twitches and he groans. “Where do you want me? I’m clean,” Seonghwa mumbles into your mouth.
You shift your hips a little. “I’m clean too and on the pill, so it’s on you. I don’t care, I just want you, Hwa.”
Your words spark something in Seonghwa and he thrusts upwards, once, and his cum starts filling you. It’s searingly hot, settling deep in your gut and you throw your head back and moan so goddamn loud. His throbbing cock is twitching like crazy and it’s still pumping cum into you. Seonghwa’s hand slides down your body to tweak at your nipples, thumb over your flesh, and finally come to rub little circles into your clit.
You gasp and it feels like you’re touching heaven from the extra stimulation. “Gonna fill you up so well,” Seonghwa groans. “Do you think Jihee would like a sibling?” 
Your thoughts all blur together at his sentence and you come again with a groan. Your cunt squeezes around him so deliciously and a sob breaks its way out of your throat, one that Seonghwa eagerly swallows as he kisses you again.
His thrusts start to slow down and you slowly pull off his now-softening dick and settle back down on his lap. His hands push his leaking cum back into your pulsating pussy and you sigh at the feeling.
“Well, that was quite the escalation,” Seonghwa laughs quietly as he pulls both your and his pants back up and wraps his arms around you in a tight embrace. His hand pats your butt and you squirm and slap his chest softly.
“You’re lucky I’m on the pill.” You roll your eyes good-naturedly and Seonghwa hums, capturing your lips in his yet again. He can’t get enough of your plush lips and you’re not complaining at all.
“I’m lucky to have you, period,” he sighs happily. “Thank you for giving me a chance.”
You smile and sit up, ignoring the whines that come out of Seonghwa’s mouth at the lack of contact. “Well, I couldn’t let you be a lonely old man,” you tease and Seonghwa smacks your ass again.
“Can old man do what I just did?” You’re suddenly lying on your back with Seonghwa hovering over you, a crooked smile growing on his face. “Or do you need another demonstration?”
You smile and throw your arms around his shoulders and pull him closer. “I don’t know, sir, maybe you should show me once more.”
With a nip to your lips, Seonghwa leans in and your eyes crinkle at the promise of what’s to come.
2K notes · View notes
rogueddie · 8 months
Text
Eddie slams his pile of books down on the counter, grinning at how hard Steve startles.
"Jesus, fuck," Steve holds a hand to his chest, glaring. "Man, come on, I'm too young to die of a heart attack."
"Are you sure about that?" Eddie reaches over, to tug at his hair- Steve bats his hand away before he can get near. "What are you now, seventy?"
"I'll have you know that the silver only adds to my charm."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that." He pats the pile of books. "I need to check all of these out."
"You know the limit."
"Please? Pretty please? I'll never insult you for going grey early ever again! Promise!"
"You've made that promise before," Steve grumbles, but starts to check the books out anyway. "What's all of this for anyway? New campaign or something?"
"Nah. Robin mentioned something about the cold war and nuclear shit. Got me curious."
Steve pointedly looks at the books, snorting. "Curious."
"What, you've never wanted to learn some new thing or something?"
"Not this much."
"What about all those sports you played?"
"That was more to do with my parents than me actually wanting to do it."
Eddies eyes narrow because... yeah. Outside of his old King Steve days, Eddie doesn't think Steve has ever wanted something. Not even for his birthday, or Christmas.
All he asks is for them to come to his and Robins flat. All he seems to want is confirmation that they're ok and alive.
"You always say you want kids though, right?"
"I mean, kind of. Though, I'm starting to think the brats we babysat might be more than enough for me."
"Chocolate?"
"Oh no..."
"What?"
"You're planning something, aren't you?"
"No! No, no, no... but there has to be something, right?"
"Something?"
"That you really want."
"There's nothing I need."
"That's not what I'm asking."
"That's all the answer you're getting." Steve shoves the pile of books towards him. "Get lost, I'm supposed to be working."
"Ugh, fine, you're no fun."
But he can't stop thinking about it. He ends up returning the pile of books, despite the fact that he barely read one page. When he tries to use it to question Steve, he dodges the question again.
He very quickly gives up, deciding to pester Robin until she tells him. That takes three weeks of constant, daily efforts. And, in the end, the answer is obvious.
Steve just wants to spend more time with people he cares about.
It's not easy to gather anyone in the party, given that there's no holiday or significant occasion- he manages it, though. All the kids, now young adults, organize transportation. Nancy and Jonathan, over the phone, help Eddie and Robin plan out where everyone will sleep with their small apartments.
The effort, and pain of organizing it all, is worth it for the look on Steves face when he comes home to find them all waiting for him.
When Dustin almost knocks him over with how harm he hugs him, for a second, Eddie is worried that he's going to start crying. But he holds it together, greets them all with so much enthusiasm...
"I forgot that he used to be like this," Robin comments, late into the night. They're sat a little away from the group, watching them argue over their games. "The kids mean a lot to him."
"He means a lot to them."
"I know. I think he forgets though, so... thank you."
Steve doesn't corner him until they've got the kids asleep- half of them going with Nancy, Jonathan and Argyle to Eddies appartment, the rest of them fighting over the little space in Steve and Robins.
"You could've got me chocolate," Steve says, nudging him.
"This is what you really wanted though, isn't it? That was the whole point, big boy."
"Right. Sorry, it... I wanted to say thank you. I know this must have taken a lot to organize and-"
"Steve. You don't need to thank me. Besides, I could never have done this on my own."
"Still... thank you." Steve is quiet for a moment, looking out to the busy city street. "What do you want?"
"This."
"No, what do you really want?"
"Yeah, this. Everyones together, having so much fun. We're gonna do a one-shot when you go to work tomorrow. And, uh... you're happy. I don't need anything more than that."
"Right," Steve clears his throat. He shuffles a little closer, so their sides are almost flush together, tentatively reaching out to hold Eddies hand. "You don't need anything else. What about what you want?"
"You know what I want."
"I want you to say it."
Steve leans over, bumping their shoulders together when he hesitates. He smiles, reassuring, and gives Eddies hand a squeeze.
"What do you want, Eddie?"
"You. I- I want you."
It's terrifying to admit, a horrifying leap... but the smile Steve gives him, so soft and happy, is more than worth it.
"As you wish."
1K notes · View notes
lawbreaker13 · 4 months
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Alright, I'm about to have a Trolls moment. Please ignore me if you will.
So I'm starting to have a meltdown over Branch's brothers' understanding of who he is as a person.
Like, they were fully absent during his entire childhood and young adulthood, of course. And we all keep making jokes about how they didn't tease him enough about his relationship because, duh, that's what brothers do. But what I have yet to see discussed is his confidence as an individual, how he interacts with the audience as a band member, and how his brothers are simply not interacting with a person they've ever met before.
Like, there's the whole "boy band members are so suave so as to properly appeal to their audience" thing, and Branch, post-World Tour, has gained a lot of confidence. Yes, most of his audience interaction is aimed at the band's biggest fan, his own girlfriend, but he does so very smoothly. The level of confidence that Branch has gained since the first movie is immense and it's actually so heartwarming to watch the two movies back-to-back to see, but beyond that, his interactions with Poppy, as her boyfriend and also as a band member, are very confident, flirtatious, and charming. He's playing up the persona when he's on stage of course, but they also flirt a lot on their own as seen in this movie. And while yes, his brothers being his brothers would probably off-screen tease him about flirting with his girlfriend, they also have no idea how he is as a band member. Because the last time they were in a band together, Branch was IN DIAPERS. Spruce was the Heartthrob, the flirt, the tease, and Branch was a BABY. But now Bruce is married, he's checked out of that life. And even if it's all directed at Poppy because Branch is a very loyal boy (clearly), he still has never exhibited those specific behaviors in front of his brothers. It's funny and easy to make fun of when it's with his girlfriend, but when he does it as a band member? Then it's a persona. And he's absolutely killing the game.
The boys have never met this suave, confident adult. They've never seen Band Member Branch with his own personality, with character traits, with the ability to make decisions for himself in any form. So his new band persona is, apparently, to some extent, the flirt. And his brothers must be reeling from that, because WHO is this guy??
I don't have a point. My point is just the idea that once upon a time, when Branch was in the band originally, he was just Some Kid™. And now he's not just some kid, he is A Boy Band Member™. And kind of the new leader, to boot. Beyond that, to Poppy, he was just Some Depressed Guy™ for so long. And once again, look at him now. The character development combined with character perception is just so absolutely fascinating to me and the lack of time to elaborate on it is very much the reason why fanfiction exists.
I don't know, man. Big Trolls fan over here. I love Branch so much.
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bitterchocoo · 7 months
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Coffee
Young Ranpo Edogawa | M. Reader
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"Your smell like coffee!"
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Coffee isn't Ranpo's thing.
They're bitter, sure the barista adds some milk and syrup in them but they're still bitter! Which is why he likes hot chocolate better. Unlike the bitter concoction hot chocolate is sweet and nice and warm, especially if you add marshmallows! Some may say that it's too sweet but not for Ranpo. It's just the right amount of sweetness.
And that leads to his confusion as to why his friend likes coffee.
Ranpo once saw [Name] drunk at least 5 cups to finish his school assignments. Like huh? Maybe it's a thing students have to deal with? I mean -- he's technically not a student so maybe that's why it confuses him to his wits end? Regardless the reason behind that habit Ranpo's not one to judge. After all, [Name] was the first ever person that understands him and doesn't shut him down like those adults were.
In fact, [Name] seemed rather fascinated by Ranpo's deductions and how he managed to know everything in seconds.
[Name] was the first person to do that... his first... friend...
So Ranpo's not going to judge him for something as petty as that.
The day Fukuzawa took him in, even though he won't say it out loud he was happy and grateful for it. And [Name] can't be any more happier to found out how Ranpo's life seemed to have a turn for the better. Even if Ranpo doesn't admit it [Name] had always knew about his struggles, his anxiety, his fears, everything. Which why he was beyond happy to found out about it.
Unlike Ranpo who seems to be very gifted in deductions and all.
[Name] is just an average straight A's high school student.
Ranpo has his life planned out before him, a path already build just for him, a path of being a promising detective. "The greatest detective" he'd put it. While [Name] have to find his own path.
Unknowing to all...
This set's him off the rails.
What is he supposed to do? What does he need? What does he want? People say to get a job that you like, that you enjoy. But what about money? Don't you need that to survive? But what if the job ended up being too hard and he'll not like it? What if it's boring? What if it's dull?
But then again what was the point? We all die anyways right? So what was the point in getting a stable and enjoyable job, and a happy life where we all just die in the end?
What if's and questions filled his head, day in day out.
He's not ready.... He needs more time...
But time won't wait for him.. or anyone in that manner...
.
.
Coffee is nice... It keeps your adrenaline high, give you a boost. [Name] couldn't help but enjoy it. That sudden boost of energy makes him more focus on his school work rather than his thoughts. Not to mention that they have quite a nice and pleasant smell the taste is also nice. Because of that [Name] would smell like coffee a scent Ranpo had grown to love, despite saying that coffee isn't his thing.
As time goes on, Ranpo began to be occupied with cases, while [Name] is busy with school. The two barely have time for each other as they used to. But they don't mind as it would just lead to them having a lot more to talk about once they meet again. It was nice... very nice... the warm and pleasant atmosphere...
"Hey Ranpo, since you're practically a detective now. Do you see a lot of bodies."
"Of course I do."
"So seeing one won't scare you? The scent of their blood and the sight of their dead, pale, and possibly disfigured form?"
"Of course not! What kind of detective get's scared of a corpse!"
[Name] chuckles at Ranpo's words, finding the small outburst to be entertaining in some way.
It was a rhetorical question...
It was a rhetorical question, right [Name]..?
Although he doesn't say it, Ranpo felt uneasy at the question. Why is [Name] suddenly asking about that? It felt random. Out of place. Completely out of the blue. It's common to asked that to a new detective, right? But why was it so specific? It probably didn't mean anything, right? But even so... Ranpo can't shake off the feeling that there's a hidden meaning to his friend's words... like a shadow..
As the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months and the months turn into years...
[Name]'s graduation day is growing closer and closer.
Ranpo can't be any happier for his friend, a friend he had grown to love... was finally going to graduate high school! He even requested a few days off for this special occasion! Not that he really need to as he could just walk off like usual. But still!!
As happy as he is, Ranpo can't help but have a gut feeling that something is wrong...
He can't explain it but... It's just felt wrong...
Like a dark cloud is hovering above him... dark shadow...
And....
......He's right as always....
The day before the graduation.
Ranpo received a case, which he had refused since he did requested a few days off for his friend's special occasion, but Fukuzawa insisted that he take it. Almost begging.
With no other choice, Ranpo accepts it.
But what he saw in the crime scene was one out of his nightmares.
He didn't even need to open the sheet that covered the body as his had already knew who it is.
The keychain attached to the book bag speaks for itself.
A keychain that belongs to someone dear to him... someone close... someone he had grown to love and adore... someone he was planning to spill his heart out to... someone he was hoping he could call his...
And the results of his deductions didn't help at all. It just made things worse as it revealed to him how much the victim was suffering. A pain that the victim didn't show until their last moments. A pain that Ranpo was too ignorant to notice. A pain where the victim decided that it was too much for them and wanted it to end.
"Why..?"
.
.
The next day... Ranpo graduated from a school he didn't even attend...
He did it in someone's stead.
.
.
Ranpo doesn't like coffee.
No....
He hates it.
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rachelzeglertruther · 8 months
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Why You're Wrong About Rachel Zegler
This is a long post, but there's a lot of context missing from the Rachel Zegler "discourse" that I thought I could add with my history of watching this unfold from the beginning.
The Snow White Thing
You probably know this part. There's a curated video of Rachel going viral, framed to make her seem like she's never seen Snow White, she hates the story, she hates the character, she's ungrateful, and single-handedly ruined Disney's brand. The clips from these videos are not new— they were released nearly a year ago in September 2022 and nobody cared about them at the time. Why? Because all the full interviews she did that day at the Disney Exo in 2022 showed a young, charming woman who was excited and proud to be cast in an iconic role. The interviews were very well received and it was a non story. Now that it's been edited down and cut together in a malicious way, and the people sharing them are purposefully misquoting her, they've twisted the context. Normally, this would be a non controversy. Even if that video wasn't taken out of context and spliced together to make her seem like she hates the film, most people wouldn't care. The issue is the response to the video.
Let's get this out of the way: Rachel Zegler doesn't hate Snow White. She relayed that she was afraid of the forest scene as a child and didn't revisit it again until after she was cast in the role. She has since then watched it several times and has expressed for YEARS before that interview came out that she was incredibly honored and grateful to be playing such an iconic Disney princess. If you watch the full videos that those clips came from, this comes across immediately to anyone with their own mind. If you hate someone for being scared of something as a child, I don't know what to tell you. If the role was being given to the biggest Snow White fan, you would be correct that she doesn't deserve it. Unfortunately for you, this role requires talent and Rachel has the Golden Globe and critical acclaim from people who matter within the industry (her peers and critics).
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You know who does hate their beloved characters in beloved franchises but the general public still applauds them? Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Daniel Craig, and Robert Pattinson. They've all expressed outright contempt for the roles and the films they were part of, but nobody cared. People had fun with their quotes but they still respected them. Rachel said nothing even closely resembling their remarks, but she's being torn to shreds. Are we seeing a pattern here?
Rachel never said a single bad thing about the character or the animated film— she said that it was outdated and that set people over the edge, foaming at the mouth to have her burned at the stake. If you think it would be perfectly fine to have a movie about an abused 14 year old girl run away to play housemaid for a bunch of men, get kissed in her sleep/death by an adult man, and then wake up to fall into his arms in 2024, that's certainly a hot take. If you're against remakes, direct your ire at Disney. But if you truly think that plot would work with young girls today, you're the one who's out of touch. It would do far more harm than good to portray a young woman in that light.
She also never said that there was anything wrong with romance or love. She said that the new Snow White wasn't only dreaming of that. I can't stress enough that this wasn't her decision… she was describing the plot of the new film that was written by Greta Gerwig and approved by Disney. There's a prince in the film and he will also have a more developed personality and storyline. If you have a problem with the writing, wait until it comes out so you can write your strongly worded letter to Greta. If you have a problem with the concept in general, take it up with Disney. There's no need for you to be defensive over hurting the legacy of a multi-billion dollar company or a 87 year old cartoon written by a proud racist antisemite. This is the most confusing part of the hate campaign to me because it wasn't even her opinion— she was literally describing the plot of the film she had nothing to do with. It also isn't a new thing. Disney actors have been promoting their newer films this way for years.
It's perfectly okay to like things that are problematic. It's becoming an issue that we refuse to acknowledge that maybe some things we love are harmful. What we can't do is justify why it's not problematic, and in fact everyone who calls it out is the problem and NOT their precious cartoon. The 1937 Snow White was an amazing feat of animation. It's a classic for a reason. But it was also Hitler's favorite film and was directed by a white supremacist (the one who is "rolling in his grave" due to Rachel's existence, according to his son). Things don't exist in a vacuum and we can't ignore the bad parts.
How We Got Here:
The thing that everyone is missing is the source of this campaign. This started in September of 2020 when transphobic actor Gina Carano made fun of trans people by changing her pronouns to beep/bop.boop. Rachel indirectly called her out by coming to the defense of the trans community.
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She never called out Gina by name (though she rightfully could have). Mind you, Rachel's first film hadn't come out yet. Nobody knew who she was outside of those of us who were anticipating West Side Story and were fans of her covers on YouTube. She was a "nobody" in the industry. Take this part with a grain of salt because I can't confirm it, but Gina and her fans directly blame Rachel for her being banned from Twitter. Again, I really don't think that matters as she's harmful to the trans community and shouldn't have a platform. What does matter is that fans of Gina (which, let's be real, are just fans of transphobia) have been stalking Rachel's every move since then. Unfortunately for them, there wasn't much they could use against her other than to call her woke and #snowbrown when she was cast a year later as the Disney princess. The noise has always been there, but unless you were a fan of hers, you probably didn't hear about it. It wasn't until two years after this that they had something else against her.
If you've recently seen a video of Rachel crying circulating that claims to be her reaction to the recent Snow White backlash, it's an old video. It's from a vlog from her youtube channel posted in June 2022. It was in response to these exact same transphobic anti-woke conservatives who thought that they had something when she did an interview on the red carpet of the Shazam premiere. When asked why she joined the DC universe, she responded "I needed a job." It was generally well received by most people who thought it was cute and funny, but those who were waiting in the shadows latched onto it as an excuse to send her death threats.
The video was also about a month after she was invited to present at the 2022 Oscars and was made to seem like she bullied the Academy (as a no name newcomer, mind you) into letting her attend. In reality, a fan left a comment on her Instagram asking what she was wearing to the event. She responded that she wasn't invited but would be rooting for everyone from her couch in her boyfriend's pajamas. It was the public who demanded she get an invite and the Oscar's must have agreed that it was very odd that the lead actress of a film that was nominated for Best Film wouldn't get an invite. Whether it was an oversight on their part or a scheduling issue with Rachel's filming, I truly think there was no malicious intent from either party. Keep in mind, she used to be very active with her fans (she's a huge fangirl of things herself and has always had a strong relationship with her fans) and she wasn't used to her comments becoming articles and national tv segments. This was the first time it happened to her. It appears she learned that she's not just a girl who posts on YouTube anymore and she's going to be put under a microscope for every move she makes. She has since shut down her Instagram comments and rarely interacts with fans outside of liking comments these days because of this.
I know this is long, but I need people to understand where this is all coming from. It didn't just happen out of nowhere. It's an orchestrated campaign built by violent conservatives, and thousands of women who saw Barbie this summer are hopping on the bandwagon to beat another woman into submission because they have a lot of internalized misogyny to deal with. She's not smug, you just hate women. It's okay to find people annoying, but it's valuable to look into why you think that. If you see a confident young woman expressing views that don't actually harm anyone and you think she needs to be "humbled" and "put in her place" by the entire internet dogpiling her, you've lost your mind. Using "body language experts" (fake job) to diagnose her as a psychopath is so vile. Everytime someone mentions her name online, the comments beneath it are full of the most violent, misogynistic, racist things I've ever seen. If you're contributing to that, you've chosen your side. Reevaluate or seek help.
I'm tired of seeing this happen to young women. We let this happen to Jennifer Lawrence, Brie Larson, Millie Bobby Brown, Halle Bailey, and Jenna Ortega. It's one thing to call out celebrities and hold them accountable when they're doing something actively harmful, but that's not what this is about. That's never been what this is about. We pick these girls to pieces and examine them and pull them apart to justify our hatred of young women who rise to success too quickly for our liking. We dogpile and try to stamp out the flame before they burn too bright. Barbie is still in theaters and you all loved it, yet you're demanding that a bright girl with a big future be small and submissive and humbled because you have issues. That's not feminism. You're just the girls who would have bullied Weird Barbie for using her hands too much when she talks.
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candycandy00 · 6 months
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The Doll House - A Geto Suguru x Reader Fanfic Part 2
You sell yourself to a brothel to feed your family and Geto Suguru is in charge of training you to be the perfect submissive sex doll. 
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Read Toji’s Part Here!
Read Nanami’s Part Here!
Read Sukuna’s Part Here!
Read Gojo’s Part Here!
Read Choso’s Part Here!
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AU! Each trainer will get their own story! This is Geto’s. I’m not sure how many parts it will have. If you’d like to be tagged in future parts, let me know! You must be an adult to be tagged! Any feedback whatsoever is adored!
Smut. 18+. Dubcon. Submission. Extreme humiliation. Voyeurism. Light degradation. Masturbation. Oral sex. Deep throating. Fingering. Public nudity. Lots of implied stuff with the other trainers. This is the “meet all the trainers” part. Divider by @benkeibear!
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Suguru awakens to find his new doll in his bed, curled up to him in her sleep, her soft naked body warm against his. He raises up and looks at her sleeping face, already feeling guilty for the things he’ll be doing to her today. 
It was her bad luck that he was the only available trainer when she arrived. Well, better him than Sukuna he supposed, but she truly is a bad match for him. She’s naturally very shy and sensitive, making his humiliation-based training particularly hard for her. 
He doesn’t want to hurt her. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but preparing her for her life as a doll is the kindest thing he can do for her now that she’s already signed the contract. Without proper training and preparation, the next ten years will be hell for her. 
The early days of training are critical. It’s when boundaries and trust are established. One of the main elements of his style of training is building trust. She has to trust her master, to believe her master won’t hurt her, to look to her master for safety. Only then can she fully submit and give herself completely. 
To facilitate this, Suguru insists his doll remain naked during the training. Part of it is the humiliation angle, but more important is establishing for the doll that she can be totally vulnerable with him, and that he will protect her even when she has literally no other barrier against the rest of the world. And to drive that point home, he has to parade her around the house, letting the other trainers leer at her, but not allowing anyone to touch her. A couple of the trainers help him out with this, pretending to be more threatening than they actually are just so that he can appear more protective. 
She’s going to hate that. She’s probably going to cry. Fuck, why would a sweet young virgin like her come here in the first place? What was she thinking? She mentioned taking care of her family. He supposes that was a good enough reason if they were desperate, but it still bothers him. 
He climbs out of bed and stretches, then looks at her again. He’s already crossed a line he, as a trainer, shouldn’t have crossed. For his particular training, he never allows a doll to sleep in his bed with him. He’s supposed to be firm, unyielding, uncaring. In the past, if he’s shown even the smallest amount of compassion, it’s led to dolls becoming emotionally attached to him. That’s the cruelest thing that could happen to a doll, because they can’t stay with him. 
So when he senses that a doll might be developing feelings for him, he begins treating them more roughly, more coldly, and that usually nips the problem in the bud. 
But on the very first night, he let her sleep in his bed? Is he going mad? That’s a recipe for disaster and he knows it. So today, he won’t give an inch. He’ll be hard and cold as stone, to establish that all important boundary. 
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You wake up shivering. It takes you a moment to remember where you are, and your body subconsciously rolls over toward the other side of the bed, seeking warmth where it found some last night. But the bed is empty. As your mind clears, you realize the covers have been pulled away and you’re lying there in Suguru’s bed, naked, with nothing to cover you. 
Sitting up, you rub your eyes and look at the man standing at the foot of the bed, staring at you. Suguru looks perfect of course, every glossy hair in place, the loose clothing somehow looking sexy on him. You sigh as you try to smooth your hair out with your hands.
“Get up,” he says, and you immediately notice that his tone is a bit sharper than it was yesterday. “There’s a hairbrush in the bathroom you can use. Make yourself presentable so you don’t embarrass me in front of the other trainers.”
It takes every ounce of willpower you possess to resist giving him a look and pointing out that he’s not the one who’s going to be embarrassed. Instead you silently crawl out of his bed and head for the bathroom, very conscious of the fact that he’s watching your every move. 
When it’s time to leave his room, your heart starts hammering wildly again. You’re actually going to walk through this house completely naked. Everyone is going to see everything you have. You feel your face heating up and tears threatening to drip from your eyes. 
“Let’s get a few things straight,” Suguru says before he opens the door. “Do not try to cover yourself. Do not turn your back to anyone who approaches you. Do not try to hide behind me. The other trainers will likely see you. They might even stop to look at you more closely. But they aren’t allowed to touch you. If one of them tries, tell me immediately.”
You nod, feeling numb as a few stray tears leak down your face. 
“Answer properly.”
You look up at him. “Yes, Master Suguru.”
“Let’s go have breakfast then,” he says, and you feel a little sad that he’s seemingly stopped patting your head and smiling at you. 
Those thoughts evaporate as you take your first steps out of his room. The hallway is empty now, but you know you could run into someone at any moment. And there’s no doubt there will be people in the dining hall. 
You walk behind Suguru, looking at the floor, trying to pretend this isn’t happening. But as you start to pass by a particular door, it suddenly swings open and a tall, muscular man with black hair steps out. He has a scar on the corner of his mouth, and looks a little rough around the edges, but he’s undeniably handsome. He’s pulling a rather tight fitting shirt over his head as he says, “Hey, Geto, do you know what they’re serving for-“
He stops mid sentence when he notices you. He glances at Suguru, then his sharp green eyes focus on you. “This your new doll?” 
“Of course,” Suguru says. It’s pretty obvious. 
The man’s eyes slowly move up and down your body, making your skin flush all over. “Got a good one this time,” he says, and he actually licks his lips! 
You can do nothing but stand there, letting him look at you. You wish Suguru would move on already. 
Just then a feminine voice calls out from inside the room the man just opened. “Tojiiiii~ come back to bed!”
He turns his face toward the voice. “I’ll be right back. Gonna grab us some breakfast!”
A second later, a woman appears at the door. You notice two things immediately. One, she’s completely naked, like you, and two, she’s beautiful. She hooks one arm around the man she called Toji’s waist and says, “The only breakfast I want is your cock.”
Toji grins down at her. “You had my cock for breakfast yesterday. And for lunch. And dinner. And a midnight snack.”
She giggles, seeming completely unbothered by the fact that both you and Suguru are witnessing this exchange. You wish you had her confidence. 
Toji playfully slaps her bare ass. “You have to eat some real food or you might start losing weight,” he says with a laugh. “And then what am gonna hold onto while I’m pounding that pussy?”
She gives him a pouty look, but says, “Okay, but hurry back! I get lonely without you!”
Toji gives her a wave as he jogs down the hall, leaving the woman standing naked at the door. She looks at Suguru and says, “You two wanna come in?”
Your heart nearly stops. Are you going to be having orgies? With Suguru, this woman, and Toji?
But Suguru simply smiles at her and says, “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll have to pass.”
The woman shrugs and closes the door, leaving you alone in the hallway with your trainer. 
You hate to admit it, but the bizarre show you just saw makes you feel a little better. The woman in the room certainly didn’t mind being naked in front of other trainers. Maybe that was just normal around here. 
As the two of you move further down the hall, you’re startled by loud, desperate screaming coming from one of the closed rooms. You nearly jump out of your skin, reflexively grabbing Suguru’s arm. You release it quickly, thinking this might be against his rules, but he pulls you closer to himself and puts an arm around you. 
“It’s okay,” he tells you, “that’s just Sukuna’s room. Be thankful you didn’t get stuck with him.”
As you listen to the screams, you honestly can’t tell if they’re cries of agony or ecstasy. Maybe it’s both. “What’s he doing to her?” you ask, clinging to Suguru’s side. 
He looks genuinely disturbed as he says, “I don’t want to know.”
Once you move far enough away that you can’t hear the screams anymore, Suguru separates from you. It’s a cold, empty feeling and you hate it, but you know you can’t cling to him forever. 
You finally reach the dining hall, and your entire body goes rigid when you see that there are more people in here, more people that will see you naked. You quickly spot Toji standing at a long table full of food. He’s balancing two plates on his arm as he fills them with food. Aside from him, there are three couples. 
At a table close by, reading a newspaper, there’s a blonde man wearing strange glasses. He’s dressed in a very dapper style, with a button down shirt and a tie. Sitting in his lap is a pretty woman wearing a pale pink sundress that appears to be way too short for her. She has a pink bow in her hair, and she’s giggling like a school girl despite clearly being in her mid 20’s. You can’t hear what they’re talking about, but the man seems calm and collected while the woman seems slightly nervous as she fidgets in his lap, eating bites of food off the single plate sitting in front of them. 
Further into the room, you’re surprised to see a woman sitting on a table instead of in a chair. She’s wearing black leather boots that reach her thighs, and sitting in a chair in front of her, between her legs, is a pale young man with his hair pulled into two short ponytails, one on each side of his head. He’s holding a plate of food in one hand and feeding the woman with the other. 
“I didn’t know one of the trainers is a woman,” you say. 
Suguru laughs. “Oh, she’s not a trainer. The guy feeding her is. He trains dominant women.”
You can’t help staring at them, thinking to yourself that this woman got lucky. She gets to boss her trainer around? Sounds like a dream come true. 
Of these two couples, the men don’t so much as glance up at you, as if you don’t even exist. The women look at you briefly, seem uninterested, and return their focus to their trainers. 
But the third and final couple is a different story. Sitting in a chair at a table close by is a tall, impossibly beautiful man with white hair and sunglasses. Kneeling at his feet is a cute young woman who looks around your age. She’s technically clothed, but you’re not sure who should be more embarrassed, you or her. 
The “outfit” she’s wearing consists of what looks like bra and panties, each with black fur trim. The bra is so tiny that it barely covers her nipples, and the panties have a hole cut into the back so that a long furry black tail can hang out through them. It takes you a moment of staring to realize the tail is connected to something that’s literally stuck into her ass. You squirm at the thought. The woman can’t sit normally, it would be impossible, so she’s forced to kneel awkwardly on the floor in front of her trainer, who is pouring food into the palm of his hand and holding it down for her to eat, her pink tongue darting out to lick his hand. 
Suguru directs you to a chair and tells you to sit. You’re grateful to have the table in front of you, covering your lower half. 
“Wait right here, I’ll get us some food,” he says. 
You look at him with pleading eyes. “You’re going to leave me here?”
“I’m just going up to that table,” he says, pointing to the table full of food. “I’ll just be a moment.”
You hate the idea of being left alone, naked, in a room with strangers, but what choice do you have? You nod and then watch Suguru as he walks across the room. With every step he walks away, you feel more and more vulnerable. 
A few seconds after Suguru leaves, the white haired man stands up from his chair and walks toward you. That’s when you notice the bright pink leash attached to a matching collar around his doll’s neck, as she crawls on hands and knees beside him. You find yourself feeling even more sorry for her than you do for yourself. 
The white haired man stands right beside you and lowers his sunglasses, looking at you with eerie blue eyes. “Wow, you’re a cutie,” he says. “I bet you’d look great in a leash.”
You shrink away from him automatically. There’s something unsettling about him even though he’s every bit as beautiful as Suguru. He reaches one hand toward you, grinning as he says, “I bet you’re soft too…”
You draw back, closing your eyes and calling out, “Master Suguru!”
When you open your eyes, Suguru is standing between you and the other trainer, grabbing the arm of the white haired man. “Yo, Satoru,” Suguru says in a pleasant voice. “I see you’ve met my doll. You can look, but if you touch her, we’ll have a problem.”
There’s an edge to Suguru’s voice as he says that last part, a darkness in his eyes. The man he called Satoru backs away, slipping his arm from Suguru’s grip. 
“Oh, don’t be stingy, Suguru! I always offer to let you fuck my dolls!”
Suguru frowns at him. “And I always tell you that’s inappropriate for the training.”
Satoru laughs. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud! Kitty here said you have a pretty face. She said she’s fine with you doing whatever you want with her! Right, Kitty?” He jerks the leash, pulling his doll’s face up to look at Suguru. She looks like she’s definitely not fine with it, but she nods anyway. 
“No thanks,” Suguru says. “I don’t enjoy making dolls cry.”
Satoru looks at him curiously. “But they’re so cute when they cry!”
Suguru shakes his head. “You stick to your training style, I’ll stick to mine.”
After Satoru and his doll return to their table, Suguru sits down beside you and spreads out a couple of plates filled with delicious looking food. “Eat up,” he says. “You’ll need your strength.”
With zero hesitation, you begin eating, trying several different foods and loving all of them.  When you cram a large bite of waffles into your mouth, you can’t suppress a small squeal of delight. You’ve never eaten something so tasty before!
Then you remember where you are, who you’re sitting next to, and you look up at your trainer. He’s wearing a smile while he watches you eat, occasionally taking bites of his own food. There’s something warm about his expression that makes you blush. 
You glance around the dining hall. Toji has already left, carrying plates of food back to his room like a waiter, but someone else has appeared, moving along the length of the food table, filling a single plate. The man has a contradictory appearance. He has several black lines tattooed on his face and what’s visible of the rest of his body, and shocking pink hair. These wild traits are contrasted sharply with his surprisingly refined, elegant mannerisms. He’s wearing a silk robe, open at the chest to reveal more tattoos on his impressively muscular torso. But he carries himself like royalty. 
The man takes his plate, mostly full of various breakfast meats, and sits down at a table across the room. He looks up, seemingly notices you staring at him, and flashes you a grin full of teeth that are entirely too sharp. You flinch and look away from him, automatically clutching Suguru’s sleeve. 
“What’s the matter?” Suguru asks, then sees the tattooed man. “Oh, that’s Sukuna.”
You don’t dare look at the man again, so you stare at your plate. “The one who tortures his doll?”
“Well, I don’t know if his training includes actual torture, but I do know he does something very cruel to his dolls.”
You look at Suguru, waiting for him to go on. 
He avoids your gaze, picking at the food in front of him. “He lets his dolls get attached to him. In fact I think he encourages it. We never see the dolls he trains until they’re being sold to new owners. At that point they’re always making a scene, crying, begging to stay with him… it’s a mess. And Sukuna just stands there laughing, as if the whole thing is amusing.”
You chance another glance at Sukuna, then quickly look away. “Why would they want to stay with someone who hurts them?”
Suguru still doesn’t look at you as he answers. “You’d be surprised what people can be conditioned to enjoy. Look at Satoru’s doll. She’s almost as new as you are, so right now her training probably feels unbearable. But by the end, she’ll adore being treated like a pet.”
You’re quiet for a moment, then you ask him, “Will I enjoy being embarrassed and bossed around?”
He finally looks at you. “If I do my job correctly, yes.”
It hits you then, the truth of all this training. Suguru is training you to not just endure being treated this way, but to enjoy it. To love it. Because if you don’t, then you’re going to be absolutely miserable when you’re being treated this way by your eventual owner. You stare at him, suddenly feeling affection for him that goes beyond being physically attracted to his beauty. 
You blurt out a quiet, “Thank you,” and Suguru looks down at you with a surprised expression. 
As you finish eating, you look at the trainers again. Why is it that every single one of them is absurdly good looking? Maybe it’s a blessing. After all it’s easier to have sex with people you find attractive. But then again, maybe it’s a curse, because it’s way too easy to fall in love with men like these. And even you understand why that would be a terrible thing. 
When you get back to Suguru’s room, he wants to work on your training right away. He makes you masturbate in front of him again, which is somehow worse this time. Maybe it’s because you’re starting to like him, but doing insanely embarrassing things while he watches intently just makes you want to disappear. You try to stick to his rules, asking for his permission to cum and looking him in the eyes while you do it. 
After you’re finished, you expect to have to suck his cock again, but instead he motions toward his bed and says, “Climb on, but stay on your hands and knees.”
“Yes, Master Suguru,” you reply, getting onto the bed in the position he wants. 
You feel the bed shift as he gets on the mattress behind you, then you feel his hands on your thighs, pulling your knees widely apart. “Ah!” you cry out, realizing that your pussy is drenched and dripping from just cumming minutes ago, and it’s going to spill all over his fancy covers. 
You start to turn your head to look back at him, but his voice suddenly says, “Face forward. Don’t look back.”
Then, you feel his fingers on the flesh of your folds, opening you. A shudder ripples through you, being touched by him in this way for the first time. But it’s also, like usual, extremely embarrassing. He’s prying open and examining your messy, leaking cunt, and you can only whimper in response. When one of his fingers, or maybe his thumb, grazes over your clit, you gasp, holding the breath in your chest for a few seconds before remembering to breathe again. 
****************
Suguru stares at the spread open pussy in front of him, and wants to absolutely destroy it. 
His new doll is clearly in distress. She’s embarrassed, of course. He’d purposely made her pleasure herself first so that she’d be soaking wet, her own cum dripping down her thighs. But at the same time, she clearly wants him to touch her. As his fingers brush over her already sensitive and swollen clit, he can see her hole clenching around nothing. 
“Are you really a virgin?” he asks. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a virgin dripping so much before.”
She stiffens, her whole body going rigid. “Yes,” she murmurs, her voice quiet. 
“Answer in complete sentences.”
She hesitates, her body trembling now. “Yes, I’m really… a virgin… Master Suguru.”
He’s stroking her clit with circular motions, and she’s making cute little breathy moans. “I noticed you don’t finger yourself when you masturbate,” he says. “You only rub your clit. Why?”
Her skin is flushed, as if her whole body is blushing. “I’m… scared to… ahh…do that…”
“Scared to put your finger inside?” he asks, and at the same moment, edges one finger into her clenching hole, just up to the second knuckle. Her entire body jolts, and she makes a terrified yelping sound as she pulls away, off his finger. 
He sighs. “You panic when I even start to put one finger in? How are you going to handle a cock?”
She’s quiet for a moment, save for her rapid breathing. “I don’t know,” she finally says, and from the sound of her voice, she’s holding back tears. 
He puts his hands gently on her hips and scoots her back to him. “Did it hurt?”
“No. It just scared me.”
Suguru begins lightly stroking her clit again. “Let’s try it again, okay? I promise I won’t hurt you.”
There’s a moment of hesitation, then he hears her shaky voice say, “Okay.”
He eases his finger into her again, not deep enough to hurt, just barely enough for her to feel something inside her and clench around it. Her breath hitches as he gently pushes it in and out, never going deeper than that second knuckle, not wanting to scare her again. “How does that feel?” he asks her. 
She’s making those little moans again. “It feels… good… so good, Master Suguru.”
He uses the fingers on his other hand to rub her clit, and her legs quiver, barely holding her up. “M-may I please… cum… Master?”
“Hmm, I need to think about it,” he says teasingly, slowing down his strokes. 
“Please, Master Suguru,” she says, her hands gripping the covers. “It feels too good! I can’t hold back!”
He removes his finger completely and stops stroking her clit, giving her a moment to regain control. But the sudden loss of pleasure makes her whine. She pants for a moment, her pussy clenching air, arousal sliding down her thighs. 
Fuck, he wants to shove his dick all the way in on the first thrust. 
“Master Suguru?” she asks, her voice small and hesitant. 
He resumes his earlier motions as he says, “Yes?”
“Are you… going to have sex with me now?”
He blinks. He wasn’t expecting that question. “Do you want me to?”
She doesn’t respond, so he presses his finger just slightly further in. “Answer.”
“Y-yes! I… ahh… want you to… Master Suguru,” she gasps out the words, then says,  “May I please cum now?”
“Why do you want me to?” he asks, ignoring her pleas, still stroking her. 
Again, she doesn’t reply, only moans her sweet cries. 
He leans over her, putting his mouth close to her ear, and says, “Answer and I’ll let you cum.”
She shudders, her whole body trembling. “Because… you won’t hurt me.”
He draws back, staring at her soft, delicate form. “You can cum now,” he tells her, and she does. He watches her body spasm, her pussy clamp down on his finger as she moans loudly. And then she collapses on his bed, her face buried in his pillows. 
“I won’t fuck you tonight,” he says. “I don’t think you’re ready for that right now.”
She turns her face to look up at him, her eyes glossy and shimmering with unspilled tears, her face red from exertion and embarrassment. God, he wants to fuck her virgin pussy into oblivion. 
But he can’t. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. 
He hasn’t told the owner about his new doll being a virgin. If he does, he knows what will happen. He’ll be told to leave her “unspoiled” so that whoever her owner is will get the privilege of deflowering her. A fully trained virgin doll? It’s such a rarity that it’s almost unheard of. If a virgin ends up as a doll, it’s almost always on the direct market, not from a training establishment like this one. Because who could imagine a doll going through the training process without losing her virginity? And women who ended up at the Doll House were generally a bit older than the “barely legal” dolls who were often sold directly by their greedy families. 
Suguru is torn about what to do. On one hand, her value will double if the owner finds out she’s a virgin, and Suguru’s commission will be greatly increased. On the other hand, sending her out as a virgin doll would be cruel. She’d be totally unprepared for one of the biggest aspects of being a doll, not to mention the fact that he doesn’t know who her owner will be, what sort of person will be taking her first time. It could be a sadistic monster who would enjoy being as rough as possible on her. 
And then there’s the other reason he’s hesitant to pop her cherry. Being her first lover is a sure fire way to make her develop an emotional attachment to him, and he can’t allow that. And if he’s being totally honest with himself? He’s afraid he’ll develop an attachment to her. 
So for now, he’s holding back until he can decide what to do, even though he’s been imagining her tight little pussy stuffed full of his cock all day. He’s hard as a rock right now after watching her cum twice, so he pulls his erection out of his pants and looks at her. 
“You’ve been neglecting Master Cock all day,” he says, smiling at her and lightly stroking himself. 
A smile dances at the edge of her lips, but doesn’t fully spread across her face. She slides out of bed and to her knees in front of him. “I’m so sorry, Master Cock,” she says, looking at his shaft as she takes over stroking duties.
Her hands are soft and warm, still a little unsure in their movements, but she’s learning fast. She runs her tongue up and down the length before taking the entire thing in her mouth, part of him literally going down her tight, wet throat. She pulls back to breathe and to use her tongue to lap at his leaking tip. 
He doesn’t have to give her directions this time. She’s using her whole mouth, tongue and lips and throat, to pleasure him. She’s taking him in so deep that she’s occasionally gagging, as if she can’t get enough of his cock, as if she worships it. 
His eyes are glued to her. She looks so fucking pretty on her knees between his legs, choking on his cock. But he thinks she might be even prettier with that cute face covered in his cum. 
She can tell he’s close, from the way his dick is twitching in her mouth or from the quiet moans he’s trying to suppress, he’s not sure. But she pulls back and looks up at him with the sweetest expression as she says, “May I please have your cum, Master Suguru?”
He’d much rather be shooting it into her womb, but painting her face with it is the next best thing. She opens her mouth and extends her tongue, and he lets his cum shoot out across her nose, in her mouth, over one eye, splattering her cheeks and chin. 
It seems that she didn’t expect that. She probably thought he’d cum on her tongue again, but she’s handling it well. No panicking or trying to immediately wipe it off. Instead she looks up at him. “Is it okay if I clean my face, Master Suguru?”
He tilts his head to the side, letting the small front strand of hair fall over one eye. “Oh? After I went to the trouble of making you so pretty? I thought you’d at least keep it on until after lunch.”
There’s finally a spark of alarm in her eyes, but before she can say anything, he laughs. “I’m just joking. You can go wash your face in the bathroom.”
“Thank you, Master Suguru!” 
He watches her get to her feet and step lightly into the bathroom, then sighs to himself. He’d planned to be a little harder on her today, but he just can’t bring himself to be too cold or cruel to her. She has a glow to her that he can’t diminish. At least for now. 
But this situation can’t last forever. He’ll have to make some important decisions, and make them soon. For her sake as well as his. 
Tag List:
@suguguro @kaedear @onyxsphynx @poopoobuttsy @butterskyy @collectionofdolls @akaotv
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star-ocean-peahen · 4 months
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The more you think about Jason Grace's life, the more fucked up it gets.
Like, the whole "joined Camp Jupiter as a three year old" thing. We already know Camp Jupiter is fucked up because it places heavy importance on a child army, despite having plenty of demigod adults at hand, but they straight up recruited a three year old into the military. He showed up and got promptly stuck in a barrack for the rest of his childhood.
Like, why?? Why on earth would they do that instead of giving him to someone in New Rome to raise and inducting him into the legion at a respectable twelve??
And who raised him anyway?? A rotating cast of nineteen-year-old demigods?? His bunkmates in the Fifth?? If he was a young teenager I could see that, but he arrived when he was three, was he even potty-trained??? Did he just grow up being educated by bored teenagers and ghosts, watching as demigods arrived and served and retired, being told that he had to be the greatest of them all?? Did he have any other children to grow up with?? Did the legion even consider him different than the other recruits, or did he have to shovel unicorn dung when he forgot his phonics and live with the constant threat of perhaps being sewn into a bag of weasels??
I find it odd that Jason, as a demigod who grew up in a demigod's world, doesn't have his unique perspective explored more. I find it especially odd that the difference between his childhood and everyone else's is ignored. However difficult and varied everyone else's backgrounds are, they've at least attended a school. They had parents, and family, and a home, at least at one point. They had mortal toys and dwellings and communities that weren't merged inextricably with the myths. They knew where they came from. Do you think Jason, with his powerful, kingly father and impending destiny, ever felt like he didn't know who his family was?
I also find it strange that he doesn't seem to have a very wide network of friends from Camp Jupiter? He has Reyna, who he trusts and works with and depends on. He lists Hazel and Frank among his friends, but they look up to him as a role model. He mentions Bobby and Dakota familiarly, but never again. He's familiar and on good terms with basically everyone—but the only person he seems to consider as a close friend is Reyna. And that wouldn't be odd if he hadn't grown up at Camp Jupiter. He doesn't seem to have any constant companion—anyone he considers his family until he meets Leo.
Maybe he and Leo bonded so well because they both knew what it was like to grow up transiently. To have any constant in your life, and know that the day you would move on or they would move on was fast approaching. Maybe the reason he looked at Camp Half-Blood and admired how united and familial they seemed, and wished Camp Jupiter could be similar, was that he could see in them the family he wished he had.
Honestly, I feel like meeting Thalia should have left him in a lot more turmoil than it did. He grew up with no family but a god for a father, and here's a person who wanted him. Someone who always wanted him because he was Jason, and not the demigod son of Zeus. Maybe even someone to whom he mattered more than his destiny.
I really, really wish we'd gotten to see more of the contrasts between him and Percy. He is explicitly the Romans' version of the hero Percy is, except he's the hero first, and the person second. Jason did everything right! He did everything perfectly, and Percy still got where he did without being trained for it his entire childhood. He's got such a better reason to resent him than "bad vibes". They could have been foils for each other hhhhhhhrngh.
Just. This lonely, idolized, child soldier's life hurts me.
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satoshy12 · 8 months
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Underworld Fighter/Bodyguard Danny
It had already been a few years since Danny, for his job, left Amity Park. Working as a bodyguard or fighter in a meta-arcade. His sponsor was Veronica Sinclair, also known as Roulette, as he fought in her arena against other metas or villains for money.
Since she built her new undeground arena, where metahumans can fight for money and similar things, they are forbidden to join normal competitions as it's "unfair" against normal humans.
I mean, it would be unfair to see Superman in a boxing ring against a normal human, but still.
Roulette doesn't need to capture heroes, as the meta fights out of their own free will, and she still earns a lot of money. Even a few politicians and others came to watch the fights. From CEOs, crime bosses, and even once, the Presidents of the World!
As a fighter for Roulette and her bodyguard, Danny has had around 400 fights since the very beginning of the arena and 0 losses.
His boss asked if he could work as a warden in Arkham Asylum for the Mayor of Gotham, as it had an important meeting for one month.
As being told by Veronica, Danny had no problem with it; his sister worked in Arkham, and his daughter Dani wanted to visit her. He could stay for one month, then take his vacation to visit Amity Park. And it's not the first time he worked as Bodyguard for someone else, he did work for few people like Lex Luthor or Pinguin. For Lex he got to a job as he thought against Parasite.
1 Month later
Batman wasn't sure what was happening; no villain had broken out in more than a month. And he didn't hear anything from the Joker.
He learned that because of a new Warden who already left Arkham, no one tried to escape. Someone who one-shot Solomon Grundy K.O. with a punch and put the Joker, Professor Pyg, and Victor Zsasz into a coma with a single uppercut to the stomach?
Gordon seemed to be very happy as he said that, but seem very sad that the Warden had left.
+ Danny smiled at Dani, as they were driving with Jazz to Amity Park. Still he didn't like the talk both were doing about boys. Dani is too young!
But it had been nice to meet Pinguin again, it was a long time he worked for him and Sofia Falcone too. Or Bane from the Arena, he thought he stopped being a Villains like Victor as it's paid well enough in the Arena.
Mr Freeze:" For Nora." he earns in 1 fight the same as he does as thief.
Danny is adult, around 28 years old or older.
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st4rd0lly · 1 month
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𝐖𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄 !
𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 @/𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘰𝘭𝘺𝘢 ’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘜 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘪 !! 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳 <3 
@doukeshi-kun
cw : no smut just yet , MDNI still , slight implications of future dark content , reader is an adult in early 20s while nikolai is older , fem reader
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A young rising star actress, gaining more and more popularity within each film you star in.
That was you.
And unfortunately for you, you had a very big director with his eyes glued to every move you make. Nikolai Gogol was a very prominent actor and director, he’s been in the business for a long time and he’s good at it. Almost too good.
There’s a lot of mysteries, rumors, more surrounding the man in general despite him being there for so long. Not much is known about his personal life or how he started to rise up. Most of the public just knew that he started off as a child actor.
There’s almost an aura of weariness that people get around him, but his charismatic and mischievous nature keeps pulling them back in for more despite their gut. When he walks, the people shifts and the mood becomes a tide dependent on him due to the air he brings. He knows how to perform and then perform, even when he’s not on the job.
It was only natural that he gained interest in a new star, he was a director after all. That was what most people told you. But there was just something off about him to you, though you never had an actual full conversation with the man besides…
-
“Haha, isn’t it my lucky day! An amazing actress with more amazing work, lovely meeting you.” The man stood before you, giving a small grin before shaking your hand. You’d smile back at him, shaking his hand too.
“Pleasure to meet you Gogol.” You said, your voice firm but sounding polite and friendly. He was a very attractive man, that you couldn’t deny. He was tall, he had pale skin, and pretty white, fluffy hair that was tied in its usual braid. His eyes were something that were easy to get lost into, a green that’s rich like emerald and a shade of a blue that paints the sky. 
Not to mention, the scar that sits on top with a nicely put together outfit. The red tint of his lips made a nice contrast and you couldn’t help but feel a slight dread to hear him speak again for some reason.
“Oh please dear, do call me Nikolai. No need for last names.” He reassures, the smile on his face grew wider, letting out a small chuckle. You felt your chest tighten. Did everyone feel so off when talking to him? 
“Director!”
“Ah, I have to get going. I’ll see you around yeah darl?”
“Of course.”
-
And that was the last you’ve talked to him. It was a while ago, back at an event for god knows what. You’d been to too many for your liking. You still remember the moments where he was glancing at you ever so subtly. 
But now your team came to you with an opportunity, an opportunity to act with him.
-
“It’s a really good chance for you to really get out there. Gogol is one of the best, he’s directing and acting and! He’ll be a great guidance.” Your manager told you, you nodded your head but pursed your lips into a thin line in thought. 
“I don’t know…” You sighed, bouncing your knee while you sat. 
“You’re already gaining a lot of popularity, a boost wouldn’t hurt. You’ve got great skills and a good mindset. You mind if I ask why you’re hesitating?” 
‘Because he’s off! There’s something off about him!’
“Guess I’m just… a little intimidated is all. Don’t get me wrong, I know this is pretty rare for newbies to get invited into such a huge project by someone like him. But I just—”
“He’s been one of your supporters since the start, it’s a good thing he’s interested in you. I get it, it might be overwhelming but that’s just how the industry is. —With that being said, it’s still ultimately your choice.”
You bit your inner cheek. It would be rude to decline an offer from a big shot like him, especially when he’s been supporting your work you figured. And it doesn’t hurt to be curious about him too, only way to figure out more about him is…
“Let him know I accept then.”
‘We’ll see how this goes.’
-
The past few days working with Nikolai, your co-stars, and staff have all went well so far. Your manager was right, so far at least. You were still somewhat skeptical. He was great at guiding people in the right direction. Not only was he easy to talk to but he was friendly, very friendly. 
Almost a little too friendly to you, but you shrugged it off. It must because you’re still somewhat new to the acting scene. You still weren’t sure how to feel.
“Hey darl, how’s my favorite star holding up?” Nikolai’s cheery voice snapped you out of your thoughts, his hand placed on the low of your back. You didn’t think much of it and you smiled at him politely.
“A bit tired but nothing I can’t handle. I’m excited to run upcoming scenes.” You told him, eating a strawberry that they had out on the food table for lunch. You managed to grab a few before they ran out. Your manager always told you it wasn’t good to act with completely empty stomach. He let out a small chuckled, nodding his head.
“Yes, yes! I’m glad you’re having fun dear.” He grinned, but then his eyes trailed to your lips. “Are the strawberries sweet?” He asked, keeping the cheerful expression on his face.
“Yeah, they’re sweeter than I expected. I really like these.” You responded genuinely, grabbing another one. 
“Let me have a taste.” He said, leaning down and eating the strawberry from your hand to his mouth. You were surprised, not expecting him to do something like that so casually. 
‘He smells sweet.’
‘….And his hands are really nice.’
You looked at him still with a surprised expression, letting out a small laugh when you saw his focused face on tasting the the strawberry. You were aware he was probably doing this to make you feel more comfortable and light hearted. At least that’s what you thought to make of his actions.
‘Wait, did I just say he smells sweet? In my head?’
“Yes—”
“Huh?” You cut him off, snapping out of your head. Worried that you had said your thoughts out loud, you turn your face to his more directly. He raises a brow at you, an amused look on his face.
“I was about to say, yes you are right. They are pretty sweet but it looks like you have something on your mind honey.” He tells you, nothing ever goes unnoticed by him.
“O-Oh! It’s nothing, sorry I was just thinking about something random.” You try to explain, there’s no way you’re going to explain what you thought about him to him. That was weird. He’s weird… okay but maybe you’re weird too for thinking that of him-
“You always look so tense around me darling, you always have something on your mind don’t you?” He chuckles. “Dim your worried thoughts pretty thing. I’m not gonna bite you.” 
…Okay yeah he is weird.
But for some reason, your cheeks feel like they were growing warmer. 
“Unless you want me too.”
You didn’t quite catch what he said that moment, so now it was your turn to look at him a little amused snd confused. 
“What was that?”
“Oh nothing nothing dear!” He rubs the inner of your wrist quickly with his thumb, standing back up straight and patting you on the back. He let out a small light hearted laugh. “Oh you’re so cute. Relax okay? This is your first time working with a huge director isn’t it? —Ah maybe that sounds too arrogant of me. I’m just rather familiar with the position is all.” 
“Y-Yeah it is, you know just wanna do my best.” You stammer a bit, nodding your head in agreement.
“You’re already doing so good for me sweetheart, you’re gonna be just fine.” He reassures you, he was a little too good at eye contact. “Actually, you know what? Say, are you free after the shoot?”
You blink.
Where did this come from? What did he plan to do? Why was he asking? You had to come up with an answer. Quick. There wasn’t any time to think-
“Uh, you know I think I am? I don’t usually have anything planned after shoots.”
‘Fuck. What was that?’ 
You internally started cursing at yourself. You initially planned to deny, a thing your gut was screaming at you to do. But you couldn’t think right when he looked at you. It almost seemed sly in the way he smirked.
“How about this? After this shoot is done, go home and get dressed. Come over to my place for dinner yeah darl? I’ll give you some advice, I would just tell you now but we have to run the next scene in about 30? And I don’t wanna stay at the studio much longer after. What do you say?” He asks, tilting his head ever so slightly.
‘There’s no backing out now..’
“Sure, that sounds good to me.” You gave him a sheepish smile. A grin was too swift to grow on his face before relaxing into a casual smile. He reached for his phone, it was different from the usual phone he uses. It must’ve been a personal phone. You figured you should grab your own too.
“Here you go.” He says, handing you his phone and swapping with you. You both take a few moments to put in your numbers and for some reason, you feel as if you’ve greatly messed up. You both swapped the phones back. “There’s my number, give me a call before you’re on your way dear.”
“Okay, I will. Thank you.” You told him, now somewhat nervous to look up at him again.
“Gogol! Makeup touch ups!” A staff called out for him, your makeup artist was also probably looking for you.
“I’ll be seeing you later.” He winks at you, walking away. You let out a small laugh, nervous. You finished the strawberry off quickly, tossing it into the trash before walking off to find your makeup artist.
This is too weird.
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dividers : @/cafekitsune
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dduane · 4 months
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The question is at the bottom of this very long thing.
I decided to do a reread of the Wizards series -- I don't think I'd gotten beyond The Wizard's Dilemma on my last re-read in 2016.
Reading A Wizard Alone was interesting, ada neurodiverse fiftyish woman married to an autistic guy, with one autistic (young) adult child and one differently-neurodiverse teen child.
The ending of the book threw me - back in 2002, when the book was published, my husband didn't have a diagnosis (nor did I) and the term "executive function disorder" didn't exist. I knew three autistic adults talking openly about autism. And it was still four years to knowing my one-year-old child's odd responses and sensitivities were a variation of autism.
Fast forward to 2023, and the very language around autism has changed. My son does have disabling effects from autism, but he doesn't say he doesn't want to be autistic. He doesn't want to have an eating disorder, he'd like to be able to do more things for himself, and he definitely wishes we understood him better (and vice versa) but even at eleven, he'd have known that making Darryl's choice would change him utterly.
If you were writing the book now, what would Darryl's choice look like?
Thank you for reading this.
Hey, thanks for your note. I very much appreciate it.
A more currently-written A Wizard Alone would look a lot like this:
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...because, when I was updating the Young Wizards books a decade or so ago to their New Millennium Editions, in 2013 I took the welcome opportunity to extensively rewrite the book with (much!) better data, and with input from the autistic readership.
The rewrite's been discussed here and there online over time. Here's one examination of it. Here's another. There are numerous others scattered across the online landscape, if you go looking for them.
This version of the book is (to my intense regret) not available in print in the US, as the North American publisher has so far shown no particular interest in updating the books to their new editions. Should this occur, though, the very first thing on my to-do list is to have the 2002 edition of Alone pulled from print, and replaced with the 2013 edition.
...And yeah, Darryl's choice is a lot different in the revised edition; as it should be. :)
Thanks again.
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foolsocracy · 10 months
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With all the age discourse around Spider-Man Noir right now, I thought I’d compile parts of the comic that imply his age. I want to state that this pulling from his 2009-2010 comic run before the time skip, specifically the first volume. The spiderverse movie has taken a lot of liberties with the characters, so it is very possible that what Peters age is in 1933 in the comics is NOT what his age is in 1933 in the movies.
Peter’s age is not directly stated in his 1st comic run (I can’t speak for the 2020 ones because it has been a while since I read them, plus there’s like a 10 year jump). It IS however heavily implied that he is young. So much so that you can’t seem to go more than a page without someone referencing it.
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Like, these all happen in the same scene. The writers beat you over the head with it.
In this issue alone Peter is called both “son” and “sonny” once, “boy” twice, and “kid” 8 times. Outside nouns, he is also referred to as young, and when Urich brings him to The Black Cat, Felicia calls it “babysitting.” Urich also asks Peter if he is “allowed out after midnight” but after some research I can’t seem to find any evidence of NYC having juvenile curfews at this point in time, though they did exist in lots of towns in the late 1800s and early 1900s because of child labor laws. I think this instance is just Pete just being young and an adult being concerned about his well-being.
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It is also mentioned in this volume, and again in Eyes Without a Face (vol 2), that Peter wants to go to college in the future and is currently studying & saving up money to do so. This alone doesn’t necessarily mean he’s under 18 as there isn’t a max age to apply for college, plus Peter comes from a poor family during the Great Depression. It wouldn’t surprise me if he started college later than usual because of that (lack of funds & catching up due to not being in school/working).
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There is other evidence that does imply he is under 18 though— he’s too young to drink alcohol!
Spider-Man Noir Vol 1 issue 1 starts in January 1933 before jumping back three weeks to December 1932 where Ben Urich meets Peter Parker
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It is during December 1932 that he meets Felicia Hardy who owns the speakeasy The Black Cat. Prohibition is still in place and won’t be overwritten until a year later in December 1933. It is important to note that before Prohibition was instated, the drinking age in New York was 18 years old. That law is what the characters reference when they discuss drinking age. And most importantly, Peter doesn’t deny the fact that he’s too young to drink. He just snarks back in true Parker fashion
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This is the most concrete evidence there is towards Peter being under 18 in the noirverse. It can even be argued that Peter is under 17 with how easily Felicia picks up on the fact that he’s underage (and that she does so from a distance might I add, as seen in the ‘babysitting’ panel).
There is also a panel where JJJ refers to Peter as an “orphan.” By definition, an orphan is a kid under 18. This is JJJ, so this can be taken with a grain of salt as he loves good ol hard-hitting words. When people speak they don’t always use words by their exact definitions; sometimes if you’re young and your parents are dead, JJJ is going to label you an orphan even if ur a legal adult lol. But if you take this at face value it’s definitely another indicator that Peter is under 18.
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TLDR; Spider-Man Noir from his 2009-2010 comic run is most likely under 18, and can be argued to be 15-16+. If not that, then is definitely college aged or younger.
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stardew-shitposterino · 10 months
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Stardew Valley Bachelors and how they’d react if you told them you’ve never dated anyone before
Headcanons about our baby girls :3 “Never dated” also refers to no romantic experience whatsoever. The Farmer is gender neutral, for Harvey’s it could be read as afab but I leave that up to your imagination
Content warning: mild nsfw
Sam:
-he doesn’t care because same LMFAO
-admittedly, he feels more comfortable with that piece of knowledge as he doesn’t feel as pressured to do everything right
-“wow, Farmer, really?! I wouldn’t have guessed, but me neither! B-but don’t worry, we will handle this together. This will be so much fun!”
-he’s excited to explore this new chapter of your life together…with lots of kissies
-can’t believe he is the first person to call you his’ and feels extremely flattered by it. He won’t shut up about it when he’s with Abi and Seb
-the smexy time with him will be a blast though. He’s maybe not the most skilled lover, but his enthusiasm makes up for all of it. He helps you relax and take it light. Be prepared for lots of praise and absent-minded filth coming from his mouth
Sebastian:
-homeboy really doesn’t give a shit tbh, he doesn’t even give you a big reaction
-we both know he hasn’t dated before either, but it’s nothing of his concern either
-“…ok, that’s cool…(?)” *proceeds playing games on his console”
-though you don’t have any reference points, he’s still trying to be the best boyfriend he can be for you because you deserve it (he won’t say that though)
-what can I say, he’s pretty indifferent 🤷🏼‍♀️
-about intimate business though…he has no clue what to do and wished at least you knew, but you both make it work. The first time is a bit too gentle, but that will change once you get the hang of it. It’s nerve-wrecking to him but he’s also excited to learn all these new things with you and make you feel good
Harvey:
-Harvey wouldn’t mind either way, he knows you’re an adult and that you can choose to live your life however you want to with whoever
-buuuut, unlike with the others, it makes him even more anxious that he is your first partner and wants to make everything right.
-“I’m not the most exciting guy, but I’ll try my best to make this relationship perfect for you, because you deserve nothing but the best.”
-His last relationship was years ago, so this feels new to him as well. He takes things slow with you, especially since he’s very shy and needs to ease into things as well. Everything being new to you makes him feel young again
-feels guilty for going further with you too as he doesn’t want to mess things up. He knows how painful and uncomfortable it can be and wants you to remember it fondly, peppering you with lots of kisses, soft touches, hand holding and prep work
-overall, he’s the best first boyfriend you could ever wish for. He’s caring, polite and cute :3
Elliott:
-ma man, ma boy, he has waited for this moment
-Elliott is a notorious romantic, of course he will take this opportunity to make your time with him the most special experience of your entire life
-“It will be a pleasure to show you the world through rose-coloured glasses, my love. *kisses your hand all so gently*. So you won’t ever forget that you are the light of my life, that you are loved.”
-not that he wouldn’t wanna do that if you had dated anyone before, but he goes along with things differently depending on your experience
-if you’re new to this, he will take it slow. The last he wants is to push you to do things you’re not comfortable with
-he’s a very romantic man, but that also encapsulates that he’s a very sexual man ( not in a creepy perv way of course, just very passionate about the whole gist of being intimate). But he waits with that for a LOOOONG time before he plans a romantic bedroom date with a hot bath, rose petals and body oils if he knows it’s your first relationship
-a lot of rom-com-esque adventures await you with this fine gentleman, and the build up to the big night will be worth the patience ;)
Shane:
-Quite frankly? He’s flustered the house lol
-I’m talking big rosy blush across his face and big eyes
-like, you chose HIM to be your first? Really?!
-he always thought highly of you, but now he has to reconsider how smart you could possibly be when you want him to be your first relationship
-“Uh, wow…a-and you’re sure you want to make this experience with me ?! Of all people?!”
-He has had many meaningless hookups in the past, but relationships….oof they weren’t that deep, and he never cared about any of them like he cares about you.
-He tries his best. He’s not an anxious mess like Harv, but he still watches how he behaves around you because he doesn’t want to break your spirit regarding relationships…he doesn’t want you to feel the way he has felt about love and trust
-though he had some hookups, it’s been A WHILE K, so he has major anxiety around your first time together. As much as he’d love to devour you, his anxiety makes him avoid it for the longest time. He wants nothing but the best for you, and he still doesn’t think highly of himself, not to mention his chub. But at some point, he is able to let his guard down as he knows you wouldn’t judge him for something like that ever.
Alex:
-ALEX, my precious…well yeah he is stoked ngl LOL
-he is a whole jock jerk but that’s all a facade, so this piece of information makes him a little less anxious but the more excited to give it his all to make this a one-of-a-kind experience to you
-“wait, REALLY?! That’s aweso- I mean, that’s interesting. I can consider myself a lucky guy to be your first boyfriend. You won’t ever regret it, I promise 😉” *dies on the inside and wants nothing but to scream in excitement*
-BUT it also boosts his ego through the roof. He can’t believe he is the guy that made you want to go the next step, especially as no one else made you want to have a relationship before him
-He’s nothing but a good old-fashioned lover boy. Man grew up with his grandparents, one of them being Evelyn (my precious granny), so he has some manners and knows how to treat a lady (if you’re not a lady, he will treat you like one regardless because that’s all he knows lol)
-I’m sorry but…man’s horny, and though he wants to take things slow for your sake, he will take the first opportunity to take you to bed with him let’s b real. He will be gentle with you and tries his best to make it “first time friendly”, but it is very hard for him as he has dreamed about this since the first time you’ve met.
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freebooter4ever · 1 month
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ok i've been taking a break for the past half hour and doing research on the pens locker room, trying to figure out how i wanted to design my own version of geno's 'stall' (is that what it's called?). i love the circular shape it feels very king arthur
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first, there isn't a lot of internet documented history on the various eras of the locker room design??? which seems sad
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don't get me wrong the latest iteration is pretty epic but as far is i can tell, it hasn't changed much since at least 2013? i do not envy whoever is cleaning this place. thats a lot of sweat over the years.
second, im enjoying seeing little details that i had no idea existed, being a new fan and all. like the puck wins count???? crazy. these guys have a visual representation of how they're doing in the season right up there on the wall glaring judgmentally at them? im so glad im not in sports. i would not survive.
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especially when the HISTORY of these pucks is on the walls.....like damn. talk about pressure. anyway 2011-2012 thats one of geno's best seasons right? :)
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this is what I wanted. mesh, hooks, I need to figure out how i want to make this look cool.
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i find it really funny and endearing that the thing these guys do to relax in down time is a playful version of their own job....
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also im not sure about this like:
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are they assigned a razor??? you get traded to the penguins and suddenly you're not allowed to use your fancy expensive specialized razor? is this a normal thing in hockey????? do they have group shaves for special events like the playoffs? hockey players are fascinating.
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i dont know why but i never considered that the pens have actual lockers in addition to the little seats in the main locker room. this makes total sense. i dont know where i thought their clothes and stuff went. just disappeared into the ether i guess.
anyway definitely a necessity, the hot tub. it looks a little sad and lonely in this photo. it needs a hockey player in it.
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racks and racks of gear???? again this makes total sense but never occurred to me. also maybe helps explain why geno likes to switch up gloves, look at all them, damn. i do wonder about helmets still - geno's looks so unique and he's been using the same design since at least 2009.
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ok im guessing this is an away locker room and i have only one question: do they bring a little 'logo' carpet to roll out every time they go on the road? thats amazing.
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if you read all that, nice! here's a shot of geno with his jock out:
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very important locker room research. bonus the earliest pens locker room photo of geno i could find:
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shy beautiful boy ^_^ (also he looks so young and vulnerable its hard to believe that even back in 2008/2009 he already had so much responsibility with so many grown adults making demands on his entire career)(like he went through all that AND is still playing in the league with three cups under his belt? thats fucking awesome)
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hedgehog-moss · 1 year
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Bird update: Unfortunately I’ve had to say goodbye to my rooster. I quite liked him but if you’ll remember, he was here on probation and after a few weeks of good behaviour he started pestering my hen a lot. She started looking a bit unhappy (huddling under the outdoor table instead of trotting about), then she stopped laying and I thought perhaps she was moulting and it could explain her moodiness and missing feathers, but the pattern of missing feathers seemed to point to the rooster as a culprit. Then he hurt her wing, allegedly (I have no proof so I’m protecting myself from a libel claim.)
On nice days Dru likes to sit and soak up the sun, stretching her wings one at a time, and on a couple of occasions I saw her stretch only her left wing, never opening her right one. I poked her wing gently and she didn’t bite my hand off which was a good sign, but then I picked her up and placed her on a chair, expecting her to jump off straight away like “I never asked you to put me here, mind your own business”—and indeed she jumped but she only flapped her left wing to slow her fall.
I called the vet to ask if it meant the other wing was broken and what I could do, and she was pretty reassuring, saying if the wing was held closed in the right position it would heal on its own—if it were dangling on the other hand I would need to find a little toddler’s t-shirt for my hen to wear, to keep her wing against her body. The vet also said what vets always say—“as long as the animal is eating normally it’s probably going to be fine!” (and that’s the case)
But I couldn’t keep the rooster any longer—even if he weren’t the one who hurt Dru (innocent until proven guilty) it wouldn’t help the healing process if he kept trying to mount her, so I put him in a box and took him back to his natal farm. They weren’t terribly happy to see him again, but well. I wanted to give him a chance but the circumstances (with only one hen) weren’t auspicious and I sort of expected this experiment to fail. Best of luck, rooster...
A couple of days after his departure, Dru lay an egg again for the first time since mid-February, so I think the message was pretty clear!
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Also, that’s a tall bale of hay (from a chicken’s perspective) so I’m not sure how she managed to climb on top of it without boosting herself with her wings. Did she fake a wing injury to get the rooster ousted? Pampe would fake a wing injury without hesitation but chickens strike me as honest. I mean they're unrepentant food thieves but they’re upfront about it.
Final bird update: on Friday I managed to get a new hen! I hope having a new coopmate won’t put Dru in a bad mood again and cause another egg strike. The new hen is very young and still looks like a gangly teenager, and she seems quite vivacious and curious, here she is determinedly strolling into her new home:
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One notable fact about her is that she doesn’t speak chicken. She doesn’t kot kot like an adult hen, and she doesn’t make the incoherent gurgling sound that baby hens make, either. It’s more like a dissonant quack. I’m not sure what to attribute it to—maybe she was raised near ducks and picked up a foreign language? I might have to call her Daisy if she keeps this up. I tried to record her but she’s pretty scared of me for the time being so she’s all shy and quiet when I’m nearby...
Dru isn’t amused by any of this. New hen tries to follow her and chat with her and gets snubbed a lot. Well, I did hear Dru cluck amicably the first evening when I brought the new hen in the coop, but she didn’t get an answer, there’s a real language barrier here. I hope the new hen learns French soon because right now Dru just keeps running away from her! 
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Poor Dru, she lost her good friend and then had to deal with a dude who woke her up every day at dawn crowing as loudly as possible, and now a new roommate who speaks duck. It’s only been two days though; I’m sure they’ll get along eventually!
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silverheartlugia2000 · 9 months
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can someone help me brainstorm the next bit?
Danny was tired. More than tired, exhausted. Danny was the kind of tired that was so deep it looped right back around to constantly giddy. He sat in his chair at the Justice League meeting with a smile on his face and a vacant stare. The others were kinda giving him weird or concerned looks while he sang Twinkle Stars in his head cause the window kept distracting him. 
He should be paying attention to Hal who was talking, but his inner thoughts kept asking him if he could ask to go to Oa with the Green Lantern sometime cause, while he has been up around Earth’s space plenty of times now he’s rarely gone on trips off planet with anyone. Just because he’s wandered off during the trips once or twice they don't like bringing him unless they can rope him in the Fenton Fishing Line(™) that Jazz converted into what was basically a baby leash. He was almost 17! An adult! He didnt need no leash!!
Well except for when that happened…But he was better at it!! He couldn’t help it.. It just seemed to happen when he used up his powers a lot with no time to sleep or snack. Especially when he was still a new death, and it hardly ever happened anymore now that he was more experienced in managing his output! No one needed to know what his true core ghost form really looked like.. It just reflected how young he was as a ghost compared to everyone else he knew is all.
Heck Youngblood was almost 100 years dead. And while YB was still physically younger, he was still considered older than Danny! Apparently being a child ghost wasn’t quite the same as being the ghost OF a child. Eventually his core form should even out to reflect his death age in time..
Speaking of which he was hungry too, maybe when he gets home he could ask Mom for some of those Ecto cookies she hid away. She’s been putting them in the new ghost proof safe so Danny can't eat them all before dinner. They weren't nearly as good as Grampa’s but she has gotten better at not turning the food into ghosts, the hot dogs attack anything that even begins to twitch so that helps.
Wait, when was the last time he’d been home? There’d been an invasion going on the last week and the League was still scrambling with all the little things that happened because of that, looting, Lex trying to kill Superman while he’s tired, Joker’s jealousy popping up in a new attention grabbing scheme, more looting from low risk villains cause no one was around to stop them. Then the Big Three plus Flash getting pulled into another dimension temporarily. 
Lucky Danny was able to track them down and get them back home, though he missed the Watchtower by a longshot and landed somewhere in Kansas.. Future Master of Space and he still had trouble getting his Gate open to begin with sometimes. Though since it was so late when they came back they got to meet Superman's parents and spend the night. They were very nice, the mac n cheese they had for dinner that night was really good..
Maybe he should go home today, he didn't feel the giddy kind of tired anymore. He felt the bad kind of tired that happened just before that happened, he needed to go home to his family, his Mom would be happy to give him all the hugs he needed and Dad would sneak him snacks and Jazz and Sam and Tuck would let him nap and play all he wants until he feels ok enough to be his human age again. Maybe he could even go bug Dan for a bit.
He hasn't taken his meds lately either now that he thinks about it.. His travel box emptied a few days ago and he hasn't had time to get more, that's one good thing about being in the JL though, their own medical care and they actually had meds that work on weird metabolisms like his. Getting his anxiety and insomnia back under control had been a godsend after the two years he went without cause the accident made them not work anymore.
Just as this plan was finalized in his head the red lights and noise that mean bad things happening flashed and Danny loudly keens, curling into himself. Everyone is rushing off except for Superman and Batman who look at him worriedly. Tears prick his eyes and hands cover his ears, Superman obviously recognizes sensory overload with how strong the man's own are and Batman has so many Robins around Danny very much doubts he can miss an over tired teen nearing his limit.
But they have a job to do so with a deep breath Danny pulls himself together and takes off towards whatever is happening before the Justice Dads can call him out on it.
-
The fight itself shouldn't have been that hard especially since there were only a couple of them sent, the problem was that it was against one of the rarer rogues, and a magic one at that. Gentleman Ghost, he thinks? Which is why Danny got pulled along, cause of the power set. The guy might call himself a ghost but he didn't listen to Danny. Danny was the King! Danny was used to ghosts not listening, but most of the time that was his circle of frenemies who had known him since he was a new death, they claimed special rights as the ones who practically taught him ghost culture. They were more like extended aunts, uncles and siblings at this point. Except Spectra. Fuck Spectra..
This guy was more interested in his own shit and pissed at the fact that Batman outsmarted him on something again, what he didn’t know. The older ghost didn't even give him a second look, sure Danny didn't like flaunting his title and he wasn't able to fully use the Crown’s power for a few more centuries yet when he’d grown into it ghost wise but he was tired and getting pissed off. Mr Victorian is playing keep away and Danny is the only one that can keep up with him while Batman has to dodge things like walls and cars and the occasional blast of magic.
Things went to shit when he got hit. The magic hurt, he was used to being hurt seeing as fighting was practically socializing for a ghost, but there was just enough of the underlying feeling of electricity that made him tumble that last inch over the edge. 
He screamed.
It wasn’t a long one. Not nearly enough to get the full power in, a yelp of surprise more than a wail. But it was enough to blast the ghost unconscious and throw a few cars down the street, he was able to cut it off before he did more damage but it still felt bad that it happened. 
He felt bad that Batman had to arrest the ghost on his own, borrowing his thermos and catching the geezer so they could dump him on Constantine later, while Danny sat on the ground where he crashed, curled into himself and trying not to cry too loud. 
He felt more than saw, Batman coming back over to him and petting his hair softly, he was talking into the coms to someone but Danny didn’t care right now he just wanted to sleep. Danny flails for the hand that starts to retreat from its comfort. It comes back immediately and holds his and Danny is too tired to hold on anymore so he doesn't.
-
To say Batman is scared when Phantom gets hit is one thing. He’d seen the halfa take worse, it was the noise more than anything that scared him. He’d seen what Phantom’s Wail could do. And whatever had caused him to unleash it had to be bad. But he was glad the kid had enough awareness to cut it off immediately, his lessons on fine control with Canary were paying off. The fact that Phantom had shown clear signs of an incoming meltdown just half an hour before would have been enough to bench the kid from coming out at all if it wasn't for Constantine offering this mission instead. While the rest of the big hitters were busy with some kaiju-like monster that popped up on the other side of the world
Constantine had probably sensed Phantom’s exhaustion if the sudden diversion meant anything, cranky as the mage was to the rest of them, he had a soft spot for the kid, him and Marvel both. The two were as strong as any of the League, but they were still kids with way too much weight on their shoulders.
It almost didn’t work, Phantom kept insisting he was fine and could help, when John saddled up next to Batman and said something about an old artifact of magic power going up in a museum today, one that could be tempting for a particular rouge to steal if the talk he heard was anything to go by. Yes Batman had faced him alone before just fine but since the kid had a similar powerset, Phantom would be a big help on getting things done faster.
And that had been the turning point there. He has talked to Phantom’s sister before. She had told him at length when Danny first joined, his little tells and how to handle them. She and (Jason?Dick?) had been dating for a while at that point and Phantom had recently been recruited. It wasn’t unusual for Batman to feel threatened, between corporate sharks and kidnappers as Bruce to the endless supervillains as Batman. But it was rare that he felt the threats against him were justified, she wanted to protect her brother, and he’d be a hypocrite if he tried to argue that.
Phantom had a dual Obsession of Protection and Space, but Protection can be interpreted and sub divided in many ways, ghosts were possessive in general to what they saw as theirs and that's where the confusion was. Danny would Protect with all his might if there was danger yes, but specifically he preferred being Helpful more than anything. Even if it was only upgrading their equipment and defenses or even just flitting around fetching them things. It satisfied him either way.
Batman took a second to assess Phantom, swiping the thermos from his belt to contain the Gentleman Ghost. Really he should ask for one for himself, intangible villains were pains in the ass to contain..
He walks back to Phantom and runs fingers through his hair, fully set in Batdad mode, but unsure if the kid would tolerate anymore until he’s calmed back down.
“Oracle?”
“Here B.”
“Can you contact Nightingale? I’m bringing Phantom back to the tower, unable to tell if he’s physically hurt. But he’s clearly having a breakdown.”
“Like mind control, or RR up way past his no-sleep threshold?”
“I’m leaning towards the latter.” Batman does not sigh, cause that wouldn’t be a Batman thing to do. He does however move his hands away to secure the thermos and hit the remote control on the Batmobile, only for Phantom to whine and latch onto his wrist.
Batman quickly goes back to soothing the teen. Getting into a position to hoist him up when he was blinded by a bright light.
When Batman blinked the sparks out of his vision Phantom was no longer sprawled on the ground, instead Batman held a handful of black coils with a tuft of white.
-
(jazz when she gets to the tower) “Why did you let him go out if you knew he wasn’t ok?!”
“It was either let Constantine insist on chasing a literal phantom thief under my supervision, or let him fight a giant sea monster close to Korea.”
“....Ok fair..”
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