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piratefishmama · 1 year

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Prompt being this post about daycare worker Eddie and Single Parent Steve right here

Eddie was a professional. He couldn’t flirt with the kids parents, especially since he didn’t actually know which ones would be interested in him. Single fathers were always kind of… 50/50 in terms of whether or not they’d be into another guy, so Eddie was pretty comfortable not flirting with parents.

Until Steve Harrington.

Little Ellie, or Nora, or Eleanor depending on the brand of shenanigan that she’d gotten up to during the day, had been going to Tiny Terrors Day-Care for a little over four months now after the parent and child had moved into town a week before she’d joined them. Eddie had met Steve twice. Once, where Ellie had spectacularly ran head first into a door pretending to be a T-Rex, and the second time, was when Robbie, a little shit, pulled her pretty pig tails out and ran off with her hair ties.

They had little green T-Rex charms on them, Eddie had never seen such a thing before, it turned out they were custom made by one of her uncles. Priceless treasures basically.

She hadn’t done anything to Robbie, no. Robbie was four and just acting out. The five-year-old knew better than to hurt Robbie, no. After she’d gotten her hair ties back, she, with an impressive amount of force, booted one of the helpers directly in the shin, when said helper suggested Robbie must have just had a crush on her.

Physical violence had been paired with her furious little voice demanding they never tell girls that boys hurting them means they have a crush, cause her daddy said that’s the dumbest thing ever. Boys shouldn’t hurt girls!! And nobody should be excusing boys hurting girls!!

It was a pretty spectacular verbal beat down for a five-year-old to be giving a grown adult, Eddie didn’t actually have anything bad to say to her about it either. He just had to tell Steve that she’d injured one of the staff, because… protocol.

Steve had given her a high five and promised her ice cream when he’d found out why. Eddie kind of wanted to kiss him.

It was fine. Totally fine, he’d only seen him twice and he’d managed to contain his urge to flirt even with Steve looking at him in a way that could definitely be construed as interest. He didn’t want to assume, assumptions could lead to chaos and chaos didn’t belong in the lives of toddlers.

So, he was pretty sure that he’d be fine for the easter hunt.

Steve had RSVP’d that he would be attending with Ellie when the little newsletter went out about it, since wherever he worked was closed for the holiday, Eddie had… understandably freaked out a little, but he’d done it in the office.

Away from the staff. Away from the kids. He’d be fine to witness Steve being a great dad for the day. Totally fine. He’d had his little freak out, he was fine to spend the morning of their little hunt hiding eggs with the staff, definitely not feeling his nerves skyrocketing at the idea of Steve helping little Ellie find them later.

They weren’t real eggs, oh no, definitely not real eggs. They were hiding little colourful plastic eggs, each colour holding a value, so the more plastic eggs you found, the bigger your easter haul could be! It wasn’t just eggs either, they had cakes, cool prizes, sweets, and other things donated to the day care for the kids by members of the community, someone had donated a bike for crying out loud. It was silver and gold and had removable stabilizers, totally gender neutral so any kid could enjoy it without it being too girly or too boyish.

They’d hidden a golden egg for the bike. It was extra hard to find.

Eddie had hidden it personally under the roots of an old tree stump just beyond the tree line, in a little hollow half hidden by moss and foliage. The other eggs just hidden around the park. The only reason he’d hidden it beyond the treeline, was because the parents would be looking with the kids. No child would be going beyond that tree line without their parents present.

So, with all the eggs hidden, some a little more obvious than others, Eddie and the rest of the staff waited for their attendees, who slowly began trickling in sometime around noon. The hunt was supposed to start at one, and Eddie was definitely not craning his head side to side, searching through the rapidly growing crowd of parents and children for that specific dynamic duo, he absolutely wasn—

“Eddie!!” Eddie’s eyes snapped to the left just in time to catch his favourite, even if he wasn’t supposed to pick favourites, tiny terror, Ellie, just before she’d have bulldozed into his legs. He hoisted her up and into his arms with a pleased little,

“Elliesaurus Rex!!”

“Quick, tell daddy that the shirt looks fine!” Eddie found himself focusing beyond her at the request, finding his smile growing wider at the dressed down Steve Harrington, wearing an incredibly stupid Hawaiian shirt that didn’t even remotely look like it belonged to him, and a pair of quarter length jeans rolled a little further up his calves and sandals fuck.

The shirt was baggy enough to hide what would no doubt be an absolutely spectacular rear fitted snugly into those jeans though, sadly enough.

“The shirt looks fine.” He parroted with a mischievous grin, a grin that widened as Steve rubbed at the back of his neck bashfully.

“It’s laundry day, the only clean shirt I had was something my old man ‘passed down’ to me, I… don’t usually wear this sort of thing.” There was a story there, Eddie wanted to hear it. Maybe some other time though.

“You look good in it! It suits you” honestly a garbage bag would suit Steve Harrington, it wasn’t fair how pretty that man was.

“It does not” Steve laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling in such a way that Eddie had to internally remind himself that he should not flirt with the parents of the kids. Definitely don’t do that. “You though—you uh… I like the uhm… the apron.” Eddie’s eyes widened a fraction, before he looked down at himself, sure enough, he’d left his apron on. The one still covered in dried paint hand prints and dirt. “The dirt looks good on your knees too.” Aaand the dirt on his knees from where he’d been kneeling down in the grass.

“Haaa-hah, we can’t all look like we just stepped off a run way in Hawaiian chic, Mr. Harrington” Eddie definitely didn’t think he was imagining the soft rosy hue to those perfect cheekbones but—maybe it was just the heat. God he was beautiful. “Okay! Okay it’s uhm. It’s almost one, so—So we should probably get everyone gathered together, would you like to take your minion back?” He offered Ellie back to her dad, who let out a soft chuckle at his daughters whine of disappointment, before plucking her from Eddie’s hands.

“But—But I wanna stay with Eddie” was the immediate complaint, which frankly melted Eddie’s already gooey heart even further.

“I know sweetheart, but Eddie’s gotta do Eddie things, yeah? We can hang out with Eddie after we find you some eggs, okay?” Eddie raised a single brow at the assumption, but Steve just offered an apologetic grin, sneaky sneaky, Mr. Harrington.

Especially sneaky since Ellie perked right up, chirping, “Okay!!” placated by the promise of Eddie time later making it impossible for Eddie to say no. Eddie couldn’t even be mad, he wanted Steve time too. Maybe not around some thirty kids and their parents, but… he wanted Steve time too.

“Alrighty” he didn’t refuse Eddie time, Ellie and Steve could have all the Eddie time. “Everyone, could I have your attention please!!” All eyes on him, he stepped to the front of the group “Behold my glorious little adventurers! Behind me is a park FILLED with possibilities. There are one hundred and fifty colourful plastic eggs hidden within this park, the more eggs you find, the bigger your Easter haul will be! Not only that, but somewhere, in this glorious wonderland of opportunity, is a SINGLE golden egg. The finder of such a treasure, will go home with the grand prize of the day, a brand-new bicycle, donated by one of the incredibly generous members of our community.” The excitement in the crowd only seemed to grow, be it for the chocolate, or the bike, Eddie didn’t know, he was just happy everyone was excited.

“To keep things fair, we’ll have staff members monitoring the hunt to ensure nobody steals any eggs from anyone. If you can’t hold any more eggs, you’re welcome to come and ‘bank’ them with the staff over here by the main gates, you’ll get a little slip with a number on it for how many eggs you’ve banked! Now. Are we all ready?” Ohhh they were ready “Aaaare we set?” They were set!! “Aaaand, GO!!”

Chaos. Complete and utter chaos descended upon that park in an instant. Kids diving into bushes, Parents climbing up trees, Eddie had hid at least three eggs on that jungle gym, but nobody had even checked there yet, too busy looking in bushes and—

“Get it, munchkin!!” Steve Harrington, with a little terrible terror on his shoulders, Ellie reaching up to the top of the climbing frame to grab the little green egg from where one of the girls had left it poking out of a post that’d lost its end cap, the larger rounded bottom of the egg resting in the top of the hollow tube perfectly. “Into the bucket! That’s my girl!”

Eddie could watch him all day. Could watch him climbing a tree to get the one egg Eddie had left up a tree, could watch him bent over -oh my god that shirt rode up and hello perfect ass- pushing his daughter up the tube slide to grab the little egg one of the girls had stuck to the inside of it with double sided sticky tape. Could watch Ellie running to her dad with an arm full of eggs she’d found half hidden in a shrub, could watch him celebrate by lifting her up and twirling her around all day long Eddie was so very screwed.

He could also watch, fascinated, by the way Ellie found the golden egg. She found it, all on her own while hunting in the bushes around the stump. She didn’t yell about it, she didn’t throw it into her bucket, she sneakily showed her dad, who glanced around him as if making sure nobody saw, then whispered something to her, Eddie didn’t know what the man said, but whatever he said, it had her hurrying off, egg in hand, eyes scanning the park and everyone in it for a little while, before very sneakily depositing the little egg into a bush and grabbing a boy by the shoulder to point at it for him.

“Look, look it’s the gold one!” She chirped, shaking the little boy, and nudging him toward it “you take it! Quick!” Now, Eddie knew all of Ellies friends in day care. And this little boy… wasn’t one of them. He was new, from a family who didn’t have much, relied on coupons and the generosity of the staff at the day care to keep him while his single mother worked long hours for low income.

It was something Eddie had to ask about, but he only got a chance to do that once everything was over. Once the prizes had been doled out, chocolate eggs, cool colouring sets, accessories, the bike to one VERY excited little boy and one baffled and emotional mother, Eddie sidled himself up to Team Harrington, the pair piling their haul into the trunk of Steve’s minivan?

The fuck did he need a mini van for being a parent of an only child? Didn’t matter.

“Sooo, was I seeing things, or did I see one very sneaky little lady giving away a bike earlier?” Ellie only giggled in mischievous glee as she hurried away with the biggest of her chocolate eggs, taking it to go gorge herself on chocolate by the swings, leaving her dad and her favourite day care person all by themselves in the carpark.

Steve smiled at him, amusement dancing in his beautiful hazel baby cow eyes good lord Eddie was so screwed for this man. “It’d have been a bit weird if the person who donated the bike took the bike home, don’t you think?” Surprise must have shown on his face because Steve continued “I knew people were donating stuff, so I uh… I got a few things together and Ellie’s uncle dropped them all off the other day.” Dustin had dropped them off, left the goods with one of the girls. Eddie hadn’t seen who’d left it all. “Didn’t think I’d be the only one donating something big but… I dunno, it’s nice to see it go to someone who’d appreciate it.” He wasn’t bragging, he wasn’t flaunting wealth, he seemed genuinely happy that some random kid now had a bike.

Don’t flirt with the parent, don’t flirt with the parent, don’t flirt with the—fuck it

“Uh… so uhm, stop me, if uh… if—if you’re not like… that way inclined but uhm… are you free on Friday? For uhm… dinner… maybe…?” It was out there, Steve was looking at him, eyes wide in surprise “shit—that was. Too forward. Super unprofessional, I’m sorry, ignore me I’ll just—I gotta—” he was about two seconds into running away when Steve grabbed his arm in a gentle but strong hold.

“Wait! Wait… like, a date?”

“…Yes?”

“Y-yeah! Yes, yeah, absolutely I’ll… I can uhm—Robin, my sister, she can look after Ellie, so yes, absolutely I am absolutely free on Friday. Let’s say… eight, I’ll pick you up? Maybe dinner at my place and a movie?” Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

Holy shit. “Eight and that, sounds perfect.” The love life, it has risen!

“Perfect, eight it is.” Hallelujah!!

#Piratewrites #silly little thing for Easter whee #HOPE EVERYONE WHO CELEBRATED ENJOYED THEIR CHOCOLATES #Steddie #No Upside Down AU #Daycare worker Eddie #Single Parent Steve #ficlet #oneshot maybe???#Steve's Hawaiian shirt owning old man is Hopper

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punkeropercyjackson · 9 days

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This is a bit of an old post of yours but I saw @/thisismisogynoir reblog it and i just wanted to say: your post about ppl being way too comfortable associating underaged characters with sexual stuff put what i've been thinking for the longest time into words. That stuff genuinely makes me SO uncomfortable yet almost no one around me understands. Its so disgusting how often underage characters are sexualized in fandom spaces and the worst part is, it starts with grown ass pedo adults doing it then it SPREADS to most of the KIDS in the fandom who then see that behavior as normal!!

It's particularly sickening for me since i come from a culture where "childhood" lasts alot longer, like 21 year olds are still considered kids and still at the age to be pampered and cared for by their parents so you can imagine my horror when I got into fandom spaces and saw people justifying making NSFW content of 16 YEAR OLDS. I once literally got called SENSITIVE in an Instagram comments section by other PJO fans for saying that it's creepy to make sex jokes about Percy and Annabeth, and they said I was overreacting bc "they're almost adults anyway, real teens have sex at this age"...... Like just because irl teens do doesnt mean you should be encouraging that and normalizing it!!

Hi Nina!!!Thanks for the ask,i agree so much and you've given me the perfect opportunity to tqlk about a similar phenomenon re the sexualization of characters who're minors

So in current canon Pjo,Percy and Annabeth are not 'almost adults',they just ARE adults as their latest apperance in the timeline has them at 18 with confirmation from Rick.Yet fans choose to make these jokes about them as minors even though that book has been out for 4 years.Much like this,Spiderman fans do sm*t of Mcu Peter and Spiderverse Gwen even though in the comics which have way more material they are adults.This also applies to Naruto,Bleach,Toh,Httyd,Atla and other media that have the protagonists start out as kids but grow up either as the story goes along or in an epilogue

If you have the option between sexualizing an adult version of character and an underaged version of the character that're both presented as equally canon and you choose the latter,you are a pedophile.Full point blank.That's the definition of pedophillia.You saw a grown up and a kid and found the kid more attractive.There's no excuse for that.There's no reason for an adult to want to see a child in sexual situations over another adult in sexual situations.You've made a disgusting choice so people have a right to call the pedo a pedo

(Also:You are NOT sensitive.You just have a backbone and care about minors being safe and the fact that they pulled that over a CHILDREN'S BOOK SERIES is insane.A Pjo fan once told me 'legit thought you were 12' in an argument because i said Percy is an anarchist and instigator and activist punk and not a skater boy at all and actually transfem,as if Percy dosen't start out at 12 because that's starting age the series is for.Pjo fans gain self-awareness and also employement challenge)

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ascendingtostardust · 1 year

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Angel Of Small Death (18+)

Josh Kiszka x F Reader

Words: 5.8k

Warnings: mentions of religion and religious trauma, religious themes, spanking (if you squint really hard), slight degradation, spitting, oral sex (m receiving), unprotected sex (wrap it up, y’all) **if I’m missing any please let me know!**

a/n: this was sitting in my docs, half finished, for almost a year and it was time to finally finish her. This is my first piece of full-on smut and the longest thing I’ve ever written, so please be kind to me. Any feedback is always welcomed!

+++

Spending the summer in the middle of the woods with a handful of adults your age and an overwhelming amount of kids somehow sounded like a good time when you voluntarily signed up. You had never been to camp as a kid and when the opportunity to be a camp counselor presented itself through your mom’s church, you knew you had to take it. You had grown up very religious - going to church every Sunday and youth group every Friday night, only surrounding yourself with people that shared your own views, and being expected to uphold traditional morals. As a teenager, you began questioning everything the church taught you and eventually started exploring the experiences you had missed out on for years of your life.

Although you had blown through your “teenage to-do list” by the age of 18, one thing that you couldn’t bring yourself to do was actually have sex. The guilt that came along with such intimacy before marriage was drilled into your subconscious from an early age and never failed to make an appearance whenever the opportunity arose. It’s not that you didn’t want to experience it, you had urges like everyone else, but you couldn’t bring yourself to break the barrier in your mind and push past the guilt. You had slowly gotten better about accepting the idea of being so vulnerable with someone over the years, but still wanted that person to feel “right” to you and you had never found that right person…until you met Josh.

His name came up frequently in your house, your mom constantly trying to set you up with the man that led the youth worship group at her church. Her attempts were always met with a groan and an excuse as to why you “didn’t want to get involved with a church boy.”

“But he’s a great kid, please just give him a chance!” Your mom would reply, getting more and more frustrated each time you wouldn’t give in to her incessant pleas but still not letting it go.

You didn’t even know what Josh looked like, let alone what his personality was like and blind dates weren’t exactly your thing, especially with guys that were as involved in their church as Josh seemingly was. Looking back, it was easy to see that your mom had a whole plan to get you two to meet one way or another and that was why she was so eager to help you sign up to be a counselor at the camp that a few local churches got together to host each summer.

The first few days at the camp were merely orientation for the adults that would be in charge of the campers for the next couple of weeks and you enjoyed the other girls in your orientation group and being in the little oasis in the middle of the woods.

However, a particular boy caught your eye from the moment you saw him get out of his car and effortlessly sling his duffel bag over his shoulder, the setting sun catching the curls that sat at the top of his head and creating a halo effect above him. As soon as he caught your eye, you looked away and felt your cheeks burn with embarrassment that he saw you practically gawking at the way the counselor t-shirt you were all given hugged his shoulders and chest just right.

It was two days after you had first laid eyes on Josh when he finally came over to you during lunch break, taking a seat across from you at the picnic table you occupied alone. You preferred to be alone during lunch, using the time to write in your journal, read a book, or quietly sit with your own thoughts. Startled that someone just invited themselves to sit at your table, you looked up from your book quickly to meet Josh’s warm brown eyes that stared into your own expectedly.

“Uh hi, Josh…” You said, giving him a questioning look and marking the page you left on in your book, slowly closing it and pushing it to the side.

“Hi, angel.” The nickname rolled off his tongue and hit you right in the stomach, leaving lingering butterflies.

The two of you had been introduced by one of the girls in your orientation group earlier and right away you were both intrigued and intimidated by the man. Josh looked at you as if he saw right through the “church girl” act you put on to better fit in, a smirk always playing at his lips when he observed you interacting with the other counselors.

“Do you need something?” You asked as nicely as you could, confused as to why he was looking at you the way that he was.

“I just came to say that I’m really happy we got paired up as age buddies. I’m interested in getting to know you a little better.” And there was that knowing smirk. He somehow figured you out without ever having a real one-on-one conversation with you lasting more than 5 minutes.

You gave him another questioning look, not knowing what he was talking about or why it seemingly brought him so much joy.

“Age buddies?” You prompted, letting your eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“So each counselor gets paired up with all of the girls or all of the boys in a certain age group, but the counselor of the boys and of the girls are buddies and have to plan activities and stuff together. Make sense?”

“Yeah, yeah that makes sense. So we’re really going to be spending a lot of time together then, huh?” You asked, already knowing the answer but trying to prolong the conversation as long as you could to be able to admire how his toned arms looked as he leaned his elbows on the wooden table.

“Oh loads of time, angel,” he began getting up from the table, “and I can’t wait.” Walking backwards for a few strides as he finished his statement before leaving you with a wink and turning around to jog back over to the small wooden chapel to finish preparing the welcome sermon for that night when the campers arrived.

Being “buddies” with Josh had its perks, but was just as draining and frustrating as it was exciting. He always seemed to find a way to leave a lingering touch on your arm or lower back as he walked past you or came up to mutter some complaint about his campers to make you giggle. It’s not that you weren’t doing your part to get him back for it, though. Moving your knee to “accidentally” bump his as you sat almost hip-to-hip next to the nightly bonfire, asking for his help applying sunscreen to your back and neck before a day in the sun, and letting your hand linger a beat too long on his shoulder when trying to grab his attention.

He knew you noticed his advances and you knew he noticed yours, but both of you lived for the back and forth and the tension that only got more and more unbearable as the first week of camp quickly came to a close and the second week threatened to only make things worse.

It surprised you how naturally you fell into a daily rhythm with Josh, contributing most of it to the fact that you had to spend every day together, but the very obvious spark between you two definitely contributed as well. Of course, you didn’t expect any sort of a “hook up” to occur while you were working a summer camp, let alone a church camp. However, after enduring a few days of Josh’s intentional teasing and testing you decided to let whatever was going to happen, happen.

The other surprising element to working the camp was how quickly you fell back into old thought patterns and behavior. You were long past the days of praying for guidance or clarity when life felt like it was way too overwhelming for one person, but yet…here you were. Having to bow your head and fold your hands with the kids during worship every morning left you grasping at it as a last resort after what happened earlier that day.

Yours and Josh’s groups were gathered together in an empty rec cabin that held no purpose other than storage for the various random pieces of equipment for games that the camp set up most days. That day, though, all of the rain that the sky had been collecting all summer began to pour down and oversaturate the earth.

Although no phones were technically allowed within camp limits, you and Josh realized that the two of you had both broken the rules after he asked for your number to “help coordinate plans for the day better” one the third day of working together. On this particular day, the rain completely ruined your plans for swimming and volleyball and your face lit up as your phone softly buzzed from its spot in the waistband of your jeans while you sat with a few campers at breakfast.

Josh: Meet us in the rec cabin. Tell NO ONE.

Collecting the kids and telling them the plan in a hushed tone, they followed your lead down the overgrown path to the cabin you hoped Josh and his campers were already waiting for you in. After arriving to find that it was, in fact, not Josh and his group trying to prank you again, everyone began grouping together as they typically did throughout the day and excitedly chattering about being in the “forbidden cabin.”

Josh slid up next to you, bumping your hip with his own. You looked over at him and tried to hide the grin that began to spread across your lips as the two of you took each other in for just long enough that none of the kids would notice and ask if you were “boyfriend and girlfriend” like they had begun doing a few days prior. The rain had made his curls even more unruly and the collar of his shirt sat wet and heavy against his skin from the drops of water that still dripped down his neck from his hair.

“So…” You started, attempting to prompt him into conversation.

“So?” He fired back while turning to fully face you.

“Why’d you drag me all the way out here, huh? Trying to get us caught and sent home early?” You raised an eyebrow at him but kept your voice soft so only he could hear you.

Josh stared at the ground for a moment before finally finding the right words to say. “Would that be so bad?”

What he meant by that, you weren’t sure. The shrug of his shoulders made you think that he didn't mean much by the response and maybe didn’t even think much about his response, he just said whatever came to mind. But on the other hand, it ignited your own thoughts and sent your mind racing with possibilities. They were only halted when Josh quickly surveyed the various small groups of kids in their own little worlds around the room and grabbed onto your hand, still damp from the walk though the rain. He didn’t even seem phased, though, as he lifted your fingers to his plump lips to kiss each knuckle so softly that you almost didn’t even feel it happening.

Just as quickly as it happened, the moment came to an end when a loud crash and the sound of each kid immediately blaming someone else filled the room. As confused as ever, one thing was for sure - sinful thoughts about Josh and his lips were going to be running through your mind for the rest of the day.

Being assigned the role of locking up the chapel each night after nightly group prayer also had its perks, as you realized that it was the only moment that you could truly just sit alone in quiet and stillness. The thought of Josh’s lips on your body hadn’t left your mind all day and began making you almost feel dizzy at the thought that maybe he wanted you just as bad as you wanted him.

You knelt on both knees on the second step leading up to the altar where dozens of candles from the nightly service still flickered and cast a deep red hue against each wall of the small chapel. With your eyes closed and palms pressed together, your forehead leaned against your connected thumbs as you mumbled a string of words only comprehensible to yourself.

Your attempt at asking for forgiveness for the impure thoughts you couldn’t seem to stop from dancing through your mind whenever you saw Josh was cut short when you heard the wooden door to the chapel creak open and light footsteps echo behind you. Not wanting to be bothered, you refused to turn around to see who was interrupting you and kept your eyes closed, but your thoughts raced as the mystery intruder continued closer and closer. Just from the smell of palo santo that wafted through the air, you knew that you were about to be joined by the subject of your sinful desires.

Although you sensed his presence, a warm hand placed on your cheek still startled you, forcing your eyes open to find Josh crouching in front of you wearing loose grey sweatpants and a baggy white t-shirt. It was the most casual outfit you had seen him in, considering the fact that all counselors had a strict dress code consisting of a camp t-shirt with jeans or khakis. One thing remained the same though, a necklace of white glass beads hung around his neck, the chunky white cross at the end falling just above his navel. Your mind began to wander as you stared at the man in front of you, wondering how the cross on his necklace would feel dragging across your bare-

“You okay, angel?” His voice pulled you back to reality, a look of genuine concern painted across his face.

“Yeah- yeah I’m fine, just…” you shook your head slightly, trying to put together a coherent thought, “just really got into prayer for a little bit there.”

“Ah, I can understand that.” Josh nodded, running his thumb softly across your cheek a few times before pulling his hand away and moving to kneel next to you.

“Mind if I join you? I feel like I have a lot of repenting to do lately.” He peeked over at you as if to gauge her reaction, but was only met with your wide eyes staring at the floor in front of you.

“Angel?” He reached his right hand to settle on the middle of your left thigh, keeping his touch light to simply grab your attention again.

“Uh-yes, yeah of course. Everyone is welcome in His house, right?” You let out a nervous chuckle and finally looked him in the eye, swallowing thickly when you realized that he never pulled his hand away from your leg.

The two of you remained kneeling next to each other on the scratchy, carpeted step, maintaining eye contact until you cleared your throat and bowed your head forward. Eyes now closed again and hands placed on either side of your legs, you once more asked for forgiveness for what you wanted to do to the man on his knees next to you. Focusing on repeating the words in your head got harder and harder once you felt Josh’s fingers twitch slightly to lightly squeeze your thigh. With your eyes shut, you couldn’t see the smirk that rested on his lips as he mirrored your posture and also bowed his own head to pray.

Minutes passed, yet his hand still burned through the material of your jeans, both of you sitting silently. Josh couldn’t stand the stagnant nature of the room anymore, the stillness killing him as his own mind ran a million miles a minute. It seemed that sinful thoughts were flooding his mind faster than he could pray them away. Almost without conscious permission, the hand that rested on your leg began rubbing up and down your thigh, his fingertips dancing along the seam of your pants. He could hear your breathing become slightly more labored and could practically feel your heart racing through the palm of his hand.

“Is this…okay?” He questioned with wavering confidence.

You knew it wasn’t right and shouldn’t be happening here of all places, yet you couldn’t stop yourself from whispering out a quiet “yes.” There was no going back now, you knew that. The wetness between your legs both mocked and encouraged your desire.

Your eyes were barely open for a few seconds before they were squeezed shut again and a pair of the softest lips you’d ever felt met your own. You couldn’t say you expected things to exactly progress slowly once the first kiss finally broke the tension that had been building for the past two weeks, but the speed at which Josh’s hand crept up to cup your clothed core still pulled the breath from your lungs.

His hands found your hips and pulled you to straddle his lap as he rolled back to properly sit on the step that you once innocently knelt upon. Your hands ran over the shaved sides of his hair, fingers catching his curls and giving them a tug to tilt his head back and leave Josh looking up at you.

The flickering flames of the candles still burning strong on the altar just a few feet away caught in your eye as he stared at you, wide-eyed, as if it was the first time he was really seeing you. For a moment, you simply sat staring at one another, taking in the moment. However, a beat later your hips began tilting forward and back while you sat lower to apply more pressure to Josh’s lap.

He groaned and let his eyes slip closed as your breathing picked up and you found yourself grinding down on Josh’s hardened length faster and faster just to hear another beautiful whine or whimper pass through his lips. Josh snapped back into himself after a particularly rough tug on his hair, causing his head to raise once again and his lips meet yours in a feverish kiss. His tongue battled yours once you finally let him in, bringing both hands to the back of your head to allow him some leverage.

You didn’t want to give away just how much Josh affected you so quickly, but once one of his hands left your head to crack down against the thickest part of your ass experimentally, you couldn’t fight the moan that ripped through your chest. You could feel Josh smirk at your reaction, getting exactly what he wanted from you in that moment. To get him back for making you slip so fast, the next time he brought his tongue to meet yours, you wrapped your lips around it and sucked lightly while giving the tip a few small licks.

The moment was over before you could complete the action as Josh quickly grabbed your hips tightly again to pull your body off of his and leave you kneeling while he stood. The sound of Josh’s sweatpants being pulled down his legs and haphazardly thrown behind him accompanied a both satisfied and impressed hum from you.

His cock stood at attention in front of your face, so close that you could press a soft kiss to the leaking tip if you leaned forward ever so slightly. Your gaze was broken when Josh brought a hand down to wrap around his length, giving it a few pumps as every muscle in his torso seemed to contract with the sudden contact.

“Go on, angel, give it a kiss. Be sweet for me.” Josh broke the silence in a hushed tone, running his unoccupied hand over the side of your hair to push some of it behind your shoulder.

You took a moment to admire how beautiful he looked like this, standing before you with a needy confidence. Quickly, your own confidence was replaced with a wave of nervousness and the shame that always came with any intimate situation you had found yourself in prior to this.

“Hey,” Josh said gently, grabbing your attention, “we don’t have to do this. We can go grab some hot chocolate or something and pretend it never happened.”

You smiled slightly at the innocent nature of the suggestion in contrast to the image right in front of you.

“No,” you whispered out, “I want this. I want you, Josh. Fully.”

His eyes searched yours for any sign of discomfort and, when none could be found, he smirked once more and gave himself a few more pumps before he felt your hands find the back of his thighs as you slowly leaned forward.

You pressed light kisses around the base of his cock, taking a moment before gathering the courage to finally flatten your tongue against the underside of his length and trail it up to his tip. Right away you realized how dry your mouth felt, nerves getting the best of you. He noticed the hesitation and cupped your jaw, encouraging you to meet his eyes.

“Need some help?” The question seemed innocent enough but given the circumstances, you weren’t sure what answer he was looking for.

“Open.” He nudged your jaw with his thumb as you opened your mouth for him, maintaining eye contact through your bare lashes. He gave you a small, almost mocking, smile and stroked your cheek before bending forward slightly and spitting directly into your open mouth.

“Now try again, angel.” His hand found the back of your head and guided you to your previous position, intently watching as your lips met the tip of his cock once again. He let his head fall back and a soft moan escape from deep within his chest, finding it harder to keep quiet the closer he got to the back of your throat.

Keeping his hand tangled in your hair as a means of grounding himself, he bucked his hips forward involuntarily as you bobbed up and down his length, varying the pressure you applied with your lips. Your nails dug into the backs of his thighs, leaving a welcomed sting to his skin and crescent-shaped reminders of how heavenly it felt to have his cock in your mouth.

Josh could feel himself crawling toward his edge faster than he’d anticipated and knew he needed to stop you before he ruined the chance to do everything he wanted to do with you. Reluctantly, he brought both hands to cup your jaw and led your head back, where a flash of disappointment on your face almost brought another moan to escape his lips.

Without a word, his left hand glided across your face, tucking a few strands of hair behind your ear innocently and admiring how pretty you looked with your eyes glazed over and a rosy tint covering your cheeks. Your lips fell into an involuntary pout as Josh ran his thumb over your top lip, then your bottom, coaxing your jaw open once more and slipping the finger into your mouth. Closing your lips tightly, you let your tongue drag across his thumb painfully slowly, watching as his confident demeanor faltered slightly.

When he had enough, he hooked his thumb on your bottom row of teeth to force your jaw down and release him, pulling his thumb out of your mouth and dragging it across your swollen bottom lip, leaving a sheen of your own saliva across the burning skin of your cheek.

“I knew those lips could do more than just pray, baby.” His smirk was intensified by the flames of the red candles burning on the altar, making him look anything but holy.

As if you weren’t blushed enough, his words brought even more blood rushing to your cheeks. You looked down, hands in your lap, almost embarrassed by the praise of your performance thus far. You were brought back out of your own head when you felt the bottom of your shirt being lifted as Josh bent at the hips to grasp the material, his face now centimeters from yours.

He took advantage of the position and pressed a soft, almost innocent, kiss to your neck before tugging the shirt off further. As if somehow holding you back, you could feel the bashfulness you once felt about what you were doing leaving your body when your shirt was carelessly tossed to the side and your chest was left exposed.

The new surge of confidence made you look Josh directly in the eye, your right index finger dragging up and down the length of his bare leg.

“Are you gonna fuck me now, Josh?” You questioned, lulling your head to the side.

A noise that could only be described as a growl rumbled from deep within his chest and before you knew it, you were lifted to your feet by your armpits and led down the few steps to the first row of pews. A gasp escaped you when you was spun around and pushed towards the maroon velvet pad that covered the seat of the pew. You found yourself thankful that Josh decided to show some kind of mercy and not fuck you into the scratchy rug covering the floor.

Your knees met the soft cushion and you climbed up on all fours, only catching glimpses of Josh quickly pulling his own shirt over his head before making quick work of reaching around to unfasten your jeans and slide them down your legs, taking your panties with them.

With how fast he was moving to get into position, you expected to feel him pushing into you within a few seconds...but felt nothing.Worried that he may be regretting everything leading up to this moment, you turned her head around to see Josh on his knees behind you, shamelessly letting his eyes travel the length of your spine to your ass. He bit his lip and shook his head side to side slightly, not able to believe that this was all for him. You wanted him.

“Okay, okay.” He whispered to himself, shuffling closer to your body and running his hands up your back across her shoulder blades, your skin burning at his touch.

“You’re sure this is okay? Seriously, we can stop and just go-”

“Josh, I’m sure that I want this.” Your eyes met his and he almost fell off the pew at the sight of your glossy lips and rounded eyes staring back at him.

“Please…” you breathed out, shifting your hips side to side ever so slightly and rolling your head downward to face away from him.

He mumbled something to himself before dragging his hand down your back once more, grabbing at your hip when his fingers met the flesh and moving closer until you could feel the head of his cock just barely grazing your core. The breath left your lungs when he caught your sensitive clit that had been begging for friction and you had to remind yourself to let oxygen in again when you started getting lightheaded.

Josh’s knuckles grazed your bare ass as he dragged his cock between your folds, gathering enough of your slick to begin pushing into you little by little before pulling completely out again. He loved being a tease, at this point you fully knew that, but in this moment you just wanted all of him. A whine escaped your throat and you could hear him chuckle at your impatience.

“I know, baby, I’m getting there. You really think I’m not going to take care of my angel?”

His voice helped put you at ease, and the feeling of his length slowly filling you up again, but now going further to bottom out inside of you, left your muscles completely relaxed. He gave you a few seconds to stretch and adjust to the size of him before slowly rocking his hips, a sensation you’ve never quite experienced in its entirety radiating through your body.

Each set of thrusts into you felt like there was more speed and force behind them than the previous until Josh’s hips snapped forward with such strength that you lowered onto your forearms, leaving your ass up for him. Your whines, accompanied by the sound of skin slapping against skin, echoed against the wood-paneled room just as hymns had only an hour or two prior. Josh wasn’t completely silent, though. He hummed and whispered out an occasional “fuck” or “so good for me” every now and then when the angle seemed to affect him more than before.

Wanting to hear you louder, he suddenly reached down to throw one of his arms across your chest, pulling you up on your knees so that your back pressed against his damp chest. His pace remained merciless as he held you there, his pants leaving his hot breath to fan against your face. You didn’t even think about where Josh’s other hand was until you felt a surge of electricity run through you when his fingers began toying with your deprived clit, expertly circling around the bundle of nerves.

Unable to spare the energy to hold your head up any more, you let it fall back onto Josh’s left shoulder, your right arm coming up to wrap around his neck lazily and provide more support. Your moans got louder with an increase in speed and pressure from his fingers until you felt your orgasm barreling towards you faster than you could process. Josh picked up on it immediately as you shifted your hips to sloppily meet his.

“You want me to send you up into the clouds? Hm? Does my pretty angel want to meet god?” His words barely registered as he held your head close to his mouth to whisper directly into your ear.

A weak nod was all you could give him in response, surrendering complete control of your body to the man holding you up in his arms. As your orgasm washed over you, your legs shook and your body tried to fold forward to find comfort in the plush velvet you still kneeled on, but Josh held strong and pulled you impossibly closer. The necklace he wore every day pressed so deeply into your skin, you could feel the cross pendant burning your skin to create a defined outline on your back. His pace slowed as he felt your walls fluttering around him, coaxing his own end.

When you opened your eyes again, Josh leaned his chin against your shoulder and pressed a wet kiss to your neck, moving your body in his arm to lay your back against the maroon fabric on the pew.

“Want to see that pretty face when I cum.” He whispered out, kneeling between your legs and taking in your naked body that laid on display in front of him. Bringing a hand over to brush against your cheek, you lightly grabbed his hand and kissed his open palm reassuringly.

You hummed in response, almost letting a small smile spread across your face until Josh surprised you by slipping his cock back inside of you, bottoming out without hesitation. He returned to the merciless pace that he kept just a few moments ago and he fought to keep his eyes from fluttering closed, allowing his hands to explore the expanse of your torso.

Josh grabbed your legs to bend your knees and push them towards your chest, allowing him to reach deeper inside you than you thought possible. His sloppy thrusts held no rhythm as his now quickened breath was accompanied with a small whimper every time his hips snapped forward.

“Come on, baby…” You breathed out, not wanting to disturb the little piece of heaven you and Josh shared by raising your voice any louder. Your hand lifted from its place on his arm to his pink-tinted, burning cheek to softly push some of the hair that clung to his forehead back into place.

Your words combined with the sensation of you squeezing around his sensitive cock pushed him over the edge and he quickly pulled out of you just in time for his hot spurts of cum to paint your stomach. He helped you lower your feet to meet the cushion of the seat on either side of him, but remained kneeling between your legs, head bowed as he caught his breath. Allowing your eyes to slip closed, you focused on your own breathing and the feeling of Josh’s fingertips pressing varying amounts of pressure into the skin of your hips.

Josh leaned backwards to retrieve any article of clothing he could from the floor that was within arms reach, which happened to be his shirt, and wiped his release from your stomach. It was a moment so sweet and tender, you almost forgot what the two of you had just done together…in the camp chapel, no less.

“So, I’m thinking…” Josh started, tossing his shirt to the side once again and pulling you up by your arms to face him. “Maybe we can get cleaned up and then you can let me make you that hot chocolate I suggested earlier?”

And there he was. The Josh you knew and loved was back. Your Josh.

His sentiment caught you off guard and you couldn’t help but giggle.

“You haven’t stopped thinking about that damn hot cocoa since you mentioned it, have you?”

He raised both hands at the accusation, an offended look now overtaking his face.

“I may have gotten a little distracted once I got here, angel, but why do you think I came looking for you in the first place?”

“You’re ridiculous.” You cupped his face in your palms, admiring his still fucked-out features. “We better go before someone wonders why these candles are still lit and comes to put them out, though.”

He looked over at the altar, as if he forgot where he even was.

“I mean…maybe we should pray for what we just did…” Josh looked at you with such a serious expression, you could feel your stomach drop.

“Kidding, I’m kidding! Come on, angel, hot cocoa is calling your name!”

With a laugh, he untangled himself from you and began collecting your clothes off the floor, tossing them towards you while he double checked that there was no trace of you two being left behind.

Now dressed and about to put your hand in his outstretched palm, you remembered the candles, somehow still glowing red. You shuffled up to the altar, looking up at the giant wooden cross presiding over the empty pews of the chapel. Quickly blowing each candle out with a puff of air, you were left in complete darkness, following Josh’s voice as he beckoned you towards him.

Taglist: @ashole-x @earthlysorrows

#this won’t be for everyone and that’s okay!#this is my magnum opus pls enjoy #josh kiskza #josh kiszka smut #gvf #greta van fleet #josh kiszka fanfiction #josh kiszka x reader #josh kiszka imagine #josh kiszka fic #jake kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner

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jerzwriter · 1 year

Text

Homecoming

This is a "censored" version of a slightly NSFW commission done by the incomparable @/artbyainna on Instagram. The full version and accompanying fic can be found below the break.

Book: Open Heart (Post Series)

Pairing: Tobias Carrick x F!MC

Rating: Explicit (18+ Only)

Category: Loving Smut

Summary: New parents and normally insatiable Casey & Tobias have been given the "green light" by Casey's OB/GYN, and they are determined to make it a night to remember.

Words: 2.9k

A/N: This commission has me 😱 But it's definitely a little NSFW, so the full version is below. The uncensored artwork and fic both contain adult content and should not be viewed by anyone under 18. @aprilchallenge - You are My Home / @tobias-carrick-appreciation-week - Day 5 After Hours - Romance

Have I mentioned how much I freaking love Ainna? I have? OK. Carry on as I continue to drool over this commission. 😊

Casey was all smiles as she left Dr. Garcia’s office. Per usual, she had the nurses and staff in stitches as she regaled them with story upon story of how she and Tobias were adjusting to life as new parents.

“You need a sitcom!” the receptionist, Jean, hollered.

“I agree,” Nurse Becky chimed in. “None of us ever saw Dr. Carrick… well… the other Dr. Carrick, in the happily married, proud papa role, but he seems to have grown into it.”

“Ah, he was made for this,” Casey beamed. “It just had to happen at the right time.”

“With the right person,” Jean injected. “I don’t know what kind of fairy dust you’re mixing, lady, but you should market that stuff. Because trust… many tried and failed before you. You could be rich.”

“Well, I’m going to be selfish and keep that magic to myself,” Casey winked. “It could be dangerous, you know? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go… I’m anxious to get home to my husband.”

The doctor’s offices were in a separate wing from the main hospital, but Casey was still cautious as she made her way to the garage. Still, on maternity leave, she had no desire to run into anyone and get marred down in further conversation… not today.

She made it to her new car, a Genesis G90. A ridiculously overpriced “push present” Tobias gifted her after Samantha’s birth.

“Hey, it’s top-rated for safety, and that’s what my two girls will be driving in.”

If there was one thing he knew more than how much she disdained extravagant gifts, it was the loopholes around them that would prohibit her from turning them away. But today, she was the one with a present he couldn’t resist if he tried.

“Hello,” he answered, and her face brightened.

“Hello, gorgeous! How are you and my precious little girl?”

“We are doing great!” He gushed. “We had naptime and bathtime, but our daughter is not much of a conversationalist. She didn’t have a word to say when I told her all about how we met. She seemed bored. Rude… if you ask me.”

Casey rolled her eyes. “I see that dad joke gene is already active in you.”

“I was born to tell dad jokes, babe,” he laughed. “How’d your visit go?”

“It went great… better than great!”

“Yeah, how so?”

“I got the green light.”

“Hun, are you driving? Why don’t we talk when you get home?”

“No!” she laughed. “You’re on Bluetooth, dear. I’m fine. The green light I’m referring to has nothing to do with traffic.”

“All right, you’ve lost me… if the green light is not about…. OH!” realization struck. “You mean that green light.”

“YES!!!!” Casey cheered. “T, was your Mom serious when she said she’d take Sammy off our hands for a night so we could… rest?”

“Heh,” he chuckled deeply. “She sure was. Unfortunately, there won’t be much rest taking place.”

“Well, we don’t have to tell her that,” Casey laughed. “Can you make it happen? Six-freaking weeks, we’ve waited long enough! When we plunge back into that refreshing pool, I don’t want any distractions from spectators on their lounge chairs or high chairs.”

“Interesting analogy. When do we want to do this?”

“Tonight? After dinner?”

“Anxious, are we,” he grinned.

“Oh, and you’re not?”

“Please, I’m ready to bundle this little one up now and leave her on grandma’s front steps.”

“Tobias!” she giggled.

“What? My Mom would be good to her?”

“Yes… for the night… now, set it up. I’ll be home in fifteen minutes.”

“I’m on it! Let the foreplay begin.”

~~~~~

Casey decided to stay home when Tobias brought Sammy to Vivian’s. Saying goodbye to her little one for her first overnight visit with Grandma proved more challenging than anticipated. Plus, she wanted to be “ready” when her loving husband returned. She rushed to their bedroom and dug through her long abandoned lingerie drawer, dismayed to find almost nothing fit anymore. Discouraged, she grumbled.

“I should have known this!”

Finally, an older pair of stretchy black lace panties with a matching, equally stretchy, bra fit. It would have to do.

“At least these still fit,” she sighed as she slipped on a pair of black, patent leather pumps. She let her long lochs down and touseled her hair, applying a bit of lipgloss for the final touch. Giving herself the once over in the mirror, she smiled… sure, her body may have changed, but she still had it going on… and Tobias reminded her of that every chance he had.

Her eyes widened when she heard the rumbling of keys in the front door a little sooner than expected.

“Shit!” She whispered, rushing to light the candles she had placed on the room's perimeter. Then, she hopped onto their bed and struck a seductively sweet pose. She took a deep breath as her heart raced with anticipation.

The look on Tobias’s face when he opened the door was priceless. As was the delightful, almost nervous chuckle that followed. He tossed his phone on a table next to the bedroom door, and effortlessly removed his shirt, biting his lower lip as he glided in her direction. He was on her in an instant. His lips ravaging hers as his tongue swept into her mouth, proving that the lipgloss had been a wasted effort in just seconds. His hands slid over the length of her body. He eagerly caressed every curve as if he were exploring them for the first time, yet, with a familiarity and ease that could only be shared with the person his heart had waited its whole life for.

His large hand slid over her breast, deftly pushing the soft lace aside. He cupped it tenderly as his thumb encircled her pert nipple. A languid groan slipped from her mouth into his, and she felt him smile against her.

“I missed those beautiful little noises, baby girl.”

“Good,” she smiled. “Because there are many more where that came from.”

Tobias pulled back with a gentle smile, his eyes slowly trailing over her body.

“You are so freaking beautiful,” he sighed, sucking in a breath as he soaked her in once more.

Casey’s cheeks reddened, and she demurred just a little.

“I wanted to wear something nicer than this old set,” she apologized. “But nothing fits me anymore.”

His eyes landed on hers, an incredulous look on his face. “Baby, you don’t need any of this. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

Before she could respond, his lips were on hers again as his hands moved up her torso, ripping the delicate lace in two and tossing its remains to the floor.

“Tobias!” Casey shouted.

“What? You said it’s old… I’ll replace it. But I have got to have you.”

His fingers ran through her hair as he planted tender kisses on her neck… her chest, telling her how beautiful she was and how much he loved her with each gentle touch. Casey’s eyes shut, reveling in his adoration, but then she squirmed, abruptly pushing him away.

“What,” he asked, startled. “Are you OK? Do you want to… to wait?”

“No! Oh, God, no!” she insisted.

“OK,” he smiled crookedly, “thank God. But what’s wrong? Why’d you pull away.”

Casey playfully slithered against him, relishing the way he hissed when her tongue traced the curve of his ear, finishing with her teeth roughly tugging at his earlobe.

“We had an amazing sex life for a pregnant couple,” she whispered, “I mean… the best of anyone we know.”

“We did… we are freaking good,” he agreed.

“But…”

“But?” he pushed back, brows raised.

“But once we found out I was pregnant, sex was usually… sweet… very loving and sweet. Don’t misunderstand. I loved it… I love that….”

“But…” he continued.

Casey leaned forward, staring lustfully into his eyes.

“But I don’t want sweet tonight,” she said with a graveled voice that sent a shiver down his spine.

She knew the salacious smirk that came to his face well. “And what do you have in mind?” he leered.

She reached over to the end table and opened up a drawer, tossing a red satin ribbon that hadn’t received much attention lately his way.

“I was thinking about this,” she purred.

A slow, measured chuckle escaped him, nodding enthusiastically as his fingers stroked the smooth strip of fabric.

“OK. OK,” he grinned. “I love the way you think.” He picked up the ribbon and snapped it between his hands. “Whatever you want, gorgeous.”

“Welll…” she droned as Tobias began binding her wrists. “It’s just that usually… you know… when you tie up my wrists like this? It’s usually about whatever you want.”

She thought he may have growled.

“I was so fucking lucky to find you,” he enthused as he rapidly tied the ribbon into a tight bow.

“You sure were,” she giggled. “But there is one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not sure how I feel about calling you Daddy now that you are… you know… a Daddy?”

Laughing playfully, he answered her with a kiss. “You could always go with sir… or spice it up a little, call me Papi? Whatever you like.”

“Tobias,” she teased, “it’s supposed to be what you like!”

His eyes locked on hers… darkened… all signs of playfulness gone.

“What I’d like is you… up against that wall… right now.”

Casey bit her lower lip with a grin.

“Yes, sir…” she mewled, eagerly complying with his order. She placed her bare back against the wall, cold against her burning flesh, she allowed the delicious chill to travel throughout her body.

This wasn’t their first rodeo, so she knew just what to do… arms over her head, one leg gently crossed over the other. Then with a deep breath, she waited… silently, motionless… not another move until he instructed her what to do.

Tobias was desperate to be inside her, but he took his time. Watching her, her hair covering her breast, allowing just a peek at her swollen pink nipples. He could barely breathe. His wife, so beautiful, trusting… waiting so prettily for his command, his touch. He walked toward her, painstakingly slow, stalking her the way an animal stalks its prey… and she was his prey. He wanted to devour her… in the most salacious way.

He placed his arm over her head, eagerly grasping her bound hand in his. His steely blue eyes stared into hers with an intensity that made her weak. She could feel his breath wafting over her skin. And while her mouth went dry, she felt moisture pooling between her legs. Struggling to remain still, desperate for his touch… it finally arrived in the form of a finger, trailing down her face. She let out the softest whimper as his thumb ran over her full lips, earning her a stern look, but he let it slip. He couldn’t help it; he was enraptured.

“You are so beautiful,” he breathed, stroking her chin. “You are so beautiful, and you’re mine.”

His mouth was on her chest. Its warmth soothed her as he sucked and nibbled her hardened peak like a man starved. His tongue teased her nipple, lodged between his teeth, as his fingers furiously rolled and tugged the other side. He smiled when her body began to quiver. Yet, she compliantly held her breath to stop herself from making the noises her body was desperate to release.

“Such a good girl,” he praised, never removing his teeth nipple. She pressed her back against the wall, struggling to find something to help her through.

His hands firmly grasped her hips, and he shifted back.

“But good girls, don’t try to get away from me like that. What are you doing, baby?” he asked as his fingers began stroking her soaked folds. “I’ve only started to have fun with you. You can’t give up this soon… try to relax.”

He dropped to his knees, uncrossing her leg and placing her thigh over his shoulder. She bit her lips to muffle a scream as he buried his face between her legs. He feverishly rubbed, licked, bit… his firm tongue entering her body, then slowly dragged up to her swollen clit as she grinded her hips against his face. He came up for air with a smile but refused to stop servicing her as he did. He scraped the stubble on his chin against her delicate skin, over and over again, until she couldn’t fight it anymore. A wonton shriek filled the air, reverberating off the walls as her body shuddered around him.

With his mouth still latched on to her, he smacked her ass firmly to get her attention.

“Did I say you could make noise yet?”

“No… I… I’m sorry,” she gasped.

His teeth grazed her swollen clit, then tugged it for effect.

“I’m sorry.. who?”

“I’m… I’m…” she panted. “I’m sorry, Sir.”

Tobias snickered despite himself, gently kissing her inner thighs as she gyrated around him.

“You really can’t bring yourself to say, Daddy, anymore. Can you, baby girl?”

“Tobias…” she moaned with a giggle, “you’re breaking role!”

“I am,” he agreed. Jumping to his feet, he untied her wrists with one quick tug. “Because I have to have you.”

Lifting her by her thighs, she wrapped her legs around his back, holding him close as she fell on the bed with him atop her. His mouth ferociously on to whatever it touched… her face, neck, chest. He lifted himself off to push his pants to the floor. Casey groaned when his erection sprung out, smacking her lower abdomen, then quickly rubbing over her clit before roughly plunging inside her. Their mutual moans filled the air as hot-white pleasure overtook them. There was no time, space, nothing except them and the intense pleasure they brought each other.

“Oh... God…I…” Casey spat out in choked breaths.

Tobias moved hard and fast, his rock-hard cock moving with ease in and out of her slick, tight walls… all too eager to welcome him home.

“Oh.. you feel good,” he gasped in her ear. “You feel so fucking good! How am I not always inside of you?”

“I wouldn’t complain,” she whispered as he chuckled.

“I missed you,” he grunted… as his pace doubled. Beads of sweat dropped off him, splashing onto Casey below as his movements became more erratic. Her cries grew louder with each punishing thrust.

“Oh, God, I should stop….’

“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!” She hollered, her eyes wide. Gripping his hips, she pushed up into him.

“I didn’t want to come this quick, but.. I…I….”

“The quicker we come,” she panted. “The quicker we get to round two? Right?”

“Yeah,” Tobias nodded. “I love the way you think.”

Permission granted, he kept fucking her so hard and so fast that they found themselves pushed against the headboard.

“Oh, God,” he gasped. “Oh, God… Casey… are you….”

She didn’t need to answer as she clenched around him so tightly he fought to stay inside her.

“TOBIAS!!!” She screamed, and he smiled because he knew the neighbors had to hear that.

“That’s my girl,” hissed through clenched teeth, “That’s my girl coming for me.”

He pushed in one, two more times, then a deep, guttural groan escaped him as he spilled deep inside her.

His quivering body collapsed atop her. Both felt as if every nerve was exposed, every touch sending shocks throughout them, but they weren’t about to stop. Limbs entwined, they desperately clung to each other, kissing, licking, his fingers tangled in her hair.

Eventually, he collapsed at her side, and her head lay atop his chest, listening to the sound of his beating heart.

“Holy fuck,” he gasped.

“Holy fuck is right,” Casey beamed.

He turned to her with a salacious smile. “We’ve still got it, baby!”

“We so still have it,” she happily agreed.

“I love you,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I love you so much. Thank you… thank you for being at the deli that day.”

“Thank you for being there,” she giggled. “Oh, and then thanks for saving me.”

“Oh, baby girl,” he said, taking her face in his hands. “If anyone needed saving, it was me. And you did it in the best possible way. You are my world, Casey Carrick.”

“And you’re mine. I love you.”

Tobias pulled her to him, their lips meeting in a gentle, tender kiss.

“So,” he winked as he pulled away. “Are you ready for round two?”

“Round two?” she giggled. “Maybe after a quick nap.”

“Oh, thank God!” he sighed. “You know, I’m an old man.”

“Yeah, but you’re my old man.”

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Tobias Only: @icecoffee90 @kyra75

#tobias carrick #tobias carrick x mc #choices fanfic #open heart fanfic #open heart choices #open heart fanart #tobias x casey

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sarcastic-kaz · 6 months

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just learnt today- some people cant stand going to the bathroom without their phones??? like thats absurd- you go there to do your fucking business, not scroll through insta while half naked.

or also eating, like you havent willingly sat down with your family or friends without devices and just talked in the past 6 months??? hello?? a 12 year old (my siblings) can do that shit and grown adults cant???

or hairdressers. i was given a smock thing with arm holes so that people can use their phones- dont you want to see how the person is cutting your hair and how they really are talented in their chosen field???

and this is especially present in gen alpha apparently- the generation millennials are raising. the ipad kid generation.

though i am definitely agreeing that new research/better evaluation is a big reason there are so many neurodivergent people now, i also now am starting to think that lower attention span in kids is because of devices, who were just handed them and told to do whatever. constant scrolling makes it easy to click away from things that dont interest you, so that can then transfer into schoolwork.

my friend also has a horror story like this- she was walking to a class when a 4 grader (approx 9-10 yrs old) stopped her and started talking to her about pornhub. EXCUSE ME??? WHO LET THIS KID SEE THAT SHIT???

we're all getting addicted to our phones, but honestly, at least i can sit through a 20 minute bus ride to school without using/even just using my phone, and not constantly thinking about using it.

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twilightmalachite · 6 months

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PORTRAIT - Ah, still delay—thou art so ■■■ 6

Author: Akira

Characters: Akiomi, Izumi

Translator: Mika Enstars

"Yuu-kun is all I need."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: Reception Room

Present day. The interview with Kunugi Akiomi continues…

Akiomi: —Well, it was like that.

I won’t say anything bad that’d cause offense, but… Each of the kids had their own issues, so they gave me quite a hard time.

To be honest, it was more than I could handle as a middle school student at the time.

👤: [—I can imagine. The child, C-kun, and his parents seem particularly troublesome.]

Akiomi: Well, I am exaggerating things to a degree, so don’t take everything at face value.

And C-kun and his parents seem to have both calmed down quite a bit since then, too.

I’d like to clarify that I do understand the parent's feelings a little as well.

He had been a "good kid" who had been raised and cherished with great care and would listen to everything his parents would tell him to do—

Their cute son had been changing more and more without them even knowing. And it was due to the influence of B-kun, of whom C-kun was very close to.

This seems to have caused C-kun’s parents quite a lot of anxiety, as they had a strong attachment to their child.

And so, it appears their excessive affection, and perhaps jealousy as well, had manifested as a strong over-involvement over their son’s life.

However, as an adult, you should be able to at least control your emotions.

At the very least, be more respectable and put your son’s feelings before your own—I still think that.

Both over-involvement and over-protection are violence too when brought that far.

👤: [……]

Akiomi: Oops. Excuse me. What had meant to be a clarification has turned into badmouthing. Shall I change the subject?

To help us arrive at the principal department store story, let me turn the clock forward a bit.

You might also be interested as to why such an “incident” occurred… It was some time after C-kun had transferred to our agency.

Location: Modeling Office

Izumi: Hey, Kunugi.

Akiomi: Call me “Kunugi-senpai”. I’ve been in the industry longer than you, and I’m older than you, you know.

Izumi: Feeder Cricket-senpai.[1]

Akiomi: What aspect of me did you get “crickets” from?! Isn’t that reaching too much to be a play on my name?

Izumi: Shut up. You’re sooo~ annoying.

Akiomi: Please stop skipping to calling me annoying or creepy. Gosh, young people these days…

Akiomi: (…Well, he’s talking to me more normally compared to when he had first transferred to the agency, so I’m glad about that.)

(Hehe, Although I’m mild-mannered, I’d be losing my temper if I were being given that attitude from a grown adult. But since he’s such a cute child I can’t be angry.)

Izumi: …Why are you grinning? You’re too creepy.

Akiomi: Are you unable to speak without making every person you talk to uncomfortable at every turn? If you don’t learn to be more considerate, nobody will want to be your friend, you know.

Izumi: Yuu-kun is all I need.

Right, I need your help so I can be with Yuu-kun.

Akiomi: ? What do you mean? Yuu-kun is Yuuki-kun, right? He seems to have been becoming increasingly popular as of late…

Izumi: Of course, it’s Yuu-kun after all.

Anyways… …Mm.

Akiomi: Mm?

Izumi: Mm…!

Akiomi: I don’t understand what you mean by “mm”. Umm, do you mean the poster?

Whoah, please don’t shove me!

Izumi: Yuu-kun, I think’s gonna be in… this movie, or something?

Akiomi: Really… He’s gonna try his hand at acting, huh?

Must be hard to have so much on his plate even though he’s so little.

Will he be okay, though? He seemed like such a shy boy to me, will he be able to act in front of others?

Izumi: I’ll be in this movie, too.

Akiomi: Huh, really? I didn’t hear anything about that, but, congratulations…?

Hehe, I’m really glad you’re able to co-star with your friend Yuuki-kun.

Izumi: …Yuuki-kun would be useless without me. So, umm, I have to be in the movie too.

So, Kunugi…-senpai, please show me what I gotta do to make that happen.

Akiomi: …?

[ ☆ ]

← prev | story directory | next →

1. “Cricket” in Japanese is コオロギ (koorogi).

#portrait #akiomi kunugi #izumi sena #scout #translation

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sizzlingpatrolfox · 1 year

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Jimin getting more hate is partly because of ot7s that are either secret jm-antis or secret tkrs or are too polite to call them out.even in tumblr a lot of bloggers don't call out jm antis but if they receive Tae-anti asks or even just constructive criticisms, they would protect and defend Tae with all their heart as if he's always crucified on a daily basis

Yeah, that thing you said at the end happens all the time. I think it has to do with fans babying some members.

One thing I see very often is how nobody can say anything about Jimin (or his relationships) because suddenly you're infantilizing him, or victimizing him, people say you're a little whore waiting for him to fuck you and how he'll never choose you and you'll never push his kids out of your vagina so stop making decisions for him.

What.

Maybe all I said was "jikook's relationship looks very unbalanced from the outside and Jimin seems way more into JK than the other way around".

And somehow that means that I want to control Jimin's life because secretly I want to be with him.

Jimin is held accountable for what he says and what he does. People acknowledge him as an adult man that can make his own decisions, so anything good or bad that happens to him, it's his choice and he should deal with the consequences. Yes, fans see that he's cute but ultimately they know, and they perceive him to be exactly as what he is - a full grown, extremely smart adult who is responsible for himself.

On the other hand, everyone's out to protect Taehyung. Jikookers would tell other jikookers, and pjms too all about how Jimin is a grown man but I never see them say the same about Jungkook or Taehyung. Just think about it.

If Jimin was in Taehyung's position, if photos of Jimin and a woman were leaked in the way taennie photos were, best believe everyone would be convinced that they're dating. People thought he was actually hooking up with the girls in Paris and that was nothing compared to Jennie and Taehyung. Army would be 100% convinced that it's true if instead of Taehyung, it would've been Jimin the one with the dating rumour. Granted, majority of armys are taekookers, so that also plays a big role. But when it's Taehyung the one with a dating rumour, people talk about a defamation campaign and it's all a ploy to something something. There were thousands of interactions on tweets and posts of every type about how it was all marketing, edited photos, and yg and blackpink, everything was a conspiracy. It would've been easier to acknowledge and accept that Taehyung is a grown man, a man with thinking capacity that was dating a woman. But no, "full grown adult capable of making his own choices" and "Taehyung" are never used in the same sentence. Tata mic having sex with a woman? Oh no disgusting yuck vomit ew.

That's the image of himself Taehyung has pushed for a long while. It works. That aloofness self that he presents will always make someone feel protective over him.

Jungkook is somewhere in between. He's mostly seen as innocent and not accountable for his own actions and choices. In shippers spaces, which is the huge majority of Jungkook's fanbase given that he's, you know, boyfriend of all 6 members, and also has a lot of y/n fans, Jungkook is always collateral damage of someone else's bad attitude. In a general sense, it's always Jimin or Taehyung with their evil plans and Jungkook is the poor clueless kid who's too sentimental and got caught in someone else's wicked games. Again with the aloofness. People acknowledge that he makes choices too only when the choices are convenient for them and they forget the ones that they have no use for.

It's easier to hate on Jimin because people know he's making his own moves. It's almost impossible to hate a member that you think is a victim and a puppet and his choices aren't his own, a member fans are constantly making excuses for. So I understand that it comes more naturally for even jikookers to jump up and try and educate people about not hating on Taehyung and not let it become bigger because poor taetae doesn't deserve that, right? He's a social butterfly, he didn't mean to say this, he didn't mean to do that, he has a resting bitch face; meanwhile with Jimin it's been so normalized and if you think Jimin should be treated better or acknowledged in a healthier, more sincere way, you're victimizing him and want to control his life oh and you hate jikook so that must mean you want all gays to die.

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casspurrjoybell-17 · 1 year

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HEART'S FATE - CHAPTER 6

*Warning: Adult Content*

‘The amulet must be broken.’

That is the only explanation that presents itself to Skylar West’s mind as he cuts through the clear waves, cold water kissing his skin.

He’s supposed to find a pure heart, not a mortally wounded one.

His disappointment leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

He hadn't realized how high his hopes had climbed in so short a time and the pain of their dashing catches him by surprise.

Their first meeting had left him nonplussed but after so much time he'd been willing and eager to believe the slightest sign and to pursue it with a passion.

He'd even gone so far as to listen in on his children's conversations, learning their plans for the lake today.

He hadn't lied, he come here often to swim, though more often by cover of night than by day.

Under darkness, he’s free to take his true form, one of them, as his mother would sternly remind him.

Skylar is half human, fins or not.

Reminded of her and of his brothers and sisters he so long to see, he dives deep and let his mind go still.

The lake is lovely, its waters cleansing and calm but his heart aches for the wild waves and deep blue depths of the sea.

From which he is banished.

‘Bring me a pure heart,’ his mother had said, ‘And the Crown is yours.’

The amulet is supposed to help him find such a thing, though it hasn't been much help so far.

Martin Hunter is the first for whom it's burned so hot, it burned hotter still at their second meeting than at their first but by the invisible glow of its fire, he'd seen something else, as well.

There is a shadow over him or within him, perhaps, a darkness that devours, born of a bitter hurt.

It will kill him before long, if no cure is found.

Ergo, Martin cannot be the one he seeks.

Perhaps the enchantments his mother placed upon the amulet are wearing thin, after so long, perhaps he must, at long last, accept his fate and his defeat.

Drawn to the depths by a sinking despair, he settles on the gravelly lakebed, legs crossed and lets his hair float about him free.

He shuts his eyes, imagining what his mother would think if she could see him now ‘Prince of the Sea’ teaching little children how to paint.

It's not a bad life really, a kinder part of his mind points out.

He enjoys it, even.

Yes and were it for himself alone, he might be happy enough to live it out on land.

But for his brothers and sisters, he has no choice but to continue his search elsewhere, perhaps.

Skylar had often wondered if his mother had not made some mistake in her magic.

At first, the task given to him had seemed simple enough, surely 'pure hearts' could not be so rare among humankind.

And indeed, he had encountered many that made the amulet glow but never with very great warmth.

His mother said that when he found the one, he would know.

So far, that knowledge has eluded him and not for lack of trying.

Through trial and error, he'd discovered that the best place to encounter many people over a long enough time to get to know them, with a constantly refreshing population, was at a school.

Becoming a teacher solved several difficulties, in fact, it gave him a livelihood, a job that is always in demand and an excuse to move often.

Advances in technology had made keeping his 'credentials' in order a little more difficult but it was still easy enough.

Fortunately, his ‘Voice’ worked nearly as well over the phone as face to face and a few words were usually enough to get what he wanted.

Still, he'd grown weary, of late, with this world and its turmoil and trials and with the self-destructive short-sightedness of humanity.

It no longer amused him as it once had, now it more often saddened him and made him sorrow for the children whom he taught, whose futures their parents foundered like a poorly sailed ship.

Caught in the net of such thoughts, he sighs, bubbles escaping his lips like a little school of fish and he uncurls himself as he follows them towards the surface.

He nearly reaches the bright ring of sunlight overhead, when a pulse goes through the water, hitting him like a seismic shock.

The amulet flares, almost sizzling with sudden heat and with a gasp he accidentally breathe water.

His body adjusts even as his mind scrambles for a cause.

Surfacing, he spits, clearing his lungs and scans the lake.

All is calm.

The waves lap about him, gentle beneath a quiet sky and sunlight bathes a peaceful shore.

He turns in a slow circle, looking back the way he had come but sees nothing that would explain the strange pulse.

Then a small figure runs out along the deserted dock and leans over the edge, reaching for something in the water.

Shrill, distant shouts reach his ears as a second figure joins her and both attempt to lift something from the waves.

Another pulse goes through him but this one is purely one of sudden understanding, as the distant shouts translate to a word.

"Daddy."

"Poseidon's piss," Skylar mutters.

"Is the fool trying to drown himself?"

Not waiting for the answer to magically come to him, he strikes off at top speed.

He would be faster with fins, faster with scales than skin but he doesn't dare to change now.

Human speed or only slightly more, will have to do.

He reaches the dock in under a minute, grateful his submerged meanderings had brought him closer already and spots Martin’s two older children keeping their father afloat with a grip on his shirt.

He's face up, fortunately but appears unconscious.

Swimming alongside, Skylar slips one arm beneath his shoulders and pulls Martin against his chest.

"It's alright. I've got him now," he says, as the children reluctantly release their hold.

"Let me get him ashore."

They obey with fearful faces and keep close along the dock until he lifts their father from the waves, carrying him the last few strides and lay him on the gravelly shore.

‘Please be alive,’ Skylar begs silently, as he tears open the front of Martin’s shirt to loosen it and lift his head a little.

The amulet burns painfully hot against his breast as, even in unconsciousness, his unusual, unguarded beauty strikes me afresh.

Perhaps the amulet is broken, perhaps it's not.

Either way, he doesn't want to lose the chance to find out and spend the rest of his day consoling the bereaved and filling out forms.

Thankfully, before he even begun to administer first aid, Martin seizes and coughs and Skylar help him sit up as he comes around.

His children fall upon him, the two older ones asking quick questions as the little ones cling to his arms and cry with relief and Skylar gives him room to recover as he takes stock.

There's something about him, certainly. Something different, something strange, something lovely, even.

Most importantly, the amulet has never reacted so strongly to anyone before and as he observes Martin reassure his children and wipe water from his face with a shaking hand, a strange sensation settles on his heart.

Just as his mother said he would, he knew.

It doesn't make him happy, Martin Hunter isn't at all what he had expected to find and part of him still clings to doubt.

He needs a greater certainty and he'll need to get closer to gain it.

For better or worse, Martin Hunter has given Skylar West the perfect opportunity right now.

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favoniuscodex · 3 years

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soft deception. [diluc x reader]

pairing: diluc x f!reader prompt: you love your boyfriend, you really do. he’s just so, so trusting in you that you can’t help but to trick him every now and then. (alternatively: you give diluc the world’s ugliest onesie as a christmas present and now that it’s all over, you want to go back in time and punch yourself in the face for unleashing this curse within your household.) word count: ~2.5k warnings/genres: humor, fluff, sfw but like... adult jokes at some points a/n: purely self indulgent, nobody requested this, tried out a bit of a different writing style. i wrote this to try to cheer myself up, so hopefully it makes you all happy! no beta reader though (but i never have one anyways)

You had a tendency to think of yourself as the funniest person in Teyvat at times.

Especially when you had Mondstadt’s most gullible eligible bachelor wrapped around your finger, desiring to cater to your every whim. Sure, the two of you were like two young teenagers in love despite being much older, to the point where it was a mental workout to restrain yourself from leaving purple and blue marks all along his neck, desiring to hear praises stutter on his lips as you show the man the love he has lacked over the years. It didn’t help that he also had those cherry-colored eyes that pierced into you, the only eyes to ever truly see you for you. In your humble opinion, the best part about Diluc Ragnvindr is neither his wisdom nor his love, but his ass.

Unsure if Barbatos is actually able to listen into your thoughts or not due to Venti’s uncanny capability to make jokes about thoughts you know you have never uttered aloud whenever Diluc turns his back to the two of you at the bar, you quickly rectify your thoughts and mumble an apology to the potentially omniscient alcoholic bard.

The best part about Diluc Ragnvindr lies within his ass... umptions. His assumptions, specifically about the inherent truthfulness he believed to be in your statements. Your boyfriend, as much as you loved him, is an extremely gullible man. Such a fact is even written on the ceilings of every room, but it never hurts to double-check. If you are Teyvat’s jester, then Diluc is Teyvat’s fool, but he is a fool in love.

The calculated, reserved man only lets himself be duped by you. No matter how many times you trick him, he’ll listen to your exaggerated claims and boisterous words with widened eyes, immediately trusting your words as he trusts you wholeheartedly.

You thrive in such an environment, manipulating Diluc to your liking. Not in a bad way of course, as the thought of hurting even a single hair on his head makes your stomach churn and nausea arise. Rather, you find amusement in tricking him with subtle sleights of the hand and little white lies, before revealing your cards at the end of every show and reveling in his flustered nature. You long not to hurt Diluc, but you relish in the way his milky skin turns to a rosy pink upon realizing your deception.

In simpler terms, you love to prank your red-haired, stoic boyfriend in order to see the shy smile and bashful eyes that accompany his revelations of your actions.

Being the funniest, sexiest woman in Teyvat with the most attractive, most trusting boyfriend in all of Mondstadt leads to raucous laughter on your behalf and flushed cheeks on your boyfriend’s behalf during many nights within your shared home. With Diluc’s confidence in you, you are unstoppable.

Such arrogance had a tendency to bite you in the ass.

Especially now. Right now. You’ve never regretted duping Diluc more than you do at this moment. For Christmas, you had given him two presents, his actual present and one designed to be a joke. Diluc, bless his heart, had not interpreted such a present to be no more than a simple gag and had politely smiled at you as he held the gift up, inspecting it with poorly disguised distaste in his eyes. The gift in question was a pajama onesie you had found within the clearance section of some decaying Mondstadt boutique, but these weren’t just any pajamas. It was the ugliest piece of clothing you had ever seen.

The offending onesie glints in the light of the fireplace that illuminates Diluc’s face and your poor excuse at a poker face as he analyzes his gift. It is decorated with a variety of misshapen owls, feathers formed by multicolored, poorly sewn sequins. Each owl has two octagonal, almost glowing, gaudy amber-colored rhinestones for eyes, yet each rhinestone is a slightly different shade from the others, as if they had been left out in the sun, forgotten about. A santa hat is perched on the heads of each owl and a candy cane is loosely held in at least one wing of each owl. The onesie even has built-in feet, with owl-shaped grips on the bottom that barely cling on for life in a failed attempt to provide the user traction. Diluc quickly attaches to such a concept and tries to use it as an out.

“It’s… lovely,” He finally manages, doing his best to keep his voice even as he smiles at you. You can see the pain in his eyes. “But I do not believe the feet will fit me.”

You widen your eyes in sadness and bat your eyelashes at him innocently, as if such a sentiment truly wounded you. “Can you hire a tailor to fix them? I spent a lot of time picking out this gift and I think it’s perfect.”

Diluc’s smile breaks and horror creeps into his eyes upon realizing there’s no way out of the predicament he’s currently in. As he breaks his intense ogling of the onesie to look at you, his faux smile is plastered once again on his face. It doesn’t reach his eyes and it wavers, but you simply give him a cheery grin in response.

“Of course, dear,” Diluc responds, albeit a bit despondently. Your heart twists a bit and- no, no. Guilt is not allowed in the heart of a true comedian. “Anything for you.” His eyes are empty as his smile slowly drops into a thin line. Your expression of glee is a sharp contrast.

“Yay!” You giggle and clap your hands together once as you pop up from your seated position. Diluc’s woeful expression alleviates upon seeing your seemingly genuine reaction and he manages a small smile once more, this one a bit more genuine. “C’mon! Let’s try it on!”

After wearing it the rest of Christmas night, Diluc not only wears it past the reasonable date to keep wearing Christmas merchandise after Christmas is over, but he wears it multiple times per week. You know he’s only doing it to see your fit of giggles every time he does so and that Diluc wants nothing more than to see you happy, but you’re beginning to hate yourself for such a gift.

The inklings of self-hatred explode into full self-loathing when Diluc reveals he found an identical onesie while shopping and that he purchased it in order to be able to wear around the house more often. You have to hold yourself back from narrowing your eyes at him as he holds up the offending, nearly identical onesie, albeit in a different color. Unlike you, Diluc isn’t a bully. There’s absolutely no way he’s joking right now. Maybe. You aren’t sure.

The end of January rolls around and you’re ready to wrestle Diluc for his Pyro vision and burn these damn onesies yourself. Every time Diluc joins you in bed, ready to clock in for the night, he’s wearing the archonsforsaken Christmas outfit despite Valentine’s Day rapidly approaching. If you wear a cute outfit and lie on the bed, hoping for Diluc’s attention? You’ll certainly get it, but there’s more than just his eyes watching you. There are the artificial eyes of the owls watching the two of you, their beady little rhinestones judging you for your premarital sins. Whenever you reach out to stroke his arm or thigh reassuringly, you’re met with the feeling of cheap flannel and pilled fabrics.

Unfortunately for Diluc, Kaeya is your hero in this situation as he arrives to Dawn Winery unannounced and interrupts you and Diluc reading in bed together. The cavalry captain hadn’t even bothered to knock, swinging the door open with zero fear of what he might have found inside. But, upon seeing the two of you, Kaeya freezes.

“What the hell is that?” Kaeya nearly screeches in horror, pointing at Diluc.

“I’m sure you know what Diluc looks like, Kaeya,” You respond in an annoyed tone. You loved Adelinde, but why had she let Kaeya up to your and Diluc’s chambers without any warning is beyond your comprehension. “You only have one eyepatch, not two.”

Diluc does a poor job at stifling a chuckle next to you, his book now resting on the nightstand next to him due to the intrusion. He wordlessly sneaks an arm around your waist and you lean into his chest instinctively, trying your best to ignore the scratch of the sequins against your cheek.

“No, not that,” Kaeya says, unperturbed at your slight against him. “That! That thing he’s wearing! It’s awful!” His finger shakes in the air before the blue-haired man doubles over in laughter. “That’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever fucking seen, holy shit.”

You look up at Diluc, who is flushed a deep crimson in embarrassment and whose brows are furrowed.

“I must admit,” Diluc clears his throat, voice diffident. “It has grown on me.”

Your heart melts at his confession and you scoot up a bit in his grasp, causing him to look at you in confusion before you press a reassuring kiss to his cheek. Adoration swims in his irises as he looks at you and softly smiles, forgetting about Kaeya’s presence despite his brother’s noisy, ceaseless laughter. Sure, the onesie might be a joke that you want to throw into a fire and pray that it burns in the pits of hell for eternity, but Diluc’s defense of your present in the face of Kaeya’s mockery warms even your cold prankster heart.

“Diluc,” You whisper lowly, not wanting Kaeya to hear. It was unlikely he would anyways, as every time he looked up at the two of you in the bed in front of him, Kaeya would burst out into peals of laughter once more. “Where’s the other onesie?”

Diluc looks at you, confused. “It’s in the laundry room. It should be dry now.” Before Diluc can ask you why you need to know such information, you’re breaking free of his grip, stumbling out of the bed, shoving past Kaeya and nearly sprinting out of the room in a hurry. Kaeya and Diluc both watch you leave, equally bewildered.

“Why are you here?” You hear Diluc ask his brother as you flee the room, but you don’t stick around for the rest of their conversation. They can be emotionally constipated together, you have more important things to do. Seizing the freshly-cleaned onesie, you shut the laundry door and shimmy it over your current pajamas, one of Diluc’s old shirts and a pair of old shorts. You have to hop around a bit to get the fabric to settle in just the right places and, dear Barbatos, this thing is uncomfortable.

Diluc must really love you to put up with this outfit every night. Before you can melt into a puddle of goo at the thought of your essentially perfect boyfriend who would do nearly anything for you, you storm out of the laundry room and back into the bedroom, climbing back into bed with Diluc wordlessly, settling your legs underneath the covers and guiding Diluc’s arm back to its rightful place around your waist.

You press another kiss to Diluc’s cheek as he stares at you with an unreadable expression. Despite having recovered from his earlier flustered state, his cheeks quickly return to the shade of red you adore so much. Unfortunately for you, you didn’t stick on this onesie just to shamelessly ogle your boyfriend and kiss him senseless. No, you wore it to spite the man in front of the two of you, whose expression is now morphed into one of horror.

“There’s two of them?! One was already a crime against humanity, but two?!” Kaeya is aghast at such a concept. Diluc’s gaze breaks off you and he tightens his grip around your waist as he glowers at his brother.

“We have a third one if you wish to continue intruding in our home,” Diluc proposes, his voice having a slight edge to it. Kaeya holds his hands up later.

“Alright. I’ll see you later then. Bye, (Y/N)~!” Kaeya quickly ejects himself from the conversation, not even bothering to spare his brother a goodbye in his hurry to leave before a onesie can be thrust upon you.

“You look adorable,” Diluc confesses before pressing a kiss to your forehead. This time, it’s your turn to fluster and you look away, startled by his forwardness. “I always like seeing you in my clothes.”

“Oh… thank you,” You murmur sheepishly, but Diluc grabs your chin and lightly guides your face to look at him. A shiteating grin breaks out across his face.

“I appreciate your support, darling, but isn’t it time we stop this ruse?” Diluc questions and your eyes widen in surprise. “Unfortunately, my brother is correct. These outfits are quite… awful.”

“I like them!” You interject, unsure as to why you’re defending the outfits you had just been wishing for the destruction of.

“Is that so?” Diluc challenges, eyebrows raised as you nod your head furiously. A soft chuckle escapes his lips. “(Y/N), I know I might be dumb at times, especially when it comes to you, but surely you can’t think I’m dumb enough to believe this lie.”

You narrow your eyes at him and fold your arms in contempt. “There is no way you’ve called my bluff this early. Kaeya told you I was fucking with you, didn’t he?”

Diluc’s smug attitude is replaced with that of a scolded puppy, unable to look you in the eyes. “... Yes.”

You can’t help but press yet another kiss to his face, this time gracing his jaw as you pepper light kisses down his neck. “You’re correct. I absolutely loathe these ugly clothes. It’s not even Christmas anymore. But I’d be damned if I was going to let that gremlin insult something of yours.”

Diluc laughs genuinely and he brings your face close to his, pressing your lips together in a sweet, chaste kiss, before pulling away far too soon for your liking.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I should probably change now that the joke is over,” Diluc explains. You raise your eyebrows at him and he lets out a sigh. “The fabric is itchy.” Your boyfriend clambers out of bed and you unabashedly watch him change into a more comfortable outfit, admiring the way his lithe muscles move as he puts on a new shirt. Diluc turns around and looks at you expectantly.

“Aren’t you going to change too?” He asks as he climbs back under the covers with you, but you softly smile and shake your head in response.

“No,” You coo. “I think it’ll stay on for tonight.” You wrap your arms around his waist, nuzzling into his shoulder exaggeratedly.

Diluc groans at your words and you realize he shares the same hatred of the onesies that you do. But, as Diluc’s chief prankster, you’re determined to get the last laugh, even if the dumb fabric scratches against you all night.

#not sure how i feel about this one tbh! it's certainly a different style of writing i feel #but reader in this is extremely similar to my own personality (for once)#diluc x reader #diluc ragnvindr x reader #genshin impact x reader #diluc headcanons #diluc scenarios #*writing #*diluc #*fic

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panharmonium · 3 years

Text

the other thing that i keep thinking about, especially now that i’ve been knee-deep in conversation about kakashi’s father for the last couple days, is the amount of politically/socially-charged context kakashi must be constantly navigating as a leaf shinobi, even though we don’t get to see much of it.

the transformation of the hidden leaf village is obviously still a work in progress, and society never changes overnight. we’ve heard at various points in shippuden about the still-present divide between hardliners like danzo and the (somewhat) more moderate senju line, and it’s clear that there are still plenty of reactionary/conservative forces at work in the shinobi world, which means there are absolutely still segments of the population who would view the kind of challenge that kakashi and his students pose to traditional shinobi values as a threat. and back when kakashi first chose to reaffirm his father’s principles, i’m sure it was much worse - the way minato tells it, the entire village and the land of fire turned on sakumo, and it’s not like all those people just disappeared when kakashi finally allowed himself to recognize that all of them were doing something wrong. they were still there. they were his neighbors. they were his colleagues. he had to live with them. he had to work with them - he had to work FOR them, even. to this day, he still does.

like. i am FASCINATED by the complexities of this situation, even though we barely see any of it. just...thinking about thirteen year-old kakashi being a member of the Jonin Assembly alongside all of these grown adults who persecuted his father until the “great man who everyone looked up to” couldn’t survive it any longer. thinking about teenage kakashi lost and “waiting to die” in the anbu black ops, but still breaking every rule to rescue little tenzo from a hardline conservative who tried to have kakashi assassinated. thinking about adult kakashi, still a member of that same Jonin Assembly, still working alongside people he can clearly remember harassing and attacking his father for saving their lives, being asked to serve as a clandestine hokage under danzo’s nose, because foreign nations trust kakashi where they don’t trust the actual nominee, and then being nominated for real when danzo turns up dead (and having his nomination approved, i might add, by the land of fire, whose government officially blamed kakashi’s father for the damage that resulted from that abandoned mission years before).

we only get hints about the lingering controversy surrounding kakashi and his family via danzo and, occasionally, the village elders, but like. kakashi occupies such a complex place in the hidden leaf village, because he’s become incredibly respected and renowned by many (if not most) of its residents, but he also spends every day of his life moving within a community where many (if not most) of the older people around him participated in a campaign of vicious harassment against his father, one that ultimately led to his death. some of them may have had changes of heart after sakumo’s suicide - that seems like the kind of thing that might have shocked some people into reevaluating their positions, particularly given how respected sakumo was prior to that time - and some of them probably died later in the war, but we know there’s still a conservative faction active in the hidden leaf village, and some of those people are always going to be who they are. and even the people who aren’t - even the ones who regret how they acted - it’s still so complicated! how do you continue to live and work in that environment? how do you navigate a history of being harmed in that way, when you still have to collaborate with and/or serve the same people who did the harming, some of whom likely view you with the exact same disdain they had for your father?

kakashi manages it, somehow, though i’ll bet he has complicated feelings about it, even if he keeps them to himself. and that’s yet another reason why (if i can just take these thoughts on a slight detour to the present) i think kakashi’s relationship with sasuke is so vitally important, especially moving forward. sasuke’s family was wronged by the village too, in horrific, unforgivable ways - the shinobi system swallowed itachi whole and sacrificed the entire uchiha clan on the altar of a mission, in exactly the kind of evil, inhuman decision-making process that sakumo and obito and kakashi said could never be justified. the uchiha were victims of the same shinobi system that drove kakashi’s father to his death - the one that said “everything is acceptable as long as the task at hand is accomplished. people are disposable in service to a mission.” both sasuke and kakashi’s families fell to a cultural context that refused to acknowledge that it is never okay to sacrifice your comrades for a mission, a cultural context that embraced this belief to the point where even literal genocide became excusable.

if sasuke is ever going to really and truly Come Home, he’s going to need to learn how to navigate this situation. not to excuse the wrong that was done, and certainly not to give up on getting justice for himself and his clan, but also to figure out, in conjunction with these important tasks, how to continue existing in an environment where so much officially-sanctioned harm was done to his person, and where so many people around him have at least a little bit of history of being suspicious of or uncharitable towards the uchiha clan, even though they obviously didn’t know about the impending coup or danzo’s extermination order.

it’s an incredibly complicated situation, and even if kakashi doesn’t have all the answers, he can at least understand what it feels like to be in that kind of position. he’s been navigating something like this for many, many years. he’s the precedent, someone who can help sasuke wrestle with the perhaps unanswerable questions of how am i supposed to dedicate myself to a place that wronged me like this? why should i protect people who hurt me so badly? is there even a way for me to move forward here, if i can’t forgive the ones who took my family away from me? can this actually be my home again, when i know what it did to my people?

kakashi has obviously managed to come up with answers to these questions that enable him to stay integrated in his community and keep building a future he believes in, though I doubt any of his answers are simple, and i’m sure there are some things that he’s just had to accept will never be fully settled in his heart. it’s like what he says to obito in an episode i watched recently: “i don’t know anything for sure, either...i’ve thought that this world is hell, too...but...” it’s the but that matters. even in the face of confusion and complexity, kakashi has found a way to keep moving. he’s learned to co-exist with the uncertainty and discomfort surrounding him, and to make his own meaning out of this life, regardless of how complicated his internal relationship with the village might be. he’s found a way to keep his eyes trained on the light, whatever that light might look like for him, and even if said light is only, as gaara says, “the faintest glimmer.” he has so much to teach someone like sasuke, who up until recently was responding to that same plea of gaara’s with a fatalistic “i shut my eyes a long time ago. the things i seek now lie only in the darkness.”

anyway. i am just having Many Thoughts currently about the intricacies of the political and social context that kakashi is always navigating, even though he never says a word about it. and i’m curious whether this family history will ever come up again in the last fifth of this show. if i were going on instinct alone, i’d suspect that we weren’t quite done with sakumo yet - i feel like we barely even started with him, to be honest (and also - whatever happened to kakashi’s mother???) - but i should know better at this point than to try and predict what this show is going to do, so i’ll just wait and see.

#naruto #meta #pan watches naruto #i got lost on the path of life #this is something i've always kind of wondered about in the back of my mind #but i started really focusing on it recently because of the conversations i've been having with dreamersscape about shikamaru and kakashi #because the other thing i think about in conjunction with this topic is how the kids have absolutely zero clue about any of this #sakumo's story seems to be - at least from what i've seen so far -#something that the entire leaf village just decided to never discuss again immediately after it reached its horrifying conclusion #whether out of shame or whatever else #it's buried history #even in the immediate aftermath - obito only knows the white fang as 'that hero who died protecting the village'#the rest of the story seems to have become That Of Which We Do Not Speak #and naruto's generation is even further removed from the history than obito was; so they just have no idea #like - naruto once asked kakashi who lady chio meant by 'the white fang'; and when kakashi uncomfortably answered 'my father'#naruto was so shocked by the concept of kakashi having parents that he never even asked any follow-up questions XD XD XD #so anyway i'm just thinking about how much the younger kids are going to start learning after they come home and start climbing the ranks #eg shikamaru shadowing kakashi in jonin circles and starting to pick up on dynamics he hasn't been exposed to before #bc i'm sure kakashi's philosophy for preparing jonin aspirants will be just as stubbornly renegade as his process for genin #and i can imagine there are certain tasks he'll set or standards he'll outline that might stir up some muttering #at least among the old guard #anyway. i think about this stuff a lot #the kids starting to learn all of the things that everybody else already knows about kakashi but nobody ever talks about #including kakashi himself #sasuke got the cliffsnotes version the day he left the leaf village; but there is still SO MUCH he and the other kids aren't aware of #they know nothing about kakashi's history with obito or rin or yamato or itachi; or what happened to his father; or how he got his sharingan #or that he was targeted for assassination by danzo as a teenager #they have no idea what his life was like AT ALL; and honestly i think kakashi wanted it to be that way #but that bubble has to pop eventually; and i can only imagine the kids' faces when they start to discover just how much they never knew.

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bbnibini · 3 years

Text

Fall Again (Kaedehara Kazuha)

"On this mountain path, where the red leaves lifeless lie...my heart calls for a companion, echoing the deer's cry..." (based on this)

(ao3 version) gift for @lexsssu and kei. may this humble offering make you future Kazuha havers!

The summer we shared

Fades into a blush of leaves

Bringing with it fall

Your first memories with Kazuha started when you were little. You were but one of the many children brought by the Kaedahara retainers staying within the residence; frolicking about, living the best of your young life while learning of your future duties for the clan. The end of summer brought cooler winds, and the trees in the courtyard were like blushing maidens as their leaves were dyed in sunset colour. A maple leaf had fallen on your hair, and the steady sleight of his hand startled you when he brought it to your eye level with a smile.

"I'm sorry for startling you. It was stuck on your hair."

You weren't even sure if you were allowed to talk so casually to the young master of the house. Though perhaps your younger self back then knew that a boy your age like the young master didn't care for such formalities. He only ever watches from afar as you played with the other children. Sometimes, his gaze lingers at all of you while he was taking his lessons. But when his attendants will ask him worriedly if he wanted to drive you and the other children away(you must have been so noisy to distract him from his lessons), he would plaster on a smile and decline.

"Do you want to play with us?"

You practised saying it in your head many, many times...but they were never said. Not until this moment--this blurry middleground of summer and fall that seemed to dye everything in sunset orange.

"Do you want to play with me?"

It was his turn to look startled. The way his face flushed as he clumsily tried to hide the bashful look he had with the maple leaf had been futile.

"Can I?"

You nodded and took his hand.

"Don't worry, master Kazuha. I'll share the blame with you if they ever find out."

Thinking back, that must be the start of it all. Like maple leaves falling on the ground, letting him in your heart had been your downfall.

In the many days of sunset orange, when the adults were too busy to even bother, laughter from a certain pair would fill the courtyard. It was warm enough to quell the cold that accumulated as the orange faded into powder white; it had also brought an end to those precious memories you didn't know you were already making with him.

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

Cold and pristine white

Yet seeing you amongst them

Warms my freezing heart

He didn't do anything special. You understood that it was just him being him. His kindhearted parents raised him well to become the future heir, and you were merely basking in the fruits of their gentle guidance--an ordinary bystander. Even so, with every call of your name, with every smile given your way, with every look and every word, the feelings that scattered one autumn day only deepened, much like how the snow was doing right now to your feet.

You knew that they knew. You awaited the punishments to come your way, but they never did. The pang in your heart twisted and twisted; it wondered if your delusions were getting to you. What if you continued holding on? What if you got even closer with each other? Wouldn't it be more painful if this unlikely friendship would continue?

Or so you thought. You didn't have the heart to push him away--this lonely looking boy who never shared your luxuries of carefree childhood. Yet you knew you could never share these worries with him. What were you to him but some child his age? What could you know? No one seemed opposed to it, so why couldn't he enjoy his childhood, even for a little bit?

Your drifting thoughts matched the steady pacing of your feet. And it wasn't until the cold snow had reached your knees did you start to feel it through your clothes.

Where...were you? The firewood on your shoulders felt heavier every step, and the cold of winter was beckoning you to close your eyes; to rest under the pine trees a few steps away from you....just for a while--

"...!"

The call of your name coming from his lips felt like they were melting the snow on your feet. And as he brought you into his arms, the restlessness also melted away.

"Let's go back."

"Young Master Kazuha..."

You heard your name being called again--this time by your worried father who had just known that you strayed from the group of children gathering firewood in the forest. He brought the two of you in embrace, his broad and strong arms feeling unbelievably smaller than usual.

Even as the two of you were being scolded, it didn't feel so bad. His next words echoed your unsaid sentiments.

"We share the blame, after all."

He whispered the familiar words to you on secret, bringing warmth to the winter of your thoughts.

You didn't know what changed that winter. He now stood with you as you and the other children gathered around and played in the snow, laughing along. Gone were the longing gazes he sent your way, as he was finally there. The apprehension the other children had at first disappeared instantly at the brightness of his laughter.

From then on, you wished to stay by his side....

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

Your gaze of knowing

Melts away the cold of snow

Spring begins anew

...yet even with the strength of your resolve, you knew those fun winter days will come to an end. One winter passed. Two. Three, until you lost count--you have grown old enough for such days to be regarded as your long past childhood. Along with it came the responsibilities you had as a retainer's child. It wasn't like you were going away. You planned to uphold your promise to stay by his side until the day you die. Boundaries were only meant to be made. The lines you weren't meant to cross grew even more obvious as seasons passed, and you only intended to follow along its path.

Young master Kazuha was old enough to take in a wife. He could only delay such duties for so long.

"But I don't want to get married." He told you, admiring the pink mop of cherry blossoms giving you shade overhead.

"Young master, it isn't a matter of choice." you scolded.

He wouldn't say anything back but a sigh. This caused you to sigh in return.

"Even servants have a duty of marriage to sustain future generations, young master."

"Even you?"

The rustling of cherry blossoms awoken you from your trance. You pretended not to know the implications of his questions. The pounding of your heart shouldn't ever be known, not even to the whispers of spring breeze scattering pink petals that looked eerily similar the the ones scattering in your heart.

"Yes, even I."

Ignorance is the kindest gesture you can return to him--for knowing what he meant will only lead to a thorny path.

Spring was the season of beginnings, but even you know such beginnings were only possible if something were to end.

"Young master Kazuha?"

He looked at you with the same gaze you pretended you were numb from.

"Let's not see each other anymore."

...it was a beautiful spring day, but you couldn't help but long for the harsh winters of your gentler past.

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

Standing tall and proud

You, with gleaming golden crowns

Waiting for the sun

Eternity.

In the land of fleeting beauty, only she remains constant. She was the pinnacle of Inazuma's legacy, as well as its stronghold. With the Raiden Shogun's rule, Inazuma in all its transience will remain with her.

Yet, were all her actions at present excusable?

The Kaedehara clan had fallen--its tragic heir had gone missing. No one knows where he had went...or so that is what most of the servants' narratives were, but you knew. Perhaps silence is the only way to protect him; their kind and gentle young master deserved freedom in this eternal land.

You didn't want to dwell on what ifs. In the blaring heat of the sun, among the sunflowers looking up at its radiance, he stood there, even brighter than summer itself.

He called for your name as he took your hands, kissing its back.

"I will always remember you."

He was a free man, freer than he was in the confines of his samurai household. Yet, you knew his life of pursuit will always remain with him, and the eternity the Raiden's land had promised was far too comforting to even consider the thoughts in your head.

'Take me with you'

'I won't ever forget you too.'

'Ị̶̛̺̜̣̝̰̣͚̫̓̾̈́̆̈́̊̔̍͂͋͛͌͘͝ ̵̆̐̏̚��̢̨̟͖̱͚l̷͖̥̃͋͒̉̈́̈̎̃͆̽̈͊̃̈́̆̓̕o̶̡̧̡͖͙̖̙͙̥̻͍̣̗̱͖̦͍̺͙̒̏̏͛͗̌̄͊̽̓͆͌̚̚̕͝ͅv̶̧͕͔̤͚̰̟͙̭̟̠̫̞̀͆̊͗͗̅̊͠ͅͅę̶̘̦̲͓͕͂̑̕͜ ̷̡̢̯̯͙̞̣̲̥̥̞̞̺͕̲͔̆̂͆́̋̑̀̆̃̀͐̀͜͝͠y̷̧̬̜͕͉̣͉̱̩͚̪͒̓͒ͅǒ̸͚̳̠͚̘̯̼̗̳͖͉̫͇͕͔̿͛̉̈́͌̈́͐̑͌͝u̵̧̡̖̼̺̼̯̖̙̲̺̰̮̩̯̜͛̑̃̐͊͛͌̌̓͋́̒̌̚͜'

So he waited and waited for the three words he uttered on your ear to return, and even then, promised of waiting even as you parted ways--even if orange dyed the world around you again.

For like the sunflowers, you were his sun.

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

Many summers have passed, and you had left the comfort of eternity to seek out the world on your own. The Raiden Shogun and her eternity was showing its signs of fading in ironic tragedy. Yet you wondered why such fleetingness felt comforting instead.

They called the land you chose to reside in the City of Freedom. Their ruling archon was nothing more than myths and childlike wonder, yet Mondstadt thrived even in their absence.

Like the carefree breeze, its people were equally so. They did not mind your origins nor your reasons, and instead welcomed you in their land with kindness and hospitality. Often, you wondered if the Anemo Archon chose this path of rule to embody the freedom that he is--that perhaps, this might be even his wish.

"I received a vision! It's--"

You smiled to yourself as you stopped that train of thought. You knew your reasons for choosing Mondstadt as your new refuge. Deep in your heart, you were waiting too.

Rain was quite an unusual sight in Monstadt--you were far too used to sunlight and breezy afternoons that the sight of darker skies were comforting to you instead. You liked the sound rain made as it hit the roof, the smell of petrichor in the air--

"Hello?"

Such appreciative thoughts were brought to a halt at the sound of a familiar voice. But he did not speak again, so you weren't sure if you have imagined it instead. The knocks on your door however, reassured you that not everything you heard was imagined.

Your heart pounded at every step, silencing yourself from the hopeful yearning that keeps on resurfacing as you went closer to your doorstep.

But he was there. He wasn't only hopeful yearning. The orange hues of the trees from afar only seemed to deepen the sunset reflecting on his eyes. They widened as they gazed at you.

"I'm very sorry, but can I trouble you for refuge for the night?"

Laughter. You haven't shared one since that distant, summer day. You took the stray maple leaf out of his hair and echoed the words he had uttered to you on the day you first met.

"Did I startle you? You have it stuck on your hair."

..but this time, you chose to stay by his side.

That night, I listened to the hymns till dawn, not for serenity, but to seek a sliver of your soul;

That month, I flipped through all the scriptures, not for enlightenment, but to touch the pages where your fingers once lingered;

That year, I knelt on the grounds, my head embracing the dusts, not to pay obeisance to the Gods, but to feel the warmth you left behind;

That life, I wandered through ten thousand great mountains, not in search for an afterlife, but to cross paths with you –

#genshin impact #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin #kazuha #kazuha kaedehara #genshin fic #genshin imagines #kazuha x reader #kazuha x you #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x you #reader insert #genshin fanfic #kaedehara kazuha #kaedehara kazuha x reader

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smalltownfae · 2 years

Note

Top five problematic tropes from your favorite authors you'd want shot ala Old Yeller-style?

I don't know the name of many tropes so I will just describe what is common to happen and that I dislike. I am fine with most things and the problematic aspects depend more of the way something is presented than that element in itself.

1 - Paedophiles presented in a good light. This goes for Robin Hobb and her male adult characters that end up with minors way younger than they are. This is especially true for the character named Reyn, but Hobb uses this so much. Liveship Traders and Rain Wild Chronicles are the worst offenders. I also think "Fledgling" by Octavia E. Butler is going the same way, but I haven't finished yet. The excuse given is that this vampire that has the body of a 10 year old is actually 50 something so it's alright if full grown adults have sex with her (no, it's not. Not for me and I wish I didn't make movies in my head while reading). Honestly Butler has problematic content in her other works but so far it has always been well addressed so this one so far is really disappointing. "Daughter of the Forest" by Marillier also has a minor/adult relationship and so does "Fire and Hemlock" by Diana Wynne Jones. It's way too common especially in fantasy and I am begging authors to stop this bullshit.

2 - Consent is not sexy. Another Hobb one, but I like to think she got a little better at it given the character of Alise. A lot of female characters seem to not like men that actually care about consent. Althea is the main one that comes to mind for her reaction to Grag being careful compared to Brashen and their awful first time together that she apparently liked and it was so messed up. But, besides female characters there is also the shady situation of how Sedric's relationship with Carson started. Sedric did say yes, but I am not sure that counts as consent given that he had just attempted suicide and was in a vulnerable state, you know? The Xenogenesis trilogy by Butler also has a lot of consent issues but given the alien perspective and that the humans keep addressing the issue I don't find it as problematic there.

3 - No women left single/Everyone must pair up until the end of their lives. Hobb has this issue once again. Let women be single! Sometimes it doesn’t make sense for them to end up with the ones they end up with. This is especially bothersome and obvious in the Rain Wild Chronicles. There is also the fact that Fitz never seems to move on from Molly, ignoring the message of wiser characters like Kettle. The first love is forever is a really tiresome trope in fiction given how unrealistic it is in real life. Juliet Marillier absolutely has this problem too, but she writes romance and I think it happens even more often in those books. It’s not enough that the main characters have to end up with a man, their sister also needs to have some. Both often use the same love interest forever and ever and if something happens that separates them, they mourn their loss until the end of their lives and never fall in love again (unless first love interest was evil then it’s ok to be together with someone else).

4 - Queer/Queer-coded characters are evil. Look, I like a well dressed gay villain, but it’s a problematic trope. Why must the good guys be identified by wearing potato sacks? Hobb often makes her well-dressed characters evil and they are often queer-coded at least (Regal, Illistore, Dwalia, Hest, Kennit...). There are a few exceptions, but often if it’s noted that someone wears perfume and spends time caring about their clothes and hair they will turn out to be evil or at least not very nice at first (Malta, Sedric). This can include Terez from First Law because even if everyone in that world is pretty shitty, Terez often gets the worst end of the stick because not enough time was given for readers to understand her and she is just see as the men-hating lesbian. Meanwhile, the fans are still worshipping a mass murderer and a torturer. Then there are also people thinking Leo is the worst ever for what he did (even if that is on the fandom, but it’s still bothersome that 2 of the most hated characters in the fandom are gay). I can also include that one character from “Parable of the Talents” by Octavia E. Butler, even if he isn’t the main evil.

5 - Men and women can’t be just friends. If there is a deep friendship between opposite sexes it will more often than not lead to romance. I am not saying this doesn’t happen, but it doesn’t happen as often as fiction makes us think. I always had male friends. This makes me appreciate Rin and Kitay’s relationship in the Poppy War so much more because authors often refuse to let men and women be just friends. On the other hand, characters of the same sex can’t be in love. Are you joking? They have this deep bond because it’s the extreme power of friendship and nothing else. Who cares if that relationship is the most developed? Who cares if they are the first in each others’ minds? There is a character of the opposite sex waiting for boring interactions. I really had enough with this shit. Authors either learn to make characters of the opposite sex interesting and have a great dynamic with the love interest or just stop trying to force a character to be heterosexual, especially when it doesn’t make any sense that they are still hung up on a character they seldom see in their lives.

#asks #problematic tropes

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icerosecrystal · 3 years

Text

Daminette - How to Fail Being a Parent 101

(3rd Person POV)

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The girl that went from having everything to nothing. At least, that’s what it felt like right now. She still had Jagged and Penny, supporting her. But her parents threw her out of the house after the believed Lila’s lies. The shiny new thing over their daughter! Her friends also thought of her as a bully. At the age of 17, Marinette had no friends and no family. But little did she know that everything was soon going to change for her.

(Edna Mode’s POV)

Enda Mode was a great designer. But, she wanted, no needed an apprentice to carry her legacy. When Jagged Stone, along with his assistant Penny and Clara, told her of their designer MDC, she was ecstatic. And her designs were beautiful. Yes, MDC had the right amount of talent to be Edna’s apprentice. All she had to was find her.

She was walking to the bakery in Paris, where Jagged said his niece would most likely be. She arrived at the bakery and opened the door walking inside. There were two people inside. She asked them, “Hello, darlings. Do you, by any chance, know where Marinette is?”

She watched as both of the people stiffened, and then the female replied, “No, we used to be her parents, but we no longer consider her a daughter!”

Edna was confused by that. As far as Jagged said, Marinette’s parents had a good relationship with her. So what changed? She then once more asked, “Do you where I might be able to find her, darlings?”

Marinette’s supposed mother grew angry, “Who cares where she is! And if you’re trying to find her. You must be one of the bad influences that Lila was talking about, so get out of our bakery!”

Edna huffed and turned on her heel, walking out of the bakery door. Once she was outside, she pulled out her phone and called Jagged. “Jagged, I tried to go to the bakery, but her parents said that they kicked her out. Or at least they implied it by saying that she was no longer their daughter.”

“What?! That’s so not rock-and-roll! Hmm, well, Marinette did buy a safe house. If I remember correctly, the address is nineteen dauphin bleu. Good luck, and let me know when you find her.”

“Sure sure, darling,” Edna replied before ending the phone call. She quickly went to the address in hopes of finding her.

(Marinette’s POV)

Marinette was not sulking! She swears she isn’t! She’s just sad that her parents didn’t believe her. And hadn’t been doing anything for the past two days other than eating and watching shitty rom-coms… Okay, maybe she was sulking. But could you blame her! Her parents believed a liar over her, plus she had shitty coping skills with Hawkmoth still around. Before Hawkmoth, she would have cried for hours on end while eating strawberry ice cream. Now, she couldn’t do that at risk of an akumatization, and she was Ladybug. Fuck Hawkmoth, fuck Lila, fuck her stupid hormones.

The doorbell then rang. Marinette dragged herself to the door, not stopping to look through the peek hole. She regretted that because once she opened the door, on the other side, she found THE EDNA MODE. Marinette jumped in surprise and started to try and fix her appearance while rambling, “Oh my god, you’re Edna Mode. I’m so sorry! I didn’t know it was going to be you at the door! Otherwise, I would have made myself more presentable! Oh my god, it’s you!!! Most consider you better than Audrey Bourgeois, Style Queen herself. It is such an honor.”

Edna cut off Marinette’s rambling with a hand to her shoulder, “Please, darling, the pleasure all mine. I’m so happy to meet the famous MDC that Jagged, Clara, and Penny have been telling me so much about.” At hearing those words, Marinette looked seconds from passing out.

Edna followed Marinette to the couch and told her, “Now, I went to your parent’s bakery, but they said that they were no longer your parents. So, I want you to tell Auntie Edna everything! Okay?”

Marinette nodded, still in shock. She quickly shook her head to clear her head and then went on to explain about Lila. “There was this girl that came to my school three years ago. She claimed that she had an amazing life. And it would have been believable if all the things that she mentioned weren’t false. For example, she said that Jagged Stone wrote a song for her when she saved his cat from an airport runway. Jagged never had a cat. Civilians aren’t allowed on airport runways. And she’s making Jagged look like a pedophile, she’s underage, and he’s an adult. If she continues claiming this, Jagged could go to jail. There are a lot more unbelievable claims that she makes. Anyways, I knew she was lying, so I tried to disprove her lies. But, she covered it up. I went to the bathroom to cool down. Lila then came inside and confronted me, saying that she would take all my friends away. I didn’t think she would do it, I mean, I had faith in my friends.” Marinette’s voice cracked, and she started sobbing.

Edna waited for Marinette to continue talking. Marinette inhaled sharply and then continued, “My friends believed her over me. They knew me so much longer. But they picked the shinier thing. They bullied me every day, and Lila told them that I was bullying her. She made them beat me up, steal, and destroy my stuff. I thought that my parents would at least support me, but no, the wish of them supporting me was too much to ask. My parents also believed Lila over their daughter. THEIR DAUGHTER!!! They raised me, loved me, and then they believe someone else over me. At first, they started neglecting me, but then Lila came over one day and told them that I had given her death threat. After that, they kicked me out. I didn’t tell anyone not to feel weak. Now, here I am.”

Marinette finished talking and cried, letting loose all of the tears she had been holding in, but she then stopped. Enda looked at Marinette and told her something that shocked the daylights out of her, “Just because your Ladybug, that doesn’t mean you can’t let loose your emotions. If you bag all of it up, you will be at a larger risk of an akumitization. But, if you let your emotions out little by little, you won’t be as subjected to an akumitization.”

Marinette started stammering out excuses, shocked that Edna had figured it out, “O-oh I’m not Ladybug, I-i’m too clumsy to be her. L-ladybug has to be someone a-amazing to do what she d-does.”

Before she could continue, Edna held up her hand, effectively shutting Marinette up. “Marinette, darling, you don’t have to lie to me. Only an idiot would not be able to figure out your Ladybug. You look so much like her. (I did watch the NY special. And they did say that the magic of the miraculous is interfering with finding the identity of the heroes. But let’s pretend that the magic isn’t interfering, and everyone is just clueless. Well, they are clueless, but more clueless if possible.) Anyways, the reason that I was seeking you out in the first place was that I wanted you to be my apprentice. Would you like that?”

Marinette nodded, unable to speak. It was like a dream come true to her. When she rejected Audrey’s offer for an internship, she still had a reason to stay in Paris. Now that she had nothing left, this was the perfect way for her to get a new start, to leave her old life behind. Plus, who in their right mind would turn down being the apprentice of Edna Mode. Not an intern, an apprentice.

Edna clapped her hands together after Marinette gave her consent for being an apprentice. “That’s great, darling. Go pack everything you need. We’re leaving tomorrow at 6:00 AM.”

Marinette nodded, “Where will we be living?”

“Gotham City, New Jersey.”

(Time skip of a year)

(Edna’s POV)

It had been a year since Edna had gone to France to seek out Marinette or MDC. Since then, they moved to Gotham City, and Marinette made a name for herself there. She was an incredibly talented and a hard worker. She worked well under pressure and took criticism well. A lot of times, Marinette’s designs would bypass even her own. It would surprise Edna, but she was proud of her little coccinelle. She wanted to adopt Marinette, but she first wanted Marinette’s approval. For all Edna knew, Marinette wouldn’t want to have a parent figure again after what happened with her parents. Even if Edna didn’t adopt Marinette, she wanted Marinette to be the heir to Mode companies.

Today, Edna was meeting up with Bruce Wayne. He wanted him and his sons to get some suits, so today was the fitting. Marinette was with another client today so, she wouldn’t be meeting them. She heard the doorbell rang. That must be them, she thought. She opened the gates for them to enter the premises. A minute later, they were knocking on the front door. She let them in. When Edna saw them, she huffed at the height of all of the Wayne boys.

She went up to Bruce and beckoned him to bend down. Once he did saw, she greeted him with a kiss to each cheek and exclaimed “, Darling, I’m so glad that could make it. It’s so nice to see you and the rest of your boys.”

Bruce cleared his throat, “It’s nice to see you too, Edna. So, are we just doing measurements today, or are you also going to give us a design for the suits?”

“Ah, Bruce dear,” Edna started, “Art takes time. Plus, my amazing new apprentice will be designing your suits.”

Dick and Jason started laughing. “Look Bruce,” Dick guffawed, “She’s pulling a Bruce.” Tim laughed along with the other two, while Damian looked to be seconds away from smiling.

Bruce sighed, rubbing his forehead, “I’m sorry about them, Edna. You would think that a grown 30-year-old man would have some respect. I swear he has the maturity of a five-year-old.”

Edna waved him off, “Ah, it’s no harm done, Bruce. Dick is also right. I fully plan to adopt my apprentice. I only need her approval before I do so. I mean, she did turn eighteen only recently.”

Bruce looked shocked at this revelation, as did his sons, who were joking, not thinking in the slightest that it could be true. The great Edna Mode had never taken in an apprentice in her life, nor would she ever think of adopting someone. It was so out of character for her. “What happened to the girl that you feel this way,” Bruce asked.

Edna sighed, “Other than being a brilliant designer, who designs could rival my own, my little coccinelle has had a hard life. There was a girl who lied about her. This girl made all of her friends bully and isolate her. The worst part was when my coccinelle’s parents believed the liar over their daughter. They threw her out. When I heard about her designing from Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, I went to Paris to seek her out. When I went to her bakery, her parents were rude. I called and asked Jagged where she could be. He gave me her address. When I went there, she was a mess. I offered her the apprenticeship, she accepted. And a year later, here we are.”

The Wayne’s looked shocked at this. They then snapped out of it and, Edna then took their measurement and took note of any extra preferences they might have. She also asked what color they wanted for the suit jacket, shirt, and pants. Edna then asked whether they preferred a bow tie or a necktie. Finally, she asked what color they wanted the lining of their suits to be.

On their way out, Bruce asked Edna, “Would you and your apprentice like to come to the Wayne gala in return for making the suits in such short notice. Oh, and it is in two weeks.” Edna agreed and saw them out. Once they left, she sighed deeply. She then smiled to herself, thinking about Marinette’s reaction to the gala and having to design Wayne’s suits.

(Marinette��s POV)

Marinette was having a mental breakdown. WHY? Because Edna decided that having Marinette design Wayne’s suits was a good idea, as was going to Wayne Gala. So right now, Marinette was having a meltdown. And what was Edna doing? She was watching Marinette become a stuttering mess and trying to figure out how she was going to do something like this.

“Marinette, calm down! Just do your best and, you’ll figure the rest out,” Edna told her.

Marinette nodded and went to her room to start planning the designs and creating them. For almost two weeks, she worked tirelessly on end to complete the designs, and make a dress for herself. And by the day before the gala, Marinette had completed the suits. Alfred came to Edna’s manor to get them for the Waynes.

Once Alfred picked them up, Edna went to Marinette’s room and knocked. Once Marinette said to come in, Edna opened the door and walked in. Marinette looked at Edna, wondering why she was here. But, she then asked a question that Marinette so happy, “My little coccinelle, would you like it if I adopted you?”

Marinette couldn’t answer from happiness. Instead, she jumped on Edna with tears in her eyes and kept on chanting, “Yes, yes, yes!” They both sat like that until Marinette fell asleep, happy that they were now legally going to be family.

On the day of the Wayne gala, Marinette wore a burgundy dress with silver details on the upper part of the dress. She wore silver shoes that had a glass flower on the toes and a silver handbag. Marinette, also matching silver earrings and a necklace. She decided to let her hair loose into beautiful waves.

Edna wore a simple black dress with some white pearl details along with a black handbag with silver and black shoes.

They then left for the Wayne gala. Once they arrived at the Wayne gala, they spotted the Wayne’s wearing Marinette’s amazing designs.

Once the Waynes spotted Edna, they walked over in hopes of meeting her apprentice. Edna saw them coming and Marinette to them. “Boys, this is my apprentice Marinette Mode. Marinette, this is Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian.”

“Wait, so you legally adopted her?” Tim asked.

“Yes, I did, yesterday,” Edna replied.

Marinette smiled brightly at the Waynes and said, “It’s nice to meet you all. I hope that you like the suits that I made.” The Wayne’s gave their gratitude for the suits. They then all dispersed, except for Damian. He was still staring at Marinette, as Marinette was staring at him. They both started talking at the same time,

“Hi, it’s nice-”

“Hey, I rea-”

They both laughed, and Marinette said, “You go first.”

“I was going to tell you how fond I am of this suit. You did an acceptable job.”

“Thank you,” Marinette muttered, “I was going to say that it’s nice to meet you. So tell me about yourself.”

And the pair went on to talking about anything and everything together. Marinette couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. How his beautiful tan skin glistened in the light. How soft his dark, silky hair looked, and his eyes. Oh, his eyes were the best part, a perfect balance between jade and emerald green, giving it a shine, but not making it look toxic. He was so handsome. As she continues talking with him, she realized, she liked him, she wanted him to kiss her, hold her. But they had just met. Little did she know that Damian had similar thoughts running through his head.

(3rd person POV)

Damian thought that Marinette was absolutely beautiful with her silky raven hair. Her pink pouty lips along with her glistening bluebell eyes. Her fair skin was showered with little freckles that made her even prettier. Words could not describe how beautiful she was.

From an outside view, Marinette and Damian were looking like lovesick fools. Laughing, talking, never leaving each other’s side. By the end of the night, they separated with each other’s phone number, and a promise to meet again for a date.

(Time Skip of three months)

(Marinette POV)

It had been three months since the gala. The day after the gala, Damian took her to Gotham park for a nice picnic. On their second date, they went to the rooftop of one of Bruce’s buildings and watched the sunset from there. Their third date was the date where Damian asked Marinette if she would like to be his girlfriend. He took her to an expensive restaurant and after they walked on the pier. There he took out a necklace with a silver chain and “I love you for always and forever” written on it. The pendant was in the shape of a heart. He gave it to her as he asked her to be his girlfriend. She jumped on him kissing him with so much force and passion and then pulled away, breathing out a, “Yes!”

Since then, they had been inseparable. Damian and Marinette told each other everything. Well, almost everything, she still hadn’t told Damian about being Ladybug. And Marinette knew he was also hiding something the way he would get bruises for no reason. She didn’t know what he was hiding until she stumbled across something when she was at the Manor one day.

She had gotten lost again. The Wayne Manor was huge. Marinette knew she was going to get lost, but she always had someone to help her. Marinette then heard some noises. She stumbled towards the noise. The sight that she was met with made her head throb. There in front of her were the occupants of the house. But not as the Wayes. No, they were there as the Bat-Family. The Waynes were the BAT FAMILY! Of course, she would end up falling in love with a vigilante.

Once they caught sight of her, all noises ceased. They didn’t do anything until Damian let out a feeble, “Beloved?”

Marinette turned her attention to Damian, “When were you going to tell me about this? And no, I am not mad. But you should have TOLD me. I shouldn’t have had to find out by myself.”

Damian sighed and told her, “I didn’t want to endanger your life.”

She snorted, “Yeah, like I don’t do that daily.”

“What?!” Everyone screamed at the implications that she was giving.

“Yup, I’m a hero from Paris. Tikki, Spots on!” She then transformed into Ladybug. Once Marinette transformed, she looked at the opened mouth vigilantes. “In Paris, my old partner and I protect the citizens from a guy named Hawkmoth, who preys off of people’s emotions to turn them into his minions, I’ve been fighting him for about four years now. I did send a message to the Justice League, but Green Lantern told me to stop prank calling. I’ve been fighting him by myself for two years because my old partner was harassing me.” She then went on to explain different akumitizations and went more in-depth about her powers.

“Spot off”, she said. She held her hand out and let Tikki sit in it, “This is my kwami Tikki, she is the one who lets me turn into Ladybug.” Everyone, surprisingly, took her reservations well.

By the end, Batman told her, “We would like to help you defeat Hawkmoth. We can start by uncovering who he is. We can do that by taking his voice and running it through some voice scanners until we find a match.” Marinette nodded, happy that they were getting somewhere.

She pulled up a video of Hawkmoth speaking while telling Batman, “By the way, Mom’s going to be here in ten minutes.”

They looked at her, bewildered, “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes and handed them her phone with the recording, “What I mean is that she knows that you are the Bat-Family. She figured it out like she figured out my identity.” They all nodded, dumbfounded that someone knew their identity.

Tim or Red Robin ran the voice through the scanners before they found a match. “Gabriel Agreste”, Marinette breathed, “I suspected him before, but he got akumatized. He must have akumatized himself to throw off suspicion.”

That’s when Edna arrived, “Did you figure out Hawkmoth’s identity”, Edna asked. Marinette nodded and pointed to the screen. Edna looked at it and scoffed, “Of course it’s Gabriel. I always knew he was a psychopath!” Marinette started laughing at Edna’s reaction and hugged her. Edna’s face softened, and she stroked Marinette’s hair lightly.

The bat family watched the scene with growing bewilderment. Damian cleared his throat, bringing the attention to him. “As much as I love to see how much my angel’s and Mode’s relationship is growing, we have more pressing matters. How are we going to catch Hawkmoth.”

Marinette thought about it before saying, “A distraction.” She turned to Edna, “Mom, you are going to set up a meeting with Gabriel and distract him. While you’re doing that, we’ll break into the house and go to his hideout. Actually”, she turned to Tim,“ Tim, could you look into the security cameras and see if there is any footage of him disappearing in some way. Or could you get a layout of the house?”

“Done and done,” Tim answered. They watched Gabriel push three specific buttons on Emile’s portrait, which Marinette took note of. They then saw him disappear underneath the ground. Tim pulled the layout of the house up. “This is the layout, based on it, we can conclude that he was going to the room beneath the house.”

Marinette nodded her head, “Okay, this is perfect. Once we sneak in there, we’ll look around, gather some evidence, and then sneak up on Gabriel and take the brooch from him.”

Everyone cheered and then left to do their own thing. Damian stopped Marinette from leaving. He pulled her to him and said in a sexy, gruff voice, “I’m glad that I know every part of you now.” He then dove for her lips, prompting a squeak from Marinette. After a few seconds, she relaxed in the kiss, pulling Damian closer by wrapping her arms around his neck. He put one hand around her waist, and the other one was in her sweet-smelling raven hair. The kiss felt amazing. His warm, soft lips against her luscious, sweet ones. Her lips tasted sweet like sugar, making Damian want to kiss her longer and harder. But, humans need to breathe. They pulled away panting heavily, faces flushed in passion. They stared into each other’s eyes for a little bit before kissing each other once more, this one being chaste rather than hot and heavy. They then let each other go and went to prepare for the demise of Hawkmoth.

The next day, they followed through with the plan. Edna first entered the house and talked loudly to Gabriel, demanding that he bring his son and Natalie to the meeting so that they can all catch up. Once the occupants of the Agreste household were out of the way, Ladybug and the Bats made their way to the picture of Emile. There they pressed the exact buttons and went underneath the house. There they found hundreds of white butterflies along with a horrifying sight. Emilie Agreste being preserved in a coffin and in what looked like to be a coma. Marinette was convinced that she could heal Emilie, went up to the coffin, and set to work. She closed her eyes and put her hands to the outside of the coffin. She then let her power flow through her body until they were at her hands. She then kept her glowing hands to the coffin until she heard a cough. She opened her eyes to find Emilie sitting up, looking around in shock, “Where’s my husband?” she asked, “Where’s Adrien?”

Marinette put her hand to Emile’s shoulder, “We’ll explain everything to you after ma'am. But, we first need to do something.” She walked over to the platform and rose herself to the upper floor, along with everyone else. She then saw Edna, Gabriel, Adrien, and Natalie already there. Everyone positioned themselves and got ready to attack. At the count of three, everyone moved. Marinette grabbed the brooch from Gabriel, Bruce grabbed the peacock brooch from Natalie, and Damian grabbed the ring from Adrien. The Agreste’s and Natalie turned to the heroes in anger, but then froze when they caught sight of Emilie.

Emilie, now understanding that her family must have done something bad, for these people to take away their miraculous, started sobbing. Marinette went up to her and comforted her while telling her everything that she missed. Edna called the police, while the Bat-Family made sure that not of the Agreste’s nor Natalie escaped.

(3rd person POV)

When the police arrived, they were surprised to find that designer Gabriel Agreste, his son, and his assistant were guilty of the terrorism in Paris. They were going to jail. Then, reporters arrived, broadcasting the defeat of Hawkmoth to the world, but then Gabriel said something that made some happy, while it froze the blood in many others, “Lila Rossi was also part of this! She was an accomplice to my schemes! Lila was trying to push Marinette Dupain-Cheng to an akumitization because I realized how powerful of an Akuma Marinette would become. So Lila went to great length to make her suffer, but then she left Paris, and I wasn’t able to akumatize her. If you should be arresting anyone else, it should be Lila Rossi!”

In her house, a liar was growing pale as the authorities banged on her door. When she didn’t open up, they kicked down the door and arrested her. Lila then let out a scream that the whole world would have heard.

When the government saw that two accomplices for Hawkmoth were in the same class from Francios Dupont Highschool, they had to school investigated. They investigated both the principal and Madame Bustier. They found out that both would take bribes and were enablers. They then investigated the students in Madame Bustier’s class. They found that the students were being sued which wasn’t that bad. But, they were being sued for slander, defamation, and more, by not only Edna Mode but also Bruce Wayne. The government looked at security cameras and found many forms of breaking and entering, abuse, bullying, and found many forms of slander online. All of the students along with the teacher and principal were going to have to serve jail time. But, it would be nowhere as long as Lila’s, Adrien’s, Natalie’s, or Gabriel’s jail time.

(Marinette POV)

Marinette was staying in the Grand Hotel when her ex-parents came knocking at her door. They were all smiles, “Marinette, now that we know that we actually raised you right, you can come home with us!”

Marinette just scowled back at them, “As much as I appreciate the offer, you aren’t my guardians anymore. Edna Mode adopted me and I am legally Marinette Mode. Have a good day!” She then slammed the door shut in their faces. She leaned her head against the door and sighed deeply.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and kiss her neck gently, “You going to be okay?”

Marinette turned around and smiled at him, “Yeah, I am.”

Five hours later, when Marinette turned on the news, it showed Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng going to jail. They were charged for child neglecting and abuse. Marinette shook her head, chuckling, knowing that it was Damian who did this. She inhaled deeply, oh well, all’s well that ends well.

(Time Skip of 15 years)

A thirty-three-year-old Marinette put the baby in her hands down in the crib. After everything that happened in Paris, Damian and Marinette had continued dating. Damian proposed on their one-year anniversary and the got married a year later. They now had an 11-year-old daughter named Amira Beth Wayne, a 6-year-old boy Grayson Abbas Wayne, and 1-year-old Sadiya Cathy Wayne. Marinette was now the CEO of Mode Companies, while Damian ran Wayne Enterprises along with Tim as Co-CEOs. As Marinette looked at her children she couldn’t believe that she managed to have such a good life. She felt Damian behind her so she leaned back into him. He kissed the back her head and whispered huskily in her ear, “I love you and I promise that I and the kids will be by your side. Forever and always.”

Marinette snuggled into Damian and squeezed his hand whispering, “Forever and always.”

484 notes · View notes

bakatenshii · 4 years

Text

Rapture

Oikawa Tooru x Reader (Haikyuu!!)

word count: 2.8k

TW: 18+, smut, incest, dub/noncon, mild somnophilia

A/N: I started writing this in my notes bcos I wanted to get out a cheeky Oikawa drabble for his birthday, didn’t wanna commit to a proper fic bcos fuck knows I’ve been writing my first ever fic for over a month. Technically this is my first official fic I finished! So much love for my wife @blahkugo for listening to me sob and whine about this & beta-ing it, also to @lookslikeleese who created this brainchild of Tooru-nii with me.

rap·ture

/ˈrapCHər/

a feeling of intense pleasure or joy.

(according to some millerian teaching) the transporting of believers to heaven at the Second Coming of Christ

Blood is thicker than water, in all forms and shapes and sizes. The guilt of blood lays thicker, sweaty and clammy, threatening to matte his perfectly coiffed hair. The guilt lies limp on his childhood bed, delicate legs dangling just a hair away from toeing the carpet.

You couldn’t reach when you were younger, he’d always help you down with all the gentleness of a protective mother and its cub. Long slender fingers tucking under your armpits to lift you from his stiff mattress to stand you on the soft carpeting.

Guilt, in the form of his baby sister laying vulnerability-up, presenting to him in taunt, as if it’s a gift from Satan himself. You won’t know, will never know, It promises. You’re out cold, too many cups of trashy house-party drinks in, your night was bound to end up like this one way or another— exposed and defenseless in a man’s bed. You should be lucky it’s your own big brother’s.

He curses himself for still having been awake when you called him at half four in the morning, curses himself for staying up studying tapes of his opposing team. Bad habits die hard. You were loopy, slurring your words, and all he could hear were the warm familiar sound of ‘niichan, niichan’ tinkling through the static. He had the keys clanking in his hands before he even registered the other voices across the line; deep, low, predatory— of men.

The drive there felt like a blur, tunnel visioning only on the number plate you’d sloppily sent him three times, each varying in one digit. It wasn’t even the right address, it didn’t match your location on his phone.

He saw crowds, loud bass reverberating through to his sleek car that stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the sea of beat-up sedans and trucks. He saw limbs, too many limbs, entangling together in a frenzy of sweat and lust; limbs on curves and humps of silhouettes, limbs on your small frame leaning into the corner of the dimly lit room. Then he saw red.

He couldn’t hear the shouts and hollers of his name, crazed fangirls pawing at him for an autograph, a picture, any type of affection from The Oikawa Tooru himself, international volleyball superstar with too many sponsorships under his belt. He reached out an arm towards you, and you clung to him like a magnetic pull, whole body suctioning onto his and tittering out a string of ‘niichan came to pick me up’ and a fit of giggles.

His first conscious breath was taken once he got you in his car. He didn’t want to look at you, didn’t want to assess the damages lest he drove his car straight into the dastardly party if he saw any hint of protrusion. He didn’t; you were fine. You seemed fine, too. You were all-too happy to see him, bragged to him ‘I bet them that you would come pick me up if I called you.’

You told him you missed him, ‘missed niichan so much, he never even bothered to call when he came back to Japan’. Tooru sighed, half part relief, half part guilt. He told you he couldn’t bring you back to his hotel, had to bring you home, because imagine the scandal if he got papped.

It was a lie, he couldn’t give a damn if he got papped, he could easily have explained that it was his own sister; he couldn’t give himself up to the safety of his own enclosed room. His room with no security net of Mum and Dad threatening to barge in, his room where he was free to do whatever he wanted.

He drove you home.

You begged him to pick you up and carry you upstairs, because your feet hurt, they’re so sore from dancing all night. He complied, using all his decade-molded muscles to pull you into his chest and his heart sank to his gut at the realization that you weighed like nothing to him; just like you had when you were younger.

You were bigger now, grown, an adult, but he had grown all the same. It was like a cruel joke— no matter how much you grew, he’d parallel your growth so he would always be just that much stronger than you, that much bigger. The perfect size to protect you. The perfect size to hurt you.

He was directed to his own room rather than yours, with the excuse that yours was too close to the master bedroom, too risky to wake your parents up. His feet moved before his mind could stop him, muscle memory bringing him to the space he’s barely stepped foot in since he was eighteen.

It was too familiar, whole body transcending back to his childhood, back to the innocence of your relationship before he’s tainted it with his twisted perversions. His arms laid you down on his bed, hands finding the straps of your heels to pick off before you thumped back onto his bed, sprawled out and fast asleep.

He’s been staring at your vulnerable placid silhouette splayed on his bed for what feels like minutes, hours. He can’t bring himself to tuck you in, can’t trust his limbs to function how he instructs them to. His skin crawls at the gust of wind kissing the sweat embalming his body, but he doesn’t let himself strip off the suffocating layers. He wants to bask in the physical manifestation of his disgust, nausea, let it remind him of his twisted perversions he can never, ever indulge in.

You shiver, and he jumps. Your tiny body is quivering in chills, begging him to warm it up. He moves with the grace and caution of a robber on the prowl for an expensive jewel, gently snaking his arms under the crook of your knee and top of your spine, lifting you up and away from him like he’s terrified— disgusted, by you.

He lifts the covers and daintily drapes it over the small rise and fall of your chest, pinching the top with only two fingers. A deep breath, a moan, a soft ‘niichan’, and he thinks his heart has stopped completely.

He’s frozen, the hammering in his chest arguing that no, he’s still very much alive, and spares a glance down at you. Your eyelids are fluttering, lips softly pouting, and unmistakably still asleep. He’s mid sigh of relief when he feels a small hand wrap around his arm, and for the second time that night he thinks he’s died.

All the gravity weighing him down disappears as he lets himself be tugged down onto the bed, the weight of his body crushing your tiny one, but he can’t bring himself to move. He’s too scared, he’s horrified.

He can feel two dainty arms loop around his neck and cage his head into the side of your face. He can feel the palpitations in his chest, heart hammering straight into yours, tangling with your soft cadenced beats, reaching in and provoking it to waltz to the same fatal rhythm. He can feel his trousers strain and his blood run cold.

Deep breaths to the count of the tick and tocking of the clock on the wall. He feels blurry, vision blotchy, skin prickling with every flood of blood traveling south. He wills it to stop, begs for it to spare him, he’ll behave, he’ll never let his mind wonder to you ever again, he promises.

God is all merciful, but God has long given up on him. Satan wants to watch his world burn, collapse, and dance in the ashes of his crumbling dignity. It teases him with the hilt of your soft body moving to press into his, crawling into his arms caging you in, willfully entering the den holding a ravenous lion fighting its own fangs.

Your eyes flutter open, gaze finding his with striking precision, and smile. It’s the same smile you’ve given him his whole life, the trust and love carved into every quirk of the lip. It shatters his dignity, stomps on it with childish fervor, and Tooru chokes on the breath coming out.

He feels you nuzzling closer, can feel your hair tickling his chin, and prays for forgiveness to any God willing to listen. None do— he’s too far gone. His hand’s reaching to cradle the back of your head as he plants the softest kiss on your cheek with all the practiced grace of a man begging for salvation.

Your eyes stare straight into his with undeterred conviction, glazed over with equal parts alcoholic daze and pure, unadulterated adoration. There’s not enough oxygen traveling to his brain to justify his actions, no amount of repentance would excuse his sins. His lips press into yours, so gently it feels like a mere ghost of breath, quivering in prayers for forgiveness.

A shift; small warm body squirming under his arms, shuffling closer. It catches the tent between his legs, and his whole body twitches like it’s been stung. He barely chokes down the whimper that threatens to come out.

He can feel your hands locking behind his hair, pulling your body infinitely closer to his, smushing your soft tits into his hard chest as he feels the breath sucked out of him by the Devil himself. There’s no more feigned chastity, all abstinence launched aside as he feels a little tongue prod at his lips. They open to let yours in, sucking on it as if it’ll bring his very breath back.

He doesn’t let himself wonder if it’s okay, he knows it’s not; it’s wrong, so wrong, on so many levels. He’s given up trying to please a Holy deity, Satan can take him whole if it means he can ravish in his sick twisted fantasies. He slots a leg between yours, letting the two pairs tangle and waltz to the symphony of your matching heartbeats, finally synching in a virulent tempo.

Breaths turn to pants, turn to unmistakable moans, and Tooru has to pull back to clamp a hand over your mouth in warning. The imagery of his long slender fingers covering more than half your face sends jolts down his body at the same time he realizes it’s him whining out so desperately.

He looks back at your face, beady, glassy, needy eyes peering back at him in sheer devotion, and he shuts his eyes in pure agony as his heart clenches in pangs of guilt, while his adulterous cock twitches in revelation. The warm soft breaths fan his palm, lips puckering underneath to peck softly at his fingers in hopes of escape; he thinks he might cum untouched.

His hand yanks back in shock, in horror, in disgust. But your hands clasped firmly behind hair pulls him back in, and he whispers out a prayer before a soft, “We can’t.” His eyes bore into yours, begging for mercy, begging you to let him go so he can suffer for his sins.

You don’t respond, not immediately. He feels his face pulled into yours and a distinct moisture building up on his thigh wedged between your much smaller legs. Wet— the suction on his tongue, the grinding on his leg, everything’s wet, and damp, and he thinks his mind might be drowning.

He can hear whines, pitched in desperation, and he’s certain they’re from you this time. His arm moves to grip at your hips, cupping your supple mound to shift it up the sheets and press your cunny against his straining erection. His hips buck on instinct, grazing the drooling slit covered only by a thin piece of cotton.

His mind goes blank, vision patching, and it’s too fast, too much, “please, Tooru-nii”— he’s crying. There’s tears stinging the corners of his eyes while he chokes out a string of ‘no, no, no’. He can’t slow the erratic humps against his lil sister’s cunt, the fingers digging into your hips marking you with patches of blooming purple and green, ‘I love you, niichan’.

It’s a knee-jerk reaction; he yanks his body back, takes sharp inhales of breath, until he can open his eyes to look at you again. Panic and nausea coat his tongue where it once tasted like you, but he’s met with the same look of pure adoration you gave him before he tainted your body with sin.

He realizes your hands are still straining to reach the back of his neck where they were before he wrenched his body away. They’re laying gently on his shoulders, twirling lazily at the strands of his hair curling around the base. Tears are flowing down his cheeks, or maybe it’s one single continuous tear, and his body is wracked with guilty desperation.

There’s no malice in your expression, no accusatory anger, and most of all, no disgust. Your face is painted with bliss, and joy, and love— Tooru snaps.

He’s pushing your shoulders back until they meet his singular pillow, and crawls down to nest in the space between your thighs. Large palms hook under your knees and push back until they touch your shoulders, and he moans when he sees your arms reach out to hook them in place obediently.

He wants to cherish this moment, burn the image into his brain for years to come, however many he’s spared, but his loins burn with years of yearning. He grants himself one glance at your tiny frame spread open for him, revels in the sheer devotion in your eyes, and plunges his face into the drenched cotton covering your core.

You moan out his name in a wanton reaction as he inhales your sweet toxins like he’s trying to drown— he is, he has no reason to live past this moment he sins, no right to live as he indulges in his sick perversions.

He can feel each shake and tremor of your thighs above his head as he sucks and licks at the soaked cotton, rendered nothing but an useless scrap now. Each suck is paired with a deep whine, echoing through his now-barren room. With one swift move he pulls off your panties and let it dangle between your ankles hanging above your bodies. Slick lines drip from the wet rag, stretching to connect back to your drooling pussy.

Five seconds— that’s how long he allows himself to marvel at your leaking slit, lips pink and puckered around the clenching hole. His cockhead drenches through his pants, so painfully hard a soft breath could send him tumbling over.

But he doesn’t allow himself to touch it, it’s not about him; it’s about you. Your devotion, mercy— your sheer, unadulterated, unwavering love for him. It’s about you; you deserve the best, you deserve it all, you deserve someone that’s not him.

He licks up, tongue flat, and slowly follows the dip between your folds until he suctions onto your swollen bud. His lips give it a soft peck, before wrapping around it and enclosing it in the hot heat of his mouth.

He has half a mind to snake his hand up to clamp over your mouth, stop the loud moans and sobs from coming out, but each wail shoots jolts of arousal straight to his leaking dick; he can’t bring himself to shut it down, despite how good you look with his long fingers wrapped around your face.

With every long lap, he pulls more cries out of you, and by the time he prods his tongue into your needy hole, you’re clenching down on him, sucking back on the muscle. You’re close, he can feel it. His tongue fucks into you without any of the mercy you’ve graced him, hips rutting into the bedsheet in tangent to your growing squeals.

The palpitations hammering in his heart synchronizes with the pulse of your cunt, weaving into a fatal rondo before everything stops; his hips, your cries, the air closes in on your writhing bodies as he paints his pants in shame and sin.

He allows his peripherals to roam your body; thighs indented with tiny crescents by your dainty fingers, mouth agape with your cute pink tongue lolling out— he swallows down his guilt, letting it scorch his insides before coating his cock threatening to twitch back to life.

He watches your hands drop down from their determined grip, thumping lightly as they hit his bed. He gingerly folds your legs back onto the flat surface before dipping down to place a gentle kiss on your forehead. He can feel your arms shake in attempt to reach out and cuddle him in, but give out to fatigue.

Your eyes flutter closed, lips molding back to that soft smile ever-present in his presence, and he thinks he hears a faint whisper of, ‘I love you, Tooru-nii.’

Placid, limp, he watches as your body loses energy and drains into the mattress below. It slaps him in the face, presents him with a trophy, a golden star stamped with a big fat ‘Sin’ calligraphed on. His world collapses around him, buries him in the debris of his crumbled dignity, and the Devil dances.

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the-al-chemist · 2 years

Text

When Stars Ignite - Chapter 50

HPHM Rockstar AU

A/N: David Willows and Amelia Booth both belong to @that-scouse-wizard

General Warning: This whole fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We will give specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes will be more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing.

Specific Warning: Language, Alcohol Use, Discussion of and Allusion to NSFW topics.

~~~

Find the masterpost here, the previous chapter here and the next one here. The songs featured before every chapter can be found on this pretty badass playlist here.

~~~

This work is a collaboration with @lifeofkaze

Taglist: @slytherindisaster @night-rhea @carewyncromwell @thatravenpuffwitch @anthamariemayfair @whatwouldvalerydo

And your shoulders are frozen

Cold as the night

Oh, but you're an explosion

You’re dynamite

Your name isn't Rio, but I don't care for sand

And lighting the fuse might result in a bang-b-b-bang, oh

~ The Arctic Monkeys - I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor ~

The bar tent had grown hot and stuffy. Artemis had long removed her jacket, and she was now feeling the heat even in the flimsy fabric of the dusky pink playsuit Andre had given her. From her position at the bar, she saw Merula make her way outside, most likely for a cigarette and a breath of fresh air. Artemis couldn’t say that she blamed her for wanting that. She excused herself from Andre and Charlie, the latter of whom was now rambling, having been somewhat tipsy after they finished watching the Wurzels, and was now several more drinks down the line.

The chill of the night air was a welcome change, and Artemis savoured the sensation of the gentle breeze lifting the loose ends of her hair off her bare shoulders. She saw Merula leaning against a fence, and walked towards her, grateful once more for her wellies as she trudged through the mud.

“Mind if I join?” she asked her. Merula shrugged and said nothing. Taking that as an affirmative, Artemis leant against the fence next to her and started to roll a cigarette. “So, what’s the deal with you and David Willows?”

She had asked the question in a breezy enough voice, but Merula’s response was as frosty as ever.

“There’s no deal, Hexley,” she muttered, looking out across the grass.

“Right. I just assumed that you two were… well, y’know.”

“I know. We’re not. That would be breaking the rules.”

“Of course,” Artemis nodded. “Ethan’s rules. No Fleetwood Mac shit.”

“Exactly.”

“But David is only temporary, isn’t he?”

“And?”

“Well, once he’s not part of the band anymore, you’re free to do whatever you want with him. As long as he agrees to it, obviously,” Artemis grinned and Merula raised her eyebrows. “I think he’d probably agree to anything where you’re involved.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“Oh, come on. You must’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

“Looking at people doesn’t mean anything,” Merula shook her head. “But, yeah. He’s made a few comments that make me think that maybe… I dunno. It’s stupid.”

She looked straight ahead and drew on her cigarette. Her cheeks were a little pink, despite the cold night air. Artemis smirked.

“You like him, don’t you?” she asked. Merula’s cheeks flushed even more.

“Fuck off, Hexley.”

“Oh, shit. You really like him!”

“What are we, thirteen? Who talks about this stuff like that?”

“Sounds like someone’s avoiding the subject.”

“No shit, Sherlock. Funnily enough, I don’t want to talk about this crap with you.”

“Fine,” Artemis shrugged. “Who do you talk about this crap with?”

“No one. I just don’t talk about it,” Merula bristled. Artemis frowned at her, and Merula sighed. “Why do you care, Hexley?”

“Because, I know how shit it is not having anyone to talk to, and I thought that maybe you might want to have someone to do that with,” replied Artemis. Merula blinked at her. “I’m just saying that the offer is there.”

The two of them stood side by side in silence, both smoking their respective cigarettes, goosebumps starting to appear over their bare arms and legs. Eventually, Merula’s voice broke through the soft quiet.

“Thanks.”

She spoke so quietly that Artemis thought that she’d imagined it at first. She looked across at Merula, who quickly averted her eyes.

“You’re welcome.”

“I’m just so used to doing everything alone, at least in my personal life. I mean, there’s the band, and there’s Orion but otherwise…” Merula half-laughed. “Well, let’s just say that it’s easier not to get attached to people. It’s not like you can sustain anything when your life is mapped out years at a time and with touring.”

“Is that the only reason?” Artemis asked, pointedly, and Merula shook her head.

“I mean, most people don’t stick around anyway. I learnt that very early on. You know what I mean.”

“Yeah.”

“The more you let people in, the worse it is when they inevitably want out.”

Artemis nodded. She exhaled, and shivered a little.

“I just don’t know with David,” Merula continued. “I’ve sort of gotten used to pushing people away before they can get close enough to… It’s a hurt or be hurt thing, and I’ve always been okay with that but now, I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt him, but I know that only makes it easier for him to hurt me.”

“Who says either of you are going to do anything to hurt each other?”

“Don’t be a twat. Everybody hurts. What? Why are you laughing?”

“Sorry,” Artemis tried to stifle her giggles. “It’s just that I thought you were in Equinox, not R.E.M.”

“Fucking great.”

“No, really. I’m serious. Yeah, everyone can hurt people, but not everyone means to hurt. You just have to find the people who are… decent, I guess.”

“Yeah, but how do you tell who is decent and who isn’t?”

“I dunno,” Artemis frowned. “You’re asking the wrong person, Merula. I suppose… well, you just look at their words and their actions, and whether those things tally up, and whether they make you feel happier than they do scared.”

“And then what?”

“Then you just hope for the best.”

“Oh, well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic. Thanks for the advice.”

“I don’t know what else you want me to say. It’s the thing about trust, isn’t it? You don’t know if it’s deserved, you just do it. And it’s scary, and it makes you vulnerable, but you do it anyway.”

Merula fell quiet. Artemis couldn’t tell if her words had helped or made things worse. A thought struck her, and she started to chuckle again.

“What’s so funny now?”

“Nothing,” Artemis said through her quiet laughter. “I just always thought you were gay.”

Merula sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Why do people always think that?” she asked.

“I don’t know, you just give off that kind of vibe.”

“A vibe.”

“Yeah, like a gay vibe. But you’re not. Gay, I mean.”

“No. Not exclusively, anyway,” Merula said, and she narrowed her eyes at Artemis. “Are you gay?”

“Not as a general rule, no.”

“I thought you didn’t give a shit about rules.”

“I don’t, but this is one rule I’ve never really thought about breaking,” Artemis paused and tilted her head to one side. “What do lesbians actually do, anyway?”

“I am not having this fucking conversation with you, Hexley.”

Artemis grinned, and looked back across the tent-filled field, now lit by strings of fairy lights and the ends of cigarettes. Festival-goers in colourful outfits and varying states of intoxication were mingling around, their voices floating through the cold night. Artemis' smile widened as she picked out a familiar shock of red hair making its way through the crowd towards them.

“There you are,” Charlie said, louder than was strictly necessary, as he staggered over to the fence where Artemis and Merula were standing. “What have you two been talking about?”

“Lesbian sex.”

“Oh, right,” Charlie raised his eyebrows and leant against the fence next to Artemis. “Well, don’t mind me. Do carry on.”

Merula and Artemis exchanged dark glances, before Charlie leaned over Artemis’ shoulder and took a puff of the cigarette she was raising to her lips.

“What are you doing?” Artemis asked him. “You don’t smoke.”

“I’m not smoking.”

“I think you are.”

“Nope. Not smoking, just sharing,” Charlie leaned over to take another drag. Artemis moved her cigarette away from him, and he took hold of her wrist to keep her hand still. “Sharing is caring, Artemis.”

“Fine,” Artemis rolled her eyes. “Do you want me to roll you your own?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I gave up smoking,” said Charlie, looking earnestly at Artemis, and taking another drag. He blew the smoke into her right ear, and she shoved him gently away from her. He stumbled and grabbed hold of the fence behind him. “That was very unkind.”

“So was blowing in my ear.”

“There’s nothing unkind about blowing.”

Merula groaned and stubbed her cigarette out on the fence.

“Nah. Fuck this,” she muttered, and stood up straight as if to leave the pair of them. “Thanks for the chat, Hexley.”

“Any time, Merula,” Artemis said, wriggling away from the arm Charlie was draping over her shoulders.

“Merula, don’t go,” Charlie said, and then hiccoughed. “I have to tell you something really important.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“You are my favourite Powerpuff girl.”

“Go fuck yourself, Weasley.”

Artemis watched Merula walk away, before pursing her lips and looking at Charlie out of the side of her eye.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Am I not your favourite Powerpuff girl?” Artemis asked him, and he grinned sheepishly.

“No, you’re just my favourite.”

Artemis chuckled, and shook her head. Lifting her gaze to look at him properly, she cocked one eyebrow.

“Sounds like someone wants to keep sharing cigarettes.”

“Me? Never,” Charlie hiccoughed again. “I didn’t know that you and Merula were good friends.”

“We’re not. We just smoke together sometimes. And we have some stuff in common, I guess.”

“Hm. Resting bitch face.”

“I don’t have resting bitch face!”

“You do. You - hic - have it right now.”

“This isn’t resting,” Artemis said, pulling her cigarette away from him. “This is active.”

“Like a volcano.”

“Yeah. Sure,” Artemis smoked, and offered her cigarette to Charlie again. “Why are you out here anyway?”

“I came to find you.”

“Why?”

“For a chat.”

“Fine. What did you want to chat about?”

“I had a joke. And I thought you’d think it was funny.”

“Probably not. I don’t think you’re funny.”

“Liar,” Charlie poked her nose, and she batted his hand. He grinned and used his forefinger to push the tip of her nose upwards like a pig snout. “You always - hic - laugh at my jokes.”

“Well, someone has to,” Artemis grabbed Charlie’s fingers and dragged them away from her face. “Go on, then. What was the joke?”

“I don’t remember it.”

“Brilliant. Have you thought about getting into stand up comedy?”

“I’d be fucking great at stand up comedy.”

Charlie stood up straight as if to demonstrate, and promptly lost his balance. He tripped backwards and landed back against the fence, his hair falling over his face. Artemis smirked.

“I think you maybe need to go back to the yurt,” she told him, and Charlie slammed his palm to his forehead.

“Yurts. Fuck. That’s it! Yurts.”

“Yurts,” Artemis repeated, mocking his now pronounced Devonshire accent. In retaliation, he prodded her between the ribs. “Ow, Charlie! Piss off!”

“Yeah, but the yurts.”

“What about the yurts?”

“My joke!” Charlie grinned. “You know what they say about having sex in them?”

“Not a clue. What do they say?”

“It’s fucking intense.”

Charlie’s mischievous smile grew wider, prouder. Artemis blinked and kept a decidedly straight face.

“That’s a shit joke.”

“You’re a shit joke.”

Artemis allowed herself to laugh, and Charlie busied himself with attempting to blow his hair away from his face. Artemis watched his efforts, and after the sixth unsuccessful attempt, threw down her cigarette, stamped on it, and moved closer to him.

“For fuck’s sake,” she said, rolling her eyes and pulling a pin out of her hair, which had started to fall down around her shoulders. She reached up and pushed Charlie’s hair back from his face, and pressed the pin into it. “There you go.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“No, it’s a secret. Like the smoking. That’s a secret, you can’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t, don’t worry.”

“Good, or I’ll tell everyone your secret.”

“I don’t have a secret,” Artemis laughed, her heartbeat speeding up nonetheless.

“Yes, you do. I know your big secret,” Charlie smirked.

“What’s that?”

Charlie beckoned her closer, and she leaned in towards him. She could hear her pulse in her ears.

“You’re not as tough as you like people to think you are,” Charlie whispered, his breath hot and cider-scented as it brushed past her face. Artemis realised that she was standing very close to him - too close to him - and she took a big step backwards, wrapping her arms across her chest and shivering involuntarily as the cold enveloped her. “Are you cold?”

“Um, yeah. A little.”

“You can have my jacket, if you like.”

“No. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re cold. You just said you’re cold. Have my jacket.”

“Then you’ll be cold.”

“I don’t mind,” Charlie started to take his leather jacket off, swaying as he let go of the fence. “I have another jacket. It’s made of beer.”

“Seriously, Charlie, I’m… You can keep your clothes on,” Artemis told him, laughing as she watched him struggle. “I’m done smoking anyway. Let’s go back in and then neither of us will be cold.”

“But-”

“Come on. Let’s go inside. I want to dance.”

“We can have another drinking race.”

“I don’t think you need to drink any more,” Artemis said, putting her arm around his back to help steady him as they trudged back through the mud to the bar tent, Charlie pulling at his jacket and trying to wrap it around her. “What are you doing? Stop that.”

“No, Artie, it’s warmer inside the jacket.”

“I don’t care.”

“What would the penguins do?” Charlie asked her, and she laughed again.

He was leaning on her quite heavily now, and she had to make a conscious effort to stay upright. Luckily, the bar tent was only a few metres away. However, when they reached the door, the bouncer took one look at Charlie and shook his head.

“Nah. No way, mate. You’ve had enough for one night.”

“I just want to get him to sit down and have some water,” Artemis told the bouncer, wishing that Charlie would at least try to act sober, rather than using her to support his weight.

“He’s not coming inside. Sorry, love.”

“You should do as she says. She looks sweet but she is scary when she’s angry,” Charlie said, bringing his hand to Artemis’ chin and squashing her cheeks with his fingertips. “I mean, look at this little bitchy face.”

“Shut up, Charlie. You’re really not helping.”

“Yeah, I cannot let him back in,” the bouncer folded his arms across his chest. “Take him home and-”

“Is there a problem here?” Andre stepped out of the bar and looked between the bouncer, Charlie and Artemis with pursed lips.

“Charlie’s drunk-”

“Pff. Lies.”

“- and he’s not allowed back inside,” Artemis explained. “I’ll take him back to the yurt and come back after.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Andre asked, eyebrows raised. “No offence, darling, but I don’t think you’ll be able to get him all the way back to the campsite. He’s too heavy.”

“Fucking rude,” muttered Charlie.

“He’s not going to make it back by himself, Andre. He can hardly stand.”

“I know, sweetie. I was thinking that I might be able to take him on my way back.”

“You’re leaving, are you?”

“I am. Not alone, either,” Andre winked. “Just let me find my friend and we can deal with Weasley.”

Once Charlie had been safely escorted away from the bar by Andre and his well-muscled “friend”, Artemis returned inside. The tent was heaving, but despite the number of faces in the crowd, she struggled to find one that was familiar.

The only people remaining at the table reserved for the Equinox entourage were Merula and David. Artemis smiled to herself as she saw the way they were sitting close together on the bench, deep in conversation, their postures mirroring one another as they looked into each other’s eyes. No. She couldn’t disturb them. Not now.

There was no sign of Lizzie, KC, or Murphy anywhere, but she thought she caught a glimpse of blue hair on the dancefloor. Looking closer, she could see that Skye’s face was very close to that of Erika. No disturbing them, either. At the bar, there was Orion, but Artemis would have rather not gotten into a conversation with him. It would have felt like a betrayal to Lizzie, somehow.

She pretended not to have seen Orion, and went over to the other side of the bar, slipping through the crowd to the front of the queue.

“Hi,” said the person next to her, who she quickly recognised as David Willows’ sister. “It’s Artie, isn’t it?”

“Artemis,” she corrected her. “And you’re Amelia, right?”

Amelia nodded, and smiled brightly. She was almost as short as Artemis herself - almost, but not quite - and had dark brown hair that had been tied up into two messy buns high on either side of her head like a bohemian Princess Leia. There was something carefree and genuine in her smile, and her posture as she leant on the bar was one of someone who was confident and at ease being in her own company.

“David says you’re one of the best pyrotechnicians he’s ever worked with,” Amelia told her, after ordering both of them drinks. “He also said not to tell you I said that, but a compliment’s a compliment. You might as well hear it.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Artemis nodded. “Do you do anything to do with music, or-”

“No. I’m on a gap year at the moment. Just finished a degree in horticulture, and I needed a break, y’know? So I packed up my shit and went travelling.”

“Where have you been?”

“Oh, here and there. Started off with a bit of interrailing around Europe between college and uni. This year, I did six months working in Australia and New Zealand, and four backpacking through South America.”

“Impressive,” Artemis said, raising her eyebrows and taking a sip of her whiskey and coke. “Did you go with friends, or…”

“Interrailing, yeah. The rest I did by myself.”

“That’s brave.”

“I guess. I dunno. I did Camp America a couple of times at uni so I sort of knew what I was getting myself into. Gymnastics camp. Absolutely mad,” Amelia laughed. “But, yeah, I was shitting it when I left to go to Colombia with just a backpack. You get used to it pretty quickly, though, and you make friends while you’re travelling. You ever done anything like that?”

Artemis shook her head. She’d left places with nothing but a rucksack before, but it was hardly by choice.

“I mean, there’s touring, but that doesn’t really count.”

“No, I guess not. How long have you been touring with Equinox?”

“Only a few months. I joined for the U.K. leg.”

“Oh. So you don’t know the band too well, then?”

“I dunno,” Artemis frowned. “The thing with touring is that everyone’s living in each other’s pockets all the time. You get to know people pretty well pretty quickly.”

“That makes sense,” Amelia cast a look over her shoulder in the direction of the band’s table, where her brother now had his arm draped across the back of Merula’s chair. “What’s she like, really?”

“Merula? She’s alright.”

“She comes across as being… Well, a bit of a bitch, to be honest.”

“That’s just the way her face looks,” Artemis smirked, but Amelia didn’t smile back. “Nah, Merula is actually not that bad once you get to know her. She just acts very cold towards people until she gets to know them, that’s all.”

Amelia made a doubtful sort of noise, before shaking her head.

“Hm. Maybe I’m just being overprotective,” she said, finishing her drink. “My brother has a track record for picking women who are basically arseholes.”

“Well, I didn’t say Merula isn’t an arsehole,” Artemis grinned. “She’s sarcastic and a bit spiky, but she is actually a decent person. And she does really like your brother.”

“Did she say that to you?”

“No, but I can tell. She likes him. A lot. Do you want another drink?”

“Sure, but…” Amelia paused and looked around. “Won’t your boyfriend be wondering where you’ve gone?”

“He’d have to exist to do that.”

“What?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Amelia tilted her head to one side. “I thought the guy from before, with ginger hair and the-”

“Charlie? No,” Artemis laughed out loud. “No, we’re just friends.”

“Okay. I just assumed the two of you-”

“Drink?”

Artemis ordered another pair of drinks, making her own a single. She wanted to drink more, but her head was already feeling a little fuzzy from the heat and the alcohol.

“Do you have a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?”

“No. I find that being in a relationship ties you down,” Amelia replied. “The way I see it, I’m free to do whatever I want, and go wherever I want, whenever I want. It’s great.”

“Good for you.”

“It is, but you wouldn’t believe it from the things I get asked all the time. Honestly, every single family party, it’s like ‘when are you going to settle down?’, or ‘have you met anyone recently?’, like the only thing that matters in my life is finding another person.”

“Maybe they just worry that you’re lonely.”

“No, it’s not that at all. It’s because I’m a woman. They never ask David those things, and he’s single, and older than I am, too. It’s bullshit,” Amelia sighed. “Just because I’m a woman, they think my only purpose is to fall in love and live happily ever after. That’s so fucked up. Like, I’ve achieved so much and done so much in my life, and I’ve got so many other things that I want to do and will do, why would my happiness and my whole future be dependent on anyone but myself? Why is that the only thing that makes my life and my story worthwhile?”

Artemis nodded. Amelia had a really good point. There were other things in life that were just as important - if not more important - than finding a soulmate, if soulmates even existed. It was interesting, though, talking about it with Amelia.

As for Artemis, she had always been dependent on herself alone, but she’d had no choice but to be this way. Amelia had her family behind her, she had friends, and an education, and skills. She had chosen this life, and she clearly loved it. Artemis couldn’t say for sure whether she would have felt the same if their positions had been reversed.

“Do you never get lonely?” she asked out loud, before she’d even realised that the question had formed in her head. Quickly, she sipped her drink, and regarded Amelia over the top of her whiskey.

“Not really. I mean, my family and friends are only ever a phone call away, and you can get internet pretty much anywhere these days. Besides, I make new friends everywhere, or at least just chat to people who have really interesting lives,” Amelia smirked. “And don’t get me wrong, I do still date and hook up with people, it’s just casual, no commitment involved. The rest of the time I have a very decent vibrator, and that’s much less whiny than a boyfriend or a girlfriend would be.”

“You are actually really selling this.”

“Thanks. I can send you a link to the website I bought it from, if you like. It’ll change your life, seriously.”

The two of them continued to chat as they finished their second round of drinks. Meanwhile, in the corner of the room, David and Merula were getting cosier and cosier.

“Looks like we’re going to have to keep entertaining ourselves for the rest of the night,” Artemis said, as the two of them watched David whisper something into Merula’s ear. Amelia raised her eyebrows.

“I’m flattered, Artemis,” she grinned, “but you're not really my type. I prefer blondes.”

“That’s fine. I prefer penises,” Artemis shot back. Amelia laughed, and Artemis scanned the room. “What about her? She’s very blonde. Pretty, too.”

She nodded across the dancefloor to a girl with a willowy figure and straight white-blonde hair that fell to just above her shoulders. Amelia followed her line of sight and nodded, smiling.

“She is.”

“Come on, then,” Artemis said, putting her glass down. “Let’s head over there.”

The pair of them danced across the room, close to where the blonde girl was with her friends. It didn’t take long for Amelia to strike up a conversation with her, and not a lot longer before the pair of them were dancing together. They danced closer, and closer, and their faces drew nearer until their lips locked together. Artemis smiled. Her work here was done.

She turned back to the bar, and felt a pair of eyes settle on her as she emerged from the throng on the dancefloor. She looked across the bar and saw who it was: a tall man with dark hair and high cheekbones. She made eye contact, and he smiled at her. He was good-looking. Very good-looking, in fact.

Well, she thought, Andre had said not to waste the outfit. So, she made her way over to the bar to let the handsome stranger buy her a drink.

#when stars ignite #hogwarts mystery #hphm fic #hphm #hphm rockstar au #artemis hexley #charlie weasley #merula snyde #Amelia booth #besties collaborate

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