#micro be like: oh jeez

[youraverageaemondsimp]

DILF!Aemond Targaryern, DILF!Aegon ii Targaryen x Reader (Separate) // HEADCANONS/DRABBLE.

WARNINGS: slight smut, mdni, afab!reader, age gap, breeding kink (aemond), p in v sex (aemond), unprotected sex (aemond), cunnilingus (aegon), oral f receiving (aegon), + not proof read.

(this is technically not a full blown hcs but neither is it a full drabble, so that's why I added both in the title)

WC: 1.3k total (aemond + aegon parts)

Aemond Targaryen !!

You knew that you definitely needed an older guy after your immature and toxic break up with the guy around your age, who treated you with almost no value.

But what you didn't expect was to catch the eye of your dad's boss during an event you had attended with him, he was in his early thirties with 2 children with his former divorced wife, Floris Baratheon.

Your relationship began quite formally at first, with him being a complete gentleman, asking you about your educational background, what job you were doing and he had asked for your number ‘just in case’ you need a job if you lose the current one, it felt more like a job offer than a normal conversation.

Until he began to text you good mornings, ask you about your day — at first he would do just that, and leave a smiley emoji after your response, but as time passed on, and you felt more comfortable around each other, he began to share a few personal things.

He had opened up about his divorce with his wife, how it affected him and the kids, — oh the kids, he would share pictures of them when he would be the one spending time with him, he had told you that he was fighting for full custody since Floris was basically neglecting them when they're spending time with her, and you wished him luck.

Soon you both begin to meet up, go on dates, he was stoic, with no expression on his face so it was hard to read through him, but eventually you'd learn to decipher his micro expressions.

You couldn't ignore the way he made you feel anymore, and you made it official, your dad was shocked and angry thinking Aemond had abused his power to get to you but once you explained everything, he calmed down.

You moved out of your apartment into his house, he had given you heads up about the kids that they're hard to handle and dont welcome strangers that easily, but you had told him that you'll manage everything.

And eventually you got along with the kids, and everything in life seemed to be moving fast from there onwards, Aemond got full custody of the kids after proving the neglect they were facing from the mother's side. Which you congratulate him about.

He would often stare at you when you'd play with the kids, he couldn't help but have the thought of your stomach swollen with his child, he'd eventually confess to you about it during your intimate moments.

“Oh fuck— yes right there!” You throw your head back against the pillows as Aemond thrusts into at full force, his desperate hands grabbing any flesh he could find, giving it a tight squeeze. You moaned as you peaked, as his tip repeatedly hit your sweet spot.

“I'm coming.” He grunts, “Jeez— I want to finish inside you so bad, watch you grow round with my child– fuck— I can only imagine the sight.” His words made you feel warm on the inside, and when he went to pull out, you locked your legs around his waist, to which he was surprised by, “Do it inside me then.” You say seductively and he immediately begins to thrust rapidly, he finishes inside you with a moan, painting your walls white before he pulls out, watching intently as his seed drips out of your cunt.

“Mhm, I think Aerys and Rhaegal would love to have a little sister.” He says as he plops down next to you, pulling you into his arms, “I think they would.” You reaffirm, rubbing your thighs together, feeling even more turned on as his seed sticks to your thighs.

“We should definitely make sure it takes.” You tell him, implying at a second round and he smirks knowingly.

Aegon ii Targaryen !!

You met him in a club you went to when you tried to destress because of your exams. He immediately took a liking to you, at first you had guessed that he'd be around your age, so imagine your surprise when you found out that he was in his mid thirties.

He laughed when you told him about it, he was extremely outgoing, in fact, too outgoing and so much of an extrovert.

You both immediately clicked, enjoying each other's company and finally exchanged numbers. He had drunk too much and eventually overshared everything about how his wife passed away in childbirth, leaving him with a child who he is working hard to raise.

“I try my best to raise him, but it gets too tiring. You know, I had hired a nanny, but I wish I could just quit my job and spend more time with him.” He shares, “Where do you work?” You ask curiously, “Hightower Co.” and your eyes widen at that, “Isn't that a really difficult place to get into? Their employee selection rate is super low, and I heard their manager is quite picky.” you shrug and he chuckles, “Well I guess I am indeed picky sometimes.”

“what.”

You apologised immediately after feeling embarrassed, he had revealed that his grandfather owns the company and basically wants his family members to run and manage it, though it screams nepotism, most of the hightowers and their extended family are extremely good at their ages, there were only a few select non-family members that were able to make to a non-basic worker status.

Things ended awkwardly after that, but nonetheless, you both communicated with each other from time to time, he would send you cute pictures and videos of himself and his son doing random stuff, or just bonding which warmed your heart.

After a month of talking, you both decide to get into a relationship, you knew it was quick, but you couldn't help it when you got along so well, he would often bring his child on the dates with you, which you didn't mind, but rather had more fun cause this would allow you to go non-romantic dates which are rather comforting.

If there was one thing which you didn't expect of Aegon ; was his sexual appetite, which he had a lot of, you were surprised by how much stamina he has, and how he's willing to go more than 3 rounds at a time, it sometimes exhausted you because you'd be too overstimulated to even continue.

You still remember how he had fingered you whilst at the family dinner under the table while maintaining a conversation with his grandfather, you tried so hard to not make a noise. He eventually finished what he started in his bedroom.

His favourite thing to do is eat you out, he loves the expressions and noises you make and how messy it would be afterwards.

“Aegon— ahh— hmm pls–” You blabber out incoherent noises whilst you grip his hair, pushing his face further into your cunt which he takes in obediently, lapping his tongue up and down and suckling on your clit as if his life depended on it.

The whimpers and noises you let out only motivated him further to continue his ministrations, he dipped down further while his tongue pushes past the folds of your cunt before entering it, the angle caused his nose to be pressed into your clit, nudging against it while Aegon greedily ate you out.

He pushed his tongue in and out before he licked a long strip up to your clit and once again, latched himself onto it, you moaned when you felt his teeth slightly graze against it.

He sucked on your clit which caused you to peak while holding his face tightly against your cunt, your vision went white at the intensity of the orgasm and your body trembled as you calmed down.

Yet Aegon did not stop, you pulled his hair in an effort to pull away, but he grabbed your hand and held it away while he continued to devour you, you whimpered as the overstimulation hit you, trying to wriggle away from his face yet he still didn't budge and continued sucking, nibbling and biting your clit.

After all, he had no intentions of stopping until you were a mess.

#aemond smut #aegon smut #aemond x reader smut #aemond targaryen x reader smut #aegon x reader smut #aegon targeryen x reader smut #aemond targaryen smut #aegon targaryen smut #aegon targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen x reader #x reader smut #hotd x reader #headcanons #hotd x reader smut #aemond smut headcanons #aegon smut headcanons #hotd smut #hotd smut headcanons

[icksam]

pre-slash steddie fic idea. had a different idea for the dialogue but i forgot while writing the intro whoops

-

After everything, Steve decided to throw a little celebratory “We all somehow survived again!” after Vecna. It’s taking place at his house, from 5-11pm. Around 7, all of the kids (“We’re not kids anymore, Steve, We’re teenagers!” “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Henderson.”) made their way home to leave all of the older kids to mope around.

In hindsight, Steve should’ve just made a crap ton of gift baskets and given them in person. He almost wishes he left with the kids but, again, they’re at his house.

Everyone’s in pairs, somehow. Jonathan with Nancy; Argyle with.. Jonathan? And Robin with… Nancy.

Okay— maybe not solid pairs but certainly not with Steve. Steve, who’s all alone. Steve, who’s currently watching Eddie who is, well, also alone.

Steve at least expected Robin to keep him company but he must have underestimated her crush forming on Nancy. Not that he could blame her, of course. Nancy was a force to be reckoned with. But still. He’s whiny and lonely and he doesn’t want to be alone, damnit. They recently saved the world.

Steve, somewhat drunkenly, decided to make his way towards Eddie. The man looked lonely just like Steve, so he figured that was reason enough.

Eddie noticed Steve a few steps before he was in front of him. Steve thought he saw some wariness flash across Eddie’s face before he schooled it into a confused, thin smile.

“Hey, man.”

“Hey, yourself. Got something on your mind, Stevie?”

Steve averted his eyes to stare at the carpet in the living room. (Stevie Stevie Stevie) A wine stain was barely peeking out from beneath the rug. (Stevie) Clearing his throat, Steve looked back at Eddie. He tried not to notice how pretty his eyes were.

“Everyone’s in pairs and you’re alone and I’m alone and— fuck, um. Wanna pair?” Jeez. What happened to being a smooth talker?

Eddie huffed before saying, “Is this your way of asking me to hang out with you?”

For a second, Steve felt irrationally disappointed and repressed the urge to say, No! I want to pair. PAIR pair.

“No. Pair pair.”

Aw shit.

(The only source of light in the living room came from a single lamp in one of the corners, so Steve wasn’t sure if the red creeping up Eddie’s neck was his imagination.)

“.. huh?”

Shit. How does he backtrack from this?? Good going Steve. That was the type of smooth he wanted to slip on and crack his head. God, what??

Steve must have been silent for a few too many seconds because when he tuned back into reality he noticed Eddie started squirming in his place on the sofa.

“Sorry, I mean. Yeah. Hang out. Like a pair. ‘Cause everyone’s kind of pairing up right now and, well.” Full sentences Steve, where had those gone? He was never this inept at previous parties while drunk.

Eddie visibly relaxed and threw a smile at Steve, albeit still a little tense. Patting the spot next tp him, Eddie said “Well then I invite you, my liege, to sit on this humble spot next to me.”

Steve plopped down, narrowly missing the wink Eddie threw his way. Steve propped his feet onto the coffee table and watched his hands as he messed with the beer’s bottle cap.

“So. How’re the bat bites treating you?”

“Same as you, I s’pose. It’s kind of sick we got matching scars, huh?”

Steve glanced up to meet Eddie’s (pretty, so pretty) eye’s again. Eddie’s eyes were watching Steve, glancing between Steve’s eyes as if watching his micro-expressions. After a bit of hesitancy, Steve mumbled, “yeah. Metal,” and hoped he used the term correctly.

Eddie broke out into a very bright grin.

(his smile is as pretty as his eyes, oh no.)

All wariness seemed to leave Eddie after that. Their conversations went smoothly, almost as if something clicked between them. Steve’s bitchiness left as his loneliness faded.

Before either of them knew, it was 10:55 and the others were getting ready to leave. Robin and Argyle were a little more than tipsy, but they’d both be grabbing rides from Jonathan and Nancy. Steve bid them farewell until it was only he and Eddie left standing near the doorway.

“So-” Eddie started, at the same time Steve said, “Well-”.

They looked at each other and chuckled, eyes never leaving each other. Eddie pressed his lips into a thin, wide smile that showed his dimples. Steve tried not to stare.

Steve shot him a warm smile, leaning a little on the wall. Softly, he said, “I guess I’ll see you around, Munson.”

Eddie, standing up from putting his boots on, equally as soft, “I guess so, Harrington.”

Before Eddie entered his van, Steve jogged down a few steps and met Eddie, the driver door dividing their space. A little breathlessly and loud in the quiet of the night, Steve told him, “Don’t be a stranger, man. You’re welcome here any time.”

Eddie did the thing again where his eyes darted between Steve’s, searching for something. After a moment, he grinned. (Teeth and dimples and all the glory.)

“Thanks, Harrington. I’ll hold you to that.”

Steve didn’t walk back into his house until he watched the van’s tail lights disappear.

#steddie #tw italics #so many #idk man #idk where i was going with this #first fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #fanfic #stranger things #rushed #kind of #sorry

[foxilayde]

Cheers to you for all those followers, well earned!!

Im game, match me up 😏

Let’s see, I’m fairly tall (I enjoy wearing heels because it puts me over 6ft). Blonde (bought and paid for) with blue eyes. Aries.

I like watching movies and reading (I’ve read 54 books since January 1st, and I’m in the middle of 3 more). I have a slight obsession with plants (I have somewhere around 25-35 plants in my micro suite). Currently learning language #3 before I take myself to Peru this year or next year.

Randomly, I don’t like the sound of water being poured (like pouring water from a kettle into a mug), it unsettles me.

I can hip thrust 145lb (my goal is 200lb), and I have a scar on my chin from a Barbie fridge (I was 2, wearing my big sister’s boots).

My most watched movie? the mummy, and to saw over 300 times is not an exaggeration. I literally watched it on repeat for 3 days straight before the sequel reached my nearby theatre. It was VHS, serious dedication.

Lana! I have NEVER in all of my DAYS seen a more perfect match for Marc Spector. 

You’re chill yet ambitious. THREE LANGUAGES?? HIP THRUSTS?? TALL BITCH?? Oh hell yeah. Marc is allllll over that, honey. And THEN some. 

You are down for an adventure (as long as you can find someone to water your plants while you’re away) and you don’t ask too many questions of him either. Content to see where your travels take you and to live in the moment.

You met Marc on a transcontinental flight. He was seated next to you in business class on your way to Cairo. You have your itinerary all set. Tours, museums, hostels, even dune surfing and a camel tour. You’ve done so much research and have read so many books on the city. You’ve wanted to visit since you were a little kid, after all!

You’re looking through one of your travel books, highlighting one stop in particular that looks interesting, when you notice the man next to you. You had been so engrossed in your book that you’d not even seen him sit down. But now he’s bouncing his knee with a nervous energy, making his presence wholly known, and you just stare at his shaking leg. Then at him with an upraised eyebrow.

“Nervous?”

He stops bouncing his knee.

“Yeah. But not about flying.” He wrings his hands now, and it's obvious he doesn’t want to talk about it. He nods at the book in your hands. “First time to Egypt?”

“Yeah! I’ve always wanted to go!”

“Little tip? Drink bottled water. The tap tastes like chlorine.”

“Duly noted. Thanks for the tip…”

He stops twiddling his thumbs to extend you a hand, “Marc.”

“Lana.”

“Nice to meet you.” His eyes land upon your open backpack full to the brim with books. “Jeez, you know its only a 6 hour flight, right?”

You smile warmly at him, “I like to switch it up… I like options.” You shrug.

“You gonna read them all this flight, or can I borrow one? Had to leave sorta suddenly and the sky mall only gets you so far.”

You push your bag closer to him. “Be my guest.”

He rifles through the bag and laughs when he selects the fucking alien romance novel that you had at the bottom. Fucking hell. 

“This one any good?” He holds up the raunchy cover at you and you nod.

“Blows the Sky Mall out of the water.” 

You sit in silence for the rest of the flight, sneaking glances over at him, giggling silently seeing his wide eyed expressions. You try to keep reading your travel book but it’s so much more entertaining to watch him read the smut. 

When the flight lands he’s still got a few chapters left. He goes to hand it back to you, but you give him the address of the hostel you’re staying at.

“Finish it. I insist. You can send it here when you’re done.” You wink at him, and sling your book-laden bag over your shoulder.

“I’ll do that!” He calls after you. 

He keeps his promise the next day, returning it in person. 

#follower celebration #Marc Spector x reader #moon knight

[moonah-rose]

Eavesdrop

A quick alternate to Earshot, but set in canon S2 rather than NPL, where the demons focus on Michael for their taunting.

*

Second book in on the top shelf. That’s the one to pull to unlock the secret door hidden in the wall behind Michael’s desk. She’s supposedly the only other being, besides Janet, in this micro-universe privy to that bit of info. It leads to a hallway that extends to a secret chamber filled with a bunch of Earth collectables along with, recently added on her suggestion, a mini-arcade with classic game machines and a karaoke stand. The walls were sound proof, obviously.

She’s not here to escape a lecture from Chidi about messing up the laundry by hanging out in her demon pal’s very own ‘bud hole’ this time. Her ear is pressed to the closed panel after sealing herself in, waiting for the big Satanic tree to arrive.

To her surprise, and slight annoyance, he hadn’t arrived alone.

“You shouldn’t be getting drunk like this. What if the humans saw you? Everyone here is supposed to be abstinent of all vices!” Michael had grumbled, a ruckus of giggles behind him.

“That’s the point, dummy! It’s a ‘Purge’ night!” Vicky cackled; “Tell ‘im again, Gunner!”

“I got the idea off this human movie - one night, we’re allowed to do any shirt we wanted without consequence! We can drink, smoke, do drugs, stab and bite to our black hearts content!”

“NO! Definitely no stabbing! Or hurting any of them...Physically!” He’d struggled to make that last detail sound natural.

Good save, bud, Eleanor had thought.

Another demon, Petra, Eleanor thinks, had groaned; “Ugh, you are such a buzzkill lately. Can’t you see how awesome this idea is? Think about how wasted Eleanor is gonna let herself get! That dork, Jason, is gonna be high as a kite and it will make Chidi and Tahani wanna cower inside their homes! It’s genius!” 

Eleanor had almost let herself be excited for the idea of trying to make the most of this supposed ‘torture’, similar to the one at Tahani’s party, which even Michael had said she hadn’t done too bad at acting and preparing the chaos sequence the next morning. She could hear the worry in Michael’s response though, being surrounded by three hundred demons, losing their inhibitions and wanting to let off steam in the most ‘passionate’ way possible, had the potential to go very wrong. For all of them.

As she listened, Michael’s attempts to reign in his rogue employees soon descended into outright pleading, which only gave him more scorn in return.

“Look just...remember what our goal is here. I get that you’re all frustrated but we’re doing so well and all I ask is that you don’t go too far on the humans, please.” He’d tried to ask, nicely. Wrong move.

The laughter nearly shook the building.

“Jeez! If you love these humans so much, why don’t you fork them?” Bambadjan teased.

“Nah, let’s face it, not even those cockroaches would wanna go near that disgusting skin suit with all it’s musty folds.” Vicky responded; “...Oh, what’s wrong, Mikey? It’s not like we’re insulting ‘you’ after all...Unless you’re starting to feel a little too cosy in that costume of yours.”

Eleanor’s stomach twisted on his behalf. She knew how much he loved that suit; he was so forking vain, after all. But then again, is it vanity if it’s not really his body? He just wishes it was.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Michael responded, quietly.

“Then prove it, dude! Take it off! Strip! Todd goes streaking every night.” Gunner encouraged.

“You know I can’t! It’s not the same for me.”

“Maybe I’ll take mine off tonight. Imagine how much Mendoza will freak out when he sees a giant acid snake coming for him after too many mushrooms!” Vicky joked; “It’s still ten times better than any torture method you’ve come up with for them, Mike. Maybe melting their brains by revealing your demon form will provide us some results.”

Is it really that bad? Eleanor was naively hoping there was some sexy bald goat-man underneath that suit. Dude was so shifty about it, like he didn’t wanna spoil the mystery. Was it more than that? Was he ashamed?

“You’ve all made your point, have your Purge and I’ll clean up the mess tomorrow. Just go easy on the humans - I insist.” Michael sounded so tired.

“Oh he ‘insists’!? Did you hear that guys? Mikey, who failed his own experiment over eight hundred times, wants to ‘insist’!” Vicky sneers.

“Well I insist that he shuts his fugly food hole and leave the masters to our job!” Petra cackled; “And he gets back to trying to fork his paperclips or whatever shirt you get up to here.”

That sounded painful, Eleanor couldn’t stop herself picturing it.

“Jeez, Mike, you always were a loser but there’s really no hope for you, is there. Before you were just the quiet nerd no one wanted to hang out with because of your weird fixation with Earth-people. Soon you’re gonna be known as the idiot who failed his first experiment; even if the rest of us do manage to salvage it for Shawn, we’ll all know the truth about how badly you suuucked!”

It took all of Eleanor’s strength not to shove the panel open, stomp over and grab Vicky’s hair to slam her face into the desk. They all just followed him in there to bully him?! They were the losers.

“C’mon, guys! We should have known he wouldn’t have wanted to join our party, it’s not like he’s used to being invited to any.” Bambadjan added, inciting more giggles.

“See you in the morning, dumb-ash. Be up bright and early to clean up our shirt, as you say, chop chop!”

Counting to ten to contain her rage luckily meets up with the sound of the door closing, the demons exiting the building.

She carefully opens the secret door, seeing Michael sat in his chair, hands folded on his lap, eyes cast down. When he hears her soft footsteps, his head turns, expression shifting to try to cover the wobbling lip she’d briefly caught sight of. He sniffs and rubs his upper lip with his hand.

“Eleanor!” Michael straightens up; “Were you there the whole time? What if they’d seen you or...sensed you were there?”

“Relax, man, they didn’t see shirt, it’s cool.” She puts her hand up; “...You okay?”

He looks to the side, forcing his ‘superior’ smirk, “Uhh, yeah, of course! Why wouldn’t I be? Just...having a bit of workplace banter, as they say.”

“Didn’t sound like ‘banter’ to me, dude.” She edges closer, slowly, knowing that if he’s as much like her as she knows, he’s gonna be like a wounded tiger right now.

Getting too close, too quick, is gonna get her eyes clawed out. She would know, she’s swung a few claws herself.

Michael sniffs, struggling to keep his mask on; “M’fine, Eleanor, really. You better go prepare for this Purge or whatever they were talking about, go enjoy yourself or...make sure the others are safe-.”

His words are cut off by her weight falling down onto his lap, arms looping around his neck as she embraces him. Fork it. Screw being slow and steady; the demon was about ready to cry.

“Wha....What are you doing?” Michael stutters, stiffening.

“Hugging you, idiot...Sorry, I mean that affectionately,” She says against his ear.

“W-why?”

She shrugs, still hugging him tight, shuffling on his knees; “’Cause you need it. ‘Cause it’s the quickest way to let you know that all those things those demons said was garbage. Fork, have they always talked to you like that?”

His silence answers her question.

She squeezes him again; “Damn, no wonder you’re as new to this whole friend thing as me.”

“Demons insult each other all the time, Eleanor, it’s how we compliment each other. We’re meant to enjoy it.”

That made zero sense. 

“But you don’t....do you?”

Michael breaths in deep against her. Then she shakes her head, leaning into her shoulder.

“That’s ‘cause I’m a freak...I’m wrong, just like they say...like Shawn says...I’m just a failure of a demon.”

“That’s a good thing in my books, man.” Eleanor pulls back, looking at him, admiringly; “You might be failing as a demon but, I have it on good authority, you are rocking it as a newbie human. And I know you think we’re all gross and stupid but...I know you love us.”

He wrinkles his nose, trying to look as though he denied it, yet refusing to. His eyes gaze into hers, a rush of color brightening his cheeks.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to say it, I know you’re not quite ready there yet.” She knows herself how difficult it is to say those three words, to anyone; “But we’re your friends. We want you on our team, Michael, not just ‘cause it stops you torturing us but...Because you’re a cool guy to be around, when you’re not giving paperclip showers or putting us in purple space bubbles.”

A smile threatened to crack on Michael’s face as he squirmed beneath her. Was it really this easy to make an all-powerful being look so shy and bashful? It was adorable.

She moves her hand up to his cheek, thumb stroking below his eye, reddened with unshed tears.

“Also...I feel kinda obliged to confess something.” She says, “This skin-suit? Your skin-suit? What Vicky said was bull-shirt. All of it. Not only is this suit as much you as whatever demony essence you got going on underneath...But it’s also not bad looking either. I might even go as far to say ‘handsome’. In like a Richard Gere in Pretty Woman way.”

“R-really?” He looks hopeful for a second; “I mean...I know it’s gorgeous, but I wouldn’t expect...I mean I wouldn’t want you - or any human - to ever wanna-.”

She cuts his babbling off again with a kiss on the cheek.

He’s frozen now.

Eleanor grins; “That prove it for you? You know me, I don’t give out pity kisses.”

Michael squirmed again, biting his lip, mumbling something which might have been ‘gross’ or ‘weird food holes’, but he doesn’t move his hands away from where they’ve found the small of her back.

“Hey...how about we do one quick bit of karaoke before we go brief the others on tonight. You can pick the song.” She says, giving his bow-tie the smallest tug.

He smiles, touched, then nods; “Sounds good...”

“Cool. Also, don’t open that drawer on your desk until you’ve properly cheered up - I rigged it with a pie to get thrown in your face as revenge for cheating off my paper earlier!”

“Oh, pies are the best prank! I wish you hadn’t told me now, you’ve spoiled the surprise.”

Eleanor giggles as she takes his hand, leading him to his bud-hole; “You know me, demon buddy. I’m always full of surprises.”

His fingers squeezed hers; “That you are.”

#hellstrop minific #michael x eleanor #fluff #emotional hurt/comfort

[oceangenasi]

D&P and Merther for the shipping ask game???

Yax I would die for you except you’d probably stop me from dying with your EMT wizardry and then where would we be

🖤 D/P 💙

1. What made you ship it? I have eyes? But seriously, I like to joke about how my ships are either softboys and their badass women or queerbait m/m angst.... and then there’s this shining exception. A canon m/m ship that gets a love story and a happy ending :’’’) I started watching the show very casually, knowing David was queer but not that D/P was endgame and then the next thing I knew I had ascended to another plane of existence

2. What are your favorite things about the ship? I am never not thinking about the Dynamic... it’s the complementary aspects of their personalities for me!

You’ve got David: flamboyantly queer and deeply dramatic, who’s had intense emotions his whole life that have scared people away but he’s also brave and unique and creative and wonderful. He’s everything that Patrick didn’t know he needed. He’s been hurt a lot of times and he almost doesn’t believe that he’s capable of being loved so wholly and completely. Enter Patrick.

Patrick is so straight-laced and repressed and invested in being well-liked that he had built up a whole seemingly perfect life that was making him deeply unhappy. I don’t think that even Patrick knew he was capable of loving David the way he does, because he hadn’t cast off his old life and gone on that emotional journey until he met David. His “you make me feel right” speech is my favorite bit of the entire show. Patrick found himself in finding David.

They balance each other: Patrick grounds David, providing him the unconditional love that David can flourish with, and David brings beauty and color into Patrick’s life.

I also adore how much casual intimacy they get on screen, all the kisses and shoulder touches. It’s incredibly healing to watch after so much queer angst and suffering, when we get representation at all.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? Yeah, Patrick’s not perfect. I get very pissy when people trash David for his actions surrounding the barbecue and/or the wedding and imply he was being unfair/selfish -- because even if he was, Patrick has a responsibility to communicate his concerns if he wants David to respond to them. Patrick has a tendency to avoid/repress his feelings and that can be incredibly damaging in a relationship if not addressed. David can’t read Patrick’s mind, nor should he be expected to. He doesn’t need to magically intuit Patrick’s distress from Patrick’s micro-expressions or whatever the fuck -- Patrick needs to step up and tell David when he doesn’t like David’s behavior. Yes, I’m projecting like hell when it comes to this but it is something that made me furious during season 6 and the discourse surrounding it.

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

💙 Merthur ❤

1. What made you ship it? I watched the first episode and was like “oh wow this show is even gayer than I’d heard it was.” No but seriously... fellas, is it gay to be literally and canonically someone’s other half? Fellas, is it gay to stare intensely into each other’s eyes at every given opportunity? Fellas, it is gay to dedicate your entire life to serving and protecting someone? Fellas, is it--

2. What are your favorite things about the ship? ah jeez where do I even start... Arthur is Merlin’s whole world. Merlin’s magic is “only for Arthur” and Merlin’s magic is... everything he is. I literally don’t know how you could read that as Merlin not being in love with Arthur. I genuinely and honestly think this interpretation is backed up by commentary by the actors and writers: Merlin loves Arthur, and that’s not even a point of debate. I adore Merlin as a character (son boy baby sweetheart sunshine child) and his unwavering faith in Arthur, his dedication, his tenderness, the years spent protecting someone who didn’t even know how much Merlin had done for him.... it gets me good.

And then there’s what Merlin is to Arthur! Setting aside the stuff Arthur doesn’t know about, which I will talk about in a moment, Merlin is possibly the only person in Arthur’s life who has always, always treated him as a person first and a prince second. Merlin’s unwavering faith and freely given friendship are because he sees the best in Arthur, not because of Arthur’s hereditary right to the throne. Merlin is Arthur’s first and truest friend -- I know the knights and Gwen care for him, but there is a component of social discrepancy to their relationship that Merlin simply has ignored. Merlin’s disrespect is because he fundamentally views Arthur as his equal, which is a gift Arthur didn’t even know he needed. Arthur was touch-starved, emotionally repressed, and incredibly lonely before Merlin came into his life. (Yes, the similarities between my two OTPs are well-known to me.) Just because Arthur struggles to express his emotions (thanks, Uther) and doesn’t have the same plot opportunities as Merlin to show how much he’d sacrifice for Merlin, doesn’t mean he doesn’t love Merlin as deeply as Merlin does him. This is why I like writing Arthur POV so much -- I like describing how fundamental and immutable a concept Merlin is to him. He takes Merlin for granted, yes, because there is literally nobody else that he is so vulnerable around or trusts so completely. This is why the magic reveal was so temporarily devastating to Arthur -- it broke something he’d built his entire life around. Or at least, that’s what he thought.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Canon is a trash fire and I hate a lot of things about season 5, because it had some stellar opportunities that got rushed and squished by the way they timed the plot.... but I actually really, really like the finale. I think that considering what they’d done with the plot up to that point, it was brilliantly executed and gorgeously acted. There wasn’t enough time to do everything I would have liked with the magic reveal*, but in the last episode they hit every one of my buttons at least once. Arthur witnessing a competent Merlin, Arthur experiencing realistic grief and anger but being able to see how deeply Merlin loves him... Setting aside the plotholes and the timing, the people who made the show realized what was critically important in the finale, and it was digging deep into the relationship between Merlin and Arthur. This is why it completely and totally wrecks me, incidentally, and why I can’t watch the last part of the episode because it actually unhinges me too much. I’m not joking, I went into some kind of grief spiral the first time I saw it that took me a literal week to recover from. I care about things too much and feel my feelings too intensely, but we been knew.

Oh, and an even spicier opinion on later seasons/the finale: I don’t think that Morgana “isn’t really evil” or that her fall was “unnecessary.” I think that Morgana was indeed capable of being a fiercely good and loving person, but I also think that people with the kind of anger she carries can be dragged into some very dark places. I don’t think it was unrealistic, I think it was painful to watch, and there’s a difference. She didn’t get the support she needed -- she was gaslighted, manipulated, and tortured -- and I think that the same person who could be good in another situation is absolutely capable of becoming monstrous, considering the hand she was dealt. I have very similar opinions on her as I do on Anakin Skywalker, which is to say: her evil was both believable and tragic. She was a product of her circumstances, but her actions are not excusable, and she is responsible for how she responded to her trauma.

*I can and will read every damn magic reveal on ao3 because it’s really important to me that Arthur understand what Merlin has done for him. Truly, truly conceptualizes how crucial Merlin has been in helping him build his kingdom. That’s the one thing that I wanted to see so badly that never happened in canon.

#tangled pixel harpsichord #answered #oh god oh jesus I've written a pair of essays here #if anyone actually reads this entire thing I will propose marriage to you on the spot #bbc merlin #sc #schitt's creek #merthur #david/patrick

[microcos-pod]

Micro-Cosmos S1E4: Looking Up Transcript

(The crew celebrates an afternoon of well-deserved downtime. Transcript begins below break.)

[sfx: forest ambiance, running footsteps]

FELIX BIIIIIIRD!

That... is nineteen! Almost... at... victory.

[sfx: running footsteps]

MILES That... was not... fair... you tripped me!

FELIX Did... not.

MILES Did too!

FELIX Did not!

MILES Totally did.

FELIX The point is mine, fair and square. You did not set eyes upon that bird, first, thus-

MILES Because you cheated!

FELIX What would you have me do, forfeit the point?

MILES Yes.

FELIX Well I'm not going to do that.

MILES I know. Ya lousy-

[sfx: a bird caws]

MILES BIRD!

FELIX Bird? Ah yes, Bird. Ah, damn. Bird.

MILES Haha, that's a nineteen-nineteen tie, next points the winner.

FELIX Yes. And that point belongs to me.

MILES Yeah, right. Tell you what, then. Let's have a wager. I'll even let you pick the terms.

FELIX Okay. The loser has to carry Athena's birthday present around in their bag for a week.

MILES Athena doesn't want to carry it?

FELIX No one wants to carry it, my friend.

MILES Fine! That's fine! It's not like I worked super hard on it or anything-

FELIX

Shh. I'm sensing... an avian presence.

[sfx: birdsong, running footsteps taking off]

FELIX ALLONS-Y!

[sfx: running footsteps taking off]

MILES WAIT UP!

FELIX Where... are... you...

[sfx: a whack]

[Felix yelps.]

MILES Ha! You-

[sfx: a similar whack]

MILES (CONT'D) AA! MY EYE!

***

[THEME MUSIC FADES IN]

ANNOUNCERFuturistic Trail Mix Productions presents Micro-Cosmos: A Science Fiction Podcast.

[THEME MUSIC FADES OUT]

***

[sfx: forest ambiance, running water, a click]

MILES Oww.

ATHENA This is-

MILES Owww.

ATHENA This is-

MILE OWWW!

ALEX Dude, just hold still. You took quite the fall out there.

ATHENA Athena Romero... recording. Hi. It's Day 28, and we're stationed at approximate position North 57 degrees West 105 degrees, still enroute to our equipment dropoff point and making good time at that. We've had to stop for a little, uh, first aid. Miles and Felix got hit in the face with a tree branch playing their new game. It's called Bird... I hate it.

FELIX Hey, Bird is- ow - Bird is fun!

ALEX Until the forest pokes your eye out along the way, Doc.

FELIX I'd call it an occupational hazard.

ATHENA Thankfully, Headquarters, no one actually lost an eye. By some miracle.

[C41′s BOOT-UP JINGLE PLAYS]

C41 Oh, the odds of them losing an eye aren't as high as you'd hope. I ran the calculations.

MILES Yeah? Let me check your math on that one.

C41 No.

ATHENA Anyways. We thought it'd be a good time to take a walking break. Maybe have some lunch.

[sfx: rummaging]

ALEX Aw, shoot. Looks like we're lacking in antibiotics to get this one on your knee cleaned up, Miles. Cal, any chance we're getting more of that with the shipment?

C41 I do have "additional first aid supplies" on the roster, Commander. So... probably!

ALEX I will take a "probably" for all that it's worth as far as HQ is concerned, kid. And hey, we're almost to the drop-off point. Speaking of which, Starshine, did you get the memo to them that we're ahead of schedule?

ATHENA Oh, uh, oh! Yeah, I did get the relay to them last night, and they came back with an acknowledgement. I think we're just going to have to wait it out though.

ALEX Aces. Cal, how much longer do we have on the walking?

C41 Eh, not much! About another...

[sfx: mechanical whirring]

C41 (CONT'D) Hour!

MILES An hour?

ALEX Hey, I like the sound of that.

FELIX Just think. All of that extra time to play Bird.

ATHENA And, sorry to ask, but, Bird is fun... because?

ALEX Because I think all this walking has made the doctor go a bit batty.

FELIX Perhaps. More like... bird-y. If you will.

[Miles groans.]

MILES You set him up for that one, you know- Ow!

ALEX Just a sanitising wipe. I know, I know, it stings. It's the best we're gonna do to keep it clean for now.

[C41 giggles.]

MILES What are you laughing at?

C41 Aw, nothing. Just like... you guys are so funny, with your 'physical pain' thing.

MILES Hilarious.

C41 Precisely my point.

MILES Well, somebody's chipper today.

C41 I am! It's almost time for me to get to like, actual work. As soon as we can set up camp at the rendezvous to make it our base? Watch me go, baby.

ALEX Wait a minute. You, Cal, are excited about doing work?

C41 Sure I am! I'm excited for work that's not super boring and lame and leaves me wanting to tie up my code in particularly pretty bows. Establishing our infrastructure, our inventory, our food sources, and oh, ooh! Getting started on actual research? They sour.I hope I just don't lose out on sleep.

MILES Yeah, sure. We wouldn't want that.

C41 And, and, Miles, while I'm busy doing important things, you can be off doing... whatever little tasks you're supposed to do.

MILES First of all, excuse you, I'm the engineering specialist too, not your friggin nanny, so like, I'm going to have plenty to do that is very important. And second of all, maybe I'll get to sleep instead of clacking away at fixing your code all night like a monkey at a typewriter, alright?

C41 Sure, sure. Now, are everyone's booboos in order? I'm sure Athena and Alex are getting antsy.

ATHENA Oh guys, no, it's fine. Take your time, we're not in a rush.

MILES No, you know what, my booboos- I mean my uh, my scrapes and stuff, are fantastic. Let's go.

FELIX But... I'm so weak.

MILES Nope. Up ya go.

C41 Something to prove, much?

ALEX You'll be fine Felix. Have some trail mix, and we'll be motoring, alright?

FELIX (chewing) Way ahead of you, sir.

ATHENA Alright. Off we go.

[sfx: a click]

***

[sfx: forest ambiance, a click]

ATHENA Recording from the drop-off point, at long last, this is Officer Athena Romero with Omnitarian Establishment Crew #0137-F. It's only been just over an hour since my last log, but we're here. We're here, and now we just have to camp out, and wait for the rest of our supplies. It'll be some downtime well-earned, I think.

ALEX I'd say so.

[sfx: walking footsteps, stopping, setting a bag down]

ATHENA Oh, hey Alex! Let me guess, the others are-

ALEX Competitive birdwatching? Yeah. I don't even think that they realise that that's what they've invented.

ATHENA Aw, jeez, even Cal? Or did you put them on babysitting duty?

ALEX Cal is... keeping score, apparently. Look, you didn't hear it from me, but sometimes I think that they miss Miles when I'm carrying their projector.

ATHENA Really?

ALEX Nah. They're babysitting.

[Athena laughs.]

ATHENA Well played, Commander.

ALEX Peace and quiet is probably one of the best sounds in the world. Second only to good conversation and blaring rock 'n' roll.

ATHENA Sounds like something I should write down.

[Alex laughs.]

ALEX Dude, no, I'm just rambling. And besides, you're recording this, aren't you?

ATHENA Yeah. I mean, I can turn it off, if you want.

ALEX It's fine with me. Kinda nice actually, to think we'll be able to look back on whatever it is we talked about on this mission when we're all old.

ATHENA I never thought about it like that. Guess I thought I was just doing my job.

ALEX Really?

ATHENA ... Yeah, why?

ALEX I don't know, I hear you every once in a while, when you're recording, and... you know how to talk. You a poet in your spare time, by chance?

[Athena laughs.]

ATHENA No, no, I'm... I don't know, I'm not anything in particular. I was corp security, for a while, and then I got into communications and chronicling protocol through that, and... yeah, that's me, if they didn't already tell you as part of the whole 'Commander' thing.beatI'm certainly not, uh, 'recogalex', though.

ALEX Okay, so you uh... know about that whole thing?

ATHENA 'Whole thing'? You mean when you were like... one of the biggest names in sporting sim gaming for years, plural? Yeah, I figured it out. Me and the others in the forces, we didn't really have anything else to keep up with, so we got very much into keeping up with those tournaments.

ALEX Alright, alright. Just thought I'd be able to keep my nerdiness a secret from my crew for a little while longer.

ATHENA Why bother? I mean, if I was as good as you at that stuff, I...realizing as she says itI never would've stopped.

ALEX I guess I just... the same as you. I thought of it as my job, after a while. It started as a way to help me cope with my anxiety, and then, I guess it turned out that I was good at it, and liked it. I liked it a lot.

But I got married, and then we were gonna have a kid, and-

ATHENA Wait, you're married?

ALEX I was. Me and Gabriel split up, a little while after our son, Orion, was born.

ATHENA Oh... that's too bad.

ALEX Oh, it's fine, really. Gabe's amazing, honestly, we both just... wanted different things out of life. It just wasn't working for us to be married anymore. Now we're friends. We're friends that used to be married, and friends that have a son that we love more than anything in the world. And I can't say I mind it, as long as I know they're both waiting for me back home.

ATHENA Wow. I mean, that sounds... that sounds like all you could hope for.

ALEX Yeah... yeah, I guess it is.

***

[sfx: forest ambiance]

MILES This is stupid. We haven't seen anything fly overhead since we got here.

FELIX Hey, hello, uh, you know the decree of the Game of Bird.

[C41′s BOOT UP JINGLE PLAYS]

C41 "They who question the sanctity of Bird will be disqualified from all future matches of Bird on the basis of disloyalty and heathendom," Miles.

FELIX And don't you forget it.

MILES I know, I know, for the millionth time, I know.

C41 Then don't go getting yourself disqualified.

MILES Hold on, was that... an encouragement?

C41 Of course not. I just like to see a good match-

MILES Okay, cause for a second there, it sorta sounded like a-

[sfx: bird caws]

FELIX BIRD! 

[sfx: a bell dinging cue]

C41 That's one point to the distinguished Couvillion gentleman.

MILES Please tell me you're not going to do that every time someone gets a point.

C41 Don't be silly! I'm not going to do it for you!

MILES Why do I even bother? It's not like-

C41 Shh. Eyes on the prize, er, sky. Whatever. Bird now, talk later.

MILES Fine.There's a long silence. 

[sfx: forest ambiance for a prolonged period]

[The three of them sigh at varying points.]

[sfx: bird song, a glitch, static]

FELIX Bir- rd?

MILES What are you talking about, there's nothing there!

C41 I mean, I'll still give you the point.

FELIX Sorry, sorry, I... eyes were playing a trick on me there.

[sfx: prolonged forest ambiance]

MILES Sooo... uh, this is getting boring fast.

C41 "They who question the sanctity of Bird-"

MILES Not what I meant! I just meant...

FELIX There does seem to be a disturbing lack of birds.

MILES Well... uh... we could play 'I Spy'.

FELIX No, no. We can't allow the shine to wear off that quickly.

[sfx: retrieving from a bag, clicks]

MILES I feel like binoculars are cheating.

FELIX Eh. Using available resources.

C41 Does it count as cheating if there aren't any birds to see?

MILES Okay, but if there were.

C41 But there aren't.

MILES Okay, but if one shows, he can like-

FELIX And it may not end up being worth the hypothetical, if our luck continues.

MILES Just making conversation.

[sfx: prolonged ambiance]

MILES So... how about this weather?

C41 Really?

MILES What? It's called small talk, ever heard of it?

C41 Sure I have. My sources tell me that it's nothing remarkable. In fact, that seems to be the whole point of it, yes?

MILES Well, I guess... not everything needs to seem 'remarkable' to be... worthwhile.

C41 Sure. Take yourself for example.

MILES You know what-

FELIX You know, I believe that might be a backhanded compliment, Officer Abbott.

C41 How dare you.

FELIX Meant nothing by it, my voltaic friend.

C41 Then you know what's good for you.

[Felix chuckles.]

MILES Yeah, right, tough guy.

C41 I'm sure I don't know what you mean. I can be intimidating, that is, when I'm not asleep in my-

FELIX Nest!

C41 What?

FELIX Nest. Up there, on your left, riiiight- There.The group's eyes land on a large nest in a nearby tree.

MILES You think there's any in there?

FELIX According to what I've learned, the season would be right for quite a few baby birds.

So, I mean, if there were... to be... lots of baby birds... I should probably get a closer look. For... research.

MILES And I could help with your research. I mean... I could help you count.

FELIX Oh, no, I mean that's uh...

It'll be quite the climb to get there, so I wouldn't ask you to-

MILES Pssh. What are friends for? You said earlier you weren't feeling so good, anyways, so like... I can go check on those birds. For science.

FELIX Oh, no, I feel fine, thank you. I think a climb might actually do me some-

MILES Here, you hold Cally. I'm climbing.

FELIX Good.

C41 Wait, what? Also, it's Cal.

MILES I'm gonna go see those birds.

[sfx: footsteps running off]

FELIX HEY! NOT FAIR.

You stay right here, Cal. I've got a tree to climb.

[sfx: footsteps running off]

C41 Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere- Wait, wait! Doctor Couvillion? Officer Abbott?! Felix? Miles? Oh, the Commander is going to be so mad at you!beat, meek...Guys?

[C41′s BOOT-DOWN JINGLE PLAYS]

***

[Alex and Athena laugh.]

ALEX No, no, you're kidding me. Stuck?

ATHENA Completely! Okay, okay, so you have to understand, Patroclus C? It's a freezing cold rock. A moon.

ALEX Nothing homey about it?

ATHENA No! No redeeming qualities! We used to call it the Snowball. So, so, so: there I am, and my sister is just screaming bloody murder with her tongue stuck to the side of the transport.

ALEX And did someone lose a tongue that day?

ATHENA Somehow, no! I had to run back to the house for hot water and leave her there, and I swear her tears were frozen to her cheeks by the time I got back and we managed to get her off the thing! God, it was awful. So the chilly mornings around here? They're nice.

ALEX And you've got the charming anecdotes to prove it, starshine.

Oh, is... is that okay? If I call you that? It's just... it came to me, and I thought it suited you. But if you don't like it-

ATHENA Oh! Oh, no, I... it's fine. I like it. It's sweet.

ALEX Okay. Okay, good.

I just figured, you know, it might... we're gonna be out here for a long time. I want to be friends with you guys, with... you. If that's what you... all want too.

ATHENA I think I'd like that, Alex. 

Can I ask you something?

ALEX Sure, if I can ask you something after.

ATHENA Oh?

ALEX Yeah, no, I had like... a question or whatever for you too, but you totally, uh, you go first.

ATHENA Okay. Sure. So, uh... here's the thing. How do you... how do you know how to find the course?

ALEX ... What?

ATHENA How do you know where we're going?

ALEX I thought you were military. They don't teach you the way-

ATHENA Not exactly. How do you know where we need to go?

ALEX Oh. Oh I... okay. I think I get it. Well, I... it started off as trial and error, right? Even when I was just picking up the patterns in my games, or anywhere else, I just would have to take what I saw and turn that inward into something I could say was the truth.

So when I had to start figuring out how pieces of the world and their patterns sorta... fit with other pieces of the world into a bigger conversation, it... I mean it wasn't easy. I don't even wanna say it was comfortable. But it was something I could be confident in, at least.

And, these days, if I don't feel confident in it... I mean, I don't feel confident in it all the time, that's actually what I should've led with. Because, like, how could I be? When things, patterns, don't add up sometimes, it feels like something is lying to me. But at least I've been doing this long enough, that I know that I don't have to trek back and learn the patterns from square one anymore. I can... take it in backwards steps.

I can seem like I'm confident in what needs to happen, and then maybe some part of me can take that little signal boost and make me feel confident. And then, if I feel confident, maybe I'll find the pattern I didn't know in the first place, and that'll feel enough like the truth to me. It'll be enough to get us by. To get me by.

But... that's just me. Sometimes I think everyone has a different way of listening for the truth, you know?

Is... is that what you were asking?

ATHENA Uh-huh. Your turn.

ALEX Okay, now, tell me the truth on this one, Romero: do you actually need to record all of those logs?

ATHENA I'm sorry?

ALEX Dude, do you have to actually do them, or is it just like your diary?

[Athena laughs.]

ATHENA Hey! What's that supposed to mean?

ALEX I mean, no judging-

ATHENA I'm the chronicler, sir, that's my job.

ALEX Alright, Officer, alright. I'll take your word for it. But if you ever wanna try out some new monologue material on something, or someone who isn't a comms, you know where to find me-

ATHENA Yeah, yeah, I'll keep that in-

[sfx: a tree branch breaking]

[Miles and Felix scream]

[sfx: a thud]

ATHENA (CONT'D) Mind. Should we be... running about this?

ALEX Running fast, Romero.

***

[sfx: forest ambiance, a campfire]

FELIX, MILES (in unison) Owwwwwww.

ALEX You two... are going... to be.. the death of me.

FELIX, MILES (in unison) Owwwwwwwwwwwww.

C41 Yeah, yeah 'ow'. Traitors.

ALEXHold still... for just a second.

FELIX Once more, with feeling?

MILES Sure. Why not?

FELIX, MILES (in unison) Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

ATHENA Officer Athena Romero recording. Still Day 28. Second first aid stop of the day. We had a tree incident. Or a gravity incident, involving a tree, I guess.

C41 You two are lucky you didn't break a leg. Or that I didn't get carried off by some dinosaur, leaving me there like that, Felix! How could you?

FELIX I... I... I'm sorry, I'm so weak-

ALEX Ah, save it, Couvillion. Not like you need your strength for much else. Speaking of which-

I'd like to propose a toast. To some time off, to finally making it to the rendezvous point where we await our booty, and to... I don't know, to no more falling out of trees, and no more backwards steps.

FELIX Here, here!

ATHENA Cheers!

MILES Cheers.

C41 Bon appetit.

ATHENA So, Cal, when can we expect for the shipment to get here?

C41 Oh, in about... three-

(distorted and ragged)

Four- three, three,- expect, no, three, seven, no, no, no expect, no, three, two, two- ERROR, retrieval denied, ERROR- ERROR, no, two three-

ATHENA Miles? Are they okay?

MILES Cally? Cal? What's wrong? Come on buddy, hello?

FELIX What is this?

MILES I don't know, they've never done this before, I-

[C41′s BOOT UP JINGLE PLAYS]

C41 Bon appetit! Sorry, you were saying? Oh, right, the shipment. Should be around three days.

MILES ... Cal? You... you okay? You weren't messing with your code again, were you?

C41 And if I was?

MILES Cal-

C41 Kidding, kidding. Joke, funny, haha. No, I wasn't, I swear. Probably just a brief malfunction, whatever it is you're talking about. I feel great!

MILES Okay. If... if you say so.

C41 But I am, like, suuuper tired, gee, I think I need some rest, okayeveryonegoodnightbutnotthetraitorswhoabandonedme! Kisses!

[C41′s BOOT DOWN JINGLE PLAYS]

ALEX I think that's the cue for everyone got some rest, huh? Sleep in tomorrow?

FELIX Oh, I'll drink to that.

ALEX Then let's go for lights out, booboo crew.

[sfx: retreating footsteps]

ALEX If you need to do a log, starshine, just make sure to put the fire out when you're finished, alright?

ATHENA Always do, Alex.

ALEX Yeah, you're right. You always do. Goodnight.

ATHENA

Goodnight.

[sfx: retreating footsteps]

ATHENA (CONT'D) You know, I... I don't even know if I have something I need to talk about tonight. I'm exhausted from the journey, and you already know all about that, HQ.

I don't know. Seems like trouble follows us wherever we go, but at least that's something to count on.

But like I said, I think I'm going to try something new tonight. I'm feeling inspired. Tonight, I'm just going to look up at the sky, and I think... I think I'm going to look for a pattern that feels true.

From Ophiuchus-22, this is Officer Romero, looking up, and signing off.

[sfx: bird song, a glitch]

***

ANNOUNCER Micro-Cosmos: A Science Fiction Podcast.

This episode, Looking Up, was written by Lauren Tucker, edited by Luka Miller, and directed by Jesse Smith, Zyrel Thompson and Lauren Tucker. It starred Jesse Smith as the voice of Athena Romero, Jackson Rossman as the voice of Miles Abbott, Luka Miller as the voice of Alex de la Cruz, Kaleb Piper as the voice of Felix Couvillion, and Pippa van Beek-Paterson as the voice of Cal. Original music by Julia Barnes, and sound editing by Tobias Friedman. Be sure to stay tuned to our feed for upcoming episodes from the new backpacking intergalactic adventure from Futuristic Trail Mix Productions. Enjoying the show, and want to give us a boost? You can support us by rating and reviewing us on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts, or telling a friend about us.

To follow the show and find transcripts, you can find us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram as @MicroCosPod. Questions, comments, and concerns can be emailed to us via [email protected]. Thank you for listening.

#Microcosmos #micro-cosmos #microcospod #microcos pod #micro-cosmos podcast #science fiction #sci fi #scifi #science fiction podcast #new podcast #podcast #podcasts #podcast reccomendation #audio drama

[lucidpantone]

Ooo the Elias confirmation is interesting but has me so torn. I wanna be excited for new spoilers but jeez I’m just still so unbearably bitter about S4. How do I shake the absolute bad taste it’s left about everything to do with wtfock...

The season 3 memory lane we’re all going down at the mo has me feeling some type of way...for all it’s flaws it was just so so good and remembering how good it was makes me love them again and then I remember all over again what they did this year and just ugh. Rah.

I’ve genuinely never been so cut up and confused about wanting/not wanting to support a series in my life. It’s so frustrating.

This is honestly is the hardest part about s4 to stomach. If wtfock just wanted a shitty season about a white protagonist who is a racist to just make some quick cash then why tf did they have to involve Moyo? Oh I know... because white people think well she is dating a black man she can’t be a racist anymore.What the fuck type of clownery is that?!?! I can tell by the writing that there is a serious lack of education on the wtfock writing team concerning race relations. I can tell that a young white woman in her 20′s wrote this season and actually thought this was really woke of her because its so naive and lacks real depth concerning the pain that Kato continuously dished out to Moyo with all her micro-racist acts. Also I have heard a lot of well Moyo did shitty things to Robbe. Yes he did and no one has forgot or has said that isn’t something he needs to work on every day because it genuinely hurt Robbe. However he wasn’t our main so in a narrative arc he is fulfilling the societal role of push back.... and also Aaron also wasn't super welcoming either I am pretty sure before he profiled a group of skaters as queer just for having long hair. Like Aaron you idiot 🤦🏽‍♀️. However Kato having racist tendencies wasnt even the biggest issue it was how mean and nasty they made her and as an audience we are meant to connect to her. She never really learned why the things she did were wrong she only “learned” they were wrong because they would cost her things but not why exactly they were costing her things. 

So in the end they sacrificed Moyo’s narrative arc to platform and forgive Kato but they never told us why and they never allowed Moyo to tells us why he was forgiving her. Uggghhh this is my biggest beef with s4. We used the black guy to prop up the “struggle” of the white girl but we completely stripped his agency away. It would have been more believable if they didn’t end up together and Moyo says they both of us need time to work on themselves. I know its hard to want to support a show that did such a horrible thing to their only moc character and trust me I get people walking away and telling wtfock to F-off but for me its more so not only sacrificing Moyo but by walking away sacrificing Yasmina. Honestly Kato season just fucked the arc for two poc characters and that makes me so damn mad. I guess am sticking around to support Nora because she doesn't deserve all the damage Kato’s season incurred but I don't blame you if you dont watch s5. The level of offense wtfock has committed is really hard to come back from. 

#lucidpantone anons

[ciestessde]

NOT My Hero Academia: Part 1 – Ch.4

“Midoriya!” Iida called out to me on my way out of the school later that same day. He caught up to me, resting a hand on my shoulder. “That was very impressive, keeping up with all of us the way you did.” “Ah! Um… thanks…”

“Expelling someone…” Iida put a hand to his chin, motioning with the finger of his other hand animatedly, “At first, I couldn’t believe our own instructor would do such a thing, but I suppose that’s how it is at the top!”

I didn’t get it. Why…? Why come up to talk to me? It’s not like I knew this “Iida” guy. ‘Maybe… It’s just cause we left at about the same time, so he spotted me in the crowd…?’

“You two!” Uraraka came running up next. “Headed to the station? Wait up!” “Ah, Infinity Girl!” said Iida. She looked surprised by the nickname, “I’m Ochako Uraraka! Um, you’re Tenya Iida and Midoriya… um… Deku! Right!!” “Deku?!” I exclaimed. “Hmm?” She looked confused, “During the test, that Bakugo guy said ‘Damn you, Deku!!’ right?”

Sweating nervously, gesturing wildly, and avoiding eye contact with the too cute girl, I managed to stumble out an explanation, “Um… my real name is Izuku… ‘Deku’ is just Kacchan being a bully…” “A derogatory pet name then?” muttered Iida, clearly bothered by that. “Oh gotcha!! Sorry!!” Uraraka apologized, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. But then, clenching her fist in front of her and smiling brightly, she continued, “But ‘Deku’ well… It just screams, ‘Do your best!!’ I kinda like it. The way it sounds.”

‘Oh, man… Too cute…!’ Judging by how hot my cheeks felt, I was blushing even more deeply now. ‘This changes everything!’

“Deku’s fine!!” Iida tried to talk me out of it, but I ignored him. Because… if even the name “Deku” could become something I could wear proudly… And regardless of the way the other students looked at me, or the way our teachers treated me… If Uraraka could still smile at me cheerfully…

‘I just might like it at this school after all.’

…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I HAVE…!” the students heard a voice call from down the hallway. We all knew that voice. And I knew it better than most… I grimaced slightly, but I couldn’t deny I was still a little excited. ‘He’s here…’ With a gust of wind, All Might was suddenly leaning into the room from the door frame. “... COME THROUGH THE DOOR, LIKE NORMAL!!”

My classmates muttered to themselves and each other, excited and freaking out over the Number One Hero. All Might whistled a tune, marched to the front of the room, turned his back to us and posed exclaiming, “Hero basic training! The class that’ll put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes!!” He faced us again. “No time to dally. Today’s activity is BATTLE TRAINING!!”

From the seat in front of me, I heard Kacchan mutter “battle…” with a grin in his voice.

All Might continued, “And for that… you need these!!” Parts of the wall to our left slid out with a rumble. There were containers inside with numbers on them.

It was our costumes. Specially made for us thanks to U.A.’s uniform subsidy.

Mine was a simple, thin, reinforced body-armor. I hadn’t been able to decide on a design, though, so the company had just given (left?) it a plain black. It had holsters and compartments for all the weapons Master had given me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“As promised…”

I stared, wide-eyed, at the assortment of weapons, armor, and other additions to my costume -- many which I didn’t even recognize. Let alone know how to use! “K-Kurogiri-sensei… This is…” ‘This is too much!!!’

“You’ll start training to use them immediately. But as for what you’ll take to school with you…” Kurogiri-sensei pointed to a selection of four items, “These should be sufficient for most situations.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There was an extendable/retractable bo staff, smoke pellets, net-grenades, and a trick-gun. Although, I had a simple grapple-gun, instead of the trick-gun at the moment, since it still needed to be approved. Once it was, though, I could discard the grapple-gun in favor of the trick-gun’s grapple setting. One less thing to carry. The suit covered my entire body, including my head. I could see and breath through the part covering my face, although I wasn’t sure what the material was. All-in-all, it was… not really a look that suited me, in my opinion. But it would do for now.

Until I… actually figured out what look would suit me…

.

When we made it to the training grounds (a faux-city), I was surprised to see an older student next to All Might. Apparently, he was “Mirio Togata,” All Might’s teaching assistant. “Don’t mind me!” he said, waving and smiling at the class, “I’m just here to observe for now.” All Might explained the rules of our “indoor anti-personnel battle training,” and we drew lots to determine the teams.

I ended up teamed with Uraraka (‘Seriously? I can barely say two words to her…! Jeez, where’s that plant when I need it?!’) and, just my luck, facing off against Kacchan (and Iida) in the very first matchup. As All Might was encouraging the two boys to “adopt a villain mindset” and “not hold back,” Kacchan bragged about how “certain his victory” against us was.

Uraraka and I waited outside while the villains prepared for the battle. Strangely, strategizing for a battle, preparing to face unfair odds in order to train… to get stronger… It almost felt like I was back with Kurogiri-sensei and Master.

“So that’s you Deku? Cool costume!! Real practical-looking!” I didn’t answer her, instead staring at the blueprints of the building we were to infiltrate. “...” Uraraka stared at me, at my face that was only just barely visible through my mask. “... Are you worried?” “-hm?” I looked up at her. “No. Why?” If anything, she was the one who looked worried. “It’s just… Bakugo, he’s… the one who bullies you, right?” I lowered the blueprints. “Yeah. We’d better be on guard.”

‘Actually… yeah. Why aren’t I worried? Since…’

“Kacchan may be a jerk, but he’s amazing… He’s stronger than me in almost every way. Iida too. Their quirks…” ‘Are only tools.’

“... We should come up with a strategy!” Uraraka smiled at me, pumped.

‘Kacchan is sure to come straight at me. So…’ I smiled back. “I… have a few ideas, actually.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Back in the monitor room, All Might was distracted. He’d been distracted from the moment he recognized the two boys in his class. Well, he’d known they’d both gotten in, but… with Aizawa’s reputation, he’d expected that green-haired kid to have been expelled already! He was worried. He’d found out when he’d saved Bakugo that the boy had a nasty temper. And his quirk was incredibly strong! And, he might’ve been imagining it, but… there seemed to be a dangerous tension between the two boys.

But… as the teacher, he couldn’t… ‘No. Midoriya is just another student. A quirkless student… but a student. Someone I’m meant to teach and prepare to become a hero. If the kid has made it this far on his own, then he can handle himself.’

… But there was no need to let things get out-of-hand, right?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When we got the signal to start, Uraraka used her zero-gravity on me, and, grabbing her, I I grappled us to the top of the building.

While we couldn’t be certain of where the “villains” were holed up, it was likely to be higher, rather than lower. --“Higher ground is easier to defend,” said Kurogiri-sensei, “This is a natural human instinct, as well as a fact of battle.”--

‘And also,' I thought to myself 'by coming from the top… we just might catch them off-guard.’

A sneak attack wasn’t just our best chance, but, really, our only chance. --“Even when you’re outclassed and outmatched, the element of surprise can even any odds.”-- So it was unfortunate that we were up against someone with enough speed to, potentially, counter that key advantage.

...

I had been right: Kacchan had already headed downstairs to try and attack me directly. But there was only one entrance into the room containing Iida and the weapon.

Uraraka and I tried to circle around and inside through the windows, but Iida spotted us just in time. “Bakugo! They’re up here!” he yelled into his micro transceiver. He rushed at me, since I was closer to the weapon, but Uraraka managed to slap his shoulder as he passed her.

He floated into the air. He’d lost his speed advantage! But before we knew it, we could already hear the sounds of explosions closing in on us. There was no time!

I barely managed to hide myself against the wall containing the door before Kacchan came barreling through it. --I rushed through a portal, only to be grabbed from behind and pinned to the ground. "When entering a new space,” Kurogiri-sensei said, “people will rarely look to the side in those first few seconds.”-- Without even pausing, Kacchan charged at Uraraka, who was about to touch the weapon. But before he could land a blow, I threw one of the net-grenades, and- *ki-ching!* -he found himself trapped in a net!

He tried to blast out of it, but I knew the net was too strong for that. Unfortunately for us, Iida managed to use his recipro burst to reach a wall and-

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All four of us stood in a line in front of the rest of the class, our masks removed. Kacchan was literally smoking with rage, muttering about a “fluke.”

“Well, I’d say… The V.I.P. of this battle was Iida!!” exclaimed All Might, “I wonder why? Anyone know?!” “I do, All Might-sensei,” said Momo Yaoyorozu, her hand shooting up. “Not only did he capture both heroes, but he stayed focused on his goal and found a counter-strategy when facing an attack from an unforeseen direction.” “Very good, Miss Yaoyorozu!” All Might congratulated her.

But, from next to the teacher, Mirio cut in. “I dunno…” he said, thoughtful. “I think the V.I.P. was Midoriya.”

My gaze (everyone’s, really) shot up from the floor to look at him. My jaw was on the ground in shock. “I mean, the Hero Team shouldn’t have stood a chance of winning, yet Midoriya showed ingenuity in that sneak attack of theirs. It should have guaranteed them victory! They only failed because the Villain Team had a card hidden up their sleeve.”

“... Yes … You’re correct…!” All Might was sweating nervously, “But I’d, um… also add that the Hero Team should have kept their eyes on both opponents, even if they believed them to be immobilized!” Mirio nodded. Still smiling, he turned to us, “Yeah, true. It’s hard to do in the middle of battle. But, as you found out, it’s best to stay aware of all your surroundings!”

All Might quickly got the next match moving after that and, freed from the awkward tension, the other students started crowding around me. “Cool moves, man!” “I wouldn’t have thought to go from outside!” “Where’d you learn to fight like that?!” Even Todoroki stopped to give me a “Well done” before leaving for his own match.

I did my best to laugh off their questions (I couldn’t tell them about Master, after all), and, thankfully, they were distracted when the next match started.

Kacchan was still smoking. But when he saw how quickly Todoroki’s power ended the match- -he stopped.

I noticed the look in his eyes. But when I saw Kacchan leave early… I didn’t feel any desire to go after him.

Really, I didn’t.

I…

Didn’t…

.

… Right?

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

[Beginning]

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Do you like my writing? Do you like AU's? How about time travel or dimension hopping? Stories about vampires? Or even reimaginings of classic books? Do you think I'm "jumping the shark" by including all of these things in one book? DO YOU LIKE FREE STUFF?! ;)

Then you should check out my original book, Crossroad of Infinity, free-to-read right here on Tumblr!

#villain!deku #villain deku #my hero academia #izuku midoriya #fanfiction

[zankivich]

The Arrangement: CEO’s Son/Dom!Shawn x Black Sub Reader Chapter 7

a/n: this is like my favorite chapter so far. I feel like I’ve been waiting this whole story to ge tot watch these two interact in this way. I hope it comes across as authentic. I worked really hard on the pacing for this story. You all have been incredibly kind to me lately with feedback for this story and I sincerely hope you keep it coming. It is without a doubt the brightest part of my days recently. Thank you so much for that. K bye. 

WARNINGS: sex without a condom (gotta wrap it before you tap it). mentioned of white supremacy, racism, and micro-aggressions. 

*Shawn’s point of view*

Nothing ever simultaneously works out. It never all gets to be perfect. His life had been a memoir with that exact theme and yet somehow he always let himself forget. Y/n leaves and he somehow has a date with her. A date. Not a hookup. Not some elaborate set up to make her cum. A date. With like conversation and personality. He hadn’t been on a date in years. And sure he knew he was really good at sex, but that didn’t mean shit about being able to actually hold a conversation. She was lightyears above him mentally, and he had no idea how he was going to manage to not fuck it up. But he had a date. She said yes. And that within itself was a win. So of course something in his life was going to have to go to shit. Hold that thought.

Brian makes it back sometime between his gym run and a shower. By the time he gets out, the asshole is sitting on his couch fucking up his kill rate on COD.

“Move over, jerkoff! And switch to two player.” He grunted plopping down on the couch beside him.

“Jeez, bro take it down a couple notches. I am nursing a hangover from the depths of hell over here.”

“Not my fault you can’t ever handle your liquor.”

“Well Melanie seemed to think I handled it just fine.”

“Melanie sounds like she’s still never had an orgasm before.”

Brian punched him in the bicep which only resulted in him returning the favor. Idiot.

“Not all of us sneak our hookups in in the middle of the night.”

He rolled his eyes fingers smashing on the controller.

“I didn’t sneak anyone. It’s my fucking apartment you idiot.”

��Yea, sure, whatever. Did you at least hook up with someone new?”

His fingers stumbled on the joystick, sending his player headfirst into a grenade. Lovely.

“No. No I didn’t.”

Brian looked over at him. “You fucked the same girl again?”

“I don’t think we should be equating Melanie and y/n here. y/n is a woman. A grown ass woman. Trust me, she never lets me forget.” He snorted.

“What is up with you and this chick? You never fuck the same person twice.”

He supposed now was as good a time as any. He actually was going to need shit for brains’ advice.

“I like her okay! I like her. And we hooked up last night but it was...it was different. I didn’t tell her what to do. I didn’t pull out any bells or whistles. I just...We just had sex. And she kissed me like she liked me too. So I asked her on a date.”

“A DATE?! I haven’t seen you go on a date since you were like a child!!”

“No shit, jackass. I’m going to need every fucking ounce of help I can get. And that includes your ass, unfortunately.”

“Stop pretending you don’t love me bitch. Now tell me how you plan to get a thirty year old woman who isn’t on drugs to actually enjoy spending time with your sorry ass.”

What are best friends for?

***

*y/n’s point of view*

y/n: I HAVE A DATE.

y/n: I NEED YOU HERE ASAP

Tiana: Oh shit. K. omw.

The last time you went on a date was in 2016, what some might call the beginning of Armageddon. After a slew of horrid dates, you had been completely and totally ready to throw in the towel. But then this cute guy came out of nowhere. He was nice, sweet, not very funny but in a way that made you laugh. He was also persistent enough to not take no for an answer, without it making you uncomfortable. No immediate red flags. So you went on the damn date. And all was well. It wasn’t an earth shattering date, but you weren’t not enjoying his company. And then it happened.

I just really think Trump will genuinely make America great again ya know?

You nearly choked on a piece of lettuce.

“Really bruh? In front of my salad?”

“No just hear me out though. Is he unorthodox, sure. But Hillary? Hillary and those emails. It just wouldn’t have worked.”

“I absolutely understand what you mean.”

“You do?” He smiled.

“Yep. CHECK PLEASE!”

“Bitch we do not have time for you to disassociate I am trying to make a wing here!” Tiana huffed.

You rolled your eyes and reached for your phone working to still your features so that Tianna could continue with your makeup.

y/n: Are you a republican?

Shawn: Well thank you for asking, I’ve had a lovely day. How was yours?

y/n: I’m serious.

Shawn: I’m Canadian.

“Shit. I’m so stupid.” You whined.

Tiana tugged at your chin. “Not stupid. But NOT still.”

“Sorry, ti.”

y/n: Would you have voted for Trump if you could have?

Shawn: No. No I wouldn’t have. What kind of a person do you think I am?

y/n: Idk. idk. I just needed to be sure. It never came up when you were tying my arms behind my back.

Shawn: You didn’t mention political discourse as one of your kinks. Is there something I should know before tonight?

y/n: No. It’s fine. I swear. Just haven’t been on a date in a really long time. And my last one didn’t go so well.

Shawn: It’s been a long time for me too. But I’d really like to have a go at it, if that’s okay with you?

y/n: yea, I’d like that. Should I meet you at your place still?

Shawn: Actually I’m gonna pick you up. I’ll be at your place at 7?

y/n: Oh. Okay.

“Hmmm.”

“Hmmm what? What’d he say?” Tiana asked.

“I’m not meeting at his place anymore. He’s picking me up.”

“Well where is he taking you?”

“If I knew that, Ti would I be sitting here in a ball of anxiety?!”

Tianna dropped her eyeliner brush and reach instead for the body lava. All hail Rihana.

“I sure hope he dicks you unconscious for a few hours. You have got to relax, sis.” She giggled. “It’s going to be alright, okay? He likes you. You like him. Let that be enough for right now.”

“Okay. Okay. Just...make my titties sparkle? Please?”

“Lord, chile. You don’t pay me enough.” She snorted.

Friendship!

***

Shawn: I’m here. Do you want me to come up?

y/n: No need! Here I come.

Outside your apartment building is one of those SUV hummer situations that you only ever rode in when you were visiting one of your artists on tour. Shawn is standing outside the door of the vehicle, and you can’t help but pause right there in the middle of the sidewalk. He traded the black jeans for a black slack that hones in on the fact that he’s most definitely not wearing a chelsea boot for the first time ever. They’re dress shoes. Like proper, wing tips. And he’s wearing a short sleeve button up with yellow, black, and white stripes. There are enough buttons undone to see the way that his rosary necklace melted into the firmness of his chest nestled amongst the most sinful amount of chest hair. God, where the hell had they made this one at? And how the hell did he wind up at my front door?

“Hi.” He smiled, legs crossed and chest broad. “You look really beautiful.”

You peered down at the jumpsuit you’d picked out with Tiana’s help. It was a really pretty shimmery gold color and the entire back was cut out too. In hindsight, it didn’t seem nearly as impressive as to what he was wearing now.

“Thank you. You look pretty beautiful yourself. Really showed me up tonight.”

He laughed. “Yea, sure. Come on, it’s cold out. Let’s get going.”

In the car, there’s a bottle of champagne and one of the playlists that you recognized from Shawn’s apartment is playing softly in the background. He pours each of you a glass, your legs somehow knotting simply together on the floor of the car. It’s weird in that it’s not like a first date  in the traditional sense. You put his balls in your mouth for one. He licked orgasms out of you like ice cream. But the nerves are still there. You find that you care about what he thinks of you, of how he feels about you. That’s new. And scary.

“So uh...where are we going?” You asked between sips of champagne.

He bites his lip and looks nervously over at you. It’s a new look for him. But one that you find solace in.

“Would you be angry at me if I said it was a surprise?”

You raised an eyebrow. “No. But I would be curious as to what that surprise is.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll know soon enough.”

“I think I heard that line one time. I think Hannibal Lector said it.”

He rolled his eyes and threw his head back and you wished it didn’t make you giggle, but it does.

“Funny.” He smirked hiding behind his glass. “I just wanna impress you a little bit. Is that okay?”

“You wanna impress lil ole me huh?” You smiled. “That’s sweet.”

“Just a little.”

He licked his bottom lip and his hand inched its way up your knee. He was warm. Way too warm to not have your body react a little. Rude.

“Whatever happened to your friend from the other morning? Am I taking you away from him?”

“Oh Brian?” He snickered. “He’s just happy he’s got my place to himself. He couldn’t believe I was going on a date at all.”

“Tiana either.” You snorted.

“Yea? She try and convince you not to go out with me?”

“She is...surprisingly Pro-you for some reason. Must have something to do with me not having enough time to be a bitch as work with our arrangement and everything.”

“Hmmm. Well it’s nice to know I’ve got one person on my team. Maybe by the end of the night I can win you over too.”

“Maybe.” You smiled.

The car eventually rolls to a stop, and you’re not even aware of how long you’ve been talking. All the nerves that you couldn’t actually be together without the sex part sort of faded away. He could make you laugh. He could hold your attention. And you could offer him the same. Just when you were starting to think that it was all going to be fine? Shawn came to open your door.

Your heels touched gently to the ground and you let him pull you from the car. Behind him was not a restaurant. Not a bar. Not even a fucking hotel. Nope. Instead you were stood right in front of Mendes Industries’ private jet and a fucking flight attendant with a bag in her hands that looks surprisngly like your Louis Vitton. Fucking Tiana.

“What the hell. Shawn, what the hell?!” You gasped. “What is this?”

“You were concerned about people seeing us right? Well no one’s gonna see us. No one but the locals.”

“The locals?! I can’t--I can’t just fly away with you Shawn. I have responsibilities. I have a--a job.”

He reached for your hands, which tended to do a lot of movement when you were flustered, and stilled them by placing them on his shoulders.

“Listen to me,” He murmured silencing you. “It’s already set. Tiana canceled all of your meetings for three days. It’s just three days. Look I...I really like you, okay? More so than I know what to do with right now. And I think that you like me too. Do you like me?”

“Y--Yea! Yea, of course I do. That’s not really the point is it?”

“It is. Just get on the plane. Please? I just wanna take you out. Let me take you out.”

You peered up at him, all soft brown eyes and chiseled everything else. He had really come along out of nowhere. It was incredibly disorientating, and intoxicating. You lived your life by a planner, a set time for every hour by the hour. And here he was asking you to throw that all away, to let yourself be something else for a chance. And it wasn’t all that different from what he asked of you in the bedroom. Just let go. Release.

You sighed. “You know when most guys ask to take a girl out? They don’t mean out of the state.”

“I’m not like other guys.” He shrugged.

“No shit. Where are you taking me, white boy?” You groaned letting him steer you towards the plane.

“Try to contain your excitement.” He snorted. “Remember that time we had sex in the back of a storage room during Khalid’s video shoot?”

You smiled awkwardly at the flight attendant and knocked your arm into his shoulder.

“Oh please. We’ve had this jet since I was fifteen. I’m almost positive my dad has done some incredibly sketchy shit on here. Martha knows all. Thank you Martha!”

He leads you to a seat. There’s more champagne. You don’t know how you got here. This man was wild.

“Get to the point, maybe?”

“Right. We hooked up in the storage closet, and you told me that story about how you missed your high school trip to Rome because your mom was having heart problems and couldn’t afford it with the medical bills? You had a Lizzie Mcguire fantasy and everything.”

“I was drunk that night. Khalid had just gotten his first number one.”

“So you don’t want me to take you to Rome?” He asked.

“ROME?!”

“Rome.”

“....Who are you?!”

He chuckled. “I’m just a guy standing here asking a girl to let me take her on a little trip.”

“Oh my god. He quotes romcoms. This is too much.”

“Just relax sweetheart. We’re about to do liftoff.”

Jesus Christ.

***

*Shawn’s point of view*

He’s a little worried that he may have broken her. Maybe it was too much too fast. He should’ve just taken her to fucking dinner like a normal person. The problem was he wasn’t normal. And she sure as hell wasn’t normal either. She was so different from anyone he’d ever been with before. He wanted to spend time with her. And the last thing in the world he wanted was her to think about his dad while she was with him. He could tell that it bothered her more than she was willing to admit, and he just needed them to be on equal footing. What said equal footing like going to a country where neither of them spoke the language. Tiana had given him the green light when she agreed to change y/n’s schedule around and even pack her a bag. It seemed like maybe it might go well.

She calms down after her first glass of champagne, and sits more comfortably into the seat next to him, her legs folded so that her knees poked gently at his thigh. She was closer, close enough for him to smell her perfume and he kind of loved it.

“So are first dates the one’s where we spill all of our dirty laundry, or is that the second one?” She asked.

He chuckled and laid his hand on her thigh. She smiles at him, so he doesn’t pull away.

“Your guess is as good as mine. Do your worst, woman.”

She situates herself a little more gently into the chair, chin propped up on her palm. He gets lost in the glitter on her collarbones and neck.

“Why haven’t you been on a date in a long time?” She asked.

Heavy first question. But he told her to do her worst.

“Well I uh...the last date I went on was with my girlfriend of about two years. And on said date she told me that she had been sleeping with a producer at Atlantic records for six months, and that he was going to share her demo. So, she didn’t need me anymore.” He shrugged around a sip of champagne.

“Two years? Two fucking years before she pulled that shit? That’s fucked.” She said. “I’m sorry.”

“Yea. It was really heavy at the time. Blamed my dad for a lot of it, even if it probably wasn’t his fault this time. But ever since then I just thought it might be easier to stick to the meaningless sex route.”

She nodded. “I fuck that up for you a little bit?”

“You have no idea.” He grinned rubbing his thumb along her chin. “I should’ve known the second I caught you checking me out at that party.”

“Excuse me? For the last time I was not ‘checking you out’. I was simply observing that snooze fest your father put on.”

“I was checking you out.” He admitted honestly. “I asked my dad to introduce us. I just knew I had to have you. And then I spoke to you and I found out you were trouble, and you weren’t going to take any of my shit. I should’ve known then.”

It’s a lot softer than anything he’s ever admitted before, and every time that he remembers that this is more, that they’re trying to become more, it makes his heart stutter in his chest. But she leans her head against his seat and she smiles at him like it means something to her to be open, to be vulnerable. And that alone is enough to get him to lean in.

“So maybe....maybe I was looking in your direction.” She says softly. “I’d heard of you. I’d just never actually seen you in person before. And maybe I was curious.”

“Curious?!” He laughed. “Okay. Curious. We can call it that; I’ll take it. Your turn. Worst date. Spill.”

She groaned softly and slid a little deeper into her seat, head fitting perfectly against his shoulder.

“I accidentally went to dinner with a Trump supporter.”

“Accidently?” He snorted.

“Don’t laugh asshole! It was thoroughly traumatic for me. I just thought that logically a white supremacist would not be interested in asking me, a black woman, on a date. I forgot that logic is not in their wheelhouse. It was awful.”

“Now your texts make a lot more sense.” He chuckled reaching his arm to pat her cheek. “That enough to take you out the game, aye?”

“I don’t know man...the world is fucking scary right now.” She sighed. “Sometimes it feels like there’s no one we can trust, like there’s no one who doesn’t have it out for us. It’s not just political agendas. It’s my safety. It really is that deep. It has to be.”

It’s this moment where she’s offering more of herself than she had in the entire time that he’d known her. Y/n was beautiful and sexy and intelligent, but there was also always this aura of mystery around her. Like she wasn’t quite ready to share herself, didn’t know if she could. And he wanted to find his way on the other side of that. He wanted to know her better than she knew herself. And he wants to cherish any moment where she’s willing to let him try that.

“I understand.” He paused and closed his eyes feeling maybe a little flustered and out of his element. “I mean I don’t. I know that I don’t, that I couldn’t but..I hear what you’re saying. And I believe you. I would like to know more at some point. If you’re willing to share it with me.”

Her eyes flicker over to his and they’re wide and brilliant and he wants to kiss her so bad.

“You do?” She checked.

He nodded and chanced reaching to pull her face a little closer, palm resting against her cheek.

“I do.”

She kisses him and it feels like the sun. It feels like everything.

***

*y/n’s point of view*

Rome  is kind of perfect. It’s not so hot that you’ve got to cover yourself in deodorant, but the sun is still pretty and bold in the sky. The hotel he takes you to has an entire terrace open for your access with those flowy ass curtains you only saw in cheesy 80’s pop music videos. There are couches that might as well be beds there so soft and plush. You touch down in the middle of the night and there’s not much to do but keep talking to each other, keep touching each other. You take your shoes off and sit out on the couches wrapped in blankets with another bottle of champagne. If the redness in his cheeks is anything to go off of, he’s just as tipsy as you, and it means that it’s not weird when you lean into him. No one’s gonna say anything for letting him hold you.

“It’s four am right now.” You giggled hiding your face in his neck. “It’s so beautiful here.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yea. I really do. I always wanted to come here. I can’t believe this is our first date.”

“I wanted it to be special for you. You deserve that.”

“Since when?” You asked so thoroughly confused by everything that he was. “I mean, yes. I definitely deserve this but...when you did you realize that you want it to be more than what we were? I thought you just wanted to fool around?”

“I did.” He whined stubbornly tracing your nose with his thumb. “I really did. But...you are very good at sex.” You laughed and he smiled. “I’m serious! One of the best partners I’ve ever had. And sometimes when our bodies were moving I just got lost in you. Like you were a fucking beautiful ass star capturing me with your light. And then you stopped arguing with me so much and just letting me be like...a friend to you?  And then Miami happened and I just--I wanted to be with you. And I realized that I wanted to be with you as a person, even when we weren’t having sex. I was scared. Until I realized that you liked me too. Then I got my confidence back.”

“Oh lord not your confidence.” You rolled your eyes.

“You have got to stop acting like you are not all up on this okay? I see the way you stare at me, honey. It’s okay. Let yourself give in to Mendes Magic!”

“I am officially not attracted to you anymore.” You snorted going to pull away.

He wrapped his arms around your waist and tackled you down to the couch. Your laughter poured out into the night as his fingers dug into your belly. You laugh until your stomach aches. Until there’s tears in your eyes. Until he kisses you and you feel it in your toes. Until the only thing you can think about, feel, smell, is him. And you melt like that against the couch.

***

Rome is beautiful. It’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever been. The sun rises in the sky and you’re up immediately tugging Shawn out of bed. There’s breakfast at this little place near the hotel that looks out over buildings that were unlike anything you’d ever thing. Everything was historic and rustic and so endlessly different from everything you’d seen before. It was really like something straight out of a movie with cobblestone walkways and buildings that were works of art themselves. It’s wild. It would be wild on any day of the week. That was before you looked over your glass of wine to this guy smiling at you like the beauty of the city around him meant nothing in comparison to looking at you.

You liked him. Shit you liked him a lot. And every time he looked you in the eye and hung on every word you said? It just blew you even further away. And you kept trying to remind yourself how unrealistic it all was. You were thirty afterall. The two of you were in different times in your life. He was still holding on to every word his dad said. You had plans for your life, for your career. It was hard to figure out whether or not he could fit into those plans. And maybe that wasn’t first date type of thinking, but hello! He took your ass to Rome. None of it was normal. So you walked a little faster, tried to hold harder to the moments that you had to share. Cause why not?

“Hey can we slow down for a sec?” He asked as you pulled him towards your third museum of the day.

You frowned. “I wanna see the ruins.”

“We can. I promise. Just let’s sit down for a second, yea?”

You’d been walking all morning, stopping at every nook and cranny that you came across. It was a three day trip anyway. You had no idea when you’d ever be back, if you ever would be back. But there’s something special about the company too. You remind yourself that he’s the reason you’re there. The vacation, though amazing, was really just an opportunity to be with him.

“Yea, of course.”

He tugged you to a little corner of these big huge steps that were filled with people just sitting down, chatting, eating their lunches. The second you’re no longer standing on your feet is a little bit like heaven.

“Okay make you were right.” You sighed wiggling your toes. “I’m tired.”

“Well that’s good. I was starting to think you were a robot.” He chuckled. “I’m glad I packed tennis shoes.”

You peered down at his feet and quickly laced your legs with his where the white tennis shoes stuck out in contrast to his black jeans.

“They look so funny on you. I like them. You’re cute.”

He smiled over at you. “I’m cute, aye?”

“You heard me.”

“Yea, well maybe I wanna hear you say it again.” He murmured taking your cheek into his hand.

“You’re cute.” You whispered before pressing your lips together.

You had yet to get over this new style of kissing. The way he rubbed so softly at your cheek you got goosebumps. The way his tongue could make you feel like time was slowing down. Almost like there was nothing left here. Nothing but the two of you and the way you could make each other feel. It was maybe the best feeling in the world.

“You’re beautiful.” He murmured when the kiss had ended, forehead pressed against yours. “I can’t believe you’re here with me right now.”

“I can’t believe you whisked me away to a different country for our first date.” She hummed. “What are you hiding? Do you have a third nipple or something? A serial killer perhaps?”

“Why are you so insistent on me killing people?” He laughed. “And you’ve seen all of my body at this point. If there was a third nipple don’t you think you would’ve seen it?”

“Well you’ve got me there. But statistically speaking at least fifty percent of all murders probably fit your description, honey. I’m just being realistic. I’ve seen what you can do with rope.”

He rolled his eyes and he found that it made you smile. And so he tended to do it more and more often.  That’s kinda how you knew you were fucked.

“What do you say we go see these ruins of yours, find some pasta, and fuck until we fall asleep?”

“As long as it’s in that order!” You gasped tugging him back to his feet to continue your wild adventure of the day.

***

*Shawn’s point of view*

He’s got a new kink. And it’s definitely her calling him baby when he’s inside her. It is without a doubt the sexiest thing she could do for him. Which makes so little sense. How fucking soft had she turned him in a few short months? This is where he was now, almost blowing his load because a woman called him baby. It’s not just a woman though. It’s her. Holy fuck it’s her, and the sound of her voice is like directly tied to his dick or something. Shit.

The couches on the terrace are perfect for sex in broad daylight. It’s completely secluded to just them, but anyone at the other hotels around would easily be able to hear them if they opened a window. It’s just another thing that seems to get them both hot and bothered. Her body is a dream. And he doesn’t need to tie her up to get lost in her. (Even if he really, really liked tying her up). All he needs is the feel of her body against his and his hands to direct her where he wants her to go, where he needs her to go for both of them to explode.

“Fuck.Honey you’re dripping. You’re dripping all over my dick.” He groaned tugging her thighs more ruggedly against his own.

“Baby I--I wanna cum.” She gasped, voice breathy and chaotic as her hips bucked like a fucking dream. “I wanna cum on it. Please?”

“It’s yours. Cum on it. Make yourself cum.”

He reached  around her waist to grind his fingers deep into her clit. Her ass began to bounce against him, quick and sharp and rugged. He’s barely holding on by a thread. And then she starts to squeeze down on him, her hips working to bring herself to her own climax, and he’s already done for.

“Fuck! I’m cumming.”

His fingers work harder on her clit, dropping down to his knees to drive desperately into her with everything he’s got left inside of him. It thrusts her over the back of the couch and he plasters himself against her back grinding tightly with everything that he’s got..  When she cums it’s just another accomplishment, another moment of making her feel good. It’s all he’s ever really wanted since they met.

“Holy fucking shit.” She gasped collapsing against his chest. “So good.”

“Yea? Still think I can’t dom you and date you at the same time?”

“Shhhh. No one has time for you sir, I can’t feel my legs.”

He nuzzled his way into her neck placing kisses against the skin. His arms were still wrapped around her and her fingers were playing in his hair. It was different than their usual hook ups, for sure. But, he liked it. He liked feeling close to her. He liked touching her and feeling her heart beat beneath his finger tips. Did she know how amazing she was?

“You want me to go get a towel?” He asked softly, pecking at her ear.

She hummed. “Not yet. Don’t leave yet.”

God he was ruined. Just like that.

“Yea okay.”

***

She hops in the shower and he has every intention of following her, of maybe pressing her into the shower door and fucking her until the glass breaks. But then his phone starts ringing and she giggles and runs off leaving his dick to twitch against his thigh. He was stupid on her. Aboslutely idiotic. And whoever was getting in the way of his idiocy was about to get an ear full.

“There better be someone dying!” He huffed eyes still very much on the shower where perhaps the most beautiful woman alive was waiting for him.

“That can be arranged. Can you explain to me why I had to find out from Tiffany that your half whit ass is in Rome right now instead of New York?” His dad roared.

Remember that whole things falling apart narrative? Surprise.

“Shit. Dad look I..I just needed to get away for awhile okay?”

“On the comapny fucking jet nonetheless?!”

“That jet has been open to family members as long as I’ve been alive. Since when is it even a problem?”

“Since you’ve been on that jet more than you’ve been in my office. I am tired of trying to explain this to you Shawn. The rules are very simple. You work for me, you do a good job, you get your inheritance. If you don't, you know what happens Shawn. Is that what you want, to make me have to do that to you?”

“Look Dad I,” He let his voice drop softer, shyer. “It’s not what it looks like. This isn’t just me fucking off okay? I--I like someone. Like really like them. And I just wanted to impress her. She’s different. And I wanted her to like me. This isn’t one of my hookups, I swear.”

He hadn’t liked someone in so long, hadn’t even come close to what he was feeling for y/n. Even though his dad was a dick and they had fought since the time he was eleven, there was still a part of him that yearned for his approval. It was hard not to get caught up in what the world knew his dad to be. It was hard not to feel like if he could just make him proud, just make him happy, then everything would be okay. He hadn’t been that naive in a long time, but it still pulled at him every now and again.

Manny sighed. “Great, son. That doesn’t help the fact that you went behind my back and are continuously neglecting your duties.”

“I--I’m not though. Niall is sitting at sixteen songs as we speak. You only wanted twelve remember? I convinced the producers to look into doing a deluxe edition. That’s gonna make the label happy, Niall happy, and it’s more money for you right? I’m back in LA in a week to work on the roll out for Sarah Leone to the press. I’m kind of working my ass off here. I’m doing everything you wanted.”

“Look whatever just get your ass back to New York, okay?” He muttered.

“I’ll be back in two days.”

“Shawn.”

“Two days. I’ll be back in two days, and I’ll keep living in this hell of a life you’ve set up for me , alright? See you then.”

He tossed his phone back onto the bed in frustration. The noose tightened a little in his absence, sick and tired of always fighting and always losing. It seemed like no matter what happiness he carved out for himself, he was always going to have to return home. Maybe he was kidding himself. Maybe there was no winning in this life.

He stands there for like forty-five seconds feeling sorry for himself, and just fully like a piece of shit. And then he hears her. It’s soft and gentle and sweet. He moves a little closer to the bathroom, the door still open and her naked body visible through the foggy glass door. She’s singing.

“I’m like a bird, I’ll only fly away.” She cooed softly. “I don’t know where my soul is, I don’t know where my home is.”

Her voice was soulful and low, her fingers cupping her breasts and rolling down over her hips as she sang. It really kind of hit him in his heart. He leaned against the edge of the doorway, head lolling back for support at this gorgeous sound coming out of this gorgeous woman. The music lover in him just wanted to sit on the floor and listen to her all day, it was so pretty. Maybe map out some harmonies for the two of them. And the fact that he could see the smile on her lips as she sang only made his heart feel two times too big for his sturnemum. He wasn’t ready for the way that she could make him feel. He thought he’d known that, thought he was preparing himself. Not so much. He wasn’t sure one could prepare themselves for a woman like y/n. Maybe that was his lesson to learn.

She catches sight of him out of the corner of her eye and her lips glue firmly shut. He practically pouts when she stops singing. His arms crossed against his chest tighten in dissatisfaction.

“What are you doing?” She whined leaning her head out of the shower.

He shrugged. “Was just listenin’. You didn’t tell me you sang.”

“You didn’t ask. And I don’t. I was just...humming.”

“Humming?” He laughed softly. “Okay. Well you hum beautifully.”

“Well thank you, I suppose. Was your phone call okay?”

“No. Not quite but, I’m good now. Can I wash your back for you maybe?”

“Yea. Boy, you ain’t gotta ask to wash my back. Come on!”

He steps back into the steam of the shower and it’s like nothing exists but the two of them. And he just really wants to keep it that way for a little while longer. If only for a little while longer.

***

They’re lying on a hotel bed that’s so soft it feels like they’re sinking. After another glorious round of sex he found himself tangled in the sheets beside her. Their heads at the foot of the bed because that’s the position where he’d made her cum last, and their feet intertwined at the headboard. She’s not looking at him, but instead up at the ceiling. This doesn’t seem to stop him from peering over at her. She’s kind of too beautiful to not look at.

“Can I ask you something?” He hedged carefully.

She peered over at him, eyes warm and sated.

“Yes.”

“I don’t...I really don’t know how to ask, or what to ask. And maybe--maybe I’m gonna come across like some dick, but I don’t wanna do that with you. I want to learn ya know? I want to understand.”

“Shawn?” She pressed getting his attention. “Calm down. Just ask.”

He nodded softly and took a deep breath. His fingers twitched anxiously against his stomach.

“That stuff you said earlier on the plane...you know about--about the trump supporter, and how that made you feel? And then sometimes...sometimes it sounds like you don’t really like white people, which like makes sense right? We’re the worst. But I just...I wanna understand more about...about what that means for you? Fuck. I’m sorry. That sounded dumb just saying it.”

He closes his eyes ready for her to slap him and take his jet all the way back to New York. He thinks maybe he’d deserve it. It wasn’t even that he’d never been with a Black woman before. Black Women were beautiful and ethereal and wonderful. But, even his tiny white man brain could understand that the state of the world was simply a little different nowadays. His mediocre understanding of racism and privilege simply wasn’t enough. And he knew that if he wanted to be with this woman, if he wanted to feel like he deserved to be near her and absorb her intellect, than he should probably do his absolute best to understand the world in which she walked. Because it certainly looked different from his own.

He feels her hand on his chest and his eyes flutter open. She curled her fingers around his own and sent him another gentle smile that made his toes curl at the other end of the bed.

“It’s not dumb.” She assured him. “You’re asking. You might not have the language, but you’re asking. And that means a lot to me, okay? A lot.”

He nodded his head dumbly, eagerly hanging on every word that she said. She lied back once again, her head nestling a little closer to his. She doesn’t let go of his fingers.

“So, I do hate white people sometimes.” She mumbled. “Sometimes in the discourse Black folks will often try to explain that it’s not all white people, it’s just some. And most days I can get there. I can recognize that. But like… that’s not really how it works you know? Even white people who wouldn’t lynch my black ass grew up in a culture that would. Even white folks who might not feel the need to say the n-word grow up in a culture that situates their body, their worth, their value over mine. And even if that’s not your fault, and I can recognize that it isn’t you know? That’s how privilege works, it’s subliminal. But even if it’s not your fault, it doesn’t mean that you don’t benefit. And it definitely doesn’t mean that you haven’t absorbed messages about my inferiority.”

He watches her face the entire time, more specifically the emotions that seem to rush through every pore and every muscle. There’s a bit of agony on her features. A bit of frustration. But as she warms up there’s a freedom to it too. He knows that she’s not editing her words. She’s not doing anything for his benefit. He asked and so she would tell him, in whatever way was meaningful for her.

“White people just...sometimes it really seems like y’all don’t give a shit. I’ve had the cops called on me at the very building that I work at. On the top floor, with some of the most powerful people in show bizz twenty-seven times since I started. To the point where Mike in security has to keep an updated description of me every time I change my hair just in case. I have walked onto sets to manage my artists and been told that the back up dancers are in the trailer around back. Every step I take, every goddamn day, there is always at least one white person there to tell me that I don’t deserve it. That I don’t belong. And the intersections of my blackness with my womanhood mean that I am consistently and constantly facing an uphill battle of two indentities that the world just doesn’t give a fuck about.”

He couldn’t look away from her. Never had he ever seen her be so vulnerable for him. Y/n was always just an inch or two behind a wall, always peeking out to give him glimpses but never really showing herself in her entirety. He watched the way that her chest rose and fell more rapidly, watched the way her fingers tightened around his own, and her eyebrows wrinkled on her forehead. It was anxiety. She was anxious and angry and sad. The way that her lips pointed down and her eyes blinked faster than normal told him as such. It kind of broke his heart.

And it’s all so new for him that the only thing he can do is follow his instincts and hope that either he doesn’t fuck it up, or that maybe she’ll forgive him if he does. So, he rested his head firmer against her and held her hands just as tight like maybe it might root her a little better in this room with him, like maybe she might feel safe with him.

“And the people...the people that do these things to you. That do these racist acts all the time they--they look like me don’t they?”

Her eyes that were trained on the ceiling fell down to meet his again. They’re still sad, but a little softer now.

She nodded slowly a bit of a grin forming on her lips.

“I’ma be honest ain’t nobody walking around looking quite like you but...yes they--they kind of look like you.”

He nodded slowly and tilted his head back to peer up at the ceiling now. There’s an anxiety to it for him too. In asking the questions that he didn’t have answers to, to be vulnerable enough in his ignorance. There’s a desire to get it right because she’s important to him, and then a dread when he realizes the time it will take to get there, and the pain that might cause her along the way.

“Shit y/n...why the hell would you even wanna go out with me? Even I hate me right now.” He sighed.

“That’s just the white guilt talking baby,” She snorted before sobering up quickly. “Look it’s complicated right? Like given my problems with white people and white men in particular, I’m firm enough in my blackness and my identity to recognize everything that I just explained to you, while also recognizing that things are never black and white. No pun intended. I can still love your humanity and your individuality as long as you’re willing to do the same for me. I can recognize that not all white people are the same, that you all think alike. I just need the space to have conversations like this. I need someone who cares enough to learn. Anything else isn't worthy of my time. Either you’re down with me always, even when it isn’t convenient, or you’re not. So, which is it?”

Her eyes are wide and clear. It’s that firmness in the set of her jaw that gets him. She’s dead serious. Either he buys into her, and all of her, or he doesn’t deserve any of her. He can see that. He can understand it. It’s not that he wants her bad enough to “deal” with the rest of it. It’s that he wants her bad enough to understand all of her. He wants to know. Needs to.

“I’m down.” He assured her reaching for her cheek in his palm. “For all of it.”

“You’re sure?” She mumbled with desperate eyes. “Cause if you’re not we can go back New York and just be fuck buddies again. You can still find you some white girl without hundreds of years of internalized genocide and systemic oppression on her shoulders.”

He shook his head and kissed her until the tension melted from her body. Because he needed it to. He needed her belief in him, her trust.

“I’m so damn sure it’s insane. Just want you.” He whispered.

She reached for his lips pulling him back to kiss her again.

“Promise.” She demanded as if it was even an option.

“I promise.”

***

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[dreamycastaway]

Opposites Attract

Gardener!Aziraphale x Nanny!Crowley for @nim-lock!! Thank you for the prompt!!

“They were almost exact opposites of each other,” Warlock began, and, knowing that his friends would probably take this to mean that his Nanny was thin and all angles, while his gardener was soft and round, or that she was stern and he was gentle, immediately clarified his statement: “and not just in the way you’re thinking of. I mean, she literally told me I would ‘rule when Earth’s destroyed’ and he told me I ‘must never destroy the Earth.’” He shook his head. “Why would you say either of those things to a child?”

It was eleven years and change since the apocalypse was narrowly averted by four eleven year olds, with a bit of help from two lovers who wouldn’t admit it, two people who were remarkably bad at their jobs, and two people who found themselves in the midst of something they rather would not have been dragged into. For the most part, everyone had gotten on with their lives, either being in the know concerning what had not happened and breathing a sigh of relief that it had not, or not being in the know about anything, and being remarkably unaffected by how close they had come to Rapture. Only one person could not be sorted neatly into one of these two categories: Warlock Dowling.

Warlock Dowling, now a young man, had done relatively well for himself in the second half of his life. He had done relatively well in the first half of his life, too, but he had not done it for himself. Warlock would later recall that on his eleventh birthday, it was as if a switch had flipped inside him and he decided he wanted to stop being such a menace. On both counts, Warlock Dowling was wrong. What Warlock had realized was that the world ought to be cherished and that he ought to embrace being human, and he had realized this some days after his eleventh birthday. But the human mind is fickle and overly dependent upon heuristics, and the mind of a child all the more so.

It was now eleven years and one day since Warlock Dowling had somehow come to the realization that, in no uncertain terms, he didn’t want to be a brat anymore. This decision had served him well thus far with everyone but his parents and their ilk, whose misplaced disappointment in this son began with his decision at eleven and change to not be a brat anymore, and was then compounded by his decision at sixteen to tell them he was bisexual, his decision at eighteen to go to Oxford instead of West Point, and his decision at twenty to become a vegetarian and announce that he considered himself a pacifist. His parents’ disappointment upset him, but he had accepted it with as much grace as a twenty-two-year-old was able.

It was all of these monumental decisions plus several hundred smaller ones that had brought Warlock Dowling to where he was now: crammed in with six friends at a small table in the King’s Arms pub, celebrating his belated birthday over pints and pies. They had been there for a while now, as made obvious by the empty glasses, the red faces, and the wide smiles that would make their mouths sore in the morning. As is typical on the eve of a graduation, they had spent the last several hours reminiscing. Having run out of stories about their college years, but still trapped in the sticky embrace of nostalgia, the young adults had turned to childhood stories.

“Oh, Warlock, tell them about that nanny of yours.” Warlock looked across the table to see his best friend of four years sipping the last bit of her drink, incredulity already starting to take hold on her face as she remembered all the ridiculous stories Warlock had told her their first year.

“Yeah, alright,” he smiled. “But I’ve got to tell them all about Brother Francis too. He’s half of why it was all so weird.”

“How could I forget about Francis! Was he even a monk?” She flashed Warlock the type of grin exchanged between old friends who are proud to know each other well.

“Honestly, I … don’t think so. And I think “Nanny” might actually have been, like, a drag persona or something.”

Even with the storytelling chops of a young man who had read everything he could get his hands on even before he decided to study English Literature at Oxford, and had written quite a bit besides, it was still difficult to get the story started. How do you manage to capture a childhood defined by the constant presence of two of the strangest people you’d ever met, while keeping it short enough to tell your friends over drinks?

“They were almost exact opposites of each other,” he began, and, knowing that his friends would probably take this to mean that his Nanny was thin and all angles, while his gardener was soft and round, or that she was stern and he was gentle, immediately clarified his statement: “and notjust in the way you’re thinking of. I mean, she literally told me I would ‘rule when Earth’s destroyed’ and he told me I ‘must never destroy the Earth.’” He shook his head. “Why would you say either of those things to a child?”

“Jeez. They must have hated each other even worse than your parents.”

Warlock grimaced a little at the jab, but quickly decided he wasn’t going to let his parents get in the way of enjoying his birthday party. “You’d think, right? But I actually think they were … in love?”

His friends snorted and giggled.

“No, really! Like, okay, I had this plant when I was six, right? And …”

As the storytelling got underway, the young Mr. Dowling felt as if he were back in his six-year-old body, toddling through the gardens in his soon-to-be-unpolished little loafers, his ridiculous-for-a-six-year-old American flag lapel pin reflecting sunlight in a rather obnoxious way. He was holding something close to his chest, in a way that clearly was more for his own comfort than the object’s safety.

“Brother Francis!” he yelled, a few tears starting to stream down his face. “Brother Francis!” He called out again as he approached the kind old man, rather more sobbing than yelling at this point.

“Young Master Warlock!” Brother Francis turned around, gray eyes twinkling as they always did. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Anthony,” Warlock cried. “I think … I think he’s dead.”

A moment of panic passed over Brother Francis’ face, for reasons incredibly obvious to anyone knowing who Brother Francis really was. Luckily, it went unnoticed by the inconsolable child, who was far more concerned with wiping the tears off his face and shoving the object he had been clutching towards the gardener than he was with parsing the micro-expressions of the much older man.

The object, as it turned out, was a half-dead Venus Fly Trap in an all-black terracotta pot.

“Oh, Anthony!” Brother Francis said, recalling the plant he had given to Warlock earlier this week. “Yes, Anthony, of course.” He looked at the plant, pretending to know anything about plants, praying that what he said next would be true. “Anthony’s going to be just fine, Master Warlock.”

“Really?” Warlock said through blubbering tears.

“Yes. Why don’t I look after him tonight, hmm?”

“Okay…”

“Go ahead and tell him you’ll be back for him tomorrow afternoon, hmm?” The gardener paused, and patted Warlock reassuringly on the back. “And then go enjoy this beautiful Saturday and I’ll watch over him until tonight, when I can take him to the plant doctor.”

Warlock nodded resolutely, imagining that this is how “the troops” his father talked about so often must feel when they cross the threshold into field hospitals, bearing their wounded comrades. He leaned down to whisper some reassuring words to Anthony, hugged the gardener, and ran off into the Saturday afternoon.

**

Unbeknownst to anyone besides the two of them, Nanny and Brother Francis met every other Saturday night, under the pretense of discussing how they felt their plan was coming along. Frequently, there were other, unspoken agenda items, of varying degrees of excitement. Tonight, the first thing on the docket was Anthony.

Nanny was circling Brother Francis in a way that would have rather reminded the in-the-know onlooker of the demon Crowley. “You … gave him a plant named Anthony?” Nanny asked, trying desperately to keep any tone out of her tone of voice. She mostly succeeded at seeming neutral, helped immeasurably by her dark glasses.

A smirk that looked as if it would be more at home on the face of the angel Aziraphale began to play on Brother Francis’ lips. “Yes. You can imagine how horrified I was when he told me Anthony was dead.”

“But … Anthony is my name.”

“Yes, well. I told you I’d get used to it. I guess I’ve grown rather too fond of it.”

Nanny had stopped her serpentine walking, and was now standing across from the gardener with Anthony on the table between them. “Why a Fly Trap?”

“I read in a parenting column that teaching children to raise plants can help instill a sense of responsibility and care. And I figured, what with him liking dinosaurs and their teeth so much …” Neither being could stifle their chuckle. The Almighty’s little joke about a race of giant lizards ruling the planet got funnier with every passing year, and every passing human that believed it. “Besides, I know how Dagon and Beelzebub hate these things … I thought you might get quite a kick out of it.” This earned him an uproarious laugh from Nanny, who found herself almost doubled over by the thought of Beelzebub’s face if they knew the Anti-Christ was raising a Fly Trap.

Nanny feigned wiping a tear from below her glasses, and the old man across from her looked at her expectantly. “So?”

“So … what?”

The gardener exhaled, irritated at being put in the position of explaining something so obvious. “So, can you heal this plant?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Warlock told me you were going to ‘take him to the plant doctor,’” Nanny teased. “Besides … healing is rather too ‘good’ a thing for me to do, isn’t it?”

Brother Francis’ face had not been built to express annoyance, but it was trying its hardest nonetheless. He knew that Nanny had quite a green thumb, and he wasn’t sure why this particular task was seeming to drag on like a live reading of James Joyce’s Ulysses. He opened his mouth with the intention of expressing his aggravation, but thought better of it at the last minute, deciding to take the high road. “Please.”

“Fine.” She looked at the pot, well aware that what she was about to do would not be a hellish influence on the boy’s life. “Never was able to say ‘no’ to you,” she mumbled. The second half of her thought: though it seems to be much of what you say to me lingered on her mind as she leaned down towards the plant.

Given the other similarities between Nanny and the demon Crowley, one would have expected her to start yelling at the Fly Trap, screaming at it that she knew it could do better. Unfortunately, shouting threats at plants was a rather unsuitable gardening technique for a clandestine meeting in the middle of the night, and Nanny was forced to resort to softly, but sternly, telling Anthony the Fly Trap that she wasn’t angry, she was just disappointed.

She pushed the Fly Trap back towards the gardener. “I think it’ll shape up now.” She paused. “But it does need more sunlight. You can tell Warlock it’s doctor’s orders.”

Relief that he had not lied to the child about the plant being alright spread across Brother Francis’ face. He looked down on the already perkier Fly Trap. “Oh, thank you! You know, sometimes I think you should have been the gardener.”

Nanny and Brother Francis were opposites in a great many ways, but perhaps one of their most difficult differences was that Brother Francis tended to say things without thinking when he was overjoyed, and Nanny tended to say things without thinking when she was angry. Brother Francis had not been thinking when he suggested that Nanny should have been a gardener, and as he watched her purse her already thin lips into an even tighter line, he knew he had made a mistake. He took in a deep breath and blinked slowly, waiting for the sound of Nanny screaming or the greenhouse door slamming behind her. Instead, he heard one small, stifled sob.

A quiet “oh” escaped his lips, full of sadness, and he quickly stepped around the table to embrace his companion. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he said over and over again as she stood limp in his arms, crying softly.

No one else on the face of the Earth could have understood that long before this being had been Nanny or Crowley, he had once been a gardener, in the first and finest Garden there had ever been. It had been his apple tree that had been so powerful that the Almighty had deemed it forbidden. He had been so proud of his tree, the Tree of Everything. It was by praising his horticultural chops that Lucifer had convinced the Gardener to hear him out in the first place. The rest, of course, is history – the beginning of his sauntering vaguely downwards.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the muttering continued, Brother Francis’ voice breaking as he tried to contain his own tears. He knew better than to ask for forgiveness, to use that word his friend hated so much. He was almost certain that this would be, at the very least, the end of their colleagueship in the Dowling home. He was deeply worried that that would certainly foreshadow the end of the world. He would not allow himself to give in to the fear that this may be the end of their friendship.

As Brother Francis teetered on the edge of panic, he heard his companion take a shuddering breath. He stepped back a few inches, holding his breath as he waited for Nanny’s verdict.

“It’s okay, Angel.” She said, the first time she had called him that since they had arrived here. “It’s okay,” she repeated, and the two of them let the tension fall away from their shoulders. “I’m just glad no one else was here to see that.”

What neither Nanny or Brother Francis had realized was that someone else had been there to see it – none other than young Warlock, who had snuck out of bed in hopes of catching a glimpse of the mysterious plant doctor.

Luckily for the nanny and the gardener, he had not understood most of what he had observed. The boy tiptoed back towards the house, carrying the weight of the exciting new secret that his Nanny was apparently moonlighting as a plant doctor named Anthony. And that his Nanny and his gardener were somehow, despite all their differences, deeply and unchangeably in love.

**

“So … what happened to them?” The question from across the table pulled Warlock out of his hazy reminiscence and back to the cramped pub table.

He shrugged. “They just both … disappeared one day.”

His friends stared back at him in stunned silence. “Did you look for them?”

“I guess, but I was eleven. The fact they hadn’t told anyone I asked that they were leaving basically put a stop to my detective work.”

“Did you ever see them again?”

“I … don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“Oh, he ‘doesn’t think so’. You hear that lads? Warlock’s life is so damn weird, he’s not sure if he’s run into the weirdest two people I’ve ever heard of, who happened to disappear under mysterious circumstances.” His friends laughed. “Maybe you’ve had enough to drink, Warlock.” Warlock looked down at his several empty beer glasses, and agreed that he probably had had enough to drink.

As the conversation moved on to other people’s much more typical nannies and babysitters, Warlock remembered the odd second-hand bookstore he had stumbled into a few months ago. It had seemed to him to be owned by a husband and husband team – one of whom was thin and all angles, one of whom was soft and round. They had been helping each other into their coats and chattering about what the lunch special at the Ritz might be this time of year when he walked in. This normally wouldn’t have stood out to him much – secondhand bookstores tended to contain all sorts of people.

What had stood out to the young man was that while his back was turned to the till as he browsed, he had been almost certain he heard the shorter of the two say softly to the taller “Look, Anthony, Sweetheart, it’s Warlock Dowling. He’s all grown up.”

Warlock spun around, his mouth forming the question before he even knew what he was asking. “Brother Francis?” But the shop was empty. On the register was a small, handwritten note: “Out to lunch. May return later.”

#good omens #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #nanny!crowley #brother francis #gardener!aziraphale #anthony j crowley #warlock dowling #in which i write warlock as a good person as an adult because i CAN!! #dreamy writes

[goddamnitkastle]

Let My Darlin’ Take Me There

Here! Have this fic inspired by/slightly ripped off by my latest TV obsession Virgin River. 

If you’ve seen the show this is basically the good night scene between Mel and Jack after their first “date” in episode 9 but instead it’s Frank and Karen and I gave it the Kastle twist. Sorry not sorry.

Please check out the show, it is genuinely good and the soft™ content is off the charts. 

I’m also particularly proud of this fic cause it is written from Karen’s POV! I’ve ignored her for too long and I will definitely try to do better in the future.

Also shoutout to @carry-the-sky for beta reading the first draft and assuring me that this fic was going in a good direction. Thank you so much! Okay enough rambling...

Enjoy!

The jitters have stayed with Karen all night. In some moments they would rattle her that she was worried it would bring her to her knees but in other moments it made her feel downright giddy. Like how she would feel after too much wine without crossing the line into sloppy drunkenness territory. They’re almost to the front door of her apartment building. She tries to will it as far away as possible. “Thought we would uh, head somewhere away from the Kitchen. Away from... prying eyes.” Frank says as he helps her get her coat on. Karen wondered if Frank had arranged a plane to the the other side of the country for their first date. She wouldn’t put it past him, he could do it. But they ended up in Astoria, which was just a lovely. The restaurant, the banter, it was a first date for the history books. “I had a really nice time tonight. Thank you.”

Karen slows her walk down to a snail’s pace.

“You’re welcome.”

Frank falls into stride with her.

“How did you find that place?” “Micro recommended it. He’d taken Sarah there before for, uh... it also had good Yelp reviews...” “Well I never had rigatoni like that.” Karen reaches for his hand and he takes it. “Yeah? It was good, wasn’t it? Almost wanted a second plate...” Frank admits while running his thumb over her knuckles. They laugh as they walk up the steps, still holding hands. They stop right at the front door and face each other. “Well... good night, Frank.” “Good night, Karen.” Neither one of them moves and for a second Karen thinks he’s going to be the one to let go and leave. However he leans in and she is expecting a chaste cheek kiss, like the one at the waterfront but without all the worry in it. But instead goes to her lips. Karen is caught off guard but she reciprocates in kind. He’s very stiff though, he’s really just pressing his mouth against hers and she can feel that he is doing this more out of politeness rather than... She pulls away and Frank immediately straightens back up, letting go of her hand and into an at attention stance. “Everything okay?” He asks with far too much worry in his voice. “Yeah... I just... need to take things slowly.” “That’s okay.” He assures her. It’s all over his face though, he’s starting to think that maybe kissing her was not the best idea. But it was. The awkwardness is now past and they can try again. And so she does. She leans in and gives him a small kiss. He doesn’t pull back but he also doesn’t react right away. Karen takes a breath and tries again and he responds. There we go... Karen thinks. It starts to grow in intensity as she places her hand on his chest. He cups her face as he angles his mouth to go deeper. The sweetness of it all floods her mind and it would be so easy to let this happen. Let it go as far as they want to tonight. They’re so close, so so close... It takes a split second though for Karen to remember where they both have been. How they still have some ways to go before they can cross that line. He has lost so much and so has she and the delicacy that’s between them could evaporate at the wrong gesture or word. She pulls away and leans into him. Frank breathes out and she can feel him trying to to hide his frustration. In a gentlemanly way of course. His hands drop from her face to her shoulders as he lets out a sigh that makes her chuckle. “Now you’re trying to kill me.” He teases. “Oh, you’re gonna be just fine.” She retorts back. They both laugh and she’s relieved that he’s not hurt or angry. Not that he is that kind of man, not at all.

“No pressure.” Frank reminds Karen as they drive away from her apartment. He’s so at ease and Karen wonders if he’s actually freaking out at all or if he is just hiding it better than she is right now.

“Right”. Karen responds, thankful that her voice is remaining steady despite feeling anything but that right now.

“Just like I promised.”

“Okay.”

“Just dinner.”

“Right.”

“Jeez Karen I really hope you got some multisyllabic words for tonight. You’re starting to sound like me…”

Karen gasps but starts laughing hysterically.

“Wow. This coming from a man who uses grunts and hmph’s eighty percent of the time to communicate, that is just…”

He’s laughing now and suddenly the situation they are in makes perfect sense right now.

“And you picked me up in your van…”

“Oh no, don’t start with…” “Good night.” Frank says as he scratches the back of his head clearly in a slightly embarrassed state. “Good night.” Karen turns to the door and opens her clutch to get her keys out. “Will I see you tomorrow?” “You’re not busy?” “No... actually.” He answers in earnest. “Oh, okay. Um... I make great pancakes.”

Frank gives her a look and Karen is so tempted to pull him upstairs, to throw away her promise to take things slow, make him work for those pancakes... “You cook?” He asks in a disbelieving tone. Karen is about to tell him off but he gives her a half smile and she lets out a laugh instead. “I do, actually. And pancakes are my specialty. Even Foggy has commented on their deliciousness.” Karen proclaims even though she knows she doesn't have to. “I bet they are.” “Okay. I’ll see you in the morning then.” She unlocks the door and turns back to look at Frank. He’s leaning against the pillar and Karen swears he looks awestruck. She decides to leave him like that. Take that image of him to bed. And in the morning, they can resume their fresh start over her pancakes.

#kastle #kastle fanfiction #meganerinff #frank castle #karen page #kastlenetwork #carry-the-sky #daredevil #the punisher #let my darlin’ take me there

[dyscrasia-eucrasia]

Part 7

<<Prev | Next>>

"Hey giiiirl," Lexi said when Angel answered the Facetime call. "It's been foreverrrr, how are you?" 

Lexi Christo was a micro-influencer from Richmond, Virginia. She was tan, blonde, and had the whitest teeth Angel had ever seen on a person. He'd become influencer buddies with her during a pole dancing expo he'd traveled to a year ago. She wasn't a dancer herself, but had been there to support another micro-influencer who danced as a hobby. Angel had met her in the hotel bar as she went around taking selfies with as many guys as she could, and they struck up a conversation, working out a deal to both post the selfie to their Instagram accounts and tag each other. 

She was alright, as far as he was concerned. She had two cute pomeranians and hustled fitness shakes in what he could only assume was a pyramid scheme. She was image obsessed, but who on Instagram wasn't? The only problem he had with her was that she came off as a super Jesus-freak online, but in person she was one of the hardest partiers he'd ever met. 

A call from her generally meant she was planning something big and fun and wanted as many influencers to show up as she could get. 

"Oh, y'know, wasting all of my talent on podunk Charleston, the usual," he replied. 

"Are you laying in bed? I'm not interrupting a dick appointment, am I?"

"God, I wish I was getting dick right now. No, I'm just resting my leg, I pulled it funny on the pole last night." 

"Oh, bummer. Is it serious?" 

"No, it happens sometimes. Just need to ice it and stay off of it for a day." 

"That's good… speaking of dancing, I've got a proposition for you." 

"Oh no, what are you planning?" 

"So my sister is getting married in a few months, and I'm putting together a bachelorette party for her. It's gonna be so lit, I've got so many local influencers coming. We're gonna stream it on Instagram Live and everything. And I want you to be our stripper." 

"Lexi, you know I'm gay, right? I don't do hen shows." 

"No no no, that's why you'd be perfect! That way none of the guests will end up trying to fuck you." 

"Well, jeez, take all the fun out of working…" Angel joked. He'd never fucked someone from a club. He'd thought about it sometimes - the money would be nice, of course - but it always came back to his online reputation. Had to keep it clean to attract those brand deals. 

"C'mon, pleeeeaaaase! I'll pay you and everything." 

"Bitch, you'd better pay your dancers!"

"Of course I would! But you'll get paid plus you'll get exposure from a ton of influencers. C'mon, it'll be so much fun."

"For you. I'll be working." 

"Work can be fun. C'mon, pleeeeeaaaase!"

"Okay, okay! I'll do it, jeez. Stop grovelling." 

"Omigod, thank you!" 

"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it." 

"Excellent. I'm so excited. So anyways, what's happening with you?"

"Oh, not much. Just thinking about boys, y'know how it is." 

"Speaking of boys, you should totally DM Clayton Howard. He's actually out in West Virginia right now." 

"Whaaat? What's he doing out of L.A.?" 

"He's doing some sort of cryptid hunting show with his crew. They were hunting Mothman, and then something called Flatland, or something like that? They almost got shot by hillbillies in the episode that went up today." 

"No way. How did that even happen?" 

"They were in the woods looking for the Goatman and I guess they got too close to some hillbilly shack or something because someone fired a shotgun at them."

"Wait, what's the Goatman?" 

"You know, from the creepypasta?" 

"Girl, you know I hate horror." 

"Well, there's this story about a Goatman who lives in the woods and smells like blood and it can shapeshift or whatever and sneaks into groups of teenagers."

"Ugh, creepy." 

"I know! But anyways, Clayton's in your state, you should totally DM him and try to hook up. Or at least shoot a collab." 

"I dunno, Clayton's got like 100k followers, I doubt he'd talk to someone with less than 10k…"

Angel didn't get to finish that thought when his phone started to buzz. The notification that popped up at the top of the screen showed an incoming call - not Facetime, just a regular phone call. And the caller ID was someone from his contacts: Demie. 

He sat up, suddenly flooded with energy. It had been two whole days since Demie had called him, and he'd figured that Demie just didn't want anything to do with him anymore. 

"Lexi, I gotta go, I'm getting a really important call," he said, words tumbling rapidly out of his mouth. 

"Ooooh, is it for a dick appointment?" 

"If I play my cards right, it is," he said with a grin. "Talk to you later, byeeeee!" 

He hung up the Facetime call before she could reply, smashing the answer button on the incoming call. 

"Hello?" He said. He instantly cringed. That 'hello' had sounded too excited. He was afraid of coming off too strong and scaring Demie away. 

"Uh… Angel?" Demie asked. 

"Yeah, yeah, this is Angel. What's up, man?" 

"Hey, uh, so Elaine said you called. Sorry I didn't call back, I was dealing with some shit." 

"Hey man, that's fine. Is everything okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine, there were just these punkass kids trespassing on my property and scaring my goats so I was putting up signs all day--"

"Wait, you have goats?" Angel interrupted. 

"Uh… yeah?" 

"What, do you live on a farm or something?"

"Huh? No. I grew up on a farm, but I moved away and shit. I just have some goats." 

"You really like goats, huh? I mean, you dress up like a goat, you have goats…" 

"Uh… I guess." 

"Have you ever heard of the Goatman?" 

There was some silence on the other end of the line. Angel was afraid the connection had dropped, so he asked: "Demie? You there?" 

"Yeah, I'm here. What about the Goatman?" 

"Oh, apparently there's this Youtuber who's in town and is doing a show about cryptids. I dunno, I thought that since you like goats, maybe you knew about the Goatman and had checked it out--" 

"Cryptids are fucking bullshit, you know that, right?" Demie said. His typically monotone voice had just an edge of anger to it. 

"Oh, yeah, I know--" 

"Like they're just stupid stories made up by drunk rednecks who don't know what a fucking owl looks like, and all the people who go hunting them are just running around trespassing on private property." 

There was silence for a little while. 

"Hey," Angel said gently, "are we cool? Did I say something wrong?"

He could hear Demie take a deep breath, and then let it out. "Yeah, no, it's fine." 

"'Cause I didn't mean to upset you. You know that, right?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Was that all you wanted to talk about or did you call about something else?" 

"Oh, no, I didn't actually call about that, I was just talking to someone about it. I was calling to check in, y'know? Wondering how the song writing was going and all that." 

"Um, it's going fine, I guess."

"I was reading the Wiki page for Orpheus, it said that he had the power to, like, make anything that heard his music do whatever he wanted. I can see why you'd like him as a musician, I bet that would be a cool superpower to have." 

"Um, yeah, look, about that--" 

Angel's phone vibrated with a notification for a text. He pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it. It was a text from Lexi, stating: 'I DMed Clayton ur number. Ur welcome. 🍆💦'

A second later, a number he didn't recognize with a California area code lit up his phone with an incoming call. 

"Oh, shit," he mumbled. He wanted to keep talking to Demie, especially since he could tell he'd offended him somehow and wanted to clear the air. But at the same time, Clayton Howard had been his internet mancrush for ages. 

"Hey, Demie, sorry, I'm gonna have to go, I have to take this call. Can I call you back later?" 

"Um, yeah, I guess--" 

"Okay, byeeee!" 

He fumbled with the phone, ending the call with Demie and hitting the answer button for the unknown number. 

"Hello?" He asked. 

"Hey, is this Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"Hey dude, this is Clayton Howard…"

#writing #writers on tumblr #original fiction #gay fiction #lgbt fiction #wright's writing #w:demie and angel

[ourshyartcollection]

Humans Are Weird: Vampires Pt. 2

You asked for it, so you shall receive it, the story and misadventures of Vladislav and Glaza continue; hope you all enjoy. Also since the first story was in Glaza’s perspective, this one will be in Vladislav's

Well... This was the dumbest situation I’ve landed myself in the last century or so, it even topped siding with Napoleon during the French civil war. Now here I am, in my room with an alien tied to my bed, “Please don’t kill me, I still have internet arguments to win!”

“Please shut both of your mouths I’m not going to kill you unless I get hungry.”

[Glaza Incoherently screaming]: AAHHH! Please no, no, no, no, no!

“I’m kidding, jeez even Churchhill thought that joke was funny,” I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, I sighed, “Look if I promise to untie you will you listen to me and not punch me alright.”

“sure that sounds fair,” we both shared a fun laugh.

“Haha, seriously though if you do punch me again I’m going to rip out your still beating heart from one of your throats and eat it in front of you,” I leaned in close to his face a  dark violet glow emanating from my eyes, “all of it, understand?”

[Glaza nervous laughter]: hahaha ah~

“Good,” I untie Glaza who immediately shrinks down into the corner of the room, ”alright listen, the only reason I’m not erasing your memory right now is that you found me out once before and erasing your memory isn’t gonna stop you from doing it again, that and killing you would be a bit harder to cover up.

With how quiet the room is you could hear Glaza nervously gulp before saying, “S-so, why are y-you here?” god if his voice was anymore shaky it would be a rattle.

“I’m here so I can colonize Noctus-III.”

“Wait, what! I know it’s an earth-category death-world, but with its dense atmosphere little to no light can touch the surface.”

“The fact that there’s little to no light is the main reason I want to colonize it; you see my kind tend to, and this is the most delicate way I can put this, burst into a fireball of agonizing pain when we come in contact with sunlight, I can walk around cause I have a micro forcefield that blocks U.V. light.”

“How noble of you,” Glaza stood up and started to shack my hand, “to build a homeworld for your species is truly an admirable endeavor-”

“Oh fuck no that's not it, I’m planning on monopolizing it!”

“Come again!?”

“My kind will pay top credit for a little plot of land on the only planet they can thrive on, I’m gonna be filthy stinking rich!”

“Oh, nevermind, extorting your entire species, wow you are a horrible excuse for a living being”

“Jokes on you I’m dead, and your gonna help me.”

“And why would I agree to assist you in such a scam”

“Cause now... you're my familiar.”

“Wait, What!” Glaza looked down to see glowing violet markings attached to his wrists, “This can’t be happening, this can’t-”

“Oh it can my companion,” Vladislav pulled Glaza close in a friendly manner, “it can be.”

[Glaza losing all hope for a normal life]: NNNOOOOOOO!

To Be Continued...

Remember kids, Like and Reblog to show support.

p.s. I’ve decided to scrap the H.A.W. warframe one since no one cared about it.

#HUMANS ARE WEIRD #humans and aliens #humans are sexy #humans are space orcs #Humans are space fae #humans are space oddities #humans are space australians #humans are insane #humans are wierd #space #space oddity #space australia #vampires #vampires and aliens #scifi #science fantasy #sci fi & fantasy #fantasy #Alien #Aliens

[stressedspidergirlsfitnessblog]

when u get this u have to answer with 5 things u like about yourself, publicly. then, send this ask to 10 of your favourite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool!) 🌟

Oh jeez. That's not easy right now. :/

Okay. I like that I speak more than 1 language.

I like that I've read a lot and have a solid vocabulary.

Hm. I like that I care deeply about things and want to make a difference even when no one else around me seems to care. I take a stand and do my best not to be part of the problem (stuff like shopping at Walmart or Amazon.)

I like that while I have a ways to go and am doing my best to unlearn our systemic racism here in the US a lot of poc feel comfortable with me. Kids I've worked with actively ask for me to help with their hair, or trust me not to be or do racist things or participate in micro-aggressions.

I like that I'm smart.

I can't really do asks on mobile easily so I'm going to tag some peeps.

@scorrigan @nerdy-teddy @gonbefitaf @fiveloveten annnnnd.... @yourfriendwren

[bellygunnr]

Plant Identification

A commission for the lovely @eliptly who was amazing to work with.

Sorrel wasn’t busy when he got the knock on his door. He wasn’t busy, no, but he also wasn’t in position to go gallivanting halfway across the desert, for there were sensitive projects at hand that he was overseeing. But he also wasn’t about to say no, either, and had plenty of trustworthy friends in the lab to take over while he was gone. This mission, after all, was directly related to his world dream-- and while others might disagree, Sorrel wasn’t a fool.

“I’ll do it,” Sorrel blurts.

The Guardian-- Harpuia, he thinks-- stares at him in mild shock. “What?” 

Then, “oh, you will? Great!”

“When do we start?” Sorrel presses. “I can get ready so fast-- promise. Do you need a vehicle? I have a caravan-- it has all my machines in it. And all my gear. We should probably take it,” he adds pointedly.

Before Harpuia can say anything else, he’s already scrambling to throw on his cloak, fussing with the thick mane that was his hair.

“We uh, can leave now, if you have everything in order,” Harpuia says, still in shock. “We’ll load all your gear into our caravan…”

“Yes! That’d be great!”

+

The guardians’ caravan was a massive and armoured crawling contraption, resembling more of an animal than a vehicle. All of Sorrel’s gear-- machines, seed vaults, books, and data pads- fit comfortably inside with room to spare. It did not stop Fefnir from hunkering down right beside it, however, which made him nervous. Fefnir was huge! What if he accidentally smashed something?

No. That wouldn’t happen… Fefnir may be big, but he wasn’t careless.

“Sit up front,” Harpuia ordered. “With me.”

“Uh, yes sir,” he stammered.

He climbed in front where the movements of the caravan were most pronounced and nearly rhythmic in its cadence. 

“I’m surprised your caravan has no gyroscopic stabilizing,” he said quietly, hands folded in his lap.

The eye roll was in the following silence, Sorrel was sure. He peered out through the tinted windshield at the rolling desert sands. They were heading north-- to Dome No.5, a relatively new structure that was still undergoing terraforming. If they started going east, he mused, it would be Dome No.3 instead. Hm…

Really, the atmosphere inside the caravan was stuffy and difficult to breathe in. Were all Arcadian generals like this? He scowled slightly out at the barren lands, brows furrowing as something interesting began to come into view.

“Oh! It’s a farm!” Sorrel gasped. “A coffee farm? It’s so big. That’s lovely.”

“They are becoming more common, aren’t they? Weren’t you working on a hybrid coffee plant?”

Sorrel paused, trying to think of which project Harpuia was talking about. He had so many that it was easy to lose track…

“I believe so. I was crossing it with a more versatile crop but the results have been… curious, to say the least,” he explained slowly. “One promising specimen has softer pods that open up on their own. They do seem to be edible!”

Harpuia blinked and nodded. “But does it have seeds? Flowers?”

“To have pods, you need flowers,” Sorrel hummed. “Insects pollinate it.”

+

They had been driving for another hour when something struck the vehicle-- a thunk from behind, followed by several more thunks. Something was on the caravan. Worse, it was scaling it.

“Phantom! Leviathan!” Harpuia called, killing the engine and bringing the big vehicle to a jerking, grinding halt.  “Go see what’s going on out there, please?”

Sorrel blinked, eyes widening as he continued to hear the thunks and scrabbling sounds. It sounded like a wild beast was trying to get inside from above! Or a bird.

Or the Resistance.

“Is it an attack?” Sorrel asked, trying to look at Harpuia. A hot breeze came in through the back, dashing the air conditioning’s hard work, his circuits immediately crisping. Shoot, it was hot out!

“No,” Harpuia sighed. “It’s probably… a friend of ours, I’m sure.”

That wasn’t cryptic at all.

Sorrel twisted around to peer outside where Leviathan and Phantom were now perched, crouched in front of a third figure. It was clad in red but not nearly as large as Fefnir (who had fallen asleep, completely oblivious).

“Who… is that?”

+

Omega recognized these faces. They weren’t always friendly but the few times that they were, he usually got food out of it, and this time there weren’t any weapons… That was enough for him to quickly press himself against Phantom’s legs, snorting with amusement when the lighter Reploid threatened to topple.

It had been on purpose, of course.

“What should we do about the big guy?” Leviathan asked Harpuia.

“Haul him in the back,” Harpuia sighed. “He can run our errands with us.”

The big Reploid purred, not comprehending what was being said, but understanding the gentle slope of the voices all the same. He twisted away from the cluster and hauled himself into the back of the big caravan. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a new Reploid.

“Don’t worry, Omega,” Fefnir said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s just a friend. Yo, Sorrel, come look at this big guy!”

Sorrel’s mouth dropped open. “Did- did you say- Omega?”

“Ah, shoot…” Fefnir had the grace to look mildly guilty. “Yeah. He’s harmless, though. Come back here and give him some lovin’.”

Easier said than done…

+

In the long run, that was exactly what Sorrel did. The big Reploid-- Omega, Omega Zero himself-- was perfectly content to lay in his lap for the rest of the trip. Sorrel ran his hands through the long, curly mane, sighing with relief when the great big structure of Dome No.3 appeared. It was shielded from the harsh elements of the desert with the only glass panels being atop the dome.

It had been awhile since he had been here.

“We will be collecting samples and sowing new seeds, correct?” Sorrel asked, to make sure.

“That’s right.”

Omega stirred, growling faintly. Sorrel quickly gave him several pats on the head.

The caravan trundled to a halt.

Fefnir and Sorrel were tasked with hauling most of the equipment in, the other three making sure their presence was confirmed. Omega loped inside with no regards to bureaucracy or rules. He happily pushed his way inside the greenhouse-- more of a micro-ecosystem-- and disappeared.

“So, we’re planting new species of trees?” Leviathan asked. “What kind?”

“Dome 3 is a deciduous forest biome, so we are introducing the long-forgotten Ash tree. I have the saplings in some of the containers here. They are very small.”

“I see…” Phantom lifted one of the small sapling containers, peering inside. Its roots were bagged. “They don’t exist anywhere else?”

“Not anymore. My team was very fortunate to recover their genetic data,” Sorrel said with a bright smile. “So let’s take care to plant these with love! Okay?”

They dug out the saplings’ new homes by hand, using little energy tools shaped into trowels and hooks and all sorts of gadgets. Sorrel taught each of them how to safely unbind the tree from its bag. Leviathan turned out to be the best at it.

Harpuia only attracted birds.

Robins and sparrows had come down from their nests to land on the green Guardian, beaks nibbling over the wing-like attachments, feathers puffed and just generally getting in the way. A bright red blush was adorning his face even as he tried to ignore them. 

Phantom shook his head. “You’ve been feeding them, haven’t you?”

“N- nonsense! Don’t accuse me of such things!” Harpuia hissed. He stuffed his hands into the dirt.

“Then why are they so friendly? Or maybe you look like a giant bird! You do have wings on your head!” Fefnir said with a smirk. “Harp, you’re just a giant bird…”

“No!!!” Harpuia huffed at him, the birds on his head only warbling in discontent. An increasing amount were gathering atop his back. “Jeez…”

Sorrel couldn’t help but laugh, distracted from his work for the moment. To see all of the Guardians interacting with each other like siblings was a rare treat-- and to see one laid low by numerous birds was just amusing.

“If Harpuia was a bird, he’d be an Eagle!” Sorrel called. “I don’t believe any eagles have been revived yet…”

That was distressing, actually. Robins and such could be flown in from other, more prosperous regions, just as remnants of other creatures could be. But no one could find any hints beyond cultural symbols of the Eagle.

“Eagles?” Phantom echoed. “I saw a drawing of one, once. Very proud looking birds. Is our Harpuia proud?”

“As a peacock,” Leviathan said with a grin.

They moved on, eventually, to look over the Dome’s twelve-mile radius grounds. Human scientists were found encamped in certain areas, committing data and logging the livelihoods of the dome’s specimens. Sorrel chatted with a couple that he recognized from his own team before moving on.

They found Omega again, several hours later.

He was sleeping on the roots of a great big tree-- a Penn Oak, according to Sorrel-- and looked relatively peaceful. Birds were poking and tugging at his hair.

“This is odd to see, you must know,” Sorrel said softly. “He looks peaceful.”

“Yes, he does,” the others agreed.

---

This was a commissioned piece. If you liked it, and perhaps want to see more, I also have a Ko-Fi, Patreon, and open Commission slots that can be found on my page. Thanks!

#mega man #Mega Man Zero #mmz #the guardians #oc #oc: sorrel #commission #omega zero #three laws of robotics

[julia-highstorms]

Moving Day (Tom x MC) - NS*W

Summary: With Pine Springs finally free from its shady cultists business and supernatural stuff, it’s time for Tomoichi Sato to leave the small town and look forward to the future. But first, he’ll get some help with moving day.

Author’s note: this fanfic will probably be an AU but which of my fanfics aren’t? Lol because I’m a sucker for happy endings, okay?! and Grandpa is a good fella here

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Pixelberry Studios.

Rating: +18 (NSFW - if you don't want to be tagged in this kind of content, please, let me know!)

Pairing: Tom x MC (Julia Vance)

Word count: 3203

Summer is almost over.

Those frickin’ cultists are defeated, there are no more creepy ass monsters around town and Tomoichi Sato finally feels like he’s ready to go back to live his ordinary and uneventful life. And he actually is looking forward to it.

After that thing happened in Westchester years ago, the boy just couldn’t go on living with his life knowing about all those weird stuff. But now, after everything, he’s feeling more than ready to go back to school. He’s even excited about his calculus classes!

And the best part is that he’s going to study at the same university as Andy Kang, his best friend. They’ve been living apart over a year and, although they talked to each other almost daily, it wasn’t the same thing, and he missed his bro. But now he’ll get to see him so much more often now, since they’ll be roommates!

Oh man, he’s really excited about it.

But first, Tom has to pack his things up before he leaves Pine Springs.

Ugh.

At least he’ll have some help…

The bell rings and Tom opens the door of his tiny studio apartment.

Clever dark eyes, short black hair, and a half smirk on her rosy lips.

“Hey.” - his heart takes a leap like it does every time he sees her, since the very first time he saw her.

“Hey. Will you let me in or what?”

“Oh! Uh, sure!” - he quickly steps aside, giving her space.

“Wow, this place is tiny!” - Julia states as she enters the micro-apartment, taking a look around her.

“Yeah… it was the only thing I could afford to rent…” - Tom murmurs, ducking his head, embarrassed.

“It’s cozy. I like it.” - she says with a sly grin that makes Tom’s cheeks get a shade pinker and she lets out a laugh. - “Okay, I came here to help you pack your things. What do you want me to do?” - she asks, rolling up the sleeves of her band t-shirt.

“To be honest I won’t need much help. The apartment came with all the furniture included, I just need to pack my stuff.”

“Which is?”

“You know, my clothes, my books, games… this kind of stuff. Uh, to be honest I could have done it by myself… you didn’t have to have all this trouble to come here…”

“Hey, it’s no trouble at all.” - she takes a step closer and cups his warm face on her hands. - “I was the one who offered to come help you in the first place, remember?” - he nods. - “And I want to spend every minute we can together...” - Julia confesses, now her face flushing slightly.

“Me too.” - Tom smiles warmly at her and she forces herself to pull back before she makes the stupidity of kissing him. Because, once she starts it, she won’t be able to stop.

“Okay, so let’s begin! Where do I start?”

“I’ve already started folding my clothes...you can put them in the bag.”

“Aye, captain.” - they start working together in a comfortable silence, just enjoying the company of one another. - “So… are you excited to go back to college?”

“Yeah, actually.” - a small smile tugs on his lips. - “Now that all that mess is over, I finally feel that I can move forward with my life. I actually miss my calculus classes.” - they share a laugh.

“I’m glad you’re excited for school, Tom. I mean it. Even though I’d prefer if you transferred to Hartfeld so we could be closer…” - her voice lowers and she takes a step closer to him, their faces just inches from one another now. His cheeks immediately gets a shade pinker and the girl chuckles mischievously. She loves teasing him. - “I’m just kidding. You’ll be close to Andy again, right?”

“We’ll actually be living together. We’re going to be roommates!” - he beans animatedly. - “I miss having my best friend around. We have a lot to catch up.”

Julia smiles at him and they finish with the folding clothes duty. - “Okay… now onto the geek stuff. Do you prefer games or comics?”

“Uh. Comics. I’ve already noticed how protective you are about your video games.” - it was very exhausting persuading Tom to lend his games to Elliot for just one night. She wasn’t going any near it.

“Heh, you’re not wrong there. Okay, my books and comics are in that bookshelf.”

“Alright. Uh, will I find any manga for pervs in there?”

“Of course not!” - Tom screams, his ears and cheeks turning bright red instantly.

“Relax, I’m just teasing you!” - he rolls his eyes to his laughing girlfriend. - “Do you want me to put them in order?”

“Yeah, that would be nice...”

“By year? Title? Author? Number? Genre? Collector edition? Since you’re oh so touchy about your things!” - she keeps teasing him, who can’t hide back a grin.

“Just on numerical order is enough, you goof.” - he chuckles and Julia walks away to pick them. His gaze follows her, his heart floating a bit inside his chest again. Tom always have this fuzzy feeling when he’s near her.

He’ll miss seeing her so often. His girlfriend.

Who would have guessed that Tomoichi Sato would someday have a girlfriend? And so wholesome like Julia Vance? He certainly didn’t.

“Anyway, what about you?” - he asks casually, returning his attention to his games. He opens each box to see if they’re in there, on their assigned place. - “Excited to go back to college?”

“A bit, yeah. Gotta start my final thesis. I’m both excited and terrified by it.”

“I can’t believe a final thesis scares you more than a bunch of creepy ass monsters.”

“Hey, this is important, okay? I don’t want to mess it up and you know I’m not exactly the scholar type.”

“Yeah, you’re more like the kicking ass type.” - she agrees with him. - “But I know you’ll nail it. You always nail everything, Julia.”

“You have too much faith in me.”

“Hey, if I’m not going to be the most supportive boyfriend ever, then what’s the point?” - she smiles gratefully to him. - “What about Elliot? Is he going to stay here with Arthur?”

“Yeah. He grew to love Pine Springs. Of course, having his first serious crush around helps.” - Julia grins to herself, thinking about her baby brother and Robbie. - “I’ve already been used to not live with him since I entered college, so it’s not that dramatic change. He’s just living further away now and it’ll be a boomer that I won’t get to tease him about his first relationship as much as I’d like to.”

“You’re insufferable.” - Tom chuckles, his games already in his backpack.

“I am.” - Julia looks up to him when he stops next to her, helping her pick up his comics and mangas from the bookshelf. She has a small grin on her face. - “But I have two very good reasons to come back to Oregon more often now: Elliot and you.”

Tom grins back at her and before he knows it, she suddenly stands on her toes and pulls him in, kissing him fiercely.

To hell with packing things up. She wants him now.

He groans when his back hits the bookshelf behind him, as the girl clings her petite figure into his. She smiles against his lips when she feels one of his hands burying in her hair, as his other arm wraps around her waist, bringing her closer to him, until they can both feel every inch of each other’s body against their own. His mouth kisses her back hungrily, and she can feel his arousal pressing hard on her thigh.

“...When are you leaving?” - Julia asks, breathless from all that make out session.

“The last bus to Westchester leaves at 6 p.m.”

“Oh, then we have plenty of time.” - she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, making the boy laugh.

“I still have to finish packing my things, Julia.” - he points his head to his opened and half filled bag on the floor.

“Pfff, putting everything inside your bag will take us 15 minutes max. Besides, we did it in a photo booth. I guess we can handle finishing packing your things, moving you out of here and still having time for proper sex just fine. Not in this exact order, because I want you now. And I guess you’re up to it too.” - she smiles devilishly as he groans when he feels one of her hands inside his pants, exploring his length.

“Julia…” - Tom murmurs with a warning tone in his voice, his breath quickening as she keeps with those moves.

“We deserve it, Tom. I don’t know when I’ll see you again and we had just a quickie. I want more.” - she purrs as her kisses descend to his earlobe, chin, neck, her hand still keeping with those maddening movements, making the boy gasp and his excitement grow even harder. - “I want you to have a wonderful memory of your last day here. And of myself.”

“All of my memories of you are wonderful.” - he stops short. - “Jeez, this sounded so cheesy.”

His girlfriend laughs loudly before pulling him in for another passionate and demanding kiss. Tom kisses her back, hard, pushing her backwards until the girl feels the cold wall behind her, as he pins her there with his weight. She notices that he already is as hard as a rock. Her heart immediately flips inside her chest, excited, and she puts her hands on the hem of his t-shirt, ready to take it off.

“You know… there’s a bed right there.” - he murmurs, chuckling.

“Oh yeah, what I was thinking?” - she giggles mischievously, before striping the boy from his t-shirt and practically shoving him into the bed, climbing on top of him.

Julia lets out a surprised squeal when Tom suddenly rolls, changing their positions, so he ends up being on top of her.

“You took the lead last time. I’d like to take the lead this time.” - he says, with a sheepish grin on his face just inches from her as he bends over her. - “Uh, though you’ll need to guide me.”

“It’d be my pleasure. Literally.” - Tom chuckles.

“This was just terrible.”

“But I know you loved it.”

“Yeah… I did.” - he leans in and kisses her softly, straddling the girl down on the bed.

“You know…” - they stop kissing for a quick second, so he can take his glasses off and put it on somewhere safe, like the bedside table. She cups his face between her hands, gazing deeply into his eyes, admiring his face.

“What?” - he asks, his cheeks getting hotter under her soft hands.

“...Watching you beating all those monsters asses and facing those cultists bastards was such a turn on.”

“I thought you were always turned on by the simple sight of me.” - she rolls her eyes but chuckles.

“Can’t argue with that.” - Julia’s face gets serious.

"What?"

“I was so scared I had lost you, Tom.” - her voice is barely a whisper.

Although they haven't known each other for long, Tom knows his girlfriend well enough to know that she hates showing weakness. So the moments that she lets herself show vulnerability are special. Meaningful.

And Julia Vance only shows it to him.

He gives her a reassuring smile.

“Hey… it’ll take more than just a bunch of cultists, monsters and a frickin’ lake ghost to defeat Tomoichi Sato. Plus, I got a pretty awesome scar from it.” - he says, pointing to the cut on his neck, now completely healed.

She laughs loudly to his stupid smirk. It's cheesy, but he would hear her laughter for all eternity and never get tired of it.

Oh god, when did he start becoming so sappy?

“I see that you have finally admitted that you’re a badass.”

“Yeah… thanks to my badass girlfriend.” - he leans in and kisses her so sweetly the girl feels like melting.

“Hmm, is this how we are going to be called now? A couple of badasses?”

“I like it.” - his thumb runs along her soft lips. - “I love you.” - he murmurs and

Julia opens up a grin so wide and radiant that leaves the boy breathless. He’s always breathless around her, actually.

“I love you too, Tom.” - she pulls him to her, their lips meeting again easily. The kiss gets heated and they both frantically take off their clothes, not wanting to lose any other second.

Tom gasps slightly when the girl takes off her bra, throwing it away somewhere in the small apartment.

“What?” - she asks when she notices her paralysed boyfriend in front of her.

“Jeez, you’re so…” - he murmurs, his cheeks getting redder and redder as he drinks on the sight of her.

“You know you’re allowed to touch me, right?” - a playful smirk dances on her lips as she rests on her elbows.

His shy and warm hands find her breasts, that are just the perfect size. They’re soft and highly sensitive as the boy notices, as her breath quickens and her nipples get instantly hard by his touch.

He leans in and a shiver travels through her body as Tom leaves kisses on her neck, making the heat between her legs radiate even more. She gently takes one of his hands and moves it lower and lower on her body…

“Oh god…” - he murmurs as he feels her heat, wetness and tightness around his fingers. She moans his name as she shows him how to touch and caress her.

He watches in amusement as color fills her cheeks, her breath quickening and her body tensing, as he slightly speeds up the massage on her sensitive nub.

“Do you like this…?” - he asks and all she can do is answer with unintelligible whimpers, trembling under his touch, her hips following his movements, her hands gripping tightly on the bed sheets beneath her.

“Y-yeah…” - she whimpers, her dark shining eyes finding his. - “I want you, Tom… Now.” - she practically orders.

“Not yet…” - he murmurs back, sliding another finger inside, stretching her and intensifying his massage until her body is shaking and she has to cling onto him, moaning deliriously into his ear. He loves knowing that he's capable of doing it to her. And just with his hand! - "Are you okay?" - he asks when she burst out in giggles.

"Yeah… I'm sorry, I know I can be a bit… loud." - Julia says, feeling that tingling sensation all over her body, while she recovers from her orgasm.

"Don't apologise. I love hearing you." - her boyfriend pecks her forehead. - "It's sexy."

"Yeah?" - she asks. not so sure about it. - "I sound like a pig for slaughter." - he laughs loudly.

"A sexy pig, then? Jeez, this sounds so wrong." - it's her turn to laugh.

"Hey… how about we stop with this super awkward chat and go back to what we were doing?" - she suggests, burying her hands on his hair, and pulling him closer.

The boy smirks at her.

"Great idea."

They resume kissing until they both feel the air around them hot and heavy again. Tom quickly finds a condom in his bedside table drawer and Julia helps him put it on, before laying on her back again as he positions himself between her legs.

The both moan when he finally enters her. He brings his hips closer against hers, filling her wholly, watching the girl bite her own lip to prevent her from screaming. After they both have adjusted to the sensation of their bodies connected, he starts moving, too torturously slowly for her.

“Faster, Tom…” - she orders, her legs lacing tighter around his hips.

He obeys, thrusting faster in her, going harder and deeper, his erratic movements making her moan louder and louder, practically crying out his name, and him whimper.

But before they both lose their minds, he moves slower again, watching how her body responds to his.

Now that they’re finally alone and in private, they can take their time not worrying about anything else, but just focusing on one another, their hands roaming up and down, exploring each other’s body, experimenting different paces, learning about what brings the most pleasure to each and both of them.

“Tom…” - there’s something about the way that she calls his name that drives him crazy and he can’t help but move his hips faster, making the girl gasp in pleasure beneath him, until her body is twitching underneath him, her nails digging on the skin of his back and her walls tightening around him, making him moan into her ear, bringing her even closer to the edge.

And then, waves of pleasure overcomes them both.

Julia slowly opens her eyes, with Tom still on top of her, a layer of sweat all over their bodies, their breath and heartbeat slowing down.

“Not going to lie… I like when you take the lead.” - she winks at him, who lets out a chuckle.

“I thought I was going to faint.” - he murmurs, rolling to her side on the bed, his arms still around her, hugging her tightly.

“Me too.” - a lazy smile dances on her lips. - “You know, I really like your hair like this.”

“Like a mess?” - she laughs heartily.

“Yeah.” - she kisses him softly and they shuffle in the bed, laying on a more comfortable position, with Tom on his back and Julia nestled to his chest, drawing circles on his bare skin, one of his arms around her shoulders. - “What time is it?”

“I have no idea.” - he reaches out to his phone. - “Don’t worry, we still got time.”

“For another round?” - she asks mischievously and he laughs loudly, the sound of his laughter reverberating through his body.

“Jeez, don’t you ever get tired?”

“Of you? Never.”

“You’re so cheesy, Julia.”

“Didn���t you know that this is my middle name?” - he laughs again.

“God, I’ll miss you so much. I wish you could come with me.”

“That’s not a good idea. Can you imagine if I met your parents? What would I say? ‘Uh, hi, I’m the one who took your son’s virginity’.” - Tom blushes but can’t hold back a laughter. - “That would be just terrible and your mom would hate my guts forever.”

“Yeah, that would be awkward.” - he agrees. She bends over him, her face just inches from his.

“...But I’ll come over to visit you at your dorm in college. So often you’ll get sick of seeing my face.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“Why? Because we literally will live on opposite sides of the country, so it’ll be practically impossible to see you as much as I’d like to? Or because you would never get tired of my pretty face?”

“Both.” - she grins widely and pecks on his lips.

“Good answer. And you better do the same, sir. Come visit me in Hartfeld, I mean. I can’t believe you never went to a rock show before! We’re so doing it when you come to see me.”

Tom smiles as he watches the girl he loves making plans for both of them, his hand playing with the ends of her short hair.

“I will. I promise.”

“Wherever we go, we’ll find a way to see each other, right?”

His smile broadens.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Tagging @littlecrookedheart @pixelburied @mysticgayralsei @breaumonts @christopher-powell @madhattterusagi @noahpologiste @samira-yazdi @mysteli @indiacater @indescribablechoices @emomoustache @choices-fanatic @edgydepressedchoicesthot @violarobics @withoutanyconfidence @tiz-rex @priya-trash @alicegma @thequeenchoices @srta-give-me-my-jax-rl

#ns*w #tomoichi sato #tom sato #tom x mc #it lives beneath #ilb #playchoices #choices fanfic #playchoices fanfiction #ilb fanfic