#HELLO SCENE 23 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thepersonnamedsam · 9 months

Note

hello! i was hoping I could request something between gen z reader x the grid where she gets an anxiety attack or gets really anxious during press and how they would react or try to help her, could be due to something about the race or personal, love uuu<3

you’re gonna go far

pairing: the genz!driver x '23!grid

summary: social anxiety and social stuff don’t mix very well

word count: 2.3k

warnings: anxiety attack, angst, sexist comments

note: hiya!! yk i love your requests!! thank u <3

i have social anxiety myself, it’s written from my perspective - anxiety is experienced very different, pls remember that! and pls respect anyone who is experiencing anxiety or any mental disorder that is!

masterlist / taglist

We ain’t angry at you, love, you’re the greatest thing we‘ve lost.

The song blasted through her ears, tears started forming in her eyes. She missed home, so, so much. She felt guilty to leave all her friends and family at home to pursue her dreams. And this song, written by the brilliant Noah Kahan, just always made her cry and think about her hometown.

Well, maybe not always, mostly the days her anxiety sparks up - and today was one of those days. Usually media didn’t stress her out, but today was different. Her mood shifted and hyper sensitive, overstimulated and overwhelmed. And she usually had someone she trusted by her side at media, but not today. Today was just shit.

Paired with Lance, Kevin, Sergio and Niko, she just wished the day would be over. She was just glad that Daniel, Max, Oscar and Lewis would be after her, they would maybe wait for them to finish, so she could see them.

She was trying to help her calm down. Thinking about good possibilities and not bad ones. Not about how she would sit stiff and uncomfortable between Lance and Sergio. Or how she and Niko never really got along. Or how she couldn’t seek refuge in a known face. Or how she had to answer all the questions by herself and not have Max there to defend her and be her bodyguard.

And she was doing it again.

What was she gonna do? Breath, just breath - that’s what she told herself. She was in desperate need for a break. She knew what she was getting herself into, but it was still so very much. She was glad that Hungary was the second last race before the summer pause. She would go home, maybe vacation a bit, but definitely head home and see her friends and family.

Her feet dragged her through the media pit against her will. She didn’t want to go there, she just wanted to curl up in her bed with a good book and some music. Her headphones still present on her head, at least she had her music.

She was so focused on the words of You’re gonna go far that she didn’t see Lance in her peripheral vision. He patted her on her back and she flinched as he passed her. He gave her a funny look as she just gave him a shy smile.

She sighed, she didn’t know how she could face this day. She wished she had Lewis or Max or Danny by her side, someone to lean on, someone who would protect her and help her out. But she was all alone in this world right now. That’s what she thought at least.

Sat next to her was Kevin and Sergio. Her leg was bouncing, her fingers couldn’t stop picking at her nails. Her breathing was fast. She knew that things would turn out bad pretty fast. She just knew it.

„So, the next question is for y/n. Seeing as you’re the only woman on the grid, do you feel intimidated by all of the men or do you actually like the challenge?“

Her mind raced. What? She wished for Max who would give a sassy comeback or for Lewis to out the comment as borderline sexist. Or just anyone to stand up for her at that moment, but no one did.

„Uh, thank you for your question. Uhm, I am not the only woman on the grid. There are lots of women working behind the scenes - mechanics, engineers, catering, strategists, everything. So, to answer your question, no, I don’t feel intimidated, because I know that I come from a powerful gender.“

Her answer was clip and clear, not even her voice was shaking, which she half expected to. But the interviewer grew visibly irritated.

„Can you go into it a bit more? Or could you please comment on the statement Christian Horner did? Here, I’ll refresh your mind: F1 is bringing in a young generation. It’s bringing in a lot of young girls because of all these great-looking young drivers.“

What had that to do with his question beforehand? Horner made that statement a longer time ago?

„Uhm yes, obviously we all know Christian by now, don’t we?“, she nervously laughed. „But uhm, he is obviously still wrong, like I originally commented when he first made that statement“ Her eyes were searching for something or someone familiar, but she couldn’t. Her vision occupied by interviewers and flashing cameras.

Her breath started to get faster, She tried to breath through her nose, not make it too obvious that she was having a moment. This would make headlines. Female driver gets anxiety attack whilst commenting on sexist statements.

Why wasn’t Lewis there? He knew what to do. He had caught her like this before - breathing rapid, fists clenched and fingers white. Eyes not focusing on anything particular and her chest heaving up and down from all her heavy breathing.

It was after she had found out that people were speculating about her - specifically that she had to sleep with her or any team principal to get her seat in F1. Her head was leaned against the wall, her knees pulled to her chest and her body was rocking back and forth.

„y/n, y/n, listen, look at me. Listen to me, can you please look at me, love?“, he pleaded. And when she finally did, Lewis let out a breath of relief. „Okay, look at me, darling, and follow my breathing, yes? It’s easy, you can do it, I believe in you.“

He grabbed her hands and put them to his own chest, so she could feel his breathing. Feel his calm heartbeat, even though he felt anything opposite calm. He looked her deep into her eyes and tried to reassure that everything was going to be alright.

„You’re gonna go far, y/n, listen to me, I know it, you’re gonna make it far.“

Her breathing had normalised and the tears stuck in her eyes, finally flowed down her cheeks. The soon turned into full on sobs and the older driver hugged the younger one. Embracing her and reassuring her, that none of the drivers would have believed the tabloids - they’ve seen her driving and know very well why she got offered her seat in F1.

She had thanked him about a thousand times and made him promise not to ever tell anyone. But if somebody else knew, maybe they could’ve helped her in this situation.

But luckily for y/n, this was all broadcast live, well, maybe not for her per se, because she knew about too many people were watching her lose herself on live television and her PR manager couldn’t just pull some magic strings to not have this air, but what she didn’t know was, that Seb was watching - her specifically.

And he did the only reasonable thing he could do, he called Lewis.

„Hey dude, what’s up? Haven’t heard from you in a long time. How’s retirement treating you?“ Lewis had a lot of questions for the German. The later laughed a bit, but turned serious pretty quickly. „Listen, I’m watching the pre-race interviews right now-“ Lewis interrupted him: „Yeah? I’m on next, you should definitely wait and see me on TV then.“

„Yeah that’s great Lew, but y/n is on right now. I think- no I’m pretty sure she’s having an anxiety attack on live television.“

Lewis was silent for a moment. „She is having what?“ - „An anxiety attack, you know what that is? It’s, uhm, when you get too overwhelmed and your psyche tells you that you’re experiencing immense fear at the moment and“, Lewis was tuning him out.

She was having an anxiety attack? Right now? During the pre-race interview? He had to help her.

„I’m on my way, thanks Seb“, and he hung up. He had to get there as fast as he could. Sprinting through the entire paddock to the media pin. On the way he almost crashed into Max, who was also making his way to the pin, Daniel by his side. The only looked at Lewis weird but soon we’re running with him, as he shouted: „It’s y/n!“

They arrived but no one wanted to let them in: „It’s not your turn yet, they’re still going. You have to wait until it’s your turn, you’ll be on in 10.“

„Listen, y/n, if you’re reacting this way to my question, you’re clearly not made for this sport, maybe you should go into something more ladylike, like horseback riding or tennis, at least you’d look pretty there.“

„And you’re clearly not made to interviews, asshole!“

All of them heard, the viewers heard, the drivers heard, the interviewers heard, but y/n was the only one who didn’t hear it.

Maybe you should go into something more ladylike, like horseback riding or tennis, at least you’d look pretty there. That was all she could hear. At least you’d look pretty there.

The other drives next to y/n didn’t know what to do. Their colleague was definitely having a though time, but they didn’t know how to help, they opted to just tilt their heads towards the floor and look just as uncomfortable as everyone in the room did - but no one stood up for her, expect Max.

„Maybe you should just fucking leave this pit before I will bash your disgusting face. Maybe you should scramble and flee. Maybe you should eat your on dick as you seem to like to put tiny and degrading things in your mouth. Maybe-“, Daniel stopped him, Max has said enough and made his point.

Lewis was already making his way up to her. Scooping her up and carrying her out of the pit.

At least you’d look pretty.

The sentence was going through her head like a loop, like a vinyl that’s broken and repeats all the worst parts. She felt like a broken record - cracked and well, broken.

„She‘s hyperventilating“, Danial pointed out. „Yeah no shit, sherlock.“ - „Max, let’s just focus on her right now, okay?“, the seven time world champion told the two time world champion. „Who’s garage is the nearest?“, Lewis asked into the round. „The Ferrari one is the first one on the grid“, Daniel said. „Let’s go then.“

Daniel led the way, fetching Lando on the way, she’d appreciate the support from the youngster. Even though he complained a lot to Danny.

„Don’t look, don’t look, we’re just passing through“, Daniel said as he tried to shield her and Lewis from all the cameras in the Ferrari garage. „What are you guys doing here?“, Carlos questioned, but as soon as he saw the crying mess in Lewis‘ arms he helped Daniel shield y/n. Carlos led them to Charles‘ side of the garage, as he had his closed off for anyone from the outside.

„What’s going on?“, a confused Charles asked the group now standing in his garage. „Charles, we need to go somewhere quiet, is that possible?“, Lewis asked the Ferrari driver. He nodded and led them to his drivers room, even though it was pretty tiny and probably wouldn’t fit all of them in it.

They set y/n on his sofa and Lewis was hovering in front of her. Lando sat on her right side, while Max was on her left. He took her hand in his, squeezing it, so she knew that he was there. „Hey y/n look at me. We’re in Charles�� drivers room, in the Ferrari garage. Away from the media pit, okay? You’re safe with us now“, Lewis told her. „Breath with us.“

„In and out, just like that, darling, follow Lewis‘ breathing“, Daniel complimented y/n. „You’re doing great, shatje. So, so great. We’re all so proud of you.“

„You can let it all out, we won’t judge you“, Charles told her and just as he did, the dam broke. Her tears fell down onto her knees, she sobbed uncontrollably. She leaned her head on Landos shoulder and he pulled her close into his side. „You’re doing so well, love.“ - „Just keep breathing, don’t forget to breath“, Carlos told her. He was standing in the doorway with Charles, acting as bodyguards.

Danny walked around the room, trying to find something for y/n to drink out of. „Hey Charles, do you have some water or a bottle?“ The driver clad in red reacted fast and brought the Australian a tall glass of water. He brought y/n the glass and she had to stop crying to drink. Afterwards she got the hiccups. „There, there love, everything’s okay“, Lewis took her glass and patted her knee. „Remember what I told you? You’re gonna go far, okay? Don’t let that prick tell you otherwise.“

„At least you’d look pretty there.“

„Huh?“, the room asked, as she mumbled the sentence.

„At least you’d look pretty there. That’s what he said“, she looked up from her seat, to the room full of supporting people. „At least you’d look pretty.“

Max was so angry again, he could’ve killed that man, if it wasn’t for Daniel holding him back. „I am going to kill that man“, Max growled. y/n giggled: „Maxie, don’t, he doesn’t deserve death. He deserves to live a long, pitiful life.“

„We’re glad you’re laughing again, y/n“, Charles said. „Yes, very much so.“ Everyone agreed with Charles. „I love you guys, but how’d you even know that I was having a tough time?“, y/n asked confused. Lewis had to laugh: „Seb called me. Said he saw you on the TV all riled up and ready to cry and that I should already be on my way to help you, but I talked over him the whole time“ He scratched his neck and y/n laughed a loud belly laugh. „That’s so typical!“

°°°

taglist: @ironmaiden1313 , @topguncultleader , @biglittlesecret, @gulabjamooon , @lovelyy-moonlight , @peachyplumsss , @mistrose23 , @copper-boom , @love4lando , @champomiel , @serenityleah , @iloveyou3000morgan , @angelwithoutmywings , @elleeeee21 , @youkissedareaderinthedark , @mikauraur , @thybulleric , @lpab , @fdl305 , @mellowarcadefun , @teti-menchon0604 , @vildetry06 , @bibissparkles , @aurora-maria , @lunnnix , @sya-skies , @Buckywifeyy , @dakotali , @rechtrecht , @noncannonships , @1eclerc16 , @pitlanebabe , @sopheeg , @whatthefuckerr , @avengersheart , @thatsadsmallchild , @peachiicherries , @idkiwantchocolatee

#f1 x reader #formula 1 #f1 #charles leclerc x reader #carlos sainz x reader #daniel ricciardo #charles leclerc #fernando alonso #genz driver #sebastian vettel x reader #kevin magnussen #nico hülkenberg #lance stroll #max verstappen f1 #max verstappen x you #max verstappen #female driver #lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton x reader

1K notes · View notes

sleepystede · 1 month

Text

Let's talk about the genius of music in OFMD once again, today in s2e1:

Strawberry Letter 23 begins as Ed appears as "the Devil" on board the wedding vessel. We know the scene well. His crew slays the wedding party in a seemingly heartless fashion, followed by a short montage of previous violent raids.

But let's back up to what comes before this scene:

We see Stede on the beach throwing a letter in a bottle out to sea, all while we hear Stede narrating this letter aloud. It's very clearly a love letter, and Stede says he's sent quite a few letters before this one.

This scene immediately moves into the shot of Blackbeard's new flag with the broken heart, which clearly communicates a message of heartbreak.

Followed by Ed's new tattoo, also very clearly communicating a message (a letter in its own right).

We see the exchange return to Stede, where he kisses the damn bottle as he throws it out to the ocean.

Then we move to the wedding boat, where a priest is reading aloud part of the wedding ceremony. That's when Blackbeard's crew jumps on with an OBJECTION.

As Ed says, "Demon? I'm the fuckin' devil" - Strawberry Letter 23 begins playing.

It's interesting, because in the full song, the lyrics that should indicate the name of the song are Strawberry Letter 22 - NOT 23. So I went on ye ole Wikipedia to see what's up with that:

It's about a couple exchanging love letters.

Ed's wedding massacre is his letter number 23, in response to Stede's letter.

The lyrics are so spot on. David Jenkins, how do you do it?!

“Hello my love, I heard a kiss from you.

Ed is thinking back to the first kiss he and Stede shared on the beach - and this is coupled with the kiss Stede gave the message in the bottle before he threw it. This lyric plays as Ed picks up the Stede cake topper.

Red magic satin playing near, too.

Ed is thinking back to the fine things fabric he carries for so long, the fabric Stede so tenderly folded and placed in Ed's pocket. This lyric plays as a different red magic satin - blood - sprays violently as people are killed.

All through the morning rain I gaze, the sun doesn’t shine. / Rainbows and waterfalls run through my mind.”

This is breakup Ed at his peak. Sadness, depression, tears flowing. But also the moments where Ed allows himself to enjoy softness and fine things. We see Ed licking icing from his knife in a moment of peace amid the chaos around him.

Ed's letter number 23 is such a stark contrast to Stede's letter number 22. It's heartbreaking and oh so brilliant.

I remain indebted to David Jenkins. The gift of this show is tremendous!!!

#love letters #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd meta #beedle says #love letter 23 #ed teach #stede bonnet #our flag means death meta

254 notes · View notes

wangxianficfinder · 2 months

Text

Mod Favorites pt.1 ~ (Miss Mojo's ❤️ Favorite tag on AO3)

❤️Miss Mojo (@mojoflower / original creator of wangxianficrecs 2020 and wangxianficfinder 2022)

💖Mod L (@ladyunderthemolehill / Mod since January/27/2022)

🧡Mod C (@misscellophane-ao3 / Mod since April/23/2022)

💙Mod Kay (@the-last-d-boy / Mod for @wangxianficrecs since November/19/2022)

~*~

Mod L

💖 Things better shown by deliciousblizzardshark (M, 5k, wangxian, trans LWJ, pregnant LWJ, accidental baby acquisation, fix-it)

💖🔒The Lotus Defense Society by mondengel (T, 3k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, humor)

💖 mianmian the disaster lesbian saves the cultivation world by likeshipsonthesea (T, 27k, wangxian, LWJ & LQY, LWJ & JZX, fix-it, friendship, awesome LQY, war, blood & injury, light angst, self-acceptance, awkward JZX)

💖 hot necromancer singles seeking dom daddies in your area by Mikkeneko (M, 19k, wangxian, yiling wei sect au, BDSM scene, dom/sub, brat wwx, rope bondage, caning, aftercare)

💖 Xiao-Ying of the Third Refugee Village by abCEE (T, 31k, wangxian, WWX banished from Jiang sect, not Jiang friendly, found family, mpreg, fluff, flirting)

💖 (🧡) Ghosts Shouldn't by ShanaStoryteller (Not rated, 15k, wangxian, canon divergence, grief/mourning, angst w happy ending)

💖🔒 After Truth Lies the Honest Path by Vrishchika (M, 10k, wangxian, canon divergence, truth serum, WIP)

💖 (❤️)🔒love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, wangxian, immortal WWX, slow burn, pining, arranged marriages)

💖 Pentimento. by orange_crushed (E, 73k, wangxian, modern, college/university au, art conservation, museums, pining, not actually unrequited love, angst w/ happy ending, misunderstandings, smut, major character injury, hospitalization, hurt/comfort, past incarceration, forgery)

💖🔒hello my old heart, how have you been? by ravenditefairylights (M, 10k, wangxian, post-canon, temporary amnesia, hurt/comfort, fluff, trauma, pining, hair washing & brushing)

💖 You, Asleep and Dreaming by etymologyplayground (M, 9k, wangxian, post-canon, 5+1. LWJ pov, sharing a bed, cuddling & snuggling, intimacy, getting together, fluff)

💖 The Path by Seastar98 (Not Rated, 279k, WangXian, CQL Verse, Golden core reveal, Fix-it of sorts, Angst with a happy ending)

💖 Minding series by WithBroomBefore (G, 85k, wangxian, canon divergence, what if WWX got therapy and recovery post-sunshot, trans LWJ)

💖 Love made visible by Moominmammashandbag (M, JYL/ZZL, wangxian, hurt/Comfort, amputation, major character injury, sibling love, angst w happy ending, cooking as cultivation, attempted rape/non-con, sexual assault, minor character death, family angst, dysfunctional family, protective siblings, near drowning, amnesia)

💖 hear my voice and it's been here by Sour_Idealist (E, 56k, JYL/NHS, wangxian, 5th in series, canon divergence, sect leader JYL, sect leader WQ, sunshot campaign, JYL pov, politics)

💖🔒Advisable Lan rules and other shenanigans by apathyinreverie (G, 4k, wangxian, LXC & LWJ, JC & WWX, Canon Divergence, fix-it, humor, drunk LWJ, smitten LWJ, soft WWX, possessive LWJ, gusu lan rules, drunk shenanigans, fluff)

💖 Soft boys being soft- Wangxian soft fics by deliciousblizzardshark (multiple works, 228k)

💖 From the Future for the Past by friedchickenlord (G, 27k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, first love, love confessions, fluff & humor, denial, pining, happy ending)

💖 (💙) Paths untaken by apathyinreverie (T, 6k, wangxian, LSZ & WWX, canon divergence, fix-it, fluff, not cultivation world friendly, smitten LWJ)

💖 (💙) And They Have Escaped The Weight of Darkness by cosmicmilktea (T, 10k, wangxian, canon divergence, grief/mourning, amnesia, implied/referenced sexual assault, angst, hurt/comfort, falling in love, domestic, happy ending)

💖 sweet chaos by eachandeverydimension (G, 86k, wangxian, arranged marriage, different first meeting, falling in love, getting together, lwj in lotus pier, Chinese culture)

💖🔒 Silver & Gold by beeswaxing (E, 162k, wangxian, post-canon, fix-it, fluff & angst, hurt/comfort, de-aging, established relationship, non-sexual intimacy, cuddling & snuggling, BAMF WWX, horny teenagers, underage kissing)

💖 (🧡) Teen Project to Change the World by animeloverhomura (Not rated, 810k, wangxian, Watching the Show, With a bit of the Manhua and Book thrown in, Basically Whatever I Want, BAMF WWX, Fix-It, JGS is his own warning, Attractive WWX, Homophobia, disturbing imagery, WIP)

💖🔒The Ballad of Hanguang-Jun and The Yiling Patriarch by Theladyofravenclaw (T, 40k, wangxian, JC/WQ, burial mounds settlement days, fix-it of sorts, musical theater au, misunderstandings, outsider pov)

💖 The Eternal Recurrence by countingcr0ws (E, 51k, wangxian, time traveler’s wife au, underage kissing, time travel, romance, fatherhood, family, poetry, coming of age, getting together)

💖 I’d be the one to hold you down (kiss you so hard) by AlfAlfAlfAlfAlf & tardigradeschool (E, 85k, wangxian, JGY/LXC, NMJ/LXC, modern, leverage au, canon-typical violence, unhealthy relationships, depression, heists, found family, murder, hurt/comfort, angst w/ happy ending)

💖 Fanclubs do, in fact, save lives series by nienie (T, 6k, wangxian, fluff & crack, getting together, JGS getting what he deserves)

💖 myself through someone else’s eyes series by thunderwear (M, 59k, wangxian, LJY & LSZ, LXC/NMJ, LXC/JGY, JC & WWX, post-canon, permanent de-aging, depression, implied/referenced suicide, accidental baby acquisation, getting together, love confessions, heavy angst w/ happy ending)

💖 Paths of Light and Darkness Converge by ataratah (E, 30k, wangxian, fox WWX, dragon LWJ, secret identity, non-human genitalia, crack treated seriously, fluff, angst w/ happy ending)

💖 Echo, Murmur, Dream, Here by bluerainmist (M, 51k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Universe Alteration, the yiling patriarch survives, Angst with a Happy Ending, Catharsis, Slow Burn, Drama, Getting Together, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Melancholy, Mutual Pining, Reunions, Love Confessions, Eventual Smut, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, Switching, Grief/Mourning, fucking while pining, Implied/Referenced Torture, Self-Harm, golden core transfer, Playing fast and loose with worldbuilding, Battle Scenes, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, implied/Referenced suicide attempt, Sect Leader WWX, YLLZ WWX, Yílíng Wèi Sect, mind all the tags)

💖🔒sudden nature series by everbrighter (M, 97k, wangxian, modern w/ magic, 5+1, family feels, parenthood, teenage rebellion, past character death, resurrection, pining, domestic fluff, angst, happy ending)

💖 oh they call us young and free (hold the golden gates open) by Treha (T, 11k, wangxian, time travel, fix-it, hurt/comfort, BAMF WWX, implied/referenced suicide, fluff & humor)

💖 Symmetry by Vir_Abelasan (M, 13k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX, One-Sided ChengXian, One-Sided ChengZhui, Canon Divergence, LSZ is raised by wwx, Wwx still dies sorry, Revenge, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Dark LSZ, Manipulation, Power Imbalance, Torture, Not JC Friendly, JC's Canonical 13 Years Murder Spree, BAMF LSZ, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, LSZ Gets to Go Apeshit, mind the tags just in case)

~*~

Mod C

🧡 I Don’t Want to Debut! by countingcr0ws (G, 56k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reality show, Idols, Actor LWJ, Forced Contestant WWX, Celebrity, Social Media, Epistolary, Romance, Fluff, Kissing, Poetry, [Podfic] I Don't Want to Debut! by PandaReads (DrPanda99))

🧡 Like Rabbits by Setari (T, 41k, WangXian, Kid fic, Canon rewrite, Mpreg, Miscarriage scare, Crack treated seriously, Hopeful ending)

🧡🔒 do not envy the roots that hold you down by eccentrick (T, 12k, WangXian, WQ & LSZ, WQ & LWJ, Found Family, Brother-Sister Relationships, Reincarnation, WQ wasn't given Meng Po's soup, Reunions, awkward cousins lwj and wq, wq is a creepy child, Grief/Mourning, Trauma, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Rebirth, Soul-Searching, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Guilt)

🧡 don't threaten me with a good time by livinginaworldofnoise (G, 60k, WangXian, Modern AU, Great British bake off AU, Script format, Fluff and Crack, Reality TV, Social media)

🧡 All will be well when the day is done by abCEE (T, 76k, wangxian, time travel, canon divergence, fix it, not YZY friendly, not Jiang friendly, butterfly effect, no sunshot, madam lan lives, lan WWX)

🧡 a paper friend by soft_wanning (G, 4k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fluff, Paperman!WWX, Identity Porn, Meet-Cute, Different First Meeting)

🧡🔒your heart, two doors down by ghostsgf (G, 9k, WangXian, Modern AU, Pining, Parenting)

🧡 the river brought you here by chilianxianzi (Not Rated, 11k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, POV Outsider, Amnesia, Past abuse, Strangulation, Found Family)

🧡 (💙) Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark (E, 762k, WangXian, WIP, Fix-it of sorts, Talisman master WWX, Not JFM Friendly, Study Arc, Getting together, Fluff and Angst, Engagement)

🧡 the stone-filled sea by yukla (T, 9k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX, Post-Canon, senior wei defense squad, a study of the way prejudice and injustice and anger trickle down from generation to generation)

🧡 Company by WithBroomBefore (T, 29k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Pre-Relationship, Getting Together, POV LWJ, Fix-It, Pre-Canon, at least to start, WWX goes to Cloud Recesses, But Not In The Usual Way, fear of character death, Everybody Lives, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Light Angst, good teacher LQR, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, brief discussion of past minor character suicide, Kitten, Not YZY Friendly)

🧡 CSI: Gusu Edition Series by Stratisphyre (M, 39k, WangXian, WWX & LQR, Modern with Magic AU, College AU, Golden Core Reveal, Single parent WWX, Good Uncle LQR, Hospitalization, Allusions to violence and murder)

🧡 Heaven Has No Rage by flipfloppandas (M, 51k, WWX & YZY, JFM/YZY, implied wangxian, WWX/WC, WWX/others, rape/non-con, modern, hurt/comfort, protective YZY, good parent YZY, hospitals, medical procedures, vomiting, trauma)

🧡🔒Rule Number One: Never get attached. by KizuKatana (E, 130k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O, Light Angst, Crime Boss LWJ, Rogue criminal genius WWX)

🧡🔒scienter Series by synonemous (E, 67k, WangXian, Modern AU, Serial killer WangXian, Eventual happy ending, WangXian's Canon Kinks, Smut, A/B/O, Mpreg, Modern Yi City arc, Angst with a happy ending)

🧡 tear out the thread one by one from your skin (’til your bones feel embarrassed by all the attention) by lightningalwaysreturns (E, 40k, WangXian, Modern AU, Holidays, Getting Together, Professors, Pining, Spring, Fluff and Smut, Family, single dad lwj, so many novel refs, Explicit Sexual Content, service top lwj/power bottom wwx vibes)

🧡 some life yet unspent by Fahye (E, 28k, WangXian, Background XiYao, Spy AU, Modern AU, 007 LWJ, Q WWX, Fluff and angst, Mutual pining, Injuries, Canon typical violence)

🧡 The Red Ribbon by Xiao_Hua (M, 21k, WangXian, HuaLian, Canon Divergence, Ghost City, a bit of beefleaf, Immortality, Cultivation Partners, Juniors, XL and HC find a child who happens to be WWX, Fluffy wangxian, WWX is a Supreme Ghost King, First Time, TGCF)

🧡 paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3 (E, 53k, WangXian, Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Everyone Is Alive, Modern AU, Dadji, Mutual Pining, Happy Ending, Brief Alcohol Mention, Masturbation, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Accidentally co-parenting with your son's art teacher, Fatherhood)

🧡 A Study in Fluff by WeaverOfTheNight (T, 29k, WangXian, Modern AU, Ghost bunnies, Vet LWJ, Architect WWX, Kid LSZ, Domestic fluff, Modern with Magic)

🧡 (💖) One Can Keep A Secret (If He Does Not Know It's There) by H_Belle (T, 5k, WangXian, Modern Cultivators, Inventor WWX, Secret Identity, Identity Reveal, YLLZ WWX, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Pining LWJ, POV WWX, Background Wangxian Getting Together, Jiangs are only mentioned in the passing, inspired by a tumblr post)

🧡 close your eyes, feel my heartbeat by ThatDesiGirl (T, 11k, WangXian, blind!WWX, Angst with a Happy Ending, Rewriting Canon, not a fix-it but a what-if, Golden Core Transfer, Romance, Pining)

🧡 (❤️) a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke (M, 180k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, arranged marriage)

🧡 Feline misconduct: How Wei Wuxian defeated catboyphobia and seduced his way into becoming Lan Wangji’s lap cat by Papriqua, vicchan (E, 44k, WangXian, Catboy WWX, Mpreg, Eventual Smut, Homophobia, Not JC Friendly, Cloud recesses study Era)

🧡 Song of Suibian and Bichen: Or, the Greatest (And Only) Furby Master of Demonic Cultivation by moonwaif (T, 64k, WangXian, Fix-It of Sorts, canon adjacent, The spiritual weapons are furbies, Angst with a Happy Ending, The parent trap but make it WangXian with furbies, Mutual Pining, Taking my favorite parts of every adaptation and smashing them together)

🧡 Yiling Salon: Hair, Nails and Piercing by TriviasFolly (T, 22k, WangXian, Modern AU, Hairstylist AU, Hairstylist WWX, 5+1 Things, Fluff, Experimental style)

🧡🔒Night of the Living History (an edutainment special!) by Aerlalaith (T, 51k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Workplace Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Museums, living history, Some Plot, Slice of Life, Injury, a minor haunting)

🧡 i will find you again by Pip (Moirail) (T, 9k, WangXian, Modern AU, Haunting, Horror, Reincarnation, Fate & Destiny, author lwj, Haunted Houses, Happy Ending)

🧡 Timing is Everything by Talayse (T, 17k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, canon levels of blood, soft, caretaker LWJ)

🧡 Of Ghosts and Heroes by The Silverfish (ZephyrAndTheSilverfish) (T, 51k, AS & WWX, AS/YH, WangXian, BNHA/MHA Crossover, Dimension Travel, POV Outsider, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Angst)

🧡 i walk through your dreams and invent the future by TooSel (G, 21k, wangxian, major character death, time traveler’s wife fusion, canon compliant, time travel, friends to lovers, getting together, fluff, hurt/comfort, grief, angst w/ happy ending)

🧡 built by the fires of volcanoes by isabilightwood (T, 26k, wangxian, time travel, crack treated seriously, canon divergence, fluff & humor)

🧡 Hello, IT. Have You Tried Turning It Off and On Again? By overmountainandmeadow (T, 65k, WangXian, Modern AU, Office, Modern office AU, IT Director! LWJ, Graphic Designer! WWX, Father!LWJ, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Juniors as interns, Light Angst, Mistaken Identity, Identity Porn, Rabbits, Cloud Recesses as a company, Happy Ending, Single Parent LWJ)

~*~

Mod Kay

💙🔒Away from Trouble by Ilona22 (M, 15k, WangXian, Not JC Friendly, LWJ/WWX Get a Happy Ending)

💙 (🧡)🔒Su She Eats his Heart Out by KizuKatana (T, 16k, WangXian, 3rd person pov, implied offscreen wangxian sex)

💙🔒Wish I could forget the taste of your skin and the feel of your hands pinning me down by KizuKatana (E, 63k, wangxian, WQ & WWX & WN, modern w/ cultivation, getting back together, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ, case fic, pining)

💙 feel better love by Anonymous (T, 8k, WIP, WangXian, implied WangXianXian, Post-Canon, Crack Treated Somewhat Seriously, in a haha jk...unless? way, Light Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Crack, Crossover)

💙🔒 Call again by apathyinreverie (T, 5k, wangxian, LXC & LWJ, LXC & WWX, modern, oblivious WWX, gremlin LXC, smitten LWJ, possessive LWJ, not Jiang friendly, hints at mafia, fluff, romance)

💙🔒Song Unwritten by Kytrin & Mslead (E, 94k, wangxian, temporary character death, angst w/ happy ending, fix-it of sorts, cql meets mdzs, parallel universes, transmigration, yiling wei sect au, YLLZ WWX)

💙 (🧡)🔒不忘 | Don’t Forget by dragongirlG (E, 50k, wangxian, time travel, reincarnation, fix-it of sorts, social media, identity porn, reunion, pining, angst w/ happy ending, modern era, artist WWX)

💙🔒The Price of Old Wishes by SoManyJacks (E, 67k, WangXian, Minor canon divergence, Angst, POV LWJ, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, semi-verbal!LWJ, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide)

💙🔒catch and release (and catch again) by Gaez (bell_flowers) (T, 29k, WIP, WangXian, Post-Bloodbath of Nightless City, Loss of Limbs, just a little necromancy, as a treat, not exactly jc friendly)

💙 on restitution by glitteringmoonlight (M, 98k, WangXian, Dark JC, not for jc fans, Captivity, Angst with a Happy Ending, no reconciliation though, definitely no reconciliation, Crossdressing, Non-Graphic Torture, Violence)

💙 the soft animal of your body by sysrae (T, 15k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, modern culitvation, Golden Core Reveal, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Animal Transformation, Shapeshifting, Sort Of, Getting Together, Confessions)

💙 this river runs to you by sundiscus (T, 53k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Mutual Pining, Dragons, Literal Sleeping Together, Tender wound tending)

💙 Hear a song this deeply by so_shhy (T, 87k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, modern cultivation au, Kind of academia AU, Music, Kid Fic, Action/Adventure, To An Extent, Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending)

💙 When You Finally Find Your Family Series by Eleanor_Fenyx (T, 56k, WIP, WangXian, descriptions of canon events, ie WWX's childhood on the streets, Fix-It, Autistic coded LWJ, Canon-adjacent, Canon Divergence, Homeless WWX, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts, wwx is a lan, Fluff and Angst, LQR pov, (mainly))

💙 Talking to Strangers by thetrickisnotminding (G, 4k, NMJ & WWX, LSZ & NMJ, NHS & NMJ, Canon Divergence, Cute Kids, Age Regression/De-Aging, Curses, Burial Mounds Settlement Days)

💙 All the ways that you remain by Spodumene (G, 23k, WangXian, Modern AU, Canada, Romance, First Meetings, Cottagecore, There Was Only One Bed, Mention of Parent Death, Getting Together)

💙 Love wakes me by dea_liberty (E, 46k, WangXian, Happy Ending, Angst, Childhood Sweethearts, Misunderstandings, Famous LWJ, Coffee Shop Owner WWX, Finding each other again, Found Families, Stupid Grand Romantic Gestures)

💙 divulgences by ataraxistence (Not Rated, 2k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fluff and Humor, Love Confessions)

💙 something so flawed and free by verseau (E, 59k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Graduate School, Dom/sub, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Non-Sexual Submission, Kink Negotiation, Biting, Overstimulation, Cock Warming, Consensual Non-Consent, Spanking)

💙 Strange Darling by etymologyplayground (T, 6k, WangXian, Grief/Mourning, Intimacy, Hair Brushing, platonic gay intimacy, Getting Together, Miscommunication, Cuddling & Snuggling, LWJ POV, Canon Divergence)

💙 (❤️) the best of you by sysrae (E, 41k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, slightly undernegotiated kink, but in a very soft and consensual way, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, JFM and Madam Yu's A+ parenting, Dysfunctional Family, Mental Health Issues therapy is good actually, the most tender of railings, Reference to animal attacks/animal cruelty, descriptions of past violence)

💙 Those Who Defy by qurbat (G, 31k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, found families are the best families, everyone who matters lives, justice for the wen remnants)

💙 (❤️) the kite string and the anchor rope by fleurdeliser (M, 39k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, set after the yiling date, sick child)

💙 (🧡) Bleachwhite Linen by MonocerosRex (T, 44k, WangXian, Modern AU, Soulmates, not the traditional kind of soulmates exactly, you'll see, Hospitals, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Touch-Starved, Getting Together, Marriage Proposal, Sibling Bonding, handwaving medical procedure and magical systems, Sickfic, POV Multiple, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Sharing a Bed, Hair Washing, Sleepy Cuddles)

💙 (❤️) save a sword, ride a socialist by sysrae (E, 33k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Single Parent WWX, Homophobia, LQR’s A+ Parenting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Idiots to lovers)

💙 And Yet Here You Are by cosmicmilktea (T, 10k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Domestic Fluff, Cloud Recesses, settling down, lwj needs a hug, Separation Anxiety, Teacher WWX, very light angst, Chief Cultivator LWJ)

💙 (🧡) I'm Going Out (Gonna Make A Name For Me And You) by cosmicmilktea (T, 16k, WangXian, Various OC Sect disciples, Post-Canon, Chief Cultivator LWJ, Mentor WWX, intersect relations, cultivation sects, Slow Burn, Like seriously it's very slow, Sickness)

💙 Concord by Deastar (T, 41k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Gūsū Lán Sect Rules, Depression, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending)

💙 watch what we'll become by glitteringmoonlight (T, 59k, WWX & JZX, WangXian, Background JZX/JYL, WWX & JZX are married but completely platonically, featuring my let WWX and JZX be bros agenda, Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Angst with a Happy Ending)

💙 the recluse at the end of the moonlit path by beesinspades (T, 28k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reincarnation, Post-Canon, Jack of All Trades Artist WWX, Immortal! LWJ, Mutual Pining, Light Angst, Reunions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Asexual Character, good vibes, [Podfic] the recluse at the end of the moonlit path by beeinspades by Beria1021)

💙 The Peanut Butter Jar AU series by ScarlettStorm (E, 76k, WangXian, Modern AU with Magic, Fox WWX, animal rescuer LWJ, Comedy, Smut, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Adhd WWX, Blowjobs, Frottage, switch rights, Scent Kink, Like a lot of scent kink, mildly telepathic sex, courtship via kittens, Pacific Northwest setting, Established Relationship, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Sex Toys, Some A/B/O Dynamics, but in a non a/b/o world, No mpreg, yes self-lubrication, Emotional Hurt/Comfort)

💙 Regrets by antebunny (G, 38k, wangxian, miscommunication, misundersandings, time travel fix-it, temporary character death, angst w/ happy ending, fluff, hurt/comfort)

💙 What We Grew in this Forsaken Place by Admiranda (T, 27k, WangXian, Shapeshifter LWJ, bottle episode fic, bunny crimes, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, WWX is a genius, unexpected pet owner WWX)

~*~

#mods favorite fics compilation #mods favorite fics comp #wangxianficfinder #wangxianficfinder compilation post #mod c #mod l #mod kay #Wangxian Fic Rec #The Untamed #wangxian #MDZS #long post

310 notes · View notes

exilethegame · 7 months

Text

Writing Update (09/22/23)

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I made one of these, huh? 👀

I've spent the past few weeks settling back into university work, but now I'm back into the swing of writing and developing things. So I thought I would take this chance to clarify some things, and lay down what the future of The Exile is gonna look like.

The Public Demo is now done. Chapter Five is the last chapter that you'll be able to play for free until the game is finished. Right now, I am working on rewriting what is written and porting the game into Twine. This means I'm expanding scenes, adding variation and flavor text, fixing stubborn lingering bugs, and implementing a codex + optional flashback scenes (*cough* and art *cough*) into the game. This will take a while.

I'm not just copy and pasting things into Twine and changing the coding-- I'm polishing things, adding lore and info, and overall just making the game significantly more "put together" so-to-speak. The version of The Exile that's up right now has been the Alpha Version of the game, It's never been properly edited beyond fixing glaringly obvious typos, continuity errors, and bugs. Now, I'm working on actually implementing broader, more complex changes into the game based on feedback I've gotten over the coarse of the past two years of writing!

My hope is to release the Twine Demo at some point around January. But that's a goal, not a deadline. I'll likely take in more beta readers for the Twine version of the game at some point, and post the Twine build onto my Patreon more casually in the following months. I'll delve more into both of things, however, when the time comes.

My hope is to be as transparent as possible and try to be more active on here as I work on things, so expect to see writing updates once more! Though they'll likely be quite short, functioning just to keep you guys updated on what's going on ~*behind the scenes*~

That's all for now, and thanks for reading! :)

Rewrite Progress [Prologue] The entirety of the Prologue is being rewritten and expanded upon.

Expanded the Jamie + Lnyla encounter in the woods (scene has three main variations, and can end in 4 different ways! And Jamie is less of a little brat <3)

[WiP] Expanding Vethna's intro scene-- there are two main variations, and there will likely be more than one way for the scene to end this time...

Added codex entry for magic-users

Added codex entry for Vrithka

Added codex for blood magic

Working on overhauling and simplifying stats (the main focus with be MC's combat stats, along with MC's personality + commanding style)

Debating adding a sort of optional "personality test" that will tell you what mythosi your MC would be based on their personality!

#writing update

442 notes · View notes

carrotkicks · 1 year

Text

24/05/2010

06:54:23

TRANSCRIPT START

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Okay, I started the recording. What do think we’re expecting from –

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Well, this certainly isn’t something you see everyday.

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Oh my god… what is this?

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Bodies, Atsushi-kun. Really, really dead bodies.

A murder scene like this comes once a blue moon.

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

…

Have you ever seen anything like this before, Mr. Dazai?

[DAZAI OSAMU]

No time for that Atsushi-kun! Get that camera out, you know what to do.

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Hh... Okay, deep breaths. Through the mouth.

*click* *whirr*

[Dep. MINOURA]

Oi! What are you two doing?

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Ah! He-hello, we were ju-just –

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Deputy Inspector! Hello, do you remember us? We’re from *rustle* the Armed Detective Agency, you commissioned us for this investigation?

[Dep. MINOURA]

The ADA.. That’s right, you’re that freak from the river. We specifically requested Edogawa, not you.

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Ranpo-san would have loved to join you here today, but he was obligated to other arrangements and asked me and my associate, Nakajima Atsushi, to go in his stead. But I assure you can trust me with this case. You are looking at the second greatest detective at the agency, after all.

[Dep. MINOURA]

Hmph, very well. Demonstrate your deductive ability. You, kid. Get back to work.

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Ah, right!

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Of course.

*click* *whirr*

07:23:14

[DAZAI OSAMU]

It seems the victims were impaled quite rapidly. The material they were hung from is a blend of polyester and… *sniffs* wool. It’s in long strips, seemingly torn from a longer sheet. It’s the kind of textile you’d find on a winter coat. It’s far too warm for this sort of cloth.

[Dep. MINOURA]

How do you figure?

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Oh my coat is made of the same material.

*click* *whirr*

Anyways, the way these bodies have been sliced looks like they were cut by the fabric itself. On some of these dismembered parts, there are traces fibers along the serrated edge.

…

This is the work of something inhuman.

*click* *whirr*

[Dep. MINOURA]

That’s impossible.

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Is it?

[Dep. MINOURA]

*grumble* Edogawa would have at least given us something that was grounded in reality to work with.

…

The effort is appreciated, Dazai. Tell your photographer to give us his copies and get the hell out of here.

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Sure thing, Inspector-san!

*click* *whirr*

Hey Atsushi-ku– AH

*click*

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Oops, sorry Mr. Dazai!

*whirr*

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Right in the eyes! I’m blinded! I’m blind!

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Really sorry! I was really occupied with these photos, I didn’t see you! Really– ah. What’s with the scary look?

[DAZAI OSAMU]

*hiss* next time pay more attention to your surroundings protege-kun. Careful where you point that flash. Whatever. We’re gonna blow this joint.

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

So soon?

Thank goodness.

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Yeah. We’ve done as much investigating as we could for now.

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Do you have any ideas as to who caused this Mr. Dazai? This crime scene is… more elaborate… than anything that I can imagine.

[DAZAI OSAMU]

I just might… Atsushi-kun I’ll be leaving you here. I want to do some further sleuthing.

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Huh? You’re taking on more work on purpose, Mr. Dazai? That’s… new.

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Yep! I trust you can make it back to the Agency on your own and log the evidence for us At-su-shi! You are our star at documentation!

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

Wait–

[DAZAI OSAMU]

Bye now, Atsushi-kun!

[NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI]

There it is. I guess I never had a choice huh? I’ll see you tomorrow then, Mr. Dazai.

*rustle*

*click*

END TRANSCRIPT

24/05/2010

07:32:46

27/05/2010

Mr. Dazai has been in and out of the office since Monday. I’m kind of worried he’s avoiding me, because I tried to speak with him and he just brushed past me. Maybe he’s just stressed from this case. With this job as a crime scene photographer, I’ve seen some truly horrific sights but I have to agree, there’s no way a human being could have caused this sort of brutality. The problem is, that it just makes no sense. I wonder how he’ll figure this out. In other, better news, Junichirou will be coming to the office after his school tomorrow. I want to see if he can help me fix my camera. It’s been really finicky since Monday, and I can’t figure out why. Maybe the internal components got a bit corrupted or something. In any case, I hope it’s not too difficult of a repair.

That’s all for today, then. See you around!

N. Atsushi

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #analog horror au #atsushi #ranpo #dazai #doodles #comic #long post #WHOO OKAY #lots of questions and no answers! have fun~#in the tags i'll add things to remember:#ranpo thinks dazai is up to somthing. he doesn't want him around any of these cases but he cant really stop him #ranpo's been hired by the mori home reps to find the missing kids #the victims were killed by what seems like some kind of cloth #atsushi's camera and recorder arent working right

948 notes · View notes

vashtijoy · 3 months

Note

Hi! Pre-emptive sorry for the long ask- I don't know if you've answered this before but I was scrolling through your blog and in one of your posts you note that the brief bit we see of Akira's hometown has high rise buildings, which implies it's a city. I could've sworn there was in game dialogue calling him a country boy though or referencing him being from a rural area? Is there something in the Japanese text to suggest these are meant to be taken as jokes (I.E. protag is from a city, but it's not as big as Tokyo so he's playfully considered 'rural') or is this a case of the game devs simply not considering what buildings they had in the background of that scene?

Hello! First of all, I think it's insanely unlikely that the game devs just forgot Joker was meant to be from a shack on top of a mountain and accidentally put him in a city. Maybe they didn't have time to design a farm and shoved him in a random cityscape instead? Well, maybe. I would at least have pasted in a couple more trees.

So what do we know about this?

Sojiro calls Joker 田舎もん inakamon, short for 田舎者 inakamono—someone from the countryside; someone provincial. This is what's translated as "country boy", or "country bumpkin". Chihaya uses it about herself, and Chihaya I think is certainly meant to be very rural. The Adorable Woman and Rural Young Man in Shibuya Station use inaka a lot:

His name did not originally use inakamono or similar, by the way—he's the 上京してきた青年 joukyou shite kita seinen, "the young man who's moved to Tokyo". Note the moving-up kanji there, 上, lol—this is not a sideways move, it's a definite move up.

so what is the inaka?

In short, the inaka can be the remote countryside—but it can also just be your hometown, of any description. It can be legit anywhere that isn't Tokyo. Here's Tofugu:

My mouth was hanging open and I know I was being rude, but it was really hard to pull myself together. The woman I was speaking with was from one of the top Japanese Universities. She has had international relationships, traveled the world, and done work that most foreign anime fans would kill to see. Someone with her experiences, to me, should be open-minded about other cultures and lifestyles. Just the same, I can't help but to be bothered by what she said: "I feel like anything outside Tokyo's 23 wards is inaka." [...] Often, people usually just use what they read in the dictionary, but I learned fast that "countryside" in American English is much different than in Japanese English. For me, countryside means farms. Countryside is driving to see your closest neighbor, riding tractors for work and pleasure, and being able to immediately tell who's from your town just by looking at them. When I say this to Japanese people and ask them to explain inaka, the joke is always the same: "Inaka is anything outside of Tokyo." Osaka and Kyoto, for many, aren't inaka, but Sapporo, which is one of the few parts of the country where this legendary thing called "insulated housing" exists, is inaka. [...] So you might be wondering how "bad" it really is out here. Truthfully, I'm living in a city, at least by American standards. Great bus and train systems, tons of malls and movie theaters, some of the major stores people visit Tokyo to see, game centers, golfing… and a few rice paddies. Not many, but there are some. Imagine a fashionable mall, famous manga store, well-respected school with a strong baseball team, and major supermarket, all within walking distance, with maybe one field of rice. Honestly, the place is so city that I don't think I would willingly eat any rice that grew in that field. I swear, it's in front of a bus stop.

So, tl;dr: if you aren't in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, you're probably in the inaka—at least to someone's mind. You can be somewhere that looks to us in every way like a city, and be in the inaka. And if you pick up sticks and move to Tokyo? Then you have a good chance of being jibed about being a "country boy".

so what is joker's inaka like?

[Joker] 田舎に帰りたい inaka ni kaeritai I miss the country... [lit. I want to go back to the inaka.] Ryuji ハハ、都会の洗礼ってか? haha, tokai no senrei tte ka? Hah. Not used to the big city yet, huh? [lit. Haha, so this is your first time in the city?]

We don't get a huge amount of detail in-game about Joker's home. Besides Sojiro's "country boy", Ryuji has a couple of comments. Here's another:

Ryuji あれ? お前ン家ってわりと田舎? are? omae n uchi tte wari to inaka? Wait a sec, your hometown isn't near the countryside, is it? [lit. isn't your place relatively countrified?] Ryuji いや、大自然でランニング練習とか気持ち良さそうだなーって。 iya, daishizen de ranningu renshuu to ka kimochi yasasou da naa tte I was just thinkin' it'd be great to run an' train somewhere out where it's all big, naturey open space. [lit. no, I thought it seemed like it'd feel great to train in the great outdoors and stuff.]

(I think something may be off here with that translation of daishizen, which seems to connote "the great outdoors", "a vast wilderness", etc, as well as just meaning "nature" (the sort you get out into) more generally". The word has been split up as if Ryuji was just saying "big nature" for some reason, like if you thought "the great outdoors" meant "the outdoors is great :D".)

But we can see from Ryuji's statement that Joker's home is wari to inaka, "relatively countrified", "kind of countrified"—it's more the country than Tokyo is, but it's probably not the ass end of nowhere, either. It's somewhere Ryuji pictures getting out into nature—but even if that's accurate and not just in Ryuji's city-boy head, that again doesn't connote "ass end of nowhere"; a lot of very built-up places are startlingly close to farmland or to nature, as with the putative rice field at the bus stop that we read about earlier.

the artbook picture

There is, of course, a picture of Joker's home in the artbook:

That doesn't scream "rural" to me—though it's also not the built-up area we see him in with Shido. It backs onto a cliff, it's very green. It's clearly a row of houses on a street, maybe in a fancy suburb on the edge of the city?

It's a nice house, at any rate. Joker moving into Sojiro's attic, with his clothes in a box, will have been a harsh step down.

Another detail from this image before we move on:

Look at this board. We can make out what it says. We can even, just possibly, make out a town name there...

日立自治会掲示板 hitachi jichikai keijiban Hitachi Neighbourhood Association noticeboard

自治会 jichikai—neighbourhood associations. As you'd expect, they tend to be organised at the very local level—so Hitachi is likely to be a small district within a larger city, rather than (say) the city of Hitachi in Ibaraki Prefecture.

his city has a name guys i can't believe it lmao

the coup de grace

But there's one question I think really puts the nail in the coffin here: WTF was Shido doing in the middle of nowhere?

It's totally plausible that Joker came from a remote farm in the country, or a tiny village in far northern Honshu. But what is there in that to attract Shido? Like... Shido seems kind of an indoor guy, y'know?

He goes where his business is. He goes where the money is. It's difficult for me to picture him going to random rural areas with nobody to schmooze, with what I'm sure he'd consider to be poor facilities and shitty hotels.

Even if he did stoop to visit somewhere like that, by the time he was on his off hours getting pissed (in both senses) and attacking women, wouldn't he have gone back to civilisation?—back to the city?

conclusion??

This place Joker is wandering after dark doesn't look like The Country. It looks quite built up. I'd say it's the centre of a regional city or large town—with those nice houses we just looked at set off in suburbs along its edge. Look at this place:

It really does look like a less cramped version of Yongen-jaya, down to the trees. I don't think they spent too long on this area, but I also don't think it's inaccurate.

By the way, that "Hometown Neighbourhood" was originally 実家近くの住宅地 jikka chikaku no juutakuchi—"residential area near home". So this is not where Joker lived with his parents; it's an area close by. Like he says, he's on his way home late.

Where was he? We never find out. He has what looks like a school bag, well before his nasty crime days. Maybe he was visiting a friend we never hear about again. Maybe he was at cram school. But he's gone to this built-up part of town to do something there.

My guess would be that he lived in some prefectural capital or other. That's why Shido is there. I'd also guess that it's one of the Kanto prefectures, since the further you go from Tokyo, the less likely it becomes that Joker would have been sent to Tokyo for his probation, whether Sojiro was a friend of a friend or not.

As ever, all of this is for information only, and if you want to do something else superior in every way, you definitely should. At the end of the day Joker's a silent protagonist player insert, who can be from absolutely anywhere and as gay as you like. Let a thousand Jokers bloom.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2024/01/17)—first posted.

#asks #persona 5 #p5 meta #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #look at that y'all a totally goro-free post #i have ascended

190 notes · View notes

holdfastperseus · 5 months

Text

It is absolutely WILD to me that we got :

1. Mobius risking his life to save Loki in eps 1

2. Protective Loki™ in eps 2

3. SO MANY physical touch

4. Holding on to each other’s forearm

5. Brushing shoulders as they walk

6. Mobius’ hand around Loki’s waist

7. Words of affirmation as a love language (yes I’m talking about the “you’re the god of mischief” pie scene but there’s so much more)

8. Loki & Mobius going undercover and dressing up

9. A pie date AND a carnival date

10. Loki eating food just because their boyfriend Mobius likes it even though Loki clearly don’t

11. Mobius and Loki teaming up & causing mischief

12. Tandem bike scene

13. SO MANY bickering like an old married couple and everyone around them just going “what the hell”

14. “It’s got your shape to it“ “What do mean it’s got my shape, it’s in a suit it could be anybody” + sylvie being 100% done w/ them

15. Loki and Mobius always shifting closer to each other like magnets

16. Mobius encouraging Loki’s mischief

17. Whatever the fuck episode 5 was

18. Flustered Loki

19. Loki fixing up their appearance (fit check) before meeting their crush

20. Mobius Don dropping hints that he’s single and straight up flirting with the hot stranger

21. “Hello” “Hello” “Hi” “Hey”

22. “You saved my life when I first arrived. You saw something in me that I hadn’t seen in myself”

23. Mobius’s kids bike being red & green (Loki’s and Thor’s color)

24. The fond smiles

25. Mobius offering up his jet ski in a heartbeat

26. Loki time slipping to Mobius time and time again

27. “It’s about who” with Loki looking at mobius for 10 seconds before they said the line

28. Don’t even get me started about the “For you” scene

29. Loki hearing Mobius’s “let time pass” and finding comfort in it

30. The tragic lovers torn apart by fate trope for Lokius

#this is just from the top of my head #I’m sure there are dozens more #listen I think they tried making it as canon as possible without making Lokius explicitly canon #loki #mobius #lokius

180 notes · View notes

channoticedmeuwu · 1 year

Text

୧ #𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐌 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 — 𝐂. 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍

∘⁠˚⁠˳⁠° #𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐎 @liveleaking and @saradika for banners used

#𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 — CHOI SOOBIN × FEM!READER

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 : @radiorenjun haerin n reader as kuromi enthusiasts, hyuck & soobin and their bromance + a tired ningning. honorable mentions to oc!seri & reader's mom y'all carried ‼️‼️

#𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄 — social media!au, humor, fluff, hs!au, academic rivals!au, e2l!au

#𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 — kys/kms jokes, swearing (duh), hospitals, mention of injuries, underage drinking (in some scenes), occasionally suggestive jokes, a lot of flirting but it's concerning pls see someone, j teens being teens

#𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 (OPEN) — @flowerjun @yeonboy @chesh1re-cat @radiorenjun @captivq @forever-in-the-sky2 @l0ve-joy @yangwaa @soobinsgirlfriend @sooooob @sunoosfavsposts @chocorenchin @kaiswifeblog @ethanlandrycanbreakmyheart @myknifeyourlife @banyuew @soobsfairy444 @sadsadandmad @luvsoobs @suzirumas @obeymeharemowner @vixensss @aestheticsluut @rikizm @realigot7 @cha0thicpisces @satan-223 @aloverga @alpha-mommy69 @ariannavivianna @lani-heart @koeuh @bangchansbae @aerxz @impureperhaps @jeonsfizz @anitatvd @a-l-i-y-a @igotkpoops @yenqa @sato-chan-2709 @loveliestsong

#𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒 tsk — who were you? what were you? that's all 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐈 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍 thought about when you stood next to him on the auditorium stage, smiling at the dozen school photographers and fingers holding a plaque that now belonged to both of you. How dare you; disrupt Part-Time Perfect's chance of being the one and only. How dare you; try to make your way into being the face of the school next to him, after being someone he watched from afar for years?

and how dare you look so fucking hot while doing it?

PROFILES — THE HELLO KITTY GIRLS | SOOBIN & FRIENDS

0.0 — INTRO P.1 | INTRO P.2

01 — NOT MY HOUSE(EEE)

02 — sobe4!

03 — jit trippin...

04 — honk shh honk shh

05 — a sight for sore eyes

06 — mentally ill club

07 — boobin

08 — pinocchio

09 — prez

10 — fetus grower

11 — sabotage !!!

12 — untouchable

13 — odi's shit

14 — honestly, valid

15 — homo

16 — um.

17 — yikes...

18 — when and where?

19 — my OUR

20 — the package

21 — she's pretty

22 — to fucking JAPAN?

23 — with YOU!?

24 — mommm

25 — trashBin

26 — dommy mommy

27 — 5 feet apart (the remake)

28 — its-a me-a, mariooo

29 — room 63

30 — notice me senpai

31 — triple dared

32 — #hyuck_deserved_better

33 — shit.

34 — in front of the chinese restaurant

35 — sandwich(ed)

36 — loverboy PT1 | PT2

37 — biology, huh?

38 — should I cry?

39 — our girl

40 — jellyfish phase

MORE TO BE ADDED

41 — crew love

BONUS — moan worthy

815 notes · View notes

garbinge · 1 year

Text

Shoulder to cry on

Richie Jerimovich x Reader

Day 23 from these April Prompts: “Somethings aren’t replaceable”

Summary: Mikey’s funeral brings an unexpected person into your life more. Continuation of these fics: Pillow Forts and Soft Spot.

Word Count: 8.7k (i got carried away, okaaaaaay)

A/N: okay, this is probably one of my FAVORITE fics, this universe as a whole is my favorite but this specific fic just... has a special place in my heart. Warnings: All my fics are 18+ regardless of content. Heavy angst, shit talking, cursing (lots), mentions of death, drugs, drinking, abuse, alludes to sexual situations. The Bear Taglist: @drabbles-mc @justreblogginfics

Previous Fic: Soft Spot

Everything was moving so slow. The people, the time, the words coming out of people’s mouths. A lot of sorrys, a lot of introductions, a lot of really old people with that old people scent to them. You felt alone. In a room full of people you considered family, you felt alone. Carmy was nowhere to be found. You booked the flight for him, a cheap spirit flight, you could care less about the money wasted, you just needed to know he was alive. Not okay. Because who the fuck was going to be okay. Just alive.

You shook the 18th person’s hand, you kept count because it was the only thing keeping you awake and grounded within the moment. There was an empty seat next to Pete in the front row, but something felt off about sitting there. Sure, the Berzatto’s were family to you since you were 7, you spent more time there than your own house, the siblings were your best friends, your bullies, and your protectors. All signs pointed to your right to sit in that receiving line reserved for immediate family, but when it came down to it you weren’t a Bear. Mikey Bear. Sugar Bear. Carmy Bear. You never got that nickname, because you weren’t a Berzatto. It never mattered to you, it never even crossed your mind, that was until this moment. You felt someone’s hand on your back, shaking you lightly out of your thoughts.

The blond that the world knew as Natalie, but you knew as Sugar, was offering you a soft smile and bending down to be eye level with you as you sat at the end of the aisle in the back.

“Hey.” Your body turned to look at her, grabbing the hand that was on your shoulder into your own. Your voice was soft, like her smile.

“You know you can sit in the front row, there’s a seat next to Pete but I’ll kick him down one and you can sit right next to me.” Her hand squeezed yours. You appreciated the offer, but you weren’t sure if you could handle the extended family asking who you were. By the looks of it, that's all that was left. You had said hello to Uncle Jimmy, cousin Nicky, and Carol, and just about everyone who knew you or at least your face. The rest of everyone who showed up were people who only knew the siblings from the one baby picture they had seen from 25 years ago and you weren’t about to deal with that.

“Thanks, that means more than you know.” You rested your forehead against hers and you both closed your eyes. There was a part of you that wished you could stay in this moment forever, not think about Carmy, not think about Mikey, just be with the one sibling who showed up.

You pulled your head away when there was some commotion by the front door, some woman had burst into tears and made a scene. Sugar made a face that she quickly disguised immediately, but you had caught it. Probably someone just looking for attention, funerals tended to bring them out.

“I hate that bitch.” Sugar seethed. “I don’t even know that bitch.” She shook her head like she was shaking the thought to fall out of her mind.

You let out a little laugh at her statement, unable to hold it in and directly brought your hand to your mouth to cover it. Sugar looked at you shocked, her eyes wide and a small smile creeping onto her face as she let out a snort and followed suit by bringing her hand to her mouth.

“Fuck that bitch.” You whispered in between chuckles. That statement made her lose it but she was able to hold it in well, only a few people were looking at you two laughing in the middle of Mikey Berzatto’s funeral. He would have loved it.

The two of you took a deep breath, letting the moment naturally pass. You grabbed her hands again and squeezed. “I think I’m going to stay back here.”

There was no more explanation needed, she understood and wasn’t going to push or argue with you. Hell, you weren’t going up against the craziest competition, but you had shown up and apparently that was all it took to be on Sugar’s good side.

“Sug.” Richie’s voice alerted the both of you. She stood up and you thought this was going to go one of two ways. She was either going to slug him or ignore him. To your surprise, she did neither. In a turn of events that left you shocked, you couldn’t pry your eyes away from her embrace with Richie. I guess you were right when you thought that showing up really was the only criteria needed to be on Sugar’s good side right now.

Before you knew it, the hug was over and Sugar was back in the front of the funeral home. Richie was standing completely still, his eyes were looking at the casket, getting lost in what you were sure were memories and regret. You saw something shift in him as he looked at the casket which is when you extended your hand out to place it on his arm.

“Rich.” You whispered hoping it would get his attention. He didn’t look at you until your hand touched his arm, and that was out of instinct. “He’s not in there.” Your voice was softer than before. It was a secret that only you and maybe 3 others were in on. He had gotten cremated, but Sugar knew the family was going to have a lot to say, so they rented the casket for the viewing. It was twisted, but it was the Berzatto way.

“What?” Richie questioned in the same tone as you.

You moved over a seat and patted where you just were for Richie to sit. Without hesitation he sat down which is when you leaned your right shoulder against him and whispered again.

“Natalie got him cremated, he’s not in the casket.” For some reason, you knew it’d give him some type of relief, some type of breathing room. Once you said it, he let out a sigh, and you could tell he loosened up a bit.

“I just felt like–” He started to try and explain himself but couldn’t get the sentence out. He stuttered a couple more times when you brought your hand to rest on his leg that was shaking. Richie stopped moving the second your hand landed on his leg.

“You don’t have to explain yourself, Richie. Not to me at least.” You shrugged and stared straight ahead, your hand still on his knee. “And you don’t need to stop shaking your leg either. This is all fucked up. You can be fucked up.”

You removed your hand from his leg, he frowned at the loss of heat and also as he tried to take in every word that you said.

The two of you sat there, next to each other, backs straight, hands picking at skin or nails. 45 minutes must have passed, no one else came up to either of you. Richie didn’t move, he didn’t make an attempt to go up and kneel at the casket, look at the pictures, or try and talk to anyone else. As the time passed, you thought the place would empty out, but it just got busier. I guess what Carmy had said to you was right. Everyone felt like Mikey was their best friend. While it made Carmy jealous, it made you happy. To know Mikey the way you did felt like an honor, it was also nice knowing he knew you too.

“You want a cigarette?”

Staring at Richie, you nodded your head and stood up without hesitation, he was up and out of the funeral home within seconds, you were actually trying to figure out if you ever saw Richie move so quickly before. Maybe once before, when he was scaring off your ex at the restaurant with a fuckin 22.

The two of you moved to the side of the building that had the wheelchair access ramp. It was away from most people who had congregated in the front and were arriving and leaving. There were a few scattered people here, but it was less likely someone was going to bother you. He lifted the parliament box and brought it to his mouth, taking a cigarette out with his mouth before offering the open box to you. It had been a while since you had one, so you stared at the box for half a second before grabbing the white stick in between your fingers. Richie searched his pockets for a lighter, patting down his suit jacket pocket, inside and out.

“This is why I fuckin’ hate these things, too many pockets.” He mumbled with the cig between his lips.

“Said no girl ever.” The joke mumbled back at him as he found the lighter and brought it to your cigarette first before his own.

Leaning against the wall of the parlor you both looked out into the section of woods that was just past the building. It was probably one of the few areas around you that had a large section of trees in Chicago, and large was probably an overstatement.

You felt yourself getting lightheaded as the smoke burned. You were just about halfway done when you felt yourself wobble a little, the nicotine high hitting you stronger than you expected.

“You alright?” Richie was leaning forward trying to get a look at your face.

“Yea, it’s just been like a year or something since I’ve had a smoke. The nicotine high was just getting me a little dizzy.”

He let out a laugh. “Fuckin’ amateur.”

You let out a scoff to match his laugh, “Alright, Richie. You got me beat at smoking cigarettes. You win.” Your voice had a mocking tone to it.

He enjoyed the back and forth, you could tell by the smile on his face. It was probably the only genuine smile on his face today, which you wouldn’t blame him for.

“Have you talked to Carmy?” All your thoughts came barreling down as you saw someone walk by with a blue denim hat that looked just like Carmy’s. Your heart rate was raised, and that mixed with the lightheadedness was starting to make you breathe a bit heavier.

“No, I haven’t.” Richie’s answer didn’t make you feel better. He must’ve noticed because he followed it up with a question. “I’m guessing you haven’t either?”

“No. He isn’t answering my calls or texts.” Your phone was being pulled out of your pocket so you could show him the constant texts.

You: 2:28PM yesterday Hey, I’m tracking your flight, says it’s landing in 40 minutes, I’ll be at the airport waiting for you.

You: 3:06PM yesterday Hey, I’m here, text me when you land.

You: 3:34PM yesterday It says you landed, Carm. Where are you?

You: 3:56PM yesterday Carmy. If you missed your flight it’s okay, we can get a new one, no worries.

You: 4:25PM yesterday Forget the fucking flight can you just let me know you’re alive?

You: 5:05PM yesterday Carmy.

You: 6:32PM yesterday Pulse check.

You: 7:13PM yesterday Pulse Check.

You: 8:55PM yesterday For fucks sake Carmy. PULSE CHECK.

You: 6:55AM today I’m going to assume you’re okay. But please, when you can just answer my pulse checks please.

You: 4:25PM today Thinking of you. Love you.

You were expecting Richie to give you shit for the amount of texts you sent and you were surprised when he didn’t.

“I guess that means he’s not answering calls either.” He took a big drag of his cigarette and shook his head. “What’s pulse check?”

“It’s just something we came up with when we moved out of Chicago, things got busy but it was our way of checking in making sure the other person’s okay.” You explained the reasoning behind the words. “He’s never not answered one.” The last fact was added so Richie could understand where your worry came from.

“Kid’s a mess.”

For a second, you went to defend him. Old habits die hard, you know. But then you really took in what he said it was true. Carmy was a mess. Even before this. You were still mad at him, though.

“I texted. I called. Hell, I thought to send a fucking carrier pigeon but he’d probably just kill it and call it squab de papier.” An awful french accent came out of your mouth and Richie looked at you impressed, his nostrils flaring as he blew air out of them in a half laugh before letting a real laugh out.

“That was good.” He nodded and tossed the bud to the ground and stepped on it.

“I know, I’m funny.” A frown wrinkled on your forehead and you squinted your eyes before smiling.

You both laughed again as you started leaning into one another, shoulders grazing against the other. It was what you both needed, something light to get you through the heaviness of the night and the week to come. In the middle of your laughing fit, there was a loud backfire of a car in the funeral parlor lot. It sounded like a gunshot, which wasn’t unheard of in Chicago, but considering the circumstances, it caused you to freak out for a moment.

Your fingers straight away went to grab Richie’s arm pretty tightly. Out of impulse, he stepped in front of you. Scanning the parking lot and the others around it was pretty quickly that he realized the noise was a car backfiring and not shots.

“Fuckin’ afterburn.” He looked over his shoulders to see your terrified face. It was still something new to him, you were never scared. The only other time he remembered seeing you remotely like this was that day at The Beef, with that douchebag. “C’mon, let’s go sit down before you fall over nicotine newbie.” He grabbed your arm and guided you over to the bench that was tucked away in the corner.

You never were able to shake the feeling, you two just sat there, in silence as you tried to get back to whatever you considered normal at a time like this.

“You got a ride home?”

Looking around you saw that it had gotten pretty empty, you looked at your phone for the time or maybe a text from Carmy.

“Yea I drove myself.”

Richie’s face looked like he was about to question or protest your means of transportation.

“I’ll be alright, Richie.”

“Alright well pulse check me when you’re home or whatever.”

You went to argue on the usage of the term when you looked at Richie, like really looked at him. It was genuine. He actually cared that you made it home. You simply nodded and offered him a quick wave before walking away.

_________

Time was passing slowly, and when you’re looking towards time to heal all wounds, you had to take the whole passing by leisurely thing as disrespectful as possible. The days felt long and the weeks felt even longer. It was 2 weeks to the day since Mikey’s funeral, and 3 weeks to the day since it happened. Your apartment was lonely, it always was but when your best friend was ignoring you and the guy you looked at like a big brother just killed himself, the loneliness followed you differently. You did whatever you could to pass the time. Visited Sugar and Pete, went down to the beef occasionally to see everyone, called Carmy, had 30 second conversations with him, which to be honest you cherished over the silent treatment. In addition to that, you also took on extra shifts at work, the barista position wasn’t exactly bringing in the cash but it paid the bills and the overtime put money into a rainy day fund. Plus, it was what you loved. Coffee.

It was another Tuesday night where you fell asleep on the couch. Your mattress was more of a decoration these days than an actual useful piece of furniture. The ringing of your phone turned you over, the sound was different than the normal alarm chime you were used to waking up to. As you came more to it, you realized that your alarm wasn’t going off and it was actually someone calling you.

1:14AM.

The time flashed above the unknown caller number.

“Hello?” The raspiness of your voice was hard to mask, your hand scratched at your eyes trying hard to wake yourself up. It was then that you realized you answered an unknown number at 1AM without any hesitancy.

He said your name in a way that you could hear the embarrassment in his voice. You knew who it was right away. Who would have thought that hearing Richie’s voice at 1AM would have been what woke you up entirely.

“I–uh,” You could imagine his head hanging low as he spoke to you. It was obvious why he was calling. Late night, unknown number. It didn’t take a genius to put the pieces together. “I need your help.”

He sounded like a little kid, even with his age difference, he felt below you. It wasn’t really a feeling you wanted to dwell in, you didn’t like it one bit.

“I’m locked up and need you to bail me out.” The words flew together so quickly that even though, you knew what he was going to ask, it still took you a minute to process.

“CPD or Northwestern?” The keys were already being scooped up from your coffee table.

“CPD.”

“Fuck.” You mumbled as you held the phone to your ear, slipping one arm into your jacket. Chicago Police Department meant a more serious charge, it wasn’t loitering or vandalism. It was a step up from that, but you weren’t going to ask him on the police line. “I’ll be there in 20.”

With that, you hung up and quickly slid your other arm through your jacket as you ran out of your apartment.

The ATM wasn’t exactly your favorite place to be at 1:43 AM in downtown chicago, but you also didn’t want to be at CPD either. You stuffed the cash in your pocket quickly and walked into the station.

After you posted bail, Richie was out within minutes. Good thing about Tuesdays were they were generally slow nights.

The black eye he was sporting was red in irritation and starting to discolor. You assumed it had to do with his little stint in the slammer but you weren’t going to ask questions, yet.

“Thanks.” He mumbled the appreciation, still clearly embarrassed.

You nodded and got into the car, immediately turning over the ignition to get the car warm.

He stood outside the car, like he was waiting for an invite in or debating walking home.

“You thinking of freezing to death or do you want me to send you a formal invitation to get in the fuckin’ car?” You had leaned over to open the passenger door from the inside.

“I didn’t really wanna ask for a car ride home, too.”

He was like a dog with his tail between his legs and you truly hated it.

“Alright, 1. It’s not a big deal, Richie. Relax. 2. I’m not taking you home, you woke me up, you owe me a cup of coffee or a drink.”

Richie awkwardly got into the car.

“Liquor store is closed now” Richie pointed to the car clock, his voice starting to level and sound normal. “And all your stupid fuckin’ coffee places cost probably the same amount as my bail. Which– how did you pay for that?”

“Rainy day fund. I’ve been picking up extra shifts lately.”

“Thanks, I’ll pay you back.” He answered automatically how one does when they’ve borrowed money.

“Just show up to court.” You offered a different answer in response.

He nodded and brought his hands to his head, like wiping them across his face was going to wipe the shame of the night away.

“I have good coffee at my place. And I have alcohol. You down? There’s no way I’m going back to sleep tonight.”

“Yea I’m down.”

———-

You walked back into your apartment, keys hitting the table with a light throw, your jacket being flung on the couch. As you circled back around your kitchen table from the couch you approached the freezer. Grabbing a pack of something vegetable like and frozen to give to Richie.

“Here,” You tossed him the frozen mixed veggies. “For that gnarly eye.”

His face twisted in sarcasm as he nodded at you, which instead of being bitchy back you just smiled. You’d take this over embarrassed Richie anyday.

“I feel like I don’t need to ask but, alcohol or coffee?”

“Alcohol.” He responded too quickly. “Please.” The added pleasantry was appreciated.

Grabbing two glasses and filling them with ice, you brought them over to the small dingey bar cart that sat next to your open window on your 5th floor apartment.

“I’ve got rum, gin, vodka, tequila. All bottom shelf and probably expired. Pick your poison.”

“Gin.”

His answer shocked you, you expected vodka or him to ask for something dark. You had already scripted some beggars can’t be choosers response back in your head that you were forced to table.

Placing the glasses and two bottles on the table, you passed him the gin and pushed his glass towards him.

“Tequila, huh?” The question came as he poured the ginninto his glass.

“Always my drink of choice.” You nodded and sat at the head of the table with him to your right. “You wanna tell me what happened?”

He had already downed what would be his first shot of many, and started to repour his glass a little higher now. After another sip, he replaced the veggies against his eye with the glass of gin.

“Wanna? no.” He retorted.

“Assault and disturbing the peace?” You read off both charges that were sitting in your head.

The look he gave you was annoying to describe in the least. “How—?”

“To pay bail they tell you the charges. To make sure you want to go through with vouching for someone.”

It was your turn to refill your glass now.

“I don’t know I was down at Cerces, bunch of fuckin’ shmucks in suits and shit, I just wanted to drink and hang out.” He shrugged his shoulders as he explained the situation. “Who the fuck am I kidding, I fucking slugged this motherfucker for being a smart ass. He got me back.” He pointed to his eye with his free hand. “Got kicked out and then decided to make some noise on the street.”

You looked over at Richie, eyebrows raised waiting for him to tell you what he said.

“Guy had a British accent, must’ve been traveling for work or something so I called him a wanker. The last word he spoke came out in an accent that made you almost spit out your drink from choking on it.

Richie choked down a laugh at your reaction.

“Why?” You leaned back in your seat.

“Why?” His voice raised in question as his brows furrowed.

“Yea, why’d you do it?”

“I don’t know just somethin’ to fuckin’ do.” He spat out quickly.

“It’s a tuesday fuckin’ night. Sleeping is what you should be doing, you gotta be at The Beef in what? 4 hours? To pick up the meat shipment tomorrow morning.”

Richie looked a little in awe as he stared at you.

“I spent half my time at the restaurant, Richie. I know the schedules, I know the people, I know.” The last two words were deeper. They meant more. You were trying to tell him that you knew what he was going through, not like the people who shook his hand and offered their condolences, but like a person who spent a lot of time with Mikey and was now feeling that loss every day.

“You uh,” Riche leaned forward on the table like he was gearing himself up to ask you something. There was silence in the kitchen for a beat, you didn’t say anything, he’d say what he wanted in time.

“I just can’t shake the damn guilt.” His head was practically touching the table as he leaned forward trying to get out his thoughts. “I should’ve fuckin’ chained him to the desk or something, or intervention his ass with rehab.”

He wasn’t really looking for an answer or response, he was just talking, so you sat there listening.

“I don’t know what the fuck to do. Every day I’m just like waiting for something and I don’t know what.” He slammed his hand on the table in frustration and leaned back.

The loud noise caused you to jump. His eyes darted to yours. “Sorry babe.” He apologized quickly and brought his drink to his lips again, taking a big gulp. “It’s like fucking groundhogs day.”

“Not today, though.” A smile filled your face. “Unless you get arrested frequently and you’re working your way through your contacts.”

“First time in 4 years.” He corrected you like it was something to be proud of. “Drunk indecency, with Mikey.” The charge was explained to you.

“Oh. I remember. Mikey called Sugar and she called me on the way to pick you both up.” You looked smug as you drank your tequila.

“I don’t even know why I went out tonight.” Richie started up again. You were following him, he was spiraling but it seemed to be somewhat helpful to him. “I just want to feel fucking normal again.”

You took a breath, preparing yourself to respond back to him but he cut you off.

“And I don’t want to hear that stupid bullshit, ‘some things aren’t replaceable Richie, you gotta move on.’ Fuck off.” He was speaking to you but he wasn’t really speaking to you.

“I was just gonna say me too.” Your voice was soft which wasn’t really like you.

“Fuuuuuccckkkk.” Richie groaned at the overwhelm of emotions and went to grab the bottle of gin to pour more into his glass, you both had lost count of how many glasses this was but neither of you cared.

“Anyways, enough about my shitshow of a life, how are you doin’?” He wasn’t even looking at you but when he asked the words hit you in your core. Why did you feel like you were going to cry? Maybe because over the last 3 weeks no one really cared how you were. Sure, people asked but they didn’t care. And even though Richie wasn’t even paying full attention to you, you knew he was genuinely asking. Maybe it was also because your best friend hadn’t asked you that in over a couple years. So Richie asking you this brought out a lot of emotion.

“Yo. You fuckin’ good?”

“Sorry. Zoned out.”

“So, how the fuck are you?” He repeated the question.

You let out a laugh that was followed by a few stray tears. “I don’t even know.” You laughed again as more tears fell. “Carmy won’t talk to me, he hasn’t talked to me truly in god damn years it feels like, my dad is who the fuck knows where, and I just lost the only Berzatto who gave me the time of day.” You let out a deep exhale. “And that’s not to shit on Sugar, she’s just been doing her own shit. It’s more shitting on Carmy.” You clarified yourself as you stabilized your voice more.

“If you want to turn this into a shit on Carmy fest, we can. I’ve got ammo for days.”

“That’s the best part, I don’t even want to shit on him. I just want him here. I want him to be present. Carmy is my best. fucking. friend. I don’t have anyone else.” Richie could get that. That’s what Mikey was to him, and even though Carmy was still alive, he understood what it was like to watch as you lost a friend. He watched it with Mikey.

“He doesn’t even know that I was getting the shit beat out of me in Minneapolis all those years ago. He does know that my dad’s been in and out because that’s been just a normality in my life, but he hasn’t asked. I tried to tell him about Mikey, but he didn’t even let me get a word out. And you know what, I don’t even give a shit. I fucking get it. Mikey pushed him away and welcomed me in with open arms and that hurt him. I’d be furious. But he doesn’t know that I was struggling. I left practically all my shit in Indianna and flew to fucking New York with my last $300 dollars. I had to open up a $500 limit credit card just to book my flight back home. Which is when I came to the beef and while Carmy was blowing me off, Mikey was literally the complete opposite. He called me. He checked in on me. He sent me home with leftovers. And I couldn’t even just tell him to lay off the fuckin’ drugs!” You were worked up, your voice carried through the apartment. The echo of your hand slammed on the table caused Richie to jump, very similar to what he did moments ago.

“Sorry.” You said in a much lighter voice.

“Hey don’t apologize, babe. We’re fuckin’ goin’ through it.” He laughed as he finished off the bottle of gin. “Clearly.” His hand raised the bottle in reference to his sentence and also to say thanks for the drink.

“Do you have a cigarette?” You were now calm, it was crazy how quick you processed things and just stored them away. It was something you had to do the entire time you grew up while your dad came and went.

“Yea, wanna head downstairs?” His finger pointed over his shoulder to the door.

“Fire escape.” You pointed in the opposite direction.

You made your way out to the black metal escape. There was enough room for both of you to stand comfortably as you smoked your cigarettes, the view was clear to the riverwalk as you stared out.

“Can I ask you something awkward?” You looked up to him as you leaned forward with your one arm hanging over the railing with the other on the cigarette in your mouth.

“I’m drunk so it’s probably the best time as any.” He agreed.

“Why wasn’t Tiff at the funeral?”

It was a substantial question. Even though you didn’t know why, you felt the weight behind it.

“Uh she had to– uh, well she had to, you know.” He started to trip over his words. “We’re getting a divorce.” The sentence just fell out of his mouth like water. It made your stomach drop, you weren’t exactly sure why. Probably because you knew that this was the worst time to be going through a divorce, not that there was exactly a good time for one either. “We uh, just were fightin’ all the time, arguing about stupid shit, I guess, you know, I’m a little immature, always at the restaurant, always with Mikey, well used to be, I’m a little hard to depend on.”

You knew he was just repeating the things that Tiff had said to him. Her reasoning, probably thrown at him like daggers in the middle of the fight. She probably wasn’t wrong, they probably did argue all the time, he was immature, you knew that, he was always right by Mikey’s side which generally meant he was at the restaurant. But all those things were obvious to you. That was who Richie was. And you weren’t going to shit on Tiff for not wanting to deal with it, but it didn’t mean you didn’t question why she got into it to begin with. I guess the answer was love, but you didn’t really know much about that. One thing that stuck out to you was the last part of the sentence. Hard to depend on. It was crazy how everyone had different views of people, Tiff had known Richie as hard to depend on. But you knew him as the opposite over the last few years.

“If it’s any consolation, you’re the most reliable person in my life.”

“I don’t know what that says about you or the company you keep.” He snorted.

You laughed at him, pushing into him with your shoulder as you took in another drag of the cigarette. There was another moment where all that could be heard was the sounds around Chicago. It was late so while the sounds weren’t comparable to a rush hour smoke break, it was Chicago so there was some city noise. Your eyes fell onto Richie’s hand as he gripped the railing. The gold ring was still on his finger, which was curious to you.

“Still got the bling.” Your head nodded to his left hand. “Why are you still wearing it?”

For a second, he frowned, confused by what you were talking about and then his eyes followed your nod.

“Oh, you know.” He shrugged and immediately took a big inhale of cigarette smoke.

“No, I don’t.” You raised your eyebrows and turned to have your back against the railing as you waited for his answer.

“I don’t fuckin’ know. Habit I guess.” He flicked the cigarette into the air and watched it fall 5 stories until it hit the ground causing the last sparks of it to jump. He moved, closer to your window and sat against the concrete wall, folding his knees up to have his arms rest on them as he was now in front of you and extending his legs out would give you no room.

“Habit.” You nodded, taking your last inhale and doing the same thing as him to get rid of it, still leaning with your back on the railing.

“Yea, you know I’ve had it on forever. Plus like I don’t know, the papers aren’t signed yet, I’m not saying things could be different, but they could, you know. They could go back to how they were. I don’t know. It’s just there’s been a lot happening, I haven’t thought to take it off.”

He was rambling. Understandably so. You pushed yourself off the ledge and went to sit next to him, copying his positioning with your own legs.

“Who the fuck am I kidding?” He looked down at his hands. “It’s over.”

The words were finite, the way he said them felt like it wasn’t his first time coming to that realization, but you figured it was probably the first time he said them outloud.

“But are you over it?” It was a genuine question from you, a little curious too, if Richie was letting you in, you were going to take it, it was the first time you felt like you had a real conversation with someone in a while.

“I mean, I don’t think we’re like us anymore, I don’t know if we ever fuckin’ were, like I think we had this idea about who the fuck we were together, right? I mean, I love her, she’s the mother of my kid y’know. But that shit was over a long time ago.”

“What’s the point of holding on then? Seems like it’d be best for everyone to just move on. I’d say let go but I think you both have.”

Richie looked at you, taking in what you said. Everything you said was true, it was a perspective he felt like he knew deep down but there was just something about hearing it outloud and from someone else that made it feel a little more realistic and grounding.

He nodded slowly as he brought his hand up to his mouth, covering it as he digested the information.

“So this is why Carmy kept you around all these years, you’re fucking smart. You should be like a shrink or some shit.”

You let out a laugh at his words, the irony that this was all you wanted from Carmy, a moment to chat, it didn’t have to be about Mikey, it didn’t have to be about New York, or anything, you just missed these deep conversations with him.

“Somethin’ like that.” You let out a deep sigh and looked over at Richie as he began to speak.

“So can I ask you an awkward question?” His head turned to stare back at you.

“I’m drunk so it’s probably the best time as any.” You repeated the answer he gave you which made him smile before gazing back out at the riverwalk through the bars of the railing.

“That guy, that came into the restaurant a couple years ago, he was the one beating on you?”

Richie knew the answer to the question, he felt like he just needed to hear you say it to get the clarity he needed, and maybe a few more details if you were open to talking about it.

You paused for a minute, not sure how or if you wanted to answer, but you thought back to that day. You thought back to how Richie didn’t ask any more questions when you told him not to. He never brought it up again, he probably had a million questions, but yet he just asked this one.

“Yea.” You held your breath for a minute thinking back. “My ex.” You pointed across the street to the little corner store. “I met him there, he was in Chicago for work, from Minneanapolis.” You felt Richie’s eyes jump to stare at you as he started to comprehend everything. “We dated for a few months, I saw him whenever he came into town, which was often. He was charming. We didn’t really do much, I guess I’m an easy date.” You let out a laugh at how unchallenging you made it for the guy. “I didn’t introduce him to anyone, one of many red flags. I knew that no one would like him, especially Carmy, he has that like shithead detector, you know? Anyways, he was wrapping up his last work trip to Chicago at the end of that August and invited me to come back with him. Carmy was leaving, all of my other friends were already back at school or moved out of town, I had nothing going on here, so I did went.” Your head shook as you recollected all of it, especially how naive and stupid it was.

“It took two days for his true colors to show.” You honestly forgot Richie was next you as you thought about the first time he hit you. “I, uh, was unpacking my stuff. Spilled my soda on the dresser, he wasn’t too happy about it.” Your hand moved to your face out of habit, like you could still feel the sting of his hand across your face. “It stopped for a while, which is why I stayed plus you know, abusers abuse hard but apologize harder so I believed him. I honestly don’t remember when it got worse but it did, and I couldn’t leave. He broke my phone, I had like no money left, no friends, a shitty job.” A stay tear fell and landed on your cheek and you quickly wiped it away. “On paydays, I’d go to a check cashing place on my break, take $20 from my paycheck and put it in my locker, because the rest of it was going to my ex for rent or whatever the fuck he used it on and anything more than $20 was cause for alarm, I had tried and failed. After a few weeks, I saved up enough for a plane ticket and flew to New York. I left in the middle of the night. It was terrifying. I left half of my shit there, not to mention my fuckin’ dignity.”

“Yea, but, uh.” The tears were now falling more frequently, you weren’t blubbering, your voice was still pretty steady, but the drops weren’t stopping. “Carmy had his own shit going on. I lied to him. I don’t even remember what I said to him about the bruises, but he believed it. He was so fucking out of it and so, I sucked it up. Found a credit card that I could open immediately with my god-awful credit score and booked my flight home.”

“Jesus Christ,” Richie’s voice was soft, something you didn’t hear from him too often. “That’s– that’s some seriously screwed up shit.” His head was shaking as he processed it all. “I wanted to kill that motherfucker. Like I knew, right? You had that mark on your arm, I’m pretty sure I fuckin’ asked you, but you looked so damn scared and small and not like a kid, I just mean like stepped on. And out of all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never looked scared let alone small. I just felt this anger in me, like I wished I pulled that fuckin’ trigger.”

A laugh escaped from your mouth thinking about that day, you didn’t find any of this funny per say, but laughing was just what your body could come up with to respond. It was muffled from the congestion of your tears, your nose was slightly red. Your hands moved up to your eyes and rubbed them before you told Richie your final thought.

“You know, that day, that was my first day home. I was so nervous walking into the restaurant, I didn’t know how everyone was gonna be, if they were mad I left or what. But you looked up and me and smiled and I thought ‘Hell must be freezing over if Richie fuckin’ Jeremovich is the one saving me from my sorrows.’”

He smirked at that, there was some peace served to him knowing that.

“Can I say something else awkward?” His voice was still steady.

You nodded.

“Thanks.”

That was it. That was all Richie said.

You licked your lips and brought them inside your mouth, trying so hard to hold in what you knew would be exploded laughter. After one successful second, you failed. You let out the craziest noise as you laughed out loud. Your head fell onto Richie’s shoulder as you laughed and caught your breath, Richie joined in the laughing, the two of you louder than you should have been at 3 in the morning.

“Shut the fuck up!!!” A random voice called out from below you, which caused the both of you to try and shush yourselves while uncontrollably laughing even more.

As you both calmed from the laughter, there was a brief second where the two of you were looking at each other. It was short, but it was electrifying, maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the emotions, but something was gravitating you two towards eachother.

There was no shot you could explain when or how it happened. But when your mind came to it, you realized you were horizontal on top of Richie on your fire escape with your tongue practically down his throat. His lips were soft, surprisingly, which was what this entire situation was, surprising to say the least. You thought your reaction to kissing Richie wasn’t going to be to lean into it more, but when you both took a minute to catch your breath, there was nothing else in your head but the thought of wanting to kiss him again.

“I’m so–” He started to come to it and get flustered but you didn’t let him, you were back to kissing him before he could even finish apologizing. The shock didn’t last long on him, he was melting back into it pretty quickly, his hands moving to your face, the heat of his breath exhilarating you more. Your body grinded on his out of habit, feeling his excitement that you were moving into him. A groan or two or five left your mouth, you lost count and honestly any consciousness in your mind was also out of the window. You were a one track mind, and that was to get Richie into bed.

________

The cold air mixed with the rising sun glares woke you up. The pounding of your head being the first thing you felt and heard thumping in your head. A groan came from your throat as you rolled over to hide from the sun, letting the thin sheet get tangled up more across your body. That’s when you realized how cold you were, the thin sheet wasn’t much but it really wasn’t helping since you had no clothes on underneath. Memories from the night before crashed onto you which didn’t help the headache that was getting progressively worse.

Expecting to bump into the man you shared the bed with last night your hand was met with an empty bed. A deep sigh came out from your mouth as you collapsed deeper into the bed. You weren’t disappointed or hurt, it was just a lot to take in, thinking about what exactly happened, what you talked about, how good the sex was. Which you had to admit was really good. Not to say you thought sex would Richie would be good or bad, it was that you never thought of it before, so the thought in itself was shocking. Then there was the thought about what this meant moving forward. That was a notion you spent little time on, you weren’t going to make anything awkward. It was a one night stand and it was Richie, it wasn’t going to be weird.

There was no point in trying to go back to bed, you rolled over, grabbed what you hoped was a tylenol and not a breath mint that was loose on your nightstand and reached for your sunglasses.

You sat at the edge of your bed for a minute, trying to work up the courage to get your legs to work. “Alright, clothes. Then water. Then food.” You mapped out your next few moves. To get food, you had to go downstairs, you had nothing in your apartment except for stale leftovers.

The elevator dings were aggravating, you wished the sunglasses on your face did more than block your eyes from the bright lights but being hungover you just had to face the consequences.

As the sign flashed first floor over the buttons, the doors whooshed open. As you pushed off the back wall of the elevator you stopped in your steps when you saw Richie standing in front of you with a bag of what you assumed was food from the smell.

“Hey, I went to grab breakfast.” His voice was courtly, not his normal Richie self, more polite.

You said nothing, just ushered him into the elevator with your arms as you fell back against the wall leaning your head back to rest there as well. Both of you stood there in silence, you weren’t trying to make it awkward, in fact that thought didn’t even cross your mind. All you could think about was how hard your head was pounding and how much agony work was going to be later. Richie on the other hand, didn’t exactly thrive in silence, he was fidgety, switching which hand he held the bag of food in, leaning back, standing straight, making noises with his mouth, casually trying to look over at you.

“Why are you wearing sunglasses?” His voice switched from polite back to his normal abrasive Richie voice.

“Because I have a headache.” Your voice monotone.

“Oh, well I have food.” He held the bag out a little to show you. You would have picked up on what he was insinuating, you have a headache food could fix it, but you just felt like he was repeating himself when all you wanted was silence.

“Yea you fuckin’ said that, Richie.” Your eyes closed now, not that he could tell under your shades.

He got quiet again as the elevator beeped and flashed the number 3 as you passed the third floor, but that didn’t last long.

“I didn’t get coffee because ya know I figured you had stuff here and it’d be better than shit out there.” His voice raised an octave which triggered you.

“You’re right.” Again, answering in a monotone voice.

“Are you like mad at me or something?” Richie frowned and stepped somewhat in front of you.

Normally you would have bugged out on Richie, any other day, any other circumstance, but it clicked. Things weren’t normal, you slept with him, this was weird new territory so you offered him some peace.

“No, sorry, I’m just really hungover, I appreciate this.” You pointed to the bag of food as the elevator opened on your floor, you squeezed past him to your apartment, opening it and welcoming him in and immediately moving to the coffee machine. Not bothering asking Richie what he wanted, you started to concoct two warm drinks, turning back around with the mugs in your hand to see him laying out the spread he bought.

“I don’t know what you like so I tried to cover my bases.” He started to point at the styrofoam take out containers. “Sausage and Eggs, Bacon and Eggs, Bagel with Cream Cheese, Bagel with Butter, and pancakes or waffles.”

You were impressed. Richie just kept surprising you.

“Wow, uh, I’ll take the bacon and the waffles.”

“Alright, cool. Waffles.” He mumbled as he searched for the container before handing it to you, sort of like he was taking a mental note as he was searching.

He took a sip of the coffee, shaking his head in approval, “Yea that’s good fuckin’ shit.”

You hummed a light laugh as you thanked him, opting to shorten his nickname even more and call him Rich.

The silence crept up again, the sounds of eating and the wind from the open window the only thing filling the void. You felt the awkwardness and the tension, which was not what you expected, it was Richie fuckin’ Jerimovich, he never made anything awkward, although he was trying to fill a lot of the silence, typical of him and you were offering short responses if any.

“We’re good, Richie.” You decided to speak up.

His head turned, mouth full of eggs, bagel in his left hand, it was a sight that put a smile on your face. “Huh?”

“I just, I want you to know like we’re good, this doesn’t have to be awkward.”

“Alright, yea, not awkward.” He nodded in agreement and went back to his food.

The two of them awkwardly said goodbye, their short understanding not being enough for them to be on the same page but at least they both knew they were still cool, it was just managing the tension of ‘I saw you naked last night and now know a lot of your deepest darkest secrets so do I hug you goodbye or wave or what.’ But you both managed to get out of it unscathed and with a kiss on the cheek and a ‘call me if you need anything’ which was successful enough in your book.

Work that day had dragged on, your mind and body were not equipped to deal with people all day but yet you were stuck pushing through. By the time your shift ended, you walked outside, taking in the cold Chicago air as you walked home. The heaviness of life started to weigh on you, the thought of how even though your daily routines hadn’t changed everything was different, how you couldn’t stop by The Beef while they were closing up and meet up with Mikey and Richie to hang out and bullshit around. But then something dawned on you, you still had Richie, and what better way to make things not awkward then by breaking the tension between you.

You: 10:37 You wanna go to Cerces?

Richie: 10:37 I got banned

You: 10:38 When has that ever stopped you before? Richie: 10:40 Yea, I’m on my way I’ll be at yours in 10 minutes.

Next Fic: The Smell Of Rain

#The Bear #The Bear fanfic #richie jerimovich #richie jerimovich x reader #mikey berzatto #sugar berzatto #carmy berzatto #michael berzatto #carmen berzatto

465 notes · View notes

simpforchuchu · 2 months

Text

Not dead anymore

Prompts: DAY 23 - presumed dead @febuwhump Characters: Dazai x reader Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs Summary: Even Dazai had thought they were dead

A/n for prompts: Hello guys! This is my first time trying a prompt challenge. I hope you like the short fics I wrote. I will finish them by writing some of the requests I have. I love you 💜

Sorry for the grammer or spelling mistakes.English is not my main language so...

Thank you and love you 🥰

Warnings: mention of fights and death

Atsushi continued to run after the mysterious person he saw at the crime scene. He didn't know why they were there, but he was sure they had something to do with the murder.

At the end of the long chase, the road ended. It was a dead end and there was someone in black trapped. Who were they? Did they have an ability ? He had no idea.

When the person in front of him turned around, he couldn't see who it was again because of the mask on their face. But he smiled with the person he saw behind them

Dazai was there. As always, he didn't know how or where he came from, but he was there. He grabbed the mysterious person's arm and prevented them from using their ability. The masked person did not do anything to pull their arm, did not resist. Dazai didn't seem surprised, but Atsushi was surprised that they even didn’t try to escape.

Dazai took off their mask and stood in front of them. But he froze with the face he saw.

"You…"

Y/n smiled. For years they were presumed dead by everyone. They were a close friend of Dazai during his mafia years. Dazai never even heard of them again after they died. But they were here now.

"How ?"

For the first time, Dazai looked confused. For the first time, he didn't have a plan. And for the first time, something happened that he could not have predicted.

Y/n smiled and punched the young man hard with their other hand. Before Atsushi could even react, Y/n jumped onto the wall behind them and disappeared.

He didn't know if Dazai knew he was going to get punched or just let them go, but for the first time, Atsushi couldn't read the expression on his face...

#febuwhump #febuwhumpday23 #febuwhump 2024 #bsd imagine #bungou stray dogs dazai #dazai fic #dazai imagine #dazaiosamu #dazai osamu #osamudazai #dazai x reader #osamu dazai x reader #dazai osamu x reader #bsd dazai #bsd dazai x reader #Bungou stray dogs #bsd

93 notes · View notes

youremyheaven · 15 days

Text

Guessing BTS Rising Signs

hello besties. I made this post a long time ago and since then, we've had TWO Bts members reveal their birth times so I thought it would be interesting to look at the rest of the members in this context. Here's my old post if you're curious.

I'll mention the members with confirmed birth times so that we can get that out of the way:

Jungkook- Mula Rising

His birth time was confirmed to be 3:23 PM which makes him a Mula Rising and tbh I've always seen him as hella Ketuvian (he also has Magha Moon) and this just fits. Mula's dog yoni does give him that puppyish charm, kind of androgynous style and a very endearing, silly personality. Plus like I mentioned in my post about Nodal people and how child stars often have Nodal placements + often tend to be heavily tattooed/pierced, Jungkook joined Bighit when he was 13yrs old and made his debut at 15yrs and has a tattoo sleeve and hella piercings<33

He is Purvaphalguni Sun, Magha Moon & Mula Rising

Jimin- Pushya Rising

His birth time is confirmed to be 11:58pm. Although he did not specify AM or PM, he did say he was born around "dawn" and im assuming that means the dawn of a new day because 11:58 am is most definitely not the dawn of anything. I've always suspected that he had Cancer Rising because of his appearance, full lips, round cheeks and all that 🥺and also just how sweet and soft his demeanor is 🫶🏼

He is Chitra Sun, Rohini Moon & Pushya Rising

Now here are my speculations for the other members:

Jin- Shravana Rising/Purvashada Rising

purely based on his appearance i believe he has Moon influence because he's Jyeshta Sun & UBP Moon and i dont really see much of either (Jyeshta's rabbit yoni does come thru a little bit but I feel like his appearance is majorly influenced by something else??) He could also be Purvashada Rising and him being Venusian also makes sense to me but his no nonsense attitude, refusal to submit to anyone, how he acts as though he's better than others (most of the time, its just a joke and he is funny ngl) all comes down to Moon influence for me tbh and I def don't think he's Rohini or Hasta, his energy is harsher and more direct which makes me think Shravana

Yoongi- Ashlesha Rising

i def think he has a cat yoni (he is PBP Sun which gives him lion yoni/feline influence but there has to be more to it than just that) i used to see him as Punarvasu but now I lean more towards Ashlesha tbh, he does seem to have a rakshasa gana nak in his big 3, he's very discriminate about who he gives his time and energy to and that's very sidereal cancer of him. also im convinced that him and Namjoon have outcaste naks in their rising because of the kind of journey they've had from the underground rap scene to the biggest band in the world

Hobi- Ashwini/Bharani Rising

i think Hobi is an Aries Rising, like there's nooo way he does not have Aries influence (i know he's Krittika Moon) i think Bharani because its also an outcaste nak and BTS faced a lot of discrimination in so many different ways

Namjoon- Vishaka Rising

i used to be torn between swati and vishaka but now im pretty convinced he's Vishaka Rising lol, first of all he has Jupiter influence, just trust me on that

this is the cover of his first mixtape and he said his face is painted half-black because he feels that he's "half positive and half negative". if you've read anything ive written about Jupiter or watched Claire's vids on Jupiter you know that duality is a major Jupiter theme specifically the battle between good and evil. namjoon's lyricism also oscillates between opposites a lot. in seoul he sings about how "love and hate sound just the same to me" and all of these are extensions of his Jupiter influence. i know he has Venus & Jupiter in Swati but i dont think he has a Swati stellium because he's too balanced to have that much Rahu influence lol and even though he talks about struggling to maintain balance i think that's the Jupiter in him coming thruuu, Vishaka is also an outcaste nak and Namjoon has been the scapegoat for all kinds of hate for his whole career

Taehyung- Rohini Rising

i think he has a serpent yoni ngl and if he's Rohini rising then it will be conjunct Jimin's moon which makes sense tbh and he also seems Moon influenced because of how emotional he is.

A major reason why I've assigned Outcaste naks to majority of the members is because of how they were the outcasts/underdogs in the industry for so long and if the shoe fits...yk I dont think those themes would manifest for them as a collective if the majority of them did not have those placements

#bts #bts astrology #jyotish #astrology observations #vedic astrology

73 notes · View notes

horseshoegirl · 1 year

Text

Damn Those Dog Tags - Masterlist

📖 Jake Seresin / Hangman

💛Elizabeth "Liz" Beck

❗️18+ minors DNI. Ageless and blank blogs are blocked without warning.

❗️Reposting of this fic, including designs, line breaks, banners or any graphic materials is strictly forbidden without written consent from me. Be a decent human being and don't steal people's work.

🏷️ slow burn, strong language, troubling family dynamics, death of a parent/sibling, godmother reader, inexperienced/mildly insecure reader, mentions of an abusive relationship, physical violence later on (one scene, maybe two), romance, sexual themes/references (I mean smut!).

🎼 playlist

Summary: Your sister Ridley has passed away, leaving behind her ten-year-old daughter Sadie. The Dagger Squad go out of their way to ensure you and Sadie have people you can count on. Boring Saturday nights turned into game nights, rowdy dinners, and cheering events at Sadie’s soccer games. Any milestone or opportunity they want to be there. But the last to join the group is Hangman. The moment you met Jake Seresin, your heart screamed the cocky pilot was looking for a good time, not a long time. Deciding to keep him at a distance to protect your heart, Sadie has other ideas when she learns he was purposely left out.

A03 | Wattpad

Masterlist:

Part 1 - Be Still

Part 2 - Hello, I love you

Part 3 - Southern Nights

Part 4 - Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress

Part 5 - Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Part 6 - Three Little Birds

Part 7 - Oh What A Night

Part 8 - Drift Away

Part 9 - Hang on, Hang On

Part 10 - Let's Dance

Part 11 - Dream On

Part 12 - Blue Healer

Part 13 - Sons and Daughters

Part 13. 5 - Bradley Bradshaw Oneshot - Way Down we Go

Part 14 - Sex on Fire

Part 15 - Have you ever seen the rain?

Part 16 - In the Blood

Part 17 - Come a little bit closer

Part 18 - Sapling

Part 19 - An Evening I Will Not Forget

Part 20 - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

Part 21 - My Fair Lady

Part 22 - Jump

Part 23 - Sleep Deprivation

Art Work:

BookCover For DTDT's One-Year Anniversary

Moodboards:

Mood Board For Part Four - By @desert-fern

Mood Board for Part Ten - By @teacupsandtopgun

Main Masterlist for all my works

702 notes · View notes

dreamingofep · 2 months

Text

Sinned Awakening pt. 23 🩸

An AU Elvis fic

(Vampire!Elvis/ Vampire Austin! Elvis x reader)

Character/Fandom: Elvis - Elvis (2022)

Prompt: Getting promoted to be Elvis full time housekeeper, you realize the man holds secrets beyond beliet and your undeniable attraction makes you tear the unknown. [Fem!Reader]

TW: Cussing, teasing, spanking, SMUT, oral, fingering, mentions of blood/gore!!!

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 7.8k

A/N: Hello everyone! I was missing writing some smutty scenes for these two but oof🫣 This is just pure filth. Please enjoy😉

Please comment, message, and reblog if you feel so inclined.

A reminder, this is Vampire!Elvis so there is going to be mentions of blood/gore from here on out. If that's not your thing, sorry but it's needed for the story.

If you'd like to start from the beginning, start here or Ao3 ! hope you enjoy and message and comment what you think.

You felt your anger boil over at Elvis’ behavior. This wasn’t new, he always played with you and teased you to no end, but this was unbearable. You were just trying to gain your bearings as a vampire and he just had to get you all riled up. He won, yet again, so it shouldn’t surprise you as much as it does.

You slam the empty blood bag on the table and storm out of the room. You can hear Elvis’ pompous little laugh ring out as you leave and it only pisses you off more. He thought it was funny teasing you like that! Watching you beg and whimper in agony for him. You can’t get a grip on any of your emotions right now and everything feels out of hand. All you want to do is scream and shout at him for being so difficult and then the next, you want to tease him back, making him beg for you in so many different ways. But your anger got the best of you for some reason and that thought had to be put on hold. You’ve never felt so upset about something as trivial as wanting blood, but everything was different now. The need for it was overwhelming and you couldn’t help but be a little scared by these feelings.

You pull the robe off of you and go into the closet to find something else to put on. You put on some panties and slip on a light flowy dress to go on the balcony and cool down.

Opening the sliding door, you step outside and the ocean breeze hits you. All these overwhelming sensations hit you at once; it was way too bright out here, the smells you were breathing in were all too strong and powerful, and the noise of the city below you was ear-shatteringly loud.

You cover your ears with your hands in the hope that can block out some noise but it’s no use. Your nose burned with aromas of food and the sea salt of the ocean and….blood. Oh shit, you smell it everywhere. You can smell all kinds of different traces of blood coming from below you and it makes you hungry all over again even though your thirst subsided not two minutes ago. You look down over the balcony and see people walking from the beach and the more you focus on them, the stronger the scent of blood swirled in your head.

Oh shit, this isn’t good… oh God what do I do…

You can’t help but panic a bit, not being able to get a grasp on your new heightened senses. Your body jumps when you feel Elvis grab your arm.

“Honey?” He says quietly.

You turn around quickly and look up at him frazzled.

“It’s okay honey, just calm down,” he says placidly. You yank your arm away from him and scowl.

“Do you think I’m going to listen to you now? After treating me like that? No, just go away,” you snap at him, pushing past him to go back into the bedroom. The loud commotion outside still rings in your head and you can’t get it to be any quieter. You grumble frustrated, not knowing what to do or how to calm yourself down.

You feel Elvis grab your arm once more and he squeezes it tighter to keep you still.

“No, I’m not goin’ away. You need to listen to me or do you want to hear every last sound on Earth until it drives you crazy hmm?” He asks calmly, but his eyes look at you intensely.

“I can figure it out by myself! Stop smothering me,” you snap.

He gives you a crooked little smile and lets out a low growl. He picks you up and throws you over his shoulder. You scream in protest, “Let me down! Right now Elvis! This isn’t funny!” You try to wiggle out of his grasp but he’s still stronger than you making it all pointless in fighting him. You feel a hard spank land on your ass making you yelp by the contact of his hand.

“That’s enough from you,” he snaps. You hadn’t been spanked by him in so long that it surprised you the way it felt.

He sets you down firmly on the bed and holds your arms down by your side. His eyes are blazing but his overall demeanor is calm and collected.

“You don’t wanna listen? That’s fine, don’t listen to me. But I know how to make you listen so just keep that in mind. I’ll get no pleasure out of it trust me,” he growls. You feel your heart pound away and you challenge him by looking straight into those intense golden eyes.

“Yeah I’m sure you won’t,” you say smartly, grumbling under your breath. You get hit by this wave of anger coming off of him that makes you freeze. He wasn’t joking anymore and was dead serious about your attitude.

“Woman I swear to Christ,” he says through his teeth, turning you around quickly, and making you face down on the bed. You grunt and try to squirm out of his grasp. He holds your wrists crossed together with one of his hands and puts them at the small of your back.

“Elvis!” you warn. He doesn’t listen as he proceeds to pull your dress up and rip off your panties in one quick motion.

He leans down and growls in your ear, “Don’t you Elvis me, you lay there and take your punishment,” he says shortly. That’s when you feel him spank you on the ass, hard, the sting of his hand leaving your backside hot.

“Shit,” you yelp.

You keep trying to get your hands free, thinking with this new strength you possess, maybe you can wiggle your way out of this. Even with just one hand keeping you still, he’s much more powerful than you and all your fighting strength is useless in trying to get yourself free.

He gives you another hard swat and you gasp out in shock.

“Elvis don’t you-,” you yelp as you feel his hand spank you again.

“I turned my wife into an immortal brat haven’t I?” He growls, swatting you again. “I thought you loved me enough to listen to me,” he grumbles.

You feel the anger inside you hit the brink and you can feel your fangs descend out of anger. You twist your head over your shoulder and bare your teeth at him. He laughs amused at you and gives you another spank, fire roaring inside you. The stinging left on your skin makes your eyes water and gasp for breath. He pushes your head down back on the bed, leaning down once more to make you listen.

“Oh honey you did not just hiss at me… are you really going to make me spank you harder,” He hisses back at you. He gives you one more hard spank and your body betrays you and a moan comes out of you. He snickers at this reaction and gives you one more for good measure, making you moan again.

“Sucha bad, bad girl. I can’t believe my own wife is acting this way,” he hisses, squeezing a handful of your ass in his hand. You groan at the added pressure and feel his thumb graze your entrance.

“Honey please, stop teasing,” you whimper, feeling your arousal pool inside you.

“Are you ready to listen or do you want me to keep spanking you,” He asks devilishly, his fingertips grazing your folds more as he runs his hand back up to your ass. You can’t help but moan again when he does that. You wanted him more than anything and all he’s done is tease you to death.

“Goddamn it you’re impossible,” you groan, “stop teasing me and do something good with those hands for once,” you say over your shoulder and give him a sly smirk.

“You are the impossible one!” He growls, flipping you over on your back and going straight in for your neck and nipping there. It wasn’t a playful bite, it served as a warning. You both growl as he does this and he looks down into your fiery eyes.

“Listen to me, please,” he says low, making you sit up and focus on him. You take a deep breath to try and calm yourself down. He kneels down and takes your hands in his but you try to get free from his grasp.

“Enough please, I’m trying to help you,” he says.

“You have a weird way of doing it,” you huff.

“Y/n! No more! You can’t deal with this all on your own. I’m trying to help you in the best way that I can!”

“You know I had to figure all my abilities out on my own and do you know where that got me? It turned me into an unrestrained, blood-obsessed vampire that wreaked havoc on any human I came into contact with. One that couldn’t stop feeding even when I was full. I will not have you develop the same habits as me. I couldn’t block out any of my other senses and the only way I knew how to was to feed and feed til I didn’t feel anything more. That’s what will happen if you don’t learn how to control yourself,” he growls.

The air felt thick with tension and you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, he was right. You should be thankful you had him trying to help you in any way he could even if you didn’t want him to.

“I umm.. I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know how hard it was on you. I honestly didn’t know how hard all of this would be,” you confess, looking away from him.

“I know, you just need to trust me that what I’m trying to teach you is going to help in the long run. I know how overwhelming this all is and think it’s unfair, but I wish I had someone telling me no and showing me how to live with these powers properly,” he says pausing, “It probably would have saved me a lot of self-loathing that you love so much,” he teases.

“I get it, I’m listening,” you say low, throwing daggers back at him.

“Okay, good. First thing, that temper of yours is going to get you in trouble if you don’t learn to control it.” He quips. You roll your eyes at him and he lifts your chin to look at him. His silent warning comes off like a siren and you divert your eyes away.

You try to recollect yourself. “I’m listening, I swear,” you tell him.

“With our abilities, every emotion’s heightened, so when you feel anger, it's like a radioactive bomb just went off inside of you. It doesn’t need to be that way, or actually, it shouldn’t be that way. There’s no need to get that upset about anything in this world when everything comes to us so easily. So when you get upset, you don’t need to let the whole world know. It's best to learn how to let things go because a human will always be in the path of your anger. Also because I can feel your emotions now tenfold, it would be nice to not feel so angry too. I thought I had my temper under control before I met you,” he winks.

“Yeah… that’s going to need some getting used to. I’m sorry I was so angry. All of this is frustrating and I don’t know why I feel so emotional in not getting my way but it just overtook me.”

“That’s normally what happens, honey. When I woke up for the first time as a vampire, I couldn’t get a grip on anything whether it was my emotions or my thirst. It was all really bad and the damage I caused could have been a lot worse, but it was still awful. I looked for Raphael everywhere, demanding an answer to what he had done to me. To no avail, I never found him obviously, and went off on a spree. I guess in a way I was in denial and couldn’t fathom what I had been turned into. Like you, vampires were just stories, myths that you’d tell kids to scare them and make them think twice about going out at night. But it was all very real and I’d lock myself in the bathroom, trying to get a hold of this all. I felt everything you’re feeling now, the hunger, the intense emotions, the heightened senses, I was helpless.”

“I won’t let it be like that for you. No matter how many times you tell me to go away or you don’t want my help, I will not do that to you. I love you too damn much to watch you struggle. Feeling that would kill me inside,” you say looking into your eyes.

You nod in agreement, understanding that you need to think about both of you when something happens since this bond so tightly attaches you to one another. Just sitting here you can feel the worry run off of him and you feel bad for giving him such a hard time about all of this.

An ambulance’s siren wails off in the distance and you grimace over the obnoxious sound ringing in your ears.

“Ahh shit! How do I make it stop being so loud!” You grunt, covering your ears with your palms.

“It’s going to be okay honey, take a deep breath. A lot of this power we have needs a focus point, just like feeding. You can’t just let all your senses go free and not hone in on what you want or what you want to feel. Having to hear everything all at once is awful, trust me. Or having to smell so much blood is agonizing.”

“I know you might not like it when I say this, but I need you to focus on me. Only me. Focus on my voice and block out the rest of the noise outside. Only let yourself hear what you want. Focus on my scent,” he explains.

You compose yourself and try to do just that, focusing on Elvis’ energy and nothing else outside. It was hard, you never noticed how loud everything really was when you were human. He squeezes your hands in assurance, trying to get you to focus.

“You can do this, just focus on one thing at a time and it won’t feel as overwhelming,” he instructs. You take a few deep breaths, collect your thoughts, and focus on Elvis. You try to center your thoughts on the sound of his heartbeat. You hear it, and it sounds much different than the other times you’ve laid on his chest and heard almost nothing. It was now much stronger, almost normal sounding, and you put your hand on his chest. You can feel it almost flutter by your touch and that sound fills your ears like a harmonious orchestra.

The rumble of cars on the street started to fade and the sound of the wind was minimal.

You take a deep breath in and wafts of scents fill your nose. Mainly blood but also food and the saltiness of the sea. You keep focusing on him and try to get that beautiful smell in your mind.

It hits you and you feel your mouth water. You look up at him and see a cute little smile on his face.

“There you go. See, I knew you could do it. It just takes practice, darling that’s all,” he coos.

You nod your head, even though you know he’s right, you hate how difficult he had to be. He looks at you in awe, memorizing all the smallest details on your face. He kisses the back of your hand then puts his hands on your smooth thighs. Electric sparks consume you and you hold your breath as his hands trail to your back and then up to your face.

“I just can’t believe you’re a vampire. I can’t believe you’re all mine,” he says softly.

“I know,” you whisper back.

“I can’t get over it, honey. I know it’s our bond and everything, but I just can’t stop touchin’ ya.” He says as his hand rakes down your back.

“It’s not like you kept your hands off of me before…” you say smugly.

A sly smirk falls over his face, “yeah, and? Never heard you complain about it once,” he teases.

You chuckle softly, shaking your head at him then let this long silence hang over you two. You can feel the way his heated gaze was looking at every inch of you. It made you flustered, to say the least. You still felt the wetness that had pooled in between your thighs and looked back up at him longingly. You synch your dress up higher, exposing more of your legs to him and you watch as his eyes fall where you wanted them to go.

“So… do you plan on cleaning up the mess you made,” you say, guiding his fingers to your soaked entrance, “or is this another lesson of yours?” You say smartly.

“Oh honey, you know me too well, I can’t surprise you anymore can I?” He says slyly. His finger swipes through your folds and makes you gasp as you feel like your body is on fire with desire. He does it again and makes sure to look at your face as it falls apart by his touch.

“But we have a plane to catch,” he continues, taking you by the hand.

“Where are we going?” You ask surprised.

“Back home, we have more to learn baby. It’ll be better to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We can always come back here whenever you want.”

Elvis quickly changed before you both left the hotel to an all-black outfit; looking decadent as ever. You quickly packed all your stuff and shoved it into your suitcases, not worrying about making your clothes neat. He was pulling you out the door before you knew it and covered you in kisses along the way.

You both get to the airport and get on the private jet that’s waiting for you at the end of the tarmac. You were disappointed you were leaving this gorgeous place, but Elvis was right, it would be better to learn more about your abilities in the quiet grounds of Graceland. The sunglasses you wore made it much more tolerable to look outside the window as you drove to the airport. Elvis also wore his signature glasses, shielding his glowing golden eyes away from any humans you might encounter on the way to the airport. Everything was still too loud but you tried to keep your focus on Elvis’ heart and that seemed to make everything a bit better.

You step out of the car and the warm Hawaii sun hits your pale skin. It stings like you have a fresh sunburn after only being out here for a few seconds. It's not too painful, but you can understand why most vampires try to avoid being in the sun for too long. Elvis gets out of the car behind you and takes your hand in his.

“It doesn’t feel too bad but it does feel annoying if you stay out for too long. You’ll get used to it,” he says as you walk to the stairs of the plane.

You nod your head and he leads you up the stairs to the plane. The inside of it had about six seats and a small table with chairs in the back. You decided to sit in the back as Elvis was talking to the pilot before sitting down. The slick between your legs was still there and you cursed under your breath when you sat down. You should have changed your clothes before you left but you were too distracted by the events of the last hour or so. It was going to take a lot of practice to reign in your emotions and not let them take over your entire day because all you wanted to do was drink his blood and fuck him till the sun comes up again.

Yet again, Elvis was right when he said you’d only want him more as a vampire. You knew it was because of your bond and all your new senses, but damn him for being spot-on about it all. You wanted him to be wrong about something for once. The more you thought about having an intimate moment with him, your mind could barely handle it. You had a feeling it was going to be more intense in every way and you didn’t know how you were going to handle that.

There was one flight attendant on the plane and she offered you something to drink and you politely declined. It was going to be strange not drinking or eating anything you realized. You could smell her blood being this close to her and hold your breath so you don’t feel the need to feed. She starts to walk away and you slowly exhale, remaining calm and trying not to freak yourself out. It worked, but you definitely need more practice being around humans.

Elvis was still busy with the pilot so you decide to go to the restroom to have a moment to yourself. You splash some water on your face and try to recollect yourself. Patting your face dry with a towel, you look up at your reflection and are still in shock by the appearance of yourself. You looked like you always have, but there was this immortal aspect to yourself you couldn’t ignore.

You were too prim and proper even though you just rolled out of bed a few hours ago. Your natural waves looked sleek and shiny and even your skin looked flawless like you just did your makeup or something. Your posture was all too perfect and the way your golden eyes glowed made it all much more apparent that you weren’t human anymore.

At least they’re not blood-thirsty red…

It was all so strange. There wasn’t any amount of time that could have prepared you for any of this. You had a few months to mentally get ready and kiss your human life away, but this is all so much more.

You grab some toilet paper and try your best to wipe the wetness off of your dress before stepping out of the bathroom. Elvis is sitting in the back looking in your direction, waiting expectantly for you to come closer.

“Everything okay darlin’?” He asks smoothly.

“Yes I’m fine,” you assure him.

“Come sit down, we’re about to take off any second now,” he says softly, beckoning you to him.

You go to him on the long sofa-like seats that have your back against the windows. Before you can take the seat beside him, he quickly snatches you up and sits you on his lap. You gasp and feel his grip around your waist tighten.

“Thought this would be the safest seat on the plane,” he says cheekily.

You slightly adjust your position on him and feel the slick that’s still stuck on the back of your dress and in between your thighs. You silently grimace at the feeling and look at him with a little smile.

“Oh I don’t know about that… this seat feels a bit… dangerous,” you breathe.

His lips curl into a smirk and pulls you in closer.

“I don’t know what you mean darlin’. I’m not doin’ anything,” he teases patting the side of your ass with his hand, “you on the other hand, you are just crying to be fucked, aren’t you? You never put on another pair of panties before we left?” He grins.

“No, I didn’t. Figured you’d be ripping them off anyway,” you breathe.

He shakes his head at you and you suddenly can hear the roar of the plane’s engines start to rumble. The engine grew louder and louder and you were starting to get drowned by the sound. You look at Elvis not knowing what to do and grip onto his shirt.

“It’s okay baby. Just do what you did last time, block out everything, and focus on what you want to hear. What was it that made you finally feel better in the hotel?” He asks.

“Your heart. I focused on your heart,” you tell him, putting your hand on his chest and smiling. You can slowly feel everything start to fade away and look back into his gorgeous eyes. He smiles at you and rubs your cheek with his thumb.

“It’s so much louder now,” you say low, feeling the warmth of his chest.

“I know, I think that’s all thanks to you. You made me feel… whole again,” he hums, leaning in for a kiss.

It felt too good for him to kiss you like this. You were love drunk on him and the way he could have you melt into him so easily. You wrap your arms around his neck, trying to get closer to him. Even though you didn’t technically need to breathe like a normal human, he still left you completely breathless. Your head felt like it was in a daze with the way his hands lit your body on fire. Your arousal pooled and you were dying for him to touch you anywhere below the waist.

He breaks the kiss to look at you and you notice in the window behind him you’re high above the clouds now, metaphorically and physically.

“Touch me,” you whimper. His eyes look serious and he caresses your face once more.

“Like this sweetheart?” He says low.

You take a deep breath in and try not to get too flustered.

“No, you know where I want your hands…” you whisper.

He takes his hands slowly down your body til they find your thighs and spread them apart slightly, giving him access to where you need him the most. He runs his fingers up and down over them, slowly kissing your cheek and neck.

“Mmm, so wet for me aren’t you?” He whispers, biting your ear lobe. His deep, gravelly voice makes you tingle to your core. He keeps his fingers inches away from your dripping heat and it leaves you begging for more.

“Honey, please,” you whimper louder.

“Shhh, honey you have to be quiet. Don’t want anyone to hear you begging now do we?” He says motioning to the flight attendant behind the curtain separating the front of the cabin from the rest of it.

You bite the inside of your cheek and quickly look at him. “Okay,” you breathe.

“Good baby. That’s what I like to hear,” he coos. His fingers wander to find your core and you gasp at the sensation.

“Fuck honey, you feel so good. All of this is because I was spanking you hmm?” He says low. Your breathing hitches and you grab on tightly to the back of his shirt.

“Yes,” you breathe, “I liked it too much…I can’t help but want you. You said it yourself, I’m only needier as a vampire,” you tell him, nipping at the crook of his neck. He grunts at the sensation and he finds your sensitive bud.

“Mhmm… I just never thought it was going to be this bad,” he says as he teases your entrance. Your hips can’t help but buck into his hand more and hope he doesn’t tease you for too much longer. He nods his head at you, liking how he’s got you craving more.

“That’s it, baby…You have to promise to be quiet for me okay? And I’ll give you what you want,” he continues.

“Please, I’ll be good I promise,” you whimper.

He nods his head at you and bites his bottom lip as he scrunches your dress up higher to take a look at you.

He places more kisses on your neck and they make you dizzy. You’re so starved for his touch and can’t help but claw at his back. It felt like the first time he touched you, how you instantly needed more attention and couldn’t help but lean into his body. You sigh as you feel him gently rub your clit in concentrated circles. He grunts softly to himself as more slick gathers on his fingertips.

You can feel how much he loves this, how he’s growing more aroused with the longer he touches you. It’s so suffocating the way you can feel his need for you beat out of his chest. This lust he has begins to consume every last thought you have. You need him more than ever and you weren’t ashamed to admit it.

“Oh honey,” you sigh, feeling the throbbing grow worse inside you now. You have to shut your eyes and fight the urge to groan his name.

“Fuck baby I know. You’re driving me insane too. Your pussy just dying for me hmm?” He asks low. You take a sharp breath in and nip at his ear.

“Please, yes I’m dying for you,” you cry softly.

With a soft grunt, he slowly starts to stuff two of his fingers inside you and squeal softly, looking at him wide-eyed. It felt like the first time he ever touched you; overwhelming and intense. Your entrance was too sensitive, too tight, like you haven’t been touched in eons. You quickly put your hand over your mouth to keep any sounds from escaping. He felt so good it made your jaw drop, and if this is how you were feeling with just his fingers, you would not be able to last a second with his cock inside you.

He proceeds to curl his fingers inside you and pulls your hand off your mouth. You look at him with pleading eyes and your breathing continues to hitch.

“I wanna see that pretty face. Looks so good when you’re getting pleasured,” he coos, biting his lip gently, looking up and down at your trembling body.

“Baby, please, this is too much,” you whimper.

“This is too much? Oh, baby what are you going to say when my is cock deep inside you?” He taunts. You growl low, clawing your fingernails down his back. Just the idea of that has you reeling in agony. You try to bury your face in his neck to smell his delicious scent, wanting so badly to take a big bite into it. You could hear his heart hammer away the more he teases you and it fills you more with need.

“Jesus I can’t-, it’s going to be like the first time,” you gasp, seeing flashbacks of your passionate throes of lovemaking in the penthouse as you close your eyes.

“Oh but darlin’, I’ve been daydreaming about the things I’d do to you once you were turned. I’ve had quite some time to think about that,” he teases.

Your stomach flutters at the thought and his fingers twist deeper inside you. His knuckles press up against your folds and you gasp, loving how he’s stuffing you to the brink with his long fingers.

“Oh God… like what?” You ask breathlessly, clutching onto him tighter.

“Make you beg for things… have you beg for my mouth, my fingers… have you begging for my cock to fill this needy pussy. Now that you’re turned, I don’t have to be so afraid of breaking you while I have you,” he snickers softly. He nips at your neck and your eyes roll back, gasping for breath.

Oh, this man was going to ruin you when you got home, no doubt about it. You couldn’t fathom what he had in mind but you already knew you were going to be an absolute mess because of it. The last part of what he said lingered in your mind though and had to ask.

“What do you mean-, you weren’t… you mean to tell me you were holding back essentially?” You pant, his fingers hitting that spot deep inside you that leaves you wanting to cry out to the heavens. Your mouth falls open in shock and he nods his head at you.

“Yeah, baby.” He smirks.

“Every. Single. Time.” You say, groaning through our teeth.

“Mhmm, I had to be nice and gentle with ya. I couldn’t squeeze you the way I really wanted or have you ride me harder. You were so fragile as a human,” he pauses giving you more kisses. You grind your hips into his hand and do everything in your power to not cry out his name.

God, I want that… I want to fuck you so bad, you cry inside your head. More need flows out of him like hot lava and pours onto you, making you want him more.

Elvis shifts his head to the side, examining you with a key-like precision, noticing how you are overcome with feeling all his desire for you. He presses his lips together briefly, “But now, oh honey now, you’re just as strong as me.” He coos with a twist of his fingers, “Now I can ruin that perfect little pussy. I can make love to you nice and slow or fuck you how I really want to. That’s what I’ve been dyin’ to do,” he growls to you.

It’s all too much. To fathom the idea that the intense, wild sex you’ve already had with him was fulfilling enough, you come to find out he’s been barely showing you what he really wants to do to you? Oh God, you’re not going to survive any of this. Immortal or not, you were going to pass out from all of this.

“Elvis, oh God…” you say weakly.

“Mhmm, I can’t wait to show you what I mean,” he growls, tilting your body away from him and nipping at your chest. “I needju so badly,” he slurs, pumping his fingers in and out of you faster. He grunts softly as the sounds of your wetness spills out of you. The coil in your belly tightens exponentially with all this teasing and you begin to feel your body shutter by his touch. He hushes you as you’re beginning to lose your control and he slowly starts to pull his fingers out of you, only teasing your entrance. You take a sharp breath in, not wanting him to stop any time soon. But you suddenly feel eyes looking at the back of your head and Elvis sits up straighter.

“Mr. and Mrs. Presley? Do you need anything? Any refreshments or snacks?” The stewardess says softly. Your whole body goes stiff and you look panicked at Elvis.

His whole demeanor is casual and calm like there isn’t a care in the world right now. Or the fact he has you on the brink of coming undone on his fingers. One move and you won’t be able to hide this facade of just sitting on his lap innocently. You grip tightly onto his forearm and try to get him to stop his teasing.

“No, thank you for asking. Darlin’? You want anything?” He asks you, sarcasm lacing his words. You glare daggers at him and shake your head no.

“What was that honey? I don’t think she heard you,” he taunts. You want to scream at him for being so awful right now. He knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s planning on getting you to crumble in his hands.

You take a slow, deep breath, hoping to God your voice doesn’t sound as pathetic as it probably does, and hope she doesn’t come any closer. You can’t get a single word out. You’re too flustered and your brain screams at him to stop all of this. He quickly curls his fingers inside you, using a come hither motion to push up inside your pussy, rubbing the spot that can send you into the stratosphere. He keeps doing it, over, and over, and over. Pushing at that spot. His spot. All his.

Your nails dig deeper into his forearm and you’re almost sure you’re going to draw blood from it. Your eyes scream at him and press your lips together in agony. He just cocks his head to the side slightly, patiently waiting for your response. You take another deep breath and turn your head to the side slightly.

“No, thank you for asking,” you say sweetly and slowly start to lean back into Elvis's body, trying to make it seem as casual as possible.

“Yes, we appreciate it. We’ll call on you if we need anything for the rest of the flight,” Elvis assured her. You hear her heels thud on the carpet floor as she walks away and the swish of the curtain closing.

You sit back up and grab his jaw in your hand to get him to look at you straight in the eye.

“You’re fucking vile, you know that?” You hiss in his face. He smirks at you and slowly exhales, examining all the frustration slapped across your face.

“I just wanted to see what you’d do,” he jests, continuing to fuck you with his long fingers.

You groan and let go of his face as you look down to see his fingers covered in your slick.

“Fuck you,” you huff.

“You don’t mean that darlin’. Don’t you want me?” He asks low as he takes your hand and leads it to his straining cock in his pants. Heat radiated from it and you whimper at the feeling of him.

“Yes… I do,” you choke out. He hums softly and starts to move his fingers faster. You can’t hold back anymore and feel your coil getting ready to snap.

“Mhmm, good baby. Look what you’ve done to me,” he pauses, making you move your fingers more along his long length. You hiss at the sensation and look at him pleading as he continues, “You like how that feels? You remember how hard it feels inside of you,” he tells you, his sensual voice making your body grow weaker by the second.

“Oh yes,” you cry softly into his neck. You rock your hips into him harder and try to stay silent. Your core aches to have some kind of release.

“That’s it, baby, let me feel you come apart,” he coos in your ear. You don’t need to be told again and your walls flutter and squeeze around his two fingers. Your orgasm rips through you like never before and you feel breathless as your body tries to get a grip on what it’s feeling. You scratch and pull at his hair, everything consuming your body and panting rapidly. Your vision goes blurry and you can’t believe you can feel so good. Your legs begin to shake and you squeeze your thighs around his hand. He groans too, feeling your slick walls respond to him with ease.

“Goddamn baby, so fucking needy,” he groans into your ear, “I wish it was my cock inside you,” he growls.

You can’t take much else or you were going to let out a loud scream so you keep your face buried in his neck to silence you. Your hand keeps rubbing his length, noticing how his body responds to you too so easily. Your fingers find his pants button and zipper and start to unfasten them. He grunts as he watches you try to get into his pants.

“And what do you think you’re doin’ darlin’?” He asks with an amused chuckle.

“I want you. I want to feel you,” you tell him, slowly getting off of him and kneeling in between his open legs. You gasp slightly as he pulls his fingers out of you and gives you a heated gaze. Your hand quickly finds his cock, pulling it out of his pants and groaning at the sight. He felt warm and heavy in your palm, throbbing slightly as you glide your hand up and down on it. There was so much you wanted to do to him but you knew you had plenty of time later to do that. He shifts uncomfortably in the seat and looks at you wide-eyed, not expecting you to do any of this.

“Honey,” he says as a warning, “you trying to get caught,” he hisses, motioning toward the front of the cabin.

“Just stay quiet, then we won’t get seen hmm?” You say smartly, pumping your hand along his shaft and licking your lips as he looks hungrily at you.

He quickly looks back toward the front of the plane, then back to you.

“They’re wondering why we’re so quiet,” he chuckles. You turn your head to the front of the cabin and can hear the pilots too, murmuring to each other how they think your behaviors are strange.

“Well too bad. If you happen to get louder, you’ll just have to compel them to forget the sounds you’ve made,” you snicker.

He doesn’t say anything, he waits for your next move patiently. You pull his pants down more and massage his heavy balls in one hand, and pump his cock with the other. He instantly groans heavily and you smirk at him.

“Shhh honey, be nice and quiet for me, mkay?” You tease, your hand continuing to work on him. He leans his head back and huffs softly, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Goddamn it baby,” he whimpers. You don’t listen to any of his protests and keep teasing him, touching him in all the areas that you know can easily make him fall apart.

Your thumb glides down from his peeking tip and runs it all the way down to the base of his dick. He lets out a frustrated groan and pulls his pants down more, freeing him from the constraints of them. He angles himself to face the back of the plane and has you kneel in between his legs. He spreads his legs wider for you once again and smirks at you wickedly.

“Open that pretty mouth for me, baby,” he grunts.

Your body shutters at the sound of his voice and quickly pull your hair to one side of your neck. You pull at one of Elvis’ hands to grab onto your gathered hair and he pulls it tight. You moan at the sensation and his hands twist your hair tighter at the top of your head. You cry out softly, looking up at him with innocent eyes. Your tongue swirls on his tip, making him groan loudly. You repeat it over and over and each time, his hips try to buck up into your mouth. You anticipate this and don’t let him in any more than that. He’s so sensitive, unable to hide his need for you, and can’t sit still.

“Sit still,” you whisper, a devious smirk slapped across your face.

“I can’t,” he growls, “you feel too good.”

You go back to teasing him and put more pressure around his balls. He gasps at the sensation and pulls at your hair hard, making you look at him.

“Fucking hell baby. You’re going to make me come like that,” he hisses. You don’t stop though, and slowly start to suck on him, putting more of his hot length in your mouth.

His hips grind into you, stuffing more of himself into you. He doesn’t hold back the moans he’s making, loving every second of this. You love it too, you want to make him fall apart as quickly as possible. He bucks his hips into you once again and you gag around him, still not used to his long length inside you like this. You quickly take him out of your mouth and try to catch your breath, looking up at him in shock.

He smirks slightly before speaking, “What baby? Is this still too much for you to handle?” He says smartly.

“I can handle it just fine,” you growl. “You are the one who won’t be able to handle much more of this,” you tease.

He brags he knows how to get you unraveled but you know how to do the same to him. You suck and lick on him more, pumping the rest of his length in your hand. He pulls onto your hair tighter and lets out a guttural moan as he pants heavily.

“Fuckin’ hell mama,” he growls.

You look up at him with your pleading eyes, knowing that he can’t handle you looking at him like this. You feel his body stiffen and he leans his head back, exposing his delicious long neck. He quickly looks back down and looks like he’s in a daze, so heavily drunk on you and your mouth.

You move quicker on him and his mouth falls into a beautiful O shape, his eyebrows furrowed, and his chest heaving.

“Oh baby,” he groans through his teeth, bucking his hips up into you and grunting heavily. His cock twitches and he lets his white, thick release pour into your mouth. You groan too when you feel it, squeezing your thighs together as you feel your arousal pool again. You put more of his hot length inside your mouth as he comes, making him gasp for breath. “Fuck baby, just like that,” he sighs, helping you take more of him. You moan with him inside you and he likes your response.

You slowly start to take him out of your mouth and make sure he’s watching as you swallow his whole load. He bites his lips while watching you, turned on by the sight in front of him. He lets go of your hair and pulls you back onto his lap once more.

“Naughty little vampire you’ve become,” he quips, pulling you by the back of your neck and kissing you with blinding need. You moan into his touch and tangle your fingers into his hair.

“You love it though,” you whimper in his ear. He nods his head and covers your cheek in kisses.

“Mhmm, I do,” he says in between kisses.

“You’re definitely going to have to compel them to forget those sounds you made,” you tease.

“I’ll do it before we land,” he says nonchalantly, reaching to kiss you again. You throw him a confused look and wait for his explanation of why he won’t just do it now.

“This is a long flight back to Memphis darlin’. I think I might need to make you beg for me a little longer. I need watch you come apart more.” He says slyly, flipping you over onto the seats and onto your back as his hands roam up your legs. You’ll always be deprived for this man, never able to get enough and you know he feels the same way with you.

•

Tagging 🖤: @powerofelvis@burninlovebutler

@neptuneismysister @velvetelvis @ccab @presleyenterprise @theresalwaysep

@prompted-wordsmith @sillybookmarks @dkayfixates @ellie-24 @rktismylife-blog.@myradiaz @tacozebra051

@thatbanditqueen

@18|kpeters@flwrs4aust @emma181873

@austinswhitewolf@eliseinmemphis

@everythingelvispresley @chasingwildflowers @idontwanttoputanything @ohjustpeachy

@elvisalltheway101@austinsmutler@kingdomforapony.

@generoustreemystic @claire-elvisgirl

@ashtag6887 @burnthheparaphilia @richardslady121

@jaqueline19997

@returntopresley. @iloveelvis @rjmartin11 @that-hotdog @louisejoy86 @misspresley @cattcb @annapresley8

@arrolyn1114@raginginkedslut@epthedream69

@mh777ep1938@50sexyshadesfashionista

@oldhOllywOod @hooked-on-elvis @livelovedilfs

#elvis presley #elvis presley fanfiction #elvis presely smut #elvis smut #elvis fic #elvis x y/n #elvis x reader #elvis x you #sinned awakening #vampire Elvis #elvis imagine #70s elvis #Elvis

78 notes · View notes

exilethegame · 10 months

Text

Writing Update (06/23/23)

Hello everyone— I think we’re all well aware it’s past early June, and after taking some time to decompress (and scream into a pillow), I have now returned.

So, to narrow it down to bullet points— yes, chapter 5 pt. 2 is fully done (I don’t think I ever said, but it came in at 220k words, making Chapter 5 508k words in total), no it has not yet been edited, nor has it been sent to alpha readers. The reasoning for this is that my laptop, which was already on its last two legs, finally gave up and died on me with the files on it.

NOW— that’s not really the end of the world. I have all the back ups on my pc. The problem? I’m traveling all summer and my pc is at my house. This pretty much means we’re at the mercy of my sister and whenever she can find the time to make a rather long drive to my house to send the files to me.

So far, the plan is that those files will be sent to me this Sunday— I’m which case I will move as quick as I can to fix bugs and get it sent to alpha readers.

Consider this an apology, and a reassurance. I’m rather frustrated by this, and I’m sure you all are too. Just now the game is very much still being worked on behind the scenes in a million different ways even if chapter 5 itself is proving to, quite possibly, be my arch nemesis. 💀

Apologies again, everyone! I’m just hoping there are no more surprises from here forward, and everything can continue here onwards semi normally. I’ll likely be MIA until I can finally get this chapter out since I’m more than a little stressed out, but we’ll get there when we get there, I guess!

Thanks for reading!

#writing update

401 notes · View notes

ladykailitha · 5 months

Text

Royal Pain Part 28

Hello! This is the last chapter before the epilogue. I'm so grateful for everyone who's still reading this little big story. Longest thing I've ever written. It caps out at nearly 60k words. I want to thank the people who have been reading this since day one and all the people that joined us for the ride along the way.

I love reading your comments and theories. I especially loved reading the freak outs over cliffhangers and the abuse I piled on our poor boys. But I am a sucker for happy endings.

Also a little treat for @goodolefashionedloverboi who wanted this way back in part 21.

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt 6 Pt 7 Pt 8 Pt 9 Pt 10 Pt 11 Pt 12 Pt 13 Pt 14 Pt 15 Pt 16 Pt 17 Pt 18 Pt 19 Pt 20 Pt 21 Meta Pt 22 Pt 23 Pt 24 Pt 25 Pt 26 Pt 27

***

“Steve!” Robin called out. “Your boyfriend is here!”

Steve came running out of the back room. His grin nearly split his face in two.

He lifted Eddie up and spun him around. Eddie laughed out loud.

“Put me down, you menace!” Eddie said between gasps of giggles.

Steve gently put him down. And then kissed him right in front of Robin.

Who promptly fake gagged.

“Shush you,” Steve said. “You should be grateful I didn’t let him keep me in bed this morning.”

Robin gasped. “Betrayal! And in front of my coffee no less!” She covered her coffee with her hands as if to shield it from the scene in front of her.

Eddie laughed. “Sorry there Birdie, it was a very near thing. I had to be bribed!”

She shook her head. “Go on, get! Before you ruin my coffee with your sugary sweetness.”

Steve and Eddie just smiled and walked back to Steve’s room, hands in each other’s back pockets.

Once they got to the room, Eddie was all over Steve. Hands tangled in his hair, lips on that perfect mouth. Gripping the back of Eddie’s shirt was all he could do to keep upright.

“Baby,” Eddie whined when they finally broke apart. “I missed you so much. I promise to never leave you like that again.”

Steve nuzzled their noses together and sighed happily. “I know, Eds. I missed you too.”

Eddie stepped back to take off his shirt and Steve scanned over the expanse of his chest.

Eddie caught the look and grinned. “No new tattoos, sweetheart. I don’t trust anyone else but you.”

Steve blushed. “That’s nice to hear, beautiful. But I was just ogling my boyfriend.”

Eddie laughed. “Yeah, okay that’s fair.” He walked over the chair and straddled it, resting his head on his folded arms.

“Let’s get this bad boy done, shall we?” Steve sighed happily.

“Sure thing, darlin’,” Eddie murmured. “Can’t wait.”

Steve started up his gun and got to work. All the while they chatted about the lighter stuff of the last three weeks. Eddie caught up on all the shop gossip.

“Honestly,” Steve said, “if Robin doesn’t pick soon, she’s going to be in the world’s most awkward polycule.”

Eddie laughed. “She’ll figure it out. But I guess Birdie really has a thing for redheads.”

Steve chuckled too. “Oh, yeah. Pretty much always had. Except once with Nancy back in high school. But that was more a ‘everyone had a crush on Nancy’ thing then a specific crush.”

Eddie hummed. “You said you had a thing for curly haired smart people with soulful eyes. You were talking about me too, right?”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Oh yeah. I’m not a subtle person when it comes to my crushes. Pretty much everyone figures it out before I do. Except in your case. I’ve had a crush on you since high school.”

“Me too, Stevie.”

“It’s about time we got our heads out of our asses, then.”

Eddie murmured his agreement and they settled into a comfortable silence.

Robin was still going to kick Eddie’s ass for making Steve sad for two weeks, but after hearing it from him how much he hated touring and how much he missed Steve, she forgave him for the most part. He sounded like he had been more miserable than Steve and that was honestly saying something.

So she went to Corroded Coffin’s return concert at the Nightmare Holes and cheered loudly for them.

She also knew she had to chose between Chrissy and Vickie soon otherwise they were going to have a cat fight.

But Robin didn’t want to chose. She liked the attention from both girls plus it would be super awkward if she chose Vickie and Chrissy stayed at the shop. But it would also be awkward working with Vickie at the front desk if she picked Chrissy.

It was a mess.

But then a lightbulb dawned over her head. Maybe she didn’t have to chose.

She spoke to them on their way to the club and ended up dancing with both of them all night.

Steve waved at the rest of the band as Eddie dragged him to his car, eager to get back to Steve’s apartment.

Steve laughed as Eddie shoved him into the passenger seat of his own car and got in the driver’s seat.

“Someone’s in a hurry there,” Steve teased.

“Stevie darling,” Eddie said. “I am vibrating out of my skin here with anticipation and if I don’t see that tattoo of yours soon, I’m might go absolutely feral. Do you understand?”

He laughed. “Yeah, baby, I hear you.”

Eddie breathed out and drove to the apartment. They walked up the stairs and once the door was closed behind they were all over each other. Hands and mouths all over as they tumbled onto the sofa.

Shirts were the first to fly, Steve careful with Eddie’s still healing tattoo.

“Baby,” Eddie whined. “Is your tattoo healed?”

Steve wiggled underneath him. “For the most part, it’s been about two weeks.”

Eddie let out another whine. “This won’t hurt you?”

Steve shook his head. “The scab is already gone. I heal fast.”

Eddie undid Steve’s jeans and slid them down his legs. He looked up at Steve for permission for the final layer of clothes to be removed. Steve nodded and lifted his hips for Eddie to slide off his underwear.

Eddie gasped when he saw it.

His thumb gently rubbed over the tattoo. It wasn’t very large, about the size of a half dollar. It was a simple heart with bat wings and a little crown.

“Baby, is this us?” he asked, breathless.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, do you like it?”

“I love it, sweetheart,” Eddie whispered. “And when my back is done, I am going to get it done on me, too.”

Steve’s eyes glistened with happy tears. “Okay, yeah. Suddenly I need that.”

Eddie kissed him deeply. “Me, too. I need you so much.”

They got Eddie’s pants and underwear off and Steve moaned at the long, graceful lines of his boyfriend’s lean body.

“Fuck, Eds,” Steve murmured. “I can’t wait to taste you.”

Eddie threw his head back and moaned. They had to be careful with Eddie’s still healing back, but they managed to make do and had a great time.

Once they had cleaned up and dressed, Steve began making dinner.

“So how did your meeting with Murray Bauman go?” he asked as he fried up the chicken for fajitas.

“It went great,” Eddie said. “Cec is still going to bring the contract to one of his law professors to make sure he didn’t miss any hidden bullshit, but yeah. It seems like Corroded Coffin is going to make an EP.”

Steve hummed. “And that different than a full record, right?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, nodding. “It’s about five songs. But it’s what most new artists get. The record company doesn’t want to spend a boat load of money on an LP only for the band to not go anywhere.”

“That makes sense,” Steve murmured. “And you guys are going to keep working at the Nightmare Holes?”

Eddie nodded again. “Yeah, and if the record hits big, we can renegotiate our contract with Rick to get more money each week.”

“That’s great,” Steve said with a smile.

“And you and your genius schedule is going to work out great,” Eddie said with an answering grin. “They’ll even send a car for us every time, too.”

“Wow,” Steve said. “That’s awesome. Looks like I’m going have a rockstar boyfriend.”

“A perfect compliment to my tattoo artist boyfriend.”

Steve came over to where Eddie was seated at the table to kiss him. “Perfect indeed.”

They had dinner and sat down to watch a movie. They curled up on the sofa and just enjoyed each other’s company. Like they had so many times before.

Other than the sex, they were still Eddie and Steve. They still enjoyed the same movies, food, and music that they did before they got together.

They were just finally on the same page.

Once the movie was over, Eddie pulled out his guitar.

“You ready for this, baby?” he asked as Steve turned to face him on the couch.

Eddie played the first song he wrote on the road, the one that made Jeff and the others cry.

Tears streamed down Steve’s cheeks, too. “I’m sorry you were so lonely, Eds. I’m glad you’re home now.”

“Me too, sweetheart,” he murmured. “But I think you’ll like this one more.”

And he play the most beautiful, heart-stoppingly romantic song Steve had ever heard and it was for him. About them. And he was crying for a completely different reason now.

“Sunshine,” Steve said through his tears. “That was amazing. They both were. Thank you for sharing them with me.”

Eddie kissed him fiercely over the guitar. “Just you wait, Stevie. You’re going to get a life time of sappy love songs.”

“And I’ll cherish every single one.”

They got ready for bed and snuggled up together, falling asleep in each other’s arms.

The next morning led to morning sex, showers, and breakfast, never too far apart.

They were getting ready for a walk in the park when they got to witness a Robin Buckley walk of shame.

She opened the door and jumped when she saw them. “Shit!”

Eddie and Steve shared a glance.

“And what time do you call this, young lady,” Eddie teased.

Robin blushed all the way to her roots. She pulled out her phone. “Uh...11:13am?”

Eddie cackled as Steve grinned.

“And which lovely lady did you go home with last night?” Steve asked.

Robin’s blush deepened. “Both?”

Eddie and Steve glanced at each other again.

“You want to repeat that?” Eddie asked.

She shrugged. “I couldn’t decide. And Chrissy had hit on Vickie before, which lead to us talking to Vickie and once it was made clear that it wasn’t just a one time threesome she decided she was down for poly relationship.”

Eddie and Steve both held up their fists for her to bump and she fist bumped them both at the same time.

“You go girl!” Eddie crowed.

“Hell, yeah, Robs,” Steve said. “That’s awesome!”

“Where are you two love birds going?” Robin asked.

“Just for a walk in the park.”

“Have fun.”

***

Epilogue

Tag list: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @bookworm0690 @chaosgremlinmunson @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @aizawa-emma @yikes-a-bee @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @archermightbegay @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @hallucinatedjosten @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @bestwifehaver @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @oldwitcheshat @nightmareglitter @tinyplanet95 @novelnovella @jonesn4coffee @slowandsteddie @awkwardgravity1 @steaddie-on

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #tattoo artist steve

102 notes · View notes